swatching & ripping

i’ve been casting on something almost every other day. the angel lace shawl by evelyn clark has been cast on uite a few times only to be ripped out because i got all boastful at repeat 6 of 11, thereby ASKING for the thing to get thrown off in stitch count. not to be discouraged when it comes to lace, i tried it again with some black bunny i spun up and i was going alright. somewhere i thought i had missed a stitch so i made one. it caused the whole right side of the shawl to shift to the left. i would’ve went on but it was noticeable. whatever. maybe i’ll try ene’s scarf again. i just can’t seem to get enough punishment from my small-scale lace shawl patterns. anyways, i’ve been trying to come up with a pattern for this…

this is some of the new handmaiden mini maiden we got in the store. have no idea what to do with it. it’s just enough of a subtlety to make you think it won’t cause a problem as long as you knit something all over. that is true, but everything i want to do seems to be just a tad too much. it might wind up being a simple rectangle with an all-over pattern with eyelets. that’s all i can think of that will make the pattern show WITH the yarn. too often with variegated yarns, you get that awesome pattern and that great yarn colorway, but it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to. at this point, i’m just swatching and rejecting then wasting time on ravelry. any suggestions are totally welcome.

talia is almost done.

i’m stalling with finishing the right front and the garter stitch sleeve edgings and neckline. i keep rationalizing that it’s only the right front, neckline & sleeve edgings so it won’t take much. however, since it won’t take much, i keep putting it off. i think i’m gonna hanker down sometime this week, though, and just git er done. and i really did just type like i’m larry the cable guy. this could be a problem if it happens again.

the sock yarn blanket is the project that stays at home for the most part. i’ve got all the base squares (i think) and have been building upon them. i just can’t take it on the train with me & lay it out to plot the next random square. it sounds like an oxymoron but the plotting goes as far as to make sure there aren’t two of the same shade too close to each other and to spread out lights & darks as evenly as possible. beyond that it’s mill end fair game. progess pics coming soon!

and so it begins….

here’s the talia from knitty i’ve been working on in the manos del uruguay (dove’s the name). but that’s not the star of this blog entry. we’ll get to that one a little further down the page. but in WIP news, the angel lace shawl was a wreck. i started fudging somewhere along the 5th or 6th repeat and i kept fudging so much that i would’ve blocked it and seen every fudge there was. it was the kind where you think you’re missing a stitch so you make one. well the next row, you realize you have an extra. what do you do? you knit two stitches together. we all know this goes south for the remainder of the knitting until you either finish the shawl or talk yourself into making it work as much as you can. so there’s some alpaca/silk lace freed up. however, it did lead me to finally cast on for a blanket. what blanket you ask? this one.

when it comes to blankets, i prefer the ones where you knit pieces, blocks, medallions, etc., then put them together or pick up stitches as you go. i’d seen this one on ravelry before, but i wondered if i’d actually knit that many pairs of socks to have extra sock yarn like that. i realized this was a lofty dream for me. a VERY lofty dream. luckily, koigu wasn’t at Maryland Sheep & Wool (neither was i) but they sent mill ends to the store. 24 cents per gram, colors we may or may not have and definitely not appearing as they do in the mill end form. i added some mill ends to the building sock yarn stash i had, sock leftovers and whole balls of stuff i dont want to make into socks anymore, and here’s what i got….

we’ll see how far i get on my own with the mill ends & stash. somehow the yarn harlot got involved with shelly’s blanket, but i don’t think i’ll need that many leftovers. i’ve already got some people who might be able to help out, which is awesome. i’m gonna do the applied i-cord edging in brown. i think it’ll work with all the colors in the blanket together. you can plan one of these, or you can do some randomness. the benefit to planning is that you know all the colors you wanna do, but make sure you have enough yarn for what you want. the randomness works, too, if the yarn you’re using is for someone or if you tend to stick to the same colorways. there aren’t a whole lot of warms in mine, but the ones i picked will make the others pop. it’s gonna be a bright son of a gun when it’s finished!

why i prefer lace over fair isle

moor was a fabulous vest pattern.

my first go round, i thought i could knit it on the size needles they recommended (US 3), but my tight knitting style said no way. so i ripped back to the ribbing & picked up my size 3 needles. why did i pick up the very same needles that got me the tight work in the first place? because, yes, i really did think i could knit loosely if i thought about it hard enough while knitting. “knit loose, knit loose” seems like a good idea but we all know it only makes you knit tighter because you’re under pressure and what you come up with will look worse than before. well i didn’t even get to see what monstrosity i could come up with because i thought i dropped stitches almost immediately after finishing the ribbing. so i stopped and looked and couldn’t find the missing stitches so i figured, “oh crap, i have to rip back the ribbing”. i set it up on the ball winder and 2.5″ of ribbing done on US 2 needles with 4ply tweed yarn met its fate. i would come back to it and rock it out and it’d look great the second time around.

