Posted by: prairiespinner | February 26, 2010

This yarn is getting tired

It’s been very busy… getting ripped out and re-knit. And again.  And yet again.  Not ALL the way back to cast-on, but far enough.

After that last time, I decided if I needed to rip it out any more, I was just going tostart with a new ball and keep this yarn as a last-ditch reserve ball lump.

But I think all the false starts have finally paid off.  (And that doesn’t even count the swatch-knitting with another ball!)  I’m <fingers crossed> happy with the way it’s turning out this time.

The front, showing the split funnel neck.

So what was the problem?  The main issue was trying to figure out how to make a subtle-yet-obvious seamline at the seamless set-in sleeve… uh, line.  Yeah, I know.  It sounds pretty backwards.  But knitters who knit in the round put in fake seams all the time, for a variety of reasons.  And most of the time, that’s really simple – just do a purl stitch at that point on every row, and that column of purls will sink into most stitch patterns and almost disappear, leaving a nice little line of demarcation.

The tricky part here is that the body of this sweater is in reverse stockinette.  Purls don’t disappear into purls.  And knit stitches stand out.  A lot.  That’s the whole point of using purl stitches (reverse stockinette, seed or moss stitch, garter stitch, whatever) as the background for cables – to make them ‘pop’.

Here’s a lesson that all knitters learn sooner or later:  You cannot change the character of knit and purl stitches, no matter how much you will it to happen.

I swatched, trying out lots of different one- and two-stitch options.  When I finally had one that looked okay on the swatch, I’d give it a go on the sweater – only to find that it did NOT give me the look I wanted on the real thing.   For a little while, I would live in denial, thinking that it would all magically fall into place after the next row or two.  I really knew this all along, but guess I just had to prove it to myself.  *sigh*

But I WAS going to find a solution.  (Our daughters came by their stubbornness naturally.  I always told them that stubborn can be a good thing – it all depends on where you turn it.)  I looked and asked, but no one I found had a good answer, either.

There is probably a better technique out there somewhere, and I may very well run across it just after finishing this sweater, but I did find a solution to satisfy my requirements:

The fake seamline. (Did you notice the dragon stitch markers?)

And the winner is… slip a stitch.  Yup, that’s all.  To be more descriptive:

Right side row: work across the front to the stitch before the marker; move yarn to back, slip st purlwise.  Slip marker, make 1 stitch with backward loop, move yarn to front, continue purling.  And so on, slipping the stitch next to the marker on the body side, and increasing a stitch on the sleeve side of the marker.

Wrong side row: knit the slipped stitch and knit through the back loop of the increased stitch.

Progress to date, laid out as flat as possible.

Only time will tell if it will continue to be the solution, or if I will need to rip again!

Leave a Comment

Posted in My Projects | Tags: , ,

Posted by: prairiespinner | February 11, 2010

Viking knitting, Celtic horse

Finally, this past weekend, I put together the necklace that I’ve been thinking about as the perfect accessory for my Ithilien Brocade Jacket.

Celtic Horse on Viking knit chain

I’ve had the pendant for a while (purchased from Crafty Celts), and have been wearing it on a gold chain, but that wasn’t quite right.  It needed something more substantial, and I thought a Viking knit ‘chain’ would be just the thing.

There was just one glitch.  I couldn’t fit a chain through the bail on the bronze pendant!  So the low-level search was on.  I tracked down several bead styles that I thought would work to transition the ends of the chain, and ordered a couple of decorative hook-and-eye pairs.  Then it took a while to track down some 20-gauge gold-colored wire.  By the time I sat down to decide what I was going to use and how I was going to assemble it, I had a nice little array of options.

I had already made the chain, using 26-gauge gold-colored copper wire.  It ended up being long enough that I had to cut off several inches.  And as I surveyed the various components, it was pretty obvious that I had a couple of different colors going on there – the lighter yellow gold and the darker bronze.  Out of necessity, I decided I liked the mix of tones.

