Knitting Weather

Picking up where I left off..

2009-05-01T14:17:00.001-08:00

If I just start chatting about the latest finished project and the weather will you not notice that I have been gone for a very long time? I haven't meant to be. All is well here. My best excuse is that I started a new job a few months ago and for a time it was all consuming. Since the knitting wasn't progressing, I couldn't motivate myself to blog.

When I finally realized my niece's wedding day was fast approaching, I got serious about her gift, which had been languishing on my needles. I nearly made it, too, but five days before I was to leave for her wedding, I used up my last bit of yarn (including the test swatch yarn which I unraveled and used in the vain hope that it might suffice) and still had 18" of edging to complete.

I immediately ordered another skein and it actually arrived the day before I was to leave. I finished up the knitting but left the blocking until my return last Sunday. And now, at last, without further ado ..

Giralsole for Jeanne and Lou

Pattern: Girasole by Jared Flood

Yarn: Cascade Pastaza in Doeskin Heather (14 skeins plus a little bit of a 15th)

Needles: US Size 10 Knit Picks options (and dpns)

Finished size: Nearly 7 feet in diameter!

Modifications/Notes: My only mod was to go down a needle size; I did use the suggested yarn but I'm a loose knitter. (As evidenced by how huge this is, even with a smaller needle!) Fantastic pattern; Jared is brilliant!! I was tickled to learn the nifty circular cast-on.

Glorious weather this week. I played hooky yesterday and we went to the beach!

It's The Little Things...

2008-12-14T22:44:00.005-09:00

Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. I've crafted only a very few, and very small gifts for this holiday season. I'm a little bit gift-challenged; I obsess and fret and worry that I've not done enough or gotten the right thing. This is in conflict with my desire to make gifts, as MY handmade gifts never seem quite sufficient to ME. I get around this by giving handmade stuff either in addition to store bought (crazy, I know-I'm working on it), or by making things to give away when a gift is neither required nor expected. That way, it doesn't matter that it's just handmade.

My very special friends in Berkeley, who will be having their annual dinner at Bucci's without me next week, will each be getting a bookmark. The light was extraordinarily crappy this week, as I tried to get photographs of these before sending them off.

They were fun to make and it gave me lots of pleasure to imagine The Moms, sitting around the table, drinking Cosmopolitans, and unwrapping these. (The first year I had to miss one of these dinners, I printed a photo of myself, drink in hand, and mounted it on cardboard so it could "sit" at the table with my friends. My desire not to be forgotten is ~~pathetic~~ great, I know.)

Six Bookmarks

Yarn: Perle Cotton #5, assorted colors, less than 1 skein for each
Needles: US #0
Hooks: I think I used a 2.1 mm, but it might have been something else
Crochet Patterns: Fan Bookmark, Shell Bookmark (That's a Ravelry link)
Knitting Pattern: I just made this one up using the Melon Stitch pattern from VLT
Most Fun: Picking out beads for each of them!

By the time I had finished and mailed the bookmarks, I had rather warmed to the idea of making gifts. I actually have a gift sock on the needles, but as it's the first of two, I've accepted that it won't be gifted by this Chanukah (and it's ok, I already bought and mailed the real gift.) That left me free to cast on for another sweater...

ornament! I love these wee tree decorations. This one is made from that recycled silk that was so popular a few years back. It's sort of on the funky side, but I love it. And the great thing is, it's going to a woman who totally appreciates hand made gifts. (She's getting a big Fruitcake, too!)

Jen's Sweater Ornament

Yarn: Recycled Silk
Needles: US#8 DPNs
Pattern: Last year I made a few of these by following Jared's recipe, more or less. Shortly after I posted about them, kt sent me mail and asked for help. Luckily, I was able to find my response to her and followed my own directions, which I would otherwise have had to re-figure out.
Best Thing About This Project: Near-Instant gratification!

Shetland II

2008-12-04T08:10:00.000-09:00

I finally finished my Shetland Triangle. Why I thought it needed to be so big is unclear. It's lovely, and I'm happy to have it, but will I wear it?

Having gone to all the trouble to make it truly shawl sized, instead of scarf sized, of course I like it best worn as a scarf.

Shetland Triangle II

Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Wrap Style
Yarn: Zephyr Wool/Silk Yarn used double throughout.
Needles: US Size 4, KnitPicks Options
Finished Size: Big. Something like 80" across and 40" from center top edge to bottom of point.
Modifications: Needles and yarn, and I worked extra repeats. I forget what the pattern originally calls for, but I worked 19. I also omitted the last two rows of the pattern (this is how Jared did it, way back when) to make the edge less pointy.

Fruitcake Day

2008-12-01T21:54:00.013-09:00

I know it's an unlikely tradition for a nice Jewish girl, but every fall I bake a double batch of fruitcakes. I've been doing it so long - 26 or 27 years - I can't not do it. But it is a day long commitment to turn 15 pounds of dried fruit and nuts into 19 loaves. In the early years, I used the day we "fall back" to standard time so I could take advantage of the extra hour; I needed every minute of it. In recent times, I've gotten ~~less obsessive~~ more relaxed. (I've also acquired a free-standing KitchenAi d and it makes all the difference.) I usually aim for the beginning of November, though Fruitcake Day has occurred as early as September 30th and as late as late November, but I don't think it's ever been quite as late as this.

Just to be clear, these are not your everyday fruitcakes. No colored candied plastic fruit pieces have made their way into these confections. They are just dense loaves of dried apricots, dates, raisins and pecan halves, with just enough buttery allspice-laced batter to hold them all together. After baking, they are soaked in a blend of brandy and orange liqueur, wrapped snuggly in aluminum foil and shoved to the back of the refrigerator to "age" for at least a month. Many of them will then be lovingly packed into boxes and hauled to the post office for the annual fruitcake migration. Others will be gifted locally, and the rest will be consumed by us. My boys have developed a taste for these over the years, and slipping thick slices into their lunch bags makes me feel like such a good mom!

Knitting content will be back with the next post. Soon, I promise ...

A quick shout-out to kt who sent me mail over the weekend because I hadn't posted in sooooo long. It meant so much, and was, of course, the kick-in-the pants I needed. Thanks, kt!

Guess Who Came To Juneau?

2008-10-17T07:37:00.002-08:00

My knitting continues at a very slow, unbloggworthy pace. I keep adding "just one more repeat" to my Shetland Triangle Shawl. I hope to finish it soon. I've been surprisingly monogamous with this project, probably because I have memorized the pattern and it now fills both of my knitting needs: complex enough to keep me interested and simple enough to be carry along or TV knitting. Now that the end is in sight (really, I'm on the last repeat), I'm starting to get the itch to start a new project. Hopefully there will be some interesting knitting happenings around here soon.

In the meantime, it's a crazy time to be an Alaskan. Things got even crazier a few weeks ago when Dolores Van Hoofen made a stop here. She's been on a whirlwind campaign tour. I was honored to be her Juneau host. While Franklin maintains that you "really can see Russia" from the Governor's mansion, I'd like to point out what else you can see... (Mudflats is a great resource for those of you who are interested in the bizarre saga of Sarah Palin and politics in Alaska.)

I'll leave you with the official press release from Dolores' visit:

Fibertarian Candidate, Dolores Van Hoofen, photographed in front of the Governor's Mansion, on her campaign stop in Juneau, Alaska.

After spending the afternoon wandering about in the rain shaking hands and kissing babies, Ms. Van Hoofen needed to find a place to spend the night. She was delighted to learn this lovely white mansion had a vacancy. Ms Van Hoofen wasted little time making herself at home. Though she declined to eat the mooseburgers she found in the freezer, out of Unglulate Solidarity; she did avail herself of the on-site tanning bed.

One in Eight *

2008-10-01T00:01:00.004-08:00

I've recently finished a stealth project that's been in the works for a while. I'm unveiling it today, as October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I created it for an annual art exhibit here in Juneau: Bra Dazzler. It's a fundraiser for a local non-profit, Team Survivor Perseverance, that provides fitness and exercise programs to women affected by cancer.

It is totally unlike anything I have ever done before. I tend to knit wearable things, and I don't think of myself as artsy.

Let's just say that there was a serendipitous convergence of top-down hat knitting and hearing about this exhibit last year. Then I went to see the exhibit and there was such a wide range of styles and materials employed, that I was emboldened and decided I was brave enough to give it a go. I started working on a prototype last spring, and once I had it figured out, I began slowly knitting breasts. They were great little take-along projects, and I kept them going in the background.

When we returned from our last trip of the summer, in August, I realized the deadline for exhibit submissions was earlier than I expected. So I went into high gear and started churning out knitted breasts. Turns out, the knitting was the easy part. Nick helped me figure out how to assemble it. (Thanks, honey!) In the end, it's pretty darn close to what I envisioned when I started out; that makes me very happy.

One in Eight
Created for the Bra Dazzler 2008 Exhibition in Juneau, Alaska
On display at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum
October 3-November 1

Yarn: Cascade 220; shades of grey, black
and kool-aid dyed lemon-lime
Needles: US size 5 dpns and US size 3 circulars
Size: Canvas measures 30" x 24."
Each breast is approximately 5" in diameter.
Most surprising this about this project: Think about it .. 16 knitted breasts .. eight pairs .. brought to you by a knitter who has trouble getting a second sock finished!

*The risk, if you are a woman, of getting breast cancer in your lifetime.

Fading Memories...

2008-09-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

This post is way overdue. Back in July, I promised that I would let you know how I fared at our Moebius Knitting Retreat on the shores of Lake George. As it gets colder and darker here, I am happy to remember those warm halcyon days of summer...

To recap: My two sisters and my s-i-l (and our non-knitting husbands, and our children, some of whom DO knit, but not moebii) gathered for a week long family reunion in Ticonderoga, NY. We stayed in a lovely house right on Lake George and it was the perfect venue for our First Annual Knitting retreat.

My sisterly patience made up for my lack of teaching skills; everyone had a moebius cast on by the end of the first full day and knit diligently ...

and happily...

and even giddily...

until they were finished!!

Follow this link for a close up of Hilary's beauty!

*************************

I have been knitting too. Slowly making my way through a shawl and ready to embark on a pair of mittens. I will try to be a better blogger. I miss all of you!

As fall arrived on Monday, so did the snow on our nearby mountains. We're waking up to crispy mornings and the urge to knit wooly things is strong ..

Well Situated Soccer Fields

2008-08-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

I've been gone so long I hardly know where to begin. I've spent large chunks of the summer away from home, and though I've been knitting, I haven't been inspired enough to share anything in the short time I've been near my computer.

But we returned from our last planned trip recently, and as I face the end of summer I'm drawn back to my blog, and the blogs of others (I have SO much to catch up on!!).

Our most recent trip was to Fairbanks for the annual State Cup soccer tournament. I did my research before we went and on our first trip to the soccer fields ~~I squealed with delight as~~ I noticed we were crossing Peger Road, the street on which Inua Wool Shoppe is located. I managed to get there twice in six days - pretty good stats I think! (The boys were 1 in 3; same ratio, but they were less happy with their results.)

I bought hat yarn on my first trip. I was aiming for warm and cheery, whatta you think?

A Hat For Rene

Pattern: Basic top down hat. I increased 8 stitches every other row for a rounded top.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto DK , 100% Superwash Merino. I used just over one skein of the blue, and not very much of the green.
Needles: US #5

I made this for a friend, but Toby was my gracious model.

Summertime And The Blogging Is Iffy

2008-07-06T12:40:00.003-08:00

Back from a wonderful long weekend in beautiful Kelowna, BC where Max was playing in a soccer tournament. It was HOT, brutal for the soccer players, and a little bit much for the spectators, but a nice change from our cool Juneau weather. Kristie in Kamloops directed me to a GREAT yarn store, Art of Yarn. (Thanks, Kristie!) It was well stocked with lots of nice yarn, but I was suffering from my usual indecisiveness and left with nary a skein.

It might be just as well that I showed yarn-buying restraint as I will soon join my ~~enablers~~ family for a visit and we are sure to do some yarn store visiting. Anytime we gather, there is a frenzy of knitting related activity. This usually includes actual knitting as well as future project planning, yarn buying, helping - you name it!

This year, we going to be more directed; we're going to have an official knitting workshop! Other years I have encouraged my sisters to start projects, only to leave them on their own, with unfinished projects and great anxiety, at the end of our vacation. This year, I picked a project that could be completed in one week. I'm going to show them all (two sisters and a sister-in-law) how to make a Moebius Scarf a la Cat Bordhi. I'll share highlights of our Ticonderoga Knitting Retreat when I return.

In th meantime, I'm nearing the end of my top-down Tee shirt. It should make for good, mindless, travel knitting.

I hiked my shorts up so that this wouldn't turn into a midriff shot. At this point I probably still have 5-6 inches to go. But I'm ever hopeful that it will be finished soon!

Solstice!

2008-06-21T11:12:00.003-08:00

I don't have anything new to show, on the knitting front, but I wanted to unveil my summer banner. I took the photo at around 10:15 PM last night.

Please forgive the lack of knitting content. I am knitting .. maybe I'll have something photo-worthy soon. But it will probably remain quiet around Knitting Weather for a while, as we have a hectic summer of travel planned.

I know I have at least one visitor from the Kelowna, BC area (my StatCounter tells me so!). If you're reading, do you have any yarn shop/tourist recommendations? I'll be in the area for my oldest son's soccer tournament next weekend, but expect to have some time to explore between games.

Happy Summer to all!

One FO, Two WIPs and a Brush With The Kniterati

2008-05-31T10:49:00.009-08:00

I've been a happy knitter for the past few weeks. Around the same time that I changed lace directions, I was also agonizing over my Diagonal Triangle Tank out of my long-stashed Allegro yarn. It just wasn't doing it for me, so I finally ripped that off the needles. It's just as well because once off the needles it looked frighteningly tiny - I don't think it would have fit me. The thing is, I had really grown to like the yarn, but what to make? One day I glanced up and the garter stitch swatch pinned to the cork board above my desk was catching the light just so. Garter stitch brings out all the best in this yarn.

SO what to knit? The time had come to take a crack at a top down sweater ala Barbara Walker. Several months ago I added Knitting From The Top to an Amazon order when I "needed" to add another item to reach the free shipping requirement. (C'mon, you know you've done it...) I've been thumbing through it regularly, feeling too intimidated to jump in, but suddenly I was ready.

I had a few false starts, but now that I'm solidly on my way, it feels right. It's rather hard to do it justice in a photo just yet, but I'll give you a peek anyway ...

I know it doesn't look like much yet, but I'm delighted with it nonetheless. I'm especially happy to have gotten past the "top-down" block. I knew I was going to be a convert, and I've been itching to try it on a human scale ever since I tried it in miniature here.

I had just settled on this and was working the fussy beginnings with shoulders on provisional cast-ons, short rows and neck shaping when the need for a mindless, portable project caused me to set it aside for a few days and cast on for a moebius scarf. It was the perfect take-along project for the 5th grade field trip - a catamaran cruise to Endicott Arm!

We saw whales, goats, bears and a calving glacier!! We never had field trips like this in California!

