Wood

Walking in the park the other day, I took lots of photos. Here are some of them centering around the "wood" aspect of Project Spectrum.

Knitting as Ministry

My church has an active prayer shawl ministry. Each week five or ten or more shawls are placed on the altar rail during the offering. These shawls go to our local Hospice House, to members of the congregation and beyond to offer comfort and prayers. It's a beautiful, blessed ministry.

I am a knitter. I am not part of this ministry. I thought I would be when it started, a few years ago, but I never jumped in and did it. I've never felt a calling to that ministry, even though I am a knitter, and could certainly knit the shawls. I've posted the photo above in order to show you how prolific and wonderful the ministry it; none of the projects are my work.

I have knitted two prayer shawls in my life. Both of them were for good friends of ours who had lost parents. One of them I just finished, and one was knit in 2006. The friends are husband and wife; the four of us -- well, I don't have words, but this couple is very special to us.

What I have noticed about knitting prayer shawls is that it becomes a compulsion. I knit late into the night, I knit in the car, in the movies, at lunch, at church meetings. I just HAVE to work on it. Knitting for me is usually a relaxing, creative enterprise. Prayer shawl knitting is in no way relaxing. I must do it, and I must finish the shawl as soon as possible. As I work, I find myself setting daily row goals. As I get closer to the end, those goals become larger and larger, and my drive to complete them becomes even stronger. When I finish, there is a wonderful sense of completion and relief. It is as if there is a call to FINISH it, and get it where it needs to be.

I suppose if I were knitting shawls for people I didn't know, I would have that drive about it, but I can't imagine doing this all the time.

All of that said, knitting these two shawls was a worshipful experience. It's not one I would trade for anything. I can't imagine that knitting a generic shawl would have that same kind of spiritual attachment.

I think I'll stick to my regular socks and failed sweaters.

Jeff's Shawl

I'm still working on the sock, and I'm almost done with the first one, but last Monday, I sat them aside and picked up another project.

A friend of mine's father died early last Friday morning. He had a stroke a week ago Thursday. On Monday I started a prayer shawl for my friend. I wasn't going to do that, but on Saturday morning, as I woke up, an image for the shawl came to mind. I lay in bed and designed the shawl in my head, and how it would visually represent Psalm 23 (an important passage for my friend during this time). I finished the shawl this evening and left it for him at his house.

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool -- black, denim blue, green, light blue, burgandy, tan. One skien of each, except for the denim blue and green (2 each).

Needles: Knitpicks harmony circular needles, 24 inch cable, size US 11 needles.

Pattern: 81 stitches across, stitched in Trinity stitch.

The shawl ended up being much longer than I envisioned it -- 86 inches -- and 24 inches wide. The yarn was OK, although I've worked with softer wool than this.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside still waters
He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name's sake,
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, you are with me
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.
You annoint my head with oil
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord, my whole life long.

Socks much larger

Project Halted and Project Started

I've finally thrown in the towel. I knitted and knitted and worked and worked, and kept ignoring the ginormous size of my Daily Sweater. I kept trying to convince myself that it would be OK -- that maybe I would wear it at home on a chilly night, and it would be comfy. Yesterday, as I knit in the car on the way to dinner, working on first sleeve, I gave in to my frustration and held the sweater up for Steve to see. We laughed. It's huge. I measured, and the body of the sweater is 10 inches wider than I planned. I checked my gauge, and it's something like 17 stitches to inch, when it should be 21.

Don't tell me that I should have knit a gauge swatch. I did. I knit it in the round, since the sweater is knit in the round. I knit it with the yarn I'm using and the needles I'm using. I even washed it and remeasured. I actually even knit THREE gauge swatches. I had gauge. Now I don't.

I'm frustrated, but I'm not continuing this frustration. I'm stopping. The sweater is going to the stash box to either wait until I'm willing to rip it out and start again (egh) or just get rid of it. I knit for the joy of it. I am not finding the joy in this huge sweater.

So last night, we wound my Socks that Rock yarn -- Fire on the Mountain colorway. It's pretty! I'm knitting Jaywalker socks. I've gone up a size, and will consider the first few inches to be my gauge swatch. If it works, I'll keep knitting. If not, I'll start again. So far though, it's pretty.

I never knew my sandpiper had such sad eyes. He's thinking about that Daily Sweater!

Magnum Opus

I was listening to the pod-cast Cast-on the other day. She was talking about having a "magnum opus." What big thing have you done with knitting? Have you taken on a project that is just HUGE? Success or failure doesn't matter. It's just the attempt at something large.

I worry that the idea of a magnum opus is self defeating. Once you've done it, then what?

I think we should live a magnum opus life. We should continue to pick up the next big thing followed by the next big thing.

When I started knitting, I decided that I would really learn it. I wouldn't just be satisfied with being able to knit "squares." (That's always been my joke about crochet -- I can crochet squares, but nothing else.).

As I progressed with the knitting, I learned increasing and decreasing. I moved away from scarves to a sock and then to gloves and then to an actual garmet -- a vest for the Knitting Olympics.

Now I'm working on a sweater. I've never knit a sweater before, but it's the next BIG thing.

Image: Winter for Project Spectrum.

Finished Object -- Missouri River Scarf

I mentioned before that I was knitting a scarf using a skein of Mountain Colors yarn. I finally found time on a sunny day to photograph it as a finished object.

Pattern: The Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun scarf. Great "pattern" -- easy to do, and I love the results. It makes a reversible scarf that has some textural interest. It's a free pattern that you can find on Stephanie's blog (at that link). I made one change to the pattern -- I added 3 extra repeats to each row, from the suggested 26 stitches to 38. To add extra width, just add stitches in multiples of 4 (which is explained in the pattern itself).

Yarn: Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters in Missouri River Blues colorway. I used the entire skein -- 350 yards. I thought I might have enough to add fringe, but I had just enough yarn to make it my usual 5 foot long scarf. It's kind of nice to use all of the yarn with not leftovers. The yarn colors patterned in an interesting way -- see the zigzag of colors in the image? I loved this colorway and this yarn.

Needles: US size 8

Daily Sweater update

This is the Daily Sweater -- almost through the increasing rows -- five more left. I don't know; will it turn out to be a sweater? One that I might wear?

St Patrick's Day Green

Project Spectrum IV

When I was knitting a few years ago, I played around with Project Spectrum in its first incarnation. When I got back to knit blogging and knitting this year, I went to Lolly's blog to see if she were still writing and if Project Spectrum still existed. It does, and in fact is on its fourth time around. Time moves on.

I'll try to find time to post information in the sidebar about the Project, but you can read about it on her blog, as this post. There's also groups at Ravelry and Flickr.

I'm working on that Daily Sweater right now -- it's a garnet color, so I don't really want to stop and pick up something green, but the list of emphases for the month intrigued me -- in short, green/stones/winter/earth. I thought I could work with them via photography. Here's what I have so far:

Click to see images more clearly. 1. Rocks in waterfall at work. 2. Daffodils blooming (through the earth) 3. More rocks 4. Bud of something, but very green. 5. More green, and it reminded me of winter, since it is evergreen. (Collage formed in Picasa, which is a very cool program!)

A Sweater Begins

First, I should mention that I finished the Missouri River Scarf. It's really pretty, and I'll post finished object images and details soon.

I've taken the plunge and started a sweater. It's the top-down Daily Sweater from the 2nd Mason Dixon book. I finished the swatching, actually washed them! and discovered that I needed to go down a needle size to get gauge. I'm using a US size 6 (size 4 for the neck) with Knitpicks Comfy (cotton and microfiber) yarn in pomegranate.

I'm almost on row 30 of the increase section. I like the charts. Once I figured out when to increase left and right and when to twist left and right (I'm directionally challenged), the knitting is moving right along. I'm worried that the neck is too large, but in the image (in the book) it looks larger than a crew neck. I'm just trusting and moving along. I may regret it.

Angora pelt

I ran across some yarn at our local yarn store by Elsebeth Lavold -- an angora and wool blend. I bought a few skeins of it, and decided to make it into a scarf.

My son calls it my rabbit pelt scarf -- it's very soft. It's designed with a "key hole" through which the scarf can pass. It's visible in the image, but I wonder if it is clear. The colors -- a black and taupe -- match my coat.

Pattern: From Vogue Scarves Two -- it is a rabbit fur trimmed scarf. I modified it by making it a little more narrow (although it is still wider and shorter than any other scarf I've made.

Yarn: 3 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold angora in black and one in driftwood.

Needles: US size 8

Missouri River Scarf

I've ordered the yarn for the Daily Sweater. While I'm waiting for it to arrive, I pulled a skein of Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters and started a scarf using the Yarn Harlot's pattern for a One Row scarf.

The pattern is easy. I had forgotten about this yarn until I pulled it out. I love the colors. It's called Missouri River blue.

Unfinished and Almost Started Projects

Remember this yarn? I posted about it before (just that I had purchased it).

My intention was to knit a striped scarf, like my last one, using this yarn.

I cast on, using Brooklyn Tweed's pattern for a Noro scarf, which I did. I knit about 8 inches. The pattern is fine, and it produces a thick 1x1 ribbed scarf. The edges are particularly well done by slipped both end stitches on the second stripe in the pattern.

But the colors. Ick. Look at that skein. It looks bright a pleasant. I liked it. I still like it. Knitting that pattern with it? With the particular way the yarn is would? Mud. The scarf looked like mud. I disliked it so much that I ripped it apart and rewound the yarn. Unusual for me. I usually just loose interest in something ugly and put it away while I start something else. Not this time. It's gone, and the yarn is back in the stash.

On another front, the swatching for the Daily Sweater is coming along nicely. I did three swatches (can you believe it?) -- one in each color. I started with pomegranate Comfy on a size US7 needles (which is recommended in the pattern. The stitch per inch count was too large. This makes sense, since I think this yarn is thicker than the recommended Calmer. So, down a needle size, to a US6 and swatching with the blackberry. Hit the stitch gauge right on target. Amazing. I've washed the swatches and will remeasure the US6 one again today. And order the yarn. I also knitted a smaller swatch (for color purposes) with the planetarium. In this one I practiced the twisted stitches requires in the pattern.

I like all three colors, but for this project, it will be the pomegranate.

Diamond Scarf

I mentioned earlier that I finished three projects in January. This scarf is one of them.

I started it in 2007 as a simple project to take on a Youth retreat. It went to Spring Heights -- our Conference retreat center -- two years in a row, so whenever I look at it, I am reminded of quiet times in the cabin. It's a great association to have with a scarf.

The pattern is simple. It's knit on the bias, with alternating blocks of garter and stockinette stitch. It's actually very close to an alpaca scarf I made a few years ago.

Project details:

Pattern: Diamond Scarf from Vogue Knitting Scarves. Easy to follow pattern, although this one is altered from the original. I think in the original pattern, the squares were 12 stitches by 20 rows, and this one is 10 stitches by 16 rows. The only tricky part is that you need to know how to do a knitted cast on, for which I found instructions online.
Yarn: Forest Green Cascade 200. I think I used more than one skien but less than two. It's hard to remember over 2 years.
Needles: I used a US size 7 lattern moon needle. Love the lantern moon needles!

Socks -- Finished!

Finally! They are finished. Add this pair of socks to my finished objects list.

I've always read about people trying to make their socks identical. Secretly, I've always thought that this was a little bit compulsive, but ...

Look. I did it. The socks are identical twins!

Pattern -- From Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I used her Step by Step pattern for socks. it's really well written, and easy to follow. The heal is different from ones I have done before.
Yarn -- ONline's Supersocke 100. There is no color listed on the ball-band,, but it's a lighter blue, a darker blue and stripes of lime green and pink. I used one skein, and I had lots of it left.
Needles -- Five harmony sock needles, size 1 (2.5 mm).

Done but not Finished

Have you ever been done with a project before you were finished? Of course, you have! I'm ready for the pair of socks to be finished. I've got about three inches of foot left and then the two on the second sock. It won't take long.

My problem is that yarn arrived yesterday in the mail for swatching. I want to try my hand (hands) at a sweater. I've never done one before (although I have done a vest). I want to try the Daily Sweater (Ravelry link) from Outside the Lines (Mason Dixon's second book). I ordered three skeins of Comfy from KnitPicks (one each in blackberry, pomegranate and planetarium) so that I could choose a color and do some swatching to see if I like the yarn. THEN, if I do, and if it works for this project, I'll order enough to make the sweater.

Isn't that sensible?

I'll try to photograph the yarn this evening -- it's darker than the swatches online (which I think is a good thing)

But, I've got these socks to finish first -- I'm determined to finish them before swatching with for the next project. I've enjoyed having finished projects, and I know if I stop knitting the socks now, I won't finish them (until much later). One day or two is all it will take, THEN onto the next thing.

Striped Socks

How about a work in progress update? I'm currently working on a pair of socks using a self-striping yarn called ONline Supersocke 100 Sport. The pattern is the Yarn Harlot's sock pattern from Knitting Rules.

The pattern is very easy to follow -- no problems at all. I'm using size 1 (2.5mm) needles from Knitpicks. They are the harmony wood needles. I have included the second photo so that you can see the points. I am

REALLY enjoying working with these needles. I bought the whole set -- size 0 through size 3(?). Each set comes with 6 needles instead of 5, which is a nice addition, too.

I also like the second picture. An iPhone and knitting

-- kind of a description of who I am.

Yarn purchases

How about some talk about stash enhancement? Here are two yarns I recently purchased. The first is a skein of Socks the Rock, mediumweight, in Fire on the Mountain. It will become socks, although I'm not sure what pattern yet.

The second is a skein of Noro Kureyon, in color #187. It's very rainbow-ish. I think it, and the other two skeins of it that I bought, will become another stripped scarf, this time in a 2X2 ribbing pattern.

Outside the Lines

I read the latest Mason Dixon book over the past few weeks. This one is called Outside the Lines.

It has the same great tone of the first one. I enjoyed it.

Couple of patterns that I might try:

• Daily Sweater -- this is a top-down sweater using a cotton/microfiber yarn. The specified yarn is Rowan Calmer (which is $12 per skein). I'm hoping to be able to substitute Knitpicks Comfy, which is the same fiber makeup, but is only about $2.50per skein. I've ordered one skein of each of three colors -- Blackberry, Pomegranate and Planetarium. I thought I would play around with colors and do some swatching before committing to the yarn or the pattern.
• There are a pair of cabled socks that look like fun to knit. I have some green sock yarn that I might try with this pattern. For some reason I always think of cables as being green. Why is that?

There are lots of patterns that I won't try, but I enjoyed the whole book. It is wonderfully photographed and written with such a great tone. Really enjoyed it, just like the first one.