Knitting Sutra

Time to Get Cereal

Dear, dear lace knitters, I need your help.

You may recall that I planned to start the Ogee Lace Skirt while I'm here in Berlin.  I have the Rowan Bamboo Tape, the pattern and the needles.  I should be good to go. 

Yesterday I made multiple attempts to work a swatch.  I failed miserably.  A swatch.  It doesn't look good for me if I can't get past the swatch.  If you have Interweave Knits,  Summer 2007 kindly turn to pay 112 for the gauge notes.  For those who don't have the magazine, it says to work 20 sts and 28 rows of lace repeat.  Now turn the page to 114 for the chart. 

I can't even get started b/c charts mess with me.  I see Egyptian hieroglyphs.  But never mind the symbols, because there's just something off about what I'm think I'm supposed to be doing. 

There's a red box around 20 columns in the chart and the notes say that that's the "pattern repeat." 

First question:  Am I supposed to work the pattern in the red box for my swatch?

However, I don't think this pattern works if I only knit 20 sts per row.  The following "chart" is similar enough to illustrate my question:

_ = k on rs, p on ws
x = p on ws, k on rs

________________________________________
|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|_|4
|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|x|_|_|_|_|3
|_|_|_|_|x|_|x|_|_|_|_|_|x|_|x|_|_|_|_|_|2
|_|_|_|_|x|x|x|_|_|_|_|_|x|x|x|_|_|_|_|_|1

Notice that there are 5 knits before the 3 purls in the first row.  After the last 3 purls there are only 4 knits.  On row 2, I'm supposed to then purl 5 times.  Here's the catch.  If I purl 5 times, I'm not really lined up with the pattern, since I only just knit 4 stitches.  Does that make sense?

To get around this weirdness, I figured I'd knit a 21 stitch swatch and just account for that when I measure it.  But here's the other catch, on the edges of the real pattern repeat are these funny sl1 psso stitches.  So the more I knit of the pattern, the more off my stitch count gets. 

Second Question:  How are you supposed to swatch a lace pattern? I'm not super keen to just knit 20 rows of the full pattern before I figure out my gauge. 

What do you guys think?  Maybe I should see if this Addi "needle" will just knit the whole thing for me.

Berliner Pr0n

Warning: Lots of Photos. Little Content.

Greetings from Prenzlauer Berg, former German Democratic Republic (AKA East Berlin), in all it's falling apart/rebirthing glory. In a word, this 'hood is awesome. I love how every other building threatens to fall on your head, while the neighboring one has been so completely renovated as to look brand new.

After yoga this afternoon, I decided to get my yarn shop browsing out of the way. First stop: Loops, which is just up the way from the apartment I'm renting.

Loops has a really great selection of GGH and Lana Grossa among others, too many other things. I spent about half an hour deciding on sock wool. If you ever see the Regia Tweed (at least that's what I think it's called) around, grab it. It's super soft and would make great sitting-by-the-fire Winter socks. I may go back and get some.

I ended up with three skeins of Lang Jawoll, which I will eventually use to practice stranded knitting.

And then there's the mystery yarn. All I know is that it's produced in small quantities somewhere in Germany, and that it's made form lamb's wool and regular wool. I'm going to knit B a scarf with this. Eventually.

I also went out to the KaDeWe, the up market German department store chain. Their Berlin store has the distinction of being the Continent's biggest one. I'm not sure it beats the main Galeries Lafayette in Paris*, but that's what my guidebook said.

KaDeWe has a separate annex devoted to craftsy endeavors from scrapbooking to sewing to painting to knitting and needlework. They mainly carry Lana Grossa, Rowan, Gedifra, and Schachenmayr Nomotta, which by the way has some nice stuff.

I only bought some wool wash and a Regia sock pattern brochure. It's in German. I'll figure it out somehow.

And then... then... I made my way back to the main building to the "gourmet foods" floor. While not as impressive as Harrod's in London, the KaDeWe's food floor is pretty nice. They have regular supermarket items mixed with fancy pants gourmet. Then there is the section of American condiments, complete with American flags and mini Statues of Liberty.

