Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 7: Your knitting and crochet time.

I travel a lot for work (and fun!), so a lot of my knitting is done on the road. I like to work on smaller projects (hats, mitts, socks) when traveling, for ease of transport. Usually I keep two projects with me, the necessary needles, and any extra flotsam needed for that particular project. One thing I've learned--people find knitting with a set of double pointed needles to be extremely impressive. Must just be the mass of needles and all the pointy ends.

And here comes somewhat embarrassing confession time. I really like to knit while watching TV. But you know, only educational programs.


Bum bum.

I can't help it! I know it's the mental equivalent of junk food, but it's my favorite show to knit to. First of all, it's on pretty much all the time. I've probably seen them all, so I don't have to give it my rapt attention. And what can I say? I love every over the top twist and knowing that the SVU squad is ON THE CASE.

And that wraps up the week...I've had a lot of fun participating in the 2nd Knit and Crochet Blog Week, thanks for reading! I've found a lot of new blogs to read, and I hope you'll visit me again too.

Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 6: Something to aspire to.

This is an easy one: complicated colorwork. We're talking multiples colors, complicated patterns - basically traditional fair isle. Specifically, I really want to do a project from this book:


Knit Your Own Norwegian Sweaters
Old knitting books, patterns, and pamphlets are awesome. This little gem was published in 1974. The pictures are my favorite part, I think.



What's with the random Norwegian dude?

No clue what's going on with the chick in the middle wearing a crown.

Star Wars won't come out for five more years, this particular Leia iteration was well ahead of her time.

What's mainly holding me back, though, is this part:


Just reading through the first paragraph, it's clear that there is going to be a decent amount of translation involved. The needle size required is something like 10, when the gauge indicates that it really should be something more like a US 1 or 2. Those are pretty freaking tiny needles to use for a pattern I'm not 100% sure I can follow. Maybe someday if I find myself snowed in in the Alps, I'll start on a Norwegian sweater.

Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 5: And now, for something completely different

Here comes the interpretive dance! Kidding. For something a little different, I wanted to try to answer a scientific(-ish) question about knitwear.

About a year and a half ago, I bought my husband a book about back-country skiing. It included a figure that seemed to imply that wearing a hat with a tassel or a pom-pom on top was advised because the tassel/pom would wick moisture away from the head and evaporate faster than a hat without. Since then, I've wondered if that was really true. The tipping point came when someone, without naming any doggie names, chewed the tassel off of one of my hats.


Was it worth the time to sew it back on? So I present to you the experiment:

TASSELS AND POM-POMS: FRIVOLOUS ADD-ON OR ESSENTIAL HAT COMPONENT?

My first thought was to do some sort of exercise with a tasseled hat and then a tassel-less hat, and see which one was sweatier. But that a) assumed I would be exercising exactly the same, the temperature outside was exactly the same, and a lot of other variables that could change and b) I would have to exercise. So I got a stand-in to wear the hat.


In order to speed up the drying time and simulate movement (i.e. exercise), I hooked up a fan to blow over our set-up.


First, I tried spraying the hat a set number of times (30),


and measured dryness by pinching the brim with a paper towel.


If the paper towel soaked through, it was still 'wet'.


But this actually dried too fast. I decided to try a 1 sec dunk in room temperature water instead.


Then I tested the brim every 15 minutes. I waited.


And tested and waited.


And waited and waited.


after three hours of blowing (both literally and metaphorically) I decided to end the test (when the batteries on the fan died). The brim was still wet, but I would try the same thing with the tassel after the hat dried (and more batteries were obtained) and see if there were any dramatic differences, or if I would feel a qualitative difference.

I gave the hat a 1 sec dunk in the water, and attached the tassel.

Three hours later and the hat was actually, surprisingly, much drier. The paper towel test yielded just a bit of moisture. I was shocked. I truly expected a negative result. One of the most exciting things in scientific research is an unexpected positive result. Who doesn't love a surprise? Well, maybe not a surprise root canal. Or surprise punch in the face. So the results are in: tassels and pom-poms are more than just frivolous flair, but actually serve a big purpose in keeping you warm and dry!

Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 4: Where are they now?

The fate of a finished object. Ideally, they would last forever, fit perfectly, and be well-loved. I touched on this subject a little bit last year, describing a well-loved hat made by my aunt. That finished object was part of the inspiration for my first 'no pattern' project: the cozy cabled hat. I think of it has the 'workhorse'. Whenever I need something simple and warm on my head:


like when I love on the dog,


or get my ski on,


or get my drink on,




or play some fetch,


or each some lunch in the backcountry,


or pet some sheep.

So what's better? Something beautiful that is so intricate and delicate that you feel like you can never bring it out of the drawer for fear of damage, or the truly utilitarian knit? I think a case can be made for both--but considering that I'm wearing the hat in question as we speak, I think I'm putting my money on utility.

Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 3: Tidy mind, tidy stitches.

This day's topic made me laugh. Guffaw, even. "How do you keep your yarn organized?" My answer, which I'm assuming will be the consensus from most people, is not at all. Sure, there are going to be a couple of people with an intricate filing system, and we'll smile and nod and say "What a great idea!" whilst secretly rolling our eyes.

I had an idea at one point that I would organize all of my knitting stuff in an antique washstand, because antique furniture rocks and washstands are an entertaining conversation piece--you can casually bring up how chamberpots used to be stored in them. I think my husband is still slightly horrified that a piece of our furniture was possibly used for poop storage.


I do have all of my needles, measuring tape, markers and various knitting flotsam in here--as well as a sewing machine stashed in the commode--but I wanted to display my lovely yarn for the world to see. I have an odds and ends yarn bucket:


But the meat of the yarn goes into a big old pile. My mom ordered the basket online as a gift for me, and was appalled at the size when it arrived. I assured her I could fill it, and it wasn't too difficult (read: I could barely fit everything in there)--but it became clear that I couldn't leave it out when we were gone.

See! It's been out for maybe 30 seconds and he's already thinking about getting his face in it.
Our dog loves yarn. Loves it. Other than peanut butter and dead animals, I think it's his favorite thing. Loves to pick it up and do the 'kill' on it--you know the thing where dogs shake their head back and forth to kill prey? He managed to stalk and nab some prey yesterday.


It's the yarn I just wrote about, the one I carefully placed back into a bag and into the basket. If he learns to open doors, it's game over, man.

A discussion of yarn storage wouldn't be complete without a mention of my portable yarn storage unit:


My relatives got it for me for Christmas last year, and it pretty much rocks. Don't be too jealous.

Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 2: Skill + 1UP

One of the main reasons I enjoy (obsess over?) knitting--the same reason I love snow skiing--is that there is always something new to try, new territory to be charted.
Comparing my repertoire from last year to this year, it doesn't look like my style of knitting has changed very much--I haven't added any big new leaps like a first pair of socks, for example (that was last year).

What I have started doing is working on projects without a pattern. I've been on a creative and/or self-destructive cycle of getting an idea for a project, looking for the appropriate pattern, and upon not finding it, deciding "Eh, it can't be that hard. I'll just write the pattern myself!" Words you should consider carefully before uttering--"How hard can it be?" Sometimes it ends well:






I hesitate to use the word design--let's just say I make stuff (stuff could be replaced with a four-letter word that also starts with s). I realized it's just a matter of an idea + simple geometry and algebra + experimenting to see what works. But there are usually a lot of steps in between that look like this:

Yarn explosion! Sometimes the dog also causes a scene like this.
which makes my production process very slooooooow. Fortunately, the process of knitting is my favorite part, so I try to think of it as getting multiple uses from the same ball of yarn. I just finished this guy for my husband:



I had the idea that I wanted it to look like there were ski tracks coming down the sides of the hat. Finding no suitable pattern, "How hard can it be?"

I've also been incredibly entertained writing up the patterns and making charts (seriously!). I discovered the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry, and awesome place to test new designs and/or get your designs tested. They can try out your pattern, find any errors, and tell you if your design sucks. I've got those fingerless mitts in the last image swirling around in the test pile right now. I'm tempted to try a sweater next...that'll probably only take about approximately one-thousand years for me to bang out.

Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 1: A tale of two yarns

Knitters, crocheters, cats...who doesn't like a good yarn? On second thought, those categories probably only encompass a small percentage of the population, and yet, yarn still kicks ass. But not all yarn is created equal.

I used to have a real problem picking out yarn for projects. I'd either buy yarn I thought I liked and have nothing to do with it, or buy a pattern without a clue as to what yarn to use. I also used to be a yarn cheapskate--there's a certain amount of sticker shock when you first start knitting. As I recounted in a previous K & C Blog Week post, this resulted in some outright monstrosities.

So when I decided I wanted to make the Sahara sweater, I thought I'd take the easy way out: get exactly the yarn that the pattern recommended, regardless of price. Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple. With a name like Pure and Simple, what could go wrong? Everything, it turns out.

I called that 'stretched sadness'.
The yarn was unplied silk, which was not only unpleasant to work with, but also resulted in uneven and stretched out stitches. HATE. I plowed ahead and ended up with something resembling a sweater - then upon washing, the blue yarn leaked dye and sullied up the cream part.

I learned a couple of things.

1) Choose your yarn colors carefully--you may someday want to wash your garment.

2) Expensive yarn does not necessarily mean good/enjoyable yarn.

I somehow ended up on the Tilli Tomas e-mailing list--and several months after finishing my 'sweater', I received an email advertising a screaming deal on an experimental batch of TT yarn, a wool/silk blend. I still reeked of the stench of failure, but the bargain was too great for me--I bought enough for another sweater. And I loved it:


All that's left of 10 skeins.

My mom enjoys her wool/silk sweater (I think....I hope).
I liked the experimental yarn so much, I am now in possession of a heaping pile of it:

Tilli Tomas 'Elsie' yarn - 33% wool, 33% silk, 33% milk protein - 100% awesome.

So I also learned,

3) Keep trying, and you'll eventually find yarn that you love!

2nd annual Knit and Crochet Blog Week is coming soon

Get excited, guys....Knit and Crochet Blog Week is back!


For the uninitiated, this is a week of seven daily topics, written by knit and crochet bloggers across the land. If you'd like to participate, see more details here. I really enjoyed participating last year; you can read any of my old posts by clicking on the tag 'knit and crochet blog week'.

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.