First, I threaded one end of a 3″ long piece of 20-ga. wire through several loops at one end of the Viking chain, then slid on one bead.  These particular beads are concave, so they cupped the ends of the chain rather nicely.  Then I slipped on the loop of the hook, wrapped the wire back around itself several times to secure it, and cut it off flush.  I repeated the process with the other end of the chain, paying close attention to match the length of the first end and making sure I got the orientation of the hooks correct.

Closeup of the chain ends and hooks

Next up was the ‘hanger’ that would go through the bail.  After trying out a few ideas, I opted for the simplest of them, and just secured the eyes to either end of the bent wire with wrapped loops.    Then it was just a matter of tweaking the loops a bit to make sure it hung correctly, and it was finished!

1 Comment

Posted in My Projects, Various Other Stuff, jewelry | Tags: ,

Posted by: prairiespinner | January 23, 2010

Another fiction-inspired sweater design

I suppose it was inevitable that two of my worlds – books and knitting – would collide, and I’m enjoying the result! I am also seeing the beginning of a trend.

The first one, of course, was the “Ithilien Brocade Jacket“, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings character Eowyn.

The inspiration for this new one is Lessa, a pivotal person on Anne McCaffrey’s Pern.  The Dragonriders of Pern series, beginning with “Dragonflight”, is a classic in the sci-fi/fantasy genre (I’m not even touching that genre controversy), and I think Lessa can take some of the credit for that.  She is one of many characters who are beautifully crafted, believable, and very human.

This sweater is also intended as a compliment to Anne McCaffrey, herself a knitter.  She even wrote a contemporary fiction book, “Stitch in Snow”, whose protagonist is a nearly-obsessed knitter of Aran sweaters.

There are a couple of reasons that I like this confluence of interests.  First, fiction makes for a fascinating starting place for a sweater design.  I have come to realize that great characters in an interesting plot is only part of what draws me back to certain books.  When an author places those elements in a landscape that is almost another character itself, and then wraps them in cultures, traditions and history, that sub-creation becomes almost irresistible.  Paul Kocher, in his book “Master of Middle Earth”, defined the allure of certain fictional worlds: “Familiar but not too familiar, strange but not too strange.”  That rich background of culture and character is an endless source of ideas for creative readers, and once again, my chosen medium is yarn.

Another reason I like designing sweaters ‘for’ fictional characters is much less esoteric – they ALWAYS like what I like!  Once I decide they would like something, of course they can’t argue.  There are no tiresome negotiations on color, length, neckline, any of the gazillion little decisions that go into a new design.  It may be selfish, but there it is.  I like deciding these things, and it’s even better when I can imagine someone I admire peering over my shoulder to check on her sweater’s progress and nodding in approval.

Now, on to the details.  “Lessa” (the obvious name for the pattern) had to be red for Ruatha, and have cables to represent her distant Irish ancestry.  It needed to be fitted (easy to slip a wherhide flying jacket over), and had to be made of soft wool.  There are definitely sheep on Pern, but apparently not so many other fiber animals.  And it had to be warm, for those late-night hikes across a frosty Weyr bowl to the kitchen cavern.  After long consideration, the yarn I selected is KnitPicks’ Merino Style in Hollyberry.

So here’s its beginning… at least the first iteration!

Back neck

This is going to be a split funnel neck; a wide cable flows down the center front and back, with the center section of that cable repeated down the sleeves.

Right saddle (neck/shoulder)

The second picture is a view of the saddle, with the stitches to be picked up for the sleeve held on white yarn.  The front sections are on blue stitch holders.

I’m most likely going to rip out what you see here.  There are a couple of things bugging me about it, and I may end up knitting the set-in sleeve caps in the round along with the body of the sweater, instead of picking up from the armhole and working them separately.

I have a couple more tweaks in the design just to make it more interesting, but we’ll get to them as we go along.

The wonderful cable pattern is from Annie Maloney’s Cable Knitting Handbook.  I love the cable designs in this book!  And I’m using construction techniques from Janet Szabo’s Aran Sweater Design.  I cannot recommend it highly enough, either!  Armed with these two excellent resources, anyone who is interested in creating their own cabled sweater design will be ready to go.