I very nearly cried right there in the store when I saw the Dr. Pepper. I occasionally feel homesick for the U.S., but this really hit me. Growing up in Texas, you don't live if you don't drink Dr. Pepper. I bought the Devil's Food cake mix b/c I've recently been jonsing for it; I'm pretty sure it's because of these. The salsa is because I usually eat burritos once a week and I'm self-catering.

Oh and just in case you were wondering, the socks are progressing very, very slowly.

These were shot with the camera in my lap, set to go off with the timer. That's the view of the crumply ole building I'm staying in. I assure you it's quite cute on the inside.

I leave you for now with this shot of the the fountain at Alexanderplatz.

* BTW, there is a Galeries Lafayette here. Guide Book says that they import baguette dough from Paris every morning. Dude, could you pass up such opulence?

Shots from the Test Photo Shoot

Post edited at 11:06 PM CET to correct embarrassing bad grammar and type-os. That'll teach me to blog too quickly.

As promised, the following are my first crack at photographing "Socks on Vacation." Strictly speaking, these weren't taken on vacation, and so I will not submit them for the Summer of Socks 2007 photo contest. They kinda suck anyway.

Here we have a scary close up of my hand. I'm no hand model. I inherited my Dad's stubby, wrinkly fingers, so they need to be de-emphasized. Also note the jarring, "fun house" composition. Terrible.

This one is better, but the background is blurry. Given the physics of optics and photography, not sure this can be remedied.

This time with the background in focus, which causes the knitting to be blurry. I guess it depends on the what the subject really is. This one also loses points for just being an outstretched hand holding knitting. Who'd actually knit like that?

Moving on to iconic scenery, let's see how I do in front of the Leiden's Windmill Museum?

I started out trying to line up the needle points with the blades of the windmill. All I got was a shadowy, blurry hand and barely any windmill. Terrible exposure. Blah!

And another lame, outstretched hand. And look at my death grip - like I'm stabbing the windmill. Look at me, I'm crushing you. Dark and moody knitting in front of cheery, blurry windmill. Meh.

What I've learned so far is that an outstretched hand holding knitting in front of cool subject makes for ho hum photos of questionable quality. I need to step up the creativity a bit, or get an assistant. Me thinks both.

I'm off to Berlin in a few hours. I'll check in later in the week. I've got my line on the yarn shops. What I need is a good deal on some Addi circs. Heather, did you use 3.25mm needles for the Jitterbug?? I swear that's what my ball band says.

Leiden = Success!

My little trip up to Leiden (a mere 15 minutes by train) was a roaring success. My main goal was to pop into Ribbels, to pick up some yarn for the Ogee Lace Skirt and to get some advice on the yardage for B's sweater. Christa, the owner, came through on all fronts.

Ribbels, by the way, must be on the cutest street in the whole town. Her shop neighbors include a handmade felted hat shop, a lingerie/funky purse shop, as well as several cute handmade jewelry dealers. And seriously, I think Leiden has the best concentration of independent shops in the whole country. I love going up there and wandering around.

First up, B's sweater. Christa's assessment was that 18 50g balls should be plenty for a men's medium. Her prescription was to go home and knit it until I finish or find myself in danger of running out of yarn. She doesn't think it'll be a problem tracking down the dye lot. So, I have no excuse not to work on it. In fact, I need to make some serious progress before I go home.

Secondly, I picked up 7 luscious balls of Rowan Bamboo Tape in the Wode colorway.

Now this is funky stuff, like nothing I've ever knitted with. The "yarn" is more like super soft ribbon. It almost looks like it is already knitted into this shape. But it is really, really, really nice and AND 100% bamboo. I plan to start on Ogee in Berlin, as a respite from sock knitting.

I was so enamored with the Bamboo Tape that I picked up Rowan's Bamboo Tape Collection book/leaflet thingie, which features simple, Japanese-inspired tops. I'm pretty keen to knit this shrug, also to wear over my yoga clothes.

This'll be a Fall project. The Summer is full.

And naturally I couldn't leave without sniffing out the sock yarn, particularly her stock of Colinette Jitterbug.

This Tapis colorway is for my stepmother-in-law who requested red socks for her birthday. I'll cast these on after I finish my mom's socks. So much for busting through stash...

And this caught my eye.

Just because. It's called Gaugin. Could you resist?

