Do-overs

Remember Thuh Notebook?  The one I sent to TKGA for review for Level 1 toward the Master Knitter Designation?

It arrived on Saturday, accompanied by a 4 page letter advising me of the good news and the do-over news.

Good marks on blocking, even knitting, professional approach to the notebook assembly and presentation.
Out of 16 swatches, 14 were accepted.  So I found the hot pink yarn and finished re-knitting Swatch 8 and Swatch 15.

On the left we have the Cable Swatch, #15.  Apparently I did almost nothing correct for this one, first time around.  Since this step also includes writing the pattern, I will have a do-over on that, also.  Found a great Celtic braided cable in a book I found at the library, by Lily Chin, Power Cables.  I'm counting on the transfer of positive vibes.

On the right is  Swatch 8, decreases, though from this perspective it looks as if the swatch started skinny and grew.  Apparently, I didn't have enough stitches to begin.  Also didn't remember to include directions for one of the stitches.  

Are you getting a theme here?  It's all about following the directions -- the right number of stitches or rows, the right way to write a pattern, the right way to explain how you did something.

And that hat!  It's a do-over too.  But I had my doubts when I turned it in.  The dark pink was too dark.  The color changes were not neat.  I didn't follow the directions (that theme, again) exactly.  But they liked the top knot and said the knitting was wonderfully even.

The dark pink is too dark.  The Committee looks at
every stitch and dark yarns make the examination
difficult.

The corollary good news is that I had to buy more yarn.  I know, poor me.  But what's a gal to do?!

Yellow House Yarns has a wonderful line that is dyed in the US, Shepherd's Wool.  I bot two light and bright colors.  I'm expecting the hat will be quite fun to knit.  And the do-over 'required' me to add to my stash.  Really.

Bright colors and good contrast.

The rest of the committee's 4 pages is a list of re-submits, mostly in the answers to the questions that are included.  The process requires research, lots of it, and it's a basic requirement that the knitter know how to write about what they've discovered, including footnotes and bibliography.  

I'll be back at the computer, in between hat knitting.  I hope to get the new stuff in the mail next week.

Best news?  This is a do-over process and I have a friendly, knowledgable contact from the TKGA Committee as my guide.

Vested Interest

The teal vest is shaping up nicely.  I've put the back onto the blocking board, sprayed it down with cool water and given it several shots of steam.  Meanwhile the fronts are making their way to neck shaping.

Side by side, both on a long circular needle, the left and
right front of the vest have armholes now.

After all the armhole shaping, I'll knit for a bit and then work on shaping the neck.  Hope to have these two pieces on the blocking board this week.

The back will take a few days to dry, but no pressure so will leave it alone.  I've inserted US9 DPN's to hold the shoulder stitches.  After I block the fronts I'll use a 3-needle bind-off to join the shoulders.  If you haven't tried this yet, find a YouTube or tutorial.  Makes for nice smooth seams.

Schematic to the left -- the diagram that gives all the
measurements so I can block to the size I knitted.  At
the top you can see the wooden DPN holding the shoulder
stitches.

The little kitten has her nose in everything.  Here's a close-up of the cable.

While the fronts are on the blocking board, I'll finish the hood.  Soon I will have a new vest!  And in one of my favorite colors.

Worked a bit on one of the garter stitch (knit every row, no purls) squares for the mystery KAL afghan.  When I reached what I thought was the end of the square I counted stitches and wouldn't you know, not the correct number.  Had to rip it (frog) back to the correct count.

Blame it on Downton Abbey.

The Vest of the Story . . .

. . . with apologies to Paul Harvey, a great newscaster.

Finally put the yarn and needles together for the dark teal vest.  LB Collection Organic Wool from Lion Brand.  It's a bit chunkier than worsted so I'm using US9 needles; the gauge worked out right per the pattern, so it's all good.

Big complex cables on the front and back.  Hoping you
can see that the big cable is encasing a smaller cable.

This is one of those patterns that demands even knitting tension and the cables are unforgiving, mistake-wise.  So I put all three pieces of the vest -- two fronts, left and right, and the back -- all on one long circular needle.  This means that each piece will be knit under the same conditions -- my stress level, the weather, the amount of moisture in the air -- and by knitting all pieces at once I have greatly increased the probability that the end product will appear (and BE) uniform.

You're looking at the two fronts as they will meet
when the garment is worn.  In the back, in the shadows is
the back of the vest (wrong side as you are viewing it.)

The cables are wonderful.  They are chunky and have several crossing areas within other crossing areas.  The chart is in the pattern, also from Lion Brand, Cabled Teal Vest, though of course there are other colors.  Finished garment will also have a hood.  I may try to find a pewter clasp (called a frog) to join the fronts when it's worn, but the pattern is designed to be worn open.

