Second Verse, Same As the First

As I was knitting over the weekend, the old Herman's Hermits song sprang to mind, "I'm Henery the Eighth, I am; Henery the Eighth I am, I am," because I kept thinking, "Second verse, same as the first!"

I'm on the second of the main body pieces to this star sweater, the twin to the piece I've already finished. I'm on the downhill slide (not for the whole sweater - just for this bit), seeing as I am now decreasing the stitch count on every RS row instead of increasing. Here are some pictures of the "first verse" and my progress on "second verse":

Once I get this "second verse" done, I'll start on the side pieces, abbreviated versions of the front and back pieces. I'll have to ask my brother (musician & librarian) for appropriate terms to use for those: should they be "third & fourth refrains" or maybe "DC al Coda"??? I haven't looked at sheet music for many years, so my musical terminology is very rusty...but I digress.

Overall I am enjoying this project, especially since I waited so long to start and VK had already posted the pattern errata. I really feel sorry for anyone who bought the original 4 to 5 balls of yarn the pattern called for, expecting that it would complete the entire project! I understand that pattern errors happen, but how in the world do you mess up the amount of yarn by half? However, one thing I'm not loving are the bits of detrius that are in the yarn. This Summer Tweed yarn is 70% silk/30% cotton, and it has a unique feel in the hand. It's hard to explain, but it has a tendency to stick to itself a little bit when you are pulling the yarn through a loop while making a stitch. It's not annoying, just different. What's annoying are the pieces that look like cotton plant that are woven into the yarn. Here's a picture of what I just picked off the surface of a new ball in about one minute:














Maybe I'm too (nit) picky, but I am really surprised that the company's manufacturing process couldn't do a better job of eliminating this plant waste from the raw cotton before spinning. I've never seen anything like this before, even in yarn that was hand spun, so I have a hard time believing that a major yarn manufacturer can't get it together. I've bought other yarns from Rowan and they were wonderful, but I'll probably do a better job of looking over the yarn for imperfections before I buy from them again. Because that's a "second verse" I could do without.

How Do You Do What You Do?

My DH says I'm a focus freak - well, not in those words exactly - but he often teases me on my ability to focus so intently on what I'm doing that I shut out all distractions. For example, when I drive I tend to focus on where I'm going and the path I need to follow to get there, plus my fellow drivers, etc. I don't gaze around me at the scenery, looking at different buildings, landmarks, etc., unless those are part of my directions I use to help me get to where I'm going. So if I'm riding with my DH, it's not unusual for me to suddenly say something like, "Wow...when did the (such & such) restaurant go out of business?" My DH will look at me like I'm a moron and reply that it's been gone for 6 months.

However, when I knit I can't just sit and knit in silence. I have to have some distraction or else it's just too quiet and (gasp), dare I say it, boring. There is a small voice in my head that just squeeked, "Maybe you'd get more knitting done if you sat in silence," but I just ignore it. I used to knit and watch movies, but I found that I concentrated too much on the movie and not enough on my knitting. I still knit while watching some sporting events, such as Arsenal football, or MotoGP racing. But I really enjoy listening to an audio book while reading.

I started listening to audio books when I found that listening to music just wasn't motivating me enough to work out. I'd play the same album over and over until I got sick of it, then move onto another album. I'd listened to an audio book in the car before (on vacation), so I gave it a go and it really worked.

Now I find I check out more audio books from the library than paper books, with the exception of knitting books, of course. :) Obviously there are so many wonderful books out there that are converted to audio format, but my two favorites for listening & knitting are:

• Duma Key, by Stephen King (love this book - listen to it over and over)
• the complete Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, partly because Jim Dale has such a great voice

Work progresses on the star sweater (I'll show pics in the next post), and my "count every RS row" method is helping me avoid repetitive re-work. I am sure when I'm knitting in public, people must think I'm a counting freak, stopping at the end of every other row to count. No, I'd tell them, I'm not a counting freak...I'm a focus freak.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

As you know from my last post, I've started working on the Star Motif Sweater from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2009. Yes, I correctly called it the "Star" motif, not "Snowflake" sweater like my last post. Although in my defense, it does look like a snowflake. Well, the reason for this post title, is that I've been suffering through a series of knitting snafus trying to finish the first diamond piece.