And then there's this:

Not to worry, I am not joining the crochet bandwagon just yet, although I'm still jonsing for an afghan. The Ogee has some crochet edging. Guess I need to relearn chain stitch (dunno if that's even what it's called). It's been awhile since I was 9 and crocheted pot holders for my grandma.

Tomorrow, I'll post my practice "Socks on Vacation" photos. You'll see that I need more practice. ;)

For One Competitor, SOS 2007 Gets Off to a Slow Start

A cold drizzle fell on the crowd assembling for Summer of Socks 2007. The knitters and crocheters organized their supplies and settled into their favorite chairs, their faces betraying a mix of nervousness and excitement. Meanwhile a buzz moved through the spectators' bleachers as several celebrity knitters took their places.

The competitors raised their needles and hooks, yarn dangling off their fingers. The announcer's voice boomed through the loud speakers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! On your mark! Get Set! Cast on!"

A warm breeze blew over the crowd as 506 knitters and crocheters cast on. The diversity of methods (toe-up, toe-down, one sock or two) was eclipsed only by variations in yarn gauge and colors. Sock knitting and crocheting is a true panoply of choice and expression, all for the humble sock.

We caught up with one contestant this morning to find out how things are going after just one day of sock knitting. Janneke van Dijk is standing by in Holland. Janneke?

Thanks, John. I'm here in The Hague with Akaijen, of the Knitting Sutra blog, who's preparing for day two. Akaijen, tell us how it's going so far.

"Things started out really well. I'd been training for a few days, working out my pattern and honing my technique. And I was feeling really good yesterday morning. Since I'm in Europe, I had plenty of time to eat and get hydrated. We couldn't cast on until 11am, so I even worked a few rows of the last sleeve of Jemima to get my fingers warmed up. I had my skeins organized in my Smurfy Bag, you know the one I felted a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was a good sign that I found a use for that bag.

"My cast on went well too. I worked my usual figure eight cast on, which I think is the best way to get started on a pair of socks quickly. There's no fluffing around with waste yarn and provisional cast ons. No wasted stitches because you start working on the socks right away. But something wasn't right, and I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was."

What happened next?

"Well, every few rounds I usually count my stitches just to make sure that I'm working the increases correctly. So there I am counting, 'two, four, six ... 34, 36,' and then I realized what was wrong. I'd cast on the wrong number of stitches. I was on my way to knitting oven mits!"

So what did you do?

"I did the only thing I could do. I ripped it all out and cast on again."

With the correct number of stitches, right? *insincere laughter*

"Right."

Do you think this set back will affect your overall performance in Summer of Socks 2007?

"Not really. There are a lot of great competitors in this year's competition. For me, this is really a warm up to next year. I have a lot of skills to learn before I could really be in the running for 'Most Socks.' All I can do is show up and give it 110%."

What's up for today?

"Today I'll be doing some travel knitting. I'm heading up to Leiden on the train, and I'll bring the socks with me. This is a good opportunity to work on my "Socks on Vacation" photography techniques. It's just a day trip, but Holland's pretty scenic. I think I have a shot at the photography competition. Still, there are a lot of great photographers in the mix. I need to be on my toes."

How did you feel after the first day?

"A bit drained, actually. And I noticed that my long-distance vision was a little blurry after staring at small stitches much of the day. It was a lot of sock knitting. So, I switched back to Jemima's sleeve to watch the Daily Show with my husband, B."

Really, you put the socks down?

"Yeah. I really wanted to finish Jemima before SOS started. It's easy stockinette, so I can almost work on it without looking at my needles. It was a good cool down too. I won't do very well if I push myself and get finger cramps. It's all about the pacing for a long event like this. The last thing you want to do is burn out in a month. I could see that happening to me if I'm not careful."

Well, good luck, Akaijen.

"Thanks, Janneke."

Back to you, John.

SOS: Meet My Group

My Summer of Socks group is the best. I'm guessing we'll see winners in the Socks on Vacation, Most Socks and maybe even a Pattern Designer (Jessica, I'm looking at you with your badass Northern Lights victory behind you) categories.

