Ripped it and re-cast on

My Good Ness, how time does fly. I can't believe it's been so many months since I took a little blogging time for myself and posted here, but I suppose calendars can't lie. Rather, they can, but I get the idea that this one is not.

It's been a crazy five months (FIVE?? Holy cripes, I may need to sit back and ponder that one for a moment). Dear and I were happily ensconced in life in the Denver-Metro area, me working at a couple LYS's teaching and knitting away; him in his office downtown, finding oil and natural gas for the rest of us to play around with. Then we got word that his job was transferring him (yes -- again) further north, to Cheyenne, WY. That means he was facing a four hour drive every day, so we packed up (yes -- AGAIN) and moved an hour north to the slightly quieter town of Fort Collins, CO. We're quite happy here, we were able to find a nice house and we have lots of space and a yard for the first time ever. I'm planning away my garden and get a quiet little thrill every time I peek at my craft room.

That's right, you heard me. I have a craft room.

I tried my hand at working in an insurance office for a few months, only to find out that I do not have the drive nor the desire to sell insurance. Now I'm getting back in touch with my crafty roots, knitting on several of my own projects and sticking my toe into waters related to test and sample knitting. More on that as it develops (and as I am allowed to share).

But enough words! Photos! Photos of Finished Objects, I say!

First, there was a sweater:

The Cobblestone Pullover by Brooklyn Tweed, knit for Dear; yarn: Cascade Eco Plus

Then, there was a second sweater:
My first sweater using EZ's Percentage System; the sleeves are 1/2 length. Yarn is Cascade Eco Plus

Somewhere in there, I also finished a pair of socks:

The Yarn Harlot's Earl Grey pattern, from her blog; yarn, sadly, unknown

This is not all I knit in the past 5 months. I made multiple Christmas gifts and promptly forgot to photo every one before mailing them off. I also knit and ripped several hats, and have a few things on needles at the moment, but I'm saving those for a future blog post.

Oh, I also got engaged!

Hope all has been well with my readers! Please don't give up on me -- I know it's not the first time I've disappeared, and I can't promise I won't take another hiatus someday in the future ... but be sure to check back for more on my knitting adventures, and my upcoming adventures in learning new recipes and gardening. I call it my Idiot's Guide to Home Making.

Awwwww! Widdle booties!

These are about the cutest booties on the planet. Every time I whip one of these out, it incites a cacophony (look it up) of squeals from everyone nearby. Even men. It's true. I've seen it.

They're wee widdle UGG booties!!! Aren't they cute? I have to admit, even these booties are completely adorable. They're knit out of Berroco Suede (discontinued, grumble grumble) and Berroco Plush for the white fluff at the top. I found a free pattern online a few years ago and now have the pleasure of teaching a class for these booties at the LambShoppe in Denver (click the link for the full list of their classes and instructions on how to sign up). Right now they're scheduled on November 13 and November 20 from 3-4:30pm. That may change -- after knitting up the sample, I think I'll need longer than an hour and a half, but I have some other classes that day (Knitting 101 at Fancy Tiger). Call the shop if you want to sign up; if it changes, you'll be notified.

I also finished a hat.

Shown here on Gwyneth because it's too big even on me. Everything looks big on Gwyneth, so I figured this would work out well. It's EZ's Dairy Queen hat pattern, and I knit it up from my first handspun. I've considered tossing it into the washing machine to tighten it up a bit, but I have the feeling I shall be smoted upon if I felt my first handspun. I'm keeping it as is for now -- it might be good to wrap my hair up in on certain days.

Still have a lot on the needles, and becoming a little overwhelmed with it. I agreed to do a knit-a-long starting in November that will be my first lace project. Another EZ pattern, her circle shawl from Knitter's Almanac. I might keep it to her pattern, but I'm tempted to try this gorgeous thistle pattern I saw on the cover of a book years ago.
Upon closer inspection, it might be even more advanced than I was remembering it, which makes it grossly intimidating for my first lace project, especially when I'm knitting so much already. Perhaps I'll just keep it to EZ's instructions and not overthink it.

WiP Parade

I've been doing a poor job lately of posting about my works-in-progress. I always have a few projects cast on because I like different projects for different moods. Combine that with the fact that I'm trying to get samples and products done for an upcoming craft fair (my first!) and I have quite a to-do list. I have so much that I decided it was only making things worse trying to keep everything in my head, so I'm making lists throughout this week of upcoming projects I need and want to work on, tasks to do, future blog posts and anything else. It feels kind of good to get things down on paper, but I picked of a helluva time of year to start turning my alarm back on. It's starting to get cold and that makes me want to stay in my cozies and knit all day, rather than go to the gym and get as much done as possible.