Apparently I've lost all ability to correctly read a chart. Well, it's really more accurate to say that I suffered through a period of probably 20-30 rows that I could not get my count to come out right. Like all lace I've ever worked, all WS rows are purled. Naturally I didn't notice my mistakes on a RS row until I was nearly done with the next RS row and I found I didn't have the correct number of remaining stitches to finish the row. I didn't bother using a life line because it was readily apparent within two RS rows if I had messed up.

You'd think after doing this for 5 or 10 rows that I'd realize my approach wasn't working. Either I need to focus more (e.g. no knitting while watching TV) or I needed to count my stitches after the end of a RS row. Nah...why would I want to do something intelligent like that??? Amazingly, the lace knitting is going so much better now that I have pulled my head out of my...eh...never mind.

On a completely different note, I've been spending some free time these past several days classifying patterns at Ravelry. When I viewed my checklist tonight, I see that they have it closed down temporarily. Hopefully you were able to get in on the classifying goodness (geesh - sound like my brother the librarian) and that we all win one of the amazing prizes!

Done and Done

So I've been very bad about blogging for the past month - in case you noticed! I've been busy being engrossed with things like this:

FIFA 2010 World Cup

and things like this:

and spending too little time doing this:

(please note that this picture is not a good likeness of me while knitting - my posture is not that good...)

Why, you my ask, am I not knitting more??? I can't help it; I find that there are so many things vying for my attention in the summer, even when it is 95 degrees F with a heat index of 105+ (for any non-Americans, that's almost 41 degrees C) . I can't ride my bike during the winter, and we've had so much rain this spring that when we've had a gorgeous weekend, I want to go riding. Throw in the need to do yard work, especially due to said cursed rain, and there isn't enough time for everything in the summer.

Thankfully I have two things saving my knitting: the baby shower deadline for the baby cardi, and the Rowan Summer Tweed yarn I rediscovered in my stash (color is Powder). First, let me share with you that I finished the baby cardigan, and my DH even picked out the perfect froggie buttons (they are so cute!):

After finishing up the pieces, weaving in all the ends, blocking and picking up to knit the collar and button band/buttonhole band, it seamed up pretty quickly. After we got our power back at the house, that is (AGAIN with the rain - stupid thunderstorm). This was my first experience with button holes, and naturally I finished them before running out and picking up the latest Interweave Knits magazine with...an article about how to knit better button holes.

Once the baby cardi was done, picking up that unfinished Dragon Scarf with the itchy Shetland wool seemed as appealing as cleaning cat puke off the basement floor. That's just not going to happen in these temps. So I rummaged through the stash until I found the eight hanks of Summer Tweed yarn and latched onto it. I originally bought this yarn several years ago for an off the shoulder baggy sweater, which for some crazy reason caught my interest. After ditching that idea, I went searching through my knitting books, magazines and favorite online pattern places to find something. Either I didn't like what I found (no, I'm not picky) or I didn't have enough yarn. I finally decided to try substituting this yarn for the specified yarn in the Vogue Knitting Summer 2009 magazine, called Star Snowflake Sweater. Hey, my yarn is called Powder, the pattern is called Snowflake...it's fate, right? Here's a picture of the pattern, yarn and my progress to date:

Let's hope my yarn conversions are up to snuff or this might end up being one big lacy swatch!

Smarty Pants

I recently showed Tia my progress on the baby sweater, which unfortunately (like my blogging) has been impacted by the need to do work-related items like conference travel, non-billable work, etc. Anyway...when she looked at the back piece, she asked how I worked the stripes because there were very few loose ends. I told her that after a couple of rows, I got the idea to carry the yarn of the non-working skein up the sides of the piece, keeping everything neat by wrapping the active yarn around it. Here's a picture showing what I mean.

So Tia asks how I learned to do that, did I see it in a book, and I said, "Nah, I just didn't want to weave in all those ends so I improvised." She looks at me and says, "Well, aren't you Miss Smarty Pants!" Now, I don't usually think of myself as all that clever, so that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That feeling continued as I worked through both front pieces and as I started into the first arm.

