FOs: French Cancan and Bea’s Slippers

French Cancan (click pic for pattern)

 

Some patterns are just so beautiful, and when you knit them, every stitch turns out perfectly where it ought to be. When that happens, and I’ve managed to choose the right yarn as well… Well usually that means that I’m knitting a gift! But this pattern was so quick to knit (first some auto-pilot garter stitch, then a simple braid and lace edge knitted on) that I might make myself one as well. Once Christmas knitting is done, that is.

I’m in awe of people who can come up with patterns like this, where there isn’t a need for a moment’s hesitation. Such a joy. If the recipient likes the gift, then all will have been perfection.

Oh, and turns out knitting white yarn wasn’t such a big deal. I just washed my hands every time before knitting, to be on the safe side, and kept the WIP in a yarn bowl when I wasn’t working on it. I even managed to block it and take pictures without spilling things on it. The SO suggested I gift wrap it as soon as possible to keep it safe, ha! To be honest that’s probably for the best. When I can keep white things white, that’s when I’m probably an adult… ish.

3 balls of Rowan baby merino silk dk

I’ve been having such great luck with patterns as of late. I began Christmas knitting with Bea’s slippers, and was so happily surprised by this free pattern. I think they look suitably complex, but it’s just a deceptively simple design. I used Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy cast off, which is now getting to be my go to bind off for anything that needs stretch.

I’m just trying to think of a good way to gift wrap them because without feet in them, they do look sort of comical. Right? Maybe I could stuff them with silk paper, or something… Or cut cardboard feets! Sounds like a plan.

Kotikulta Sukkalanka (a worsted weight wool acrylic blend)

Next up, a pair of Apis Dorsata mitts

 

Amassing Giftmas Yarn

Three days ago I ordered some yarn online (at this store: Titityy). The season is the reason for secret yarn purchases, and I figured the postage would be cheaper than taking a bus downtown to buy the yarn, which it is. I was surprised and pleased when an hour later, the status of the purchase had changed from “received” to “mailed”. That is some seriously good customer service!

(It’s another issue entirely that it had only been an hour since I placed the order, and I was already refreshing the tracking page.)

It was only later in the day that something else finally settled into my consciousness: the postal workers are striking. I’ve been paying attention to the news, but since I hardly ever mail anything, I didn’t think the postal strike had anything to do with me. They’re trying to wrangle themselves more job security because of impending layoffs, and I wish them all the best. It still made for some interesting times, as I tried to figure out whether or not my package was likely to get stuck in a sorting facility somewhere as the rolling strikes changed place from day to day.

By figuring out the pattern the strikes were following (by reading about it online, like the Sherlock that I am) and figuring out where the package was sent from, I reached reasonable certainty that I was safe and would get my package in the 2-3 days the online store promised. And sure enough, today I got a little notice slip in the mail saying I could pick it up at the post office.

And I got myself some goodies…

Rowan Baby merino silk in colorway Straw

Cascade yarns Heritage Silk Paints in colorway Forest glen

Clearly merino wool and silk blends have made an impression on me since I accidentally ordered two kinds of it. The baby merino silk dk (I have no idea which bit of that is the yarn’s name) is 34% tussah silk, and is markedly rougher than the other yarn (though still very soft indeed). I hope it will have decent stitch definition for a shawl I’m planning.

I’m slightly nervous about knitting white yarn. There’s a reason I don’t own any white clothing – it doesn’t stay white for long. I’ll just have to be careful, and treat the WIP with a bit more respect than I normally do with my knitting projects.

The really sleek and soft Heritage yarn is for a pair of mostly very simple mitts. The pattern I’ve chosen should let the colors shine through.

The unfortunate thing is that I never get yarns this nice for myself. I have a tendency to give away or knit and then give away all my really nice yarns. Not being made of money I can’t justify buying them for myself. But hey, at least I get to work with them if I’m making a gift for someone else. That’s part of the fun of knitting for Christmas 🙂

I can’t wait to start these projects! (Apart from being excited, I literally cannot wait because time is running out. I will make it, though, make no mistake ;)).

