Happy 4th of Canada July Day!!

(I forgot to post on Saturday - Canada Day)(Today is the 4th of July)(Maybe I need to have some coffee or something)

Anyone who wishes they had extra days on their long weekend raise your hand! (MEMEMEMEMEME!!!)

I finally finished knitting the lace cardigan. I don't know why exactly it took me so long. The pieces themselves weren't overly challenging and were quick enough to knit. Interesting with the lace, but easily memorized pattern so it didn't require constant attention to a chart. But still. It took longer than it should have.

I gleefully checked the sleeves before blocking:

%&$^!!!!

I kept track of my rows and made notes of shaping etc. I checked the count. I counted rows in the finished pieces. EXACTLY. THE. SAME.

Apparently I may have been a bit tense and/or hurried when knitting the second sleeve (on top in the picture).

No matter. It's cotton. I can soak and stretch and block to be the same size.


%&$^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did that happen? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.... !!!!!!

Steamblocking with the iron brought the sleeves very close to the right length. I can just barely feel that one is slightly shorter. I seem to be a bit compulsive about my sleeve length. (shocking. I know.)

I am so pleased with the results of this sweater.
Pattern: FREE from Lana Grossa here
Yarn: recycled XXL men's cotton sweater. If you'll allow me this one moment of gloating: $1.50 (yes. for ALL the yarn. AND there's a LOT more)(a lot)


I wore it at work today and it is perfect for my overly-air conditioned office.
(WHY when it is 30 Celsius outside do we have to have it sitting at 12 Celsius inside??? WHY???)

Now to finish one of many other unfinished projects. My co-worker's wife had their baby boy yesterday. Maybe I should suck it up and get going on that blanket. (that unending blanket)(that blanket that sits currently at 380 stitches around but needs to be at least 500)(maybe i'll wait a while)

hmm... what to knit next... ???

Sound the Trumpets!

I finished something:


slightly floofy (it's a word. shut up) puffy not-curly-not-straight hair brought to you by the constant downpour of the last few days. good for the really dry skin. not good for the manageability of the hair.

Fern Leaf Lace Tank
Pattern: my own. ("pattern" being used loosely here to describe the "wing it" method) Knit in the round in "Fern Lace" from my Reader's Digest stitch book.
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Millefili Fine. Millefili Fine is a mercerized cotton. It seemed to me to be a light DK weight.
I'm not really sure about the gauge since it's a bit tough count stitches in the lace. (that's the excuse I will stick to) I used size US6/4mm needles and used (mumblemumble) yards of this yarn. Okay. Fine. I have no idea what the yardage was. I have started and frogged so many projects with this poor yarn. I can't remember how many balls I had in the first place. I have about (mumblemumble) yards left.

Overall, I'm happy with it. It turned out exactly how I wanted. The lace produces what I think of as a chevron-like effect so it didn't get that wierd pooling thing that variegated yarns sometimes does. It is DEFINATELY a layering piece, which was what I intended, but it's so well ventilated that layering wouldn't be a problem even in very warm weather. (I'm hoping we will one day have very warm weather)

I celebrated finishing something by taking something apart! I needed more yarn for the lace cardigan I have been slowly working on. I'm knitting it from a recycled men's XXL sweater I had purchased for $2. (Cha. Ching. I knit both fronts and one sleeve from the sleeves of the sweater.) I ended up cutting about 2 1/2 inches from the shoulders and just picking my way down to where the yarn was whole because the shoulders were sergered (??) together. The thrifty, save every ziploc bag part of me felt really guilty about this:

crappy picture above shows a big pile of wasted cotton yarn in teeny little shreds

until I realized the front and back each measured 26" across!!

Did I mention the Cha? And the Ching?

I knit the fronts and sleeve with the "yarn" doubled (each piece of the original sweater was machine knit with 4 strands of cotton threads) so I wound the yarn up that way.

each of these balls of yarn is about 4" tall and 5-6" in diameter. That's a lot of yarn

I LOVE recycling sweaters for the yarn. I love the funny looks you get in the thrift store. I love the big BIG pile of crazy cheap yarn. I love re-using something that was not being appreciated. Sigh.

Enjoy the weekend. I'm hoping for sun! I'm hoping I didn't just jinx it by saying that!

