The Boy Who Knits

New Horizons

2009-10-29T17:33:00.003-05:00

Talk about hectic! Life has been throwing all sorts of things at me these couple of months, some good and some bad.

Well, we shall not talk about the bad, like polyps and a leak in the ceiling and finances and relationships..... these are the minor inconvenient and irritating things that I am not so pleased with.

However, we shall try and stay on the positive note. I've been busy at work. Twirling dizzy busy. But in a good way. Pays the bills and keeps me behaving good.

But good things are happening in the knitting world. The Knitting Goddesses have been keeping an eye on me. And I'm talking along the lines of my Sculptured Lace Scarf, Lyerka and my Doubled Chullo. You got that right. My designing. That's why you don't see much of my WIP's anymore, but more of my FO's. It's all a big secret until it's out!

But overall, I'm very excited! The Knitting Goddesses have been good to me. And that's all I can say.

But I'll leave you with an abstract of what might be coming. I'm sure you can figure out what it is, but not what it's for. :0)

Have a great day.

Doubled Chullo

2009-10-15T14:21:00.010-05:00

Pattern: Doubled Chullo by Kenny Chua

Magazine: Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2009

Yarn Brand: Misti International
Yarn Name: Alpaca Worsted
Yarn Colorway: #M600 autumn woods mélange (A); #2105 moss gray mélange (B); #7912 forest green worsted (C). Size 20": Color B (MC), 3 skeins; colors A and C, 1 skein each. Size 22": color A (MC), 3 skeins; colors B and C, 1 skein each.

Yarn Content: 100% alpaca
Yardage: 1 ball = 109 yd [118 m]/50 g
Quantity: 4 balls = 436 yards (472 m)

Needle: Size 6 US (4.0 mm) and Size 4 US (3.5 mm)
Dimensions: 20" and 22"
Recipient: Interweave Knits and Sergio Sosa

Here is the Ravelry Button for it too!

The Purl Ridge

2009-10-09T08:40:00.003-05:00

Ya know..... sometimes you just gotta take matters into your own hands. I've always not trusted myself, doubted myself, but this time I'm pretty sure.

I started a new project..... (I know, startitis...) Don's Vest by Joyce Williams in Latvian Dreams.

So this wonderful looking project asks for some ribbing and then increase into the fair isle pattern. Sounds normal enough right? But here's the kicker.... notice the difference?

Now please tell me that you like the one on the right better.

So, I was just wondering, why would Joyce ask to purl a whole round before beginning the color pattern? I really don't know. I think removing the purl round (I know....I ripped and ripped) was a good decision. It makes it look prettier in my opinion, but let's just hope it doesn't come back and bite me in the ass.

Can anyone of you think of a reason for the purl round?

Not me....

Off topic. I've been recovering from a GI procedure this week. Everything is ok, but ugggh I DO NOT WANT to prepare for a colonoscopy or an endoscopy again. It's HORRIBLE. They found some stuff, removed them, but I'm still waiting on the results. I'm not too too worried right now, but everything happens as they happen. We shall see.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Franklin

2009-09-28T12:42:00.004-05:00

Pattern: Franklin by Jane Ellison
Book: The Queensland Collection Book 9

Yarn Brand: Jo Sharp
Yarn Name: Silk Road DK Tweed
Yarn Colorway: 402 Serpentine
Yarn Content: 85% Wool, 10% Silk, and 5% Cashmere
Yardage: 50g; 147 yards
Quantity: 11 balls (1617 yards)
Needle: Size 6 US (4.0 mm)
Size: Small
Recipient: Me

Trim Yarn
Yarn Brand: Classic Elite Yarns
Yarn Name: '03 Tweed
Yarn Colorway: #5903
Yarn Content: 65% wool, 20% nylon, and 15% acrylic
Yardage: 50g; 143 yards
Quantity: 1 ball

Project Notes:
THE GOOD
Awesome patterning. That's what I can say about Franklin. Much attention was given to the raglan detail and how it seamed up. Looks so good on the model and that's why I actually chose to make it.

Wonderful addition of the contrasting colored trim. I think the trim makes the sweater pop.