I finished it up a few days later and I'm very happy with it. I like to wear these doubled, up fairly close to my neck.

Moebius Scarf

Pattern: Basic Purl Ridge Moebius from A Treasury of Magical Knitting, by Cat Bordhi. I did 5-round ridges; next time I think I'll do3. I finished it off with 3 stitch "fingers."
Yarn: Crystal Palace Waikiki
Needles: 47" circular US #7
Best thing about this project: Wearing it to lunch to meet Evelyn Clark!!

I finished it just in time to wear it to lunch with some Juneau knitters and a special guest! The Juneau knitters are two woman, Sally and Kim, I met through Ravelry, and at the time of this lunch I'd only actually met Sally in person. Kim had done a workshop with Evelyn A. Clark a while back and when she learned she was going to be in Juneau for a visit, she invited her out to lunch. Somehow, I got lucky enough to get an invite too!! What a treat!!

I'm behind both in blog posting AND blog reading, but I know there's a meme going around and I've recently been tagged. Helen, I almost never do these (but you know that, don't you?), but I'm flattered that you tagged me .. maybe that will motivate me to post again SOON.

The Great Thing About Knitting Baby Things

2008-05-15T19:30:00.006-08:00

The great thing about knitting baby things, is that you hardly have to worry about fit. So what if it's too big! If it's one thing babies do, it's grow. And sooner or later, your baby is going to grow into your hand knit.

I, for example, knit a hat for Max when he was a baby that ended up a wee bit too large...

14 years later he goes looking for a hat to wear to his track meet and I've got just the thing ...

May Day

2008-05-01T14:13:00.005-08:00

Slacker blogger though I may be, I still feel the urge to acknowledge my blogiversary. It's two years today since the birth of Knitting Weather!

Though I seem to be in a bit of a blogging slump, it's brought me enough pleasure these past two years that I'm not ready to let it go. Thank you to my band of faithful readers and commenters who have supported, encouraged, and inspired me along the way!

When last I posted about my knitting indecision, it felt very much like I was asking for knitterly permission to change course and rip out my Leaf and Trellis shawl beginnings. Or maybe it was like going to confession? At any rate, I felt free to rip away after that post and have since started a Shetland Triangle with the same lovely Zephyr yarn. This will be my second Shetland Triangle. I've thought about making one for myself ever since slipping that first one in the mail.

The pattern seems very simple this time around, so maybe I should try more complex lace before too long, but for now, this is perfect.

My Knitting Mojo Has Gone ...

2008-04-21T17:46:00.002-08:00

...and it apparently took my Blogging Mojo with it.

April is 3/4 behind us and I have nothing knit-worthy to show for it!

I have been knitting, at least a bit, most days, but I'm just not satisfied with anything.

I've done a little work on my Leaf and Trellis stole. I love working the lace, that isn't the problem. The problem is, I'm not sure if I really like this stole enough to put in the hours to finish it. Maybe what I really want is a slightly heavier stole/shawl that I might actually wear? (This is the niggling thought I've had going since I first cast on. Why didn't I listen to it then?) I had a knitterly epiphany a few weeks back and I was all set to rip it out and start something new, maybe even re-using the Zephyr, but doubling it - and then I stalled. All those little stitches, can I bear to rip them out???

My other knitting uncertainty is a summer tank out of Allegro, a yarn that I bought so long ago most likely no one else has ever heard of it. It's a Crystal Palace yarn and is a little bit like Waikiki, except it's 100% silk. I think the reason it's been sitting in my stash all these years (nearly 25, I figure) is that it isn't especially pleasant to knit with; it's kind of squeaky, if you know what I mean. But I worked a few swatches and the result, after washing and blocking, is a lovely drapey fabric. So it seems like it might be worth slogging through the knitting. I'm tentatively working the Diagonal Triangle Tank by Iris Scheier. It's a strange leap of faith sort of construction and I'm not sure I'm A) doing it right B) going to like it .. but I guess I'll keep plodding along.

Suffering from this knitting malaise, I was especially grateful when the mail arrived last week with an Amazon box addressed to me containing my pre-ordered copy of Shear Spirit!! What a beautiful book! Gale's photos are gorgeous. Goats, alpaca and sheep - they just don't make 'em more photogenic than that, and Gale has captured some fantastic images. Along with the animals are farms and ranches and, of course, yarns and projects. Great projects! There are at least four that I'm thinking about after my first go-through.* (Currently, I'm dreaming of a Cassandra Cardigan.)

Really, it's the just the sort of book to stoke a smoldering knitting fire .. thanks, Gale!

(*And there are the wonderful stories behind the farms and fiber, but I've only scratched the surface on those.)

A Most Excellent Week

2008-03-28T16:15:00.010-08:00

It started getting excellent early on when we sighted our local wolf. Next up was a rare convergence of clear skies and solar activity that produced the best show of the Aurora Borealis that we've seen since moving back to Juneau. And today we took advantage of some gloriously sunny and mild weather, and went cross-country skiing on the lake. It was a day to wipe out the memory of the 220 rainy days in an average year.

That's Nick and his hat in the foreground, Mendenhall Glacier in the background.

These are some Koigu mittens I made before I started blogging. There's nothing special about them, but I have to tell you all: This is their third winter and I haven't been saving them for special occasions, if you know what I mean. I wear them all the time, unless serious ski gloves are required. I've worn them on countless dog walks with a leash wrapped around my hand and a crazy dog pulling like she thinks she's in the Iditarod. I've worn them to shovel endless inches of snow. And I've worn them skiing. In three winters of hard use, they haven't pilled or worn thin. If, like me, you've wondered how well Koigu holds up, wonder no more.

We skied across the lake so we could get an up-close and personal view of the glacier's face.

And if this wasn't all excellent enough, go see what Gale posted this week. I'm all aglow. (Or maybe that's sunburn.)

I also got a wonderful package from a blog-free reader in Arizona who is obsessed with Alaska. She approached me a few weeks ago about doing a swap and the next thing I knew I had received beautiful yarn, a gorgeous felted bag, yarn soak and a warm and friendly letter. Thanks again, Cassie! (Your package will be on its way soon.)

Thanks to everyone for the comments on my wolf and scarf photos. Seeing the wolf *is* an incredible thing. (msubulldog: I forwarded your comments along to my son. He's getting the blogger "comment lust" and I think it might just motivate him to write some more. Thanks!)

Something to Blog About

2008-03-24T14:22:00.007-08:00

Malabrigo Melon Scarf

Pattern: Melon Pattern from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace weight - One skein (470 yards) in Tortuga colorway
Needles: Knit Picks Options US size 4 (3.5 mm)
Size after blocking: 71.5" x 7.5" (Pre-blocked: 60"x 6.5")
Notes: I followed the recommendation for a scarf with garter stitch edges. I worked 5 melon pattern repeats with 4 garter stitches at each edge and 3 garter ridges at each end. I remembered having "flaring" issues on a scarf I made for Nick and so I went down a needle size for the last 5 garter rows. Next time I'll begin and end with a smaller needle.

This was my first Malabrigo experience. Now I understand. It was lovely to work with, and it is deliciously soft and warm and light to wear. My only concern is how it will hold up. Only time will tell.

Nick accompanied me to Skater's Cabin for this photo shoot. The light was pretty flat (read: These photos don't do justice to the beautiful richly colored yarn.), but at least it wasn't raining or snowing and there was occasional filtered sunlight. It seemed like the best we might get for awhile. When we got there, we saw that The Wolf was out on the lake.

Every winter since we've been here, people have been seeing this wolf around the lake/campground/glacier area. This winter is the first time we've seen him. The very first time we saw him, we actually heard him first. We followed his voice to the edge of the lake and stood watching him and listening to him howl for nearly an hour. Since then, we've seen him several times, and for the last several days he's been on the lake every time we've been there.

So after the scarf photo shoot, we came home and got our cross-country skis and went back. We skied a big loop around him, torn between wanting to get as close as possible, and not wanting to disturb him.

A wildlife photographer I'm not. (Like I needed to tell you that.) I know these photos are just average photos, but it's not every day you get to ski within snapshot distance of a wolf - nothing average about that.

Vernal Equinox

2008-03-20T12:42:00.005-08:00

We were greeted with fresh snow on this first day of spring. Several inches of heavy wet snow. Shoveling said snow was a drag, but the day is much brighter and prettier for it; the last several days have been unbelievably dreary.

I have two new knits to show off - and I didn't knit either of them! I'm just trying to keep your interest while I slog through the end of the melon scarf. I cannot in good conscience post another update photo, and I'm determined to finish it before I work on anything else.

Max* returned home from the Arctic Winter Games with this adorable hat for Toby:

It's a conjoined sock hat! Isn't it clever?

At the other end of the knitting spectrum is this gorgeous Dale Sweater I inherited when I was in California last week. One of my bestest mom friends (an amazing group of women I met in a new-mom support group 14 years ago) gave it to me. It belonged to her mother, who died several years ago, and it is too big for Karen. I am incredibly touched by this gift, and I will think of Karen and her mom whenever I wear it. (Which may be constantly! I put it on a few hours ago to take advantage of this pretty day for a photo shoot, and I haven't taken it off since. It is SO lovely!)

*Max's Team Alaska finished 3rd and came home with bronze Ulu Medals to show for it!! He had a great time and I hope he'll soon write about it himself.

Melon Season

2008-03-05T13:59:00.003-09:00

I thought I was going to wait until this scarf was finished and blocked before blogging about it again, but it's taking me forever. So I'm going to try to squeeze out one more "in progress" post, so you won't forget about me.

I made some good progress last weekend in the lodge while the kids were skiing, but then I offered to play Monopoly with them and the rest of the weekend was shot. When ~~my sons completely wore me down and coerced me into playing~~ I agreed to play I imagined I'd fit in lots of stitches waiting for my turn. But I forgot how demanding the role of "banker" could be; my knitting sat untouched next to me - for many, many hours. All was not lost however, because my kids got along for the first time in our Monopoly history and we A) Had a lot of fun, and B) I WON!! I believe this might just be not only the first time I've ever won this game, but that I've ever played it to its natural conclusion. I'm a little bit ashamed of how how happy it made me to force my children into bankruptcy ...

So it may well be melon season before I finish my Melon Stitch Scarf. I'm loving it though, and if I have to pack it away for next fall as soon as it's done, so be it. I think it's going to be a beauty.

I believe I'm about 2/3 of the way there. I'm not sure how much this will grow when blocked, but it seems like I should just knit until this divine Malabrigo Lace yarn runs out.

ps For another perspective of life in Juneau, soccer news, and 14 year old wisdom, check out the newest blog in the family.

If These Socks Could Talk...

2008-02-21T14:28:00.005-09:00

They would probably grouse about being schlepped from place to place to place, on the chance that I might knit a round or two. They would tell you that I misplaced them for several months and had given up ever finding them, but then I did. They would tell you about the doctors' waiting rooms, movie theaters, and restaurants where they sat patiently in my lap; the soccer games where I clutched them in sweaty hands, but worked hardly a stitch.

However, they can't talk. They can just cover my feet in all of their lovely handknitted-ness and make me happy that I finally finished them.

Pattern: Thuja
Yarn: Nature's Palette in "Dark Indigo," a gift from Hilary ages ago ...
Needles: US # 1 dpns
Modifications/notes: The pattern was written for a heavier yarn, I just massaged the numbers a bit to work for a regular sock yarn. I cast on 56 stitches. I like my sock feet on the snug side.
The weird thing: I thought I couldn't wait to be done with these, and now I'm wondering what socks to make next ...

Year of the Hat

2008-02-12T21:00:00.009-09:00

In all my years of knitting, I have not knit as many hats as I have knit in the last few months. And just when I thought I had knit my last hat of this hat-wearing season, Max came into the kitchen on Friday morning, pointed at his father's hat-clad head and said, "You should make me a hat like that." His sudden hat desire might have been fed by the weather which looked something like this on Friday morning:

Our digital thermometer actually read -18 that morning.

Next thing I knew I was rummaging through my stash and trying to pick out yarn that might meet the very particular requirements of my 14 year old.

Then on Friday afternoon, we got a phone call informing us that his status as "alternate" goalkeeper for Team Alaska for the Arctic Winter Games had been upgraded. The keeper originally chosen is no longer going. Instead, Max is going to Yellowknife! The temperature in Yellowknife on Friday was minus 35 Fahrenheit. Must. Knit. Warm. Hat.

I started knitting on Saturday and finished Monday morning. In between, on Sunday afternoon, Max had to meet a friend at Skater's Cabin to work on a science project that involved tromping across the frozen lake. It was getting warmer by then, but snowing like crazy and both boys showed up in handmade hats.

Boys in handmade hats!

That's my guy on the right rolling his eyes, but his friend, Alan? Alan is wearing a hat he crocheted himself! How cool is that?? AND I heard him tell Max he couldn't find any string (needed for project) so he brought along a ball of yarn. I love Alan!!

By the time I finished the requested hat, temps were in the mid-30's, skies were grey, and rain was falling. Terrible photo weather, but this post has waited long enough.

Max's Beanie
Pattern: Just a basic 2x2 rib, I cast on 76 stitches
Yarn: Mostly Merino (black) and Morehouse Farm Merino (oatmeal), held together.
Needles: US Size 7 (2 circulars)
My Favorite thing about this project: He likes it!

Happy Groundhog Day!

2008-02-02T10:39:00.000-09:00

Much as I like my recent flap hats, I've got to admit that when the temperature dips into the single digits (that's single digits Fahrenheit), there's nothing like a snug watch cap to keep your ears warm. I know this because it's been mighty cold for the last week.

Gale made a couple of beauties a while back that I can't get out of my mind. I totally copied her idea, and for the very same reasons. (Those Noro scarves! I can't make myself knit one, but they're SO very lovely.) Anyway, Thanks for the inspiration, Gale!

I started playing around with some leftover Silk Garden and miscellaneous black stash yarn, but I just wasn't sure. I feared the darkest colors in the Noro would get lost in the black. Next I grabbed some heather grey Cascade 220. Bingo! I love the way it makes the Silk Garden POP.

Nick's Newest Hat

Pattern: Basic 2x2 ribbed watch cap, a la Gale.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden and Cascade 220. Less than a skein of each.
Needles: US size 6 circulars (I used two) and dpns for the last few rounds.
Size: I cast on 108 stitches for Nick's very large head.

Nick's hat at work.

Go Ahead, Make My Day*

2008-01-29T13:07:00.000-09:00

Helen, of Chronic Knitting Syndrome, made my day today by giving me a "You Make My Day Award." I'm excited way out of proportion. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love being a part of this incredible knitting community.

Having received this great honor, I am now bound to pass it along to ten other bloggers who regularly make my day. I'm to "give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."So without further ado (and in alphabetical order):

A Wee Bit Obsessive - OK, so Hilary is my sister-in-law, and you might think there's a little nepotism going on here; but she'd make my day even if we weren't related by marriage. She's smart and funny, she knits beautiful things, and sometimes she posts photos of my adorable niece and nephew.

