Moving On

Hi guys. I finally bit the bullet and got my own domain name! I'd been feeling the limitations of blogger for a while and it was to the point where sometimes I was avoiding posting because of my frustration. (Also, sometimes I'm lazy.) My I introduce you to: Oftengrumpy.com

It's still very much under construction, but it is coming along nicely. That is where all my new content will be. I've even imported all my archives from here--back to the very beginning in 2008! So you won't have to jump back and forth if you are looking for archives.

I'd really love it if you would update your feed readers with the new address and come join me at my new digs. Thanks so much for all the love you've given me here. Please do pop over and say hello!

Hibernate

A ver long time ago I bought enough Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky to make the Rosamund's Cardigan from the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits. I couldn't get gauge. Even though the pattern calls for chunky yarn, it's knit at more of a aran gauge, and my fabric was practically bullet proof. So the yarn went back in the stash to wait.

I decided I really did want a sweater/jacket from this lovely rustic wool so I went to Ravelry to hunt up a pattern. I settled on Hibernate by Christina Harris. It's certainly not the most popular pattern on Ravelry (there are only 4 projects) but it had exactly what I wanted. Oversized, styled more like a jacket than a sweater, and in the proper gauge.

At least I thought it was the proper gauge. I was a very irresponsible knitter and did not knit my swatch. The yarn relaxed quite a bit width wise, so my sweater that was supposed to have 4" of positive ease ended up with 8" which turned it from cutely "oversized" to "sack." It's being modeled by my mother in these pictures, and it lives with her now. 

I cut it extremely close on yardage. I knew it would be close and figured I would do the sleeves last and make them 3/4 if I had to (how I thought I would live with a jacket with 3/4 sleeves I don't know...) Luckily, I had just enough to make the sleeves full so crisis averted. This is how much yarn was left over. 

The Rowan yarn is extremely "rustic" there is no way it could be warn next to the skin, which is why I think it's great for this pattern. It has lots of little bits of vegetable matter that was spun into the yarn and, while I didn't notice while I was knitting with it, the yarn is filthy. I washed it after I was done in my laundry machine (didn't use the machine, just filled it up with water and let the sweater soak) and the water was GROSS after the 30 minute soak. See.

The pattern has a few small typos, but overall was very easy to follow and I would recommend it for anyone who already has a little sweater experience under their belt. It's not quite as comprehensive as an absolute sweater beginner might need, but if you were adventurous and willing to look up a technique or two it'd be doable as a first sweater. 

I love the pockets. This particular construction was extremely easy and it would be a fun way to work in a pop of color, because you could do the pocket lining in a fun contrast color. I chose to do mine in some similarly colored Cascade 220 because that was the best option I could find in my stash, but if you planned ahead you could have some fun with it.

I know I say this about every project lately, but despite what my Ravelry account will tell you, this was actually an extremely quick knit. The problem was I just kept getting distracted. I knit big chunks of this in single sessions, but put it on hold over and over. This easily could have been done in two weeks with focus. I'm just really short on focus lately. 

A long time coming

I recently cast off a project that has been on the needles since June of 2010. I think anyone who has been knitting for a while (almost 10 years for me) has these linger projects. Ones that get picked up, a few rows added, then put back down over and over. Mine is Scarf with the No. 20 Edging from "The knitted Lace Pattern Book," 1850 from the book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. It's a book with extremely beautiful lace based on traditional Victorian patterns. 

I started this project right after I started working at Yarnia and made my first custom yarn blend.  I used one strand of silk, one strand of cashmere, and two strands of bamboo. Each strand was very fine, so the overall weight is probably a light fingering. 

The construction of this stole is quite unusual. The first scalloped edge is knit from bottom up like a skinny scarf. Then, stitches are picked up along the long non-scalloped edge and the middle panel is knit at a 90 degree angle from the edge. Next, the second scalloped edge is knit down the length of the scarf like a kitted on border working it together with the live stitches from the center panel. 

If you've ever used Yarnia yarn, you know it's not actually plied, each of the strands sit next to each other on the cone and the knitting experiences is like holding several strands of yarn together. This makes the risk of splitting higher than usual and and in a lace project where you're using larger-than-recommended needles it makes for slow going. I'm guessing that's part of why this kept getting set down--it took a lot of focus, and I just don't have as much time to dedicate to projects that need constant attention. 

