Mostly research. But some knitting, too.
-I need a whole new mitten. in a month. I know that sounds easy but these mittens are HARD. very hard.
-I should make two pairs of fingerless mitts... in 2 weeks. Shoot.
-need to finish that hat but since it's bulky I'm not really worried about it. I know I can finish it in one evening
-the big secret knitting surprise this year is probably going to get pushed off to next year. This... is not really a surprise for me. I've traded it for... um.... stuff for myself. Oops? I guess that's how knitting goes sometimes. I'm not too worried about it--it's not that exciting of a project.
what I want to be working on: a pair of fingerless mitts (for myself of course); a stripey shawl (for myself); and self-striping socks (for myself--never mind the fact that I have two lovely pairs of socks for myself ON THE NEEDLES already...). Oh and I want to spin some fiber. Not even sure what I'm going to spin next but I want to be spinning. While watching Dr. Who. and eating popcorn.
It's possible the short days and the lots-of-work is getting to me.
I am not sure why these two lists don't correspond. The two pairs of fingerless mitts are exciting to me! the hat and mittens for family members is super exciting as well! I can't wait to see how happy everyone is.
most likely I just want a more instantaneous completion. I want to sit down and knit for an hour, or two hours, and have FOs falling from my fingertips (as opposed to WIPs lingering for months). Instant gratification, that's what I crave :)
Okay, a list of things I need to work on that are NOT knitting. I can kitchener the first mitten shut and cast on the second mitten when I get home/before I go to bed tonight, and I undoubtedly will.
1) agq is okay, esp in log-log format. I need to make the plots prettier
a) label axes, figure out units
b) make axes neater format
c) plot and save each one with title of quasar on top
d) overplot all of them on one graph and see if they all form two sequences
e) fit w(theta) to each of them, make sure gamma is ~1.77 or 0.77 or -0.77, whatever it is supposed to be
f) if I can fit them, can I find the Agq that makes the fit the best? if I can do that for each of them, then
g) create histogram of Agq with "dustiness" as x axis
h) figure out which quasars are obscured, unobscured, other type
2) work on agq->bgq program
a) make list of things needed for bgq
b) look up gamma functions
3) read older papers
a) find out what information we are deriving, what it actually gives us
b) read up on correlations, cross correlations, etc
c) see if I can get the connection to galaxy evolution on a broader scale
d) see if I can get the connection to the effect of z/point in history
4) read newer papers that have done something similar
a) find out what sort of diagnostics people are using NOWADAYS to report
b) fit my stuff onto those diagnostics
c) figure out what sorts of conclusions can be of interest
5) write paper
a) do a quick draft/outline
b) work on intro
c) work on methods/data
d) re-read thesis proposal (written version)--pretty good place to start
6) submit first paper
a) fix numbers
b) fix text to numbers
c) get Mark to talk to Jason
d) call margrethe/email her again
e) look up submission guidelines and get submittin'!
7) read jason + ric's paper
a) give comments
b) make it clear shouldn't be an author on this unless I contribute SOMETHING significant to paper changes *sigh* which I won't be able to
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Missing
I spent 5 years as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
When I left for grad school, I fled south because I was sick of winter, of overbearing winter that took the heart of the year and left everything else a brief flame. Summer and fall were too precious there. Spring was a week of rain in mid May.
There were things I loved about winter. Standing out in the cold after being in the hot building all night, with the sky filled with orange and purple clouds and the snow coming down softly and hugely. The city noises muffled with pillows of white down. The cold air on my cheeks, the cold air in my throat, the clouds of my breath rising and rising. The silence as the snow fell. The look of christmas lights in the snow.
But for the most part I have not missed Madison. I miss people: friends who changed my life, apartment mates and housemates and roommates who made coming home an unutterable joy and who formed a new family around me like a shield when things were really hard. The professors who garnered my respect and opened my way into the world of knowledge, who never hurt me, who never judged me. Colleagues in classes and people who I was able to find all sorts of happiness with. But not the city, except maybe the walk by the lake in late summer and autumn, the gathering quietness of the water, the way the ducks begin to speak to you while invisible on the shore, the way the wind moved in the leaves.
Today I did miss it, one thing in particular: I remember in my last two years at Madison that I could scarcely walk two blocks on campus without encountering someone known to me, who'd stop and say hello. There was one particular day that I made a quick walk from the physics building to state street and met someone on every block. And they were all different people--Pearl from my first women's studies courses, who was in band and whom I never would have met or known in the normal course of things but who was so friendly and full of joy that we were friends almost instinctively--Peter from my lab, on his way back from lunch--a student I'd tutored in physics two years ago--Mona, who was on my floor my first year in the dorms--a professor I'd had who knew me by name. It was such a warm feeling, a feeling of belonging and owning. That I was part of this place, and this place was part of me. And the blue sky gleamed through the yellow gingko tree, and I didn't ever want to let it go.
When I left for grad school, I fled south because I was sick of winter, of overbearing winter that took the heart of the year and left everything else a brief flame. Summer and fall were too precious there. Spring was a week of rain in mid May.
There were things I loved about winter. Standing out in the cold after being in the hot building all night, with the sky filled with orange and purple clouds and the snow coming down softly and hugely. The city noises muffled with pillows of white down. The cold air on my cheeks, the cold air in my throat, the clouds of my breath rising and rising. The silence as the snow fell. The look of christmas lights in the snow.
But for the most part I have not missed Madison. I miss people: friends who changed my life, apartment mates and housemates and roommates who made coming home an unutterable joy and who formed a new family around me like a shield when things were really hard. The professors who garnered my respect and opened my way into the world of knowledge, who never hurt me, who never judged me. Colleagues in classes and people who I was able to find all sorts of happiness with. But not the city, except maybe the walk by the lake in late summer and autumn, the gathering quietness of the water, the way the ducks begin to speak to you while invisible on the shore, the way the wind moved in the leaves.
Today I did miss it, one thing in particular: I remember in my last two years at Madison that I could scarcely walk two blocks on campus without encountering someone known to me, who'd stop and say hello. There was one particular day that I made a quick walk from the physics building to state street and met someone on every block. And they were all different people--Pearl from my first women's studies courses, who was in band and whom I never would have met or known in the normal course of things but who was so friendly and full of joy that we were friends almost instinctively--Peter from my lab, on his way back from lunch--a student I'd tutored in physics two years ago--Mona, who was on my floor my first year in the dorms--a professor I'd had who knew me by name. It was such a warm feeling, a feeling of belonging and owning. That I was part of this place, and this place was part of me. And the blue sky gleamed through the yellow gingko tree, and I didn't ever want to let it go.
Monday, November 4, 2013
stupid sore wrist
I'm going to have to take it easy on the holiday knitting. My wrist is really giving me some troubles. This is why I don't knit stuffed things--they tend to take it out of me pretty bad.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Busy Bee
Work is kicking my ass.
12 hour days for nearly a week now. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but I am starting to not want to leave my bed in the morning. Especially if the cats are asleep on me.
Here they participate in separate grooming rituals. Sunshine:
And The Darkness.
Right. But this is a knitting blog, yes? How is the knitting front? Is that what you have come to learn?
With work keeping me so busy you'd think I wouldn't have much going on. and you would be WRONG, because I am the Queen of Hypocrisy. Never has my knitting been more diverse. Actually it's more that I am the Queen of Short Attention Spans. I am brimming with the love of all my yarns, and finally unpacking them all (the deepest stash) and playing with them all. Except laceweight because I am too lazy to wind it. Am I knitting some of my ever-growing Ravelry stash? No, of course not; I'm knitting up things that have been on my to-sell-or-trade page on Ravelry. Apparently I only find their value when I just want to get them the heck out of my stash, even if I must stoop so low as to actually knit them up.
So, what am I working on?
1. A floppy-eared bunny. I saw one in the local yarn store when I was there for knit group. They couldn't find the pattern that was used on him so I improvised my own based off of his design features. I did mess up one thing--his arms are too thick--but with a little bit of creative maneuvering this hasn't mattered. Alas that he is on hold until I get safety-eyes to use on him, and stitch him a mouth or something (can you believe my local Michael's doesn't have safety eyes? What the heck?)
2. socks for my twin<3! Alas that I need to measure them before I do the heel turn (her feet are a bit larger than mine) and my tape measure has gone missing. So those are also on hold
3. a hat for my brother<3. This was on hold because I needed to make sure it would fit an enormous man-head rather than my own petite skull. I have to corner a coworker and force them to model for me before I finish it, though it's 90% of the way done already :P Need to figure out how to attach/where to get a Green Bay Packers patch or something, so it's still on hold.
4. mittens for my older sister<3! Alas that while they are stranded colorwork, they are a non-repeating pattern and so require CONSTANT attention. I am slogging my way through these but it is a rough long haul. Still, they're one of my few projects that counts as "in progress"
5. the annual holiday surprise. This, alas, has barely been begun, which is really terrifying to imagine. I need to get on this!
6. holiday gift for my mom<3--not yet begun. Oops?
7. socks for myself! I'm doing 2 at a time, cuff down, using magic loop (ie on one giant circular needle). It's not as bad as it was--I was learning how to magic loop when I started them off and it was DAMN slow going for a while--but it still doesn't feel as fast as DPNs for me. I have, however, determined that I only need to go some 4 odd rows before doing the heel flaps and turns, so they are no longer on hold but slowly progressing. Slowly.
8. A cowl. I knit the bulk of this back in March but after I bound off I decided it was just too skinny, and I had 3/4 of a ball of yarn left that I could put into it. I finally picked out the cast off, ripped back 3 rows to a good point in the pattern, picked up the stitches, and re-learned the pattern. This is a really fun knit but for now it's relegated to the emergency yarn drawer at my office, for when I need a simple knit to think about some code that doesn't work, or a way to stay awake at colloquium, but alas I've been so busy writing a paper that it hasn't gotten much attention. Still, it's in progress. Slow, slow progress.
9. The scrappy stripey shawl! This started off as a shawl anyway; I wanted to make a giant triangle, with a single increase every 4th row. But I got bored with it when it was a couple of feet long and frankly I wasn't sure how I was going to wear it as anything other than a weird scarf. So I bound it off and started seaming the pointed end to part of the broad end to make a neat folded cowl. It's not fully seamed up yet, though, and I have a lot of ends to weave in from the striping
10. fingerless mitts. I wove in ends and seamed down one hem of one mitt. I only have 3 more hems left and this pair of mitts that I've had for at least a year will finally be complete. Actually I think it's been 2 years :P Can you tell I don't like finishing? I don't like finishing.
11. More fingerless mitts. These need buttons. 14 buttons per mitt. I think I only got 6 on before I gave up on them. They're lingering going on 2 years now as well, but they've made it back out of the depths and into my work-to-do pile.
12. A sheet of colorwork fleece. I'm doing stranded colorwork in the round with some hairy single-ply peruvian wool "peruvia" by Berocco, I believe. I love the stuff--it's super warm and fuzzy and fluffy--but it isn't really garment-appropriate because it fuzzes like the devil. So I'm going to knit a tube, felt it in the washer, cut it open and up into pieces, and try to make some cat beds or something out of it. I might cut it open before the washer, just to take a stab at cutting a steek like I someday want to do.
13. The blanket I started in January. It's a good thing I don't really want it right now because I've only got 2 or 3 squares done. I may have a few more planned but I'm a bit worried about what I want to do and also about getting the right background color of yarn. Anyway, it's malingering.
14. For this month's goal for the year, I wanted to start a shawl out of some green mohair I got in Denmark, for a dear old friend of mine who lives on the other side of the country. Haven't managed it yet but I'll try to cast it on tonight!
Things I've relegated to the depths:
Stripey socks. They're from some leftover scraps of plain sock yarn I found in my deep stash. They're fun and easy but they are locked in a government building that I won't have access to until the shutdown is over :P woot!
The brown sweater. It needs to have the sleeve ripped out and I have to figure out how to do the front and back top pieces because I don't have enough yarn for full sleeves. I might rip it out completely. I like it so far but the fit is not perfect; to be honest it's kinda crummy.
fixing the other cowl I knit back in February/March. Half of it is knit too loosely (I was in a hurry to finish it), and really it has had too many stitches cast on. I need to cast on fewer. It fits around my neck 3 times with ease and it just looks ridiculous.
the surprise mittens for my best friend. I finished one but haven't added the ribbing for the convertible mitts part yet; plus I need to knit the other one. But I can really only do one stressful colorwork project at a time and the mittens for my sister are taking that up right now.
Things I really can't wait to cast on:
1. I want to improvise some stripey fingerless mitts from some rowan felted tweed dk that I don't even HAVE yet
2. I want to re-do my Hanna Cowl using the neon yarn I found in my LYS
3. I want to start Takoma. I finally have enough yarn for it! I've been craving this sweater for YEARS. Alas that the yarn is in a different color but I still have enough, actually enough for it and I want it, I want it so bad, and I am gonna steek it and do it in the round! woo!
4. I want another shawl in progress for me. I am not sure if I want to cast on my Color Affection yet (a few years later it's just... not as appealing) or if I want to remake my purple Summer Flies that was lost in the car crash, or if I just want to toss it all out and find a new crazy shawl to make, but I'd love to have one on the needles.
5. I want more socks, but mostly I just want to HAVE socks, not to knit them.
12 hour days for nearly a week now. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but I am starting to not want to leave my bed in the morning. Especially if the cats are asleep on me.
Here they participate in separate grooming rituals. Sunshine:
And The Darkness.
Any space that is yours is also mine, yes?
Sunshine may complain but if an ear is presented to her, she will clean it.
Oh, very well.
Right. But this is a knitting blog, yes? How is the knitting front? Is that what you have come to learn?
