Category: Knitting

WIPs and Chains

Like every knitter – or nearly every knitter – I have more on the needles in progress than off. I thought it might be fun to take pictures of WIPs and WIPs-to-Be out of handspun.

Fountain Pen Shawl

I hate to say it, but I just couldn’t get into the pattern.  So, it is now ripped out and waiting for something else.  The yarn is Malabrigo, about 800 yards of lace-weight.  Unskeining it was not fun – the ties for dyeing were not well done, and on the swift I had to weave in and out of the skein to get it onto the ballwinder.  Worth the work though, as the colors are wonderful.  I expect it will become a different shawl in the future.

Handspun / Hand-Dyed

Most likely for berets.

These yarns are two and three plies, some in tweeds.  Tweed, at least the way I created it, was fun.  All the little neps in other handspun, already dyed, get pulled out as spun, set aside, and then carded into another color.  Another way to do this is to not clean the carder of the little neps, but work them into another color.

Another Meret (now finished since the photo was taken – just needing the tidying-up!)

This one is for a friend from childhood.  Her birthday was in February.  She’ll get an early b-day present I guess!  (Hi, Claudia!)

And socks, socks, socks…

This is some commercial yarn.  I think I dyed it, not sure.  

Below, is some bare KnitPicks merino/nylon sock yarn.  My mother-in-law, Judy, and I got together to do some for her birthday last year.  I don’t believe she had ever dyed before.  It was a great afternoon birthday project.  Her yarn was much prettier than mine, but for all its gaudiness, this one I rather liked.  You can see it on the ball, and how it is pooling – I like the yellow spiraling through the purples.  Sunshine through the storm clouds.

And another sock, far too long on the needles.  Great yarn!

Future Socks (of course!)

My first purchase from Sundara.  The color was not quite what I anticipated, but I still like it a lot.  Photos are not the same as real life (as I can tell you from the ones above, as well.)  This is sock yarn, and I think a girly lace would be great.  Her packaging is just wonderful, and her label makes you smile.

And in the meantime, I have some patterns I want to post, for free and for sale, and some in the design process. Once the next week is over, I think I should be able to get to them (at last). You will be able to find them on Ravelry under my moniker of Matataki. You can download this fellow from  the “Patterns” tab at the top of this page, or using the link under “Matataki Design” on the right.  Enjoy!

Retrospective

Yesterday was an unusual day for us here in SoCal – grey morning with sprinklings of rain.  This is the kind of morning to take time to make breakfast and potter around doing nothing that is required by someone or something else.  Being Saturday makes it all the more fun!

Last night the university (California Lutheran) my husband, Josh, attends had an honors dinner for those in their programs and department who have outstanding grades.  His major is Computer Information Systems, and his GPA is definitely up there.  Either he is the only one in his program, or else no one else managed to get decent grades!  We went and, at our assigned table, met some lovely couples who also were being honored – all spouses.  In a way, it was like going to a wedding!  The meal was great, the bar was decent, and we were entertained by live music – sopranos singing old French songs and from the Marriage of Figaro, accompanied by a live piano player.  As it was also a dinner to honor people, some students receiving awards gave speeches.  One young woman, completing her BA in English, talked about poetry and the community at the school.  It was so youthful (I felt ancient!) and hopeful, it made me realize that in my own too-busy life, the joy of discovery and the sense of an adventure just around the corner has been vanishing in the wake of one more job, one more job.

So, why the title of this post, Retrospective?  I’ve been reading some blogs by people I enjoy from beginning to end.  Some span several years.  Written retrospectives, but written in the (then) present tense.  Fun to watch people change and grow, the process of life and projects, events unfolding.   Artist retrospectives are as enjoyable – seeing, in a very visible line, movement and development within an artist’s journey.  Biographical books, with oodles of photos, also are pleasure.  One of my favorites is Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Around.

As I get older, I get a bit more harsh about things – less willing to be fluffy – but also take a deeper pleasure in simple things, like making breakfast muffins, the smile of our young nephew, the mockingbirds singing throughout the night.

What retrospection does is also point out that only in the present is anything accomplished.  Life is a process, but one done in the moment.  I don’t have too many misgivings about my life so far, thoughts of “I should have done this, not that.”  I think I would like to travel a bit more – I’ve seen this country coast to coast – lived in about 15 towns – visited nearly every state – but have never been to Europe of Asia or Africa.   I would like to read more books, classical and modern.  I would like to use my French more, and learn Japanese.  I want to paint more.  And design and knit more.  Unfortunately, I’ve been busy with program development, writing mandated curriculum for the State, and getting a teaching credential on top of it all.  All but the credential is out of the way, and that is done in 2 weeks.

The small things in life give great pleasure.  Yesterday I took the time to look at the flowers and plants around the house which have been sadly ignored.  There is a fuschia redbud outside my studio window (or office, depending on how the room is being used!) which begins the year with bright pink flowers.  These give way to dark red, heart-shaped leaves.  This is how the tree looks from my window.  In the early morning, the sun shines through the leaves.   Close up, the leaves are quite lovely. As spring moves into summer, they become greenish red.

I decided to wander around the yard, looking at the flowers, and seeing what kind of quality I can get from my little Casio Exilim. I took macro shots of various flowers, using the “best shot” portrait setting. I use this for nearly everything as it has nine sensors that pop up on the LCD display. It seems to work pretty well, as you can see below. Colors are pretty nice.

I noticed the dirt near the redbud looked lumpy. And then I saw this:


This is one of the Asian lilies I planted last year. I think this is a yellow-spotted one. I’m going to try to photograph it everyday – a reminder to look at the small things, to not let life get overwhelmed by the rush of work. Check out the “Life of a Flower” page to see what happens!

The Holy Gusset

Many, many moons ago, as a young and novice sock knitter, I produced my first socks.  I read my book.  I followed the directions.  I made the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up stitches, did the decreases and — and — and!

I had holes at the very top of my gusset.

I ripped it all out.  I read my book.  I followed the directions.  And there, once again, was those pesky holes.

I ripped out.  I read my book.

You get the idea.

Finally, in frustration, I just knit some extra stitches and did some strange things, and the holes magically disappeared. But, I had not followed the rules laid out in the sock pattern directions, and felt that, somehow, my inadequacy as a knitter was to blame.

Now mind you all, this was back in the days before internet, when yarn stores did not exist except far and between.  Libraries and books and relatives and friends were the only sources of information.  No one I knew knit socks.  I was on my own.

Fast forward a century or two.  Nancy Bush’s book Folk Socks debuted.  More sock books were published.  Sock knitting was In!  And The-Hole-at-the-Top-of-the-Gusset came out of the closet.

These memories tumbled out of the past as I was browsing YouTube.  This little jewel of a video shows you that nasty hole and how to conquer it.  Thank you KatAutumn!

Knitting Offenses

The other day, I was over at the local bookstore, and decided to grab a few knitting magazines to peruse with my coffee.   I saw some great designs in texture combined with lousy garment construction and finishing techniques.  The biggest offenders are the shoulders, sleeves, bodies, and necklines.

Garment Design. As an example, not too long ago, I bought a pattern booklet from a famous yarn maker.  The cover hat and glove set caught my  eye.  I bought it, without reading it.  When I read it, I was stunned.  The hat pattern – the same as for the back of the glove – was   knitted back and forth on two needles, and then seamed!  The gloves were knitted on four needles, in the round.

Huh??  Am I missing something here?

Necklines. I always look at the construction of the neckline, and I read the pattern.  Is there sewing to be done?  Is it knitted and attached as you go along, or done separately and then sewn on?  Is the neckline shaping capable of supporting the rest of the sweater body?   How does that V-neck or scoop neck look?  Too low?  Too high?  Do the edges of the neckline have a finished look, or do they look sloppy and stretched out?  Is it flattering?  Does it make the sweater fall off the shoulder?

Badly Designed Sleeves. Under this heading, you can find poorly sewn sleeves, at the shoulder and into the armpit, and along the length of the arm.  First question:  Who did the finishing?  Next question:  Why would you design a sweater with sleeve seams?

In one of the magazines I looked at, it was pretty obvious that the person who pieced together the sweater could not do the job.  The sleeve seam was messy and ragged.  The knitted pattern did not add to the offense; some stitches make it difficult to knit a “sewable” edge, but the designer can eliminate this problem if they must have sleeve seams.

