Granny Squares

I have a granny square obsession.  I love them!  I don't know what it is about them, but I seriously love the look of them.  I even love just talking about them.  One might think that all I crochet is granny squares.  In actuality, I've only made a handful of granny squares.  I didn't have any real project in mind when I made them, but mostly just crocheted them for fun.  Well, now I'm joining the big leagues and I'm crocheting my first granny square baby blanket.  

I'm not making a traditional granny square blanket where you make a bunch of granny squares and join them together.  Rather, I'm making one continuous granny square that just grows and grows.  These are actually my favorite granny squares.  I often describe this type of granny square blanket as a "modern take" on granny squares.  I don't know why I've waited this long to start a project like this because I've certainly spent a lot of time talking about making a blanket like this.  

This particular blanket is going to be 5 colors of Berroco Comfort.  I went with a G (4.0 mm) hook for this yarn weight and I love how it's working up.  It is soft and squishy and is going to be perfect for my new nephew.  I'm planning to have this blanket end up around car seat cover size, which I think will come in handy up in MI, which will be the blanket's final destination.  If all goes well, I'd like to have this completed before the end of the month and shipped out.  Wish me luck!

Finished....barely!

Today is the last day of the Olympics and consequently it's the last day of the Ravellenics.  How did I do?  Not as well as I hoped to do, but I did cast off my Cirruncinus shawl today! So, short of some knitting miracle where I finish my MKAL today (hey, it's possible!), then I'm one for one.  I'm slightly disappointed I didn't get more done, but I just didn't have the knitting time like I thought I would.  Honestly, I'm okay with that!  

Copernicus never seems to be far from my knitting

This version of Cirruncinus is knitted with Araucania Husaco in colorway #05.  I'm generally not a fan of knitting lace with yarn as highly variegated in color like this one, but this yarn just spoke to me.  I had to have it and I HAD to knit my shawl pattern in it.  However, after I paid for the yarn and got it home, I started to have doubts.  What was I thinking getting a color this wild?  Had I looked at my wardrobe recently?? I'm not a wild person!  And! What if the color would pool???  And what if the color pooled and looked terrible??  Well, I talked myself through this temporary crisis with a "you need to step out of your knitting color comfort zone and not worry about color pooling" and it worked.  I put my doubts aside, wound my yarn and cast on.

My Starry Night bag seemed a fitting project bag for this knit

To say that I'm glad I stuck it out with this color is an understatement.  The more I knit with it, the more I fell in love with the color & yarn.  I forgot about all my worries about how it would turn out.  A pattern like Cirruncinus and other sideways knit shawls where the main body of the shawl is stockinette are very forgiving for variegated yarns.  

I worked the pattern as written with one modification - I added one extra repeat of the Cirruncinus Lace to the straight section.  That made it 13 repeats instead of 12.  I just wanted to use up as much of this gorgeous yarn as I could.  How did I figure out I could knit an extra repeat?  I weighed my yarn.  At the completion of 11 repeats I had 33 grams remaining.  At the completion of 12 repeats I had 29 grams of yarn remaining, therefore each repeat was using approximately 4 grams of yarn.  I knew I wanted to reserve 25 grams for the decrease sections, so I knew I could safely knit one more repeat.  However, for extra insurance I put in a lifeline after the 12 repeat.  This way, if my gamble didn't pay off, then I could just frog (rip) back to my lifeline and started the first decrease section there. 

Lifeline!!

My calculations worked out and in the end I had 5 grams of yarn at the end.  That means this version of the shawl used 428 yards (95 grams).   I don't have final measurements yet as I haven't finished blocking it, but I will get those posted next time - hopefully this week.  I've missed two weeks of blogging, which I plan to make up for this week :o)

Only 5 grams of yarn remained

Ravellenics 2014

This post is going to be short and sweet because I need to get back to my Ravellenics knitting!  This will be the second Olympics IN A ROW that I've participated in! I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for that one!  Though, to tell the truth, I've been thinking about chickening out and not participating.  Why you ask?? Well, I've been feeling slightly overwhelmed with the quantity of projects I'm "currently knitting".  How many projects you ask, well it's enough that I gave myself a goal of finishing up at least two of them by Thursday.  One project was my Olivia Cowl, which was the knit-along for Park Avenue Yarns (PAY) last month and the second project was my PAW Hat, which was the knit-along for PAY in December.  Yikes, why yes I had gotten behind!