In the end, it turned out beautiful. My mom claimed it the last time she was up, and it's a little fancy for my wardrobe so I didn't object. Every project in this book is gorgeous, so I will probably cast on another soon... and hopefully get it finished with less delay.  

Saroyan

I took a major hiatus from blogging for almost a year. While I've been at it (more or less) since January I've mainly been relying on my backlog of knits from 2013 to fuel the posts. However, I've hit the point where I only have 4 well photographed finished projects left to show you. (Keep your comments about whether some of the other projects I've shown you have been "well photographed" to yourself.)

Finished in July of this year is my Saroyan by Liz Abinante. I've also made Liz's Traveling Woman shawl in 2009 and both patterns are great. I started it because I was going to be teaching a class on shawls knit side-to-side but it was a summer class and filling them is hit or miss. There weren't enough takers, so we had to cancel. I got 3-4 repeats in to learn the pattern, but stalled to work on other projects once the class got canceled.

It languished for over a year until I finished the last commute project I was working on and went rummaging for something that would be commute appropriate. I found the old Saroyan and after a few weeks on the train I had a new scarf.

The fun thing about this pattern is that you get to choose the depth based on how many increase repeats you do. and because it's knit side to side if you weight your yarn along the way, you can use up all your yarn. My version is 6 increase repeats deep, and 8 straight repeats in the center making 20 leaves total (counting the 6 decrease repeats on the other side.)

The yarn I used is Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino in the aptly named colorway 687. It's a blend of 55% alpaca and 45% merino and it's got lovely drape. My best guess is that it took just over 300 yards. I've already warn it a few times because fall is definitely in the air here. I'm one of those perpetually cold people, so a new wooly scarf is just exactly what I need. 

Prototype

One of the designs that's been kicking around my head for some time is a pair of convertible mittens in fingering weight yarn so that they're not super warm and so that your fingers have maximum dexterity. I know I want them to be textured, but I can't decide if I want to do cables or a simple knit purl design. While I still have to figure out the details of the design, I think I've got the gauge and sizing figured out.

I love convertible mittens. You get the best of both worlds--the warmth of mittens, the dexterity of gloves--and free fingers for texting and turning doorknobs. I also put a "hood" on the thumb so that when you are in mitten mode you get maximum warmness.

I sort of used Ann Budd's glove template from the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, but made lots of mods (obviously.) Now that I've got the basic shape down, I can start playing with finding the perfect texture.

The yarn I used was Knit Picks Stroll in colorway Saphire Heather. It took just barely more than a single ball. I ran out of my first ball just as I was finishing up the hood of the second glove. I had to use maybe 20 yards from the second ball. 

I still need to figure out what texture I'm going to use and then who knows when I'll have time to write it up... I guess what I'm trying to say is there is no time horizon for the pattern release yet, but I'm one step closer now.    

February Baby

As I mentioned in my last post, there were a few new babies born to my coworkers this summer. In addition to the little Harvest I knit for Megan's baby, I also knit a little sweater for Jason's brand new baby girl. Baby girls are such a delight to knit for because all of adorable details you can choose from--lace patterns, pico edges, bows, there's just so much. I decided on the classic Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February) by Elizabeth Zimmerman. The pattern is from The Knitters Almanac and is only about a paragraph long.

Zimmerman seems to be a lover-her or hate-her figure in the knitting world for her casual writing style and her "recipe" style instructions. Her patters do assume that you're bringing a lot of knitting knowledge to the table and she doesn't spare many words for the "how"--her patterns are all about the "what."

Unfortunately, this was the only picture I remembered to snap just before I gave it to the dad-to-be. It's on my messy desk under fluorescent lights. Lots of people were saying that using the recommended fingering weight yarn resulted in a newborn sized sweater. I wanted a 6mo size so I followed the same instructions but bumped up to a DK weight yarn. I used Socks That Rock Heavyweight. Color is unique. It was a mill end skein. The colors range from a medium gray to a magenta. I love the way it knit up. Girly without being overpoweringly pink. 

I did not add any buttons. I think open cardis look adorable on babies over a onesie, no potential choking hazard if they fall off, and (lets be honest) I hate sewing them on in the first place.      

