Show and tell

1. The trade. I definitely came out on the better end of this one! I traded the cardigan for this lovely shawl.

I love shawls. I have tons of shawl patterns and yarn for knitting them. I knit a shawl. Once. But for the last year or so, I just can’t seem to get off my sweater/sock kick to knit another.

This shawl is the perfect size for me. It fits around my shoulders and keeps the chill off my neck when we watch movies and yet it’s not so big as to be overwhelming. Absolutely perfect. It folds down into a very small little bundle which will make it excellent for traveling. The workmanship, Claire’s, is impeccable.

2. The slippers. They felted up OK. I still need to redo the elastic for the button strap on the left slipper. It shows too much from the outside. There’s a fine line between getting the elastic buried enough so that it doesn’t rub on the foot and getting it too close to the outside. I missed that line.

If you look back to a previous post, you can see that they felted down quite a bit. Same ruler. Felting is pretty weird.

3. Socks. We went to Santa Fe for the RNK’s birthday on Saturday. We ate at Cafe Pasqual’s and had a lovely dinner. On the way down, I got to knit in the car!

I took “More Sensational Knitted Socks” with me. In the end, I just winged a pattern, alternating a K6P2 ribbing a bit because I love this yarn and I didn’t want the pattern to detract. I can’t remember the name of the color, but it’s Socks that Rock lightweight. So far, I am pleased. The heel is a bit funky. I have only done one other short row heel with wraps. I hope the other sock turns out a bit nicer.

4. Opal. She’s such a bright spot in our lives. Always entertaining. Today, she had a chipmunk trapped under a flagstone walkway.

Chimpmunk lovers, don’t fret. No chipmunks were actually harmed in the making of this blog post.

I have a tiny office

made even smaller by the fact that it includes three dog beds. Two for the dogs; one for the cat.

In spite of that, Opal seems to find my chair a more comfortable spot:

Today, I managed to squeeze her far enough back that I do have a small ledge to perch on. Comfortable? No!

Jakob is more accommodating. He sleeps in one of the dog beds:

Is he comfortable? Apparently. This is his preferred sleeping posture. It offers a great glimpse of his gap-tooth smile:

There has been knitting. I’m trying my first felting project, a pair of house slippers. Freaky!

Yes, that is a 12 inch (30.5 cm) ruler inbetween the pair. Can they possibly felt down that much? Not yet. But I’m still working on it. It’s harder since my washer is a front loader and it doesn’t work well with a single-item load.

Does anyone have some alternative felting method suggestions for me?

The sweater found

a new home yesterday. I wore it and as I was sitting in a meeting I could almost feel it “grow.” By the time I finished petting the horses and feeding them treats, the cuffs were getting hard to keep out of the way.

I drove to town, thinking about the sweater and the talented knitter, Claire, I was going to have lunch with. Hmmm. She knits gorgeous shawls (that sold like hotcakes at the Taos Wool Festival in early October). She’s taller than me. This would be a good color for her. Perhaps she would consider a trade?

Yes! Well, tentatively yes. I am giving her some time with the sweater to decide if she really likes it enough to trade. I know I love her shawls because I look at them every time she’s out and about offering them for sale. I just can’t justify buying one of them because, well, I’m a knitter. How can a knitter with an unmentionable amount of lace yarn and shawl patterns justify buying a shawl? Somehow though, as much as I love shawls and lace yarn, I just never seem to get around to knitting one. I would feel guilty buying a shawl. But, a trade. That’s another story!

Besides, the sweater looks really nice on her! See:

Don’t you agree it looks great?

It’s done!

Well, almost. It still has to dry and I have to sew the buttons on. And perhaps, tack down that ribbon strip.

After I washed it, it grew and grew and grew. I couldn’t believe how huge it was. The arms were over 24 inches long! I tried patting it all into place and squishing it in and shortening it up.

I messed with it for quite a while yesterday and again this morning. At least I have a nice view from the sunroom where it’s drying.

It looked kind of OK on the fronts, but the back was all scrunched weird and it just wasn’t right. So I threw the sweater and the towels it was drying on into the dryer for about 15 minutes. Maybe even a little longer.

Much, much better!

Stitches evened up and the texture smoothed out. The texture isn’t as overwhelming as I feared it might be. Of course, I won’t really be able to tell until it’s bone dry and I try it on.

I positioned the buttons over the buttonholes to get the “effect” of when they are sewn on. I like the buttons.

I still have to decide if that ribbon (see previous post) is useful inside the bind-off around the bands and collar. It did not get weird in the washing. It’s just fine. But is it a benefit? I don’t know. It doesn’t seem to be a detriment. Maybe I should leave it because if I pull it out, It would be a bear to put it back in later if I decided I really did need some stabilization along the button bands.

The collar seems to lay just fine with it in. Probably would lay just fine without it too.

Do I like the sweater? Am I pleased with the result? Would I recommend the pattern?

As far as the first two questions go, I always have this love/hate relationship with my knitting. I love the yarn; I love the pattern. I hate the finished product. However, I just pulled out two of my last season’s projects out last week (Refined Raglan and Textured Raglan) and was totally delighted and surprised at how well they fit and how nice they felt on. I’m not saying they are fantastic sweaters or anything like that. But, I’m not ashamed to be seen in public wearing either one. I even got a complement on Refined Raglan when I wore it to town.

As far as this one? Well, right now, I do not want to burn it. That’s a good sign.

Would I recommend the pattern? Yes. It is well-written. I found the knitting to be entertaining with all the do this every 8 rows and this every 16 and this every 4th or 5th or whatevers. Yet, it was repetitious enough to be able to learn the stitch pattern. I would describe it as a moderately challenging knit.

It is a very clever design (designed by Deborah Newton for Classic Elite). If you think that someday, you would like to try your hand at sweater design, I highly recommend knitting this one to see how it was shaped. The shaping is very well-done in this pattern. It is hidden, yet at the same time, not at all hidden. The shaping becomes part of the design. Nice. Kudos to Newton on this one.

Stop me before I

do something stupid. If that’s how this looks to you.

I made a couple of modifications in the blue cardigan.

1. I decided after reading a post by b r o o k l y n t w e e d to use a twisted rib for the ribbing on the bottom of the sweater. Jared Flood said, “I also opted for twisted stitch ribbing at the waist band and ankle-cuffs – a choice made to achieve a bit more elasticity – a great little perk of knitting things through the back loops.”

In my brain, I casually omitted the next part of what he says about stumpy limbs. I wanted stretch around the bottom of the sweater. Sounded good. When I got to the sleeves, it was a no-brainer to use the same ribbing on the cuffs. I also looked at my favorite sweater. (No, I did not knit it. So, no hesitation whatsoever in saying it is a magnificent sweater; it’s an Irish handknit.) It has twisted rib cuffs and a twisted rib lower hem.

So, twisted rib it was. I merrily proceeded onward. Then, I could hardly switch to a different ribbing for the button bands. This leads to choice two.

2. I changed the collar to a shawl collar of my own invention since I couldn’t find a pattern for one. All my knitting patterns were packed at that point, so I just sallied forth. It uses twisted rib — to match the bottom and the cuffs.

Twisted rib shawl collar took some time. A really long time. On to choice three.

3. On both the bottom and sleeve cuffs, since I had ribbing, I did a kitchner sewn bind off. Looks good, is stretchy, works well with twisted rib.

Here’s the problem. I don’t want stretchy button bands. That seems wrong. It also seems wrong to use a different bind off along the front of the sweater. So, what I am doing is this:

I looked for a grosgrain ribbon, but I wasn’t sure how to make button holes in it for the button hole side and it didn’t make sense to put it on one side and not the other. The store did have this tiny little satin ribbon in a good color, so I bought it and I am just laying inside the sewn bind off.

I figured I will need to tack it down at the top of the button bands:

So, I’ve left myself a little loop on either side of one stitch where I can sew the ribbon to itself to keep the front band from stretching. Then, I can arrange the collar with the ribbon as loosely or as firmly inside as it wants to block. I’ll tack it again when I get around to the other side at the top of the band and finally, after it’s all done, I’ll tack it down at the bottoms of each of the front button bands. All you should see is a little blip of ribbon at each of the four tack points.

Is this stupid? Will I have problems washing the sweater with the satin ribbon inside? Will it want to curl up or stretch or something when it’s wet?

I don’t think the ribbon will show more than the tiniest bit here and there:

You can see a tiny glimpse about four stitches in from the bottom edge of the photo.

What do people normally do to stabilize button bands? Besides of course the obvious: plan ahead and do not use an exceptionally stretchy stitch as the button band foundation and bind off. Your thoughts, please.

Bored with house photos?

I hope not. I’ve been messing with camera settings (in addition to more unpacking and sorting!). I think I finally got a decent shot of the interior of the front doors:

It will not be obvious to anyone but the RNK (resident non-knitter) and me, but the most exciting part of that picture is the lack of stuff sitting by the doors waiting to go out to the garage! Yippee!

Here are a few interior shots with, once again, the most exciting aspect being the lack of boxes and piles of stuff waiting to be put away — once I figured out where away is.

The kitchen fireplace is pretty nice. We had a small fire on Saturday night. It puts out a lot of heat and the pinyon wood crackles and pops so invitingly as it burns. The RNK wants to rip it out and put in a wood stove.

He has a point. But, there will be no ripping. We are hoping we can get this house on the market soon and possibly sold sometime next spring. So, if you know of anyone who is looking for a lovely house in a gorgeous, remote area, adjacent to a 171,400 acre ranch with a conservation easement (no development!), have them contact me. It’s for sale.

The house is on about 6 1/2 acres and there are no nearby neighbors. It’s incredibly quiet. We see deer every day. We’ve heard elk bugling almost every evening since we’ve been here. Best of all, access is really pretty good, considering how remote it feels. All but about the last 2 miles are so are on pavement.

It will be bittersweet if we do get it sold right away. There are so many nice features. I really like the shower in the master bath (it has a steam shower option that we haven’t yet tried). The tub is amazing too. It has heated air jets and on both ends, the backrests are heated. Nice!

The couple that built this house paid attention to details that most people would never think of when building. They did a top-notch job. I guess that’s what happens when an artist and a construction manager with 30-years experience in the trade get together and design their dream home. From the instant hot water in the morning, to a relaxing soak in the tub at night, they thought of it all!

And last but not least, Opal just had to get in on the show:

In my next post, I’ll get back to the regularly scheduled programing with a completed shot of the blue cardigan. I couldn’t knit for a while because my hands would fall asleep from all the moving stuff. Now, I can knit and I am making progress. All that’s left is the bind-off row, washing, blocking and sewing on buttons. I’m looking forward to finishing it up and moving on to something new!

Reasons for not posting

Lately, more and more blog posts — not just mine, but posts from several of the bloggers I read — start with a list of excuses for not posting more frequently. I could do that. But why?

Suffice it to say, we moved. I thought about taking pictures of the piles of packed boxes, U-Haul trucks and rooms full of partially unpacked boxes. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Three reasons:

1. I was so caught up in the process that I didn’t want to take time out to take photos.

2. I didn’t want to remind myself of the amount of work I did. Yes, the RNK helped, but he went to work every day while I remained immersed in the trauma of it all, day in and day out. Three whole weeks of packing, cleaning both houses and unpacking. My office was a major effort of its own.

3. It seemed a shame to show this lovely house that we stumbled into at its worst.

I did take several photos of “move-free” zones and those I will include. Sooner or later, after the interior looks more settled and there aren’t little piles of things I need to put away everywhere, I’ll take some interior shots too.

As you drive up, the first thing you see is the garage:

The mosaic work above the doors hints at some of the artistic details this property includes:

As you step out of your car and look south toward the house, you get a nice overveiw of the courtyard and a glimpse of the entryway:

Within the courtyard, more mosaic work:

In addition to beauty and the beast, there are mosaic hummingbirds, bluebirds and a rooster and hen. There are two entries into the courtyard. This one leads south toward the corner of the house and onto the path that leads to the exterior entrance for the sunroom.

From the inside of the house, looking back toward the front doors:

The views from the deck are spectacular. Due west:

And north toward Mt. Blanca:

The views along my “commute,” a short walk from the house to the garage. Not too shabby!

The doorway into the garage part of the garage:

I have two nice windows in my office. One looks out over the pinyon/juniper forest in which the house is nestled. The other looks east towards the cliff face of Cat Mountain. The garage settles into the hillside, so my office windows are at ground level outside, but eye level inside. It makes for an interesting perspective on the world and keeps the office a little warmer. I tried to take a picture to show but it’s the wrong time of day. The sun angle makes it impossible to photograph.

We still have unpacking and organizing to do. I still have to set up my inter-office network. Obviously, I have the external connection to my ISP up and running or you wouldn’t be seeing this. We have a few issues with the house. No matter how nice, every house needs something. However, all in all, I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to live in such a wonderful home.

I won!

I entered in a Planet Purl drawing in August. Here’s what the contest required:

Which of these Vogue Knitting Fall 2009 hat projects is your favorite? Vote and be entered in our drawing.

Here’s the link in case you are interested in the hats.

Easy, fun and best of all, I won!!! Erin, the Planet Purl guru, emailed me a week ago with the good news. Planet Purl is a fun site. I have used it to find yarn stores when I travel. There are a bunch other cool resources too including a very nice link to pattern errata.

Winning was all the more exciting since my birthday was in August and I didn’t get to celebrate this year since I was in Tasmania. I did get a lovely gift of a gorgeous skein of yarn and TWO hand knit pairs of socks from my friend Chris shortly after I got home. However, mom didn’t even send me a prezzie. That’s how much of a non-birthday it was.

I’m going to think of this as a birthday gift. And the prize:

a set of the new Zephyr Acrylic Interchangeable Needles from Knit Picks. I had bought some of the Acrylic tips to try out. And yes, I like them quite a bit. My only complaint, the clear color sometimes reflects the yarn, making it harder to see what you are doing with some stitch manipulations. Minor. They are delightfully flexible and have the nice pointy tips that Knit Picks are known for. I like them better than the wood and as much, perhaps more, than the nickle-plated needles.

Can a knitter ever have too many needles? I think not.

So thanks Erin, Planet Purl and Knit Picks!

Still struggling to find time

to knit on the Classic Elite pattern. However, now that I’m home, I can show some pictures of the Asymmetrical Jacket I finished for my mom right before I left on the big adventure.

It looks really tiny. I hope it fits. I blocked it to her specifications on the measurements, so really, it should. The RNK mailed it off for me today. I guess I’ll know soon.

There are some unsightly bumps from the blocking pins. I pinned it out the night before I left on my trip so it was completely dry by the time the RNK got home and unpinned it for me. There are even — gasp — some rust stains from the pins. They are small and hopefully will come out. You can see the bumps along the arms. The stains are tiny specks in only one or two spots.

I think the bumps will come out in the wearing. I’m sure they will come out if she steams it lightly.

If I had it to do over again, I would do the decreases in the neck a little differently. I did make some modifications on the way the buttons were placed in the section that goes up onto the shoulder and in the shaping of the piece in which those buttonholes are placed. However, don’t ask me what I did. All I know was that I ended up practicing on another scrap of yarn because I knitted and tinked that stretch so many times the yarn would have shown signs of wear if I had worked on the sweater itself.

Hopefully, over the next few days I’ll make some forward progress on the other sweater too. Right now, it’s in one of those back and forth stages where everything I do one night comes out the next and so on and so on and so on.

I knit. I tink.

This just in

I was looking for something else (you know how the internet goes) and I came across this brand spanking new article about 30,000 year old flax fibers that were spun and dyed.

NPR story

How cool is that?