Say It Today

This last Christmas was a great Christmas for hand knitted gifts. I typically start making Christmas presents in early spring allowing me to harness my spare time throughout the year to produce hand-made gifts. I have a spreadsheet that helps me keep track.

I used mostly Paton yarn, which is a great affordable, hard-wearing, high quality yarn, and I made a lot of fun, functional things.

But after Christmas, I was wanting ... something different. Something that would really be a challenge. Something less about function, and more about form. I settled on a lace shawl. An epic lace shawl, made from laceweight wool and silk, gossamer thin.

Before you block lace, it looks scrunched.
You can sort of tell there's a pattern and purpose going on, but it's not entirely clear.

Most of the knitting I do is very forgiving. If I miss a decrease in one row, I can add it in the next without anyone ever being able to tell but me. Knitting a lace pattern is not like that. All the stitches, decreases and yarnovers are very carefully designed to form a pattern, and if you miss a single stitch, it will be glaringly obvious. Twice I made a mistake but didn't catch it for eight or ten rows and so had to pull out all that work.

Inserting the needle into the last row before my mistake.

But it was all worth it.

Interstellar Lace Shawl

I made this shawl for my friend Sarah. My friend is in good health at the moment, but as I was considering this project it occurred to me - the time for a big gesture is now. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow. This shawl, the biggest, most difficult lace pattern I'd ever attempted, was my tangible way of telling my friend how much I loved her and the time to say "I love you" is always today, not next week.

It was finished in time for her birthday and she loves surprises, so my kids and I showed up on her doorstep with a plate of cookies and a brown paper package tied up with string.

She loved it a lot.

Go say I love you. Do it with knitting, with words, however you want. Say it today. 

Knitting Through the Year - March

"Its shape is the simplest (straight tube for body; tapered tubes for sleeves, which are cast off straight and sewed into straight cut armholes) and the pattern is much simpler than it looks." ~ Knitter's Almanac, by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Sometimes, I knit like an idiot. Sometimes, I continue to knit like an idiot for a very long time. This is very frustrating when I discover it.

See that? I cast on the same number for both sweaters. I knit the hem, and then began the color work section. This (apparently) was a lot tighter than the hem and I just continued on for inches and inches, blindly believing that it was only a little bit small and that it would easily block out to the same size. If you look at the above picture, these are obviously two different sizes. There is no amount of blocking that is going to change that.

And somehow I had to knit that far before I figured it out. And this sweater combines cables and color work so it was a slower knit than usual. But still I didn't notice until I had knit half the body.

So I unraveled it. It was painful but I discovered something interesting.

Isn't that cool? Wouldn't it make a pretty lacy sweater? It would take a long time to knit, but unraveling the base color would be very thrilling.

Anyway, I unraveled it back to the hem, knit a round increasing by 20%, and then picked up the white and started again. Once I got to the chest, I added a few extra stitches on each side for steeks and continued knitting a color work tube. I sewed the sleeves to the tube and then turned the sleeves inside out to get to the steek stitches. I crocheted double line of stitches through the steek stitches and then cut down middle, creating the armhole.

Does this picture make things any clearer? No? Sorry.

This is a classic method for multi-color Scandinavian sweaters, because it is much easier to knit color work patterns in a tube, where you are always looking at the right side, than back and forth, when you are constantly switching from the right side to the wrong side. So just knit a couple extra stitches where you want the armholes and cut them later!

After the armholes were cut, I knit facings for them to cover up the raw edges inside the sweater. This is partly for security (my sweater is knit of alpaca and wool and alpaca doesn't stick to itself like wool does, increasing the risk of things unraveling) and partly for aesthetics. It was a long slow knit and I wanted it to be finished nicely inside and out. If I were selling my knitting (which I'm not*), this would be a particularly high-end sweater.

I'm very happy with how it turned out. It is a beautiful little 2T sweater, and the alpaca makes it sooo soft and the color work pattern on the body makes it extra warm.

When I first started knitting it, I found the slow pace of the color work + cable stitches to be frustrating. It's not hard, particularly if you have done cables before, but it is slow. But now I really love the bold effect of the white cables against the green-blue-lavender. It makes me want to attempt a Celtic knot pattern, maybe on mittens. Wouldn't that be lovely?

*If there are any people reading this blog who value quality hand knits and would be interested in $500 children's sweaters, I would absolutely be interested in selling my knitting! But those are the kind of prices you have to charge to make it work. 

Knitting Through the Year - January

"It is a cold and snowy January. The holidays are done with, and Twelfth Night will be any day now: what better time to embark on a long and lovely project?" ~ Knitter's Almanac, Elizabeth Zimmermann

EZ, dwelling in the cold and snowy north, suggests an Aran sweater as the perfect January project: all-white and decorated with cables and knit-purl stitch patterns. However I, who have never seen a white winter, but only the very occasional white weekend or white couple of days, chose a more colorful winter project.

