Watership Down - Clue 4 Done

Clue 4 of the latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along, Watership Down, came out yesterday.  The last two clues have been pretty short and I easily finished them Friday night, but waited until Saturday morning so I could get a decent photo.  I can only spread out one wing at this point.  The first transition is at the start of this clue, but because I don't do transition rows anymore I delayed my skein switch until row 7 of Clue 4.  Why row 7?  If you do transition rows as recommended by The Unique Sheep the complete transition takes 12 rows, 6 of each color, consequently when a transition is called for I do 6 more rows of the current skein and then switch to the next skein during the 7th.

I've also done 5 repeats of the Eyelet Chart on the front of my Open Eye Tunics, and have several great projects lined up and waiting to be started.

Project:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Selene in Insecta
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Open Eye Tunic - Back Done and Blocked

I finished up the back last night.  It took me several tries before I liked the way the armhole and neck shaping came out.  The pattern calls for repeating the eyelet chart twice and then repeating the last 4 rows of the eyelet chart until the armhole is the appropriate length, but I found that the k2tog, yo rows made the upper part of that section wider than the rest, so I did another repeat of the eyelet chart, which put me at the perfect armhole length and then went right into the neck and shoulder shaping.  I did a total of 14 repeats of the eyelet chart before I started the shaping, which makes my tunic 28 inches long, measured from the underarm.  The pattern calls for 21.5 inches.

Pattern:  Open Eye Tunic by Deborah Helmke (Interweave Knits, Summer 2013)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Electric Blue Flame
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Open Eye Tunic - Thirteen Repeats of Eyelet Chart Done

Skein 3 of my 6 skein set was especially generous so I did 5 repeats of the eyelet chart with it instead of 4.  I also wanted a little more length on the tunic, several of the people that have already completed the pattern have commented on the fact that it seems a little short as specified in the pattern.  My 4th skein is also generous so I'm going to do one more repeat of the eyelet chart before I start the armhole shaping.  The next time you see this project I should be blocking the back.  I've also raveled the side inserts and they are almost dry.  I may have to make them a little bigger than the 15 inches by 15 inches specified in the pattern so that the tunic will fit through the hips.

Pattern:  Open Eye Tunic by Deborah Helmke (Interweave Knits, Summer 2013)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Electric Blue Flame
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Open Eye Tunic - Eight repeats of the Eyelet Chart Done

I finished another 4 repeats of the eyelet chart on my Open Eye Tunic today with skein 2.  I had to start skein 3 one row early because I am switching yarns at the edge and have to make the colors match when I do the switch.  I really should be working on my August Crochet Blocks but I am having too much fun with this project.  The lace pattern is pretty easy to memorize as well as execute, even with the decreases on the wrong side.  And the rows are short and the whole thing just moves along quite quickly, and before you know it you've done another repeat of the chart.

Pattern:  Open Eye Tunic by Deborah Helmke (Interweave Knits, Summer 2013)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Electric Blue Flame
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Watership Down - Clue 3 Done

Clue 3 of the latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along - Watership Down - came out last night.  It was a short one and I easily finished it before I went to bed, but waited until this morning so I could get a decent shot.


Project:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Selene in Insecta
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

When I came back downstairs I had to take a picture of my two cats crashed on my daybed.

Fred (on the right) has pretty much taken up residence in that spot.  Jasmine (on the left) has lots of places she likes to sleep, but has staked out the other end of the daybed.  This puts her between me and my husband (he has a leather recliner out of the shot on the left), so she can get lots of scritches.  As you can tell, the daybed is my center of operations for all things knitting and crochet.  The little project bag on the back holds my Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month. And the little red stack to the left of that are my iPad, a notebook and my Kindle.  There are also eye glasses and a set of crochet hooks to the left of those.  And my computer in the foreground.  Everything I need close at hand.

