Slouching into the New Year.

I started a new pattern on Saturday night. It really was just something to fill the time while watching a Middle School Boy's basketball game. If you have ever watched Middle School Basketball, you won't blame me for needing something interesting to do. But sometimes a last minute, lark turns out to be a great decision. Slouchy('s no Slouch) is a free hat pattern that I found on Ravelry by Lea Kobayashi. (Free is good -- Remember?!) I have been looking at the pattern for the last few weeks and I even saved a PDF of the pattern on my computer. So, of course it was a natural when I needed to make a quick choice.

I have been working the pattern over the last couple of days worth of commuting and have made good progress. At this point I am almost through the 1st of two skeins of the Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes that I had left over from my Avocado Carnaby. As I said then, the stitch definition of this wool is excellent.

The hardest part about the hat so far was knitting the cables -- not actually knitting the cables, it was getting under the seat on the train to pick up the cable needle when I lost control of it going over a bump. The cables were a ton-o-fun to do. I have not done any in a long time -- and these were small and easy. Forming ribbing, they are both lovely and useful. I also like the detailing formed by the SSK and the yarn over. The combo creates an interesting spiral to the ridge of the hat. The hat is topped off with a quick i-cord and a decorative bead.

I am nearly to the point of decreasing for the crown of the hat. The knitting has been so easy that I have yet to grow tired of it. This may end up being a "go-to" favorite for gift making.

Happy Knitting!!

What Should I do with Left Over Yarn?

I completed the knitting on Jacklyn's Ginkgo yesterday evening. Before blocking it and to get an estimate of the yardage used for the shawlette, I weighed the remaining ball of yarn.and there is 47 of 100 grams left. Nearly an entire ball of yarn for some varieties that are only 50 gram balls. So, what to do with the left overs? I thought about knitting a set of matching lace wrist warmers, but I didn't know if that wide of a lace pattern -- 15 stitches across would look good on such a small object. Also figuring out how to center the lace panel so that it looks good on the back of the hand. . . A HAT! A slouchy-lace-beret-type hat. That was just the ticket.

So, I began researching the construction of slouchy hats by looking at patterns on one of my favorite resources: Ravelry. There, I found a few hundred free patterns using the term "Slouch Hat" and 34 in a fingering weight yarn. So I started reading patterns.

I am such a skeptic and sometimes it is hard to trust what I am reading. The shawlette pattern is a repeat of 15, so I decided to cast on 120 stitches; however, when I got to 120, I looked at it and said to myself, "you'll never get a head in there!" and cast on 30 more. Wrong, wrong, wrong! After 2 inches of a 1 X 1 rib, it was obviously too big for any head and I ripped out and started over with my original 120 stitches. (Lesson Learned.) But this time since 120 was a multiple of 4 I went with a 2 X 2 rib. After 2 inches of ribbing, I can tell you all those people who have written patterns for fingering weight yarn knew what they were doing when they cast on ~120 to 130 stitches.

I have finished the ribbing, knit one row and then increased the stitches to 150 by k4, m1. I will knit about 4 to 6 rows of stocking stitch and then start the lace pattern. Hopefully, this time will be the charm!

I have some knitting to get through.

Happy Knitting.

Short row knitting -- One of my favorite things!

As you may have seen in one of my most recent posts, I am currently knitting a skirt called the Carnaby. The skirt is knit with a pair of panels: one in a pattern and the other a stocking stitch wedge formed with short row knitting. I have grown quite fond of short rows. I remembered first learning how to do short row knitting when knitting sock heels. But I have found that short row knitting is used in all kinds of knitting.

Just like increases and decreases, short row knitting is a shaping method. Think "darts" in sewing. From the photo above, you can see the wedges formed with the short rows. (Ignore the color, my iPhone doesn't capture color indoors at night very well.) In the picture on the left, you can see where the short row stopped and turned around. The Carnaby pattern, spaces each short row end about 10 stitches  from the last one, with six short rows in all so that it is a long skinny wedge.

The Purl Bee has a very nice short row pictorial tutorial (wow that rhymes) showing the wrap and turn that most people use with short row knitting. "Purl" has pictures showing both the wrap and the pickup when both knitting and purling. And since Purl did such a great job, I would rather you check out her link. I'm not sure I would do half as well with my iPhone.

On Ravelry, as of the date of this post, if you do a pattern search on just the word short row you will have 12,518 patterns come up. Well that isn't all socks or skirts! There are coats, dresses, scarves, swimsuits, toys and buttons. Personally, I have made dog sweaters, socks, and an ear flap chullo on my knitting machine.

