Well, I’m giving it one more try! “Brenda” recommended a mitten book (thanks for your suggestion), which I did not find at my LYS. Instead I bought the classic “Folk Mittens” by Marcia Lewandowski. I’m trying a pattern from there and we’ll see how it goes. I did not want to knit a stranded mitten, but that is what I am doing. If they turn out, I’ll post a picture :).
October 11, 2006
October 10, 2006
From Susan — Dilemma Part Deux
Thanks to all who commented about my dilemma. Obviously I’ll have to decide what to do and pretty quickly! I doubt that I will post a picture, though, unless something very drastic changes in the near future.Â
I do want to say in the yarn owner’s defense: the yarn itself is not intrinsically ugly, it’s just that I cannot make anything attractive come off my needles using the yarn.
Your comments did help me sort out the issues, and I think I’ll end up going forward with the yarn and try to make the best of it. Thanks!!
October 9, 2006
From Susan — My Dilemma
Even though I’ve been knitting a long time, there are a number of things I had never knitted until recently. For instance, the socks I entered in the fair this year were the first I ever made. When I was asked to design a hat for Simply Shetland 2, I had never made one before. The common items that people typically knit have not been part of my repertoire! My knitting preference has always been sweaters. Â
Okay. I’ve never made a pair of mittens — I’ve knitted several pairs of gloves, but not mittens. I’ve never had the desire to make mittens, even when my daughters were small. So what’s the big deal?
I am part of the Mitten Exchange at the Knitters Guild. I took yarn from an anonymous someone to make mittens and someone has my yarn and is making me mittens. The mittens I am making are absolutely hideous.  I would not wear them to change a tire. They are UGLY! Part of it is the yarn and part of it is me. I’ll own up to my share of the problem, but that does not change the reality of the situation — they are UGLY!  I have spent hours and hours trying to make them look good, but they just don’t. So I am thinking of buying replacement yarn and giving it to the person with a note of apology. OR, could I replace her yarn and give her mittens out of different yarn?  I don’t know what else to do. They are embarrassing!!
It’s not like I haven’t had my share of failed knitting projects — I’ve had quite a few. But in those cases, I just stuffed them in a bag to be tossed out at a later date. In this case, I have made a commitment to someone else. Someone out there is expecting a special pair of mittens next week.
What would you do? Should I buy more yarn and/or make her mittens out of something else?
October 8, 2006
From Susan — Knit Out in Review
Knit Out 2006 is history and what a fun day it was!! As Patsy Fisk (the main organizer) put it, on a scale from 1 to 10 it was an eleven! Patsy worked tirelessly to make the event a success. Brookdale staff went out of their way to be gracious and accommodating. The rotunda has a huge dome which brought in a lot of natural light. There was a lot of foot traffic and many curious passers by.Â
Most of my pictures did not turn out, but here are a couple more:
This is a picture of the Yarn Garage Booth. They were the only shop that brought their wares, and I do think other shops made a mistake by not having a presence at the event. They had so much fun stuff to look at and buy. Very creative people.
There were fashion shows on the hour and thank goodness Lori Ihnen took the reins and handled that part of the program. Here is Lori modelling Sally’s Debbie Bliss “Lara” cardigan:
It looked great on Lori — she added the knitted flower. The coral color of the shell she was wearing made the Lara cardigan pop. Very nice! You may know Lori’s name because she is a published author and knitting designer.Â
I don’t have her book (yet) but I know it is wonderful. I’ve seen the trunk show.
Emily M. of our Thursdays at Four knitting group won the fastest knitter contest — way to go, Emily!! She won a free Knitters Guild membership. Her “picker” opponent was a very young and talented girl named Maddy. She may have been all of ten years old, but she beat out the other pickers! She was thrashed by Emily in the stockinette round, however. Good job, Maddy — maybe work on your purling for next year.
Other Thursdays at Four attendees included Birthday Girl Linda, Deb, Lynne, Mary, Idonis, Barb, and Deirdre — I hope I did not leave anyone out :(. We were also joined by my St. Paul knitting peeps: Julie, Mary and Marilyn. Plus many other familiar faces, old friends and new. It was a wonderful day of networking and basking in the warmth of the knitting community. Wow!Â
See you next year!!
