The Empty Stash

Red Birch

2008-01-23T13:27:00.001-08:00

I don't mean Betula albosinensis, I mean this:

I finally finished. I had plenty of yarn so I added a border. I think it gives it a more finished look. It is really big. Here it is pinned out on my king sized bed.

Here it is on my sofa. I need a bigger sofa!

The Christmas Crunch

2008-01-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that all gifts were completed! It involved a late Christmas eve and I ended up have to fix one after Christmas but it all got done.

Originally I only had one project. Last year I decided to make my brother-in-law a pair of Aaaargh-yle Socks. I never even finished the first one. This year I decided to finish. I made them from Dale of Norway Falk because I already had some and it is washable. I used gray as the base color with black and red. He loved them.

I would probably have been okay with just the one project but just before Christmas I found something I couldn't pass up.

My mom has a birthday right after Christmas so I try to get her two things that go together. I went to the local bead store and made her this necklace.

I figured I could find a shirt of sweater to go with it at the store.

One week before Christmas I go into the yarn shop to pick up a small item I needed. While there I see this yarn. It is Schaefer Yarn "Miss Priss" 100% Merino in the color "Spanky". I did not have the necklace with me but mt color memory is screaming perfect match. There were two skeins so I grabbed them. I ran home and started searching for something I could make with only 560 yards of wool. Fortunately my mom is slim and she lives in a warm climate. I searched Knitty and found a simple pattern with the simple name "W". Perfect!

The pattern was great! It was fun to knit and it came together fast. I was able to finish while United Airlines made us sit on aircraft that didn't go anywhere. Here is the result.

Want to know if my color memory was accurate?

I think it was pretty good.

Done!

2007-10-28T12:26:00.001-07:00

The blanket is finally done! Here it is in all its glory.

One of the nice things about the pattern is that you sew fleece on the back so you don't need to worry about little fingers and toes getting stuck in the yarn floats. I was lucky to find a really good match.

I added the baby's name and birth date to the back.

I had a lot of fabric left so I made a matching bear using this pattern.

Stay warm Caitie!

A Tale of Two Blankets

2007-09-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with baby blankets. I had one friend with a baby due in June and another due in September. I knew the June baby was a girl but the mother was not big on pink. I picked a very soft lavender and I was in the mood for lace. The parents of the baby are from the UK so I thought I would try and turn the "Rose of England" from Marianne Kinzel's "Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting" into a blanket.

I wanted a square blanket so I knit the main part of the circle and then tried to square it up with some short rows. It was a good thing I started the blanket early. I knew that once the rounds got to be over 300 stitches it would be slow work.

With well over 1000 stitches on the needle it was hard to tell what shape it would turn out. I ended up with more material than I needed on the edge making it a loose, drapey square. The baby kindly gave me an extra two weeks to finish so I did get it done before she was born.

It is a very large blanket. It could probably double as a shawl or maybe a tablecloth.

Blanket number two is very different. The baby's mother is a knitter and when she found out I planned to make her a blanket she asked if I could make the "Sleep Baby Sleep" blanket from "Nursery Rhyme Knits" by Teresa Boyer. She loved the blanket but felt it was beyond her ability. Always being up for a challenge, I purchased yarn.

At first glance I thought, "it's a fairisle pattern, I've done that before". This was not entirely true. I've done fairisle in the round so you don't have to chart on the purl side and there were always only two colors in a single row. This blanket is knit flat, gotta purl, and there are some rows with three or four colors. It is a real challenge trying to keep an even tension.

While the rows are not that long and it goes fairly quickly when I actually sit down and work on it, the trouble has been actually sitting down and working on it. So here I am again, baby could come any time, and I'm not done.

This is what it should look like when finished.

In a fit of silliness we considered changing the verses to see if anyone would notice. My 5 year old daughter suggested the following:

Sleep baby sleep

Don't poop in your pants

Sleep baby sleep

I thought that might stick out.

