Flint Knits

UPDATE: Thanks so much to all the folks who offered to test-knit. I’ve got plenty of volunteers now. Seriously–thanks!

The middle west US is covered in snow, which means those of us who are responsible for cars or porches or sidewalks or pets spend a lot of time moving the stuff around. Which is cold. Which means … mittens.

I recently did a mitten swap with some friends, and came out of it with a gorgeous pair of Chevaliers from Ms. Fricknits.

Thanks, J!

 

I knitted for Elinor, and I decided to design my own pattern.

They feature a fat two-color cable running up the back, extra-long cuff, and a stripey thumb with swirling decreases (thanks to some clever tweaking from Minty). And, because they’ve got colorwork and cables in worsted-weight wooly-wool, they are WARM.

I’m planning to make them my very first pattern-for-sale. Want to test-knit a pair? Let me know! You should be an advanced knitter comfortable with colorwork and with cables, and you should have a couple skeins of Cascade 220 or other 100% wool worsted-weight yarn to devote to the cause.

ETA: Also, could you please include a link to your Ravelry projects or a blog or Flickr set or something? I suddenly have this fear that “advanced” and “comfortable” are relative terms. Thanks!

Hello! It’s been a while! Big thanks to all of you who suggested baby patterns — I got a ton of useful information, and I’m truly sorry I haven’t had a chance to thank everybody personally.

I’ve been swamped with the usual mid-semester demands, and just spent a few days out playing shows with the band. But this doesn’t mean I haven’t had time to knit.

A few weeks back, Ashley sent me a skein of the discontinued Rio de la Plata 3-ply as part of a swap. I’d never seen the 3-ply before, and it’s really, really lovely. Squishy and soft and much more hard-wearing than its single-ply sisters.

I immediately cast on for Jared’s fab Koolhaas hat, using a small needle to get gauge. After just a few inches, the hat was stiff and unpleasant, and my gauge was still a bit off.

Then I got this.

The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, by Clara Parkes. It’s brilliant. I read it cover to cover. Not only has it earned an honored place on my shelf next to the meaty knowledge-filled books (Montse, Elizabeth, Barbara), but it’s also got a ton of fabulous patterns by some of your favorite designers.

The book is just what the title says: a guide to yarn. The book jacket says that “The Knitter’s Book of Yarn will teach you everything you need to know about yarn: How it’s made, who makes it, how it gets to you, and what it longs to become.” The “what it longs to become” part is key — you learn all this stuff about yarn so that you can better match yarn + project.

Basically, It explains how different types of fibers and different kinds of constructions determine how a yarn will knit up. (And the patterns are arranged by yarn construction — 2ply, 3ply, chain, etc.) As (practically) a non-spinner, I apparently had a great deal to learn about such things.

And what I learned helped me choose a pattern that would do the Rio justice. According to Parkes, three-ply yarns are like a bar stool — perfectly balanced. And their stability and round shape means that your stitches will be well-defined and plump, and will fill up space generously.

In knitting the Rio on teeny needles, I was trying to stifle that plumpness! I was repressing the natural awesomeness of the yarn! I was a Yarn Fascist, only thinking about the glory of the state FO, when I should have been a Yarn Marxist working to provide space for the development of its own unique yarniness. (Yes, okay, I’ll be done teaching Political Science 101 very soon, and such comparisons will stop. We hope.) The point is that the first hat might have turned out okay, but it wouldn’t have been showing the yarn to its best advantage.

Armed with that knowledge, I hit Ravelry to check out a few patterns Ashley had suggested (yes, she figures strongly into the story of the hat, all the way through — I mean, she’s pretty much my puppetmaster), and settled on Debi’s Frivol hat.

The construction of the thing makes it great fun: it’s knit sideways, and the crown is shaped with short rows.

Elizabeth sent me the prettiest sock!

A Drunken Bee, knit just for me!

She also sent the rest of her yarn (J Knits, in the Massachusetts colorway) and the pattern, so I can knit the second one for myself.

And put the whole lot in a beautifully-made, fully-lined tote that she sewed herself, talented woman that she is. And included a matching handmade notepad cover. Thank you so much Elizabeth!! I feel very special.

So all that is very, very cool. I love the pattern and the yarn, and can’t wait to knit the second sock. I think I’ll have to go up a needle size from what I usually use, to match Elizabeth’s gauge, but the challenge was part of the fun of our swap.

The thing is, the package she sent? Also included these:

Four glass plates, with fabric glued to the backs. Horses, turkeys, butterflies, fish… Not exactly her style or mine, but I just figured they were a kitschy gift she threw in out of kindness and/or silliness.

Not so.

