Fun with the webcam

Well, at least we have the webcam, so I shouldn't complain. But seriously, can you believe this is the best picture we could manage of my finished fingerless mitts?



But the funniest pictures are those of my new project. It's just impossible to get a picture right:

            

Next time I'll choose a darker background, maybe then you'll be able to figure out what it is.

They're so unique...

You know what they say about handmade things: None two are alike. Well, that applies to my fingerless mitts:



Both come from the same merino roving which I dyed using purples and greens and that I spun and plied with my spinning wheel. The yarn was very uneven regarding gauge and colors, so I was not expecting identical mitts. Still, I was surprised to see that the second mitt turned out smaller. I could rip it and knit it again with more stitches and rows, but the difference in size is not noticeable when I put them on. I still need to finish the thumb.

I also finished my socks using Jody's cast-off. I discovered that my twisted stitches, which I thought of as a hindrance, were actually very helpful. Here's what happens: On step four, you have to bring the yarn to the back and insert the needle between the first and second stitches, and then you insert it knitwise into the second stitch. In Katharina Buss's method you drop the first stitch to do this, and then picking it up again is a nightmare.

Well, thanks to my twisted stitches, I can simply bring the yarn to the back and insert the needle knitwise directly into the second stitch. And to think that in previous attempts I had de-twisted my stitches back into submission!



I wore my socks yesterday without blocking them and they stayed up without the need to add elastic thread, which is a first for me regarding knee-highs.

Three tutorials

I have completed both socks except for the ribbing and the cast-off.



Luckily, Jody published a tutorial on the tubular bindoff. It's not that different from the kitchener bindoff in Katharina Buss's Big Book of Knitting, except  that it does not require two rows slipping every other stitch (1st row purls, 2nd row knits). I never figured out what was the purpose of those two rows, except maybe make the edge even stretchier.

I'll be trying Jody's method this time. I think I'm more confident now about my twisted stitches, and hopefully I'll figure things out.

Which means I will not be using  Andrea's  picot edge bindoff tutorial for this pair of socks. Ist'nt it a pity? I really felt like giving it a try. That's why I started yet another project:



Which gave me the opportunity to also try out  Melinda's  picot edge cast-on tutorial. Now both edges have picots. That's probably way too many picots but it was an interesting learning experience. Plus, I put some of my easter egg handspun yarn to some use. The problem, of course, is that now I have to knit another mitt. My list just keeps growing, maybe that's why I haven't gathered the courage to update it yet .

Almost Knee-High

The Jaywalker pattern is pretty, but it sure takes up more yarn compared to regular stocking stitch. I was able to increase  without disrupting the pattern (much). I wanted to add some ribbing but I ran out of yarn:



I have some of that patons yarn that I dyed red brick and orange because I wanted to make socks for my husband. But I ended up not liking the colors much and I never got to knitting another pair of socks for him, especially after he complained that the Lion Brand hand-knitted socks were scratchy and he's never worn them again. But I digress. Here are the two skeins that come from that former food color experiment.



The picture's horrible, but what matters is the color. I'm planning on doing the ribbing of the socks in brick red. I don't think I should use the orange. A third option would be to use the original yellow color, but that would be even worse.

I'm thinking it's time to give the spouse a second chance and see if he'll wear a pair of hand-knitted socks made of a better yarn. We'll see.

Silly Quiz

People across America are going to the polls today, but of course I am not. I'm not a citizen,  though I apparently could have passed for one because people kept asking me to register to vote. It must be the grammar:
               

True English Nerd       You scored 76 erudition!

Not only do you know your subjects from your objects and your definite from your indefinite articles, but you've got quite a handle on the literature and the history of the language as well. Huzzah, and well done! The English snobs of Boston salute you.

    

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on erudition

Link: The Are You Truly Erudite? Test

Dog sweater

It's finished! It's long enough on the back, but the belly is still bare. It stays in its place because it curves inward near the rump. And, most important of all, it fits snuggly around his chest. None of the sweaters I've ever bought for him ever fit him so well. I should have thought of this before. The turtleneck was my husband's idea.



