toasty toes

finished Tyrolean stockings!, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Warning: knitting post.

Details:

Pattern: Tyrolean stockings from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, antique rose (~1.75 balls)
Ravelry link

I finally finished my Tyrolean stockings. I started these right after I got the magazine as I was enthralled by the pattern, seduced by the thought of having some great knee socks, and justified yet another WIP by the fact that I was using stash yarn. I worked away at them here and there, but set them aside for the Christmas knitting, and interrupted them for a sweater. Over Christmas I finished the first one and was so thrilled I got the second done within a couple of weeks.

The pattern is actually relatively easy. I didn't think it possible, but by about half way down the first I had the chart memorized, and the second one flew by. I honestly never thought I would make it through a pair of cabled socks, but here they are.

One note on the pattern that wasn't clear to me was that the last row before starting the heel flap should contain the twists and small cables. I didn't do it on the first sock and by the time I'd finished the heel I realized that I should have done it, but was too lazy to rip out the whole heel to fix it. So they are fraternal twins, as I knit the second as I thought they should be.

A note on my yarn selection: this isn't an ideal yarn for the pattern. I used it because it was in my stash and I loved the colour. I forced it to gauge (though in hindsight I could have gone up a needle size and made them roomier anyway), which made for some very tight cable knitting that gave me shoulder knots. The resulting fabric is pretty tight (not so much stretch) and very, very warm. This is perfect for the -20 degC we have today, but I'm afraid these won't see too much use. It also isn't superwash, which means these are handwash socks. Yuk. However, Patons Classic wool is quite soft, and relatively cheap. If you have it in your stash, all the better.

Final verdict? Love. :)

(ps- don't worry, I wore pants with them today. my knees are quite safe from frostbite!)

2007: in the yarn

2007: in the yarn, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

2007 was actually a pretty big year of knitting for me, but somehow not much of it really made it to the blog. To summarize:

• 3 pairs of socks completed, plus baby booties
  
• first cable project (fetching)
  
• 2 pairs of mittens
  
• my first garment ("Tank Top" from Erika Knight's "Classic Knits")
  
• my first attempted and frogged sweater... ugh
  
• my first successful sweater!
  
• 2 dish cloths
  
• 1 cat toy
  
• 2 warm hats
  
• 1 big scarf
  
• some stash usage
  
• some stash enhancement (don't ask the net balance... please!)
  
• 8 gifted items
  
• the introduction of Ravelry into my life!
  

Not bad! I'd still like to get around to blogging a few (especially my sweater!). I've already got one FO for 2008 I want to share, and was making rapid progress on another I'm in love with until I got derailed by my knitterly ADD.

Ravelry... because I need more internet communities to distract me

yarn diet?, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

So, I've signed up for Ravelry, a knit and crochet online community thing, that looks like just so much fun. You can show off your projects, browse around other peoples' projects, list your stash yarns (stash? what stash? i don't have a stash... achem), search for patterns to match yarns and see what other people have done... why, it's going to be like Flickr, but for knitting, maybe even better! :0

The catch is they're still in beta, so they are sending out invites as fast as they can handle new users. I waited too long to sign up:

Found you!

• You signed up on July 20, 2007
• You are #19118 on the list.
• 11687 people are ahead of you in line.
• 2401 people are behind you in line.
• 33% of the list has been invited so far

*sigh*

My first sweater experience... to be continued...

riiiip it?, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

So there it is, the beginings of my first sweater. I'm starting to wonder if my sweater attmepts are to be forever cursed. I set out to make this design by drops my first sweater. I got the yarn (drops alpaca in a lovely burgundy colour). I finished other projects before starting this exciting venture. I swatched. Oy. My gauge was completely off, I changed needle sizes, and well, I was just dismayed by the fabric created when I actually got gauge. I packed the yarn up and shoved it to the bottom of my stash (I'm starting to consider other ideas for this yarn now, maybe Arisaig which I've had my eye on since picking up knitting again), and set out to knit this instead. After such a success (bulky yarns are great for confidence aren't they?), I set out after another first sweater attempt...

The details:

• "Cable cardigan" from instant expert: Knitting (I'm still on the fence as to whether this book is good or not. The patterns don't have "sizes" persay, but rather suggest changing gauge, which is strange, and not so good, and I've found several errors already, but the patterns are good for inspiration and there is a nice stitch library and some decent how-to for beginners...)
  
