Flower Power

I just adore this wee hat that will be a Welcome to the World gift for my newest niece, who is expected to arrive around Christmastime.  This pattern is called the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap (see Ravelry for tons of photos, and the pattern is here).  This pattern appeared after my own boys were babies, or I would have been all over it then.  I love the vintage feel.  Not vintage.  Maybe “classic” is better.

I used some Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in color “Spring Tickle” left over from these socks:

I really like Dream in Color Smooshy, especially these early colorways with no pooling.  Spring Tickle is my absolute favorite.  I may need to buy myself another skein to have in reserve!

I was convinced to use a semi-solid yarn and inspired to add a flower by this version. 

The hat’s total weight is only 24 grams, even with the yarn-hungry crochet flower and long (16”) i-cord ties.  I still have 30 grams of Smooshy left, so I could whip out another one!

There are at least a thousand patterns out there for crocheted flowers.  Here’s the video I used to make mine:

I have to say, I really enjoying crocheting this little flower.  But there is something about the way I hold a crochet hook that immediately makes my wrists hurt.  If I were to seriously take up the hook, I would need to address that right away.

I won!

I won some free yarn last week – what fun! 

I’ve been listening to the Knit Picks podcast ever since it began back in April 2007.  I love the interviews with designers, I love hearing about how yarn is created, I love hearing what people do with various techniques, I love the book reviews.  It’s a good podcast, and that’s why I keep listening.  After the 100th episode, Kelley Petkun (host and owner of Knit Picks) introduced some new segments to involve her listeners more.  One of them is a trivia contest.  I enter this occasionally, and this time I won!

The question was: “Who created the SSK decrease and made the technique popular?” (or something to that effect).  The answer is Barbara Walker, which I learned at the Luminary Panel at Sock Summit (the crowd gave Barbara a standing ovation when this fun detail came out).  I sent in the answer and was chosen in the random drawing.  The winner was announced in episode 122.  I got to select 2 free skeins of Stroll Handpaint.  I picked colorways Lullaby (the blue one) and Make Believe:

I haven’t knit with any of the Knit Picks handpaints yet.  Will they sent up to my Felici standard?  Hmmmm.  Felici sets a pretty high bar.  The yarn feels very soft, though.  The hand reminds me of one of my new favorites, Cascade Heritage, so my hopes are high.

We’ll find out.  Expect a full report in a future post.

Thanks, Kelley and Knit Picks!  It’s sooooo much fun to win something, and winning yarn is the BEST!

More ornaments (Kristin Nicholas-style)

Now we’re getting serious.  Kristin Nicholas has posted a free ornament pattern on her blog – there is a crochet version and a knit version:

This reminds me that I still haven’t gotten around to making Kristin’s 2008 ornaments, which I liked very much:

The 2008 version is felted.  Looks like the 2009 version is just knitted (or crocheted) and then glued to cardstock to make it stiffer.

Boy 1 is home sick today with a fever.  I wonder if I could convince him to try some embroidery on an ornament if I knit the base part?

In case YOU get the fever (Christmas ornament fever, that is!), here is more to take off the edge (just previous posts, all collected in one place):

• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-knitted-christmas-ornaments.html
• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-ornaments.html
• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2008/12/ornaments-again.html
• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2009/01/deck-balls.html
• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2008/09/only-107-days-until-christmas.html

Ana-ana-anastasia!

Katie’s birthday socks are done – she will be 4 next month. Hmmm, maybe I should have made her 4 socks instead of 3.  Then again, that might be a bad precedent.  Sweet 16 would be quite a commitment!

I started this pair with a single, 50-gram skein of Koigu (pictured in the middle) from my stash, thinking it would be no trouble to get a 4-year-old girl’s pair of socks out of it.  WRONG!  I ran out of yarn at the heel of sock #2.  So… I grabbed other leftover sock yarn and made socks using the same pattern out of other colorways.  The pastel yarn on the left is left over from Lily’s 2nd birthday socks, and the brighter yarn on the right is left over from Signe’s 11th birthday socks.  Both of those were knit back in 2004.

