Something besides socks

Ok, admittedly I am currently working on a pair of socks, because I am pretty sure I must have one going at all times:

This pattern is called Winter Wheat Socks and this is the men's version.  I knit a pair of the women's version for my mother for her birthday this year.  I intended to knit this pair for my dad, who has no hand-knit socks from me, for Christmas this year.  Husband expressed delight in the socks.  This pair is for the husband.  Which means that I now have to knit this pattern again.  There's nothing really wrong with it; it's the (boring, BORING) yarn that makes me unenthusiastic about knitting it.

I am also making use of the 1800 yards of Madeline Tosh lace-weight I bought back in April to knit Viajante:

I love it, it's gorgeous, it's taking forever.  Dorothy says lace weight shawls take about three years (argh) which has burst my dream balloon that I would have this shawl done for an upcoming late-September trip to Philadelphia.  Maybe I will have it for a late-September trip in 2016, if I am lucky.

Meanwhile, I took a trip last weekend up to Halcyon Yarn in Bath, ME with my Wicked Weavers group.  I was delighted to discover that Halcyon sells mini-cones of weaving yarn - 600 yards to a normal one-pound cone of 3,200 yards (or more!)  So I bought a bunch of mini-cones of unmercerized cotton, to make dish towels:

Mostly mini-cones, with 2 large in the back

I have several patterns in mind - at least one or two to be done on my rigid heddle loom, which has the advantage of being in the family room and thus more accessible and more frequently used.  My first project is a set of place mats for the kitchen:

Cascade Luna Paints, Cascade Ultra Pima , 3/2 unmercerized cotton

Place mats in progress!

I have a strange affection for purple these days and picked some lighter shades of it to blend with the blue in the Cascade Paints that makes up the foundation of the multi-color in this placemat pattern.  This is a plain-weave pattern, making it less likely I will screw up this weaving.  Unless I did the yardage wrong.....

A weaving project redeemed

So I have been working here and there on a couple of weaving projects.  Most recently on my rigid heddle I decided to try the Log Cabin pattern described in Jane Patrick's The Weaver's Idea Book: Creative Cloth on a Rigid Heddle Loom.  The pattern is derived using two contrasting colors from the warp and weft crosses.  I thought it would be simple.  It was not.

My first mistake was the way I threaded it.  I miscounted the number of threads in each color block, and then I sleyed the reed entirely wrong - instead of alternating light-dark (or vice-versa) in the slot and holes, I grouped the colors together by two (one slot and one hole both the same color) which gave me a lovely houndstooth-style cloth.  So, lovely, but not the original aim.  I decided to completely re-sley the reed to try and get the pattern I had hoped.  Success!  Except that the back of the reed looked like this:
 

 Messier than I would have liked, for sure, but it all straightened out in the weaving:
 

Because I had to rearrange the threads at the back, pulling some out of the warp and tying them together, a few of the remaining warp threads did not get caught around the back beam.  Which was fine until I got near the end, and they grew so loose I could not get the yarn to lay smooth when I beat it down.  In the end, I opted to cut it off and tag it as a learning experience.

Here's the finished piece, which is less of a table runner and more of an oversized placemat:

My selveges are a little messy but I will stitch them under before displaying it on a table.  Given that I thought this was going to be a total loss when I first started it and it was not, and that I got this yarn on sale and will be able to do another similar project with it, I am not at all unhappy with how this turned out.  True, it would be great if these things turned out right the first time, but Rome wasn't built in a day.  Hell, sometimes I can't even get the loom threaded in a day.

Whew!

Christmas has come and gone, and I have just about recovered from my crazy knitting spree.  In the middle of the scheduled Christmas knitting, my husband threw me for a loop by asking for a new hat because his was itchy.  I dutifully knit him a new hat in non-scratchy yarn but it bumped my mother's birthday socks out by a few days, and she ended up receiving only one sock for her birthday.  No matter, she was happy with them, when I managed to get her the other one five days after her actual day:

The pattern is called Winter Wheat by Donna Seex.  This is the women's version -I found it in the Love of Knitting Winter 2011 issue.  Check out the pattern either on Ravelry or by Googling it - the photo accompanying the pattern shows a beautiful raspberry color yarn, which shows the pattern off much better.  However, my mother was very taken with this yarn - it's called "Dream in Color Starry" and it has little silver threads running through it, which you can just about see in the photo.  There's also a men's version that is, you guessed it, "too fancy" for Himself but I'm rather intrigued by, so I might knit myself that version as something different.  It has just a little bit of patterning in a 1/4" stripe up one side of the sock.  Scandalous!

