sometimes it's a flop

And boy, what a flop! A flippity-floppity-flim-flam-flop. I'm not listing the details for this because later tonight I am frogging the hell out of it. I actually finished this monstrosity late last year and have been meaning to blog about it, but you know, what can you say about a project that's best described as an asshat? I wanted to make a slouchy hat like this one at the purl bee. The thing I failed to take into account is that their hat is textured. I did straight up stockinette for mine which means I should have done the maths to make it fit a little less loosely. But it's just a hat, and I was too lazy to do the maths for it. Now, it is eating my head. That's what I get for not doing something as simple as making 1 stitch every 12 stitches instead of every 6. (See? Math is not hard - I'm just lazy.) Derf!

It doesn't look too bad from the back, though. It's just the front, where I look like the Purple Pie-Man, that's a problem. Even when I wear it "normally," it's a bit much. Sooooooooooo, you think I have enough yardage in there for a baby sweater? Maybe a baby vest? We'll see.... This yarn is begging to be something else.

really? really???!!!

Hello! And welcome to the Anal Retentive Crafters' Corner. I'm Picky Fussybottom, and I'll be your host tonight. Oh my! We have quite the snafu here. See the three fabrics in the photo above? Please feel free to click on the photo for a better view as a weird pattern emerged on the fabrics when I shrank the photo down to fit within this format. Well, let's start with the one on the right. That's a piece of Kona cotton in "Natural" left over from several yards I bought in 2007. It's what I am using for my "Little Houses" quilt. Unfortunately, I've run out of it, and all I have left is that piece, which is probably about 10 x 24 inches. "Not a problem!" I thought and went to my stash to get another, much larger piece of Kona cotton in "Natural." That's the piece in the lower left of the photo, under the 2007 "Natural." I bought that piece in 2009 to supplement that older "Natural" when I ran out of it. Only thing is, as you can see, it wouldn't be a good idea to use both in the same project because they are totally different shades of "Natural."

I forgot that Kona is dyed in lots, like yarn. Now, let's take a look at the one peeking out from under all the others in the upper left corner of the photo. I purchased that piece about a month ago with a specific project in mind. It's a good thing it has already been committed to one particular project, because there is no way I could use it for my "Little Houses." It is a completely different shade from the other two. I would never have assumed from looking at the photo that it was supposed to be the same colorway as the others.

So fuck. I was going full-steam ahead with these blocks, and now I have to stop and figure out how to resolve this Kona quandary. As it is, I ordered a few more yards of "Natural" both at the 45" and 60" widths to see if maybe I can get a shade closer to the one I'm currently using. Then there's the possibility that I mislabeled it oh so long ago. Maybe it's some other color. Maybe it's some other shade of off-white, like "Snow" (not the Canadian rasta-rapper) or "Ivory." I thought it was "Natural" since it has the little freckles that are the only thing all three pieces of fabric have in common. I can only wait for my order of various shades of off-white to arrive so I can find the best match. Good thing Hancock's is having a sale on Kona. Until then, I guess I can continue to cut & sew more trees and houses. It's more productive than banging my head against the sewing machine, I suppose.

so, if I pour some water on it, do you think it will grow?

You know how they say that size doesn't matter? I have no idea who they are, but they lie. Oh, they lie. Big time! No offense to you, Shetland Triangle. You know, when I first started knitting you, Shetland Triangle, I didn't think you were going to be, like, huge. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I knew that when I went down to size 1 needles instead of the size 6 the pattern calls for that there was no way you would ever be described as "large," "humongous," "all-engulfing," "gigundo," stop me when it gets to be too much.... Basically, I knew what I was getting into, but I just didn't expect you to be so... ummm, huh, how do I say this? Lacking in size. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being... small. Clearly, I wanted less of a shawl and more of a shawlette, but you are barely a kerchief. I guess I'm a little disappointed is all. I mean, what am I supposed to do with you? Wrap you around my head like I'm Little Edie?

Or Little Steven, for that matter? So I'm going to soak you, my puny wee lacy friend, and once you're nice and saturated, I'm going to block your brains out because clearly you need to blocked like no other shawlette has been blocked before. Oh yes, I am going to block the m'f'ing daylights out of you. Let's hope it works.

double-ewe tee eff? d'oh squared!

