Getting Ready for a Big Change

Yeah me!!  I'm so pleased and proud to announce that I have found a challenging new job as a technical writer for a software company.  I'm really excited and therefore very glad that I start Monday.  I can't wait to dig in to it.

But I had just one little problem in my way.  As some of you may remember, my car was wrecked in a crash in September and I chose to ride the bus rather than replace it.  This works fine for London, but my new job is in Waterloo!  And while we may choose to move at a later date if everything works out, I'm going to have to commute in the mean time. 

So, Jim and I went car shopping and now I have this, a 2009 Dodge Avenger:

I'm so happy!!  So if you don't hear much from me over the next little while, its because I'm either on the road or brain deep in learning new tech stuff.  Wish me luck!!

A Sheep, Some Socks and a Sweater

Introducing my newest pal, Paavo!

Ain't he sweet?  I've had the pattern for the Estonian hand puppet in my queue for such a long time, I'm so glad I finally picked up the needles to make it. 

I added a braid to the cuff and followed the pictures to give my sheep a dark face as I see on so many breeds of sheep.

Come on, there's a family resemblance.  I'm sure you can see it.

I chose the name Paavo because it means small and humble, but I think my sheep has a mischiveous side.  His smile is lopsided and he has a twinkle in his eye.

 

I've also been working on another pair of Skews.  Those who know me realize that this is a rare sight, as I'm a die-hard DPN knitter:

Skew is well suited to the technique of working two socks on one circular because of how the heels are shaped.  The pattern just increases up until the moment of grafting, which means I won't have to stop to work each heel separately.

But look at the color on these socks.  If you didn't know I was knitting both ends of the same ball of yarn, you would hardly think it's the same yarn.  Color isn't everything though.  The yarn is working up into a nice fabric and the toe of the sock goes into your shoe anyway.  The yarn seems to be darkening up as I progress.

My last yoked sweater project was finished weeks ago, but it was a disappointment because it was too tight for Jim.  It looked just silly on him. So I searched around for another person it would fit and didn't have far to look.  One of Luke's freinds was quite happy to accept a lovely warm sweater in exchange for her picture being posted to this blog:

 It looks fabulous on her! 

I'm not done with top down yoked sweaters yet though.  I've found the next pattern I want to work: Folklore.  I've bought the pattern and now must consider yarn choices and mathematics for up-sizing it.  What a fun task for a Sunday afternoon! 

Good luck to all you Olympic knitters as you approach your final laps.  I hope your can hold your needles high in triumph as the flame is extinguished tonight.  Paavo and I will be cheering from the sides (and maybe singing O Canada).

It's Sock Time Again!

Hey kiddies!  Do you know what time it is?

That's right, it's sock time again!!

Seriously, it's always sock time around here.  Socks are the most appreciated knits of all time.  And the most worn, and therefore the most worn out.  I've had to pitch a pair this week and have two more pair that are vainly holding on through threadbare nylon.  Jim has also had the treads in his threads wear away. 

Here's a pair for my mother-in-law's birthday:

 

Lorna's laces, colorway unknown, 2.25mm.  Plain and simple is how she likes it best.  These socks were well received at a small birthday gathering I gave on Sunday accompanied by a prime rib roast dinner, and chocolate birthday cake.  If I love you, or even like you a whole lot, I will most likely try to feed you and possible try to clothe you in hand knit woolens. 

Have you seen the hottest new sock pattern?  It's Skew! 

Everybody is knitting this pattern.  Well, at least it's at the top of the pattern list on Ravelry.  Probably because of it's clever geometric shaping that makes working the heel as fun as reading a mystery novel.  And the toes are anatomically correct, however not photogenic.

These were knit with Fleece Artist's Nyoni, colorway Wicked, on 2.5mm needles.  I used DPNs even though the pattern doesn't recommend them because of the need to continually shuffle the stitches around. It can be done; I managed just fine.

I found the fit to be awkward around the ankle for my big feet, even though I tried to size the pattern up by using a bigger needle size with a heavier fingering weight yarn.  The designer does have a larger size prototype with notes on her blog.  I'm seriously considering making another pair.  Perhaps two on one circular...

