Jester Hat: Fruit of the Bobbins

Jester is the intarsia hat that I knit as a sample for KnitWhits. The hat will be felted into its final form before it is displayed.

This is a fun hat to make and a good way to practice your intarsia technique.

I used bobbins to keep an ample length of each color dangling as I knit.

It looks confusing at first, but it's actually much easier to detangle than if I had sixteen balls of yarn attached to my work.

To avoid holes when changing colors, I flipped one color over the next, twisting the two strands one time. (Since this hat will eventually be felted, small holes are not a big deal.) The yarn is not carried across the work.

This is different than two-handed fair isle, where each hand is controlling a separate color and both yarns are carried all the way across the work. I'll post another sample hat soon that uses the fair isle technique.

Old World and New World Gifts

Last week I was visited by several birthday faeries who treated me to some lovely gifts. Not only that, Stitches West, the largest knitting convention of them all, was held this past weekend, and so I was able to use some birthday cash to acquire some fun things.

My husband took the hint and went to Biordi Art Imports in North Beach. And look what he found! I was so impressed that he picked out the perfect olive oil cruet for me, along with a dipping dish. These are handpainted and imported from Italy. I love the colors, and the top of the cruet has an ingenious spout. It is a cork with a hole through the middle. The steel spout is centered through the cork. This way, I can remove the cork to fill it, and use the spout for pouring a fine stream. Very nice!

Some Italian food smells must have been wafting through the air when my friend Marjory thought to give me another piece of Italian art pottery. This cup and saucer are from the same region as the olive oil cruet and dish. I'm a lucky gal! Marjory owns the Tranquilitea Tea Room in Pacifica.

In the cup and next to it are two skeins of delicious 10/2 hand-dyed tencel that I found at Stitches West.

The tencel is from Just Our Yarn, an effort of two women who have built a reputation for the most glorious hand-dyed yarns. Even though the camel and wool and yak and other fibers tempted me, I couldn't put down this silky tencel. It's similar to the white tencel I purchased from Halcyon Yarn, but with fantastic subtly blended colors. I think these two colorways are similar enough to be part of the same garment. I haven't decided what to make of them yet, but don't you think they'll make a lovely lacy something?


Stitches West is held annually at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. My pal Tina of KnitWhits had a booth this year, and I worked all day on Friday. What a wild time!

The Stitches crowds were relentless, partly due to a convention gimmick that brought tons of people into the booth. Attendees had Ravelry "passports" -- little booklets that looked like passports. We were one of the booths that offered passport stamps, so not only were we selling hat, purse, scarf, sock, and Easter Egg kits like crazy, but we were also stamping passports.

Speaking of yak, I bought this terrific yak pin from Gita Maria at her booth. She designs "eclectic and whimsical" jewelry and charms. This one she said she brought to a cattle or yak (?) convention, and all of the cowboys wanted one, but in a smaller size to wear on their hats! I was pleased to have the full-sized version to wear on this lovely alpaca scarf, given to me by my friend Suzy.

Last year, Suzy visited Winters Gone Farm, an alpaca farm in Wiscasset, Maine, and thought this alpaca scarf was perfect for me. I love it! It wraps around and has a few buttons to snuggle it up and keep me warm.

In addition to the yarn and yak pin, I picked up a few more things at Stitches West, including this small African basket and a bunch of really cute glass beads. I may ask my sister to make me some new stitch markers with these.





I also picked up the Hydrangea Scarf pattern, the newest lace pattern from Eugen Buegler. He was there, sitting at the Lacy Knitters booth, with his pal Lew and several others. I asked him if he would honor me by signing his latest work, and he couldn't have been more delightful.

Bobbins of the Past

I started working on an intarsia hat pattern. Why? Someone would like me to knit it for her. And I like the pattern.

It brings back memories of knitting strange intarsia punk patterns in the early 80's. I remember knitting leg warmers in orange and black; a grey and burgundy hound's-tooth vest; a black stockinette sweater, knit entirely of Bernat Bucilla, with a stark white "A" in the middle of a white circle; and a baby blue, pink and white Fair Isle sweater in acrylic, with bristly hot pink mohair accents. I had gotten the acrylic at the Emporium on Market Street in San Francisco and the hot pink mohair from Marks and Spencer's in London.

Anarchy, man. It was anarchy.

