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FO: November Sweater: Cobblestone

I can’t call it officially officially finished, because I think I’m going to need to unravel the sleeves from the cast-on edge an reknit the border (unless Ron decides today he loves overlong sleeves), but it’s done pending unravel & reknit. I don’t use a lot of patterns, so it was fun having the work done for me. This is a very solid pattern, definitely a keeper. There’s one change I’d recommend if you’re an odd size. I’ll try it on the next one I make & report back.

Pattern: Cobblestone
Size: 47 1/2″
Yarn: Webs Donegal Tweed cone closeout, I don’t know how much exactly because I forgot to weigh it before I washed out the spinning oil (maybe that’s insignificant? probably; I’ll weigh it later), but well under a cone. I think I’ll have enough on the cone to make myself a whole sweater.

Pattern Notes: I love this sweater, but I’m not a big fan of bottom-up sweaters because you can’t try them on as you go, which is critical if you don’t have a standard shape. (Ron’s very broad-chested & broad-shouldered for his height; I am shaped like a Tyrannosaurus, little chest and arms, monstrous bottom half).

The pattern’s sleeve measurement matched Ron’s sleeve measurement for his size, but the relaxed fit of the yoke means the sleeves actually hang an inch or so lower. Ron’s going to wear it today and see how he feels about the longish sleeves. If they suck, I’ll unravel them (which is going to be a drag, since it’s the cast-on edge, and the Donegal tweed’s a not-overly sturdy single).

This sweater is gorgeous, but this is why I prefer top-down. I don’t like not knowing if the sweater’s going to fit until it’s done. I knew that going in, and I suspected the sleeve thing might be true before I started. However, I think the yoke would be bunchy if you simply reversed the whole thing, because densely packed decreases are tidier than densely packed increases. So I didn’t want to go that route.

I suspect the perfect compromise would be to knit the yoke only bottom-up, then then knit the sleeves and body down from there. I’m making myself one (matching, ha ha–I still have a cone and a half of the stuff), and I’ll be doing just that. I found that the sleeve increases were very well spaced along the arm and I only had another inch or so to go, so I’ll just do them as decreases at the same spacing. I might gently flare the hemline, but with the soft fit, I’ll probably be fine knitting the torso straight down, as is.

Overall, I’d highly recommend this pattern. It’s well-written, easy to follow, and fast. It’s easy TV knitting, and the gauge is speedy. It knitted so fast, I didn’t have time to get bored. But, truth be told, big swaths of stockinette never bore me because I’m always doing something else when I knit them. I prefer knitting that allows multitasking.

The two sections of short-row shaping are perfect. I’ve only shaped at the neckline before, and I think the added short rows at the armpit are a wonderful addition for a man’s sweater.

If you’ve got standard proportions, bottom-up should do you just fine. Otherwise, I’d knit it as I described above for a more adjustable fit.

I’d advise you to leave nice long tails on the body and first sleeve so you can use them to kitchener the armpits closed without giving yourself anything extra to weave in.

Size notes: I picked the 3rd size based on what appeared a relaxed fit and Ron’s chest measurment (45.5″). But it came out a little big overall, not just long in the sleeves. I gave it a hot soak and spin, then tumble dried it & the yarn plumped up nicely & made the overall fit (aside from the sleeves) just right.

Yarn notes: I have 2 different Webs closeout donegal tweed yarns. One is a light 2-ply, one is a heavier single that seems to be an unwashed version of the Tahki Donegal Tweed. Neither cone is labeled, my order info gives no clue (there’s a “Donegal Tobacco,” a “2/6 Donegal Dark Brown”, and a “2/8 Donegal Gold”–the gold is definitely the lighter 2-ply, but the dk brown 2-ply looks exactly like it), both yarns are long-gone from the Webs site, and the only ravelry listing (2/6 Donegal) seems to show pictures of both types. The one used here is the Tahki-like single.

