In A Year - 4KCBWday7

The last day of the 4th Knit and Crochet Blog Week has arrived. I for one will be sad to see it go and I’m already looking forward to next year. Now, on with the routine. Today’s prompt is all about looking forward to next April and setting a few crafty goals. Going to keep things simple around here. 

• Write more. I came across Knit and Crochet Blog Week on the first day it started, April 22. The prompts had been up for weeks but, since I was late to the party, I wrote my posts the day before and a couple posts on the day of. Most of the time I was up late editing photos and refining my drafts. This whole week has been completely last minute but I loved every minute of it. Writing needs to become a daily part of my life. 
• Release all the patterns! I’ve got so many half finished knitting patterns that need just a little more love before I can send them out to the world. Some are closer to complete than others but it’s better to think of them half or even a quarter finished than mostly undone. 
• I want to finish up some major projects that have been floating around. My Dr Who scarf is feeling quite neglected.
• The most important goal though is to stay curious and keep learning. Maybe this means I’ll spend a month obsessed with origami or seriously take up needle felting or start dyeing yarn or learn to make ravioli. I have no clue what’ll do but it’s going to be awesome. 

What are your goals for the coming year?

Scales help Knitting - 4KCBWday6

One of the great things about knitting is that it requires so few tools to accomplish. All you really need to start is yarn, needles, and a pair of functional hands (thanks to SillyLittleLady for the reminder). With those three things you can knock out garter stitch scarves till you run out of yarn. Tape measures, stitch markers, tapestry needles, stitch counters, and scissors are helpful tools that help kick your knitting up to the next level. It’s worth having multiples of that list and, especially, multiple tape measures since they seem to pop into an alternate dimension whenever you’re not looking. Honestly, with a full set of those 8 items you’d be set but I’m going to suggest one more. The humble and handy kitchen scale. 

• Scales can tell you exactly how much yarn you used for a project such as pair of socks of or a kid’s sweater. If you’re making multiples of an item, you’ll know exactly how much yarn you’ll need for the rest.
• Have yarn or handspun and don’t know the yardage? This tutorial from FreshStitches details how to use a digital scale to calculate yardage. 
• Scales make it trivial to split skeins of yarn in half to make socks and sleeves easier to knit. Making kits and dividing yarn for a group project is also much easier with a scale. 
• Like tracking data and knowing how much yarn you’ve actually knit in a month or a week or a day? The scale is your friend.
• There are patterns with the instruction, “Knit half of the skein before beginning the next section.” Baktus Scarf, I’m looking at you. Measure the yarn before you cast on and regularly weigh the remainder until you’re at the right number.

I knit for years without a scale but, now that I use one and know how helpful it is, I don’t want to be without one. My scale hangs out with my knitting needles and other helpful gadgets which are always close at hand. Plus, you don’t have to use it just for knitting. Use a scale to help you cook or mail packages or spin yarn. 

Today’s post is part of the 4th Knitting and Crochet Blogging Week. See what it’s all about at Eskimimi Makes. ​

Starting off Green - 4KCBWday4

The Answer: Green

Today’s Questions for Knitting and Crochet Blogging Week: What are your favorite colors for knitted projects? What colors do you seem to favor when yarn shopping and crafting?

I did not even have to think about the answer. Whether I’m wandering around yarn shops or shopping for clothing, I’m drawn towards various shades of green first. I pick up the green yarn first even when I end up buying a different color. I have never knit a sweater and yet I have at least two sweater quantities of green wool ready and waiting to be knit.

​Green isn’t the only color I go for though. My stash page on Ravelry is showing a strong trend towards blue, grey, and a particular shade of earthy, mustard yellow. The colors I design and knit patterns with are also varied though green does make a strong showing. 

At the moment I’m feeling a bit bored from all the green. I’m knitting a green pair of socks. I just finished spinning green handspun. Plus, there’s a secret project on the needles with green stripes but more on that later. To combat my boredom I picked out a very not green bump of fiber called Winter Pinoak from Yarn Geek Fibers. The bump is 4oz of Blue Faced Leicester in blue, orange, brown, and white. Looks so fun to spin too. 

What color or colors are grabbing you right now?

It’s funny. When I first started this post I thought it would be green, green, and more green. Instead its mostly blue. 

Knitting Day to Day - 4KCBWday3

Today’s prompt for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week was to make an infographic. I’ve never made one before but it was pretty fun to do. Let’s pretend I didn’t greatly underestimate how long it would take me to finish.

At first I had no clue what topic the infographic should cover but my frequent knitting came to the rescue. I knit almost every day on different projects, in different places, and for different reasons.   When the stars are right I even buy yarn. Knitting has a measurable impact on my daily life and vice versa. I know I’m not the only one either. So, an infographic about how knitting and the daily grind affect each other came to be.

Wooly Mascot - 4KCBWday2

There are times when I hear about exciting things at the very last minute and decide to throw my plans (or planned posts) to the wind and do something new. The exciting thing this time was the 4th Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. I’ve seen and read this week over the past years and always wanted to participate but always forgot. Luckily, I found out on Day 1 and not Day 7 this year.

The first day’s prompt was about picking a house Hogwarts style. The Bee’s are always busy. The Manatee’s are cozy. The Monkey’s want to learn. The Peacocks like to strut their stuff. I am definitely in the House of Bee. I knit a lot as the 282 projects on my Ravelry page will testify and always have several projects on the needles at one time. When I was first learning to knit House of Monkey would have been the place for me. Still is depending on the day. I want to learn but not every project I knit teaches me something new. Sometimes I want the finished project more than I want to practice a new technique.

I don’t think the two Houses have to be mutually exclusive though. True, I do have a lot of projects on the needles and a lot of fiber on the spindles. I switch between them at the drop of a hat. Also true is that I like to learn. What joins my love of learning and all of the half finished projects is a sense of play. When I’m making something, I try not to take myself too seriously. I don’t always succeed but that’s mostly after ripping out something 5+ times. Knitting, crochet, spinning, and generally making stuff is the easiest way for me to play and have fun. 

Spinning is king right now for giving me a way for me to play, to learn, and to start just one more project. It’s no surprise that my mascot is my own handspun yarn. Feeling the wool (or silk or alpaca) moving through my fingers is fun. Putting twist into fiber and plying singles is all play even if it is difficult. After a year, I’m still new to spinning and there’s so much more to learn. No matter how much yarn is on the needles I can’t resist making more yarn with my spindles. Making handspun is amazing and, at the end of the process, I can knit with it too. Then the cycle begins again. 

April is for Blankets: Week 4

Every month I’m picking one skill to practice everyday for a month and updating my progress every Monday. I call it Project Incremental. Read up on how it all got started. 

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3 weeks down with 1 week until May and I’m still enjoying this project. Measurable progress probably helps. Oh, hitting a major milestone every so often is great too. Last week, I finally knit through the entire 465 yards in the first skein of yarn and started on the second 465 yards. Feels good.

I prefer not to think about the fact that after I finish the second skein, there’s still another 465 yards to go. I’m also doing my best to ignore the fact that the final rounds of this blanket have over 700 stitches each. Instead of focusing on the sheer number of stitches ahead of me, I’m keeping what I’ve accomplished in mind. Last week I knit 10 rounds and 4,280 stitches and the week before saw 14 rounds and 5,320 stitches. That’s over 9,000 stitches (9,600 to be exact). All those stitches are adding up. 

Wonder how many rounds and stitches I’ll knit this week. 

April is for Blankets: Week 3

​Every month I’m picking one skill to practice everyday for a month and updating my progress every Monday. I call it Project Incremental. Read up on how it all got started. 

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And the month is half over already. Funny how that happens. Here I am, just going about my own business, and time is flying by without one bit of concern for any deadlines it’s bringing closer. Ah well. I was able to put some of that time to use by testing out my theory about sneaking up on finished projects one row/day at a time. 

During the past week I knit 14 rounds and the great bulk of the work, 6 rounds, happened Sunday. Managed to get all wrapped up in watching a new to me anime and couldn’t stop until the last episode. What better thing to do with my hands than knit? Somehow managed to not scare away the finished project by knitting so much at one time. Still looking forward to today’s and tomorrow’s rounds so the theory stands strong. Giant, bound off blanket, you shall not escape me.

I’ve managed to to finish the first 2 charts and start the next 2. After knitting 14 rounds, there are 404 stitches on the needles. The grand total of stitches knitted last week is 5,320. There are 82 rounds left assuming that I don’t chart out any more repeats - the jury is still out on that - and not even I am going to bother doing the math about how many stitches are left. That is not information I care to know until after I’ve bound off, blocked the blanket, and am cozy underneath it. Then the stitch count will be a point of pride or insanity. Haven’t decided which. 

Washing Socks

Weeks of unrelenting pollen? Check.

Frequent rain storms? Check.

70° (F) temperatures? Check. 

Tornado Warnings? Check. Thankfully, nothing happened this time. 

Yep, it’s finally time to put away the woolens and the comfy hand knit socks. What finally convinced me to put away the wool was several days spent wearing flip-flops. Flip-flops and socks don’t mix unless you happen to be wearing tabi socks. Even then, doesn’t work most of the time.

My condolences to any who live farther north and are still being buffeted by cold temps and sleet. 

Before my socks could go into hibernation for the season, some of them needed a bath. So they got a soak in the sink with grapefruit Eucalan and a good squishing before going on the rack to dry. I really don’t mind hand washing my socks even though I could put all of these through the washer and dryer.   Soak. Squish. Hang. That’s all there is to it.The socks get clean, are spared the abuse of the washing machines, and I get to see them looking pretty while I go about my day. 

Anyone else putting away the wool hand knits for the summer? Or at least thinking about it?

April is for Blankets: Week 2

Every month I’m picking one skill to practice everyday for a month and updating my progress every Monday. I call it Project Incremental. Read up on how it all got started. 

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Thanks to constant rain and all encompassing clouds of pollen, the first week of April has been full of good reasons to stay inside and knit. I did brave the outdoors and cross other things off my to do list but I always made time for a few stitches or a few hundred stitches from the Norma Blanket.

On some days I knit one row and was completely happy with it. On other day I knit 2 rows and that was great. Either way, I’m slowly sneaking closer to a finished blanket. I have this theory that if you try to tackle a large and cunning project all at once, it’ll see you coming and make a great escape; however, if you sneak up a row or two at a time, the wily stitches won’t notice you until they’re already bound off. Then you’ve won and your project can’t escape to the bottom of the work in progress basket for a year or two. 

Testing is ongoing but the results look promising. During the last week, I knit 10 rows which equals 3,320 stitches. The blanket, or the Couch Monster as I’ve started calling it, does not see me coming. 

Technical Magic

Magic, folks. It was magic that finally made me rip out a pair of half knit socks that I was never going to finish. Okay, it was really a handy little gadget that cranks out i-cord like nobody’s business, the Embellish Knit. Clark’s Third Law says that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I know how knitting works and I understand how this machine works but it still seems like magic to me. Yarn goes in and seconds later, i-cord comes out in a fraction of the time it would take me to knit. Let’s just call it the magic of engineering and technical know-how.

One of the first ideas I had for the yarn when I decided to rip out the socks was to use it for an i-cord garland. Only I didn’t want to spend the rest of the year knitting i-cord. So, the yarn stayed partially socks until I broke down and bought the Embellish Knit to make i-cord for another project. The practice yarn that came with the package went through first. Cranking that little bit yarn into i-cord was all it took for the hunk of plastic and metal in my hands to become magic. 

The yarn that was partially socks quickly went back to just being yarn before I doubled up the strands and started feeding them through the gadget. Thick, cushy i-cord started flowing out. About an hour later, there was about 40 feet (12.2 meters) of i-cord instead of 219 yards of fingering weight yarn. I don’t even want to think about how long it would have taken me knit all that by hand. 

If you need to knit yards and yards of i-cord, spare your hands and your time and just get this gadget. Absolutely worth it. 

The i-cord gets to do garland duty once I figure out where to hang it Until then, I’ll just drape it artfully over a chair. Don’t want to put it away just yet. 

April is for Blankets

Every month I’m picking one skill to practice everyday for a month and updating my progress every Monday. I call it Project Incremental. Read up on how it all got started. 

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Well, specifically, I’m only going to be focusing on one blanket this month. No, this is not an April Fool’s prank though I am annoyed that I didn’t remember to come up with one this year. Oh, but my yearly PSA for April 1st still stands, trust next to nothing on the internet today. Not even the Google Nose Beta. Now down to the serious and prank free matters at hand. 

I am really making my Incremental Project for the month about knitting a blanket. The Norma blanket to be exact. I cast on last Christmas as a present for myself and made some good progress for a bit.  I’ve stalled out on on Row 75 of the first chart which means I have a long way to go. The blanket has been sitting none to quietly in its bag and mocking me about it’s unfinished state. Knit me, it says. I have fun lace and long repeats to keep you interested. Knit me before Summer comes and you burst into flames as soon as I’m in your lap. Can’t argue with that logic. ​

The plan is simple. Knit 1 row everyday for the entire month of April. That’s 30 days but there are more than 30 rows before it’s time to bind off.  Not a problem. See, this month’s goal isn’t to finish but to move forward. That’s the important part and I’m more than ready.

Anyone else care to join me in tackling a giant project?

Still Spring

Spring continues unabated outside the windows. Only the weather has gone from warm and sunny to cold and windy with occasional rain. I’m sure the pollen will return any day now. In the mean time, I want nothing more than to snuggle up with my knitting and a cup of something hot to drink. Not much luck on snuggling part but I still get to knit. The top project right now is a black ribbed hat, Slick by Alexandra Tinsley. Much of that ribbing is twisted which isn’t as annoying as it sounds. Plus, I get to work a few cables every now and then so the knitting is actually fun. Feels good to be a process and a product knitter at the same time.  

Do you knit for the joy of knitting or do you knit for the final product? 

To balance out the  dark ribbing, here’s a bright spring flower. Maybe the color will help hold us over until the sun comes out again. 

Confidence

When I was trying to come up with something worth writing about today, my first thought was about socks. Blame the Shur’tugal socks I’ve been working on since January. Specifically, I was going to write about another reason why socks are great for travel knitting besides from the portability and enjoyment in progress socks provide. Then I changed my mind. 

My toe-up Shur’tugal socks have been growing one row at a time and gusset is not far off. Before the socks got any longer, I wanted to figure out where the gusset would start. Of course, I can’t remember to work the math at home with paper, pencil, and a flat table. I was sitting in a car and doing the calculations on the back of a napkin. The math wasn’t hard and I knew what I was doing because I done the same calculations for most of the 20+ other pairs of socks that I’ve knit. Number crunching finished, the gussets needed to start at 6.5”. The socks are currently 5” long so I’ve got a few more rows before I have to keep track of increases. 

I thought about writing a tutorial about gusset and heel flap placement but realized I was missing the larger point. 

Sock - hat/fingerless mitts/sleeves/hexipuff/whatever you please - knitting is prime travel knitting because of confidence and practice. I finished my first pair in front a computer with a video about kitchener stitch going on repeat. At the time, socks were not travel knitting. It was only after finishing several pairs and liking how they fit that my confidence grew. Took even longer for me to start hauling them around in my purse during errands because I could fix any problem that came up. The fix might be ripping out most of the sock but I knew I could do it. 

Confidence. In knitting and everything else that we do, confidence in our skills and in ourselves is important and absolutely necessary. It is the first step towards reaching any goal and finishing every project. Why bother doing anything if you’re sure you’ll fail?

If you’re starting or learning something new, it’s probably going to be hard work. It’s probably going to take time. You might make mistakes but, know this, you’ll get there. I’m rooting for you.

4 Hours

It took going on a road trip to find my sock knitting mojo. The Shur’tugal Socks are fun to knit and the pattern is easy to remember despite the 12 row repeat. Still, the frequent twisted stitches/faux cables aren’t the easiest thing to pull off while jaunting about town. I’ve been hauling the pair around in my purse since February and not making much progress. I was almost ready to cast on for a simpler pair but then, all of a sudden, road trip. 

4 hours in a car is a long time and plenty of time to work twisted stitches. I finished the toe of the second sock, worked the first chart, and launched myself into the instep pattern. Progress was made. Since I returned home, the momentum is still going. It might only be a few rows while waiting or a repeat while catching up on podcasts but I’m getting closer to finished socks. Before I can bind off, I’ve got to do some math and figure out where to start the gusset for a helpful heel flap. Way to excited about knitting a standard heel flap but they are my favorite heel. Also have to knit the cuffs but I’ll get there.

Do you have any stalled out projects that have suddenly become interesting again?

Knit Night

My attendance at knit night this year has been woefully lacking but I was able to make it last night. Foul weather and great mileage did not keep my away this time. The Sapling Hat was finished and delivered, so I took a new project out on the town with me. 

Part of the reason I love going to knit night is to catch up with friends and revel in the craft. Sometimes, there is more commiseration than celebration over knitting but the time is good for that too. Another reason to go is that I can leave my more involved projects behind for something fun or a recently rediscovered work in progress. Sometimes, the just for fun projects become the more involved projects but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. 

Three

Three is the magic number. It’s the number of dedicated projects I can focus on at one time and still get things done. Anything more than that and things start to go off the rails. I lose focus, get bored, and generally accomplish nothing. Eventually, I’ll come to center and shove all the extra projects off to the side. It’s an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of thing. When I do finish something, it’s time pick a new project or come back to something on the to-do list. Then the cycle begins again.

Right now the three major projects are daily photography practice, the sixth Sapling Hat, and a bit of covert cross stitch. Putting a concerted effort into improving my photography throughout this month is still a very new project. I’m researching and experimenting. I’m also trying to find the timing of how to fit regular photography into my day. We’re still getting to know each other. 

The other two projects aren’t so long term. The hat is bound off and drying after a good bath. The cross stitch just needs a bit of finishing and a frame. Can’t wait to be done with both of these projects because I’ve already got a few more lined up. There may or may not be a few more knitting patterns, tutorials, and random goodness coming up. 

Growing

The babies are coming! The babies are coming! So, it’s time to knit some hats. 

I’ve knit quite a few Sapling hats in the past three years - Ravelry tells me this will be the sixth hat - and will probably continue to do so. In fact, the whole reason I came up with this pattern was to make a pair of hats for a friend’s nieces. The hat is complicated enough that I’m not bored knitting it for the sixth time but still small enough that I don’t have to slog through it. Also, I just like being able to start at the crown of a hat instead of the bottom. Only have to cast on a fraction of the stitches that way. 

I’m using Elsebeth Lavold Cool Wool which is a slightly thinner yarn than called for in the pattern. To compensate, I working the larger size and knitting the hat entirely on the smaller needles rather than switching needles partway through. No other mods are necessary. 

Time to get back to knitting. Can’t let baby have a cold head after all.

To Frog, or not to frog

To frog, or not to frog--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The knits and purls of tedious ribbing

Or to take needles from a pair of tiresome socks

And by ripping, end them. *

That’s the rub, folks. Should I just suck it up and keep knitting this pair of socks or rip them out and use the yarn for something else? Here’s a little background to help out:

• I started knitting these socks on my trip to Denver but didn’t get much further than a toe and a few rows of ribbing. So, it’s hard to call them souvenirs. The only thing I remember about Denver when looking at them is waiting for busses that didn’t always arrive. 

• I’m not all that fond of the yarn, either. The colors are nice but the yarn itself is kind of scratchy. I’ve made socks from this yarn before but they’re not my first, or even second choice, when I’m picking out a pair to wear for the day. 

• I’ve already come up with some alternate projects for the yarn. It could turn into an i-cord garland, pom-poms, a temari ball, or some sort of crochet goodness. 

• The pair is on waste yarn because I already stole the needles for a different pair of socks. 

• I have put a bit of work into them. The original plan was to knit tubes and add afterthought heels. One sock is past the heel point and on the cuff. The other sock still has a few inches before it’s time to mark the heel. 

Sounds like I’ve already made up my mind to rip out these socks but, even knowing I probably won’t finish them, I’m having a hard time committing to ripping. Help! 

* I couldn’t resist writing a short parody of Hamlet’s soliloquy.  Check out Shakespeare’s original version at Wikipedia.

Untangled and Complicated

Generally, winding yarn - the process of turning unruly skeins into handy little center-pull contraptions - is a handy thing to know once one has acquired any amount, prodigious or restrained, of yarn. A swift and ball winder are especially helpful if your stash is of a more impressive size. Winding yarn generally goes something like this:

Step 1. Remove the swift and ball winder from their respective containers. 

Step 2. Attach said items to various overhanging surfaces - the edge of a table or a countertop. 

Step 3. Find the chosen yarn, remove the label, untwist the skein, and place it on the swift. 

Step 4. Free an end of yarn, feed it through the coiled metal arm of the ball winder, and slip it into the notch.

Step 5. Turn the handle and wind the yarn until you have a handy little cake of earth-toned goodness. Or jewel-toned. Or neon. Whatever float’s your boat. 

I ran afoul of these necessary procedures around Step 2 since I’m lacking in a good place to attach a swift. It is much more likely to make a brazen swan dive onto a hard tiled floor then hold yarn for me. Jerk. So, I decided to wind yarn on the ball winder with the open skein hanging over my arm. As you might guess, this did not go as I had hoped. A task that should have taken less than 10 minutes went on for hours as the yarn tangled and was generally uncooperative. One end of the yarn was on the on  the ball winder while the middle trailed off into a giant loop hanging from a bed post. I sat on the other end and was slowly freeing yarn from the giant, tangled mess I had created. When I said I was in the mood for something more complicated, wrangling tangled yarn was not what I had in mind. 

What I was aiming for, after knitting several pairs of plain socks, was some more complicated knitting.  The pattern, Shur’tugal by Alice Yu, has been a long time resident of my Ravelry queue. The yarn, Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock - Lettuce Wrap, is a more recent addition to the stash. I knew the second I opened the package that the skein was destined to become a pair of socks. Too awesome, sturdy, and beautiful for anything else.  

So far, the pattern and yarn are a great combination. I can’t wait to knit full fledged socks with heel flaps and everything.

Afterthought Heel Tips & Tricks

What happens when I get bored knitting a pair of socks? I start another pair. If the next pair just so happens to be self-striping and knit with heavier yarn, said pair is even more entertaining. I just couldn’t resist. The last in-progress pair or, more specifically, the 3x2 ribbing on the last pair, became mind-numbing. Not even knitting along to the cheesiest and most hilarious of horror movies made the socks any more appealing. Nor did waiting in slow moving lines. Thankfully, stash yarn came to the rescue.

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Sport Self Striping - Kingpin

Needles: 2.5 mm

Date: January 7 - 29, 2013

@Ravelry

Self-striping sock yarn was a lot more fun to work than just plain 3x2 ribbing. No, the irony of a plain vanilla sock being more interesting than ribbing is not lost on me. Uninterrupted striping yarn really is that good. Just knit, adding in a few increases/decreases as needed, and the yarn does most of the work.

There were a few “Why didn’t I think of this during the last pair of afterthought socks,” moments that I’m sharing to save you the trouble.

1. When figuring out where to open the heel, measure the length of the toe. If you’re working toe-up measure the toe once it reaches the final stitch count. If you’re working cuff down, measure from where you started decreasing. Toe length and heel length will usually be the same unless you make the toe very pointed. Subtract the toe length from the total foot length measurement for where to place the heel. 

For these socks, the toe length was 1.75”  

10.25” - 1.75”= 8.5”  

From the tip of the toe, I measured 8.5” and marked the rounds with thread to follow Cat Bordhi’s afterthought method. The finished sock came out just the right length and fits wonderfully. 

2. Weigh the finished toe to know how much yarn to put aside for the heel. This trick requires a scale but removes all the guess work. When knitting toe-up, measure the weight of the ball before and after you finish the toe. The difference, multiplied by 2, is how much yarn is needed for the heels. 

If you’re working from the cuff, this trick isn’t as helpful since knitting the toe is one of the last steps. Instead, you could pause to knit the heel, measuring the difference in weight, and leave that much yarn to work the toe.   

If you’re using self-striping yarn and want the colors to match, like I did with this pair, wait to cut the yarn until you know which color the heel falls on. This is easier to do with toe-up socks than cuff down unless you’re knitting the cuff to a certain length. Either way, keep an eye on the stripes and finish before you knit up all of that color.