In other news, I've started up a wiki for the Forest City Knitters. Go check it out!

A Bright Spot on the Net

I've finished a sweater, wiped out at the Knitting Olympics, and celebrated three holidays in one weekend.  All that and no blog post.  But this incredible art has inspired me to pound the keys and share the linkage.

 

Isn't he the greatest?!  He's a Rainbow Toe Sock Goblin by Kasey Sorsby.  You can see more of her creations on Ravelry, her blog, or purchase them from her Etsy store, TangleWood. 

Fashion Report

Fresh from the runways of London (Ontario), this blog's favourite male model is sporting the year's hottest new fashion trend, the man-shrug:

 

  

  

What?  You don't think it will take off?

This is my Saturday Morning

 

Being home from work means not having to rush out Saturday morning to grocery shop.  I'm surprised I'm not doing more knitting, but I'm so busy during the day, I don't seem to find the time.  I spend the entire morning on job hunt activities, the afternoon cleaning, walking the dog and playing video games and the evening is for knitting.  My kids got me started playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  Good escapist fun!

I played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time way back when I was a games developer and just loved it.  So much so, I played it through twice, or was that three times?  Twilight Princess gives me more of what I loved about the Ocarina.  It's like coming back to a good book. (Just for the record Wind Waker was okay, but Majora's Mask was too confusing. Neither were as memorable as Ocarina.)

Last weekend I'd finished up the yoke of the stained glass pullover and tried it on.  It was too big.  I should have paid more attention to the initial planning of the project instead of rushing in.  Oh well.  Nothing a ball winder can't undo.  This week I've been working on Jim's yoked pullover and I'm now on the second sleeve.   Slow progress.... 

Once two sleeves are done I'll do the neck band and we'll have another fitting. I'm pretty sure I'm going to run out of the main blue color so there will likely be some creative substitution going on.

Sock Stuff

As I mentioned in my last post, there has been sock activity going on here too.  A pair of socks for Luke, knit from Fleece Artist Nyoni:

Of course, the picture doesn't do them justice.  The yarn is just gorgeous, the colours subtle and there was way more in the skein than I thought. The pattern is Nancy Bush's Madder Ribbed Sock, and I worked it as written, with an 8 inch leg.  The foot fits a men's size nine and yet there was a generous portion of yarn left over, shown below with the sock for scale.

Before Christmas I'd found the Nyoni yarn on sale for just $12 a skein.  I'm so glad I stocked up then, because now I've got a lovely stash of the stuff.

The other thing I did was dye up some yarn.  Jackie at the Forest City Knit Club volunteered to take 10 skeins of my white Paton's Kroy and knit it up into sock blanks.  (In return, I owe her an unknown favour, which would feel like a dangerous carte blanche except Jackie is so nice.) I wanted to experiment with gradual color changes, so I decided monochrome colors was the way to go.  Here's the results:

Again with the crappy pictures, but what can you expect in January?  I'm satisfied with the result, but I think the purple would have been better with a longer gradation of color.

Unrelated to socks, I was sitting in a job seminar today about networking and through the glass door of the meeting room I spotted a woman come into the Coffee Office wearing a brightly colored Koigu sweater made of many blocks of mitered squares, framed in a brilliant turquoise blue.  What a lovely breath of life in January! 

Betcha can't have just one!

I love my yoked pullover so much, I've accidentally started two more.  First I started one for Jim using another Drops pattern and some Elsbeth Lavold Classic picked up a while back.  But both Jim and I didn't like the placement of the colors so it had to be ripped. 

There's not enough contrast and Jim felt that one of the blues was too bright.  Ripping was no problem though because this yarn is lovely to work with and held up well.  Here's attempt number two and the colors are just right.

From here on, the light blue is the main color, knit in plain stockinette, so it was time for Jim to try it on.  But the results were disappointing.  It seemed tight at the shoulders and loose at the neck.  I was so frustrated.  So I put it aside, finished a pair of socks, dyed some yarn, and started another yoked pullover, this time for me.

