Proverbial Cap

I have been intrigued by twisted stitches or Bayerische knitting. I really love how textural the stitches are and theway the stitches travel across your knitting project. When this fall's Interweave Knits came out, I was so excited. There was a 4 page article by Meg Swansen on the techniques used for knitting these wonderful twisted stitches. I knew I had to knit the Proverbial Cap once I saw the pattern.



I cast on the hat with Nature Spun by Brown Sheep. This yarn is a little smaller than the original yarn, Quebecoise, but I didn't know that when I cast on the cap. I started the cap with a size 4 needle and after knitting a good size swatch, aka the hat for 4 inches, I realized my gauge was too small. So, I ripped it out and said that was good practice. Then I started knitting with #5 needles.



The double helix motif really gave me fits. I was ok with the first helix in the pattern but when it came to knitting the helix in reverse to travel the opposite way, well, let's say I had a brain fart. I ripped it back twice. Finally when I got it started the correct way, it was easy sailing.

I had a little difficulty with the decreases and keeping the knitting in pattern. But I worked it out by knitting the knot pattern in the ribbing portion as it is between the knots. I was a little surprised that I had trouble with the compensation portion of knitting. I haven't really had problems with compensation in needlework.

I am very happy with this hat. I now understand why knitters love 100% wool for cables. This Nature Spun yarn really makes the stitches pop. I actually knit a project that more than 10 knitters on Ravelry have knit. I think I may have to knit the Alpen Socken out of this issue also. I could always use another pair of socks.

The new world of Podcasts.

I just got an iPod Nano for my birthday. My daughters all decided that since I have been exercising regularly for the last 7 months that my old Walkman needed to be retired. I looked so "last century". Now with the new iPod, I was introduced into the world of podcasts. I had two basic misconceptions about podcasts. One that they were for younger knitters and two that you have an iPod to listen to them. I found out that you can download the podcasts to your computer from iTunes and listen to them without an iPod. Who knew!

I asked the kind women on my favorite Ravelry group about podcasts and found out that two of the regulars in the groups listen to podcasts regularly. So, I have been introduced to Stash and Burn, where Jenny and Nicole talk about knitting. Duh! They remind me of women sitting and chatting in a knit group. I just listened to Episode 74 where they were talking about changing your pattern and your gauge. It was great fun because I am always changing and tweaking things. I love that they viewed sewing and knitting as two compatible crafts. They talked about how sewing influenced their knitting. I have just started looking at how knitting is just creating fabric and that I can bend and create with this "blank slate". I have sewn garment for far more years than I have knit. So this was a whole new paradigm for me.

The other podcast I started listening to is Sticks and Strings. I like that I could start with Episode 1 of Sticks and Strings. One of the things I like about Sticks and Strings is that David Reedy is a scientist/teacher as his day job. When he started recording his podcasts, he had just recently started knitting again after a 35 year hiatus. I will be interested in his interviews as I progress through his shows. At this point, David's shows are more structured with essays about knitting and music inserted into the show.

I am a newbie at Podcasts and uploading music onto my iPod. I love that I now have an other virtual knitting group. Do you have a favorite podcast that you listen to while you are knitting or driving or running at the gym?

Little Gwen

It's been a long time since I posted a new blog entry. It just seems like life got in the way. I am very happy to report that I have a new Grandbaby, baby Gwen. She is now about 2 weeks old.

Of course little Gwen needed a blanket. I knit her a Fan and Feather blanket from the book Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. The blanket is called Wavy Cashmere and the original blanket was knit with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I wanted a machine washable blanket so I knit the blanket with Dreambaby DK. Baby Cashmerino is a fingering weight yarn and I knit with a DK weight yarn, so my blanket was larger than the pattern size. The finished size is 32" by 11.5", almost the same size as Morgan's blanket.


Now, every big sister needs a blanket for her baby doll. So, I knit Morgan a blanket to match Gwen's blanket. Morgan was delighted with the blanket.


Here's a picture of the happy big sister.

