HomeWork

Nothing thrills me like learning a new skill, like spinning for example. Spending the weekend at Madrona cozy with my drop spindle, falling deeper and deeper in love with the process and the yarn I was creating, some friends overheard me mutter: ‘I’m so over knitting’. Famous last words. What I didn’t realize at the time was that at some point, the spinner feels compelled to do something with the lovely yarn they have spun. It is pretty to admire on the mantle, but it is even nicer wrapped around the body.

The wrist warmers were a great way to see the fiber as knit fabric, but didn’t really satisfy my urge to see just how far my yarn would go. After browsing Ravelry a bit and trolling through my existing stash, I decided a striped cardigan would be the safest bet, as I could just substitute another color if I ran out. I pulled out six hanks of Bartlett Yarns Fisherman 3-ply and turned to the Random Stripe Generator to program the color sequence.

Even if you don’t plan to knit, crochet, felt, collage or paint, this is a fun little tool. Don’t like the colors? Just refresh and you’ll get a new palette.

My criteria in pattern selection was something easy so I could still socialize at the same time. I settled on the world’s simplest pattern series: Knitting Pure and Simple; this is the Neckdown Jacket (201). When I declared my love affair with knitting over, I think I was really saying I was done torturing myself with the never-ending race to master progressively more complicated pieces. Working on a simple piece does not qualify as back-sliding, in the same way as ditching my running routine, or swim practice. Incidentally, we’ve just started biking to school (which means four rides for me with the extra legs home). It is exciting to be out in the world as a family, each person motoring with their own steam.

From roving to 2ply yarn to knitted cuff:

I am delighted with my results, as I can clearly see the progression in my spinning and plying in each hank. This cuff was knit with one of nine hanks; each hank took me between 2 1/2 and 3 hours to spin and ply on my drop spindle. I estimate the cuff used between 30 and 50 yards based on the one time I slowed down enough to count the loops on my niddy noddy.

The hank I used for this cuff appears to have a lot of twist still left in the yarn, though most of the hanks were balanced after washing and drying. I’m still not sure what size needles are best for the thick and thin yarn. The cuff was knit on size 6/4.0 mm dpn and the gauge measures around 4.5 stitches/inch; this was very tight for the thicker sections, but comfortably snug for the greater portion of the yarn. I’m tempted to rip it back and try knitting it on larger needles, but I worry that the thin sections will leave gaps.

This roving, which I bought on etsy from Dancing Leaf Farm, was so much fun to spin that I’m feeling a little bereft now that it is finished. The ball band wrapped around the roving claims this is ‘wool from free-range sheep with names’. Buying 8oz of handpainted merino roving for $19.50 is a great value, plus I love the idea of supporting a shepherd in Maryland. I just checked the shop, and there is another batch of the same colorway for sale. However, since I don’t have any specific plans for knitting this yarn, I’m going to hold off on buying any more. Last night, I spent my entire evening with the Fiber Gallery knitters, perusing books looking for ways to use a small bit of precious yarn. I’d love to hear how other spinners use their yarn and suggestions for the best way to make your wool go the distance.

Socks I love:

Baudelaire by Cookie A is a beautiful toe-up lace pattern, elegant and easy to memorize. It was a joy to knit through and through. I loved this pattern for the gorgeous lace vine that drew the admiration of onlookers. I loved the instructions for a sewn bind-off; no more do I struggle to get my toe-up socks over my heel because the super elastic cuff stretches and then snaps back.

Yarn I love:

Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock in Moss. Soft, supple and not splitty. The color variation was interesting without varying too much. Plenty of yarn for my size 8 feet, with enough to spare for an infant hat or two.

The best part was starting these socks on one vacation in New Hampshire, and finishing them on another vacation on Keats Island. Lovely.

Last month, Marysusan of All Good Girls Are Marys issued a collaborative challenge: she expanded on a design I created and posted the illustration on her blog. I loved her idea, but being separated from my tools and materials, I was forced to sit on my hands until I returned to Seattle. While at Keats, I combed the beach looking for interesting morsels to dangle.

As soon as the dirty clothes were sorted and fresh fruit on the counter, I pulled out my needles. My first prototype was knit with 24 gauge nickel-plated craft wire. This resulted in a clunky heavy bundle without much definition. It will be perfect to hang from my rear-view mirror, but not from the neck of any human I know.

The next two were knit with 28 gauge dead-soft sterling silver wire; this means the wire is extremely malleable and very fine, resulting in a much lighter little package that may bend if abused.

The last package was strung up on wax-coated cotton cord with 24 gauge half hard sterling silver wire and findings. The difference between 28 gauge (the thinner wire used to create the pocket) and 24 gauge (the thicker wire used to wrap the cord) is noticeable in the picture below.

