Woman on the Edge

Remember how I'm thinking about what I'm going to edge the Tomten in? I'm about halfway through the hoodie portion, so the question of a contrasting yarn is going to come up very soon - probably today - because I'd like to start the sleeves in a few rows of the contrast.

I've already looked at the available Malabrigo in my neighborhood, and I've looked through my stash - nada. So yesterday I took myself over to Knitting in La Jolla and wandered through the yarn with the Tomten-on-Needles held out before me like a divining rod.

I came up with two possibilities: the Manos you see above in a beautiful orange-yellow hue, and the jewel-like colorway here (which I've used before and really like):



Later today, if I get through the hood, I will add a few rows of the jewel-toned Manos to the beginning edge of the sleeves to see how it goes with the body color. If it works, voila. If not, I'll frog and try the yellow-orange.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

It's a long stretch of garter stitch, that Tomten. I'm combating the boredom by imagining what I will edge with. The Kureyon? Or will that be too, um...colorful?

I'm past the sleeve holes and getting ready to join the shoulders back onto one needle again...then it's the hood, then the sleeves. The second skein of Malabrigo, in Bergamota, by the way, will take me through the body. I'll have to join yarn for the hood, and will hopefully have enough for the sleeves. I consulted with Mary about the hood versus collar option, but she likes a hoodie.

Norovember

It's Norovember, and who can resist a reason to stock up? A little Kureyon is the perfect way to end the week. I have no idea what I'll do with it yet - perhaps a scarf, for a change. All I know is I've got the garter stitch blues right now. I'm on ridge 32 of the tomten, and I'd be super excited about getting past the halfway mark on the body if it weren't for the prospect of knitting the sleeves. I love how the garter stitch looks, but it's a little dry.

So dry, in fact, that last night I cast on some Cascade Eco-Wool in black for a 3-spiral hat. And when that didn't help too much, there was nothing to do but go yarn shopping. Luckily I have two LYS very nearby, including the wonderful Knitting in La Jolla.



The Berroco Ultra Alpaca above and below will probably become some gift knitting. So see? I was super productive today...really.



And as for the Kureyon, even Snoopy thinks it was a good idea.

November in Paradise

This happened last year too - right when I should be in the thick of knitting, we're hit with a heatwave right around Thanksgiving. Not to mention - I ask you...who feels like baking pie and roasting turkey when it's 80 degrees out?

On the other hand, look where Mary and I got to spend the afternoon.

Plus I'm even knitting:



The crummy cellphone photo depicts me working away on a tomten, round about ridge 28. It's taking a loooong time to get through those ridges, too, because my apparent inability to count caused me to cast on 128 sts rather than the recommended 112. What does that matter, you ask? EZ says you can cast on any number divisible by 8....but then, all the proportions have to change, too - so instead of knitting to ridge 40 and starting the sleeve areas, I'm going to have to go to 48 ridges. Oy. I had to get a spreadsheet out and enter formulas and draw diagrams and everything just to figure out my knitting.

Stay tuned to see if it works. Until then, I'm shaking the sand out of my wool and knitting on with confdence.

Well Worth It!

Okie dokie, so I haven't started any holiday knitting yet...but I have finished the February Baby Sweater, and I recommend it wholeheartedly as a great project and satisfying FO. I especially love that garter stitch yoke.

Because I don't want to seam unless I have to, I worked down the yoke to the spot where the directions ask you to start the sleeves, which are worked flat. Instead, I popped the sleeve stitches on some waste yarn and finished the body, then came back, picked up the 28 live sleeve sts knit up 14 more under the arms and motored on down the sleeves on dpns.



A word of caution if you decide to do this yourself - knit up 16 sts under the arm if you decide to do this, and on the first round of the sleeve, which I suggest be one of the knit rounds rather than a pattern round, k2tog & ssk the first and last of the 16 sts along with the first and last live sleeve sts to get a nice round with no gaps where you added the underarms. Also - give some forethought to where the end of your round is going to land, so you don't have a jog on the front of the sleeve when you get to the garter stitch cuffs. I'm sure knitting into the stitch below or something like that would eliminate the problem, but I'm lazy.

I am on an EZ jag, too - I am planning on ignoring my exploding stash of doom and heading over to Knitting in La Jolla today to acquire some more wool of some sort to start a Tomten. I don't even know who will get it - I'm just going to knit me up one anyhow. Somewhere, some baby will fit.



