Checking In

Okay I know it's been incredibly boring for my (few) blog readers, while I plug away on both the quilting of Requiem and the knitting of the Entrelac lap throw. Here at Chez Crafty, things have been moving along quite nicely -- I've been really getting into the quilting, and enjoying the process, slow and steady. Every day I run my hands over the fabric of something I constructed, and I made hundreds of tiny little stitches to hold it together. I get to look at beautiful designs like this one, and make a little frame of quilting around each one to show it off. It's been very relaxing and gives me a real feeling of accomplishment.

The lap throw is a bit less appealing, at the moment. I have pulled an old Instant Gratification Project out of the pile to put to use my new skill at knitting backwards. It has been a very handy skill with the entrelac, since it means I don't have to turn the work to purl a wrongside row every eight stitches. I actually do the purling from the front of the work, left to right. I realized one day that I have another project which is perfect for this...

Ages ago, I started a Lizard Ridge lap throw (yes, another blanket project -- get the feeling I'm a chilly soul?) which I have been progressing on slowly, mostly due to the fact that I haven't bought all of the skeins I need, from the outset, but instead joined a yarn club that sends me a Kureyon skein every 6 weeks or so. Not only does it make the yarn colours more random than if I was choosing them deliberately, but it also seems more affordable than buying them all at once. Yarn Math. So here you see the first six completed blocks for my Lizard Ridge. I have two more skeins, so may do another block or two soon, but for now, I just wanted to give you a bit of eye candy to tide you over until I get something else to show you.

I hope you are progressing with your projects, and feeling some accomplishment as well...

Now With More Lizards

Things are humming along, here: I have gotten several more repeats done on the Honeybee Cardigan, this week, and finally feel like it's getting somewhere. As you can see in the photos, there are a few more finished blocks for Lizard Ridge in the pile. I have also gotten nearly to the bust short rows on the yoke pullover, which means I'm very near the underarm, which means I'm very near the exciting stranded colourwork and the big finish for this one.


I actually sat down to do some math for the stranded yoke, the other night, and was dismayed to find that my initial plan won't work, at all. I was trying to work out a way that the repeat would be lined up in an orderly way from the bottom to the top of the yoke, but it seems that isn't possible, since the repeat itself is an even 13 stitches wide, from bottom to top. Of course yoke patterns tend to have a wider repeat at the bottom and narrower at the top. So I have had to revise the plan and I will simply do the number of repeats that I have room for, in each section, and they won't line up at all, probably, but hopefully will still look good. (This will make more sense once I get some knitted and you understand what I'm talking about.)


As you can see, some of the Lizard Ridge blocks are more... interesting... than others. If I hadn't intervened by taking out a big chunk of yarn in the ball, this particular block, for example, would have been alternating orange and green for the whole thing. Yikes.

The Slow Progression of Lizard Ridge

Once I finished Clapotis, I needed some simple projects for pub knitting (since complex ones tend to get buggered up when beer gets involved.) I pulled out a bunch of projects from my stash that will work perfectly. The first place I started was doing a couple more blocks for my Lizard Ridge blanket, with some Kureyon that's been sitting patiently waiting. These two put me up to the halfway mark on the blanket. Another year or two and I will have this one done.

Onward

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I decided to get down to business and finish my Lizard Ridge blanket, which I've been working on for a couple of years, now. I'd been in a yarn club to periodically send me random balls of Kureyon, but the club was a bit sporadic and it's been a while since I remember getting any, so I cancelled and just went a bit Kureyon Crazy online. ("Okay, this one... and this one... and one of these and this one...") As you can see, I have plenty of it, now. I have already made one (almost two) squares since it arrived, and I can forsee it getting finished relatively quickly. Particularly since it gives me a colourful and satisfying break from the two (count 'em, two) sweaters I'm currently making out of teeny tiny sock yarn.


In fact, it was Lizard Ridge that got me thinking about my plans for 2010. I decided not to go for Ravelry's 10 Shawls in 2010 group, but instead to concentrate on using up some of the stash of yarn and fabric that I've accumulated over the past couple of years. When I added up the number of projects that I actually have the yarn and fabric for, I was a bit shocked, actually. Well over a dozen pair of socks, a few sweaters, several complete quilts and a few more quilt tops. So my plan is that I won't buy more, this year. Or more specifically, I won't buy anything to start something new. I will totally buy stuff I need to finish a project (like quilt batting or buttons, for example.) My only exception was the Rockin' Sock Club, which I couldn't quite resist signing up for, again. I figure it will give me some of that "Oooh something new and pretty" that I will be missing, otherwise.

