May 2007 Archives

So, yesterday I meant to blog about my knitting plans for the summer, but somehow I got sidetracked and didn't get around to it. 

I've been obsessively knitting for almost three years now, but I've never had great luck with summer knitting projects that are actually wearable.  It gets really hot and humid in the summer, and its just miserable to even think about wearing most knitted stuff.  So what's a knitter to do?  Try again...? or just give up?  Actually, I've decided I'm going to do a little of both. 

In the "try again" category, I think the Hempathy sweater I'm currently working on has the possibility of being really wearable, even during the hot summer months.  It's hemp and cotton, very find gauge, and it has lots of ventilation from the lace pattern!  I'm going to change it to short sleeves, and it should be perfect!  (Not sure I have a choice on that one anyway, since it looks like I might right out of yarn otherwise.) 

 

In the "give up" category, I decided I just couldn't wait any longer, and cast on for the Sunrise Circle Jacket in a wool/angora blend.  Definitely not summer-wear, but hopefully I'll have it done before the cool weather comes this fall and winter. 

 

I started on the sleeve, since the pattern notes at the Sunrise Circle KAL site recommend making the front of the sweater first, then adjusting the width of the back depending on how much overlap is desired on the two fronts. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I went floating yesterday with three other couples, all of whom brought their kids along. There were more kids than parental units so my husband and I got a kid (Sam) in our canoe. The river was really high and running pretty fast from all the rain we've been getting. Early in the float, our canoe flipped and got pinned under a log with Sam trapped inside. I was sitting in front of him so I had no clue what was even happening (somehow I got out of the canoe no problem), but thankfully my husband kept his wits about him, dove over the canoe, and untangled him from the cross bars and pulled him out from under the water. That was REALLY scary, but thank goodness it turned out fine. Sam was a really good sport about the whole thing (although I'm not sure he'll ever go floating again!)

Okay, so that makes it sound like we had a terrible day, but it really wasn't.

Well... this post ended up being about something totally different than I intended (summer knitting projects), but here's a little glimpse of what I've been working on. 

My Hempathy sweater is coming right along... that turquoise string in there is not part of the pattern, it's just marking where I started the armhole decreases so I can match up the front and the back. I thought when I got the armholes it would really start going fast, but the neckline is pretty high, so I'm really only about 2/3rds done with the front. Grrr.... this project feels like a black hole sometimes.

Project Details:

Pattern: Jaywalker, by Grumperina, available at www.magknits.com

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Bee Stripe colorway, 2 skeins

Needle Size: Size 2 - 5 metal DPNs

Skills needed: cast on, knit, purl, increase by knitting into front & back of stitch, double decrease (described in pattern - similar to SSK)
picking up stitches, cast off

Pattern Modifications: I went up to a size two needle and cast on 68 stitches (17 sts for each pattern repeat). I had to rejigger the numbers a little for turning the heel, but I can't remember exactly what I did.

Time to knit: Fall 2006 - May 2007 I finished the first sock really quickly, then this project went into a LONG hibernation. I finished the second sock in about two weeks.

Final impressions: I really like the snug fit of the Jaywalker pattern. My first attempt knitting these socks came out WAY too small, so I know that frustration, but it's worth it to play with the number of stitches and come out with a really nice sock.

Back to your mild-mannered knitblogging.  Superarmadillo begone! 

So.... am I the last knitter on earth to get this book?  So good. 

The Jaywalkers are coming right along.  It's amazing how misplacing one project and dreading fixing a mistake in another one can turn into amazingly quick knitting.  I'm almost to the toe of the second sock!

 

Warning.... picture heavy post ahead!  It's easier to tell this way.  Enjoy! 

Hiking at Hamilton Pool...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boating on Lake Austin...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast Tacos from Rosie's Tex Mex...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pimpin' on South Congress (at Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds - clever, right?) ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live music at the Drunk Pig...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun times on Sixth Street...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night starts to get strange...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night gets stranger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing our part to keep Austin wierd...

(That's a bobblehead armadillo, in case you were wondering!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The armadillo gets some action at Coyote Ugly...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And lives happily ever after!

 

Boring knitting update...  I'm cruising right along on the second Mizzou Jaywalker sock... (that's kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?  Oh no, that would be a "Mizzou JayHAWKer sock."  Yeah, I'm not going there.)  But it should make for good vacation knitting.

That's right - VACAY!  (Sorry - Legally Blonde moment.)  I'm taking Thursday and Friday off work to go visit a couple of friends in Austin, TX.  My friend Leslie is in school at UT and my friend Angela moved there when she got married.  It should be soooo fun.  I'm letting Les and Ang be my tour guides, but I know tomorrow night we're going out to eat BBQ at the Salt Lick.  yummy yummy.  (Rachel Ray says it's good, anyway.)  

I doubt I'll be on the internet much until I get back on Sunday, but I should have lots of fun pictures when I get back! 

All my knitting projects have been sucking lately.

Exhibit 1: I knit a large portion of the Child's Placket-Neck Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts before I realized the pattern has a bunch of mistakes in it, and I wasn't working off the corrected version.

Exhibit 2: I was cruising right along on the second Child's First Sock last weekend, but I left it at my mother in law's house. She said she would send it back with my husband's aunt and uncle, but I haven't had the chance to touch base with them.

Exhibit 3: Small victory - I'm up to the armhole decreases on the Hempathy sweater, then I got and screw up the decreases. Normally, no big deal. I have no problem ripping out my knitting to fix a mistake. But this lace pattern is SUCH a hassle to get back on the needles once its been ripped out. I just haven't wanted to deal with it this week.

Sometimes, you just can't fight it. I'm clearly not supposed to be knitting right now. So, fun with sewing it is!

The funny thing about me trying to sew is that I know just enough to be dangerous - I think I can wing stuff without a pattern or reading about how to do a particular technique. I'm going to try to make a baby quilt for a friend that just found out she's having a girl.

About 3-4 weeks ago, I discovered there was a bird living in my garage. It actually had pretty posh digs - a nest of leaves and twigs nestled in an old blanket that was stuck inside a cabinet in my garage. I pulled it out and a nest with five eggs came falling out.

Oops - but I couldn't very well have a family of birds living in my garage, could I?

A couple days later, I found this nest in a flowerbox on my front porch. It's just the bare minimum of a nest, pretty well hidden behind some dead flowers from last year. I think it must be the second round of eggs from the same bird... maybe not, but it makes me feel a little less guilty for the five-egg omelette on my driveway.

Long story short, I've been trying to leave mama bird alone so she could at least raise a couple of little ones without me killing them. And look what I found on Sunday when I got back from being out of town!

Hi babies! It's been raining like crazy here, so there should be some nice juicy worms out there to fatten you up. I can't make any promises about the neighborhood cat that's been skulking around the side of my house, though.

 

Oh yeah, speaking of babies....

Check out my sister-in-law! Is that about the craziest thing you've ever seen? Matt and I went to KC last weekend for my sister's gradation and I went to his sister's baby shower. I haven't seen her since Christmas, so it was especially surprising. (I couldn't stop staring - did she stick a basketball under there?)

Remember this yarn that I got in the  "we're not buying anything so we're not cheating on the yarn diet" yarn swap?

Well, this picture makes it look almost pretty.  It's not.  The colors are more orange and just kinda fugly.  Brianne gave it to me and said, maybe you can dye it....

Well, here are the results. I haven't dyed any yarn in quite a while, so I couldn't really remember how much dye I normally use, but I knew I wanted a fairly dark brown. I didn't get it quite as dark as I wanted, but I think that's just the colors of dye I had to work with.

(If you're interested in trying your hand with acid dyes, try the kits from Prochemical - you get 6 different coordinated colors and all the other chemicals you need.)

I got this color by overdyeing with both mochachino and sugar maple. I think it turned out pretty well - I really like the "manly" sock patterns in Nancy Bush's book Knitting Vintage Socks, so this skein will probably become one of those patterns. (Now this is the kind of yarn diet that I like!)  

Well, let me qualify that...

Lace is fun, when:

- you charted out the pattern and have a magnetic chartkeeper to keep you on track

- you've learned the pattern so you don't have to rip out and deal with the yarn splitting

- you seem to be making pretty quick progress, even though you're using size 2 needles!

I'm almost to the armhole decreases, but it won't really make the knitting go any faster because the edges are just plain stockinette. 

The real challenge in this pattern is going to be the shoulders.  I'd like to make short row shoulders and finish them with a three-needle bind-off, but I think the knitting stays in pattern all the way to the top.  I guess I could leave off the lace pattern at the very top, but keep the garter stitch columns, so it wouldn't be too obvious. 

When I get to the shoulders, I need to remember to document where I find instructions on converting regular stair-step shoulders to short-row shoulders... it seems like every time I do it, it's like learning it all over again. 

ETA:  Here's a Knitty.com article on it!   

ETA2:  In case you're wondering, the pattern is Julia from Rowan Classic Summer 11, and the yarn is Elsbeth Lavold Hempathy.