Radio Silence

I couldn't help but notice you haven't posted anything in a while.
Yes, very astute observation, person who speaks in italics.  Such is the curse of a  s.e.c.r.e.t  p.r.o.j.e.c.t  -- by definition, I can't talk about it with any frequency, and the soon-ish nature of the deadline means that I've been going great guns on the knitting front.  With any luck I'll be done by, well, tonight.  :)

I submit to you, as proof, a border:

The addition of white, apropos of nothing

Funny, the camera thought the background baby toy should definitely be the focus of this shot.  Oh well.  Adds to the mystery, donnit!

The border, incidentally, is being accomplished on five circular needles, round-robin dpn style.  Because it's 2011, mofo.

By request: Italian bolero

So this pattern isn't Italian -- neither is the yarn -- nor the knitter!  I call it the Italian Bolero because I made it specifically to coordinate with a dress I was bringing on an extended visit to Italy in mid-fall 2009. We walked about in Venice and Rome and drove the winding mountain roads in Tuscany... sooooo beautiful.

My intention with the bolero was coverage without suggesting austerity; I also didn't want something that would take five million years to knit.

Bamboo Bolero by Lincraft

knit with 4 skeins Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk Solid in 3012 Spruce

I didn't quite follow the pattern on the edging.  That is, I would have followed the pattern if I wasn't so flippin ready to be done with the thing.  The fingering weight yarn and the size US3 needles were, at the time, the tiniest, fiddliest materials I had used.  So there is the matter of "Rep last 5 rounds twice"... yeah, completely ignored that.  And I bound off too tightly.  Whatev.  It's done.  I wore it in Florence -- BOOYAH.

And I still wear it!

Jewel tones win all the prizes.

Oooh, sleeve detail

The color in these photos are much truer, thanks to natural light.

The promise of progress

The Ballad of Alexandra Brinck's Fishtail Wristwarmers (Rav link)

Wednesday morning: size US2 double pointed needles; Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply in 430 Loganberry

Wednesday night

Thursday night

Friday night

Today... finished the first one!  Pictures will need to wait until I'm done with the second because, well, I'm too lazy to break out the camera again.

Look what I just got!

First and last new yarn of the year!!!

 Imma make Alexandra Brinck's Fishtail Wristwarmers (Rav link)!!

Shameless bragging about presents

Present 1: to me

I have three brothers, and I now offer you evidence that my brother M knows me very well:

Yay for Christmas!

Wacky? Definitely.

Baby? Hey, I have one of those!

Knits? Yes, please.

This is way too fun.  Some of the patterns are not my cuppa tea, but others... fuzzy Monster Booties, with red claws?  I'm so there!  And I'm making a pair in my size next!

Present 2: from me

Like any late-20-something Midwesterner worth her salt, I am friends with many women named Sarah; my oldest Sarah friend (she's not the oldest age-wise, but I've known her the longest) is moving back there from here this weekend.  She is off to start a new career (-ahem- LIBRARIANSHIP!!) and I wish her nothing but the best.  In the 20+ years I've known her, I can't remember that we've ever fought about anything, which is saying a lot for two strong-willed women!

So in honor of my friend, I've knit a shawlette that, unfortunately, is now doing quintuple duty as a double-birthday/double-Christmas/going-away present, since (I'm ashamed to say) the actual knitting on Little Fox in the Leaves has been done for over a year (most knit while unwittingly pregnant in Italy).  BUT I couldn't truly call a piece of lacework "finished" until it had been -gulp- blocked.  And now comes the reason for my stalling, because... you see...  I've never blocked anything.

I mean, not really, no.  I haven't.  I've run superwash merino through the washer and dryer.  But I've never blocked anything for reals, yo, with the measuring and the pinning and Sammy can't take a nap because there's a wet afghan tacked to the bedspread.  And even now...  not really.  But baby steps were taken!  I properly wet the piece, properly squished the water out without wringing the fabric, properly smoothed the shawl flat on a towel on my workroom floor... but it's no particular size and I didn't definitely pin it at all.  Reprehensible!

