What To Knit Next?

I have several projects rolling around in my brain.

I need the promise of something new and interesting to get me through the seemingly endless sleeves I'm knitting. When the sleeves of the Red X Gansey are done, I have two sleeves to knit on another sweater I started months ago.

What is it about sleeves? I'd rather knit two sweater bodies than two sleeves. Even though I have short arms, sweater sleeves just seem to go on and on forever and ever.


Lack of sleeves is why this might be a good next project. It's called Oversize Lace Top by Deborah Newton, published in Spring/Summer 2007 Vogue Knitting.

Whoever named this one is more unimaginative than I am at naming knitting patterns. But, I think it is pretty and looks like it would be fun to knit and easy to wear over a longer sleeved cotton top.


Another project I want to knit for spring is this pretty little Brandywine sweater by Kathy Zimmerman.

The pattern comes in a pamphlet called Hot House published by Classic Elite that contains five patterns named after tomatoes. Really. I dare someone to explain to me what this pretty little lace cardigan has to do with tomatoes.

The patterns were written for Classic Silk, 50% Cotton, 30% Silk, 20% Nylon with a nubby look.

The pattern is ordered and I'm contemplating what yarn and what color I'd like to use. It won't be Classic Silk. Knitting with silk hurts my hands and I don't care for the feel of it. Combining it with cotton and nylon can't possible improve it.


Alice Starmore's Irish Moss is also on my A list of projects and it also needs a yarn choice.

I'm wondering if I can knit it seamless, top down, FLAK style. Maybe even in the same yarn, Elann's Puruvian Highland Wool. I'll be doing some swatching before making up my mind.


Then there's the Knitpicks Andean Treasure yarn that is totally unsuitable for the project I thought I was going to use it for. It wants to be something plain and simple so I'm considering a top down cardigan. With sleeves.

Clifford Red

A while ago I bought two skeins of Knitpicks Andean Treasure, 100% baby alpaca, in Hot Rod Heather. It was on closeout sale and I though if I liked the color I would buy enough for a sweater.

Just looking at my skeins, I wasn't impressed with the color, didn't order any more, and now it's a discontinued color.


Then I did some swatching with it, shown above, and fell in love with the color.

So . . . Does anyone have 15 or more skeins of Andean Treasure Hot Rod Heather they'd like to sell? Please email me.


Last week I was wearing the red hat (above) and my red Land's End Squall Jacket at the grocery store when a little boy about two years old pulled on my arm and said, "mumble, bumble, ump, dog."

I greeted him and asked him to repeat what he said so I might understand. He repeated, "mumble, bumble, ump, dog."

Then his mother appeared and translated, "You look like Clifford the dog."

Now I can't wear my red coat without thinking I look like Clifford. But, that's OK. It's a pleasant thought.


One of my yarn Christmas/birthday gifts from Idaho was more red yarn. This is On-line Cosmo, 75% Merino, 5% cashmere, and 25% nylon.

I'm thinking maybe a pair of Cookie A. socks from Knit.Sock.Love which should be arriving any day now. Or maybe a scarf to complete my Clifford look.

Socks As Art and New Yarn

A week ago Megan left a comment that sums up the way I've come to think of my Cookie socks:

I live in the San Francisco bay area and I took a class from Cookie about a year ago. The subject was designing stitch patterns for socks (or something similar). When the students asked Cookie which socks she likes to wear best, her answer was "I just wear plain stockinette socks. The ones that I design are just art pieces." I hope this gives you some insight into the way this socks fits.

I've knit nine socks from the Cookie's Sock Innovation book, not counting the Eunice I just frogged. They're all wearable, but when it comes time to pick a pair of socks to wear I go for the plain ribbed socks that slip on, fit snug to my feet, and stay up all day.

The beautiful Slackford Studio yarn I've been using for the Cookie socks hasn't been wash and wear tested because I haven't been wearing the socks. I've washed a few pair by hand, but I want to find out how this yarn does under my normal sock treatment of machine washing so I can use it for gift socks without laundry concerns.

Slackford Studio is having a Red, Green, and Blue sale. 20% off until Midnight, December 31st . (SolidXMas is the code to get the discount.)

I took advantage of all three colors which are much prettier in person. We've had seriously gloomy weather for picture taking since the yarn arrived.

