What a Tangled Web We Weave...

I had the pattern to make this scarf for MONTHS.  And I had the yarn almost as long.  For some reason this particular project psyched me out a little and made me doubt my knitting skills.  It had cable-needleless-cabling.  And drop stitches.  Heavy on the drop stitches.  Drop stitches scare the living daylights out of me.  I was always taught that dropping a stitch was a bad thing, and even if it was intentional could possibly have disastrous effects on your previously knitted fabric if it was dropped at the wrong point.  Yes, these are the things some knitters fret about.

But at the same time, it had a spider.  Even as a kid the Greek Myth of Arachne and her weaving skills had always been my favorite story in Ancient Lit. class.  And it had webby bits.  And lace weight yarn...my fave.  So I finally pulled the yarn and needles out and gave it a go.

It was actually much simpler than I expected, other than rows 126-140 of the pattern being ill-written and needing to be done over for accuracy.  It took only 4 days time to finish it!

The spider bit was done on size 6 needles with 4 strands of merino wool lace weight held together.  I used KnitPicks Shadow lace in basalt, a deep grey color with hints of burgundy, black and violet mixed throughout.  This involved back cabling, twisted stitches and a "cluster" stitch that I had never done before but was quite simple.

The opposite end looks like the spider's web has fallen into disrepair, created by dropping a strand of lace weight , maing intentional holes and runs, and increasing your needle size as you go.  (I used sizes 6, 8, 10.5 and 13).  Even the fringe at the ends are reflective of this:  One side is neat, the other end is straggly and tattered looking...

I had SO much fun with this project!  I'm thinking of making pillows by modifying the yarn and needle sizes and just doing the spider bit framed with seed stitch...

M-m-m-MY PAGONA!!!!!!!

Sing that to the tune of "My Sharona" and you'll have what I lived through at the yarn shop for a good month and a half straight!

Backing up a bit, I feel it necessary to say that almost everyone who worked at/visited the yarn shop where I work became enamored, mesmerized and hypnotized by Stephen West.  Who could blame them???  Not only does this man create incredibly beautiful and whimsical knitting patterns, but he's cute as a button as well!

Good God, flippin' beautiful.

Anyways, Stephen's pattern for his "Pagona" shawlette, from West knits book 1 became the popular knit about town.

Considering about 1/2 the clientele and 1/2 off the staff were making this project at any given time the word "Pagona" came up quite often.  Then, the singing began.  One of my favorite clients in the shop began singing "m-m-m-MY PAGONA" (again, sung to the tune of "My Sharona") every time the name came up, and as I mentioned before, due to the pattern's popularity and visibility was about every 2.2 minutes.  Slowly this became nearly Pavlovian, with the entire shop bursting into song, again, every 2.2 minutes.

Now that every one has finished knitting this pattern I have only just recently stopped having nightmares where the song is on a continuous loop in my ears.

So, I'll post the pictures of M-M-M-MY PAGONA, ahem, I mean my completed Pagona shawl.....

The pattern calls for sock weight yarn, and I was thrilled because I still had some left over Ella Rae Lace variegated purple and black that I LOVED!  The pattern also stated that it should be knit on size six circular needles.  When I knit my gauge swatch I decided that it would just be too open a stitch for me, so I downsized my needles to a size 4.  Sadly, this increased my need for more yardage.  Fortunately I was able to find another skein  in my colorway and dye lot at the shop, and thank goodness:  My altered pattern went from requiring 380 yards to nearly 530 to reach the same 14" length before creating the garter stitch border!

I LOVE this pattern due to its versatility and simple appearance.  And its ability for making people sing.

I'm already Sick of Summer, C'mon Autumn!

Yeah, yeah....Summer's great and all but I had to start a darling little project for a friend's baby who is due this September.  Put me in a "Make apple cider and watch the leaves fall" mood about 3 months too soon.  Ah, well, soon enough!

Here are the hat and booties made for the little Pumpkin Head!

Just used random scraps of easy care orange and olive green superwash wool.  These little projects take no time whatsoever.

