triskellian knits...

Purple things for me

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:43:55 +0100

Bellatrix FO pics! They look more twisted than they feel, which is ideal. What's not ideal is the obvious colour difference despite matching dye lots :-( Still, perfect matchingness isn't high on my list of priorities, and I love them. And there's enough yarn leftover to make another pair of something else :-)

Black alpaca and purple merino sample

I'm not sure how well this picture has come out, because the colour details are quite subtle even 'in the flesh', but this is my latest beginning-planning spinning project. It's about two-thirds natural black alpaca hand carded with about a third purple merino, and then rolled sideways off the card so the fibres are roughly aligned, then spun and plied. In person this is really quite lovely, with black bits and purple bits and blacky-purple bits, and somewhere around DK weight. I have about 400g of the alpaca and 250g of the merino, so together that should be enough for an actual thing, possibly a gothy lacy shawl.

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Presents for inlaws

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:33:49 +0100

Baby rainbow coriolis

Baby socks: quickest thing to knit ever. Started on Tuesday evening, finished this morning. And the Lorna's Laces rainbow which looks so lovely in the skein and so horrible knitted up actually works in a garment this tiny. Especially on the heel flaps - it makes an actual rainbow! These are coriolis master pattern, not practice sock, because the practice socks are on stupidly-large needles, but using the master meant I had to guess/estimate/research baby foot sizes. I hope these err on the side of being slightly too large rather than slightly too small, but having no experience of baby feet I'm not sure.

Also afoot: plans to knit ChildHood, although probably without the hood, just because the pattern says the hood knits up large and benefits from being tried on, and there's no way that's practical. I think I'll do this with red as the main colour and orange as the contrast. This is, of course, utterly unlike anything I'd knit for myself, but that's the point of having small relatives, no? (She will be a niece, by the way; I'm knitting bright colours because I hate the tyranny of blue-for-boys-and-pink-for-girls, not because we don't know.)

Lilac alpaca for MiL, batches zero and one

And I now have a picture of the yarn I'm spinning for my mother in law. That's batch zero (the small one, before I started carding it, rather bumpy and uneven) and batch one, carded, mostly smooth and nice. It's not actually as much fun to spin as I'd hoped, partly because it's really dirty (much more than it looks) - my hands feel all grubby quite quickly, and unless I cover my clothes, so do they. But I'm scared to wash the fibre unspun in case I felt it, and because drying it after dying took ages and got in the way, so I don't want to repeat the experience. So I'm steeling myself to spin it dirty, and I'll wash it before plying.

The current plan for what I'll knit this into is a garter stitch seafoam scarf or shawl, although I haven't yet swatched to confirm I like the stitch, but I had such fun knitting Bellatrix (which is basically seafoam in stocking stitch), and it gives a nice open texture (also, more area for less yarn!) that it seems a good plan.

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One and a bit Bellatrices; various musings

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:13:39 +0100

Yesterday I finished the first Bellatrix, and I've just now finished the toe of the second :-)

The first picture is the non-gusset side of the first sock, the second is the gusset side - since this is Cat Bordhi's sidestream sockitecture, the two sides are very different. There's a yarn over section near the beginning of the gusset, from before I decided to leave it in plain stocking stitch, so I'm intending to go back and work the loose yarn along the row to remove it. It looks fine as is, anyway, so it's not a big deal.

