Stash Queen

Best of Times/Worst of Times

Timmins is under a state of emergency because of a huge forest fire, close to 32,000 hectares, which has been burning out of control for over a week and is getting closer daily.  People have been evacuated from homes, cottages and campgrounds in the outlying area, and the highway to our closest major city has been closed for over a week.  On Thursday, the huge cloud of smoke travelling over us made the air quality so bad that my knitting girlfriends and I had to leave the gazebo to come inside and close the patio door and all the windows in the house.  If you're the praying type, pray that the winds will die down, substantial rain will come, and the fire can be brought under control.

Meanwhile, life goes on.  Yesterday was my daughter's graduation day from her Bachelor of the Science of Nursing program.  It's hard to believe four years have gone by, but I know it was a long time and a lot of work and sacrifice for her and her husband.

The boys helped celebrate their mom's graduation at a backyard party given by one of the other girls' family.  They are "Dynomite"!

 

Risa was fortunate to get a job in the local Health Unit in the family programs department. Part of her duties include teaching the prenatal class to young couples, and it seems to be catching. We're expecting our third grandchild around the first of November. I won't start knitting baby stuff until she is far enough along to go out of town for a 3D ultrasound and hopefully find out the gender this time. Of course, this baby will be loved no matter what, but you know I'd like to knit little girly things .

For now I'll just have to help spoil my girlfriend's little granddaughter.  I still had most of a ball of the purple yarn left, so I made a hat to go with the sweater in the last post.  Kelly Brooker's pattern is very good value, including instructions for five weights of yarn in sizes from newborn to adult, with charts for two different lace patterns to match two of her sweater patterns.  There was a very smart idea for blocking:  blow up a balloon to the circumference indicated in the pattern for the size and allow the hat to dry on the balloon.  Here's Lily's beanie:

My other finished object is a ruffled scarf I started last summer from Frillseeker novelty yarn.  It was fun to knit for about the first six inches, then I found working with the wide mesh yarn just slow and annoying.  But my girlfriends came back from Florida with a few of these scarves made, and I thought I'd better finish mine before the fad is completely passee. 

I chose the Neapolitan ice cream colors of my yarn to coordinate with some chocolate brown mix and match pieces in my wardrobe, but truthfully, I don't know if I'll ever wear it.  That big ruffle makes me feel huge and top-heavy.  If you've knit one of these types of scarf, leave a comment please and tell me how you like it.

Hooray, Hooray - It's May!

May 11 - first afternoon spent knitting outside in the gazebo.  It was sunny and warm enough to get out the stepladder and attach the canvas roof back onto the frame, hang the screen walls after a long search for the clips stored somewhere too safe to remember, then drag the patio table and lawn swing up the sloping back yard from the storage garage, and finally - relax and enjoy!

Daybreak II is done, although it reminds me more of the colors of sunset.  Jude will love it.

There is also a spring sweater for her little granddaughter, whom I enjoyed so much when I was visiting in April.

Won't she look cute in this?

It's Hine by Kelly Brooker.  If you'd like to try out this top-down sweater, there's a free version called Hine Is a Girl on Ravelry for worsted weight yarn and the 18-24 months size.  The purchased version includes instructions for three weights of yarn and seven sizes.  This is size 2T in DK weight yarn (I actually used sport).  I think it might be tunic length for her right now, good for wearing with leggings this spring, and the pattern also shows this little top worn skater style over a long sleeve T for colder seasons.   Click to enlarge the photo to see the wonderful buttons I found from some long forgotten sale bin.  They have little raggedy dolls on them, wearing purple dresses just the right shade for the sweater.  The stash comes through again!

What have I been knitting for myself?  I'm working on Pamuya from three 50 gram balls of Quince and Co. Tern, purchased in Portsmouth last fall.  The yarn is a real solid color, so I thought the pattern needed some texture and variety to make it interesting.   

