Archive for the 'Fiber' Category

I knit something and finished it finally

Posted in Fiber, Knitting on October 26th, 2009

Pretty Thing CowlLast year, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee knit up an absolutely beautiful cowl that she named Pretty Thing. Recently she released the pattern for sale on her website (scroll down to the post called — The moral of the story).

Now it happened that this is the time of year I begin to cast far and wide looking for possible Christmas gifts. So, as soon as I managed to purchase the pattern, I cast on. Now, I have bought some lovely alpaca/wool blend yarn but the version in the photo is done with sock yarn in a variegated white/grey/black that has a lot of stretch to it. I’m not going to even attempt to block something that has that much nylon bounce to it. You can get an idea of the pattern but the variegation sort of hides the details. When I make my next one in a solid color I’ll post another picture.

The reason for sock yarn in a stretch yarn is that the person who will get this throws everything into the washer and then the dryer. Labels are for sissies. So, knowing my giftee, I plan accordingly. This will go well with her coloring but will also survive the washer and dryer and it will hold its shape without being blocked. It also stretches enough that it won’t muss the hair too much.

I tried it on and it fit wonderfully but I think I’ll add another pattern repeat for the next one since it won’t have as much stretch to the yarn and evidently I and some people I know have big heads. [Hyperion: As she found out when she asked me to try it on.] We must be big head people– but that just means that we have more brains and thus will be the choice of zombies everywhere. [Hyperion: She says the sweetest things :blush:]

Anyway, having knit my first Pretty Thing, I can say that the pattern is clearly written. I didn’t even have any problems with the sewn cast-off — and I’d never done that before. It makes a lovely stretchy edge to the cowl.

Work, work, work…and a knitting break

Posted in Fiber, Hearth and Home, Knitting, Sweaters on June 27th, 2009

Sausalito Sweater in piecesHuge thunderstorm tonight. Sky was a strange pink between the trees and the lightning. Rained hard with blowing wind. I love storms. It tailed off again, then back, then gone again.

We got in our copy of True Blood and watched the first four episodes. Quite good but I’ll do more on that later when I’ve seen the full season.

Finished all the parts of the sweater I’ve been working on and started sewing it together. Goofed on one of the shoulder seams and now need to decide what to do — pull it out (difficult because I already did the ends in; try to fix by doing a bigger seam just deeper to take in the ripple; or just leave it because I’m probably the only one who’ll even notice it.

Right now I’m liking option three. Another knitter might notice the badly sewn seam. But I know in my heart that it will bug me. So, I guess tomorrow I’ll have to tease it apart and start all over because as much as I’d like to just leave it be — I know I’d see it as a big whopping “look at me” sign that would drive me crazy. So, big sigh, I’ll know I’ll take it apart but I’ve just got to pretend for a while that I won’t.

What do you do when you see a mistake you made? Fix it? Ignore it? Pretend it isn’t there and try harder next time? Me. I can’t ignore it because it tasks me with its existence even when it’s my mistake. I have to make and effort to fix it or get over it and move on.

I guess often knitting and craft work is a microcosm for how you deal with life…but I really don’t want to examine that thought too much right now.

June Coffee Cup and Knitting Projects…

Posted in Fiber, Hearth and Home, Knitting, Sweaters on June 3rd, 2009

June Coffee Cup -- Relax
This month’s cup has the simple clean lines that I like. I bought this on super sale in Home Goods but I almost think it was one of the cups that Starbucks had for sale last winter. It just seemed that since June, for many people, is summertime, it might be nice to have a cup that said relax in silly droopy letters. I also liked the rounded shape and the splash of red on the rim — then the not so subtle hint to sit in a comfy chair with a big bowl of popcorn. It made me smile and, for me, that’s one of the most important jobs my monthly coffee cup has — other than holding the beverage without leaking of course.

