Wedding Shawl, Complete

PATTERN: Tru Wuv, designed by my friend Jane. 

© Kat Canfield

YARN: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Marine Silk Lace (51/29/20 silk/merino/tencel, 868 yds/100g skein), color "Branwen."  I used an entire skein with a comfortable several-gram margin.

© Kat Canfield

NEEDLES: US 4/3.5mm

It was absolutely perfect.  Thanks, Jane!  Thanks, Kat!  Thanks, everybody!  (More pictures here . . .)

© Kat Canfield

The Sandpoint Pullover

My friend Elizabeth just released this pullover today.  Isn't it fab?

(Photo courtesy and © Elizabeth Morrison)

As well as being fabulous, it is also FREE until April 15 with the code AprilShowers.

What are you waiting for?  Oh, right, a link: Sandpoint Pullover.

Go forth and download!

Warm Fuzzies

Sometimes, the universe reminds you that people are wonderful.

As you all know, I've been knitting the Birthday Pi--it still looks pretty much like this, for a given level of blobbyness:


I've become a bit concerned that I'll run out of yarn. I have about 50 rows left on the body, and then the edging to do, and I've used more than half my skein.

Running out would be especially problematic as not only is Arabella discontinued anyway, but when Tony at Posh dyes, he dyes in small batches and doesn't repeat dye combinations. Which means that the only other yarn in the world that matches this one would be a skein dyed at the same time, more than two years ago. Eep.

I'd thought of a couple workarounds, but last night I thought, "first things first," and decided to check Ravelry stashes to see if anyone had Arabella in this or a coordinating colorway. (I'm reasonably sure I can get to the end of the body, at least . . .) Lo and behold, I found someone right away with the exact same yarn. And, although she didn't have it listed for sale or trade, when I pm'd to ask, she responded right away, saying she'd be happy to send it along if I need it, but assuring me that I won't run out!

This sort of thing gives me such warm fuzzies. The knitting community is full of such kind, generous people, and it makes me happy to know that I'm connected to them. <3

Birthday Pi!

Jane of the Mawelucky Love Rav group is giving us all a treat--a surprise birthday pi shawl. The first clue was released on Pi Day (of course), the second on Tuesday, and the third is due today.

I'm using this beautiful Posh:


This photo is rather dark, but it's a mix of pretty purples with a grey/purple streak thrown in.

Here is a bad picture partway through Clue 1 (I'm slow):


I've never knit a circular shawl before, but I'm up for a challenge as always. You should come knit along with us!

Not-So-Magical Möbius

I don't know if this happens to other knitters, but I'm perpetually promising knitwear to people in order to prevent them from making bad decisions. Me and my housemate were at a chain clothing store when he fingered a machine-knit monstrosity and said, thoughtfully, "I should buy a scarf." I hastily promised him a scarf just to keep this from happening . . . which of course meant that I then had to make one, really and for true.

The wool he chose was this (on the right), a gift from SQ back when she was living in China. (Incidentally, yarn gifts are always welcome, but they will be hoarded for years until I judge them sufficiently mature. I can't just KNIT yarn that I'm given, that would be wasteful. Somehow. In my head. I guess.) It's very nice stuff. But there isn't a ton of it, and I knew I couldn't get anymore.

Because said housemate is a theoretical physicist, I of course had to knit him a möbius. I mean, duh. But traditional möbius construction just wouldn't work for this scarf. Not enough yarn! So I had to cheat and graft the ends together. It makes me a little sad. Maybe I should knit another möbius the real way, just for the hell of it.

On the other hand, I like the look of this one, don't you?

The pattern is coming very soon, but in the meantime . . .

Yarn: Zhonghua Wool (60/40 wool/acrylic . . . we think, 100g/skein), probably about 150 yards. Needles: US size 8/5.00.

Quickie

Okay, first of all, Irtfa'a is DONE. Off the needles, blocked, clipped, the whole shebang. I just need to take pictures, and then I swear I will post them.

That means the knitting focus for the moment is my Papyrus shawl. I think I'm going to try to release it under the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program, as it was designed with a Knit Picks yarn. The greater visibility does come with a slight financial hit, but if no one's buying your patterns, you're not making any money anyway, right?

And last but not least: I got a job at a yarn store! The LYS I frequent recently changed management, and when I inquired, the new owner was looking for someone--and that someone was me. It won't replace my old job, but it'll be a fantastic addition. Much yarn awaits . . .

Here There Be Dwagons

The baby sweater is finished! Here it is, blocking. (Complete with the Irishman's toes.)


And here is the finished product:

Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, about 1.5 skeins 8523 (green) and 0.5 skein 0090 (black). This color of green has been discontinued, unfortunately.

Pattern: "Baby's First Tattoo" from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, size 3 months, 3/3.25mm needles.

Once again, I used intarsia for the motifs rather than embroidering them afterwards. Here's a closeup shot of the adorable dragon.

There was a moment of extreme panic when I realized I was going to run out of green halfway through the second front. (And I'd already finished the damn sleeves, too.) Fortunately, a Ravelry hunt came up a partial stashed skein, and the very nice owner traded it to me for some of my leftovers. Even better, although the dyelots were different, it's impossible to tell which is which.

Once again, I found the pattern frustrating--even more so than last time, honestly--and I'll definitely never knit it again. (Especially because I'm finally out of the black Baby Ull.)

Olympics Wrap-Up

So the Olympics are over . . . and this is my Irtfa'a:


It's a little further advanced than when I took this picture, but not by a whole lot.

What did I learn from this year's Olympics? My limiting factor isn't skill but time. Nothing in this shawl so far has thrown me--not even the provisional cast-on. Of course, probably a lot of that is Anne's crystal-clear instructions, but still. I'm no slouch!

So next year, the trick is going to be finding something I'll have time to complete in two weeks. Lots of hats, maybe?

Speaking of Anne, I had the opportunity to meet her weekend before last at Eleganza Yarns' Indie Artist Celebration. In addition to Anne's trunk show (which is amaaaazing), the shindig included the work of all sorts of local spinners, dyers, and fiber types. And I may or may not have purchased a few things.

First, a few skeins of Mid Valley Fibers handspun. Linda was so nice (and the prices so incredible) that I had to get some. I'm always drawn to this kind of slubby yarn, even though I never know what to knit with it. I'm thinking a scarf, maybe? (100% wool, a sort of DK weight.)


Then there's this beauty, courtesy of Blue Ridge Yarns--100% silk laceweight in "Dragon's Breath."
This picture doesn't do it near justice, nor do the pictures on their website. (Which is probably a good thing for all of your credit cards.) I confess, I had to call the Irishman for a fiber intervention at this table--I had about four skeins in my hands before I got talked down. If I ever win the lottery, I'm totally cleaning them out.

And the best part of the day, of course, was meeting Anne! Not only is she as funny and gracious in real life as she is on her blog, she knew who I was. *squee* I have such a huge designer crush on Anne, and it was so much fun to meet her and see all her knits in person.

So that was two weekends ago, and I'm still recovering. (As is my credit card, *ahem*.) Now time to go get some more done on the Irishman's socks. Oh yes, you remember the big blue things from last time? They're NOT BIG ENOUGH. So I need to finish unpicking the bind-offs and knit a few more inches onto the cuffs. Curses!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all spending it the same way I am. That is, at home in your pajama bottoms with nothing compelling you to go outside. Other celebratory details optional.

It's been quite the year for me on many fronts, but it's been eventful in terms of knitting, too. I was inspired to pick up the needles again about year and a half ago by the guy I was dating at the time. (I told him if he picked out the yarn I'd knit him a pair of socks.) What had been a pleasant hobby in college quickly grew into a consuming passion--especially when I got onto Ravelry.

Now, I'm living in a new place, pursuing a different career, dating a different fellow, and have actually published knitting patterns that people want to knit. Seems kind of crazy, but there you have it.

I have lots of thoughts on how knitting builds community and can make life more fulfilling and blah blah blah, but you know what? In lieu of a boring meta-post, I'm going to go knit.

Merry Christmas.

This Married to the Sea cartoon is for Jane. She knows why.

Birthday loots!

It was my birthday, and I gots presents!


The book, 2-at-a-time Socks, was a gift from my mother. She doesn't knit, but she very much appreciates it that I do. I sense that this is a hint! Since I'm a die-hard DPN fan, I probably won't use the two-at-a-time method, but the patterns are really cute.

The other gifts are from the wonderful Aspen. I've already stowed all my notions in the bag (which is AWESOME), and a beautiful beaded stitch marker (not pictured) is on my latest Mindless Sock. The yarn is a breathtaking silk laceweight from Redfish. (And a little sample skein of sock yarn from Miss Babs *Squee*

Yay birthdays!

Socks: final destination

Here are the hibiscus socks, complete at last.


Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks from Favorite Socks

Yarn: Great Adirondack Yarn Company Silky Sock (70/20/10 merino/silk/nylon), colorway Hibiscus. Size 0/2mm needles (down from the 2/2.75mm called for in the pattern).

These are now on their way to celebrate a dear friend's birthday--many more, Ms. Wiz!

I have to say, although it made pretty socks, I was disappointed in this yarn. There were tons of silk slubs and those little whatchamacallits where extraneous fibers get wrapped around the strand and have to be cut off--not the quality I expect for the price I paid. I also didn't much care for the way the colors fell against one another in the plain stockinette portions. Fortunately, the leaves broke them up really beautifully--a reason I like lace patterns for some variegated yarns. On the positive side, I think the socks will wear very well, between the fiber content and the really high twist of the yarn.


Thoughts on the pattern: as always with Interweave, the directions were crystal-clear and well-formatted. I always like a nice alternative toe, too. Maybe it's just my crankiness coming out, but I hate fussy cuffs. Twisted rib looks nice, but it doesn't look nice enough to justify how slow and tedious it is to knit, in my humble opinion. (Also, I think the cast-on was stupid. But I think every cast-on besides long-tail is stupid, so I probably shouldn't be listened to on that front.)

*squee*

So I got a very nice thing in the mail the other day:


The lovely Nyx sent me some beads, some chocolate, a little J. Knits Lace-a-licious (in "Boston") . . . and some of her very own handpainted laceweight.

Seriously, this stuff is so gorgeous. The picture can't do it justice; it's much more subtle and purpley in person. Right now it's on the corner of my desk so I can pet it as desired--I don't remember the fiber content off the top of my head, but I think there's some cashmere in there. Whatever it is, it's wonderful. <3 Nyx.

A plug

I realized the other day (when posting about the last pair of Mindless Socks, in fact) that my beloved Regia Silk had been *ominous music* discontinued. Now, aside from the loss of an excellent--if expensive--sock yarn, this left me with a poser.

You see, I have lots of leftover ends from previous sock projects, and I'd always intended to get some solid-color Regia so I could use up the ends as heels and toes. I am a thrifty knitter. But obviously the discontinuation of the yarn kind of put a wrench in that plan.

I took to the internet, determined to find whatever I could and buy it before it got away. That's how I stumbled across Carodan Farm. I'd never heard of them before, and my only interest in the site was their large supply of plain white Regia Silk. (Also, the price was good.) So I ordered a few skeins and sort of forgot about it for a few days.

But when it came--I was very impressed. The yarn is its nice self, of course. But as well, it shipped within just a few days of my ordering--definitely not always the case with smaller companies--and arrived the day after it was shipped. Also, it came with a prize! This darling little ruler, which is so wee and cute I can hardly stand it.


And the invoice had a hand-written note of thanks, signed by one of the owners. It's these little touches that take the dread out of online ordering--for me, anyway. I urge you to check out the Carodan website and support 'em if you're so inclined. They have a line of yarn spun from their own sheep, which is very reasonably priced (the worsted-weight is $6.95 USD/200 yds) and they're having a sale on sock yarn right now . . .

Of ships and nupps and sealing wax

Much knitting has been accomplished of late, but unfortunately nothing photogenic.

Last week, I went to my first knit night at my new LYS. And it was awesome. Everyone there was super-friendly, and I got to hear all about the various projects and events they had going. They also admired the swallowtail-in-progress, even though it's still extremely blobby. The store owner told me on the way out that "your cobweb thing is beautiful!" I laughed, but that's just about right.

The swallowtail is coming along--I'm almost done with the first edge chart and hope to finish it this week. Here, have a blob picture:


Look, you can see the nupps!


I've never made anything with nupps before; they're pretty easy. (Of course, I'm a very loose knitter . . . they'd be fiendishly difficult for a tight knitter, I think.)

In other news, the pattern for the Papyrus shawl is (finally) in the hands of the test knitters. Are you happy now?!

Knitting quirks

This week I've mainly been wrestling with swatching, math, and other nasty unavoidables for a new sweater. I also started this, though:


It's the beginnings of a Swallowtail shawl (pdf link)--very popular among the lace knitting community. I decided it was finally time to knit one for myself. It's at about the eighth repeat and almost jumping off the DPNs . . . time to switch to circs. *sigh*

Which leads to my next thought. I was talking to the lovely Aspen yesterday--about knitting, of course. She mentioned using a center-pull ball for her current project as it helped her keep a more even tension. I hadn't ever thought about it before, but once I started, I began to wonder if that's why I prefer working from the outside of the ball. I knit rather oddly--basically Continental, but I throw the yarn rather than picking. As a result, I adjust all the tension with my fingers; the needles are barely involved. I like the amount of "give" you get from winding yarn straight off the ball--center-pull has too much resistance for me.

This preference for balled yarn pulled from the outside has led to trouble in the past. (Notoriously, I once dropped a ball in a lecture--it rolled under the seats all the way to the bottom of the sloped auditorium. My friends pretended they didn't know me as I scrambled to collect it afterwards.) But it's the way I do things, and our conversation about balls (*snicker*) and tension got me thinking.

I have all sorts of odd little quirks. In addition to the way I like my yarn, I hate metal needles and don't like circulars at all--hence the above angst about moving my Swallowtail to its new home.* I'm sure other knitters have their own foibles--what about you? What are your quirks?

*Note: I've never knit with expensive circs like Addis, though. I'm willing to be convinced.

Yarny Goodness

As promised, long ago, here are some of my souvenirs from my spring break.

This is Great Adirondack Yarn Company Silky Sock (70/20/10 merino/silk/nylon) in Hibiscus. These really aren't my usual colors, but I was very drawn to this skein regardless. I have to find the perfect pattern to showcase this yarn--I don't think it's quite suited for mindless socks. Any suggestions?


This is Artyarns Silk Rhapsody. I'm not sure of the exact fiber content--the website says 70/30 mohair/silk, the label on the skein says 50/50. Either way, it's beautiful stuff.


Another shot, because it's too beautiful to resist. This and the Silky Sock above were purchased at Knit and Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda. Of the yarn stores we visited, this was far and away our favorite. The women working there were absolutely wonderful, and we met a great fellow knitter we must have talked to for a half an hour. I highly recommend it if you're in the area.


This is Knitswithsticks Wullenstudio sock yarn (75/25 merino/nylon), in the delightfully named "Lipstick on Your Collar." Something for nice lacy socks, I think.


This is ZAUBERBALL (75/25 merino/nylon). I feel like it demands all-caps, no? It's this magical German stuff that knits up into the coolest socks. (If you're on Rav, check out Aspen's.)


If you can believe it, that's still not quite everything, but I think I'm done for now. Gotta go knit mitts . . .

Yarn from China!

So I open this package from my friend Superquail, and inside is YARN. Tons of it, all the way from China. I was completely blown away.


Now for some close-ups! SQ kindly included the yarn info for me (very kind, given that I don't read Chinese). These are 94-5/5-6 wool/acrylic. What do you think? Some scarves and hats? It's hard to see in the sunlight, but the blue is striped like the purple.


This yarn's label claims that it's 100 percent domestic wool . . . and 10 percent acrylic. To quote SQ, "not sure how they managed that." Whatever it is, it sure looks like sock yarn to me.


The stuff on the left is a gorgeous laceweight--50/50 angora/acrylic. I'm thinking shawl, or maybe a stole . . . The stuff on the right is 60/40 Australian wool/acrylic, about a worsted-weight (leaning toward an Aran, I think). The label informs us that it is "Pulim Exquisite knitting wool of woolen pattern."


Oh dang, I didn't get another picture of the last skein. It's the black stuff right in the middle of the first photo, an acrylic bulky-weight. A very chic scarf out of that one, maybe?

This was such a lovely surprise--it brightened my day completely. Thanks, SQ!

I am a knitting ninja

I'm working on a project I can't blog about yet, so the details must necessarily be vague. As I was nearing the end of one chunk of knitting, I saw that the ends of two pieces wouldn't graft neatly together like the pattern said they would. (I blame this on my reckless disregard for gauge. I am also a knitting anarchist.) But I did not despair. Rather, I counted my stitches, fired up Excel, and charted a new way to fit the pieces together, incorporating a variation on the previous design. Then I started to knit, and, lo and behold, my solution is working.

This is why knitting is so cool. There's always some sly and clever fix, a new way of doing things, that transforms what could be disaster into an opportunity. I was at my local yarn store yesterday and fell into conversation with an absolutely wonderful woman who was there working on a sock. We traded tips and observations about all sorts of knitting ephemera--from blocking to heels to toes to the cheapest websites--and discovered odd connections (we shared the same first name, her son is moving to Boise shortly). I left the store feeling great about myself, my town, and the knitting community at large. Knitters are awesome because they're friendly, clever, creative, and resourceful.

And now my project will be finished in a way that no one else's has ever been. It's my unique mark. How cool is that?