It's fun to work on and keeps you knitting through the sections until a stitch change.  I have 32 ever-increasing rows left to complete.  The size will be somewhere between the sock yarn shawlettes and my Draper, which took about 230 grams. 

But I think I will have to switch to sock knitting soon.  Look what my daughter gave me for Mother's Day and what she wrote on it.  Does she know her mother well or what?

 

Down Home Knitting

I drove Mom home last Wed. and finished my sister's birthday socks just in the nick of time on Thurs.  Entrelac is fiddly and takes way more time than plain sock knitting but is so worth the effort.

I used the Basket Weave sock pattern from The Sock Knitter's Workshop for the leg, but then since I had 60 stitches, the same as I usually use for basic socks, I switched to my favorite short row method for a Sherman heel and toed off with my usual decreases. 

I should have followed the designer's instructions and used an afterthought heel.  That would have kept the colors of the Crazy Zauberball consistent from leg to foot.  On the second sock, I got a jarring stripe from the pale blue where the entrelac ended meeting a much darker color when I had the heel completed and resumed the upper foot stitches.  I thought I could live with the result and knit almost to the end of the foot before I decided that I really couldn't.  I ripped back to the leg, cut out a section of light yarn, and reknit the heel and foot.  The pair looks better now, but I will follow the book when I knit up the skein of Crazy Zauberball that I have set aside for my own pair.

I had an afternoon to hang out with my friend Jude and got a photo showing how happy she is with her new scarf.

I started her Daybreak shawl the same night that I finished my sister's socks, and I just have the plain brown rows of the border left to knit.  I prefer the North Woods colorway above of the Knit Picks Chroma fingering; but the Smoothie should suit Jude well.

Together, Jude and I drove over to Never Enough Wool to find out how my blog buddy Carol has been doing since her thyroid surgery.  Little did I know that she had required another surgery for a gall bladder attack close on the heels of the first operation.  Barb was looking after the shop, but I was happy to find Carol there knitting with her Sat. circle, feeling better, and very upbeat about further treatment.   

Of course we didn't get out of there empty-handed!  Jude took two steps into the shop and fixed upon a yarn new to Carol's shop.  By the strangest twist of fate it was the same colorway of Fame Trend that I just bought in Phoenix.  When we pulled up the Berroco booklet on  Carol's computer to show Jude what I was going to knit with the yarn, she liked the Vardar pattern too.  The funny thing is that I knew when I was buying the yarn that it was more her colors than mine, so I'm going to knit it for her, and she bought enough of the yarn in a blue/black/grey colorway to replace it for me.  Odd how things work out sometimes. 

Stash Queen's Back in Town

Got back from Arizona last Thursday and been busy ever since.  Mom came back with us for a couple of weeks, enjoying Easter with the grandboys.  They stayed overnight here on Saturday as their parents had a wedding reception to go to.  So the Easter Bunny came to our house for the first time in years.  Sunday was a gorgeous warm day spent mostly outside.  It was really special to see the four-year-old little Dude and my eighty-year-old Mom (who's fitter than I am) playing Frisbee in the back yard. 

Things are going in and out of the stash.  I'm a little overcommitted to other people right now, but I'm a process knitter and I really don't care if I keep the finished product myself.  Besides, it's great to have friends who are willing to buy yarn for me to knit.  After seeing my Daybreak last fall, Jude bought two colorways of Chroma fingering from Knit Picks to see which she'd like me to use to make her one with bittersweet brown as the solid border color.  Turns out she liked both the Smoothie (pink and orange) and Northwoods (greens and gold).  So she's getting a Trillian

as well as the Daybreak yet to be begun.

When I took my turquoise and lime Aestlight shawl to Arizona, yet another friend fell in love.  "Oooh, will you make one for me?"   We had already planned to go shopping the next day, so the answer was "Of course."  A not so quick stop at The Fiber Factory in Mesa, and I could begin knitting her new Ella Rae Lace Merino Multy aqua and lavender shawl.   The yarn project I bought there for myself can wait.  It's Vardar, from the new Norah Gaughan booklet, but mine's going to be multicolored. 

By the time we were going to our second yarn store, the "I've died and gone to heaven!" Knit 1 Bead 2 in Jerome, Vicky had decided that she really wanted a two-colour Aestlight.  Upon consultation with a very helpful staffer, we chose some purple Koigu as a contrast.  Imagine, three Canadians going all the way to Arizona to buy Canadian yarn!  (I was happy to recognize lots of Indigodragonfly there too, and Glenna C's patterns on display.)   So this was the happy result of Vicky's yarn store experiences:

Changing her mind about a one-colour shawl means that there is still an unused, but wound and unreturnable, skein of the Ella Rae.  So I'll have to find a one-skein shawlette pattern and knit something else for Vicky too from her yarn.  My planned ten stitch triangle shawl from my new yarn from Jerome will have to join the stash for awhile.

But even before Jude's or Vicki's second shawls, I need to finish my sister's birthday gift.  April 19 is approaching fast.  Check back to see if I make my deadline.

Another Trip to the Frog Pond

Remember when I frogged the front and sleeve of my Dovetail pullover to knit it one size bigger?  Well, it came out a lot bigger!  So it's frogged again, and the yarn is back in the stash while I get over my disappointment. I may or may not use it for Dovetail again.  I've been checking out some gansey patterns too.  We'll see how I feel after some time passes.

At about the same time I was frogging, I got an email from the website Craftsy offering their Fit Your Knits course for half price.  Back in the 90's at Canadore College's summer program Artsperience, I took a week long course on machine knitting from Don Colvin of Toronto, which taught me most of what I know about using gauge and basic math to create or modify patterns.  But that was a long time ago, and sweater shapes are much more fitted now.  The Craftsy video course instructor is Stephanie Japel, a designer I have followed from her blog days.  My Pink Pools vest is one of her designs which incorporates bust darts and fits very well.  So I signed up.  I'm not going to start another sweater until I've worked my way through the units on waist shaping and sleeve adjustments. 

In the meantime, I'm doing some gift knitting.  I'm headed off on a real trip to Arizona again for a couple of weeks to get a head start on spring.  (It's still snowing here.  My picnic table is totally covered now, even though we had one day of melt this week.)  For my friend/hostess, I'm finishing a pair of basic toe-up short socks in my favorite summer yarn, Patons Stretch.  

 

Also, some spring fresh dishcloths in a couple of my favorite patterns from Leisure Arts Splash of Color leaflet.

And the start of a Beach Ball from Bernat Kitchen Kolors.  I love the way the Stripes yarn is working out in this pattern.

 

Knitting the square dishcloths was so relaxing that I pulled out the Mitered Crosses blanket and got to work again. 

 

The son of my best friend back home is getting married this summer, and I think this blanket would make a great shower gift if I can get over my knitting ADD and just "Git R Done."

Lovely, Lacy, Winter Days

As opposed to "Lazy" days.  I don't consider knitting "work"; it is my passion and my relaxation, but it is productive.  This is my latest completed project:

This little lengthways scarf took only 55 grams of Malabrigo sock yarn.   The pattern is from the Classic Elite Yarns booklet Panache, both yarn and pattern purchased in Boston as a souvenir of my knitting cruise last fall.

I always say that my favorite color is not just blue, but denim blue.  So I love this and know it will get lots of wear.  I plan to use this pattern again.  A lot of non-knitters prefer long scarves to triangles.  But I'm also looking for a different pattern and some other yarn to combine with the leftover 45 grams for another lovely accessory.

Also lovely are my amaryllis blooms.  The bulb was marked down to $2.98 in the grocery store after Christmas.  This was one of my dad's favorite plants (although he loved all flowers), so I bought it.  I think of him every time I walk by it.

