knitting in the dark

I can knit again! The orthopedist gave me permission to take the splint off while at home and said that exercising the hand would be good (she suggested typing, but I’m sure knitting is good too). So I have a new project: “Penny” from the Debbie Bliss Summer Essentials book. Over at Ravelry I am the only person who is knitting or has knit it - and, annoyingly, the pattern is now available for free (and apparently called “wrap cardigan with ribbon”) though I bought the book last summer shortly after it came out. I am flying right through the sweater, too - I swatched Saturday and started knitting Monday night after procuring the proper needles; this is the progress after watching Brokeback Mountain that evening:

Then I was able to knit quite a bit Tuesday as I didn’t have work:

And I finished both the back and the left front yesterday, but they don’t line up perfectly - I think I forgot a set of increases on the front, so I’m going to have to rip it back out to the start of the raglan shaping:

This color is proving difficult to photograph; I don’t even have this much trouble with reds! The second photo seems the most accurate on my screen. The yarn is new to me and fantastic - it’s Vermont Organic Fiber Company O-Wool Classic 2-Ply in color 2012 and it is delicious! Hopefully I will finish before it gets too warm here in the city - it was about 70 degrees here today and so spring-y.

While I did finish these socks in January as promised - I am an entire month late posting about them! I’ve been out of town for the last five weeks for work; first in San Diego at the La Jolla Playhouse and then in Connecticut at the Westport Country Playhouse. So a big thank you to February for the extra day this year; and why isn’t February 29th a holiday? Anyone?

pattern: my own

yarn: Regia Kaffe Fassett Landscape Storm from The Loopy Ewe

needles: 4x my favorite 2mm dpns

started: 3rd week of November 2007

finished: 17 January 2008

They are, happily, fraternal instead of identical twins; and I used every last bit of yarn in the two skeins:

Skeins Her Way has a brilliant contest going on right now… it’s the January Finish a UFO Contest 2008!

I haven’t worked on a sock since Thanksgiving weekend… which, for me, is shocking since I tend to always have a sock going for subway knitting or whatever. Thanksgiving weekend I finished the first of (what will be) a pair of ribbed knee-highs out of Kaffe Fassett Regia.

I had originally thought I wanted to make a pair of Rainbow Socks from the yarn, but I didn’t like the way the long stripes of color were (or weren’t, as the case may be) working with the pattern:

So I ripped it all out and decided to knit it up in vanilla-style 3×1 ribbing:

With a little bit of TV time in the hotel room I completed the first of the pair, but since then I have been completely engrossed in holiday knitting and gifts and time with my parents and brother and one other project (FO post to follow soon). According to the rules of the contest, I have until February 7 to complete its mate. I think I should be able to accomplish that without too much heartache, so…

I’m giving myself an extra-credit assignment - for the Yankee Swap that my friends do here in Brooklyn I promised to make a pair of hand-knit socks or fingerless mitts out of this lovely Lisa Souza:

Our friend James walked away with that gift (he seemed pleased but was a little confused as to why they weren’t already made… silly!) and I still haven’t even taken measurements so I can start! He’s decided on socks instead of mitts - so if I measure this week I should be able to whip out another pair of socks in the next four weeks.

You know what makes writer’s block worse? When you accidentally delete the post you’re working on after you’ve been writing for a while. Oh well! This is me remaining calm…

After being unbelievably busy with work since July and then with the holidays (and, therefore, not posting as frequently as one might like), there’s A LOT to show and tell. In order to not feel entirely overwhelmed and thus never begin, I am going to start 2008 with a simple finished object post and not do a recap of my last 5 months because that would be crazy and potentially (definitely) long and boring.

So without further ado, may I present the fingerless mitts I made for my best friend for Christmas; please excuse the cell phone photos as I forgot to bring my camera when we took her to the train station for her return trip to Portland.

pattern: none

yarn: Koigu in… um… greens? (top photo is accurate colors)

needles: Prym 6” 2mm dpns (which I previously thought were INOX)

started: December 5^th (maybe)

finished: December 24^th (just in the nick of time to be unwrapped the next morning)

notes: They’re pretty much a tube with a few increases before the thumb. What else? Single-round stripes and twisted ribbing…

Happy New Year everyone!

As tomorrow is the beginning of December and the questions regarding what I want for Christmas are starting to come in from the extended family, I thought I’d post some ideas here for reference (my family doesn’t “do” gift certificates - no matter how brilliant a gift “free” yarn at the LYS may be). There are a good number of knitting books I’d like to own (rather than borrowing from the library, which is what I usually do) - some of these are already classics and some will surely become classics - and books are some of my favorite things to receive as gifts (if I can’t pick out my own yarn).

