purlsandmurmers

Socks Finished!

The socks are finished! 

"Simply Splendid Sock" from Cool Socks Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby. Lorna's Laces yarn, beyond that I remember nothing.

They are not perfect; I am not a perfectionist, and you will remember that I have occasionally had issues with these socks, although now that I am done I love them and will definitely knit more socks.  Actually many issues with the first sock were resolved with the second sock.  I suppose knitting my first socks on size 0 needles at nearly 10 stitches per inch was not the wisest decision.  If you look closely you will see a few errors I did not correct all that nicely and a place where I made a not very attractive decrease dead center on the top of the right foot:  What was I thinking?  I probably was not thinking at all, or I was totally disoriented, confusing left and right, top and bottom, not an unusual state of affairs for me.

The little red circles show an extra fold of fabric where the sock is too big.  This is not unique to these socks, most of my socks are that way and now that I have one pair knit, I will have to figure out a way to accomodate this.  I have normal ankles and a normal, medium-width foot, but narrow heels.  I suspect this is the root of the problem.  I haven't figured out the solution yet.  That's the problem I see with knitting my own socks, I will get picky and want them JUST SO.  Then my inner perfectionist will come out, just not on this pair, where I had issues from the beginning.

Still I love the socks and wore them today.  It made for a happy day of errands, grocery shopping, and stock-making, along with the Vittadini sweater that I finally put together last spring and which got worn for the first time today.

New Pattern Books

It is interesting that both of these knitting books came into my possession this past week.

The Filatura Di Crosa book is one of a set of fall books that came over the weekend.  I really like the cover sweater and it immediately reminded me of old crochet patterns from my youth.  I have always looked good in these long straight garments as long as the silhouette is narrow and there is some shaping at the sleeve cap-shoulder area.  Drop shoulders truly suit very few.  The Filatura Di Crosa patterns usually do have nice shaping and this one appears to be no exception.  The body is crocheted from the neck down with shaping incorporated to form the raglan shoulders.  The sleeves are then picked up and crocheted in place from the skipped stitches of the arm opening. 

The book has it’s share of unattractive pieces and several classic patterns that are quite nicely done.  There is a lovely shell with matching skirt which would make a nice ensemble with a Chanel jacket.  They are nothing new or unusual if one has been knitting or saving knitting patterns for a long time, but that does not mean there is no place for classic elegant patterns.  There will always be knitters who don’t know the old patterns. 

The Bernat book was passed on to me by Cindy.  She thought there were several cute things, and there are some cute crochet patterns, but most of the garments, openwork crochet skirts, ponchos, and fringed minis look quite dated.  Some of the shapes could be updated and there is a tunic-type of mini dress that reminds me very much of the kind of tunics that are very popular in the stores now, all reminiscent of things adults wore in my childhood.  Of course I am not convinced that a crocheted tunic is what the world is really waiting for.  Still, the book is interesting and there are some pretty things and certainly a great trip down memory lane.

All this reminds me that I never did say anything about the Vogue Knitting.  I can’t really say that it was a disappointment as I am not sure that I expect that much.  There were three sweaters that I thought were nice as they were: The Michael Kors sweater was nice, classic, wearable and probably boring.  I could probably find a dozen similar patterns if I looked through my library.  I like it anyway.  Charlotte Quiggle turned out a really nice variation on a fair isle that shows that you can take a classic and tweak it to get something fresh and different without destroying the beauty of the original idea. And last, but not least, there is a gorgeous lace cardigan by Jennie Atkinson. 

That said there are a few other interesting ideas employing pattern, texture or color that I think could be adapted, sometimes I think with significant redesign, into something nice. There are several that have lead my mind to wandering and thinking of new projects.  I always like to look at the ideas, even when they don’t quite work and sometimes even when they are just bad.

It must be hard to publish a knitting/sewing/craft magazine.  Actually it is probably hard to publish any magazine.  There have gotten to be so many, and unfortunately none of them really distinguish themselves, to my mind at least.  I know nothing about the magazine business but I do know something about business and markets and I know that each one of these publications is probably under pretty constant pressure to increase market share.  We no longer live in a world where you can produce a high-quality target audience publication with a fairly fixed but loyal customer base.  I don’t know if there ever was that kind of world but a part of me yearns for it.  I do see better written and more sophisticated patterns in some of the older magazines, but I don’t remember if they were the norm or the exception.  I always hope that one of the unopened boxes in my mothers garage is her collections of old knitting, sewing, and craft magazines.  I know not everything in there was great but I do recall there were some nice things.

--------

And as for actual knitting, here is the second sock during the 7th inning stretch:

Unfortunately by the 9th inning I was dropping more stitches than I was knitting due to pure exhaustion and I had to put the sock aside.  It will be finished today.  Looking at this photo I see there are several other errors I need to drop down and correct as well.  Looks like a busy day ahead.

Wine&Roses Cardigan Finished

Wine&Roses cardigan, no pattern.  Mixed yarns. 

Admittedly not the best photograph.  Matilda's lack of arms does nothing to enhance the shaping at the sleeve cap or the sleeves themselves, which nicely hug the shape of an actual arm without being tight.  The problem here is the differing gauges and natures of the multiple yarns.   Unfortunately although the sweater shows off some of Matilda's asymmetricalities, mine today are even greater, so you will have to live with the armless wonder. We all have our vanities after all.

This cardigan started with several skeins of Indecita Alpaca Boucle in color #19 fuschia.  George and I were out driving around one day when we stopped at a little Alpaca shop and saw the yarn.  We both really liked it, but they only had a few colors, mostly brows that would have been unattractive on me.  The fuschia was the only color of which there was more than a couple of skeins in stock, and I thought I liked it so I bought a few skeins with the idea of making a vest.  As I knitted the vest I realized that I really hated the color knitted up; it was much too vibrant and strong, still, since George had picked the yarn I didn’t want to totally abandon the project so I started thinking about what other options were available.

I looked through the orphan yarn bucket. And found several skeins of this Gedifra Cicco, left over from another project.  The color was much more muted than the alpaca boucle and I thought it might tone it down.  I placed the Alpaca and the Cicco in a pile and then added everything that looked like it might blend in from the bucket.  After winnowing things down I ended up with 16 different yarns and it was time to start sequencing the stripes.  I had more Alpaca and Cicco so they got used more than once in the sequence.  Basically I used a six row pattern using  Cicco in the  3rd and 6th rows and  the Alpaca Boucle every 5th.  The other three yarns in each sequence would rotate between the other 14 yarns in the sweater for a total sequence repeat of 27 rows.  Sounds complicated but it actually worked very well

Needless to say, weaving in the ends was a daunting task and it took me six hours to finish just that portion of the sweater.  Even then, I did not weave in all the ends, but used a technique of knotting and making a short fringe, as discussed in Montse Stanley.   I also sewed a piece of one of the ribbon yarns used over the piece over the seam allowance on the fringed seams just to keep things flat, neat, and well secured.

It also took me a long time to settle on the button band.  I swatched many combinations of the component yarns before I found the perfect combination, using the Alpaca Boucle and this pretty bobbled yarn.  I have no idea what it is. 

The button band ended up being the perfect finishing touch, especially since I already had the perfect buttons.

Why even bother knitting?

photo courtesy of Lecturas MODA, Pret a porter Fall/Winter 2005/2006

Great Floors I Have Known

The following post owes a debt of gratitude to Franklin .
Reading his post resurrected some memories that had been temporarily misplaced.

When I was 7 we lived in Spain.  My parents were determined to take advantage of this great opportunity to travel around as much as possible and show us the wealth of history and art that was available outside our native Texas.  I have always appreciated the effort as well as the fact that I was allowed to attend the local village school.  I am not always convinced however that the lessons learned were the ones my parents would have wished for me.

We went to Granada to see The Alhambra.  I know we did this as I have been reminded of it many times.  I don’t remember the city of Granada nor the actual structure of The Alhambra itself.  I remember remarkable little of this great monument and yet it is etched permanently in my mind.  I remember a floor.  I remember that floor vividly.  I can conjure it up in my mind on a moment’s notice.  I don’t remember what my parents were looking at or whatever else was happening around me when I noticed that floor and yet that floor has become a permanent part of my makeup.

