KnitWerk

Husband and brother have October birthdays. We hosted the big joint celebration last weekend with a house full of overnight guests. While both have a fondness for sweets, their tastes are distinctly different, so we had two separate birthday cakes. Husband prefers lemon-y, coconut-y desserts—a bit mystifying for my family of chocoholics, but they love him, and choose to overlook this eccentricity.

With house guests returned home, and no hope for late trick-or-treaters, we’ve got a house full of sweets:

1. 2 bags of leftover Halloween candy. There was a big drop off in kiddie numbers this year.
2. 3/4 of Chocolate Potato Cake (great, great grandmother’s cherished family recipe—it may sound gross to the uninitiated, but it is fabulous)
3. One entire homemade coconut cream pie. We’ve already eaten the other one.

Someone, please, take the sugar away.

Feet of happy mom

I really have knit three pairs of socks this month—honest! Here’s the most recently finished, shown first, since they were the first gifted.

It was an experiment; one of Mom’s feet swells, so I wasn’t sure that I could make a sock that fit well. Super-stretchy sock yarn plus a pretty lace pattern equaled success.

Halloween accessory, or true identity revealed?

Younger, dreadlocked stepdaughter made it down from the redwoods for the weekend. Her Halloween costume has clarified something that I think we already knew. She picked up some ears for her costume yesterday, and hasn’t taken them off since… there’s something about them that’s just right somehow.

Normal California hippy, or actual woodland elf?

While Husband is very happy with his new socks, he complains that they’re “Socks With Rules.” The knitters I know will understand this, since the new socks are alpaca. For him, “hand wash only” is a rare and foreign concept.

The first pair that I started for Husband (in hardy Lana Grossa sock yarn) was my first attempt at a toe-up, short row sock, and it wasn’t pretty. The toes turned out okay, but the heel was not good. You can guess the problem: unintentional holes. I should have ripped the first sock right away, but I didn’t… and I never even started the second one. Too discouraging:

The project got stashed in the bottom of the knitting trunk, but it hasn’t been completely forgotten. I’ve been collecting links to conquer the short row problem. In honor of Socktoberfest, I put them all together in one place for easy reference. Have I tried these? Not yet. But Socktoberfest, combined with Husband’s apparent need for a machine washable pair of hand-knit socks, has inspired me to finally rip the thing out and get it right. May not happen until November, but I’ll let you know what works for me.

Note: if I’ve misclassified any of these, or missed some key tutorials, I’d love to know about it.

Short Row Links

Wrapped-Stitch Short Row Tutorials
The following tutorials show wrapped-stitch short rows where you pick up and knit the wrap

• Knitty article Tiptop Toes by Wendy
• Nona’s wrapped stitch technique tutorial
• No photos, but step-by-step instructions from Woolworks
• Socknitters tips: troubleshooting holes
• Socknitters tips: More troubleshooting ideas
• A full pattern using the wrapped short rows technique that’s also used in PGR’s Priscilla’s Dream Socks
• This pattern from Hellchick.net wraps stitches twice (when you pick up and knit one wrap, you wrap the next stitch again)
• Another photo tutorial on this technique from NothinButKnit with very clear photos

Wrapped, but not picked up

• Lucy Neatby’s Garter Stitch Short Row Heel (pdf)

Yarnover Short Rows
Lots of good photo instructions for this technique

• Picture tutorial from Alison
• Ann Budd’s Better Than Booties baby sock pattern, (pdf) which uses Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’ short-row heel and toe
• Scrap Sock pattern also features PGR backward yarnover
• Nona’s yarn over technique tutorial
• Purlwise Yarnover Short Row Heels
• Purlywhites Yarnover Short Row Toes

Knit (and Purl) Encroachment Short Rows
This technique closes short row gaps by lifting the stitch below the next stitch and knitting (or purling) together with the next stitch

• Hipknitism has tutorials for knit encroachment and purl encroachment, as well as a full sock pattern using this technique
• This looks like a similar technique: Unwrapped Short Rows

Japanese Short Rows

• Nona’s Japanese short row technique tutorial
• Japanese short rows described by Knitting Universe (no photos)
• Purlwises’ description of Japanese short rows; also includes a list of books that show the technique

Other Online Resources

• Nona compares several short row techniques in this conclusion to her experiment
• Interweave Knits subscribers can find pdfs on short rows in the Beyond the Basics section, from the Summer 98 and Winter 2004 issues. One concentrates on using short rows to fix sweater fitting issues, the other compares different short row methods.