The AmpuTeehee - There's way more than knitting here. We laugh, we cry, sometimes there's knitting; always there's something to think about.

BrooklynTweed - I know, I know, I'm sure Jared's already received bunches of these awards. But I can't help myself.

Garn Boet - The Yarn Nest - Beautiful knits and fantastic photos of Maud's gorgeous Afghan hound, Ludde!

Jean's Knitting-It's like traveling abroad, to visit Jean's blog - Fantastic knitting, political and social commentary, glimpses into her daily life, and the ongoing saga of the Theo Gansey.

Knitting in the Great Basin -Posts are few and far between these days, as Frasera is a new mom. But it's worth the wait to see beautiful knits modeled on her most beautiful daughter.

One More Row -Another Alaskan knitter. I like hearing about life a little bit farther north, and I get a kick out of her "mom" stories. She also has two boys, though hers are considerably younger than mine. Oh, and the knitting!!

She Shoots Sheep Shots -Clever, funny, beautiful knits, and GORGEOUS photos. How could it NOT make my day? (For twice the fun, check out her second blog, Two Shear Spirits.)

Taoknitter2- Ann is multi-talented craft-wise, but I read her blog as much for the "diva stories" as the knitting content. With two boys in my house, it's refreshing to hear her, often humorous, take on mothering three daughters.

Why not? - KT's a kick, and now we're practically neighbors!

And because I'm loathe to post without a photo ...

Jojoland Melody sock yarn. Thanks to ~~my enabler~~ Hilary for making a yarn store stop with me on my way to the airport last week.

*Thanks, Clint!

A Well-Traveled Sweater

2008-01-24T09:04:00.000-09:00

After dawdling along forever on my Minimalist Cardigan, I finally got into high gear a few weeks back. I was spurred on by the wish to have it completed in time for my trip, last week, to my hometown, Rochester, NY. And I did it!! It turns out, if you really sit and knit, instead of just talking, blogging and reading about it, you can accomplish quite a bit. Who knew?

With just hours to spare, and no time for photos, I finished the finishing, packed it in my bag and headed east. A week later, before I began my westward journey home, my brother took a few photographs for me.

Minimalist Cardigan

Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan by Ruthie Nussbaum
From: Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Yarn: 2-Ply Morehouse Merino/~ 6 skeins in Olive
Needles: KnitPicks Options US size 4
Size: I was aiming for something near 39 1/2"
Modifications/Notes: I used sport weight yarn instead of worsted. Rather than rework all the numbers, I did a swatch, took a chance and simply followed the directions for the next size up, taking care to work to the lengths for my true size and not the larger size. I think my only other modification was to short row the shoulder shapings and seam them with a three-needle bind off. First I worried it would be too small, then I worried that it would be too big. In the end, I'm pretty happy with the fit and the overall look.
My Favorite Part: Wearing it for the first time to the opening of Will's photography exhibit, which was the culmination of an extraordinary year-long project. Never has a sister had a better reason to kvell over her little brother.

Credit where credit is due: This photo by Nick

Knitting at Glacial Speed

2008-01-04T16:16:00.000-09:00

I can't seem to finish a project to save my life. After the distractions of December, I have returned to my Minimalist Cardigan with renewed enthusiasm and determination. Alas, no sooner did I finish the first sleeve this morning, than I realized I'd have to rip it back to the start of the cap shaping. With premeditation, I let my decreases form a vertical line of stockinette. I thought this was a logical and good thing, but I realize now that it's too disruptive to the moss stitch.

Then there's the second sock that has been mouldering on the needles for nearly a year. It was lost in action for a while. Since it is my "Grab when I'm heading out the door" project, I began to seriously fear it had be left behind at a soccer game, school planning meeting, dentist appointment or the like. I found it a few weeks ago when I was tearing up the house looking for something else I had misplaced. Yay! It came in handy last week as we sat through many soccer games during the annual Holiday Cup tournament. I made some knitting progress, but must admit as the games got more and more exciting, I did more clutching of my knitting in sweaty hands than actual knitting.

In between soccer games, I began craving lace and spent some time with my dormant melon stitch scarf. I would like to finish that and than get back to the lace stole I started last spring.

But as none of these knitting efforts is photo worthy, and I hate to post without a photo, I'll leave you with some images from our walk on the frozen Mendenhall Lake this afternoon. If you look closely, you might see a hand-knit or two.

Two hand knit hats, one scarf, an iceberg and a glacier.

Icebergs frozen in Mendenhall Lake.

Boy, hat, and glacier.

The Mendenhall Glacier, which, much like my knitting, is receding faster than it is advancing.

Happy New Year to all!

My Inner Martha

2007-12-21T14:04:00.000-09:00

Not much knitting progress around these parts in the last few weeks. I'm going to take liberties with the blog and show craftiness of another sort:

There might be more knitting progress to show if I didn't spend my time obsessively hand painting teensy gingerbread stars for teacher gifts. (And yes, that is another crocheted bookmark. Who wants to know?)

Happy Solstice to all!!

Our view, taken earlier this week. There isn't much to see today as the clouds are hanging low and even in the middle of our 6 hours and 21 minutes of daylight, there was almost no light.

2:27 P.M December 21, 2007
Taken in the interest of full-disclosure

I Know The Rule: Don't Hang Sweaters!

2007-12-11T20:58:00.000-09:00

But sometimes a rule just needs to be broken..

I saw Jared's sweater ornaments a few days ago, and could not resist casting on for my own. And then I made another for a gift.

So here I am making Christmas ornaments, even though I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Christmas trees. I grew up NOT celebrating Christmas, but since my husband did, it has become part of our family tradition. And a big part of that tradition is: The Tree. I enjoy other people's trees, and I like ours when everyone else has gone to bed on Christmas Eve and I am alone with it as I stuff stockings and perform other elfish duties. But by the light of day on the 26th I'm ready to shove it out the door. This has worked well for us in past years as we've hosted the holiday at our home away from home. We've arrived right before the holiday and left shortly after. Not a lot of tree-time. This year, for the first time since moving back to Alaska 2.5 years ago, we'll be staying put for the holidays .. specifically Christmas.

My meager ornament collection is thousands of miles from here, but I'm thinking simple white lights and a hand knit sweater. This just might be my kinda tree.

Sweater Ornaments

Pattern: I followed Jared's instructions, more or less.
Needles: US size 5 dpns
Red Yarn: Tahki, Chelsea Silk. I've had this yarn FOREVER (20 plus years, anyway.). Much of it is in a never to be finished vest, long out of style. The yarn is a little musty, and I've been reluctant to reuse it. But my washed ornament seems fine. This little sweater has provided the added bonus of uncovering some lovely yarn for a new project.
Brown-multi Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, of course.
My Favorite part: I love everything about these, but I'm especially smitten with the tiny hangers I fashioned.

FOs from Head to Toe

2007-12-10T11:05:00.000-09:00

First up, the second hat from my Hats I knit for my children even though they didn't ask for them, but they better like them series. This one is for the 11 year old and is a fraternal twin of the hat in the previous post. Some DNA in common, but not identical. I'm growing quite fond of these hats, so if all else fails, I'll wear them!

Toby's Hat
Pattern: A loose interpretation of Ryan's Hat by Pam Allen
Needles: US size 7 dpns and 2 circulars
Yarn:Noro Cash Iroha
Modifications/Notes: Just like the hat in the previous post, I worked my increases more quickly so that I would get a more rounded top. I also worked stockinette earflaps instead of garter stitch. I'm feeling happier about this yarn choice. It IS deliciously soft, and while it may not be the perfect hat for our coldest days, it should be just right for many of them.

Next up, felted clogs that I gifted to my sister for Hanukkah. I've been keeping them off the blog even though I finished them weeks ago. (You never know who might be reading your blog.) I was all set to post a cheery Happy Hanukkah post on Tuesday, when I got the word that she'd be waiting to open her presents until Sunday night when she could get together for latkes and Hanukkah revelry with my brother and his family. So I've been waiting, and waiting...

Beth's Clogs
Pattern: Fiber Trends Felt Clogs by Bev Galeskas
Needles:US size 13
Yarn: Cascade 220, used double. 1 skein for the tops, ~1.5 skeins for the soles
Size: Women's Medium
Notes: This is the new, updated pattern (AC-33) which creates a narrower slipper. I've made one pair from the original pattern and they are quite wide. The revised pattern includes instructions for the wider clog.

Risky Business

2007-12-03T11:18:00.000-09:00

Risky is knitting an unsolicited hat for the teenager living under your roof. Will he like it? Will he wear it? Will he appreciate it's handmade-ness?? Will it even fit?

I'm thinking, even though our next gift-giving holiday begins at sundown tomorrow, that I'll save this for Christmas. That should give me plenty of time to make another for the preteen in the house.

Max's Hat
Pattern: Inspiration taken from Ryan's Hat
Needles: US size 7 dpns and 2 circulars
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha
Modifications/Notes: Different yarn and gauge for starters. Different colorwork pattern. I worked my increases more quickly so that I would get a less pointy, and more rounded top. I found guidance for this here. This yarn is lovely, but may not have been the best pick for this hat. I chose it mostly for it's softness and colors. It yields a luscious, drapey fabric, but that might not be the best fabric for this hat.

California Dreamin'

2007-11-26T12:40:00.000-09:00

Just back from a whirlwind week in sunny California. Mostly it was a family visit, though we crammed in as many meet-ups and catch-ups as we could.

One of those meet-ups was with our newest family member and first great-nephew, Lincoln. I couldn't bear to meet him empty handed so I dropped everything and began a pair of socks for him with plenty of time to spare. But then I had that little crochet upset and put the socks aside. That's how I found myself on a southbound flight with my first sock on the needles and a knitting deadline, albeit a very small one, looming. Turns out, when you stop getting distracted, these are a very quick knit. I kitchnered the first one during our layover at SeaTac and knit the next one with plenty of time to spare.

Lincoln's Socks

Pattern: Baby to Toddler Sized Socks by Miriam L. Felton
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug leftovers (less than an ounce)
Needles: US size 1 dpns
Size: These were supposed to be "infant" sized. Lincoln, at three months, still has some growing to do before they'll fit him.

Baby socks basking in the sun on the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve
Cambria, CA

After completing these I was motivated once again by my Minimalist Cardigan. Refreshed and energized, I finished up the second front side and began the first sleeve while still down south. But I also made my way into a yarn store and found my next distraction...

Noro Cash Iroha. Hats anyone?

A Change in the Weather

2007-11-14T20:11:00.001-09:00

I found this nifty pattern while cruising around Ravelry and suddenly it was all about the crocheting around here. I just could not resist. I started it one afternoon and finished while watching The Wizard of Oz that evening.

And then I turned around and made another little bit smaller one. I may have gotten the crocheting out of my system for awhile, but you never can tell...

Pattern: Fan Bookmark, by Crocheteroo

Yarn: DMC 5
Hook: 2.1 mm (US3)
Modifications: Besides using a heavier cotton and bigger hook than suggested, I made the tassels longer - long enough to hang outside of a book so that I could add beads.

Pattern: Fan Bookmark, by Crocheteroo
Yarn: DMC 8
Hook: 1.65mm
Modifications: I made the tassels longer - long enough to hang outside of a book so that I could add beads. And I only did 7 pattern repeats. I like things in odd numbers.

I ironed both with spray starch as the pattern suggested, and was pleased with the level of starchiness I achieved. They're not too crisp, not too floppy, just right.

In other changing weather news, just over a week ago, we got our first snow in Juneau. This photo was taken the next morning when the skies cleared and the sun shown on our freshly whitened peaks. But since then it's been mostly rainy and warmish*, and nearly all of the snow at sea level has melted away. I'm sure it will be back.

*warmish being a relative term, of course. It's been in the mid to high 30's (Fahrenheit) most days. Today it got above 40!

That's My Boy!

2007-10-31T19:15:00.000-08:00

The Daughter I'll never have:

Pattern: Hallowig by Megan Reardon
Yarn: Red Heart Kids
Needles: US #7 Circulars
Modifications: I gave it a flip, like Bonnie did, by working 1 1/2" of stockinette before starting the ribbing
My Favorite part: Easiest Halloween costume ever!
My Least favorite Part: Knitting with ~~fiberglass~~ 100% acrylic yarn

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Twice The Fun

2007-10-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

It was many years ago, during my first life in Juneau, that my interest in all things fiber-y took off. Though I learned to crochet shortly before moving here, it was in Juneau that I learned to knit and also dabbled in weaving, spinning and natural dyeing.

Back in the day, I took a class at the University in beginning weaving with Carol Thilenius. Carol is an amazingly gifted weaver, knitter and spinner.

Lo and behold, this past Saturday Carol was leading a class in a technique she calls "Reverse Knitting." I know other people work this technique in similar and possibly different ways, but Carol's reversible llama sweater (I'm pretty sure she hand spun the yarn as well) was the first time I had seen it (circa 1982) and I've never forgotten it.

This technique produces a double sided fabric, stockinette on both sides with reversible patterns in two or more colors. Sounds simple, no? It was very humbling.

This was the product of over two hours of knitting. To be fair, much of that time was also spent oohing and aahing over the many gorgeous samples Carol brought for show and tell. Worked in a fine gauge yarn, this technique can produce a beautiful and elegant fabric. I wish I had photos of Carol's exquisite sweaters, jackets, hats and mittens to show you.

To make sure I had this new skill cemented in my rather porous brain, I worked another sample when I got home:

It's fun and clever .. and now I have to get back to my sweater ..

Flap Happy

2007-10-04T13:48:00.001-08:00

No sooner do I crow to you all about how I'm over the hump on my Mini Cardi and it's going to start flying off the needles, then I drop it like a hot potato and cast on for something new! It might have been the need for near-instant gratification, or maybe to redeem myself after my fair isle failure. OR it could be the view outside my window

reminding me that cold weather gear will soon be the order of the day.

Whatever the motivation, I decided Nick needed a really warm hat for those bitter days when, like it or not, the dog still needs a walk.

A Hat For Nick

Pattern: Ryan's Hat by Pam Allen
Yarn: Morehouse Merino 2-ply used double throughout
Needles: US#8 dpns and two circulars
Modifications: I had to adjust a bit for an extra large head and a yarn substitution. I increased to 102 stitches rather than 90. Because I messed with the numbers, I also had to mess with the charted pattern, so I used a combination of my own charted design and the one in the pattern.

*************************

I keep forgetting that I want to send a SHOUT-OUT to Alma and Ruth, who were in Juneau on a cruise ship a few weeks back and met me for a quick cuppa tea. This is the first time I've had a face-to-face meeting with knitters I met on line. What fun!!

Minimalist Progress

2007-09-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

After becoming completely besotted with Ravelry a few weeks back, knitting productivity slowed to a crawl around here. Hopes of finishing my Minimalist Cardigan in record time were dashed as I happily uploaded projects, found friends and joined groups.

But even I can only scroll through fellow knitters' projects for so long before my fingers begin to twitch and I find myself reaching for my own knitting basket.

I finished up the back and started the right front; it is almost to the armhole shaping. It's a pleasure to have that little stretch of stockinette to break up the miles of moss stitch.

