Midnight September Madness

I've not been online for a good long while because of a huge bout of knitting I had been doing since my last post. I've finished two larger projects: Midnight Heather Aeolian and Gray/Red Cowichan Cardigan. To the left is my gray and red cowichan being blocked. Everything is all sewn up and ready to wear except for I wasn't able to knit up the red belt. I forgot that I stashed a large amount of projects and yarn into a giant plastic bin and shipped it off with Greg to Florida when he moved so I would have less stuff here prior to the move and so I would be pressured to finish older projects. Strangely enough, my DROPS Bolero is down there too.

The only yarn I've kept are the junky acrylic in case I want to work on my crochet granny square blanket (which I haven't) and a few spare wool skeins here and there for instant gratification scarfs, hats, and mittens (again, I've not been tempted to knit). I still have the yarn for Greg's socks sitting in a paper bag somewhere in my room.

Most of my time was eaten up for finishing this giant Midnight Heather Aeolian Shawl from Knitty's Aeolian Shawl pattern. How huge is it? It's huge. It is by all definitions HUGE. I thought I would be clever and knit it on US size 5 needles like how the pattern uses for the shouderette but instead for the giant shawl. I wanted something a little more open and allowed for the merino in the wool more room to bloom after blocking in between stitches. The Aeolian is a nice pattern because you can adjust for different sizes pretty easily with the chart repeats itself if the shawl sizes provided are not quite what you are looking for.

In any case, I realized that going to Las Vegas with Greg for his brother's wedding needed an extra kick to my outfit so I thought about knitting something really memorable for the trip and thus the Aeolian knit in Midnight Heather in Knitpicks Shadow would be the best bet to pair with my awesomely flirty black and white dress. The shawl itself I wanted to be epic thus the large size knit in US 5 needles and indeed, it turned out so much larger than I had anticipated that it ate up every inch of the 1320 yards of Shadow I had. The process to knit it was also epic given I started it at the beginning of September/end of August that I wanted to finish it by the 23rd all blocked and ready to go for the trip on the 30th so I could rest my fingers for a while the last week. I literally was knitting somewhere around 10-15 rows a day to do this, mind you, these rows varied from being 500-almost 1000 stitches depending on the section. I did manage to finish the shawl in time with the last week being so hectic that I actually developed a callous on one of my fingers and a sore spot in my right forearm that lasted a day. Here is the following pictur of the Midnight Heather Aeolian aka the Time Devourer. My Red Aeolian is also included along just to show a size comparison in the blocking and how different Shadow lace is from Jade Sapphire's Lacey Lamb (which the JSLL I personally believe is finer than regular 2-ply laces out there).

One thing to make note of the difference in size in the two shawls is that the towels underneath because it's hard to make out how big the two shawls are based on the distances I took the photos for both. The Midnight Heather Aeolian is blocked over four towels, two spread out length wise and then another two forming a triangle downwards. The dimensions are Midnight Heather 7 ft length-wise versus the Red's paltry 5 ft 3in wide. The depth is about the same for both.
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Please make note that I did not block the Midnight Heather Aeolian to its full expanse. Normally I stretch them as far as I can but for the great Time Devourer of Shawls, I decided to sacrifice extreme size for the neatest possible block imaginable for the wedding (that and I didn't really want to push my luck with grabbing more towels to block the edges out all over again once I had finished pinning out each flower edge). You can tell I blocked the tail slightly differently in both as well. I misinterpreted the tail's blocking the first time I knit the Red Aeolian, believing it spiked out like the flower edges when in fact it's just a straight edge--my bad.

My favorite part with this shawl was how neat the 7-stitch nupps turned out. I cheated and on the even rows, I slipped 3 stitches knit-wise then p4tog then passed the 3 stitches over the p4tog stitch. This made incredibly neat looking and less hassle (note--still not hassle-free) nupps that really pop out on the shawl.

Parsley Socks!

Today a number of goodies came in the mail for me from Knit Picks. I ordered 3 skeins of Shadow Lace in Midnight Heather, 3 skeins of Gloss Sock in Parsley, "Respect the Spindle" book, and a ball winder. All of it came in less than a week so I'm ecstatic. I took the time to wind up my Parsley into little yarn cakes with the winder asap and it was quick and fun. I can't wait to start winding more yarn up into little yarn cakes BUT I want to jump immediately into the pair of socks for Greg.

I'm knitting up for him Men's Merino Socks by Nancy Bush from Interweave's 2010 Knitting Traditions magazine. I got the magazine a while back for the articles especially the one on the Cowichan sweater history because I was knitting up a Cowichan-like knock-off from Knitscene at the time but I fell in love with wanting to knit up some of the other patterns inside. I chose the Parsley green Gloss sock yarn for Greg's socks because it didn't have any synthetics in it to agitate him and I figured it would be a nice splurge on some merino/silk blended sock yarn for a present.

