The Thrifty Knitter

SPINSTERS CLUB THIS SUNDAY!

Sunday, June 29! 1pm!

Finally, we’re back in action! I can’t wait for the much-need fiber camaraderie and inspiration. I’ve had the blahs all month. This month’s meeting is a double threat. We’re doing our main spinning at Alpacas in Wildcat Hollow (Marta’s place), then descending on Jennifer Schermerhorn’s (of Whirled Yarn fame + Yarn School teacher) new yarn & spinning store, Settler’s Farm. RSVP & I’ll give you directions to Marta’s. Newcomers are always welcome, so if you’re in KC/Topeka/Lawrence/Manhattan, join us!

I can always bring a couple extra wheels & spindles. Gimme a heads up if you need me to grab you some. (I just got 2 new spindles thanks to mikewade’s drop spindles set.)

In other news, what the heck should I make of this? (got there from a friendly heads up from a nice lady on ravelry).

I don’t mind that she copied my design in crochet (nothing wrong with making your own version of things) or that she’s selling them, but that she’s totally pretending it was her idea!

“My next pillows are going to be plain janes. But I came up with this guy first so I had to make him.”

It’s not like it’s an ipod cover or a pillow or something totally natural for 50 people to make the same way. It’s a freaking SEX TOY HOLDER shaped like an OWL with a HIDDEN COMPARTMENT that closes with DRAWSTRING LEGS. Not one drop of “my version of…” or “inspired by” or anything like that, just patting herself on the back for coming up with such a clever idea. The brass!

What do you even say to that? I mean, should I email this person? Weird.

Speaking of crochet, I’m making some underpants for my Flip video camera. When they’re done, they’ll be more like overalls, I’m guessing, but for now:

Floor yarn courtesy of Yarn School 07.

I can not seem to get my ass going. The only thing I’ve knit in the last month is my puff-sleeve sweater, still on the needles, languishing, even though it promises to be especially cute. I haven’t spun a thing since the week after yarn school. I’m way behind on my batts. I’ve been consumed with cheesemaking on and off for the last month, but even that isn’t dazzling me right now, and I have 3 gallons of fresh milk beseeching me every time I open the fridge door.  What’s my problem?

I think my crafty inertia is due to my wrecked craft room. After Yarn School and before Prom, we just shoved everything back in there willy-nilly, and I haven’t properly put it all back. I spent a couple hours in there tidying yesterday, but I’m still feeling uninspired. I need to make something, quickly! And maybe that will jumpstart me. Bleh.

I’ve got to finish the sweater by the end of the month to stay on track with Sweater-a-Month (I got a free pass in May because of my extra January sweater, but I’m out of surplus). I’d also like to start a Yarn School blanket of all the dreggsy yarn that gets left behind. Maybe mitered squares? Although I’d really prefer something I don’t have to seam. Log cabin would be fine until you get to the outer blocks. Maybe I’ll crochet it instead, just single stripes. Hm.

Okay, I’m going to go knock 2 things off today’s To Do list, and as a reward, I get to start my blanket guiltlessly!

Yay, infantile reward system!

I just heard from Tina that my little guy (the one on the right) got eaten by coyotes, along with Pignose (below) and another Shetland wether. He was still at Ewephoria Farm being weaned So we’ll have to find me a new Uncle Honeybunch. I was so excited about him. Don’t tell the others I said so, but he was the cutest of the bunch. It’s just heartbreaking.

I hope our fencing combo will keep out coyotes. We’re doing horse fence (5′ high stretched woven wire) around the whole back and portable electric for small rotating pastures inside. And I guess I ought to get some practice with the shotgun. Yikes.

After nearly a month without knitting, I picked up my needles last night. It’s probably too late for me to finish  a May sweater from scratch, what with Prom (Come to Prom!) around the corner and all. But I did finish 2 sweaters in January, so I’m still on track either way.

My current sweater’s a puff-sleeved summer raglan made from the mountains of Angora Soft I have on hand. I’m using a YO increase, increasing front and back sections every other row and the sleeve sections every single row.

Hopefully they’ll be a little puffier and more even than my first experiment with puff sleeves, which were more of an afterthought because I liked the way the fabric was bunching up on my needles.