From the top: Dorothy's Destiny, After Midnight, Cardinal, and Steelyard Blues. Good basic colors for some good basic socks.

Mom has asked for some purple socks, so I get to order more yarn as soon as Susan gets it in the store.

Cookie socks may be art, but function is also beauty. I'm going to do some knitting for function now.


Snowclouds are moving in.

RIP Eunice

After proving to myself I could modify Cookie A.'s Eunice pattern to reduce stitches and fit my feet (described here), I knit on with enthusiasm.

Last night I finished both Eunice cuffs without following one of the most important rules of knitting Cookie socks: Try them on often!

There's a reason the pattern calls for only two repeats of the chart, resulting in a cuff about four inches high.

I like warm socks. When I'm sitting down I like my socks to end above the hem of my jeans or slacks without showing any leg. Therefore, I had knit three chart repeats and it was a tugging struggle to get the cuff over my heel and instep.

Normally when I'm ambivalent about frogging, I wait until morning. Last night I didn't wait. Both cuffs were promptly frogged. It's 99% probable I will never knit Eunice. Which means I am never going to knit all the socks in Cookie's book.

Chat Back for November 28

Answering questions from comments and email.

Kathy B. wrote . . .

I hope Sunny is okay. I'm a bit worried by your post.

A few other readers had similar comments. Thank you all for your concern.

Sunny is her normal perky self right now. Until next time.

DH Bob caught my "flu-like symptoms", and with his ongoing health problems he needed medical help getting through it. Looks like he's on the mend now, but it was a major setback and recovery is going to be slow.

From now on I will be more specific with my blogging excuses.

---

Sue J. emailed a list of questions which I am totally unqualified to answer, so I'll share my answers here anyway with a disclaimer - Some knitters enjoy trying various yarn brands and blends. I enjoy trying different patterns and tend to keep the yarn choices to what I know will give satisfactory results. The subset of sock yarns I have tried is very small compared to what is available.

1. If you had the choice of buying one skein of merino, cashmere, nylon hand dyed yarn or two skeins of Cascade Heritage, which one would you choose?

I've never knit with merino, cashmere, nylon but have two skeins in my stash I'm eager to try. Because it's super soft I'm guessing it will not wear as well as "regular" sock yarn and the stitch definition will not be wonderful. I'm planning to use a simple rib based stitch pattern (not selected yet) and wearing them at home in slippers.

I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised at how well the cashmere blend wears, and if it wears well it will be a surprise. I intend to enjoy the knitting experience of a luxury yarn and consider that the reward for my dollars, the wearing being secondary.

I've only knit with Heritage once, a pair of gift socks that I haven't given yet. It's a smooth, soft, pretty yarn and I've been told it wears well, but I haven't verified that for myself yet.

If I was on a limited budget, I would go with the Heritage.

2. You used to knit a lot with Opal uni solid sock yarn. Have you lost your love of it, or has something else taken it's place?

Uni-Solid is never a bad choice and always practical. A little pricey, but worth it.

It's the work horse of yarns and I still use Opal and Regia for many of my gift socks. They wear forever and can't be destroyed in the laundry. I have Opal and Regia socks that are over ten years old now and still going strong.

3. In your estimation, which sock yarn is the best bang for the buck?

I haven't tried that many inexpensive yarns, so I can't give a comprehensive answer.

From the little I've used the Knitpicks sock yarns, I don't want to invest my time in knitting with them. I assume, but don't know, that in general you get what you pay for.

4. Do you still knit, on occasions, with self striping or self patterning yarn such as Opal, Trekking XXL, Etc?

Yes, just finished a pair of self-patterning Regia for my brother who wanted "wild" socks.

Much of my pleasure in knitting comes from trying different stitch patterns and I find the self striping/patterning socks require simple stitches so it's not my first choice when knitting for pleasure.

When knitting for loved ones who love the colorful self patterning results, I bite the bullet and knit simple.

Eunice Rant

Here's my first Eunice cuff, due to be frogged soon.

The yarn is Stalwart Sock, a fingering weight yarn that knits up a little tighter than Opal and Regia because it's smooth instead of fuzzy. The color is Steelyard Blues.

Before I start listing all the reasons Eunice and I aren't getting along, I have to say that many other knitters are happy, or at least satisfied, with their Eunice results.

The opinions below are just that - my opinions. Let the rant begin.

