Helena sweater

Babies must be warmly clothed, I’m sure you will agree with that, gentle reader. And when a baby is expected by a knitter who has knitterly friends, one can be assured that said baby will be warmly clothed, indeed!

Rachel (aka trtlgrl) has been sporting a baby-bump for quite some time now, and I was afraid that trtlbby would arrive in the world before I could knit something for the poor wee tyke, because, as we’ve already established, babies must be warmly clothed. So a couple of weeks ago I spent all of my free, non-sleeping minutes frantically knitting.

I started with this little sweater: the Helena sweater
by Alison Green Will from knitty.com. I changed it just a little bit. I liked the picot edging so much that I made it go all the way around the sweater, instead of just at the bottom. And I have only one tie – an I-cord tie that looks like an extension of the purl ridges at the top of the skirt.

little booties

When I managed to finish the sweater with time to spare, I also whipped up these little booties. In flipping through the book 50 Baby Bootees To Knit by Zoe Mellor, I saw that these had the same picot trim as the sweater. It almost seemed like they were made to go together.

The booties were a fun, fast knit – hardly any time to knock them out. I used the same yarn to edge the booties as edged the sweater. I made just a few changes — see the particulars below.

Contrary to appearance, the booties are both the same size. Perspective is a funny thing.

trtlgrl and trtlbby-bump

Rachel seemed happy with the sweater and booties. Can’t tell if the trtlbby-bump is happy or not, but we’ll assume she is. (Just outside the picture to the right is a pile of hand knit trtlbby swag that guarantees she will be neither cold nor naked.)

And I just made it, as trtlbby will be here sometime in the next week, guaranteed.

The Particulars:

Sweater:

• Yarn: the sadly discontinued Ella Rae Silkience (41% cotton, 39% Modal, 12% Silk, 8% Rayon), 119 yds/108 m per 500 g skein, in colorways 16 – Grass Green and 20 – Berry
• Needles: a pair of Addi Turbo 24″ circulars, US#3 (3.25 mm) and a pair of Addi Lace 24″ circulars, US#2 (3.00 mm)
• Pattern: Helena sweater by Alison Green Will
• Modifications: Instead of having a garter border around the neck and front, I made the picot edging go all the way around. I made a single I-cord tie rather than two garter-stitch ties.

Booties:

• Yarn: Dale Of Norway Baby Ull (100% Merino wool), 180 yds/165 m per 1.75 oz/50 g skein, in colorway 0020 – Cream — I used maybe 1/2 of the total. The trim is leftover Berry Silkience from the sweater.
  
  
• Needles: US#6 (4 mm) Addi Turbo and Addi Lace circulars
• Pattern: From the book 50 Baby Bootees To Knit by Zoe Mellor
• Modifications: I used different needles so that the size is more like 6-month. I used Judy’s Magic Cast-On to start so that the bottom of the foot could be grafted together. The booties were to have little bunny ears and bunny face, but I decided they were too cute as-is and left those off. (Besides, these were supposed to be newborn size. The thought of a 6-month-old trtlbby possibly jamming an ear into her little mouth and maybe choking gave me the heeby-jeebies.)

EEK! ears

The other day, Amy asked a question that comes up all of the time, so I thought I would post an answer because I know that others have this same question.

In the first picture, you can see a sock toe. This toe was knit with some unknown stash yarn on Knit Picks size US#1 needles. I cast on 10 stitches on each needle using Judy’s Magic Cast-On. Then I increased every other row. The increases were worked 1-stitch in from each side.

You can see that the increases have pulled the toe up on the sides and made little mouse ears stick up on the corners. (I’m very tempted to use the magic of photoshop to add little eyes and a little nose to that sock toe…) The toe looks very straight and boxy.

Many knitters, when faced with little mouse ears on their sock toes, try to alleviate the problem by pulling the cast on and the next few rounds tighter. And that only makes it worse. Although it doesn’t seem intuitive, what really solves the problem is loosening up.

No ears

Let’s look at this second picture: same yarn, same needles, same techniques used. The only difference is that I cast on loosely. You can see that the little ears, rather than sticking up on top, lie nicely close to the toe and make a smooth, slightly rounded end.

Why does this make such a difference? Let’s talk about what’s happening here.

