Count Down to Vacation
Only three days left until vacation. And I’m getting my knitting ducks in a row.
The merino belt is coming along, nearly 26 inches now. I may not finish it before I leave as I was hoping, but that’s because I’m trying to finish…
…Maggie’s purse so I can wrap it for her birthday and delivery it when we’re in Chicago next week. Thanks so much to Amy who felted the purse in her top-loader for me and delivering it so quickly. It’s felted just the right amount. I used the “Black Beauty” pattern from the book Pursenalities. I used Cascade 220 again, this time in dark grey and coral. The crocheted edges made the purse felt up kind of wonky. But it gives it character, right? I think I’m still going to add some embroidery to the flap and I need to find the perfect button too. But it should be ready to deliver next week.
Here are some photos of my sample needle case I made. It’s big enough to hold everything with room to grow. Exactly what I was looking for. I hate having things in my closet that I don’t wear anymore. But it’s hard to get rid of things like my hula shirt from the time I was pregnant with Ella. Ta da! I’ll just cut it up and put it in the needle case, along with scrap fabric from our wedding quilt and Ella’s playhouse curtains. When I make my real needle case with the silk fabric, this one will be passed on to Ella.
Last night I started to make a swatch of the Cascade Indulgence for my Blaze sweater. Ohhhh, it’s so nice. I’m excited about this yarn. So soft, and easy to knit. I’m looking into some knitting techniques on how to knit cables without a cable needle. It’s supposed to go faster once you get the hang of it.
I’ve got a big blue box full of knitting projects ready for our trip. I’m glad the minivan has space. Now I need to pack those non-essentials like clothing and toiletries.
Leaving Comments
Some people haven’t been able to leave comments and I need your help to figure this out.
If you’re reading this, please try to leave a comment telling me what browser you’re using and whether you use mac/windows. If you can’t leave a comment, I would really appreciate it if you could e-mail me at dena(at)childsfamily(dot)com and tell me the browser & system you’re using and what error message you get. This is getting really frustrating.
On the brighter side of things, I’m half way done knitting a purse for my niece. My plan is to finish it by tomorrow afternoon so I can felt it in my friends machine (Thanks Amy) while we knit. My deadline is to get it finished so I can wrap it and delivery it next week on our giant road trip.
I also made a sample knitting needle case on Father’s Day. I’m so glad I made a sample first. Now I know what I’ll do differently the next time. But it turned out well. (Thanks for everything Cherie) I’ll post pictures and details later this week.
Thanks in advance for helping me figure out this blog comment problem.
Update on Projects
Time for an update on the beginning, middle, and ends of my knitting projects.
NECK GAITERS: I’ve made five Neck Gaiters now; these four plus Ella’s. I still have a ton of the Vaudeville yarn left. I can make more gaiters if I can think of someone. Or what else can I make with this yarn?
SOLEIL TANK TOP: I’ve gotten lots of feedback as to what to do with the rolling edges on my tank. My next step is to steam block it and see how that goes. I just haven’t gotten around to it.
BRANCHING OUT SCARF: What I thought was a dropped stitch may have actually been a split stitch. I was all ready to rip out the scarf and start over. But then I got an offer from Mamacate to come over and she could help me fix the goofy stitch. What a wonderful offer. Not only did I get to meet her (turns out we live half a mile from each other) and her son, but she saved my scarf. This lace pattern takes a lot of my concentration and I still mess up. But fortunately with this yarn, I can’t really find the mistakes. So the person I’m giving it to probably won’t see them either.
MERINO BELT: I went down to size 3 needles and am doing a simple garter stitch belt. I’m probably a third of the way done with it now. This is tiny yarn, so it’s going slowly.
NOTHIN’ BUT A T-SHIRT: I really don’t like my swatch of the Jo Sharp Desert Garden. To get the correct gauge, the fabric is just too stiff. And this yarn doesn’t have the stretch that I was hoping for. I think I’m going to have to save this yarn for a different project, maybe Sonnet. For now I think the T will be on hold until I can buy some Rowan Calmer at Hand Held.
BLAZE: I still haven’t started Blaze with the wonderful purple Cascade Indulgence that I bought. I’m not sure about the sleeve length, shorter or longer? But I bought some nice cable needles and I’m excited to start.
SOCKAPALTWOZA: There are an amazing 350 people doing the Sockapaltwoza and I’m one of them. I’ve got my sock pal assignment and I’m excited to start. I’ll get the pattern and yarn on the road during out road trip this summer. Looks like my pal is open to many things so I can have fun with these socks. Woo hoo!
The Beginning of the Dino Sweater
Shhh, don’t tell Liam. I’m knitting a dinosaur sweater for him.
When looking for a dinosaur image to knit on a sweater for Liam, I could only find a long neck dinosaur. But he loves T-rex dinosaurs. So I found an outline of a T-rex and printed it on top of a grid. I colored it in and this is the dinosaur he will now have on his sweater. I bought lots of superwash wool at the Webs Tent Sale last month. The colors I have to work with: light steel blue, light coral, oatmeal, medium steel blue (not the actual color names, I made these up). I have way more than I’ll need for his sweater (39 balls) but I plan to make Ella a jumper with this yarn too. The pattern I’m using is the Yankee Knitter Designs Roll Raglan in Crew.
More Frogging Than Knitting
I’ve been working on patterns where gauge isn’t important, yet I’m frogging more than I’m knitting.
