pepperknit

It’s not the weather, since the past week stayed hot and humid. It’s not a return to school, since I work a full-time job and haven’t been in school for years. It must be some inner psychological link to the equinox, because we hit the official start of fall and I’ve been in a knitting frenzy ever since. Proof?

You may recall I posted this yarn in a yarn cake back on Wednesday. Late Thursday night, after swatching for a sock pattern, I cast on–finally!–for the Twist-Front Top (Ravelry link) by Adrienne Vittadini (scroll down; it’s the second photo). I’ve been wanting to make this top for years–evidenced by the fact that this is from the Spring 2005 booklet. I first saw it in one of those ads in the back of Interweave. And now I’m done with the back and about 1/3 of the way up the front. It’s a simple 4-row pattern repeat, and everything is chugging away quite easily so far. I’m eager to get to the miter shaping to see how it all comes together.

I’m using the Brooks Farm Acero I got at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and it is much thinner than the yarn called for in the pattern, but I did some math and it seems that using the largest size in the pattern should yield a sweater that fits me. Plus some of the comments on Ravelry indicate that it stretches (it is lace, after all) and knitting a smaller size is recommended. Keep your fingers crossed.

Yesterday was Spin-Out, and since I don’t spin, I showed up with this in tow and knit happily away for several hours with the crew from Sit ‘n’ Knit New York. The weather was perfect, perfect, perfect. There were lots of spinners who even dragged wheels to Central Park. It was the first time I’d ever seen spinning live. And . . . I still have no desire to learn.

I want to finish this NOW! The back is blocking while I work on the front. Happily, it seems that 2 skeins of this yarn should be the perfect amount for a tank top. Note, the color is most accurate in the outdoors shot.

The pattern is ready! Click here to download the pdf. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view it. If you are on a Mac and have trouble viewing the file, use Acrobat, not Preview.

Roman Earflap Hat Pattern

It’s also up on Ravelry, should you be a member and interested in queuing it!

I went to the grand opening of a new yarn shop on the UES last night. Annie’s Needlepoint now has an accompanying knitting shop on the ground floor–and it’s a beaut. This is my favorite shot; she has a lot more yarn than this.

Tonight’s very special episode of Pepperknit is brought to you by the House of Regret.

1. Do not, if you can help it, wind up a ball of yarn held double, knit up half the ball, then change your mind, frog the whole damn thing, and decide you now want a single-strand ball of yarn.

I didn’t take any pictures of the carnage that was the frogging, reassembling balls, then unwinding into two balls. But it was a nightmare. It didn’t help that I got the urge to frog the Cabled Bandeau at 11:30 a few nights ago, right before going to bed, and I did it while sitting in bed. Which meant that fifteen minutes later, when I realized this was a time-consuming endeavor best saved for another time, I couldn’t leave it. No! I had to resolve the mess of squiggly yarn that was smack-dab in the middle of my bed. I managed to corral it into four balls that I could place on the floor for a Time Out.

I finally had the energy to tackle the rest of it tonight. What once was the start of the Cabled Bandeau (above) now looks like this:

And I’m not sure what it’s going to be. But I’ve determined my gauge–and even washed the swatch! (it’s wet in this photo)–so I can pick from here.

2. Never, ever work the sewn bindoff and then realize something’s not right about the piece. Because picking out the sewn bindoff is an ordeal and a half.

This was that cursed sock from the spring, the one that killed my mojo for more than a month. I recently knit its mate, a fraternal twin, and decided this one needed more than just a new, looser cuff. Tomorrow I’ll get started on the identical twin to the single sock from Labor Day.

How very apt that the word finished is perfectus in Latin (at least, it is according to the Internet). Because my earflap hat is perfect! I really can’t tell you just how much work went into the earflaps, but I will say there is earflap detritus all over my couch. I think I knit three or four different ones before the right flap came into being.

Roman Earflap Hat
Pattern: To come! I will be writing it up in full soon.
Yarn: KnitPicks Merino Style in Nutmeg
Skeins: 3
Needles: US 6
Started: 8:30 am Saturday, September 22
Finished: 7:45 am Monday, September 24
Nitpicky notes: As I alluded to above, I was persnickety about the flaps. The eventual winners were knit using the double knitting technique so that they would lay perfectly flat and also be toasty-warm.

Earlier I mentioned my attention to the brim, which I worked with the yarn held double, for thickness and warmth. I chose the stitch pattern out of Barbara Walker’s first treasury; it is based on garter stitch so it creates a dense fabric (also good for warmth!).

I very deliberately decreased by a multiple of seven. I decided that an odd number would be the most aesthetically pleasing, and I was convinced 7 was the perfect balance. I think I made the right decision on that.

The last step was the pompoms–which I put more thought into than you might have suspected. (Sizing was the issue–I know I like dense pompoms.) I hope Liz likes the hat! I can’t wait for the weather to turn so she can start wearing it. In the meantime, I’m making one for me.

When my now-married friends met, she owned a hat that featured earflaps, a big pompom, and pompoms on the ends of the earflap ties. And according to my friend, that hat is the reason her husband fell in love with her. (We all know the reasons are much more varied than that, and include her intelligence, beauty, and kindness.) But she lost that hat within their first year, and he’s been wanting her to get another.

So when I told them over dinner that I was in a knitting slump, they didn’t offer sympathy, or try to find out if there was a deeper reason I wasn’t knitting. No, they said “Knit the earflap hat!” And I didn’t need to be asked twice. We looked at yarn online, and I’d ordered and received it within a week. I started knitting it last Tuesday.

I’d never designed an earflap hat before, and I debated all the ways to approach it. I thought earflaps that were knit beforehand and then joined to the brim would create a neat, continuous effect. I thought, let’s put a stitch pattern on the earflaps, continue it as a hat “brim,” and then switch to stockinette. Great idea, right? I knit on this happily away, and then I stopped and tried it on.

And realized what a horrible mistake this was. Don’t deny it. It’s hideous. It looks like a helmet, right? Like something from ancient Rome.

The truth is, I tend to look bad in hats, but this is atrocious. I can’t even believe I’m posting this picture on the Internet for all to see, but you need to recognize JUST how awful this hat was turning out. I couldn’t give this to my friend! I even showed these pictures to other friends, who were trying to convince me the hat was going to be fine, and then they’d stop mid-sentence at the sight of these photos and say, “Oh, wow. Yes, it’s bad.” Friday morning, I frogged the whole thing and tried to really learn from my mistake.

I ruminated. The biggest problem, to my mind, with hats, is that you need it to be thicker right at the brim. It’s why so many hats have a folded-up cuff. Without that, it hugs the shape of your head and is rarely flattering. So I tossed aside the idea of having earflaps continuous with the brim, and found a way to make a thicker brim using the same stitch pattern, which I liked.

Et voila!

I know this is more flattering light, but this is a more flattering hat in every possible way. I might venture to say it’s a perfect hat. I’m going to knit another version for me–and leave it just like this. But this hat is not done yet–still have to figure out the earflaps.

Can I just say that earflaps are tougher than you might think? At least, getting the perfect earflap is. I’ve got the second one on the needles–FO soon!

* “Learn from your mistakes” in Latin (you know, ancient Rome)

As summer draws to a close, it’s nice to revisit the idyllic spots of summer. Lakeside in New Hampshire, at the pool, at the beach . . .

I’m definitely looking forward to fall, though! Changing leaves, a return to knitting. . . . I hope to have some content to share this weekend. I was nearly going to have an FO to show, but it’s being frogged, so, maybe just some kind of descriptive post instead. Still, the knitting spark has been lit!

I never quite understood the difference between a true process knitter and a product knitter until recently. I knew, deep down, that I am not a process knitter, but I couldn’t grasp what it would feel like to be one. I mean, I like the process of knitting! I like forming stitches–stockinette is satisfying, sure. A friend once tried to explain to me how the finished object is like some happy surprise “when it happens.” That got me closest to understanding; in fact it emphasized how much I am NOT a process knitter–I love the finished object! This is probably why I knit so many small things and can’t get through sweaters.

Anyway, I started a cross stitch project in the spring, and lately I’m obsessed with it. In working each stitch, I’ve realized that I’m a true process stitcher. I don’t really care about having the final project. This could go on forever, stitches upon stitches, and that would be fine. It took me a long time to find a project that I would be happy to have the finished picture, but I was close to buying something that just had a lot of stitching interest because I didn’t care what it would look like at the end.

Here it is with one color done:

Pretty impossible to parse out, huh? It will eventually look like this, if I ever get that far. I’m taking a very disciplined approach to this, and I’m doing one color at a time, in its entirety. I’ll take a photo after each color. I meant to take a photo of the back at the same time, but forgot–maybe I’ll start when I finish the second color.

What’s amazing about it is that it takes a lot of time, you see lots of progress, and it is so entirely meditative. Requires no thought whatsoever–it’s perfect for me these days! But now that the weather is starting to turn to fall, my desire to knit is growing . . . Will start planning projects soon.

Better late than never! Candy apples at a street festival.