January 2007

Technique is stumping me. Basic technique. Knit and purl.

Over at Paperclips, Heather recently discovered “a better way to purl” because every other row of her knitting had been getting twisted. This spurred me to thinking again of something I’ve wondered about for quite some time.

Sometimes my stockinette looks a bit… off.

Here’s the deal. Stitches in stockinette are supposed to appear as a “V”:

Exhibit A — my grandmother’s stockinette:

And mine often have a tighter angle and are tilted to the left like this:

Exhibit B — The problematic skewed “V”s:

So when you look at it from afar, it almost appears there are vertical lines running up the knitting:

Does anyone know what causes this? I’ve tried playing around with it, knitting my purls looser, my knits tighter, my purls tighter, etc, to no avail.

My latest theory is that something is amiss with my purl stitches. I think my “V”s skew only when I’m knitting flat, not when I’m knitting in the round. Because here are my stitches on my top-down sweater, which was knit entirely in the round:

Exhibit C — my better “V”s, knit in the round:

Doesn’t that look better? On some of the columns you can see the right arm of the “V” angling a bit tight, but it’s not nearly as bad as my knit-in-the-flat sample. What’s going on here? Anyone have any ideas for me?

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley.” (often go awry)
–Robert Burns

This month has seen me planning many knitting projects, none of which have yet come to fruition… and some have gone somewhat astray!

First, the successful Elizabeth collar designed by Kate Gilbert. This is a lovely pattern, so well-written and easy to follow. I love it! And the finished item is going to be luxuriously cozy. The yarns I’ve substituted are the lushest possible: Madil Kid Seta (70% super kid mohair, 30% silk!) is a sweet soft cloud. Rowan Classic Yarns Cashsoft DK in color Mirage (57% extra fine merino, 44% microfiber, 10% cashmere) is divine luxury. I would love to use more of these yarns if I could afford them. I’m three-quarters of the way done with this raised collar, like an old Elizabethan collar, with five small buttons in the front. I highly recommend the pattern, which is available to purchase on Kate’s website.

Next the completely unsuccessful (so far) Wine and Roses Mitts designed by JoLene Treace, published in IK Winter 2006. I love the way these lacey fingerless mitts look, but I have so far been stymied by the pattern. It doesn’t seem to turn out the way it should… The yarn I am substituting is Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette (40% alpaca, 40% merino, 20% silk) in a soft grey. I am challenging myself with knitting lace on these tiny needles in the round… and I wanted to challenge myself with more difficult projects this year… Well, I guess this is it. But I have not been foiled! I will keep up my attempts… but after a few weeks’ resting time. Maybe I’m just not understanding something. I did find this post about someone adding a few rows of garter stitch on the edge and I might try that next time.

I’m swatching up some Lamb’s Pride Bulky (85% wool, 15% mohair) in deep pine color to make a cardigan. Here my issue has been deciding which pattern to choose. After mulling over several different options, I think I’ve decided on the Fairly Easy Fair Isle cardigan in Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation. I checked that book out of the library on a whim and I love it and have added it to my “must purchase sometime” list.

I’m working on this tiny teensy Harry Potter Bookscarf in Gryffindor colors for a certain niece’s upcoming birthday. I know I’ll have to knit another one in Ravenclaw colors for the other niece, and I don’t know how I’m going to face using size one needles and embroidery floss again… But it’s pretty darn cute.

Last, I’ve been casting on for a new pair of socks using the lovely yarn I won from Chawne’s sock contest: Sweet Socks yarn in “the comforts of home” colorway. Somehow I’ve been distracted every time I’ve tried casting on, and as you can see I haven’t gotten very far, despite 5 or 6 attempts already. Karma is just not there for these socks (yet). It’s certainly not the fault of the yarn, which is soft and smooth.

