Tantrum

Wah! I can't find a zipper for my Killybegs in my local fabric store! Wah! Not fair!

I was trying to impress you all by rolling out two FOs within a week but that doesn't look like it's goin to happen.

Zipperstop, here I come :)

Picovoli- How to

Pattern: Picovoli by Grumperina from the August 2005 issue of Magknits, with the obvious addition of sleeves designed by me!

Yarn and Needles: I used just a smidgen over 8 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay colour 11, procured in the UK during the January sales for a mere 1.60 GBP a ball!! Cathay knits up beautifully and is wonderfully soft after washing, BUT it splits like a fiend and loses a lot of dye during washing. After the 5th rinse I gave up on getting the water to run clear and called the job a goodun. The sweater somehow didn't stain the white towel I laid it out to dry on so I guess maybe I'd rinsed it enough and it doesn't look particularly faded now it's dry. As for needles, I used two Knit Picks Options size 3.5mm for the sleeves and one longer circular 3.5mm for the body. Who knew I could teach myself how to knit socks on two circulars by knitting a sleeve or five?

Modifications: Speaking of the sleeves....

That there, that little slanting row of stitches belies in its simplicity the five million attempts it took me to get the sleeves right. (For anyone not with the program, Picovoli is intended to be sleeveless and despite Grumperina kindly providing her ideas as to how a sleeve could be put in, there is no actual pattern/formula out there that I could find.)

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin...

HOW I ADDED SLEEVES TO PICOVOLI:

OK, so I'm not really ready to start. As a slight disclaimer: I knit the 36" pattern at a slightly tighter gauge than specified, I didn't keep stitch counts while doing this, I just went with it, it worked for me it may not work for you and finally I have fairly skinny arms. Also, one last big thing. I knit funny flat. Therefore, I've just said make a left or right leaning decrease because the yarny gymnastics I have to do to get that would probably be a lot different than you normal folks out there. Pick a K2TOG or a SSK, whatever takes you in the direction you want to go. That said, this is what I did:

To form the top of the arm hole in Picovoli, stitches are kept live on spare yarn (if you are picot-ing) or cast off (for a straight edge), stitches are then cast on to form the bottom and the knitting continues in the round forming a slit through which your arms will fit. Keep your stitches live! Basically, the pattern outlined below leads to a curving of the fabric without increasing the number of stitches on the needle. This makes for a narrow arm hole preventing the dreaded bat wings. There will always be 18st between the marker and the beginning or end of the row. The directions are for a 3/4 length sleeve.

Row 1: K1 and increase in the same stitch (I do this by picking up the stitch below the stitch just worked). K15 st and do a right-leaning decrease. Place a marker. Knit to 19st before the end of the row and wrap the next st (the 19th before the end) knit-wise. Turn. (18st remain unworked on this row). This is where the short rows start.

Row 2: Purl back to 1st before the marker, wrap the next st purl wise and turn. (18 stitches remain unworked.)

Row 3: Knit to the wrapped st, pick up the wrap and knit it together with the st that was wrapped, place marker. Do a left-leaning decrease, knit to 1st before the end on the row, increase (by lifting up the stitch below the last stitch), K1.

Row 4: Purl back to wrapped st (st before the marker), pick up and purl together the wrap with the st. Slip marker and purl to end. (This is where the short rows end)

Row 6: K1, increase in same stitch , K to 2 st before marker, do right-leaning decrease, slip marker and K to second marker. Slip second marker and do a left left-leaning decrease. K to 1st before end, increase, K1.

Row 7: Purl.

Repeat rows 1-7 five times, or as many times as needed to create enough fabric to close the arm hole.

Join in the round and knit 40 rounds. K1, K2TOG, K to last 3 st, SSK, K1. Knit 20 rounds. K1, K2TOG, K to last 3 st, SSK, K1. Knit 15 rounds. K1, K2TOG, K to last 3 st, SSK, K1. Knit 8 rounds. Make the eyelet round (K2TOG, YO etc, may have to do a K3TOG YO for the last three stitches), K 2 rounds and sew down live stitches to the inside to make the picot. Mattress stitch the diagonal fabric of the sleeve to the straight cast off edge in the under-arm.

Then stand on your sofa looking smug.

Pico-what? Pico-FINISHED, that's what!!

Oh, if only cotton dried faster! Then I could deliver what I promised, a full on, fully finished photo shoot. How's that for illiteration! Oh well, you'll just have to make do with some sneak peaks of the completed Picovoli with sleeves (!!!!!) in all it's soggy glory. Unless of course, you're Nicole or Marina who hung around way late at yesterday's Sit n' Knit hoping that I'd finish some time within the next century. Sorry ladies but it took me at least another 15 mintues to finish this up at home later. You get first dibs on the modelled shots, promise!

Representin' in the Hood

I'm sure Internet today will be flooded with pictures of a head behind a podium, so I thought I'd throw mine in the mix for good measure....


Yes, that's Steph aka The Yarn Harlot (as if anyone in the knitblogosphere actually needed that pointing out to them.) She was funny, articulate and an alround great speaker, the event went fabulously, money was raised for Doctors Without Borders, and squares were knit for Warm Up America. See? (Paton's SWS kindly provided by the Craft Yarn council of America.)

One word though- GROUPIES. This might get me in trouble but, dudes, she's just one of us! We don't actually know her despite reading her blog since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, she's a private person who has opened up a little of her life to us, the wool-infused masses. It's lovely that she is so down to Earth but really, I don't think we should expect any different or raise her up on a pedestal. I'll get down from my soap box now.... (should I duck?)

Reviews!

No pictures today because I don't want to spoil the final reveal of Killybegs who is all seamed up awaiting the application of a zipper, some buttons and a few strategically placed press studs. Hurrah! Instead I decided to do a few mini-reviews of recent knitting-related purchases since google tells me people have been finding their way over here looking for information which sadly I have failed to provide. So here goes...

Knit Picks Options.
Love. Love. Love. I know initially I wasn't too happy with my needles, but with extended use they have become the only needles I will use for anything bigger than socks. If you use the little key supplied the cables will not unscrew, on occasion I've not used the key when passing stitches onto another cable to try things on and have regretted it. The key, it would seem, is the key. The needles are pointy enough to hurt with my style of knitting (I push the stiches down while sticking the needle tip into the pad of my finger- dumb) but the callouses are worth it. They are lovely, light weight and produce the most even stitches of my short knitting career.

Kookaburra Wool Wash.
Once upon a time an ex-boyfriend bought me a dry clean only, lambswool sweater. Upon my first attempt at hand washing it, I turned it into something Barbie could have worn. Since then I've been a bit wary of hand washing my woolens although I know the importance of a dunk before seaming and the like. So I decided to give this wool wash a try and I am so glad I did, it has saved me a fortune! My sweater collection comprises of a surprisingly large assortment of cashmere sweaters, none of which I actually purchased and similarly were not were purchased by the giver. Once upon a time I used to be friends with someone who worked for some very high-end clothing companies and I was the recipient of bountiful design samples, but alas no more. Anyway, since purchasing the Kookaburra, washing sweaters has become a new favourite past time. I am constantly amazed at how much junk comes out of sweaters I have been diligently dry cleaning for the past three years and at how much softer and lighter they feel afterwards. At around $8 a bottle, this stuff is worth it's weight in gold.

Berroco Peruvia.
The link is just for your viewing pleasure, I actually bought my yarn from webs, taking full advantage of their discounts :) First things first, this yarn is sheepy. Very sheepy. What do I mean by that? It smells like sheep, it's a little greasy like sheep and very rarely, you'll find a bit of vegetable matter in with the fibres. I'm not sure why, but I expected a commerically available yarn to be a little less au naturel, but if you like that sort of thing I'm sure you'll be happy. Personally I could do with a little less lanolin (according to Clinique the lanolin is why I'm allergic to their DDML moisturiser although I had no major reaction here) but it does make for a pleasant knitting experience. As a single ply the yarn doesn't stand up too well to ripping (I'll tell you about that later), but I think it would probably be great for felting or steeking. Bare in mind I've tried neither, but the yarn is incredibly sticky once blocked and I can imagine it would hold up well to both techniques. I'll add in a wear report once I finally get Killybegs out of the WIP pile and on my back :)

Speaking of which, I might just run out to Tender Buttons to see if I can pick up some old school leather beauties to finish the sweater off. Toodles!!

I hear bats and bingo-callers

Considering I had spent the day in a zombiefied state, I was particularly surprised to find myself having a second-wind around 11pm last night. Click, click, click and the second sleeve was done, washed and laid out to dry. Hell, I even decided that this would be a perfect time to start seeming up those shoulders and setting in sleeves. I'm good at it, I scorn the need for good light.

So in went the first shoulder seam, (which will be ripped out in due course) and then the second which was as damn near perfect as could be. Then I had the puzzle of the set in sleeves. I find it much easier to set them in flat and the sew up the sides, but I'd been daft and ignored my knitting spidey-sense, the sleeves were way too wide! Bear in mind it was now somewhere close to 1am and I was on a roll.....

Oh dear.... Bingo wings, anyone?

Just look at the view that greeted me this morning, a gorgeous, sparkling sunrise. Beautiful!
Due to a rather boy-shaped distraction that walked into and out of my life over the weekend there wasn't really much time for knitting. But no fear, with this yarn that doesn't really delay things much!
The back and fronts of Killybegs are done and blocked, and this little curly monstrosity is the best part of the first sleeve. Please note my trademark pad of mini post-it notes, it seems I am now completely unable to knit without them.
As for the boy, since he's one of the prospective students who have already signed up for my school he'll be back in New York in July. Something tells me Spring is going to take a long ole time to pass...

Randomness

I didn't get to bed until 6.30 am this morning after a rather fabulous night out on the town with the prospective students, hence the disjointedness....

Condemned to a life of Sitting and Knitting

When all we want is Sex.

(Line courtesy of the Little Old Ladies in the Broadway show "The Producers" that I saw last night. It made me laugh anyway....)

I LOST MY HAT! Odessa is gone! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to knit another one :)

Knitting 40 rows and two inches of a sleeve is far less preferable to knitting 40 rows and having an entire cardigan front to show for it. Maybe there is a point to these big needle knits after all.

I finally got my requested boob shot:

Hurrah for boobs!

It was an accident, I swear!

Yesterday I decided to have Spring Break, since I don't have a lab or a clue what I'm doing at Grad School right now (hopefully that'll be sorted out soon so I'm not really that concerned yet.) A friend of mine suggested doing the Photo Scavenger Hunt in last week's New York Times. Please bear in mind it was about elevnty-millioni degrees below cold outside yesterday. Anyway, after freezing our butts off for a couple of hours outside we waved the white flag and headed for Cuban food and mojito's instead. Only, on the way to the restaurant I kind of fell into Downtown Yarns. Totally not planned but since I was there...... well, you know.



First up was some reinforcing thread for my latest sock. I'm worried about the 100% merino wearing through on the heels and toes so I thought I'd give this stuff a try. And look, it matches perfectly!

These are the Gentleman's Lozenge Socks from the usual, knit in the Fearless Fibres sock yarn I was drooling over a while back. They're going well so far, with only about three hours of puzzlement and brow furrowing over the jinxed needle where the pattern refused to be right. You can't win them all.

Anyway, while I was still in Downtown yarns, petting both the doggy and the alpaca, I happened upon this stuff:

Trekking XXL! I've never seen it in real life and I fell in love the absolute craziness of the colours in this skein. These are going to be some FUN socks :)

Oh and that stuff it's sat on. Well, I also might have accidentally knit the entire back for Killybegs. Oops....

What can I say? This was entirely unplanned and my obsession was fed by the fact that the gauge is humongous. I swear the entire thing took about four hours max. Unfortunately I now have something akin to friction burns of my fingers so I might have to give it a rest for a little while, like maybe half an hour. But seriously there's still about 10 chapters of that Cancer Biology text book to be read, I need to find myself a new lab, oh and there's this little thing of a paper that needs to be written so I really should be devoting my time elsewhere.

I think you can safely expect this sweater to be finished by the end of the week then....

Picovoli, you'll be a sweater soon

Picov0li and I are on speaking terms again. I'm glad, this could possibly be the best fitting sweater I've ever made and I don't want to look back on the whole process with regret or anger. I have successfully mastered the insertion of capped sleeves!

It only took a week of rips and reknits to get where we are but in the end it was worth it. The shoulders fit snugly with none of the extra puffiness of my first few attempts. Once I finish the whole sleeve, and if any one is interested, I'll write up what I did. Can't say it'll do it for all sizes, but it seems to work for the 34" chest.

I know just about every picture of Picovoli I've posted has been somewhat crap. I never seem to get a chance to photograph it in daylight and on my body. Next time it appears it'll be in a full scale, fully modelled photoshoot. Promise.

As a reward for finally figuring out the intricacies of sleeves (and for reading three chapters of my Cancer Biology text book), I allowed myself a little illicit swatching for my next project....

Yum!!

This lovely yarn is Berroco Peruvia in Grano, which is a slightly variegated, lovely natural oatmeal colour. Granted it's hairy being as it's single ply, but it's soft to knit with and flattens out with a good soaking. I'm positively itching to get it knitted up into this, but I'm restraining myself until Picovoli is completed. The only downside I can see with this yarn.... you knit it on 6mm needles. OH MY GOD. I haven't knit on needles that big for about two years!