#11795

2007-09-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

So I got my Ravelry invitation. After months and weeks of waiting, it arrived mere moments before I was to head off with my son's 5th grade class for their big overnight trip to Echo Ranch. Aaacckk! I signed in, just for the thrill, and then grabbed my gear and headed out the door.

I was a little bit late to join the party, even though I started hearing the Ravelry buzz way back last spring. I must admit that at first I just didn't get it. I have a blog, why do I need Ravelry? Also, more true confessions, I fretted that maybe I wasn't cool enough. Luckily with a little peer pressure, I got on the list right before this post set off a stampede. For those of you still waiting, I know it's hard, but it's totally worth it!!

I think Ravelry is brilliant. I wish I'd thought of it. And I am definitely cool enough. The only draw back is, it is seriously putting a dent in my actual knitting time, not to mention laundry, cleaning and family time.

Between camping and Ravelling, I don't have a lot of knitting to show for myself, but I can't bear a photo-less post, so I'll leave you with these:

Evening at Echo Ranch

If you want to find me over at Ravelry, I'm kathyinjuneau.

Fresh Start

2007-08-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

The Fall '07 issue of Interweave Knits finally landed in my mailbox this week. Just in time to help fend off a serious case of Knitting Ennui. I needed something to replace the frogged Fair Isle.

I'm very taken with Ruthie Nussbaum's Minimalist Cardigan. It's not exactly the fall sweater I've had in mind, but it is calling my name. I think I have enough "Olive" Morehouse Farm Merino 2-Ply. This yarn is a lighter gauge than the one the pattern suggests, but I swatched and worked the numbers, and I think if I knit to the size larger than I want (43 1/2"), I'll end up with something which should work for me - 37"-38." I can't quite figure out how much ease I want for this, since it doesn't have closures, so I hope I'm on the right track.

I was a little bit hesitant to embark on a sweater that is almost entirely Moss Stitch, but so far so good. I'm enjoying the yarn and the pattern.

While the sun was shining this afternoon, I also snapped a progress shot of my Melon Stitch Scarf in Malabrigo Lace. It's about 15" long now (pre-blocked). I should probably have finished it before starting something new, but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. Hopefully both of these projects will be finished in time to fend off this winter's chill.

Catching Up

2007-08-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

No sooner had we unpacked from our trip East, we were packing up again for our road trip North. This year's State Cup Tournament was held on the the Kenai Peninsula, a part of the state none of us had yet visited.

We had a week of glorious weather, great soccer, and magnificent environs.

Our favorite keeper

Toby on the beach in Kenai

It was a frustrating week, knit-wise, however. After obsessively swatching, plotting, and planning, I cast on for a sweater. And after knitting 3-4 inches I have decided I'm not happy with it after all. I think I'm going to cut my losses and continue looking for another sweater pattern. It's bad enough to finish a project for which you had high hopes, only to be disappointed. I'm not willing to go into it disappointed. I am a sucker for corrugated ribbing, however. I'm going to have to incorporate that into a sweater soon.

We arrived back in Juneau on Sunday and the weather was glorious all week long. Warm sunny days the likes of which Juneau hadn't seen in a long, long time. We saw moose, sand hill cranes, and trumpeter swans while on the road, but never saw a bear until we got home.

This fellow was hanging out by the glacier, along with a 6-8 others who have been spotted regularly feeding on the salmon running in Steep Creek. Watching bears go about their bear business will never cease to thrill me. We went three evenings in a row and saw bears each time.

Needing to shake off the knitting malaise brought on by self-inflicted fair isle failure, I buckled down to finish up the Monkey Socks. Fortified by sunshine and iced tea, it didn't take long.

Monkey Socks

Pattern: Monkey Socks, by Cookie A.
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in colorway P460
Needles: Susan Bates DPNs in US 1
Modifications: I made Cara's mini version with picot cuffs.

Harry Potter And The Knitting Progress Not Made

2007-07-31T09:13:00.000-08:00

As is my wont, I optimistically packed more than enough knitting for our week-long stay at Virginia Beach. Compounding my natural inclination to over pack yarn was my complete denial about the Harry Potter Effect.

Although I wasn't in the first wave of readers, which comprised the dads and the youngest HP fans among us, I soon got my hands on a copy. It is hard to admit, as this is, after all, a knitting blog, but knitting paled by comparison while I was immersed in this final Harry Potter installment. It made for wonderful beach reading and I had just enough left to occupy me on the long flight home.

As a result, only a smidgen of my planned knitting got knitted, but with four established knitters and one nascent knitter in residence, there was no shortage of knitting conversations, knitting planning sessions, and knitting advice bestowed. Knitting vibes permeated the place. I did work on my second Monkey Sock, and I cast on for a Malabrigo scarf, but neither is yet photo worthy. My biggest knitting accomplishment was deciding on colors (I consulted at length with the other knitters who were more than happy to vicariously spend money on luscious yarn) for a fair isle sweater and placing a telephone order for some Morehouse Merino. It has not yet arrived, however, so photos of that will have to wait as well.

Some people stuck to their knitting despite the lure of Harry Potter (and the beach, poker games, and cocktail hours ...). Hilary finished off a beautiful pair of Monkey Socks and Auden took to her Knitting Mushroom like Harry once took to his broom.

My sister, blogless Beth, worked diligently on an exquisite baby blanket and I've her permission to show it off, in progress, here:

It was over all too quickly. I can only hope I soaked up enough sun-filled memories to get me through another Juneau winter.

I Am A Fickle, Fickle Knitter

2007-07-17T13:55:00.000-08:00

I keep flitting from project to project without making much progress on anything. AND I keep lusting for new projects. I know there are other names for this disorder, but fickle sounds young and flirty and ADHD .. not so much.

So I have two finished socks to show, but not a pair:

That's one Monkey Sock*and one Thuja. The mates for each of these have been dutifully cast on and I'm hoping if I cart them along to Virginia Beach, peer pressure will translate into at least one finished pair.

I had a spurt of Leaf and Trellis shawl knitting which was cancelled out by some Leaf and Trellis shawl unknitting (ripping actually) when I found an error last night. I'm back on track now, but my net progress since last you heard about it is underwhelming.

I worked a little bitty swatch out of my Malabrigo Lace in the Melon Stitch pattern from VLT. I'm thinking that I'll make a scarf with just a simple garter edge rather than a shawl. I love the lace knitting, but clearly (see above) I shouldn't mix knitting that requires chart following and socializing. I'm optimistic (read: In the throes of a new crush) that this will fill all of my current needs, since it's lace but with a very simple, easily memorized pattern.

I'm also being led astray by thoughts of a fair isle-y cardigan. With oil prices and global warming fear going up, and a husband ~~threatening to~~ suggesting we turn the thermostat down, the only responsible thing I can do is order yarn for a beautiful cold-weather sweater that I'll never want to take off. Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified arrived in today's mail so maybe I can finally make a decision and place a Morehouse Farms order. I have yet to make anything that required steeking and I think I'm ready.

It looks like I'll have enough knitting on board to last the week in Virginia Beach - or at least until our first yarn store run. Now if I can just get the laundry done and the suitcases packed, we'll be on our way!

* Since you asked: I'm using Koigu KPPPM in colorway P460 for the Monkey Socks

Happy Birthday, Auden!

2007-07-11T22:27:00.001-08:00

My niece, Auden, turned 5 today. Last year she and her family left Juneau, after a wonderful visit with us, on the morning of her 4th birthday. That's the last time I saw them and I am SO looking forward to seeing them all on our family vacation the week after next. Naturally, I've been thinking of her a lot today, and it just dawned on me that I could use this as an excuse to go photo-archive diving and show you a pre-KnittingWeather knit.

I loved making this sweater for her. I started planning it as soon as word arrived that a girl was expected. I had knit welcome sweaters for both of my sons and Auden's older brother and it was such fun to work on something a little bit girly.

It is evolved from a Debbie Bliss pattern, Guernsey with Bobble Edging, from "Family Knits." I simplified the pattern and took out the bobbles and replaced some of them with beads.

Never was a sweater knit with so much love. Happy Birthday, Sweetie! See you soon!

Monkeying Around

2007-07-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

I don't know if it was the desire for an infusion of color, or just that twitchy finger need to cast on something new. Whatever the source of my latest urge, before I knew it I had cast on for a pair of Monkey Socks ala Cara. You've gotta love that picot edge!

Close Encounters Of The Ursine Kind

2007-06-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

We found this when we stepped outside yesterday morning. The remarkable thing is not that a bear wandered through our yard and took a dump, but that our family beast slept through the whole thing. This is a dog that barks at her own shadow; I have no idea how she missed a black bear visit.

It's not all about the wildlife around here though; I also have some knitting show and tell. While at Article Pract in Oakland several weeks back, I was seduced by some Malabrigo Lace Yarn in "Tortuga."

It's mostly solid appearing in the skein, with wonderful greyish-purply/greeny variations that almost but not quite are done justice by this photo. I'm thinking scarf, though I haven't picked out a pattern yet.

I decided I had to jump on the Monkey Sock bandwagon about the time that I found this Koigu:

I'm hoping Hilary is going to jump with me so we can Monkey-Sock-Knit together in Virginia Beach next month.

No better time to segue into a shout-out to "anonymous" whose name I think is Wei-ming. (Am I even close?) We met on my last visit to Article Pract. I love bonding in yarn stores with fellow knitters. Thanks so much for coming to visit me here. How are your socks coming along?

And finally, time to show an in-progress photo of my Leaf and Trellis Stole, from Victorian Lace Today. This is 5 repeats in to what I think will be between 30 and 40 repeats total. Lots of time for progress shots, I know.

Ignore the funky pink provisional cast on. I'm using JaggerSpun Zephyr wool-silk. I know it looks sort of whitish here, but it's in a color called Mushroom. I'm using a much smaller needle than the pattern specifies, so I've added an extra 43 stitch repeat to make it wide enough. I'm using Addi Turbo Lace needles (3.25mm) for the first time and they are all they are reputed to be: Pointy enough, smooth join, not too slippery, lovely to work with!

The Colors Of Spring In Juneau

2007-06-16T12:39:00.000-08:00

The weather has been quite lovely since I got back. There's been more dry than wet and a fair amount of sunshine. So we took a walk up Montana Creek Road the other day, and I couldn't help but notice that the lupine blooming amidst all that green reflected the colors of my baby sweater.

First Grand Niece/Nephew Baby Sweater

Pattern: EZ's Surplice Baby Jacket from VK Spring/Summer 2007
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK in Avocado (~2 1/4 x50 gram balls) and Navy (~1/3 x50 gram ball)
Needles: US Size 5 Knit Picks Options
Finished Measurements: Approximately 10"x10". I knit to the smaller size, but my gauge didn't match precisely. The joy of baby sweaters, for me, is not worrying about getting an exact size. Sooner or later, this will fit.

This was another clever and fun recipe from EZ. I followed the optional guidelines for longer ribbed cuffs and added contrasting I-cord. I also incorporated the suggestion to purl the "marked" stitches on the wrong side to produce a pronounced knit diagonal.

There's No Place Like Home

2007-06-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

I recently returned from another medical sojourn in California. I'm feeling great and it is wonderful to be home. I was met at the airport by Nick and the boys who seem to have grown more, while I was away for 5 weeks, than my knitting did! Max is towering above me and all of Toby's pants are suddenly clam-diggers.

When last you heard from me, I was impatient to begin a lace project. It was duly started and provided some soothing knitting therapy for me whilst I was away. But then we got the call that all was well with our niece Julia's pregnancy and I was overtaken by the allure of baby dud knitting.

So here is an in-progress shot of my EZ Surplice Baby Jacket:

Lace beginnings and yarn purchases to be documented soon ...

Box-The-Compass

2007-05-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Someday I want to make a totally perfect sweater; one that is the right size and style for me, faultlessly crafted, and unquestionably beautiful. I finished my Box-The-Compass Sweater yesterday. It isn't perfectly perfect, but it's perfect enough for now. I made a few mistakes, I dithered over the yoke, I was impatient with the finishing. But in the end, I'm quite happy with it.

I am also agog anew over the brilliance of Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swansen. This pattern is actually from Meg's book, but she writes "The Box-The-Compass design is the result of a collaboration between Ma and me." You can not work one of these wonderful recipes without learning an enormous amount and feeling hugely accomplished when finished. I'm a believer. I want to go knocking on doors, handing out copies of Knitting Without Tears and spreading the word about EPS. Amen.

I knit the sweater in sportweight because I wanted a lightish weight wear alone sweater and not a heavier outer layer sort of sweater. I was determined not to make it into a boxy shapeless schmata reminiscent of most of the items in my closet. Because I planned this to be a wear next to your skin sweater, I worried/obsessed/fretted a lot about what yarn to use. I finally settled on Morehouse Farm Merino, after first ordering their sample notebook. This yarn is luscious. It was wonderful to knit with. It is absolutely soft enough to wear against your skin. You'd never know from the palette I chose, but it comes in a huge array of gorgeous colors. I'm starting to dream about a colorful stranded/steeked/cardigan ala EZ.

Box-The-Compass

Pattern: Box-The-Compass Yoke Sweater from Meg Swansen's Knitting
Yarn: Morehouse Farm Merino 2-strand sport weight
Needles: US size 4 (mostly) I used US size 3 for the hems (I also inadvertently used US Size 6 for a time. I'm not proud of this, but I didn't rip it out when I discovered it.)
My Favorite Parts: The hems. The faux seams. The fact that it fits like it's supposed to. The yarn.

I Know It's Finally Spring Because ...

2007-05-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is all that is left of my lovely SnowKnitter:

And because I am almost finished with a wool sweater. It seems that I am always a season behind with my knitting. But I am closing in on the end of my Box the Compass sweater..stay tuned!

And it is my first blogiversary! I have really enjoyed adding this component to my passion for knitting. Sharing images and capturing knitterly moments in words, exchanging thoughts and ideas and support with fellow knitters - I'm looking forward to seeing what Year Two brings!

Happy May Day!

Back To The Important Stuff

2007-04-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

Slow knitting progress around here lately, and now that spring is springing, it's hard to muster enthusiasm for a wool sweater - no matter how lovely the merino yarn from which it is being knit. It's also hard to make black stockinette blog worthy. I'm at the point where no matter how much I knit, it doesn't seem to grow.

I keep thinking I'm ready to attach the sleeves and then I re-measure and find I'm not. I'm not even sure the sleeves are long enough yet. Sigh .. I'm SO ready to begin the yoke. I have faith that once I begin the yoke I'll be spurred on to just fly through the rest so I can move on to THIS:

The next project in the queue. I can't wait to begin another lace project!

There are some around here who think soccer is the Important Stuff. And so we traveled to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory last weekend so that both boys could participate in a soccer tournament. It was a great weekend with many games played and some knitting accomplished. I took along my poor neglected sock that has been on the needles forever. Here's my traveling sock photo, ala The Yarn Harlot. It seemed only fitting to pay her tribute while visiting Canada. My son is holding up the sock for me. The other guy was outside of our hotel.

