I love bell sleeves...

I really do love them. But for some reason, I can't stop obsessing over the fact that these sleeves are going to be too belled.



I'm really playing with fire with this hourglass sweater.

Firstly, I didn't actually swatch (I know, I know, don't hurt me). I realised that for my swatch to be at all accurate, I'd have to knit it in the round, and therefore I'd have to have enough stitches that I could get an accurate gauge on half the stitches. Since the sleeves are worked in the round anyway, I had a brilliant idea. The sleeves can be my swatch! That way, if I get gauge right away, I won't have wasted all that time knitting a swatch. Besides, I had already started the body of the sweater on 5mm needles and determined that it was way, way too big, so I had a good starting point with 4.5mm.

After knitting the up to the hem for the sleeves- Oh yes, sleeves. I knit them both at once, so that I can avoid obsessive row counting and still have sleeves the same length. Again, this seemed like a brilliant idea, but perhaps not so much when combined with the "sleeves as swatch" idea, since it's much harder to just scrap-and-start-over two sleeves, rather than one. Which is how I managed to get this far before questioning my progress.



So as I was saying, I knit up to the hems on 4.5mm, and measured my gauge. It was about 16sts/inch, still a little big (I'm going for 19), but I was not concerned. I knit the hems up (provisional cast on, then k2tog the hem and sleeve stitches to avoid sewing later) then switched to my 4.25 needles for the rest of the sleeves. After several rows, I checked again. About 21 sts/inch. Well, that's actually smaller, but since it's already looking a little big, I'm okay with that. In fact, to prevent the extreme belled-ness of the sleeves from translating all the way up the arm, I've actually knit 2 extra decrease rows already. I'm pretty much trying to get the sleeves to the small sized measurements (from the medium which is what I cast on).

Goodness, if anyone is still following this, good for you. I'm totally lost.

The second thing that is vaguely concerning me is the colour difference. It's a double edged sword with Malabrigo. I love the variation, it's gorgeous, and subtle, and makes a much more interesting knit than a super consistent colour (at least for plain stockinette stitch). But doing both sleeves at once (hence two balls) makes it difficult to alternate balls to prevent pooling of a lighter or darker skein- since that would require four balls at once. I think I'd go mad(der). This has left me with two gorgeous sleeves of slightly different colours. I'm okay with this, I think.



Of course, the fact that I'm posting this all is a sign that I have not completely resigned myself to continuing.

I may need to switch projects for a while, to keep myself from progressing on the hourglass if I am going to eventually frog it. I can't believe I just typed that.

Happy New Yarn- er- Year!

All I wanted for the holidays was yarn, or money with which to acquire yarn, or roving which I could spin into yarn. Santa (and my relations) were all extremely good to me in this respect.

My darling husband bought me two gorgeous balls/lumps/pillows of roving. A 100% shetland in 'espresso', a very very dark brown, and a 70% shetland, 30% alpaca in 'oatmeal'. I never realised just how much I loved the natural colours of fibres. I could just sit and stare at it all day. I spend an inordinate amount of time over the holidays just squishing it.

Of course, colours not always found in nature are also quite appealing. So with some of my festive funds, I purchased some merino/silk roving too. I was almost swayed by the alpaca/silk as well, with beautifully contrasting colours (Think darkest brown alpaca streaked with copper-coloured silk. Black streaked with nearly iridescent red. Caramel streaked with gold. Now wipe the drool off your chin). Alas, at $10/oz, it was well beyond my reasonable budget. But don't get me wrong, the merino/silk is very nice. Don't you think?



But my real holiday treat was the boxing day sale at 'Lettuce Knit' in Toronto. 30% off. It may not sound like a lot, but it was apparently all that was standing between me and a whole buttload of Fleece Artist/Handmaiden yarn.

Merino socks- haven't decided on a pattern yet. I just want to swim in it.



Silk Rumple and Angel Hair (mohair/nylon). Part-way towards becoming a beautiful bias lacy scarf.


Cashmere/Silk, in (I think) the Paris colourway. Hopefully this will be a Diamond fantasy shawl by spring.


I also have a pair of Mohair/Blue-Faced Leicester fuzzy socks, but I don't have a picture yet. They've been spending too much time on my feet.

And quite a few months ago, I bought 6 skeins of Malabrigo in Azul Profundo. I was going to use it to make tubey, but after casting it on I became apprehensive that the pattern was not going to work for me. Fit issues. I now expect it to become an Hourglass sweater. I'm not particularly rushing on this one, since I won't likely get much wear out of it until next fall.

Pictures of that yarn to come, for those of you who like that sort of thing.

A Few More FOs

Before I get too far into the new year, I have to update on my last few FOs of 2006. I would like to add that I finished ALL of my gifts well before the 24th, thank you very much. I am very proud of myself.



This is the scarf from the hand spun wool that was roving that belonged to my grandmother-in-law (follow that?). I re-dyed it, because I found the bright green to be a bit garish for granddad. The colour looked a lot nicer in person than it does in the picture.



A felted bowl, made from a skein of Noro, for my mom. She's using it to keep my grandma's glasses in, so she can find them easily. I love making useful things.

In other FO news, I finally (finally!) finished the broadripple socks that I started...ooh, when was it? When my youngest was about 3 months old? Yeah, he'll be two this month. That was pathetic. And while they are lovely socks, I am so sick of working on them that I didn't even want to keep them for myself. Luckily, I have a beautiful friend whose birthday is this month, and she has small feet like mine. Also, she's allergic to wool, and since these socks are made from cascade fixation, it's all good. They are currently en route to her in Germany. In my haste to send them off, I forgot to take a picture of the pair. Well, go back to my first blog posts, there's a picture there of one of them, almost finished. The other one? Looks just like it. You'll have to imagine the toe though.

I will also update that everyone loved their knitted gifts. They all think I am incredibly talented and creative. Well maybe I am.

spin, span, spun

I'm not abandoning my knitting. I'm really not.

I am, however, having a torrid affair with a man named Ashford.



He's lovely, isn't he?

The big hunk of fleece is what I'm currently spinning. But here's a little photo journal of my progress so far.

This was the end of my first day of spinning:



Pretty good, but we were given some really nice tops to spin, so that helped.

This is the same white wool, and some grey wool too, plied and washed:


The grey was a lot coarser. And a lot harder to spin. It shows.

After my second class, when the instructor checked over my wheel and pronounced it fit to spin, I found some roving in a box with all my bobbins and other spinning accessories. The wheel and the roving used to belong to my husband's grandmother. The roving must have been at least 5, maybe 10 years old, but it spun up quite nicely (despite my questionable skill). I dyed it with blue and green Kool-Aid, and I'm planning on knitting a scarf for my husband's granddad out of it.

It's not quite as bright as the picture shows:



Class #2 homework- beautiful, but very sticky, grey coopworth. Spun, plied and washed (actually a little over-spun, over-plied, and still wet):



Today was the day we got to spin alpaca. It was baby blue, and looked just like cotton candy. She didn't give us much:



The colour is not quite true. And that is a quarter beside it, for reference. It's a really tiny ball.

Lastly, this is my homework for today (class #3 of 4). This is what I've spun off the big white puffball in the first picture:



I think I'm improving. I think I'm in love.

FFO!

I'll leave the extra 'F' up to your imagination.

This is it. This is all my holiday knitting, with the exception of a hat for my husband (which has been a nightmare involving the brioche stitch and earflaps- don't ask).

First, a bag for my dad. This was the first present I knit, in June, I think. I still haven't felted it yet.



These are a pair of knucks for my brother. They were fun to knit. I have plans to make several more pairs- um, eventually.



These are mittens for my brother-in-law. His hands are not, to my knowledge, two different sizes. I have no excuse for why the mittens are. I'm fully prepared to rip one back and make it smaller if I need to, but I'm sort of hoping he won't notice.



A wine cozy for my father-in-law. He likes wine. Maybe this was a bit of a cop-out. My husband got him a $60 flag from his university, so that should make up for it.



The only person not getting a knitted gift from me is my mom. I was going to make some felted mobius bowls, but I didn't get my book back in time. Instead, she is getting a record by Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Yes, an actual vinyl record. Very retro.

My kids are not getting knitted gifts because they grow too damn fast and like to paint and play in mud puddles. They are getting toys. I don't think they'll be too disappointed.

A real sense of accomplishment

Just pretend this is artfully draped over my shoulders, and not over my computer chair.

A close up:



It really does speak for itself, doesn't it?

Icar-ish

Sometime this summer I decided to knit all my x-mas gifts for my family this year. I thought it would be fun to do a lace weight shawl for my MIL, both because she is probably the only person I know who would wear one, and because I had just finished a worsted weight lace project, and I wanted to try the real thing.

Sometime in June, I picked up some Misti Alpaca and the pattern for the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits (many thanks to the woman at Lettuce Knit who set me up). I know that it was June, because I took this picture on June 19th, to show off a few days (weeks? I can't remember) of progress:



Now here we are, exactly 5 months after that picture was taken, and we have this:


I am fantastically proud of myself. Now I just need to find a place to block it that is safe from children and cats. Ummm, yeah.

Oh, in case you can't tell, that is not a full-sized Icarus. I skipped a couple repeats of the rather tedious first chart. I think my MIL would get more use out of it as shawlette (shawlini?), plus it meant she would actually get it for x-mas. Bonus.

I'm lazy.

That's the best excuse I have, seriously. At least, I'm a lazy blogger. It's not like I haven't been fairly productive in the last few months. But apparently it takes too much effort to write about it. Or take pictures of it. Actually, the problem with the latter may actually be finding space to photograph my knitting. I used to lay things out on my computer desk, but my HCD (horizontal clutter disorder) has gotten seriously out of control. Maybe I need to start arranging my knitting outside in flower bushes or something, like the Yarn Harlot. Speaking of, guess who I met last week. Well, no, don't guess, I just told you. I am even in the group photo of her Kingston post. And she showed me how to un-screw-up my shawl (note to self, knitting while laughing hysterically and trying not to cough up a lung do not mix). And part of the reason I am updating now is because I told her I would email her a link to my blog, and I'm embarrassed to do so without having at least semi-recent posts in it.

I still haven't taken recent pictures of my knitting. For my own accountability, here is a list of FO which I must photograph and then post. If I make a separate post for each object, maybe it'll actually start looking like I post on this blog after all.

• Winecozy for my FIL. It needs to be embellished but I'm stuck for ideas, so maybe once I post it someone will comment and tell me what to do.
• Mittens for my BIL. Probably too long, but better than being too short.
  
• Moebius sling bag for my dad, though it still needs to be felted.

Also, I need to post a picture of my Icarus shawl as it is now. It is really very close to being finished. I think it deserves a post all its own.

I have two more projects after the shawl and then I am more or less done my x-mas presents. I still haven't decided on a hat pattern for my husband, but since that is neither a surprise nor something he desperately needs at the moment, it is probably going to be a very late x-mas gift. Or a very early next x-mas gift. It's good to plan ahead.

June???

Suffice it to say, I am a woefully negligent blogger. I will take my lashings.

My main stumbling block to posting updates has been, believe it or not, that I am too damn lazy to take pictures of all my WIPs and FOs. Yes, I said FOs. I have at least 3 of them since I last posted. I'm currently working on my x-mas knitting list. I am actually making steady progress, which is thrilling for me. I also bought myself a new knitting bag. It's big and corduroy *drool* and it fits several projects as well as most of my important notions. And a book, and a snack, and anything I might decide to buy on my way home.

So soon, I promise, there will be pictures of my new projects. Er, but not for at least a week, because I just remembered I'm going out of town tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

Meet Casey and Finnegan

Mr. Dressup would be happy, I think.

They are absolutely wonderful. They're adjusting well to the house, the kids, everything.

They even snuggle up together to sleep, either in their own bed/scratching post:



or, in an alternative location (I don't blame them, that pillow is damn cozy):




And yes, I realise that my knitting blog has transformed into a kitty blog. I don't care. I'll get back to the yarn- eventually.

Kitty Love!

We are getting kittens on Monday. Two ones! (as M would say). They are not actually siblings, but they are the same age (14 weeks), and have been together for a while.

We had hoped we could bring them home today, but the manager of the store wasn't there to complete the adoption papers (we're adopting from the Humane Society, via PetValu).

These poor kitties do not have names. Dh and I are completely stuck. Maybe you all can give us ideas. We like mythological names, or literary names, or maybe historical/philisophical names. We want names that go together to some degree.

Now for a little inspiration:

This is the first one, the boy, who is an absolute doll, very laid back, purrs like a motor boat. He is very hairy, his body is mostly black with a few tan rosettes, and fairly big for a kitten. He looks terribly surly in this picture, but I guarantee you, that is an act.



The second one, a girl, white with black patches and stunning gold eyes (the picture doesn't really do them justice). She's a little more timid, but cuddly, and she's teeny (at least compared to the boy). She perched herself on my shoulder for a while. She had a minor freak out when someone brought his huge white dog into the store (I mean absolutely massive, like a small polar bear). And then she ran away from me for a bit. I caught her again, so it's all good. She is going to be an adventure I think.



Holy hell, those pictures are huge. Ah well.

Olympic Gold!

I finished my mobeius pretty early. If I'd had enough yarn leftover to make the wristwarmers, I think I would've had a bit more of a challenge. But I am absolutely happy with the result (modelled below by my 3 year old son).



I'm still in love with that colour. I need to find an excuse to use up the 2 metres or so that I have left.

I want to thank Yarn Harlot for instigating this incredible event. I want to do it again. Though I probably wouldn't be so eager if I'd just knit an entire fair isle sweater, or a 6 foot shawl ;)

Oh my, Mobeii

I'm not sure that's a word. But hell, that's never stopped me before.

I finished my practice mobius yesterday. I decided that I needed to be totally familiar with the basic concept before I attempted my olympic pattern.

I think it went quite well, especially considering the longest circular I could find was 30" (I have a very limited choice, particularly for bamboo needles, in this town).

I used up the half ball of andean silk in lettuce from my hoodie. Right now, it's basically a plaything for my 3 year old. But if he ever gives it back, I may try to felt it into a headband.



I started knitting in plain stockinette, and realised quickly that in mobius knitting that results in a strip that is split horizontally through the middle, with half being the RS and half being the WS. It was actually a pretty neat effect, so after about 5 rows, I turned my needles the other way, so I k the ps and p the ks, and got a cool striped/rib effect. You can see it better in this picture.



I'm still trying to get my hands on a copy of Cat's book (again, stupid small-town-no-book-nor-bamboo-needle-having-crap), and I'll probably have to wait until I go to Toronto next and pick it up at Village Yarns (which was where I saw it the first time, and now I'm cursing myself for not buying it right then).

Olympics start tomorrow. I will be tracking my progress on the Sybermom Yarn Whores knitting blog. Good luck everyone.

Knitting Olympics Hopeful

My friend and fellow blogger Lisa are heading up a team of Sybermoms
to participate in the 2006 Knitting Olympics (Do you think I could squeeze any more hyperlinks into that sentence?) We've set up a team blog and everything (Whoops, there's one more.)

I am going to attempt a moebius cowl (I'd link to that, but it's a pdf and every time I try to open acrobat my computer flips out) from Cat Bordhi's site. I've knit moebius bands before, but that was over a year ago, and using a different technique. Still, I thought I was actually being a little generous planning to knit only a cowl in 16 days (mind, I have two young children, so not that generous). I've been playing with her cast on method for, oh, an hour or so, and now I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get the cast on figured out before the Olympics are over.

I love a challenge...

What's three months between friends?

Hey there. I'm Divy. I have a knitting blog. No, really.

*sigh*

Well, it was a very long, tiring holiday season, and that is my only excuse for not updating. I had two baby birthday parties, so I'm now the mom of a 1 and 3 year old, which kind of boggles my mind.

But it's not like I didn't get anything done. I did finish my hoodie. So long ago, in fact, that it's already starting to pill and look lovely-worn.



And, well, that's pretty much all I've accomplished until today. No, wait, that's not true. I made two "Miss Dashwood" hats with beautiful cashmerino in a deep red colour. I am absolutely in love with that yarn. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of either hat before I gave them to their respective babies. One baby lives down the street from me, so I may be able to sneak a picture soon, if the little darling doesn't outgrow it.

So where was I? Oh yes, today. Today was the day of totally accidental craftiness. I finally hauled out my sewing machine, hoping to hem a couple of pairs of cords. Then, I realised my cords were all in the washer. Since hemming wet corduroy didn't sound like much of a laugh, I decided to sew up a bag for my yoga mat.

What? Yes, I said sew. What, a girl can't be multi-craftalented?

I was totally intending to knit one. I got Stitch 'N' Bitch Nation out of the library and everything. Then last week, before my yoga class, I was looking for a short-term carrying solution, and I found this gorgeous silk scarf that my mom had given me a few years ago. It had belonged to my grandpa, who was a bandleader, and owned some pretty funky and flamboyant clothes. It was already stitched into a tube, and it fit my mat pretty much perfectly. So I did a little hemming, put in a ribbon for a drawstring, sewed a circle on the bottom, added a strap, made of another wayward scarf, and I made a yoga mat bag. Yay me! I even had enough left to make myself an eye pillow (with lavender, yum).



I think I might like sewing now. Something about the nearly-instant gratification. Though it certainly isn't as relaxing as knitting. Or yoga. Or baking. Mmmm, I have to go stuff myself with chocolate-cherry-almond rugelach now.

I gave up knitting in favour of reading

Okay, not exactly. I've joined a bookclub, and last month's book was a wonderfully engaging (but very long) read. Once I finished I got right back to the knitting though, and I have made decent progress on my hoodie. I just have to knit the hood and sew the whole thing together. Wheeee.

Here is the front



and the back and sleeves



I am using andean silk from knitpicks, in sangria, navy and lettuce.

Halfway There

I've halfway finished my "Good Bias" shrug. I'm taking a break now, so I can work on my hoodie.

Here is the first sleeve-

That's really it. Sorry. I never claimed to be interesting either.

neglectful blogger

i couldn't let a whole month go by without posting something. i'm typing one handed (baby in arms), which explains the lack of caps and such.

broadripple is at a standstill. too fiddly, plus aluminum needles make my hands ache.

i have about 45 rows left on the lace shrug. the first arm, that is. when i finish it, i think i'm going to give that project a break. i need to start working on my hoodie (which uses the same needle)- the yarn has been staring at me longingly making puppydog eyes-well, you know what i mean, i feel guilty.

i feel like i'm breaking some unspoken rule about leaving projects by the wayside. but at this rate i'm spending more time putting off/obsessing about/bitching about the stuff i'm bored with than knitting the stuff i like. call it short attention span, or severe over analysis. i've never claimed to be normal.

speaking of breaking rules- i went to my lys "buy-the-bag" sale, and bought 10 skeins of Eden Bamboo in mocha for 20% off- and i have no idea what to make with it. i'm a little panicked, actually. $60 and no plan??? what was i thinking???

yes, i obsess a tad. i'm backing away slowly. when i get back to this plane i'll drop another line.

Penguin Love

Now I have two.

Have you felted your penguin today?

I have. Yes, that is correct grammar. Look:



Either my knitting was too loose, or my yarn was to fine, but he had a bunch of holes where the stuffing showed through. It was making me crazy, so my son and I gave him a bath (after I carefully unstuffed him). Pinguino (thanks Dora) is recovering nicely.

For the second penguin I'm making (for the baby), I'm going to use 4.5mm instead of 4mm needles and felt him down even more. I'm loving the felted look (plus it means I can use my bamboo dpns instead of the monstrous aluminum straights).