Golden Gate National Recreation Area

I was planning on hiking around Angel Island, but I got going late and did you know that the ferry stops running at 4:00 pm?  I didn't want to be thinking about not making the ferry back, since then I wouldn't be enjoying the experience, I'd just be thinking about missing the ferry. Yes, I am a basket case occasionally.

As usual, when it's hot weather in the East Bay, it's cold, windy and overcast on the coast. 

So, I ended up exploring the Marin Headlands and eventually made it over to Rodeo Beach. What I don't know is why I haven't been over to this area before because it was very scenic. I'll definitely be back.

I parked at the visitor's center and in the interests of getting at least a short hike took the trail from there down to Rodeo beach.

Along the way I saw some wild roses. They were growing in big bushes at various places along the trail. Yep, these are the original flower that our multi-petaled rose comes from. I love the smell of roses and these smell amazing. Watch the thorns though, cause they are wicked.

The trail dipped down through a shaded glade and there were some of these tall purple items. I have no idea what they are. Just took a picture cause they were cool.

Made it down to the beach and just sat for a while watching and listening to the ocean. It was nice and relaxing. I headed back when I started feeling really cold. The wind was blowing and it was overcast, although the sun did manage to break through here and there.

I did bring my knitting and do a few more rows on my Clapotis.




That concludes my outdoor adventures. I have been working diligently on all of the gift slippers I am making and they are done and felted. I also put puffy paint on the bottoms for better traction. I think they turned out great. I'm glad I'm done with these and I can move on to other projects.

Time flies...

...whenever you are not watching it closely. Besides knitting (I know, the most important thing in the universe) this is what I'm also doing this summer.
(1) Getting back into working out. Not exercising for 7 months and then working out - it's hard and very tiring. Who knew? Yes, I am out of shape but I'm working on it.
(2) Taking care of various things - car repair, dental repair, doctor's visit, DMV stuff - etc. etc. all that stuff that I never have time to take care of during school.
(3) Completing classes for Masters. I have two more.

Yep, just a tad busy. Anyway, not been working on any posted projects lately as quite some time ago I decided that making felted slippers for gifts would be a Good Idea. 4 pair had to be done by the end of July - so well, that's what I've been doing when not taking care of the above stuff.  These are DONE except for sewing up and then throwing in the washer for the magic shrinking process.

Yay! Now I can go back to other knitting projects instead of working on one more pair of slippers.

You can always have one more...

I have determined that I am an ADD craft person. I don't like working on just one project. 5 projects are good and 10 projects are even better. Of course, this means that I jump around from item to item, but hey, it's what makes me happy. Oh, and being a teacher isn't so great sometimes but summer vacation really rocks.

I've been diligently (well somewhat) working on the Diagonal Rib Top. I can only work on it for so long at a time because row after row of knit and purl is Deadly Dull. Anyway, here is where I'm at:

And yes, there is a problem. What is it? Well, there are two problems really. And, no it's not the fit. The thing fits great and I really like the way it looks. But it is TOO SHORT and I know that it will bug me, and that I will not wear it, and then all my work will be wasted.

The 2nd thing is that the neckline is really low. Which would be fine if I was going to to a club, but since I want to wear this for work and during the day, I need to raise the neckline.

So, I've got to rip it back all the way to the neckline and then do more rows and then start over with the whole division thing, etc. What really makes me crazy here is that I already had extra rows but in a fit of insanity decided to rip them out. So, now I have to rip back so I can re-knit the rows I already knit and ripped out. I'll be happier though so it just has to happen.

I then cast on for this for solace.

It's Poplar and Elm, a very nice openwork lace cardigan. I'm doing it in Rowan Bamboo Soft which is very nice and soft. Super drape.

