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So I mentioned the other day (and possibly last week) that I was working on a lace shrug, and I finally finished knitting it and got it blocked and photographed.
Pattern: My own, which I’m working on writing up. It’s currently unnamed, so if you’ve got a suggestion, send it along! There might be a free pattern in it for you. : )
Yarn: Abundant Dyeworks Naturally Dyed Merino Sock (one skein, Scarecrow)
Needles: US 6/4 mm
So I originally meant to knit this on size four needles and then I grabbed the wrong ones to cast on, and now it’s on sixes. No matter, I rather like how the lace pattern opened up on the sixes. I think the shrug turned out pretty well-it was simple to knit but a really interesting looking result, and it will be a perfect layering piece for chilly summer nights or over-air conditioned office buildings. Stays on better than a shawl and looks cute to boot. : )
I really like the yarn I chose for this (though I admit it was mostly out of necessity; I didn’t have a lot that would work). It’s a two-ply superwash merino (so I wasn’t going to use it for socks) that I got from a WWFY trade–for the Manly Aran socks, actually. It’s soft and looks like it’ll hold up pretty well, so I think I’m going to recommend it for use in the pattern. I don’t usually specify a yarn (and really, any fingering weight wool or cotton blend would work), but this one is not too difficult to obtain and I really like it. Plus, what will be the smallest size of the pattern (the one I knit) can be made with one skein of yarn. It was close, but I made it, crochet border and all.
I’m going to list the pattern on Free Pattern Testers on Ravelry later today if you’d like to test. Or, I’ll announce here when the pattern is available.
In other knitting news, I recently cast on for a pair of shorts in Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton (it’s so soft). And no, knitted shorts are not weird. People think they are but they’re so comfortable. I wear the last pair I made all the time and they don’t sag or bunch at all. They’re super cute. This pair will be knit in pure cotton as opposed to cotton/acrylic, but we’ll see how it goes.
Oh, and in case you’re still wondering, I am still working on the Leah vest pattern. I don’t have the FO with me so I can’t measure length to finish it up, but I hope to get that written and out to testers within a week of my returning to Virginia Beach (I’m leaving DC on Thursday).
I finished the socks I started just the other day, possibly because I used a larger needle than I usually knit socks with.
Pattern: It’s a cuff-down sock. Regular toe, flap/gusset heel.
Yarn: Yarnbee Walk Away, colorway “For Kicks”
Needles: US *2*, a circular I bought at the Yarn Club, a new LYS in Virginia Beach
So these socks are knit a bit loose than I usually knit socks but the yarn is also very thick for sock yarn–it’s almost like a light sport weight. The socks are pretty comfortable and I suspect that once I toss them in the washing machine and dryer, they’ll tighten up a bit. They fit pretty well and the yarn is soft enough.
Knitting with the yarn was kind of a PITA though. It’s kind of like corespun–it’s wooly on the outside, but there’s a core thread of elastic/nylon and the two fibers stretch at different rates, so the wooly bit kept getting bunched up on the core thread. That was annoying. Also, the core shows through in a couple of spots.
On the whole, I’m pretty happy with the socks though. The color is quite lovely and I even got them to match! (Mostly–one is about a row ahead of the other.) I’m sure they will get lots of wear this winter when it is cool enough to wear mid-calf-high wool socks. Now I have three pairs like that!
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on something of a sock kick lately. Currently I have another pair of footies (for flats) on the needles (from the Ravenclaw yarn). I’m also about halfway through a shrug I’m designing (and hoping to finish with 380 yards–it’s gonna be close). Got some real work done on grown-up things yesterday and tonight I’m off to a pedicure with my boyfriend’s mother and sister (which is lovelier than it might sound–I quite like them). Still have to figure out how I’m getting back to Virginia Beach next week, but right now, I’m just going to relax and try not to kick some poor woman in the face when she inevitably tickles my very ticklish feet.
I do. I so win at thrift. I went to a thrift store near my house with my grandparents today (they’re in town after my graduation) and I TOTALLY SCORED. SCORED. I found five sweaters total, all for $2 (one was only a dollar):
Two to felt (cashmere! I’m going to make a lovely light blanket when I get enough sweaters)
And three to frog:
From top to bottom: Old Navy cotton/wool, worsted/bulky weight (this is the $1 one), a probably fingering weight nylon/viscose/angora/cashmere blend (probably will be a lightweight sweater for me) and the coup de grace, a worsted weight CASHMERE sweater. I found bulky cashmere! It exists! I’m so excited to work with it. The three froggable sweaters are currently soaking and I’m just going to machine wash the other two.