Allow me to vent for a moment. So you know those socks I finished the other day? The Waving Lace socks in the different dye lots of the same Koigu colorway? They did something funny when I washed them for the first time. I present to you Exhibit A, the photo above. Seriously, what the hell happened? I have knit several pairs of socks, as well as cowls and fingerless gloves, using Koigu, and while there's some fading and pilling over time, I have never seen any of these items go five shades lighter after the first wash. Never. I am kinda shocked and a little disappointed. I do find it extremely funny that the toe I thought may have been too light or too pink for the originally plummy socks is now so much darker than the currently pale mauve socks. Now you can really see the difference in the dye lots being as one didn't fade into oblivion whereas the other did.

Now please let me make it clear that I am not bashing Koigu here. That is the last thing I want to do to a yarn that is my old faithful, my steady go-to yarn, whose color range is lovely and whose base is squishy fabulosity. I don't want to make the good folks who dye this yarn look bad or trash-talk it because I truly love Koigu. (I also don't want angry torch-bearing mobs rioting in my normally quiet little spot on the interwebz like they did the last time I said something that was unfortunately construed as less-than-flattering about a yarn that everyone loves and just might have a fierce cult-following. It was one of the reasons I shut down my old blog. *shudder* Let's not go there....) I am just baffled by this, though.

When I look through my handknit socks, I can tell which ones are my favorites as their colorways are definitely subdued by all the wash and wear. And I am not always so kind to my socks. I accidentally felted my stripey Noros by unwittingly throwing them in the dryer. Heh. Ooopsie! I still wear them, but they are not as crisp and vibrant as they used to be. I am trying to wrap my mind around this situation, however. This is different. I'm left thinking, "If I had known this yarn was going to do that, I would have used something else." Because I was in love with this pattern in the original yummy shade of raspberry, but it does nothing for me in ballbag pink.

Okay, venting over. Done! We may now return to our regularly scheduled knitting and crocheting and other fun stuff. Wonky socks and all, life is pretty darn good.

ETA: Talk about awesome customer service! Rhichard from Koigu has contacted me, apologized for the situation, notified the store where I bought the yarn for me about the bad batch, and offered to send me make-up yarn. THAT is fabulous customer service. I am glad to know that Koigu stands behind their product this way. Thanks again, R!

well d'oh!

pattern: Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks
designer: Evelyn A. Clark
yarn: Koigu KPM in1165 25 (+ 1 skein from a different dye lot)
needles: Addi Turbos US size#1

You know what's ridiculous? That I knit the first sock of this pair in two days almost a year ago and then didn't bother to start a mate for it until a couple of weeks ago. The pattern is super-easy, and it flies off of the needles. And I love the way it looks. It is so very pretty and has nice long cuffs, which I adore. I know I will wear the hell out of these socks. So why then did it take me so long to come back to this project?

That lack of interest in knitting a second sock might have had a little something to do with the fact that I didn't have enough yarn and couldn't find any more from the same dye lot. When I had to knit the toe for the first sock using my second skein, I knew I was short. I had bought this Koigu at Loop in Philly so naturally I tried to get another skein from their website when I realized that I wouldn't have enough yarn, but they were all sold out of it. I tried looking on Ravelry, but to be honest with you I felt like an ass contacting a total stranger and saying to them, "Hi! I was a buttmunch and didn't purchase enough yarn for this project so can you sell me yours? Kthxbai!" I really would have felt embarrassed doing that, which I know is silly. I found a skein in a the same colorway but a different dye lot on Personal Threads and just went for it because I figured it would be a close enough match. And it is a close match even if it is not quite the same. There is a subtle difference, but I think I can get away with it here. Can you tell that the toe on my right foot was knit using the odd skein? It's a little lighter and pinker than the left.

At least it was right at the toe, so it's not such a big deal that it's different. It almost bothers me more that I knit the second sock at a slightly looser gauge so it's just a tiny bit larger than the first one. Now that I am going to have to turn a blind eye to since I have frogged socks for that before. After taking so long to get around to finishing this (and having a few other projects that I reallyreallyreally want to move on to), I have no intention of frogging this and knitting it over. I'm just going to say, "It's all good!" and call it done.

you know what's insane?

