A view of the new sweater, in the mirror from the back. Not so very clear, but we can see that me and Ms Poetry fit each other. We have an unexpected cold spell running through Houston, so I've been wearing her around. The shetland/wool mix does not itch. I'm happy.

I will be hunkering down to finish my Elann Design Challenge Shawl, and, of course, that little hat.

Then, back to the Kaffe, and maybe some more ditzing around on the BIL/SIL sweater combination.

Back from holiday and very tired. What is it about some people, who like to drive? Husband got it in his head to take the whole trip from Colorado to Houston in one 18 hour marathon. Couldn't stop him. So 3:00 a.m. we're home. I dragged myself up at 8:00 just to re-acclimate to a regular time schedule, but I'm dragging now, and will probably ruin my good intentions with a little nap.

In the mean time, the results of holiday driving and knitting.

My Poetry sweater is done, and here she is relaxing after a wash. She had a bit of an accident, as I spilled a cup of coffee on her, while doing the finishing. A soak in soapy water left her clean, thank you. I have a cable sweater that seems to attract coffee every time I wear it. It has also cleaned up, so I didn't panic too much over the ordeal.

I feel like a bit of a dork, as we skied so hard most days, all I wanted to do was drink beer and stare off in space in the evenings. Thus, this girl was finished Thursday night, but did not have to opportunity to bathe, or be worn on the trip. Now, in Houston, it's summer weather, and the poor girl will have to go into a box in the closet until next November.


I started a hat to match my Ingeborg sweater. That had been on my list for a while. It seemed less taxing than working on the design for BIL/SIL sweaters , or finishing Poetry.


And I'm almost finished with my elann contest shawl. I'll not show her until after March 31.

Greetings from snowy Colorado. The resort has free wireless Internet. I took my laptop for the purpose of uploading vacations pictures from my camera. The camera is an older digital, and the chip does not take too many pictures before it gets full. Of course, I am "cheating, and checking my office e-mail out of some sense of self defense.

In the mean time, the results of our escape from Houston. The arm still needs to be properly attached, and cleaned up.

We stopped for groceries, and then to a Wallmart, as I think I forgot to bring tapestry needles. We found this awful fun fur, and silly me, I offered to make daughter a hat out of some of it.

Oops; does altitude cause me to forget that I hate novelty yarn?

Well, here it is, started; I'm doing a garter stitch short row wedge hat. Very silly, and oh yeah - yellow and red do make orange.

Well, this is looking better. I paged through the "Fair Isle Simplified" book from the Philosophers Wool people. I think the designs look nice and they often use the same gauge yarns that I want to use. I noticed that the "Tradition" pattern only uses four colors, so I've swatched that out.

More what I was looking for. I like the diamond band, but I'm not so keen on the stripey peerie patterns that are set in between.

I'm could just do stripes of that larger pattern and vary the colors. I'm also thinking that a Nordic pattern with some seeding in the body and a bunch of business on the edges may be what I end up with.

I mentioned that I wanted to do BIL/SIL sweaters, and they like to wear stuff that matches. So the idea was to use the same graphic, but vary the colors and size for a "his" and "hers" effect.

Going backpacking this weekend. Looks like good weather too.

Swatching for the Holiday

We are going to Colorado on spring break to ski. We are going to drive. That's eighteen hours in the car each way. My husband prefers to drive, and I "help". That's probably twelve hours that I could be knitting. Each way.

So, what to do?

Well, first, the Poetry gets finished, so I can wear it.
Second, the contest shawl gets finished.
The Kaffe is not going

Now what after that? I have two weeks to figure it out, and since I'm backpacking this weekend, no weekend to mess around. I have set my mind on some more "stash busting". Gifts for BIL and SIL, as we are planning to get together with them again this Christmas. BIL likes brown and green. SIL is a purple/teal type. Probably a two+ color item. Probably a Nordic sort of approach. May try a "knit your own" out of the Philosopher's Wool book.

For the first round I have set some goals - deal the huge amounts of worsted I collected from e-bay. On first analysis, I find that I have way more pink, minty green and yellow than anyone really needs. I also have a crate of chocolate brown, that is heavier than the rest, but not so much that it won't work with the other yarn. So, let's figure out what to do with some of this stuff.

Swatch 1 - Graphic from Agave, a Dale of Norway design. Minty Green/creme. The minty is too light. Maybe with something other than creme? About 5 stitches/inch


Second try - I see pink and brown a lot these days. How about it? Yes, the thicker brown does work ok with the worsted. Not sure I like the pattern; too chunky. Would probably do better in something simpler like the Agave, but don't want to go there for some reason. 4 stitches/inch. I have some magazines with Fair Isle pieces that use this gauge that don't make me puke. Have to look for them.

Backup plan again towards BIL/SIL, but their cute boys. One likes red and the other yellow. I'll make sweaters for them with that Castle design from the Barbara Walker #2 book. Maybe hand knit the fronts, and use the knitting machine for the sleeves and back.

Wow, a week without knitting.
How did that happen?

Well, I took two girl scout troops camping, mine and the other Cadette group. We did the "Program Aide" training, so now eleven early teen girls can work with younger Girl Scouts, once they have their application and recommendation forms turned in. It was really cold, but I did put some rows on that secret shawl. I was really tired when I came home.

Then I went to a trade show, and spent two days standing in a booth watching people walk by. I remembered my previous trade show promise to myself - only go as a speaker - which I apparently had forgotten. Speaker positions are better, because you get a name tag with a ribbon, and don't have to stand in front of the booth unless you want to.

Now, I'm home, and it is a mess. The washing machine has quit. I have two days of work piled up because I've been traveling. Shiloh thinks I should play.

Progress has lurched to a stop.

I knit hard on the weekend on this new shawl project. My goal was to consume two skeins a week, then move onto either Poetry or the Kaffe. So, what happens on Monday, but I pick up the second skein, and find I have forgotten my simple sequences, and am lost inside the pattern. I inspected it like a puzzle, put it down, picked it up, tried the next morning. No better. Ripped a few rows, and re-knit, got stuck. Repeated this Wednesday and Thursday. Finally I pulled out a whole pattern repeat, inspecting all the while and not only found my way, but also an error. So, now I'm still working on that first skein.

Poor Poetry is on the side line, one arm attached. The I cord, and stitch pick ups for her second sleeve waiting patiently. And Kaffe is sitting in the basket, waiting a new row of yarn pieces to be pulled.

A cold front, the coldest this year they say, and the last for the year as well is descending on the Houston area. I have Girl Scout camping planned. Some mommies are worried; my daughter is amused. She camped in the snow last spring. Just hope the other girls are as solid as she is. If the weather is really bad, I'll let them know they could qualify for a "bad weather" patch. One can only hope.

Again, not a lot of progress on established projects.

So, we will take a moment to look at the button I have for the Poetry in Stitches sweater. After my mother died, my sister, who was much better at sewing, went through the button box, and gave me a few sets of special buttons. This is from that group. I have six, and Poetry seems to be perfect for this little silver windmill.

I ordered received yarn from Elann, and am one skein into an entry to their Design Contest. Since it is a contest, I won't mention much more until I'm finished, and the deadline is passed. Well I'll say a little. I ordered their Highland Silk, and it is lovely, smooth and soft. Putting a bit of silk into wool just makes them both better.

On another front, I've been working hard on my guitar, and started lessons. I showed my new teacher a piece from the MelBay Modern Guitar Method called "Sor's Waltz" that I had worked on. It's a pretty piece. She helped me with some of the fingering where I was rough. My assignment was to memorize the piece, which I have spent most of the week doing.

Sometimes I feel sorry for this teacher, as she seems to mostly have young students who want to learn "pop" styles and songs. This woman really prefers classical music and techniques.

My teacher told me that Fernando Sor was quite a famous composer for guitar. I had no idea. He a series of studies for the guitar, that are as standard for that instrument as the Brahms work is for piano. In fact, many guitar schools require students study and become proficient in this group of pieces. Teacher is supposed to bring me another Sor piece to work on this week. In the mean time, my case of "acquisition syndrome" has migrated from the collection of yarn to the collection of guitar music. The Segovia edited Fernando Sor 20 studies for the Guitar, with companion CD should be on their way to my home via Sheet Music Plus.com

Well, we have one sleeve, finished and attached. This picture shows the shoulder detail nicely as well. I may have a new sweater next weekend.

Not without issues. I got most of the way done, and panicked that the every fourth row increase was not making the sleeve grow fast enough to set into the armhole. I think that the wrist started smaller than normal, as there is no ribbing, and I wanted it to be a neat fit, and not sloppy. So, I switched to every third row and that seemed to work out. I think wrist sizing is perfect.

