Dude, is that chick knitting?

Successes that haven't happened yet

2008-07-20T17:30:00.001-07:00

At the moment, most of my projects are either unfinished or gifts I haven't given yet, so I don't have any real updates on that front. I finished the lace scarf, and have been mostly using it as a decorative belt. The cardigan I started making for myself is mostly finished, but I need to make the second sleeve and that will be a pain (because it should at least sort of match the first sleeve). So I won't write about that, because it's annoying me and I have decided to maybe finish that project when it gets cooler and I feel more inclined to work on a wool cardigan.

I've also made 2 hats for Todd, neither of which are quite ready. The first is really nice, made of Mission Falls worsted weight superwash merino, but it's too short and so I need to learn how to pick up stitches at the bottom in order to make it longer. The second isn't quite finished yet, but I managed to mess up the top a little bit. It's closer to the right length, though. I never noticed that Todd was like, Early Man or something, but his head is gigantic.

Now that I've shared my frustrations, I'm going to wax poetic about yarn. Why? Because I like yarn. That's why.

Yarns I have recently used:

Noro Kureyon (worsted weight, 100% wool): This is the yarn pictured in the scarf I made for my mom. It may be one of my desert island yarns. It's easy to work with and the colors are, in my opinion, nearly unmatched. It isn't very soft, but it makes up for it by having this nice stretchy quality and for it sheer looks. It would make an expensive and probably not very soft sweater, but it's a rockin' scarf yarn.

Stacy Charles Ritratto (DK, mohair blend): This is what I used to make the lace scarf pictured in the last entry. This stuff is beautiful and very soft but extremely annoying to work with. The strands fall apart really easily. I used size 4 needles (Addi Turbos) and the package recommends 5s, so I'm not sure if that's the problem. I'm going to keep shopping for this kind of shiny mohair blend, looking for a more sturdy brand, but this may just be the nature of the yarn.
Debbie Bliss Merino Aran: I am using this to make my cardigan. I really like it and I think it has just enough sheen to avoid the dark blue appearing too severe, but not so much that I can't do a ribbing with a very matte gray. We shall see, though, when I finish. I also had some problems with this one splitting.

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran: (project undisclosed for now) How wrong can you really go with cashmere? This stuff feels amazing, and it doesn't seem to be as easily split as the merino. It's beautifully drapey, although not as drapey as alpaca, but it feels more substantial.

Araucania Nature Wool (worsted weight, 100% wool): (project undisclosed). This is one of those funky variegated yarns that I'm always concerned will look better in the skein than it will look knitted up. Not so! It really looks lovely and feels really smooth. It's not as buttery to the touch as Araucania's Aysen, which is a silk blend, but I can't complain about how it feels in the finished product- I'll post pictures and an explanation when I can.

Elisabeth Lavold Angora: (worsted weight, 60% angora, 20% wool, 20% polyamide)
This is what I used to make Todd's second hat, and it's really lovely. It's very fuzzy in that angora-y way, feels very soft, and comes in gorgeous colors. Todd's hat is a dark blue and I am going to make myself a hat with it in a sort of teal, listed by the manufacturer as "peacock blue." The flexibility made it really nice to work with, and the finished product makes a really smooth stockinette, so that under the fuzziness you almost can't see the stitching if you don't look carefully.

Dilemma

2008-07-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

July is the month to live in Milwaukee. It's not too hot, sunny, breezy. What I want to do is walk around town, since I also live in a very walkable part of the city, and near Summerfest (for which we have free tickets). But I cannot shake the feeling that I should be working, since I usually write on Sunday afternoons. I could vow to throw in a few extra hours this week, and I know that the next few weeks will be much less distracted than the last, now that the move is behind me.

In addition to working on my book manuscript and several articles and getting my entire existence moved into a new apartment, some of the goals I had this summer were to learn to knit socks and hats, make a sweater, and learn lace. I'm making some progress on all of these goals (let's not discuss the research ones for now, maybe ask me next week). Here's a picture of the lace scarf I'm working on. It's a modified version of the Tuscan lattice shawl in One Skein Wonders.

Happy fourth of July

2008-07-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm in the midst of a cross-town but still incredibly painful move, so I have no new photos. You will all have to make do with some photos of a simple ribbed scarf I did a few months ago. This was for my friend Jenny, as a birthday gift. It's made from one skein of Misti Alpaca worsted. Below, you see the lovely Jenny modeling her scarf. If you are brave enough, you can keep scrolling to see the lovely Todd modeling the scarf and enjoying a locally produced beverage.

Summer knitting in Wisconsin

2008-06-09T08:15:00.001-07:00

is not that different from winter knitting so far. It is heating up to the point where it's noticeably not winter, but not to the point where knitting with wool is miserable or unappealing.

I'm in the midst of several projects, some of which are gifts and shall not be disclosed until after they are in the recipient's hands.

