fishie’s aquarium

Yes, I’ve been bad about posting. But I haven’t been as bad about knitting, at least not in the past month or two. I got back from the Fiber Arts Retreat I signed up for, what, two? Three? posts ago? Anyway, I’m back. And instead of actually posting about it like a good girl, here’s a pattern for something I haven’t even finished knitting.

Kananaskis Shawl (Self-hosted PDF)
Kananaskis Shawl on Ravelry (Rav-hosted PDF)
Both links go to the exact same pattern. If you download the Ravelry file, you can save it in your library on the site.

Here’s a picture of it that I took the day after I cast on, while still at the retreat. Amy from Knitty taught the class, and boy can she make designing easy.

And now I go before I actually start putting content in here.

PS: Oh yeah, and this yarn isn’t in the pile the next post down. Since I took that picture, I have accumulated somewhere around 80 new skeins of yarn. But I swear I’m done now! ;)

I went out a couple days ago and got two more kinds of yarn. I picked up some Louisa Harding Grace from Pacific Fabrics, and some Euroflax from Cultured Purls. Despite them both being completely different weights (size 6 needle for Grace, size 3/4 for Euroflax) I like both enough for them to be my two choices. I had to do a rough estimate for yarn quantities, but it was easier for the Grace since a dress in the current Sensual Knits is made out of it and uses just a little less yarn than I anticipate. The Euroflax at least comes in huge 270 yd skeins, so asking for an extra skein or two really adds up.

Freaking out is settling down a little, and I’m realizing that even though this is a major project, the deadline isn’t that much different than a class on the quarter system. Why would I freak out about the final project if I have all quarter to work on it? Why would I think I wouldn’t have any free time the entire quarter? Seriously, if I worked on the project non-stop the whole time, I’d get done way early, which would mean I’d STILL have free time before the deadline.

My first (and only) design was my first fair isle project, and I finished that pattern in a couple days and knit the hat in one night. Yeah, this is a dress, not a hat, but I think I’m capable of putting this together. I wore the first sweater I ever knit (less than a year ago, too) to a formal party and got compliments from people who didn’t realize I’d made it. I’ve done enough lace projects (uh… two? three?) to understand how decreases and YO’s can be arranged to make something happen, and working from charts became second nature after my first time using them (Cherie Amour was my first, and I got it enough to get through the neckline which is obviously in need of errata).

I have 16 years experience with sewing, and come on, if I can sew this:

I can design a much simpler dress. Yeah, sewing is not the same as knitting, but knowing how fabric goes together to make garments sure doesn’t hurt. Joann’s is having a sale on dressforms next week, and I might just drop the damn $90 to finally get one. I’m also seriously considering sewing a fabric version of the dress I want to knit so I can get measurements. There’s where the autistic “I can’t understand it if I can’t see it” thing starts getting annoying. But still, doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

Well, not completely. I’ve complained to Chris that the hardest part of this whole being in a book deal isn’t the pattern or the knitting, it’s figuring out what to say in my bio. I am not good at giving a succinct three sentence summary of me. Unless I can just say, “Alysa is WEIRD,” I can’t be summed up in a couple sentences. I managed to scare away a guy trying to talk to me at a New Year’s party when he asked me who I was, and I ended up rambling on with a friend about how much we loved our cat and dog, respectively.

That part of the bio aside, almost every knitting designer has a website/blog/online store. I have one. It’s uh… right here. My PROBLEM is, as much as I love LJ (I don’t love it as much as I hate change, actually), it’s not very useful for knit/craftblog purposes. People can’t respond without an account unless they do so anonymously, which makes it impossible to know how many people/if anybody reads this. I don’t really want to take up precious space in my bio with karmic-fishie.livejournal.com! especially if it’s not something people could easily interact with me through.

SO.

I’m thinking of moving this blog. The only reason I had it here in the first place was I’d reserved the name for when I changed my madamecacoon name, which isn’t happening now, and I figured why not use it? But now… not so useful, and I might as well switch domains while I have a manageable number of entries. I’ve found a good hosting site, but because of LJ I’m horribly not educated about blogging and blogging software. I’d really like my own domain, and the horribly ironic fishie.net is available. I have the money for pointless things like a domain, and being published will get my name out there and hey! maybe it would motivate me to get off my ass and start putting stuff in my damn etsy shop. I have how many half-finished Beaded Octopus Earrings?

There I go.

Next time I design something, will somebody make sure I’ve already knit it once and written a pattern? Please?

I got an email from the publisher today saying that I need to pick out my top two yarn choices and tell them how many skeins I need. Eep!

