The longer I knit...

...the pickier I get.

I'm trying various sleeves on Persephone.

This is my top town seamless set-in version, which is the first time I've tried this method. I love it (I just love picking up stitches). But it may not work here for various other reasons. But the main thing is, I tried to do this with magic loop. HATE it. Tried it, as you see here, with two circulars. HATE it. If possible, it's even fiddler than the single loop. Don't get me wrong- it's certainly effective- you get a small circumference tube, but it makes the knitting no longer enjoyable for me. I can think of few things more soothing and happy-making for me than rounds and rounds of plain stockinette, but using magic loop or two circulars takes all the joy out of it. The fiddliness frustrates me and, as a result maybe?, my tension is awful. Completely all over the place. Ick. I have no dpns of appropriate size, so it's sitting there until I can buy some next weekend at Knit Nation.

Even when I do have dpns in the right size...

...apparently they are not of the correct material. These alumin(i)um dpns are squeaky and unpleasant to hold. Plus, they are heavy compared to this fairy-hair thin yarn, so they pull at the knitting and again, my tension is all over the place. And, they are too long for this particular project and the heaviness pulls them down and the points stick in everywhere. This project, also, is sitting around in a drawer until I can get proper wooden or bamboo dpns this weekend.

It seems like I should be getting better work out of my tools as I knit more, but it seems I am just turning more intolerant over any teeny drawbacks or imperfections.

Do my eyes deceive me?

Something that's never made sense to me is absence of any shop in Oxford dedicated to yarn, fabrics and fibre crafts. Broad Canvas is good for some other crafty supplies, and Port Meadow has that small yarny bit at the back, but that's it. You have to go all the way down to Abingdon to get fabrics or a good selection of yarn. For such a well-off town, crammed with students and tourists throughout the year, it made no sense.

Well, apparently it made no sense to someone else as well, because ta-da!

A good old haberdashery-type shop! Lots of great fabrics with a vintagey-feel and a gorgeous assortment of buttons. (Also, I swear I've passed that exact storefront before and remarked to The Limey that it would make a great yarn shop.)

Jo, the lovely woman who runs Darn It & Stitch, has just a bit of yarn in at the moment, but she's getting more and more. Right now, it's all dk-ish weight yarns in lovely summery fibres: cottons, corn and the like. I stopped in a couple of weeks ago and we chatted and it turns out she's been asked for patterns by lots of people. As it happens, a lot of my free patterns are summer designs knit in dk-ish weight yarns, so I've lent her some of my samples. If you're in or around Oxford, stop by!

I've also been thinking about getting my patterns printed so that they could be sold at LYSs and shops such as Darn It & Stitch, in addition to on-line. So far, it seems like to get them printed and still be able to make any profit off them, I'd need to do print runs of thousands! So I'm still researching this- anyone with any ideas, I'm dying to hear them.

Where did it go wrong?

When I moved to Dublin nearly six years ago, the big motivating factor was that I could then easily visit other parts of Europe. I'd go on weekend trips to romantic, no longer far-flung destinations. My holiday weekends would be spent drinking in France, eating in Spain, hiking in Slovenia, sunning in Croatia, boating in Sweden...

As it turns out, I've been out of the country three times this year, all of them to the US! The Limey travels so much for work that on weekends, all we want to do is hang around the house and do ordinary things, like buy groceries.

What happened? How did my plans go pear-shaped?

We're actually having a summer this year!

It's getting on for 30C this weekend, with no rain in sight. We've been eating outside whenever possible, and since it's light until ten o'clock, this is easy. The past few weekends, The Limey has put the barbecue grill through its paces. Today, it had been warm enough that we couldn't bear to really cook, so dinner was three different salads. Next weekend, though, July 4th barbecue!

Meanwhile, this coming week, I'm in the US for work. Three days, three meetings, three states. In other words, I'm going to be spending a lot of time in airports and on planes. This is bad enough, but the real tragedy is: I have no good plane knitting! I'm looking through my stash and my projects, but nothing appeals. It can't be too complicated; I don't have time to swatch and plan for a new design before I leave; I don't have any other knitting on the go right now. I have one more day to figure it out, though.

Speaking of cultural differences...

The scene: Bloomingdale's in NYC (which, by the way, is miles ahead of Macy's; don't even bother with Macy's). The Limey and I are headed towards a be-suited employee so The Limey can ask the whereabouts of the bathroom. Another couple get to the employee at the same time.

The exchange between The Limey and other guy:
-After you.
-No, you first.
-No, you.
-No, after you
...

I poke The Limey to go ahead. As he asks, I say to the other guy's companion, "I had to do something. We could have been here forever- he's British." And she points at her dude and goes, "So's he."

BIG IMPORTANT cultural differences

One difference between the US and the UK which caused a few weeks of utter confusion for me is the attitude to cats and the outdoors.

In the US, many people prefer to keep their cats indoors. When I was a volunteer at the SF SPCA, in fact, we made people sign a form promising to keep their cats indoors only. Cats allowed outdoors have much shorter lives- they get run over by cars; they get into fights with dogs; in certain areas, they are the losers in encounters with coyotes or other wildlife.

In the UK, it is assumed that cats must go outside. When we looked for rental housing, we'd mention the cat, and agents would say, "Oh, but this is a flat" or "There's no garden." Which confused the daylights out of me. I'd be all, "Yes, I know it's a flat..." or "And...this is relevant how?" But of course, they skipped straight from "We have a cat" to "It'll have to go outside".

Whereas Chloe, in her short but peripatetic life, has lived in houses with yards where she was allowed out, to apartments where she was kept in. If outside is available, she goes, but otherwise doesn't really care either way.

These people? Definitely not Britons.

Tons of travel pictures and a huge squee

Whew! Got back from the DC/NY trip a couple of weekends ago, but it's been full speed ahead since then at work, at knitting, and at the dentist's. (Not so excited about that last one, and I've still got one more visit.)

The trip was great fun. It was good to meet up with H and wander around DC and NY together. It turns out I only went to one yarn shop: Purl Soho. It was lovely but I didn't buy any yarn because I'd outsmarted myself and brought the small suitcase. If you want pictures, The Limey's put up a gajillion of them. (He bought more lenses for the camera the very first day and spent the whole trip playing with them.)

Meanwhile, a knitting squee:


Pattern: Saartje's Booties (Fleeglized version)
Yarn: Some leftover 4-ply, probably Paton's Diploma Gold or some such
Needles: dpns, probably 2.5mm

I've wanted to knit these ever since I saw them, and a co-worker's new baby was just the excuse I needed. They are SO CUTE. And who knew they could actually get cuter when you put them on an actual baby?!

DC and NYC

I'm off to Washington, DC and New York City next week! I haven't been to either in ages and this time, we've managed to blag a tour of the White House. The last time I was in DC (during the reign of King George W), it was for a protest march and it actually took me a little bit of time to realize that I no longer need to carry any resentment about the current occupant of the White House.

No particular plans for New York, except I definitely want to visit The High Line and the Met. I want to spend most of my time wandering around neighbourhoods, really. I've already done the more touristy things, so this time, wandering, getting coffee, pastries, poking into bookshops is the plan, as far as there is a plan. Also, eating lots of good food.

Obviously, I'm making a list of yarn shops. DC and NYC natives: tips, advice?

Random garden pictures

Almost there!

Hoping these will hold out until I'm back from holiday.

Every time I grow pansies, I re-discover their gorgeous scent.

Persephone Shell

Hmm... that name at the top left there looks familiar...


I'm so happy to announce that I have a pattern in this summer's Interweave Knits!

(And it's a great issue- how much do I love the Ambrosia Cardigan? Muchly. I love it muchly.)

More notes on Persephone on my website.

You know, I've been published in print before, but I tell ya, The Journal of Physical Chemistry has nothing on Interweave Knits! I am way more excited about this than any of my science articles!

This is what happens when you marry a physicist

The Limey figuring out whether we should buy a place/how much we can borrow/how much mortgage is necessary...


...whereas I said, Can't we just talk to the bank?

(He's written the calculations on Igor Pro, if that's the kind of thing that floats your boat.)

Different. Better?

As you may have noticed, I've changed the look of the blog slightly. This is all part of a revamp and launch of the website The Limey built for me. (It was his Christmas/birthday present to me this year!) Please visit and let me know what you think! There will be more and more content put up over the next few weeks, and you can get to this blog from there, although it will stay here on blogspot as well. If you link to me from your website, please link to the new one. You can always get to the website by clicking on the logo at the left here.

Right, on with the knitting. I actually have an FO!



My very own Arachne Cardigan. I seriously loved the sample I knit for Jeni so much I bought more yarn for my own right away. And it's gorgeous yarn, so it was a joy to work with it again.

This was supposedly my Ravelympics project, but the gauge gods intervened, but it's finally finished!

Thanks to Liz for reminding me that Mason's was, if not on my doorstep, then on a neighbouring doorstep. I went on Saturday and bought a bunch of buttons. I ended up using these thin, slightly un-flat shell buttons.


Now, I won't make the mistake Arachne did, and claim divine-like perfection. For starters, the sleeves are slighly longer than ideal (that's what I get for following my own pattern for "standard" sizing) and the buttonhole band could have been knit tighter. But, dudes, I love this cardigan. It fits perfectly (I'm so glad I frogged and re-knit), it's soft and lightweight and airy yet warm and summery. I wore it over jeans to a birthday party in London yesterday, but I'm already planning on wearing it with dresses to work. I really think this is going to be my workhorse cardigan for the next two seasons- better than the plain black store-bought affairs that I've been wearing forever.

Latest Ravelympics project ever?

Nearly there!


But I need buttons! In the past, I have had good luck at John Lewis, but am not near one at the moment. What are your go-to sources for buttons? Bonus points if it's in Oxford and I can mosey along and see them in person, but I'm guessing it'll have to get t'internet.

Easter mystery?

We have a flower box on our front windowsill. It had dead plants in it from last summer for a while, but last month I finally re-planted it with spring flowers. Since it's right there, I check it as I leave in the morning, dead-head the spent flowers, quickly make sure it's not too dry, etc.

Today, I noticed that one part of the planter had soil that seemed to have been stirred up or disturbed. I figure it was birds or maybe the white cat that hangs around- no big deal. One of the young petunias was unearthed, so I dug around to put it back into the dirt. And found something weird and hard just under the top of the soil.

Eh? Scraped around a bit, and uncovered enough to see that it looked like an egg. By this time, I had to rush to catch my train, so I asked The Limey to check it out. It was an egg all right. But what an egg!

I've put it here next to a normal chicken egg. It's huge!

Maybe a goose egg? How'd it get in my planter? Easter egg hunt hijinks? Who'd dig up my petunias to hide it? Is it still good? Can we eat it? Was it fertilized?

We'll never know.

Tamesis Cowl

Okay, this is the latest and last design for a while, I think...I don't have any in the active pipeline, but hopefully will get my act together and change that.

Do you have one skein of that something special? Here's the project for you:


My first non-garment pattern, this is the Tamesis Cowl. Given the River Thames' old name, this pattern twists and turns and has a little of everything. A bit of lace, a bit of cabling, and twisted stitches everywhere. It's knit in the round and is the perfect quick project.


I've written this pattern for two different weights of yarn: chunky/bulky and light Aran/heavy DK. In truth, however, it is easily customisable to be knit with almost any size yarn to almost any finished size, just by doing more or fewer repeats. The pattern is fully charted, as well as written out line-by-line for those who prefer to work one way or the other.

This green one is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky, and is beautifully soft, with enough body to stand up for itself when worn.

This pattern was test-knitted by the loverly Helen and Tineke and so I have other versions to show you.


Helen knit hers in Fyberspates Scrumptious as well, but in the Aran weight. The resulting cowl is also butter-soft, but you can see the thinner weight gives the cowl a good drape.



For those who prefer their wool woolly, Tineke knit hers in Blacker Designs' 100% wool Aran. It turns out to have nearly the same dimensions as the Aran-weight Scrumptious, but as you can see, has enough body to keep your ears warm, should you wish:


Tamesis costs £2.50 and is available to buy on Ravelry, or with the "Buy Now" button at the bottom of this post.

Details
Green cowl:
circumference: 38 cm / 15 inches
height: 20.5 cm / 8 inches
Fyberspates Scrumptious Chunky (45% silk / 55% merino, 122m / 100g), 1 skein
US 8/5.0mm dpns or circulars for magic looping

Blue cowl:
circumference: 57cm / 22 inches
height: 23.5cm / 9 inches
yarn: Fyberspates Scrumptious Aran (45% silk / 55% merino, 165m / 100g), 1 skein
needles: US 4 /3.5mm dpns or circulars for magic looping

Pink cowl:
circumference : 54 cm / 21.5 inches
height: 22 cm / 8.5 inches
yarn: Blacker Designs Aran (100% wool, 55m / 50g), 1 skein
needles: US 6/4.0mm dpns or circulars for magic looping

Tension (not super important for a cowl!)
Bulky: 27 sts and 18.5 rnds = 4inches/10cm in twisted cable pattern
Aran: 25 sts and 23 rnds = 4inches/10cm in twisted cable pattern

Better late than never...right?

A month after the Olympics finished, I've got my Ravelympics project back to the stage it was at during that final hockey game.


Because some hand-dyed yarns naturally have some colour variation between skeins, I'm alternating skeins as I knit. Since I know the Arachne Cardigan in my size will take three skeins of the Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply, I'm covering all my bases by alternating between all three skeins.

Alternating between three skeins of yarn is fine when I'm kniting back and forth, but it becomes slightly weird when in the round, which is how the sleeves will be knit. To keep things as simple as possible, I'd love to do them on dpns, but I don't have 3.5mm dpns, so I'll have to wrestle with magic looping them. We'll see. I may very well give up at some point and order the dpns.

It looks all wrinkly and scrunched up, but this yarn blocks beautifully. I can't wait!

Circe Vest

Meet Circe, the last of my set of designs for Fyberspates. Lots of twisted cables, with a deep twisted rib hem.

Designed to be be worn over a shirt or blouse, this vest is office-friendly and will perk up any outfit. The deep scoop neck is flattering on most bodies, and the wide ribbing and fitted waist ensure that your shape won't be lost. It's designed to be worn with close to zero ease, so knit the size closest to your measurements. The vest is knit in the round up to the underarm and scoop neck, The cables are knit with twisted stitches. There are more bust increases on the front of the vest than the back, to accommodate your shape better.



The bust shaping is all figured out for you, so that the increases are incorporated into the cable pattern without you having to work out what goes where.

Oh, charts as well as written instructions are included. This is a 14-page pattern, but the charts and written instructions take up literally half those pages.



I really love this vest.* I love how simple it looks, how the twisted cables are interesting but not too busy. I love how the ribbing flows smoothly into the cabling. I love how you can wear it with everything. And it comes in eleven sizes!

Details:
Finished measurements
30.25 (33.75, 35.5, 39, 40.75, 44.25, 46, 47.75, 51, 53, 54.5) inches at bust; 77 (85.5, 90, 99, 103.5, 112, 116.5, 121, 130, 134.5, 139) cm at bust

Yarn
Fyberspates Bluefaced Leicester DK (100% wool, 220m per 100g skeins): 3 (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7) skeins

Needles
3.5mm/ US 4, or size needed to get gauge, 24 inch / 60 cm circulars

Tension
27 sts/33 rows = 10cm/4 inches in cable pattern; 0.9 inch / 2.2 cm per horizontal cable repeat; 2.9 inches / 7.3cm per vertical cable repeat

This is available for £4.00, from the "Buy Now" button at the bottom of this post, from Ravelry, and soon from Fyberspates.



*Incidentally, I'm know the word "vest" means different things in British and American English, so if someone has any ideas on how to easily identify this article of clothing so that everyone knows what it is, I'm all ears.

Uh...

So I knitknitknit all last night, with the men's hockey gold medal game on.

(Yay Canadians, by the way! I figure it was best if they won, 'cause they wanted it so badly, and 'cause I figure it would make the most people happy. Like, how many Canadians are there? 30-ish million? So 30 million people would be happy if Canada won, whereas, if the US won, only the 58 Americans who care about hockey will be happy. No contest.)

Anyway, so I'm on the couch, knitting wildly, pushing the cat away from my lap, only getting up to re-caffeinate myself. I knew there was no way I was going to get the whole cardigan done, but I figure if I just get the body done, I'd consider it an Olympian enough task.

The good news: I got it done! Even seamed the shoulders! Looks awesome!

The bad news: I want it slightly bigger. Oh, it'll block a bit bigger, and the button bands will add another inch or so. But with all that, it will only really fit well if I wear nothing or a very thin/tight camisole under it. I wanted a cardigan I could wear over t-shirts and dresses in the summer.

As the hockey frenzy went into overtime, there was also a clashing debate on my couch as I argued with myself over whether this was good enough. In the end, I decided the yarn is too delicious to be something I'm not entirely happy with. So, yes, into the frog pond.

I'll probably re-knit it using larger needles. This should work, as my gauge is slightly tight, anyway. (How's that as a kick in the arse from the gauge fairies? I frickin' wrote the pattern, everything's calculated from my gauge, on this exact yarn! And yet, somehow, I'm not getting gauge! Bafflement.)

I've wasted a lot of time

It's not looking good...

As noted last time, I didn't really start on my Ravelympics project until three days after the opening ceremonies. But for four days there, I made really good time. By Saturday, I'd finished up to the armholes. Since Arachne is knit all in one piece up to the armholes, it meant I'd finished all of the lower body.



But then I stalled. Hard. For various reasons, I didn't touch it for three days. But I thought, it's okay, I've got an 11-hour flight home, I can get a lot done then. While waiting to board, took the project out, realized I needed to cut the yarn, couldn't do it without scissors, and, of course, had no scissors. It turns out I managed to sleep a lot on the flight, anyway. Which I guess is good.

Got home Tuesday night. Haven't touched the project other than to take it out of my suitcase.

I have absolutely no explanations or reasons for my inability to work on this project and get it done; I've not been occupied with other knitting. But it will definitely get done- I'm too far along now to stop. Plus, I still really want this cardigan. I'm going to get off the computer now and knit. If I manage to get to the sleeves before the closing ceremonies, I'm gonna award myself a platinum medal. (Ha.)

Update: 3-1/2 hours later, I've knit nearly the whole left front shoulder, only to realize I'd been following the chart for the right shoulder. Aaargghhh.

Happy New Year (again)

Greetings from foggy San Francisco. Actually, it's just clearing up now, and I can see the tip of the Transamerica building from my father's kitchen window.

I spent my birthday in time-honoured tradition:


(All pictures by The Limey.)

I actually just went in for needles. I had gotten everything ready to cast on for my Arachne during the Olympic opening ceremonies (which, by the way, were inexplicably shown with a 3 hour delay, despite being in the same freakin' time zone): I'd e-mailed myself a copy of the pattern; I'd wound all three skeins of my Scrumptious 4-ply into balls; I borrowed some spare yarn and a crochet needle from The Limey for the provisional cast-on. All set! Except, half an hour before the start, I realized I'd forgotten to bring the correct size needles. Ugh.

The next day, I had a couple of hours in the early morning before my brothers arrived home (we all managed to get back to SF for the new year), so The Limey and I ran out to get the right needles. But, then, since everyone was home, the rest of the weekend was spent with various new year's activities (to be honest, this mostly involved eating ourselves silly, although we did also visit some extended family). So, three days into the Olympics, I've just about managed to finish the bottom hem on the cardigan. My brothers leave tonight, though, so I'll have more knitting time soon.