This weekend I am suffering two major holiday slaps in the face. Last night Fiona and I attended the Nutcracker Gala benefiting City Ballet. Can't get much more Christmasy than the Nutcracker, can you (and by the way, if you are in San Diego in the early part of December, I highly recommend City's production at the Spreckels Theatre...intimate, opulent, elegant...)? But then today we are heading over to hear Fiona sing at Adelaide's for their holiday open house! Maybe hearing Over the River will scare me enough to prompt some gift knitting...one can only hope.

Festivus Freakout

I interrupt this regularly scheduled blog posting for an important public service announcement.

The holdays are tomorrow. Not literally, but if the rate at which October disappeared was any indication, I have roughly 23.5 hours before Christmas Eve. Gifts and decorations are waiting to be started, or at least thought of.

Dear readers, t's time to get off our collective lazy knitting asses. And if this doesn't apply to you, I apologize for assuming and you're free to go on your efficient and timely way. I myself need a cold slap and a kick in the rear.

In knitting news, I am done with the body and halfway through the first sleeve of my February Baby Sweater. And Sarah-Hope sent me a link to the English directions (with charts here) of the Revontuli, which is a definite to-do. I wonder if I could get one done by Festivus, or if it will just be one more topic for the Airing of Grievances.

32 Stitches

32 stitches...to start a cuff? K4P4 ribbing perhaps? Nope! The other kind - the kind you get in the ER when your hobby involves lots of RPMs and sharp propellers. John sliced his hand open but good last night working on one of his planes when his sleeve caught the throttle by accident, and 32 stitches later he's bandaged up and pretty darn sad.

In fact, he was in such bad shape today, mostly from the hangover he got from the pain meds, that he missed the homecoming preparations completely. There's Anna up there with her date...her first date to a formal! You get to see her without a handknitted hat on!

And here's Fiona with hers. I missed Fiona & her date completely because Anna's date's mom and I went and had dinner while the young couple ate at a different restaurant, so Mary took pictures for me. Not bad for a nine-year-old. Maybe I'll let her write for the blog pretty soon.



I have to say, both these boys are so nice and polite. I'm off to sit down on the couch and start the night of waiting up. I hope they're having fun.

Yarn in the Landscape

I was at Knitting in La Jolla earlier this week and picked up some beautiful fall yarn. It fits right in with the succulents adorning my courtyard.



This Cascade 220 Heather in color 9459 pictured at left is being turned into the February Baby Sweater I spoke of earlier. It's very soft, and I love the muted olive-y green. I've finally gotten a handle on the gull pattern and the sweater is coming along; I hope to have the body done in the next day or so and the sleeves shortly after that, and then I'll have to find some earthy buttons.

The best part is I'm knitting in the evenings while watching the Knitter's Workshop DVD I ordered. Even though I thought I'd skip straight to the more advanced parts, I've been watching the early episodes and learning plenty For example, I skipped EZ's way of starting a long-tail cast-on (with no slip knot - this might be it here) when looking at the book, but I happened to catch it on the video and was fascinated! What a great trick.

I also love how EZ describes herself as a slow knitter, and how absent-minded and awkward she can be. It's very endearing, and the homespun video makes you feel like she's there with you, having a conversation about knitting.


This Red Rocks Fiber Works superwash merino in a colorway aptly named Fall Back.

Which reminds me...if you're in the US, this is the weekend. What will you do with your extra hour?

Happy Halloween

It's pretty quiet tonight in Windanseaville....Slugbug Mary and Witchy Anna are down the hill trick-or-treating with John, Hippy Fiona is doing homework, the dogs are hoping somebody will drop some candy, and I am getting ready to go in and watch my new Elizabeth Zimmerman DVD.




I'm knitting away on a February Baby Sweater from Knitter's Almanac. It's kicking my butt - I don't know what it is about some projects; it's not particularly complicated, but for some reason I've had to tink back rows two and four of the gull pattern in both repetitions I've knitted so far. I must say that the garter stitch yoke is very pretty, though. I forget how beautfully simple garter stitch can be.

We hardly ever get trick-or-treaters on my street; I think the houses are too far apart and the street is too dark. I am ready just in case, though: I have a basket of candy and the costume nobody else wanted to wear this year. Good thing I don't embarrass easy, huh?