Yup, I’m just a knittin’ fool lately, bundled up against the cold and listening intently to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series on my iPod. If you haven’t read these books, you are missing King’s chef d’oeuvre, his masterpiece. The stories kept haunting King for seventeen years until he finally started writing them. They were very different than the horror stories he was famous for. Powells.com’s review is succinct and true: “Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, The Dark Tower series is unlike anything you’ve ever read. Here is Stephen King’s most visionary piece of storytelling, a magical mix of fantasy and horror that may well be his crowning achievement.” Start with the first book, The Gunslinger.

Check out Liana Kabel, who creates jewelry designs from recycled plastics - including tupperware and old knitting needles! Here’s a bracelet she made from a knitting needle:

Way cool, eh? She’s in Australia but you can click the photo to get to her web shop. Enjoy!

Email from my niece today:

Let it Snow,
Let it Snow,
Let it Snow!!!

It snowed a lot last night, we don’t have school today, except it all melted so fast.
***Jessica***

This morning I walked around Greenlake in the below-freezing temperatures, 28 degrees Fahrenheit, to be exact, with a bright blue sky and a biting wind. Seattleites just don’t have the wardrobe for this kind of thing. Brrr…

Unusual weather. This summer, the heat waves nearly killed us. Now the second snow of the winter and a week of projected below-freezing temps. Very unusual for us.

Melissa at Neoknits was thinking about the unusual weather they are having on the east coast (in the 70s in January), and she decided to start a campaign called Knitters against Global Warming.

She says, “We spend so much on yarn, and we can’t even wear our sweaters people!!!!” It’s a cute way to approach a serious issue. Let’s think of ways to conserve energy and support our environment instead of destroying it. Some of the biggest impacts an individual can make is by reducing the amount of driving you do and by reducing the amount of consumption and trash, especially unnecessary packing and plastic (petroleum) products. Carpool, walk, bus, bike, reuse, recycle, think before you consume, REDUCE.

Knitters are a large group these days and we can make a difference. As Margaret Mead said,

“A small group of committed citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

One of my intentions is to exercise more this year, in concert with the RunaGogo folks. My goal is 100 miles of combined walking, biking, swimming.  So far I’m off to a slow start with walking only.

How do you like my new blog look? Still tweaking a bit. Trying to decide if I should use my old header with photos or not…

We’ve had some snow flurries although no accumulation in Seattle proper yet. It is supposed to remain below freezing temps all day. Brrr…

I’ve finished a couple books in the past month with colorful characters! First, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I downloaded the audiobook from Librivox and listened while knitting. The book is, again, different from our common culture myth of Treasure Island. I guess I had always though the story focused on Jim Gunn, the fellow who spent several years on the island foraging for himself, but in reality he is only a minor character. This is a thrilling adventure tale of a young boy who gets caught up in the buccaneers’ company and finds himself on a ship seeking gold. The story is compelling, but the reading by Librivox volunteers is less so. I found the inconsistency of different readers, some of whom were stronger than others, very distracting. I’ll stick with solo readers for the books I choose from them in the future.

Second, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, read by Jim Dale (the latter of Harry Potter audiobook fame), December’s read for Knit the Classics. I don’t know if I had ever read this well-known story before, but here at least was one classic that actually is true to our myth of it. A heartfelt and sweet story of an old miser, Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is shown how his penny-pinching effects those around him and the happiness he loses out on due to his grumpiness. My favorite part is when he “recovers” from the visits by the three ghosts, and begins to put his life right. His laugh is infections and hearty — the laugh comes from deep within him and he almost can’t stop laughing for joy and relief at changing his perspective. That laugh is a simple yet deeply effecting part of this tale.

As several over at KTC mentioned, the language Dickens uses in this tale is fascinating and funny too. I was listening to audio while knitting so I didn’t jot down any of it, but Melanie noted these great phrases:

• a fiddler tuned like fifty stomach-aches
• more of gravy than of the grave about you
• like a bad lobster in a dark cellar
• water plugs that held “misanthropic ice”
• apoplectic opulence