Knitter's New Year's Resolutions

In 2008, I want...

My Holiday WIP
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

... to knit my first sweater.

... to learn the Magic loop and knit 2 socks at the same time and toe up.

... to update my blog a tad more often, because right now, I am about 3-4 projects behind!

... to avoid buying any new yarn this year (yup, yarn diet!) except for a few exceptions which include exceptional yarn colorways and yarn for a sweater project. (I got a few skeins of yarn for Christmas. I should really melt that stash before considering buying more).

As you can see, I already started my New Year's resolutions! More on that, if I ever follow my other ones, in a timely manner! ;-)

Happy New Knitting Year everyone!

Needles and injuries

Note to self: Only bamboo. Especially for sock knitting.

Safely warm!

I can happily report that for the first time in say, forever, I feel warm when I wear my soft and luxurious Malabrigo Clapotis. The only problem I have met when the temperature falls 20 C degres below 0 is that my legs get really frozen. I just thought that I should knit myself some Malabrigo long-johns! LOL! Any pattern? ;-)

Now, that is what I would call ready for Quebec winter!

Interactive knitting

Hello knitters!

I have a couple of inquiries that need interaction!

- Would anyone have any idea of a good pattern for stripey yarn? I guess that it wouldn't have to be to busy to let the stripes do the talking, but on the other hand, I don't want to do only st. st. for all of them!! Any idea is welcome!

- I am pondering about knitting slippers and have been for a while. The main thing stopping me right now, besides time, is that I seriously don't know where in Montreal to find suede. I wouldn't want my slippers to wear off too quickly, so I want to make suede soles. But where does one get that in Montreal? I know that Effiloché doesn't have that (despite having sewing stuff)... :-(

- I want to learn how to knit socks using the Magic loop! Would anyone teach me? What length of needle do I need for it? At least, I can obtain it in advance...

Thank you!

Scandal!

Reading Knitting up a storm's blog made want to confess something... As many of us knitters, I share dark secrets. The one I will confess today goes like this:

I HATE sewing! I am a snobby knitter; I often avoid patterns on the basis that a part that is sewed should have been designed to be knitted as a whole and that way, there wouldn't be any need for sewing.

Sewing takes precious knitting time away from us, knitters!

Voilà. I feel much better. :-)

The Emergency Shawl story!

So much knitting occurred as well as knitting events! It won't be contained solely in this post, but that it just to make it suspenseful!

Andean Treasure Shawl
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

All right, back in September, I woke up at some point (read too late), awoken by connecting the dots that me going to a wedding in Lake Louise at end September and there being around 5C at that time of the year, as well as me wearing a fancy dress that doesn't really cover that much the shoulders should lead to the logical answer being that I need a shawl. Basically, I ordered my yarn 3 weeks before the flight (at the epiphany moment, basically), which took 2 eternal weeks to show up at my door step and left me with 1 week to produce a shawl.

I call it the Wedding Emergency Shawl.

I wanted something easy to do and to remember, given I have no previous experience in lacing and that I have no time and interest in that, given the circumstances. I went for KnitPicks' Feather and Fan pattern. Here it is:

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K1, *[k2tog] 3 times, [yo, k1] 6 times, [k2tog] 3 times; repeat from * to last st, k1.
Row 4: Knit

I used a total of 10 balls of Andean Silk, colorway cranberry, because I wanted it rather long and wrapping.

View from the 2nd hole
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Now, this shawl has a lot to tell. It had to be knitted in a week (at the time, I was considering using only 8 balls of yarn), which lead me to have go through a ball a day. Even during working days.

I knitted and I knitted. On the bus, walking to the bus, in the metro. On the plane.

Poppy
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

When we arrived in Lake Louise, the day before the wedding, we went to Golden (BC), for golfing. I don't golf, but I was offered to be my boyfriend's chauffeur (never drove those before and it is fun, fun, fun!!) and that gave me the opportunity to take gorgeous pictures like there is no tomorrow. But, sometimes, between two holes and after taking all that inspired me, I would knit a couple of rows in my cart (especially when there was a shower of rain). There I was, on the golf course, driving and knitting, sometimes both at the same time!