Unfortunately, I now have first-hand proof of why wiser knitters caution against smugness and too much confidence, lest the Knitting Gods (or Goddesses, if you prefer) strike you down and wreak havoc on your knitting. The night I completed the second front piece, I decided to push on just a little bit more before calling it a night. I got out the pattern, read through the arm instructions, and cast on the required number of stitches for the ribbing. I finished the ribbing and once again looked at the instructions. They called for one increase on either side of every 4th row repeated 6 times, followed by one increase on either side of every 6th row repeated 3 times. "No sweat," I thought, but I was getting sleepy and decided to quit for the night. The next day when I returned to my little sleeve, I proceeded blissfully along with my color changes, sans increases. I was such a "smarty pants" that it wasn't until I had 8 inches or so of the sleeve done that I checked the pattern again and noticed my failure to incorporate any increases! Riiiippppp!

Next time when someone tells me I'm a knitting smarty pants, I'm ignoring them.

Brandywine and Balsamic Don't Mix

While browsing Ravelry one day I noticed the Brandywine Shawl pattern and immediately marked it as a favorite. I’ve wanted to knit a shawl for my Mother-in-Law but hadn’t found that perfect pattern. Brandywine Shawl was perfect for my first shawl because it has a lace border the majority of it is garter stitch. I have a little one at home so I don’t have a lot of time to work on projects that require my complete attention.

My MIL is also a knitter, so I knew she would appreciate the effort that goes into knitting lace. Five dollars from the purchase of the pattern also went to Haiti relief efforts and pair that with three skeins of Claudias handpainted fingering weight yarn and it was a no-brainer. The pattern was very clear to understand and each instruction is given in chart and written form. I started with the written instructions and after several tear backs I switched to the chart. It was much easier to follow. I did however, decide to use a life line (something I had only heard about from other knitters) which is a length of thread or yarn strung through a row of knitting so that when you tear it back the stitches are kept on the line and easy to pick up. I used two life lines about 5-7 rows apart, that way if I didn’t notice a mistake I would have two locations that were set and I could rip back to. The extra effort of setting the life lines was worth it. It relieved my anxiety about having to rip back.

I finished the shawl using with only 2 skeins instead of 3. I considered using the third but didn’t because I wouldn’t have been able to finish it by the time of her birthday. It seemed tiny before it was blocked and but blocking did wonders. I blocked it by submersing it into a cool tub of water and rolling into a towel, then using t-pins at each point and along the top. I really had to stretch it and it was still a little smaller than the pattern dimensions, but I was pleased with the results. Next time I’ll use that third skein.

She loved the gift. Unfortunately not an hour after opening it a bottle of balsamic vinegar fell off the shelf and splattered it with brown. I thought I might be sick. I immediately put it into cold water and soaked it with a little laundry detergent and it came out!

I will definitely make another Brandywine Shawl. But first, I’m jumping on the Baktus bandwagon….

Happy Knitting and Happy Mother’s Days

Zoomin'

I just can't get over how quickly you can knit up a garment if it's sized for someone, say...3-6 months in age. This baby cardi is literally flying off the needles. I just started it 10 days ago, and I've already finished the back and left front, while the right front is 4.25 inches along (that's a little less than 11 cm for those of you progressive enough to be on the metric system). Here's a picture of the completed pieces, and one of the front piece in progress.

























































I consider myself a relatively intelligent woman, so it's frankly shocking how I can be so surprised by this speedy knitting of baby garments. I mean, quickly measuring across my shoulders from top of joint to top of joint, I get about 15 inches. This baby cardi measures approximately 10.5 inches from edge to edge. When you consider that this cardi is unseamed and it has a drop shoulder, it's safe to say that the baby cardi is knit for someone with shoulders less than half as wide as mine. That seems too big for a wee tot, but I'm closely matching the pattern gauge of 5 stitches per inch.

Hmm...after mentioning gauge, I suddenly seem to have an idea about the speediness of this baby knitting. I'm like that: sometimes I reason through things by talking out loud (in this case typing out loud) rather than internalizing the progression of thoughts. I'm knitting 5 stitches per inch on size US 7 needles. The equivalent gauge for an adult garment would be about 2+ stitches per inch on size US 13 or 15 needles. Thinking back, I did make one shrug that was about this gauge, and it did go quickly: the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardi from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits.

