Category Archives: Knitting

11:09 am - December 13, 2013 - AngelaH

On the mend

It has been really cold in Toronto. So cold, that on Monday I’m going to buy a parka (I’m not going sooner because it’s two weeks before Christmas and I cannot handle shopping in the weekend throng.) The upside to this cold is that both L and I are wrapping ourselves up in handknit warmth.

Thank goodness this wool is so sticky. L hadn’t even noticed the hole, so who knows how long it was like this.

Last weekend, after getting home from taking his sister to brunch, I noticed a hole in one of his moose gloves. When I looked more closely, I realized it wasn’t a hole exactly, it was more of a run – I used Harrisville Designs Shetland for these, which doesn’t have the high twist of a sock yarn, but is more rustic and warm. It’s a trade off. Anyway, I wanted to deal with the hole/run before it got any worse, so despite the terrible light I got down to work and thought I’d explain the process.

To start with, you’ll need a few things in addition to the object being repaired. I knit these using 3.25mm needles, but for repair purposes, I pulled out my 2.25mm dpns (these ones are Signatures and I love them). I also grabbed a darning needle (I like the ones with angled tips, but any will do), a leftover skein of the same red yarn I used, my darning egg (which I didn’t end up using), a locking stitch marker (not pictured, but used to secure the last stitch until I was ready to pick it up), and the other glove, to use as a reference point.

Click to embiggen. On the left is the hole before building the “rungs”; on the right is after.

After assessing the situation, I decided that straight-up darning* wasn’t really the best option. What I’m guessing happened here is that one of the red stitches snapped (confirmed by an inspection on the wrong-side) and slowly the line of red stitched pulled themselves out. Nothing at all happened to the stitches to either side (which makes Harrisville my top choice for anything needing a steek!) so I wasn’t too worried about the hole getting wider so much as taller.

On the inside, I found the two ends of the broken yarn and tied them (yes, knots, I know) to grey floats to keep them from moving around. Then, using a decent length of new red yarn (maybe 8 inches, leaving a tail of 3 inches) I stitched back and forth across the gap, from bottom to top, using the grey purl-bumps to anchor the yarn on either side. You know how when you drop a stitch you can ladder it back up using the horizontal bars left in its wake? Well, what I wanted to do was recreate those horizontal bars. (Don’t cut the yarn when you’re done.)

You can just see the ned red rungs through the gap. On the needle, the bottom stitch is the one that was left at the the bottom of the gap, and the top stitch is a new rung picked up through the gap. From here to the top, it’s just like laddering up a dropped stitch.

That way, when I flipped the mitten back to the right side, using that last little stitch, I could ladder the stitches right back up, using the fresh and well-secured “rung” I’d built on the inside. (This is where the other mitten came in handy – I needed to know how many stitches were missing so I added the right number). Once I got to the top, I pulled the top tail of new yarn through to the right side and then through the top stitch. To seal it, I used that tail to duplicate stitch to next couple of stitches in the row before pushing the tail back through the wrong side to weave it in.

A little wobbly, but not too bad.

At the bottom, I used the tail to duplicate stitch from a couple of stitches before the new ones through the first couple of new ones (five stitches) and then wove in the ends on the wrong side.

Duplicate stitch looks a little clumsy initially, but L has been wearing these all week and now you can’t even tell.

The whole process took about a half hour, which gave me time to duplicate-stitch a couple of other spots that were looking a bit thin. It’s not totally perfect, but I doubt many people would be able to tell repairs were done (from the right side, anyway).

Ta-da! (Also, I just noticed that grey stitch in the border. Sigh. I’ll have to go back and duplicate stitch that.)

What do you think? Have you had to make similar repairs before?

*There is a great tutorial in the latest Twist Collective about straight-up darning, covering four methods, with photos. If you have socks or other sweater elbows or other garments in need of darning, head over there.

Category: Knitting Tags: moose gloves, repairs

10:51 am - December 10, 2013 - AngelaH

Now is not the time for complicated

For a while there, I thought I was crazy for leaving a pair of men’s socks to the end of my planned holiday knitting, but there was a method to that madness, and I’m remembering it now. Plain stockinette is really relaxing. I’m just close enough to my deadline (Dec. 19), with just enough to do between now and then, that I’m a touch distracted. Not very distracted, but the kind of distracted that could, for example, lead you you to forget a yarn-over, or get off-course in slightly irregular ribbing.