I figured that finishing it in time for the wedding was a tad utopian, but I wanted to do the most I can so I can take it off the needles, wear it at the wedding (hopefully it'll cover my shoulders!) and then I would finish it completely when I come back on, by placing it back on the needles. And so I did.

I blocked it last week. Yeah!

Unhappy? Impatient? I dunno...

It's been more than a week that my order from kyarns has been said "shipped", but still no signs of package at all.

I find this rather frustrating, especially considering that I found that being charged 20$ for the shipping to be ludicrously expensive (usually, nice stores will charge around 7$ for Canada, when coming from the USA). I just fear now that it'll be shipped by UPS (because, I didn't get the choice, despite the amount of money spent on it) and then getting my package will become a retarded exercice in trying not to lose a drop of sanity while juggling with a nuthouse (been there for a lense and it still hurts).

I wish that getting Malabrigo yarn didn't involve paying so much shipping. I wish for shipping options. I wish for delivery in a timely manner. Is that too much to ask? When you expect a package from amazon.com, it never takes forever, it is never complicated to get your order in your hands, and you never have to pay a retarded amount for it. Why yarn has to be different than books?

A question to all Malabrigo lovers

A question to all Malabrigo lovers (and they are oh so numerous!):

Where do you obtain your yarn?
Where/how have you done it so far?

All answers will be appreciated. :-)

Thank you.

I should be called "Small Foot"!

I should be called "SmallFoot", as opposed to BigFoot. I am frustrated that (almost) all sock patterns are for bigger feet than mine. I am a woman size 7 and I feel that the rest of the planet is size 8!!! Most (non-cable) patterns call for 64 sts and my personal number seems to be 56. Yes, even with fingering weight yarn and 2.5mm needles. And, even if I am a thight knitter.

So, that means that a significant part of my knitting a sock involves adapting patterns to a 56 sts, which is not always possible without altering the pattern itself (sometimes majorly) and knit/rip apart/start over again and again, which is frustrating and not as productive as I want. (sigh)

Any small feet knitters in this room with a word on this? <:-)

Happiness

Malabrigo soon to be in my hands

You know what makes a knitter happy? The promise of more yarn! Guess what there'll be on my Christmas list... :-) A few luxurious items that I so want to try but cannot afford as a regular thing. In other words, a knitter's treat! Plus, I have some Malabrigo on the way to my doorstep any day now... Yay!

On my wishlist...
Originally uploaded by LotusKnitter.

I think that every knitter realises at some point what is the correct equilibrium for them. At least, it helps. How many projects at the same time? What kind of projects? What level of difficulty/concentration for each?

Malabrigo soon to be in my hands

For me, I realised that I need to always have a sock ongoing, while knitting something more substantial. It is like having dessert. I couldn't go on only knitting socks or too many in a row, because the rapid satisfaction will lead to a lack of feeling fully satisfied, just like if we had desserts all the time. If I had dessert all the time, man, would I appreciate a substancial meal! Plus, if I were knitting only heavy projects, I'd feel heavy and stagnant. Everyone needs a little dessert to bring joy! So here goes the sock permanently casted on!

On my wishlist...
Originally uploaded by LotusKnitter.

So, I try to stay focussed and keep my attention on 2 projects only. I know very well what comes next and I have a generous queue list, but I keep myself from working a little there and there or even casting on. I want to fully enjoy what I am doing at the moment and progress at a good speed.

So, what works for you?

A hope for warmth!

Wool of the Andes Bulky
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

My friend, FuzzyMitten came home recently to help me figure out how to produce a mitten. With her generous help, I have been able to achieve a pair within 24 hours! Woohoo!

I wanted a basic and easy way to knit mittens and she popped a pattern out of her hat, as we went! So, for those who are interested, here is how I did them.

