Knitting @ 100kph

Yes, I am here, and I even managed to start, knit, and finish something over the busy weekend, I've got an update on the baby blanket, showing progress. The weekend was fun, the dinner was amazing, huge bowls of kai moana delivered from kitchen to our tables at Fleurs Place, Moeraki. Kai is Maori for food, moana Maori for sea, so sea food. The bowls held so many tempting treats, cockles and mussels in the shell - hot and steaming and tender, all sorts of smoked and cooked and marinated fish. 8 of us to a table, and 4 large bowls and platters of food, and that was just the entree ... but enough talk of food. The weekend was fast and fun, at one point I felt that tight chest feeling when you feel like you are running just to keep up with the world, but then Sunday, things started relaxing, much had been done, much less needed doing and the world felt slower. I felt I could breathe.

I knit a little on the bus to diner, but frankly, a bus lurching at 100km/hr, along a twisty hilly state highway is no place to knit sock yarn fish with knitpicks dpns, those things are way to sharp, and so the yarn becomes by default far to splity. So I knit one fish and put it all away, the trip home was in darkness - and while I can knit without looking, knitting in the dark in a moving bus with very pointy knitpics- well thats a whole different matter.


And the blanket, this photo was a few days ago, I've now completed the last large back to back L, and started the remaining small L. I'm planning to full this a little, not really felt, but full it to thicken it up a little. Then Caro can either use it as a blanket or a mat, it could do both. I laid it out on the wooden floor in the room at the back of our house, a sunny room, optimistically labeled the 'drawing room' on the original 1939 plans. Mmm, a 3 bedroom house in working class suburbia, New Zealand, brick with an iron roof, and with a drawing room? Pretentious or what? We use the room as a second lounge, and library, it houses some large bookcases, but in reality it is a dumping ground. The cubs bedrooms are either side of the 'drawing room' so until they grow a little and don't need to go to bed so early, the room is difficult for adults to use after 7:30pm. Little voices come calling in the darkness "is that you mum?". Plus things we don't yet want to deal with get left there, so I had a tidy up before the photo was made. The room looks much better, I should use it for photos more often, and it might stay tidy. The brass ruler next to the blanket is 36" long, so the blanket is nearly a yard long, a good size for a cot, or a play mat, or a snuggle rug.

Socks - well I said I wouldn't frog, but I'm thinking I might, that unsymmetrical decrease - well it bothering me, and I want to knit the second sock with a different decrease, s2 k1, pss's over, I think that one gives a line up the middle, but I can't if I don't frog sock one back now. I'll keep you posted. And a box of goodies arrived from California during the week, including some yarn specifically for a CB sock, complete with a pattern - so I'll show and tell in next weekend's post.

Stella

Weighing up knitting progress, yes really

Quickly now, as this week is again hectic, I'm on the team organizing a conference and so last night was make the name tag night, tonight is knit night, then the next 2 nights and 2 days are gone in conference activity. At least this one is local so I can go home at nights. I think I will take a sock to knit - but maybe not Salto - something mindless? Then again - between organising food, and writing receipts and handing out info, maybe there will not be much knitting.



Salto grows well, and the yarn is soft and silky and lovely to knit. I like the shape of the sock as the increases and decreases move the cables forward ready to meet at center front, but it almost looks backwards. I'm sure it will fit.


The plain stocking stitch panel at the back is a nice feature, growing slowly between the ribbed sections. And I love the little column of plain knit stitches that the paired lifted increase results in. I'm not to keen on the paired decreases at the front - in hindsight a double decrease that resulted in the middle stitch creating a similar line down the front might have been better - but its to late now to alter, and these have to match.



And the baby blanket, well I started to wonder if there would be enough yarn to finish, the center wound balls were looking very open in the middle. I have knit half the blanket - which is made of 4 sections, 2 sets of two shapes. Two small L's, and two back-to-back double L's. One advantage of old fashioned balance scales - is that you can compare two items, so thats what I did.

