...and a warning :)

Caution, pissiness ahead

I picked up some Paton’s SWS - Soy wool stripes - a couple of weeks ago.  While I’m not especially fond of stripes, the idea of self-striping yarn has its appeal.  I have worked with one other such several years ago, Noro’s Silk Garden.  I have talked about that before and though I found the stripes to be charming and the colors lovely, they were the only things about that yarn that I liked.  Having played with the SWS for the last couple of days, I regret to inform you that my feelings about the new yarn are about the same.

First of all, I don’t care for slubby yarns.  That’s not usually a problem, as I simply leave them to those better able to appreciate their unique characteristics.  I ask you, does that yarn look slubby to you?  It didn’t look slubby to me and yet there was this…





...which I didn’t notice until last night by which time I had worked up most of the first ball.  And, as I knit the stuff up, there was this…





...and this.





If they were slubs, there really should be more than two of them in the entire ball of yarn.  Alas, they weren’t slubs, they were knots.  To be fair, they were apparently done with the intention of preserving the color flow and I left them there for the same reason.  But I really don’t want knots in my yarn.  Call me rigid, but I feel that my $6 entitles me to a smooth, unbroken 110 yards of yarn.

The yarn doesn’t work up badly, but it’s slow going because it has almost no twist.  It’s just lots of tiny fibers bundled together.  This characteristic makes it beyond splitty.  I don’t usually have a problem with that - even with notoriously splitty yarns - but this is orders of magnitude worse.  There’s no watching TV while working with this stuff because if you take your eyes off it for a second, you’re sticking your needle into the yarn rather than through the stitch and horribleness ensues.

I pulled this out of the stash with the idea of making a matching cowl and pair of mitts.  Sadly, that’s not going to work out.  Even with its issues, were the yarn skin-soft, I would proceed.  It isn’t.  I can’t always tell until I have worked it up whether a yarn is going to be acceptable to my skin.  And there have been some surprises.  Some yarns that felt harsh in the ball worked up to be very comfortable.  Some that felt soft in the ball turned out to be intolerable.

In the ball, this felt slick and somewhat hard - but not prickly or scratchy.  The hand of the fabric is different.  When I held the fabric up to my neck, it felt as though I had been knitting with flexible emery boards - very scratchy and uncomfortable.  Poop…

The fabric is attractive and the colors are nicely matched, I think.  Though the ball appears to have a lot of the orange/gold, that’s only because that was the last color in the length.  Most of the colors are subdued - a dull teal, a dull bronze and a dull plum.  The gold is really only a highlight and while this isn’t an intrinsic fault of the yarn, it was disappointing as the overall effect is much quieter and much more masculine than I was looking for.

So my questions are these:

1.  Why, when the yarn is self-striping, is it’s quality so poor?  Is this a rule of some kind?  My inner cynic suspects that the manufacturer believes we’ll be so taken with the colors and how they work, that we’ll forgive the questionable quality.

And…

2.  Since this is not going to work for clothing, and since the lack of twist means that it probably isn’t good for anything that would get a lot of wear, what do I do with it now?

I did finish the stole but I haven’t been able to get outside for a modeled shot.  Not that I’m anything like a model (heh!) but it should be shown that way for the best look at the completed garment.  As soon as I have been able to do that, I will upload a couple more photos.

This stole is a prime example of how entrelac can be used for color work.  While intarsia, stranded knitting and Fair Isle techniques can be sophisticated and beautiful, they can also be a bit intimidating - or, perhaps, simply not ideal options for the person who prefers to keep things simple.  Entrelac offers another way to play with colors :)

This stole grew out of the need for a new cold-weather wrap as the old one, having done yeoman’s work for several years, was showing its wear.  As I was rooting through the stash, several things fell together that seemed to be compatible.  They are quite disparate in their origins and weights, but in the end they united nicely :)

There are three different yarns here.  The first type, I acquired at a thrift shop last January - five hanks of Manos del Uruguay in assorted but compatible colorways.

This is bulky yarn, approximately 135 yards/hank.

The second is Peer Gynt wool found at the same thrift shop at the same time as the Manos and which I later overdyed :)

This is a DK weight yarn, about 99 yards/ball.

The last is Paton’s Classic Merino, acquired in cream and dyed a slightly orangey gold.

This is a worsted weight yarn, about 220 yards/ball.