The fact that I had intended to finish this project for Christmas and failed to do so may have also been a factor. Knitters beware: five year old boys take very poorly to a promise and a bagful of yarn as a Christmas present.

Mei-Mei, Twinkle and Munchkin, all with varying levels of enthusiasm.
The green in Twinkle's sweater is more prominent than this picture shows. 

This pattern is also an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern, the Baby Surprise Sweater. It is one of the more iconic knitting patterns out there. (To the non-knitters: Yes! Famous knitting patterns! Whoda thunk?) It has only two seams, which means that you kit a shapeless blob that looks nothing like a sweater, just blindly chugging along making increases and decreases as directed. And then you cast off and sew along the tops of the sleeves and suddenly you have the cutest little garter-stitch cardigan.

This yarn is called Crazy Yarn and it is made from the leftovers from spinning solid colors. Crazy Yarn and Baby Surprise Sweater is my favorite yarn/pattern combination. I have made it two other times before this little trio, once as a 12 month size and once as a 3T, and I can probably say that this won't be my last time with this combo. There's just no version of this sweater and yarn that's not awesome.

The sweaters were finished in January, but photographed later, hence the green grass.

I love it - and them - to bits.

Knitting Through the Year - December

Christmas projects!

I love them. I dive into them with joy and abandon, only to realize, mid-way, that my project to-do list really isn't reasonable or particularly possible, not if the young ones continue to demand to be fed on a thrice-daily basis and the husband continues to hope after a non-destroyed house and an underwear and sock drawer with at least a few clean items in it.

EZ knows the dangers of ambition and vision at Christmas time:

Embarking on a sweater at this late date smacks of madness, but it can be done, and done without using up too much f your precious December-time. The main thing is to make it very thick. The thicker the knitting, the fewer the stitches; the fewer the stitches, the sooner finished, right? Not finished as soon as mathematics would tell you - the fingers are not quite as agile with thick wool as with thin - but still, finished with surprising speed. ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann, The Knitter's Almanac

And so it was. Finished with surprising speed, that is. One week of knitting in the evenings and during the occasional naptime and it was done. Just like that.

I know.

Crazy town.

I had to resist the urge to cast on additional sweaters for my father, husband and brother. (You get a sweater! And you get a sweater! And yes, you there in the back! You get a sweater, too!) As soon as I expressed this urge, fortunately, the madness of it penetrated, and I backed away from the ledge. Close call, though.

The secret of this sweater is the simple, stylish shaping and the large gauge. This sweater is knit at 2 1/2 stitches to the inch, with extra bulky yarn. This was a little hard to find. My brother-in-law, the recipient, lives in North Carolina, where winters are certainly cold, but don't warrant 1/2" thick, 100% wool sweaters. That amount of wool would be very warm indeed. Also, my sister put in her bid for a sweater that couldn't be accidentally shrunk in the wash. My initial goal was a bulky superwash wool, which is a wool-acrylic blend that can be gently machine washed without tragedy. However, this proved very difficult to find. Eventually, I ended up with Lion Brand Hometown USA, which is an all-acrylic yarn, in charcoal. I used just under 10 skeins, to make a men's size medium/large.

Done like dinner.

Knitting Through the Year - November

"Plans for this chapter have been scrapped in favor of describing the project on which I am currently and most actively engaged. I can think of little else. 
"The item, hot from the griddle, which I now unveil is the Moccasin Sock, the Breakthrough Sock, the Not-To-Be-Ground-Down Sock; The Eventually Totally Re-footable Sock. Call it what you will; all the above tentative titles apply." - Elizabeth Zimmermann, The Knitter's Almanac

This enthusiasm may bewilder. I will endeavor to explain.

This month's project, the Moccasin Sock, has a very unique design. Here it is, modeled by my lovely husband (who will happily comply with all manner of photographic nonsense if it gets him closer to a new pair of hand-knit socks):

Mustard and Light Gray Heather

Do you see the brilliance? No? How about this one:

See that gray sole? (Practically) every sock ever knit before now has been knit in the round, which convenient because human feet are 3 dimensional, requiring a tube-shaped sock to cover them and humans generally dislike trodding on seams. Thus, knitting in the round, whether you did it with 4 or more double-pointed needles or with two circular needles or with magic loop, was deemed to be necessary.

This Moccasin sock, however, is knit another way entirely: the leg and the top of the foot are knit back and forth, and then using gray, the knitter picks up stitches all around the edge of the foot and knits in the round on a circular or their preferred method, knitting towards the center of the foot, decreasing where necessary so that everything will lie flat, and then, when the sole is big enough, the stitches are sewn together with Kitchener stitch, which makes everything flat and smooth. The back of the leg stitches are likewise sewn together.