This past weekend we caught a squirrel on the deck trying to drop the bird feeder into the yard. We’ll I don’t mean we actually caught him — those guys are sly and crafty — we saw him. Hyperion got out the super-soaker, charged it up, and managed to catch him with a spray of water twice (or it might have been two squirrels and we got each one once). We thought we’d discouraged him because while we made noise and frightened them off the deck all weekend and the feeder stayed in place. You see a week or so ago, I went out to get the mail and the feeder was on the ground. Since it hooks over one of those cast-iron garden planter holders, we thought it was pretty had for this to happen by chance. Some pretty big birds eat on the feeder by holding on and curling under it. But it was one of those things where you shrug and move on. It also seemed that a lot of the food ends up on the ground for the ground feeders but then some of those birds are really messy eaters.

Mourning Dove (the pidgeons of the south) on our railingBut on Saturday, we were sitting in the living room (from there you can see the feeder on its hook), and a squirrel was on the railing climbing up the garden rod and trying to get the feeder off the hook. We bolted for the door and slide it open and he took off down the deck and stairs. So, the mystery of how the feeder ended up on the ground was solved. We now only fill the feeder 1/4 full and keep a closer eye on the feeder to check for squirrels. The super-soaker is right by the door (I don’t use it but Hyperion does — we got it when the woodpeckers were using our house as a mating drum).

Today a Mourning Dove was sitting on the railing when I went to look out at the feeder. It sat there long enough for me to get my camera, come back, try to focus through the door and screen, and take several photos. I haven’t been able to get a photo of the cow bird or the tufted titmouse yet. By the time I gather my camera and get back they’re gone. The birds have started pecking on the window when the feeder is empty. Guess since we put less in it when we fill it they figure they have to ask for seconds — or firsts.

The pattern photo and one front, the back, and start of the other frontRemember when I said I was putting myself on notice that I had to finish up some of my unfinished knitting projects. Well, after finishing two pairs of socks, I dug out Sausalito (from dolce handknits, 2005). I feel in love with it when I saw it in one of the knitting catalogs I get. That spring I picked up the pattern at Maryland Sheep & Wool from Koenig Farm, Spinnery & Yarn Shop. I’d also picked up two cones of cotton yarn one cream and one a really sort of strange green. I didn’t have the yarn the pattern called for but I found knitting the gauge swatch with one strand of each color that I made gauge and I sort of liked the green toned down by the cream. It made a nice soft fabric that seem perfect for spring and summer wear. So, I cast on and knit like a house on fire until I finished the back, and got up to the decreases on the left front. Then I made a mistake. Then I corrected for the error and kept on going. Then I made another one and corrected for that one too. Then I remembered that I’d have to make the same mistakes on the right side to match and I knew that was just asking too much– I knew I had to unravel the front down to the start of the decreases and do it right so it went into a zip-lock bag at the back of the closet.

I dug it out after the socks got done and sat and stared at it. I still like it. I loved the pattern and this was coming out really well until I goofed. So, since I didn’t have a rescue line in the front and the pattern is a butterfly stitch, the only way I was going to unravel it was to unknit it. Secondly, since the yarn was on cones I was going to end up with a huge pile of yarn in knots. So, I got an empty toilet paper roll and started to unknit…and unknit…and unknit. I’d then wind the yarn onto the TP roll to keep it from tangling and unknit some more. Then I started to reknit the decreases on the front. Unknit the mistake. Reread the pattern. Start the decreases again. Unknit. Reread. I think I did that a total of six times before I finally got it right.

Now, I have to say there’s nothing wrong with the pattern. If you follow it, it works. The problem was the reader — me — for some reason, I’d read the directions and then go off and do my own thing. The instructions just went in the eyes and out the ears not stopping at the brain. Once it finally clicked — boy did I feel like an ID-10-T. But now the left front is done. I’m only 2 1/2 inches away from doing the decreases on the right front and hoping that the lessons learned will stay with me until that’s done. Then it’s just two sleeves. Sew it all together. Crochet along the edges. Make a button loop. Add a button. And I’ll have a new sweater for spring, summer, and fall. I expect to have it done by the end of the month — sooner if I can get my time organized a bit better this month. At least we’re not changing servers, so that should help.

