Porthos Socks

There's this great designer on Ravelry that goes by the name "Caoua Coffee" - this person cranks out beautiful patterns, mostly for socks and little accessories, and gives them all away for free!  As someone always on the hunt for fabulous and fun things to make, I certainly won't even try to resist a whole flock of well-designed patterns that are free for me to enjoy.

This time I chose a simple knit/purl design, no cables or lace or anything fancy at all.  I matched it up with a lovely shade of Knit Picks Stroll sock.  The photos really don't do this colour justice - it's called Jackrabbit Heather, and it's the prettiest grey brown heather.

The socks were a lot of fun to knit, and looked really cool on the needles, the way the knit columns sway back and forth, based on the tension of the ribbing/garter stitch surrounding them.  Once they're on the foot, the swaying is less pronounced, but they do make a nice manly lattice.  Yep, they're for gifting, to one lucky dude.

Catching Up

I've actually been working on so many projects lately that I don't even know where to begin.

I finished my third Camp Loopy project on time, last month - this one was a lovely garter stitch wrap called Edge (Ravelry), which uses short rows to make little wedges of colour.  I used the Loopy Ewe's solid series yarn, incorporating a couple of neutral browns with a lovely clear blue for the accent colour.

It took a fair bit of yarn and a good chunk of my August knitting time, but since it's garter stitch, it went pretty fast.  The colour changes and short rows helped to keep it interesting enough, too, that it seemed to go fairly quickly, even if it took a few weeks.

The pattern specified a particular type of bind-off, to allow lots of stretch for blocking, but I found that the bind-off was a bit too stretchy, since when I blocked it (and I stretched it out beyond the recommended dimensions) the edges still ended up a bit ruffly.  Next time, I'd use a regular bind-off, probably.  Yes, there will probably be a next time, since this one is intended to be a gift, and I would really love to make myself one in a different colour scheme.  Lord knows I have plenty of sock yarn to make up something pretty for myself.

Overall, I really like the wrap - it's nice and big, and the garter stitch is so squishy and comfy.  I think it will be really perfect for cozying up in for a night of reading in the dark of winter.

Hudson's Bay-by Surprise Jacket

As I was sitting there working on the HBC shawl a few weeks ago, one of my knitty girlfriends was working on a Baby Surprise Jacket.  I was thinking about all the leftover coloured yarn I would have from the shawl and then I had an epiphany: an HBC BSJ!

I was intending to wait until after the summer to start it, since I have a few time sensitive projects these days, but then I realized I have a bit of time before the August Camp Loopy project starts, and I couldn't bear to think of finishing the sweater I'm working on in this oppressive heat, and a BSJ only takes a few days...  So I cast it on and knit it up, squeeing all the way.

I thought about a few ways to incorporate the stripes, either right at the beginning (i.e. just after the sleeve cuffs) or through the main part of the body, but because the jacket itself is so wee, the stripes would have to be thin single ridges of colour to fit in most positions.  In the end, I decided to put them in the "work the middle 90 stitches for 10 ridges" part of the pattern so they would just be in the hem area around the bottom, but had to upsize that section to 14 ridges to accomodate all of the colours in a 2-ridge width.  The jacket ended up looking a bit long, but when I blocked it, I tugged it a bit wider and shorter and it turned out fine.

I was planning to get some little blonde wood buttons, but then I found these darker dyed wooden ones with little leaves on them, and they were so enchanting and perfect for a little outdoorsy baby that I bought them on the spot.

I still have tons of yarn left over, so I might just make this my new go-to baby gift.

By Any Other Name

While I might be quite tardy in blogging about Camp Loopy this summer, I've been pretty timely about getting my projects done.

The first project (the June project, that is) called for something smallish, only 400 yards, that reminds you of a favourite book/movie/tv series.  I scrolled through my Ravelry favourites list for inspiration, and quickly came upon a little shawlette that I've been wanting to make for ages.  It's named Henslowe, after Philip Henslowe, a real theatrical contemporary of Shakespeare, who was portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in one of my all-time favourite films, Shakespeare in Love.

I chose madelinetosh for this project - their fingering weight wool single called Tosh Merino Light - in a colourway they call Cherry, but I see as many shades of fragrant roses.

I went down a needle size to get the specified gauge for the project, but having done so, it seems to have turned out a bit small for my tastes.  It will work well as a scarf but isn't really sufficient for a shawl.  It looks so lovely in this yarn, though (go ahead and click on that photo for a close up and try to deny it) that I am tempted to make another in a different colour, this time with two skeins, and make it both wider and taller in the garter stitch portion before doing the lace edging.  Then again, there are so many things to make, that who ever has time to revisit something a second time?

