Box-The-Compass

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 ...

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

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

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

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?

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 ...

Hemming and Hawing

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.

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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

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*

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 a’m 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...