Posts from — June 2007

When Jenifleur posted these socks the other day,  I just fell in love with the heel.  Turns out it is a technique I had yet to try…encroachment short rows aka the Sherman heel.  I looked at the tutorial and had no trouble understanding it but I am convinced that not one of the five heels I did with it turned out correctly (I get credit for perseverance, right?).  Despite my best efforts, the Sherman heel seemed to have holes no matter what I did.   The sock looked ok just sitting there, but stretched just a little…nasty gaps.  I finally gave up (only after getting out some worsted and playing with the whole encroachment thing some more) and moved on to my usual double wrap short row.  Boring, but something I can do reliability and mindlessly.

Remember how my Coachella was very low in the front?  Well, I soaked it again and stretched the crap out of it lengthwise.  I can’t explain why the short row chest is still in the right place after that, but it is!  Plus the neck now hangs properly…drapey but not in the bordering on obscene way it was before.  It did still stretch a little through the evening but not nearly to the extent it did with the first wear.  I was still decent by the time I got home.  I won’t bore you with more pics since it basically looks the same just not as low. 

I’m surprised someone didn’t comment on the inside of the skirt (New Look 6433) hanging up on Friday.  I was quite sure that you would have noticed the impending problem.  After I tried it on, I realized that oops…since the back hem is (purposefully) longer than the front…well, the inside shows. :doh:  I was starting to think that this skirt was just not meant to be.  Then I had an idea (one that I am sure will make experienced sewers cringe).  I had just enough fabric left to cut another back flounce (albeit in two pieces) and somehow get it on the inside without destroying the whole skirt.  My original (stupid) plan was to whip stitch the edges together by hand.  Then it dawned on me that I didn’t have to rip the WHOLE hem (no way I was going through doing the whole thing over…it took me several tries to get the hang of the blind hem) so I just ripped the back part of the hem,  sewed in the new flounce with right sides facing then ironed and folded it up and attached it to the inside seams.  Voila!  Not the perfect solution, but at least it makes it wearable!   

This is such a cute skirt and I would love to make it again (especially now that I know what I’m doing) but it had this annoying habit of riding up all day as I wore it.  It is supposed to fit an inch below the waist but it just wont’ stay put.  Maybe it has something to do with shortening it?  Oh and sorry for the headless picture (I know that really bothers some people) but I was looking very grumpy.  I don’t know why…I had a cute new skirt to wear and lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Jim.  What could be better than that (except maybe some new shoes and 568 pounds of cashmere yarn)?  (I don’t think there were quite enough parenthesis in this post…do you?)

The Summer of Socks 2007 officially started last week.  I was a little late casting on since I had a pair already on the needles.  They took a little longer than expected since I decided to knit until I ran out of yarn.  If you’ve ever wondered how much you can get out of one skein (I wear 8.5-9 shoes) of Opal, these will give you a good idea.  To refresh your memory:  Opal Feelings 1701, US 1 needles and Maia’s toe up gusseted heel.  Rember how I said the slipped purl stitch on the heel flap looked messy compared to the slipped knit stitch?  Tightening the end stitch as I went took care of the problem.

For my first SOS pair, I was bitten by the monkey.  Yes, yet another pair of Monkey Socks (Opal Hundertwasser 1434) on the way.  I have seen them on so many blogs lately that when faced with what pair to knit next it was the only pattern I could think about…even though they are top down.  So maybe I have upside down monkeys from doing them toe up?  Fortunately, I don’t care.  I apparently don’t care about matching my socks more than fraternally either!

I’ve officially seen this enough times that I had to do it. 

You Are the Thumb

You’re unique and flexible. And you defy any category. Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well. You are a natural leader… but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few.You get along well with: The Middle FingerStay away from: The Pinky

