KnitterMan

Several months ago, during a particularly (oddly) slow period, I was on the phone with my daughter wondering why people weren’t buying yarn.  And the next day it all broke loose and orders started coming in.  Very cool.   I joked and said I’d call her and whine if business got really dangerously slow again.  hehehehehe.

This evening she was here working on a homework assignment, and we had some time to just chat (yaaayyy… I love having that, even for just a short while, to connect and touch base and keep up with stuff).    She’d read this blog (!) and specifically asked about the Chocoblue yarn I wrote about yesterday.  She wanted to see up-close the weird blue effect.  She held a skein while I showed her the rest of the bundle.  She fondled it, admiring the tiny hints of blue.  And we talked about lace and the hats project and other projects I want to do and the effect of color placement on swirling paths around a sock and so forth.   And then I put the Chocoblue yarn back in the bin, she packed up her papers and went on her way.

Not even 5 minutes after she left, I opened my email, and there was a request for the entire bundle of 5 skeins of Chocoblue.   Since she’s about 30-40 minutes drive away, she was still on the road,  I got on the phone and told her she HAD to turn around and come back right away.     I need her to fondle EVERY skein!  LOL

Was that wrong of me?  hehehehehehehe

(No, she knew I was kidding, but I just thought it was weird she’d ask specifically about THAT yarn, and THAT is the one that sold.)

Yesterday I finished up dyeing the really-big lace dye order <*whew*>.    One of the batches was the Shamrock colorway.

That batch is now in it’s THIRD wash (WASH, not rinse) to make sure all the excess dye is removed.  Geez.

I am going to have to severely restrict future laceweight orders, because 100% wool does NOT behave the same as sock yarn.  When I dye sock yarn, the nylon generally keeps the colors where I put it, but some of my colorways on pure wool simply don’t come out looking like I want.   The colors are there and they pass general standards, but I’m not happy.    I think I’m going to restrict the laceweights to just semi-solids and fades and gradients.  Putting more than 3 colors on a skein, no matter how well I apply the dye, no matter how well I blot, once it is sealed and put into the steamer, the colors just seem to go wherever it wants…  aaarrrrgggghhhhh….

BUT, on the other hand, that provides an opportunity for creating a bunch more semi solids on JUST laceweight — colorways that won’t appear on the Sock yarns.

Oy….

And, for the record, my hands have taken on a slightly greenish cast.   Hmmmmm….

This:

Is a slightly lightened picture of the Biagio ChocoBlue that I just posted to the Specials Page.  I lightened the picture specifically to show off the amazing BLUE undercast.   Do you see it?  I tried adding blue to a vat of chocolate browns that were simmering.   I aimed the blue to a part of the yarn that was out of the water (deliberately supported away from the brown) before releasing it into the vat.   The blue struck first, and then little bits of brown went over it…. but in a weird way.   When you look at the strands close up, the front side is blue, and the back is brown!     I know what I did, but I expected it to simply create a more chocolatey-brown (semi-sweet dark) but the blue insisted in showing itself.  There is no way the picture can actually do it justice, and I was tempted to keep it.

But really, now…. it’s not like I don’t have enough projects to work on.   And I really do need to actually sell yarns in order to be able to claim that I am “in business”.   hahahahahahahaha.    So, against my better judgment I’m putting this up on the Specials Page, at the regular $15.95 apiece, for each 4 ounce skein.  There’s only 5 total in the batch (one and a quarter-pounds), so that would be $79.75 for the whole collection, and $7.50 shipping.   BUT if you zip me off an email before any of them are taken, you can have the bunch for just $70.00 (and just $5.00 shipping). Once someone buys one, the deal goes away, of course.

Oh, and here’s some other SOCK yarn I just posted to the Specials page.   They’re all fine yarn, just all one-of-a-kind, some in the FADES collection, some are just extras that were dyed and not needed.

Okay, just a couple of weeks ago (June 14), after a snarky comment from a granddaughter about dye spots on the floor, I spent a good chunk of a day on my hands and knees brush-scrubbing my kitchen floor.   It was all nice and clean and sparkly and wonderful.

