You've been flashed

You've just been stash-flashed. That is a giant pile of all the yarn I own as of the new year. Actually, it's not all the yarn I own because there is still some at my parents' house in New Mexico that has never made it up to me...

I decided that my previous stash organization of "shove yarn in closet or under bed" was not working so well because when I wanted to work from stash I had to comb the apartment looking for the skeins I wanted all with added uncertainty because the yarn might actually be in the New Mexico stash.

I decided to take action. I pulled out every skein of yarn in my apartment and piled it on the floor to survey.



Then I organized it by weight into big plastic tubs. In the end I filled four 66 gallon tubs plus one and a bit of two 45 gallon tubs. I would like to say that this experience has staved me off of ever buying yarn again, but it has not... There is a Knit Picks order on its way to me as we speak... In my defense, two of the skeins coming are needed to finish a project that I underestimated yardage needs for (and the other 15 were being clearanced.)

If you would like a detailed accounting of what exactly is in my stash, my ravelry stash is completely up to date as of last night.

Adam's Hat, part 2

Before Christmas, I showed you the hat that I was working on to give to my brother Adam, but it wasn't very far along. I managed to finish it, even with law school finals happening all the way up until December 23rd and my family arriving and needing entertainment on the 23rd... (that is a rant in itself that you're likely uninterested in.) The 24th I finished the last of the seaming, and voila:





One silly hat for Adam. The hat was a kit from Knit Picks called "Into the Woods" and it's still available as of this post, but is "last chance." The yarn used is Red and Bittersweet Heather Wool of the Andes for the main colors and Oyster Heather Wool of the Andes and Natural Suri Dream for the inner ear flap. The Suri Dream is carried along with the Wool of the Andes to make the ear flap fuzzy and soft.



Like most of the Knit Picks patterns I've encountered this one has, what I would consider, too many spelling, grammar, and technical errors for a pattern that is paid for. Also, for the earflap, the pattern is completely unhelpful. The ear flap has to be knit back and fourth. Rather than cutting the yarn and moving it I just used it from where it was. Sometimes this meant knitting a row with the red, then needing to do a bittersweet heather row but the yarn wasn't on the end of the fabric to set up a purl row... in these cases I just went back to where I started (you must have a circular needle to do this) and knit a second row rather than cutting the yarn and moving it to the other side to do a purl row.



The pattern makes a huge hat (I knit to pattern gauge) that sits up really high, sort of like Elmer Fudd's hat. I could never see wearing this hat for anything other than using it as some sort of prop, or trying to win a silly hat contest... Adam is all dressed up in these pictures because they were taken Christmas day and we're about to go to a dinner party. He wore the hat through most of the party.

Interesting Construction

I love projects that have interesting construction. Things knit on the bias like the Delancey Cardigan; things folded origami-style to get the finished object like the Baby Surprise Jacket; Things knit sideways like the spread spectrum socks... Coming up with a cool new colorwork or cable pattern is awesome, but coming up with a whole new way to make something is particularly amazing to me. That's why I loved knitting up the Kinetic Cowl over the past week.





The pattern is by Amy Polcyn and it's in the Winter 2010 Interweave Knits.This has a very fun construction. It's knit in one 116 inch strip and then the strip is seamed together in a big coil to make the cowl. The strip is only 8 stitches wide (and knit on the bias!), so I found that I could knit about a foot while watching a 1-hour TV show. Knitting this was great for working on at Yarnia because it was easy to pick up and put down as customers needed help.



The yarn is Coos Bay from Yarnia 72% Bamboo/Nylon 28% Wool. The bamboo/nylon has really long color repeats, making it a great choice for this project. My cowl ended up a lot drapier than one pictured because of the bamboo. It makes a nice fall/spring cowl, but it wouldn't be good for the really cold temps. Also, if you make this pattern, be sure to crochet very very loosely when you do the seams, otherwise you'll never get it over your head. I thought I was being very loose, but it was still a tight squeeze until I steamed it.

Happy Holidays!

Adam's Christmas present

My brother Adam does not read my blog, so it's totally safe to show you this. My brother is 20 and loves ridiculous hats. I've made him some pretty great ones over the years. This is the progress on the one I'm working up for Christmas this year.





This came as a kit called "In to the Woods" from Knit Picks. The kit creates a Elmer Fudd type hunting hat with brim and ear flaps as well as a matching pair of convertible mittens. The kit comes with 4 balls of Wool of the Andes (100% Peruvian Wool) in Red, 2 balls of Wool of the Andes in Bittersweet Heather, 1 ball of Wool of the Andes in Oyster Heather, and 1 ball of Suri Dream (74% Alpaca, 22% Wool, 4% Nylon) in Natural. The Suri Dream is a halo-y yarn that is super soft and it is carried along with a strand of the Wool of the Andes to line the earflap of the hat and the hoods of the mittens.

I don't think this kit sold very well (I got it on sale) because I can't see many people wearing this in any serious fashion-y sort of way. It works really well for my silly hat needs though, so I'm glad it was offered. I'll make sure to post a pic of it being modeled after Christmas.

Away from home project

This spindling was started some time ago, but until now I haven't had a chance to show it to you because it lives at Ryan's house.



It's amazing fiber. It's from Abstract Fibers and it's 50% Merino 50% Yak. It's super super super (did I say super) extra soft. The colorway is "solid green" though I'm sure you can tell from the picture that it's beautifully kettle-dyed and anything but solid.

This lives at Ryan's (in my cupboard, I have a cupboard, I can keep anything I want in it, so naturally... fiber) so that I always have something to do when those inevitable timing snafus pop up. I'm a much more patient loving forgiving girlfriend if I can sit and spin while waiting for something. Especially if I'm hungry, if I'm waiting and I'm hungry, fibery things are the best way to stave off the Grumpasaurous Rex I can become (i think that might translate to "grumpy king of the lizards" which makes me smile.)

This fiber blend has been difficult for me. It does not have a long staple at all so I've had to try to adjust to shorter drafting, but there have been many dropped spindles in the process. You probably can't tell from the photo, but the spinning is actually pretty consistent despite my challenges. As you can see from the picture, I have quite a lot of fiber left to practice with.

Finally

I finally cast off a project that has been on the needles for almost 18 months last night. I started my Mojo socks (pattern by Donyale Grant) when I fist moved into my apartment in August 2009. I got past the heel (they're knit toe-up) of the first one and it sat forever. Then I decided to buckle down and finish them in the spring. I made pretty good progress, got through the first sock and most of the way through the second. Then, for no reason, I stopped working on them.



This is how they sat for almost six months. They're so close to done! Usually when I get so close to the end of a project I get caught up in cast-off excitement and plow through to the end but not this time. They just sat. Finally, I pulled them out yesterday and knit the last 30-ish rows that were left.





The yarn I used was Regia Silk 4-Ply, which is 55% wool, 25% nylon, and 20% silk. They're black so as to be manly and also function as dress socks. The yarn is buttery soft to the touch, but it pills like crazy. It started pilling on the ball just from being taken in and out of my knitting bag. I probably won't use it again. Most pilling doesn't bother me, and I'm quite comfortable using my sweater stone, but this was truly excessive.

The bind off on the first sock seemed tight (Ryan was able to get it over his foot but he did comment on its tightness) so I bound off the second one useing Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off which is exceptionally stretchy, but that's why the two cuffs look different. JSSBO has sort of a ruffly look to it... Ryan didn't seem to notice at all so maybe it's just something only detectable to the knitterly eye.



I made these complete opposites. One toe is knit side out, the other is purl side out. The sock with the knit toe has a purl heel and the one with the purl toe has a knit heel. This means not only can each sock be worn on either foot, they can also be warn inside out. I'm hoping this will make them last longer since the wear will be distributed differently depending on how they are worn.

Happy 5th night of Hanukkah.

3.5 hour hat

Recently, Ryan misplaced his Cousteau hat that I made him last winter. He felt very bad and was very grumpy when he realized it had gone missing. I maintain that it is somewhere hiding in my tremendously messy apartment (no time for cleaning until after finals) but he's convinced that it's gone for good. Since we've been having sub-freezing temperatures on a regular basis here, I decided that until it turns up, he needed a replacement to keep his ears warm.





This is Close Knit Waffle Hat by by Leah Bandstra. The pattern is free and can be found by following that link. The pattern calls for bulky yarn and size 10 needles so it knits up very quickly, 3.5 hours in one night for me (while carrying on conversation and watching TV.) The pattern has a short and long option, and I chose to make the long because I prefer hats that completely cover my ears (probably should have consulted Ryan's preferences rather than my own, but he hasn't said anything about it's length and this way I can borrow it if need be...)



The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Bulky in the color Hawk which was leftover from the blanket I'm making for Ryan. It is a 100% superwash wool. I love this yarn, it's so soft and squooshy. It does have ugly matted joins maybe once a hank though... I wish they would just tie knots instead of trying to do felted joins on superwash yarn, but at least they can be easily cut out and there's never more than one per hank.



Ryan does wear this, but he did inform me that it's "borderline girly." I never would have thought that a gray beanie would seem particularly girly, but I've been told that the texture of the hat seems to make it less manly... I showed him a picture of a cabled hat and he told me that it was "girly" as well, so I think he's adverse to pretty much all texture other than plain ribbing. If the Cousteau hat doesn't turn up in the post finals cleaning I'll cast on a new one (in gray again...) so that Ryan can have a hat he's truly happy with rather than one that just meets the minimum requirements of being warm (and gray.)