The BAD
The sizing information in this book really needs to be revised. The MAJOR complain that I have, actually MAJOR enough for me to chuck this sweater and never wear it at all.... is how tight the armcye is! The armhole depth needs to be deeper. A LOT deeper. So, I looked through the book and found that Jane sized ALL her sweaters with the same sleeve length and body lengths. So, I am going to assume that every sweater in the book is going to feel VERY tight under the underarm.

I do not like the way the gray trim was attached to the sweater. It just says to bind off with the different color. That to me is not enough. You can see the purl bumps on the other side and you can see the blue through the gray bind off.

Changes that I've made
I tubularly cast on for the sleeves and the hem of the sweater. Much more professional finish look. However, I was dissapointed with the trim around the color and the placket. I couldn't really figure out another better way of attaching the trim so that it looks more professionally finished.

Things that I would change
I would definitely look at row gauge the next time. I love all the sweaters in the book, but I would really need to revise how deep her arm holes are. So for example, I need to make a size SMALL for the body, but like a size LARGE for the sleeves, but at the same time, not make the whole sleeve baggy, but retaining the depth of the armhole. It's all hind sight now, but I would love to embark on another of her sweaters (Beck..... :) )

Itchy Fingers, Itchy Wool

2009-09-26T19:10:00.004-05:00

It's been about 2 weeks now that I've been in hiding. Well, not so much hiding, but more like busy doing too many knittery things to have time to blog about it. But I shall talk a little about it this evening.

I brought some closure to a couple of knittery things. For example, Franklin is now 99.9% done. I just need to take some pictures and take it to some alteration place to put in a zipper. I shall blog more about that when I actually have a finished product to show. Not too happy with it though. Or more like not too happy with the pattern and how it came out. But more on that later.

Another secret project has been signed, sealed and completed. And that's all I can say here. The only other thing that I may dare say about this project is that there is much work to do some more. More proof of concepts and design concepts to be knitted. When the time is right, it shall reveal itself.

My last post on Lucy Neatby. If you wanna know, get her DVD's. They are quite good.

Now, the nice thing about blogs.... pictures. Here is some itchy Shetland which I had stowed away for almost 2 years now. I took it out, brushed off the cobwebs and got it ready to knit again.

This is a swatch for a vest in Joyce Williams' Latvian Dreams. It's called Don's Vest. I really don't have a good picture to show of the completed vest, but I'm sure you'll see plenty of progress pictures. Once I figure out the gauge and size, I'll be cooking.

The wool used is actually Harrisville Shetland from a cone. I think it's been attacked by moths. Because the first few yards were all completely broken. In to the freezer you go, for a good while to kill you damn beasts.

So, outside of knitting news, I had to replace my kitchen faucet today! Uggh. Yes, plumbming work. I mean, it's all done now, but there's a shit load of crap to clean up.

Which I'm going to leave you and go and do right now.

Happy knitting and have a good evening.

Lucy Neatby

2009-09-12T15:34:00.003-05:00

So, at the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat, someone who is a friend of a friend of some other friend who doesn't knit who has a friend who does knit, his friend, told my friend who told another friend who told me...... about this wonderful lady named Lucy Neatby. (Ok, the whole friend of a friend thing is a joke. )

It was more like Michael Wade told me...... about these wonderful series of DVD's produced by Lucy Neatby that are super awesome. Apparently she is a super technical knitter, that produced these series of DVD's that were high quality with very clear instructions.

So, as you all know by now, I am super technical myself, or at least that how I view my knitting. So I caved and bought 10 of her DVD's. That's 10 out of 16 DVD's that she has. I just wasn't into Double Knitting or Intarsia Knitting..... yet.

So, Lucy is based out of Canada and getting her DVD's would certainly take a while to get to Texas. And as you all also know, I have been playing around with the Tubular Cast On and I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see how Lucy does it. (BTW, I plan to use it on a secret project that I'm planning right now.)

Anyways, if you haven't heard of this wonderful site by Bob and Nancy, www.knittersbookshelf.com, go visit them. They are the most wonderful people that I have ever shopped with online. Let's put it this way, I ordered my DVD's on Tuesday and I got them on Friday, at my doorstep.

Please get any of your knitting books or publications or needs from their website if you want a fast, reliable, super nice site. I certainly rate them A+++++ Thank you Nancy.

Anyways..... I am watching the DVD's now and the certainly are truly awesome.

Ok, I have a wedding that I need to be in right now, so, till next week.