Here's a close-up of the cable.  Love it.

This shows two of the three chunky cables that will
snake there way up the back of the vest.

The Vest of my story is that this project is moving along nicely.  The additional not-to-be-ignored truth is that once again I have too many projects on my needles.

I am -- after all -- a knitter.  I am Vest-ed in keeping my needles busy.

NAS! Not Another Scarf!

Officially speaking I now have at least 4 scarves on needles or hooks -- with me on 'pins and needles' hoping to finish each one in time for Christmas gift-giving.  Every year a vow not to do this -- it's not that I don't love knitting for others; it's that I always get the "just right for this person" idea with too few days left to knit.

I'm not the only knitter that does this.  If you are a knitter or read about other knitters, you will have heard or read the story of "up til 3 am to finish that one."

Inventory --

This one is crochet.  The pencil is added to give you a sense of the size of the hook.  It's a B US, for those who also crochet.  The yarn is lace weight, meaning tiny and fine.  It's also variegated.

Crochet.  Lace weight yarn.  Hook size B.  Pattern from
Interweave

This one is heavier yarn, called worsted weight.  The needles are from my special set of Brittany wood needles; they are warm to the hands and smooth so the wool slides.

Needles about the size of the pencil, size 8US.
Wool yarn from Rowan.  Pattern from a new book
Textured Stitches.

Next is a progress shot of the mohair lace scarf.  When I first showed this one it was wider.  I knitted until it was about 5 inches long and decided two things:  1) not enough yarn; and 2) too wide for the type of scarf (as in, "it's not a shawl.")

This time the needles are actually a bit larger than
the pencil, in diameter.  10 1/2 US.
Pattern is from One Skein Wonders.

And finally (as a reminder to me that I really must go knit), another showing of the Checkerboard Lace scarf using the Darliss Yarn, with pattern from Purl Bee.  No pencil in this picture.  Needles are smaller than the pencil.

Just gorgeous, that pattern at  Purl Bee

Back to projects.  Each one offers something different and I like knowing that my mood and my projects can be coordinated.

• Checkerboard Lace -- when I'm feeling sassy and ready to take on the world; no pattern is too tough
• Burgundy Cables -- when I need a reminder that I know how to do cables and a project that's working up quickly
• Mohair Lace -- when I just need to knit.  There's only one pattern row and then three rows of just knit knit knit
• Crochet scarf -- when I want to rest the knitting brain and work on a delicate difference

How wonderful that I can review the inventory, pick up a project and put it down for another.  Oh, that life allowed us to do more matching mood with to-do's.  Not always easy to be enthused about some tasks, but even mundane 'chores' like unloading the dishwasher can be a reminder that we are blessed with abundance.  Lots of women have to haul water just to quench their children's thirst.

If you're looking for a place / way to help, check out World Vision.

Swatch 15 -- Fancy Cable

Other knitters probably all get this question, especially from non-knitters:  "How long did that take you to knit?"

The answer is seldom precise or satisfying; knitters that I know don't keep a journal of the minutes and hours they knit, but of the projects and its recipient, as in "scarf for Dad, 2008, his 65th b-day." And with a closet filled with UFO's -- those cast aways waiting for attention -- it's nigh on impossible to remember the projects, much less the time you spent on each one.

In this case, though, I can say that Swatch 15 took 2 hours.  And that included some time spent writing down the pattern (a requirement.)  So here's the 2 hour swatch:  a couple of Fancy Cables, each one a mirror image of the other.  Notice how the ropes/cables twist in opposite directions.

Can you see the twists and in opposite directions?

This swatch is the one that allows me to choose my own cable.  So I searched my reference books and stitch libraries and found a couple of candidates.  TKGA instructions listed at least 6 'boundaries' on the choice of cable, 'demanding' that I get two of the cable pattern across a row of not more than 32 stitches.  This greatly reduced the options.  

Reading closely I discovered I could use an original design, as long as I explained this fact.  So I used Potter Craft's 6-Stitch Fancy Cable which used 9 stitches (don't even ask for that reconciliation!) and decided to take another 9 stitches, do the same cable but twist everything in the opposite direction.  Mirror images!  Here's the book and a closeup of the swatch.

You probably won't be able to read the text, but wanted to show you what a knitting reference looks like when it's well-used.  This page shows the text, the chart, a picture of the cable (and isn't that one nicer than mine, groan), and a sticky note with stitch count, and if you look very carefully some ball point pen notes right in the text.  If you're a buyer of used books this one would come with the comment: some tiny notes on a few pages.

Today I will bind off the last row (get rid of all the stitches in a way that prevents unraveling of the entire piece of work.)  Swatch 16 -- yes 16, not 15 -- introduces colors, so at least the pictures will have more appeal.

