kmkat and her kneedles

Squared out.

I thought the deadline for the Newtown squares was March 1 so I finished up with them this week. Turns out the deadline is March 31, but I'm squared out after a dozen.

 

As you might be able to guess, the last three squares above are rather less pride-inducing than the rest. From the first of the close-ups:

• Diamond Brocade stitch from Barbara Walker vol.1  (or maybe vol. 2, I'm too lazy to go look it up). 
• Mitered squares with a centered double decrease (sl2tog knitwise, k1, pass slipped stitches over).
• Basketweave stitch.
• Stitch pattern from Yarn Harlot's One-Row Scarf. Problem was NOT the stitch pattern; problem was that I didn't cast on enough stitches and the square is barely big enough.
• Garter stitch, complete with errors (I seem to be incapable of working garter stitch without screwing up; although I used to be able to drop back and fix a goof, when I tried that on this square it looked terrible -- worse than the error), and a mitered square worked in seed stitch. It looks terrible -- apparently seed stitch and miters do not play well together.

All worked on a US#6 using Valley Yarns superwash DK (100% superwash merino; soft and totally machine washable and dryable). ±40, depending on stitch used.

WIP (and FO) Wednesday.

Do I still knit? Why, yes, thanks for asking.

I finished a pair of socks a few weeks ago.

Yarn: Regia Galaxy Color, purchased at Camas Creek Yarn in Kalispell MT when we went to Glacier National Park a couple years ago. When I saw the yarn in the ball I thought it was going to make striped socks that would coordinate with my multicolor striped raglan. These will be fine even without the stripes. I alternated between the two balls to minimize pooling.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock
Needles: US#0. Normally I do the foot on zeros and switch to US#1s when I get just past the ankle, but I forgot. They still fit.

I picked up the Tappan Zee sweater again; it has been quietly snoozing in its bag for a year. For those of you who care but don't remember it, it is a top-down cap sleeve sweater. I had reached the armholes and knit one front a couple inches past that. When I picked it up I discovered that actually, I had knit both fronts to the point where they were ready to be rejoined, so all I had to do was knit the back to that point, join all three parts, and knit away mindlessly until it is long enough or I run out of yarn. Yes, I am knitting as fast as possible in order to finish before the yarn runs out. Don't we all?

(no photo -- it doesn't look significantly different than in the posts linked above, just a bigger blob of knitting)

The Christmas knitting is progressing. A Windschief hat and neck gaiter (that's what cowls were called before they became The Trendy Thing) for our renter. I knit them almost entirely during the annual two-day tax conference last month, or, as I like to think of it, the annual two-day knitting retreat with CPE credit. Here they are posing with Bubbles on my soon-to-be history first generation Maytag washer, piece of crap that it is.

Pattern: Windschief by Stephen West. Delightful pattern to knit.
Yarn: Filatura Lanarota Pure Washable Merino, from Smiley's Yarn in New York. This stuff is surprisingly pleasant considering the El Cheapo price ($2.99 per 109 yd. skein(!)). Truly machine washable, not scratchy. It is a bit splitty because it is 8- or 10-ply and not tightly spun, but with blunt Addis I had few problems. Huh.
Needles: US#6 and #7.

A tuque for Smokey's partner at work. I had no plans to make this one, but last week I was complaining to Smokey that I would be riding in a car for hours in a couple days, and I had no small portable project on the needles. Really, I was complaining, not because I was looking for a project, but mostly just to make noise. However, he said that Peter, his partner on the adolescent psyche ward night shift, was intrigued by the tuque I had made a couple years ago. So I checked my stash and found I still had just enough of the yarn to make another one.

Oh, you wanted to see it as an actual hat rather than just a blob? Okay, here ya go:

Yarn: Phildar Pure Laine 3-1/2 (apparently discontinued), DK weight, colorway 'Corsair', 3+ skeins (350 - 400 yds.).
Needles: Addi Turbo US#6.
Pattern: I got the original pattern from Dale-Harriet in Madison but couldn't find it when I looked. So I winged it.

When that is done I plan to make a pair of mittens, probably from some more of the same yarn I used for the Windschief set, for the teenage boy who has been our hired slave since last May. When one's own sons are not around the house any more, and one's disabilities make it difficult to do certain things, hiring a teenager is the perfect solution. Scotty is a great kid: reliable, cheerful, willing to learn, willing to do whatever we ask of him. When the task is partcularly disgusting, like changing the litter box, we pay extra.