If you are interested in trying this project, I would recommend working with half-hard sterling silver wire instead of dead-soft, unless you plan to create a production line knitting a never ending string of chain mail. Half-hard wire will make your hands sore after a while, but it is worth it in the ultimate durability of your finished product.

One lovely Saturday in August, I visited a small fair in the town of Dublin, NH. I was delighted to meet the woman who sold my mother-in-law six skeins of yarn last year, which I used to knit my Rogue vest.

It turns out that the yarn is not homespun, as I had thought, but Fisherman Yarn by Bartlett Yarns of Maine. This woman sells the wool from her sheep twice a year to the mill, and they give her yarn in exchange. I was so pleased to work with this mulespun yarn that I bought another six skeins for a future project.

Once upon a time, I knit two ponchos for a friend. Her friend saw the little ponchos and said “Boy, I’d like some ponchos for my boys.” She asked if I would accept a willow chair she built in a workshop in exchange for my work. “I noticed your front porch is a little bare,” she said.

I gladly accepted because our porch was very bare and the chair fit perfectly. After reclining on it a few times, I decided it needed a pillow; the design came to me in my dreams, sending me downstairs to sketch in the middle of the night.

The first of the ponchos is just about finished. I’m using two strands of laceweight alpaca my mother-in-law bought from a peasant woman spinning in an alley in Potosi, Bolivia; bits of Bolivian debris are spun into the wool adding a touch of the authentic to this rustic yarn; anyone who knows Jen and her boys will appreciate how well this yarn will suit their rustic aesthetic.

While knitting it one afternoon, my eye rested on the leaf pattern on my skirt. When I return to Seattle, I’ll create some brown felt leaf cutouts and embroider the edges to create an embellishment around the bottom of the poncho.

I’m not sure if the end result will end up looking as it does in my imagination, but the process will be fun along the way.

After weeks of absenteeism, I was finally able to attend the Fiber Gallery’s Sit ‘n Knit last Tuesday.

My vibrant friend, Melissa the Baker, she of yarn and kitty tattoos, formerly known as the Empress of Desserts, was wearing this beauty, inspired by Leigh Radford’s Silver Squares Necklace in AlterKnits.

She brought beads and wire with her instead of yarn, rationalizing that she doesn’t want to knit with wool in the summer, and in the late fall she is too busy making Christmas presents, so why not switch her schedule? Knit wire necklaces for sister-gifts in July and leave your hands free for wool in November.

I was so taken by her project, that I immediately went home to try one for myself. Naturally, the materials I had one hand weren’t exactly what Melissa was using, nor were they the same gauge as suggested by Leigh Radford. I did have a fine sterling silver wire, but it was so pliable that I had a hard time casting on in a fashion that looked neat. Long-tail and cable cast-on both created a messy jumble. In the end, I settled with long-tail, wasting a bit of wire after casting on the stitches just so I had something to handle. Who knew wire could be so slippery?

I also struggled with getting the beads exactly where I wanted them. Do you knit the first row or purl? If you knit the first row, do the beads go on your purl row? First stitch or second? Once again, I settled with an assymetrical piece, deciding that it was an intentional design feature if anyone asked me about it. So far, my husband has been the only person to comment. If he ever asks for his own pendant, I’ll work a little harder on figuring out how to center the beads.

If you are interested in trying this yourself, I cast on seven stitches using 30 gauge sterling silver wire, and a US 7 aluminum double point needle. I knit five rows using a mismatched pair of needles, as per Melissa’s suggestion - one US 7 and one US 4 needle. Melissa and Leigh suggest using 28 gauge wire. Have fun playing with wire.

Edit: Marysusan made a great suggestion for taking this idea one step further: turn the knit wire into a mesh cage. Think of small treasures you want to carry around your neck, perhaps a pearl or polished stone; create a small amulet. I love her illustration, so had to include it here. Now I just have to get my hands on a little wire and try this out (I knew I should have packed some).  

I have a confession to make: lists make me really, really happy. First it started with flickr, which made me think I should blog. Then I discovered LibraryThing. Now it is Ravelry. There is something about seeing my own stuff (which I can see perfectly well piled up around my feet) listed in a neat and orderly fashion (perhaps because the stuff around my feet isn’t in this state) that makes me feel at peace. It makes me feel so good that when I’m not doing it, or the job isn’t done, I can’t think of anything else, so it leaves me feeling restless, agitated and cranky. Let the girl make her lists!

I started last week working on adding my projects from flickr while I was at my parents’ house in Vancouver. There were lots of project photos I hadn’t uploaded, pattern details weren’t jumping to mind and I couldn’t remember the names of some of the yarns.