Olivia Cowl in progress

I barely squeaked in finishing these projects!  I finished up my Olivia Cowl late Thursday evening and finished up the PAW Hat this afternoon.  And by finished I mean I wove in all the ends and seamed what need to be seamed.  No, I did not get to blocking, but I'm counting these as done anyway! 
 

Finished PAW Hat!!!

Not sure why these projects lingered as long as they did.  Okay, I do know why.  The PAW Hat lingered around because I was being lazy about the seaming.  Oh and all the ends that had to be woven in....that alone was a herculean event.  Seriously.  I don't know if I've had a project with that many ends to weave in!  Once I finished that I pretty much considered that project done.  Even though it was a hat that was knit flat and clearly not wearable without being seamed.  But, I digress and need to get back to my Ravellenics knitting.  More on that later.  

Copernicus is such a helper when it comes to photographing hand knits...NOT!

Oh and the Olivia Cowl.  Don't get me started on that.  Such a deceptively easy knit, I mean it's basketweave stitch!  It's only knits and purls! Well, I won't let something as simple as "only being knits and purls" deceive me again.  Turns out that basketweave stitch knit on the bias, yes folks that's right, ON THE BIAS, is a bit of a challenge.  It didn't help that I decided to knit with a very dark yarn either.  It took me awhile to wrap my head about knitting basketweave like that.  The pattern is a 16 row chart and you repeat those 16 rows 12 times total.  I'm not kidding when I say that it took me to almost my ninth pattern repeat before I finally into a rhythm and memorized the chart. 

Loved being able to wear this today!

Another MKAL

Yup, it's no surprise that I've been bitten by the mystery knit-along (MKAL) bug! Shortly after finishing up my last one - Gateway to Fall MKAL - the same designer (Cindy Garland) announced she was starting another one on January 1st 2014.  Well, of course I had to jump on the bandwagon! Even better, Stunning String Studio was offering kits for the mystery knit-along.  Well, we all know how I feel about kits! Seriously, kits for knitting at the best.  I love having everything I need for a pattern sent to me in one package.  I think, for me, it's just one less thing I have to figure out and makes life a little bit easier.  Because when you have a million works in progress (like I do), it makes it that much easier when adding another project to the fold.

Clue 1 completed!

The name of this MKAL is Divergence. The pattern is actually the first in a series of five mystery knit-alongs in the Wild Prairie 2014 Mystery Club.  I could have opted to buy the e-book and done all the mystery knit-alongs, but thought I'd start simple and only commit to one.  Actually, the lovely Mr. SpiderKate reminded that I tend to over commit myself when it comes to knitting and should make sure to leave some room for my own design work.  I'm not going to lie, when he gave me his advice of only committing to one, well I was a little mad because I wanted to do all!  However, after giving it some thought, I reluctantly realized he was right.  I guess that's why they call your spouse "your better half" ;o)

Clue 3 completed!

Since I didn't purchase the full club (e-book), I wasn't eligible for the club special yarn color and other goodies.  I was okay with that because it meant I got to pick my color! Yay! Stunning String Studio has a lot of wonderful colors and while the decision was hard to make, I ultimately picked Sand Dune.  I hardly ever knit with neutral colors and knowing that this MKAL would be a shawl with cables, well, I figured that I couldn't go wrong with a neutral, light color to show off all the details of the cables.  The yarn that came with the kit is called Decadent Fingering.  It's a brand new base for Stunning String Studio and is a scrumptious 55% Wool, 45% Silk blend with 657 yards in a 150 gram skein.  Large skeins like this are great for larger shawls because there are less ends to weave in!  

Just finished last row with beads! The beads are very subtle in this pattern.

The yarn has been lovely to knit with and the pattern has been thoroughly enjoyable to knit.  We are nearing the end of the MKAL, so I'm a little sad about that, but looking forward to having my first finished shawl of 2014.  The clues have been spread out over 6 weeks, with two clues coming out the first week and one clue released every Friday thereafter.  I just finished up Clue 5 this morning and am eagerly awaiting the release of Clue 6 tomorrow! 

Clue 5 completed!

Under 100 Knit Collection from KnitPicks

I'm back and I have a plan! What plan is that, you ask?  Well, a plan to better keep up with this blog :o)  I'm going to hold myself accountable to one blog post a week.  My goal is for these posts to go live on Monday, but we'll see how that goes.  I think just planning on one a week will be good for now - I might be setting myself up for failure if I picked a particular day, so better safe than sorry!

