knot another hat

clapoteeee me!

I present my newest favorite knitted FO:

• Pattern: of course, the Clapotis
• Yarn: Handmaiden Great Big Sea, color Pansy, 2.33333 skeins
• Needles: US8
• Shawl Pin: Ron Pessolano

This little lovely caught me entirely by surprise. Normally, I can't stand knitting scarves, or their cousins. A shawl I can handle - only if there's enough going on to keep me interested. But five feet of stockinette stitch on a US8 needle? Forget it.

But I loved it! Somehow I really, really enjoyed knitting this. Maybe it's because it was a little touch of calm and predictability in the midst of all the other chaos in my life right now.

And wearing it? A dream. I wear it every chance I get. I did finish it in time to take with me to the Yarn Market News Conference in Chicago (yay me). I wear it wrapped around my neck like a scarf most of the time, but during one chilly lunch at the hotel it was perfect for opening up and spreading over my shoulders. It's Clapotis love. Oh - and here's the latest hair color. ;)

 

Go Beavs!!!!!

Today is the Civil War, where the Beavers take on the Ducks in Corvallis. If we win, the Beavers are headed to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for the first time in many, many years. This will be my fourth game to attend this year, and at each game I've had a new hand knit (or crocheted) Beaver item to wear, so to keep the lucky streak alive I'm furiously working on a pair of socks knit out of some very special Beaver yarn.

I'll give you a shot of me, Jason, Shea, and Annie at the last home game versus Cal, where we all had our hand-knit Beaver gear on (Annie made her and Shea's hats out of Nashua Creative Focus Worsted). I'm wearing my Beav-a-lac scarf, which I was still knitting and sewing in ends on as we drove to Corvallis.

• Pattern: Entrelac Scarf
• Yarn: Cascade Cash Vero, 2 balls in #6 Orange and 2 balls in #2 Black

• Needles: US9 (5.5mm)

Go Beavers!

another overdue FO

Lately I've been feeling like I have a burden of UFOs hanging over my head, and it's been weighing down my knitting psyche. I'm not casting on new stuff (mostly) because I have so many things to finish (those shrugs for the girls were some of those things), yet I'm not working on the old stuff either, so I just end up doing nothing! Well, no more! I finally cleaned up a little of the mess by finishing this:

• Pattern: Greenwich by dolce handknits, size 37"
• Yarn: Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted (4 balls in 0063, denim heather) held together with Nashua Handknits Brushed Alpaca (4 balls in 0726 denim)
• Needles: US 11 (8,0mm)
• Button: Annie Adams X-Large Twig Button
• Ravelry Project Page

I modified this by lopping off six inches in length (the long coat style is NOT flattering on me).

This would have been a ridiculously quick knit if I hadn't set it down for two months somewhere around the 2nd sleeve. Oh - another modification: since the sleeves have no shaping and are drop shoulder style, I picked them up from the armhole and knit down in the round. No sense doing all that purling and sewing - ick.

But, now it's done and I'm on to picking up other forgotten UFOs - namely, my GAAAAAAAAA Afghan. I'm almost caught up! More on that later . . .

How are you all doing with your holiday knitting? I actually don't know if I'm going to DO any holiday knitting this year! I know - how crazy is that!?!?! We'll see if the mood strikes now that Thanksgiving is upon us...

Beaver Lids

So, I know my posting track record is spotty. I tend to go in spurts of posts, then nothing for a month. I would apologize and promise to do better, but clearly, it ain't gonna happen!

Let's see, what have I been up to lately?? What haven't I been up to! Fall has hit me so hard - Campbell is in Kindergarten now, which has its own whole mess of business (not to mention getting her to school at 7:45 in the morning!). The store is CRAZY BUSY and I can hardly keep up even with all of Nichole's help. Y'all should see the amazing new stuff we have been cramming on the shelves every week. I'm working as fast as I can to get it all up on the website...in the meantime, though, we've put some goodies on sale to make room for the new stuff so don't miss out on some great deals!

On to the knitting! Oops - did I say knitting? I meant, On to the crocheting! -gasp. That's right, folks, I've been crocheting!

