Olivia!

Jill P.:

Wow, I am super behind.  The most news-worthy thing in my life right now, is that I got a new kitten!  I adopted her almost a month ago from the West LA Animal Shelter.  On WWKIP Day, in fact.  I got a few minutes of knitting done at the shelter vet.

She was 8 weeks old when I got her, so old enough to be spayed.  Seems awfully early to me, but I understand that the shelter wants to make sure it gets done.  She was segregated in my bedroom for the first few days, and had to wear the cone for over a week!

I also had a horrible (to me) flea investation.  I think Olivia’s first dose of Advantage didn’t work, or got absorbed by the gauze that holds the cone on.  I had to reapply it a couple weeks later.  I think that the whole fiasco is finally over, but I am still seeing an occasional flea.  Gross.  Everytime I think about it I get so itchy.

I am hoping that she’s going to be a long-hair, but I think she’ll probably be more of a medium hair.  She’s a lot fuzzier than our other kitties were.

Most of my pictures of her are from the first two days.  There’s a few more on my flickr account.  My battery charger died and I wasn’t able to get new batteries until yesterday.  She’s a bit bigger now, but not that much bigger.  Now that her cone is off, she is very playful and a little bitey.  Hopefully she’ll grow out of that phase!  It makes it difficult to knit at home, since she’s always trying to bite the yarn.  I think she’ll fit in well in my little family.  She’s been playing with Paquito quite a bit.  They haven’t started cuddling or grooming each other yet though.

In knitting news, I realize that I never blogged my Petal Halter.

Pattern: Petal Halter by Olga Buraya-Kefelian in Interweave Knits, Spring 2009

Yarn: Rowan Damask, less than 5 skeins.

Start Date: May 9, 2009

Finish Date: June 18, 2009

I started this as part of the Anthropologie Knits group Tank KAL.  I am not totally pleased with it.  The yarn is a little too busy for it.  And all the finishing really was annoying.  I ended up sewing the tubes together in the opposite direction, so my side seams aren’t exactly at the sides.  I also shortened the straps, and picked up stitches and bound off for a tiny armhole edging.  Before I blocked it, it was curling like gangbusters!  It just looked like crazy tubes.

For next time, two totally winter articles of clothing that I just finished in the last week.

Jill B.

NWRSA Conference

Jill P.:

I have a few things to blog about, but I should do them in order.  The week before last found me in Seattle and Tacoma.  I flew to Seattle and hung out with some friends.

I first stayed with my college roomie Tina for a few days.  She introduced me to the Twilight movie, and I introduced her to a new knitting project.  She has been working on a long stockinette scarf for about two years, since a friend taught her how to knit.  She pulled it out again since I was coming over.  I did have to break the news to her that it will never stop rolling. =(  I was able to drag her to a few yarn stores while I was there.  We went to the Fiber Gallery in Phinney Ridge where I bought some Dream in Color Starry and Tina bought some Silk Garden and fixin’s to make fingerless gloves.  A very nice selection.  The next day we went to Hilltop Yarn on Queen Anne.  I think they are moving across the street, so everything was 25% off.  I bought some Shibuiknits Sock to start some (more?!) knee high socks, and more Noro Silk Garden Sock.  I don’t know why I keep buying it.  I haven’t knit with what I have at home, and most reviews are less than enticing.  Plus sometimes I see the same colorways over and over and get bored with them.  I started the knee-highs as part of the Sock Knitters Anonymous Rav. group’s June sockdown.  Here’s part of one.  It’s the Evening Stockings for a Young Lady from Knitting Vintage Socks.  (I’ll do a full post when they’re done).

I was really proud of Tina and her knitting.  She finished one fingerless glove while I was there.  She learned how to knit in the round, do ribbing, use DPNs, and make a thumb gusset!  I hope she manages to finish the other one before I go back in a year!

I then moved over to my friend Michelle’s place.  I suppose she was a grad school roommate!  I stayed at her cute house in Ballard and spent some time with her pets.  Of course I didn’t take any pictures while I was there.  We went on walks, got yummy crumpets and ate some good meals.  She also had a fun barbecue one night I was there.  Thanks to my generous hostesses!  Oh, also caught up with another friend from high school/college.