• The cuff is too big. In the picture the cuff is pulled over two sock blockers, one on top of the other, and it's still too baggy to show the yarn overs.
  
  
• The ribbing starts with 64 stitches and increases to 80 stitches for the cabling pattern. This large increase is unnecessary since there are yarn overs which spread the fabric to compensate for the cables that condense the fabric.
  
  
• Another reason the pretty yarn over patterns in the center of the diamonds don't show is because the diagonal cable leg pulls the fabric up reducing the row gauge so the yarn overs can't spread. It's no better on a human leg.
  
  
• The cable crosses are over seven stitches. A five stitch cable cross is maximum to look nice in a sock pattern, and that's pushing it. There are exceptions to this rule, but this sock isn't one of them.
  
  
• The ribbing and first pattern repeat were knit on 2.5mm needles. Hoping to redeem what my subconscious already knew was a doomed project, I switched to 2.25mm needles for the second repeat with hopes the socks might fit Mom who has wider feet than I do. It hardly made a difference.

Here's my second Eunice cuff, assuming it can still be called Eunice. I have a feeling my modifications are too major for the sock to count in the Sock Innovation KAL, (a Ravelry link), although we are allowed to make changes for fit.

I redrew the chart to change all the three stitch cable legs to two stitches. That brought the cuff stitch count down to 64 from 80 and the wide cable crossing down to 5 from 7.

The ribbing is 56 stitches on 2.5mm needles with an increase of 8 stitches for the cabling pattern.

With 16 stitches less in a round, the fit is good and I plan on finishing this pair of socks for myself.

Knitting Log for November 5

For the past two evenings I've been working a little on all three of my projects. For blogging purposes that's an unsatisfactory way to work. Not enough has been done on any of the three to be blogworthy, so here's an unimpressive update on all three of them.

Kristi
As previously mentioned, this is not a fast knit. I'm still enjoying the process, the pattern, and the yarn.

The cuffs are mirror images of each other. Left foot and right foot are different.

Pattern: Kristi from Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

Yarn: Stalwart Sock from Slackford Studio. 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon 4 Ply Fingering Weight Sock Yarn.

Color: Wisteria.

Needles: Options 2.50mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch in stockinette.

Red X Sweater
Almost nine inches done. It's time to make some design plans for the top part of the sweater before going on.

The darkish red doesn't show the stitch definition as much as I imagined it would.

Pattern: Winging it for now. Unofficially naming it the Red X Sweater.

Yarn: Knitpicks Cotlin. 70% Tanguis Cotton, 30% Linen. DK weight.

Color: Moroccan Red.

Needles: Options #3.

Gauge: 6 stitches/inch, 8.5 rows/inch in pattern.

Lighthouse Gansey
The knitting has been done for weeks. Every day this week I've picked it up to weave in a few ends. There can't be many more ends to weave in. I have to finish it soon, maybe tonight. There are new projects waiting in the wings.

A few years ago I decided to limit myself to three knitting projects at a time with swatching not counted. At first it was difficult, but I enjoyed the feeling of not being overwhelmed by too many projects in process and persevered.

Now it's a habit and the number three seems to be just right. If I get some new yarn I just have to caston, there's the swatching exemption. With swatching I often learn new things about what the yarn wants to be and, even more important what the yarn doesn't want to be.

This morning after getting a haircut, I stopped in Stitching Memories to pick up some yarn for Christmas knitting.

The dark cake is Cascade Heritage Handpainted Sock Yarn. Much prettier than it looks in the picture with shades of gray, brown, blue, and some purple. I hope to get a better picture once the knitting begins.

Clandestine in Time Out

Clandestine by Cookie A. is the October non-book selection of the Sock Innovation KAL, (a Ravelry link). It's a free pattern available on Knitty.

The cast on is 66 stitches which needed to be divided over three needles. I used three circulars because I wanted the sharp points on the Options needles. Having three slowed down the knitting process some.

On the fourteenth row there are three five-stitch wraps and three-three stitch wraps. How tight to do the wraps was a common question which never got answered. Some knitters frogged and reknit trying to find the perfect tension.

I wrapped snug, resulting in a puckery fabric. Just looking at it on the needles I would thought it to be bumpy and ugly. Stretched out on my leg, I was glad I hadn't done the wraps any looser.


