Wanted: more yarn

Guys, I kind of hate my test knit cowl sweater. Not the pattern, it seems fine, but I think that the yarn is too heavy. Yes, the cotton yarn that I love so much, is way too heavy when one holds two strands of it. Here's what it looks like:

The quarter is for scale. Coins are often used for a sense of scale in scientific presentations, and for some reason it always cracks me up; it's like take that coin, and spend it on a nice ruler.
It feels so nice in my hands, and the fabric itself is so soft and shiny (but incredibly thick and the pattern is intended to be for summer. Blurg. Let's not even mention that it is not a summery color). During blog week several people (the one I'm thinking of off the top of my head is fridica) mentioned that a skill they'd like to get better at is picking out yarn for a project. Amen, sistas and bros. I am terrible at matching yarn to pattern, especially when it's for something I'm going to wear. I think I may also be color-blind (or just color-stupid).

One of the first garments I ever knit was this:


And I hate it. I bought the yarn because it was hugely cheap on eBay, and for good reason, it's a dirty yellow--and not dirty in a fun & sexy way, just in the sense of being filthy looking. When I wore it, one of my coworkers commented that I must have made it myself, which is the kiss of death for a finished object (at least in my twisted mind). I'm literally putting it in the Goodwill pile after I write this, so perhaps someone somewhere will find enjoyment from it. This was also one of the last garments I made on large needles, because every one that I try always ends up with that 'home-made' look. Argh. WWTGD (What would Tim Gunn do)? I think he'd put on his concerned face and observe that the execution of the cowl isn't really going to plan. So...I'm going to tear it apart and buy different yarn. Yes, copilot, you read that correctly. In my effort to use the yarn that I splurged on, I am going to go out and buy more yarn. It's the American way.

Random tangent: One of the many things I love about Wisconsin is that the accepted form of compensation between friends is food/beer. A friend drove me to a doctor's appointment last week, so I treated for lunch yesterday (he was very excited, and splurged on a fancy pop). A couple of friends expressed interest in our old futon, and came to measure it. They asked how much we wanted for it. The question surprised me; I hadn't even considered it. "Case of beer?" was the first thing that came to mind (if it was a micro-brew, a 12-pack would suffice. I'm all about quality over quantity). I think it's because you don't want to accept money from friends, but who can say no to sharing food and drink?

Testing it forward

I'm a little verklempt that Knit & Crochet Blog Week is over--it was quite nice not to have a topic already in place and a huge list of blogs to read instead of working each morning. Alas, all good things must end.

But all is not sadness. My testers are plugging away on the Infinite Cabled Hat with minimal issues; I'm doing some testing of my own, on a sleeveless cowl-necked sweater. This all began two weekends ago, when a message appeared on the Ravelry board for my LYS that said they were having a sale that weekend. The store is changing hands, and the new owner wanted to get rid of some of the old stock. I convinced the copilot to accompany me down there, and came across this:


and this:


and a little bit of this:



They're all Classic Elite Yarns - Provence, an amazing cotton yarn. Previously, the only cotton yarn I've handled has been Peaches and Creme worsted - this is not a knock on P & C, but the stuff is more function than luxury. Ugh, talk about luxurious, I wanted to dump the barrel of the Provence on the floor right there and roll around in the stuff. But I refrained (not entirely sure of the legality of rolling around in someone's yarn), and just bought a few skeins in a couple of colors.

I go up to the cash register and my copilot gives me a scathing look. "What's it for?" he asks. Now granted, we had just talked about how we're moving into a new apartment and paying overlapping rent for a month and a half, so we needed to save money blah blah, but it was on sale. And it was crazy wonderful (crunderful?) yarn.

As I thought it over that evening, though, I started to worry he had a point. What the hell was I going to do with it? In my effort to be frugal, I'd only gotten a handful of skeins, but not all the same color, and not necessarily complementary colors. And behold, the next week there was a posting for a sleeveless cowl sweater needing to be tested. Great! Sleeveless! I could use cotton! It could be a summer thing! Let's not talk about the fact that none of the colors I got are very summery! I signed up right away.

I asked the poster what she thought of the yarn, and she mentioned it might be kind of small for the gauge. Holy Jebus, I didn't check the gauge beforehand, and it was biiiiig. I don't usually knit with large needles, but I thought what the hey. Let's Tim Gunn this thing and 'make it work!' So I swatched it out. I asked the opinion of my copilot and a friend who was visiting us, and the friend said (and I quote) "I think that will end up being a hooker vest." I thought about pressing onward anyway, but all I could hear was "hooker vest...hooker vest....hooker vest..." echoing in my mind. I have now done four swatches, and the only way I can make it less hooker-y is to hold two strands of the yarn at the same time. This puts me at the very lower end of the range of yarn needed (and I'm not making the smallest size)...eeep. Let's hope the knitting gods smile upon me once again.

What a Yarn - Knit & Crochet Blog Week Day 7

What a Yarn

There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative.

I've enjoyed all of the week's topics, but this subject was the only one that I knew immediately what I was going to write about. My copilot and I honeymooned in New Zealand last August, land of 10 sheep for every person (Score! Also, I feel like I have a few new readers. Here's where the whole copilot thing originated.). At the first B & B where we stayed, our hosts let us know that it would get below freezing at night, but assured us that we could snuggle under the warm blanket of possum fur. We exchanged a look. In the states, what we refer to as a 'possum' is the Virgina Opossum, and it looks like this:

Eep! & Eww.

Those suckers are mean, stupid, and their fur isn't particularly nice. The blanket we found waiting in our room, however, was brown and wonderfully soft. The plot thickens. We found out the next day on a nature hike that what Kiwis call 'possums' are not even in the opossum family, but are these adorable buggers:

From Eww to Aww!
Don't let that cute face fool you, though. These guys were introduced to New Zealand but European settlers to try to start up a fur trade, but when the popularity of fur waned, the population exploded. They're scavengers who will eat just about anything, including native NZ plants and wildlife; they're also carriers for tuberculosis. Since 1996, the government has encouraged clothing manufacturers to incorporate possum fur into their fabrics. The incarnation we encountered was called merinomink, but also goes under the monikers of eco-possum, possumdown, eco fur or possum wool. It's wonderfully soft and very warm. The fur fibers are hollow (unlike sheep's wool), so the fabric produced is surprisingly light.

We were lucky enough to run across the home base of a yarn company, Touch Yarns while passing through a tiny town in Central Otago. The proprietor informed us that they are the only producers in the world of wool-possum blend yarn. I proceeded to wander around the shop, fondling all the gorgeous hand-painted (and also reasonably priced) yarn. Behold a sample:

Ahh, lovely.

This was transformed into this. A little tippet scarf for a friend. I made one for my mom as well, they both reported back that they always get compliments when they wear them!

While we were in the shop, we had a close encounter with a real live kiwi trapper. I was browsing around, my copilot was trying to look interested, and a rustic looking dude came in with a big, full burlap sack. The proprietor came out to meet him, and exclaimed "Oh great! I can show you what we start with!" to my copilot and me. She went in the back and we eyed the bag dubiously. "Are the....corpses in there?" I asked. He looked a little uncomfortable and replied "Well, just the fur. We leave the rest. Tastes awful, but something will enjoy it." He showed us the furs, and the proprietor came back and showed us how they worked the fibers. Awesome...I've still got a little bit left, and I can't bring myself to use it.


To find other participating blogs, search for knitcroblo7.

Revisit a past F/O - Knit & Crochet Blog Week Day 6

Revisit a past F/O

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

I considered showing a lovely finished object (as if I've ever produced such a thing), but since I talked about the first time I bought 'nice' yarn in my One Great Knitter post, I figured I should try to bring this thing full circle. Then, as Paul Harvey said so many times, you'll know--the rest of the story.

When I came across the pattern Sahara, I thought it was so pretty and classy that I needed to do it 'right'. I'd just gotten burned trying to substitute yarn on a vest project, and ended up with a hideous pukey yellow thing instead of a vest. So I hopped down to my LYS and bought exactly the type of yarn that was recommended without looking at the price tag. After my minor heart attack at the cash register, I immediately started winding the yarn and cast-on. I had a lot of trouble with this yarn. It stretched in some places, but not in others, so I ended up with sad looking areas like this:

I call that 'stretched sadness'.
I also was none to skilled at short rows and picking up stitches. But in the end, there was a sweater:


It was soft! It was relatively OK looking! The problem? It encased me like I was a sausage. I had chosen to do the XS size, even though was recommended for a smaller bust than mine, because the sweaters I had made in the past usually ended up being too baggy. I tried 'extreme blocking': I soaked it down, put it on, and STRETCHED IT like crazy. I was like a woman possessed. It still didn't fit. I put it in my drawer and stopped knitting for a few months. Once my raging anger at the sweater had somewhat abated, I was able to evaluate what I'd learned: short rows, picking up stitches, weaving in ends, and perhaps most importantly, trust your designer (and use designers you know you can trust). Of course, this takes a little trial and error, and a little knitting knowledge on your part, but I've come to terms with the fact that it means making a few disasters before I get there.


To find other participating blogs, search for knitcroblo6.

Location, Location, Location - Knit & Crochet Blog Week Day 5

Location, Location, Location

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

Well, I do like to knit in all of those places, (maybe barring the bath--I don't think I have those mad skillz) but once place stands above the rest. Behold:

Ahhhh. '70s style luxury.

The backstory: my grandpa (technically my dad's step-dad--but to me he was G-pa, a moniker that always tickled him pink) was known for making impulsive and sometimes inexplicable purchases. I loved the dude, but I will admit that his taste was questionable (read: tacky). He originally bought this chair as a gift for his mother. This chair, even by the standards of the time, is quite small. His mother was, as they say in polite conversation, a large woman. She didn't even begin to fit in the chair, so it went back to G-pa. Now G-pa wasn't a large man in the sense that I just used, but he was fairly tall. Hence, he never really fit in the chair either. It eventually went to my parents and sat hidden in their basement, mostly due to the color which could be described as '70s puke green.

Flash forward to my first 'real' job--an internship at DC Cook Nuclear Plant (I was the designated Homer Simpson of the operation). I needed to furnish an apartment, fast. My parents suggested the puke green recliner, since it separates into two pieces and is easily transportable.

There is is, tucked in the corner.
Let me tell you, I fell in love with the chair that summer. I'd just learn to knit, so when I wasn't knitting beside the apartment complex's ratty pool, I was parked in the recliner. It's followed me everywhere since. Perfect fit for a munchkin, and good for napping too, when knitting tuckers you out:

Puke green is back in style. No, I swear!


To find other participating blogs, search for knitcroblo5.

A New Skill - Knit & Crochet Blog Week Day 4

A New Skill

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

First of all, 'colourwork'--you Brits and your adorable extra u's.

Second of all, one word--steeking. Let me try to sum this up for you: it's a Shetland technique, where you knit a Fair Isle sweater in the round, without worrying about the armholes--then you cut the 'steek' (an extra line of stitches, constructed supposedly in a way that you won't unravel your entire sweater when you cut them) for the armholes. Let me repeat that last part. You cut the armholes. YOU CUT YOUR KNITTING. I can't think of anything more terrifying, and I'm including J-horror ghosts, clowns, dolls that come to life, and my hair in the morning.

You can check out this nifty tutorial for more info on how to do it, and what your finished product can look like (ominous voice: IF YOU DARE).


To find other participating blogs, search for knitcroblo4.

FINALLY

Praise Jebus:


Merry Christmas, Becca.