Finally!

The Hue Shift, she is done.  Here's how it looked before the black edging went on.  It was supposed to be picked up and knit, one side at a time, but I decided to crochet it.  I was going to do 10 rounds, but gave up after 6, about an inch of black.  Of course, that was after waiting for the yarn for square 96, only to run out of yarn for square 99.

I have seen other people post their pictures of the finished blanket, and it's much bigger than mine.  They must have had to get more of every color.  Keep that in mind if you do this, especially if you buy the kit: if you knit loosely you will need more.  Even if you don't, you might need more than one skein of each.

I also finished the Spatterdash mitts and ordered 30 buttons for them (they need 28).  Obviously they still need to be blocked and have ends woven in, but they were fun.

I'm still working on the Gwendolyn shawl, but this winter my hands have been so dry that the lace-weight alpaca sticks to my fingers, catching on the dry skin, and now I have over 300 stitches on the needle so each row takes a long time, 20 minutes or more.  For TV watching it's this scarf in $20 worth of cashmere, a simple feather and fan pattern.

  But over the weekend I started the granny squares for a felted bag, and that has been fun due to all the color changes and the satisfaction of checking off each one as it was done.  Not so fun has been sewing them all together and weaving in the ends, but one side is complete:

Which I expect will end up a lot smaller after felting.  It gets a fabric lining and purchased handles.  And then I can do something else with all of the leftover wool, like this pattern I finally bought.

So what is keeping you busy?

95 down

I know, I haven't updated in a while, but the projects at this time of year are repetitive because they are large, so not many fun pictures to post.  Mostly it's the Hue Shift afghan, which is nearing the end of the 100 squares.  95 are now done, only 5 to go, but square 96 might stop me in my tracks if I run out of yarn.  The pattern calls for one skein of each of 10 yarns, but I had only 1 yard of red left when I finished with it, and I'm not sure the blue will hold out for its one last square.  I will be really annoyed if that is the case and I have to buy another skein for just a few yards.  I'm a tight knitter, so it's not like I was wanton with the yarn, but I'm going to have to leave a comment on the website about being careful with it.  Seems unfair for people who buy the kit to have to buy extra.  Here's how the first two quarters looked:

I have managed to fit in a few other projects, but mostly it's a race with myself to get that afghan done so I can move on.  I made some Star Wars figures, then gave the pattern book back to its owner so I could truthfully say that I didn't have the patterns any more.  Amigurumi can be a booger to make because of the finishing work - embroidery, felt, sewing pieces together.  I made a red panda and didn't ask for any payment, so the requestor's wife made me some origami boxes.  That's a nice trade - handmade for handmade.

I also used some leftover Ultra Pima cotton to make a "lovey" for my anticipated nephew, using a standard pattern for the square and a teddy bear head with the last 10 stitches.  The head turned out smaller than I would like, but it is done and survived the washer and dryer with embroidery intact, so it's ready to give.

I hope they don't find it weird - I think it looks a little odd, but it's done and they can do with it what they like, even if they bury it in the garden so it doesn't frighten the kids.

Once I clean the litter boxes and finish packing I'm off to Florida to visit my parents.  I packed 3 small-scale projects for the trip - plain socks with self-patterning yarn, some knitted mitts, and crocheted mitts.

Where do I find patterns?  Ravelry, of course, but if you're on Facebook you can find pages for Cascade Yarns or Knit Picks or other vendors, "like" the page, and posts will show up in your Pages feed.  A lot of the posts are links to free patterns.  You can also just go to their websites and browse free patterns.  If you make an account with a yarn website like www.yarn.com you can sign up for e-mails that tell you about yarn sales and sometimes have pattern links.  I have also gotten patterns out of calendars and library books, but I find they are prone to errors.  Patterns on the web have often been done by many people before you find them, and the kinks have been worked out, no fiber pun intended.

Time to finish packing and reconsider my project choices.

Wool and snow

Spent much of yesterday knitting while the snow fell (fell?  More like, was pushed).  No point in shoveling during that blowing mess, although we did do some so the sidewalks wouldn't be hip deep today.  Got the cars of the workers cleared off this morning so we can get out tomorrow - drifts were over my knees on the passenger side.  Thank wool for the neighbor with the snow blower - Saint Ray is getting a box of steaks as a thank you for doing the front sidewalk and removing the wall left by the plow.

