Elemental Stitches

Blackrose Socks

A year ago I didn't really understand the hullabaloo about knitting socks.  I would read Yarn Harlot's hilarious and passionate posts about her sock addiction puzzled as to why socks were so great.  They are socks people.  No one even looks at your feet anyway. 

Then I made the Sea Clover Socks and the Blackrose Socks.  Now I understand.  Its not the utilitarian construction of socks that is addicting.  It's creating a work of art.  It's the small portable size, the teenie tiny stitches, the intricate designs that are just enough to exercise my brain, but not enough to overwhelm.

Blackrose (my ravelry) is a beautiful and simple pattern.  A panel of 17 lace stitches cascades down the side of each sock with everything else in stockinette.  It's is the perfect compromise between "mindless knitting" and "you better fricken pay attention knitting".

With a few pairs of socks under my belt I only have one question. 

How do you all keep your gauge consistent when working on a long project?

My socks are always slightly off with one larger then the other.  I know my mood makes a difference in my gauge.  Stress knitting = tight stitches.  Bedtime knitting or relaxed knitting = loose stitches.  Is it because I don't block my socks?  I don't have a sock blocker so I haven't bothered to do it.  I've read that knitting two at a time solves this problem, but I haven't learned how to do that yet.  Is it hard to learn 2 at a time on your own or should I find some kind soul to show me?

Thinking of Autumn Hat

I started knitting my Thinking of Autumn Hat in August, when it was still occasionally 95 degrees, the wind had just barely begun to blow and not a leaf had yet fallen.  Still thinking and dreaming of Autumn.  Of pears, leaves, wool, and rain. 

Last week I finished this hat out of necessity.  Our first rainstorm came and went dumping an inch of rain.  The wind blows right through my favorite late summer cardigan freezing me to the bones while I watch hundreds of golden and red leaves fly through the air.  I went searching for my bag of hats, scarves and mittens, but the bag is MIA.  It is, I am sure, in some stuffed closet, on the bottom in the back where I wont find it until Spring Cleaning.   So now this is the only hat I've got until I find the bag or knit more hats.  Hmm, I wonder which will happen first... 

This pattern is I heart pompoms by Karen Borrel (blog, ravelry).  I used Plymouth Yarn Worsted Merino Superwash in green.  Its more of an army fatigue green then a true green.  The yarn is great to knit with.  Very smooth and flows easily on bamboo needles.  I wasn't sure I would be able to finish the whole hat with one ball, but I ended up with just enough to finish the hat, the chain and one pom pom.

The pattern was very simple and easy to understand.  I picked it because it is a simple repeat that is kind of monotonous and meditative without being dreadfully boring and tedious like 8 inches of stockinette.  I also love the way the hat is drawn together on top with a drawstring.  The holes are made with a yarn over, k2tog sequence so its not too advanced and the effect is really unique.  I haven't tried this, but I noticed that you might be able to wear it as a cowl if you untied the drawstring and opened up the top.  Just a thought! 

I have no idea what to knit next.  I think I might go for a pair of fingerless mitts.  As I am typing this my fingers are feeling stiff and achy from the cold air.  I love that fingerless mitts keep my hands warm without forcing me to sacrifice any dexterity in my fingers. 

My mom tried hers on a blind friend and he was in love (with the gloves, not my mom)!  He says that it is very important for the blind to feel the subtle nuances of their walking canes in the palm of their hand.  Mittens and gloves get in the way of this so they often go with cold hands.  Fingerless mitts solve this problem.  They can slip their cane into the finger part while keeping most of their hand and fingers warm.  If you would like to donate a pair of fingerless mitts to aid the blind you can drop them off at your local Association for the Blind.

So, have any good patterns I should try?

Pattern Review - Fetching Fingerless Mitts

These mitts are Fetching indeed.  I can't say I love the way the color banding ended up, or the picot edge, or the thumb, but they are cute anyway.

This pair is made with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted Multi in Lakeview.

I love the cables on these gloves.  The pattern is written so the cables coordinate.  Can you see how they twist away from each other?  That was clever.

One thing I did not love so much was the thumb.  Essentially there is no gusset.  You knit your thumb opening stitches onto a piece of waste yarn.   When you are done with the rest of the mitt, you come back take out the waste yarn and pick up those stitches to knit the thumb.

This is definitely not my favorite method of knitting a thumb.  It doesn't seem to lay as flat.  I would much rather knit a gusset.  I think the mitten feels much more comfortable on the hand that way.

The other part I am not thrilled with is the top.

I do not like the short amount of fabric after the thumb.  My fingers are barely covered at all and I do not like the picot edging. 

If there ever is another Fetching in my future I will knit a 2nd pattern repeat at the top and a fourth at the bottom.  I would have to add a thumb gusset and I would bind off with a plain edge.  Actually I would just use these pattern mods by Kelly-Ann.  She took the words right out of my mouth.

You want to see my Ravelry page for this project?  Click here.

Pattern Review - Cafe Au Lait Mitts

Love, Love, Love!  This pattern rocks!  These are the Cafe au Lait Mitts by Paula McKeever.

I found this beautiful pattern on one of my late night computer binges.  Late at night seems to be the only time I have more then 5 minutes to look at the computer.  Ever since my daughter learned how to play games online its an everyday fight over computer time. 

There is a group on Ravelry called Fingerless Glove Fanatics and this pattern was chosen for a knit a long for August.  This month there is a random drawing for those who finish before Aug 31st.  There is still time if you want to try it.

The pattern is easy to follow, forgiving and interesting.  I need patterns that are interesting.  Too much monotony is not good for my brain.  I start to get bored and I want to move on to something new.  The cool thing about this pattern is that it is forgiving.  I made a couple of little mistakes and they vanished into the busyness of the pattern.  I cant find them now.

I made this pair with Knit Picks Swish DK in Eggplant.  I used the entire ball with only a couple feet to spare so be careful you don't waste your yarn.  It would suck to run out of yarn with only a couple rows left.

These are destined to be a gift.  Bummer for me.  That just means I will have to knit another pair for myself!

If you want to see this project on my Ravelry click here.

Knitting Pattern Review - Lets Go Shopping Market Bag

I finished a few projects that I haven't blogged about yet, so my next couple posts will cover those and my thoughts on the patterns. 

I finished this bag a while back.  This is the Lets Go Shopping Market Bag by Linda Skinlo. 

It can be found on Ravelry here. 

I used about 3 balls of Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton for the larger version.  I absolutely love this pattern.  It is very easy and knits up very fast.  It only took me a few days of knitting to finish it.

The large size can fit a massive amount of stuff.  It would be great for the beach.  You could fit a blanket, everyone's towels, a couple books and lunch in this thing!  Next time I want to make the smaller version.  I think it would be the perfect size for a farmers market trip.

I made some slight changes to the pattern.  The original directions say to do a garter stitch top edge and handles, but I was afraid it would be too stretchy.  I decided on seed stitch instead and I like how it looks.  It is sturdy and not too heavy on my shoulder.  I hate when heavy bags dig into my shoulder.  This one has wide straps so there is none of that.

I am a little tired of the bright colors I used.  It was the beginning of summer when I started this project and I was loving bright stuff then.  Now I am wanting something more muted, darker, & richer.  I think the cooler weather we have been having lately is making me think of Autumn, rain, burgundy and thunder gray, warm cozy mittens and hats...

If I were living in the high Desert of So Cal, where I grew up, we would be just starting the hottest part of the year.  But up here in the Bay Area, Autumn is just around the corner.