My Mom and Dad came up to Seattle and picked me up.  We had some lunch and then my Dad dropped us off at the University of Puget Sound campus.  Then it was 3-4 days of the Northwest Regional Spinners Association conference.  This is my first time going.  I became a member just to attend the conference with my Mom.  Since she was driving up from Camas, she brought both of her wheels.  That way I didn’t have to fly up with my wheel.  I took two all-day classes.  One was Spinning Woolen and Worsted with Anne Field, author of the Ashford Book of Spinning.  I worked on my long and medium draw and using a flick carder.  The next day was Spinning Alpaca with Kaye Collins.  Very informative and a fun class.  She gave the keynote speech of the conference, which was a little more spiritual than my tastes tend to run…

We had meal tickets in the cafeteria, which meant three all-you-can-eat meals within 10 hours.  I felt moderately sick for the whole time.  I just can’t stop myself from eating tons of crap.

My Mom pushed me to enter my Muir shawl (previous post here) into the gallery.  I was a little hesitant about it, because it was my first lace handspun.  I knew the yarn was pretty uneven and was worried about the judging.  But I surprisingly scored very highly!  I got a first prize ribbon!  I never really know what those ribbons mean.  I definitely didn’t get the Best in Class ribbon.  On the last night of the conference they announced that I won the People’s Choice award!  It was very exciting.

Here is a picture of me with the shawl, the ribbon, and the trophy!

The “trophy” is near invisible in that picture.  It is a crocheted heart hanging from a wire stand.  It is a revolving trophy so I need to bring it back next year.  I don’t know if I’ll make it again next year, but I’ll at least send it in.  The woman who had it the year before was very sad to give it up.  I just hope I can display it without a cat eating it. =)  I’ve been sarcastic about the whole thing and laughing at how seriously the other woman took it.  But really, it was quite an honor for me.  I am definitely not as competent of a spinner as most of the people in attendance, and still have a lot to learn.  It was pretty exciting and I’m glad that my Mom brought the shawl and “forced” me to enter it.

I am much more excited for my next post!  Here’s a sneak preview!

Jill B.

Oh, Jill.  Have you seen the Hansi Singh book?  It has the Nessie in it, and a lot of the other patterns she sells.  Right up your alley.

As if I have time for such obsessions….

I’m addicted to a new indie dyer who calls herself Fiberphile.  I hate to even talk about her yarn because since I discovered her a short two months ago, it’s become almost impossible to get.  Gushing about it can only make it worse.  But I so happy for her and her success that I can’t help but spread the love.  So here goes nothing…

First off, Georgia (her real name) is from Vermont.  I triple heart anything from New England, especially Vermont.  Makes my heart cry out with bittersweet homesickness.  Secondly, she’s a lovely and humble woman who takes care of her family and runs her own successful small business out of her home which is such an inspiration to me.  Thirdly, she’s a dyepot wizard.  Here’s the proof…

Knit with Fiberphile Alchemy Super Squish Sock in Low Tide which looks almost iridescent in person!

Project details can be found on my project page on Ravelry.  This is probably my most favorite knit ever!  I was mesmerized the entire time and could barely put it down.  This was also my first time working with beads.  I purchased the size 6/0 sparkle gold lined crystal beads from EarthFaire (who has a small but quality selection and always provides superior customer service, I must say).  I knit this Swallowtail Shawl as part of a KAL that was hosted in the Fiberphile Ravelry group.  Speaking of which, there is another one going on now for June/July which I just cast on for…

Tiger Eyes socks knit with Fiberphile Glimmer MCN in Pumpkin Spice.  (Merino/Cahsmere/Nylon blend seems to be a very popular yarn base with the indie dyers these days.) Now, these need to be finished by the end of July.  A minor miracle will probably have to happen for that reality to materialize, but I’m going to go for it anyway!

Georgia seems to dye up large batches of yarn every three weeks or so.  If you want to fight me for some, the battlefield, I mean website, is at August Lately.  She also has a blog here.

On the massage school front, I just passed the first of three exams for my Anatomy & Physiology II class and I’m halfway through my third level of Deep Tissue class.  The final exam for that is going to be a doozy!!!  Though my regular schedule of classes is taking a lot of time and energy, I’m a glutton for punishment and decided to sign up for an elective taking place this Sunday.  It’s an On-site Chair Massage class.  I’m really excited about this one.  If I love it, I’ll probably buy a chair which I could bring with me to knit night and practice massage on eveyone’s weary knitting fingers, arms and shoulders.  Yay!