I also found some cute shoes for $4:
Not sure what kind of socks I’m supposed to wear with these (suppose it doesn’t matter if wear them under pants). Yay, thrift store!
So I have finished up a couple of knitted things this week because, like I said, it’s dead week/senior week, so all the soon-to-be graduates are chilling on campus for a week before graduation, partying, sleeping in, and generally laying about. I have been knitting, my boyfriend Joe has been putting together a self-published album of his orchestral/piano compositions (he’s good; I promise) and together we’ve been watching Stargate: Atlantis on Netflix (which is delightful, by the way. We’re about halfway into season two and I LOVE IT).
Anyway, during the many episode of SGA we’ve been watching, I’ve gotten a lot of knitting done. Like the shorter version of my Leah vest.
Pattern: Leah, which I am currently working on writing up.
Yarn: Reynold’s Tiara, three skeins I’ve had as long as I’ve been crocheting (ie, a long damn time), probably from a yard sale or something.
Needles: US 6/4 mm
So guys? I TOTALLY LOVE THIS VEST. I really didn’t think I would care for the cropped version but OMG it is so cute. It looks great over blouses and I think it’ll look good over some dresses and t-shirts too. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The points came out exactly how I wanted (just under the bust) and the neckline is perfect. I originally tried to put in too many buttons/button holes but when I reduced them from five to three, it came out perfectly. Seriously LOVE.
Also the photo shoot was fun. My camera guy (Joe) is great and I love him.
As for the yarn: It was just a bit thinner than I would have liked. Ravelry says worsted, but it’s more like a dk. Anyway, it’s discontinued, so I won’t be recommending it for the pattern (probably I’ll just say a cotton or rayon blend worsted weight). Tiara is rayon and silk and the rayon was very splitty and the silk very pilly. The finished vest is quite pretty, but I wouldn’t recommend this yarn to anyone, especially if it’s been sitting on the bottom of your yarn bin for several years. It is a pretty color though and I did use up just about all of it, so it’s out of my stash.
I believe I mentioned before I was working on a cotton summer hat — I’ve finished that too and will have some details/pictures in the next post. Suffice it to say that it’s awesome and basically the best hat ever. That post will not be tomorrow as tonight is Cinco de Mayo and I will be drinking tequila. Yes.
GUYS GUYS GUYS I FINISHED ALL MY EXAMS FOR COLLEGE AND I’M GRADUATING IN A WEEK FROM TOMORROW. More on that later. Just so you know, expect my writing this week to be a little… less than perfect. Generally it’s safe to blame vodka but Thursday is Cinco de Mayo, so you should probably blame Tequila. Cause I’m DONE WITH COLLEGE and that means it is CELEBRATION TIME.
Anyway, In case you were wondering, I have been knitting. A little bit. Working on two pairs of Manly Aran socks in a row burnt me out a little bit, so I haven’t been doing as much knitting as I usually would. What I have been doing though is acquiring yarn at an alarming rate. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Weren’t you just talking about graduating and don’t you not have a job or any money?” That would be correct; however, I already sort of had the yarn. Which is to say I had some sweaters.
As a poor/cheapskate college student, I like cheap things. You know what’s cheap? Thrift store sweaters. You know what thrift store sweaters are made of? YARN. I’ve had the sweaters for a while and have been on an unravelling binge. I haven’t weighed any of them yet, but suffice it to say there’s a lot of yarn here.
What exactly have I unraveled? So nice of you to ask!
There’s this Shetland wool sweater that I got at a Good Will outlet (1.20 a POUND, people). It had tags still on.
It frogged into a lovely laceweight, but Shetland is a very sticky wool, so I had to roll it into balls instead of onto the niddy noddy like I usually do.
There’s a 80/20 wool nylon mix, the perfect shade of white for dyeing:
Five skeins of fingering weight yarn that will probably become socks (though I’ll probably hold it two strands at a time for strength). The little skein is from the collar, which alone yielded 140 yards.
There’s a very shiny linen/cotton mix (60/40) from a large tank top:
About dk. Not sure how much for enough for a tank top and a sun hat, which is the goal. I’ll probably also dye this.
There’s this Talbot’s 100% silk pullover:
Silk, by the way, frogs like a DREAM. It’s super strong so it doesn’t break every couple of yards like the Shetland was wont to. Ton of lace weight yarn here. There’s another skein I can’t find, so pretend there’s three. I want to dye it and make a huge shawl out of some of it.
