Tightening purls

While working on the lace party scarf, I noticed after I switched to continental that my purled rows were looser than the knit rows. I didn't bother looking up and experimenting with various techniques so it's a good thing that today I saw a thread on Ravelry where someone else was having the same problem. Suggestions include using interchangeable circulars and using a smaller needle on the purl row; tightening the tension for the purl row; knitting backwards instead of purling; use combination knitting by wrapping the yarn the wrong way on purls and knitting into the back loop on knits.

Combination knitting sounds like it might get confusing in a complicated pattern...but then again...it probably wouldn't be that much more difficult. All you would have to do is look at the legs and make sure you always knit/purl into the front leg.

Knitting backwards is something I still want to learn to do proficiently.

Star Blanket

This is my first stashbusting project. I'm making the Chromium Star Blanket out of my various skeins of Lion Brand Homespun. It's crocheted so it's slightly annoying because the texture of the yarn makes it difficult to see stitches. This star is already turning out totally cute so I'm feeling good about how this is going to turn out. Plus, 3 out of 3 people I asked like this blanket over the other ones I was considering.

3/31/08 update: Here's a pic of my star blanket so far!! :D

Stash busting project ideas

I didn't want to make any clothing items because most of the yarn I have stashed is not so great for wearing. It's cheap big box store stuff, and I don't have enough of any one nicer yarn to make a garment. So, the alternative then is to make home decorative items. I don't know why but I've been feeling big on home decor lately. A while ago I bought the book, Simple Sewing (by Lotta Jansdotter) because I liked the simplistic, contemporary style of the designs and fabrics in it. Even if I don't specifically use the patterns, it's a good source of inspiration. I'm actually planning to make the wall hanging pocket organizer. However, that means I need to actually buy some cloth, so it won't really be conducive to reducing my stash.

While using the Ravelry pattern browser, I came up with a few good ideas for potential projects. The problem is that it needs to be something on the large side, but should not be in only 1-2 colors. First of all, because I probably don't have enough of any one color to make a large project with, second some of the yarns I have would not look good by themselves. For example, I have several skeins of Lion Brand Homespun in a solid forest green. I have a couple skeins in a heathered teal. I think there's more in a lighter heathered color too.

While the yarns in my stash come in many colors, I did not consider coordination when choosing colors. Thus, a lot of the yarns would not really go together well in many instances. Luckily, while looking at patterns I saw some creative color solutions.

In terms of project types, I looked mostly at blankets/afghans, rugs, & pillows. Quilt-inspired patterns seem to provide the best color combination solutions. Examples would be log cabin-style blankets, modern deco-style blankets, and various geometric pattern repetitions. Although I did not specifically find a plaid design I liked, I saw one that inspired me to use the Tartan Designer web tool to design my own plaid considering my color and yardage limitations. I would get a rough idea of how the resulting color combinations would look before I even cast on!

Busting through the Stash

Using up the yarn in my stash is something I need to do before I can seriously justify buying more things. I'm looking for ideas on Ravelry. I would do something like use extra large needles and knit a bulky blanket with multiple strands....but I think the end result would drive Lawrence batty. He'd toss it out before I'd get a chance to use it. I'm not sure I want to do a project where I'm not sure I'd have enough yarn...but that may be my only opportunity to create something worth keeping.

Nearly completed socks & Scarf (finally)

Last night I went out with Lawrence to a cafe where he and his cousins played cards together. While they played cards, I finished up my Zephyr socks, painstakingly undoing the plies and weaving each ply in separately. Thats 3 strands x 2 ends x 2 socks = 12 ends to weave in. At least....they're done! They do still need to be soaked & blocked for better photos, but that should be easy.

I was also able to do many more rows of the party lace scarf, my first attempt at lace. Then I figured it was long enough and I bound it off. It definitely needs to be blocked. I'm not sure whether to do it before or after blocking, but I was also going to thread some orange seed beads on orange sewing thread and weave it in. Then, I can save it for Christmas to give to my mom. >:)

Knitting Rewards as Incentives

I just read about the idea on Ravelry. You set a goal for yourself, and every time you get a step further to that goal, you reward yourself with some yarn. I think that's an awesome idea! I've got so many projects I want to start up, but I already have so much yarn. In the mean time I can bust what I have. Right now I'm trying to lose weight, so maybe at each milestone (10 lbs lost?) I can reward myself with enough yarn for a big project!