I also had some issues with figuring out how long the sleeve ought to be. The steek edges sort of stuck out, making a measurement tricky. I ended up sewing it together, and finding that it was bulky around the armhole. A bit of tugging and folding the wrist back led me to the conclusion that the sleeve was too long by about five rows. So I ripped, and tried again. I was pleased.

I used a different method to attached the sleeves than my normal mattress stitch. I counted the stitches I ended up with on the sleeve and picked up that number evenly around the arm hole. Then I did a two needle bind off with the picked up stitches and the live sleeve stitches. This is not original; I've seen it specified on knitting patterns before, I just have never done it that way. I considered k2tog with the sleeve and picked up stitches, then knitting a facing. I discarded that because I think it would be too bulky. This yarn is light worsted; not skinny shetland spindrift. The result was very nice, and easy. It is equivalent to picking up stitches to knit from the body out. I knit from the cuff in this time so the big motifs would match.

I had a blinding flash of the obvious regarding stabilizing the cut stitches. I usually crochet them because I don't have a sewing machine I trust, and I don't trust my knitting to stay put. I just realized that the process of picking up for the arms, as well as for the bands also serves that function. Now, with that, can I consider cutting with out crocheting next time?

Naaaaa....

Nothing worth taking a picture of this morning.

I've been toying with entering the Elann shawl contest. I've been doing swatches on old acrylic yarn to better understand how the shape will work, as I've not made too many shawls. I'm thinking about reversible cables, and some lace ladders to lighten it up.

However, a comment on my wonderful husband, and how he likes what I make for him. He has always worn his hand knit sweaters. Here, in Texas, there is not so much opportunity, but this winter, if you can call it that, whenever the temperature has moved towards 60 degrees, he's put on his new cable sweater. Last week, he put it on inside out, and thought it looked good. I think that's a complement. This weekend he wore it with his Hawaiian shorts. Nice look. Henry8 has been out to dinner, and to the theater as well.

Another sleeve grows. In case anyone is interested, I made some I-cord, picked up for the sleeve, then grafted the edges of the I-cord together. I may add another row of I-cord later. Haven't decided.

Now I face a time management issue.

Concentrate on one piece, so that there is significant progress week to week?

or

Rotate back and forth between the Circle Square and Ms Poetry?

Does it really matter? I think not. They are both fun to work on.

Circle Square update.

I rip out and did start again, and the guage and measurements are what I wanted. We are at 3.5 repeats, and I've figureed out how to deal with all the ends when the squares all come together.

This is how, in case anyone is wondering...

I like to weave in over two rows, so the tail goes back and forth.

Row 0 = purl row before the big change, weave in "old" ends. This is tricky, as the circle colors are only on three stitches.
Row 1 Add new colors, and weave in their new tails. Same problem with 0. Flip up tails from Old colors. This is a slow row, and I can't do it when tired, drinking, or watching TV.
Row 2 Weave new colors back. Flip up tails from old colors
Row 3 Finish old colors.

I'm also remembering how thrilling those sweaters can be. They are a real mess, but watching the patterns and colors develop is fun fun fun.

Poetry sleeves haven't been started. Poor girl. I should get back to her this week. She thanks you for the kind comments.

So, it will be sleeves, sleeves sleeves here in Swatchyland.

Ms. Poetry feels much better now that she has two rows of I-cord around her edges, and her ends tucked in. She has given me permission to begin on her sleeves.

Kaffe adventure installment.

Last time we checked, some 30 to 40 skeins of worsted stash yarn were resting in a basket. The next benchmark was to make what I call a "sleeve swatch". I guess at the gauge, cast on what I think will be the number of stitches for the cuff, and start knitting, increasing one stitch each side every four rows. I have found that is just about right for sleeve increases regardless of gauge. If I guess correctly, I have four or five inches of sleeve when I stop to check. Then, I calculate the rest of the sweater. If not, well, a swatch is needed in any event, and I get to learn about the pattern and yarns, and how the colors work together.

So, here it is, somewhat fuzzy, but one gets the idea. I guessed wrong enough to need to take it out. This is disappointing, but also sort of good news. The true gauge is 4 st/inch, which is gigantic compared to what I have been working the last few years. I was pleased to see how fast this swatch grew, and when I cast on with fewer stitches, it will be even better.