Speaking of Knit Night, I’m hoping to show my face this coming Monday, but since it’s going to be such a busy weekend “hoping” is really the operative word.  I fear that if I don’t go this Monday, I won’t see y’all until mid-July at best.  Would you still love me… remember me even???

xoxoxoxxx, JP

aka. oboegoddess

More baby stuff!

Hey Jill P:

I had to put aside my regular knitting once again to make baby/kid stuff.  My good friends Jeff and Morgan are having their first baby!  I have known Jeff since middle school, and Morgan was one of my college roommates, although I am not responsible for them getting together.  So this is a very important baby.  Oh, at some time I blogged about going to their Hut wedding on Mt. Hood, but maybe that was on my old blog.  Anyway, I had a bunch of ideas for presents, but didn’t move on any of them.  Of course, a week ago or so, I emailed Jeff to find out the sex of the baby and realized that the baby was due in two weeks!  I had to get moving!

Here’s what I decided on:

Yeah, not a very impressive display.  But here’s what it looks like hanging up!:

Pattern: Flock by Meg Bakewell in Knitty, Spring 2009.

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes and Lamb’s Pride Worsted.  I used leftovers from my Mosaic Yoke Jacket and my Road to Golden.

I used size 4 needles for everything.  Since I used leftover yarn my only cost was less than $1.50 for dowels.  Of course it took $8 to ship it…

I had loved this when I first saw it, but didn’t even think about making it until a week ago.  I was on such a time schedule that it did start to feel like a bit of a chore.  But I can’t believe I finished it in a week!  I did have to sit at the court house yesterday for about four hours while contesting a traffic ticket.  I did all my I-cord branches and some of my leaves there.  Oh, and I lost my case and got a parking ticket while there.  Bummer.

I had to make a few substitutions on color when I ran out of dark green and when I didn’t want to use the branch color in the birds.  The pattern was very well-written.  Very precise.  The only thing I changed, was to continue the same shaping in the head that I did in the body.  I like having ssks and k2togs to shape the head instead of doing all k2togs, like in a hat.  But that’s it.  I also made the shortest version of the mobile.

Here’s some more shots of it.

I hope they like it!

On a random note, here was the view from the front of my work the other day:

That’s a cell phone picture, so not great.  The Church of Scientology owns that workshop/space and are always doing weird work in there.  I think they were fixing up Ron L. Hubbard’s car in there once.  They are moving what looks to be a zero-gravity simulator/gyroscope onto this truck.  Later in the day when I walked by, they were moving some control panels.  One said Gravitron and the other said Motion Control.  Weird.  Don’t tell me they’re not building a space ship.  Maybe they’re just working on carnival rides for a company picnic or something. =)

I’ll probably have our usual Monday night SnB at my apartment next time.  Let me know if you want to come!

Jill B.

Lace stockings

Hey Jill P.:

I’ve been slogging through a sweater, but it is taking forever!  But I did just finish up another project that I’m eager to show off. 

It is the #31 Lace Stockings by Mari Muinonen/Tikru that were in the Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2009.

The yarn was Knit Picks Essential Kettle-Dyed in Eggplant.  I used a bit more than two balls.  It took me about a month to do the pair. 

There was a bit of a delay initially because Vogue didn’t publish all of the charts in the magazine.  And there was some lag time in getting it up on the website.  They went pretty quickly.  A nice thing about lace socks is there are so few stitches.  I usually use DPNs but I used two circulars for most of these.  The lace pattern on the front doesn’t divide in half easily, so it was better to have them all on one needle. 

If I were going to do them again, I would use a smaller gauge than recommended for the foot and ankle.  I went with 6st/in and the foot was a little loose for me.  I went down a needle size for the ankle and went back to the called for needle for the calf.  It was exciting not to have to make these bigger than called for.  I would also have put in one or two more repeats of the main lace pattern.  I think I would have liked a taller stocking. 

And I thought the Bettie’s Stockings looked trampy!

Yikes!  I imagine I’ll be wearing these with longer skirts.

There were a few small mistakes in the charts.  On the left side of Row 19 on Chart 2, there is, if I remember correctly, an extra stitch.  Also on the left tip of the leaf/flower, it is sometimes a K3tog and sometimes a K3tog tbl. 

