Bottoms up!

The newest (restart) of a project is the Dancing Elephant sweater. I started the sweater on circulars US 4, and realized ... I have a knitting machine. Slap that sweater on the machine to do the stockingette for the back, fronts and sleeves! The first sweater on the machine was a top down cardigan from a lovely pattern called Amande Cardigan. I'm still seaming and finishing all the hems ... But I'm finishing that sweater in a few weeks, instead of my usual 2 months because of tendonitis.

The first sweater was a top-down with the entire beginning hand-knit. This meant that I already had something to slap onto the machine.

Luckily with the elephants I had already knit the ribbing and could slap that onto the machine in three parts. Otherwise I could have done a provisional cast on for each piece and then picked those up later to knit the ribbing in one piece going the other direction. It wouldn't have been very noticeable and wouldn't have required me to do the ribbing before the machine bits.

I started with the back stitches first to determine length. Then the two front pieces. I carefully put the different sets of stitches onto the machine.

The back was knit straight to the 17" armpit mark. The two fronts were knit to 14" and then along the seam edge were increased as a way of making a dart and a better fit for the female body. All the piecework were the. Removed back onto a US4 circular. I slowly insert the knitting needle into the stitches while on the machine and pull the machine latch out of the loop while the knitting needle is there. TADA! The stitches end up on the knitting needle!

This afternoon I finished the two fronts and back panels. At singing this evening I'll cast on and create the ribbing pieces for the two sleeves and I can slap those on the machine tomorrow!

More notes later!

Be excellent to each other!

 

Knitter to the rescue

Green Amande is almost done. The buttons are chosen and on their way from a great shop on etsy called anthonywoodshop. They are lovely 1/2" Osage orange wood. (I see more buttons and spoons being ordered in future!) I'll post pictures when they arrive!

Then, I finished the cuffs, bottom hem, and started the button band. SNAG!

When I purchased the yarn for the sweater there were only three skeins at my LYS. They would order more and as it is a large company that mass produces yarn I assumed the dye lot wouldn't matter.

Wrong.

The dye lot matters and this fourth skein is a brighter green than the other three skeins.

And I have ten rows left! Ten rows! I can't make that work in another color. And I don't think frogging all the other ribbing rows will give me enough for 6 rows even around the whole front.

This week I turned in desperation to ravelry ... Searching for anyone that might have one skein of the same dye lot. And, yes, there was someone. The skein wasn't marked for sale. But it was all by itself. I put my plea out there to swap skeins.

Today she wrote back that she would swap with me. She could definitely understand my plight (as most knitters have found themselves in the sad corner with non-matching dye lots). This woman is my hero for the week! The sweater is saved and I'm trying to determine the best way to thank this stranger that answered my message with such a gracious and kind hearted yes.

Love knitters everywhere!

Be excellent to each other!

I'm a knitting machine ...

Life is messy. These last few weeks it's been the unpleasant and unhappy shade of messy.

To deal with life I've thrown myself at my knitting machine. I've posted pictures before, but recently had my machine switched for an upgraded model! The previous machine was a brother 840, a serviceable and wonderful machine. But a problem with the card reader developed and the woman who sold me the machine had another she was selling, the brother 930. Instead of a problematic card reader I now have an electronic machine that has all the patterns catalogued and ready for me to pick by number! I've been playing on it for days. It even has a new permanent home where it can sleep covered at night!

 

To inaugurate this new machine I churned out a couple dishcloths.

And began work on my first hybrid project, Amande Cardigan. It's a beautiful sweater that starts at the shoulders and has you work down to the hem. Took me a few times to read through ans understand how everything would be put together and how I could translate it to the machine ... But it happened! I started knitting the shoulders last Monday, February 17th. By the weekend I slapped things onto the machine and churned out the back, two fronts and sleeves in two afternoons. I'm now slowly seaming the sides and putting in the elbow patches.

As you see, one side is fully seamed and the other awaits my attentions. From here I'll continue onto the cuffs.

Sadly, the cuffs may have to wait a week. When I purchased the yarn there were only three balls and more were on order. The order hass not yet arrived, but should be here soon. Luckily, there are plenty of other projects with which to amuse my fingers. That dancing elephants sweater and cloudberry cardigan are still awaiting some much needed love.