Virtual Knitting

2007-04-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

As you might imagine, I've experienced a fair amount of stress and anxiety during the past month. What you might not guess is that, in the moment at least, my cancer diagnosis was not the worst of it. No, my friends, it was not until my surgeon casually mentioned that she'd like me to have an MRI that I totally and completely became unglued.

I received this news on a Tuesday and the MRI was scheduled for the following Monday so I had a good long time to fret. I talked to everyone who would listen and accepted any and all (music, drugs, visualization techniques, more drugs) encouragement and suggestions, but I seriously did not know how I was going to get through it.

It was Hilary who suggested I pick a complex pattern to "knit" during the MRI. In my anxiety I hadn't even remembered that I once used this technique to distract myself during an unpleasant procedure years ago. Brilliant! But what to knit? Pattern? Yarn? Needle size? Virtual or not I found I could still obsess over these decisions. (Hmm .. maybe this is what Hilary was thinking all along.) I needed it to be complex enough to distract, but simple enough to memorize. Would it need a garter stitch edge to reduce curling? Did it even matter if an imaginary knitted swatch curled in the MRI machine? On the day before my MRI I took out some scrap yarn and worked up a simple swatch:

Row 1: K5, yo, k1, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1 yo, k5
Row 2: K2, p15, k2
Repeat 2 row pattern as long as necessary.

I loved that this knitting distracted me in the days leading up to the MRI, that even a virtual knitting project could get the obsessive juices flowing. I found it calming to knit up the actual prototype. But in my heart, I knew that it wasn't going to conquer my Extreme Claustrophobia. For that, I took two Xanax. I did manage to knit somewhere into the 3rd row before I lost my place, or dropped a stitch, or started a new project .. I can't really remember what happened. I only remember that I didn't care.

Two days later when I was anxiously awaiting some pre-op tests I discovered I had the wrong needles with me and couldn't work on my sweater sleeve. Desperate for a distraction I used a crochet hook to hold some stitches so I could free up a dpn, and pulling yarn from the other end of my ball I began to work my MRI pattern. It saved me again.

THANK YOU to all who left such kind comments, words of encouragement and virtual hugs after my last post.

Through The Rabbit Hole .. And Back

2007-04-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

I made a conscious decision, when I began this blog, to stick mostly to knitting content - with just an occasional glimpse into life and family in Alaska. But the past several weeks have been too big and Alice-in-Wonderland-ish. I can't possibly just resume my customary knitting chatter and pretend it's life as usual around here.

A routine mammogram in early February was questionable. A follow up was considered "suspicious." So I flew to California for a biopsy that I WAS CERTAIN would have benign results. Wrong again.

If you are still reading and you are due or overdue for your own mammogram, get up from your computer now and go make an appointment. I'll wait. GO NOW.

My planned 4 day trip morphed into 3 1/2 weeks. The wonderful friends with whom I was staying graciously embraced this turn of events. Other wonderful friends wined and dined me. Everyone supported and encouraged me in every way possible. Nick flew down for a week to shepherd me through the lumpectomy and yet more wonderful friends welcomed our boys into their homes in Juneau. It has been one of those life events that starts out feeling devastating and ends up making you realize how blessed you are.

And lucky too. The cancer was caught early. Stage I. Prognosis: Many more years of knitting. More on that .. soon.

Did Someone Say Baby?

2007-02-19T18:03:00.000-09:00

My son came home from school a few weeks ago with the news that his teacher's wife was about to have a baby. I turned on him like he had just told me he was flunking out of 7th grade. "What do you mean?" "He just told you?" "When is she due?" "Boy or Girl?" Poor kid. He just doesn't understand the effect those words have on me. My fingers begin to twitch. My brain goes into inventory stash mode. My heart skips a beat.

Late last week he casually mentioned the baby had been born. A girl.

So this weekend I took a little break from my endless black stockinette..

Baby Hat
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine in sport weight
Needles: US Size 3 Addi circs and Susan Bates DPNs
Pattern: Basic hat pattern with a rolled edge followed by two color ribbing and raglan shaping. My favorite detail is the bi-color I-cord knot at the top.

Just another "Knitting Weather" Day ...

2007-02-17T16:57:00.000-09:00

Hemming and Hawing

2007-02-09T11:08:00.000-09:00

My Box-the-Compass sweater is underway. The cleverly constructed contrasting hem is behind me and now I have miles of plain black stockinette ahead of me. I'm finding it very soothing right now. I'll let you know when I'm ready to poke myself in the eye with a knitting needle.

The hem was enormously satisfying to work. What a wonderful detail. I chose the knit together as you go option seen here and how to'd here, rather than the add on at the end and sew up option. I'm pleased with my results.

****************************************

As always, thanks to everyone who leaves me such nice comments. I do love comments, and I would reply to each and every one, but often cannot because I have no way to reach you. Blogger doesn't provide me with commenter's email addresses. Feel free to email me (my email address is available in my profile) if you want to hear back from me.

Mail Call

2007-02-02T11:09:00.000-09:00

I've been on a bit of an ordering binge lately. I believe it's a method of retail therapy designed to beat the mid-winter doldrums. Nothing like having goodies arrive in the mail to bring cheer to a gloomy day.

Yesterday afternoon's mail brought the much anticipated Morehouse Farm Merino 2-Ply that I finally settled on as my yarn of choice for my next sweater project.

This yummy stuff's destiny is a Yoke Sweater a la Elizabeth Zimmerman, though the pattern, Box-the Compass, is actually from Meg Swansen's book.

I have dutifully swatched,

and I am ready to cast on ..

You Like Me, You Really Like Me*

2007-01-27T14:10:00.000-09:00

I’d like to thank The Academy. I also want to thank my one and only, Cascade 220 in Natural White, without whom I never would have passed TKGA Master Hand Knit Program Level I!!!

I did it! I reworked and resubmitted my tension challenged swatches and they passed. I heard via email last Saturday and my swatches were returned in today’s mail.

To celebrate I ordered some beautiful yarn from Morehouse Farm for a sweater for ME. I also ordered the Level II instructions from TKGA (In for a penny, in for a pound), and they arrived in today's mail as well. (Daunting . . but here I go ..)

To distract myself from all of this waiting, I embarked on an immediate gratification knit: a Sally Melville Shape-It Scarf. I love these simple scarves not only because they are quick to knit, but because they are the perfect shape for scarf-challenged-people. (Read: ME) It doesn't require any sort of fashion sense or artistic flare to get these babies to fall into pleasing folds and drape cleverly about one's neck. I have never been a "scarf person" before. But since our move to Juneau, it suddenly all makes sense - a bit of soft woolly goodness wrapped around your neck really does keep you warmer!

This particular scarf is made out of approximately 2/3 (or maybe 3/4?) of a skein of Colinette Jitterbug. This yarn is lovely to work with, soft and beautiful. I have just one complaint. There was a knot in this skein. I'm always peeved when I come upon knots in skeins of fine yarn, but this one was especially irksome. A few rows post knot, I could no longer deny there was a distinct change in the variegated pattern. What had been very, very subtle was now a busy, bright yarn. Clearly, two different dye lots had been joined into a single skein. If you look closely, you can see for yourself:

Still, it's a fun scarf and I can live with its idiosyncrasies.

Jitterbug Scarf
Pattern: Shape-It Scarf by Sally Melville
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug (colorway, Toscana/100 g)
Needles: US size 10 1/2
Notes: I increased the stitch count until I had 119 stitches (this should be a number divisible by 3, somehow I came up one short) and then cast on 45 stitches at each edge for 209 total stitches. I worked these even until they were wide enough .. about 3 1/2 " in this case.

* What Sally Field almost said when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1985. The real quote is here.

So Much Sock Yarn, So Few Socks

2007-01-21T19:11:00.000-09:00

Sock yarn. You've got to love it. Beautifully colored, tightly spun, smooth and lustrous. Self-striping, variegated, nearly solids - I like it all. I like that when you find some you can't resist, you know how much to buy, and it doesn't have to be much. And I love wearing socks I have hand knit. But the truth is, I'm not passionate about knitting them.

Are you still there?

Oh, I like knitting the occasional sock. I loved knitting my Olympic socks (in spite of the questionably dyed yarn), and I loved knitting these that were on deadline for a birthday. But so often when I have a sock on the needles as backup knitting to grab and go, instead of getting up and going, it languishes and progress is barely discernible for weeks on end.

But still I can't ignore the Call of the Sock Yarn. So periodically, if I'm not knitting socks, I have to find another use for it.

What we have here is the same blue sock you've seen before. This is still the first sock, even though I love the yarn and can't wait to get it on my feet. It's just taking its time. Clockwise from there is the square I couldn't resist knitting for this knitalong. It just seemed like a fun thing to do and I had left over Koigu from last winter's Mitten Period. And rounding out the trio is a Sally Melville Shape-It scarf. I never used to be a "scarf person," but that's another story ...

Skier or Snowboarder?

2007-01-09T10:33:00.000-09:00

Uh, mm , knitter?

I have no desire to pay a lot of money to hurtle my body down a steep and slippery slope, risking life and limb and great humiliation, but I am happy to sit in the lodge knitting while my boys do. So on Saturday, I filled my knitting bag and we headed up to Eaglecrest.

I needed a quick fix to fill the gap between Ene's Scarf and the yet to be determined next big project. I'm not a hat person, but the ears do get cold, so I thought I'd give the Drops Design Headband that has been making the rounds a chance.

Just in time, too. Temps are 15 degrees colder today than yesterday and my headband made it's debut as we shoveled last night's snow off the driveway.

Pattern:Drops Design Headband

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 in cotton. I knew I shouldn't make it out of cotton, but I had it on hand, I liked the color, and it was the right weight. It's working for now and when it stretches out and falls to my knees, I'll make another.

Needles: US size 6

Auspicious Beginning

2007-01-03T14:23:00.000-09:00

I finally finished my Ene's Scarf on New Year's Day night. I seem to have been the victim of reverse, reverse psychology on this one. I was SO sure beginning with many stitches and working my way down to few would go faster than working few to many. I expected it to practically knit itself, but au contraire - it seemed to go on forever. However, done it is! Soon it will be on its way to a most special woman, a second mom to me, and one of my first knitting mentors.

Shawl for Pam

Pattern: Ene's Scarf by Nancy Bush.
Yarn:Drops Alpaca ~3 1/2 balls (50 grams each)
Needles: KnitPicks Options, us size 4
Finished size: 65" across the top (56" before blocking)
33" from point to top (30" before blocking)
46" along diagonal edge (40" before blocking)
Started/Finished: 10/28/2006-1/1/2007

Happy Holidays

2006-12-15T22:56:00.000-09:00

I'm quite certain that ~~all seven~~ every one of my regular readers is already well-acquainted with the Yarn Harlot, but on the off chance that you've landed here on a google search gone awry, please check out this post. Dontcha just wish you could vote for Stephanie for President???

There's been a knitting funk and an impending-holiday angst happening around here lately, and there's about to be a trip Down South to keep me from this here blog, but I'll be back. I look forward to being refreshed and maybe even ready to show off some finished items or yarn purchases or promising swatches early in 2007.

Best wishes to all for a Joyous Holiday and Healthy New Year!

Patent Pending

2006-12-01T11:18:00.000-09:00

This was all Toby's idea. He wanted a hat with a secret pocket, kept hidden by a giant pom-pom. I didn't get it completely right, but it's right enough and he's being terribly gracious about it. I'd like to say I'll do better next time, but there will not be a next time for this hat. First off, it's the equivalent to two hats knitting-wise (Do I get extra Good Mom points for that?) Secondly, it has a pom-pom on top.

I'm delighted that my sweet boy is totally immune to any sort of fashion standards. He wanted a pom-pom and is not at all concerned with how his peers will react.

The whole pocket thing is kind of a dud. He originally thought it would be cool to have a pencil hidden away, just for those times when you suddenly need a pencil. Or better yet, when your friend needs a pencil and you can pull one out of your hat. What was I thinking? Oh, you can get a pencil in there, but it's no secret ...

I did learn a thing or two (besides how deeply I dislike pom-poms). I did my first provisional cast-on. This was so I could turn around and knit the "pocket" in the other direction. I followed instructions found here. It's very cool, though I must've done something wrong because my crocheted edge didn't unzip as smoothly as it was supposed to. It required more of a zip one/tug one operation. I'll need to work on that. I also did EZ's sewn bind-off for stretchability. I highly recommend it! I made and rejected two pom-poms before Toby helped me with one that made the cut. Pathetic, I know. Makes you kind of wonder about the two that didn't make it.

Toby's Secret Pocket Hat
Pattern: You're kidding, right?
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish
Needles: US #6 Addi Turbo 16" Circs and Susan Bates DPNs

ETA: True confession time: I wrote this post last night and held off posting until I could take daylight photos before Toby headed off to school. He was very accommodating (so accommodating that he missed the bus). BUT he didn't want to wear it to school ..

Knitting The Blues

2006-11-19T13:15:00.000-09:00

Blue socks. Blue Shawl. Blue hat. It seems that the only knitting happening around here lately is knitting in shades of blue.

SO here's a blue-knitting-in-progress post. You can see that progress, albeit slow progress, is being made on everything blue.

Ene's Scarf is, according to the wondrous shawl progress calculator found here, just past the half-way point. I'm expecting it to start growing quickly now that I know I'm on the downhill side - and with ever diminishing row lengths, no less!

The mystery hat is moving along, doesn't look like much yet, but you just wait.

And the sock, poor sock. It's the only blue thing that's for me, and as such it's been neglected. The hat bumped it from it's soccer-knitting status .. I've stuffed it like a sausage here, so you can see the pretty pattern. Don't worry, sock, I'll be back.

3650 Days

2006-11-17T13:59:00.000-09:00

Knitting production has been a bit slow at Chez Knitting Weather lately. We have entered ~~that hellish time of year~~ the holiday season early, as we always do around here. It's the result of extremely poor family planning. Three birthdays, Thanksgiving, Chanukah AND Christmas all in the two month period between Halloween (Oh, did I mention Halloween?) and New Year's.

For some, these occasions just mean an increase in knitting production. Not so much around here. Though I love to make and give away hand knitted gifts, I enjoy it most when a gift is unexpected. Around this time of year I often get the urge to knit for someone with whom I don't regularly exchange gifts, but I don't manically knit for every recipient on my gift-list.

My youngest turned 10 yesterday. (That's good news, 2 out of 3 Scorpios at this house have now celebrated their birthdays.) This is the son who brought me great joy last fall when he finally asked me to teach him to knit. The joy lasted a few weeks. The obligatory first garter stitch scarf is stuffed in a bag taking up closet space somewhere. BUT the interest was genuine and he's retained some basic knitting knowledge. From time to time he'll come look over my shoulder and make a knitterly observation that warms my heart. He understands about knits and purls, and was curious about the lace business.

