Ravelympics Progress

I ultimately decided to do the February Lady Sweater out of the Malabrigo for my Ravelympics project. Knitting has been going pretty quickly though I think both sleeves would be done by now if I hadn't decided to tear out the yoke once already. I suppose that's what I get for actually trying to *watch* the olympics while doing olympic knitting.

The increases are very odd for this. I had originally thought I would just try and do the standard raglan increases until I had nearly the right number of stitches, but my row gauge with the Malabrigo made this awkward and I did not like how the sleeves were set so I tore back to the increase row and did standard (M1) increases instead. I only did the increases on the front and back panels and had only 49 sts on the sleeves. This seems off, but partly due to the stockinette yoke and partly due to the mystery that is malabrigo weight (I know there are people that can knit this to a worsted gauge, but I'm not one of them - on US6s the tightest I could get this was 16sts/in and I refuse to murder my hands trying to get it tighter on smaller needles) I've wound up following the XS instructions.

The fit right now is snug but acceptable, and based on everything I've read about the sweater I decided not to slip in the extra repeats under the arms since I anticipate it growing a bit when blocked (If it doesn't... well I need to get to the gym more often anyway).

I have decided to do both sleeves before continuing the body, partly so that I can try it on as I go and partly so that I can use every last yard of my remaining yarn in the body. After I finish the second sleeve it turns into a much easier project - just continue in the gull lace until the yarn runs out.

I love the way the yarn feels, even if its hard on my hands. Singles yarns just do not have any give. I also love that I will have almost no ends to weave in.

When adding a new hank its pretty obvious just to do a felted join, but in places where a new ball must be attached without a preexisting end I've worked out another end free join.

I seriously doubt I'm the first person to do this, but since I can't recall seeing this detailed anywhere else I thought I'd post it up for anyone else that might find this useful.

It works equally well on the ends of a long tail cast on. Easiest with a single yarn, but I expect it would work with any felt able yarn.

1. Fold a couple of inches of yarn back on itself. It helps to fray the end slightly.

2. Leaving a small open loop, felt the end to the other side of the yarn (look up "felted join" or "spit splicing" if you don't know how to do this - I recommend using water over spit, because spitting on your yarn... just... not very hygienic >.< )

3. Slip your needle into the stitch where you will attach the new yarn. Hook the loop and pull it through as a normal stitch.

4. Continue knitting as usual. Make sure if your loop is long enough before the felt that you have a stitch (like above) that is partially or all 2 strands wide that you knit these strands as one stitch on the next row.

Ta-da! No end to weave in later and its very yarn conservative.

Now, back to work on the sweater...

Scarf in a weekend

Friday night I warped my loom. I used the hank of Handmaiden Casbah sock yarn that has been calling to me all month for the warp. It took me a couple of half hours (interspersed with watching Primeval on Netflix) and a few false starts to get the color repeats in a pooling pattern I was happy with.

Saturday I went to the spin in out at Yarnorama.


Sunday I sat down with my loom, a couple of bobbins full of red bamboo and wove while watching the first season of Legend of the Seeker (little cliche for my tastes, but I'm caught up on most of my geek shows and it required minimal attention to follow. Also it has a lot of Craig Horner's Abs).

Whole scarf finished in one weekend.

I expect that I could have woven the whole thing warping to tie off in under 6 hours.

Must love weaving.

(Casbah Sock in "Monarch" with Valley Yarns 10/2 Bamboo in "Spice"

10.5" x 54", woven on a Schact Flip with a 12 dent heddle)

Valkyrie FTW

Turns out: Handknit socks that someone else knit you? At least 100% more awesome than normal. =D

Love(1000).

Shrug Update 2.4.10

Because everyone loves looking at really shitty mirror photos.

Come on. You know you love it.

Note to self: Congratulations on not making a squinty face. Next time consider that you are not about to be eaten by evil space monkeys. Try looking less like something is about to pop up and shoot you (camera notwithstanding).

I have been neurotically trying this one on as I go. Annoying though it is to toss the stitches onto waste yarn and pick them back up again over & over it does seem to be working for me. Any future issues aside the arms and back fit well.

I'm in the ribbing section before the increases and at that spot where I'm doubting a little that I should wait as long as I'm told to start them. I will knit to where it tells me to start and try it on again. If it pulls too much I can always tear back a few rows and start increasing earlier.

Fit is pretty good right now. The reverse stockinette/stockinette stripes are all smooshed up right now but based on that super-swatch I did was back when, I anticipate them relaxing substantially with blocking. The back should presumably drop several inches when this happens (May steam block it on the needles to check for sure). The shoulder bands where I have smoothed it down and stuck it to my shirt are much closer to how I anticipate the finished look to be.

I'm hoping that I can get the final length at the back to fall about to the base of my belt loops but this means a LOT more knitting to cover my freakishly long torso. Also there may reach a point where the Collar becomes too bulky and I have to say when (or else do something involving short rows... ugh). I expect I will like it even if it falls a bit short of the goal... just so long as it comes down past my natural waist.

