Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Warm hands, warm feet

That should be the new motto for knitters. Mittens and socks for little ones are fairly quick projects, and since little ones grow, mittens and socks are in frequent demand.


Pattern: Basic Mitten Pattern, by Ann Budd
Yarn: Cascade 220, colorway 9478 (I'm on a fiber diet, so I stole the yarn from a UFO)
Needles: US7
Modifications: None

Question: When a pattern says to do something like "increase every x rows until stitch count reaches y", what do you do when you reach the stitch count? Do you knit the extra rows before continuing or do you just carry on with the next instruction? Inquiring minds want to know.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Deja vu

These socks are not the same as these socks. I used the leftover yarn to make g'daughter a pair. These have been finished for a while, but I forgot to take photos until just recently.


Pattern: None to speak of, just Turkish cast on, 40 stitches around, gusset heel, taller than usual for wearing with boots, Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off.
Yarn: ONline Supersocke 6-ply, colorway 1617
Needles: US3
Modifications: I did the toes on two circs, then switched to DPNs for the rest.

I thought about saving these for xmas, but after repeated "fittings" to make sure they were sized correctly, it seemed unfair to hold onto them until then.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Laura Ricketts came to town

Indiana is a state most travelers pass through on their way somewhere else. Fort Wayne is even more so. Consequently, when someone worth seeing hits town, you go, because unless it is B.B. King, the opportunity might not come this way again.

Even though I had never heard of Laura Ricketts, her encounters with the Sámi people and her efforts to collect their mitten patterns sounded interesting. Last night I attended the talk sponsored by Knitting Off Broadway.

Laura's presentation included a slide show, a description of her recent journey through Sápmi (a.k.a. Lapland), and a pile of mittens she had knitted using the designs she collected along the way. As intriguing as the mittens were, after a while my eyes glazed over. I wish I could take the class she is offering tomorrow, to learn more about the actual techniques, but it's full. Maybe next time.

As she talked, Laura mentioned this knitting museum and that folk art museum, which gave me pause. When I travel, I frequently check out local yarn stores, but it hasn't occur to me to look for museums that specialize in fiber arts. I don't need more yarn or roving, but I could certainly learn something new by visiting these places, especially if my trip can coincide with a class or workshop. Must make note to self.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

In the mean time

While Tuckernuck has been drying after a good soak (sweaters are easier to assemble after the pieces are blocked), I've been experimenting. Pre-retirement, I didn't have much time to just play with knitting, so this is something new for me.


So is colorwork. My goal for the winter to to learn to knit with more than one color at a time. The easiest first step is to knit a check pattern, one stitch per color, across an odd number of stitches.


Since I now know how to knit with either hand (Continental with the left, Irish cottage with the right), it's not too difficult to hold one color in each. The stranding on the back is manageable with single stitches. Next I'll graduate to two stitches of color at a time.


Serendipitously, TECHknitting is publishing a series of posts on color knitting. Check it out!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Back on track

I have a slight reprieve on the Tuckernuck sweater, as g'daughter's birthday will be celebrated several days after the fact. Still, I know how these projects go: you get the bulk of the knitting completed and think you are nearly done, but the finishing almost finishes you off.

Body

Sleeves

Coming together

There will be blocking, of course. And buttons! I hate sewing on buttons!

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Another detour

My daughter put out a call for doll clothes, so I could not resist whipping up this poncho out of leftover yarn.


Pattern: 18 Inch Doll Poncho
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, colorways 340027 (blue) and 340202 (light blue)
Needles: US4
Modifications: None. Instructions for a jogless color change found here.

Now back to our regularly scheduled knitting.