Another year has slipped by, another knitting year filled with ups and downs.

The year included:

• 11 pairs of socks
• 3 sweaters
• 5 cowls
• 2 hats
• 2 pairs of mittens
• 4 fingerless mitts
• 1 blanket
• and 2 lace shawls

Whew! Well, that’s what happens when you embrace the hermit lifestyle! Some goals for next year include knitting down the stash (probably good for several years!), finishing more sweaters and improving my rudimentary color-work skills. No doubt I will be tempted by many gorgeous yarns and beautiful patterns that I can’t even imagine yet – the craft of knitting seems to be constantly renewing itself and yet remains grounded in basic principles that have stood the test of time.

It’s an exciting time to be a knitter – I can’t wait to start the next year!

I have – at last – finished the Through the Loops Mystery Sock, 2009. The only real mystery left at this point is, why did it take me so long to knit?

Pattern: Mystery Sock ‘09 by Kirstin Kapur

Yarn: ShiBui Sock, colorway “Rapids”

Notes: For the second year, Kirstin Kapur of Through the Loops fame has offered a free mystery sock pattern for Socktoberfest. Each week through October, she posts on Ravelry and on her website one more section of the sock – cuff, leg, heel, foot, toe. The pattern emerges as you knit and Kirstin usually throws in a twist or two to keep you guessing (for instance, this years pattern is on each side of the leg through the heel, then shifts to the top for the foot) Fun! Last year I was able to keep up and finish both socks by the end of the month, but this year I got a late start and then other things kept popping up and – well, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

This is a wonderful pattern – interesting but not difficult, with lots of nice details such as the way the pattern continues down the heel. And I love the toes – the repeat continues as you decrease, getting gradually smaller as if it were fading away. Lovely.

As expected, I loved the ShiBui sock yarn. The “Rapids” colorway looks a bit like faded denim and the light color really lets the pattern pop. Always a pleasure to knit with.

Next on the agenda – another Thermis! Shocking. And maybe a return to Nectarine. And some mittens. And more sweaters. Endless fun.

I have lately made it a policy to knit mostly for myself. There are some notable exceptions – my Mom, a couple good friends, etc – but mostly I am a hard-core, self-centered, it’s-all-for-me-me-me kind of knitter. Mostly I get away with this but on occasion I’ve been bamboozled into knitting for someone not on my very short list. <sigh>

Pattern: Thermis by Kris Knits

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted, colorway “Buscando Azul”, leftover from my Tang sweater

Notes: Why yes, that’s right – this is the fourth time I’ve knit this pattern and I can tell you right now, it’s not going to be the last (boy, did I get my money’s worth out of that $2.49 pattern!) I think it is a nearly perfect combination of style, sophistication, practicality and fun; the pattern is easy to follow, it knits up in a few days, it looks great on anyone and one-size-fits all (perfect for gift knitting) The Malabrigo yarn ensures that it will be kitten-soft, light and lofty, and glow with incredible color. I also love that it has buttons which can give each cowl it’s own personality – rustic, demure, funky, classic. Plus, half the fun is finding the perfect buttons!

I do have to admit to also being a bit of a Scrooge about the yarn – I did not go out and buy a new and special skein, but instead used up some of the bits and pieces in the stash. But hello?! It’s Malabrigo! Any Malabrigo is glorious and fabulous.

I hope the recipient likes her cowl – I’m pretty sure she will. I just hope she doesn’t think this is going to happen regularly – but I’m pretty sure she will <sigh>

My feet were cold.

After a very chilly October, we’ve been enjoying some Indian summer weather with quite reasonable November temperatures. However, winter is looming and my feet are already cold when relaxing at home. Time for some house socks!

Pattern: Log Cabin socks

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy “Ruby River”

Notes: I love these socks – it’s the second time I’ve knit this pattern. The worsted weight yarn really zips things along and the ribs and cables keep things interesting. I made it last year, but the yarn I used (Berroco Ultra Alpaca), while beautiful and soft, didn’t hold up well to the abuse that comes with being a sock. Darning them only delayed the inevitable. Time for a new pair.

This time I choose DIC Classy which, although not specifically a sock yarn, appears to be sturdier than the Ultra Alpaca. For one thing, it’s machine washable, an excellent advantage considering the – ahem – less than pristine state of my floors. It also has a tighter twist and knits up to a nice firm fabric when knit in a tight gauge.

This is the first time I’ve knit with Classy, which had been languishing in my stash. I love the Dream in Color sock yarns, so I wasn’t surprised that I also enjoyed the worsted. As with the sock yarns, the colors are amazing. I love this colorway of saturated raspberry pink and jewel purples – a combination I also use in the garden as often as possible.

Looks like I got these done just in time – the five-day forecast is promising lots of cold temps and possibly even some snow. Thanks to my new house socks though, my feet have a good chance of staying nice and toasty.

