Something Just Ain’t Right

Thanks for all of the b-day wishes. This past weekend was great. Busy, but great. Saturday, we had a party at our house to celebrate my 40th with friends and family. This involved lots of prep on the part of Mr. Penney and myself (but mostly Mr. Penney.)

We judged the party itself to be a success by the fact that we could not hear the stereo over everyone talking.

Sunday was spent recuperating from the party, and giving the leftovers to the neighbors. (We had enough food to feed twice the people that came.) Monday, Mr. Penney had to go to work, so I had the day to myself, doing laundry and finishing these:

Would you suspect that these were the same dyelot? They are. I didn’t really realize how different they were until I took this picture. I am not sure why I did not notice the difference in the depth of shade between the two skeins when I bought the yarn, but I didn’t. This is the second time that this has happened to me, though I have the excuse for the first time being that I bought the yarn off of eBay. I don’t have that excuse this time. I think, for future purchases of hand-dyed sock yarn, I will stick to those sold as single skeins for a pair of socks rather than these smaller put-ups.

As for the pattern, I do like the final sock, though there is a problem with that. The spiral that goes up the leg by virtue of doing a decrease and an increase every round? That spiral reduces the circumference of the sock’s leg. Those 64 stitches, which are fine in the foot, are not enough for the leg when trying to put the sock on. That increase and decrease creates an inelastic area that just happens to fall right above the heel when continuing the spiral up the leg. A couple more stitches in the leg would probably solve this, either by continuing the “gusset” shaping a few more round to allow for extra stitches in the leg, or just not doing a couple of the decreases at the beginning of the leg.

And I did start a new project!

I am going to try to sew a pair of pants for myself. I am using Burda 7841 with some cotton fabric that I got on sale from Michael’s Fabrics. If the whole thing turns out to be a disaster, I won’t cry too much, as this is mostly to see if I can make the whole thing work.

I have all of the pieces of the pattern cut out and have read through the directions. And I have read through the directions, again. And again. And again. I must say, these Burda directions are about as clear as mud. There are just some things that do not make sense after examining RTW pants. For this reason, I believe I will be following directions in the book Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men’s Wear rather than the Burda instructions. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Diamonds

Posted on 31October07 by textillian

Reference

Well, as promised, fiber content!

I am making progress on Mr. Penney’s sweater. Enough progress that you might actually get an indication of the design.

The yarn itself is ok to work with. I am used to merino yarns that consist of thinner plies (thus, more plies) than this yarn. I am just not sure of the durability at this point.

I also start a new project last night so that I could have something to work on while the trick or treaters come to our door tonight.

The yarn is merino/nylon sock yarn from Cabin Cove Mercantile. I can’t remember what the actual name that Dave gave the colorway, but to me it is Koi Pond. With the million interruptions that will occur tonight, this is going to be a very simple sock, stitch-wise.

Happy Halloween!

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

Posted on 26September07 by textillian

Reference

You might think from this post that I have a huge case of startitis, but I have a very logical ~~excuse~~ explanation for all of it. No. Really. I do.

First off, I have finally started Mr. Penney’s sweater. More specifically, the sleeve of his sweater.

As you can see in the picture, I am using Ann Budd’s book. I am doing the set-in sleeve rather than the saddle shoulder, because the design that I have in mind for the front will probably look better if it goes all the up to the shoulder. I am starting with the sleeve to determine how much yarn I will have to apportion to the other parts of the sweater.

Luckily, before starting this, I knitted another swatch, and the gauge turned out to be 5 stitches per inch rather than 4.5. This was lucky in two ways:

I really don’t want another ripping festival to be going on in the house.
Ann’s cookbook has all its patterns based on whole number stitch gauges, and I really didn’t feel like recalculating everything for 4.5.

According to the book, I will need 1400 yards of yarn for this sweater. I only have 800 yards of the tan color, which I am planning on being the majority of the sleeves and back of the sweater. I may have to add some design to the back in other colors to make sure that I have enough.

On Monday, my September fiber arrived from the Hello Yarn Fiber Club.

The colorway is called Maldives, and it is 21 micron Merino. What you see here is what it looks like after I did some predrafting.

I promised myself when I joined the club that I would immediately spin whatever came and not fret over what to make of it. It is kind of an exercise for me, an exercise that I should probably take up with me weaving and knitting, because it is probably more of necessity in those areas. (I get more into that later.) My first attempt at spinning the fiber resulted in this:

Not bad, but thinner than I thought I would ever use (though now that I think about it more, I do use that thin when weaving. Oh well.)