Just an inch from dividing for the heel on sock #2. What do you think of my heel stripe?

It’s not the kind of distracted that leads to big mistakes, it’s the kind that leads you to think that you’re find until you realize your stitch count is off without providing an obvious answer as to why (little mistakes are often so much harder to find). The answer to this is plain stockinette, which allows your mind to wander without any potentially frustrating mistakes.

That being said, of course, I got off by one stitch in the heel of the first sock and there’s a line. I didn’t notice until I was picking up the gussets (clearly I should look down at my hands once in a while) and decided not to rip back. I might try to match it on the second sock so it looks intentional, or I might leave it as a handmade reminder. I’m torn between annoyance and being slightly charmed – what do you think?

This isn’t quite my last holiday knitting, but the last thing on my needles before the holidays is very hush-hush, so you’ll just have to wait for that reveal. A little secrecy at this time of year just makes it more fun!

Surprise! (Are you tired of looking at the same projects all the time? I am a bit.) I have big plain-stockinette-socks plans for after the holidays. This Koigu features prominently.

Unrelated, gratuitous yarn photo! (Are you tired of looking at the same projects all the time? I am a bit.) I have big plain-stockinette-socks plans for after the holidays. This Koigu features prominently.

(Ps. Thanks for all your commiseration on my last post! My new computer is working out quite nicely and not at all the reason I haven’t blogged since.)

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, socks

7:27 pm - December 1, 2013 - AngelaH

Peace out November

Let me just say, I am not sorry to see the back of November. It wasn’t an awful month, but it was an annoying one: On Nov. 2 I lost my transit pass (worth $128, and necessary to replace) and that just started the month off for disaster, which ultimately struck last week when the pipe to our bathroom sink’s hot water faucet broke and (unrelatedly, but on the same day) my laptop died. Basically, this was the most expensive month possible for boring and annoying reasons.

I knit two rows past this point, decided they were too big, and ripped. I’m almost back to that point and feeling much better.

BUT, now it’s December, and I’m starting fresh. I finished both L’s socks (on the day I posted about them) and my mum’s shawl (last night) in November, so now I’m working away on my dad’s socks, which are the last big holiday project. I did have to rip them out (I cast on last night and should clearly have known better), but I restarted on a smaller needle and everything is ticking along.

All of which is to say, I have a good feeling about December. I have 17 knitting days left before I need to be done, and right now that feels totally doable. How are you feeling?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, socks

10:37 am - November 26, 2013 - AngelaH

The benefits of one-on-one attention

I think it’s safe to say we all know one-on-one time is important in relationships, but as a not-very-monogamous knitter I sometimes forget that the same can apply to my knitting.

I’m hoping to finish both the holiday projects currently on my needles by the end of the month, which is also the end of the week. I can never be sure how much knitting time I’ll get during the week, but I figure if I get one thing done now, I can buckle down on the other over the weekend.

I am still so in love with this colourway.

I just started the toe decreases for the second of L’s socks, so I think it’s safe to say that they’ll be finished by the end of the week (possibly the end of the day, but I don’t want to jinx myself).

I never thought I’d be so enchanted by ruffles.

The shawl is another matter. My plan is to double the number of edging repeats in the body. I want this to be easy to wear, which means it needs to be long enough to comfortable drape over both shoulders without needing a lot of readjusting. My Oaklet ended up being 49 inches long, and I think that’s the shortest I’d want to go. This does have a slightly curved shape, which tends to fit a bit better than a straight-across triangle, but still. I’ll probably gain a couple of inches in blocking, but I don’t want to count on that to make the minimum. So, repeat, repeat, repeat until I hit the 20g mark, which is when I’ll have to start decreasing. Each row is about the same as a round on a sock, so unless the weekend becomes insanely busy, I think I’ll be okay.

