FO: Hitchhiker, take two

I made another hitchiker scarf.  The first one I had gifted.  I quite liked making it.  It's fairy mindless, it's garter stitch, and it shows of wildly handpainted yarns quite nicely.

Like this skein of Wollmeise that I got in a swap.

The color was "Aspen Tree".  I loved it because it was COLORFUL, but couldn't really think of too much to do with it as I felt it was a bit busy.  Except...

It's glorious, this second hitchhiker scarf.  Wollmeise is sturdy stuff, so wearing this on a trail was no thing at all.  Plus, when I went to the pub at night, I had some class little accessory to brighten things up.

 I used up the entire skein, and it is plenty long.  It can drape, it can wrap, it can just be an awesome scarf-shawl and keep me warm, I can flip the end around and make a bandanna.  The asymmetry is fun to play with and I've worn this quite a lot already.  It's too bad- I love knitting lacy fancy shawls, but they never get any use as I feel they are too delicate or fussy to actually wear.  The big boring plain knits I wear all the time.

  Also....there's a fair bit of navy blue in there, which means I can wear this with pretty much anything in my wardrobe.

FO: Snow Queen socks

Hey!  I made a pair of socks.  Actually, I made them a while ago, but I gifted them had to keep it quiet until then.  

Last summer, my dear aunt who lives in the balmy climes of North Carolina declared, "why haven't I gotten a pair of socks yet??"  

I had no response to that, except I thought there wasn't enough of a winter down south to need wool socks.  Apparently, I'm very disillusioned about regional climates, as they do occasionally get cold and snow, but also 70 degree days in January.  True, her three sisters and both her parents had gotten socks from me, but they all live in places where winter means a range of weather-related discomforts.   I didn't mean to snub, I just plead ignorance. 

I made sure she got her socks. 

The pattern is called Snow Queen,  I wanted to do something mostly plain to show off the gorgeous Regia Ombre stripe yarn (the color is called "Frost").  I'm not a huge fan of pastels, but these were just such a calming, perfectly harmonious color combination, I fell in love.

I knitted these mostly on the trail.  They bring back fond memories of warm sun and wildflowers and blue skies.

Here's to warm toes, no matter where you live.

FO: Fell Walkers

It's been a while since I've posted a crafty project.  It's summer (still?), I just don't feel like it.  

I did finish a pair of socks that I started on the trail though.

I went for a stash-dive and picked out a nice ball of Opal Shafpate and cast on for the Reverso socks from the most recent Knitty.

I cast on during the train ride to Carlisle and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were fell-colored!  What a serendipitous choice for a hiking take-along.   

Not my hairy arm, btw.... 

Or my hairy legs....

I am usually hesitant to try out new techniques when it comes to sock construction.  I'm a bit lazy that way.  I don't like to think too hard when I'm making a pair of socks, as I knit them on the go and dislike fiddly things.  These were worth it though, and an idea that I had been contemplating for a while: how to make a pair of socks that can be worn with the smooth knit-side fabric on the soles without having to do a ridiculous amount of purling.  

Easy: make them inside out!

You start at the cuff in mistake rib pattern.  Instead of gusset increases, you do Cat Borhdi's ceder construction, which puts the increases at the heel instead.  Once you start the heel turn, you flip the socks inside out, and continue in the mistake rib.

So now you have a pair of socks that there is no right or wrong side out!

The only awkward moment was grafting the toe and weaving the ends in, as I tried my best to hide it.  They are cozy, warm stretchy socks that would easily fit a variety of foot sizes, so great for gifting.  They also didn't take too long at all as far as socks go.

The yarn is 75% superwash, 25% nylon, so they should wear well for years.  If not, it's going to be a mess for me to try and patch these up, as I generally count on the repair work to not be seen on the inside.

Now I'm somewhat obsessed with self-striping sock yarn.  For years, I favored intricate cable and lace patterns on my sock, which pairs well with the hand-painted variegated yarn I love so much.  Intricate patterns tend to get lost when you have yarn that stripes heavily, so doing plain socks or some texture works better.