• Plymouth yarns Galway Highland Heather in colour 705 (a nice navy) and it is lovely and soft and springy (bought from kpixie, a quick and pleasant experience ;) )
  
• now using 4.5mm needles (less than the recommended for the yarn), 4mm for ribbing
  

So, now to explain why the heck Pistachio Frog is sitting contemplating my sweater progress. Well you see, the sweater the back piece is sitting on top of is my very smallest sweater. Infact, that sweater is almost too small when worn over anything of any bulk. So as I headed into the arm shaping, I started to contemplate frogging the whole damn thing and starting over. Oh sure, it sounds extreme and reactionary... but I did set it aside for two months and think about the consequences of finishing a sweater that I couldn't wear and would be too small to give to anyone either. Ripping it out and starting over didn't sound like a bad option in comparison.

But did I mention that this is my very first sweater, and that actually I don't know what I'm doing? And the pattern doesn't have sizes? That would mean having the time to sit down with a calculator and rework all the increases and decreases required including the neck shaping which is something that terrifies me because I just don't understand it. So I finished some socks instead (more on that later).

Finally, I posted this photo to Flickr, where there are many supportive knitters, and I experimented with blocking my swatch (oh yeah, I swatched baby), and so deciding that blocking can solve anything (well, at least with this yarn) I am plowing ahead. Hopefully there will be no more catastrophies. Right? Somehow I doubt it...

At least for now, I have some knitting to do.

Knitting: first article of real clothing!

My new vest... made by me!, originally uploaded by saburke.

Ok, so it's a chunky knit vest (hahaha... take that sleeves!), that took me less than two weeks to complete despite being insano busy. Here's the run-down on the details:

Pattern: "Tank Top" from "Classic Knits" by Erika Knight

Yarn: Substituted suggested Rowan Big wool for Araucania Limari, a hand-dyed bulky weight wool/alpaca/silk blend, in "black" which is actually more like a charcoal grey. 2.5-3 skeins, each 100gr/56m.

Needles: 10mm and 12mm.


Gauge: pretty close to the specified 8sts/4in on 12mm (ahem, there is an error in the pattern gauge, it reads 18sts when it should read 8sts). I was going to knit a size up with this yarn, but since the gauge was reasonably close and the garment meant to fit snugly I stuck with my original size.


The pattern is written in a reasonably understandable manner for someone who has done a bit of knitting. That said, I got a bit confused with the neck shaping, and I have some suggestions for the decreases.


In particular, the pattern for the front of the vest is written out for only one side of the v-neck. The other side is stated merely as "complete to match first side, reversing all shaping". Ok, I'm decent at geometry and all, so this isn't so hard. However, the decreases for the first side (right side as you look at it) read k2tog tbl (knit 2 together through the back loops) to make a left slanting decrease. Naievly, I assumed that I could just use k2tog on the other side to make a right slanting decrease. Except these two decreases bare no resemblance to eachother but in name! k2tog tbl creates loops that cross the stitches knit together, this doesn't happen with k2tog at all. I stared in horror (ok, so I was being a little over-dramatic, but this is my first garment ever, I wanted to love it!) at my totally completely asymetrical vest. I took out the row. I knit it again. I stared in horror again. Repeat. On the third attempt I started looking for alternatives as I'd determined at this point I was decreasing quite properly, but using the wrong one. Upon consulting the great internet I came across: the great life-saving visual chart of decrease techniques (there's one for increases too). Thank-you Amy Finlay. Thank-you for explaning knitting in ways I understand, and sharing with the world through the power of the internet.


I used the "crossed right slanting decrease" on the second side of the front, which matches k2tog tbl satisfactorily.


Alternatively, I might have used an ssk on the first side and merrily k2tog on the second to match.


Interestingly, the photograph in the book appears to have the garment knit as I started to do, with k2tog tbl and k2tog... but it really seems strange for me to have two sides of a vest not be mirror images of each other!? Maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist...


The other note I have is that the armhole shaping suffers the same mismatch, and I'd suggest using ssk rather than the k2tog tbl as it won't be loopy... I don't really care that I didn't notice at that stage however as this more or less ends up in your armpits... so, as you wish. ;)


Anyway, I enjoyed making this, and I've already enjoyed wearing it. The bulky yarn is super-warm, so even without sleeves I was toasty. Ok, so I wore a thin cotton jacket over it...


As for the rest of the book, I've got my eye on both the "military cardigan" and the "kelly cardigan" (I like cardigans...). But I'm really excited to try the "Bardot sweater" which is a rolled top, sortof off the shoulder sweater in a less bulky, but still fairly chunky gauge.


More photos (L-R: yarn ::"knitting with pylons" aka, orange, plastic, 12mm needles :: in progress :: finished!):

click image to view on flickr

Good weekend

cuppa joe (fetching), originally uploaded by saburke.

I had a *real* weekend, and now I actually feel refreshed.