What Do Ye Do With A Drunken Knitter?

Erlye in the mornin'?  Yeah, the whole pirate-y theme really isn't really going anywhere cool, just trying (and failing) to find a clever way to talk about my newly completed 'Shipwreck' Shawl.  I know, I know.....fail.  I'll stop now.....arrrrrr.

Anyways...Tah dah!  My Shipwreck is done!!!

I had wanted to make this shawl for quite a while, and don't really know why I had put it off for so long. It's a great pattern, my first Pi shawl , too!  It has each and every element in a knitting pattern that I adore: lacework, thin yarn and beads!  Yay!

I bought some of my favorite yarn for this, the suggested fingering weight in a soft muted purple by Berroco Ultra Fine Alpaca.  Now the pattern actually suggests buying undyed yarn and dyeing it yourself with a vinegar solution to create a kind of mottled ocean-ey appearance...yeah, not really my thing in this case so I decided to go with a shade that I like, pre-fabricated.

They also suggested buying 5,000 or more size 8 seed beads to put along the "fishnet" outer lace, which I did in a rich amethyst color to match my yarn, but I'll get to that later...

So, I cast on my initial nine stitches on my size 4 DPNs, excited to start this new endeavor.  I tried to put out of my mind the many comments I had read on Ravelry about this pattern being tedious, taking months to finish, having been put on hiatus for an indiscriminate time, blah blah blah....not me...oh no, I wouldn't get weary, I would have this done in no time, those knitters were just whiners.  There was no way I would get bored with this pattern!  Those nine stitches were just too easy!  And the following lacework to create the inner medallion was a cinch....and so exciting, too!

Then I got to knitting the outer lace.

Actually, let me go back and preface my rant with my tale of those 5,000 beads.  I DID buy them,  and fully intended to use them...but of course I'm picky about beading my work.  The pattern says to pre-string your beads, as they are being used in yarn overs (YO) in the pattern.  This makes perfect sense, adding visual interest to what could have been dull fishnet lace.  Well, I pre-strung those suckers....all 5,000 of them.  And began knitting with them.  And realized that in a border of about 80 rows of continuous YO K2Tog, I would have to move 5,000 beads up my yarn about every 6 stitches, which on fingering weight yarn is no easy feat.  AND, to add insult to injury after attempting this for 2 rounds I realized my amethyst beads did not even really show up on my Plum colored yarn.  Sigh.  I decided to cut off the string with all of my beads and continue on after re-connecting my now beadless skein.  Oh well.

Then came the monotony.  The inner lace medallion only led me into a false sense of security in thinking that I would not tire of this pattern.  The consecutive 79 rows of yarn over, knit tow together, yarn over, knit two together, ad infinitum, ad nauseum quickly quelled that.  It wasn't that it was difficult.  In fact, it was mindless...tedious...brain-numbing, one might say.  increasing each round ending with about 1700 stitches.  All of which had to be bound off after finishing what I had thought was a cathartic task.  Gah.

  But in the end it WAS admittedly a lovely shawl.  HUGE, but lovely.  So huge in fat that blocking it was a bit of a pain.  I had to use two whole repeats of the alphabet toddler mats that I utilize to block my projects (and that I utilize to confuse my non-knitting friends who wonder where my baby is, considering my child is now 10).

Here it is blocking:

 It ended up taking 3 weeks to complete, I finished blocking it day before my birthday, and not having to do any more of that border was the best present EVER!

 It did turn out lovely.  It hangs nearly to my ankles, which is a bit large for me but very dramatic, which suits me just fine!  I think next time I will make it again only in a lace weight to suit the small bead size and make it easier to slide up the thread (or possibly add beads at the K2Tog's with the crochet hook method, which I prefer exponentially), and I will probably decrease my needle sizes, both to suit the size of the yarn and the size of the shawl's wearer, as I am only 5'2"!  Oh, and I will NOT wear the second one I make to work, where I snagged it's predecessor a record breaking 5 times on sticky-outey-pointy things in the shop.  For those of you who knit, you know that a snag on a newly completed project produces low guttural cursing, accompanied by trying to pull the snag back into shape, accompanied by much gnashing of teeth.  It's not pretty.

