The Plan Changes

Well shooot...I was all set for the cast on date of July 12th of the Central Park Hoodie KAL with the Mosaic Maniacs. That is until I swatched the Queensland Kathmandu DK Tweed in Dark Chocolate which I was intending to use. I must admit that the yarn just isn't going to work for this project. When I knitted the swatch I started off with a US7 and a cast on of 45 stitiches. After knitting a few inches I counted the number of stitches I was getting which turned out to be 19 sts/4". Since that wasn't close to the required gauge of 17 sts/4" I moved up a size to US8's. I also added a set of cables from the pattern chart as I knit the swatch to see how the yarn would look when cabled.

My swatch ended up being fairly large at about 9", but I really wanted to see how the DK would do since it is more light weight than the yarn mentioned in the pattern. The pattern called for a gauge of 17 stitches per 4 inches on US8's....this worked out to be 4 1/2 stitches per inch. Unfortunately the Dk Tweed recommends using US6 needles and works up at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch. I had hoped that by going up a needle size or two it would be okay since I really wanted a light weight sweater, but after washing & blocking my swatch it became clear that this yarn would not do justice to the sweater. I was able to get 17-18 sts/4" and 26 rows, but not pleased with the feel of the fabric...it's too "flimsy". Since there is so much cabling in the CPH...arms, fronts, and back....I'm afraid that the DK Tweed just wouldn't hold up & the stitch definition would not be clear enough. I do love how this feels as you knit it...so soft against the skin. I have a plan for the Kathmandu DK Tweed just not going to be used for the CPH project.

So the search is on for alternative...I could bite the bullet and go ahead and get the Queensland Kathmandu Aran. I know this one will work and actually tried on a finished CPH at Purl Jam last week. N had knitted up a beauty out of the green colorway in the Aran weight... wonderful nice feel to the sweater. My other choices include Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted (4 1/2 sts/inch on US8), Louet's Riverstone (4-5sts/inch on US7), Classic Elite Waterlily (4 1/2 sts/inch on US8) and last the Jo Sharp SilkRoad Aran Tweed (4 1/2 sts/inch on US8) which is basically the same as the Kathmandu Aran. I don't have enough of anything in the stash to use so a shopping trip is going to be necessary...the Lamb's Pride is by far the cheapest way to go and I do enjoy knitting it. I even have a skein in the stash of Wild Oak and Roasted Coffee that I can try out a swatch from before plunking down some cash.

Also in the stash I have 12 balls of the Waterlily that I was planning to use for my Nicole Jacket by Jane Ellison. I need a total of 16 to 17 balls for the Central Park so I need to find 4 more to go with what I have...a difficult proposition since I bought this yarn at least 2 years ago so the dye lot is long gone. I may check it out and see how close the colors match. I can try knitting with different lots if I alternate the balls, but first must see how close in color they appear. The yarn does have light & dark shading...looks like it's been handpainted so you may be able to get away with different lots.

The plans are forever changing...now I''ve changed the plan for the Nichole Jacket...it is destined to be knit out of the Kathmandu DK Tweed. Which happens to be exactly the yarn called for in the pattern so the change in plans works out in the end.

Last Day Knitting

Wow the weekend flew right on by didn't it? With all the evening activities I've kind of found myself missing my knitting alone time. Weird but true...the knitting weekend really did not have huge blocks of knitting time. More sample style or should I say swatch style? I tried to knit after getting back to T's place each night...the last night I did just that until 1:oo AM. It felt nice to sit & knit in the quiet apartment after the day's classes.

Sunday's event was a Tips & Tricks class with Annie Modesitt. She gave her long tail cast on tip that she shared in the Color class on Friday...pretty cool method of never running out yarn no matter how many stitches are called for. All you do is pull yarn from both the center and outside of the ball, take the 2 ends & make a slip knot, place knot on one of your needles, start long tail cast on, once the required number of stitches are cast on decide which of the 2 ends will become the working yarn...think center...and then cut off the tail. What a good idea.

She went over blocking...the how's & why's...then the most fun ever, dreadlocks! I loved the technique. Thinking about all the applications for this little "fringing" technique just excites the devil out of me. For one I hate to add fringe to wraps, scarves, hats, bags...you name it and I will think of a way not to put it on. Now the dreadlocks...so cool...fun to do and I know they would add a certain something to an edge which would look so much nicer than it does with fringe. Cannot wait until I'm doing S's scarf 'cause these are going to be on there somewhere.