Then there are the medical mittens, slumbering for years. Last spring the woman who designed them for me emailed to offer to finish them (!) She had noticed that their Ravelry status had not changed in a loooong time. For those of you who care but can't remember them either, they are for Elder Son, who was in medical school at the time. He has since finished and is now at UMich in Ann Arbor getting a master's degree in public health, epidemiology. The design has the caduceus on the backs of the mittens; I knat them up as far as the wings at the top but couldn't get that part right. She finished them and blocked them and sent them back. Yarn is Cascade Heritage sock.

 

I still have plans to make a DNA scarf of the same yarn for him. Will it get done in time for this Christmas? Probably not, although miracles DO happen...

There is a also tiny bit of stealth knitting going on, maybe for Christmas and maybe not. Someday I'll show you it. 

Summer knitting.

Note: I found this post in my draft folder, waiting for a picture of the socks. Finally took one.

At the beginning of the summer I came upon a pattern that begged to be made in profusion and sold for benefit of the local humane society, on whose board I sit.

Doggie poo bag dispensers.

Pattern here. Great fun to make and a good use of leftover sock yarn. I made 29, gave one to Matthew and Alex for Ser Percival The Energetic, and we sold...one at the county fair booth. I have hopes for better results at the September dog walk, an annual fund-raiser for the shelter.

Last winter I made myself a Noro hat that I like so well I made a scarf to match. My old Noro scarf was dark, which was fine with my old red coat but too dull with my current dark brown one. This scarf is a bit livelier.

 

The hat and scarf are gone now. A few days ago I got an email asking for something for a silent auction fundraiser for a local candidate whom I support. Not much time to knit right now, so the hat and scarf set went to a good cause. Now I'm wondering if I should recreate them or if I should move on to another scarf and hat for which I have half the yarn I need.

I made a pair of socks.

Please ignore the funny-looking ears on the toes.

Yarn: Online Supersocke Nepal found on eBay.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks.
Needles: Addi US#0 (feet) and US#1 (legs). 

And earlier this month I made baby hats for The Purple Project (or whatever it is called).

1. Valley Yarns Superwash DK in lilac;
2. ditto;
3. ditto with a stripe of Knit Picks Andean Silk; 
4. Lamb's Pride worsted in clematis; 
5. Knit Picks Andean Silk (discontinued) in hyacinth;
6. Knit Picks Swish DK in clematis heather (color discontinued);
7. ditto.

Still have two different socks OTN, frogged the cowl and need to cast on a different (easier) one for Alex. And that is what I have been knitting. (I wrote this on September 3. Alex picked out an easier pattern and it is nearly done. Photos soon.)

Knitting! (5)

While I was knitting that Montego Bay silk scarf I found myself experiencing an almost visceral urge to knit socks. Fingering weight yarn! Tiny needles! I wantwantwant! However, I mananged to keep that feeling in check until the scarf was f-i-n-a-l-l-y finished.

Definition of a scarf: a knitted object four to twelve inches wide and only as long as the knitter can maintain sanity.

Ta da!

Yarn: Lang fingering weight 80/20 wool/nylon. Most of a skein of Oxford gray (83.0003) and about half a skein of ruby red, plus about one-and-a-half spools of the gray nylon reinforcing thread that came tucked into the center of the gray skein. The heels and toes are the red fingering weight yarn with the gray reinforcing thread; the feet are the gray yarn; and the legs are both the gray and the red yarn.
Needles: Addi Turbo US#0 circ (foot and first four rows of the stripe pattern); an anonymous bamboo US#1.5 circ that I bought in a lot on eBay (legs).
Pattern: Toe up using Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern until the round before the stripes start; then a modification of the sock pattern in Knit One Below by Elise Duvekot. Her socks were knit top-down; I prefer toe-up. Details of my mods are on my Rav page.

The gauge of the knit-one-below stitch is significantly bigger than stockinette. I did some judicious decreases (trial and error, three times) to get the ankle big enought to be easy to put on but not so big as to sag, plus I used a larger needle on the leg as I always do. If you look carefully you can also see the errors in the initial rows of the pattern. I wanted to plan my stitches so that I didn't have to do the knit-one-below into a stitch that had been a decrease in the previous round and apparently that was a bit more than my brain could stand. (Note to self: If I had used pencil and paper to plot it out it would have been a lot easier.) But once I had knit two or three rows of the pattern stitch I balked at ripping it out to fix it.

You may wonder at my choice of colors that are, to put it charitably, less than exciting. Well, I have a pair of socks purchased many years ago that are light gray with red toes and heels and a stripe/ribbed pattern on the legs. For some unknown reason I have always loved them. Now they are wearing out and I wanted to replace them. When I dug into my stash of solid sock yarn I had only one skein of light gray and I didn't think that would be enough. Wrong again.

 

Knitting! (4)

Fourth: silk Montego Bay scarf.

 

Yarn: Alchemy Silk Purse, 2 skeins. DK, 100% silk single ply.
Needle: KnitPicks US#8 circ.
Pattern: Montego Bay by Amy Singer.

I originally announced that this yarn -- also souvenir yarn purchased at Knitty City last year -- was going to be a trianglular shawlette, but further thought led me to the conclusion that I would get more use from a long rectangular scarf. Several years ago I made a Montego Bay scarf that nearly drove me crazy; I simply could not keep track of the (2-stitch, 2-row!) pattern. But I wanted to conquer that pattern. I needed to conquer that pattern. And I did; this quickly became mindless knitting, so mindless that I could work on it in the evening after working on tax returns for nine or ten hours.

Have worn it multiple times, love it.

Knitting! (3)

Third: a Moebius cowl from a class on same at Yarnover, taught by the totally delightful Silvia Harding. Yummy yarn; too bad I now find the color rather insipid.

Hannibal is not sure about this. Not sure at all.

Pattern: Moebius cowl. The exact pattern is not given at the link but is simply 4 rounds of knit and 4 rounds of purl repeated until the cowl is tall enough. The whole key to making a Moebius is in the cast on, which Cat Bordi demonstrates at the link.
Needles: I think I used a US#4 circ. Either that or a #5.
Yarn: Karabella Magrite, a sport weight 80/20 superfine merino/cashmere blend. It is sooo soft and perfect for next to the skin. I bought four skeins of it in Cara's destash five or six years ago. I think I may use a couple of my skeins to make another cowl, bigger and taller.

I gave the FO to Elder Son's landlady in Duluth, a family practice resident who provided him, and a number of other med students over the years, with a lovely place to live. Smokey delivered it when he traded cars with Son, and he said she was suitably surprised and pleased.

 

 

Knitting! (2)

Second: Daybreak, last seen here. All done, love it, worn only once. Spring came rather early this year and thus ended wool-scarf-wearing season.

Pattern: Daybreak by Stephen West. Nearly every one of his patterns appeal to me. I love this one so much I am planning a sweater based on it.
Yarn: Most of a skein of Universal Pace sock yarn in linen (06) and half a skein of Marks & Katten sock yarn in color 662.
Needle: Signature circ US#4. 
Mods: The original pattern had the final border done in stockinette interspersed with single rows of garter stitch. It seemed to me that that border might be prone to flip up so I did it entirely in garter, and I quite like the way it turned out.

Daybreak does not always come as scheduled.

Once I finished knitting the sweater for Ser Percival The Energetic and the sweater for Melissa's baby and and the Calorimetry for Jocelyn and fingerless mitts and hat and scarf for Alex and the hat for Matthew, I can finally get back to knitting for me me Me! (Never mind that Noro hat I made for myself last month.)

The project for me was Stephen West's Daybreak (photo cheerfully snatched from Ravelry), which had been long in the planning stages.

The pattern was well-written and nearly mindless -- as always, my favorite kind of knitting. I was closing in on the last section when I noticed something.

Can you see it? Probably not. Let's take another look.

Still no? 

A hint -- let me give you it.

The increases should all have been done to the right of that line of slipped stitches. Apparently I got a little confused as to which side of that particular column was right and which was left, resulting in a wonky column of slipped stitches.

Having had some recent success in dropping back and fixing things, I decided to attempt that here. After all, if others can drop back and fix a miscrossed cable, surely I ought to be able to fix a few misplaced increases, right? Right.

The dropping back part was easy, as was fixing the slipped stitches.

The rest was not difficult, but it looked like crap.

This is fingering weight yarn on US#4 needles. Had it been on #1s or #2s I might have been able to make it look okay, but the loose gauge -- necessary to make the scarf drape nicely -- was impossible for me to duplicate neatly with a crochet hook. Would blocking have fixed it? Maybe, but I didn't want to take a chance.

I frogged back to the little brass safety pin and reknit that 4 inches. And gave a sigh of relief.

Here is how it looks today:

A bit later, still sopping wet.

Blocking (please to admire the nice straight columns of slipped stitches):

Someday, a modeled shot...

Kill Bill arrives!

I finished knitting Alex's Kill Bill scarf. (If you are reading this, Alex -- here it is!)