Mom’s Puff-Sleeved Raglan Cardi (April Sweater)

4 balls Knit Picks Elegance, handspun single from Mustache Rides Mystery Batts. Basic raglan cardigan, handspun yoke, evenly-spaced increases to make puff sleeves, gusseted underarms, all-around ribbing, rounded bottom corners, vintage button.

We’ve got just a few spots left, so if you want in, put a wiggle in it. Right  now, we have only triples & group rooms available, but send a note with your registration if you’d like to be wait-listed for a double–we might have one opening up.

I’ve been working on all the fiber & goodies and I’m so excited I could pee! Or maybe those are two entirely separate things…

Registration

Lacy merino heirloom blankets are lovely, but this practical hooded cotton baby blanket is cute, cool, and machine-washable, making it a welcome gift for hot and sticky summer newborns. It’s a cute and cushy poolside wrap for baby, but it’s equally handy at bathtime, when the hood holds the wrap steady to help dry a wiggly baby. And toddlers love it as a play-time cape.

As for customizing, the pattern gives you plenty of room for leaving your own imprint with trim, pattern, and color. Trim with broken rib (shown), seed stitch, garter, picot edging, or multi-colored stripes. Use a single color, contrast trim, a million skinny stripes, or mom or dad’s team or school colors. And if all that stockinette makes your eyes cross, whip out your stitch dictionary and make the sampler version instead.

I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease, but any worsted machine washable cotton blend will work. (All-cotton will work, too, but the blend brings a little more bounce to the fabric).

Knitting for a winter baby? Make a cool-weather version in superwash merino like Karabella Aurora 8. For a winter version, when the added bulk will be appreciated, you could even work in your favorite Fair Isle pattern.

YARN
3 balls Lion Brand Cotton Ease (3.50 oz./100 g, 207 yd/188 m, 50% Cotton/50% Acrylic), all 3 the same, or 1 ball in contrasting color for trim, if you wish

NEEDLES
US 8 (5mm) 32″ or longer circular needle
Sharp yarn needle for finishing

SIZE
26 x 26 in (66 x 66 cm) with 8 in (20 cm) deep hood

GAUGE
16 st = 10cm (4 inches) in stockinette st

PATTERN
Blanket
Plain (shown): CO 100 st. Work 24″/61 cm in stockinette st. BO loosely.

Sampler variation: Use your favorite stitch reference to select 2 – 16 different pattern stitches for your sampler. Select patterns suitable for 22 st (you can always flank the main pattern with a few columns of knit stitches if the number isn’t exact).

You can simply alternate checkerboard-fashion, between a patterned square and a stockinette square, or work every square with a different pattern. If you’re using several patterns, you might want photocopy the swatches from your reference book and arrange them in a 4×4 grid to make sure you’re pleased with your overall pattern.

C0 100.
Row 1 (WS): Knit.
Row 2 (RS): Purl.
Row 3 (WS), set up sampler grid: K3, PM, K 22, PM, K2, PM, K 22, PM, K2, PM K22, PM, K2, PM, K22, PM, K3. The markers designate your sampler squares, plus their dividing grid.
On Row 4 (RS), begin your sampler squares, purling all stitches outside of the 22-st blocks. Work each set of 4 squares until the square itself is 4″ (10 cm) tall, then work 3 rows in reverse stockinette (purls showing). Begin next set of 4 sampler squares, and repeat until you have a 4 x 4 grid, complete with final 3 rows of reverse stockinette. BO.

Hood Front
CO 39 st.
Work in stockinette throughout, decreasing as follows:
Every RS (knit) row: K1, ssk, k to 3 st from end, k2tog, K1
Every WS row: purl
When you have 5 st remaining, work WS (purl) row as usual, then this RS row: k1, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k1—3st.
BO.
With WS facing, seam hood to blanket corner with mattress st.
Sampler variation: substitute a patterned stitch of your choosing for the stockinette, maintaining the plain decreases and knit stitch at either edge.

Edging
With stockinette side facing, and starting in the corner opposite the hood, PU st all the way around the blanket. PU one st for every st along top and bottom of blanket and open edge of hood, and 3 st for every 4 rows along sides of blanket. As you go, place a stitch marker in each of the 3 blanket corners.
As you work, you’ll place an increase of your choice before and after each marker every other rnd.
Work edging of choice (broken rib shown) for 1 inch, then bind off.
Edging Suggestions: Broken rib, seed stitch, garter stitch, moss stich, picot edging, simple eyelet, etc.

Broken Rib:
Row 1: *K1 P1, repeat from *
Row 2: Knit.

Finishing
Weave in all ends. I prefer to use a sharp needle and split the yarn as I weave in the ends, as the cotton doesn’t have the nice fiber grab of wool. I work in one direction about an inch, then double back, working through the woven-in portion of my yarn end on my way back, to make it extra secure. If possible, hide the very end of the tail in a seam or picked up edge.

Last year, several students said they’d like to include hand-dyed yarn or fiber from their own stores in future Yarn School goodie bags. If you’re a fiber producer and would like to promote your fibery goodness at Spring Yarn School, here are the guidelines:

– Qty: 36
– Delivered by 4/23/08
– Spinning fiber or yarn should be be at least an ounce; more is better!
– Items like dyed locks, sparkle, etc, should be at least 10g
– Each should be labeled with your company name/info/url
– You can include additional trinkets, promo info, etc.

Let me know asap if you’d like to participate & what you plan to send. Feel free to spread the word if you have fiber friends. Thanks, y’all.

Goodie bag stuff to:

Nikol Lohr
13149 Harveyville Rd
Harveyville KS 66431

Tina has a fiber/yarn garage sale on Saturday. Marilyn & I went and gorged ourselves. I was a bit naughtier, but I had Yarn School fleece to buy. I got 2 enormous Romney fleeces, a ton of yarn, mostly singles, which I’m trying to swear off because they pill like hell in sweaters, and sweaters are all I want to knit anymore, some dyed locks, a little raw alpaca, a little raw moorit merino, and a good chunk of dyed commercial top for my personal use. And, TONS OF BABY LAMBS! Mostly Shetlands, but a few Romneys and one late Merino they didn’t even realize was pregnant.

Look!

This one was the only Shetland who didn’t twin, and she was particularly vigilant over her lamb. I think she’s the cutest of the Shetland ewes. You know how some animals just look like people in animal suits? She totally looks like people.

Mama kept going from stall to stall, with the lambs following her. Here she’s changed her mind and now they’re all running back into this stall. The darker lamb is the only ram lamb of all the Shetlands this year, and he’ll be moving to Cupcake Ranch after he’s weaned.

This nice lady was more than a month after all the other Merinos. She just had the one little lamb. They didn’t even realize she was pregnant. He’s only about a day old, and all tuckered out. Eventually, he’ll be raised with goats at Laura’s place. They’re pygoras, which means he’ll be bigger than them, which is good because goats are more assertive than sheep. Like the Shetland with one lamb, she was very watchful. Not nervous or anything, but in both cases, they were quite still and Secret Service-like, never taking their eyes off the people.

And how about this! Bertha, this Romney ewe, is mama to both of these little lambs! One black and one white! Could you ask for a cuter family?

Mama’s fleece will be for sale at Yarn School. We’ll be washing some raw fleece in class, but I bought extra so students can buy a pound or two if they want to take some home and get some experience working on it without committing to a whole fleece.

Speaking of fleece, I sent off Ninny’s (the chocolate merino) fleece to Zeilinger’s, along with 2 stray random mystery fleeces I bought off a list a while back, to get in under the wire of their prepay sale. Those were all smaller lots, so they’ll all be roving instead of combed top. It’s always so fun to see how raw fleece will turn out. If I were clever, I would have kept samples of all the fiber I’ve sent off. Too bad I’m not.

And I still haven’t figured out exactly how I want to wrap up the spin kits I made for CRAFT. I have to sort it out tomorrow one way or the other, because I want to pack them up Tuesday and get them on their way so I can concentrate on Yarn School. I’ll try to post a few shots tomorrow if I can make a freaking decision. They’ll be for sale at Maker Fair.

If you’re near Lawrence, take a look at this show this week. It runs through Friday. The gallery’s in Marvin Hall (the building’s aren’t numbered, so the address won’t help you at all). It’s a small show, maybe 10 or a dozen pieces, lovely & compelling and smartly made. Exciting art made with excellent craftsmanship, and particularly resonant if you’re a female losing a battle with domesticity. Charming and clever and tender. I was well pleased, but wished it was a much bigger show.