At least the shawl is!

Something to Wear While Defeating My 7 Evil Exes!

Just a quick little blog post to mention one of my quick little projects!

Found this pattern on Ravelry for the costume concept of Michael Cera's hat in the movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Loved the hat ( of course changing the colors to a girlie version in dark brown and antique rose) and quickly knit it up in a cashmere and merino version...It turned out as something like an odd marriage of piratey stocking cap, slouch hat and snood.  A whatchamacallit.  Perfection.

Just in time to wear while defeating my 7 evil exes!  Yea!

An Old Dog Learns New Tricks

A few months back I became pretty intrigued by the concept of convertible clothing:  If a garment could be worn two ways, wasn't that just twice as cool?  Lucky enough for me one of my various knitting books had a pattern for a convertible shrug that could SUPPOSEDLY also be worn as a shawl, scarf, cowl or hood.  I began my attempt at the Shape Shifter Shrug from Vampire Knits.

I decided to use one of my favorite yarns, Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Wool, to make this pretty little sweater....then, as I am known to do, the pattern modifications began.

The pattern recommended to put 10 buttons/buttonholes up each arm.  A good suggestion, and I'm sure it had a reason, but as I scrutinized the instructions I realized that if I were to wear the finished product as a shrug I would have buttons around my neck hems, tangling in my hair.  I decided to make only 6 up each arm, only enough to button up as long as would need the sleeve to be.  I also lengthened the sleeve dimensions, thinking that if I did happen to wear this as a scarf or shawl I would prefer more coverage.

And then, of course, came the "I know best when it comes to knitting my own clothes" flub.  The pattern suggested knitting the garment in 2 halves, beginning at the lace portion, working some rows in stockinette, then grafting both halves together with Kitchner Stitch, a method of grafting two ends of live stitches done in stockinette together seamlessly.  Well, knowing best, of course, I continued on thinking "Kitchner Stitch my butt......I'll just work the lace pattern backwards when I get to it....I'm just that cool."

Yeah.  Lesson is, I am NOT that cool.  This lace and it's varying row end count is not one to be done in reverse.  So after some frogging, picking up stitches and, I will not lie, mild cursing I attempted Kitchner stitch.  Lucky for me I have some fabulous co-workers to talk me through it.  Even taught me this handy little ditty to chant along while I wove the pieces together:

Yarn on Back Needle

Set up: 

FN: Purl, Stay

BN: Knit,Stay
Chant:

FN: Knit, Slip, Purl,Stay

BN: Purl, Slip, Knit, Stay

End:

FN: Knit, Slip

BN: Purl, Slip

Yes, I know it may sound like gibberish, but if you sing this along with grafting you're less likely to forget where you are....Like I typically do....

Anyways, here's the finished result.  And, the seam is barely visible except for one BIG hole where I stopped singing and got lost, then had to sew up later.  Still not bad for a beginner!

 Problem is, even though I know it's convertible, I've only worn it as a shrug and have only seen demos of it being worn as a shrug.  Oh well.

I was also able to try a new product that I had my eye on for quite some time: Bone Knitting Needles.

These things are lovely.  Like, seriously lovely.   They have this glossy smooth amazingly cool feel in your hands, they glide through your stitches, and they have this amazing ability to make you feel like you've stepped back in time.  Despite the fact that they are horribly heavy....and not suggested to be bought other than in person due to the fact that a matched set is rare being as they are crafted individually with natural material.  I learned this after testing out a pairs of size 4 and size 6 "set" where one was nearly an entire size off from the other. Test for conformity with a sizer, and if you can find a set that matches you're set!

So pretty.........

It's a Good Thing This Pattern Was Easy...

