I got lost down the rabbit hole last evening (aka websurfing) and stumbled across the cutest baby and hat I’ve ever seen. The picture is from Cast on Cast Off (a U.K. blogger):
I mean, how cute is this lil one?
The pattern looks adorable on the above cutie and is called the Baby Pixie Hat from Crystal Palace Yarns. I have no one to knit this for (thank goodness)!
I have 12 inches on my sleeve: over half-way done! Woo Hoo!
It is disconcerting to knit the pattern upside down as I cannot see the trees emerging. I hope when I turn it around, it’s correct!
FYI We get regular google hits from people searching out information about the Great American Aran Afghan (GAAA). I put together the finished photo of my GAAA with individual photos and comments about each square. The link resides in Susan’s Gallery.
Man, I’ve been toughin’ it out with my Oregon sleeve lately and have had some “issues” — today, issues resolved!Â
I described the way I do my fair isle sleeves using the “magic loop” method. My method has been less than magical.  You need a very soft, pliable cable to do the magic loop method. Addis have changed their cable over the years (their timing sucks, btw) and it is now very stiff and unbendable. For most of my fair isle knitting, I use US 3’s and have them coming out of my whazzoo (sp?). However, A*St*rm*re yarn is heavier and so I am using a US 4. All my US 4 needles have the stiff cable except my 47″. That is just WAY too much cable to deal with! I have been on a quest at my LYS’s to find a better needle and finally found an older Turbo with the old, softer/thinner cable. I could probably have ordered needles from KnitPicks, but thought I would shop around first. I know that Inox has some (out of production) and Susan Bates (not in the size or type I needed), so I hunted. The difference with the new needle is truly amazing and is making my knitting SO much easier!!
MAGIC LOOP
I know many of you know this technique, but a couple of readers asked for details. Here is the single loop method:
I simply pull the excess cable length between two sts about halfway around from where I am.  I knit to the loop and then pull the excess out half way around again, etc. When the sleeve gets too small for the needle tips to feel comfortable, I switch to a modified double loop. In standard magic loop, you pull out the RH needle, form a loop, and then knit across the cable:
I don’t care to strand (or plain knit for that matter) across the cable. It is difficult to maintain stitch size and just feels WRONG. My modification is to pull the second loop out a few sts back on the RH needle. Therefore you are always knitting and stranding across the regular needle tip:
This picture shows how it looks when the sleeve gets very small, toward the cuff (I’m not there yet!). You continue to knit on a long-tipped needle (unlike a 12″ circular with itty-bitty, short tips), you get the benefit of the magic loop AND you strand across a regular needle (not a dpn). When I get to the first loop, the other loop is already positioned about halfway around, so I pull the second one a few sts back from the RH tip. I keep going in this way for the whole sleeve. I hope this makes sense and is not too technical and boring ;).Â
I will use the 32″ ‘ for the entire sleeve since they did not have a 24″ with the thinner cable. I am on a roll, my knitting peeps!
Am I the only one who gets bored at the start of the second sleeve? That’s where I am on the Berry Cluster pullover. I was hoping to be at the “sewing pearls on the clusters” stage of the sweater today, but I am not. Part of the problem, besides the fact that I am a slow knitter, is that I needed to pick up the neck three times and knit it twice.
The directions have you pick up about 90 stitches around the neck, which means that you can’t leave live stitches on the back and front necks because you would have far too many stitches. I picked up the neck as instructed, knit a few rows, and didn’t like how it looked. It was too obvious where stitches were skipped on the pick up. (I don’t have a photo of this.) I think it probably works fine if you use the fuzzier yarn called for in the pattern, but with my very smooth yarn there was nothing to hide the pick up.
On attempt number two, I went ahead and picked up into every stitch on the front neck. The pick up looked much better, but I knew there would be too many stitches and the neck would be too wide. I tried to compensate for that by having a series of decreases at four places around the neck (evenly distributed with respect to the shoulder). The neck looked fine, but it was still too wide at the very top.
I had two main options at that point. The first option was to start again with the higher number of stitches, but do more decreasing. I realized that to make the decreasing work, I wouldn’t be able to restrict the placement of the decreases the way I had on this attempt. I was afraid that decreasing at even intervals all around the neck wouldn’t look very nice and I decided I was too lazy to figure out a decorative decrease placement. The second choice was to pick up the specified number of stitches, but find a way to hide the pick up. So, I did the pick up again and then immediately did a purl row.
I think that worked fairly well.
