Spa Cloths in Katia Jamaica, crocheted

I am up to my ears in brown yarn, and therefore brown knitted items. For several months prior to November, I did the same thing with olive and lime green.

I formerly had dark brown hair but these days it is decidedly un-brown. I own one brown garment (and zero green togs) so I can’t understand why I keep picking up random skeins everywhere in assorted shades of BROWN, my least favorite color of all.

On the needles now are a nice spring green cotton and wool cardigan and another set of fingerless mitts (“Toasty”) in Bugga!’s crazy looking Black Witch Moth colorway…. hoping to work out of this brown funk and get some real color back in my world.

Check out these and the rest of my colorful projects over on Ravelry, where I am called “LooseKnit.”

Blanket for Dillon, Vanna's choice, knitted

Dillon's blanket

Straightforward fingerless mitts, Madeleinetosh Tosh Sock, knitted

A large blanket which exceeds its project bag’s capacity, for example, has to stay at home. A pair of socks or a scarf, in particular those whose stitch patterns are easily memorized, gets to go out on errands, road trips and airplane rides.

Somehow I have arrived at a major imbalance, with one item that must be knit only at home and 10 others that are ready to go, anytime anywhere.

Not unlike the way solopreneurs have to balance client projects, I love how my knitting life challenges and accomplishments mirror my professional life.

All around the house are were little baggies full of needles and yarn. Where we eat, where we sleep, under the couch, in the glove box. Eeek! That’s not me! With lots of personal family hubbub in recent months, though, that BECAME me.

So now, all the WIPs have been gathered, labeled, pattern tucked inside the bag, and they are all patiently waiting in a large basket near the front door so I decide who comes along for the ride and who stays home.

Recently acquired stash yarn is another matter… these beauties are still lying all about, having become an important & cozy part of the decor.

Here are a few of those WIPs who are clamoring to go out with me, along with one very special recent graduate (now off the needles and onto the recipient). And if you’re on Ravelry, I’m “LooseKnit” over there, and invite you to view my other projects there.

After a delightful winter spent doing repair projects and painting with hubby at a property we have listed for sale, I’ve mostly worn the same paint-encrusted duds five days a week. I look forward to scrubbing the primer off my hands and fingernails, changing clothes and getting out of town for a couple of days.

Two friends from our Ravelry Prescott Knitters group (waving at Allee and Emily!) and I are going to the game and meeting up with my very own Angel, Dillon (minor leaguers don’t start for another couple of weeks, so he gets to attend a game with me as a spectator, which has never happened before in either of our lives!).

First stop, Tempe Yarn & Fiber and then on to Tempe Diablo Stadium to watch the Angels and maybe get to say hi to a few of the players we’ve met over the past couple of years in the minors.

With two huge knitting projects finally off my needles (both of which were started and worked on at other ball parks over the past two years) it’s fitting that I cast on something brand new to start this season.

Here are the first few rows of Featherweight Cardigan, by Hannah Fettig, anchored with baseball stitch markers, of course.

Play ball!

P.S. Here are some photos from the day at Tempe Diablo.

Hand dyed yarn: "Poached Rhubarb"

Spring was the air, I was cleaning out the old yarn stash in preparation for a friend’s upcoming “Destashing Party,” and inspiration struck. Granddaughter was coming over after school, and I didn’t feel like working in the office, so grabbed 5 skeins of yarn that I LOVE but whose color has never been right for me, and we changed them into something softer and more subtle using just the crock pot, vinegar and some inexpensive food coloring.

Whoops! Should have discussed how to explain our afternoon’s activities before my little 5-year-old Bug’s mom came to pick her up, only to be greeted with: “Mom! Today I dyed!”

The result, which is going by “Poached Rhubarb,” will be a beautiful something by the end of summer.

Project 1: Steeking a sweater that was never right for me to begin with.

As a knitter myself, I rarely purchase knitted items. On a trip with my mom to Orcas Island a few years ago, I spied a beautiful fair isle sweater that I could not resist, and my wonderful mom chipped in with me to help me buy it.  It was right in color, but just enough too big and bulky that it was never a good fit for me. After a few years of non use, I had tried fulling it to take it down a notch, but it was just still just too big as you can see from the bad photo below. It’s been gathering dust and pills on the bottom of my sweater stack for too long.

This weekend I decided it was time to either do something else to make it wearable, or just find it a new home. I took scissors in hand and sliced it right up the front. Though many knitters are horrified at the thought, steeking, as this method is called, is a time-honored knitting technique.

