Road to China (Preliminaries)

Taylor and I will be on the road to China in a few days. We are going to Taiwan for a few days to celebrate David and Chia's marriage, and to meet her family. Then we are going to the mainland China for 12 days by ourselves.


This trip has taken many months to plan, and we've read guidebooks, explored the internet and talked to everyone we know who has ever been to Asia. It seems like the preparations have been endless, but we think we're ready. We've had many dollars worth of shots. We have medicine for avoiding Malaria, and medicine if we get Traveler's Diarrhea. We have Visas. We planned an itinerary. We bought gifts for David's in laws. We have each assembled a collection of clothes that are lightweight and easy to wash. We each have our reading materials ready. We have airline tickets, hotel reservations, guides, drivers. We have money to tip people. All seems to be in order. We know we may encounter glitches, but we can do it!


But there's one final item to check off: what knitting project to bring?


For this intrepid knitter, the decision of what to knit is a major consideration. In Mexico I made socks. On car trips I've made scarves, sweaters, shawls. But what to make in China? It needs to be something smallish. It needs to have interest to keep my attention. It can't be too complicated. It has to be something that I actually want to make. The yarn has to feel good.



Ah ha. The perfect project came to mind thanks to Peggy at the Liberty Bell Knitters Guild. I have decided to make the Summer Mystery Shawlette designed by Wendy Johnson wendyknits.net. The yarn I'm going to use is Road to China. My color is Light Peridot. The yarn feels so soft and scrumptious it's all I can do to keep myself from knitting it all before it's time to step on the plane. The yarn is Baby Alpaca, Cashmere, Camel and Silk. Thanks to this yarn, and our final destination, I'm actually looking forward to the 14 hour flight to Taipei.

Audrey's Lacey Cardie

Isn't this the cutest photo ever? Baby Audrey is in her "Welcome to the World Baby Girl" sweater that I knit for her.

Knitting baby sweaters is an activity that I do for myself. It's my way to welcome a new personality to the planet, and to congratulate the little one's parents. However, I know that there are people out there who don't really get what a hand knit gift means. Therefore, I choose my yarn and pattern carefully, so I get the most personal satisfaction out of my knitting time and energy. The parents and grandparents of this baby definitely appreciated the gift. So I got two rounds of happiness with one project.

I love this little cardigan. It's made of Baby Bamboo, from Sirdar. It's cotton and bamboo and is gloriously soft. The pattern is from one of their books, and I chose it after seeing the sweater made by a customer at Garden of Yarn in Chadd's Ford. I fell in love with the yarn and the pattern. I especially enjoyed learning to add the lacey trim midway up the sweater. I will keep the technique in mind for future projects.

Learning My Lesson

I have never knit to make money. I have rarely knit for other people. I have learned over the years that, with the exception of my mother and my cousin Maren, my other family members tolerate my knitting and frequently lose the objects that I knit for them. Therefore, I knit for myself and that is that.

Until recently.

My friend Pat has a friend who has been looking for someone to knit a Christmas stocking for her. She already has three stockings and wants a fourth for the new daughter in law. Apparently, this friend has asked in knitting shops all around the Hilton Head area and hasn't been able to find someone to produce for her. Well.......................my friend Pat said to her, "My friend Jamar could knit this up in no time." The friend contacted me asking if I could knit a stocking. I replied that I could (thinking that I would not like to do it), and before I knew it I was committed. I neglected to discuss price with the woman. Big mistake.

The friend gave Pat her three stocking so I could look them over, and sent me the pattern. As I suspected, the socks were made from acryllic from Michael's. Being a yarn snob, it was difficult for me to make the transition to yarn that doesn't feel or look good. However, since I said I'd do it, I purchased the yarn and knit the stocking. Actually, it was kind of fun to do an intarsia project, even though I had a bad attitude.

The question now is, how much to charge? I spent $25 on supplies. I actually kept track of my time: 20 hours, including shopping, graphing the name and knitting. If I had a time clock it probably would add up to more than 20 hours. How much is a knitter's time worth? What a quandary.

That Damn Loop

The Bias Loop is the project that drove me crazy! It looks pretty good in the picture, but it's full of my knitting flaws. Because of the lace weight yarn I got over my urge to knit this twice. There was no tearing out, no going back, just forward.

The problem began on the provisional cast on, which I executed as the pattern suggested, with a crocheted loop out of cotton. I didn't look at that again as I knit and purled for ever. During the process the stitches caught on my jewelry (is my gauge too loose?), and I became bored out of my mind.

Months later, when I got to the part where I was supposed to undo the crocheted chain and put the live stitches onto another knitting needle I met with more disaster. My lace weight yarn had embedded itself into the cotton, and the lace weight stitches were nearly impossible to disengage from that crocheted chain. I wasn't about to forfeit all that knitting, so I persevered and in about two hours, and with the aid of scissors, I managed to get live stitches onto a needle. After that I wasn't about to try the Kitchener to merge 84 stitches with 84 stitches. So, I did the 3 needle bind off. In spite of my efforts to keep the cast off loose, the resulting seam is tight and bunchy. With the fine yarn, there is no way I would try to undo anything. So much for my "Twice Knit" philosophy. By now, I wanted this Loop off the needles and out of my sight.

After blocking and a photo shoot I put it in the mail for Maren. She reports that she loves it.

The story isn't over. I couldn't get this Bias Loop out of my mind. The fact that it's bias makes it drape beautifully, and if I had managed to execute the Kitchener there would be no seam. What could I do?

I rummaged in my left over yarn bin and came up with some sport weight merino/wool yarn and decided that I would try again, only on a smaller scale. But first, I knew there should be a better way to do the provisional cast on. Looking through my books, I found instructions for making a cable cast on using waste yarn in a different manner. This time I crocheted stitches directly onto a knitting needle, and then knit into those stitches with my loop yarn. Much easier than knitting into a crocheted chain. Yes!

Using this method I caste on 24 stitches. In less than a week I had knit almost to the end of my ball of yarn. I was very easily able to undo the provisional cast on this time. Yes, again!!! I brewed a cup of tea, and managed to do the Kitchener to merge those 2 sets of 24 stitches all in one sitting. The result? Here it is. A pretty close to flawless Bias Loop. And even though I knit this as a sample, just to see if I could do it, I think I'll be wearing it.


As a matter of fact, I can see making lots of these to wear. I used less than 175 yards and I can wear it long and draped, or double it around the neck. I may like this better than a regular scarf. And, with less yarn and less time, why not? It's too bad I didn't' make this before attempting the lace weight version, but in all honesty, I don't think I'll make another one of that magnitude. I like the short and sweet one better.

Endings

Some knitting projects are such a pleasure that it's hard to finish them just because I don't want to see them come to an end. These fingerless gloves are one of those projects. The yarn is luscious Manos Silk and Merino. The pattern is Welted Fingerless Gloves by Churchmouse Classics. The gloves were quick, easy and my hands loved the actual knitting. I look forward to some colder days because I think I'll love wearing them.


Now, here is a project that was the opposite of the gloves, in that I couldn't wait to say good bye once and for all. The Mohair Bias Loop by Churchmouse Classics was wonderful in the shop and I was excited to knit it for my cousin, Maren. However, the process went on endlessly. While the yarn (Alpaca and Silk) feels good, it was hard to get an even gauge and the loose stitches catch easily. Pulled threads are not fun to deal with, nor are they pretty. When I finally managed to get the scarf long enough, it was difficult to undo the provisonal cast on and instead of the Kitchener I finally did a three needle cast off- the result is not pretty. Fortunately, when you bunch it around the neck it feels good, and no one can see the seam.

It can also be worn long, and if the messy seam is towards the neck, it looks pretty good.

This final sweater falls into the first category....I didn't want it to end, although I did want to wear it. Iced, from Knitty.com is wonderfully easy to knit, and Knit Picks Cadena is a great yarn to work with. The sweater has no seams, and enough detail work to keep it interesting. It was finished in no time and it's great to wear.

I'm wearing it with a stick pin here, but I am in search for the perfect two or three buttons and I'll make loop buttonholes.

Actually, in spite of my feelings about these three projects, it's pretty amazing that they are all complete in time to wear in the Fall. Now, I guess, it's time to knit for Spring.

This and That

Here are a few of the items I made this summer:

I work on Fridays at Interim House, a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation center. Friday is the day I teach the women how to knit. Some of them have become very proficient and bored with knitting scarves. The volunteers are always looking for new projects for the women to make, using a variety of yarn and simple techniques. Thanks to Momogus, I tried the Vintage tea towel pattern. It takes two balls of cotton yarn, with plenty of the accent color left over. It's all garter stitch with decreases to make the bias square shape. I think it's adorable. I probably finished it in two days, with time off for good behavior. We'll see if any of the rehab ladies show an interest. I went to a wonderful yarn shop, Yarns on First, in Napa CA this summer with my cousin Maren. She and I both fell in love with patterns put out by Churchmouse Classics, out of Bainbridge Island WA. I bought at least three of their patterns! The following beret is made from one skein of Koigu and I learned how to add beads for three of the rows. Doesn't Alice look adorable in her new hat? True to my style I knit the hat twice. My tension is very loose and the first attempt was humongous. Because I was already using size 1 needles I knit the child's size and it fits mom, just right. I got my money's worth out of this yarn!

While at Yarns on First, it occurred to me that I would love to knit Maren a birthday gift. So, I gave her the choice of several Churchmouse patterns. She chose their "Mohair Bias Loop". She wasn't wild about the kid mohair that the sample was made from so she chose an Alpaca Silk blend which feels really yummy. Well, I've been knitting on that dang loop since July. It goes on and on. I've long missed Maren's birthday and I hope I can send it to her for Christmas. Here it is, about 2/3s of the way done. If I ever finish it she can wear it as a shawl, or wrap it around her neck several times for a cowl. It's quite versatile - that is, if it's ever done.

That's the knitting news for now. The next post, I hope, will have a bulky cardigan that is almost finished - I've got one sleeve to go!

The Lacey Leslie Sweater

It's a rainy fall day, after what seems like months of heat and humidity. No tennis until noon, so it's a great time to have another cup of coffee and reflect on the knitting projects of, yes, the past 6 months. I haven't been blogging, dear readers, but I have been knitting my projects over and over again - as is my style.

Last spring I was charmed by my friend Leslie's lacey cardigan. She has knit it in many colors and yarns and I wanted a sweater just like hers. She kindly gave me a copy of the pattern and I went off to my favorite local yarn shop where I purchased Plymouth Yarn's Jeannee in cotton and, ick, acrylic. I never knit with acrylic, but when I felt a sample sweater knit with this I hoped that I wouldn't be sorry and purchased enough for the sweater in a lovely coral.

One of the reasons this sweater was such a pleasure to knit is that it has so many different techniques in it. The hem is a nice swingy lace, which gave me no end of trouble. My main downfall is reading and following directions. I knit and reknit that border and the first few inches of the back at least 3 times before calling Leslie, in a panic, because the back was getting wider and wider as I knit from the lace edge. It turns out that I neglected to read the part about making a substantial decrease after the border. Well, once I did that, the sweater became the proper width. I could have saved myself quite a bit of knitting had I read the directions more thoroughly.

In addition to the lace hem, this sweater has eyelet detail on both the front and the back that travels from the hem. Then, at the yoke you get to knit a basketweave pattern as you decrease for the raglan sleeves and the neck edge. When I got bored with one part of the sweater, another part began so there was always something different to knit. Finally, in a departure from the pattern I crocheted around the neck and front to finish off the sweater. Assembling the sweater went smoothly, and then I faced the challenge of finding the right buttons.


Leslie, the dear that she is, mailed me a box of buttons that she thought would look good with the sweater. There were so many to choose from my head began to spin. As I unwrapped the buttons each one was more beautiful than the others. Any one of the buttons would have worked, but I finally chose a simple glass button, thinking that I could then wear the sweater with anything from jeans to a nice skirt.

The finished project - thanks to Leslie.

The yarn, which I wondered about because of the acrylic is fine. It actually seems to be holding its shape better than plain cotton and it certainly feels good.