Beyond Socks: Using Short Rows for Shaping Other Garments

• Knitty’s article on using short rows for sweater shaping
• Using short rows to shape shoulders for 3-needle bind off, also from Knitty
• Nona’s explanation of short row shoulder shaping
• Shoulder shaping description (no photos) from Woolworks
• Shaping a neck opening with short rows. See also purl-row shaping and hiding the wraps
• Shaped Cap Sleeves with Wrapped Short Rows from Purlwise

Seriously, Dad, I’m going to talk in this brief entry about something I found to make for you that’s just about perfect, so don’t read on.

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(Does it ever work, by the way, to make this request? If I were asked specifically not to read something, I think I’d get all itchy, worry about it, then read it anyway. Am I alone in this? I believe that my father has this kind of discipline, however.)

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The first issue of Men Knit is up. I am so going to make my dad some Bicycle Helmet Ear Warmers. Dad frequently does 100-mile bike rides and runs half-marathons. One of his favorite rides is along the cold Northern California coast in September.

Next year I’ll make sure he’ll have warm ears.

Well, it’s been a while! I’ve been out a lot in the last month. Despite all, life has been pretty balanced, with tons accomplished on the knitting and BackTack front. The two things that have suffered most have been the knit blog, and my nutrition. I choose to turn my attention back to these items. Along with finding more time in my schedule to post, I pledge the following:

From this point on, I will no longer classify any of these food combinations as a “meal”

• Coffee with Splenda and milk
• Ice cream and diet Coke
• Chips plus diet Coke

Apparently, I have forgotten how to feed myself responsibly. Now, it’s true: I’ve never enjoyed cooking. Husband loves to cook, and I have encouraged this hobby. Unfortunately, Husband has been away at night even more than I have. He would come home after 9:00 p.m., and ask what I ate for dinner. I got into the habit of eating a bowl of cereal, since at least it’s somewhat nutritious. I didn’t like his expression when I would answer (truthfully) something embarrassing like “Umm… tortilla chips and sparkling cider.” To my credit, I at least had a sheepish expression as I admitted it.

Leave the house with a knitting bag and an audiobook on the trusty iPod, and it’s amazing what can get accomplished. Since I last wrote, I’ve swatched several possible yarn substitutes for a big Christmas gift (I’ll just wink and call it “Audrey,” and my friends in the knitting blog world will understand), swatched a sweater for me, and finished 2 pairs of socks, both to be gifted. I still have to get used to the earlier sunset, so I’m not together enough to have photos of these things yet—coming soon.

Reasons to reconsider my nearly all-black wardrobe

No blog entry is complete without visual interest, so I rely upon the cliche cat photo. You haven’t yet met Eddy, our new kitten. We got him in early June when he was 10 weeks old. Here’s a look at him when he first came to live with us:

Wilson wasn’t too happy about this at first, but pretty quickly he began to groom Eddy, and has become quite a good Momma cat. He does a really, really thorough job with the grooming (cleaning places on Eddy that I, for one, wouldn’t touch without rubber gloves). They’ve bonded:

The bathroom window, their favorite place to lounge:

Yup, I’m going through lots of those sticky-tape cat-hair-picker-upper thingies.

Got back from vacation to a lovely surprise from a grumpy friend:

Pretty beads for knitting:

And some really beautiful beads for jewelry or stitch markers. The pink quartz ones will need to be made into earrings immediately… there are some gorgeous carnelian beads, as well as glass and stone beads in other blue and pink shades. Just beautiful. Hmmm, time to get out the jewelry tools…

I can’t wait to try my hand at knitting with beads—haven’t done that before. Included in the package is a groovy needle with a big hole in the middle that you can use to string the beads on the yarn.

It just so happens that I’ve been collecting bookmarks about knitting with beads. Here are a few that I’ve found helpful or inspirational:

• Beaded Knitting – This link shows threading beads, as well as a few different ways to place them in your knitting. Included are links to a few projects.
• Knit Your Own Jewelry – This Knitter’s Review article shows knitting wire bracelets and necklaces with beads.
• By special request, Beading Made Easy! – FluffyKnitterDeb’s great photo tutorial on using beads in your knitting without stringing them on your yarn beforehand. Very cool!

Thank you, thank you, Grumperina. This will be very fun!

Does anyone have any favorite beaded knitting projects to share? Until I saw the pretty beaded cuffs that Grumperina added to “Karen’s Mia shrug pattern,” I haven’t paid much attention to the technique. I’d love to hear your picks for best beaded projects.

Confession: I originally started a different pair for my Sockapal2za exchange using the Alpaca gifted me by last winter’s awesome secret pal, Chrissie. I loved the Cable Rib Socks from Spring ‘05 Interweave Knits, and was able to squeeze gauge out of the alpaca – it was awfully dense, but it worked. For some leg/ankle shaping, this pattern uses bigger needles on the legs, then switches to #1US for the ankle and rest of foot. Just as I began to worry about the fabric being too dense as I was turning the heel, Husband started pouring on the hints about how he’d love socks like these.