I now have half of the Hue Shift afghan finished and am on the second block of the third quarter.  Progress!  I have over a foot of cashmere feather and fan scarf done, and did a couple lines of chart 2 of my lace shawl, after inserting another lifeline.  But today is for more prosaic things, like shoveling, and changing litterboxes, and making pasta sauce.

Two things of interest to serious knitters: I found a website for the Knitting Guild Association.  You can join for $25 - $35 depending on whether you want the online or print edition of their magazine, and they offer classes and certification as a Master Hand Knitter.  This got my attention, but who are these people, and how do they get to judge who is a master or not?  But reading the tasks that need to be accomplished to get that certification it looks pretty comprehensive - there are swatches and garments to make and design, questions to research, reports to write.  I think I might do this as a personal challenge. It might take years, but it would force me to learn some things I don't know and improve some things I do know.

Second is a knitting retreat sponsored by WEBS, the yarn store.  If you have money you don't know what to do with and feel like spending a weekend in Amherst taking classes and buying yarn, check it out.  These things always intrigue me, but I haven't succumbed to the urge yet.  I think I have to hoard whatever vacation days I have this year, so probably not this one.

Stay warm and dry!

Warmed by critters

It's funny, but when I look at what I bundle myself up in during winter weather, little of it is stuff I made myself, or even knitwear.  Wool, although lovely to work with, makes me itch.  Alpaca is good, but makes kind of flimsy scarves.  Knitted hats don't keep my head as warm when the wind blows as polyester fleece.  I do love my musk ox cowl, which is thin, not itchy, and very warm and lightweight, but doesn't fit as tightly around my neck as I could wish.  I have an alpaca scarf I made years ago before I learned about blocking, so the simple stockinette rectangle has rolled itself into a tube.  Next time I block something I'm going to throw that in and flatten it out so it covers more of my neck.  I have plenty of mittens, but somehow not in matching pairs.

I took stock on a cold day last week and counted the critters keeping me warm: silk glove liners, down coat, musk ox cowl, wool woven shawl used as a scarf, alpaca sweater and mittens.  It's more of a committment for some of them - no getting a second shearing from the silk worms or geese.  But I thank them all for their contribution.

All of the Star Wars figures that were requested have been made and given, and I gave the pattern book back to its owner because when somebody asked me this week whether I had any more Darth Vaders at home I could truthfully say, "No, and I don't have the patterns any more".  They are cute, but like many amigurumi they take more time than you would think, especially the multicolor ones.  When you have tiny little bits to crochet, you can whip out the stitches in a minute but then you might have to weave in ends and sew pieces together, which can take longer than the initial crochet work.  I'm working on a red panda, which is quick to crochet, but then you have to cut out felt in just the right shapes, embroider the felt, glue the felt pieces on just right, and sew on the legs and ears and weave in all the ends.  Tedious.  No more custom orders this year, especially since I don't feel right asking people to pay for them.  I suggest they give a donation.

I have 44% of the Hue Shift afghan done.  I finished Chart 1 of a shawl in lovely burgundy laceweight alpaca, and thank wool I learned about using lifelines in lacework which has saved me a few times when I dropped stitches.  I finished a cowl whose original pattern I can't find, but it's very simple: cast on a multiple of 8 (say 80 or 88) stitches minus one (so actually 79 or 87 stitches), then work 4K, 4P over and over and over again, which produces a nice diagonal effect.  That used up a handpainted skein from Rhinebeck.  I started a scarf in a feather-and-fan pattern with some cashmere that I got on sale.  And I started a baby sweater, but the pattern had so many flaws and mistakes in it I gave up.  This is supposed to be fun, not ridiculous effort, and I just wasn't up for the brainwork it would take to make it right.  Maybe later.  I have been planning to make this sweater for about 2 years, and I have the yarn, so I just need the correct state of mind.  And I took a pair of needles and a skein of very manly alpaca to work so I have something to do during meetings.  It's okay, they know me there.

During the summer the CSA provided all kinds of things I couldn't consume, so many got frozen away, along with the strawberries in May and the wild raspberries in June.  This week I thawed some frozen cooked squash - some of it was butternut, but some was a big ugly lumpy thing that had dark orange meat (dense with beta carotene!).  I sauteed some onions and garlic, then added coriander, garam masala, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and curry powder, then dumped in the squash and some water and let it cook for an hour.  When it cooled I smoothed it out with the immersion blender and added a can of coconut milk.  Man, is that good!  It needs something crunchy, though, and gluten-free Chex actually work pretty well as croutons.  Now I need to try not to forget the kale and beets.  And the year-old frozen gluten-free lasagna I discovered while rooting through the freezer was pretty good, too.

Gotta go - yarn is calling me.

A start

Although saying that January 1 is the beginning of a new year is kind of arbitrary in the grand scheme of things, why not.  It's as good a time as any to declare what you want to change and let other people observe your success or failure.  Obviously I don't want to gain weight, need to spend more time at the gym and off my butt, continue to avoid sugar to control my reflux, but what about the yarn arts?  Don't they need some attention?  Indeed they do, so here are some yarn resolutions for 2016.

I want to learn a new stretchy cast-on well enough to teach it.

I want to learn at least one stretchy bind-off well enough to teach it.  Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off is often mentioned as a good one.

I want to learn to knit using the Magic Loop method instead of DPN's.  Just as an alternative, not all the time.

I want to get more items finished earlier for the Warm and Fuzzy Fundraiser.

I want to only buy yarn for intended projects, and bag up the yarn with its pattern right away, stashing them where they are easy to find.  And I will not whine about the cost of printer ink to print out the patterns.

That should do it.  I already have a good start on the yarn/pattern thing.  I went to the store Knit in Newtown, PA and picked out some yarns based on a list that I actually wrote out and took with me.  I went through my unmade patterns, noted the weight and length of yarn needed, then actually put it in the envelope with the yarn money (yes, there's money set aside just for yarn!), checking off the matched yarn/pattern combos.  Now I'm itching to get to them.

And I have been busy:

This is the cotton summer sweater I worked on during my cruise to Alaska.  Not sure whether I like the fit, so I'm going to throw it into the washing machine and see how it comes out.  I also had an "aha" moment when I started to crochet the edging and remembered that this was a British pattern, so what they call "double crochet" is what we call "single crochet".

Alpaca from Rhinebeck that looked nicer in the skein.  I will probably keep it for myself.  No pattern, just 2 x 2 rib all the way up.

About 19% of the Hue Shift afghan.  Currently working on square 24 of the first 25, and starting to see why you make it in 4 pieces of 25 squares each - it's getting heavy and unwieldy.  Just like the kitty.

Darth needs arms attached, light saber, and cape.  Also finished R2D2.  Not has been no help at all, but he is a pretty boy.

This hat is similar to the Cable Baby hat from last year, but at adult size.  I still have nearly half of this skein, so I need another project.  I can't throw away yarn until I have used up as much of it as possible.

And I started a cowl with a very simple pattern so I have something portable, and I'm working on a lace shawl with some beautiful yarn from Rhinebeck, but that's something I can only do in strong light.  I need to make another Boba Fett to go with Darth and R2, and then on to something else.  But I have thoroughly enjoyed all of this time off since before Christmas.  I have a good job, that give us all this time off.

Got any resolutions?

Solstice greetings

I know, I missed it by a day or so, but I like acknowledging that the shortest day has come and gone. There are many, many holidays around this time of year, but I like the solstice best.  I hope you are enjoying/have enjoyed/will enjoy your choice of holidays, and that whatever else goes on you find some time to rest and have some peace with people you love.  And some yarn in your hands.

We've had the last Yarnworks of the year, which we celebrated with cookies (thanks Jean!) and sparkling juice (thanks Andree!) and yarn, of course.  Looking forward to 2016!  I have been unusually amply rewarded for my efforts in the yarn department this year, so I am looking for some way to share that.  I ordered 4 magazines, 2 for knitting and 2 for crochet to share with the group (which for some reason earned me a copy of Kung Fu Panda from Amazon, although I have no idea why they think this is a good idea).  Some will go to buy yarn for future projects, but being frugal is ingrained by now, so I still shop the sales.  Maybe I'll invest in more needles of all sizes to make sure we have whatever is needed.  But I'll check eBay before paying full price...

