purlsandmurmers

Dog Days

Hot summer laziness has really set in around here.  We pretend to be doing useful things, especially in the yard, but we take ample time for breaks to cool off indoors, drink a little water, or just float in the pool watching the clouds go by.  It is hard to get ambitious about anything much. 

I have been reflecting, as I laze about, on how easy it is too fall into routines, to take things for granted, and to just do things without really thinking about what you do.  I have been knitting a little here and there, without really thinking about it much, both of my current projects are very simple and it is much to hot to weave in wool yarns on Wine&Roses now.  Even doing easy projects mistakes are made. 

As noted last time, I had to drop down a couple of stitches on the Phildar shell to correct the error when I made the two new stitches to form the center stockinette panel.  Now, I "know" how to do a lot of different techniques for increasing and decreasing, making stitches, casting on, binding off, etc., but I have frankly never really thought about how I make stitches, especially making more than one at a time.  Thanks May, for reminding me that thinking about things while we do them is such a useful habit.   Although I have used many different techniques for different aspects of knitting, more often than not however, i just pick up a couple of knitting needles, grab the yarn of choice, and start without really thinking about what I am doing.  As a result I tend to fall back on the same techniques over and over again.  Most of the time this works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  I should pay more attention, take more pride in my work.  I used to be more attuned to increasing my skills, intentionally taking on projects that were new or difficult in order to master new techniques.  Mostly now I just knit to have something to do with my hands or calm my nerves.  There must be a happy medium somewhere.

A little error recovery was also required on the sock project.  I lost my mind about 6 rows back and purled one quarter of a round.  I dropped the stitches down and reknit them today.  This took a little more concentration than my heat addled brain really wanted but I managed to get through it.    I had to take the bifocals off and put the reading glasses on, I couldn't get my head positioned so I could see those tiny stitches I dropped through  my normal glasses.  Sitting outside with my close-up glasses on was fine for the knitting, but the red and yellow blurs flying around were somewhat disconcerting.  I bird that looks perfectly innocuous when you can see it well enough to identify it looks somehow different when it is an amorphous flash of color buzzing by your head.

The knitting and I are back inside, recovering from the heat. The knitting projects have  migraines and are resting in the dark:

Summer Knitting and little Music

What a marvelous life.  A perfect summer day in the garden followed by a perfect summer evening. 

We had tickets for the Berkshire Choral Festival, in Sheffield, about an hour and a quarter’s drive, preceded by a patron dinner, so we finished our garden work and left a little after 4 PM.  The upper Taconic Parkway is a beautiful drive in all but the most foul of weather and yesterday was no exception.  The crystal blue skies, the clear views of the Catskills in the distance – what a joy.

I took both of my current knitting projects with me.  On the ride to Sheffield I worked on the socks.  It was admittedly hard to work too intently on my knitting as I was also busy peering out the window and absorbing the scenery.  I see that there are multiple advantages to sock knitting.  Each needle acts something like a row in that you finish knitting the stitches off one needle and feel like you have accomplished something.  Another needle done, you say to yourself, I think I will look out the window.  Yes, yes I know it is a not a row, but I am obviously too easily pleased.  You fold up the needles and put the sock in your lap.  It collapses so neatly into such a pleasant little bundle of straight needles lined up like a little package with sock neatly controlled underneath.  Then, you open it up – three dimensional space – a square, add the fifth needle and get a pentagon, look at the needles angling here and there.  It is all like playing with an erector set again.  The time passes so quickly.  Very little sock seems to get knitted.

This is actually not true but the rows pass very slowly.  I haven’t counted the actual  row gauge, the standard gauge was about 8.87 stitches/inch. I am not sure I want to know, but I seem to knit round and round before I get anywhere – not quite an inch yet after 13 rows, the pattern suggests 2 inches I think.  I am using the most basic sock from Lucy Neatby’s Cool Socks Warm Feet. I am actually enjoying the process too much to worry about when I will finish, but I am eagerly anticipating the heel.