First off, I finished a beaded scarf that I was knitting up as a sample for the LambShoppe. This is Gilda by Twisted Sisters.
This is my first attempt at knitting with beads, and I did enjoy it. The scarf is beautiful, I love the way the colors work together and the yarn creates a bit of a pattern ... it reminds me of a mermaid's tail. I made the longer-and-skinnier version and had a bit of a headache with the yarn. The skein had a knot in it which made transferring the beads a process I had to undergo twice. The yarn also had a very high twist to it, so pushing the beads further up the strand meant the yarn started to twist up on itself like a hula hoop champion (sorry, was that cheesy?). I ran out of yarn with two rows left, which was frustrating, but I think no one will really notice. Overall, it's a gorgeous scarf -- but too short for my taste.

I'm also getting a start on my Christmas knitting already. I'm calling these "Ribbed for her Pleasure," and they are for my nature-loving aunt who lives in the California mountains.

We do a name exchange every year, and this year I drew Janet's name. I figured socks would be perfect, and green and purple are her two favorite colors. I did 2x2 ribbing all the way around and across the instep because I wanted to add a little texture to the yarn without taking away from the pattern it was creating. It's also my first successful short-row heel, and I'd never thought I'd say this: but I think I'm a convert.

This is a sweater I'm knitting for Dear. It's the Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood {Rav link}, and I'm loveloveloving it. Knit with Cascade Yarns Eco 100% wool. The ballband isn't near me, but here's my Rav link, and I'll do a full report when it's finished.
This is my go-to project when I want something warm in my lap and comforting un-dyed wool running through my fingers. Mmmmmm.

I'm working on another sample, this time for Fancy Tiger. I'm doing a craft trade with Emily -- I knit up this sample for the shop and she's making me a sweet-ass project bag that I'll post photos when we make the trade.It's interesting to knit with. It's about like knitting with thread, so it's a little slow-going. The stainless steel "thread" is pretty cool, though -- you can stretch it out to it's full capacity and it stays there, but you can scrunch it right back up again. Nifty.

This one is going to take a while. I'm finally knitting an afghan {Rav link} for me and Dear, and it's going to be gorgeous. Knit entirely with Plymouth EcoDuo in the five colors the LambShoppe carries, it's a gorgeous blend of 70% alpaca and 30% wool. The alpaca makes it super soft and the touch of wool will give it some extra strength to avoid stretching. The seaming of the mitred squares will also add stability and I'm thinking this blanket is going to be with us for a very long time.

As for spinning, I'm working on a couple things for the upcoming Fancy Tiger Holiday Handmade Craft Fair in December. I'll have some of my yarn for sale there and I want to make sure I have plenty to go around. I'm spinning through my stash because ... well ... I have plenty to spin through.

Last but not least, I was talking to one of my classes last weekend, and they were asking me about the proper way to care for their wool sweaters. I thought I would give a quick step-by-step here, because it's really so incredibly simple and totally worth the little extra time it takes. If you care for your wool garments properly, they can last you for years and years.

If your garment contains 50% or more of any animal fibers -- wool, merino, cashmere, alpaca, mohair, angora, etc. -- you want to hand wash them. Be gentle when handling wet garments, and use cool or room temperature water. Animal fibers do something called felting, or fulling. The individual animal fibers have microscopic scales on them; hot water makes those scales raise up, and those scales interlocking is what causes felting, compacting the fibers together and shrinking the fabric. Sometimes you want to do this on purpose to make a nice sturdy purse or pair of slippers, but usually for sweaters you want to avoid such a thing.

First step, fill your sink or tub with room temperature water and add in a little bit of wool wash -- you won't need much. You can find wool wash at your local yarn store (LYS) and brands like Eucalan and Soak are easy to come by in shops. You can also use Woolite or Ivory Snow.

Once your sink/ tub is filled, submerge your garment slowly and gently squeeze it to get the water into all of the fibers. Do not agitate -- gently squeeze. Let it soak like that for at least 15 minutes.

Once your garment has soaked, drain the sink or tub and gently squeeze excess water. Lay out a towel flat and place your garment flat on the towel. Roll the towel up and walk on it to squeeze excess water. Lay your garment flat to dry and re-shape if necessary. Ta-daahh!

Tunisian Delight

Part of what I wanted to do while I was "for real" job hunting in Denver was to hone the skills that I have and learn new ones at the same time. I wanted to get better at spinning -- be more consistent and be able to spin yarn of a specific weight on purpose (you know -- other than either really bulky or really thin). With this project, I got to kill two birds with one stone, which made me all kinds of excited.

Tunisian crochet is something that not a lot of people practice anymore -- at least, I'm only starting to learn about it and see a few projects here and there. You use a looooong hook with a stub at the end -- so it looks like a knitting needle, but with a crochet hook at the end.

Photo ganked from Google.

