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Midweek on the Parkway

Flor's knitting something pretty! Go look!

Flor's site has so much good information on it that I keep it bookmarked for handy reference. I think its amazing that there are resources like this for knitters with modems.

Flor's success in dyeing reminded me of some stash I got from Handpaint Heaven's potluck sale at the first of the year:

It's way-cool handpaint shetland wool from Handpaint Heaven, so I've been winding it into balls in preparation for something lovely. For some reason the yarn is very hard to wind; it seems to pull and tangle a lot. But I persevere.

I have an idea in the works using the handpaint...I'm eager for some time to explore with knitting needles. This week is crunch-time, though, at school, so I'm not sure how much knitting I'll be able to manage. Laura's buttons arrived in the mail yesterday, but finals loom distressingly large. Gack! Who's too busy to sew on buttons?

Happy Wednesday, everyone--hang in there.

Miles to go before I knit

Time spent on finishing a knit never seems like knitting to me; there are several knit items that only require buttons or ends-weaving or blocking, but I never like them as much as what's on my needles.

I learned a lot from the Laura's vest--button holes, steeked neckbands, centering fair isle patterns--so it seems I would be rarin' to go on a new and more complex design. Instead, there are those ends to overcast and buttons to wait upon. But I'm very happy about the extent to which the skull vest has made me a more informed knitter. And I know the knowledge gained will be helpful in finishing some of my stalled UFOs. So hooray for finishing tasks (I guess!).

Anyway, classwork and the commute permitting, I should get to cast on for something new tonight. Photos tomorrow!

MDSW

My guild, Jersey Shore Fiber Arts, is making plans for the trip to the festival this weekend. I'm holding Saturday out for myself as a carrot in hopes of finishing a term paper.
What a wonderful event! I don't have shopping in mind (Really!) but always love being at the fair and seeing what's new in sheep and wool up close and in person. Cross your fingers for me that I'll be there (my fingers are too busy this week writing and researching web aesthetics)! Might as well hope for a sunny cool day, too, while you're at it.

Busy Busy

Lots to accomplish today. Everyone please have a good Tuesday!

Mikey sends loving puppy facelicks to Wendy.

Gee! That's a Lot of Skulls . . .

I finished the knitting part of Laura's vest over the weekend:

Pretty snazzy!

Knitting the neck band in the round with steeks produced the best results I've ever had on a neck band, plus I only had to knit it once! I like it.

Here's a small portion of the cut steek stitches that remain:

As for the ends, of which there are an amazing number, I'm using Alice Starmore's recommended technique to secure them with cross stitches. I've got a very good description of that in the Fair Isle Knitting book. Next time, I want to learn how to crochet the steeks up, as that seems to be a very tidy finish, and which is described in Meg Swansen's Sweaters From Camp. Do any of you know of an easy way for a non-crocheter to crochet up the steeks?

Tonight is my Guild's knitting study group, so I'll get to show off the vest before the buttons arrive. Once the buttons arrive, then the whole skully shebang goes off to Laura, with love in every stitch. My Guild members, super-knitters all, will notice the uncentered bits of the pattern but will be too polite to mention it (in my hearing range).

Under the Weather?

Mike and Jack send Feel-Better-Fast vibes.

Have an easy Monday, everyone.

The F-Word

Yeah! It's Friday, finally! Fantastic!

Fabulous

Didja see Caroline F's nearly finished St. Michael's? I love it in blues!

Fancy

The elegant and nearly invisible buttonholes on Laura's skull vest:

See the tiny black line? that's the buttonhole over six stitches of corrugated ribbing. Notice that it doesn't break up the rib pattern:

It's the Medrith Glover Buttonhole for Corrugated Rib from Sweaters From Camp and I think it's wonderfully elegant.

Having conquered the buttonholes, there are only about 4 rounds left on the neckband and then I can bind this skullbaby off the needles.

Frabjous!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Buttonholes, buttonholes

I've gotten through approximately half of the gazillion stitches of the neck band on Laura's skull vest (see yesterday's photo, and imagine five additional rounds), so it's time to consider buttonholes.

As you may remember, there are buttons coming from Repro Depot, and I've ordered the 18 mm size. That translates to needing buttonholes about 3/4 in (I think). I've never made buttonholes in corrugated ribbing, so I looked it up in Sweaters From Camp. I think I'll be working the ones recommended by Medrith Glover, but it all sounded a bit too fidgety late last night. I'll tackle those today, unless anyone has a better suggestion.

Knitting the neck band in the round seems like it's much easier than working it flat . . . but I'm eager to finish it so that I can see if it worked perfectly and fits on the vest nicely, or if I have rip and re-do.

We've Got Mail

Harrisville coned shetland-style wool is on sale at WEBS, so I ordered some at the Anniversary Sale prices (Happy 29th Birthday, WEBS!). It's a fine 2-ply that they describe as good for weaving, but I thought I'd check it out for knitting. If it works, I've got all this for future fair isles:

If it doesn't work so well, I'll use it for tapestry. Win-win! Any knitters already know the answer? Please tell me before I begin swatching and washing.

Thursday...mmmmm! Only one more workday until Friday!

Looking forward to Friday!

Jack is, and so am I . . .

it's Spring, and going to work is not nearly so appealing as going for a walk through the park with the dogs!

Skull Vest News

Last night I picked up the gazillion stitches for Laura's neck band, and actually set the corrugated rib pattern before I decided I'd done enough for the day.

I'm knitting it in the round, with steeks, as per Medrith Glover and Kevin Ames's advice in Sweaters From Camp. That book is full of good tricks for fair isle knitting. I've never knitted a neck band in the round, but it's sure to beat my usual multiple attempts at working it flat. I also have followed Meg Swansen's advice to decrease about an inch and a half's worth of stitches at the back of the neck. Doing that is supposed to reduce flaring on the neck band. I'll let you know!

Stephanie asked yesterday in the Comments what size needles I was using for the vest...Stephanie, it's on 4s with the ribbing and bands done in 2s. (Ow! My eyes!) Thanks for asking!

And Now for Something Really Cool

It's a real book, made by my incredibly talented, creative and skull-lovin' sister! OhNeil references Neil Diamond.
Laura's making notebooks out of vintage records. How cool is that? I want one! Repurposing is SO amazing! And so is my sister!

Pup Test!
NancyB says her dachies disembowel new toys; mine do something we call "de-braining" around here...they usually prefer head stuffing--blech. Stuffed toys have a short life span here, brief, yet fun-filled (for the pups).

Hang in there, everyone, just a few days 'til Friday!

News to Me

I visited my LYS over the weekend, The Knitting Gallery of Colts Neck, and that nice Sonia had a new gadget to sell me:

Sweet!

Magnifier, row finder, and gauge checker all in one!

Cute

Two cute armbands completed on Laura's skull vest.

I ordered buttons yesterday and will work on the front neck bands tonight if all goes well at work today.

I'm eager to cast on a new vest now, and I'm thinking it will either be AS Rosemarkie or the wonderful Whirlagigs from Meg Swansen's Sweaters from Camp. Sweaters from Camp has become an invaluable source of info to me for all things fair isle; every page has excellent information on it, and every bit of information is very cogently described by MS. Added bonus: all those great fair isles! Teresa of the gorgeous Roscalie is casting on for Ann Feitelson's Shirt-Tailed Fair Isle even now!

New Toys Update:

Della loves her new stuffed giraffe.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Monday, steeky Monday

I had some knitting time this weekend so I finished up the body of Laura's skull vest. Here's a photo, and some of us can learn something from it!

Lesson Learned: Next Time, Let's Center the Motif Before Starting, Shall We?

After cutting the front steek:

After cutting all steeks:

I picked up the armhole band stitches last night, but decided to save going blind as a task for another day.

Button Decisions:

I had thought of going with traditional pewter buttons for this project, but in doing some knitting-ring surfing over the weekend, I found a pointer from Hope on Rocket Science to some very cool buttons.

Who knew? Pretty cool! I also loved the Tatoo Set. Decisions! People are really making some cool stuff out there.

Thanks for the steek help, Wendy!

New Toys

Have a happy and productive Monday, everyone!

Friday! Friday! Friday!

What a long week! The good news is it went by very fast! Yesterday I managed to knit only one round on Laura's vest, and only added half the gusset to my current sock-in-progress, but that leaves me with plenty of knitting to enjoy this weekend.

However, there was a package from Carolyn at Carodan Farm waiting for me when I finally got home from class last night. Here's a dark-ish picture of the new Regia Short Colors and Regia Banner. The photo is very dark; better check Carolyn's site for truer colors.

I can't think what is so wildly enticing to me about sock yarn! When I hear of a new type or pattern, I'm seized with the overwhelming compulsion to own some. I knit up a lot of it, and almost always have a sock growing in my book bag, but my sockyarn stash is hefty hefty hefty. Just this week, I've added some Fortissima Colori from the lovely Ann at Elann plus some colorful 9-inch needles.

Speaking of Elann, isn't it just the greatest? Always something to admire there.

It's the weekend! Jack and Della hope you have a peaceful one.

Skulls-a-poppin

So even with the conference at NJIT yesterday, I was able to knit a little bit more on Laura's vest; once the decreases are done, I'll three-needle bind off the shoulders and then cut those steeks.

Then I'll be reviewing tips for the neckband and how best to make it lay perfectly flat.

Critters

Did you see my sister's dinner guests on her blog entry last week? She feeds possums too, and yes, she's had her rabies shots.

My pups wouldn't know what to do (I hope) with racoons or possums. They have very suburban personalities. Here's Mike guarding my knitting:

while Della guards the backyard toys:

More about Laura

My beautiful sister is 14 years younger than me and she's an artist. Go see her latest collage, okay? For those in the NE, a banana flip is a southern snack cake; a banana flavored sponge cake circle "flipped" in half and then filled with banana flavored creamy stuff. Very sweet! Just like Laura!

Happy Thursday, everyone! Just one more day 'til Friday.

The Brilliant Knitter

Keeping the skulls aligned on the vest now that I'm decreasing for the v-neck and armholes was really slowing my knitting down the past couple of days. In fact, the night before last, fidgeting over those skulls was making me think:
Thar! This vest blows!

Even though I was dog-tired:

I stayed up late last night poring over Ann Feitelson's and Alice Starmore's books on Fair Isle Knitting . . . and still couldn't find my answer. Or even my question . . . :-(

You can imagine my delight this morning when I consulted the knitting oracle and all was revealed. That's the cleverest way to keep track of decreases in pattern that I ever saw, and a sure-fire method of keeping patterns lined up in stranded knitting. Is she The Brilliant Knitter or what?

Thanks Wendy! I've printed it out (including a copyright notice!) and placed it in my knitting basket for easy reference.

Number 1 Item on my To-Do list today: buy magnetic marker strips!

The rest of my items are rather discouraging and all involve work. Expect a new report on the skull vest tomorrow, please.

In the meantime, did I mention this was waiting in the wings in be finished?

It's only missing sleeves, because I kept mixing up the pattern in the increases. I think I can move forward on it now, thanks to Wendy's tip.

It's the middle of the week already. . .have a good Wednesday!

Merrily I stitch along. . .

on Laura's skull vest. I'm a few rounds past the newly-created arm steeks, and the v-neck has begun to take shape through a couple of initial decreases. Here's some progress:

Skulls! skulls! skulls!

Check out the cool reverse side:

How cool is that? You know, one tip I was hoping for on Wendy's wonderful new reader's page of tips was a helpful hint on keeping continuity of pattern. That's difficult for me! Is it because I'm new to stranded knitting? Or am I missing something that would make my knitting easier?

In other news

Laura likes her new Regia striped socks.

April 15??!!!

Mike hopes you have filed your taxes easily, and that you get a refund!

Happy Tuesday to all!

Tapestry anyone?

My weaver-pal Rose and I spent part of the weekend working on tapestry projects. We're using our trusty Archie Brennan-designed looms made from copper plumbing pipe. I think someone on the tapestry2001 list at Topica will give you directions on how to make one if you check there. These looms make tapestry weaving available to everyone, are portable, and are fun to make.

Here's Rose with her row of Flemish houses:

and here's my little labyrinth, adapted from Kristen Glasbrook's new book Tapestry Weaving.

Cool, eh?

For more cool tapestry images, visit Monique's site

In other fiber news. . .

More knitting on the skull vest; I'm a half-repeat to setting the arm and neck steeks and then it will be more than half-way done! Photo tomorrow!

World's Dullest Blog