Men's Fall Knitting Retreat 2009

2009-09-07T15:39:00.005-05:00

I just got in from lovely rainy knitting-weather Seattle and back to icky yucky hot Houston. Boy, am I TIRED!! Was up at about 4 am and lost 2 hours coming back to Houston.

So let's back up. For 5 days, I was in Seattle at the 2009 Men's Fall Knitting Retreat. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked to this time. I was more immersed in the moment rather than trying to capture the moment. So, unlike my other posts, this post will be skim on pictures.

Day 1 was awesome. Tired, but good. Flying always wears me out. I got in early and Chuck picked me up and we went yarn shopping. For the first time, I was at one of my favorite online yarn shop's store front. Yep, it was Little Knits, based out of Seattle. Then we went to 2 other local LYS's, namely Acorn Street Yarn Shop and Weaving Works. The one only really worth mentioning to me is Acorn Street. Just cuase, they are nice! I still don't understand WHY LYS's still have such an attitude towards men? I just don't get it.

Anyways, not to dampen anything, we shopped, and then picked up John and headed out to Dumas Bay, where the retreat was held. Sorry, no pictures of Dumas Bay, but I'm sure the other attendees will have plenty. But Dumas Bay was great, I liked it a lot more than the YMCA last year.

So, I got to meet old friends like President/Founder Joe and new friends like the legendary Franklin Habit!!

Day 2 was some classes and then the main event...... The Skacel Tour!

I'm not even going to mention what happened there. It was yarn heaven! But it sure did put a dent to the pocketbook.

Well, Day 2 just didn't end with the tour, but it ended with Cat Bordhi as our hononary female speaker. She was just so inspiring. And being booked up to 2 years in advanced, Cat was so kind to drop by to give an inspirational talk about men and their rise in knitting..... she thinks that MKR will defnitely take off and will be the next black!

Day 3 was some more classes, and an Alpaca Farm Tour. Well most of you all know that I don't really like the alpaca fiber and I had been to an Alpaca Farm before, so I skipped this and just sat around, knitting and bonding with the other men. And then Toots LeBlanc stopped by with more alpaca and then it was movie night.

And Day 4 was time to say good bye. :( This was sad. Like it always is.

So, there you have it a rather condensed version of the events that took place at this year's retreat..... but I have not even touched on the male bonding, kinsmenship and emotions of the event. Rather than trying to express it in writing, I'll let you imagine. I can assure you that it was just one of those feelings where words just escape my mind.

It was so great to meet the new people, the old people and to have them help enrich my knitting life and just life in general. Don't fret if I don't mention ya'll here, you know who you are, you know you attended the 2009 Fall Retreat and you know that I love ya'll. New friendships and old friendships, we meet again and part again till the next time. Love and many many kisses. xoxo

Los Angeles

2009-08-31T10:33:00.009-05:00

So, on the topic of Eating My Lunch, wonderful Sarah and Helen taught me how to increase beautifully for a 2x2 rib. But more on that when the actual sweater sleeve is done. Then there will be pictures.

But for now, I want to blog about my first time ever being in Los Angeles. From a few posts back, I had told ya'll that I'd be going to LA For Kyle's Birthday and such, so I have a few photos of that LA is really like.

But aside from all the L.A. stuff, what was really nice was spending time with cool knitting friends, cutting up and just chillin.

I arrived in LA in the morning and Kyle picked me up. Then we went around taking pictures of what you see above...... as Shirley Q' Liquor would say, I'm so "ignant" that I actually asked Kyle if the Grauman's Chinese Theather was where they only played Chinese movies. DUH! I had no idea that's where all those hands where.

Anyways, then we went and picked up John and Chuck and then the craziness begun. Cutting up, laughing, chatting..... pretty much all weekend long. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and didn't do anything but eat FRIED Appetizers and drink Smoothie's with Vodka and Mojito's with Bak Choy in them. It was fun.

Then we got home and the next day was the Griffindyeworks Workshop. Now that was a little scary day. The LA fires were pretty bad and this was a picture of what was burning from where we were at.

But other than that gigantic bellow of smoke, we had good times. It was the first time where I met Charles and CraftyDiversions (Anne). Too cool.

And my first dyeing experience turned out like this:

Not too shabby I think. I don't think I'd ever dye again, but at least now I can say that I had done it.