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Tough Love sock yarn, "Kill Bill" colorway (no longer available
Pattern: Cinnamon Grace
Needles: Signature US#3 circ

The pattern was well-written, the knitting was nearly mindless (my favorite kind), the yarn was pleasant, the Signature needle was a dream. All in all, a successful project.

The pattern has the knitter make a slipstitch along the straight edge. Early in the knitting I had trouble keeping track in my mind as to which edge that was, so that straight edge -- the one that does not get a ruffle -- was not as neat it should have been.

The bits sticking out are stitches where I did... something other than what I should have done.

So I got brave and dropped down that edge stitch.

I didn't do it recklessly; first I experimented dropping down just a few rows. When I found it was easy to pick up that edge stitch again, I got braver and dropped down farther (above)

Behold, a neat slip-stitch edge!

Fixing something right at the edge of knitting has always intimidated me. I feel more confident now. 

That was Christmas.

We spent Christmas day with Alex and Matthew. It was delightful to see them hosting the gathering of our little family. They had clearly put a lot of thought and effort into the day -- food (tossed salad and pad thai -- yummy! I brought dessert), presents (perfect, every one!), and they even got dressed up. Not Smokey nor I nor Andrew; we were all in jeans, although I did wear a handknit scarflet to dress up my sweater.

There was festive dress.

Smokey always wears his Santa hat when he works on Christmas, and he brought it along. In the photo above, Andrew had just attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to put the hat on an attentive but uncooperative Ser Percival, so he donned St. Nick's chapeau himself.

Matthew had recently shaved his head.

Smokey was delighted to get a calendar from Alex. He has always been a big fan of Xena, Warrior Princess. (He was gobsmacked also to receive an automotive code reader, but that is not a particularly photogenic object, being basically just a black box.)

I got tags for my handknit items (sadly, they had not arrived by Christmas) and an iPod dock and a Mac Magic Mouse.

Andrew also got an iPod dock, but I neglected to get a photo. His looks approximately like this:

I had put together a basket containing a couple of beginner's supply kits for Alex. There was a knitter's kit: US#7 Dreamz needles, a ball of dishcloth cotton to learn on, and two skeins of Cascade 220 in soft yellow for a scarf once she has mastered the knit stitch, plus assorted small tools, and a How to Knit pamplet from the The Knitters' Guild of America for when I am not around to help her. The other half of the basket was a beginner's sewing kit -- shears, seam ripper, pins, needles, thread. I have found myself with three sewing machines, and one will be hers. She wants me to teach her to sew and to knit, yay!

Smokey had put together a similar gift for Matthew with assorted tools and gadgets, including a set of lighted jumper cables. Go ahead and laugh, but Matthew was pleased with them; you will wish you had them yourself next time your car will not start on a cold dark night.

Ser Percy's sweater was finally done and presented to Himself.

It fits him pretty well, considering I had no pattern and had very limited access to the actual dog's body for fitting. The next one will be better. Please note Percy's bow tie and Alex's sparkly shoes. It was a very festive day!

* * * * *

I had hoped to finish a pair of fingerless gloves for Alex by Christmas, but it was not to be.

The pattern is Vancouver Fog on Ravelry, the yarn is Knit Picks Andean Dream (alpaca, silk, merino worsted). I bound off the first one tonight and cast on the second. They go very quickly except for the idiot who crosses cables the wrong way and loses track of where she is in the pattern. That does slow them down a mite.

FO Friday.

Y'all saw the Citron when it was 99.47% done and I ran out of yarn. Well, thanks to the magic of the internet and Ravelry and family and friends, I was able to finish it exactly as written -- no fudging that last ruffle or binding off with a different color of yarn.

Behold!

btw, blocking wires -- or, in my case, welding rods repurposed as blocking wires -- are Da Bomb.

A few days after I posted about running out of yarn, I got a message on Ravelry from loftysara, who lives in western North Dakota but used to live in the Twin Cities and worked at Banana Republic with BGFE (remember her?). BGFE must have mentioned to her that I was knitting something for her and told her how to look me up on Ravelry and Sara started reading the blog. Remember, loftysara and I have never met. So I get a message from her saying she has that exact yarn and would I like it... but it is living with her parents in Minnesota. Yes, I reply, but I only need a few grams -- how can we work this out? Can I buy it/trade for it? I didn't get a reply and I kind of forgot about the whole thing. By this time tax season was whipping my ass and I had no time to knit anyway.

The next time #2 Son and BGFE came to visit, she handed me a hat crocheted from The Yarn! Turned out loftysara had gotten the hat to her but forgotten to reply to my reply.