So I guess the lesson is that as long as I want a really bulky adult garment, I can turn out a sweater in a relatively short time. Maybe I'd better just stick to baby garments right now.

Baby Time

For any of you reading my posts who know me (shout out to Kerry & Sarah), don't freak out by the title of this post - I'm not pregnant. My biological clock is still MIA, and I don't have any plans to go looking for it.

This post is titled "Baby Time" because one of my co-workers recently announced that she is pregnant with her first. When I asked how far along, she replied, "Fifteen weeks." I just looked at her, because for the life of me I couldn't see that she'd put on any weight. She's very thin to start with, and not having children myself, I don't automatically know when you're supposed to start showing. I suspect she'll carry all her weight up front - the kind of person who doesn't look pregnant from the back, then turns sideways to reveal this big(ish) baby bump.

I've knitted blankets for the past several baby arrivals, and my immediate thought was to knit another. But her mother-in-law makes beautiful quilts, and I knew she'd be getting at least one baby quilt. Maybe this time I'd make something else. I checked out several books from the library that looked promising: Wacky Baby Knits by Alison Jenkins, Knitting a Kiss in Every Stitch by Nicky Epstein, and Pretty Knits - 30 Designs from Loop in London by Susan Cropper. OK, that last one was just for me. :) Paging through these books, I saw many interesting designs that just didn't connect for me. I even looked through the latest Debbie Bliss magazine, but nothing really yelled, "Knit me!"

I needed something that was not gender specific, since I have no idea if she's having a boy or girl. I also didn't want something too involved, because I often underestimate the time involved with a project, and I've already had the pleasure of finishing a baby blanket right before leaving for the shower, thank you very much. I think I'll pass this time.

We're having a sustainability challenge at work, so I decided maybe I could use up some stash yarn rather than buying new yarn. Perusing the tub-o-stash, I found a bunch of leftover Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn from this baby blanket I made for Sarah. I didn't have any brilliant ideas for how to use up this yarn, so I decided to troll through the LBY website's free patterns. After considering the Twin Lakes Blankie I nixed the idea because I had partial balls of five different colors, and didn't like the idea of a striped basket weave blanket. I also pushed away from the Tumbling Blocks Blankie, because I've never tried entrelac before and again, didn't want to be pushing deadlines. Finally I saw this pattern for a cute little cardigan sweater and decided it was the one.

I tried to pick out the best color combination from what I already had (again...think sustainable), and finally decided upon a purple, yellow and lime green combo. Never having knit up baby clothes before, I was amazed at how quickly it started coming together (I know...I'm slow sometimes). Starting with the back, here's a picture of the ribbing:

Even though the light is not perfect for this picture, I chose it because it best shows the purple hue. And here are a couple of photos showing my progress over the weekend:

































At this rate, I may end up making her some coordinating baby socks and maybe a cute little baby hat, too. I could really get into this baby knitting thing, just not enough to have my own.

Love/Hate

I've had a real love/hate relationship with this dragon scarf yarn so far. It's Jamieson's Double Knitting (DK), which is 100% shetland wool, and here's a picture of the various yarn colors that I'm using in the scarf:

They are (in no particular order): 236 Rosewood (MC), 587 Madder, 147 Moss, 1160 Scotch Broom, 230 Yellow Ochre, 259 Leprechaun, 478 Amber, 1190 Burnt Umber and 1200 Nutmeg. The solid colors are rich and true, while the "heathered" colors have very interesting color play and knit up to form beautiful sections. And the yarn so far has been very even in weight with no knots (I hate that).

If you work with this yarn you'll find that it's a little scratchy, which may be typical of Shetland wool, don't know as this is my first time working with it. During the color work of the dragon, the yarn had a tendency to stick together, which was painfully annoying when I had 16 color strands sticking out from my work and trying to cross them without getting a knot. I was constantly stopping to sort out the colors, and could only work at my kitchen table due to the very slippery surface.

