Phisch's blog

Knitting Tip(s)

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:28:59 -0500

A brilliant person on knittinghelp.com's forums shared something awesome with respect to knitting something complicated like lace.

It's recommended that you use a lifeline at each pattern repeat.

Basically, that's a thinner thread you string through all the stitches so if you lose your place and have to frog back you only have to go back one repeat. She recommended using unwaxed dental floss because it's nice and thin and slick. The awesome bit has to do with the needles.

Knitpicks Options needles have a little hole at the end of the cable where the needle tips screw in so you can insert a thingamajig to help tighten the tips. You slip the thread through the little hole, knot loosely so it won't fall out and as you knit---voila!---your lifeline is automatically inserted for you. Just untie the knot and keep going until the next repeat.

If you're making a top-down garment, the lifeline is nice to use so you can take it off the needles and try it on as you go.

This has been a huge help so far! A lot of the Knitting Help folks are also on Ravelry, in the Knitting Help group, and they're just as free about dispensing wisdom over there.

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Interweave Knits Summer 2008

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:39:11 -0500

The preview is up!

You're wondering why on earth I bother posting about it. Hehe. I've loved this magazine and it's the one I gravitate to since I started knitting because I usually like more than two of the designs in them. The one issue I didn't buy since I started this ~~hobby~~ ~~obsession~~ addiction had quite a few patterns, it turns out, that I do like.

Anyway, Roped Shell and Plaid Halter would look really neat in two very similar colors but Imprint Tank is gorgeous just the way it is.

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Butterfly Tunic Progress

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:30:42 -0500

IMG_6471

Wow! I'm starting to see things happening. I dropped the needle size to 6 (from 8) because the lace pattern should become more defined. This may matter since the yarn hasn't got the same fuzzy halo as Rowan Kidsilk. There was an oh-so-brief moment when I thought I should have gotten the 3 balls of Kidsilk to make this, but remembered how mohair sheds and all the Butterflies I've seen made with something else.

I'm looking forward to blocking this!

Maybe it's nuts, but I won't be making this in pieces but rather in the round. I think it will do just fine without the side seams especially since I'm not used to sewing up something so fine.

Huzzah for knitting bravely! If this works, I should tackle fair isle next. Maybe even--gasp!--socks. Plural.

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Of Course: New Projects

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:56:19 -0500

IMG_6466

So, thanks Anna! My birthday gift arrived late last week. I got myself several balls of Elann Den-M-Nit in black, enough to make an Indigo Ripples Skirt. I really wanted to get the darkest indigo color, but I never had the moolah to get it while it was available...oops.

I also received my yarn order from Webs. It's a cone of 2/14 Alpaca Silk lace weight yarn in the color Sienna. This one will be for Anna's Butterfly tunic which is going to be a birthday and graduation present. I am trying to do a gauge swatch now and, well, this one is gonna take a while! I've never done lace before, at least not like this with super-thin yarn. I'm going to go over the pattern again and see if it's written out instead of charted and see if that helps me at all. I'm also trying to figure out which size I should make. I think lace is very stretchy but I'm not sure how much it will stretch and how much ease is built into the pattern. Suggestions welcomed: do I use the bust or hip measurement if there is a 6" difference (wider at the hip)? EDIT: added photo of swatch. The color is way off.

While I was away, I also started working on a Picovoli for myself in Lion Brand Microspun (black). I liked working with it before and I had five balls in my stash. I'm debating about whether or not to add sleeves to this one, but I've not even gotten past the bust area so it will be a while before I even get to it again, considering the lace project. The way the yarn lays in a very neat |/|/|/|/ pattern is just so cool. Speaking of cool: I want the sleeves to be long-ish if I add them, so they end just above the elbow. The square neck and longer sleeves might look better on me. But I might get impatient. You know how that goes.

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Gathered Pullover

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:43:33 -0500

Gathered Pullover
Originally uploaded by Phisch

It's done! And just in time for summer. LOL! Well, maybe I'll win the lotto and we can go to Australia or New Zealand just so I can have an excuse to wear this!

Yes, I am excited. I put it on before it was dry and it smells so much like wet dog. I sprayed it down with some water then steamed it and laid it to dry (should be done in a little bit). That fixed the excessive rolling of the hem.