Thank you, Sarah! Thank you, BGFE! Thank you, Ravelry! Thank you, universe!

Citron has gone to live with its new owner and I am contemplating knitting one for myself someday.

Readers, go give Sara some love and congratulate her on her engagement.

And loftysara, I have most of a skein of Misti Alpaca available for your use ;)

FO, miscellaneous (pt. 2).

Lucy The Wonder Dog has to take special doggy meds twice a day. Not that she is ill or has anything really bad. She merely suffers from a condition that afflicts many middle-aged, neutered females: occasional incontinence. As in, she pees in the bed whilst asleep.

Modern veterinary medicine to the rescue.

Lucy does not take medicine well. We were able to get the pills down her throat about twice before she wised up and refused to come anywhere near us. Then we started to give her the pills in chunks of hot dog. That made for some pretty good video moments.

  

But after a couple years she figured out how to get that annoying hard lump out of the middle of the hot dog chunk.

Hot dog chunk: eaten.

Dog: medicated and happy.

Pill: on the floor.

The next step was to crush the pill into powder and dredge the hot dog chunks in it. This worked fine and still led to the amusing sight of a dog snapping a hot dog chunk out of the air with lighting speed, but it was rather a lot of futzing around.

Canned dog food to the rescue. 

We mix the crushed pill into a couple spoonsful of El Cheapo canned dog food from WalMart. She loves it. This latest method has been working well for about six months. Wish us luck. If she ever figures out how to lick the canned dog food out of the dish without ingesting the powder that was mixed with it, we are toast. 

As vacation approached, I thought about how best to pack the porcelein mortar and pestle that we use to crush the pill. In past years I have put them each into a sock and put them and the medicines into a bag. 

Why, yes, that IS a bag from The Yarnery. Why should I get to use all the nicest bags?

This year we are getting fancy. I knitted a little bag with fancy-schmancy felted I-cord drawstrings to hold the bowl and a matching sock-y thing to hold the pestle.

But I ran out of the blue yarn.

Let me know in the comments if that, ahem, reminds you of anything...

 

FO, socks.

I finished two pairs of socks.

Yarn: ONline Supersocke 100 Nepal, the enchantingly named color 63, most of one 100-gram skein; toes and heels reinforced with red Lang reinforcing thread. I saw this yarn on eBay and had to have it.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock, worked on 60 stitches. I consciously tried not to knit too tightly but overdid it a bit -- these socks are a bit roomy.
Needles: Addi Turbo US#0 for the foot and ankle, US#1.5 for the leg. 

I started these socks the night before I started back to work in February and didn't finish them until after tax season was well over. Hard to do anything except eat, sleep, and work during tax season.

Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Sockweight (50/25/25 merino/bamboo/nylon), aquamarine, most of 2 50-gram skeins. This yarn is supersoft because of the merino/bamboo.
Pattern: same as above, worked on 64 stitches instead of my usual 60 because this yarn is thinner than most sockweight. That may have been unnecessary/overkill because the socks are slightly roomy.
Needles: Addi Turbo US#0 for the foot and ankle, US#1.5 for the leg.

I started these on the subway from JFK to our hotel last month; finished the first and cast on the second on the plane home; finished the second a week or two later.

My sock wardrobe swells... 

FO, miscellaneous.

 

I got a water bottle at work.

It was not insulated.

I fixed that.

Yarn: Lamb's Price worsted, hyachinth (the bright purple). Louet Gems Topaz (worsted), grape heather.

Needles: Addi Turbo US#6.

Pattern: I don't need no stinkin' pattern, at least for something as simple as this. First I knit a 2x2 ribbed sleeve of the light purple yarn, ~28 stitches. That didn't seem thick enough, so I continued with the bright purple and added some stripes. Easy peasy.

Sadly, it doesn't insulate as well as I had hoped. But it helps.  
 

Warm heads, not hot heads.

As I mentioned before, I jumped into this project with both feet and all my needles. I knit one hat and plan to knit one more by next weekend. But I had several other hats hanging around in the "to be donated" basket, and what better use could they have?

I have worn several of them on occasion, but after a good soak in Eucalan -- which none of them had had before -- they are good as new. (There is one more hiding on the shelf below.)

There is still time for any of you to whip out a hat and let twinsetellen know to whom you plan to send it. As of today she has people signed up to send hats to 20% of Congress! That's a lot of hats and a lot of knitters!

Yesterday I drafted the letter that will accompany the hats I will send. It was cut and pasted together from Ellen's and Alison's examples.