This evening I was pretty tired and ready to go to sleep at 9:00. My daughter was not. After a two hour struggle she was asleep and I was wide awake. With the brilliance (and complete silliness) that only insomnia can bring I came up with my own version of the blanket. It is much more modern and each progressive verse works for a different age.

If it weren't so hard, I'd make them both. ;)

Frolic and Detour, part II

2007-06-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the nice comments about the butterfly sweater!

Since so many have asked, I will try to explain how I modified the pattern.

I made the size 6 but cast on 64 stitches and, other than the bottom border, just knit straight until it was 13" long. Joanna is pretty long waisted so I like to add length.

At that point I added shaping as follows:
Rows 1 & 2:cast off 8 sts at beginning of row.
Rows 3 & 4:cast off 4 sts at beginning of row.
Rows 5 & 6:cast off 2 sts at beginning of row.
Row 7: ssk, K8, cast off 16 sts, k to end

decrease 1 more stitch at the underarm and 1 stitch every other row at the center until 1 stitch remains. Bind off.

I made both front and back the same and stitched them together before starting the ruffle.

I made the ruffle as one circular piece. I cast on 288 stitches, knit six rounds of garter stitch then did the butterfly pattern. After the pattern was done I added 4 more rounds then decreased by slipping 2 sts together knitwise, k1, pass slip stitches over. At the end of the round I had 84 stitches remaining.

On the next round I attached the ruffle by knitting it on to the body.

After that it was a few plain rounds so I had a place for the beads then 4 garter rounds and cast off.

I also picked up sts at in the armpit, k a couple rows and cast off so it would look a little neater.

I hope that answers you questions, unfortunately I'm not too good at writing things down.

Frolic and Detour

2007-06-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

After spending a lot of time working on large projects I really needed something quick. I put the large things aside and looked for some (almost) instant gratification.

For Mother's Day, Joanna gave me this yarn:

She is certainly no yarn snob. I think it may have been the ducklings on the label that she really liked but I figured if it was what she liked she should get a sweater from it.

We looked around at some patterns and she liked the Monica pattern from Knitty but thought it needed sleeves. I suggested we have the ruffle go up over the shoulder and she liked the idea.

Not being able to make anything plain, we found a butterfly pattern Nicky Epstein's Knitting Over the Edge.

When I was picking up Joanna from school last week I saw a bead store had opened in the plaza where her school is so we went to check it out.

I found these little yellow butterfly beads and matching yellow seed beads.

I thought they would look great around the neck of her sweater.

They are a bit subtle but I like that. Here is the whole sweater.

Joanna was kind enough to take time from her busy schedule to model it for me.

She will be able to wear it to church tomorrow for her birthday!

The next question is, what do I no with the almost whole tube of yellow seed beads?

Back to the big projects!

Little Things

2007-03-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on the Civil War Shawl when I can squeeze in some knitting time. I am on the edging! To speed things up I made a chart from the instructions. It is going a lot faster now.

I did manage to finish a couple small projects.

My Mother-in-law needed some mittens while she was here visiting so she and Joanna both got a new pair.

Warm Feet and Warm Little Heads

2007-02-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Now that I am working I don't get as much knitting time as I used to. I'm still working on the Civil War Shawl but it is slow going.

I have finished some small projects.

Joanna got some slippers.

Mommy got some too.

I also made some preemie hats. A friend of mine is trying to put together 100 hats. Check out all the hats that are being donated in Emma's name.

Here are some of mine.

Busy Finishing Stuff

2006-12-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

I've been finishing up some things. I made felted mittens for myself and Joanna. You can find the patterns here, and here.

I also made a scarf with Nashua "Wooly Stripes" in the color tartan. The colors are a lot more muted than the photo. Nice, rich jewel tones.

And finally, Birch! Here it is Amy, ready for some blocking?

I still need to finish my own Birch, another pair of mittens for Joanna and a Christmas project but I am feeling fairly productive right now.