Open Eye Tunic - 4 repeats of eyelet chart done

I started this on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles but I wasn't really happy with the fabric that I was getting and then I made a mistake while I was working the second repeat of the chart so I decided to rip it out and start over again on smaller needles.  The pattern called for US 7 and I got the pattern gauge on US 7 needles.  I had also swatched with US 5 (3.75) needles so I already had a good sense of the gauge, and I prefer US 5 needles with fingering weight yarn so that is what I went with.  I cast on 103 stitches (basically went up a size) and figure that I'll have to do 15 repeats of the chart (total) to get the length required by the pattern.  Knowing that I am using 6 grams of yarn per repeat, some quick math revealed that the front and back (30 repeats total) would use approximately 180 grams of yarn.  At 50 grams per skein, that means I need 3.6 skeins for the body.  I have a 6 skein set and have already set aside skeins 5 and 6 for the side inserts, which leaves skeins 1-4 for the body.  Perfect.  I decided to make it really easy on myself and just do 4 repeats of the chart in each skein.  This uses a little less than half the skein and makes it easy to remember when to switch skeins.  Here are the first 4 repeats using skein 1.  I have already done the first row of the 5th repeat and you can start to see the electric blue in skein 2.  I'll ravel the side inserts this weekend and get that yarn ready to be used again (skein it, soak it, and hang it up to dry).

Pattern:  Open Eye Tunic by Deborah Helmke (Interweave Knits, Summer 2013)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Electric Blue Flame
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Bloomsbury Pullover - Finished!

I finished up my third Camp Loopy project this past weekend.  I ended up doing 11.5 repeats of the lace chart total on the arms and then finishing off the sleeves with a couple of rows of garter stitch to help prevent curling.  I did not do any increases or decreases on the sleeves.  I tried the pullover on last night and it fits like a dream and the yarn feels wonderful.  Of course the back of this pullover is more interesting than the front.

I cast on extra stitches at the beginning so I could make it more symmetric, centered the lace design on the sleeves and did the entire lace chart on the sleeves.


Pattern:  Bloomsbury by Svetlana Volkova
Yarn:  madelinetosh tosh vintage in Clematis
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Open Eye Tunic - One Side Insert Done

With Bloomsbury blocking I am finally able to start on my Open Eye Tunic.  I received my yarn from The Unique Sheep on June 24 - Electric Blue Flame on Tinsel Toes.  It is not as electric as it would be on a pure silk, but I am not a big fan of pure silk yarn.  I decided to start with skein 6, the left-most skein in the above photo and start by knitting the side inserts.  Then I am going to switch to skein 1, the right-most skein when I start working the body.

One of the really frustrating things about this pattern was the fact that the lace has written directions only, no charts.  I charted both lace patterns, and then made some mods to the Eyelet Lace Chart that is used for the body.  I use Knit Visualizer as my charting software and was able to export the lace charts as .png files and then import them into Word Perfect and convert the file to pdf, which I then pulled into Knit Companion, a knitting app for the iPad.  This is my first time knitting from Knit Companion and I have to say that I love it.  As an engineer I appreciate things that are well-designed (one of the main reasons I bought a Honda Element) and this app is extremely well-designed.  It also has terrific in-app help.

After getting my charts set up in Knit Companion, I cast on the first side insert.  I did 9 repeats of the chart as instructed and went to check my measurements.  I was fine on the stitches, but there was no way that I could stretch the 9 repeats out to 15 inches, so I kept knitting.  Unfortunately, when I had done my calculations I had figured that I could get both side inserts out of skein 6, but only if I was doing 9 repeats.  I ended up switching to skein 5 on row 3 of the 10th repeat and did 12.5 repeats to get to the right dimensions.

The piece is actually upside down, the cast off edge is at the bottom and the cast on edge is at the top.  If I were a really aggressive blocker I could probably have gotten by with fewer repeats of the pattern, but I am not a really aggressive blocker and do not believe in stretching yarn to within a millimeter of its life.

Pattern:  Open Eye Tunic by Deborah Helmke (Interweave Knits, Summer 2013)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Electric Blue Flame
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Watership Down - Clue 2 Done

Seeing as how it is Friday, that means that a new clue of the latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along is out.  And, seeing as how it is furlough Friday (the last one, thank goodness) I was able to get it done today.

