The Man They Call Jayne

I finally have a reason to make a proper Jayne Cobb hat now that I know how to knit! For those of you who don't know, I've crocheted one before, for my brother. It was pretty sweet, but I've always wanted to make a proper knitted one, and red/orange/yellow is NOT a color combo I'm willing to wear in public. On my head, no less.

But the other night, I encountered a coworker and her teenage son at a Patrick Rothfuss book signing. Pat is a fantasy novelist that hubby and I both love, and suffice it to say that the crowd of 400+ fans had a LOT of overlap with fans of PAX, Neil Gaiman, and Firefly, among other favorites. The author himself was wearing a Blue Sun shirt. It was inevitable that someone was wearing a Jayne hat, that my coworker's son would mention how much he wanted one, and that I would say, well heck, I could make that!

I picked up some nice, soft bulky weight wool roving in bright mustard yellow and cranberry red. Couldn't find the right orange to match, but I needed some needles anyway, so I put in a Knit Picks order and added an orange skein of their bulky wool. Will absolutely post photos when it's done!

Update: March 13th - done!

Color Me Coordinated!

While it wasn't planned when I ordered the yarn, the Knit Picks Gloss in Sea Spray coordinates beautifully with the Knit Picks Chroma in Mesa! Behold:

Always, Always Learning

A little less than two years ago, I produced my first extremely irregular square of stockinette stitch in baby blue Super Saver, probably on size 10 needles, although now I couldn't tell you for sure. It's still sitting in a drawer somewhere in my craft room; it's boring, it's uneven, and it's made of the crappiest acrylic known to knitter-kind, but I can't bring myself to do away with it. After months of only being comfortable with a crochet hook and one or two failed attempts at having a friend teach me to knit, I finally, one day, just picked up those shiny, chunky Boye straights and made myself swear that I wasn't going to put them down until I had figured this knitting thing out.

Cause, you know, I can do anything!

And eventually, I did. Of course, I used the cheapest yarn I could find, intending to waste plenty of it in the pursuit of this elusive skill. It didn't take me an entire skein to get the hang of it, but given what I've accomplished as a knitter since that determined day, I think it's safe to say I got my money's worth.

The primary reason I learned to knit, in the beginning, was because I loved crochet, and was producing some pretty snazzy pieces with the hooks, but I was irritated that there was this whole other method that I couldn't do. And not being able to do things kind of pisses me off. Naturally, I have to admire the finished project to want to learn the craft - quilting and embroidery just don't appeal to me, and sewing only vaguely. I am firmly convinced that scrapbooking was invented by some evil genius to destroy all the trees on the planet while convincing crafters they're making something attractive and not at all hideously tacky. But knitting! I was seeing so many fabulous patterns and projects on Ravelry only to be let down when I saw that it was knit and I couldn't get one for myself.

Since conquering the basic knit and purl stitches, I have been utterly fascinated by the wealth of techniques available to knitters. Colorwork, cables, lace, ribbing, twisted stitches, slipped stitches, brioche stitches, entrelac! It was this last one that I had seen often in yarn shops, advertising a particular yarn, or an entrelac class. It looked so complicated and difficult, I was sure that it was something I would only be confident in tackling once I was a very experienced knitter. And then I forgot about it.

But entrelac popped back into my awareness with the introduction of Knit Picks new self-striping yarn "Chroma." Its vibrant colors and long repeats were perfect for an entrelac project, and you know what? I'm a very experienced knitter! Bring it on!

I found a free scarf pattern, chose needles for a slightly looser gauge, and went to town! I made some mods along the way - I abandoned the author's garter stitch selvedge and used a different increase method, but overall, I was thrilled with the pattern. And even more thrilled with the result:


I have been getting compliments everywhere I wear this scarf, and it just makes me want to learn more and more intricate techniques. And I will. Cause, you know, I can do anything!

PS: Entrelac? Not that hard. :P

Evil Penguins

The teensy sweaters in the post below are part of a multi-project pattern issued by Knit Picks called Snow Day.

Here's the pattern image:



Since uploading the below photos, I've also finished the stripey cardigan (the orange, blue, and white one in the pattern pic). It looks great!

After finishing all the sweaters, I decided to give the penguin a go. I mean, it's freaking adorable. From the moment I cast on, the problems began.

First, you start with the basically ball shaped head. Knitting in the round, starting from very few stitches, sure, I've done this before. But, according to the pattern, you are supposed to do a lifted increase after every stitch in the very first round. This is impossible because THERE IS NOTHING TO LIFT. No matter which cast-on I tried, there was nothing for me to work into to do the Make 1. I had to do a backwards loop increase, which I have never liked because it's so effing hard to work into on the next round, but whatever. Correct stitch count achieved, right? And then I could do the lifted increases the pattern asked for ever subsequent time.

But of course, the problems were not over. The head was worked first in white, then the rest in black, so there was no need to float any color strands. However, once I got to the body, EACH round is part black and part white, so I had to start stranding. As anyone knows who has done colorwork, this immediately doubles the thickness of the finished object. Now, this is a TINY penguin. At its widest point, it's only 26 stitches around of fingering weight yarn on size 2 needles. Having it be this thick meant there was barely any space inside. I could already tell stuffing it was going to be difficult.

Thickness was not the only problem with the stranding. The other, and somewhat less significant problem unless you're rather OCD, is that EVERY time I floated the black strand, it showed up clear as day on the front (white) section of the penguin. I just kept telling myself, eh, this penguin's white section is just flecked with black feathers, sure, no problem, just vary where you do the float so it looks randomish. I could have dealt with that, I suppose, even though the lack of a pristine white section was bugging me.

So, I got the head done, I got the body done. It didn't look too horrible. The pattern is written so that you hold most of the white (belly) stitches of the penguin apart and work some short rows with the black (back) stitches to curve around the bottom for the feet, and graft onto the held stitches. But before you do this, you can take the opportunity to stuff the penguin.

HA HA HA HA HA.

Even with a stuffing tool, I had an incredibly hard time getting any polyfill into the body at all - the opening was just too narrow. Then, once I did manage to cram it in there, I could not, no matter what I tried, get the stuffing through the tiny neck section into the head area. The stuffing merely compacted at the neck and turned into a hard lump. And all this is separate from the fact that with all the uneven stranding I was forced to do, the body is not particularly willing to round itself out properly and keeps bunching in weird places that the stuffing can't even reach.

And all of this is going on in a creature that is roughly one by three inches.

When I realized it was never going to work, I yanked out the now solidified polyfill clump with a crochet hook and started unraveling that evil thing with a vengeance.

Quitting at this point meant that there were still further problems that I had anticipated, but never reached - for example, once you've stuffed it and grafted the toe, you're supposed to do the beak and the eyes. How the HELL was I supposed to tie off or weave in the ends INSIDE the penguin that has already been stuffed and sealed? Even if I hadn't stuffed or sealed it yet, the thickness of it and the narrowness of the neck meant that I couldn't even turn it inside out if I wanted to. Same goes for the wings, which are made separately and then sewn on. Where would the loose ends have gone?

Whoever wrote this pattern, whether it was Nina Isaacson (listed as the author on Ravelry) or some other Knit Picks staff member, clearly didn't think it through very well. I'm not sure how they even got the sample made. I may still attempt to knit a penguin ornament with the same basic shape as the one in the pattern, but I would have to dramatically reconceptualize the construction. For starters, even though I don't really like seaming, I'd have to completely do away with the need for stranding and just work the black and white sections separately and flat, like the pattern instructions tell you to do for the wings, which I never even got to. I would also have to do the eyes and beak BEFORE starting on the rest of the body, and finish and sew on the wings before seaming and stuffing the body.

Maybe... just maybe.

Last Five Months

Just an update to let you know what I've gotten up to in the five months and change since my last post. I've made a few hats, a couple pairs of socks, most of a vest, and the most adorable teeny tiny sweaters I've ever seen.

I've gotten MUCH better at stranded knitting - come a long way since the pillow I made for my brother's wedding. I mean, that turned out very nicely and all, but the two and four strand work on these teensy sweaters was far more complicated.

Apart from the world of knitting, I've gotten married. Yeah, that was pretty awesome. I've started up the new school year and been through some pretty dramatic ups and downs where that's concerned. I've taken two big scary licensure exams and have another one scheduled for this weekend.

I was a princess for Halloween (fit into my old prom dress, whee!) and got to give out lots of candy. Had Thanksgiving with friends and got to experience some of the tastiest turkey ever, though I miss mom's mashed potatoes. Looking forward to Christmas, though as of yet we don't have very specific plans for the tree or the gifts or where on earth we're going to put the stockings now that we live in a place with no mantle...

So, here's a look-see at what I've knitted since June. Enjoy!

First Ever Finished Socks!

Here they are! Didn't get very far up the leg before running out of yarn. Also, turned the first heel THREE TIMES before I found a M1 technique that didn't leave huge holes along the short row joins. They are delightfully, hideously chunky and yellow, but hey, they're house socks!

Being totally honest with myself, I'm REALLY glad I did these two-at-once, because I sincerely doubt I could have mustered up the willpower to do the other one, even though I think it turned out nicely. I still haven't gotten to Megan's other green lacy glove thing.

Two-At-Once Socks

Yesterday, I decided to teach myself to do socks, from the toe-up, on two circulars, both socks at the same time. This is three entirely separate skills, none of which I had learned before, but I was undaunted! My previous sock experience includes one crocheted sock (never had the desire to make another) and about 2/3 of a sock knitted from the top down on dpns. There was nothing wrong with the latter sock, and I suppose I could have finished it, but I wasn't crazy about the yarn - it was cotton, and even though it was a gorgeous colorway and the heel came out beautifully, it just didn't have any stretch to it when I pulled it up over my leg.

I had actually decided that knitting socks was completely pointless - why knit something you're going to hide inside a pair of shoes, anyway? Isn't the whole point of knitting to make other people jealous with your fabulous, fashionable crafting skills? But then, Bucky asked me to make him some 100% wool socks for his cycling shoes (wool socks dry VERY quickly), and since personal knitting requests from my beloved are a rare treat, I decided to give it another go. I did some research, found a delightfully sane and easy-to-modify pattern for basic toe-up, short-row heel sock construction, ordered a pair of size 2 circulars, and chose a nice slate gray ball of Knit Picks Palette yarn from my stash.

While waiting for the size 2's to arrive, I decided to do a bit of practice. The only size circulars I already have two of are a size 6. That's a bit on the small side for worsted weight yarn, which is all I really have in sufficient quantities to practice with, but I figured it would do. Due to the thickness of the yarn and the tightness of the gauge, I'm making socks that will be more like slippers than anything I can stuff into shoes, but that's ok! I chose a particular shade of yellow that I'd probably never wear out of the house anyway. :P It's some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride that a friend sent me as part of a yarn-bomb care package. I'm pretty impressed with the results thus far! The toe looks a bit trapezoidal, but when I stretch it over my foot, that effect is pretty well diminished. I have about another four inches to do before I turn the heel, but I'm excited to see how long they get before I run out of wool. It might not be very long at all, but then, who knows? I'm working from both ends of the skein, so I'll just stop when I run out. :)