Usually we take a picnic to Sheffield with us, but tonight we were invited to one of the Patron’s dinners which we enjoyed.  It was held in a courtyard framed by two of the school’s buildings.  We were the only “listeners” at our table and that made it a very interesting dinner as far as I was concerned.  It was nice to listen to the choristers talk about their week, what they learned, which conductors they like, when they are coming back next year (there will be a new conductor) and what wonderful choral pieces we have to look forward to hearing.  I loved listening to the talk of the nights works and the week of lessons and practicing. 

I love choral music even though I can’t sing.  George sings beautifully but can’t read music.  We are a great pair aren’t we?

The concert was really spectacular.  The audience was a little on the sparse side to my reckoning.  The place was not empty, but it was by no means near to full.  I suspect that next week’s program, Bach’s B Minor Mass, will be packed as it is a wonderful and popular piece.  We decided not to go, we have heard it so many times and there were other interesting programs this year, things we get to hear less frequently.

Ahhh, but I am neglecting the program, intentionally actually since I am sure that you are more interested in general life and knitting other than the specifics of Dvorak and Stravinsky.  If you want to know more, you can read my notes on the concert here: Download berkshirechoral723.pdf

On the knitting front I did knit during the second half of the concert and this was not to imply that I enjoyed this part less, If anything I enjoyed the Stravinsky more.  The music was divine and attention grabbing.  The seating was far more mundane and led to massive amounts of fidgeting.  I have never managed to learn to sit still, until I took up knitting that is.   Concert knitting is not usually the most speedy knitting, I keep stopping to absorb particularly beautiful or intense passages, the knitting slows and speeds up with portions of the music.  The concerts become woven into the fabric of the garment and I remember them fondly with each wearing.  Stravinsky socks?? Well, we’ll see.

Sock knitting did not seem feasible in the car on the trip home.  It was dark, I was more tired.  I worked on the Phildar shell.  Even that was not completely darkness-appropriate knitting.  I knitted with a flashlight clipped to my seatbelt, aimed down at my lap, to insure that the decreases and increases were lined up correctly in their proper locales.

I don't like the little float across the bottom of the stockinette section in the middle where I picked up two stitches to begin the center panel.  This was obviously caused by my "make1" technique when repeated twice.  I have been thinking that II need to research different ways of doing this, and drop those rows down and reknit those stitches.  Somehow it doesn't look quite as bad here in the photo as it does when I am staring at it on my needles.  Still, I suspect that it is one of those little details that will bother me no end.  So why have I waited to so long to fix it?

ON socks

I have actually started the socks.  Here is a photo to prove it, although it is already out of date:

This is actually yesterday's photo.  The ribbing has reached 1 1/2 inches and I have moved on to basic stockinette stitch. 

I can see already that sock-knitting contributes to even greater knitting obsession.  Of course one of the advantages of knitting is that one can just pick it up and knit a row here and there whenever one has a few moments or needs to steal a few moments for peace of mind.  Socks, on four needles magnify the opportunities.  No more the "I have to finish a whole row" excuses to not pick up the current project.  Heat a cup of coffee, knit a little, making tea, knit a bit.  Wait for the pasta water to boil, several sections on the DP' can be knitted up in that time.   Every momentary pause becomes a potential knitting experience.  Oh My!

Socks are more portable, and are pretty stable on their needle so there seems less chance of lost or dropped stitches.   If I had taken my socks with me in the car yesterday I might have made it to the farmer's market instead of just the grocery store. 

But what I am I talking about??

The cupboards were truly bare.  Swamp thing here (me) did not want to face the public, and had been subjecting the beloved spouse to frozen vegetables and leftovers for far to long.  Since we would be out most of the weekend, I thought a quick trip to the local produce/gourmet market, and the best farmstand in the area were called for  so I could make a mini-grocery run for two nights only.

