2010 January

Hello, Knit Fans! Guess who’s back? Yes, it’s me. And don’t you think this a delightful picture to restart this blog with? This is Vivienne Renee Jiles, born this past July 7, 2009, and she is my second granddaughter. She is sporting a sweater I made for her according to a downloaded pattern from Knitting Daily Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater by Rebecca L. Daniels. It was actually a rather fast project and I’d recommend it. The picture above probably doesn’t display the sweater as well as it might – but who can resist that smile!

I also finished my sweater this past year. It’s in the same Vitalgo Alpaca Yarn I used for Vivi’s sweater bought in Israel at The Gourmet Yarn Shop in Ra’ananna, Israel. Here we are together.

I also finished a snake scarf for Adelaide and a beaded scarf for Sharon – pictures of both coming soon. So you see, I have been productive over the past year – I just haven’t posted anything.
 
More to come soon.

Finally!

Finally, the knit wit and his knitting delights got together again and restarted the weekly knit night. It's amazing how skipping a week can just completely throw off your rhythm. I feel like my whole knitting plan was completely sabotaged. Actually, it had more to do with the holiday and associated trip into Jordan than anything. That was fun, by the way, but not much knitting opportunity presented itself. We're back at it now, though, and progress is good.

It was a small crowd last Wednesday (just the way one particular member likes it, preferring the more favorable teacher:student ratio in such gatherings). The ones who came had great progress to share and it was encouraging to us all.

Christina arrived with completed slippers, fully felted, ready for wearing. They look great and will make a fantastic present for some lucky sole. Christina revealed the felting was a piece of cake. She simply put them in a hot wash of regular laundry and they came out great! We'd hoped to get a picture and post the result but living on this side of the world prompts swift action and she already had them mailed to fortunate recipient before I managed to get my camera aimed in her direction. Ideally I would have shot the picture that very night but for some reason, with needles in hand and yarn streaming through, actually making the effort to get up, find the camera, and have batteries charged and ready to go, all just seems way more effort than I can possibly expend in such settings. I'll do better. I promise. Regardless - congrats to Christina on success!

Extra kudos to Sheila, too. She displayed, not one, but two projects nearing the finish line, both destined to be Christmas presents for additional unknowing recipients. Knitting and gift giving just seem to go hand-in-hand. A visit with Sheila last night revealed finishing touches and she now has those two gifts ready to go. A trip to Orly's Gourmet Yarn Shop initiated a third project and provided supplies for a fourth. I'd say she's hooked - go, Sheila, go!

Eileen also brought in a near finished item. By end of knit night, her slippers were ready for felting! We're all quite anxious to see how her project turns out. She is using a hand spun yarn that has beautiful variations within it. A question was raised as to how well it will felt when a similar yarn was being discussed in the yarn shop. She did a test swatch but honestly didn't take it to full conclusion and did put it through a fairly violent agitation to get it to work. (Did she really use a food processor?) Anyway, we're all anxious to see how the finished slippers felt out. There's a good deal of shrinkage that must occur for the pattern to work, else we'll have footies for one in the Land of the Giants. I personally, though, have great faith and feel they will be perfect. Plus, once they are condensed to the right size, they are going to be SO cushy and comfy. Have you been on this side of the world? Tile, stone, marble, HARD is the name of the game in flooring. These slippers are the very dinktum as an ideal knitting gift for the world over here. I can't wait .. and yes .. I promise to get a picture for you loyal readers to enjoy.

Maria has been battling some mystery bug and wasn't up for joining us. Poor dear - it's bad enough to be sick but to have to miss knit night too? That's just insult to injury! The injustice of it all! Get well soon, Maria, we're saving you your reserved spot at the honored round table of knitting.

Jo is off for six weeks of holiday merriment in the UK. We're missing her and all the verve and humor she adds to the group! Come back, Jo, we need you here! Jo worked hard and pulled her Christmas project into high gear. She finished nephew William's stocking and it looks fantastic! We are all so proud of her incredible effort. She's even started a second, more challenging stocking. We'll have to send out a dispatch to see what progress she has made on it. We sought to take pictures of Jo's project only to find those pesky camera batteries dead and totally unwilling to power even a single shot. Thankfully, Maria came through that night and whipped out her handy little camera phone. Troy worked some technological magic later and got them downloaded and sent my way. So, with all this coordinated cooperation, we do have an image or two to share. Below is one of the overall stocking and a close-up of some of the detail. Unfortunately, as is the usual case, a simple picture does not do it justice. With knitted items, one really should feel the excellence - this stocking is great - cuddly soft. Way to go, Jo!



