I’ve still found some time to squeeze in some knitting projects.

I finished the hip bag that was supposed to be a birthday present for my art teacher pal.  I used the hand-dyed yellow that I talked about weeks ago and a couple other colors from my stash.  I tried two new techniques with this bag.

First, I did needle felting for the first time.  I’d had the supplies for ages, but didn’t get around to using them until now.  I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before, because it’s dead easy!  Just put the fiber down and poke, poke, poke, poke to your heart’s content!  I found it to be quite therapeutic.  On the day that I made the big needle-felted flower on the flap of the bag, I had a very frustrating day, and it felt very good to stab the bejeesus out of something!

I also did kumihimo weaving for the first time.  I’d seen a class of people doing it at the Shabby Sheep retreat, and I thought that it would be an awesome thing to do for a handle of a bag.  I ordered the supplies online and then set up the loom.  Much to my surprise, Little Grump grabbed the loom almost the second I put it down and started working on it.  So we ended up sharing the work on the 51″ handle!  The result was not quite as bright and “happy” as I really wanted, but I really wanted my friend to have the bag.  I figure that I can go back and make another handle for the bag later on, when I have a bit more time to offer.

I also worked on a baby blanket for one of my co-workers.  I tried Cascade 220 Superwash for the first time, and I like it!  After washing, the blanket is soft and has just the slightest bit of a halo.

The pattern came from Jared Flood.  His patterns are always well written, and this one was no exception.  I would make one change if I do this pattern again, though.   The last stitch of the row is a kfb, which means that it’s not all that easy to smoothly pick up the stitches along the edge.  I didn’t do too great of a job because the end stitches were just oo tight.  While I don’t know if a non-knitter would notice, I do.

Still, the blanket is pretty, and I’m sure that the recipient will love it.  I’m relieved to have finished it before the baby is born and before the teacher has a chance to depart for the summer.  (I still haven’t been able to give the Equal Parts blanket to its intended recipient!)

There’s only a few more days of school, but I have a couple more weeks before I start summer break.  I’ll likely work beyond then though.  Little Grump needs to take some summer school, and I’ll go stir crazy after a few days of everyone being gone during the day.  Or not.  Maybe I’ll sit and knit and watch chick flicks all day!

I had no idea what I’d get or when I’d get it, but I was in no hurry.  Imagine my surprise when Micki brought me two of the loveliest skeins of handspun that I could ever imagine!

That was… gulp… two years ago!  Since then, I’d squirreled my lovely yarn away waiting for “the right pattern”.  I didn’t think I’d ever have a chance to get such special yarn again, and I didn’t want to waste it on any old pattern.  Every now and then, I’d pull it out and stroke it, but the only person who ever got to enjoy its beauty was me.

Every now and then, Micki would quip about how long it had been since I’d received the yarn.  I explained that I was waiting.  She would look at me with a rather exasperated expression and say, “It’s yarn!”

So I made a New Year’s resolution.  I swore that I would use the yarn this year.  And I did!

When I spotted Ilga Leja’s Earth Maiden pattern on Ravelry, I knew that I’d found the right pattern.  It had really long rows, so I knew that it would show off the handspun really, really well.  I flinched a bit at the cost of the pattern.  (At $12, it was way more expensive than just about any other single pattern I’ve ever purchased.)  I mulled it over for about a week and then purchased the pattern.

I have to say that this pattern was worth it.  The pattern was so well written and had absolutely no errors or confusing bits!  I can’t remember the last time that happened.

I started the project with 870 yards (231 grams) of light fingering weight yarn.  Since the original pattern was written for a heavier yarn, I wasn’t sure if I would have enough to knit the pattern as written.  I ran some calculations after the first complete run through of the first chart and decided that I wouldn’t have enough, so I only did two repeats of Chart A at the beginning.  When I got to the end, I realized that I would have had enough, so I went ahead and added a repeat at the end.  The result is more symmetrical than specified by the pattern, but those who have never seen the pattern would never know.

The project was enjoyable in a “I just want to relax!” kind of way.  Each row was 343 stitches long and took between 30 and 45 minutes to knit.  Fortunately, no ripping back was ever needed, although I did have to dink back a half row at one point.  I worked on it while Mr. Grump watched NASCAR, so I could watch too without getting too freaked out if my attention was distracted when wrecks occurred.  (The fact that I had a stitch marker about every ten stitches really helped.  Thank goodness that I have lots of stitchmarkers!)

And the yarn?  Oh the yarn!  It reminded me of the reason why I enjoy knitting.  It was so soft and evenly spun.  While this was one of Micki’s earlier efforts, you can’t tell!  The yarn was soft and spun just tightly enough to avoid splitting but still loosely enough that it’s soft.  I took the project to knitting and on a retreat with me, and everyone who saw it in progress marveled over it!

When I finished it, I was rather concerned about how rough it looked around the edges.  (I’m not exactly the queen of consistency in the land of gauge!)  However, I know from experience that blocking can cure a multitude of knitting sins, and this project was no exception.

The result is a shawl that makes me SO proud that I want to show it to everyone.  I’ve taken it to school to show it off, and everyone loves it.  I even had one offer to pay me to make another one.  I doubt that will happen.  Though I really enjoyed knitting the project, I don’t think any subsequent knitting of the pattern will be as enjoyable as the first.  Life is way too short to be spent knitting projects that aren’t enjoyable, even if I could earn enough to pay for my yarn budget for the year!

As I joined in on the first round of this year’s Sock Madness, I couldn’t help but think about “American Idol”.  The first pattern is called “Simple Side to Side Socks”, and like the singers, the designer seemed to want to show just how much certain things could be used in one pattern.

Now, I know the idea of the first round of Sock Madness is to eliminate the weak and uncommitted.  It’s supposed to work like the basketball tournament.  The weak must GO!  I get that.  But I think it’s kind of silly when designers go to insane lengths to create patterns to drive the knitters nuts!

Think I’m exaggerating?  Let’s do a little math, shall we?

The pattern starts with an 80 stitch provisional cast-on, which means that, at some point, the knitter has to recover those 80 stitches and put them on the needles.

The pattern then requires that the knitter pick up 68 stitches for the cuff, another 68 for the toes, and another 68 for the heels.

Altogether, that comes to 284 stitches picked up for each sock!  That’s a whole bunch of stitches.

Then there’s the grafts.  There’s one the width of the cast-on (80*2 stitches), 24 stitches for the toe, 24 for the heel, and, because the tubular bind-off is used, another 68 stitches on the cuff.  That’s 276 grafted stitches for each sock!

Crazy.  Just crazy!

Still, I signed up for Sock Madness, so I gave it the old college try.  My progress was hampered by work projects and other life stuff, so I didn’t make it into the second round.  I finished the socks though, so I consider it a moral victory, if nothing else.

For this project, I chose Urban Gypz’s Harajuku Girl colorway that I’d stashed a while back.  It is a bit bright (understatement of the year!), but the colors are fabulous!  From the second Little Grump saw the colors, she claimed the socks as hers.  It was a good thing, because the socks wouldn’t fit onto my big fat feet!

Little Grump loves them though.

She loves them so much that she wanted to wear them to school the next day.  Alas, it’s now 80 degrees, and wool, no matter how brightly colored, does not work in 80 degree weather!

I don’t know how many people will knit this pattern after Sock Madness.  Most people that I know are more like Elizabeth Zimmerman, who went out of her way to avoid seams if possible.  Besides, the sideways knitting doesn’t make for an especially stretchy sock.  Most of the people who knitted this pattern complained that it was REALLY tight (or wouldn’t fit at all).  Because of all of the grafts, there are multiple weak points that are just ideal for failure, especially in a sock where one must do some convincing to get the sock to go on at all.  Life is way too short and there are too many other patterns out there to chance knitting a sock that won’t fit or might develop holes in short order.

I could be wrong, but I doubt it.  I know that I won’t be knitting these again soon!

The retreat was held at Our House in Milford.  We went there last fall for the “Christmas in July” retreat and had a blast.  Angie, the owner, and her mother, Ann, are absolute dears.  They cook and clean for us and generally make us feel like we’re at home.  The place is decorated with handmade quilts.  Kitty sent them a new addition… Some hand-stitched needlepoint pictures!

People ask me where this place is, and the truth is that I’m geographically impaired enough to not know for sure.  Kitty always drives, which leaves me the luxury of chatting and staring out the window.  So the best I can do is “Go South until you pass the big inflatable bugs, then go two exits past the exit with the Starship Enterprise.  Not very exact directions, but they work for Kitty!

To tell the truth, Our House in Milford is out in the middle of nowhere.  The first time we went there, everyone in our car was absolutely sure that we’d taken a wrong turn because we went into a little town with a stop sign and then crossed the road and meandered past some plastic covered houses, a cornfield, and a few cows before we saw the sign for the retreat.

But once you get there?  It’s a treat!

Rhonda from the Shabby Sheep was already there as were several other people.  We claimed a couple tables as our own and dropped our bags in our bedroom.  Then we kicked back our heels and relaxed for the rest of the weekend.  Everyone ooh-ed and ah-ed over the progress that I’d made on the Earth Maiden Shawl with Micki’s handspun.

A little later, my friend Angela showed up.  I was really happy about this as I knew that Kitty and Angela would hit it off fabulously!  We laughed and talked and knitted the rest of the night, and it was SO relaxing!

I’m an early riser, and Saturday morning was no exception.  The advantage of early mornings is the wonder of sights like this:

A sixteen year-old girl named Alanna was there for the retreat, and she’s an early riser too.  (She blames tutoring.  I blame brilliance!)  We watched the sun rise together.  One of the dogs from the farm down the road came up, and we petted the dog for a bit before going back inside.

At around ten, I started my first weaving class!  We used a little Cricket loom.  I used some yarn that I’d purchased years ago from the Woolie Ewe but had never used because, despite the fact that they all claimed to be from the same dye lot, they were vastly different in color.

Ten hours (and two fabulous meals and more visiting with everyone else), I had completed my first weaving project!  The edges are a bit wobbly, and the weave isn’t 100% even, but it’s mine!  I used the lighter of the yarn for the warp and the darker of the skeins for the weft.  The result is a really nice plaid.  Interestingly enough, the ends of the scarf look like stripes.  I don’t know how it happened… It just did!  (I gave the left-over yarn to Kitty, who was sure she could make something cool from it.)

I think I’m smitten by the weaving bug!  I didn’t buy the Cricket loom though.  It didn’t make much sense to buy a loom that I’d likely quickly out-grow.

Sunday started out well, but quickly went downhill.  As I was photographing Kitty’s fabulous cabled coat, I somehow managed to drop my expensive camera.  I was (and still am) inconsolable about that.  It pretty much ruined my mood.

However, it did not stop me from signing up for the summer/fall retreat.  In fact, Kitty signed me up for an extra day!  So we will be returning to Our House in Milford in a few months!

My friend Annie is an AWESOME teacher!  She’s kind, considerate, intelligent, creative, and believes that teaching should include more than the things that can be learned from a book.  She challenges her students to be “knights”… respectful, brave, honest, kind,  The fact that she brings me Starbucks once a week is just icing on the cake!

So when I drew her name from the Secret Valentine Pal basket, I was thrilled.  I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her.  And, with an unexpected snow day and a school holiday, I had enough time to finish it.

The pattern is from Alan Dart’s “Tales of Yore” series that appeared in Simply Knitting magazine.  I’d been wanting to make this little guy since I first saw the picture in the magazine.  I knew he’d be perfect for Annie, and I was right.

He’s made completely from scraps from my stash.  I used mainly Paton’s Classic Merino, which is heavier than the recommended yarn, but worked well anyway.

I knitted the pattern pretty much as written.  There were three exceptions:

1.  I embroidered the “K” on the tunic instead of using duplicate stitch.  (Annie’s last name starts with ‘K’.)  I tried duplicate stitch, but it looked like crap.

2.  The pattern said to glue on the nose piece for the helmet.  I don’t glue things on my stuffies unless there’s no way to sew it.  In this case, it was easy to sew.

3.  This is the big one… The pattern says to stuff the body with the bumpy side out, and the head and arms are supposed to be knit so that the upper arm and back of the head are bumpy.  I somehow missed the difference in the knitting of the arms and head until I sewed the body up with the smooth side out.  As I was contemplating re-knitting the body (when I hide my seaming, I hide it well!), I noticed that I hadn’t done the arms and head correctly.  So I said, “Whatever!” and finished it off with the pieces that I had already knit.  The end result is that my knight doesn’t look like he’s wearing chain mail.

Annie says it doesn’t matter!  She loves him!  She says that she will have to fight her daughters to keep them from stealing him.

I’m pleased with him too, even though the assembly took me the better part of a day to finish.  Each of the pieces is knit flat and then seamed, so it’s a bit fiddly.  Still, the results are SO worth it!  Mr. Grump now wants me to knit the whole set!

Little Grump's Reading Mitts

For a bit, I wasn’t sure I was going to finish them in time.

I flew through the first Mitt and a half.  Then the first needle broke.  Then the second.

I knitted on with one Zephyr and one Options needle until I got to what was supposed to be the end of the thumb.  Then I noticed that the thumb section on Mitt #2 was about a half inch off Mitt #1.

Oops.

I frogged back to right before the thumb area and tried again.  This time, the two thumb areas came out even.

I proceeded at a good clip until I got to the last turn section on Mitt #2.  Then I realized that I’d lost a stitch somewhere.

@#@#$@#$@!!!!!

More frogging.  I found the location of the missed stitch in the lace section, fortunately only a half dozen or so rows down.

I finally finished.

Little Grump tried them on and declared them “perfect”.

This is a project I would do again in a heartbeat.  The knitting was simple (even though I managed to screw it up), and the mitts look really classy.

I’d also use the Cascade Lana d’Oro again.  My friend Rebecca was absolutely correct when she said that it’s an awesome yarn.  It’s a mixture of Alpaca and Wool.  I frequently found myself sneaking a touch at the inside of the mitts to feel the softness.  The yarn bled a bit when I blocked it, but not so much that it didn’t stop.  Since intense colors tend to bleed in even the best yarn, I can be forgiving this time!  Because… oh!  I can’t explain the softness!  You have to feel!

I don’t think you’re going to get a chance to try these gloves though.  Little Grump adores them, and it’s supposed to be a COLD week in Texas!

A few months back, KnitPicks announced the new KnitPicks Zephyr tips for their interchangable needle set. KnitPicks bills these as “lightweight and slightly flexible.”  Since I suffer from a bit of carpal tunnel from time to time, I thought that this would be really great.  So I ordered the tips in two sizes.   I was surprised when they arrived because they were clear and looked like they would snap if you breathed on them a little too hard.  So I tucked them away until I had a project that needed the size that I purchased.

When I looked at the pattern for Susie’s Reading Mitts, I was delighted to see that I could use the Zephyr tips.  Besides, I thought, it would pretty much guarantee that I’d loosen up the killer death grip with which I normally hold my needles.

For a while, everything seemed to be going well.  I liked the feel of the needles, and I did hold them loosely.  But then today… Snap!  Crap!  One of the tips broke in the middle of the needle.  Some of my stitches dropped off the broken bits.  I cursed a little to myself and dug out another needle to rescue the lost stitches.

I then got out one of the KnitPicks Harmony Wood needle tips that I’d purchased as a test a few years back.  As luck would have it, or maybe because I plan things subconsciously, I’d bought the same size needle tips to test for the Zephyrs as I did for the Harmony needles.  I’d tried the Harmony Wood tips but didn’t use them for a full project because I’d heard and seen that the wood tips pulled out of the metal join for the cable connection far too easily.  However, I thought it would be a good idea to use them to replace the Zephyr tip because I’d still have to be delicate with it.

Two rows later, I realized that I’d somehow missed one.  So I used my handy-dandy crochet hook to catch the wayward stitch and bring it back with the rest.

About three rows later, the Harmony Wood tip fell apart.  Just as I’d seen happen with a couple ladies in my knitting groups, the tip pulled out leaving almost 20 stitches orphaned without a needle or cable.

More cursing ensued, this time not as quietly as before.  Fortunately, Little Grump was out of the room.  Mr. Grump was not!

So I had to rescue even more stitches.  Again, I missed one.

This time, I’ve replaced the broken needle with one of the original Options needles.  Mr. Grump was boggled that I have so many needles!  It’s a good thing though.  Otherwise, I’d have to wait for reinforcements to arrive!

Broken needles galore

I still might finish the mitts before vacation ends, but I doubt it.  I fear that my needle issues are just beginning!

This year saw lots of changes at work.  The principal was replaced with an interim principal, and then a new principal was hired over the summer.  So I had three bosses in one year, and they were all very different from each other.  Fortunately, I worked well with each of them.  I have developed a good relationship with my new boss (i.e. she thinks I can do anything!), so life is good at work.

Mr. Grump’s work continued to be busy enough to require him to do some overtime.  He seems to be content, even when it means he has to go in to work on Sunday.  Unfortunately, work interfered with our holiday travel, but he didn’t have to work long hours over the holiday.  So life is good there.

Little Grump turned 16 this year.  While most kids would be chomping at the bit to start driving, she took driving lessons over the summer and then declared that she wasn’t ready for the responsibility of driving.  I’m not sure but the lesson where someone was driving in the wrong direction on the highway and heading towards her might have something to do with it.  Still, I have to respect her when she admits that she isn’t ready.  Most teens are so cocky that they can’t even conceive that anything can go wrong.  She knows better.   She’s not dating anyone right now.  Again, she sees things much more realistically than most teens.  She doesn’t feel like she has the time to devote to a real relationship.   She also doesn’t feel like she needs a boy to make her important.  We’re very proud that she is so independent!

So overall, life is good!  Yeah, we’ve had some bumps, but nothing that got us down for long.  We’re blessed by good friends, and while our family is far away, our hearts are always with them.

At the end of the year, I like to look back over photos that I’ve taken through the year.  Thanks to my new digital SLR, there are thousands.  Most of them are from school.  Many are of Little Grump.  Quite a few are of my knitting.

As I look at my completed projects for the year, I have to admit some amount of pride.  I’ve done some pretty big projects this year.  Equal Parts took me months to complete!  Several were pretty complicated and required concentration.  Many of my projects were baby gifts, and everyone who received those baby gifts were pleased with them.

Knitting Projects 2009

My favorite project of the year are the cabled ones… the Gretel hat and the baby Trellis sweater.  There was a time when I wouldn’t even have tried projects like them.  Now, I not only do them but like them enough to have others see them!

I’ve already got a list of projects a mile long lined up for 2010.  I also have four projects from this year to finish.  It will be interesting to see how many of them I actually do!

My first project was a pair of wristwarmers called “Alice’s Mitts”.  I haven’t seen the movie, but apparently the character Alice in the movie “New Moon”, wore a pair of stunning teal and tan wristwarmers.  Lots of Ravelry members have gone absolutely gaga over them!  Some members created patterns.  A couple members dyed yarns for their online stores.

Last year, I knitted “Bella’s Mittens” for my niece Emily, so this year, I decided to make a pair of Alice’s Mitts for my niece Jennifer.  (Next year, I’ll have to make something for my niece Kelsey!  I wonder if she likes the Twilight series too…)

So I ordered the yarn from Bristol County Dyeworks and printed off the pattern from Ravelry so that I could work on them on the way to Ohio.  (One year, I cranked out two scarves and a hat on the way to Ohio.  A pair of wristwarmers would be nothing to finish during the drive!)  The drive didn’t happen, so I spent the two days before Christmas working on them.

As projects go, this one was a cake-walk.  The only difficulty was that the original 30 stitch cast-on wasn’t enough given my tight knitting and the fact that the yarn was more a light-worsted than worsted.  I frogged and did it again with 35 stitches.

The wristwarmers are now done and fit fabulously like the ones from the movie.  And talk about soft!  If I ever need a non-scratchy merino, I’ll be looking to Bristol County Dyeworks again!

Alice's Mitts

Figuring out the next project wasn’t too difficult.  When Little Grump came in to the house the other day, I was pleased to see that she was still wearing the pretty pink Porum that I made for her several months back.  Then… The horror!  I noticed a hole in the hat!  I looked carefully and noticed that there wasn’t just one but FIVE holes in it!  It was also starting to pill pretty badly.

Sigh…  Oh well… At least she enjoyed it!  And she wore it quite a bit.  But no daughter of mine was going to run around in a holey hat!

For ages, I’d wanted to make Ysolda Teague’s Gretel hat.  It had so many cables that I knew that it would be a challenge.  I also knew that I didn’t want to do it unless I could really concentrate on it.

Thanks to the long holiday and a seemingly endless supply of college Bowl games, I knew that I’d have plenty of time to tackle the project.

I have to say that I’m really impressed with Isolda Teague’s patterns.  This isn’t the first one I’ve made, and like the Elijah pattern, the Gretel pattern was well laid out and contained all of the information needed to actually complete the project.

The only problem I had occurred when I was about 2/3 of the way through.  I noticed that I’d mis-crossed a cable about three rows down and nearly hyperventilated!   Little Grump looked at the error and said, “Well, I doubt anyone will notice!”  I would though.  So I took a few deep breaths, dug out an extra pair of DPNs, dropped the afflicted stitches down to the error, corrected it, and then nearly sprained my arm while patting myself on the back.  I was so excited!  I challenged Little Grump to find the correction, but she quickly brought me back to earth by saying, “But mom, I couldn’t find it the first time!  How can you expect me to find your correction?”

Anyway, I’ve finished Gretal now.  As I told my friend Wendy, knitting it was like running a marathon, but it was really fun.  Here’s a picture of it pre-blocking.

Gretel - Pre-blocked

Next up?  Something that is a little more mindless.  I’m thinking of another pair of mitts.  This pair will be done in the same yarn as Little Grump’s new hat.  Maybe I can finish them before vacation ends!

Things in the Grump household are especially busy this time of year.  When we’re not running off to an activity for Little Grump, I’m running off to one of mine.  I like to attend as many as the activities at my school as I can, because I get to take tons of pictures for the school web site and for the yearbook.   I really enjoy all of the craziness though.  It wouldn’t be the holiday season without so many concerts and parties!

I’ve been looking at the pictures I’ve taken this year with glee.  Mr. Grump bought a new telephoto lens for my spiffy digital SLR, so I’ve taken tons of pictures that the subjects aren’t even aware I’ve taken.  I have so many gorgeous close-up pictures of the school children!  All of them are totally candid, so I have caught some of them at times when they are at their most genuine.  I wish I can share them with the world, but alas… There’s that pesky confidentiality thing!  Anyway, I’m getting really excited about doing the yearbook this year!  (Remind me that I said that in March, when I’m killing myself to finish it in time!)

At home, I’ve been cooking up a storm.  I’m no Martha Stewart, but it seems my Buckeyes have become sort of an expected holiday treat at the school.  I’ll be taking some in on Friday to appease the folks who have been asking me when they’re going to make an appearance.  I also made Chex mix, puppy chow, peanut brittle (from my friend Rebecca), and chocolate covered pretzels.

In between all of that, I’m trying to finish up my Christmas knitting.  I don’t think I’m going to get everything done that I wanted to do.  Most of the items will wait until after Christmas, as the recipients are either very loving and patient or out of town.  However, I did want to complete two pair of fingerless gloves.

Tonight, I finished the first pair.

These gloves started out using a different pattern, but the pattern was so unbelievably poorly written that I frogged the original.  Then I tried the Maine Morning Mitts pattern as written.  I finished the first mitt up to the thumb and realized that there was no way they would work.  My tight knitting got me again, and they would have been too small and too short.

So I tried again with nine more stitches.  These fit me well, but I think it will fit the intended recipient perfectly.  Fortunately, the mitts are REALLY stretchy, so they will fit a wide range of sizes.

See my new mitten blockers?  Those were a gift to me from Lynne over at 7 Yaks.  Back when I was working on Bella’s Mitts, I wrote to her to ask her about mitten or gauntlet blockers.  She sells really awesome sock blockers that are clear and totally wonderful, and I thought that mitten blockers made out of the same material would be great to have.  She hasn’t even thought of such a thing, but she obviously found the idea compelling.  We exchanged a few emails over the course of the year, and then a month or so ago, I saw that she had finally released a version of them.  I was so excited that I ordered a pair right away!  Being the wonderful person that she is, she canceled my order and told me that she wanted to give me a pair for free for giving her what may turn into a profitable idea.

About a week later, I received not only one but TWO pair of mitten blockers.  One is shorter, perfect for mittens, and the other is gauntlet length.   They are fabulous!  The thumbs are removable so that they can be adjusted for different length hands.  I don’t know how she did it, but they’re perfectly sized for my hands.   I like them so much that I might actually purchase the next size smaller.  The other pair of mitten blockers that I need to make are going to be for a much smaller hand than mine, so I just might need them!