Monthly Archives: February 2014

12:02 pm - February 23, 2014 - AngelaH

DNF

One thing the Olympics makes clear is that you can analyse every little performance detail forever and it won’t change the outcome: If the snow was firmer, if he’d just stepped to his left, if her takeoff had been slightly later, etc. And so it is with knitting, I think. If I’d just had more time this week, or knit a couple more rows on the weekend, or focused on one project, I’d be done by now.

I turned the heel during the men’s gold-medal game this morning, but since I have to work today, finishing these will have to wait.

But I’m not, and honestly, that’s fine. My Sochi socks are three-quarters finished, and if it takes me the next week to get the second foot done, well, that’s how long it takes. Of course, I can say this now, but earlier this week I was feeling a little adrift. There’s something making a goal public – even one that doesn’t have life-changing implications – that makes not meeting it hard to swallow. I think it burned all the more because I was a bit adrift knitting-wise. The weather here has been up and down, and I’m starting to feel the weight of how colourless it is. I think snow is very pretty, and we’ve had a much sunnier winter than usual, but still, months and months without any real colour (aside from fluorescent signs) is oppressive.

You know those days/weeks where nothing you have on your needles seems interesting or necessary and makes you want to throw it all into a corner and start fresh? Yeah, that was this week for me. I didn’t do it (no time) but I thought a lot about it. I’m over it now (that feeling tends to only last a day or two for me) but it was close. Thank goodness for rainbow-coloured socks.

Anyway. I did finish my Hodgepodge Mittens last weekend (as planned) and although it hasn’t been that cold in Toronto this past week, the have proven themselves quite warm, and pretty close to wind-proof (it has been very windy). The Fresco is so dreamy to wear, and the short floats mean the fabric is compact and dense without being heavy. It’s supposed to get cold again this week, so we’ll see how they stand up, but I suspect they’ll prove warmer than the mittens I’ve been wearing for the last year.

As a bonus, since they were part of the Holla Knits KAL that’s happening right now (thank you for telling me, elloluv!) I got a free pattern of my choosing for finishing! I went with the New Girl skirt, since I’ve been thinking a lot about knitted skirts lately and that one has been in my favourites since it came out. I’m resisting casting on until I finish a few more things, but I am starting to mull over colours and yarns. Any suggestions?

Details
Pattern: Hodgepodge Mittens by Annie Watts
Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco in Graystone, Port Royal, and Parchment
Needles: 2.75mm + 3mm
Notes: I changed the cuff to 2×2 rib (with the smaller needle) because I like my mitten cuffs to tuck into my sleeves, which means they need to be slim. I also added length to the hand by doing a fifth row of the contrast triangle portion and moving the thumb up to the second repeat. I found the thumb opening to be kind of big, so I used the smaller needle for the thumb to keep it from being huge. They’re still slightly big, but not in an awkward way. Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: mittens, Olympics, socks

11:01 am - February 14, 2014 - AngelaH

Hodgepodge

Every year, at about this time, I find myself suddenly and desperately in need of new mittens. A few weeks ago I darned a hole in my current mittens (I Instagramed the patch job) and thought that would be enough to get me through this winter. Then last week I was carrying a coffee to work and noticed that the inside of the thumb on the right hand mitt was almost completely worn away. Literally, it was holding on by a thread. The left thumb wasn’t far behind.

My darned patch has held up well, but the thumbs were a whole new issue. I could cut them out, pick up the stitches again, and knit new thumbs, but there were other weak spots making themselves known, and a hole in the cuff I’d been ignoring, so… Clearly the best and only choice was to knit new mittens.

I actually love knitting mittens, and was planning a new pair anyway, so I’m pretty pleased that this whole situation meant I didn’t have to justify to myself why I had to buy new yarn and cast on right away. Not that I really feel bad about yarn buying or casting on whatever I want, it’s just nice when doing those things happens to also fill a pressing need.

I went with Classic Elite Fresco for the yarn. I used it to knit these mittens as a wedding gift, and it is so soft and cozy that it seemed a natural choice. It’s also nice a sticky, which is great for stranded colourwork, since it helps the floats stick to the main fabric. It also means that if you happen to drop a stitch, it won’t unravel far (this has actually saved me a couple of times and I can’t figure out what I’m doing that’s causing me to lose stitches, but it’s annoying.)

After casting around for a pattern (my first choice was the Divelish Mittens by Rachel Coopey, but they aren’t available as an individual pattern, at least not yet) I settled on Hodgepodge Mittens by Annie Watts. They are so much fun to knit! The rows are similar but not the same, and the all-over colourwork means my hands will be toasty warm. I’m into the top part of the second mitten now, so assuming this weekend doesn’t go crazy, I should have new mittens to wear on Monday.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: mittens

10:26 am - February 10, 2014 - AngelaH

Game Plan

I wasn’t going to do any Olympic knitting this year. I love the Olympics (Canadians, in general, really love the Olympics, or at least love watching), but this year I found the political back-drop so deeply troubling I thought about not watching at all.

This isn’t a political space, so I’m not going to get into it, but suffice it to say that same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada for my entire adult life, and I while I know that isn’t the case in most other countries, I find Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws deeply troubling. Certainly, this is not the first Olympics to take place in a country with a sketchy human rights track record, but I think Sochi is different for a few reasons: one is that the images of the oppression and crackdown are widespread and disturbing and targeted at love, and certainly another one is that we see Russia as western and developed, and so we expect more from it than a country we perceive as developing. There are a lot of other reasons, but I think those are two big ones.

Anyway (I did get into it) I didn’t really watch the opening ceremonies on Friday, but then on Saturday two Canadian sisters won gold and silver in the women’s moguls and I lost my resolve. I love watching countries come together in what is, generally, friendly competition, full of respect for the accomplishments of their competitors and pride in their own achievements. Watching people do amazing things is exciting, and I’m just as happy to watch Canadian sisters win as to see a Swiss man come back from injury to win the men’s 30km skiathalon in a a crazy sprint. It’s wonderful, and I think I/we can celebrate the athletes without celebrating the politics of the country that is hosting them.

All of which is to say I’m knitting rainbow socks. I cast on yesterday, they may not get finished during the Games (I have some mittens on the needles too), but that’s fine. I dug around in my stash and came up with the Three Irish Girls colourway Love Wins, released after the tragedy in Newtown. It’s perfect.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Olympics, socks

1:20 pm - February 4, 2014 - AngelaH

Still winter

There was a brief moment last week when I thought the end was in sight. The temperatures crept up to the -9 to 0 range (15 to 32 F) and I spent the weekend in my pea coat instead of my parka for the first time in ages. But winter is back. It’s going to snow and snow this week, and although the temperatures aren’t going to drop horribly, it is definitely still winter.

I am such a fan of this colour.

The one up-side to all of this is that it means I didn’t knit these super-warm socks in vain. These are Rye, by tincanknits, one of the great (and free) patterns from their Simple Collection, knit up in Tosh Vintage in the Amber Trinket colourway.

I may not be totally over the thrill of how quickly worsted-weight socks knit up. These took a week. A week in which I worked six of seven days, and worked long days for about half that stretch. These socks took a week from start to finish without even trying. I swear, if you just hunkered down, you could probably knock out a pair of these in a weekend.

For some reason, when I first saw this pattern, I thought the garter stitch panel looked like it would be bulky, or uncomfortable to wear inside boots or shoes, but I was totally wrong. The texture is a great way to show off a fun colourway, but the garter nestles right in and doesn’t add any extra bulk. Plus, combine a two-row repeat and worsted-weight yarn and, well, I mentioned they were fast, right?

Weirdly, both cuffs/legs of the socks were knit from the same skein, despite looking totally different. The feet (top photo) are different dyelots, though. (I should also say that the socks are in the same order in each photo. So, the right sock has a light leg and a dark foot, and the left sock as a dark leg and a light foot. The entire right sock and the left leg are all knit from the same skein.)

I used just over one skein of yarn (you can definitely see the difference in the dyelots) and I’m already planning another pair, using these leftovers for contrast cuffs/heels/toes. I was predicting a long cold winter back in the fall, so if I find myself casting on another pair of these, I won’t beat myself up about it. It’s still winter, and another pair of warm socks won’t go amiss.

Details
Pattern: Rye by tincanknits
Yarn: Tosh Vintage in Amber Trinket
Needles: 3.25mm
Notes: I used the small needles for the whole pattern, rather than changing after the ribbing. I also did my normal slip-stitch heel, rather than the stockinette heel in the pattern. I stopped the foot pattern 1/4-inch before indicated so the toe would be smooth, and if I go ahead with my contrast-toe plans I might stop the garter a few rows earlier still. Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: Madeline Tosh, socks, winter