why am i here and who are you?

Take a look at this girl, blithely knitting away, not a care in the world: she had the brilliant idea of knitting a whole sweater during a cross-country road trip to New York City.

WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?!

Because here we are, two years later. That "easy, quick!" sweater was still sitting in a tangled mess in my knitting basket, neglected. Naturally, during the course of aforementioned road trip, I objected to an instruction in the pattern. My obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist self balked at knitting a sweater side-to-side because the increases and decreases would not look identical! This is the point at which most people would move on and accept the VERY slight difference between these features, but no, not me.

Instead, I do what I normally do: ignore the problem, stash the sweater away, and sulk until I forget that it exists.

But the obsessive-compulsive side of me always wins. Always. Because this was an unfinished project! We can't have those! I just pulled it out and began the process of repairing/ripping/trying to figure out what that vacationing brain of mine was thinking all those months ago. I think I have a plan, so full speed ahead, time to finish this sweater once and for all!

READER POLL: should I overdye this sweater once it's finished? The color is a lot brighter than I had intended. I'll knit some swatches and dye those first, of course, but please tell me what you think!

if you're vaguely attracted to rooftops

Oh, finishing a project! (In this case, half. But still.) These are exact replicas of the red version here, but my father is overdue for a new pair of socks and these had been on the needles for quite a long time. Shamefully long! Anyway. The yarn I used here is Berroco's Alpaca Fine. I just checked my posts and was surprised to find that I hadn't enthusiastically-manically expounded on this yarn yet...so here goes!

Lots of people are afraid (or extremely hesitant) to work with fine yarn. Alpaca Fine is fingering weight, so it's best knit on small needles. I knit my socks on size 0, although slightly looser knitters would have success on size 1. Since it's alpaca, the yarn tends to loft (fluff up) a little bit, so you can get away with knitting it on a larger size as long as you don't expect a super-firm fabric. I knit a swatch on size 3 needles and it looked fine! (Ha, ha- Alpaca Fine...OK moving on now.) One skein has 430 yards, which is more than enough to knit a pair of socks...even if the recipient has large feet! And the best part: it's only $10-11. Seriously! The yarn is amazing: a perfect blend of alpaca, nylon, and wool. If you haven't knit with it yet, go out and buy some NOW! You won't be sorry. And once you've started knitting on little needles, I don't think you'll go back...in some ways, it's actually more natural than knitting on bigger needles. Besides, you can go faster because it requires smaller motions from your hands! (If you don't like this yarn and/or my advice, I'm sorry...and accept the blame. Just send your leftover Alpaca Fine my way.)

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get a clear picture today since it's a rainy, chilly spring day. Luckily the light worked in my favor. The snow is gone!

when the city clears and sun ascends

After a very, very long (and inexcusable) absence, Kniterary Club has returned! Naturally I've finished a project that is ill-timed for the season, but since I love knitting and spring pretty much boundlessly equally, it's okay.

These mittens are knit from yarn I dyed myself last summer during the class I taught at Old Village Yarn Shop. I picked an alpaca-nylon blend, fingering weight yarn, figuring I would knit socks like I had with all my other home-dyed yarns. When my other mittens started to deteriorate from overuse, I knew what this yarn was destined to be. Since it was fingering weight, I had to hold it double-stranded with size 3 needles...I'm pretty patient, but knitting mittens on size 0 needles just wasn't happening that day. These turned out to be a perfect density, nice and warm, no drafts come in! Once they've been worn a bit, they'll felt just a little, and that will be ideal.

I used The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns as a guide, but changed a few things to customize these (although I liked my original mittens, there were a few minor upgrades I wanted to make). First, I made the cuff a lot longer; this way they'll stay tucked well under my coat sleeves. I started the thumb gusset a little later, too, and didn't increase quite as much. I was hoping the skinnier thumb would help the mitten feel a little less oversized. I was really happy with the improvements, but will have to wait till next winter for these to really prove themselves...which is TOTALLY okay with me! We're all so hungry for spring.

Now, concerning the blog: I will post when I can, what I can...but I'm back in grad school and time is precious! I've missed my knitting, though. Let's say I was in hibernation for the winter...

i am all in a ball in your front yard

A very much belated post!!!