Here is my second attempt and what I think I will be sticking with:

Sorry for the flash, but without it, you would just be looking at shadow. This yarn is a little thicker and a little softer, meaning that it is spinning up a bit quicker, which I like.

Joining this club and spinning things that I might not pick for myself has been a good thing for me, because I have realized a few things about myself (yes, more lists):

I pretty much spin just for enjoyment. I may have a project in mind for the spinning when I start, but if that project ever comes to fruition is not something I really care or worry about, unlike my knitting and weaving. I spin for the sake of spinning.
I enjoy spinning worsted weight more than anything, just because of the speed and the feeling of accomplishment with going through a whole fleece in relatively quick order and still having a yarn that I can use for knitting or weaving.
I am so used to spinning large amounts of fiber at one time, that spinning just 4 or 5 ounces of something is really bizarre for me. Enjoyable, but bizarre.

Thanks for all of the thoughts for my dad. He is home and doing well. I think the hardest part for me now is that I am no longer just around the corner from them, so I can’t just drop by and see how he is doing like I used to when these things would come about. It’s just something I will have to get used to. They grow up so fast….

Undone – The Sweater Song

Posted on 18September07 by textillian

Reference

Ok, here some of the ideas I have for Mr. Penney’s sweater:

First, I think it should be an outdoors kind of sweater, as it is a heavier yarn and might be too bulky for just wearing around the house. (I believe Mr. Penney goes for thinner knits for indoors.)
For some reason, I am thinking zip front. Either a zipper all the way down the front, or a quarter-zip. I think if I just made it a pullover, it would never get worn. If I went with buttons for the closure, it would look kind of old. Zippers are where it is at!
I seem to be stuck on argyle for the color design of the sweater. Thing is, I am not sure if I have enough of the one color (the darker tan) to do both the sleeves and the back, as most argyle sweaters only have the diamonds on the front. Of course, I could change this around; but I want people’s first thoughts to be “Look at that great sweater!” not “Look at that strange stuff on the back of his sweater. It must be hand knit.”
Saddle shoulder also keeps creeping into the picture. I think saddle shoulder defines the shape of a man’s body very well. Especially if you have a thing for shoulders.

Well, here are some links to what’s available in the stores, so that you have some kind of visual of what is going on in my head (as my drawing is atrocious.)

Any ideas? (Especially, you, Mr. Penney.)

I Really Don’t Need No Light

Posted on 6September07 by textillian

Like hell I don’t. Reference

There are two reasons why I say that. 1) It is getting darker and darker as I go out for my morning run. There was not a lot of moonlight this morning to light my path for the run; and the drivers in the area seem to like to use their high beams, blinding me such that I can’t see the edge of the road. Looks like I might have to head back to the gym to use the treadmills. Either that, or change around my schedule such that I run right when I get home from work. I do prefer to do my exercise first thing in the morning, so that I have no excuses, like working late, to keep me from getting it in.

2) The natural light in our sunroom, which is my knitting room, is dwindling rapidly in the evenings. The room has nice big windows and skylights that flood the space with natural light… during the day. At night, it is a bit more difficult. I guess I will just have to change from the nice cushy rocker to the sofa, where the light is better. I guess wearing my glasses will help as well.

In any case, this is what I am going blind over.

I have finished the heel of the second sock, and just have to knit up the leg, which is a lot less mind and eye intensive. For the heels on these socks, I slip stitch on the flap (which is on the sole of the sock, since I am doing toe up) and the back heel.

Doing the slip stitch on the back heel made for some tight knitting, as I am using Addi 12″ circular needles. The slip stitch makes for a sturdy fabric for the heel, but a miserable knitting experience for me to get the stitches around to be worked. I probably should have gone to other needles to work this section, but I am hardheaded (I probably should not put that in writing) and feel I must persevere.

I did persevere; and hopefully, I can finish these up this weekend, so I can start on a much bigger project.

Dress You Up

Posted on 27August07 by textillian

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One sock down, one to go.

I was happily knitting away on this sock on Sunday when I decided to take the ball of yarn to the scale to determine how much yarn I had left and when I should switch from doing the double basketweave to ribbing. Good timing, luckily, because I only had 56 grams left of a 100 gram ball; so I pulled out 6 grams and cut the cord. Ribbing commenced.

The bind off is a bit tight on this sock, despite going from 2.5 mm to 3.0 mm needle for the bind off. There is a possibility that I will have to take out the cast off stitches and just do a kitchner stitch bind off instead, which I seem to do ok.

And on Thursday night, I plied.