Another picture in the same magazine showed inset sleeves with the same crappy finishing.  Puckers, uneven sewing.  This destroyed the sweater.  Here, the knitting designer was at fault to a degree because the pattern stitches used did not make the sewing-up easy.

Finally, photography.   A lot of magazines show evidence of pinning and pulling to make an item “fit” the model.   Here is when design flaws can really show up, as well as poor finishing techniques.  Thank the photographer for this!  It may make you re-think doing that pattern.

Body. This has been written up by some rather famous people.  Elizabeth Zimmermann said it all.  She documented this issue quite well when she sold her seamless Fair Isle sweater pattern to a famous magazine.  Said magazine rewrote the pattern to have side seams, shoulder seams, and sewn-in sleeves, even though it was pretty obvious in the picture that there were no seams at all – or that the seamstress was superb!

Poorly designed sweaters can result in sweaters which can never be sewn together well, no matter the talent.  I have some ski sweater designs from the 40s and 50s.  The raglan sleeves are sewn in, and the patterns – snowflakes, elk, stars – are placed in the middle of the raglan seam.  Not nicely sewn in the photos, and not worth doing, unless it is in the round.

What to do? Well…what can you do?  If you really like something, is it something you can do?  Do you have the skill, creativity, know-how to fix problems?  Do you want to take the time to do it?  Do you want to learn to do it?

If you answer yes, then have at it.  If you answer no, then look for another pattern!  You know your own personality, so why make yourself crazy and frustrated to the point of misery?

IMHO. I am a frump and a snob.  I don’t wear trendy clothing, and I don’t make fashionable designs.  I like well-tailored, comfortable clothing.  I like good shoes.  I like good materials and craftsmanship.

When it comes to knitting anything, I really appreciate good construction design, good finishing, and elegance.   Most of this can be done with a minimal of sewing.

Self-Indulgence

Ah, the power of the state!  I’ve been working nearly every day in a desire to finish up the curriculum for the program I teach.  The state requested it, prior to renewing our permit.

My hours have been cut to 32 / week for the Spring term.  I have been working more than my allocated hours on the critter, at least it is getting done.  Until last night.

After 5 days (yes, that includes last Sunday), with many days going into the double-digits, I finally said enough!

My brain died.  And I said, “It is good!”

I lay on the couch until 11:30 p.m. last night, watching the DVD of the first season of “Damages.”  Do I like it?  Don’t know.  Seems sort of like a wanna-be “Boston Legal,” but without the humor.  Result?  A mystery which sort of intrigues, but not a lot of buy-in or sympathy for the characters.  There is the desire, though, to find out who all these evil people are, and that is where it is for now.

I am usually in bed at 9:00, and up at 5:30 at the latest.  Even today.  But I have a wierd thing – the later I go to bed, the earlier I get up.  This morning – 4:30.  Not something I would like to happen on a work day.  Fridays, now, are non-working days, unless I choose.  Up I came, and back to bed for a very nice nap at 9:30 a.m. until just after 11:00 a.m.

So, here I sit, drinking the second cup of coffee, knitting a pair of really cheery socks, in a patterned yarn sock yarn from Berocco – teals and greens and rather scrumptious colors.  Mindless knitting with delicious colors is great entertainment value.

And then I thought of knitting needles.  The self-indulgent moi gave in to deciding to order size 2, Signature Needle Arts, stilletto DPNs.  $45.00 for a set of 4 six-inch sock needles.  Will I like them?  Don’t know!  My favorite size for sock knitting (with sock yarn) is size 1 1/2 by Crystal Palace.  I knit loosely.  So, I chose size 2, in a cheery bright red.  When will they arrive?  They say 7-10 days for 5.99 shipping.  Let’s see when they get here, and then give them a test drive.

I don’t need more needles, but I am sure curious about these!  I like metal needles, but am allergic to nickel.  As long as I don’t touch the metal of the Addi turbos, I am okay.  All I get is a kind of tingling on my fingertips.  I love my old aluminum needles, and my bamboo, and my wooden ones.  So, let’s see what the needle fairy shall bring – and how soon!

And because, like Alice, I cannot see the value of a book without pictures, here are some pictures of the above-mentioned socks.  A blog without pictures is (methinks) also worthless.

BTW, I knit inside out, and am now decreasing for the toe. I’ll get a right-side-out picture later.