The increases pull the stitches on the sides of the toe out of alignment with the other stitches and make them march in a new direction. The point where the first increases are made is sort of like a one of those wonky intersections where streets converge at all angles. The stitches are all trying to go off in different directions, and they pull on each other a bit as they jostle for position.

In the first picture, the cast-on stitches are so tight that they have no give. They can only lie straight in one direction. As the edge stitches try to change direction and march sideways at an angle, the rigid end stitches pull on them. The only direction the poor corner stitches can go is up. So they become little ears.

In the second picture, the cast-on stitches are looser, so they can move around a bit. They help out the edge stitches by leaning very slightly towards the sides and curving upwards into a slight arc. This allows the corner stitches to relax and lie next to their neighbors instead of being pushed out of position.

It can be tough to loosen up when using a new technique. And JMCO seems particularly suited to being worked very tightly, in contrast to some of the other toe-up cast-ons which are loose and have to be tightened up later. Here are a few suggestions to help keep the mousies away:

• Use a size larger needles to do the cast-on, then knit the first round using the smaller size. If it still looks tight, also knit the first round with the larger size and switch to the smaller size on the first increase round.
• Try increasing two stitches in from the edge instead of one stitch. Having a larger section marching a new direction can help to mask any tension problems. But sometimes you might end up with elephant ears.
• Try a different increase. Look for an increase that doesn’t distort the stitches around it, or distorts them less. One to consider is a YO that’s knit twisted on the next round by knitting into its back loop. Twisting the YO closes the hole that it would normally make, and this increase can be made every round.
• Increase every round for the first 4 or 5 rounds, and then every other round for the rest of the toe. Having more stitches marching together can help everyone to line up nicely.
• Decide that mouse ears are cute and nobody is going to see your sock toes in your shoes anyway. (yes, this is a legitimate approach)

Hope this helps!

P.S. Thanks for all of the suggestions on what the German Mystery Yarn might be. I’m so thrilled that #1 Son brought yarn back that I’m happy as a clam with it, whatever it is.

Monkeys Without Borders

I have not been idle. I finished the Monkeys Without Borders socks last Thursday. (Sorry, but I really can’t think of these with any other name.) I wore them last Friday. They fit quite nicely, thank you very much.

I know that you folks back east are having a heat wave. Here in Portland: not so much. Yesterday it was almost 70 with sunshine. But today we’ll be lucky if it makes 60 and it’s definitely not sunny. It’s still wool sock weather here. It’s been Rose Festival season, and that means rain and cold. Since it’s Rose Festival, though, I though it only right to pose these socks with roses. The only one I had in bloom when these pictures were taken was Eyepaint, and it’s the perfect color.

This is the first pair of Monkey’s that I’ve knit – I know, I was a little slow to hop on the Monkey bandwagon. I loved wearing them on Friday, and I can see these becoming one of my favorite pairs (thus the heel stitch on the bottom of the heel).

I love the way that this colorway knit up in the Monkey pattern. The white stripe is very subtle, until it gets up to the cuff where it becomes wider and more bold. Of course, there’s a sploosh of white during the heel turn. On one sock the sploosh is under the heel, and on the other it’s on top of the instep.

MWB heel

I don’t mind that STR pools around the instep. I could have knit these with a short-row heel if it had really bothered me.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Blue Moon Socks That Rock Light (100% superwash merino / 4.5oz, 360yds per skein); one skein of Knitters Without Borders
• Needles: a pair of Knit Picks Harmony circulars, US#0 (2.0 mm)
• Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
• Modifications:
  • Knit toe-up, two at a time, using Judy’s Magic Cast-On.
  • Heel stitch under heel and on heel flap.

As soon as these socks were finished, I immediately cast on a new pair of socks with Stitchjones yarn in Andes Mint. You can get your own over at her Etsy shop.

I’m not sure what the new pair of socks are going to look like yet, but I’m not worried. The yarn will tell me what it wants to be.

a bevy of knitters

OK. We’ll go back to talking about knitting, now. But before we do… did you read the incredulous tone of the pingback to the previous post? … That’s right, a blogger whose focus is knitting hacked WordPress… The ping came from a very nice person who is as unhappy with the WP admin panels as I am, so I don’t want to give him any grief. (But I did wander over to his blog and tease him just a little.)