And one of Nana and P-Pa with Morgan and Gwen.


It was a wonderful 2 week trip in New Jersey. I have to say I am glad to be home out of the humidity!

One Sock Down

One sock down, one to go. I finished the first Slipstitch Ring Sock about 5 days ago. I didn't knit much when my parents were in town. I finished knitting the toe on the way to Vegas while we were driving my parents to the airport. And here's the finished sock on the sock blocker. I haven't soaked and blocked it yet. I knit this sock with Wildfoote yarns in the Sonatina colorway and Little Lilac. I used #1 circular needles for the project.

I really like the Spring colors. I called this Spring Chicken sock on my project page on Ravelry because it took me 2 years to get the nerve up to try a Cat Bordhi New Pathways sock. The Slipstitch Ring pattern is knit with the Cedar Sockitecture. Take a good look at the instep of the sock. There is no triangular increases. The Cedar technique has equally spaced increases in the body of the sock.

The heel flap is on the bottom of the sock. This heel is called the Reinforced Heel. I am hoping that because the heel stitch is thicker on the bottom of the sock, that I won't wear out the heel area like I have in 2 other pairs of socks.



I really like this slipstitch pattern at the top of the sock. Notice the cuff treatment. Cat calls this the Cobblestone Cuff. I think I talked about this in my last post. I am not too sure about the Spiral Toe. I have never knit a spiral toe and it seems a little pointy. I will let you know if I don't like it.

And last but not least is a picture of my Dad wearing his Alligator Teeth sweater. I am really happy with the fit of the sweater.

The back shows the pattern nicely. The sweater is actually a deeper darker red, green and brown than the photo.

It was great to have my parents visit. I was so afraid that something would happen with Dad's health again that he wouldn't be able to make it. We took many daytrips and had a wonderful time sharing the desert Southwest with them.

Why Don't I Listen?

Jan, the owner of Heindselmann's Too Yarn and Gifts and I decided that we were going to knit socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I bought stitch markers for Jan and I and we decided to knit Slipstitch Rings - Cedar. Sorry, that this pattern is a Ravelry link. I couldn't find another link. So, I cast on the socks and away I went knitting.

Cat has a different edging for the top of the sock called the Cobblestone Cuff. So, I thought, go for it! You start by casting on with Judy's Magic Cast On. If you have never seen this cast on, you need to watch the link. It is brillant for toe up socks. So, I am starting and I cast on 54 stitches and knit 3 rounds which makes a fun little "solid" area. Step 2, folded together and knit one stitch from each of the two circular needles. Ok, I do that but the stitches are now 27. This will never fit around my leg. Rip out, start again. Do the same cast on and knit 3 rounds. Yeah, it says knit together to make a binding. Rip out again. Then I read the instructions! Oh, cast on 54 stitches on each needle. That makes more sense so when you knit them together you still have 54 stitches. Got it (after 4 tries!). So, now I'm on to the body of the sock.


Here's an innocent looking sock in the wild. I tried the sock on after about 4 inches. It fit snug like I like my socks to fit. Now, I have to tell you that I had been reading about this pattern on Ravelry. And almost everyone said that the sock was really long. And I thought, great. I might actually use the whole skein of Wildfoote for this sock. I was really happy how the slip stitch pattern was turning out. And since we were camping, I sat in the sun and knit all afternoon. I sunburnt my hands on the thumb side where they were upwards towards the sun! I was a dedicated sock knitter. Last night when we got home, I was knitting the heel of the sock. And I thought this would be the perfect time to try on the sock. Foot in, fits nice and snug. It won't fit over my calf! There is no increases or decreases for the size of my chubby calf! Rippit, rippit, rippit.

At this point, I pulled out these socks. I finished my Ragtime socks in February before the Ravelry Olympics and the marathon knitting on Dad's sweater. These socks are knit with Wildfoote also with a #1 needle. I got 8 stitches to the inch and had cast on 64 stitches for this plain vanilla sock. (We won't talk about the fact that it took 2 years to finish the boring all stockinette sock!) I like the fit of these socks so I went to the Slipstitch Rings pattern and went to the size with about 64 stitches. I cast on 66 stitches by Judy's Magic Cast On, which I can say I have now mastered, and began knitting again. Today, I have the Cobblestone Cuff, which I also have mastered, and the first slipstitch repeat done.

At least the view was great! My apologies to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. The view was too tempting to photograph without the sock.

Alligator Teeth Revisited

I can't believe it's March already! Where did my days go? Actually, probably working. I joined a group on Ravelry called 2010 -- The year of the WIPS. This has really encouraged me to finish up some WIPS. This is WIP #4 for the year and it was a biggy. I have been working on Dad's sweater for about 4 years. I started it when I lived in New Jersey. I got both sleeves knit and then it got hot. This yarn is an organic yarn from Philosopher's Wool located on Lake Huron in Canada. And I have to say it is a heavy, warm Canadian wool. The first picture is the finished body and sleeves laying out ready for steaking.

If the neckline looks a little funny with all those stitch markers, it's because I wanted to keep track of all my decreases. At Dad's request, I knit a v-neck cardigan. When knitting in the round, I looked up v-neck cardigans in Elizabeth Zimmermann's book, which one I used I don't have a clue! I started decreasing one stitch on each side of the steek every other row when I got to the bottom of the armhole area. I stopped decreasing when I got 3 inches short of the armhole length. Here I am sewing the steek. This looks like the armhole. I stitched the steek with black thread so that it wouldn't show once it was cut.

I stitched right along the other most stitch in the steek. This armhole steek was 3 stitches wide.

Now, it's time to cut. I cut every carefully down the middle of the steek.

This is the sweater after the steek were cut. The color is duller than the sweater really is in person.

I used the 3 needle bind off to join the shoulders. This will give me a strong shoulder seam to hold the weight of the sweater.

Next I picked up 3 stitches for every 4 rows on the body of the sweater. I knit a k1p1 ribbing around the neck and down the border. I gave the neckline a little shaping with about 8 decreases around the back of the neck so it would curve a little more. I forgot to take a picture of picking up the stitches. I didn't follow Ann Bourgeois' advice and cut the steek before picking up the stitches. I'm not sure what advantage there is in picking the stitches up before cutting. I used Elizabeth Zimmermann's method and it worked out fine.

And here is the finished sweater. It had a good soak and was blocked. The stitches set in nicely with the blocking. I am very happy with the sweater. And I can't wait to see Dad wear it in 2 weeks.

WIP #2 for 2010

I have WIP#2 done. I finished Lindsay's Aria scarf while camping last week. And I didn't take a finished picture because, well, it didn't look any different when it was done than the WIP picture, just longer. I finished my Purple Ladder Scarf by Chris Bylsma. The scarf is knit in a knit 5, purl 5 ribbing. You knit the scarf lengthwise.

The magic is in the bind off. You drop the fifth stitch and vola! You have this lacey scarf. I knit this scarf out of a ribbon yarn from my stash. It is knit with Crystal Palace's "Glam", a superbly textured ribbon yarn with a "dual finish": one side with a matte finish and the other with a metallic sheen. Its beautiful variegated hues will give you sensational highlights to gleam and dazzle with any changes in lighting. That great description is from Yarn Market. I only used 2 skeins of yarn so I still have 2 more to play with in the future. This scarf is a gift. Shhhhh. It's a secret!

I also have been working on my Shawl Collar Cardigan. I have been knitting on wips only so far this year. This is a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern and I love it. The yarn is Tonalita Nightlife by Trendsetters yarn. The yarn is a wool with a wonderful cooper metallic strand. I love the color. I am finished with the body, just binding off. Next I pick up the neckline and edging. I really like how this is turning out.

Is anyone participating in the Ravelympics? I am on Team Nana-Gramma. I am entering in the WIPS catagory. Do you see a continuous thread here?