Since the first one was so great, I decided to make the same pattern again, but it had to be different some how.  So I'm using sock yarn, with a bright colored yoke (Trekking XXL) and dark body and sleeves. Also,  I'll make it a cardigan so there will be a blue button band and collar.  In hindsight I think I was inspired by the tin I use to hold my knitting bits and bobs. 

It makes me happy. Before blogging, I got Jim to try on his yoke again so I could take a picture and ask for advice, but you know, it doesn't look so bad anymore.

Looks like I've got two sweaters to woo me. I wonder which will win?

Good News, Bad News

When there's good news and bad news I like to give the bad news first and follow up with the good news.  It's like taking a nasty medicine and following that up with a spoonful of sugar, letting the sweet taste minimize the bad taste in your mouth.

Well, this week I got some pretty bad news.  I was let go from my job as a technical writer as part of a cost reduction in the company.  I've been with the same company for close to seven years and I'm going to miss all the great people I worked with.  On the positive side, I received a good severance package that includes outplacement counseling and I'll be starting that on Monday.  I've decided to treat this as an opportunity and so I'm looking forward to the counseling as an opportunity to re-evaluate my career. 

Now, for the good news.  I finished my yoked pullover and I love it!

Now doesn't that put a smile on your face?

Navel Gazing

In 2009 I knit this much:

3 sweaters
1 vest
3 hats
2 shawls
3 scarves
4 pairs of gloves
3 pairs of felted clogs
2 blankets
8 socks

Which is down from 2007,  when I knit this much:

9 sweaters
8 hats
3 pairs mittens
2 pairs felted clogs
2 scarves
2 dish rags
2 small bags
2 shawls
18 pairs of socks

Playing video games and walking the dog accounts for the bulk of the change.  But I also think I'm a more adventurous knitter than I was before.  Which means there is more ripping going on, and more projects half-started and then abandoned.  I'm satisfied with the trade off. 

Last year, I'd made a resolution that 2009 was going to be the year Jim and I cleared out the debt in our power line-of-credit.  But early in the year, work dried up for Jim and it looked like we weren't going to meet that goal.  However, when my car was wrecked we made the decision to pay of the debt with the insurance pay out and now I'm taking the bus.  I didn't expect to meet my goal with such a drastic measure.

So, no resolutions this year.  Seems a safer bet.  Instead, I've got intentions.  I intend to take the bus the rest of this year so that we can increase our savings and fix our house up.  In addition, I'm predicting that automotive technology will be seeing a major revolution over the next few years.  It feels like saving up to buy a car would be a smarter idea than going into debt to buy one that may shortly be obsolete. I'm not an early adopter.  I want the kinks worked out before I spend my cash.

Other intentions for this year include not buying yarn on sale. Yes, I'll buy yarn. But I think I want to buy for specific projects as I'm ready to knit them, instead of buying for the stash.  The stash has enough yarn.  No, I don't believe that the stash is alive and will punish me for not feeding it.  It's a charming image and helps alleviate guilt, but as I told my bicycle when I was first learning to ride it at the age of seven, "I'm the boss of this ride!" 

Finally, my personal growth goal is to try to be more compassionate to people that annoy me.  I believe I'm already a very compassionate person, but I've realized that I'm choosy with my compassion.  I give it where it's easy to give. It's a lot harder to be compassionate to someone who has annoyed you, or is mean, or is very close to you.  I'm not compassionate enough with my own family, including myself.  Trying to have more compassion is part of learning that it is not all about me, a lesson I believe we all have to learn over and over again starting from birth.

The yoked sweater proceeds well, and I'm currently knitting the ribbing.  It's nasty.  Well over 400 stitches on 2.5mm needles and I want to get about 5 inches done.  It seems impossible, especially since the knitting is so snug on the needles it hurts my hands.  I'm glad this is at the end of the sweater, because were it at the beginning I'm sure I would abandon this project as not working out.

Worse is yet to come.  When I finish the tortuous ribbing, I intend to use a sewn tubular bind off to finish it.  That's how I did the neck and cuffs, so I want the bottom to match.  I just know it's going to take for ever, require many splices and drive me loony.  But I'm going to do it anyway.  How's that for a great start to my intentions?  Not very compassionate of me to force myself to finish the sweater like this...  But it's the right thing to do, I'm sure of it.

Ringing in the New Year

My ears are still ringing at least.  Five of Luke's friends came over to our house for a New Year's Eve party.  It was about as loud as I expected but they didn't eat as much as I expected.  I had made mounds of food and now have half a mound of leftovers.  For one thing, I made a double loaf of garlic bread from scratch.  While it looks pretty, it wasn't edible.  I didn't cook it long enough and the center was doughy and raw.  Oh well, I'll know better next time.

But fun?  Oh man! These were great kids, very open, funny and with a lot of heart.  I can't imagine a better way to welcome 2010.

Thank you for all the well wishes regarding my illness.  It wasn't too bad and it did encourage me to rest and take it easy.  I got quite a bit of knitting done and here it is.

The pattern is a free one from Drops Designs, but I modified it to work it from the top down.  I started with a cabled cast on, and worked the yoke essentially as written, except upside down which means reading the pattern backwards.  Sounds confusing, but it wasn't so bad.

The benefit of top down is trying it on and I have, several times, which resulted in some ripping.  I required more stitches cast on under the arm for the sleeves and a different rate of decrease in the sleeves.  But it's all good because the sleeves are now exactly right for me and my shape. 

After the sleeves, I tackled the neckband which took two tries.  The first time I picked up stitches, I did so right in the cabled cast on which left holes. I kept knitting thinking the ribbing would pull it in.  I kept knitting in spite of the little voice that told me it was not good enough.  I was almost finished the ribbing before I finally listened and ripped it back to start over.  I'm glad I did because now I'm in love with the finished result.

You can't tell from looking at it that the knitting is going in opposite directions, can you?

Moving on to the body of the sweater, I started with a set of 12 (or more) short rows to allow for my bust.  Now I'm working plain stockinette for a good long while.  Working fingering weight yarn on 3.25mm needles is not a speedy process.  It's great movie knitting though.

I hope your New Year is filled with a happy noise and lots of beautiful knitting too.

Merry *sniff* Christmas

The Christmas knitting is all done, the baking is tucked safely away, the fridge and pantry groan with abundance and our little tree shelters a select trove of presents.  But one extra gift has come to me in the form of a nasty head cold. 

It arrived yesterday, on the first day of my holiday, and seems firmly entrenched on my head this Christmas Eve day.  There'll be no family celebration for me tonight as a head cold is not the sort of thing I want to re-gift.

I hope you and yours are healthy, warm, safe and happy this Christmas.  And that you have no head-colds. 

Christmas Crazies

Christmas is crazy making time.  There's just too much of it.  Too much to do, too many "shoulds", and too little light to keep me energized.  I've tried to pare away the shoulds but it's a constant struggle to keep them from creeping back in. 

This week I stressed myself making sure my Christmas knitting got done.  First up, I bit the bullet, bought the yarn and finished off the fingerless gloves, Susie's Reading Mitts.

I bought two balls  of the Rowan Kid Classic so I can use the extra yarn to make myself a pair of mittens to match my lovely hat.  One ball would have put me right back where I was with regards to stash busting.  That's a good justification, I think...

Then came a pair of socks, which were so much fun to knit as the yarn is Fleece Artist merino. 

I love these socks.  The color is like a juicy fruit (too bad my poor photography doesn't do it justice) and I'm very pleased with the design I threw together.  All the elements flow nicely one into the other. 

Finally, I just finished these gloves today.

They are for my grandmother who had a very specific requests.  Her eyesight is poor, so they couldn't have any busy patterns.   Most gloves such as Selbu ones put a snowflake on the back of the hand and then some small pattern on the palm.  They also generally include patterning up the fingers.  None of that would work for grandma though, so my solution was to keep the same design on the front and back of the gloves.  This also means that each glove can be worn on either hand.  This could ultimately save wear and tear on the gloves.

 

It's a lot of fun to just plug and play with different design elements to come up with something unique.  The cuff is from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Eastonia, the blue wrist pattern is an old fair isle one that I pulled from somewhere, and the snowflake is from the Selbuvotter book.

Personally, these gloves are too sweet for my tastes.  They look like grandma gloves, but that's a good thing since that's who their for!  Another instance of the best gift knitting is happens when we don't suit ourselves.

So that was it for the original gift knitting list and I'm done two weeks before Christmas.  Hooray for me!  And what will I do with that extra time you ask?

I started another pair of fingerless gloves as a stocking stuffer for Luke of course!  Bring on the Christmas crazies!

A Good Gift

The best Christmas knitting happens when you put aside your own preferences and instead consider the preferences of the recipient.  This past week I've been knitting for a co-worker, an older gentleman who has taught me a lot and who will soon be leaving our company.  His style is old-school British and that means plain knitting folks. 

I searched the net for just the right pattern and ended making these up as I went.  I'm very pleased with the outcome,  other than the deadly boring nature of the knit. They fit my hands, Jim's hands and both boys too.  They took less than a 50g of sock yarn and less than a week to make. 

The little tweaks I put in these gloves make them special I think. Like extra stitches picked up, then decreased away to prevent holes at the join of the fingers.  There's a non-curling edge to the fingers.  There's also extra rows in the hand to raise up the first three fingers higher than the pinkie, but all fingers finish at the same level. 

As I was finishing up the second one, I thought I should write down what I did.  Luke has requested a pair and I think I'd like to make some for myself, too.  So I did and I'm offering it as a free Ravelry download. Of course, you get what you pay for and the pattern has not been test knit nor edited by anyone but me.  But I hope someone may find it of use.  I know, I plan on using the pattern again.


Absolutely Plain Fingerless Gloves: download now

Sending out an S.O.S

Isn't it a bummer when you run out of yarn so close to the end of a project?  And this was supposed to be a stash-buster Xmas gift.  There's no way I want to buy a whole 'nother skein of this yarn at $12 a ball.

Does anyone have a few yards of Rowan Kid Classic in Burgundy kicking around in the stash?  If not, I can go to my LYS and buy some more, but then I'd have to bust that out of my stash.  I'd much prefer to reduce someone else's stash. So please, search your stash, or ask a friend.  You'll have my gratitude and what every compensation you deem reasonable.

Lying to Myself

Back in October I bragged that this year I wasn't going to do any Christmas knitting.  I lied. 

At first, it was just a case of finding items knit earlier in the year that would be good gifts for loved ones.  Then I realized I HAD to knit a pair of socks for my mother-in-law as a gift.  Every year, I give her a pair for Christmas, her birthday and mother's day.  After that, I dunno, things got a little out of hand.  My current knit-gift list includes:

• a vest
  
• slippers
• 3 pairs of socks
• 2 pairs of fingerless gloves

Of course, this is still subject to change depending on my mood, my stash and how the knits turn out.  And honestly , most of those knits are done.  All that's left is the gloves and a pair of socks.  I've already shown you the vest and slippers.  And today, here are two pair of finished socks.

Pattern: my own, 72 sts

Yarn: Wild Fire Fibres BFL sock

Needles: 2mm

Pattern: New England from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Paton's Kroy
Needles: 2.25mm

These socks have been on the needles for a while.  What's really been going on the last week is this:

Pattern: Druid Mittens, from Vogue Fall 2008
Yarn: Socks that Rock, Mustang Sally
Needles: 2.75mm

The back of the hand is quite pretty but you may have noticed that the thumb isn't complete.  That's because this mitten is sitting on the edge of the frog pond, preparing for a rip.  And the reason is this:

It's too short, the palm is shorter than the back of the hand, the top of the mitten is awkward and the whole thing sits on my hand crooked!  Frustrated much?  You bet!  I don't think I could wear these mittens day after day and be happy with them. 

It doesn't do to lie to oneself. 

Styling It

I bought myself a new jacket to wear on the bus, rather than wait for the long process of knitting myself one. Of course, a new jacket inspired me to knit some accessories for it.