But why would you do this, when the traditional method of socks (knit in the round until you come to the heel, make a heel, knit in the round until you come to the toe, decrease for toe, sew closed) is so much simpler?

Here is why:

1. If you are intimidated by or simply dislike knitting using double-pointed needles.

2. If you don't have more than one circular knitting needle, or your circular needle is short. (It has to be long to use the magic loop method.)

3. If you prefer knitting back and forth to knitting in the round. Note that you will have to do a bit of in the round, but it's much less than if you were to use the traditional method. (This can be done with a circular needle if desired.)

4. If you want to use a different yarn for the sole and the top. This was, in fact, EZ's inspiration for designing this pattern: she wanted to use reinforced yarn for the sole of the foot but not the top, where it would be wasted.

5. If you only have one skein of special yarn and you still want to make a pair of socks.

Let me elaborate on that last one. If you are using sock yarn*, an adult-sized pair of socks requires at least 400 yards of yarn. Sock yarn is often sold in approx. 200 yard skeins. This yarn, Valley Yarns Huntington, a merino wool blend, was both lovely and economical but these descriptors are not often paired. If your heart is set on a yarn too expensive to buy two skeins, or if you simply have found an odd ball that you'd like to use up without making mismatched socks, this method will let you do that. You don't see the sole of the foot at all when wearing shoes, so it could be a cheaper color that coordinates, a color you want to use up, or even a series of scraps.

These are approximately men's size 10 socks, in a short crew style, and the yellow part used up nearly every bit of the 218 yards in the skein. As a side note, I would like to congratulate myself on finding such a cheery color that my husband will consent to wear. It's a great color, and almost perfectly matches a ginkgo tree in autumn.

Very difficult to get three children to look at the camera at once, particularly when you are on the way to get ice cream.

*Using sock yarn, or "fingering weight" yarn will produce socks that are "normal" thickness, suitable for wearing under dress shoes. Using worsted weight yarn will produce chunkier socks, more suitable for wearing under thick boots or as house slippers. The thicker the yarn, the fewer yards you will need.

 In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that the reason that there is only one sock in the photograph is that there was only one sock finished in November, as I was much consumed with a Nanowrimo project, Thanksgiving, and a sinus infection. However, I did finish the other sock before Christmas which was their actual deadline. I intended to photograph both of them today, using my own feet, but 'Stache wore them to work.  

Knitting Through the Year - October

It is ironic that this month, I finished the month's knitting project very early, yet am posting it very late. It was finished on the 7th, because the young gentleman it was knit for was turning two, but having finished and even having taken pictures of the project, I delayed and procrastinated and put off. Due to the magic of scheduled posting, the internet will record this post in October, but the faithful reader will know that it did not appear until almost a week later. Ah well. There are worse things than procrastination, and I would much rather procrastinate on the reporting of knitting than the knitting itself.

So, then, to the report. The October project is an "open collared pullover," more commonly known as a polo shirt. It is a classic design and deceptively simple in its appearance, for EZ warns on a few occasions that one must keep one's wits about one when knitting this sweater. And that even if one does not understand immediately, if one blindly follows the directions, all will become clear.

In describing the edging of the front, which combines a garter stitch edge with an i-cord edge, she writes:

"This is a mind-boggling operation, hard to describe, but, I hope, easy to follow blindly until you get the hang of it. You will be performing it right up to the the neckline, so get the hang of it you must, and fast, because the shoulder shaping is now going to start." - Elizabeth Zimmerman, Knitter's Almanac 

(One of my favorite things about Elizabeth Zimmerman is that she writes of knitting as if she is narrating a baseball game. The knitting experience is rife with urgency, curve balls, and opportunities for valor, and EZ makes you feel every moment of drama.)

Although this is one of the more complicated patterns in the almanac, the pattern is clear and easy to follow. The garter stitch/i-cord edging is an elegant solution. Garter stitch naturally lies flat and is typically viewed as rather informal. Stockinette, which is what i-cord is essentially made of, is smooth and looks polished, but the edge are terribly inclined to curl. This combination unites the best features of both. EZ gives instructions for both vertical border, which is knit along side the body stitches, knitting back and forth, and a horizontal border, which is knit perpendicularly to the sleeve stitches.

The young gentleman's birthday was lovely. It was a brunch (All birthday parties should be brunches, I think. Breakfast food is nearly universally popular, and particularly when it is a party of young children, everyone is fresher and in a better mood in the morning than the afternoon) with cake afterwards. The boy's mother's family has a tradition of decorating the cake with a present, and I think the result is charming.