I mentioned the other day that Bonnie inspired me to get out the sewing machine.  I think I also mentioned that my sewing skills are pretty basic, right?  A little background…y’all already know I have the “craft gene”.  I also learned to be crafty through osmosis from a mom who crocheted, cross stitched, sewed, cooked, gardened (that’s sort of crafty too), macrame (it was the 70s!), wood burned (still the 70s) and latch hooked (yes, still the 70s).  I’ve probably left something out (no, silly…not the knitting….she never knit) but you get the idea.  I always wanted to learn to sew and when I was about 6ish my mom help me cut out a pattern for my doll and I hand sewed it by myself.  It seemed I would be destined for sewing greatness when I was old enough to operate a machine but somehow the interest never materialized.  My only contact with sewing from then on was picking out the pattern for the formal dresses my mom made throughout high school and handsewing on an occasional button.  Fast forward to November 2005.  Tuesday Morning had a big sale on sewing machines and I decided it was finally time.  I did a tote and a handbag with plans for more, but I haven’t touched it again until now!  The only excuse I have is that it isn’t convenient.  The machine is upstairs in a dark room with yucky carpet that houses much of the stock for Diva Knitting.  It isn’t conducive to popping up there to sew whenever the mood strikes (especially when there are mounds of roving to navigate to get to it).  However, since my sisters are coming to stay next weekend (that means serious cleaning and reorganizing of Diva Knitting Inc. Upstairs so that I can have two beds free) I can now easily get to the sewing machine.

Sew…….Wednesday I started cutting out my pattern.  Bonnie mentioned that the skirt looked like a good warmup, so I thought, “Great!  That’s exactly the one I’ll start with.”  Well, I thought that meant the pattern would be relatively easy and it is…but apparently I am a moron.  Of course, I couldn’t just do the pattern as it was.  I wanted to shorten it.  No big.  The pattern said just fold up the bottom to the height you want.  Easy.  In theory.  Here is the first attempt.  I knew there was a problem when the back flounce wasn’t matching up to the back of the skirt.  And then there is the fact that it looks completely wrong.  Look closely at the pattern picture compared to mine.

One nice thing about sewing is that “frogging” isn’t nearly as painful as it is with knitting.  Undoing the seams took about 5 minutes and cutting the new piece (fortunately I had enough fabric, ironically because I had shortened it) and redoing it took maybe half an hour.  What is really irritating is how I can do all this work not noticing something so obvious!  In my defence though, when the pattern said fold it up, it didn’t say which way (even though I still SHOULD have noticed, but it was curved darn it).  Now I just have the waistband, zipper and hem left.  Speaking of the hem…I started to do it on the machine (as suggested in the pattern) and it looked TERRIBLE.  I guess I’m going to hem it by hand.  Fellow sewers…thoughts, suggestions, help with the hem???

 Finally, that knitting thing.  I’m about 5 minutes away from having my Opal socks finished.  Which is a good thing, since yesterday marked the beginning of the Summer of Socks.   I need to get a new pair on the needles!

Coachella (from Knitty) is finished and made it’s debut last night at dinner (Cactus Pear).  I love this top but I have a few “issues”.  One thing that was not an issue was the sizing.  The yarn substitution and size I chose worked out well.  However, when I tried it on the neck was very high.  No problem…that’s what blocking is for right?  I’ll just stretch that baby right out and then it will drape gracefully just like the pattern picture.  Well.  Yes…it did drape.  See for yourself (below).  Does anyone else see a problem here?  Now it’s just a *little* too low.   Of course, Jim didn’t mind.    It seemed to get worse as the wearing went on.  By the time we got home, I could wear it as an off the shoulder top (sorry the picture is blurry…Jim may have be a little tipsy).  Notice the difference in width between the blocking picture and the one after I had taken it off.  I’m hoping another soak and a stringent stretching lengthwise will correct the width.

Ok, on to the modifications.  Yarn:  100% Bamboo Twize in 326 (twellow), 2.5 skeins.  I really like the fabric this yarn creates.  It’s a little heavy though which might be contributing to the low drape factor.  Gauge: 4 spi and 6 rpi.  I took out two rows before the short rows and two rows around the waist and worked one repeat of the short row shaping.  I decreased two more stitches for the waist shaping (108 sts remain).  I skipped the increases and just worked even until the end adding a twin leaf lace (Knitter’s Bible, page 123) worked over 18+1 sts which worked out perfectly (I did have to increase one stitch for the lace…109 total).  Measurements before blocking:  12 inches wide and 19 inches long.  After wearing:  17 inches wide by 19 long (how is that possible???)

I’ll definitely make this again.  I love the construction and the small amount of yarn used.  I also like the possibility of doing different patterns on the bottom.  I think it would be a fabulous and hot dressy top in the right yarn.

Edited 6/28 to add: I soaked it again and stretched the crap out of it lengthwise.  I can’t explain why the short row chest is still in the right place after that, but it is!  Plus the neck now hangs properly…drapey but not in the bordering on obscene way it was before.  It did still stretch a little through the evening but not nearly to the extent it did with the first wear.  I was still decent by the time I got home.  I won’t bore you with more pics since it basically looks the same just not as low. 

