Bags

I think I may have broken my July curse and it’s safe to write a blog post. We’ll see if I make it to the end of today’s entry without messing it up somehow. Just to be safe, today’s finished items are going to be a foray back into June.

First up, the great. I really, really like this little cardigan. It’s official name is Tain’s Welcome Cardigan, for my friend’s new little baby boy; however, it could also be called the I-had-lots-of-red-Baby-Ull-and-not-so-much-of-the-other-colors cardigan.

I based it on a cardigan I saw on a little girl in Trader Joe’s. Hers was pink with multi-color striped sleeves, some sort of fluffy polyester or nylon affair, the kind of yarn that makes it look like you’re wearing a bathmat. I filed that away in my brain and came up with this when the time was right. I knitted the sleeves first, then the red body from the bottom up, then joined it all together for the raglan decreases. I added the bottom ribbing and bands at the end and used a suspended bind-off. This is my first time using it and it was a rousing success: the bands are elastic yet hold their shape. I’ll have to remember it the next time I make a top-down hat.

Mostly-matching buttons finish the look:

Pattern: own
Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, 100% superwash wool, colors 4227 (red), 5755 (blue), 2908 (orange), 5135 (purple), 2317 (yellow)
Needles: US size 2 for the body and 1 for the ribbing
Size: about 9 months
Started 4/26 and finished 6/14/2010

Next on the list, the bad. This is a very bad bad bag. It has been a WIP for more than a year and I decided to concede victory to it. Don’t let this picture fool you; it’s basted within an inch of its life with black thread, mightily distorted from its actual shape so it only looks good on this exposed side, and arranged very strategically for its photo shoot:

Pattern: Small Origami Bag by Vicki Square, as published in Folk Bags
Yarn: Artfibers Sherlock, 75% merino and 25% silk, color I (black); Artfibers Minstrel, 63% mohair, 17% wool, 20% nylon, color 4 (brown/black/gray)
Needles: US size 3
Started 12/31/2009 (actually, August 2008 but I unraveled it then) and gave up in despair 6/26/2010

The square and i-cord were easy. Then came the two little tiny seams. I sewed those over and over until the yarn was shredded, and still the shape wouldn’t come together. Forget frogging it, this one went in the trash! The guilt over throwing away Artfibers yarn went away once the lid was shut. Take that, you bad bad bag!

And now, the lucky. Remember how I said July was cursed? The month started with a clackety-clack when the DVD drive on my computer failed on Independence Day weekend. I had torte design failure (see previous post) and hit major traffic on the way home from the visit. [The good part of that weekend was re-meeting our niece, who is nearing two years old. She took to me this time. I helped her dip her toes into the ocean, we played with the toys in the toy box and I read to her. I also got to re-meet my very active step-nephew and my brother and I played some Johnny Cash together on our guitars.] Then came so much equipment and software installation failure at work that it felt I had the Technology Death Touch. Kind of like the Vulcan Death Grip, only, you know, it makes hardware sleep.

So I decided to do laundry, something I’ve had lots of practice in and can make me feel successful. Fortunately, this hat, the Bird on a Wire hat that I’m so pleased with and spent so much time on, did not take a ride in the Dryer of Doom.

Brown side!

Blue side!

I am totally charmed by how the bird faces different directions on different sides of the hat.

Brown side!

Blue side!

OK, enough of that although I could go on. Back in January, I double-knitted it only to the top of the design, then worked the two sides separately, only to find my purl side (blue side) gauge completely off. In May I ripped it back and double-knitted it all the way up to the crown shaping and now it looks good. Here are the details:

Pattern: #15 Double Knit Hat, aka the Bird on a Wire Hat, by Elli Stubenrauch, as published in Vogue Knitting, Fall 2009 issue
Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, 100% superwash wool, color 3172 (brown) and 6714 (blue)
Needles: US size 1
Size: large adult
Started 1/3 and finished 6/26/2010 (it spent some time in gauge purgatory)

Back to 2 weeks ago: when I folded the laundry I thought the pile of shirts seemed small. It didn’t click until Monday morning that all my work undershirts and camisoles were gone. Someone stopped my running dryer, rifled through my things, fished out the good stuff (never fear: the beaten-up cleaning t-shirts are all still with me) and started the cycle again. How very rude.

So on Monday I was forced to shop, not my favorite activity unless it’s yarn or I am really in the mood. Hardware/software problems continued Monday and Tuesday, and when I went through the mail Tuesday evening I heard little tapping noises in the living room. I went to the kitchen to grab a nectarine and… bees! Live bees in my kitchen! Hundreds of bees hitting the kitchen and living room windows from the outside, hence the tapping noises. Want to see?