 

Be excellent to each other!

 

Ribbit ribbit ribbit

It hasn't gotten any easier to frog pieces with which I am unsatisfied. I'll readily admit my mistakes in knitting. Readily recast the beginning (only a few rows from that beginning). But ripping a whole piece? No easier.

Here was cloudberry cardigan earlier this afternoon.

Whole, but the wrong size for me. Here it is again this evening.

Connected to the bobbin winder and slowly disintigrating into yarn. Now I have two large balls and two smaller balls of slightly used handspun ... With which to try again.

I enjoyed knitting it the first time, it looked so great. It was a project I could tell would look exactly as I imagine. I attached the sleeves, finished the yoke, and tried it on (without the collar started). One size too small. After casting on much too large a size I'd over compensated and recast a much smaller size. I had a medium sized sweater in my WIP basket ... And it would probably never fit me.

Why, why does it feel so terrible?

Yes, I feel it is a waste of that first bouncy lovely yarn feeling. This next time the yarn won't feel as lovely whilst knitting. It should look just lovely once knit into the garment. But I feel that cormo yarn is a little like merino and alpaca blends ... Perfect the first time, not quite so great if you've ripped it back ... But looks fine once finished again. And this makes perfect sense in my mind (even if it's not accurate or maybe it is accurate) because cormo sheep are Corriedale and merino sheep bred together.

It's also, the time. I wanted to wear this sweater. I wanted to feel how pretty it was ... Before I sent it off to the state fair. Before summer hit and I can't knit anymore. But ... Best laid plans.

With this sweater off the needles for awhile (until I let the balls rest) I've begun the elephant sweater. It will be adorable ... In different colors.

I shall soothe my wounded knitterly feelings with another adorable yoke sweater and let cloudberry rest for awhile. Everything will turn out in the end.

Be excellent to each other!

 

4x4= gauge math

I don't know of a single knitter that loves the gauge swatch. I'm sure many knitters have the same problem with swatches that I've experienced:
1. Once complete and blocked, math done, and you cast on ... the math was wrong and you have to rip and start over.
2. Not blocking the swatch will not give accurate numbers either ... But I often have better luck unblocked. Weird
3. If you don't swatch and only go by the stitches/inch measure given on the yarn ... Then you may not match the pattern and it's still off.
Sigh.
I've gotten around gauge swatch most of my knitting career by designing the sweater pattern myself or only appropriating parts of another designers pattern and still making up the math for mine as I go.
Cloudberry cardigan is progressing nicely. One sleeve is almost done and ready to attach, and the yarn for the other sleeve is almost done spinning ... In this calm and pleasant time of knitting I began contemplating the arduous task ahead. Writing up the pattern.
As I don't often follow gauge swatches myself, I wonder at my ability to write a gauge swatch or alternate instructions for a pattern. Even if the pattern is fairly simplistic and easily adjusted. So, here is the swatch...

It is 32 stitches across by about 50 rows high (that does not include the 20 rows that are the turned hems seen in the back. It is 5x5" which means that it should be 6 stitches per inch when I cast on. Wrong wrong wrong. When I first cast on for a 38" round sweater (a nice large) I had 220 stitches going round. I knit the hem and then did a 'test' measure of the piece. 44"! GAH!
Starting over I decided to use 5 stitches per inch, which should have been 190 stitches at cast on. But I cast on 180 stitches to be increased by 6-8 at each armpit creating a slightly larger upper body for the yoke. Yes, this is a slightly smaller sweater, at only 36" around - but that doesn't include the 1" front edge for the buttons. Incorporated into this 'fuzzy' math was the knowledge that the sweater is going to stretch really really well when blocked.
Instead of having as sweater with positive ease (larger than my body measurements) I actually have a -1 ease. It will be a nice snug little sweater - not the larger sweater I was afraid of creating.
Now I only have to be afraid that it doesn't stretch as much as I want and I can't wear it. Poop.

To distract myself I started more spinning - probably for the sweater, but I feel really smart.

See those two balls? They are each 1oz of fiber. Each one will be spun and then plied together. My hope is that I will be much closer to having bobbins that contain the same yardage if they start with the same number of ounces. Wishes and horseshoes ...

Be excellent to each other!

