Monthly Archives: July 2013

9:41 am - July 29, 2013 - AngelaH

This old house

The front of the house.

Two weekends ago (that is, not this past weekend, but the one before) I went home to Nova Scotia for four days. It’s always nice to go home, but this time there was an actual occasion: this year marks the 250th anniversary/birthday of the house I grew up in. Yes. My parents’ wooden house is (at least) 250 years old. Obviously, this is not usual, but it is especially impressive when you consider that the town it’s build next to burnt down twice.

The house was brought up on a barge from Connecticut in 1763. After the British expelled the Acadians from the Annapolis Valley they wanted to ensure that they couldn’t return, so in addition to burning their homes and fields, they brought Loyalist Americans north to settle the land.

My parents bought the house (which sits on five acres of land) in 1991 and have basically spent all the years since restoring historical details (such as exposing all the beams downstairs) and creating gardens. When I went home, it was to help them host a tour of the house and gardens, in support of the local historical society. I took a bunch of pictures, so I thought I’d share some.

Looking in – you can see the original height of the meadow on the left.

The walled garden is the newest edition and still a work in progress. It was excavated four years ago, at which point the walls were built, and every year since then something as been added. This is the first year that it has been fully planted, so a lot of the ground cover and whatnot hasn’t spread.

The view across the garden from the entrance. We ate dinner up here almost every night I was home (there’s a big stone table in the shelter).

The view from the far back corner, diagonally across from the entrance.

There are lots of flower beds and gardens, and a whole fenced in yard where we played as kids, but besides the new walled garden, the other sort of spectacular part of the property is the ravine. When we moved in, and for most of my childhood, it was a wild and overgrown swamp, but in the late nineties my dad had it excavated and turned it into two beautiful big ponds, which are now home to muskrats, many frogs, and a ton of water lilies.

Looking down toward the bottom pond, from the bend in the little stream that connects them.

Stone steps that lead down to the patio by the ponds/back up toward the house.

Of course my trip home wasn’t entirely about the house and gardens. My dad took my sister Connie and I to the south shore for lunch one day and, as luck would have it, there was a lovely new-to-me yarn shop. I was very good and didn’t go crazy, but I did walk away with this beauty:

Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in what I’m guessing is her Autumn colourway (she doesn’t write the names on the tags because they are hard to repeat exactly and people get mad about it, or so I’ve been told.)

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty excellent trip.

10:23 am - July 25, 2013 - AngelaH

It starts now

So, after a fair bit of thinking, I decided to go with Burrard for the Summer Sweater KAL. I have had this cardigan in my queue pretty much since the the Winter 2012 issue of Twist Collective came out. I love the symmetrical, geometric cables and the shawl collar (especially the shawl collar), and I don’t have anything like it in my wardrobe, so I know it will end up in pretty heavy rotation once the weather gets chilly.

To be honest, though, I came very close to going with the Everyday Linen Raglan. I liked the idea of a speedy project that would probably allow time to also finish Grace by the end of September. What made up my mind, though, was that I wanted to take advantage of the KAL to learn something new. I’ve never knit a sweater in pieces, and this seems like a good time to tackle seaming and piecing.

So, here we go. I cast on for an arm when I got home last night – I wanted to cast on for one of the fronts, but an arm functions like an extended swatch, so it seemed like a better, if less exciting, choice. Once I get through a few more inches and know what my gauge is saying, I’ll cast on for a front and then had two pieces going at once: one in plain stockinette and one with cables. That’s a good balance and should keep me pretty focused as things progress.

Did you decide to join the KAL too? Do you think it’s crazy to knit a heavy sweater in the middle of summer? If you’re worried about being subjected to nothing but purple/grey knitting photos for the next two months, don’t be – I cast on for my Daphne‘s last week and finished the first sock yesterday, before casting on for Burrard. I want theses socks on my feet, so I promise to pop flashes of colour in here from time to time, because they are beautiful.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Burrard, ssKAL

9:20 am - July 23, 2013 - AngelaH

Meanwhile, behind the scenes

Remember Willowherb? The socks I cast on way back in mid May? Yeah… I knit up the first one really quickly and then started the second one and then got distracted. You know how that is. The seasons were changing, other things seemed more pressing and one thing led to another and then a month had gone by.

That’s something I love about socks, though: they’re great little side projects. Whenever I didn’t quite feel like working on whatever was my main project, I’d knit on Willowherb. A few rows here, a few rows there, and by the time I was finished Kit, I was most of the way through the leg, so picking it up to finish didn’t feel like any big thing. And, of course, it wasn’t.

These socks were on the needles for almost two months, but in actual knitting time they didn’t take longer than two weeks to knit. (This is what I love about charted socks. There’s so much motivation to just finish at least this repeat or this section of a repeat before putting them down, which for me often results in knitting at least two or three more rows after deciding I’m done for the time being.) Sometimes coming back to a project that’s been sitting around can feel a it like a slog, but let me tell you, I enjoyed knitting these just as much in July as I did in May. I loved watching the stitches twist their way across the sock and holy moly, did I love this yarn. I have several more skeins in different colourways stashed and I can’t wait to use them!

Details
Pattern: Willowherb by Rachel Coopey
Yarn: Indigodragonfly Merino Sock in Safety Pin or Safety Pint: Discuss
Needles: 2.75mm
Mods: I was sort of in between the sizes listed, and rather than trying to knit the larger size at a tighter gauge, I opted to knit the smaller size a little looser. I didn’t need to loosen it up much, since it was a 68-stitch sock (my usual), but the twisted stitches and the way they cross over the top does tighten things up a bit. In the end, I got a sock that fits like a dream: tight enough to show off the lace and stitches, but not so tight that it’s hart to pull on or uncomfortable. Other than that, I deepened the heel by four rows, and I think that’s it.

I didn’t plan to leave so long between the two socks, so my notes are pretty bad and thus, they don’t quite match. Part of that is my own fault since I realized about four rows too late in the first sock that I’d somehow missed a couple of pattern rows. It’s in the foot and I considered ripping back, but I would have had to tink every row because ripping would be impossible with all the yarn overs and whatnot. It didn’t bother me that much, and I suspect only knitters will notice.

Categories: finished, Uncategorized Tags: socks, Willowherb

10:10 am - July 18, 2013 - AngelaH

Planning ahead

You know that theory that you should knit things in the season before you plan to wear them, so they’re ready and waiting when the appropriate season? Well, I have not been so good at that. See: Finishing my Woodstove Season cardigan in April, or knitting Kit in the heat of July (when wearing it would have been perfect).

The tricky thing about this, though, is that it means knitting the heavy wool sweaters I want to wear in the fall and winter during the hot and heavy humidity of summer. Living in an apartment without air conditioning does not make this very attractive. But, in the fall…

So, this year I’m trying to plan ahead. I am totally not doing this alone, though. I had been thinking about this issue a little and then, as if on queue, Shannon over at luvinthemommyhood announced the start date for this year’s Summer Sweater KAL. I’ve never really done a KAL before, but this one seems so sensible: pick a pattern, knit it during the time frame, end up with a sweater just as the weather starts to cool down. I tend to respond well to deadlines (I am in journalism, after all), so I think I’m going to go for it. It starts next week, which means I need to get swatching, which means I need to choose a pattern (my already started Grace does not qualify).

I’ve narrowed down my choices to:

Cascade 220 in Liberty Heather (a sort of purplish grey).

A. Burrard (from Twist Collective, Winter 2012). I love this sweater. Its cables are modern, it would be a great sweater-jacket type piece in the fall, and it’s knit in pieces, so at no point (other than seaming) would I have an entire sweater blanketing my lap in the heat. I do sort of suspect that this would take the entire six weeks of the KAL to knit (in part because I am just not cut out for long-term monogamous knitting). Also, in mid-September it will probably be too hot to wear this, so when I finish I’ll have to wait around to enjoy it. Hmm.

B. The Everyday Linen Raglan (from Purl Soho). This is more of a shirt than a sweater, I guess, but I plan to knit it in Louet’s MerLin, a merino/linen blend that will be a little warmer than straight-up linen, making it perfect for fall. This would be a quicker knit, so I could (potentially) get it finished and finish Grace (or get close to finishing Grace) by mid-September, which would mean two sweaters instead of one. On the other hand, it’s knit mostly in one piece (the sleeves are knit separately and then joined at the armpits), which makes it a bit less portable and more like a blanket. Hmm, again.

Louet MerLin in Steel Grey.

I have the yarn for both of these already, and I do plan to knit them both anyway, but still, what do you think? Help me choose! Also: have you done a KAL like this before? What did you think? (Do you think you’ll join this one?)

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: KAL, sweater

10:10 am - July 16, 2013 - AngelaH

Kit Kit Kit Kit Kit

Sorry. I’m a little excited. On Sunday, I finished Kit and this morning it is finally dry and that means it is finished! Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult knit or even particularly big, but I am feeling triumphant! Also, I love it.

I don’t have any finished shots of me wearing it (L and I have not had many daylight hours together in the last couple of days), but oh well. I thought about waiting, but no, I’m too pleased. Because of my tighter (firmer?) gauge, this is not the flowy, beachy tank that you might expect based on the pattern pictures; instead, it’s a more fitted top, knit at just about zero ease. I really like this version, and I’m actually seriously considering casting on for another one, but going up two needle sizes so I’ll get a slightly different look. As I said, I love it.

