Mostly knitting, most of the time, Ivete’s knit blog

I know I promised 4 FO’s, not 3, but I never managed to get a decent shot of the last one (Katherine Hepburn). And now almost 2 weeks has gone by, we’re away at weddings the next 2 weekends, my shower is the weekend after that, I have to send out invitations, get dress fittings, etc, etc, etc . . . I’m not sure I’ll ever catch up.

I’ve been running around to such a degree that I haven’t even been knitting much. Seriously. All I’ve been capable of working on the last 2 weeks is stockinette socks — and I’ve only got a sock and a half finished in all that time! Being too busy to knit is definitely new to me . . . and then last night when I was packing for our trip (5 hour flight) I absolutely could not decide on what knitting to bring. It’s not like there aren’t a dozen projects I could pack, it’s just that none of them were calling to me and I couldn’t make up my mind. I ended up packing 2 socks’ worth of knitting.

And then I came across this shawl in my blog-reading today . . . but of course I didn’t bring anything appropriate to knit it with, and I don’t have time to go home before my flight tonight. So now I’m considering running to Purl during my lunch to get something . . . which is slightly ridiculous.

Good to know the knitting fanaticism hasn’t abated too much.

So I’m cheating a bit with this one, because it’s been finished for a long time. But I never showed it off on the blog before! I managed to get Adam to pose for a picture under the condition that I wouldn’t show his face. So yet another headless shot it is!

This sweater has been pretty well documented on the blog: I did some weird construction changes to it, and it went through surgery, so I feel like there isn’t much left to say about it. I did have trouble with the neckline and I’m not entirely happy with the way it sits, I think a few more short rows would have done it some good and made it fit better. I also think the yoke is too wide, and that the whole thing is too long, but I’m not going back to change it! It definitely fits well enough for Adam to wear, and if I compare it to some of the first sweaters I knit for ME, this fits perfectly in comparison! If only I knew then what I know now . . .

Project specs:
Pattern: Cobblestone from Fall 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: 10 skeins Classic Elite Charmed, color 76724
Needles: US size 7
Started: August 2007
Finished: December 2007

Quite possibly the fastest socks I’ve ever knit!

The stripes didn’t line up very well on the second sock, it seems that the repeat was a little shorter on the second sock than on the first so the stripes aren’t the same. This is most visible around the heel, you can see in this picture that there is a lot of purple around the ankle of the right sock but not as much on the left sock. I’m ok with this, though, socks do not have to be perfect in my world!

If you want to knit these socks, here’s what I did:

1. Knit toe-up socks with fingering weight yarn, with whatever stitch count you want, then after turning the heel knit 6 rows while increasing/decreasing to a stitch count of 66.
2. Pattern row: * K2tog 2 times, (YO, K1) 3 times, YO, K2tog 2 times, repeat from * 10 times more.
3. Knit 3 rows. Repeat last 4 rows until socks are desired length. Make sure to bind off on what would have been a knit row, not on the pattern row.

That’s it! So simple I couldn’t justify working it up into a “pattern”.

By the way, this yarn goes FOREVER. I have tons left over, easily enough to make knee-highs. I am kind of shocked at how much is left over! And as Dave pointed out in a comment last time I talked about these socks, Twisted Fibers now sells their yarn from their own website, www.twistedfiberart.com — I think I need to get some more!

Project specs:
Pattern: Toe up socks, figure 8 cast on and feather and fan legs
Yarn: Much less than 1 skein Twisted Fiber Arial in color Guardian
Needles: US size 1
Started: April 26, 2008
Finished: May 3, 2008

I’ve been on a finishing binge over here! I have at least 4 FO’s to show you, and with any luck there could be even more!

These socks are so silly, they make me smile every time I look at them! The color is so gorgeous, and of course they’re made from KOIGU so I have to love them. It’s in my contract. (JK, I love Koigu of my own volition. I certainly wouldn’t mind a contract that paid me to love Koigu, though . . . )

If you want to add these ruffles to your own toe-up socks, here’s what I did:

1. Knit to about 1″ short of where you want your socks to end, making sure you have about 3x as much yarn left as you would use to knit that inch in stockinette.
2. Knit into the front & back of every stitch around. Knit one row plain. (you may need to add an extra DPN at this point since there will be so many stitches on the needle)
3. Knit into the front & back of every stitch around. Knit one row plan.
4. Bind off as follows: * BO 2, YO, bind off YO, repeat from * to end.

