Craptina

I feel like a doctor

Before I go into the long haul of blogging that is overdue, let's start with some pics from the big Morocco trip, which I'm sure you all are waiting for.....

If you'd like to see the whole she-bang, click here.   While on holiday, I was able to put the finishing touches on these babies:

I am in fact, another Jaywalker lover :)
Yarn: two hanks of Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn
Mods: drop that heel flap, baby! I'm going short-row!!!
For: Moi.

Morocco was terrific. There was adventure, mystery, confusion, language barriers, the whole nine. I would go back in a minute, even if only to practice more of my high school French skills that were generously challenged. The food wasn't as good as I had hoped, and I recently learned that Moroccan's feel that restaurants are a waste of money, and the best food is found in mom's kitchen. Unfortunately, the only Moroccan we befriended was far from his own home, so we didn't get a taste of the real goods. I did however, purchase some spices and a tagine for myself, and lugged it all the way back home. I've made four different dishes with it so far, all of which have been winners, so our apartment has been smelling very nice.

Just after getting back I was shipped out to Fairfield, PA to a seminar and tour of a paper mill and a book manufacturing plant. For work, of course. I brought my camera but unfortuantly we were not allowed to take pictures of the process, but it was a very interesting to learn;  paper is basically made from 90% water, and 10% soaked tree plup. I also got to tour a paperback and hardcover manufacturing plant. It was really cool to see the machines that put books together. It was better than watching Mr. Rodgers visiting the crayon factory. Immediately after returning from that my Mom and niece came to NYC for a visit for a few days. It's been pretty busy since I got back.

I did however, manage to make a serisous dent on the Pink Tea Raglan, which I'm not showing any pictures of yet. Not that I won't share, I just don't find miles of moss stitch thrilling. I do however have some photos of Glee. It's soley this pattern that makes me feel like a doctor. See, when I cast on for this top,I was fully aware that my stitch gauge was on the money, but my row gauge was a little off. Keeping this in mind, I cast on for the smaller size, hoping to compensate. And while knitting I kept checking and measuring, and all was going to plan until I actually tried the damn thing on. The shoulders were waaaaay to wide. Now, this is would be fine if it were 1986, but I wasn't about to rip back all of my work- it's a top-down shirt, that'd be going back and redoing alllll that stockinette.  No, I decided I'd plunge ahead and finish the body, and then go back and pull out the sleeves only. Check out this photo, paying attention to the armhole on the left side.

See all that yarn just, uh, hanging there? I think the work needed to save this project deserves a medical degree. Because one couldn't just rip back- the sleeve stitches are worked in the round! So I ripped back as far as I needed to go, where my arm wasn't swimming in the material. Then I picked up the live stitches and alternatively cut one strand at a time, knitting it into the round of the live sleeve to the other end, weave in the end, cut a stand on the opposite end, work that into the sleeve round, weave in that end and around and around back and forth, until  it was too far to go back and pick up. By this time there were about 12 or so strands left, so I wove in the ends. Sounds like a feat, yes? It was knitting surgery.
Here's a photo of the wrong side post-surgery:

The right side is looking pretty good, and a picture will be forthcoming upon completion. I doubt that anyone who didn't know about these hideous strands wouldn't ever be able to tell they are there. It's totally embarrasing to me that I made this mistake, but at the same time, I impressed myself by taking a risk to fix it.  My task for this week is to finish the neck and then tackle the left shoulder the same as the right. I hope it goes just as smoothly.

Show me your stash!

Voila! A Scarf!

Here is David, my sister's  roommate. David is the nicest guy you will ever meet. He recently moved here from Mexico and is totally shocked at how warm cold it is. He requested a scarf, so I quickly whipped up a k1,p1 special.

And the Sienna Cardigan is finally out of the dark ages! I am working the back and two fronts at the same time and boy it took forever to get out of the stockinette hole. It's finally onto some shoulder shaping which is a very nice change. Once that's finished, all that's left are the sleeves and the trim, which should be easy-peasy.


Maybe you have noticed that there's a new button on the sidebar: Knit from your Stash! Now I'm not a hoarder of  an overflowing amount of yarn, but I've got my share. And I'm not going to share a picture of it, because I tried that and it didn't turn out very good. Please don't make me haul it all out again.....trust me, there's a sweater or two, some cami's, a couple shawls, a log cabin blanket, and a ton of hats and mittens in that stash.

I think I could use a KAL like this to pair down on the yarn that I've been sitting on for, well, years. I buy yarn that has the best of intentions for projects, but seems to get lost in some plastic bag in the depths of our closets.* And as I get older I've learned how to live with less, so this seems like a good way to reduce the clutter with creativity.

Now, this KAL needs some modifications for my personal needs. Since I don't spin fiber I'm extending the get-out-of jail free card. I still have a free pass, but I am allowing myself one additional personal yarn purchase with the condition that this ticket can only be used if there is a kick-ass sale of at least 35% off.
Really, who can resist 35% off? I have weak knees for a good sale.

I shall leave you with Darla, who recently won our weird cat picture of the week.


*yeah, right. closets....I wish. 