I have also re-learned some things about weaving in those ends. If I hold two strands together, they really show through. Thus, a plan is required to deal with them. Not a problem for three of the four places where the colors all change. Notice that working from the bottom, the small "corner" segments end, then a new "quarter" starts four rows later, and four rows after that two new "corners". This is managable. However, every time we come to the beginning/end of the circles there will be intersections where two new and two old ends need to be dealt with.

Yikes!

All done with Branching out.

In the mean time, Miss Poetry was quite distressed to be photographed in such disarray. I am making it up to her by spending some quality time adding her edging, cleaning up ends and trimming her steeks a bit better. She will not be photographed again until she is more presentable.

Many colorful pictures today

First, a Poetry in stitches update. The body is off the needles, steeks cut and shoulders knitted together. I put a little shaping in the shoulders and back neck, so I have some ends to clean up. She looks sort of messy and sad with no arms, and all the curly edges.


I added a detail on the shoulder for the seam. The large motif was difficult to center over the arm holes, and I wanted my seam to have matching motifs.



And the oh so popular shot of the inside showing the floats.

I think I'll work I cord edges and clean up the body before starting on the sleeves. Right now, I'm thinking double three stitch I cord edge in light blue, but I may pick up in avocado, and then do blue.

In the mean time....

I joined another Knit Along. This would be the Kaffe Fasset KAL sponsored by Sam at Blythe Dance

This is perfect for me, because I have been rationalizing my yarn acquisition habit by claiming "I'm collecting for a Kaffe". Now, if you look at my Gallery, you will see no Kaffes. I've done a "Tumbling Blocks", and several baby and child sized "Box Stripes", but those were years ago. Well, the time is now.

So here is my process for putting this together.

First, narrow down something. I decided on a few patterns. I've been comming back to the "Circle Square" and "Split Diamond" patterns.

Second, I pulled out all my worsted stash yarn and threw it all around. Then I sort of sorted it into color groups. Did I mention I had an acquisition problem? This is not nearly all of it, and a lot of those skeins have "friends" still in the bin.

Third, I decided for sure on Circle Square, and really liked the Zoe Hunt red/green colorway. So, I needed two color groups. I sorted out red/magenta for one group, and green/blue for the other. I added some "pop" colors, and here is where I ended up.

Reds to red purple. No true purple or bluish purples. Some pinks and coral for "pop". Over 20 colors to choose from.


Greens to blues, with turquoise and mints to "pop". Maybe 20+ again; didn't count. I may pull out the mints towards the bottom, as I think they will read too light.

Then I put them into baskets, and took a rest.
By the way, I only spent an hour including clean up.

Shilo models the "Branching Out" scarf project. Nice project for TV, school pickup waiting and so on.

More vacation. Non knit content.

Probably the highlight of the trip was taking daughter snorkeling. She's not a great swimmer, or comfy in the water. I was hesitant to purchase fins and mask/snorkel for her before we left, but the dive shop was having a super sale, so we did, and also a nice skin suit so she could float with reduced risk of burn.

The very first day was a complementary snorkel boat trip sponsored by the resort. The resort owner was great, stating that lost luggage was no reason to lose a day of vacation. We borrowed their equipment, bathing suits from SIL and off we went. It was a bit windy where we stopped with some current running. Daughter got her gear on, flopped into the water, and immediately popped up and yelled "WOW". She had a bit of trouble clearing her snorkel and needed some coaching on how to use her fins effectively, but after that, she was on her way. Later in the trip, we visited a "blue hole". Again, she was the first in the water, and took a peek, and popped up with a "Wow, that's a big hole", which at 660 feet, it certainly was.

We snorkeled of did SCUBA almost every day of the trip.

Happy New Year.