It all started when I brought home Son of Stitch 'N Bitch, and asked Jason to browse through and pick out something he liked. He picked Lidsville, by Kellen Wallis, which is a crochet pattern. I groaned and put it to the back of my mind.

Then, a few Saturdays ago I stopped by Fiber Nooks & Crannys in Corvallis, OR, while we were in town to watch the OSU BEAVERS KICK USC's ASS IN FOOTBALL, and came across the greatest orange tweed - perfect for the Lidsville hat. (I also got to meet the incredible Vicky, one of the first bloggers I ever read, who was working at the store!).  Hence:

 

• Pattern: Lidsville, by Kellen Wallis, from Son of Stitch 'N Bitch
• Yarn: Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed, color 13, Orange, 2 balls
• Hook: size I (5,5mm) - Laurel Hill - my favorite!!!!

Gotta say, I had issues with this pattern, and at one point even had to contact Kellen via Ravelry to ask a question. The crocheting itself is cake, it's the assembly that's rough. It's crocheted in 9 pieces, and I'm convinced, even in my novice crocheting stage, that it can be done in fewer, especially the back four pieces (maybe a little back-post decrease at the "seam" lines instead). The book's instructions for assembly are really odd, and overall I got the impression that it wasn't well edited before press. Kellen says as much on the Rav page for this pattern, that he was still working on the final pattern after submitting the prototype used for photos. You can tell that there is something really different about the brim in the book pic compared to the brim you get from the instructions, and it's placement with the body of the hat.

But - the final is not bad, and it looks great on J, and will keep his head toasty warm at the next 3 Beaver games we go to in November! Oh - shoot - I need a hat now:

 

• Pattern: City Girl Cap, by Celeste Young, available on Ravelry
• Yarn: Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed, color 13, Orange, 2 balls
• Hook: I (5,5mm)

OK - one more problem with Lidsville - it calls for waaay too much yarn. The book says 2 hanks of Tahki Donegal Tweed, and those are 100g hanks ... Jason's hat took about one and a half 50g balls. So since I had all this wonderful, leftover orange tweed and I, myself will be attending 3 more football games in Brrrr cold November, I though I better make myself a hat, too!

I loved, loved, loved this pattern. I had never done front- or back-post crochet before, and the effect is fantastic. The pattern was easy to follow, and since my gauge was a little smaller (used a smaller hook and slightly finer yarn), I just did one extra round of increases. I actually decreased those away again to tighten it up before attaching the brim, and it worked out great. This is my new favorite hat, and it worked wonders covering up my gross hair this weekend when I had to leave the house while suffering from the flu. Bleck.

Go crochet! Go Beavs!

Extra, extra! Delinquent blogger finally posts!

Um, hi everyone. Remember me? I'm so sorry - - bad, bad blogger. I know. It's summer, what can I say? I'm not even that sure what I've been doing, besides living, but nevermind - on to the knitting!

How about that Fall Vogue, eh? I haven't had an issue of Vogue so full of eye-catching projects since, well, since I've been reading Vogue! When it arrived it took me about 30 minutes to flip through, see the Cabled Hooded Pullover (AKA Green Gable on Ravelry), pull 9 skeins of DB Donegal Tweed Chunky off the shelf in Dark Red, and cast on. Voila!

• Project: Green Gable/Cabled Hooded Pullover by Tikru from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008

• Yarn: 9 skeins Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Chunky in #97, Red

• Needles: 8,0mm (US 11)

• Buttons: Large Nova Buttons by Annie Adams 

This one - this one almost didn't make it. I was left unsupervised last weekend, and ended up taking scissors to this completed sweater. Friends! NEVER DO THAT WITHOUT A CONSULT WITH SOMEONE - EVEN IF IT'S JUST TO CHECK ON RAVELRY FIRST!

Long story short, the sweater was Waaay too long. So, to maintain the pattern of the cabled rib, I had to undo the bottom by an entire cable repeat. Somehow I thought (quite erroneously) that I could rip out my cast on and unravel it up. No. I ended up cutting the whole bottom ribbing off. With scissors.

Scissors are IRREVERSIBLE, friends!

