The Scarlet Knitter

So, Olivia wanted an infinity scarf. She wears a store-bought one from Urban Outfitters almost non-stop, and she liked the idea of a warmer one for those endless weeks of New York winter. We dove into the stash together and emerged with two skeins of Madelinetosh Sock yarn, in a gorgeous emerald colorway called Kelp. I had originally bought the yarn thinking of a scarf for Olivia. She has a warm, tropical island-girl complexion that looks great with many colors, including the greens that never fail to make me look wan and sickly.

When I knitted my first infinity scarf for her sister last year, I made the mistake of making it too long. This time I eliminated a good 50 stitches and cast on a total of 450. Olivia is a knitter herself and she knows what she likes: she asked for seed stitch. I couldn't fathom knitting 450 stitches in the round, in seed stitch, for however long it would take. We had a deadline after all: the thing had to be finished and blocked by the time she flew back to school. So I alternated strips of seed stitch with much faster, automatic-knitting of stockinette. This was totally improvised on the needle.

Once blocked, the scarf measured close to 90". Ridiculously long. It looks best when the loop is tripled around the neck. The fabric is wonderfully drapey and the expanse of handpainted solid emerald-green truly looks like a painted canvas. The richness of the color just cannot be put into words. Apparently, it cannot be photographed accurately either: just know that it registers as much greener in real life.

I see more infinity scarves/cowls in my near future. Next time I won't allow myself to cast on more than 360 stitches, tops. Feel free to snatch the needles off my hands if you see me casting on like a maniac.

pink baby hoodie, scars and all

Is the new year still new? I hope so. I meant to blog but life got busy, in a good way. Too much to do, too little time to knit, very little time to blog. 2012 is here and we had a blast ushering it with the help of the baby who enjoyed nothing more than presiding, from her high chair or from our laps, at the dinner table.

In addition to the holidays, we had a twin-21st birthday to celebrate, so that by now I have practically drowned under the weight of the Great Landmark Events of 2011 and I am starting this blank new year with (relative) serenity and delight in the return to bland and predictable January. Even the bittersweetness of a semi-empty house feels pleasant, especially with the return of Downton Abbey to soften the blow.

When last I blogged, I had wrapped up a gift scarf (which was much appreciated and soon put to good use, thank you very much) and I was quickly finishing a simple baby project. Using Sweater Wizard software, I knitted a simple hooded jacket in seed stitch. The body was knitted in one piece to the armholes. Sleeves were picked up at the armscye and knitted down, in the round, with extra length at the cuff just in case.

Coincidentally, as I was getting started on this sweater, TECHknitting , that most excellent blog, featured a post on increasing and decreasing in seed stitch. I used the method recommended for sleeve decreases. I liked the look of a stockinette "seam" which added a nice texture and made it easier to stay in pattern (unfortunately, I forgot to take a photograph before the hoodie was given away).

 

Confession time: this project didn't turn out too well. I messed up. See how the bottom edges are curling even though seed stitch ought to lie perfectly flat? That is because, when I picked up stitches all around the sides and hood for an attached i-cord edging, I didn't pick up the same number of stitches on the second side. I must have picked up 10 fewer stitches or so, thereby pulling that side in, to the point where it is over 1" shorter than the other one.

I could have frogged and fixed things, but by then, I was tired of the project, tired of the yarn, and just not that willing to take extra steps. This was meant to be a quickie convenient jacket, not a heirloom, by a long shot. I decided it would have to work as is, a convenient, easy-care jacket to reach for, and nothing more. It isn't easy for me to let go of my perfectionist streak, but in this case, I was done, and eager to return to nicer fibers too.

The yarn I used is Plymouth Encore Worsted. I like it a lot, it feels soft enough yet not limp and it improves with laundering. I have made good blankets out of it. Here I think it is not quite right for a baby garment. I am happier with the baby sweaters that I have knitted in fingering or dk weight, up to a light worsted weight. They hang better on the shoulders and don't envelop the baby in excessive bulk. I have a good amount of Encore in my stash and now I know it is meant to be turned into more blankets, period.

Fortunately, this coin has a flip side too: there are a few things I am happy about.

1. The Elf-like hood. Inspired by Technitter, I knitted the hood in seed stitch, keeping a center line in stockinette, and increasing every 6th row by one stitch on each side of the center line. I liked the visual effect and decided to extend it when it came to "seam" the hood. I did a 3-needle bind-off with the two wrong sides of the hood together, so that the stockinette ridge would be visible on the outside.