The swarm arrived Tuesday afternoon (my downstairs neighbors were in the yard when it came and took the photo shown above out their living room window) and set up shop in a hole in the wall up at my level. That’s my kitchen window in the picture. Stray bees are getting into my kitchen somehow. The only openings I see are tiny cracks around the tightly-closed window so I stuffed those with paper towels and still they get in. This is day 13 of BeeWatch 2010, with anywhere from 5 to 25 individuals in my kitchen during daylight hours. The first couple of hours after they arrive they are angrily buzzing against the window, trying to get out. So I don’t go in there until it’s been quiet for at least 20 minutes and I feel it’s safe to vacuum them up (I know, bad karma), meaning I don’t get to eat dinner until 8:30pm.

On sunny days they’re really active. I made my own Bee Movie from my living room last weekend:

The bee service finally came 2 days ago to remove the hive. They saw through the outer wall, find the queen and stick her in a hive box, then get the rest of the hive in there, and later patch up the wall. You don’t want to exterminate because bees perform a very important role and several pounds of dead bees are very stinky, but you do have to get them out because the honey and wax can do serious building damage. All this activity stirred up the bees and I had a high bee count Friday night. Rather than face the kitchen’s guests yet again, I went out to dinner. I’ve gotten very jumpy whenever a small fly or a piece of lint drifts into my field of vision. The first 10 days I was able to face them but the last two nights my courage failed me completely. My very brave next door neighbor rescued me last night.

It’s just about lunchtime and I don’t hear any buzzing so it’s safe to make a proper meal, I hope. Maybe all the extra duct tape I put around the kitchen window’s seams early this morning is doing the trick. Although when I look out the window, no one’s going in or out of the opening in the side of the house, so maybe it’s too cold or they’ve given up on finding their hive here.

Either way, I am so grateful for a bee-free kitchen that I can hardly stand it and the first pair of socks for my mom is coming along. Perhaps my July curse is broken.

Tomorrow is Stitch & Pitch (go Giants!). I always wonder what it would be called for other hobbies. For weavers: Weave & Heave, kayakers: Row & Throw, tatters: Tat & Bat, bicyclists: Ride & Slide. Ha!

The Net Duffel Bag has been done and photos taken for over a week now, but only today do I find the time to write about it.

Pattern: Net Duffel Bag by Vivian Høxbro, as published in Interweave Knits, Spring 2009
Yarn: 2.5 skeins Louet Euroflax fine / sport weight linen, 100% wet spun linen, color: Blue Heron
Needles: size 2
Started 4/9 and finished 5/3/2009

The major modification I made was to inadvertently overlook the needle change when beginning the handle. I’m glad I did. This made the handle far shorter than in the pattern yet I can easily sling it across my body. I can’t imagine how long the handle would be had I worked it on size 6 needles as recommended. Looking at the photo in the magazine on page 29, it looks like a shorter handle than mine, but look closely, and you see there is a knot back behind the model’s shoulder. So if you are making this and don’t want the bag to hang past your knees (and before washing it came to my knees and I’m 5′7″), continuing on with your smaller needles for the “band and handle” section is A-OK.

Now, unless you want to weave in a minimum of 144 ends (72 squares x 2 ends each) just for the body, I have a tip. Knit the base with the first skein of yarn, cutting the tail when the instructions tell you to except for square 16, which you can leave attached. I used a safety pin to hold the last stitch in place. Before continuing into tier 1, take your second skein of yarn and split it into sevenths, so you have 7 little balls of yarn. The remainder of ball #1 (still attached to square 16) is your 8th ball.

The next squares you work set up a pattern of eighths: the bag is constructed in eighths up through its 5 tiers and using 8 little balls will help minimize tails. When you’re done with the base you work squares 17 through 20. Start with a new little ball of yarn for each square that needs it (I used a rubber band on each ball not in use to keep it in check otherwise they got too unruly) and don’t cut the tails here, just hold the last stitch in place with a safety pin. You’ll find each ball in position to work another square when you get to its connecting square. Indeed, the instructions tell you not to cut the yarn after working the last stitch of a square once you get up into square 21, but nowhere do they tell you to make 8 little balls of yarn. I used skein #3 for the handle and have I’d guess a little more than half a skein left over.

