Lickity Split

Hello, folks! I'm going to be blogging quickly today because I'm on a deadline but I've missed thinking/talking/writing about knitting so here's what I've been up to!

A bit of holiday gift knitting:

Cascade 220 Superwash

This is a simple 2x2 rib hat for my little cousin. It warms my heart how much he loves the hats I make him, but I have to use superwash because his first hat got accidentally washed. I hate the lack of bounce that superwash yarns have sometimes, they can feel so lifeless, so I held the yarn double and it made a nice squishy fabric. That makes 6 holiday gifts down, 10 more to go! (They're small... but it will be a close finish.) And that makes my 17th out of 50 Year of Projects goals completed! My list of goals has been evolving and has grown to much longer than 50 projects, so my revised goal is not necessarily to finish the entire list, but rather to just finish 50 things off that list.

A bit of secret design knitting:

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorways Ghost Moth and Blue Ringed Octopus

I can't tell you much about this except ahhhhh I love this color combo!

A bit of swatching for a good friend's impending tiny human (Bridgi, don't look!):
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Malabrigo Yarn Rios, colorway Archangel

This is going to be a Sylvan Afghan, designed by my Ravelry friend, Erica. It's a great pattern with lots of options and detailed instructions to help you make exactly the blanket you want! I'm going to alternate strips of leaves in the colorway pictured with a lime green and undyed color. It should match the crib set pretty nicely.

Finally, Darwin wanted to say hello:

Blurry but cute!

That'll have to hold me over for a bit. I'm hoping I have more time next week to blog. But for now, back to writing about science!

A Mitten Story

This particular FO is a first for me, so I am very excited about it. I've been living with a heavy burden of shame: I have been knitting for six years and have never ever finished a pair of mittens... until now. Before I show you these miraculous mittens, though, let's have a little backstory!

Attempt #1:

Malabrigo Worsted, colorway Natural

This magnificent thrummed mitten was my first attempt at keeping my fingers warm during winter. I began this pair three years ago in October 2009. I  modified a cable mitten pattern to include thrums, which are basically just bits of fiber that you stick in your knitting so that the inside is puffy and warm and amazing. Since I knew nothing about fiber at the time, I bought the first pretty fiber I found at a farmer's market, which turned out to be Pygora goat fiber--incredibly luxurious stuff. When I told the woman at the stall that I wanted it for mitten lining she sounded surprised and was like "That would make really nice mittens." Anyway, this pair is one mitten complete and I'm pretty sure I've misplace my notes, though I do hope to figure out how to knit its mate at some point.

Attempt #2:

Malabrigo Yarn Chunky, colorway Mariposa

This mitten was an early attempt at designing my own pattern. I began this one in November 2010. I still really like the pattern but couldn't quite get the numbers and fit right, seeing as I had not completed any bulky weight mittens at the time. This looks ok but it was way too snug. I still hope to come back to this pattern now that I have a better idea of mitten size/fit.

Attempt #3:

BMFA Silk Mawatas, colorway Aurora Borealis

This project was my first attempt at knitting with silk hankies/mawatas. I began these in January 2012. If you click on the 'mawata' tag to the left of this post on the blog you will see all the posts I've made regarding these mittens. I still really want to finish these, too, but they are kind of annoying to knit. You have to pause every couple of rows to prepare the next silk hankie for knitting and it gets a bit messy and rough on the hands. Someday!

Attempt #4:

The Sanguine Gryphon QED, colorways Radius and iSkein

I am still entirely in love with the pattern for this project, but it is another one that is just somewhat unpleasant to knit. It involves thick yarn on small needles and pages and pages of cable charts. The knitting hurts my hands a bit and the charts make this a terrible "pick-up-and-go" project, which are the kinds of projects that tend to be doomed to the UFO pile in my knitterly life. Since I do love the pattern so much I have not yet given up, but starting two pairs of fiddly mittens in January 2012 was obviously much too ambitious.

The Finished Pair:
But finally, three years after my first attempt at mittens, I bring you these:

Malabrigo Yarn Chunky, colorway Lettuce

These are the Zephyr Fingerless Mitts pattern (with mitten option) by Tracey/a.k.a. Riverpoet. I modified them quite a bit for fit and personal preference, but it's a free pattern with a fun stitch that creates a great woven effect that works well with solid yarns and even better with variegated colorways.

I like my mitten cuffs snug but the hand part roomy so I mashed together the S/M and M/L sizes. I moved the thumb one stitch palmward to mimic more closely how the thumb is actually positioned on the hand. Finally, I extended the stitch pattern to the top of the mitten and changed the decreases so that they worked like a sock toe. In short, these mittens were a great learning experience in teaching me how I like my mittens. And the best part? I knit them in five days. FIVE DAYS.

Why yes, I do look pleased with myself.

All that waiting, all those chilly-fingered-mornings shoveling snow and scraping ice... and I finished this pair of mittens in five days. Seems crazy, doesn't it?

School's Out

School's not really out, I just couldn't think of a good post title. But it's sort of relevant in that I finished the hall pass for my Fiasco's classroom!

Used leftover yarn, improvised design.

Mattress stitch up each long side, whipped stitch the top and bottom, stuck a bean bag full of rice inside.

Added an i-cord loop, and done!

So that is what the kids will be carrying around with them while they walk the halls during class time to prove that they're allowed to be in the halls. It was a pretty quick and fun little knit. I like producing useful things. The Fiasco said one of his students asked if he made it and when she found out his fiancee knit it, she furtively admitted that she liked to knit, too. Love it!

I have an action shot of my upcoming design (formerly known as the big fat mess) knit for the Malabrigo Stockpile Design Challenge :

Syrinx cowl knit with Malabrigo Rasta, colorway Arco Iris

I love how it turned out. I was going to close it with buttons, really I was, but I didn't have buttons handy and I admittedly adore what the ribbon adds to it. I don't know what it is with me and ribbons in my designs but by golly, I just love what they do to knitwear.

So that's two more goals completed for my Year of Projects. My list has been pretty variable, I've been changing it as things come up that I want to knit, and it kind of just keeps growing but that's ok!

Progress update (9 down, 41 to go):

1. WIPs: 3/10 finished, 1/7 left in progress
2. SIPs: 1/5  finished
3. New Projects: 2/15 finished, 2/13 left in progress
4. New Socks: 2/5 in progress
5. Of My Own Design: 4/16 finished, 3/13 left in progress  

Taking Care

I've been so busy taking care of business around Chez Shoelaceswitcher that I've barely had a chance to blog! Day-to-day life things really do add up. Revelation: I thought cleaning and keeping up with the house would be easier with all this time off... but it's not. Turns out when you're home more, you mess the place up more and spend lots of time finding more things that need doing. Boo.

But I have been knitting! In fact, I knit an entire project in two days. I can't show it to you in its entirety because it's the prototype of something I might use for my Malabrigo Quickie featured design in January, but here's a pretty swatch:

Malabrigo Twist, colorways Indiecita and Natural

I'm not counting this one as a finished project yet because I'm not completely happy with it. I'm going to try a few other ideas out first.

Good news, though: I've finally reached the edging of my Color Affection shawl!

Bugga, colorways undyed, common emerald moth, and fierce snake

I was so excited to cut the strands of the main color and  first contrast color. Now it's just... more of the same worked over about 400 stitches for 2 inches! *sarcastic yaaaaay!* But at least now I'm only working with one ball of yarn, I hate untangling my working yarn every few rows. This shawl is at the point where the Fiasco is saying things like "Don't stop, keep knitting!" and "Finish that damn thing already, I wanna see it." Nothing like some motivation!

I've been making strides in sock knitting as well. I'm at the first heel of my Summer Holiday Socks:

The Verdant Gryphon Eidos, colorway Parzival

I've also finally had the chance to re-work and write up most of my Lillypad sock design, starting a second sample in the process:

The Verdant Gryphon Bugga, colorway Yellow Fringe Doris

I edited the stitch counts and made small changes to the picot cuff. I have to knit through to the foot again and work on those charts (damn my incomplete note-taking!) but shortly after that the pattern will be ready for testing and tech editing. Woohoo! Sorry to keep some of you waiting, I promise the pattern will happen!

That's all I've been working on lately. Hopefully I'll have some FOs to share soon. I can't help but fantasize over which long-suffering WIP I want to tackle next. I think it will be my Flamboyan shawl (a.k.a. Beautiful Briny Sea):

SG and Cephalopod Yarn Bugga, colorways Box Jellyfish and Blue Ringed Octopus

I have an unofficial goal of wanting to finish it by Rhinebeck (yes, because it matches my sneakers, and that weirdly makes me happy), along with a hat and another shawl and maybe another shawl. *hysterical laughter* What unattainable goals have you been dreaming about lately?

Year of Projects progress update (7 down, 43 to go):

1. WIPs: 2/10 finished, 1/8 left in progress
2. SIPs: 1/5  finished
3. New Projects: 1/14 finished, 2/13 left in progress
4. New Socks: 2/6 in progress
5. Of My Own Design: 3/16 finished, 2/13 left in progress

Finished-Object-Friday #3

Guys, I love Finish-itis!! In the past few days I've finished not one but two long-term WIPs! First, my Fall Shaelyn shawl. I am so pleased with how this shawl came out. The yarn is The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, colorway Painted Damsel, held double which makes an incredibly lush fabric when knit on size US 10.5 needles.

This has been hibernating forever because I knew I was running short on yarn and would not be able to complete another repeat of the entire chart, but I still had a bunch of yarn to use up, so I wasn't sure how to proceed. I let it sit, and sit, and sit, I wasn't comfortable just winging it. When I picked it up again on Tuesday, I tossed in a lifeline just in case and went at it. This, I think, says a lot about how I've cahnged as a knitter over the past year. Before, the pattern felt like some kind of sacred voodoo magic that I was afraid to mess with. Now I modify at will! I am knitter! Hear me... quietly click my needles?

I ended up working another repeat of the lace section only (not the stockinette), added plain knit stitches as needed to the beginning and middle of the rows so that the lace pattern aligned correctly, and increased 2 sts on the wrong side rows throughout to give it a wider shape. After that I knit two sets of a row of eyelets (*YO, k2tog*) and a garter stitch ridge and bound off using Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, which is fantastic for shawl edges, btw. In retrospect, I would've liked it just as well if I had left out the eyelet rows and knit a bit more garter stitch but no matter. It's done! And I only had 2 grams of yarn left. Love when it works out like that. :)

 
My second FO is a pair of socks, woooooohoo! Just in time, too, since it's been getting chilly at night. These socks were the May 2011 shipment of the BMFA Rockin' Sock Club. The colorway is Maia, which I adore, and the pattern is Transition Point by Star Athena.
The pattern involves some lovely seed stitch, which I think is underutilized as far as stitches go, and a lot of traveling twisted stitches. It's neat the way everything twists and turns. I modified this one, as well, changing the foot so that the slipped stitches make a 'V' across the top and the rest of the toe is knit in stockinette. It mirrors what happens on the back of the sock and I like the dainty look it gives them.

I can't believe that both of those projects were in progress for over a year. There's no good reason for that kind of dragging out! Except these socks required charts and much fiddling, and fiddly charted socks do not get knit very quickly over here, since socks are my travel project and I hate referring to charts when I'm on the move. (Excuses, excuses...) Now, which long-suffering WIP to conquer next?

Year of Projects progress update (7 down, 43 to go):

1. WIPs: 2/10 finished, 1/8 left in progress
2. SIPs: 1/5  finished
3. New Projects: 1/14 finished, 2/13 left in progress
4. New Socks: 2/6 in progress
5. Of My Own Design: 3/16 finished, 2/13 left in progress

 

Freedom! And an FO.

Guys... yesterday was my last day of work. Last day. LAST DAY! I've never just been unemployed before. I've worked since I was 15 and before that I babysat. I think the last time I had time that was not occupied with work or school was probably the summer of my freshman year of college before I was doing research... 8 years ago. Crazy.
So now I'm a little paralyzed by the impulse to do all the things ever. Wash the dishes! Clean the bathroom! Join a gym! Get a kitten! Go for hikes! Go to the beach! Read scientific papers! Research PhD programs! Apply for jobs! Work on designs! Knit some swatches! Get new tires! Take the cat to the vet!  Finish all my WIPs! Plan everything!!

Phew. It's only 8am and I'm already exhausted. ;) But I'm sure I'll figure it out. What would you do with oodles of free time?

In knitting news, last weekend I finished an old WIP (my 5th Year of Projects project!) while visiting my friends.

Terrible self-modeled shot, sorry!