I love them so much, I cast on another pair of stripe socks as soon as I was done.  The bug has bitten once again.  

FO: A couple of hats....

I think I might have expressed this before, but I do love making hats.

They take very little time.  I can usually crank one out in four hours or so, unless it is with very skinny yarn or very complicated.  That's about a week's worth of commuting time, or some idle tv time in the evenings.  Speaking of which, 2007 called and I'm really into the Danish show "The Killing" right now, and it's NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE AWESOME KNITWEAR.  Why am I watching a dark, wintry, Danish crime drama in high summer?  I can't answer that, but the UK Netflix doesn't get nearly as many films as the US counterpart, and it's mostly loaded with British sitcoms, which, like almost all sitcoms, I find insufferable.    

Anyway, hats make fantastic gifts.  Everyone could use one.  Or eight.  I made these both as gifts.  They also take up odd skeins of yarn- a ball leftover from a sweater, some scraps from your scrap bin, a skein that you impulsively bought with no real project in mind for but you just had to try it.  

First up is the Nantes hat from Interweave Knits Winter 2011.  

It's got the perfect amount of cables and lace, making a lovely cathedral-like pattern.  I loved this pattern and will be making it again in the future.

I made mine slouchy, but you could go down a needle size and make a beanie and it would work as well.  I do love slouchy over-sized hats.  I tend to not wear hats with the brims straight across my forehead, but I rather like to push them back so they cover my ears.

The yarn is Rowan Pure Wool Aran, a soft superwash wool.  It comes in 186 yard balls, and I shortened the pattern by three rows so I would have enough yarn to finish it nicely.

Next up is the Nottingham hat.  I used a skein of Quince and Co Osprey leftover from my Aidez cardigan that I made last winter.  The color is pea-green, which, honestly, is a tough color to pull off this close to your face.

It's slouchy as well.  Almost rasta-like, but I did want to use up every last bit of wool.  The lace pattern makes nice diagonals, it was simple and it looks fantastically hip if you can pull off this color green.

These will both be gifted eventually.  The right person, the right season.  No one I know is allowed to be cold.  

FO: Snowflake Mittens

Hey now, it's springtime.  I should get some mittens on.



I don't know what inspired me to make such wintry-themed mitts so late in the season- maybe it was east-coast empathy!, but, eh.  There's always the sunny optimism of  next year's winter, and I will always have friends with cold hands.



The yarn is KnitPicks Palate, a fingering-weight rather affordable wool yarn that comes in many, many colors.  The pattern was also from KP, although, I can't recommend it highly.  The adult sizes run so small that I had to go up three needles sizes from the recommended gauge just to be able to get a good-sized mitt happening.  Still, they are pretty and worth the effort.



I love the wintry colors.  Those are words no one has ever said in March ever.  

FO: Saroyan

Oh, Cashmere!



It's generally just way too precious for me to justify the cost, but it doesn't hurt to try every now and then.

The market is flooded with so much cheap cashmere.  Instead of being an ultra-luxury good, the Chinese figured out how to mass produce it and now you can get a sweater of low-quality, but a label that says 100% cashmere, for less than $50.  Ten or so years ago, you would be paying many hundreds of dollars.  It's astounding.  Still, when you come across the real, high-quality stuff, it's worlds different.  It feels like heaven.

So, back when I lived in New York, at one point I inadvertently signed up for Groupon.  Ugh, Groupon.  Your idealist sales pitches make me feel inadequate for not getting my hair straightened and my face microdemabraided and my cellulite lasered daily.  I would pop one into my shopping cart every now and then when it was something I would actually use: usually restaurants I was already known to frequent, or a good deal on a yoga studio package that was somewhere between work and home.  Occasionally, a fancy yarn store would offer up one, and being no fool, I would grab it.

So I had a Groupon for Knitty City- a place on the Upper West Side that was just a little too far out of my daily grind to be of any real use to me.  I think you pay $25 and got $50 worth of product, or something like that.  It's a nice way to try new yarns anyway.  I showed up, looked around, and instantly noticed that they had Jade Sapphire 6-ply cashmere bundled up as a scarf kit- 4 skeins for $100, when the yarn is normally about $50 a skein.  So, for $75 total, I ended up buying $200 worth of the nicest cashmere yarn money could possibly buy.  It was still ridiculously expensive, the color selection made me a little depressed, but it came home with me and sat in my stash, occasionally being gently petted and dreamed of the day when I might actually have the balls to make something with this wonder of the textile world.

