The Knitting Pirate

This is the official end of the year tallying-up post!

Incoming fibre in 2011:
33.5 ounces fibre acquired at Maryland Sheep and Wool

Outgoing fibre in 2011:
Er… I spun a little bit. Not a lot. Way more came in than went out.

Incoming yarn in 2011:
7 skeins of Red Heart for my first crocheting project
1 sock yarn for Michael
3 Lang Merino DK for Winterlude-inspired colourwork hat and armwarmers
1 skein sock yarn at Rhinebeck
2 balls Patons Kroy Socks FX
5 balls Sugar ‘n Cream for washcloths
1 ball Serenity Sock Weight in navy for heels and toes on socks
4 balls Elann Silken Kydd for shawl
—
24

Outgoing yarn in 2011:
1.5 – Baby Surprise jacket
2 – Michael’s Fleeps
3 – Winterlude Hat ™
2 – time traveling Jaywalkers
7 – Hexagon blanket
6 – Sweaters for the twins
1 – gave a ball of sock yarn to Mom
1 – white washcloth
1 – blue washcloth
1 – argyle washcloth
1 – greens washcloth
1 – Quick Relief socks
—
27.5

There are some fair amount of leftovers from the hexagon blanket and the twins’ sweaters, unfortunately. On the other hand, the leftovers may come in handy for swatching, experimenting, or knitting little toys. Still, more yarn went out than came in, and I’m pleased with that!

The Year in Knitting (and Crocheting):
2011 Projects

Favourite project:
I think that prize would have to go to the Winterlude Hat(tm), for being the only thing I knit this year of my own handspun. Between the wool and the fleece lining it’s a super warm hat, even if I think I made the lining a little on the small side. It stays on just fine when I tie it under my chin!

Least Favourite project:
Unfortunately, it was the Presto Chango sweaters. I am a little sad that I didn’t put as much love into my niecelets’ sweaters as I wanted to. Had I used a different yarn, I might have felt differently about them. The pattern was great, but the KnitPicks Swish and I didn’t get along very well.

Patterns Published:
None. But I have ideas! Many, many ideas…

For Next Year:
I know it’s a mistake to make too many resolutions, so here are the things I *want* to do, and if I get some of them done I’ll be happy!
- spin more
- knit something with handspun yarn
- design and publish two new patterns
- try a new sock architecture
- finish Napramach and the Stripy Socks
- finish the Dancing Cranes stole in time to wear to a wedding
- cast on for fancy cabled knee socks
- use up more yarn and fibre than I purchase
- get some stock in the Etsy shop

There is absolutely no progress to report on the Dancing Cranes stole. I spent Wednesday after work configuring my new computer (yay, new computer!) and so didn’t have time in the evening to knit. Last night when I sat down to put my two rows on I completely misread the chart and knit, then painstakingly unknit, about 80 stitches. Unknitting the SSKs was not particularly enjoyable, but eventually I’d gotten back to my mistake and worked forward again until I realized that my eyes were crossing from tiredness. Since sleepy lace knitting is a recipe for making mistakes in lace knitting, I put the stole down halfway through a row and went to bed.

I’ve been thinking about design again! The weather is getting colder and that makes me want to knit cozy warm things. I had the idea for a double-thick fingerless glove/convertible mitten, with colourwork on the outside mitten. Already I’m sketching out how it would be constructed. Both the inside and outside would be worked in DK weight yarn, possibly using different yarns for each. The outside would use a strong and smooth yarn so the colourwork would show up well, while the inside could be made of a softer luxurious yarn.

Happy Feline Friday! Could these two be any cuter?

Yes, Floyd does have bald spots around his lips. When he was a young kitten he had an allergic reaction that gave him horrible skin crusties in his ears and on his pawpads and lips. Poor little guy! We’re still not sure what caused it, but fortunately the crusties cleared up quickly and have never come back. Usually it’s difficult to notice that the fur doesn’t grow well around his mouth; the camera flash reflecting off his skin makes it seem worse than it really is.

Every so often I take a look at Blue Moon Fiber Arts to see if they’ve added anything new, or if anything jumps out at me. I really love the Socks that Rock yarn and invariably I find one or two (or five) colourways that I really want. Then I go check out the projects on Ravelry that were made in that colourway and wow, I am amazed at the differences.