After you bind off you’ll probably have to shape the ruffles by hand to make them look even. That’s it!

Project specs:
Pattern: Toe up socks, figure 8 cast on and ruffle cuffs
Yarn: 2 skeins Koigu KPPPM color P221
Needles: US size 1
Started: February 14, 2008
Finished: May 2, 2008

I am still not feeling 100% but I’m definitely better . . . I actually got tons of stuff done this weekend, including cleaning, finishing a few long-overdue FOs (stay tuned for photos of my Katherine Hepburn and the Koigu ruffle socks!) and starting one new project. BRIGHT socks:

(have to brag: this picture is a perfect representation of this sock!! Shock of all shocks!)

I thought it might be ugly while I was knitting it, but somehow putting it on changed the way it looks! I now LOVE IT, and it makes me smile just looking at this picture. The colors were yelling “Mexico!” to me so I am thinking of these as my Margarita socks (coincidentally my favorite drink, although most Mexicans never drink them), so it make me want to spice them up a bit, hence the stitch pattern on the leg.

This is yet another toe-up sock. I think it might be time to admit that I’ve been converted. Never say never.

I did more increases before the heel on this sock and that’s definitely better, but you can see from this picture there is still a decent amount of stretching out so in the next pair I will do even more increases. I am so happy I decided to try this weird gusset, the idea of being able to make socks this easily is really appealing!! I had stayed away from toe-up short row socks because of the fit at the instep, but now that I’ve figured out a way around that . . . well, now you know why I can admit to being converted!

After the socks decided to evoke Mexico for me I thought I needed to add a little sizzle to make them more Senorita-like (forgive the lack of squiggle above the N) — so I gave them a modified feather-and-fan leg, using only 11 stitches in each pattern repeat. I think it works really well with the colors!

Speaking of which, this is new-to-me yarn bought via Etsy. This is Twisted Fibers Arial sock yarn in the Guardian colorway. It feels a lot like Sunshine yarn’s Soft base yarn or Yarntini’s base, which is to say it doesn’t have that crisp, tightly-twisted texture you expect from yarns like Koigu and STR. It also appears to be a tiny bit thinner than other sock yarns, but I was able to knit the foot on my usual 60 sts so it didn’t make any difference. I like how it feels on the foot and how it knits up, and will be keeping my eye on the store to grab some more when it becomes available! I already have my eye on that Warlock colorway that’s their banner . . .

I did it! I made myself weave in those ends even though I really can’t see myself getting much wear out of this one now that spring is here. Mind you, I’m not complaining about Spring, don’t get me wrong! I really am ridiculously excited for spring, actually. But my project timing kind of sucks, honestly.

I knit this sweater in about a week, sewed it up, and then got distracted. It took a month to make me weave in the ends and block it, but now it’s done, and I love it!

Even though it looks pretty true to the original, I actually made lots of modifications on this one. Having seen many a Gathered Pullover on Ravelry (there are 363 of them in progress there as I type this), I had noticed an unfortunate side effect of that cable panel between the boobs: on several people’s FOs, the panel fell too low between the girls, resulting in (for those of us who are well-endowed on top) was a general saggyness that clearly didn’t reflect the person’s body accurately. I, being an odd bra size and a total bra-freak because of it, knew there was no way I would wear a sweater that made it look like I forgot to put my bra on in the morning! So I had to address that problem before it cropped its ugly head.

I ended up starting the cable 1.5″ higher than the pattern directs, which moved its center to about the height of the armholes. Which brought about an interesting challenge: the front was a good 4″ narrower than the back at this point, because the cable pulls in A LOT. I, and I’m confident all women, am bigger in the front than the back (I happen to be significantly bigger in the front, actually). So I knew there was no way I would knit a sweater where the back was wider than the front. I ended up moving the armholes back, so that the front had 2″ more stitches than the back, to make the width equal. This meant all kinds of changes had to happen to the armholes, so that the front armholes are shaped completely differently than the back ones.

Moving the cable up also meant I had to move the v-neck start up, which was fine with me. I also omitted that weird decrease/increase in the center of the cable because I knew I didn’t want the sweater to pull tight over the girls (see, I told you I’m obsessed) and I couldn’t see that it had any purpose whatsoever. In hindsight, I believe that row is meant to pull the cable pattern open more by distorting the neighboring stockinette . . . but I think you can see in the picture that the cable looks just fine without it.

