Making Mistakes

 Making mistakes

As a general rule I am not afraid of making mistakes. Whether it is a cooking mistake, a sewing mistake or a knitting mistake, I take it with aplomb and the attitude that it wasn't a mistake, it was a learning experience. (Except for cooking, I don't view those mistakes as teachable moments but rather excuses for why someone else should cook for me.)

Take for example my latest scarf project. I joined the "As You Wish" mystery knit along because it was from a designer I like and paired with yarns from a dyer I adore. I cast on Tuesday night and over the course of the next few days made a fair amount of progress. I also made a fair number of mistakes. 

The first mistake was not watching the video for the first special stitch. I got cocky and figured I was doing it correctly from the written instructions. Feel free to laugh.

I persisted, however, figuring that no one really looks too closely at the stitches.

Finally, a couple of inches later and an entire color change, I gave in and watched the video. Oops!

Did I rip out my work and redo it? Nope. I soldiered on using the galloping horse theory of crafting.

Then I started the next section and immediately messed up the stitch count. 

Did I stop and rip it out then? Nope! I just fiddled with increases and decreases figuring I’d get the correct number eventually.

This morning I spent a delightful couple of hours on this new section. I did watch the video for the newest stitch (wasn't going to make that mistake again) and kept going. Lost in the book I was listening to, trying not to cry, I knit and knit, changing colors and slipping stitches like a pro.

And then I actually looked at the front of the piece.

D'oh!

Did I rip then? Sort of. I started pulling back a few rows, determined to not start over. But the yarn was sticking to itself and eventually I came to the realization that if I was ripping back this much, I might as well start over. 

And this is why my new scarf looks like this (not a spoiler).

Time for lunch.

I'll start over later.

Starting

If the last post was about finishing then this post needs to be about starting. (The topic of continuing will be another post.)

While the first steps in production happened this weekend, the two project I just started have been months (years for one) in the planning process. When I embark on a project I might just get the idea, buy the supplies and then start immediately. Others start as a germ of an idea and then proceed slowly as I figure out the how, what and why of the project. (For the writing teachers out there, the who, where and so what are usually the initial driving factors.)

Some projects may go from start to finish in the course of a weekend (a hat, a pair of socks knit while traveling) others may take months or even years.

The sweater below started as a concept the day that my son accepted his offer to the University of Michigan. It took a year and a half to get it to a finished state. The knitting only took a month. The other 17 months were spent thinking about it. Swatching, ordering thinner yarn, swatching again, graphing the notes, figuring out what to do on the sleeves (there is a clef on the right sleeve and a stop mark on the left) until I finally had it figured out. Mostly. There was still a considerable amount of recalculating done on the fly as I knit.

Other projects start as fiber that "jumps" into my arms in a store or at a fiber festival or fabric that just calls out to be a dress or, an idea that I want to try because it seems intriguing.

Last weekend I started  two projects. One began as fiber just begging to be spun and the other started as an idea begging to be created.

First up, I started knitting a new wrap/scarf thing in a handspun merino silk blend from Lisa Souza. The fiber was purchased at the New York Sheep and Wool festival at least two years ago, probably 3 or 4, and spun within a year of purchase. It has been sitting on a shelf looking pretty for about 2 years. 

My second project is a pair of cargo pants. The idea of making cargo pants crept into my head shortly after I successfully made my second dress this spring. A member of my family is tall and thin and favors cargo pants and it is difficult to get them in a waist size that also fits his leg length.

There are not that many patterns out there that fit the bill so much time was spent searching on line until I found one that also came with a video tutorial. I found the pattern two months ago but it took me this long to find what I think is the right fabric. Saturday was spent piecing the pattern together and cutting it out. Sunday I cut the fabric and started sewing. Monday was spent sewing al day. I successfully completed the front with the zipper, two side pockets and one front pocket over the 3 day weekend.

Neither project was finished over the weekend. I expected to finish the pants some time over the week but didn't get much done. Between evening activities (hello Carnegie Hall!) and this weekend's trip to the New York Sheep and Wool festival (hello Rhinebeck!)  these may be three weekends in the making.

The scarf/wrap has been cast on but it will likely take a month or two to complete. But then the satisfaction is in the process -- starting and finishing are just two of the steps.