Also, feel free to give me yarn gift certificates for my birthday, this year. I'll really be jonesing by then.

Now That's What I Call A Vacation

Final vacation tally:

• one eye-searing quilt top
• two stripey socks
• one awesome slouchy hat
• two sweet fingerless gloves
• one more square for Lizard Ridge
• one apron (yet to be revealed)
• three novels (read, not written -- der.)
• lots of long soaks in a hot bath
• one broken tooth and repair trip to the dentist
• innumerable cups of coffee

We now return you to your regular programming.

Creating Monsters

Oh how did I know that it would be a slippery slope, if I started knitting for other people? Now another of my coworkers wants a hat. At this rate, I will be in the hat-knitting business in no time flat. Maybe it's my own fault for making such a fine-looking hat, the first time. Eventually I will have to harden my heart again and get back to the selfish knitting, or you and I both will get bored with an endless succession of grey hats.

Speaking of monsters, I have a couple more blocks for Lizard Ridge blocked and in the pile. (Actually, I have two more done than you see here, but I am apparently knitting them up faster than I can photograph them.) Finishing the yoke sweater (yeah yeah I'll get some photos) leaves me a lot more time to work on the blanket, and it is moving along so quickly that I wonder how it's taken me so long to get this far.

Lastly, just in case you missed this bunch of monsters on Cake Boss... the reaction shot at the 1:18 mark cracks me up every time.

Sick of Looking at These, Yet?

One of the great things about picking up my Lizard Ridge blanket again is that I have a lot of completed blocks to show off, so it makes for a lot of colourful blog posts.

Here's another one.

Weighing In

I remember the first time I read about a knitter using a scale to weigh her yarn, to figure out how much she'd used with her project.
At the time it seemed pretty crazy, I must admit (and I assume you're thinking as much, as you read this.) Today, however, I was knitting the leg of my sock, trying to decide if I had enough to do another repeat, or if that would leave me short on the second sock. What better way to figure it out than to drag out the kitchen scale and weigh the sock and the remaining yarn, to figure out whether I'd used nearly half of the yarn, yet.

It was a bit more complicated than that, of course -- after all, I had to figure in the weight of the needles (rather heavy nickel-plated ones: 8 grams, for the record.) Fortunately I remember basic algebra well enough to do that sort of calculation. In the end, I decided I wouldn't risk another repeat; if I used more than another 10 grams of yarn, then I would be eating into the second half of the skein, and I still had a bit of cuff to do, plus the bind-off row. So I finished up the first sock and got set up for the second.

Meantime, I am still waiting for the arrival of the yarn to finish off Lizard Ridge. I know you are all as anxious as I am, to see the finished project (not to mention what I'm going to make with the leftovers...)

Unveiling Lizard Ridge

I know it took me too long to get photos of this up, and I apologize to those of you waiting with bated breath. I finished it after midnight on Saturday night, and just didn't manage time for photos in the following days, though I have been admiring it quite a bit, myself.


All the worrying about the widely varying colours came to naught, as I seemed to find a layout that made it work. One could attribute it to the fact that I chose the colours for the last 13 blocks consciously to try to tie it together, or to the fact that I managed a layout of the blocks that gave it a nice flow. Either way, I'm a genius and it looks great. I think there is a nice balance of bright colourful blocks to darker or neutral blocks, and I am very happy with how they play off one another. Can you find your favourite blocks in there? (Click for a bigger view.)

I went for a 5x5 layout, with 25 blocks total, rather than the pattern's recommended layout of 24 blocks in a 4x6 layout. Since each block is already a rectangle (roughly 10" x 12"), I thought that the 4x6 would give a skinnier, longer blanket. The 5x5 makes it a nice rectangle shape, and leaves it wide enough for two people to snuggle under.


As for the scalloped edging (would you ever have guessed magenta??) I had briefly considered coming up with some kind of knitted edging, rather than doing this crocheted one, but in the end, I couldn't imagine anything that would suit the blanket better. I used a larger crochet hook than she recommended, since the swatch I tried made pretty tight little scallops, and I wanted something a bit more relaxed. This crochet edging took forever, even though it's really only two rounds on the blanket. But so worth it, yes?