We did a few projects around the apartment we've been meaning to get to on Saturday, and refused to go outside in the windy -20deg C weather. We drank lots of coffee, made cookies, Hubby played some Civ4 and I did quite a bit of knitting.


I finally finished up my fingerless gloves (Knitty.com: Fetching in an alpaca/silk blend), pictured above. Not very practical, but cute. I like. (Photo credit to Hubby.)


Sunday we went to church and got to see the Deacon who did our marriage prep with us... he is an amazing person and seeing him made me feel like all was right with the 'Verse again. :)


Then it was off to the lab for a quick stint...


Until... Hockey! For some reason, I was really, really super excited about the game yesterday. Maybe it was hockey class on Friday (my first time in Hockey II: Intermediate, not Beginner), or maybe it was feeling well-rested from Saturday... but as I sat on the bench waiting to go on I found my legs bouncing up and down like a little kid who just can't wait. Anyway, we lost. Totally out-played. Sometimes frustrating, but I had fun. They were a little rough, but not too bad. Pig-tails continue to protect me for the most part. ;) (Who checks a girl in pig-tails?? Note: I play in a non-contact men's league, and yes, I have been knocked around a bit.)

So, today, despite a bit of soreness, I feel good. I'm doing a sample this week, rather than writing (the draft has gone out to authors again, fingers crossed for it being the last draft), so it's going to be a better week. I can feel it in me bones. :)


Just so you don't get the impression that I'm some great hockey star...



... me, last semester after miraculously getting the puck from someone... I lost it about 2 seconds later.

Knitting for homeless

So I've been thinking about this idea for awhile... Actually since last Christmas when I learned taught myself how to make mittens.

The stumbling block has been that it takes me a bloody long time to make a pair of mittens, and as such I would have to spend all my knitting time creating mittens for homeless people to feel like I was doing anything of any use, and well, I'd like to also knit for my family and friends, and heck, occasionally myself! (That may sound a little selfish compared to the needs of the homeless, but it's honest and realistic.)

So I decided I'd do scarves instead. Those can be knit in bulky yarn and go fast with little to no thought process (perfect for doing while running my experiments!)... So I went to Zellers the other day to look for inexpensive yarn that has some value in terms of warmth (to me this means it must be mostly wool). No dice. All acryllic all the time... maybe that's ok, better than nothing, but I'm not very satisfied.

So now I have a plan to go to a store that carries yarn I've not yet explored... except I'm not sure I want to go alone because last time I went through that metro station I was... not quite accosted... but well... let's just say Hubby quickly jumped in kindly offering his seat in order to step between the man and me who had stepped between me and Hubby and begun leering at me. So thanks to Hubby's quick reaction and way of dealing with things (oh, and probably size) nothing happened... but I'd like to take him with me on this mission... just in case.

Ironic, no? An experience with a homeless person is keeping me from helping homeless people.

Anyway, I just came across this via the knitty blog:

The StreetKnit Project

but it's for Toronto. I think it's a fantastic idea though!

So I started looking for Montreal, and I found a group which is trying to accomplish something similar:

Knit Hook & Give a Little Warmth

but the group seems to focus on a specific project at a time (their next meetup is to make Teddy bears, which sounds more complicated than my original mitten plan). I've just decided I'm doing scarves for now... so I don't think I'll join them at this particular time. However, they do mention Dans la Rue in Montreal (homeless youth) as a project, so maybe I'll contact them once I get some yarn.

Anyone else in Montreal interested in joining me? Scarves, hats, mitts for homeless in Montreal?

Stitch'n'Bitch

So, Sunday a friend of mine had a bunch of us over for a stitch'n'bitch... well stitch'n'bitch'n'paint'n'sew'n'(mold? pottery? potter? can't find an appropriate term for this). It was so great! Everyone there was a science geek at work, but suddenly on this Sunday afternoon everyone was there to create, to craft something with their own hands, turning yarn into fabrics, cloth into garmets, paint and canvas into art, clay into form. I took my camera (my other recent artistic enterprise), but I was so busy enjoying my knitting I didn't really take anything great. I did however take a picture of the delicious cake someone brought (bought, not homemade, but oooh... that was fine with me!).



mmmm... gingerbread cake with chocolate icing. Sooo good. A combination I never would have guessed, yet works so well. And I have a recipe for great gingerbread cake! Yay! Oh, and yes, that is knitting in the background... not mine, that of the hostess. A DNA scarf. Nerdy knitting, I love it.