Then back home, dinner, pizza, chatting, sleep and then before I knew it, it was time to go.

So, now I'm back to work, and blogging about all this now. :) Anyways, Happy Birthday Kyle and I had a GREAT time in LA.

Chuck, John, I'll see ya next week!

Eating My Lunch

2009-08-24T22:06:00.003-05:00

Ok, Franklin was going GREAT I must say until the damn sleeves. It is totally bugging me and eating my lunch at the same time.

The sleeves in the pattern are knit with no shaping, which means that the circumference the biceps are going to be the same as the wrists. Having a small wrist, 9", I'm not going to have another 9" of ease!!

So, I am decided to start small and taper the sleeves. The problem is, I have ripped the darn thing out like 5 times already trying to find the best increase to use for a 2x2 rib WHILE maintaining the integrity of the damn ribbing.

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

Any words of wisdom?? I'm going to cry!

Just Because

2009-08-17T18:06:00.005-05:00

Arrrghhhh........ sometimes I wonder if I have a yarn addiction or not?

Just because.......

Let me explain. Because I'm going to a workshop to learn how to dye with plants and weeds or something like that... I had to obtain some yarn to dye.

Actually, let me digress about this whole dyeing thing. Geez, I can't believe I didn't even blog about this! So to make a long, long, long story short, I am going to Los Angeles at the end of the month to celebrate Kyle's birthday and then die.

Woops, did I say die? No, I'm not going to die on Kyle's birthday, I'm going 'dye' on Kyle's Birthday.

So that's why I had to get some plain yarn. Pretty huh? ArtYarns' Ultramerino 4. Yummmm....... 7 skeins.

But somehow, some Martina and some Merino got lost along the way and ended up following Artyarns home to Texas.

Well, the Adrienne Vittadini Martina and the Schachenmayr Extra Merino needed adopting too, and now, they are in my stash. And that's my story...... I think I now have a lifetime of knitting to do.

See ya'll in L.A..... if not, before that.

Forget Me Not

2009-08-14T18:38:00.006-05:00

I was going through all the projects that I have on the needles right now and realized that there is one that I started during the Men's Knitting Retreat 2009 but hardly blogged about.

Not to be forgotten, is the Cascading Petals Scarf from Runway Knits. Like I mentioned the other day about now mindless Franklin is, so is this scarf. I realized that I was out of yarn already to finish the 2nd half so I had to run to my LYS to get one more ball.

So, it is also worthy to give a few pictures of my progress, one half of it........

Have a great weekend everyone.

The Back

2009-08-13T18:40:00.004-05:00

So, this is just a quick post...... just wanted to update you guys and let you know, that NO, I didn't disappear again.

I've been busy. This is the back of Franklin, which is coming out really nicely in my opinion.

I am very happy that I took the time to fiddle with the 2x2 ribbed cast on and using another technique that hides the color change purl bumps on the right side of the piece.

Some would say that this is a boring knit, but boring is what I need right now. With all the stuff that's going on in my life, sometimes it's just nice to sit and knit and watch tv without even needing to look down at your knitting.

How is everyone else doing?

More Stash?

2009-08-01T22:22:00.008-05:00

Boy, do I ever know when enough is enough? FedEx came today with a wonderful package......

Anyways......... I think enough said about that!

On to my boy Franklin - I finally mastered the 2x2 rib tubular cast on, and cast on for this cardigan. Boy am I quite happy with the job done. I am not sure if the photo does it justice, but in real life it is quite elegant. I just need to learn how to take pictures like Brooklyntweed. Hmmph!

Also.... notice how I don't have color change bumps? Nice huh!

OK, short post for now..... mostly eye candy. Onward knitting.

A Tube or Two

2009-07-29T17:30:00.002-05:00

I've always been baffled with mystery about the 'best' cast on for ribbing. So, like all my swatching isn't enough already, I am now starting to experiment.

After days on end on the internet and browsing through my knitting library, I may have found out a thing or two, that maybe, or maybe not, you already know.

The BESTEST Cast On for a 1x1 rib is the Tubular Cast On. There are 2 ways to do the tubular cast on, 1. cast on without waste yarn (using long tail variation) and 2. The stockinette cast on.

Both have been very well documented that I don't have to provide a tutorial again, I'm just going to give you the links to them.