Alas!  I turned onto Route 9G and and got half-way to the Route 199 light and stopped dead.  Nothing was moving.  I read the Wall Street Journal.  I read the  Boston Proper catalogue -- believe me this did not entertain me nearly as much as the paper.  By the time I finished and wondered what I would do next I was near the light and able to discern that the non-flowing traffic would probably continue all the way across the bridge to Kingston (boo hoo).  Migliorelli's farm stand was half way between me and the bridge.  At my current rate of progression it would take another hour to hour-and-a-half.  Screw it.  I headed north, doubled back on less populated roads,  and went to the grocery store like most people.  I once would have said that fresh produce was worth every effort -- well I disproved that theory.

We survived dinner anyway.  Now if I had brought my socks along, would I have sat in the car, patiently resting in knitting in heaven, waiting for the car ahead of me to move.  Not bloody likely, but I like to imagine that it might have happened that way. 

I think I will carry the poor sock around with me more.  It is slow knitting after all, perhaps because I am not particularly adept.  Sock knitting will be great travel knitting,  Socks will not be great concert knitting however.  I need to hold the needles up high and peer intently at what I am doing.  With a standard sweater with a simple pattern I can rest the knittng in my lap and knit away while I listen to the music.  The purists object.  The obviously don't comprehend that I listen better when knitting, controlled fidgetting after all, rather than when my mind and fingers wander restlesslly hoping for any relief for their general state of aggitation. 

There must be some kind of knitting zen.

Wish Book

The fall pattern books arrived yesterday from Anny Blatt  and Bouton d"Or and they provided some happy time perusing the pages and dreaming of sweaters.  What can I say, I am happily pleased and love dreaming and reflecting time. 

Actually I liked the Anny Blatt book more than the Bouton d'Or, but I realize that this is mostly just that there were more sweaters I would wear in one, although there are a lot of intersting ideas combined into what I would consider to be unfortunate sweaters in both books.  As usual there are a lot of sweaters I think would be lovely in different guages or with different yarns.  That is one of the beauties of this universe, that I can knit, or dream of knitting, what appeals to me while you can knit what appeals to you and we all remain happy.

I basically believe that I like the Anny Blatt book better because the sweaters are more classically elegant than the Bouton d'Or patterns, which are a little more trendy and youthful.  I guess I will just have to admit that I am a pretty boring person when it comes to sweater patterns.  I tend to do best with more tailored and classic looks and am not particularly comfortable with too many frills.

To begin with.  I love the cover cardigan, even, for a change, in the design colors.  The color choice is not really a design issue, I just like blues, but it could be pretty in many colors.  One of my ongoing complaints with Anny Blatt is that I often like their multi-yarn patterned sweaters, like this one, but the yarn choices are limited in such a way that I cannot figure out how to make the sweater in a colorway that I can actually wear.  Here they have done the work for me.

This sweater is knitted primarily in Angora Super, angora could you guess(?), and Victoria, a soft polyamide ribbon that knits beautifully.  I love victoria as trim or accents in sweaters and have knit whole garments out of it, but they are more for occasional wear.  Victoria makes great edges and cardigan bands.

Following are some pictures from the Anny Blatt book.  You can link to all the photos and details here  and I will provide links to individual sweaters I like, but I cannot figure out link to the photo and have it show up here in my blog.

I am particularrly fond of this shell, segue sweater, pattern #6, Angora Super.  It is just a classically lovely shell with a beautiful lace pattern that will be luscious to wear.  This is one that I will probably make eventually, although I may or may not make it right away.  I tend to assume that Angora Super will always be around, as it has for oh so many years.  But the temptation is great. 

I am also thinking about this sweater, pattern #7, Halifax.  This photo is one I took of the magazine with a copy of the yarn sample card on top so you can see the yarn:

One of the things I like about Anny Blatt patterns is the shaping of their sweaters.  There are very few sweaters that are just basic rectangles with no shaping and I find that the look of their patterns is worth the effort.    This jacket is shaped much like a jacket you would sew.  It is knitted in parts, much like a jacket pattern, two pieces for each side of the front and three pieces across the back.  Each piece is shaped to match the figure.  A crochet join with a couple of yarns is used to piece the sections together. 