Leave a Comment

Posted in My Projects | Tags: , ,

Posted by: prairiespinner | December 31, 2009

Holiday feasting of all sorts

We’re all familiar with the dilemma of holiday goodies, whether it’s the traditional big dinners or the traditional gifting and sharing of candies, snacks and baked items.  Way too much to eat, and all of it tempting!  Self-control is the watchword for those who understand the dangers of overindulgence.  Perhaps it’s too bad that there aren’t really any dangerous side effects from the sensory feast of new yarn…

I do not have a large stash of yarn, as these things go, but it grew some more just now when I wasn’t looking.  The problem is, my ‘free’ time is NOT growing.  And the ideas are.  When in the world am I going to be able to turn these balls and skeins into the garments I see in my head??

Okay, let’s take the new stuff in turn.  Mind you, I currently have one sweater, a scarf, and a pair of socks on the needles.  Oh, and some cute miniature socks, but those hardly count, since they’re finished so fast, and are made from leftovers anyhow.

Teeny socks

And next in line (except that it is lobbying hard to get ahead of the other sweater – I have been flirting with swatches) is the lovely red wool destined to become a cabled sweater.  I could point out the place I was driving on the highway when that one leaped into existence in my mind’s eye, a detailed design, full-grown at birth like Venus.  It’s the actual writing of the pattern that is taking time.  Not to mention the knitting.

Now for the new stuff.

1) Here’s the yarn I finally finished spinning over the holidays:

The last bobbin, just before plying.

I bought the fiber in the late summer of 2006, then planned the spinning and sorted it all out right away.  Every once in a while I get organization right!  The actual spinning sessions were very sporadic, with long hibernations in between each flurry of activity.  In spite of that, the skeins are pretty consistent.  This yarn is destined to become a sleeveless top, probably with a scoop neckline to wear with a paua shell necklace that I need to make.  A nice, simple garment to show off the fabulous color and sheen of the fiber.

Finished “Paua Shell” yarn

This is Bonkers 50/50 Tencel/Merino blend in Dragonfly colorway, purchased at The Yarn Barn in Lawrence, Kansas.  I know, this isn’t technically new, but as a project’s-worth of yarn, it is.

2) Here’s my Christmas gift yarn:

Dream In Color "Starry" in Bermuda Teal

This is the gorgeous Starry in Bermuda Teal, by Dream In Color.  Yes, that sparkly stuff is actually sterling silver!!  I haven’t seen a picture yet that can do it justice, but still, I DARE YOU to look at that and not drool!  I was originally planning to make a pair of socks, but could not bear the idea of walking on it.  So, using a (non-Christmas) gift card, I ordered a couple of skeins in the same color of the companion non-silvery yarn, Smooshy, to knit an elegant cardigan.

3) I also included in that order a skein of Starry in natural white from Simply Socks Yarn Company.  And I ordered this pattern: Starry, Starry Night.  Serendipity?  Or kismet?  We’ll never know, but that yarn and that pattern were obviously meant for each other!  Sure, I considered using the teal yarn for it, but I will wear it more often in white, and we have to be practical about these things.

4) And finally, I got a call today from Yarn that the Lana Gatto VIP that I ordered last fall had finally arrived!  I had been content to wait however long it took to produce more, since I had plenty of projects to keep me busy.   But no, it had to arrive on top of everything else!  This is the first cashmere (20%) yarn that I’ve purchased, and would never have sprung for a whole bag of it, except… a gift certificate, the generous prize for the state fair win.  Thank you again, Deb and the staff at Yarn!

Sooo soft! 80% fine wool, 20% cashmere

I think this one will have to wait a while.  I think.  Again, the design for this sweater has been rattling around in my head for a few months.  It took some time to grow, but is pretty firm by now.  The blue Rowan Damask will be part of it, too.

Rats.  I really want to get started on it.  Self-control stinks sometimes.