The knitting in yesterday's post was my new hat. Isn't it cute?

The pattern is Rose Red by Ysolda Teague. The pattern was a joy to knit, with clear instructions and fun milestones to keep you knitting, such as watching the flower on the crown emerge or switching from lace to cables.

After it came off the needles I tried it on and it did not look good. Sort of like a puffy beanie. I have a theory that girls with straight hair can wear snug beanies and girls with curly hair should wear slouchy, draping hats. A full immersion and a day spent stretched over a dinner plate resulted in the hat of my dreams.

It's worked in Rowan's Kid Classic, which I bought especially for my hat. I wanted something that would go along with the scarf I had knit earlier. I like how the two go along with out being an exact match. Kid Classic was beautiful to work with, stood up well under extreme blocking duress, and has a lovely bit of a halo from the mohair. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.

Now I need some mittens.

Foodie

This must be a quick blog post. My weekend has been incredibly busy and I don't know where the time has gone. Here's a couple snapshots though.

Alex took this picture of my supper one week night.

Grab a bite!

However busy life gets, there's always room for knitting. In this case, a hat to go with my new coat. I can hardly wait for it to dry to see if it fits and looks nice. You can just never tell with hats.

Still Life - Fruit with Knitting

I hope you weren't too hungry before you stopped by my blog.

'Tis the Season to Accessorize!

Since I last showed you knitwear, I was off work sick and we had some horrible weather which got me to thinking in terms of keeping the cold out. To that end, I present a parade of warm accessories.

First up, Canadian gloves. A variation on Nancy Bush's Canada socks from Knitting on the Road.
Jim and I are both very happy with these. The Kroy knit up very dense on 2mm needles. I had only one ball of the main color and ran out with the second thumb still to knit. I popped into Michaels with the glove in my pocket and easily matched the color with a new ball of Kroy. I love the color so I bought two. So much for de-stashing!

As an aside, walking through Michaels at this time of year, the aisles are just filled with clutter and kitsch. It made me really happy to be a knitter, creating beautiful and practical things.

Then I decided that Luke needed a nice warm hat for the 20 minute walk to school. In an effort to give him something practical and stylish, I decided to make up Struan.


It came out great and was a lot of fun to work. But Luke doesn't like the peak. He can feel it pressing in to his forehead. It does press in, but very slightly. However, Luke is sensitive and it doesn't do to argue with him. So, I knit him another hat.

This one he likes! No pattern, really. Just 2x2 rib until it was almost 11 inches, then decrease it all away.

There is over two balls of yarn in this hat. I almost always make my hats too shallow and I really wanted him to have a cuff deep enough to cover his ears. This one is almost too deep. But no matter. He likes it well enough that he was wearing it around the house all morning.

The yarn is the same as for Struan, which is a 70/30 alpaca/wool blend that is soft, squish and warm. I plan to knit him a dense pair of mittens and a loose and squishy scarf to go with his new hat. Then I know he'll be toasty and warm all winter on the way to school.

Speaking of squishy, while I was sick, my knitting brain took a holiday and I made myself some garter comfort.

For a novelty yarn, this one was a winner. It's actually got some merino wool in the blend and I love the little bit of gold sparkle in it. It whispers Christmas at me.

I knit it loosely so that it's huggable and squishy. I just love it! I bought three skeins of the yarn at the Needle Emporium's tent sale for a dollar a ball. It would make a great Christmas gift, if I can bear to give it up.

I have great plans for more accessories for family and maybe a few for Christmas, but there's also a sweater in the wings that I'm eager to get at. This time of year is great for knitters. We are so appreciated!!

A Happy Halloween

It was a great Halloween here last night. Alex and his friends were mages: water, earth and fire.

The water mage's grandmother put these costumes together starting Friday night when the boys announced that the party they were going to was canceled and they wanted to go trick or treating. She used bedsheets and ingenuity! In return, we had the group for a hearty chili supper before they hit the streets.

This was probably the last time any of our boys will be making the rounds of the neighborhood, so I'm very glad Alex had such a great time with his friends.