There is most definitely an art to arranging and balancing large blanket pieces on a scale, but I managed. Weighting the half that is done on one side, against the remaining two balls of yarn, and the small section I had knitted told me Yes! I had enough yarn to finish. This way I can knit on without any angst and worry about running out of yarn.

And I've finally mastered double-short-row turn. Maybe it was using larger-than-sock needles and heavier yarn so seeing the stitches clearly - but I've worked out what and how to pick up both wraps and knit them. I've never been happy with double short rows before. I know in garter stitch you don't have to pick up the wraps, but if you do then you don't get little holes. Now that I've worked out how to pick up both wraps and knit them as one - well the decrease line is a little row of plaited stitches on the right side, or a giant row of stocking stitch V's. I like, I like very much.

Take care - have fun - there might not be a weekend post so no promises, but I'll be back here next week. If you are in Dunedin and into designery things look out for the open to the public talk by Douglas Lloyd Jenkins at the conference. He wrote a very good book recently, and has fronted two arts series on tv. Its on at 12 in the Hutton theater, at the Otago Musuem, his session is open to the public by gold coin donation.
Stella

About matching the begining to the sides to the ends

Happy easter, belatedly, but happy easter all the same. Its Easter Monday here, home made easter buns with currents, honey, craisins and candied peel were made and eaten on Friday, and between visiting friends, and supervising bike riding at the park - there has been a lot of fiber activity, a new sock started, my carding machine is up and working so I had fun yesterday carding and blending, the renovated parts for my Pippy spinning wheel arrived, so I just had to spend some of the easter break spinning, plus a new video of an easy crochet cast-on that is a match for both a slipped stitch edging and the old fashioned chained cast off. Here goes ....







New project socks, but first the yarn, this is sock yarn (75% super-wash merino/25% nylon) kettle dyed by Vintage Purls, and it is so soft, very soft. This colour is beautiful, I deny any one to not have warm and sunny feet while wearing it. The pattern is Salto by Rebekkah Kerner, from the latest Knitty, and is lovely to work so far as long as you follow the charts exactly. I did get a little carried away with the ribbing, working more than required - but I'm not going back to frog, and I ignored the shaded purl stitches either side of the cable chart which threw the stitch count out a couple of times until I just did exactly what the pattern said, instead of what I thought it said. The green- blue yarn keeping the sock company is a sock yarn trial I've spun, a little 3 ply and a cabled 4 ply - just to see what finished thickness the yarns will be when spin them. The other sock pattern I mentioned last post, "American in China" on my to knit list will be from that yarn.








Which is going to be made from this, Perendale combed sliver from the Milton mill, but this lot passed thru the dye pot of M, and who then included 20% of nylon dyed to match for sock durability. This fiber was a gift for sharing the little tips and tricks we've found out about Wing wheels and its maintenance - I think I got the best end of the bargain, these colours are amazing!







After a few trips thru the drum carder I had this, 5 huge lofty batts of blended fiber. The quite separate yellow, natural white, green and blues became a subtle aqua paua shade I blended these 3 times thru the carder to mute every thing, but it still has that interest that dyed in the fiber material has, and dyed in the skein does not. Reputedly about 200g of fiber, to me, a newbie to carding it looks much more than needed for socks ... but I'm learning with spinning to much is better than not enough. There are several hand spun skeins of 100m length in my stash now, which I have to find a use for some time.







.. and now its being spun on the working Pipy, which is just delightful to use.

And finally talking about cast ons, there is much out there in books and the internet about matching a cast of to a cast on. Most of the talk is how to match a cast-off to either a twisted stretch german cast on, or a tubular cast on, but sometimes simple is best. I often knit garter stitch wash cloths, and BSJ's, and at times other designs featuring garter stitch (Tomten anyone? Baby blankets?), and I always slip first stitch purl-wise so I have a nice chained stitch edge along the side of my knitting. To match this I use what must be the oldest cast-0ff technique,, the chain stitch cast off.

