Obsession du Jour

Saturday....in the park....

Want to know what else is a sure sign of Spring at Chez Obsession?

That’s right, a finished sweater. It happens about this time every year. Luckily, this New England weather is completely screwy and I’m certain to get a little more wear out of it before it has to get tucked away for the season.

Dude! Olympic Knitting! In April!

BTW, if you look really, really closely, you’ll see some sheep back there in the background. Sheeeeeep! I’m so excited for the fiber fests that are upon us that I can hardly see straight. There will be another post soon explaining why I’m not allowed to buy a damned thing for the rest of the year, but who CARES?!?! Not me. I just can’t wait to see everyone and hang out and spin and play with the animals and watch the dogs and pet the fiber and talk OTHER people into buying the fiber (What was that, Laurie? Did I hear you say something about having a target on your back?) and the spindles and the wheels. Heck, if you’ve got more than .25 acres of land, it’s probably best to steer clear of me this year because I am ALL ABOUT getting someone to start us a little communal farm of these.

Where was I? Ah yes…Rogue.

Here’s a close up of the modified neck. There’s been a lot of interest in this hoodless version, so I’m going to try to reverse-engineer what I did and get it down on paper in the next day or two. The basic, not-so-helpful version is this: I knit a ton of this hood, but no matter how much of it I knit, I couldn’t make myself love it. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was BEAUTIFUL. So beautiful, in fact that I got just over 1/2 of it done before put it away for about a month because I couldn’t stand it anymore. I knew deep in my heart that I didn’t want the hood. I didn’t like the way it was looking or what it was doing to the lines of the sweater. I just couldn’t face it what I knew I had to do. I hate to rip more than I can tell you, plus it was the hood that really 'sold' the pattern in the first place. The other problem was, and I can’t stress this enough, it weighed a MILLION pounds and it was HUGE. If I had kept on knitting the pattern as is, I would only have been able to wear this sweater about twice a year, and even then only on the coldest of the coldest days in the depths of January. That’s just not enough sweater payoff for me. So…I took a deep breath, invoked the spirit of Claudia (and maybe had a glass of wine), and ripped that puppy out. Almost all the way out. All the way back to row 7-ish of Chart C (I was somewhere nearish to line 55). The rest of that day is a bit of a haze of yarn and needles and desperation and get-it-doneitis, but in the end it made me giggle (or maybe that was the knife edge of insanity, who knows?), so I think it worked out OK.

Basic specs:
Pattern: Rogue by Girl From Auntie
Yarn: Bartlett Yarns Rangely in Blueberry from KPixie (and Kristen. Thanks! )
Needles: Addi’s (oh how I love thee) size 7 and a variety of lengths, but we’ll get to that later.
For: Me! Er….and the 2006 Knitting Olympics.

Notes:
1. I do love this yarn. I love it’s rustic feel, it’s rustic look, it’s damned-near bullet-proof nature. I would NOT, however, recommend this yarn for this pattern. Yes, even though it really shows off the cables beautifully. Why? Mainly because it just seems a tad too stiff and too heavy for this pattern. It was tough to get gauge without creating a fabric truly too dense for normal wear. My wrists really felt this knit, and not in a good way. The one caveat I’ll make here is that this stuff changes quite dramatically when washed, so it’s possible that the key to successfully/happily using it in this application might be to wash the hanks first and THEN knit with it.  Maybe.

2. I love this pattern, without any hesitation. It’s beautiful. It’s clever. It’s practical. It’s extraordinarily detailed, meaning that anyone can make it. In a different yarn, I believe I would have made this almost exactly as written, complete with hood. Notice how I say almost?

3. Armholes/Armscythes, whatever they’re called…did anyone ELSE end up with gargantuan armholes when knitting the pattern exactly as written? I certainly did. It’s not enough to bug me, but it does definitely affect the fit of the finished sweater. So be forewarned. Of course, a bazillion other people have knit this thing and I didn’t see anything about the armholes in my brief searches, so it’s more than possible that it was just my knitting. Note to self, pay attention to the armhole measurements in the diagrams. Er….and what exactly ARE my measurements in this area? Knitter, measure thyself.

4. Kangaroo pouch. Um…no thank you. I don’t think it requires much imagination to understand why a girl might not want EXTRA fabric around her midsection. Not everyone has these concerns, I know, but that’s just the last damned thing I’ll ever need. Except maybe horizontal stripes….actually, I’m pretty certain THAT’S the absolute last thing I’ll ever need. The tummy pouch is just a close second.
5. The hem flare issue. There was no way that I was going to be able to do the smaller-needle-twisted-stitch-facing that Jenna calls for (see #1 re: very stiff yarn), so I knew going in that there was a high risk of hem flare. As you can no doubt see in the first shot, there is definitely flaring. I’m going to give it a little time to see if it continues to BUG THE EVER LIVING SHIT out of me, and if it does, I’m just going to have to cut off the facing, pick up the stitches (with washed yarn, maybe? For softness?) and try again.