Let me just start by saying I absolutely LOVE my job working at my LYS.  It allows me so many opportunities to see fabulous needles, yarns and patterns...This, too, is my constant downfall! So many neat knitting things!  Darned stash enablers.  But I digress.  I'll simply say I saw a nifty pattern for a cute sweater and had to try it =)

This is Plymouth Yarn Company's Quick Top Down Jacket in Baby Alpaca Grande yarn, pattern # 1756.  Quick is definitely a plus with my currently busy schedule, and I had always been intrigued by that particular yarn.  Of course those who know me also know that I do NOT like working in bulky weight yarn.  Ah well, no matter, I'd try it anyways.

I was in lean times, so at the pricey cost of the yarn and my poor decision making in what size I am I decided to make it in 2 strands of worsted weight in a cheap yarn just to see if it turned out well and in a size that would fit.  I ultimately made a purple and black combo sweater in what I thought would be an appropriate size, for a 36" bust, the smallest size on the pattern.

Of course, for that to work smoothly would be waaaaaaaay too easy.  It DID knit quickly, in 2 days, and the purple and black yarns made it have an awesome tweed appearance!  Too bad even though I knit it exactly according to pattern with a comparable weight of fiber and exact needle sizes it was SO not my size.  Boo.
Fortunately it fit my best friend Robbin, and she loved it!

So, back to the proverbial drawing board.  I decided to make the same pattern in only one strand of worsted this time, and on one size smaller needles.  I also omitted 4 stitches from the back section of the pattern, thus altering the size to a 32" bust.  Success!  Result!  This time the finished product fit!  An added bonus was that it only took 145 yards to complete!  And, I don't know if this was a bonus or not, but since I had already made it once the day prior it only took me 1 day to complete this time...

 

It's a good thing that I got more proficient with this simple project and was able to complete them in less and less time.  Another friend saw me in mine and wanted one, then so on and so forth until I had made 4 in one week.  I have a feeling that I could make them in my sleep at this point.  Maybe that's why I look less than thrilled in my photos.

Good thing I liked the pattern!

Mil Besos Shawl, A FAB Designer, & My Love Affair With Madeline Tosh

I know it's been quite a while since I've posted anything here.  Life got pretty hectic around the 'ol Junaidy household from March to April and sadly many of my recent projects that were completed were never posted.  In March I married my wonderful (now) husband and I was finally able to let go of MONTHS of pent up wedding-related stress.  We spent a lovely, albeit rainy honeymoon in Monterey on the beach.  Month after we took our family's annual pilgrimage to Disneyland for my son's spring break.  As soon as we got back from THAT adventure I was hit with a MASSIVE illness that landed me in the hospital for a few days.  But, putting that aside, time has passed and I'm finally back to blogging!

So, where to begin?  Oh, yes, my fabulous new shawl:

 This pattern is yet ANOTHER fabulous free shawl pattern on Ravelry.com, entitled Mezquita.  Not only is this shawl adorable and easy to make, but the pattern's designer Roxanne Yeun is quite possibly one of the sweetest people I have ever e-conversed with.  I started having issues with the way the shaping of the pattern was written and said so under a comments section on the pattern.  In less that 24 hours I had received an email from Roxanne outlining a simplified explanation, tutorials and incredible words of encouragement.  And not just one email:  Multiple responses to each time I wrote, thanking her, asking questions, etc.  She is certainly one talented lady.

AND!!! (yes, as you can tell by the multiple explanation point used there that I'm REALLY excited) When you look up her Mezquita pattern, my project and sweet little mug (LOL)is on the designer's page!  WOOT!

I named my finished shawl 'Mil Besos' (Thousand Kisses) after a song by Patty Griffen with the same title.  It has a bit of a flamenco flair to it, and has always struck me as a very powerful love song.  The first day I wore this shawl out in public I was told by one lady that I looked like an old-fashioned flamenco dancer.  I don't necessarily think it was a true statement, but now I can't wear it without thinking of that comment!