In addition to making a post in knitting, which lots of people have answered and helped me out with, I took and extended lunch break LYS hopping with Kate. The only way I’m going to be able to accurately determine how much yarn I’ll need is by swatching, so I’ve picking out my favorite/most likely to succeed yarns from each store I’ve gone to. So far Hilltop East and the Fiber Gallery have been plundered. Alchemy Bamboo (HOLY CARP EXPENSIVE!) from Hilltop, Debbie Bliss Silk from Fiber Gallery.

People in the knitting post have pretty much said no on the bamboo (heavier than I thought, apparently, but I’ll still swatch and make a desicion on my own), and yes on silk, but leaning more towards a merino/silk blend or Euroflax. One of the dresses in Sensual Knits is made with Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool, which seems like it would be a good choice but I’d still have to swatch it it or something VERY similar to determine yardage, and I’m not exactly sure where I would find it.

I really want to figure out my yarn choices soon so I can request it and start designing. This whole deadline thing is SCARY!

A design idea I submitted for the sequel to Sensual Knits got selected. It was something that I completely made up on the spot at work and submitted pictures of my sketches that I took with my phone and emailed myself. It got picked! One of my knitting designs is going to be published. *flaps hands*

Problem is, I think I might have designed something a little… advanced for me. Not advanced for me to knit if it was from a pattern, but to design myself, whoo boy. At least I have until March to come up with the pattern and finish knitting it. I’m sure I’m supposed to keep it under cover until the book is announced/published or whatever, so I’m not going to say anymore about it than I think I’m getting paid a pretty penny for it considering it’s my first published design. And it’s 10 million hotdogs awesome.

Building up to the omg jump up and down excitement of this whole “I’m going to be in a book!” deal, I got some yarn from Kate for Fishmas this year. Kate has a tendency to buy me yarn that is much longer than it should be. It’s like her yards are as long as Chris’ minutes. Previously, she bought me three skeins of yarn that was 200 yards a skein, and I used it to make her a total yarn eater project (the Manitou Passage Scarf). Not only did I only use two of them to make the scarf 6 feet, but I also made her a matching hat and I STILL have some left over.

The yarn she got me this year was 6 skeins of super-bulky Tahki Taos, 60 yards a ball, in Jungle. 360 yards of yarn. I looked through Ravelry and the books I owned, and figured that the Carrie Cropped Cardigan from Fitted Knits would use about the amount of yarn I had. I’m not normally a fan of cropped stuff, but I have a couple tank tops that would go with the colors and I figured it’s just a shrug that buttons in the front.

I swatched on Saturday, but I couldn’t get gauge with the right needle. I moved up to a 17, but got the same gauge as with a 15. I decided to just knit a size bigger than I needed and everything would work okay in the end. It did. Not only did it work okay, but Sunday evening, right before midnight, I cast off a full length sweater jacket, going past my bum. I’d added more increases to the front to encompass my bosom, and decided to make it a little longer anyway. I was expecting it to come right above my navel, which would show off the lacy bottoms of my tanks nicely, but no. I’d used two balls on the body, one each on the sleeves, and still had two left when it came to lengthening the bottom. I added some lacy eyelet-vents in the lower back to add shaping and match the eyelets in the bell sleeves.

The finished product is wonderful. I’m going to buy a couple buttons after work and do the finishing touches, and then I’ll add pictures.

And I think I’ll make Kate buy me yarn when we go on the Yarn Train to PDX.

What is my problem? It’s the third day of November and I STILL haven’t cast on for NaKniSweMo. Guess I’ve had too many other things on my mind, such as all the sewing I’ve been doing.

First, the tablecloth I designed and made in a week for the Halloween party:

The tablecloth was made to fit the dining table that Kate’s grandfather made a million years ago, and it fit perfectly. Hooray! I only went crazy sewing it while the cat was trying to sit on it. I made it from a twin size top sheet and an old tablecloth I found at the Goodwill. I think total, they cost me $8.

Next, I decided to join an ongoing swap on Craftster. It’s great the way this one is set up… Somebody posts their wishlist, and then the next person claims something off their wishlist and posts their’s. If you’re too busy to make something, you don’t claim anything. It’s very low pressure. The lace-up armwarmers I made were for this swap. The second person I claimed wanted PJ pants and embroidery scissors with a case.

The case was pretty easy to make, except for me being an idiot and forgetting about how to make my lining into a nice finished edge. I managed, but it didn’t look nearly as nice as if I’d actually thought about it. I lined the case in that plastic stuff sheet sets come in, with a double lining in the point, so the scissors don’t poke out. It was a pain to turn inside out, but I’m pretty pleased with them.

