Kitties Love Yarn

It was 2007. The Yarn Harlot was coming to give a talk at my local public library. And I realized something, in abject horror:

I did not have a sock in progress to be photographed with her holding.

I'd never even knit a sock before, truth be told, unless you counted the giant ones I knit to felt into slippers (which I still recommend as a first sock project).

So I rushed out to the nearest yarn store - Flying Sheep, no longer in business - and bought the cheapest skein of sock yarn I could find, even though I wasn't crazy about the colors, and a set of size 2 DPNs. I cast on "Snicket Socks" because I liked the honeycomb-y cables.

When she held the sock, Yarn Harlot said I had mojo. She also identified the yarn as Plymouth Sockotta by feel. (I know now that it's one of the few sock yarns with a high cotton content, so in retrospect that's less impressive than it felt at the time.) Someone snapped our picture, and my face cropped from that picture was my Ravelry userpic for years.

The sock definitely had mojo. It never became one of my favorites, which possibly extended its lifespan, because I never did become crazy about the colors - and the honeycomb-y cables got lost in the orange-and-yellow section of the yarn. But they were my first socks.

Were, because now, ten years later, my toes have finally gotten the better of the yarn. I think that counts as a good, long life for a pair of handknit socks.

I've taken a pause from the Masters swatches because I'm not sure how (or whether) I want to weave in the ends and block the swatches I've completed, and I can't get the swatches I haven't completed yet to come out properly. Instead, I'm spinning for Tour de Fleece again. After a self-inflicted wound on my first project (how did I not notice my singles for a two-ply yarn were totally different WPI until I was halfway through plying?) I'm working on some silk hankies.

They're marvelous creatures. They're silk! Shiny! Takes dye like whoa, so brilliant colors! But... I have more thoughts and feelings about them than I might have posted last time I thought about sharing my thoughts and feelings about spinning silk hankies.

Drafting them is...best described in language unsuitable for a family blog. And I think I figured it out. Seriously - each individual silk fiber is smooth and shiny and not grippy and if you're spinning silk top it's the easiest thing in the world to just watch your fiber supply totally fall apart on you because you nudged it just a tiny bit too far, right? BUT: compare to the Mythbusters demonstration where they interleaved two telephone books and it took TANKS to pull them apart; individually a sheet of paper is fairly low-friction, but you make it up in volume. Individually, a silk fiber is a slippery bugger, but if you put a two-foot-long fiber along another two-foot-long fiber and then maybe tangle them up a bit... nothing wants to go anywhere. My method for drafting them involves "clench fists around fiber supply tighter than you thought possible, pull until it goes." It's a fiber technique *and* a strength workout! So now my right thumb is abraded from the fiber and there's a scratched-up area on my palm from before I decided I needed to clip my fingernails - but I hope I don't build up a callus there, because that would just give the fiber one more spot to snag on...

To some extent, my approach to spinning involves getting the yarn I get - but with, say, wool, I know that I could change that if I really, truly wanted to. With silk hankies? Nuh-uh. There's going to be noil - there's no way a human being could straighten out the fibers in the margin of the hankies. There's going to be that spot where you accidentally over-drafted and ended up with just four or five strands in the working fiber and ended up with something you could barely see that still miraculously managed to hold your spindle up and you were too amazed to break it off and work more fiber in. There's going to be that spot that was just a little lumpy and is it really worthwhile to totaly, absolutely, 100% untwist to a totally neutral point not just the couple inches on either side but maybe a foot towards the spindle in order to abrade your thumb just a little bit more trying to even out the drafting? Maybe if I were better at handling them - this is only really my third time out - I'd be better at getting a perfectly even draft out of every last hankie, but for now, that's a pipe dream. So I'm going to spin the yarn I get, and hope that relaxes me enough that I can deal with getting the yarn I got instead of the yarn I wanted out of the other fiber.

(Whoa, need a new TdF icon, yes? I'm not riding with Lantern Rouge this year... Go Team Dizzy!)

Four of the swatches I'm going to need to submit are supposed to be done with the same yarn and same size needles, basically as a set - and it struck me that these four swatches would be a pretty good diagnostic.



Seed stitch. Nice and even. When I hold it up to the light there's only one "hole" that seems bigger than the others, maybe two. Given that this is my first shot at the seed stitch swatch, and most people seem to have more trouble with it than with any of the others, that's probably a pretty good sign. The catch is: I seem to have cast on too loosely. There's visible gaps between the cast-on row stitches, and the purl bumps that were made from those stitches are a little lumpy.



