28 December 2008
Rippity-rip
The Pfeiffer Falls hooded scarf is no more. Despite liking the concept, enjoying the knitting, and even being pleased with the finished object, I had to accept that it looked stupid on me. I'm just not one for cute accessories. With some misguided projects, assuming the finished results were acceptable, I'll keep on hand until the person to whom they really should belong comes along. But in this case, I love the yarn too much to be generous. How's that for holiday spirit? Bah humbug!
16 December 2008
Does this get me kicked out of the "Real Knitter Club"?
How do I say this? (long pause) I have knitted two things with super-bulky weight yarn, and I 
used Lion Brand Wool-ease Thick-N-Quick for one of them. A friend gave me the patterns from a German women's magazine and asked me to make a hat and a long cardigan for her. She wanted them for her holiday trip back home where it is wintry enough to wear something that heavy. So I grab the size 13 needles and dive into a sea of super chunk yarn.
First of all, some thoughts on materials: all super bulky yarn is not created equal. The Plymouth Encore Mega that I stranded with mohair and used for the hat shed much less than the Thick-N-Quick I used for the cardi. By the time I finished knitting and seaming the cardi I was covered with charcoal gray fuzz. So you do get what you pay for. It was an economically necessary compromise though, because the damn thing ended up needing close to 900 yards to finish. Two hundred yards more than my initial estimate - yarn substitution is sometimes not quite straightforward. Oh, and after having to go back to Mega Craftmart to get more yarn, I can confirm that the dye lot does matter with Lion Brand-type yarns too, but more on that in a sec.
The hat was a pleasant quick knit, done in about two hours while watching something mindless on TV. (Picture will follow...) Knitting the cardi also went fast; however grafting the top seam (sleeves and shoulders) and seaming up the side and lower sleeve seams took almost as long again as the actual knitting. Sewing up seams is obviously not my strong point. (Note to self: next time think ahead about modifying this sort of thing to be done in the round as much as possible.)
Back to the dye lot issue. The additional 200 yards of T-N-Q I needed to finish were from a
different dye lot, but to my eye I didn't see any difference, and I checked under incandescent and fluorescent light. So imagine my surprise when I got out the digi camera to take a picture and saw this on the screen! Kinda cool in a way, but still NOT what one wants to see after battling all that fuzz. Serious "yikes" moment. I looked at the camera display and then at the sweater itself, back and forth, and the color shift was only visible on the camera when it was shooting without flash. So the dye lot change does matter, at least when photographing under artificial light without a flash. Do I warn the recipient about this?
Despite the "issues", I have to admit that I now somewhat understand the appeal of big needle/yarn knits. It does feel productive to get almost an inch of knitting out of every row - a finished item in a matter of hours instead of days/weeks/months! The low time commitment for a smaller item like a hat is such that it removes some of the emotional baggage of giving it away - it only took a couple hours, no biggie if the craftsmanship isn't fully appreciated. While I don't feel the urge to do another super-bulky sweater anytime soon, I can't pooh-pooh the concept anymore. Does this revoke my knitting cred?
used Lion Brand Wool-ease Thick-N-Quick for one of them. A friend gave me the patterns from a German women's magazine and asked me to make a hat and a long cardigan for her. She wanted them for her holiday trip back home where it is wintry enough to wear something that heavy. So I grab the size 13 needles and dive into a sea of super chunk yarn.First of all, some thoughts on materials: all super bulky yarn is not created equal. The Plymouth Encore Mega that I stranded with mohair and used for the hat shed much less than the Thick-N-Quick I used for the cardi. By the time I finished knitting and seaming the cardi I was covered with charcoal gray fuzz. So you do get what you pay for. It was an economically necessary compromise though, because the damn thing ended up needing close to 900 yards to finish. Two hundred yards more than my initial estimate - yarn substitution is sometimes not quite straightforward. Oh, and after having to go back to Mega Craftmart to get more yarn, I can confirm that the dye lot does matter with Lion Brand-type yarns too, but more on that in a sec.
