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Pattern: Ogee Lace Skirt, Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Yarn: Rowan Bamboo Tape, Wode colorway
Needles: 7mm Addi circular; 7mm crochet hook for provisional cast on
Size: I made the largest size so the fabric would overlap more when I wrapped it around my waist.
I've dubbed this "Ganesha Wrap" because my favorite Hindu deity is Ganesha, the god of new beginnings, travelers, wisdom and light. He's also the remover of obstacles and is a purveyor of success. Before a big journey, whether physical or metaphorical, I always like to invoke the spirt of Ganesha for good measure.
This was the my first lace project, and it really pushed the limits of desire, concentration and surrender. If I wanted something so badly, could I really make it happen? If I concentrate, can I get through a row without unknitting. If I surrender and trust the pattern, will it all come together?
There's not a single thing about this skirt that I'd ever done before. New to lace, new to provisional crochet cast on, new to I-chord bind off, new to tape-style yarn. All of it. I've gained a heck of a lot of knowledge and wisdom not only about knitting but also of myself.
I first saw this pattern around the time that I decided that I wanted to change careers and teach yoga as my primary occupation. This skirt is a small homage to this new beginning, and it seems fitting that I managed to finish it on the eve of our return to the Washington, D.C..
And how desperate was I to finish this puppy? Aside from knitting a row or two here and there since early July, I hadn't really found the time to work on this. If I was going to finish this before next Tuesday, I needed to step it up a couple of notches. I threw myself at it all day and night Monday and Tuesday. I needed to block it Wednesday or I was going to lose my blocking surface for 6 weeks.
In the midst of moving chaos, I pushed through and it's done. My blocking surface (AKA dining room table) was one of the first things the movers disassembled and packed.
Aum Gan Ganapatye Namah
Pattern Impressions
I mentioned previously that knitting the lace pattern stressed me out. The first few rows were a bear. The pattern didn't make sense, and it didn't look like anything you'd want to wear. Once I got about 20 rows in, though, it eased up and I could see the overall pattern take shape. However, this is still full-concentration knitting. Each row is a bit different. You can memorize bits of it, but you always have to consult the pattern.
However, the I-chord bind off is super cool, and I was really glad to tick off that new technique. I love how the chord along the top edging morphs into the tie.
But let's talk about the provisional crochet cast on. After you work the entire thing, you're meant to go back to the crochet bits, pick up the stitches and work the I-chord bind off again. When finished, the whole thing looks gorgeous, but...
I'll refrain from saying definitively that I hate the provisional crochet cast on, but my cranky, knitting-stressful-lace-for-two-days-straight self burst into tears as I fought to unravel the crochet chain and pick up the stitches along the bottom. Because the lace pattern starts immediately with the first row, there weren't just simple stockinette stitches to pick up. I couldn't tell exactly what to grab. I know for certain that I didn't always pick up the right bits of yarn, but I challenge anyone to notice.
The project didn't end on a high note, and that's a bit disappointing. Yet, the final result is fantastic, and I love it.
The Yarn
As noted above, this is my first time knitting with "tape" yarn. I realized pretty quickly that when I knit, I twist the yarn a lot. It doesn't take too long before the tape becomes this twisted, ridged string stuff. So, every couple of rows I had to untwist it. That was a bugger.
But the 100% bamboo fabric is beyond soft, and it has a lovely drape. There's more weight to it than you might think, so be careful when knitting up big projects. The skirt is already stretching a bit from its own heaviness.
Take heed. This yarn is a dramatically different animal when wet. It stiffens up like, well, wood. So, if you're thinking of knitting this as a beach wrap, you should consider substituting the yarn for something more water friendly.
It's All Gone
The packers just left. Thankfully our belongings fit in the container with a bit of room to spare. *wipes brow*
Here's a shot of Nigel on our make-shift "sofa". He thought it was great fun following the packers around for two days. I think he's a bit confused now that the place is empty.
And if you're curious how people move their furniture out of typical, Dutch row houses, here's a hint.
And so it begins... 6 weeks of extreme minimalist living. It's more fun to sit on the floor and eat pizza when you're a kid. The novelty wears off pretty quickly as an adult.
I'm no stranger to moving. My dad was career military, and we moved around a lot when I was growing up. Of course we used to pack two cars to the gills with the items we'd need right away. But I remember agonizing over which toys I could and couldn't live out.
These days, my brain chews on slightly more important items like which clothes to bring. It's warm now, but it's usually cold on Halloween. Do we need to bring these old towels, or should we buy a new set that doesn't have bleach marks on them? Should we try to squeeze a fry pan in our luggage, or just buy one when we get there? Should we be keeping this scratched up Teflon anyway?
