Going gray

Picasso had his Blue Period, and apparently I'm in a Gray Period. To whit: in the last week, I have purchased this,

and started this.

I finally started knitting Design #3 that's been percolating in this,

and started knitting a DK weight protoype of Design #2 in this.

Hmmm...one might be forgiven for thinking that the recent rash of Absolutely. Spectacularly. Sunny (but cold!). Weather. is inspiring me towards typical London autumnal shades in an attempt to fool the weather gods in to keeping the clouds away for a bit longer.

Handspun patterns

The 4! Oz! Challenge! ends tomorrow, and I'm happy to say that I finished my patterns and got them submitted before the last day (a miracle in and of itself, seeing as how I am the Queen Procrastination). Here they are*:

Lisbon Cloche**, superwash merino in "Thunderstorm" from Spunky Eclectic

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Shelburne Falls Beret, Targhee in "Garland" from Hello Yarn

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This was a really interesting process for me. Usually I spin without much of an end product in mind (although the TdF did change that a bit). For these, I had four days in between trips in August to spin up the yarn, and I knew two things: 1) I was going to chain ply both colorways to keep the colors intact, and 2) I was going to knit hats, but I didn't want them to be really obviously stripey.

For the SE merino, I ended up spinning a really fast, thick single. When it was plied up, the yarn ranged from 6-10 wpi and was super squooshy. I used a slipped stitch pattern (same as in an eye of partridge heel flap) to break up the striping, but since the colors didn't contrast very much, that was sufficient.

For the Targhee, which I spun second, I was a bit rushed - the final yarn was a wee bit overplied. But...there wasn't a lot I could do about that while on vacation, so I soldiered on. Since the colors in that skein were much more contrasting, I needed to take "extreme" measures to try and break up the striping. The stitch pattern I chose has two rounds of slipping the same stitch, which is then crossed over two stitches on the third round. I'm really pleased with how it came out.

The patterns include details about spinning the yarn and a whackload of specs (i.e. singles wpi/tpi, plied wpi/tpi, twist angle, etc). Both hats are knit from the top down, starting with i-cord in waste yarn, and can easily be adjusted in size as you go (patterns are written for only one size). Enjoy***!

* Please excuse the goofy pictures, but it's really hard to take pictures of your own head without looking like an idiot.
** Named for the towns in which the respective dyers (Amy of Spunky Eclectic and Adrian of Hello Yarn) are located.
*** If you knit up one of these in a commercial yarn, please let me know how it works out and I'll add that to the Ravelry pattern pages. Thanks!

New projects

Writing down a list has definitely helped me prioritize my knitting activities. For example,

The finished prototype for the hat in my three piece collection. I did this a bit differently from my usual design process, which is think up an idea and knit it, then go back and try to write it up after the fact. That procedure usually results in my having to knit another item after I've finished writing the pattern, just to make sure I've got it right. This time I put a bit more thought into the pattern ahead of time, did the chart and then knit from that. I've still got to finish up the pattern writing, but having the chart done ahead of time meant that I could knit the hat as a test knit of the chart.

Priority #2: Ironman's Aran. When I went back to my parents' a few weeks ago, I scored a huge stash of new needles. My aunt, who has previously sent me destash stuff in a potting soil bag, had brought up a bunch of needles and yarn she wanted to pass on. None of the yarn was particularly useful for me, but the needles...

Oh yeah...in addition to this absolute honking pile of straight needles, there was a bag of circulars and crochet hooks. And stitch markers. And stitch holders. Etc, etc. You get the idea. As a result, I now have a new favorite type of needle.

Nylon. Molded in one piece, with no joins at all, bendy, flexible, comfy. My only complaint is that they're not very pointy, but I was so enamored that I immediately used them for a swatch.

Drops Karisma, on US 7, 8 and 9 needles. None of which are quite right - 7s give me 5 sts/inch, 8s and 9s give me 4.5 sts/inch, and what I'm supposed to get for the pattern is 4 sts/inch. However, given that Mr. Fussy Mc-Wool-Is-Itchy-pants has okayed this yarn, I think I'll just knit a bigger size on smaller needles and hope for the best. Good plan, right? Right...(famous last words).

I also threw design-work to the wind last night, and started a birthday present for my Mom. I'm one third of the way into the first of two, and it's cranking along. Hopefully I can get them finished up by the end of next week and send them off. Should be do-able - school starts tomorrow, so my commuting time is about to take a drastic leap upwards. Hooray!

The first FOs of 2010

A couple of items that, as of today, are on their way to the Windy City. First up:

Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Stone Blue, a gift in last year's WHMU (WAMSKAL) Festivus gift exchange, 210 yds/100 gr. I used just barely over half a skein (48 grams in hat, 46 grams left).
Needles: US 10/6.0 mm and US 11/8.0 mm for ribbing and rest of hat respectively.
Start/finish: 3/1-6/1/10, making this the First FO of 2010
Comments/mods: no mods, only comment is that 1) I love this yarn (to-die-for soft), if only for squooshy soft things like hats and cowls and 2) I was surprised at how much I liked the fabric knit on needles two sizes larger then called for on the label. I am going to try and squeeze another hat out of the remaining 46 gr using just the size 10 needles. If it doesn't fit me, it might fit one of the kids someday.

FO #2:

Pattern: Ocean Toes by Cat Bordhi, Cedar architecture from her fabulous book
Yarn: Dream in Color Starry, about two thirds of a skein, which would round up to about 300 yds.
Needles: US 2/2.75 mm
Start/finish: 6 Dec - 10 January 2010, making them the second, although longer process, FO of 2010
Comments/mods: this yarn was repurposed after my failed Viper Pilots experiment. The yarn was meant for my best buddy Aquaphilic, and as she is something of a fan of BSG, I was hoping the Viper Pilots would do the trick. Unfortunately, my choice of needle size led to a Viper Pilot that was a bit on the small side. So on to Ocean Toes, also an appropriate choice given her athletic history.

The yarn was lovely to work with, and the sparkle is just fun. We'll have to wait for an update from Aquaphilic as to how well it wears in the future.

The only modification I had to do to adjust the pattern to fit a women's US size 10 (approximately) was work an extra 12 rows of stockinette before beginning the toe decreases. Here's hoping they fit!

Both of these lovely items are winging their way to the cold Midwest as we speak, so I'd better get cracking on another winter hat. I still need one!

FO: Hat and mitten set

Back to the Christmas rundown. This was certainly the year for handspun gifts.

The hat was knit in July, and I had enough of the yarn (blogged here) to make some matching mittens.

Pattern: Robin's Egg Blue hat by Rachel Iufer, inspiring matching mittens
Yarn: Hello Yarn Fiber Club superwash BFL in "Night Sky", 2 skeins bulky weight, 245 yds. I used probably 200 yds for the set.
Needles: US 10/6.0 mm - next time I'll go down a needle size on the mittens - they were a bit loosely knit.
Comments/mods: I've already blogged the hat, so I'll just comment a bit on the mittens. I figured out the number of stitches I wanted for the folded over cuff, and worked that like the band on the hat. Then I knit a generic mitten shape, with an inset thumb (as opposed to a thumb gusset deal). The mittens are a bit loose, but I think they can work with liners if it's really cold.

The buttons came from some I salvaged off my Mountain Mohair sweater when I turned it into spaghetti. I think they work well, and the receipient seems to like them!