What about those other projects? Oh, they are all still on the needles. I'm working on the felted slipper sets (I have two more sets to complete before the end of July) and the Clapotis has been relegated to my "take-along" knitting since I don't have to count it, don't need to finish a row to know where I am and I don't need the pattern for quite some time. And yes, row after row of stockinette is again, Deadly Dull,  So, it's perfect for the project that I won't mess up as I sit and chat or that I do a few stitches/rows on here and there.

Why do things like this happen to me?

So today I come home to this:

What is the problem here you may ask. A box? Cool. Someone sending me something? Even more cool.

The problem is that this is a box that I shipped out from the Post Office yesterday. Why is it on my doorstep? I really don't know. My only guess at this point is that the Postal Employee who looked at this did not know the meaning of the words From and To. So, off the post office tomorrow...

However, Clapotis is coming along. I've been knitting on it every day. Yes, it is boring but the drop stitches make it all worth it. There is a lot more than there was last time but the Giant Ball of Yarn has not appreciably diminished. Thank goodness for my kitchen scale which assures me that yes, this ball is 2 oz lighter than it used to be.

Yet another project

So, last week as I was working on the lace pattern shrug I've been putting together I realized that somehow I had cast on 32 stitches for the left sleeve and only 24 for the right. The shrug is worked in one piece and the sleeves are cast on dolman style. Of course, I only found the error when I was actually finished with the sleeve section. I thought of many different things I could do, but really that's an unfixable error so... the shrug is currently back to balls of yarn and I'll have to start over. Seriously Disgusted. HOW did I MISS THAT?

To console myself I turned this giant hank of yarn:

Into a giant ball of yarn (which took a while). I think guesstimating that there's about 1600 yards in this hank. So... to ease my pain I cast on for Clapotis. Because, hey, everyone else has one so I should have one too. I like it so far, and there's no sleeves to make me crazy and I've got plenty of yarn.

Summer Vacation

Well, sort've. I'm going to be the math department chair next year which apparently has a lot of various things that have to be done over the summer. Hmmm... gotta figure out some nice relaxing stuff to do so that I'm ready for the next school year.

In Knitting News:
I am FINISHED with my friend's lace wedding shawl. I ended up with 11 pattern repeats instead of the 13 the pattern calls for. I really enjoyed this pattern, it was a very good introductory lace pattern. After the first repeat it also got fairly easy to determine where I was in the pattern and if things were lining up correctly. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I steam blocked it and it easily blocked to 70" long which should be perfect for a shoulder wrap. I might make this again for myself, but... longer. And well, NOT in off-white. I also wonder what it would look like in garter stitch.

School's OUT!

Last day of school happened, I finished everything I needed to get done, which is amazing and now the summer. Ahhh...

My son's HS Graduation went well as shown by this awesome pic. My daughter is on the left. I'm cute but not as cute as she is. Of course, she's my kid so I have to say that.

So, both kids now graduated from High School and in college or college-bound. Yay!

Knitting has progressed as well, I'm on repeat 10 of the lace shawl, no pic, cause it looks the same as the last pic, just longer. I've restarted Angie's Aran sweater, and as you can see it's almost back to where I pulled it apart last time. I'm doing front and back circularly this time so that it's all in one piece, so really it's farther along. However, I think I'm going to have to go a search for more of the yarn, as it's not going to be enough.

If it's not one thing - it's another.

Lace Knitting - Onward

Went to the KFOG KaBOOM this weekend which was, again, the best fireworks show EVER. The main artist this year was Melissa Etheridge so that was really awesome as she's one of my favorite singers. I, of course, took my son. Since he's graduating high school this year I don't know if he'll be able to come or not next year as he's going off to college. T couldn't come since she's taking some summer classes.

During the weekend, I'm asked him about his graduation (he lives with his dad) and it's a mystery to him. He doesn't know the date, the time or the location. I asked him if he was planning on being there, to which he answered yes However, I guess he's just going to arrive magically. So, I'm figuring if I want to go to the ceremony, I'll have to figure it out for myself.

In current knitting news, after quite some time fighting with the laceweight yarn that I'm using for Muir it's being much nicer to me. I'm able to get some sort of tension and progress with the pattern. I did switch out SSK to SKP, as that seems a lot easier to complete for some reason. I've actually managed to complete 2 entire repeats and I'm in the middle of repeat 3 which I would have said was unlikely two weeks ago, but what a difference practice can make! Just gotta have a pic to document actual progress...

I find this quite cool since this is the first lace I've ever really attempted.

I've also got more of the Diagonal Rib top. Both of these are the same amount of stitches. The difference in size is due to test blocking the bottom one. As commented on, the Berroco Glace yarn I'm using for this does stretch out, but I'm definitely taking that into account.  I like how this is turning out so far, we'll see how it moves foward from here.

Lace Knitting

Man, I'm struggling on the lace knitting. I just can't seem to HOLD ON to the laceweight yarn. It keeps escaping my grasp. I've got to figure out a different way to hold it so that I can be somewhat successful in knitting with it.

I'm on row 12 of Muir and it has taken me at least 4 hours to get that far. I had to cast-on twice. I tried the provisional cast-on but I kept losing stitches the first row with all the yarn over's and SSK's. I'd be trying to get it and all of a sudden I'd have a big loop of yarn instead of stitches. So, re-did the cast on as a crochet cast-on which took approximately ummm... forever but did work better.

Then the stitch markers. Since this is my first major lace pattern I thought stitch markers would be a really good idea to mark the repeats. But, but, but since the increases/decreases move in diagonal sort've waves I have to keep moving them every few rows. The first couple of times it happened, I obsessively undid and recounted to make sure all stitches were there and they were - just that there was one more dec than inc BEFORE the stitch marker.  Kinda driving me crazy.

I thought that not needing to have this done until June 26 (friend's wedding) was plenty of time but... maybe not.

Somewhat weekly update

This week was crazy at school because it's nice weather plus multi-cultural week which means all of the kids are bouncing off the walls and not thinking they have to do anything like learn, and especially not something hard, like learning math. Which is a problem cause I'm there to teach them. And, it looks like we're going to be under some re-structuring plan (which when implemented, by the way, do not show any IMPROVEMENT in test scores - so... why is it something that must be done to RAISE the scores?? I wonder.)

Also, started the next class towards my Master's which is Educational Law. Sounds like fun right? Not. I couldn't get the book for cheaper either, cause the edition that I need is a special edition only created for National University. But hey, they'' give me 50% if I want to sell it back to them. Sounds like a deal to me.

So, in the spirit of procrastination that I have down to a fine science I decided that working on various knitting projects was much more important.

I swatched for Heroine. I ended up with quite a large swatch because my stitch and row gauge is off. I think the Lamb's Pride Bulky is heavier than two strands of Cascade 220. I don't want to knit more tightly because in order to get a good felt, there needs to be space in between the fibers for the agitation needed, and the fabric I've got right now feels good. I also wanted to test out 1x1 rib because I don't know if I want those folded back sections in the front. This swatch ended up taking most of a skein. Good thing I've got a LOT of this yarn to play with!

I also spent quite a bit of time winding up a skein of laceweight that I'm going to use to make a wedding shawl for a good friend of mine. I'm planning to knit Muir. Winding this yarn turned into a challenge though. What is with the little bits? No, I didn't break it. So, apparently I have 1.60 ounces of laceweight and 0.15 ounces of random ends that they added into the skein to make weight. To add insult to injury, they didn't connect the ends in any way. Suddenly the end would appear, and then I'd have to hunt around in the skein for another end to start winding again. It might not have been so bad, but I managed to start from the crap end, so for a while there I was really wondering if I was going to end up with 50 little tiny balls of yarn. Finally, though  I hit the major portion and then I was much happier.

I also worked quite a bit on this basic shrug I'm putting together. I've got a diagonal V lace pattern going on. I have now found out that no matter how basic the lace pattern is I still have to pay attention, cause otherwise I end up with a lacy effect, but not necessarily the one I was going for. My autopilot brain has a different idea of where the holes should go apparently. I've done quite a bit of fixing along with knitting on this project.

So, I flatten it out and look at it this morning... (cue ominous music) and there is a hole where there's not supposed to be one. And not one row down or anything easy like that. No. It's 1/2 way down the fabric. HOW did it get there without me noticing? It's not like I haven't been checking and fixing errors along the way. I am looking at this nearly every row to make sure that I haven't yet again put a hole where it's not supposed to be.

So... what to do, what to do. I completely refuse to rip the whole thing back. That's at least 20 rows. No way.

So, I pull out the stitches until I can get to the hole and fix it. The thing is with a lace pattern, you can't just drop one stitch and then bring it back up. No. You have to get all of the associated k2togethers and Slip Knit Pass stitches too. I ended up with this messy looking stuff. Now I've got a diagonal ripped out section that I have to now recreate row by row.

I couldn't have done it if I didn't have the center back stitch as an anchor. Otherwise, I think I might have really had to take out the whole thing. It was a bit fiddly but finally..

Success!

And - I swear, I will check EVERY row to make sure that I haven't somehow messed up the pattern again.

Missed out

I missed out on the last couple of days of the knit blog week. I'm taking some online classes towards my master's in education and yesterday was the final day for the current class. So, blog or pass class, hmmm.... It was a tough decision but I ended up deciding to pass the class.

However I do feel the need to update the status of a couple of FOs even though I am past the expiration date. I don't have pics current, but I have knit two separate aran sweaters for my Dad and he loves them.He's a big sweater guy.  I got these little tags that say "Handmade with love by Shellee" and he is just so thrilled that he has two sweaters that have my name sewn inside them. I'll have to remember to get a couple of pics, because those sweaters are good work. I've made myself a few things as well, but not as happy with them, mostly because of the fact I will spend $$ on yarn for other people but not on myself. Working on that one, cause what good is it to knit an awesome sweater out of crap yarn? (by which I mean yarn I actually do not like, and not necessarily fiber content.)

I also took a big breath and faced what had to be done with Angie's Aran Sweater.

Going...

Going... 

Gone.

I still love this yarn (cashmere mmmm...) and the pattern, (except I'm editing out all of those bobbles.) I just need to relax, relax, relax when I'm knitting with it. I start stressing that it's going to be too big, tighten up my knitting, and end up with something approximately doll sized. My sister is slender, but not THAT slender. Now at least I can move forward instead of feeling lame-o every time I looked at it. Especially since this is the SECOND time I've done the exact same thing. At least it was a different pattern the first time.

How many is too many?

So, not content with the 3 projects already on the needles plus one or two other types of projecty things hanging around, I decide that today I absolutely must, yes, MUST buy the pattern for Heroine and cast on. Immediately.

I fell for this coat and fell hard. Quite some time ago I bought just a few (well, maybe one or two more than that) skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky in Roasted Coffee. I had grand ideas of making myself a knitted coat that would be slightly felted of my own design. Well, that coat never happened. It's still in skein form.

This yarn wants to be a coat. Every once in a while a sad little whisper will emanate from it wondering when it will be its turn to come out and play.

In a while, I'll say, as soon as I have to chance to work up the pattern which will, of course, be really great and exactly what I wanted. And felted. And cool. Then those people from Twist Collective went right ahead and posted the pattern. I know that the designer says Jennifer Lippman-Bruno but that is quite obviously a typo, and this is really my pattern.

I'm quite excited by this project. And, so is the yarn. It told me so.

Location, Location, Location

So, in the interests of merrily procrastinating other tasks I am supposed to complete today, I have decided that it is much more important to create this blog entry.

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’?  Knitcroblo5

I spend most of my knitting time on my couch at home which is nice and comfy and which I have outfitted with a very strong light source. I don't mind knitting in public, and since I do have some after-school activities I have taken my knitting along on occasion.

The thing is that I have to be working on something that requires a very minimal amount of concentration. Something along the lines of 2x2 ribbing is about my speed when also expected to participate in any other type of activity such as, say, listening. The piece I'm working on now (in yes, 2x2 rib) after working on it at an after school activity, I found that there were quite a few spots where somehow the 2x2 rib had become a 1x3 rib or perhaps a 3x1 rib and I had to drop those stitches and fix them with a crochet hook.  (One of my critically needed skills when knitting.)

Since I tend to work on complicated items as I like them better, that means that most knitting needs to happen where I can concentrate on it. Also, I tend towards larger items such as sweaters, which if knit in one piece usually become too unwieldy to haul around.

It's not that I mind knitting in public, it's the distraction factor that gets me.

I do know though, that if you want to generate conversation from random strangers that knitting is not the way to go. Cross-stitch has that beat by a mile.

A new skill - Day 4 Topic

This is day 4 of the group knit blogging. So far this has been fun and a good way to start off this blog.

Today's topic is what new skill do you want to learn related to knitting or crochet. Now, I need to know how to steek in order to knit some of the sweaters I want to, but want to learn it? Nope, it's going to be more like HAVE to in order to get the sweater.

The skill I've been working on for the last year or so and which I want to get better at is shibori dyeing methods on silk. I've done tie-dye. Tie-dye has turned into a family summer event and we do a production run of around 100 items every other year. No, we don't sell it, that's just stuff for the immediate family (yes, we are crazy. If you knew what was involved you would know just HOW crazy.) We've dyed about everything you can. Underwear, socks, hats, all types of clothing, towels, sheets. Practically anything that can be made out of a natural fiber. Once we found Dharma as a dye source we never looked back.

The guitar was definitely the hardest to dye of the three as it involved sewing in the shape by hand, gathering it up to get the definition, and lots of plastic baggies protecting the parts that had just been dyed from the parts about to be dyed. It was a challenge. I've never worn this above twice, as the shirt is a basic box T and extremely unflattering. Until I figure out what to do with it, it lives safely and securely in a box where I can get it out once in a while and admire it. The other two shirts I actually do wear and get compliments on.




What I REALLY want to do though is somehow turn into someone like Carter Smith which means not only figuring out how to MAKE the stuff but how to market it, sell it and eventually make a living at it. That would be the bomb. I'm not on Carter's level, but here's a few attempts for silk-dyeing.

If you have anything nice to say please, please go right ahead - I won't mind at all.

Starting Out - Week (sorta) of Knit Crochet blogging knitcroblo1 knitcroblo2

So, over on Ravelry which I just found out about last week, there is a knitblogging thing going on this week with specific topics. Of course being somewhat late to the party, I'm not quite doing Monday's assignment on Monday but oh well.

Starting Out
My mother taught me how to knit when I was around 10 I think. Also embroider, crochet, sew, can stuff, and other household tasks. We had an attitude of figure it out and get it done in my family. I remember many times my mother saying, I'm not going to pay that $$, I could make that myself! We would can fruit, tomatoes and make jam every summer. Handwork was seen as a valuable skill.

The first thing I ever made was a knitted owl hotpad out of extremely bright and ugly yellow yarn. Of course, it was meant to go around hot pan edges and it did its job well. The pattern taught knit and purl stitches on the back, and on the front to make the owl you learned basic cabling. Then of course you had to sew the back and front together. I did a good job because that hotpad went through the wash many times and was never the worse for wear. After that, I occasionally would knit a scarf. Until a few years ago I usually turned to sewing or crochet when making a major item. I've made quilts, clothes, and crocheted afghans, one of which I still have as the first afghan I ever made.

A few years back I started getting into knitting a lot more. I found I really liked the look of a knitted garment as opposed to crochet, and it just seemed like you got a better end product if your goal was to make clothing. I then found myself taken aback by the price of the yarn, but I think I have finally reconciled that one. It used to be that you knitted in order to save some money. That is not true if you compare the cost of a handmade garment with something purchased from Ross or Marshalls. However, if I compare the cost of what I make with the cost of something that is high-end then I am definitely saving money. So, all I need to do is keep that firmly in mind and I will not be so stumped by the price of the yarn.

In fact, my sister, designer clothing wearer, asked me to make her a sweater after she saw the two that I made for my father. She bought the yarn, Jade Sapphire 12-ply Cashmere and I started making it. I've had a few false starts due to the fact that I think the high $$ cost of the yarn is stressing me out but I think I've got it figured out now and I do have to say that knitting with this yarn is extremely, extremely enjoyable.


An Inspirational Pattern

My inspiration was not so much a pattern as a couple of specific designers. I fell in love with their colorwork. I learned about the terms fair isle because of Alice Starmore. I do NOT like the shape of her sweaters, no-one looks good in a giant box. However,  the colors, patterns, and photography in the two of her books that I own; The Celtic Collection and Tudor Roses are simply stunning. The other designer who really inspired me was Kaffe Fasset. Once again, not for garment design but for colorwork.

Of course, to all of this I have to say I have not knit one of these designs (yet). I was not good enough. I would need to restructure the entire garment shape so that I would not only love knitting it but wearing it. Also I found the cost of these designs is jaw dropping.

So, since I also love cabling and the rich textural detail that can be created, most of what I have made over the last few years has been cabled sweaters with a few forays into felting.

I think I'm ready to go for it now though. I'm a better knitter than I was a few years back, and frankly, I'm just getting really tired of buying wonderful knitting books but yet never knitting the patterns because they would cost too much. It is really somewhat farcical. I'll drop $100 on pattern books but not on the yarn to at least make one item.

Actual Knitting

Yes, this post will contain Actual Knitting Content, which is quite exciting.

First, this sweater. I am making this for my sister who bought the yarn, 12-ply Jade Sapphire Cashmere. Can you say SOFT? I love this yarn, and I am enjoying it vicariously. Although I'm going to have to RIP this back again. Why? Because although I THINK I am OK Tension Knitter in reality I am Super Tight Knitter especially with cabling. I need to go up a needle size, from 6mm (10 US) to 7mm (no size US).

I know this. So, why do I knit most of the back in the recommended needle size? Who knows. Some sort of sick proof. I also need to up the size a bit, as my sis is a small, but not XXS. It's gotta fit. It's pretty though, even though it must go back to the drawing board shortly. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting Winter 2005. It's #11 and the one with the mega sized bobbles which I am going to tastefully edit out.

In order to not think about the re-do of the above project which is just sad, I've started another project for me, me, me. To take my mind off of Angie's Aran, I figured out all of the changes for sizing on the below project. The largest size was for a 43" and I want it at 50" which means that there were some serious edits that needed to occur to the pattern. I enjoyed it though being a math geek. So, now it should all be perfectly reworked... hopefully.

This is a project I've wanted to do for a very long time, and I really have no idea why I haven't ever done it. Anyway, I started a day or so ago, and look how far it's come! Really cool. I even saw a really cool way to cast-on using Kitchener stitch which was simple. (And no, of course, now I can't find the link.) I actually used waste yarn and cut it out later.

Below is how far I got to yesterday. For two days on this so far, it's going swimmingly. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting Winter 2003/04. It's the Fringed Collar Jacket in Lion Brand Homespun. No, I'm not doing the Fringe. Really? Homespun frays out so fast if not fastened it'd look like crap in 10 seconds. It probably will be good for spring, because Homespun is not very warm, but I love the way this jacket looks. We'll see if it looks as good when I'm done.