Knitting Through the Year - September (Free Pattern!)

September is the logical beginning of the year. Summer heat is nearly past, the weather begins to brisken up, schools open their doors to siphon our beloved young out of the house for longer or shorter periods, adult activity begins to stir, and Mother forms good resolutions and makes lists. 
Top your list with a resolution to initiate all children, M and F, into the mysteries and fascinations of knitting - Elizabeth Zimmermann, Knitter's Almanac 

EZ gives very good suggestions for your child's first knitting project (a garter-stitch potholder) and then suggests that while your young knitter is working away that you knit him or her a pair of "longies" as a reward. These can be fitted to be as tight as leggings, or they can be looser, like lounge pants. Either way, they will be deliciously warm. They are knit in the round, which EZ considers a crucial point for both comfort and durability. Seams "pop inconveniently, especially in a garment which has to have feet constantly thrust into it."

That face!

These leggings were designed to fit my daughter, who is 43" tall and wears a size 5. Her waist measurement is 21.5" and it is 25" from the floor to her belly button. She is long-waisted and slender. If those descriptors don't match the child you wish to knit leggings for, get out your calculator and and measuring tape and figure out the size difference between my child's measurements and yours, and then add or subtract stitches or rows from my pattern to get a custom fit. Or, of course, you could buy Knitter's Almanac, where EZ gives a full explanation of how to knit "longies" for any size, infant to adult. My pattern is informed by hers but not exactly the same.

(This has not been test-knit and may contain errors.)

Cozy Cozy

US 8 DPN (for the waist you will either need a 5th DPN, or a US 8 circular needle)

Worsted weight yarn, less than 660 yards. I bought 3 skeins of yarn because I wanted to do stripes and I have a good bit left from each color. I probably used around 500 yards. 

CO 44 st

Knit 14 rounds in 2x2 ribbing.

Knit 48 rounds in stockinette.

*K2 inc1, knit to end of the round, inc1.

Knit 5 rounds in stockinette. Repeat from * 10 times, increasing by 22 st.

Knit 4 rounds in stockinette.

Repeat for the other leg.

Sew together 18 stitches from each leg using Kitchener stitch.

Knit 1 round, picking up and knitting 4 stitches over each end of the crotch. (104 st)

*K26 past the middle of the back, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, P51, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, K49, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, P47, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, knit 1 round, knitting the wrapped stitches like this. (See note)

Knit 2 rounds.

K23 past the middle of the back, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, purl 45 st, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, knit 43 st, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, purl 41 st, wrap and turn.

Slip first st, knit 1 round, knitting wrapped st as before.

Knit 2 rounds. *

Repeat from * to *.

Knit 43 rounds in stockinette. 

Knit 16 rounds in 2x2 ribbing.

Cast off loosely in pattern. Weave in all ends.

If desired, use a sewing machine to sew elastic to the inside of the waistband. 

Note: This is not a vital element, but the final result is smoother than if you simply knit the wrapped stitches. 

Name: Cozy Cozy 

Design: mine-ish, with the helpful advice of Elizabeth Zimmermann

Materials: Berroco Vintage Storm, Berroco Vintage Cast Iron and what is probably Cascade 220 Christmas Red

Finished: Sept 12, 2017

Fancy that! Finished with September before the month is even half over! These were a fairly quick knit; less knitting than a sweater. I think I may collect my worsted scraps for a while and make a pair of crazy striped pants for Munchkin or Twinkle.

Ring-around-the-rosie. I obviously spent a great deal of time coordinating their outfits.
P.S. Twinkle is wearing two pairs of pajama pants, per his favorite things.

Knitting Through the Year - August

The August chapter of Knitter's Almanac was written while the author and her husband were water-camping in the Canadian north woods. She describes her troubles thus:

As soon as the poor but determined creature sits itself down on a boat-cushion against a convenient rock, grabs note-book and pen ostentatiously, assumes an absorbed scowl, and writes just one sentence, gentle questions come wafting over the cool sunny air: Wouldn't you feel more comfortable with your boots off? Do you remember if we brought the soap? Where did we put the soap? Do you remember if I brought my fish-mouth-holder-opener? Shall we move on somewhere else? And of course that hardy perennial: Isn't it time for a little something to eat? - Elizabeth Zimmermann, Knitter's Almanac 

Being full, as it is, of adventures such as canoe trips, the knitting projects for August are appropriately compact and whimsical. EZ suggests that hand knit Christmas ornaments are an excellent use of the little scraps time one has on one's hands in August. She has patterns for an angel, a Christmas tree, a star and a net bag for placing a fresh orange or apple in to hang on the tree.

Although the idea of decorating a tree with fresh fruit has a charming rustic simplicity to it, I know that the moment one of my beloved bottomless pits is alone in the living room at Christmas time, hunger would strike and they would be balancing on the armrests of chairs trying to reach one of the Christmas tree apples. I decided to focus on stars.

This pattern is very simple: cast on a multiple of 5 (she suggests 55) and knit in garter stitch, decreasing 2 stitches (knit 3 together) at 5 points on each row. When you have 15 stitches cut the yarn, leaving a generous tail, pull the tail through the 15 stitches, pull tight, fasten off, and sew up the small seam necessary to make it a star. Sounds simple, yes? It is.

I think this would be a great way to use scraps of yarn that are really too small to make a small hat or mitten with but are too pretty or sentimental to get rid of or perhaps (like me) you are just too stingy to ever throw away "perfectly good yarn." Also, I am generally eager to find unbreakable Christmas ornaments, as sword fights are likely to break out in our living room at any moment. These are about as unbreakable as you get! You could also knit several and make a lovely mobile or garland for a baby's room.

Warm as Toast

I believe that cowls are naturally superior to scarves when attempting to keep a young child warm in cold weather.

Being a tube of soft knitting that fits over the head and sits around the neck, there are no long ends that can get caught or trampled on or yanked by a sibling. A mother is guaranteed, having put a cowl on a child, that their neck will stay covered as long as the cowl remains, which cannot be guaranteed with a scarf, which easily becomes untied or twisted or tightened, exposing skin to the elements. And lastly, a cowl requires less than a third of the knitting necessary to produce a scarf, making it a thrifty choice in both time and materials.

(There are very large cowls, of course, designed to be doubled or tripled around the neck, or very wide ones that produce a fashionable bunched effect that would be actually larger than a traditional scarf, but this cowl is a simple one, designed to be only one layer, imminently suitable for keeping a young child who lives in the not too arctic state of Tennessee, warm in winter.)

Mei-Mei may have a future as a knitwear model.

I designed this cowl to be very simple, suitable for beginners. It uses a type of waffle stitch, which is one of my favorite knit/purl stitches. I knit it using the back-and-forth method because I knit faster using straight needles, but the pattern is actually simpler if knit in the round, as the pattern uses an odd number of rows. I have put both here so that you can use your favorite method. This pattern uses approximately 100 yards of DK weight yarn. I recommend that you use a yarn that does not contain more than 50% acrylic or plant-based fibers. The more acrylic or plant-based fibers in a yarn, the less stretchy and less warm it will be

Warm as Toast

approx 100 yards DK weight yarn

US 5 knitting needles, either straight or circular as you prefer

a darning needle 

Back-and-forth directions

Using straights, cast on 102 st, loosely.

Rows 1-4: K

Row 5: P

Pattern:

Row 1: (Right Side) K2, (P2 K2) to the end of the row.

Row 2: P

Row 3: K2, (P2 K2) to the end of the row.

Row 4: P

Row 5: K

Row 6: P2, (K2 P2) to the end of the row.

Row 7: K

Row 8: P2, (K2 P2) to the end of the row.

Row 9: K

Row 10: P

Repeat this pattern 3 times. (40 rows)

Repeat the first 5 rows.

Knit 3 rows.

Cast off loosely, knitwise. Break the yarn, leaving a tail, and pull through.

Sew the selvage edges together using mattress stitch. 

Weave in ends. Block gently.

It can do double duty as a hat/earwarmer in a pinch.

In the round directions

Using circular knitting needles, cast on 100 st in the round.

Round 1: P

Round 2: K

Round 3: P

Rounds 4-5: K

Pattern

Round 1: K2, (P2, K2) to the end of the round.

Round 2: K

Round 3: K2 (P2, K2) to the end of the round.

Rounds 4-5: K

Repeat this pattern 8 times. (45 rounds)

Round 1: P

Round 2: K

Round 3: P

Round 4: Cast off loosely knitwise. Break the yarn, leaving a tail, and pull through.

Weave in all ends. Block gently. 

K= knit

P= purl 

This perfectly fits my daughter, who is four. However, it is a naturally stretchy stitch and the cowl fits over an adult's head also. If knitting for an adult, I would add an additional 10-20 rows of the waffle pattern, as adults' necks are longer.

Title: Warm as Toast

Design: Mine!

Materials: A lovely lavender yarn that I know includes alpaca but for which I have long lost the labels. It might be 100% alpaca or it might be a blend.

Finished: August  28, 2017

We can't wait for winter, how about you? 