It may still be a couple of days away on the calendar but summer is definitely here.  So far today in Cincinnati it’s 95 degrees…which makes me very happy that my newest project is sleeveless!  I cast on for Coachella (from Knitty) yesterday.  I’m getting ready to start the lower body section, so I think I may have it finished tonight.  I’m using Twize  (color:  twellow) from Southwest Trading company, 100% Bamboo.  The pattern gauge is 4.5 spi and I am got 4 spi with this yarn on US 5 needles.  According to the measurements, I think I would take a small which calls to cast on 130…130/4=28.8″.  So…I cast on for the XS…112/4= 28″.  Hopefully this works out.  The row gauge is a little bigger too, so I’ve taken out a row here and there at the “appropriate” places.  Who knows what may or may not be the “appropriate” place???  I guessed used my best knitterly judgement so we’ll just have to wait and see.

 Bonnie (how yummy is that top????) has been doing the cutest sewing projects lately.  I was inspired to get a couple of new patterns and fabric for more summer clothing.  One can’t dress in knits alone!  My sewing skills are pretty basic.  However, I was able to get most of this on sale so if I totally screw up don’t end up with the perfect result I still got good sewing practice at a reasonable price.  I think I would sew a lot more if I had a good place to leave the machine set up.  I can’t wait until we are in Arizona permanently…I have a whole craft room already planned.  I am quite sure having the spinning wheel and sewing machine set up and ready to go at any time would lead to a new level of craftiness.

A friend just sent me this link and I must pass it on.  If you are offended by foul language, you shouldn’t click the link.  However, if you are up for a funny, politically inspired, short cartoon/movie with obligatory cursing…GO HERE. 

You’ve probably seen it by now…the new summer Knitty is up and yours truly happens to have a design in this issue:  Askew.  The consensus?  Well, there really isn’t one.  Some people like it and some don’t which I am totally fine with.  I don’t like every design out there either.  We all have different tastes and I respect that.  My favorite is Coachella.  I’ll be casting that one on as soon as I finish up my next submission (it’s for Knitty and the deadline is Friday).

 If you decide to make Askew, I invite you to use this post and comments as a resource.  I would love to hear about yarn substitutions that worked well, modifications, corrections, etc.  Speaking of yarn selection…there has been some chatter about the selection of Silk Garden for the pattern.  There is mohair and wool (”WHAT?  FOR SUMMER?” you cry) but it is also 45% silk.  Also…you have a stash.  I have a stash.  I like to knit from my stash and rarely use the suggested yarn for any pattern.  Feel free to do the same!  Another pattern note:  I originally designed this top to have very wide set straps (which is how it is pictured in the issue).  Mandy (the fabulous knitty technical editor and by the way, wow is that a tough job…I never realized all the work that goes into an issue of Knitty until now) in her infinite wisdom suggested that the back and straps be bound off and attached as the knitter likes.  So…when you make it is may look different (and maybe suit you and your bra straps better) if you choose to attach the straps closer together in the back.  Happy Knitting! 

Additional Notes:

6/13/2007  I have seen some discussion of not being able to wear a bra with Askew (and some of the other Knitty summer tops).  First, see note above about the straps.  Second, I am wearing a bra in the photos and it’s not strapless!  I can’t remember which one exactly, but it is from Victoria’s Secret and is a balconet/balconette (type that into their search to see what I mean) style that has wide set straps.   They also have racerback styles and multiple position strap styes up to 40DD for those interested in Coachella.  For larger sizes, check out BraSmyth…they have clear strap bras in larger sizes as well as racerbacks. 

6/14/2007  Debi pointed out that Lane Bryant also has racerback, balconette and clear strap bras up to 42DD.  They’re buy 2 get 2 free right now!  This one is really cute and can be worn 6 ways.

6/18/2007  Anna writes, “I’ve had three balls of Silk Garden sitting in my stash just looking for a pattern, and when this came it was like a sign from above. However, I’m having serious gauge issues! Serious as in I’ve gone up to US10.5 and still get 18 sts to 4 inches, instead of the 16 the pattern is asking for and when I get to that size needle, the fabric doesn’t feel sturdy at all - and if I’m supposed to block it out even more…? Any advice/reassurance?”  My answer: Don’t worry too much about the needle size you have to use…I am a pretty loose knitter so my sizes tend to be smaller than what others use.

Just to confirm, you are using Silk Garden and not Silk Garden Lite? The lite is thinner and would be causing you gauge problems. Are you doing your gauge swatch in st st? The st st for the back is naturally a little looser than the bias front with the same needle. After blocking the back will be about 2.5 spi.  The front, if you measure diagonally is about 3.5 spi after blocking.

I am enclosing a close up of the back and the front. Notice you can see my hand through the fabric…so it is pretty airy when you’re finished. Please let me know your thoughts and I’ll try to help more if you need it! 

7/2/2007  Wendy from Earthwhisper just finished Askew and it looks beautiful on her!  She did do a few modifications so you might want to read her blog post.  One of the most important mods included the finishing.  They way part of the finishing instructions are written in Knitty right now is a little confusing (I emailed them so it can be corrected).  Where it says “sew side seams matching garter st section at upper edge of back to garter st section at base of straps”…this might make you think you should attach the back where the first garter st section is ON the straps.  If you look closely at the picture (which smart Wendy did) you’ll see that the back is attached to the front at the last garter st section on the front panel.  You could actually even attach it a little further down if this made the fit more comforatble for you.  I often pin things together before finishing to check the fit before I do the final seaming.  It’s a bit of a pain but allows for the best fit to my body (which happens to be short wasited and in need of minor deviations from the pattern at times).  She also chose to move the straps in rather than have the wide set straps.  It was an easy mod so if that appeals to you just follow her lead!  I also thought that the straps could be modified by starting them out wider (just use more sts to start when continuing for the strap) and then decreasing along the armhole side.  This would also alow the straps to come in a bit.

7/7/07 Lilith just finished her Askew with some fabulous modifications.  Check it out!

Friday morning I cast off the Forest Path Stole. It was a long and arduous road but worth the adventure. The pattern is very well written. The only time I had trouble was in the beginning when I was over thinking. Other than that, any mistakes came from my own stupidity and inattention.  I have La and Debi to thank for this hell lovely experience.  La posted that she started the FPS and was doing it as part of a KAL.  I was stupid enough to say something like “too bad the KAL already started or I would do it” and then she and Debi immediately jumped in to say it wasn’t too late.  So basically, I was shamed into this project!  I’m not complaining though…I have a feeling that if I had taken the time to think about it I never would have knit this life sucking beautiful stole.  Seriously…I love it and I’m glad I did it but…whew!  Kind of glad to finally be finished if you can’t tell

The Skinny
Pattern: Forest Path Stole
Yarn: The Alpaca Yarn Company Suri Elegance in black
Needles: 60″ Addi Turbo US 1
Date Began: April 15, 2007 (this would actually be the date that I cast on for the second time)
Date Finished: June 8, 2007
Measurements before blocking: 58″ x 24″ (Remember when I said something about the stole already being 60″ towards the end? Well…don’t measure your work half heartedly while holding it in air.)
Measurements after blocking: 80″ x 30″
Mods:  None, except stopped on tier 21 instead of the full 23 tiers
Total Hours: 120

I wanted to keep track of the time I spent on this pattern because I knew it would be one of those that people would ask about. Of course, the evening it was debuted I got an “I want one!” Not that I wouldn’t ever knit it again (especially if I won Deb’s 6 tier start) but I am definitely going to enjoy a break from the FPS.

We have a great weekend on tap here at Chez Kemp!  First we’re having dinner tonight with live jazz at Dee Felice Cafe with some friends.  I’m not sure yet what I’ll be wearing but I do know one piece of the ensemble.  Here’s a hint…see the photo on the right.

For tomorrow:  sports.  I’ve told you before that my husband is from the Cleveland area.  For those of you who don’t know, Cleveland is fortunate enough to have three professional sports teams:  Indians, Caveliers and Browns.  Unfortunately, none of these teams has won a championship in more than 50 years (I’m not going to count the Browns in ‘64…that was pre superbowl) which makes for some very anxious fans.  Why the heck am I telling you this? The Cavs are in the NBA finals tomorrow night.  The Indians lead the central division and are playing the Reds this weekend (which means me, Jim, the Opal 1701 and sock deux will be attending the game tomorrow).  Jim is thrilled with all of this and the multiple sports viewing means lots of knitting time for me!  Hope you’re able to get some in too.