My sample shawl

So, where to start? I have a new pattern and it's part of a collection! I've been waiting to share with everyone all about this pattern and now I finally can!  The pattern is called Cirruncinus and it was one of the first sideways knit shawls I designed!  I fell in love with the stitch pattern used in the border of this shawl when I saw it in a stitch dictionary and really wanted to turn it into a shawl/scarf.  

Sample/test knitter's shawl - photo courteous of KnitPicks

Well, I worked at it and got the pattern figured out, knitted, and written out.  I submitted it for editing and must confess that I was feeling a bit smug because well, this was a sideways knit shawl/scarf and the editing of course was going to be a breeze, right??!!  Boy, was I wrong about that!  Overall the pattern was okay, but I had failed to take proper notes on how I finished knitting the shawl and had written it up how I assumed I had finished knitting it.  Well, that assumption couldn't have been more wrong!  Never was I more thankful for technical editing! I worked out the kinks for the ending of the shawl, sent it back to technical editing, and it passed with flying colors.  

Shawl blocking!

Copernicus was a big help during blocking - NOT!

I had a couple of options with this shawl - I could either self publish on Ravelry or I could try submitting to a magazine or publication.  I opted for the latter choice and started keeping my eyes out for a submission call that I thought my pattern would be a good fit for.  Eventually I got noticed of a call for submissions for a new Knit Picks collection featuring knitting patterns that used less than 100 grams of yarn.  I thought my pattern would be a good fit and the rest is history from there!

Sample/test knitter's shawl - photo courteous of KnitPicks

I'm really excited & honored to be a part of this collection!  Knit Picks was absolutely wonderful to work with and I couldn't be happier with how my pattern turned out, the photos they took and with the publication as a whole.  There are 30 patterns in the book and I don't think there is a bad one among them.  I plan to knit many myself since I have an abundance of single 100 g skeins of yarn in my stash.  The proper title of the book is Under 100 Knit Collection and is available as a hard copy book, ebook, or you can download individual patterns.  

Gateway to Fall MKAL

Every once in awhile I get the urge to do a mystery knit along (MKAL). The last one I participated in was during May 2011! Well, the urge struck again right around the beginning of October.  The search for a MKAL was on!  You see, I'm sort of picky in what I'm going to knit, especially when it's a mystery.  Before I commit, I spend a little bit of time checking out the designers available designs.  I just want to make sure that I'm going to be happy with what I end up knitting!  

I then stumbled about a MKAL that Cindy Garland of Wild Prairie Knits was running.  After checking out some of her designs, I decided that her style really was up my alley.  The bonus? One of the clue was released on my birthday! Oh and there just happened to be an indie yarn dyer who had kits made up for the MKAL!?!! I was hooked!! I even loved the name of the shawl: Gateway to Fall.

The Charcoal looks very blue in this photo; other photos are truer to color

The indie yarn dyer is Stunning String Studios and from what I can tell, she collaborates with Cindy Garland quite a bit.  The hardest part was then deciding on what color to order for my kit.  After consulting with friends and family (they might use the phrase "annoying them"), I ended up going with the Harvest Orange as my main color with Charcoal as my contrasting color.  The kit also came with beads in the same color as the contrasting color, two stitch markers, super floss, and a button.  I wish I had taken a photo of the kit when it arrived because it was packaged beautifully.  The yarn even came already wound! Not that I don't mind winding yarn, but it was a nice touch to have it ready to go.  

My other weird quirk about MKAL is that I don't really care for the mystery part.  I. LOVE. SPOILERS.  You see, I'm not someone who worries about spoilers for TV shows, movies, books, etc.  Spoilers don't really spoil anything for me.  In fact, I often have to seek out spoilers for TV shows and books, otherwise I can't stop watching or reading!  Now, don't take this to mean that I don't like surprises.  I am very good with birthday & Christmas presents.  The difference for me is that those gifts/surprises were meant for a specific day and mean something to the person who got them for me.  I know, I'm weird.  Okay, I'm getting off track here.  Back to the knitting. 

The clues for this MKAL were released over 7 weeks.  The first clue was released on October 1st and then every Friday there after.  I started out doing a good job of keeping up with the clues.  And then I decided to restart my shawl because my gauge was too tight.  So, I got behind.  I worked hard to catch up and sorta did, but eventually got off track with some life interruptions.  I knit the bulk of this shawl on Thursdays throughout the 7 weeks, as that is one of my completly free days of the week.  In fact, I tend to do most of my knitting on Thursdays.  I ended up finishing mine up just before Thanksgiving; I think it was on Tuesday or Wednesday.  My absolute favorite part of this shawl was the lace border (clue #8) at the end. Love it more than words and even express.  I am head over heels for lace patterns that have flow like this one does.  I had a couple of firsts in this pattern: first time doing beads (very easy with the super floss method!) & first time with a built in i-cord edge.