Finally, for those people who have hardly had any snow this winter, I give you the view from my patio door:

The roll of snow in the centre is my old wooden picnic table.  I am enjoying the milder than usual temperatures, but we have had constant snow since November.  It actually snows less at -30 C.   

 

Do What You Gotta Do

I put on my Northern Lights cardigan to go out with the girls on Friday night, took it off again and put on something else.  This is not the fate that I want for this sweater.  DH is out of town for a curling weekend with the guys, so today I settled in with some chick flicks and ripped out the front bands, the neck ribbing and the top motif of the yoke chart.  Even sacrificing just those 5 rows helps with the too long yoke. 

 

I changed to one size smaller needles than before (two sizes smaller than the pattern suggests), did the decrease row to end the fair isle section, and reknit the neck ribbing tightly.   Then I used the original number of stitches to pick up the button band again;  the tighter tension overall meant that I still needed those stitches despite the inch I had subtracted from the yoke length.  The band seems to be lying nice and flat.  Now I have to remeasure to space the buttons and recalculate where to knit the buttonholes on the final band.  I have the opportunity to reconsider the number of buttons.  Using buttons on the yoke only is one of the updated fashion features, but I might want the option of buttoning it all the way down. Haven't decided yet. 

I made another tough decision last weekend with the Dovetail pullover.  I want more ease in this cabled sweater than the last one I completed.  I may want to wear a shirt under it sometimes.  So I frogged a whole sleeve and a front that was knit up to the armhole (the one where I had patched one cable error), and started over one size larger.  Luckily my LYS still had one 100 gram skein of my yarn in the same dye lot even though it's a year later.  I'm afraid to jinx myself by saying it, but I seem to be remembering the front and back crossings better this time around.

 

While I was at the shop, I broke my yarn fast resolution and bought a skein of Regia, my favorite sock yarn.  I can't resist the World Circus colorways.  Plain stockinette stitch is all this yarn needs, so this will be my carry-around knitting for the next little while.

 

I try to buy locally when I can find a natural fiber or blend of the right weight at my LYS.  They carry Patons Classic Wool, and Briggs and Little yarns in several weights, and I use those Canadian basics a lot.  There is a decent selection of self-patterning sock yarns, and some Manos Silk Blend and Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that customers have requested.  But  acrylic still sells the most around here.  I often order online to get a different yarn or a good deal.  I always visit yarn stores when I'm out of town and look for the luxury brands to buy myself a little "treat," usually just enough for an accessory.  I give a lot of things away, so other people benefit too, and I don't feel too guilty.  Even though knitting is my main occupation now, my knitting habit hasn't been able to keep up with my travelling/shopping habit since I retired.  That's why I really want to catch up with the stash this year. 

Ups and Downs of Knitting

Canada's Next Top Model - in my dreams I'm 6" taller, 30 pounds lighter, and 20 years younger.  But the knitting looks pretty good.

The Northern Lights cardigan isn't a total success though.  It grew more than expected in blocking so the sleeves are full length, not bracelet, and the length is longer than cropped.  That's fine with me.  But the yoke is also longer now so the armholes are a bit too low and not so comfortable.  The neckline ribbing is a continuation of the body instead of picked up stitches, making it very stretchy, and the weight of the sweater pulls it down, exacerbating the armhole problem.  I thought of reknitting the neckband on smaller needles, but that would necessitate ripping out both front bands too.  I can't face that right now.  So first I think I'll try weaving or crocheting some yarn on the inside to tighten up the ribbing and stablilize the neckline.  A pretty sweater, but a disappointing fit.

Bless shawls!  There's never a fit problem.  Having knit a lot of single skein shawlettes, I love having a full size shawl now - Draper.

It took two and a half 100 gram skeins of Estelle Cadenza, fingering weight wool and silk.  The pattern also suggests a smaller version stopping after the double lace band.  The lace pattern is easy enough to be a first lace shawl for a novice.  No reservations recommending this one.

I'm also really happy with the Rosebud hat.  No surprise that the pattern's great - it's by Jared Flood, Brooklyn Tweed. 

It has the biggest, smooshiest cable I've ever knit.  The rest is garter stitch, easy peasy.  I knit the longer, slouchier version; there's a shorter cap style too for those who would prefer it.  This is a pattern that I'll probably knit again to replenish the gift bin.
 

I'm getting a lot of knitting time, staying home more, trying to avoid shopping as a pastime.  All the New Year's resolutions are going well - I'm even back on the treadmill.  And by the way, Happy Valentine's Day!

Done X 3

A very boring but productive week and a half, partly due to freezing rain which encouraged me to stay at home and knit.  I am enjoying Netflix:   six seasons of Bones have also helped me sit and knit.  I have read most of Kathy Reich's books about Temperance Brennan and enjoyed them, but I didn't watch the TV series previously because I was miffed that the protagonist had the same name but was a completely different character with completely different colleagues than the books.  This time around, I was willing to overlook that and accept the program as a different entity, enjoyable on its own merits.  Here's what I got accomplished while Bones solved all those cases.

The Brioche cowl is done, but not without errors.  I'll wear it myself instead of putting it in the gift bin.  The original right side with the red/purple dominant looks good:

But there are three spots on the reverse where I missed purling the YO together with the appropriate stitch.  One error shows up more than the others because it falls against a white rather than gray stitch, so the cowl is not perfectly reversible, although it might not be noticeable in wearing.  Look for the red bar over a white stitch under the first stripe in the photo below. 

This cowl uses a tubular cast on and cast off, for which I had to use the instructions in the book and internet videos.  I think I did an adequate job for the cast on; it did seem vaguely familiar.  However I found the cast off quite confusing and hard to remember.  I hope I would do better if I tried it again.  Which I probably should, before I totally forget the steps.

On the other hand, I am completely happy with my Northern Lights Cardigan.  Notice that I changed my color plan.  The green looked good with the purple, but it really dominated the yoke, and it just isn't my color.  The red, while on the burgundy side, with the purple main color reminded me too much of a Red Hatter costume.  So I resorted to off white, which keeps the color scheme a bit more neutral.  But instead of using the main color to accent the white motif, I threw in a bit of the burgundy and continued to substitute it to complete the yoke.  It's the same intensity as the purple, so the color scheme is still balanced.  I think two shades of purple with just the neutrals would have been boring without the extra shot of red, and I like the result.

The cardigan isn't blocked yet, and I will look for buttons on my next trip into town.  The pattern calls for the beads to be sewn on the sweater after the yoke is knit, so I did it that way, but it was drudgery.  If I were knitting this pattern again ( and I am tempted; maybe Mom would like it), I would probably put the beads on the yarn and knit them in as I went.  The beads I used were size 4, color Gunmetal, which ties in the bit of gray in the yoke and shows up well on both the burgundy and the mauve.  I used less than a third of a 40 gram vial of beads.

My third completed project is a quick pair of mitts from some stash Auracania Magallanes.  It averages aran weight but it ranges from thick to very thin.  It might not have been the best choice for mittens, but I didn't know what else to with one skein.  I wanted to try out Ocatillo, a new pattern that I bought from Patternfish.  The mitten fits well and is interesting to make.  It would like nice in two colours too, with a contrasting or coordinating colour for the horizontal cuff, making it a good stashbuster pattern.

I received my copy of Melissa Leapman's new book  Stashbuster Knits, and I think I'll find it useful.  Three things I really like:  1)  She shows three colorways for every design.  2)  If you want to use up lots of smaller scraps, she gives yardage for each repeat of some of the stripes, fair isle bands, and motifs.  3)  Information at the front lists how to combine finer weights of yarn to make heavier weights; you could make custom marls. 