Project:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Selene in Insecta
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Fred Update

Fred gave himself a pretty thorough bath this evening, which is good because I was going to give him one this weekend.  This is a big deal.  It means that he is starting to really recover because unhappy, unhealthy cats don't give themselves baths, but healthy, happy ones do.  Of course his previous lack of bathing may also have had something to do with a lack of fur.  Thankfully his fur is growing back in and he is a lovely golden color, a nice contrast to Jasmine who is a cat of a silvery hue.

We still have a ways to go, however, to be fully recovered.  He still walks a little awkwardly, and occasionally wobbles, rather than moving with the fluid grace typical of cats.  He has started showing an interest in toys and catnip, which is good.  He and Jasmine talk to each other, although we're not sure if Fred can hear, we think he may be at least partially deaf.  They also have the occasional spat where they swipe at each other and hiss, but thankfully no knock down drag outs.  He is spending a lot more time downstairs and even exploring the house on his own.

I'm also trying to get his gut working consistently.  When we first got him he was constipated and the vet gave him an enema.  He was fine for a little while but then got constipated again.  His belly was bulging and he was in such distress, really straining to use the litter box, that I took him to the vet and they gave him another enema.  When he got constipated again about a week after that, despite the fact that I had switched him to some food that was supposed to help, I got him some tuna fish in oil.  That got things flowing again.  He is back on his regular food, with the addition of pumpkin, which he really likes.  Hopefully we'll get his plumbing working consistently soon, but he has been very good about using his litter boxes (I have two set up, one upstairs in his room and one downstairs).

Here is a more flattering photo of him sleeping.

Meris - Finished!

I finally decided on buttons and sewed them on this afternoon.  I had to use flash to get a decent picture.  Because of the design of this cardigan you can put a lot or a few buttons on it.  The "button holes" are created by the eyelets, unfortunately that also limits the size of the buttons that you can use.  The buttons that I had originally planned to use were vintage buttons that I had picked up at a Bead & Button show a few years ago but they were just a little too large for the eyelet holes.  I ended up going with some lamp work glass Rosebud buttons that I got from Beadcats.  I decided to only use 3 because sometimes less is more.

A view of the back:

And a close up of the buttons.  No, the cardigan is not crooked, just me.  It's been a long week, thank goodness it is over.

Pattern:  Meris by Elizabeth Doherty
Yarn:  Finch by Quince & Co in Crocus
Needle:  US 2.5 (3 mm)

Bloomsbury - Body Done

As I approached the bottom of the body, I was confronted with a couple of decisions:  how long to make it? and what to do about the ribbing?  I don't like sweaters that fit tightly across the hips, and the problem that I always have with ribbing is the bind off.  The only way I have every found to bind off in such a way as to not have the bottom too tight is to do an Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off.  As I was getting close to a decision point I also was a little worried about using enough yarn.  It then occurred to me that one way to help ensure I used enough yarn would be to make it more of a tunic style, than the classic pullover with ribbing.  I was going to leave the body unfinished and do the sleeves and then finish up the body making sure I used 800 yards, but then I would have to deal with leaving the body stitches on one or more needles.  In the end I decided to split the front and back, keep the three edge stitches in garter stitch and do 1 more repeat of the chart on the back and 12 rows of stockinette on the front and finish up with a couple of garter stitch rows to help keep the bottom from curling.

Pattern:  Bloomsbury by Svetlana Volkova
Yarn:  madelinetosh tosh vintage in Clematis
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Watership Down - Clue 1 Done

The latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along started yesterday.  This is their lace weight one and is another shawl designed by Janine le Cras and inspired by a book, Watership Down, which I read ages ago.  For this one I decided to try a base I hadn't used before, Selene, which is 100% wool.  I picked a colorway that I had been eyeing for a while - Insecta.