Clearly this was a stash diving/busting project :) You could, of course, purchase yarns of consistent weights and colors and it would simplify things somewhat.  But, as you know if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, I often tend to build my projects around what I have - and this is what I had :)

You’ll need about 1300 yards of yarn, call it worsted weight, and size 8 US (5.00 mm) needles.  I used, roughly, 300 yards each of two solid colors and about 135 yards each of three different variegated colors and about 200 yards of a fourth variegate.  You can and should, of course, use any combination of colors that suits you and pleases your eye.  I named this stole after the myriad warm, autumn colors of Indian corn because that’s what it reminded me of.  Your stole might be A Day at the Beach or The Tulip Fields or Summer Sunset or The Forest Floor - depending on what sets of colors strike your fancy :)

I made this by creating a center section and then picking up (and swapping off) on both ends to better keep track of the color usage since I didn’t really know how far each of the colors I had would go.  You don’t have to do it this way but it is an interesting option if you’re uncertain of how much yarn you’ll need for any given tier of colors.  I can tell you that each tier will use very approximately 35-40 yards of worsted weight yarn.  Your yarn choice and gauge will affect this number, perhaps greatly, so swatching might be a good idea :)

The basic formula is this:

Cast on 54 stitches, loosely!  Use larger needles if you need to.  These stitches are going to be stretched along the diagonal so they cannot be tight.  Following standard entrelac procedure (see All Aboard the Entrelac Express) start working blocks of 9 stitches x 18 rows - you should have six blocks per tier.  Continue, swapping your colors in and out as suits you until the stole is the length you want (mine came in at about 25” wide and about 70” long) and end off.  Really, there’s nothing more to it than that! 

I like symmetry which is why I started in the center and worked out toward both ends.  You may prefer the serendipity of random color changes or the serenity of simple stripes.  The technique is very simple and straightforward - no tricks here :) In this piece, all the excitement comes from the colors and how you decide to use them.

I’ve also finished Myria’s Here, Kitty, Kitty... scarf…

...and she is very pleased with it.  So am I, for that matter :)

Chat is on for Saturday night - come and bring your knitting.  We’ll dish :)

I worked off and on all day on the Indian Corn stole but didn’t get it finished :( The good news is that the end is definitely in sight and it should be completed sometime this weekend.  Am I going to bore you with pictures of it still unfinished?  You bet :)

I guess that name is going to stick.  It surfaced in my noggin as a useful way to refer to it while it was still in progress but I hadn’t been thinking of using it as a permanent moniker because the reference is all to the colors.  This will be more like a set of guidelines than a real pattern (much like the Lace Mohair Blanket) and I am loathe to suggest or even imply that this is the only set of acceptable hues.  I guess I’ll just have to bear that in mind when I write up the process :)





The scarf is better than halfway done and has been as enjoyable a project this time as it was the first.  I think I’m going to block this one a little differently.  The first scarf suffered some slight distortion of the lace motifs due to rigorous pinning.  I think this time, I’ll stick to finger smoothing with, perhaps, an occasional, gently placed pin just to even out the sides to see if I can keep the lace from skewing.





Drop by for a while if you’re in the neighborhood!

And have a wonderful weekend!

While, in general, this course of chemo is causing less difficulty in terms of brain-fog and dexterity than previous courses have, it comes with its own little bag of side-effects.  These seem, for me, to take the form of abdominal issues which while not terribly serious are rather uncomfortable.

This is, as I find many things are, both annoying and amusing.  I have turned into a walking cliché - constipated, grumpy and hardly able to think about anything else.  Yet, while all this is going on, there’s a little, giggling voice in the back of my head gleefully observing: “Well, what do you know!  You really do get cranky when you can’t take a sh*t!”

This too, not to put too fine a point on it, will pass :)

So I haven’t been doing a lot on the shawl as that does require some concentration.  It’s going to be a long project anyway and won’t suffer much from sporadic attention.  I’ve been working on Myria’s scarf and have the Indian Corn stole slated for this afternoon’s work.  The hardest things about that is swapping out the colors - which, of course, isn’t hard at all.  I find that I have to stop and weave in ends every three or four tiers though because otherwise those bowknots on the edges really start to bug me :)

I did finish the first sock…

...which fits perfectly :) I’m finding that sport weight yarn (or heavy fingering weight) + 60 stitches + size 2 US (2.75 mm) needles = perfect Robbyn-sized sock.  I varied from the written pattern by substituting a standard wedge toe for the star toe of the original.  I wound up not caring for the star toe much though I’m sure it works just dandy for many folks.





I did cast on for the Fu (flying bat) scarf but promptly forgot how to count, so that went back to the drawing board.  I want to put a border of some type on the sides too, but don’t quite know what to do yet.  Razor shell would work nicely but I’ve used that so often that I’d like to try something else this time.  I think I also want to get some little silver seed beads to scatter about so this one is going to wait for a bit.

Finally…

I was working on dad’s chair blanket in the hospital yesterday while they were feeding me my drugs.  A student nurse wandered over to tell me that her boyfriend’s grandmother knitted blankets all the time too.  “Whatever it takes to keep you busy!”, she chirped as she strolled away, completely unaware of the jeopardy her life was in - if only briefly :)

You know, I could never condone the use of a pejorative term to refer to a group that isn’t involved or doesn’t get (in any meaningful way) what you do.  But I do begin to understand the temptation for a knitter to refer to a condescending non-knitter as a muggle.