I was recently introduced to a new blog called Nikki, in Stitches. She recently did a post on Tunisian Crochet and her efforts at learning the craft. Her post was not on the type of stitch I had seen before, so I went to YouTube and found a tutorial (I used this one). Turns out what I wanted to make is called Simple Stitch (easy enough, but apparently also called the afghan stitch) and after about 10 minutes, I was crocheting away.

I used the yarn I had spun up from Tanis Fiber Arts' Prism colorway (read about my adventures spinning it here). I love the way this yarn turned out -- I purposely plied it so that the colors would match up randomly, and when I saw another Tunisian Crochet scarf I knew that it would be the perfect way to showcase the beautiful colors. (Here's a link to my Ravelry project page.)

Tunisian crochet is kind of exciting because it manages to look like nothing else -- it's kind of knitted, kind of crocheted, kind of woven. There are other stitches that mimic knitting even closer.
It's a little on the short side, but I like it anyway. I may wear it a couple times and then perhaps gift it to a deserving niece or cousin somewhere.

I also finished a really great book this week. I read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender, recommended by my wonderful mother. The main character in this book, Rose, discovers at an early age that she can taste other people's feelings in the food they cook. She discovers her mother's depression, the baker's feelings about his girlfriend, and so much more. She copes by eating heavily processed foods -- chips, vending machine snacks, frozen dinners -- anything that's so heavily processed it has no emotion tied to it. She tells the story of Rose and her family - her brother's reclusive-ness and strange disappearances, her mother's struggles with her private life and what her friends are facing. I really enjoyed this book and thought Aimee Bender did a wonderful job with the prose style and describing what Rose is feeling throughout. The ending was a little ambiguous for my taste, but it suited the rest of the story -- you don't really know what happened, and neither does Rose, so it's okay.

I love a good book, so I'll be talking about those that I read here a little more. I wish I could knit and read at the same time ... that would be wonderful.

Who Needs Gold Toe?

Here I sit, knitting away ... trying to finish up as many projects as I can. Problem is? Everytime I finish something, all of my unfinisheds seem to have multiplied. At any given point, I'm working on at least two or three projects and lately that seems magnified. On the needles right now, I have a pair of socks (my own plain vanilla sock pattern), the Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood and a Tunisian crochet scarf. Last night at the LambShoppe, I volunteered to make a beaded scarf (Gilda by the Twisted Sisters) as a sample. (It seemed like a good idea because it's a small project and a free way to try beaded knitting. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) I'm also still half-shopping around for yarn for an afghan for Dear and I, not to mention my multiple spinning projects.

So I have to stay pretty strict with myself about finishing a project before starting another one. I have to remind myself that it's just as rewarding to finish a project as it is exciting to begin a new one. As much as I dislike weaving in ends (it's a necessary evil), I don't dislike it enough to let a project sit around because I haven't done the finishing steps for it. Sometimes I get a finished project that is not quite what I had in mind in the first place. With that in mind, I give you the Orange Toe Socks.
I started these for Dear because I hated hated hated the Noro Kureyon I was using for the first pair I started for him. I purchased two balls of Ambiente by Schoppel Wolle in what I thought was a very appealing fake Fair Isle pattern (I just love that fake Fair Isle patterning sock yarn). I noticed the small yardage (135m per 50g) on the ball but figured I always end up with leftovers so I should be fine. As I knit happily along, enjoying watching the patterning reveal itself, I realized that I would be short by quite a bit. Like, the entire toe. I explained it all to Dear and he voted for the orange that was a dyeing mistake I made a few weeks ago that he fell in love with. The first one turned out so that only the toe was orange ... the second one fell even shorter by about an inch before it was time to start the toe decrease.

Both balls of the same yarn, same dye lot, purchased from the same shop on the same day. What a freaking rip off. These are a Men's size 11 and I fell FAR short of a full pair. I wear a Ladies' 11, and would also fall far short of a full pair from two balls of this (not cheap) yarn. As much as I like the pattern that comes from their yarn, I am not planning on buying this yarn ever again.

I promise I'll have pictures of other projects up soon ... in the meantime, have a great weekend and happy knitting!

The Hills are Alive with the Sounds of Needles Clicking ....

It's been over a week since my last blog post, and I can only claim self-pity. I had a short time where I was feeling massively sorry for myself for one reason and another and last night I decided it was time to snap the fuck out of it and get back to work. Money is looking a little tighter than we originally anticipated so I've begun the search for full-time gainful employment (gag). I have received little to no response (the little responses I've received have all been to the effect of "the position has been filled.") and frustrations are abundant ... but that does not mean I should be neglecting my original plan of making some money with my knitting and dyeing. And so, I bring you the finished Elijah (Ysolda Teague's link):


Isn't he cute? (Here's my Rav link, by the way.) He's for a friend of mine in Houston who's little boy just turned one. We agreed to trade this elephant for some web banner and logo stuff she's doing for me. I'll also be working on another one for her sister-in-law, although that one will be in a slightly less colorful yarn. I do love the way he turned out (he's very soft and squishy). My only problem is that there was no good color to use for his eyes -- nothing would stand out against all those bright colors. I ended up with white and added the eyebrows to make him look less creepy. He's my first knitted toy, and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Definitely fiddly at the points where I had to pick up stitches for his body, arms, legs and ears, but not as bad as I thought. I hope Thadd likes him.