 
So far, I'm still on track with knitting what I've got.  I don't know how long it's been since I've gone a month without buying at least one ball of yarn.  I am still allowing myself to buy new patterns, so I can update what I'd like to make with the stash.  I frogged the Celtic wrap I was making with some rose heather Classic Wool, because I know I'd get more wear from a sweater.  I'm in love with the Rocky Coast Cardigan from Coastal Knits, the other book I purchased from Knit Pick's ongoing 40% off book sale.  Can I keep myself from starting it before I finish my Dovetail pullover?  Stay tuned and see.

Everything's Coming Up Purple

(No new pictures in this post, but lots of links.  I've got a new computer that is driving me crazy.  I've had problems with four programs already and spent two and a half hours with computer support last week.  This week it's the photo card reader that's not working, but I'm going to post anyway.)(Edited to add photos two days later.)

Here's the reveal of the last FO from 2011:

It's the Loop of Luxury from Cowlgirls, knit in Wisdom Yarn's Skye chunky weight.  I love this colorway 101, a lot of brights along with a soft gray mauve that keeps it from being too garish.  This was a gift for my daughter's birthday.  She was the New Year's Baby for our city the year that she was born.

My 2012 Knitting New Year's Resolutions are the same as every year; I always have good intentions to:

1. Knit from the stash instead of buying more yarn.

This Aestlight shawl knit in 2009 was only worn once or twice.  It got badly caught in a suitcase zipper and I couldn't get the pulled row eased back to proper tension so that the shawl looked right.  So it got frogged and became stash once again, purple Estelle Cadenza fingering weight merino silk.

It's being reborn as Shibui Knits' Draper shawl.  The larger size has a nice balance of knitting.  The triangle starts at the top centre back with some stockinette, then one lace band, more stockinette, then two lace bands, some more stockinette, then ends with three lace bands.  Even the lace chart is simple enough that it made good car knitting when I travelled down to Mom's with my husband, daughter, and two grandsons for New Year's.  I'm on the final stockinette band already.

2.  Finish some of the UFO's that haunt my yarn room. 

I was inspired to start my Northern Lights Cardigan after the Knitting at the Top of the World blogger completed hers as the first step in her endeavor to knit all the projects in the book in order.  She's halfway through the book now, and I'm halfway through my one sweater.

This thermal rectangle is the bottom of the back and fronts knit in one piece up to the armholes, as shown a year ago.  I have recently completed one sleeve and half of the other, which will be fit in with the body to begin the circular yoke.  I've swatched the yoke pattern, using a lighter mauve, grey, and black for three of the contrast colors and trying to decide between  burgundy and leaf green for the most contrasting colour. 

3.  Try some new techniques. 

I've never tried Brioche stitch before.  Last fall, I discovered that several staffers at the library are avid knitters, and one has fallen in love with brioche and has been encouraging me to try it.  When I was checking out books a few weeks ago, she tried to describe how to do it, and it sounded pretty confusing and complicated.  This week she showed me the cowl that she had knit, and I went from curious to converted -  I had to try it.  I knew I had some patterns with some instructions, and settled on a smaller neckwarmer from Melanie Falick's book Weekend Knitting.  But I found the instructions and photos from this free pattern helpful as well. 

Brioche is a kind of rib, and the technique involves slipping stitches purlwise with the yarn in front to create a double-faced fabric.  Normally when you are moving the yarn back and forth from a purl to a knit position, you have to be careful to keep it between the needles and not over the needle, creating a yarnover.  It's easy to make that mistake.  So when it clicked that brioche is all about creating those yarnovers with every slip stitch and then working them together with the slipped stitch on the next row, it's really pretty easy. 

 I'm using two colorways of an older wool from WalMart, Sean Sheep Armitage.  One ranges from red to purple, and the other is grey to white.  On one side the red/purple stitch is raised and the grey/white recedes, and the other side is the opposite.   The fabric is thick and squooshy.  Very warm, and very cool at the same time!

So far, I'm on track with the knitting resolutions.  Much better than the diet.