With work keeping me so busy you'd think I wouldn't have much going on. and you would be WRONG, because I am the Queen of Hypocrisy. Never has my knitting been more diverse. Actually it's more that I am the Queen of Short Attention Spans. I am brimming with the love of all my yarns, and finally unpacking them all (the deepest stash) and playing with them all. Except laceweight because I am too lazy to wind it. Am I knitting some of my ever-growing Ravelry stash? No, of course not; I'm knitting up things that have been on my to-sell-or-trade page on Ravelry. Apparently I only find their value when I just want to get them the heck out of my stash, even if I must stoop so low as to actually knit them up.
So, what am I working on?
1. A floppy-eared bunny. I saw one in the local yarn store when I was there for knit group. They couldn't find the pattern that was used on him so I improvised my own based off of his design features. I did mess up one thing--his arms are too thick--but with a little bit of creative maneuvering this hasn't mattered. Alas that he is on hold until I get safety-eyes to use on him, and stitch him a mouth or something (can you believe my local Michael's doesn't have safety eyes? What the heck?)
2. socks for my twin<3! Alas that I need to measure them before I do the heel turn (her feet are a bit larger than mine) and my tape measure has gone missing. So those are also on hold
3. a hat for my brother<3. This was on hold because I needed to make sure it would fit an enormous man-head rather than my own petite skull. I have to corner a coworker and force them to model for me before I finish it, though it's 90% of the way done already :P Need to figure out how to attach/where to get a Green Bay Packers patch or something, so it's still on hold.
4. mittens for my older sister<3! Alas that while they are stranded colorwork, they are a non-repeating pattern and so require CONSTANT attention. I am slogging my way through these but it is a rough long haul. Still, they're one of my few projects that counts as "in progress"
5. the annual holiday surprise. This, alas, has barely been begun, which is really terrifying to imagine. I need to get on this!
6. holiday gift for my mom<3--not yet begun. Oops?
7. socks for myself! I'm doing 2 at a time, cuff down, using magic loop (ie on one giant circular needle). It's not as bad as it was--I was learning how to magic loop when I started them off and it was DAMN slow going for a while--but it still doesn't feel as fast as DPNs for me. I have, however, determined that I only need to go some 4 odd rows before doing the heel flaps and turns, so they are no longer on hold but slowly progressing. Slowly.
8. A cowl. I knit the bulk of this back in March but after I bound off I decided it was just too skinny, and I had 3/4 of a ball of yarn left that I could put into it. I finally picked out the cast off, ripped back 3 rows to a good point in the pattern, picked up the stitches, and re-learned the pattern. This is a really fun knit but for now it's relegated to the emergency yarn drawer at my office, for when I need a simple knit to think about some code that doesn't work, or a way to stay awake at colloquium, but alas I've been so busy writing a paper that it hasn't gotten much attention. Still, it's in progress. Slow, slow progress.
9. The scrappy stripey shawl! This started off as a shawl anyway; I wanted to make a giant triangle, with a single increase every 4th row. But I got bored with it when it was a couple of feet long and frankly I wasn't sure how I was going to wear it as anything other than a weird scarf. So I bound it off and started seaming the pointed end to part of the broad end to make a neat folded cowl. It's not fully seamed up yet, though, and I have a lot of ends to weave in from the striping
10. fingerless mitts. I wove in ends and seamed down one hem of one mitt. I only have 3 more hems left and this pair of mitts that I've had for at least a year will finally be complete. Actually I think it's been 2 years :P Can you tell I don't like finishing? I don't like finishing.
11. More fingerless mitts. These need buttons. 14 buttons per mitt. I think I only got 6 on before I gave up on them. They're lingering going on 2 years now as well, but they've made it back out of the depths and into my work-to-do pile.
12. A sheet of colorwork fleece. I'm doing stranded colorwork in the round with some hairy single-ply peruvian wool "peruvia" by Berocco, I believe. I love the stuff--it's super warm and fuzzy and fluffy--but it isn't really garment-appropriate because it fuzzes like the devil. So I'm going to knit a tube, felt it in the washer, cut it open and up into pieces, and try to make some cat beds or something out of it. I might cut it open before the washer, just to take a stab at cutting a steek like I someday want to do.
13. The blanket I started in January. It's a good thing I don't really want it right now because I've only got 2 or 3 squares done. I may have a few more planned but I'm a bit worried about what I want to do and also about getting the right background color of yarn. Anyway, it's malingering.
14. For this month's goal for the year, I wanted to start a shawl out of some green mohair I got in Denmark, for a dear old friend of mine who lives on the other side of the country. Haven't managed it yet but I'll try to cast it on tonight!
Things I've relegated to the depths:
Stripey socks. They're from some leftover scraps of plain sock yarn I found in my deep stash. They're fun and easy but they are locked in a government building that I won't have access to until the shutdown is over :P woot!
The brown sweater. It needs to have the sleeve ripped out and I have to figure out how to do the front and back top pieces because I don't have enough yarn for full sleeves. I might rip it out completely. I like it so far but the fit is not perfect; to be honest it's kinda crummy.
fixing the other cowl I knit back in February/March. Half of it is knit too loosely (I was in a hurry to finish it), and really it has had too many stitches cast on. I need to cast on fewer. It fits around my neck 3 times with ease and it just looks ridiculous.
the surprise mittens for my best friend. I finished one but haven't added the ribbing for the convertible mitts part yet; plus I need to knit the other one. But I can really only do one stressful colorwork project at a time and the mittens for my sister are taking that up right now.
Things I really can't wait to cast on:
1. I want to improvise some stripey fingerless mitts from some rowan felted tweed dk that I don't even HAVE yet
2. I want to re-do my Hanna Cowl using the neon yarn I found in my LYS
3. I want to start Takoma. I finally have enough yarn for it! I've been craving this sweater for YEARS. Alas that the yarn is in a different color but I still have enough, actually enough for it and I want it, I want it so bad, and I am gonna steek it and do it in the round! woo!
4. I want another shawl in progress for me. I am not sure if I want to cast on my Color Affection yet (a few years later it's just... not as appealing) or if I want to remake my purple Summer Flies that was lost in the car crash, or if I just want to toss it all out and find a new crazy shawl to make, but I'd love to have one on the needles.
5. I want more socks, but mostly I just want to HAVE socks, not to knit them.
Monday, September 30, 2013
3
3 projects finished in September.
none of them useful/on my list
Ghost Leaf mitts;
Pumpkin Pickers out of my handspun;
Pine Forest baby blanket because babbysurprise for a friend!
3 projects started but not finished in September.
all of them useful/on my list (so I am not showing you, neener)
3 gifts in progress right now: for brother (almost done!), sister (nnngh well making slow progress), and twin (30%, not bad!)
3 things I am sitting on that should be gifts: mitts for Patrick, surprise for Louise, and slippers for my mum
3 work projects currently eating all my time:
my LIRG paper (Eee! so close! but 3 sections left to edit!)
my thesis (must. program.)
the random work with the two dudes from Germany (which I thought it was all abandoned or whatever but now it keeps popping back up)
3 meetings in the next 24 hours:
2 dr appts
and galaxy evolution group
3 errands to run:
get groceries
visit pharmacy
get a haircut
3 things to mail:
the baby blanket (after it gets washed)
a surprise for my twin
a letter to my aunt (eep!)
3 things to figure out:
whether or not to do grading
how to do this meeting on Thurs with possible professional network connection
what to get from the grocery store for $90 to last me 2 weeks
3 bills to figure out
internet bill (which needs to be reimbursed/paid?)
the garbage bill deal with the neighbors
my phone bill
3 hours left of work to do tonight. but I'm gonna do them at home because I want cats and dinner whilst I work.
none of them useful/on my list
Ghost Leaf mitts;
3 projects started but not finished in September.
all of them useful/on my list (so I am not showing you, neener)
3 gifts in progress right now: for brother (almost done!), sister (nnngh well making slow progress), and twin (30%, not bad!)
3 things I am sitting on that should be gifts: mitts for Patrick, surprise for Louise, and slippers for my mum
3 work projects currently eating all my time:
my LIRG paper (Eee! so close! but 3 sections left to edit!)
my thesis (must. program.)
the random work with the two dudes from Germany (which I thought it was all abandoned or whatever but now it keeps popping back up)
3 meetings in the next 24 hours:
2 dr appts
and galaxy evolution group
3 errands to run:
get groceries
visit pharmacy
get a haircut
3 things to mail:
the baby blanket (after it gets washed)
a surprise for my twin
a letter to my aunt (eep!)
3 things to figure out:
whether or not to do grading
how to do this meeting on Thurs with possible professional network connection
what to get from the grocery store for $90 to last me 2 weeks
3 bills to figure out
internet bill (which needs to be reimbursed/paid?)
the garbage bill deal with the neighbors
my phone bill
3 hours left of work to do tonight. but I'm gonna do them at home because I want cats and dinner whilst I work.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Finishing and Beginning
Finished up that shop sample. Made it smaller than they recommended, because really a double loop was too intense. Also I hated the colors. And the construction was okay but annoying on that not-quite-right-sized needle.
I finished a scarf for my friend, and a pair of socks for me. And then, because I was in a socky mood, I made my own sock club!
Here's how you do it:
1) pour all your sock yarn out on the bed or floor.
2) bury your face in it or roll in it, depending.
3) squish and squeeze the best skeins of it, gently imagining in your head what you want to make out of it
4) grab the closest ball. Go on ravelry and find a project you want to make out of it, preferably socks since this is a sock club. Or if you already know that it's going to be ribbed socks for grandpa, then write that down on a slip of paper
5) put the ball(s) and the pattern in a paper bag or a big envelope or something. Don't mark it
6) Repeat until you run out of sock yarn.
7) Contemplate purchasing more sock yarn until you count the number of projects you have before you. Go kinda pale and mumble something about your hobby being totally worth it and not exorbitant at all
8) Next time you need a new project to cast on, or you clear off your sock needles, or it's the first of the month, or whatever deadline you set for yourself is met: grab a bag at random. Rip it open. take pictures of the ripping open process and post them for me, so I can live vicariously through you. Then knit what's inside!
Repeat step 8 until you run out of projects. Then feel fully justified in spending $200 ordering discount sock yarn online or at your LYS. Marvel in your collection of socks or your preparation for the holidays or the love you've shown random family members and friends.
What else have I been working on?
Well, I spun up some yarn. Finished spinning the purple stuff, just need to ply it; spun up and plied the orange and yellow stuff. Now I've started two new batches of rainbowy stuff--one the stuff that I'll chain ply and make into gorgeously skinny (I hope) sock yarn with sparkles. The other stuff is going to be a bit thicker than my normal dk (maybe. I'm not good at hitting the thickness I want all the time :P), and it might take me a while because the sparkly stuff is so much more interesting.
Of course it doesn't help that July was Spinneretta's buy 4 get the 5th free shop sale. That woman holds my wallet in her dyer's pots. I can't resist her stuff. The purple stuff and the yellow and orange stuff above are both hers, and she still makes up half my fiber stash. Anyway, I picked up 2 braids of butterscotch, which isn't as yellow as I thought it would be, so I'm not sure what to do with it any more. (and a gorgeous skein of blue and another of red, subtly variegated. <3 it!). Maybe I'll ply it with some of my natural white or brown stuff? If I had combs or hand carders I'd try mixing fibers but it's pretty hard to do otherwise. Hmmm...
Anyway, I'm building up my current list of things I'm working on
1) fat rainbowy yarn
2) skinny rainbow sparkly yarn
3) stripey socks for me
4) huge shawl for me out of Mushishi by Plymouth Yarns. I've been craving this stuff for YEARS and finally I caved at my LYS's annual sale and picked it up for $10 off per skein. 2 skeins is plenty for a giant worsted weight shawl, which is exactly what I've been craving to make lately. Lala's Simply Shawl it is, from ravelry
5) holiday gift #1, for my twin
6) holiday gift #2, for my brother
7) a scalene triangle shawl. I saw Leslie (of the Knit Girllls) working on one of these a while back and the concept is really simple. The other day when I was at work and needed a thinking break I found three random balls of yarn in my emergency yarn drawer, left over from my Hanna Cowl (which by the way I am totally going to have to rip out and re-knit. Gah!). Now, technically there's a fourth ball at home that matches, but I ignored that one and cast on this shawl. It doesn't get a lot of work done because my thinking time is usually pretty short (busy busy at work) before I get distracted and get back to action, but it's moving along slowly
8) I *finally* found a use for this Naturally Caron Spa yarn I've had in stash forever. I always wanted to make it a tunic or something but I don't have a large number of balls, and it's incredibly splitty, and no pattern is perfect... blah blah blah many excuses. ANYWAY! I found a lovely crochet pattern, and I'm going to make it into a huge wrap, or if there's plenty of it I might make it into a weird cardigan/tunic thing involving some seaming. *excited*
What I have to start in September:
1) holiday gift #3, for my older sister. These are going to take a lot of work, but if I get them started now I am sure I'll finish them
2) holiday gift #4, for my friend. The first one of these is almost done, I just need to make a few changes, and then I can (hopefully) cast on the second one and repeat it :D
3) holiday gift #5, for my older sister. Easy, repetitive, and hopefully a fantastic surprise. I should really be working on this every week from now until the holidays, but I'll see if I can condense it to one month, just for fun
What I want to be working on:
1) Knitting some mittens or something pretty in colorwork out of my remaining Peruvia fuzzy happy beautifully tonal yarn and then felting the crap out of it
2) Make more socks for me. socks socks socks forever.