Baby Harvest

This summer we had two babies due around the office. Luckily I have an hour long commute each way on the train, so I was able to whip up a little sweater for each of them. The first was for a baby boy due at the end of May. Can I just say, there are way fewer adorable knitting options for baby boys. You're basically stuck with either super plain, or heavily cabled. I decided to go the plain route and chose Harvest by tincanknits. I chose the 6-12 month size hoping it would be big enough to fit when winter rolled around.

I used some old Knit Picks Swish left over from a different sweater project. Obviously machine washable is a must for baby things. The colorway is called Jade. It only took 2.5 skeins to nock this little guy out. A very fast and gratifying knit. The pattern is extremely well written for a free pattern. I would absolutely recommend it. It would also be a great first sweater pattern for someone hesitant to jump into the garment world. It's top down knit in the round so you can try it on as you go. Shaping is minimal and you end up with a classic goes-with-everything cardigan.

Warmish Release

It's been a long time since I published a pattern on Ravelry. I have lots of lovely ideas, just can't seem to find the time to work things out properly and make sure I write a good pattern. About a month ago I finally settled in and got one of my ideas down on paper. Warmish is now available for sale.

It's a beret-shaped hat that sits loosely around the ears and a simple dimple-texture pattern. It doesn't get that cold in Portland in the winter, so I don't like hats that are very tight against my ears and forehead. This is fitted enough to not fall off in a gust of wind, but not snug. However, for those who do prefer a snug brim, I've included instructions for using a smaller needle size on the brim to give a tighter fit. 

I knit my sample with one ball of Rowan Lima Colour in the creatively named colorway 711. I love the way the fiber blend (84% alpaca, 8% wool, 8% nylon) allowed for a lot of relaxation in blocking and really let the beret shape come out. 

To achieve the beret shape, blocking is absolutely necessary. The circular decreases happen quickly and the finished hat will look a little "lumpy" until it is blocked. I used a 12" dinner plate and got just the right amount of slouch. Some of my test knitters commented that the hat looked small when it came off the needles but after they blocked it, it grew to the right size. 

I always love to hear feedback (and constructive criticism) about my patterns. If you happen to knit this one you can leave me a message here or on Ravelry and I'll get back to you right away.

Pink Ops

Several years ago, I made myself an OpArt blanket from Melissa Dominguez's pattern in the Fall 2008 Knitty. You may remember I blogged about it here. At the time, I thought I Thatprobably would never make another one, since it's really A LOT of garter stitch, and gets pretty unwieldy at the outer edge.

Back in December, I was showing off my Ravelry catalog of finished projects to Bob (I know, I know, I am super cool) and he LOVED my OpArt. He asked if it would be hard to make a second one. Gotta love non-knitters--even garter stitch impresses them!

Of course I knit a second one. We went to the yarn store to pick colors, and I was a bit surprised when Bob picked the exact same pink and cream color combination I had used originally. I mean, it's an awesome combination, but a bit unexpected for Bob. On my original blanket I used cheap One Pound yarn by Caron. For Bob's blanket he sprung for something a little nicer to work with--Berroco Vintage in colorways Watermelon and Buttercream.     

That's the blanket in action (and in really poor lighting.) I followed the pattern as written and knit through the stripe that is 10 garter ridges wide (half-way between the small and large sizes.) Because the pattern calls for DK weight and I was using worsted, I upped my needle size to a US 9. I also used a I-cord bind off rather than a normal bind off to give more stretch and a more polished edge. 

I knit on this a lot while I was studying for the Washington bar exam so the garter stitch wasn't as painful as the first time around (or maybe the pain was just so far outweighed by bar exam pain that it seemed small in comparison.) Still, the last few stripes were a real slog. I may be jinxing myself, but I really hope this is my last OpArt. Great finished product, but not very exciting on the needles.

Monster!

Long long time ago (winter 2012) I joined Stacey Trock's (who designed under the name FreshStitches) kit club. Ever other month for 3 months she mailed out a kit for a cute stuffed crochet toy. I had good intentions, but almost two years later two of the three kits are still tucked away unopened.

The last kit mailed out was for Amigurumi Roosevelt the Monster and it came with a ball of yarn that changed colors slowly. This cute little guy was enough to make me pick up a hook and get to work.

The color changing yarn was very pretty, but it actually changed a little too slowly for this little guy. I knit the ears, eyes, and just started the first leg before the first color change, and the second color took me all the way through the rest of the project. I didn't even get to the third or fourth colors. 

