Thu - May 6, 2004Surprise!I came up with an idea today: why not show up in
Providence wearing clothes that I've made? Then the idea played around in my
mind, and I started thinking about making the whole outfit in between now and
then. I have the linen to make a skirt, and I'm working on the Eyelet Cardi. I
didn't think that I wanted to wear Siren; the chances of a wardrobe malfunction
are higher than I'd like.
So, I got the yarn for the cover top on Vogue Knitting. I'm using Patons Grace in Azure dye lot 229, and I'm getting gauge on #7 needles, as the pattern suggests. Four and three quarters stitches to the inch knits up more quickly than five and a quarter. 
I'm making the same modification that Maeve did; I'm doing six rows of garter stitch at the bottom, and I'll be shortening it a little. The name? Well, I've basically had the DVD of Master and Commander on repeat in the background ever since I handed in my thesis. The Syren turns out to be the Surprise. (And I'm now as easily amused as Jack is.) (Speaking of Aubrey/Maturin, that same part of my brain that wants me to knit two sweaters and sew a skirt by the fifteenth is suggesting that I spend the summer handsewing a Sophia Williams costume. After all, it's just a chemise, corset, and dress. And Regency is all handsewn anyway. And it's just muslin, canvas for the corset, and something transparent for a fichu. And I could be Jane Austen for Halloween for years. And I could be Sweet Rose Maybud at the costume parade in Buxton...) Posted at 12:38 AM Wed - May 5, 2004And I used to drink that?I experimented with Kool-Aid dyeing the white yarn
that I'd gotten for Hats for the Homeless back in my undergrad days, using the
Knitty
instructions .
I used Cherry, Orange, and Lemonade Kool-Aid: 
I put the washed and hanked yarn in a baking dish and spooned the Kool-Aid on, flipped it, and did the same on the back. Then I pressed and squeezed it in hopes of getting the dye all the way through. 
After that, I microwaved it for two minutes, let it rest, and microwaved it again for two more minutes. When that was done, I put it in the bathroom sink and let it cool, then ran water on it and washed it. I rewound the hanks so that they'd dry better. Here's a little bit of it knit up: 
Things that I'd change: 1. Don't use acrylic yarn to tie the hanks; it melts. 2. Use more Kool-Aid. 3. Let the yarn cool for longer before rinsing it. It didn't actually felt, but it stuck together a bit. (It naturally does that, though.) 4. When telling Caleb about this, enunciate more clearly so that he knows I was dyeing YARN, not urine. Posted at 07:14 PM Mon - May 3, 2004Finished.I finished my thesis and turned it in. As soon as
they get a transcript to confirm that I actually graduated from my undergrad
college, I'll have my M.A.
Ah. I finished weaving in the ends of Lollipop on the morning of my defense:  Posted at 06:10 PM Playing with fireWell, here's the yarn I got for Bonne Marie's
Eyelet Cardi:
You may notice that there are nine balls of yarn. You may also notice that the smallest pattern in sport weight calls for 1000 yards of sportweight yarn, which means that I'm a bit short. I think (famous last words) that I should be fine. I hope so. Posted at 05:54 PM It's a really good thing I like redoing knitting...Well, here's a picture of
Siren:
You may notice that this is only the border at the bottom, not the one and a quarter pattern repeat that I had had. I ended up ripping the openwork part; it just wasn't working out right. I'm going to try this again when my grades and papers are all in and I can concentrate better. Posted at 05:50 PM Sat - May 1, 2004ThreadbearWell, I've succumbed to the siren song of the
Charlotte's Webs at Threadbear . I
asked them to make me a colorway with the colors in these
stained glass
windows . The wait for colorways is currently two weeks, so I should
get it shortly after I arrive in Providence. I didn't get the long-term
substitute job, so I get to take some time to catch up on sleep and knitting
while getting settled.
I also ordered the yarn for the Interweave Knits Aran set (for the Fair and then for the family hope chest) and Chaise. Not So Swift had a lovely excerpt from a poem by Franz Wright today: Think of a sheep knitting a sweater; think of your life getting better and better. Posted at 10:20 PM It's a good thing I like casting onWell, I'm on my third try for the first row of
Siren. The first two times I'd tried, I had one bit of the cast on that hadn't
been twisted or something; I used the cable cast on (which is by far my
favorite) and the cotton showed every mistake. At the State Fair, they said
that my cast ons and bind offs were the weakest points, so I really want to
improve those for this year.
The wonderful Caleb sent me the battery charger, so I can take pictures again, but not only is the light in my apartment awful, but I'm in the throes of exams and papers, so I don't have time to do photo fixing or to clear a space of the thick coating of books, pages, and other miscellaneous items so that I can take a picture. I will soon, though. Really. Posted at 10:13 PM Tue - April 27, 2004GaugeWell, once I finished the knitting on Lollipop, I
wound up the yarn (Patons Grace in Cardinal, dye lot 209) for the Vogue tank and
swatched. Oddly enough, it appears that I got gauge spot on with #4 needles,
the size that the pattern recommended. Even though it's really humid, I decided
to wash the swatch and see what it did. Wet, it still appears to be on the
nose.
