Twist and Shout

And do a little dance!

Hurray! Twist is all sewn up and blocked. The buttons in the photo are only there for effect; I will sew them on once the sweater is dry.

I actually finished knitting Twist on Saturday but just couldn't bring myself to seam it yesterday. I knew I had to be in the right frame of mind and yesterday had too much of a holiday atmosphere. But I was determined to finish it today, no excuses.

Like many people, I love to knit but am not so crazy about the finishing process. We all know that the finishing can make the difference between something that looks "homemade" and "handmade" and as I've become a more accomplished knitter I have also become more particular about how my finished pieces are put together. I am now quite confident with picking up stitches along an edge and sewing basic seams but there is one task that I always dread, and that is attaching the sleeve to the armhole. I've experimented with various methods but I am never completely satisfied with the results.

I was pleased to see that the most recent issue of Interweave Knits features an article on finishing by Veronik Avery, one of my favourite knitwear designers. One of the things I admire most about her is her attention to detail so I was not at all surprised to find that she adopts a very methodical approach to assembling a garment. As I scanned the article I was particularly interested in her method of sewing a set-in sleeve into an armhole. While I was in the habit of sewing both side and sleeve seam first, then setting the finished sleeve into the circle of the armhole (a method I learned from dressmaking), she suggests sewing the flat sleeve into the flat armhole before seaming the sides and sleeves. Even more intriguing was her practice of using different seaming techniques for the various parts of the armhole: grafting the bound-off stitches of the underarm, switching to mattress stitch for the main part of the armhole, then grafting the bound off edges of the sleeve cap to the shoulder area of the sweater. This multi-stitch approach seems so obvious and logical but I have never come across it in any knitting handbook I have read, let alone considered it myself.

Armed with this new knowledge I quickly and easily attached the sleeves to my sweater and was absolutely thrilled with the results. Hands down, it is the best method I have ever used and I am tempted to go back and resew the sleeves into all of my old sweaters! (Okay, maybe not all of them but there are a couple I am seriously considering.)

I do not expect to ever love finishing as much as I love knitting but the more I learn about it and the more practiced at it I become, the less I dislike it. And now, more importantly, thanks to Veronik's advice I will no longer dread it.

Happy Easter!

It is a happy Easter indeed! I have finished the Mother-in-Law Socks at long last. What a relief!

I can't explain why I disliked this project so much. I didn't mind the pattern or the yarn but perhaps together they just weren't interesting enough to hold my attention. The first sock seemed to take forever (it didn't help that my mother-in-law has a long foot) and even though I immediately cast on for the second one, the dreaded SSS hit me hard and fast. Funnily enough, though, once I finally made up my mind to finish the pair the second sock didn't seem to take too long at all. (Hmm, makes me wonder what I could accomplish if I were to devote some undivided attention to the UFO's in my knitting trunk.)

While I don't find these socks particularly exciting, I am satisfied with how they turned out. Even more importantly, I think they will suit my mother-in-law very well and that's the whole point. I will be giving them to her for her birthday next month.

My March Sockdown KAL brought me much more happiness.

I worked through these socks quickly and finished them on Tuesday. Other than wishing I'd done them on a bit smaller needle I am pleased with how they turned out.

I am also happy to report that I have finished knitting Twist.

I would have been even happier if I were to have woken up this morning to find that some elves (or maybe even the Easter Bunny) had dropped by during the night to do the sewing up. Sigh...I guess I will have to do that myself, probably tomorrow.

And how can this sock-in-progress not make you feel happy?

I took a little break from my yarn diet earlier this week and indulged in three skeins of sock yarn, including this one, Fleece Artist Merino 2/6. Although it didn't say on the label I think the colourway is "Parrot". After knitting so many neutrals lately I was ready for something bright and cheerful. My original intention was to knit a pair of plain socks with it but I didn't like the way the colours were knitting up so I switched to a feather and fan pattern.

Much better. I am considering doing a contrasting heel and toe in some leftover red Fleece Artist to really make the colours pop.

At the risk of sounding sappy and sentimental I have to say that the thing that makes me happiest today is being all together. Although it has been pouring outside it is warm and cozy inside, with the delicious smell of slowcooker chicken filling the air. Right now each member of the family is enjoying their day off pursuing their individual interests, whether it be reading, knitting, or computer games, but we will all come together at dinnertime and share some food and laughs. Family meals used to be something I took for granted and sometimes even dreaded while the kids were growing up--my brother-in-law's friend dubbed suppertime at his house "arsenic hour", a sentiment to which I could once relate. These days, though, with our various work and social schedules, it is rare for us to all sit down together for dinner. And for the past three years we have celebrated most holidays without our daughter's presence, so it is especially nice to have her with us today. I repeat, it is a happy Easter indeed!

I expect continued happiness in the week to come. I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of my first Year of Lace project, which is shipping tomorrow. Everything about the kit--the yarn, the colour, the designer, the pattern--is a complete mystery and the suspense is thrilling me. Whoever said that money can't buy you happiness obviously wasn't a knitter.

Going to Small Lengths

Let me present my latest socks.

I like them so much I think I'll knit another pair just like them!

Seriously, like many sock knitters I prefer identical twins. When I am knitting with a self-patterning yarn I take great pains to ensure that each sock matches its mate, from the cast on to the heel to the tip of the toes. Ahem, some people might even say I'm obsessive about it. After today I might even agree with them.

Berroco "Sox" has a much longer pattern repeat than other self-patterning yarns I have used; from beginning to end it extends over about 5" of knitted fabric. As I worked through the first of my pair of Sox, I started thinking about where in the pattern the sock might end. I was hoping it would be close to the end of a repeat so that I could begin the second sock at the beginning of a new repeat with a minimum of waste--I didn't want to go through metres and metres of yarn to find the correct starting point. Furthermore, if the gap between the repeats was too long I might not have enough yarn to complete a second sock, unless it was fraternal. And believe me, the idea of knitting a pair of fraternal twins disturbed me much more than the idea of wasting perfectly good yarn.

As I began my toe decreases I calculated that the first sock would most likely end pretty much where the second sock would need to begin. Just my luck. There might be a litte wiggle room but not much. I marked the spot on the yarn where the new cast on needed to start and watched as the toe stitches of the first sock ate up more and more yarn. When I reached the end of the knitting, instead of cutting the yarn I picked up another needle and cast on for the second sock.

When I finished I had exactly 10.5" of yarn left stretched between the socks. Leaving about 3" for the cast on tail, I cut the yarn and proceeded to graft the toes of the first sock. Here's what I had left over.

Hah, take that Knitting Fates. (Yes, I realize I have now set myself up for a big fall. I'll risk it.)

Shades of Brown

Almost a week has passed since the first of the month and while I haven't had as much time to knit as I would have liked--work keeps getting in the way--I have made some good progress on my KAL projects.

Last night I finished the back of Twist:

Even though it looks rather long and thin at present, I have faith that blocking and seaming will work its usual magic.

I love the cable pattern on this sweater. It's simple and quick to knit (at least, when you don't make mistakes) but just complicated enough to be interesting.

After I cast off Twist I turned to my current "on-the go" sock and turned the heel and picked up for the gusset. I always have a pair of plain socks on the needles that I work on periodically while waking up in the morning, watching tv, waiting for appointments, or riding in the car. This pair's made with Berroco Sox, colour 1420.

I wanted to have some mindless knitting on hand in time for this week's episodes of Survivor and Celebrity Apprentice. I generally watch very little tv--less than five hours per week--but I do like to indulge in my guilty pleasures on a regular basis, namely Survivor, The Apprentice, and The Amazing Race.

This morning it was time to return to my other KAL project, Ann Budd's Undulating Rib Socks.

This has proved to be a very quick and easy knit and I completed the first leg a couple of days ago. I'm now about halfway through the gusset decreases and will finish this step later this afternoon.

Is it just me or do you see a pattern emerging? Brown. Everything I am knitting is brown. Well, brown is the new black. Or so I've heard. Only...you know...browner.

Who comes up with this stuff, anyway?

In Like a Lion

So, it seems that March is definitely coming in like a lion, as far as both knitting and the weather go. As mentioned yesterday, I am embarking on two KAL projects. This month's requirement for Sockdown: Ravelry is to either A) knit a pair of socks in entrelac or B) knit a pair of socks designed by Ann Budd. Since I am not a fan of entrelac I chose option B. I had already earmarked some brown Trekking XXL in my stash for her Undulating Rib Socks so it works out perfectly.

I officially kicked off my Sockdown project this morning by casting on for the first sock and knitting one round.

For the March Sweater Madness we get to choose from three different patterns, which were officially revealed last night at midnight (9:00 pm my time). First one finished wins a prize. All three choices are top-down cardigans, including this Top Down Raglan by cosmicpluto knits, this Raglan Cardigan by Stephanie Japel, and my old friend, Mr. Greenjeans. Now, I would love to knit another Mr. Greenjeans, this time for myself, but I don't have any yarn in my stash that will do it justice. And as much as I think the other patterns are nice, they don't really excite me as much as they should if I am going to devote the next month to knitting one. In the end I decided to take myself out of the official race but knit along with the group using another pattern. I've been thinking about making a cabled hoodie for a while and have considered the obvious choices, such as Rogue and the Central Park Hoodie, but ultimately decided on Twist by Chic Knits. I cast on the back this morning with Cascade 220 in a taupy-beige colour and managed to knit a couple of inches of ribbing before I had to leave for work. This evening after dinner I finished the ribbing and am looking forward to beginning the cable pattern.

In addition to working on KAL projects I will continue to plug away on the MIL socks--so far I have one down, and a whole lot more of the second to go. (Did I mention that my mother-in-law has lo-o-o-ng feet?) I will also keep going on the Graphic Hoodie; a few rows here and a few rows there and I'll eventually get to the armholes, where the pattern gets a whole lot more interesting--not to mention a whole lot more photo-worthy. Obviously there will be no shortage of knitting to keep me busy this month. In fact, considering the amount of wool crammed into my new current projects basket, maybe it's more accurate to say that March is coming in like a lamb...

I know, I know, baa-d joke!