My HLM says that soon I'll be designing tour costumes for Aerosmith. Smartarse.

The Best Laid Plans: A Lesson in Colour

Long before I finished Lizard Ridge, I was looking at the leftover bits of the Noro Kureyon and thinking what a shame it would be to just throw them away. I came up with an ingenious plan for how to use them and began to plot out a brilliant blog post that would delight everyone who read it. Unfortunately, the best laid plans, as they say...

I was going to start out with this lovely photo of the leftover Kureyon, wound into little balls. As I was knitting the blanket, I found that oftentimes the loveliest colours would be left behind when the block was finished. It seemed like, because of the way the ball was wound (and because the block was knit with yarn from either end of the ball, working toward the middle) the colours that seemed to predominate were often positioned in such a way that the knitting was over before I got to them. It seemed a shame to not use them, but how could one use randomly coloured lengths of yarn in some sort of reasonable project?

I thought of this hat from Drops, which I've been wanting to make for a while. What if I figured out the length of yarn needed to do a round on the hat, and then measured out lengths of the Kureyon that are consistently one colour, and then arranged them in such a way that it would make a beautiful fair-isle design on a solid background? Wouldn't that be stunning hat, worthy of praise for how complicated and well-planned it was? So I proceeded to swatch for the hat with some Cascade 220 in my beloved Sparrow Heather colourway, and test what length of yarn would be sufficient to do a round. Then I sat down with my balls of Kureyon and began to measure out lengths of single colours. It made a lovely rainbow of little tiny skeins, and I was pretty excited about how this project was going to go.

Then I started to knit it. Obviously it was a bit of a pain, since I had so many ends -- each round of colour being a separate piece of yarn. But I carried on. Then I realized that I hadn't accounted for the increases in the length of a round (since the hat is cast on at 120 stitches but increases after the ribbing.) D'oh! I soldiered on for another round or two, thinking I might get away with it, without any lengths of colour being too short (since I had made them long enough for all 120 stitches, and the rows of fair isle weren't ever solid in colour but would have some background stitches, and therefore hopefully wouldn't ever take up all 120 stitches worth of yarn.) Then I decided I was being overly optimistic, and that it would be best to save myself the stress and worry. I elected to frog back to before the increases and try making it without the increases, since then I would be assured that the yarn would be long enough. Besides, I had tried on the initial swatch I had made with the Cascade 220 and decided it was big enough for my head. (Did I mention that the pattern is designed for DK weight and I am using worsted, just to add to the complications?)

So I began the colourwork again, this time on a steady 120 stitches. I got about halfway through the flower motif and realized that something wasn't working. The design wasn't very cohesive and it wasn't standing out from the background very well. This was probably partly because the colours varied from round to round, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it also had to do with the value of the various colours.

Colour value is a hard thing to pin down. You can't really eyeball it as easily as you might think, since the brightness or saturation of a colour might make it look like it's a different value than it really is. The best way I know of to check colour values is to look at it in black and white. Before photoshop, a person would probably have to use a photocopier for this sort of thing, but I just changed the photo I took of the hat into black and white to check it out.

As you can see, the values of most of the colours are pretty similar to the value of the background colour. There are a couple of ways I could have tried to fix this: I could reknit it with a new background colour (something very very light, like white, or very very dark, like black) would probably make the fair-isle stand out better than the Sparrow Heather background I chose. I went with option two: make a blog post about the failed experiment in fair-isle and knit the hat in two solid colours that have more contrasting values.

I picked up the leftover magenta from the blanket edging and frogged the hat back past the colourwork to start again. It seems to be working better this time. The lesson? Take a photo and check the values of your colours before beginning a fiddly project. Or live vicariously through my mistakes and stick to solid colours.

And Then There Was One

Here is the second-to-last block for Lizard Ridge:

I am three-quarters of the way through the very last block, and have already ordered the yarn for seaming and edging. Care to guess what colour it will be?

I have also made some good progress on the Honeybee Cardi; it is now all in one piece and I am slowly moving up the yoke. Very happy with how it looks, so far. Soon, I'll get to pick out some buttons for a finishing touch.

Lastly, I am partway through the heel flap of the first Vampire Boyfriend sock, and am feeling good about how they are humming along.

Gosh, I feel so productive, all of a sudden.