I started these, and just couldn't stop to pick up my Christmas knitting again:



The pattern is Fetching from Knitty, and the yarn is an alpaca/silk blend (I don't have the ball band with me at the moment) which is a dream to knit with... feels just well, beautiful, and though I was skeptical of the hairyness of the yarn with the cables, it acutally like the way it's coming out. These fingerless gloves are totally impractical for Montreal winter, so I'm considering finishing them into mittens... but they are cute as fingerless gloves. Fashion vs. Common Sense strikes again... dang. Note the pink needles... they were my grandmother's and they are fantastic, the yarn just slides over them without them being too slippery. I wish I knew what they were so I could get more!

So, I was planning on doing some knitting here this evening while I have to sit in front of the AFM checking out my sample... however, I got a puck in the wrist at hockey, and it is pretty sore... just bruised, but pretty sore... in fact this typing thing isn't really working out so well. Somehow I think knitting is going to be a bit painful for a bit.

Anyway, seeing that it's getting quite late quite quickly, I think I'll sign off and prepare to leave at the end of this scan. Need to get more ice on this wrist of mine.

shuffle: in the lens, on the continent, on the needles, indulgances

I haven't forgotten about posting pictures! I haven't even really been so busy that I would have thought I wouldn't get them up for so long... the problem is that it takes me some time to get them ready for public viewing. I have a few "reasons" (read: excuses) for this...

1. I feel like a lot of the pictures I've taken have potential, but if they were just processed in black & white / faded / blurred / colour enhanced... they would be so much better! Meaning? I have been sitting in front of my computer sliding little bars around until I can hardly tell the difference anymore. Result? Probably I am overprocessing the photos and will go and reset them all.
   
2. I need to learn the following: " I do not need to shoot everything in RAW format ! " Yes, for some reason, I keep leaving the camera on RAW. While I am now convinced that even with a fairly basic processing programme RAW is a superiour format for any post-processesing, not everything is an art photo, and as such can be taken in JPEG and left as is, especially since the camera for the most part does a damn good job of getting the colour balance correct in most cases. And since RAW has to be converted before posting on the web... really, it makes more sense in a lot of cases.
   

That said, I have put up some pictures, and have images processed and ready for captions to post some more. Here is the address where everything so far can be found:

Sarah's EuroTrip 2006

As I add to the site, I'll put updates here. ;)

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Next up: knititng. I brought a bunch of yarn with me with grand intentions of getting lots of knitting done in all that spare, lonely time I was going to have over here... um... that hasn't really been the case. I have done a little bit of knitting though.

Here's the result, and a preview of what's up next (maybe not all while I'm here...)

Seed stitch stripe washcloth in cotton (from the book "knitter's stash")... testing the pattern so I know what I'm doing before I go and get the linen yarn recommended. I like the seed stich... good scrubbies!	My first sock! My very first sock! Ok, so it's just a training sock, but it's so cute! it has a real heel and everything! I can't wait to find sock yarn!!!
Ok, so I actually knit this test swatch before I left. I got the yarn on sale... I bought a lot of yarn that day... and so began my stash. Anyway, after knitting the swatch, I know exactly what I want to do with this... but it's top secret! I'll let you know when it's done, and safe to tell. ;)	This yarn was part of a birthday gift from my parents. The first scarf I finished on the hottest day of the year... ironic timing eh? This one I'm dying to start, but requires 200 stitches be cast on... OMG I hate casting on... starting this project is going to be hell... but I think it will be fun once I get going. Such beautiful yarn!

So, dishcloth, coming along slowly, but I like the pattern. The sock was so easy! I used Kate Atherly's training sock pattern (found here on Knitty.com) and in a few hours I had already turned the heel. And to think I'm in Germany, land of sock yarn! Except... I can't seem to find a yarn store!? :S Oh well, there's some time left. As for the other projects, don't know if I'll star them here. Maybe all that yarn will just come back with me as yarn... not knit goods as I had planned.

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Tomorrow I don't have to go to the lab. Yup. It seems they've decided to turn the ventilation system off on us which means the temperature is all over the place, and we have drift up the wazoo. No good measurements in sight. Major bummer, since next week is my last week, and we haven't really gotten anything good yet. On the bright side however, since the group is having a meeting (um, in German) to discuss project ideas and directions, it was suggested I just take it easy. So, tomorrow, I go to the Zoo! Supposedly there are cute little monkeys!!! Oh yeah, and I have to look over my talk for Osnabruck... but that's ok, at this point it shouldn't be such hard work.

Speaking of going over my talk... I had planned to do that tonight. But today was a pretty long stressful day... with little coffee (I've cut back since I fear I'm coming down with a cold)... lots of German discussions about electronics, and no good data. So instead I indulged myself a little and while picking up groceries I got this:



It was ok... less decadent than I was really hoping for, but a treat none-the-less. :D

And on that note, I will say goodnight, as it is now past bedtime here.