Hue Shift Afghan

The story of the Hue Shift Afghan has gone on for a while.  I bought the kit from Knit Picks in the last vestiges of winter, and started knitting it up not long after, slowly working my way through the first three of four quadrants.  Then I made a herculean effort to knit the last quadrant in five days in May, on our Jasper trip, and then set the whole thing down to languish before finishing the seaming and border.  I am not usually one of those knitters who puts off finishing an almost-finished project (the two long-ignored knitted bags notwithstanding) but this one just sat and sat while I worked on other things.  In the last week I finished up a handful of projects (some hats, some socks, some lacy cowls and a shawl) and I had an urge for something simple.  Garter stitch borders couldn't be simpler.

When I ordered the kit, Knit Picks was out of the black yarn for the border, so I chose a dark violet instead.  I think it's a perfect colour, since it is still dark but also really suits the rainbow colour scheme of the blanket, and is the next logical colour in the progression from either end.

I also really love how the lines made by the decreases on each of the mitred squares creates a sort of star design when the blanket is pieced together.

Even more awesome than finishing this is that I have a bunch of brightly coloured yarn scraps left over, so you know some lucky kid will be getting the most glorious rainbow scarf when I start my woven scarves for charity in the fall.

I Got the Blues

We had our girls' trip to Jasper last week, with lots of food and relaxation and swimming to be had.  We saw some wildlife and gazed at the mountains and generally recharged our batteries.  I took the remainder of my Hue Shift Afghan with me, intending to finish the final quadrant of it, the blues and greens and yellow - very tranquil.  Alas, on the drive home, with only a few squares to go, I ran out of the dark blue yarn and ended up setting the rest aside until I got home.  I dug out the violet which I'm using for the border and did the last few stripes of that square with it, since it's a fairly close match to the blue.  If I hadn't told you, you might not have even noticed.

So, having finished the four quadrants, I'm sitting down now to seam them together, and then I can pick up the border for some easy garter stitch finishing.  Of course I've also started a new project (and soon enough I'll make that two) with deadlines, so I'm feeling no rush on finishing this one.  I'll just keep plugging away at it when I need something mindless, and eventually it'll be done.

Lil' Punkin

When I recently saw a friend of mine, who is about to have a baby, my mind went where a knitter's mind invariably would: wee little baby knits!

Since she is due in a week or two, I didn't have time for something big like a blanket, so I settled for something adorable.  EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket is one of my standards, because it is so quick and simple to knit and ends up so darn cute.

I chose a semisolid black (technically Victorian Gothic) for this one because of the mom's style, and also her colouring (which one can assume will have an effect on the baby's colouring.)  I went with Madelinetosh Sport, rather than a fingering weight, because I wanted the jacket to be a bit bigger - unlikely a sweater will get a ton of wear over Edmonton's hot summers, so hopefully it will still fit the baby in the fall.  Unfortunately I ran out of the yarn with only two rows and the bindoff row left to go.  Sigh.  Thank goodness I had some Sweet Georgia DK in Charcoal left over, which was a very close match.  Finished and seamed it and topped it off with five very cute pumpkin buttons, to commemorate the parent's wedding, which took place in a pumpkin patch.

Maybe it looks a bit Hallowe'eney, but that's ok, too.

Even More Rainbowy

I finished another quarter panel of my Hue Shift Afghan, last night.  Where the first panel only used half of the colours of the design, this one incorporates all 10 colours in it, which makes it a lot more fun and interesting.  The third panel will be the same idea, but in a different order, and then the final panel is just the blues/greens.  I am still loving every minute of this one.

A Knitting Rainbow

Quite a while ago, I saw a pattern on Knit Picks for a mitred-square afghan.  To be honest, mitred square projects haven't really appealed to me very much, in the past, but the colours and design of this afghan really drew me in, and I was immediately determined to make it.

Also good news - the website allows you to put together a kit for this project that uses their acrylic blend yarn, which means the yarn only costs around $35, which is pretty awesome for an afghan.  This is the first time I've used this yarn, and while it was a bit squeaky on my acrylic needles, once I switched to wooden needles, it's not squeaky at all and more like just any soft synthetic yarn.  Of course if I had my druthers (why oh why do I so rarely have my druthers) I'd be making it in wool, but obviously that would be both more expensive and not machine washable (or even more expensive, to get machine washable wool.)