The Benefits (and Perils) of Rail Travel

2006-11-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a long train trip. We took the train from Worcester, MA to Fullerton, CA and back again. Three and a half days each way. I must say that for a knitter rail travel is much better that air travel. I had a big roomy seat, plenty of free time, I could take my scissors and I was treated to views like this.

The best morning was spent in the observation car. I woke up before the family so I grabbed my knitting and headed to the observation car. This was sunrise somewhere between Kansas and Colorado.

Sure beats television!

I took two projects with me on the trip. For times when I didn't want to think about I pattern I grabbed the red lace weight mohair I had in the stash and decided to make a birch shawl for myself. I cast on after I got on the train and I have now finished 6 pattern repeats. I think I have enough red mohair to put an edging on the shawl so it will be fun to pick a pattern for that when the shawl is finished.

I also took the Civil War Shawl. I got quite a bit of progress done on it. There are 161 rounds before the edging and I am now on round 141! The rounds have over 1000 stitches now and average about an hour to do.

Now for the perils of train travel. After we changed trains in Albany, NY I realized I had left the magazine with the Civil War Shawl pattern on the other train! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

We called Amtrak and told them what car and seat we were in and they said they would look we the train got into NYC. Even if they do find it I suspect they will not be too quick at getting it back to me. I did a little checking. I can get a back issue of the magazine from TKGA for $9.00 or I can get a copy of the pattern from the designer for $5.00 so all is not lost, just a little delayed. I suppose I can wait a little longer after all this project has already spent a good amount of time on the back burner.

The Stash is Goin' Down

2006-09-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

It looks like I have a new way to deplete the stash, eBay!

As much as I hate to part with yarn, it has to be done.

I was looking in my cupboard last night and wondering how long the food in there would last us. I also wondered if I really wanted cream of mushroom soup for dinner. I sure don't want to have to open the can of Dinty Moore beef stew we purchased as earthquake provisions when we lived in California.

Faced with Dinty Moore, the yarn had to go.

I started with a few things and will add more later. You can take a look here.

If I'm lucky I will get a job before I have to put the stuff I really love on the block.

It's a Finishing Fiesta!

2006-09-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

At last the blue sweater is seamed up, the collar is done and the buttons are sewn on! I will probably want to steam it a bit before passing it on to its intended recipient but I think I shall declare it done! Here is the proof.

Done!

2006-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

The red Birch shawl is done. After red hands, red knitting needles and running out of yarn right at the end and needing to get another ball of Rowan kidsilk spray, it is finished. I was planning on sending it to the recipiant without blocking but then my new blocking wires arrived.

I love the blocking wires but they are not child proof. As I was blocking th shawl Joanna was in the living room bending two of the wires.

To give you an idea of the red dye problem here is the thing being washed.

It took four rinses to get the water to run clear.

Here are the blocking wires in action.

And finally, the finished item!

In The Home Stretch!

2006-08-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

The finish line is in sight! Here it is, one back, two fronts and two sleeves all complete with yarn ends tucked in. All ready for blocking and sewing. The only other thing left is to add the collar.

The best part? All the measurements are perfect! I think it's a first.

Love Scarf Baby

2006-07-31T05:19:00.000-07:00

Hey, I actually finished something! Joanna's "Love Scarf" is done! Here it is in all its double knitted glory.

The yarn is the Filatura Di Crosa "Love" that Joanna picked out on our trip to Webs. The scarf is very warm and soft. It should be perfect in the winter. I just hope she doesn't loose it at preschool.

Pilgrimage to Knitter's Mecca

2006-07-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Webs with a friend, I was mainly looking for needles but Joanna picked out a ball of pink yarn call "Love" that she wanted. It was a closeout so I let her pick two colors. She got light pink and purple. I decided I would make her a double knit scarf with a pattern appropriate for a yarn called love. I made up a chart and I am giving it a try. In the past I didn't really like double knitting but I did like the finished product. This time it isn't bothering me. Perhaps I have gotten better at it and don't make as many mistakes or perhaps I just find them sooner when they are easy to correct. The scarf isn't going to be very long but the recipient isn't very long either. With a name like love it should feel like a warm hug.

