Lazy Knitting

OK. I have to say something.

At first I though it was simply tacky. Then I thought it was lazy. Then I started to get irritated. Now I'm verging on angry.

I'm talking about the glut of novelty "yarn" that is now flooding the cheap yarn market - giant swathes of pre-knitted, crocheted, or otherwise assembled material that merely has to be gathered in a bit to create some kind of hideous frothy tentacle scarf thing. AND THEY ARE CALLING IT KNITTING.

It is not.

Figure 1: Frothy tentacle scarf thing

Figure 2: The "yarn"

Even if you think the end result is adorable - fine, whatever, taste is personal (even if you have none).  But I have spent years honing and building on my knitting skills. I take great pride in the complex geometry of my cables, the delicate intricacy of my lace, the perfect shaping and blocking techniques, the obscure methods for casting on, binding off, and increasing nearly invisibly that lend professionalism to my work.

But with the advent of these new ruffle yarns, they are telling would-be knitters that knitting doesn't actually require any effort. And this where I draw the line. This crap is the paint-by-numbers of the knitting world. I'm not saying I would never paint-by-numbers. It might be fun. But I wouldn't call it painting.

Any pattern to make scarves from these "yarns" is practically required to mention how easy and lightning fast it is. Some of these patterns don't even require hooks or needles - you just string a separate piece of yarn through and cinch it up like a drawstring. It's insulting.

If you don't really want to knit a scarf, just go buy a freaking scarf.

Entrelac in the Round

I have decided to add a new sub-skill to one of my favorite techniques - entrelac! I've been sitting on two skeins of Knit Picks Chroma Worsted in Paperback - a soft, subtle blend of greys and tans, and while the original plan was to knit a scarf for sale, I now have a much more exciting, if less profitable idea - legwarmers!

Chroma looks GORGEOUS in entrelac, and having just knit some legwarmers for a friend, I'm feeling the need for some of my own.  The weather is getting colder, I just bought some new skinny jeans, and I have the totally awesome book Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting to guide me.

I have pretty large calves, so much so that I have a lot of difficulty finding tall boots that fit, and knee-high sock patterns always have to be extensively modified, so this will be quite the challenge.  Do I make the legwarmers loose all around and then drawstring them at the knee? That could be cute, especially if I put little pompoms on the drawstring.  Or do I want to do some shaping? And if so, how do I handle shaping with entrelac? Do I switch needle sizes? Do I increase internally in the squares?  I can't wait to get started!

Oh and by the way, how freaking cute does my daughter look in her her knitwear?

Yarn Kisses

The last time I posted here, I had just found out that I was pregnant.  Finally pregnant, after nine months of trying. After knitting for other people's babies. After stocking up on baby pattern books, baby yarns, and baby buttons in anticipation.  I was finally pregnant.

And I didn't stop knitting.  Oh, far from it.  Between last October and today, I've completed two dozen projects.  Several were gifts or commissions, a few were just for me, but ten of them have been for my precious, beautiful, amazing, perfect little girl.  I just can't stop knitting for her.   Even knowing that she'll grow out of any and all of it much faster than I'd like.  Even though one of the projects never properly fit her at all.

In the beginning, before we knew if we'd be getting a prince or a princess, it was gender neutral accessories:

Then, once we knew we were having a girl, I started in on the lovely sweaters - and who says powder blue isn't a gorgeous color for a girl's winter ensemble?

Then, with a book of toy patterns received at the baby shower, I suddenly went nuts for knitted plushies!

Most recently I completed a lace pullover that will hopefully fit her next spring.  This project was the one that bridged the great divide between pregnancy and motherhood. Cast on in June, just a week before my due date, and finally finished a little over a week ago.

And a house-elf hat for her costume for our upcoming Harry Potter cosparty:

And this kid is only ten and a half weeks old! By the time she starts kindergarten, she won't leave the house but sporting at least one thing handmade for her.

In June 2011, I posted a letter from Eunny Jang entitled "Living a Handmade Life," in which she describes the thoughtfulness and care that goes into a handmade project, how crafts like knitting teach us to appreciate quality and sincere effort, and to be better problem solvers and risk takers, and that ultimately, knitters are a positive, creative force in the world.  We add, rather than subtract.

And that is a lesson that I look forward to teaching my daughter, while I'm wrapping her up in yarn kisses.

Cobblestone Pullover

Working on a sweater for Bucky - the first sweater I've ever knit him!  Working from Jared Flood's Cobblestone Pullover, which is an easy knit but texturally interesting, and I think it'll look great on my guy.  The yarn is Valley Yarns Amherst in soft brown, and I'm working on size 8's.  I'm up to the yoke, so nearly done - check it out:

 

The yoke will continue in garter stitch until the end.  There's no ribbed neckline, so it'll be a bit of a roll-neck.  The underarms will be kitchenered.  I'm following the directions for the small size with a few stitches extra at cast on to account for a slightly small gauge.  It's about 37" around the chest, so it'll have about 2-3" of positive ease.  Of course I had to mod the math for the decrease rows in the yoke, but it worked out very nicely!  Can't wait to see it on him!

First Purse

The cardigan is done! Shipped it last week, and mom loves it!  Have yet to get a nice photo of her wearing it though.  Hey mom, get on that!

Got yet another custom request from mom, this time for a mesh tank top.  She wants two, in fact, and her coworker wants one as well!  So, while waiting for *that* yarn to arrive, I had to do something to keep my hands busy, so I flipped through my small project patterns.  I decided to give Laura Irwin's Pleated Denim Purse a go.

I cast on with white Cascade Luna, and actually got about halfway through the first side of the purse before I realized this just wasn't the right yarn for the project. Something about the texture wasn't pleasing me, and anyway, the true white was just too bright and would get dingy too easily. Also, it seemed like I was running out of yardage a bit too quickly.

I thought and thought about what else I could use.  I certainly didn't want to start a busy work project that I had to actually *buy* yarn for, but I don't keep a lot of cotton in my stash.  Then it struck me that I still had about two thirds of that giant ball of ecru dishcloth yarn I'd bought.  I wasn't sure if dishcloth cotton would make a good purse, but what the hell, I cast on.  And it worked up like a dream.  Lily Sugar'n Cream is a bit softer than the Luna, and the ecru tone still gives me the pale purse that I wanted, but in a more natural shade. 

I wrestled with how exactly to do the buttons.  The pattern calls for six 1/2" buttons all around the flap.  But really, who wants to have to undo and redo six freaking buttons every time they need to get into their purse?  So, I dug around in my grandmother's button tin, and selected several buttons of various sizes and in various brown, black, and shell shades, that I thought might work well.  I settled on a 1.5" espresso brown button.  It's shaped like some sort of flower, I think, although I have no clue what kind.

Anyway, since I had chosen the button, all that was left to do was figure out placement, and then do the row/stitch math to get the buttonhole in the right place.  A run through the wash and dry with hot water and high heat shrank the stitches a bit so the purse fabric is nice and sturdy (I was already using size 5 needles on a worsted weight cotton, so the fabric was leaning toward dense), and it was ready for some light blocking and its button to be sewn on.  I attached an old chain bracelet I found in my jewelry box as a handle.  It's got cute, heart-shaped silver and green charms on it.

And voila! It fits my phone, keys, sunglasses, and Burt's Bees like a pro! I may line it with fabric at some point, but for now, it's looking great.

Why I Knit

I had hoped some day to write elegantly on this subject, and perhaps I still will in the future, but for now, I wanted to share with you all a letter from Eunny Jang, knitter extraordinaire and Interweave editor.  This note accompanied the announcement of the release of the Interweave Knits Weekend 2011 issue, and while it does, of course, plug the new issue, it also sums up beautifully how I feel about knitting and why I do it:

Living a Handmade Life

Ever since we started producing Weekend in 2008, I've delighted in collecting cozy, casual knits that represent the kinds of things we really wear. There's a comfortable, satisfied feeling that comes of making something that is at once beautiful and eminently functional—these aren't dressy or finicky pieces, but garments and accessories that feel homey and relaxed, familiar.

Every piece in this issue is informed by the everyday life of its designer, her own wishes and needs for useful, purposeful knits that look and feel good. It's fun to catch a glimpse of their lives through their sweaters.

And I do think a lot about this handmade life we lead as knitters, people who make usable things out of sticks and string. It's an extraordinary thing in a larger culture that praises speed and disposability—our craft is methodical, meditative, thoughtful. Its gratification is delayed. But we do it for the joy of making wonderful things with our own hands, adding usefulness and beauty to the world with every stitch.

Of course, there are as many shades to the knitting urge as there are knitters, but I think that most of them boil down to this: We love being creators. Our knitting studs our lives with creativity; because of it, we're good problem solvers and thoughtful analysts, we know how to judge and take risks, we are at peace with the fact that you sometimes just need to start over again. We knitters are forces that add. 

So keep on knitting—and not just on swanky projects. Knit slouchy Saturday market sweaters, snowballing mittens, toys even for children who haven't quite outgrown bibs yet. Knit things you'll use every day. Wrap your loved ones in wooly armor and fill your home with beautiful things.

And enjoy them all, let them wear out, remake them into something else. Make your knitting part of your real, everyday life. Get your issue of Weekend 2011 now and fill the world with more good knitting than it knows what to do with—!

The Knitter's Life—creating, laboring, letting go. It is all fine and right.

Cheers,
Eunny Jang

The Cardigan Challenge Continued

I'm now on my fourth day working on mom's cardigan, and it's been a breeze so far!

I wound up going with size 8 needles for the main body (7's for the waffle-stitch borders). The 8's give me a gauge of 4.8 stitches and 6.5 rows per inch, which is a bit on the small side - the stated gauge is 4.5 stitches and 5.5 rows per inch - but I've had no trouble adjusting my stitch counts as necessary.  The swatch I did on 9's was slightly over gauge, and I didn't like how loose the fabric was, so 8's it was.  The drape and texture are perfect!

My only complaint so far is that the skein of Comfort is not a continuous strand - there's been a knot in each of the first two balls.  I attempted Russian weaver's joins, but it's an 8-ply yarn and the joins were just too messy and knotted, and it's not like I can spit splice a synthetic, so I had to go with the traditional double knit-in, which means slightly lumpy areas and more ends for me to weave in later.  Hoorah.

But, I've just finished decreasing for the waist, working even for a little bit, then going to increase back out for the hips.  Then - on to sleeves and button bands!