Monsoon, for example. The picture of the skein looks like the yarn is two shades of gray, green, and a little bit of brown. But then, check out the socks that were made in this colourway. Where did all that blue come from? I still like it, but not quite as much as I thought I would from the original picture, so I’m not going to buy this one. The gray and green that I thought I’d be getting has a similar feel to the sock yarn I bought at Rhinebeck, anyway, so I’m finding it easier to resist now than when I first saw the colourway.

Green Eyed Monster is the same. I’ve been coveting this one since I first saw it. It’s even described as down and dirty greens, and reminiscent of Oscar the Grouch. So again, where did all the blue come from, and where has the brown gone? The picture on the website looks like Oscar, but those finished socks… not at all. I’m disappointed; if the socks had really looked like Oscar-colours I absolutely would have bought a skein, but I’m really glad I waited for some other people to knit it up so I could see what it looks like for real. I’m generally an optimistic and cheerful person, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Oscar. There’s a little bit of Grouch in all of us, sometimes!

Bella Coola is another one that I keep going back to look at. In the SCA I go by “Belaset,” and everyone calls me “Bella” for short. (note: I had this name well before those Twilight books came out. Grr.) Given my nickname, I thought this would be an appropriate yarn for me. The picture from Blue Moon shows two blues, green, and gray. The socks that people made actually look like they came from that same skein of yarn! I’m still tempted to buy a skein of this, but I’m holding out until I knit up some more of the sock yarn I already have in my stash.

I know that hand-dyed yarn can have a lot of variation from one batch to the next, but when it comes to Blue Moon, I will always check Ravelry first to see what projects have been made using a colourway before I choose to buy. The differences are sometimes so great! Their base yarn is wonderful and I love how it knits up, but I’d hate to be disappointed in a colour that just doesn’t match what I thought I’d be getting.

(Disclosure: These pictures are from Blue Moon’s site, though I saved them to my own webspace first. Hotlinking is bad, but I want to give credit where credit is due. If Blue Moon wishes me to take the pictures down, I will.)

I’ve started a page for the Knitting Pirate over on Google+, which I greatly prefer to Facebook. If you use Google+, please feel free to add the page to your circles and spread the word! And if you still only use Facebook, don’t worry – I’ll keep posting links to new posts over there, too.

When you want some instant gratification, crochet is definitely the way to go. It’s so much faster than knitting! I decided that a crocheted cotton washcloth would be the perfect project for my weekend, and after some searching of the Ravelry library I decided on the free Big Girl Dishcloth/Washcloth pattern, upsizing it by 150% because big washcloths just seem so much more luxurious.

My own beginnerness at crochet caused me to run into some trouble getting started, but after six or seven beginnings and watching a few tutorials on YouTube I was able to get past the first row. I probably tore out half as many rows as I crocheted; I kept missing stitches or ending up with too many stitches at the end of a row, but by the end I was cranking away at it. Not counting the several attempts at starting, it took me one evening and a solid day to make the washcloth. The next one will go faster; I’ve learned a lot about crocheting from doing this one, and if I don’t lose time working rows and tearing them out again… yeah.

I used about three-quarters of a ball of white Sugar ‘n Cream, and the finished cloth came out to be around 10.5″ x 11″. It will almost certainly stretch out to an even larger size as I use it. If I hadn’t made a bigger washcloth than the pattern specifies, I probably could have gotten two smaller ones out of one ball of yarn. As it is, I will use the remainder of the white for edging on other projects.

Things I’ve learned: The chain and the first row need to be worked a lot looser than I would have thought; that edge pulls a little tight. I’m not sure if I like the little loop from which to hang the washcloth, so I’ll see if I end up using it and then decide whether to include it in the next one. Maybe a fancier border would have been fun to try. And, I learned that washcloths aren’t too difficult at all… perhaps I’ll design one of my own! Combine a few different stitches to make a nice design and texture, add a nifty border, test it out a few times, and voila – a new pattern to offer. That makes it sound really easy…

I tested out the new washcloth on my face, and I am so thoroughly impressed that I’ve already begun a second one.

In other news, this is the blog’s five hundredth post! Wow, huh?

What better way to end a summer hiatus from the knitting blog than with a trip to one of the biggest Sheep and Wool festivals?

Last weekend I went to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, which everyone just calls “Rhinebeck” because that’s where it is. It was so much fun, and not too crowded either! Much thanks to Michael for driving up there, for taking all the pictures in this post, and for thinking that *of course* a llama parade is reason enough to go anywhere. We gaped and gawked at millions of skeins of yarn, bags of fibre both raw and processed, spinning wheels and drop spindles, and everyone’s handknits.

In my opinion, no Sheep and Wool festival would be complete without a lamb gyro for lunch. There was really no question about where I’d be eating, once it got to be lunchtime. We also got to taste some local New York wines and cheeses in one of the barns.

The sheep had hay for lunch, of course. These two kept nuzzling each other’s neck and face, but just like with Floyd and Kipling, I’m not sure whether the attention was meant to comfort or to annoy. They seemed to be good friends, though!

Now that I’m looking at the picture, I think I should have bought this hat. Apparently hat-wearing is my mutant superpower. (We all have one! What’s yours?)

I did buy this skein of sock yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. The colourway is “Grass in a Crack in the Sidewalk” and it called out to me from the rack where it was hanging. Surprisingly, there was nothing else that jumped out at me the same way. Some years I go to a Sheep and Wool festival and feel like I need to buy everything, but this year I just bought the one skein of sock yarn. I couldn’t leave completely empty-handed; I always buy at least one souvenir!

When it started to drizzle, we ducked inside the barn where the llamas and alpacas were housed. One or two of them seemed distressed by the crowds of people, but most of them were happy enough to munch their hay or to pose for pictures. Some of them were humming little alpaca songs to themselves, which always makes me laugh. This spotted fellow appeared to be meditating his way into peace and contentment.

We thought we might have missed the llama parade because of the rain, but it cleared up soon and as we were making our way towards the exit, there they were! A little girl with a goat was leading the parade. (You can see the goat here, but not much of the little girl.) When they told her that she had to slow down, she protested that the goat was pulling her to go faster. Someone knelt down next to the goat, rubbed its forehead, and gently told it to slow down. It was a cute moment that I’m glad I saw.

I had not expected to see any lemurs at a Sheep and Wool festival, but there was a traveling educational zoo right before the exit. They’re even more adorable in person than they are in pictures.

And so, with a renewed zest for both knitting and blogging, I’m happy to return to posting on a semi-regular basis!

It may be impossible for a cat to enjoy being scritched more than Kipling does. He would be happy if I spent all my time scrubbing his ribs with my fingertips like he was a washboard, with brief intermissions for bellyrubs and ear-scratches.

I think I’m going to be taking a summer break from blogging here. I’ve got a camping-trip vacation coming up, followed by travel for work, and a bunch of other distracting stuff going on.

Pirate-Husband and I are embarking on a big home renovation project. Log homes require much more maintenance than I’d realized. We need to wash, strip, bug-proof, repair, stain and seal the entire house. A contractor gave us a quote that was way too high, so we’re going to be doing it ourselves. To be fair, Pirate-Husband is going to be doing most of it. Just not today; the heat index is up around 127F/53C and it’s a day for staying inside.

Once that is done, we hope to be putting new windows into the house before winter sets in. That one, we’re not doing ourselves. We’ve gotten quotes from a number of window companies and picked the best one. It’s still going to be some major work!

On the knitting front, I’m almost done with the first of the stockinette socks I’ve been carrying around, and I got started on the second front half of the pink sweater. I’ll probably end up making my own buttons for the sweaters, either from shrinky-dink or out of polymer clay. Store-bought buttons are so expensive!

I’ve managed to spin a little bit for the Tour de Fleece, but not nearly enough as I’d hoped. Ah well, the wheel is oiled and ready to go, even if I only have a few free minutes. I have it next to my computer so that I can turn 90 degrees and spin a few yards at any moment.

And that’s the State of the Pirate. I didn’t want to just drop everything and leave with no explanation, but I can safely say: I’ll be back!

After I’d taken pictures of many sheep, I met up with friend Holly at The Fold’s booth, where we tried to resist buying every single skein of Socks that Rock. The colourway that I was looking for was nowhere to be found, unfortunately.

For the next several hours we perused as many of the vendors’ offerings as we could. Despite my best efforts to buy nothing, I had gone into the day knowing that I would probably buy something, and indeed I did:

Two braids of Blue-Faced Leicester in the “Stone House” colourway from Three Waters Farm. I’m not sure what I’ll make with this yet, which is why I went for two braids instead of one – I’ll have more options that way. BFL is great for socks, and with eight ounces I’d surely have enough for some nice tall socks. If I made regular-length socks, I’d probably have enough yarn left over for a second pair, or maybe armwarmers. When I unbraid it, I’ll decide whether I’m going to do a three-ply or a chain-plied yarn. I like the barberpoled look of a true three-ply, but then the striping of chain-plied yarn is tempting.

Two ounces each of Ashland Bay’s merino-silk blend in McKenzie, Concord and Sea Lilac will eventually become another colourwork hat. The spun-up samples of the two darker colours were nothing like what it looks like now; they were lovely heathered shades without any hint of striping at all. I’ll have to sample to see how to get that effect. While I do generally like to buy hand-dyed fibre from small companies or individual fibre artists, Ashland Bay’s fibres are always appealing not only because the colours are beautiful, but because the prep is so consistent; every piece of fibre is just as smooth-drafting as the next. The first real usable yarn I spun was from Ashland Bay fibre, so I guess I have a soft spot for it.

From Little Barn, eight ounces of unbleached tussah silk and eight ounces of silk noil for carding into blended batts. The drum carder is set up in its new station and I’m excited to get started on producing some beautiful batts. I have about 14 ounces of Corriedale top in a variety of solid colours, some undyed mohair and nylon that can be added in for sock blends, quite a bit of alpaca in natural shades, and now the silk.

Then, Holly gave me a bag full of Cormo locks that she prepped. I’ve never spun Cormo before and I’m really curious to try it! She warned me that while it’s clean, it does still have a bit of lanolin in it. I think I’ll try spinning it as it is, and then wash it in hot water with dish soap after it’s all plied up.

Being around so much fibre has gotten me anticipating this year’s Tour de Fleece, a spinning challenge that parallels the Tour de France. I’ve already joined “Team Kromski” as I’ll be spinning on Grace the Sonata. So far I haven’t set any goals for myself other than “spin daily, and spin more”. Last year I left the wheel out in the living room and was reminded to spin daily. This year with the cats I don’t think that would be the wisest of ideas. They think that Patience the Traditional’s drive band is a great toy and I can only imagine what damage they would do to any fibre I left unsupervised.

The only problem is that the Tour begins on July 2, and I’ll be out of town until July 5. So I won’t be able to start until the fifth day, and that puts me in the “Lantern Rouge” group of spinners who can’t quite do the whole thing but participate as much as possible. Will I be able to catch up and match last year’s spinning if I start late? Will the cats begin to hate me if I spend nearly three weeks locked away from them with my wheel? Will I actually set a real goal or will I just leave it as “spin daily, and spin more”? Time will tell…

On Saturday morning I was up bright and early for the drive up to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It took just under two hours to get there, and I didn’t hit any traffic until I got off the highway. Then it was just a lineup of knitters, spinners and crocheters all the way from the exit ramp to the fairgrounds.

Once inside, I wandered around by myself for a little while with my camera.

You know what this weekend is? The Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. I’m going to head up there on Saturday morning.

You know what I’m going to buy? NOTHING. Last year I came home with two and a half pounds of fibre that I’d bought, and then I was given another three and a half pounds of wool roving and a goodly amount of alpaca fleece. So this year I really don’t need anything.

You know what else? I’m a big fat liar. I can’t go there and buy NOTHING. That’s just an impossibility. But I’m not going to buy a LOT, okay? The only really splurgey thing I might get, if I find one, is a box picker to fluff up the eight pounds of alpaca fleece that’s too compacted to run through the drum carder the way it is. One day I’d like to have a triple picker and a supercard, but that day is not today.

Wildcard – Embellish the story
Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

Although Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011 is technically over, I thought it would be fun to do the wildcard post anyway!

The best embellishment work I’ve done to date was attaching little snappish magnets to the tops and cuffs of the Fleep-Tops I made for Michael. My own Fleeps flap; he requested that his could button or snap back out of the way. It took several tries to get the snaps just right, as does most of the embellishment work I attempt. For example, it took several tries before I successfully crocheted buttons onto a sweater, not to mention the one where Pirate-Husband had to help me seam a pair of Blu babypants after I’d tried and failed multiple times to get the orange seam-yarn to show up properly.

Once I’d gotten the basic idea, though, it wasn’t terribly difficult to sew on the felt and then sew on the little snaps. (Who am I kidding? It was a pain in the butt. I had to do it over and over again to get it right.) They look really, really good subtly embedded into the cuffs… and they work really, really well, because they’re incredibly strong little magnets. They work *so* well, in fact, that I’m almost afraid of them pulling out the fabric even with the felt reinforcements. My next pair of Fleeps will have snaps of their own, and then I will no longer have flapping Fleeps.

I’m not really much of one for actually *doing* the embellishing or accessorizing, but I do appreciate the finished look of a project with trim or an edging, and I can really appreciate it when an embellishment is both beautiful and functional, like a crocheted button or a perfectly set snap.