1. Ysolda's Long Tail Cast On
2. Little Purl Of the Orient Stockinette Cast On

** By no means that these are the only 2 sources for a tubular cast on. They just happened to be a result of my Google Search.

Ok, here's the caveat. The tubular cast on really only addresses a 1x1 rib pattern. What if you want to do a 2x2 rib pattern?

Well, Montse Stanley gives some great direction on the 2 ways you could do this.

1. Take the Long Tail Cast On and work like normal, and then "cross" the stitches.
2. Take the Stockinette Version and instead of p,k,p,k, do a p,p,k,k.

Clear as mud?

Well, I've been experimenting for the Franklin pattern and here are the results.

Regular Cast On Followed by 2x2 ribbing - not so much..... ugly.

Long tail version of the cast on but crossing the ribs - hmmm..... ok. The tubular part seem skewed.

Lastly, the stockinette version - This I really like. Pretty.

So, in a nutshell, there is no one way to do a tubular cast on. Many methods, but slightly different results.

Which do you think looks best?

Even More Swatching

2009-07-24T17:05:00.006-05:00

Oh how fast do I change my mind. Call me fickle, and I am. Or maybe just a short attention span. I must be kinda restless or something, my therapist calls it minor borderline mania. I guess that implies that I'm borderline bi-polar, which in other words mean I'm CRAZY! Anyways, I digress.

So, watch as I switched from Irish Moss, to Aberlady and now to Beck and Franklin! No, these are not boys, but patterns by Jane Ellison in her new Queensland Collection Book 9...... although I really don't mind the guy at all, which makes me wonder, is it really Beck, or Franklin or the guy wearing Beck and Franklin? Hmmm....... we shall never know.

Here's Beck and Franklin.

Aren't those really nice pullovers? And isn't he just delicious?

Well, here are my swatches using Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed.

I know you can't see the tape measure..... I guess that's what you pay for taking nice and clear pictures in the daylight, but the swatches both are pretty much on gauge of 4", depending how much you stretch them.

And in the book, it does say to measure based on a stretched swatch. I guess my stretch will be different than your stretching, so I guess I have to see how much I want it to hug my body.

Speaking of hugging my body, I'm getting fat. And this REALLY has to be taken into consideration.

Maggie Righetti says, and I paraphrase, "Don't make a sweater thinking that you will lose 10 lbs when it's done, make it fit your fat ass now!"

Ouch.

So, we shall see. Which should I start? Beck or Franklin? Or back to Aberlady or Irish Moss? Or something totally different!

See, told you I'm crazy!

Have a great weekend.

More Swatching

2009-07-18T12:25:00.000-05:00

So lately, I've been having this terrible itch to start a new project, something for myself. And after the failure and mismatch of yarn and pattern, I finally grieved and was able to move on.

Now, I bring you Aberlady. Another Starmore, from her book The Celtic Collection.

As you can see, this pattern is amazing only because it is like knitted in size 0 needles! Tight, tight stitches to pop out the Celtic arrows.

So, once again, I look in my stash, the same very stash I acquired when I was a little boy, not knowing much about yarn and all and found Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy. This is my Aberlady swatch, knitted in size 4 US (3.5 mm), 2 (2.75 mm) and 0 US (2.0 mm).

This swatch has been washed and dried and actually, my little boy purchase might actually work, but I just don't know if I have enough yarn! Arrgh, it's always something or another.

So, based on the swatch, I think that the pattern can be seen clearest using the size 0, but I think it's the size 2 that might work. The only reason I say this is because though size 0 is very tight and pretty, it is also very stiff. What do you all think?

Hempathy is a strange yarn. Well, maybe not so strange, but just my inexperience knitting with Hemp. But it does seem to soften up a lot after washing.

Then not only am I itching about starting a new project, but my pocketbook was also itching. I thought, "How nice would it be if I got some nice yarn to make a sinple sweater for myself. Say a 2x2 rib?" That would be something I would wear more than a Starmore. A Starmore would be for my knitting pleasure but a simple ribbed sweater would be for practicality. So here you go, 17 balls of Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo.

Well, so there you go folks, itching, obsessed and now broke......

Make or Break

2009-07-14T06:41:00.000-05:00

So, after a few years of knitting, you can still learn invaluable information from your fellow knitters out there. All thanks to Grumperina and her fleeting mention of an important book to her, The Knitter's Book of Yarn, I gained some invaluable resources about plies, twists, spins, and all those other terms which can make or break a project. Well, I started knitting before I read this book and my project broke.

Well, when I was a little boy, I went online and played on the internet. Then suddenly, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool popped up on the page and it was going for really cheap. This boy bought a whole bunch of it thinking he can make the Irish Moss pattern by Alice Starmore in her book, Aran Knitting.

3 years pass, and this little boy is now semi-grown up, and is now endeavoring to try out this yarn on this pattern. No so much....... check it out guys:

Ok, maybe ya'll think that it's the photography, and it's not that bad or whatever. But I did try. These pictures were taken in broad day light, no flash. And it is a pattern FULL of twisted stitches. They are all lost!!!! I can't see anything.

What do you think guys?

Hot Tamale!

2009-07-06T11:51:00.000-05:00

Hello all from sunny, perfect weather California! Just taking some time to update my peeps on what I've been up to.

First of all, I got into San Francisco on Saturday, the 4th of July, and my buddy John picked me up from the airport. I am supposed to be working in California the week of the 6th, but decided to get in a little bit early for some play time.

We had a blast of a time. We got home from the airport and started talking and knitting. John and his husband Chuck are like so damn hospitable, and their little Duey, the Boston Terrier was also very welcoming!

Then we went to Nirvana for cocktails and dinner which had delicious Asian fusion food. By then, for some reason, I was so beat already that we all just pretty much crashed.

The next day, everyone slept in and got up in the late morning. Had brunch at Luna's in the Castro and begun our Yarn Crawl - John, Chuck (I know, a supportive, non-knitter husband) and myself.

We started off at Imagiknits in the Castro, which was like yarn heaven, they had EVERYTHING. Then went over to the East Bay to do explore some shops that John had never really been too - Article Pract and K2tog.

Article Pract had a storewide sale! Somethine like if you buy > $50, 15% off, >$100, 25% off etc.... So, here's what I accumulated!

Some yarn not available in Houston, Madeline Tosh and EcoButterfly Organics. Madeline Tosh is a 100% silk lace yarn and EcoButterfly Organics is a Pakucho Cotton Lace yarn. Both absolutely gorgeous.

Didn't get much at Imagiknits or K2tog....... just a mug for John that said KnitOneSipOne because John's Ravelry Name is KnitOneSipTwo! And the Knit Kit from K2tog.

So finally, the weekend had to come to an end. The boys dropped me off at the airport where I got my rental car for the week and Hot Damn, look at the license plate!! pssttt!

I'm HOT BABY!!!!!

Till next time guys!

Fat Ass!!

2009-07-02T18:42:00.000-05:00

Here I am, zipping along a Starmore piece and quite liking the resulting fabric, yarn, and pattern. I liked it so much I even took a picture of it after finishing the ribbing and just a little into the main body of the sweater.

Pretty right?

But look.

FAT ASS!!!

There was, once upon a time, long long time ago, I would have been able to fit into a sweater with that measurement. Not anymore. I put it on waste yarn, held it up to my big fat belly and the darn thing didn't even meet at the seams of my t-shirt. Arrgh.

Frog pond........ Need to go up a size or 2. And I so proudly thought that I still had my girlish figure. Age..... go figure.

PS: I'll be flying up to San Francisco to meet up with my buddy John for the 4th of July. Friend I met at the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat. I'm excited. More knitting and traveling. You all have a safe and Happy 4th!!!!!

Pigmint Yarns

2009-06-30T16:48:00.000-05:00

So hey guys, ever heard of Pigmint Yarns? Well, neither have I. Miss Danielle who is the owner of this indie operation e-mailed me a couple weeks ago asking my opinion on what colors would men like to knit with and wear?

Of course, all I could do was give her my opinion and by now, all you readers should kinda know my taste in yarn and color. So, I gave her my opinion on what I would wear and what I would knit.

Basically, what I said was that I like more of a tone on tone coloring, rather than a variegation of a multitude of colors. I said I like elegant rather than flashy. I would rather the pattern to to accent the color rather than the color to hide the pattern. I also told her that I did not like pooling - the uncertainty of variegated yarn.

What do you all think?