On Wednesday morning, I drove back to Seattle, without my children (thanks Mom and Dad!); the rest of the day was spent in holiday fashion with a picnic, bbq and fireworks. Thursday was spent on errands, which included three Goodwill stores and an evening potluck. Friday morning really had to be spent catching up on my webmaster work for Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (you can only put off paid work for so long). The whole time I was thinking of my incomplete projects in Ravelry.

It isn’t like I don’t have tons of other things to do: fold three bursting hampers of laundry, replenish our empty fridge, play with roving I bought from Arbutus Farms, sew a skirt I plan to wear to a wedding in one week, cast-on for a shawl I want to wear to the same wedding…wait, did you say you need a pattern? Better look it up on Ravelry.

That was the beginning and the end of today. While I feel sheepish admitting how much time I’ve spent organizing the knitting pictures on our computers, photographing undocumented projects and entering details into the database, the reality is that this makes me happy. If it makes me a geek too, so be it.

There are three more projects to photograph, but I think I’m done for the moment, as is Rogue. Who needs a wool sweater in the summer, but a vest is perfect! The sleeves are in progress, but for now the vest will work just fine. And, yes, I am having a hard time taking off Marianna’s skirt.

While I love my handknit socks, I really don’t want to spend a lot of time reknitting a heel, nor can I bring myself to embrace Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s method of darning: standing over the garbage can shouting “Darn, darn, darn” while dropping them into the wastbasket.

Exhibit A: a pair of socks knit with Koigu 100% merino yarn in 2004, worn once a week for three years straight. I’m surprised they held up as long as they did. I took them out of rotation before the heel blew away completely, intending to darn them, but they sat in my project basket for six months, untouched.

The good folks at Arbutus Farm on Lopez Island displayed this brilliant solution to fixing thinning heels. Needlefelt them!

Stuff your felting pad, foam or brush inside the sock. Then place a little roving over the thin spot and start poking.

Turn them inside out to poke the roving back through, and then turn them over one more time. There will be fuzzy bits left on the inside of the sock, and this section will feel a little stiffer than the rest of your sock, but to my mind this is a better solution than throwing them away, or reknitting a new heel.

Voila! A perfectly wearable, if inelegant, handknit sock repaired.

These beauties are finally off my needles and on my father’s feet, just in time for Father’s Day. I said these were for Lance all along, but I couldn’t really surprise my dad if I said I was making them for him, now could I?

Much like the Yarn Harlot’s traveling socks, these socks have seen lots and lots of miles. I started them in January just before the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma, and then took them back to the Tacoma the following week for Wintergrass. They went to every parent meeting at my son’s preschool and my daughter’s elementary school, aikido twice a week, book club meetings, knitting group, back and forth to Vancouver to see my parents. They were my go-to project for six months, around and around and around they went. I’m sad to let go of them because they demanded so little of me.

I should admit that in the beginning, these socks were a bit of a challenge because I decided to do a toe-up magic loop construction for the first time (this tutorial from Misocrafty made the cast-on a breeze). Plus there were some winding difficulties that left me with two lopsided balls from a single 4oz hank. Not sure just how much yarn these socks would take, I decided to knit them two at a time. When I arrived at the heel, I took them off the needles and knit them one at a time until I was past both heels.

Toe-up sock patterns generally call out a short row heel, but I didn’t think that would create enough room for a man foot, so I trolled around for ideas and didn’t really come up with much. I decided to just try a standard heel, upside down: I put two thirds of the stitches on holders, knit a heel flap for 18 rows, turned the heel, picked up the stitches on the side of the flap and then knit the instep. There is no reinforcing in the heel, but it works. Now that I’ve seen needlefelted heels on socks, I’m not going to worry so much about whether the heels and toes get a little thin with love.

Ironically, I did run out of yarn just past the heel; I broke down and bought a second skein of this yarn. Several people have told me how much they loved this yarn, but it really wasn’t my cup of tea. Perhaps it was the dark colorway, perhaps I just knit it at too tight a gauge, perhaps it was knitting in magic loop, whatever the reason, it seemed this yarn was forever trying to jump right off my needles. Picking up those impossible-to-see, tiny little stitches, that insisted on splitting instead of jumping back on my needles caused no end of muttering under my breath…never again. Anyone interested in swapping 3oz of mohair/wool sock yarn? For that matter, is anyone interested in size 0 needles? They deserve someone with a looser hand than mine.

Pattern: a hybrid; Turkish Cast-on for Two socks Magic Loop from Misocrafty
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in color “Larkspur”
Needles: US Size 0, 40″ Addi Turbo