Finally, there’s the creme de la creme, three wonderful, beautiful, SOFT skeins of 100% cashmere:
Also lace weight but will probably be doubled or tripled for… something.
Sweaters, as you know, have a front, a back, and two sleeves (except for that tank top, which was a cardigan so it had a back and two fronts). But there’s only three skeins of silk and cashmere (well, the cashmere sweater had this weird tie front thing, but it gave four skeins and we’re pretending about the silk). With the second sleeve of the silk and part of a sleeve of the cashmere, I wound up one skein with the blend:
It’s going to be a bitch to wind since the yarns aren’t plied, just held together. But it makes for the loveliest combination of shiny and soft:
I’m probably going to dye most of these skeins before I work with them (maybe I’ll make some white socks). I’m still in frogging mojo, so I’m basically frogging down my entire thrift store sweater stash. I’m currently working on a wonderful Express sweater of lace weight merino/viscose/angora/cashmere. So soft. I’m thinking shawl.
None of these sweaters were over $5 and I’ve got easily over $100 worth of yarn here. The cashmere alone would probably be at least $50, and I paid $3.60 for the sweater. Truly, it makes my cheap thrifty heart sing.
I know what you’re thinking. “I didn’t know Brinn was spinning anything. Does she even do that any more?” I know. It appears that yes, I do in fact do that anymore. And the reason I didn’t mention it was because there was no time. On Saturday afternoon I spent some time by myself and decided I wanted to do some spinning. And not the thin solid colored singles I have on my smallest spindle. No. Big singles. To make big yarn. Or at least biggish yarn.
I wanted color. I pulled out this fiber, 4 oz of corriedale from Lakehouse Loft (on Artfire):
I grabbed my giant spindle.
I spun quickly, not paying attention to thickness or evenness. I just spun, figuring I’d ply it eventually. I spun for hours. I spun for like four hours. Then I took a brief break. Then I spun some more. I spun and spun. I went to bed. I woke up, ate lunch, and spun some more.
And then I plied because I finished the singles in less then two days of more or less continuous spinning. I plied and plied. My shoulder was hurting and my boyfriend was off at a choir concert I didn’t go to (he tells me not to; it’s a class requirement for him anyway, and anyway I am Not a Fan of choir) but I watched several episodes of series E of QI and kept plying.
And then it was plied. I skeined it up, threw it in a bath with a little wool wash, and smacked it on the table a little. Then I hung it over a chair under a vent to dry.
On Monday, I took pictures.
I spun four ounces of yarn to roughly worsted weight in two days. I made a two-ply yarn of about 140 yards in less than 12 hours. On my spindle. On my enormous spindle.
I think that’s quite an accomplishment.
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.
Believe it or not, my craft supplies are actually very organized. I can usually find whatever I need without too much trouble, especially my knitting/crochet supplies. I keep my dpns in a needle roll, my fixed circulars in a roll I got in a swap, and my interchangeable set in the pouch they came in from Knit Picks (okay, it’s not the best pouch ever, but it works). My collection of stitch markers are in a box on my craft table and I have a couple in my notions bag, a little zipper pouch I keep in my purse with my current project.
My yarn is actually the thing that is the least organized, but it’s not too bag. I keep it in large plastic bins under my bed:
The bin on the left contains mostly sock yarns, along with sport weight and lace weight. The middle bin is mostly worsted weight (with a couple bulky weight things). The bin on the right is mostly scraps organized in bags by fiber, though it also includes over flow from the other bins (like the oversized cone of green lace weight that won’t fit anywhere).
Also, if you look carefully in the corner, you can see my small stash of acrylic, obtained mostly by a friend from an estate sale:
But the most helpful thing for organizing my yarn and seeing what I have is Ravelry. I finally uploaded my entire stash, pictures and all, to my Ravelry stash page in December. I’m so glad I finally did it: it’s great being able to scroll through all the yarn I have and deciding what to knit next. It also helps my organize my pattern queue–the first page has patterns matched with yarn in the stash.
In short: Bins and Ravelry. Yes.
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.
This is my current collection of the yarn Bugga! by The Sanguine Gryphon. I received it in exchange for knitting two pairs of socks, a pair of knee-highs, a hat, and some fingerless mittens. All in Bugga as well, so I also have the leftover from those projects. I did not pay for any of this yarn (or, I did, but with my time), which is good because I’m pretty sure the total cost of my Bugga collection is more than anything else in my stash.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I. Love. This. Yarn.