(Go Oilers)(shh... don't tell anyone I said that)(although I am by no means an Oilers "fan" I am cheering for them in the playoffs. Not as a bandwagon jumper but because I would pick a team to cheer for anyway, so it might as well be the Canadian team.)(if you don't live in Calgary, this need to explain myself may be lost on you.)

Another day, Another D'oh

A progress shot of a tank I'm working on.


I don't know if I've mentioned this one yet. I'm just winging it without a pattern and only a vague plan for what I'll do at the arm holes and for the neck and back... I'm using a simple lace pattern that has almost a chevron look, which breaks up the variegated look of the yarn. I've started a couple of projects with this yarn but always frogged them, it pools kind of funny. I like how it looks with this lace pattern, so, no frogging yet.

However, today, when I was measuring it and laying it out for a progress shot, I noticed something interesting.

This is a close up of how the lace pattern should look:


This is a close up of how the lace pattern should NOT look:


Say it with me now: D'OH

I was able to salvage the knitting without frogging, it's not perfect but it will work. Luckily it sort of gets absorbed into the pattern, so I'm going to pretend it's not there.

Happier knitting:
In spite of my vow to finish something I already had on the needles I started something new. BUT... I had a good reason! I did! Honest!! I had planned to knit something for, well, the wife/baby of one of my co-workers. I don't know her well, but he had joked once about me knitting something for them, and, well, of course I'm going to knit something for them. So, I'm knitting a big blob:


Okay, you're smarter than that. It's a Pinwheel Blanket.

It's a little difficult to figure out the diameter of this blanket (if you have made one and have some magic math-free way to figure it out, please let me know. I mean, other than just trying to measure from the center of the blob up to the needles.) At the time I took this picture, I was moving to a longer circular needle and was able to measure. The radius (I'm hoping I have the correct terms here. It's been a while since I took any math) was 10 inches at that time, with about 300 stitches around. I figure I need at least a 32 inch diameter so it'll probably end up being closer to 500 stitches* on the needles.

It's in the round, so it is a good hockey watching project. It was going really fast for the first 6 - 8 inches of radius. Then it slowed right down. You increase 10 stitches every other round. You do the math. (I don't want to do the math. Even though, in this instance I can do the math.)

Thanks for all the nice comments on the skirt (and the good wishes as to my health. All better now!). I think I might try to copy the skirt and make another one. I so rarely wear skirts but maybe I would more in the summer if I had some simple ones to wear.

*I first typed 5000 before I noticed it. That's what it feels like. I should have left it

My goal: Live until the year 2092

I knew it had been a while since I posted, but I didn’t realize just how long it had been. Hmm… What’s been happening?

Well, I have been knitting a lot (GASP) but, um, I haven’t finished anything. I just keep starting new projects. All the WIPs look pretty much the same as the last time I showed you, just a little bit bigger. The new projects I keep starting never seem to make it very far, as I change my mind and/or get bored and/or decide it just won’t work/isn’t worth it.

So. Knitting right now=not so visually stimulating.

I need to buckle down and just FINISH SOMETHING already!!

(Where did the term “buckle down” come from? Why?)

And now, some random thoughts with a minimum of crafty content in point form:

-Do you ever wish you could write about something/someone on your blog, just to get it out there or to vent, but you don’t JUST in case it would lead to disastrous repercussions (a la Dooce)? (if you’re reading this and you know me and you’re wondering if it’s about you, it isn’t.)

-I spent 10 minutes on the phone with a census taker yesterday because I forgot to fill out and/or send in my census form.

One of the questions was: Are you White? which annoyed me somewhat. I wanted to say “I like to think of it as non-tanned”

(I know that wasn’t what they were asking (the census taker apologized for the crassness of the question).)

-The funniest question on the census form was “Do you give permission for this information to be made public in the year 2092?” I doubt I’ll have much concern about my personal privacy at the age of 122, but, you know, maybe I'll stick around just so I can cause a fuss when my private census information from 2006 is made public. (I should probably start saving for retirement if I'm gonna live that long)(also, I should be just about all the way through my stash by then, so it will be time to go)

-I was sick last weekend and part of the week. I’ve decided that I have a sure-fire way to make a ton of money off of stupid wealthy people. A weight-loss plan that basically just involves getting the flu or similar stomach ailment “cleansing” the body. I just need to figure out how to infect people at will and market it.