But the real question, as you all know, is what yarn to bring in your luggage and what yarn to ship on the boat. The following steps will ensure that your beloved stash rides along with you.
Step 1: Survey the goods by laying it all out on a flat surface.
Step 2: Commit to finishing WIPs. You'll get no sympathy from anyone if you leave good projects behind in favor of untouched yarn balls.
I held onto the yarn for B's sweater (I'll knit on the plane), the Belatrix Socks, and the Silk Daisy Scarf.
Step 3: Find out what knitted objects the husband wants this Autumn. Involving the husband in the insanity ensures minimal smirks and snarky comments when you get around to selecting items for yourself.
We went back and forth for awhile on this. He'd like a new scarf for crisp October evenings, but the yarn I have for that is a bit bulky and might take up too much room in the suitcase. I explained that I already wanted to knit him some hiking socks. Further, some of the sock books I bought awhile ago contain great, manly patterns. In the end we agreed on two skeins of sock yarn: Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch and Wollmeise.
Step 4: Think gift knits.
B found himself so wrapped up in Step 3 that without even realizing it, he reminded me that I shouldn't wait until December to start knitting for the holidays. (See how this works?) So, I stashed two skeins of secret surprise yarn to knit something for our moms.
Step 5: Buy more when you arrive.
I'm mad keen to knit Absorba, the bath mat from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I can't get Peaches and Creme here, so that's on my shopping list next week.
Step 6: Now think about you. By now, your husband thinks you're a saint for putting everyone else first.
I decided that I had one major project that I wanted to work on this Fall, stranded colorwork socks. So, I set aside the three skeins of the Lang Jawoll I picked up in Berlin.
Step 7: Lament aloud that you can't take more. Express particular concern for the fancy, hand dyed sock yarn that isn't as easy to replace. Segregate the fancy sock yarn from the average sock yarn. Declare desperately that if there's even a smidge worth of extra room in your luggage, you'll hit up the lux yarn first.
Step 8: After packing personal essentials and agreed upon project yarn, start cramming yarn in any nook and cranny you can find. Pout convincingly, but not too much, when husband suggests that you don't want to push it with the carry-on luggage. When he asks, "What if your bag doesn't fit into one of those thingies," say "nah, they won't care about that little bit." Then reluctantly start fishing it all back out, stating that five skeins of Claudia Hand Painted isn't going to make a big difference.
Step 9: Mission accomplished. Hug husband profusely when he offers to put the remaining skeins (Wollmeise, Colinette Jitterbug, TOFUtsies and Panda Cotton) in the extra space in his bag.
Voilà!
In truth, I'm not bringing all that much, though I did managed to pack all of my needles, plus essential notions. The odd thing is, though, I really didn't want to make a Fall knitting list like I did this Summer. It makes me feel too pressured. Yet in order to pack, I essentially made a list anyway.
Coming Soon
You may have noticed that I didn't list a certain project in my WIPs list above. Yes indeedy, I managed to finish and block my Ogee Skirt yesterday. Woohoo! Photos and details will be posted this weekend.
The Summer gift knits are complete. I present to you my step-mother-in-law, J's, Liebchen* Socks.
Pattern: Baby Cable Rib from "Sensational Knitted Socks"
Yarn: Wollmeise Superwash Sockwool, Granataphel colorway
Needles: 2.5mm Addi circ, magic loop
Heel: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock
Size: Women's Large, 80 stitiches
I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and my only wish is that I had sock blockers and sunshine to really show them off.
The Construction
Most of the stitch patterns in "Sensational Knitted Socks", particularly the 4-stitch ones, are super easy to memorize. The Baby Cable Rib is only a very slight variation on 2x2 ribbing, so as long as you remember to do something a little bit different every four rows, you're golden. The problem for me is that I'm really slow at ribbing, so these felt like they took forever. Or it might have been the 80 stitch circumference. Yow!
But the real highlight is the heel. I mentioned before that I was going to go easy on myself and do a short-row heel. Of course that didn't mean that I was happy with the heels I'd used so far. On a whim, I took a look at the heel Wendy uses.
And joy of joys, Wendy's heel does not create holes in the short rows! Look!!!
You still wrap and turn, but you slip the first stitch after the turn. Somehow this plugs up the holes. I love it. I wish I'd gotten around to checking out her pattern before.
The Yarn
I've done my fair share of drooling over the Wollmeise yarn, so I'm going to refrain from gushing. However, I really can't say enough good things about it. The base yarn is 100% wool, but it's not fuzzy. So the stitch definition is incredible. And while the skein isn't snuggly, the knitted fabric is very smooth and squishy. It's not at all itchy, but it feels sturdy. I think these will wear very well.