The hat was a pleasant quick knit, done in about two hours while watching something mindless on TV. (Picture will follow...) Knitting the cardi also went fast; however grafting the top seam (sleeves and shoulders) and seaming up the side and lower sleeve seams took almost as long again as the actual knitting. Sewing up seams is obviously not my strong point. (Note to self: next time think ahead about modifying this sort of thing to be done in the round as much as possible.)
Back to the dye lot issue. The additional 200 yards of T-N-Q I needed to finish were from a
different dye lot, but to my eye I didn't see any difference, and I checked under incandescent and fluorescent light. So imagine my surprise when I got out the digi camera to take a picture and saw this on the screen! Kinda cool in a way, but still NOT what one wants to see after battling all that fuzz. Serious "yikes" moment. I looked at the camera display and then at the sweater itself, back and forth, and the color shift was only visible on the camera when it was shooting without flash. So the dye lot change does matter, at least when photographing under artificial light without a flash. Do I warn the recipient about this?Despite the "issues", I have to admit that I now somewhat understand the appeal of big needle/yarn knits. It does feel productive to get almost an inch of knitting out of every row - a finished item in a matter of hours instead of days/weeks/months! The low time commitment for a smaller item like a hat is such that it removes some of the emotional baggage of giving it away - it only took a couple hours, no biggie if the craftsmanship isn't fully appreciated. While I don't feel the urge to do another super-bulky sweater anytime soon, I can't pooh-pooh the concept anymore. Does this revoke my knitting cred?
05 December 2008
Heavenly, heavenly
Oh, I've found heaven on earth! This year I finally caved and splurged on something I've wanted for a while now: a wool fleece mattress pad. Last night was the first night sleeping with it on the bed, and I'm so happy I gave into weakness. Oh, I know, I live in Alabama, for crying out loud, isn't that just a little overkill? etc. No! It is not! I love it love it love it! (Too bad I didn't have it when I was miserable sick with the cold from hell.)
I finished the Pfeiffer Falls Hooded Scarf, other than finding two buttons for the pockets, and am generally pleased with it, although if I had to do it over I'd make the large size (I made the medium size per the pattern), maybe fiddle with the cable pattern some, and do the grafting better. Egg's response when I showed him was that I looked like a teal Jawa (yep, he does have some sci-fi fanboy traits). Sigh. The picture doesn't capture the color very well; I'll try to get a better one later. The Portland Tweed yarn felt a little "crispy" while I was knitting, but when I steam blocked it, it relaxed and softened beautifully.
And this part is going back a little, but to celebrate the end of Thanksgiving leftovers and to indulge the need for comfort food induced by the cold weather, it was time for mac-n-cheese - the good stuff, with three cheeses (none of them powdered or Velveeta), an unlikely but fabulous seasoning, and baked to ooey-gooey goodness with a perfect crust on top. I think this makes Egg happier than anything else I cook.
I finished the Pfeiffer Falls Hooded Scarf, other than finding two buttons for the pockets, and am generally pleased with it, although if I had to do it over I'd make the large size (I made the medium size per the pattern), maybe fiddle with the cable pattern some, and do the grafting better. Egg's response when I showed him was that I looked like a teal Jawa (yep, he does have some sci-fi fanboy traits). Sigh. The picture doesn't capture the color very well; I'll try to get a better one later. The Portland Tweed yarn felt a little "crispy" while I was knitting, but when I steam blocked it, it relaxed and softened beautifully.
And this part is going back a little, but to celebrate the end of Thanksgiving leftovers and to indulge the need for comfort food induced by the cold weather, it was time for mac-n-cheese - the good stuff, with three cheeses (none of them powdered or Velveeta), an unlikely but fabulous seasoning, and baked to ooey-gooey goodness with a perfect crust on top. I think this makes Egg happier than anything else I cook.
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