I've been thinking about how Ravelry's 'percentage complete' box works with socks. When I finished the first one, I triumphantly changed the project to '50% complete', and now, even though I'm sure the toe doesn't actually constitute 10% of a sock (and therefore 5% of the total project), I've just changed its status to 55%, to signify that I've begun the second. I only permit myself to reach 25% and 75% once I've completely turned the heel, even though that's probably more like two-thirds than half of a sock. This is also complicated by my uncertainty about whether I'm estimating percentage of stitches or percentage of time - the toe and the heel both take much longer per stitch than the foot or the leg do; with the whirlpool toe this is particularly obvious, since each plain knit round takes much less time than the corresponding increase round, especially at the beginning. If I'd had a stopwatch to hand as I was thinking these thoughts while knitting the toe just now, I would probably have started timing rounds and calculating seconds per stitch ;-)

I've also been enjoying my 'progress report routine'. When I reach a stage in a project that I feel is worth documenting (which is often as much to do with how I feel about a project as reaching milestones in it), I take photos, download them from the camera, import into iPhoto for editing, then export to the desktop. From there I drag them into my Flickr uploader, title, describe and tag them, then upload to Flickr and put into appropriate sets. Next I add to the new photos to the Ravelry project, change the project's percentage complete, and if I want to show the photos or have something to say about the project, I blog them here. I started this blog to provide a structure for me to keep track of projects and write about them, and the combination of the blog and Ravelry means I'm able to think much more critically (in the neutral-not-negative sense) about my knitting and my spinning, and apply my innate geekiness to them. This makes me happy :-)

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Bellatrix continues apace!

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:25:12 +0100

Having a wool gathering with White_Hart and Dyddgu earlier, I finished the heel on Bellatrix, and now with an evening's TV viewing behind me, I've knit a couple of inches of leg as well (photos below were taken a couple of hours ago) - this goes surprisingly fast :-) I love the eye of partridge heel (even though it doesn't really suit the yarn/pattern perfectly), and I like how the sidestream sockitecture makes the foot part look slightly twisted (it doesn't feel twisted, just looks it). The pattern is lovely - I really like how it messes with the colour changes, and leaves big fat blobs of colour in the middle of the stripes.

Very happy with these, and hoping to finish the first sock this week, although the wool gathering has made me feel all spinny again, so I'll be doing some of that too :-)

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Introducing Bellatrix

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:34:26 +0100

Bellatrix

Having made my decision, I did not wait to put it into practice. I started knitting Bellatrix as written, but the cast on edge was too tight, even as a tubular cast on, and I wasn't sure about about the gauge. So since I was frogging anyway, I switched to toe-up, with Cat Bordhi's beautiful whirlpool toe. I've got a different number of stitches, so the dropped stitch sections don't line up the same way as in the pattern, but I like it anyway :-)

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The sock problem

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:02:47 +0100

As I said a couple of posts back, I have at least twelve pairs-worth of sock yarn in my stash. I've now resolved to actually knit some of it, but I'm not entirely sure yet where to start - which pattern, which yarn. Part of the point of this post is that I don't always know what I think until I ~~say~~ type it...

Cherry Tree Hill supersock

This Cherry Tree Hill (left) was bought to be Clessidra. There are two skeins, so it's clearly long socks, and it's still a pattern I want to knit. This is also my only totally solid colour sock yarn, so perfectly suited to cables, I think. I've had it for ages, though, so I keep overlooking it in favour of newer and shinier yarn. Also I'm scared of second sock syndrome in long socks.

Red and pink sock yarn

These bright reds and pinks (right) are already incarnate as a fairly new pair of Coriolis, so knitting up this is probably low down the list of priorities. It's a good level of variegated, though - enough to be interesting without obscuring a pattern, so I'll definitely make more socks with it. Part of it is already in Stranded Sock Project Number Three, but I think this one's destined for a froggin' too, so it might be time to think about Number Four...

Pomatomus

This Trekking XXL (left) has begun to be a Pomatomus, but I think the pattern is too interesting for me to be able to knit it while doing something else, like watching TV, so I might frog and make it into something else eventually. Or I might resurrect it if I'm in the mood for complicated knitting - the colour is perfect for the idea behind the pattern, and it's not as if I desparately need more sock yarn available to knit with ;-)

Mystery blue-purple variegated

This blue and purple (right) is mostly a clapotis, but it's sock-weight, and there's plenty left for one, or possibly even two, pairs of socks. It's a bit scratchy though, so I'm not sure how much I like it. Also not a high priority.