well towards the end of last week, i cast on again for the vest and everything was smooth. however, just when you think knitting has taught you all the preventive lessons you could learn, another comes and sticks its tongue out at you. mine was in the form of “dropped stitches”. these stitches had not been dropped. NO stitches were missing. what happened was that i forgot to read the friggin pattern that told me to increase in the 3rd round, which would give me the right number of stitches for the next pattern round naturally. this would also stop me from thinking i lost my mind and couldn’t count. did i check the book? heck no! did i feel like a doofus? heck yeah! so i basically reknit 262 [k1,p1] stitches when i didn’t have to and would’ve saved myself had i read and not tried to be SuperKnitter. ah well.

 

when i got bored with the ribbing, i also cast on again for the angel lace shawl by evelyn clark. i’m using some Fino by Alpaca With A Twist in Dusty Rose that i had in my stash for a while. it’s going pretty good and i’ll take a picture when it’s not so dreary outside. it’s already at that point where i get irked that i have to purl across that many stitches on the WS rows, but as a lace knitter at heart, it soothes me nonetheless. such comfort.

 

P.S.: i changed the title of the blog and soon enough i’ll change the url. i‘m only taking the 2 out of jenjerpeach2.wordpress.com. i dunno why it was there in the first place. whatever, i’ll let ya know. nevermind. it’s too much trouble to switch everything over, including all the links and stuff and i’m lazy.

tyrolean, how i love thee

 

i love this friggin cardigan. below are the buttons i picked out (the pink one in the middle) the sweater is more tan with chocolate and pink flecks. i love these buttons but i’ve also gotten advice on some wooden ones. we’ll see. this was an impromptu photo shoot but it worked since we’ve been having awesome weather here in philly. i knit the pieces in three weeks but the seaming and finishing took almost as long. there were other projects, button bands should be scorned forever, blocking, etc, etc, etc. Seriously thought for the button bands i simply picked up stitches with a long size 3 circular and cast on for the bands (6 or 7 stitches) and attached it to the sweater fronts like a shawl edging by knitting the last stitch of the button band with the stitch that i picked up on the front. next time i’ll knit them together with the fronts. i think my method to this was better than rowan’s suggested “knit the band until it’s the same length as the front slightly stretched”. whatever.

 

oh? what’s this? i finished a sock? yup, the first of the pomatomi is done and it fits wonderfully. i decreased while watching reruns of the office on tbs (it was the one when ryan first started & started the fire with the cheesy pita in the microwave) and i grafted the toe during Family Guy on Adult Swim. i cast on for the second this morning after winding the ball a bit tighter. i love Anne & i’m glad i’ve got a sock drawer practically lined with the stuff. gotta prep my winter sock wardrobe now. some of my old sock pairs are getting worn out. my Austermann Step socks are looking especially hurt, but hey, socks are made to be worn, walked in, used to step on things and they don’t last forever. 

maude is at about 25% or so. i’ve increased in the middle to a little over 50 stitches and i have to get to 108 or so. i should check the pattern. it’s a smooth-sailing pattern for the most part. the majority of the pattern is simply yarnovers & ssk’s. i need this kind of lace right now. i’ll get back to the crazier stuff later, but this is all i can do right now. 

knitting daily is a nice little site! i get the emails and i got the one that’s offering the 5 favorite reader’s patterns. the only ones i didn’t have were the Cable-Down Raglan & the Tweedy Aran Cardigan. the cardigan seems like it might be the best choice for all the drops angora-tweed in my stash. the model makes it look like it’s eating her….

…but she could be really small. the size 38″ is gonna be perfect for me, so we’ll see if this is added to my summer knitting-for-fall queue. there’s waist shaping that makes it look really cute & the ravelry projects show it off in a really nice way. 

 

p.s.: pattern coming soon for the twisted diamond socks. heh heh heh.

learning some lessons…literally.

so i learned some awesome & invaluable techniques & info yesterday concerning my knits. however, said info made me take into account all of my shaping & bust, etc. sad to say, any sweater that was in progress is now looked at as a big math problem. or a problem, but a problem that can be solved with some thinking. maybe within 2 stockinette sweaters i should be able to put those lessons to practice & know how to fit a sweater to my shape. after that, it’d be odd for me to knit something that didn’t fit me right.

for example, just making the whole sweater longer doesn’t help when you need the extra length to make up for your boobs. here comes short row shaping to the rescue! darts are also needed down the same line on which the apexes (sp) of your bust sit. i could go on and on but then it would bring back every flipping algebra problem i had in high school and i wasn’t really fond of those depending on what grade i was in.