Check out my peeps:

Jaya.
Jean (Golden Purl)
Jeanie, the traveling knitter
Jeanne Knits
Jeannie
Jen
Jen
Jen
Jen S
Jenna
Jenneke
Jennie
Jennifer
Jennifer
Jennifer MW
jennsquared
Jenny.
Jenny Raye
Jeri
Jess
Jess, of the Bugs
JessaLu.
Jessica
Jessica E.
Jessica S.
Jo Ann (shamrockknits)
Jo at Celtic Memory Yarns
Joan
Joanna
Jodie

SOS 2007: Message for my Blog Group

Note to regular readers: if you aren't in my blog group, you might want to skip over this post. No knitting here. I promise I'll write a knitting-related post later today.

Greetings fellow SOSers!

It's today! It starts today! Can you feel that breeze in the air? That's 506 sock knitters around the world casting on. Don't forget it's the Summer Solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway), so it's also a good time to do a barefoot dance in the yard. If you're into that kind of thing.

If you haven't emailed yet, please do. I need to add you to my contacts so I can keep you informed of important Summer of Socks goings-ons, but also so I can be sure that my SPAM filter isn't snagging your emails. My SOS 07 email address is: knittingsutra AT gmail DOT com.

**IMPORTANT ADMINISTRATIVE STUFF**

I've subscribed to all but three of your blogs. Those three don't have their feeds turned on. I'll try very hard to keep track of the feedless three, and all of you really, but you should get in the habit of emailing whenever you post about Summer of Socks. As I've mentioned to those that have my welcome message, I'm dealing with a slew of people with the same or similar names. I'll be challenged to keep track of who's who.

Especially this first week when I imagine there will be a flurry of sock activity, can you send me your blog posts as soon as you publish them rather than send me a list of links Friday afternoon? I don't want to send my report to Beth on Friday night and not highlight your mad sock skillz. Don't worry, if I miss you one week, you'll be at the top of my list the following week.

I think that's it for now. Remember Ya'll: Sock Speed!

Summer Knitting Goals: One Month On

If you're like me, you have this impression that the sleeves of a sweater will take no time. Once I get to the sleeves, I think to myself and sometimes even tell B, "Hey, I'm almost done! I just have the sleeves" I mean, they're narrower right? Yet, these sleeves seem to be taking ages, so I thought I'd do some math and see if it's true that finishing the front and back actually mean's you're almost done.

These estimates don't take into account shaping:

• Front Panel/Back Panel: 81.9 stitches per row; 109.8 rows = 8,992.62 stitches total per panel


• Sleeves: 59.85 stitches per row; 150 rows = 8,977.5 stitches total per sleeve

Looks like I'm right, only barely. They're very nearly the same, but knitting the front and the back does mean that you're half way through a long-sleeve sweater. Of course I'm not counting finishing.

I'm half way through Jemima's second sleeve. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll start the finishing tomorrow.

I did something "funny" on the front panel, which I was able to fix without frogging back a few inches. I was hoping that any residual wonkiness would go away after blocking, but it's still there. So, here's a question for you: How do you block your projects?

I used to steam mine with an iron, but lately I've been pretending to wash them - you know get them completely wet, shape them on some towels, pin them in place, then let dry. But it occurred to me, do I have to block the sweater every time I wash it? So, should I also steam my projects? Will that "set" them somehow?

About Those Plans

You'll recall that back in May, Ali encouraged us to draw up our summer knitting goals. Since it's been about a month I thought I'd take a look at my progress so far and make a few revisions.

1. Knit at least one pair of socks per month for Socktopia and Summer of Socks 2007. It's not looking good for June since I'm waiting to cast on tomorrow. I'm not confident that I'll manage a pair in a week, but stranger things have happened.
2. Start and finish no-wool socks for my mom. Starting this week.
3. DONE! Finish B's flapjack socks before I go crazy or get repetitive stress syndrome.
4. Finish B's sweater.
5. Finish Daisy Scarf.
6. Start Cabled V Neck Sweater. Trying...
7. DONE! Knit and felt my first bag.
8. Find a project for the umpteen skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino 501 that were a sweater. I have some thoughts, including Wicked.
9. Think about whether Decide if I can will actually knit the Hanami Stole for my mother-in-law or for my mom or both for Christmas. I need to find out if my mother-in-law would like such a thing, and if I like lace knitting. I've added a lace wrap skirt (see #12 below) as a test run.


10. Finish Jemima. Almost there...
11. Make three peace cranes (one for me, two for friends).
12. Make the Ogee Lace Skirt from Interweave Knits, Summer 2007 to wear over yoga pants.

