Author: Nikol

It’s so speedy! I did this much last night. Today, I added another ball to the torso, then frogged back up to the handspun when I tried it on and decided I wanted a trimmer fit. The pattern’s for a nice baggy sweater, but as much as big baggy sweaters appeal to me, I’m 5’2″ with big hips and little boobs, so I had to reconsider. So I went back and cast on 3st for each pit instead of the 10st that would have been right for the looser fit.

It should still be roomy, just not boyfriend-sweater roomy.

But it’s such a fast knit that I’m almost back to pre-frogging progress–only I’m actually ahead because the shorter rounds bought me some extra length. I’ll try it on again in a mo, and we’ll see.

I can’t seem to get true color on reds, annoyingly. The first picture is indoor with flash, the second one is no flash with natural light from the window. The truth is somewhere in between.

The handspun is my two own 2-ply, spun from Brown Sheep mill ends I dyed with the dyebath dregs from when I was dying all that grease wool for roving. There’s a pretty wide range of dye saturation, and I just spun it with the grab-bag method and my limited skills, but it plied into a sort of nice yarn. It hangs like it’s well balanced, but it feels a little overspun.

The main color is a bland tan TwoTwo I got in a Webs grab bag, kettle-dyed twice (not because I’m so precise, but because I threw a little black into the pot without stirring, and got some blue undertones I didn’t want) with russet, crimson, aztec gold and brown acid dye.

At the end of each ball, I’ve got a little blank spot from where the skeins were tied. I decided to leave them in, because I like the irregularity. Here and there, there’s a light stitch amid all the beet juice.

From the way I’m going, I’m guessing I’ll use about 9 balls of the dyed TwoTwo.
I’m so taken with the pattern that I’m already planning my next one:

The handspun is stoneleafmoon I bought in 2005, and the main color is a mere 4 balls of a bulky merino/nylon blend I’ve been avoiding because the color looks shit on me. However! With this pattern, there will be a nice barrier of mostly-black handspun cutting the sallowing effects of the green. Maybe I’ll make the collar black, or just one round of green to minimize the impact. Or I could just skip the collar…

Since I have so little main color, I’m going to start with a wider neckline and make it snugger all over, probably with half-sleeves and cropped, to be worn over a white fitted shirt.

I’m also making my Straitjacket Sweater (from Naughty Needles) with a double strand of Shulana Morbido from my stash. I got a question about the sleeves bindoff, so I figured I’d knit one up and put up more detailed photos than the book could hold.

Busy! Bee!

And I’m totally procrasti-knitting about the burlesque show, but I hereby vow to knock out at least 1 garment toward it tomorrow.

Pattern:

Knit Picks Two at once, Toe-up Socks (free pattern)

Yarn:

Knit Picks Parade (discontinued), just over 1 ball (60g)

Mods:

Much shorter cuffs

Russian cast-off (P2tog, slip stitch back onto left needle, repeat), which is nice and stretchy (directions found in the Knitter’s Review forum)

I had to knit about 5 rnds before starting the decrease on the heel, and I had to decrease every 3rd rnd instead of every other rnd for the first 4 decreases for the heels to fit my feet properly. I don’t know if it’s a pattern flaw, or if I have weird feet.

Mistakes:

I accidentally worked the yarn in opposite directions. I’d wrapped the center-pull strand around the outside of one of the balls, so I thought I was pulling both in the same direction & because of the long repeats, I didn’t realize my mistake until the 2nd solid color. It didn’t bother me enough to start over, but they aren’t perfect mates. They do begin and end with the same color.
Notes:

The toe-up cast-on in this pattern is freaking brilliant, and knitting them both at once was AWESOME (none of that bittersweet thrill-of-completion, agony-of-having-to-knit-another-sock nonsense), but I’m not crazy about the heel.

The pattern also adapts very simply to any gauge of yarn, since you’re starting at the toe and increasing until they’re a good width. The only math you need is after the heel, decreasing to give you the proper number of stitches for the 2×2 ribbing.

I will definitely knit this pattern again, but I will also definitely replace the heel with a regular heel, or maybe that toe-like heel I remember from one of Adrian’s sock patterns.

I’m in love with this sweater from Shannon Okey’s Spin to Knit (picture from pippikneesocks’ photo stream):

It’s a topdown raglan with a handspun yoke. It’s been FREEZING lately, and all I want to do is knit sweaters. I couldn’t come up with enough of anything for the rest of the sweater, and I swatched several color combinations I had 2-4 balls of with it & they all looked ucky, so I decided to dye the bag of TwoTwo I got from a Webs grab bag last year. The yoke will be my my Starburst 2-ply handspun and some ugly tan TwoTwo I’m kettle dying even now. I’m dying it mostly russet, with a splash of scarlet, a pinch each of aztec gold and black. Let’s hope it’s not horrid.