I had some difficulty with the elastic at the top of the leg.  I first tried weaving clear elastic bands through the “eyelet rows” at the top of the stocking.  But there aren’t really any eyelet rows, and that just wasn’t working for me.  I ended up using some black elastic sewing thread.  On a non-cabled row, I would thread the elastic through the stitches on the needle like a lifeline.  Then I would knit the stitches as normal.  Except if there was a yo in the row that I thread through, then I knit the stitch and the elastic together.  This way the thread is pulled up with the stitch and is not just going horizontally across the yarnover.  It was too late for the first stocking, so I just thread the elastic through the back of the fabric in maybe 5 sections.  I just knotted the elastic together at the end of the rounds.  I needed to make it quite snug to stay up on my leg.  If there was no elastic, the stocking would eventually just make its way down to my ankle.  And by eventually I mean, like in two minutes.  Here’s a close-up of the first stocking where I didn’t put the elastic in while knitting:

You can still see the elastic, but I decided it was good enough.  I tried knitting the elastic thread in, but I wasn’t able to pull the elastic taut enough to do any good. 

Overall I’m pleased with them.  I hope they get some use.  Other than that I just started my Petal Halter, and am still working on the Mosiac Yoke Jacket.  I also have a baby present to get to really quickly.  It is going to be a girl and she’s due in two weeks!  I have no idea what to make! 

Jill B.

Kid presents

Jill P.:

Here are the projects I had under wraps for a while.  Melissa’s baby Ben was turning 1.  I decided to knit him a present.   But my Mom has always taught me to make something for the older child too so they don’t get too jealous.  So Zach needed a gift too.

For Ben’s present, I made him a pair of pants.

Pattern: Kanoko Pants by Yumiko Sakurai

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Taupe and Violet.  For the stripes I used some bits of TLC Cotton Plus in Cream and Gold.  I used less than a ball of each of the main colors, and not very much of the other ones.

I made the largest size.  They are kind of funny looking on, super wide-legged.  In my mind the colors were less circusy, but I still like them.  I didn’t do anything to combat jogs.  But when working in the ends I kind of smooshed them over into straighter lines.  With the accent colors I made sure to knit a row with the new color before the purl or seed stitch row.  That way you don’t get that weird coloring in the purl ridge.  The most annoying thing with this project was having to do the legs on DPNs and having stitches almost falling off each time.  A fifth DPN would have helped.

I wanted to do a small gift for Zach, but his ended up being maybe more time consuming than Ben’s.  Zach received:

Elefante!

Pattern: Elefante by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: Wool of the Andes left over from my Road to Golden sweater in Daffodil, Avocado, Evergreen, Lullaby, Mink Heather and Cranberry.

I am super happy with how he turned out.  I just filled him with Polyfil.  I didn’t want to deal with the little weighting beads.  Instead of attempting the crochet ears, I followed the example of KnittingElephant (I think?!) on Ravelry and made garter stitch ears.  Then I picked up all around with a contrast color and bound off.  It leaves the little lines on the other side, but I don’t mind them.

I wasn’t able to get his little feet flat on the bottom.  Maybe if I had done less rounds on the feet, they wouldn’t pucker out so much.  The stripes were a little time consuming, but it was nice being able to just tie them on the inside.  The hardest part for me was sewing the head onto the body.  It was hard to know where it should be sewn to.  Now he has a little cocked head but I think it gives him character.  Kind of quizzical.

I have a lot of projects to blog about, but should try to space them out.  Next up is the finished Drop Collar Cabled Jacket.  And a few WIPs.  I am going to try to knit or crochet some wire earrings for my friend Adrienne.  Wish me luck!

Jill B.

I’m spinning away….

I’ve really caught the spinning bug lately. It all started with my intense desire to finish spinning that pound of corriedale (scoured by John Pitblado) that I bought a million years ago from The Weaver’s Cottage. It had been sitting in my stash all carded up and ready for some wheel love for what seemed like an eternity when I finally decided to pull it out and spin it without too much muss or attention into careless bulky singles. Of course, this process got interrupted by life and another big move, but I finally finished it up sometime after St. Patrick’s Day and it turned out pretty good. you can see in the pic I was celebrating the finished spinning as well as the holiday! I think I ended up with somewhere around a 1000 yards. Someday this will probably become a sweater. I was thinking about that very popular Owls sweater, but it may just bee too thick/thin for that kind of thing. I’m still pondering…

Since I’m not really in the position space or time wise to do my own dyeing, I’ve become obsessed with a few indie dyers and have been trying out different fiber blends to see which I like best. First up is Pigeonroof Studio’s BFL Roving. I didn’t really have a plan for how I wanted to spin it, so I just decided to do a basic two ply and let the fiber dictate the weight. I did know that I wanted it to come out really sproingy so I added a lot of twist in the single and in the ply. Here it is in roving form…

The colorway is called Helleborus. I was so excited about how this yarn came out that I did my little photoshoot before setting the twist.The pics came out really nice, but the yarn looks even better and loftier than this after giving a good soak and a lots of whacking on the pavement. I ended up with about 120 yards of aran weight yarn.