I grew up in the 90s so this guy always makes me think of the cartoon Aaahh! Real Monsters, doesn't he remind you a little bit of Krumm? 

I sprayed him with catnip spray so he's a favorite around her. That photo was taken when he was brand new, but he's got a lovely halo of cat hair always, no matter how many times I take him out on the balcony and shake him out.    

Countess Mitts XL

Christmas 2012 I wanted to knit a gift for the woman who always hosts our family for dinner and makes amazing delicious food and really just goes all out. Don't believe me? This is how she sets the table:

Unfortunately, and I say this with love, she has giant hands for a woman. The mitts I made were way too small. They were knit in fingering weight yarn on size 1.5 needles and they were lovely (see them here) but way too small.  

Christmas 2013 I was determined to get it right. I used the same pattern and the same stitch counts, but used a worsted weight yarn and size 6 needles. They came out just right. 

The pattern is Countess Mitts by Colleen Powley and I got it in a kit with the yarn to make the original pair of mitts, though it looks like you can also download it separately on Ravelry. These are very big on me, but they fit the recipient perfectly. They look a bit less delicate than the original, but I think it's more fitting to her style anyway.

The yarn is Knit Picks Sugarbunny in colorway Peacock. It's 80% merino and 20% angora so it has a lovely little halo and the mitts are incredibly soft. They advertise it as a worsted weight but I would say it's a bit lighter than traditional. I'm guessing they suggest knitting it at a worsted gauge to give the angora halo room between the stitches to bloom. 

I didn't get much knit this month because 1) it's been hot, and 2) I moved again and my yarn was all packed. I'm all unpacked now (except I can't find my Kindle and it's making me crazy!) and I've really been feeling the knitting bug lately. I've got a lot of projects that went on hold when I went through my knitting funk, and I've been pulling them all out and remembering why I cast them on and all the good things about them and wondering why I ever put them down. Time for a good knit I think. 

Calystegia

I spend a lot of time on Ravelry.  Less than I use to, but I still keep it up in the background on my laptop at home and usually check in on the new "hot" patterns several times a week. I frequently find myself wondering about why some patterns become runaway hits and other seemingly equally-wonderful patterns don't really get off the ground. Calystegia Cowl by Lankakomero is a pattern that doesn't have a lot of love on Ravelry, despite being pretty wonderful.

This pattern is well written and an extremely fun knit. At $4.50 it's reasonably priced. I don't know why thousands haven't been made. It's a pattern I would seriously consider knitting again and I almost never re-knit patterns unless I'm making a gift that has been specifically requested. 

My mom asked me to knit her a cowl for Christmas 2012. I ran out of time, so she got a box with a lovely skein of Handmaiden Casbah Sock in colorway Saltspray and a promise that a cowl would soon follow. Soon was not exactly accurate, as I boxed up the finished cowl just in time for Christmas 2013.

It's tall enough to fully cover your neck and just loose enough not to make your feel like you're being choked. The Casbah is 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon so it's amazingly soft and perfect for having right up next to your face. 

On of my favorite aspects of this cowl are the wrapped stitches that form the bottom of each shell. I'd never done anything like these wraps before and I really like the effect it gave this pattern.

I used about 60% of my skein of yarn, so unfortunately I won't be able to get a second cowl from one skein, but I may have enough left over for some coordinating fingerless mitts. Maybe I can get a jump on Mom's Christmas 2014 present...

Don't let the fact that this hasn't been made many times (according to Ravelry) fool you. This pattern is really wonderful! I don't know this designer or anything about her and I didn't get anything for this post, I just really like the pattern.

Fraternal

Hand knit socks are one of the little luxuries that non-knitters don't get to experience (unless they have a knitter who loves them very much.) They are so comfy and warm and can be customized to fit perfectly. Then there's the endless variety of amazing sock yarns--pretty much any fiber blend and color you can hope for. Here is my latest pair (and by latest, I mean they were finished in October.)

Side note: taking pictures of your own feet takes an inordinate amount of body contortion. These are plain stockinette socks following the Yarn Harlot's Sock Recipe. As much as I like the look of fancy socks with cables and lace, and as interesting as they can be to make, my favorite socks to wear are the plain knit ones. 