Since the steeks result in raw edges, I applied I-cord down the front (had the perfect color and weight in my stash) and added a band of purple Angora on the inside, to encase the raw, steeked edge, and for just a touch of luxury. Still needs buttons and button holes so I’ll steek those next. For now, I have a cardigan I may actually be able to wear!

Project 2: New Pair of Slippers

Last week I found a name brand child’s sweater at one of our local thrift shops. Knowing it would work best as felt, no matter what I decided to turn it into, I washed it and just kept looking at it for a few days. I finally realized there was just enough in the body sections to make a pair of felted clogs. So, a little pattern draping, some machine sewing, a bit of knitting a pink I-cord around the top, and some finishing by hand yielded this pair of slippers. As I was working on them, my color blind husband yelled out, “Dibbs!” He thinks they are tan and brown, haha. I’ll work on a pattern and see if I can replicate these for others on my gift list.

Among them are Craig Dombey, publisher of Prescott-Good-Eats.com;  Shanti Rade, who’s developing a blog of recipes featuring produce she and her husband grow at Whipstone Farm, and Vicki Brannock, owner of Organization Architects, who is interested in teaming up to form a new approach to community engagement here in Prescott (more on this in coming weeks).

Springtime also heralds the start of allergy season, and this means more time spent indoors than I would like. It’s also an opportunity to dig through my assorted knitting bags to see what might be languishing there, forgotten.

Among those projects which haven’t grown at all through winter are: a Haruha scarf (in soft grey Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool), a lovely Juno Regina shawl (in Malabrigo lace in purple, blue, apple green), a simple pair of socks to finish up for my mom, AND I have started the ambitious Borghild jacket (in Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool, again, but Bristol Red). Any of these is perfect to pick up while I watch the pollen blow around outside my window.

But right now is a moment to stop and savor. It’s been a couple of months since I got to try on something just off the needles, and today I’m doing just that.

As a tribute to Spring (even though I am spending early springtime indoors), I’m wearing a Spring green top finished on the first day of Spring 2009. The Coachella is knit in Katia Idea Jeans, a ribbon yarn in an interesting blend of cotton, rayon and linen.

And, here it is on my dress form, wishing to be worn outside. Hope springs eternal.

Tapping into your inner grandpa and grandma may inspire you to look around at what you can fix or repurpose in your closets and drawers. Making things last is a good thing these days, right?

Perhaps you lack the tools or know-how for working on your vehicle or plumbing, but anyone can learn to darn a sock. If you wear nice wool or alpaca socks, for example, you’ll want to make them last. And even if you didn’t knit them yourself, the hand-knitters in your life will be impressed that you appreciate these special gifts enough to preserve them. (You might earn yourself a few more pairs by taking care of those you already own!)

Darning reinforces the area where the fibers are wear-damaged, giving you many additional years of wear. The pair I will use as my example were knit (by me) of yarn that isn’t really suited to socks but I loved it and made them out of it anyway. Consequently, the cuff will never wear out, but I have made repeated repairs to the sole by darning.

Supplies

• Favorite sock with a hole in it.
• Darning needle (these are large blunt-ended needles with eyes big enough to thread with yarn.
• Some scrap yarn, at least 45 inches—it should be of a similar thickness as the yarn the socks were originally knit from but doesn’t have to be the same yarn or be a matching color. No one will see the darned area but you.
• An actual or improvised darning egg: this can be a smooth egg-sized rock (I use a baseball) but please don’t use a real egg.

Step-by-Step

1. Drop your improvised darning egg into the sock so that you have a solid, rounded base to work against.
2. Holding the sock firmly against the darning egg, run a line of stitches around the hole, about 1/8 t0 1/4 inch in from the hole’s edge (this will depend on the thickness of the original yarn used to knit the sock). Your line of stitches should look like this – - – - – - you do this by dipping your needle in and out of the sock’s fabric. Leave a tail of yarn that is about 3 inches long, which you’ll weave in to hide and secure when done darning. (see photo below)
3. Now you’ll create a series of long stitches that go from one side of the hole to the other (like setting up one of those potholder looms when you were little). Use the row of stitches surrounding the hole as your guide and make these stitches fairly close to one another, being careful not to pull in the edges of the original hole, which will cause your sock to become misshapen. To avoid that, just hold the sock tightly over the “egg.” (see photo below)
4. Finally, create a perpendicular row of long stitches, weaving them over and under the first row of long stitches you made, resulting in a lattice, or basketweave pattern. Your goal in this step is to create a snugly woven section of fabric, so use the end of the darning needle to compact the woven stitches against each other every other row or so. (see photo below)
5. Weave loose ends into the inside of the darned area and clip with scissors.