Elizabeth has no idea where these plates came from. She sent the box with only the sock, yarn, pattern, and bag inside. Somewhere, somehow, along the way, these plates found their way into a taped, sealed box.

But, wait, there’s a clue! Each plate has a label on the back, with the name and address of a woman in Texas. She will be getting a friendly letter from me, and I’ll definitely keep ya’ll posted…

For my part, I sent a single sock today to a certain other knitter friend, who will knit the mate and keep the pair. I hope she likes it, and that it fits…

pattern: Knitty’s magic cast-on, and Wendy’s toe-up gusset heel [pdf],
with Kate’s “Ode to Eames” mosaic pattern.

yarn: Sundara sock yarn in Crimson, and Mama Blue sock yarn in Mermaid

[the guts]

needles: 2.5 and 2.75 mm circulars

I’m back! Well, sort of — I’m still adjusting to life off-the-road. Mostly, I’m catching up on work and on all the teensy mundane household and personal things you forget that you even do on a regular basis until you don’t do them for 6 weeks. You know, like washing your clothes, or feeding the cat — whoops!**

And I finally had to bite the bullet and hit “mark all as read” on the 1441 posts languishing in my Bloglines. So, in the interest of catching me up, please take a moment to comment to this post with a link to the most awesomest crafty creation you’ve seen in the blogging world since July 1. I’ll choose someone randomly from the comments to win a teensy knitterly trinket.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention a deadline for the contest! I’ll draw a winner from all the comments left before Sunday, August 26, at 11:59 Eastern time.

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One of several exciting packages I came home to after my weeks away was from Ann-Marie, my generous, talented Sockapalooza pal.

Not only did she knit some of the most perfect, precise socks I’ve ever seen, but she did it with her own hand dyed merino/tencel yarn! (Yes, it’s beautiful and soft and I want to touch it all the time.)

The yarn — her “grass” colorway — is dyed in springy shades of aqua and lemony yellow. And I especially love how the leaf pattern extends down the heel flaps.

For pattern details, check out Ann-Marie’s post about these socks.

And, as if the hand-dyed, hand-knit socks weren’t enough, she included a cheery pink/grey skein of her own wool/nylon sock yarn for me to play with. Yes, the colors are that vivid and gorgeous in real life. Thanks Ann-Marie!

**This is a joke. Wilma the Cat is actually safe and sound with the lover’s parents, where she’s been getting all the snuggles she deserves, and eating fancy canned food like it’s her job, for the last 6 weeks.

for all your support, sympathy, and good wishes
for your generous offers of computers and yarn and stress relieving bathtime soaks
for your righteous rage on my behalf.

Seriously, you have no idea how much you’ve all helped me get through this. The latest update is that I’ve got a sexy new computer, and my committee members and writing group colleagues are currently searching for any earlier drafts of my diss work that they still have lying around. And it looks like our home owners’ insurance will give us a bit of money for the computers. Plus, I’m writing from my hotel on Waikiki Beach. Life goes on.

As the lover works to cobble together a presentation for the conference tomorrow (the original paper was lost in the theft), I’m sitting with a glass of pineapple juice and a macadamia nut muffin. It seems like a perfect time to blog about the lovely meetups I had last week.

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We arrived in Philadelphia a whopping 8 hours before our show, so of course I headed straight for the nearest yarn shop. I found myself at Loop, where I was thrilled to find a beautiful display of Elizabeth’s sock yarn.

And then I realized that Elizabeth herself was there, working at the shop! She gave us all kinds of useful info about where to go for fabric and for veggie cheese steaks (yes!), and showed me the Charade socks she’s knitting with her Martha colorway. They won me right over, so I picked some Martha up for myself.

Speaking of Philly knitters, aren’t these your colors, Megan?

I also bought a tapestry needle so I could properly kitchener my Sockapalooza socks (you may recall that my pal requested both “crazy colors” and lace — I tried to deliver the best I could).

Later, I met up with some other Philadelphia knitters for a fabulous comfort-food dinner at A Full Plate. (Elizabeth led us there after the restaurant I’d originally chosen turned out to be a pizza stand with no chairs. Oops.)

Sarah and Krista are a smart, funny, adorable couple, both originally from Michigan. Specs was one of those quietly witty people that we motormouths so admire — when she talks, she’s always got something worth saying. I only wish we’d had more time to spend together.

After Sarah and Krista rescued a kitten from under a truck (no kidding!), Elizabeth came to our show at The Fire. The sound guy arrived 90 minutes late and completely stoned, so the show was pretty crappy, but Elizabeth stuck it out like a trooper, then hung around all night to drink beers and chat with me about knitting and music and so on. She’s just as kind and funny as she is cute.

Next up? The dish on my second date with Ms. Minty. For now, there’s a balcony off my hotel room just begging to be sat upon.