Jofrog is Knitfrog!
October 29 2004
October 28 2004
Red Sox won last night! My lifelong Red Sox fan husband was on the phone with friends worldwide (including Hong Kong, and LA) until late into the night rejoicing.
I'm just busy celebrating haloween. Candy corn for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Care to join me?
Late Night, Early Morning, Late Post
October 27 2004
We are getting all ready for Halloween around here. The official kick off is our annual pumpkin carving party. This year was a small one; just four of us for dinner, pumpkin carving, and of course snacking on pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds, and apple cider from Silverman's Farm!
Happy carving to all of you guys and ghouls!Carving Out Some Fun
October 26 2004
Here's the scene: I'm babysitting, baby is sleeping, tons of knitting time. I'm finishing off the yoke, decreases up the wazoo. I switch to the smaller, size 3, needles... doh!
I knew that I was cutting it really close with the yarn amount I had left but I was really really hoping I'd be okay. All five sizes need the same amount of yarn, I was doing the second size. Yes, I lengthened it, and yes I substituted yarn, and yes I only bought six balls when calculations said I'd need 6.2, but all sizes needed the same amount of yarn, I thought I was safe!
Off to my LYS to pick up one more skein! ...and maybe some other yarn while I'm there. I can't get my mind off of the Rowanspun Aran that I want to use for the Phildar Jacket (see sidebar). I need five, my LYS now has four (they had three, they are multiplying). Maybe if I leave the four there a bit longer they will spawn another, but more likely the four will go down to zero. Maybe I'll be able to find another elsewhere in my dye lot? Maybe I'll just have to return the four that I buy today. Maybe I'll hold off, but I doubt it.
Have a good day and buy enough yarn for your whole project!Less Than an Inch, and Barely Inches
October 25 2004
Mike and I spent this past weekend working at my cousins' farm in Connecticut. Every October we go down to help with selling pumpkins, pies, hayrides, and admission to the animal farm.
Many wooly beasts live in the animal farm including many llamas, this one being the youngest.
They also have acres and acres of pick your own orchards. The apple picking season is over, but the leaves are at peak on the hill. Many of you were showing your skies in the past few weeks, well here is my cousins' sky(line).
My Own Personal Rhinebeck
October 22 2004
After plugging through the last front, and placing all of those buttonholes I've finally joined the two fronts and the back and picked up the 196 stitches for the neck!
There are a whole lot of stitches, and I've only gotten through three rows of the lace pattern so far. I'm going to work at my cousins' farm market in Connecticut this weekend, so we'll see how much knitting time there is. The plan is that the next picture you see will be a modeled one! Have a great weekend.Wanna Neck?
October 21 2004
Have you ever taught someone how to knit; I'm sure that almost everyone out there has. I am currently teaching two classes. One at the elementary school with five 8-10 year olds, and one at my LYS with eight adults.
Last night was the second of a four week advanced begining class at my LYS and I had a late addition into my class, Janette. Janette is a 45 year old blind woman. Janette is incredible!
She came into the store two days ago asking if we were willing to work with her and teach her how to knit. She knows the basics: casting on, knitting, purling, but needs help with some more advanced things: picking up stitches, cabling, measuring gauge. She said that no one was willing to challenge her and she was bored with the low complexity projects that she was given.
I sat down and got her started on her swatch, taught her the cable cast on rather than the long tail cast on, and let her go. Four inches of knitting later I showed her how she could use the "Knit Check" to measure her gauge by feeling the stitches in the little two inch window, (who knew that could ever be so useful), and now she is well on her way to having a completed baby sweater. She, along with the rest of the class, will be working on the fronts of their sweaters this week!
There is nothing this woman can't learn, she learned to pick up dropped stitches and how to unknit last night by me telling someone else by her. She kept thanking me for having patience with her, but really I think that she will be one of the best students I've ever had. I'm very happy to have her in my class. Teaching the Blind to Knit
October 20 2004
Okay, so maybe my knitting isn't frumpy, but I do feel like I'm in a slump. I don't have a ton of UFOs but I really want to finish them... scratch that, I really want them to be finished! Last night I sat down and worked on my lace yoke cardi and I'm up to the armholes.
Only a few more inches to go until I decrease for the neck, put it together, knit the yoke, and wear it. Gosh, when I put it that way, it doesn't sound all that close to being done at all!
Well, I'm going to try to be diligent in plodding through these projects and then decide what is next.Frumpy, Slumpy Knitting
October 18 2004
Finally last night I took five minutes to look at the left front of my lace yoke cardi to position the buttons. That's all that the right front was waiting for. As soon as it saw the button placement beginning it got very excited. How could I let it down, I started knitting on the right front last night. Here's where the buttons will go, and here is my progress last night, complete with one button hole. (You know it's bad when I feel that I have to link the pics rather than post them!) This is my plan for the next week or so. Lets get this thing done before it's too cold to wear it. Can I wear an "ashes of roses" cardigan in the winter? Where are the etiquette police on this one?All it Took was Five Minutes
October 15 2004
Today is Mike's birthday, but we started celebrating last night with dinner with his parents at The Elephant Walk. (Incredible food; if you ever get the chance to go take it!) Mike, here is one of your presents... surprise! Let me tell you, it's not easy to secretly knit something for someone you live with. Especially when that someone is home before you almost every day, but I did it, and Mike, I hope that you love it. I'll give them to you for real tonight at dinner. (Out to eat two nights in a row, how luxurious!) For the knitters out there: I used Ann Budd's "Knitters Handy Book of Patterns" as a guide but had to do quite a bit of fudging of numbers to get the discrepancy of cabled gauge (8spi) and the st st gauge (6spi) to mesh in harmony. I used K1C2 Creme Brule yarn (which is now discontinued) on US 4s. It's a wonderful superwash wool DK weight yarn, pick some up if you can find it. Because it was 100% wool I reinforced the heels and toes with Socka's nylon thread. Hopefully these socks will be super hearty and will make it through many winters to come!Happy Birthday Michael!
October 14 2004
I need to finish some projects that have been laying around here. In the upcoming weeks there will be lots of mittens finished (I started felted mitten number two last night), maybe a sock or two will be finished. The Feb SOTMC socks should really be worked on at some point, they are so cool! Don't remember them? Click the link in my Works in Progress column. I REALLY want to finish my lace yoke cardi, but I have to find buttons first so that I can decide the placement of button holes and the size that they should be. Everything is finished except for the right front! I have two ideas for buttons, but I keep forgetting to bring my cardi with me to my LYS. One last project is defintely planned to start really soon. It's one (or both) of these angels. Aren't they amazing? They are from Knitters Magazine Fall '99 issue. I already have the yarn for them and they will be started soon. I keep trying to kid myself that I don't mind knitting lace. Remind me of this when I start them... wait, don't remind me. I'm sure we will all be happier that way! *UPDATE* How could I have forgotten one other winter project that is being planned. Mike needs a new winter hat. I made him a quick one last year out of Rowanspun Chunky, but it's too chunky and too loosely knit. It looks great, but isn't so warm. Boston winters need Alison's doubleknitski hat.So... what's next?
October 13 2004
The Elaine poncho is done! Woo hoo. I started it Saturday, finished it Tuesday night. Not too shabby I guess. It will go to my LYS tomorrow afternoon, and once again my home will be poncho free! Don't get me wrong, some of you have made and are making fabulous ponchos, but I am not one to wear one, and will be happy to be rid of this one. That said, it's a child's poncho, meant for a 5-8 year old, but doesn't it look cute as a capelet? Oh dear, I shouldn't have tried it on! If you are interested the pattern it's #240 but is not yet on their website. It only takes one skein of Elaine yarn and size 10.5 needles.The Poncho Has Left the Needles
October 12 2004
Sunday a fellow knitsmither, Lisa, brought in a bag full of yarn that she had gotten at our most recent bi-annual swap. In the excitement of the day she'd picked up things that she really wasn't going to use. There was some chenille, there was some hemp, and there was some cotton. People looked through, they took what they wanted, and left the rest. Fast forward to 7PM. Dava, the group's founder, and I are cleaning up the chairs and tables... there is still some of Lisa's yarn there. What's a girl to do? So this came home with me. It was just screaming little girl sweater to me. The yarn seems to be bulky weight cotton yarn with a bit of texture to it. I'll probably start swatching on 9s, and see where we go from there. I couldn't just let the yarn go homeless, could I? Now for the question of, how much is there? In my former days as a biochemist I had all sorts of wonderfully accurate analytical balances at my hands for all of my yardage estimate needs. I really miss that! Julia mentioned, a long time ago, that her husband had picked her up one at an MIT swap that was open to the public. Maybe I can find out when one of those is, or better yet have him keep an eye out for me. What do you think Julia, would he do it?Free Yarn? ...hmm, why not?
October 11 2004
People love their ponchos, this is no news. I just can't get into it. At all. I don't love the way that they fit, I don't love the ones that most people are making. There are certainly exceptions, but most ponchos are just large scarves. This is a lead in to say... I'm knitting a child's poncho in Shaefer's Elaine yarn. Gasp! This certainly deserves an explination, and I have a perfectly good one... my LYS asked me to make it as a shop model. Is all forgiven? Is my integrity still in place? You decide after you see it, (increases are almost all done, and the yarn is half gone). In other weekend news, we went to Matt and Kim's wedding this weekend. She was beautiful, as always, and the evening went off without a hitch! Congratulations Matt and Kim!Please Forgive Me For I have Ponchoed
October 7 2004
I finished off felted glove #1 last night (except for the thumb, that's to come). I tried duplicate stitch for the first time and ended up with this. I did the paw print free hand, what do you think? How does it look... did you know it was a paw print? I'm not opposed to doing it again if necessary. I was going to have someone at my LYS show me how to duplicate stitch, but rather than waiting (and making you wait) I tried it myself. Unless I'm missing something, it couldn't be easier. Is it my experience in cross stitching that helped? Is it my understanding of the knit stitches? Or is it just really really easy? I don't know, and I don't care because it worked and the first one is done!I Tried My Hand at Duplicate Stitch
October 6 2004
I started my felted mittens last night, and just in time. They are going to be my dog park mittens. Winters in Boston get very very cold, and I need warm mittens to wear over little gloves so that I can both, be a responsible dog owner, and pick up after my dog, while still staying warm! My winter jacket is red and black, and I wanted to incorperate both into my mittens. I tried a corregated ribbing for the first time and I love the way it came out. It was a bit tough to do using the "magic loop" but I got the job done. The original plan was to knit in a paw print on the back of each hand, but the pattern is written to have shaping on the backs of the hands to make them fit better. Short rows=no intarsia. This means that I'll try to duplicate stitch some paws on before I felt them. We'll see how that goes! Go put on a sweater and have a great day.First Frost!
October 5 2004
Phase 1 of knitting my gloves is done. I've picked the pattern, picked the yarn (Cascade 220, there's not much better for felting), and wound it into balls. Now I guess it's time to actually get to the knitting part! Although I haven't been knitting any new pairs of mittens or gloves since this knitalong started, look at the sidebar to see how many people have! It's great to see everyone's projects taking shape. Check out Amy's post (Sept 28th) about the yarn that she'll be using for her gloves. Kim just finished her first mittens and check out those fingernails! ...and who was it that left the comment yesterday about finished mittens? I want to see pics, but I need to know where to look! Maybe I'll cast on for mine tonight... maybe!All of the Kittens Have Lost Their Mittens!
October 4 2004
I was working all this weekend, but don't you worry, there was still time to knit! After finally finishing sleeve number 2 on my pink cardi, I promply cast on for the left front. Somehow I found the time to knit it all the way to the armholes (where I didn't have my pattern handy, so I stopped). Look at it taking shape. ...and lest you think that I'm forgetting Mike's scarf. Here's proof that I've been knitting it, and it is growing surprizingly fast. I'm just about half way done with it already. The crazy part is, my lace cardigan is my "mindless project" and the scarf is my "intricate project"! Is this bizarro world? Workin' Hard, or Hardly Knittin'?
October 1 2004
Naomi could not be happier with our new family members. She spends a lot of the day looking at them. This morning she was jumping for joy because they moved and got yet even more tubing. What happy animals we have here! I, on the other hand, am jumping for joy because FINALLY sleeve number two is done on my Lace Yoked Cardigan. Most sweaters I do both at once, but for this sweater I did them separately. They could not have seemed to last any longer! It didn't help that the antique directions were not very specific on shaping the sleeve caps, and of course the small gauge. To avoid being arrested for indecent exposure while wearing this incomplete sweater, I cast on for the first front tonight. You may remember me posting before that the pattern wanted me to sew in a grosgrain ribbon at the end on the button bands and then machine sew button holes in. I don't think so. They also wanted me to crochet an edging up the fronts. This just seems to harsh for this delicate sweater so no crocheted edge either. Instead I'm doing a slip stitch edging that will leave nice finished edges and continuing the bottom ribbing up the button bands. It's looking good so far. You will just have to wait and see. Jumping For Joy!