6. I would also choose a different color. I bought this particular color because I loved how it looked like a favorite pair old faded jeans w/o really thinking about what that would mean, and as anyone who lived through the 80’s denim jacket thing can tell you, denim on denim? Hard to pull off well. Not that it will stop me from wearing this thing (ever), but I do concede that it does look a little dumb.

7. Oh snap! I almost forgot! One of the most fun things I learned in all of this? Rough and rustic are NOT the same as ITCHY! Who knew?!?! I can absolutely wear Rogue next to the skin (well, most of it, if you know what I mean) and not suffer ANY of the itchies that I’ve gotten from other rustic wools. HOORAY!! This opens up so.many.yarn.doors. Er…..which may or may not be a good thing, in the end.

Overall? Loved this knit, and I can see why some folks have made more than one. I’m pretty tempted to cast on for second actually, right now. I have a couple different yarns here that I now think would be perfect for this pattern. It will probably have to wait, though, the knitting cue is pretty damned long as it is. There’s no need to do another one right this very second.

Final parting shot. It's a wierd angle and causes some odd bunching, but it's the best shot of the side cable we got.

OH! And I think this gets me one of these, don't you?

Turtles unite!

What I did on my bloggy vacation - pt 1

I didn't set out to have a blogging vacation, but sometimes life just conspires to make us get out there and live it -- or work it, as the case may be, but we'll pretend that I was out having fun and not working 10-12 hour days.  You should also know that we're having technical difficulties here at Chez Obsession that stem from a dying router, an F'ed up cable modem, and a dramatic lack of the time needed to address those issues just now.  What that means to you is that I only have reliable, hassle-free net service at work (a workplace which, I might add, doesn't seem to understand the importance of a blogger's life) so if you've sent me email in the last few weeks and it seems to take forever to get an answer, I'm sorry.  All I can do is ask for patience as my net time is curtailed.  Blah, blah, blah...but what's been going on, you say? 

Well, in addition to a couple of crazy knitter gatherings (and I will second whoever it was that said that the $10 margarita at Cayote Cafe was SO worth every dime), there's been some more of this:

Yep, it's all fun, all the time here in the DMZ.  In this case, we are toning down the brazeness of the radiators on the 1st floor by painting them 'Ballroom Gold' intead of 'Two-Bit-Whorehouse Brass'.  I'm always a little surprised by how much something SO FREAKING MINOR in this process pays off in a really big way, even if one can't quite figure out what exactly has been changed from one visit to the next.  Here's where I'd normally launch into a poetic 'Ode to the Little Anal Retentive Details', but I'm talking to a band of knitters, so...y'all know, don't you?  So I'll spare you the iambic pentameter and move on to something I know you'll care more about.

Cheap yarn.  Some disassembly required.

During one of our (far too regular) trips to Goodwill recently, I discovered 'Dollar Days' in the sweater section.  I KNOW! A dollar per sweater!  So even though we were on our way to meet some folks for dinner, I gave the boy a crash course in how to shop for yarn (in sweater form) and essentially shoved him face first into one of the 4 racks of sweaters.  Four.Racks.Of.Sweaters.  Wheeeeeee! These are the six pieces that we found in the 15 minutes we allotted to the task, and that's not counting the two that I found for actual wear.  Clockwise from top left:
1. Black, super-soft, heavy-worsted merino cropped sweater.
2. Powder blue light worsted lambswool. Soft & fabulous.  This is a kid's sweater, so there won't be enough for an actual sweater (plus, baby blue...not my color) but it CAN be used for some sort of accessory(ies).
3. Burgandy, amazingly soft, heavy worsted cotton sweater.  Yep.  Cotton.  Not because I'll knit with it, but because this will make a FANTASTIC crocheted throw.  Yes, crochet.  Breathe.  Relax.  It's fine, really.  Don't run from the crochet.  It's good, clean fun.
4. Kelly-ish green tweed, sport weight, silk/wool blend.  A women's size large TUNIC sweater's worth of wool/silk tweed.....for a BUCK people. ONE DOLLAR.  I was so excited I could've peed my pants.  I should maybe get out more.
5. Oh baby - juicy, limey goodness...*ahem*.  Lime green, sport weight, lambswool/angora blend.  Yup, another LG tunic.  Angora....*sigh*  Is anyone else out there checking to see what time their local Goodwill opens today?
6.  This last one is actually a bit of a dilemma for me.  It's a truly lovely smoky plum, sport weight, 100% silk, 3x3 rib, classic sweater.  I am having the hardest time trying to decide whether to wear it or recycle it.  It's such a great sweater, but it's a color I almost never wear, and the yarn isn't like any silk I've ever felt before.  It's very 'springy' and soft, and it has a phenomenal luster without being 'shiny' and seems like it would be quite sensuous and lovely to knit with. So this one's fate is still undecided.  Knit or wear? Knit or wear?

