Tea towels, for actual tea

I've again become sidetracked with knitting; this time it's to replace my sorry old kitchen towels. In ready-mades I was looking for something really specific, so unsurprisingly, it doesn't seem to exist: medium to dark colours; busy patterns without too much white in them; and thick fabric—the last seems pretty hard to find these days, at any price. One of my main uses for these is mopping up tea or colorful ingredients, but a lot of what I could find was thin, solid-coloured pastels that would get very noticeably stained on first use. I guess you could bleach them, but then you never quite know what color might result.

Well, two balls of Bernat Handicrafter will make a decent-sized towel for less than $3, when it's on sale. I got many different colors in an attempt to tie together all the miscellaneous colors in my kitchen; if I don't make myself thoroughly sick of this I could end up with 12 towels, which should pretty well replace what I've got. Here's one in Indigo and Lime Stripes.

It's a Purl Soho pattern that I downscaled, in both senses; you're meant to use Euroflax linen, which is lovely, but will make a thinner towel at a significantly higher price. It seems to me that linen yarn is less absorbent, somehow, too—is it the smoother surface, or just the fact that it's never spun as thick? Most importantly, they'd take a lot longer to knit as intended. Maybe someday.

Favorite Things Pins & Needles: a Tardis knitting needle case

I got this Tardis fabric at Gala in Victoria. The pattern is pretty much a simple rectangle that folds and rolls up.

I made a zipped closure for the small pocket (at lower right), instead of a Velcro flap, because of what I had on hand. Also, I feel the zipper is unlikely to allow stuff to dump itself out.

 

To keep the needles in, the case just folds up. This isn't the neatest thing ever, since the flap ends up being a bit big and loose relative to the rest.

But it's simple and does the job.

I also made tie ends instead of using the elastic-and-button closure, figuring elastic could wear out and not really wanting to bother choosing a button.

Other things to note about this pattern:

• Directionally patterned fabric (a.k.a. "with nap") can be an issue because the main piece is just folded up to form the pockets and the flap.
• The pattern has you stitch twice through the different pockets. I think it would be difficult to get both stitching lines in the same place, plus it's more work. I only stitched through all layers once, after positioning all the pockets.
• It's probably best for straight needles and maybe DPNs, rather than circulars. Personally, it holds all my straights, and I don't plan on acquiring more. It won't also hold all my DPNs; as there's a chance I may buy more and/or find ones I've misplaced, I've punted on any sort of elegant storage for those, for the time being. But I think the stitching line spacing and/or pocket size might need some reworking if you want this to be mainly a DPN case.

This should be my last quilting-cotton accessory project for a while.

A quick little UFO

So yeah, I've got a backlog of pattern reviews to do, and I haven't been great about starting any new projects that need much planning. On top of that, I've been doing fun things like spending quality time with memtest. Anyway, one thing I did finish recently was this little bag:

I had the main piece all knitted and ready to go, together with the handles, sitting in a drawer for oh, about three years. Two main reasons: a) I thought it should have a lining, but didn't think I had anything suitable on hand; and b) after sewing another similar little bag with rigid handles, I realized I don't especially like using this style of bag. I'd much rather have a shoulder strap, and I find the openings on these things unwieldy, even with fairly generous slits left on either side of the handles.

In the end, I just used muslin for the lining; that matches the handles well enough. It remains to be seen how much use it gets, but hey, at least it's finally done, and I do like how it looks.

The pattern is Patons' Cabled Bag; the yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Seaspray, used double.

Rain boot socks

Not that there's been all that much need for them this year, but I've continued knitting some heavier socks. These, of course, go quicker than the usual fingering weight. They also help make my boots, which are too loose in the ankle and foot, fit better. The ones below are in Briggs & Little Tuffy, which I like for the mottled and not-too-saturated colors. They are rather short, as the bobbles take up a lot of yarn, but one skein was enough (they were knit toe-up).

The sock shape is the Riverbed master pattern from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, and the bobble stitch pattern is from Lesley Stanfield's New Knitting Stitch Library. The Riverbed's a very versatile pattern in that all sorts of stitch patterns can be applied to the top of the foot. It needs no grafting or picking up of stitches, things I like to avoid. Stanfield's book is very useful and nicely organized as well; all the stitch patterns are charted, which I think makes them much simpler to mirror and to use on anything knit in the round.

I hope I'll get back to some more sewing soon, but knitting projects are good when I don't have a solid block of time to really think things through.

New socks, catch[up|all] and some general plans

It seems that every time I move continents, I have to try out all the new colds the next winter. That and work have stopped me from doing my usual projects. Besides that, recently, I've been focusing somewhat more on knitting than on sewing. Here's what I have to show for it:

These are based on Cat Bordhi's Upstream master pattern, with the stitch pattern from Anna Zilboorg's Gemma (which in turn came from someplace else, IIRC, but I'd have to look up where exactly). They aren't blocked; generally I let wearing and washing do that for me, for socks anyway. I'm noticing Cat Bordhi's default arches come out very high, which is even more noticeable if the socks are oversized and have short cuffs, as in this case (they're oversized because they're meant as layering rain boot socks, and they're short because I couldn't make them any taller with the 100g yarn I had). She does tell you how to customize that, and I may look into it next time I'm making biggish socks like this. On closer-fitting socks I'd say the high arches are an advantage, though they can look odd when they're not being worn.

The long-suffering rayon crepe georgette dress is finally done, but it's already been worn once and washed, and needs ironing before it'll be ready to photograph.

I've cut and started McCall's 6996, which is shaping up nicely. It might make a good test for my coverstitch machine.

Finally, I've been thinking over what kinds of projects I want to do in the near future and over the course of the year. Current ideas:

• I'm not sure I will do many (any?) Patternreview contests. At any given time, chances are good they won't match what I really want or need to sew just then, and it's too easy for me to get off track and disappointed with something I wasn't all that excited about doing in the first place. I'm certainly appreciative of and impressed by the people who plan and manage the contests, but they may just not be for me.
• I'm not planning on posting about my stash every month (whew). I still do keep track, but it's not too interesting to write about, and must be very dull to read about.
• The temperature range here is far more limited than it was in southwest Germany, not to mention any of the East Coast/Midwest cities I've lived in. I'm finding I have too many too-warm clothes and not enough middling ones. Some long-sleeved tops/shirts may be up next.
• I have a large collection of lingerie fabrics I stocked up on in Germany and Holland, plus a few newly acquired here. Anything made from that might or might not make it here; we'll see.
• Last year, I've decided, I was trying to control too much of my sewing. While I think some wardrobe planning is worthwhile, this should be a hobby, and I shouldn't get too caught up in sewing the ideal thing at the ideal time.
• I do want to continue with my pattern-drafting nerdfest to some extent, but I'm a little desperate for finished clothes right now, so it may be a while before I get back to it.

That's all for now. I'm off to the Fabrics Etc. meetup early (for me) tomorrow; Tasia from Sewaholic will be there!

Next knitting project

While I agonize about what to do with the front edges of the cardigan, I've started one pair of the sort of socks I've been meaning to get to before winter's over.

These are dark brown Sandnes Garn Perfect wool/nylon at around 6 stitches to the inch, so a medium weight for a sock in my opinion (though I have to say, it seems relatively difficult to find sock yarns in sport weight or thicker).

The stitch pattern will come from Gemma in Anna Zilboorg's Socks for Sandals and Clogs, but the overall structure and method will be based on Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, my favorite sock knitting book. These are cast right on, with no grafting and no ridge in the toe. I do find her socks default to having rather high arches compared to most, but she gives instructions for customizing that, along with many other things. To summarize my attitude about the book: it's a bit different from common sock knitting methods, so it isn't the easiest way to familiarize yourself with those in order to use other people's patterns and know instantly what you're looking at... but having done both, I find myself reworking other patterns to function more like Bordhi's.  (Zilboorg's are a whole other story — they have features, like removable soles, that I haven't dared try yet.)

Progress on leftover project 2 of 3

I have only been able to work on some things off and on, but I have sewn together this cardigan I knitted from Lion Brand Homespun. It isn't my favorite yarn to knit or to wear, but aside from the washability and the price, I couldn't resist this particular color. It's a far subtler tan, yellow, and steel-blue blend than it probably looks in this acid-greeny flash photo... winter solstice, eh?

Next I will have to decide what exactly I'm doing with the neckline and fronts, because I don't like the stockinette curl in the lower part. The simplest thing might be to add a separating zipper, but that may look terrible if worn open. I will research some edgings.

On the third of the leftover projects, the Kwik-Sew dress, I have hemmed the sleeves, and that's about it. It feels like more of a spring dress, so it's been hard to get motivated.

Happy holidays!

Some of my favorite sock yarns, and two new to me

I ordered several sock yarns recently. Here is a representative sample:

My goal was to make thick socks to wear with rain boots, and thereby also replace some old L.L. Bean ragg socks that have seen better days. So most of these are heavier than the usual sock weight. (Links below are to Ravelry.)

• Tuffy and Durasport are two different weights of wool/nylon blend from Briggs & Little. I find they are very durable, if a bit scratchy. The main thing that's happened to my Tuffy and Durasport socks over time is the color may fade off the heels and sole, and the stitches may felt together in those areas, along with some non-problematic pilling.
• Perfect is a DK weight wool/nylon from Sandnes Garn. The colors are not as heathered as in Tuffy or Durasport, the texture is smoother, and the weight is between the two. It does seem to pill a little more. I find it's the perfect weight for the patterns in Anna Zilboorg's sock book. (They do also make a nice lighter weight yarn with similar content, Sisu, which I've used and which behaves similarly. But that weight doesn't seem nearly as difficult to find in other brands.)
• I have yet to try Superba Cotton Stretch and confusingly, this company seems to have reused the name for at least two different formulations of the yarn. I was hoping to get the one with both wool and cotton content, but the type I got ended up having no wool.
• Likewise, I have not tried the Aire Valley Aran. I'm not sure this is specifically meant as a sock yarn, but it is 75/25 wool/nylon.

All of these came from Wool-Tyme in Ontario, by the way. I'd liked to have been able to get at least some thicker sock yarns locally, but haven't found any at all, not with nylon content anyway. I have had good experiences with Wool-Tyme.

A few lighter sock yarns I also like:

• Patons Kroy Socks is a little thicker than some sock yarns, is reasonably priced, and I haven't had my Kroy socks develop holes over the past several years.
• The various Regia sock yarns. They come in lots of different colors and space-dyes and again, I haven't had problems. Here is just one set of colorways.
• Applelaine Apple Pie is a thinner handpaint, similar to what seems to be the most popular local sock yarn style in BC. 

I've also tried Lana Grossa Meilenweit, as it was very easy to find in Germany. I've had those socks rather quickly develop holes, though, so I'm a bit wary of using my remaining skeins.

Finally.

I cut the last loose ends on this sweater today. I'd started it in, I don't know, maybe May, as a project I'd still be working on while all my other yarn was crossing an ocean and a continent. That worked.

The pattern is (at time of writing) top left here, meant for Cascade Heritage 150, and called "Pretty Mallory". I used Spinning Flock Farm 100% Wensleydale Wool, which I don't think is made anymore, and of which I had about 1440 yards, limiting my options. I'm not sure what I originally meant to make with it; before this one, I started, was not happy with, and frogged two other projects. I'm not terribly excited about this one either, but some of that is just how long it dragged on, so we'll see if it turns out to be useful long-term.

I wanted to make the sleeves on this as long as I possibly could, so that meant shortening the body some, though I think I could've saved more yardage by making it more fitted. The pattern does have waist shaping, but it really doesn't amount to much. I also had some trouble with the neckline rib flipping, though that doesn't happen when it's actually worn. Anyway, it turned out high-hip length, with 3/4 sleeves.

Knit City

I went to a few different things last weekend and have been meaning to comment on them.

I'll start last first: Knit City at the PNE. (It looks like some of the 2014 content is now gone, so I'm just linking to the floor plan). I could've signed up for some classes, but forgot about it until it was too late. I can't say I was really in the best frame of mind for this either; I'd been shopping two other places beforehand and wasn't enthusiastic about buying more. Anyway, as someone who didn't know much of anything about the local knitting scene, here's what I noticed:

• There were a lot of handpaint/hand-dyed/semisolid yarns. Nice. I'm not particularly interested in doing that myself (no good place to make a mess) but I'm happy to have others do it for me.
• There seems to be lots of hand-spinning going on. I'm not interested in that either, but people seem to have fun with it.
• Thick yarn was far less well-represented than I remember it being in Philadelphia several years ago. I don't know if that's a trend over time or a difference between the two locations. (Or maybe there was some secret huge amount of thick yarn that all sold out before I got there.) While there were a few thicker yarns, I would say almost everything was aran or thinner. That takes more of a time commitment, but OTOH I think anything other than accessories risks becoming too heavy in a thick yarn anyway. Especially in this climate.

I looked around at all the vendors for quite a while, but didn't end up buying anything. I was specifically looking for thicker wool/nylon blend sock yarns. I didn't find any, although there were many nice, usual-weight (say, 7.5 stitches or more per inch) wool/nylon sock yarns, and lots of all-wool yarns in sportweight and thicker. In the end, I ordered what I was looking for from Wool-Tyme instead. When I'm less on-a-mission I will certainly be happy to take another look at what's local.

Here's my current knitting project.

It's top-down. I'd worried about it, but I suspect the neck circumference will turn out to be just fine; it's a long-tail cast-on.

New knitting project

I wanted some hand work to do today, so I started this sweater in Wensleydale wool I got at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival several years ago. It's from Spinning Flock Farm, but I don't think they sell it anymore. So far the 1x1 neckline ribbing looks good, better than the 2x2 that started off the previous sweater I tried with this yarn. I hope it will fit over my head; no way of knowing at the moment as it's on a 16" circular needle.

Still more fitting, and knitting

OK, I've sewn the shawl collar onto the neck of my Schnittquelle Malmedy, and also rethought the back alteration. I'm still flailing about changing too many things at once, probably, but here's how it is at the moment:

• I took the side seams back to normal from the waist up (so no inch of width taken out anymore).
• I ripped the back raglan seams and adjusted them so that the sleeve is eased slightly onto the back below the notch (with the back pushed down a little so it's sewn closer to the cut edge, which, since it's concave, is shorter), and the back onto the sleeve above. The reason for this is that I think the overall back waist length was actually about right; it's just the armhole that's possibly too long. (Maybe I need my back armholes even shorter than I thought? I think I may have had the same problem in my fitting shell muslin; I should have another look. As I recall, Müller & Sohn have you dart a certain amount out of the back armhole, but there probably was a range, and maybe I should've taken out more.) With the fullness in the very upper back steam-shrunk out, it looks pretty good so far; I might just need to fiddle with the lower part of the armhole a little more.
• I let out a lot of the front waist dart intake, since that's really not where I have a waist anyway. I'm committed to that dart placement and length now, since I've gone ahead and sliced them open.
• I lengthened the tops of the back waist darts, although this might not have been necessary; they might just need an overall reshaping.

What was very helpful in all of this was the chart in Jan Minott's book on fitting commercial patterns. I should have looked at it sooner. It shows a whole lot of balance and other issues that don't seem to come up in many other books.

Meanwhile, on the Neue Mode shirt, I've ripped the outsides of the shoulder seams, but that's about as far as I've got.

Finally, I started swatching the lace pattern on the sleeves of this sweater. So far it seems like it might be straightforward enough to actually look like something in the yarn I'm trying to use.

Drafting, knitting...

I decided to try drafting the "blouse with bust dart" from Müller & Sohn as a possibly useful comparison to the more fitted base pattern. I have the upper parts finished, more or less, although I haven't dealt with the back shoulder dart (or lack thereof) yet.

M&S have you shift the shoulder seam forward 1cm on your base patterns; they say it looks better. I don't disagree, but I'm beginning to suspect that many pattern companies don't do this. For purposes of having an easy-to-use basis for comparison, maybe I should make my fitting shells without the shift (or at least with both lines present and marked). It does also explain part of why the shoulder notch looks so far forward on the sleeve I've drafted (not that it should be symmetric, of course).

I say this partly because I've been trying to compare a Neue Mode blouse pattern to my fitting shells and finding my front armholes disproportionately short. I might need to shorten the NM armhole regardless, but maybe I should try my blouse fitting shell in cloth, with sleeves, before rushing to judgment. Do I have the patience? We'll see.

Today I also was desperately looking for some hand work to do, so I tried to pick something to knit in a sport-weight wool I have (Spinning Flock Farm Wensleydale). So far I haven't really liked any of the swatches I've tried. I need to find some sort of stitch pattern and gauge that... looks like something. I might kick the can down the road and go back to sewing for the week, since the need for hand work has passed.