Project:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Selene in Insecta
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Bloomsbury - Ready to start the body

This is my 3rd Camp Loopy Project.  The requirements are pretty easy - just use 800 yards.  For the last two years I've done top down raglans in Fiesta Boomerang, a pattern I have down cold at this point.  This year I wanted to do something a little more challenging so I picked Bloomsbury by Svetlana Volkova, a top down raglan that has some lovely lace patterning on the sleeves and down the back.  I cast on August 1 after getting home from work, but it has taken me a couple of tries to get it to this point.  It took me two tries to get it to this point following the pattern, only to spot a missed increase.  I decided to rip back because there was no way that I could fix it, and while I was ripping I decided to modify the pattern.

The original pattern has you start out with just a few stitches for the front and do increases on every round, and the lace pattern on the sleeves is missing the column of eyelets on the side towards the front, so the scalloping from the center lace panel lies along the front increases.  It does create an interesting line, but I wanted more symmetry.

I cast on 108 stitches and did 8 rows of rib, but instead of starting with k2, I started with k1 (p2, k2) ending with a k1.  I always do this with k2, p2 ribbing when knitting in the round.  It splits one of the k2s across the round marker which I think makes the transition from the ribbing to stockinette look cleaner.  When I started the set up row I realized that I had messed up my math so I did some on the fly adjustments to keep the symmetry of the lace in relation to the ribbing.  This gave me 32 stitches for the back and 24 stitches for the sleeves, but only 28 stitches for the front.  Turns out I should have cast on 112 stitches - curse lace patterns that have varying stitch counts.  I really didn't feel like ripping back, yet again, so I increased 4 stitches evenly across the front.  Close enough.  Some things you have to rip back for, some things you don't.

When it comes to indie designers, I don't worry so much about matching their gauge.  I have found that with indie patterns you can really see the variation in how people knit.  I did a gauge swatch, got a fabric I liked and went from there.  The pattern calls for 4 stitches and 5 rows per inch, I ended up with 4.5 stitches and 6 rows per inch.  Based upon my gauge I figured I need to do 3 repeats of the lace pattern before I cast on the underarm stitches and started the body.  I did 9 sets of increases all the way around (on the even rows) and then reduced the frequency of the increases on the sleeve sections ( to every 4th row), but maintained the frequency of the increases on the front and the back until I finished the third repeat.  This gave me 18 increases on the front and back sections and 13 increases on the sleeves.  My stitch count at the end of all this was 68 stitches on the front and back and 50 stitches on the sleeves.
Front:

Back:

Pattern:  Bloomsbury by Svetlana Volkova
Yarn:  madelinetosh tosh vintage in Clematis
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Corelle Blocks - Beauty Shot

I took this photo last week, but hadn't felt much like posting.  These four day work weeks are actually harder than a regular five day one because I end up trying to get more work done to try to minimize the effect of the furlough on my project, but it leaves me pretty tired at the end of the day.

Pattern:  Corelle by Donna Kay Lacey
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Vine and Cantaloupe
Hook:  2.75 mm

Coming up - finished pictures of Meris, and Camp Loopy Project 3.

Fred Update - Making himself at home

We've been leaving the door to Fred's room open but he has not been venturing out on his own very much, until this weekend.  Our cat Jasmine has been partly responsible.  She has been keeping an eye on Fred, and he has been intimidated by her, even though they have not gotten into any fights.  In fact she doesn't even hiss at him any more and they have even exchanged meows.  I am amazed at her tolerant behavior.  Yesterday Fred ventured downstairs on his own and I set up a spot for him on the daybed with my old polar fleece.  His fur is growing back, but he still gets cold.  He spent most of yesterday curled up there, but I had to take him back to his room yesterday afternoon because I caught him peeing downstairs on the hardwood floor.  I chastised him for his behavior and he took it to heart and stayed in his room for a while, but in the evening he had rejoined us.  I fell asleep on the daybed (as I frequently do) and Bruce was busy puzzling and watching TV when we were roused by a loud yowling.  Fred has a set of lungs on him.  We went looking for him and found him sitting at the top of the stairs looking very pleased with himself.  He had gotten up and gone upstairs and peed in his litter box and he wanted to make sure we knew that he had done the proper thing.  Smart cat.  This morning when I got up he was not in his bed in his room.  I found him sleeping in his spot on the daybed.  It looks like he is starting to make himself at home.