Sewing and Other Things

So many things going on just now, all mostly centered on work. Colleague illness has meant organizing all kinds of team approaches in taking care of the work load here, while the colleague's cancer team centers attention on the personal needs. (I know that's all vague. Don't want the specificity of someone else's private concerns placed here.)

Can't knit. I think I managed a few rows of a sock and then made a wreck of the same few rows.

Sewing is a huge part of my load right now as well. I have to get back to that. I WILL tackle and learn the blind hem feature on the new machine today. The hems of more than a dozen voluminous skirts make that a very appealing prospect.

Be well.

This is not what is meant by "costume parade".

As a break from knitting scarves, I knit a hasty shawl for a costume project.

It's not much to speak of: durable acrylic donated to the shop, most of one super saver skein on US13 needles, with basic recipe prompts from the Fan and Feather Triangle Shawl pattern in Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. Really kind of a shawlette, this project of a long weekend is only a nod to the fanciness and fine knitting in Ms. Oberle's original.







I don't know that I'll ask the cat for an opinion, but I'm sure it will pass muster as a costume.

Isn't she done with scarves yet?

Nope.

This is the last scarf. Found I did take a picture that looked like the yarn on the Old Shale Soxie Scarf.


This is the next gift scarf. Started it between dining moments at knitting camp.
Bonnie's Bamboo from Farmhouse Yarns. Purl Soho's Checkerboard Lace scarf pattern.


This is the most recently finished gift scarf.
Misti Alpaca Pima Silk handpaint.


Mason-Dixon gals posted a lacey rib scarf recipe of four rows. I'll link when I can get back to the blog, although it is Raveled.





Nope. Not done. Packing little lacy quicky scarf knitting for my week of travel. Including the bamboo above, that's one, two, three more.

Old Shale Soxie Scarf

Another graduation scarf:









Yarn: Soxie from Great Adirondack in Nantucket
Needles: 8
Pattern stitch - Anna Bell's Old Shale Baby Blanket
42 stitches - a couple garter along the sides
Knit until there was not much yarn left.

Dark, shiny yarn

Can't decide which photo captures the yarn better, as neither captures the whole quite well. One catches the highlights, thanks to the shiny quality of the silk. The other catches the dark, saturated tones in the yarn.




Either way, this was fancypants yarn - Handmaiden Silk Rumple.
It's a gift. The pattern was the recipe for the Bias Shawl distributed by the Handmaiden folk. I made it a little skinnier - 41 stitches.

Pretty. Just the right colors for the recipient.

Check lists

Annual knitting tally done? CHECK!

Long absence from blog? Yep!

Road trip to see friends & family? Three thousand miles of done!

A week of vacation time with nephew? CHECK!

Successful week with said 13 year old? PHEW! and CHECK!

Read, one frivolous summer novel? Harrypotter#4becauseIamthatbehindCHECK!

Work on old WIP? CHECKcheckcheckcheckCHECK!
(Pictures on that as soon as I've stitched up the seams and found buttons.)

Old picture in the can? Found picture of long-ago finished socks?

CHECK!
Yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Nantucket Red.
Pattern is Kristen Kapur's October Mystery sock.
I finished them in December, for the record, but I misplaced that memory card.

Summer to Summer Knitting Count, June 2009

Summer to Summer Knitting Count

Four pairs of socks
* Aunt Blue Socks
* Mystery Socks
* Spring Striped Socks
* Pomatomus

Two afghans
* One baby blanket
* Grandmother's afghan ( a crocheting project)

Seven scarves of varying sizes and shapes
* Juno Regina, scarf size
* crest of the wave scarf
* Clapotis
* Montego Bay Scarf
* Baktus
* Wisp
* Karius

Two types of fingerless gloves
* Fingerless Gloves
* Broadstreet Mittens

One sweater
* Greenjeans

Five hats, with / without extensions
* Turn a Square hats, 2
* Little cousin balaclavas, 2
* Thorpe

Four tubes, leg warmers and neckwarmers
* Neckwarmers, 2: another Dolores Park and 1Morningside
* Simple leg warmers

One bag
* Hemp Market Bag

One creature
* Norbert the Somewhat Inaccurate Dinosaur

Four dishcloths as gifts

(I haven't finished linking back to each of the projects, but I may just carry on later.)

Half a year in, and this is the first pair of socks ?!?

Done. Socks for a second aunt who very gracefully asked if I might have time Some Time to knit her a pair of socks.


Not a problem.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi - Blue Jeans
Size 2

A Delayed Montego Bay Posting

Montego Bay scarf is Amy Singer's pattern, published in Interweave Knits.


Handmaiden Sea Silk was a gift from adriennec.


I really enjoyed this knitting experience. Good yarn.





Braided fringe is far too time consuming. I know, the knitting takes longer, but then the knitting is much more enjoyable.


Blocking is a lovely thing.


I'm giving this as a gift to a recent grad who does a lot of costume work. She about drooled on the knitting when she saw the work in progress. Purple is one of her signature colors. She'll be tickled.

This is not re-gifting. This is gifting it forward.

Fail better

Some long time ago glittrgirl or skitten posted a favored and favorite quote from Samuel Beckett, playwright and novelist. As I am an avowed Beckett fanatic, I cheered the exellent blog post and promptly turned the quote into a document to tape on the door.

Given my last two posts, I thought you should see what I see today and everyday.

Ever tried. Ever failed.

No matter. Try again.

Fail again. Fail better.

-- Samuel Beckett
Worstward Ho.

Lessons From Failure

1. If you really think you might not have enough yarn, you might be right.

2. If you swatch, you can risk believing your swatch.

3. Save the swatch to check later.

3. Wash the swatch so you won't be tempted simply to anticipate possible changes.

4. Note: If it fits the dress form that's much smaller than you, heed the message.

5. Move the yarn to other purposes.

6. Think about Not Knitting for a little bit.

7. Do something else.


=========================

I'm going to frog this. I already gave away a sweater that didn't fit. I'll repurpose some of the yarn.

Marcy, would you like three skeins of the light grey?

Not Afraid to Fail

I've cast on twice for Brigitta. I'm using some indulgent yarn from The Fibre Company - Pemaquid - I picked up from a sale basket. No surprise it's from Maine. Sounds very Maine. Since there hadn't been enough of the black heather (Starry Night, the name of the colorway)in the sale bin, I picked up what was on had of the lighter grey heather (Granite, that one).

So I'm launching into a very fast knit of a sweater. It may be abominable. Or I may not have enough yarn. But I've been agonizing for a few days here about what to knit. It's not matching all the other agonizing (what work projects for next year, blah blah), so I needed to step out and just DO.

As I said, I've cast on twice. I made a hasty swatch, figured out a hasty gauge, ripped it out and cast on. The garment would be the real swatch. After about 4 inches up from the hem of the garment (front and back in one), I realized my gauge expectations were flawed. I've started over. This is the type of yarn that blooms and grows at blocking.

I know I'd much rather have had this sweater all in one color, but I haven't minded the idea of the monochromatic contrast, so here goes.



As a bonus challenge, the front bands are meant to be knit as the garment is knit. The "intarsia? not after that last ill-fated attempt" challenge is at least a mild one.

You know, it's just a sweater. I bought the yarn because I liked it - a blend of alpaca, merino, and soy, of all things. I wear black all the time. The contrast may be be a good thing. It'll leave fuzz, but I always have fuzz or lint or cat hair. It's the nature of my job, my surroundings, and my housekeeping.

It'll work or it won't, but I'm going to give it a go. Hopefully there's enough to eke out a sweater.

Done. Now what?

Baby Blanket - Anna Bell's Old Shale Baby Blanket
(An old standard, but she wrote up the proportions so I didn't have to think too hard.)


The needles: 7 US / 4.5 mm
The yarn: mercerized cotton, 4 skeins
The length: 63 cycles of the 4 row repeat
The leftovers:


I'm pleased.





It's been washed and is on the last bit of drying. Packaging and shipping are all that's left.

Continuing with the aunt socks, as I don't have a lot of time this week to figure out what to cast on. I keep THINKING about what to knit next. (Frankly, that's what kept me going during the last stretch of baby blanket.) Can't decide, though, much less swatch and feel like I'm thinking clearly. I have so much other stuff going right now, though, that swatching feels like a crazy indulgent lawbreaking activity. (I need less stress and more knitting.)

Kicking up some serious dust

Absent chez blog, frenzied in the work house.....

Finished the last phase of a MAJOR work project this week. We're in production now. PHEW.

Dust can settle.
Done and dusted.
No biting of the dust, fortunately.

Now. Where'd I put the knitting?

Socks

One of the yarns in the middle of yesterday's post is Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Blue Jeans. I'm back to having a pair of socks on the needles. These socks are for an aunt. (I know, I'm due for a project for myself, but while I'm thinking about that project, time for socks.)



I rather enjoy this simple 3-plus-1 rib pattern.

Elizabeth Said Use Pictures

Elizabeth said she saves pictures for occasions where blog life needs a little poke. I've been too long away. Can't and shouldn't spare the time to blog much today. You can click them to make them bigger. I'm posting hastily.

However, I can admit that I'm thinking about yarn.

How'd this happen?

I have very little on the needles.

I'm making Anna Bell's Old Shale Baby Blanket for a gift. This is an active project.

I've moved the Malabrigo Buenos Aires pattern cardigan into gift land - my mother requested a sweater, first time ever, and this was exactly what she was describing. She's even seen the sweater in progress and approves of the colors for her wardrobe.
I need to revisit the condition of this UFO and see what I need to do next. It could move into active project land soon. We're not holding our breath for completion here. Fall could be fine.

I've two other UFO sweaters in what Elizabeth of Sable calls hibernation.

I've wound up yarn for a pair of socks for an aunt I have two aunts on the sock list now, which is fun. Really. I'm not under pressure. One is always cold, and the other lives way the heck up north, where weather is almost always cold.

Seriously, though, the last 12 items I made were gifts.
How'd that happen? TWELVE.

I'm due for a knit for myself.
Trouble is, I can't think what it should be.

Swatched instead of knitting the blanket last night.
Moved some yarn around, since I needed to find the small computer bag I had in a bin behind the yarn bins. This because I bought myself a very small computer.

Seriously. First computer purchase EVER.
How'd THAT happen?

Laws of averages

This will be much like bringing an umbrella when it doesn't rain and forgetting the umbrella to find it pours. Odds are good, you know, that it won't snow any more up north, now that the gloves will be on their way their rightful new owner.

Then again, we are talking about Northern Minnesota.
Snow into April is still par for the course.



Fingerless gloves.
Merlot Heather in Cascade 220
Yellow Shepherd's Wool from Stonehedge.
Size 5 needles.

Insert note about the color being wrong.
More maroon, more gold, less light.

Fuzzy picture. Another average.

At last, I can attach the fringe!

The knitting has been done for awhile.

I just needed a break so I could do the fringe and not worry about the interruptions that come screeching in when you have to run here, do that, get that done, get more done, when am I going to get THAT done, and the rampant craziness in a schedule that makes you say argh!

Wait.
Where was I going with this?



Right.
Montego Bay Scarf, pattern by Amy Singer.
I get to finish it now.
Hurrah for breaks.

I really need a spring break.

4 more days.... I'm definitely counting down the days until break.
Definitely need the break FROM.

Definitely looking forward for the break TO this:



Definitely spring knitting!