Despite this little trick I still felt like I had a bajillion ends to weave in. Part of the reason was I worked half the first tier cutting the yarn after each square until it dawned on me that the bag was worked in eighths and so could have saved myself some weaving had I realized this and split skein #2 earlier on. The other reason was each skein also had several knots in it (say 4 or 5 EACH) so I still had lots to weave in.

I threw the finished bag into the washer and dryer with our regular laundry and it came out soft, pliable, and slightly smaller and tighter. I like it even better now. Also, since my last adventure with linen when I noticed the yarn got softer the more I unraveled and reknitted what I was doing, I worked these skeins about 10 minutes each in my hands, kneading and squeezing, before winding them into balls and starting this project. This made the linen easier to work with.

And one final thought: Euroflax isn’t exactly cheap. This is the most expensive tote bag I own.

I had a productive weekend: the Happy Hippo is looking pretty darn happy and the Net Duffel Bag is done! The weather, however, is not cooperating so I am unable to get a glamour shot so you’ll have to make do with this:

This is my corner of the coffee table which usually holds various works in progress. I grafted the hippo’s head on last night but left the tail for today (why? no idea) and you can see her tutu still needs elastic. She’s reclining on a bag containing a bundle of brown fiber that I’m attempting to spin into a 2-ply laceweight and sitting on a lovely EZ book that is helping me contemplate the next baby sweater to make. But first a summer dress for the hippo. Then I’ll do the photo shoot and she can go on her way.

The holes are lining up nicely:

Today I am on square 65 of I think 72, so I’m nearing the end of the body. Then comes the strap and I haven’t read ahead yet to see what is in store for me there. I hope it qualifies as bus knitting or this baby is never going to be finished.

The bee hat was well received. We heard from Mr. MmmYarn’s sister that our niece put it on and immediately informed her mother that she was a pollen jock. I call that a rousing success.

There is nothing in my bag yet, seeing as it’s just under about halfway done today. This is what the Net Duffel Bag looked like on Saturday:

That is the base plus the beginning of the sides. Each little square is knitted separately (16 squares in the base) and you can only knit two base squares before having to cut the yarn. Once you get up into the side tiers, the instructions have you putting the one remaining stitch of each square on a holder. I was confused by this (uh… it didn’t tell me to split any skeins into smaller skeins) and have been cutting my strand after each square. As you can see, I have been weaving in ends as I go; otherwise, I see myself suffering from a fit of denial of finishing when it’s done and it will be relegated to the hibernation pile. Anyway, tonight I think I will knit a square, rip it out, and measure how much yarn it took. Then I’ll calculate how many squares in each eighth of the circumference and cut off however many yards I need for those 6 or so squares that can technically be worked from a single strand. It will save me some weaving.

In the pattern, each square is numbered. How on earth to keep track of all those little modules? This is my solution to that quandary:

I pinned numbers to each completed square. As soon as it was enclosed on all four sides by adjacent squares, I removed its pin. This technique is working quite well. I am on square 36 of 70+, then there’s the border and handle. There is a way to go yet.

I like how the diagonal lines match up:

Extremely windy and hard to photograph, this was, hence the bizarre horizon.

I decided to knit both halves of Mystery Stole 4 at the same time, so side #1 got held up a bit while I got side #2 going.

You can see the little bit of glistening in the fabric, my tiny beads (the head of the crochet hook I’m using to add beads is nearly invisible in the photo). I mis-remembered the instructions at the bead store and bought blending-in beads rather than contrasting beads, so all you’ll ever see is some glistening in mine. I switched from Addi lace needles to short straight needles the other night which has sped things up a bit again.

I’m just halfway through the chart on clue #1 and clue #2 gets released Friday. I would be going faster, but I re-injured that top knuckle on my ring finger Sunday when a woman ahead of me on an escalator answered her cell phone a few steps from the bottom, then stopped stock-still at the end of the last stair to have her conversation. I managed to scramble backwards two stairs before the escalator ran me into her, nearly knocking her over, and in a chain-reaction effect, she knocked her kid over. Then she had the nerve to ask me what I thought I was doing. Ah, humans. However, it is noteworthy that it was not me being a klutz that caused the problem this time.

The little black purse is not going to make it into the suitcase Thursday night. Seed stitch is by nature slow, but there is also the problem of using an unknown quantity of yarn. Here’s what I had so far in the new size:

You’ll note I used the word “had”: that bit of Sherlock on the tube is all I have left; there’s no way it’s going to make it to square size. I grumbled a little about this at knitting group on Monday night and my friend suggested I look in Chinatown. She was right. I went there on my lunch break yesterday, and found something that will go on vacation with me:

A little cutesy for my taste, but the right size and style for dressing up a little to go out to dinner. Tonight’s pre-trip tasks include plant care, dealing with library books, ironing (ugh), and making wardrobe and knitting project decisions.

