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.