Basic Mittens
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Basic Mittens

Yarn: Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand Dye, from KnitPicks
6.0mm needles.
RedWood Forest colourway.

Cuff (15cm circumference)

(Wrist circumference - 2 cm) x (number of sts per cm) rounded up to the nearest even number.

(15 - 2) x 1.7 sts/cm = 13 x 1.7 = 22 sts

CO 22 sts.

K2P2 for about 2 in.

Palm (18 cm circumference)

(18 cm x 1.7 sts/cm = 30 sts.)

Round 1: K around
Round 2: *K3 M1L, repeat from *, then finish with M1L. (30 sts)
Round 3: K around
Round 4: K2, PM, [M1L, K1, M1L]*, PM, then K until the end. *thumb formation. 3sts
Round 5: K around
Round 6: K2, [M1L, K3, M1L], K the rest. Thumb has now 5 sts
Round 7: K around
Round 8: K2, [M1L, K5, M1L], K the rest. Thumb has now 7 sts.
Round 9: K around
Round 10: K2, [M1L, K7, M1L], K the rest. Thumb has now 9sts, which is enough.

(Hand - palm = thumb)
(22 cm - 18 cm = 4 cm)
(4 cm x 1.7 sts/cm = 7sts. But 7 sts would have been too small, so we opted for 9 sts.)

Subsequent rows: K around until the work reaches the base of the thumb. Finish after knitting the thumbs stitches and place them on scrap yarn for further use.

Finish the round.

K1, M1L (because the palm lost a st for the making of the thumb), K2tog (using a st on each side of the thumb to join them together), M1L (to compensate for the loss by the K2tog), K until the end of the row.

K around until the reaching of the little finger.

Decrease rows:
- *K3, K2tog, repeat from * until end of row.
- K around
- *K2, K2tog, repeat from * until end of row.
- K around
- *K1, K2tog, repeat from * until end of row.
- K around
- *K2tog, repeat from * until end of row.

Break off yarn and darn the end.

Thumb

Put the 9 sts back on needles (3 sts on 3 needles).

Make 3 sts in the gap between thumb and palm leaving a long end inside the mitten, K around. (12 sts)

K2tog to join with the gap, K around, K2tog to join with the gap (10 sts)

K around until end of thumb.

- *K2tog, repeat from * until end of row. (5 sts)

Break off yarn and darn the end. Use the thumb long end of yarn to close any holes or to insulate better the gap between thumb and palm.

Enjoy!

Now, I need to make a pair using Malabrigo yarn!!!

Yarn envy!

I know I am not supposed to think about this, but I feel yarn envy!! Despite my yarn diet, I have ideas of mittens using Malabrigo yarn... 2 different colors. And a matching scarf for each pair... (2, so I can match my 2 winters coats: the light black one and the warmest navy one!)

In that respect, I need to try to resist buying a few skeins of Malabrigo Alpine Pearl, in worsted weight, but I may fail... It seems that this yarn is wonderful and I don't want to be left out!

As for the other yarn, I need your help!! I saw a someone using Malabrigo Merino, in worsted weight, Sealing Wax colorway (a non-solid red). Where can I find it???? I can't seem to find it anywhere I look on the interwebs!! Help!

In addition, where is the best place to order some Malabrigo? Who has the best selection and good prices? This yarn seems somewhat hard to find... :-(

Thank you!

A finished project!

Penelope
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Last July, I bought Perl Grey's Penelope pencil skirt kit, which includes the pattern and Handmaiden's Ottawa yarn, in beet colourway.

I had to start over 3 times. because I am bad at gauging properly my tension and I am a tight knitter in transition towards looser. Yes, I made a swatch, but they are always misleading!

The first attempt was way too small (I am not 27 inches around the hips!!), the second way too big (jumped up to 40in). You know what they say, third time is the charm. Well, apparently so. :-) So, I started for real in August, left it on ice for the most part of September and October, only to really finish it just now. In total, it must have taken slightly more than a month to execute.

My first (major) piece of clothing!

Knitting puzzle

I have been meditating about a design I want to make and for which I ordered some gorgeous for. One little problem is that I can't figure out one detail in order to achieve what I have in mind. I have been struggling over this for days now, trying little tests/prototypes with scrap yarn, meditating some more, consulting the stitch libraries I have, but to no success.

What I want to do is so very simple, but puzzling. I bugs me to not be able to solve something so simple! (Yet complicated , I guess...)

I want to be able to find a stitch that will generate a bump on the knit side. In other words, something like "Kn P1 Kn", but the reason why this latter stitch pattern fails is that the bump is inward as opposed to outward (the inside, or Purl side displays what I am looking for).

I know that going for "Pn K1 Pn" would make my life easier, but I want a K-based pattern!

The whole goal behind the bump I want to create is to, after many rows, have a vertical line... It doesn't have to be of a specific shape. Something different than a P-looking or a K-looking stitch would actually be a bonus!

Any ideas?

Ravelry

I got my Ravelry invitation!! Yay! I shall be found under diluvienne (original, eh? ;-) ) Woohoo!

Another project (like I need more...) ;-)

I would need new slippers and given that I am a knitter, I think that I should make them myself. The only problem is that I can't seem to find a free pattern for cool slippers. I don't want the traditional grand-ma style of slippers or sock-style type of slippers. I would be willing to pay for a pattern, if it is for that pattern only (so, it is affordable and I don't need to buy a book, just for that project). Does anyone have suggestions? Or, if you are from Montréal, do you have a printed copy of a pattern/ patterns magazine/ patterns book you could lend me?

Thank you!

New!

I know. Long time no post. It is certainly not because I have not knitted or have nothing to say! No, see, it is more due to the scary long lists of projects (socks, scarf, skirt and an emergency shawl!) and traveling to Lake Louise (during which, yes, I did knit!). Since I have 4 ongoing projects at the moment, I found the energy to focus on finishing some of them. The first one is a quick one: a pair of socks!

Yarn

Sea Wool
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Fleece Artist's Sea Wool
(70% Merino, 30% Seacell)
Colorway: mermaid (hand dyed)

Pattern

The pattern is from the Knitting up a Storm blog and adapted by me (with the help of my sweetie at times) for a women size 7 foot.

Joe's Office sock
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

The verdict

They are so comfy! The pattern makes them stretchy, for a better fit (I hate stiff socks). And I enjoy the nice diamond-shaped pattern!

Yay!

Patterns!
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Look what just arrived in the mail today! And I have a (first of three) shipment of yarn at the post office for me to pick tomorrow!

Another dyeing experiment. But with more learning this time. :-)

My weapons of choice
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

In this vein of inspiration, I wanted to experiment more earthy colours, something more Fall. I wanted to make a stripy yarn involving a gradient of burgundy and soily brown. I thought about tea and wine. Both are well known to stain clothes when we spill it, it should work! Or so, I thought.

Setup - before
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I managed a more friendly setup, involving bowls in the microwave and my preparation, lots of it. I brewed a good number of Tetley's orange pekoe tea-bags in a big container, opened the wine bottles and started to distribute the pigments in the designated bowls. And I heated. And I heated. And... well you know the rest!

Setup - after
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

No fading in color from the solutions in which the yarn was dipping in. The yarn though seemed to get darker, but no actual soaking of pigments inside the fibers, as dramatically seen with Kool-Aid (with the end result leaving something like sweet water!)

Rinsing the yarn got rid of a lot of the color, as it was not really attached to the fibers. Another difference with Kool-Aid.

Ta da! Or not...

It resulted in this:

Beigey
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Not quite what I had in mind. After seeing this result, I read ejchang's links about natural dyeing and understood a bit better what it rather failed. Not mordant. For some reasons, Kool-Aid sticks well.

Take 2!!! or How I didn't say my last word

I decided to reuse that yarn (hey it is certainly not lost!!) to do the colours I wanted to obtain in the first place, but using Kool-Aid this time. If you have the primary colours, you can do anything, from what I learned during my art classes in high school (I didn't do 4 years of them for nothing!!). Let's do this!

Reddishes
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

As for burgundy, I made a mix of cherry with a tad of grape to darken the colour. And, for the brown, I chose a base of Orange Tang (you know that thing we wouldn't drink, but is apparently useful to unclog pipes...), lots of grape Kool-Aid and a touch of cherry.

Pigments source
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

To obtain colours that satisfied me required a tad of tweaking with the powders, but it can only be good because you make concentrated solutions that way. :-)



TA DA! Here it is! I show you "Autumn"!!

Autumn
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I like how the colours aren't uniform. I can't wait to see how this baby will stripe, as I manage to make thinner stripes than my Blue Frost yarn.

Ok, no more dyeing until I can know (and show) what I've done so far looks like. And I got far too many projects right now, I should remain concentrated! More knitting postings later!

First dyeing experiment!!

Bare
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I have always been intrigued and fascinated by the fact you can easily and inexpensively dye your own yarn and make wonderful color-ways. I had to try!

I wanted to use only "natural" pigments and then so many ideas came in that I had to buy 10 skeins of bare merino wool. I figured that this would be a great starter, some material for experimentation. Eventually, I'll know what I do and I'll dye yarn, aiming for a given result.

Natural was a big argument for me and I was very stimulated by the idea that you can do powerful coloring and very creative dyeing/knitting with ingredients found at the grocery store. I have been thinking that there is so much food that stains clothes when we don't want, I might as well use that as a dye for yarn!

Expérimentation en cours
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I followed the procedure detailed by Knit Picks. For my first experiment, I wanted to make a 3 stripes of blue: light, medium, dark. I tried to play with the solutions, seeing what it would do.

Basically, I washed the yarn gently with a bit of Zero detergent. and rinsed afterwards. Then, I prepared my three dyeing solutions:

- Light: Gatorade Frost (powder)
- Medium: Gatorade All Stars Blue Rush (bottles)
- Dark: Gatorade Frost + a hint of grape Kool-Aid

I dipped the yarn in glass containers and zapped it in microwave for 2 min. Then, I waited for a few minutes and zapped again for 2 min. Again and again. When I noticed that the yarn picked all the pigments, I would change the solution with new pigments.

From 3 to 2
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I noticed a little problem with this method when it came to start the actual dyeing. The color doesn't reach the "in-between" the pots... That means that between the colors, there would be no color. At some point, when the yarn looked rather well coloured, I decided to dump the "in-betweens" inside the 2 darker solution, in order to stain them as well. I guess that this maneuver is responsible for the fact that I ended with mostly 2 colors instead of 3. But I am very happy with the way it turned out!

Drying
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

After many many cycles of heating, resting and not solutions left, I let it cool down for 2 hours (the time to watch a movie, in fact!) and when I came back, the liquid left was like water! The yarn really drank all the pigments there was! I transformed Gatorade into water!

I rinsed the skein, washed it gently with Zero again and placed it on an old towel for drying.

There it was, "Blue Frost" was born. :-)

Blue frost
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

From this experiment, I found out very quickly that it doesn't matter what colour you make, you need to provide intense dyeing solutions to feed pigments to the yarn and ensure a strong colour or else you need a lot of liquid so you can refresh it as the pigment go into the yarn.

But who cares? We talk about juices you can find at the grocery store, not some expensive fancy dyes! And, dyeing with food is really fun and I appreciate the fact that it is 100% safe. Hell, I can drink the stuff, I can safely say that wearing it won't be harmful! I gotta say that this experiment pleased and thrilled the scientific and creative side in me. Them happy, together at last!

More food experiment to come! I have many more ideas and skeins to work with!!!! Woohoo!! Joy!

On the road to yarn/pattern experimentation...

Watching ejchang's blog and photos, I couldn't help to notice some really gorgeous yarn she was knitting with. After inquiring with her, I finally discovered Fleece Artist's yarn. "Not too late!", you might say, but I was completely unaware of their existence and I instantly fell in love with their yarn.

Sea Wool
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I had my first physical, sensorial, actual encounter with Fleece Artist's products when I had my first visit at Effiloché (mandatory visit for any serious knitter in Montreal, in my opinion!). I caved for a skein of Sea Wool (70% Merino, 30% Seacell) and of Merino yarn.

I started playing with the Sea Wool yarn, using the Bordello Sock pattern. However, after a few inches, I started to realize that this pattern has a basic flaw for socks that bothers me a lot: they are not stretchy (mind you, I knit on the tight end).

I ended up ripping it off (hence the lack of photo of my own), and started again with a different pattern (another post!)

For obvious reasons, I cannot divulge the pattern online. However, I am inclined to give it to anyone who asks for it! Any takers?

post-Toronto knitting vigor

Sock yarn heaven
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

Last June, while I was in Toronto, I visited what I heard afterwards to be the biggest yarn store in North America. Really cool store. It is called Romni and while I was there, I started a really strong yarn envy. I always wanted to try cotton and since it was in the middle of Summer, I felt that knitting cotton made sense, so I went a little crazy and bought a big bunch of cotton skeins.

Spiral sock
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

While I visited Toronto, we were staying at a friend's parents' house. One of our generous hosts was a knitter too and she gave me a copy of an easy sock pattern. I felt that there couldn't any better usage of one of my cotton skeins!

The pattern is taken from a knitting book from the 50's. Very easy to do, no heel to execute, but entertaining and interesting spiral. It has no name, so I'll call it "Spirally"!

Spirally

Gauge: 12 rounds = 1 inch.

Cuff: Cast on 56 sts loosely; divide on 3 3mm needles; join. Work K2, P2 ribbing for 1 1/2 inch (or less, like I did).

Leg:
Round 1 *K4, P4; repeat from * to end; mark end of round. Repeat last round 3 times.
^At beginning of next round K5, *P4, K4; repeat from *, end round P3;
P1 st from next round and mark for end of round; then K4, P4 for 3 more rounds.
Repeat from ^ shifting end of round pattern, 1 st to the left every 4th round until desired length. At this point, try sock on to determine exact length require before toe.

Toe:
K1 round plain.
1st dec. round: *K6; k2tog; repeat from * to end of round; 49 sts. K3 rounds even.
2nd dec. round: *K5, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round; 42 sts. K3 rounds even.
3rd dec. round: *K4, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round; 35 sts. K3 rounds even.
4th dec. round: *K3, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round; 28 sts. K3 rounds even.
5th dec. round: K2tog 14 times; 14 sts. K1 round.

Break off, leaving an end. Draw end through all sts twice, tighten and darn in end.

The Sock is Done
Originally uploaded by dcoombs.

The yarn is Mandarin Petit (color 5200), a Norwegian cotton yarn. Very soft! I like it!

I realized with wonder and happiness as I was knitting it that the yarn I chose was equally spiraling, but in opposite direction than the stitch spiral. Very interesting!

I have instructions for children and men size as well, if anyone is interested. Feel free to ask any questions!

My second (completed) pair of socks!

An intro, for a beginning.

Hello there!

This idea of a separate blog for elaborating on all knitting thoughts had been germinating in my head for quite a while now. Seeing other people's blogs gave me the motivation to proceed forward as they have been a great source of inspiration and ressource for me. I figure that maybe, just maybe, the same could happen to someone else. :-) Wishful thinking I guess.

Jersey torse
Originally uploaded by diluvienne.

I want to freely discuss many aspects of the obssessed knitter life, such as yarn manufacturers, stores, patterns, technical issues, social issues, experimentations and so on. It is a little bare place for now, but it'll elaborate with time.

I want to be able to share pictures, stories, patterns (whenever possible), etc. All comments are welcomed! It is a tribune to encourage discussions, exchange, ideas, inspiration!

To all of those who inspired me, I thank you!