These are knit with Patons Kroy Socks FX in the color way Clover Colors. By sock yarn standards this yarn is incredibly cheap (in price) and can be found in most of the big box stores like Michaels and Jo-Anns. It's a blend of 75% wool 25% nylon so its nice and sturdy. It's definitely not as buttery soft as the luxury yarns with cashmere, merino, etc. but its definitely fine for wearing on your feet. These feel like they will wear really well and after a full winter of wear I don't see any signs of weakening in the heels or balls where I tend to wear holes through my socks. 

I made no effort to try to make the colors match from one sock to the other. I just started each sock from the beginning of a 50g ball and let the colors line up as they may. With such a long color repeat and slow transition it would have been a real pain and really, I just don't care that much about having matched up socks. I think the fraternal pair is actually really cute. 

Quicky

Sometimes, you just want to feel like you've accomplished something and finishing a knitting project can be just the thing. At times like that, it's nice to whip up a quick little project that you can take from start to finish in just a few hours. Marian is just the ticket.

Knit with super bulky yarn and size 19 needles this seed stitch cowl only takes about three hours. I love that it hangs a bit lower for a single-loop cowl. I don't like having things right up against my neck. 

Mine is knit with Malabrigo Rasta in colorway Azul Prfundo. I've always wanted to use Rasta for something, but it's hard to find a use for such a bulky yarn. I don't know that I would want a hat or traditional scarf out of such fat yarn. Mittens and slippers would be way too unwieldily. Something about this one-loop drapey cowl is just perfect for this nice fat yarn. I think it will be a popular go-to in the winter. 

Garter garter garter garter garter...

I've mentioned in my last few posts (spread over 6 or so months... I know... I know...) that from about May of last year until two-ish months ago I really lost my knitting mojo. Lots of changes in my life certainly contributed--end of a big relationship, a move across town, old job that I hated to wake up to, new job that I do not hate but that is super challenging in other ways, another bar exam... by the time I got any alone time I would end up just holding my knitting but not actually creating any stitches.

I did not like that knitting had taken a major back seat in my life so I decided to try and change that. I decided that what I needed was something simple. Something so simple that I would normally never consider it. So simple that I could do it blindfolded, in the dark, with one needle tied behind my back. In short, I needed lots and lots of garter stitch with no shaping. Hello Garter Squish by Stephen West.

It's a blanket made with two strands of yarn held together, done on size 15 needles, entirely in garter stitch. Not to toot my own horn, but I could knit this dead. Which was exactly what I needed since that is exactly how I felt at the end of the day some times. I couldn't handle decreases. I couldn't handle increases. Or short rows. Or charts. But I could do the knit stitch, over and over, endlessly.

The pattern (yes there is actually a pattern) calls for two strands of worsted weight yarn to be held together to make a super bulky yarn. I held one strand of worsted and one strand of DK together because I am a rebel. The DK was Berocco Vintage DK all in the color Cracked Pepper. The blues are Berocco Vintage Worsted in Neptune, Tidepool, Emerald, and Breezeway. 

I used the highly sophisticated stripe technique of knit with one color until the ball is completely gone, begin using next color. I had two balls of each blue color, so once I went through the color repeat once, I just started over and did it again. Tres Modern. If it looks like some stripes are 19 garter ridges and others are 22, they are. I can deal. The double yarn combined with the garter stitch make this a super squishy blanket. It's also really really stretchy. Unstreched its about as wide as twin bed and maybe 2 feet longer, but it can stretch to gigantic proportions.  

I started in October of last year and finished just before Christmas. I gave it to Bob for Christmas 1) because he is my best friend and 2) because he only had one smallish blanket and if you are friends with me you need lots since I am perpetually cold. It gets used near daily and some of the end have worked their way out, so I need to give it a little TLC and weave them back in. Overall, I've been super pleased with the finished object and with the care and use I've seen it receive.

This project really helped get me knitting again when I had stopped almost completely. My productivity has been agonizingly slow compared to my usual, but I do find a little time most days to squeeze in a stitch or two. 

Bad pictures of a simple hat

Last fall, Bob asked me if I could knit a hat. I tried really hard not to get all ego-y, and I wanted to say "yes" but I may have scoffed a little and said that "hats are super easy." I'm like that. So Bob asked for a hat "with a band that folds."

I found some yarn in a suitable guy color (Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Graphite) and cast on for Jared Flood's Turn a Square. Except I sort of made my own version of the pattern. I did not do the tubular cast on, because that's a lot of work for what I feel like is a very minimal effect.  Also, I didn't do the stripes, because Bob wanted solid. Finally, I made the ribbing longer (4 inches) so that the brim could be flipped up.