Knitting a light worsted yarn on US size 0 needles for a colorwork project - that's insane. Originally, I was going to knit Minty a pair of Gotland Island Mittens from Folk Mittens using some Malabrigo Silky Merino. Since NYC never gets that cold in the winter (well, compared to New England, at least), I figured the yarn would be perfect for some light yet warm mittens. Hah! Light mittens my ass! At this gauge the yarn knit up into a super-dense impenetrable fabric, and honestly, it hurt my fingers to knit. Now, I am not sure if I am going to finish these. I think I'm gonna frog 'em and use the yarn for something else because after stuffing teeny-tiny softie parts all day, the strain of knitting this is really too much for my wrists and fingers.

posted for posterity?

Remember these?

I knit them as a Christmas present for my father-in-law almost two years ago. All I remember about the project itself is that I knit them over 4 days, that I used Socks That Rock in a mediumweight, and that, according to my Flickr info, the colorway was called Puck's Mischief and I used Addi Turbos in a US size2. I don't remember how many stitches I cast on, nor do I recall the exact stitch pattern (it's some variation of a twisted rib). I think I can figure it out based on this photo, but dude, I am kicking myself for not saving that info. You see, now I want to knit them again but all of the details are gone. This is one of the millions of reasons why ravelry is so awesome - because if the rav had been around then, surely I would have made a note of that info there on my project page. (And yes, I know that if I hadn't deleted my old blog I would have that info now. DOH! I was hasty, but I am still kinda glad I did that. For catharsis and all....)

I realized the other day that it is already October (!!!), which of course means it's time for Socktoberfest! And I want to take this:

and turn it into a pair of those. I think that might be a great pattern/yarn combo. And I'm also looking for a quick, fun knit. (As I am always.) So off I go to count stitches and figure this out. Looks like it's knit over 64 stitches, 1 x 1 ribbing on the cuff, 2 x 2 twisted ribbing with the twist every 3rd row with a standard heel & rounded toe. Does that sound about right? Or is it 3 x 2 ribbing over 60 stitches with enough gusset decreases to turn it to 56 stitches at the foot and make for a perfect round toe? Hmmmmmm....

froggy went a'courtin'

Guys, I think I am done with this scarf. This is how much it has grown since I last blogged about it. See? It's barely gotten any longer. And that's my fault. I have neglected it. So many other fun projects going on! I think the truth is I just don't want to invest another second in it. No hate. No vitriol. Just one big "Meh!" Besides realizing the fact that I am more of a cowl person that a scarf person, I have also come to the conclusion that a) I don't have the attention span or project-dedication to do a long scarf anymore, and b) I am sooooooooo not into what the colors are doing here and would never actually wear this. Let me clarify: I love the colors, just not that weird almost ghost of an argyle pattern that's going on there. The reason that the Noro works so brilliantly with this specific pattern/scarf recipe is because it is a striping yarn, not a variegated yarn. Hence, it stripes beautifully. It doesn't pool or splotch or spread like icky oil slicks. I think I may try this scarf again, only using the Noro (Silk Garden, not Kureyon, since I find the Kureyon too scratchy) or a similar striping yarn. In the meanwhile, I'm frogging this atrocity and either throwing this yarn out the window or attempting socks with it yet again. Grrrrr!

gauge away

Oh good lord. You know what's completely stupid? When you knit the second sock of a pair and it is significantly wider than the first, despite the fact that you cast on the same number of stitches (64). Gah! You know what makes it even worse? When you realize this when you are 7 1/2 inches into a 9 1/2 inch cuff. DOH! I guess I was thrown off by knitting the hat at a much larger gauge the other day and was therefore knitting much looser. What to do but frog the whole thing and start over again, being mindful not to knit so loosely this time? So yeah, I'm only about 5 inches into the cuff now. I should be back up to speed by tonight when I go over to Beba's to watch ANTM.

Also, when I checked myself out in the mirror in my squishy new hat, I was suddenly reminded of the Kids In the Hall character Cabbage Head seen in the skit posted above. Double DOH!