salina is being rethought at the moment so knitting on that is at a standstill after it stopped being the tangled yoke cardigan. and i was halfway through to the “knit straight until” part! demi, i’ve realized after looking at it & holding the sleeve (and talking with courtney & lisa & kate) that the ecowool is too heavy for the pattern. so something lighter and (maybe) tweedy is in order for that. i’m telling you that the only things i’m good as far as measurements are socks & shawls. socks & shawls. maybe i’ll go back to knitting the moor vest from a yorkshire fable. maybe. i had to quit on that cobblestone pullover for matt. cascade sierra is best for knit PIECES, not a men’s sweater knit in the round on size 5 needles. my left hand hurt so bad after awhile on it. it might become the dollar and a half cardigan from a back issue of Interweave. tyrolean almost has buttonbands, and of course it’s like 70 degrees outside. gotta love philly.

is someone trying to tell me something as far as knitting sweaters a season ahead?

busy fingers

I’m still here but I’m working at the sample sock for the new pattern I’ve been twisting up (literally). Hopefully by the end of this week, it’ll be in the patterns section. I gotta remember how I did all that pdf, paylodz crap the first time. Pain in the butt this internet is sometimes.

The tyrolean has a side seam done. I’m hesitating on the sleeve caps but I’ll get it done. It’s the kind of weather here in philly that’s perfect for just wearing a good cardigan over a simple shirt and you’re good. With pants & shoes and things like that of course.

I added more yarn to the destash section. I had another go-round at the sock drawer and realized I’d been holding onto some Anne just because it was Anne. I have no desire to knit with those colors anymore so they’re up for anyone who wants them. Also a skein of Helen’s Lace in Gold Hill. It was gonna be the Arctic Diamonds Stole for my mom two Christmases ago, but she didn’t want something handmade. Gone!

And matt’s birthday is friday. I can get the Playstation PSP cozy done by then, but how many of you think I can get a cobblestone pullover done by friday? Hahahahahaha. What’s even funnier is that for about half an hour this morning, I thought I could.

almost, almost, almost done

 

it soaked wednesday night after work, the tyrolean. i was afraid it would flatten the bobbles or somehow make them not as nubby as i wanted them to. no, my friends. the blocking made them a bit nubbier and rounder. not only did the soak even out the stockinette and make the sweater more uniform but it gave a bit of ooomph to the bobbles. i think steam blocking would’ve taken care of the seams (if they didn’t felt) but i’d still have a mostly lumpy sweater. so i soaked the whole thing into some cold water with a bit of woolwash. a while later and i squeezed the water out of each piece and laid them onto some foam board from staples. it works for a few items, but if you continually use it, they warp. either lay down some towels between the thing you’re blocking or just get a real blocking board and stop being cheap like me. after i pulled the pieces out of the water, it looked like this:

 

i didn’t think i had my sweater around any horribly dirty items. there was the photo shoot outside on concrete but it wasn’t for that long. could there have been THAT many dust mites or any of that other weird stuff you find in yarn? i dunno. i drained the sink and all of the fuzzy, slightly dark stuff was left. this is the first time this has happened so i’m guessing it’s the tweedy aspect of the yarn or something. who knows? anyways, it blocked and i seamed the shoulders last night. today i hope to get the sleeves & sides seamed. setting the sleeves will come later when i’ve had more coffee. 

 

as far as the other projects go, i think blogging about them when they’re just starting makes it all for naught. i have to go up to maybe a size 7 or 8 for the maude shawl to have the openness i want. the original was done with koigu on size 10 1/2 needles so i need something like an 8 for the laceweight. the moor is now wound back up into balls due to the fact that when i picked it back up, i worked the row just fine but i was missing 2 stitches in colorwork. i’m thinking that when i went back and ripped out, i might not have gotten all the V’s when i put the needle through the stockinette right above the ribbing. so it’ll pop back up in the queue during the summer so i can wear it in the fall. the tangled yoke has now become the Salina from Vintage Knits. it’s the third sweater i’m making from this book and i doubt it’ll be the last. it’s a great book. socks are being produced at a slower pace, but they’re coming along. maybe i’ll get good pics taken of me & tyrolean when i pick out buttons. so many choices, so many choices. 

one down!

here is the tyrolean cardigan, in pieces mind you, but for the most part it’s finished. i just have to block the edges and make some buttonbands and we’re in business. usually i would block things by soaking them and pinning them out. well, when you’re actually finishing something that ISN’T a shawl, you need to take different steps to doing so. now, this sucker has i don’t know how many bobbles but i do know i’m not gonna soak it because i don’t want them to lose definition. after looking online and trusting my knitter’s gut, i’ve decided to pin & spray. with the cashmere, silk, wool content, i think it’d be the safest and would assure that nothing will felt accidentally. i’m more afraid of effing up this slipped stitch buttonband business i’m supposed to be executing, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. marissa, we’ll be in touch lol. i’ll definitely be needing some help especially since i know you finished yours and it looks freaking great.

 

AND THEN THERE’S MAUDE! sorry i couldn’t help it. this is the beginning of maude, a smith island pattern factory production. i’ve wanted to do it for awhile, but was prompted to after a customer came in with a question about it. so far, so good and i am in love with the turquoise zephyr. it’s so awesome and it’s the exact shade of blue i’m jonesing for lately. if kate’s all over mint, then i’ve got turquoise-marine-aqua for life.

 

moor suffered a setback when lisa took a look at it and said i might have a heck of a time blocking it. basically the gauge was off and it was puckering. it didn’t help that i couldn’t find my size 3-24″ Addi turbo so i used the Addi lace. while they did help with knitting the stitches, the coating didn’t help to loosen my tight knitting which usually happens when i use the regular Addi needles. so i had to rip back to just after the ribbing and start over. now that tyrolean’s over and i’m not quite prepared for all the twistyness that is demi, i think i can do this one again. i’ll take different colors over two cable patterns with different row repeats any day.

 

wendy, slow down! i swear you finish two sweaters before i finish a sleeve. she finished her tangled yoke before i even got out of the ribbing. the ribbing, oh the ribbing. i might just cut it short and start the stockinette. i like my sweaters to have a good portion of stockinette and the TYC does have quite a bit of ribbing. i’ll keep the decreases of course, but i want something less, well, ribbed. it’s a garter rib, too so it’s not the typical rib you see on a sweater. but congrats to my fellow tyc-er. it looks awesome and the felted tweed does well as a sweater. whatever gumption she got to just finish this is what i need. maybe it’ll come when i stop casting on for new projects.

 

ha, that’s funny. me stop casting on new things.

 

P.S. i updated the destash section and lowered the prices of some stuff. it’s just gotta get the heck outta here. 

whatever i’m in the mood for

i’ve been working on the tyrolean and i’m doing the sleeves. apparently even knitting them at the same time is tripping me up since a few times i’ve knit on the same sleeve thinking it was the other, then had to knit 2 extra rows on the other to get them in the same spot again.  

 

and i was in lancaster visiting matt’s family who threw him a “happy-graduation-yea!-you’ve-got-a-real-job” party and wouldn’t ya know? i was able to make some progress on the pomatomus as well as the other purple sock i’m doing with the fibre company’s canopy sport. the pic above is the pomatomus on amtrak on the way back. i’m about 4 rows into the heel flap and you’d think i’d keep going and work at it. nah. i cast on for matt’s cobblestone for his birthday gift. actually i was just knitting to destash and to give him a nice pullover. also i wanted to knit the cobblestone but i didn’t feel like recalculating for my size, so he’ll get it. 

lately, since january or so, i’ve been on this purging kick. getting rid of yarns i bought and no longer want to make things with, ripping things out that i know i won’t finish, picking yarns that i could see myself finishing a project out of. it’s a lot easier. i look at my stash and can see it being used to make items i’ll wear and be happy with. this doesn’t mean i’m not for adding to the stash but i think now that i’m around yarn all the time, i don’t feel this compulsion a whole lot to amass all the yarn i possibly can because it could all disappear one day. worst case scenario? i’ll just spin some. no worries.

 

P.S.: i also acquired this a few days ago at work.

 

 

i definitely might make something from this with the nature wool i’ve got as well as the drops angora-tweed. 

 

sweater weather

well it’s not exactly the weather to wear sweaters and hats and such as if it were the friggin arctic, but it’s fairly decent weather here in philly. even if it’s not heading for winter, around my parts (meaning my personal knitting vibe) all i can think to make are cardigans, throws, and things you’d have to wear in winter or risk being called that crazy chick on public transportation. with that said, i’ve been working on the tyrolean cardigan since last wednesday to be exact. i’ve also been going at a new sock pattern with those fun traveling stitches we all love! i’ll put pictures of it up, probably with pattern, when i have at least the first one done and on a sock blocker. meanwhile, here’s my progress on the cardigan.

  

the pattern is from Rowan Vintage Knits. there is one in Sarah Dallas’ Vintage Style but the sizing is different and the yardage is as well if i can recall properly. the picture on the right is where i am as of today. i should be starting on the sleeves sometime between tonight and tomorrow but definitely before the weekend. i love this sweater and the jo sharp silkroad dk tweed is a great yarn to work with and to imagine wearing. it’s the colorway cocoa. it’s just enough beige and brown tweed flecks along with some pink tweedy flecks. even matt said this color screamed out JEN! speaking of my awesome boyfriend, he got me shoes & a handbag for my birthday. he was worried that i wouldn’t like them, but i lay your eyes to exhibit A:

he got me these in black. i’d take pictures of the bag (or me wearing the shoes) but i gotta get all gussied up to do that. for right now, i’m just looking forward to my days off when i’ve done all my laundry and i have this in front of me at the coffeeshop.