-I realized that I prefer to be left alone when I’m sick, but at the same time, I kind of wished that I had had someone to check on me once in a while (drawback to living alone). Just to make sure I was alive. And bring me sprite and crackers. And maybe rub my back.

-I went to a wedding on Saturday (I will spare us all the mopey 35-year-old single woman at wedding scenario… haha) for which I had nothing to wear. So, after work on Friday (an 11 hour work day… don’t ask) I had to go shopping.

At this point you may be tempted to ask my why I left it so long. Don’t make me go into detail about being sick. Also, I’m not the best/most enthusiastic shopper in the world. And, possibly I procrastinate a bit.

So, 1 ½ hours later I found ONE skirt that might be a possibility and left the store, carefully avoiding snapping the neck of the woman in front of me who was having trouble deciding which white blouse to buy.

I got home and decided I didn’t like the skirt after all, so… I altered a skirt I already had. Starting at 10pm on a Friday (do I know how to party or what). After I was exhausted from working for 11 hours and then shopping.
I can’t believe it worked.
(I forgot to take a before picture.)

The skirt was straight sided with a drawstring waist. I love the skirt but never wore it, probably because it was at least 2 inches too wide on either side. (4 inches total, in case you're keeping track) The bottom has short slits on either side seam and it's a really pretty silk/linen blend with embroidery. I should have altered it years ago...

I took it in on an angle so it has a slight A-line shape, added darts and a zipper on the side. None of these alterations would stand up to the scrutiny of someone who knows what they are doing with a sewing machine, but, none of the seams burst open at the wedding, so I considered it a success
(I wore it with my green Soleil, which I had not yet worn. I love it!)

(numerous attempts at ironing this skirt proved fairly futile)

Of course, this experience does nothing for my dislike of shopping and serves to reinforce the idea that any clothing (except jeans. I don't want to take on jeans) that I need should be able to come from what I already have. Or from yarn. Or, possibly from remnant table cloth. (I have a fear of cutting into new "nice" cloth. I don't know why)

My goal for the week is to COMPLETE a knitting project THAT I ALREADY HAVE ON THE NEEDLES. (the all-caps are for my own benefit, in case you feel that I’m yelling at you, personally)

Hopefully I will have something completed to show you soon.

What do you knit for the Girliest Girly-Girl?

I like how it turned out. Not "This is my taste and I like how it turned out" but "This is exactly what I had in mind for my girly-girl 7 year old niece for her birthday".

Very important to make that distinction.

Now, if you'll excuse me. There is a pile of blue stuff that needs to be knit.

I may be in a bit of a rut here...

clockwise, starting at top right: 3/4 completed Mesilla (in Filatura di Crosa Mille Fili Fine from stash); lace border for potential stole knit in crochet cotton (pattern evolving as I go); 2 1/2 inches of body of the Ribby Cardi in TLC CottonPlus; 3 inches of a cabled tank from last summer's Vogue Knitting - in the yarn called for in the pattern! A first for me! (Butterfly Super 10)

I haven't posted in a long while. Why?
Simple:
I haven't finished anything in a long while. Nuff said.

Above there are the current UFOs*. Notice anything?**

Sigh.

The UFOs are on hold at the moment because I picked this up at Michaels yesterday:

Now, surely you must realize this is NOT FOR ME. I was looking around in the "yarn" (i.e. fug novelty yarn) aisle hoping I wouldn't run into anyone who knows me, who may realize that I'm a knitter who DOES. NOT. KNIT. NOVELTY. YARNS. My niece's birthday was last week. It took me a while to figure out what to give/make her, and when I did, it required (ugh) furry yarn. AS. AN. ACCENT. ONLY!!!

Whew.

Progress shot:

What do you make for the girliest of girly girls who already has all the Barbies/Brats/Polly Pockets the house could possibly hold? A girly-girl purse, of course. In light purple (the ball band calls it "Star Dust". I'm not kidding) and creme polka dots with a (ugh) furry band around the top. (Basically, I'm making it up as I go)

Please don't take my yarn and needles away from me. I PROMISE this is the last time I will (voluntarily) use novelty yarn.

I just realized I missed my Blogiversary (??) on May 5. I've been boring people to tears doing this for a year now! Thanks for sticking around! I've "met" some really nice people (you!) in the past year through doing this and I have really enjoyed sharing what I'm doing and what you're doing through this medium. Thanks!

I'll be back (soon) with more pics. Of a finished furry purse for a girly-girl! Yippee!! (I'm trying to psych myself up.)(If I didn't know that this is so her I wouldn't be able to bring myself to go ahead with it)

*These are, of course, not ALL of the UFOs. These are the ones I've been actively working on in the past week. There are far more UFOs. But you know that already.

**I realize I'm stuck in a color rut here. I realize I should try other colors. (of course my mind immediately thinks of the beige lace cardigan and the wheat colored tank top. I know those aren't "colors") The thing is, I LIKE blue, so I'm okay with the rut. It's comfortable here. ha

[bleep]

In order to retain our PG rating, today's post has been screened by censors

I love the look of the Coton-Silk when it's knit up. It's a bit of a pain to work with though, it has no give, it's a bit nubby so it's not smooth to knit with. And then there was this:

What's that? You don't see the problem?

This [bleep]ing tank top doesn't have the shoulder straps on it yet. This:

is all that is left of the [bleep] Coton-Silk. [bleep]. [bleep bleep bleep].

I have a plan for the shoulder straps. They are bands of ribbing, knit separately and attached to the body. I'll let you know if it works. If I ever decide to pick up this [bleep] tank top again.

Oh, wait, I'm not done telling you about this [bleep] tank top:
I swatched for this. Yes, I did. I figured that I would need to make the size medium which should have given me a fitted, but not tight tank top. Similar in dimensions to the Soleil I knit.


[bleep]. I could have knit at least a size smaller. Then, I would have yarn for the straps. [bleep]. I still haven't completely ruled out frogging the whole [bleep] thing. The only thing that stopped me from just ripping away, yesterday when I realized how wide this is, was the thought of having to re-knit it (as I mentioned: not super-fun to knit with). [bleep]

As it is right now, it's not unwearably large (is unwearably a word? it is now.), but i think it will have a tendency to balloon a bit. [bleep].

In other news:

I started the body of the Ribby Cardi. The more I looked at this sad bit of lace insertion, the less I liked it. It has since been frogged. I think I will knit it plain. I liked the idea of splitting the lace panel but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of plain body with the lace panel on the sleeve. I'm not as prone to the censors on this knitting, as it's much easier to knit and, as I mentioned before, I could probably knit a Ribby Cardi in my sleep.

There was another frogging incident today, but, it was ugly and we won't offend with pictures (the ribbed tank top didn't make it. It's on its way to a better place)

I'll end with some happy news:

The first front of the lace cardigan is done. It went pretty quickly, once the chart was in my brain, so I should be knitting the rest of the pieces before my brain forgets. (I'm not at the moment, but I should be).

I should go, before I have to wash my mouth out with soap.
(I still can't use Ivory soap because the smell of it reminds me of having my mouth washed out with soap. That sounds horrible, but it was really just a little touch to the tongue with the edge of the bar of soap. It was effective, but it left me with a hatred for Ivory soap.)

Nature! Decay! Knitting!

Nature!
While watching the Oilers game last night, I noticed something zipping past my apartment. At one point in the game, there was a long pause as the officials "went upstairs" to check the replays on a goal/no goal situation. I looked out the window and saw:


These rabbits are all over the place in Calgary. I don't know if they come in from the fields and decide they like it in town or what.

As I was watching the rabbit another one came along:


Then another one:


This one sat and glared at me for a long time:

He seemed really angry. I don't know if he was cheering for Detroit and was angry about the goal or what his deal was.

Then I saw another one! 4! Usually there's just one hopping around, looking for food, or whatever. These rabbits were organized. They were like street rabbits. A gang, if you will.


Decay!
This morning, while calmly eating my Brown Sugar Frosted Mini Wheats, I noticed they seemed crunchier than usual. Then I realized that it wasn't the Mini Wheats that were crunching. It was part of my tooth.