The Gloss has gotten some mixed reviews on Ravelry from different users. Some folks complain that it wears out quickly and pills for heavy duty stuff while other people says it felts too easily or even stretches out a lot. The complaints are so varied between that and the myriad of compliments that the yarn gets for its shimmer and feel against your skin though so I'll take my chances and do a pair of socks and see how Greg likes them. For the price, it's worth experimenting with a pair of socks for my man.

In the skein, the Gloss didn't really impress me as a shiny, silky yarn but as I knit it up it felt pretty buttery and it started to show its shine knitted up. I've been mindful of the yarn in seeing how quickly it pills by rubbing on the ribbed part of the sock I've already knit up and so far it's holding up well. I've only got an inch or so in on the 3.5 inch long ribbing but knitting up in such a tiny gauge on size 2s are making my wrist stiffen a little. I must be out of practice in knitting in the round on dpns on tiny needles.

Spinning!!!!

Sorry for few updates that have been few and far between. Recently, I got into spinning wool the past few weeks. It's been sort of an off and on again obsession with trying to learn how to do it but I've become a spinning goddess at doing singles. Plying is another matter but I'm slowly reading more and more about the process so I can get consistent plys.

A month or so ago I ended up visiting the Wool Gatherers shop to pick up a student spindle and some practice fluff to work with after I ordered a spindle online with some gorgeous purple-dyed corriedale wool. I wanted to get some practice in so at least my first project didn't come out looking like what the dog chewed and spat out. As luck had turned out, I ended up picking a top whorl student spindle and the one I ordered was a bottom whorl. Big question for me was would I stick with top or bottom? Reminds me of trying to choose which bunk to sleep in back in grade school...

I actually really like the bottom whorl. The only difference between the two whorls is where the weight is put on the spindle but the result can be the same with practice no matter which you choose to spin with. Top whorls are really fast that the wool just flies but I think I get more control with a bottom whorl spindle.

As luck would have it, my aunty gave me a few bags of her leftover wooly fluff and an extra top spindle she made but didn't sue anymore so I've got tons to play with before I put more money into the hobby. There is a book coming in this Friday for me to study on spinning called Respect the Spindle that I ordered off Knitpicks along with some lace yarn for me and then some sock yarn for a pair for Greg. I even decided on a ball winder since it'll make things a lot easier in converting my stash in easier to pack, already winded bundles rather than with all the loose stuff that's floating around in my hamper basket. I've got a lot of yarn that went to Florida in a plastic bin but there is still some leftover here at home that I've put in a laundry bin for knitting up between moves. Eventually I'll take a picture of all the stuff I've practice spun.

Oh Noes!!!

I was bad and started knitting up Knit Picks' Mr Foster sock monkey to go along with reading Penn Jillette's novel Sock but after finishing one leg, I've lost the fourth US 1 DPN. Much sadness but that's what I get for for starting a new project before finishing my old ones.

On the bright side, it's gotten me to return to my other projects. I've picked up my gray and red Indigo Banded Cardigan from Knitscene again. I tried to go back to the DROPS bolero but I'm sort of stuck at a weird place on the front panels because of some technical difficulties. The pattern has gotten surprisingly difficult in this area. So, I'm supposed to slip 9 stitches towards the mid-front WHILE binding off for the neckline but which stitches constitute the "mid-front" stitches? At the same time I'm also supposed to do the decreasing like on the back panel too. Maybe it's because I like to knit in the evenings or after a long day's work but I feel like I'm over-complicating this pattern. It's probably why returning to my Indigo Banded Cardigan seems like the path of least resistance as I've knit it before and the pattern is pretty pretty self-explanatory.

Earlier this weekend I've also discovered that Florida may end up being my permanent home in the next coming months so that cardigan may not see much wear down south as it would have in Wisconsin. I may have to reevaluate my knitting for southern comfort. Less on the wool and more on the cotton and certainly more light and lacey shawls than my cozy cardis.

Yarn Weights and Bolero Progression

Well, the DROPS Bolero is progressing incredibly well. I was a bit worried at the size and dimensions that the sucker would be much bigger than I had anticipated BUT given my gauge has been accurate to a T then I shall put my faith in the pattern. I've finished two of the sleeves and am working on the front right panel. You can hopefully tell the color by the picture. It's pretty darn blue.