This morning, I was rinsing out the batch of Cappuccino on lace weight, and realized it didn’t have the darkness the recipe calls for.   (Laceweight takes up colors in a manner different from sock yarns with nylon.)  So I decide as long as it is wet, I’ll just mix up a batch of “darker coffee” and spot it to create the requisite colorings.

This  would be the brown and black dyes in my secret proportions.

Dyes come in powder form.   The dye molecules are flat, not round, and can slide up under your cuticle or into other places.   There is a reason for gloves and dust mask at all times.

Dye powders are gently lifted out on a measuring spoon and travel as little distance as possible between starting jar and ending jar.  Scoop dye powder, level off with leveler tool, lift measuring spoon straight UP, move laterally to mixing jar, lower measuring spoon straight down INTO mixing jar, then turn spoon and release dye powder into the safe confines of the mixing jar.

It is NOT a good thing when the measuring spoon accident taps the edge of a jar.   It is not a good thing to fail to notice said tap.  It is likewise NOT a good thing to proceed dyeing (and splattering drops of water onto the floor) without noticing there’s a half spoon of black and brown dye powders on the floor …. with water droplets … while wearing textured sneakers … and walking back and forth across the kitchen to pick up yarn, then re-dye the yarn, then move it to the waiting rack, then  moving it all into the steamer.

HOLY MOLEY!!!!!

The only consolation (and I mean ONLY consolation) is that it was all still wet, and after a bunch of mopping around, it came up.   Have you ANY IDEA how far a half spoon of black dye will go when it is wet and tracked around and around on the floor?

Oh, and the OTHER half spoon of dye powder??    Well, I found THAT clinging to the front of my shorts.  My light KHAKI colored shorts.   Ever-so-gently I walk outside, thinking “Dry powder on dry pants — brush it off, easy-squeazy.”    And there’s a convenient brush out on the porch.

Ummm….  said brush was wet from rains.   My nice khaki shorts are now sporting a “bruise” over the left leg.  Dammit.    Fortunately they are cotton, so “most” of it will come out, but I’m sure there will be a stain remaining.

<*sigh*>

“Well, yes, Mrs. Lincoln, but how did you like the rest of the play until that part?”

So anyway … here I am now …. Cappuccino re-dye in the steamer.  Clean floor.   Clean pants.   Will begin the last of the lace weight dyeing in a few minutes.   But first I’m taking pictures of a pile of yarns that must be sold quickly, so that’ll be my next post.   I’ll be back shortly.

Today I get to do some Cappuccino, Art School Sr, some Shamrock, some Firefly … and a batch of Dusky Beach as well… all in lace weight.   That’s almost 30 skeins.  eek.   I will do my best to get it ALL done today.   I also have to do some dump dyes first, in order to empty my jars in order to do the ordered stuff, so I’ll be doing up a bunch of Biagio dump dyes first.   Wheeeee…. bizzy bizzy.

Too many projects today, I’m afraid.   And not enough time.   See ya!

And worth every step!

I was getting all my stuff together, acting like I was going to dye a bunch today.  Uh-huh.   Yeah, right.

No, really, I was.

Oh, but in order to dye, I need to have plastic wrap to hold the yarn in the steamer.    And y’member last week I was going to go get plastic wrap?   But then I didn’t.

Well, there was no way around it.  I had to go.

So, I set off for Sam’s Club, which I thought was the other side of the freeway, across from Uvalde.  So I walk over to Uvalde, down Uvalde to the freeway, under the overpass, and there I was — facing smack dab into the front of ….

HOME FRICKIN’ DEPOT!!!

wtf?

I nearly peed myself I was so mad.

I KNEW it had to be around here somewhere, and I had already looked it up on their Web site to see if they actually had what I wanted, so I knew the store was around in that area.    I walked across this massive humongous gigantic parking lot area, around some other stuff, and finally saw Sam’s Club… wwwwaaaayyyyy over at the other end of this concrete swamp.

Hell, I could have come down Freeport and saved myself at least an extra 20 minutes of walking.  Sheesh.

Mind you, it’s hot, it’s humid, I’ve walked and I’m pretty sweaty…. walk into Sam’s Club, get hit with the A/C and suddenly I really do gotta go pee.   I get started doing what I’m there to do, and my phone rings.  My phone NEVER EVER rings.  And when it does, it’s never EVER one of my kids during the day.  Except this time.  My oldest. It MUST be important, so with my free hand I answer it.

“Hi, Dad.   Are you busy?”

“Uhhh… I’m in the restroom at Sam’s Club.”

And of course I can’t just walk away quietly because those urinals are equipped with sensors, so they will flush loudly if you walk away.   So I’m standing there, holding the phone in one hand, myself in the other, my cane and my canvas carry bag in another, and holding onto the top of the urinal pipe fixture with another (why do men do that, anyway?   Why do men just HAVE to rest a hand or arm on top of the fixture?)  …. and some old fart walks in.  (Poor old man!)   So I gotta repackage and zip myself with one of my other free hands (are you keeping count?) and move toward the washbowl or risk looking completely foolish standing there talking at a urinal!   I move away from it and

<*WHOOOSHHH!*> goes the automatic flusher.  (damn!)

I put DD1 on the speaker and set her on the ledge over the washbowl (the ledge that is never large enough to actually put anything useful) while I wash up, all the while talking about an upcoming homework assignment.   And I realize Mr. Old Man is simply waiting for me and Ms. Female Voice on the Phone to leave already dammit!

Well, I thought it was funny, anyway — since the ONE TIME in six months I’m not at home, and the ONE TIME I actually use a public facility, that HAS to be time ONE time my daughter calls during the day.

Anyway, I found it absolutely hilarious.   Maybe you just had to have been there.   Whatever.

So I get my plastic wrap.   This huge box is 20 inches long, 5 inches thick, 5 inches tall.   About 15 pounds.  Thankfully I had my largest canvas bag with me, and my water battle (hurray for foresight).   The space between Sam’s Club and the WalMart entrance at the end of Freeport is mostly undeveloped property with a 3-inch little ‘curb’ between me and the traffic on the freeway frontage road.  A drop off into muddy grossness on the other side of me, with my canvas bag slung over my shoulder, throwing me off balance.

That sucker got really heavy really fast.   And awkward!

But I made it back under the freeway and stopped at the Texaco for a couple big bottles of Gatorade — I was sweating way too much.  And again the phone rings.   Dang, I’m popular today, huh?    This time it was the mill to tell me a couple items would be delayed 2-3 days.  Away from my computer and without reference to see who had ordered which ones,  I could only say “If it’s just 2-3 days for those, just hold the other stuff and send the entire order at one time.”  (I’m still well within the 7-14 days time allowance for special orders from the mill, so it’s okay.)     And I was soooo grateful there was a convenient ledge at the Texaco station where I could perch the edge of my butt and rest a moment on the phone.    (Can someone tell me why a ledge that can hold an entire phone directory somehow manages to only fit half a butt on it???)

And then I trudged my way back up Freeport, and down my street.     Two hours and twenty minutes from the time I left until the time I got back.   Just there and back (thanks to the longer-than-necessary route) was 4.6 miles, and that’s not counting the other half-a-mile wandering around inside Sam’s Club to the restroom and then back to the other side to find the plastic wrap.   Sheesh, you’d think they’d install moving walkways or something!

By the time I could see my own block way down the road, I was plenty ready to just sit down and rest right where I was.   Man, what a walk!   But an unleashed, unrestricted Chow-Chow mix dog decided I didn’t belong on his block and he barked and snarled at me a good long ways.   Nope, no stopping to catch my breath or wipe my brow on that block.  Nosirree, not on his turf!

But I went and did what I needed to do, and now I’m back home.  And today’s yarns for dyeing are in the soaker bin, getting ready to dye.  That will take 3 hours, give or take a bit.   So I have time to take a nap.   Oh and did I mention I didn’t get to bed until after 11:00 and was up before 3:30 this morning?   So add a touch of “tired” to the “hot and sweaty”.  

(Yes, yes, I could have just written: “Went to Sam’s Club for plastic wrap.”   But what fun would that have been?)

On the plus side (I mean, besides getting to talk to my daughter and getting the plastic wrap), I now know the short route to get there, AND I know that there’s a generally suitable path over which to carry my granny cart next time I need to go there.  Yippeeee!   I saw some nice shorts for under $12, and some other cool stuff I’d like to get when I have some money.  And now that I’ve gone and returned, I know I can do so again.