This same son asked several months back if it would be possible to knit a hat of a very specific design that he had floating around in his imagination. We talked about it from time to time, but I just didn't have the will to try and make it happen. Maybe I needed the onset of winter, or the crush of gift-giving opportunities. Whatever the reason, when he asked again about two weeks ago, overcome by a wave of maternal love and knitting optimism, I thought I could order and receive yarn and realize his vision by his birthday. Alas, a federal holiday and a snowstorm conspired to make mail delivery slow, even for the speedy KnitPicks. The yarn finally arrived on Wednesday.

This is the snow

that slowed the mail.

This hat is not going to be knit that quickly. But after a birthday dinner and birthday presents and birthday cake, the birthday boy went to bed, and I cast on for his new hat.

Maybe it'll be done in time for Chanukah...

Addicted To Lace

2006-11-03T14:45:00.000-09:00

My needles were still warm from the Shetland Triangle yet I had to have more. On to Nancy Bush's Ene's Scarf: my newest lace obsession. It was a bit slower to get going, as you begin with the wide end rather than the tip, and it was an effort to get 375 stitches cast on and established. But after one false start (Can anyone fix mistakes in the first row without messing up the cast on edge?), I got it going. Even though it appears to grow more slowly when knitting from the wide end, I'm appreciating the psychological lift I get knowing the stitch count is decreasing with every other row.

I'm not working on it quite as manically as I did the Shetland Triangle, but I am loving it. Now that the pattern is established it's easier to read the stitches and stay on track. I'm using Garnstudio Drops Alpaca in a blue that is close to, but not quite the blue you see here. Mine is a little duskier.

Thanks to everyone who left such kind and flattering comments after my last post. It was good for my knitting soul.

Knit With Love

2006-10-22T15:52:00.000-08:00

A Shawl For Dee

Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Wrap Style.
Yarn: Zephyr Wool/Silk from Halcyon Yarn. Yarn used double throughout. I started with 3 mini-cones of 600 yards each. I finished the first two cones right before beginning the "Edging" chart.
Needles: US Size 4, KnitPicks Options (My first project with these needles and I was very pleased.)
Date Started/Ended: October 2, 2006 - October 20, 2006.
Finished Size: 67" wide across top edge and 32" from center of top edge to bottom of point, after blocking. (Pre-blocked dimensions: 52" x 23")
Modifications:

Yarn and needle substitutions.

I added 8 extra repeats of the main pattern for a total of 16.

I left off the last two rows of the edging chart for a more subtly scalloped edge. This is how BrooklynTweed did it and I'm so glad he thought of it because I never would have on my own and it's perfect. Thank you, Jared, for e-walking me through it.

Thanks to Nick for the photoshoot at Mendenhall Lake.

This Post Brought To You By Acme Welding

2006-10-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

A week ago, as I was anticipating the shawl finish, I paused in my knitting and went on a quest for blocking wires. Someday maybe I'll order the real deal, but for now I was going to have to make do. A Google search led me here, to the idea of welding rods as blocking wires. Brilliant.

A search through the Yellow Pages and I was on my way to Acme Welding.

It wasn't hard to find.

Sherman, of Acme Welding, couldn't have been kinder. He stopped mid-weld to listen to my tale of knitting lace and blocking woe, and began pulling welding rods of varying lengths and widths from the shoulder high bins behind him. I was as indecisive as ever, and he ultimately sent me forth with two each, of two different width rods, and the assurance that I could come back anytime if I needed something else. All at no charge. He told me he had a soft spot for fiber/fabric minded women, as his wife is a quilter. Made me wish I had something that needed welding. Thank you, Sherman.

Fast forward to last evening when I finished knitting the shawl and was ready to put my welding rods to good use. First, the obligatory soaking shot:

I never tire of looking at other bloggers' blocking photos. They are so beautiful to me and I have been looking forward to showing my own. Alas, I finished pinning out the shawl well after dark last night and today is the darkest, gloomiest day we've had since last winter. I resorted to using a flash because I am too impatient and so anxious to unpin and try on this shawl. I'm holding out hope that tomorrow we'll have a rain break so we can get a few shots with natural light. My desire for beautiful shawl photos is at odds with my desire to get the shawl to the post office on Monday so that it can finally be on its way to its rightful owner. Stay tuned...

Scandalous

2006-10-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

Word is spreading throughout the knitting blog community of a Yarn Industry Scandal. A cryptic post here followed by a more direct post here and a lively debate here.
I'm wondering, with mid-term elections so close at hand, can we find a way to blame this on the GOP?

Indoor Soccer

2006-10-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

The indoor recreational soccer season has begun. Halleluiah. Two indoor soccer players times at least one game per week and maybe some time hanging around practices yields several hours of potential knitting time. Of course, I invariably get too wrapped up in the game to knit, or too wrapped up in the knitting to see them score a goal or block a goal or otherwise make me proud. But the possibility that I might get some extra knitting time is always there with indoor soccer .. making indoor soccer a very cool sport.

We had some knitting drama at yesterday's game. It was the first game of the season and no chairs had been set up, no bleachers available. We parents sat on the floor with our backs against the wall. To my right sat fellow soccer mom and knitter, Lynn. We pulled out our knitting. (Foreboding, foreshadowy music should be cued now.)

There are no boundary lines in indoor soccer. The players may play off the wall or whatever other obstacle they bump up against. Play often comes excitingly close to the spectators. More than once my chivalrous husband has deflected a ball from his lovely wife (that would be me) who, head bent to knitting, was blissfully unaware of impending danger.

Back to yesterday. It was the second half of a close game. Tension was mounting on the court. At the edge of the court, the knitters persevered, despite frequent interference. And then, in that slow motiony way of disaster, play moved closer and closer to the side-line knitters. There were many legs and much scrambling for possession of the ball. A player kicked and made contact, not with the soccer ball, but with Lynn's bag 0' yarn. Next thing we knew, her lovely ball of yarn was rolling out into the court. Rolling and rolling. Time slowed. (Here the music would get dramatic and crescendo-y.) For one brief moment, it appeared that a player's legs were actually tangled in the trailing yarn. And then, as quickly as it happened it was over. The players moved away, the yarn stayed behind. The ball was retrieved. The knitting and the soccer game continued.

In preparation for indoor soccer, I cast on for a portable project. These socks out of the beautiful Nature's Palette yarn that Hilary brought me when she came to visit last summer. She's working on these socks too, and I'm being a copycat.

My not-so-portable project is that blur off to the right. It's also my current obsession and true love. It's just not suitable for schlepping to sporting events. It is the lovely Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark, and here's a peek:

.. more soon, I hope.

Tension Issues

2006-10-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

Apparently I have them. That's the word from TKGA regarding my Level I submission. It came back to me a few days ago and I have four swatches to rework. Nick finds it curious that I needed to work all those little swatches in order to learn I have Tension Issues when he could have told me without my knitting a stitch. "Not that kind of tension," said I through clenched teeth.

Gratefully, none of the written work needs to be redone. I hope to redo the four tension-challenged swatches and resubmit them sooner, rather than later.

*******************************

Motivated by Zimmermania, I got started on a Ganomy hat for Nick this week. I finished it this morning. I love the clever construction and utilitarian design of this hat. I've been wanting to make one ever since finding Jared's last winter. However, despite admiring his and the way it looked on its owner, I've had some niggling doubts about how it would look on Nick. But never one to listen to that inner voice, until it's shrieking at me, I forged ahead.

I don't know if it's the knitting, the pattern or the head, but I was right. Flattering? Not so much. However, it's luxurious and soft and it covers the ears. I predict as the mercury dips and the wind blows and the dog still demands to be walked, it will be worn - and appreciated!

Nick's Ganomy Hat

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Ganomy Hat from Knitter's Almanac
Yarn:Noro (Again!) Cash Iroha
Needles: US size 7 circs and dpns
Modifications: Because I was knitting with a gauge of 4.5 sts/inch instead of 4, and because I needed a bigger finished hat, I cast on 108 sts instead of 80. That, combined with my desire for a more rounded, less pointy top, led me to a slightly modified decreasing strategy. If I make this again, I'll have to fine-tune the shaping, but this hat is DONE.

When the clouds lifted this weekend, they revealed fresh snow on the mountain tops. Nick may be wearing this sooner than I think..

A view to inspire the knitting of cold-weather wear ..

*SPECIAL THANKS to Chris for her "sidebar button" guidance!*

Ahhhhh, Noro

2006-09-25T21:05:00.000-08:00

The vest is done. Well, almost. In an attempt to beat the rapidly fading daylight, and the forecast for rain, Nick offered to take some quick photos for me when I got home from work this evening. I still have a few ends that need weaving-in and I had to dispose of them discreetly for the photo shoot. Finding adequate daylight for taking blog photos is going to be a challenge this side of the equinox.

But I digress. Did I mention: THE NORO VEST IS DONE? I'm pretty happy with it. Really a simple, quick knit, except that I was flying by the seat of my pants sans pattern. Therefore, there was much ripping and reknitting as I figured things out along the way. Luckily I planned for a deep V-neck and fairly deep armholes, because over the weekend I took out my shoulder seams twice (once after blocking and weaving in the ends .. oy vey) to rip and shorten. I managed to get a length I like and still have my v-neck and roomy enough armholes.

I loved working with the Noro. The subtle color transitions, the sheen that the silk added, and how it got soft and drapey after washing. Yum.

Noro Vest Specs:

Pattern: There ain't one.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden in colorway 47 (~6-7 skeins)
Needles: US 7/Addi Turbo Circs

A Koigu Diversion

2006-09-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

A few years ago (3? 4?) while still living in California, my knitting group was overtaken by a moebius knitting frenzy. One of our fold, Karen, set things in motion and before long everyone was knitting ~~moebiuses~~ ~~moebiuae~~ ~~moebi~~ them. Fat ones, skinny ones, long ones, short ones, beaded, ribbed, and lace ones - you get the idea.

I seem to be missing that group more and more lately. Maybe it's the fall weather. Or perhaps even though I'm thousands of miles away, I'm sad because the LYS where we once gathered has closed its doors for good.

So I pulled out Cat Bordhi's book and my 47" Addi turbos and cast on the magical moebius stiches and thought of my Thursday night friends.

Koigu Moebius
Pattern: Basic Moebius Scarf a la Cat Bordhi
I cast on 130 stitches and worked a 5 row rib until it was wide enough
Needles: US 9 47" Addi Turbos
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM (ONE SKEIN!)

Beach Weather

2006-09-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

I grudgingly went back to work this week, lamenting all the way my loss of valuable knitting time. Though I snuck in rows during lunch hours and evenings, I set my sights on today, because (lucky me) I'm only working 4 days a week and Fridays seem like they're going to be made for knitting. But around mid-day Wednesday the weather changed. The clouds parted, the sun shone, and the rain ceased to fall. AND this glorious weather is still going strong.

Just to put this all in perspective let me tell you that Juneau set wet-weather records this summer. In August alone there were 29 days with measurable precipitation. In the period from April to the end of August something like 109 out of 153 days were rainy days. These current days of sun are especially precious because we've seen so few of them, and as autumn approaches we can expect to see even fewer.

In light of all this, I did the only thing a sane person could do today. I went to the beach. I took my husband, our dog and my knitting with me. We saw the boys off to school("Bye-bye ~~suckers~~ kids, have a nice day!"), packed up lunches and the dog, and headed out the road to the Boy Scout Camp. It's a short hike through the woods to the camp and a beautiful crescent-shaped beach with views of the Chilkats. We saw sea lions from the beach, some sort of falcon that flew overhead, and three bikini-clad sun-bathers. (Only in Juneau is 60 degrees bikini weather.) We almost saw a bear, but some other hikers came upon it first and their dogs scared it off.

We had lunch on the beach and basked in the sun while I snuck in a few more rows on the back of my Noro vest...

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2006-09-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

All's been quiet on the blogging front lately. I have been knitting. It's just that it's been a process of *k1,rip1* Repeat until you get it right! But I think I finally have the Noro Vest on track. I'm about 3/4 done with the front. The back should fly by after this since I've spent so much time figuring things out and reworking on the front's time.

Back to work tomorrow after a nice summer break. 4 days a week, but I fear knitting and blogging are going to be adversely impacted. OR maybe I'll be more productive since I'll have less free time. Yeah, I'm sure that's the way it'll go.

Oh, and I mailed my TKGA Level I stuff today ...

Sweet Sixteen

2006-08-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

That's the number of swatches required for Level I of TKGA Master Hand Knitter Program. That's the number of swatches safely ensconced in individual pocket pages in the binder sitting to my left. Mind you, the longer they sit there the more time I have to obsess about them and wonder which, if any, I should rework before submitting. I also have to finish up the written requirements. Procrastinating about the written requirements gives me more time to obsess about reworking the swatches.

It's a vicious knitter's circle, but one that must end soon as time is running out. In a few weeks my current instructions will have expired*.

In the meantime, I've also started working on a vest out of some Noro Silk Garden that's been ripening in my stash. I swatched a few months back and finally committed to the knitting last week. I'm loving the yarn and the subtle changes of color from stripe to stripe. Because I'm knitting by the seat of my pants (i.e. no real pattern, though I'm keeping it awfully simple) I don't have complete confidence in the outcome. Time will tell.

*There is no overall time limit, but if the instructions are revised, as they recently were, the old instructions are only good for one year from the time you signed on. As there have been significant changes since I received my packet, my goal is to get my submission in under the old instructions.

Baby Stripes

2006-08-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

Home again after nearly two weeks. All in all it was a good trip.

A few highlights:

After the soccer tournament (no, they didn't win, but they sure had a good time) we headed to Denali Park. We spent a day touring the Park and though we did see Caribou, one grizzly bear, a moose, ptarmigan and rugged and beautiful vistas, we never did see The Mountain.

Though I'm not much of a wildlife
photographer, I did manage to
get a quick shot of these wild creatures ...

(They were making do, having been temporarily removed from their natural habitat and suffering from electronic-plaything-
withdrawal.)

From Denali we traveled East and South into the Yukon and ultimately to Whitehorse. We traveled the magnificent Denali Highway and were reminded, anew, how VAST this state is. The map makes it look big, but nothing like driving in a car for two days with two children to make you appreciate just how huge it is.

In Whitehorse we visited the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and had a visit with this fellow, an adolescent Musk Ox - the source of luxurious and precious Qiviut.

And, of course, some knitting got done along the way. Remember that yarn I dyed right before I left?

There's a baby due in the neighborhood in a few weeks, and I'm going to be ready! I'm quite tickled with the way the stripe widths match. I dyed one skein for the socks and one for the hat.

Baby Duds Specs:
Yarn: Kool Aid dyed Baby Ull
Needles: US 0 dpns
Hat Pattern: Just your basic hat . . I took some guidance from Here
Sock Pattern: Better -Than-Booties Baby Socks
Modifications: I modified the socks by just doing a 1x1 rib on the top of the foot, as seen Here.
And I finished the toes with a Kitchener Stitch instead of the zigzag bind-off for which the pattern called.

Lake Bennett, BC, photographed as we drove from Whitehorse to Skagway on our return to Juneau. Another breathtaking drive. As we traveled along the Chilkoot Trail, we marveled at just how great the lure of gold was, to induce people to make this trek on foot and in winter.

Heading North ..

2006-08-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning, bright and early, we'll be driving our minivan onto the MV Fairweather and traveling the Alaska Marine Highway to Haines. From Haines we'll drive to Wasilla where Son #1 has a soccer tournament next week. We're all tagging along. We are going to hit the road for points farther North and East after the tournament. Our goal is to see a little bit more of this GREAT state (and the Yukon as well) as our last hurrah of Summer 2006.

While my husband is pulling together an Emergency Road Supply Kit (flares, electrical tape, Goop, Hose Repair Bandage, magic tire patch spray) and trying to locate the First Aid Kit (it's probably wedged under one of the passenger seats, I keep telling him), I am making command decisions about which yarn and projects to bring. I am also making lists of potential yarn shop visits. (Likely locales for this are Anchorage, Wasilla, Whitehorse and Skagway if anyone has a suggestion). I consider this to be a fair and balanced distribution of labor. (Oh, alright, I am also doing mountains of laundry, and stocking up on Audiobooks - these have a wonderful calming effect on our children who are otherwise prone to bickering with one another and kvetching and declaring they never wanted to come on whatever trip we're on in the first place.)

I dyed some more Dale Baby Ull earlier this week. Once again I started with Mid Gray.

I went for narrow stripes of cherry and grape separated by undyed gray stripes.

I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Natural as my ties during dying. What a difference overdying the gray yarn makes:

Things will be quiet around here for a few weeks. I don't expect to be blogging from the road, but I hope to have some knitting to show upon our return.

Thanks to everyone who left such complimentary and encouraging comments about my finished scarf. I am so grateful to have a cyber-knitting community!

Close Call

2006-07-31T11:33:00.000-08:00

Do you want to know how close?? I'll show you ..

That's all that remains of my Habu wool, after finishing up the Flower Basket Shawl.

When I had completed three extra pattern repeats, the post office scale indicated I had 30% of my yarn remaining. The mystical shawl calculator indicated at that point in the shawl, assuming I was going to add an 11th pattern repeat, I had completed 72.1%. I knew I was cutting it close and with each row I became more anxious and more obsessed with finishing.

Even after adding four pattern repeats, the shawl is actually a scarf. I was expecting it to be small and am quite happy to have a red lace scarf. I will probably get lots more wear out of it this way, and the Habu seems appropriate for an everyday scarf. It softened up some with washing and didn't lose a bit of it's rich red color. (Hard to capture, but that bit in my palm comes the closest.) AND there wasn't a single knot in the whole 808 yards. I had exactly two ends to weave in. I'm pleased with it. (Though now that I've fallen prey to this lace knitting addiction, I'm thinking about the next shawl and imagining a more luxurious yarn.)

It doesn't look like much right off the needles:

But let the magic begin:

and finally...

Flower Basket Shawl
Yarn:Habu Textiles 2/26 Geelong Lamb Wool / 808 yards/2 ounces - used double throughout
Needles:Susan Bates 29" circular-US 3
Pattern:Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark/Interweave Knits Fall 2004
Modifications: Aside from using different yarn and needles, my only modification was to knit four extra pattern repeats.
Finished Measurements: 52" long x 21" deep
Started:July 13
Finished:July 30

Thanks to Nick, for patiently photographing the shawl and me, in the rain.

Basket Of Flower Basket Shawl

2006-07-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

I'm in that unenviable place of being obsessed by a slow growing project that takes up all of my knitting time, but leaves little to show for itself. I'm well under way having completed the seven called for pattern repeats. That's the good news. The bad news is that after seven pattern repeats what I have doesn't look anywhere near shawl size. However, I've been frequenting the local Post Office and using the scale in the lobby. According to my latest calculations using said scale (apparently I've only used 4/10ths of my yarn so far) and the wondrous Shawl Progress Calculator found here, I have enough yarn remaining to do at least two and maybe three extra repeats. I'm cautiously optimistic that the finished shawl will be, while not exactly big, big enough.

I had whole days this week when I unknit more than I knit. I had long hours when I'm sure my SPH* rate was slower than the surgeon's who worked on Lee Ann's head. (Have you all sent her your good wishes?) I was grateful that I had employed a lifeline as I needed to reach out and grab it, more than once. But in the last few days I made peace with the pattern. I've found if I can work without interruption** all the while chanting that row's pattern iteration aloud, and if I compulsively count my stitches after each and every row so that I can quickly catch and fix any forgotten yarn over or errant double decrease, I can make forward progress.

*Stitch per hour
** This is, of course, laughable. I share my home with one husband, two sons and a dog "with issues."

Shawl And Swatches

2006-07-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

I've embarked on my first lace shawl, Evelyn Clark's Flower Basket Shawl out of the Fall 2004 InterweaveKnits. I'm using 2/26* Geelong Lamb Wool from HABU textiles. Considering I have only 808 yards and I'm using it double, it may be more of a scarf.

I love watching the pattern emerge and I adore the puckered fabric because I've seen so many other bloggers reveal the magic of the blocked lace shawl. I can hardly wait!

When I was too tired to trust myself to follow the chart last night, I switched gears and became obsessed anew with working on my TKGA Master Hand Knitter Level I swatches. I'm determined to stick to it and submit them .. soon. I've worked nine of the 16 required swatches and made some progress on the questions this morning. Maybe going public with this goal will keep me focused.

* Can anyone out there tell me what this numerical designation means? I'm thinking maybe it's related to ply? Wraps per inch? I haven't a clue..

Fighting The Blues

2006-07-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I'm not so much fighting them as wandering about the house all mopey and sad and sort of wallowing in them. My brother and his family left yesterday after spending a wonderful 9 days with us in Juneau. I'm bereft. You would be too if you'd had a week like This*, and your brother lived thousands of miles from you and plans for the next visit hadn't been made yet. (* To see the slide show, click on the Personal Images link. )

To add to my misery, I'm pretty much between knitting projects and can't muster the energy to make a decision about what to knit next.. just when I most need a nice soothing knitting project.

After finishing the Wobbly Circles Tote, I cast on for some simple socks so I would at least have a project to bring on our adventures. But they're just not doing it for me. Can't decide if I should slog through or rip .. the yarn is Greenwood Fiberworks Handpainted Cotton Stretch. They feel nice, but refuse to grow, despite being carried along on various outings:

A hike along the shore of Mendenhall Lake, at the terminus of the Mendenhall Glacier.

To Sheep Creek, south of Juneau where, alas, the salmon were not yet running. My niece, Auden, was a great help - both by holding the sock, and by being the cutest thing in the photo.

The sock didn't go whale watching, but I couldn't resist. (It does fit the blue theme ..)

I'm thinking about my luscious Habu Textiles yarn. I have 2 ounces of 2/26 Geelong Lamb Wool. The label says 808 yards. Dare I try a Flower Basket Shawl? Should I use it double or single? Will I have enough? Am I knitter enough for a lace shawl? Am I fashionable enough to pull off wearing one if it turns out I am knitter enough to knit one? You can see how I'm suffering. I might need to take a walk and knit some socks.

Done Wobbling

2006-07-07T11:40:00.002-08:00

We're in the midst of a long anticipated visit with far flung family and have been enjoying a rare and welcome stretch of sunny warm weather. The weather combined with the company has resulted in a wonderful and action packed week. Though knitting time has been limited, I have managed to complete my Wobbly Circles Tote.

First I finished knitting both sides.

Both to conserve yarn, and to provide some knitting excitement, I decided to switch the colors around a bit, for side number two.

I brought the bag along on an excursion Out The Road to Eagle Beach. While the kids played at the edge of Eagle River, I finished sewing back to front.

Here she is awaiting felting:

Because we have a front loading washer, I thought I might have to resort to hand felting.

Before long, however, I abandoned the plunger and 5 gallon bucket and with a leap of faith, tossed the bag and some towels and jeans into the washer. I believe I ultimately went through 4 cycles before it was felted to my satisfaction..
..and I am very satisfied. After all of my angst and obsessive fretting about handle length I managed to achieve just what I envisioned - a too-rare occurrence in my knitting world-so I am delighted.

Wobbly Circles Tote
Pattern: Wobbly Circles Tote designed by Leigh Radford/Interweave Knits Spring 2006
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky
Needles: Addi Turbo Circular size US 10
Modifications: I modified the handles so they would fit over my shoulder. At row 103 I only knit 20 stitches at each edge and bound off the center 26 stitches. On the next row I cast on 70 stitches across the gap created by the bound off stitiches. I worked 8 rows straight and then I knit an applied I-cord around the top of the bag and inside of the handles for reinforcement. (A recommendation I found here.)
SPECIAL THANKS to my brother Will, photographer extraordinaire, for patiently indulging ~~his neurotic older sister~~ me and photographing the bag on my shoulder.

Max Is Back

2006-07-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

It's been eight weeks to the day since Max's accident and he wasn't about to wait a minute more than he had to, to get back on the field. The weather cooperated and I managed to get in a few rows of knitting, making it a perfect soccer practice! I'm closing in on my Wobbly Circles Tote. Felted and finished photos soon, I hope.

In swatching news, I played around with my Noro Silk Garden earlier this week. I selected a simple horseshoe cable from here. While I was at it, I decided to experiment with V-neck shapings. I need to keep working on that. There must be a way to get a nice crisp V .. I just don't know what it is, yet. I'm leaning toward the edge on the left, but that's subject to change too. This yarn is lovely (Somehow, I've never knit with Noro before) - though the ball I used for my swatch had a knot which resulted in this very abrupt color change. Luckily the other balls look more uniform.

Socked In

2006-06-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

Totally. When I woke up this morning the mountains and glacier were completely obscured by clouds. It's been grey and drippy and more or less socked in all day long. So, naturally, I bring you socks:

I love this yarn! These are my first socks knit with Socks That Rock yarn, but certainly they won't be my last. It's a joy to knit with this yarn and on both socks I knit from cast on to toe without finding any flaws or knots. This is my particular pet peeve- having to cut my yarn and rejoin because of yarn imperfections - and a yarn gets high marks from me based on knotfree-ness alone.

The best thing about these socks is what I learned while knitting them.

I've been knitting a long time. I thought I knew a thing or two. I really thought I knew what a pattern meant by "pick up and knit." I thought you always used yarn other than the working yarn to create stitches and that on subsequent rows, you knit those new stitches. Something like this. And then I starting knitting Nancy Bush socks and reading Knitting On The Road. I've seen the light, I'm a new woman. Hallelujah!

Since making this discovery for myself, I've noticed that other knitters already seem to know this bit of wisdom. Not all maybe, but many. I don't know how it is that it's taken me so long to stumble upon it.

It's so simple too. Knitting on the Road shows a couple of variations. I went with "..pick up the front half of the chain stitches and knit through the back loop, the stitches will be tighter and there will be no gaps that may otherwise appear along the sides of the flap." And then I went on to follow further advice for gappy joins between gusset and instep stitches. This woman is a genius and I will never look back. It was the one thing that used to annoy me about knitting socks. I'd get a gorgeous heel going and then invariably I'd have some wonky gap that would bug me until the sock was done and I could work some magic while weaving in the extra ends I'd created by picking up stitches. Never again. There are no wonky gaps. AND there are no extra ends. I only had two ends to weave in per sock. (This alone is worth the price of the book.)

I have to point out though, even Nancy Bush couldn't save me from myself. If you look closely at this photo, you will notice that the gusset decreases in the top sock are twisted. Apparently I had a short circuit while working the first sock and on my "sl1, k1, psso" decrease, I slipped purlwise. I can live with this as no one is going to be scrutinizing my ankles while I'm wearing these socks (or any other time really, those days are long past.)

Oak Ribbed Socks
Yarn: Socks That Rock, in Carbon
Needles: US 1, dpns
Pattern: Oak Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Modifications: I did a standard toe shaping, kitchenered at the end, rather then the round toe for which this pattern called.

Pretty In Pink

2006-06-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

Don't be fooled by the sunlight on this hat. I finished knitting and photographed it while still in California. Skies are currently grey here in Juneau, Alaska, as they have been since we got back.

This hat is for my Team Alaska Chemo Cap project. Our hats will be going to the Cancer Connection here in Juneau.

Pink Hat With Ruffle Specs:
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport in Coral/Crystal Palace Waikiki for ruffle and flower garnish
Needles: US 3 (I used two addi circs)
Pattern: Just a basic hat, though I was pleased to work out the ruffle-y bit on my own

I love the way this hat looks sitting on the deck and the yarn is soft as butter. I can only hope it looks good on someone's head one day. I am so *NOT* a hat person, I am not a good judge.

Nobody Panic

2006-06-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

Just because it's the day after solstice. Just because we are on the wrong end of June regarding daylight acquisition. Just because we already have 8 seconds less daylight today than we did yesterday and tomorrow will have 18 seconds less than today. Just because there was a fresh dusting of snow on top of Mt. McGuinness this morning. There is no need to panic, people. Summer is just beginning, RIGHT??

Still I think a Pick-Me-Up is in order. Without further ado, I bring you my recent yarn purchases:

Though I visited Skein Lane in El Cerrito no less than three times while in California, I had the hardest time buying yarn there. I was too distracted by the warm welcome I got from Carolyn Pugh, owner and mentor. For three years I spent Thursday evenings happily knitting in her company, and it was so wonderful to get a chance to visit with her.

In the end I bought an Elizabeth Zimmerman book I've been wanting and some beautiful Claudia Hand Painted Yarns. It's a Koigu-like 100% merino wool sock yarn in a beautiful and subtly variegated forest green that refused to be accurately photographed.

I found these beauties at Stash. I'm proud to say that my purchases there only exceeded the outstanding balance on a long-held gift certificate by $2. How's that for sensible yarn shopping??

The red yarn on the cone is Habu Textiles Geelong Lamb Wool. I have 808 yards and am hoping that is enough to make a small Icarus Shawl from the current IK.

I couldn't resist adding to my sock yarn stash with two gorgeous skeins of Shepherd Sock Superwash in Watercolor.

And finally, at Ball & Skein& More in Cambria, CA, I bought two skeins of Cash Iroha in a husband-approved color as I think maybe he'll get a new hat for this winter. I'm considering making the Ganomy Hat from the EZ book I purchased.

Home Again

2006-06-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

We're back in Juneau, safe and sound after a wonderful visit to California. Dear friends and family, sunshine and good restaurants .. oh and some yarn store visiting too.

I had the best fun and laughter and love-filled Mom's Night Out with the most wonderful group of women anywhere - the best friends a girl could hope to have (and it turns out, some of my favorite lurkers). The next day, in the midst of a larger get together at the community pool, I found my self in a mini knitting circle with (blogless) Helen from my old Thursday night group and Amputeehee. What a treat! Thanks so much for coming to see us. I'm going to save news about my Yarn store visits and purchases for another time because I'm finally at liberty to display Judy's Birthday Socks:

I've been keeping quiet about them since unveiling the yarn I Kool-Aid dyed on Mother's day, because I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Her birthday is still a week away, but since I had the opportunity to deliver them in person, I gave them to her ahead of schedule.

It's not exactly sock-wearing season in California (let alone wool-sock-wearing season), but I think they were much appreciated anyway. Judy even claims to like the persistent grape smell .. she's that kind of friend. We had a wonderful visit complete with family time and time spent lingering late into the night over tea, at her kitchen table, much like old times. I miss you already, Judy!!

Judy's Socks' Specs:
Yarn: Dale Baby Ull Superwash Wool. Two 50 gram balls which began as Mid-Grey
Dyed: With Kool-Aid. I used 6 packets of Lemon-Lime and 5 each of theBerry Blue and Grape.
Needles: US 1 dpns
Pattern: Ann Norling's Basic Adult Socks

When all was said and done, I was VERY pleased with how well the stripes matched. I was afraid they wouldn't so I knit each sock from it's own ball, thinking it would be better if the pattern was at least consistent within each sock. Their "matching-ness" was a happy surprise.

Heading South ..

2006-06-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

.. just for a brief sojourn in CA .. I'll be back. I wanted to leave some killer knitting photos on my last pre-trip post, so you'd be breathlessly awaiting my return. Alas, though I have been knitting, I don't have much of interest to show.

The rest of the family thinks we're going to see dearly beloved and greatly missed friends and family. You and I know the truth .. we're going to buy yarn. To keep up the ruse, I've been scheduling visits and filling every available minute so we can see as many of these special people as possible. I'm starting to face up to the fact that once I finally set foot in a yarn store, I'm going to have precious little time. I'm going to have to move quickly. This is not how I like to buy yarn. I fondle, I peruse, I fondle some more and wander and think. I'm actually not so good at just buying what I love without a project in mind. I seem to be lacking some basic stash-building gene. I get immobilized and I remember other impulsive purchases that began without a destination and are still wandering the desert...

For example, this yarn was purchased
over 20 years ago, during my
first Juneau phase. I had gotten "out" -
that is, made a trip to the "lower 48"
and impulsively bought this yarn just
because I loved it. It's 100% silk,
Italian spun boucle and s dusky teal
color that I still like. It's supposed to
knit up at 5-7 stitches per inch and
I have 1400 yards of it. But I've never
figured out what to do with it.

Any suggestions?

So if I'm going to acquire some stash on this trip, I need a plan. I need a list.

Sock yarn. This I can buy without guilt because it says here that sock yarn doesn't count as stash and I, for one, believe what I read.
Books. These also don't count as stash and I'm thinking there are a few I might need.
A Lace Project. I'm aching to start a shawl.
Stash for hats and mittens and scarves. I'd really like to adorn my family in handknits for next winter .. and that means starting soon.
More stash, for umm, rainy days?

I leave you with the view from our front yard. Beautiful (though not well captured) even on a grey and cloudy day:

This is the glacier that left the rock that sits in the yard and under the yarn that Kathy bought. I like the rock. You've seen it before. You'll see it again. If I'm lucky, maybe with some new stash atop it.

Hat And 1/3

2006-06-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

I put the Wobbly Tote bag on hold for a few days to let my thoughts about the handles simmer. Thanks so much to Gale and DipsyD for the input. Having left my flesh and blood knitting community behind when we moved to Juneau (10 months ago!), it's very gratifying to now have a cyber knitting community. I'll get back to the tote shortly, and I think I will add just a few stitches to the buttonhole and then a few more to the handles themselves. Keep your fingers crossed!

SO for a diversion and some quick knitting gratification I dug through the stash, pulled out some Lamb's Pride worsted weight, and knit up a quick hat to send to the Dulaan Project. I've been meaning to do this for ages and the deadline is fast approaching. Last night I asked my 12.5 year old what he thought of the finished hat. Once assured it was not for him, he said he liked it. Apparently we've never let him get cold enough to appreciate a good, solid wool hat, no matter how brightly colored.

While in hat mode I also started a chemo cap for my TeamAlaska Community Project. I'm using ShineSpor t from Knitpicks and I'm loving this yarn. I washed and dried a little swatch and it came out beautifully. Mmm .. and so soft!

Dulaan Hat Specs:
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted
Needles: US 7 - I did this in the round on 2 addi circulars
Pattern: None .. just a basic hat that's sure to fit someone. I cast on 80 stitches and started with a 2x2 rib.

Dilemma

2006-05-28T11:45:00.001-08:00

I've become obsessed with the Wobbly Circles Tote. In its pursuit I have neglected second socks, Level I swatches, and yarn destined for community project hats. I have been driven the last few days despite the fact that it's fiddly and cumbersome. I was delighted a day or two back when I figured out this solution:

By placing the two chairs facing one another, I was able to move me as I rotated between knit and purl rows, rather than turn the knitted fabric. While not totally eliminating the need to detangle every row or so, it greatly minimized the mess and confusion.

Here it is today, a few rows from the finish:

But there's a catch: Even though I said it was going to be a nice stress free project because I wouldn't have to worry about gauge or fit, I've found something else to worry about. I'm more of a shoulder bag person. Yes, I knew this going into the project, but I thought it had such lovely handles I'd just go with it and maybe make a modification for a future project. However, it's knitting up bigger than expected (of course, I substituted yarn and knew it wouldn't be the same) and now I'm thinking I'll really want it to fit over my shoulder. Here's what I'm thinking:

Follow the pattern and since everything is already bigger, maybe the handles will be big enough to slip over my shoulders.
Bind off several extra stitches and make the opening a little bigger and hope for the best.
Knit and felt a swatch/sample and see how long the handles really have to be, to be perfect.

OK knitters, let's face it, no way am I doing number 3, obsessive or not. Besides, on top of everything else I'm worried about having enough yarn. 2 seems the likely choice to me, it's just that the handles are such a lovely shape and wouldn't it be a shame if I ended up with some that were too short to slip over my shoulder and too long and loose to hold comfortably?

At the top, the tote is 66 stitches across. The pattern calls for binding off the center 20 stitches for the handles. I could increase that to maybe 30? I really don't know because I don't know how much length and width I'm going to lose when I felt this. (Back to option 3, but please don't vote for option 3.) I can keep a close watch on it during felting, of course, and stop if the handles are getting too short, but I am partial to a really well felted fabric and that's what I envision for this.

My nearly-finished dimensions are actually only slightly larger then the pattern calls for, pre-felted. I get approximately 23 1/2 " wide at the top and 25 1/2" tall to their 20 1/4" wide at the top and 25 1/4" tall. Finished measurements are supposed to be 13" wide at opening and 13" tall .

Oh, what to do? What to do?

Maybe they won't notice

2006-05-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

that I don't have any fabulous knitting photos to post, if I distract them with a photo of Juneau on a rare and PERFECT spring day.

That's the Mt. Roberts Tram station, off to the right. My husband and I rode it up to treeline this morning along with a carload of cruise ship tourists. Temps around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, blue skies, eagles soaring - it really doesn't get much better than that. (Because this is a knitter's blog, after all, that's the second Socks That Rock sock in the foreground.)

And as if that wasn't enough (dayenu), look what was waiting in the mailbox upon our return:

An ebay purchase of Koigu (I'm thinking scarf for ME, but it's really not a day to be thinking about wool scarves), new Patternworks catalog, latest Cast on that, while fun to receive, reminds me that I've been neglecting my Level I Master Knitter's knitting, two movies from Netflix (admittedly, these are for my son, but hey, if he's happy, I'm happy) and a box of vacuum cleaner bags. If you lived in my house, you'd be excited about these too.

Colors For A Grey Day

2006-05-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

I spent a little time with the Wobbly Circles Tote today. It's fun to work on something a little bit flashy. It's a relief not to worry about achieving an exact gauge, or getting a perfect fit. I'm 41 rows into the 103 rows that make up the front. Then I'll have to turn around and do it again for the back.

The colors on the screen aren't true. The green is less blue, the orange is more gold, the purples have a little more red, I think. And there's a darker green that hasn't even made an appearance yet.

False Alarm

2006-05-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

For a fraction of a nanosecond this morning, I thought I had made the Big Time. Lovely visions of fame and fortune flashed before my eyes. I imagined knocking the Yarn Harlot off the charts. I worried about what I could possible knit up in time for my first Letterman appearance. In my mind's eye, I engaged in witty repartee with Marie Irshad.

And then I discovered the reality of Spam Comments. 30 of 'em waiting to taunt and humiliate me. So dear readers (all 4 of you), I've enabled Word Verification. Please don't let it dampen your spirits. Comment. Comment early and comment often. I'll be waiting.

********************************************************

Only partly cloudy and dry all weekend. Temps hit the low 60's yesterday. I don't think Nick will be needing this scarf again for at least a few months.

Nick's Scarf
Yarn: Blue Sky sport weight Alpaca (3 skeins)
Needles: US 3
Pattern: Ann Norling Lace Scarf Pattern
Finished size: 6" x 70"

A Bit O' Stash

2006-05-17T15:37:00.000-08:00

I've had some attention deficit regarding my knitting lately. I think it's partly due to finishing a big projec t. I feel so free to start something new that I just want to keep starting something new. Then there's the whole blog thing. I'm having so much fun with this, but as a fretter, it also gives me something new to fret about. I worry: Do I have enough knitting going on to satisfy anyone who might drop by?

So I'm knitting a few rounds here and a few rows there and there's just not much new to show today. So it might be time for a Stash Picture. Lately I've been thinking about this Noro: I bought it right before our move with a vest in mind. I'm still thinking vest. Maybe something with cables and a deep V neck?? The benefit of being a knitter in Juneau is that one can think about a wool vest in any season.

In other news, Hilary asked where I got the idea to dye grey yarn. I wish I could tell you "I'm just that clever," but I can't take the credit. I found a wonderful Kool-Aid dyeing guide here and realized the colors on the right were much more ME. I also recalled a wonderful class I took with Sally Melville. She's big on overdyeing and showed us inspiring samples, many of which can be seen here. Eunny Jang has a great Kool-Aid dyeing tutorial in which she started with a colored yarn and that also got the gears turning. And finally I went to this book and looked at the color wheels. BINGO. My favorite colors all have grey undertones.

And that's lucky for me 'cause it's grey again in Juneau.

Home Grown Stripes

2006-05-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

Or: How I Spent My Mother's Day.

Let's back up a minute. Some of you might recall my first foray into Kool-Aid dyed yarn, which I then knit into Olympic Socks.

I love them, because I loved being part of the Knitting Olympics . But let's be honest, THESE are not "my colors." Are they anyone's colors?

Yesterday I ventured again into the wonderful world of Kool-Aid dyeing. I started with this:

Two 50 gram balls of Dale Baby Ull superwash in Mid Grey

Three Kool-aid flavors later (Lemon-Lime, Berry Blue and Grape)

I ended up with this:

Something magical happened. Overdyeing the grey yarn produced just what I wanted. This yarn has a silky sheen and the colors are rich and deep. My colors. Working with two separate skeins was a little fussy (Read: Tangled mess, much profanity and skein rewinding) and I'm pretty sure my stripes aren't going to line up perfectly. But I don't care. I adore this yarn!

Sun is shining (yes, those are shadows you see). Temps in the mid 50's.

Splenectomy

2006-05-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

I spent a few horrible minutes (of ~30 horrible hours) wondering if somehow I'd gotten the attention of malevolent knitting gods who were just giving me the knitting time for which I'd wished. (see previous post) I came around though. Malevolent knitting gods? That's gotta be an oxymoron.

My 12 year old, Max, took a spleen-rupturing blow during his second soccer game last Saturday. Emergency surgery to remove his spleen was performed a few hours later. The surgery went smoothly and after one long night in the CCU he was moved to a regular room. We were all comforted by his room's proximity to two big locked doors that led to the Mental Health Unit. For several days I wasn't sure on which side of those doors I belonged. I finished my first "Socks That Rock" sock at his bedside and he graciously agreed to pose with it.

(You're probably all wondering why I didn't take the opportunity to cut his hair while he was still in a post-surgery stupor. Believe me, I considered it.)

Sock Specs
Yarn: "Socks That Rock" in Carbon
Needles: US 1, dpns
Pattern: "Oak Ribbed Sock" by Nancy Bush from Here. My only modification was to do a standard toe shaping rather than the "round toe shaping" the pattern called for.

This is wonderful yarn and I dutifully cast on the second sock right away, to try and stave off "Second Sock Syndrome."

The weather is still wet and way too cold for May, even by Juneau standards. But things are much sunnier at our house.

Healthy, strong 12 year olds recover with amazing speed and Max was discharged from the hospital last evening.

100% Chance of Rain

2006-05-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

You would think, with the near perfect knitting weather (temps in the mid 40s, rain and more rain), I would have lots of knitting to show off. Not so. My life is now totally dictated by the sporting events of my two sons. You might further think that spending many, MANY hours a week at a soccer pitch or baseball field or track meet would provide ample knitting time for such a devoted knitter. Again, not so. See weather conditions described above. With my body rigid with cold and rain dripping off my glasses, knitting is impossible.

So I'm sleeping too little and working on this at night. It's definitely stay-at-home knitting with it's chart and many colored, easily tangled strands.

It's a safe expedition into intarsia. Safe because the whole thing will be felted when I'm done and that should hide any joining indescretions. Those of you who know me (heh,heh, aren't I cute to pretend that strangers - in fact, anyone not related by blood or marriage - actually reads this blog?) might be surprised at my choice of colors. Do they seem out of character? Do you like them? I think I do, but it's a bit too early to tell. They just called out to me.

Pattern: Wobbley Circles Tote by Leigh Radforf/Spring 2006 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky
Needles: Addi Turbo circs/US 10

Two Hats and a Spoon

2006-05-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

I knit the green hat first. Then I fretted that it was too small and knit the purple hat. Now I'm afraid the purple hat is too big. (Welcome to my world.) They're destined for tiny babies in Ketchikan and I'm trusting that they will find their way to appropriately sized heads.

This is a Team Alaska community project. After the Knitting Olympics we decided to rotate through our towns and provide some needed knitwear to each of our communities. Preemies in Ketchikan are up first.

Rainy and grey today.

Hat Specs
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine
Needles: US 3 dpns
Pattern: I just winged it, though I did borrow the lovely "raglan" shaping from Here

Blog Day

2006-05-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

It's May Day and my birthday and now it's also Blog Day. Time for me to enter the wonderful world of blogging knitters.

After a 17 year hiatus, I returned to Juneau last July with my family. This is the sweater that I began knitting when we decided to embark on this adventure. It was my talisman. I knit when I couldn't face packing. I knit on rest stops during our 1800 mile car trip from California to Prince Rupert, BC. I knit on the ferry ride to Juneau.

I wasn't a monogamous knitter, however. Other things got knit along the way (stay tuned for future posts about them). But I always returned to The Sweater and it finally got finished a few weeks ago.

Sweater Specs
Pattern: Northern Lights Jacket
Designed by Arnhild Hillesland for Mostly Merino
Yarn: Mostly Merino worsted weight
Hand-dyed by the wonderful Margaret Klein Wilson
Needles: Addi Turbo US 6 and US 7

44.1 degrees Fahrenheit and the sun is peeking out. Time for a walk.