But, I started to think, did I ever use bobbins? Did I? Didn't I just let it all hang out (the ends, mean?) I remembered some bobbins, stowed away with the oldest of the old knitting needles I'd inherited from various relatives and from friends' mothers.

I poked around in the old Castile Soap box from I. Magnin that my great aunt had given me to hold my knitting needles as a child. The corners are taped together now, and I have newer and shinier places to store my knitting supplies, but I can't bear to throw away the old Castile Soap box.

The bobbins were right where I had left them years ago, tucked under old needles and pins and things. I gathered them together and lined them up. They were all of the same genre, mezzo-opaque or mezzo-transparent. How had I acquired them?

Funny how these things never get thrown away. They are passed along from person to person until someone finds a use for them, or like me, someone can't bear to toss them out. And what of the white wool yarn wrapped around a couple of these ancient bobbins? It certainly wasn't a remnant of anything I had knitted. Had my great aunt given me the bobbins with this tightly wound white wool yarn clinging to them? I feel like I should leave the wool on them and keep them like good talismans, warding away evil mojo.

Okay, I had found these ten bobbins, made of tiddlywink material, sort of like bakelite. But I needed 16 bobbins. I probably could have jimmied a few, but I knew I had more somewhere.

And after some rummaging, I found these Jiffy Bobbins stored in the stationery cabinet in the den. Don't ask me why I put them there. I thought I had consolidated all my knitting paraphernalia, but these were strays.

The lid of the box says they are "automatic." This makes them sound somewhat mechanized, but I'll forgive the manufacturer for that. In fact, they are quite usable and ingenious little things.

All is well in Bobbinlandia. I shall persevere at maximum bobbin capacity.

Published!

I came home from work one day last week to find a corrugated cardboard package had arrived for me. The return address read MBI Publishing, or something like that. I put it aside and made dinner. I had gotten home later than usual and was in a hurry to put something edible on the table. We sat down to eat, and I stopped in mid-chew ...

The book. The book had arrived. What was I thinking! I ripped open the cardboard and found three lovely advance copies of Knitting Through It: Inspiring Stories for Times of Trouble.

Long ago (October 2006), I had submitted a draft of my story "Sofia's Hands" to Lela Nargi who had announced her plans for a new book on Knitter's Review. Lela, a successful editor and writer, had produced Knitting Memories: Reflections on the Knitter's Life and Knitting Lessons: Tales from the Knitting Path, both well-received by the knitting community, and much beloved for their warmth and ingenuity.

The new book was in its formative stages, and she wanted some fresh stories to add to the collection. I was indeed "fresh" and somewhat timid about the entire publishing process, having no real professional writing experience. I had written a few essays published in local mags when I was in my twenties, but since then, my writing had been sequestered to business reports and an occasional blog entry. When Lela asked me to expand my original submission, I was excited and more than thrilled. She offered great suggestions for improving my idea, while still keeping my prose intact. Published friends had told me horror stories of their words slashed to ribbons, but this was not my experience at all. I was relieved and elated.

Upon opening the package, after carefully wiping my hands, I found that the cover was different than the advance cover I had seen on Amazon a couple of months ago. The new design is sweet and tantalizing, and the heart shape formed by a strand of yarn hints of the tender stories inside. (Barnes & Noble has it, too, and you can read the table of contents there.)



The stories come from various sources, including new authors, veteran writers, and the WPA Federal Writers' Project. A number of black-and-white photographs from the Library of Congress and a few patterns are great complements to this volume.

One interesting note: I had included a reference to the Oomingmak cooperative in the first draft of my story. This knitting cooperative I visited in Alaska produces knitted items from the underwool of the musk ox to supplement the income of their subsistence communities. Lela had been looking for stories about native American knitters, and this spurred her to contact Donna Drachunas, who had just published the book Arctic Lace, and had done extensive research on the Oomingmak. Donna contributed a story to this book, and I was pleased that Lela added a reference to Donna's story in "Sofia's Hands."

My story is personal. It relates the trials of dealing with my own mother's illness and caring for my mother-in-law in her last years. Knitting was my solace and a my distraction during that time, and with every fiber of my being, I am grateful to the knitting community for helping me through it.

In the back are "Notes on the Contributors" -- mine is a little frivolous, but I had to say something!