I received this as a thank you gift from her and I must say WOW! She managed to capture the tone on tone variegation that I was talking about.

Not just different degrees of light and dark blue, if you look closely, there are different shades and tones of blue in it. I made sure I took the picture in clear daylight to be able to capture the beauty of the color as much as I can.

Unfortunately, work has preceeded my knitting time and I just don't have the time to swatch or whip out a sock right now, but I can only imagine how it must come out. And I am very curious to know, so maybe one weekend, I could take some time off and try knitting up this yarn.

So to help Pigmint Yarns, I would like to ask a few favors from my readers. Tell her what you think about the the picture of the skein she sent me. I beleive you can reach her at http://www.pigmintyarns.com/ or this e-mail address (I hope you don't mind me sharing)

What colors would you men like to knit with? How do you like your yarn dyed? What would you men wear? Women...... you don't get out of this either....... what would you knit for your hubbies, bf's etc? What would they like?

Let her know, lemme know too!!

PS: President, if you're reading this...... Pigmint Yarns would like to offer some of her goodies for our men to try out at the Seattle Men's Knitting Retreat. So, give her your input and you'll get the color and yarn you want!

Moss Swatch

2009-06-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

Thank you all so much...... for STILL reading my blog and providing so much insight for me about my last post. I finally get it. Pick Up and Knit and Pick Up are 2 totally different things and yield 2 totally different results. How you pick up also makes a big difference.

I would totally post a tutorial on my findings between the various methods, except, I don't think the pictures and explanations will do too well using the Cascading Petal Scarf which is too lacey and I will not be able to prove the point. However, I will definitely bear this in my about future projects and will write about it more when the time is appropriate.

Speaking of future projects, swatch season has started again. I know how I've vowed to finish all my old projects first before starting new ones, but hey, this is knitting and you just can't resist all that yarn sitting in the closet....... now can ya?

I present to you Moss Stitch:
Knitted on size 6 US, 5 US and 4 US. And you all probably know what my next question will be...... knowing the indecisive being that I am....... :)

Which do you like best?

Oh My Gosh!!!!! First of all, let me tell you what it's for! It's to make this gorgeous guy...... I mean, sweater.
Yes, you got it, it's a Starmore! Irish Moss. And since this pattern is so old, the yarn isn't available anymore and I had to try and substitute it for something else. Well, first of all, it has been a long time since I've even made anything for myself, and thinking about how hot it is in Houston, I decided to go to a DK-ish weight yarn. Silky Tweed! How about that? I have only like 28 skeins of it!!!!!

So, I already forsee a whole bunch of problems.

First of all, Starmore was a very very tight knitter.
Gauge is going to be all screwed up.
Sweater Fit is still up in the air, negative ease? Positive Ease? Who knows? (someone at the knit shop today said something so nice about me...... she said that I had a lovely body and need to try to make this sweater form fitting.) Now, would you imagine that! I managed to fit my head through the door when I was leaving by the way.
Sleeve length's decreases or increases is going to be a problem because of gauge change.

But I've already done the first step. I swatched like a good boy in Moss Stitch exactly like Miss Starmore asked to. Now, looking at the picture, you see that the guy has it very loose on him. And since I was told to make it form fitting, I have no idea what size to make and what gauge to go with now because I've changed from worsted weight to DK.

Aiya ya, the decisions!!!

Well, onto more testing. I think I will cast on tonight and start.......... who knows I might just hit it right on the head!

Keep posted, I will let you all know how it goes.

Wish me luck.

Pick up & Pick up and knit

2009-06-15T17:56:00.000-05:00

Is there a difference between the terms "Pick Up" and "Pick Up And Knit"? I know that there is a difference because I've read from several sources before that the latter actually uses live yarn. Well, as far as I know, there is a difference, but do authors of patterns know that there is a difference?

This is what is confusing to me about the Cascading Petals Scarf from Runway Knits. It says to pick up, but it is almost impossible to pick up or maybe it's just that I don't know how? I would so rather pick up and knit so that I have stitches on the needle ready to go, but that would cause a little bump of a seam in the back wouldn't it?

I'm just pondering out loud....... back to more research. I will definitely post more. I just had to write because after attaching 7 petals, I ripped "MOHAIR" out because it looked so ugly. Arrgh.

Life!