This man does not, normally, yearn for knitted items.

(I made him a wool sweater years ago, but it’s too warm for him in just about any climate. He’s been able to wear it happily only for a few short weeks—when he was on assignment in Siberia during the winter of 2000. Since he has no upcoming trips to the Russian front planned, more wool sweaters are right out.)

Reading back over my entries, I have to note that the first thing out of his mouth when he saw the yarn in March was “This would make me a great pair of socks.”

Clearly, I’m a slow learner. After calculating upcoming knitting time against deadline, and realizing that really, the socks would be better on bigger needles with a looser gauge—OK, Husband gets the socks. I promise to heed any future interest he might indicate in yarn.

Feet of Happy Husband:

We took a nice, long car trip up the coast over the extended holiday, so I had lots of knitting time. I finished two pairs of socks: the new Sockapal2za socks, as well as a pair for my husband. First, for my pal, Errant Ankles by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer of Heartstrings, in a pretty, denim-colored Koigu KPM.

Project notes

• The pattern is a free tutorial on the socknitters site.
• While it’s nice to have this excellent pattern for free, there are some down sides. I’m accustomed to tersely-written patterns that save space. I was really annoyed by the tutorial format, since the actual directions are tucked in between pages and pages of long explanations. I wanted to start right away, but had to read through all this stuff to find basic things like how many stitches to cast on. To print the full pattern as written requires pages and pages of paper.
• The good part to the tutorial format is that you get to peek inside the design process. Also, she discusses many design options, and includes directions for alternate options. Once I calmed down and started reading, I found it pretty interesting.
• Though it’s written for sport-weight yarn, I used fingering weight Koigu. One of the extra credit sections discusses many options for changing gauge, and it was a snap.
• This was my first banded heel and spiral toe. Pretty heel! I love the fit of the spiral toe, too—I hate the feeling of extra fabric folding over my feet in shoes, and these are wonderful for pointy-toed people like me. Hmmm… I share this sensitivity with my father… maybe he would find this style comfortable, too? Dad, speak up if you’re interested.
• The lace pattern is super, duper simple. There are really just 3 rows to memorize for the entire sock: first section odd numbered, second section odd-numbered, and all even-numbered rows are the same. The diagonals come from the natural bias of the fabric. Easy, peasy.
• I knitted both at the same time on the magic loop. I highly recommend it for the lazy, disorganized or easily distracted knitter (like me). This is the perfect solution to the second sock problem. Also, some tweaking of the toes and heels was required to accommodate the change in gauge, and this allowed me to do the shaping at the same time, no notes required. Finally, I can see that this would be helpful for knitting a more complicated lace pattern, since you do the same row pattern for even longer.
• Summary: thumbs up from Sara! I’d definitely knit this pattern again, and I’ll be doing all my socks two-at-the-same-time from now on.

Now all I have to do is package ‘em up and mail them. In the mean time, they’re lounging near the window. The Koigu is pretty, with an almost nutty texture, and a slightly-varied color reminiscent of favorite old jeans:

This is the first in my series of knitting bags from felted sweaters (the ALP bag from previous post was the second bag). Designed for a redheaded friend with feminine tastes, it’s from a rosy brown women’s sweater, felted to make a small-to-medium-sized bag. I needlefelted a rose on each side patterned loosely after the lining fabric.

(Picky grammarians take note: I am aware that the correct term for throwing wool in the washing machine to shrink is “fulling,” but it just seems so contrived to put it that way. You’ll have to substitute the correct term in your mind as you read my blog. I don’t mind if you cluck and shake your head.)

This was a fun and challenging project. You’ve probably heard about Backtack, a exchange for crafty types. You send fabric to someone anonymously, who then makes things to hold notions for another anonymous blogger using the fabric they received. Since you’re basing your project on fabric that someone else sent you, there’s a huge loss of control involved that had me pretty stymied in the beginning. I got a late start, and then ran into a number of hurdles once I finally created a plan.

The blogger sending me fabric asked me what my pal would like, and after emailing the future recipient a few times and checking out her blog, I said, “send color.” I got a very fun package in the mail that included (very) colorful fabric, some lovely candles and lots of fun notions:

And then I pondered the situation. Happily, my pal is one of those types that posts nearly every day (unlike, ahem, bloggers like me). She posts a lot of photos, so I got a better sense of her taste. Except for type, I noticed that she never used black, and she loves stripes.

Last winter I started collecting wool sweaters from the thrift store. A search through my stash of fabric and wool put the whole thing together: I would make a knit bag out of a wool sweater (I made another one earlier; more on that later), focus on the bright solid fabrics, and pull the whole thing together with a happy stripe. I hope this suits her taste:

It’s a small project bag for socks or a hat, a large knit bag, a needle roll and a zippered pouch. Detail shots follow; y’all might want to just stop reading here, unless you’re interested.

This monogram is the detail on the whole project that took the longest. My pal and I share a love of letterforms, it seems. She likes to use her initials, so it was a detail I wouldn’t give up. Luckily, I had the sleeves to use for my experiments. Precision gave me trouble, even though I designed it with very simple letterforms. Transferring a design onto fabric caused problems, as well. I tried a bunch of stuff:

• Needle felting: While the sweater felted well, needle felting on the resulting knit felt was too difficult for the detail I wanted.
• Needle punch: The project is based on clean, bold color with crisp edges. I saw a needle punch kit in our local quilt shop, and was interested right away. Haven’t done it since I was a kid, and I liked the idea of raised letters and the texture. Ha! Wasted a bunch of time with this one; experimented with three different interfacings against the felted sweater fabric, and none worked well. Finally, I decided to work with regular fabric and applique it on the bag. This worked, but it didn’t have the look that I wanted. Again, the edges weren’t crisp enough. (I don’t have a picture. If anyone’s interested, let me know)
• Embroidery with pearl cotton: I liked the pearl cotton in the circles, but it was too thick for the typographic details.
• The solution: satin stitch embroidery with 3 strands of floss. Using fewer strands of classic embroidery floss did the trick in the blue and the white text areas. I made an applique (couldn’t get the design on the dark felt otherwise), and stuffed it before stitching it on.

By the time I was done with all this, Husband suggests, “Change your name! Keep it!”

A closer look:

The bag is lined, with pockets on one side and a zippered pouch on the other:

Obviously, someone enjoyed her new bias tape maker:

The small bag was a last-minute decision. She told me that she does small projects. The knitting bag I made earlier with the felted sweater method turned out a lot smaller. I still had a few scraps of lime green, so I created something she can use for small things. It’s reversible; on the other side, it’s predominantly green, with stripes on the bottom.

I loved this project. I can see a lot more little fabric bags and zippered pouches in my future—they’re so quick and easy! The knit bags from thrift store sweaters are a much bigger project, but I’ve got several more in the wings in various stages of completion. You’ll be seeing more of those from me.

What a fun evening — last Tuesday I enjoyed a lovely room full of yarn, knitters, and the Yarn Harlot :

The Draw
If you get a chance to see her, go. You won’t regret it. Stephanie is everything charming and funny, just as you would expect. Still chuckling about “bacon powder.” We got to see the sock and the famous Birch shawl. I have never seen so many people knitting at one time before. The room was buzzing with laughter and camaraderie. What a treat!

It must be exhausting for her—I was there for 2.5 hours, and when I left there was a long line remaining. That’s tough for someone who claims to be uncomfortable in front of crowds (I’m sure it’s true, but it doesn’t show—she seemed perfectly at ease).

Metablogging:

The Venue
It was my first time visiting Stash in Berkeley. I got way too excited about their shelving (see background of above photo). I mentioned it to, like, everyone, because I’m such a nerd. So, OK, my mom owned a yarn shop, where I worked starting at age thirteen. Stacking yarn in bins is a big part of the job. Those nasty Debbie Bliss-style puff skeins started showing up after mom closed the shop, and I’ve felt for yarn shop employees ever since. They topple over at the slightest provocation, looking chaotic and frustrating customers who try to cram them back on the shelf without dropping yarn to the floor. You know what I mean. It’s a pretty way to present yarn, but it’s not very practical. Well, Stash had narrow shelves built, which fit those nasty skeins perfectly. Everything is beautiful and orderly. Ahhhhhhh.

The Crowd
I walked in the door 15 minutes early, and there was only one chair left open. Happily, it ended up to be directly in front of Janine and Rachael, and next to blogless Maia.

I also got a chance to meet Celia (wearing Kidsilk haze in orange) and Emily in her Nothin’ but a T. As the line passed Lorna’s Laces, the subject of Clapotis came up, and Kathleen and her friend each whipped a version of it out of their knitting bags. Maia was very persuasive as she talked about spinning, and with all the gorgeous handspun she showed me I was nearly swayed, but I remain resolute. Unfortunately, though she was wearing her distinctive shoes, I missed meeting Becca, but hopefully we’ll meet soon at her Knitblogger Picnic. I’m so glad I got up the nerve to start up a conversation with those nearby. This was my first chance to meet other bloggers. Knitters are the nicest folks.