In some ways I'm being a little bit deviant by not following the pattern exactly. The little rebel in me decided to knit the sleeves first and then the panels, leaving the back for last even though they suggest knitting the back first, then the panels, and finally the sleeves. Yes, I'm a rebel in knitting (aka a dork). I also picked out a cute little button at my LYS to go with the bolero when it's finished. It's so cute! I debated between this one and one with a snowflake but I was happily talked to a more spring friendly button by my LYS lady. I think after a long bout of Wisconsin winter, we all wanted to think more spring-friendly thoughts into our knitting. :)



I'm hoping to get this tangled lace mess into bolero shape in a week or two before tackling my stash again. The picture featured to the right is my lace yarn all squashed into a myriad of plastic bags within a plastic bag (a wee bit paranoid of moths). My lace stash is getting rather ridiculous at this point and yet I can't help but accumulate them just because they are so cost-efficient in terms of knitting time.

Consider this, worsted weight yarn is relatively fast to knit projects with and bulky yarns are even faster. The general rule of thumb with yarn cost is that the heavier the weight, the more expensive the yarn is by the yard than it's thinner/lighter weight yarns of the same fiber. You're paying more for the actual weight of the yarn and not really by the yardage then. A general case in point, Worsted Wool of the Andes is $1.19-2.19 per 110 yards/50 grams while Wool of the Andes Bulky is $3.99 per 137 yards/100 grams. It's only twenty-seven yards more but that extra bulk makes it more than just a dollar more for a few extra yards.

Now, if you enjoy the finished end more than the means, well, bulkier is better for that quick adrenaline rush at the end of your efforts. If you happen to enjoy the long and grueling act before the end then these fast finish lines can be a bit diminishing on your pocket book if you have to buy more yarn for more projects faster as well as take up a large amount of space to stash it all in. Lace yarn then becomes the answer if you are a patient person and enjoy a level of tediousness. You can enjoy 800+ yards of yarny bliss for under 20 bucks in the right fibers that will keep you knitting for days if not weeks or months at a time AND still be able to stash your collection rather neatly. It's sad to say that I own in yardage more lace than I do in worsted BUT the worsted takes up more of the bulky space in my room than said luscious lace. Personally, I like to balance my knitting diet with both worsted, bulky, and lace just to keep myself on my toes and still get a bit of that joy from finishing a project in between the big lace projects.

Besides, I personally get an incredible rush from blocking my knitting regardless of its in lace or not. Most knitters hate blocking but there is magic to the process. Hell, it's half the reason I wanted to knit up my bolero in linen so I can try to block it. I hear if you want to soften it then you have to whap it against a surface while its wet because it has a tendency to stiffen in water.

That reminds me...a few days ago at my LYS I was talking with a gal there about different yarns. I don't go there that often given I try to finish projects in between visits just so my stash doesn't accumulate too much but that means I'm not really a familiar face there as my visits are a few times a year. It's kind of cute when one of the ladies tried to dissuade me from knitting the huge lace tunic in the spring/summer 2010 Vogue Knitting magazine when I was joking about knitting it. Her comment was that I needed a lot of patience for it. My inner demon was laughing behind my polite smile as I mentally noted the nearly six month escapade that was my Aeolian shawl included with the yarn snapping twice and the number of times I had to rip back because of it. When I think about the patience needed to do these huge projects and the fact that I along with many other knitters enjoy said projects enough to do it as a hobby, it is no wonder that we are viewed as a little nutty by non-knitters.

Knitted DROPS Bolero

Happy April Fool's Day!

I love the holiday but don't have any pranks for it but I did stop by at my lys with intent on finding yarn for either another shawl or to be easily tempted into taking on a cardigan project for spring. I ended up taking on the latter and managed to cast-on for Knitted DROPS's Bolero.

I found (and fell in love with) a color of linen yarn by Katia dubbed "Lino %100" from The Knitting Room. It's definitely rougher on the hands to knit with than the wools that I'm used to but I've been intrigued by the properties endowed upon linen that animal fibers and cotton doesn't usually possess such as its lovely take to vibrant dyes, its fibrous strength, and its curious nature of getting softer with frequent wear and wash achieving for a luscious drape. Linen is supposed to also be a very cool fiber, excellent for the more humid Wisconsin summer season. All I know is I had to knit with it especially when I found some in a gorgeous turquoise reminiscent of a robin's egg blue.

Seriously, it's pretty freaking blue..................>
I started casting on at the coffee shop during a game of chess with Jen. Don't worry, I won with three queens...even I'm not sure how I managed that one given I didn't really pay as much attention as she was to the game.