I don't have any good pictures of this hat, but I have some bad ones. Here is a picture that does not show either the hat or the color to its best advantage.

Here is another bad picture where you can barely see the hat. It does prove that the hat has been worn out in the wild. 

Overall, there wasn't a lot that went into this hat in terms of skill or complexity, but Bob seems to like it, so we'll call it a win. Sorry for the crummy pictures. 

Not exactly a mystery

I really love mystery knit-a-longs. For the uninitiated, a mystery knit-a-long is when a designer releases a pattern is stages (called "clues") and you don't get any pictures of the pattern in advance so you don't know what it looks like until you finish knitting all the clues. Usually you know the general type of item you are making--socks, shawl, hat, etc.--but nothing more.

I totally understand how many people HATE mystery patterns. Knitting takes time. Lots and lots (and lots) of time. Why would you devote a large portion of your free crafty time making something that might be completely not to your liking. I get that. I have nothing against people who refuse to participate in mystery patterns. I love them. I think it's because I am not necessarily after a finished item. I like to knit for the process of knitting. Getting a finished project at the end is almost like a bonus--I get the magic of knitting and happen to also end up with a hat. I don't have a strong emotional attachment to the object when I'm done with the knitting. I've given lots of things away that I wanted to knit, but knew I'd never wear. When I can't find a good home for something that I know I'm not going to wear, it goes to the Good Will. All of this is really just to say that I love mystery knits and don't mind if when I'm done it's not something I love.

Of course, if I do end up with something I love, all the better. The 2012 mystery hat pattern by Wolly Wormhead was amazingly fun to knit and also turned out to be a hat I love to wear.

Usually mystery patterns don't have a name until after the full pattern is released. This pattern got the name Encircle after they mystery ended. Sadly, I didn't knit this as a mystery. I bought the pattern, but I had just gotten my law license and was frantic with job searching, working as a contract drafter of legal documents, and had a full teaching schedule at the yarn shop I was working at. I watched the clues come and go without casting on. It was fun to watch the ladies in my knitting group progress through the mystery. I wish I had gotten the fun of wondering "what next." So it goes.

The first clue was the brim, which is actually a tube that you knit in the round and sew together when it is long enough to go around your head. Because you knit it as a tube, when then ends of the tube are sewn together it makes a double thick layer of fabric--perfect for keeping ears extra warm. I've also found that I love the smoothness of the stockinette brim as opposed to a traditional ribbed brim. 

The rest of the hat is a background of purls dotted with fun little cabled circles. The band fits nice and snug, but the body of the hat has a nice slouch to it. The decreases at the top happen really rapidly giving the hat the nice little puff ball look. The cables are small and I had no problem working them without a cable needle so I found that the project went very quick. 

The yarn I used is Knitted Wit Sport Superwash Falkland in the colorway Bobbin's Blue. I love how bright the color is. Perfect for the grey drizzly days we get so often during the Portland winter. It's also nice and soft. I was worried that it might feel a bit scratchy as falkland is a longer fiber and longer fibers tend to be "itchier." It's not. It's perfectly comfortable on my ears and forehead. The dyer for Knitted Wit actually lives in Portland and sells at many of the local shops. Her colors over the last two season have been amazingly rich and I would say that her color saturation rivals some of the big shots like Madelinetosh and Sweet Georgia (don't worry, my devotion to MT is still strong as ever, but it's nice to have options.) 

I'm hoping that as we head into summer (summer is just starting here in Portland) I'll be able to find a mystery knit-a-long or two that I can actually commit to knitting as the clues are published. Commuting for 1.75 hours each day on the train will help considerably if I can find one that doesn't involve lots of colors or a complicated chart. Know of any that are coming up?

Shapely

I know that when I focus I can knit up a sweater in 3 to 4 weeks depending on how complicated it is. I don't know why then I always end up spending at least 6 months to make one. I'm just not good with project monogamy. I know I would have more things to wear if I could focus on one project at a time, but I am fickle. (So maybe I do know why it takes me so long to finish things...) Here is my latests 6-month sweater.

