Held at the Starting Gate

I am working on putting together a post about why I think feminism is important, but as you may expect, it's not so easy to articulate! So, instead of continuing my series of posts on my journey through the movement today, I'd like to share some information on my sweater.

I ended up going with Knit Picks' "Wool of the Andes," just like I thought I would, and eventually chose the color "Victorian." Here's the picture from their website, since it pretty accurately depicts the color:

That gorgeous, dusky rose goes with much more than you'd immediately think, while being more interesting to stare at for hours on end than grey.

I've taken my measurements, picked my pattern, received my yarn, and I'm so ready to start working on this sweater. There's just one problem; I'm not getting gauge.

I've swatched and swatched, but I just can't match stitches per inch with the designer of the Enrobed Wrap, Amy Herzog. I'm consistently one off in either direction, which doesn't seem like much, but alters the way the sweater will fit a great deal. So now I'm left with four major options:

1. Go with the pattern I've picked and my current gauge and hope that it doesn't make too much of a difference in the finished sweater.
2. Alter the pattern to match my current gauge, involving a fair bit of both math and intuition.
3. Find a different sweater pattern that has a gauge that matches mine with this yarn.
4. Buy a different yarn for the current sweater pattern.

I'm thinking number 2 is my best bet, with number 1 as a close second. I just wish everything had worked the first time!

A Fresh Start

This is not going to be a very happy blog entry.

You see, today I'm going to frog a very decent chunk of sweater. This much sweater, to be precise:

I've thought long and hard about this decision and no matter how much it pains me to start this sweater over (for the third time), I think it's the right choice. I'm just not feeling right about the shaping and don't think it's going to work for my body as-is, so I'm going to rip back and do some modifications so I'm happier with it. It will be worth it to put the extra hours in for a sweater I'm happy with rather than get a mediocre product I'll never wear just because I was impatient.

Wish me luck.

...

P.S. To the person who keeps giving my blog entries +1's -- thank you. It's so nice to see that!

Klout

Well, I created a Klout account. After hearing Kelsey and Ashley's presentation, I just had to try it out.

So far, nothing interesting has happened, since it's just updating to include my multitude of accounts. I hadn't realized how many things I'm involved in until I had to include them on my Klout profile. I was surprised that Pinterest isn't an option, and bummed that Ravelry isn't. Not that the Ravelry thing surprises me.

Speaking of, when adding topics to my list on there, I was sad to see that "yarn" wasn't an option. Knitting and crochet were represented, but not yarn. I love talking about yarn! Super bummer.

Whatever, Klout. Yarn is totally an awesome topic. Here's a picture to prove it. By the way, if anyone wanted to get me anything from the shop linked in the caption below, I'd love it.

I don't care if you work with yarn or not, this stuff is pretty! Image from Alcidina on Etsy.

Red Dead Redemption and Knitting Patterns

I want to start designing my own knitting patterns, but I'm not sure how to begin that process. I haven't been knitting all that long, just a year and a half, and I don't feel that I really understand it enough to begin designing.

But, in the Riot Grrrl spirit in which I try to live my life, I say I'm just going to go for it. What's the worst that could happen? I create a stupid looking sock? Oh no! Whatever will I do? It's knitting. I can just rip it back and start over if I so choose.

So, I'd like to design a sock based off the game I'm currently playing -- Red Dead Redemption. (Quick aside -- does anybody know if you're "supposed" to italicize game titles?) For those of you unfamiliar with the game, here's a picture that pretty much sums it up.


(Picture taken from: http://dangerbrain.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/red-dead-redemptions-religious-undertones/)

You play as a cowboy and do all sorts of cowboy-y things like catch bad guys, tame mustangs, and play poker, all while advancing the further mission of taking down the head of the most notorious gang in New Austin. It's got an interesting morality system, and the whole thing has me hooked, but that's a story for another day.

What strikes me over and over is how freaking beautiful the game is. The landscape is absolutely breathtaking, and I love riding through it on my trusty steed. Enjoy some more eye candy and soak up the beauty for a second.


(http://metavideogame.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/red-dead-redemption-unforgiven/)


(http://www.gamernode.com/reviews/red-dead-redemption-review/)


(http://www.glorytogaming.com/2012/05/is-it-just-another-rockstar-title-red.html)

Awesome, right?

And it's not only Red Dead's desert that has me inspired. It seems like everything I'm experiencing lately takes place in a desert. First was Dune, then Journey, now Red Dead. I've fallen in love with the colors and subtle beauty of the landscape. I like the wide open spaces that are ugly at first glance, but the longer you look, the more you see their intricacies of color and the way space moves up and down in canyons and cliffs.

I do understand the irony of designing something knit after a place where no one in their right mind would wear such a thing, but I'm going to forge ahead in spite of that. Now the question is what to make. Socks? They're small and portable, but I'm not great at them. A hat? Also portable, and very quick, but how would you integrate a desert theme into a hat? A shawl? I love knitting shawls, and I could incorporate the idea of dunes into some sort of wavy construction in a super light yarn that would float on the breeze...

I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment (or five)!

Escalator Socks

Finally, Logan's socks are done!

He loves them, and thinks the pattern is "cool" without being too busy for him to wear them.

I made the pair using one skein of Cascade Yarns' Heritage sock yarn in color 5634 (lot 005) on US size 2 dpns. I'm not sure if that's enough to make the pattern as written, since I altered how high up the leg they went. Logan isn't a fan of very high socks, so I stopped them after two repeats of the pattern, rather than at the measurement the designer specified.

I would highly recommend the pattern, as it's easy to follow. These are my very first socks, and the only thing I had trouble with was grafting the toe shut. Well, that, and I changed the way the toe was worked, because the decrease wasn't symmetrical as written. I'm sure it would have been fine, but mine worked out pretty well.

If you want to make your own, the pattern is available for free here.

Fiber Friday: Saturday Edition

Lame excuse for not posting on my self-imposed deadline: I hosted a party last night, and between technical difficulties and frantic cleaning...

Anyway, I'm still slugging away on the wedding shawl (and will be for a while), but I also have a pair of socks for Logan on the needles. They're the Escalator Socks that seem to be pretty popular on Ravelry, and for good reason. They're really fun, easy enough for me to handle them as first socks, and have a pattern that is both "manly" (according to Logan) and engaging.

This is the second sock (my second sock ever) and I just finished the best part of them: the short row heel. Turning the heel is so magical, so inspiring, so downright cool that it makes the boring parts of the sock totally worth it (I'm looking at you, ribbing). I just love how blindly following the directions, because I don't really understand the mechanics of the short row heel yet, turns a flap of fabric into a nifty little cup and gets your needles going in a new direction.

I think it might be a form of magic.

Next week, I'm going to try to have a finished pair.

Fiber Friday/Monday: Wedding Shawl

After much delay, I bring you Fiber Friday on Monday!

I'm getting married in December, and as soon as Logan proposed, I knew I had to make something for the wedding. After a lot of pattern perusal and talks with my knitting friend, I decided on Cheryl Oberle's "Sampler Shawl." If you're on Ravelry, follow this link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sampler-shawl.

I decided to knit the shawl in laceweight, so it would be extra delicate and fancy. The wedding colors are black, white, and red, and this skein of Colourmart cashmere/silk in Vina was perfect.

The colorway is more brick and less tomato in person, if that makes any sense.

The yarn is a dream to work with, and has made my first delve into lace a treat. I'm halfway through the third of five different lace panels, and it's finally starting to look more like a shawl and less like a pile of tangles.

I've made lots of mistakes, but that's ok. If I wanted something perfect, I would have gone out and bought something, rather than taking all the time to make it myself. I can hardly wait to block it to unleash it's full beauty, but it's a BIG shawl (400 stitches per row, lots of rows) and that won't be for a while!

Oh well, it's pretty just the same.

Unicorn Hair

     Today I went to the yarn store and, as usual, wanted to buy everything. I don't know what comes over me in there. Something about being surrounded by so much of what I love makes me a little high. It always starts with store's picks all lined up in the front of the store, which lead me straight into the worsted weight section, then to the fingering weight yarns. By time I've made it to the "fun" fibers, I've gotten so loopy off of everything else that I even considered buying eyelash yarn.

     For those of you who don't knit, eyelash yarn is that fuzzy stuff that usually comes in weird colors. You've seen it, and you've probably wanted a scarf made out of it. It feels great, and back when I was a young, naive knitter I made the mistake of trying to make myself a scarf out of it. It's the worst fiber available to man. It tangles in on itself, you can't see your stitches well enough to work with ease, and cats tear what little work you have managed to get through apart in even less time than a normal project.

     But today, while under the influence of way too much fiber in too little time, I seriously contemplated buying a small skein of pink, blue, and purple eyelash yarn. I looked at Logan, who's my voice of reason when I go to the yarn store, and told him I wanted it because it reminded me of unicorn hair. 

     Yes. Unicorn hair. I obviously wasn't thinking straight.

     Logan looked back at me and didn't say a word. Instead, he just tilted his head a little and raised an eyebrow, his silent way of telling me that I'm being a little insane. Logan doesn't break this look out often, so it snapped me out of my blissed-out state. He never gives me that look in the yarn store, because even though he may think spending money on yarn instead of games is crazy, he knows I love it, and he respects that choice.
     But today I got the look, and I was so grateful that he threw it at me. It saved me from the abomination I held in my hand, and got me to buy a lovely sock yarn from Cascade Yarns instead. I plan on making these socks for Logan after I finish up the wedding shawl: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/whippersnapper
     It'll be a while before that happens, but I like to have my next project in mind while I finish whatever I'm working on for some reason. That, and I just needed to buy some yarn because I'm down to just three balls in my stash, and that's just wrong. The green he picked will be lovely to just look at for a while before I get started on the socks themselves.

     

Cyndaquil

Back to school means more Pokemon requests! I recently finished Cyndaquil.

The pattern I used is not my own, and can be found at http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2010/05/cyndaquil-plushie.html. I made Cyndaquil using Red Heart Super Saver yarn so he's stiff enough to stand up on his own.

Cyndaquil and Pokemon are copyright Nintendo.

Swing Frame Cozy

I love yarnbombing, and after being shown pictures, so does my Mom. She requested a "yarnbomb" for her swing, so I made a swing frame cozy.

Eventually the legs will be covered as well, and I'm going to try to wrap the poles that hold the swing to the frame in yarn, but we'll see if I have time. I'd like to get all of this done before heading back to the dorms on the 18th!

I'm just using my unbelievably huge stash of Red Heart for this and an I hook.

"Flying Fans" Shawl

I spent the majority of the last two months participating in a German study abroad program, and while I was there, I couldn't resist picking up this yarn:

I then turned that yarn into this shawl:

It was a quick, easy project and I enjoyed watching the colors shift while I worked. The pattern I used can be found here: http://yarnythings.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/flyingfanspattern.pdf.

I used an entire skein of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Doppio (approx. 400.5 m) and a 5.5 mm (I) hook. It made a pretty big shawl measuring in at 24" (61 cm) long down the spine and 47" (119.4 cm) across pre-blocking.

As for the yarn itself, I'm not sure I would recommend it. I've never used plied yarn before, so I'm not sure if this is common or not, but the thickness varied dramatically throughout the spine. I like my yarn to vary in color, but with a consistent thickness. It's fairly soft though, and very warm.

Lugia

Lugia from Pokemon!

I made Lugia with Caron Simply Soft yarn, which I DO NOT recommend trying yourself. It's wonderfully soft, but it's just not stiff enough for amigurumi work.

I used this pattern: http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2010/09/lugia-plushie.html.