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January 26, 2006

When it rains, it pours (in through the ceiling)

Well I had planned to have freshly dyed yarn to show, colored using my new dying pot, but it seemed the pot was destined for other purposes. That purpose namely being holding the rain water coming in through our apartment's bubbled out ceiling. With more rain a possibility in the near future (the first real rain we've had in months coincidently) it seems the dyefest will have to be on hold. Or at least until the contractor finally gets out here.

So, I cast on for Teva Durham's Lace Leaf Pullover after completing my self-promise to finish a deadline knit first. I'm using KnitPicks Sierra in Bud, which is a bit brighter and less limey than the sample photo but still a nice obnoxious color I like.

and so it starts...
I've seen several people in the blogsphere looking to substitute yarn for this pattern. Especially as the yarn called for is rather difficult to find. Sierra is very close to the required gauge but not quite there. I'm knitting this on size 11's and getting 3.25 per inch vs. the 2.5 called for in the pattern. So yep, here's where that dreaded math comes in, but not to fear- it really is quite easy. The painless formula to recalculate an entire pattern is just Your Gauge/Pattern Gauge = Stitch Ratio. Then you simply take your stitch ration and multiply it against all the numbers in your pattern. You can now knit from the pattern as you usually would. See? nothing beyond the 3rd grade.

So, in practice-
3.25 (my swatch gauge) /2.5 (pattern gauge) = 1.3

If the pattern calls for casting on 96 stitches. We simply take 96 * 1.3 = 125 (you will need to do some rounding up or down). So I cast on 125 stitches and continue with the pattern.

You do this each time you come to a number. If there are a lot of broken up sections (such as 6 sts for front shoulder, 7 for back shoulder, 23 for back of neck, etc) in one round be sure after you multiply each number and round up or down as needed you double check your total against the pattern total.
For this pattern, there's also the lace panel sections to take into consideration. For example, the leaf design is 15 sts wide. I can't apply my 1.3 ratio directly to this section as this would distort the lace. However, I still need to calculate 15 * 1.3 = 19.5 (round to 20). Now I need to know the difference in stitch number from this section than the original. A simple 20 - 15 = 5 shows that 5 sts need to be added in. So I will distribute these 5 evenly around on the other sides of the lace insert. Now I have an accurate total!

January 17, 2006

Recycling

My ball winder and I are now best friends...

From this...
to this!
The Leaning Tower of Wool

The first of my thrift store find sweaters. This 100% wool is a very slubby and rather delicate 2-ply. It definitely was not the easiest sweater to rip because of this, but was still quite successful. I figure now the others will be a breeze comparatively. My yardage estimate (by weight) is 1000 yds and change. This is the yarn I plan on dying with some green Wiltons icing dye I have on hand. I haven't swatched with it yet, but I'm thinking a Celtic cabled hand bag.

Also requested to join the ReKAL over at http://rekal.zibibboisgood.com/ Great list of tutorials over there too.

January 11, 2006

In progress

Well no new FO yet, so here are some working shots. First is a scarf of my design in the gorgeous Elsebeth Lavold Chunky Al in moss. I love this color, the photo isn't quite right. The true color is a bit deeper. It's really the first yarn that just jumped off the shelf at me. Second pic is a "sneak peak" of version 2 of my design for Knitty, which if all goes well will be in the Spring issue. *crossing fingers* I had originally submitted it for Winter and it's being held on to so we'll see.

Also just cleared out the local thrift store of wool sweaters- bring on the recycled yarn! This is a little more exciting if one lives in the south (like Texas) as 100% wool sweaters are a bit hard to come by. This is the first successful trip I've had. I have some green icing/food paste dye I'm eager to try out on a light tan heathered sweater yarn. I'm hoping it will produce a nice forest/army green since I'm starting with a darker base color than white. If all goes well, next I'm going to try dying self-stripping sock yarn.

January 09, 2006

Learn something new

Click for tutorial
Make some bobbles! Check out the new tutorial over here. Same stitch used in the Cherry Pie pattern.

Also checked out from the library this book - The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt. A tome of a knitting book at 571 pages, but what a great reference. I've found so many new and useful things in this, albeit somewhat dry, book. So I go on over to amazon.com to look it up. Yeah, seems others have discovered it's usefulness too- the out of print copies are selling for $200-$300+. I think I'll stick with renting the library copy...

January 01, 2006

I got a new toy!

Yeay! no more winding by hand! I hated that. Xmas was very good to me in the knitting department. Several new books, notions, and gift cards (which has already secured more yarn) - my peeps rock.

I <3 my ball winder!

Below you can see 1 wound 220 yd skein of the Bartlett Fisherman I had mentioned previously. When I said these were huge skeins I wasn't kidding, it almost didn't fit on the ball winder. Move your mouse over the image to get a perspective.

stick some candles in that fat yarn cake
^Roll over me


Have a Happy New Year everyone and stay tuned for a new free pattern!