I ordered this kit thinking that I would knit it up in the end of May, when my mom & my sisters & I are taking a little girls' vacation to the mountains, but when I realized that each square will take about an hour to knit, I had to face the sad fact that I won't be able to fit 100+ hours of knitting into a 5-day trip.  So I decided to start it early, and leave myself the last panel of 25 squares, plus the sewing and the border, for the trip.  That's pretty reasonable, I'm sure.  I might even have to bring a pair of socks, just to make sure I don't run out of knitting.  Or two.

Cashmere Affection

Although I've mostly been showing off my quilt progress, lately, I have been steadily knitting on one project or another.  While I had Cashmere Affection on the needles, it was almost exclusively on that, since it is such a fun and easy and lovely project (and since the yarn I was using was so luxurious and breathtaking.)

It only took me about two and a half weeks to knit the whole thing up, and I really enjoyed it.  It was a bit fussy for a while, when I had three strands of yarn hanging off it, but even that wasn't enough to annoy me.  While I was knitting, I thought there was no way it was going to end up as huge as some of them I've seen on Ravelry, since it didn't seem that squished up on my needles.  Even when I bound it off and had it off the needles, it didn't seem so big.  Once I wet blocked it, however...  wow.  I tried to lay it on my bed to block, but had a foot or two of length hanging off both the head and foot end of my bed.  I had to lay it out on my living room floor, and even then it barely squeaked into the space I had.  This thing is huge!  I had expected it to have a bit more depth, but it's quite narrow.  I could have stretched out the garter stitch to give it more depth, but that takes away from the squishy-factor of the garter stitch, which I'd rather not do.  If I knit it again, I'll probably make some alterations to add some more depth to it, especially since there is lots of spare yarn to work with.

The colours I chose are pretty bold and perhaps even clashing - in some lights the Royal Flush looks more red than fuchsia, and the whole thing takes on a bit more of a Moulin Rouge feeling.  In other lights it's a bright wild pink and the shawl feels more like a wild bouquet.  In any case, it's super snuggly: garter stitch in the softest cashmere/wool blend is definitely a recipe for success.

One More Guest to the Party

In case any of you weren't already planning your own Color Affection, here's another beauty shot to inspire you.  I finally (finally?  It's only been a few days) added the third colour - Royal Flush, a bright fuchsia pink.

I wanted it to add some pop to the shawl, and it sure does.  The short rows in garter stitch are fun, easy, and look cool, and the upcoming wide band of Royal Flush at the bottom of the shawl should really anchor it.  Looking forward to further progression!

And Then There Were Two

When my sisters (bless them) gave me a gift certificate for Tanis Fiber Arts for my birthday, I hemmed and hawed a bit about what to use it for.  I initially planned to put it toward some aran-weight yarn for a Velvet Morning Cardigan, which I've been coveting for a while, but I already have one fair isle cardigan I haven't been working on, so why add another to the pile?  I also thought about getting one of her palettes, to play with some Granny Squares.  Eventually I realized that the best thing to do would be to buy some cashmere for a Color Affection, one of the latest viral knitting patterns (even more so, I'm sure, since the Yarn Harlot threw hers into the ring.)

So I hemmed and hawed a lot more about which three colourways to choose, and eventually just went with the first combo that had appealed to me (which is my usual M.O.)  When I told my sis that I was planning a Color Affection, she asked me if I was doing it for the TFA Colour Knit Along.  I was so absorbed in my planning that I'd completely forgotten that Tanis was doing one!  I checked the dates and decided there was lots of time to join the fun, so when the yarn arrived on Tuesday, I immediately wound up three pretty little yarn cakes and then cast on.

Today I finished the first phase of squishy soft garter stitch (in Lemongrass) and finally added the first pretty little stripe of Lilac.  It's actually taking a lot of self-control to make myself write this post, when I'd rather be working on adding more and more little springtimey stripes to the shawl.  In fact, to heck with this!  (I never had much self-control, anyway.)  I'll show you more when I get that third colour added!

Rosebud

No longer just a clever reference to Citizen Kane, Rosebud is also a lovely wooly hat designed by Jared Flood for his Fall 2011 collection. (Making that link just reminded me how many other lovely pieces were in that collection. As if I didn't have enough projects queued.)


I knit this hat in a day, back in November. I don't have any of Jared's lovely Shelter yarn, so I used some wool/mohair Peace Fleece I had buried in the stash. This was a skein of Kamchatka Sea Moss, which is a really nice spearminty green with flecks of white and a brighter lime green. This colourway is so beautiful in the sun, and never ceases to make me smile. As for the style, I love it - the cable isn't my favourite for some reason, but it really works, especially with the slouchy garter-stitch body.

I've been wearing this hat pretty much all winter long, and it has kept me warm and smiling, although in recent days I made a couple of new hats, so I have a bit more selection, now.

Canopy Socks

I finished these socks a while ago -- they have actually been through the wash a few times, already -- but somehow they got missed in the blog.


They were one of the last couple of pairs from the 2010 Rockin' Sock Club, and when I recently got an urge for a simple but satisfying sock, this one came to mind.

I made a few changes from the original design (Ravelry), since that's the kind of girl I am. I did a garter stitch cuff rather than the picot hem from the original -- this was partly about saving yarn and also because a garter stitch cuff will fit my wide calf better than folded hems generally do. Then I shortened the leg a bit, since the pattern suggests that a large size sock may take two skeins of yarn rather than one. I obviously wanted to get by with one skein, so I made it a little shorter. Then I changed the toe from the lacy leafy toe of the original to a plain stockingette standard toe. I'm very happy with the end result, overall.


The funny thing about these socks is that I actually used four needle sizes to make them. I started out with a 3.00 mm needle, thinking it was a 2.75 mm. After a bit, I realized my mistake, but rather than starting over, just went down to the intended needle size. After knitting part of the leg at that size, I decided it was still too big, and went down to 2.50 mm. By the foot, I actually went down to a 2.25 mm needle, to get a nice snug fit. It's pretty ridiculous, when you think about it, especially having to do it all over again for the second one. The good thing is that they fit nicely, since my calves are large and could use the extra room, anyway.

The fingerless mitts I mentioned last time are done, too -- I just need some photos. And I am down to the last quarter of the lace border on the rarely-mentioned Bridgewater Shawl. I have even sketched out plans for a new pattern or two of my own, to stretch my design muscles. Things are going well, here. How about you?

Emily Dickinson is Holding Me Ransom

Of course I mean that I just can't put down my Emily Dickinson shawl, in the last few days -- I have gotten as far as the beaded portion, and the pink beads make a subtle but lovely sparkle through the lovely alpaca haze of garter stitch.

I have also realized how ingenious the design is, since the rows are going faster and faster as they are slowly decreasing down to nothing. With the bottom-up design, you get the slower and more fiddly rows for the edging done at the beginning, and then everything gets faster and easier as you carry on.

I can really forsee me making another one one of these, in the deep lovely red alpaca laceweight that I have leftover from my previous Ruffle shawl & Veyla gloves. All I have to do is decide what colour of beads to use...

Candy Floss Socks

It's a shame that this yarn isn't available for sale, anymore, since it is such a soft and fluffy wool -- the stitches all came out so even and tidy, and it was a real pleasure to knit. Another factor for pleasurable knitting: I was using my new Knit Picks nickel-plated circulars, and knitting the socks magic-loop style. The stitches slid so smoothly along the needle and helped the knitting go fast.

There is a slow spiral of the colours which was totally unintentional on my part, and yet somehow they even seem to match up between the two socks -- a delightful surprise. I hope that they will stand up to use because I like them a lot. They fit perfectly and seem warm and toasty.

The Garter Stitch Cardigan

So I finally managed to snag my photographer for a few minutes, tonight, and get a few shots of the completed garter stitch cardigan.

This cardigan was a really simple knit -- not much for shaping or anything -- but is pretty satisfying once it's finished. The whole thing is garter stitch, so I didn't have to purl once the whole time: great tv and pub knitting. And it's a nice light weight, since it is made of sock yarn.


When I decided to make this cardigan, I went to my LYS and poked through their sock yarns for a while, trying to find the perfect one. They had the yarn called for in the pattern (Garnstudio Fabel) but not in a colour scheme that appealed to me. I found another one that I liked, but alas, not enough in stock. Then I fell in love with the colours in this Supersocke. The combo of greens with pinks has always been a favourite of mine, and these ones really pop. The repeat is nice and long, so I knew I would get beautiful stripes.


Turns out that the length of the repeat was a blessing and a curse. While it looks great on one half of the cardigan, and on the opposite sleeve, the body of the right side got a little funky. The repeat wasn't long enough to stripe there (since every row goes all the way from the front hem up over the shoulder and down to the back hem) so it started to pool. As I mentioned in a previous post, I started to alternate two balls at that point, to try to minimize the pooling. It worked well, but the stripes along that side still were very thin and random, rather than nicely defined like the rest of the sweater. I could obsess about this, but I'm choosing to look at it as a design element, instead.


