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Leaves!

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192Hello Yarnies,

I must share this.  This wonderful, wonderful green.

It is really, really spring.  We have left winter behind us.  I know, we’re weeks into spring, but I’m so heady with it not being winter, that each change is a new revelation.

For instance, my morning bikeride is actually cooler than it was a week ago.  The reason why?  A week ago there were not leaves on the trees.  Now there are, and the shadows cast in the morning don’t help me get any warmer.

I’m actually quite OK with that.

In other news, I’ve got a few things in the works.  Swirl socks are being test-knit, another pattern is in the pipeline, while another one is still in the designing stages.  Plus, I think I’m going to be able to score a dress form over the summer, which will make sizing things SO much easier.
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There’s also a whole bunch of things going on behind the scenes that I can’t really talk about, but just you wait.  As they come to fruition, I’ll keep y’all posted.

Until later,
Jen

Look, No Hands!

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I mentioned that I take care of a sister duo, Sweetness and Light, ages four and one-and-a-half. I’ve been teaching Sweetness how to knit.

Well, this video should say it all. Listen carefully, you will hear Sweetness insisting that she can do it all by herself, without me. I, in the background, am trying VERY hard not to help when I see her struggling. Thank goodness she’s smart enough to insist she do it herself, because if it were up to me I’d always want to be helping.

Just take note here: Not only does she wrap the stitch the right way, but she can pick up dropped stitches.

Feline Friday

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2010 November and December 434Om nom nom nom nom.

I am a ferocious person eater.  Jen knows this because sometimes when she’s scritching me, I decide to lick her.  It’s because I’m tasting her and deciding if I’m going to eat her or not.  See?  Here I am holding Jen’s Boyfriend down so I can devour him.

Because I am so ferocious.

See my claws.  Soon there will be nothing of the Boyfriend left.

Om nom nom nom nom.

PS:  Jen says today is tax day.  Good luck to you humans.

First Spring in Metro DC (Or, An Exuse to Post a Bunch of Pictures)

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2010 October and November 030Yarnies,

April 042As you might have gathered by now, I’m a Northerner at heart.  Or as Boyfriend would say, a Yankee.  I grew up always looking forward to Fall.  It’s when school started, and I loved school.  I loved the leaves turning color, I loved the hot summers and the smell of sticky popsicles and suntan lotion fading to the crisp Fall air with the hint of woodfires.  To me, Fall was characterized by going hot cider doughnuts, apple picking, cider in my thermos instead of milk on Fridays, and making leaf crowns.  Fall is prime crafting time.  I could never understand why people might love Spring instead of Fall.

205And then I met the Boyfriend, who couldn’t imagine me liking Fall instead of Spring.  Spring had always been mud for me.  Mud, and weather that was not quite Winter but not really early Summer either.  My first Spring in North Carolina in 2006 was a revelation.

But let me tell you.  North Carolina has nothing on DC when it comes to Spring.  I’ve never seen so many flowering trees in my LIFE.
March 173
201I’ve been taking pictures like crazy, because if I tried to tell anyone back north about this, they’d fall off their seats laughing.  There’s been times where our few flowering trees haven’t started until the beginning of Summer.  Never mind in April.  April we’re still sometimes getting snow.

Yarnies, if you’ve never been to DC in the Spring, you have to come.

Maybe the Boyfriend has something.  I’m not saying I like Spring more than Fall, but maybe, just maybe, I can understand why some people like Spring better than  Fall.

What’s your favorite season?

Sneak Peak

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104Hello Yarnies,

Working on some new patterns.  This one is scheduled to come out in the fall (I know, it’s strange that you have to think about making a pattern a full season and a half before it’s supposed to come out).

Sweetness was kind enough to model it for me.  It’s made from an angora/lambswool mix yarn.  It promises to be quite warm!

What do you think?

~Jen

Classes and CAL!

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Hello Yarnies,

So I’ve mentioned before that I have a Crochet along starting this Thursday.  It’s looking to be a good turnout, so you should buy your yarn and come out.  It’s at the Yarn Spot from 6:30-7:30, more details here.  I’m still dithering about what yarn to use, but it’s promising to be a great turnout.

In other news, I’ve been working on a few new designs, and should have some peaks at them shortly.  Also, the first Beginner Crochet of the season started on Sunday, and my students are making some great progress.  Jen, from Magpie Knitter Designs, is in the class and she posted some great photos.  Also, you should check out her stash.  It’s epic.

Until later,
Jen

I think I know Better than You. And you, too.

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Confession time, Yarnies.

They do say it’s good for the soul.

I have a problem. The Yarn Harlot has this problem too (she details it in Free-Range Knitter), so I at least can claim to be in good company. You see, I think I know better than the designer. I come across this pattern. It’s wonderful! It’s georgous! It’s pratically sublime.

But, dear designer, there’s just this one problem. There’s this bit that’s a little niggly, and I’m sure I could fix it just so. Or alternatively, you have me doing a technique I hate. Like seaming. So I’ve decided that I’m just going to fix the pattern a bit, just so I don’t have to do some seams. It’ll take a bit of math, and I understand why you think that it would be better to do the seaming… after all, not every reader you encounter is going to be as smart to modify the pattern like I did, and if you did it in the round you’d have to write at least another page and a half of instruction. And I know you were trying to save the trees/fit into a magazine page limit, so I’ll forgive you.

I’ll just do it in the round.

But oh, I just realized, when I do it in the round this little bit of lace, here, suddenly gets that much more complicated. That’s all right. I’ll just chart it out so that I can do it in the round.

But while I’m at it, why don’t I just add a little bit of a cable/extra picot/pineapple here? I think it would look lovely. But hmmm, then it throws this off balance. That’s all right, I wasn’t too fond of that design feature anyway.