It's November, something I am desperately trying to comprehend. How does time fly by so quickly? Here's an appropriate post for chilly November evenings: a fluffy, warm, only-slightly-itchy mohair blanket.

This blanket was one of those never-ending projects. First of all, a blanket (or afghan- whichever you prefer- afghan is maybe more appropriate here) is a large project. It can also be a very tedious project, especially with a pattern as simple as this. It requires a certain tenacity to finish...which I didn't have, apparently...this took me two years!

But now that it's done, I adore it. Absolutely adore it. Mohair is a wonder fiber- soft, luxurious, and warm. This took two enormous hanks of mohair (500 yards each), made by Interlacements Yarns. I can't find the particular yarn I used on the website, though!! I used two colorways of mohair, alternating pairs of rows with each color. This made a beautiful colorway that reminds me a bit of a Monet painting. Every 14 rows, I threw in 6 rows of contrast yarn (in this case, a discontinued Noro yarn). The blanket was all garter stitch, and here's how you do it: cast on 3 stitches. Knitting every row, increase at the end of each row until you're a) half as far as you'd like to go or b) halfway through your yarn supply. If you want fringe, make sure you save some yarn aside OR cut it before you start. You will need lots of fringe...more than you would expect. Once you get to your decided halfway point (size or material-wise), start decreasing at the end of every row. Add your fringe on and you're done! World's easiest blanket.

I alternated skeins of yarn because the colors suited each other and I didn't want to wait to order the yarn. You could do this with scrap yarn, you could do random stripes, you could do an eyelet pattern....just follow the basic square shape (increase halfway, decrease halfway). You'll never want to wrap up in anything else!!

c'mon look me in the eye

Over the summer I had an idea for a neckwarmer (why I think of these things in the 90-degree heat I do not know). It was during the period that Kniterary Club was meeting, so I had time to mull over yarn combinations, buttons, and the like. I came up with a very autumnal color set, but never started the actual knitting. (I guess the weather- and more pressing projects- got some sense through my head.)

Now the cool weather's here to stay, and with all the trees changing and a chilly breeze blowing around, I really want this neckwarmer to be done. Sitting right next to me is the ball of brown yarn, and the moment I'm done typing I will begin knitting! Hopefully my concept will become reality...I want a ruffled button band ornamented with flowers in yellow silk and leaves out of Ultra Alpaca Fine (as above, and below). I feel very Project-Runway-esque, except on a much smaller scale and with lots more time. Besides, I don't think Michael Kors or Nina Garcia will be critiquing my look....

A clearer picture below:

Are those buttons not fabulous?

everybody come down

I think my IQ is dropping steadily lately...it's kind of frightening. In my last post, I described the sudden disappearance of my fish buttons- these aren't the only lost items that are keeping me awake in bed at night, wondering if, just maybe, those buttons might be stuffed in that COAT POCKET! Hmm...OK, I'm distracting myself again. In addition to the buttons, I've lost the power cord to my external hard drive, a skein of yarn, and a jacket. This is quite a feat considering the fact that I'm a neat freak, but we'll move on from here and let's hope my brain cells regenerate.

Another indication of my madness: I forgot to post about these socks way back in March when I made them! In the post titled "Knitting 911" from March, I write about repairing a pair of socks in the same colorway, but I never show pictures of the new, improved version. As mentioned in March, my brother is pretty hard on knitting (heavy use + bike accidents = destruction). I made him a pair of socks (in fact, my very first pair!) out of worsted weight wool. The colorway was called Mexico from Scholler+Stahl, I fell in love with it from the very start. There were two problems, though: one, the socks were nearly destroyed; and two, they were ridiculously thick.

This new pair was the perfect combination: lighter weight yarn but in the same colorway, an adapted heel, and better still, no holes! I knit the whole pair in about 11 days...which leads me to believe that my ideal knitting needle size is a 3...and used an afterthought heel. This allows you to knit a tube, throw in some waste yarn where you want the heel to be placed, finish knitting, and then go back in to insert a very simple heel in the space where the waste yarn was. I'm a big fan of the afterthought heel. If you want a contrast heel, the afterthought gives you a nice square insert for the second color instead of an awkward looking heel flap. (Symmetry suits those of us who suffer from OCD.) This is also a nice thing to keep in mind if you're worried about running out of yarn: knit the tube first, and if you have enough left, great- if not, you can use a contrast color and it won't look like you ran out of yarn by accident. Also, I think knitting the tube and inserting the heel later makes the knitting go by so much faster- you don't have all that tricky manipulation of the heel to navigate, instead you can fly right through, do the tricky bit at the end, and sit back satisfied to admire your socks.