The one alteration I made with this cardigan was to narrow the sleeves a bit. I mentioned somewhere along the way that they were way too wide and baggy, so I narrowed them by a bit on the first side I knit (right side.) Then I just revamped everything a bit to account for that, and measured twice (or three times) as I replicated my changes on the left side. Frankly, I made it a bit harder than it needed to be, but I like the sleeve as it is now: a bit loose but not hanging in my soup.

The sweater is finished off with a cute little crochet edging out of a double strand of bright pink alpaca. I am not much of a crocheter, but it still went fast, and I am really proud of how it turned out. I think it makes a nice finish (and of course is silky soft.)


Lastly, I thought of some sweet buttons I had in my sewing box, for a sewing project that I gave up on long ago. They were the perfect shade of green and really look fantastic on this. Blissful.

Obligatory Progress Post

I know I have been awfully quiet -- it's not because I have been idle, but because what I have to show isn't that interesting. My garter stitch cardigan has been progressing fairly quickly, but isn't very photogenic, yet:


And my Rockin' Sock Club socks are very Fraggley, but I am at the point where the second one looks much like what I've already shown you of the first:


The only exciting thing is that I finally put up my quilting frame (which takes up merely about half of the remaining floor space in my bedroom) and pulled the Fresh Squeezed Quilt out of oblivion. I had agonized long and hard over how to quilt this one (and am still not one hundred percent decided what I am going to do on some parts of it) but began with some little leaves. How cute are they.

Quiet Moments

I generally like my life to be calm and comfortable... what can I say: I'm a Taurus. Sometimes life can be crazy for a while (like if your noisy messy workplace renovations are coming to a middle, and your home is a maze of boxes because you're moving to a new bigger place...) but there is always sanctuary -- a quiet corner with a cup of tea and some knitting.

In the past few days I have turned this:


into this:


I'm pretty happy with the progress. This piece is the right side of the cardigan. The section at the bottom of the photo is the sleeve, and the sections jutting out either side are the front and back. (Yes, it's a bit of an unusual construction.) I am alternating two balls of yarn at this point because shortly after I did the increases to make the front and back sections, I noticed that the number of stitches was just enough to make the stripes start to pool. You can see on the top photo that I was getting most of the lighter colours on one end (the front?) and most of the darker colours on the other. I started another ball of yarn with the light/dark in opposite places, to try to minimize the contrast. Seems to be working. I have several more inches of brainless garter stitch before I need to worry about any sort of neck shaping. Thank goodness, because more complications are really unnecessary in my life right now.

Knit, Knit, and ReKnit

It's snowing outside. Can you believe it? I'm distracting myself with some good knitting.

Ever since the latest Drops patterns came out online, I've been coveting one sweater in particular. Unfortunately I have been on a yarn diet for a while, as I try to knit my stash down to a reasonable level, so I couldn't buy the yarn I need for the cardigan.


Then my birthday came. I got some cash (which will help me pay off my extravagant loom purchase) and some yarny gift certificates. Still waiting for yarn in the mail from one of them, but the other one was for my LYS, so I spent it forthwith, on the yarn I needed for this cardi. Instead of the Drops Fabel sock yarn the pattern calls for (they just didn't have any nice colours of that yarn) I went with some slightly pricier Supersocke yarn in a colour that is so me. You will also notice some alpaca for the edging of the sweater, and a Norah Gaughan pattern book and row counter bracelet in that pile of swag. It was a good trip to the store.


Having finished my socks in record time, I started swatching for the sweater. I did a generous swatch with US4s and frogged it, then did another generous swatch with US5s and got gauge. I frogged the second gauge swatch, cast on the sleeve and knit four or five inches, and realized that the pattern suffers from a common problem with large sized sweaters: the sleeves are voluminous well beyond necessary. I find that it is often the case with sweaters that are in multiple sizes -- the designer adds inches to the sleeve along with inches to the bust/body of the sweater, and big girls like me end up with sleeves that are unreasonably flappy (albeit good at camouflaging jiggly upper arms.) So I frogged the beginning of the sleeve, and cast on one last time with 14 fewer stitches, which seems to give me a more reasonable sleeve. Since the cardigan is knit in only two pieces, the right half from side-to-side and the left half from bottom front to bottom back, it will be more tricky than usual to make alterations, but I think I'm up for it.