We are back from a fabulous vacation. This was finished before we left. So, this little hat would be the last FO for 2005


Note to self. Don't fly Air Bahama. Unless, of course, you like to miss connections, arrive in the wrong place without your luggage, and sit in transit lounges on your vacation. If you like that, then Air Bahama is your kind of airline. Harsh, but our experience, and what seems to be typical. Of course it all makes sense when you hear the story. Our flight was late out of Nassau. Of course, it was the first flight of the day; the one that ought to go out on time. By the time our flight arrived in Nassau, the flight to Long Island had left, but the agent rushed us, without our luggage, through the airport and planted us on a flight that was being held for us, and another group. That was sweet, and very appreciated. So off we go to Long Island, but we landed on the other side of the island than our intended destination, and without our luggage. I suppose it beats being stuck on Nassau without luggage. It was all straight by the next day, though I'm still not clear as to how our luggage got through customs without us. Some things are best not understood. We noticed that most of the people at our resort that arrived via Air Bahama, also managed to make it before their luggage arrived. We noticed that in the transit lounge on the way out, all flights ran about two hours late, and the day was clear. Contental flights left on time. We also noticed that the Nassau/Miami flight was over booked and many Miami passengers ended up on our flight to Lauderdale. I guess their idea is to get the passengers close to where they thought they would end up, and deal with the luggage later. Makes me wonder how any luggage arrives on time, since the flight you are on is probably carrying luggage for the previous flight passengers, so yours would have to wait.

Other than that, the resort was splendid and the holiday was wonderful.

On the flight to Florida I worked on the Rose Trellis shawl. I remember finishing a half repeat during the flight, and figuring out how many hours it would take to finish the shawl. I don't remember the calculation, as that was many snorkel dives and rum punches ago. I do remember thinking that it would probably take just about the entire vacation to finish. I was right. Even with two hours waiting at the Long Island airport, and another three in the Nassau transit lounge on our return, the thing was not quite done. I finished it just as we pushed back from the gate in Lauderdale on our way to Houston. How about that?

So, presenting the first Swatchy FO of 2006.



and because it looks cool, some detail...


That's not all, but it's all for now. Check back later for more vacation notes, and what I knit between Ft. Lauderdale and Houston.

Big beginning here at Swatchy. Mostly to get ready for a much anticipated Bahamas Christmas. We will have two days of travel out and back as we will be spending a night in Florida. I wanted some things that would fit in a zip lock, not take up too much space, but provide ample knitting activity while on vacation for ten days. The "Rose Trellis" will probably go on the plane with me outbound, and I hope to finish that project while gone.

I've joined some Knit Alongs. I'm not much of a joiner, but I was planning on a few smaller projects, and thought it would be fun to be part of a group. I felt kind of dorky when I thought about it; one post, then probably two weeks gone.

First up - Branching Out using "Barrington Mohair" purchased from WEBS ages ago. So, I joined the Branching Out KAL, and added the button to my side bar.

The color is really more purple. This represents two pattern repeats. I have been knitting while my daughter gets her hair cut. They stylist really admires the work, and has asked for something. She said purple was her favorite color, so this will be her "tip" next time we go.

Next, I'm making a hat to match the top down aran recently finished. ( check the archives if you are interested) My husband seems to be enjoying the sweater, and has worn it many times since the temperature dropped here. The hat will have a braid around the edge, which will get grafted together. Then I'll pick up all around and stockenette the rest of the hat. Like this one on Knitty This would be a "Fall Cables KAL" project

I got it started so it was on a needle, ready for his trip. I'll need to dig up some double points so I can do the brim. This will probably go quite quickly. Love love love the Jo Sharp Silk Road that this is made from. The alarming yellow is the provisional cast on. Crummy picture, but go look at the sweater instead.

Last, I had my daughter and her friend wind yarn for an Ingeborg hat. I made an Ingeborg last year, and have always wanted the hat to go with her.


The PIS sweater will NOT be going to the Bahamas. She has been moving right along. Here is an update. Shilo of course is inspecting the arm hole steek. Please, someone, tell me why knit bloggers like to show off their steeks? I figure about two more inches, or 20 rows before I cast of for the neck. I will work back and forth from there, and plan to try some short row shaping for the shoulder.

Lace happens.
This shawl is effectively three sections. The beginning pointy part, then nine pattern repeats in the center, then an ending pointy part. Here we have about three center repeats complete.

I pinned it onto the wall for a photograph, and that's a bit of counter over on the side. The original image is nicer. When I smooshed it to fit into the blog it seems the center "rose" pattern was affected.

It took longer than I expected for my hands and brain to wrap around this pattern. However, I now "see" what is happeining, and while I still refer to the pattern, it's just to remind me of which manuvers are next, and how to treat the first and last pattern on the row. So, I can't put it down for fear I'll forget what's what, and go back to ripping three rows for every five knit.