Spud! Part Deux

Hello! A friend, who happens to be an EXCELLENT knitter, recently pointed out to me that I've been slacking on my blog lately.  This message was exactly the kick in the butt I needed to get back blogging.  It was sweet of her to use the word "slacking" because the right word would be neglecting.  And before you ask, no, I didn't forget I had a blog, but simply was neglecting it.  I've even had a lot to write about!  Today I'm going to go back in time to July to talk about knitting Spud from Spud & Chloe at the Farm. 

Now, back in July I did a post about starting to knit Spud.  You can find that post here: Spud!  At that point I had just started Spud and was working on his body.  I've now completed Spud and let me say that I love him!  

The body was actually the slowest part of the knit, especially with doing all those twisted loops to create his wool.  I was pretty motivated to finish his body so that I could be done with those twisted loops.  I might have even said things such as "I don't know if I would knit this again....!"  However, now that some time as passed since I knit him, I can say that I would definitely knit him again. 

In my Ravelry notes I wrote that I cast on for the body on 7/13 and finished the body on 7/24 - that's only 11 days! The rest of the body really flew by - the head, the legs, the ears, the hair, and the tail.  I think I finished knitting all 4 legs in about an hour or so.  Oh! And he has a bow tie & collar! The hair and bow tie really made him, if you ask me.  The only part I left out was the leash.  

For this project I tried out the Knitter's Pride Karbonz double pointed needles.  I've previously knit with the Karbonz straight needles and circulars, both of which I loved.  The double pointed needles did not disappoint.  They might actually be my favorite double pointed needles.  The only problem I had with them is that the tip of the needle is very sharp.  Now, a sharp needle isn't really a problem and normally that's my preference.  It was when I was knitting the body of Spud that I specifically had a problem.  I think that I was knitting on the tighter side and it was a little difficult to knit the decreases - the knit 2 together stitches.  And by a little difficult I mean somewhat painful because the needle is that sharp.  However, I did survive injury free and it wouldn't prevent me from buying another pair of these needles.

This knit along also served as a great lesson in gauge.  In the photo below, three were knit with Spud & Chloe Sweater on size US 4 needles.  The littlest sheep was knit using Spud & Chloe fine.  We all do truly have our own unique tension (gauge) that we knit at :o)

Ravelry Project Page: Spud!
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) double pointed needles (Knitter's Pride Karbonz)
Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater in Ice Cream, Toast, & Turquoise
Approx. time frame: 7/13 to 8/20 - Note that it didn't take that long to actually knit; I'd estimate the total knitting time at less than a week if you worked on in throughout the week.

Summer Scarf

There a couple of scarf patterns that have been on my "short list" for sometime now.  Two on that short list are Jared Flood's Noro Striped Scarf and the One Row Handspun Scarf by Stephen Pearl-McPhee.  Another one on my short list? The scarf with the famous *k2tog, yo* repeat & variation thereof.  The first time I came across this pattern was in Interweave Knits Summer 2007 - The Montego Bay Scarf by Amy R. Singer.  This scarf is so popular that another variation of it was recently published in Knit Simple Magazine Summer 2013 - #05 Diagonal Lace Scarf by Dorcas Lavery. 

This scarf has been on my short list for a couple of reasons.   One is that it's the type of scarf you could wear in the summer.  It's a rare thing in the knitting world to wear knitted items in the summer, at least if you live somewhere with a hot summer.  That is why this scarf has stood the test of time and why there are many variations of it.  Another reason is that it's the type of scarf you can knit with a variety of yarn types/weights AND it looks good.  

I followed a pattern published by Blue Ridge Yarns called Diagonal Silk Scarf.  Again, it's similar to the other two, but not the same.  This version has a garter stitch border at each end with a stockinette border along the sides.  You wouldn't think that would look good, but it does.  Weird, I know.  

I knit mine with Luxury Linen by Blue Ridge Yarns in colorway Forest Heather on size US 6 (4.0 mm) straight needles.  I found this pattern and yarn to be the perfect marriage.  Both the yarn & this pattern are light & airy.  The downside of linen yarns is that they can be a little rough to knit with.  Though, I didn't find it particularly hard to knit with.  The more I knit with it and touched it, the softer it got.  Linen is like a fine wine that gets better with time.  