20 puffs of breath

2009-06-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

Hey all, since the wonderful retreat, I had to come down from Cloud 9 back to reality. I came home to a dirty dirty house, lots of work piled up a serious knitting deadline and other demands that life sucks out of ya.

But during the retreat, I had been working on the Cascading Petals Scarf from Runway Knits. The reason I chose this pattern is because it's a simple and mindless knit, just perfect for a retreat like this where I think the main goal is to sit and knit mindlessly while chatting up and catching up with fellow male knitter friends.
It's quite an elegant piece, it's all stockinette knitting, using the beauty of mohair and large needles to create this cloudlike effect. The only painful thing as you can see is that each petal is knitted seperately and then somehow joined to the scarf. And as painful as it was, it was still mindless and I started petal number one during the retreat and just finished petal number 20 yesterday.

I washed all of them and blocked them to shape and they are laying on the floor to dry. They should dry up in no time.

So, on the knitting horizon is FINISH ALL OLD PROJECTS! Which I will do slowly. Work has been terribly consuming. I also have dabbled in little swatches for design submissions, which by the way is not much to post about, so hence the slight absence. But as I continue on, I will keep this blog up on a more regular basis even though there is nothing much to update. A hi and how are you doing would be good once in a while.

So, I leave you with the 20 puffs of breath-like petals, what it's going to be and my best wishes, till next time.

The Return

2009-05-19T17:40:00.000-05:00

Oy Vey! I just got home from work today. Nevermind today, but let's rewind a little. I attended the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat 2009 over the weekend and didn't get back into Houston till about midnight on Monday and had to work early Tuesday. Well, I just got home from work, pooped, but at the same time, I can't wait to blog all about this weekend.

Like my post from last year...... I'm again lost for words. But here are some of the highlights of the event.

I got to see my boys from California + Chuck again!!! I was so deathly ill during the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat 2009 that I couldn't bond as much with these guys as I wanted too, but being all well and healthy this time around, I'm so glad to have a chance to meet Kyle, John, Stephen and Chuck again.
I got to meet pretty much everyone from last year again! My non-Cali boys! East Coast boys + Bob, Jeff and Joe from Florida.
I got to see the president and the vice president again. Love you Joe and Ted!! xoxo
I finally met Nanna Peter! The guy that flew in the furthest, from the Down Under. You were such a treat and I totally enjoyed your class.
Good Easton Mountain living.
Refreshing conversations with everyone. Picked up just right where we left off last year. It's amazing. Plus new conversations with new people that I met this year.
And most of all, I got to knit with my PEERS. MEN!!! No talk about divorce, pregnancy, child support, panties, periods or whatever women talk about. Not that it's a bad thing, but it was just nice to be and knit with men.

I will leave you all with some pictures. It won't be all of them, but you'll get the idea. For more pictures, go to the Men's Knitting Retreat Flickr page.

TILL NEXT YEAR GUYS!

Escape to Easton Mountain

2009-05-12T17:46:00.000-05:00

Whassup ya'll?????

I know, I say I will post more often, but then I don't. Then I say I'll do it again, then I don't. Don't hate me. I've just been so gosh darn busy, work is going really good, I have so much to do with the new house, trying to fit that in with yoga and knitting and the dog...? Well, you get the picture.

But I'm posting today because I got off a little early. I came home to prepare for my little mini vacation back to Easton Mountain for the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat 2009 (MSKR 2009)!!! Yep, it's been a year and if you remember, I had such a wonderful time the last time and I don't even know if I could expect any better this year.

I leave tomorrow, but not to Albany, but a minor detour to Vermont, where I will meet my buddy ol' pal VTKnitboy and visit for a day. Then we'll both drive down to Albany to the retreat.

I'm also kinda nervous this time around, because my dumb ass offered/volunteered to lead 3 yoga classes! I've never instructed before, have no idea how and I am soooo afraid that I'll mess up. And I have to wake up at 7 am everyday to teach/lead it. No late knight knitting I guess.... :(

Those of you who are going to the retreat and are reading this post and are going to take the yoga class, gimme a break in advance... ok?

So, there's a lot more to post, but as you all know, I like to keep my posts short and sweet. Here are a couple of projects that are on the needles. After the Easton Square, I decided to start on some mindless knitting that I can bring with me on the trip.

Try and guess this one:

And this one: