Knitting – The Knitting Doctor

A two-fer!

I’ve finished two things! This might be some kind of record. So far I’ve finished three projects in January, for a total of 1337 yards out of the stash.
Of course there are about 50 million more yards to go in that never-ending yarn stash of mine. And no doubt more will be added. I’m considering it a win, anyway.
Here’s the first. Socks!

That’s West Yorkshire Spinners sock yarn, color name Mojito. They are quite cheerful. I used the same pseudo-pattern that lives in my head, and size 2.00 mm bamboo double point needles.
Here’s the second finished thing.

It’s a cowl thing. The yarn is a bulky weight thick and thin wool from Butternut Woolens (no longer in business). I cast on 30 stitches, knit in garter stitch till I had just enough yarn left to bind off. I put a twist in it and sewed the ends together.
The color name is Boreal Sky, but I think it looks like a Caribbean ocean deep pool. It’s perfect for the chilly weather we’ve been having.
I successfully used nearly all of this skein. Here’s what I had left.

The cowl was knit on 7mm plastic straight needles. I’m probably the only person left in the world that likes and uses these.
I started the socks back in October. The cowl was started January 23rd.
And here’s one of me doing what I do best, whilst wearing my new socks, and knitting the cowl.

Great Big Fun

I decided that I didn’t need to wait until I finished something to post. What a concept. I’ve been working on the next shawl from that pile of UFOs pretty consistently. NFL playoffs have helped, giving me lots of great knitting time.
Here it is in its current state.

The pattern is the Sharon Show, by Casapinka. This has been neglected for a really long time. Ravelry says that I started this in July 2021. I had about four inches done when it got stood up for a more attractive date, so I’ve gotten quite a bit accomplished since I picked it back up. I forgot how much FUN her patterns are. There are lots of different stitch patterns to keep me from being bored, but nothing too complex to make it inappropriate for tv knitting. One section is in Morse code, which had me stumped for a bit. John went to signal corps training when he was in the Army, so he had to learn Morse code; of course that was about 60 years ago. Surprisingly, he managed to decipher it. I’ll just say that it says “something something something skunk butt”.
I know I said something ridiculous about not casting on any more projects until I finished a few things. None of you really believed that, right? Here’s what made it onto my needles this morning.

The yarn is deep stash. It’s Butternut Woolens thick and thin bulky weight. I bought this at a local yarn festival in 2011, so it was time to make something with it. This will be a moebius cowl. I just cast on a bunch of stitches, and will knit garter stitch until I run out of yarn. I’ll twist it into a moebius shape and sew the ends together.
The bonus is I get to use a pair of needles out of my ridiculously vast collection of plastic straight needles.
Last but not least, I went to the dentist this morning for a routine visit. Whilst waiting, I noticed my footwear.

Yes, my friends, I went to the dentist in my slippers. I appear to have reached the age where I need better adult supervision.

Jewels of the Czar Shawl

We finally have a bit of sunshine today, so I got some photos of my latest finished project.

Project Details:

Pattern: I improvised this one. It’s a top down triangle shawl, started with a garter tab. The body is stockinette, with a three-stitch garter border on each side. After every nine rows of stockinette, I threw in an eyelet section: purl one row on the wrong side, then yo/knit 2 tog across on the right side, then another purl row. I added a garter stitch border and bound off.
Yarn: Raven Frog Fibers Elegante, color Jewels of the Czar. This is perfectly yummy yarn to knit with and wear. It’s a 50/50 merino/silk blend, with 650 yards/skein. I used all but a few grams.
Started: September of 2024
Finished: January 5, 2025
Needles: Size 3.5 mm circulars

This is lovely, and was a perfect knitting project to go through football season (aka TV knitting-simple enough to knit watching tv, but not so basic that I want to kill myself). It will get a lot of wear in the warmer months.

All the Christmas stuff has finally been put away. I’m ready for spring, though that sunshine outside doesn’t fool me one bit. We’ve got another few months of grey and rainy to get through first.

One down!

Six shawls left on the needles.

