Working My Knits; or, Wearing My Knits to Work; or Why I Want to Be Just Like Julia When I Grow Up

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So today I'm wearing Kat Coyle's Eyelet Skirt to work. I let it soak again in a nice warm bath, reblocked it, stretched it back to fit evenly, and now it's ready to rock again. It's so comfortable, and airy, and here are the project details at last:





Project Details:
Pattern: Eyelet Skirt, free from Knitty, designed by Kat Coyle
Yarn: Classic Elite Flash, Electric Blue, 7.5 skeins
Needles: US 5
Modifications: Once I got to the eyelet section of the pattern, I did not follow the directions which asked me to "Inc 1 st each end every 6 rows 11 times."

Errata: Kat Coyle herself (!) emailed me, to let me know of the Elongated Stitch correction, so if any of you are thinking of making this skirt, please know that there is one small correction to the pattern. Thanks again Kat. I was thrilled by the idea that the designer herself had contacted me.

Recommendations: I would knit this in the round to avoid seaming. For some reason, I thought that I needed to have seams in order to give the skirt the structure, but if I were to make another, I would forego this step completely. I'm just not the best seamer (seamstress?).

More information: You can see my swatching notes for the yarn and needles in this post.




Lastly, I want to say that the inspiration and courage to knit a skirt came from Julia at Mind of Winter. When I saw her in this skirt, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at a skirt, especially given that I live in skirts for much of the year down here in the Southwest. So thanks Julia for being my muse on this project.



Now it's back to the grind...




Pictured above, some of my many coffee/tea mugs that I must use to get me through the day. The problem: at the end of the day, I just don't want to spend the time going to the lounge to wash them up. Hence, why I need so many of them, I guess. (Oh, and do I even need to say it? Probably not, but the mugs, of course, are courtesy of our local thrift shops.)

I Flew The Coop, But I'm Back

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Dear, Dear Readers:

I apologize for my long absence from this blog. There has been much activity of all sorts in my life as of late (including a lot of inward reflection that has tired me out). Quite simply, I just felt that I didn't have the time or energy or motivation to blog. But as I said before, I've been reading the blogs and rambling about on Ravelry, and now I'm glad to say that I'm back, and will post every day this week with a different project (not all knitting)--all sorts of things that have kept me crafting away my life since we last spoke.

First up, for tomorrow then, will be the finished Eyelet Skirt (Kat Coyle's design) from Knitty. All details will be related. Until then, I ask that you sit down with me throughout the week, and I'll tell all...




*See you tomorrow :)

At Last: Kiri. So Long, Kiri.

Okay, so I've been remiss in a few things, one being writing up the finishing specs and posting some modelling shots of Kiri.

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Pattern: Kiri (free pattern courtesy of All Tangled Up: see sidebar for the PDF)

Yarn: Peruvian Baby Cashmere from Elann; six balls used of color 3724 (camel).

Needles: US 6 circulars

Modifications and Thoughts: No real modifications. A straightforward, and enjoyable pattern to knit. The lace repeat is easily memorized, and so the shawl was a calming project to work on. I really enjoyed the Baby Cashmere, and would recommend it. I used the Elann's Baby Silk previously on this shawl. My preference is the Baby Cashmere for the simple, but important, fact that the cashmere is much softer against the skin. In fact, I find the Baby Silk shawl itchy to wear, but I am extra sensitive to wearing wool next to my skin (I'm trying to work through this; EZ would want it that way.)

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I've actually sent this shawl off to my mother, who is in charge of a church auction. They're trying desperately to raise money to keep the United Church of my very small town going. I hope that Kiri finds itself in the hands of someone who will love it as much as I (briefly) did. I guess this constitutes my first real act of charity knitting. I liked it.

BTW: What good news for Crazy Aunt Purl. Her book, not even released yet, is already climbing the charts.

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Because Cara Asked: A Photo Journey of My Weekend

Cara, famous Cara of January One, poses the question: "How was your weekend?"

I thought it would be rude not to answer her question. So, here for you all, is My Weekend--all its thrills, spills, and chills. (Whatever that means?)




This weekend, I had MUCHO grading to do. So, I started it off, as any sane teacher would do, with a Bloody Mary and the beginnings of the infamous Mason-Dixon Warshrag.



I must admit, I sat a little bit too long on the sunny porch (before the incessant rains began!), sipping the drink and knitting the rag. (Why does writing that--"knitting the rag"--sound so offensive?)



But despite this relaxing start to the weekend, most of my weekend was spent indoors, grading furiously (that is, furiously as in a frenzied state to finish 60 papers, AND furiously, as in how could my college students--some of them SENIORS!--not know how to use a comma, a semi-colon, even an apostrophe?!?!?!) Needless to say, I looked like the photo above most of the weekend--unshowered, pulling out my hair, feeling like I was in a state of agony.



Our black-cat-from-hell, on the other hand, felt just fine while grading his papers. Calm, cool, collected. Nothing to it.



So I wouldn't die from the boredom/frustration/agony of grading 300 pages of sophomore literary criticism, I broke up the day by cooking one of my favourite meals: hey! it's not procrastination, people. One must eat, and therefore, one must spend 1.5 hours preparing Chicken Saffran & Fennel Stew (or Ragout, as "the French" would say, and really, it sounds better than "stew") with Baby Potatoes. AND I made homemade baking-powder biscuits. AND I made brownies. AND I really didn't want to continue grading...



But the papers got done. It was brutal, but they are back in the hands of the students who have probably already smashed them--filled as they are with all my useful comments, suggestions, corrections--into their knapsacks, never to be looked at again, already forgotten.

Just think, in three weeks, it gets to happen all over again. What fun!

Oh well, at least we ate well. Oh yeah, and the warshrag got done too. It was MUCHO fun.

The Blocking of Kiri: A Silent Film*

*I didn't have time this morning, besides to drape Kiri over Guido while he was playing the piano, to do a modelling photo shoot for Kiri, but I'll see to that in the coming days. Then, all details and thoughts on this project will be shared with you all.

**My sincere apologies to Wendy of Knit&Tonic for the possible offense caused by this silent film of the lacy shawl--a lacy shawl that requires pesky little pins to block; I'll be sure to move the shawl immmediately off the chair, and hang it on the wall, as soon as I get home tonight-- ;)**

**You gotta love people who aren't afraid to share their opinions :) Although, I must confess, I'm a bit nervous now about modelling this for everyone in the coming days after her post of today and all of the commenters saying how much they dislike the look of shawls, especially triangle-shaped ones (something about the arrow pointing to one's butt!?!). I hope I can pull it off. And if not, who cares? I *love* my Kiri shawl.

The Beret, The Banana Republic Coat, and...and....The Bedwarmer??

Okay, I mentioned a while back that I'd show you the finished beret, the Banana Republic coat found at a thrift store, and the bedwarmer made after seeing Ashley's. Here, folks, are two of the three. The third has yet to be photographed. Soon....very soon.

BTW: Have you seen this new flickr group: Handknit Street Style? It was begun, I believe, by LollyGirl, and the requirements are that you post a photo of a handknit actually being worn--no WIPs, no sweater artfully laid out on a bed, no hat positioned on Hemingway's head. I like this idea of Lolly's because so often we never get to see people actually wearing their handknits and this must change! For one thing, I'd like to see if a garment is wearable before investing my time and money in making it. (I know, I know, it's supposed to be about the process, the craft, the artifact created, the feel of the silky wool between your fingers, but quite frankly, I'm also very much interested in the utility of it as well--hence, why we are considered to be both craftspeople *and* artists!) So start wearing your knits, people, and then show us that you are indeed wearing them, and how, and that it isn't simply for a staged photo shoot. (For instance, the photo above was taken on my way home from campus, in the university washroom. The entire time I was hoping/praying that one of my colleagues or students wouldn't walk in. How embarrasing would that be?)

There Was A Time...

... when I lived in Paris, France.

For one year, I said "oui, oui."
I kissed cheek-to-cheek.
I ate steak tartar.

I was only eighteen.

Pity that in all of that year, not once did I don a beret.

No chapeau graced my prairie-girl head.

Now, in Texas, I wear a beret,

and each morning, before I leave,

to walk through the streets of monster trucks,

I wrap a silk scarf around my neck--

a la mode francaise--

I put on my chapeau,

my beret,

spray my French perfume about my neck,

and stick earphones--Joni Mitchell's voice--into my ears.

Indeed, Joni shows me that a girl can be both of the praries,

and of la vie francaise.

There is no contradiction in that; only endless possibilties.

Pattern: Tweed Beret, from Interweave Knits (Winter 2006)

Needles: Size 7 US

Yarn: Ballybrae 100% Virgin Unscoured Wool by Yarns Brunswick

Thoughts on Yarn: I liked the yarn well enough, but now that I've begun using Cascade 220 for the first time (I cast-on for Forecast already), I will now always lean towards the Cascade when needing a 100% worsted-weight wool yarn. It's that good--the Cascade, I mean!

Modifications: Instead of finishing the beret's rim off with stockinette as the pattern directed, I continued on in the ribbing, reducing the number of stitches and trying it on with each reduction to ensure that it would fit. (All this just because I didn't like the curled rim on the original version for some reason).

However, unlike the intelligent, savy Grumperina, I did not sew elastic into the edge, and I really should. Because, though the beret fits, and I've worn it several times around about the town already (pretending to be a real flaneur of sorts), it is tight, and I do need to give it a bit of a tug to get it on.

But other than that tightness, when I put it on, wrap the silk scarf around my neck, spray the French perfume, and get the music going on my mp3 player, I turn back into that femme francaise et je suis heureuse dans ma coeur... just like Joni.

*PS: For those who care about such things, the mini oil painting pictured above was found in a thrift store the day after I cast off the beret. Serendipity? Pure chance? I think not.

When First You Don't Succeed...

....refuse everyone's good advice to rip it out and instead just start all over again, but in a different shade of pink.

So here's the completed EZ baby sweater with its matching cute chenille bunny all set to go off to live with the new girl who's come into the world.

The baby girl was born two weeks ago, but I'm hoping that everything will fit just fine still. Besides, how's one to know anything about baby sizes anyways? (Oh right, I guess I could have consulted this site...I actually completely forgot all about this site again...geesh!)

Pattern: The February Baby Sweater, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, found in _The Knitter's Almanac_

Yarn: Caron's Simply Soft, 1.5 skeins (acryllic! gasp! sorry EZ! next time it'll be wool!)

Needles: US 5 circulars

Modifications: No real modifications, except for the helpful advice of those many who have gone before who suggested casting on an extra stitch on each side of the sleeves (so cast on 8 instead of 7 stitches), and then you can slip this extra stitch each time. This slipped extra stitch will create an easy-to-seam-border for the under-arm seam.

Final Thoughts: I really loved working with this pattern, and found it simple and concise. More so, I loved the fact that there are only two small seams to mattress-stitch at the end (and those seams are under the arms so even if your seaming skills are less than par (as mine are) it's not that big of a deal given they won't show all that much.

My main concern with the instructions however (as mentioned above) is not knowing what measurements I was aiming for. Having no babies nearby, I felt uncertain about the arm lengths for one (again, I forgot about the yarn standard size charts but I'm pretty sure that these sleeves are going to be on the short side). I kept reassuring myself of the sweater's size ambiguity by noting that the baby this is meant for is new-born, and so, at some point, shouldn't this cardigan fit--whether it be when she's 3 mos or 1 year? Let's hope so.

As for the yarn: the Caron's Simply Soft wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, and it cost only $1.50/skein which is a bonus (and which is the main reason I decided on it). That said, however, I don't think I'd use it again. It just wasn't as pleasurable to work with as merino/wool would have been, and it didn't block out in the way I wished it would (especially with respect to showing off the gull lace pattern.) But, the new parents (who both work full-time) will be able to throw it in the washer and dryer without a second thought so maybe, in the end, the acrylic isn't such a bad choice. I just hope it holds up, and doesn't look like crap after a wash or two. I'll ask the mother to give me an update on it, and pass the information on to you all.

Next up: the beret, the bedwarmer, and the BananaRepublic coat!