So, who else is working on UFOs? I’ve got three more I’ve found digging through the knit storage area. But now that I finished my sweater I don’t have any socks on the needles or in the unfinished pile so I got yarn out and a pattern (haven’t done one of those in a while) and plan to start a new pair of socks for take-along when traveling. Socks are great for that.

At last, the May Coffee Cup…and miscellaneous notes

Posted in Fiber, Hearth and Home, Knitting, Socks, THE Zines on May 25th, 2009

May Coffee CupIt’s been a heck of a month. It seems like all month, I’ve been running as fast as I can just to stay in place. There’s been so much going on. So, finally, here is the May Coffee Cup. It’s bright and cheery and I’ve been enjoying it all month. It’s just the right size to fill and sip on at the computer and the coffee stays relatively warm in it. Though I have to admit that I will drink my coffee hot, warm, tepid, and cold. Comes from years of work in IT where often you’d forget to go heat it up if you were deep in the code and on the right track.

We’ve been moving the zines from one host to another. That means transferring the DNS and that means a lot of backups and waits to see when the change would go through and the administrative functions were disabled and all I could do was let the work pile up. We’re nearing the end of the month and tonight the last magazine is being moved and the administrative functions restored. The email addresses are being reinstated on the new server and hopefully they’ll work okay. There’s a bit of a problem with sending email out and I’m hoping that gets resolved before I have to send out the notification to the publishers that a review is now up on our site. The monthly announcement can, if necessary, be sent from another server as a backup plan — hopefully we won’t need it.

So, I’ve been trying to get more books reviewed this month and have managed to do several graphic novels for the June issue of SFRevu, including Jim Butcher’s The Dresden FIles: Storm Front: Vol. 1, The Gathering Storm adaptation by Mark Powers and illustrated by Ardian Syaf (so check out our June issue for the review.

Yellow FinchWe’ve managed to keep the bird feeder going. We thought the little guys were going to eat us out of house and home but now that it’s getting into late Spring/Summer we’re finding that while they still cluster about the feeder, the birds aren’t eating as much. We do have a Tufted Titmouse that is coming about and fluttering at the windows by where we sit in the living room. Not the window closest to the feeder but the ones where we sit. He’s even been at the kitchen and the dinning room window when I’m there doing something. The hummingbirds are back in force and we’re making food regularly for them. We had to buy a new feeder since they didn’t like one of them and now they’re eating from both of them.

We’ve had some new birds show up also. We started getting Yellow Finches, Tufted Titmouse (Titmice?), Blue Jays, Brown Headed Cowbirds, and a strange looking black bird we haven’t gotten a good look at yet. I’m enjoying trying to identify the birds that stop by and I’m getting a better understanding of why people enjoy bird watching.

Toe up sock with Magic CastonI’ve also been knitting. Trying out new techniques and more importantly trying to finish up some projects that have been sitting around for a while. First, I’m trying to keep socks on the go all the time for traveling and away from the house waiting times. I finally tried the magic caston. I watched the youtube video. Well, actually there are several just search on Magic Caston and a long list shows up. I tried several before I found one that worked for my brain. The others were well done but I just didn’t get it until I meshed with the right video.

After-thought HeelI used an after-thought heel and did a very loose cast off for the cuff on these toe-up socks. That makes it easier to get them on if they shrink a bit in the wash. Here’s a photo of the needles in for the after-thought heel and another of the finished socks (well, one finished sock though I’ve got both done now).

Finished Sock

So, in spite of the fact that I’m running as fast as I can to just stay in place, I might just have accomplished some stuff this month — or rather I hope I will. I don’t know how other people cope with unexpected or even expected inconveniences that through their schedules all out of whack. Luckily for me, I cope with these things by either knitting or reading — too things that I need to do anyway. How do you cope?

Arggggh….I dropped a stitch….

Posted in CSA, Environment, Fiber, Hearth and Home, Knitting, Rants, Socks on May 22nd, 2009

Purple Stripes Socks not the dropped stitch onesI’ve been rushing to finish up the second sock that I’ve been knitting. Well, actually I want to finish up a number of projects that have just a bit left to go  because I want to start several new ones. So, I thought I’ll finish this sock then the sweater, then the next three things and then start the new stuff.

But on the very last row of the after-thought heel as I was turning it inside out to do the 3-needle bindoff — I dropped a stitch. It’s a stripped sock on number 2 needles and the stripe at the end was black… I’m sure you know where I’m going. At the moment, I’m unknitting down to where the stitch ran but it keeps running so I think I’m going to end up at the start of the heel again.

My grandmother had a saying for times like these — “the faster I go the behinder I get.” That’s how I feel right now. This whole day has been like that. Maybe knitting is sort of a metaphor for life. You run along great and then unlike real life you get an opportunity for do-overs. Well, I suppose you get opportunities for do-overs in real life too but they’re much more painful than with knitting. I can unravel knitting and just start over but with life there’s all the other connections with events and people and those can’t be just unraveled as if they never were to start from scratch again.

Yarn might be a bit kinked from being unraveled but basically it’s very forgiving — people, well, not so much. So, I guess I’m lucky that it’s only the stocking’s heel that’s giving me problems. So, I guess I’ve now talked myself into a better state of mind about the bungled heel and the dropped stitch. This is just another of knitting’s do-overs.

Maryland Sheep & Wool…still good even in the rain

Posted in Fiber, Knitting, Maryland Sheep & Wool on May 5th, 2009

Maryland Sheep & Wool 2009It was a whirlwind weekend but on Sunday, Hyperion and I drove out to Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It’s always held on the first weekend in May. We’ve been going for years now. I love it and save my pennies up for a big splurge of wooly and fibery goodness each year.

This year it rained. We woke up early so we could get there at a decent time since everything shuts down at sunset. It was raining interspersed with drizzle. Okay. That wasn’t so bad and Friendship is west of us and most storms come west to east so we hoped that we’d drive out of it. Well, hope springs eternal and all that but it rained all the way there.

The good thing is we didn’t get lost this year. I mean we drive there every year but seem to manage to find a new way to get lost most years. It’s because for us, drive time is quality time to spend together and we talk and talk and talk or read to each other. This year, we were reading to each other (The Plight of the Darcy Brothers: A tale of the Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman — there will be a review here later). Maybe swapping drivers so we could read kept us from getting lost.

Parking this year was no problem because there was a lot of space left when we arrived. The field was wet and I was soaked up to my knees by the time I got to the road but then, in the rain, who’d notice but me. The good news is that most of the same vendors were there. Vendors in the barns had dry areas and those in the tents were tolerably dry — some had to keep poking the tent to dump water out before it leaked all over every one and every thing inside but that was minor in a lot of ways. In one tent someone was asking if they had dry wool and the salesguy said it would dry out, and that you wash wool eventually anyway, and this was yarn so if you just hung it, it would dry with no problems. (In fact the yarn I bought for my vest was a bit damp in places and is now hanging over the back of a chair to dry fully before I wind it.)

With the lower numbers it was really easy this year to look over the stalls and offerings. We managed to visit every bit of the festival and leave before they closed which was a first for us. In fact, Hyperion was commenting on the fact that he liked the cooler temps and fewer people and he wanted brownie points for not whining to go home every half hour.

I didn’t spend as much as in the past, part of the economic downturn and fewer pennies to spare. But, I did get the wool for one vest, one 4 oz roving, and one 8 oz roving (both in wild colors that I look forward to spinning up).

I also bought one set of double pointed needles and one pair of straights from Signature Needle Arts. I’d heard so much about them in various groups I belong to that I wanted to see what they were like. Last year, I couldn’t get near their booth. This year, I found that they have samples out with yarn and you can knit a row or two to see what the needles are like. I got the double points in size 2 for socks since I’ve been pretty much keeping a pair in process constantly. The straights I got in size 8 which seems for some reason to be the size I use most lately. I started socks today on the new double points and I’m loving them. Very, very, nice. Guess I’ll need to start saving my pennies for a second set in another size soon.

Talking to a few of the vendors, it seems it rained most of Saturday too. The crowds were down and sales were so-so but I don’t know to me everyone seemed a bit more relaxed and chatty. Or maybe without the press of the huge usual crowd the vendors had time to take time with the people who were there. I suspect that if it had been dry and sunny that even in these bad economic times, attendance would have been up because this is one heck of a great festival. If you live anywhere near Maryland or happen to be near in May, make an effort to drop in because it’s well run with many small companies who live and breathe fiber animals and fiber to show their stuff. And, for those of us who love crafts and fiber goodness to stock up for the coming year.

Documenting a process of thought…

Posted in Fiber, Knitting on April 17th, 2009

Girl Knitting Giclee Poster Print by Walter LangleyToday I read Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Yarn Harlot blog (the April 16th entry) where she had meticulously documented a problem she’d run into while knitting a cabled cardigan. She has pictures of how each side was knitted following the instructions given, then as knit following the errata sheet, and finally how they should look if you match your knitted cables to the photo of the completed project in the magazine.

I’m always blown away when someone post articles like these. If you’re a knitter these details are the treasures that the internet provides. You learn there are problems and how to fix them, hopefully before you’ve beaten your head on the wall in frustration because you can’t make it look like the photo and you know it’s your fault.

The Yarn Harlot often has such posts and I treasure each of them. Other authors of knitting blogs perform a similar service to the knitting community, some with the same depth of coverage, and some with less, but the Yarn Harlot manages to do it with humor and wit allowing the reader to feel that they could have figured this out too if they tried.

But what it comes back to for me is the effort to document the process that was gone through in putting together such a post. For example, if it was me, I’d have ripped the thing out so many times trying to make it work and then IF I found the errata sheet, I do it all again several times trying to make it look like the photo. Then I’d spend a bit of time trying to convince myself that the photo and the newly minted cables actually matched and then either living with the difference or giving up entirely. I really don’t know if I’d then actually spend the time to examine the photo closely and then attempt to figure it out on my own.

Now, if I got to this point, I’d have my one piece of knitting and then if I even thought about letting others know, I’d have to reconstruct samples of all my attempts in order to document the problem, the changes, and the solution. But these knitters, such as Stephanie, continually go out of their way to instruct, inform, and help us become better at the craft we so much enjoy.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You’ve given me years of joy, information, and insight and I haven’t yet said how much I appreciate it. Thank you, to all the knitting bloggers out there who do so much for the community.

This and that…

Posted in CSA, Fiber, Hearth and Home, Knitting, Socks, THE Zines, Writing on February 26th, 2009

Haven’t had much time to think, let alone posts.  But, my hubby found that absolutely wonderful knitting cartoon. You’ll find it Wondermark #491.

I mean really, some men just don’t understand the need for knitting.

My hubby thought I’d get a kick out of it because every trip we take, I spend more time trying to decide how much or which knitting projects to take. Then there’s the decision about what to take carry on and what to check through. If the yarn is really, really nice I hate checking it through … what if they loose my bag — it’s happened so it could happen when there’s yarn.

Meanwhile, working on getting the zines up and ready to go live on Sunday, March 1st. Desperately trying to finish up my reviews and overview of the zines in time. Also, proofing, editing, and tracking down missing content. But they’re going to be great issues.

I even had a review of my new ASUS Eee PC 1000 in TechRevu this week. Got some more things lined up to review over the coming months.

Finished one sock and I’m nearly done with the other one. Will do a photo of the pair soon. Also, got to finish my bears this weekend so will hopefully have a series of photos on making the faces and putting the arms and legs on. So, things are coming along in my universe.

I still keep missing time though. I’ve looked and looked and I can’t find the time leaks but the seconds, minutes, and hours just seem to be slipping past. So, far this month I’ve managed to keep it down to seconds and minutes rather than days and this is even a short month. I’m hoping the lost time is in a corner somewhere and with spring cleaning I’ll find it and can keep it in a bottle and pull out extra time when I need it. It’s a thought anyway.