When I returned to Granada 25 years later I was eager to see the Alhambra and find out if I remembered the floor correctly.  As we walked up the hill from our hotel to the Alhambra nothing looked familiar; the same as we ventured inside.  There were many different floors in many patterns, but not the floor of memory.  Initially I was disappointed.  I assumed that since The Floor held such a high place in my memory it must be in an important room, a floor in a place of honor.  Finally I found it.  It was exactly as I remembered.  I stopped.  I walked around the room.  I stopped again.  Memories flooded back, not so much of things, but of place.  This room, this floor, was MINE, in some mystical way I could not account for.  This was something like the feeling one encounters in the Rothko Chapel in Houston.  A feeling of belonging, as if one should always be THERE.  George left, not realizing that I was not following behind, and came back.  The room was otherwise insignificant, yet we spent a considerable amount of time there.

I had not yet learned to knit at that time.  Thinking about it now, I realize that the floor could be charted into a nice knitting pattern.  I may have to go back.  Or I can just do it from memory and make the design truly my own.  I tend to see knitting patterns everywhere, in the patterns of rocks, leaves or trees.  I once collected photos of trees just because they made me think of knitting patterns.  I think there is one vacation where there are no photos of interest about where we went or what we did, just trees that captured my imagination.  I am not trustworthy with a camera..

At Bard last summer, during one of the concerts in Olin Hall, I was sitting staring at the stage.  Actually I was lost in thought (the music was not that inspiring at that moment) looking at the columns and the variations in width and spacing between them, combined with the play of the afternoon light as it came through the windows on the side, casting shadows across the back of the stage.  Some the shadows were tinged in shades of greens reflected from the trees outside the windows.  The whites and ecru shades of the wall, with the graying and greening of the shadows was entrancing.  Again I thought of cables and subtle color work.  I must be knit-brained.

Will I ever knit all these sweaters?  Not likely  I have little pieces of paper collected in a box where I have sketched this idea or that, little lost leaves of thought.  Sometimes I have purchased a particular skein of yarn just because it reminded me of one of these assorted knitting wisps.  They sit, waiting patiently, knowing that someday something wonderful will be born.

Out of the Depths

I have been in project reduction mode even though I really want to start something new.  It struck me that everything in my bag now is plain stockinette or garter stitch as in Tesla and the socks, and the two unfinished projects are both novelty yarns in simple stockinette.  I want to knit something with plain yarn with either color or texture. 

At the same time life is in such disarray right now that I cannot stand to have more unfinished works floating around.  I must finish my UFOs just for my own peace of mind.  Imagine my absolute horror yesterday when I found another knitting project in the back of the closet, one I have no memory of ever starting although I obviously did because it is sitting on the needles.

PIDDLE!!

Now I have two current projects, three UFOs and one sweater reconfiguration waiting to be done.  There is no end in sight.  I thought of throwing the new sweater back into the darker recesses of that particular closet but now that I know it is there I can’t do that.

How could that happen?  This is a truly disturbing thought.  I had previously thought that, even at my most overwhelmed, I always knew what I had – I might not know where it was – but I knew it was somewhere.  Now this!!!!  Stash yarn doesn’t bother me, it exists for its own sake, but once started a project cries for completion even if not into its originally intended form. 

When I was younger I loved having dozens of unfinished projects lying around.  Now I want simplicity.  I want only a few things crying for my attention at any given time.  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by these various unfinished things.  I want to get them all wrapped up, only then can I start something new, and no matter what I am always thinking of new projects, and not just of the knitting variety.  This new(?) sweater is not what I want to knit right now, but it should go fast.

I don’t know why I stopped it.  Did I not like the way it was turning out???  I will have to pick up where I left off and see.  It looks nice, kind of a bulky turtleneck shell.  This morning, since the house is cold, that actually sounds nice.

 

On other fronts I am below the instep and working and about midway through the arch of the foot on the sock.  I had hoped to be further, had hoped to knit on the train to NYC on Thursday, but the train station had no parking, the nearest spot was BLOCKS away and we would not have made it back to the train in time.  I just drove instead.  George did drive back after the concert.  Socks on size 0 needles are not the best car knitting in the dark but I did manage to make a little progress, very slowly, and did not make a mistake until we got to Fishkill, 3/4 of the way home.  It was too dark to fix in the car so a little surgery was necessary once we got home.  Since then there has only been about an hour of knitting time as I spent as much daylight as possible in the yard in anticipation of another rainy weekend and the evening ended up being occupied by other tasks, not unusual around here.

