Jon's Knit Blog

No Yarn Diet Here

So I was blog-cruising last night, and I found a lot of talk about some NYC yarn stores which I had not previously found. (Thanks for the great list, Liz!)

So today before work, I went by String which is on Madison between 78th and 79th, if you're in the city. It's a cute store, albeit a small one, but they have some nice things, and a fantastic selection of cashmere yarns (which I left there, thank you very much). Turns out that one of their staffers is a great designer - the cute green Koigu kersti zipper hooded cardi in the current Vogue Knitting mag is by her! And they had a trunk show of some of the sweaters in the current VK! They were uniformly gorgeous, and I met a fabulous woman in the shop who I hope to get to hang out with and discuss knitting again. They didn't have my favorite sweater from the magazine, which is the Cable/Lace cardigan knit in Paton's "Grace." I want to learn to crochet so I can make this sweater, which has an all-around dc border. I know there's someone out there who wants to teach me. Come forth! Admit yourself!

Anyhow, I only went into the shop with the intention of picking up two or three balls from which to make interesting afghan squares for Mason Dixon afghan project since the acrylic sucks and I don't really have much in the way of "leftovers" populating my stash.

So what did I find?

It's a gorgeously soft 50/50 silk/merino blend, Alchemy's Synchronicity and it was 50% off. I bought the last of these colors, though, so don't get any ideas... Here's a close up of the yarn, and somehow my digital camera seemed to actually get the color fairly right on: Fibery Goodness! Get your Fibery Goodness!. The solid is Red Wing; the stripey is Air & Fire.

I think it's going to become some sort of sweater for me. Maybe a cardigan? I hope there's enough yarn to make it... which will be enhanced by the fact that while I am not on a yarn diet, I am on a food diet (the South Beach Diet, to be precise) so by the time I finish the sweater, there will be less of me to ensconce within said sweater.

The detail oriented reader may notice that there's a single ball in that picture which doesn't belong. True. It is a variegated ball of Primo which I intend to knit into a 'from the center out, YO increases at the corners' afghan square, to see if it works (and to practice my yarnovers in preparation for my future lace-knitting projects I want to try). The other thing in the picture is an ebony circular needle (US7) which is the needle I intend to use for this lucious silk/merino wool.

What else? Oh, I don't know. I probably have to go buy more yarn.

Other News

I am now officially a Rowanette*. (What's the male equivalent of an -ette? Whatever. I'm gay, I can be an -ette.

* - Assuming that joining the Rowan Inner Circle makes one an official Rowanette. Woo hoo, a good use of $42.

A Question for NYC Knitters

OK, so there are knit blog webrings for lots and lots of things...

And there are lots and lots of fabulous NYC knit-bloggers.

So why on earth do we not have an NYC knit-blog-ring?

Would any of you join it if I started it?

Monday, Monday...

Well, I got a few rows done last night on PPD, but nothing to warrant taking a picture. It really looks the same as it did before.

I also did a small swatch in Trinity Stitch to see how it would go. It's a stitch I've wanted to try, and I was contemplating it for an afghan square. I should probably make it just for practice with M3's and p3tog's which are useful, if not fun, stitches to be able to do quickly. And it does make an interesting fabric.

I also want to make a square in Kureyon, but I only have three skeins of it in ze stash - all in the same colorway - which is intended to become an Multidirectional diagonal scarf. So I think I'm going to pop into The Yarn Co. on Thursday, when I have plans to be on the Upper West Side anyhow, and pick up a couple different single skeins to turn into afghan squares.

Yes, I know the point of the afghan square thing is to reduce stash (and to use the acyrlic yarn Mom bought for me in Ohio) but I also want to try something different, and it'll be a practical way to explore some new yarns. Yes, yes, yes, you're right, I'll use any excuse I can think of to buy yarn. In fact, I'm so insane about buying yarn that I came this close to buying a plane ticket to Indiana to check out ThreadBear in preson... then I realized that the $207 for airfare and the $ for a rental car and a hotel room would be better spent on a long distance phone call or 8, and then directly for yarn purchase. Maybe not as fun, but a whole lot more practical. And hey, the Columbus Migration could still happen.

Red Square

OK, it's not exactly square but my bias garter stitch square is a landmark anyhow: it's the first thing I ever started and finished in one sitting. I can't claim that it's in one day, as midnight did pass in there, but it was less than 5 hours total, which I'm rather proud of.

I guess i just need my gauge to stay a tad more consistent so the next one could be a bit more really square. But chalk up one more afghan square, Ann & Kay!

(Technical details in case you care: knit on US8 straight needles with Filatura di Crosa's Primo, an aran weight superwash wool in bright red. And I think you all know what I mean by bias garter stitch, but if you want me to elaborate, just holler.)

A Quick Update

OK, I haven't had time to knit in a day or so, but if I'm awake when I get outta work tonight, I promise a couple rows and a progress update.

What? I spent Thursday afternoon on the Afghan square, which is not something I can just whip out in 15 minutes, then I went out Thursdaynight; I worked on Friday, went to the theatre in the evening, and that's about it... and I work today from 10-7, so... we'll have more news later.

It still counts!

It may just be an afghan square, but that still means a few hours of knitting here and there, and now it's done, in all its orange acrylicy goodness (is there such a thing as acrylicy goodness?) My comments about this yarn (Bernat super value!) are: it squeaks when I knit it, it makes my hands feel sweaty, and it's good and cheap and looking forward to its new home in Afghanistan.

Ann & Kay, this one's for you!

The stitch pattern, in case you can't tell, is simple: over a multiple of 5 stitches, plus 5... (and add on the K2 border each row for the garter stitch edge)
Row 1 (RS): *k5, p5, repeat from *, k last 5 sts before border.
Row 2 (WS): p5, *k5, p5, repeat from * until end
Rep. rows 1 & 2 2 times, then rev. pattern so that Row 2 is knit on the RS and row 1 on the WS.

I probably have a name for this stitch pattern somewhere, but I have dinner plans and have to run...

Progress, Again

It's growing. The increases don't look as lovely as I wish they would, but the center front decreases look great.

The pattern itself is developing a funky texture, almost like the purl stitches are pulling in a rib-like fashion. Click here for a close-up shot. I guess will see what happens...

I still have about 4" til I separate for fronts and back, but even so, the rows are getting shorter, and I have memorized the pattern which definitely speeds things along. I feel like I got a decent amount accomplished today so far.

Now I'm off to get some food before seeing "Sweeney Todd" at New York City Opera, but maybe I'll get another couple rows in when I come home tonight.

Not a Stitch

I haven't touched PPD (or any other yarn, for that matter) since my last entry. But I'm off today and awake much earlier than I expected, so I'll be picking up the needles shortly. Although, due to that premature awakening this morning, I may yet require a nap...

I promise a photo later on today.

Very Yellow.

PPD is longer than the last photo, and, because of the center front decreases, narrower, too. It's past the 4" mark. And this lovely item has joined Alison's Spring Fling. (See the button! It's my first knit-along.)

This is my second all cotton project. I have knitted before with a cotton-wool blend fiber (Colinette Prism, which I think is a ply of wool and a ply of cotton wrapped around each other, but it knits more like wool). And the Cancer Hat (which is going to the intended recipient's son tomorrow) is also all cotton, but has a very different feel to it than the PPD. The issue may be the fact that there is so much switching between purl and knit stiches here with the polka dot pattern that there's something about the tension that I'm just not getting right. When I stretch out a section of the fabric on the needles, there's a bit of a buckle happening in the vertical line that has evolved between the dots. Hopefully this is something that will disappear when I block it...

I didn't spend the whole day knitting, though (I'd hope if I had, the project would be longer than four inches). I got a delivery from amazon.com which included two lace knitting books ("Lace in the Attic" and "Modern Lace Knitting Two" which includes the pattern for the Rose of England knit by Sheila. I have a hankering to knit lace (I have a hankering to knit any yarn that will stay in my apartment long enough, who am I kidding), and that book contains a gorgeous pattern that made me want to buy some cotton crochet thread and really tiny needles. It's a lace picture of a daffodil on a tea-cloth. Seriously cool. God, I'm lame when I think lace knitting is "cool."

I also got a Kaffe Fassett book (Family Album) and a Brandon Mably book, too. I don't even want to knit most of the Mably designs, but the patterns and colors and photos are great. The Fassett book has some amazing kids sweaters, and I plan to figure out acceptable yarn substitutions and (eventually) knit something fun for my fabulous little nephew who is currently about 7 months old and lives in London. Heck, maybe I should even set up a kiddie-sweater intarsi-a-long for sometime this summer. That would be a wicked thing to do. Pure evil... Who's with me?

Happy Mail Box

There was a happy envelope from Columbus, Indiana waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home today.

What did it contain? More yarn!

That's six skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in (top row, L-R): Lilac, Mother Lode, and Black Watch. The 'goalie' position is the Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino, labelled P133 118A. I'm not sure it's the colorway I remembered from Rob but I really like it. I think my favorite out of these is the Mother Lode. I do love them all.

The Lilac will become the Waving Lace Socks from the current IK, and Rob sent me an interesting pattern called "Railroad Rib Socks" which I will try with one of the other two shades. The KPPPM is, as I mentioned before, destined to try and turn itself into gloves. Do you think if I just put it away on a shelf and wait a few months, it will find its own way into a glove-shaped formation? Or at least does anyone have a recommendation of a decent glove pattern I can use that will fit my (large-ish) hands?

Knitting Question of the Day

Today's question/rant is about the photographs that the pattern/yarn companies make to convince you to make their patterns.

Like this one, from Berocco. What's wrong with that picture, Jon?, you might ask? Well, what I think is wrong is that you can't see the ****ing sweater. Her arms are folded in front of her and you can't see the details like how does the ribbing intersect with the body of the sweater. What kind of side shaping? How does the pattern work? What does the sweater really look like?

Another one that really gets me is the Elann cables & lace cardi. It looks like it might be a beautiful sweater, but you really can't tell from the way the model is leaning forward, trying to show you that the sweater doesn't let her cleavage fall out. Fine and dandy, but what does the **** thing look like?

I hope that it's not just me who feels this way. Confess, fellow knit-bloggers! Share your stories of bad photos of good patterns!

It's Growing

I'm on the center front decreases. It seems to be going ok, although sometimes it can be a bit difficult to keep the tension on the cotton high enough when switching from K to P stitches.

It's around 2.5 inches so far. (and remember that it's two -- full width, at this point -- fronts and a full back on the piece -- so it's a decent amount of progress) Just for clarification -- the blue at the bottom is the "waste yarn" (left over from the Cancer Hat) for the initial cast on. I took half of it out so far, but I've been concentrating more on knitting than "finishing."

In the background, you'll see my retyped pattern. Yes, I'm a freak that way: I made a "chart" to remind myself of what row I'm on, and what increases or decreases I have to make on that row. Do other people do this? Or am I just a freak?

Go Me!

So my correction is valid and has been posted to the IK side. On one level, I feel quite proud of myself for being a good enough pattern reader to have caught this. On another level, I feel whiny and snivelly. Not sure which will ultimately win out...

In other news, I am knitting away. It's not very interesting to try and take a photo of at this point, but hopefully by later this evening, PPD will look like more than just a frilly, short piece of knitted-up cotton on a 24" circular needle.

In other, other news, I made a button. Link to me. Link to me now. Please? Pretty please with sugar on top? Pretty please with sugar and hand-knitted lace roses on top? Aw, c'mon, you know you want to...

In other, other, other news, I had a lovely phone call earlier today with Rob. I was actually on the phone when the UPS man showed up bringing 10 boxes of fibery goodness. And of course, there will soon be a (smaller) box of fibery goodness on its way to me from Indiana. Because as you all know, ye who readeth mine blog, I need MORE YARN. And the guys have Shepherd Sock on sale. So I bought 6 skeins of that, one in a solid to turn into the lacy socks from the aforementioned current IK, and two in fun multis, and three skeins of a fun colorway of KPPPM which I intend to attempt to turn into a pair of gloves. In my spare, spare time. I also ordered a few knitting books this morning on amazon.com. What? I'm on a food diet, you can't expect me to be on a yarn diet at the same time, now, can you?

Tinkerbell

Well, I started the Polka Purl Dot top (henceforth to be referred to as PPD) today. It took me a little while to figure out the tubular cast-on. I did a sample piece, and I don't quite understand why the designer would call for it. It seems a lot more work than it's worth, IMHO. But I'd love for someone to explain to me why it's a good thing.

So after my sample CO, I did the real project, and aside from being off by two stitches (out of 234, and I swear I counted twice!) it was going just fine, and the M1P's I used to fix the stitch count seem to be just fine.

Until I got to the second pattern row. I was remembering the chart for Jagger, the faux-argyle sweater I'm going to knit out of the lovely alpaca from Ohio, which calls for the same row to be repeated twice, as opposed to the PPD chart, which is not exactly the same. And, being the brilliant knitter that I am, I just didn't pay attention. I was watching Animal Planet on TiVo. I swear that's a valid excuse. They had baby seals!

Somehow I didn't realize that I had ****ed up the pattern until I was at the end of the row, so I had to tink back about 230 stitches and then redo the row. It is fine now, and now I am hoping that I get further news from IK before I get to row 14. I got a reply back from an Editorial Assistant who is forwarding my query to the Tech Editor. Anyhow, if I'm stuck on row 14, it's not like I don't have 9 or 10 other projects I could be working on...

In other news, I used my swift, puchased from those guys in Indiana for the first time to wind the lovely chartreuse cotton for PPD. Man, everyone should have a swift. What a fun toy! I can't wait to use it on the eBay silk. But I really have to finish a few things (and probably do a practice lace project or two) before I tackle the lovely silk. Again, suggestions of a lovely shawl suitable for bridal wearing would be most welcomed.

And now it's the time in Jon's Knit Blog World when we go to sleep. See you tomorrow!

Inches of Progess

Well, last night I decided to pull out the old Seed Stitch Scarf (henceforth the SSS), as I like the feel of the yarn a lot better than the orange for the afghan square, even though I know I have to finish it first. Anyhow, I got a couple inches done on the scarf. Because it's seed stitch, it just grows so slowly. I wish I had chosen a different stitch for this scarf, let me tell you... but it's over 2 feet long and it'd be more painful to frog than to finish. And it is pretty much gorgeous.

Today, I'm going to work on the Polka Purl Dot top from IK, which I am making for my sister who lives in Washington DC. I think my first step, though, is going to be retyping the pattern in such a way that it a) is visually clearer to read and b) only has the numbers listed for the size I am making (34, in case you are curious). Then I will wind the yarn and swatch, and hopefully it wil all work right. Especially if she likes the chartreuse color as much as my mother thought she would.

I'll keep you posted.

Update:
I think i found an error in the pattern. Has anyone else read the pattern (or started to knit this top)?

Here's what it says:
"Next row (WS; row 14 of chart) Blah blah blah, knit the row... Work 1 more row even in patt--Row 14 of chart has been completed." The next row called for is an RS row.

Now, am I reading the pattern wrong, or did they tell me to knit row 14 twice?

I emailed this to Interweave and I'm nowhere near getting to this row yet (as I have to figure out how to properly execute the "Tubular Cast On," but I do hope to figure it out before I get that row of the pattern!

A F.O.!

Lo and behold, it's a skullcap. I even tried it on briefly to make sure it does its job, and it does indeed. Even when I finish something as basic as a hat, I'm rather impressed with myself. And this one's for a good cause, so I'm doubly pleased.

I'm not pleased, however, about the snow, nor am I pleased about the fact that a colleague has to take the day off for personal reasons, so I don't get that extra day off I was supposed to have. All work and no knitting makes Jon a dull boy.

Anyhow, I'm trying to decide what's next: should I pick up one of my current projects, which are all for rather wintery weater, or should I pick up the chartreuse Butterfly and start the Polka Purl Dots? I might actually be able to get it done for summer.

And the silk from eBay came, so there's always the draw of the new yarn in the house. It's really quite lovely, and it looks like a good quantity of yarn -- but it's only 5 skeins, as far as I can figure, when the auction was supposedly for 10. And it doesn't look like it'll be fun (or easy) to wind.

Maybe I'll just finish the afghan square next.

Fibery Goodness

I added a new link to my blogroll because her nightmare fulling story made me laugh.

I have a question, though... why does everyone refer to fulling as felting? Fulling, IMHO, is perhaps a cooler word than felting...

Anyhow, I was very tired last night, and even though I love color of the bright orange yarn (the hand of it? not so much), I was only able to get through a few rows on the afghan square. And now, it's back to work. But I'm off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, so hopefully I can get a lot of knitting done. If I'm really productive, I'll finish the cancer hat and the back of the blue cable sweater. Wish me luck!

Knitful Confusion

So I was plugging away on the Cancer Hat, working the decreases for the crown, getting tighter and tighter on the needle until the point that I decided to switch to the DPN's. And so I got my brand-spankin' new clover bamboo DPN's out from their little plastic case. And I thought to myself, these needles do not feel like they're the same size as the circular needle I've been using for this had. And I looked a little closer and realized that even though they're called US6, the DPN's are 4.25mm needles, and the circ I've been on is a 4.00mm.

Why do they do this to us?

This isn't the first time, either. I have some #2's that are 2.75mm and some that are 3.00mm.

While we're on the topic of a big difference in needle size, why is it that there's such a giant leap in size from US10.5 to US11?

Anyhow, once I realized that the new DPN's weren't going to work, I started an Afghan Square for Ann & Kay it's currently about 2" long.

What else can I say? Too bad there's not a 24 hour LYS here in Manhattan. It is the City that never sleeps, after all...

Like a Third Thigh

I'm back from Ohio. Of course, the highlight was seeing my parents' new house. The second highlight was the yarn store. Not that I needed anything. In fact, I really had too much yarn in the house in the first place. I need more yarn like I need a third thigh.

But... well... resistance is futile.

I got:

The first photo shows, from top right: Acrylic yarn (gosh, this stuff is inexpensive. Hopefully it will not be too evil to knit), in green, blue, and a very bright orange. It is intended to be for afghan squares for Ann & Kay's afghan square project if they're not too put off by the concept of acrylic. Then there's four needle-y things: a set of #6 bamboo DPN's, a #1.5 crochet hook for getting me out of teeny jams (and in case I learn how to crochet, for that silk yarn from eBay), a set of aluminum #4's and #7's, and that bright yellow stuff is actually more chartreuese in real life, and it's Butterfly, intended to turn into the Polka Purl Dots from Spring 2004 Interweave Knits.

The second photo shows a lovely alpaca yarn, which is actually handmade in the same town my parents live in. I am going to make into this sweater, from Jaeger 28 - Men's Collection, a lovely book I'm glad I also bought there.

And just so you don't think I wasn't productive, I got most of the whatever-you-call-the-part-of-a-hat-that-you-make-before-you-start-the-crown-decreases done on the Cancer Hat, which is a skull-cap with three rows of seed stitch before switching to simple stockinette. Note also that the color of the yarn is more of a cornflower - warmer and a bit redder than the cool blue the photo shows:

This is what the #6 bamboo DPNs in the first photo will be for, at least in the immediate future. I may be able to finish this hat tomorrow. We shall see.

A New Project!

Yes, I know, I already have too many projects in various states of completion. This should be a quick project, and it's a very important reasons. I had dinner with a friend of mine last night (I think I mentioned this), and he revealed that his father is in chemo right now, and is starting to lose his hair, and needs a hat. Of course, I volunteered. His sister (the friend's sister - aka the daughter of the man who, unfortunately, has Stage IV lung cancer), mentioned that cornflower was a color which complements his eyes nicely.

So today, I found some cotton yarn, in cornflower, and although my gauge is nowhere near what the band said it should be (suggested 20 sts = 4 in - but my 20 sts were only 3 inches - on US 6's), but I like the way it looks knitted up like this (unlike some people, I do not make photo-worthy watches), but I am going have something to show you soon.

And I think that you'll all agree, this is a worthy cause to put all other knitting on hold. The hat should only take a few days, anyhow. Knock on wood.

In other news, the Ebay gods are smiling on me. A week or so ago, I placed a bid on 6 skeins of a lovely looking natural silk. My bid, of $55, was barely edged out (I was at work when the auction finshed, and couldn't babysit it) to a $56 bid. So I was happy to see that the same seller put up for auction 5 sets of 10 skeins of the exact same silk. Yes, that's right, 4 MORE skeins than in the first auction. And guess how much I got it for? $30!

I don't even need it, but who can say no to 6,000 yards of laceweight silk? Not me. Don't worry, though. I'll figure out some fabulous use for it. But I'm open to suggestions. My initial instinct is that, since my sister is probably about to get engaged... that some sort of silk wrap for her wedding day... if I can make it lovely enough that she'd actually consider wearing it... would be VERY special.

PS: Pretend this is my Wednesday entry. And sadly, I may not get to have a Thursday entry, because I am going to see my parents' new house in Ohio, and won't be back until late Thursday evening. But more photos and more blogging will be forthcoming. I promise!

Photos Galore!

Well, three, anyhow.

Photo #1 is the terrible raglan. You can't tell how wide it is. I obviously mismeasured my gauge on this project, and I'm just not telling you the current dimensions of this sweater. I will tell you that the flash, of course, washes out the color - it's not this flourescent in real life. I will also mention that I am worried I might run out of yarn on this one.

Photo #2 is the cable sweater which is taking a while but is super-beautiful. Hopefully it will turn into a garment that fits! There are two flub-ups in the cabling. I C6F'ed when I should have C6B'ed. Twice! Can you find them? I sure can't. (That's a lie. I know exactly where they are.)

Photo #3 is living vicariously through one of my parents' cats. How could I resist a photo of a cat nestled in on Dad's sweater shelf?

No News is Good News

But no knitting is not good.

I was at work longer than I thought, and a quick after-work cocktail reception (where I just had water, as I was planning to go home and knit) turned into a longer, dinner-y thing. So by the time I got home and checked a few blogs, it was just too late to pick the needles up, since I have to be at work at 8am tomorrow.

And the batteries in the digital camera were dead anyhow, so it wasn't like I could even photograph anything anyhow.

I added a few more links to knitting blogs I like.

And I will also tell you that I do not have any cats or dogs, which apparantly makes me relatively unique among people with knitting blogs.

Well, I have a porcelain kitty I bought in Denmark, and some carved wooden ones I bought in Madison, Wisconsin, but those don't really count. I'd have a real one if I could, but allergies and a no-pet building have conspired against me.

Most of a Neckband

Well, as you probably know, neckbands in progress aren't usually very photogenic, and this one's about 3/4 done. I'm a firm believer in the fold-over neckband for a crew neck sweater, and so that's just what this oversized Raglan is getting.

I actually did more than just the neckband on it tonight -- I knit a few more rows on the main body, then I transferred all the stitches to a piece of yarn so that I could try on the sweater in progress (perhaps the only advantage to a top-down raglan?). I decided that I would be able to tell better if the neckband was finished, so that's what I started to do. Luckily, I picked up an even amount of stitches for my 1x1 rib, and made it through the fold-over row and then about halfway back. Tomorrow, I should be able to finish it, bind it off, and tack it down to the inside of the sweater. If I can make the digital camera work on this 'puter, there'll be a photo tomorrow evening.

Short Saturday Morning Entry

I got a few rounds done on the Raglan yesterday. I need to transfer the stitches to a long piece of yarn or something and see where I am fit-wise. I kind of don't think it's going to fit (I think it's way too big) but I want to finish the sweater anyhow. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's this bizarre desire I have.

Anyhow, I'm going to try and figure out how to photograph it over the next day or so. But for right now, I have to go to work.

More, More, More!

So yesterday, there was a lot I didn't tell you (if anyone's out there reading this).

Why did I decide to start knitting, for example. My mom, as I mentioned, used to knit, and I thought it looked rather interesting, and I asked her to show me how at one point, many years ago, when I was visiting her in Ohio. I knit something small and green and (I think) acrylic. Didn't pick up needles again until June of 2003. I had decided to go to Thailand in July of 2003, and thought maybe it'd be an interesting way to spend the hours and hours of flying across the Pacific. So after checking the security policy of the airline, I realized that I could, indeed, take knitting needles on the plane.

I found the closest knitting shop to my apartment (a spot called Knits Incredible, on Lexington & 70th Street), and a nice woman there taught me how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off. She even taught me how to cable. We put together a pattern to make my younger sister a sweater (without measuring her at all, as she was (and still is) in Ohio), and I chose two colors (a pale blue and a medium blue) of Zara (yes, that lovely Merino yarn), and a pair of #6 needles. I took the sweater in progress with me on the plane -- but in those small economy seats (and the plane was totally full, mind you), I didn't feel comfortable "outing" myself as a man-who-knits. I did knit in the hotel room from time to time, though.

And when I got back to New York City, I realized that between my TiVo and my knitting, I actually felt like I was getting my money's worth out of my cable bill. So much so, in fact, that my main "Away" message for my AOL Instant Messenger is "I'm Knitting and TiVo-ing. Call me if you need me (and are lucky enough to know my number)."

If you have actually read both of my blog entries, you will realize that the Zara sister sweater mentioned above does not match up to any of the WIP's listed below. Yes, I have finished something. In fact, I have finished more than one project. The story, though, of finishing the Sister Sweater (really, the striped sister sweater), needs to be told.

Remember how I told you that the nice Jewish lady at Knits Incredible just pulled the pattern out of thin air? (Well, with my help, as I decided I wanted to have a cable running up the sleeves, and now I can officially tell you it was a cool idea because it really gave a personal 'twist' to what otherwise would have looked like a sweater from the Gap) So I took that sweater to my sister, shortly after her birthday, when she was down visiting my other sister in Washington, DC. The intended recipient-sister took one look at the sweater and said, "Oh, it's beautiful. But it will never fit me. She had neglected to tell me she had an abnormally oversized head (it's about as big as mine, and I'm a rather large-headed guy, if I may say so, and she's a rather average sized woman) and so the crewneck wouldn't even make if over her head. So we could never tell if the sweater would have fit her, anyhow. Regardless, it looked small.

Miraculously, my other sister took a look at the sweater and said, "It looks like it would fit me" which is espically funny if you know what a prima-donna said sister can be. So she pulled it over her (normal sized) head and lo and behold, the striped sister sweater fit the wrong sister. Perfectly.

More on other FO's later. Yes, I have finished a few things. And I'm going to go work on something so that hopefully I can turn a WIP or two into an FO or two.

An Introduction

Hello, knitting bloggers who have actually found me.

I'm Jon. I've been blogging for a while, and at some point, I realized that there was a community of knitting blogs with wonderful writing and gorgeous photos and information on stitches and patterns and passions and all those good things.

And since I'd taken up the needles in June of '03, the few knitting bloggers with whom I had been in touch asked where my knitting blog was.

So here it is.

What kind of knitter am I? Well, I really don't know yet, even though I've been knitting for about 8 months now. I do know that I prefer smaller needles to large, and while I can enjoy great expanses of stockinette, I much prefer to have a pattern of sorts to play with. I seem to like making an interesting thing out of simply (luxurious!) yarn a lot more than I like making a simple thing out of elaborate yarn. That said, two of my current WIP's are with a multi-color variagated yarn. One is a sock, though, so that's ok, and the other? Well, I should probably just give you the list of WIP's:

1) Top down one-piece raglan from this free pattern in Colinette Prism in the "Jamboree" colorway (though this dye-lot is exceptionally green for Jamboree) on 10 1/2 Addi Turbos. I am not sure that I love the pattern, and thus far the sweater appears to be on the big side, but we'll see. I've finished the (yoke?) and am now about 6 inches onto the body.

2) Cabled crew-neck in Filatura di Crosa Primo (100% wool superwash) in Royal Blue on #8 Addi Turbo's. I'm 2/3rd done with the back. This sweater is for a colleague of mine.

3) Luckenbooth Brooch, an extremely complicated Fair Isle by Ron Schweitzer that I probably started before I was quite ready to do so, although it's not my first Fair Isle project. I've done the bottom 2-color garter stitch band and the first 8 rows of the cardi - but it's on a sort of hold right now while I just try to finish a few of the other projects I have on my pile. It's on 2's and 3's, and I'm using Addi turbos.

4) Seed-stitch scarf in Colinette Prism - in the Cardinal colorway - on 10 1/2 Brittany rosewood needles. It's a beautiful scarf, but seed stitch just grows SO slowly. It's over halfway done, though.

5) My first sock: I'm using Sockotta - Rose Garden colorway on #2 needles (Bamboo). I'm on the first sock of the pair, top down, and I have succesfully turned the heel (well, there's a couple little holes that I have to figure out from whence they came), and making progress when I can.

6) The intarsia scarf on the cover of Vogue Scarves Two. This is in Filatura di Crosa's Zara (100% merino) on 4's (Addi turbos). About 1/2 way finished.

7) The Sister Cardigan. This is simple pattern (sweater design) that the yarn store and I came up with for a crew neck cardigan - also in Filatura di Crosa Zara - but in a multicolor (I think there's 8) stripe - and it's random, single or double row stripes - which means millions of loose ends to sew in. I have the fronts and the back finished on this sweater, but when I showed the WIP to the intended sisterly recipient, it appeared to be way too small. So it's on hold for now. I should probably finish it just to see if it fits someone. And stick to more "legit" patterns from books or magazines rather than "store-made" in the future. (My mom, who used to knit, switched entirely to knitting afghans after the umpteenth expensive yarn sweater with patterns from her LYS and hours and hours of knitting didn't fit anyone at all)

8: Another "on hold" project - a shawl-wrap-something-piece of knitted fabric that uses a modified entrelac pattern (from a Vogue baby-knit book that I can't find a link for) in a totally different yarn - a novelty yarn called "Stuff" from Prism. Very fun yarn. Very fun project. Forced hold by me until I finish at least two sweaters and a scarf (though I'll probably finish both scarves in progress before I finish two of the three sweaters).

9: An easy one: An afghan square for Ann & Kay's Afghan Square project. Only my square, which is supposed to be 8" x 8" is so far only 6 3/4" because the cable stitch I picked is much narrower than I expected it to be. So I guess that means I'm doing a swatch for an 8" x 8" project.

10: A hat, out of strange yarn I picked up in store in Cleveland. It's a funky pattern I invented myself (I think hats are fun!), and it will probably be my next F.O.

So, in other words, I seem to like to start projects a lot more than I like to finish them. (And don't even ask me about my stash for future projects. And don't ask why I bid on that yarn on ebay either. I thought it was pretty. I don't even know what I'd do with it. And don't ask me about the books (like Cheryl Oberle's "Folk Shawls") or magazines (like the Spring '04 Interweave Knits) where I have found patterns (like the kimono shawl or the Stella Blouse) which I would love to knit. And please don't ask me about the Kaffe Fassett pattern (Icon, if you must know) for which I have yarn (bought on ebay) ready to go in the other room of my small Manhattan apartment.) I need some self restraint. And some more yarn, please. Cromarty, anyone?