But I think it still looks gorram fabulous:

Woodland Shawl by Nikol Lohr

knit with 1 skein of Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball in 1702 Kleiner Fuchs (Google translates as "Small Tortoiseshell," but my skein said "Little Fox," so it's more righter) from LYS A Tangled Skein

I will miss you, my dear friend; it's been so great to reconnect with you on this side of the country.

Bamboo-tiful: a love list

Bamboo is awesome and here's why:

1) Bamboo and bamboo blend yarn is genius.

Renewable, soft, smooth, itch-free, hypo-allergenic, anti-bacterial, breathable, shiny!

I need this in my hands right now

2) Bamboo is the best material for knitting needles.

Durable, but not as loud, cold, or slippery as metal; flexible and lightweight, but not as slow as wood; prettier and more warp-resistant than plastic

Perfection

3) Pandas eat it.  Cute.

Having a nosh

4) People eat it.  Yum.

Hungry now?

Photo credits to the following Flickr users: allie in stitches, David Schroeter, Piper K, and puamelia -- thank you for allowing reuse (with attribution, noncommercial, no derivatives)!  It makes my librarian heart happy!

Opinions needed!!

OK.  So.  I've been working on a  s.e.c.r.e.t  p.r.o.j.e.c.t  since mid-October and it's been going... but not nearly fast enough.  It's not "due" until late February and I had thought I would have the time to shift focus to other, more Decemberly knitting.  But no, I am not yet halfway finished and it's reeeeeally boring me (for those unfamiliar with the joys of garterlac, you can read about my project research here... but even that is boring).

I'm a little at-a-loss regarding my next move; please help me via the poll at the top of the page:
Let's say you = me.  What would you do?

Bonne Année, ever'body!

Let's get started on the obligatory holiday recap, shall we?  I have arrived back home from whence I grew up; it's been called America's breadbasket, Middle America, and more unfortunately, The Heartland or the flyover.  Yes, I'm one of those statistics who grew up in the middle of the country and moved to an edge to "make it big" in the star-studded world of libraries.  Anyway, taking an infant on a train ride overnight across half the U.S. was both more and less difficult than I thought it would be.  She slept well... when she slept.  And when she was awake, she was in a great mood, prior to hour 13 of each 16+ hour ride.  Everyone loved her and agreed she was the most adorable baby on the planet.

The trip afforded much less knitting time than I had anticipated, and I just barely finished my semi-secret impulse project, a Seamless Baby Kimono sweater (design by Jacki Kelly), knit with Lion Brand LB Collection Superwash Merino (100% Superwash Merino) in Sky.  I hope the super-new baby's mama will take a picture of him in it when it fits (he's so tiny!), but until then, here's Punkin in her green version:

crying baby, lovely sweater

Three months later, it still technically fits!

The day after Christmas was the debut of Punkin's baptismal duds; she was dressed, and promptly fell asleep:

comfiness makes for zonking out

The FOs are the Lacy Scallops Christening Gown designed by Judy Lamb and the DROPS bonnet in ”Alpaca."  Both are knit with KnitPicks Comfy Sport in white.  The gown fit perfectly -- which was super lucky, since she wasn't patient enough to try it on beforehand!  I decided not to block the gown, for fear of a major change in shape, so she got white fuzz on everyone who held her:

I've cropped my mother's face out on her request: no makeup on!  I didn't make the booties -- no tiny dpns to be found -- no great loss, since one can't see her feet anyway.

The completion of the holiday season marks my return to  s.e.c.r.e.t  p.r.o.j.e.c.t  knitting in earnest; the deadline approaches faster than the knitting progresses, soooo that's a problem.  Wish me luck!

Mad Dash ta Satadah*

The holidays are upon us, whether we like it or not!  I've been swamped with a full-time job and a baby and holiday commitments...  so, of course, I've started an impulse project due by this weekend:

Semi-secret sweater for a small sweetheart

I find it interesting that all of my recent projects are due this weekend and ARE NOT Christmas knitting!

Also, just for fun -- because pictures are fun, n'est-ce pas? --  a couple photos of Punkin's Let Her Soar cabled leaf blanket, made from Laura Wilson-Martos's Serenity pattern (holla, fellow Browncoats!):

eyelets, cables, blanket in-the-round, mitered corners

Yarn is 7.5 skeins of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Squirrel Heather.  Detail shot!

I didn't block it for real; this is after machine washing and machine drying... I love superwash!

______

* think the title is confusing, yet intriguing?  Please visit the hilarious Allie Brosh and her Spaghatta Nadle!

Put a Bee In It

I've been dealing with the creeping crud for the past week -- hence the no-posting.  Last Saturday night I had a 103° fever and my throat hurt just a little bit.  By the next morning, the fever had broken and my voice had completely disappeared... and still hasn't fully returned.  The major problem: I'm a singer with no voice at the height of holiday concert season.  It's really, really disappointing.

The only upside: lots of sitting-around, not-talking time to finish some knitting.  I've all but blocked the gown and also...

Bonnet by DROPS Design

 

 

I changed the particulars of the wave pattern, as previously discussed, and rather than bind off the lower bit before folding up and fastening, I used the darning needle to sew the live stitches straight to the bottom of the hat to create the casing:

I even managed to get a picture of Ms. Punkin Q. Pie modeling it in all its glory:

Sorry about the copious security measures; the internet is a scary place.

Next up: matching booties!

Chart fail? Edit: Nope, my bad.

Let it be known: I don't feel comfortable knitting from charts most of the time.  Any chance for written-out instructions, I will take it, as I thought was the case for Punkin's baptismal bonnet...

Bonnet by DROPS Design

The pattern begins as follows (with all unnecessary sizing instructions removed):
LOOSELY cast on 87 sts (includes 1 edge st each side). Work 4 rows garter st. Work next row as follows from RS: 1 edge st in garter st, M.1 on the next 85 sts, and 1 edge st. Continue like this until piece measures 11 cm [4 3/8”].

Easy enough, right?  So I cast on, work the first four rows, knit the edge stitch of the fifth row, then m1 (-ahem- the increase "make one") in each stitch... for a little bit... this doesn't seem... right.  It can't be right.

Guess what?  It's not right.

Guess what (not a question): the chart for the wave pattern has been named -ahem- M.1:

Explanation to pattern diagram

	=	K from RS, P from WS
	=	P from RS, K from WS
	=	K2 tog
	=	1 YO between 2 sts

Okay, so, it's a chart!  I am able to read charts (thanks to these helpful instructions from Knitty.com), I just don't like it.  To read a knitting chart, one begins at the lower right corner and travels to the left of the row, then straight up to the next row and to the right -- AKA follow the arrows:

from KnittingDaily.com

Sometimes a chart will only include the odd rows, and there will be instructions to "purl all even rows" or something like that... but in the absence of further clarification, that's how it works.


Here's my interpretation of chart M.1:
row 1 (RS): knit all stitches
row 2 (WS): knit all stitches (creating a purl ridge on RS of work)
row 3: knit all stitches
row 4: purl all stitches
row 5: k2tog three times, *yo, k1; rep from * 4 times [5 times total], yo, k2tog three times
row 6: purl all stitches
rinse, repeat.

Seems cool, right?  Well, the DROPS site also includes an instructional video about the general wave pattern that states:
1st row (RS): K2 tog 3 times, yo, K1, yo, K1, yo, K1, yo, K1, yo, K1, yo, K2 tog 3 times.
2nd row (WS: K all sts (they will be purled seen from RS)
3rd row: K all sts
4th row: P all sts

That's different!  Similar, but different!  Why is this a big deal?  Because I didn't trust my chart reading.  I started knitting the general wave from the video, not the wave specified in the pattern chart.  In fact, I started this post peeved about the chart and how incorrect it is, with its extra rows and top left-to-bottom right reading.  But NO!  It's right!  I just didn't trust myself enough to actually do it, which led me to find written instructions for something else entirely.  -sigh-  So it's my mistake.  And here I thought I was so clever.

Here's what I've got so far:

failure? or secretly genius?

The waves are clearly skinnier on my WIP.  But if I continue for the length stated in the pattern (11 cm), won't it turn out alright?  I'll just need to have more pattern repeats, since the wave I'm knitting takes up four rows instead of six.