Knitting Through the Year - July

When you set out on the annual family trip naturally you have to take your knitting; something has to keep you sane in face of the possibly quite ferocious situations you will be up against in the next two weeks. Try a shawl. Do not scoff; it is perfect travel knitting. A round shawl, in fine wool, on a circular needle, is my invariable companion when space is limited, waiting-around probable, and events uncertain. ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann, Knitter's Almanac 

It just so happened that our epic camping trip (epic for its distance, rather than its length) was scheduled for July. Naturally I went yarn hunting so that I could take this project with me as EZ recommends. However, my quest for "fine wool" was a little more fraught than hers. I wanted to buy some from a local store because I had left things a bit late and I couldn't be sure that an online company's shipping would be fast enough. I went to Joann Fabric where I am so well known that if I get a haircut, the employees compliment me on it and vice versa. Joann's has a respectable yarn department, though not exemplary. By which I mean that they have yarn that contains actual wool, with a small but solid selection in wool, wool-blends, and cotton. They also have more acrylic than all the other types of yarn combined, but I am mostly willing to overlook that. However, on this occasion, I came up empty. I was looking for a fingering weight yarn, which is the weight used most commonly for socks and all their selections were striped, which looks charming on socks and would very strange indeed on a shawl. Shawls get progressively bigger from their starting points; socks do not.

The next day Mei-Mei was in need of an adventure, so I carted her off to Genuine Purl, a shop in Chattanooga that has delightful yarns. However, no solid fingering weight anywhere at all. I had no idea this would be such a difficult thing to find. The only lace weight (smaller than fingering weight) yarn they had was extremely fine, and my goal for this shawl was that it would be actually useful for keeping me warm in winter, not just a thing of delicate beauty. Besides which, you cannot knit as quickly with very fine yarn, which makes me impatient. It seemed, then that the only choice was to go up, which I did reluctantly, because it felt like I was straying rather far from EZ's instructions. But I found some Berroco Vintage DK yarn, which is a good basic yarn, very economically priced, particularly for Genuine Purl, which tends towards the gorgeous and expensive.

I can't believe I have talked so long about picking out a yarn. I hope you're still reading.

EZ's circular shawl is fascinatingly simple. Starting with 9 stitches in a circular cast-on, you follow the theory of pi, "the geometry of the circle hinging on the mysterious relationship of the circumference of a circle to its radius. A circle will double its circumference in infinitely themselves-doubling distances, or in knitters' terms, the distance between the increase rounds, in which you double the number of stitches, goes 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, and so on ..." 

Get it? The first round has 9 stitches, then you double the number of stitches by increasing between each stitch and you have 18 stitches. Then you knit 3 rounds and then an increase round, and you now have 36 stitches, and so on.

There are amazing things that you can do with lace patterns with a circular shawl, and many have done so. Go look at this one, or this one, or this one. They are works of art created from sticks and string. Which is lovely, but ... not what I was looking for. A circle is perfect for creating a beautiful design, but for wearing? I am not sold. I am convinced that I would look like a granny in her rocking chair before the fire, wearing a circular shawl. I could be wrong, but on a project this large, I was disinclined to take chances. I decided, instead, to do a half-circle shawl, still using the pi principles laid out by EZ. In addition to being more wearable, a half-circle, it seemed to me, would take half the time of a whole circle.

I trudged through miles and miles of plain stockinette, wondering on occasion if I was knitting a maxi dress, or perhaps a table cloth. When I finally got to the end, I took EZ's advice to knit a sideways lace border. The edge of a circular shawl must be very very stretchable. In knitting a lace border you cast on more stitches for your border, which you knit back and forth on the border and every other row you knit one stitch from the shawl and one stitch from the border together. It takes an AGE. But it makes a nicely stretchy edge and it's a pretty way to finish off a plain shawl.

You are a very loyal and patient reader, to listen to me for so long, so I shall reward you with pictures. It starts out looking rather insignificant ...

How is this ever going to be a half-circle?

... and then you block it, by wetting it with warm water and pinning it flat, and magically, it turns into something very worthwhile.

Do you see the pi?

Peculiarly, I found it extremely difficult to block this into a perfect half circle. It seems as though the edges are much more willing to stretch than the body. After blocking, I decided to put a garter stitch border on the straight edge because it was wanting to curl. This meant that afterwards I needed to block just the top edge when I was finished, and it being late in the day in July, I naturally decided that it made the most sense to block it outside, on couch cushions. Otherwise, I would have had a large, damp shawl taking up the half the bed for the next several hours.

What? Don't YOU have knitwear drying on your lawn? On couch cushions? In the middle of summer?

Here I am wearing it in the traditional manner ...

... and here I am wearing it in the blanket-as-scarf style.

I think I will get a lot of use out of it, come wintertime.

Someday, when I am very rich and have large walls to fill with art, I want to knit a lace circular shawl and frame it. At the moment, a 72" piece of art would take up rather too much room.