February 22, 2011

Congress[wo]man The Honorable* Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Yada yada

Dear Congress[wo]man Senator / Representative* Xxxxxxxx:

I knit this hat for you; I live in xxx in Wisconsin District 7. Many of your colleagues will also be receiving hats from knitters of all political stripes and from all around the nation. We wanted to show you that we appreciate the work you do for those of us whom you serve in the House.

I knitted it as part of a campaign among knitters for Warm Hats, Not Hot Heads (more information at http://twinset.us/?page_id=3736). We are from many political backgrounds. We want those who engage in angry and even vicious public rhetoric to stop speaking for us in those ways. We want civility in Congress. We are choosing to give hours of our time silently to be able to give you a visible, tangible, heartfelt symbol of our desire for respecting and honoring one another within our government – and to thank you for doing your best.

Why a hat? Knit hats meet a simple need for warmth. They are an every day comfort. Everyone can use a good hat. Civil political discourse also meets a simple need – the need for our government to have the best information and insights from many viewpoints. It would be an everyday comfort to me and to many other Americans if the airwaves were free of hate-filled rhetoric, and it would help lead to good government. As I am sure you will agree, everyone can use good government.

Each stitch is individual. Each stitch depends on every other stitch within that hat being present for it to be able to do its job where it is of creating comfort and warmth. I wish you the best in your work and thank you for your service to us all.

Warm regards,

 

Kathryn Xxxxxxx

P.S. If you are not able to use this hat yourself, please donate it to a worthy charity. There are many that help the homeless and underserved, and I would like to know that the hat is keeping someone warm.

* The Google showed me the proper way to address such a letter.

 * * * * *

It is melting here this weekend.

Do you know how hard it is to photograph a melting drop in the air? This is the best I got out of over 20 shots. I even investigated the "Continuous" mode on my new camera. It worked just like it was supposed to, but I still failed to capture the desired shot. You will have to settle for a drop almost ready to come off.

Hannibal was not impressed, either.

FO Friday.

I have been cranking out the small projects on a regular basis lately. Very satisfying, especially after that nearly-12-month sweater.

This scarflette has been gifted to our local librarian, who has been pestering me -- in a good-natured way -- to knit something for her ever since I started requesting knitting books.

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, 1.75 skeins of some unknown, mostly blue, colorway (band long gone) purchased at either School Products or Purl Soho in 2007. Souvenir yarn, don't you know...
Pattern: Simple Things by Mary-Heather Cogar (of Ravelry fame). 
Needles: Addi Turbo US#4 circ.

(That swatch at upper right is something else. Please ignore.)

I followed the pattern exactly as written. If I had it to do over I would attempt to use more of the yarn and make the scarf as big as possible. As an inexperienced triangle knitter I did not feel like I could judge the amount of yarn required to finish from any given point, so I just followed the pattern.

(When I was in the library yesterday she told me that whenever she wears the scarf people want to know where she bought it and could they buy hers. She told me I could go into business making and selling them, and I reminded her of how I knit for friends and relatives and myself, not for 50¢ an hour. Non-knitters just don't get it.)

Next up, a pair of felted slippers for a friend. Bad blogger that I am, I neglected to get a photo of the actual felted FO. Here is the first one, unfelted, next to my size 9 clog; the recipient's feet are size 7.

Yarn: Reynold's Lopi.
Pattern: Felted (Fulled) Stuff by Nancy Lindberg.
Needle: Knit Picks US#11 circ.

Lopi is a scratchy, uncomfortable yarn, but it may be a good choice for slippers that will be worn with socks -- it seems like it will wear well. The slipper is really a scuff or mule. As I was knitting them it seemed to me that they were too wide for their length or too short for their width. After they went through my front-loader twice they looked sufficiently fulled. I attempted to stretch the soles so that they would fit. My friend tried them on and declared them perfect*.

I knew that this person had a birthday coming up in February and had decided that I would knit her a pair of felted clogs. I already had the pattern and yarn -- bright red KP Wool of the Andes for the top and black for the soles and trim. Then I ran into my friend earlier last week and she burst out, "I'm going to make myself felted slippers for my birthday!" To which I replied, "I was going to make you felted slippers for your birthday!" She thrust her bag with the yarn and pattern at me and said, "Well, then, you can make these!" Perfect!

*Update: I checked with said friend again yesterday and she admitted that they are a little short. I may be knitting her another pair.

The latest FO is a hat for me. Here is is, with and without flash.