I also changed the neckline decreases (had to since my v is shorter) and the neckline finishing. I tried to do the called-for edging but it looked dumb and made the v too shallow, so I went with one row of single crochet to finish the edge. Oh, I also added back neck shaping, although to be honest I didn’t even read that part of the pattern since I knew I had to adapt it, so for all I know the pattern calls for it, too!

One modification I should have made but didn’t was shortening the sleeves — I can’t explain why I didn’t do it, since I knew they would be too long, but there you have it. They’re too long. It’s ok, I can roll them up like they are in the picture and it doesn’t bother me one bit.

The yarn, Classic Elite Princess, is gorgeous by the way. It did grow a bit with blocking, so I would caution everyone to wash and block a swatch before they knit with it. I would absolutely knit with it again and am considering using it for a very big project I might take on after my wedding . . . and buying it from Webs makes it kind of a steal, so to me this is a win-win-win yarn. Soft, easy to knit, good stitch definition, amazing yardage, and not expensive! What’s not to like?

I’m probably going to wear this sweater as a jacket this week, just so I can get some use out of it before summer hits! NYC springs are notoriously short, after all.

Project specs:
Pattern: Gathered Pullover from Winter 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: 7 skeins Classic Elite Princess, color 3403
Needles: US size 7
Started: March 24, 2008
Finished: April 27, 2008

It started as an allergic reaction to dust and mold in an attic and basement excursion on Saturday, and now I think I might have a sinus infection. If it doesn’t clear up by tomorrow I am headed to the doctor . . . I feel like someone beat me up!

I know I’m really sick when I stay home all day and don’t get ANY knitting done . . .

Every day or so I think, “Self, you really need to do XYZ today.” And most of those days, I feel like I failed at keeping up with myself. It’s really starting to get to me. With spring finally peeking out, I have this overwhelming desire to get everything on track, organized and cleaned . . . but I seem to have way too many goals and not enough time or commitment to getting them all accomplished.

I did, however, manage to get one thing done this weekend! I got great picture of some new stitch markers  and got them listed in my Etsy shop! Here’s my favorite new set:

These pewter heart charms are just cute enough without being sickly sweet. I have to admit I kept a set of these for myself!

Photographing these sorts of things is always a challenge. I generally suck at photography anyway, but I think I may finally have figured out a few tricks to getting better digital pictures. The #1 thing I’ve learned is to take way more shots than you think you’ll need, so you have a bunch to pick from when you go to edit! That, and shoot in daylight and edit as little as possible in Photoshop . . . I kind of want to go back and reshoot my old, crappy shots, but enough is enough on the To Do list! Maybe if I ever upgrade my camera . . .

I am about to say something I haven’t been able to say in over 4 years:

Until this week, I had not bought yarn in over a month and half.

I know, shocking. You can pick yourself up of the floor now.

It’s not that I was consciously not-buying, it’s that I was busy doing other things. And I obviously have plenty of yarn already. And not having a discount anymore makes me think a little harder about buying stuff I don’t need and won’t be able to knit for a while . . .

Although that only goes so far. I can’t resist brand new yarns!

That’s 3 skeins of Koigu Mori, the new 50/50 Merino/silk blend that Koigu just released. It’s really, really gorgeous! Very soft with a wonderful sheen. This is color M223, bought at Purl, and it will become a lacy scarf. Eventually.

Underneath is a new novelty sock yarn called Flat Feet. This, my friends, is one of those products that I really wish I had invented! Not because it’s groundbreaking or anything, but because it’s perfect enticement for sock knitters — we always want the latest and greatest sock yarn, and changing it’s physical put up? So simple! So brilliant! I had to have it! Here’s the link to the manufacturer’s website if you’ve never heard of this. I’m not sure I’ll be able to knit with the kinky yarn without driving myself crazy though, so I may hank it up, prewash, and then knit. But hey, I’m crazy like that.

BTW, I’m doing some blog redesigning, so please let me know if something looks wacky! The picture on the upper right won’t always be of the shawl, I just have to resize a bunch of other pictures to fit so I can rotate through them . . .

I just upgrade to the new version of Wordpress and when I reloaded my blog it was there, exactly the way it used to be. That never happens! Woohoo for Wordpress!!

BTW, if you see something waky or get errors, PLEASE let me know! I’m not naive enough to think everything will just work on its own. ;o)