I made this project out of Madeline Tosh's "Tosh Sock" Yarn.  I had previously bought some of the Madeline Tosh Lace yarn, and this sock weight only reinforced that I have a secret knit crush on Madeline Tosh (Yes, I know the actual producer is Amy Hendrix, but I'll just refer to the yarn's moniker as my yarny love-interest).  Seriously.  She induces yarn-lust.  The lace I bought was called 'Nebula'.  She uses words like 'Lucious' to describe her fibers.  I ADORE her!  My husband is aware of this infatuation, and other than the fact that the down side is her growing effect on my yarn stash, he only seems lightly amused rather than threatened.

Anyways...

This particular colorway is called 'Tart'...

\

Again, this causes quite the turmoil in my head.  Is it called that because it is the perfect shade of a crisp apple, or  is it called 'Tart' because it is a shade suitable for a brazen hussy?  But as I knit I realized something rather important.  She could actually call one of her yarns 'Brazen Hussy' and I would buy it and wear it proudly.  Sigh......

Another Blog About Hats

I realized as I finished my last post about baby hats and holding my son's little preemie hat from when he was born 10 years ago just how much that kid has grown.

...So, time for a new hat.

This pattern from Carissa Knits blog was just about the most perfect pattern for my kid that I could possibly imagine....and it's freeeeeeeeeeee!

My son is one of the biggest Star Wars fans I know. He can give you the down low in the Galactic Empire, the specs of the latest models of pod racers and light sabers and a who's-who list of the Jedi High Council.  My son is a walking Wookiepedia.  When he saw a pattern to make a beanie resembling R2D2 I practically had to wipe the drool off my keyboard.

It's a great pattern in and of itself: Multiple size options (Child, Adult Small and Adult Large), chart OR written instructions, even different  methods for embellishments (duplicate stitch or color stranding).  Awesome.

I ended up making him the Adult Small size, although in hindsight I  may have been better off making the child's size.  No matter, he can grow into it.  I started doing the charted/color stranding method, but I think my combination of worsted yarn and large needles (size 7DPNs) made it awkward for me and created some gaps in my finished project that I wasn't too pleased with.  So, I frogged and started over doing the striped beanie method with a LOT of duplicate stitch embroidery detail work....and I do mean a LOT.  I think I spent way more time stitching the details rather than knitting the actual hat.

But goodness, did the man-child love it:

It's amazing to see in size and in style of simple knitted hats how much my baby has grown.

If he keeps up at this rate, I'll be investing in both University AND larger amounts of yarn!

Cuteness Through Stash Busting

I recently realized I had waaaaaaay too much yarn lying around.  Actually, it wasn't so much me noticing as much as my family.   You see, I'm not one of those people that likes to throw away small bits of leftover yarn from projects, but I also don't have too much use for bits under 100 yards long.  So, I save them in baskets around my house and every so often whip out a bunch of baby hats to donate to local fire departments, woman's shelters and hospitals.

These hats take little to no time whatsoever, maybe 1/2 hour.  They are simple, plain, warm and GREATLY appreciated from the recipients.  They can be made in infant sizes, or preemie sizes according to yarn, needle size or gauge...and it really doesn't matter since babies come in all sizes.

Here's a few pictures from the 40+ hats I recently finished for donation:

Admittedly most of the pictures I selected are the more feminine looking hats...Yes, I make many plain or embellished for boys hats, too...These are just the pictures that turned out the best!

I'll even include my favorite method for making these hats if anyone is interested.  This hat pattern was given to me from a friend some years ago, and it's my favorite for making simple baby beanies.  The brim naturally rolls up, so there's no need to create your own edge, although you can do a few rows in a simple rib if you prefer that look.   I usually end with an I cord coming off the top, but you  can also cast off at the crown, add a pom pom or something, really it's up to you.  

Here's the pattern:

Use size 6 DPNs (or size needed for gauge and or yarn choice...I typically use worsted and size 4-6)

Cast on 68 stitches

divide evenly between 3or 4 DPNs depending on knitting preference, use stitch marker to determine beginning of the row

Knit even rounds for 4-5 inches depending on preference for baby's head

Knit 1 round placing a marker every 8 stitches

decrease 1 stitch (k2tog) before each marker

Continue till 4 sts. remain, cast off or create I-cord for knot

...And that's all there is to it!