I’m here to tell you: there is life after knitting

Spoiler: It’s mostly knitting.

My blog posts have always been sporadic so that for a few months I post regularly, and then nothing at all for a while. This time, though, it wasn’t only that life happened and I didn’t have time to write, I also didn’t have time to knit. Last spring I wrote my Master’s Thesis, and in the summer I graduated. All is relative of course, and I did knit a Girl Friday cardigan over the spring, but it took me two months, and that was all I completed in that whole time. It wasn’t very enjoyable, I merely went through the motions out of a strange sense of duty. I went weeks without knitting, and am only just now emerging from a 10 month knitting funk.

Girl Friday

Paulie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The summer is a blur. As it began I remember thinking I’m going to knit so much and take back lost time over the summer, but that lasted all of one day. In fact, it seems the summer lasted about a week. I did knit a Paulie cardigan so I suppose I had more time than it seems. Also, I have photographic evidence, so clearly I have been outside at some point, doing something. Gazing out into the woods.

So I could go back and do a recap of the things I’ve knitted while I wasn’t knitting practically speaking at all, but that’s really no fun at all.

Instead, I submit to your consideration: am I unwise for buying acrylics today to knit a Faberge shawl? It was 90 cents per ball, fingering weight acrylic yarn, and it was as soft as a really soft thing. I was impressed.

Oddly enough, I had the most intense case of buyers remorse I have ever had about yarn. I figure my reasoning went like this: 90 cents per ball is  practically speaking free yarn. But I got four balls to be sure to have enough yardage, so suddenly I was paying 3,60€ for yarn that was supposed to be free! (Practically speaking.) I made myself feel swindled. Well done!

It still is really soft, though. I have also had very good luck with acrylic yarns staying neat, and I don’t mind it if it’s hot. I could do with a new, really warm shawl. They do say you should always buy the best you can afford to knit with, but I think, on occasion, it’s okay to splurge on something really cheap.

I have been very interested in icord knitting machines lately, especially after seeing one used together with a power drill. I’m not in that much of a hurry to get icord, but just the fact that the machine can be used like that makes it seem more likely to be durable and useful in the intended way.

There are mixed reviews of the Knit Embellish machine used in the above video, though, so I’ve been hesitant about ordering one online. I would probably just be so lazy I wouldn’t return a defective one if I was so unlucky as to receive one of those. I was therefore very pleased to see Prym’s Knitting Mill, their take on the same machine, at my local yarn shop. The machine was very hefty so I suppose it’s metallic, and less likely to break in my questionable care. This may very well be my Christmas gift for myself.

Maybe. I could really do with another spindle as well… But that’s a story for another day.

Pure, Unadulterated Awesome

That is what this hat is. This whole post is going to be shameless bragging but I guess that’s ok because I also write about the times when everything I try to do turns to complete shite. Ok? Ok.

First of all, this hat is the softest known object in the universe. The next time you pet a kitty or I don’t know, something else that is really soft, I can understand if you feel a little bit sad, because that thing is not as soft as this hat is. The softness of the hat and the firm warmth of the lining make putting it on your head feel like… like something is better, somehow, now. But that’s just my humble opinion.

If I didn’t make it for my brother, I’d wear the heck out of this hat. It is the best hat I have ever made.

The only thing that is less-than-stellar about it is that it is black, making it hard for me to take pictures that convey its greatness. This is the only reason  why I don’t particularly like knitting anything black. I go to all that effort, and then it’s like I could’ve gotten away with really crappy work. Because all those little details that miraculously went right this time? Obscured by the color. I mean, I once actually knitted a lace top with black yarn. Yeah, welcome to crazy town, population: me.

It was an amazingly good idea to keep the doubled hem of the wurm hat, the pattern from which the horizontal stripes are also. At first I only thought it was a good idea because that double layer would give the hem more structural integrity, making the rib last longer. Maybe. But that extra layer also turned out to be very useful for stitching on the lining without having to worry about the stitches being visible on the right side of the hat. Faaantastic.

My brother suggested that the ends of the lining not be attached to one another, but that they should just overlap instead. This way the lining will be the right size more easily and won’t lift the hat up. Also, this was far easier to do. I’m tempted to go make linings like this for all the knitted hats I wear regularly.

I am just happy about this hat because rarely does everything fall into place so well with anything I make.

If my brother likes the hat even half as much as I do, he’ll love it.

One Hat and Scarf, Coming Right Up

I’m giving myself points on being a nice sister, since I’m knitting a new hat and scarf for one of my brothers (the other one didn’t have anything he needed knitted when I asked).

I’m so happy that he asked for these things because dude, what could make it clearer that he wants to wear things I’ve knitted? Apart from the fact that he’s worn the last hat and scarf I knitted for him for years. The same goes for my mom, although she seems to feel that some of the things I’ve knitted for her are too nice to be worn. Mostly I think that’s because I have knitted some things for her that she doesn’t really like wearing. She still seems to appreciate those – and definitely wears the heck out of everything that’s actually useful for her.

I’ve also gotten a couple of calls from her about things like a lace shawl that accidentally got felted in the washing machine or a pair of color work socks that got left in a hotel room, but here’s the thing: as  a knitter I cherish the fact that things get lost or worn out. That only means I get to knit more.

So the hat was an interesting knit. There are a lot of criteria that this hat has to fulfill in order to be acceptable. There has to be a lining because it’s windy here, but a lining that covers the whole head can get too hot and tends to pull up the hat. So the hat has to somehow conceal the line where the lining, mostly meant to cover the ears, ends. The horizontal rib stripes of the wurm hat pattern should serve for this purpose, and as an added bonus they make it easy to draw the hat further down if it’s colder, or wear it higher up.

However, my brother didn’t want a slouchy hat, which the wurm is, nor did he want the wrinkles on the top of the hat that are created when the stitches are pulled together. I was also using a thicker yarn – Cashmerino from Debbie Bliss – than the pattern calls for, so I had no idea how high the crown of the hat would be. It’s also always hard to estimate how high a hat should be when the recipient can’t try it on at every turn. All of this was solved by doing the hat top down.

The next problem were the increases: doing eight increases in groups of two in four places created deep creases in the purl rows of the stripe pattern. I tried several different ways of increasing but each had the same problem, some more than others. Finally, after I’d ripped back 5 times or so, my brother suggested doing the increases in a spiral. Changing the place where they are done each row would obscure the line, and what little of it could be seen would be more of a design element.

After that it was easy going, and the dk weight yarn also made it delightfully fast.

The scarf pattern I chose is anything but fast, though. It’s Cerus, a linen stitch scarf knitted length-wise. Or width-wise. Ermh. You cast on 355 stiches, ok? Or in my case you, using the long tail cast on, take a tail that seems long enough, but only turns out to be long enough for 170 stitches. You pull those out and take a tail that’s twice as long and then some, and cast on again. Then you count the stitches and have something like 380 stitches, say frack it, and start knitting.

I’m using Garnstudio Drops Merino, a 100 % merino yarn, and I would say that for this pattern  something with more stitch definition would be better. This is slow going because you slip every other stitch on both sides, so basically you end up knitting two rows to each row. The pattern is totally worth it, and would be even more so if you could make it out more clearly.

Achievement Unlocked

Back during the Olympics, I unexpectedly took part in (and won!) the Ravellenic games. I was able to do this only because, having broken my spindle bone (and how fitting is it for a spinner/knitter/crocheter to break their spindle bone, amirite? No, wait, that might actually be the opposite of fitting) I was off work for about 8 weeks.

For the first week or so after I face planted in a pretty impressive manner with my bicycle (wear your helmet, kids!) I was unable to dress, bathe or feed myself. Luckily the boy had his summer vacation right then, and spent it taking care of me. When he had to go to work, I scooted back home to mom. At that point I had already had instructions from a doc to try to use my broken arm.

Judging by my experience, I would vastly prefer it if I never had to recuperate from an actual, serious injury – although I have to say that there was a sort of bitter sweetness to moments such as being able to successfully use a fork or lift my arm up and actually touch the top of my head.

Well since I was under doctor’s orders to keep doing things as much as possible, I actively came up with stuff I could do even though everything just felt really weird and wrong in my arm, especially at first. Mom helped me with this, and bought me yarn enough for an Azilal cardigan. Since the Ravellenic games were starting, and I was pretty scared of crocheting an actual garment that had to fit and everything, I figured I’d take part. So for two weeks I watched all the Olympic games I could stomach, and crocheted.

The resulting cardigan is by far my favorite garment that I’ve ever made.

Finishing is always the hardest part to get right for me when I knit something. But with crochet that was a breeze and I couldn’t not get it right it seemed. The whole experience was so positive that I can’t wait to find the next great crochet pattern I want to make 🙂

Better than Ever, I’m Back

So I realize I just broke my arm and then went away for, like, two months. But I forgive myself, because, you know, the broken arm turned out to be both a more and less dramatic experience than I had expected. Then I went to London for three weeks, alone, and that was something. When I came home, I and the boy packed up and moved house. Then I started writing a graduate thesis.

I am also the type of person for whom something like finding a secondhand couch on the local equivalent of Craigslist (except less seedy), arranging for transportation for said couch and then going to get it is a whole-day affair requiring all of my energy and concentration. And since moving house entails many such a stressful occasion, overly complicated by yours truly with fun things like being afraid of talking to people over the phone, I’ve had my hands kind of full.

This doesn’t mean I haven’t done any crafts, no sirree bob. I have my priorities straight.

Admittedly the three weeks in London went by without a moment for knitting or crochet – oops, no, I tell a lie: I did cast on for a pair of socks from the Socktopus books while sitting in a cafe waiting for my  silver ring making course to start (I’ll get to that). I guess those ten minutes spent knitting ribbing totally justified three weeks of carrying needles and yarn with me all around London.

I was crafty and cunning, and packed two easily portable projects for my trip. I decided to pick things that would be interesting enough to keep me entertained for a whole three weeks while still being easy enough not to require total devotion. I think I failed on that a little bit.

The sock pattern was fine. It’s a crossed stitches type of cabled sock pattern called Farmer McGregor from the Socktopus book I’m knitting through (that’s a great book o ‘ socks, btw).  I just had other things to do while I was there. I’ve since finished one sock of the pair (apart from grafting the toe), one weekend when nothing much else was on.

We can blame the wonky rib stitches on Pret getting me over-caffeinated at that point. (Honestly it’s fine.)

The bigger fail was the crochet shawl pattern I chose because it was gorgeous: Venus. When I read the pattern, I noticed that it would require I learn a completely new crochet technique, but instead of putting off doing the pattern (perhaps appreciating the extra challenge I was already facing crocheting with lace weight yarn) I congratulated myself on noticing this before I actually left on my trip. So I kind of learned the new thing (Tunisian crochet I believe it’s called, maybe).

There was a clear need to get a wooden crochet hook just so I could crochet on the plane, so in my pre-trip shopping frenzy I bought a pretty one disregarding both the price tag and the fact that I had a plastic one that would be just as acceptable to the airline. This was before I admitted that leaving at the damned crack of dawn would probably mean I wouldn’t have the energy to even think about crochet for the whole duration of my flight, anyway.

Turns out I was too busy fearing for my life on the first flight and then running through the whole Helsinki-Vantaa airport to catch my next flight to give too much thought to crochet. When I was safely seated on the next plane, I was barely able to keep awake until a nice lady brought me the best sandwich and cup of coffee I had ever eaten in my life (until I found the sandwiches at Eat – we Finns really don’t know anything about proper sandwiches), and then I slept until the plane was nearing Heathrow.

When I got there I was promptly so completely freaked out and overwhelmed by a city, which has a population of 1,5 times that of my entire friggin country, that I spent my first afternoon not acknowledging what lay outside my window, and also not feeling up to facing Tunisian crochet. It only got worse for the shawl from then on, but for very pleasant reasons. No regrets!

Later on I saw that the four rows I had crocheted at the airport here were entirely wrong anyway, ripped back and forgot about the whole thing for a few weeks.

I’ve since then gone back to it, but my results aren’t all that fantastic. Still, I’ll probably get this done at some point. Maybe.