The other technique that I have never done was a 5 stitch bobble. I have avoided those like the plague in the past, but now I'm going to give then a try. It may be a good use on my next bag as a closure or even decorative edging prior to the icord bindoff. The possibilities are endless with these 2 little decorative tricks. Annie also did a few things that I'm very familiar with like the icord bindoff...nothing new there, but her way of doing a left leaning decrease was new. I either do a k2tog tbl or ssk... I prefer the ssk. She came up with another that starts with knitting into the stitch and wrapping around backwards from your ususal way which marks the stitch by twisting it. When you turn the work and purl back you notice because the stitch isn't sitting correctly, this is where it gets "fun"...maybe not so much. When you get to the twisted stitch you then p2tog tbl. I dislike the manipulation of p2tog tbl....been there done it and it hurts my poor bad thumb...whiny I know. I tried it in class, but didn't feel that my left leaning decreases improved much if any. Can you see which looks nicer? My ssk's are on the right and the p2tog tbl is on the left...what do ya think?

Already It Is Day 2

Day 2 arrived as early as the first day...another 5:30 AM wake up call from the chirping birds. A little knitting to start the morning as I waited on B to get up so we could head off for the day's classes. I don't often get the chance to knit first thing in the morning, but I find it a wonderful way to start my day. The weather was terrific...sitting on the deck with the cool air was a big change from last week's heat.

After breakfast I started my morning off with Cornelia's Herringbone class and B went off for Annie's Cocoon Shrug class. Thankfully, I had heard we had to do some knitting homework for the class and had gotten it done the night before at the "pajama party". Good thing a few of us had worked it through ahead of time because we were able to have a good laugh as others caught up to the 'count error' in the pattern. Cornelia laughed along with us as we talked about how errors occur on patterns & what we should do about them...afterall "knitting is not rocket science." The pattern is very interesting and I find it addictive. Once I had it in the brain I didn't want to stop. I find myself saying just one more block...just one more block...One. More. Block. It won't take long to get the shawl/scarf done at the pace I'm going.

I had read that Cornelia knits from a skein she places in her lap. She does not wind it into a yarn cake or ball...merely lays it down and pulls yarn from it as she goes. I know I'd have a mess of tangles if I ever attempted this...

The last class for the day was Cornelia's Swedish sock class. The class was going to be outdoors under a large tent...good thing for great weather. When I got there Cornelia was none too pleased about the table & chair placement. Four rows of tables & chairs on both sides of an aisle and they were all facing forward just like school. Cornelia & I moved the tables into a large square so we were all facing each other...a much nicer, more intimate setting.

Cornelia started the class by saying that we could custom design socks for any foot with any yarn...to start you need the width aroud the ankle and the gauge of the yarn to figure out the number of stitches to cast on. As the class started we found that we were going to do a different sock...an anklet so we could get further along into the mechanics of sock knitting. Before class ended we actually made it through the cuff, leg, heel flap, turning the heel, gusset decreases and talked about decreasing for the toes and even how she closes off the toe. Cornelia uses the same technique as when you close up a hat...run yarn through the last 8 stitches and pull tight. It looks kind of pointy, but you could not feel it from the inside. I still like the look of Kitchner and I love doing it so I'll probably continue using that as my preferred method.

The patterning she chose looks nice...a 7 stitch moss pattern with some ribbing created as you go. I'm must redo the ski socks with some of the tips from Cornelia to see if I can get the heel area from bunchin up...this pattern and slipped stitch heel may do the trick!

Lessons Learned on Day 1

I decided to take 5 classes at Purl Jam 2008. On Day One B & I took in Annie Modesitt's "Color Combination" class bright & early... well for most the 9 o'clock hour was early, but I once again woke at the wonderful hour of 5:00 AM...that's truly early. I found class pretty straightforward & fairly easy which I was surprised about...figured that I had been doing it "wrong".

I had only done a small bit of colorwork on a blanket square in the shape of the Hokie Bird. It turned out okay, not great...a bit tight across the floats, but I was pleased that it made it into one of the blankets. The only other time had been on DH's and T's blankets...huge squares which were done as color blocks with each color wrapped around as I came to the changes. In Annie's class I discovered that I had been doing it correct for the most part. She had a few tricks to make things appear a bit smoother and easier as you knit along...as in fewer tangles of the various yarns which I loved learning. I will be trying out these techniques in a handbag and a scarf in the next several weeks.

After lunch it was on to Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton's "Fear of Finishing" class. At the party the night before we had learned from her that we only needed 2 squares for our homework, not the 6 that had been listed. I figured we would learn different ways of joining seams of various stitch patterns...my OCD kicking in....but it was really just the mattress stitch on anything & everything. I played around with each of my squares during class & discovered that if the edge stitch can be figured out, then yes mattress stitch works well.