Speaking of colors -- we're still all gray and foggy here.  I'm pulling out Christmas decorations slowly.  Each window along the front of the house has battery-operated flickering candles to light the way for the Holy Family to reach our hearts.

Horseshoe Cable (Sw 14)

Now we're having some knitting fun!  I know, Knitting Geek excitement that surely doesn't measure up to your own choice of great entertainment.  But I liked working this one.  Cables are intricate and require some tedious stuff every now and then, which breaks up what can be monotony.  Swatch 15 will be really fun since I finally get to choose my own pattern.  More on that after I finish Swatch 15.

Here's Swatch 14, called a Horseshoe Cable.  If you look closely (and assuming my photographic 'skills' show the pattern) you can see twists and turns that together look like the hoof-prints of a horseshoe.

 Hoping you can see the knitting that looks like horseshoes.

The background in the picture above is one of my favorite books.  It's a reference book, a how-to volume, that I turn to frequently to help me refine my skills or learn a new one.  Over the years I've compiled a bit of a library (read:  tooooo many patterns and I won't live long enuf to make all the items).  I've cleared a shelf in my office -- taking away all the paid-work reports and booklets and handouts and filling the shelf with my knitting references.  More later.

Here's a shot of the instructions for the cable.  Hopefully you can see the coded language.  I hope, at least, that you can see that the instructions are written row by row.  And each row's instructions are different from the one before.  You may see odd numbered or right side rows with one set of instructions and then  all the even or wrong side rows with different instructions. This is good news, really good news, because it means that all the complexity takes place when you're knitting on the right side and you can relax and take a bit of a break when every back/wrong side row, where -- introducing new knitting lingo -- you knit the knits and purl the purls. 

The contrast is abysmal, but it's all copyrighted (see that in the footer?)
so it's really better if you can't read it so well.
Same pattern is available in any one of several dozen stitch dictionaries.

Well, it took me longer to explain than it takes a knitter to read the instructions and notice the complexity and 'take a break' nature of the pattern.

Another life lesson here:  It often takes longer to explain a life choice than just to step forward into life and proceed.

Weather Icon:  gray clouds, heavy rain.  I must find some icons for this.  Good day to be inside and knit.  I'm listening to a time-travel story where historians from 2060 travel to the Blitz and Dunkirk.  Really quite entertaining.  Connie Willis' Blackout.

Cable fun and Fixes, too

Do you remember when you were in school?  You studied, read, made notes and wore out your brain doing the assignments.  Then, to give your brain a rest -- and thinking you deserved it -- you picked up a novel, or celebrity mag/rag, or maybe even the newspaper.

Knitting's like that, especially this Master Knitter Designation thing for me.  I read instructions, cast on, knit, follow the instructions, knit, bind off (cast off) and call it 'good to go.'  Then, like school, I decide to check my work and discover  I can't turn this in for anybody to see; it's wrong.


So here's my treat to myself -- Swatch 13, a simple cable stitch.  Though I confess I'm challenged with  (or over thinking?) the instructions.  It says to repeat the 4 rows in the pattern til the swatch is 4 inches long.  I'd rather knit another row so I don't have to finish with the cable, but they said 4 inches.  So 4 inches is what they'll get.  Here tis, along with a close-up so you can see the cable, which looks like a heavy rope, or 'line' in marine language.

Running up the middle of the swatch is a cable.
It's made by actually twisting the stitches as you knit.
You store a few on a separate little needle, called a cable hook.
Then you knit a couple of stitches from the left needle and
then you back-track and knit the stitches from the little hook.

A close-up of the cable.

But before I had fun with the cable, I fixed two of the swatches that were wrong.  And -- major groan -- i went back to check my work, like a good student, and -- yes -- discovered a couple of other swatches that are now on my do-over list.  

Here's the new Swatch 10, next to the wrong one.  The wrong one has holes running directly up a diagonal , one right after the other.  The corrected swatch 10 has a steeper slope for the line of holes.  And it's longer.

Correct Swatch 10 on the left.
Error message on the right.

Fixed Swatch 4, too.  The swatch error looks a bit like a tea-cup.  The corrected swatch looks more like a mug.  Hoping you can see the difference.  

Tea-cup (error) on the left.
Nice tall mug (corrected Swatch 4) on the right.

Again I wish there was a place to put a weather icon.  Today is glorious.  I hope to take advantage of the sunshine to do another bamboo picture shoot with a work-in-progress.  Took a nice long walk and enjoyed the bright sun on my face.  Seems like I'm always ready to walk just a little farther if the sun is shining.

Another life lesson, perhaps?  When life is good, we seem ready to face it and keep moving; it's the rainy days that make us stumble.