So that’s me, back with a bang.

A Broken Bone, and Broken Plans

Yesterday I learned that I did actually break a bone on Monday when I fell with my bike: it is a teeny tiny fracture in my right elbow. A GP told me I will probably need to hold the elbow stationary for quite a while. Today I saw an orthopedist and got some good news: instead of  holding my elbow immobile for a few weeks it’s actually better if I start using it within the limits of the pain right away.

So knitting, crochet and spinning are back on just as soon as my arm and elbow feel ok enough for them 🙂

But for some reason I don’t much feel like starting any of the projects I had lined up earlier. Partly it’s because I do feel like knitting and spinning might not be the best of ideas right now.

I need to do some sort of craft or something because I’m losing my mind, just sitting and watching TV all day long – I still can’t clean or cook or do anything that requires lifting or putting pressure on my elbow.

So I’m starting to consider maybe trying to learn crochet left-handed. Maybe I could crochet a small granny square blanket or something, something where inconsistencies in the gauge wouldn’t matter that much. That way I can get back to my original plans once my elbow has healed.

I have no idea whether it’s a feasible plan but I’ll find out soon.

Half-finished Merino of Doom

I finished the first half of the 100 g of merino I complained about in my last post.

I think my twist is again better or more even than the last time, but I did have more trouble keeping the single an even thickness. This is, however, closer to the fingering weight I’m aiming for.

I just need to be more careful when spinning and maybe limit the amount of time I’m allowed to spin at once. I find myself hurrying along and that’s when the unevenness occurs. I’m not good enough to not pay my full attention to this.

There’s going to be a break in my spinning and knitting for an unspecified time, though, because I fell down with my bike yesterday and hurt both my arms. I’m writing this, and took that image, with only my left hand since my right is pretty much out of it. I don’t think I broke any bones but the elbow and muscles seem to have taken a hit. I can’t lift my left arm because my shoulder is cranky, so I wouldn’t be able to spin even if my right arm was fine and dandy. I’m going to the doctor today – here’s hoping for no broken bones or tendons.

I’m bummed about not knitting and spinning but mostly I’m worried because I’m supposed to go to London in a little under 4 weeks. I have all  sorts of crafting fun lined up for when I get there.

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

It’s safe to say that I’m a bit peeved.

A few weeks ago I searched high and low, and could only find one store in the whole city that sold a few tops of spinning fiber. The store stocked fulling fiber separately from this, and I talked about spinning it with a sales person, which made me assume that, yes, this is spinning fiber indeed.

I didn’t especially like the kind of mushy or messy look of the tops – like it was already slightly felted – but I bought two of them anyway, thinking that I’m so inexperienced in these matters that for all I know, it’s supposed to be like that. Besides I was really desperate to get something to spin, having finished all my fiber.

Well it hasn’t been a joyride. The fiber is merino, and although I’ve read and was told in the store that merino is supposed to be a very long fiber, this fiber doesn’t seem to be that. The constant breaking may be due to my lack of skill, of course.

But what I do find odd is that there are matted spots in the fiber that make it really hard to produce an even single. I blamed myself and possible adverse effects of dyeing the fiber, until I looked up the dyeing company’s website. On there, this fiber is recommended primarily for felting and secondarily for spinning. If that’s the case, I don’t wonder at all about the matted parts and whatnot. I’m not sure whether to be peeved at myself, at the company that possibly ruined the fiber somewhat by dyeing it wrong or the yarn store that sold it to me as spinning fiber.

The fact that the store charged me twice the price the dyeing company asks for it seems like adding insult to injury (even though I do understand that there are additional costs to a brick and mortar store.) Soo yeah, I paid 14 € for 100 g of meh fiber, when I could’ve gotten at least 200 or 300 g of luxurious (at least compared to this, and why not otherwise) BFL for the same price, had I had the patience to wait a few days for it.

I’ll take this as a lesson learned. Too bad I don’t particularly feel like spinning the last 50 grams. Eh. I will, though, and maybe it’ll get better, and I’ll like the end result after all. Yeah. Why not.