Knitting Through the Year - June

I will come out flat-footed and personally disapprove of crocheted borders on knitted cardigans, but without in any way trying to convert those who crochet expertly and with pleasure. May their paths run smooth. ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac, June 

I adore Elizabeth Zimmermann. She is more or less the patron saint of American knitting and in my head? We are best friends. Among other delightful books about knitting, she wrote Knitter's Almanac. The book is full of wonderful quips and knitting ideas and patterns that suit the natural pace of each month. I am going to follow along for the whole year. Yes, normally these sort of one-year resolutions happen at New Year's, but December-January is a mad, mad time and I'm usually doing well just to stay afloat, much less coming up with grand plans.

June's project is "a bevy of hats," very suitable for warm weather knitting.

From left to right: a tri-corner tam, a ganomy hat, and a Maltese fisherman's hat.

I grabbed whatever yarn was either convenient or cheap, dug up needles that would accommodate the yarn, and dove in. I paid no attention at all to the gauges recommended, and thus I have an adult large, a 6 month size, and a toddler's hat. Whoops.

The tri-corner tam, regrettably, was made from a cheap acrylic from Walmart that reinforced every prejudice I have against acrylic. Practically before it was finished it was looking fuzzy and worn. The hat isn't warm and doesn't feel great to wear. It feels like a project rather than a piece of clothing. However, my kids love the color and it is fun and dramatic to wear. I left out one round of increases, so the pattern calls for even more size and drama.

The ganomy hat is knit from good old Cascade 220, which made it turn out quite small. The pattern calls for bulkier yarn. Looking at it, it seems like an odd shape, but I tried it on my cousin's son and it's a very ergonomic shape. Elizabeth Zimmermann also has the charming idea that one could put a ping-pong ball or a handful of wool scraps into the end of the hat and wrap a piece of yarn tightly just below it, creating a fun bobble top.

The Maltese fisherman's hat came as a surprise. It is so cleverly designed, and in the picture shown in the book, you can't see how neatly the back of it fits to the back of the head. The ear flaps are wonderfully thick and warm. As I made it, it is just a touch small for my kids, which is a shame because they love it and I think it makes Mei-Mei look like a Mongolian warrior. (I know the pictures make it look like a typical toboggan hat, but it's very helmet-y.) I changed the pattern so that there were 4 ridges of garter-stitch above the forehead instead of the 2 the pattern calls for, because I like 1" borders better than 1/2" borders. I will definitely be making more before winter.

Aaaaand the modeling session ends with a wrestling match.

Too Much to Tackle?

My Works in Progress are getting out of control.

That slight echo you just heard was 'Stache shouting "Amen!" He's been a great sport, but ... given the opportunity to heave a beleaguered sigh - he will heave a beleaguered sigh.

Things on the radar:
(Note: My storage cubes are stuffed with projects that have fallen off said radar. I have a very good track record for finishing projects ... eventually. The stuff in storage will probably get done, but it might take a few years.)

1. Linen quilt.

Last week I ran a nicely appointed little sweatshop making my summer clothes, which are all about LINEN. I can't wait to show you, but Munchkin hasn't quite mastered the camera and I'm always knee deep in supper preparations when 'Stache comes home. But anyway, I took the scraps that were leftover and made a cute little modern quilt.
Prospects: Dim. This one's actually teetering on the edge of the radar. I don't have a baby in mind for it, so my motivation is struggling. (If anyone wants to buy this one, though, I'm pretty sure the motivation would perk right back up!)

2. Mei-Mei's Liberty toboggan. 

My sister gave me Liberty yarn for my birthday, and I knit a little vest for Mei-Mei and made this toboggan from the leftovers. This is how you wake up one morning with a huge stash: You get yarn for a vest, and you have a nice bit left over, so you make a toboggan (aka ski cap, aka touke, aka beanie), but even though you had gobs, way too much to toss, you don't have enough, so you need to buy more, but then you have leftovers from that ...
Prospects: I love love love this yarn, because it's soft and wonderful and wool (down with acrylics!) and because it's New Mexico colors, which always remind me of 'Stache, which is a little funny because he isn't from New Mexico; his grandmother was. So to see this project is to be inspired to finish it, but I will have to go buy yarn to do it. And I feel guilty buying yarn when I have so many many things to finish.

3. Justin's sweater. 
This is my brother-in-law's Christmas sweater. Clearly still in the planning phase. I've done my swatch and I've gotten the measurements from my sister, so I need to sit down and do the math to design the sweater.
Prospects: Reasonably sunny. Definitely going to be done by Christmas. (Knock on wood.) The plan is to take it to the beach, where I will actually see my brother-in-law, which should be fairly motivating.