Still on the fence about how long I want to do the sleeves. I have them on holders at elbow length but I'm considering if I want them full length. Going to wait until the body is done to decide for sure.

Evil Zombie Space Bugs Have Hijacked My Brain!

No. Really. They have. I was just ya know walking along, minding my own business and they swooped in and started hijacking people and taking them away to do evil experiments and stuff and so I had to rally up the troops and go hunt them down because the Fate of the Galaxy was at stake. It was crazy hard and everyone was being a jerk about my being dead and and so I just punched them all in the face and got on with it and then there was this big evil dead ship and more evil space zombie bugs that it turned out are really ---------- and I was super freaked out and I got the feeling the Fishman was hitting on me which was really sort of disturbing even though I totally liked him in concept but then there was an evil robot that wasn't really ---------- and more evil zombie space bugs and OMG CAN'T SLEEP. HAVE TO SAVE GALAXY.

Right.

What Garrus said.

As I understand it all this Galaxy saving made me a pretty amusing person to be around last week. Between the lack of sleep and adrenaline and caffeine I was basically running on I gather that most of my conversations with people that were not aliens (or humans that I was not allowed to kick off the ship) did not really follow a common thread of sense much.

Perhaps miraculously I did actually get quite a bit of knitting done though. I attribute this mostly to loading screens and my stubborn refusal never to click through dialogue even if I've already been through a section 4 times before.

I've started a new cardigan /shrug (shrugigan?) out of the red Inca Gold that I originally bought for the Vivian cardi back in December. That particular attempt didn't work out so well and I was all set to try it again... when I randomly decided that it would look just as good as a Textured Circle Shrug and probably get more wear as that pattern also. Bonus for it being brainless enough to knit while half asleep at 2 am or at knitting group (I've been on a string of inability to knit and talk at the same time failures).

I am liking the pattern so far, its pretty intuitive, easy to modify and there was a big KAL at Lion Brand for it so I have copious notes available from other people who have already knit it (and with any luck that have already messed it up so I don't have to - or at least blocked off some routes to my messing it up. I will have to be more ingenious to find some obscure and confused way to make this a disaster.)

I also finished some socks:

Malabrigo Sock yarn in Caribeno. 56st stockinette soles knit toe up with afterthought heels and 3x3 ribbed cuffs (increased to 60sts after the heel location). Pretty much my default socks.

I started these way back in... uh... it was summer I think. Or what passes for fall here. One of those two. I made big progress on them at the KidnEwe Festival and then sort of forgot about them for a month. My gauge was kind enough to walk off onto its own planet somewhere between sock 1 and 2. Its not a big fit difference but the pooling changed pretty dramatically around the cuff of the second sock.

Do like them, but find myself with no socks to work on now. I think this is OK as I'm thinking I may be suffering from sock burn out right now but I need to find something small and portable anyway. Maybe carrying my drop spindle around a lot instead for awhile.

I have been thinking about Olympic knitting projects lately. I think I have picked out my yarn:


It is Malabrigo Worsted in Buscando Azul. Which is a pretty awesome nearly solid blue.

But I am torn on the project. There are 4 skeins of the Malabrigo (840yds). I have been considering doing a Shalom Cardigan (really more of a vest - though I would like to add some small sleeves if/when I do that one) but keep going back and forth on if I love it or it would linger in a dark corner of my closet once complete. Alternately I really really want (and am pretty sure I would wear - A LOT) a Gallery Jacket. My issue with this one is that I might prefer it out of a non-wool fiber or at least something with a blend in it and multiple plies. I am thinking perhaps the black bamboo that's been in my stash forever would work. I am on the fence about being able to knit a sizable project from such a non flexible fiber in 2 weeks however. Also considering: a shorter sleeved version of the February Lady's Sweater (made doubly appropriate since I'd be knitting it in February?), a Back to School U-Neck Vest the main obstacle to which is that my copy of fitted knits is in Kentucky somewhere, a Hey Teach! cardigan, which ironically I already have the suggested yarn for though I have not been able to get anything that resembles gauge with it (have also considered doing a Rusted Root with said yarn instead), or a Kelso Lace Cardigan which would actually probably work with any of the yarns I have in sweater amounts already and have already mentioned or, just to throw in one more option, some of the Arucania Lonco that I have with the strands held doubled (there is one knit in Paton's grace to support the idea that this would look pretty stellar in a lighter weight mercerized yarn).

Yes.

I need some help picking this out clearly.

Anyway. Galaxy saving calls. (Did I mention there is an advert for handspun Asari burial robes on the citadel? I am now convinced there is a knitter on staff at bioware.)

Nom nom nom...

It be done.

And dry.

336yds of 2ply laceweight. 2.1oz.
50/50 yak & merino

Its looks much coarser than it feels. Despite the rustic coloration and overall appearance its very, very soft. Its much denser than I expected, though maybe some of that is from working with the polwarth recently. I would be interested to see how 100% yak spun since the merino seemed to hamper the fiber more than help it (I find this true with a lot of down blends, I know some people find them helpful but I'm of the opinion that they mess up the best properties of both fibers). I have not ruled out the possibility that I am simply spinning these blends in an unnecessarily complicated way however.

*sigh* all frustrations aside. She is beautiful, no?

Also - I keep forgetting to talk about the yellow BFL from last year.

This is what the finished yarn looked like:

This Ugly Roving <- Is what it came from.

The ugly roving in the picture was a disaster. It was muddy. it was partially felted. It was just... not a good thing. I persisted in spinning it mostly because I am a strange stubborn person, and also possibly as punishment for messing up some perfectly lovely wool. I spun all 8oz of it, persisted in hating it and then went and got 8oz more.

Because damnit. I was going to save that ugly fiber even if I had to trash another half a pound to do it! I dyed the second batch significantly lighter and more saturated than the first. It was not felted (thank god - by that point I was about ready to scream about how much suck spinning partially felted roving is. Also I think my drafting thumb was threatening to fall off.) but it was day-glo orange in a couple of places, which I decided was better than that unfortunately muddy/pooey greenish yellow that it was in places on the first roving.

A bit of praying and some thankfully solid color theory later and you have the above yarn. The unfortunate bits balanced each other out well and the overall effect is a bright yellowy gold. I had trouble letting go of the yarn in the end. It came very close the matching my car.

I didn't achieve the yardage I set out for, unfortunately. A lot of this is because of the density of the felted singles, some of it is because I was a bad spinner and did not sample, and some of it is because the universe is just like that sometimes. I think the final count of all 4 skeins was in the upper 600yds range, which still isn't bad, of a heavy worsted/Aran weight.

Enough spinning for now. I have 2 sweaters started and a pair of socks 1 heel away from done. Must get back to it.

Experimental swatching

I would really like to rant about the day I had, but seeing as its is still today and time heals all wounds (or at least takes the sting out of them) and attempts at self preservation in this 24hr period seem to be backfiring on me...

I will not rant. I won't even save it for another day.

That does mean that I cannot talk about knitting, but this is OK since I've been in a mad spinning frenzy this evening. Partly coping mechanism, partly wanna finish stuff that I've been working on forever.

First to be finished - my polwarth samples. I picked up 4 oz of polwarth dyed locks at Yarnorama at the last spin in and tried spinning them with different hand preps.

I started out with hand cards and spun about 2/3rds of the fiber with a woolen long draw from rolags. I plied half of it back on itself to see how it changed with plying. I like how lofty the finished yarn is, but the carded prep has a lot of nepps and is fairly uneven. This is typical of woolen yarns to a point but I have spun much more consistent woolen singles than this before.

Part of the problem may have been my cards. Polwarth is a fairly fine wool and I have coarse cloth cards. Part of the problem may also have been the amount of lanolin left on the locks - it was enough to make them somewhat sticky and in hindsight I might have been happier if I had washed the locks before carding & spinning.

I put aside the locks that had the best structure left to them while I was doing this and so for the last third of the fiber I simply flicked them open on both ends and spun them worsted like I would a commercial top. The result is very different from the woolen. Smooth and fairly consistent and it seems to have notably more drape. I enjoyed the spinning this way much more as well. The lanolin effect was vastly reduced when spinning from fibers that were lined up.

The results left to right:

Woolen 2-ply, 176yds & 1.2 oz
Woolen singles, 282yds & 1.1oz
Worsted singles, 420yds & 1.3oz

My missing ~half ounce seems to have gone to a combination of waste/short cuts, VM and lanolin which I did scour out mostly when I washed the finished yarn (I don't like knitting with greasy wool any more than I like spinning it) and this is something I'll take into account in the future when working with locks and fleece vs. roving or top.

One thing I didn't like about these particular locks is the perfume the dyer put on them. It took me a lot more washing than I would normally do to get it mostly out and even now there is a faint scent on them that as one of my knitting friends mentioned smells rather like "Old Lady Perfume". I can only assume this was done to cover up the sheepy smell but I would much have preferred Au de Sweaty Ewe.

I also finally(!) finished the last of my 2oz of 50/50 Yak/Merino.

The finished yarn is lovely and soft. It is still drying at the moment so better photos will follow. I am estimating it at 360yds, but I need to measure the dry hank to be sure of any shrinkage.

This was a complete nuisance to spin and the finished yarn feels like a real accomplishment. The blend was not very homogeneous so I pulled off bits by the "lock" fluffed them and rolled them into mini-faux rolags and then spun them semi-woolen. This mostly limited the tendency to spin out all the merino but there are still sections that are just yak or merino despite all my best efforts. The final yarn is more consistent than I expected considering. There are some thick & thin bits, especially where the first lengths of yarn I spun are, but its a pretty nice heavy lace/light fingering.

Although I really love the brown marl I am considering over dyeing it. I just tend to prefer color to neutrals.

Finally, I spun this much merino:

Its much heavier than all this lace weight I've been doing lately and a nice change of pace. I'm hoping for a 3-ply worsted. Maybe plied with something variegated.

I have a whole pound of the solid so it will be sweater yarn (Or vest yarn if it doesn't get a third alternate color ply).

Mmm... sweater yarn.