I gifted my finished scarf to a fellow knitter & friend because I felt that it was meant to be hers.    Maybe I also wanted an excuse to knit a second one :o)

The curse is broken :o)

I'm don't believe in curses.  Really, I don't.  Except when it comes to finishing garments.  I have a bad track record regarding garments!  I like the idea of them & the idea of knitting them.  I even enjoy knitting them when I actually knit them.  I just never seem to finish them.  I lose steam.  And it's not for lack of preparedness.  I do my homework - I research on Ravelry, I pick the right yarn, and I even (generally) gauge swatch.  I just have trouble finish knitting them once the "newness" of the project wears off.  So, when I decided that the May-June knit along would be a vest/cardigan - I was scared.  downright scared that I wouldn't finish the garment that I would be asking others to join me in knitting. 

Well, I'm proud to say that I did finish the vest/cardigan and it fits!  The curse is broken (if you believe in those sorts of things).  I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons I finished knitting this is because of all the support of the other knitters who joined me in this KAL.  I owe them all a big THANK YOU!  And, of course, I didn't want to let anyone down by not finishing.

Okay, on to the details.  The pattern is Aon and is part of the Weekend #296 pattern booklet.  There is no specific designer attributed to this pattern or the book for that matter, the designer is listed as "Berroco Design Team".  I knit the 36" (bust) size using Weekend yarn in color #5907 Mouse.  Needles?  Well, if you happened to read this post, you know that I have a little gauge problem and needed to go up in needle sizes.  I knit mine using US 6 for the ribbing and a US 8 for the body.  Specifically, I used my Addi Turbo needles for this project.

All three pieces done!!!

Modifications?  Besides using larger needles, I made the ribbing at the sides 1.5" instead of 1".  The originally ribbing put the buttonhole in at 1/2" or halfway through the (originally) amount of ribbing.  I kept this ratio for putting in my buttonhole.  

Side seam!!!

I even seamed!  Oh, did I not mention that this was knit in three pieces that needed to be seamed?  I have never seamed in my life!  In fact, you might say I've actively avoided seaming.  As it turns out, seaming isn't all that bad.  I actually enjoyed it, but I think that's because I really enjoy finishing techniques.  I used mattress stitch to seam my vest.  There is a great video of this technique here - shoulder seam/mattress stitch.  

This was my first time knitting with Berroco Weekend.  The yarn is an acrylic & cotton blend.  The only negative about this yarn is that it can be splitty.  I also ended up rewinding my yarn cakes into yarn balls because it did not hold up as a center pull cake.  However, that is expected considering the content: 75% acrylic & 25% cotton.  It's a great yarn for this type of garment and especially for the climate where I live (Houston). 

Spud!

Look who's knitting Spud!  It's me!  This is Spud from the book Spud & Chloe at the Farm by Susan B. Anderson.  Actually, I think of Susan B. Anderson as the queen of knitted toys.  My mom has even flow across the country under the guise of visiting my sister so that she could take a class on knitted toys by Susan B. Anderson.  Okay, she was really visiting my sister and it just so happened that Susan was teaching a class that same weekend!  All that is to say, if you get a chance to take a class by Susan B. Anderson, then I suggest you take that class - she's a great teacher.  

Back to Spud.  Spud is the next KAL in the summer knit along series we are doing at Park Avenue Yarns.  I got the idea for this KAL from a fellow friend/knitter and have been looking forward to starting this KAL for sometime.  The last time I knit a toy was when I first started knitting and I haven't knit one since.  I'm not sure why because knitting toys are a lot of fun!  The next best thing about toys? They don't require a lot of yarn!

For Spud you need the following: 3 skeins of Spud & Chloe Sweater in colors Ice Cream #7500, Toast #7506, & Firecracker #7509.  Spud is knit using US size 4 double pointed needles.  Since I didn't have size 4 dpns, I consulted my mom as to what length dpns I needed.  She said that Susan B. Anderson (um, apparently I just can't write Susan and need to write her full name) uses 6 inch dpns for all her toy knitting.  I ended up getting a pair of US size 4 6" Karbonz dpns.  Why the Karbonz?  I thought that having a sharp point would be good for knitting the toy, though I'm not really finding it all that necessary for this particular toy.  However, I can now say that I've tried all forms of the Karbonz needles - circular, single point, & double pointed needles.  I can't remember if I've given a review of a Karbonz needles, but if not, then I will work on writing one :o)

P.S. Susan B. Anderson doesn't only design toys!  She has lots of other wonderful designs.  You can check out all of her designs on her Ravelry designer page here: Susan B. Anderson Designs. She also has a great blog.