4. Cushion for boys' room.

I have a beautiful vision for the boy's room which involves making a window seat out of a metal trunk, so I want to sew a cushion for the top of it. Clearly I have some work to do.
Prospects: I really want to finish the boy's room, so I'm very motivated, but I still need foam and I'm hesitant to make the cushion cover without the stuffing and Joann's trips are a little arduous with the boys, so it might be a bit before I manage to buy the foam.

5. Slipcover for boys' room. 
The other major part still lacking from the vision for the boy's room is a slipcover for a chair we're moving in there. This chair has been through the wars: we got it several years ago off of the sidewalk when our neighbors moved, and it is definitely due for a slipcover. I have found fabric I'm crazy about but haven't bought it yet.
Prospects: Again, very motivated, but you need lots and lots of fabric for a slipcover and upholstery fabric isn't cheap, so this might need to wait until next month's paycheck hits. However, I should do the math and check if Memorial Day sales make it doable. Also: making a slipcover = lotsa work. Might be a long project even once I have the fabric.

6. Molly's quilt. 
Once upon a time, my sweet sister got married (to Justin, of Christmas sweater fame) and I made her a quilt top using heirloom quilt squares that belonged to our grandmother. I promised I would hand quilt it and ... I have not. And now, with two kids, soon to be three, I think I've resigned myself to the fact that it just isn't going to happen. I think I need to unpick the handquilting I've done and machine quilt it.
Prospects: Still going to be hard to manage. I don't have a space to lay the quilt out to rebaste the backing, so I have to find a space somewhere else I can commandeer. Also, I'm nervous because this is a really special quilt, and I'm something of a machine quilting newbie.

7. Mosaic table. 

This project, for which I saved broken plates for 7 and a half years, is one I'm pretty excited about.
Prospects: Good. It's standing on our porch, impeding traffic, which is fairly motivating. Breaking plates with the tile nippers is simple, though hard on the hands. I hope to have it done soon.

8. Twinkle's hat 

I'm making this from a really cool Noro yarn that is like a very thin roving. Think knitting with raw wool instead of spun yarn.The knitted fabric is very fluffy and warm. I'd like to make Twinkle a new toboggan and mittens for Christmas.
Prospects: Right now I'm on fire for finishing, but I've only just started. Also, the weight of the whole list is making me wonder if I should work on something else just to get something off the list.

9. 4 (count them, FOUR) Christmas gift bags. 

I'm making reusable gift bags out of the leftovers of another quilting project. I love these bags and reusable gift bags are great when you have inquisitive toddlers who can unwrap a present in a New York minute but can't manage knots yet.
Prospects: I've done all the piecing, which is the biggest part, but I still have to iron on interfacing, make linings, make drawstring cords and assemble the bags. Right now the bags are still on the radar but we're taking a break.

10.  Hedgehog mittens.
I am making Munchkin hedgehog mittens for Christmas. I love love love the way these are going to look (pattern coming soon!) and I love everything hedgehog-related, but I am seriously running out of steam doing the prickles. They take an AGE.
Prospects: Eh. Definitely done by Christmas, but motivation is pretty low right now. Also, they appear to be missing.

11. 100 Wishes Quilt.

In northern China, which is where Mei-Mei is from, they have a lovely tradition where when a couple is expecting a baby, they collect pieces of fabric from 100 of their family and friends and make a quilt. Then when they wrap their baby in the quilt, it's as if they are wrapping their baby in the well wishes of all their family and friends.
Prospects: We're still collecting and I hope to have all the pieces by the end of June.

So, if you know us and love us and want to participate in this wonderful project, send us a piece of fabric or clothing that at least 9"x9". Any kind, any color. Comment or message me if you need our address. We will think about you every time we see it! 

Hey, Handsome!

I'm going to be honest. I don't have one of my usual wordy, clever and funny posts for you today. Today, it's pretty much about bragging.

You see, Christmas before last, I knit a sweater. It was a really handsome sweater. It was for my brother, who is a really handsome guy. And last week, this sweater and this brother were both at my house, and so I got a photo ... or two.

Libby, what do you want me to DO?

Staring pensively off into space

Trying not to laugh

Failing not to laugh

Am I going to be late? 

Are you seriously still taking pictures?

Libby, you're ridiculous.

Notes on the sweater: Knit from Vintage yarn* in gray and navy, based on this picture** but using Elizabeth Zimmermann's method for round yoke sweaters found in this book. (Although that link is for the new and improved edition and mine is the old and still awesome edition.) I made a wild guess of how much yarn to buy and ended up with enough extra to make a sweater for Munchkin.

*My second-favorite all-purpose yarn. Highly recommend. 

**Could we take a moment to discuss how much more attractive and friendly my brother is than that sweater model in the link? And how much more attractive his collar is than the collar on the model's sweater? What were they thinking?