It's not a hat

For all those people who have seen me knitting lace in the round;

For all those who think knitting on a circular needle is weird;

For all those who have asked me, "Is it a hat?";

For all those who think my pile of lace is a baby blanket;

For all those who have asked, "How long does it take to make that?";

For all those who tell me, "That's beautiful, what is it?" ...

I say to you:

It's knitting, not crochet.
It's about as weird as brushing your teeth.
It's not a hat.
It's not a blanket; it's a shawl.
It takes as long as it takes.
Thank you. I like it, too. It's lace.

Spring Blossoms and Stash

I must be ready for warmer weather. The Spring Blossoms Shawl by Eugen Buegler has been on my project list since I picked up the pattern at Stitches West last year. That project list never seems to get any shorter.

I dug into my stash and found this gorgeous violet/purple/periwinkle laceweight merino from Inspirations Yarn. Margaret hand-dyed this especially for me in her "Espresso" laceweight. I think the subtly blended colors are just perfect, and they are not so disparate that they detract from the lacework. I hope Mr. Buegler would approve. The yarn is very soft, and the shawl will be amethystly cozy. My birthday is in February, and I've always had a fondness for all things purple. My birthstone is amethyst, and my favorite color is violet.

Since I've started organizing my stash on Ravelry, I've begun to make some real decisions about what yarns to use for projects. Thus far, I've used Ravelry mainly for organization and reading about other knitters and projects. The socializing part of Ravelry is great, but it just adds another "thing to do" to my list of groups and forums.

Digging into my stash was particularly therapeutic and delightful. In recent years, I've earned some yarns by knitting samples for designers, and other yarns I've found by chance while visiting a yarn shop or a knitting show or conference. I gave up the idea of just buying yarn for specific projects long ago.

Now, my stash is my yarn shop. It's not as big as some knitters' stashes, but certainly respectable as far as stashes go. I've already photographed about 40 different yarns for my Stash organization project on Ravelry. This may be about half of my stash, but I won't know until it's all categorized and labeled. Do not judge me, lest ye be judged.

Ravelry's Stash tool allows a member to post a photograph and all the details about the yarn, including quantity, color, content, weight, gauge, etc. You can make notes about a potential project or anything else pertinent. In many cases, the yarn is already listed in Ravelry's database, so entering a yarn description is simple -- just modify the sample information to fit your specifications. If the yarn is not in Ravelry's database, you are given the option to add yours as the first example.

The entire Stash is then downloadable to Excel for data manipulation and sorting by color, fiber content, manufacturer, etc. This is a great tool for planning projects. Sometimes, I remember a color or type of yarn in my stash, but then I don't know how much I have or even where it is located. My overtaxed brain can use all the help it can get.

Ravelry's Stash tool has opened my eyes to my own stash. I have new appreciation for the yarns I've collected, and now I can see them all in one place. (Okay, two places. I did have to upload all the photos to flickr, the prefered photo host for Ravelry.)

Springtime Jacket

Springtime, you ask? With all of the wild, woolly weather we've been having lately, a little springtime might be in order.

This is the Springtime Jacket by Melissa Leapman (modified with cables and applied I-cord trim). It was a freebie pattern that came in the mail with an advertisement to subscribe to Knit 'N Style magazine. It's also in their April 2007 issue.

I liked the simple lines and that it was all moss stitch. The texture makes it feel a little more substantial than plain stockinette. The longer length and the bell sleeves seemed right for me. I actually started this a few months ago, but other deadlines took precedence, and I just finished it during our most recent wet and stormy weekend when the power was out.

As usual, I decided to modify the design a bit. See that wavy cable? It wasn't in the pattern, and I added it after I made the two fronts and the back. I knit it separately in one long strip, using short rows to turn the corners at the neck, and then I sewed it on with a whip stitch making a slight ridge where it meets up with the body. The wave cable panel is a slightly wider version of Barbara Walker's. I added two sts on each side of the cable, making a nice ridge along the outer edges, for a total width of 12 sts. It goes like this (cn = cable needle):

Multiple of 12 sts
Row 1 (WS and all odd rows) -- p2, k2, p4, k2, p2

Row 2 -- k2, p2, (sl2 to cn, hold to back, k2, k2 from cn), p2, k2

Row 4, 6, 8 -- k2, p2, k4, p2, k2

Row 10 -- k2, p2, (sl2 to cn, hold to front, k2, k2 from cn), p2, k2

Row 12, 14, 16 -- k2, p2, k4, p2, k2

Shortening Sleeves

The yarn is Cascade Dolce, a luscious, soft wool, alpaca and silk blend. It knits up beautifully, with a pretty drape. BUT it doesn't have as much memory as 100% wool, so the sleeves hung a bit too long.