(you can thank me now for not posting pictures of said tooth/part of tooth)

So, a big part of my day was taken up with:
a) trying to find a dentist who could see me today
b) driving to work, back from work to go to the dentist, back to work, back home from work. (The dentist was 2 blocks from my house. Work is 17km from my house. You do the math)
c) telling people that no, I didn't get in a fight.

Good times.

Knitting!

I've been knitting a lot (GASP) but not really finishing anything (DOUBLE GASP!)

Evidence:

A tank top from the Coton-Silk I got from The Yarn Lady. I added a lace column to the center front and back of this from Berroco.


I did some stash cleaning on the weekend and came across this Millefili Fine that I got from Elann last year. I'm using this pattern from Drops/Garnstudio.


Lace cardigan front from Lana Grossa. I'm using cotton yarn recycled from a thrift store sweater. I'm hoping this will be a good solution for the hot/cold/hot/cold of summer in an overly air conditioned office...

I need to go take advantage of the evening with no hockey knit. I will get going again on the lace panel ribby cardi as soon as the needles I need for it are free (lace cardigan drew me in and took up the needles I needed).

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

(If you now have that song stuck in your head, I'm sorry)

I may have mentioned once or twice how much I enjoy watching hockey. If not, let me say it now: I enjoy watching hockey. The NHL playoffs started April 21 and the Flames are (at the moment) leading their series with the Ducks (I can't stand the name "Mighty Ducks". I can't really stand the fact that they are named after a movie at all, actually) 2 games to 1. Go Flames Go. So, I have been knitting while watching hockey (there is almost no end to the games in the first round. I think I watched about 6 hours of hockey last night) but blogging has been sadly neglected. I'm sorry!

Maybe if when the Flames beat the Ducks (I'm thinking 5 games. They're at home for game 5) I'll knit the duck sweater from my aunt but I'll rework the charts for the ducks so they have singe marks around the wings. (Flames. Ducks. Singe marks.)

But, this is not a hockey blog, this is a crafting blog that seems to be focussed solely on knitting of late. So...


Pattern: Knitty's Mesilla
Yarn: Recycled Value Village gigantic men's cotton sweater. "Yarn" is perhaps a bit of a misnomer, as it was a machine knit sweater that seemed to have been knit from about six strands of very very fine cotton held together.
When I say "gigantic" I am, for once, not exaggerating. I used the yarn from one sleeve to knit this top. I could knit an entire outfit with the yarn from that one sweater.
Modifications: Obviously knit in one color (the original is multi-colored); my gauge was smaller than that of the yarn called for; I added length to the body to accomodate my freakishly long torso; I only did 3 decrease rounds in finishing the neck*; I did 5 rounds of seed stitch instead of the picot bind off the pattern calls for**

*I finished the neckline of this top no less than 4 times on Sunday. I first followed the pattern, which gave me a neck opening too small to get my head through. Then I frogged that and re-knit it with only about 5 rounds before the seed stitch at the neck. Too low. Then I frogged the seed stitch and re-knit the edging with no decreases (not smart. I forgot about them.) which I realized before I bound off. This is attempt 4: Decrease every 4th round for 12 rounds then 5 rounds seed stitch. It's pretty much exactly what I wanted.
**I did the picot trim on the bottom when I "finished" the body (i realized at that point that I hadn't accounted for my freakishly long torso and had to frog back and re-knit anyway). The bottom flipped out like it was a trumpet flare. Not what I was going for.

Overall: I love this top! I hope to wear it a lot this summer. I may (will probably) make another one (or 3) in a different yarn. I love the way the shaping is written: front darts and shaping at the center back.

Next on the needles (as if there is only one project on the needles. shh):

I added a panel of lace ("Cascading Leaves" from my Reader's Digest stich book) to the sleeve of another Ribby Cardi. At this point, I could probably knit a Ribby Cardi in my sleep (wouldn't that be cool?). This is my 5th one. I haven't decided yet how or if I will insert the leaf pattern on the body of the sweater.

Actually, as I wrote this I had an idea: I could split the leaf pattern and do one half of it on the edge of the fronts. Or would that look cheesy? I was originally going to insert the whole pattern like on the sleeves on each front. Then I thought I would leave the fronts plain or in ribbing. Thoughts?

I'm knitting this in TLC Cotton Plus. The color is sort of cornflower-ish but on my camera seems to insist that it is a brighter blue than that.