Happy Friday and happy knitting weekend!!!

try this trick and spin it, yeah

It's finished! Not quite as soon as I would have liked, but it's super cute and I can't wait to give it to the mother-to-be. Knitting baby things is so satisfying because the knitting goes so fast...10 inches and you've got a sleeve! This really would have been done in the weekend I had aimed for if the weather had cooperated...we were in Chicago and it was absolutely frigid outside, so no knitting got done or my hands would have frozen!!!

Funny story about this sweater (and me in general): these are not the original buttons I bought for this project. They look the same, yes...but the little plastic bag with the original five buttons is absolutely nowhere to be found. Those of you who know me well will understand how silly this is...I'm a little OCD about organizing and cleaning, so usually I know where everything is all the time. I fear that this time, though, I got a little overzealous in my cleaning and lost something instead of putting somewhere useful (or logical, apparently). I went to the yarn store right down the road and got SO lucky- they had a whole tube of the exact same buttons! I had originally bought the very last of them at a shop in Plymouth, MI. Phew! Bullet dodged.

I had planned the whole sweater around the adorable fish buttons!

all things go

Thought I would squeeze in one quick blog post to end September...and with it, a knitting challenge...I'm traveling to Chicago this weekend (reference the song in this post's tags) and this baby gift needs to be finished ASAP. I've got the back and one half of a cardigan front done, all I have to do are the sleeves and another front (although this one will be a little slower, it's the band I have to place buttons in).

I'm using an all-acrylic yarn from Berroco called Comfort. I'm usually anti-acrylic, but this one knits up really softly and isn't too snaggy- my only issue is that the ends tend to get tangled around the working yarn and can be nearly impossible to separate. Otherwise, it's a lovely yarn...a good value, good wear, and it's machine wash and dry!

Check out those buttons...I'm in love. Little yellow fish!

more and more and more and more

Good news or bad news first? Well...bad news is that I totally failed to keep up with KNITERARY CLUB through September. The good news is that I'm finally knitting again, and even better, I've finished something! Two things!

In all honesty, I should have finished the above project much sooner...I mean, come on, it's knit on size 17 needles! The diamond pattern was an easy 4-row repeat that I somehow managed to botch at least once a day. I had yarn left over (especially when I ripped out the sleeves of the sweater this was originally meant to be), so I made a hat. The hat is really simple, too...knit flat with a seam in the back. I originally thought I should imitate the diamond pattern in the hat too, but opted not to- when I started the hat I was at knitting group and was being a huge ditz and couldn't concentrate on complicated designing. (Unfortunately this seems to be the direction of my entire life at the moment, sigh.)

How many scarves do you really need? Probably not as many as I have...but I really can't wait to wear this out when it starts to get chillier (not toooo soon, I hope).

Also: I went yarn shopping and bought yarn for 3 projects! There should be no excuse for me from now on, the blog is back. I promise this time!

all the cities at the break of dawn

Well, by now you've probably noticed that the blog has been on quite a long hiatus. It was a hectic month, so I decided to declare a vacation for the month of August (unannounced, naturally) and come back in September with more ideas, better ideas, etc.

Pictured above is my newest project. I bought this yarn (Cascade Magnum) intending to knit a Twinkle sweater with it. The sweater wasn't turning out like I wanted, so I ripped it out and decided that the yarn needed a new beginning. The Twinkle book has a cute scarf in it, so I picked that as its second incarnation. As you would expect, the knitting goes really fast. I seem to have a mental block about even simple yarnovers, so I kept missing them. This set me back a little, but I whipped up about a foot in half an hour. I think instant gratification is the solution for frustrated knitters!

I'm going to adapt a variation on this pattern for a hat I'm working on...which you'll see soon!

Thank you for reading, and happy September!