As Cornelia said I must think ahead about the edges of my work in order to have a nice finish. I'll really need to check my Nicole Jacket pattern to see if the designer took into account the need for an extra stitch to compensate for the basketweave patterning & the fact that during the seam joining I'll loose a stitch at each end.

I must admit to being a bit disappointed that mattress stitch was the only technique shown because I had assumed there would be other methods. In the long run it was fine because I was able to see that mattress stitch will work on anything...even my Shaped Edge Sweater. I had taken that as my UFO so I could see how to seam up those ribbed diagonal edges. Cornelia took it over to figure it out since she found it "unusual" then she passed it off to S, to stitch up the seam a bit. It bothered B that Cornelia didn't bring it back over to me & show me what was going on, but she has never seamed anything & was sorta lost with what was happening. I found nothing wrong with it...all I need to do is spread apart the seaming & see exactly how & what was done. S did a wonderful job as did Cornelia so why be upset?

Cornelia approached me the next morning to appologize about passing it off...not sure why she felt the need to say anything, but I told her it was fine & that now I had less seaming and could tell everyone that I had a "real" designer do some "finishing" on the sweater. Pretty coool I'd say! So thanks Cornelia & S for putting your creative touches to my sweater!

Back to Reality

B & I are back from our adventure to Blacksburg and what was Purl Jam. We had a great time and now B has her stash started. She admitted that there seemed to be fumes in the air and she just could not resist the urge to buy yarn.

B even DREAMED about a yarn that she saw when we were in Mosaic for the book signing. You know it is a sign that you MUST buy that yarn which turned out to be Gedifra's Filorosa. Poor thing was worried it would all be gone by the time we got to the store when she'd tell someone about her discovery. No worries, she found her yarn packed up and left one happy lady.

As I unpacked my bags today I was surprised at how little yarn I actually bought...strange event I know. DH even noticed that I didn't have as much as he expected I would have. I must be slipping somehow. I ended up with 3 skeins of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox to be used for another Lace Ribbon Wrap, 1 skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Moccasin Trail, 1 skein of Blacksburg indie dyer, David Simpson's Kona Superwash 100% merino wool in the color Underwater Twilight...love the name & feel of this sock yarn. Last more Hokie colored yarn. I can never have enough of those colors...this is from Farmhouse Yarns and is 100% Andy's Merino III. The skeins even include a picture of Andy the sheep.

Other purchases included 3 books...Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton's Wanderlust & Araucanian Leisure and Sensual Knits that included Jared Flood's Ramona sweater pattern. I also succumbed to the temptations and ordered a Lawre Laine knitting bag....yeah I know I have 3 nice bags, but you can never have enough and I have wanted a specific color and look so the opportunity was there and I just did it!

Now for a few pictures:








The lovely Gina... Mosaic shop owner and the organizer of Purl Jam

2008 Purl Jam Event Instructors/Designers:

Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton, Jared Flood, & Annie Modesitt

48 Hours to GO....

Yep, it is now less than 48 hours until B and I leave for the long awaited Purl Jam Event! My knitting bags (note the plural...I have 3 ) are packed & ready to go. My "homework" is done...including blocked and ends woven in. I even will have an unfinished item for the finishing class! The Chicknits Ribby Shell is done except for the shoulder seams. I figured I'd take it with me and see what seaming Cornelia would recommend using on joining the shoulders.

So excited about the upcoming weekend. So many people I've met through Raverly to put names & faces together. A fun weekend of knitting, talking, eating, learning, ......the list is almost endless.

Three Down and Three to Go

I've completed 3 of the 6 squares I need for my Fear of Finishing class at Purl Jam next week. So far I've got a garter square, a moss square, and a just finished stockinette square. Three more to go before I head off next Thursday...should not say that it's a piece of cake...don't want to get those Knitting Gods worked up do we? Nope, I've got to decided what other patterning I need to have so I can learn how to finish off more professionally.

I'm leaning towards a basketweave of some kind due to a long hibernating pattern for a "jacket" called Nichole by Jane Ellison I found in the Queensland Collection Book 1 over a year...or maybe 2 years ago. Can that be right? I've had the yarn & book for ages so it could be 2 years. Anyway it could prove helpful to see how to seam up a basketweave if/when I knit the Nichole Jacket.

The last 2 squares have not been decided...one will have some yo's and be more lacy and the last one may be the patterning for another future project (Etrusca swatch) so I better get back to it...

Homework

Homework...no haven't returned to school, but I have some prelim work to do for Purl Jam. I'm taking a class on "finishing" as in finishing off my knitting in a more professional manner. I'm hoping that I will learn a few more ways to seam up my FO's. At the moment I only know one way...mattress stitch...which works great on a bunch of things. It doesn't work so well on certain stitch patterns, therefore when the class list showed up the finishing class seemed to fit what I was looking to improve the most in my knitting.