The Tangled Yoke cardigan made it’s “public” debut last week when I wore it to work. It was, as hoped, light and non-bulky, warm but not too warm. I found I liked the too-long sleeves since they helped warm my often too-cold hands and fingers, the color continues to delight me and even I am amazed by the twists and turns of the cable though I know exactly how it’s done.

What surprised me was that no one – no one – commented about it. Now, my fellow knitters who knew all about the ups and downs I experienced with this project were kindly and enthusiastically admiring of it, but no one else seemed to notice. Was it because it was so professionally executed that they thought it was a store-bought sweater? Or was it so obviously homemade they tried to spare my feelings by not bringing attention to it? Did they not notice the beautifully tweedy color, the sinuous cabling, the clever ribbing pattern?

I have to admit that while sweating over the details and puzzles of this sweater, I would sometimes be thinking something along the lines of “won’t so-and-so think this is clever!” Of course, this is not a good reason to knit something. One should knit for utility, for practicality, for your own pleasure and amusement. But why then are so many knitting patterns decorated with cables and lace and multiple colors? Surely it’s to draw at least some appreciation from others?

Or maybe it’s just I am still 8-years-old and shallow to boot. <sigh>

In other, less self-centered knitting news (although, admittedly, I’m knitting this for myself!), I’ve started another sweater. This is Nectarine from Berroco, a simple crew neck pullover, a nice palate cleanser after the Tangled Yoke. The yarn is Blackstone Tweed which is heavenly soft but less subtle than the Felted Tweed. It’s moving along swiftly – the back is already finished – but progress may slow a bit while I work on some house socks and a gift knit. Stay tuned for all of the edge-of-your-seat developments!

Actually, there was no blood, but there was plenty of sweat and tears. The Tangled Yoke cardigan, in all it’s frustrating, mind-twisting glory, is finished. Hurrah!

Pattern: Tangled Yoke cardigan by Eunny Jang

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, colorway “Duck Egg”

Notes: This may be the most challenging item I’ve ever knit. At times I wondered about my audacity at attempting it in the first place – maybe I just wasn’t good enough or experienced enough to knit this. I guess it says a lot about if you want something bad enough, you’ll work at it until you reach it. It isn’t perfect and it was often a struggle, but I finished it and I’m very happy with it.

First off, I love this yarn. It’s a bear to rip (it’s very sticky and has a tendency to break) but the color and resulting fabric are fabulous. The colorway, “Duck Egg”, is a new addition to the Felted Tweed line; the steely blue with black flecks is warmed up by brown flecks and it does indeed remind me of duck eggs. The finished sweater is feather (heh heh!) light yet warm without becoming suffocating; I wore it today in typical late fall weather – sunny/cloudy mix in the mid-50s with a chill in the wind. I was very comfortable in any temperature the day threw at me.

I also love the style of this sweater. It’s very classic (Jackie O-Audrey Hepburn timeless) but not stuffy. The horizontal Celtic cable is an absolute showstopper and well worth the effort (although there were times that I began to wonder) There’s a lot of plain stockinette, but I never minded it and it seemed to go quickly. This is probably a result of the beautiful yarn – I just never got tired of the color. There are several nice details on the sweater – false seams (which, for some reason, I found absolutely delightful), short rows on the back, the folded neckband.

There were some problems too, of course. The sleeves are quite long, a problem noted by many people on Ravelry; I have very long arms and have always struggled with too-short sleeves, so I don’t mind. My sweater came out a little large. This isn’t a problem with the pattern or my gauge (which was spot on) but because I fell between two sizes and I choose the larger size. Again, I don’t mind as I don’t like wearing form fitting clothes (even though it’s in fashion) The decrease/increase instructions for the body were terribly confusing – I nearly gave up at that early stage. Again, a lot of people reported many of the same frustrations for this part of the pattern, so it wasn’t just me. I’m still not sure I did it exactly correctly, but I ended with the correct number of rows and stitches. The button bands ruffle slightly; I might have been able to correct this by going down another needle size, or picking up fewer stitches (but, by that point, with the finish line in sight, I wasn’t going back)

My mods were simple – I whip-stitched the edge of the folded neck band instead of using a three-needle bind-off (which worked brilliantly) and I hand-sewed a ribbon to the back of the button band to give it some stability (I’d like to add one to the button-hole band as well but don’t know how with my limited sewing skills)

My recommendations if you choose to knit this – lifelines. Put in a lifeline before you start the cable section – it saved me. Also, take your time, use lots of stitch markers, color-code the cable crosses on the chart (there are six different kinds) I used the highlighter tape I picked up at Stitches to keep my place on the chart – worked like a charm. And pick a great yarn that you won’t get tired of – it’s worth every dime.

The long and winding story of the Tangled Yoke sweater is nearly over – all the knitting is done! As soon as I can pry Isabel off of it (she gives it a paws up for a napping blanket) I’ll soak it and then block it (where, undoubtedly, Isabel will start napping on it again) Tomorrow I’ll buy buttons and ribbon to sew to the back of the button band and, fingers crossed, I should have some pictures by Sunday. Hurrah!

Knitting as Battlefield:

Row 12 has been met. Row 12 has been conquered. Row 12 has been left in the dust.

(Turns out that “tricky decrease” becomes quite straightforward and simple when one takes a few minutes to think it through. Duh.)

Onward.

Although I haven’t talked about it too much, I’ve been working on a Tangled Yoke cardigan, a lovely, classic pattern from Eunny Jang, for the past six weeks. Things had been going pretty good – I struggled with the waist shaping instructions (as did many people if the comments on Ravelry are an indication) but managed to get through them. The sleeves went very quickly and were soon attached  to the sweater (Tangled Yoke is a cardigan that is knit in one piece from the bottom to the armholes; the sleeves are then attached and the knitting continues with the yoke)

The yoke is probably the most complicated section – a twisting, continuous cable that runs around the sweater, encompassing over 400 stitches in each row. There are 22 pattern repeats; many of these repeats require four cable crosses in each repeat. Yet, it’s only 18 rows – take your time, mark your pattern carefully, put in a lifeline before you begin – it can be done.

Row 12 proved to be my nemesis. The majority of the cabling is done – there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Maybe I got too cocky, too sure that I was going to get through this unscathed. But somewhere in row 12, while doing some tricky decreases, my stitch count got off and off by a lot. My only choice was to rip. That’s when things got ugly.

If you’ve ever worked with Rowan Felted Tweed, you probably know what’s coming. Felted Tweed, glorious and light and beautiful, is also very “sticky” and, once knit doesn’t particularly like to un-knit. Each stitch clings to it’s neighbors and gives in reluctantly. In the course of pulling out the bad row, stitches got dropped and lost. And then the yarn broke. Twice. (Another tendency of Felted Tweed)

Tears were shed. Major ripping ensued. All cabling disappeared. The offending sweater (although it had been an innocent bystander) was folded up and put in a bag and banished to the closet. We needed a break.

That was about ten days ago. During the time out I had company visit, knit on socks, lost one computer and got a new one, spent a lot of time reading about that new computer and, almost against my will, began to miss that sweater. For one thing, I still love the pattern – a simple style with lovely details that really elevate it to something special. And the yarn, the cursed, breaking yarn – I love the yarn. The color, the texture, the lightness, the fabric that it was becoming.

So today, I pulled that sweater out of the closet, took a deep breath and put it back on the needles (thank goodness for lifelines) Maybe this time I’ll be a little wiser, a little less arrogant (And also, maybe now I’ll have the sense to put it away late a night when I’m already tired and distracted. That’s what socks are for) Maybe this time the knitting gods will smile and decide I’ve suffered over this sweater enough.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

There have been a number of changes around here lately.

Weather – a heavy frost Friday and hard freezes on Saturday and Sunday have brought the growing season to a screeching halt. And to add insult to injury, it snowed on Saturday.

A lingering UFO becomes an FO – I finally finished the Spring Forward socks which I’ve been dragging around as my travel project for months.

Death of a computer – my computer crashed, completely and irrevocably, taking most of my files with it for good measure.

new kid on the block

Say hi to my new friend – an Apple MacBook Pro. Going from PC to Apple, desktop to laptop, wired to wireless – well, the learning curve has been a bit sharp at times (for instance, it took me an hour and a half to figure out how to get pictures from my camera to the computer to Flickr. I got it now I think, but it was excruciating.) Exciting, terrifying, frustrating, fun. Change is good – keeps the old brain cells from getting too rusty. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself!

Amongst all the computer stress (good and bad) I did manage to finish some socks, part of my Socktoberfest goal this year.

Pattern: Spring Forward

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, “Cool Fire” colorway

Notes: This is a delightfully simple pattern with very satisfying results. It makes a great travel project because it’s easy to pick up and put down again and not lose your place. The only reason it took me several months to complete is that I set it aside several times to work on other projects.

I’ve switched from my beloved Lantern Moon Rosewood needles, size 1 and gone down to size 0 in less luxurious but still lovely bamboo. (The Lantern Moons don’t go smaller than 1) I’m just too loose of a knitter – I was finding socks knit on 1s were a little too sloppy (though wearable)

The DIC yarn, as always, was a delight to knit with. I was a little surprised that this colorway came out more variegated than I’d expected; usually the DIC sock yarns have more subtle variegation. I think the pattern is somewhat obscured by this colorway, but still acceptable.

I’ve moved on to the TTL Mystery Sock 09 now, using ShiBui Sock. I’m woefully behind with the clues and probably won’t get the finished in October, but I’m ok with that.

As mentioned in the last post, I was knitting a Tangled Yoke cardigan and loving it. Since then, disaster has struck; I shed a few tears, then put it in time-out for a while. I think I am about ready to pick it up and try again; I’ll let you know how that goes next time.