I also got some ebony needles for a lace project that has been on hold for a while. I think the black needles will make it a lot easier to see the pale lavender yarn.

I also got some needles to make a Pinwheel sweater. I had it finished and tried it on Joanna. The sleeves were too tight and there was not a lot of overlap in the front. The back was very cute so I will modify the sleeves and add a button to the front. The loopy edge should work fine as a buttonhole. I think I will add more color to the sleeves too. That way I will have enough yarn to make two sweaters with the colors reversed..

So many WIPs and no FOs. I had two days where I was too sick to knit. For me that is pretty sick. Maybe next week will see some items to completion.

One Item Done!

2006-07-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

I finished Joanna's cotton halter. I even had enough yarn to do the straps in the back and I still have some left over. I have no idea what to do with it. If it were enough I would make a shrug to go over her arms but I don't think I have that much. I guess I could try big needles to make something lacy looking.

Knitting Bumble Bee

2006-07-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's me, buzzing from project to project. I'm sick to death of the blue cardigan. I have the fronts and back finished and I have started the first sleeve.

I decided to take a break from the cardigan and I did 20 rounds on the Civil War shawl which takes me to 832 stitches per round.

I finished 1 Pomatomus sock! Half way there.

If there weren't enough, I started a new project. I needed something to work on while I watched Joanna at the park. It needed to be small, not require a pattern, and not wool. That eliminated everything I was working on. To the stash!

I found 2 balls of this.

My own homespun. 100% organic cotton plied with a cotton/denim fiber blend. Perfect for out door summer knitting. The only problem is I have no idea how much I have. I figured there would be enough to make a sleeveless top for a 4-year-old. I started from the top so I can adjust the length based on the amount of yarn I have. If I have any yarn left I could put some straps on the back like this sweater. We will have to see how it goes (and if she will wear it).

Another Stash Project in the Queue

2006-06-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday a friend of mine sought my advice on a lace project that was not going well. She is working on the Birch shawl in some really pretty Rowan Kidsilk Spray. I believe the color was Vino. Some where after the first repeat the lace pattern had gone off by 1 stitch. This doesn't seem like a lot but it was really messing with the lines of the pattern. She was on row 3 of the third repeat and it was going to need to be pulled out to the end of the first repeat. I could tell that she was not too happy with this so I offered to pull it out and take it back to where she left it. I suggested she do a small swatch of the pattern with some less fuzzy yarn so she could get a feel for you the pattern flowed.

It didn't take me too long to get Birch back to were it was. It is a very simple lace pattern and since I have done a few lace items in the past I could see what it was supposed to do and didn't have to study the pattern every row. I definite time saver!

While I was working these little leaves I started to think that with the red yarn they were almost like flames. That lead to the thought that maybe I could write up something similar that would be flames. This required a trip to the stash!

I found this.

Perfect flame material! I have no idea where or when I got this stuff. It is Filatura Di Crosa "Kinair" (76% Super Fine Goat Hair, 24%Nylon). This doesn't appear to me made any more, but it is very similar to Rowan Kidsilk Haze. The yarn shop on the price tag was in Berkeley, CA from 1971 - 2001 when it moved to Richmond, CA and became wholesale only. I could have purchased this in Berkeley but I don't remember doing so. I did notice they had a lot of free patterns on their web page.

I tried several different ways of making flames. I used some wool I had leftover from another project. I think the stuff was ripped and reknit 5 times before I got a design I liked. Once I had my pattern I made a small sample with the red.

I like it! I going to put the sample in with the yarn and this project is going into the queue right after the blue cardigan and the Civil War shawl. Can't wait!

Time for an update.

2006-06-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

The back of the blue sweater just needs one more repeat on the oak leaves and acorn pattern. Good thing too because I am getting mighty tired of it. It will be nice to move on to simple sleeves where I don't have to look at a chart all the time.

Also in progress, pomatomus.