   

Yarn: Bernat Lana (worsted, 100% wool; discontinued) with stripes of leftover bits of Noro Silk Garden and Plymouth Boku.
Needles: KnitPicks Options, Zephyr tips, US#8.
Pattern: Sixteen-Cable Hat, heavily modified. No cables; I just used the first and last couple inches of the pattern to create the general shape. Initially I followed the pattern but found that without the cables to pull it in, the hat hung halfway down my back. Slight exaggeration, but clearly I needed to frog back. After removing several inches (including all the decreasing and a 2-3" more) I decreased down again and found that it looked much better.

FO Friday Monday.

The sweater, she is DONE! Actually, she has been done for over a week, and I have been wearing her a goodly portion of that time. Warm, cozy, fits right, scratchy enough that I need to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt under it, but I have several so that is not a problem. The color are fairly accurate at left, but the neck does not do that funny thing it is doing in the photo.

I learned some things in this sweater, mainly that I am not quite as good a sweater knitter as I thought. I won't go into excruciating detail because I don't want you all to feel you need to reassure me. I know what is not quite right about the sweater and none of it is enough to prevent me from being pleased with it and happy to wear it. So there.

One thing I learned is that I need to allow a bit more ease in the sleeve length. The kimono sweater I finished almost exactly a year ago? Sleeves barely long enough, and I intend -- someday -- to frog and reknit the last six inches to remedy that. I do not plan to do anything to the sleeves on this sweater except to use them as a reminder that I really need to put at least one extra inch of ease into the length of the sleeve, amen.

The blue-gray background yarn is a bit scratchy on my skin, so instead of doing ribbed cuffs I did turned hems and lined them with the same merino as the stripes.

Knitting the hem lining on a sleeve:

The same sleeve hem turned back:

The hem being fastened down with a three-needle bind-off; I threaded a second needle -- the one at the top -- through the back side of the stitches where I wanted the edge of the hem to attach:

The finished hem:

The idea for this came from a sweater I bought a number of years ago. Its hem (this is the right side; the sweater is reverse stockinette):

It seems to have worked a bit better on the machine-made sweater :( I knit the linings on a needle one size smaller than the sleeve to ensure that the hem would not flare. This worked on the sleeves; not so well at the bottom or the neck. Also, the row of stitches where I worked the three-needle bind-off pulled in significantly. I was able to fix this -- mostly -- by a firm steam-pressing.

I am also happy that this knitting basket:

is now available for my next major work-on-it-at-home project. 

These last photos are for Heather, who requested to see the inside of the sweater. Here ya go, Heather!

That is the inside of of the side "seam" where I changed colors; since I knit it top-down in the round there are no actual seams*. Here is the right side of same:

 

FO Friday.

I finished the felted bag with the infamous I-cord bind-off.

The somewhat less-than- optimal photograph is the result of attempting to capture two of the most difficult colors and textures -- reds and fuzzy black. The latter was determined to reflect whatever ambient light there was, resulting in a black bag that looked surprisingly silverly. The bag has a few puckers and wrinkles, but those should go away once it is fully loaded.

Overall, the bag turned out well. Tragically, I have absolutely no use for it at present. The coat I made it to go with is long gone. My tote bag supply runneth over, to the extent that I donated nearly a dozen of various types to the Salvation Army last month. As a purse, it lacks any of the internal organizational features that I prefer, like pockets or dividers, plus, being black, it is difficult to find anything inside. I could line it with a light-colored print and perhaps sew some pockets onto that, but, really, what are the chances? If I can't knit it, I'm not interested...

So, for now, this will sit as an object to be admired rather than as an object to be used. Perhaps it will be a gift. Most likely we will sell it at the library fund-raising booth, probably for less than the cost of the yarn. 

::sigh::

For some reason -- primarily a lack of clear thinking -- I thought I had to knit four ropes of I-cord for the handles, even though the pattern clearly specified two. So I knit 240 miles yards inches of I-cord instead of 120. And now I have these:

They will undoubtedly become cat toys. 
Very well-made, luxury cat toys.
I should invest in some catnip with which to stuff them,
just to ensure that they are properly enjoyed.

FO Friday.

It is probably cheating a little if the FO in question is 2010, isn't it? And so I will offer these instead.

First up, the cowl for Alex, Matthew's girlfriend:

Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk in Allspice, to match the 16-Cable Hat I made for her last month.
Pattern: Tuesday Night Cowl. No mods, pattern is perfect as written.
Needles: Knit Picks US#7 circ.

The cowl starts from a provisional cast-on, is worked lengthwise, then the ends are Kitchenered together. That's 71 stitches of Kitchenering. Can you tell where I did it?

   
(Color in the photo at top is most accurate. Don't know why these came out so differently.)

I can't tell, either. That Kitchener stitch is magic. As many times as I have done it, I still don't understand exactly how it works. 

Next up on the finishing block were the Dimorphous Mittens. Please note the stunning I-cord bind off on the outer mitts.

Yarn: (outer mitts) Noro Yuzen, about half a skein each of #9 and #14.
(inner mitts) Frog Tree Pediboo (80% merino / 20% bamboo) in the delightfully named '1011', a bit less than one skein; 20 - 30 yards each of Knit Picks Gloss fingering weight (70% merino / 30% silk) in 'Dolphin' and 'Dusk', respectively.
Needles: (outer) Addi Turbo US#5 circ.
Pattern: Dimorphous Mittens. Besides adding the slip-stitch colorwork to the inner mittens, the only mod was a different, more rounded method of decreasing at the fingertips. It takes 12 rows, so figure out when to start based on your row gauge and how long you want the mittens to be:

• *K3, k2tog*. Repeat between *s around.
• Knit 3 rounds even.
• *K2, k2tog*. Repeat between *s around.
• Knit 1 round even.
• *K1, k2tog*. Repeat between *s around.
• Knit 1 round even.
• K2tog around. Repeat this round if necessary to get down to 6 - 8 st.
• Break yarn and thread through remaining stitches. Draw tight and weave in end.

As much as I like how these mittens look, they have two problems:

1. They are so warm that I may never actually need to wear both inner and outer mitts as intended.
2. They are so bulky that I cannot do ANYTHING with my hands except use them as paws.

And so I may end up wearing only the inner mitts. Or maybe I'll break down and buy another pair of leather gloves to replace the ones I lost at the end of last winter.

::sigh::

But at least I learned how to do the I-cord bind off.

* * * * *

Remember the wool dryer balls? They have turned out to be absolutely useless in eliminating -- or even reducing -- static electricity. What a surprise (not). Back to the aluminum foil balls...

::sigh x2::

* * * * *

Wishing you all a most enjoyable and beneficent new year!

 

An FO is an FO, no matter how small.

I just finished wrapping the Christmas presents.

Back when I was a teenager I spent two Christmas seasons wrapping gifts in the little department store in my home town. That taught me how to wrap efficiently and tidily, although our results (my best friend and I worked there together) pale when compared to the gift-wrapping you might get at Saks or Macy's or Nordstrom. It has always surprised me how long it takes to wrap gifts. It seems like once the thinking and the deciding and the schlepping from store to store (in the old days) and the internet shopping (now) and the buying is done, the last step should be over in a snap. This year it seemed to go quickly, maybe because I knew it would take a while or maybe because there were not all that many presents to wrap or maybe because I was listening to an audio book (last bit of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, then Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life, thanks for asking). Anyway, the task is done for another year.

Note: The Leinie's box visible in the background is NOT a Christmas gift. It just happened to be sitting in the right spot to look that way. (If you are not from the Upper Midwest, you may not know about Leinie's. Follow the link to become informed.)

* * * * *

You may have noticed the balls on the bottom shelf of my cart. They are the FO in the title, dryer balls that I made. We have used dryer sheets forever, but I heard about using wadded-up balls of aluminum foil to eliminate static electricity so I tried those. Two foil balls didn't seem to reduce the static much, and I started to have bits of aluminum foil all over the laundry room. Apparently a ball of wadded-up aluminum foil doesn't last forever -- who knew?

But felted yarn balls? Perfect project for a knitter with some extra yarn. Brown, purple, and dark green. I chose dark colors to avoid any possibility of adding lint to the dark loads. My dryer sucks at removing lint.

Three felted balls, however, were not enough -- still had static cling. So I made some more. Blue, maroon, and black, at left. 

I haven't done laundry since I made them so I don't know whether six balls will work any better than three. Stay tuned. They were fun to make, though :)

* * * * *

No word on the CT scan yet. Thanks for all the good wishes! My doc finally called me today to tell me she cannot find the results in my chart.

Headdesk.

The scan was done at a hospital in MN that is in a completely different health care conglomerate than my usual and hospital and clinics, which is probably why the information flow is less than optimal. Still, I have made numerous calls on Tuesday and Wednesday and again today to both places, making sure that the results were transmitted to the right place and that my doc was reminded to call me. Apparently the only call that mattered was the one today to ask the nurse to remind her to call. In her favor, my doctor gave me her personal cell number to call her tomorrow at home -- she is off tomorrow -- to find out if the results have been found.

As I said above, stay tuned...