But looking back, that stickyness is probably is why the color section holds together with no gaps between color changes. Working with the solid main color, it's been fine to work with and I haven't had any issues. Hopefully you can see from the second photo what I mean about the varigated heather color!

I also have a love/hate (well, hate is much too strong a word - more like love/pull my hair out in exasperation) relationship with my cat at times. This morning I woke up to find that he had been keeping himself occupied during the night. This is the bag that holds the unused Jamieson's DK yarn:














Do you see it? Those white flecks around the top and the odd crinkly texture to the handles are tooth marks. Last night that bag was untouched; this morning, it looks like he tried to needle felt the yarn through the bag with his teeth. This is the same bag that's been sitting unscathed on a desk in the office for weeks. Overnight it becomes kitty kibble. I just don't get it...

One of These Things...

...is not like the other, one of these things is not the same."

Do you ever have the sudden realization that you're a little "different" from everyone else, that you're knitting to the beat of your own, individual drum? You're working away, happy as a clam, thinking everything's good, and then...whammo! You are reminded that not everyone thinks the same way you do. Maybe it's just me and I'm the weird one. It wouldn't be the first time I had this realization, but I had my first such knitting moment a few months ago.

The big "ah-ha" moment came after reading the February 8, 2010 post from Yarn Harlot about her Wild Apples Bohus sweater (from the link, click on Bohus Knitting, then scroll down). YH posted some really beautiful photos of her progress on the sweater yoke, but I was surprised to see how she held her circular knitting. The next day at work, I commented to Tia, "Hey, did you notice the reverse way that YH knits circularly?" Tia replied that she didn't notice, and I open my web browser to show her. She looks at the pictures, looks at me, and says, "Uh...that's how I knit. How do you knit in the round?"

Now, seeing the puzzled, almost worried, look on her face, this really funny feeling comes over me. It's like the feeling you get when you show up for a party and your level of dress (up or down) is completely off from everyone else's. Come to find out, I am the dufus who uses the "backwards circular knitting method" if there is such a thing. Should have known; YH has been knitting for how many years??? Of course she doesn't knit weirdly - that should have been my first clue!

When I go to make the join in my knitting to start the circular part, I bend the circular needle away from me so that my join is in the back and my project ends up being inside out (picture how you would hold two straight needles, and imagine the circular cord connecting both ends). Then I continue knitting away, making the project inside out. Here's a picture of my sweater-in-progress to show you what I mean.



The big section of right-side stockinette you see is actually on the inside of my work. I'm also adding a photo of my cat Cinnebar, who had to come over and check out my crazy knitting method.

See the look on his face? It says, "Wow, my mistress is really nuts. First she works with string for hours on end, but never chews on it. Then she doesn't even work with it right, and finally, she takes photos of her mistakes and posts them for the entire world to see. She's really hopeless. Now give me some more cat treats."

Anyway, to me this way of knitting in the round feels natural because the circular needles are in the "normal" knitting position, forming a "V" that points away from you. It also feels natural because the position of the crossed needles generally follows the shape of the work. Nevermind that you end up knitting into a tunnel of sorts, because to properly view what you've accomplished you have to stop and turn your work right side out.

So yes, I am the oddball who knits backwards. If anyone needs me, I'll be sitting over in the corner knitting a dunce cap.

Here Be Dragons

This post is way overdue, so I'm going to sprinkle it with several project photos in a shameless attempt to satiate the masses (cue the crickets chirping). If you remember from my previous post, I'm working on the Nasty Dog Dragon scarf from Scarf Style. Even though I've never done intarsia color work before, I accepted this assignment because my dear husband, who rarely questions my knitting spending, asked for it. As I sat down to cast on, I started in with my usual, "How bad can it be?" mentality. My stress spiked briefly as I got to my first color introduction and quickly referenced the "Vogue Knitting Bible" for instructions.

Must digress for an important aside: FYI, if you don't have this book, BUY IT! No, I don't work for Vogue, and I don't get paid to endorse anything. Over the course of my blogging I fully intend to give you my opinions of products, patterns, etc. because I always appreciate getting a second opinion on knitting paraphenalia. So...I highly recommend this book because it is so comprehensive. It covers everything: cast-ons, increases, decreases, decorative stitches, color work, garment design and construction - you name it, it's covered. It even covers entrelac, which I've been dying to try. And it is filled with figures showing you what to do. Don't expect to find a bunch of patterns, because it's a reference book. But if you have a knitting question about a standard technique, you'll find the answer in this book. OK, back to the scarf...