It’s soft, squooshy, gorgeous colors, sturdy, machine-washable, and a wonderful ply. It makes AMAZING socks. It also makes great hats. The fabric knit up on 1’s is gloriously thick and sturdy. I FUCKING LOVE THIS YARN. If I had to pick one yarn to knit for the rest of my life, it would be this one. For sure. I want a billion pairs of socks knit in this yarn. As well as 57 hats and 16 sweaters and 9 scarves and 26 pairs of gloves.
Unfortunately, those six skeins are all I’ve got as I can’t really afford more. Sad. Fortunately, I can usually find a WWFY swap that involves Bugga and that makes me happy.
This is another yarn I got through a WWFY swap. It’s JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 4/8, a beautiful dk blend of wool and silk. I’ve never worked with this yarn. I have no idea what it looks like knit up. But oh my damn, I can’t wait to knit it. I also have four skeins of it in purple, which is enough to do exactly nothing with, but it is also gorgeous. Not as pretty as the blue (aptly named Aegean Blue), but still pretty.
I think I’ll knit the blue up as a pair of gloves. The twist is pretty tight (a yarn after my own heart–I love a tight twist), and it’s OH SO SHINY that I think it would hold up well.
Unfortunately, this is another yarn I can’t really afford. Being a poor college student fixing to graduate, the only yarns I can REALLY afford are the ones I can frog from $3 sweater from the thrift store. And I mean, I do find some pretty good stuff that way. My favorites include a bright green lace weight silk/cotton blend and a beige linen/cotton blend. It’s also a really cheap source of 100% wool.
Still. Sometimes you just want the shiny stuff.
Yay, I finished a knitting thing! It’s these blasted red socks I’ve been working on forever.
Plus bonus fishnets! Because I like layering tights.
Pattern: Started out as Twisted, then I gave up and just made twisted rib socks.
Yarn: Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!
Needles: US 1
Mods: None, since they’re just ribbed socks.
So, as I mentioned before, these are for a swap and I do not get to keep them. Which is disappointing, but they’re too big for me anyway as they’re for someone with larger feet than mine. The Bugga is, of course, lovely to knit with as usual, thanks to the delightful cashmere content and the squoosh factor of the plies. Yay.
Like I said, I started out knitting Twisted. That did not work out. I messed up the gusset then could work out how to modify the swoop for what I had and I didn’t want to pull out all of my gusset decreases, so I asked the person the socks are going to if I could finish them out in rib, and she said I could, so I did.
Of course, the twisted rib bit was a pain in the ass to knit. Any stitch pattern knit in the round that has more purls than knits is going to inherently be a pain in the ass. I HATE purling in the round. HATE. Especially when there are some knit stitches too. So these socks sucked to make, but they came out pretty well.
Still, I’m rather pleased they’re done. Now onto some striped knee socks for the same recipient and one last pair of shark mittens. Hurrah!
Don’t worry, dear readers, I have indeed been knitting. I’ve been knitting a lot. It just so happens that I’ve been knitting the same thing over and over and over. I’ve been working on approximately a million pairs of shark mittens. Here’s a pair I finished this morning:
Same yarn I always use, Cascade Eco, and some red Valley Northampton for the mouth. They went pretty quickly and were mostly unremarkable. Fortunately, I only have one more pair to knit and then I can start working on other things. Other swap things. I can’t wait to be knitting for myself again.
A non-shark mittens thing I have been doing is some stashing of yarn. I had to order some more yarn for my boyfriend’s birthday sweater (which is still not done), but Knit Picks is discontinuing the Planetarium colorway of Comfy Bulky (why, I have no idea) but I ordered some comfy sport and some comfy fingering to hold together to finish the sweater, which will hopefully work. Since I was already paying shipping and I like yarn, I also threw in some sock yarn:
Stroll in Shoreline Twist (which is Ravenclaw colors, which will result in bitchin’ Ravenclaw socks)
Stroll Handpainted in Tea Party
I also recently bought a couple wool sweaters at the thrift store to unravel for the yarn. I finished the first one yesterday, resulting in four skeins of a very pretty red worsted yarn:
It’s about 514 yards, most of which will most likely be used for mouth parts of shark mittens. But maybe something else. The sweater was like, four dollars, so I’m thinking this was a pretty good deal. I washed another sweater this afternoon, an undyed beige, and once that dries, I’ll have some more yarn to unravel (and also dye). Yay!
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 