Sweater Drama

In the past few posts I've hinted at some sweater drama. Now that the dust has settled (kind of) and I have a finished product (almost) I'm ready to get into it.

My friend Joe, Austin's best friend and housemate, is moving to Beirut at the end of this month for two years. For those of you who have been under a rock in a cave on Jupiter, Beirut is the capitol city of Lebanon that has been being bombed the fuck out of by Israelis for the last month. Typically, though not all the time, warfar in the middle east has been limited to the caves, desert or rural areas. And though many cities in the Middle East have their fair share of terrorism and gun violence, Beirut has been a direct hit of war practices- not individual suicide bombers. I'm not suggesting that the violence in Baghdad or Israel has not been as devastating, it's just that Beirut was caught with their pants down. No one would expect this city to be bombed as hard as is has been. Americans have been asked to leave the country. But my friend Joe is still planning to go. He's not in the military. He's not a photo journalist. He's a teacher. And he's contracted to teach high school kids at an international school for the next two years.

"If school is still open," he reasons, "then it's safe enough for me to go. If the kids weren't safe, I wouldn't go." So up until this point I've been cringing around the radio news, shaking my head at the headlines of bbc.com, terrified and angry of how stupid this boy is. For education and integrity, I wouldn't go- why risk it? There are other schools without life threatening danger- but he doesn't see it like that. God bless this boy for being so brave. How many of us wouldn't have the balls to do it? And who knows- even if next week the school is closed down or if he's only there a few days and turns around- he's still game, and that's more than many would do.

When Austin first introduced me to Joe, I was coming over for dinner. Austin said to me, "If you bring him a bottle of Jamison, he'll love you." Really, how much easier can it get to have your boyfriends friends like you if you bring them a bottle of good whiskey? Getting to know him wasn't much harder, and even though I haven't known him for very long, I'm going to be missing a really cool person when he moves.

When I first learned that he was  leaving the country for so long (pre-bombing) I figured I'd knit him a sweater. Wouldn't you hate to be away from your friends and family for so long? A sweater would be something he'd have from Brooklyn to hold onto. And besides, I had been eyeing the Drop Stitch pullover from Knit1* since christmas and I wasn't going to make anything for the LMOL- (not yet). And yes yes yes it'll be hot in Beirut- but it's a Mediterranean climate, so there WILL be sweater weather.

So after receiving permission from Austin** and a stunned thank you from Joe, who still is amazed that I'm making him something, I cast on some Andes- 100% Chilean wool, a gorgeous light and dark variegated blue. I got about five inches up the front when I realized that it had some big gaps between stitches, and the drop stitches at the base were looking weird with all the gaps. The YO's didn't make any sense- it was too "holey." I was so upset- my gauge was right, but it just wasn't working. It was the wrong yarn for this project.  Luckily, The Point  only had one skein, and I had ordered the rest-that means that more yarn shopping was necessary. I ended up going to the Yarn Connection  and I purchased some Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal, which turned out to be a perfect fit. Evenly spaced sts, I plowed ahead.

Now, it was springtime during this period and I was really not in the best knitting or blogging shape. It was something worth blogging about, but it just wasn't in me. I didn't have any other projects going and you know how blogging gets- sometimes you just need a break. So anyway, I knit on in anonymity, and meanwhile, the extra yarn I ordered from The Point- it never made it in! Six weeks went by and it never came! I ended up canceling the order for a store credit, but what a blessing that turned out to be. If I hadn't changed yarns, I probably wouldn't have had enough time to finish. But their turned out to be another road bump- the shaping on the right side of the v-neck.

As I worked this edge, there turned out to not be enough stitches for the shaping. I ripped back, counted my math, counted the stitches in the shaping of the pattern- something was totally off. Knit1.com's errata said nothing about the shaping of the right v-neck, and I was certain there was a problem so I contacted the designer, Yarn Ball Boogie for some help. Sympathetically, he wasn't able to offer much insight because Knit1 had manipulated the pattern, but he did give me the e-mail address to the editor in chief and a link to Jay's Craft Room, someone else who had knitted the sweater. I contacted both of them and worked on the rest of the sweater until further notice.

Knit1 still hasn't gotten back to me. Jerks.  Jay totally knew what I was talking about, and if you're knitting this sweater- reverse the shaping on the left side of the v-neck and keep the YO's. Just ignore all those complicated instructions- these guys have no idea what their talking about.

So here we are: In pieces, blobby, waiting for blocking and seaming. Just in time too, Joe ships out on the 24th of this month.

Phew- that was a mouthful of a post, and enough sweater drama to make me bored. If you're interested, stop by the Rec Room in Brooklyn at 7pm this Saturday 8/19 for Joe's going away/art show/Austin's website launch release/musical happening. E-mail me for details.

*I'm not linking because I'm mad at them.
**poll- would you knit for your man's best friend without asking? I doubt it.

 

Les Bags

Congratulations to everyone who finished the Knitting Olympics!! Gold metals for the Spiders who competed because I was too lazy to even put the button my the blog, but I was rooting for you guys in my heart. Yesterday at The Point several spiders bound off their FBS. So congrautlations  Stephanie and Katie for the gold metal on Team Lace.    

I've been caught up on so many projects that I've been a bad knitter and have let quite a few fun things slide. I know there are many out there who want to see some shoes . And I know there are one or who who are wondering what ever happened to the sleeves. Well all of these projects have taken a back burner for the moment while I've been researching the possibitities of production knitting. I know I am  a fast knitter but lately I've been wondering how fast. I decided I'd start off with some felted bags and test my skills. I found a few cute patterns, futzed with them a little and made some samples.

The first test was a disaster. 14 Hours total on size 8's, and a blob of a bag.

 
I increased the needle size 11's, and modified the shaping a bit, and this helped get the timing down to 8.5 hours. This bag was better, but not big enough. Still too wide.

This time I really played with the shaping of the base. After picking up stitches all around the base, I went up for 4 inches, then decreased every 5th stitch on the 30th row, to really pull in the shaping. I didn't time myself on this one, but I expect it was 7 hours at max.

It's hard to see the shaping from this picture (I put a squash in the bag to stand it up) but it's there. Now that I have the patten that I want I did another bag and timed myself to a record 4.45 hours. I'm researching for bigger, cheaper yarn,  to keep playing with the pattern.  Well see how these projects work out,  who knows, maybe Craptina will get a label......

Knitted Shoes

So, my girlfriend Maria wanted to make these shoes that she found on the DIY network from this show called the Knitty Gritty, I think. She wanted to try to make these shoes, but was timid about trying such an adventerous project, so we're both doing a pair. We went to the salvation army last weekend and bought cheap shoes. We then drilled holes every quarter inch and looped the yarn onto double pointed needles. Between us, we didn't have enough DPN's to do more than one shoe at a time, and amen, because this is really physically challenging knitting! My shoes are using 10 needles to start, and Maria's used 12!

After you loop the yarn onto DPN's, you use a crochet hook to work the first couple rounds. This is the biggest pain in the butt and takes forever. Eventually you move onto regular knitting as the yarn gets more flexible.
It's really interesting how this is coming together, who thinks of these things? I'll be sure to bring the shoe to The Point this friday, I'm sure The Spiders will want to get a better look!

sleeve conniseur

So I've been working on this t-shirt a book of patterns that uses Adrienne Vittadini yarn. I liked the t-shirt pattern, but wanted to use my Brooksfarm. I finished the front and back in no time flat.

The t-shirt is called "Celia." There's a diagional stitch that is made on the bias, so the patten is contantly moving. I wasn't really happy with the directions that the pattern included, there wasn't much instruction for the moving parts- The YO keeps changing places as you progress, and you have to compensate extra decreases on the end of the row, because of the YO's. I had to take out the shaping when I first started because the sides were extremely lopsided. I did two decreases on the end of the row instead of one and it came out fine.

I haven't blocked it yet so you can't see the shaping, but I promise it's there.

When it came time to attack the sleeves I realized this would look a lot better with long sleeves. I was at The Point last week and I saw the cuff to the sleeve to what I believe is Beth's (and PLEESE correct me if I'm wrong, this is a total guess-) the Union Square Market Pullover.

I really like the cuffs on it, even though Beth said it was kinda hoofy, but I had my friend Maria cut out the shape with a piece of muslin. So I'm tackling these sleeves without a pattern, but I've got the basics and a piece of muslin with the shape I want so it's gotten to a good start. I'm doing both sleeves at once because I know I'll never remember what I did with the first one. It's been quite interesting so far.

Shiptinas!

We did it! Jonathan and I decorated the kitchen ceiling to highlight my Dad's ships. The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria have been in the family for years. I inertied them a few months ago and they have been adorning my kitchen for some time. About a month ago Jonathan was over for dinner and we got to talking about how to sprue up the ships. This is just the beginning.....

Oh yes, It's cotton ball clouds and kitchey chalk board border paper.

and in knitting news the second Flower Basket Shawl is almost finished!

Crazy Lace

I spent my knitting time today working on Iggy's short lace table runner, aiming to finish it well before Christmas. It's currently measuring 5". I'm hoping to have it at 30 or 40" at completion. I'm going to scope out the table again when I go over there tomorrow. The plan is to go to a haunted house on the lower east side with the boys and their parents-  these children are, by the way, three lovely kiddies that I adore. I was resident nanny while in college and have remained close. These kids kick ass. I'm going to talk to them about making our own monopoly board, since we play so damn much. I hope they will be into it.

I designed the pattern based on the "Fishtail Stitch II" from the Mon Tricot Knitting Dictionary which basically is a book of stitches. There is no copyright page, and the book it so old (I got it from my mother's friend when I was 15) and looks like it's out of print, so I'll post the pattern when the garment is finished. Don't post nasty comments yet- I may put surprises in the middle or your name written in script. I at this rate, I estimate to be finished in about two weeks, possibly less.

Special thanks go to Veronique for the heads up on the stitch holders. This is my first lace pattern, and I made it about three inches before pulling my hair out from pulling back so much. I'm using cut straws for stitch holders, the smaller diameter holds much better on No.5 needles.

It's much easier with the holders, but this was my face most of the day getting through this pattern: