January 31, 2006
Chocolate is Good
The receiving blanket has rested enough. I went forward with rows 1, 2 and 3 of the inner border and then discovered I was down 4 stitches because I didn’t read the instructions thoroughly. I frogged 3 rows, knit 4 and then discovered I was down 6 stitches. At this point I put the knitting down and went to the kitchen for wine. I was just about to pour when I remembered I’m on week 2 of Jenny Craig. Thankfully, oh so thankfully, Jenny Craig has a double chocolate cake snack. I nuked it and savored it like everything good in my life depended on it. And when I picked up the knitting again I realized I didn’t miscount. I just put the markers in the wrong place.
I bow to the power of chocolate.
Posted by Jacqueline at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)January 25, 2006
J4 Alpacas
There are two people that are living my dream right now. They are Jim and Jean Morgan of J4 Alpacas. I love alpaca above all fibers. I first came upon it at Arcadia Knitting. I remember the skein. It was Classic Elite charcoal. I reached out, touched it and then squeezed it with all my might as if I could get to the source of all that softness. I looked up at Kathy, she nodded her head reverently and said ever so gently a-l-p-a-c-a.
My first alpaca project was also my first cable project - an unbelievably difficult but ultimately beautiful hat that my husband Jim later felted. I made what was to become my favorite sweater, started another and began to accumulate skeins in different colors. Every yarn in every pattern was a candidate for alpaca. I rediscovered the joys of knitting and Chicago didn’t seem so cold anymore.
Now I have a dream. I want to live on a farm. I know less than nothing about rural living and even less about raising animals. But you know how it is with dreams. They never go away. Lucky for me my Jim shares this dream. When I found the source of that softness on the web, we made an appointment to visit a farm not 20 minutes away.
This is what we found. Have you ever seen such gorgeousness?
Look at this little guy. At 31 pounds, Flaps is their ittiest bittiest.
And the Morgans are just about the loveliest people you’d ever want to meet. They are fiber people - warm and funny and totally committed to the care of these beautiful creatures.
I don’t how long it will take. I don’t how we’re going to get there but I can’t imagine a better way to live a life that to be surrounded by such grace.
January 23, 2006
The Gift Closet
Do you know what happens when you substitute a yarn that yields 6 stitches per inch with another yarn that yields 6 stitches per inch? If you don’t do a gauge swatch you get a hat that doesn’t fit.
At first I thought it was the yarn. Blue Sky Alpaca sport is very springy. Ambrosia, though lovely, is not. Then I thought it was the stranding. No matter how good your tension is, stranded color work yields a firm fabric with not much give. Hence my desire to learn non stranded color work. Then I thought I need to wash it first so it would bloom. Notice the reach here? The reason the hat doesn’t fit is because I was too proud to do a gauge swatch. And that’s the truth. So off to the Gift Closet it goes.
A Gift Closet is this year’s great idea. It was inspired by Gift Pantries in Frugal Luxuries by Tracey McBride. There is nothing that begs knitterly resistance more than making a special something for a special someone. The closer we get to finishing the more compelled we are to start other projects and thus increase the pressure. Take Christmas for example. Every Christmas I say I’m going to make something for all my loved ones. Every Christmas I go nuts.
This year is going to be different. This year I’m going to work with not against my knitterly self. I’m going to make only those projects I’m drawn to and I’m going to store them in a Gift Closet until the person they are meant for appears. They will include lovely mistakes like the above which is only a mistake because it won’t fit my 23” noggin. It'll work just like the baby hats.
I love knitting baby hats. I just love knitting them. I give them as gifts. I donate them. I try new designs, new yarns. Last year I noticed that every time I had to make one, it took me forever. But when I knit baby hats for the sake of knitting baby hats, I couldn’t stop making them. I had a ready stockpile when I needed a gift and I had plenty to donate. And it was fun! The whole thing felt like play.
So, lessons learned. Do a gauge swatch. And if something doesn’t fit, don’t despair. It just wasn’t meant for me.
Posted by Jacqueline at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)January 21, 2006
Worthy Substitute
I substituted Jaeger Baby Merino 4 ply with Ambrosia. The colors are deep and have a sheen that just begs to be touched. It’s soft as a cloud. How could it not be at 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere? It’s also expensive, not machine washable and completely impractical for a baby garment.
As if this ever stopped me.
After all this is not just a garment. It is an Olympic event! For my soon-to-be-in-the-world niece no less. Olympic challenges require Olympic motivation, so there.
I also purchased three additional skeins in my new favorite colors, eggplant and sage, to remake a hat I recently designed. I originally knit it using Blue Sky Alpaca sport and gave it to my beautiful sister-in-law Sarah. It took me three attempts to get the shaping just right. Now I love alpaca in general and Blue Sky sport in particular, especially for hats. So it costs me something to say this. The – hat – itches – just – a – smidgeon. Drats! Not enough to call it itchy, just enough to keep touching my forehead in a distracted but persistent sort of way. So I’m remaking it in Ambrosia.
Tonight!
Posted by Jacqueline at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)Knitting Olympics 2006
The Yarn Harlot has issued a challenge and along with what looks like several hundred other knitters, I have replied. This is what I’ve chosen.
Project 3: Child’s Jacket from Hand Knitting – New Directions by Alison Ellen.
For those of you who have not yet seen it, this volume is a feast for the eyes. To render three dimensional surfaces so faithfully is truly a gift. The swatches are literally alive with texture. Kudos to Colin Mills the photographer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a knitter.
Apart from the photography, New Directions reads beautifully. It’s totally in keeping with the spirit of the Knitting Olympics which is to challenge oneself. My challenge is to learn non-stranded color knitting and circles, lovely flat circles for the as yet unrealized hat designs that haunt my wandering mind continuously.
As anxious as I am to start I will of course comply with the rules. I will cast on 2pm EST on February 10th and finish before the Olympic flame goes out February 26th. Unfortunately the colors called for are not all available so it’s off to The Fold I go for a worthy substitute. In the meantime I’ll work on circles. And write the first of what I hope to be many hat patterns. And gather a second wind for the opus, a receiving blanket for my niece, who is due to arrive in the world in March.
Christening Chrysalis by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts in The Best of Knitter’s Magazine Shawls and Scarves. I’m using No. 1 Addis and a wonderful fingering weight Suri Alpaca I bought at last year’s Alpaca show in Grayslake, Illinois. It’s called 100% USA Suri Alpaca. The color is Champagne and it was spun by Royal Fiber Spinnery. To order contact Loren & Judy Stevens and (800) 469-5262.
The center panel is done. See?
And I’m 85% finished with picking up stitches for the inner border. That’s 220 stitches on each side with a corner stitch thrown in for good measure. Even though the prospect of 884 stitch rows on number one Addis and fingering weight Suri Alpaca is a good enough reason to take a break, even though picking up 220 tiny hairy uncooperative stitches TWICE made me a bit testy, it was the counting that did me in: 221, no 223, no 220, let’s be sure, 221, it can’t be, 219...
So the project is resting, even though the baby might, like her brother, arrive early.
Posted by Jacqueline at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)