Project Details:

Pattern: Hitchhiker, by Martina Behm. I’ve knit several of these, and will likely knit several more. These are lovely little versatile pieces, and I wear mine a lot.
Yarn: Happy Trails sock yarn, in the color Amelia. The yarn dyer is Pat Fly, from Fly Designs. I don’t think she sells this exact put-up any longer. It’s super wash merino, with 650 yards/8 oz. It’s about a sport weight.
Started: June 2024
Finished: December 2024
Needle: 3.25 mm Dyak Black Nickel interchangeable needles.
What I Learned: Don’t start seven shawls. Pick one and finish it.
Rating: 5/5 for both pattern and yarn.

On to the next shawl!

It’s a hat!

Hey! I finished it!

Project Details

Pattern: I made it up on the fly. Cast on 80 stitches. 2X2 rib for awhile. Stockinette for awhile. Crown K2tog decreases, four times a row, every other row until it was tall enough, then more decreases every round until I had 8 stitches left, ran the tail end through the stitches and fastened off.
Yarn: Leftover Peace Fleece in the color Lena’s Meadow.
Needles: Size 6 double points

I love it. It’s simple, warm, and snuggly. I have lots of single skeins of heavy worsted weight and Aran weight yarn in the stash that would make good hats. John has been giving me the sad side-eye, but he’s NOT getting this one.

And he’s going to have to wait a bit. I need to finish a few of those SEVEN shawls before I cast on anything new.

Stay tuned.

Well, this is a bit ridiculous

I gathered up all the knitting projects that I could find to sort through them. That’s the lot of them.
In that pile are SEVEN shawls, two hats, one of a sock pair, a sweater, fingerless mitts, a washcloth, and a sock yarn scrap blanket.
Good grief. My “startitis” has gotten out of control. I clearly need to finish some of these before starting anything else. This is quite sad, since I’m a slow knitter at best, and have SO MUCH lovely yarn in this house waiting to be cast on.
I’m picking one thing out of that mess to focus on.

That is one of the hats. It will be a beanie style thing, I’m just jerryrigging this on the fly. I cast on 80 stitches, did ribbing until I couldn’t stand it any longer, then knit for awhile. I just started the decreases at the top.
This is some very precious Peace Fleece left over from a pair of socks I made decades ago. The color, Lena’s Meadow, is sadly discontinued. I wish I’d bought a sweater quantity of this when it was available.
I swear I’m not starting anything else for now. We shall see how this goes.

New socks

But first, it’s a very important day!

Hank is TWO years old! He’s getting lots of love from his people. He might get a birthday doggie donut from our local donut shop later. He’s already excited.

Now, those socks.

Aren’t those colorful? The yarn is an older Opal sock yarn color, named Kasimir the Daredevil. I entered it into my stash in 2008, so it’s doubtful that it’s still available.
The pattern is the same one I always use, Jerry rigged to fit my foot. I have found that I needed to decrease the number of stitches around a bit since I lost weight. Not a bad problem to have. I put a picot top on these, which is fun, and also keeps John from stealing them. He thinks picot tops aren’t “manly”.

And no, they don’t match. No, I don’t care.

And here are the new socks on the needles. Seattle Seahawks colors, to kick off the new NFL season.

That’s all for now.

58

That’s how many rows I have left on my current lace shawl in progress.

At this point, the public-side rows are taking close to an hour to knit. The yarn is very fine silk yarn, and it wants to jump off the needles any chance it gets.

The color is all off in that photo. This one is closer.

Of course, lace shawls don’t look like much until they are finished and blocked, so you can actually see the patterning.

And I had one little heart stopper moment when I set it down for about three-millionths of a second this morning. Hank has had his eye on that yarn ball all morning, and grabbed it and ran off, dragging the knitting behind him. Fortunately for him, no harm was done except for a bit of dog spit.

The pattern is the Elizabeth shawl, by Dee O’Keefe, and the yarn is silk lace, dyed by Lisa Souza.

Onward!

It’s a sweater!

Here you go! This still needs a little seam steaming to really finish it, but it’s all put together, and ready for cooler weather.

Sorry for the bad in-the-mirror photo. My usual photographer was unavailable, and Hank the corgi doesn’t have opposable thumbs, so he can’t manage the phone camera. The sleeves also look a lot puffier in that photo than in real life.

Project Details:

Pattern: Father/Son Pullover, by Cheryl Hevey
Yarn: Peace Fleece worsted, in the color It’s Gonna Be Alright. This yarn is actually more of an Aran weight; if you knit it to typical worsted gauge, it probably would stand up by itself.
Started:December 2023. Yay! I managed to finish a sweater in less than a year!
Finished: August 2024
For: Me
Needles:size 6 and 7 Chiaogoo
Yarn/Pattern rating: The yarn is *****/*****. I adore Peace Fleece. The pattern is more of a ****/*****. I’ll explain below.

