Needles & hooks

WIPing Labor Day

I hearby declare my own personal Labor Day weekend challenge. I’m finishing projects.

The UFO post from earlier this year has only grown. I started the shawl for my grandmother. And I visited my sister when I was home and saw the Crusoe socks I made her sitting in her craft room. She never told me if they fit her, so I asked because it was clear they were never worn. Well, they fit her ankles but are far too long on her feet. So she put them on, I marked them, and packed them with me. I have to rip out the toes and redo them.

So, I have at least 5 projects that I could finish with only a few hours work for all of them. I think those are first. I’m just not sure what my reward will be. Surely, I should get something for each one I finish, right? Maybe I get to start on the idea I have for this year’s holiday ornament?

Speaking of which, thanks for your feedback on my Project Knitway idea. It sounds like people are interested, but maybe not right now. Probably partly because of the upcoming holiday knitting season. You’ve got gifts to make, you don’t have time for silly challenges! So I think I’ll table the idea and kick it off in January. But watch this space. I’ll put together an announcement e-mailing list soon, and also probably set up a new blog just for the Project.

Comments: 5 — Posted under: Knitting, Almost Random

Project Knitway?

Like millions of others right now, I’m addicted to Project Runway. And I’ve been thinking about how that might translate to the knit blogging world. Clearly, we couldn’t do a full-scale elimination series like the show, but challenges with restrictive guidelines, things that make us push our boundaries and exercise our creativity would be great fun.

I envision a series of challenges, each with maybe a month to complete. There may be guidelines for materials, or size, or otherwise depending on the challenge. Because I want it to be accessible and possible to complete, I’d specify projects that were relatively compact (no aran sweaters!). Anyone could enter any month. All submissions (photographic) would be reviewed by a small panel of non-competing judges and then 10 or so would be selected for group voting to pick the challenge winner (unlike in Project Runway, no one would be auf’d). Everyone would get the fun of competing. And we would come up with prizes somehow.

Some of the challenge ideas that spring from the top of my head include stuffed toys, shadow knitting, a project that included both knit and crochet, knitting a household item, something felted, a 50gm challenge (use only that much yarn), creative uses of novelty yarns, a hanging ornament. Clearly, the ideas need more fleshing out, but those are some general things that sprung to mind. I think I’d want to combine some ideas, so specify and item and a technique, just to provide a little structure and limitations.

Of course, I’d set up another blog for it and new e-mail addresses for submissions, etc. And while there would be a set of finalists to vote on, I’d also show everyone’s submissions somewhere.

So, what do you think? Would you do it? Would you judge? Do you have ideas for challenges? Am I just crazy? (okay, don’t answer that last one)

Comments: 11 — Posted under: Almost Random

Places I’ve knit and other purple things….

I’m back from Michigan. I knit all the way north, I knit in the ICU waiting room, I knit all the way south. Here’s me knitting as we cross the Mackinac Bridge:

Yes, that was early in the life of my grandmother’s shawl. I had cast on 633 stitches and needless to say, I’m still working on it. I also had to buy more yarn.

Here’s what it looks like now:

And a close up of the drops in the center so far:

Because I’m decreasing 4-8 stitches on each row, it’s starting to pick up speed. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how I would make this a pattern to share, and I’ve got a few ideas. Ones that will still give it the same look, but be far less burdensome to knit. I’ve also considered writing it up with levels of difficulty, such that easy would be only one step beyond Clapotis (and without cables) and more challenging would include the cables and a few other details.

My grandfather is doing fairly well. They shocked his heart and got it beating normally again, they cauterized some bleeding in his stomach, and they gave him lots of blood. Grandma got a break too because she got the flu that was going around the hospital and was quarantined for several days. He was released and then had a relapse, but they couldn’t readmit him to the hospital because Medicare won’t let you go back in unless you’ve been out for a certain number of days! He and my grandmother are staying with my uncle and making their way back to southern Michigan to fly home to Florida. His mental state is far less good. I’m not sure he really recognized me at all. He knew there was a familiar face, and he was happy to have guests who didn’t keep trying to stick needles in him (he kept pulling out his IVs), but he asked me if I knew who my grandmother was, so he’s really not all there.

I came home to lots of work and fatigue. This weekend is The Weekend of Amy and I’m not doing anything that doesn’t make me happy, so I slept in, and I took a walk, and I sat in the sun and read, and I finally opened my July Project Colorswap package from Amanda:

Filled with purply Cascade 200, tea, and lots of lavender bath products. And also, some pretty amethyst stitch markers:

Thanks, Amanda!

Comments: 7 — Posted under: Knitting, Swaps!

Grandmother of Invention

Thank you everyone for you kind words about my grandfather and your suggestions for a project for my grandmother. Several of you suggested Clapotis, and I’d considered it myself, but I’ve made 3 of them already, not to mention designing a matching hat. I wanted to do something new. However, I have been toying with ideas involving dropped stitches for a while, and I was home sick on the couch despairing that my Tivo didn’t have enough Law & Order reruns for me to watch, so I let my mind play with dropped stitches for a while.