To remedy this, after I blocked the pieces and basted them together, I measured the length of sleeve I wanted and then pinned where I wanted to cut off the cuff. Yes, I said CUT off the cuff. I had done this before in stockinette, but not in moss stitch which is a little bit trickier. This seems like a drastic and scary thing to do, but it's a great way to shorten or lengthen sleeves on a finished garment. I suggest experimenting on a swatch before doing it on your beautiful sweater.

First, I opened the sleeve seam about four inches. Then I counted up 11 rows from the bottom of the cuff to where I was going to cut and marked the row with a safety pin on both the left and right sides of the piece. This has to be precise, or you'll end up cutting threads on two different rows.

Then I snipped the yarn on each end of the row. I gently pulled it apart a couple of stitches at a time, careful not to let the stitches start to ladder. Once I had a good five inches or so of the snipped yarn to hold onto, I wrapped it around my fingers a couple of times and slowly but firmly pulled the snipped yarn (one row) completely out.

This is where it gets tricky in moss stitch. After the row is pulled out and the bottom of the cuff is separated from the sleeve, the live stitches are ready to be picked up. In this case, with moss stitch, the stitches twist every which way making it harder to pick them up in a straight line. With stockinette, this is much easier, as the stitches all stay lined up like little soldiers.

Basically, I just put each live stitch onto a circular needle, making sure not to skip any. I wanted a somewhat firmer edge at the bottom of the sleeve as well as the bottom of the sweater itself. I chose to add an attached I-cord as a finishing touch.

The attached I-cord is easy to do, especially when you have live stitches on a circular needle. For the sleeve, that's just what I had. For the body, I had to pick up stitches all around the bottom.

The other thing to be aware of is the bias stretch. With moss stitch, the knitted fabric will naturally stretch "on the bias" or diagonally. The pieces will look completely misshapen and weird until you block them. The cable trim and the applied I-cord help to keep the jacket in shape.

This was an easy sweater to make. I'd recommend using wool. Alpaca is lovely and soft, but it will droop, especially with the extra weight of bell sleeves. Also, if you make this one, don't forget to check the errata. I sent in a correction to the shoulder shaping, and they posted it on the Knit 'N Style corrections page.

For convenience, here's the edit I sent them:

APRIL 2007, Project 1: KNITTED Springtime Jacket

BACK

Shape Shoulders

BO 4 sts each armhole edge 3 times, then BO 3 (4, 4, 5, 6) sts each neck edge once.

(By the way, does it bug anyone else that the only apostrophe used in "Knit 'N Style" is before the "N"? I mean, if an apostrophe is a substitute for missing letters, shouldn't there be one after the "N," too? I digress ... )

Eastern Lace Sweater

I've finished the Eastern Lace sweater. This one was so much fun to make! The pattern is from Y2Knit. Two sisters run the business, and they have some lovely, creative patterns, in a wide range of sizes. While at the TKGA conference a few months ago, I ran into Jill at the Y2Knit booth who showed me some of their gorgeous designs. This one is absolutely one of my favorites.

The faux wrap is ingenious. It's knit as a V-neck sweater, with set in sleeves. The "wrap" is a strip of seed stitch picked up and knit from the bottom hem, then at an angle up the front and around the neckline. With a couple of sewn tacks at strategic spots, the wrap looks just like a wrap should, but without the possibility of gapping open. (Busty gals take note.)

The great thing about this Y2Knit pattern is that it is written out line by line. In addition, they provide a schematic with measurements for each size, and a lace chart. What could be sweeter? The designers are very accessible and helpful if you have any questions.

The yarn is 100% linen and has a nice, elegant drape after it's washed. Linen is always a little tough on the hands while knitting, but the finished product is gorgeous. I really like this soft blue, which goes with so many things.

The sleeve has an elegant detail -- a seed stitch vent that lets the sleeves drape open at the wrist. Here's one photo of the sleeve as it was being blocked. (I was playing with the settings on my camera, so the color looks different in each photo. I think the second photo looks the closest to the actual color.)