Generally speaking, though, the things I love in the finished garment were not really things I loved in the knitting of the garment. The half-linen stitch border, which I could actually consider making a half inch wider in a second version? I hated knitting it. It was so, so slow. (Although, to my great surprise and delight, knitting it flat was a total pleasure, and looks nicer too, so go figure.) I was also totally dismayed to realize that after finishing the straps and sewing them down there was more finishing to do. I actually thought about not doing it, but then, well, it looks so nice and polished.

Details
Pattern: Kit Camisole by Bristol Ivy
Yarn: Louet Euroflax Sportweight in Golden Rod
Needle: 3 mm
Mods: The main mod was my gauge, which as substantially tighter than the pattern’s. To accommodate that, I changed the following:

I did fewer decreases. I decreased four times total, basically following the pattern for those four and then just stopping (rather than spreading them out over the course of the whole piece). (I should note that this threw off the stitch count in terms of restarting the half-linen stitch pattern at the top of the back, so while the pattern worked for me, that means it won’t work for you if you follow it. Cassy talked to the designer and it’s being fixed.)
Because I had more stitches at the top of the back than the pattern said I should have, I had to rework the number of stitches to bind off for the back. To do that, I just counted all my stitches (269) and divided by two, allocating 134 for the front and 135 for the back. From the 135, I subtracted 21 (the stitches in the centre panel) and the divided that number in half so I’d know how many stitches needed to be on each side of the panel to keep it centred. The end result just meant moving my beginning of round marker back one stitch (adding two stitches to the front).
I did an extra set of decreases on the front for two reasons: 1. My gauge opened up a lot once I started knitting flat, and 2. I had two more stitches because I did fewer decreases on the back.
I knit my straps on 13 stitches and made them 11 inches (rather than 9.5), and kind of wish I’d made them even slightly longer. The finishing looks really nice, but it snugs things up.

And there you go. I’m not sure I’ll cast on for a second one right this minute, but I’m already thinking about what colour to knit it in, which is definitely a sign. My Kit is ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: Kit Camisole

10:24 am - July 10, 2013 - AngelaH

Sticking with it

I am normally way more about the process than the product when it comes to knitting, but man, I cannot wait until Kit is finished and I can wear it. The smooth dryness of linen is the perfect antidote to the crazy humidity and rain we’ve been getting (and don’t worry, L and I made it through Monday’s storm with just a few hours of no power and no flooding; we were definitely some of the lucky ones).

Anyway, I buckled down on Kit over the weekend and have been knitting on it every spare minute I can find and slowly, slowly, I am starting to see the finish line. I’m a few rows from casting off for the back, which will just leave front and straps to knit. In my mind, that’s nothing and I’ll be wearing this by the end of the weekend. Reality may have something different in store for me, but I’m starting to feel that end-of-project buzz, so lets not dampen that.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Kit Camisole

9:25 am - July 5, 2013 - AngelaH

Restless, restless

I don’t know if it’s the weather, work, or what, but I just cannot seem to settle on anything these days. I love all the projects on my needles, but for some reason don’t really feel like knitting on any of them. I’m restless. It hits me every year around this time, so maybe it’s a hold-over from my (long ago) days in elementary school, when the beginning of July meant the beginning of freedom and now means, well, nothing (not true: July 1 is Canada Day and that means quite a lot, but you know what I mean).

Clockwise from top left: Dragonfly yarns Dragon Sock in Mushroom Hunting B-Side and Djinni Sock in Admiral Benbow; Tosh Sock in Celadon and Cousteau; and Malabrigo Sock in Lettuce. These are not all destined to become garments for me.

Sigh. The thing about being restless with my knitting is that even when I don’t want to work on what’s right in front of me, I still want to knit, so I go on Ravelry and read blogs and get all revved up and buy yarn. Being restless can be expensive, is what I’m saying.

It’s that Cousteau that’s calling my name (it wants to be a shawl and it wants it now!). It’s saying that I finished that little dress and finishing means getting to cast on something new, but I’m going to ignore its siren song and plow ahead with Kit. I’m about a third of the way through the body and it’s the perfect weather to wear it and, truth be told, the mindless knitting of the body suits my mood.

Of course, it took three inches of plain sock knitting to realize that, but these were already on the needles from a time when I needed plain, plain knitting, so they’re fair game I think. Plus, I miss working on socks. I can’t seem to settle myself enough to actually spend time on them, but I can feel that magic coming back, so I’m going to give it a little time. Maybe once Kit is finished?

These have been on the needles forever, and I like that they’re there when I just need a row or two of mindless knitting in fun colours.

The main thing, when I hit these sorts of doldrums (holy nautical metaphors in this post – sorry) is just to keep knitting. Eventually I’ll re-find the spark that got me into the project in the first place, so it’s just a question of stitch following stitch until that happens. It isn’t as if the knitting isn’t enjoyable; even less than riveting knitting is still soothing.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Kit Camisole, socks