Ok, I may have gotten carried away with the wide Elf-like hood concept, but Lola seemed to enjoy it -- at least for that one minute, while her aunt Celeste entertained her. In my confessional spirit, I must disclose that she burst into furious tears approximately two minutes into our tentative photo shoot.

 

2. The buttons. I found them in my button box. I don't remember how they got there, but I like them a lot here. Nice shape, convenient to use with an i-cord buttonhole, not too babyish or girly, just right, and best of all, I didn't have to go to a store to find them.

 

"Keep your handknits and give me back my Baby Gap hoodie!"

That time of year again

Christmas on the old blog means one thing and one thing only:

Joyeux Noel to all of you, knitting kindred spirits! Back with knitting content in a couple of days. Cheers!

It's a wrap

I mean that literally. The long, green manly scarf was all boxed up today, ready to be unwrapped on Christmas morning. I did manage to snap its picture first:

In fact it was so soft and comfy that I forgot to take it off after taking the picture, and I wore it for the rest of the afternoon. It's a good thing that I am in the spirit of giving. And that my shelves are overflowing with scarves already. And that green is, sadly, not a good color for me.

Here is how I knitted this one: I chose the mistake rib -- reversible, nicely textured, and since it doesn't pull in as much as a regular 2/2 rib, it eats up a bit less yarn. You need to cast on a multiple of 4 stitches minus one. I went with 51 stitches but in retrospect, I feel the scarf could be a tad narrower.

A quick mistake-rib refresher:

Row 1: *K2, P2, repeat from * to the last 3 stitches, K2, P1.

All subsequent rows: Repeat Row 1.

I scattered about 8 decreases on the bind-off row to keep the edge from fanning out.

The scarf is over 7' long and I used close to 6 skeins of Classic Elite Kumara, because -- well, just because. I wanted it to be a buttery soft, luxurious scarf, and it is. 85% extra fine Merino, 15% baby camel and allover lovely to wear next to one's skin. One could make an equally special pair of mittens or a cowl with just a couple of skeins. Just a thought.

 

 

Primary colors

My own holiday-knitting tradition goes as follows:

1. Decide not to knit anything as a gift this holiday season

2. Change my mind on or around December 15th.

This year, I was lucky; I changed my mind on the 10th instead. I decided to knit one really fine scarf for one fine young man I know. I investigated and found out that he would indeed need and appreciate a hand-knit scarf. A visit to the yarn shop followed. When I asked the owner for fine yarns for manly scarves, she pointed me towards Classic Elite Kumara, a lofty worsted-weight merino with 15% of baby camel wool added in for good measure, not to mention extra warmth and softness.

Here is a quick snapshot of the scarf in progress yesterday. By now the knitting is finished and the scarf is ready to be blocked:

In other color news, I finished another pair of worsted-weight socks for afghans For Afghans. I was curious to see what Cascade 220 would feel like when turned into socks. The answer is, warm and cushy. I have about 1/5 of the skein left over -- and more important, an answer to the age-old question of what to do with an orphan skein of Cascade 220.

 

Eggplant yoke pullover

All done! The ribbed yoke sweater is ready for a ride to the AFSC basement in San Francisco, followed by a long journey to Afghanistan. Although I had a hard time getting started, once I got to the yoke, which is the interesting part of this design, I was on a roll, enjoying the way the ribbing meandered all the way to the reverse stockinette collar.

 

To recap, the pattern is a great oldie, "Ribbing Is No Yoke", a design by Charlotte Quiggle that was published in one of the last excellent issues of "Knitter's", #60, Fall, 2000. I made a few modifications: I switched from a shirt-tail bottom to simple 2/2 ribbing which matches the ribbed yoke. I adjusted the stitch number to a smaller size with the help of Sweater Wizard. Studying the ribbing, I figured out that a multiple of 20 stitches was necessary for the patterning of the yoke, so I simply executed a few decreases on the last round before the ribbing started.

The pattern is nicely detailed; there are a bunch of short rows across the shoulders and back in order to raise the back neck for a better fit. I also like the collar which is created by more increases at the top of the yoke, followed by several rounds in reverse stockinette. I'll have to remember this one for future yoke pullovers.