As you can see in the pre-washing version, the yarn biased strongly in knitting stockinette (but garter was fine), but that relaxed a good deal with the wash. If I were to block it properly instead of tumble-drying, I think I could block all of the bias out. As it is, it’s not very noticeable. This is a very tweedy single, so the stitches are relatively indistinct. As a result, the light slant that the stockinette forces into the garter side panels doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, like it might with a crisper yarn. Which is good, because I don’t see Ron blocking his sweaters. Washing them in cold/gentle is as much as I can hope for. And I’ve got my hands full with my own laundry.

It was great knitting off the cone. The only joins I had were a 2 knots in the cone & they spit-spliced nicely.

The color changed after washing. The wash water was very dark, and the end color was a much greener brown, which is just fine with me.

This is a rather weak single, but it gets very bondy when it’s washed, which I think will give an overall sturdy fabric. But these two factors will also make it sucky to unravel the sleeves from the cast-on edge. I’ll probably just snip off the cast-on and unravel up after that. The yarn was almost too weak to make it through the whole kitchener armpit, so I don’t think it will tolerate a whole row of tight unraveling. But I’ve got plenty of yarn, so if worse comes to worse, I’ll just chuck the frogged bit and knit with new.

Bottom line, great sweater, and I will definitely knit it again (starting tonight!), but I’ll be knitting the yoke bottom up & the rest down from there.

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Rethinking garbage

Ron’s an inveterate Craig’s List addict, and while he was surfing, I noticed this post. It was right after Halloween, so we had a ton of candy bags on hand, so I emailed Lou & got this reply:

The whole point to all this is to get America thinking about what we throw away.  when you head for the trash can, think:  can i reuse this? can i recycle this? did i need it in the first place? can Lou use it?

we all need to start (or continue) RIGHT NOW, NOT TOMORROW about what we’re putting in the trash and what we’re consuming.

did you know that the trash in your garbage can will most likely be shipped to china or india to be incinerated simply because they have cheaper and more lax environmental laws?  there are many other scary facts like that one…

well, here’s what i can re-use in general (the short list :) )

chip bags – I REALLY NEED CHIP BAGS PLEASE!
tortilla chips bags
granola bar wrappers
any food plastic really…
cheese wrappers
shredded cheese packaging
produce bags
shopping bags from stores like department, other merchants, not plastic ones from stop n shop, i have a ton!
other color bags from groceries besides white
bag that cereal comes in (really like those!)
salad mix bags
tortillas bags
smartfood popcorn bags
pretzel bags
wrappers from printer paper, pens, stationary

basically any type of plastic you can fold in half… that’s the test.  if you can’t fold it, i can’t use it like plastic tupperware lids, pb containers, salad dressing bottles etc.  if it is a bag, we’re good to go.

i especially love bags from out of town like if you’ve traveled and you bought a gift, trinket and the store gave you a bag etc…

newspaper plastic wrappers are great too…

if i can’t use it, i’ll just recycle it anyway so no worries.
please be respectful in not sending me nasty, crumby, fly ridden trash… (you’d be suprised)

The deal:  i only need a few pieces to make a wallet for you, if you want it made out of certain pieces, let me know in your mailing… please include $1 for shipping,i know i posted it in the free zone but c’mon, small price to pay for helping the environment and a wallet.  you only need to mail a few pieces for the wallet technically but that’s not the point here…

I emailed back about those mylar bags a lot of chips come in (they’re good, too), and have since been rinsing and saving a lot of what would have otherwise gone into the garbage.

We don’t produce a lot of trash for an American household. Unless we’re hosting an event or undertaking some big project, we seldom produce more than one bin a month. We recycle almost everything, even though it’s a big messy pain in the ass out her in the sticks, where we don’t have curbs, much less curbside recycling.  I always refuse or recycle plastic shopping bags, but food bags and wrappers were something I didn’t quite know how to treat. They’re not typically labeled for recycling, and they’re made out of who-knows-what. I hate the idea of contaminating the recycling queue (I’m a goody-goody about following restrictions), so unless I found a particularly cute one I wanted to sew into something, it would hit the garbage.