I'm reeeeally trying to avoid ripping this out.  There's only so much white cotton I can take at this point.

Two Lips

The problem with spending the bulk of my knitting time on a  s.e.c.r.e.t  p.r.o.j.e.c.t  is that, by definition, I can't really share much about it!  No descriptions (besides what I've already posted), no pictures (ditto)...

SO!  I'm about to cast on the next project in the queue -- this lovely bonnet for Punkin's baptism -- because my size 3 circulars were recently freed from:

Tulip Yoke Baby Cardigan
a free Ravelry download by Jennifer Little

a baby tulip cardigan!  It's my first attempt at colorwork of any kind -- stranded, in this case -- and I've totally botched the bindoff on the curves in front... way too tight.  At the rate she's growing, Ms. Pie will only be the right size for another two weeks, so I'd better get cracking on finishing the sleeves!

I might actually make it short-sleeved.  Is that weird?  With puffs?

Puffed sleeves are still fashionable.

The pictures I have of the sweater aren't really true to color, unfortunately:

This is closer.

Sleeves, buttons, and I'll be done!

Dun-dun-done!

So all the pieces of the baptismal gown have been completed!  Once I figured out how to keep track of sleeve craziness, they both knit up fairly quickly; AND they both look like this:

more complicated than it looks

Matching, in this case, is good.

Before I weave in all the ends and do the finishing (do I block before or after sewing all the pieces together?  I'll look it up.  Anyway, it's not fun enough to do it immediately), I want to cast on this lovely bit of fluff:

 

 

Punkin's gonna look so cute, I can't even stand it!!

And, of course, there's always the s.e.c.r.e.t  p.r.o.j.e.c.t -- the one I always feel the need to mention.  I can keep a secret, I swear, but this color combo's too good not to share:

Colors are a little off, but you get the idea.

Well, I like it, anyway.

Sleeve Saga

I did a lot of calculations (aka MATH) in an effort to make the first sleeve decreases make some kind of sense.  Turns out, I hate math so much, I will only repeat my own personal word problem four times before giving up if the answer confuses me.

Giving up = frogging the sleeve and reknitting.  Yep.

Since I apparently can't do complex things like ADD and SUBTRACT, I made a handy-dandy chart to keep track of the row in the 12-row eyelet pattern, the difference in the number of stitches for each row, and the total number of stitches when the row is complete, i.e.:

ROW    DIFF    STITCHES
cast on 27 sts with long-tail CO
knit                     27
knit                     27
k*(yo,k2tog)rep 27
knit                     27
kfb all                 54
1           0             54
2           0             54
3           0             54
4           0             54
5           0             54
6           0             54
7          -3            51
8          -3            48
9          -2            46
10        -2            44
11        -2            42
12        -2            40
1          -2            38
2          -2            36
3          -2            34
4          -2            32
5          -2            30
6          -2            28
7          -2            26
8          -2            24
9          -2            22
10        -2            20
11        -2            18
12        -2            16
k2tog across      8
bind off purlwise

Inevitably, I discover my arithmetic mistake while redoing an early row (8, -3, 48) and silently curse the day I ever started knitting.

Knit and Thanks share three letters

Yes, it's Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful for so many things, including:

unblocked, unfinished, without sleeves

Finished the knitting on the skirt of the baptismal gown!  I used my own lower edging since the pattern was indecipherable (to me):

Bind off 4 sts, *(wrap yarn around needle and sso) 4 times (picot), 

k2 tog, sso, bind off 10 sts; rep from *, end by binding off rem sts.

I couldn't find any sources that agreed on what "sso" is supposed to be -- slip, slip, over by the looks of it, but I can't see how repeating that + a yo would create a picot.  Sooooo I just completely ignored that and did:
    rd 1: knit all
    rd 2: *yo, k2tog; rep from *
    Bind off loosely using suspended bindoff.
The result is simple enough not to take away from the rest of the skirt, but still fancy for a special occasion.

