Caren Knits

Stood Up In Nashua (sniff)

My co-knitters' miscellaneous summer activities combined with a heck of a thunderstorm this evening to leave me all alone at Stitch & Bitch tonight. I waited until about 7:15 but no one else showed up, so I booked.

If anyone had come to S&B, they would have gotten to see a finished sock. And yes I've already cast on for the second and finished the short-row toes.

Fellow knitters also would have beheld the loveliness that is acres of seed stitch in light gray.

So instead of S&Bing tonight, I knitted in front of the TV. We watched a pretty weird and fairly incoherent SciFi channel "original movie" called Deep Core. Both Star Trek: The Next Generation AND Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were represented, as the movie co-starred (among others) Terry Farrell and Wil Wheaton.

I can't wait for my favorite shows to start their new seasons. Summer TV is killing me. Isn't it September yet???

Same Old... You Know...

Gosh there's not much to say today. We had a quiet weekend around here. I got a fair amount of knitting done. No photos today I'm afraid.

The first sock is almost done. I've frogged and redone the ribbing a couple of times to get it to look the way I want. I think a couple of inches of K4P4 are going to be the final choice.

Mike's sweater is also coming along. I hope to have a photo to post of that one soon.

Sorry for the short post today. Happy Monday!

Smooth Sailing Socks

Knitting socks in the round on size US1 DPNs, I'm feeling kind of like the Energizer Bunny. I just keep going and going and going and going.

I ported this sock over to a circular needle to try it on and was very pleased to discover that I could indeed pull it on over my ankle. It's a bit snug, but not too much so. It's fine, but I'll probably make the next pair a bit bigger.

Yesterday, I promised you a report on Mike's sweater...

As you may recall, I became completely disgusted with the "To The Cottage Pullover" from Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch and frogged it. After spending the weekend reading about designing one's own sweaters, etc., I decided it was worth a shot. I found a (purchased) sweater of Mike's that fits him well, and measured all the components. It's a very very very basic drop-shoulder sweater with absolutely no shaping at all, not even a bind-off at the armhole. The back is a rectangle, the front is a rectangle with a crew neck. The sleeves are pretty standard long sleeves starting narrow at the wrists and increasing as you go up to the shoulder.

Then I made a swatch with some ribbing on the bottom and about 3-4" of seed stitch. He loved it! I mean, seriously, he thought those littly "nubblies" (ie the purl bumps) were the coolest thing he'd ever seen. Ah, if only men were this easy to please about everything!

With pattern stitch approval received, I measured the "working gauge", then I soaked it in Eucalan and warm water for 20 minutes and let it dry overnight. Then I measured the gauge again. Maggie Righetti calls this the "tortured" swatch gauge. Before washing, I was getting 17.5 stitches to 4", after washing I got 16.5 stitches to 4".

The main body of the sweater is to be 23" wide (front and back are separate), and the seed stitch is stiffer than stockinette, which means the fabric won't "blouse" (i.e. drape) over the ribbing. The ribbing will basically just extend straight down from the bottom of the main fabric. So I didn't bother with reducing the number of stitches on the ribbing, I just knit it very tightly on size US7 needles, then switched to US8 and "normal" tension for the seed stitch.

So I cast on 95 stitches and so far have knit 10 rows of ribbing (approx 1.5") and about 4" of the seed stitch, and it's looking great. I tried to take a picture, but the gray yarn in my poorly lit house at night with the flash was just NOT photogenic at all. I'll try again in daylight.

This afternoon I headed over to my LYS for Lunch 'n Knit, but did neither. I spent the entire time I was there considering different yarn possibilities for both my next shawl and my next sweater projects. I ordered the yarn for the shawl, which I'll post about when it comes in next week. For the sweater, Oat Couture's Celtic Cardigan, I bought a skein each of a couple of different things to swatch and see how I like them. I'll let you know how that turns out too.

Thanks, Secret Knitting Pal!!

The mail box contained two fabulous and highly anticipated items today.