Last night, watching the Edmonton game go to 2nd overtime (my 3rd game of the night) I got to here:

on the first sleeve. I need about 15 more rounds for this sleeve before it will be at the point where I will eventually join it to the body. See that end there? ARGH. I hate starting a new ball of yarn at that point!!!

So, see, I have been knitting.

(I'm posting tonight because the Flames don't play tonight and the Montreal game is in intermission before the start of overtime)

OH!! I almost forgot!! Thanks for all the comments on my good fortune/crafty family history. Notable mention goes to my aunt Pat, my mom's cousin (Hi Pat!!!) who has been reading (I would say lurking, but that sounds really harsh) for some time now. Did you read what she wrote? Did you?
Hi Lori
When you get the spinning wheel to work I know someone who has two alpacas that wil probably get shorn every year and she doesn't want the wool, at least not yet. Just to whet your enthusiasim for learning to clean, card, and spin wool into knittable yarn!!!
Your Aunt Pat
My family are enablers. Now I need to:
1. Learn to spin.
2. Learn to clean/card alpaca
3. Find someone to support me so I can spend all my time evenly split between spinning and knitting.
I should get going on that...

After the playoffs...

Family History

How did it get to be Wednesday already? This past weekend, Easter weekend, I went home to Saskatchewan to see my mom. My brothers and their families were all in Edmonton and weren't able to be there and my sister and her kids weren't able to come down so it was just me and my mom. It was nice to spend some time with her, and, of course, she feeds me really well, so it's good all around!

I got to see my aunt Eileen (my dad's sister) and her husband, which was fun. My aunt Eileen was my favorite aunt growing up (don't tell the others). She always played with us, she always had some fun activity for us to do, and, most importantly, she knew how to make ANYTHING (it seemed). I have great memories of making candles with Eileen when I was little. She made me a Raggedy Ann doll for Christmas when I was 6. (You can see why she was my favorite, right?) When I started to amass nephews and nieces she was my role model for being an aunt. (Awwww....)

Well, Eileen is not only a crafty, creative, fun aunt, with the world's greenest green thumb (she has more plants than anyone I've ever met) but she is a natural historian. She has traced our family's history and came up with a really impressive family tree for a reunion about 10 years ago. She doesn't know all the stories, but, as I told her this weekend, she knows that there IS a story and where to go to find out what it is.

Imagine my delight this past Friday evening to be visiting at her house and to see yarn sitting out. Neither my mom nor I knew that Eileen could knit! It was like finding out that your favorite aunt takes part in your favorite activity. Oh. Wait. That's exactly what it was. Never mind.

Saturday evening Eileen and Eric (her husband) joined us for dinner. After dinner we got to talking about knitting (imagine my delight). Eileen asked if I had ever knit a Siwash sweater (also known as a Cowichan sweater. Or, if you are from my small town in Saskatchewan you might have known them as "Curling Sweaters" because all of the Curlers wore them). I have been trying to find a Siwash pattern for a long time! My sister-in-law wants me to knit her one if I find a pattern, and I have an order for one for her sister as well.

Imagine my joy, my delight, my absolute-freaking-out at the words that my aunt spoke to me:
"Granny and Esther (another aunt) knit Siwash sweaters for your dad and the boys when they were young."
(I didn't know that my Granny knit!!! I feel like I am missing huge chunks of important family history!!)

Imagine, after the joy of that statement, my EXTREME excitement to hear this:
"I found the patterns the other day. You can borrow them if you like."




And, the funniest one. The least "Siwash/Cowichan" but most like my dad and growing up in Saskatchewan:

(those are ducks)

(Now I just need to find the yarn and I will be making these sweaters until my fingers grow numb...)

BUT WAIT: There is more family history that came out in the visit with Eileen and Eric.

I spent the first 10 years of my life in the house that my dad grew up in. I have vague, fuzzy memories of a basement full of various odds and ends. Machines whose purpose was a mystery to me. Interesting gadgets that no one used.

After I calmed down from the Siwash excitement, Eileen got me riled up again.
"Do you spin yarn Lori?" she asked.
(I have wanted to learn to spin for a long time now. I fear that it would just become another obsession and I would never get ANYTHING done. Anything else that is. I still want to learn though.)
Then she asked, "Do you remember the spinning wheel in the basement at the old house?"
We had a SPINNING WHEEL????
"There was an electric carder too. I think the hand carders are still around somewhere."