So now I need to knit up 6 squares to practice whatever seaming techniques that are being taught. I'm thinking I need a couple stockinette, garter, and at least something with some holes or combination of stitches. No size was given for the square, but the 6-7" sqaure would be large enough to handle and see what the heck I was doing. The class is June 20th so plenty of time to get these knitted up...need to choose a color. I'm leaning toward one of the left over oranges from the blankets.

As for the other classes I'm doing there are no homework assignments just yarn lists...I've already made a visit to Mosaic (while I was moving oldest to yet another apartment) to purchase what was needed for the Swedish Sock and the Herringbone Classes. I picked out 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Lite in deep blues/browns/greens(colorway 2023) and deep greens/pinks/blues(colorway 2014). Who really knows what's inside the skein...the beauty & mystery of Noro Yarns.

For the sock class Cornelia recommends either the Noro Sock or Mirasol Hacho. I decided against using my Noro for the class due to it's less than nice feel or stickiness nature. Doing a class with unknown techniques...to me anyway... I didn't want to be fighting with the yarn while I was trying to learn something new. I much prefer the feel of the Mirasol Hacho (colorway 302) ...a nice soft feel which is both smooth & even in texture. It's a varigated with deep blues, purples, pinks and a touch of turquoise blue. I've never used this yarn so I looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

The remaining classes are using stash yarn....Yeah! I have several colors left from the 2 blankets I've knitted....T's and DH's which is perfect 'cause I need 6 different colors for a color class. Really looking forward to a better understanding of intarsia, stranding, & colorwork in general. The weekend should be fun & fiber filled...hope I'm up to the challenges.

Oopsie

This is where I was yesterday afternoon when I took time for a photo shoot...I was much further along when I discovered I had a problem. Once again my thoughts got ahead of my fingers while knitting on a new project. I started the Chicknits Ribby Shell last week when I finished the Lace Ribbon Wrap. Really moving along on it too with about 8" completed...then I noticed it. A glitch. A BIG one. All the way down to just past the 2" ribbed edge.

Can you see it? The ribbing at the far left just stopped being ribbing...not once, but 3 different times! I had managed to knit my first 2" of ribbing and start on the body just fine, but then...a royal screwup. One that I had not noticed until I was over 8 1/2" into the body and started thinking ahead to the armhole shaping. As I was smoothing the surface & admiring how far I had knit in just a day I noticed that on one side I was somehow off in the patterning....what the? As I counted the ribbed section on one side and came up with 13 sets I started to sweat...not going to be 13 on the other side. Nope, only 10...I had changed the purled stitches to knit for 3 sets of ribbing and never caught it.

I first thought no problem I'd just unravel the 2 stitches of each set that had been knitted and switch them to purl stitches. It started out well, but as I continued up the section the tension got much too loose. After several attempts to get it all even and tight to match the surrounding area I had to reach the realization that I was going to have to frog back a very long way. It was already well after 11:30 PM and I knew that I had to at least rip back or I'd not sleep well.

The frogging began and took over 30 minutes to get ripped, wrapped and back on the needles. Of course I had to knit/purl around a few rows to make sure everything was back on track. At 1:30 PM I was all set with my knitting back on course and really ready to go to bed. At least I didn't dream about the problem all night.

It's Done and so am I

I've finished the Lace Ribbon Wrap for the Mosaic Maniacs KAL... Whoo Hoo! The last stitch was stitched on May 27...today is June 3rd. Yeah alot of a lag in completion time and write up, but the other part of my life kept interrupting me. I knitted until I had about 1 gram of yarn left...worked out so well it was almost like I planned it. I stopped right at the end of the 24th row of the pattern with enought yarn to knit 2 rows plain. Perfect! I figured I could go on for a few more rows, but what was the point? The patterning would have looked all wonky ending on any other row so I'm done. Did I mention how pleased I am with the result?

Very happy...so happy that I was able to get a decent length with the one skein of Blue Heron Merc. Egyptian Cotton. That worried me a little as the ball got smaller and smaller, but the length was nowhere long enough for my taste. In the end after it was blocked I have a decent sized wrap...or scarf if I choose to double up the width.

The Details:

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery

Yarn: Blue Heron Merc. Egyptian Cotton

Needles: Clover Bamboo, size 3, 24" circular

Size: Blocked- 23" wide, 72" length

Modifications: Cast on 116 sts. was the only modification and knitted until I was almost out of yarn