I started at 170 lbs....ugh. I am currently hovering around 166 lbs since starting the "Biggest Loser" contest at my work. When I reach 160 lbs. I can invest in a swift & winder system, be that an actual swift & winder or a K'Nex/TinkerToys set. At 150 lbs., I'll go all out and indulge myself in some nice yarn for a sweater. I don't know if I can bring myself to spend over $100 on one sweater, but it will be tempting. Oh, what the hell. What kind of reward would it be if I limit myself?? Some Tilli Tomas for the Silken Cowl Tank, or the Hourglass Jacket would be absolutely gorgeous. Since I've got so much stuff, I could make it also an alternative goal to sell it. Once I sell $100's worth, I'll let myself spend money on yarn for a sweater.

Queue

With so many things in my queue, so many different yarns I need to make these, and so many yarns already in my stash...I think I need to write up some software to match the 2 together. Lawrence was saying I should probably get rid of some of my yarn before I go out and buy a whole bunch more. He's right, I know. So much of the yarn I have was impulsively bought and there isn't enough of any one of them to do a large project. I need some stash busting ideas too. I think Ravelry has some groups where I can look for stash busting projects! Eh, that means I'll need to probably go buy another set of large knitting needles.

- Deep V Argyle Vest
- Endpaper Mitts
- Giselle
- Hourglass Jacket
- DNA model
- FSM plush
- WoW-themed, horde symbol? BElf swirls?
- Dahlia
- Celestine
- Rambling Rose Jacket
- Lace
-- Scheherazade
-- Hanami Stole
-- Heere be Dragone
- from Sensual Knits
-- Vixen Camisole
-- Demeter Camisole
-- Pink Sundae Camisole
-- Silken Cowl Tank
-- Lace Panel Twin Set
-- Sayuri Sweater
-- Transparency Sweater
-- Multicplicity Sweater
-- Silky Neglige

Hourglass Jacket

It's out! The Hourglass Jacket is a fitted jacket made using broomstick crochet, a crochet lace technique that uses a 'broomstick' (or super large knitting needle) and a crochet hook to make these cool looking open loops. I must add this to my 'to make' list. Maybe it can be a stash busting project.

http://www.stitchdiva.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SDS-044


(image from the StitchDiva website, it's not mine)

Reorganization

It feels like it's time again to get organized!

Budget:
- Yarn swift
- Ball winder
- Kitchen scale
- Yarn for new projects (sweaters)
- Books: Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters
- Hairpin crochet lace tools
- giant needles (for large-sized knitting & broomstick crochet)
- floor mats for blocking
- giant hooks (for large-sized crocheting of blankets)

Tools:
- Categorize stash yarns
- Organize tools
- Make a needle holder pouch
- Add yarn photos on Ravelry
- Update needle information on Ravelry

Projects:
- Scarf/belt holder (crochet with yarn around brass rings)
- Blue bunny slippers for Cameron
- Hemlock Ring blanket (finish putting in life line and rip back to fix mistake, finish more rounds, and then bind off)
- Frog & re-knit Vogon socks
- Finish 2nd Zephyr sock
- Finish bulky Clapotis
- Finish 1 Womb
- Finish Ela's scarf

Future:
- Sayuri Sweater
- Deep V Argyle Vest
- Endpaper Mitts
- Pink Sundae Camisole
- DNA model
- FSM plush
- WoW-themed, horde symbol? BElf swirls?

Broomstick Lace (Crochet)

I've been wanting to try this technique. There are some awesome patterns and instructions on the Stitch Diva website including a new pattern for a great looking broomstick lace top that's coming out soon.

Hemlock Ring Blanket progress

After going through 3 (4?) balls of Nashua Creative Focus Worsted, I was ready to bind off. Unfortunately I didn't have enough yarn left at the end of the last repeat...I only got to bind off 1/8 of the way around. The blanket was then put on hold as I needed to obtain another ball of the yarn. I finally had the chance to go to Unwind in Burbank and I bought the yarn (along with the Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome and the latest Interweave Knits).

I spit-spliced the yarn ends together (wow that stuff works). However, part of the way through the round, my count was off. The feather and fan pattern that is the outside of the doily pattern is basically a single round of YOs, K2togs, and SSKs followed by 4 rounds of straight knitting. I match the increases and decreases with the previous round of increases/decreases. That is, the point at which the left-leaning & right-leaning decreases meet should line up for every round of increases/decreases for the pattern to come out radially symmetrical. So, looking more closely, I noticed I made a mistake several rounds down in the last round of increases/decreases.

I haven't hashed out what needs to be done to fix the mistake, so I have yet again put the blanket on hold while I have easier, quicker, more portable projects to finish (socks). However, I may actually pick it up again this weekend. On the Zephy socks I made a mistake that I did not find until several rounds after the fact. It involved a YO, and I was able to drop the stitches and knit it back up (not even with a crochet hook) and I fixed it no problem. Given that the Zephyr socks contain many rounds of moving YOs and decreases, the blanket should be cake, right? :D

Socks!

I've been on a sock knitting binge ever since that first pair of Hedera socks. I can totally understand the craze over sock knitting now.

• You can't stop at just one pair of socks, you've got to have several pairs of socks (with the ultimately goal of course of replacing all your mass-produced socks)
• Sock yarns come in SO many different beautiful colors and patterns. You've got plain solids, semi-solids, gradiented (slow color changes), variegated (jumbled colors), self-striping, self-patterning, brights, darks, contrasting colors, harmonizing colors.
• They're small and portable from start to finish. Even with 2 socks at once, it's a perfect project to carry everywhere. I even worked on them while walking.
• So many variations in techniques. You can do them on double-pointed needles, 2 circular needles, or 1 long circular (Magic Loop). You can do them one at a time, 2 at a time side-by-side, or 2 at a time one-inside-the -other. You can knit them from the cuff down or from the toe up. There's various techniques for shaping the toes, the heel, the gusset.
• They can also incorporate various other knitting techniques like lace, cables, entrelac, & colorwork.
• You can shape them to fit your feet, and once you've done enough you should be familiar with how to size them for your feet. They knit up much faster than a sweater too, so there's not so much to lose by experimenting.

These are the Hedera socks made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. They may be a tad tight on my feet because they were knit on size 0 circulars. These socks were knit from the cuff down, and ended up being a good size for my feet. I was afraid of not having enough yarn so I made the leg short than the pattern called for. I ended up having a bunch of yarn left over.

These next socks are 'Vog On socks. These were made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK on size 2 needles. The pattern came with instructions for both cuff down and toe up versions, so I went ahead and did the toe up version. I also did these 2 at a time on one circular. Unfortunately, these ended up being too big for my feet! Since I worked on these at work and while walking, by the time I realized they were too big, I was already done with the heel and did not want to bother frogging back. There's probably a good inch in the length of the foot that could be taken off for it to properly fit my foot. They fit Lawrence's size 11 feet perfectly. Too bad wool irritates his skin.

This next photo is of the Zephyr Socks that I'm working on. This is using Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome on size 2 circulars. I'm doing it only 1 sock at a time and it's cuff down, as you can tell by the picture. Sockittome has nylon in it, unlike the Supersock which is 100% merino wool. I can already tell that I should have used a stretchier cast-on. Instead of 4 pattern repeats for the leg portion, I only made 3 repeats so the top of the sock doesn't have to ride too far up my thick calves.


I think most people block their socks, but I haven't bothered for any of mine. I don't want to spend to much on sock blockers so I'll probably look up a way to make my own. I remember seeing instructions on how to bend wire hangers into the right shape. These socks feel rather loose, but maybe having nylon fiber will help keep them more durable. We shall see. Other things on my to-get list include wool wash so I can properly wash these socks and sandals so I can wear these socks at home without worrying about wearing holes in them.