Twisted Stitches

I came across a thread on Ravelry about the Ravelympics today. I really had no plans on getting involved, but I think I will. I’m joining Team Calgary, captained by our very own Annarose.

I’m still debating events/projects… See, I have this problem where I start tons of things, but I get bored, and move on, or stop knitting altogether for a while. And I want a challenge, but also something I have some hope of accomplishing, given that it’s a two week deadline, and my neck still gets sore if I look down too much.

Many of the ones I’ve considered could fit into multiple events, such as  gift or charity hats or socks, colourwork mittens, single-skein or stash buster lace projects, etc.

“Holiday jump start skiing” sounds wise. I have a couple of gift ideas that I should start, but one is a little small to really consider a challenge (although the time frame would make it a bit tight), and the other is a bit daunting to say the least (also I need the project for this particular yarn to be perfect, and two weeks is not a lot of time to frog and reknit). It would truly be a challenge, though, and one I’ve thought about lots over the past year or so.

Another option is “Nordic Colourwork Combined”. I took a colourwork class a few years ago, and started Endpaper Mitts in the yarn provided (which I never finished), but I bought some yarn to make a pair for myself, and never got around to starting the project.

There’s also the “Free Dance” event for personal challenges that don’t fit anywhere else. I love dyeing. I HATE skeining yarn from cones. Probably the biggest challenge for me would be to skein up all my dyeing yarn; heck, even half of it would be a massive challenge (I have a LOT).

I know I can’t tackle them all, or even all of the ones listed here, but I’m torn since they all appeal in some way or another  (some to my selfish desire for pretty knits, some to my desire to “do unto others”, and some to my guilt at not having completed them yet).

Decision time!

To find out more about the Ravelympics, check out the group here. Also, check out the graphic created by zzwhitejd from Ravelry (note the colours are 5 new Louet colours inspired by Ravelry and its logos):

It’s here! I was a good girl this year, and Santa brought me something so big it took over an extra month to get here!

No, no. That’s not the big thing… that’s just my pretty new lazy kate and some extra bobbins… This is the big thing:

I just need to find some plyers to get the e-clip off so I can attach the flyer assembly, then throw the washers and eclip back on, and we’re ready to roll! Err… spin!

I got a package today. This was part of the contents. Can you guess what it was?

Stay tuned for the big reveal!

I broke down a few weeks ago and purchased a new spinning wheel. Giselle will always be my first love, but I wanted something that was easier to get extra bobbins for, and such. That decision was one resignation letter and one accident ago. Given the change in circumstances, I’m not sure it was the best move, but it’s done now. And given the rough week (and the fact that it’s already paid for), I’m happy that my new toy just cleared Canadian customs! Wee!

Well, the project from the last post will forever remain a WIP. On a trip to see the Snowed in Comedy Tour, we rolled our car, and my knitting bag was found, but my knitting remained somewhere near Ponoka… Sad, I really liked the project. I may have to try it again out of my Handmaiden Sea Silk.

On the “upside”, we were incorporated into two separate comedians’ sets. The evening highlight was at the end of the evening, when we got to meet Ed Byrne, who asked again to make sure we were all ok. Sweet, and a funny, funny man. See?

Of course, the wine, painkillers and A535 when we got back to the hotel room were also welcome, and possibly, just as big of a highlight.

I had a skein of some Faking Sanity Compulsion that I had kept to knit a sample from, and this weekend, I finally pulled it out again. The yarn is a superwash 100% merino ranging from pink to deep red. I was browsing sock patterns, since that seems to be what I’m in the mood to knit these days, but on Saturday, I stumbled upon Anne Hanson’s Tudor Grace pattern again, and decided to give it a try.

I did a few gauge swatches and started on it this Sunday, so it’s not very far a long, but I think I’m liking the results so far:

Faking Sanity before Grace:

Faking Sanity Gracefully?

Last week, I ordered a few skeins of some new yarns. I’m thinking of carrying/dyeing a couple of new yarns for the Faking Sanity line. And today, the package arrived in all its glorious splendour. Do any of these bases sound interesting to you guys?

1. This first one is a superwash BFL/nylon blend:

2. The second one is a superwash merino/Seacell blend:

3. The third is a fairly popular base – a superwash merino/cashmere/nylon blend:

And this last one is just for me! I don’t even plan to dye it. I’m going to use it for a shawl, exactly as it is. It’s a 60% SeaCell/40% silk lace weight blend. The sheen and drape are amazing, and I love the warm, pale honey colour.

See?

I even wove in the end at the toe, which no one would see. And can you believe I left in a couple of errors (intentionally!) that I thought wouldn’t be too noticeable?! These aren’t blocked, and they’re fairly large socks sitting on small sock blockers, so the lace pattern isn’t really opened up or even and the heels look baggy. I do love them, though, and they fit my feet better than the blockers, so I’m already wearing them!

Of course, I had to change up the pattern a bit… I can’t imagine doing the full length of the heel flap called for in this pattern. I know I have a fairly low rise/arch and shallow heel, but these are still nearly too long in the heel and a little baggy in the midfoot, and I reduced the heel flap by 12 rows (36 rather than the 48 called for). I also lengthened the ribbed cuff by a couple of rounds, and carried the twisted stitch between the lace repeats up into the toe for a subtle extension of the pattern.

I’m sure I’ll make these again someday. It was a really fast knit, given how little I was knitting this winter, and the pattern was easy and fun. The next time, I think I’ll reduce the heel flap by an additional 4 rows or use a short-row heel, and knit them toe-up, with the toe being much more rounded (my first socks had a very square toe like these, and it just doesn’t look as nice to me).

I pulled out my wheel again today. I thought of a way to resolve the issue I was having, so I wound off the BFL I had on the bobbin, then began spinning the loveliest Finn. Creamy in both colour and texture, if that makes sense. I’m a bit rusty, but it sure was fun. I only have about 2 oz; I just bought a sample amount to see if I liked it. I’ll definitely have to figure out a project for it though; it’s just so nice. I may even buy more of this fiber at some point.

For now, though, I have more than enough at home. There’s some natural/undyed Wensleydale, Merino/Seacell, BFL and Cotswold I picked up recently, along with some Bombyx silk, camel and yak down I got at the last Boxing Day sale at M1, and several pounds of dyed bamboo and Merino/Tencel, so I think I will be spinning lots in the coming weeks! Oh, and some Louet Northern Lights, and some Lorna’s Laces in the Blue Jeans colourway.. Wee!

No troubles here, though (sorry, I couldn’t resist)!

Before my move this summer, I had traded a kilo bag of Malabrigo for some hand-prepped Cotswold fiber. A “bit” was what I thought. A “bit” looked a little different than I had imagined once it was prepared. I went to pick it up today; here is a quick view of of a few little Cotwold tribbles:

Like tribbles, though, they ended up taking over my favourite computer chair within moments:

In 2009, I started dyeing yarn, opened an Etsy shop, and made my first wholesale order to an LYS in town. I swore that since I could now buy yarn and dye it in colours I wanted as I needed it, I would drastically cut down, if not cut out, my other yarn purchases. Apparently, 2009 was a year of grand delusions!

Dyeing yarn made me realize that I love the intrigue on one-skein-at-a-time, unique colourways. Despite the fact that  I am normally all about process, formulas and spreadsheets, dyeing for me is an outlet for my creative side, and I prefer the surprise of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach.

On the knitting side, it wasn’t really a stellar year. I started 10 projects and finished only 4: 2 pairs of socks, a scarf and a clapotis. I also finished 3 single socks that are waiting for mates, worked a bit on a few old projects that had been set aside, and started and abandoned a baby hat, 2 pair of socks and a blanket. I am happy with what I did finish, though, and in many ways, it was a year of firsts.

These represent my first test-knit and completed top-down sock, the first acrylic/nylon project that I love, my first project with a singles yarn, my first bamboo project, my first project wth corn yarn, my first attempt at designing my own heel, and my first bulky project, which also doubled as my first slam-dunk as far as gift giving is concerned.

Here’s to a 2010 filled with joy, peace and prosperity (that is dyeing, knitting, and yarn)!

Well, the Christmas knitting was a total success. My little sis loved the heavy alpaca scarf. She had never heard of it, and was amazed at how soft the yarn was. And her rambunctious 3 year old always wants to be outside, despite my sister’s tendency to be… “frileuse” (man, english needs more words… it’s kind of like how older, frail grannies are always cold?).

All in all, it was an excellent fit, and one of my first slam-dunks as far as gift-giving is concerned. Now, it’s time to buckle down and resole the socks I gave to my dad last year, since he blew out the heel; I suppose that’s a sign he liked his gift too, but still… not looking forward to the task.

I also picked up a few things this Christmas season. When I delivered my last order of Faking Sanity yarns to Make One, I picked up Cat Bordhi’s new book for myself. It’s cool, but I definitely preferred the first one. My second purchase was a yummy, super-bright-green skein of Sweet Sheep Tight Twist sock yarn. I don’t know why, but I’ve been oddly attracted to all these bright greens lately. This one is called “Shamrock” (the colour is actually brighter, but taking pictures at night without proper lighting is tricky for me):

Well, one sock is done… but it’s completely finished – even the ends are woven in! See?

If you’re in the neibourhood check out all the new yarns at Make One… including another batch of Faking Sanity yarns from yours truly. This delivery was of Compulsion – a squishy, superwash 100% Australian merino yarn in a mid-to-heavy fingering weight. I forgot to take pictures of them all, so here’s a preview of the first few I dyed for this batch.

Remember these? They were well loved. Today, they abandoned my feet to the cold of a Calgary winter. Both socks went to Safeway with me, but the left heel never came home… it disintegrated as I pulled off my boots. It was a sad goodbye, but since these were a gift, I don’t have the rest of the yarn, so fixing them isn’t an option.

I tore out my sock…

I got to the heel flap the other night, and noticed an error (I skipped two rows in the pattern repeat). I decided to leave it due to the fact that it was on the front of the sock, and would land right where the ankle meets the leg, and wouldn’t be very visible. Those who know me well know just how big a deal that was for me. Then, as I was finishing up the heel flap, I noticed a major error right up near the cuff of the sock on the other side. It was just too much! So, I tore the whole thing out and started over; I’m now working on the cuff again, but much happier!

I have a problem with socks… I love knitting them, but I get bored. It often takes me a couple of days to knit the first sock, and yet months later, the second one is still lingering in my stack of UFO’s. That being said, I love wearing the pairs of handknit socks I do have completed; I just need a little extra motivation to finish them. Tonight, I found it. Much of my stash is sock yarn, and I just discovered that I have nearly 50 km of yarn in my Ravelry stash right now, and that some of my sock yarn is not even in there yet.

Good friend Annarose was talking about doing a personal sock club: bundling up patterns and yarns already in her stash, and then knitting those as a sock club next year. It sounds like a great idea to work through your stash, and rediscovering previous yarn finds is always exciting, so I think I might try something similar, but with a little tweak.

I’ll be going through my stash – probably over Christmas – and bundling up 6 kits (I knit slowly, and only when I can chat with others). For each kit, there will be enough yarn to complete either a pair of socks or mittens. Quick aside: did you know the word for mittens and gloves in German – handschuh – is literally “hand shoes”? How cool is language! But I digress… Along with each kit of yarn, I’ll include a pattern, or perhaps two, for either mittens of socks. I’ll allow myself to knit other stuff if I’m not in the mood for the kits, but it will have to be from my stash, and preferably something I’ve already started.

Maybe I can get down to 45 km of yarn by next Christmas, and get some cozy socks and mittens to wear, or have Christmas gifts ready ahead of time, too. Maybe. I’ll definitely be giving it a try, though!

I know I should work on one of my many 1/2 finished projects, but none was appealing right now, so I started a new pair of Hedera’s in the most awesome red. The yarn is Berocco Sox… I don’t typically buy acrylic for socks, but I wanted to try this stuff out. Their yarns have gotten a lot better recently, I must say. I’m about half way down the leg, so I’ll probably have to decide soonish whether these will be for my sister or for me.

I’ve started dyeing up a new batch of yarn. This one is my favourite to dye: it’s a super-soft, squishy 100% superwash merino sock yarn. I decided to try a few that are outside my normal colour range, but still working with mostly, tonal and semi-solid colourways. Here are a couple sample skeins, but stay tuned… There are more on the stove today that are going in a very different direction as far as colourways and dyeing techniques go.

Have I mentioned how bored I get with knitting rib? Oh, well… maybe I’ll remember before I start another project. Despite being sick of knitting the Man-Scarf, which will now go to my sister for Christmas instead, I love how it turned out. It’s simple, clean, and this yarn is super-squishy and soft. And while I can take awesome scenery photos, I’m just not very good at the still-life and/or object shots; nonetheless, here is a giant roll of black alpaca!

And, now the yarn I have on the stove is beeping, so I’m off to check on my dyeing. Watch for a new batch of Faking Sanity yarns at Make One in the near future.