The yarn is a novelty yarn, Mimosa.  Which I tried to capture at the top of the photo.  It looks very light and fluffy on the swatch but the illustration of the sweater seems to have a little bit of body, that could be the shaping and the crochet joins which will add structure as well.    I like the jacket; I am intrigued by the yarn but I wonder if it will be dissapointing:  it is @21% wool, 47% polyamide, and 32% polyester.  Of course the jacket could be knit in any novelty yarn that knits at 11 stitches to the inch and it would be a pretty fast project.  The goal here is to keep it feminine yet tailored and very light.  I get the definite impression that this yarn will knit up into a very light weight fabric although it may still be firm enough for the jacket.  I might just have to buy one skein to start just to play with knitting this particular yarn.  That swatch may satisfy my curiosity.

Here is more detail of the yarn:

As you can see, it is kind of neat, but I think I am being lured into a temporary fabric lust situtation.  Better a skein to get it out of my system than a bunch of yarn that proves dissapointing.

As I continue to look through the book, I see that there are a number of perfectly nice sweaters that could be knit in these yarns or others, perhaps by changing a detail here or there.  I would bore you with all the details. #9, Nassau   could be nice if one ignored he fur trim and just knit the sweater.  It really has enough going on and does not require the extra embellishment.  At 6 stitches per inch, Cashmere Anny is a light enough yarn to make such a heavily textured sweater still quite wearable in many overheated indoor venues.  I probably would not make it out of Cashmere Anny though.  It is a lovely yarn, but at only 10% cashmere it is nice, but not nice enough to always justify the price tag in my mind; there are other nice sport-weight wools that I could use just as easily.

Sweaters 11 - 17 all have lovely classic shapes and great shaping: I personally would leave the rose off #15, Charleston  but that is just a personal observation.  #38, Regina is also lovely and would make a wonderful sweater to wear out to dinner.

The combination of the border and the body fabric on  #24, Yalta  really intrigue me although I don't really like the idea of a cape for me.  I always get my arms tangled up in the fabric and tend to look like a crumpled up walking garbage bag -- where do I put my purse, how do I hold things?  Capes are better for those less encumbered than I.  Still, the border is neat and could look great on a cardigan or coat with some interesting novelty yarn combination body.  What I like about this design is that it makes me start imagining other possibiliities.

And while I am on the subject of interesting ideas/knitting fabric, #28, Vancouver  has really captured my attention.  This sweater is knit out of  Mango, which is a fine cotton/modal blend that can knit up as tiny as 8-10 stitches/inch , alternated with Fleur, which has these neat flower like loops worked into the yarn.   It looks like a wool in a netting, with little flowes pulled out.  You alternate rows of stockinette mango with crochetted Fleur for a combined guage of about 6 stitches/inch.   It is the photo of the combined fabric, and the yarn that really intrigue me, as well as the fact that sweater seems to be an interesting design and intelligent use of a novelty yarn. I like the way the Fluer makes little flowers or popcorns in the jacket.  Actually the little bumps look like the four-leaf clovers you find in Lucky Charms cereal.  Perhaps I like it because it reminds me of a grown up version of a childhood treat.  This could just become one of those "happy sweaters" that make the day bright just because you are wearing them.

  Here is a photo I took of the pattern photo with the yarn sample next to it:

Fiber-Free Zone

I have been reluctant to pick up my knitting and continue with the Phildar shell, or to weave in the ends on Wine and Roses.

I got poison ivy last week, and although it did get all oozy, infected and crusty, I thought I was gettting better over the weekend in NYC -- despite having to wear long sleeves and then take refuge in any air-conditioned building to cool back down.

Unfortunately, in the mistaken belief that I was iimproving, I went to the gym Monday and the energy expenditure seems to have given my PI more of a kick in the butt than it gave me, and I was back to the rampantly spreading, oozing, nasty stuff within hours.

