limedragon :)

Mysterious Women

(There is a bit of knitting content, I promise!)

You might recognize these names and know what they have in common:

• Karen Grigsby Bates
• Amanda Cross (Carolyn Gold Heilbrun)
• Diane Mott Davidson
• Rosemary White Gatenby
• Carolyn Keene (Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, and others)
• Jane (Gillson) Langton
• Emma Lathen (Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Henissart^*)
• Katherine Hall Page
• Kate Ross

They’re all mystery authors. I thought this was quite appropriate for Halloween.

And what’s more, we all attended Wellesley College. I was already aware of the Stratemeyer connection, but I had no idea Cross, Davidson, or Page went to Wellesley. I’ll definitely be checking out the other authors new to me. Has anyone read most or all of these authors?

By coincidence, I had queried in the Ravelry YarnWords group forum about a long lost and vaguely remembered book I had read during childhood. The book turned out to be The Swing in the Summerhouse, by Jane Langton! In addition to the Homer Kelly mysteries, she writes The Hall Family Chronicles, of which Summerhouse is the second book.

One of the characters, Eleanor Hall, is a knitter! At one point in The Diamond in the Window, she uses the sharp point of a needle as a prying tool. Later, there is a paragraph about the knitted gifts she made. I’m quoting it here because I think it will strike chords with some of you.

…She had knitted something for everybody. Aunt Lily’s present was one mitten with the promise of another. Edward’s was a nose-warmer that buttoned in back. Uncle Freddy’s was an enormously long striped muffler. It dangled to his knees.…  “It was just knit-a-row, purl-a-row,” said Eleanor. “I almost forgot to stop.”
(The Diamond in the Window, Jane Langton, pages 119-120)

I wonder if Langton knits?

Source: “When it comes to murder and mayhem, Wellesley authors are masters,” by Karen Grigsby Bates, Wellesley, Fall 2006.

^*Of the Emma Lathen duo, Latsis is the Wellesley alumna. They also wrote under the pseudonym R.B. Dominic.

Gauging Felt

Before I began work on the two big gifts due later this year, I realized I needed to knit and then full at least one swatch. Normally I don’t worry about gauge and size for felted items since the fulling process controls the end result. These two gifts I’m making are a bit more complicated than a simple bag, slipper, or hat. They need to fit reasonably well, and it would be awful if I went through all the knitting and oh-so-permanent felting to end up with too-small garments.

The designer of the pattern I’m using, Bev Galeskas (of Fiber Trends fame) gives two gauges, one pre- and one post-felting. My first swatch with the recommended needles (US 10 or 6 mm) was way too small for the pre-felting gauge. So, I swatched again, and then a third time and finally achieved gauge with US 11 (8 mm) needles. (Why doesn’t the US include 7 and 7.5 mm in the standard sizes?)

You can see how different the swatch sizes are; the gray was my original, too-small swatch, and the green one is much better. After centering the swatch, I marked off both pre- and post-felting stitch and row counts. It’s only necessary to mark the post-felting gauge, but I did both for my peace of mind. Also, cotton (or another non-felting) yarn must be used as markers.

Another reason I wanted to test swatch is that this project has an edging that is knit-on after felting. I read through the directions and had a vague sense of how it worked. I thought about trying applied i-cord or an edging similar to what is used in the pattern to see how it would felt. In the end, I decided not to do this because I liked the subtly different textures of the felted and un-felted fabrics in the pattern photographs. Continue reading »

Bib Modeling Strategy

1. Stake out potential model’s favorite sleeping spot.
2. Wait until model is asleep.
3. Put camera and bib within easy reach.
4. Wait a little bit longer. model could be faking sleep.
5. Turn on camera.
6. Double check that camera noise didn’t disturb model.
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Bibbage!

As I was working diligently on the baby set for my cousin, I realized I would be remiss if I didn’t whip up a couple of bibs to include in the package. I went stash-diving and found a couple of colorful cottons.

If you think the cast-on (bottom edge) looks wonky on this bib, you would be correct. I had the bright idea to make a ruffled edge. So, after consulting Stanley’s Knitter’s Handbook, I cast on twice as many needed stitches. But I goofed, and forgot to take into account the proportions of garter stitch. Someday I’ll try casting on thrice the amount needed.

(These colors remind me of Cotton Candy…) 

(This last picture is my favorite!)

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Baby Cardi

Remember the purple hat and booties I made for Cousin R’s baby? Here’s the last piece of the set I made.

I didn’t want a set all in the same color, so I chose a marled yarn in a coordinating color for the cardigan. This piece is actually what attracted me to the pattern leaflet when I bought it earlier this summer.

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14,042

(Mini Updates: The vest I was inquiring about in the previous post was identified by Deb as Lucy Neatby’s Equilateral Vest. Thanks everyone! And my Mom found out on Wednesday that she won a door prize at Sheepy Yarn Shoppe. Can’t wait to find out what it is!)

That’s how many stitches I knit during Jury Duty. Or 59 rows. That’s not too bad considering it’s 238 stitches wide.

After having knit with small gauge needles for so long, my transition to big needles felt awkward. I didn’t feel comfortable with the big needles until I had been knitting with them for about a day and half. It went much more smoothly after that and my pace was better.

My group was sent home early a few times and we had long lunch breaks where I didn’t knit. We also got Friday off. I calculated the amount of time I spent in the waiting room: 14.5 hours. That’s less than a thousand stitches per hour, on average.

This thing is freaking huge! What you don’t see in the picture is that I’ve folded the width into half and then half again (4 layers). It dawned on me on the second or third day that I would have a massive thing on my hands. What’s a little bit scary is that I have to knit another one.

Since the above picture was taken, I’ve finished another 50 rows. At this point, I feel like I’m knitting a lapghan. Also, I’m trying not to worry about whether or not I’ve got enough yarn left. Really trying.

Treasure Hunting

This past weekend was the Second Annual “Tools of the Trade Twin Cities LYS Shop Hop.” Because I didn’t go last year, I decided to go on Saturday and asked Mom to go with me.

What I really liked about the Hop is that I got to visit five new-to-me stores. The metro area is so big and sprawling, it’s a bit of a drive to go to most places. We started at Zandy’s Yarn in Burnsville, went up to Needlework Unlimited in Minneapolis/Edina, west to Coldwater Collaborative in Excelsior, then north again to Amazing Threads (but we got a bit lost trying to find this shop), east to Sheepy Yarn Shoppe, and south to The Yarnery in St. Paul, and finally 3 Kittens Needle Arts in Mendota Heights. We left the house at about 9:30 AM and got home just after 4 PM! (Christy of Purling Away made a Google map that shows the shop locations.) Of these 7 stores, I’ve visited only The Yarnery and 3 Kittens previously.

I think Needlework Unlimited was my favorite; there was a TON of patterns, and we spent about 20 minutes there browsing. Amazing Threads was smaller than I expected. Coldwater Collaborative was crowded (bad timing on our part). But overall, all the stores were very nice with a varied selection. (The most common overlap I noticed were the new Marie Mayhew felted kits. The Yarnery recently opened their online shop and have them available for anyone interested who doesn’t live in the area. NAYY; I think they’re pretty cute!)

To prepare for the Hop, I researched each store’s website to see if I could find certain brands or items that interested me and might generally not be found at the other shops. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money or buy a ton of yarn, so I made a shopping list. I managed to stick to it pretty well; I found about half the items on my list, plus a few extra patterns. I set myself a budget and didn’t go over, so in all it was a successful excursion.

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Red Ribs and Cables

These are my first pair of socks completed in about two months. I didn’t think I would be happy with a sock break, but it really helped! In fact, I’ve already started a new pair, this time for gift-giving later this year. Still in the works are the socks for my Hogwarts Sock Swap TWO pal; I must get back to those soon!

The pattern I used is from Sockamania Club KAL; it’s a nice combination of wide ribbing and cables. It was pure luck that these characteristics matched my sock pal’s preferences perfectly. These also qualify for the Socks in the Cities KAL. (I met the hostess, Sarah W, last weekend at The Yarnery, fun!)

This is actually my first time using cables in socks. I don’t think I did too badly. Since this cable is on a stockinette background, it doesn’t pop as much as it would on a purl background. I rather like this subtle effect, which fits the pattern name well.

In these last two pictures, the hint of purple in the reds is more apparent than in other pictures. Oh, and these socks were knit toe-up.

I had extra motivation to finish these quickly so I could mail them off to their new owner overseas without much delay. Fingers crossed, I hope they fit!

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Return of the Cuties

Some people left comments on my previous post about how they hadn’t been able to knit during their time on Jury Duty. Fortunately, I have been able to take along my knitting and work on it while waiting. Our introductory video even showed yarn and needles when listing suggestions of what to do while waiting!

It was a bit odd on Monday; apparently most knitters in this week’s jury pool used the Kellogg Blvd entrance and had their knitting confiscated by security. I used the 4th St entrance and had no trouble. The Jury Supervisor was awesome! He went to the security station and picked up the yarn and needles and returned them to their owners.

It’s also my first time inside the Ramsey County Courthouse. I never realized  (it’s so different looking at a building’s exterior up close and personal than from afar) that it contains fabulous Art Deco features. Even the tiniest detail, like the women’s restroom door handle, is gorgeous.

More knitting—more baby items in my favorite color!

You aren’t seeing double. I knit the same hat and booties again, this time in a lovely purple. These are for another Rachel (with only one L this time), who happens to be my cousin. She was expecting a girl in October; naturally I wanted to knit a few things for them.

I picked up some Louet Gems, and had trouble with the gauge for the hat. As you can see, it turned out smaller than the Panda Wool version. Eeep! It blocked out well, but might not fit for a very long while. This time around, I got the garter stitch border on the lace edging correct. It looks much nicer!

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Peach Cuties

This week, I’ve got Jury Duty. I have no idea if I will be selected to sit on a jury, but I suspect I’ll get a lot of knitting done while waiting. I’m planning to take Big Christmas Gift #1 to work on; my goal is to finish a big chunk if not the whole thing.

Meanwhile, here’s a FO report. I decided to knit up a couple of cute, little pieces for my Knitter’s Virtual Vacation Swap downstream pal, blog-free Rachell, who’s expecting a baby in November.

These are knit with Panda Wool in the Saffron colorway. I chose this color because it was light and gender-neutral but not pastel or babyish.

The pattern gives instructions for the hat to be worked flat and then seamed. I hated the thought of a seam on a baby hat, so I knit it in the round. For the most part, it worked out well, but I mis-translated the garter border for the lace edging as stockinette. It doesn’t look too bad, and I made sure to match this ‘design feature’ on the booties.

These are the first bootees I’ve knit in this style. Admittedly, I never really was a fan of these squarish baby shoes because they remind me of Frankenstein. Now that I have completed a pair, I think they’re cute as heck.

(Ugh… these pictures are blurry in places. I didn’t notice when edited them, my eyeglasses must have been dirty!)

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