The first was a gift from my Secret Knitting Pal. She handknit me a scarf! No one's ever made me a scarf before!! And it's blue! I love blue! Yay! (Sorry, I'll try to contain myself.) The package was postmarked Springfield, PA. Hi, Springfield! The scarf came with a sweet card containing pictures of lots of different types of phones. It's very cute.

The second goodie in the mail today was our completed home study for our adoption. We're approved! Not that there was ever any doubt, but at least now it's in writing and everything. Now all we need is the "okee dokee" from the CIS (what used to be the INS), which should be forthcoming shortly. Then we send our entire dossier off to the international agency and await our referral. One more hurdle crossed.

Meanwhile, I've been knitting away on my toe-up sock. Last night, I completed the short row heel while watching the Denzel Washington "thriller" Out of Time. It was OK, but not exactly the thrill ride of the century. Glad I didn't pay $9 plus popcorn to see it, but it was perfectly acceptable as a weeknight rental.

Tomorrow I'm off to Lunch 'n Knit at my LYS, where I'll be on the hunt for fingering weight yarn for my next shawl and something soft and worsted for the the cardigan I have planned. It's got cables and stuff, so I need something elastic enough to stretch around and manipulate, yet sturdy enough to show the texture of the stitches.

Also, I think I've figured out a plan for Mike's sweater. I'll tell you all about that next time.

Actual Knitting!

I didn't make it to the LYS today, so instead I decided to try out Wendy Johnson's Toe-Up Sock Pattern. I think it's going very well so far, don't you?

Size US1 bamboo DPNs, Meilenweit "Fun & Stripes" sock yarn (Lana Grossa). The short row toes were a breeze thanks to Wendy's wonderful article (with pictures!) at Knitty.com.

Swatching & Reading

I've spent a very interesting weekend swatching various yarns in my stash and perusing Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English. There is a huge amount of information in this book. I may never get up the nerve to actually design a sweater myself from scratch, but I certainly understand much better now what kinds of decisions (and math!) go into the process.

I played around with several combinations of yarn and patterns that I had floating around here and nothing caught my fancy. Seems like the yarn in my stash just isn't right for the patterns in my stash. Oh my. Whatever will I do now? Heh heh heh. I can't imagine what the solution for this problem could possibly be. I'm sorry - did someone say "SHOP"?? :-)

I'm still on the lookout for the right sweater pattern for Mike, not to mention an everyday cardigan for me that fits well and is soft and luscious.

Oh I forgot! I received a very sweet e-card from my secret pal. Hi secret pal! She says there are goodies on the way. I can't wait!

And I fired off an e-mail to join the Secret Pal 3 list that will be starting up in September. I saw it on someone's blog somewhere but of course I forget where now. I'll give you more details when I find them.

In the meantime, Happy Monday!

I Give Up

I'm disgusted.

Also, frustrated and annoyed.

Also, somewhat pissed.

Gauge is a beautiful thing. It really is. Until you f*** with it. Until you think you know better than it. Until you pretend it will all work out in the end even though you know it won't but you won't admit it to yourself so you knit for a week on a sweater that's too small and you live in complete denial over the fact that it Just Isn't Right.

Then what happens? You hold said sweater piece up to your husband and realize there is NO WAY he's going to squeeze into this puppy.

And you start again.

And you knit for a week in even worse complete denial that this time it's way too big and he'd have to wear a tee shirt, a turtle neck, a button down shirt and a sweatshirt underneath this sweater for it to fit.

Then you decide that you hate the rolled border, you're sick to death of the damned right-side-becomes-wrong-side-becomes-right-side basketweave pattern, you just KNOW the sleeves are going to look dorky when you attach them to the drop shoulder with that bizarre selvedge stitch that's sort of supposed to show but not really, and you know what?

I. Give. Up.

The Cottage Pullover is officially history. Mike isn't TOO disappointed. I promised him something even better. Now I get to spend the afternoon searching the web for men's sweater patterns for him to approve. You know? There are WAY worse ways to spend a sticky steamy Friday afternoon. Actually, it sounds kind of fun. Especially considering I have air-conditioning. Tee hee!