I am reluctant to knit because my arms seem to have found their inner connection to the primordial oooze.  Despite the fact that they are wrapped in guaze and bandages and I am wearing long sleeves, a change of layers and clothing is required every few hours, luckily coinciding with my therapeutic soaks.  The entire thought of some nastiness leaking onto my lovely yarn is enough to keep the needles out of my hands. 

It is possible that the incipient socks may be small enough that I can work on them without achieving contact.  My hands are not infected although my wrists are.  I might be able to manage the double-pointed needles.  Since my arms are swollen up and swaddled I look something like Bibi, the Michelin man, and it may be humerous to imagine my round swaddled arms hunched over those tiny size 0's.

Weekend Break

I really did not get much knitting done this past weekend in the city.  It was too hot and sticky, when I was indoors I just wanted to let that cold air conditioning flow over my body unencumbered by yarn or any activity whatsoever.   I did catch up on sleep and some reading, both of which were badly behind.

I managed to get 20 rows of knitting done on Phildar.  I am now definitely well established in the front pattern and it is pretty set in my mind.  Only 42 rows more before armhole shaping.  A little progress is better than none.

Despite the lack of fiberly activites** I feel refreshed and ready to attack my various projects with new energy. Of course, the continued humidity may cruelly cut that new-found energy short.

** we did go to Habu Textiles, new territory for me, but I was overwhelmed by the wonderful and amazing yarns and fabrics.  Luckily I know I can go back.  My brain is swirling with thoughts when I let it venture that far.  Sometimes with something so amazing I need time to absorb the possibilities.

All Tangled Up

I wound the skeins of Lorna's Laces yarn that I am using for the socks tonight.  I thought I would take that project along to NYC with me, in case I get bored of knitting Phildar.  Of course, the reality is that I have far too much knitting packed and will probably not get to any new projects.

This is what happens when you try to wind yarn while simultaneously making dinner and chatting with the beloved husband:

I had never done anything quite like that before.  Some new challenge is always arising in my knitting life.

I did successfully get the mess untangled and both skeins wound. 

The yarn looks much more interesting in the ball.  I can't wait to see what the socks will look like.

I suppose I must have been acting very pathetic, pissing and moaning about my itches,  because my darling husband has said that I should just stay cool in the city this weekend (ladies weekend) and go to the Plaza, or some other place, sit and drink tea  or champagne and knit all weekend while watching the people go by.  It actually sounds very relaxing, but I somehow don't think that is what will happen.

Ribbing Continued

I started the front of the Phildar ribbed shell last night at knitting group.  I had wanted to cast on at group because I had promised to show the technique I used for the 2x2 ribbed cast-on, not that I am all that competent since this was only the second time I did it.

It took me a while to do the cast on, it is not the fastest method but I still really like the way it looks, and then managed to knit 13 rows of ribbing.  I only have to 20 rows on the front before I can start the front pattern and the knitting will get more interesting.

Even so, it went fast.  Even after just knitting neck and armhole bands for Antea, the roughly 5 stitches I am getting per inch (in stockinette) on the Phildar Shell seems VERY FAST compared to the 8.5 stitches per inch of Antea.

Meanwhile the little bit of poison ivy I got digging up iris bulbs on Monday has turned into a full blown oozy burning red and inflammed mess that keeps soaking through my clothes and contaminating any other part of my body that gets touched.  I really haven't been scratching, believe me it is the last thing on my mind!  I want to be wrapped up like a mummy and put in deep freeze somewhere. What a mess! Using my hands hurts but I could put up with that.  I desperately do not want to ooze contagion onto my beautiful sweater though -- how horrible would that be?

I have been sorting through the projects-in-waiting, deciding what to do next even though I know I still have all those ends to weave in on Wine&Roses.  Knitting monogamy is really not my strong suit.  I am thinking of finally starting that pair of socks and so I pulled the double points out of their storage box.  I am not sure how small I will need, I usually go down a couple of sizes as I am a loosey-goosey knitter.  Perhaps I can wind the yarn up today, although I have to be careful not to ooze on it either.

Pick Up 400 stitches

Well, not all in one piece anyway. 

I finished the shell I knit last summer from Filatura diCrosa's Antea and Sesia Baby Cottton.   The pattern was in the Spring 2004 Filatura di Crosa book with slightly different solid colors.  I used a different yarn and made up my own chart.  The pattern came with a tiny sketch of a chart, but no real chart for the design, so I plotted it out as best I could.

By the time I finsihed the sweater it was well into fall and I did not relish picking up those stitches.  I had a brief urge to finish it earlier this spring, but had lent out my short 2 mm circular needle, so I managed to suppress the urge.  It has been waiting for me to finish it ever since. 

I do want to wear it this summer and, given that it so hot, there is plenty of time left. 

I am actually pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It is fitted enough to wear with a suit or tailored separates and it is light enough to wear under a jacket without being too bulky.  I tend to knit more airy shells, but I think I will become quite fond of this.

I simply found it hard to motivate myself to pick up all those tiny stitches on size 2 needles. 

I actually do like the rolled stockingette edging, which was called for in the pattern, but find that I always get annoyed when the edging doesn't roll consistenty and stay in place neatly.  After I finished all the knitting, I went back and hand tacked the rolled edge in place, forming a nice even, pleasing roll.  I did not tack the bottom into a roll and just left it to lie flat or rolled as it will.  This may not last, depends on my patience level this summer. 

The flat pictures that follow are possibly redundant, you can get a pretty good view of the front of the sweater from Matilda above.  But I still think the geometrics are better appreciated in two dimensions.

I finally get into a knitting rhythm with the ribbed back on the Phildar shell and it got much easier.  Fighting with my knitting is not a task I look forward to for relaxation.  Once I reached this state of ribbing zen, there was far less action required of the crochet hook for dropping down and correcting miscast stitches.

The back is finished.   I mostly finished last night, or early this morning actually, completing the last row of ribbing while we sat for an hour in the parking garage at Yankee Stadium attempting to begin our return journey home following the ball game. I did not cast off and do the shoulder shaping in the dark on the ride home up the Taconic Parkway in the rain, figuring that this was a sure-fire invitation for errors.

The experience only served to further remind me that I would much rather take a train into NYC than drive for any reason.  I don't mind driving on the streets of New York; I hate it when traffic just stops, as it does all too often.  I don't usually mind driving at night but a trip on the train at 1 AM, with perhaps a little snooze, is far preferable to a windy wet dark road with deer lurking along the fringes.

Since I have developed a tendency to sleep for almost exactly 6 hours most nights (about once ever 10 days to 2 weeks I crash for 10) I have gotten in the habit of using those few hours in the mornings when no one else is up to wake up gradually with a little knitting or sewing or reading or other relaxing activities that I enjoy in peace and quiet. I assumed that the morning hours would be the perfect time to finish the shoulder shaping.

I Was Wrong.   I got as far as casting off for the back neck when others started to arise.  They quickly began to bombard me with questions and discussions of how the day should be organized, what should be done, and in what order and by whom.  As the other combatants were not used to 6 hours of sleep (sometimes I wish that I wasn't) they were tired and crotchety. I don't really deal strife early in the morning well, part of the reason I treasure my early morning reverie, and especially not before I have had coffee.  I don't need coffee to wake up, just deal to with other people who have just woken up.  Still, instead of putting my knitting aside and starting the coffee, I insisted in finishing the task at hand and doggedly sat there and finished knitting and casting-off the Phildar cotton shell.  I am nothing if not stubborn.

When I went back put my knitting away I discovered that I had cast off so tightly that there was no hope that any human head would ever fit through any neckline formed by this sweater edge.  In fact, the ribbing was tightly bound into its  narrow, unstretched width.  Once I got everyone out of the house I was able to pour another cup of coffee, treat myself to a lovely handmade chocolate truffle, sit, relax,  and re-knit the shoulder area of the Phildar shell.