Obsession

The past couple of days I have been obsessed with finishing the body portion of Tesla.  I love the yarn, I love the knitted fabric even if it is not as open and metallic as the original sample at ArtFibers (I am knitting at a much tighter gauge after all) but I hate knitting this big lump of garter-stitch body in the round.  At 4 3/4 stitches per inch I wouldn't think that each row would be so onerous, but going around the body instead of just front and back is a pain.  I am getting more than the original estimate of 33 rows per 4 inches as measured on my swatch however; in the actual garment I am coming in closer to 37 to 38 rows to 4 inches and they take forever.

I must face the fact that in the normal course of knitting I don't mind seaming and I like looking at the flat piece.  I can see where I am, I can eyeball the shape and tell how it is going fit-wise.  This round thing just looks like a lump to me.  It is a pain to take it off the needle, put it on yarn or thread, and try it on.  I suppose I could use a longer circular needle so I could try it on the needles, but I hate having extra needle looping around in my lap while I knit.  Who knew that I would become such a pig-headed obstinate knitter?  Still this fabric would be a total pain to seam and I am happy knitting it in the round.  I just can't wait to get to the sleeves which are smaller and have shapping, besides which I will knit them on DPs which is more interesting to begin with.  The yoke, where I join all the pieces will also be interesting.  I just had to finish knitting the boring body.

Tuesday night after Group, I was determined to get the body finished.  I had 2 inches to go, and you would not think that would take too long, would you?  Well I get 2 to 3 rows done per half hour, do the math.  I suppose I truly am a slow knitter. 

There was some interest however as I had added some waist shaping, not originally called for in the pattern, but who cares about that, and so I had to add it back before the sleeves were attached.  I came within about two rows last night when I went to bed because the husband would be a grumblebug today if I kept him up to long, and I got up early and snuck away early this morning to finish.

It doesn't look like much does it?  But I was so happy I was dancing around the kitchen floor making breakfast this morning. 

I should get the sleeves started this weekend, not tonight, as I don't want to take this project to knit on Metro North when I am tired after the concert.  The socks will go to Manhattan with me today.

Rhinebeck II

And so I went back to Rhinebeck on Sunday.  I didn’t “need” to; I had been there a good bit on Saturday, but Saturday I was so overwhelmed that many things just passed me by in a blur. 

I had really hoped to meet some people whose blogs I love to read and I probably walked right by at least one of them in a fog of unrecognition.  There was a lot of fog in my brain both days.  Even so, the best part of Rhinebeck was talking to many people, some I knew, and many new people as well.  It was so inspiring talking to knitters and spinners, weavers and felters and just generally having a good time. The people are what really made the fair special.  And so, if you are one of the people I bumped into and did not say hi to, accept my apologies, my poor brain was really overwhelmed.  I tend to get overstimulated far to easily.  I will be better next time.

And so, even though the joy of the fair was not the loot acquired, there is still more loot to show.

First, I had seen some gray, maroon, and navy handspun, rough silk yarn which I really liked but couldn’t think quite what to do with it.  George dragged me away as I had promised him we could leave when he was ready, and surprisingly he tolerated far more sheep and wool browsing, shopping, and nattering than I would have expected.  He would make a great spinner as he took to it naturally when we took a class at Morehouse Farm a few years back.  He was definitely the star of the class and turned out perfectly even fine yarn on his first try.  At first he was excited by the possibilities but as time passes the memory of the thrill fades.

Anyway, back to that yarn (on the left, multicolored).  I dreamt about it and knew what I would make: a gift for someone and I can say no more as the person who would receive said gift may hear about it through this here blog.  If you hope this may be you, patience is a virtue; if you are praying it is not you, well, only time will tell. 