Here is a little outfit for Avery Elizabeth Pogue, newborn daughter of Eric and Sierra.

Yarn details:

The main color is a very soft, machine-washable lavender which I found waiting for this project, buried deep in my yarn stash. Originally used for my granddaughter Tessa’s first baby blanket and sweater, made four years ago, the yarn band is, alas, long gone, so I don’t know its name or recommended gauge. I found just enough bits and pieces of that to create both this little cap and pants.

Hat Pattern:

“Ela’s Favorite Hat,” designed by Elizabeth Prusiewicz, and which appears on page 126 of One Skein Wonders, by Judith Durant. I have made this once, previously, and it knits up quickly, in just a few hours.

Baby Bell Bottoms:

Designed by Alison Hansel. The pattern appears on her website: http://alisonknitsmiths.us/. As with the little hat pattern, I have made these up previously, in baby alpaca, and pictures and details are available via the link at the bottom of this post.

Both items were knit with #5 needles (using a combination of straight, circulars and double pointed) and used a total of about two skeins of my unknown, rediscovered yarn.

Welcome to the world, Avery!

Speaking of this, here is a related post from the Loosely Speaking Archives:

On My Needles Today, June 16, 2007

That describes my recent approach to handcrafts.

Started two new sewing projects and three knitted items within the past two weeks.

Usually I knit for pure kinesthetic pleasure of fiber in my hands and the miracle of seeing the project take form. When I go into overdrive, however, my toil acquires a manic quality as I race to see just how many sets of needles and patterns I can juggle without tangling them all up.

Ever feel that way at work? Like, you can’t possibly ask a colleague for help when you are overloaded, or, if you’re a Solopreneur, can’t say no to every job that comes along?

According to some recent studies, having too much to do (and therefore trying to multitask too many hours a day) can have harmful effects and undermine what you believe to be your amazing (right!) effectiveness.

Take a look at why you think you can handle it all and why you, perhaps, fear turning down a project when you are already at capacity. Without some mind clearing time every day, I believe we end up in the realm of mind numb, wherein we lose both our perspective and sense of self.

And, now for a liberal dose of my own medicine.

My current bout with knitting overdrive coincides with recent arrival of news of a loved one’s worrisome health concern. I think I WANTED to be mind-numbed, and so I kept busy every second and late into the night. Late LAST night, in fact, I discovered that on the most complicated project, a beautiful merino lace shawl, I was making errors in every row, as I knit ever faster and ever more erratically, mentally racing from the terror I was feeling and leaving its evidence in myriad dropped stitches. Working without the lace knitter’s “lifeline,” that shawl is now looking a little sad.

Surveying the mounting pile of yarn and tools and patterns on my living room floor, I realized I needed to regain some control, and stop flitting back and forth between all of those projects.

My goal for today is to get each one of them to them point where they can be good take-along-projects, and to keep at it (one at a time) until that is achieved.

What I have now is:

1. First leg of lavender baby bell bottoms done.

2. Merino wool shawl is to the “repeat last two rows for 45 more inches” point.

3. Baby blanket for next granddaughter is at the 3/4 done mark and can go along with me in the car for those invariable waiting situations.

4. Apple green hemp socks… well they are languishing in the bottom of the bag. You can’t be too perfect.

Pictures later, when I have it all back under control and have repaired the mistakes.

Speaking of this, here are some related posts from the Loosely Speaking archives:

Carrying Capacity

Carrying Capacity II

Now that it’s finished and blocked, I am thrilled with the outcome. A little too decolleté for some occasions, but perfect shape and size.

A big plus: I wore it during the Arizona – Miami Super Regional matchup last night and the right team won, so….

Up next: finish Hempathy socks, then start something new!

Soleil was designed by Alexandra Virgiel and I found it on Knitty.

Go ‘Cats.

A Good Yarn, located in The Old Firehouse Plaza at 220 W Goodwin in Prescott, is proud to announce a book signing with Debbie Macomber on Saturday June 7th, at 1:00 P.M. The bestselling author of A Good Yarn, The Shop on Blossom Street, Back on Blossom Street, as well as The Cedar Cove series, is one of today’s leading voices in women’s fiction.

