delays

Sweater update:

The body and two sleeves of the sweater are done. Now I have to join them all together and knit the yoke. I've designed my own two color patterning for the neckline, and I'm crossing my fingers now and hoping everything works.

It's hard to dedicate time to the knitting right now, for a multitude of reasons. I've got plenty of work to do for my full schedule of classes, and on top of that I'm supposed to be writing my research paper on Weaving in Classical Athens. I feel guilty all the time, knowing I should be making better progress on the paper than I am. Unfortunately I'm very unmotivated to write and intimidated by the idea that I want everything I write about this wonderful topic to be perfect. I think I've over-thought myself into a corner, which is frustrating.

The other happier reason I'm having a hard time focusing on knitting right now is that I found a beautiful antique spinning wheel at the local antique mall last weekend. I bargained down to a price I could afford and Bob's offered to buy it for me for my birthday. The tool is made of beautiful old wood with a lovely stain. The flyer isn't in great shape, and if the drive belt is under too much tension, the wheel sort of jumps out of its little grooves. I'm still trying to devise a solution for that problem. She is, however, a lovely instrument and spins beautifully fine yarn. I can't wait to have the chance to get to know her better.

Sock Success

Winter panel from Les Saisons by Alfonse Mucha

Winter is back with a vengeance. Temperatures dropped to single and even negative digits this week and we got a bit of snow to make things more pleasant. The snow I like. A midwesterner by birth and upbringing, I am accustomed to winter and love it in it's own miserable way. I always appreciate the variety in nature and would, I think, be unhappy living somewhere the seasons didn't change. Still, one has to be calm about these changes and take them in stride. As with all things, really.



I present the first socks of 2007, and the first FOs at all, for that matter. The pattern is my own, based off of the 2 x 2 Alternating Rib stitch pattern from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. I requested the book for Christmas with great hope that it would provide a smooth solution for turning a heel flap on a toe up sock. It did not. The solution Schurch provides is bulky and uncomfortable on the bottom of my foot.
Happily for me, the Knitty pattern Widdershins has instructions for the best sock heel ever. I don't personally like the short row heel, since I never get them to fit well on my foot. They're either too short and uncomfortable or too long and too comfortable. Brooke Chenoweth Creel, the innovator of Widdershins, subs a heel flap for the short rows. Like the Schurch toe-up prototype, the Widdershins heel uses increases to create the gusset, but then turns the heel with a fabulous little short-row-y pocket. After that you decrease, rather than picking up stitches which I always find fiddly and have to do at least two or three times to get the right number of stitches. I love the ease of execution in the pattern, but it's taken me a long time to figure out the math necessary to convert the heel for use with any pattern and gauge of yarn. Having done so, I'm probably more proud of these socks than any others to date.

Pattern: Original, but Frankenstein-ed. Tentatively referred to as the Twilight socks.
Needles: Size 0 Addi Turbo circ (Magic looped for the first time. Despite its rabid fans, its not bad.)
Yarn: Mountain Color's Bearfoot in Mountain Twilight. I love the rich colors of this yarn. Knitting with it was like drinking the perfect cup of hot cocoa. I hope it holds up well.
Next Time: I will trust my math (shock!) and not second guess myself. I'm satisfied with the stitch pattern I chose, but with all the other great stitches suggested in Sensational Knitted Socks, I don't think I'll be repeating it any time soon.


This is the beginning of my traditional yoked pull over. I'm just up to the point of the bust increases. So far I've already learned how to do a tubular cast on, which I thought was pointless and hard and is actually pretty cool, because it's so stretchy and not really that hard at all. I've gotten over fearing to try new things with my knitting. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? I loose some time learning how to make something work better and what mistakes to avoid. Nothing wrong with that. I hope to finish the body of the sweater tomorrow and then start on the sleeves.

Birthday beginings

Tonight I'm casting on my second attempt at the first 2007 sweater. I've decided to go with a yoked pullover with a fairly simple structure. To help get the measurements right, I'm following the proportions suggested for the Sugarplum Pullover from Handknit Holidays.

I've also finished the first pair of socks of 2007 and they are probably the best socks to date. Nice basic pattern out of Mountain Colors' Bearfoot. More discussion and photos to follow.

The best fiber news I have is that for my birthday (which was yesterday and now I'm 22 and oh my god I've done nothing with my life) my loving family who knows me well sent me beautiful fiber goodies. My aunt, an proficient crafter herself, sent a WPI gauge and the first volume of the Vogue Stitchionary. My grandmother, the original knitter of the family, sent a copy of Spin to Knit which I've already gleaned inspiration from. I am very fond of my generous relatives. Tomorrow, I'll try to remember to post pictures of all my holiday knitting loot along with pictures of the New Year Socks.

Adventures in Sweaters

I have a burning desire. A deep rooted need. I must knit a sweater.

Last year at this time I was knitting Tubey, that fabulously unsatisfying not-really-a-sweater that I don't really count. The construction was fabulous for what I felt my skills were at the time , but it really wasn't any kind of traditional sweater-making method. Therefore it does not count. I have knit a Minisweater and a Spring Fling which employ top down raglan shaping and five section seaming respectively. I also do not count these as "real sweaters."

The time for a real sweater has come. Something warm and traditional that I can wear with pride. I want to use my own original pattern, but I'm having the same problems I always have. Despite my careful measuring and meticulous swatching, the piece just doesn't work. What I wouldn't give for Eunny Jang's designer's sense of porportion and her careful math.

At least my materials are beautiful. I'm using 9 skeins of Classic Elite's Wings, an alpaca, silk, and wool blend that's been discontinued.

Doesn't it look cheerful sitting there just waiting for me?

Hopefully with more work I can turn it into a close-fitting yoked sweater with a two color motif across the upper chest that sort of spills into the yoke. Add some gentle waist shaping and neatly finished hems and I'll be a happy camper.