Sigh…

Grey day with peek-a-boo sunshine today.  Humid too - you know, it’s an interesting change - at least for a day :) When the monsoons stopped a couple of weeks ago, New England entered a period of almost halcyon weather - clear, sunny, soft air and moderate temperatures and it’s stayed like that!  Until today.  We won’t be having an Indian summer this year.  October is on the downhill side and we’ve yet to have our first frost.  According to the local weather critters, it doesn’t look likely for the near future either.

That’s what you come here to read, isn’t it?  Weather reports?  Heheh…

Yesterday started with cleaning up the work basket which was piled with...well...swatches mostly going back a looooooooooog time :) The pile was getting high and precipitous and there wasn’t space for the small current projects for the detritus and scraps.  Okay - the scraps and little remainder balls got stored and the swatches were either frogged or tossed.  Anything that wasn’t being worked on currently was moved.

I had to do this because I’ve had the most appalling case of startitis :) And I need my projects around me!  Not old, unsatisfactory abandoned ones, but the new, the current, the exciting!  Well, the new anyway :)

You know about most of these things already.  The sock has taken up residence in the kitchen because I actually seem to make more progress on it if it’s out there.  Myria cooks or cleans up and I knit on the sock and we chat.  Seems to work :)

I’m plowing along on the circular shawl and making decent progress.  Since this is the project I have to think about the most, this generally gets worked on in the morning when my brain has a modicum of focus and clarity.  I am enjoying this greatly - including watching it grow which I had serious doubts about when I started it.  I’m very happy with my fauns so far.  That’s good ‘cause there’s going to be a lot of them!

The autumn/winter shawl also gets worked on but usually in the evening because it’s brainless stockinette and doesn’t require me to be too alert.  A good thing as a rule :) It’s about two and a half feet long now and coming along nicely.  There’s no picture though because I couldn’t seem to take a good photo this morning.  Ever have days like that?  Maybe the shawl just doesn’t want it’s portrait up here while it’s unfinished.  Think that could be the case?  No, me neither :)

I started Myria’s scarf yesterday too.  It’s been a while since I used the Merino Style yarn and my fingers had forgotten how nice it is to work with.  I’m also using the Harmony wooden needles for this and I must say the whole thing is just a pleasure :) This will be hard to give up but I think Myria might let me borrow it on occasion if I ask nicely!

I mentioned the sock in the kitchen, and - as if that all weren’t enough - I’m thinking seriously about turning this…

...into a version of this, Fu or the Flying Bats scarf.  You all know how I feel about bats and I’ve wanted to do this pattern since it showed up.  I’ve even charted the lace for a little more ease in the working.  I admit I also get a kick out of how I envision the end result - almost formal looking at a casual glance until you get close enough to see the Myotis lucifugus (little brown bat) which is most common around here.

What the hell - every now and again you just gotta start stuff :)

Chatters is definitely on for Saturday evening.  Drop by if you’re in the virtual neighborhood!  And have a great weekend :)

This morning, I was dreaming about a yarn blend of cashmere and angora.  Wouldn’t that be something to work with?  And to wear?  Ahhhh.....

When my Knitpicks order didn’t arrive on Friday, I - shamefully, I admit - pouted like a three year old denied a lollipop just before dinner time.  I know better than to be planning something that depends on the arrival of materials.  In the past, orders have been placed to try yarns out, or needles, or even with a project in mind - but a project that was still out there a ways.  This time it was something I wanted to start right away and I can’t say my attitude about waiting for delivery was especially adult :)

However, when I got home Saturday afternoon, there was the box, sitting on the back porch, waiting for me!  Yay, yippee and hoo-rah!  I practically danced up the stairs :) Contained within were the following items:

There are 4 skeins of this - Gloss lace weight in the color Port.  I wanted to see what it was like and figured as long as I was ordering it, I might as well order enough to actually do something with.  It comes to something over 1700 yards, so there’s plenty of yarn.  I’ll have my usual arguments with lace weight, but it does have a slighter thicker feel than, say the baby alpaca, so I’m hopeful.  The hand is luscious and the color is rich - it practically gleams in the sunlight.  I won’t be using this right away, but I am looking forward to trying it out.  I am not looking forward to winding 440 yard balls, but hey - that goes with the territory :)





There are also 4 balls of the Merino Style in Cornflower as requested by Myria for a Here, Kitty, Kitty...scarf.  I love this color myself and since the scarf is a simple and fairly quick knit, this should be done before too long - certainly before the seriously cold weather gets here!

I had also ordered some of the wooden Harmony interchangeable needles to try.  I’d had serious concerns about the colors on the needles impairing my ability to see the stitches clearly but these needles are so clearly beloved by so many lace knitters that I felt I had to give them a shot.

The verdict?  They are all the good things other knitters have said about them and knitting with them sails along nicely with less danger of stitches slipping off - as with a shiny, metal needle.  The sharpish points are wonderful!  On the whole, they were quite a bit better than I expected.  Two things though - on one of the size 6 needles, the tightening hole has a little lip where it was not quite properly machined.  The lip catches the yarn.  Not good.  I can take care of this myself so it’s not a serious issue except that I don’t expect to have to “fix” things that are brand new.  The other thing?  The colors of the needles are indeed a problem.  I can see that they won’t be with lighter or brighter colors of yarn, but for what I’m using, it doesn’t work very well.

As this picture was taken in bright, direct sunlight, you can see the stitches clearly on the wooden needle (the one on the left).  I don’t generally get to work in bright sunlight though and under standard room lighting, things are a lot less clear because the yarn is in the same tonal family as the needles.  Here, I am knitting the project onto metal needles (the one on the right) so that I can see clearly what I’m doing - always an advantage with lace :)

I will save the wooden needles for a project with lighter colored yarn.  The lace weight mohair blend I got a few weeks ago is a light grey/beige and should work beautifully.  I probably won’t buy more of these however because I don’t want to have to worry about the color of my needles when considering the color of the yarn.  It seems basic to me that needles should work with any yarn - not just a certain range of shades.

Finally there was this - Palette fingering weight in the Wood color.  This color had been discounted making the yarn an exceptional buy and I got 10 balls of it - somewhere around 2300 yards.  I’m not fond of browns and had ordered this with the intention of overdying it with a deep, burgundy red.  Only when I opened the package, the color was so warm and almost coppery, that I had second thoughts about the dyeing.  It’s still a possibility, I suppose, but as I get further and further along on this…





...the less likely it becomes.  I tell you, I think I had this cast on less than a half-hour after I opened the box and I’ve been working on it ever since.  This is the circular, music/composer based shawl that finally crystallized in my brain a few weeks ago and for which I had been most anxiously awaiting the yarn.





I’m ready to do the next set of increases which will jump the stitch count to 288 around and to begin the next stitch pattern.  I’ve never worked a circular shawl before and it’s interesting to think about.  It’s starts easily and simply with a few stitches in the middle and grows from there.  But every bite is bigger (by a long shot!) than the one before it and I find myself taking a deep breath before starting those increase rounds.  I’m not generally a big stitch marker user either, but I have to say they’ve been a lifesaver here, not to mention making keeping track of all those stitches much less of a headache!

Oh, and as EZ observes in The Knitter’s Almanac, the whole thing draws up nicely and neatly into its own pouch with the yarn ball inside when you’re not working on it.  A very tidy project indeed!

So far, so good!  Onwards :)

Addendum - 10/15: I was incorrect about the lip on the tightening holes being on the needle.  They are, of course, on the ends of the attachable cable of which I had ordered a pair.  My apologies for such a silly error :)

The first shot of this chemo treatment has gone well - better than I would have hoped, actually :) I have retained my sense of taste (always one of the first things to disappear immediately after treatment) and haven’t been uncomfortable, sick or even nauseous.  In fact, it had the odd effect of making me feel very, slightly drunk for a couple of days - complete with the slight reduction of physical sensation, the tendency towards relaxation and mild mood elevation and a mild feeling of having zoned out.  Aside of the fact that I don’t trust myself to drive like this, it could be a lot worse.  I thank each and all of you for your good thoughts and prayers - I appreciate them very much :)

I completed the mid-section of the stole yesterday afternoon.  The colors are somewhat more riotous than the picture seems to want to indicate, but I am loving their richness and depth.  I have never seen anything like the Manos del Uruguay for saturation and depth of color and while I don’t care for think-n-thin yarn as a rule, I would work with this any time, just to have those incredible hues flowing through my fingers :)





Here, I’ve picked up the cast-on end and worked another series of beginning triangles.  Now to decide what color to go with next :) This section will be mirrored on the other end of the stole.

I did turn the heel on the sock…

...but was having some difficulty doing the gusset decreases and had to put the sock away after only a few rounds.  It isn’t uncommon for my dexterity to slip a couple of notches when I’m having chemotherapy but I’m hoping this is a temporary situation.  Even if it isn’t, I can still work a few rounds a day - it will get done slowly, but it will get done!

My Knitpicks order still hasn’t arrived and I’m getting a bit nervous.  I know their shipping (especially their free shipping) can take a bit of time and I’m trying to be patient.  Well, I was trying yo be patient.  Now I’m just trying to behave myself despite the fact that patience has fled!  Heheh… I want my yarn and needles!!!

Chatters is on for Saturday evening.  Drop by if you’ve a mind to - it’s always such a pleasant time :)

And in any case, have a wonderful weekend :)