#sewing #productivefidgeting #knitting #cargopants

Eighteen pairs of socks: pair number 5 ... and another shawl

This is the busy season here ... concerts, proms, awards ... and, of course, knitting.

Saturday night Mike is taking me to his high school prom. My own was this past Friday and I am still recovering from the really late night followed by three early days. My body is no longer designed to gracefully handle a day on just 4 hours of sleep.

That said, the kids were wonderful, looked beautiful and handsome and acted like proper young adults. They made us proud to be their teachers.

On to the knitting ...

Butterfly Garden socks

Yarn: Knitpicks Stroll in Springtime Tonal

Intended recipient ... it's a secret!

Also finished, Annis.

Yarn: my own handspun cotton which ranged between cobweb and lace weight in thickness.

Spun on a Bosworth book-size charka

Detail shot

Those nupps were rather annoying ...

On the needles: sock pair 6 and pair 7 and the Lazy Kate shawl in cobweb weight, handspun silk.

Tomorrow is the Arista induction at Little Squid's school so pair 6 just might get finished.

Eighteen pairs of socks: pair number 4 ... and a shawl

Dee commented (via facebook) that I had not blogged in a while. She was / is quite right and I have been selfish. You see ... pair number 4 of the eighteen pairs of socks was actually finished back in April while I was out of town. (Visiting is great for getting knitting done.)

So here you go ...

Eyelet Rib in Knitpicks Stroll Peapod. Sized for Youngest Sib's feet ... which mean they are sized for my feet. Yo Sis, you better come in and get them because I found them so cozy while doing the photo shoot that I'm tempted to keep them!

Also finished in April, the Pinkerton Shawl from the Spring 2011 Interweave Knits.

Modeled by Squidette but made for moi. It used about 600 yards of handspun two ply which came in between sock and sport weight.

On the wheel, a bump of Still River Mills wool meant for an interesting shawl that my Aunt found on Ravelry.

On the needles, another of the eighteen pair of socks intended for a friend and the Prairie Rain scarf from the Spring Interweave Knits out of my handspun Guanaco. This yarn has been aging in the stash for a few years.

Next on the needles, sock pair number 6 and either Annis (knitty via Cookie) or the shawl that my Aunt found (the name eludes me right now and I'm too lazy to pull up the PDF).

It's been a busy year both at work and at home and things will only get more hectic as we head into the last 7 weeks of school. Next week: presentations for a program Squidette is finishing, and concerts for both kids and Mitzvah Sunday. The following week: Squidette takes her first Advanced Placement exam. And, in the not too distant future: Little Squid's school concert (this week is Boro-wide), Little Squid's Arista Induction, an awards ceremony for Little Squid (we assume) and the same child's eighth grade graduation. Also, my school prom, Squidette's birthday (sweet sixteen -- no party), and possibly Mike's school prom. And who knows what else.

I'll try to post more often ... but really, I'm trying to live a bit more

in the moment, hence the drop off in posting.

Happy mother's day to my Mom and everyone else's mom!

Mom (holding Youngest Nephew) and Lil' Sis (holding Louis the Cat)

Eighteen pairs of socks: pair number three and three a

The sock knitting continues and, during my recent trip to San Francisco, I managed to finish two pair of socks.

O.k, I actually pretty much started and finished two individual socks but each individual completed a pair.

First up, from the Eighteen Pair of Socks splurge, Beaded rib in Knit Picks Stroll, color Dusk. Made for sibling the eldest and a Squidette size foot. (Women's socks in this house get made in 2 sizes, Squidette size (woman's medium) and Mama Squid size (woman's large). If I ever knit for my aunt, I'll have to make them a bit larger.

And second, pair 3A. The pattern is Snowflake from the Knit Picks Into the Woods sampler knit in a yummy alpaca, mohair, romeldale blend that I picked up from Still River Mill. The label says "local harvest" but I don't think that that is a color name. I think it means that the fibers were all local. ( I know the picture is awful. The socks just don't seem to lend themselves to my limited photography skills. They seem to absorb all the light.) Intended feet: Squidette. These are meant to be a little felted to keep her toes warm while rowing in cold weather. I still have to do the fulling.