Things I need to fix:
1) the Hanna Cowl. totally has to be ripped out and re-knit. I can't even just reknit part of it, because the main problem is this: I ran out of brown yarn. And the secondary problem is this: it's just too darn big. And the tertiary problem is this: the second half of it is at a different gauge because I was hurrying. So it has to be completely undone.
2) my Honey Cowl. Darn I really like this one, but I don't like how it curls and I just want it to be wider. Fortunately I've got a whole skein of yarn (+ a bit more) left so I'll just go ahead and take the bindoff out and pic up all the stitches and put the next skein into it. When I get time :P
3) my sweater. I started the sleeves, but I am beginning to realize I don't think I'll have enough yarn for the top half if I do full sleeves. So now I have to rip the arm out (because I was alternating two balls and I need both of them or at least another one to try doing the top half) and figure out what to do about the front and back. and change some shaping. and then knit it all before I come back to the sleeves.
4) weave in ends and sew down hems for my At the Telescope mitts
5) sew buttons onto my Spatterdashery
6) felt and assemble my first pair of felted press slippers. I finally tried some felting with this huge knitting bag I knitted about 4 years ago, and it felted WONDERFULLY. So I am no longer afraid to take a stab at the slippers, although getting them to fit and felt right might be challenging. I guess we'll see
7) gosh darn it work on that blasted Shipwreck Shawl. Someday I'll be done with it, and I'm sure it will be epic and awesome, but I can't finish it if I don't ever work on it! This is less of a fix and more of something just lurking... goodness, I wish I could just wave my hand and have it be done!
Revisiting my old knitting goals for the year:
January: Stockinette socks finished! yay!
February: Eggplant shawl finished! yay!
March: Baby Sweater x2 + fat stuffed turtle finished! yay!
April: Used up Grignasco Champagne in pink! yay!
May: Started Maluka, but did not finish.
June: Nada. Goals all went to hell. but I had surgery, so neener.
July: Giant Hideous Plarn Shopping Bag finished! bwahahaha and yay!
August: Found a pattern for the Spa and cast on, but did not finish.
so, my remaining goals are:
September: open (see above. Holiday gifts. will use up some of my generic wool/acrylic)
October: Cast on something with mohair laceweight and knit for at least 5 hours with it.
November: My goal was to use up this blue chunk alpaca. I made a hat out of it sometime in May or June, so my new goal is to use some generic wool deep stash to make thrummed mittens for my mum.
December: Start an Estonian Lace Shawl out of my red lace. but FIRST I need it to be untangled. without death. Still working on that.
Of all my goal-setting over the years (lol, five years) of knititng, this has been one of the most successful so far. It's focused me not on finishing things up, not on getting yarn out of stash, but just on using the old stuff that has been waiting for a purpose. I really enjoy it. Sure, I have plenty of new stuff that I'm playing with (*cough* sock yarns, the blanket, the giant shawl that's 1/4 done and I just got the yarn on Saturday, etc) but I also get some work done on the older stuff, and it's no longer just put off forever. I will have to try this again for next year.
I finished a scarf for my friend, and a pair of socks for me. And then, because I was in a socky mood, I made my own sock club!
Here's how you do it:
1) pour all your sock yarn out on the bed or floor.
2) bury your face in it or roll in it, depending.
3) squish and squeeze the best skeins of it, gently imagining in your head what you want to make out of it
4) grab the closest ball. Go on ravelry and find a project you want to make out of it, preferably socks since this is a sock club. Or if you already know that it's going to be ribbed socks for grandpa, then write that down on a slip of paper
5) put the ball(s) and the pattern in a paper bag or a big envelope or something. Don't mark it
6) Repeat until you run out of sock yarn.
7) Contemplate purchasing more sock yarn until you count the number of projects you have before you. Go kinda pale and mumble something about your hobby being totally worth it and not exorbitant at all
8) Next time you need a new project to cast on, or you clear off your sock needles, or it's the first of the month, or whatever deadline you set for yourself is met: grab a bag at random. Rip it open. take pictures of the ripping open process and post them for me, so I can live vicariously through you. Then knit what's inside!
Repeat step 8 until you run out of projects. Then feel fully justified in spending $200 ordering discount sock yarn online or at your LYS. Marvel in your collection of socks or your preparation for the holidays or the love you've shown random family members and friends.
What else have I been working on?
Well, I spun up some yarn. Finished spinning the purple stuff, just need to ply it; spun up and plied the orange and yellow stuff. Now I've started two new batches of rainbowy stuff--one the stuff that I'll chain ply and make into gorgeously skinny (I hope) sock yarn with sparkles. The other stuff is going to be a bit thicker than my normal dk (maybe. I'm not good at hitting the thickness I want all the time :P), and it might take me a while because the sparkly stuff is so much more interesting.
Of course it doesn't help that July was Spinneretta's buy 4 get the 5th free shop sale. That woman holds my wallet in her dyer's pots. I can't resist her stuff. The purple stuff and the yellow and orange stuff above are both hers, and she still makes up half my fiber stash. Anyway, I picked up 2 braids of butterscotch, which isn't as yellow as I thought it would be, so I'm not sure what to do with it any more. (and a gorgeous skein of blue and another of red, subtly variegated. <3 it!). Maybe I'll ply it with some of my natural white or brown stuff? If I had combs or hand carders I'd try mixing fibers but it's pretty hard to do otherwise. Hmmm...
Anyway, I'm building up my current list of things I'm working on
1) fat rainbowy yarn
2) skinny rainbow sparkly yarn
3) stripey socks for me
4) huge shawl for me out of Mushishi by Plymouth Yarns. I've been craving this stuff for YEARS and finally I caved at my LYS's annual sale and picked it up for $10 off per skein. 2 skeins is plenty for a giant worsted weight shawl, which is exactly what I've been craving to make lately. Lala's Simply Shawl it is, from ravelry
5) holiday gift #1, for my twin
6) holiday gift #2, for my brother
7) a scalene triangle shawl. I saw Leslie (of the Knit Girllls) working on one of these a while back and the concept is really simple. The other day when I was at work and needed a thinking break I found three random balls of yarn in my emergency yarn drawer, left over from my Hanna Cowl (which by the way I am totally going to have to rip out and re-knit. Gah!). Now, technically there's a fourth ball at home that matches, but I ignored that one and cast on this shawl. It doesn't get a lot of work done because my thinking time is usually pretty short (busy busy at work) before I get distracted and get back to action, but it's moving along slowly
8) I *finally* found a use for this Naturally Caron Spa yarn I've had in stash forever. I always wanted to make it a tunic or something but I don't have a large number of balls, and it's incredibly splitty, and no pattern is perfect... blah blah blah many excuses. ANYWAY! I found a lovely crochet pattern, and I'm going to make it into a huge wrap, or if there's plenty of it I might make it into a weird cardigan/tunic thing involving some seaming. *excited*
What I have to start in September:
1) holiday gift #3, for my older sister. These are going to take a lot of work, but if I get them started now I am sure I'll finish them
2) holiday gift #4, for my friend. The first one of these is almost done, I just need to make a few changes, and then I can (hopefully) cast on the second one and repeat it :D
3) holiday gift #5, for my older sister. Easy, repetitive, and hopefully a fantastic surprise. I should really be working on this every week from now until the holidays, but I'll see if I can condense it to one month, just for fun
What I want to be working on:
1) Knitting some mittens or something pretty in colorwork out of my remaining Peruvia fuzzy happy beautifully tonal yarn and then felting the crap out of it
2) Make more socks for me. socks socks socks forever.
Things I need to fix:
1) the Hanna Cowl. totally has to be ripped out and re-knit. I can't even just reknit part of it, because the main problem is this: I ran out of brown yarn. And the secondary problem is this: it's just too darn big. And the tertiary problem is this: the second half of it is at a different gauge because I was hurrying. So it has to be completely undone.
2) my Honey Cowl. Darn I really like this one, but I don't like how it curls and I just want it to be wider. Fortunately I've got a whole skein of yarn (+ a bit more) left so I'll just go ahead and take the bindoff out and pic up all the stitches and put the next skein into it. When I get time :P
3) my sweater. I started the sleeves, but I am beginning to realize I don't think I'll have enough yarn for the top half if I do full sleeves. So now I have to rip the arm out (because I was alternating two balls and I need both of them or at least another one to try doing the top half) and figure out what to do about the front and back. and change some shaping. and then knit it all before I come back to the sleeves.
4) weave in ends and sew down hems for my At the Telescope mitts
5) sew buttons onto my Spatterdashery
6) felt and assemble my first pair of felted press slippers. I finally tried some felting with this huge knitting bag I knitted about 4 years ago, and it felted WONDERFULLY. So I am no longer afraid to take a stab at the slippers, although getting them to fit and felt right might be challenging. I guess we'll see
7) gosh darn it work on that blasted Shipwreck Shawl. Someday I'll be done with it, and I'm sure it will be epic and awesome, but I can't finish it if I don't ever work on it! This is less of a fix and more of something just lurking... goodness, I wish I could just wave my hand and have it be done!
Revisiting my old knitting goals for the year:
January: Stockinette socks finished! yay!
February: Eggplant shawl finished! yay!
March: Baby Sweater x2 + fat stuffed turtle finished! yay!
April: Used up Grignasco Champagne in pink! yay!
May: Started Maluka, but did not finish.
June: Nada. Goals all went to hell. but I had surgery, so neener.
July: Giant Hideous Plarn Shopping Bag finished! bwahahaha and yay!
August: Found a pattern for the Spa and cast on, but did not finish.
so, my remaining goals are:
September: open (see above. Holiday gifts. will use up some of my generic wool/acrylic)
October: Cast on something with mohair laceweight and knit for at least 5 hours with it.
November: My goal was to use up this blue chunk alpaca. I made a hat out of it sometime in May or June, so my new goal is to use some generic wool deep stash to make thrummed mittens for my mum.
December: Start an Estonian Lace Shawl out of my red lace. but FIRST I need it to be untangled. without death. Still working on that.
Of all my goal-setting over the years (lol, five years) of knititng, this has been one of the most successful so far. It's focused me not on finishing things up, not on getting yarn out of stash, but just on using the old stuff that has been waiting for a purpose. I really enjoy it. Sure, I have plenty of new stuff that I'm playing with (*cough* sock yarns, the blanket, the giant shawl that's 1/4 done and I just got the yarn on Saturday, etc) but I also get some work done on the older stuff, and it's no longer just put off forever. I will have to try this again for next year.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
can't post now
must knit socks.
if I can finish 3 pairs in the next week, I might actually have a chance at Stash Dash.
Other things ~50% finished:
The Sweater is back out of hibernation and I've started a sleeve! Just over halfway, now, depending on whether or not I do a button band
My May goal of Maluka is still at about halfway. Almost finished with the lace edging.
Leyburn socks are well over halfway--I just got to the gusset increases on the foot--but they've been put aside for my second self-striping sock in KFI. This one is at the same place, but lovely stockinette and so easy for the road trip.
I'm less than half done with my shop sample. Oops? Well I promised it by the end of July so it's going to get a lot of work done on it.
I am going to rip out the half-finished scarf for my friend. It needs to be wider because the alpaca grows too much. not a problem.
Need to get to work on these fancy tricky colorwork mittens. I think they'll be my august goal.
speaking of goals: My June goal of my other tiny lace project (fine purple cotton) completely failed. Didn't even look at it. Too busy working on other stuff. July goal hasn't been started yet either but I may bust out the giant crochet hook and plarn at any moment and work on the shoulderbag that I want to make.
back to sock knitting.
if I can finish 3 pairs in the next week, I might actually have a chance at Stash Dash.
Other things ~50% finished:
The Sweater is back out of hibernation and I've started a sleeve! Just over halfway, now, depending on whether or not I do a button band
My May goal of Maluka is still at about halfway. Almost finished with the lace edging.
Leyburn socks are well over halfway--I just got to the gusset increases on the foot--but they've been put aside for my second self-striping sock in KFI. This one is at the same place, but lovely stockinette and so easy for the road trip.
I'm less than half done with my shop sample. Oops? Well I promised it by the end of July so it's going to get a lot of work done on it.
I am going to rip out the half-finished scarf for my friend. It needs to be wider because the alpaca grows too much. not a problem.
Need to get to work on these fancy tricky colorwork mittens. I think they'll be my august goal.
speaking of goals: My June goal of my other tiny lace project (fine purple cotton) completely failed. Didn't even look at it. Too busy working on other stuff. July goal hasn't been started yet either but I may bust out the giant crochet hook and plarn at any moment and work on the shoulderbag that I want to make.
back to sock knitting.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
things are fuzzy
I am feeling confused and discombobulated, mostly about the yarn and the knitting.
It's the move, of course--I just moved last week, but of course there are all these odds and ends and I am in sort of in transition still. I got most of my stuff unpacked but because my bedroom is smaller there aren't a lot of places for things, including my yarn, and my former organizational system is completely destroyed. I can't even fit the guinea pig in yet.
I should probably dump out all the yarn and try to reorganize it, but I keep finding it, and all the works in progress are scattered.
I really need to focus on a couple of things this summer: knitting socks (because I feel like I hardly have any pairs. I could knit 2 pairs per month if I was persistent! and I have enough needles and plenty of yarn!) and knitting things to prepare for the holidays (mittens. a lot of mittens. and my brother wants a hat! probably need to put the Packers on it for him to like it, but we'll see. Maybe 2x2 rib in black and I can applique a GB logo or something... I am not looking forward to having to do intarsia again).
Of course I still have plenty of things in progress--a hat for a friend, shawls galore, the sweater that never ends, fingerless mitts by the dozen... gah.
It's the summer stash dash and normally this gets me all riled up to start knitting all the things, but I can't FIND anything. I mean, I know where it is, but all the stuff that was in progress is hidden somewhere. Except for the blanket squares, but the last one turned out wonky! curse you mitered squares.