Now I’m saving everything: single-serving bags (which I fundamentally hate but sometimes cave and buy with Amazon sales or as snacks when we host events), cheese wrappers, bean bags, those thin plastic bags inside boxes of couscous or cereal. Yay!

A while back I read the etsy lab about fusing plastic, and initially thought I’d fuse and sew plastic for mailers when my really ungreen stock of plastic and tyvek runs out. But my attemps at fusing plastic have been garbage-bound failures and I’m not patient enough to keep trying. Besides, I realized I have more fabric in my stash than I can possibly use in my lifetime, so when the tyvek’s gone, I’m switching to cloth.

And all my once-garbage bound wrappers and bags are getting cleaned and shipped off to Lou.

And the plan is working. Even without the wallet carrot, it really is making me rethink packaging. It’s nice to slim down my garbage production, and I can consider recycling when I make buying choices. For instance: when I buy chips in the future, I’ll pick those packed in plastic instead of the paper-look bags (which look more appealing, but are always lined in plastic anyway). And watching those single-serving bags pile up (instead of letting them disappear into the trash can, where I can hide my shame) has made me regret loosening my morals about buying them (although it’s awesome committed single-serving addicts can keep them out of the trash this way). I think I’m ready to officially re-swear them off. Hooray, Lou!

Lou’s Upcycles on Etsy (there is some seriously cute stuff here)

Lou’s blog.

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Short-day blues

Right on schedule, the time change has made me feel grouchy and peevish and seeping inertia. Even the election joy couldn’t squelch my winter blahs. Yuck. What I need is:

  1. A super exciting new project I don’t have to frog six times to get right
  2. To be finished with the fracking barn NOW so when George brings my sheepies on Sunday, they’ll have a finished house and we won’t have to be freaking them out with power tools
  3. A mild winter. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.
  4. The will to clean. I finally caught up with my menacing pile of dishes, but I’m quickly losing track of my kitchen again.
  5. Money. I’m broke again and winter’s freaking EXPENSIVE. I’m so not the ant. Why can’t I be the ant?
  6. The will to card. I can’t get it together. I’m finally sending out my OCTOBER club batts tomorrow. How lame is that? (They’re cute, though!)
  7. Some mad morning energy to help me take charge of my long to-do lists
  8. Finish my 2009 Calendar! I’m still fretting over the year, but I do know what I’m doing for the covers.
  9. Catch up with laundry & all my other chores

Here’s what’s good:

  1. I’m back on track with my monthly sweaters, thanks to two months with surplus sweaters.
  2. I’m making tons of soup!
  3. I’m burning through the old freezer leftovers like I’m on a mission
  4. I’m 1/3 through Ron’s Cobblestone
  5. I think I’m going to make several pinafore dresses for myself this winter.

I’ve finished the torso & Marilyn’s lending me a #7 16″ circular for the sleeves (my 7s have gone missing, as usual). There’s a strong bias, but the yarn’s not washed, so I’m hoping it will relax/correct a little. I swatched & washed the swatch & there was some bias. It blocked out, but it was too small to really get a sense of garment properties. But I’m hopeful.

After it’s done, I want to make myself one, or maybe a matching dress. I have a dress in progress, but I think it’s not long for this world. I have two cones of the stuff, so there should be plenty of yarn for all 3.

Afterwards, I’m making my Sanctuary sweater (or dress; we’ll see). I made the charts today with a demo of Knit Visualizer:

I think it’s more for traditional stitch charting and freeform colorwork charting. I was hoping it would chart alphabets for me, but I had to do them manually. I could maybe go for it if I started doing a lot more colorwork (or if the price came down).

I’m off to eat some lovely stew, but I’ll be back later to whine and/or show off the barn so far.

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A good week for mail!

My mailbox was my bestest friend this week! First, a present from Laura D: lovely autumnal hand-dyed masham (predrafted here; I can’t resist drafting slippery masham) and a sweet vintage apron!