Kathy, Sirima, Patricia, and Laurie were all missing in action but I'm sure they'll be back in the knitting swing before long. Actually Laurie's work did make it to the meeting as Eileen brought it with her things. I hear Laurie has been lobbying for her mom to finish the scarf up but surely I got that wrong. The joy is in the knitting, not the use of the end product - isn't that right? That's why I personally never worry too much about finishing a project. I just like knitting new things! Could be there are some different philosophies on this. We'll have to investigate. Regardless, Laurie's work is looking good, hopefully she'll jump back in and finish it up.

Well, dear reader, your poor miserable journal writer has not made near the progress that he'd hoped in finishing his grandchild's Christmas stocking. There is good news, though, as Sharon and Eileen, along with input from shop-owner Orly, determined a perfect pink 100% wool for making Santa's face. The funny part was when they got it home to me, I recognized it as the exact same wool I already had upstairs in my personal stash. How could I have missed that? Weeks of delay, waiting on opportunity to go to the knit store turned out to be totally unnecessary. Well, can't reel the time back, so best to simply press forward. The good news by this point is that the face is back and I'm exactly where I was before I started ripping back. Was it worth the effort? Hmmm .. hard to say. I didn't make the 'improvement' that I'd hope, but it will certainly do and I'm pushing on. Here's how it's looking:




After a night of knitting last night I'd made a few inches of progress - two I believe. At this point, I noted to Sharon that our grandchild would probably have her stocking ready by the time she was five years old.

BUT WAIT - THAT WON'T WORK! Why you ask? Because .. Ta Da! .. Grandchild number 2 is on the way! That's right, folks, I'm going to be a grandpa again! That, of course, means that I must not only finish this stocking, I must also get on the stick and design and knit a second. I've already been warned they have to be comparable in size and offering, so I've got my work cut out for me. We'll see how it goes.

For now, the dilemma of the present stocking project is what to do after I finish Santa's face and the Christmas tree. I'm contemplating doing the foot in entrelac, as detailed in an article by Eunny Jang in Spring 2007 Interweave KNITS magazine. (Don't you just love Eunny's stuff? She's great.) Below is a picture of a practice piece in appropriate colors and a picture of a sock I'm doing for Samantha in the same style. The truth be known, I started the sock in order to gain experience for possibly doing the same on the bottom of the stocking. Unfortunately it's been so long since I've done the sock, I don't remember how I did it. Couple that with the extra misfortune that our rabbit, Lester, has eaten a particularly crucial part of the pattern from the Interweave Knits article and I'm wondering if concluding the stocking with entrelac is just not meant to be. We shall see. Oh, and the pink in Samantha's sock? It's the exact same yarn the girls came home with for me to make Santa's face with. How's that for irony?

Regardless of all that, Samantha informs me she would simply like for me to finish her pair of socks. :-) Patience, I say, she won't go away to college for another five or six years.



Well, suffice to say, your knitting boy has returned to the journaling process:

May the force be with ewe ...

Mitch

Oh man .. now what?

The face is gone ... Yep, ripped it back to the brim of Santa's hat. Quite frankly I feel pretty good about that because there really were some problems and now they're gone. Unfortunately, I've now stumbled upon another quandary.

What color yarn to use for Santa's face? Everything I have that's close seems just a touch off. My choice was the same yarn as the rest of the stocking, Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky, in a pink shade. I knitted up a sample to show the color next to the white of Santa's hat. I was kind of liking it, thinking it might work well. Then Sharon registered a very decisive 'no' vote. Uh oh. Only to be followed by Eileen's, similarly without question, 'no' vote.

What's a fellow to do? I tried seeking additional support, asking others attending knit night, where Molly thought it looked pretty good. But it wasn't enough, the original 'no votes' weren't to be deterred and I'm left trying to find some shade of some yarn that approximates the flesh tone of Santa's face. It's particularly difficult due to the fact there is white around his hat and the white of his beard. I've gone through my entire yarn stash and nothing seems suitable. I suppose it's time for a trip to Orly's Yarn Shop to check out the colors.

Let's hope we find one that works!

Frogging ... 'Rip It' .. 'Rip It'

To frog or not to frog, that is the question. I understand the term 'frogging' is because when you frog, you 'rip it', 'rip it' out. I have no idea if that's the truth or not but that's what they say over at Knity.com and they're they authority, I suppose - regardless of how cheesy it sounds. Anyway, I'm facing the big dilemma on whether to rip out or not. Sharon says no. I say it simply must be done.

I'm in the throes of making a stocking for Adelaide. It's turning out to be bigger than .. well .. any stocking known to man. I really didn't plan it that way but the name Adelaide simply requires a lot of room around the top. I am in the leg of the thing now and, I'll admit, it's huge.

Now that I'm into it, there are a number of things I'd change. Larger needles and less stitches for one. I drew up the pattern on an Excel spreadsheet without much thought to gauge. It sort of just became what it became and I jumped in knitting. My needle size is truly at the edge of acceptable for this particular thickness of yarn - so it seems to me. I'm knitting in Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky, 85% Wool/15% Mohair on US Size 7 needles. A great yarn, I love it, but I really should have gone with larger needles and produced a less densely woven fabric.

Anyway, I'm into and now I see two things I just must fix. Santa's face is not working for me. At a distance, perhaps, but up close, something isn't right and the stitching is all off. Also, there is a cable that was supposed to run down the sides that isn't working. I've run into the tree and, thus, my cable is cutting into two colors. Each color change mid-cable pattern is simply not working.

So .. the frog dilemma. I'll let you know how that goes. In the mean time, here is the stocking 'pre-frog' with all the problem features.

This is tough to see but perhaps if you click it and enlarge it's evident: the red cable pattern down the side is running into the green of the tree.



Here is my Santa face .. just don't like it. I've looked at it for a year and my conclusion is the same. I think he simply has to go.



I created graphic features all around the stocking so that it looks good from any angle. It's high time we get this thing finished!

Knit Night Success ...

Well I'd say there was some! We had a number of folks here, some to knit, some to socialize - all was fun! Let's see, on the knitting side were Maria, Christina, Kathy, Eileen, Sheila, Molly, Patricia, and Laurie. On the socializing side were Sharon, Chris, Samantha - and downstairs, Michael and Nick. What a great crowd. Now, as the knitting crowd grows, it is evident that there may not be enough one-on-one instruction time to suffice. Fortunately some are willing to stay late (or check back later) to get their questions in. This is working for me, hopefully it will for the students too.

Let's see, what happened. Molly was here for the first time and she learned to knit. With practice piece in hand she made several rows before the night was out If she'll keep up the good work, she'll be on to a project in no time.

Sheila is making good progress against her pattern. The letters she is showing as purled stitches on a stockinette field are coming out nicely. At the present rate she'll be finishing up soon and we'll have the completed piece to see. This week she had me look over her work a bit to see if I saw blatant mistakes but I didn't see any. She's made several rip outs and restarts but over all is getting the hang of it. She was proud to announce at the end of the night she completed the entire session WITHOUT the assistance of the teacher. Way to go, Sheila. (And we won't mention how many times she came to see teacher during the preceding week. :-)

Christina showed up with a whole bag full of goodies, having obviously spent quality time with Orly at The Gourmet Yarn Shop. Her plan is to do a pair of house shoe / clogs like Eileen is working up. Her scheme will be to use two smaller strands of yarn and knit them together as one for the required thickness. No need for test felting because she is using the same 100% Merino wool that I used on mine. So we know it works. Christina finished up her dishcloth, binding it off when she arrived, and it looks good. She has the knit vs. purl thing down and anxious to start the new shoes. The pattern has instructions for W&T: Wrap and Turn; P2TOG: purl 2 together; SSK: Slip, Slip, Knit; and M1: Make 1. We stepped through what each was and set her up with a practice piece of the right yarn, two strands, on her new circular needles. After a little practice, she hopes to cast on and begin. She even practiced a little casting on to get that down. Can't wait to see what she gets done this week.