Debbie’s newest Blossom Street book Twenty Wishes will be the focus of this book signing.

Plan a trip to A Good Yarn in Prescott for June 7th, 2008 and meet Debbie Macomber. Pick up your Twenty Wishes book and while you’re here explore all the fine yarns and notions!

If you live in the area, mark your calendar now to stop by Debra’s shop on June 7th.

… which reminds me, I currently have on my needles a cute pair of socks (seen above right) made from Elsebeth Lavold’s Hempathy Designer’s choice (34% hemp, 41% cotton, 25% modal) and a great summer tank top made with Cascade Pearls (no picture of that yet).

Recently completed are some red socks for cheering on my UA Wildcats, made from a purchase made at Kiwi Yarn Company in Tucson: Meilenweit Cotton (41% cotton, 39% superwash wool, 13% Pllyamide, 7% Elite – whatever that is). These were actually finished at the ballpark, and then put on for good luck. So far, they work well!

She asked me to create some fingerless gloves that she could layer over liners for her early a.m. cycling outings in the forest. Brrr.

We looked around and found a promising pattern (designed by Kerri Kad) for these on Knitty. Originally the pattern had an open thumb, too, but we adapted the pattern to Sandi’s specifications so that she can easily brake and change gears.

Sandi’s hands may be small, but they are powerful. It took a couple of mockups before we could adapt the pattern design to work. I might add, when I sent my son (who is 6’3″ and about 210 lbs.) for his first ever massage with Sandi, all he could say is “She is the strongest woman I have ever seen.” Did I mention that Sandi is MAYbe 5′ tall and MAYbe weighs 85 lbs. What a brute!

Now Sandi wants knitting lessons. Swapping knitting lessons for massages? I’m down. Knitting between friends sounds like a good thing, but is it?

Loving the idea of spreading this skill around, I have taught a couple of people successfully but also had my share of failures.

What do you think? Should friends even try to teach friends to knit??

1. Cascade Pearls Shawl.

55.7% cotton, 44.3% viscose. Knit on size 6 circular bamboo needles purchased at a great little shop in Tucson, Kiwi Knitting Shop. Color 8176 (a very creamy, lustrous off white). Pattern is original (made up by moi).

I had no idea how many skeins I would need, so I bought every single ounce that my LYS(The Good Yarn) had in stock. I had about 5 yards left when I finished it. I was thrilled to get this yarn half price during owner, Deb’s, 1st anniversary sale. Here it is modeled on MY virtual assistant.

Can’t wait until Spring to be able to wear this one to all those baseball games at the University of Arizona! That means I’ll need to make a few nice summer dresses…

2. Purple wool sweater.

This is some unnamed mill end yarn purchased optimistically over 25 years ago at a now out-of-business yarn shop in Phoenix. It was just a big tangled plummy, marled mess and I couldn’t resist it. It took hours across two marriages just to untangle and wind into usable balls!

Finally started the sweater in about 2000 (Cabled polo-neck, a Vogue Pattern published by Reynolds Yarns, Inc. in 1979; pattern folder was purchased in Homewood, Illinois). As it took shape and I compared it with the changes in MY shape since the pattern was purchased, I felt it might end up being a gift for someone.

Happily, it fits! I know I’ll love wearing this. Since purple, black, denim blue, silver and lime green are the official colors of my business, Loose Ends, it’s going with me to MacWorld in San Francisco next week. (Ok, no one but me has five official colors. I know that.)

3. Crocheted bag.

Found this pattern on Priscilla’s Crochet Pattern Index at this link.

This is made from some very coarse material originating in Turkey or somewhere in that part of the world. I can’t guess what the content is, but it’s rough, like jute, so some kind of plant fiber rather than animal hair??

It was passed on to me by a friend. HER friend acquired it while traveling and then could never determine anything to make from it.

I held onto the yarn for two or three years, thinking I would eventually find a use for it. In fact, when someone paid me a compliment on the bag yesterday (a very young someone), I thanked her and told her I was glad I hadn’t been given this yarn in the 70′s, or it would surely have been used in a macramé something-or-other.

The search for the perfectly-suited pattern was worth it as this one is a good fit, even though I thought I had left crocheting in my past.