Stockinette stitch, back side of swatch. The big problem here - if you look at the edge of the swatch that's towards the top of the photos, there's these vertical lines running through it. Oddly, these go away as you get towards the other end of the swatch - there must be something funny about how I tension my yarn near the beginning of the row? Also, my 1x1 ribbing could probably be a little less sloppy, but if you knit your ribbing on the same needles as your stockinette stitch it will always look sloppy by comparison. All things considered this may be perfectly cromulent 1x1 ribbing.



Garter stitch. My garter stitch is awesome. It is all purls rather than all knits but I don't think that will make a difference. What is not awesome is the 2x2 ribbing at the bottom of the swatch / right of the screen: the second stitch of each pair is really loose. Advice on fixing this varies from "Try Combination knitting" to "Yank just a bit as you switch from knit to purl" to some techniques from TechKnitter that seem to involve running that stitch down and laddering it back up with a crochet hook.



Horseshoe cable. Just a big mess - I don't think those holes are supposed to be there, nor the vertical lines down the middle of each cable. I was using a really skinny cable needle and I wonder if that threw me off - I should see if I can find a standard DPN a couple sizes smaller than the needles I'm knitting with. Also, same problems with rowing out at one end of the stockinette stitch and loose stitches at the knit-to-purl transition, but even worse.

So. That's where I am. Let's see where I can get to...

...also, I've started writing the research paper. I have several paragraphs on Putting Thy Knits Into Storage For Ye Summer. I got distracted researching moth repellents - the good news is that there are, indeed, some proven ones, but the bad news is that they're also human repellents. The ultimate takeaway might be "If you like lavender and/or cedar, go ahead, won't hurt anything, your knits will come out of storage smelling like something other than musty sheep, but they're not miracle cures."

So far I've gotten to look through and evaluate two big comprehensive knitting reference books from the library, in the name of picking one or the other to buy: the Reader's Digest Knitter's Handbook (1993 edition) by Montse Stanley, and Principles of Knitting (2012 edition) by June Hemmons Hiatt. I'm not 100% thrilled with either one.

Big problem with the Reader's Digest book: I don't always grok Stanley's diagrams. I looked at her descriptions of some kinds of increases and wasn't 100% sure what she was talking about, or how the diagram related to the text that referred to it.

Big problem with Principles of Knitting: Hiatt has decided that a lot of terminology commonly used by knitters is insufficiently precise (e.g. the term "front" can mean several different things when you're knitting a sweater) and so wrote the book using her own - admittedly precise! - terminology. I looked at her descriptions of some kinds of increases and wasn't 100% sure what she was talking about until I did a lot of cross-referencing. (This was another reason I'd dismissed Katharina Buss's book - it may be from lousy translation, since I think it was originally written in German, but things in the book weren't called what "everyone" calls them...) Possibly another big problem: the "big" problem. It's huge - nearly 700 slightly-oversized pages. Serious blunt force trauma potential. Do not drop on your toes. Also not something that can easily be tucked into your knitting bag. (eBook edition, anyone?)

The books are definitely aimed at different audiences - Stanley seems to aim more for the Ordinary Average Knitter, while Principles of Knitting could be used as a textbook for a college-level course in textiles. If I had to buy one of them today, it would probably be Principles - I'd rather have idiosyncratic terminology than unclear diagrams, and she also talks about around-the-neck tensioning as a thing rather than just mentioning that people do it that way in some parts of the world. Also, as noted by a Raveler - most of the stuff I'd be looking for in the Reader's Digest book can be found elsewhere, especially if I don't limit myself to dead-tree books, but there is nothing nearly as encyclopedic as Principles of Knitting.

I know there's a newer edition of Montse Stanley's book - I'm ordering it through Interlibrary Loan, in case the updated edition. (I love ILL. ILL is amazing.) Also, it turns out that the Ann Arbor library has a copy of the Vogue Knitting Ultimate Knitter's Handbook - just not on the shelf right now. It seems like a lot of these knitting references are in high demand, so I won't be able to continually renew any of the books...I'll just have to keep putting requests in, if I need to hang on to one for a while.

Hubby was so impressed by the results of a fairly gentle blocking (soak, lay flat on towel, pin, let dry) on my yarn test swatches from this weekend that he wants me to try the same thing with a 12" wide, 8' long scarf I knitted him a couple years ago. (Not a Dr. Who - a Linux penguin illusion scarf. It's only 2/3 as much knitting.)

