Christmas Knitting
December 10, 2012 § 8 Comments
You all know that I am basically only capable of expressing my love in one way.
But did you also know that, when I knit, I’m strong enough to bend steel needles? I didn’t.
Working On: Ben’s Mittens, A Red Hat
November 14, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Well, it’s been a while since I showed you what I’ve been knitting on.
I made this nice little red beret over four days in October, using some really beautiful Rowan Fine Tweed I bought at this summer at Knitting Sisters.
And for my friend Ben, I worked on a pair of mittens from a pattern book from the 1940′s, provided scanned by the V&A (WWII era; Essentials for the Forces). I guess this comes as no surprise, but I took them for a test drive (well, bike-ride) in the cold the other night, and was very impressed with how warm they were. Hands are still pretty much the same, 60 years later.
Working On: Estonian Socks
October 10, 2012 § 6 Comments
I’m not sure how it happened, once I finished my self-assigned interminable sock knitting, that I immediately turned around and started knitting more socks.
Because that’s exactly what’s happened.
These are even Nancy Bushes– they’re the Estonian Socks from Folk Socks (a 1994 classic that was just re-released last year). I’m working in Shepherd Sock, which I’ve never used before. I’m coming to terms with the superwash merino & nylon content.
Namely: is the environmental effect of eschewing superwash wool really worth it if the socks you make wear out in less than a year?
Anyway, it’s fun colorwork & a fun pattern, and I have less than two weeks to make the pair (and on US sz. 0 needles!).
Working On: Fuzzy Pink Mittens
October 3, 2012 § 4 Comments
Nevermind all that I said about spending time sewing this month. I’m knitting something so cartoonishly knitterly that I feel like a look-at-how-kooky-this-girl-is sitcom actress:
CAROLINE sits down at the café table across from NIC, pulls a fuzzy pink half-knit mitten from her bag, and begins working.
CAROLINE: So, how was the show last night?
I mean, this actually is what I did on Saturday afternoon.
Anyway, I’ve stumbled into a newfound but very real love for angora. I haven’t ever worked with it, since it always seemed to be too much for me. It’s not my taste. But I think the qualities I used to find so jarring– it is undeniably fuzzy– are now maybe what draw me to it. Angora cannot be ignored. It does not apologize for itself.
I will leave you with this shocking thought: I’m thinking a good bit about a day-of-the-week set of angora-lined pulse warmers. Lord have mercy.
Knitted: Pound of Love
September 28, 2012 § 2 Comments
Hey, remember this? I’m finished!
I’m not going to show off the whole blanket– it’s supposed to be a gift (and a surprise, at that!), after all– but I can confirm that it’s perfectly sized. Big enough so that you can curl up on the couch without your feet sticking out, but small enough to carry around on your shoulders. I know she’ll love it.
Pattern: Shale Baby Blanket by Jared Flood
Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love, 1 ball (that’s a little over 1000 yds!)
Needles: US sz. 9 Takumi circulars
Time Frame: February 1, 2011 – July 6, 2012
Ravelry: here
Working On: Socks for Jay
September 26, 2012 § 1 Comment
I’m having so much fun with these.
Back in early July, my friend Maggie came to visit and casually let it slip that she’d just visited our friend Jay, and that the socks I’d knit him had seen better days (actually, verbatim: “So, I’m supposed to mention to you in a sort of an offhand way that they’re super worn-out, and that maybe you could just make another pair, if you have the time.”).
With that in the back of my mind, I went down to my old-but-new-again LYS last week, in search of something suitable. Lorna’s makes a spot-on Carolina Blue, it turns out (and exclusively for Yarns Etc!), but businesslike, it’s not.
I went with a yarn I’d never used before– Online Supersocke Silk in a granite-like gunmetal grey color. Online, a German yarn company (Ganze Banderole auf Deutsch? Absolutely.), is distributed by JMF’s distributor, so that extra familiarity made it all the nicer. The silk content– 20%– really made the slipped stitches shine, and gives (I think) an attractive look of precision & exactitude to the whole thing. You can tell that these don’t have any mistakes in them.
The pattern, aside from the skyp stitch, is a pretty uncomplicated one, but it’s very popular (also, it’s free! Thank you, Adrienne!). The herringbone running down the center of the ribs is really unusual, but looks especially great, I think, with this yarn.
I’m flying through these, so, soon!
I’d Love to Knit: Things for Friends & Family
September 24, 2012 § Leave a Comment
I’ve accrued a pretty large mental collection of people I ought to knit for, and I need to write everything down.
- Back in July, at a trunk show in Williamsburg, I told my sister Charlotte to pick out some yarns, because I was going to make her a pair of socks and a hat for her birthday (less than a month away!).
- I need to knit a pair of socks for my friend Jay, because he’s not only been a good friend to me, but also emailed me a photoessay called “Socks on a Train” (choice quote, “After a shower and commute to work, these socks give me the confidence I need to be successful in today’s competitive corporate environment.”), and also because I hear they’re wearing out.
- I also hear that my friend Shaddi’s jacket is starting to wear out.
- And Zac’s parents have been so incredibly good to us in the past few weeks that I feel moved to knit some nice things for them, too.
Knitted: Beatnik
August 24, 2012 § 6 Comments
It’s done, and I love it!
The cables are gorgeous, the fit is perfect– cozily one-size-too-big– and the Sabine really is shown off to its best advantage. My only complaint is that I’ve already promised this sweater to my sister for her birthday in October (and I should probably send it to her early, so that I’m not tempted to wear it any more than I already have).
Charlotte asked for long sleeves instead of 3/4 length ones, and a simple crew neck– both modifications that I’d definitely have made for myself.
The pattern’s repeated on the back, and the sleeves are left unadorned, which I like.
Of course, I’m wearing it with running shorts.
I guess if I were going to knit another that I’d work it in the round, and knit the sleeves seamlessly instead of setting them in. But, really, that’s it. I’ve also been thinking that, if you were to take out the waist shaping, this would work just as well as a man’s pattern. One more thing to add to the list, I guess.
Pattern: Beatnik, by Norah Gaughan from Knitty Deep Fall 2010
Yarn: Juniper Moon Farm Sabine in Foliage, 4 skeins
Needles: US 5 for the ribbing, and US 7 for the rest
Time: July 31 – August 7
I’d Love to Knit: Beatnik
August 6, 2012 § 1 Comment
I’ve had my heart set on knitting this sweater since it came out two years ago. I don’t think I’m going to ruin anyone’s surprise by saying that I’m planning on making one in Sabine (crew neck, long sleeves) for my sister’s birthday in October.
photo courtesy of Knitty and © Chris Vaccaro
Just the thing to put me in a fall mood!
Update: Tinder
February 11, 2012 § Leave a Comment
My Tinder is cranking along pretty nicely. I’m over my snobbishness about seamlessness (namely, I realize that there’s a reason why things ought to have seams, and I don’t mind making them), so knitting the thing in pieces is no hardship.
I’m primarily concerned that I’m going to lose steam, and, as such, am knitting absolutely as fast as I can. It’s kind of an analogous problem to worrying about running out of yarn– you subconsciously begin to knit faster, in the hopes of outrunning your shortage of yarn.
I’m even making the sleeves simultaneously! I am just that worried that the project will languish with one sleeve left to go. I mean, it’s not like it hasn’t happened before.
ETA: I’m actually all finished– all there’s left to do is photograph it (sans buttons), and then send it off in the mail. I can’t wait to show it to you! It’s a beauty!