Tweedy Tam

Alrighty then, here's the Tweedy Tam, ready for the internet (and if it's not, please let me know!).

Here's what I did. I made two versions - one for an adult that measures about 19 inches in circumference at the band, and one for kids that started at 15 inches (so, for a toddler or so) but that I blocked to fit a child's medium (8 - 10). Pictured here is how I would wear it (and how I placed it on Mary's head!) but you can see how Anna rocks it here.

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, one ball
Needles: 1 16" circular and one set of DPNs in a size to give you a gauge of 5 sts/inch in stockinette. For me, this is a size 4 with this yarn, but caution! I'm a loose knitter (and I mean that in the best sense!).

Begin

CO 72 (96) sts on the circular needle (you'll switch to the DPNs during the decreases) and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist. Place marker to indicate beginning of round.

Ribbing

Knit 1 inch of k1p1 ribbing.

Increase Round

*k2,m1; repeat from * to end of round. I used the backward-loop m1. At the end, you should have 108 (144) sts. If you used another multiple of six, you'll have half again as many as you started out with, which you can check using math (plus you can tell your kids that they really will use algebra in real life!):

Let x = number of cast-on sts
Let y = number of sts after the increase round

y = x + (x/2)

Body

Knit every round until piece measures 2.5 (3) inches from increase round. This isn't an exact science; if you want more slouch, knit a little further!

Prepare for Decreases

You must now divide your sts into six segments to create the pattern of holes and decreases.

*K18 (24), place marker; repeat from * to end.

Remember y? If you used some other number besides 72 or 96 to begin with, you'll have to bust out the math skills again, but this is more 3rd-grade-level math rather than middle school level.

y/6 = number of sts between each marker.



Decrease

Round 1: *yo, ssk, knit to last two sts before marker, k2tog; repeat from * to end. You have decreased 6 sts.

Round 2: knit to end of round.

Regardless of how many sts you started with, repeat these two rounds until you have 3 sts between each marker, switching to DPNs when needed.

Finishing

*k1, k2tog all the way around. You should have 12 sts total.
*k all sts all the way around
*k2tog; repeat from * to end, removing all markers as you go except for the one that marks the beginning of the round. You should have 6 sts left.
*k2tog all the way around, removing the last marker. You should have 3 sts left.

Topping it Off

At this point, you have a choice. You could've stopped at 6 sts, broken the yarn, drawn the yarn through the sts and fastened off.

But since we've got those 3 live sts on a DPN, let's make a little i-cord.

*k3, slide the three knit sts to the other side of the same needle without turning work, and knit them again. Here's a tutorial if you need it. Repeat from * until i-cord is as long as you want it. You can leave it like a little tail or you can put a knot in it; just break your yarn, thread it through the live sts with a needle, and then weave it in to fasten.

Blocking

You can block your tam or not, depending on how you feel. I blocked the smaller tam so it would fit my 9-year-old, despite the fact that it was knit at the toddler gauge.

To block, fit the tam over a plate. I used a dinner plate on the small hat to make it larger. Steam with an iron, or spritz with a squirt bottle, or whatever method you prefer to get it wet, and then let it dry on the plate. The steam iron is quick and I'm impatient, so there you go - just be careful to use only the steam and not burn your knitting!




Copyright 2007 Lydia McNeil - You may not use this pattern for profit or reproduce it for profit; you may use it to knit hats for yourself, for others, or most certainly for charity, but not to sell.

A Tam

Told you I'd start another hat...you know I'm into instant gratification. Armed with the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, I decided to knit a tam out of some Rowan Felted Tweed in the Sigh colorway I had in the stash.

The look of the yarn-over holes was inspired by the Noro hat here, (which I really like and intend to make sometime soon) although my holes were just k2tog, yo, ssk. The top is finished off with a little i-cord knot on three stitches. I'm into the body of a smaller one now and will try to write up a quick how-to when that's done.



In the meantime, the weather finally broke here and there were even a few drops falling today! My in-laws were allowed to go back to their place this morning - miracle of miracles, all the buildings including the house, barn, sheds, and whatnot, were still standing. The return was bittersweet, as the surrounding land is a moonscape with many of the neighbors' houses gone and John's uncle's place up the road among them. We're still thankful things weren't worse, although reading about the injured at the UCSD Burn Center is heartbreaking and scary.



The rest of the day will be spent knitting and watching a little TV, and rejoicing in the overcast sky.

