last FOs of 2011

I managed to finish two more projects before the end of the year, though it took me awhile to photograph them. The first was a Spring Beret in a yellow skein (I bought and wound it over a year ago, and can't remember the exact colorway now!)  of Madtosh vintage, on size seven needles (rather than the larger needles used in the pattern); I didn't have any of the larger sizes handy, so instead I knit an extra pattern repeat to maintain slouchiness, which I think worked out okay. I was never in love with this yarn color, which is why it took me so long to use it, but I actually like it a lot more in hat form now - it's a bright, sunny color that goes with everything, so I think it'll get a lot of wear. 

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that most of this hat was knit during an eleven and a half hour long Lord of the Rings (extended version!) marathon with some family friends. The hat took me the better part of one movie, I'd guess from between Gandalf's arrival in the Shire through the one where they were hanging out with Galadrial, if that's the sort of thing that makes sense to you. I really should have brought a bigger project along. Seriously, eight hour of tv watching without knitting was painful. But then, so was eleven hours of tv watching, period. Good to know that there are limits to my ability to be sedentary after all, because sometimes even I worry. (Raveled here) 

My Mara shawl, on the other hand, was knit in slightly less nerdy adventures, mostly in hostel rooms and buses while traveling through South America. I brought three skeins of Madelinetosh DK in Sugarplum (a gorgeous, sugary violet pretty enough to make me forget my usual aversion to purples and pastels). I joined the last ball a few rows after starting the ribs and still ran out of a yarn a maddening twelve stitches short of a complete bind-off. I was so desperate not to have to frog (I love the ribbed section best of all and didn't want to shorten it) that I was actually cutting off the loose ends to see if I could scrounge up enough yarn, but nothing worked. In the end, I found a spectacularly helpful Raveler who was somehow able to sell me a spare skein of the suddenly hard-to-find colorway and ship it to me in the midst of all the holidays. At four skeins, this shawl ended up costing a sweater's worth of yarn, but I'm okay with it because I love this shawl. I wore it all the time in Seattle, and it's amazing, like being allowed to go in public with a blanket wrapped around you but without the social stigma against going out in public with a blanket wrapped around you. I got compliments from cool grad students and my 91 year old grandmother alike. I may never take this thing off, seriously. 

Raveled here. 

2011 sweaters (and other stuff)

At the beginning of this year, I resolved to knit seven sweaters, one of which I designed myself, which turned out to be the only knitting resolution I unequivocally kept (the rest were a flat out failure, or else need to be judged, um, charitably). Though I really enjoyed branching out this year into tiny sock yarn socks and lacy shawls, sweaters have always been my most satisfying knitting projects; also, this year, it's kind of cool to see all the photos of the different places we were living when I finished them! The first sweater is one of the last thing I knit in Japan: Snow White with Noro Cash Iroha. I miss our tiny Japanese backyard. 

After Snow White, things in Japan got too busy for me to knit, and then too hot while I was traveling in Vietnam and India (too hot is also why I whacked off about six inches of hair right before leaving Hanoi). I was in serious knitting withdrawal by the time I got to Iain's house in Scotland, which nonetheless does not explain why I felt the compulsive need to knit this Snowbird sweater in ten freakin' days. But I did. The photo above was taken in Iain's family's backyard the day before I left. Of all the sweaters I made this year, I wear this one the most, though I am quite embarrassed to say that I have still not woven in all the ends. 

I knit this Streamside cardigan in Los Angeles, where - in Iain's absence - I discovered the amazing time suck that is Netflix instant streaming and figured out how to use a remote control on my camera and take photos of myself, myself. I'm so productive when my boyfriend is in another country. 

I never posted about this but this also happened, I swear! I designed it myself and it mostly came out the way I imagined, but it needs a button or something. I have vague plans of fine tuning this and making it into a real pattern, but they're pretty vague. I count this as fulfilling my New Year's resolution because I did wear it out in public once or twice, but it was definitely not my most satisfying knit. 

I liked my first Cecily Macdonald Glowick sweater so much that I made a Goodale too, out of the madtosh pashima that never became a February Lady sweater, and finished it right before we left for Peru. I'm not a huge fan of this sweater. It hangs funny, and I know I keep saying I'll fix it, but I don't really know when that will be. Can't argue with the color, though - yay, Tart! 

Are you seeing sort of a theme with these poses? I have no idea what this pose is - maybe I'm so busy admiring my handiwork I can't be bothered to look at the camera? If I was on America's Next Top Model, the judges would totally mock me for my lack of posing ferocity and I'd be eliminated right away. In any case. Boe was a test knit for the amazingly talented Anke, and I absolutely love it, even though finishing it in Peru meant that I was't really able to wear it in the weather there. Also, I started knitting it in San Francisco on the BART train, and then I dropped the ball and it rolled down the aisles and under seats right as the door to my stop opened and I had to run after it, and it was one of those really frantic moments when I'm pretty sure I looked like a colossal idiot to everyone else on the train. The photo is from our host family's house in Peru, which was still being built. Our lovely host mother told it me was muy linda, and I felt really special. 

The other Peru sweater and probably my favorite of the whole year - a Tea Leaves cardigan in the most beautiful yarn on the planet. Iain took these photos of me in front of an Inca wall, which is probably way cooler than the sweater itself. 

So those were the sweaters of 2011! (I also started this Acer cardigan, but it quickly fell by the wayside when we started backpacking - there was no way I could cram a sweater's worth of yarn into our already crammed full shared rucksack.) In general, they weren't really as satisfying as the sweaters of the year before. So many short sleeved projects made me feel like I was cheating (plus I can't really wear them now that I'm finally in sweater weather), and I'm kind of meh on most of them. Next year I think I just need to make a few long sleeved, worsted weight cardigans that button all the way up that I can actually wear, especially since it's looking like I'll be living someplace cold. 

When I wasn't knitting sweaters, though, I was designing! I published four patterns this year, which doesn't sound like a lot but there was a lot of behind the scenes knitting and unknitting and things that never became patterns, so it did suck up a fair bit of time. The first pattern, published in early January, was Thisbe, above. 

This pattern was actually published in an actual, real-live magazine, and I am so lame about blogging while traveling that I never actually blogged about it until now. SO LAME, I know. And now that issue is long off the shelves. But in any case, these Ivonne mitts appeared in the second issue of the UK magazine Knit Now, and despite my relative radio silence on the matter in blog form, it was one of the most exciting moments in knitting I've ever had, as well as the one that reassured my father, who I was living with at the time, that all that time I spent knitting and vacantly watching Netflix instant streaming was, in fact, productive.  It is worth noting that the photo above is actually my submission picture and that the thumbs have changed, and also that I think I'll be able to sell the pattern myself eventually, so if you like it, you're in luck! 

The other thing I spent a good amount of time working on this summer was this Phaedra hat. Yay, things with leaves. 

And finally, there was Naiya, a free alpaca cowl pattern I managed to write in Peru, mostly because I wanted an excuse to use my pretty skein of squishy alpaca yarn from Cusco. And that's it, for 2011! If I didn't have as many satisfying FOs as I would have liked, it's only because I was too busy traveling or designing, and I can't complain about any of that. If you like any of these patterns, use the coupon code happy2012 before January 2nd on Ravelry to get 25% off any pattern! Except for the free ones, because they're already free. Happy knitting, and goodbye to an awesome year! 

FO: Goodale

Despite Iain arriving last weekend (finally! hooray!) I was able to finish up my Goodale cardigan (the reincarnation of an earlier, doomed February Lady) yesterday afternoon, not long after we left Los Angeles for my mother's house in Oakland.

Why yes, those are home grown apples behind me! 

Anyway, Goodale ... sigh. There are so many gorgeous versions of this sweater on Ravelry that I had really high hopes when I began. It definitely turned out better than the February Lady sweater this yarn could have been, but I'm a bit dissatisfied with the end result. The sweater seems really fussy to me, in that everything last to be lying exactly right so as to prevent the pockets from flopping open and looking all weird - as the sweater currently is, I can't really see myself wearing it out much, because I'd never be able to stop worrying that it was all askew. I think what I'll have to do is eventually forgo the pockets, block the thing really carefully and sew the whole thing up so the front lies flat, but I'm just too discouraged by the whole thing to mess with it anymore at the moment.

The yarn I used was Madelinetosh Pashmina, which, despite coming in very tangly skeins and being rather splitty, is still one of my favorite yarns ever. I used size seven needles here, and the fabric has a beautiful drape to it (which may explain why the pockets won't stay put?)

So, that's Goodale for now - I may try and fix up the pockets when I'm in a more problem solving mood, but for now I'm going to put it aside. Just last night I was trying to explain to my mom that I love knitting because it's more forgiving and doesn't demand perfection the way sewing does (much like, to my mind anyway, the way cooking forgives mistakes in ways that baking doesn't - so, knitting is to sewing as cooking is to baking!) - not so much with this sweater, I'm afraid. 

FO: bluebird streamside

I finished this awhile ago and have been too busy wearing it all over Los Angeles to blog about it, but, in any case, my Streamside cardigan is finished!

The Pattern: This was my first project by Cecily Glowik MacDonald (I had a terrifically hard time choosing which one I wanted to knit, because I seriously love and would wear almost everything she's designed). I did find those four neck stitches at the top of the shoulder a tiny bit awkward, but maybe that's just my sloppy knitting. In any case, this sweater is gorgeous. I wish I was a better knitter so I could have done the pockets - I actually knit them both, sewed one on, realized it looked terrible, and then spent half an hour picking it back out. I also totally misread the pattern to include about 20 stitches of 1x1 rib along the front, which I suspected was a it off early on, but I liked the way it looked so I kept it, even though I am the slowest 1x1 rib knitter on the planet. Anyway, multiple testaments to my own stupidity aside, this is a fantastic pattern. The shaping on this is so pretty and flattering, and I'd like to try this again while trying a different technique for the super cute little pockets. As I said, I really love this sweater, and have been wearing it out quite a bit already. 

And the yarn: Fiberphile Super Squish Worsted in Bluebird. So much love - a soft, squishy worsted yarn that just gets softer after blocking, and comes in my new favorite blue colorway ever. Bluebird is a seriously gorgeous blue, and the yarn is just variegated enough to add some depth without going all splotchy (it's a delicate balance! I swear!) I knit this a bit loosely with size 8 needles, and love the resulting fabric - I would definitely knit with this again.

Also, I love the buttons, which have pretty little chrysanthemums on them. I'm in LA for the summer, and my dad lives down the street from a sewing supplies store, where I spent ages pouring over all the buttons. They had a few in a slightly closer color, but not enough for my cardigan, so I went with the lighter shade, and now I'm happy I did. Yay, buttons. 

ghosts of sweaters past

A weird-and-nice thing about coming home in between yearlong stints abroad is finding all sorts of things you forgot you had wedged in your mother's closet. In my case, this not only involves a lot of stashed yarn (exciting!) but also sweaters of the past. I started knitting five years ago in hopes of making sweaters, and - in typical me style - bit off way more than I could chew in the start, so there are a lot of malformed lumpish things that beg to be unravelled - though after putting in as much work as I had, I never had the heart to oblige. It wasn't until I stumbled across this book that suddenly I realized that a) sweaters didn't have to be this giant Everest of a project and that b) customization is infinitely possible. Fortunately I had lots of time to experiment - in the 1.5 months between returning to Brooklyn from an epic backpacking trip and moving to Vietnam at the start of 2008, my boyfriend of many years and I broke up, and I found myself sitting in a half empty apartment with very little to do except apply for my CELTA program, practice Vietnamese, sew a skirt (badly), cobble together a quilt (even more badly) and of course, knit. Which I did, a lot, accompanied by marathon sessions of Project Runway and giant cups of Dunkin Donut's coffee (I lived next door to a Dunkin' Donuts, it was awesome).

This was well before I'd learned about Ravelry, and I didn't have access to many sweater patterns that weren't boxy and unflattering. The great thing about Ann Budd's books is that you can totally customize based on the bare bones she provides, so both of these sweaters are actually from the same pattern. This white sweater - knit in KnitPicks Shine Worsted in Cream - was, if not perfect, at least more or less what I was going for - a very wide v-neck with waist shaping and lace at the cuffs. The neckline is a little weird, and the underarms are a bit baggier than I'd like, but I was still pretty happy when I finished.

As for the first of the January 2008 sweaters, the less said the better - there are so, so many things wrong with this sweater, it's best you don't see it close up. I ran out of yarn, so the collar is a totally different dye lot than the rest of the body and it shows. There are weird holes in the fabric that still baffle me. Best of all, the shape of the neck was so totally wrong and wonky that - in what I'm sure is a reflection of my mental state at the time - I decided to just fudge the neckline by FOLDING IT OVER and picking up stitches from elsewhere in the fabric. 

Amazingly, I wore this first sweater on many a Dunkin' Donuts run while knitting the second, though in my defense, it was winter and the offending details were well covered up in winter clothes. Oh, sweater. It's so sad and messed up, but I was so proud of actually making a pullover that fit at the time. I still don't have the heart to unravel it.