Hopefully Kristina can make a trio of mismatched socks really fun for Katie.  Help a knitter out.  Ham it up!

Also in sock knitting news, I found a new sock knitting project bag this weekend.  This cicada bag was made my Hiroko Rubin in Fairfield, PA.  Isn’t it cute?

More knitted Christmas ornaments!

Ahhh, ‘tis the season to begin knitting Christmas ornaments again.  I got such a good start last winter knitting those Christmas balls (Deck the Balls pattern from Kalamazoo Knits).My plan was to work on these throughout the year so that I would have a big basket full by Christmas 2009.  So far my basket only has 11 balls in it, but that’s a start, eh?

The appearance of this year’s Minutia patterns (free from Berroco) reminds me that it’s time to accelerate the Christmas knitting.

There are some cute ones here!

Previous posts about Christmas ornament knitting:

• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-ornaments.html
• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2008/12/ornaments-again.html
• http://tt820.blogspot.com/2009/01/deck-balls.html

Shepherd Camp

Hey everyone – enter to win a week of Shepherd Camp at Juniper Moon Farm!  (This farm was previously known as Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm, and it’s recently moved to Virginia.)  We all know someone who wants to farm alpaca someday… this could be a very enlightening experience for her.

In knitting news, I’ve selected hat patterns for my nieces (ages 2 and to be born probably on 12/22/09) and need to get knitting as they are Christmas gifts.  Baby Kate will get the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap (this Nordic thing is getting serious, no?), and Allie will get Piggle.  (K, Piggle could be good for Katie, too!)

Bicycle, bicycle!

Look what fell into my lap last week!  Last Saturday, the boys and I drove over to Kris’s house to pick her up so we could go explore an alpaca farm together, and this bicycle was parked by her driveway.  I popped out to admire it.  Long story short, they wanted to give it away, and I was there with a minivan.  It’s mine now!

It needs work.  The tires are flat (if not punctured) so she’ll need new tubes and/or tires, the chain looks pretty rusty, and there are little rust spots all over the chrome … but I just know she’s a diamond in the rough.  How can you resist something called “Skylark” that has stars on it? I’m not sure how old this bike is, but it has a real, government-issued license plate on it from Lower Paxton Township, PA (near Harrisburg): The seat does not look squishy and comfy, but I adore this teal color: Now I need to do some reading about what kind of bike this is, and how to fix it up.  I’m hoping that I can do at least some of it myself.  There is a great bike shop in town and I can get help there when I’m over my head.  Come spring, I hope you see me toodling around town on this Skylark cruiser.

Fall into a new scarf

I’m not a prolific scarf knitter, but I tend to get the itch about once a year.  It’s that time.  The bulk of the leaves have fallen from the trees.  Dusk is falling when I leave work at 5 pm.  The days are still warm, but it can be 40 degrees when I leave home in the morning. 

Scarf weather. I got both this yarn and pattern at the Briar Rose Fibers booth at Sock Summit back in August.  The yarn is Briar Rose Glory Days, a DK weight Blue Face Leicester.  Briar Rose yarns don’t have colorways – each skein is unique.  Many of them are quite large, too, so that you have enough for your project – this skein is 1000 yards/16 oz.  (I wish now that I’d taken a picture of one of those man-sized hanks we saw at the booth – truly impressive!)  This particular yarn seemed moody and contemplative, perfect for late fall.

I’m using Anne Hanson’s (Knitspot) pattern Butternut Scarf.  The pattern calls for a laceweight yarn and this is much heavier, so I reduced the number of pattern repeats from 4 to 2. 

The back of the scarf is different but no less attractive, in my book.  I hate scarves that only look good on one side.  You can always tell in photographs when a scarf has been styled to only show one side.  Bleh!  Real scarves don’t behave like that!  My scarves don’t have to be identical on both sides, but they do need to be attractive on both sides.  Here’s how the back is shaping up: This charted pattern is a 24-row repeat and requires paying attention on each row (no easy purl-back lace) so I’ve been knitting on it exclusively at home.  I need to step up the pace if I’m going to wear it this fall, though!