So then I wasn’t sure what I would make from this, so I started stalking etsy.com again and found 6oz of BFL dyed by FatCatKnits that looked like it would be very complimentary, although this is superwash BFL and the other is regular BFL.

So I did my best to spin in a similar fashion even though the spinning events were several weeks apart form each other and that has not always worked out for me in the past. Luckily, I came very pretty close I think. The yarn might be just a bit bulkier but it is every bit as lustrous and smooshy.

So here they are side by side. I’m thinking about knitting either a striped raglan caplet or a simple triangle shawl/shawlette. I’ve got about 280 yards altogether so it should be quite the challenge!

I am a total BFL convert! I totally love spinning it and am thrilled with the way it looks when it’s all finished. I can’t wait to get some needles to it!

Another fiber I wanted to try was the merino/bamboo/nylon blend. I found a batch that was dyed up in some irresistible spring-like colors from Spincerely. I was aiming for a fingering weight three-ply but ended up with something around worsted weight.

I ended up with about 150 yards. Not going to be able to get socks out of this. I do have a few small skeins that I used for testing out the fiber which I could use too, but I have a feeling this is destined to become a cowl or something… The verdict: not a big fan of the bamboo/nylon. Not sure which aspect of the blend is to blame, but it just doesn’t appeal to me at this stage. It was a pleasure to spin, but right now I’m just not that into it. I probably should have known since I’m really not that big a fan of merino/tencel blends.  I must say though, that Spincerely does some lovely dyeing.  I will definitely be stalking her shop in the future.

The next fiber that’s destined for my wheel is some merino/seacell from Creatively Dyed. Seacell has very similar qualities to tencel or bamboo, but I’m going to reserve judgment until I see the final result because I really love this dyejob!

I’m thinking about spinning this into a superthin single and doing a navajo ply. I read on someone’s blog (I’ve tried desperately to find it so I could document it, to no avail.) that if you run the single through your wheel twice, first to chain the single (treadling slowly  with a strong uptake to minimize adding any twist and pausing to build each chain) and second time to add the twist, the N-ply comes out much more even and balanced. I tried this with a bit of yardage that was leftover from the Spincerely three-ply and I must say it was the best Navajo ply I’ve ever managed. So I believe that will be my next spinning challenge. If successful, the yarn could become either knee socks or a lace shawl. Only the yarn knows!

Beyond that, I’ve got a bunch of other great roving in my stash and this morning managed to score a coveted spot in Pigeonroof Studios three month fiber club. (There were only 18 spots and they sold out in about 15 seconds. Crazy!!) So excited!!!

It’s a shame with all this spinning going on that I can’t ever make it to a GLASG meeting. Massage school has been moving right along though and I did really well in Anatomy 1 and just started Deep Tissue 2. I’m a little over 300 hours into my 550 hour course load. And for the next few weeks I should be able to come to Monday night knitting at the Spot. I miss you and the rest of the girlies so much and can’t wait to see you tonight!!

xo, Jill P.

Some small projects and big trees

Jill P.:

There’s been a lot of knitting going on over here, but not much to show for it.  My larger project is the Debbie Bliss Drop Collar Cabled Jacket.  I feel like I should have finished this a while ago since it’s in chunky yarn but I keep getting side-tracked.  Mostly with gift knitting and you know, the flu. 

My sister’s birthday was earlier this month.  I knew that I wanted to knit her a headband, since she recently told me that she’s been wearing headbands a lot.  Usually I would just easily pick out a pattern, use some yarn I have and be done with it.  But for some reason I really labored over this one.  I could not make a decision!  First I used the Dream Swatch Headwrap pattern and made it into a headband.  I used some super glitzy GGH Velour-Lame yarn from my stash.  I kind of liked the result.  It was pretty flashy.  And it ended up being pretty thick in the bottom.  I made mine into a loop, with less repeats, grafting the cast-on and ending sections together. 