More recently I have been using Montse Stanleys crochet cast on to continue the chain effect right around the garter stitched piece. I re-read her instructions on how to do this when knitting my andean folk hat. The tiny puntas needed a chained edge, and this was much easier than picking up from a crochet chain on 2mm needles (size 0), in fine lace weight 2 ply.

Here is an example of the cast-on and a cast-off, matching, so well matching, I'm not sure exactly which is which. Well ... I think the top one is the cast off, it is a little more even and tighter. Below shows the slipped stitch chain edging, which also matches nicely.







Hope the easter break was relaxing, not to much chocolate, nice weather, and some fiber time
Stella

Pride go-eth and all that, & a FO!

This week is mad, mad I tell you, mad. I was out Tuesday night (spinners and weavers guild), Wednesday is 'wheel compare & repair' night (spin tech-geeky fun - with a friend who bought a Wing like mine and wants the detail on cleaning the inside bits), tomorrow is knit night ... and work and study needs mean not enough computer time right now. And I have a little moan, in good heart, but a moan all the same. I nearly didn't post today but this blog is my knitting diary, where I think about what I've done, the decisions made and the results, so here goes ..

Poppy's 2nd girl friend shrug (modified) is finished, started 20th Feb 2008, finished 15th March 2008, needle size 3.25mm, ribbing on 2.75mm. To fit girl 6-8 years old.
Modifications,
Used my own merino ply hand spun, food dyed in skeins.
Knit in the round, from the center back out, not the cuffs up.
Provisional cast on half required stitches, and then used a half raglan increase to widen enough to fit sleeve/upper arm.
Used my standard cuff decreases, done quarterly, in the round every 3 rows.
Embroidered little daisies around shrug opening
extended ribbing to 1" past wrist, put in a 1" split, and knit 1" past that. Result is a 3" turn back, 2 years of growing room, and thumb holes.

And the garter baby blanket, I'm half way there, Baby is a few weeks away, but the mum-to-be looks tired, and her midwife said the baby was going to be an 11 lbd'er. She is philosphicall about that, the last baby was 9.5 lbs, and arrived safe and gently. Still I'm hoping to finish this soon, in an just in case manner.


The guild meeting was good, but if there is one thing teaching has taught me repeatedly, never assume to much, check it out. I've learned to make sure I know my students knowledge and skill sets before I make suggestions, its just easier and nicer that way.

I enjoy the meetings, they are quite formal, like an old fashioned community meeting, committee at a table in front, and members with chairs in rows (but some sit in the back row and knit), and speakers and minutes and agenda items, and reports. I think that must be required to meet some tax exemption or bank fee exemptions. We new ones were introduced, but didn't get to introduce ourselves, just waved rather royally when our names were read out. What I was a little miffed at was the question directed specifically at the new members (who are all experienced thinking knitters) after the floor talks. It was asked if the new people understood the 'new and technical terms' used, like ... well blocking. We all nodded and said we understood, but the question was repeated, and clarified just to make sure, did we know what blocking was or should some one explain it? One of the newbies suggested where they could buy blocking wires to use instead of pins, so I think she was quite good at actively 'demonstrating' her non-beginner status. I wish I had done that. After the meeting another member came up as we cleared away the chairs and wanted to know if we had 'learned lots of new things', my answer was 'I knew much of it, but it was nice to have it reinforced', but my answer was clearly wrong. After all I was 'new' therefore I must be a beginner, I couldn't possibly know about the delights, advantages and mysteries of blocking.

It would have been nice to introduce ourselves, to give some indication of our skills, or better yet for some one to talk to the members who knew us and our work and then for our introductions to the group to be more meaningful, rather than portray us as rank beginner newbies. I guess I have pride in my work and developed abilities, and I'm never clear if that is one of the old sins, and if it go-eth before a fall, well I'd better watch out hadn't I?
Stella