The larger skein is 161 yards and is most of the 4 ounces of top. The smaller skein is about 20 yards that was left over on one of the bobbins after doing the plying for the larger skein. It will be good for swatching and the like. The yarn is about a sports weight, not the fingering weight that I was hoping for. Right now, I am thinking that I might use it to knit a hat; but I will let it sit on the pile a while until I am sure of what it wants to be.

And what is the yarn sitting on? Well, that is my accumulating stash of fabrics. Don’t they go great with the Mollusc colorway? All of the fabrics come from Michael’s Fabrics. I have plans on getting deeper into sewing, with the worsted wools going towards dress slacks for me and Mr. Penney and the gray cotton shirting going for a shirt for myself. SQUEEE!

Shake It Up

Posted on 8August07 by textillian

First, let me start off by apologizing for the quality of the pictures this time around. Caffeine and cameras (especially on macro setting) don’t mix. Reference

Progress is being made on the socks:

The second Taiga sock is started with the color progression matching that of the first sock (after rewinding the ball.) The Pro Natura sock is about to get the heel done on it (I think. I have to measure first, which means finding my tape measure, which is somewhere in the vicinity of my sewing machine.)

And here is one of Mr. Penney’s birthday presents from me:

It is merino yarn to make a sweater (I will be doing the knitting, not Mr. Penney.) It is dyed with natural dyes by my friend Juanita. She, and a few other members of the Warped Weavers, have a booth (or tent) at the MSWF, and while there this year, I was constantly asking Mr. Penney what colors he was attracted to. Finally, he came across the red and the green here and said that this is what he liked. Unfortunately, the actually skeins that he chose were part alpaca, which I have no problem with, but give Mr. Penney unpleasant flashbacks. (A blog entry for another time.)

I went back to Juanita’s tent the next day and found that she had the same colors in 100% merino, so I picked up all that she had in those colors, plus some neutrals so help separate the complementary colors some. I am thinking that this might be a zip front, argyle sweater; but I will have to consult with Mr. Penney, as he is the one that will be wearing it.

And, as promised, here is Bogey’s new bedding:

It figures that this is the one really clear picture, being that there is dog hair all over the thing. Granted, it is no great shakes, as far as sewing skills go, but I did do French seams to avoid fraying everywhere; and it is my first time sewing in a zipper. I am trying to work up my skills to the point that I will be able to make myself a dress shirt. (The curtains aren’t really that hard to do, since it is all straight lines. It is just a matter of awkwardness with all of the material lying there.)

Icky Thump

Posted on 28June07 by textillian

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Well, the last of the baby sweaters is done. It is currently drying after a quick run through the washing machine, and I will show you pictures of it once it is in the hands of the mother (just in case she happens to read this blog. And if she does: “Hi!”)

I was able to finish the knitting of the sweater this past weekend for two reasons:

Columbia Oak was in our home on Saturday installing the shelving and mantle that they made for us. Having them in the house doing the installation meant that we were home pretty much all of Saturday, staying out of their way and keeping Bogey calm. (Bogey is scared of loud noises, not that either Mr. Penney or myself is a big fan of them; but we don’t shake, or head for the highest point in the house, peeing all the way, when we hear them.) We are very pleased with the final results of their work. We think the fireplace looks so much better with level, usable shelves rather than lost in a sea of off-white.
I had a test to study for. Which meant reading technical manuals. Which is boring as hell. Which means I did the kitchner bind off on the collar band, sewed the seams, and wove in all of the ends, because I am nothing if not a procrastinator when it comes to studying stuff that bores me to tears.

To celebrate our new improved home, Mr. Penney and I went to dinner Saturday night (OK, that is our routine) and went to Barnes and Noble as well as Home Depot. Yes, we know how to party! After loading our purchases into the back of my vehicle, I lower the hatch.

“THUMP”

I could have sworn that Mr. Penney was complete clear of the door. I was wrong; and Mr. Penney was in pain, as I had brought the door down right smack on the top of his head. Did I feel guilty. Actually, I still do, as his head was hurting him again this morning (though he did seem to be OK Monday through Wednesday.) From now on, I guess I am going to have to call out, “All clear!” before I close the hatch. Sorry, Mr. Penney.

As I have already said, the sweater is drying now, as I stayed up late sewing the buttons on it last night. I got the buttons yesterday Joanns (which I will not link to because their Internet site still owes me two packs of drapery weights.)

Originally, I wasn’t going to sew on the buttons last night, as this eBay purchase arrived in the mail yesterday:

It is Tiny Toes sock yarn in the Taiga colorway by Interlacements. It happens to be a colorway that I have already used as part of the sofa shawl. I am using 2.5 mm Addi Turbos, having casted on 72 stitches to do a 2×2 rib.