I have to agree that the scarf is kind of curly, but the idea of working on something that big is a little daunting.

For Christmas, I was given a set of TKGA Master Knitter Level 1 Certification Instructions. (By my request. I've been meaning to do it for years, but could never bring myself to actually sign up for it. I hope none of my family members would have been so mean as to sign me up for it without advance authorization.)

Whew. It looks intense. It almost looks like I will need to forget I know how to knit and start over as though I were a clueless newbie - I know I have several of the problems they've mentioned they will explicitly look for in the sample swatches (rowing out/reverse side gutters in stockinette stitch, distorted stitches in cables, uneven knit stitches in 2x2 ribbing, uneven selvedge stitches...).

The end result of the process will be that I put 16 swatches, a mitten, and a research paper into a box and mail it off, get them all back with a letter informing me that I'm grossly incompetent and need to do it again, lather, rinse, repeat, hopefully with fewer swatches needing reknitting every time, until either I'm a Certified Level 1 Knitter or I decide I'm happy with my current level of incompetence. Getting there, on the other hand, will be a learning process, and I felt as though I should journal it in some way, in more depth than Ravelry or Facebook would make possible. And then I remembered this online journal that I hadn't touched in years...

So...here goes the (re)start of the journal, and the start of the Masters process for me. Wish me luck, and please sacrifice to the yarn gods on my behalf if you're so inclined. I think I'm going to need all the juju I can get my hands on...

I'm taking a break from the sweater (which is coming along nicely, or would be if I could reliably count to 13) to finish a project that's been languishing for years - making a set of tab-top curtain panels for the living room. I'd gotten to the point where all the tabs were sewn up and ready to be attached - and then I just stopped. I have a vague recollection that something about the project was triggering Sewing Neurosis, which is odd, because it's a collection of long, straight seams, and if "long, vaguely wavy seams" are acceptable, then I'm an expert at that...

All I can think of is that I was leery of getting the tabs spaced evenly - I couldn't use the measurement in the directions because they called for 54" fabric and I had 45" fabric. As it turned out, that actually turned out to be so easy I can only assume I set myself up for this on purpose, or if not, it's a happy accident.

There are six tabs on each panel. The two outside tabs line up with the outside edge of the panel, putting the center 1 inch from the outside edge. Measure between the centers, divide by five...and it turns out my tabs have a spacing of 7" on center. Exactly. Precisely. And I don't need to worry about drawing the little squares on and matching the squares I was supposed to mark on the tabs but didn't - it says right there, "matching raw edges". Presto. One panel is now at the Tedious Hand Sewing stage, and a second mostly there, in about an hour and a half counting setting up the ironing board and sewing machine.

...and, hey, Hubby and Daughter have both asked to be shown how to sew on buttons. :)

The sweater: Krista, which also appears as the "Shaped Lace Tee" in the book Knitting Lingerie Style, which was graciously loaned to me by a friend at work. I hope she wasn't in a hurry to get it back. Available sizes: 33.5", 38", 42.5", 47", 51.5", 56" bust; the stitch pattern is vertical stripes of stockinette separated by simple, narrow lace panels.

The yarn: Berroco Weekend, a cotton/acrylic blend. I have 5 skeins in Orchid, a light purple shade. I hope it's enough - especially depending on sizing issues, I was pretty sure I'd end up with leftovers. The price was good, and in general I trust Berroco synthetics to not feel like plastic; based on the swatch, it feels nice, but it knits a little splitty (it's constructed of a multitude of tiny plies). Most importantly for the upcoming process: it can stand up to being frogged a couple times.

The swatch: Made, washed, and blocked as much as you can block a cotton-acrylic blend! The pattern calls for size 5 and 7 needles; to get gauge for the larger needles, I needed to use 10.5! Good grief; I know I'm a tight knitter, but I suspect Joan McGowan-Michael may be a loose knitter too. Or maybe my swatch lied.

The boobs: Measured. Gulp. I'm about to share with the class here, because it's really relevant to the issue at hand... my full bust is 50", divided up 21.5" in back/28.5" in front. My high bust is 44". Shoulder to waist over the front is 5" longer than down the back. Needless to say there is no size of this sweater that will fit me as-is - I'll end up with some combination of too much fabric in back and not enough in front if I knit a pattern that assumes I'm symmetrical! I think I can add short rows to the lace pattern without it looking too horrible, especially if I do two sets of wrapped stitches and just avoid wrapping any of the stitches in the lace part - but that doesn't address the assymetry issue. Some alternatives:

Punt: Make a tee with a plain pattern instead of lace, and do "regular" short rows and vertical darts without having to worry about messing up the stitch pattern, or make a less-fitted sweater. On some level, this is probably the "smart" choice, but it feels like surrender.