I think this lacy section in the center is pretty. I believe it ends up center front and down the back of the sides.


The lacy section alternates with a section that looks like umbrella spokes, a stitch pattern I've never loved. It is made up of a purl, knit through the back loop ribbing that gives the sock some stretch and cling. That's a plus for it.

A cuff is six pattern repeats long, about seven inches. I have three pattern repeats of one sock done and the project is on hold. Right now I'm thinking I'm going to frog it and use the lovely yarn for something else. I'm just not loving the knitting process or the results.


Pattern: Clandestine by Cookie A.

Yarn: Stalwart Sock from Slackford Studio. 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon 4 Ply Fingering Weight Sock Yarn.

Color: Stormy Night

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch in stockinette.

Tuesday Tidbits

Beginning of the Literal Fall

As in leaves falling off the trees and onto the ground to be raked, burned, composted, mulched, mowed, or left to decompose.

Here at Violet Acres we have so many leaves we are able to do all of the above with leaves left over.


RIP

Note to myself: Add dead trout burial to the todo list for today.

The almost dead trout made it about 30 feet upstream from where I took its picture yesterday. Once it found a good mucky spot, right in the middle of our acreage, it flipped itself up on the bank and died in the mud.


Knitting Update

There has been no knitting worth mentioning.

The Kristi socks are halfway through the first cuff and haven't been touched for a week.

Clandestine, the October non-book socks for the Sock Innovation KAL, (a Ravelry link) are sitting next to my knitting spot waiting their fate. I think their fate is going to be frogging. I do not need another pair of lacy socks and I'd like some pretty warm practical socks out of the Stalwart Stormy Night yarn I'm using. I have half a cuff done. Before I frog them, I'll try the cuff on one more time and make sure that's what I want to do and take a picture to show you how pretty they are/were.

I'm down to the cuff on the last Lighthouse Gansey sleeve. Should finish it tonight.

October Sock Innovation KAL Musings

The Sock Innovation KAL, (a Ravelry link) has chosen Wanida as the October sock from the book.

The more I look at this pattern, the more I don't want to knit it.

As frequent readers have read here many times, I don't like baggy socks. I don't see anything in this pattern that looks like it's possible for these socks to stay up. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't want to use any of my beautiful Slackford Studio yarn to test the theory.

I've been reading about a problem with the pattern not corrected in the errata and not easily described. Something about the stitch pattern not lining up properly at the start of the gusset section. I'm pretty sure I can figure it out when I get there, but really. What is it with this book and errors in almost every pattern?

If I don't knit Wanida, it will be the first month I haven't knit the KAL selection. A little more serious, not knitting Wanida will thwart my plan to knit every sock in the book.

I predict that I'll come up with some yarn I feel neutral about, cast on Wanida, and see how it goes.


Clandestine, a free Knitty pattern, is the KAL non-book selection.

This looks like a fun knit. I want to give it a try, but don't have a sock yarn that looks right for it. Of course, I could buy some yarn. Just because I have two different sock yarn orders on the way doesn't mean I can't buy more.

When the orders arrive, I'll see if any of the skeins want to be Clandestine. If not, what is the internet for if not to buy more yarn?

Grumbling by the Number

Sock Innovation Errata
My favorite sock book of the summer, Sock Innovation by Cookie A., contains 15 sock patterns. 10 of these patterns have errata.

Isn't errata for two-thirds of the patterns just plain sloppy publishing?

The errata is online. What about the knitters who bought the book, are not computer savvy, and are trying to knit these intricate socks? Or, as often happens, the oblivious or forgetful sock knitter who tries knitting one of the patterns without looking for errata?

Why can't the patterns be in some electronic format by the time they go to the test knitters and then transformed into the final book without being reentered with errors?

If that's not technically possible (which I don't believe), then why not have the final draft test knit again instead of annoying knitters with a book full of errors?

Knitpicks Cotlin
I decided to order some Knitpicks Cotlin for an early autumn sweater. Every color I might have wanted is out of stock. Not just a week or so out of stock, but one or two months.

There are 23 Cotlin colors. 4 will be restocked September 18. 5 will be restocked October 16.

I like this yarn a lot and don't want to try an unknown. So that leaves me with colors I don't love or nothing. I'm pouting.

KAL Participation
This isn't a grumble, just a puzzling (to me) observation.

At the end of July the Sock Innovation KAL Sock Innovation KAL, (a Ravelry link) had 2,643 members. Only 120 pairs of socks were completed.

That's 4.5% participation. What are the rest of the knitters doing? Just lurking to admire the pictures of finished socks?

Or maybe they couldn't finish their socks because they didn't find the errata?

Saturday Orange

In anticipation of the Sock Innovation KAL, (a Ravelry link) selecting Sunshine as the June KAL pattern, I ordered this yarn from Slackford Studio.


It arrived yesterday, way prettier than the picture. I'm looking forward to knitting these socks as soon as Mom's birthday socks are done.

I was hoping they'd pick Hedera by Cookie A. for the second June KAL pattern and was already visualizing Mom's sky blue socks in the Hedera pattern. Instead, they picked Nebula by Cookie A., a beautiful pattern reported to have approximately 1,600 cable crossings.

Sock knitting decisions need to be made! I don't think I can manage 1,600 cable crossings before Mom's birthday without giving up other things I want and need to do, so I'll likely stick with the Hedera plan and groan when it's the KAL pattern chosen for July. (No inside information. Just knowledge that Hedera got a lot of votes for June and is likely to get picked soon.)


Meanwhile, I'm ready to start the heels on Pomatomus. And, there's 3/4s of a gansey sleeve waiting for me to finish.

For about two weeks each spring, between the time they arrive and the time they start egg laying, the Orioles will stop by the feeding station and eat oranges.


It's a special time and we love seeing them.

Once they start nest building, they're up in the high tree tops and all we get are occasional flashes of orange in the leaves. By August, they've left to migrate back south for the winter.

Why do you suppose they fly all the way to SW Michigan to nest?

Whining About Color

A few months ago I grabbed up this Trekking XXL yarn (Color # 311) at my LYS thinking it was gorgeous. It did look pretty in the skein. Knit up it looks not so gorgeous. I realized this after just a few inches on the first cuff but kept knitting just to keep it out of my stash.

The stitch pattern is a knit/purl V over seven stitches. The Vs are separated by a purl column.


The colors are not bright and clear. There are blotches of other colors in the bands, making for a muddy look in what I imagined would be bright colors. Why didn't I notice this in the store?

The original plan was to knit these as birthday socks for Daughter Heather, but these aren't nice enough for birthday socks. Good thing there's still almost two months before her birthday.


Little Sister Carrie has a birthday in April. She is Vegan and doesn't wear wool, so we're going to try some Panda Cotton, 55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon blend.

Her request was "I would LOVE some primarily beige/tan socks or (second choice) some primarily navy socks." Doesn't that sound easy?

After checking several online yarn stores, I ordered Sahara, the color in the picture. (This picture was swiped from the yarn store.) On my monitor it looks like beiges and tans. Perfect.


When it arrived, it was bright yellow with several shades of gold. Very pretty, but no one in my sock recipient universe wears yellow.

Online I went to try again. I tried several online yarn stores with large Panda Cotton color selections and couldn't find a beige/tan mix without some other color(s) mixed in.

Hummmm. Even in my picture, it doesn't look yellow. Sahara is the top color. Trust me, it's yellow.

I gave up on finding beige/tan and ordered a navy mix. The newly arrived color on the bottom is Mood Indigo.

The yellow is going to be a test pair of socks for me. Since I've never used this yarn before, it will give me a chance to get an accurate gauge and get a feel for knitting with the bamboo and elastic. Most important, I'll get to wash them and see what happens. Maybe they'll fade to beige?

March Birthday Socks Done, John and Gail

The extra skein of yarn arrived from Harmony Yarn in Idaho and the socks are done and ready to be mailed out for Son John's March 18th birthday.


Pattern: Basic cuff down sock on 70 stitches around.

Stitch pattern is Boxed Cables from Vogue Knitting Stitchionary 2 - Cables, Pattern 141.

I like that it has cables but still has plenty of stretch and give like socks should have because each cable ends after three crosses. It's manly and something about the looks of it pleases my eyes. Plus it was really fun to knit.


Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet, 90% wool, 25% Nylon.

Color: 01

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch.

Dog Trainer Gail also has a birthday on March 18.

She wears my socks almost exclusively now that she's built up a collection. A few months ago she mentioned a green pair she once noticed on my feet and was hoping I was knitting her a pair from the same yarn.

Next doggy school evening, I took every pair of socks I own with green in them so she could show me the desired yarn. Rainforest II Raupe, a retired Opal pattern.

At the time I told her the yarn was no longer available. Then I came home and found/bought a skein on eBay. She will be surprised to see them.


Pattern: Plain wide ribbing, k7, p1, on 64 stitches. When I knit this colorway for myself, I tried several stitch patterns and frogged them. It begs to be by itself and show its caterpillar colors. Also, Gail likes her socks plain and snug.

Yarn: Opal sock yarn, 75% wool, 25% nylon

Color: Rainforest II, Raupe. Raupe is German for caterpillar.

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch.

Picking Up Stitches

Kate asked . . .

Sometime can you explain gauge ratio?

This is actually simple, but it sounds complicated and some people tune out because they think it requires math.

Here's an example.

I'm knitting a sweater. The gauge is 5 stitches an inch, 8 rows an inch.

That tells me for an inch of vertical edge I need to pick up 5 stitches for every eight rows. (Five stitches to eight rows is the ratio.)

Now I need to pick up stitches along a mostly straight armhole with a curve to the underarm and an underarm section that's straight across.

For the vertical, straight, edge plan a pickup pattern. To pickup five stitches in eight rows: pickup, skip, pickup, skip, pickup, pickup, skip, pickup. Repeat until done.

Other skipping patterns work just as well if skips are kept to one at a time. Try to space the skips as evenly as possible and then don't worry about it. It will look fine as long as the pickup doesn't pucker up or spread out, which it won't if you're picking up five stitches an inch (8 rows).

If it doesn't offend the style of what I'm knitting, I like to purl the first two rows after the pickup row. The purl stitches make a neat looking edge ridge and they pop up over the picked up stitches to cover the pickup pattern.

The curve to the underarm is a bit more art than science. Eyeball it and guess how many inches it is. I usually pick up a few less stitches than I think I need just because it's a curve.

The underarm is horizontal. Pick up every stitch.

I often leave the body underarm stitches on a stitch holder so there are live stitches to knit into. Why have bumpy bound off arm pit stitches when there's no need? But caution doing this. It works great for a firm fabric, maybe not so great if the garment is knit loosely.

Chat Back for December 6

Answering questions from comments and email.

Qutecowgirl asked . . .

Totally off topic here but do you have any tips about knitting a sweater with alpaca?

You're very wise to understand that knitting with alpaca is not the same as knitting with wool. With the right pattern and the right gauge, you can knit an alpaca sweater that's every bit as wonderful as cashmere. With a pattern not suitable for alpaca, you can create a sweater you may never want to wear.

I've written up my thoughts on selecting an alpaca sweater pattern here: Thoughts on Alpaca.

---

Judy asked . . .

It is beautiful, isn't it?

Some snowfalls are beautiful, some aren't. Some are cold, windy, and nasty.

This picture was taken at 2 pm this afternoon when I went out to the road to fetch the mail. It is a color picture, there just isn't any color today. There is not a bit of blue sky to be seen. It's been snowing all day - not the pretty kind with big fluffy snowflakes, but the small flake, dense snow that is backbreaking to shovel.

According to the National Weather Service, there is 90% probability of at least 4 more inches tonight with winds up to 30 mph. That means drifting. (That last detail is for my warm climate friends. Judy knows about drifting. She lives in Michigan.)

If that happens and the snowplow doesn't come down the road, it's unlikely I'm going to make it to church in the morning.

If that happens and the snowplow does come down the road, it's even less likely I'm going to make it to church in the morning. The plow will create a high, dense pile of snow across the end of the driveway and since we're not expecting temps above freezing, it will need to be shoveled before we can get out.

---

Laura from beautiful West Mich asked . . .

Do your dogs get those little ice balls in between their pads when you walk them in the snow? How do you handle it?

All three dogs get their foot hair, including the hair between their toes, trimmed off every six weeks at the groomers. It seems to help a lot.

We do have a problem with the cold. When it gets to about 15 degrees or below, Pappy's little feet get so cold he tries to get all four feet in the air at once and he happily lets me carry him back to the house. The other dogs' feet are a bit more tolerant of the cold, but they have their comfort limit.

We keep our outings short when it's cold. I can't carry more than one dog at a time.

---

Kate asked . . .

Beautiful socks! They look perfectly matched. How do you do that?!!!

This is a frequently asked question.

Getting Socks to Match is a entire blog post on the method I use.

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A Messed Up Project

When I spotted Pat's beautiful twined hat, I wanted to make one just like it. So much that I bought the identical yarn (Crystal Palace Toas, 100% wool) and paid money for the pattern.

I consider myself above average at being able to follow written directions. I fully expected to be able to read this pattern and twine a hat, knitting from both ends of the skein.

The ribbing is a double knit. I managed to get that OK. Then came twining in the knit stitch. The very first thing the pattern says is, "Swedish knitters traditionally pick - but throw the 2-end knitting." That was my first clue I might have a little problem with twining. I knit continental (pick) and have no idea how to throw. Still, knitting is knitting.

Instructions included steps like, "Drop yarn used to the left of the needle", and warnings that the resulting stitches should look like herringbone on the wrong side and not like fair isle. I thought mine looked like fair isle (I've never knit fair isle) so I had a spasm and frogged the whole thing. Then I went back to admire Pat's beautiful twined hat. She has a picture of the inside of her hat and realized was twining correctly with no need to rip.

Now I have a mess with the two strands sticking together. They need to be rewound separately with lots of untwisting and untangling.

The urge to knit this hat is temporarily gone. I'm knitting simple, one stranded socks right now. I'll probably give the hat another try before the winter is over.

Thoughts on Alpaca

Kristie asked . . .

I have a question about alpaca. How do you find it washes? The only thing I ever knit out of alpaca, a hat for my son, grew to almost twice the original size after I washed it! And that was a handwash in Soak wool wash. It has scared me off alpaca. It was not a huge issue since it was just a hat, but would have been a disaster if it had been a sweater.

Alpaca is a soft soft yarn, a joy to knit and a pleasure to wear next to the skin. It does not have the same characteristics as wool and can be a big disappointment if a knitter thinks "wool" while selecting a pattern.

In general, alpaca has mediocre to poor stitch definition and is not suitable for Arans and ganseys.

Janet Szabo's Set-in Sleeve Aran is an exception - at least I hope so because I'm knitting it in alpaca.


I believe I can get away with using alpaca for this Aran because:

• There is no ribbing. Alpaca ribbing does not hold it's shape when washed - or even before it's washed. When wet, the ribbing flattens out, expands, and stays that way.
  
• It's not heavily cabled. I know my cables aren't going to "pop" with alpaca, and I don't care.
  
• I will be knitting worsted weight alpaca on #5 needles, not too tight but tight enough to give the fabric some body so the cables will have some stitch definition.
  
• I knit a large swatch, half the width of the sweater plus the entire center panel. Then I washed it, blocked it, and carefully measured it. The sweater will be knit using the measurements from the washed swatch so I don't need to worry about what the alpaca is going to do when it's washed. I do this wilh all my sweaters, but it's more important than usual when knitting a soft yarn such as alpaca.

Painful Pearl is done except for weaving in the ends and blocking. This is a busy week, but I plan to cast on this Aran no later than this coming Saturday. Next week is also a busy week, so it will be a while before I catch up with Dorothy.

Dorothy is knitting her Aran with a worsted weight 100% wool. Pop over to her blog and take a look.

Chat Back for April 26

Answering questions from comments and email.

Shirley asked . . .

Do you knit the "2 socks on 2 circular" method or "Magic Loop"?

I like to knit both socks at the same time - knit some on one sock, catch up on the second sock - because I have serious Second Sock Syndrome if they're not both done at approximately the same time.

Each sock has its own two 24" circulars. I use four circulars a pair with a fifth extra circular for the gussets.

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Sharon asked . . .

I was wondering if there's a particular reason why you seam up the sweater as you go along?

There are many reasons I like to sew up as I go along. I've been known to throw pieces of a completed sweater in a bag and not sew them up for months. Especially if it's the wrong season to wear the sweater.

I have short arms and don't like sleeves that dangle down on my hands, so I'm shortening the sleeves on almost any sweater I knit. I find the best way to get the sleeves the right length is to seam the shoulder seams, finish the neck, wash and block the partial sweater, and then knit the sleeves from the top down.

That's how the She Said Aran ended up with a blocked body and an unblocked sleeve, and how I know I'm going to like the fit of the sweater when it's done.

For the She Said Aran, I decided to knit the sleeves top down in the round, so I needed to stitch up the side seams as well as the shoulders.

I can't count the number of sweaters I've knit in my life that didn't fit. It's turned me into a swatcher and a top down sleeve knitter whenever possible. Then, when there's a problem with fit, I know it early enough to do something about it.

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Peggy commented . . .

A few years ago, the American Ornithologists' Union split the rufous into two different species--

Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Eastern Towhee)
Pipilo maculatus (Spotted Towhee)

I didn't know this and thank you for the information. It may save me from sounding old-fashioned when I communicate with other bird folks.

Privately at home, I'll go on called our Eastern Towhees their old name, Roufous-Sided Towhee. Or, as we usually say, "I see Rouffie".

I'm a lumper, not a splitter.

These two species interbreed and I can't imagine why they needed to be separated because some have a few more white spots than others. Does it make sense that a nest might contain two different species coming from the same parents?

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Elaine asked . . .

We called those Marsh Marigolds "cowslips" and cooked the leaves as greens in the spring. A little bitter, but good. Sort of a rite of spring. You had to pick them before they flowered - why?

Curious, I looked this up on Google. To summarize, in general the plant is moderately toxic and sometimes intoxicating especially the flowers and the "older parts".

There are varied cautions on how it needs to be prepared for safe eating depending on the source of the information.

My conclusion: Eating Marsh Marigold is not something one should try if feeling healthy and clear headed is important.

---

Vickie asked . . .

I read your blog daily and confess that I come for the bird pictures as much as the knitting. Are you willing to share what kind of camera and lenses you use to achieve such clear close up shots?

I have a Canon Powershot S3 IS, 6.0 megapixels, 12 x 15 zoom lens, and image stabilizer - all standard with the camera.

Mine is over a year old. I see they're selling for under $300 now.

I take lots of pictures, select the best and delete the rest.

And I admit to not knowing how to use many of the camera options because I get such good results with the point and click. I do use the zoom, of course.

Here are some previous blog posts where I talk about the camera:

• New camera.
  
  
• Loving my camera.
  
  
• Taking bird pictures through the window.

Knitting Update for April 24

The second She Said Aran sleeve is in progress.

The short rows are done and all stitches have been picked up. It's time to start gradually decreasing and finishing this sweater up.

My notes on the first sleeve left a little to be desired. I always think I'll remember what I did because it was the thing that made the most sense. And, who wants to stop knitting to write down detailed notes?


Pattern: She Said Aran by Barbara Venishnick in Knitters Winter 1999, #57

Yarn: Cascade 220, 100% wool worsted weight

Color: 7808 Violet

Needles: Options #5

Gauge: 28 stitches/29.5 rows in 4 inches on lower sweater. 26 stitches/33 rows in 4 inches for upper sweater.

Last month I got to thinking about how much I enjoyed, and still enjoy, the older Knitter's Magazines.

I was a subscriber between Summer 1999 and Summer 2005. I let my subscription lapse when I realized getting my new issue was NOT fun. In fact, there were a few of the 2004 and 2005 issues I threw in the trash because I couldn't see any reason to give them shelf space.

Since I don't currently have a knitting magazine that I love receiving, I've started to fill in my Knitter's library with pre-subscription issues from the Nancy Thomas years. This Spring 1997 is one of my new acquisitions with two lovely sweaters designed by Norah Gaughan on the cover.


The short sleeve version of the cover sweater (above) might be perfect for this bundle of new yarn, Superwash Bamboo from Elann.

It's 65% superwash wool, 35% bamboo. Unwashed it looks very light and springy. Washed it may be too wooly for short sleeves? Some swatching will happen soon.


The current CIC_Knit List challenge is for wool toddler socks, but there is also a never ending need for toddler wool sweaters. Some of us are knitting Jean's Waffles for Brunch as a knit-along.

Jean is giving us a pattern installment every other day. We're through with the lower body knit in the round and the upper back knit back and forth.

This shows the sweater back. The needle peeking out midway up is holding stitches for the upper front.


Pattern: Waffles for Brunch designed by Jean and posted as a current knit-a-long on her blog Needles, Notes, and News.

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky

Color: Deep Red

Needles: 10.5 Addi Turbo

Gauge: 3 stitches/inch, 4 rows/inch