October 7, 2006
From Susan — Countdown to Knit Out
Just one last reminder about Knit Out! Hope to see you there! Brookdale Mall from 11 am to 3 pm.
October 6, 2006
From Sally — Answers to some questions
Hi. I’m responding to some questions posted below. Ali asked:
“I can see that the provisional cast on on the sides would be a great improvement when it comes to the side seams. The jacket I did had shaping on the sides as well, so there were multiple cast-ons. I’ve yet to tackle the provisonal cast-on but want to try it. Would it work when you have a staggered edge rather than a straight one? Seems you might end up with a whole lot of loose ends, losing the advantage of the better seaming.â€
You’re right – the provisional cast on works better if you aren’t doing multiple cast ons (for shaping), unless you want to cast on all of the stitches at once and then “activate†them according to the instructions (the cast on numbers) using short rows. You will end up with a bulky and awkward seam if you do it the way that Debbie Bliss suggest, esp. if the pattern is using a heavier yarn. I know this from experience. I knit her Lara sweater following the original instructions (except for the way the collar was done; I didn’t want a seam in the middle of the collar). I regret having done it that way because the seam is unattractive and I don’t think that the underarm shaping (meant to give more of the feel of a fitted sleeve) added all that much. It certainly wasn’t worth the seam issue to me. So I would either forego the staggered cast on and cast on all of the necessary stitches at once or cast them all on at once and use short rows to get the desired shaping. (That way you still get the benefits of the provisional cast on.)
Here is the Lara sweater I’m talking about. (Not a photo of mine; mine is in Minnesota with Susan because I asked her if she could do something to make the seam more attractive!
My favorite provisional cast on is the one using a crochet hook that allows you to place loops on your knitting needle. Here are some illustrated instructions:
Crochet cast on I crochet a few loops before crocheting over the knitting needle, however. I find it easier to get going that way. Once I have the number of stitches I need, I crochet a few extra loops at the end also.
Note: I answered this question assuming you were talking about increases right at the sleeve/body join. If you are talking about staggered increases to give some kind of waist shaping, you could still use a provisional cast on and short row or you might possibly use a provisional cast on and some decreases. I’d have to see the pattern you’re talking about; I’m not familiar with her garter stitch jacket.
Ali also asked:
“Can you explain to me about the Koigu yarn and how that works to track increases?â€
It’s simple. I take a length of waste yarn (in the case of my Nina sweater it was some leftover Koigu). Each time I do an increase, I “lay†the yarn between two stitches further into the row so that the waste yarn gets knitted in to the garment. It helps me keep track of how many total increases I’ve done and the spacing is obvious enough that it makes counting the rows in between increases easier. When I don’t need it any more, it pulls out easily.
And Carrie — I forgot, in my comment to your comment, to answer you about the length of the the Nina sweater. I am hoping mine will now be about 28-29″ long after blocking.
October 5, 2006
From Sally — Nina (a new old project)
One of the advantages of having an embarrassingly large number of projects already on the needles is that you can go back to them months or years later and feel as if you’re starting something new, but that you have a head start. Nina, a sweater designed by Debbie Bliss, is one of those projects.
I liked the notched front of this sweater/jacket and its length. When I started knitting it, however, I ran into several obstacles. First, I could not get the recommended gauge (nor am I sure I would have wanted to). The sweater was designed in Bliss’s Alpaca/Silk, which has a usual gauge of about 17-18 stitches over four inches using a U.S. 7 or 8 needle. According to the directions, the gauge for Nina was supposed to be 20 stitches over four inches of pattern using a U.S. 8. The pattern is a kind of “false” rib; K1 p1 on the right side and purl all of the stitches on the wrong side. In my experience, this pattern does not draw in the way ribbing does. As I swatched, I was getting closer to 16 stitches over four inches, even using a 7. I decided it would be difficult for me to get 5 stitches to the inch, and I was concerned that the fabric might feel too heavy and dense. There was also a second problem: the length, according to the directions, was only 24 inches. Say what? Is that model extremely short? To me, this sweater was going to have to be at least 28 inches long in order to have the “look” I wanted. That meant — given the gauge issues and the difference between how the sweater looked and how the directions were written — that I would have to rewrite the entire pattern. I would actually have to think, especially given that this sweater is knitted from cuff to cuff (sideways).
So, I knit one sleeve and then abandoned it until early this week when I remembered how pretty the yarn is. I made my calculations and forged ahead — and it felt “fast” since I already had the left sleeve finished. Here’s a photo. The color does not resemble mine in the least. (My camera is having “issues” and I used my husband’s.) The true color is a deep steel blue. I’ve finished the sleeve (note the strand of Koigu yarn running up and down one side to mark the increases) and cast on what will become the side seams. I used a provisional cast on (that’s the red yarn you see) so that I can either graft the live stitches later or do a three-needle join at the side (the way you would knit together a shoulder).
Here’s another view, which I’ve included because the color is a little bit truer.
I just have a few more rows to knit before I’ll start some shaping for the back neck. My only fear now: running out of yarn.
October 3, 2006
From Susan — KNIT OUT October 8
If you live anywhere near the Twin Cities, please join us at the 3rd Annual Knit Out this Sunday. Knit Out is sponsored by the Minnesota Knitters Guild.  It will take place at Brookdale Mall from 11 am to 3 pm.  This event is a lot of fun: hanging out with other knitters, knitting, talking about knitting, etc. People young and old can learn to knit and take their yarn and needles with them to keep practicing. We will have information about charitable knitting, yarn shops with displays, and lots of prize drawings.Â
One of the highlights is the Fastest Knitter Contest. I love the fashion shows, featuring the work of many local knitters. It is wonderful to see and hear about all their creations. My knitting group will be there acting as the Welcome Wagon.
I believe that Julie Roth is planning to be there for a book signing:
So I hope to see you there!
Â
October 1, 2006
From Susan — All Surgery and No Knitting Makes Susan a Dull Girl
Q: Can you name this afghan from Knitters Magazine?
A: The Great American Aran Afghan
It started out as a contest in the summer of 1999. Sister Sally kept telling me that my idea would win, and even though I didn’t believe her, I entered the contest anyway. The first squares came out in the Winter, 2000 issue, which hit the newsstands in fall of 1999. Because I had not heard anything one way or another, I assumed my square had not been chosen. Au contraire. I had actually won the contest. Sally was right again! I found out that I won when 20 skeins of Encore yarn was delivered to my doorstep in a large Kellogg’s Raisin Bran box — “Knitters” did not contact me until a few weeks later.
I was not going to make the afghan, but everyone in my knitting group (which had just started at the time) told me I had to make it, and that they would all make one, too. Note to self: don’t believe everything you hear at knitting group! I’m still the only one who finished — mine is made out of Cascade 220:
The Mini-Sweater square is mine:
My favorite square to knit was the Janet Martin Fish-in-Net Square:
This is ancient history, so why do I bring it up now? I found a large hole in the thing! Major bummer. And, what caused the hole is still to be determined. There are no visible signs of vermin, but??????
I am going to try to fix it. Wish me luck.
Jump Ahead in Time Several Hours
The hole is gone.
 
And though it looks like a perfect repair, I did indeed cheat. Miraculous as seems (and if you knew my house and my “organization methodology” you would know that the word miraculous is not used lightly), I found both the leftover yarn I used for the edging AND the instructions I had written out for myself. So, I re-knit the entire bottom eyelet edge. I did not want a crummy-looking repair job on this because it was SO MUCH WORK!!!!!!! Really, one of the biggest projects of my knitting career.
The original pattern edge was created by Rick Mondragon, Knitters Magazine Editor, and took 3.5 skeins of yarn. It is a lovely braided edge that goes around the entire afghan, but I did not want to add that much weight, plus I did not have enough yarn in the right dye lot. As you can see, my edging is a much simpler style. I have placed it under “Free Patterns” if you ever consider making this project. I used all 24 squares in my afghan, whereas in Knitters they held out four squares and made two pillows.
Though a lot of work, you really learn a lot about cables, gauge and intricate grafting. Now can I go out and knit?