Process knitter

Processes are fascinating. A few weeks ago I was privileged enough to hear a speech by Franklin Habit at the mn knitters guild. It was AMAZING and gave me a greater appreciation of this trait I feel that we share (and I have it to a much smaller degree). Wanting to understand the creation of something by starting from the most basic element and going through every process to learn how each portion is created leading up to the creation of the finished product.

To me, in my knitting, that means understanding and working with sheep fleece, roving vs. top, spinning, twist, dyeing, and multiple cool knitting styles. To this end I have purchased spindles and top to learn spinning. Many thanks to the lovely people submitting to youtube for the tutorials (I learned from you)! I have purchased a spinning wheel and WAY more cormo top than I need (but absolutely love)! In a corner of my apartment also sits a bag of Greener Shades dyes for when I finally take the plunge and dye some of this handspun loveliness that I create each summer. In another corner are cones of mercerized cotton that go with my knitting machine - because I wasn't far enough down the rabbit hole.

See it? Somewhere at the bottom of all the things is a rabbit.

And it's a deep rabbit hole. Of course I tell myself that all these acquisitions are to further my understanding of my materials and provide better finished products.

I am sure that these skills do lead to more knowledge that in some way informs my decisions in my projects.

But I can't hide it from myself any longer ... I shall finally confess, I just love everything that has to do with wool. There is a compunction deep inside that must, I must do all these things related to wool. These things are fascinating, worth trying, and investing.

My current project, which has been the topic of many blog posts, is the perfect example. The cloudberry cardigan is a beautiful mix of fiber, designing, and knitting. It's all three ... Three spokes of the process.

And the process continues. I've finished a small skein so the sleeves may commence. Please enjoy this small glimpse into my love of the process.

So, I don't own a niddy-noddy (that wooden thing for creating hanks of handspun yarn and I don't know how it works). I discovered years ago that I could create hanks of yarn by winding them around my swift. That stick thing in my hand? That is my favorite wooden spoon ... Best tool ever.

Here is the new hank that has not had a bath yet, setting the twist. When done I measured (and this new thing I just learned!) the twist is about 20 degrees. I'll soon create my own gauge thing to measure the twist. Sort of like a compass, way cool.

The creamy hank after it's bath. You can still see the bits of fluff and fuzz that didn't spin tightly. And I like it. It's not perfectly smooth ... But I love the look of the sweater and that is what matters.

Now I have 180 yards more for the sweater ... And need to keep spinning. From the math I guess that I need another 400 yards or so for the sleeves and the rest of the body. The process continues. Each time one phase ends another begins up continuing on in the cycle of crafts and creation.

 

In other quick news I finished the lovely thing with the glorious buttons ... But as it's a gift here is my favorite picture that doesn't show what it actually became. Sorry.

So, happy holidays and

Be excellent to each other!

 

Knit till you drop ...

I'm hoping this is a figurative phrase for my day. Tonight is Drunken Knit Night at my favorite pub with some of my favorite ladies! But this means we are drinking and knitting at the same time! Oh my!

I've thankfully brought two projects with: one which must be finished by Christmas and the other is straight stockingette going back and forth. Both projects carry their own knit till you drop hazards. The Christmas project includes cables which is more difficult with my tendonitis - so my hands may stop knitting from the swelling. The stockingette is a large amount of stockingette for a sweater ... Which still requires another 700 yards to be spun for completion.

So, let me digress. The cardigan comes along well. I've got about 14" done on the main body. I just joined my second ball of yarn, the next 400 yards. I only had 1100 yards spun for this project - and upon joining the second ball determined that it was TOO THIN! Somehow I spun lace weight and thought it would pass as fingering ... Which it won't in such a large project as this with multiple skeins.

See that section beneath my finger that looks a little thin compared to the rest? Hmm ... Lace weight.

So, lesson learned. Not only will I spin all the yarn required before I begin a project. But I will also check on a yarn gauge what weight it has become!

Really, the project has a lot of great yarn variability. When I spin I leave the bumps and fluffy sections in that create slightly large stitches occasionally. I love the resulting look. It feels much less machine made ... And has that air of handmade love and hugs.

Here's the skein I ended up using and eventually practicing my photography with ...

In sum: my fingers may fall off from too many cables, too much spinning ... Or being a bit punchy at knit night tonight. We'll see.

Be excellent to each other!