Category Archives: in progress

10:06 am - August 25, 2014 - AngelaH

Stasis

A month ago, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to participate in this year’s Summer Sweater KAL (sskal), but then Cassy signed on, and Shannon made a point of saying WIPs would count, and Stasis was sitting there sort of half-begun, and I caved. All my other August knitting plans got ~~shoved aside~~ modified and I picked Stasis back up.

I knit the sleeves two at a time, so they’re a perfect match. They’re also finished, which is a pretty nice feeling.

There were a few other factors behind my decision, of course. A big one (the biggest one?) was the weather. This has not been a very warm summer, and after the horrible cold of last winter, and the promise of another very cold winter this year, adding another sweater to my wardrobe is just smart. I also remember very keenly how much I wanted to cast on this yarn when it arrived last fall, and the thought of being able to wear it this fall is very appealing. Also, frankly, this KAL forces me to get my act together and focus. By the end of the summer, as life starts to fall back into routine, I find myself wanting to cast on all the things (despite having a pile of WIPs that ought to get some attention). Last year, despite a bunch of distraction, the KAL kept me from getting too side-tracked, and meant Burrard got finished before the cold weather moved in (and before my holiday knitting started).

I’m just a few rows into the waist decreases, but so far so good on the body portion.

I’m still working on a few other things in the background (a monogamous knitter I may never be), but Stasis is growing, and I am really excited to wear it. I guess that’s the other sskal bonus: not only will I end up with a finished sweater, but now there’s a reason to look forward to the cooler weather (I love fall as much as the next knitter, but the winter that follows? Definitely not as exciting).

Categories: in progress, Knitting, Uncategorized Tags: sskal14, Stasis, sweater

8:40 am - July 25, 2014 - AngelaH

I slipped

I had full, full, intentions to just truck right along with my latest Skyp socks, but after grafting the toe of the first one I got that funny urge to dig around in my stash to see what was in there, and before I knew it I’d pulled out a skein of Tosh Sock in Espadrilles, wound it up, and cast on. Honestly, I don’t really know how it happened, but here we are, a full chart repeat into new socks and I’m not sorry.

This is a very bright, very fun pink, and is also very hard to photograph.

This is a very bright, very fun pink, that is also very hard to photograph.

These are Betula by Rachel Coopey (who is such a reliably excellent designer) and I love them. They’re fun to knit and, since the 15-row repeat is really just a five-row repeat that shifts, the pattern is very quickly memorized and doesn’t require much special attention (I’m using a stitch marker to mark where I am within each repeat, which helps). They are, in fact, the perfect travel knitting, which is just as well since tomorrow L and I are flying to California!

We have a whole week to spend on the coast, and I seriously cannot wait. We’ve more or less planned out our stops (we’re driving Highway 1 from San Francisco to San Diego), but if you have must-see suggestions, please let me know! I will definitely be going to A Verb for Keeping Warm while we’re in San Francisco, so I’ll have a full report of that and the rest of the trip when I get back. (I’ll probably do a little Instagramming, if you want to keep up with me over there.)

Such a summery colourway.

And, who knows, maybe I’ll have some finished socks too. I’m bringing the Skyp socks along, because as great as Betula is, when it’s my turn in the passenger seat I’m going to want a knit that doesn’t require me to look at my hands, and the Skyps are it! I hope you all have a wonderful week — I’ll tell you all about mine once I’m home again.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: socks, travel

10:38 am - July 16, 2014 - AngelaH

Halligarth progress

One of the funny things about blogging is that when everything is going well there isn’t much to say! I don’t really have much to say about Halligarth besides that it’s an entirely enjoyable and engaging knit. I’m about halfway through the tree section and, unstretched, it’s measuring about 24 inches (or, the length of the needle I’m working on), which suggest that with the edging and a good blocking it will be a nice big shawl.