Finally, right before I moved from France: much travel time, the need to use bamboo needles on the plane, and the need for a fairly mindless pattern resulted in this:



A lovely, wearable Saroyan scarf.  It worked out perfectly- the yarn is so soft and drapey and cushy, a simple pattern was best; something unfussy.  I still am a bit ashamed of the ungodly amount of money it cost me for the yarn, but it's so snuggly and amazing and warm, $75 seems totally reasonable now.



The lace-leaf edging gives it a nice touch.  I've worn it pretty much constantly since I finished it and it's my go-to scarf this winter.  As it should be!





Despite the fact that I finished it while in Costa Rica, I managed to weave in the ends with my stubby fingers and trim them off with my pocket knife (gasp!) and started wearing it instantly, regardless of it being quite tropical in climate.



But it's fantastic, and my favorite thing ever (at the moment anyway) and I might even take this time to admit that I have worn this to bed on more than one occasion.  It's that comforting.  When I do reluctantly take it off, it feels like I've sawed off a limb and I totally feel a sense of loss.  The bottom line is:  I refuse to have a bad day when I am wearing this scarf.

Totally worth it.

Fo: Quick and Dirty Cardigan

Nothing I'm really proud of, but I whipped this up in the time it took for the sun to go down and for a chill to set in. I love little cotton sweaters in summer, but I hate working in cotton, so I usually just go out and purchase said sweater. Cotton yarns feel ropey and tough and inflexible in my hands, and some cottons are better than others. This was not one of the better ones.

It used up about 600 yards of heavy-ish cotton yarn. It took it forever to dry when I blocked it. It's just an easy, throw-on sweater with 3/4 sleeves.

FO: Pup Tent

Growing up, I had many, many cousins. I lived pretty far from them, so I wasn't really part of the tight-knit core group. When I would visit them, it was fun, if mostly because I got to ride around in the bed of a pickup truck and I was allowed to operate heavy farm machinery at a tender age. Plus, my vocabulary of bad words and insults would grow tenfold anytime I spent more than a few minutes with them. That is if I could stop coughing enough from all the cigarette smoke being inhaled second-handedly.

Anyway.

The name of this hat is Pup Tent. I can not say the words "pup tent" without cracking up a little bit. It's mostly because my disrespectful trash-talking cousin once yelled while observing clothes hanging out on the line, "Aunt Linda, your underwear are so big, I could use them as a pup tent!" and then we all scattered like so may giggling deer to escape the wrath of a chubby, angry aunt. When you are six, it's funny. Or, as we might say, "wicked funny".

The pattern is a freebie. I made it a little larger to use up the yardage and ended up with a nice slouch. I used it to use up the last 150 yards of Canopy Worsted leftover from the Vine Yoke Cardigan. It's simple and it used up what I had left, and it will now make a very nice gift for a winter-climate dweller (although perhaps just not for my Aunt Linda).

FO: Bluebell Boatneck Pullover

Another sweater, complete. I am hoping that I will get to put this away now for a few months now that it's finished, but alas. Paris. Optimistically, I will hope to keep it out of wintertime clothes storage for a trip to the arctic, pessimistically, I will keep it out because it's Paris and I'll probably need it on a freak day in July.

Actually, this is a gift, so I won't be wearing it at all. Oh, and the recipient is a bit smaller than me, so the sleeves will be more likely to hit their wristbone, and I'm wearing it with negative ease.

It's a really simple sweater- From the "Fitted Knits" book. The columns of waist ribbing gives it structure and shape without too much fuss. I made a couple of small mods in the sleeves (like working them in the round and not letting the sleeve flare too much at the end) and it's just a cute, functional sweater. I might tinker with the neck a bit, as even after blocking it rolls out and just looks unfinished.