That is Shapely Boyfriend by Stefanie Japel from the 2011 Deep Fall issue of knitty.  I taught a seamless sweater class on it at For Yarns Sake last spring and worked through it in advance of the class. The class focused on the shaping of the body, so I didn't bother to finish the sleeves before the class. Once the class was over it went into hibernation--hence the 6 months to finish.

The only alteration I made to the pattern was to shorten it. As designed, it's a below-the-bum sweater but I tend not to like that look unless it's a looser coat-style. For something I'm going to wear all day as part of an outfit it prefer waist-length styles. Because I shortened the cardigan I made fewer button holes than called for. Other than that, I knit this exactly to pattern.

The yarn I used is Malabrigo Rios in the colorway Teal Feathers. I did not behave like a good knitter and alternate skeins. If I were teaching I would tell all my students that the must alternate skeins, but in my own personal knitting, I take risks. Luckily my skeins were very well matched and I didn't end up with any striping. I used just under 5 skeins, but if I had made it as long as recommended I would have needed to break into a 6th.

The yarn is super soft and I love that I can just throw it in the washing machine and dryer. The magic of superwash. I love it. The buttons were cheap ones I got a Jo-Anns, but they work really well with the sweater I think. I finished back in August, so it didn't get a lot of wear right off the needles. This past winter it saw a lot of wear though. It's experienced some mild pilling, but nothing surprising for a 100% merino yarn, and nothing my sweater stone can't easily take care of.

My current knitting continues at a snails pace, but I still have a backlog of projects from last year that I can show you. 

Dashing

This knitting year doesn't seen to be off to any better of a start than last year. It's already May and I've completed 2 projects so far this year. Granted, one was a blanket, but that is still a woefully small number of projects for me. Sometimes I'm able to knit on the trail while I commute, but often in the morning I'm too exhausted and at the end of the day the train is packed and I have to stand... lame-o!

Luckily (?) I was terrible at blogging last year (not that I've done great this year...) so I still have a back log of projects from last year that you all haven't seen yet. Almost a year ago now, I finished a pair of fingerless mitts for my best friend Bob. Because, you know, July is when you have a serious need for gloves... See.

They are Dashing by Cheryl Niamath from the Spring 2007 Knitty. I've intended to make them since the pattern was published but I never really had a push to cast it on. Until 6 years later when Bob said something like "I think those gloves that let you still use your fingers are cool" and WHAMO time for some knitting.

I made a few adjustments to the pattern. I only knit 10 rounds before the first cable and 9 rounds after the last cable to shorten them a bit. Also, I used the Jenny's Stretchy Bind Off around the fingers and thumb to make sure it would not be too tight. Other than  that I followed the pattern as written. 

I used the absolutely amazing Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere to knit these. The colorway is Grey Tabby. It is so fantastically soft. It's also spun nice and tight so I don't think it will pill much even though it's a merino-cashmere blend. In my mind that makes it a pretty heavenly yarn. 

While they didn't get much use in July, I did see them in the wild several times over the winter. I suppose I can't rule out that they were being worn for my benefit, but it seemed genuine. Every knitter knows that's a win. 

Urchin

The last of the projects that I finished early last year, before I even moved, was Urchin by Ysolda Teague. This is one of Ysolda's very early patterns from the 2007 Fall Knitty. The reason I chose to make it is the unique construction. It's knit vertically around your head and joined when you have the needed circumferences, rather than starting circularly and knitting from the brim to the top.

I HATE that the brim is folded under in all my pictures. I think it looks crazy. One of the problems with getting a non-knitter without much enthusiasm for hand-mades to take your photos... They're more concerned with snapping the shots and getting out of the cold than with making sure you have awesome photos for Ravelry. Some people's priorities are so out of whack. 

(I also wish I had been told about that one straggly strand of hair, it would have been so easy to tuck into the hat. Sigh. First world problems.) I knit the smallest size which makes a much more beanie style hat than the beret shape that the larger sizes tend to form. All in all it took two days of knitting to make this (and I probably only spent 2-3 hours each day.) Nevermind that Ravelry says it took me a week to make. That's just a product of the fact that last year was so bad for me knitting-wise. 

I used a fun yarn by Colinette called Calligraphy. The colorway is call Gaughin.  It's a loosely spun thick-thin yarn that's a bulky 100% wool. It wasn't bad to work with and the project came out nice, but I don't feel anything more than "meh" for the yarn. Cute, serviceable, but I'm not losing my mind over it. I would use it again if I found a pattern I thought it would compliment, but I'm not going out of my way to stash it (unlike Madelinetosh which I aggressively horde incase of an unexpected sheep apocalypse.)  