Do you like untangling yarn?  Probably not, but I actually do, and apparently there is a whole community of people who like it so much they will do it for others.  Check out this article.  There is a group on Ravelry called Knot a Problem who specialize and glory in untangling yarn.

Making cookies at this time of year seems to be mandatory, but since I have been avoiding sugar to keep my heartburn under control, I had put it off.  Finally I made an old recipe for soft orange cookies with orange cream cheese icing, using a commercial gluten-free flour mix.  So I ended up with puffy, biscuity cookies instead of flat, cakey cookies, but they still work to convey the icing to my mouth.  I will suffer, but once a year I'll break my sugar fast.  And spritz cookies!  Sugar, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and brown rice flour, squashed through a cookie press.  But that leaves egg whites, you say.  Yes, and chocolate meringue cookies need egg whites!  So forgive me stomach and esophagus, I have sinned, but I'll stop soon.  As soon as all of the orange cream cheese icing is gone.

At the other end of the food spectrum, the organic farm from my CSA is selling the excess produce that this warm weather has allowed them to grow, so I'll balance the cookies with some kale and salad greens.

I have finished all of my Christmas gift knitting and crocheting, so now I have choices.  I'm working on the Hue Shift afghan, a boring ribbed hat for myself in alpaca, and I could sew together the finished summer sweater and put on the crocheted edging.  But that seems too self-focused.  I do have some Star Wars figures that were requested, but that won't take long.  So I started going through the projects I looked at but didn't make for this year.  I made a list of what yarn each needed, then went to the Yarn.com year-end blowout sale and started ordering.  Now I'm looking forward to that bag, and have a list to start on.  That's more like it!

I hear cookies calling me, but I'm ignoring them.  It's a fast day until dinner (homemade spaghetti sauce with sausage and chicken).  Take that, sugar.

Warm and Fuzzy

The Warm and Fuzzy fundraiser for 2015 is history now, and very successful!  People had fun (several commented that it was their favorite event at work), $3763 was raised, and all of the items found new homes.  I calculated that 56% of the final total was from bids on my work - the rest was from the bake sale, items donated by other people, and people just giving me more than they owed.  Several people won a bidding war only to turn around and gift the item to someone else who had been bidding.  Top bids were $150 for a painting, a copy of a Monet, by a fellow scientist who also flies his own plane and plays violins in orchestras, a real Renaissance man, and also $150 for the Island Playset (below).  Next was $120 for homebrewed beer (20 bottles of 22 oz of the brew of choice).

When I set up the tables, I couldn't find the zombie, but I had his picture on the bid sheet so he found a home, and eventually I found him under my bed by trying to think like a cat who had found it: where would it end up?  Bed it was.  The Star Wars figures were popular, of course, as were the baby items.  As usual it was impossible to predict what would get the fiercest bidding.  And 4 lots of homemade pierogies got bids of $70 - $80.

Yes, I already started something for next year, because that box of yarn was taunting me.  But I still have Christmas items to make, so I try not to let it hog all of my free time.

I visited my parents in Florida, and worked on a hat, finished a sweater, and did most of a headband during the trip.  The sweater pieces have been blocked and are ready to sew together once Christmas stuff is done, but I have a lot of leftover yarn from it.  It's lovely smooth shiny Cascade Ultra Pima fine, about 500 yards in tan, which is probably enough to make a baby blanket, but tan?  Who makes a tan baby blanket?  I like this pattern, which I have made before with Ultra Pima, but I'm not sure if I have enough yarn or enough interest to do it again.

This is the Gluten-Free Yarn Nerd, and a shout-out to some incredible bread is due.  GF bread basically is miserable stuff texture-wise, and I can pretty much never get through a sandwich without the bread crumbling before I finish, but lo!  Behold the best GF bread ever: Schar (imagine an umlaut over the a) gluten free Artisan Baker Multigrain Bread!  It sits on the store shelf at room temperature.  It's soft and flexible and chewy and non-crumbly when you first open the package, and wonder of wonders, it's still like that several days later at room temperature!  I have been reveling in sandwiches all week.  I almost never eat them because the bread is not worth it, but I nearly swooned with delight eating a grilled sandwich tonight.  You don't even have to toast this bread to make it edible.  Schar, you win the gluten-free universe.  Now if only you could make GF saltines...