A side note re the sleeve cap:
Because I am using a finer yarn than called for, my row gauge is “off.” Instead of 28 rows per 4 inches, I am getting closer to 31 or so. That’s not a problem for the most part because the pattern gives most of the directions in inches (e.g., 8 inches for the armhole). However, on the cap directions for the fitted sleeve, the directions are given for a set number of rows. If I followed the directions exactly, I would have had 55 rows total in the sleeve cap, which would be the 8 inches needed if my row gauge was correct. However, I knew that I had knit 64 rows from the first armhole decrease to the shoulder. With 55 rows, my cap would have been too short. Knowing that in advance, I slipped in a few extra rows here and there so that I had a total of 62 rows. I basted the sleeve into the sweater to make sure the sleeve length was right and the cap fit perfectly. Because fitted sleeves can be tricky, I think it always pays to look carefully at the directions for both the sleeve and the body to make sure that you compensate for any gauge issues.
Oh! I was going to save the yarn I used for my first neck attempt and use it for sewing. I’m not going to now. Here’s why:
(This is Eightball, a Chihuahua puppy who visits us occasionally and apparently can tell the expensive yarn from the cheap stuff.)
As I have said before, knitting progress is like watching paint dry. I now have 4″5″7″ on my Oregon sleeve. Whoopie!!
Marina asked me about my fair isle sleeves. I have tried most of the techniques out there: for my first fair isle, I used 16-20″ needles and then switched to double points. I hated this for two reasons: 1) the needle tips are so short they are hard to knit with (the length of the tip gets shorter when the needles are less than 24″ in length), and 2) I do not like doing stranding across dpns.
For my second fair isle, I bought a set of needles in every length in US Size 3’s (20″, 16″, and 12″), and then 12″ US 2’s. The tip problem was even worse on those 12″ needles but at least I didn’t have to strand on dpns — I still hated it!Â
For the third, I used the magic loop method and LOVED it. I started with 32″ needles and made one loop with the extra cable length. When the sleeve was about half way done, I switched to 24″ needles and continued with a single loop until the sleeve got too small, then I switched to a modified double loop method. I never had to strand across the “naked” cable and finished the sleeve all the way with a 24″ needle (long tips — yippee!!). That is obviously the method I am using with this sweater. When I get to the “modified double loop method” I’ll post a picture. It is too hard to describe in words but is easy to do.
I am actually enjoying the sleeves because it does feel like I’m getting somewhere — at least compared to the body.Â
It was extremely cold today (below zero), but I ventured out into the arctic blast — in nothing but my coat sweater.  I do not own a winter coat, which is unusual for a Minnesotan and also admittedly stupid. It just hasn’t been that cold the last few years and when I layer up with two or three sweaters I’m as warm as anyone. I may have to break down one of these days and buy a coat if the cold streak keeps up!! 😉
Sally sent me a link to the Bride Wigs Out YouTube video and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I feel so used! It is a hoax (the video has been pulled off YouTube — probably so the perps can make money off it somehow).Â
My sleeve is progressing — 3″ and counting. (Because this picture is from my scanner, it is very true to color). I hope to get much more knitting time this weekend.
I didn’t get my promised sewing done, though I did cut the dress out. You have to be in the mood to ________ (fill in the blank — here it is “sew”), and I was not.Â
Another goal of mine is to see a few of the Oscar-nominated films. I vow to do this every year, but I usually only get to 1 or 2. I love movies, love the Oscars and look forward to it every year. Knitting and movies are the perfect combo, except it is hard to watch GREAT movies and knit. This explains why I love watching movies over and over — once you know what is going on, you don’t need to pay attention and yet you still feel like you are watching it. More quality knitting time ;).
Hello! I have been quite the social butterfly the past couple of days. Tuesday I taught a class at The Yarnery in St. Paul. It was called, “I-Cord: The Versatile Wonder.” I covered basic i-cord, i-cord bind off techniques, double i-cord (one and two-color), and built in i-cord edging. We had so much fun — the students were great!! It’s amazing what you can do with lil ole i-cord!!
Last night I ate myself sick at a very good friend’s house. I have known these people since college and still get together regularly.  We ate and talked the night away — well, until 10 pm anyway! We aren’t as young as we used to be and all of us work today!!
Tonight is knit night, so off I go to another social outing. It has been a fun and busy week, but not so great for knitting. I have done at least 2” on my Oregon sleeve, but let’s face it — it is not the most portable project around!! I will need to start something else SOON so I can have something with me to work on. I feel downright naked without my knitting!
PS — this weekend is supposed to be the coldest in three years — so, I will hunker down and stay inside.
