Retro FO: Seamesh Wrap

Thank goodness for photogenic friends! Nadia looks gorgeous in every photo I've ever taken of her and it finally occurred to me to take advantage of this in order to show off my knitwear. This photo was actually taken back in June 2009 in the park across from the Purple Purl on WWKIP day. Jacquie was visiting, I had taken some time off work to hang with her and we spent a glorious day basking in the sun and knitting. I pulled out this lovely wrap to keep my shoulders warm in case of spring chill, something I barely needed as it turned out. At least it did inspire me to finally to a FO photo shoot with it. Aren't these shots of Nadia wearing my Seamesh wrap glorious?


But the FO itself is actually much much older than June '09. This project is BR (Before Ravelry) and I had to dig out my old knitting notebook to find the details on this one. Some hunting through my email and flickr accounts turned up just a few WIP photos and a few email chains with people who test knit this for me in the fall of 2007 and early 2008. Turns out I actually started this in August 2006!
Pattern & Modifications
I actually made this pattern up based on a lace pattern from one of the Barbara Walker books called checkerboard mesh. I even charted it and had some friends test knit it... and then promptly did nothing else with it. Almost four years later here I am blogging about it, and it turns out someone beat me to publishing this pattern. So, if you are interested in making this (or something very much like it) check out Shelby (non-ravelry link) by Deborah B Miller.


Needles & Yarn
I knit this on 3.75mm (US 5) Lantern Mood Destiny Circulars in ebony. The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk, a luscious silk/sea cell blend that I bought at Gaspereau Valley Fibres in June 2006 on a visit to the in-laws.

Timeline
According to my handwritten notes, this was cast-on on August 17. I never made of note of when it was finished, but I remember wearing it that winter as a scarf (I'm crazy, I know) so it must have been completed in only a few months.

FO: Falltime Bandit

I cast this beauty on in San Francisco after our day trip to Art Fibers in Pinole, California. I blame Jacquie, who first enticed me into buying a ridiculous amount of yarn at Art Fibers (bulk discounts, I love it!) and then showed me her lovely version of this shawl. It was pretty much decided at that point, and I love the results!


Patterns & Modifications
Springtime Bandit (ravelry link) by Kate Gagnon Osborn. I knit it using somewhat heavier yarn and larger needles than called for. I knit it a bit bigger than the pattern called for, since I was planning to use it as a cozy fall/winter scarf to wrap around my neck. I also opted not to block the points, leaving a smooth edge instead.


Needles & Yarn
Artfibers Kyoto, a shiny/soft Wool/Mohair/Silk blend in a luscious orange colourway. I used 3.75mm needles and got this perfect, drapey fabric.


Timeline
November 14-28, 2009 -- 2 weeks from start to finish!

Happy 1st Birthday FO: Huggable!

Ok, not the greatest photo of the shrug. This is a hard FO to photograph! I do like this pic of it though.
Pattern & Modifications
Hug by Jennifer Thurston. This pattern was originally published in the free online knit 'zine, Magknits, but it closed and disappeared from the entire internet somewhat dramatically a while back. I miss it, but luckily every pattern I've wanted to knit from it has become available for free via Ravelry. I heavily modded this little shrug based on these instructions on craftster, and added a few extra changes to make it my own: I knit extra deep ribbed cuffs that fold up to 3/4 length (my favourite sleeve length) or flip down to cover my wrists when I'm chilly, and picked up and knit a very deep collar that folds nicely behind my neck while covering a little extra on my back.

Needles & Yarn

The yarn is Gaspereau Valley Fibres Semi-worsted Spun Singles, a lusciously soft and yet nicely woolly yarn I bought in Nova Scotia several vacations ago. Its from Cotswold sheep in a nice natural grey/brown colour. I used 5.5mm (US 9) needles and got a nicely dense but still soft fabric.

Timeline
Begun January 11, 2009 and completed January 26 -- the afternoon of last year's Christmas 2. I can't believe I let this go unblogged for an entire year, but I have to admit it is partly because I wear it so much! This is one of my favourite little shrugs and I almost always reach for it to go with a t-shirt and jeans on those days when you just want a little extra warmth.

Finished Object: Sunny Sunday Mittens

I love these mittens! Jacquie knit a pair of these first, and as soon as I saw them I knew I had to make myself a pair first (copycatting is fun!).

Pattern & Modifications
The pattern is Sundagsvotter, a free pattern by Strikkepanja (download the english version here). The only minor modification I made was to knit them extra long--I love long cuffs on my mittens, so I can tuck them well up into my sleeves. There is nothing I hate more than that draft at the top of your mittens when they don't tuck far enough into your sleeves!
Needles & Yarn
The yarn is Colinette Jitterbug in Vincent's Apron. I am not normally a yellow person but this colour was just too gorgeous -- its almost a deep gold in places. I used 2.25mm (US 1) needles to knit these mittens, and the result is pretty much the perfect weight fabric for this pattern and yarn. This is the colour yellow from the sock-yarn rainbow project... the one I began in early 2008. I sure have been slow to work my way through this one! My original plan was to knit only socks and follow the order of the spectrum, but I completely stalled on the colour orange for so long that the nicely balled up other colours actually started to get dusty in the pretty red bowl I was displaying them in. So I hid the unfinished orange project deep in my basket of UFO's and put this lovely golden yarn to use.Timeline
August 3-14, a very satisfying quick project. I was pretty monogamous to this project while I was working on it, otherwise I never would have completed it so quickly!

Mindless vs. Mindful Knitting

Introducing my End of December Cushion Cover -- this WIP began life as a hat (the End of May Hat)
I have always struggled between different types of knitting projects. On the one hand, I love challenging, unusual and complicated designs that require careful execution: think twisted-stitch cables, complicated lace patterns, unusual garment construction and beaded knits. These projects are mindful knitting for me, since I need to pay better attention when I'm working on this sort of thing.

Mindless knitting, on the other hand, is a kind of surrogate for smoking* for me - something I can do with my hands while I'm reading, watching television or zoning out on the streetcar. This means mindless stockinette, repetitive textures, basic cables or simple lace patterns: stuff I can do without looking!


The Argyle Cowl, knit over the christmas vacation in Nova Scotia.
Stranded colourwork usually falls more into the mindful knitting category, with the exception being simple repeating geometric patterns that have consistent stitch counts. The argyle cowl, for example, was pretty easy to execute while reading. The End of December project is more of a challenge: those charted images aren't as easy to memorize, although there are repeating geometric shapes. This means that I'm constantly checking the chart to make sure the stitches are aligning properly.

Usually my projects fall firmly into one category. I like having projects I know I can stuff in my purse to go out for a night of pub knitting, and sometimes I want a project I can really sink my teeth into. Usually I don't pick projects where I may be faced with long boring stretches of stockinette when I really want to be engaged or the prospect of charted knitting on the streetcar (it can be done, but its a bit fiddly).


Drops number 116-1

So why have I suddenly decided I absolutely must start something like this Drops Sweater, which seems to be both mindful and mindless? To the point where I've already broken my "no buying yarn in 2010" rule and ordered $73US worth of alpaca and glitter yarns? Because there is an additional factor: sometimes I just really, really want to have the item in question! This sweater is just gorgeous and I can't wait to wear it. Hopefully I can translate this desire into some serious project monogamy, and complete this project (to be knit on 3mm needles, by the way) before it ends up being too warm to wear it.

That, or I just hope for an unaturally cool spring like last year.

*I smoked for about 15 years and credit knitting with kicking the habit. I just need to be doing something with my hands, otherwise I fidget uncontrollably. Knitting actually helps me focus, and its a lot less smelly and inconvenient than smoking. I'm fairly sure its not cheaper though.

What the Eff? Oh.

Yes that is right... an actual real-live FO! I've barely blogged these the past year, and now it is time to share. I've finally gotten myself organized to photograph and edit a whack of projects I've completed in the last while, and I'll be sharing those details with my adoring public (all 7 of you). Without further ado, here is a recently completed cowl I knit over the holidays at my in-laws' house in middle-of-nowhere, Nova Scotia.

Pattern & Modifications
No pattern. I based the stranded argyle pattern on ...well actually I can't remember. I know I found a chart somewhere for a much smaller-scale argyle, and I adapted it to create a larger diamond. I originally started with a corrugated rib, but about 1.5 pattern repeats in I realized the two patterns didn't work together. So I cut the ribbed part off, picked up the exposed loops with a spare needle and eventually used that to add applied i-cord to each edge.

But the i-cord edge didn't stop the rolling.

Rather than go back to ribbing or ripping entirely in frustration, I dug deep and picked up all around the inside of the i-cord stitches and knit short facings on the inside edges. You can see this detail below: its just whip-stitched into place, and it does a fantastic job of keeping that edge from rolling. Its also a really unique and amazingly finished looking edge, although frankly it was a lot of work!


Needles & Yarn
The black yarn is Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Coal. This is a solid wool yarn that comes in great colours, and I have never regretted having a good stock of this in my stash in a variety of colours. Its become my colourwork standard!

The beautiful purple yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Aran Weight in Jewel. This lovely handpainted Merino was a birthday gift almost a year ago from Sophie, and I'm excited to have finally found a project to do it justice.

I used 4mm (US 6) needles to knit this, as anything bigger created a gappy, loose fabric, especially where the longer floats were.


Timeline
I began these on the 21st of December, just before we left for Nova Scotia and completed them a few days after Christmas 1 on December 29. This project got some plane knitting, some couch knitting, and even some audience at the lobsterspiel (curling!) knitting.

2009: The Year of the Burnout

Happy New Year faithful readers! I know I hardly ever blog but I am really trying to get my motivation going -- knitting-wise, work-wise and life-wise.

2009 was a great year for me in many ways, but was also a very difficult and challenging year as well. I've been really throwing myself into my job and despite treating myself to a couple of decent-length vacations, I continue to feel burnt out and desperately short on motivation in all aspects of my life. The past few weeks have been a fog of laziness and lack of emotion on my part, and I am facing an epic amount of work upon my return on Monday after my lazy break.

So naturally I'm avoiding facing the work situation by focusing on cleaning my home. At least I may get a somewhat tidier and less cluttered condo out of all this! Part of this decluttering has included digging through baskets of UFO's and FO's that just needed frogging. Since I've decided that 2010 will be a "no yarn-buying year*" I'm trying to make the most of the fibre I already have in my house, so if a FO isn't something I like enough to use or that would make a good gift for someone, it is frog city baby.

No resolutions, other than my usual desire to work out more, eat better, spend more time with friends, be better at my job, waste less free time on my computer, spend less money, keep my house cleaner, start fewer projects and finish more projects, and oh yeah -- blog more. But, I pretty much aspire to all these things all the time so they're hardly resolutions. So I guess I'm going into 2010 just aspiring to have more of the good (there was lots of good in 2009) and less of the bad, which is too much work and not enough time to do it ;)

*With one exception: if Jacquie and I succeed in our plan to meet for a visit to Rhinebeck / NY City next October all bets are off!