Playing With Fiber

Here we go again…

playingwithfiber — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:59:31 +0000

In case you were wondering, this is what my life has been looking like lately. And yes, my desk at school really is that messy. This was before I checked out another 30 or so books, so it’s actually gotten worse.

Fortunately, I have managed to find some knitting time.

This is the (for lack of a better term) button band for my New York Cardigan. There won’t be buttons, but calling it a neck seems a bit off. It’s not quite half done. Unfortunately, this project spends a lot of time in its bag.

This morning I laid out my sock yarn blanket. This isn’t what the final product will look like, but just a rough test to see how much far along I am. Suffice it to say, not quite far enough. But it’ll look amazing when I am done with it. Perfect for summer use, I think.

I just want to knit.

playingwithfiber — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:34:01 +0000

Now that the semester is underway, I’m envisioning very little knitting time. I’d like to get at least thirty minutes in a day, especially at the end as it’s a wonderful way to unwind. I may look for some quick and easy projects so I can feel like I’m making progress. The problem with scarves is how many do I really need? Although a second cowl may not be a bad idea, given how frequently I seem to spill coffee on mine. I may finally get on my replacement mittens as well.

I stopped for coffee and a bagel on my way to campus this morning, and succeeded in getting way too much of the coffee on me. I understand why Starbucks has those cute stoppers for their cups, because the coffee kept jumping out of the little opening onto my gloves. So I’ve had to wash the gloves and cowl to get the coffee out of them. I used my Eucalan wool wash. It’s a very thick wash compared to Kookaburra. The smell isn’t as potent, though, mainly owing to the fact that I bought the unscented variety. Now I have to wait for my lovely wool things to dry, a process which generally takes a little over a day. It’s a good thing it’s not supposed to be too cold tomorrow, because I will be without my gloves. My hands tend to feel the cold rather acutely, thanks to secondary Raynaud’s Syndrome, and my gloves are decidedly necessary. I have the yarn for mittens; I just need to get around to making them. And then not lose them, as I did the first pair I made.

Only seven more to go…

playingwithfiber — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:18:17 +0000

I finished my arm warmers today while watching Killer Queens: Five Ruthless British Queens. After fixing yesterday’s goof, I managed to get the thumb gusset reknit fairly quickly, and finished with no new issues. I used some scrap yarn to add two stitches to help close up the hole by the thumb. Unfortunately, the instructions “k1 pulling tight” to close the gap above the thumb do not really suffice, and I am not a fan of unintended holes in my knitting. (Lace is a whole other issue, since the holes are what make the lace.) Now they’re soaking in some wool wash, waiting to be blocked and dried and worn on Tuesday. I have a lovely sweater with 3/4 length sleeves, and my building gets cold. So these arm warmers are my solution to cold hands, and I look forward to seeing if they really are as warm as I hope they’ll be.

I think I’ll go cry now…

playingwithfiber — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:11:43 +0000

I’ve made great progress on my arm warmers in the last two days. I’ve finished the arm, and last night started the gusset. Today I finished the gusset and divided the stitches for the thumb and start the hand. And that’s when I could no longer deny that something had gone wrong. As I placed the two arm warmers side by side to compare the lengths, it continually struck me how the right seemed longer than the left. But each time, I just tugged the left arm warmer into shape and told myself it was fine. After all, I’m basing each section on the number of repeats, so if the repeats matched, clearly everything was fine. And then it wasn’t. I started the hand, and could no longer continue telling myself everything was great. The repeats just didn’t match up. Based on where I was in the pattern I should have completed my last crossover, but based on comparing with the first arm warmer, I still had half a repeat to go. So I put the arm warmers in time out, walked away for a few hours, and then came back to them. I slipped them both on, and that’s when I found the problem: I had done an extra half repeat on the second arm warmer before starting the gusset.

I’ve inserted the needle into roughly the place I’ll need to rip back to. I’ll still have to tink back another two rows or so, but this as an easy place to start. Once I get the needle into the other side of the arm warmer, I’ll be able to rip back fairly quickly. But that’s a lot of progress lost. Almost four inches, and everything I’ve done today.

Maybe it’s a good thing I bought wine today, because after this fiasco, I may need it.

Step 1: Organize!

playingwithfiber — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:12:22 +0000

And so we begin Operation: Fewer Works in Progress. (That name may change in the future when I think of something better. And by “may” I mean “will more than likely”.) The natural first step in attempting to finally finish my projects is to figure out exactly which projects I still have on needles. Thankfully, I have managed to keep my Ravelry projects page mostly up to date, which makes the cataloging of projects that much easier.

So here is the list of works in progress, and the date I started said project:

1. Moderne Log Cabin Blanket (April 20, 2009)
2. Aeolian Shawl (March 22, 2011)
3. Cap Shawl v1.5 (April 12, 2011)
4. Trilobite Socks (June 3, 2011)
5. New York Cardigan (August 24, 2011)
6. Sock Yarn Blanket (November 19, 2011)
7. Cabled Arm Warmers (December 30, 2011)
8. Untitled sock project not on Ravelry

Whew! Eight projects!

I stopped by the library today to picked up the books I will need to finish the Cap Shawl and Trilobite Socks (and for the two sets of Felici I will be making some self-striping socks from – shh!). My goal is to get through the arm warmers by Monday. I finished the first one this afternoon, and have started the second, so I think this is a doable goal. Then I will turn my attention to the Cap Shawl and the socks. I think also turn my attention to the cardigan, because I would really love to be able to wear it. The sock yarn blanket will likely remain on the back burner, as will the MLC blanket. Once I finish the Cap Shawl, I will turn my attention back to the Aeolian Shawl. Of course, all of this planning is subject to change without warning. Naturally.

Work in Progress or Unfinished Object?

playingwithfiber — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:55:32 +0000

I received a monthly e-newsletter from one of my local yarn stores today which asked an interesting question: When does a work in progress (or WIP) become an unfinished object (UFO)? How long does a project have to sit around untouched before it earns the label unfinished? Going by the guidelines for the last Ravelympics, it has to have been untouched for at least a month. But for less structured events than the Ravelympics (like every day life), is it unfinished when the knitter no longer has the desire to work on it? Or at that point is it just in time out? I’ve left my Moderne Log Cabin blanket in its basket for months at a time. (To date, the MLC blanket is the oldest WIP/UFO I have going.) I also have sweater that hasn’t been touched since the week before Thanksgiving. Is it still a work in progress? What about the shawl I stopped knitting in September, or the one I haven’t touched since August? Too many questions! Maybe my goal for this year (as I saw on a friend’s blog) should be to finally finish all those abandoned projects. That won’t stop me from casting on more, of course. I have a terrible case of startitis, after all. But maybe it will help me get some of these projects that are taking too long off the needles and on to wherever they’re meant to be, be it bed, body, or somewhere else. One can hope, anyway.

But How’s Your Footwork?

playingwithfiber — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:19:36 +0000

I feel like I’m really putting this Heritage Silk Paints to the test. Yesterday, when I pulled my knitting out of my bag at my sister’s to work on my mitts while we watched The Fellowship of the Ring, I discovered that part of the needle had worked its way out of the stitches, and I would have to pick up one side. The side with the cable, of course, and I’d just done a cross-over, so it was those stitches which would need putting back on the needles. Fortunately, none of the stitches had dropped too far, and I was able to get the yarn back on the needle fairly quickly and easily.

Today I’ve tested how well this yarn will hold up to frogging. I discovered, partially through a comment on the pattern page then through my own powers of deduction, that the gusset increases for the thumb will not work as written in the pattern. Not without creating a thumb gusset five and a quarter inches long. So I tinked back to where I’d begun increasing stitches, and will rework the gusset. My plan, assuming it works, is to work another half pattern repeat on the cable, which will get me half an inch closer to my wrist, and then work the increases with two in each increase row instead of the one written. The only thing that remains to be decided is if I’ll keep the increases at every three rows or change to every two. I’m not sure which would be better, though at the moment I’m leaning toward every three. Hopefully I won’t end up tinking back a second or third time to fix it again. But at least I’m fairly certain that the yarn will survive without becoming splitty. It’s managed to survive what I’ve put it through, so far at least.

The cable pattern is growing on me, too:

New Year’s Eve

playingwithfiber — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:15:48 +0000

My New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Challenge my knitting. I’m in my comfort zone with my knitting right now, and I need to step out and take on a new skill. I just need to figure out what.

2. Leave time for me. Grad school is crazy busy, as is being a single mom. My goal is thirty minutes at the end of each day for just me, and hopefully a day where I don’t have to do any school work. I haven’t achieved that mystical day with no work in the first three semesters, but I’m hoping to make it happen. With thirteen credit hours, that might be a challenge.

3. Spend more time on my bike. Right now, I’m averaging three rides a week on the trainer. Hopefully once spring comes, I’ll be able to get out more.

4. Take my scholarship to the next level. I have plans for what I want to explore, it’s just a question of making it happen.

5. Get my passport and use it. I don’t think the ultimate goal of going to Ireland will happen, but I can start with the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

6. Be happy with where I am, but don’t lose sight of the goal. Or perhaps more succinctly, have patience.

Maybe Cables Aren’t So Bad After All

playingwithfiber — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:26:47 +0000

About two and a half years ago I made a pair of cabled socks.

They were awful. They don’t fit because the foot is too big, and have barely seen the light of day, seeing as how they’re currently buried in the back of my sock drawer, where I can pretend they don’t exist. By the time I finished knitting all those stupid little cables, not only did I not want to see the socks ever again, I was pretty darn close to not wanting to see cables ever again either.

My opinion seems to be changing, however, in no small part thanks to a better pattern. My cabled arm warmers are coming along quite nicely, and the fact that there’s only one cable in each has me in a much better position to actually enjoy this project.

I absolutely adore this yarn. It’s soft and squishy, and the tonal dye is muted enough that it accentuates the pattern rather than competing with it. There are at least six shades of blue in this yarn, and I love it. The cable is growing on me. From pictures on Ravelry, I’m concerned that it might start to look slouchy, but it hasn’t really done that yet. And with the way the pattern is written, it would be very easy to substitute a different cable pattern should I make a second pair. Which I probably will.

Administrative Details

playingwithfiber — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:44:21 +0000

I made the decision earlier this week that it was time to attempt to re-compartmentalize my life. Or at the very least, my blogging. And so, I’ve made the decision to attempt to maintain two blogs at once. I’ve decided to separate out the grad school chatter and give it its own place so that this blog can remain primarily about my knitting. If you’re interested in further following the grad school exploits (which at the moment since I’m break is primarily me rambling and trying to figure what exactly I want the blog to do), please visit journeyintohistory.wordpress.com. I’m sure some grad school highlights will sneak in here, especially when I find out about which doctoral programs have accepted me. But I would really like to keep this blog as true to the original intention as possible, which is to ramble about knitting and share my projects.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.