I always worry about the finished size as I knit because I really prefer large shawls. I bike pretty much everywhere when the weather is good, and if a shawl is too small it won’t stay on (my bike requires me to lean down). My Shaelyn is the perfect size and I have been wearing it a lot, so I’d love for this one to be similarly large. It might not end up quite that big, but I think the lighter weight will help it stay put. That’s actually one of the reasons I chose to knit it in laceweight instead of fingering weight, and I really love the way it’s turning out. This yarn is so lovely to work with, and the colour is exactly what I wanted.

Basically, it’s a boring knit in the best way possible: It’s exactly what I want, and (so far anyway) it’s knitting up just fine!

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Halligarth, shawl

9:50 am - July 9, 2014 - AngelaH

Spoiled

There is no doubt that this is shaping up to be an excellent summer. Just a few days after our camping trip I was headed back up to the shores of Lake Huron (though not so far north as Georgian Bay) for a cottage weekend. An old friend of mine is getting married and in lieu of a bar hopping bachelorette we spent a weekend away (and on the beach). The weather was perfect, and the water is warm enough for swimming, and it was gorgeous.

I knit in the car on the way there, which ended up being hilarious in the stop-and-go traffic since a guy in the lane next to us was fascinated by what I was doing. He stared and, when his lane got moving, actually slowed down so we could catch up! He seemed completely entertained by the idea of someone knitting (or, at least the idea of someone his own age knitting). His amusement entertained us as well, which made for a pretty funny drive. I snuck in a little beach knitting too, and my Summer Skyp socks are coming along nicely. I’m staying home this weekend, but I’m looking forward to turning my attention to Halligarth, which is proving to be a very enjoyable knit, especially when accompanied by a podcast or audiobook.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: shawl, socks, travel

9:46 am - June 25, 2014 - AngelaH

On my needles

I’ve been on a bit of a sock jag and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon. As I was finishing my Daphnes I started to flip through my stash (first in my head and then actually in the bin) to decide what to cast on next. Part of my plan for this year’s knitting was to knit more plain, everyday socks, so with that in mind I pulled out this self-striping yarn that I picked up well over a year ago.

This is Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle Toes in Gatineau Fall, a hand-dyed self-striping yarn that comes pre-split into two matching skeins. The idea is that the skeins are dyed together, so assuming you start both at the same end, you should end up with perfectly matching socks. In this case, some of the stripes are variegated, so the socks won’t be a perfect match, but the stripes should line up otherwise.

I thought the variegation would annoy me, since perfectly-matched striped socks are kind of fun, but I’m actually really enjoying the way the colours are playing out. I’m actually deeply impressed by the idea of dyeing a variegated-yet-striping colourway, and the colours are so perfectly fall that these socks just look like a hike through the woods on a fall day.

All the plain stockinette combined with just-one-more-stripe syndrome is making these a quick knit and I’m hoping to finish them up by the end of the month. Summer is the perfect time to knit socks, and it’s maybe the one time of year plain stockinette socks become my primary knit, instead of something a pick up here and there.

Of course, I do have a background knit, and just for some balance, it’s a laceweight lace shawl. I cast on for Halligarth. After knitting Flukra I knew I’d be knitting more of Gudrun Johnson’s patterns, and when I saw the latest BT Wool People, it was pretty easy to choose which of her patterns would be next. I love the way each section of the tree-patterned lace nests into the ones before and after it, and shawls see a lot of wear around here.

Un-stretched, each diamond measures about 3 inches across.

The pattern is written for fingering weight yarn, but I decided to spice things up a bit and go with laceweight. This a BFL laceweight hand-dyed north of Toronto by Georgian Bay Fibre Co., who I found through a Ravelry ad (seriously, the first time I’ve ever clicked one of those). I love BFL yarn, but before I went crazy and bought one of everything I decided to commit to one project. There seems to be an inconsistency between how much yarn people need for this shawl and the yardage listed on the pattern page, so I’m playing it safe with a big skein. I’m planning to knit the smaller size and then weigh the skein and see how I’m doing. If I can eke out the larger shawl I definitely will.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Halligarth, shawl, socks

9:45 am - May 23, 2014 - AngelaH

Bad news/good news

Are you tired of looking at pictures of this sweater? I swear I’m going to finish it soon. I’m actually really right on schedule, but then on Wednesday I realized I was for sure going to run out of yarn.

In the interest of everything matching, I’ve started the second sleeve.

I knew my yardage was going to be tight. I don’t know why I didn’t order an insurance skein a year ago (something I always do now), but I didn’t — maybe I thought I’d want 3/4 sleeves? This is the tricky part about letting a project languish for so long. Anyway, I knit the button bands and collar on the weekend, because if I was going to run out of yarn, having two perfect sleeves and no closures wasn’t really the way I wanted to go (for me, that’s pretty much a recipe for not finishing).

After knitting the button bands, I weighed my remaining yarn and came up with 41g per arm. I don’t know what made me think that I might be able to get away with that, but suffice to say that this picture was taken after knitting about 38g of yarn. For a minute I thought about just starting the ribbing there and calling it a day, but the more I knit on this sweater the more I get attached to the idea of wearing it all the time. You would think I’d hate the sight of it by now, but instead I’m liking it more and more. So, although I do tend to push up my sleeves to mid-forearm, making this a possibly suitable length, I know that it would annoy me not to be able to pull them all the way down inside coat sleeves and whatnot.

So I ordered more yarn. Two skeins, just to be safe (I’d really feel like an idiot if I only ordered one and then ran short again). I actually decided to add a second skein part-way through the order process, and I guess I didn’t do it properly, because I realized once I’d paid that I’d only ordered one, so I went back and ordered a second, just to be sure. Then, because I’d been billed twice for shipping, I emailed Quince & Co. to see if they could just bundle the two skeins together. In my email, I mentioned the yarn and dye lot, and miracle of miracles, a year later they still had two skeins of yarn from my original dye lot! I was fully prepared for not-quite-matching forearms, so I am thrilled to pieces about the match.

The yarn shipped yesterday, so if all goes well with the post, I might even get it in time to finish by the end of the month! Cross your fingers for me!

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Grace

4:38 pm - May 10, 2014 - AngelaH

On top(s)

This week has been a little all over the place, but thanks to a productive weekend (last weekend) and a lovely meet-up with Andrea and Sara this morning, it hasn’t been a total write-off.

Grace is all wrinkled because I unceremoniously shoved it into a bag and then shoved the bag into my pannier. That’s the price of patio knitting.

I was decidedly behind my self-imposed Grace schedule until today. To get this finished before the end of the month, I need to be finished the body and button bands (I’m worried about my yardage, so I’m leaving the arms until the end) by the end of next week. I haven’t had much time during the week to knit, and now that the weather is improving my weekends have been filling up with outdoor time – I’m not complaining, but it is making it more difficult to get this cardigan finished! Anyway, I’m heading toward the final hip increase now and after that there’s just the ribbing and the body is done. I was thinking about adding length, but the body measures 14 inches now with three inches to go, so I think I’m going to be fine, assuming I can find some knitting time.

Of course, knitting time would be easier to come by if I weren’t distracted by my sewing machine. Something about the warm weather and all the lovely fabric my LYS is now carrying has got my thinking about summer tops and dresses, and while I’m always game to knit some, sewing it so fast! Ahem, that is, assuming you don’t spend an entire afternoon sewing something that is (at least) five sizes too big. That’s what I spent last Saturday doing, and let me tell you, while I certainly learned from my mistakes, I kind of wish I had learned faster.

I really like the test-pattern-ness of this print (Color Me Happy by V & Co.), which gets totally lost if you’re not right up close.

Anyway. I was tackling my third (and then fourth) attempt at the Scout Woven Tee. This is a boxier style than I typically wear, but I like the idea behind it and I think, once I get the pattern figured out for my body, that it’s a top I’ll wear a lot in the summer. This version took me two tries (the enormous one, which did not get photographed, and this one) and I’m mostly happy with it.

What do you think?

Looking at the photos, I think I could take some width out of the waist area and the neckline might be a bit too wide, both of which I think I know how to fix. The pulling at the armhole is another issue. I suspect this means I need to go down a size and do a full-bust adjustment, but I’m not sure (do you know?). I like the idea of this top enough to keep tinkering with it, so if you have ideas/comments about it, please let me know!

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting, Sewing Tags: Grace, Scout Woven Tee

11:14 am - May 3, 2014 - AngelaH

May in the making

For the last two years I’ve followed along with Me Made May* from the sidelines. I find it incredibly inspiring to watch as women (there may be men who participate, but I’m not aware of any) spend the month showing off their handmade wardrobe. More than anything, I think its these makers who made me want to try my hand at knitting (and now sewing) garments.

This pile of fabric represents (I hope) three tops and a dress.

I love to knit socks and mittens and shawls and whatnot, but for me, knitting and wearing my first sweater felt like a really big deal. A lot of it, I think, is the visibility. I wear hand-knit socks everyday, but in general, they’re inside my shoes and not something people around me are aware of (I do try to wear my fancier ones to parties though). Knitting a sweater, though, or a skirt, is a real statement. When someone asks you where you got it, you get to tell them that you made it, and then it’s out there.

When I started knitting, I was kind of self-conscious about it. I simultaneously wanted people to notice and comment on it and desperately hoped no one would notice. I’m well past that now, and a few weeks ago, when my stylish and deeply talented colleague asked me where I’d gotten my sweater, I was proud to tell her I’d knit it myself.

I sewed this Scout Woven Tee a few weeks ago. It’s basically just a wearable muslin, but it’s so much better than the actual muslin I made that it feels like excellent progress. I’ve even worn it out!

Knitting, and making in general, is definitely losing its dusty reputation, in part because I think people are realizing the stereotypes they associated with “handmade” just didn’t make sense. Events/series like Me Made May help with that, because seeing a parade of beautiful and stylish handmade garments, made by people from all over the place with different body types and differing amounts of “free” time is a statement about who makers are. Which is to say, potentially anyone.

Grace got put aside again in April, but now I’m determined. I even figured out how much I need to knit each week to finish by the end of the month. (For reference, I’m nearly done the waist decreases.)

I had hoped to participate in Me Made May this year, but I’m not sure I have enough garments to properly do so. So instead, I’m committing to spending this month making clothing I can wear next year (and also, I hope, next month!). On the knitting front, I am determined to finish Grace by the end of the month. I cast-on on June 1, and I’m not sure I want this WIP to turn 1, so I’m buckling down. On the sewing front, I have plans for a couple of new tops and, I hope, a dress. Given that it’s already May 3, I guess I should get to it!

*Here’s a great little primer on Me Made May if you’re not familiar with it. You can also search Twitter and Instagram for the #MMM14 hashtag to find people who are participating.

Categories: in progress, Knitting, Sewing Tags: Grace, MMM14, Scout Woven Tee

10:12 am - April 13, 2014 - AngelaH

On the road

In a couple of hours, L and I are heading for the airport. We’re going to Nova Scotia for a few days to visit my family and hang out. I haven’t been home since July and the last time L and I were there together was nearly two years ago, so it’s definitely time. The forecast isn’t very promising (rain, maybe rain, and rain) but that’s Nova Scotia in April, so we’ll pack rain coats and just suck it up. It’s my sister’s birthday tomorrow, and birthday lunch and dinner with friends are the only concrete plans we have. I’m hoping to get in trips to my favourite yarn shop (and a nearby vineyard) and Lamb’s Run Farm, where my mum got me this lovely skein of yarn. It’s a long shot, but I’m going to try and get some more so I can make the Moon & Stars shawl (my back-up pattern is Norby, so it’s not a disaster if more yardage doesn’t exist).

I really love this yarn. It’s luminous and wooly and I can’t wait to knit it up.

In terms of actual knitting, I thought about bringing Grace, but sweaters take up so much space in a carry-on. I might still bring it for knitting around the house, but my default travel knitting is socks, and since I have two pairs on the needles, I’m bringing them both.

Plain socks, knit up in Hedgehog Fibres BFL/nylon sock in the Pheasant colourway.

I’ve mentioned my Pheasant socks before, but the other pair has yet to make an appearance here. It seems like everyone is having a bit of a self-striping moment right now (see Tanis, Cassy and and Wei Siew as examples) and I couldn’t resist either. I loved watching the stripes unfold on my Christmas socks, so I’ve had my eye out for fun self-striping yarns ever since.

Felici in Splash.

I found out recently that Knit Picks is discontinuing Felici, which I had never knit with but heard nothing but good things about. I decided to go see what colourways they had left, and then found myself buying eight skeins (enough for four pairs of socks). It was a gamble, but so far, totally worth it. This is the Splash colourway (with a contrast heel to preserve the stripe sequence) and I love it. The colours are fun, the yarn is soft and firm, and they’re perfect spring socks. In taking these pictures I realized that I have to pairs of socks a little more than half finished. It feels like ages since I finished a pair, but clearly that’s my own fault, since I should have just finished the Pheasant socks before starting with the stripes. I just couldn’t resist, though. With any luck, by this time next week I’ll have two finished pairs of socks to show off – and, in all likelihood, another pair on the needles.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: socks

9:55 am - April 4, 2014 - AngelaH

In tandem

Earlier this week, I finished New Girl. I don’t have proper photos yet, so that post will have to wait, but it is finished, and I am very excited to wear it.

Sneak peek.

Part of what I liked so much about New Girl was that I was knitting it along with Cassy. It wasn’t a formal KAL, but we both liked the pattern and when I said I was planning to knit it she decided to cast on too. Without any real plans of itinerary, we knit kept pretty good pace and I’m pretty sure she’s finished (or just about finished) now too. It was great! I’d never knit a skirt before, so it was fun to talk with back and forth as we progressed — talking over colours, fit, style, etc.

Because of my work hours, I’ve never been able to really be part of a knit night. There is an amazing knitting community in Toronto, but I’m kind of on the edge of it — I blog/do web things for my LYS, but don’t really get a chance to meet the regulars, for example. I really like my job, so I’m mostly okay with the way it shapes my social time, but sometimes I get a little pang when there’s a great event or author coming to town and I know I won’t make it.

All of which is to say that that’s one of the reasons blogging is so much fun. It’s such a great way to interact with all of you — people who share an interest in making (whether knitting, sewing, or whatever). Knitting New Girl alongside Cassy was fun because it was communal. I would have knit the skirt anyway, but I really enjoyed being able to talk about it with someone besides L (who will listen, but can’t make a lot of suggestions). I also think knitting together motivated me to keep going. For a project I thought would be relatively quick, this felt like it took a while, and I might have been tempted to put it down in favour of something else if I didn’t know she was knitting it too.

Considering it was shoved in a bag for nearly a year, it doesn't look so bad.

Considering Grace was shoved in a bag for nearly a year, it doesn’t look so bad.

So, it was perfect timing when Andrea pinged me on Instagram earlier this week. She is knitting Grace, and ages ago I mentioned that if she let me know when she separated the arms, I’d pick up my Grace and knit along with her. It took me a few days (I wanted all my ends woven in and the waistband done before I moved on from New Girl) but last night I picked up Grace, worked out where I was in the pattern, and started up again. It’s a casual knitting-at-the-same-time kind of thing, with no plans or deadlines, but if my last FO is any indication, knitting with Andrea may just mean Grace gets finished sooner rather than later.

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: community, Grace, New Girl