10:10 am - March 6, 2013 - AngelaH

Serious startitis, shawl edition

For weeks now, I have been panning through Ravelry looking at shawls. Almost all my recent favourites have been shawls and I have been looking at my stash strategizing which patterns to match with which yarns. Why didn’t I just cast on? Well, I don’t know. I was knitting that baby sweater (which I still haven’t mailed! dammit) and then I wanted to get those socks done so I could cast on a pair for my mom, and, really, I don’t know.

This weekend, though, I broke down. I finished the socks. I finished a hat (details to come). I knit on my sweater. I even cast on for my mom’s socks and knit to the heel of the first one. I had earned a new shawl! (Since when did knitting become about earning new projects? What is going on in my head?) I went back to Ravelry and went through my favourites, and then added more, and finally settled on Shaelyn as the perfect shawl.

Two repeats in and I’m smitten.

Perfect how? Well, it has a nice rhythm to it, with its bands of lace and bands of stockinette. I also had the perfect yarn in my stash – Handmaiden Casbah in Lupins, which I bought in Nova Scotia and have two skeins of, meaning I can make this shawl as big as I want.

I’m not actually sure which of these skeins I started with, but I think it might be the one on the left.

The colour is a little more variegated than I would normally choose for lace, but because of the stockinette portions, I think it works. And this yarn is so soft (who knew 9% cashmere would make such a difference).

I mean, it looks crappy right now, but when it’s blocked it should be okay I think.

All in all, I think this is solving my shawl restlessness for now, although I’m not sure one shawl will do it, so be prepared for a lot of shawls over the next few months. Lace, it seems, is making a comeback. Is it just me? Is it spring? Tell me you’re feeling the startitis bug too!

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Handmaiden, Shaelyn, shawl, stash knitting

10:10 am - March 4, 2013 - AngelaH

Opposite socks

These socks knit up so fast that I didn’t even have time to blog about them. I bought the yarn a couple of weeks ago after reshelving skein upon skein of this yarn in the shop. I thought I could resist – goodness knows, I didn’t need more yarn – but after squishing so many skeins, and seeing all the colours, my resolve wore down. I actually thought the yarn was just going to be a variegated blue/green/grey, but after winding it an seeing the colours line up neatly into concentric circles, I got too excited about the striping possibilities not to cast on pretty much right away.

Zitron Unisono sport weight in colourway 1220. Weirdly, those parts that photographed as purple were definitely not purple when knit up. It’s kind of a shame, really.

Well, it sure striped. The funny thing is, they striped in almost exactly the opposite order. I spent most of the first sock wondering when the heck I was going to get to the fun bright colours, which mostly ended up on the foot, and then the second sock started out fun and got progressively darker. But! The very end of the skein was bright colours again, so even if I had knit the first sock from the inside of the skein out, and the second from the outside in, they still wouldn’t have matched!

L was away this weekend, so these will have to do. You can kind of see the opposite-ness, though.

I think it’s okay, though, since they’re clearly a pair. Part of that comes from the surprise toes, which I realized I was going to need when I weighed the ball part-way through the first foot and saw I was dangerously close to half my yardage already. By that point, I was already entirely smitten with this yarn, so I had (against my better judgement) purchased two more solid skeins for another pair of (more regularly) striped socks. I knit the first sock until I had about 53 grams of the yarn left, and then switched to the dark grey. I wrote down the measurement of the foot at that point and then copied it for the second sock (even though, at that point, I had just enough yarn to finish the whole sock). There’s something about matching toes that makes these look more like a pair, I think. (Details about what I did, etc. are ravelled here.)

The pair took less than two weeks to knit, and I swear they pretty much knit themselves. The yarn, Zitron Unisono, is 100% merino and infused with aloe and jojoba and feels amazing on your hands. It is so tightly twisted that it’s downright sproingy, and it knits up into a firm but soft fabric that is warm and stretchy. For speedy socks, this might be my new go-to yarn (as long as I have some extra for the toes) and although I have to be good and knit some other things beforehand, I am pretty excited to cast on my next pair.

With these socks finished, as well as a hat done and blocking, my weekend was pretty productive. How was yours? Any signs of spring where you are? (It remains cold here, so I could use some vicarious spring if you’ve got it.)

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: socks, unisono

9:07 am - February 27, 2013 - AngelaH

Cute because it’s tiny?

There is something about baby-sized knits that gets me cooing and sighing and smiling before they’re even finished, which is really saying something because they’re so darn quick to knit up! (That being said, they also manage to take longer than I think they will, so what does that say?)

Ta da! this photo really doesn’t represent how little this sweater is.

I finished the Puerperium Cardigan yesterday morning, buttons and all, and I am very pleased indeed. It seems like all our friends are having babies right now (this will be the fourth in six months) and that has given me an excuse to knit up lots of adorable little garments. This little sweater, though, might be my favourite (which is saying something because, remember the pumpkin hat?)

Anyway, this cardigan is a super, super quick knit. Even if you zone out the first time you start and forget to knit the button bands in garter stitch and have to re-start. Ahem. As it turns out, I could have just kept going with that sweater and then knit an whole new one with garter stich button bands and decided which one I liked better because, and I can hardly believe this, the finished sweater only required 81 yards. That’s less than a third of the skein. That’s crazy, is what it is. Babies are so little!

I have buttoned and unbuttoned this cardigan several times, and the star points are not as annoying as I feared.

You may recall that I was worried about the way the colours were turning out and, while I still worry it’s a little baby-camo (not a look I would normally go for), I kind of love the colours. I was going to take Holly‘s suggestion in the comments and buy two sets of buttons – one girly, one more boyish – and then wait until the baby came along to sew them on and send this off, but when I saw the star buttons I decided they were whimsical and unisex enough to counteract the camo. The stars are also perfect, since the dad-to-be and L were housemates during undergrad and L studies aerospace engineering (with emphasis on space), and thus the stars sort of represent L making this a gift that is clearly from the both of us. I know that seems like a roundabout justification for star buttons, but trust me, they’ll get it.

Can I also just say that I loved knitting with this yarn? Oh my goodness it is soft. It’s 100% superwash merino, so I knew it would be nice, but holy. It makes other soft yarns seem coarse in comparison, and even for babies I wouldn’t hesitate to say it’s good for next-to-skin wear. It also bloomed every so slightly when I blocked it, and I know it will get lots of use. (I am seriously considering stocking up on this yarn, since more babies seem inevitable.)

I think it’s the black-ish bits that make me think camo. Otherwise, it’s all soft and shifting teals and purples, which I love.

Details
Pattern: Puerperium Cardigan by Kelly Brooker
Yarn: Indigodragonfly DK Superwash in Fringe Over Troubled Water
Needles: 4mm
Modifications: To be honest, I basically knit this pattern as written. I did one extra garter ridge on the bottom, and I shortened the sleeves (details Ravelled here), but otherwise, this is a tidy little pattern and I didn’t change a thing. The reason I shortened the sleeves is because this is a March baby, and while March can be cold, it’s also a tricky month, and I thought shorter sleeves would be more versatile for layering (also, if it’s a girl, little pink or yellow or whatever coloured shirts and poke out) and will maybe keep this fitting for a little longer. I also suspect it’ll be easier to thread tiny sausage arms through short sleeves, but that’s just me.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: baby, gift knitting, Indigodragonfly

10:27 am - February 21, 2013 - AngelaH

Some new craftiness

Okay, maybe that should be crafty-ness, but whatever. The point is, this week I got out my sewing machine (an amazing Christmas gift from my parents this year) and made something useful. I had been wanting to make napkins for a while, but there wasn’t a pressing need, so I put it off and put it off. Then, my parents visited on the weekend and, since my mum rented a car, I suggested we go to Parkdale, and specifically, the workroom. (My mum also visited the shop, where she picked out two skeins of yarn that I will turn into socks for her.)

It is so fun choosing fabric.

I can 100% get there on public transit without much ordeal, but somehow it always felt like it was going to take my whole day, and it’s been cold, and, well, in the winter you can always find an excuse. We went, though, and I had some fun picking out fabric. I will admit that I expected that fabric to sit around the house for a while before I got around to using it, but then I cast on for a rather overdue baby sweater (the baby has not been born yet, but still) and realized I didn’t have a project bag for it. I know I could have used a Ziploc or something, but I hate doing that. Clearly, this was the perfect opportunity to get sewing.

I was going to wing it, but then realized I could probably do a quick(ish) Google search for a pattern and end up with something useable instead. After going down the rabbit hole of sewing blogs, I came out with this great tutorial by Jeni at In Colour Order. I was a bit nervous, since unlike with knitting, fixing sewing mistakes is not so easy, but I read carefully, measured everything twice, and followed exactly what she said, and, well, judge for yourself:

I am foolishly proud of this. (The lining is royal blue.)

I chose to practice on some fat quarters I bought ages ago, in case it was a disaster, but since it wasn’t I think a few more bags will be made this weekend featuring my new fabric. I also bought some quilt batting, so I can add a needle-proof layer for sock bags. This one is more than large enough for the baby sweater, and would comfortably fit a large shawl or fair isle project. I am quite pleased.

I promise that there is no danger of this turning into a sewing blog, but it might pop up now and again. We don’t live in a big enough apartment for me to get into quilting, but small blocks? Yeah, that could happen… Ahem. Speaking of knitting and baby sweaters, though, what do you think of this? I love the yarn, but I’m worried it’s knitting up too dark (we don’t know the baby’s gender yet). Thoughts?

It will be the Puerperium Cardigan.

Categories: Knitting, Out and about, Sewing Tags: baby knits, sewing, Toronto

2:49 pm - February 18, 2013 - AngelaH

New sock day!

One of the reasons being a knitter is so awesome is because it offers the opportunity for fairly frequent joy. Oh yes, there’s usually an equal measure of frustration, but it’s those little joys that stand out. Today, that joy is putting on the brand new socks I finished yesterday. (Also, that joy is getting to cast on for another pair, which I obviously did, but that’s for another post.)

These are pretty simple socks, and I will knit them again because they’re just a little bit more interesting to knit than plain stockinette without really requiring much more focus. I knit these in the car, on the subway, and during many episodes of The Wire. Basically, they were just what I wanted them to be, and even though I was starting to dream of other socks by the end there, this pretty flickering green kept my attention from wandering too much. And, speaking of the colour, this is a great one for winter knitting. It has been pretty wintry in Toronto in the past few weeks, and getting to look at this bright colour on a regular basis was very nice indeed.

Details
Pattern: Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder (it’s a free one)
Yarn: Tosh Sock in Jade
Needles: 2.25mm
Modifications: Very few (and detailed here). I opted to do my normal slip-stitch heel instead of the garter-stitch edged one in the pattern. I also opted to do twisted ribbing at the top, which looks nice and is very elastic, but also annoyingly time consuming (I swear the ribbing took me almost as long as the entire leg.)

Now, I know the responsible thing to do would be to go finish the second sock from this pair, and I really was going to do that, but then this other yarn caught my eye and before I knew what was happening I was finished the ribbing and into the leg on new socks. I couldn’t help it. I mean, look at this yarn! Sigh.

Zitron Unisono sport weight in colourway 1220. This yarn is so springy and soft it is not to be believed. Also, it has aloe and jojoba in it. And it’s going to stripe. How was I supposed to resist that?

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

10:49 am - February 12, 2013 - AngelaH

Lots of snow means lots of knitting

I grew up in rural Nova Scotia, which meant that every winter we’d get close to a dozen snow days (one year, we had so many school was almost extended into the summer to make up for it). Snow days were, of course, the best, and usually an excuse to sleep late and be lazy all day (except when we were little and then they were an excuse for a lot of playing). Living in Toronto, we don’t tend to get much snow, and working at a newspaper, my workplace is never closed because of weather.

Last week, though, Toronto got hit. That same big storm that barrelled through the the East Coast hit us first, and although we didn’t get quite as much snow, we got a lot (over a foot!). It mostly came on Friday and, yes, I had to work, but waking up on Saturday to a city that was still digging out meant that everything was quite and beautiful and wintry. If that combination doesn’t fill you with the desire to knit, well, I don’t know what does.

After long grey days, snow really brightens everything up.

L was busy marking assignments, so while we did go walking around in the snow and admiring how much prettier the city is in the snow – it was one of those perfect winter weekends, with a bright blue sky and no wind and snow everywhere – I spent the majority of the weekend happily knitting and listening to Tina Fey read Bossypants.

I was was a little all over the place knitting-wise, but here’s what I occupied my needles most:

I wish I'd taken a photo on Saturday morning, because I just about doubled the size of my Woodstove cardigan.

I wish I’d taken a photo on Saturday morning, because I just about doubled the size of my Woodstove Season cardigan.

I can sometimes be a reactionary knitter, thus, a new hat. This is Scrollwork by Irini Dmitrieva and I’m knitting it out of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Plume.

And, last but not least, I’m making good progress on my Everyday Socks. They’re good TV knitting, and with the cold, I’m extra motivated to get another pair of socks finished.

A little all over the place maybe, but I like variety; it keeps me interested and helps ensure my hands don’t get tired or sore. Those cables are addictive, though, and if it’s still cold out when I finish that hat I will probably cast on right away for the matching cowl!

Categories: Knitting, Out and about Tags: Brooklyn Tweed, cables, hat, Madeline Tosh, snow, socks, Toronto, woodstove cardigan

11:11 am - February 8, 2013 - AngelaH

What a difference a year makes

One year ago today I registered Pans & Needles and started to blog about my knitting. I was really nervous about it too, because I felt like kind of a poseur. At the time, I wasn’t really knitting anything interesting or impressive, but I was reading blog filled with gorgeous projects and luscious yarn and even though I wasn’t there yet with my knitting, I knew that I wanted to be. You know how something becomes real when you say it out loud? Well, that’s what blogging was for me: it was me, saying out loud, that I was a knitter. I’m not usually one for public declarations, but that one felt great.

In the last year I’ve pushed myself a lot – in part because I enjoy learning new things and, in part, because pair after pair of stockinette socks makes for boring blogging. I learned lace; I learned cables; I learned how to knit continental so I could better control my fair isle tension; I knit most of a sweater; I started working in a yarn shop (and teaching knitting!); I knit all my Christmas gifts; plus, I travelled a lot. Looking back, I can hardly believe that all of those things happened in the last year (it’s also quite frightening to realize how much my stash has grown in the last year).

It has been a wonderful year and to celebrate, I bought myself a present (ha!):

I don’t usually take advantage of Ganymede in this way, but a photo of books is much more exciting with a cat in it.

I have been wanting The Knitter’s Book of Socks by Clara Parkes for a long time, and I’ve come close to buying it a few times, so I decided it was time. When I realized I would get free shipping if I bought it with another book, it was an easy decision to add Nancy Bush’s Folk Knitting in Estonia. I love knitting books that you can sit and read (both of these are like that, really) and all the history Nancy Bush includes is fascinating. Also, I really want to knit these, and clearly I’m not over fancy mittens even remotely.

That was really going to be it, but then I was in the shop yesterday (working, not shopping) and I saw that we got a new shipment of SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock and, well, this skein pretty much jumped right off the wall at me. I’ll pick a nice pattern from Clara’s book and cast on once I’m finished one of the pairs currently occupying my needles.

SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Honey Fig. It’s more purple than pink (despite this picture) and even though it isn’t remotely like what I normally go for, I could not resist. I think it’s because there’s a snowstorm outside (it started yesterday) and I’m dreaming of summer.

~~Gifts~~ Purchases aside, the best thing about blogging, though, is that it’s made me feel like part of the knitting community, both in Toronto and online. I have met so many amazing people and been encouraged and inspired to tackle projects I may never have attempted otherwise. Thank you all for reading and commenting and encouraging and inspiring – I can’t wait to see where the next year goes.

Category: Knitting Tags: anniversary, clara parkes, knitting books, nancy bush, yarn shopping

2:13 pm - February 5, 2013 - AngelaH

Effing magestic

The moose gloves are done. They’ve actually been done for a week, but we had to wait until the weekend for a proper photo shoot, but L wore them for the first time two weeks after his birthday and proclaimed them quite warm, but not wind proof. He is quite pleased with the moose.

I still can’t believe how much they look like moose.

These gloves were basically a year in the making – it was around this time last year that L first saw the pattern and I first said I would knit them for him if he bought me the book, which he did – and in a way they cap off a lot of what I’ve learned about knitting stranded colourwork, including a decent understanding of yarn dominance (that is, that the colour stranded along the bottom will pop the most), tension, and pattern modification. Although, that being said, of all the patterns I’ve knit out of this book so far, this is the one I altered the least.

This is my first proper finished project of 2013, and I think my year is off to an auspicious start. There’s something nice about knowing my first project was a gift, and that it involved trying something new (I’d never knit fingers before). It makes me quite excited to see where the rest of the year takes me.

Details
Pattern: The Moose at Sundown by Annemor Sundbo
Yarn: Harrisville Designs Shetland in Red and Charcoal
Needles: 2.75mm for the cuff and 3.25mm for everything else (I used a magic loop)
Modifications: Not too many, really. I knit these in a wooly fingering weight yarn instead of the sport weight the pattern called for, and also went up several needle sizes to achieve the right size (although, I probably could have gotten away with a 3mm needle for the hands, but oh well). The Harrisville Shetland was lovely to work with and I am seriously considering ordering a whole bunch more – it’s wooly and sticky, making it perfect for stranded colourwork with longish floats, but when washed it softens up and blooms, becoming more like a sport weight. I loved it.
Design-wise, I added seven rows of length to the hand (on the back of the hand: an additional plain row, three rows of alternating red/grey, like in the cuff chart, and then an additional three plain rows; on the palm I just continued in pattern). I also doubled the length of the ribbing and added an extra plain row between the cuff and the hand charts.
All the details are Ravelled here.

*If you’re wondering about the title for this post, it’s from this comic (not a moose, but it was still L’s reaction).

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: fair isle, gloves, moose gloves

12:01 pm - February 2, 2013 - AngelaH

February is for focusing

I was going to say that February is for finishing, but then I realized I have too many unfinished projects to possibly make that claim during the shortest month of the year. So instead, a compromise. I realized this week that, other than my Christmas socks, I haven’t knit anything for myself since mid-November. I’m not saying that this is some kind of travesty or anything – I love giving handknits and also how knitting gifts gives me the opportunity to tackle projects I wouldn’t necessarily knit for myself – but there comes a point when you just want to knit something that doesn’t have a gift-by deadline, you know?

I got this yarn (and two more skeins just like it) for Christmas. This skein, or part of it, is destined to be a headband.

So, this month I’m going to try and focus my knitting on a few key things that I’ve been wanting. The main thing on this list is mittens. Since October I have knit three pairs of mittens and one pair of gloves and this has given me a lot time to think about what mittens I want for myself (mine, knit last year, have grown very thin indeed). Thus, they are priority number one, and would be a super quick knit if I weren’t designing my own (with the intention of releasing the pattern, which slows things down a little). I also need a headband, which shouldn’t take more than an afternoon, really.

In progress. I’m already knit and ripped and reknit a couple of times, but I think I’ve got it more or less figured out now.

The real focus of this month, though, will be my Woodstove Season cardigan. I started it back in November, then realized I was knitting the wrong size and ripped it out. I got re-started after the holidays, but put it down again to focus on the Moose Gloves, but now that those are finished (!) I am feeling the pull of the sweater. At least part of that is reactionary, since it’s been steadily cold for the past few weeks and I hate being cold. But I’m also starting to feel like a full finished sweater is a hurdle a need to get over, and I think this one is the one to get me there. I’m almost ready to divide for the armpits, and from there it’s pretty straightforward, so I just need to stick to it and it’ll be fine.

I love this colour. I am also totally smitten by these chevrons.

So, that’s where I think this month is heading – I’ll try to work on things in cycles so at least the blog will stay interesting. What are your plans for this short month?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: goals, headband, mittens, sweater, woodstove cardigan

1:02 pm - January 30, 2013 - AngelaH

Not quite a pair

I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but it would seem that the last pair of socks I knit doesn’t match. At all.

I am not chalking this up to second sock syndrome, though, because there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. Let’s start with the sock on the left. I started these, according to Ravelry, on Oct. 30. It was background knitting in November and themn, after finishing the first one, shit got real with my Christmas knitting and the socks were put aside. (A noble sacrifice, really, and nothing to do with how much I wished they were Jaywalkers like my other ones or how tedious I find ribbing.)

A basic 3x1 ribbed sock in Fleece Artist BFL sock, colourway Seafoam.

A basic 3×1 ribbed sock in Fleece Artist BFL sock, colourway Seafoam.

After my Christmas knitting was done, I was determined to knit myself Christmas socks, and since this pair was half-finished it would have been cheating to pick them back up. So, I packed the yarn for my Biscotti socks and left these in Toronto when I went home for Christmas. I didn’t want the distraction of the easy gratification of just finishing one sock and calling it a pair, and I truly didn’t think the Biscotti socks would only take a week.

Hermione’s Everyday Socks, knit in Tosh Sock colourway Jade. It turns out this particular combination is impossible to properly photograph on a cloudy day (the colour is more accurate on Ravelry).

But, they did. And that quick knit combined with potential travel delays forced me to ball up a skein of Tosh Sock I bought at a Boxing Day sale. Nevermind that I didn’t actually need to cast on for new socks in this yarn until after I got home, where the Seafoam socks were waiting. That’s irrelevant. In my mind, I’d already planned new socks in this yarn and so, to scratch that itch, I cast on. They were background knitting in January and now, here I am almost in February, with an entirely mismatched pair.

To solve this problem, I’ve decided to keep trucking away on the green socks and get them finished, and then finish the Seafoam ones, which are in a very spring-ish colourway and thus won’t hurt for the wait. In the meantime, though, I’m half considering wearing them as a pair (even though they would look ridiculous and feel very different on my feet) just because I could really have used another pair of socks right about now.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Fleece Artist, Madeline Tosh, socks