Thursday night I definitely left my comfort zone, but I had the best time! Several months ago, I had been asked to speak about Judy’s Magic Cast-on at the April meeting of the Tigard Knitting Guild. I was very pleased and excited to accept.

And I started thinking that I really should try to figure out exactly what I was going to say. And then I got busy and I didn’t. But I did think about teaching JMCO to a crowd and wondering exactly how people in the back were going to see it. The largest group I’ve taught it to before would probably be one of my sock classes. And that would be around five or six intrepid knitters.

This was around… 50.

A week ago at Tangle, I spied some US#19 circular needles – these are really big, gentle reader. I bought two – one in wood and one in metal. And I bought two balls of the bulkiest yarn I could find in the brightest colors that Alice had, and I hatched a plot.

more knitters

At the appointed time I arrived at the appointed place. I had yarn, needles, my current projects and a few items to show some cool things that JMCO can be used to do. There weren’t many people there yet, and I knew some of them. All were warm and welcoming, and I was invited to join a table. I sat and knitted and waited for the meeting to began and reminded myself that it would be a good idea to figure out what I was going to say.

Now, I know I am going to hear howls of protest when I say this, but I’m really a shy person. Once I get to know people, then I’m not shy at all. But in crowds where I don’t know people… yeah. I realize that some people are totally comfortable speaking to thousands of people. I’m not one of them. I have to force myself to come out of my shell and talk to people. Even knitters. And the knitters kept coming and coming and coming. And I just kept knitting and knitting and knitting. I knit two inches on the Salish Sea Socks – last December’s Rockin’ Sock Club pattern – all of which had to be frogged out the next day.

The meeting got rolling, and before I knew it, I was being introduced. I rose from my chair, waved at the crowd, took a deep breath, and started in.

It turns out that my voice is loud enough that I didn’t need a mike. Whodda thunk it? (I hear you laughing out there.)

I totally winged it, telling about how I had developed JMCO when I was home sick, and why it was cool. And then I called for volunteers. One volunteer played Judy’s Index Finger, and one volunteer played Judy’s Thumb. I handed each a ball of yarn, tied the ends together in the middle, and, holding up my humongo needles, demonstrated the cast on. The needles were so big that I actually needed both hands to hold them and loop the yarn around. Once I had demo’d, I showed off a few FOs that I had started with JMCO: two pairs of socks, and The Wings Of The Raven, and a bag that I’m pretty sure I started with JMCO. Well… I could have, so it got the point across.

and even more knitters

And then I wandered amongst the tables, helping the knitters master JMCO and having a really marvelous time with everyone. In the pictures, you can see a bunch of wonderful knitters, concentrating on winding that yarn just right.

When I had circled the entire room and made it back to my table, I answered questions, took a few photos, thanked everyone for welcoming me into their fold, and sat down with relief. I used almost exactly my allotted time. Whew.

It was amazing and fun and I’m so glad that I did it! But I’m not sure that I’m even going to become comfortable speaking in front of crowds.

I’d also like to talk to you a bit more about the Great Adirondacks Soxie yarn. The link is just the first place I found that actually had a picture of the color. As you were, I was a bit surprised that they compared this yarn to Koigu. It’s nothing like. For one thing, although it felt softer after washing and would be OK to wear, it’s obviously not Merino. And the most obvious difference: I’ve never had Koigu pool or stripe. Ever. I couldn’t keep this from striping.

Interestingly enough, at the TKG meeting I sat next to Karen, who was knitting lace with this same yarn in a blue and green colorway. And, although I could see that the colors in the ball were lovely, in the scarf the colors looked darker and just not as luminous. Karen mentioned that this was the second time she’d used Great Adirondacks, and both times she’d been disappointed with the colors – lovely in the skein, not so much in the FO. And she had not knit socks either time! So I feel vindicated.

I still haven’t decided what to do with that second skein. I think it will need to be something like entrelac to get the biggest punch from the colors that I can.

clown-barf-socks

OK. So can you tell that I’m happy that the clown barf stripy socks are finished? Oh, I cannot begin to express my joy at this event!

I don’t hate them. Really. But I want you to follow this link and then scroll down until you find High Desert. Then pop the bigger picture up.

That’s the yarn that I saw in the skein. Glorious, isn’t it? Whodda thunk it that it would knit up like this? The colors in the sock picture are brighter than they actually appear in real life. It’s early in the morning and raining again so the light was a little weird.

These socks had it in for me right up until the last. I finished up the ribbing, and leaned forward in my chair to fetch my needles from my knitting bag. As I sat back I heard crrruunnnchhh. Yep. Broke two harmony needles. One from each circular. Aaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh I’m not safe around wooden things, apparently. I’d best stick to metal.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Great Adirondack Yarn Co. Soxie, 100% wool, 360 yds/skein, in color High Desert
• Needles: US#1, Knit Picks Harmony circulars
• Pattern: my own – toe-up, short-row heel, plain stockinette. Started with Judy’s Magic Cast-on, of course

In completely non-knitting, techie news, I’ve been fighting with the new WP 2.5 admin panels. All I can say is ICK. The write panels were especially horrible, as all of the little check boxes and drop-down lists were moved under the post write area, making it necessary to scroll for a bazillion miles every time I posted. Which I realize has not been often lately, but let’s not digress.

A long, long, long thread started over in the Wordpress.org support forum amongst those of us not happy with the new arrangement. The end result was that this intrepid reporter, along with a few others, made changes to the panels to make them more usable. You can see a picture of the new panel here

If you are a self-hosted WP 2.5 user and would like to incorporate these changes, you can download them here, although I think this is the version that has an extraneous comma in the draft list. Or, to get the very latest version, download directly from the Wordpress bug report. The files all go in wp-admin/, except for global.css, which goes in wp-admin/css/. Sorry, I can’t help you if you are on Wordpress.com.

Didn’t know I had such mad codr skilz, didja?

it must be spring

Something happened when I wasn’t looking. I must have been distracted. I was looking down and not up. And I missed it.

It’s spring.

The cherry blossoms are insisting that it’s spring.

Then why, pray tell, was it bad-assed cold a mere 32 degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up this morning? That’s a January sort of temperature. There might be, the weatherman tells me, snow down to 500′ tomorrow. That’s my house.

We are not amused.

Look at the poor trees in the picture. Look cold, don’t they? I swear to you that those blossoms are pink. It’s impossible to tell in this photo because the angry white sky and the chill have bleached the color right out..

or maybe not

Here. I’ll show you some petals that had fallen off and drifted against the curb on the sidewalk along with some of last year’s seeds. See? They are pink.

Not 20 minutes after I took these pictures, as I sat in a local coffee shop drinking a cuppa Earl Gray, the heavens opened up and the rain poured down in sheets. I’m glad I stopped to take a couple of snaps because I’m betting that most of the petals are on the ground now — and not in lovely, albeit chilly, pink drifts but in soggy, sodden, brownish masses.

Of course, all of this is to distract you, gentle reader, from the fact that there’s no knitting content. I have been knitting. Or at least I’ve been meaning to knit. I’ve made it about 2″ up the ankles of the clown barf stripy socks. Most of the progress has been made here and there while waiting in a line and such.

At night, instead of knitting, I’ve been catching up on my long-neglected blog reading. It’s been wonderful to visit old friends that I haven’t seen for way too long. And tonight I read two bloggers who mentioned doing laundry. And that totally reminded me that I really needed to throw a load in right away. Because otherwise tomorrow I would have to go naked to work. And, it being a rather conservative establishment, that would probably be frowned on. Not to mention cold — especially if it does snow.

Of course, if the snow sticks I could justify working from home tomorrow. But unless it melted pretty darn quick I would miss Wednesday knitting. And I really don’t want to do that since I have promised a little semi-impromptu lesson in Judy’s Magic Cast-on — I swear I’ve been asked, although lack thereof never stops me, and it’s so fun to watch coffee house denizens trying to figure out why a whole group of people are intently watching me wind yarn around needles.

And worst of all, I would miss Sharon of Stitchjones fame and the yummy new colorway in her sock yarn that she is bringing called Andes Mint. Go over to her blog or her Etsy shop and check it out. But if you think you’re going to buy it all up, you’ll have to go through me first!