Okay. Wait. What??? First I find out that my aunts and Granny were accomplished knitters, but not only that, they SPUN the yarn they knit with??? Too much.

(The general consensus was that the spinning wheel had been USED a lot and probably was not in any kind of condition. It was probably tossed out around 1980ish when we moved into the "new" house. Sob.)

Then, Eric, who was born and raised in Ireland, pipes up to tell me that his mother used to sell yarn and that he has quite a few hand knit Aran sweaters. He said I can look at them at try to figure out the cabling sometime if I would like.

What a heritage.

Sigh...

Progress...

Finally, I have some progress to show. I was too tired/lazy in the evenings waiting for significant progress shots (which required waiting for daylight/non-rainy days) before I posted.

First:

The back of my "I'm Not Sure What's So Prairie About It Tunic". I'm not sure about this. I mean, I think it will work, and I'll probably like it when I'm done, but the picture in the magazine seemed to have a taller point there in the center of the back. I followed the directions, so I'm not sure what I should have done differently. Of course, I didn't actually check my row gauge I'm sure it couldn't be anything I did...

ehem.

I'm sure it will be fine.

Second:

Back #1 of a pair of Trellises (Trelli?) for one of the twin nephews. I'm thinking about doing them 2 toned, a la knicoleg at Craftster. So far I love this pattern. It's fun to do a SMALL cabled jacket. (Although, Second Sweater Syndrome can sometimes be more overwhelming than Second Sleeve Syndrome or even Second Sock Syndrome)

Third

These 3 pictures are of the same piece of knitting (the bottom of Soleil). The color of the Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy was proving to be VERY difficult to capture!

I didn't change anything to do with the color in those pictures. The only thing different between them was adjusting the brightness on my camera. Wierd

But... (drumroll... hush falls over the crowd...)

It appears that the yarn just wanted to be knit up into a finished piece before it would allow itself to be photographed.


This, is the actual color of this yarn! AND, you will note: I have finished a tank top! And it fits!

Pattern: Knitty's Soleil
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in 08 Turquoise (this is not where I got the yarn, but it does show the stats and shade card)
Modifications:
-Knit on US4 rather than US6
-Cast on for size 39 for lace portion, 4 repeats of lace chart rather than 3, I didn't do the increases after the lace as called for in the pattern, which brought me back to the number of stitches for the size 36 (truthfully, that was less of a "modification" and more of a "didn't read the pattern")
-Added length in the body
-As yet I have not done the crochet edging on the arms and neck. I started it but didn't like how it was looking.

Tomorrow I will be travelling to Saskatchewan to see my Mom for the weekend. I need to go figure out what to pack (you know I'm talking about yarn/knitting, right? The clothing is not an issue)

Happy Easter!

The Yarn Lady 2: Even More Yarn

I had planned to post this last weekend, but somehow never got to it. Hmm.

You may remember my post about The Yarn Lady, my aunt Pat's friend who used to own a yarn store. (BTW: The Yarn Lady has a name, Vivien, but I like thinking of her as "The Yarn Lady")(BTW2: The Yarn Lady is so much fun and literally has a basement full of yarn). My aunt Pat called me a while ago and said that Vivien would like us to visit again sometime, which I readily agreed to. (a: she's fun; b: she has so much yarn; c: she lets me sort through all the boxes of yarn)

I wore my cable front cardigan, and the reactions from both The Yarn Lady and my aunt Pat made my knitter's head puff up a bit, I must admit. It's nice when other people compliment you on your handknits, but when knitters compliment you... well, you know, right?

We visited for a while, Vivien... er... I mean, The Yarn Lady showed us some things she's working on, including a beautiful alpaca cardigan WIP/UFO that apparently has been languishing unfinished for some time now, which made me feel a bit better about all of my UFOs/WIPs and the length of time that they have been in that state. Then... the moment we were waiting for... the yarn. Boxes and boxes of yarn. Sigh.

I picked out a few nice things that I wanted to bring home with me, and when the time came for me to leave, Vivien insisted... (Wait. Are you sitting down?) She insisted that I take it home with me for FREE. Yes!!

So, my latest visit to see Vivien and my aunt Pat saw me coming home with the following:

Odd balls of some sort of felted tweed. There isn't much of any one color, but I'm thinking a bag or a pillow or hat... something small and colorful. Which may or may not be gifted. We'll see.


3 balls of Aarlan Coton-Silk. The color is actually a bit of a richer brown mix than the picture shows here. A quick Google search turned up nothing about this particular yarn, so, um... I'm not sure about it. I think/hope I have enough for a summer top of some sort. I played around with it a little (of course I did... would you expect anything else?) as soon as I got home with it last Saturday. It has no give whatsoever, so it will be interesting to work with it.


About 6 balls of black, 2 of dark brown, 2 of light brown. I'm not entirely sure of the particulars of this yarn, but the bag it was in said "Kid Silk" and it seems to be about a worsted weight. I plan to do something wintery with this but not until fall. I don't know yet what I'll do with it, and I don't know if I would use all of it together. We'll see.


Finally, this teeny little bit of Anny Blatt 100% Kid Mohair. I think there is enough for a lacy scarf, but I mostly brought it home because I LOVE the color. I searched for more of this yarn but this was all there was. Sigh.

I have progress on my vow to overcome the tank top issue (i.e. never finishing a tank top) and some knitting for nephews, but I think I'll go outside for a while, before it rains again. Or snows. It is Calgary, after all.

P.S.: Pat (I know you're reading: Hi!) Thank you so much for introducing me to The Yarn Lady and for the fun visit with both of you.

Ahh... Spring.

It has been so nice and, well, Spring-like the last few days. I'm not holding my breath, this is Calgary after all. But for now I'm enjoying the weather. I might even wash my car! (We need the precipitation that will surely come quickly on the heels of me washing my car).

To celebrate the impending Spring, I have progress to show on my Prairie Tunic:

I'm about half way to the shaping at the top of the back. It is going fairly quickly, but it gets a bit boring. I was thinking about it the other day, as I purled across the row on those US 3's, maybe the "Prairie" in the name has to do with the work ethic it's going to take to stick with this... (I mentioned how I haven't ever finished a tank top, right? And how I've never knit a garment for an adult on US 3's, right?)

I have a sock-in-progress:

Very exciting, huh? Oatmeal colored, partially knit sock. Whee. Kickin' it up here at Yes I MADE that.
(Pattern: Cable Rib Socks from the Spring 05 IWK; Yarn: Phildar Preface in color "Naturel")

This sock-in-progress has been sitting, in exactly this condition, beside my computer for over a week. Patiently waiting for a heel. And waiting. And waiting. (I started the heel a few minutes ago.) These should be finished in time for my favorite time of year: When it is warm enough that I don't EVER NEED SOCKS!!! Next winter. There is always next winter.

I would love to tell you that I have been focussed on the Prairie Tunic, devoting my attention to it and it alone. I can't lie to you. You're my friends. Friends don't lie to each other. Friends might not mention certain things in order to spare a friend's feelings, but that doesn't really apply here...

the color is really washed out in that picture. I couldn't get it to show true for some reason. It's a much more saturated jewel-tone green.
The bottom lace band for Knitty's Soleil. I went to the LYS on the weekend for bamboo US 3's to knit the Prairie Tunic (my metal needles were far too slidey.)(what? that's totally a word.) and I wandered around for a bit. I didn't mean to. Really, I didn't. But, they had new summery yarns in. Like the Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy that you see above. Sigh.

I'm knitting this with smaller needles, as the yarn is a bit finer than the yarn called for in the pattern. I cast on for the size (or two, I can't really remember at the moment) bigger than I would have if I was using the yarn called for. It seems to be working out so far. I did an extra repeat of the lace pattern also, so that it would have a bit more length, since my gauge is smaller.

Finally, I just want to say THANK YOU for all of your kind comments about the Cable Front Cardigan (and, frankly, for those of you who comment frequently. I'm trying to be a better comment-responder...)! I am trying to make my way to each of your blogs to see what you are all up to and say Hi, but in the mean time, I wanted you to know that I really appreciated all the comments! You make a blogger/knitter/knitblogger proud!