I’ve been knitting the Branching Out scarf from Knitty for someone special. When I first saw it at Knitty, I was drawn to the leaf pattern. I’m using the Filatura Di Crosa Ultralight yarn I got from the Webs Tent Sale, 10 balls for $25. Good deal. I’m using size US 4 bamboo needles. The yarn doesn’t feel as soft as it did the day that I bought it. Maybe it’s just the hot, sticky weather we’ve been having. Without AC downstairs, I don’t care to have fuzzy wool around my neck.
I’ve made a few mistakes already, but nothing I couldn’t cover up or fix. But now look at what I found. Can you see the dropped stitch in the photo? With this complicated lace pattern, I don’t really know where to begin trying to pick up the stitch. I’d rip the whole scarf back, but this yarn doesn’t rip out easily. It really sticks to itself. So with all those balls of Ultralight, I’ll just start over. I want to use bigger needles anyway. I probably dropped the stitch the other night while doing k3tog stitches and watching Angel.
This past weekend I went to Sheep’s Clothing in Milan, New York with my friend Johanna. So much merino and gorgeous colors. And I loved a lot of their patterns. But I was strong and resisted buying much. I bought a set of birch straight needles and a set of birch cable needles. And as for yarn, I only got a single skein of this lovely lace merino for a belt. I’ve been wanting a fun belt to wear with my brown linen pants. I’ve been testing the yarn, knit/frog/knit/frog and knit some more, not quite sure what I wanted to do. I think I may try to go down a few needle sizes. I might like it more.
Soleil is Done, I Think…
My Soleil tank top is done but not perfect.
I blocked Soleil yesterday on my living room floor. I made a nice blocking cage for it to keep the 3 and 6 year olds away from it. Sharp pins and all, I thought it was best. But really, I didn’t want anyone messing with my Soleil after all of the work it took to finish.
You’ll notice that the color in the photo is a lot greener than my other posts. I finally got around to messing with the white balance on my camera, so this is the actual color. Also notice, IT FITS! Now I won’t need to find a friend of a different size. The tops of the straps are still rolling in, and the bottom is starting to roll up. I could add another row of crochet stitches to the straps. But I’m not sure what I can do to keep the bottom from rolling up. It’s fine if I don’t move. But as soon as I start to move, the bottom rolls up. Should I just live with it?
What next? I already have a Branching Out scarf and a Nothin’ But a T-Shirt on the needles. And I’m just about ready to start the sweater for Liam with my custom dinosaur design. It’s plenty to keep me busy.
Soleil Is Almost There
Thanks to many hours in the car, Soleil is almost done.
This past weekend we went to West River, Maryland for the annual Dumbarton UMC retreat. The weekend was beautiful and seeing all of the wonderful Dumbarton folks again made up for the hellishly slow drive down. Since we were averaging 30 mph (I swear I’ll never drive through Connecticut again), it was clear that we wouldn’t make it to West River on Friday. Wanting something better than service center food, we took exit 12 off of the New Jersey Turnpike. Amazingly, we found an Indian restaurant in a strip mall that was exactly what we were looking for. At this point, the straps of my Soleil were getting close to being done. I had to go into the bathroom and try it on. Wow, I think I’m going to have a tank I can wear.
I finished the crocheting around the edges and weaving in all of the ends on the way home on Monday. This morning I tried it on for the first time since I had added the crocheting. It looks good. The crocheted edge added just enough so that it’s not too low cut. But the straps are still seriously rolling. But I’ll block it this afternoon hoping that it will work itself out. By the way, I tried the three-needle bind off for the first time with the straps, and I love it. What a nice neat seam, and so easy to do.
Needle Case Fabric
I have the beginning of some lovely needle cases.
My friend Cherie took me to Delectable Mountain Cloth in Brattleboro to look for some fabric for the needle cases I want to make. They had so much beautiful silk it was hard to decide what I wanted. Fortunately Cherie helped me make some color choices, not my strongest skill. I loved the funky green pattern and started there. I knew I wanted purple too. Eventually, I was able to decide on three fabrics and resisted the buttons on the way out the door.
I haven’t made the pattern yet, but I have some specific ideas of what features I want in the needle case. I know I hate sewing, but I wasn’t seeing exactly what I wanted out there. I’ve bought fabric in the past for other sewing projects I never got around to doing or finishing. So why do I think that I’ll ever get around to this project? First motivator, I’m making three cases, two of which will be holiday gifts for some special people. The other motivator, the organizer in me can’t wait to see all of my needles lined up in the case. And I love the fabric too.
Comfort Knitting
I found out this weekend that knitting can be more than frogging and frustration. It can be comforting.
So I decided that I couldn’t live with the bulging, loosely purled row in my Soleil and ripped it back to before the neckline. I’m glad I did it. But Soleil is going very slowly now since I’m being so careful not to purl too loosely. Things are turning out alright though. I’m just about done with the back and about to start the front above the neck divide.
But I had time on my hands this weekend since I was recovering from the stomach flu. But I was not up for the concentration of working the Soleil. Instead I grabbed the Hush yarn I bought at the Webs Tent Sale the previous weekend, soft blues, greens, and purples. I worked a long scarf on big size 13 needles, no gauge to worry about. What a treat from Soleil where the yarn splits often and the size 3 needles are getting tedious. Making this scarf was the equivalent of eating comfort food. I got past the stomach flu, and now I have a very soft and fuzzy scarf too.