I made a royal frigging mess of this sweater, and the cabled portion on the back? U.G.L.Y. Way messed up. Then I checked Ravelry. I searched the forums for "unravel a sweater from the cast on" and "shortening a sleeve", and I learned. Boy, did I learn. I learned why where I previously had 2 knits in the cable I could now only find one loop to put back on the needle.

Anyway, after much fudging in the area of that back cable, I managed to salvage the sweater. Barely. But guess what?

I LOVE IT!

well it's about time!

Remember this?

• Pattern: Phyllo Yoked Sweater from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
• Yarn: Rowan Calmer, color brown, 8 balls
• Size: 41" finished chest
• Needles: 4,5mm (US7)
• Ravelry Project Link

I started this back in May of last year, and just as quickly stalled, for multiple reasons. First of all, I was knitting this out of the recommended yarn, Rowan Calmer, and I don't carry this yarn in the store. That always makes it hard for me to stay motivated (Handmaiden Ottowa being the first exception to date), because I know that it's not a sample that I can wear without having to say, I'm sorry, no, we don't have that yarn here. And I deliberately chose not to carry Calmer because I feel like the price point on it is too high for a cotton/acrylic blend. But I loved working with it - for a cotton it was very easy on the hands! I just wish it didn't cost so much!

Second complication: I modified the pattern to be worked in the round in one piece, which seems so logical considering it is a yoked pullover and you eventually have to join it all together anyway! But the consequence of that was 15" of stockinette stitch in the round . . . bleck. Bleck. And more bleck.

So when I finally picked this bad boy back up a few weeks ago, I was nearing the top of the body. And to re-orient myself to the pattern and my modifications for being in the round, I counted my stitches. And found that I had some wacky number of stitches that fell between two sizes in the pattern. WTF?! I could not figure out what I had been thinking some 16 months earlier when I casted on, until I re-checked my gauge and discovered that I had changed the cast on # b/c I was getting a slightly different gauge than called for. Voila! So smart, right?

Wrong. When I changed the cast on # I forgot to take into account that I had to have a specific number of stitches for the yoke pattern (a multiple of 11) to work out correctly. Doh! So I had to haul out the calculator and a paper and pencil, and re-tool the body and sleeves #s a bit to make sure that I had an appropriate # of sts for the yoke without significantly changing the overall size I needed it all to be. And guess what?

It worked! Another great sweater goes into my arsenal - slowly tipping the scales in favor of good knits over bad knits . . . :)

Rock the Casbah

What on god's green earth could be better than sock yarn with cashmere?

Cashmere Broadrippes.

• Pattern: Rob's Broadripples
• Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah Sock, color Renaissance, from Dublin Bay in Portland
• Needles: 3,25mm (US3)

I had to adjust the stitch count down to 48 because my gauge was looser than the last Broadripples I made, but it worked out well to take out two St sts between each ripple motif. Working with this yarn was like love at first stitch! So sproingy (is that a word?) and soft. I had plenty of leftovers for one of my girls to get a little pair of socks. . . we'll see if I can tear myself away from my next project: a shop model. More on that to come!

 

Talk about an hourglass!

I was able to finish my Ottowa Hourglass while in Columbus:

• Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson
• Size: a modified hybrid of sizes - 41" hip and 38" bust
• Yarn: 3 skeins Hand Maiden Ottowa, a wool/viscose blend in color Nova Scotia
• Needles: size US7 (4,5mm)

I love this sweater!! I took the time to customize the pattern to my actual measurements and it SO PAID OFF! I could just kick myself for all the times I've ignored the warning signs of an ill-fitting sweater and done nothing about it. This sweater fits perfectly!

To start out, I cast on for the 41" hip size. I decreased to the waist of the 36" size, and then increased in the bust to a point halfway between the two sizes at 38". It worked beautifully. I also continued decreasing on the neck about three or four times past the pattern requirements b/c of all the comments on Ravelry that the neck is too wide as written. I actually could have used a few more decreases on the front and back sections only while leaving the sleeves intact, but oh well. Overall I couldn't be happier!

Next up for NH Cotton DK

As I mentioned in my last post, I really enjoyed working with the Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Cotton DK. It is new for us here at the store, and it is quickly becoming a staff and customer favorite.  (Check out the store model Julia knit for us in the Cotton DK - too cute!)