Pair four is now on the needles. Color is Peapod, pattern is Eyelet Rib. Intended feet: Sibling the youngest. (Yo brothers mine, if you want socks, speak up before all the manly colors are gone!)

Pair 5 goes on the needles this evening. Color is Springtime Tonal, pattern is Butterfly Garden. Intended feet: secret.

Home spun and home grown

At this year's New York State Sheep and Wool Festival I encouraged the kids to choose fiber for new sweaters. Squidette chose a really pretty blue-purplish fluff from Blackberry Mills. After it was spun up, we calculated, roughly, how many yards there were and went pattern searching.

The winner? Flame from Runway Knits. Modified. A lot. Shorter ribbing all around, by Squidette's request and other mods made necessary by the limited amount of yarn.

As I knit the sweater, I quickly realized that the cables were using a lot more yardage than I expected (I think the original yarn is a bit thicker than my homespun even though I was able to get gauge).

So I pondered . . . and modified the twists by adding 2 rows between each one. This stretched the yarn a bit and I was actually happier with the hand of the fabric.

The I started the sleeves. And quickly realized that, as written, even with my already imposed modifications (shorter ribbing and the extended cables) I was going to run short of yarn. So I reknit the first sleeve 5 times, narrowing it each time (making sure it would still fit after each modification). And then I knit the second sleeve -- even narrower. And reknit the first sleeve one last time.

I sewed the shoulders together with regular sewing thread and then knit the neck (again, much shorter than the pattern called for, by request) and then finished sewing up the seams, again, with regular sewing thread ... because I had far too little yarn left. Yarn left over -- about 2 yards. Phew!

And there you have it. Flame, knit from my own triple ply homespun on my own home grown Squidette. Aren't they lovely!

Eighteen pairs of socks: pair number two

Knitpicks Stroll, color: agate heather

Pattern: Gingham

Knit for: Little Squid

Now on the needles, a "purse knitting" pair in blue for one of my siblings and a more complicated pair for Squidette. For my other siblings ... you didn't ask! If you ask, you'll go into the queue. :-)

Pie!

Tomorrow is not pi day but rather the next to last day of the term. And I have pie. 2 of them, actually. Why? Because a couple of students in my class let it be known that they'd never eaten pie. Since part my job as an educator is to expand my students' horizons and provide them with new experiences, I bought pie.

No, I did not bake, nor did I make Mike or Squidette bake. Instead I am providing pie a la Costco. (And not a la mode -- no way to store ice cream.)

(No, I am not actually teaching this term. Rather, I have two computer lab sections that alternate with each other. Monday's section is getting cookies. The pies won't last over the weekend and I am not making a second trip to Costco.)

Oh, and I fixed my son's oboe.

Super Mommy strikes again!

(No more finished socks, I've been side-lined by a bug and by Squidette's new scarf.)

Eighteen pairs of socks: pair number one

The first completed pair, meant to adorn my own feet. Knit in Knit Picks Stroll, color: golden glow tonal. Busy Bees pattern from the Into the Woods sock sampler.

They feel very soft and cozy and I look forward to wearing them to work next week.

Eighteen Pairs of Socks

Over the break I had some major nesting issues. I was like a squirrel who needed to stock up on all sorts of stuff for the winter. I placed a huge Col d'Lizard order and a less expensive but even larger Knitpicks order.

I do not usually order yarn on line. I only do it if there is something very specific I need for a project and can't easily get locally. When I knit Squidette's last blanket, I special ordered the yarn from one of my LYS's and paid a premium for it instead of going for the cheaper option on line. I'd really rather support my local businesses but ...

I'd been "window" shopping at Knitpicks a few weeks ago and saw a couple of sock kits that were calling out to me. All of the patterns looked really nice and I'd heard good things about the yarns. I put them in a shopping cart and let them sit there until the urge passed.

Then I got the email.

Two of the kits were now on sale.

I went to the site and discovered that all of the kits I'd picked out were still in my shopping cart. (yea cookies?!)

At that point I decided it was meant to be and hit "complete purchase."

I am now the proud owner of enough yarn to make 18 pairs of socks (not counting the couple of skeins I already had in my possession).