Have a great weekend!

Cottage Pullover Beginnings

After a few false starts, Mike's Cottage Pullover is finally on its way. I finally settled on Addi Turbo US 6's. The front of the sweater is coming along nicely. I even present proof!

I promise to post more frequent updates with pictures of its progress. :-)

I'm looking forward to a quiet week of knitting, blog-reading, and audiobook listening. How about you?

Let It Rain

So here it is a very rainy Thursday morning in New Hampshire. I don't mind though. There's something kind of cozy about sitting in your nice air-conditioned, non-humid house, watching the rain fall outside and knitting.

What's that? Knitting? What a concept! Gee, why didn't I think of that sooner.

Hah hah hah. I'm a regular riot-act this morning, aren't I? Man, I crack me up.

But seriously. I haven't knit a stitch in days. I'm still having some trouble getting going on a project. I keep stopping and restarting Mike's Cottage Pullover. I'm getting gauge on a US 6 needle, which is all well and good. But now I'm thinking I might maybe need to make the next size larger. When I measured his chest originally, I don't think I accounted for (a) taking a deep breath, and (b) wearing a shirt underneath. I was so worried about the sweater being too baggy, I went overboard in the other direction.

So now that I'm pretty confident which size to make, we go back to the needle dance. My bamboo needles are catching the yarn too much and it wno't slide nicely. I tried rubbing them with wax paper, but that didn't help. Has anyone had luck using car wax? Obviously we want to avoid getting guck all over the yarn, but it might be worth a try, if I rub it off really really well.

I love my Denise needle set, but with this combination of needle size and yarn, the cable seems a bit thick, and the stitches aren't sliding over the cable/needle join well.

Not to fear. Yesterday I had lunch with my knitting buddy Deb, and she brought me over a couple of more types of needles to try. Boye straights and aluminum circulars, and some rosewood straights. I'm due to see her at knitting club at my LYS this afternoon, so I'll practice a bit this morning and see if any of these do the trick. If not, I'll pick up some Addi's today and go with them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I believe it is only fair to tell you that the OTHER reason I haven't knit a stitch in days is that I've been mesmerized by this game.

I. Just. Can't. Stop. ACK!!

Oh Secret Pal, Where Art Thou?

I haven't heard a peep from my Secret Knitting Pal, so I figured it was only fair to answer Heidi's questionnaire for her! Here you go...

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

Back when I crocheted afghan after afghan, I stuck to less snobbish stuff (i.e. Lion Brand, Plymouth Encore, etc.) knowing that they'd need to get washed a lot. These days, I prefer the softer "fancier" stuff like alpaca and merino.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

I don't spin, but I do crochet. I've been knitting so much lately that the crochet hooks have been languishing.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

Just the usual dust, mold, etc. Nothing special. But keep that cigarette smoke away from me -- blech!

4. How long have you been knitting?

I taught myself about 3 years ago, but then I didn't really do anything with it. I picked it up again in earnest only about 6-7 months ago. 1.75 sweaters, some booties, and 2 shawls later, I just can't stop!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Nope.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Nothing too strong... Lilac and lavendar are both nice. Vanilla is good too.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Oh yes!! :-) You can NEVER go wrong with milk chocolate!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

Crochet, needlepoint, cross stich, embroidery. I don't do needlework that's "country-cutesy," though, more geometric and contemporary designs. And I throw a little quilting in now and then too.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if you want to make her a CD)

Country and Classical. What a combination, huh?

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?

I definitely gravitate toward jewel tones and cooler colors. I love the blues, purples, pinks, reds, teals, etc. No orange, olive green, or anything "pukey"! :-)

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

My husband Mike and I have been married 11 years, and we're in the process of adopting a baby boy from Russia. We hope to bring him home before the end of the year, but it may not be until February or so. And we have a beautiful white German Shepherd/Golden Retriever dog, Heidi, and a sweet but chubby black cat, Jezebel. (Both wee ones have been featured here in the past...)

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

To raise a happy, healthy family.