I also really like the Deep V sweater in the new knit.1, so I’m going to see what stash yarn I have that will work for it. The contrast trim would be a good place for handspun. It’s time I quit using it as decoration and start knitting something.

I’m also digging the yoga booties. I think they’d be a nice use of some blue noro kujaku from my stash.

This super cuddly cozy cowly thing was born out of my frustration with trying to make this ridiculously bulky, irregular yarn into a sweater. It’s crap for sweaters, but perfect for something loose and cuddly. Alternating between K1P1 rib and stockinette (all knit) rnds keeps it from curling, and keeps the bubbles from clumping too densely. It knits FAST and would probably work with any bulky to gauge. The shoulders have raglan shaping, so it’s easy to adjust for other yarns by adding/subtracting increase rnds.

This actually looks surprisingly cute over a jacket or coat, kind of loosely bunched over the shoulders. It gives a sort of Russian Winter vibe that way. I’ve shown it over my brown & black jacket, but I think it would be nicer over a contrasting color. You can also wear the cowl as a hood.
Size
Small (Medium, Large)—medium shown
Yarn
7 (8, 9) balls Lana Grossa Ultra (discontinued–95% virgin wool/5% polymide; 38 yd; 50g) or similar extreme thick and thin yarn with similar yardage.
Needles
US 15 24″ circular

Gauge
7 – 8 st alternating rows of K1P1 rib and stockinette

Pattern
Alternate 1 round K1 P1 rib with 1 round Knit. This creates a looser, more regular fabric with fewer dense clumps.

Instructions
Cowl: CO 36. Join round and place marker.

Work 12″ alternating between K1P1 rib and knit rounds.

Shoulders: K2, place marker, K16, place marker, K2, place marker, knit to end.

Increase Rnd: Kfbl (knit into front and back loop of stitch, so 1 st becomes 2) of the stitch directly after and before each marker, so each increase rnd will result in 4 additional stitches.

Work increase rnd (above), followed by K1P1 rnd.

Repeat 3 (5, 8) times.

Continue, alternating K and K1P1 rnds, until total length = 22 (24, 28)”, or desired length.

BO in K1 P1 rib.

Lately, I’ve been looking at a LOT of yarn porn. So in an effort to avoid whatever leads me to sin, I decided to officially rejoin the stashalong. I like numbers and charts, and also confessing, so I thought the full disclosure option (#2) would be my best bet. I went through and counted up my yarn so I could figure out the weight. I have over 100 pounds of yarn. That’s the equivalent of almost 1,000 balls of yarn. If I used a pound of yarn a week, it would take me more than 2 years to clear out my stash.

So, no yarn for me until I’ve made substantial progress.

I counted the stash balls and cones, the “to dye” pile (colors I don’t like), the “to sell” pile (a good chunk of which I think I’ll actually use–lots of baby yarn and I have some gifty baby knitting in my future), and the unknit balls of WIP. To be accurate, I should count all balls of WIP, since I have such a high frogging ratio. That would probably bring me up to 105#, since I’ve got 3 foldies of WIP here and there. And that way, I can just weigh finished objects instead of trying to remember which had how many balls left when I counted.

I actually got everything to fit in my cupboard already (which was one of my goals for the year), but that’s because I’m a tetrisy genius at making things fit.

So, here’s my goal. Use/sell 3# yarn/month, starting now. I may purchase 10% of what I eliminate, so one 50g ball for every 500g I use. I have to use 1kg if I want a 100g ball. There’s some sock yarn I really want. I think I’ll be able to buy enough for some knee socks at the end of the month. If I concentrate on bulkies, I should be able to haul ass. Knitting that burlesque show should really help, too.

Now in progress:

• Bear cub cuddler warmy thingy (finally gave up on a sweater; I’m too plump): 400-500g
  
• Odd ball stole: 400g?
  
• Hate Scarf: 1.1 kg, all told, but that will take all year, probably
• Alpaca baby bonnet: 50g

Plans:

• Sideways sweater: 400-500g
• Cotton dress: 350g
• Micro vest: 300g
• Bear cub hat: 100g
• Clamshell bikini: 200g:
• Nun skirt: 300g
• Nun cardi: 400g
• School girl skirt: 300g
• Schoolgirl sweater: 600g
• Schoolgirl vest: 300g

I’m frogging again. This makes me look like a bear cub. So I think I’ll scrap the original pattern altogether for now–this yarn’s too bulky, but I think it will be perfecet for some Schulana Morbido I have.

Instead, I’m going to use a K1P1 rib, which disappears into the slubs, but which will spread out my fabric a lot more and make it less bouncy. And then I won’t have that aggressive curl, either.

The bottom half is loose ribbing, which also breaks up the thick and thin pockets and makes the fabric look less like molten lava or exotic mold. And we’re off!

