Entrelac

Cat Supervision

2009-02-02T04:05:00.002-06:00

Apparently, my cat has decidedthat my typing requires his personal supervision. He has taken to laying across my arms when I'm at my laptop, making typing an...interesting challenge. So please pardon any typos you see in this post. I'm not making them on purpose. Honest.

Knitting: I actually feel like I accomplished something since Christmas. I finished ... let's see ... two cowls, a crocheted shawl, a bumblebee surprise jacket...I think that's more FOs than in the entire past year all together. Wow. In progress, I have Mamash's Orenburg lace shawl, a worsted weight BSJ, and a darkside cowl for myself. The Cap shawl got frogged, I did some mah and realized I have less than 1300 yards and the pattern calls for 1700. Oops. So now i'm in the market for a good, unique shawl pattern that takes about 1250 yards. Faroese would be fabulous, 3/4 circle or square would be really nice too. I have one good prospect, but I can't find my copy of Big Girl Knits. Darnit.

Crochet: Mamash's pentagon shawl is moving slowly but surely. And I'm feeling the hankering to start some other crocheted project. I really ought to. One just isn't enough to keep my interest. Hm. I'll have to see what projects call to me.

Spinning: The Falkland on my lace spindle is still moving along slowly slowly but steadily. I have two full bobbins of wool that Robin dyed for me, and enough roving to fill a third. I'm planning on a true three-ply. It's my biggest endeavor to date.

Stitch markers: After sending out a newletter asking my customers if they like the photos I've been putting up (collages of 4 different shots of each marker) or if just one photo would suffice. Taking only one photo of each marker would sure save me a LOT of time. Well, after a few replies saying "One is fine!" that's what Iv'e started doing. And it's starting to show in the amount of inventory I have online now. And I have still more to assemble, so my work isn't nearly complete.

And now, feline domination of my computer is complete. Have to stop typing now. This is what I'm up against:

Thought I'd forgotten about you, huh?

2008-12-26T13:40:00.002-06:00

No, I don't have any good reasons for having gone so long without blogging. Call it plain and simple laziness or lack of motivation, it's true.

Knitting: Actually have some good progress to report here. Finished the Easter Bunny Barf Scarf, pictured above. It grew so much in the blocking (and I didn't block it harshly!) that I'm now calling it the Easter Bunny Barf STOLE. Ceci loves it, which is exactly what wanted. Win. :)

Crocheting: Also finally finished the Seraphina's shawl. Don't have any photos of it yet, though, 'cause it still needs to be washed and blocked, and then I'm giving it to my Abuelita for (belated) Christmas when Ceci and the monkeys and I go to visit everyone in the Valley the first week of January. If nothing else, I'll be sure to get photos of her wearing it.

Spinning: Progress here too. I moved another spindleful of Falkland singles off of ZoomZoom my laceweight spindle and am off again. Yes, this IS a long term project. I also finished spinning the Insubordiknits merino and plied it with Robin's logwood merino. Don't have any photos of it uploaded, though. Will get those soon. Also, plied together a skein of worsted/aran weight using my Kundert (as a bottom whorl) from one ply of Carolina Homespun and one ply of the neutral toned wool from Angelina that Susan from Yarnorama so kindly helped me card on her drum carder. I just...ahem... need to find the rest of the Carolina Homespun stuff so I can spin up more. Also finished a skein of Robin-painted merino that I plied with the 60 yds/gm superfine plying silk from Galina. Prettypretty stuff. Again, Susan from Yarnorama was helping me wind it off of my bobbin with her electric skein winder (yay no tennis elbow!) and it SNAPPED before the bobbin was empty. Even so, the one skein is easily over 1000 yards, and weighs less than 3 ounces. Go me!

Stitch Markers: Going swimmingly as usual. I'm going to see if I can't do a major stocking at Etsy this weekend, all of the pre-packed sets that didn't sell at the HCW Fiber Fest thing a couple of weekends ago. And, before the end of the year, I'm going to possibly change the way I present the items available in my online store, 'cause taking 4+ photos for EACH different marker I make is starting to kill me.

Whew. That's it for now.

International Crochet Day!

2008-09-13T02:57:00.002-05:00

Helen, thanks for asking about the pattern of the red and blue woobie. It's the Superhero Dreamcatcher Afghan, which I found through Ravelry.

Now, on to International Crochet Day! YAY!

I prepared for today, making sure I had only crochet projects with me. This is what I took with me to work along with a new ball of Jojoland Harmony:

I set out ALL of my hooks so I could see them all day long:

And of course, for the occasion, I tied up my hair a little bit differently.