Ready. Set. Socks.

Summer of Socks 2007 shenanigans start on Thursday, and I'm ready.

I spent some time over the past couple of evenings getting to know the Panda Cotton better. It's very different from wool -- the texture of individual stitches really pops out -- and I had some trouble figuring out a pattern that wouldn't compete with the fiber.

I worked this one inch tube of material, trying out about half a dozen stitch patterns before I decided on one. I wanted something a little lacy for Mom because she's a girly girl and lives in hot, humid Texas. On the other hand, I didn't want anything too fussy that might mess with the fit.

All sock yarn is off the needles, and I'm ready to cast on 11am my time on Thursday.

SOS 2007 Goals

There are a handful of contests that run the entire three months of the event including a competition for the most socks knit, socks on vacation photo contest and a prize for best sock pattern design. I have no chance at winning any speed knitting or sock design contests, but we have some interesting trips up our sleeves before we leave Europe.

My real goal for SOS is to make a dent in the sock yarn stash I picked up last March. I'm particularly interested in working through the cotton and bamboo - you know... summery fibers. I'm thinking that if I work through my stash, I'll feel far less guilty about the inevitable binge I'll go on at Knit Happens when I go back to DC. Watch out, ladies, I'm comin'!

When it Rains, It's Purple

Progress continues on Jemima. I finished knitting and blocking the front. It looks the same as the back, so I didn't bother to take any photos. Yesterday, while we sat around waiting for the electricians to fix the power in the bathroom, I managed to knit about half of a sleeve only to discover that I'd somehow knit the wrong way on one row. I must have put it down mid-row or something and forgot if I was knitting or purling. Interestingly, I only realized it from the one weird stitch. When I frogged it back, one side was two rows longer than the other. It's all better now, and there's still a chance I could finish Jemima before I head off next weekend.

Purple People Eater

Late last week, I finally received the Panda Cotton I ordered for my mom's socks. They ran out of the powder blue color (my mom's favorite), so I opted for the periwinkle. As Heather mentioned a while back, these are teeny balls of yarn. I'm skeptical that I'l get a pair of socks out of them.

Here's a shot of both skeins next to B's Winnie the Pooh tea cup. I'm not kidding, that is B's mug. That his mom gave him. I assure you that I tease him about his muggy wuggy. ;)

I cast on on Friday thinking I'd follow the Laburnum pattern (see the 4 stitch patterns) from Sensational Knitted Socks, only to discover that it's this close to impossible to k3tog in cotton. It can be done, but it slows the flow of knitting down so much as to not be enjoyable. Plus, I don't think the pattern and the yarn, which is a bit splitty, went well together. I frogged it after one pattern repeat, and am looking around for something else. I'm not going to cast on again until Thursday when Summer of Socks 2007 begins.

The Berlaine also turned up.

Unfortunately, it's as I feared: itchy scratchy. No wonder Frenchie turned up her nose up at the mention of 100% wool yarn. This is old school wool - more torture than luxury. I'm going to wash a few swatches to see if it softens up, but at the moment things aren't looking good for the Cabled V.

Next Stop: Berlin

I mentioned in passing the other day that I'm going to Berlin next weekend. I'm enrolled in a week-long yoga teacher training course with Manju Jois. For those of you who practice Ashtanga yoga, you'll recognize the name. Manju is the son of Sri Pattabhi Jois, the famous Indian yogi that developed the Ashtanga series of yoga postures. I don't exclusively practice Ashtanga yoga, but I do enjoy it. And, this is a great opportunity for me to work with an Indian master, of which there are surprisingly few.

For those who are curious, I teach an interdisciplinary style of yoga with a slight preference for vinyasa flow. That is to say, that I teach a little bit of everything, but I like to keep things moving in the class. I don't believe that one size fits all, and I think there's a lot to learn and take away from all kinds of yoga. However, there are two "foundational" styles, and Jois' Ashtanga is one of them. This is me getting back to the basics. I'm really, really, really excited about this class.

I'm also really, really, really keen to go to Berlin. It's meant to be one of the most dynamic cities in Europe, and also home to this little guy. Not to worry, I believe the apartment I rented has wireless Internet, so I will be blogging. There will also be knitting. And yarn shopping.