The Apres Surf Hoodie will stay home. I’m about a third of the way up the hood. It’s too big for travel knitting now.

The first clue for Mystery Stole 4 was released yesterday mid-morning to the joy of everyone eagerly awaiting the launch of this project. I was at work when it hit the Internet, and had also forgotten my MS4 supplies at home so I couldn’t get going on my lunch break, so I did not begin until last night’s round of travel planning was complete.

This is what I have so far:

That’s the first three rows, including the very slow row of one bead every other stitch. I have not yet searched the Internet to see who’s already done with clue #1 and who’s stuck bemoaning the first row of beads. My progress is going to be somewhat hampered the first week:

Goodness knows what I did to that top knuckle. I asked Mr. MmmYarn if he noticed me cursing after running into something somewhere and he just laughed and asked “which time?”. He knows I am such a klutz that it’s often hard to pinpoint which klutzy event caused the minor injury. This one, however, is not minor in my opinion — it’s cutting into knitting time (!!) and making typing hard.

The flat purse for travel is coming along slowly, too:

This is the Small Origami Bag in Folk Bags. At first I merrily cast on 64 stitches as instructed and knitted for 10″. Then I noticed it’s supposed to be a 14″ square and as I don’t want a chapstick-only bag, I measured my gauge (grrr… should have done that to begin with), ripped out, cast on 90 stitches, and started again. Then injured myself. Ah, well.

The yarn I’m using is Artfibers Sherlock (they don’t have it anymore); it looks like a small knitted tube. Click for the big version of the photo:

It’s hard to photograph but you can see that bit of white background peeking out between the strands of the chained tube. Sherlock likes to split so I have to knit carefully. Since being forced to slow down it’s working better, actually, as I’m not racing along willy-nilly, splitting the yarn every few stitches.

Bwuahahaha! This week’s bus knitting is not knitting, but crocheting:

That little blip of black and white crochet you see in the bottom left of this photo is a bag I made some 8 years ago. I’m really proud of that one as I put in a sewn lining… nearly a year after I crocheted it in a single day, ahem. Hey, I’m a knitter and not a sewer.

Now, does anyone reading this know how to make a jogless jog in single crochet so I can put some neat stripes into this new creation? Google has failed me this time: all I get is knitting references. Mmm… knitting. I think I’ll go work on socks tonight.

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!

Remember those two round shapes I showed off at the end of my last post? They turned into a small bag.

Here is one side:

And the other side:

Pattern: own
Yarn: 1 skein Noro Kureyon, 100% wool, color 180; about 1/4 skein Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted, 85% wool, 15% mohair, color M-08
Needles: size 7
Size: medallions are 9″ across, bag is 11″ across with the brown border/strap

*With gratitude to Elizabeth Zimmermann for using this phrase on page 109 of “Knitting Around.”  

That little bit in EZ’s book always gets me to giggle. She mentions an old Pogo joke (aside: Pogo, it turns out, is an old comic strip (Wikipedia is a wonderful thing)). Howland’s talking about the math formula for a circle, pi = r squared, and his friend Churchy corrects him with “Pie are round, cornbread are square.” Hihihi. The math geek in me appreciates any geometry-related joke.  

My pi here is definitely round. Coincidentally, each medallion measures 9″, the right size for a pie. Anyway, I cast on each medallion from either end of a single ball of Kureyon and worked each round and round, pi-fashion, until I ran out of yarn. [See "Knitter's Almanac" if you need an explanation of pi for knitting.] Then I invisibly cast on for the strap and worked back and forth in stockinette, eating up one medallion stitch every row, until I decided it was time to stop and form the handle. There are no seams anywhere, just the one graft where the handle ends met up. It’s a little puckery but it will definitely hit a washing machine someday so it can shrink down and based on past experience with Lamb’s Pride I believe it will flatten out. I’m not so sure I like the full-circle at the top as it seems to want to gap unattractively. While it’s blocking I might fold the tops over each other, then add a button and buttonhole. But all that stuff has to wait until it’s been felted and I see how it comes together. I have a picture in my head of a future design similar to this, except I’ll make the body of the bag the shape of a wedge of watermelon rather than a full circle.

I wish I had a washing machine so I could felt it now.

In my last post I mentioned knitted Princess Leia buns; this week I learned someone out there has crocheted a Darth Vader helmet. Now that’s a resourceful use of beer cans!