I realize now that this is almost the same pattern as the red squares on the Round the World Afghan that I've been working on during the past few summers. No wonder the red looked so right for it. Posted at 06:47 PM Morbovia on iceWell, I put Morbovia away for the summer. It's
been 81 F in my bedroom at 6:30 in the morning some days, and I just can't
handle a lapful of heavy wool.
You may assume that the title is metaphorical. It is, but only barely; the bag that Morbovia is in is sitting on frozen bagels and cookies, not ice. I had a problem with moths in the fall, so I've been freezing all of my knitting for a while before I put it into storage in hopes that they don't come back. I'm replacing Morbovia with Siren, a lacy camisole knit in red cotton. Posted at 06:38 PM Pieces of SweaterWell, I finished the knitting of Lollipop.
The sleeves are possibly a bit on the short side, but I think they're fine. I'm hoping that the humidity will clear up a little tomorrow so I can block the sleeves and then sew up the sweater. Two of my students who saw me working on it said that they might be interested in learning how to knit once exam period is over. No pictures for a little while; my camera battery is out, and I haven't gotten the charger back from Caleb yet. Posted at 06:17 PM Fri - April 23, 2004I feel tallWell, I ripped out the shaping at the tops of the
sleeves and am lengthening them by about 4 cm there. I thought about
lengthening them by picking them apart at the places where I switched yarn,
knitting in more, and grafting, but the I realized I don't want to graft with
this yarn.
In the interest of conservation of my camera's batteries: Picture two sleeves, like in the last entry. They're purple and blotchy. This time, however, they lack the taper at the top and are slightly shorter! The excitement! It is sort of exciting to have to lengthen sleeves rather than shorten them. Next thing I know, I'll need to let down the hems on my pants! Posted at 09:58 PM She's Back! She's Front! She's Sideways!Presenting the paper went well. I was the second
in my panel, and it was my hope that more people would leave in the break after
my paper than in the one before. That came true. There were two questions, one
on why Penelope didn't just cut out the warp and one on when scissors were
invented. I got the second off the top of my head, but the first was more
difficult; I talked about the difficulty of hiding the cut bits of yarn rather
than the work that goes into handspinning that much fiber.
Well, I got the yarn to finish Lollipop. It matches much more than what I used for the swatch, so I ripped out that part of the sleeve and reknit it. The sweater no longer looks as if Jennie Jerome couldn't tell it apart from a Harvard sweater. (If you can understand to what event I am obliquely referring, I will forever be in awe of you.) The decreases at the top of the sleeve are one stitch in from the edge; knit side is slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over, while purl side is purl two together. Unfortunately, although I've finished all of the knitting except for binding out the sleeves, I've got some ripping to do. The sleeves are about an inch and a half too short. I can't figure out if my row gauge is really off or it there's something wrong with the pattern. 
Note the lack of the dark purple stripe at the top of the left one? Posted at 08:51 AM Thu - April 22, 2004Number One TankWell, I got the yarn (five skeins of Patons Grace
in Cardinal) to make the lacy lace-up tank in Vogue. I decided not to get the
Cotton-Ease for the other tank; they didn't have enough in orange and I didn't
quite like the feel of it. Instead, I think I'll try to see if I can use the
Grace in Viola, doubled, as the pattern calls for.
I'd put up a picture of the yarn, but I'm trying to save the camera battery. Posted at 09:44 PM Tue - April 13, 2004VoguingWell, inspired by Rachael's very sexy
tank top, I got myself a copy of Vogue Knitting. I think that I'll
make Rachael's top in orange Cotton-Ease. Sweater Number One is also on my
list; I'm planning on doing it in Patons Grace. I can't decide if I should do
it in viola,
cardinal, or fuchsia . (Rachael did her top in Microspun, and it's
what the other one calls for, but I really didn't like it when I made a baby set
out of it.)
I also ordered the ball of yarn to finish Lollipop and the yarn to make an Eyelet Cardi. I leave for the conference tomorrow morning. I'm excited about this and I really hope that it will go well. Posted at 11:29 PM Log CabinI decided that I didn't like the SnB baby blanket;
it was boring, the yarn had broken, and it wasn't very fun to knit. Instead,
I've started working on a Log Cabin using Kay's wonderful
Log Cabin instructions . No picture now; I've been experimenting on
different ways to pick up the stitches (through the front loop of the cast off
row seems to work best), and it looks pretty bad. It's Pounds of Love in white,
pink, and blue on #8 needles. Log cabinning is
addictive.
In other news, on the cable baby blanket, I'm done the pink strip and have started on the last white one. Considering that I started this back in June, it's nice to have the end in sight. I think I might take Anonymous's suggestion on the last entry and have the two sides be different; I'll see how it looks once I have all of the strips done. Posted at 08:46 PM Lollipop on hold Quick update Good Day* "The plane will be arriving ten minutes early!" Sixteen rows forward, Sixteen rows back. Still here Must See Knitting Yarn and needles Sleeves, Thesis, and Pirates More daydreaming Front and back Knitting needles: not deadly Cats and interviews You meet the most interesting people while traveling! |
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Published On: Jun 04, 2004 01:39 PM |
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