This is the Zuzu's Petals pattern by Carina Spencer, of the Regina Hat fame. Obviously, I like Carina's patterns very much. I knitted her Whippoorwill shawl, too, a while back. Of all of these, I think the Zuzu's Petals is probably the most brilliant. Essentially, it's a cowl that looks like a kerchief-style-shawl when worn around the neck. The knitting starts off like a shawl, which I love since I am apparently a serial shawl-starter, but then you join it together and it turns into a cowl! My first thought upon seeing this pattern was omg why didn't I think of that?! Jealous. It's so clever!

Blocking it was a bit of an adventure. Due to its asymmetric cylindrical shape, laying it flat would not have worked super well and would've taken much longer to dry. So instead I took the vertical approach.

I pinned out all the 'shawl' points, then placed a water bottle on top of a bowl in the middle of the cowl and stretched the top edge of the cowl up. I precariously pinned it in place around the bottle so it stayed up well enough and let it dry. It looked like a crazy witch hat, but it worked!

Colorway: Irish Girlie Green

Can we take a second to talk about this yarn? Blue Moon Fiber Arts Marine Silk Worsted is freakin' gorgeous, people. It is a 4-ply mix of 51% silk, 29% Merino wool, and 20% Sea Cell®Rayon. Sea Cell is a cellulose fiber (like Tencel or lyocell) made from plant materials with some seaweed thrown in. Like all such fibers, it is shiny and silky. I actually didn't realize this yarn had wool in it until I looked it up, it felt like it was all silk and Sea Cell, but it is a bit less dense than a completely silk yarn would be. I really enjoyed working with it. Blue Moon has so many different kinds of yarn to offer besides Socks That Rock, I just never think to place an order with them that isn't for STR. I bought this skein last year at Stitches East, it's so much easier to impulse-buy when you can actually hold the yarn. I think if their other yarns were carried in more stores they would sell and be used much more than they seem to be now. Marine Silk only has 16 projects on Ravelry, and it's a really gorgeous yarn! A bit pricey, yes, but no more than any other luxury blend would be. I'll definitely be using it again for projects that would benefit from some silk content. For instance, I bet it would make a great Beribboned Hat, but perhaps knit at the DK weight size to compensate for the extra drapiness of silk.

Do you have a favorite little-used yarn?

YoP progress (5 down, 45 to go):
1. WIPs: 1/10 finished, 1/9 left in progress
2. SIPs: 0/5 actively in progress
3. New Projects: 1/14 finished, 2/13 left in progress
4. New Socks: 2/6 in progress
5. Of My Own Design: 3/16 finished, 2/13 left in progress

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #8

It's been busy busy busy over here! I busted a move on my Huacaya hat design and managed to finish it up quickly:

Not a great shot of the hat but this photo should be helpful if you ever need to pick my profile out of a lineup, no?

I'm quite happy with how the crown came out:

I just love a nice set of crown decreases, don't you?

More info and better pictures to come later when I officially release the pattern. To reiterate, it will be sold as part of a kit at the Burgis Brook Alpacas booth at Rhinebeck, and will be available digitally after the festival. Now for some real WIPs!

 

Beribboned the Third:

The Verdant Gryphon Mondegreen, colorway The Ants Are My Friends

That is the start of the third sample for my Beribboned Hat design. Once I finish it and photograph it I'll be able to release the pattern, yay! I love releasing new patterns. :) I'm really loving this new yarn, too. It feels a bit like The Sanguine Gryphon's old yarn, QED, except softer and silkier... so, even better!

Summer Holiday Socks:

The Verdant Gryphon Eidos, colorway Parzival

These socks are progressing nicely. They are my grab-and-go, no-thought-knitting. They came camping with me, they've been picnicking with me, they've gone hiking with me, they've been to the beach with me-- everything a pair of summer holiday socks should do, I think. :)

Color Affection:

A.k.a. the neverending shawl

See where the stitches on the needle switch from green to white? Well, the white ones represent how many more "short" (ha!) rows I need to knit before I can begin the edging. There are 48 stithches, so 48 more rows. Sigh. I cannot wait to wear this shawl. Every time I wear an outfit that would match it perfectly the little fashionista in me feels sad. I'm setting myself a goal to finish it by the end of September, which is the VG Open House in Maryland. I'd love to be able to finish and wear it there.