I immediately picked a pair for myself and let each kid pick a pair (Mike has more hand knit socks then the rest of us combined).

On the needles is my pair and Little Squid's pair. Mine has cables so it is an "at home" project and his is a "purse" project. Squidette's pair is the next in line.

One sock (mine) is finished.

Only 35 more to go!

Plugging Away ...

I may have been on vacation this week but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy.

The week before the break Little Squid's favorite sweater was declared dead. Little Squid promptly went into a state of deep mourning that evoked the only response possible from his mother.

But first, I tried to convince him that repair was beyond my abilities and, could I please take the two hanks that remained of the original yarn and start knitting him a replica -- which would require, at some point, the unraveling of the original sweater.

He wasn't having it.

And so, I embarked on an eight hour adventure where I turned a badly spun and inexpertly knit sweater into a (if I must say so myself) fairly decent one. (I feel free to critique the sweater since I spun and knit it for myself -- it also fit (me) badly.)
Both cuffs were reknit (the old ones practically fell off),Wonky raglan increases were double stitched and tightened up and repairs were made all over to spots that had been worn into almost non-existence.

The result ... one happy Little Squid and a sweater that we now swear is a Zombie. (It was dead, after all.)

Next up, Mike's "felted" (actually fulled) socks.
Knit of homespun Jacob which has been marinating in the stash for so long that I remember teasing the locks while sitting in a playground watching the kids play. (It's been a few years since I've been with them to a playground.) They were also finished before the break but had to wait until I had time to put them through their first washing. The pattern? Just a basic garter rib sock knit on size 4 needles to about an inch or so longer than I would usually knit Mike's socks and with much more ease. The yarn is roughly a dk weight. I'm hoping they will full more with subsequent washings but didn't want to push it for right now.

Next up ... I'd had a partial warp on the warping board since late August. Yes, 4 full months. It started just in case I needed to try Little Squid's tallis a third time. Since I didn't ... so it sat there.

I finally wound enough ends to justify a 10 inch wide scarf warp and set up the loom.



I'm not sure how I wove the tallis so quickly. This is a lot of yardage! I threaded a straight 8 shaft twill and played with some 4 treadle patterns, weaving two complete scarves and about 24 inches of additional fabric. Eventually (probably next December), I will cut them apart and hem them for gifts.

Then I finished a pair of socks that has been hanging out as my purse project for a few months (no photo, they are in the laundry cart). Next up was supposed to be a pair of socks for Little Squid -- he of the no-longer-the-smallest feet. He'd chosen a lovely roving batt at Rhinebeck last October (yes, over a year ago) and I'd spun it up this summer but kept pushing his socks to the end of the queue because I was not crazy about the yarn and had a sneaking suspicion that it would not knit up well.

I was right. To get a nice tight sock fabric I'd have had to drop to my 000 needles. Not an option for socks that would be outgrown in a few months. So, I approached Little Squid with some trepidation. After all, this is the child who had gone into deep mourning over a sweater. I showed him another scarf that I'd woven with hand spun yarn and got his permission to weave the yarn instead of making socks out of it.I scored!

I love how the natural color progression of the yarn works in the woven fabric. Turns out, he'd completely forgotten about choosing the batt for socks!

Now on the needles, a pair of brown socks (to match the sweater but of better yarn) for Little Squid and a pair of yellow socks for me -- to eventually be stolen by Squidette.

On the wheel -- Squidette's next sweater.

In the dye pot, two warps for my first experiments in warp "painting." And only a few days left of the break.

Felted socks

Mike asked me to make him felted socks. Actually, the conversation went something like this ...

Me: (Entering apartment after a below-freezing commute from work) You know,it may be below freezing but even my feet were warm on the ride tonight. And I'm still wearing my biking sandals. Why don't you try it?

Mike: Because I don't have felted socks.

And hence the photograph of a pair of felted socks in progress.

They are being knit at the same time because I am unsure as to how far this Jacob wool will go so, if I have to add something else ... both socks will be fairly similar.

Now to find the silk sock liners that go underneath the felted socks in the sandals. Lands' End is sold out of his size.

Done!

Roughly three years in the making since I said "choose your design."