I have to say, though, the yarn at first was difficult to work with on the hands just because the texture is rather coarse and fiberous. I've worked with linen mixed in with other fibers like wool or alpaca before so usually there is a bit better give and take when manipulating the yarn without wearing out your hands. Still, with a little patience and effort, after a while even I found working with the linen pleasurable given how lovely it looks in the lacework of the bolero pattern. I may consider doing a shawl in this specific yarn in the future if it looks as lovely all finished up as it appears on my needles.

I've been a Lazy Blogger

Man, I've been a lazy, lazy knitting blogger as of late.
This past Christmas I got a few gift cards to my lys so that was more than enough to keep my little hands busy not typing.

I ended up doing a lot of knitting on that Indigo Banded Cardigan from Knitscene with this machine washable acrylic/wool blended yarn from my lys as well as finished knitting Greg's manly boyfriend sweater. Pics as follows on the left side...and yes...my bookshelf is horrendously cluttered with way too many books and knick-knacks for my own good.

I'm pretty proud of the boyfriend sweater (on right) the most...even though I've not managed to get a picture of it on the boy since I made it but it fits him pretty good. It's bit too big on me though. Hehe. I used the Checks and Balances Sweater from the Son of the Stitch'n'Bitch book.

I've been in a huge debate over wool washes as of late between Eucalan wash and Kookaburra Delicate wash. I've managed to work with both on my knitting and regular clothes and frankly I'm sort of on the fence on either product as my mainstay for washing and blocking. Both are excellent for giving my woolies a good wash without a rinse cycle. An absolute-must for my lacey shawls.

The nice thing about Eucalan is that it's easily available at every lys I've been to in the lower Wisconsin area. It comes in a few diverse fragrances: unscented, grapefruit, lavender, and eucalyptus. I've played around with all but the unscented fragrance and my favorite is the eucalyptus with grapefruit as a close second. I only wished that the scent lasted longer than a few days. The lavender isn't horrible but it's actually manlier and muskier smelling to me than the eucalpytus and for me it just seems to last twice as long in my fabrics than either the eucalyptus or the grapefruit combined. On the bright side, Eucalan does have lanolin in it that's supposed to be better for your woolies' longevity and leaving it feeling so soft.

As for Kookaburra Delicate...I have to admit that I love this stuff a whole lot when I use it. I was a little skeptical with the stuff because it's not as thick as Eucalan. Case in point, when I used it for the first time, I ended up pouring in way too much because I was so used to the slow-pouring, thick Eucalan. Thank goodness the stuff is rinse-optional and I ended up using it as an opportunity to just toss in a few extra undergarments into my knitting soak as well just so I wouldn't waste all the cleaning liquid.

The Kookaburra Delicate scent is just so soft and yummy to me and the fragrance lasts almost forever! I've a few pieces that I've washed over a week and a half ago that still smell as fragrant as when I first washed it. Some people may be turned off to the regular Kookaburra Wool Wash smell who feel it might be a bit too medicinally for their tastes because of the tea tree oil in it but it's all subjective to your fragrance preference and thankfully the Kookaburra Delicate has a touch of lavender in it that smells amazingly better than the Eucalan Lavender. The nice bonus of the tea tree oil is its natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungial properties which isn't a bad touch for socks and undergarments. My knits and undergarments actually feel softer after a wash in the Kookaburra than they did in the Eucalan and overall smell better for longer. I do love the stuff to death that I'm ordering the large 16 oz bottle from Knitpicks along with my mom's needles to squash the shipping costs.

The only negatives with this stuff are I've never seen it for sale at any lys I've been to in the lower Wisconsin region nor does it come in as many different scents as Eucalan. It pretty much means I've resorted to ordering it through Knit Picks online alone. Not that that's a bad thing at all but in those cases I usually wait around until I'm buying other stuff on there as well just to really maximize with free shipping rates. Still, as an impatient knitter, it can be a bit of a pain to have to wait around for it to arrive in the mail. Also, Kookaburra Delicate doesn't have lanolin in it which is a double-edged sword all its own. On one hand, it's great for folks with allergies to be sans-lanolin in the wash but on the other hand, you're lacking in the benefits of re-infusing your wools with it because it does restore a bit of luster to your woolies. However, if you use Kookaburra on your dainties, then it doesn't really matter too much without the lanolin boost.

In the end, Kookaburra or Eucalan, I really am on the fence. I like to keep a bottle of both in my knitting supplies because there will be always a situation to call for either depending on if you need to give your wool a luster boost, do some lace blocking, or even just hand washing bras and panties.

Speaking of hand washing your lingerie...I kid you not, your lingerie will thank you with a longer lifespan by doing handwashing in either Eucalan or Kookaburra just by eliminating the rinse cycle alone. The goods actually come out softer and silkier than when I first bought them none the less keep their shape better than machine washing.