So when the Summer Vogue came out and I saw this , I could hear the DK calling my name............

I resisted for a couple weeks, but eventually came home with this:

I know it's not too exciting that I didn't vary much from the example colors, but no other combination was as pleasing to me. I cast on yesterday, and it wasn't until that moment that I actually realized the colorwork is NOT intarsia, but duplicate stitch. I'm gonna give it a try - cross your fingers for me that it will work out...

recent knitting

I've been enticed by many projects lately, and have casted on accordingly. But I have little progress to report, so I'm afraid my next few posts might be quite boring.

But before I get to all that stuff, let me show you the Blanket! The gals at KAH got together to knit our friend Destiny this baby blanket. We each bought a Roo pattern for the animal motifs - Jill sewed it together, Shannon crocheted the borders, and voila! We are giving all the patterns we bought to Destiny.

My square was the fish in the upper left corner, or below:

We knit it out of Cascade Cotton Rich. It was a lot of fun collaborating on a project like that, and I think Mr. Landon is enjoying it immensely.

On to my knitting - my first "new" project: Friday Harbor Socks.

I have to say -the cuff chart on these bad boys does NOT work correctly. I adjusted it to make it look like the picture in the book Knitting on the Road (Nancy Bush). The interesting thing is - my Sockapalooza pal made me these socks and she clearly had the same problem -except she didn't correct her work to reflect the picture. Her cuffs came out totally different, and that is precisely what I liked so much about this pattern! So it's too late now for me, I'm not ripping it out, but they will be just fine. I'm knitting these out of Tess Designer Yarns Sock & Baby, brought to me by Julia and Nichole after their knitting/yoga retreat in Maine last Fall.

More boring stuff, and then I'm outta here. Remember this? Well, it's been sitting in my closet for one year now, so I thought I'd knit a bit more. Guess what? Hours of stockinette in the round later, and it's still a brown blob!

(It's the Phyllo-Yoked Pullover from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan, knit in Rowan Calmer) Check back next April for the next status update.

That's all for now, folks. 

koiguliscious

I finished up a nice pair of Spring-y Koigu socks last week. These were replacements for the pair that wore out a month or so ago, and I love them! I did something a little different this time and double-stitched over the entire bottom of the heel. (I know - this would have been more easily accomplished if I had just doubled my yarn at that point - didn't think of it.)

As you can see, taking a picture of socks-on-the-feet is no easy feat (hah!) with a Malsy in tow.

For this pair I also did an 8 row garter cuff (out of sheer laziness) instead of the traditional ribbed cuff. I actually like it a lot. It stays up no problem and is very comfortable!

more cashmere!

Way back, after Christmas, I decided to knit another pair of these  - this time for me. It was the whole new-red-coat-need-new-accessories thing.  Well, I got started, did about half of one, and set them down. For many months.

Desperately needing my size 6 needles and feeling bewildered by where-on-earth they could have disappeared to, I unearthed the forgotten cashmere wrist warmers. Instead of putting them on hold to get at the needles, I made myself finish them! My entire "letter from sarah" in the recent newsletter (see sidebar) was about finishing up those long-forgotten UFOs, so I figured I better heed my own advice. They went so quickly it was absurd that they had sat for so long.

I was just sure that I had finished them just in time for the sun to shine and Spring to have sprung, but lo and behold we woke up to snow on the surrounding hills this morning - go figure. They are modified-to-have-thumbs wrist warmers from LMKG, knit with one skein of Artyarns Cashmere 5 in black.

In other exciting news, my good friend and employee Destiny had her baby boy last week! Since I can't show you the other things I knit her yet (shower won't be for about a month), I will show you the teeniest, tiniest little socks I gave her. I had a miniscule ball of STR leftover from these, and thought I'd give it a go at making true newborn sized socks. I cast on 20 sts on size 1 needles and made these little fellas.

I should have taken that picture with something in there for scale - - they're really small. They were delivered to her at the hospital the day she went home, and she reports that they fit right now, but probably not for more than a week! :) 

lambswool & cashmere cardy

The cardigan has been done for a couple weeks now, but we at Casa de Keller got knocked down by the nasty cold crap that's floating around here, so I've been delinquent in posting.

• Shaped V-Neck Neckdown Cardigan, by Knitting Pure & Simple
• 8 skeins Simply Shetland Lambswool & Cashmere, color Rembrandt #994
• size 4,00mm needles (US6)
• size: finished chest 36"

I had to heavily modify the sleeves on this one. They decreases on the sleeves were written to happen very quickly, and went all the way down to 40-some stitches - right at the biggest part of my not-so-little upperarm. Silly me, I had my doubts and just ploughed ahead anyway. Then, when I tried on the one finished sleeve for the gals, it was clear that the sleeve had to come out. Riiiiiiipppppp. I re-did the sleeves, spacing out the decreases more, and stopping with a whopping 70 stitches around. I did 3 pairs of increases toward the bottom to maintain the same bell sleeve written into the pattern.

Apart from the sleeve weirdness this was a great knit - and one of my favorite finished sweaters, ever! I have discovered that raglan style shoulder shaping fits me SO much better than most set-in sleeves, which are often too tight. I know I can adjust those, but it's a lot of work to re-shape a sleeve cap!

I also really, really love this yarn. It is so soft and light-feeling and after washing it...oy. It truly is lovely. I would do another sweater out of this yarn in a heartbeat.

I don't know why this particular project took me so long, except that it might have had a bit of baggage floating along with it. If you remember, it started out as this last summer, only to be frogged and reincarnated in its current state. So for some reason it was a straggler, but now that it's finally finished I love it!

Ooh, slippery watermelon!

Hey there folks.

Still can't show you my latest project, so here are a couple other random knitting tidbits.

I finished my STR socks in Watermelon Tourmaline. I did my slip-stitch pattern on the leg and instep, and they are fun and spring-y. :)

This is the second time I've used the slip-stitch pattern to break up the colors in STR yarns, and I like the effect. I knit this on size 3,0mm (US 2.5) circulars.

Then I cast on this lovely bit of Koigu

for another pair of socks. For this pair I'm trying an 8 row garter cuff instead of a ribbed cuff, just for shits and giggles. I'll let you know how they turn out.

I also finished another afghan square:

I'm teaching the class and I'm 2 squares behind - go figure. This one brings me to 7 or 8 - I can't remember right now.

I'll try to get some update pics on my Top-Down V-neck cardigan  - progress is slow. It's even slower when I rip out one entire sleeve for a do-over. More on that later . . . 

dem peanuts dun been salted!

Salt Peanuts is done!

• Salt Peanuts, by Veronik Avery, from Best of Interweave Knits or free on Knitting Daily (the book has an error not found in the original magazine publication - see interweave)
• 5 skeins Malabrigo Merino Worsted #502, American Beauty
• size 5,5mm needles (US9)
• (picture here with a lovely Maruca bag)

Modifications? Very few. I changed the yarnover short rows around the collar to W&Ts because the yarnovers did not line up well with the collar pattern stitch, which also had yarnovers. There was some confusion in the way the collar directions are written, but I wrote it out for myself row by row to make sure nothing was missed and all went well.

I am a little frustrated by the collar not staying folded over and am still thinking about tacking it down in places. The yarn is so, so yummy soft - still my favorite, I have to say. I know that is no surprise, but it's nice to be re-affirmed every now and then! Overall, a quick and satisfying knit!

it's all about the socks

I have f i n a l l y finished Jason's Christmas socks, and just in the nick of time.

• Toe-up man socks
• size US 3 (3,25mm) needles
• Fiber Denn Zebrato II, colorway Beach Junior

I say just in time because this happened to me this weekend - and not once, but TWICE:

This is my favorite pair of Koigu socks, knit in the summer of 06. And let me tell you, I have worn these puppies to death. And machine washed and dried them for almost two years. Really, I can't believe they lasted as long as they did. But - in the same weekend that these wore out, so did these. The second pair is LavenderSheep sock yarn, and I've only been wearing those since last May. They too have been put through the ringer, and have been in my favorites rotation the whole time I've had them, so it's no surprise. I can't believe that for the two years I've been wearing handknit socks almost exclusively, this is the first time I've worn a pair (or two, rather) through. Pretty good, wouldn't you say?