Dream in Colour Smooshy

The Dream in Colour Smooshy was implicated in Stranded Sock Project Number Two, but wasn't contrasty enough with the black. I originally planned for this to be Embossed Leaves socks, but I now think it's too dark, and in any case I'm not sure I want to knit them at the moment. Drawing board time, perhaps.

Knitwitches sock yarn

And here (right) we have a suspect from Stranded Sock Project Number One, the Knitwitches purple variegated. Probably too dark and variegated for many patterns, so I'm not sure. I sort of want this to be lacy for some reason, so it'll take careful thought to pick a pattern that will work.

Opal Handpaint in autumn colours

There's little debate about this Opal Handpaint (left), because the yarn belongs to friend-R, so the socks will be for her too. I think she wants Coriolis socks, but I made my pair too recently to be ready to knit another yet.

Trekking XXL in starling colours

The Trekking XXL (right) is a colourway I am choosing to call starling, because that's what it reminds me of. It's too dark and too variegated to be suited to many patterns, so I've no real idea what to do with it. It's very pretty though.

Purple stripy sock yarn

This (left) is of course the yarn I want to knit. It's new and shiny, and I think might be well-suited to Bellatrix. The problem (there's always a problem!) is that there are three balls, so they could be long socks, or I could use the leftovers with some of the plain black leftover sock yarn kicking around to make an attempt at Stranded Sock Project Number Five. I'm a sucker for two handed knitting, apparently :-)

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Shopping in Hay and its consequences

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:51:52 +0100

Ages ago now, I went to Hay-on-Wye with friend-R. I bought second hand books, as you do in Hay (it's a small village in Wales with dozens of second hand book shops), including some vintage knitting books. I bought them for various combinations of because they're funny and because they're useful - one has marvellous mini-stories about Little Johnny and Little Susie* and how they feel about each other, their clothes, and their mother who knit them. Another, while having deeply humourous seventies-ish fashion photography also contains what looks like good and useful advice about designing and adapting patterns, although I confess I haven't read it yet.

What I didn't expect to buy was yarn or fibre, but buy them I did!

The fibre is undyed grey alpaca, the ball of yarn is Trekking XXL sock yarn in a colourway that reminds me of starlings, and the skein is Opal Handpainted sock yarn, bought by R, and intended for socks for her (I think she wants Coriolis socks, but I'm not ready to knit them again yet). I want to use the Trekking for something for me, but I now have serious amounts of sock yarn in the stash, so I should probably get on with knitting some of it. Counting on Ravelry just now, I think I have about twelve pairsworth of sock yarn in my stash, and that's not counting the leftovers which are probably enough for at least another pair. Although I've made good progress on the purple cable cardigan recently, I'm stalled on it again, so maybe I should cast on for some socks in the meantime. The question is which...

Dyed alpaca

The alpaca fibre is still somewhat in limbo, too. I dyed it with two different shades of purple cold water dye, which may have been a mistake because the colour didn't take very well, hence the pastelly shades it's turned out. I like it though, and it feels lovely. I've also supplemented it with a big bag of natural black alpaca from my local alpaca farm! Yes, I have a local alpaca farm. It's in Great Milton, about eight miles away, and their natural black actually mostly is black, unlike the natural black shetland I've spun before. I've been making various sample cards of the two alpacas, which will be the subject of another blog post soon.

*Names may be misremembered.

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A gift!

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:35:19 +0100

Purple stripy sock yarn

Yesterday I hosted a crafting evening, at which two friends - K and S - came over, K did her mending, S learnt how to to do the purl stitch, and I knitted, sewed and spun (of which more in a post to come). Excitingly, K came bearing gifts from her and her boyfriend J - the sock yarn to the right :-)

They've recently been on holiday - I'm ashamed to admit I can't remember where to, although northern Europe/Scandinavia rings a bell - had seen this and thought of me. K had told me the last time I saw her that they had bought me a present of wool, and although she is a person of good taste, and with an interest in clothes (and therefore fibres), I felt the usual trepidation of a knitter told by a non-knitter about 'lovely wool'. Would it be acrylic or eyelash yarn?