What I liked/learned: I love simple sweaters. This will get a lot of wear. The pattern is very straight forward. What I don’t love about this is the sleeve shaping. For the size I chose, the height of the sleeve cap is 11 inches, and the top of the sleeve before the sleeve cap is 18 inches. That makes for a really oversized sleeve, even when worn over a turtleneck. This would look great on a working man with huge shoulders and biceps. I knew this, I knitted it anyway. As I said, I’ll wear it, and love it. BUT:

Now I’m on a mission to knit the best-fitting plain stocking stitch crew neck jumper.

I’m coming up with a plan. Stay tuned.

Sweater progress

This one has been on the back burner since summer, and warmer weather, arrived. I have had the main pieces done for a while, and have one sleeve to finish.
Since we had a bit of cooler weather today (and rain!), I decided to get the front and back blocked. Once I get to the sleeve cap*, I’ll block that first sleeve so I can start sewing it up without having to wait for the whole thing to dry.

This is the Father/Son Pullover, by Cheryl Hevey. The yarn is Peace Fleece, in the color Gonna Be Alright. I might have Peace Fleece in a dozen other colors to make more sweaters, too. I do love a basic crew neck jumper for our chilly winter/rainy months.

Those books are my summer reading. I’m taking two classes with the Graham School, one on the Count of Monte Cristo, the other on Master and Margarita. The Gulag Archipelago sort of dovetails in with the Bulgakov novel. It’s not light reading, but it is oddly compelling. We’ll see if I have the fortitude to read the other two volumes of it. I might be in the mood by that point for some lighter fiction.
Of course, Hank is my knitting and reading sidekick. He sticks to me like glue most of the time.

*I use the first sleeve as a template for the second sleeve, so I’ll wait to block it until I get all the sleeve increases done on the second one.

Jolly Green Giant

And I finished something!

Pattern: Boneyard Shawl, by Stephen West
Yarn: Ullcentrum 2-ply gradient; sport weight yarn, 3 skeins, 984 yards
Started: January 1, 2024
Finished: April 1, 2024
For: Me
Needle: 4mm Chiaogoo metal
Yarn/Pattern rating: *****/*****
What I liked/learned with this project: I’ve made several of the Boneyard shawls. It’s mindless, and good with many different yarn weights and styles. I used 3 skeins of this, and I only wasted less than 10 g of the yarn getting the gradients to work. The yarn is lovely, woolly stuff. I may have more in the stash.

As per my typical inattentiveness to detail, I missed my blog anniversary last week. 20 YEARS, people! And I forgot to post about it. Oh well, too bad, as John’s cousin says.

And more photos, because I can.

Well, damn

Two and a half months later…

The last few months really got away from me. I signed up for 3 separate classes at the Graham School for both fall and winter quarters. These are 3 hour classes per week for each class, with an accompanying amount of reading. While I enjoyed all of them, it hasn’t left me much time for other things besides the real life stuff that doesn’t go away, even if I’d rather be sitting in a chair reading. I had signed up for another three classes for spring quarter, which starts next week, but came to my senses yesterday and dropped one of the classes. It was a class on Ulysses, by James Joyce, which I’d really love to take, but it will likely be offered again at some point. John has three grandsons in university, and has pointed out that I was probably doing more class work than any of them.

I have been knitting, but slowly. I pulled some yarn out of stash a few weeks ago to knit a plain warm shawl.

I bought that in 2022 after we got back from our Scandinavian cruise. It’s a lovely, woolly yarn made in Sweden. I’m doing another Boneyard shawl, which is dead-easy, and doesn’t require much of my available brain power to work on.

I really like how the gradient striping is turning out. I have the last skein to go, so this will be a really huge shawl to wrap up in.

That stack of books behind the knitting is for spring quarter. We won’t read all of each book, but it’s still a lot of reading. I’m taking a three-quarter class on the history of US immigration, as well as the Graham Basic Program (great books class), which is a four-year program. Spring quarter will complete my second year, and it has been a real eye-opener for me. The books we read are mostly things I missed in college, since I was on a premed track, and didn’t get a chance to study many of the classics. For fall quarter, I also took a class where we read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, and for winter it was Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. (Spell check wanted to change that to The Brothers Kalamazoo, which certainly could be an interesting book, but not the same.)