A new basic sock?

I first heard about the Basic Arch Shaped Sock pattern (by Marlowe Crawford) on the Y Knit podcast (episode 18).  I was intrigued enough to jot it down on my Sock Summit spreadsheet and seek it out at the booth for A Verb for Keeping Warm.  This sock is knit from the cuff down.  The leg, heel flap, and heel turn are exactly like my basic sock recipe. The decreases on the foot are different, though.  They are shaped so that the sock hugs the arch of the foot (this is actually achieved by a series of increases and decreases, not just decreases, like on a standard sock).  See? This shaping means that the top of the foot features a nice v shape:And the bottom is full of surprises: I like this sock a lot, but I had some issues knitting it:

1. The pattern is written for dpns and I wanted to use 2 circulars.  There were some translation issues (of my own making, since I chose to go this route).
2. There were some errors on the heel flap directions.  Next time I’ll follow my standard instructions.  (There was also a discrepancy between the written instructions and the chart.)
3. The pattern calls for 16 stitches to be picked up on each edge of the heel flap.  In order to pick up all the slipped stitches and avoid holes in this area, I needed to pick up 20 stitches on each side.  I knew from experience that it would not do to only pick up 16, so I went ahead with 20.
4. Once I had more stitches than the pattern called for, I wasn’t completely sure how to adjust the placement of the increases and decreases in the foot.  I decided to do my regular decreases (SSK one stitch in from the beginning of the row, K2tog one stitch in from the end of the row, every other row) until my stitch count matched that of the pattern, and then proceed with the pattern.  This meant that the arch shaping began further away from the heel and closer to the toe of the sock.  Once I got the hang of it, I was prepared to rip it back to the heel flap and begin again, except…
5. …that the sole fit comfortably even so!  So I continued.
6. This meant that my toe decrease began just a few rounds after all the arch shaping ended, which I think distorted my usually elegant star toe.  I think the regular trapezoidal toe might be better with this sock for this reason (and it is what the pattern calls for – I just always substitute the star toe).

I’m going to knit sock #2 to match sock #1.  But I’m anxious to begin another pair and make some adjustments.  The arch shaping really is pleasing.  And since the sock is almost entirely stockinette, it knit up rather quickly.

Steven bought the corresponding men’s sock pattern, Oliver.  I’m anxious to hear his report.

Color by Kristin – book review

This beautiful book was a birthday gift from Kristina.  The cover art immediately pulled me in, and there’s more of this gorgeous swatch board on the endpapers.  (Can you tell I have a thing for endpapers?  I guess I’ve always liked them, but when a reader made a big deal out of them at a children’s storytime at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, I was hooked.  I always talk about endpapers when I read with children now.  They are so worthy of being talked about!)

One thing that this book really has going for it is that it’s more than a pattern book.  In the introduction, “A Life in Color,” Kristin talks about her background in art, craft, and fashion and describes the path that let to her current life, Getting Stitched on the Farm.  Then she launches into a color primer, complete with a color wheel made of fun pom poms.  All her color lessons are illustrated with full color swatches that jump off the page.  A chapter about Fair Isle includes a brief historical overview as well as technical instruction about how to hold/twist/carry yarn, work in the round, read charts, and steek.  She includes a practice project at the end of this section. Finally, she offers a chapter about how to design Fair Isle stitch patterns.  I read these first 33 pages with great interest and felt empowered to chart a new, nearly patternless course upon completing them!

But wait, don’t chuck all your patterns yet, because Kristin has 22 of them in the book.  As expected, these gloves, hats, blankets, sweaters, and scarves are a riot of color – no project calls for less than 4 colors.  The gorgeous photographs pulled me in right away.  I found myself focusing in turn on color combinations, edge treatments, and embroidery embellishments, thinking toward mixing and matching some of the things I saw pictured.  I guess I got where Kristin was going with the book, because following the pattern section is a great reference called “Designer Sourcebook” which encourages you to customize patterns by substituting edges and chart patterns.  She even includes basic information about seaming (so you don’t have to pull another reference book off your shelf) and embroidery stitches (which you may not have in your knitting library).