From Felicia, a pound of moorit merino roving (swap):

Swap with Melissa of Moustache Rides Yarn:

There was also a tiny bag of felt nubbles which has gone missing. I suspect Freddy. I love the Freddy, but he’s a gorram fiber thief. (Okay, it turns out Freddy wasn’t the culprit–I found them in my desk drawer, where I had hidden them from Freddy. But in fairness, I could barely take a picture before he absconded with one of them.)

And I also got some books I ordered, including this one, which represents my newest obsession:

It’s too late to build one for this winter, but I really want to build one in the next year or two as a dual purpose winter gardening/supplemental heat collector. I’m thinking the roof over the science room that leads to the upstairs hall, or maybe on the ground level in the courtyard, leading into the science room windows. Ideally, we’d be able to scrounge salvage windows all year, then build a (recycled, hopefully) timber frame and set it in with all the windows.

In the meantime, I’m going to content myself with building some heat grabbers as a little passive solar test this winter.

My current WIP sweater (I’m behind a month, so this will be my September sweater) is a tweedy purple short-sleeved cropped cardigan requested by my mom. It’s made of seed stitch stripes of purple Malabrigo merino, overdyed handspun local kid mohair single from Laura’s Pygoras, and some leftover Andean Silk from the last purple sweater I made mom. I think I’ll probably trim all the edging with the Malabrigo as I did on the sleeve. I feel weird making a short sleeved sweater when I’m kind of freezing my tits off (though they’ve scheduled several days of sunshine, so hopefully the building can rebuild a little thermal mass this week). But Mama’s in Texas, so short sleeves it is.

My October sweater will be a long-overdue Cobblestone for Ron out of donegal tweed, and then I think I’m going to frog & restart a matching sweater dress I started for myself over the summer. I definitely want some wool dresses this winter. I get sick of wearing jeans all winter, but I don’t have any warm dresses.

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My new Valenki (felt boots)!

I can’t wait to needlefelt them! I just have to figure out what I’m willing to live with indefinitely.

I first saw these crazy felt boots in a Russian museum years ago. Those were miliary boots and didn’t include the rubber galoshi. They looked nutsy at the time (before I was a knitter and understood the warming virtues of wool), but the museum guide said those boots were a big part of the army’s success in the Russian winters of WWII, vs. the Germans, who just had regular leather army boots. Of course, then I didn’t realize how warm wool is, or that it stays warm wet, so I just assumed the Soviet soldiers were crazy frost-proof machines. Now that I’m a wool convert, I really wish I’d’ve bought some as a souvenir. Thanks to the eBay, I’ve got my own now (under $30/pr incl. shipping).

Here’s how they arrived, with galoshi (rubber overshoes) separate. Apparently these can be worn in snow without the galoshi, but they’re recommended for rainy or street wear. These boots are really awesome. The felt is very dense and rustic, and has a little VM embedded in it.

The two pairs are quite different. The black ones are much lighter, more flexible felt, the little rubber overshoes slid on quite easily. They’re also shorter. I had to work pretty hard to get the overshoes on the brown ones, which are almost twice as thick and VERY stiff. They’re also a size larger, but oddly, both fit just fine.  You can see below how much stiffer and thicker the brown ones are below:

The strangest thing about these boots is that there’s not a clear left or right, and they’re semi-handmade, so the two are slightly different shapes. I’m guessing they’ll break in and soften up a bit, and I’m assuming if I’m consistent in my wear, I’ll end up with a distinct right and left boot (or not, if I’m not).

The wool is really coarse and scratchy, so I’ll probably make some merino or alpaca liners to fit inside the boot part. That seems better than socks, which would stay with my foot and abrade against the boot. And liners would only go to the ankle, thus not getting stinky and requiring washing.

Anyway, I dont’ know what to felt on them yet! I think I might have (read: compell) Ron draw on them & then needlefelt whatever he draws.

