Ply and Burl

Several years ago, I taught myself to knit Continental style (I had done English up to that point). Early on, the tension on my knits and purls was about equal, probably due to my lack of dexterity and thus the extra-tight grip I kept on the knitting. However, while I knit quickly and easily in Continental style, my purl stitches seem to be getting really loose. Substantially looser than the knit stitches to be sure. I’m not sure why this is — I’ve tried correcting it by using an extra wrap around my fingers to increase tension, but it only helps marginally. Thoughts? Ideas?

Remember this hat from ages ago?

Well, here’s the pattern, finally!

Yarn: One skein Noro Kureyon, pick your colorway
Needles: US 7 DPs or Circular (I love knitting on two circulars, more on that later.)
Gauge: 16 to 17 sts per 4″
Size: Men’s hat, made for 22 to 23″ head circumference.

Notes:

This hat is meant to fit snugly on a man’s head, so it actually fits quite comfortably on a woman’s head too. If you wanted to adapt it for a gal, I’d suggest nixing an inch from the circumference for a tighter hat, or just keeping it the same for a fitting but not-too-snug hat, and reducing the stockinette section by 1 to 1.5″. (I did that on my first try, and the hat fit me well, but I had to rip out because it was for the boy!)

Pattern:

Cast on 88 sts.

Work, in the round, 2×2 ribbing for about 1″.

Work in stockinette for 4.5″. In last row, place marker every 11 sts.

Switch to the following pattern until 5 sts remain between markers:
Rnd 1: k2tog before each marker (reducing 11 sts in total)
Rnd 2: Knit.

When five sts remain between markers, k2tog before each marker on every row until 1 st remains between markers.

Remove markers, thread yarn through remaining sts, cinch up, tie or graft off and voila!

As I send this out into cyberspace, I expect to hear a resounding echo of my own voice, signaling that there is no one left reading my poor, abandoned blog. Sorry, digital friends, for having been gone so long. Who knew grad school would crumple up my life like a ball of tin foil, stomp it into a pancake and then swallow it whole in one big bite?

As you can tell, I’m still learning the grad school time management thing. Until I do, I can only steal a few minutes here and there to myself. Which has meant not much knitting. Also, dangit, I’ve lost the cord to download photos from my camera, so the few pictures I do have are locked in. As for gardening, moving to a new town and renting a house with virtually no yard has meant only a few neglected potted veggies on the front stoop.

From the above perspective, it’s looks a sad state. But I swear, there are fun parts! I’m designing a technical system that tries to help the homeless! I’m doing systems consulting for a creative group at GM! I’m learning to scrape data from the web and elicit interesting things from it using Perl! Yay!

I’m also not sleeping much and reading hundreds of pages of papers a week. The thorn on the rose, I suppose.

One good thing — since the last time I wrote, in the thick of my lazy summer, I’ve lost 25 pounds. So I’m no longer shy about posting pictures of myself in the Sunrise Circle Jacket! It turned out quite beautifully, though I had to felt it a little in the dryer to get it to fit better. Sadly, however, the Airy Cardigan turned out to be a boxy, floppy thing, that was bad even before I shrunk out of it.

Also, in the next post (which I’m going to write RIGHT NOW!) — the pattern for Joel’s Kuryeon hat, which has been waiting in the wings for months.

I’ve missed you all, my blogger friends, so if you get this, my golden record, do send me a sign!

Somebody please help. First it’s the crochet and now it’s curtains. I’ve started envisioning this lovely (see?) “Dappled Lace Cafe Curtain” from Knit Picks on every window in my house. I’m undergoing an alien metamorphosis into somebody’s daffy great aunt! The only hope I can find is at least I’m not yet longing for the fuzzy edge or silk flowers to go with it.