… and so on.

Well, I’m having a bit of that problem with the Josephine Pullover by Annette Petavy. It’s beautiful. Both delicate and wonderful. And I’m managing to modify myself in knots.

Let me first make note, the pattern as written is perfect. Do it as she tells you and you will be fine. In fact, you might even be more than fine. You might even finish it before I do. And I started it in… oh, October 2010.

You see, first I thought that it would look gorgeous in an alpaca instead of the Rowan wool you recommended. After all, it’s discontinued anyway. I figured that the ribbing would make sure it would hang right, and because the panels down at the bottom are lace, it won’t pull on the fabric overly much.  You see, I know that alpaca can sometimes drape different than plain sheep’s wool. And since the Alpaca I was using was lace also, instead of the fingering you recommended, I figured that would be okay. I’d just make the largest size… and a slightly smaller needle, and it would fit (eventually) as I lost weight with weight watchers.  So far, I hadn’t modded too much.

I figured the designer knew best, so instead of trying to do the knitted portion in the round, I actually did it in two pieces and seamed them together.  This is a big deal.  I really don’t like seaming.  But I figured I would follow the pattern anyway.

… 

Okay, since we’re going for a full confession, I did add a selvage edge, because I was planning to crochet them together instead of sewing them. Hey, ever tried sewing with alpaca yarn? (that’s loosely plied?) Not something I would want to do. So I (Mostly) followed the directions for the knitting part. Oh, and I know the directions said to do the front and the back with the crochet before you seam them, but I decided against that also.

Then came the crochet lace part. Oh, my. The designer wanted me to do the front and the back, crochet the front and the back lace patterns, and then seam up crochet. My my, no way am I doing that. I don’t like how it looks. I’ll just do the knitting part, and then I’ll do the crochet part in the round. MMKay? Great.

… Except, I have more hips than the model. And I don’t like how the pattern did the shaping in the lace, so I’m modified how I did increases. And I’m going to add more increases because I have rather gifted hips.

So far so good.

…

…

Well, maybe not. You see gentle readers, the pattern wanted me to do the sleeves from the wrist up. And then seam those to the shirt. If you thought I’d be willing to do that for the bottom half of the shirt, I’m definitely not doing that for the sleeves. I decided I was just going to start them at the shoulder and go down.

But now I’m stalled.

What?  But you modified everything else, this should be easy, right?

Stay tuned… and I’ll explain.

Feline Friday

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March 179
 Oh Hi.  It’s me again.  I have been very mischievous and stolen some of Jen’s yarn.  She was going to make me a toy out of it, but now I’m not so sure.  I have been making pitiful noises at her to try and get her to forgive me, but I’m not sure she is fooled.

You would forgive me, right?

So I’m in a Bit of a Quandary…

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Tuesday in My Queue

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Yarnies,

I know it is spring. I know, you are still feeling guilty about those projects that you started and wanted to wear for winter. I know, I know. I have the same problem. But… and I say this with all earnestness, you need to be thinking about summer, and you need to be thinking about summer with the Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole. It’s by Corrina Ferguson, who is a solid designer. I especially like her shawl and sock patterns, which she occasionally offers deals on her blog, so you should keep an eye on it.

It’s a Classic Elite pattern, and I think by now you all know about how much I love Classic Elite patterns. I would knit for them in a heartbeat. It’s a camisole (really a tanktop), so really, it’ll be fast to finish, not use that much yarn, and gosh, could be worn plain in the summer, under jackets in the fall, and under sweaters in the spring. Why, if you wanted to you could crank up the heat in winter and wear it as pajama tops. And in Classic Elite Classic Silk, I would wear it every chance I get.

Plus, it’s a free pattern. Yes, you heard me right. You can get it right HERE. So why are you still reading this? Go get it. I’ll wait.

Oh, all right, you want to hear what I think about it. Well, if you insist…

What people are doing with it:

The word on the street is you want to swatch first. While some people were about to work it with the same yarn, or even different yarns, and get gauge, this is a silk blend we’re talking about, and sometimes that makes for some funky knitting. Swatch first, throw it in with your wash, and then see what happens.

A lot of people make substitutions for this camisole, without any problem. The great thing about this pattern is the shaping is included. The not so good thing is the shaping is included, and if you aren’t quite as curvy, or more curvy than the model, you might need to make some mods. One person did the waist shaping for the medium, and then did the bust shaping for the small, because she wasn’t quite “gifted” in the chest to fill out the medium. You might have to do the same. Make sure you measure and swatch, and you’ll be fine.

Last, remember that the shoulder straps are going to stretch with time. This has never not been my experience, but then, one of you readers will be the first to point out to me that yours did not stretch at all. If anything, make them just a SMIDGEN smaller than you want, and after wearing it once or twice it will hit where you need it. That’s my two cents, at least.

The Specs:

Published in Classic Elite Yarns Web-letter

Published August 2010

Yarns suggested Classic Elite Yarns Classic Silk
Yarn weight DK / 8 ply (11 wpi)

Gauge 20 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette Stitch
Needle size US 6 – 4.0 mm

SIZES: Extra Small (Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, 2X Large)
Finished Meas: 30 (34, 38, 42, 46, 50)”
MATERIALS:
Classic Silk by Classic Elite (50% cotton, 30% silk, 20% nylon; 50 gram ball = approx 135 yards)
• 3 (4, 4, 5, 6, 6) balls 6905 Old Lilac
Needles:
• One 24” circular size US 6 (4 mm)
Or size to obtain gauge
• Five stitch markers (4 of one color; 1 of another for BOR)
• Removable markers or safety pins

HEY!  For those of you who frequent the Yarn Spot, we’re doing a knit along with this pattern.  You should join us.  Details are on my classes page.

Until later Yarnies,
Jen

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