I thought about how I could turn Clapotis into a triangle shawl, maybe by working the inverse of the pattern halfway through. And I ruminated on that for a bit while amusing myself with Samuel L. Jackson on Jon Stewart…

Eventually, I wandered upstairs and dug out my rough draft yarn. I grabbed some needles and worked out this:

Not bad for a start, but I wanted to make the stockinette sections more interesting, so I drew on a couple of techiques I learned during a dropped stitches class I took at Stitches West and added cables:

I liked that. And I started thinking about yarn. I thought I needed a lighter yarn to keep the cables light. I thought it would look good with some Koigu. Pretty yarn, but not overpowering to the pattern if I got a single-tone colorway. And then I looked at the clock — 5pm! The LYSs close at 6pm! Hurry!

I had my doubts about my closest one, but well, it’s the closest one. They never have a decent sock yarn collection. Or rather, they favor variety over quantity. So I found some Lorna’s Laces I liked, some Artyarns, and even a nice Trekking. But they only had enough of any one to make one pair of socks. And I knew I’d need a lot more than that.

It was now 5:15 and I knew that if I really wanted Koigu, I only had one option. The store that usually has a ton of it. And making it there would be tight. I used my knowledge of rush hour traffic patterns and short cuts and a handy street map in the passenger seat to make it there in record time. I squeezed my small Civic into a ridiculously tight spot between two SUVs and dashed into the store at 5:59pm. Fortunately, they had a few other customers and didn’t seem to be in a rush to close.

Faced with about 2 dozen colorways, I quickly zeroed in on exactly what I wanted. A mix of muted blues with a hint of purple. And I grabbed all that they had just to be safe.

Returning home, I had some dinner and settled back in on the couch to swatch up what I had to see how it would look in the yarn. Further, I had to do a gauge swatch, because my particular plan of attack has me casting on every possible stitch and decreasing down to one. So here was my first in-yarn swatch:

Not bad, but I didn’t like how the 2×2 cables were so small as to be invisible. So I did a little more math and reworked it with 4×4. And got this (to give you a sense of scale, the top of the triangle is about 12 inches long) :

I experimented a bit with handling the cables at the edges and in the center. All details that you can’t really see in these rush photos. And I have a few more changes I’ll make when working it to further improve how the cables come together. And yes, I’ll chart it out while I’m working on it in case anyone else wants to take Clapotis to the next level.

So, after I finish packing without toiletries tonight, I’ll do a little more math and cast on 600 stitches or so. I probably won’t bring my full knitting kit, but I will be working this on my new Options needles, so I’ll make sure to start on my long cable and pack the shorter ones. Don’t know what kind of net access I’ll have while away, because my parents don’t have Internet (still not sure if they’re civilized), but I will bring my camera and document.

Comments: 17 — Posted under: Knitting, Design

Seeking Suggestions

My mother called me today with the news that my grandfather was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning and isn’t doing well. He’s had alzheimers for several years, somewhat managed by medication and fairly lucid, but slowly declining, but this is heart and lung stuff. He’s 81 and is overweight and not very mobile, so it’s understandable.

I’m considering flying home (Ann Arbor, MI) in a couple of days and driving up to the visit the hospital (northern MI, 8 hours by car). For a variety of reasons not having anything to do with national security, my luggage will be very tight, so I can’t really bring any of the projects I have underway or am planning to start soon. So I have to start something entirely new. And I was thinking about making something for my grandmother, who is having trouble coping. Aside from the issues involved with your husband of 60 years being in this state, my grandfather’s illness causes him to tend toward the beligerent and difficult and she bears the brunt of it.

Anyway, I was thinking of some sort of shawl, and I think I’d have enough down time in flying and driving to finish it. But I don’t know that I’d get a chance to block intricate lace. Anyone got any ideas for me? A pattern that I could get online (free or otherwise) or could find in a book that the local LYS would carry. Thanks.

Comments: 7 — Posted under: Uncategorized

My oldest UFO

Tonight I received the new issue of Cast On in the mail. And reading the article about the new instructions for the Master Knitter’s program, I remember that I started that once and never sent it off. In fact, I did everything but write the report, even though I knew exactly what I wanted it to say. I think it’s been about 2 years, so there’s no way I could take it up again without redoing all the swatches. Anyway, I guess I should ask for a new set of directions and see if I want to take it up again.

However, I am making progress with some of my other UFOs.

I picked up Mermaid again. I think my gauge might be a little too loose now, but I think it will look okay in the end. I’m almost to the last page of my spreadsheet and I laid it out last night and I think it’s gonna measure up okay. Hopefully I’ll finish the body for real soon.

And over the weekend, I had some knitting time while waiting for and during a pedicure, so I made some progress on the third installment of Rockin’ Socks.

Here’s 2 repeats of the pattern:

It’s lacey and open, but really looks like ribbed entrelac:

As for the 2nd installment, they still need buttons. I thought I had the buttons, but I realized that I only have 3 buttons, not 4. So I need to go shopping, and I need some quality time with box of neglected knitting.