It only used 4.5 skeins of my beloved Cascade 200 Tweed- 990 yards for the 36" size. I can not get this yarn to die, as this is the second sweater I've gotten out of a bag of this yarn, plus a hat. I am so sick of it, but I'm really honestly trying to use up what I've got instead of having odd skeins of leftovers uninspringly take up room in my stash for eternity.

I'm totally laughing at this guy helplessly crashing his boat against the side of the pond. Which I considered him doing okay, granted I've seen a ton of people rowing their boat backwards in this lake. The pointy end of the boat is meant to slice through the water, and somewhere in their nautical training, they failed to notice this design feature.

FO: Memories in Lichen

Hey, remember that time I went to Iceland and I ate lichen? Great story. Good memories anyway.

I finished something kind of big and time consuming. I brought a tote of lace and sock weight yarn with me when I moved and I'm forcing myself to knit it all. Sweaters on teeny tiny needles! No more of those instant-gratification projects of yesteryear, I have space and shipping constraints to think about. This sweater has been done for a bit, I was just waiting and waiting for a somewhat not rainy day out to wear it out. Who wants to be sodden by wet wool anyway? Still, it was on the needles for quite a while.

The pattern is called "Memories in Lichen" by Elizabeth Rislove Etler. Despite it being a little complicated, I loved the details and the fit and just had to make it.

From my stash, I had three skeins of Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in a precious blue "Bomber Worm".

For the underskirt, a skein of Gaia Lace in "Cobblestone Mazes".

I cast this top on way back in June. I wanted a pretty summery top to traipse around in. Ah, but the rain came and didn't stop until August, and by that time I was most definitely sick a big pile of wool on my lap, so it went into the time-out pile. The lace panel skirt was not hard per say, but it did take your full attention. I just don't really spend too much time fully attuned to my knitting, so it seemed to drag on forever.

The underskrit was easy, and well worth it. I contemplated just picking up stitches and doing a ruffle at the bottom edge, but then you would always have to wear a cami underneath anyway, so I slogged through a mile of lace-weight cashmere/silk blend stockinette stitch to make it. I remember sitting in a sweltering movie theater (true fact: going to the movies here in July means you will probably be cooler outside) and trying to figure out just what the hell was up with this batman character and exiting the theater with a great deal of underskirt done. Magic, I tell you.

Once that was done it was all easy-peasy. The neck has an i-cord edging that I really liked- it gives it a very fished look. The sleeves I fudged a bit as I couldn't really figure out the instructions, but oh, short row sleeves never hurt anyone, so I just stuck to my tried-and-true method. I don't think I have enough of the gaia lace yarn leftover to make ruffled sleeves, so they are plain for now.

So here we are, finished and blocked. It would probably be a little warm for a summer top with all that lovely cashmere and silk against your skin but it could easily be layered. It doesn't get terribly hot in Paris anyway, but it seems like this fall doesn't get brusquely cold either. I will eventually go ice skating in this and I won't fall once and it will be glorious.

I love it.

It fits, it drapes, it's warm and pretty. Both layers pilled up a little bit where my cross-body bag hits my hip, but I snipped those off quick and it seems to have mellowed out with the pills. It's soft and cozy and I will wear it a lot.

FO: Mittens to Sink yer Teeth Into

Je vis! Happy September! I'm back from a hectic but fun past couple of weeks. I have lots and lots of pictures to sort through from my travels, and even more adventures to plan in the coming months.

First, here's something fun I finished more than a month ago:

Wolf mittens! There has been somewhat of a fascination with wolves on garments for the past few years. What started out as satire has become a coveted clothing item, and we've been seeing loads of wolf shirts in Paris this season. None of them are as awe-inspiring as what you can find at the street fairs in Brooklyn. The annual Bay Ridge street fair is still the place to get your classy howling wolf shirts, but there is also a tendency in Paris for all things dream catcher as of late, so I have high hopes that one day Eurofashion will catch up.

What could be better than wolves howling at the northern lights? Nothing. Go ahead, try to argue your point. You lose.

Throw a wolf on anything and you are an instant bad-ass.