The yarn is Cascade Greenland. At first I was a bit put off by its tight, almost springy feel. It is cool to the touch and I tend to prefer more fuzzy wools, but it softened nicely when I gave the sweater a good soak. I have three skeins left over, which I just may turn into mittens once my holiday knitting is all done.

Wait. Did I say holiday knitting?

 

A quick progress report

It took three tries, involving two long and painful frogging episodes, but I started the yoke on my eggplant pullover for afghans For Afghans on Monday

And I finished it today. It has been laundered and blocked. Photos to come.

Checking this sweater of my list means I can return to my Noro addiction:

Slowly and merrily counting to twenty.

I just might cast on for a cozy hooded little thing for little Lola too. It may just be pink. She does look so pretty in pink.

Merci Donnant

Happy Thanksgiving in and out of the kitchen! Remember now, red shoes are what it's all about.

Fall 2011 youth drive

With Thanksgiving looming very near, I am finally coming to my senses and accepting the evidence: December is around the corner, which must mean that January won't be far behind. No, I am not thinking of holiday knitting, at least not seriously. What comes first on the list right now is the afghans For Afghans' current Youth Drive. I have a couple of things ready:

Several knitter friends have made worsted-weight socks for a4A, and I decided to follow their lead. The wool is ancient Cascade Quattro from my stash; I made a hat and scarf for Olivia with this yarn when she was in middle school; she is now halfway through her Junior year in college, so you do the math... I cast on 40 stitches on a size 4 circular and the socks practically knitted themselves.

The mittens were an experiment in striping a slightly garish color (orange) with a neutral (dark brown). I decided that one garish colorway stood out too much, so I added two thin stripes of another garish color (hot-hot pink) as a transition, and discovered that one neutral+two garish colors works better, in my eyes at least, than one neutral+one garish. I do find it fiddly to stripe mittens and I am not too happy with the old jog-less jog technique, however. I need a bit more practice to get it right or to come up with another trick.

These projects were a good warm-up to the sweater project which I have finally solved. A knitting pal was recently sporting this lovely and intriguing sweater which I had coincidentally earmarked a long time ago:

I had a pretty good post-it system back in the day: pink meant a woman's size-pattern I liked, yellow, orange, a baby or child-pattern. Green was for accessories or home projects, and yellow for good articles on knitting techniques. Around 2004 or so, I couldn't find much content to warrant a post-it, and I let my subscription lapse. But 1998, 1999, 2000? Those were Knitter's golden years in my opinion. Hardly a page was without its amply-earned post-it.

I am adapting this pattern for a large child's size, so I used Sweater Wizard software to figure out the math for a basic yoke pullover. I am also changing the bottom from shirt-tail to simple 2/2 ribbing. Once I get to the yoke, I will have to pay attention and figure out how to make the decreases work inside the ribbing... But until then it should be smooth and fast sailing. Just what I crave for this leisurely weekend with family and friends.

 

It was just one of those things.

My stash of Noro Kureyon was no match for the Mitered Crosses blanket project, so I went hunting for more. In LYS #1, I found three skeins. Two are this color:

Which screams trendy living-room or kitchen, circa 1969 to me. I like the brights, I like the browns, but I don't want them to take over the blanket. I needed to find some other colorways to co-exist with this one, but LYS #1 did not have what I needed, and when I visited LYS #2, I was told that the shop was out of Kureyon for the foreseeable future.

Right at that most vulnerable moment when a knitter is feeling just a bit sorry for herself, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed this:

 

Crystal Palace Mochi Plus. So pretty! I was smitten right away. I liked the freshness of the colors, the way the green sets off all those blues and pinks and helps them co-exist without looking too baby-ish. Although this yarn has long color repeats a la Noro, the contrasts are more subtle. By the same token, they are less apt to surprise you and to expand your horizons.

I just had to bring Mochi Plus home with me, and once home, I cast on almost right away. Since I had had so much fun knitting a Rambling Rows blanket with Noro Silk Garden, I thought that Mochi Plus would work equally well for this addictive pattern.

This is what I have so far, two skeins into the afghan. And, well, I must say that so far, I like the skeins more than the knitted miters. This looks pretty in a little-girl way, in a dangerously-close-to-cloying way. Now, I know I will like it much better once the project is finished and bordered in the right color -- as of yet undetermined. It will make a nice small blanket for someone. I will finish it, but I can tell the crush is over. It was just one of those things.

Back to a more meaningful relationship now. Me and Kureyon, especially the four skeins I finally brought home today.