Purple stripy swatch

I should have known better :-) This is lovely sock yarn, 80% merino and 20% nylon, and it's gorgeous knitted up in the tiny swatch I've begun. I explained to K about the deep philosophical problem in sock knitting with the tension between beautifully variegated yarn which is shown to best advantage in simple, boring-to-knit patterns, and intricate, complex sock patterns which are fun and challenging to knit but work best with plain, boring yarn. I think she was slightly disbelieving about the depth of this problem, as well as being amused that knitting has philosophical problems.

However, thanks to Frax's Ravelry projects list, I think I have solved it. This yarn might be destined to become Bellatrix. Of course, I have lots of sock yarn, and lots of plans, and my plans often change along the way, but this is the current theory!

(Oh, and I had a text message from S today telling me that she's holding me entirely to blame for her subsequent purchasing of needles and yarn on the internet. Score!)

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Rantette; Knitty

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:49:42 +0100

I knew that Knitpicks didn't ship internationally. I've seen people complain about it, and to protect my covetous nature, I have avoided becoming too familiar with their product line beyond the needles that Get Knitted sell.

However, while searching just now for a product that is not made by Knitpicks, and limiting my search to UK sites, I discovered that Knitpicks own and use www.knitpicks.co.uk despite not doing business in the UK. I'm sufficiently cross about this that I might even send them an irate email.

(Also, new Knitty squee. I just have to decide which yarn, and which feet (mine or female-R's) Ziggy will be for, and then I'm so resisting the urge to cast on immediately. And Eloping might as well have been deliberately designed for one of my current spinning projects and one of my current gift dilemmas. Yay. I heart Knitty.)

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Resurrections

nobody@vox.com(triskellian) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:25:05 +0100

In the last week, I've had two crafting dates with different groups of women, and I've resurrected two old projects. In the first crafting date, with one knitter, one mender and one, umm, court jester ;-) (R did bring some work with her, but in the end she didn't do any of it), I swatched yet another stranded project, with the leftover Coriolis yarn, which produced a much better swatch than either of my previous stranded attempts. The next day, I cast on for the project.

Swirly slipper

The second crafting date was with two knitters (Dyddgu and White_hart), one of whom had come to play with my spinning wheel. I gave a mini-spinning lesson (and my student produced a mini-skein of genuine yarn!), learnt the Norwegian purl technique, and talked a lot about knitting as well as about many other subjects. I knitted on the new stranded project, which you can see to the left. This is going to be a slipper rather than a sock, and the swirly pattern is from "Kiehkuralapaset - Swirly Mittens" by goldenknits / AnneL, which I found on Ravelry. I'm really happy with this project so far. The colour contrast is much better than both of the previous attempts, I love the swirly pattern, and I'm really starting to get into the two-handed knitting thing. I even, with benefit of Dyddgu's Norwegian purl lesson, added some short rows on the sole at the base of the toe, to lift the pointed toe up slightly.

Also inspired by the knitterly conversation, I've taken up the purple cable cardigan again, and am making solid progress. For once I seem to be doing quite well on having two projects actively on the go at the same time - this is now nearing the point where I can split off the sleeves, and it will then go much more quickly.

Part of the reason I'm now making progress on this cardigan is that I've finished spinning the yarn for my next purple cardigan, but I am being strict with myself and not casting on until I've finished another one. Three cardigans in progress is too much! And to minimise the chances of me cheating on this, I haven't yet washed and set the yarn, so I can't just cast on on a whim - it'll take a few days of washing and drying first, by which time I might be able to summon up enough sternness to tell myself off ;-)

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