Speaking of knitting for myself, I had started a pair of socks before Christmas but had to abandon them due to the accelerated holiday knitting schedule.  I finished them just last Friday, and happily wore them over to my volunteer job on Saturday inside a pair of slip-on shoes so I could show them off:

It promptly snowed an unscheduled 6" of heavy wet snow.  Probably because I was tempting fate with those shoes.  Sorry, fellow New Englanders!

To take a break from all the sock knitting, I made myself some pint-sized pines, which are little knit tress you stick on wine corks (or the top of an unopened bottle of wine as a hostess gift.)  I found them on my friend Dorothy's Ravelry page (she of the, "If you buy the alpacas, I will bring them home in my mini-van if you agree to get it cleaned afterwards.")  I think they are really cute.  I asked a few friends to save wine corks so I can make a lot more for next year, and I have discovered my friends are drinkers.  Which might be why I love them.  Anyway, my little trees on the kitchen windowsill:

So cute.  They take about 30 minutes to make when I am distracted while knitting, and they use just a few yards of yarn - the perfect amount for when you have no other use for that last scrap of yarn.  I am experimenting with making them in a variety of colors.

 I also wove a scarf for my close friend and favorite food blogger, Stella Caroline, using a hand-dyed sock yarn as a base.  (That's the stripe on the bottom as well.)  I also used a coordinating light blue and light lavender to create wide stripes in the weft.  I love how it came out:

Stella Caroline is a petite woman, something I did not consider as I warped the loom and made an extra-long scarf.  When I took it off, Himself looked and me and said, "Are you trying to smother her?"  I prefer to think that I am guaranteeing she will not have any exposed skin in this vile winter weather.  Or she can wrap herself and the children up all at the same time.

How many days until Christmas?

My fall has been crazy between work & volunteer obligations, and I've been very lax about documenting what I am working on, besides Halloween decorations.  But no more!  Here's what I've been up to lately:

My fall edition of Love of Knitting magazine had this beautiful Falling leaves hat pattern, made out of Berocco Boboli, which I just happened to have four skeins of sitting in my stash.  Fate! I used one for the hat, which knit up in about 4 days, and then decided to modify the pattern to make a matching scarf, which I haven't photographed yet.  It needs to be blocked, and probably never will be.  Just after finishing the scarf, I wandered into my favorite local yarn shop and discovered they were carrying Boboli Lace in virtually the same colorway, so of course I needed to make matching gloves......  This ate up about a month of prime holiday knitting time.  Which I feel a little bad about, but then I note that it will be a wonderful set to keep someone warm, and this is New England so this project was necessary.  Totally.

Way back in June we were in NY for my cousin's youngest son's christening, and my other cousin's husband asked if I would knit him a hat.  He has always wanted a hand-knit hat, you see.  He rides the Long Island Railroad every day to work in the city, and apparently there are several women on the train who knit (hello sisters!) and he asked one of them who was working on a hat if he could buy it from her.  She kindly explained to him that most knitters are working on something for a particular someone and suggested he find someone he knew who was a knitter and ask for a hat.  My mistake was working on a pair of socks in front of him, although I don't think it's much of a secret in the family that I knit, as I have knit his sister-in-law three baby blankets in recent years.  Anyway, he wanted a black hat.  Snore.  So I found this cute pattern by Jennifer Burt called Changing Seasons Men's Hat, and knit it with that.  It only took a couple of days.  The photo makes it look grey, but it is most definitely black.

In addition to the knitting, I have just finished an 8-week class for 4-harness weaving.  I liked the weaving, and my classmates and teacher, but oh boy, do I hate warping that type of loom.  Our first project was a sampler, using scrap yarn for the weft, to try out different patters:

I am not crazy about some of those colors, but it was a practice piece, so you don't want to spend a lot of money on yarn when you're just starting out.  I didn't have too much of a problem following all of the different treadlings to make the patterns, so I probably could have used more of a coordinated color scheme, except that it would have been against our teacher's directions.

Our next project was called a Rose Path Sampler.  For this I chose a rayon-cotton blend warp, in three separate colors, and a contrasting weft to make the patterns stand out:

I love the colors, and a lot of the patterns, but the blocks of pattern are not all the same size and the asymmetry of it bothers me a bit.  I had thought about turning it into a gift scarf, or maybe two, but the end piece, which is all one pattern, is not long enough and I can't do much fringe for either end of the scarf.  I guess that means I'm a pretty efficient weaver with not a lot of waste, which is the silver lining here.

  There are about 40 days until Christmas, and the project list for gifts isn't getting any smaller.  I think I will get over my dismay about the asymmetry on that woven scarf rather quickly as the calendar counts down.....

Halloween redux

Halloween is one of those holidays that I utterly, totally adore, and make the biggest, grandest plans for crafting and decorating each year.  Which almost always comes back to bite me in the backside.

On my knitter's loom, a Halloween throw started at the beginning of October:

Yes, I know Halloween is over.  I never ever finish anything on time for Halloween.  Except this year, I did.  I made curtains out of this fabric, to hang in the kitchen & laundry room:

I saw the fabric and had to have it - I am not usually such an impulse buyer, but it reminded me of something from Dexter.  I had no real plan in place for how to use it, but then sitting down to eat dinner one night and looking up at the windows, I decided the fabric would be perfect for curtains.  I merely created a rod pocket, and cut them to width before putting them up.  I didn't create a hem of any sort, mostly because I was in a rush and because the fabric was difficult to work with on my particular sewing machine.  I also don't plan on washing them, as they generally will only stay up for about a month each year.  And I didn't actually get around to photographing them on the rod before I packed stuff up for the season.  The piece above is leftover yardage that I am thinking about turning into end table covers for my sun porch.  But it gives you an idea.

I added to the decorations again this year (of course) and am pretty pleased with how they came out:

Dining room table

Fireplace with skulls

You can sort of see the bloody curtains on the windows at the end

Nobody plays that piano anyway

Martha Stewart would be proud

I am particularly pleased with how the shelf above the porch door turned out in the photo above - most of those items were on sale, between 40 - 60% off, two weeks before the holiday, allowing me to do my two favorite things - get a good deal, and buy stuff for Halloween.  It's not the clearest of photos for showing the detail, but it gives an idea of what I put up.

My new goal is to finish the Halloween throw by Thanksgiving.  Because then I will need to start working on Christmas weaving.  No rest for the weary wicked. 

(Wo)man cannot live by knitting socks alone

In addition to all those socks I've been churning out, I have also been working on a summer shrug, which comes from the summer 2013 edition of Love of Knitting.  The official pattern name is "Little Black Shrug" but I had a violet colored yarn (originally purchased to make the Opening Night sweater I started in February, but it was the wrong weight) so that's what I'm using.

 The yarn is Berroco Comfort solid.  I love the draping and the eyelet pattern.  I ripped it out once due to some stitches that went awry (and since I'm starting with the back, there's no fudging the pattern on an area that exposed) so instead of doing the 2-inch ribbing for the bottom as picked-up stitches when the back was complete, I cast on with those and then switched to a larger sized needle to continue.  I really don't like picking up stitches.  I also really don't like knitting with heavy wool in really hot weather, because I've set that Opening Night project aside for many weeks now.  I do need to get back to it, winter is coming.

Currently on the loom - a scarf:

I had purchased the tweed yarn to be part of the new! and improved! plan to weave a blanket out of that enormous amount of burgundy-red yarn I have (you might remember my disastrous first attempt, which I wrote about here) but it just didn't work, so I decided to turn it into a scarf.  There is no intended recipient for this scarf, but it's always good to have something on hand.  It's also a fast project.  I hope.

It has to get cold again eventually, right?

It feels like all my projects are moving forward in slow motion lately, probably due to the amount of time I am spending on the garden. And the heat!  Third heat wave of the summer, second of July.  It has been amazingly, uncomfortably hot.  I have finished up a few knitting projects, though. 

First, the shawl from March, finished Sunday night:

It came out great.  It looked very crooked on the loom but when I took it off it relaxed and the rows are straight, which is a relief.  It was also a relief not to have to look at it sitting on the loom every night after 4 months.  I figured out a new way to knot the end threads which makes a much nicer fringe and I'm happy with how it came out.  It's long enough to wrap completely around me and throw over a shoulder, which is convenient.  It also means I can use it as a table runner.  I was joking about that originally and I am slightly amused that it is actually long enough.  I know that there is a way to plan out a project with measurements, warping, etc., but I just eyeball it, warp the loom and go.  Maybe some day I'll plan out a project fully.  Of course, I've always said, "Maybe some day I'll block my finished knitting," and it hasn't happened in 17 years, so there you go. 

I also finished the scarf version of the Socrates gloves:

I ended up using 3 skeins for the scarf, and knitting the first four rows of the rib pattern over and over again to make the scarf.  I am pretty sick of this pattern right now, so even though I have 3 skeins of the yarn left and vague plans to make a matching hat, I have stashed that yarn for the time being.

Also on the needles - socks for Halloween:

I started these socks on July 5 and will probably have them finished by this Friday, which is two weeks and a new record.  Because I am using the Classic Socks pattern (again) I have discovered that I can actually read my Kindle while knitting at the same time.  As much as I like patterned socks, being able to multi task is amazing.  (Also a little startling to some of my fellow commuters, who have commented on the knitting-and-reading thing.)  It has been long enough between pairs of socks that I am very excited to be working on them, and plan to start a second pair for myself right after I finish this one.  I almost don't even need the pattern anymore, I've done this pattern so often. I should be thinking about Christmas gifts (and I am) but I decided to focus on myself for a couple of projects since I don't usually start in on the holiday gifts until August.

I am undecided about what to start next on the loom - part of me wants to do a couple of scarves, for gifts, and part of me wants to take another crack at making a blanket because winter is coming.  The irony is that I was finally motivated to finish the shawl because I was tired of looking at it, and now the loom has been empty for almost 48 hours and it's driving me crazy.  I know a scarf or two would be a fast turn around project which might be fun (and would give me more items for these blog posts), but then I think about how cold it was this winter, and all the yarn a blanket project would use up, and I'm tempted.  Such decisions.

It's Still Wool Weather

So this is the view out my back deck today:



 .....which may or may not be clear enough for you to see that it is snowing.  HARD.  Sigh.  First day of spring is tomorrow.  Most of us in New England think that's a joke.  On the upside, it is cold enough that I have an excuse to wear my fingerless gloves in the house (because it's far cheaper than turning up the heat) and I am still enthusiastic about any project involving wool. 

Currently I am working on a couple of pairs of socks.  Shocking, I know - you had no idea I knit socks.  (More likely, you had no idea I knit anything but socks.)  Currently on the needles, a pair of socks for my friend Holly's birthday, coming up April 1st:

I am using my classic sock pattern, because time is of the essence (these socks are a suprise) and I'm using Regia Design Line "Random Stripe" yarn.  It tangles.  A lot.  Still, the socks are turning out nicely, but I'm under the gun at this point since there are only 13 days until her birthday, and because we ride the train together, I am losing some of my most valuable knitting time because I can't do it in front of her.  I am a little nervous about this one.  I have just finished the cuff on the second sock.  It will be close.

Also on the needles, those long-delayed socks for Himself:

It is an olive green/gray blend, also Regia but Jet Set Color this time, and it ALSO tangles.  A lot.  I'm thinking maybe it's the yarn.  (Fool me once......)  I am using a new pattern called Macho Socks, which does something of an architectural design in the sock.  Mine is coming out differently from what is photographed on that blog, mostly because I am doing top-down socks and decided not to reverse the pattern from the bottom up.  I knit these on the train, so they will be a surprise for Himself, and while they are not quite as snooze-inducing as the last pair I made him, they are up there.  Hence the thinking to go with a new pattern - it might be just interesting enough to keep me awake.

Finally, I managed to get a good daylight shot of the shawl that's being woven:

I am still struggling with warping as it looks crooked in this photo.  When I unwind the tension at the end, it straightens out. I will have to ask my friend L, who got me into weaving, what I am doing wrong.  Still, it should look fine when finished.  It will likely be something I only wear in the house anyway - in New England, you are pretty much either in a parka or short sleeves when you leave the house.  And it would be a little fancy to wear while out gardening.

Unexpected outcomes

So, I started weaving a blanket for my living room.  For several years now I have been saying that I was going to knit a blanket for the couch - because my couch is so long, (120"), I had extended the pattern I found to be the same length as the couch.  So far I've gotten one segment (out of three) of the basketweave pattern done, and none of the two cable pattern segments, never mind stitching all five panels together.  So I decided to use the yarn to weave a throw for the couch:

I was using the same color for the warp and the weft, but I really should have used a bigger dpi for this project, because the yarn is sticky & tends to attach back upon itself, making the weaving complicated and separating out the two levels of warps difficult.  It started out going slower than previous weaving projects, but far faster than the planned knit version of the blanket. 

And then......disaster struck.  Somehow when I was warping the loom some of the skeins slid down to the sides, reducing the tension.  By the time I got about 20" woven - which took forever - the warp was all off, tensions were different and the blanket was looking like a big mess.  Sometimes when a project is not fun I have to keep going, but since this was for me, well, I cut my losses.  Literally.  I cut it off the loom, saved the warp threads for another project, and tossed the piece I had been working on, which resembled a very small area rug. 

Last Wednesday I warped a modified version of the throw I had planned to make for my mother, similar to the "neck warmer" (her words) I gave her for Christmas:

Windsor Button in Boston is going out of business, so I had done some hunting in the store to find compatable colors of yarn to make the throw.  Because these are not a large-volume discounted Pound of Yarn, I knew this sucker was going to be expensive so any opportunity to purchase the supplies for less was welcomed.  So I asked mom if she still wanted the throw, and she said.......no.  And promptly went off on a two-week vacation, out of cell phone range.  Ok then, looks like I'm making myself a shawl!  Or a table runner.  Or maybe I'll use it as both - if I get cold I'll just yank it off the table in the middle of dinner, like a chilly, demented magician.  That might give my husband pause.  I should have it finished by this weekend, which will be a good morale booster after the last weaving failure.

Yet another hobby

So really, what I didn't need was another crafting hobby.  In the past year I've picked up card making, tried crochet (epic failure) and set a goal for myself of making decorations for upcoming holidays.  (Sometimes this is successful, usually it's a giant miss.)  I also sew, garden, write two blogs (kind of) volunteer 15+ hours a week, cook and work 60+ hours a week (including commuting time.)  So, you know, I don't really need new hobbies.

But I have one:

That, my friends, is a knitter's loom.  I took a class at the end of October that ran two weeks and included the "loan" of the loom, which meant at the end of class I bought one, and the stand, so I could keep on weaving. 

My first project was a scarf with scrap yarn (which came out pretty good, if I do say so myself) and the second project was a baby blanket for a friend who's just had her first child and is now living in Canada in an area where it starts snowing in October.  That came out really good:

Unlike crochet, which I have no talent for nor any urge to practice, weaving is much faster, easier and produces a beautiful project.  A knit blanket like the one above would have taken me 2-3 months, with weaving it was just 2 weeks (of half-attentive effort; I was out a lot at meetings during those 2 weeks.)  I could probably weave a whole blanket in a weekend.  The possibilities are endless.

I am practicing my weaving using some of my stash yarn - up next are placemats for Valentine's Day using some fuschia, white & red yarn from my stash so I can practice hem stitching and Spanish lace weaving.  Sounds very fancy, doesn't it?