I told everyone who asked about ICD (and a few who didn't ask ;) ) and I worked on each project at least a little. Here's how the projects looked before I left for the day:

All in all, for a Friday (and a workday), I had a lot of fun. :D I hope you had a good International Crochet Day too!

gasp! Finished Objects

2008-09-11T23:48:00.002-05:00

You okay? You didn't faint and fall down and hurt yourself, did you? I hope not. Anyway. I've actually managed to get a couple of things done, surprise surprise. Photos follow.

Crochet: I bought two skeins of Berroco Comfort DK just for the heck of it, to see how I felt about the yarn. Survey says... it's SERIOUSLY nice stuff. Here's what I made from the two skeins:

It's now a shop sample at Gauge, at least until some toddler latches onto it and won't let go. I can tell it's meant to be a woobie, and it's just waiting for the right kid.

Spinning: I FINALLY finished spinning up the burnished piece of the luxury sampler that the Redhead gave me in Estes Park. I wanted to maximize yardage, so I plied it with the plying silk I bought from Galina Khmeleva, also in Estes Park. Photos:

First, an in progress photo of the fiber on the spindle.

And now a photo of the finished yarn. Robin is going to set the twist on the yarn for me (I really need to learn to do it properly myself, but she's just so much better and faster at it than I am) and then send it up to the Redhead along with some other things.

And a yarn pr0n closeup...

No knitting stuff to report, but I DID add some new stitch markers to my online store. That's it from me for now.

The doldrums?

2008-09-04T01:41:00.002-05:00

Is it possible for the doldrums to be a human emotional state? Because if so, I am totally there. This sums up my feelings for the entire day: Bleh.

Knitting: Kind of taking a hiatus. Just not floating my boat at the moment.

Crocheting: Has taken over the spot at the top of my bag, maybe because I can acutally finish crocheted projects. In the past two weeks I've completed a baseball jersey looking shirt for Brent nephew-monkey out of Cotton Ease (the new stuff is MUCH nicer than the old), and I'm almost done with a little pointy pointless thing from 2 balls of Berroco Comfort. Seriously nice stuff, and the price tag on the DK weight is a breath of fresh air. I'll post a photo when it's done. Probably tomorrow.

Spinning: I (finally) finished spinning the Red Stone Yarns Burnished sample chunk into a cobweb/laceweight single. I'm plying it with my insane-o plying silk, and in the majority of what I've plied so far the Burnished is the SAME thickness as the plying silk. I honestly didn't expect that. The plying is slow going, though, 'cause hyper-fine singles mean massive yardage for 1/3 ounce or however much it is. All other spinning is creeping along, even the Insubordiknits I have set aside for Lenny and I thought would keep me going because it's so pretty.

Stitch markers: They're there. What else can I say? I'm still slacking on getting them all photographed and uploaded, though I DID manage to get a few added to the Etsy store.

I'll leave you with one last photo. Mary, I think this is proof that your housewarming gift for Crackie is a hit. :)

Momentous Event

2008-08-08T00:56:00.002-05:00

Please, come inside.

Please pardon that most everything is still in boxes...except Lenny and my yarn, of course.

Of course, the electronics are vital to existence, so they're set up and running already, though not in their final 'homes'.

My actual desk is over here on this other wall...and covered with STUFF and boxes right now.

Wondering why you haven't seen a bed yet? That's because it's over here. Yes, inside the CLOSET. Hey, it fits, so why not?

The chest of drawers will also fit in there, so it's essentially a tiny bedroom, with my actual 'room' becoming a sitting room of sorts. I really like this idea. Oh, and here's another bonus: I have my own (private) bathroom.

I really like the googley-eyed fishies on the curtain.

Oh, and Crackbaby? He made himself right at home REALLY fast.

See how at home he already appears to be? This makes me very happy.

Okay, enough photo-spam from me. I promise once this weekend is over and I'm done moving my stuff over I'll sit down and write out a nice, long, WORDY post. I'm sure you're ALL just waiting with bated breath for that one, huh? (not.) :D

Estes Park

2008-06-18T22:15:00.003-05:00

There is too much to relate quickly, and I'm just not mentally with-it enough to type out a major long post. So, I'll sum up. (And add photos later. Bad Gallery. No cookie.)

Trip to Estes: fast, effortless. Bradshaw Cottages yet again wonderful beyond wonderful.

Thursday: Altitude sickness sucks. Galina Khmeleva is really fricking awesome. Chendra (aka TheRedHead) is also really fricking awesome. Connie is a total sweetheart.

