Recently queued

I've been working on Harbinger, the LondonLeo shawl pattern with such beautiful geometric elements I posted about in August.

I have a sad, blurry cell phone image of the WIP right now, but it isn't even the right color. The actual color is more turquoise. The yarn is from a local dyer, Vice Yarns, and I really need to do a writeup of her stuff, especially because I have a skein to give away on the blog! :D

In other news, I've added more things to my queue, and here are a few of them:

Mountain of Light Koh-i-noor shawl, by Alexandra Wiedmayer. A total color project; it would be fun to play around with yarn choices on this. I'd do lavender and grey, maybe. Or bright blue with cream. Or scarlet and grey. Or.....

Dreiecke, by Shannon Cook. I received this pattern as a gift and just love the texture. It has a ski chalet feel without the pain of Fair Isle. I have some oatmeal-y Tosh that would be great for this. Or an electric yellow. I can see it being so many things. 

And finally, the Maple Leaf Knit Shawl by Natalia @ Elfmoda, because wow. I really, REEEEEALLY hope she's in the process of doing a whole series of leaves. I'd die. And have to knit them all. Gah, I just get tickled looking at it.

- YX

WIP: Meridien

I haven't shown you my Meridien in awhile, so here are a few in-progress shots:

The back fits pretty well! I'm pleased with the length too, which is quite a bit longer than I initially expected. 

I really like the way the back panel looks, but I'm not super thrilled with the curve of the flounce and back (which is intentional in the pattern):

Here's a detail of the flounce area:

I'm on to the dreaded sleeves now (ugh!)... I'm still not entirely convinced that this doesn't want to be a vest. Can I talk myself into that? No sleeves? On something wool?

Hmm...
- YX

My mojo!

Can I start out by saying that I have a general distaste for the word "mojo", but I have no better way to describe what I'm talking about-- the feeling of excitement and desire that comes with working on knitting projects. The need to create more, faster, an ever-changing lineup of works in progress on the needles.

For some reason lately, as I've slogged through my Meridien cardigan, I've felt my mojo waning. I'm repeating the same 33 rows over. I'm on repeat 14 now, and nearing the end of the first section of the cardigan. Normally, I'd be racing to the finish line, ready to work on the little Gramps sweater that is now overdue (the intended baby had an early yet fashionable arrival). I don't like having a ton of projects on the needles at once, but even if I did, I think I'd be slowing down, anyway.

What happened? I still love knitted things. I enjoy knitting, when I do. My queue is still growing. Indeed, quite a large group of knit friends are starting on Viajante, a Martina Behm creation that appeared in February.

I have the yarn for it, and I'd love to knit with my friends, but actually casting on seems to encompass some kind of weight that I can't explain. I'm not producing at the same rate as I was before. Do I need to take a break from Meridien and my endless repeats? Should I allow myself to slow down and focus on getting things done methodically, not pushing myself if the "mojo" just isn't there?

I feel like I've been thrown into water and forgotten how to swim. On a logical level, I'm still inspired by projects I see on Ravelry, by my local knit group, and by your comments, lovely readers. What keeps me from picking up my needles at night?

Have any of you been through something similar? I took an extensive break from knitting for a few years during college and came back stronger than ever... Maybe I just need time? A new yarn store to peruse?

- YX

WIP: Meridien

So I'm working on Meridien, a swing cardigan by Joji Locatelli. Here's the designer photo:

 And here's where I am so far:

I'm enjoying the pattern, which is knitted side-to-side. The construction is interesting, but I'll write more on that as I get to it. For now, I'm just enjoying the different textures of the fabric.

Unfortunately, the piece needs to measure something like 44" from the narrower stockinette side before I can do anything else, so I'm stuck in a 33-row repeat that is a bit tedious but is at least memorizable.

I have a small notebook I'm using to keep track of rows and repeats, which is imperative as I run a cable and increase short rows at the same time. It seems to be working out well, for the most part! I already have one repeat that messed up and doesn't look like the rest, but I'm going to go ahead and leave it different. I'm a big fan of the Deliberate Mistake in projects.

You know what I'm talking about, right? The idea that leaving a mistake in your work somehow keeps you honest. Perhaps less prideful, perhaps less perfect. Crafters and artisans throughout history have made or kept intentional mistakes. I think having a mistake in my work makes me less stressed about fixing things, which makes a project more enjoyable and less like work. Although I'm more of a project knitter than a process knitter, and I sure as heck don't need an INTENTIONAL mistake for all the ones I dump into my knitting. Heh.

Anyway, this cardigan is going to take awhile, so I may end up hopping onto another project for a few weeks to take a bit of a break...
- YX

December winner and happy 2013!

Hey everyone! I was getting entries until late in the evening, so I'm picking my winner today!

The random number generator says #4 is my winner... Though I accidentally closed the window instead of copying the image! You'll have to just trust me on this one. Our winner is... sch4gators! Congrats! The shop will be getting in touch with you to get your certificate on the way.

For everyone else, I'd like to wish you a super happy 2013! I want to take a month off of giveaways for January, but they'll be back!

I've been working on a new sweater project. There's not much to show currently:

It's the beginnings of Obsidian. Remember when I wrote about it earlier? I realized this Wollmeise lace in "Die Auster" was the perfect match for it. I love this colorway, even though the greens and yellows don't particularly lend themselves to skin tone. This is the same colorway (but different base) from my Autumn hat, which I think I completed pre-blog.

This is a bulky hat knit out of 5 strands of Wollmeise held together simultaneously. It was actually pretty close to gauge! At the time, I even took a picture of my 5 adorable mini-cakes (cupcakes?) because they were so cute:

Anyway, on the sweater, I'm past the raglan increase and in the midst of some decreases for the waist right now. Soon, I'll be moving onward to hip increases! The pattern is done in garter stitch using a wrap-and-turn technique that makes it possible to do the whole thing in knit stitches... Excellent tv knitting. I'll have to take some more photos as I move along!

Happy new year to you all, and I hope you have a great 2013! Any knit-related resolutions out there? Mine is always to use more of my stash...
...

...

Heh.

- YX

GOING ROGUE

Okay, so I have finished the sleeves in my Jaina sweater. This is cause for celebration.

You'll just have to imagine me doing the Carlton Dance:

But the thing is, I have to finish the collar. And uh... I'M GOING ROGUE.

The collar is supposed to look like this:

It's a double collar. Stitches are picked up twice for that one area, and the edges are supposed to roll.

Well, I don't like that. No sir, not at all. I'm not a fan of rolled anything. I continually try to unroll and flatten things. I could do the collar with plain stockinette and slip a few edge stitches to try to get it to lay flat or something, but I feel like it'd be too plain without the roll.

So I'm doing this:

My fingers are holding onto the edge of the collar. I'm keeping the double collar look, but using double ribbing. I'm hoping for a ruffly-ish look. I'm also hoping that the ribbing isn't going to fight too much with the decorative motifs. The thing is, the sweater is so dark that I'm willing to give it a try. Were it lighter, I could see it being a real issue.

Hopefully it works out! Have you ever loved a pattern but disliked a detail? What did you change? How would you change the collar on this sweater?
- YX

Where WERE you?!

Okay, okay, I dropped the ball, and didn't update for, like, EVER last week. But in my defense, I closed on a house, had a root canal, and had a pretty brutal fall (onto my heavy, solid, metal SEWING MACHINE), so my Wednesday to Friday was just wrecked.

Also, I haven't done anything on my current WIP, Jaina, so there's nothing to report there. I HAVE been working on a little design on the side, and hopefully that should be ready to show by the end of this week or early next week. Free pattern, whaaat?!

In other news, remember this?

I got a very nice comment from the designer on the FO post, which was awesome. I love seeing reactions from designers, both here and on Rav. If I ever publish designs there, I'll probably freak out any time someone knits one.

Okay, so now we're updated. Good for us. Hey, let me show you something:

THIS is a terrible image of some yarn I own. It's Jacques Cartier's Heavenly Alpaca, which is a Golden Crown Suri fiber. There are two kinds of alpacas, right? The first type, huacayas, are kind of your typical foofy llama dudes. My Jaina is made from huacaya fiber. Suris, aside from being the progeny of famous celebrity exes, are the alpacas that look like they have dreads. Here is a photo I shamelessly borrowed from the internets:

Hey there, little dude. I shall call you Fernando.

So although huacayas look foofy and soft, suris are actually softer, because the locks are silky. In fact, what you're seeing are gorgeous curls, not matted clumps, although it's hard to tell in photos. The alpaca wrangler cuts off those locks, they're cleaned, processed, and spun in some really nice fiber.

The yarn I showed above is made by Jacques Cartier, a company that is generally known for their qiviut. In fact, I made two shawls from that company's qiviut. Here's one:

The thing is, it's SO expensive. It's like $75 for one little weinery ball, which barely made the FO above. I mean, I got the yarn as a gift, and it's not the kind of thing I can go willy-nilly purchasing.

But the Cartier suri is less than 1/3 of the price. At my LYS, the same weinery little ball is $22.50. Okay, let's be honest: It's still expensive. I can buy some nice merino cobweb for a fraction of the cost, yeah yeah yeah. But the suri is beautiful. It's going to make an incredible gift, and the silkiness actually makes it seem a little more luxe than the qiviut, which is a little fuzzy.

So I guess what I'm trying to say here is, maybe you can't (or don't want to) afford the qiviut right away, but here's something I would consider to be a reasonable substitute without breaking the bank, robbing your family members, or needing a government bailout.

Anyone have experience with it?
- YX

WIP: Jaina

I have gotten so much done on my Jaina, guys! Look!

What's that you say? You have no idea what that is? It's not even discernible as a knitted object?

You're RIGHT! Man, this yarn is so freaking dark. It's undyed! It's still this dark! Dark like the night! Dark like my soulll! I mean, I haven't really worked with black yarn, aside from my Star Crossed Beanie, which was a great product, but cabling was very difficult due to my inability to accurately detect errors:

The end result was a disaster (more on that another day), but with this sweater, I seem to be doing well. Heck, it's mostly stockinette stitch. Boring. Simple. The details on the pockets are what make it interesting. Unfortunately, they're not super clear, either:

The fuzziness of the yarn is pretty well eating them, and the slight rolling of the pocket edge isn't helping. I'm holding the pocket to the lining with a single stitch marker to keep it from drooping and pulling on the fabric as I knit.

It's a little disappointing to feel like black yarn has thwarted me again, but I'm happy with the fabric. And did I mention that I'm not even finished with the second skein yet? My concerns about running out of yarn may be entirely unfounded.

I'm working on waist decreases now, and I'll be zooming onward toward the sleeves! Stupid sleeves. I'll trade someone- you do my sleeves, and I'll wind and untangle anything you can throw at me. Deal?

Deal?

Guys?
-YX

(Get some patterns!)

And so it begins...

So remember all those discussions about what I was going to do with the black alpaca yarn? Well, despite the multiple options I'd looked at, when it finally came time to cast on for the project, I ended up with something completely different.

Something like this:

This is Jaina, a sweater by Thayer Preece that was featured in Twist Collective's Winter 2011 issue. It's gorgeous but simple, which is what I need for such a dark yarn. But there are some really lovely details:

They pretty little decorative stitches will get lost in the yarn, but upon closer inspection, they'll create a nice texture. Love the back, too:

Love it.

Now the problem is, I've started knitting. I have two pocket linings and the beginning of the bottom of the sweater. And although I have a ton of this yarn, I'm petrified that I'm going to run out.

With about 3" of sweater completed, I'm looking at the yarn thinking, "I won't be able to do it"... If one ball of yarn is netting me two measly pockets and 3" of knitting, how can I possibly make a whole sweater with the remaining 7 balls? 2 of them will be used for sleeves, which leaves me with 5 for the rest of the body! It seems like too little! Since I got this yarn at an alpaca farm near my parents' house, I'm concerned that I won't be able to get more of it when needed. What if the specific alpaca ended up with male pattern baldness? What if he's trying out a new punk hairdo? I can't imagine frogging the whole thing.

Or I'm paranoid. Knitting DK on size 5 needles is maddening at best-- I miss my comfortable 7's! Someone please tell me I'm not alone, here...

-YX

WIPS

I've been working on a few things lately, but nothing "big" that has been fancy enough to post about.

Like these socks. Remember them?

Neither did I, until I started working on my other WIP, which is not an easily-traveling project. (More on that in a minute).

We were about to leave for New England last weekend when, through various unfortunate events, we missed our first flight and were cancelled on the second. We ended up staying home for the weekend, but the 7 hours we were in the airport were filled with intermittent naps and working on the sock. I finished the first one and started the second one before we were informed that our plans were cancelled and we should go home.

So at least I have the socks to work on during my morning commute, which has been fiber-free recently. Kind of hard to work on something like Pinctada in a car. Especially when you're the type to get Exorcist-style carsick in the presence of the written word. Reading patterns is not an option for me.

Great, I have a sock. But I also have this:

Okay, I am super embarrassed that this is the only photo I have of this. It's the En Pointe Wrap Sweater by Erin Archer. Her website is freaking adorable, though, so you should go check it out if you're into crafty, cute, Anthropologie-style stuff. It's supposed to look like this:

Cute, right? The sweater calls for a dk-weight yarn, but I decided to use my Artisan Yarns Baby Camel/Silk that I bought from Loop back in May. It looks like this:

This is a sock yarn, but seems to be working pretty well with the pattern, which I'm knitting on size 8 needles. The fabric is drapey and open, and feels reeeeeeally good. I keep rubbing it on my face. Like actually stopping my knitting to rub it on my face. Really.

The sweater is knitted from left to right, so the stripes are vertical, which is kind of neat. Except it requires both yarn cakes at the same time, so traveling with it is more challenging. Especially in a car. Especially because it has silk content. Especially because ever silk yarn cake I've wound has this charming way of falling apart, even when I knit from the outside, unless I keep it in some kind of super secure pantyhose cage thing. Regular project bags become a tangled mess...

ANYWAY, back to the sweater. The back is really pretty and scooped, too, which you can't see in the above photo. I'm finished with all but one sleeve, so I should be doing a FO post of that soon.

Then, it's challenge to see what will win out: my desire to use up all of my stashed black alpaca, or my interest in designing a sweater I've had a concept for since last summer... Hmmm... Your opinions are always welcome in the comments. :)

- YX

PS- In the meantime, how about you enter to win this awesome yarn and make an ombre en pointe sweater like the one above? I haven't even used 100g of yarn yet on mine....

It won't end!

So you may be wondering how my Pinctada's coming along... Well, I think they may be carting me away soon, sleeves of my Versio grafted onto opposing shoulders, straight jacket-style.

It seems that no matter how long I knit, it won't end. I surpassed cowl-length and seem to have stalled on achieving my desired length. It seems like every project gets to this stage at some point: your sleeves make no progress, or you spend hours on a shawl edging that refuses to grow. It's definitely discouraging. Thank you, Pinctada, for making me want to stab my eyes out repeatedly with an enthusiastically-sharpened Signature needle.

But when I look at it, it seems like a decent amount of work:

I'm on my third skein of tosh DK and it's the last one I have, which is at least somewhat motivating. I've been knitting everywhere: in the car, any time I'm home, pretty much everywhere in public...

I know the rules. I'll knit like a madwoman, try it on for size, and be just a few rows away from the end out of nowhere. No explanation of how I popped back out of the wormhole, or where all those thousands of stitches were hiding. But it'll be done!

You're taunting me. 

I'm so excited to have the finished product, and that's the only reason this thing hasn't been crammed into the depths of my knitting bag. I usually work on other projects in conjunction with a "main" one, so having nothing to turn to is keeping me on track. Sort of.

See, I needed the gratification of a completed project, and I happened to have great timing this weekend... I've been looking for a serger on Craigslist, and one came up for sale that fit my needs. I got it home, set it up, and whipped out a maxi skirt to satisfy my FO cravings:

It's not my intention to blog about any sewing projects here, but at least I feel like I've made SOMETHING, instead of knitting yards and yards of yarn into what appears to be a very well-hidden black hole.

Perhaps my next WIP post will have some victory in it... I feel like I can't be much more than a week or two away from completion at this point... please?!

- YX

WIP: Pink-tada

I'm back in the States, and it feels good! Except it's boiling hot in Houston already. At least I got to wear my handknits in London!

In other news, my binge at Loop did give me the material to start my Pinctada. I haven't done any decent photographs, but here's a camera phone shot:

This is my second attempt-- the first one was a hot mess. The pattern calls for 4/1 Left cables and 4/1 Right cables. I figured they were knit the same... By slipping 4 stitches either to the front or back. I was super wrong. I couldn't figure out why I had these awful stretched out stitches on the fronts of my cables:

I was so frustrated... A whole 22-row repeat was frogged, and I re-did my cast on, this time really reading the directions. My current version looks much better, except now I'm into repeat 3 and just noticed I made the same stupid mistake on the first cable on the first repeat! Auuuugh! I'm not ripping it out. I'll chalk it up to imperfection and be happy with it.

Exceptttt I have another mistake. The bubbles along the sides are off by half a repeat, so I'm "closing" one circle as I'm "opening" the other! It's not noticeable on the FO, just frustrating.

I'm mostly frustrated because I haven't had to seriously frog a project in quite awhile, and although I was definitely due for a good curse-and-rip, it makes me question my skills and instincts. I definitely got way too comfortable with the pattern and paid for it.

To top off the already irritating experience with the pattern, I started getting some soreness in my left thumb as I was knitting. A combo of the Tosh and metal needles took its toll on my hands, and 4 hours of airplane knitting have made me hesitant to pick up the project again. So what did I do?

I changed scales and worked on something amusing to get my humor back:

I still have almost a full ball of Wollmeise 100% Superwash in "Neptun" from my Sultan Cardigan, and it's nice to be able to use some of it on fun little stuff like this, which will get way more use than my cardigan, unfortunately.

Alright... maybe I'll go give that Pinctada another chance. Don't forget to win some teal yarn of your own!
- YX

So close...

I haven't forgotten about you!

The end of the semester is here in Houston. Finals season is well underway, and I've just finished grading my last projects for the class I teach at my alma mater. With all that out of the way, I can focus on a a few tasks.

I have some exciting news, too: My one-year wedding anniversary is on the 30th, and we've decided to go to London! The trip has been on the books for months now, and we're flying out on Saturday. This is my first time in England, and I'm super excited to see everything. One absolute must on the list is Loop Yarn Shop:

 Excuse me while I resurrect myself from being dead of the cute.

London's high temperatures are in the mid-50's, so beyond planning for my own wardrobe, I'm hurriedly attempting to finish Andrew's Brownstone, which is in the final stages of the second sleeve. After I cast off on the sleeve, I'll just have to pick up the stitches and knit the neck. Can I finish in 3 days? Let's find out! I will have Friday off to work my fingers to the bone, so I'm pretty confident that this can be done.

But alas, I'll be ripping out the cuff of the first sleeve, too. It's just too wide, and the stretchy bind off I did on it makes the whole thing look frilly:

One of these days, I'll write a post about the stupid habits I have, among which is a strong desire to USE THE SAME NEEDLE for the WHOLE SWEATER, regardless of the fact that it's generally suggested that you should size down for rib. Instead, I decreased a few stitches on the first row of the rib, and it seems to be fitting in much nicer with the sleeve.

The bind off I'm using is a K2, *reinsert needle, K2TOG, K1* -style bind off, which has great stretch and a substantial feel. It's my favorite bind off, and can be modified to include purl stitches for ribbing. I just don't know that it'll cut it on these sleeves, which have so little room for excess fabric, so I may be doing a few passed-over stitches to knock down the bulk. Maybe every other, so it retains a pattern around?

In other news, I'm kind of excited (and embarrassed of my excitement) because one of my projects is just one heart short of 100! It's this one:

I know it's dumb, but to think that 100 different people found and liked a project that I made is just awesome to me. I'm so grateful to have a community that understands the work and love that goes into making garments, and I try to reciprocate as frequently as possible.

Dang, I had a few patterns to show you, too, but I'll save them for the next entry! You still have time to fang up, too!

- YX

WIP it good

Well, after a short break, I started on Andrew's Brownstone:

It's not much to look at now, but I've already used up two balls of the Sublime Organic merino I got for the project, which is kind of scary. I have 13 total, which will hopefully be enough to complete the sweater... The yardage on the pattern suggests that I have more than enough.

Whenever I try to photograph this sweater, it always looks super yellow, even when I dramatically reduce the K value on my camera. Here's a shot of the yarn to show you the "true" color:

I love the yarn, and the fabric is super soft. I was lucky enough to grab it during the last sale at the yarn shop, for $5/ball. It's normally twice that! Andrew seems excited about the final product, too, which makes it even more exciting to knit. Also, he's a men's small/medium, so maybe I'll get a shot or two at wearing it, myself. Mwahahaaaa-- always a secret motive for me!

Since I can't bear the thought of slogging through another sweater without a few distractions, I looked through my leftovers and settled on the rest of the Little Red Bicycle dk to make a quick pair of fingerless mitts for absolutely no reason:

And I've started a pair of socks with that Sunrise Fiber Co yarn I bought:

I like the striping! I'm knitting these on threes, with a starting count of 16 stitches for my figure-8 cast on. Total circumference, 48 stitches. I have a narrow foot, and I really like to have my socks stretch a bit when I put them on. Aside from a pair of pink cashmere socks I made for myself (which met an untimely mothy demise), I don't really have other handknit socks for myself. I'm not much of a sock knitter, but maybe it's just because I've failed at picking fun yarns.

So that's what's going on right now... I also have a dress design that is close to test knitting time, so there will be more on that at some point! Exciting!

Have a good weekend, and don't forget to enter!
- YX

Welcome to www.Yarnexploder.com

More news today! I've just finished setting up my custom domain, so you can now reach this site by going to www.yarnexploder.com! Hurray progress!

And for those of you who didn't catch it yesterday, we're doing an awesome giveaway, so go sign up!

In yarn-related news, my Versio is currently blocking and will be ready for a little photoshoot tomorrow! I'm so excited to show you guys how it turned out. I love the smell of Wollmeise when it blocks...

Last night, I tried to look into new projects to cast on, but nothing stood out to me. Of course, I'll be starting the Brownstone I talked about last week, but before I plunge headlong into another large project, I wanted to take a break on something small and quick. I have some WIPS I could finish:

My ongoing Alpaca Square afghan was on hold because I couldn't figure out a good way to seam all the pieces without having the fabric pull and pucker. My interknit friend, Michael, suggested a sewn or 3-needle bind off with live edge stitches, which will do the job well, so maybe I should work on that a bit...

I could always bite the bullet and finish up the sleeves on my Spine Cable Sweater:

Excuse the awful photo... There's something so disappointing about ripping out sleeves and having to reknit them, so I keep shoving this one back into my stashbox like a petulant child.

Or I could get a few rows done on my Blue Heron Rayon Metallic table runner, but it's boring me to death still, so I'm pretty sure I'd get maybe one repeat into it before falling asleep:

The weird thing is, it's not like I hate these projects... They're just not inspiring me right now, and I believe knitting should always bring me joy, not an impending sense of underachievement.  When it feels boring, I move on to something else and save myself the frustration. Why pick a hobby that makes you feel like your downtime is unenjoyable?

I have plenty of time to conform to that particular stereotype... Until then, I'll be surfing new patterns.
- YX