And now… time to rest a bit.    See ya!

this morning I had to do a load of wash and hang it on the line.

I’ve had my clothes pins in a little pan that would ride in the clothes basket out and back.

But thanks to a useful tip on Ravelry, which I personalized and made my own, I now have a clothes pin bucket:

And here’s a more frontal view so you can see how long a hand hole I cut:

I started with an empty vinegar bucket and cut around the bottom of it. Then I punched holes neatly around.

“Oooohhhhh, Ray, your holes are so neatly spaced, however did you do it?” cried the adoring audience.

No compass and protractors for me, nosirreee!  (and we already know my math is out of whack this weekend!)

Nope, no figuring at all.

I took the wall clock off the wall

Put the bottom-removed jug on top of it

And put a little dot with a marking pen lining up with all 12 numbers. Then I turned the jug so the dots were between the numbers, and marked another set of dots at the numbers. Voilà!   24 almost-evenly spaced dots, ready for the hole punch!   (Notice, I didn’t have brains enough to photograph it AS I DID IT but you can see what I did.)

Then I took some of that cheezy crappy kitchen cotton and crochet a little mesh pouch to hang underneath and hold the clothes pins.    I did that because I was afraid the jug along might not hold all the clothes pins without having them fall out the top.   Plus, in case I left it hanging outside, the rain would simply flow through and drain out.  I suppose I could have just cut a few drain holes.   But now, if I need more room, I can cut off the old bag and crochet a larger one.

For those who are curious:   it was kitchen cotton, worsted weight, and an H crochet hook.    Draw one loop up through a hole to get started (remember, those holes are the ones you punch out where you marked the dots around the clock).  Then chain 3, sc in next hole, all the way around to the start, and then just ch3, sc in next ch3 space around and around a few times.   After a while, you’ll want to start closing the bag, so just *sc in next ch3 space, ch2, repeat from *, so you now have ch2 spaces instead of ch3 spaces.  And then do it with ch1 spaces.   And then to close it up even more, do *ch2, skip next ch1 space, sc in next ch1 space.

There’s no real “pattern” involved, just crochet a mesh bag, and make it smaller.

Oh, and you notice I cut straight though the bottom of the jug handle.   This makes it super easy to slip it over the clothes line, sliding it along, take it to the next line, etc.   My clothes line runs in a square-ish shape, firmly tied around 5 trees.

Y’member near the first of the month I was telling you about a mysterious stinky problem in the workroom?  And then the landlady came and found a problem with the vent ducts underneath, and the stinky sorta went away?

Well, it’s been haunting me again for the last week or so.  Actually, it never totally went away, but was noticeably better after the landlady was here, so I figured they knew about the problem and would be back to work on it.

Well, okay…. so now it’s this weekend, right.

I’m in the workroom, noticing that stinky smell again.  <*phew*>!!!!   stinky.

The “workroom” is actually the second bedroom, and it has a half-bath attached — just a sink and a toilet.  Suitable for overnight guests, but otherwise you’d have to get naked for a shower and go traipsing through to the other end of the house to bathe.   Personally, I wouldn’t care, but others might … if there were, in fact, any others here.

Anyway, I never EVER use that bathroom because the toilet runs slow.  I use that little space for storing the lawnmower, rakes, and weed-whacker thingie — basically it is my gardening shed, okay?

And suddenly, like a flash of brilliance (which is my normal state, of course, but sometimes it goes on the fritz), it dawned on me…. I have never EVER used the little sink in there.   Which means that the water trapped in the bend of the drain pipe must have evaporated over the last 22 months, and with the water in the trap evaporated, normal sewer gases were able to come back out into the room.

OMG, how friggin’ easy could it be?  Just run some water, let the trap fill up, and now there’s water in the trap to block sewer gases.

Why it didn’t occur to be before, I’ll never know.   But now my house doesn’t smell like someone just pooped in the living room!   Wheeee!!!

Okay,  now back to work.

LizzieK8 just asked:

Is the nipple effect being caused by decreasing too much too often?

