Marvelous Mattress Stitch

Last week I learned how to Mattress Stitch and now I'm in love with seaming. Other than my very first knit sweater (Ravelry link) I haven't really knit (or completed) any projects that needed seaming. Until now.

I've been working on a Girl Friday and am nearing completion. After finishing the first sleeve I decided I should start putting the sweater together. A quick internet search for mattress stitch, a quick glance at the instructions and I was off seaming up the sweater back and one of the fronts. I was so stoked by the resulting seam that I stayed up late just to finish my perfect seam.

There's something about seaming with Mattress Stitch that is just SO satisfying. Looping through all those rows of knitting and then pulling tight to line them all up perfectly. And inside the result are these nice little selvedge stitch ridges compactly lined up. Maybe it's that seaming appeals to the perfectionist in me.

Later while working on the second side seam I read ahead in the sweater pattern and realised that the side seams are the last thing that gets done so I stopped it half done. Here's the sweater as of Sunday morning:

I have since finished the second sleeve and am now halfway through the neck & buttonband.

I was so stoked about seaming that I pulled out my good old Cabled Eyelet Ribbed Cardigan which hasn't seen active service since August '08. After finishing the body and one sleeve, blocking the pieces it looked like the sleeve was too long. I planned to seam the shoulders and put in the sleeve to make sure but never got around to it. But with all the seaming fever I picked it up and got right to it. I seamed the shoulders, tried it on and put the sleeve on my arm. It was way too long. After consulting my notes, I measured where the underarm was actually supposed to be and ripped back to that point. Here's where the sweater's at now:

Not much more to go. So after Girl Friday's done, I'm going to continue on and finish this cardigan too. It's going to be like 2 cardigans for the price of one. I'm super excited. Especially with all the seaming ahead of me. Yay seams!

Sample Sock Knitter

On the topic of blog commenting, to bring up my last post. I got some great comments from people that definitely make me feel much less dweebish in commenting on the blogs that I read (and make me feel less guilty for not commenting in the past). it's been a few weeks of me actively trying to comment and I'm happy to report I now feel like I have something worth adding rather than just 'nice scarf, great colours.' And I give myself permission to not force a comment for the sake of commenting (ie. not comment).

Someone asked me how I feel about people commenting here. I personally really look forward to getting comments. It kind of bums me out if I don't get many, making me feel like no one reads this blog except my family. The smelly thing is that my motivation for posting also wanes if I don't get many comments, hence the sporadic posting this last year. I should just get over it and post as I like and not care about the comments. But I do really like them even if Blogger doesn't let me email reply to each one (I do try to for the ones it does let me).

Right. So back to knitting. I've started hanging out a lot at Effiloché and I've been knitting many socks lately. One day Ginette asked if I'd be willing to knit some sample socks for the store to show off the different sock yarns. I was like, uh yeah! All the fun of knitting a sock AND getting to work with all the pretty yarns? You betcha!

Pattern: Interlocking Leaves by Kelly Porpiglia
Materials:Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label Fingering Weight
Modifications: Plugged the lace repeat into a 60 st top down sock
Start Date: October 31, 2009
End Date: November 6, 2009

This latest sock is using Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label Fingering Weight and I am really enamoured with how the sock turned out which is why I'm posting about it. I had the hardest time settling on a pattern to use for this yarn. The request was for a lacy sock and I had the hardest time trying to find a sock I thought was lacy enough but would be a good display sock for the yarn. It was down to two contenders, Hourglass by Bev Elicerio and Interlocking Leaves by Kelly Porpiglia. I even worked a couple of pattern repeats of the Hourglass pattern before switching. The pattern just wasn't doing it for me. I think the acid green in the project photos is just too perfect for the pattern.

I really just used the lace chart from the pattern and plugged it into my usual top down sock construction. I was partway through knitting the foot of the sock before I realised that the pattern is for a toe up sock and that my leaves were going the wrong way. Duh! Don't tell Ginette! I also kind of goofed when turning the heel. I started leaving out the k1 after the decrease and unintentionally made a square heel. It looks really cool so I went with it rather than taking it out. Oh and for the final repeat of lace on the foot, I changed the reverse stockinette to stockinette so that it would blend more seamlessly into the toe of the sock.

Now I'm going to rave about the yarn. I really LOVED working with the Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label Fingering Weight (longest yarn name evers). It was super nice to knit with. And the colour! Really nicely saturated Peacock blue with nice subtle variations of other blues in there. Nothing strong enough to draw your attention to any kind of patterning but enough to give depth. And when I steam blocked the sock, the yarn really got a gorgeous drape to it. Slinky silky wonderful.

Oh and I did really enjoy the lace pattern too. This pattern (in all it's toe-up glory) is in my queue for a future pair of socks.

No comment

I'm a big blog reader. I've got quite the list of blogs in my reader that I read through during the day. But I'm not really a big blog commenter. In fact I usually just don't comment. Like not at all.

That's right. I lurk. I'm a blog lurker.

But I really don't like that term. It makes me seem like I'm some sort of shady character reading someone's blog, quietly scheming as I read each entry, slowly plotting some sort of evil plan. But that's not me at all. I like reading about people's process, seeing pictures of their latest project or lamenting the lack of glitter glue in the world today. Most of the time I just don't have anything to add. Well like pretty much all the time I'm without response. Nothing to say.

Usually this doesn't bother me at all. But lately it feels like I'm not fully participating in the whole crafty blog world. I'm not part of the conversation, just listening in. Or something.

So I've started to make an effort to comment on the blogs I read regularly. It's only been a few days of it and I'm still at that point where I feel stupid for being the 12th person to say 'neat sweater' and have nothing better to add. But I figure it will get better. At some point I'll be used to saying something and won't feel like such a dweeb.

'Great job! Love the colours!'

Leaf Lace Scarf

This yarn has been burning a hole in my stash since February. Really dying to be knit. Even while working on other projects I've kept one eye on the lace patterns trying to find something worth using this super squishy awesome yarn. There were a couple of shawl contenders but would have been a stretch with one skein.

I came across this pattern during a crafternoon with Mr. Peabody and knew immediately it was THE pattern for this yarn.

I initially cast on as written in the pattern, with 4.5mm needles and two pattern repeats. After one chart repeat I could see the gauge was too loose and the scarf too narrow for my liking. I ripped and restarted on 3.0mm needles with an extra pattern repeat and went to town knitting away until the whole skein was used up.

Pattern: Haruha scarf by Mari Muinonen
Materials: Malabrigo Yarn Lace in Sealing Wax
Start Date: approx. September 30, 2009
End Date: October 24, 2009

I. Love. This. Yarn. Love it. Malabrigo lace is super soft squishy fabulous. With just enough spin to keep the fibres together this yarn is super nice to knit with. And the resulting fabric is just great. A nice density but really light too. The scarf is quite warm for how thin and light it is.

This scarf has been my pseudo mindless knitting in cafés, hanging out in yarn stores, at work during lunch for the past while. Mindlessly adding inches here and there in between working on other projects. Now I have to really think about what I want to work on next. Or maybe I'll just cast on for another mindless scarf in the meantime.

Some contenders include:
Lace Ribbon Scarf
Anne
Chevron Scarf

Fall Repeats

I enjoyed the Jaywalkers that I made for my mom so much that I had to make myself a pair out of similarly striped yarn.

Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina
Materials: Regia Crazy Color 5437
Start Date: September 16, 2009
End Date: September 24, 2009

I knit these pretty much as written. The second skein started with the right colour to match up the stripes but unfortunately not at the same point of the colour repeat so the stripes don't quite match up. I did debate about starting at the next repeat of the colour but unraveling all that yarn seems like a waste to me. The stripes are in sync enough that it's not too jarring. A person has to be really evaluating the harmony of the stripes to notice it which is good enough for me. My general attitude towards matching stripes is pretty lax. I don't mind if socks end up being fraternal twins rather than a matched set.

The kind of unfortunate thing about these socks is the fit. They're a bit on the loose side. I may try running them through the dryer to try and get a better fit but in the meantime they're hanging out in the house socks.

Oh and I generally really love the colour combination.

September Shortie Harvest socks

Another super quick pair of socks. It's taken me way longer to post these socks than the time it took for me to knit them.

To be honest I'm not really smitten with them. The colours don't grab me. The pattern wasn't very fun around the ankle. The only part I like is the 1x1 rib over the foot. Makes for a squishy foot that breaks up the stripes nicely.

Unfortunately these socks have put me off knitting the next instalment of the Rockin' Sock Club. I have yet to wind the skein into a yarn cake. I think I may be done with knitting socks for a bit.

Pattern: In Season by Melissa Morgan-Oakes
Materials: 'Garden Daze' Socks that Rock lightweight Sock club for July
Start Date: September 6, 2009
End Date: September 13, 2009

And the socks don't photograph well either. Generally mheh all around.

Eleven day socks

Late to the party and after the crosswalkers, I finally made a pair of Jaywalkers. I have had this yarn hanging around in my stash for a while waiting to become a great pair of socks and I think is well suited to the Jaywalker pattern. My mom got to pick the yarn for her own pair of socks while in Montreal.

Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina
Materials: Austermann Step colour 11
Start Date: August 20, 2009
End Date: August 31, 2009

After the Fraggle Squiggle socks this was a mindless pattern once set up but enjoyably so. I was quite surprised with how quickly the socks progressed. I finished the first sock really quickly in a few days and took a bit longer with the second. These were the quickest socks I've knit all summer.

The only change I made to the pattern was making the gusset decreases right next to the pattern increases instead of having 1 stitch buffer. This change makes it so that the gusset decreases merge better into the existing pattern.

This was the first pair of socks where I went to the trouble to match up the stripes from one sock to the next. This made it easier to track the lengths as I was knitting. Instead of measuring to know where I was, I would read where I was in the stripes instead.

I did my best to make these mom sized socks, but trying them on to take pictures I realised they were a pretty good fit for me. I'm pretty sure I'll make another pair of Jaywalkers with my own toes in mind. Great pattern, great socks.