Friday: Orenburg lace techniques are mind-blowing. Chendra is worse than awesome, she's an evil enabler!

Saturday: Wool Market is crazy-fun-hectic. Many people are really fricking awesome, the fleece Robin picked out to buy wins THREE ribbons in judging, and Chendra is the most evil of all evil enablers. I bought a spinning wheel because of her. But Galina said I should continue spindle spinning, 'cause it's "good".

Sunday: Slept late. Blissful. Robin and I drive up the mountain to see what there is to see, and knit at 12,000 feet. Then we crawl back down saying 'owie headache'. Went back to wool market to pick up Robin's judged yarn and shawl, spend the rest of my life savings, and get one more hug from Galina.

Monday: (happy birthday me!) Wake up painfully early, get back to airport, eat birthday chocolate cookie in airport, fly home with goofy funny flight attendant guy, slug about at Dad and Mamash's ('cause I forgot to bring a house key) until Ceci picks me up after work.

Tuesday: Dying of the plague. *sniffle* Colds suck.

FO: Revontuli

2008-05-30T03:27:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it? One month I'm taunting you with yarn photos, and the next month I actually have a finished object! Okay, I'll wait for you to wake up from that faint...

Look look!

Now, bear in mind I took that in the middle of the night less than five minutes after I finished binding off and weaving in the ends. It WILL be blocked (Robin the Great has offered her blocking space as I don't have a blocking space), and then there will be final finished prettypretty FO photos! But until then it's been going with me to work and back every day right alongside the cashmere/wool shawl that Robin knitted for me, and the two of them together are super mega yummy warm and comfy for when the A/C at work is set to super subarctic. Which is all the time now that the weather outside has the audacity to hit 90 degrees F.

In other knitting: The easter bunny barf scarf is moving along swimmingly, the yarn ball is noticably smaller almost every day. Oblique is even starting to show signs of progress -- I attached the second ball of yarn just the other day. Bad news: after knitting two rows with the new ball my fingers had the faintest blue tinge. Could be...interesting. And last but not least, I'm part of the Slow Bee Mystery Shawl Knitalong, and am true to the KAL's name, slower than sludge. Here's what I have so far, less than half way into clue #1. Keep in mind that this week the hostess releases clue number FOUR. Le sigh. Oh well, I wasn't planning on trying to win any speed races with this one anyway.

Crocheting: Hm. Kinda not really doing anything in this field right now, but I'm watching a thread on the Crochet Liberation Front in Ravelry, where there's the possibility of a mystery lace shawl crochet along. Yeah, I'm getting into those. I have no illusions that I'd keep up with a crochet mystery any better than I do a knit one. But it'll still be fun.

Spinning: Still almost no progress as I still don't have a wheel. I'm still up in the air about getting a new place to live, and I can't really justify a $600 purchase until I decide one way or the other once and for all, you know?

Stitch Markers: Just keep swimming... I added some new stuff a week or so ago, and I think when/if I get the time and wherewithal this coming weekend, I'll add some more to both stores. We'll see. Here's a peek at what's in the store now:

Other news: I very much WILL be at the Knitting Nest this Saturday for Franklin Habit's 1000 Knitters photo thing, and I plan to be there by the time they open their doors and I plan to stay until they kick me out. Okay, that's pretty ambitious as it'd mean being up, showered, dressed, and out the door at least an HOUR earlier than I do for work, but hey, this is a once in a lifetime thing. I think it's worth losing even more sleep than usual.

Okay, enough blather for tonight.

Sad moment: Destashing

2008-04-28T00:07:00.003-05:00

I never thought I'd have to do this (and considering I have 15+ year old yarn in my stash, I was doing pretty well there for a while), but times are bad, money is tight, and I don't really have many other options. And before you think I'm doing this just because, Ceci's going through her stash as well. I'll be posting on Knittyboard and on Ravelry offering the items to sell. Click on each photo to see the details in my Gallery.

Of course, I'm not expecting much, but anything will help. Thanks.

And now, to TAUNT you..

2008-04-08T18:14:00.002-05:00

Jealous yet?

The yarn was custom handspun for me by Robincat and is a merino/silk blend that was custom dyed for me by Dragon Fibers. And what am I doing with this yummy stuff?

I'm knitting Revontuli -huivi shawl with it to wear in Estes Park this coming June. Wish me luck with finishing it in time!

How gorgeous is this?

2008-04-01T20:57:00.003-05:00

EEE! I LOVE IT! My wonderful customer Gill sent me a photo of some recently purchased stitch markers in action -- it looks like a professional protrait, doesn't it? I'm going to set it as my computer wallpaper RIGHT NOW! :D

(And, uh, give y'all a more informative post later. Promise.)

Ravelry Meetup: Sunday March 16, 2008

2008-03-12T16:38:00.002-05:00

The Knitting Nest in Austin is having its second Ravelry Meet-Up this coming Sunday, March 16. Why am I mentioning this? Because Stacy, the owner of the Knitting Nest, asked me to be there as a vendor! So if you're gonna be wandering around South Austin this weekend, drop on by and say hello! (And, um, to laugh at me while I fumble about trying to learn this vendor stuff on the fly. Hm, I wonder if the people here at work would loan me a POS program to use while I'm there.... Kidding! Or maybe I'm not...the thought of having to keep a reciept book is daunting!)

Another thing to woohoo about: Spindlecat Studios agreed to send me some of HER gorgeous markers to offer at the Ravelry Meet-up alongside mine! YAY! We love Spindlecat! Her markers are so gorgeous, I'm considering buying some for myself and making earrings and necklace from them. :) And Ceci has already said she'd love them for earrings too.

And last but not least (by NO means least), Robin is ALSO going to be at the Meet-up as a vendor! YAY!! She's gonna be there with her super mega yummy handspun yarns to sell, as well as demonstrating spinning on a spinning wheel -- and she's borrowed my Ashford Joy to demo with (her gorgeous Kromski Symphony production wheel gets carsick easily so is staying home). So come say hi, and marvel at how scary FAST she is at spinning even on what she calls a "slow" wheel. (Which, when compared to her Symphony is true. My little Joy is like a moped, and her wheel is a Jaguar.)

Hope to see you there. Y'all come down now, hear? :D

Easter Bunny Barf Scarf

2008-02-16T14:36:00.004-06:00

Silly name, sillier scarf. The colors make most people cringe, but I have to admit I'm really enjoying knitting it. The pattern is easy without being mindless -- perfect for knitting on while I'm at work. Putting it in my carry-everywhere bag has really helped to keep it moving, as it's always right there for me to pick up and work on when I'm waiting at the post office or whatever.

That was taken on January 30, and it's already grown another few inches since then. One of my fastest knits to date. Pathetic, huh?

Other knitting: Pretty much everything else is stalled, though I did break into the ELECTRIC blue Malabrigo I bought for Oblique because I simply HAD to swatch the stuff. Verdict? I had every size but the one I needed in my Harmony set. Of course.

Crochet: I'm still SLOWLY working on my design submission for the CLF book. I really don't think I'm going to get it in time because I can only work on a row or two of the prototype before my hand starts to ache. And I can't send it off to a test crocheter until I have at least the baseline pattern written out. Phooey. I need bionic hands/wrists.

Spinning: A whole lot of not much. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Stitch markers: Still steadily rolling along. I have WAY more stitch markers finished than I have photos, and that's what's killing me right now -- lack of photos because of lack of secure, uninterrupted time and space to take the photos. Soon, I hope. Soon.

More later.

Article repost: Do you have Twisted Stitches?

2008-01-23T15:42:00.001-06:00

This is an article I wrote back in 2004 for the Knittyboard, reposting it here for posterity and for folks on Ravelry. I've made all photos clickable so larger versions of the images are available.

Twisted stitches. Sounds like a really campy rock band from the 80s, doesn't it? Or maybe what happens when you accidentally throw a hand-wash garment into the washing machine? Actually, what I'm talking about happens WHILE knitting.

Have you noticed that when you try to knit a square, it ends up looking like a parallelogram? (one of these: / / ) Do your stitches all lean to one side or the other, as if they're looking at a Picasso, or maybe were inspired by the leaning tower of Pisa? When you make a garment and sew it up, do the side seams spin around to the center front and back of the garment? Do your scarves coil up like stretched phone cords?

Guess what? It's possible that your stitches are twisted. This may be something some newer knitters haven't ever even heard about, but I'm going to try to explain it as best I can here so everyone knows what to look for. Finding twisted stitches and correcting them is actually pretty easy, especially before you become very comfortable with the way you hold your needles, wrap the yarn, and all that good stuff. It's always easier to build good habits now than break bad ones later, yes? And then once you've gotten all comfortable with knitting stockingette and not twisting stitches, you'll find that there ARE uses for them later on, such as to make visual effects, to help maintain fabric structure (as in Knitty's Clapotis), or to intentionally get that parallelogram shape that used to be the bane of your knitting. But first you need to know how to tell twisted stitches apart, right?

Okay, here comes the pictorial portion of my yippy fun little lecture here.

First, I have a swatch that has both untwisted and twisted stitches in it. The top part has every stitch twisted. It's kinda difficult to tell from so small a piece, but if you're sharp-eyed, the top section is leaning to the right.

Now, closeups. The first is the untwisted section. I used Photoshop to draw in a pink line following the trail of the yarn through the fabric. You'll note, they look like a series of interlocking horseshoes pointing alternately up and down, and never cross over each other.

Now, the twisted section. In this much closer look, you can almost see where the yarn crosses over itself at the base of each 'V'. The pink line follows the 'loop-de-loop' path of the yarn.

So, what the heck does that mean? And what do I do about it? The best way to stop twisting stitches is to recognize what a stitch should look like, and thus know when it looks wrong. I hope my photos convey this well enough. I added text to them while cleaning up the photos, so the next section will have less chattiness unless I feel something needs to be better clarified. These are, of course, based on the way that I knit -- needles held like knives, yarn in right hand, wrapping yarn counterclockwise for all stitches. Since -- as so many of us have said on this board -- the way each person knits is a matter of personal preference, I tried to avoid making a primer of my method of knitting.

To knit, put the needle through the stitch so the right leg is to the right and the left leg is to the left, essentially through the opening of the horseshoe. I know most people say front leg or back leg, but that can be misleading in this case.

I know I said I wasn't going to illustrate how I knit, I added this only to emphasize that however you wrap your yarn, make sure to be consistent.

If you twist a stitch, you'll notice that the legs of the stitch being worked into don't stay on their own sides, they cross each other kind of a like looking at a corkscrew from an angle.

A completed twisted stitch shows the crossed legs at the bottom of the 'V' and the tendency to lean even when all the other stitches around it aren't.

Now, on to studying stitch structure from the purl side.

Another view of the horseshoe shape of an untwisted stitch.

And yet another view.

Wrapping my yarn again. If you find that your stitch is sitting on the needle so that purling is really difficult, try wrapping your yarn a different direction on your next knit row.

Another needle-on view of an untwisted stitch, this time a purl one.

There's that horseshoe shape again, purl side, off the needles.

Here's a stitch about to be purled that is prone to being twsted.

Purling that stitch. The pink line shows that the yarn is crossing from the left under the needles to the right. Uh oh.

The purled twisted stitch is harder to see, but following the pink line shows that the yarn path is indeed a 'loop-de-loop'.

I hope all of these photos help clarify how to tell if a stitch is twisted or not. If not, feel free to pester me some more. Maybe I can somehow make a little movie to show the stitches. (Written June 27, 2004...edited Sept 22, 2005 to ensure photos are viewable...reformatted Jan 23, 2007 for blog.)

Holy needleburn, Batman!

2008-01-07T21:07:00.000-06:00

I've been knitting!

The Autumn shawl is bound off and just needs to be washed/blocked/ends woven in. I'm going to ask Robin to borrow her blocking space.

The pink and blue scarf has officially hit the final edging. I'm a little more than halfway through the first repeat of the final edging, and it's going fast. I can still remember the edging pattern, so that's helped a lot. No stopping to look at the chart on every row.

The winner of the now-vacant spot in my everywhere bag is....the Easter Bunny Barf Scarf! It's another easy and hopefully mindless knit, so maybe I can crank it out in a reasonable span of time also. And, yes, I broke down and started knitting the Lorna's Laces spider web half hexagon.

Anyway, that's all I have to talk about right now. Photos eventually.

Just stuff

2007-12-30T13:23:00.000-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. Falling back into old habits of never posting. Y'all are probably used to it by now. Again, no photos, sorry.

Update on Bruiser: I got an email back from Sheila Bosworth saying that they would do their best to repair him. I know they'll send him back as good as new, even if he does have a scar to remind me to be more careful. I'm okay with that.

Spinning: A whole lot of not much. Big surprise there. Don't expect much change in that regard.

Crocheting: Seraphina's shawl is on hold for now, my last crochet bout left my hand hurting and I did not like that. I might pick it back up in the next week or two, we'll see.

Knitting: The pink and blue cashmere scarf is still plugging along. I THOUGHT I'd reached the point where I needed to knit the ending border, but when I finished two repeats of the border, I realized I still had CHINGOS (that means a lot) of yarn left. So I did some slow and sloppy yarn measuring (which means I frogged the edging, doubled the amount it took to knit what I did, then marked that spot in the yarn by slip-knotting it around an omega) and am back to knitting the body of the scarf. I have, so far, knitted an additional EIGHTEEN inches into the body of the scarf. Was I way the heck off or what? I'm still so far away from that omega in my yarn that I can't even see it yet in the teeny little ball of yarn still to be used. It boggles my mind. But, this isn't complaining. Really. It means I simply have THAT much more cashmere to enjoy knitting. Yum. :) The autumn scarf is actually very close to being finished, and then I'm going to borrow time in the knitwear blocking space in Robin's house ('cause there sure as heck ain't any safe place in my house) and then... *fanfare* it's done! Some other things in my UFO list are starting to surface, vying to be put back into my carry everywhere bag so they can get worked on some more, but I'm trying to decide which ones will make the cut. Also, as my Christmas gift to myself (because I was at work with nothing else worthwhile to do), I wound the hank of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace yarn that bestest knitting buddy Renee gave me before she moved to Dallas. And I have to say, I didn't think this was possible but the yarn is prettier in a cake than it was in the hank. Scary, huh? I've been itching to start knitting it right away, but I'm sticking to my guns. I will NOT start it until I have finished at least ONE lace project I already have on my needles.

FOs: *gasp* I actually have one! Though really, it's kinda silly. An acquaintenance of mine (and avid kite flyer) finally explained to me (the kite noob) why I can't get my 10-year old diamond kite to do anything more than crash over and over. It needs a tail. And not just ANY tail. He said it's got to be at least TWELVE feet long. More like 20 is better. ACK. Well, I could to buy one...but where's the fun in that? So I knitted one. I broke out the royal blue funfur that Kate gave me as a gift a few years back (thank you, Kate! :) ) and cranked out a precisely 12 foot long by 1 inch wide kite tail. Photos when I get it attached to the kite and in the air.

Stitch markers: Apparently the end-of-year buying frenzy is in full swing. Either that, or a lot of people got money for Christmas. No kidding, I have had no LESS than four orders every DAY this past week. And I am NOT complaining. It's awesome, especially seeing the international orders I've received. It almost makes me want to find a way to have an online map with little pushpin things on it to show where my customers are located. Almost. (It would require effort, and as I always freely admit, I'm lazy.)

Okay, and with all of that blather, I'm gonna go shower so I can spend at least a LITTLE time at Gauge today.

Update on Bruiser the Broken

2007-12-07T13:26:00.000-06:00

I emailed Sheila Bosworth lamenting my loss, and she once again proved to be one of the most awesomest people in existence. She asked me to return Bruiser to her with the broken bits, and she and Jonathan would see what they could do for me. I'm fully prepared to pay for them to replace the whorl altogether, but if they're able to salvage the current one somehow, I'll be even happier.

Guys, if you're looking for a GOOD drop spindle that'll last a lifetime (sans being mistread by a moron like me), definitely give the Bosworths a look-see.

May I cry now?

2007-12-06T13:16:00.000-06:00

This is how geeky I am.

2007-11-25T15:18:00.000-06:00

I am posting this from Gauge Knits RIGHT NOW. Heh.

By gosh, I think I got it!

2007-11-21T21:03:00.000-06:00

With the help of a really nice coworker, I think I finally have permalinks set up on my blog. YAY! There will still be some tweaking to do, I think, to make the title a little more visible and other fancy crap. But hey, it's working. I'm happy.

Actual content later.

Crochet gauge, a tutorial

2007-10-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

There was a question from a new crocheter on the Knittyboard asking about how one measures the gauge on their crocheted fabric. And in searching about, it occurred to me there there wasn't a tutorial anywhere I could find with good, clear, close up pictures. So, I broke out my faithful Canon with its spiffy new lens to get photos of several crocheted swatches. NOTE: I use American crochet terminology. I don't know the names for these stitches in the UK terminology or I'd add them here. Sorry about that.

* Every photo in this tutorial is a clickable link to a gigantic version of the image so you can get a REALLY close look....but only if you really really want to.

Measuring gauge on single crochet:

Here is a swatch of all single crochets. The fabric is pretty well uniform and it's difficult to tell one row from the next by the way it lays. But if I take a closer look, I can see the individual stitches, which helps me determine where to set my ruler for measuring. At first glance, the crocheted fabric looks like a bunch of tiny sideways bowties, but as I look closer still I can see that the 'center' of each bowtie is the distinctive bar across the back side of each single crochet stitch. The front sides of the single crochets have a distinct lean to them, as if they're stretching to their right. The back sides of the single crochets remind me of teeny tiny greek Pi symbols, or maybe little Spinal Tap Stonehenge shapes. Knowing that, the Vs of the 'front' side of each single crochet suddenly reveals itself, standing on top of each back bar of the stitch below it. (Hee, pardon the difference in photo quality there. I realized AS I WAS TYPING THIS that I'd photographed my single crochet swatch UPSIDE DOWN. Duh. So if I ever try to proclaim myself flawless, please swat me upside the head and point me back here. Thanks.) I lined up my ruler with the left edge of one stitch, and now I can count how many stitches are in 2 inches (as per this sample image. The 4 inch images were too far away for the stitch definition to be clear.) I count about 7 and 1/2 single crochet stitches in 2 inches.

Now, for row gauge it's pretty much the same thing, except that you line the ruler up with a vertical column of stitches -- the horizontal bars from the back sides of the single crochet stitches are very useful here. Counting on my image, I see about 9 and a little more rows for 2 inches. The nice thing is, if your gauge is really really tiny and you can't quite tell where the individual rows are, you can count the lines that are visible above each front side row.

Measuring on half-double crochet:

Here is a swatch of all half-double crochets. First things first, why the heck is this poor stitch carrying around an oxymoron for a name? Well, when making this stitch, you start it off like a double crochet but then finish it like a single crochet. Hence, it's only half of a double crochet. Couldn't we call it a super-single? Hm, no. A single plus? Now that sounds like it should be a real stitch for real women with real curves. Heh. I guess I'll just go with it and move on. ;) Taking a closer look at the swatch, the telltale pillar effect of taller crochet stitches is starting to become apparent, but this stitch still tries to be like its short single crochet cousin. It's got that pretty diagonal swirly effect going on on the front side of the stitch that is reminding me of Hebrew characters the more I look at it, and a little post holding up a horizontal swirly shape for the back side of the stitch. More Hebrew? I'm liking this poor misnamed little stitch more and more. It's got a uniqueness to it. Anyway, back to measuring. On this image, I count the tiniest smidge less than 8 stitches per 2 inches.

Again, now we have row gauge. Thsi one isn't quite as easy to line up vertically, but really, as long as your ruler isn't all crooked on the fabric it should be okay. Again, if your stitches are way teeny tiny, you've got horizontal visual cues to make it easier. This time, it's the pretty swirly effect from the back sides of the stitches. On my image here, I see that my row gauge is a teeny bit more than 6 rows for two inches. Man, what's up with my gauge measurements all being a teeny bit more or less than whole numbers? Hmph. Oh well. This IS just for display purposes. ;)

Measuring gauge on double crochet:

Hey, now this is really starting to resemble what everyone thinks of as crochet. You've got wide rows of very pillar-like stitches, but they still have that distinct horizontal bar across the tops of their back sides like single crochets do. So they're still related. Cool, huh? And, more so than the singles or half-doubles, the lean in the stitches is visible on both the right sides and wrong sides, so you get this faintly zig-zaggy effect going on.

Looking closer, the pillar appearance of the double crochets is apparent, and there's a bit of a visible gap between each one. The front sides still have that tendency to lean to their right, and the back sides have two layers of vertical lines and two horizontal lines, one more prominent than the other. The gaps that are now much easier to see make counting the individual stitches easy. In that image, I count a little less than eight stitches for 2 inches.

Back to row gauge. Since the double crochet stitches are so easy to distinguish, measuring row gauge is as easy as measuring stitch gauge. Like the half double crochets, you really only need to make sure that your ruler isn't set against the fabric crooked and then you count the pillars. In this image, I see about 4 and 1/4th rows per 2 inches.

All subsequent taller stitches than the double crochet are measured in exactly the same way, though it's not common to see pieces of fabric made entirely of anything taller than a double crochet. I guess the gaps are just too big at that point.

Measuring gauge over a pattern stitch:

Sometimes a knitting pattern will ask you to measure gauge over a specific pattern stitch and not plain single or double crochet. In that case, it's easier to make a swatch with the number of stitches they want for the gauge (example: 20 stitches = 4 inches) or as close as you can get without using less than that number. (example: 1 repeat of the pattern stitch is 11 stitches, so 2 repeats would be 22. 20 would mean having to fudge the pattern stitch to make it fit, and that's a can of worms for another day.)

Let's say that the above pattern wanted a gauge measured in pattern stitch. You've made your swatch, now lay your ruler on it and estimate the gauge as best you can. Some patterns make it easy to count stitches and rows, some don't. This example is one of the 'not cooperative' patterns as it has stuff leaning different directions and different numbers of stitches in every row. Give it your best shot, and if all else fails, you can start your project and measure the total size after an inch or two to compare against the pattern's given dimensions.

I hope this helps you with determining gauge on your crocheted fabrics. And if not, let me know. I'll see what I can else I can do. :)

2007-09-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, now I KNOW the world is going to end. I'm posting for Yarn Porn Friday....AND Ceci is posting about a finished knitting project. Anyway, without further ado, photos.

Yarn: Zen String Esquire, 100% British merino roving, hand spun to (hopefully) worsted weight.
I've not set the twist or measured the yardage/WPI/etc yet, so no details. Just pictures.

And that's it. No blather. Just photos.

2007-09-25T01:07:00.001-05:00

Photos? faints

Knitting: Some projects have been moving faster than others.

This is a scarf I'm working on from Victorian Lace Today, using some really pretty pink/blue cashmere yarn sent to me by Gundel. This one's shown the most progress in the past week, the 'body' of the scarf having doubled in length. I'm going to keep working on it, I might even finish it before 2010!

This snazzy little number -- well, not so little anymore -- is my Jaywalker Stole, thus named because I pulled the chevron design from the sock pattern and am using it to make this stole. I'm about halfway through skein 4 of 5, with most of skein 4's progress having been knitted during the Sunday afternoon knitting group. It just grows really fast when I actually work on it. Sadly, it's at the point in size where it's no longer easy to carry. Which, coincidentally, makes it even better to work on at work. ;)

Here is how LITTLE progress I've made on Serrano. Told you. And a closeup photo of the Autumn colored shawlette thing, to show how prettily the colors are starting to fall. Mary, for an "oops" skein, this thing's PRETTY. :)

Spinning: I have only one thing to show off for now, but it's a pretty one. :)

These three pretty pictures are from the (hopefully) laceweight handspun I've been working on everywhere (including the Def Leppard concert). I just love the way the colors stacked on each other against the cutouts in the whorl of my superlight super fast spindle. It makes me happy. Angelina asked me to spin up some handpainted yarn for her at a worsted weight, and for once I took her up on that. She gave me the roving to spin, and some more roving as payment (woohoo!). I'll have photos of that soon. I've already finished spinning the singles for the first batch. Went much faster than I'd expected.

Stitch markers: I'm working on photoediting as much as time and motivation allows. I hope to have lots of new stuff appearing by the beginning of October. And maybe I'll finaly develop a system so I don't end up having to edit 200 photos in one sitting again. Pfeh.

Okay, until later. I gotta get some sleep now.

2007-09-17T23:32:00.000-05:00

Cover your ears if you're sensitive to loud noises...

SQUEEEE!!!

Okay, I'm done now. Here's what I mean, though, I mean LOOK at this!!

And more photos here, all clickable thumbnails:

Can we say HOLY CRAP!? Y'all, I can't say enough good stuff about this Etsy seller! Go look at her store! Quick like a bunny! Eeee! :D

2007-09-15T14:38:00.000-05:00

Yup, my monthly blogpost. I'm not even going to try and say that I'll be posting more often. Either I will or I won't. We'll see. Anyway. I was hoping to have photos galore of everything for y'all, but I can't remember where I left my CF card reader for my camera, so either I retake photos of everything with my phone (phooey) or I make y'all wait longer. I'm opting for the latter, because I'm one of the pickiest people about photos and I'd feel bad subjecting y'all to subpar images when I HAVE better already waiting. Oh well.

Knitting: The monster Jaywalker stole is now on ball 4 of 5...is that...*gasp!* progress?? Heavens no, that can't be true. I don't ever finish anything. ;) The lace scarves and things are also all showing small signs of progress, but it's Serrano that's languishing the most. It's those 300+ stitch rows. They're killers, and I hate putting it down in the middle of a row because my chances of messing it up go WAY up when I do.

Spinning: Again, wheel is packed away in its bag, for the next time I feel like spending a sleepless night. My wonderful little Woolly Designs super light wonder-spindle, however, has been a busy little bug. I'm spinning some rainbow DragonFibers majorly soft roving on it, and it's gone with me everywhere -- including the Def Leppard concert. But more on that later.

Stitch markers: I've been slacking on this front, shame on me. I have no good excuses, either. I have my laptop, I have photos of most everything. Note to self: get those darned photos cleaned up already. Okay.

Other: Ceci said I have photos of the Def Leppard concert. And I do. Click on the image here to go to the album where they're all stored. DISCLAIMER: I took these with my phone because I knew that there was NO way I'd get my DSLR with its telephoto lens past security. I didn't even try. And in case you're wondering why I took so many...well, both of my friends Renee and Deana couldn't go and both of them were really bummed about it. So I took as many pictures as I could so they could at least see a bit of the concert themselves. :) D and R, missed you guys there, it wasn't the same. Next time!