In Times of Crisis

With the destruction wrought by the fires, the urge to create overwhelms.

Scones. Brownies. Large pots of tortilla soup, beef stew, spaghetti sauce.



Two hats.

It's hot and our eyes burn. We're glued to the news and the computer, looking at maps of the burn areas and the evacuations. My in-laws were evacuated and are waiting it out at Steele Canyon High School; at first they wanted to stay there because the news was fresher and they wanted to stay near their place in Deerhorn Valley, but now the roads are closed. They'll be okay, but we won't know for sure about their place for a while.

The good news is some of our friends have been allowed back to their neighborhoods; the bad news is how many we don't know about - and whether they still have homes.

The kids are playing games and cousin Elizabeth is here - a forced vacation from school for the rest of the week. John is staying home and working remotely. His sister is here with us, down from Seattle to help with the evacuation of one of the nursing homes she works with.

Isn't it sad we have to wait for a disaster to take a break? I for one am off to start another hat.

More Distractions

Can it really be that my baby is a senior? We just came back from a New England college trip, checking out potential schools.

We SoCalifornians were so looking forward to real fall weather. I mean, when do we really get to bust out the fine knitwear otherwise? Plus it was the perfect excuse to go shopping.

We bought cords and sweaters, and boots! We packed rain gear and scarves! We nearly died of the 80+ degree Indian summer!

But Fiona got to look at Emerson again (loved it); and Sarah Lawrence (no comment); Bennington (liked it); Williams (liked it); and RISD (really really loved it). And it was all so beautiful...look at the photo left, taken at Bennington College. We just don't have green like that here.

And while Fiona looked at schools, I ate my way across New England...The lobster! The pizza! The clam chowder! Ah.


On our last couple of days there, we visited Salem, where I saw a yarn store but didn't even go in! Can you believe it? My thumb/pinky/elbow problems combined with the heat were just not conducive to yarn shopping.

I'm Back - Sorta...

I'm not sure why I have a knitting blog when as it turns out I have a yearly pattern of taking six months off starting in the spring every year. I should really take up some hobby that I could talk about for the other half a year.

Oh wait, wouldn't that be the yearly creation of the Jewel Ball. The very reason I can't knit being the countless hours of computer work that make my elbow hurt too much to hold knitting needles? Yes, this is me in my blue hat, looking the way I do for a week every August...the end of a jam-packed year of putting on that party. Thanks for another flaterring photo, Fiona! I can only blame the camera angle for how those arms look sleeveless, since the truth would be too painful.

Luckily, this year's Ball was soooo much fun to put on - we got to paint gigantic recreations of famous art pieces (which, who knew the same muscles that don't let me knit and drive a mouse too much at the same time are also affected by wielding a giant paint brush) and hopefully raised buckets of money for our beneficiaries.

I hurt my left thumb during the week we set the Ball up, so I was in a cast for a couple of weeks from that, and then I hurt my right pinky, and we had a Santa Ana that made it unbearable to touch anything other than ice cream, so I haven't knit at all. Like, since April. I know, wah wah wah. You want to offer me some cheese with that whine.

On the creative side, I did have a very productive spring and summer graphics-wise.

Knitting? What Knitting

Oh my gosh. I have to finish the Tuscany shawl, or something else that qualifies as a shawl, by July in order for it to be used as an incentive prize for people selling raffle tickets. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but my knitting has totally taken a back seat to life in general. The only thing I've accomplished this week has been the sock you see here, taken from Lace Style and modified to be a short little anklet. And I don't like it, so you're not going to see a second one in this lifetime!



Anna had a birthday this week including two parties (friends & family), Fiona got back from a singing trip to Chicago, and I've been busy with Las Patronas because we're coming up on a newsletter deadline! Oh, and we had a fencing tournament on the weekend but that turned out to be awesome - check out Anna's good news!

Hippity Hoppity, Easter Came and Went

Well, we're back in town, the big girls are in school again, Mary's on break, and Easter came and went. We had Easter at my sister's, where I got to see my little nephew Charlie in one of the versions of the five-hour baby sweater (although it took me more than five hours - ymmv). He is such a cutie patootie.



I've put aside the Tuscany shawl for a while because I realized I was doing a stupid thing. I've been slipping the first stitch on each row, but only on the right side. So I've got slip stitches on the knit side and regular stitches on the purl side. What a dunce...I'm seriously consider ripping the whole thing out but before I do anything drastic I'm working on the socks from Lace Style. Sometimes the knitting mojo just takes a vacation.