In the meantime, here’s what I did with some of the leftovers of Fairgrounds:

I’ve been thinking about using leftover sock yarn to make a blanket of Weavette squares. I think it might be too thin with just one strand woven. But perhaps too thick to deal with doubled. So I’ll have to think some more.

Comments: 3 — Posted under: Knitting, Weavette, Rockin' Socks

*small wave*

Just wanted to pop up a small post to tell everyone that I survived the Boston Breast Cancer 3-Day. I didn’t walk this year, but served on the camp crew instead. Which meant that I carried around and set up many tables and chairs, helped lay out where the tent city would be, was on trash collection duty during all the meals and in tent city, cheered walkers as they came into camp, and wandered around the tents after the walkers came in on Day 2 to make sure no one was trying to nap in dangerously hot tents.

Comparing this year to last year when I walked the 60 miles in Tampa, FL, I think I was far more exhausted at the end of the days when I walked, but I only hurt in my feet and legs. This year, I got some nice bits of downtime during the days when the walkers were out, but every muscle in my body was sore. I got home yesterday and slept for 12 hours.

In the end, I wasn’t organized enough to pack knitting (I wasn’t even organized enough to pack things like sunblock, flip flops, a hat, or a flashlight — a detour to Target on the way there got some of those things, and the 3-Day store in camp provided the others). But my husband stopped by to pick up my stuff at camp after the walkers left on Day 3 and left me my new Rockin’ Socks project, so I worked on that after I was officially discharged from crew duty and waited for the walkers to cross the finish line. Photos later.

I did get in a small craft project when some of the people on my crew decided to transform our t-shirts during our down time on Day 2. I turned mine into a sleeveless v-neck tank with fringe on the bottom. Not only did it look cool (many walkers commented on it), but it helped keep me cooler than the full coverage t-shirt did. The rest of my crew knew I meant business when I put on my t-shirt, made cutting marks, and then folded it carefully to make it symmetrical. I transformed another shirt for another crew member.

Next year, I’ll be walking. And knitting. But not at the same time.

Comments: 2 — Posted under: Almost Random

UFOs

Scout has put out a call for people to list their UFOs. I wouldn’t win a prize by any measure, but I have quite a few. So it’s True Confessions time. Here’s what I know off the top of my head. May not be exhaustive.

Baby Surprise Sweater: Everyone who commented on my last post guessed correctly. I cast on during a car trip on Friday and cast off on the return trip. Just needs seams and buttons. And I have plenty of yarn (Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted in Tuscany(?, must check)) so I’m thinking about making a matching hat. And mama is in labor right now…

Mermaid: Okay, so this is my most recent project notes page for this sweater. Which is woefully out of date. At last check, I’d knit 3 ridges after my last ripback and got edgy about the gauge again and abandoned it for a while. It’s sitting in my coffeetable (which has a neat sliding top that opens to reveal a deep box that my knitting has totally overtaken) waiting for me to decide it’s worthy again.

Scribble Scarf: I haven’t really talked about this one. I started it when I last went to San Francisco, intended to be a party shawl. But time got away from me. It’s black and red and silver. And a quick knit. And I really should finish it. Someday.

Rockin’ Socks II: My Rock and Weave socks. They’re mostly done. They just need to have their buttons attached and ends woven in.

Rockin’ Socks III: I received the package last week. And wound up the yarn and cast on intending for these to be another car project this weekend. But never picked them up again. My head is still puzzling over exactly where I need to break the pattern stitch over my magic loop sides, but I figure I’ll worry about that after I do the cuff.

Ribby Shell: I was surfing some blogs and caught the tank bug a few weeks back. I downloaded this pattern from Chic Knits a while back and bought some Cotton Classic on the way home from work and got started. And got really close to dividing at the armholes and stopped. And lost track of it. Couldn’t even put my fingers on it right now.

Ballet Cami: I started this a couple of weeks ago after seeing it on Bron’s blog. She and I had a little non-race which she soundly tromped me on. And I finished the main knitting. It just needs ends woven in and front cinched up.

Office Surprise: I’ve posted a few pictures of something I’m making for someone at work. It’s a green and white thing. I haven’t said what it is yet. I’ve been working on it a while. But not really. I should work some more on it. Because it will be really cool when it’s done.

Beaded Necklace: I recently finished a Swallow Hill beaded necklace which I modified to make rope length and gave to my best friend. I have another one that I made choker-length for myself. I finished it and sewed the clasp on, but the nylon cord on the clasp broke. I figured out how I want to fix it. I just have to sit down and do it.

Wow, I should update my sidebar to list all of those and feel guilty. Or not.

Anyway, none of those are getting finished tonight or this weekend. Because this weekend is the Boston 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. I’m not walking this year, but volunteering to work at the camp. And I have to clean up at home and pack. But I have skein of Socks that Rock in their Hot Flash breast cancer support color. I think I might just have to start some socks with it to work on during the slow moments at camp. I’m bound to have a few, right?

Comments: 8 — Posted under: Knitting