Finally, the in-betweens are over! We left Ithaca a last Tuesday and have been in Ann Arbor for one week as of today. Recycling night was Sunday, so were finally able to clear the boxes and newspapers out of the living room. I took a load to Salvation Army yesterday, and have been posting the things on Craigslist that I should have sold before the move rather than after. The house is slowly getting organized and is starting to feel like home.

Our new place is essentially a cottage in the city, and is just a hair less funky than I can take, which is perfect. It’s at the back of another lot, meaning our front door opens onto one street, and our back door opens onto the driveway of a house on another. We have a perimeter of about three feet of yard on two sides of the house, one of which is shady, and one of which is overgrown with burdock. Where our front yard would be, there is poured cement.

As you can imagine, this is putting an interesting twist on my gardening. I’ve arrived in A2 too late to start a veggie plot at a community garden site. However, in anticipation of needing to scratch my gardening itch, I planted some basil, peppers, and geraniums in pots early in the summer, which I then transported out here during the move. Since arriving, we’ve picked up a few herbs and put those in pots, and I’ve also planted some Scarlet Runner Beans in hopes that they’ll bolt up and obscure the not-so-classy posts for the porch that overhangs our front door. It’s no gardener’s paradise, but it’s something!

Knitting has been, well, neglected. There, I admit it. That’s part of the reason I haven’t blogged in so long! I had no time for it, with the work and the travel and the move and all the heart-wrenching goodbye dates before we left. I was working through the spring on the Airy Cardigan, and made a lot of progress. All that remains to finish it is a single sleeve, but I’m finding the kid mohair so irritating to knit that I can barely look at the thing. Not to mention that it fits like a mumu… not my sartorial favorite.

Weirdly, a few days ago, as I was unpacking, I picked up a crochet hook. I ran across my copy of Stitch and Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, which a friend gave me for my birthday last year. Now, let me not mince words: I hate crocheting! I hate how it looks, I am a klutz with the hook, and it just generally bugs me.

But guess what? I’m actually enjoying it! Gah — Internet, don’t repeat that to anyone. I can’t believe I actually let it out of my mouth. But there it is, the truth laid bare, probably destined to alienate all my knitter friends. Oh well, try to still love me, OK? I can’t help that I’m open-minded, and crocheting just walked right in the door.

My house right now is littered with little purple crochet bits — my practice swatches. I’ve learned single crochet, double crochet, triple crochet, the shell stitch, and the fishnet stitch. My mind is full of the tackiest ideas, too: I’ll crochet plant hangers for the house! I’ll make a purse out of the shell stitch! I’ll crochet the cowboy hat pattern from the book!

Look, knitters, I know this is a dangerous path I’m going down. But hear me out, ’cause I’m one of you: a knitter through and through. At the same time, I’m thinking that there are several instances of crochet that aren’t tacky! Think beautiful crocheted lace our foremothers made from fine thread. Or the afghans that keep us warm in the winter! My grandmother and her mother both crocheted afghans for all their kids and grandkids. Mine, which I got to pick out the yarn for, is one of my most treasured possessions. My grandma passed away 11 years ago, and I still love and guard that blanket like a mama bear guards her cubs. It’s got my gram’s touch in every stitch, and her hands, which look like my hands, held every thread in it. It revives her in my mind, and brings her closer to me. (That could make a good advertisement no? “Crochet: It brings people back from the dead!”)

So this crochet phase? I think it’s kind of sweet, don’t you? I know it’s illogical, sentimental, and entirely misguided, but still, don’t deny it: crochet just melted a little bit of your sappy heart.

p.s. As a cure for my homesickness (and wet feet in the rain) I bought these new stylin’ shoes!

p.p.s. Also, even better news: the boy and I got engaged on July 2!

Though my stash is teeny tiny already, I still feel the need to liberate a few skeins, let them fly off to new homes where they’ll be knit with joy. So, I’ve got yarn for sale!

Super cheap $2 shipping for any order, or one or all of the following. Comment here or contact me by email (at the bottom of the sidebar) to buy!

2 skeins Karabella Soft Tweed in Tweedy Purple

$14 (that’s $3.50 off retail!)
Dyelot # 7553, 50g/108yd per skein, US 7 16sts/4″

Super soft and fluffy yarn!

Here’s the Karabella knit up:

3 skeins Elsabeth Lavold’s Silky Wool in Pumpkin

$16 (that’s $4.85 off retail!)
Dyelot #40, 50g/175m per skein, US 6 22sts/4″

Earthy, organic silk yarn with a lovely drape

Here’s the Silky Wool knit up:

Brand New Knitting Bag/Scarf Kit

Just $25!
Comes with this funky bag, 4 skeins of yarn, a pair of wooden needles, and a spindle topped crochet hook. Bag has needle holding hoops on the inside.

The bag:

The contents:

Knitpicks Red Yarn Grab Bag

$6 (that’s $3 off retail!)
1 ball Wool of the Andes in Iron Ore
1 ball Wool of the Andes in Hollyberry
1 ball Andean Silk in Hollyberry

Check out knit picks textures and colors with these three test skeins

3 skeins Alpaca Yarn Co.’s Classic Alpaca in Horizon

$16 (that $5 off retail!)
Dyelot # 58266 50g/110yd per skein, 22sts/4″

Soft, elegant 100% alpaca yarn in a gengle gray/lavender hue

Did you hear? I’m famous! In addition to boosting my nerdiness-based self-esteem, Jenny and Nicole of Stash and Burn pulled off an incredible feat in having my stashquations read aloud and made meaningful in their podcast!

But a note to John, their resident mathematician: If I have to tell you why 308 is special, well, you’ll just never understand.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the correlation equations.

Thinking, no big deal, I’ll just up and design a baby bootie on the fly? Think again, young Jedi.

I am embarrassed to admit that these booties gave me a serious run for my money. I tried to stripe them around the gusset, resulting in about sixty thousand straggly end pieces everywhere. Then, when I finally settled on a simpler pattern, I kept getting messed up turning the heel, which is ridiculous, considering the heel had, oh, 12 stitches to turn. Twelve measly stitches, and I was on the mat, begging for mercy. I was heel impaired for just that one weekend — yesterday I turned 32 heel stitches and didn’t blink an eye.

In the end, I think I won. The second one was a breeze, and the pair came out super cute. They finally went off to the new guy in Boston last week.

On another note, can I go crazy and link to some non-knitting stuff? It’s been interesting out there lately!

Women of Our Time from the Smithsonian is a photo gallery of influential women of the 20th century. Click on the photos for a biography. Inspiring!

NPR is blogging the Most Promising Musicians from SXSW this year. My favorite? Amy Winehouse, whose killer song “Rehab” will have you singing for hours.

Oh, Yoga Today, how I adore you. You rock so hard. Free one-hour yoga classes from three great instructors in Jackson Hole, WY. (Mostly Ashtanga, but I just did a really interesting Kundalini one last night.) You can view them on the website, or subscribe to the podcast and get a new one every day. From a long time yoga practitioner, I can say confidently that these are great classes, and are not too easy.

The Speech Accent Archive has people from all over the US and the world reading the same quote in small audio files. It’s fascinating to listen to the differences in accent.

Ironwood Designs is an Etsy shop that my woodworker boyfriend recently opened. Cute stuff and getting cuter.

Yay! (That’s all.)

People on the web claim time and again that Addi Turbos do not kink. This intrepid reporter is here to tell you that Addi Turbos do kink. Behold, my once smooth and supple Addis, after innocuously hanging from my circular needle holder for several months:

These buggers were kinked from here to Toledo! I tried knitting with them, thinking they might soften up again as they changed position. No dice. Knitting with them was a total drag.

Luckily, steaming them over boiling water helped a little, and dipping them in the hot water helped a lot. Still, after using the Knit Picks Options needles, these cables feel stiffer than they used to. But that’s another story for another day.

For now, my debunking work is done.