After 4.5 repeats of the leaf lace pattern, I had changed my mind about the designer (who shall remain nameless on this blog, but if you link to the pattern, I guess you'll find out!).  But now I've started the sleeves, and all the goodwill built up during the skirt work is gone again -- on. crack.       allegedly.        It's the eyelet pattern.  Plus shaping.  Again.  For some reason, I find it to be insanely difficult.  It's made me do math, people... MATH.  And I'm totally stuck now.  And even if I work this one sleeve out, I still have to make another one exactly like.  And... ugh!  I'm done on this for the day.  I'll be bringing my secret project to the in-laws' house.

Research is delicious and nutritious

I'm working on a  s.e.c.r.e.t  p.r.o.j.e.c.t  that began with a crucial decision: entrelac? or garterlac?  For those in the dark, entrelac is defined and explained here, and garterlac is the garter stitch (knit stitch only) version of the concept.  Armed with yarn and no expectations, I wanted to branch out and check off at least one new skill on my personal Knit List; modular knitting of any kind was new to me and would prove to be challenging.

Entrelac vs. Garterlac AKA You say potato...
SO!  How to decide?  I started with research -- librarian much? -- on Google and YouTube.  I find YouTube to be the bestest ever resource in the world for learning new techniques or reminding me about things I don't do very often (kitchener stitch, etc.).

I quickly discovered that both entrelac and garterlac begin with casting on and knitting a series of base triangles on which to build diagonal tiers of knitted rectangles.  The "LetsKnit2gether" video podcast about entrelac doesn't cover how to begin the base triangles or side edge triangle; in fact, this video is actually about garterlac!  False advertising!  Eunny Jang's Knitting Daily TV is the clearest instructional video on YouTube, but even she doesn't cover triangles.  I found this video with base triangles and nothing else -- not even sound...  : \

And then there's the matter of slipping stitches to make picking up rectangle selvage stitches easier.  Eunny and Carol Wyche's Untangling Entrelac tutorial instruct one to slip the first stitch of every row; KnittyOtter's blog instructions are clear that slipping the first stitch should be done on knit rows only.  About.com's tutorial has you slipping the last stitch of every row.  Who's right?  Gah!

LetsKnit2gether, while not covering garterlac in great detail, does refer one to Criminy Jicket's Garterlac Dishcloth pattern -- finally, something that made sense.  Clear written instructions for all parts of the work (base, side, and top triangles, thank goodness), no irritating slipped stitches, and the benefit of reversibility: garterlac it is!

Bonus: Knitting and Purling Backward
I also figured out right away that all the work turning with modular knitting was going to get really old really fast.  This was my opportunity to learn how to knit backwards (and, in the case of garter stitch, purl backwards) from the right needle to the left.

The Knit Witch has a knitting backwards video that's relatively easy to follow.  Ravelry's Rox also has a video about knitting backwards that begins with a lot of talking, but her videos are always very helpful once she gets where she's going.

The Craft Vintage Grrl's video on purling backwards is very helpful for Continental knitters especially -- plus she's Australian, which always makes listening more fun.

YarnDude Matthew shows both knitting and purling backwards; the instructions are quick and clear, but there's a lot of chatting in background, which might throw some people off.  I was able to tune them out, but if you're too distracted by the ambient noise, try some combination of the other videos I mentioned in this post.

Fear of the unknown

So I'm knitting Punkin's baptismal gown from KnitPicks Comfy Sport in white and I'm really liking it.  It's super duper soft to the touch, has great stitch definition, and is machine washable and dryable.  Even in December, Ms. Pie runs warm, so wool was out of the question.  The softness + easy care of Comfy Sport is basically the definition of baby yarn.  However, it's 75% pima cotton, 25% acrylic: does that composition make sense for lace knitting?  It did in my brain when I was purchasing the yarn, but the longer I knit with it, the more skeptical I get.  The unknown is getting to me.  My biggest fear is blocking...  
-- Blocking is essential for lace shaping.
-- I've never truly blocked anything.
-- Acrylic, a 25% share of the yarn, doesn't block. 


It's a little late to switch to something else:

I've completed 3.5 pattern repeats of an intended 4.5, with several very long breaks in progress. Heck, I might even go until 5.5 if I've got the yarn for it (the extra .5 is part of the pattern).