Laurie and Patricia hit me a couple of times with questions and snafus. In no time, though, we had them back on the right track. Laurie is working up a Christmas scarf in a bright green that is looking quite festive. Patricia is working a multi-colored scarf, working in color changes by changing yarns. It's looking great.

Kathy has her practice piece well underway and ready to move on to something 'real'. She picked out a pattern from one of the Dishcloth pattern books and will start on it. Unfortunately, she had to leave before I got her going so I took on a little after class work and got it started for her, sending it by Sharon the next morning to her house. She claims she'll have tons of questions, but even so, I expect we'll see some good progress soon.

Maria finished up her coaster pattern piece, working out what she likes, what she might change regarding both the graphic and features of the piece. Orly didn't have the right color yarn available last week so Maria had to wait until this week to get the needed material. In the meantime I had some extra of the kind she is going to use, so I cast some on and got her going on a gauge swatch. It will serve to gauge initial knitting and then the final gauge after felting. From there we'll calculate the final design.

Eileen is well on her way to finishing clog number two! It's getting exciting to see the second one come along. It's been a pesky little thing though, throwing a couple of good curves Eileen's way as she's worked up the pattern. (In my enthusiasm to encourage the pattern, I might have suggested it was a bit easier than it actually is. Good thing Eileen likes a challenge.) She will be in an excellent position to help Christina through the pitfalls as she is taking on the same pattern. Eileen's choice of such for her first project is making her show her mettle - but mettle she has and she's hanging in there. We're going to see a cool pair of slippers on here before long. By evening's end, Eileen was back on track and making progress. I can't wait to see how good they look next week.

The BIG moment of the night? Christina brought me a copy of Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts edition (Interweaveknits.com)! This is magazine and this yearly edition is one of my absolute favorites! The good news for the Knit Night crowd is the magazine will now be available in our 'library' for any to peruse and explore. This year's edition touts 30 Knits to Give and Get - lots of great little projects that make cool Christmas gifts.

It was a great night .. can't wait until next week. In the mean time .. keep on knitting!

October 29 - Knit Night!

THE highlight of your week is upon us!

Who's coming to Knit Night? Don't miss it. It's raining tonight and what better activity to embark upon than knitting on a cool and rainy night?

Come on over and join the fun. Projects abound, so come see who's doing what and their progress. Eileen with Clog #2, Jo with her nephew's Christmas Stocking, Maria with her felted coaster set and Sheila with her super secret Christmas present. Everyone is progressing nicely. Christina should be ready to launch her new project and there is a rumor that Kathy may indeed rejoin us after much too long a hiatus. Come on by and join the fun. Perhaps we'll pull out the camera and put some of those projects on the blog - they're certainly worthy of pictures.

Hope to see you there!

Socks, Socks, and More Socks

If you're interested in socks, a nice intro book is one that's been out awhile named Knit Socks! by Betsy Lee McCarthy. It's written in a very nice new-knitter-friendly format that allows you to go step-by-step with clear instructions and constant stitch counts. The book is even shaped like a sock, so you subconsciously stay inspired throughout the sock making experience.

Here are a pair I've been working up from the design called "Classy Slip-Up" (a clever reference to the slip stitch pattern used for the body of the sock). You may not be able to tell it in the picture but there is a nice texture being woven as the cloth of the sock. This leads to a nice bit of advice. If you're going to the trouble to make a cool and clever woven pattern, don't also use a self-patterning yarn. You completely lose the delight of the texture in the visual display of the colors. So, note to self, use solid color yarn when knitting a texture - or at least use a well muted similar color set. These are for Sharon .. poor thing .. she's been waiting patiently since April for me to finish them. Presently they're on hold. Here's how they're looking (CLICK on the image for a nice big enlargement) ...



I forget the name of the yarn. I'll check with Orly from The Gourmet Yarn Shop - that's where I bought it. I like it. It's the same yarn, though different color, as the yarn I used on a pair of mittens I discussed earlier. I actually finished those mittens - unfortunately, not much use for cold weather mittens in Israel. Perhaps we'll visit somewhere cold this winter!