Snoop spent Easter at home, even though Anna made him a bunny suit to go with his ears.

On the Mission Trail

Whew...we have been covering a lot of ground. We've seen a lot of schools already and we're still not in LA yet!

It turns out g-girl is a Mills alum - Mills is an incredibly beautiful women's college in Oakland. It's more like a park than a school, and there's a lot to be said for all-women's education. Fiona liked it a lot, and said she'd be happy to go there. She also like USF well enough, mainly because it's in the middle of San Francisco, which is great. St. Mary's was acceptable as a lower choice.



Santa Clara was the favorite coming out of SF and surrounding areas, though. And who could blame her? It is the most beautiful campus, with incredible gardens, gorgeous buildings and friendly staff. Check out that wisteria!



This morning we were in Sarah-Hope's neighborhood, UC Santa Cruz. Fiona loved it so much she had to dance through the woods. It's currently in first place, at least until we hit Santa Barbara tomorrow.

And then this afternoon we rolled into San Luis Obispo to take a look at Cal Poly, which is down near the bottom of the pack. It's okay, and it's a good education, but it's so big.



And the best thing about road trips? How else would you see a giant artichoke?

Adventures in Googleland

I'm posting this from my BIL's commuter apartment in sunny Mountain View, CA (home of Google) and where we have been staying since Thursday night. Mountain View is actually a cool place - there's a little downtownish place where there are a couple of blocks of cheek-to-cheek restaurants, most of which have sidewalk tables and all of which stay open into the late evening.

Fiona and I have been looking at schools, so far hitting Sta. Clara, Mills, Berkeley, USF, Stanford, St. Mary's. On Tuesday we leave for Sta. Cruz, San Luis Obispo and points south.

I was totally expecting cooler weather so I packed kind of wrong (Why oh why are my beloved flipflops in La Jolla?) and even optimistically packed some of my knitted warmy things, but it looks like they'll go unused yet again.

Yesterday we were only going to visit USF, so we thought we'd go on a little yarn crawl first. Armed with mapquest directions, we made our way to Uncommon Threads in Los Altos. First of all, Los Altos has a cute little shopping area, much like Girard in my beloved La Jolla, but SO MUCH BETTER. Sigh.




Anyway, Uncommon Threads is a great yarn shop...in my opinion, not as great as Knitting in La Jolla, but it is roomier. I got to see a ribwarmer all knitted up, which I'd never seen before except in photos. And which, PS, I won't be making one of anytime soon, at least for myself. I think it would actually subtract inches from my height and add them to my hips - no thanks.

I also got to touch a bunch of Jamieson's wool, which I've almost bought a boatload full of before sight unseen, and discovered it's scratchy. Even after swatching. Even after washing. Still a little too scratchy for me. So see? Yarn shopping ends up saving me money in the longrun.


Instead I came home with some of my beloved Koigu, which was there in the flesh and you see pictured at the top and below, and some Lana Grossa sockyarn, and some little 4" dpns in size 2 for said sockyarn. Remember, it's vacation yarn!



After Uncommon Threads, we hit the 101 north and headed for ImagiKnits in San Francisco. It turns out that ImagiKnits is smack in the Castro, where, I'll tell you right now, people are having a damn good time on the weekends. In looking for a link for you just now, I found out that I Remember Mama took place in the Castro...it doesn't look like, however, you'll find anyone anyone vaguely resembling Irene Dunne there now.

Fiona tried to get some pictures of the local landmarks from my moving vehicle as we cruised for a parking spot (in vain), but sadly, no photo of Moby Dick. We gave up trying to park and headed for USF (pictured below) instead.



Last night we took in a show at the Eureka Theatre on Jackson, where the 42nd Street Moon puts on lost or obscure Broadway gems from the golden era. We saw Plain and Fancy, a musical about the Amish, I kid you not, from way before Weird Al even had the idea for this. It was actually fabulous!

Despite the parking, San Francisco remains just about my favorite city. It's got the culture and the art scene, it's got nightlife, it's got great food, and it's tolerant. It's tolerant almost to the point of being intolerant, true, but I love it. And everywhere you look, there's something beautiful.

And now, since it's Sunday, your weekly dose of Snoop, weighing himself.



"I gained 8 ounces this week!"