Finally able to get some of my old data together to update Naughty Needles Knitting with some free patterns: Frenchy (from the chapter opener on p. k48 of my book, a cupless bra & peekaboo bottoms), Bottoms up! (matching g-string for Hootchie Kootchie Pasties) and Kitten with a Whip, take 2 (braided whip with a knitted grip).

I totally ripped out the 4 inches of shawl I knitted yesterday, as is my freakin way. I need to learn to sit still and THINK before I start knitting. I’m sure I’d still tear back half of what I knit. Other things I’ve torn back in the last week:

• a two-rounds-to-go hat I decided was too big
• the sleeves and bottom of a sweater that was coming out gargantuan, and for which I would definitely not have enough yarn, even though I did, in fact, swatch. The good news is the adjusted version is knitting quickly.
• my first 3 versions of starfish pasties. They looked stupid. I’ll keep trying.

I’ve decided that I’m going to concentrate on sweaters. Knit a sweater, sew a skirt to match. That’s my plan. For one, I need clothes. For two, I have crazy mountains of yarn. For three, I have a room full of fabric. And did I mention I need clothes? I have like 4 sweaters and they’re all horrible. They’re also all black, annoying with the cats. And all but one are turtlenecks. A person only needs one black turtleneck. I’m not a freakin beatnik, for crying out loud.
Right now, I’m working on a bubbly chocolate brown sweater modeled loosely on this, except I’m giving it 3/4 sleeves and a somewhat shorter length, and a boat neck instead of the funnel thing. I want to wear a red long-sleeved t-shirt underneath, and I want to make a simple A-line skirt to go with. I haven’t checked my fabric stash yet.
It’s from the Vittadini Fall 2001 Book 17. Actually, the sweaters I really like from that book–the reason I even bought the book–are Daniella and Eva, but for now, I need REALLY SIMPLE sweater patterns. The burlesque knitting is taking brainpower, so I want mindless easiness for my personal knitting.

I also want to make a plain red sweater so I can make a matching skirt with this ridiculous and wonderful whale-print fabric I have. Or maybe white with a red anchor? I’ll have to check my yarn. Don’t know that I have enough of anything red or white to yield a sweater.

And I have some Nashua Wooly Stripes, blues and grays, a whole bag, that also wants to be a sweater. Probably a hoodie.
I’m still going to knit that fire-colored wrap, but I think I’m going to do it all in garter, so it will be a big tangled jumble of color and texture. I think it’s just going to be a 2×5 (or maybe 3×6, we’ll see…) rectangle, plain jane, something that will be boring to knit, but perfect for movies. Hm. Or, actually, it would make a scrumpy cardigan.

Can anyone recommend a good, simple cardigan pattern, preferably garter? Something easy peasy lemon squeezie.

Ta da! Finished these last weekend. At 5.5 st/inch, they went very fast. I used the SWAK universal glove pattern (a gift from the fabulous Kelly Sue, who also treated me to our room at last month’s Knitting Retreat at The Elms!) and US3 needles, Austermann Naturwolle and Knit Picks Merino Style for the trim. I’m working on a matching skullcap and scarf, and I think I’ll be able to get it all from 4 balls of Naturwolle. The color’s off, though. I don’t have any useful photo editing software yet, so no color correction & my camera ain’t crazy for artificial light.

Here’s the palm side.

I also finally finished Ashley’s critter and got it sent off. She traded me a little guy to order for a necklace when we shared a booth at the Renegade Craft Fair. I wear it all the time. Here’s her guy:

Weird dusky light. Here’s a closeup:

I think he’s my favorite (except for my first guy, the little red fella). I like his sleepy eyes and his half smile, and his arms kind of naturally have his aw-shucks positioning.

I just started what I hope will be a nice warm shawl with some of my very own handspun and some odds and ends. I can’t get a remotely accurate color, so I’ll show the yarns later. But I think it will be nice, fire-colored and warm. It’s my first shawl, just simple stockinette to show the yarn with a seed top & bottom (although I think I’m going to finish it with a picked up purl curled edge, as I didn’t put down enough seed to fight the curl) and a cable on either end. I worry I won’t wear a shawl, but I didn’t want to commit to such a loud sweater or poncho.

I hate the way I dress. I quit paying attention to my clothes when I plumped back up a couple years ago, and now I have nothing to wear. I think I’m going to squirrel away everything vintage, dump everything I don’t love, and start over. I keep saying that, but I never do it. And it’s hard to buy anything new when 1) I don’t look how I feel and 2) there’s so much other stuff I need more. But I’ve found myself wearing warmups more and more, and that’s just… yuck.

I’m officially vowing to make myself some skirts. Hey, what about an oversized A-line, with a half-waist drawstring I can gather to one side like that cute anthropologie skirt of Kelly Sue’s? Then I can still wear it, if by some miracle of will, I actually lose weight.