Actually, if my math serves me correctly, the protruding nipple effect comes from a decrease and then NOT decreasing soon enough, so that a tube is formed, and then decreasing again to flatten the tip.  So, let’s say you are decreasing 8 stitches every other row… you knit 48 around, then decrease to 40, then knit 40 around, then decrease to 32, then knit 32, then decrease to 24, then knit 24, then decrease to 16, then knit 16, then knit 16 again, and again, and then finally decrease to 8 and cinch it off.  Those 2-3 rows where the 16-stitch count remains constant will rise like a tube.

Or if you are doing a EZ-Pi-style decrease….  knit 72 around, knit 6 rounds, then K2tog all around to make it 36, then knit 3 plain rounds, K2tog all around to make 18, knit 1 plain round, then K2tog all around to make 9, then cinch off those 9.

This is actually fairly easy and straightforward and works with mathematical precision each time.

The confounding factor was that I was ALSO trying to work in slip-stitch to use two different colors, so I wasn’t actually dealing with every stitch in every round.  And I’ve seen plenty of other hats that others have done where a very neat and tidy decrease is accomplished, and you can see the two different colors being worked so as to create neat spokes, and the center lies flat.   Unfortunately, the places where I have seen pictures do not also have instructions.

When knitting a flat piece, knitting a row of color A, and then a row of Color B, you essentially only work one full row of stitches (all of the Color A stitches and all of the Color B stitches).  Likewise, working stranded, you work the A and the B stitches simultaneously but still just work the one full row.  But working in slip-stitch mode (first all the A stitches of the Row/Round and then all of the B stitches in the Row/Round) is different because all of the B stitches are slightly higher than all of the A stitches.   Trust me, it’s a result of working only one color at a time, building layer upon layer.   It’s a slight miniscule difference, but it does exist.

And for me, for some reason my brain is just not wrapping itself easily around the mathematics of decreasing in a circle to a center point, while simultaneously knitting in a slip-stitch mode, one color at a time.   Theoretically, men are “supposed” to be better at spatial reasoning and dimensions and angles and all that sort of mathematical stuff.   Bullshit.

So, I plod along, trying thing and trying that.

Last night I crocheted a little chain and tried to start a hat in just ONE color on 3 dpns, and even that screwed up.   AAaaarrrggghhhhh….  But I will try again.   Because I refuse to be bested by some inanimate object!

<*whew*>  I survived the day with the Grandkids!

I didn’t do so well with my Bond.  I started a new project for the kids to work on.    Well, dammit, the stupid idiotic friggin’ machine simply REFUSED to work.  I spent an hour just getting it to work, and only made 18 rows of progress.  Stitches kept falling off.  And all I wanted to do was get it started and let the girls take turns knitting along, but it would simply not work.   So we did other stuff.

Today I finished the knitting part of the project — it was supposed to be a carry-bag, like for groceries and “stuff”.   The construction was pretty good, but I am not at all impressed with using cheap kitchen cotton.  Not only does the stuff bias, it splits horribly along the way.   I’ve got it seamed across the bottom and up the back, but I’m procrastinating on whether to add the handle I had envisioned, or to just pitch it aside and say to hell with it.

Meanwhile, I have a concept for another hat (imagine that! another hat!) but this time starting at the top center.  I really really REALLY need to master the crown decreasing closures so I’m going to start the center and work my out, so that I can reverse the direction better the next time around.   Math is math (well, it is, isn’t it?) so I’m hoping if I calculate outward by starting at the center, reversal should help me conquer the damned “nipple effect” I’ve gotten on a few of my hats.

Plus I have a BOX of yarns begging to be knit into an amazingly lace work shawl.

OH! and this afternoon (interrupting a gloriously fun naptime — dang it, it was such a cool dream sequence), the mail carrier knocked to announce delivery of a box of lace weight yarns.   So, tomorrow and Monday I’m dyeing up a big laceweight order.

AND, Sue from Louisiana has challenged me to come up with a colorway that calls to mind the iridescence of Mother of Pearl.   I “thought” I knew what it looked like, but after an image search on Google, I am learning new things about the inner lining of an abalone shell!    I’ll post some pictures of what I’m planning to work from, along with testings.  Depending on how quickly I can do all these lace weight orders it may be Monday or Tuesday before I can do the Mother of Pearl, but it sounds like it will be a fun challenge.   Also, tomorrow I will be posting some oddments and extras from the last week.  

Onward into the rest of the weekend.

Okay, so I’ve sent out as many ads/notices as I can about the end-of-June discounts.  I need to have about $500 in sales each week in order to break even on household expenses AND restock my yarns and dyes and stuff…  Grrrrr…

And I keep forgetting to update the front page of the Web site, so when visitors first pop in they don’t always see the latest goings on.  Dang it.  Dang it.   I just put the latest reminder notice up there, and will see about moving the blog to the front page or something, making it easier for everyone to really be on top of the lastest-greatest whatevers might be happening.

Anyway, I have grandkids coming over today, so I’ll be away from the computer having some Grampa Time.  Yaayyyy…..    Gotta run.

I just posted the pattern for the Loopy Cap over on the Patterns page.

Okay…. it only took a few hours (due to breaktimes), but here’s a prototype. Whattaya think?

it looks a little goofy on that headshape. There’s a yellow innerfacing under the picot-edged hem. And up at the top I did one decrease round (going from 96 to 48), put in 12 eyelets, and knit 4 more rows, and then I did 16 3-stitch I-Cords to bind off the end. I don’t like how it turned out because the I-cord made the last full knit row spread out, so I think next time I’ll overlap the starting stitches of the I-cords. Then I made another I-Cord, ran it through the 12 eyelets to make a cinch-cord closure.

I just went back through the comments and I’ll be darned if I can find it now — dang it… anyway, someone in the last few weeks (since I started these hats) suggested using the cinch-cord type of closure as a sort of fun-and-funky thing that younger folks might like. I’ll have to go back to my comments and see if I can’t find it, so I can give proper credit for that idea. harrumph!

ETA:  ah-HA!  it was LizzieK8 who suggested the eyelets and I-cord cinching; it was in an email after a comment, not in the comment directly.  No wonder I didn’t find it right away!   Thanks, LizzieK8!

Next time I’ll make the hem larger/deeper, to allow for inserting an elastic band for those who like that. And the color bands … I’ll make the lower ones just 10 rows instead of 12. It’s hard to see that above the green band there is an equal size blue band hiding up under the loopies on top.

Actually, what I might do is re-work this into a Mardi Gras style hat for next year.

Oh! and I-cord on the knitting machine is soooooooo insanely easy! With a full set of properly written instructions, anybody could whip out one of these in an hour and a half, no problem. It’s way much more easier than futzing around with all those decrease rows and wasting off and re-hanging. And, this pattern could be done with the solid-and-variegated contrasting patterning, as on my other hands. I did this one in solid bands only as a prototype to start figuring height and sizing and the mechanics of it.

So…. whattaya think? The mailcarrier liked it when I showed her.

Candi asks:

Are you using sock weight yarn or worsted for your hand knit hats?

All of the hats in the Charity Hat series are worsted weight, and so far just using up gobs and gobs of leftovers from my personal stash — and that is for two reasons: first, it is helping me drastically reduce my personal stash, and second, to show that anyone can take seemingly disparate oddments and put them together into a useful, functional piece for someone in need. Charitable crafting can be a way to take what you have but don’t need, and turn it into something someone else needs but doesn’t have.

As for the knitting part, so far I’ve been trying to play with some of Barbara Walker’s very simple mosaic knitting patterns, pitting solids against variegated yarns. I’m trying to keep them in 4 or 6 row repeats, and 4, 5, or 6 stitch repeats.

So, it’s worsted weight yarns, on size 8 needles (I could probably go down to size 7, but I don’t have size 7 DPNs that I can find). I think size 7 needles would make a slightly firmer cap, and because many homeless don’t have neatly shaved heads, I really want to keep these on the slightly larger size.

The ribbing is 10 rounds of 1×1 rib, on 88 stitches. Cast on 89, and join the last and first stitches togehter (K2tog) to create the circle, being careful not to twist the stitches. Put a marker there at the join, and just knit 10 round of 1×1. Later on in this series, I will be working up some hemmed edgings rather than ribbed, as well as some roll-edged hats that require no special treatments. I think, though, that for the rolled edge versions, I’ll do 3 rounds on Size 7 needles and then switch, so that the rolling part stays at the edge and the whole hat doesn’t roll up into a new condom shape (begging your pardon, for the faint of heart).