Most local hospitals, fire departments and woman's shelters really appreciate appreciate donations of baby hats.  If you'd like to send hats abroad for donation you can inquire about programs like Caps For Good through your local red cross as well.

On a personal note, I for one can say just how much these hats mean to a new mother for their infant.  I received a knit hat donated to my local hospital when my son was born as a 2 month preemie.  Feeling so alone and scared by the whole NICU process, and having a baby so incredibly tiny just having something as simple as a hat knit that would actually fit him from a caring donor made all the difference in my day.  I still have that hat as a memory of how tiny my little angel was

Raves for New Knitting Products!

From time to time I have to just write a post to either rant or rave about products on the market for knitting...Here's one of them!

Item #1, Knit Pick Harmony Knitting Needles:

I just purchased these from my LYS (conveniently where I work!) after lusting after them for who knows how long after seeing them on knitpicks.com 

I had been using either fixed circular needles, which I love, or an older interchangeable set that I'd had for 10 + years.  The aforementioned needles were still lovely, but since I do more and more lace projects these days I wanted to find something with pointier tips (which the Harmony needles have, indeed!) and were still interchangeable so I could easily change needle sizes midway through a project.  AND, added bonus, they get pretty points for being a beautiful rainbow stained birch wood with purple cables...Squeeeee!!!!!


My photo does not do their beauty justice...

But, oh, lucky you, you can see them (and buy them!) HERE 



Item #2, The Barnes and Noble NOOK!

Ok, so a NOOK isn't INTENDED as a knitting product, but if I can make a hat with a pair of chopsticks and an old unraveled sweater while on vacation, I'm sure I can make it be!

When I bought this I actually had no idea it would only encourage my knit-geekiness...LOVE!
Not only can you buy books (Including popular knitting books), but you can take your pdf patterns that you download from Ravlery, etc. and store them on your device!  Gone are the days of lugging around my pattern binders!  I can store more patterns that I currently own on this thing of remarkable wonder!

I didn't go with the color version, though I'm sure patterns would be fabulous there.  I just went with the run of the mill basic model.  And I'm loving it!  PLUS, there are tons of free patterns to make cutesy little knit sweaters for them like the one I'm starting soon:

Wouldn't it be Easier to BUY a Garter?!?!?

Yes.  Yes it would.  But it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

I found a fabulous lace garter pattern as I was stalking Ravelry as I am prone to do. (The pattern is here , if you are at all masochistic, ahem, I mean interested...)  It looked simple enough so I decided to give it a go.  That's when I realized the pattern called for size 00 needles and thin crochet thread.  I realized about 16 rows in (about 1 pattern repeat) that this repetitious pattern was going to take quite a while to fit around my fat thigh (17" in diameter) plus enough to make a suitable gathered ruffle.  Oh well.  Onward without complaint.

Until it had been a few days of monotonous knitting.  Then the complaints began.But no matter.  Eventually I got a strip of lace about a yard long.  That would just have to do!  Blocking the amorphous tube of knitting proved to be another challenge.  It said after soaking and pinning down your lace in the desired shape to spray it with starch to keep the pointed bits, umm....pointy.  Well I had no starch and wanted to finish NOW!!!!  What's a girl to do???  Make my own starch, of course.

The internet is a lovely thing.  Turns out all you need is to whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 1 pint of cold water, transfer it into a spray bottle and shake it before each use.  Voila, homemade spray starch for practically free.  You're welcome.  And you get bragging rights AND the chance to feel like a Victorian housewife...Can it get any better???  Here's the blocked, starched result:

Then came the fun bit of weaving elastic through the eyelets.  Let me back up for a minute.  The pattern tells you to sew a bias tube along the back of the garter, run elastic through that, then weave ribbon through the aforementioned eyelets.  Sounds like too much work to me!  Since our theme colours are black and white anyways, I just found some 1/4" black elastic and ran it through the eyelets, therefore killing tow birds with one stone. 

Once all the ends were joined I sewed on a simple bow and button embellishment and pronounced the project finished.