Honestly, I can't tell you how this has held up over the past year because... I don't know where it is! I know, I know. Losing hand knits sucks. All that work, the expense of the yarn, the memories of what was going on in my life as I was making it. It sucks. I'm a serial hand-knit loser though... mittens, hats, scarves, I just can't seem to hold on to woolies. I'm going to have to either get my sh*t together and keep track of my things, or adopt a more zen mentality about losing them. Le sigh. 

Persephone

Every knitter had those meh projects. Projects you work and work on, and when you finish you look down and just think... eh... not for me. Persephone was that way for me. I taught a class last March about cables and this was the featured project. The original is a scarf, but I got so tired of the cables after about two feet that I turned mine into a a cowl with buttons.

I should have known I was never going to be able to finish a whole scarf in this pattern. 1) I dislike knitting scarves in general because they feel like never-ending swatches. 2) I dislike scarf patters that are not reversible because I am anal and the fact that the "wrong" side shows drives me bonkers. 3) I dislike heavily cabled projects because they make my hands crampy when I knit them. 4) This pattern is not charted, it is only written, and I strongly prefer to  All of these things and problems related to my personal knitting preferences, not problems with the pattern.

 I didn't write down my modifications, but they were dead easy. Basically I stopped knitting the body after 2 feet or so and then in the final garter stitch portion I threw in a row with 3 evenly spaced button holes, then finished the garter stitch portion. Then I played around with the best placement for the buttons and decided I liked the "folded over" look. I sewed on the buttons and ta-da. 

The yarn is Madelinetosh DK (I know, you're not surprised) in Moorland. It blocks out in cables amazingly! Their plied yarns are not the softest (except for Pashmina) but they have amazing stitch definition and they are plied nice and tight so they wear forever without looking ratty the way that some yarns get after a while. Basically the yarn was fantastic, but I still feel meh about the finished project.  

Oh Hai

Ah hem hem... So hey... How's it going? Been a while... Almost a year you say? My how time flies. I feel like I should say I'm sorry, but really I'm not. The last year has brought a lot of changes to my life. I don't even think I mentioned it in my last post, but when I wrote it (February of 2013, I know...) I had just gotten my first job as an attorney 5 days before the post. I was commuting a long way to work every day and felt just exhausted by the end of the day. It's hard to even imagine, but really I stopped knitting from pretty much February through July. Dark days.

Ryan and I stopped being a couple in May, and that was sad. In July I moved closer to work. Sadly, closer to work meant further from a lot of other things, including my knitting group. While I had my suspicions early on, by July I was feeling like my job was not a great fit for me (that's the extremely reserved, internet appropriate, way to describe how I was feeling anyway...) By late October I decided a new job needed to be at the top of my priority list and by the end of November I had an offer on the table. Mid-December I started my new job (still attorney work, just a much different office atmosphere) and it's been fabulous so far.

The new job came with the caveat that I would have to take the Washington state Bar exam. Portland being so close to Washington, my new office does a lot of work in both states so I need to be dual licensed. If you're thinking now that my miraculous return to blogging may have something to do with procrastinating studying for a test that is one month away... Shut up.

Look. Knitting.

That is the extremely popular Selbu Modern hat by Kate Gagnon Osborne. It is available for free on Ravelry. I had wanted to make it for a very long time. When I started teaching a series of hat classes at my LYS focusing on different techniques, I chose this hat as the colorwork-focused class project. 

The yarn I used was Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Antique Lace and Clematis. Antique Lace has got to be one of my favorite Madelinetosh colors. It's sort of a boring neutral, but something about it is so enticing to me. Of course, I love pretty much everything Madelinetosh so maybe it's not very surprising that this was so enjoyable for me. Even being knit on tiny needles (US 0 and US 2) this was a very fast knit for me. 

Sadly, that hat was knit last January, and I'm just now getting around to showing it to you. It's kept me nice and warm for two winters now and it's the hat I grab above my others if I can find it... I am not high-functioning in the morning, so it's good I have so many hats--there's usually one that's within grabbing range as I'm leaving the house. On the other hand, it's probably good I have a few projects back-logged, since it will give me things to show you on a semi-regular basis as I get back into my knitting groove. Feels good to be back.