Hard, but "right": In theory what I could do, and what Joan has advised people to do on Ravelry, and what I think she teaches a class on that I'm unlikely to ever have the opportunity to take, is knit the back of the 42.5" size and the front of the 56" size, keeping the side seams even and fudging the sleeves and shoulders a bit, and if this were intended as a tank that's just what I'd do - but sewing in sleeves is a nervewracking process at the best of times, and I can't imagine getting a good result from "fudging" until I have a little better handle on sewing sweaters together as-written. I'm also concerned that putting a 28" piece over my 23" high bust area will leave me with a saggy, baggy neckline; if I go down to the 51.5" size, that's a little more like right there (25.75"), but almost 3" of negative ease over the bust. Whooboy! I know Joan likes negative ease, but that might be a bit much. (And that's the size my full bust measurement would suggest I make! Assymetry, yup.)

Easier to seam, but might not look as good: it might be possible to play with the stitch counts in the stockinette panels. If I start with the 47" size, and then above the waist shaping take one stitch out of each panel that doesn't end up pointed at the shoulder seams or armholes, that would narrow the back by about an inch without affecting anything I need to sew. Meanwhile adding a stitch to each panel in the front would give me one more inch, and it could be decreased out again above the bustline. Maybe combining that with a switch to Even Larger Needles would give me enough room to play with. If I'm going to do this I might want to knit every other lace section plain, giving me 5 wide stripes instead of 9 narrow ones, and adjust the count in each by two stitches. I don't know how much this would change the character of the tee - but I'm going to find out, because I think it's what I'm going to do.

To some extent this is going to be a trial-and-error process. I will probably need to remind myself from time to time that I started with a pile of yarn, and the worst case is that I end up with a pile of yarn...which will be the point at which yes, I do punt and make a Bombshell or a Shapely Tank or maybe something cute for Daughter instead.

Casting on for the back - it's way more straightforward than the front, and it'll give me a chance to decide whether I like the wider stripes. Like I said - wish me luck!

Yesterday, I failed to interest Hubby in measuring my breasts. I'm a little worried if he found that less exciting than his video game. But I did do a swatch and determine that it's possible to hide a lot of short rows in the lace pattern for Krista - it's not perfect, Hubby could tell where the short-rowed section was because one yarn-over got distorted on each side, but I think it'll do. (I suspect I'm going to need a lot of short rows. The preliminary measurement I was able to do on my own says I theoretically need to add 5 to 6 inches to the front of the sweater. I was astonished to find that it's actually possible to fit a block that big in. I hope I have enough yarn.) Next step: figure out how to make the shoulder seams match up. I almost wonder if I want to buy a couple yards of fleece and make a mock-up...

This morning, I finally had a successful attempt to chart the nifty cable bit for Hubby's sock - it takes six rib welts and weaves them together into a diamond shape, then they go back to being rib welts. If I squint, my chart looks like the photo of the swatch, which is hopefully a good sign. Now I need to find out whether he wants a lot of little ribby diamonds, or just a few, or even just one, on each sock. Also, since I'd intended this as my project for June Sockdown (challenge: "Design Your Own"), I should find out how much of the design I'm allowed to have done in advance; I'd love to be able to get the math worked out to the point where I can pick up needles and cast on for My Sock! on June 1st. (Also, curse Hubby and his extra-wide feet...but I'd rather knit him socks than a sweater. :) )

This week, we've had temperatures in the 40s outside - but it's been about 85 degrees in my office. HVAC fail!

Most of this week, I've also been wearing handknit wool/nylon socks, along with T-shirts and jeans (although I threatened to show up in a tank top and running shorts if they don't get the heat fixed...). I wondered, "Is that making me more uncomfortable?" So today I wore commercial socks - probably a cotton/synthetic/elastic blend, if not completely synthetic.

It turns out that my wool socks are actually more comfortable than this particular pair of commercial socks - my feet felt warm both days, but today they also feel squishy and damp. Go go magic moisture-absorbing wool!

Corollary: I will never, ever knit with Berocco Comfort Sock. At least not to make socks. It might be the solution for colorwork scarves.