There was the false start with a pound of BFL roving that was far to little and spun far too thick for what I wanted. After that, I purchased 3 pounds of white shetland from Halcyon. Did some spinning and dying sampling and then dove in and dyed the roving.

Determined that the roving was far to unevenly dyed to give a consistent color for the body of the sweater so carded it all up multiple times to blend the colors.

Spent most of a summer carding and spinning.

Knit the back and sleeves within a month or so and then started the front. Worked it two rows at a shot for another month or three before I realized it wasn't working. Put it into time out for 3-5 months and then regraphed and regrouped, knitting it up within a month of ripping it back to the hem.

Took 3-5 weeks to hide the ends on the back of the front and all of two days to sew it together.

Looks happy, doesn't he?

And here you go!

Yarn is a three-ply, roughly dk weight. Sweater is knit 5.5 stitches to the inch and really seems to fit perfectly. Basic design is from my knitting bible -- Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns.

Now to get busy spinning Batya's new sweater.

Oops

Guess when I added the hat picture I lost this one!

Location : 307-399 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001,

Still going ...

This sweater is the gift that keeps giving!

But on the other hand, it's not the only project I've been working on.

Location : 307-399 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001,

Finished Knitting ...

Now to hide the ends.



This could take a while ...

Work in progress

Mike's new sweater.  The back and sleeves have been done for quite a while and I am plugging away on the front.  I'm not hiding the ends as I go because I know I will need to be very careful about it.  Besides, I actually don't mind hiding ends.

This will not be done for Rhinebeck but that's just fine 'cause Mike isn't joining us.

I'll be there on Sunday so that I can both work and attend the Manhattan high school fair on Saturday.  It was a tough choice as to which to do on which day as they are both more crowded on Saturday and both have slimmer pickings on Sunday.  I decided to do the fair first mainly to get it off my back since I really don't want to go, either as a mom or as a rep of a "Court Order," school.  But the mom part won out. :-)

Location : 549-551 Lenox Ave, New York, NY 10030,

No Cycling Miles but some Knitting

No miles today but lots of packing and a little knitting.

Several weeks ago I started a Pi Shawl using some pretty purple-grey handspun. My goal was to just knit and knit until the yarn ran out. When I started what I thought would be the last round before the edging, I started racing the yarn. You know (at least the knitters do), knitting faster and faster in hopes of getting to the end of the row before running out of yarn.

I was doing this while sitting on a bed in a hotel in Pittsburgh. On the other bed was my sister, frantically crocheting as if her life depended on it, trying to finish a baby blanket before our nephew's bris the next day.

When I got to the end of the row, I had about 18 inches worth of yarn left. Phew!

My sister finished her crocheting about the same time and, it an act of true sisterhood, I helped her hide the ends.

The next morning I started the edging. And the same scenario (the yarn race) played itself out yesterday as I did the laundry. This time I lost with several inches of edging still to be knit.

Did I lose it? Did I throw a tantrum? No, I calmly (really) took a smaller needle and started reknitting the edging from the dangling end. I'm really hoping that this works!

If you came here today looking for miles, come back on Thursday.

Crafting Update

Yes, there has been knitting, sewing, spinning and weaving going on -- just not much photo uploading!

So, for your crafting fix ...



Baby Blanket with Lamby thrown in for size contrast. Handwoven center. If you look close you can see where I stopped for a week and then forgot which way I was treadling. It's actually more obvious in the photo then it is in real life.

Back side of the blanket.

And an oldie but a goodie ...
The first shawl I ever knit. I used a blue coned cotton that my mother-in-law was given by a friend. It was knit about 10-12 years ago using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl pattern and has been well worn. I broke it out to wear to synagogue this weekend and received several compliments on it Those prompted me to wash it and think about repairing a few of the snags that it has accumulated over the years. It is not my best work but I love it!

One Ball Down ...

I spun 11 skeins of the background color for Mike's new sweater. Each skein averages about 200 yards of sport weight yarn. The piece below measures about 13 inches (it looks smaller due to the curling that I didn't bother to eliminate for the photo). It has used, so far ...

ONE ball of yarn. Just a hunch here, I think I may have enough yarn for this thing ...

(And the entire sweater will not be this boring, just the back and arms. The front has some seriously exciting intarsia going on.)