Since I was already going light on the presents for her, I really wanted this to be right.  I ended up spending the next week or so figuring out my own pattern for a headband.  I was planning on having the bottom of the headband be elastic, like one you would buy at a store.  But after some searching on Ravelry, I was inspired  by Pepperknits to use I-cord instead.  I used Lorna Laces Shepherd Sock held double on US4s.  The stitch pattern was from the Vogue Stitchionary Knits/Purls book.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  I like the way colors lined up using the yarn doubled.  I had to modify the stitch pattern while decreasing back down to the I-cord so that it didn’t flare, but other than that, very straight forward. 

Hard to photograph though!

Since it was a landmark birthday for my sister (30!) we went on a family vacation to Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks.  I almost couldn’t go because I got the flu two days before I was supposed to drive up there!  Thankfully I got past my headachy feverish phase in time to go. 

We stayed in the Wuksachi Lodge and saw some massive Sequoias and went snowshoeing.  I guess I was well enough to go on a 3.6mile snowshoe trip!  I had never been before and it was a lot of fun.  I managed to get a bunch of weird, uninteresting pictures.  Why didn’t I think to get a picture of someone next to a tree!?  I just have random pictures of trunks.  Oh and this one:

It’s not obvious from the picture, but this tree, the General Sherman tree is the largest tree in the world by volume.  I guess Coastal Redwoods get taller, and there’s some other trees in Oaxaca that are much wider.  Tell a friend!

I also made a beret for a friend’s birthday.  I’ve been lazy about sending it out to her though, because I wanted to buy some fun stuff to send with it.  But because I’m not making personal purchases it takes me much longer to get out to the store. 

It is the Spring Beret by Natalie Larson

I used some early handspun that I had lying around.  The fiber is Shetland roving that  I bought from Stick and Stone Fiberarts way back.  Since I was getting a gauge of 16st/in instead of 18st/in I just made the less slouchy version.  But in hindsight I would have wanted it even more slouchy so would have had more stitches.  Since I was using wool I needed to block the beret to add size.  I let it dry with a giant wad of plastic bags inside.  I used a little over 2oz.

I hope that Amy likes it!  Of course I need to actually send it to her first!

I am currently working on a couple of other gift projects that I can’t share yet.  But I really want to be finishing my sweater.  Well, I have the day off today because of Cesar Chavez Day so I guess I have time to work on both! 

Oh, and now I really really want a new kitten since Adrienne just got one!  He is adorable.  I’ll post pictures next time.  I am almost certainly not moving to rural Virginia, but need to figure out if I’m moving apartments before I add to my family.

Talk to you soon!

Jill B.

Converting soles

Jill P.:

Here is the other finished project I was telling you about.  They are the Bettie’s Lace Stockings.  I have decided to call them my Flower Lace Stockings, because the double possessive was a little annoying, and I think the stitch motif looks like flowers.  This was one of those rare projects were I started as soon as I got the magazine.  I’ve been working on knee socks for a while, with not good results.  But these didn’t take any more yarn than regular socks.  And they were a perfect occasion to use my STR Raven yarn!

Pattern: Bettie’s Lace Stockings by Hana Jason from Interweave Knits Spring 2009

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Korrpi, a smidge under 1 skein.

Sorry for the trampy pictures, but all of the ones with me standing were from a crazy angle and out of focus.  I will maybe change the ribbons but I am not buying things and I wanted them to be finished.

So now the mods.  After getting all excited about the pattern I realized that the pattern goes all the way around the foot.  Those little flowers are a little chunky and probably not comfortable underfoot.  I decided to make the soles solid.  After I did the short row toe, I increased a total of four stitches over two rows on the bottom half.  With a gauge of 6st/in this should match half of my foot circumference.  I worked straight until I got to the heel.  Because the sole is solid it was not as stretchy as the top of the foot.  I ended up doing 2 extra repeats than in the pattern.  From what I’ve been reading on Ravelry, this was not uncommon even with lacy soles.  I did some discreet decreasing before and after the short row heel to get me back to the right number of stitches. 

On the top of the foot, I had K, P, 4 st of feathered fagoting, P,  10 sts of narrow gathered lace, P, 4 sts of feathered fagoting, P, K.  This centered the lace motif over the foot and was a lot less confusing than the pattern directions to center.  I also didn’t pay enough attention and did k2tog instead of ssk.  Is that regular fagoting?  Maybe.

Here is an in-progress shot that kind of shows the sole.  With a solid bottom you lose out on the cool flower on the side of the heel, but I’ll live with it. 

Next came my calf mods.  It is no secret that I have curvy calves.  After some experimentation, I figured out the best rate of calf increases for me.  After about 9 repeats, I switched to the wide lace pattern and went up a needle size.  I knit a few more repeats and increased another needle.  Then finally, I switched needle sizes again.  Ending with a US4!  Finally it could comfortably fit on my calf.  I ended up with something like 20 repeats on the leg total.

I spent a couple of nights on the top edging.  The purl rows they call for with a picot bind-off were way too loose.  It was comical.  I tried knit rows on a smaller needle and then the picot.  But the picot just looked a little too cutesy.  Not as good as some others I’ve seen.  Ultimately I ended up with a couple knit rows, a yo row, then 3 more knit rows and a EZ sewn bind-off.  The top rolls down a tiny bit, but not much because of the ribbon.  I’m happy with the simpler edging. 

And that’s the whole story!  I don’t know when I’ll wear them, but they aren’t too chunkifying for knee socks so they might make it out. 

Hope you’re having a good weekend!

Jill B.

FO: Dovetail Pullover

Dear Jill P.:

As promised I just finished two new things.  One is the Bettie’s Lace Stockings from the latest Interweave Knits, but those will wait until I blog them this weekend.  This guy, I finished on Monday.

Pattern: Dovetail Pullover by Kathy Zimmerman in Interweave Knits Spring 2008

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in Colorway 404, 13 balls.  My size called for 14 balls.  I went ahead and used the recommended yarn because it was on sale last year at Compatto. 

Needles: US 4 and US5.  It felt really tight, but I guess that’ll be good so it doesn’t stretch. 

I’ve talked about it before so it probably doesn’t need repeating, but this sweater really killed my wrists and hands.  I will definitely be taking a break from cotton for awhile.  But I am super happy with the results.  I haven’t blocked it yet, because I’m worried that I’ll put it in water and the whole thing will go to shit and I’m not prepared for that. 

I knit it in the 38″ size, which gives me about 2″ of ease.  Based on some other ravelers who said that sleeves were a little big, I decided to knit the smaller size sleeves.  The height of the two sizes was the same, this sleeve is just like 1/4″ narrower.  I added a few rows in the sleeve cap while fudging the decrease rates so that this sleeve would fit into my Medium size armholes.  For no particular reason I decided to use short rows on the top of the sleeve cap instead of doing stairsteps.  The cap is a little shallow, but I think it would have been so even with binding off stitches instead. 

The other change I made was on the neckband.  The pattern calls for 2″ of ribbing.  This made the collar stand up away from my body a little.  I ripped back about an inch and weighed my options.  I could have proceeded on a smaller needle, or done some extreme decreasing.  I was a little worried about decreasing in ribbing.  I thought it would look a little wonky.  The final decision?  I just left it alone at 1″ and bound off.  It’s a little wider than the neck in the pattern, but I think I prefer it this way.  Definitely better than a semi-cowl collar.  It was like the collar in Ingenue, but not intential and not as cute. 

I was going to avoid showing this picture, because I don’t think it’s very flattering, but it’s the best full-on shot of the sweater.  All these sweater pictures are really making me self-conscious!

Another thing I learned from this project?  That I don’t like seaming in reverse stockinette.  It shouldn’t be any different from regular stockinette except I kept getting confused.  I couldn’t tell if I was a stitch in, or half a stitch in.  I bet my seams waver a bit.  I also kept forgetting which side was the right side and leaving my yarn ends out on the purl side.  That didn’t really matter, but it was annoying nonetheless. 

Oh, and you were asking me the other day if I use a cable needle.  I usually do.  I like doing things the traditional way and don’t mind using the needle.  But on this project I did reacquaint myself with cabling without a cable needle and was enjoying it.  I did the back with, and the front without.  I am not sure if I am completely won over, but it is very tempting.

I started my next project last night.  It’s the Drop Collar Cabled Jacket by Debbie Bliss in Yorkshire Tweed Chunky.  It is going super fast!  But my real priority is a present for my sister.  I need to make her a headband by next Friday.  I want it to be functional, so don’t know if it should have elastic on the bottom of it.  And probably not very wide.  And it should be purple.  I have some GGH Velour in purple and that might work.  I was thinking about doing a short version of the Dream Swatch head wrap.  I also have some tweed-y yarn that would work.  I could do some sort of herringbone pattern maybe?  Any good ideas?

Jill B.