About one ill-advised yarn purchase

Posted on 20 January 2012 by Kris

Whoops, still haven’t posted all my 2011 FOs! So here’s the story of my second-to-last project of last year.

Years ago, before I knew any better, I’d purchased a bag of bulky-weight wool on sale. It wasn’t until after it was too late to return it that I asked myself: “what the heck does a San Diegan need bulky-weight wool for, anyway?!”

Finally, it was T who gave me an answer. We had a conversation a couple of weeks before Christmas that started like this:

T: “My feet are cold.”
K: “Dude, I made you two pairs of wool socks, why don’t you wear them?”
T: “I don’t want to wreck them!”

Which explains why I once thought he never wore his handknit socks. Turns out he does, but only in shoes. Since we don’t wear shoes in the house, and he didn’t own any slippers, he would swap out the wool socks out for cotton ones as soon as he got home.

And he’d been doing that because our carpet is pretty hard on socks. He witnessed me darn several of my pairs within the first six months of our moving into our current place, before I remembered that I actually owned a pair of slippers (a gift from my parents that I’d barely used in my previous laminate-floored place) and started using them regularly. I haven’t had much of a problem with premature sock wear since.

So, the conversation continued along these lines:

K: “Well… I could make you house socks out of heavier yarn so they wouldn’t take as much time, would you feel less bad about wrecking them then?”
T: “I guess. But what about slippers?”

And you know? That wasn’t a bad idea.

Pattern: Felt Clogs by Bev Galeskas
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Wool Bulky in Oxford Heather
Needles: US13 Denise circulars

I opted for this particular pattern, since I knew several people who had used it – more than once, even! And I can see why it’s so popular, it’s a nice, clever, and clear pattern.

We have a front-loading washer, and I wasn’t sure how felting was going to go – I hadn’t actually felted anything in years, and that was back when I had a top-loader. Turns out I shouldn’t have worried, it turned out fine.

They’re still going to wear through at some point, but neither of us will feel all that bad about it by then, I think. T should get plenty of use out of them before then. And these took me so little time to make, and they were pretty fun too, so it won’t be that big of a deal to reknit them.

Also? He’s worn them pretty much every day since I finished them. So, success!

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Textured Shawl

Posted on 30 December 2011 by Kris

Oh my goodness, I can’t believe 2011’s just about done. I’ve finished a few projects in the past couple of weeks, but haven’t had quite enough time to photograph them! So, I have just one December FO to show for now.

This project actually went pretty quickly, after I started working on it more than once a fortnight.

Pattern: Textured Shawl Recipe (Ravelry link) by Orlane
Yarn: Jo Sharp DK Wool Tweed in Oatmeal
Needles: US7 / 4.5mm Clover bamboo circular

My only modification was to mirror the textured pattern.

It’s really more of a scarf or shawlette because of it’s size, but I like that, I think. Cute and warm, but not too bulky or unwieldy. I’m glad to have it, and I’m glad to have used up some of the oldest yarn in my stash.

Speaking of which, I didn’t really like working with the Jo Sharp DK Tweed – it was pretty rough on my hands. It did soften up a little after a wash, though. I wouldn’t wear it right next to my skin, but it’s nice as another layer.

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Reshaping away

Posted on 26 December 2011 by Kris

Back in high school (or was it early college?), I owned a cardigan with a two-way zipper, and spent some time experimenting to see which closure method suited me best. Keeping the top zipped and the bottom open was… well, not that method. In fact, it was horribly, horribly unflattering.

This still holds true today. I’m slightly bigger all around than I was as a teen, but my general shape hasn’t changed. So, what do I do when I see cute top-closure sweaters? Avoid them altogether?

Hah! Why would I do that when I could add buttons all the way down, or change the pattern to a bottom-closing one instead?

This is Amelia, by Laura Chau. Sort of. I say sort of because I’m actually just using the stitch patterns and making a sweater with actual waist shaping. I’m also knitting it in pieces, because if Peregrine taught me anything, it’s that I don’t actually like working sweaters in the round.

I’m also changing the raglan shaping and doing set-in sleeves instead, because I don’t think raglan shaping works for my body if I use my preferred amount of ease in the bust. I mean, Roam fits okay, but that sweater ended up with way more ease than I intended. And all of my most comfortable store-bought items with raglan shaping are also oversized in the bust. Set-in shaping, on the other hand, has been working pretty well for me so far.

Let’s see how this goes!

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A sweater for most seasons

Posted on 23 December 2011 by Kris

Apparently, there is no such thing as too many short-sleeved, V-neck pullovers. But while I liked the last one I made, I love this one, even though it’s a tiny bit shorter than I wanted (my fault, not the pattern’s):

Pattern: Peregrine by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Cascade 220 Sport in color 8892
Needles: US4 / 3.50mm Clover bamboo circulars and Plymouth bamboo DPNs

The length and weight make this more of a skirt sweater, I think. Arm Candy’s a good casual sweater for jeans or heavier skirts. Peregrine, on the other hand, isn’t as heavy, so won’t look so odd with the lighter skirts I wear most of the year.

Speaking of the shaping, I kept the bulk of it at the sides, just like in the pattern. But, I added vertical bust darts. Unfortunately, they’re still a bit too high. I actually started them at a good point, but I think I need to do the increases more frequently next time. Still fits fine though.

I get why this was written to be knit in the round, but for some reason, it felt like it took longer to knit than something in pieces would have. Something about the length of the rows/rounds. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.

I was waffling on working the picot edging for the sleeves and body – I hated the first couple of rows so much, I almost ripped them out and went for a plain bottom hem – but I guess it was worth it. I’m not sure I can say the same about the bindoff for the collar, since you can barely see the points.

I had just barely enough yarn to finish; I had to cannibalize my swatch. No big deal though. Speaking of the yarn, the Cascade 220 Sport was lovely to knit with, though it did stain my needles. But there was very little bleed when I was actually washed the sweater, and it blocked out beautifully.

I don’t see myself wearing Peregrine during the hottest months – it is a wool sweater, after all. But it should be perfect for pretty much the rest of the year. Yay for (nearly) year-round wear!

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Crazy lace lady

Posted on 19 December 2011 by Kris

Predictably enough, I started a new lace project as soon as I finished Juno Regina. I’m working on Sharon Miller’s 1-Ply Spring Shawl, which I’ve wanted to knit ever since I saw missalicefaye’s version (Ravelry link) a few years ago.

My version’s cobweb weight on US00 / 1.75mm needles. Which you might think would drive me nuts, but you’d be so very, very wrong. I’ve finished chart 1, so I’m a little over 90 rows in here, and so far, so good!

I’m using Yarn Place Heaven, which is actually finer than the last cobweb weight yarn I knit (Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb, which I used for my Peacock Feathers). This yarn has a drier, crisper feel too, and is a little easier to split if you’re not careful. So I have to be a little more attentive this time, but no big deal. I’m having fun with this, so why would I mind paying more attention to it?

Seriously, I like lots of detail when it comes to lace. As you may have noticed, I get really bored really fast on patterns that are basically the same two rows over and over. This project? I’ve just gotten to the part where there’s an eight-row repeat at the edge of the center triangle, and a 30-row repeat in the middle. So, the detail-oriented part of me is really loving this right now.

My only beef with the pattern so far is the size of the charts – as printed, they’re ridiculously hard for me to read. They were easy enough to blow up, though, so I can’t complain too much.

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