Then there's the color. The yarn is so well dyed, no little spots of white poking out. I'm also ecstatic at how even the colorway knit up. It's definitely a variegated yarn, but there's zero pooling anywhere on either sock. The hue is rich and saturated, definitely eye catching. Hopefully J really meant red when she said she wanted red socks.
I need to give these puppies a wash and pick out all the dog and cat hairs that found their way into the fabric. If the sun pokes through the clouds before I mail them off this week, I'll try to get some better photos. I feel like I'm just not doing them justice. You might have to order some Wollmeise to see the magic for yourself.
* By they way, I do not call my step-mother-in-law "liebchen." It'd be like calling her "darling," and I don't have to tell you how weird that would be. The socks, in Baby Cable Rib, are my little darlings. I'm a bit sad to send them on their way, but I'm sure they'll have a happy home in Australia. Besides, they're way too big for me.
I owe ya'll a bunch of things. My promises aren't empty, just running on fumes at the moment. There's so much to do. We're getting it done, but it feels like we're moving through water.
I'm *this* close to finishing my step-mother-in-law's socks. If I'd pay attention, I'd have finished them already instead of unknitting a few rows. B is going to London for work for a couple of days, and in that time I hope to crank out Ogee. The movers come Thursday, so I need to block it before then.
Anyway, I thought ya'll wouldn't mind if I just showed you obscene photos of the Wollmeise that arrived the other day. These skeins are more stunning than the last. The package took my breath away.
From left to right you see: Frosch (frog), Campari Orange, and Gewitterhimmel (thunderstorm sky).
I will of course make socks with these, but I'm also thinking that I might make a pair of mittens with one skein, probably the blue. And don't you know that some color work in the orange and green would really pop against the blue! I swoon just thinking about it.
Here's another shot to wet your palette.
I also picked up a skein of Merino Lambswool in Kräuterbeet. This will be a hat or scarf of something. This might also be my airplane knitting since I'm leery of taking metal needles on the plane.
Pack 'em Up, Move 'em On Out
Also before Thursday I need to decide what yarn and needles I'm going to take with me in my check luggage and what will be relegated to the slow boat. Our household goods will arrive at the end of October. My plan is take as much as I can, but I know I can't take it all.
Do yarn cakes take up less space?
The Good
Progress. Progress.
My step-mother-in-law's socks are well on their way to donedom. They'd be done already if I hadn't poked a teeny hole in my right index finger. I took one for the team, yo!
I've also spent a few hours here and there slogging through the Ogee Skirt. It's about 70 percent-ish done. Ta da!
I'll go on record saying that I don't like all this lacey knitting on floppy circular needles stuff. If I didn't want the final object so badly, I'd have ditched this long ago. And what a mess it is! With the provisional cast-on, the lifeline, all those ends... ugh.
Anyway, it's getting there. Slowly, but surely.
The Bad
Addi needle makers, I dunno how you did it. You sly devils, geniuses of marketing, you.
There I was lamenting the splittyness of a certain Panda Cotton, when it dawned on me, "The new Addi lace needles are supposed to be pointier. I'll get me some of those."
I ordered. They came. I went to cast on, and uhm...
The one on top is my regular 2.5mm circular. The one on the bottom is the new 2.5mm lace needle. Do you see a difference? Aside from the color, I mean.
I don't either. The lace needles are no pointier than the regular ones. That is, unless you consider that the lace one tapers just a hair more than the regular one. But the tippy-tips, they are not sharper.
I they aren't any pointier, then do their other claims (suppler chord, lighter weight) ring true? I decided that I needed to conduct some more experiments.
Supple chord test: I squeezed, squished and flippy-flopped both chords. Conclusion: I don't find the lace chord to be any suppler than the regular one.Weightlessness test: I also held one needle in each hand and made a scale-balancing gesture. Conclusion: The lace needles are not noticeably lighter than the regular ones. They might actually be, but then the difference would be so slight as to be not worth mentioning.
Shame on you, Addi. Shame.
The Ugly
I couldn't help myself. I cast on another pair of socks. No I haven't finished anything else. You gotta problem with that? You wanna take it outside?
This is that old pooling Colinette Jitterbug. You'll see that the pattern, Belatrix, isn't doing much to combat the pooling. And let's face it, this is ugly yarn. However, the overall affect seems to be working so far. I'm going for a heroine chiq/cat fight in the alley behind CBGB's kinda look.
Don't ask me where I'll wear this pair of socks. My punk rawk days are long gone. I'm making them anyway because, all together, I knit what I want! And for some reason, I really want these ugly socks.