This came from a KnitPicks kit called the Winter Woodland Mittens that I impulsively bought ages ago, which gives you enough yarn to make 6 pairs of mittens. While the color combinations caught my eye, the patterns are kind of sloppily thrown together. Even though I got gauge, I ended up having to go up 3 needle sizes and adding extra stitches at each edge to get these to fit my rather average sized hands. Except these are were supposed to fit larger hands than mine. More stitches were added, for a total of 8, which is why they have a black boarder around them. So I'm kind of bummed that the patterns, as written, will only make a child-sized pair of mitts and I know few children in cold enough climates to actually have the need for double-thick mitts.

Also, the thumbs...they look a little wonky, but since taking the pictures I ripped them back and finished them after re-charting the pattern to accommodate more stitches since they were super tiny and cutting the circulation off to your most important digit otherwise. Although, not having a thumb just means you are more wolf-like than anyone else, and gives you license to pee on any tree anywhere at anytime. Design flaw or feature?

I actually made these to be worn in Norway as I was scared to death about how cold it might be. While knitting these at the height of our short Parisian summer was a little gross, I was happy that these were not needed on our summer vacation, and they are safely tucked away until we get real wintery weather.

FO: Elm Socks

Well Hello There! Remember when I used to knit, and spin, and make all sorts of crafty stuff? Yeah, I don't either.

I did take a moment to sadly mourn the last traces of my spoiled New York lifestyle.

That last little bit of red polish? My bi-weekly pedicures and manis are all just distant memories now. New York has so many nail salons. The competition that comes with having a nail salon on every block drives the prices way down. You can get a mani and a pedi for less than $20 and do so while you let the massage chair work out your knots and get caught up on the latest Cosmo and not feel the least bit guilty about it because it's cheaper than buying a sandwich for lunch. Here, not so much. Every salon I see, I run up hopefully and press my face to the window to check out the prices. Pedicures average around $60, manis $30. Sigh. I guess DIY is in right now. I won't even begin to discuss how much I miss my waxer.

Since I'm not coordinated enough to perfectly splosh my nails with jewel shades of paint and not look like I let someone in preschool do it, I am left with one option. I guess I could just cover my damn toes up!

The weather has been improving lately- we actually got a weekend where we spent time outside! I still am paler than I've ever been in July, but I do appreciate getting a little sun every now and then. Lazing around in the park is much nicer when you aren't lying in a swampy wetland of gloom or having hellfire and hail beat you down.

These are the Elm socks by Cookie A. It's from a great book called, "The Knitters Book of Socks". I only brought a couple of books with me to France, and this is one of them.

Alas, this pattern had a few issues. The undulating rib pattern was easy and fun, but as written, the cuff of the sock is incredibly long. So long, I left out the last 2 pattern repeats it calls for because I knew this sock wasn't going to fit any higher up my calf if I kept going. A quick glance at other people's projects reveal they had the same issue. It's hearbreaking to work so long on a pair of socks to not have them fit. It was also good I stopped because I almost ran out of yarn. Once I turned the heel, I realized I dodged a bullet there and by the time I kitchnered the toes up, I was down to just a couple of yards. 400 yards is not enough for this sock the way it is written!

I am loathe to put patterns on the actual sock foot. 1. You can't see it when you are wearing shoes, which is what I usually do when I put on a pair of socks and 2. Patterns with a cushier sock yarn like this will irritate the tops of my feet and I will never ever wear them, and I hate irritated feet more than I do my unpedicured toes. So I guess we can call this my Half-Assed Elm Socks.

The yarn is String Theory Caper Sock. 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, this is very soft. I picked this up on sale when Gotham Fine Yarns in New York closed down.

Time and wear will tell, but I'm not quite impressed with the yarn. It pilled up and looked fuzzy while I was working with it. I'm hoping it's just the short cashmere fibers working their way out and not a structural issue.

I've actually had these done for more than a month now. I like to photograph things outside, in good light, and These would have wicked up a puddle if I would have done it any other time. I guess all that rain is making me appreciate this sunny day all the more.

I made socks and then I pranced around a meadow in them. The end.