I showed it to Mr. Penney.

“How do you like this color?”

“How many projects do you have going on?”

OK, that was not on the list of available answers to my question.

After a couple more rounds of the sock, I felt guilty again, as Mr. Penney had earlier talked with our little spies, finding out that there may be an event this weekend where giving the sweater might be appropriate, so that we don’t have to go hiding the sweater under a batch of Trojan cookies. (A story for another time.) I put down the sock and started sewing on the buttons. It didn’t take that long, but since I didn’t start until late, I didn’t get done until after my normal bedtime.

But the sweater is completely done now. Hurray!

House of Blue Leaves

Posted on 13June07 by textillian

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Ok, so they aren’t blue, but it is beautiful to see this in the morning, with the sunlight filtering through the trees in the front yard, hitting the trees in the back yard.

First, an update on one of my little rants. It seems that there is some information about this subject, or at least parts of it. Some of it seems to be in this book, from what I have read from other sources, and some of it was just recently published on Knitty. This might not be all inclusive, and I can’t vouch for the information in the book, personally; but what I have read from others seems to make me believe that it could be a good resource.

As an update, one half of the pair of socks is done:

A manly pose, isn’t it? It is not the best of photographs, but it does serve as proof that I am halfway there. But now, the other sock is going to have to wait, because I came to the realization that I am going to have to get a move on some of the other projects that actually have a deadline, be that deadline hard or soft.

A project with the hard deadline is the third baby sweater, which I began on Sunday afternoon.

Yes, it is bringing back the 80’s with a shaker knit. Add to that the fact that it is going to be double breasted and with a shawl collar, as we are ready to start playing our Kajagoogoo record (no plural) all of the time. I would never undertake this for an adult, but I think you can get away with just about anything for a baby because, lets face it, most every baby is adorable. Besides, from the last few concerts that Mr. Penney and I went to, it seems the 80’s are back anyway.

While I am still not crazy about the acrylic look this yarn has, and the fact that it is yellow (the one color I just really turns me off,) this yarn really knits up well and is sooooooo soft. It feels so good in my hands. The fact that is it warm water machine washable makes it good for this project.

I even got a little work done on Mr. Penney’s sweater, which has a soft deadline of his birthday in a little more than a month. Unfortunately, it is not enough to tell from the previous pictures, so that is that.

The rug on the loom? Well, that deadline came and went, but progress was made on the threading of that; but seeing the threading of loom heddles is like watching grass grow. I should actually just take a few hours and finish getting it on the loom, as I believe will weave off rather quickly. Time will tell.

Update:

Roseann asked about the yarn for the baby sweater, and I am to please, so here is the answer: It is RYC Cashsoft Baby DK, the stuff that I was sampling with here. Thanks, Roseann.

Joy and Pain

Posted on 30May07 by textillian

I hope you had a good holiday weekend. Mr. Penney and I did, though I can’t say that we did anything out of the ordinary. I did get baby sweater number two completed:

It is about to get shipped off to my friend Kelly, who gave birth to her daughter Regina back in January. Hopefully, it will fit her this coming fall and winter.

Now for baby sweater number three:

The yarn is RYC Cashsoft Baby DK. It is 50% merino, 40% acrylic, and 10% cashmere. It is supposed to be machine washable. Even though it is only 10%, I can really tell that the cashmere is in there. Unfortunately, I can also tell that the acrylic is in there because of the sheen that it has. Sorry, but I am a yarn-snob.

I am trying out different stitch patterns to see what I like, because unlike the other two sweaters, I have no pattern in mind for this third one, and I don’t like to repeat myself. So far, the top stitch pattern, Little Arrowhead Lace, seems to be the one that I am going toward; but I am not set just yet.

And finally, a source of frustration:

Even though I did that swatch (though knitting it back and forth rather than in the round,) this sock has not been working out for me. Working the toe was fine, because it is completely in stockinette stitch, but trying to do a basketweave for the pattern on the same size needles (1US [2.5mm]) made the thing grow in width like crazy because the yarn has no elasticity. I have tried doing the pattern stitches on smaller needles than the st st (0US [2mm],) but that was causing the sole to because longer than the instep, which would cause problems with my big feet. I haven’t ripped it out just yet because I am trying other stitches to see how they work, since I have it knitting in the round already. AAARRRGGGHHH!

textillian

Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl…

Category Archives: Before

Something Just Ain’t Right

Diamonds

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

Undone – The Sweater Song

I Really Don’t Need No Light

Dress You Up

Shake It Up

Icky Thump

House of Blue Leaves

Joy and Pain