At least I am in no danger of getting bored.

Leave a Comment

Posted in My Projects | Tags: ,

Posted by: prairiespinner | December 8, 2009

Sock mods

One of the great things about knitting is that you can customize or modify a pattern – even your own – in whatever way you choose. Of course, that opportunity does occasionally backfire, but that just means you have learned something.  Again.

Here’s an example of a modification that seems to have worked out just the way I planned it.  I found a cable rib that I liked in a book, and tweaked it a bit to use in my standard sock pattern.  It starts out as a simple 2×2 rib, but morphs into cables that shift from side to side.  Each ’shifting’ cable element happens over a set of three knit columns, and is mirrored in neighboring sets, with an entire repeat spanning 24 stitches.  At a gauge of 9 stitches per inch (about right for a fine-ish sock yarn) three repeats fit nicely on a 72-stitch round.  Of course, 3 repeats is an odd number…

But it works just fine, as long as you don’t insist that the front and back are identical.   I don’t.  It is still perfectly balanced and symmetrical, and I am pleased.  I made the first pair for my sister, in a lovely Jojoland Melody yarn that shades softly and quietly from one color to the next.  The color changes aren’t identical in the two socks, so they’re fraternal instead of identical twins.  My sister has always liked things just a little offbeat, so I thought it was a good match for her personality!

Shifting Cables socks I

Shifting Cables socks in Melody yarn

I’ll admit, I thought about keeping them.  But I always think the best gifts are things that you would like to have yourself (just in case the recipient decides the gift doesn’t suit them and gives it back…  I’m still waiting).  Anyway, I liked the way the pattern turned out, and thought it would also make a good men’s sock.  Since I wanted to make some for my generous and charming friend Darrell, I set out to knit a second pair.  I sent him pictures of three blue sock yarns to choose from, and he picked the denim-y Regia Tweed 4-ply.

As I began working out the details, though, things didn’t fit quite as nicely as for the first ones.  The gauge for this yarn was different, his foot is wider, and I don’t think his ankles are as trim as my sister’s.  But I still needed to have the same number of stitches around the leg for that pattern…

Long story short, I knit the foot on smaller needles, inserting my mini-gusset as I neared the short-row heel.  This time, I didn’t decrease the gusset stitches away, since they just happened to give me the number I needed for the leg.

Short-row heel with mini-gusset increases

The sock leg

But did you notice how much the cable rib pulls in on her socks?  A regular rib would expand a lot more than these cables would allow, so I needed to build in some extra room.  A couple of rounds after finishing the heel, I switched to larger needles and began the pattern.  And it worked out just fine!

Also fortunately, cable patterns are nearly incapable of sagging.  So even if they are not really snug, they certainly won’t fall down!

I may never know whether I should have switched back to the smaller needles for the ribbing at the top.  I have a sneaking suspicion I should have, but am going to leave well enough alone.

This was also my first time to use Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off, and I was very pleased with the outcome.  My old standby is the EZ sewn bind-off (scroll down), but this new one may rival it…

Well, I finished the socks, and a first washing transformed them!  They were nice to start with, but a machine-wash made them so soft and fluffy I was amazed at the difference.  I still expect that they will wear well, but now they feel even better.

The finished product, ready to ship!

The Regia yarn was very nice to knit, and (Darrell said “Know thyself” and requested machine-washable yarn) easy care, including tumble drying.  The tweed is beautiful.  The only thing that worries me a little is that many of the little neps of color were not well-anchored in the yarn, and I expect will drift off with wearing and washing.  Somehow, I don’t think that will keep me awake at night.

I was surprised that it was so hard to find a tweedy sock yarn.  There are tons of unique and often beautiful hand-dyed sock yarns available, lots of self-patterning and self-striping yarns (not for me), and some lovely heathers and solids, but a real dearth of sock tweeds.  Someone needs to fix that, but in the meantime, Regia will get my money for the next tweedy pair!

2 Comments

Posted in My Projects | Tags: ,

Older Posts »

Categories