OMG!!!!! I just thought of something else…. The Condom Hat …. make it deliberately roll up flat so that it looks like a new condom on purpose!!!! Hmmmmmm…… (sometimes I scare myself when my brain runs loose, y’know?)

Anyway, after the ribbing (or hemming) on the 11th round, you will increase 8 or 10 or 12 stitches, depending on the stitch pattern. At this point you introduce the contrasting variegated yarn and begin your patterning, and reset your row counter, or whatever counting device you are using. It really helps to know what sort of decreasing you want to use, because your stitch count will need to be easily divisible into the final cinching round. 96 stitches can be divided by both 6 and by 8, so it is a handy number to use. And I do my increases by lifting the bar between stitches, and knitting into the back of it to form a twist and close the gap. Others might prefer the “knit into front and back” method, or the lifted-stitch increase. It doesn’t matter, as long as there are no really visible holes in it.

All of the hats in the Charity Hat series will have (1) an edge treatment or rib or hem; (2) the body patterning, and (3) the decrease crown treatment. The hat that I am going to do this morning, however, is completely different, using a technique someone else suggested the other day. I won’t say who it was until I’m done and I have a picture to show off.

I have some yarns in soaking for a dye session later this afternoon, so between now and then I need to go pack up the You Nork Mets orders and then spend the day on the knitting machine.

See ya!

Another hat done.   This is the teal and sherbet colors I showed you a couple days ago.

and the crown:

I am particularly excited by the way the colors swirl around in a pattern MUCH more interesting than the appear in the original ball of yarn.  Probably because of the teal contrasting against it, huh?

And I would like to point out that the center decrease at the top of the crown is NOT (this time) formed into a nipple!   Yippeeeeeee!!!!!!

I still didn’t get it quite right, and need to recalculate the decreases, but I am really really happy with this hat.  Almost happy enough to keep this particular one for myself.   But I suppose once I write the instructions and pattern I can easily enough re-create something similar.  This one is part of the Charity Hats collection, so I won’t keep it for myself.

It is also interesting to note that because this was knit in the round, the spiraling color bands will NOT occur the same way in a hat knit flat and then seamed.  The variegated yarn has to stay flowing in the same direction in order to force the color changes to stack in a certain way.  But combining a variegated yarn with a solid color makes a very lovely Faux Isle patterning.  This has been explored by other designers for years so I won’t push too far in that direction.   It’s just interesting to see the application here.

Now, off to bed shortly.

So far, nobody has claimed the Reds that I showed earlier.  I’ll put them onto the Specials page at regular price with the others tomorrow or Wednesday.

Well, okay, so it dried (and I didn’t re-measure the hank length).  Here’s those two over-dyed red hanks:

As I mentioned it was originally a red and white yarn, supposed to be for a Red Sox fan (I’ll do that one over for her, of course), and then because it was sooo NOT the right way, I just threw it in a pot with a bunch of other leftovers ranging from yellows to golds to oranges to reds …. it was all thoroughly mixed into the pot before lowering the dye, so I don’t know why it didn’t dye more evenly as a blend.   But after lowering the yarn into the pot and letting it sit a while, then I squirted in a bit of Knitivity Blue (leftover from the You Nork Mets).     And that didn’t stick in one place, either, but migrated around a bit.

So there it is…  I’m sure it will make someone happy, but I personally find it difficult to look at.  I don’t think I could successfully wear this color (rusty dried-blood reds just don’t make me look good).   First come, first served, $45 for the pair, shipping included on this one just to get it out of the house quickly.

Weird, huh?

Yesterday I had some orders to dye.  I wound off equal sized hanks, eight to be exact, all on the same skein winder.  They are all dyed in the same way at the same (relative) time.  There were six You Nork Mets, and two that were a custom order for a Red Sox fan.   The You Nork Mets all came out fine, but the Red Sox batch was sooooo horribly wrong that I didn’t even let it dry, but stuck it into an overdye pot and now it looks like curdled blood on the sidewalk.  ICK!

Anyway, the You Nork Mets went to the rack this morning.   The Red Sox (Sick Reds) spent the day in the dye pot, then a wash, then a rinse, then a conditioner, and just went to the rack a little bit ago.

Check it out:

These eight hanks of yarn were all done on the SAME winder.   What I’d like to know is if the overdye (a second full processing) stretched the SickReds or if the yarns actually do draw up and shrink that much as they dry?   And if that is the case, should I be drying them flat on a rack instead of hanging them?    I never EVER weight them, of course because I know that would stretch them, but I’m wondering if hanging them at all might be an issue….?

In all my time doing this, I’ve never had two batches actually reaching the rack at different times.  I do whole batches, and when they are done and sent to the winding station or the packing station, other yarns go to the drying racks, so I have never before had occasion to notice this odd phenomenon of different sized hanks.   And no, even when I gently pull the shorter ones they don’t achieve the length of the SickReds.

O’course maybe tomorrow when everything is fully dry, the SickReds might have drawn up to match the You Nork Mets, so it will be a non-issue, I suppose.   There are no rains predicted for overnight, so I might let them stay out during the night to finish drying.

Do any of you fine wonderful scholarly folks have any bits of wisdom on the matter?

If I knew what I was doing, I could probably get a job somewhere!

Yeah, yeah, I know….  I already HAVE a job, but sometimes I feel like SUCH A DOOFUS!!!!

This afternoon, I went to the machine and got started working up a different version of the machine hat pattern.  It’s a slip stitch pattern, basically similar to the latest picture of the hand-knit hat I’m working on, except on the machine I’m not bothering with re-forming the stitches into purls.  It was a bug-a-boo because each color took two rows, but on the machine you have to select needles for slip stitch after EVERY row, unlike selecting for tuck stitch where the needles stay selected until you make them do something else.

Anyway, after several repeats, I wasted off so I could take it up and look at it:

Pretty cool, huh?

Uhhh… no.   Look again:

That’s one of THREE different stitches across the project that fell off way back.   Dang!  And each of the three dropped stitches happened at different rows.

Sooooo…. I’m thinking it’s not smart to write up patterns that depend a lot on selecting needles every row, slipping stitches and hoping they catch.

It’s okay, there are GOBS of other cool ways to make a hat.   Just not this particular way. 

And now the afternoon thunderstorms are coming…  Time to shut down the computer.   See ya!

This morning while chatting on Ravelry, I was free-flowing with some random thoughts, and I thought (some of) you might enjoy this little piece I wrote, rather off the cuff:

Tantric Knitting – practicing the art of Kama Knitra

Two hearts entwined shall beat as one
from crack of dawn till set of sun.
With steady gaze they purl and knit
each tender stitch as still they sit.
From deep within their fires burn
yet tenderly the work they turn.
The two are knowing deep within
the flame they share is not a sin.
Soul to soul they work the wool,
hands are busy hearts are full.
By and by the work is done
and set aside to have some fun.
For all day long they knitted nude
and each the other’s body viewed
through grateful gaze and loving eyes
now each becomes the other’s prize.

(c)2008 - Ray Whiting

One of my pattern testers just completed her version of the machine-knit Charity Hat.   Isn’t it a cool combination of colors?

Thanks to Tracy and Barbara for their testing expertise on the machine-knitted version, making sure I was as clear as I could be with the written instructions.   As I mentioned on one of the lists, it would be great if I could just scribble some notes down and tell people to go look at the sample I did in the workshop.  But knitters aren’t all that psychic, so it’s nice to have knitters who can test my patterns and let me know when something isn’t clear.

By the way, if you’d like to be a future pattern-tester, I will be posting a note here when I need a machine-knit or hand-knit pattern tested.  I expect to have three or four more during the summer months, especially in the Charity Hat series, but maybe some other projects as well.

I had to run to market this afternoon for my weekend fruits.   I managed to not be rained on (in spite of wicked forecasts!), but it was a heat index above 95 degrees, and I’m bushed.  I’m just not as young and vibrant as I once was, and it totally pisses me off that a little heat would wear me out soooooo much.  But I am trying to seriously modify my sleeping habits so I can be more consistent and actually get enough sleep, or at least as much as my body will allow.

So now back to work.  The yarns are soaking for the dyes, but I’m not sure I’m ready to stand over the counter and steamer for an hour and half.  I may have to do it first thing in the morning.