I may use them as a template to make some knitted then felted indoor ones, something a little softer and more slipper-like. I’m also tempted to buy an extra pair and cut it down to just the size of the galoshi for some cloggy slippers. Hm. Or just a bit taller, then needlefelt on a knitted fair isle border… Hm.

The only downside I see is that they’d be less than ideal for really nasty, wet weather, because I’m guessing they’d take forever to dry. Besides, I have to find a fault, because I already ordered some nice warm boots for the winter (I ordered them right before these, but they haven’t yet arrived).

In the past, I’ve bought kiddie boots from Land’s End (the size 6 big kids fits my women’s 7.5-8 foot & the 7 fit’s Ron’s 8.5-9 men’s foot), and while they’re cheap, warm, and pretty sturdy, I was tired of my purple ones (clearance color) from last year and the pink (also clearance) from the year before, so I decided to Goodwill them while they still had about 90% of their useful life intact and get something a little nicer and more fitted for this year. Sadly, they don’t seem to be making the awesome kids’ Extreme Squall boots anymore, but I found women’s Extreme Squall 7s in magenta on clearance hoping they’d run large. They didn’t, but Marilyn, who has little doll feet, bought them off me. After googling “warmest boots,” I decided to order a couple of these and these on clearance from L.L. Bean (I used code 3004296 for free shipping). I’ll keep the pair I prefer & return the other.

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FREE PATTERN: Karl’s Legwarmers

I disapprove of legwarmers as a general fashion accessory, but Karl (our resident who departed this morning) is a real live dancer/choreographer, so I was delighted to make him legwarmers. I went with a Flashdance palette in handspun merino: one ply Barbie pink, one ply black.

The XOXO cable comes from Adrian Bizila’s Besotted Scarf. It’s a very pretty, simple cable, though it gets lost in the marl here. It would be more adorable in a solid color.

The same pattern with fewer stitches makes arm warmers (included in pattern).

I must admit that these were absurdly cozy, so despite my not being a dancer and my longstanding objection to non-dance employment legwarmers, and I’m very much tempted to make some for myself, strictly for at-home wear. (I mean, I wouldn’t wear house slippers as shoes, but I wear them at home. So what’s the diff?). They were also pretty speedy to knit, under 4 hours each.

Medium/large was a good size for me. I have large calves. These were sized to fit Karl from low on his ankle to just under his knee, about 16″. He’s tall, so they were longer on me, going down over my heels.

Yarn: 6-8 oz of chunky handspun merino balanced 2-ply, about 350 yards

Needles: US#3 and US#9 16″ circular needles (or dpns; or longer needles for magic loop)

Gauge: 15.5 st = 4″ on US 9 needles

Size: arm warmers (small/medium adult legwarmers , medium/large adult legwarmers)

With smaller needles, CO 30 (40, 50). I used the Twisted German Cast-on, but anything stretchy will do. PM, then Join round, being careful not to twist stitches.

Work 20 rnds in K1P1 ribbing.

Switch to larger needles. Work 4 full repeats of Besotted Cable, then work first 4 rnds of cable. For longer leg warmers, work extra repeats, but always finish with the first 4 rnds of the pattern.

Switch to smaller needles. Work 20 rnds in K1P1 ribbing, then CO loosely in pattern.

Besotted Cable (single), cribbed from Adrian’s Besotted Scarf:

Worked over 16-rnd repeat.

All rnds (except as noted): P2, K8, P2, K to end or rnd
Rnd 3 & 7: P2, C4B, C4F, P2, K to end or rnd
Rnd 11 & 15: P2, C4F, C4B, P2, K to end or rnd

C4B: Slip 2 onto cable needle. Move held stitches to back of work. Knit the next 2 stitches on your left needle, followed by the two stitches you were holding to the back.

C4F: Slip 2 onto cable needle. Move held stitches to back of front. Knit the next 2 stitches on your left needle, followed by the two stitches you were holding to the front.