$6 and 15 minutes.....totally worth it.

Next time.....Rogue, redesigned and the start of festival season.  What festivals?  Oh please...as IF.  But here's a hint:

On a warm spring day? Life just doesn't get any better than this.

P.S. Maryse?  You ROCK!!!  Look what Maryse made us!

Take it....pass it along....knit a bit for Mr Etherknitter and send out the BKM.

A call to arms!

Today, we have a big call for some Big Knitting Mojo (BKM).   It's so strong, this mojo, that we should call upon only in true need and use it only for the forces of good. 

Today we have one among us who is having a bit of trouble with some bone growth.  That's right, we are speaking of Mr. Etherknitter.  He has a stubborn bone (get it? knitting....bone....that's some kinda synergy, right?) and we can make it better, and so we shall. 

So get the word out....post it on your blogs, dedicate your day's knitting, email all your friends, flash some of your stash (I, for one am flashing an FO.  An OLYMPIC F.O., even.), whatever it takes, but today is the day we make Mr. Etherknitter well.

Is everybody ready?   3.....2.....1.....

KNIT, MR. ETHERKNITTER'S BONE.......KNIT LIKE THE WIND!

Wonderknit powers...activate!
Form of....a finished object!
Shape of......

BAM!

I have an announcement to make.

It's Official. I am completely and utterly incapable of long term monogomy.

Oh, we had a good run, it's true.  For 23 days, I didn't so much as LOOK at other project.  (We will not discuss or count the trips to the yarn stores over the Valentine's weekend getaway, or the spinning  & purchasing at SPA. That's completely different.  A girl has needs, you know?  Especially when she's far from home.) No, it was all Rogue, all the time. I could have done it too, if it had only been 16 days. Yes I could have. But it wasn't 16 days.  It was 23 days.  I could make a bunch of excuses about how the Bartlett yarn is kind of rustic and stiff (which it is) and how all the cabling with the rustic yarn is tough on the hands and wrists (which it is), forcing me to take a little break (which it did), but in the end, it was just too much time together.  23 days of the same yarn, the same pattern.  Maybe if I could have finished in the 16 days, maybe if there hadn't been so much work, or so many travels, or so many shots at SPA......*sigh*.  Many a good relationship has been brought low by the specter of 'maybe' and this one is no exception. 

On Saturday evening, on the way home from hanging out with Melanie and her lovely man, I cast on for a new project.  What?  No.....sorry, I can't show you what it is because it's secret knitting (though you can go see a tiny little sneak-peak here, just behind the *ahem* Mimosa).  But I CAN tell you that it's done now, and I'm ready to go home to Rogue.

If she'll have me.

....can't...talk...must...knit.....

There's obviously no Gold medal in my future, because it's true...I....DID....NOT....FINISH.  Two long weekends of traveling (yeah?  so what that one of them was a knitting retreat?), combined with 14+ hour workdays in between them, topped off with a weekend filled with a wedding shower in New Hampshire and a bastard of a cold, all conspired to knock me clean out of the running.

It's a heartbreaking defeat, but I will not be daunted.  I will not give up.  I WILL finish this sweater THIS WEEK or die trying.  The torso is complete and the hood has about 6 rows completed.  There's also about 6 inches of a sleeve.  I can DO it.  I can.  Stop laughing. So you see, I can't talk now.  MUST.KEEP.KNITTING.

*************************

ETA: For all of you out there still finishing up.....a KAL and button.  Because what's a cause without a button?

My thanks to the Femiknitmafia for helping us *ahem* slowpokes stay motivated.

Swatch, and not the cool 80's watch fad.

So I mentioned that there were lots of swatches for Rogue, right?   Well, here they are...

You know I love the swatching, I do, but STILL.  That's FIVE swatches for this sweater, and no, it's not an optical illusion, each one is smaller than the last.  Can I tell you that I have NEVER had this much trouble getting gauge before?  I'm usually pretty spot on in general, but with this yarn?  Not so much.  The final winner is the smallest swatch on top.  I finally got gauge over the weekend on Addi Turbo sz 6's (Bartlett suggests size 8's), and truthfully, if I have to knit this entire sweater at this gauge, I will not only kill myself from the frustration, I will have to wear braces on both arms.  The damned thing will also stand up on it's own, the fabric is that thick. However, I absolutely love the fabric that's created with my AT#7's (a full 1/2 st/in difference), so I'm just going to do the necessary math and go from there.

Wait, does that mean I a biathlete too?  Is 'Knitting Maths' an independent event?

And then....

See, the Rogues had it.  Really they did. Y'all came out and had some great reasons why Rogue was better than mittens, and the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of Rogue.  I was all excited, and I started swatching (y'all know how I love the swatching, right?  I do.  Love.It.  Call me crazy.), and THEN La mentioned that I could be on the USA Fair Isle team (woot!), and THEN Theresa said...well, that Theresa...she essentially double-dog dared me, and as Julia noted, a girl can't just back down from that, and THEN...THEN.....on the back stretch, a dark horse appeared on the horizon:

http://www.knit.dk/mermaid2.htm

I now have the kit for this - Hanne Falkenburg's Mermaid jacket (Thanks Liz - people, go see her almost completed one here.).  Side to side construction in all garter stitch with fingering weight 2ply Shetland.  Oh yeah, this baby is amazingly beautiful! And the colors! Oh la la! BUT.....can it be done in 16 days?  Or would this REALLY be jumping off the deep end?

Hmmmm....let's see...gauge is 25 rows over 4", my size is about 42" = ~262 rows averaging 20"-25", not including short row flares and gussets.  Then add the sleeves (16-17 inches = ~100 rows each)....and then there's all these color changes and ends....mmmmhmmm (tippity-click, tippity-clack on the adding machine)....so, aprox 500 rows of garter stitch in 14 days (to give time for finishing & blocking) = 35 to 36 rows per day......um...or NOT.

But yeah, the MINUTE that the Olympics are over.....

Decisions, decisions...

Olympic dreams --- I admit it, I'm having some second thoughts.  Bite your toungue! Not about the games!  No, it's about my knitting target, and I think I need some help.

My first instinct, having never done any colorwork at all, and having gotten the book in the mighty Christmas loot, was to do something from Latvian Mittens.  Seems reasonable, right?  Challenging, yet small enough to be doable.  It seemed perfect.  I even got this, though God knows I already had plenty of Pattons Kroy and Elann's Sock It To Me in the sock yarn stash, but that's an entirely different issue. So I have the book, I have the yarn, and I have a bunch of tee-niny metal needles.  Hooray!  Mittens! (Um, it's also probably better if you ignore the fact that less than a year ago I said I'd never make anything like this, ever.)

And then this little voice in my head starts to say "You know what would also be a challenge, and is something you've been wanting to knit for ages, don't you?  Well, don't you? That's right, what you REALLY want to knit is Rogue."  And I do.  I really, really want to make Rogue. I've wanted to since the first time I saw it, and I bought the pattern ages ago.  So I caved to that voice and bought some lovely Bartlett yarns in Blueberry.  (Geez, nevermind about the yarn buying, it's not important right this second.) So now I have the yarn, the pattern, and the needles for that as well.  So I'm set, right?

Except....now I have all this indecision.  Which project to do?  Is one of these more of a challenge than the other?  Having never done colorwork, I have no idea how difficult these mittens would be.  I mean, I can knock out a pair of plain mittens in a weekend (if all I do is knit), so how much longer can it take, really?  Or am I crazy to think that?

So, I'm putting it up to a vote --  Latvian Mittens or an entire freaking sweater Rogue?  Anyone got an opinion?

In For a Penny, In for a Pound.

Attention all Boston-area-ish Knitters!

As you all know, The Yarn Harlot has issued a challenge. Not only is she challenging our knitting bravado, she is asking us to put our collective sanity on the line for her amusement (sure, she’ll say it’s so we can feel some sense of accomplishment, but really, she wants to see us squirm). And against every instinct they possess, many have decided to take up this challenge. But you just can’t do it alone. That's why Bookish Wendy, Obsession Kellee, and Stitchy McYarnpants have decided to co-sponsor Team Boston in the first bi-annual Knitting Olympics.

What does it take to join Team Boston? If you've got yarn and a wicked pissah accent, you’re in. If you live within, let’s say, an hour of Boston, you are hereby a Boston Knitter. We’ve set up this team blog so participants can upload photos and update whenever they want! Share your progress or disappointing lack thereof. Delight in the thrill of your teammates victories or relish in the agony of their defeat (and in the case of sock knitters, da feet). But mostly, improve your odds of actually finishing something using the tried and true method of mob rule.

If you’ve joined the Harlot’s Olympics and want to participate in our little support group, clickey-clickey for the official team site and info on how to join in: