pepperknit

A lot of us on the East Coast and Midwest in the US woke up this morning to snow, with the threat of a lot more overnight tonight—but it was just unseasonably warm a few days ago! Such is the way with winter, huh? You think it’s on its way out, and it comes tearing right back in. I suppose it was to be expected—March does come in like a lion, right?

Get your hands ready for the last burst of winter—and keep your fingers warm on those spring (or fall) days when it’s not quite warm enough to be without knitted goods—with the Merion Mitts, my latest pattern!

Knit in the round in a worsted weight yarn on size 5 needles, the resulting mittens are squishy and warm. The seed stitch palm is a little treat to yourself, and the Maypole pattern up the back will have you thinking about May Day. It’s just around the corner, I swear. But you’re going to need something to keep your fingers warm in the meantime.

via Ravelry for just $6!

Available in two sizes—women’s large (modeled by Ashley) and small (modeled by Pam)!
Instructions include the Maypole pattern both written out and in chart form!
Clever decreases preserve directionality for a professional, finished look!
Look amazing in Malabrigo and other worsted-weight yarns!

Hey, it’s still January, a perfectly acceptable time to look back at 2008. In my personal life, 2008 was HUGE—and positive. And now that I’m looking at it, it was a pretty darn big year for me for knitting! I produced more sweaters than ever, more “big” projects, more well-fitting projects, and just plain old more projects than ever.

I’m overall really pleased with everything. The Drops cardigan is perhaps my least favorite of the garments. It has a swingy shape that is not what I wanted, and the yarn is so so so so scratchy. But hitting on the idea of doing a clone shot as an FO shot? Well that certainly was inspired.

My favorite? Probably the Swirled Pentagon Pullover. I wear it all the time and have been told more than once that it looks like something I purchased. And we all know there’s, sadly, no better compliment to a handknit, right?

There are some other knits that don’t appear here. Some were finished but are awaiting true debuts (like the next Mintyfresh original pattern!), and some are totally unfinished and no one even knows about them. Coraline? I totally knit like 90% of that. When I get back to the States I think I’ll need to round up all the UFOs and srsly think about next steps.

But let’s not dwell on the abandoned projects! Let’s look ahead to 2009! I want more sweaters, more actual garments. Less tiny things—I always do so many tiny things. Those last-minute tiny things that I cranked out for Christmas (also on tap for 2009: Not knitting anyone Xmas gifts) upped my numbers, though, so I can call 2008 my most productive year ever (SIX more projects than last year!).

Here’s to great things in 2009, for all of us!

Happy New Year, all! The past month has been an absolute whirlwind of travel, fun, visits, and parties, and I’m just now finally starting to settle down. I’m back in Singapore for the month of January (the switch to Food Blog will commence!), but first we need to weave in some loose ends.

Christmas really really snuck up on me this year, as I know it did a lot of you. Stupid late Thanksgiving! Also, this was the first year I have done Xmas with anyone other than my nuclear family. Which meant I needed gifts for a whole branch of my family. Somehow, I whipped them all out in the two weeks before the holiday—three of them in the three DAYS before Christmas.

After finishing that 2×2 hat in Manos, I just ignored knitting for a while. But in a spurt of productivity, I knit a Koolhaas in two nights. The more complex pattern was always intended for my Uncle Mark, of course, host of our holiday gathering:

Note the deep-fryer in the background! Christmas dinner was a deep-fried turkey. I may have found the sole reason to move to the suburbs.

And then I hit this downward spiral of bad planning and even worse time management. Ultimately I did manage two more FOs, both completed on December 24 (one started that morning!).

This 2×2 hat was for my cousin Patrick, whose head is huge. The fact that it goes on his head is accomplishment enough for me!

My cousin Meaghan got a bulky moebius cowl in seed stitch. Back after Thanksgiving I’d seen Carrie knit one off a pattern, and I liked it enough that I “unvented” it for myself. I estimated about 22″ around, put in a twist, and knit until it looked tall enough. I never even measured it. It’s not as wide as Carrie’s, but it fits nicely.

Also knit but ultimately a total FAIL was a pair of fingerless gloves for my aunt, whose hands didn’t fit in them. Luckily (?) I only finished one of them. So I’m back to square one there. I have them with me and have already made progress on reknitting them.

Still, all in all, I couldn’t believe I finished ANYTHING in time! Go me! This brings my total FO count for 2008 up to new highs. I’m pretty thrilled. Recap for the year to be posted soon!

You know how sometimes you just suddenly want something new—a diversion, an idle fancy, a fling—and before you know it you’ve gone and done it?

Last night I got the urge to cast on with this Manos that has been in my stash forever. And tonight I finished a simple watchcap that I’m now in love with. I had a recipient in mind, but seeing as how I’m sitting in my roasting hot apartment still wearing it, I may have some trouble parting with it.

2×2 hat
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay
Color: 105
Skeins: 1
Needles: US 8
Cast on 108, knit for just over 5 inches, then started decreasing. Did in multiples of 12 to start, and worked a blank row (no decreasing) between decrease rows until there were 5 stitches between decreases. Then I picked up the pace and decreased every round, til there were 9 stitches. Drew through, and called this baby finito.

The brick down here in Bay Ridge is different. It’s darker, or redder, or arranged differently—I can’t quite put my finger on it. But it’s distinctive and really pretty. And when I fell in love with this wall, I knew immediately I needed to knit something and take my FO shots in front of it. And now. The yarn I bought at Webs was the perfect color, and the geometry of Norah Gaughan’s Swirled Pentagon Pullover was perfect.

Totally perfect.

Swirled Pentagon Pullover (my Rav page)
Yarn: Valley Yarns Colrain in Steel, bought at Webs in October
Needles: US 8
Skeins: 10 (9.25 or so, I’d say)
Started: Sunday, November 2
Finished: Friday, November 14
Notes: I didn’t get gauge exactly, so I knit the small size to get basically the extra-small. I knit the body in the round, adding one purl stitch for a faux seam (I’m not sure why I wanted a faux seam, but I like it). The sleeves are semi-deliberately too long, which I like—makes the whole thing more cozy (I knit them in the round, so I worked 10 rounds in between decrease rounds, rather than decreasing on the 10th round). And the turtleneck part isn’t the 9 inches called for, because that was strangulating me; I think it’s more like 7.

Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly. I will always trust Norah Gaughan—when picking up stitches for the neck, I initially didn’t trust the number given in the pattern for some reason. So I decided to just pick up what seemed natural, making sure it was a multiple of 4. And then I counted my stitches—92, exactly what the pattern said!

Oh, there is a small typo in the pattern—my trust doesn’t go too deep, apparently. The half-pentagon for the back yoke says something like “continuing in 2×2 rib” but that is wrong—it’s got to be 1×1 rib just like all the others.

I wore the sweater to my grandmother’s surprise 80th birthday party yesterday, and though I yammered on to anyone who would listen that I’d finished it the day before, the response was generally, “Wow, I thought you got that at a store!” Which, I have to say, was the best compliment I could have gotten. And now it’s in all the family portraits!

There are no words. Just the best game ever invented, and the best Halloween costume I have ever made.

I am not a Halloween fan, never have been. But Katamari Damacy? That I love. And when my friend Nanda suggested I be the Prince of All the Cosmos and she be the Katamari? And she was willing to dress up like this on Halloween proper, her birthday? Oh. Yes.

There’s a pattern for the earmuffs, which I read but mostly ignored, “unventing” the earmuffs myself. The sides of the prince’s head are really quite straight, not rounded, and I wanted accuracy! There’s a disc of cardboard in there to stabilize the edges.

I’ll put the full details on Ravelry. . . . Getting the band across to be flat was stupidly complicated; the pattern recommends double knitting, which would have made sense and solved it, but I thought I was going to attach it to a headband, but that wasn’t working right. Ultimately, I interfaced corduroy and lined it with that. Um, there is interfacing on my costume, which was supposed to be just an off-the-cuff knit. I had to find the iron in half-unpacked boxes (not to mention the interfacing and fabric!). But it’s worth it.

No one knew what the heck I was—but everyone smiled or laughed at me. People at the bar came up to ask. I was sitting in the front window of the bar, right at a busy corner on the Lower East Side, with my back to the street, and all my friends kept laughing as strangers did doubletakes. I got a lot of props from people when they realized that I’d made the costume myself. I also had a little visual aid, so people would see the prince in full—the small felt toy my friend Melissa made me!

The best moment was on the subway home. I wore the earmuffs because, being 100% wool, they are awfully warm and totally functioned as earmuffs (throughout the night at the bar I was saying “I’m sorry, what?” because I couldn’t hear anything). Pulling into one station, a throng of about 10 teenagers on the platform saw me and burst out laughing; one stuck his head against a window and howled in joy at me. They clambered into the subway car I was in, stomping and laughing, and one finally was like “Miss!!! What ARE you!” And I showed them the tiny prince and said I was the Prince of All the Cosmos, of course! He was like, “not the princESS?” And I said, “no, there isn’t a princess. there’s a queen, but the prince is cooler.” he then jumped up and started dancing around in front of me (awesome popping/locking). They caused such a ruckus that other riders were stonily irritated, but I was just enveloped into their fun times. It was so nice!

It’s double the pleasure—and double the fun! Just in time for fall:

A pattern for a fully reversible, double-knit cowl.

“But I don’t know how to double knit!” I hear you cry. Never fear! I have created five incredibly clear and helpful videos (plus one bonus video!) to show you how to cast on and knit two sides of a fabric at once. It’s easier than you think, and will be a no-brainer for advanced knitters. You’ll be designing your own double-knit scarves, baby blankets, and even garments in no time after you watch my clever tutorials.

Plus, you get the elaborate, continuous brocade chart (with no repeats), designed exclusively by me, so that you, too, can wrap your neck in a cozy cowl of luxury.

All this for the low, low price of $5! You can buy it directly via PayPal, and soon you’ll be able to buy it through Ravelry. Please visit the project page for pattern details as well as to buy it!

I started out really strong right off the gun—but I rounded that first turn and hit something of a wall. (More like: I was on vacation at the beach and had other things to do besides knitting.

But when I realized yesterday that the Olympics are actually over tomorrow, I hit my second wind and quickly finished seaming it up. Today I went to Tender Buttons for the priciest buttons I’ve ever bought (total came to 3/4 what I paid for the yarn), but they’re worth it.

Drops Jacket
Pattern: 103-1 Jacket in Eskimo or Silke-Alpaca with A Shape
Yarn: Ram Wools Selkirk, natural/undyed
Skeins: 4
Needles: Addi Turbo US 8
Started: Friday, 8/8/08
Finished: Saturday, 8/23/08

Notes: Knit the pattern as indicated, with full-length sleeves. Instead of “casting off” in the body, I just decreased. I suppose I’d have liked it a little longer, but I’ll try to block it bigger next time I wash it. (Mirage was too long, this is too short!) And boy will there be many more washings; the yarn is incredibly scratchy but “softens with washing”; it’s a marked difference in softness from the knitting to the blocked piece, so I’m hoping more washings will make this more wearable. It is ridiculously warm, and will be perfect come winter. (As it was, I was dying during the photo shoot.)

Here’s to getting the gold!

After a long drought, I was a bit of a crafting fool in Singapore, huh? Because here’s another FO (and all were knit on US 5, the only size needle I brought!). I should space them out or something, but I’ve waited long enough to blog about this finished object (two whole days)!

I have always had a thing for turtles. In fact, I had a pet turtle, Gus, in college. (He’s buried on campus.) In elementary school, I made a little clay turtle for my mom who we named Tootsie; she’s in storage in Maryland while my parents are overseas. So naturally, this second handmade turtle should be named the Tootsie II.

Let’s hope she isn’t carnivorous.

Tootsie II
Pattern: Sheldon (knitty; rav)
Yarn: Harvest Pure Wool in green and khaki
Skeins: 2 of each color
Needles: Addi Turbo US 5
Started: Friday, August 1
Finished: Saturday, August 2
Notes: I knit the body and top of the shell on my last day in Singapore; the rest I knit in the air flying from Singapore to Korea. The couple sitting next to me were delighted by her (ps, she’s enormous). (FO shots were taken in the Inch’on South Korea airport.) I really hated knitting it; there has to be a more elegant way for the turtle to be assembled (mostly the shell was a pain in the ass—three layers, none effortless matched up). It’s a pretty cute FO, though, so I hope my friend’s baby likes her. She liked the airport quite a bit.

I saw Mirage in More Big Girl Knits and immediately fell in love. While in Singapore, I did the work to go about sizing it down for me, and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

I wore the sweater for my journey home from Singapore—those planes are so cold. On my way out, actually, the man sitting next to me put an extra blanket over me because I looked so cold huddled under my single blanket (and I was wearing a cardigan). Wow, the sweater kept me so comfy warm, I only needed one blanket on each leg. It was uncomfortably warm in the airports, in fact. In all, this sweater has seen Singapore, Korea, Vancouver, and New York.

I used a thinner yarn on purpose, hoping that I could just knit one of the existing sizes and not have to actually redo all the math. (I’m not afraid of math, but if I don’t have to do it . . .) Happily, it worked out to knit the smallest size in the book. But I actually used the principles and lessons imparted in the Big Girl books to think about whether the motif needed to be sized down further as well. I wanted it to be in proportion—and the tighter gauge accomplished that—but I decided that it needed to be still smaller. However, I swatched the “cable” part (which isn’t really a cable, it’s just an increase on one side and a decrease on the other) at different widths and preferred it the way the pattern indicated. The part I changed was the eyelet panel, which felt too wide as it was. So I dropped it down to just 4 eyelets, instead of 6. The additional stitches were transferred to the stockinette panels.

Mirage (my ravelry page)
Pattern: Mirage Pullover (rav link), from More Big Girl Knits
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, which softened upon blocking and wearing
Skeins: 6
Started: Sunday, July 13
Finished: Saturday, July 26
Needles: Addi Turbo US 5
Notes: I’d figured that there was risk of the sweater falling off my shoulders (and other knitters reported such), so I’d planned to work the yoke further than called for. Because I transferred the stitches taken out of the eyelet panel to the stockinette panels, this meant that I already worked the yoke further in order to decrease until the stockinette section had disappeared on the arms. It was perfect with just that change—probably about 1 additional inch.

On the sleeve (above) I didn’t do the increases the way they said—between the purls and the stockinette section—because it produces a distinct jog; instead I did M1s one stitch in on each side. Adds some elegance, to my eyes.

Other mods were to not make yos in the “cable” panel but to do M1Rs and M1Ls. This was no big deal until I got to the short rows at the neck, when working the M1s backward was too much for my brain to handle. I’m not even really sure what I did, but it’s not noticeable so it’s fine.

I think I made the sweater overall too long (that’s the hem above), but I’m not going to change it. I knit until I got to a length I liked—which turned out to be the length given in the pattern—but in the wearing I think it could be about one inch shorter. It doesn’t grow or anything, it just feels too long.

Over the years, I’ve knit far too few sweaters (being a product knitter I tend to love the quick, fast knits), but I want more, more, more—and this was a great first step.