It's been quite a while since I've updated my Year of Projects goals and progress, so here's a quick summary of where things stand-- 3 down, 47 to go:

1. WIPs: 1/10 actively in progress
2. SIPs: 0/5 actively in progress
3. New Projects: 1/14 finished, 2/13 left in progress
4. New Socks: 2/6 in progress
5. Of My Own Design: 2/16 finished, 3/14 left in progress

Don't forget to check out what everyone else has been up to! Hope you have a lovely Wednesday.

 

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #6

Hello, hello! I haven't made a whole lot of progress on some of my other WIPs this week, but I did make lots of design-WIP progress!

And Sing My Ribbons:

The Sanguine Gryphon Codex, colorways And Sing Myself (purple) and Lionness of Brittany (silver

This hat went from WIP to FO quite quickly because I was anxious to get the pattern out to testers. Look for it to be released near the end of the month! And it is my second completed Year of Projects project, yay!

Lillypad socks:

The Verdant Gryphon Bugga, colorway Yellow Fringe Doris

I (finally) finished the first sock of this upcoming design! It did turn out to be a bit too snug so I will be adding a few more purl stitches to provide more room in the final design. Those cables and twisted stitches really tightened up the fabric. Luckily, I was able to obtain another skein of this colorway through a trade on Ravelry, so I will be able to gift this pair to someone with smaller feet someday and still be able to have a pair for myself in the same colorway! I know it shouldn't have too much weight in the process since the finished pattern will be knit in a variety of colors, but some of my designs are very much inspired by the colorway I use and I really love this particular pairing.

My Own Fiasco:

BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight, colorway Sigur Ros

I'm making some good progress on my Fiasco socks. The colorway is striping nicely and I think the textures of the pattern are bold enough that they still show through, even with so much variegation. It's a very odd colorway, really, containing red, teal, tan, mustard, lavender, and aqua. It sounds like that mix should be really gross but I dig it! In my patterns I like to include multiple size options for multiple weights of yarn whenever feasible. For my first pair, I knit size 1 at the DK weight gauge to fit my Fiasco's man-sized foot. This time I'm knitting size 3 at the fingering weight gauge for me. I think that sometimes the sizes in sock patterns are not very explicit and I'm hoping my way of describing sizes is helpful (rather than just more confusing) and allows for more flexibility in yarn choices. Here is what the sizing table from my free Ribby Holiday Socks pattern looks like:

What do you think: helpful, not helpful? I'm curious! Do you have an example of a sock pattern that you thought described the sizes very well?

Besides a few secret swatches, that's all the progress I have to report this week! Be sure to click the images below to see what everyone else has been up to.

 

Happy Days

I had a wonderful weekend, how about you guys? My little-cousin-who-is-like-a-sister-to-me (and who is not so little anymore!) came to visit and we had a grand old time. We spent Saturday kayaking with the Fiasco's family and Sunday strolling through the beautiful Wickham Park and the fantastic Coventry Farmer's Market. I even convinced her to model my upcoming Beribboned Hat design for me. :) Here are some photos from the day:

These were as big as my head!

We made a furry friend!

I almost took this little furry friend home with me.

Aww.

This is the worsted weight version of my Beribboned Hat design, which is also the 2nd project completed from my Year of Projects list:

The yarn is discontinued Sanguine Gryphon Codex. This version of the hat is less slouchy than the DK weight version and uses a tiny bit of contrasting yarn knit into i-cord instead of ribbon for the bow. I liked it both ways so instructions for both will be included! The pattern is in testing now and should be available around the end of the month.

And before I forget: congratulations to Lisa from Wicked Artsy, she won the needle/mini-skein/free pattern giveaway from last week! Thanks for spreading so much Shoelaceswitcher Designs / Woolen Diversions love. :)

Finally, I received some exciting news today: Malabrigo Yarns accepted my design submission for their Malabrigo Quickies series! Malabrigo Quickies are 1- or 2-skein patterns from independent designers that are featured every couple of weeks on the Malabrigo blog and other social media outlets. There is a call for submissions open right now and the program fills up quite quickly so submit soon if you are interested. My design won't be released until late January but I still can't wait! Malabrigo was the first yarn that I fell in love with and it's still my go-to for holiday gifts and comforting knits, so I'm really psyched to have one of my designs associated with the company.