I can haz Jules? Take Two

I should be going to the airport to get Jules right now, but Jules is still on the ground in Phoenix. Right now, his ETA is 2:30 a.m. At least he made it through the first leg. The last time I spoke to him, he was walking around the Phoenix airport and reading National Geographic.

I've been working on the Malabrigo Mini Mitts. (Ravelry Link.)


These need to go to their recipient tomorrow, so I need to get moving. This also has to go to a recipient tomorrow.


Remember my Chevron Scarf? (The pattern is in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.) I soaked it in some Grapefruit Eucalan. It didn't bleed. All it needs now is some blocking.


This isn't a very good blocking job, but it will do. If it isn't fully dried by tomorrow night, I'll put it in a bag rather than wrapping it.

I'm going to wrap a couple of gifts, take a shower and take a nap. Hopefully we'll see Jules soon.

Mistakes were made...

I'm going to be pretty busy today, so I scheduled this ahead of time.

Some mistakes can't be blocked out.


I was thinking that it was just a little too small, and that I could block it out. Now that it's finished, I realize I have a kid's size hat.


It's about six inches across when it's laying flat like this, before blocking. I'm wondering if this will fit one of the kids on my Christmas list. If not, I'll donate it to charity.


It's hard to tell in the picture, but the yarn bled just a little bit when I washed it. This is Cascade 220 Superwash, so I didn't have to hand wash it. I was a little surprised, but hopefully that's all the bleeding that will happen. I'm starting to learn most yarns bleed a little.


I'm blocking it on a can of iced tea mix with some washcloths over it. Other than the overall size, it's turning out pretty good.

Marjaana Moebius
After finishing and blocking Center Square, I cast on my next gift for the Ravelympics Gift Knits Pentathlon. This is the Purl Ridge Moebius from A Treasury of Magical Knitting by Cat Bordhi.


This is the Cat Bordhi's famous Moebius Cast On. in progress.


Now I'm completely cast on. (This video shows the next step.)


And here I am one round in. The moebius will grow between the two needles. It truly is "magical knitting."

Lighting the Torch

Let the games begin.


Last night I signed up for a ridiculous amount of events for the Ravelympics, including putting all my WIPs in "WIP Wrestling."

If you don't know what the Ravelympics are, you need to join Ravelry and find out. Basically everyone is signing up for events (projects) in different categories, and knitting the items before the Olympics are over.

I'm actually watching the opening ceremonies for the real Olympics as I type this. Now that I have DVR, I was able to pause it earlier when I was trying to track down yarn, then fast forward through the commercials.

I'm starting with Center Square. It took me a long time to settle on what needle to use. I didn't realize until tonight that it's double stranded. I tried several needle sizes on magic loop, and I tried casting it on US size 6 needles from my Boye Needlemaster.


The smallest length cable I have is 20 inches. The pattern recommended 16 inches. It felt really awkward because the stitches were stretched out on the needle. At the same time, the needle was so short that it was hard to handle.

Normally I do hats on dpns, but for my first stranding, I want to do something a little easier. So I finally found that a 40" Addi Turbo in US size 4 worked.

Size 4. The patterns recommends size 11. I may be loose, but how tight does you gauge have to be to get more than 4 stitches per inch with double stranded worsted weight yarn on US Size 11 needles?

I also worked on one of my WIP Wrestling projects tonight.


Remember this scarf?



It really needs blocking. I tried the slipping the first stitch of every row like the pattern suggested, and I think it screwed things up. I was probably over thinking the tension. If I'd relaxed I would have been fine.


So I soaked it in Eucalan...



...and pinned it down. I didn't have to worry about this crap again, although I had to fold it in the middle to get it to fit in the closet.

Tomorrow I start the hard fun stuff with the colorwork on Center Square.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

There was no yarn in the sink when I took the picture above.

My yarn bled. Like a stuck pig. *sigh*

I saw what happened as I was finishing up my last entry, where I mentioned that I was worried about felting. Bleeding didn't even occur to me.

According to this Ravelry thread I'm not the only one who's had problems with this roving in the "Mermaid" colorway. I wonder if the company knows. (I'm not sure who's responsible for the dying process, Louet or SWTC.) I know this is not the first time a yarn or fiber that's been commercially dyed has had problems with bleeding. But I think it's important that the manufacturer knows so they can fix it. I know Schaefer Yarn and Brown Sheep have taken steps to fix bleeding yarns in the past. I hope the company knows so they can make changes. I may send an e-mail later.

I know hot water is the way to go with bleeding yarn, so it's probably good I didn't go with lukewarm. I did add a couple of splashes of vinegar to set the dye after I saw what happened, but I was impatient and antsy, so I didn't leave it there too long.

After splattering indigo water all over the bathroom sink. I did take it outside to "swing the dead cat." I got into spinning out some of the excess water. In fact, I got a little overzealous and started whacking it against the fence around "porch." (Anyone who's been to my apartment knows why I put porch in quotation marks. The only thing that makes it a porch is the fence around it.) Of course, some walked by at the exact moment I was whacking. I went back to swinging the yarn around. I thought swinging somehow made the whacking seem less insane by comparison, or at least put the whacking in context. (As is the woman walking by could even see that it was yarn. It was after dark.)

After spinning and whacking, I put the yarn on a hanger in my bathroom and tied on a coffee mug with some spare embroidery floss. I'm letting it sit there overnight, creating a purple splotch on the edge of my bathtub. I'm not worried since the sink cleaned up pretty well with some Clorox Wipes. (Actually, it was the store brand equivalent, but you get the picture.)

As you can see, my yarn certainly isn't ruined. When I first saw the indigo water I was worried the color changes would be lost, and I'd be left with a murky mess. The yarn is much lighter and more muted than before, but it still looks nice. However, I'm still a little disappointed because I really loved the deep, rich colors.

And the good news is that it seems like the whole twist setting went ok. Maybe it's my imagination, but the twist does look more even than before.

And the yarn didn't felt.

Fitting and Happy Rejection

Before I do Saturday Blog Bits, I need to catch up on a couple of things.

For starters, is it just me, or does Cherry Bomb not fit as well as it used to?

Last Sunday was the first time I wore it since I washed it, and despite the careful blocking, it seemed...off. Were the short rows in the right place? Did it get stiffer with washing? Did I block it wrong?

I actually took it off, adjusted my bra, and put it back on. (I don't know if these pics were before or after I adjusted my bra.) I know, Big Girl Knits and everyone else is so big on finding a bra that fits. However, any bra that "fits" in the traditional sense is never very comfortable for me. I think I need to knit with my saggy boobs in mind.

Seriously, my breasts have always aged faster than I am. I got the bra in the fifth grade, stretch marks by the sixth grade and now they're drooping at age 27. And Mom will tell me if I didn't rip off my bra the second I got home, or if I had better fitting bras to start with, it wouldn't be happening. But I've accepted my grandma boobs a long time ago.

At any rate, I think adjusting the bra helped some, but maybe I just didn't notice the imperfections before.

And the way it gaps at the armholes seems new. Is it too big? Did I lose weight?...

Nah.

At least the bottom doesn't curl as much.

In other news, I got a very nice rejection letter from Amy Singer at Knitty. And I'm not being sarcastic or sucking up. Maybe it's all in my mind, but I feel like my last design was really in the running. She said she really liked my style and that my pictures have improved. I'm getting closer.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub Continued...

So if you read this entry, you know that I have been debating how to wash my Cherry Bomb Tank Top. I had a woolwash sample, but it contained lanolin, which didn't sound like a good idea. I used Katia Jamaica on this top, which is 100% cotton.

So after consulting with knitters in real life in real life and on the web, I was truly confused. I had heard that the yarn bleeds from one person. Some said lanolin was bad for cotton. Others said it wasn't.

I finally decided baby shampoo was a good choice. But I was still nervous. So I sat down at last week's Chicks with Sticks at Bluebonnet and to cast on a swatch about 3 months after I completed the tank top. I started casting on, and we started talking. Someone noticed it was the same yarn I used on the top, and I explained what I was doing. I got more mixed advice. But what sold me was the fact that someone had made a washcloth out of the same yarn in a similar colorway. She had thrown it in the washer without problems.

So after that I was sold. I ripped out my cast on and moved onto something else.

So today I finally got around to washing it. I used the baby shampoo and lukewarm water. As you can see, it didn't run.

And also, you can see from the other picture that it needed to be washed. That is the water after being soaked for a couple of minutes. At least there is no dye in the water.

However, I think I used too much shampoo. The biggest problem I had was rinsing. I went by the directions on Knitters Review. It says to rinse until the water runs clear. So I rinsed. And rinsed again. And again. And again. And again...

The article recommended rinsing with a splash of white vinegar to get out the soapy residue if you use shampoo.

I actually happened to have some on hand because I use it to clean the bunny cage.

I was a little nervous about using the vinegar, but I was feeling brave. I used on two of the rinses. But it still seemed soapy. Of course, I have this whole paranoid thing about rinsing. Whether it's my hair or dishes (when I actually do dishes) I'm always worried that it's still soapy. But I thought maybe I was worrying too much, and a little bit of baby shampoo wouldn't hurt.

The good news was the vinegar didn't hurt the tank top. No running. Even after I did more massaging and squeezing than recommended.

When I finally gave up on rinsing, the water looked like this:



Does that look clear to you? I saw a couple of soap bubbles on top.

Now I've got it all laid out to block. It barley fit on the table:



I just pinned down the bottom edge. The bottom edge has always been a little curly, mainly because I was too impatient to do a full blocking when I finished. This should help.

Anyway, we'll see how it is tomorrow. Hopefully the edges that are hanging over the table won't be as stiff as a board.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

If you read my last entry you know that I did some hand washing recently. And if you know me, you are probably shocked. Because I rarely clean anything. I'm too lazy busy. It's all about priorities.

But, with serious plans for Claudia Hand Painted yarn, and my Cherry Bomb Tank Top in desperate need of washing, I decided to take drastic action.

The first order of business was to clean my bathroom sink. Keep in mind I've only been in this apartment for about 2 months and I'm still moving in.

Before:



After:



That was step one. The next step was to find the sample bottle of Kookaburra Woolwash I had picked up at some point. So I looked...

And I looked...

And I looked...

And I was about to give up when I found it.

I was a bit concerned about using "wool" wash on a top made out of a 100% cotton (Katia Jamaica). After some looking, I discovered that Kookaburra has lanolin in it, which didn't sound like a very good idea for cotton. I finally decided to skip the tank top and just wash my swatch.

The directions said about 1 teaspoon per gallon. Does that look about right?

I ended up adding a little more. It didn't feel very soapy. But I read suds doesn't necessarily equal clean.









I swished it once or twice in the water and let it soak. No bleeding, which is good for hand painted yarn. I soaked it in rinse water a couple of times and dried overnight.

So now I stuck wondering what to do about my tank. I was surprised that Amy Singer didn't go into more depth on washing cotton in No Sheep For You. However, she does stress the importance of swatching and washing swatches. Before you commit to a sweater. Someone online also recommended the swatch. *sigh* Am I going to have to post-swatch? The good news is that I have almost an entire skein of the yarn leftover. The bad news is I'm going to have to waste use it on a swatch after I finished the sweater.

The other bad news: at least one other person online told me that Katia Jamaica bleeds.

Well, I bought some lavender baby shampoo, and it looks like I'll be swatching some more. We'll see what happened.

(Added bonus: Eucalan offers free wool wash samples when you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope.)

Swatch: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns, Sport Weight

After much debate, I came home from the Hill Country Weavers sale on Thursday with some Claudia Hand Painted Yarn (sport weight.) One skein in "Circus Dancer" was put aside for swatching and a small project, like a hat.

Because I have a more involved project for the rest. I decided to do the whole thing and even wash the swatch. I cast on 24 stitch and worked a portion in stockinette stitch and a portion in garter stitch. I used size 2 needles from my Boye Needlemaster set. I was at my knitting group when I did it, and I was worried about it being too loose. (Again with my loose gauge.) I think it was because I had to make the Knucks so tight. In the ends I ended up with 6 stitches per inch (Officially 24 stitches and 34 rows per 4 inches)



Then I washed the swatch in Kookaburra Wool Wash. The wet swatch is on top and the dry swatch is on the bottom.




I couldn't really tell the difference. Between the two. The gauge stayed the same. It is a bit softer. I don't know if there was bloom officially. I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, I'll put this aside for later. I bought two more colors I plan to use. The dark one is "Argyle Socks" and the lighter one is "Just Plum."



This is the last time you will see them. I have top secret design plans for these yarns.

So I actually swatched and did the whole washing thing. Amy Singer recommends keeping a swatch diary. For now, I post them on my blog. On my livejournal, I already have a swatch for Patons Classic Merino (felted.)