There was not enough of the silk, which I knew before I went back, I was just hoping that any of it was still there and most of it was.  With it I bought these two wools and the rest will be left up to your imagination:

I also picked up a chenille that George had really liked: he loved the softness of it as well as the blend of colors.  There is not quite enough for a vest for him, but I am mixing it with this solid gray wool.  I would not do the entire vest out of chenille anyway as that would make me absolutely stark raving mad.  I might or might not get started on this right away.  I already have his Christmas gift and since his birthday is in May it may not be appropriate.  It will be completed when the mood (or need) strikes: Here are the yarns:

The chenille is actually a little darker than it appears here:  I took these late at night and without flash the photos were too dark and muddy.  With flash, the lighter areas of the chenille really overshadowed the darker portions, it you look at the bottom corner, you get a better idea of the true feel of the chenille yarn.

Weekend Update

It has been quite a busy weekend, and quite a lovely one as well, despite the very rainy start. Friday was a crazy busy day where I had little control over time or schedule until I boarded the train for Manhattan at 3:30.   The dinner and the concert were lovely and we had a great time.  Sometime during the concert the rain stopped, and it had mostly stopped at home as well by the time we returned around 2 AM. .

Needless to say we did not rise at dawn to make the opening bell of the NY Sheep and Wool Festival, but wandered in around noon, probably during peak crowd.   I had a wonderful time.  This fair is certainly much bigger than it was 10 years ago and that is a very nice thing.  The sheep, llamas, alpacas, and bunnies were still there and they still had the animal shows and shearing contests etc, all of which are part of what makes the event fun in my mind.  There were far more vendors and many more sophisticated ones that a few years back and I had a lot of fun looking at all the wares and wandering around the stalls talking to people and fondling fibers.

Oddly,  I did a lot of looking but not a lot of buying.  The whole thing was somewhat overwhelming.  Now, at the end of the weekend, I have a much better sense of the thing and a much better idea of what to expect next year and how to go about the entire “fair experience” in a more manageable way.  I had fun anyway.  I did buy two yarns on Saturday, shown here:

This is Haiku by Alchemy yarns.  I couldn't get the color to come out right.  It is really much more red, a deep burgundy wine color, with bits of purple, but more red overall.  I got it from the Amazing Threads stall, even though the store is just in Saugerties, a few miles up the road.  Still, I saw it now and knew I had to have it.

This color is much more true.  This is a blended yarn I got from a place called Potpourri yarn by Greta Dise.  She had a lot of fibers for spinning and was quite busy.

I was amazed at the quantity and variety of rovings and fibers for spinning and felting.  I admit I was sorely tempted to take up spinning, just to be able to spin some of the wonderful fibers; some of them truly took my breath away.  I am not opposed to the idea of spinning, I have been tempted before, but I don’t know how I would ever fit it in.  Some of the things I saw definitely lead me closer to accepting that I eventually will learn to spin.  I enjoyed looking at wheels and hand spindles and think that when I do decide to learn to spin, I would start with the hand spindle type of spinning, just because it is a more modest investment and I have a tendency to go whole hog investing in things and then dawdle along before I fully utilize them.  I do believe that if I do start to spin, I will eventually move up to a wheel and I dream of eventually using my great-grandmothers walking wheel, assuming that Mom would pass it on to me.

At any rate I did purchase some bits of fiber and rovings, dyed beautiful colors, which I intend to use playing with felting, although I think of felting as more of a sewing-related activity and will post those rovings and my progress there at my other blog,  sewdistracted.  I suppose I really did not need two blogs, but I felt, and still feel, that the potential for a combined blog was just too cluttered with different kinds of stuff, especially if I wanted to go into all the boring detail of work on projects.  Besides sewing gives me opportunity to explore all the whole fabric, fabric creation, and fabric embellishment ideas that I am interested in and knitting and the meanderings of my mind as I knit offer another whole range of topics and explorations.

After Rhinebeck on Saturday I still had to go grocery shopping.  My order had arrived at Adams and I picked up two cases of Old Chatham Sheepherding Yogurt ( a two week supply) and was assured that I would have a standing order for two cases every two weeks.  I am so lucky in that I love this stuff and now I get to indulge in it on a regular basis.  My daily yogurt fix is my idea of the ultimate luxury. So I got to go home from the Sheep fair and have sheep yogurt.  How wonderful!

