Diversion

I haven't touched Bob Dobbs in the last few days. I've looked at it. I've looked at the chart, felt the yarn but I have not knit. I did, however, start this...



It will be a fingerless glove one day. I cast on yesterday and I'm finished with the thumb gusset. The yarn is Blue sky alpaca silk that I got for Christmas 2 years ago. While I may be slightly ignoring a difficult project that needs to be done soon so I can bust out a whole mess of brown sweaters before the cold hits, I am using up ignored stash and the gloves will keep my hands warm.



I thought the gussets looked a little weird, but they look fine in the photo. If you can't see sloppy stitches on the interweb, you can't see them on my (possibly rapidly moving) hands.

and for all of those suckers for wrongside shots:



Nice, right?

The Begining of Bob

I was so excited to start the front of my Bob Dobbs sweater. I had so many ideas about how I can challenge my little knitter mind and skill set by tinkering with the perfect techniques to make the perfect sweater. I was convinced that nothing could stop this knitter from producing a masterpiece with ease and finesse. Let's see how that worked out, shall we?

1. Intarsia/Fair Isle
I had this charming notion of how I could just join two colors for the center intarsia panel and work them in fair isle across the face. How could that go wrong? What's that you say? The face would become a double-thick, completely inflexable mass front and center of a potentially negative ease sweater (I'll go into the potential negative ease at a later date)? No way! I'm glad I thought of that before I started!

2. Inarsia/Duplicate stitch


See that? That's my duplicate stitch. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to knit the sweater using yarn I already had and just adjusted my needle size to get gauge. That results in a really nice, soft, drapey fabric that just happens to be a thousand times looser than it should be in order to keep the stitches from showing through from beneath the duplicate stitch. I deserve a big "You Suck" sticker for that one.

3. Straight up, no F-ing around Intarsia
I've resigned myself to working the chart using a new strand for each block of color. I'm okay with this. I really like intarsia. My first ever knitting project was intarsia. How hard can it be? This is the chart.



Do you see all of those tiny-ass blocks of color? Oh you do? Me too. I think I'm going to have to do some stranding and some duplicate stitch to keep me from going insane, but only in dire circumstances. Here goes.



How about one more for the road?

They're Done

These are the official first finished object of subdue it with a sweater. Apparently if you knit on a project, it gets finished. Who would've guessed?



What we have here is a pair of Trekking XXL socks in a mens size twelve. These are knit is a 5x1 rib in a standard sock pattern on size one addi turbos (2.25mm) using the magic loop method. Somebody really ought to come up with a less dorky name for a relatively sophisticated technique.
I started these last August and finished on the 21st of May. I know. Laziness is next to, I don't know, awesomeness? Maybe not, but hey look! Socks!



I really need to work on that focus thing.



That is one handsome sock, if I do say so myself.

Meme

Everybody has a favorite part of the knitting process. Some people like to cast on for new projects, some like blocking, some like the tricky parts and some like the mindless parts. My absolute favorite part of the knitting process is washing my project for the first time. It's at this point where the yarn you've been playing with for an eternity becomes a real life garment. I love how yarn gets softer when you wash off the milling oil and the wool relaxes into the stitches you've set up for it. Oh, full immersion! How I love thee.



I have been tagged by the intriguing sacha for a meme. Yes, that's right. I am a grown man and now the term "meme" has been added to my vocabulary. Maybe I should balance this out with a trip to the hardware store so I can look at power tools (I heart my random orbital sander). Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they
have been tagged and need to read your blog.
Here goes.

1. I am enamored with Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santeria, Vodou and Candomble. I see them as beautiful expressions of the human spirit as it relates to the life force and the world around it. I do not actively practice these religions but I have an intense respect for the men, women and children who do.

2. I put myself through undergrad as a professional body piercer. It was a very important part of my life where I got to meet many wonderful people and develop a respect for the individual, whether they were heavily modified or just getting their ears pierced. I was very fortunate to be able to interact with people by calming them in a potentially frightening or vulnerable situation and help them celebrate when they were excited about making themselves more beautiful in their own eyes.