If you haven't tried short row knitting yet, you are missing out on a very useful skill. Pick up some yarn, pick out a pattern and get some learn'n on!

Happy Knitting!

The Hypotenuse of a Triangle. . .

I have suddenly become enamored of wearing dresses and skirts. A work colleague of mine wears the loveliest dresses and skirts. She is a young attorney who doesn’t let her need for professionalism inhibit the way she dresses. I used to think that if I wanted to be taken seriously at work, I had to dress less feminine. I am sure that part of the reason I have not had a dress in my wardrobe in several years coincided with our move from Tampa, Florida to Chicago, Illinois – but I have to think that at least subconsciously, I stopped wearing dresses to compete at work. Last weekend, this part of my life collided with my knitting life!

I started looking at dress and skirt patterns on Ravelry. I wanted something easy, fast and colorful. I found it in a pattern called Lanesplitter by Tina Whitmore. This free pattern is all of that and fun to knit. It is designed to be knit with one colorway of Noro Kureyon -- a yarn I've used before. I paged through several finished examples by Ravelry members and saw several that were done with two different yarns. Using a light/bright yarn on the row that pops the purl side to the front and a dark/dull color to pull the other row to the back. So what I did was get two colorways of Noro Kureyon -- one dark/dull and the other one light/bright. There is some cross over colors in both of the yarns. There is a lavender and a mix of blue and red in both of the yarns and they came up at the same time in one place, but I think that it gives the skirt interest.

The pattern is über easy! Three rows of knitting and one row of purling. The hardest part of the pattern is the  increases and/or decreases at each end of the rows. Although the pattern has "sizes", because the pattern is basically a rectangle, you stop increasing both sides when you hit the desired length, continue increasing on one side while decreasing on the other side until the other directions hits the desired diameter at which time you begin decreasing on both sides. (It's easier than you think -- read the pattern.) I have the skirt about 60% of the way knit and I have only been working on it a few days. Can't wait to finish it!

Happy Knitting!

Knitters in a twist

Instead of the international symbol for "NO" shown above, please imagine a crest with an American Flag and 5 colored interlocking rings. I can't show that, because I wouldn't want to be accused of infringing upon a trademark.

I have been reading about the interesting news of a controversy between the U.S. Olympic Committee and a community of knitters and crocheters in an on-line social website called Ravelry. (I must make a disclaimer here that I, too, am a member of Ravelry and it is one of my favorite sites.) The 'yarn' begins when Ravelry established its 3rd Bi-Annual Ravelympics set to coincide with the 2012 Olympic Games in London

The U.S. Olympic Committee has written Ravelry a cease and desist letter (you will need a membership to view the link) which has twisted the stitches of many knitters and crocheters. The letter says, "We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games.  In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work." Hard work? The writer of this letter obviously has never knit a pair of toe up, two at a time, cabled socks on a single circular knitting needle.

I understand that the U.S Olympic Committee feels the need, as does any corporation, to protect their "brand" and the trademarks that they have established. However, to insult a group that is at least two million strong is probably trouble. At the time of the writing of this letter, the U.S. Olympic Committee's Facebook site has been inundated with comments from knitters and their supporters, the Ravelry post on this letter has 92 pages of comments from members and there are already over 5,600 results to the Google search "US Olympic knitting". Online articles have been written by the likes of Businessweek, USA Today, and TNT Magazine.

Patrick Sandusky, USOC Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, issued a statement apologizing for their unintended denigration of fiber artists everywhere, then had to issue an apology for the apology as it sounded as if they were asking knitters to make them handmade items. If there is any lesson in this, it is don't mess with women holding sharp pointy things.

Not Your Average Sweater

This is my baby, Beemer! And although summer is coming and it will be hot, I needed something fast and easy to knit when I couldn't concentrate easily enough to knit lace, so Beemer is getting a sweater.  Searching for a pattern is easy when you use Ravelry and not only did I find a dog sweater, I found a dog sweater specifically designed for the not-your-average-shaped-dog shape of the dachshund. The Wurstwarmer is a pattern available for sale through Ravelry. Most of the patterns that I knit have been free downloads, but this one was worth every penny of the $3.00 charge.

Designed by Flint Knits, the pattern's "short rows add extra material to accommodate a dachshund’s barrel chest. A long, ribbed, generously-sized turtleneck gently hugs the neck and allows for a wide range of neck and chest shapes and sizes. A long body covers the belly, and more short rows curve the sweater over the rump. Short, wide-set triangular sleeves will stay on even the wiggliest pups."