There was no yogurt indulgence until after I drove around two counties in search of the new Vogue Knitting.   I don’t know what happened to my subscription; it is possible that I just renewed a little late and it got delayed, but I could wait no longer.  While I was in Kingston, after going to Adams, I ran down to Barnes and Noble to buy the magazine but they did not have it!!!  I had not been able to locate it in Grand Central Terminal on Friday either.  Desperation set in.  I knew I had seen it at the Barnes and Noble in Poughkeepsie a few days earlier, and of course I was crazed with desire.  All rational thought and reason had fled my body by that point so I drove to Poughkeepsie where I did manage to get the magazine.    Once I was back home I was able to constrain myself long enough to put away groceries before opening the VK, and I made myself a bowl of yogurt and honey to enjoy while I perused the magazine.  Nothing quite like dessert before dinner.  I am glad I did buy the magazine, there was a sweater that instantly made me think of a yarn I had seen up the Sheep&Wool festival, and several other things that I think have potential.

Luckily, my darling husband had gone to the gym after we left the wool festival and had stopped by the office after that so he was not home until late – good because it was nearly 8 when I got home – nearly 10 before he rolled in. 

I made a wonderful, simple, dinner of rainbow trout, pan roasted with a glaze that I made by boiling down a cup of balsamic vinegar until it was thick and combining it with a syrup made by boiling down fresh grapefruit juice.  This balsamic-grapefruit glaze, drizzled over the trout, offset the sweetness of the trout and glossed over that little bitter aftertaste that I often find in rainbow trout.  I also picked up fresh kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, and shiitake at a local farm stand, so we had peas with shiitake, and a slaw made of the kohlrabi, red bell pepper, slivered poblano pepper, and aioli.  Mmmmm Good!

Sunday found me back at the fair, then busy at home while we rewired the stereo system because we were getting some fuzziness in the sound and some unpleasant rumblings.  There were a couple of bad splices in the wiring, which I replaced and things are much better.  The entire system is old and needs to be upgraded but it will all have to wait until after the rebuilding of the decks, which has now been scheduled for spring, After that I had to catch up on laundry and ironing, basic important weekend tasks, and we drove up to Saugerties, to our favorite restaurant, Café Tamayo, for an early anniversary dinner.

I still have to photograph Sunday’s take from Rhinebeck and catch you up with my knitting progress over the last several days.  Needless to say, nothing has been finished but significant progress has been made on a couple of fronts.

Where is Vogue Knitting??

I am certain that there is a black hole in the back of the Hyde Park Post Office.  It has sucked up my new Vogue Knitting and the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of the Wall Street Journal, along with whatever other mail I am not aware is missing.  I have sent the lovely employees at the desk scurrying through the post-office looking for my missing mail, insisting that the paper usually comes every day, but no pile or bucket of hidden mail has been found. 

Alas!

Having heard that the new Vogue knitting is out, Liana got hers, I am desperate to have it.  I saw it at Barnes and Noble yesterday when I stopped for a bathroom break and a sudden mad impulse to see if they had a copy of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde  in the music section.  Fruitless I know, but the continued rain had me in mind of biblical disasters.  Granted it did not rain much on Sunday and Monday, thank goodness, because we had 10 inches on Saturday, more than I ever recall on a single day.  I think it did not rain as heavily yesterday, but I was thinking as I drove through the downpours, and splashed through the puddles, rivers, and lakes that had once been parking lots, that 40 days of this could be quite significant. 

Meanwhile I did not buy the Vogue Knitting.  I was certain it would be in mailbox waiting for me.  No such luck.  There was an InKnitters, which had a couple of interesting ideas, but did not satisfy my craving.  If it does not appear by tomorrow, or at the latest, Saturday, I will have to venture out to the store, the craving will be too strong and my resolve will surely be broken. 

Oh wait, I can’t go to the store on Saturday, I am going to the sheep and wool festival.  Damn! Damn! Damn!.  Adams has agreed to order my Old Chatham Sheepherding Company yogurt for me and it will come in on Friday afternoons so I can’t go grocery shopping till then.  Well, I could make an extra drive up to Kingston. or I could just go later, after the sheep and wool festival.  Tomorrow afternoon I am going in to NYC for dinner and a symphony concert.  No shopping.  I hope to be at the Rhinebeck Fairgrounds early Saturday.  How did I get in this mess???  Well, who needs food anyway, and I have enough yogurt to get me through the weekend at any rate.  It is my secret vice that yogurt.