That’s the game plan, anyway. Do work out little schedules and deadlines for yourself? Do you ever manage to stick to this timelines?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, shawl, socks

10:26 am - November 22, 2013 - AngelaH

Notions

I was all set to do a progress post, since things are moving right along. I’m a little over half-way through charm, and the ruffling along the edge is quite fetching. I’m also finished the gusset decreases in L’s socks, so it’s a straight shot to the toe now, which means (I hope) this last part will fly by. Unfortunately, the light today is terrible, so instead of posting bad photos I thought I’d pull out this post I’ve had in my back pocket for a little while.

There have been some great notions-related posts in the last little while, and even though knitters seem to carry around all the same stuff, I’m always fascinated to see what bits and bobs other people use: do we use the same stitch markers? Is there some little thing I don’t know about that’s going to change the way I knit? etc.

I can’t be the only notions nerd out there right?

I got my notions pouch at City of Craft, a bi-annual craft show featuring local artisans that is seriously the shopping/inspiration highlight of both spring and winter (the Christmas one is coming up and I cannot wait!). This is from Bookhou (she also has an Etsy. Ahem.) and made with some of their linen off-cuts. I love it.

Also, it holds way more than it has any right to.

Click to embiggen, if you like.

Starting at the top, left-to-right, we have: A baby sock that holds a little ball of waste yarn; nail scissors (perfect for yarn and small enough to carry on airplanes); large stitch holders; Post-Its for making notes and then sticking them to patterns; a circular stitch holder (by Clover), which is the best discover I’ve made in ages; a random button; a safety pin; Dragonfly Wings solid hand lotion, from Dragonfly Fibers; a crochet hook; a stitch counter; an array of stitch markers, explained below; a highlighter and pens; my knitting thimble (technically a Coin Thimble); a fancy stitch marker; plastic cable needles; metal cable needles; a hair elastic; darning needles; and an emergency tampon (zero relation to knitting, obviously).

I do also have a needle gauge/ruler (this one, actually), but it’s a bit too big to fit in there, so I keep it in my needle roll or in a project bag, depending on what I need it for.

I have a love-hate relationship with stitch markers because, while I won’t dispute their usefulness, I always find they get in the way. I find the stitches on either side of the markers tend to be looser than the others (double so when purling), so I prefer small markers to large ones. The little triangles are perfect for anything on a sock-sized needle (up to about 3.5mm) and the small flexible rings are what I use for anything larger (up to 4.5mm). The larger flexible ones don’t see much action, but they’re good to have around. The locking stitch markers are by far the most versatile and were the first ones I bought. I use them when casting on a million stitches (to mark increments), to mark the right side of the work when knitting garter stitch, to catch the occasional dropped stitch, and on and on – I usually have on clipped to the drawstring of my project bag too, just in case.

While I would very much like to switch to a no-cable-needle method of cabling, I haven’t made myself learn it yet, so I still use cable needles. The plastic ones (the white one in particular) got me through Burrard and it really wasn’t until the all-over cables of Saltburn that I started to get fed up. None of the plastic ones were small enough, using an extra dpn works, but it also gets in the way, and I was at the point of using a darning needle (seriously) when I discovered the metal Addi cable needles. These were more expensive than the plastic ones, but definitely worth it. They’re easy to use, come as a pair (2.5mm and 4.5mm) and don’t get in the way. I’m still going to teach myself no-needle cabling, but in the meantime, I’ll use the Addis.

And that’s more or less it. Except, well, the sock. The baby sock (using the yarn that would have been the toe of these socks) holds a little ball of waste yarn. I used to keep my waste yarn balled up and loose in my notions pouch, but of course it unwound itself and tangled around everything. This way, it stays tidy and out of the way, and it’s a good way to use a baby sock prototype.

So, what do you consider essential notions? How do you organize them?

Dramatic update photos early next week, I promise!

Categories: Knitting, Uncategorized Tags: notions

9:52 am - November 19, 2013 - AngelaH

Good mail day

I don’t know how, but somehow all the knitting-related things I ordered in the last two months arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Granted, there were not many things, but still. My sister was visiting for the day and both times I went to the door to let her in (when she arrived and after she moved her car) there was another package. Seeing as she was also in town (in part) so I could teach her how to knit a hat, it felt a bit like fate was telling me to spend my day off knitting. Ahem.

This means I’m pretty much set for the holidays now. I was planning to pick up The Yarn Whisperer anyway, since I own everything else Clara Parkes has written and have found it invaluable to my development as a knitter. I pre-ordered her book way back at the beginning of October, and while on Amazon I saw that I could also pre-order Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting, which sounded so entirely excellent that I added it to my cart before really thinking twice (I’m pretty sure I read an excerpt somewhere, too, but I can’t think where now.)

The yarn is a real treat. It’s Gynx Self-Striping Strong Sock in the Christmas Bells colourway, and it is for my Christmas socks. Every year, after all my gift knitting is finished, I knit myself a pair of socks over the holidays. Generally, I cast on right after finishing my gifts and try to cast-off before New Year’s Eve gets underway. It’s a general guideline, though, and last year I cast on my holiday socks before my last gift was finished because I needed some social knitting to do around my family. I thought about knitting myself something fancy this year, but since these socks will be mostly knit while in transit or sitting around with family, it’s better to work on something that won’t require constant attention. With such fun stripy action, I’m thinking this year I’ll knit myself another pair of Jaywalkers.

Do you have holiday knitting traditions?

Category: Knitting Tags: books, Gynx, planning

10:58 am - November 12, 2013 - AngelaH

A quick update

I e-mailed my parents this morning to ask them (nicely) to stay clear of this space between now and the holidays. Assuming they don’t want to ruin Christmas, they will do just that, which means I’ll be able to post about their gifts without worrying.

Anyway, I can’t be quite so sure about my sisters, who may cave to the temptation of knowing only to then be filled with regret (we have never really been holiday snoopers, since the surprise is so much fun, but if things are left out in the open…). To that end, if you’d like to see the finished Saltburn socks, they are here. I’ll do proper posts for all these gift knits after the holidays, but in the meantime, I’m keeping finished shots on Ravelry where they are safe.

I finished Saltburn on Sunday and, since there’s a deadline looming, cast on immediately for the next project in my queue (the one in my head, not the one on Ravelry). I wanted a break from socks (I’m still knitting Charade, but it’s nice to have different things on the needles) so I cast on for a shawl. My mum, after seeing my Oaklet shawl, requested a little shawl like that for Christmas. She made this request in February, so it’s entirely possible she’s forgotten all about it since then, but I didn’t.

Casbah in Ruby Red (best guess, since she doesn’t label her skeins)

I debated a lot about colour. My mum wears a lot of colour, so I thought maybe a neutral would be the most versatile, but after talking to my dad about it I went back to my original plan and colour it is. I picked up this gorgeous skein of Handmaiden Casbah when I was in Nova Scotia in the summer and it has been waiting for the right project to hit me ever since.

Knitting a shawl for someone else can be tricky. For my mum, I wanted something pretty, but not fussy, and something deep enough that it would cover that little exposed V of skin that v-neck sweater and button-down shirts leave, but not be so deep as to cover her entire shirt. Basically, I wanted it to be easy to wear and something she could dress up or down, and also something I’d enjoy knitting.

That’s a lot of pressure to put on one pattern. My first thought was the Travelling Woman shawl, which has easy to wear lace, but I thought it might not have long enough wings to wear easily. I then settled on Bakau (I love the edging so, so much) but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that maybe it’s more me than my mum (watch for this turning up on my needles in the near future). I also only have one skein of this yarn, and I’m not sure that’s quite enough yardage.

I am so taken with the squishiness of the garter stitch.

Then, I started seeing the Charm shawl by Juju Vail popping up all over the place. I’ll admit that I wasn’t convinced at first, but it grew on me and once I cast on I was smitten. It’s knit side to side, has a clever construction, and it’s pretty. I’m knitting the small version, but I might make it a bit deeper than the pattern suggests and just note the weight of yarn I need to hold back for decreasing, which means I’ll also be able to use the whole skein.

What do you think? Am I totally over-thinking this or do you get like this when planning gift knitting?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, shawl

5:53 pm - November 9, 2013 - AngelaH

In my project bag

Ah, project bags. I love them, and when I saw this post (via this one) about the call to show what’s in them, I couldn’t resist. We were out and about today, but here’s what I had tucked into my purse.

I have a couple of these stuff sacks from MEC. This is a 3 litre one, which is perfect for socks, my others are 5 litres, which fits just about an entire sweater.