Tooth and Claw Socks

Well, between finishing off Lizard Ridge and then deciding to make that "quick" "little" hat (aside: should I have put "hat" in quotes, too? It's really more of a parachute, don't you think?) it's taken a while to finish off the Tooth and Claw socks. They are now done, however, and fit like a glove. Well, more like a well-fitted sock than like a glove, really.


The pattern up the instep and the front of the leg was pretty easy and never got tedious. It also makes the sock fit very nicely, since it is, in essence, an angled rib of sorts. There is a lace pattern up the back leg (which I have just now realized I didn't photograph) which was a bit more work, as it involved a decrease while cabling, and thus necessitated a cable needle. It's a long time since I used one -- I usually cable without a cable needle, and doing those cable rows reminded me why. How fiddly to have to pick up and put down (or in my case, hold in my mouth) a cable needle every time you need to do a cable. It's a mug's game, I tell ya.


In any case, these socks are just what I dreamed they would be. The colour is so lovely (but you'll have to trust me on that since the photos don't really do it justice, even in the natural light.) The little dragon ridges are tamed a bit when you put it on, but they still don't go away altogether, and I think they are really charming. They do flatten out when you push on them, so I don't think they'll be a problem in shoes.

I enjoyed this pattern a lot -- it taught me a new way to do a toe-up gusset and heel flap, and it was a real treat to knit with the tosh sock yarn. Finishing them leaves me with only one knitting project on the needles (not counting the one which is in hibernation.) Perhaps I should go cast on for the other RSC January sock -- especially since the next kit will be coming by the end of this month!

What I Did for Xmas Vacation

When I went to my folks' place for a few days over the holidays, I elected not to take my Bumbleberry socks along, but to make a bit of progress on another project, instead. I had a few skeins of Kureyon lying around, so I took them with me, and made a few more blocks for my Lizard Ridge afghan. The colours are (for the most part) darker, earthier than the bright colourful ones I had in the first set of six. It will be interesting to see how all the colours come together when I have finally finished twenty-four. I have actually considered making an extra one or two, in case something doesn't fit in. But a part of me also wants to keep the random nature of the project, and just let the chips fall where they may. Ironically, when I blocked these four out and went to put them with the others, I found one more skein of Kureyon with them. Had I known, I could have taken it along and had one more block completed. Alas.


Also, slightly belatedly, I finished some personalized Christmas stockings, which I love love love. They are from a pattern in the book New Noel by Linda Lum DeBono, using fabric from the Merry & Bright line by Sandy Gervais. They were totally easy, and I love the pointy cuffs and the elflike toes. The only challenge was attaching the applique letters. The tension was all wonky when I tried to zig-zag stitch them with my machine, so I ended up blanket stitching them all on with embroidery thread. It took ages, and I nearly went blind, but it looks great in the finished product.

Now I'm going to put Flight of the Conchords in the DVD player and get back to the knitting!

Spoiler Alert

I have, of course, cast on a new pair of socks. These ones are the final pair from the Blue Moon 2009 Rockin' Sock Club. The colourway is nice and black, with some barely-there colour variegation in purples and greens and yellow. The design has lace and ribbing, although I realize you can't really see it well in that colour.


I realized that last time I flashed you my sweet new stitch markers, I didn't let you know that they are from Sunneshine on etsy -- she does not only great stitch markers, but also row counters, for those of us who do complicated lace and cables and want an easy way to remember what row we're on. I highly recommend them (and her.)

In other news, I have gotten a few lace repeats done on the Honeybee Cardigan, but have only been working on it at the pub (where one patron this week initially suggested we must be knitting because we're trying to get off drugs, and then followed up with "are youse mental?" Fortunately he had a lovely Irish brogue and bought us beers to apologize for his impertinence, which ultimately only led to us being unable to execute our complicated knitting.)

I have also made a bit of progress on the endless body of the black yoke sweater. It is, despite all appearances, coming along.

I've started thinking seriously about finishing the Lizard Ridge blankie, since it's been lingering far too long, and it would be nice to complete it before starting another big project, since Rose-Kim Knits has put the idea in my head of joining Ravelry's 10 shawls in 2010 group... Although I need ten more shawls like I need a hole in the head.

Mostly I'm just happy that I'm not stressing out over finishing a bunch of holiday gift projects, like so many other bloggers out there. So much nicer to put my feet up and relax and work on more projects for selfish little me.