I love this yarn and I love this pattern. I just wish I could get a picture that shows it better. I can't seem to get the color to photograph well. Oh well, I just hope I love it as much when it is time to do the second sock.

Joanna Learns to Knit!

2006-06-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Now that she is a big girl of 4, Joanna thought it was time for her to learn to knit like mommy. We went to the local large discount chain store where she picked out a set of Red Heart US 13 plastic needles, in yellow of course, and a ball of brightly colored Lion Brand Jiffy Thick & Quick.

I cast on 10 stitches and taught her the rhyme

In through the front door
Down around the back
Out through the back door
Off jumps jack

I started guiding her hands and she told me to stop already with the rhyme.

By the time we got to the third row she had a pretty good feel for it and just need some help holding everything. At the end of the third row she had enough and it was time to get ready for bed.

You can see her total progress. She says she is going to make me a scarf but I think it will be a while before that happens. She likes to pull the needles out and use them for other things. Fortunately the yarn really sticks to itself and the stitches do not drop easily. I would really recommend this yarn for a beginner. The needles are ok. I thought the nice long point would be good for learning but they tend to split the yarn. Oh well, Joanna had to have yellow so what can you do?

Small Victories

2006-06-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

It was just too hot to work with wool today so I thought I would finish up some socks I kept in my bag. Here they are.

I like them but I don't think I will do another pair in striping yarn. I am much too obsessive about getting them to match. I was very careful about finding the same starting point on the second sock. Halfway through the sock there was a knot and the pattern changed after the knot! Bad Word! Very Bad Word!

I ended up having to do three different joins just to make them match.

Progress update

2006-06-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

I've been plugging away at the blue cardigan. I now have two front pieces and I have started the back.

The end of school picnic was supposed to be this weekend but it has been postponed a week due to the weather. I'm hoping this extra week will be enough for me to finish.

Joanna's new teacher asked me if I could make a poncho for her to purchase. I have a lot of trouble selling my work. No one really wants to pay a decent amount for the time I put into a project. I have no problem giving stuff away but I can't see myself selling it for less than minimum wage. I decided I would go ahead and make the poncho as a gift. Besides, I needed something mindless to work on when there were too many distractions to work on the cardigan.

She asked for something that was not too warm in an autumnal colors, predominately green. I decided to combine a strand of the wool leftover from Rob's vest and a strand of metallic green and gold railroad yarn in a simple lacey pattern.

I finished tieing on the fringe this evening. I took a picture of Joanna wearing it and then she took a picture of me wearing it.

Not bad for her first try with the camera.

I still need to block it and trim the fringe but I will declare it done.

Marathon Knitting

2006-05-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Joanna has been home sick the last two days and I saw this as a great opportunity to get caught up on the cardigan. I've been knitting until my hands hurt but this is the result.

One left front! I've started the right front and planned out the buttonholes. I guess I will need to start thinking about the back soon.

Ghosts of Knitting Past

2006-05-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

I was scanning through the knitlist today when I saw a subject line that mentioned a pattern I had submitted to the list back in 1997. Someone was looking to make the sweater and wanted a picture of it.

I had completely forgotten about this sweater. I remember there was a picture of me wearing the thing but it was back in my film camera days and I had no idea where to find it. I had an idea where the sweater was so when I got home I rummaged around and there it was. I held it up and I knew there was no way this sweater was going to fit me anymore. Being a glutton for punishment, I had to try it on. It wasn't pretty. I got it buttoned but the buttons were pulling. The stitches were stretched so much you could tell what brand of bra I had on. My belly peeked out from underneath. This was not something I wanted photographed. I had to find a better model.

PERFECT!!

I think I need to revisit this pattern. A long sleeved version for the fall. In a larger size. I hope I can read my own pattern.

Anyway, if you want to see the pattern, I put a link on the side. If I get around to doing this again I will probably rewrite it. I think I need to Google my name and see if I have any other patterns lurking out there. Just wish my name was Laura Greenqwchver, fewer Google hits.