Oooh, maybe I'll do the sleeves, then return to the skirt and use up all the yarn...

In which someone may be on crack.

My most important current project has a deadline at the end of December, but it's not holiday-related.  No, my Punkin's baptism is scheduled for the day after Christmas, and I -- in a decidedly brazen move -- have committed to knitting her a long, white garment fit for the occasion. Somebody actually said, "Wow, that's pretty ballsy"... which is not a word that's usually used to describe me.  Makes me wonder if she knows the definition of ballsy.  Amelia Earhart was ballsy.  The guy who landed the plane on the Hudson was ballsy.*  I think the word she was searching for was "reckless" -- and I would agree with that.

In my smartest moment yet, I started the gown in late August and completed the bodice over a weekend:

The time it took to complete this piece is directly inverse to the clarity of the instructions.  What I mean to say is, whomever wrote the pattern was on crack.  ALLEGEDLY.  Allegedly on crack.  There's a twisted eyelet pattern done simultaneously with neck and armhole shaping, and the back has a worked buttonband... anyway, it's cah-razy.

The twisted eyelet is interesting-looking.  It involves this tidbit:
"with right hand needle, catch running threads at top and bottom of eyelet below and place on needle, insert left needle into those two threads, and p2 tog." This happens a lot and I sure hope I did it correctly.  I'm a little peeved that the twist happens a good four (five? something like that) rows after the yo eyelet; I wasn't able to accomplish the slick twisty move on three holes near the top of the bodice front.  I think it's pretty noticeable:

But I'm not going back to fix it.  If a mistake is so weird that it takes me two weeks to find a workable-for-me solution, it will never be fixed.

_______
*I apparently associate the term "ballsy" with aviation.

Allow myself to introduce... myself...

...name that movie. Whoa, hi, Cyprienne here! I've been knitting for a decade, seriously pursuing the craft for the past four years. I've never blogged before, a fact which I'm sure is all too apparent at this juncture. :) My friends are super wonderful, but I think even they get a little sick of hearing about knitting; this site and my Twitter account will be used as a crafty brain dump of sorts. I enjoy singing, reading, playing video games, and watching movies with subtitles -- and this may be the last time you'll hear about any of that. You may, however, hear more about my husband and daughter as relates to my knitting adventures (and current projects!). My hairdo and my bedhead are the same thing.  The music of Sly & the Family Stone has saved my day on more than one occasion. I continually have melted chocolate on the front of my shirt; this is no one's fault but my own.

~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ | ~ 0 ~ |

Back at the turn of the century -- the year 2000, that is -- I was a student at a small liberal-arts college, trying to learn how to think critically and write both clearly and concisely. A trip to an honors conference provided the necessary time and talent needed to begin a hobby; we had two and a half days away from school, and our professor came armed with several sets of straight needles and worsted weight acrylic. Nine of us attempted to knit poolside while other students looked at us askance as they splashed by.

Fast forward several scarf-filled years: following graduation, I got a job and moved to the general vicinity of Washington D.C., the "most powerful city in the free world," a place where I knew precisely five people over the age of eighteen. Occasionally one coworker or another would invite me to go bowling or something, but mostly I needed something to do. Miles of garter stitch had lost its appeal; I was going to knit a sweater!

This sweater:

in this color:

If I had known only then what I know now...
- that the meaning of "moss stitch" depends on which side of the Atlantic one is on;
- that gauge, while not important for scarves, matters a whole heckuva lot with sweaters;
- that my usual yarn tension is considered to be quite loose;
- that when a pattern mentions a certain size of needle, it is merely a suggestion.

Long story short: I have a cardigan made from beautiful, expensive yarn that is triple its intended size. Rather than frog and reknit, I have kept it as an object lesson in the importance of swatching for gauge. And as a warm layer that fits over anything I could possibly wear. A fisherman sweater could fit under this bad boy with room to spare.

Since then, I've made about a hundred attempts at various knitted projects; most have been successful, more or less, but the process of knitting tends to matter more to me than the product. If I make a mistake that isn't too terribly obvious, I'll leave it. It is handmade, after all. No human can achieve perfection -- especially not me. :)