Now, I have leftover yarn from both of those projects, but I tell ya, I'm just not interested in darning any socks! I would MUCH rather just cast on a new pair. And boy does momma need a new pair of socks! Or three. God knows I have enough stash for it! To begin the fun I cast on these, in my Slip-Stitch pattern:

This is STR Lightweight in Watermelon Tourmaline, and my mom gave it to me for Mother's Day last year. I finished the first, cast on the second and worked for an inch, and then started these:

I dyed this yarn last summer during one of our Dye Nights. It's the Kraemer Sterling Sock yarn - merino, silk, nylon, and 2% spun sterling silver (which is hard to capture in photos)! I dyed it up in a purple/brown combo, and I really like how it's knitting up! It will be interesting to see how it wears. . . 

An FO revisited

Happy day! I can wear one of my first handknit sweaters again! (I mean I can fit into it again.) I decided it needs another post, because I just love it so much.

This is the Medallion Cardigan from Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop book. I knit mine out of a yarn we used to carry at the store, Lana Grossa New Cotton. I can not tell you enough about how much I love this yarn! I wish we still had it, but I could not get that cotton to sell to save my life. It's a cotton/microfiber blend and knits up amazingly well, and is SO extremely comfy to wear. Love it love it love it.

I made a mistake on the back that resulted in me starting the medallion opening about two inches lower than it should have been, but it doesn't really bother me much. It was my 4th or 5th sweater, and I was just proud of myself for completing it.

• Pattern: Medallion Cardigan from Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham
• Needles: size 4,5mm (US7)
• Yarn: Lana Grossa New Cotton (60 cotton, 40 microfiber; 154 yds/50g) - I think 7-8 balls, color navy.

Look Ma, MORE crochet!

Hot on the heels of completing my first crocheted hat, I had to do some more. I did Shannon's pattern again (without the scalloped border), increasing more so it would be bigger, and it came out perfect for Jason (I actually like the looser fit for me as well).

• Yarn: 1.1 balls Nashua Wooly Stripes in color Fiesta
• Hook: size H (5,0mm)
• Pattern: Shannon's (our crochet instructor)

After that was done, I went browsing on Ravelry for crocheted hat patterns, and came across Cranium. Next thing you know:

• Yarn: 1 ball Yarns Northwest Merino Silk in red, scraps of Cascade 220 in black for last 3 rounds.
• Hook: size H (5,0mm)
• Pattern: Cranium, by Chloe Nightingale
• Mods: I had to do 3 extra rounds on the bottom to make it long enough - seems to be a bit of a consensus on Ravelry by those who've done it that it needs a bit extra length for the average women's head.

I think this completes my hat crocheting period. We'll see what comes next...

A long overdue status update...

I've had so many projects on the sticks for so long it's getting sad. Some (Mallory's Christmas Stocking) have been abandoned for now. Others (Top-Down Cardigan) have been recently resurrected and some marginal progress has been made. I thought if I captured some update photos of the projects they would somehow seem more appealing, and I would therefore work on them again.

Here we have the Top Down Cardigan I am working on in Simply Shetland Lambswool & Cashmere. You may remember that this yarn first started out as this sweater, only to be frogged after completing the back and sleeves. I like this MUCH better, but it just seems to be slow going with all that stockinette in DK weight yarn. But it's my bedside project currently, and I try to get a few rows in every evening.

These are Jason's Christmas presents - I know - big Lame-O wife here. These are out of Fiber Denn Zebrato Stripe using my Toe-Up Slip-Stitch Heel Flap sock formula, and the dreaded Second Sock is stalled at the heel.

And in the sock department I also have the Rainbow Socks (pictured on sock blockers by Leggy Creations). I love these, but I need focused, thinking knitting time to work on these and that seems to be non-existent these days. Of course, since starting this pair we have since got in Shibui Sock in Spectrum and Black, and I already want to do another more rainbow-y pair in those two colors....

Last, but of course not least, is my Malabrigo Salt Peanuts. I've been working on this the most, and have the back and sleeves done. I plan to do the fronts at the same time, so hopefully next post with Salt Peanuts will be an FO or at least a blocking shot!

Stay tuned for more on my latest obsession - crochet!