I did manage to finally get my Etsy store up. It has the yarns that I've hand-dyed (available in both fingering and DK weights) as well as photos of the hats that I can custom make for gifts. The hats are totally customizable -- color, yarn, etc. Take a look and send me an email if you'd like to place an order! www.knotforknothing.etsy.com

Last Thursday, I woke up at 5:30am for no real reason and lay there for about an hour until Dear's alarm went off. In that hour, I decided that the only thing I really felt like doing that day was making a pair of lovely fingerless gloves.

Aren't they Fetching? I knit mine up in Malabrigo worsted, the colorway called Paris Night that I got for half price at Knitting in the Loop's big sale back in July. I have about half the skein leftover, so I could easily make another pair for one of Dear's sisters or something. They took me about 10 hours total to knit up, and I was thrilled to have them for our weekend trip to Vail.

What's that? Oh, yes ... our weekend trip to Vail. My wonderful Mummy came to visit for the weekend, bringing with her her dashing boyfriend, Bill.

We spent one night up in Vail and then the second night back in Denver. We had a great weekend of beautiful scenery, great food and even better company. They were are first visitors to our new home here in Denver, and we had a great time. I miss my mother terribly and I already can't wait for the next visit.

The purpose behind the trip to Vail was to see the Aspens changing -- we saw quite a few, and they're mostly yellow. But the skies were so clear and you truly could see forever.


Makes me want to put on an apron and start singing songs with a slew of darling Austrian children.

I may be a cheater ....

I've noticed lately that I have a monogamy problem. I'm always thinking about starting new projects and what's next up on the needles. I'm never happy with what I have going at the moment, looking for the next cheap (or not so cheap) thrill, trying things on in my mind. I try to stay faithful, especially when I've promised projects to people. But really, what's a girl to do?

I've got two pairs of socks on the needles right now, both for Dear. I finished the first whole sock from the first pair the other day, a really manly color combo from Noro Kureyon (mostly wool with some nylon and silk). They look lovely, very manly (my own plain vanilla sock pattern).
The only issue is I hate this yarn. I hate it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Knitting with this yarn frustrates me to a level that can only be soothed by chewing it into a thousand tiny wads of thick wool spit balls. It's a single, so it twists up on itself without even the slightest breeze, which means that it gets random little knots in it constantly. It's rough and scratchy and not smooth even on my nickel plated DPNs (my favorites). I really wish I didn't still have half a ball of this shite left because nothing would make me happier than to throw it on the fire and watch it shrivel and smoke until it's never to be seen in my project basket again.

So I distract myself with something cuter: Elijah, by Ysolda Teague.

He's only missing ears and eyes, and then he will be ready to go to his new home back in Houston. I hope Thadd likes him (even if he is a bit late for his first birthday ... I don't think he'll remember that in the years to come).

I got to play with some fiber this week, too. Some from my Phat Fiber box. First up, Orange Jello. The tag didn't state what the fiber is, so I'm afraid I don't know. It was a little compacted, but spun up easily after some pre-drafting.

I wanted to practice my Navajo plying, but it wasn't coming off the bobbin smoothly at all -- it kept breaking. So I finally gave up. That's when I noticed

Sorry for the carpet being in focus rather than my fingers, I couldn't get my camera to focus properly.

Seems like graphite stains where I was pinching and drafting from. I don't know if this is dye or some other chemical treatment, but it was kind of sticky and not very pretty.

I also spun up some 100% alpaca from Crooked Fence Alpaca Farms (purchased at Fancy Tiger).

It spun up a little thinner than I was planning, but I got another chance to practice the Navajo plying and it turned out really lovely. About 37 yards of 100% un-dyed Alpaca. It's in the natural grey and black of the original animal. I might sleep with it under my pillow and pet it lovingly.

And check out the pretty colors:

Two colorful plies of Tanis Fiber Arts' Prism roving. Spun up into approximately 42 yards. I don't know what I'm going to make from this (child's hat? Tunisian crochet scarf?) but whatever it is will be a bright pop of color. I split the strip of top in half and then spun each half separately. Then I plied them together, purposely keeping them random. It's a little embarrassing to admit the small thrill I got when the colors would match up and then combine into two totally different colors again. I can't wait to see it knit up into something.