I did actually finish a pair of socks over the weekend.

Aren’t those pretty? The yarn is from a UK dyer, Felt Fusion. This particular yarn base is John Arbon’s Exmoor Sock yarn, which I love. It’s the same old plain white bread sock, top down with a flap heel and gusset.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to not stay away so long this time!

New little things

I finished a couple of things this week! Our neighbor was over last week to have a wee dram with John. Whilst he was distracted, Hank ate his hat. 🙄

So I did what every good knitter would do. I searched the stash and knit him a new one.

The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica, from deep stash. I just cast on as many stitches as I thought it needed and knit away.
Of course, I have more of this in the stash, and John needed one, too. This is good hat yarn. It’s a thick and thin Aran weight, so it goes fast. I cast on 80 stitches, single rib till long enough to make a thick turned-up cuff, then stockinette for a while, then decrease for the top. Size 7 needles.

I might be on a roll here. These are perfect TV knitting, and they’re a little like potato chips, it’s hard to stop at one. I have lots of single skeins in the stash that would make good mittens and hats.

And here’s my new sock, so far. There hasn’t been any progress since the hat knitting began.

That’s all for now.

Two-fer

It’s time for more finished stuff! First up is a pair of socks.

Aren’t those pretty? The yarn is Urth striped sock yarn, Uneek Sock, in oranGGe. These are for me. The pattern is the same as always, though I continue to tweak it to fit better. Currently, I cast on 68 stitches, but increase to 72 just before the heel flap, to fit my instep better. I decrease back down to 68 in the gusset decreases. I also knit the heel flap a few rows longer. This is what I love about hand-knit socks: they can be truly customized for the wearer’s foot.

These were knit on 2.00 mm double points, with a picot hemmed cuff. I started these back in July. I blame the Corgi for the slow progress.

Here are the new socks:

These are definitely going to be for me. The yarn is John Arbon Exmoor sock yarn base, but dyed by an independent dyer in the UK, Felt Fusion. I love every last John Arbon yarn I’ve touched, and their sock yarn is no exception. This color is “Down Devon Way”, and it’s still available. The Felt Fusion page has some additional colors available as well. (There maybe a few more skeins of this in my stash.) Her colors are very rich and saturated.

Here’s the second part of the two-fer:

It’s a washcloth! How exciting! Really, though, I love these. I keep a stack of these near the shower. This is Euroflax sport weight linen, which makes great face cloths. It feels weird and stringy whilst knitting, but softens up tremendously once washed. I just toss them in the laundry with the rest of the towels.

The pattern for this is Grandma’s favorite dishcloth, here.

Our Thanksgiving was quiet. John and I both had Covid this month, two weeks before TG for him, and the next week for me. We both took Paxlovid, neither one of us were very sick, but the subsequent fatigue has been a bit daunting for me. Since we were out of quarantine by turkey day, we were able to go to our friends’ home for dinner that day. It was lovely to spend the holiday with good people and good food. We’ve all gotten to the age that we don’t take for granted a single one of those moments together.

20-something little clouds

It’s a finished project!

Isn’t THAT fancy?!

Project Details:

Pattern: 22 Little Clouds, by Martina Behm.
Yarn: Black Wolf Ranch Spirit Alpaca/silk blend. This is a DK weight, I used 3 skeins, or 750 yards. The ranch is located in St. Ignatius, Montana, they are on facebook, but don’t have a retail outlet online. I bought this four years ago at a local fiber festival.
Started: September 15, 2023
Finished: November 19, 2023
For: Me
Needle: 3.75 mm
Yarn/Pattern rating: *****/***** This is a free pattern, but it is clearly written, very easy to make. The yarn is stunning, I wish I had a whole bathtub full of this.

I started this in the summer as a “mistake rib” scarf, and quickly became completely bored with knitting 2 by 2 rib, and ripped it out. I am perfectly happy knitting garter and stockinette stitch for miles, but ribbing and seed stitch make me crazy. I wanted a pattern that just showed off the yarn, and that was adaptable to a larger yardage. An added bonus is that it has a RUFFLE!

And there you have it!