So, I figure out how to add color, and I find it reminds me a lot of counted cross stitch. In fact, I fall into the mindset that my mother established when she taught me to cross stitch: the back of the piece should always look as good as the front, a.k.a don't criss cross your thread whilly-nilly. Any of you that cross stitch will probably know what's coming, and yes, you'd be right. Here's a picture of the dragon from the front:



















And here's a picture of the back:

Yes, this is a spaghetti mess. Yes, I am going to go insane weaving in all those stinking ends. Did I mention that there's a silk lining that you stitch on the back when it's done? Now, the instructions say to weave in all ends before whip stitching the lining to the back. Ha - who do they think they're fooling? I'm going to think long and hard if there's a reasonable way to keep the yarn in place without weaving in the ends (without knotting, of course). Feel free to provide your thoughts.

Now I'm onto the seed stitch & stockinette portion of the scarf, and I really like the interesting structural detail this provides.

When I've knit to nearly the desired length, there is a small amount of color work at the other end that mimics the initial color work. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all the leftover color yarn when I'm done, because there will be quite a bit. I'm thinking about finding some fair isle motif and adapting the colors for my leftovers, but I'm not sure what the project should be. Again, any suggestions are welcome. Just don't expect me to make a duplicate dragon scarf...

Princess Glitter Socks

This pair of Ribbed Lace toddler size socks in Dream in Color Starry came from Sensational Knitted Socks. This is the second pattern I've made from the book and both turned out great. The main reason that I bought the book was for the sock sizing chart based on shoe size. How handy for making gifts!

I'm also teaching myself how to crochet. I recently made a scarf for myself as a first project, and with the left over yarn I crocheted these flowers to applique on a pillow. I had some linen fabric stored away and I sewed a simple pillowcase with a zipper closure to applique them on. I was rather pleased with the result.

Strike a Match

Well, here's the inaugural post for Prairie Needles On Fire, and my first post ever as a blogger! As Tia and I picked the blog name from a list of potentials, two graphics popped into my head: a picture of a prairie burning (yeah, it's a stretch), and an image of crossed knitting needles engulfed in flames. Maybe later we'll get a cool and funky logo image, but for now you'll just have to make due with a simple yet classy title block. Of course, depending upon how long it take us to attract any followers, we may have a funky logo by the time you find our humble site!

OK, enough introduction - let's get to the knitting! I don't know about you, but I can't seem to content myself with just one active knitting project at a time. Normally my husband tells me that I'm a master of focus to the point of eccentricity. But not with knitting projects. Currently I'm actively working on two projects and ignoring a third. The active projects are the Nasty Dog Dragon Scarf from Scarf Style (for my husband) and Cozy V-Neck Pullover from Fitted Knits. The dragon scarf is my first colorwork project, and I gulped a bit when my hubby picked it out of the book. "Gee honey...are you sure you wouldn't prefer that nice plaid scarf, or maybe the one with some interesting stitch pattern instead?" But once I got going and admitted I couldn't balance a dozen balls of yarn on my lap while watching TV, it wasn't too bad. I frogged the dragon head once because my yarn tension was too tight, but now I'm cranking on the seed stitch portion. The v-neck sweater pattern is easy, basically just lots of stockinette or k2 p2 ribbing. I just started the ribbing portion and have 17.95 inches more to go until I finish the body! As for the ignored project...several years ago I started an afghan pattern from Luxury Knits using Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky in Bamboo. It's really nice yarn and the combination of garter stitch and stockinette/drop stitch pattern gives an interesting look. But it's an afghan for crying out loud, and I'm only a couple of feet into the thing. I can only work on it for so long before it becomes, well, work. Tia tells me that it should have been a great winter project because it would keep my lap warm while I knit, but I'm not buying it.

OK, all that writing about knitting makes me want to sit down and knit! I'll have some photos in my next blog - promise. Adios, muchachas!