Next up, my moss stitch cardigan has been waiting for sleeves, and sleeves it shall have! I'm almost done with sleeve #1. Two sweaters completed in a month? Do you think I can do it?

Remember me?

Wow, it's December! Where did November go? Much knitting has been in progress including two baby sweaters and the swatch pictured here. No baby sweater photos as yet, but hope to have some soon.

This lacy swatch was completed on November 1, and since then I've been working on the _____ ______ ______ which will be completed by the end of this week. I'm very happy with the pattern. It's fun and a bit challenging. I'm fascinated by the way this lacy pattern twists and turns and still knits a straight path.

Can you guess what I'm making? Bonus points if you know the name of this lace pattern or the designer. More photos to come, as I am almost finished with this project.

This past Saturday, I was planning to go to the Lacis Lace Knitting Group meeting in Berkeley, but something happened and BART went awry, so ... we went to Nine Rubies in San Mateo instead.

What a great place! Nina and I must have touched every type of yarn in the shop. The woman who helped us (not the owner) was very knowledgable and gave good advice. It was rather busy, with a class in the back room and several knitters occupying the seating in the "living room" area.

I wasn't really in the market to buy any new yarn, but just try to stop me when I incessantly fondle something new. Cascade Venezia is 70% wool and 30% silk. It's absolutely luscious, soft, and has a gorgeous sheen. The silk gives the color depth, and I was swimming in it before I decided to purchase a few skeins with which to experiment. I like the indestructible shopping bags the store provides with purchase -- great for use as auxiliary project totes.

I promise not to be so silent this month!

Candy Corn Hat and Moss Stitch Cardigan

Has anyone else noticed a recent baby boom? This time around it seems to have proliferated amongst my friends' younger sisters and my younger cousins. One of my many cousins is due shortly, and she asked if I might make her a candy corn hat for the infant-to-be. It was easy as pumpkin pie to crochet using Lion Microspun - very soft yarn, readily available now in Halloween colors.

But oops ... that baby isn't quite ready to say hello to the world. I do know of a recently sprung baby who might just like to wear this on Halloween. It's definitely infant sized. Now, what to do with the remainder yellow, orange and white microfiber yarn? Hmmm ...

I've stalled on a couple of projects, namely the Lavori doily and the Boho Blocks cardigan. Both will be completed (when I get around to it).

The slightly chilly nights encouraged me to dive into some dark green wool/alpaca/silk blend called Dolce, from Cascade Yarns that had been hibernating in my stash. This freebie Melissa Leapman pattern, Springtime Cardigan, came in the mail (also available in Knit 'N Style, April 2007). Remember to check the Errata page at Knit 'N Style for corrections to this pattern (sent to the publisher by me!).

It's an easy moss stitch pattern, with set-in bell sleeves and gentle waist shaping. The Dolce yarn is just like it sounds - sweet! It's lovely and soft on your hands.

I'm debating whether to add a cable border strip to give it a little something extra, but for right now, it's just moss stitch.

I'm glad I've had experience knitting moss stitch before, because the bias stretch is somewhat unnerving. It looks completely misshapen until you block it. A border strip would help define the shape and square it off, while reducing the effect of the bias stretch.

I'm also thinking about my next lace project. I have some wonderful new yarn to fondle, and it's got me dreaming about lace.

The first is Louet's Euroflax 14/2 linen. This is laceweight flax that has a soft glowy sheen in navy blue. A half-pound cone has about 1,300 yards. I'm thinking about making the Paisley Long Shawl from Fiddlesticks. I know, I originally picked the red cashmere from Colourmart, but I think I'd rather see this shawl in a darker color.

The yardage should be enough if I don't add fringe (and I'm not a fringe-y person, although some may disagree).

Another wonderful yarn with which I am unexpectedly enamored is also from Louet. It's called Kidlin, a mohair-wrapped linen, which is absolutely ethereal. The color is Bryce Canyon, and it couldn't be more aptly named. The linen base yarn is a soft rose color, and the mohair fuzzy fiber wrapped around it is a warm tan color - an inspired interpretation of a canyon sunset.

I'm interested to see how this will knit up. Linen and mohair just don't seem suited to blend together, but this yarn begs to be knit up into something angelic. I'll report back when I have some experience with it.