I can now get back to my pair of socks. I've decided I'll make them knee-high, which means I have to figure out how to increase stitches without messing the pattern.

Funny doggie

I've been making progress with the doggie sweater. I'm making it up as I go and therefore have to keep trying it on the pooch to see how I'm doing. He seems to like it already. I tried to explain that the sweater is not finished yet, that he should let me take it off, but he ignored me and went straight to bed, looking quite comfortable in spite of the circular needle coiled around his neck.



He's so appreciative... I know he will love the sweater when I'm done with it. It's a pity the picture is so blurry. I managed to break our camera and until we get a new one or get the old one fixed, all my pictures will be taken with the webcam.

A possibility

I had a test last Thursday and another one yesterday, so  both my knitting and this blog were ignored for a while.

Just as I was debating about what to do with the sock cast-off I came across Andrea's tutorial. With this method, you create a "hem" on the sock without casting off. The instructions are in Spanish, but the pictures are self-explanatory and I don't believe a translation is necessary. I'm not saying I'll use this cast-off method with the current pair of socks,  but id does look like something worth trying.

You'd think I would get back to that pair of socks, but today I came across an interesting knitting challenge.

First, let me tell you that my pooch has an eating disorder. Yeah, I know, he's weird. Dogs are supposed to have an insatiable appetite but not mine. He's very picky about his food and he refuses to eat unless he has an audience. Both his vet in Mexico and his vet in the US say I shouldn't worry about him being underweight, since he is very healthy for a 14 old dog. Still, his lack of heft causes a little clothing problem:



That's my dear pooch wearing his size XS raincoat. Can you tell it is not long enough? But I had to live with that because the S size is too wide and wobbles from one side to the other, making him dirty the sides when he does his business. I just got him a new coat with velcro straps, and I thoght I'd be able to adjust the width. But take a look and notice how the velcro flap is hanging between his legs:



Of course, I'm planning on returning this coat to the store, but if I get the XS size it will be a very short coat. And this poor doggy needs all the coverage he can get, not only because he doesn't have much body fat, but also because he grew up in the tropics and he absolutely hates the cold! With the raincoat, I had to settle for the short one, but why should I settle for a short coat when I could knit one that actually fits? Hmmm, because I have a bunch on UFOs waiting for me to finish them? Oh, that's not a good excuse, is it?

Two unfinished socks

I interrupted work on  the first sock and started making the second one while deciding what to do about the cuff. The original pattern calls for 2x2 ribbing, which I don't know how to cast off with the kitchener method. I could do single ribbing and do a kitchener castoff, though I'm not good at it, or I could cast off the way I usually do, which is not as pretty, but then I can do whatever I want at the edge.



The truth is, I don't like the kitchener bindoff. I've tried it with two pairs of socks and while I can say that it's stretchier than my regular bindoff, it's also wobbly. It's also a lot of work (due to my twisted stitches) and I'm not sure it's worth my time.

Green yarn

I was asked what type of yarn I was using for my jaywalker sock. It's something called Paton's beehive from my grandma's stash. I still have lots of it.



The stuff must be at least 20 years old, long before beehive became an acrylic  baby yarn, recently discontinued. This is wool, that's why it's not yellow anymore. I dyed it almost two years ago using powdered drinks.

Remembering how fun that was,  I felt the urge to dye some more of that yellow yarn, this time using food coloring , a used tea bag and vinegar. Of course, the winding around a plastic bottle  into three connected hanks was more or less the same as before.



I was aiming at teal, pale green and olive (thus the tea bag). But I didn't do a test first, I was happy to get to work hoping for nice results.



As it turned out, the teal section is almost undistiguishable from the pale green, and the olive green turned out a little too brownish. I should have been more careful with that tea bag.



I'm still going to use it, but don't ask me when. Probably within the next couple of years.