3. I am heavily tattooed. It's hard to determine an overall surface coverage but I'll venture to guess that about 35% of my body has been tattooed over a total of 60 hours. I never thought I would have more than a few tattoos because I was much more interested in piercing, but over the years I have developed a respect for the art of tattoo. I get my work done here by wonderful people who are extremely talented. I love all of my tattoos and have none that I regret.

4. I am a performance artist. My undergraduate degree is in digital media and I will be starting my MFA in performance this fall. You can see pictures of my work here
Many people don't know what performance art is. Most people ask me if I'm studying to be an actor. I have resorted to telling those folks I'm a sculptor.

5. I love Swedish Fish

6. I am obsessed with Sweden. Many have asked me why and the only thing I can come up with (besides the freaking awesome knitting, weaving and nalbinding) is that any country that has a huge death metal scene and yet maintains its place as the world's largest consumer of milk per capita, not to mention this, is fascinating.

7. I am an avid pacer. I pace for hours a day. I have ever since I could walk. My parents soon discovered that toys were wasted on me because I preferred to pace back in forth during my conscious hours. As I have matured, jumping, skipping and my preferred loping have been added to the mix.

Alright, that's seven. I have to demure from tagging because I really don't know anyone who hasn't done this meme yet and I really don't think I can bring myself to send someone a comment with the word "meme" in it. Alright, off to the manly world of drill bits and spackle.

Almost There

I swear to God the socks are going to be finished soon. I would show you pictures, but I figure that seeing another 3/4" worth of progress really won't excite you the way it does me, so here's the photo of my next project:


It's the Bobb Dobbs sweater from Domiknitrix. The astute of you will notice that the vest has already made an appearance on the blog and has its own progress bar indicating that it is 40% done. This is because I have the back finished and I'm pretty sure the knitting of the intarsia fair isle front will be much more entertaining to watch than the brown stockinette back. For those of you who like looking at picture after picture of brown stockinette, have no fear. I am a huge fan of brown and happen to have a LOT of brown yarn with which to entertain ya'll with.
I'm really hoping that the immense amount of brown knitting that is going to cover these pages in the next few months will be informative, interesting and or moving really quickly. I promise to throw in some color to keep us all from dying of boredom. Over and out.

Still Going

I am not a sock a week kind of knitter. I normally work on them for not only months, but seasons. The trekking sock is moving right along, though. It's amazing that I can knit 4 inches of foot in 3 days but I started these socks last August. Hopefully I will be done pretty close to the start of next week.



Unfortunately, I've already picked out two new pairs of socks I want to knit. I'll just add them to the next pair I have to knit, the two sweaters, pair of gloves, hat and multiple scarves in the line up. Those items can be started as soon as I knock out the WIPs I've got now. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time while I start grad school this fall, right? Oh well, at least projects in yarn form are nice to look at too.


That's Pastaza, a bulky single ply 50/50 wool/llama blend. It really is that color, too. Be still my heart.

Mother's Day

Although I worked on Sunday, I got to go to Atlanta yesterday and hang out with my mom for Mother's day. I met her at her office and we ate cheeseburgers, talked about art, childhood trauma and the nature of existence. Of course, there was much knitting to be had as well.


My mom just learned to knit this past year in expectation of her first grandkid. We had a false start about 2 years ago that involved a pound 'o love and a garter stitch blanket that never should have been allowed into existence, but now we're on the right track. She has knit some really awesome stuff for my nephew out of really beautiful yarn. Check this out:


See that? That's for me! She's knitting me a scarf out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran to keep me warm in Chicago. What a lucky boy am I! That panel will be sewn to a chocolate brown panel she knit me for my birthday and soon I will have the hippest scarf in the Midwest!

While she has knit for her friends and family, my mom has never knit for herself. Enter the presents.



I got her two balls of Artyarns Regal Silk in color 137. Apparently it's pink. My color blind ass thought it was off-white and grey. No matter, she loves it and when she visits me in Chicago this winter I'll help her make something really awesome out of it. In the meantime, if you had about 300 yards of sportweight silk, what would you make?
I hope you all had a great Mother's day and called your moms to thank them for resisting the urge to bury you under the back deck numerous times during your adolescence. There were several close calls for me.

Progress

Thanks to Knitterbug, I now have working progress bars! She is a genius, I say. I also got some work done on my sock.


The black strip of mystery turned out fine. I should have known to trust those clever Germans to correctly ply my beloved yarn. The heel and gusset are done, now just 10 more inches of foot to go.


(you can make it, you can make it...)

Better Half.

This is my better half Andrew.


Andrew is great, let me count the ways.
1. He buys me much better yarn than I would buy myself
2. He buys really expensive yarn for himself that he will never knit therefore I appropriate it.
3. He never questions my need for pattern books.
4. He wears things I knit for him. Well, sort of. He picked out a series of lime green and orange accessories that remain relatively unworn. To be fair, the striped stocking cap could comfortably fit one of those 4 foot tall genetically modified watermelons.
5. Last but not least, he knits. A little.


I promise that I'm not using this picture for some gratuitous skin in order to boost my readership. This is what he happened to be wearing when I came across him knitting. Since that only happens about once every three months, I had to take the picture super fast.

The Black Stripe of Mystery

So I was working on my sock, hoping to make decent progress to show ya'll like any good blogger would, when I came across something unusual.

You can see it in the stitches on the right needle. My multi-hued yarn has a black ply. Now this may not seem unusual except that this, my friends, is the first time black has shown up in the yarn. I've already knit one whole sock, as well as the leg heel and gussets of the second sock. Was it intentional? I don't know, but there be a good length of black yarn in the middle of my second sock.

This is what the stripe looks like so far. Keep in mind there's still a whole lot of black left.


At least there is the unparalleled joy that reverse stockinette brings me.

Le sigh...

The Line Up

Alright. we're going to start this blog just as our ancestors did before us. That's right, it's roll call.

First up we have socks


This is a pair of trekking men's size 12 socks in a 5x1 rib pattern. I started these, oh, last August. I think I only knit a round or two every few days. I'm knitting the heel flap on the second sock now. Likely hood of finishing? Strong.

Next we have a scarf:

This is Elsebeth Lavold Angora in a 2x2 rib. If manlier colors ever existed, I want to know about them. In a subtle army green, subdued brown and grey blue stripe, it will work with everything I own. I started this February and I've got about three feet done and four to go. Finishing? In the bag, yo.

Okay, moving along. There is a vest. Yes, I did say vest.

This is the back of the Bob Dobbs vest from Domiknitrix. I'm going the intarsia route because I really didn't want to spend the next seven years of my life doing duplicate stitch. Her instructions on the website for converting the pattern are really helpful. I just happened to find them after I figured it out with a calculator and finished the back. All that's left is the intarsia front and the facings. Odds of finishing this year? It could happen, right?

Last but not least, we have the stole.

What we have here is a lace stole knit in Euroflax sport weight. The pattern is Drooping Elm Leaf from Barbara Walker's Treasury 1. I really love this pattern and the yarn, but there are some downsides to this particular project, or at least my ability to finish this project. I started the stole as a wedding present for a friend who is getting married in about 4 days. I'm 30 hours into the pattern and about a third of the way done. Also, I was sure that 520 yards of yarn would be enough. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Maybe it'll be done for a one year anniversary gift.

Finally, in other news we have the yarn I can't wait to use.

This is Unikat. It's distributed by skacel and I'm pretty sure it is the best thing that has ever happened to a sheep product. It's a felted single ply and I want to make love to it. Eh, maybe not, but it is super dope.

All in all I think I have a good assortment of stuff to keep me occupied until I cast on for the winter knitting. I'm thinking that having the entire world know what a lazy knitter I am will force me to finish them all a hell of a lot quicker. Otherwise I'm going to have to get a lot better at the art of distraction.
Look! Buddhist kittens!

In the Begining

There was a boy who desperately wanted to make things. Anything really. He just wasn't any good at anything he tried. In desperation he taught himself to knit. This he could do.
And it was good.