I am using some old acrylic sport weight yarn by Caron. And when I say old, I mean it -- the yarn is some 14 or 15 years old. The pattern is knit with only one yarn. However, you know I have a hard time not fiddling with a pattern, so I have incorporated a stripe into the sweater. I knit down to the end of the chest increase/short rows in navy, then switched to a medium blue just before the bind off and cast on for the leg holes. A total of 9 rows of knitting in the medium blue, then a single row of cream, three rows of medium blue, another single row of cream, 9 rows of medium blue and back to navy.

If you have ever knit socks with a short row heel, this pattern should be a breeze. In fact the sweater looked a lot like a giant sock until I intentionally knit in two holes for Beemer's legs! I am guessing that this pattern would be great for other long low dogs such as Basset Hounds, short legged Jack Russell Terriers and Dandie Dinmont Terriers. Although a Dandie Dinmont pretty much has its own sweater!

If this one works out well, I may be knitting an entire wardrobe for my Mr. B!

Happy knitting!

Another lace shawlette finished -- Summer Nightsongs

Wow, I thought that I would never finish another project. Summer Nightsongs just seemed to take forever. Yes, I was sick; yes, I had a baby quilt to finish; yes, I was trying to work on two projects at the same time. But regardless of everything that was going on, this project seemed to take longer than sweaters I have made. For some reason, I had a really difficult time with this pattern. There were a couple of rows -- 9 and 11 -- of the edge chart that just about finished me!

But that does not mean I am finished with lace knitting. No! Actually, I would try THIS pattern again! And I would make it much larger for a full sized shawl. Besides a change in the size, I would also knit it in a solid color or tonal so that the pattern stands out more than the yarn. As you can see from the picture below, the pattern is lost a little in the stripes.

By the end of the project, I was much happier with the Crazy Zauberball yarn than I thought I might be. While I loved the softness of the yarn right from the moment that I picked it up, I was afraid that it would split a lot as it was knit. But the yarn held up surprisingly well considering how many times I ended up knitting some of the rows.

I made fewer repeats than called for in the pattern. Using a spreadsheet, I calculated out how many stitches were in each row, then, being the accountant (read: "nerd") that I am, calculated out what percentage of the pattern that I had completed for each row. As I finished every couple of rows, I weighed the remaining ball of yarn and it seemed as though I was completing a smaller portion of the pattern than I was using up the yarn. So, when I was at the point where I would have had to make another repeat, I started the edge row. I did end up with 28 grams of 100 left over. I might have had another repeat worth of yarn left -- but I might not have either!

The author of this pattern, Jane Araujo, links to some good tips from other knitter from the pattern's Ravelry page. You will do well to read them too. I ended up following the pattern modifications suggested by fascine.

Well, I am on to finish the Alexandra that I tried to do simultaneously to this shawl. We all have to learn from our mistakes!

Happy Knitting!

Chicken Soup and Knitting

There is nothing like a cold spring day in Chicago to make staying inside preferable to being outside. So this afternoon, upon returning from Church, I started a pot of Chicken Soup. In cold weather months, I make chicken soup a couple of weekends each month. I don't have any recipe for the soup, I just make it.

The "recipe" was inspired by my best childhood friend's mom's soup. Mary made soup every Sunday for her family and as Roseanne's best friend, I occasionally benefited. Some of my best memories are of the smell of Mary's cooking. While her soup was pretty much the same every weekend, I have tended to mix it up a little. I use what I have on hand.

Starting with a large pot of water 6 - 8 quarts and one large 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I cut up any number of the following vegetables:

onion
celery
potato
carrot
green or red bell pepper
cabbage
garlic
parsnips

The amount really depends on what I have and how big a pot I have clean.  I then add a handful of salt (a couple of tablespoons), some black pepper, flaked dried basil, flaked dried thyme, flaked dried oregano, rosemary, and 2 bay leaf.

I add chicken -- bone in and skin on. Remember it is the bone and chicken fat that makes the soup really good. I have used just dark meat, just while meat or a mix with good results. Bring to boiling and then simmer over low heat until meat falls off bones and the stock is reduced to about 1/2 to 2/3 of the original amount.

Mmmmmmmmmm!

After the soup got on the stove, I spent the afternoon starting a knitting project. OK, I know that I have unfinished projects that I should work on, but the lure of this one was just too good to pass up. It is a free pattern that I got at Ravelry designed by Cindy Craft. It is a Fair Isle pattern called Running Horse Hat. If you don't have an log on to Ravelry, it is well worth the effort to sign up.

After 7 rows.

Not much of a start but I will post more pictures when I have them.