4. Still on needles for a few more hours is this little hat for Jocelyn.

Pattern: “Ela’s Favorite Hat,” from One Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. Modifying it for a birthday gift for a little one-year-old girl who spends a lot of time at Tahoe ski slopes.

Yarn (from the Good Yarn): leftovers from several other projects done in the winter of 2007 when I couldn’t get my fill of alpaca. Cascade’s Pastaza (50% llama and 50% wool), color 001 and Plymouth Yarn’s Baby Alpaca Grande Luxury Indiecita Brand color 1310.

When finished, that will be the end of a number of skeins of those two lovely yarns, which have previously been made into sweater and matching bell bottoms for Brenna, scarf for Marie, scarf for ME, felted project bag for me, and several headbands given as gifts to special people.

Up next, finish Tahki Jolie denim blue wrap sweater. Start Crayon Box sweater. All the yarn for that is collected in shades from deep wine to shell pink. Yum. Maybe a couple of pairs of socks???

I’m looking for best uses for old baseballs. Kind of like Hints
from Heloise, but maybe with more of a Hank Aaron twist? We have a buckets of these old baseballs sitting around our place and now that our kids are grown and gone, I was just pondering what else I could do with them besides display them in vases. Am I kidding? Not really … a lot of them are homerun balls inscribed with date, vs. and off what pitcher, so of course they are part of my decor! My latest best use idea fits well with my knitting hobby: perfect as a darning egg.

I haven’t found this year’s baseball book yet. I usually read one baseball book just as the season is approaching. Have a suggestion for this baseball mom?

Spring 2008 travel plans will feature as many trips to Tucson as we can afford: we’ll be watching Wildcats Baseball, now that youngest son has transferred there. Pre season polls should be taken with a grain of salt, but do check out this one.

Speaking of this, read more about baseball books in this post in the Loosely Speaking archives:

Favorite Baseball Books

And, to see some of the books Ron Kaplan recommends, visit his profile on LibraryThing.com.

Finally, a loyal reader (thanks, Mom!) found time to send another list of baseball books, even while unseasonal tornadoes threatened her domain all evening! Herewith, Shirley’s contribution: baseball FICTION list.

Take knitting, for example. If you are a knitter, you like the look and feel of fibers held in your hand, and you love seeing the texture unfold as the item takes shape. Whether you’ve knitted for years or have just started, you have probably amassed a number of tools and books of patterns and instruction. Just like beginning a new work project!

Beginning a new piece requires forethought and a test run (called swatching). Then once you have begun, there’s the pure enjoyment of the process of simply knitting away while sipping coffee, chatting with friends, watching a movie, waiting to pick up your child in a parking lot, or maybe even while participating in a webinar.

Knitting is a time-filler far different from reading or chatting on the phone, for in the act of all but the most complex of patterns, you can still communicate with others. And if a mistake is made, you just unravel and start again.

We knitters value quality craftsmanship in other parts of our lives as well: appreciating the little details in fine cuisine, in a garden, art, or fine woodworking. Non knitters wouldn’t believe the hours it takes, from selection of just the right skein until the item is finally knit, sewn together, washed (by hand), and blocked (laid in a undisturbed place to air dry).

During those hours, your life is happening. With each stitch, your work and life challenges remain and are dealt with, and some limbic memory of them is knit into every stitch of every item you make. Catching a glimpse of a blanket or sweater, or pair of socks knit for someone else years later brings back everything else that was happening in your life during the months when it was under construction.

So what does being a knitter convey to your clients and colleagues? That you’re old fashioned (hope not!)? That you are a creative person who values detail and quality (hope yes!)? That you are dependable in that you finish what you start (may or may not be true in that I have 4 unfinished projects)? In my work as a virtual assistant specializing in web development, I find many parallels with my approach to knitting.

That mouthful said, here are a few of my current projects:

1. Baby Bell Bottoms in baby alpaca are done, pictured right. (Nona at nonaKnits steered me to this pattern from Alison)!

2. Pictured top right is my granddaughter Tessa’s first sweater, made to match her first blanket, knitted at endless baseball games the year she was born. Now working on a little pink and white sweater to match pair of seersucker capris and a little gathered skirt. No pictures as it doesn’t look so great; may have to start it over. Sigh.

3. Still toiling along on my Tahki Joli ladder stitch wrap sweater.

4. Finished with tank made from yummy silk/cotton blend yarn found in Jerome Arizona at Knit 1 Bead 2. See a tad of that above left.