Everything in the book is knit from Kristin’s own yarn line, Julia.  Julia is a blend of 50% wool, 25% alpaca, and 25% mohair, and it comes in a rich palette of 33 solid colors.  This is a special yarn, and Kristin knits with nothing else.  I used it for a hat once and can vouch that it has incredible drape and luster, and rich, saturated color.  I wish I had the yarn budget to make this my basic worsted yarn for all projects!  My LYS, The Mannings, started carrying Julia a year or so ago, so I have the luxury of seeing it before buying.  Reading this book reminds me that I would like to knit with Julia again.  Hmmm, what will my next Julia project be?

If your LYS doesn’t stock Julia, you can turn to WEBS (America’s Yarn Store!).  They just began carrying it.  Hear an interview with Kristin on a recent episode of the WEBS podcast, Ready Set Knit.  If I had gotten this post out in a more timely manner, I would have directed you to a contest to win a copy of this book and some enough Julia to knit a project, but I didn’t.  Alas.  Maybe you can just cross your fingers and hope that I win!

Mo Mo-Finn

I recently realized that I forgot to post my latest handspun.  It slipped my mind because it’s just more of the same mohair-Finn that I began to spin back in September.  The second 4 ounces came out about like the first 4 ounces:Skein #1: 294 yards, 110 g
Skein #2: 323 yards, 117 g

Between the two of these, I definitely have enough for a pair of socks.  Some of this is true fingering weight, but some if more like sportweight.  Any ideas about patterns for my first handspun socks?

I need to get something new on the wheel.  Those Sweet Fern Mitts in Clara Parkes’ new book are on my mind, and I might try spinning something specifically for those.  Maybe the blueberry roving I got at MDSW09 (#5 on this photo collage)…?  I can try to spin it woolen and see what happens.

Hmmmmm.

Let it rain

A while ago, maybe 6 months or more, I ran across a blog that showed a pair of  Converse Hi-Top* sneakers made out of clear plastic rather than canvas.  Neat for wearing with handknit socks, I thought.  The price point was high, though, so I just filed the idea.

Last week, I ran across an excited post on The Oregonian Knitting blog** about the lo-top version being locally available.  One of the comments mentioned that the hi-top version was on sale at an online shoe store.  It was 1/3 the original price, so I decided to spend some birthday money and get a pair. What do you think? I think these will be nice for tromping around in the rain (I have no dedicated rain boots), and it will make me happy to see my colorful, cozy wool socks inside.There are two layers of plastic on the sides, so that you can put other things in there if you want to.  This is a little big for the slot, but you get the idea: Go ahead, let it rain!

*When I was growing in up Texas, we called these Converse Hi-Tops.  Where I live now in Pennsylvania, everyone calls them Chuck Taylors, or just Chucks. 

**I started following this Portland blog before going to Sock Summit and have stayed on it because it’s entertaining and informative.

Sparkle power!

Meggan’s socks are done, and she cheerfully modeled them on campus Friday morning.  The color and the season don’t match up perfectly, but the vibe of carefree relaxation is good at any time of year:These turned out really nicely.  The pattern (by Anne Woodbury) is very well written (though there were some errata in the chart – good thing I checked Ravelry before casting on).  There is something about the way the heel flap is designed that I’m still pondering.  I knit most of my socks cuff down, with a heel flap.  I usually pick up 2 extra stitches in the gusset to avoid holes there.  With this heel flap, I didn’t have to pick up any extra stitches.  I’m still not sure exactly how Anne achieved this, but I may do my next sock this way to see if I can figure it out.

The stitch pattern flows down the heel flap.  I hope it wears okay – lace isn’t the best thing to have on the back of your foot:The yarn was nice to work with.  Some sparkly yarns are rough; this one isn’t.  It’s not super soft, either, but that’s okay – I think it will wear better.  The fiber content is 63/20/14/2 superwash merino/silk/nylon/silver fibers.

This was a fun knit, and Meggan is a fun recipient to knit for.  Overall, a very satisfying project!