This week I'll probably focus on writing about/showing pictures of the cardigan I'm making for myself, as there are no surprises to be ruined there. I'm doing a modified version of the cardigan featured in the iconic Stitch 'n' Bitch. The pattern improvisation comes in when I realized the pattern is written for DK weight and I'm using aran weight (Debbie Bliss merino). So I did a gauge swatch and figured out the difference and modified the pattern with the help of my wonderful boyfriend who enjoys mental arithmetic much, much more than I do. So far the thing is looking pretty good in it's dark navy stockinettey goodness. I plan on doing the edges with grey Frog Tree, but I have to decide whether to knit the edges or crochet them as in the pattern in the book. I am not a very skilled crocheter and I definitely don't know how to do buttonholes in crochet. I also need to figure out what kind of buttons to use, and face the challenge of the sleeves...

In place of a knitting photo, a picture of Todd and me at my recent graduation.

Finished products!

2008-06-03T09:36:00.001-07:00

The picture to the side features me modeling the scarf I made my mom for Mother's Day. She liked it a lot, although she wasn't sure when she would wear it since she lives in LA. Nevertheless, here's how I made it, for anyone interested in a simple scarf like this.

Materials: 3 skeins Noro Kureyon
Size 7 or 8 bamboo circular needles (my personal preference)
Tapestry/darning needle to work in ends after joining

Cast on 28, 32, or 36 stitches depending on desired width. Work in seed stitch until desired length.

I'm not sure if you can see the seed stitch well, but I think it gives the scarf a more earthy, bumpy look and adds a certain funkiness to the self-striping yarn.

Next up: Father's Day gift, stuff I dyed myself, first sweater attempt!

Commentary

2008-05-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

Grades were due yesterday, so it wasn't a very knit-ful weekend, but on Saturday night I got together with some friends to work on crafts, and we watched the movie "Juno," which apparently we were the last 5 people in the world not to have seen.

The good news is that I finished the scarf I was making for my mom, 360 yards of Noro Kureyon seed stitch goodness. The bad news was that I absolutely hated this movie. The title character was a mouthy kid; I wanted to backhand her half the time. The topic of teen pregnancy was glossed over, and the yuppie adoptive parents were too awful to watch. And, hello, I'm sorry, but the Sonic Youth cover of that Carpenter's song is NOT anyone's favorite song. Not that I expected any better from a movie that features, what, seven songs from that chick from the Moldy Peaches? Ugh ugh ugh.

Unlike the more hopeful "Knocked Up," which I also hated, this movie seemed to me to be a tale of a society in decline, with the men in the movie unable to take responsibility or anything but a decidedly backseat, wimpy role in the situations of their own creation. But this is another rant, which I will perhaps some day address.

I can't figure out how a movie about pregnancy managed to be so... asexual. We never really know what led to the encounter that led to the whole premise of the movie. And how can a teenager who is supposedly so smart not pick up on and react to the overall skeeviness of the Jason Bateman character? Unwittingly, the writers summed the movie up best in one of the many pretentious and off-base musical discussions between Juno and the faux-hip Bateman when she describes music other than Iggy Pop as "precious and embarrassing." I can't think of a better way to describe the movie itself.

more introductory crap plus projects

2008-05-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog reflects my tendency to knit in public, while doing other things. I frequently knit while riding the bus to campus, and while riding a stationary bike at the gym. My gym is mostly populated by college-age guys who are very serious about their lifting, which means that a. I need to have something to look at in order to avoid being a creepy old woman and b. i look really, really weird. No one has said anything to me so far.

So, knitting chick, what are you knitting?, one might ask. Since I am fairly certain that I did not give this URL to my mother, I can describe the Mother's Day gift I am about to finish. My mother is an artist and a color person, and I knew that this was gonna be a great excuse to buy some noro. I am finishing a scarf made from 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon, color 40. Pictures to come when it's finished!

Next up is Father's Day. My father is notoriously difficult to gift, but I'm going to go for a scarf made from black Debbie Bliss cashmerino.

I am not a person who does only a few projects at a time, so of course i'm also trying to master knitting in the round and am making a hat in (vintage) Milwaukee Brewers colors out of Lamb's Pride Bulky for my wonderful boyfriend!

This brings me to another thing that I like about knitting: not only does it give lots of opportunities to entertain yourself while creating gifts, but it allows you to use and reuse a similar skillset to make a great variety of highly personalized gifts. While playing with cool string.

the internet needs to know about my hobbies

2008-04-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

You see, making a public statement about having a leisure activity to which I willingly, voluntarily, commit money, time, energy and self is quite an act of bravery and subversion for me. As an untenured faculty member, I operate in a world where having a hobby is sometimes considered an act of disloyalty to the guild. I share my creative adventures here in part to subvert this paradigm and to suggest that more is not always more, that life is meant to be enjoyed and that varying one's activities is good for the mind.

I am drawn to knitting for several reasons. First, although I have rejected sewing and anything that smacks of stereotypical girlitude or creativity for many years now, when I was younger I did like these types of crafts and did quite a bit of sewing with both my grandmothers. Second, I live in Wisconsin and knitting is a good hobby for Wisconsin. Demand for scarves, sweaters and hats never goes away, and yarn and colors are very comforting during the winter. Knitting can also easily be done while sitting by Lake Michigan during the few nice months. Finally, I can make stuff for myself that I would actually like to wear, thus making this hobby potentially practical.

Therefore, I am going to write boldly and honestly about my adventures playing with sticks and string.