1. A collection of stitch patterns, either Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (and Volumes 2, 3, and 4)

or the new Harmony Guides (Knit & Purl, Lace & Eyelets, Cables & Arans)

2. The Knitter’s Book of Yarn to go with my newly found obsession with designing my own patterns

3. These beautiful pattern books that I’ve had the time to browse but not yet the money to buy

4. And one that I have not yet been able to see in person

If you have either the Barbara Walker or Harmony stitch guides (or Vogue, I suppose), would you recommend the collection you own or do you want a different set?

It’s done! The Henry Scarf from the Fall 2007 Knitty for my friend Alex’s birthday; I hope he likes it.

pattern: Henry

yarn: Louet Gems Fingering in Indigo

needles: ADDI turbos in 3.25mm and 4mm

started: 27 September 2007

finished: 12 November 2007

notes: I made each row 500 stitches instead of the 450 called for in the pattern. And it still came out shorter than specified! The finished dimensions: 56″ x 6″. I had some extra yarn left from the half-pound cone, but I didn’t really feel like knitting another 24 row repeat (that’s 12,000 stitches, folks!). This is the only thing I’ve worked on during the past six weeks…

I think I mentioned this in my last post, but I like the back better than the front of this pattern!

Let’s have one more shot just for good measure…

And now I can move on to other projects that I planned out in my daydreams while working on this one!

Henry Scarf progress:

I am getting so close! The birthday of the intended recipient is Wednesday, but I won’t see him until Thursday or this weekend, so I think I might just make it. And if it isn’t done this week I’ll just give it a little late. This scarf has taken a LOT of hours to complete and I’ve been completely monogamous about this project - no socks on the side… each row is 500 stitches (I modified for extra length) and takes 20-30 minutes to complete! Is it wrong to like the back better than the front side of the stitch pattern?

The color of these is all wrong, but I’m not getting outside again today before the sun sets… so this will have to do for now.

Introducing the newest member of my family:

I’ve been desiring another pair of wristwarmers/fingerless mitts for the cold theatres I work in (I wear my Endpaper Mitts nearly constantly)… and this Classic Elite Alpaca Sox will be perfect! This yarn is lovely and soft and grey goes with nearly everything in my wardrobe.

I’ve been quiet in the works-in-progress department because I’ve been working on and quite frustrated with a skein of Anne that I bought earlier this summer in Boston and have been attempting to find a good stitch pattern that avoids creating a lavender spiral up a green sock; there is just SO much more lavender in the skein than I thought! I’ve been through three versions and have now taken it off the needles and have cast on for Rainbow Socks in the Kaffe Fassett Regia I bought from The Loopy Ewe last month…

I ordered yarn for the Henry scarf in the new Knitty – a half-pound cone of Louet Gems Fingering in Indigo.

It is a gorgeous blue the color of a twilight sky and I’ve spent almost a week now swatching it.

I don’t generally spend a lot of time with swatches so who’d have guessed that I’d spend a week swatching for a scarf!?! The thing is: Louet doesn’t have a lot of stretch and I want to make sure I find the proper balance of being close to the pattern gauge (it’s knit from side to side and therefore you cast on A LOT of stitches) and creating a dense, sturdy-looking fabric – it is a scarf for a boy after all (and no mom, not a boyfriend).

I think I’ve found the proper needle sizes (3.25 and 4mm, which feel giant compared to my 2mm sock needles), but I have to go buy longer circular needles in those sizes as I’ve been testing on straights and now find I don’t have circulars in the desired sizes.

I hope to be done by the end of the month as I plan on giving it as a birthday present November 7^th; good thing I’m mostly done with Christmas presents already…!

I first started these mittens in February when my mother came to visit - it was cold and we wanted new mittens. So instead of buying new mittens like a normal person, we bought yarn for new mittens!

pattern: Lucy Neatby’s Fiesta Mittens (ravelry: Fiesta Mittens)

size: medium-ish

yarn: KPM and KPPPM in lavender and a purple/brown variegated

needles: as always, 2mm INOX dpns

started: 8 February

finished: photos taken 10 September (though they could still use a light blocking)

notes: I used a provisional cast on and started with the main part of the mitten instead of the cuff. When finished with the main part of both mittens I then went back and did K1tbl, P1 ribbing until the cuffs were close to the desired length and finished them off with a few rows of the contrast yarn. Also, I used an afterthought thumb as I didn’t like the way the pattern thumb rotated the “seam” on the mitten to the back of my hand.

It really very difficult to take pictures of one’s self wearing mittens - so no action shots this time. I think I may have taken more pictures and posted about this project more times than any other in the last year; past posts and photos: here and here and here. And with this post they have been put away in the drawer of winter accessories to wait for colder weather…