What the heck am I gonna do with myself all summer?
It's the move, of course--I just moved last week, but of course there are all these odds and ends and I am in sort of in transition still. I got most of my stuff unpacked but because my bedroom is smaller there aren't a lot of places for things, including my yarn, and my former organizational system is completely destroyed. I can't even fit the guinea pig in yet.
I should probably dump out all the yarn and try to reorganize it, but I keep finding it, and all the works in progress are scattered.
I really need to focus on a couple of things this summer: knitting socks (because I feel like I hardly have any pairs. I could knit 2 pairs per month if I was persistent! and I have enough needles and plenty of yarn!) and knitting things to prepare for the holidays (mittens. a lot of mittens. and my brother wants a hat! probably need to put the Packers on it for him to like it, but we'll see. Maybe 2x2 rib in black and I can applique a GB logo or something... I am not looking forward to having to do intarsia again).
Of course I still have plenty of things in progress--a hat for a friend, shawls galore, the sweater that never ends, fingerless mitts by the dozen... gah.
It's the summer stash dash and normally this gets me all riled up to start knitting all the things, but I can't FIND anything. I mean, I know where it is, but all the stuff that was in progress is hidden somewhere. Except for the blanket squares, but the last one turned out wonky! curse you mitered squares.
What the heck am I gonna do with myself all summer?
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Vaudeville and travel and car shopping, oh my!
I went up this past week to see my Twin in NYC. We had the best time, and I miss her already and wish I could smuggle her home with me in my pocket or something like that. We tried some delicious pork-belly bao, waffles+dinges from a street cart (as well as a whole lot more), a really phenomenal goat cheese empanada, and some tasty bagels at a new joint (as well as breakfast at a couple of good brunch places. Oh, I love coffee). I spent some time wandering around and finding yarn shops, and I stopped at the Natural History Museum for an hour or so (I looked at the birds. They were really cool birds. Owls remain creepy), then spent the rest of the day in Central Park (there was a fire. One of the police-golf-carts exploded. It was not that exciting from halfway across the park--it only sounded like someone had dropped something--but must've been pretty neat close up).
Mostly we hung out, spent time talking or relaxing, and she introduced me to some addicting music, as always. Oh, and we made it to the Chocolate Restaurant, which was deliciously problematic. And we watched Despicable Me--which remains one of my favorite movies. But the highlight of the entertainment was a vaudeville show called Old Hats that we saw on Wednesday evening. The show was excellent, funny, a little poignant at times, dramatic, and with a good singer/piano player and a band. It was also super exciting to spot George Takei and his partner there! I had a fan girl moment and wanted to squee giddily but I kept it under wraps, and didn't even get a picture of him because I didn't want to mess with his show-going experience, but it was so so very exciting to see him there, in the audience.
Now that I am home, and it is May, I want to knit and spin nothing, but have all the finished projects... I wonder where my motivation has gone.
Mostly we hung out, spent time talking or relaxing, and she introduced me to some addicting music, as always. Oh, and we made it to the Chocolate Restaurant, which was deliciously problematic. And we watched Despicable Me--which remains one of my favorite movies. But the highlight of the entertainment was a vaudeville show called Old Hats that we saw on Wednesday evening. The show was excellent, funny, a little poignant at times, dramatic, and with a good singer/piano player and a band. It was also super exciting to spot George Takei and his partner there! I had a fan girl moment and wanted to squee giddily but I kept it under wraps, and didn't even get a picture of him because I didn't want to mess with his show-going experience, but it was so so very exciting to see him there, in the audience.
Now that I am home, and it is May, I want to knit and spin nothing, but have all the finished projects... I wonder where my motivation has gone.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Almost May!
And I am getting really excited to start a project with my May-designated laceweight yarn. I've settled on Maluka, a crescent shaped short-row shawl with a lovely little lacy edging. I picked up some beads for sale at a local bead shop that might work with the coppery linen from Habu Textiles.
Meanwhile, I am working on the second Green Dragon sock, about to cast on the second Leyburn sock, and casually ignoring my scarf-and-hat in progress (it was for a birthday that passed. so it will now be for the coming winter. Plenty of time. Now if only I could get it to stop bleeding!)
If I were to start working on some hibernating objects, I would add thumbs to my freshly revived Extragalactic mitts (I just finished the second one last night! yay, it only took a year! stupid second-mitt-syndrome), and finish putting buttons on my Spatterdashery. Oh, and I suppose I should *try* to finish my long-desired Shipwreck Shawl (almost halfway done! the netting +beading takes forever!) and my Brown Sweater that is so comfortable and lovely.
My big goal for summer (aside from my various WIPs) is to work on things for my older sister, who has gotten the short end of the needle for several years now. The hat I made for her is pointy and needs to be ripped out, and the mittens I was making for her barely made it past the cuff by the time I left for the holidays. I've got the yarn for those two projects, + another lovely yarn for this holiday that I can't wait to try out. This is Level A Priority, people--knitting depravation! how dreadful. Oh, wait, she did receive that lovely cashmere cowl from me, buuuut I don't know if it counts as it wasn't knit specifically for her.
Other than that, I want to spiiiiiiin. It's a pity I can't get some serious spinning done while traveling, because lately it's the only thing I want to do. I have half of a rainbow yarn and half of a subtle earth-toned orange and purple yarn that I need to spin up (not together! ew! they are their own things), and I want to start spinning this dark purple and black yarn into some laceweight (if I can; I'm not normally fantastic with merino, and most of my stuff is dk-fingering nowadays) as soon as I can. And then I got a lovely heathered red blue and green fiber, and some fresh plump braids of bright yellow! Oh spinning, why do you make such beautiful results?
Meanwhile, I am working on the second Green Dragon sock, about to cast on the second Leyburn sock, and casually ignoring my scarf-and-hat in progress (it was for a birthday that passed. so it will now be for the coming winter. Plenty of time. Now if only I could get it to stop bleeding!)
If I were to start working on some hibernating objects, I would add thumbs to my freshly revived Extragalactic mitts (I just finished the second one last night! yay, it only took a year! stupid second-mitt-syndrome), and finish putting buttons on my Spatterdashery. Oh, and I suppose I should *try* to finish my long-desired Shipwreck Shawl (almost halfway done! the netting +beading takes forever!) and my Brown Sweater that is so comfortable and lovely.
My big goal for summer (aside from my various WIPs) is to work on things for my older sister, who has gotten the short end of the needle for several years now. The hat I made for her is pointy and needs to be ripped out, and the mittens I was making for her barely made it past the cuff by the time I left for the holidays. I've got the yarn for those two projects, + another lovely yarn for this holiday that I can't wait to try out. This is Level A Priority, people--knitting depravation! how dreadful. Oh, wait, she did receive that lovely cashmere cowl from me, buuuut I don't know if it counts as it wasn't knit specifically for her.
Other than that, I want to spiiiiiiin. It's a pity I can't get some serious spinning done while traveling, because lately it's the only thing I want to do. I have half of a rainbow yarn and half of a subtle earth-toned orange and purple yarn that I need to spin up (not together! ew! they are their own things), and I want to start spinning this dark purple and black yarn into some laceweight (if I can; I'm not normally fantastic with merino, and most of my stuff is dk-fingering nowadays) as soon as I can. And then I got a lovely heathered red blue and green fiber, and some fresh plump braids of bright yellow! Oh spinning, why do you make such beautiful results?
Monday, April 22, 2013
April showers bring ... knitting progress and goals
The weather has been so variable, I don't know what to hope for. First I was so pleased that it was warming up, and the grass was growing and the flowers were exploding everywhere (can you tell I don't have seasonal allergies? I am sure if you do you must hate me now. Especially because I like seeing the huge piles of pollen on the ground and drawing in pollen on peoples' cars. I mean, I like the flowers, of course--but I like the pollen too!). Then it got up to 90. "Whoa there!" I said to spring. "Slow down, buckaroo!" Except I don't actually talk like that. But we (the astronomers) all agreed that it was far too frickin' hot and we declared the weather "stupid".
Then it rained. For about a week. And was grey.
And then the sun came out.
And then it dropped to the 40s over night.
And then it rained again. It was less miserable than winter rain, despite the greyness, for two reasons. First of all, there was more daylight, even if it was an insipid and dull daylight. Secondly, every day of rain made the spring greenery all the more vibrant--like the grass was just saying, "bring it on!" as it lifted weights and ran cardio. Or whatever.
So, overall, it's been kind of crazy. In response, I have been---working. Okay, and knitting, I won't lie :).
My April goal was to knit a baby-thing out of that pink Grignasco Champagne that I first show-cased in this blog, and that I've had in my stash for years. I don't like pink, and I especially don't like insipid pale pink yarn. It's just not my thing! I mean, sure, it's also similar to a pale rose, and that sounds rather pleasant, doesn't it? But I don't wear it, and it's not that exciting to knit with.
Fortunately this stuff made up for its color in drape, slink, happy silkiness. Also, I have a friend who enjoys dressing their offspring in very girly pretty colors. So I made a little dress, and it might even fit. I'm not really good with child-like sizes, but it looks about right. I am debating sewing on some cute flower buttons that I've got in my button jar. On one hand, this is perfect for them. On the other hand, babies like to chew stuff and have been known to swallow buttons.
So, aside from buttons, that's finished. The downside? I STILL HAVE A BALL OF YARN LEFT. I can't move it from "stash" to "all used up" on ravelry. In desperation I've put it in "will trade or sell" but no one wants it and I don't blame them. Plus, not that many of my friends like pink! I should really use it up on another baby item of some sort. But I am sick sick sick of knitting it.
Promptly ignoring that dilemma, I've been churning away on my Hitchhiker out of my own handspun. I didn't finish it swiftly enough to enter it in the prize drawing for geeky knits that one of my podcasts did, but that's okay. I worked very hard on it for several days, and after a careful calculation and one late night, I have figured that I have three rows and a bindoff left, and that it should take less than an hour to finish.
However, I can't finish it yet because I'm on a trip and I Left It At Home. It wasn't worth the investment of bringing with for less than an hour's worth of knitting. *sigh*. It's also delicate and I don't want to risk the thin lace yarn on travel. But it is going to be the FIRST thing I finish when I return in a week.
I finished my twin sister's birthday socks. Well, I just tested them out and the bindoff on one of them is too tight, but that's quite easy to fix, so I'm counting them as finished. One 262 yard ball made two 10.2"-foot socks with 3-4 inches of a ribbed cuff; I am impressed! This is a complete reassessment of what type of yardage is necessary for socks. And that's an entire ball of yarn out of stash! Good work, me.
I immediately cast on for a pair of socks that I have long been desiring--the Leyburn pattern from Ravelry, in Green Dragon Yarn Sock based in the Somerset colorway. I've been working for less than a day, off and on, and I'm almost done with the foot of this toe-up sock. Sizing is a bit challenging but the result is amazing and I can't stop knitting it.
Slowly, when I am at home, I churn away at the Badger Gift Set (red scarf and hat with a band of white in each) for one of my oldest friends. The problem is that the red coloring comes off on my fingers as I knit, even though I soaked it four times and even tried adding vinegar to the bath. It bleeds. A lot. Fortunately it seems to only bleed when it rubs, but it makes me question whether or not I should bother finishing something that would go around a neck and be exposed to both rubbing and to damp. Still, it gets some work because it is easy and mindless at this point in time, and late at night that's what I turn to.
Finally, back home I started a pair of Nutkins in Little Red Bicycle Spark Sock in the Dagon colorway. I'm on the second sock and I've gotten past the fiddly little hem on the cuff (it's... not that bad, really. I'm just impatient). So with the right amount of work I will soon have TWO pairs of new socks for me. Delightful.
In order of how I will work:
1) finish 1 Leyburn sock
2) re-bindoff twin sock
3) (on the train ride, probably) knit my second Extragalactic mitt (Strawberry Victorian pattern in black and sparkly blue). It's rather fiddly colorwork and I've been ignoring it for a solid year, but I bet in a six hour train ride I can make a lot of progress
4) Finish Hitchhiker when I get home
5) knit a child's shrug out of that pink stuff GAAAH MAKE IT GO AWAY
That'll take me up to the end of the month--I am participating in the cold sheep knit-and-spin-along to use up stash, so I'll re-total my stuff then.
My goal for May (besides moving, having surgery, teaching a graduate-level lecture, and presenting actual research findings at my committee meeting) is to knit my coppery laceweight linen yarn. This will undoubtedly be complicated by all the socks I have on my needles, but my goal is to not cast anything on in May except that linen. If I finish it quickly, I have at least five lingering hibernating UFOs that can be poked at, but I don't need any more distraction. This includes, alas, a limit on spinning (but I have three fiber halves that are UFOs/waiting, so it shouldn't be a problem). But the spinning progress and thoughts and plans and finished yarns--those are for another day.
Then it rained. For about a week. And was grey.
And then the sun came out.
And then it dropped to the 40s over night.
And then it rained again. It was less miserable than winter rain, despite the greyness, for two reasons. First of all, there was more daylight, even if it was an insipid and dull daylight. Secondly, every day of rain made the spring greenery all the more vibrant--like the grass was just saying, "bring it on!" as it lifted weights and ran cardio. Or whatever.
So, overall, it's been kind of crazy. In response, I have been---working. Okay, and knitting, I won't lie :).
My April goal was to knit a baby-thing out of that pink Grignasco Champagne that I first show-cased in this blog, and that I've had in my stash for years. I don't like pink, and I especially don't like insipid pale pink yarn. It's just not my thing! I mean, sure, it's also similar to a pale rose, and that sounds rather pleasant, doesn't it? But I don't wear it, and it's not that exciting to knit with.
