October 2007

And one more:

Pattern: own
Yarn: 1 skein Wolle Roedel Universal 2-Color Superwash, 100% superwash merino wool, color 2298
Needles: size 4
Size: child’s small

This hat is far stiffer than the two barber pole hats. Although they’re both superwash merino wool, I guess the word “Soft” in the name of the yarn makes a big difference.

More hats:

Pattern: own
Yarn: Wolle Roedel Soft-Merino Superwash, 100% superwash wool, color 327 (blue) and 307 (red), 1 skein each color
Needles: size 4
Size: child’s small

Rather than make two solid hats (and perhaps die of boredom in the process), I decided to make fraternal barber pole hats.

Someone in my knitting group asked to see the interior and was surprised to see I do not break off the yarn when I change colors. I always carry the unused color up the inside of an item. Weaving in more ends than necessary… ick!

I unraveled my few finished inches of the Myrtle Leaf Shawl this evening. Either I’m not following the chart correctly, or there is something wrong with the chart: two thirds of the leaves look right and the rest look sprawled out and weird. I will need to practice on some non-fuzzy yarn and bigger needles to figure it out, then start over.

My work holds an annual staff arts & crafts sale and ours is coming up the second week of November. This means I have the urge to quickly make a few more small items. This sale funds most of my fun at Stitches West in February so I have incentive to knit small items in a variety of colors.

This is the first of 5 hats I made in the last 10 days or so:

Pattern: own (3×3 rib that shifts 1 stitch each round)
Yarn: 1 skein Silver Creek Yarns Space Dyed Blue Face Leicester, 100% wool, color: Elliot
Needles: size 3
Size: child’s large

This hat finishes off the last of my 6 skeins of Silver Creek Yarns pink yarn. I made a Baby Surprise Sweater, a vest for a toddler, this hat, and possibly something else with the yarn and have enough left over for a tiny hat or mittens. Not bad for $26.

Spinning progress has been slow the month of October. I am working on a worsted weight 4-ply. This necessitates thin spinning, so all I have to show for hours of effort is one bobbin of one ply of singles.

Yes, I wrote the drive ratios directly on the head. It makes more sense to me than trying to remember what’s what.

This holey little number caught the eye of a few people on the bus and was admired at knitting group recently, all because of the orange goodness. Pardon the wrinkles; it blocked beautifully but I always have to stuff my things in a pack and tote them to the park to photograph them properly:

Pattern: own - garter stitch with yo, k2 tog that shifts one stitch to the left every other row
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Kid Merino, 28% kid mohair, 28% merino wool, 44% micro nylon, color 9798 Red Cinnamon
Needles: size 4
Size: 5.5″ wide x 52″ long

This was one of those yarns that I wanted to keep in the stash, just to be able to admire its colors while it sat in the basket. The colors shift from varying shades of orange to a bright fuchsia to a hint of maroon, absolutely lovely. I am truly sorry to see it go into the bin of sellable items.

This is the same yarn I used for the Icarus Shawl back in January. It is wearing well, so I expect this scarf will, too.  

Today got sucked up in a dye project. Blue jeans are that elusive item I have been hunting for a long time. It seems all that’s out there is either tapered (or its extreme version, “skinny,” which only the truly skinny can wear successfully) or bootcut. Tapered is the kiss of death for me; I don’t look fabulous in boot cut, but it’s the better of the two main options. What to do when retail fails you? I found a tailor who can make me some jeans, and she can shape the legs like they are on this one marvelous pair of summer pants I own, the ones that make folks ask me if I lost weight over the course of a weekend. I went fabric shopping and found the fabric store only had denim in basic indigo. I wanted my denim to be darker, so it took a dip in Rit today:

The Rit label says the dye will be absorbed in 30 to 60 minutes. Piece of cake, I can do that while running a couple of episodes of The Simpsons in the living room.

Two HOURS of constant stirring (and part of Star Wars, too) later, I STILL had this:

Harumph. Mr. MmmYarn suggested I stop and rinse it out anyway. We dyed his black jeans several years ago and he remembers the water remaining black. So I rinsed it out, sent it through the washer and dryer, and now have a lovely dark denim to haul to the tailor’s next week.

The good news: I actually managed to do a neat job and the dye ended up only on the denim and a little bit on my hands. It is not in my hair or on my face, locations anything messy usually ends up. The bad news: I lost most of my knitting time today.

I finally had use of a washing machine last weekend and used the opportunity to felt three items that have been waiting around for a while.

The purple bag I made in July went from this:

to this:

Knitting details are in my original post, here. It shrunk from 9.25″ at its widest point and 8″ tall when lain flat to 8.5″ at its widest point and 6.75″ tall.

The second bag was the Pi Are Round bag I made in August. My sister-in-law saw me photographing it in the yard and decided she really wanted it, so this one’s for her. Knitting details and before-felting photos are here. The top still flops more than I’d like, so I need to hunt up some curved metal bit for the top. I am picturing a flat wire-like contraption with magnets or one of those clasps that closes with the two intersecting knobs (purse frame?). I have not begun looking yet. Whatever it ends up being, it will need to be lightweight. The brown part flattened out beautifully (it had ripples after I knitted it) and I’m very happy with the way this bag turned out:

It shrunk from 11″ across to 9.5″ across.

The last item to go for a swim was a hat I made in 2003 that I never was happy with. I made it in brioche stitch, which made it stretch to fit a large adult head, but it wasn’t wind-proof enough to make it useful:

It certainly is wind-proof now:

It is also now a child’s size small.

I also finished the little vest in which I experimented with steeks.

Pattern: own
Yarn: Silver Creek Yarns 100% Blue Face Leicester, colorway (or perhaps the sheep’s name): Elliot
Needles: size 4 for the body, size 3 for ribbing
Finished size:  26″ chest = 2-4 years old

I had concerns that the head-hole wasn’t big enough, but my knitting co-worker graciously tried it on and it went over her head, so I’m sure it will go over the head of whichever child gets it.

Lily of the Valley is finishe… no, not yet. I still need to tuck in some dangling ends and block it, but it is so very close!