Other than adding length to the hem and doing the sleeves as prescribed in the Knitting from the Top book, I made no changes to the pattern. The cable fits just under the bust line where I wanted it (the pattern calls for it to be at least an inch higher, but I'm not built that way ;). One more mod: the neckline is knit in the round and not back and forth then seamed.

The yarn is Elsbeth Lavold Classic Al and very soft. I have to wear something under this anyway so the wool content isn't that big of a deal. It's so soft!

Ravelry details here.

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Moderne Baby Blanket

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:33:34 -0500

IMG_6439

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in lime, almond, lake and maize. The panels in the color lime needed 3 balls, the rest only two.

Knit with size 8 needles (pattern calls for size 6 and a DK weight yarn, I believe).

This is my third Moderne Baby Blanket because it's such a fun, quick, no-concentration needed knit. I love the asymmetrical blocks versus the usual log cabin style of working.

The first two I knit in Peaches n' Cream cotton and they have held up well but I do like this yarn much, much more. It's a lot more drapey and it's just so much softer. The colors are so yummy, too, it was hard not to *squee* when I held the different colored balls of yarn together (I am an odd fish, I know).

This blanket is huge compared to the others. Of course, the second was just that much bigger than the first, too. I think it might be a tad bigger than crib size, but I'm not sure.

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Gathered Pullover

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:15:36 -0500

Gathered Pullover
Originally uploaded by Phisch

This yarn was supposed to be a Central Park Hoodie but I changed my mind and am making Gathered Pullover instead since I wasn't getting the right gauge without the yarn looking to "holey" for a CPH.

I love the this yarn, Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al in color Artic Night (misspelling from label). I might end up using up only 6 of the 11 balls I got so I will have to figure out what to do with the remainder. So far, only almost 3 balls used.

The stockinette is supposed to roll a lot, but this seems to be a lot more than I wanted. I'll have to see if blocking will eliminate some of that or what. If not, I might cut off the cast on row and knit down from there. I like that knitting is the same upside down as right side up :)

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Knitting in the Bible

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:03:15 -0500

A post in which I seek, once again, to justify my ~~obsession~~ hobby by quoting the bible.

Nah...someone else put together a nice compendium. Saves me the time. Now on to my next CPH...

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Central Park Hoodie

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:00:06 -0600

Central Park Hoodie
Originally uploaded by Phisch

Finished! Voila!

So...E'sa, it fits a little large especially considering this was supposed to be a really fitted sweater. Definitely something to wear next to the fire or over other clothes (I vote for the latter).

It's made per the original, hence no buttons, but could have those added. Maybe wood toggles? If I do add a closure, it would be toggles. I love the length of this sweater. Love it!

I have yarn I ordered as part of my Christmas present from Karen (or was it birthday?) that was intended to become my own dark blue CPH (with toggles). But, man, this thing is warm and it's just acrylic. The yarn I have is alpaca and wool! Maybe I'll make something else with it instead.

All I need to do now is just weave in the last of the threads and it is totally complete. Yay!

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Spontaneous the Pullover

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:00:59 -0600

IMG_4383
Originally uploaded by Phisch

This year, once again, I was blessed with an abundance of yarn for knitting projects. My SIL gifted me with (I think) nine balls of Caron Simply Soft in autumn red, denim blues and sage green. Yay! Coincidentally, I had purchased four balls of autumn red at Wally World the same day the gifts arrived at our house.

I was going to make a hoodie, but I decided just to cast on and see what would happen. Here we are, a pullover in progress. I will most likely frog back the seed stitches at the bottom and add two inches. That, or add more decreases to the waist area, but I might be too lazy to do that and too eager to get on to the next thing I want to do.

I plan to make the sleeves extra long, about 2 inches or so, and add some holes an inch and a half before the end of the sleeves. That way I can slip my thumbs in there and the sleeves won't ride up when it's cold :) I got this idea from someone else's project (Ysolda's Apocalypse Tree Hoodie).

Note to Karen: I hope I told you I got the gift certificate for Webs (Yarn.com). THANK YOU!!! I'll be buying yarn to make a Central Park Hoodie. I think anyway. Hehe.

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