Fortunately this stuff made up for its color in drape, slink, happy silkiness. Also, I have a friend who enjoys dressing their offspring in very girly pretty colors. So I made a little dress, and it might even fit. I'm not really good with child-like sizes, but it looks about right. I am debating sewing on some cute flower buttons that I've got in my button jar. On one hand, this is perfect for them. On the other hand, babies like to chew stuff and have been known to swallow buttons.
So, aside from buttons, that's finished. The downside? I STILL HAVE A BALL OF YARN LEFT. I can't move it from "stash" to "all used up" on ravelry. In desperation I've put it in "will trade or sell" but no one wants it and I don't blame them. Plus, not that many of my friends like pink! I should really use it up on another baby item of some sort. But I am sick sick sick of knitting it.
Promptly ignoring that dilemma, I've been churning away on my Hitchhiker out of my own handspun. I didn't finish it swiftly enough to enter it in the prize drawing for geeky knits that one of my podcasts did, but that's okay. I worked very hard on it for several days, and after a careful calculation and one late night, I have figured that I have three rows and a bindoff left, and that it should take less than an hour to finish.
However, I can't finish it yet because I'm on a trip and I Left It At Home. It wasn't worth the investment of bringing with for less than an hour's worth of knitting. *sigh*. It's also delicate and I don't want to risk the thin lace yarn on travel. But it is going to be the FIRST thing I finish when I return in a week.
I finished my twin sister's birthday socks. Well, I just tested them out and the bindoff on one of them is too tight, but that's quite easy to fix, so I'm counting them as finished. One 262 yard ball made two 10.2"-foot socks with 3-4 inches of a ribbed cuff; I am impressed! This is a complete reassessment of what type of yardage is necessary for socks. And that's an entire ball of yarn out of stash! Good work, me.
I immediately cast on for a pair of socks that I have long been desiring--the Leyburn pattern from Ravelry, in Green Dragon Yarn Sock based in the Somerset colorway. I've been working for less than a day, off and on, and I'm almost done with the foot of this toe-up sock. Sizing is a bit challenging but the result is amazing and I can't stop knitting it.
Slowly, when I am at home, I churn away at the Badger Gift Set (red scarf and hat with a band of white in each) for one of my oldest friends. The problem is that the red coloring comes off on my fingers as I knit, even though I soaked it four times and even tried adding vinegar to the bath. It bleeds. A lot. Fortunately it seems to only bleed when it rubs, but it makes me question whether or not I should bother finishing something that would go around a neck and be exposed to both rubbing and to damp. Still, it gets some work because it is easy and mindless at this point in time, and late at night that's what I turn to.
Finally, back home I started a pair of Nutkins in Little Red Bicycle Spark Sock in the Dagon colorway. I'm on the second sock and I've gotten past the fiddly little hem on the cuff (it's... not that bad, really. I'm just impatient). So with the right amount of work I will soon have TWO pairs of new socks for me. Delightful.
In order of how I will work:
1) finish 1 Leyburn sock
2) re-bindoff twin sock
3) (on the train ride, probably) knit my second Extragalactic mitt (Strawberry Victorian pattern in black and sparkly blue). It's rather fiddly colorwork and I've been ignoring it for a solid year, but I bet in a six hour train ride I can make a lot of progress
4) Finish Hitchhiker when I get home
5) knit a child's shrug out of that pink stuff GAAAH MAKE IT GO AWAY
That'll take me up to the end of the month--I am participating in the cold sheep knit-and-spin-along to use up stash, so I'll re-total my stuff then.
My goal for May (besides moving, having surgery, teaching a graduate-level lecture, and presenting actual research findings at my committee meeting) is to knit my coppery laceweight linen yarn. This will undoubtedly be complicated by all the socks I have on my needles, but my goal is to not cast anything on in May except that linen. If I finish it quickly, I have at least five lingering hibernating UFOs that can be poked at, but I don't need any more distraction. This includes, alas, a limit on spinning (but I have three fiber halves that are UFOs/waiting, so it shouldn't be a problem). But the spinning progress and thoughts and plans and finished yarns--those are for another day.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
yaaaaaaaaarns
So I might as well come back to the true purpose of this blog (to ogle really gorgeous yarns and knitting projects and spend a lot of time lusting after more yarns and plotting what to do with them) and post some pictures. These are my favorites from the last year.
These are the Sister Socks I referenced in the last post (or the one before?). They're done in Berocco Comfort Sock, and they fit like a dream. They are also crazy soft and warm, and I love the subtle variegation of colors as they stripe. I turned out a pair of 8.5 W socks with a 5 inch cuff with 2/3 of a skein, and yes, I do have enough left to make an entire separate sock. Berroco Comfort Sock (and just Regular Sock, or Sox, whatever they call it these days) is really enjoyable to me for 2 reasons. Firstly, it knits up at a decent gauge, so you needn't have 80 stitches to go around your feet. I got gauge quite well using my standard 2.5mm (1.5 US size) needles. Secondly, it comes in a lot of exciting striping combos. Striping sock yarns are sort of harder to come by--indie dyers charge more for them, since they are harder to make--and Berrocco produces some of the more accessible of the self-striping yarn on the market.
Did I mention that they're soft? very soft. Like a cloud. Plenty of nylon in them too so they wear nicely, but I think there's some bamboo in them to make them so soft. So, pros: cost, striping, thickness of yarn, and generally soft FO. Cons? Well, the bamboo makes the stitches a little splitty, so if you're a tight knitter, this is gonna be tough. And even though they do stripe, they don't make exciting combinations, you know?
This is not my offspring. He's the child of a friend of mine, and I discovered that knitting for babies is very fast and therefore satisfying. Here's the surprising thing--this is really crappy yarn. It's some horrible fat aran-weight acrylic I got at Michael's a long time ago, and it does a horrible camouflage thing. I tried to knit stuff for me out of it but I couldn't help but feel like I should be in the army, doing salutes. Turns out it's pretty good for kids (though my friend contributed the wee hat and the wee chair, which definitely make the whole outfit come together. Oh, and the baby.). (This is the Baby Sophisticate pattern off of Ravelry, if you're interested. Fast and easy.)
I am very sad that I can't find this last yarn any more. It's Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece, a 50/50 blend of wool and cotton. It's aran weight at the least, and it has the stiffness and stamina of cotton, but it blocked out beautifully like wool and carries some of the drape with it. (This is the Tsu Wrap pattern off of Ravelry if you're interested). The color didn't bleed when I washed it--I was very relieved. Pros: good way to blend two fibers to increase the overall usefulness of the yarn; excellent colors and color-fastness; makes a lovely fabric and knits up fast. Cons: If you don't like cotton, well--you know what to expect. It has a heavier or stiffer hand to it that might tire out your joints.
Ah, Berrocco Peruvia. This is a single-ply 100% peruvian wool that comes in amazing blends of colors. There's no way to capture the deliciously subtle nuanaces glinting in that brown, green, and blue. This yarn has a shimmer and depth to it. It's a worsted/aran weight, quick to knit and very soft and toasty. Wearing these mittens is like using little wool pocket heaters. I have maybe 5 more balls of this stuff and I really want to churn out some more mittens (if only I still lived in a cold climate!). I've also done a scarf up in fisherman's rib/brioche stitch/broken rib pattern, and it turned out lovely and soft and warm as well. Pros: amazing colors, soft as down fabric, great for warmth. As a single ply it's still very sturdy and did not give me any problems. Cons: This stuff fuzzes like crazy, and felts like crazy. You can shave it of the fuzz, but these mittens have gradually been felting as I play in the snow with them, which is a process you can't undo. If felting is bad for your project (it isn't, for mittens, so I don't mind), you might want to use a less delicate yarn.
There's a little recap of some of my stuff (mostly just because those are my favorite pictures).
March was a busy month with work and trying to get things taken care of. I knit a whole cowl and a whole sock, and half of everything else. Too many works in process! But my March Goal for the year was to knit some baby clothes out of stash wool, and I did finish a Leafy Cardigan that'll probably fit a six month old (not so good with sizes), and half of a stuffed turtle. I think I'll try to do more toys--I want clothes to at least look decent, and my old stash pile is mostly hideous variegated stuff that one really can't expect anyone else to wear.
I also did some serious spinning (6 oz in March; I finished a 7th oz on April 1 and will polish off the 8th oz this week) in an attempt to compete for some cool prizes in a podcast I follow. Unfortunately only 4oz increments count, so I only got one entry. It was good to get inspired, though--I really love a lot of this fiber, but it always produces something very different than what I expect, and it's so exciting to find out what that is.
On the needles: red-and-white badgers scarf; 1 sock for my twin, almost at the heel; almost 1/2 of a hitchhiker that I am doing in handspun and which is very delicate and annoying to work with; and I cast on yesterday for my April goal, to use up this pink Grignasco Champagne that I've reviewed here before. I'm not a pink fan, and especially not a fan of something so pale and delicate, so I'm making a baby dress for another work friend's offspring and I hope that'll get it out of my stash. My sweater still lingers, as does my Shipwreck Shawl, my Spatterdash mitts, and my blanket (I only finished the 1 square).
obligation knitting: I'm down to christmas presents for the most part. Surprises for my older sister, socks for my twin, a big fat fluffy scarf for my friend Robin, and several pairs of complicated fingerless mitts for friends. The mitts are what I've been putting off for years--I love colorwork, but right now I don't feel like doing anything complicated. must be why everything on the needles is garter stitch....
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
This month, too, has been busy in a good knitting way. But the best surprise of all is that I am working again, and I've a vastly reworked draft of a paper that has a much better chance of being published. It still has some fuzzy points but, hallelujah, it's mostly done. I still have 500 papers to read, but I am beginning to think that will never be dented.
But anyway, the main point is: knitting. And spinning. it's all happening. and it's all great.
1) first of all, I finished my spinning! I was working with this black romney x leicester blend with shots of bright green and blue in it, and I'll be honest--it was frankly terrible to spin. It's true I might've done it a bit wrong--worsted vs woolen? I haven't the faintest clue which I was doing, but maybe I should've been doing the other--but it was also full of vegetable matter, little bits of hay, tiny knots and matted bits of fur within the fiber. It was hard to prep, so while I tried to make it nice and even it and easy to draft it was sticky and challenging, but simultaneously would fall apart on a moment's notice if I didn't watch it like a hawk. I was trying to spin it thin enough to make socks, because I can't imagine this anywhere near my face, but it's so thick and thin, and especially horribly thick in the spots here and there where it broke and I had to try to reattach it.
So, having that done is a load off my chest! ... though that's only half the original fiber I purchased, so perhaps someday it will come back to visit. meh.
2) I also finished my sister socks! I haven't much taken them off since then, because it's been cold here, and they're so comfortable. They match almost exactly but due to gauge differences one is just slightly looser than the other. It's okay, I hardly notice it, and there's not a chance in any hell that I'm going to rip back again to try and fix it.
3) I immediately cast on another pair of socks in this gradual color change stuff I just picked up (I visited an LYS for their annual sale; they had nothing I liked on sale, just expensive or dramatic stuff, so I picked up a ball of the cheapest stuff there, Jojoland Melody yarn) (so much for that no-yarn-in-February thing, right? but it was only $6.50 so I feel like it's okay). I'm only to the toe, but that's okay because....
4) earlier in the month I cast on a pair of Nutkin socks. I was going to follow the pattern precisely, but after I got three inches into the cuff, I felt an overwhelming neurosis about the cables, which were not symmetric. I ripped them out and redid it. I'll also have to change the heel because they're already fairly tight and the type of heel they describe is too snug for me. But it's working up lovely in some gorgeous stash yarn from Little Red Bicycle
5) I finished the pumpkin hat! ends woven in, and gifted to the recipient--may it bring her joy. I deliberately made a vine and a thicker stem this time and I think they worked well. Doing the fiddly little leaves always makes me feel like an artisan crafter.
6) I had to rip out the first of the Manly Mitts I started for my friend, but I've since re-completed the first and am beginning the second. They're moving very quickly and will be done by the end of the month
7) I also got a chance to do some new spinning. I was so relieved to get the romney cross off the needles that I immediately went fiberstashdiving and came out with a braid from Dyeabolical Yarns in the Themyscira colorway, with firestar in it! I split it in half lengthwise and am planning to chain-ply it to keep the color change and make something with stripes--maybe fingerless mitts? It's way too soft for socks; it wouldn't hold up. The firestar is getting EVERYWHERE. Anyway, I enjoyed how soft and wonderful it was and how easy it was to prep and I've already finished spinning the first half. This weekend I'll do the plying.
8) I churned out a very quick pair of fingerless mitts for my aunt. Originally I thought the pattern had some lattice texture in it, but it turns out to be linen stitch. Still, in malabrigo rios (a worsted), they were a quick knit and turned out absolutely gorgeous. I'm not sure I want to give them away...
9) over the holidays I was gifted the Hitchhiker pattern, and I finally cast it on--using (for the very first time... drum roll please...) my own handspun! It's some lorna's laces pencil roving in blue, green, and purple. It spun up thin enough as a single, but I thought I wouldn't have enough yardage to do anything if I plied it, so I am using it as a single. It's quite thick and thin, but so far it's turning out very nice, and the larger needles (size 4 or 5, I think) means that it's squooshy and transparent.
10) I also cast on the first square of my imagined blanket, based on the Mason-Dixon ladies' cornerstone blanket. It's not completed yet but I like how it's turning out, all squishy garter stitch and warm natural wool in nice colors. The cats approve too--if I leave that project on my desk they'll sleep on it.
11) I went diving deep into my old WIPs that were unfinished and found the pair of Spatterdash that I knit last March/April/May. The pattern is a free one from Knitty, and it's somewhat fiddly (on size 1s! good god!), but absolutely, undoubtedly worth it. They've languished for a lack of buttons. I've procured buttons, so *gasp* I started sewing them on. Haven't finished them (because each mitt needs 13 and I only have 9 so I am trying to carefully position them for maximum coverage, best display of the feather and fan edge being buttoned on, and best fit), but I'm 1/3 of the way there and I'm hopeful that I'll get even further soon
12) I put two rounds into the Silver Sea. It's eternal and I'm not even close to done with the second ball yet, much less near attaching the third. I know the netting is part of what makes it look so good... but it takes FOREVER. and soon I'll have to string more beads on, and basically I'm doomed
13) Haven't touched the sweater. Too busy. Have contemplated several other sweaters, though--a sure sign I just need to sit down and do the calculations and I'll be ready to jump back on the wagon of extensive garment knitting again.
14) I've a few other WIPs that I've pulled out and looked at -- 3 pairs of mittens, 2 pairs of fingerless mitts, and some other fiddly odds and ends. But I haven't worked on them. I think the stuff I've got going on is enough for now. (even though I'm dreaming about casting on yet another pair of socks...)
But anyway, the main point is: knitting. And spinning. it's all happening. and it's all great.
1) first of all, I finished my spinning! I was working with this black romney x leicester blend with shots of bright green and blue in it, and I'll be honest--it was frankly terrible to spin. It's true I might've done it a bit wrong--worsted vs woolen? I haven't the faintest clue which I was doing, but maybe I should've been doing the other--but it was also full of vegetable matter, little bits of hay, tiny knots and matted bits of fur within the fiber. It was hard to prep, so while I tried to make it nice and even it and easy to draft it was sticky and challenging, but simultaneously would fall apart on a moment's notice if I didn't watch it like a hawk. I was trying to spin it thin enough to make socks, because I can't imagine this anywhere near my face, but it's so thick and thin, and especially horribly thick in the spots here and there where it broke and I had to try to reattach it.
So, having that done is a load off my chest! ... though that's only half the original fiber I purchased, so perhaps someday it will come back to visit. meh.
2) I also finished my sister socks! I haven't much taken them off since then, because it's been cold here, and they're so comfortable. They match almost exactly but due to gauge differences one is just slightly looser than the other. It's okay, I hardly notice it, and there's not a chance in any hell that I'm going to rip back again to try and fix it.
3) I immediately cast on another pair of socks in this gradual color change stuff I just picked up (I visited an LYS for their annual sale; they had nothing I liked on sale, just expensive or dramatic stuff, so I picked up a ball of the cheapest stuff there, Jojoland Melody yarn) (so much for that no-yarn-in-February thing, right? but it was only $6.50 so I feel like it's okay). I'm only to the toe, but that's okay because....
4) earlier in the month I cast on a pair of Nutkin socks. I was going to follow the pattern precisely, but after I got three inches into the cuff, I felt an overwhelming neurosis about the cables, which were not symmetric. I ripped them out and redid it. I'll also have to change the heel because they're already fairly tight and the type of heel they describe is too snug for me. But it's working up lovely in some gorgeous stash yarn from Little Red Bicycle
5) I finished the pumpkin hat! ends woven in, and gifted to the recipient--may it bring her joy. I deliberately made a vine and a thicker stem this time and I think they worked well. Doing the fiddly little leaves always makes me feel like an artisan crafter.
6) I had to rip out the first of the Manly Mitts I started for my friend, but I've since re-completed the first and am beginning the second. They're moving very quickly and will be done by the end of the month
7) I also got a chance to do some new spinning. I was so relieved to get the romney cross off the needles that I immediately went fiberstashdiving and came out with a braid from Dyeabolical Yarns in the Themyscira colorway, with firestar in it! I split it in half lengthwise and am planning to chain-ply it to keep the color change and make something with stripes--maybe fingerless mitts? It's way too soft for socks; it wouldn't hold up. The firestar is getting EVERYWHERE. Anyway, I enjoyed how soft and wonderful it was and how easy it was to prep and I've already finished spinning the first half. This weekend I'll do the plying.
8) I churned out a very quick pair of fingerless mitts for my aunt. Originally I thought the pattern had some lattice texture in it, but it turns out to be linen stitch. Still, in malabrigo rios (a worsted), they were a quick knit and turned out absolutely gorgeous. I'm not sure I want to give them away...
9) over the holidays I was gifted the Hitchhiker pattern, and I finally cast it on--using (for the very first time... drum roll please...) my own handspun! It's some lorna's laces pencil roving in blue, green, and purple. It spun up thin enough as a single, but I thought I wouldn't have enough yardage to do anything if I plied it, so I am using it as a single. It's quite thick and thin, but so far it's turning out very nice, and the larger needles (size 4 or 5, I think) means that it's squooshy and transparent.
10) I also cast on the first square of my imagined blanket, based on the Mason-Dixon ladies' cornerstone blanket. It's not completed yet but I like how it's turning out, all squishy garter stitch and warm natural wool in nice colors. The cats approve too--if I leave that project on my desk they'll sleep on it.
11) I went diving deep into my old WIPs that were unfinished and found the pair of Spatterdash that I knit last March/April/May. The pattern is a free one from Knitty, and it's somewhat fiddly (on size 1s! good god!), but absolutely, undoubtedly worth it. They've languished for a lack of buttons. I've procured buttons, so *gasp* I started sewing them on. Haven't finished them (because each mitt needs 13 and I only have 9 so I am trying to carefully position them for maximum coverage, best display of the feather and fan edge being buttoned on, and best fit), but I'm 1/3 of the way there and I'm hopeful that I'll get even further soon
12) I put two rounds into the Silver Sea. It's eternal and I'm not even close to done with the second ball yet, much less near attaching the third. I know the netting is part of what makes it look so good... but it takes FOREVER. and soon I'll have to string more beads on, and basically I'm doomed
13) Haven't touched the sweater. Too busy. Have contemplated several other sweaters, though--a sure sign I just need to sit down and do the calculations and I'll be ready to jump back on the wagon of extensive garment knitting again.
14) I've a few other WIPs that I've pulled out and looked at -- 3 pairs of mittens, 2 pairs of fingerless mitts, and some other fiddly odds and ends. But I haven't worked on them. I think the stuff I've got going on is enough for now. (even though I'm dreaming about casting on yet another pair of socks...)
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Busy Busy
This has been a very productive knitting month, which is always so exciting and satisfying.
1) I churned out the shawl for my friend Amanda in four days. Makes me feel bad for waiting 8 years to start the blasted thing. It needs to be blocked and I might need to redo the bindoff, but that's not bad at all
2) I've gotten my brown sweater up to the point where I should begin the lace pattern. However, I have decided that if I want it to fit (and I do) I am going to need a gauge swatch in lace, which I don't have. So I need to make that and block it next, then calculate how many repeats I can fit into each front and the back, allowing sufficient space on the side for sewing in the sleeves (I probably will not separate the fronts and back until I get to the sleeves). Also I need to calculate the rate of decrease to give me a v-neck piece instead of the scoop.
3) I almost finished this pumpkin hat for my friend--it just needs a stem and a leaf or two.
4) I cast on the January Deep Stash sock that I had originally planned to do this month and am just about done with the toe. From here it is a stockinette grind--perfect for relaxing and watching some knitting podcasts or the Fifth Element (can't wait!).
5) I cast on a pair of Dashing for another friend in my deliciously oatmeal-esque hearty brown local yarn from the winter Madison farmer's market. Right now the sizing might be a concern but they are great fun to knit.
6) with some luck I will be able to finish the first half of my black-shot-with-green-and-blue romney fiber from the DC farmer's market. Then I can ply it. I might chain ply it--I think that would make it nice and scrunchy and delicious, more so than a 2 ply.
7) I picked up my Shipwreck Shawl again, put the needles back on it, and have managed a round or two. As everyone else says, it's not the incessant yo-k2tog pattern that is driving me nuts--I could get used to that--nor even the need to bead on random occasion, but the pushing of the beads deeper into the yarn ball that is creating insanity. After a round and a half of some 500 stitches, I have to push them down again and I practically threw it aside in frustration. I will leave the needles on it, though--perhaps I will work up the nerve to do my tedious work again.
as for other things--my surgery cannot proceed until mid february, and I have a lecture to teach on Tuesday, as well as a paper that I'm in the midst of writing. So things are going along. Now I just need to get a car...
1) I churned out the shawl for my friend Amanda in four days. Makes me feel bad for waiting 8 years to start the blasted thing. It needs to be blocked and I might need to redo the bindoff, but that's not bad at all
2) I've gotten my brown sweater up to the point where I should begin the lace pattern. However, I have decided that if I want it to fit (and I do) I am going to need a gauge swatch in lace, which I don't have. So I need to make that and block it next, then calculate how many repeats I can fit into each front and the back, allowing sufficient space on the side for sewing in the sleeves (I probably will not separate the fronts and back until I get to the sleeves). Also I need to calculate the rate of decrease to give me a v-neck piece instead of the scoop.
3) I almost finished this pumpkin hat for my friend--it just needs a stem and a leaf or two.
4) I cast on the January Deep Stash sock that I had originally planned to do this month and am just about done with the toe. From here it is a stockinette grind--perfect for relaxing and watching some knitting podcasts or the Fifth Element (can't wait!).
5) I cast on a pair of Dashing for another friend in my deliciously oatmeal-esque hearty brown local yarn from the winter Madison farmer's market. Right now the sizing might be a concern but they are great fun to knit.
6) with some luck I will be able to finish the first half of my black-shot-with-green-and-blue romney fiber from the DC farmer's market. Then I can ply it. I might chain ply it--I think that would make it nice and scrunchy and delicious, more so than a 2 ply.
7) I picked up my Shipwreck Shawl again, put the needles back on it, and have managed a round or two. As everyone else says, it's not the incessant yo-k2tog pattern that is driving me nuts--I could get used to that--nor even the need to bead on random occasion, but the pushing of the beads deeper into the yarn ball that is creating insanity. After a round and a half of some 500 stitches, I have to push them down again and I practically threw it aside in frustration. I will leave the needles on it, though--perhaps I will work up the nerve to do my tedious work again.
as for other things--my surgery cannot proceed until mid february, and I have a lecture to teach on Tuesday, as well as a paper that I'm in the midst of writing. So things are going along. Now I just need to get a car...
Friday, January 4, 2013
other new exciting plans
of course, just because I have Deep Stash 2013 plans doesn't mean I am not secretly dreaming of all the other projects I want to work on.
The first is this sweater. It's basically Hey Teach!, from Knitty Summer 2008. Unfortunately, I've made some size that falls in between but fits me great. I was planning to give it raglan style decreases but that seems to clash with the scoop neck. I still want to modify the neck so the last button point will be right where the patterning on the top begins--I don't look good with buttons marching up the mountains of my breasts like old civil war soldiers. Still, I haven't come up with a good sketch yet, so I'm just going to have to calculate numbers for a bad sketch and hope the end product is better than my ability to draw can convey. I will probably, however, not do raglan decreases, no matter what my sketch conveys--I like the fitted sleeve holes the Hey Teach! shaping leaves.
To figure out for this project:
1) how long I want it to go before I start the top
2) what adjustments I need to make to accomodate my breasts
3) what sort of adjustments I need to make for the back so it fits well at the neck, etc
4) what adjustments I need to make to get the pattern to fit on the front and the back
5) how to make sure the sides are at the sides when I split up the front and back work.
Next thing that's important to me is a couple of shawls I've wanted to make for a year: Colour Affection and Hitchhiker.
I think I'll start with Colour Affection--partly because it's more complicated, and partly because I have a new swift and ball winder from the holidays (!!!eee!) so I can wind up the yarns and that's very satisfying, and partly because it's garter stitch and I can appreciate that a great deal right now, but it's also going to make a crescent and I really like crescent shawls. I've got black, grey, and a bright-green yellow that I think will look fantastic together.
Hitchhiker was a recent gift and I want to use these Mawata I purchased in stunning dark blues and purples. I think it will show off the gorgeous colors as well as the lovely squashiness of the drafted silk
My next eagerly anticipated project is a blanket for the couch--multiple sizes and arrangements of rectangles and squares in four central colors, surrounded by a subtle gray frame. I can't wait to plot it all out and carefully plan the colors and shapes and types of squares. I picked up some stolid Ella Rae wool in pale blue, dark brown, rust orange, and a rusty red, plus some pale creamy gray. I can't wait to knit it--it's such a winter project, like oatmeal, all cozy and garter stitch (I imagine).
Finally I need more socks for myself, and I've got some wonderful sock yarn to try out sock yarns to use:
Green Dragon sock yarn (Leyburns? It'd be nice, but it's such a big ball I still think--shawl)
Green LRB spark sock yarn (something handcarved and cable-y)
madelinetosh tosh sock in Nebula (maybe also handcarved and cable-y)
Plymouth yarn happy feet in purple
Plymouth yarn happy feet in green --almost definitely the Firestarter pattern in my queue--maybe the same for the purple?
Unplanned Peacock sock yarn in the perfectest of blues. Not sure what to make but sure that I really really love it
Satsuma orange socks if I can figure out a wonderfully round modern pattern
I think between this and the fiber I want to spin, I'm pretty set for fun projects for the year.
The first is this sweater. It's basically Hey Teach!, from Knitty Summer 2008. Unfortunately, I've made some size that falls in between but fits me great. I was planning to give it raglan style decreases but that seems to clash with the scoop neck. I still want to modify the neck so the last button point will be right where the patterning on the top begins--I don't look good with buttons marching up the mountains of my breasts like old civil war soldiers. Still, I haven't come up with a good sketch yet, so I'm just going to have to calculate numbers for a bad sketch and hope the end product is better than my ability to draw can convey. I will probably, however, not do raglan decreases, no matter what my sketch conveys--I like the fitted sleeve holes the Hey Teach! shaping leaves.
To figure out for this project:
1) how long I want it to go before I start the top
2) what adjustments I need to make to accomodate my breasts
3) what sort of adjustments I need to make for the back so it fits well at the neck, etc
4) what adjustments I need to make to get the pattern to fit on the front and the back
5) how to make sure the sides are at the sides when I split up the front and back work.
Next thing that's important to me is a couple of shawls I've wanted to make for a year: Colour Affection and Hitchhiker.
I think I'll start with Colour Affection--partly because it's more complicated, and partly because I have a new swift and ball winder from the holidays (!!!eee!) so I can wind up the yarns and that's very satisfying, and partly because it's garter stitch and I can appreciate that a great deal right now, but it's also going to make a crescent and I really like crescent shawls. I've got black, grey, and a bright-green yellow that I think will look fantastic together.
Hitchhiker was a recent gift and I want to use these Mawata I purchased in stunning dark blues and purples. I think it will show off the gorgeous colors as well as the lovely squashiness of the drafted silk
My next eagerly anticipated project is a blanket for the couch--multiple sizes and arrangements of rectangles and squares in four central colors, surrounded by a subtle gray frame. I can't wait to plot it all out and carefully plan the colors and shapes and types of squares. I picked up some stolid Ella Rae wool in pale blue, dark brown, rust orange, and a rusty red, plus some pale creamy gray. I can't wait to knit it--it's such a winter project, like oatmeal, all cozy and garter stitch (I imagine).
Finally I need more socks for myself, and I've got some wonderful sock yarn to try out sock yarns to use:
Green Dragon sock yarn (Leyburns? It'd be nice, but it's such a big ball I still think--shawl)
Green LRB spark sock yarn (something handcarved and cable-y)
madelinetosh tosh sock in Nebula (maybe also handcarved and cable-y)
Plymouth yarn happy feet in purple
Plymouth yarn happy feet in green --almost definitely the Firestarter pattern in my queue--maybe the same for the purple?
Unplanned Peacock sock yarn in the perfectest of blues. Not sure what to make but sure that I really really love it
Satsuma orange socks if I can figure out a wonderfully round modern pattern
I think between this and the fiber I want to spin, I'm pretty set for fun projects for the year.
New, exciting plans! Same old stash.
I've bit the dirt financially this December. Between car problems and medical problems, it looks like I am going to be living off stash for a long time. That's fine by me. I have a beautiful, well-rounded stash and so many projects in mind for it.
What I've got on the needles right now:
a pumpkin hat for a friend that I need to finish up
a pair of mitts for my sister that I need to finish up really badly and have hardly started
a half-finished sweater for myself that I just figured out needs some raglan decreases and I hope those go well with pattern because I am sort of improvising everything
Everything else is hibernating! I'm away from stash for the holidays, I'm staying focused. There are things that need finishing up and changing and fixing and regular work all at the bottom of the stash, and I'm ignoring those. They're not active. Instead, since it's a new year, I'm dreaming of all the possibilities again. What creative magic can I make with each of these yarns? Is that enough yardage for a Clapotis or am I going to have to buy a few more balls? Should I make a Hitchhiker first or a Colour Affection? Do I want plain beautiful blue socks or ribbed ones or some sort of intricate pattern to make them into waves?
I love this stage of creativity. Of course it's easy--it's all focused on reward and not at all on the work it'd take to get there. But I also love to organize and plan and sort--gives me a thrill to figure it out, a bit like a puzzle. And I get to spend time with the pretties in my stash (and not worry about spending money, like when I go looking at pretties online).
I have a goal for 2013: to use 12 of my 24 oldest yarns in projects, one per month. I love all my yarn but I forget to appreciate the deepest stuff whenever I get a new shiny one to play with. Obviously the goal is to use it all up, but I have decided I absolutely MUST cast on the project by the 5th of the month and absolutely MUST work for four solid hours on it by the end of the month.
Deep Stash 2013
January: I actually have to cheat this month--I'm away from my stash and so I can't start much of anything, but I did bring some sock yarn with me that's amongst my oldest purchases. The cheating is, of course, that I've already got one sock done in the yarn. I made it two years ago with my sisters (really? two years ago? but that was the year I took the quals--and I didn't *know* a lot about knitting then--and I thought I'd just restarted learning right before I started studying and I knit that horrible Minty hat that was 400 sizes too large because fuck gauge--wait--oh, that must have been the first qual, three years ago. I seem to associate that hat with Steve's class, so if I was still in that it must have been my first year in grad school. never mind. carry on). That makes this an easy one to start and finish in a short time period.
pros: easy as pie to do a toe-up stockinette sock with a fleegle heel. cute sister socks we can all share if anyone else finishes theirs. I always need more socks.
cons: how shall I show my sisters how to knit heels if I finish the second sock before they get to their heels?
(conclusion: forge ahead. can always make more heels.)
February: I think my first major new project for 2013 is going to be some sort of shawl with these 430 yards of worsted cotton-merino in dusty eggplant. I've had this yarn for so long--it's designated for one of my best and oldest friends, but the project for her has just never been right. She's been waiting nearly 7 years (whether or not she knows it), so it's about time to start something. The problem is that 430 yards is, now that I *actually* know something about knitting--pretty much nothing. And I can't find this yarn in this color anywhere any more, not even online. So we will have to see what happens here. The reason I've never started is because I've always wanted to do Hex for my friend--a nice geeky pattern. But Hex is done in laceweight and I need to do some serious resizing/calculating/swatching to make it work in worsted with the amount of yarn I have. And I've just found a lovely pattern on ravelry--the Tsu Wrap, which looks amazing. It's knit from the bottom up rather than side to side, making it harder to resize, but perhaps I'll knit two pieces and find a way to graft them together to double the length. Oh, I don't have enough yarn for that--fine, I'll add some repeats. It'll still be great.
Pros: work on oldest planned gift wip. make Amanda have a happy smiling face. get to work with some worsted yarn
Cons: pattern mods. short month, and longer pattern. Might have to choose something else to go with yardage shortage.
(conclusion--might not finish it in February, but I am excited to finally start it, and I think I'd rather do the easy pattern than try and adapt Hex. I like to plunge right into things.)
March: people are sprogging. A lot. They tend to sprog in spring. In other words, I've got baby stuff to knit so I can produce things for babies coming in April. Okay, fine, there's only one so far but I like both of its parents a great deal. I won't be going as deep as my original Deep Stash 2013 plans, but I'll be using some generic wool that has an unspecified age in my stash so I think that's good enough. I think I have enough greens to pull off a cardigan and a hat, so that'll be fun and quick.
pros: baby knits are quick. needed for a friend.
cons: not technically deep stash (conclusions: none)
April: Speaking of people whom it is time to knit for--my oldest friend likes pink. I kinda don't like pink, but it's occasionally fun to knit with something new and interesting. I got yarn-bombed two years ago and received some crazy stuff, including this light pink Grignasco Champagne. Never going to use it for myself, and it's a merino-silk, so it's terrible for baby stuff. Still, I think it'll work for Robin. And I already have a plan in mind--I always wanted to try the Clapotis that everyone loves. Of course, they call for 820 yards, and I barely have 400 remaining, so I shall have to order two more balls. Going to wait until I get home to make an attempt at doing this--not a lot of the color online as far as I can tell. Or, you know,I could give in and turn the other 400 yards into something easier without buying more yarn. Nothing jumps out at me right now except for a slouchy hat, and I'm not sure silk is good for slouchy hats since it might just slip right off.
Pros: gift for a really well deserved friend. get to use up something that's been in my stash for so damned long. easy birthday gift :)
Cons: lots of planning left to do, and April is a short month. Robin has expressed interest in A Scarf! as she currently doesn't have one--but I hate knitting scarves :P and I get the feeling if I make her a nice fat fast scarf I'll still want to make her something out of this stuff, thus not solving the problem. (conclusion: I should probably knit Robin a scarf, and I think this'd be a really cute 2T sweater for Yulan with the yardage I've got... so screw all those plans and look for something february-baby-sweaterish for her.)
May: Part of the major problem with my deep stash is that I only own 10 lace yarns, and 6 of those are part of my earliest purchases. I want to be able to buy new and interesting stuff, but I feel like I can't buy more laceweight until I actually bloody knit with some of it! So my goal for April is a nice easy laceweight project--I have 370 yards of a gorgeous coppery linen from Habu Textiles in New York City. I was planning on making 198 Yards of Heaven with it, but I think I look better in crescent shawls and I'd like to find one that has a pattern that's easy to extend, then, since I have a strange yardage. Linen keeps its shape very well when blocked, so I'd like something intricate and lacy. Good Day Sunshine has a lot of potential, as does the Echo Flower Shawl (though needs more yards). I don't want to do something with garter stitch--I don't think linen is good in garter stitch, especially not in a solid color like this. Still, we will have to see--one of those sideways shawls might be the only way to get a shawl with this yardage, and I do like how they fit.
Pros: pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty! and all for me. Plus some practice doing delicious lace.
Cons: ugh. lace. manipulating tiny stitches with tiny needles. takes forever to get anywhere in a project, and the yardage doesn't go nearly as far as it should.
(conclusions: I shall suck it up and do it. I love the final product of lace, even though it requires so much dedication to produce. Have messaged the designer about resizing Good Day Sunshine.)
June: I might have some vacation time, so this month might be extra fun. Certainly the number of meetings drops as we hit summer. So I have a harder goal for this month. A year and a half ago, when I was in denmark, I started a hugely complicated lace shawl out of some ridiculously frog-hair-thin and super expensive laceweight cotton boucle and it was a huge pain in the ass and had to go into time out. Now that I know more about knitting (yep, I know more every year), I think I'm ready to pick it up again--the yarn isn't that thin (oh, well, it is), nor that expensive, and the pattern isn't nearly as complicated as I imagined, especially as I have a better knowledge of ssk and k2tog. I want to pick it up again and see if I can finish up the central motif and start figuring out the border motif. If I finish it in June, that'll be great--if it doesn't get done, at least progress has been made.
Pros: a cool challenge. a beautiful product. way to get into some of my laceweight again.
Cons: two lace months in a row might be a bad plan.
(conclusions: let me be crazy!)
July: time for a crazy crazy goal. I made some plastic yarn (plarn) out of tons of shopping bags two years ago, and haven't touched it since. Meanwhile, I (sort of) have learned to crochet. I've wanted to make myself some big re-usable shopping/grocery bags that can go over my shoulder for a while now, but have never been motivated to do so before. Now I've decided--I want a pair of huge granny squares for the front and back, connected by smaller sides and a bottom--and I want a long shoulder strap that's sturdy and comes from the sides, not from the middle. I am pretty sure if I can work on my granny square technique this won't be very hard to do--the tricky part will be trying to do cute colors or patterns using plarn.
Pros: eco friendly. way to use up some crazy stash. new craft of crochet to practice and break up any monotony. useful product. something for me (always more motivating).
Cons: not so good at crocheting yet. might turn out fucking ugly. totally improvising (it seems like), so lots of planning work before I can execute. working with plarn might seriously suck like I have not yet considered, even doing crochet instead of knit.
(conclusion: well, fuck, let's try it!)
August: August is hot. Yes, we've got air conditioning, and it's the month I wear my sweaters because at work it's about 50 degrees. But outside it is disgusting and humid and it's kind of tough to knit. There's also a lot of different things going on, including deadlines and new students coming in that I get to take care of. So I'm sticking with the simplest project I can imagine with my yarn. I have one ball of some rowan felted tweed dk (a yarn I love and wish I could stockpile in a thousand colors for every possible fair isle project I ever imagine). I don't know what to make with it yet, but I imagine a pair of fingerless mitts and a slouchy hat might be fun. Of course, I look fucking stupid in slouchy hats. This stuff is just a bit rough for something like a fine lace cowl. It does, however, appear to make a lovely pair of Chevalier mittens, which is something I've always wanted to try, so I might just have to make those for myself. Either that, or they'll end up as the base of something with colorwork from the folk mittens book--that'd be fun!
Pros: quick project, not too much yarn. I like mittens. I love tweed.
Cons: I never wear mittens. I have no alternative colors. mittens in August is insane.
(conclusions: I am insane. good enough)
September: I have a couple of options for this month. I can try a hat or a baby cardigan or blanket or something with my cotton/wool blend geilsk yarn from Denmark (which I'm a bit reluctant to ever use up but which is in a limited palette so can't be used for much), or I can make mitts or mittens or a fat hot baby cardigan out of my berroco peruvia that I've had for at least three years in lovely subtle tones of purple, blue, cream, green, and brown--but it's a single ply and fuzzes like the Second Coming of Jesuskittens. This will be decided by how I feel in September.
Pros: open options
Cons: lack of plans = bad!
(conclusions: needs more work)
October: Finally cooling off enough (I hope) that I can try my first mohair laceweight. I want to make a lovely leafy shawlette for a beautiful woman I know up in Washington. Probably will pull something from my favorites, but I might try the Frozen Leaves that's currently in my queue pros: gift for someone I care about. get to try mohair. get to do some more lace again. cons: mohair is sort of terrifying. mohair laceweight is even more terrifying. (conclusions: we'll see how this goes) November: This month will be busy with family and holiday knitting, so I am going to once again try to turn that ball of misti baby alpaca from being yarn-stormed into something to give to my mother. I still think thrummed mittens would be cute and super warm with this, but the alpaca is going to stretch out any traditional ribbing so I need a good mitten cuff that'll still be pulled in a bit when they're put on.
Pros: warm warm mittens to make a happy mom. get to try thrumming. holiday gift would be helpful to get out of the way.
Cons: not sure if this is going to work as an idea. not sure if I will have enough yarn, either (conclusions: well, I'll just ignore all the possibilities of failure and give it a try for now)
December: The December project is special. The first laceweight I bought was a lovely squooshy surprisingly cheap baruffa cashwool in a brilliant red. I have failed at winding it for years now and will have to send it off to be untangled by a professional (ie one of those untanglers on ravelry who loves to solve problems). And once it's done, I want to start an estonian lace pattern from that book by Nancy Bush. I don't dream I can finish one in a month, and I might even need to buy more yarn--but I can't wait to try it. If I finish that, I will consider myself an expert knitter. (it'd be nice to follow a pattern for a sweater instead of reading the directions until I feel like I understand and then knitting what I think is right, but small steps, you know?)
Pros: beautiful, BEAUTIFUL lace that is why I learned how to knit in the first place. all for me. out of a squishy merino yarn that I've had forever and love
Cons: epic, hard, challenging lace. and that's the fourth lace project of the year. I might be a bit laced out by then.
(conclusion: still going to do it. EEEEEEE!)
What I've got on the needles right now:
a pumpkin hat for a friend that I need to finish up
a pair of mitts for my sister that I need to finish up really badly and have hardly started
a half-finished sweater for myself that I just figured out needs some raglan decreases and I hope those go well with pattern because I am sort of improvising everything
Everything else is hibernating! I'm away from stash for the holidays, I'm staying focused. There are things that need finishing up and changing and fixing and regular work all at the bottom of the stash, and I'm ignoring those. They're not active. Instead, since it's a new year, I'm dreaming of all the possibilities again. What creative magic can I make with each of these yarns? Is that enough yardage for a Clapotis or am I going to have to buy a few more balls? Should I make a Hitchhiker first or a Colour Affection? Do I want plain beautiful blue socks or ribbed ones or some sort of intricate pattern to make them into waves?
I love this stage of creativity. Of course it's easy--it's all focused on reward and not at all on the work it'd take to get there. But I also love to organize and plan and sort--gives me a thrill to figure it out, a bit like a puzzle. And I get to spend time with the pretties in my stash (and not worry about spending money, like when I go looking at pretties online).
I have a goal for 2013: to use 12 of my 24 oldest yarns in projects, one per month. I love all my yarn but I forget to appreciate the deepest stuff whenever I get a new shiny one to play with. Obviously the goal is to use it all up, but I have decided I absolutely MUST cast on the project by the 5th of the month and absolutely MUST work for four solid hours on it by the end of the month.
Deep Stash 2013
January: I actually have to cheat this month--I'm away from my stash and so I can't start much of anything, but I did bring some sock yarn with me that's amongst my oldest purchases. The cheating is, of course, that I've already got one sock done in the yarn. I made it two years ago with my sisters (really? two years ago? but that was the year I took the quals--and I didn't *know* a lot about knitting then--and I thought I'd just restarted learning right before I started studying and I knit that horrible Minty hat that was 400 sizes too large because fuck gauge--wait--oh, that must have been the first qual, three years ago. I seem to associate that hat with Steve's class, so if I was still in that it must have been my first year in grad school. never mind. carry on). That makes this an easy one to start and finish in a short time period.
pros: easy as pie to do a toe-up stockinette sock with a fleegle heel. cute sister socks we can all share if anyone else finishes theirs. I always need more socks.
cons: how shall I show my sisters how to knit heels if I finish the second sock before they get to their heels?
(conclusion: forge ahead. can always make more heels.)
February: I think my first major new project for 2013 is going to be some sort of shawl with these 430 yards of worsted cotton-merino in dusty eggplant. I've had this yarn for so long--it's designated for one of my best and oldest friends, but the project for her has just never been right. She's been waiting nearly 7 years (whether or not she knows it), so it's about time to start something. The problem is that 430 yards is, now that I *actually* know something about knitting--pretty much nothing. And I can't find this yarn in this color anywhere any more, not even online. So we will have to see what happens here. The reason I've never started is because I've always wanted to do Hex for my friend--a nice geeky pattern. But Hex is done in laceweight and I need to do some serious resizing/calculating/swatching to make it work in worsted with the amount of yarn I have. And I've just found a lovely pattern on ravelry--the Tsu Wrap, which looks amazing. It's knit from the bottom up rather than side to side, making it harder to resize, but perhaps I'll knit two pieces and find a way to graft them together to double the length. Oh, I don't have enough yarn for that--fine, I'll add some repeats. It'll still be great.
Pros: work on oldest planned gift wip. make Amanda have a happy smiling face. get to work with some worsted yarn
Cons: pattern mods. short month, and longer pattern. Might have to choose something else to go with yardage shortage.
(conclusion--might not finish it in February, but I am excited to finally start it, and I think I'd rather do the easy pattern than try and adapt Hex. I like to plunge right into things.)
March: people are sprogging. A lot. They tend to sprog in spring. In other words, I've got baby stuff to knit so I can produce things for babies coming in April. Okay, fine, there's only one so far but I like both of its parents a great deal. I won't be going as deep as my original Deep Stash 2013 plans, but I'll be using some generic wool that has an unspecified age in my stash so I think that's good enough. I think I have enough greens to pull off a cardigan and a hat, so that'll be fun and quick.
pros: baby knits are quick. needed for a friend.
cons: not technically deep stash (conclusions: none)
April: Speaking of people whom it is time to knit for--my oldest friend likes pink. I kinda don't like pink, but it's occasionally fun to knit with something new and interesting. I got yarn-bombed two years ago and received some crazy stuff, including this light pink Grignasco Champagne. Never going to use it for myself, and it's a merino-silk, so it's terrible for baby stuff. Still, I think it'll work for Robin. And I already have a plan in mind--I always wanted to try the Clapotis that everyone loves. Of course, they call for 820 yards, and I barely have 400 remaining, so I shall have to order two more balls. Going to wait until I get home to make an attempt at doing this--not a lot of the color online as far as I can tell. Or, you know,I could give in and turn the other 400 yards into something easier without buying more yarn. Nothing jumps out at me right now except for a slouchy hat, and I'm not sure silk is good for slouchy hats since it might just slip right off.
Pros: gift for a really well deserved friend. get to use up something that's been in my stash for so damned long. easy birthday gift :)
Cons: lots of planning left to do, and April is a short month. Robin has expressed interest in A Scarf! as she currently doesn't have one--but I hate knitting scarves :P and I get the feeling if I make her a nice fat fast scarf I'll still want to make her something out of this stuff, thus not solving the problem. (conclusion: I should probably knit Robin a scarf, and I think this'd be a really cute 2T sweater for Yulan with the yardage I've got... so screw all those plans and look for something february-baby-sweaterish for her.)
May: Part of the major problem with my deep stash is that I only own 10 lace yarns, and 6 of those are part of my earliest purchases. I want to be able to buy new and interesting stuff, but I feel like I can't buy more laceweight until I actually bloody knit with some of it! So my goal for April is a nice easy laceweight project--I have 370 yards of a gorgeous coppery linen from Habu Textiles in New York City. I was planning on making 198 Yards of Heaven with it, but I think I look better in crescent shawls and I'd like to find one that has a pattern that's easy to extend, then, since I have a strange yardage. Linen keeps its shape very well when blocked, so I'd like something intricate and lacy. Good Day Sunshine has a lot of potential, as does the Echo Flower Shawl (though needs more yards). I don't want to do something with garter stitch--I don't think linen is good in garter stitch, especially not in a solid color like this. Still, we will have to see--one of those sideways shawls might be the only way to get a shawl with this yardage, and I do like how they fit.
Pros: pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty! and all for me. Plus some practice doing delicious lace.
Cons: ugh. lace. manipulating tiny stitches with tiny needles. takes forever to get anywhere in a project, and the yardage doesn't go nearly as far as it should.
(conclusions: I shall suck it up and do it. I love the final product of lace, even though it requires so much dedication to produce. Have messaged the designer about resizing Good Day Sunshine.)
June: I might have some vacation time, so this month might be extra fun. Certainly the number of meetings drops as we hit summer. So I have a harder goal for this month. A year and a half ago, when I was in denmark, I started a hugely complicated lace shawl out of some ridiculously frog-hair-thin and super expensive laceweight cotton boucle and it was a huge pain in the ass and had to go into time out. Now that I know more about knitting (yep, I know more every year), I think I'm ready to pick it up again--the yarn isn't that thin (oh, well, it is), nor that expensive, and the pattern isn't nearly as complicated as I imagined, especially as I have a better knowledge of ssk and k2tog. I want to pick it up again and see if I can finish up the central motif and start figuring out the border motif. If I finish it in June, that'll be great--if it doesn't get done, at least progress has been made.
Pros: a cool challenge. a beautiful product. way to get into some of my laceweight again.
Cons: two lace months in a row might be a bad plan.
(conclusions: let me be crazy!)
July: time for a crazy crazy goal. I made some plastic yarn (plarn) out of tons of shopping bags two years ago, and haven't touched it since. Meanwhile, I (sort of) have learned to crochet. I've wanted to make myself some big re-usable shopping/grocery bags that can go over my shoulder for a while now, but have never been motivated to do so before. Now I've decided--I want a pair of huge granny squares for the front and back, connected by smaller sides and a bottom--and I want a long shoulder strap that's sturdy and comes from the sides, not from the middle. I am pretty sure if I can work on my granny square technique this won't be very hard to do--the tricky part will be trying to do cute colors or patterns using plarn.
Pros: eco friendly. way to use up some crazy stash. new craft of crochet to practice and break up any monotony. useful product. something for me (always more motivating).
Cons: not so good at crocheting yet. might turn out fucking ugly. totally improvising (it seems like), so lots of planning work before I can execute. working with plarn might seriously suck like I have not yet considered, even doing crochet instead of knit.
(conclusion: well, fuck, let's try it!)
August: August is hot. Yes, we've got air conditioning, and it's the month I wear my sweaters because at work it's about 50 degrees. But outside it is disgusting and humid and it's kind of tough to knit. There's also a lot of different things going on, including deadlines and new students coming in that I get to take care of. So I'm sticking with the simplest project I can imagine with my yarn. I have one ball of some rowan felted tweed dk (a yarn I love and wish I could stockpile in a thousand colors for every possible fair isle project I ever imagine). I don't know what to make with it yet, but I imagine a pair of fingerless mitts and a slouchy hat might be fun. Of course, I look fucking stupid in slouchy hats. This stuff is just a bit rough for something like a fine lace cowl. It does, however, appear to make a lovely pair of Chevalier mittens, which is something I've always wanted to try, so I might just have to make those for myself. Either that, or they'll end up as the base of something with colorwork from the folk mittens book--that'd be fun!
Pros: quick project, not too much yarn. I like mittens. I love tweed.
Cons: I never wear mittens. I have no alternative colors. mittens in August is insane.
(conclusions: I am insane. good enough)
September: I have a couple of options for this month. I can try a hat or a baby cardigan or blanket or something with my cotton/wool blend geilsk yarn from Denmark (which I'm a bit reluctant to ever use up but which is in a limited palette so can't be used for much), or I can make mitts or mittens or a fat hot baby cardigan out of my berroco peruvia that I've had for at least three years in lovely subtle tones of purple, blue, cream, green, and brown--but it's a single ply and fuzzes like the Second Coming of Jesuskittens. This will be decided by how I feel in September.
Pros: open options
Cons: lack of plans = bad!
(conclusions: needs more work)
October: Finally cooling off enough (I hope) that I can try my first mohair laceweight. I want to make a lovely leafy shawlette for a beautiful woman I know up in Washington. Probably will pull something from my favorites, but I might try the Frozen Leaves that's currently in my queue pros: gift for someone I care about. get to try mohair. get to do some more lace again. cons: mohair is sort of terrifying. mohair laceweight is even more terrifying. (conclusions: we'll see how this goes) November: This month will be busy with family and holiday knitting, so I am going to once again try to turn that ball of misti baby alpaca from being yarn-stormed into something to give to my mother. I still think thrummed mittens would be cute and super warm with this, but the alpaca is going to stretch out any traditional ribbing so I need a good mitten cuff that'll still be pulled in a bit when they're put on.
Pros: warm warm mittens to make a happy mom. get to try thrumming. holiday gift would be helpful to get out of the way.
Cons: not sure if this is going to work as an idea. not sure if I will have enough yarn, either (conclusions: well, I'll just ignore all the possibilities of failure and give it a try for now)
December: The December project is special. The first laceweight I bought was a lovely squooshy surprisingly cheap baruffa cashwool in a brilliant red. I have failed at winding it for years now and will have to send it off to be untangled by a professional (ie one of those untanglers on ravelry who loves to solve problems). And once it's done, I want to start an estonian lace pattern from that book by Nancy Bush. I don't dream I can finish one in a month, and I might even need to buy more yarn--but I can't wait to try it. If I finish that, I will consider myself an expert knitter. (it'd be nice to follow a pattern for a sweater instead of reading the directions until I feel like I understand and then knitting what I think is right, but small steps, you know?)
Pros: beautiful, BEAUTIFUL lace that is why I learned how to knit in the first place. all for me. out of a squishy merino yarn that I've had forever and love
Cons: epic, hard, challenging lace. and that's the fourth lace project of the year. I might be a bit laced out by then.
(conclusion: still going to do it. EEEEEEE!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)