Inside this one, I don’t have much in the way of extras. I try to keep all my notions in one place so I don’t lose them, but when I’m knitting socks I throw my tape measure into whatever project bag I’m carrying with me. Besides that, a finished Charade sock and the second one in progress, I have the ball band for the yarn (Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Mushroom Hunting), and a little note to myself that has the basics for Stepping-Stones by Clara Parkes, which were the last project this bag held.

Seeing as I have a bunch of other things on the go, I’ll go through the rest of my project bags in the near future. What’s in yours?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: socks

9:10 pm - November 4, 2013 - AngelaH

Socktober debrief

Yes, yes, I know it’s November, but I am certainly still knitting socks. I managed to finish just one of the pairs of socks I set out to knit last month, but since I knew my plans were a little on the unrealistic side, I’m not too broken up about it.

Stepping-Stones.

To recap: I finished the Stepping-Stones for my mum and mailed them (she received them about a week later and said they fit perfectly and were keeping her warm, which is excellent feedback). I really like this pattern, and I have several stashed yarns that would perfect for more pairs (maybe this time for me!) once the mid-winter chill sets in and my feet really need something extra.

I’m farther along now than I was when I took this picture.

All the other socks remain outstanding. I finished the first Saltburn sock and am a cuff and two repeats into the second. I’m knitting these at the rather absurd gauge of 10.5 stitches per inch, so it’s slow-ish going. Why so tight? Well, as with most charted patterns, the jump between sizes is specific (in this case, 9 stitches). I’m knitting the medium size on a smaller needle (rather than the small size on a larger needle) because generally speaking the tighter the gauge the longer they’ll last. I knit a pair of socks at 11 stitches to the inch and, almost two years and a ton of wear later, they’re still in amazing shape. But yeah, it’s slower.

Mushroom Hunting is a perfect, perfect name for this colour.

I’m not as far along on L’s Charade socks – just half-way through the foot of the first sock. These were my transit knitting, but then I started a really good book* and wanted to read both to and from work (for a while there I was reading on the way there and knitting on the way back), so they got put aside, through no fault of their own. The more I knit this colourway, the more I love it, and with only a couple of inches to go before the toe, this sock won’t take long to finish.

So, there you go. In aggregate, I guess I knit four socks, but since the sum greater than its parts, that only adds up to one finished pair. In a surprise twist, though, I did finish the Riverbank cowl! It’s lovely and, while I don’t have and proper photos to post here (and won’t until after it’s gifted), I’ll post some on my Ravelry page once I get around to taking them.

This month looks like more socks, plus a shawl, and since it’s getting ever colder, I might have to take a quick break from the gift knits to whip myself up a hat – I’m thinking this one. What are your November plans? When I left the house today I was wearing hand-knit wool socks, sweater, shawl, and mittens – are covered in wool yet too?

*Edited to add: I fully meant to tell you what the book was – sorry! I was thoroughly captivated by A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. It is so, so wonderful, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, socks

9:07 am - October 29, 2013 - AngelaH

A change is as good as a rest

No, I did not cast on for a sweater, despite all your encouragement (what a bunch of enablers!). Instead, with the holidays in mind, I cast on for another gift, this one in a worsted weight yarn for guaranteed speedy progress and a little break for my hands.

I really love this super-dense ribbing.

And you know what? It totally worked. This is Riverbank by Melissa Thomson, which is fun and textural and knitting up super fast. It actually feels a bit like knitting a sweater since I’m using the same yarn as I used for my Woodstove Season cardigan (though in a different colour) and there are a about as many stitches per round. It’s actually the perfect compromise, with the added bonus of meaning I’ll be finished one gift by the end of the week.

SweetGeorgia SW Worsted in China Doll (which guarantees I get the David Bowie song stuck in my head every time I pick this up.)

Of course, it’ll be my speediest gift knit, which means I should probably have saved it until the end, but oh well. It kept me busy and entertained during a very grey and rainy Saturday while L was away, and even though I don’t really wear cowls I’m kind of thinking I’d like one of these for myself! There’s no risk of my stealing this one though, since it’s the exact colour of my winter coat, and that’s just a little too matchy for my taste. Maybe in grey…?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: cowl, gift knitting, SweetGeorgia