The PJ pants were AWESOME. Can I just say right now that I didn’t use a pattern for these? Oh, and the fabric was free, which I didn’t figure out until I’d already walked out of the store and realized the clerk hadn’t scanned my receipt from the cutting counter. Apparently she assumed I walked into the store with 2 yards of fabric tucked under my arm? The draw-string is i-cord I knit myself, I made the stencil myself, and whoo hoo! I ended up with pants that would look store bought until you turn them inside out. Have I mentioned I want a serger?

I know I mostly talk about knitting, and I hoard yarn more than fabric, but sewing was my first love. And hey, I’ve been doing it for… 15 years now? Not bad!

My first version of this pattern is complete. When I finish up some other things, I’ll start working on a simplified, less cluttered version with a better brim. But for now, here ya go, my first written pattern! The yarn quantities are estimated. Bernat Satin comes in 166 yd skeins and the hat used barely half of the main, if even that much. I don’t have a scale yet so I can’t give more than my estimations.

Inspired by the art of Alex Grey, this hat is decorated with a representation of the crown chakra. This simple fair-isle pattern requires the use of only two colors at a time, with some duplicate stitching used to carry the design into areas where stranding is inconvenient. Using worsted weight yarn, this is a quick knit with warm results. Two variations of the color-work have been included. The two hats shown use the first variation.

MATERIALS

• Approx. 80 yards MC1/MC, 60 yards CC/CC1, and 30 yards MC2/CC2 of worsted weight yarn (I used Bernat Satin Solids, Mai Tai/Flamingo/Bordeaux and Ebony/Mai Tai/unknown worsted)

• Size 6 circular needle, 16″
• Size 6 DPNs
• tapestry needle
• one stitch marker

GAUGE: 20 sts and 24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

Chart (click to enlarge)

Using MC1/MC and circular needle, CO 100 sts, place marker, and join in the round.
Work in k1, p1 ribbing for 5 rounds, then in stockinette stitch for 4 rounds.
Begin working chart joining in CC/CC1, starting on Row 3 (pattern on Rows 1 and 2 are done in duplicate stitch later). Make sure that your yarn floats are loose enough to allow fabric to stretch.

As you’re working:

• Rows 12 and 13 are worked in MC1/MC with duplicate stitching added later. Do not break CC/CC1 yarn, it can be carried up and worked in row 14.

• Rows 23-25 also have duplicate stitching that is added later. Knit these stitches in MC1/MC.
• Row 30: Break MC1/CC1 and begin working with MC2/CC2.
• Rows 33 and 36 involve decreases where stitches of two different colors are knit together.
• Switch to DPNs when it becomes difficult to knit on the circular needle

After Row 43 is completed, break yarn and draw it through 5 remaining sts, down into hat and weave in ends.
With a tapestry needle, take lengths of specified yarn in chart to do the duplicate stitches to complete the design. Here is a good duplicate stitch tutorial if you need a little help with this.

If you decide to knit this pattern and run into a problem or notice an error, please let me know! Also, I’d love to see pictures of finished ones. To see the process of this pattern, click here.

P.S. Please don’t sell this pattern or anything made from this pattern. Thanks :)

Once I figured out the charts, it was smooooooth sailing. I stayed up ALL NIGHT knitting it. Seriously. I’m really happy I ended up buying yarn for it (I went to the store last minute before they closed to get a size 5 circular needles, but there were none so instead I bought yarn to go with needles I already had), because I really wouldn’t have enjoyed this as much with my stash stuff. The yarn I got was cheap ($6 for three skeins) and it’s soft, and it’s PINK.

I’m going to make at least one more of these, because I want to figure out a better hem, and I want to make sure my charts are accurate. The crown was a pain in the ass chartwise, because for some reason I couldn’t figure out how it would look on paper, even if I knew what I was doing. I want to do a different color pattern, most likely with the yarn I bought for this but in a different order. It needs to have all three colors, because there’s a pentagon on the top in red (if it’s not obvious). Suggestions?

Oh, yes, and I’ll be posting the pattern and charts when they’re all done and pretty and not completely scribbled on and crossed out all over.

Chakra

I’m sick of being too busy and having to sit out knitting challenges I’m DETERMINED to enter this one. So determined that I’ve spend a good portion of today charting. CHARTING CHARTING CHARTING SWATCHING CHARTING. My biggest problem is I don’t have enough colors of yarn in the weight I’m using to be guaranteed a good result. I’m just going to have to deal with what I have because I’m too broke to buy new stuff, and too stubborn to start using yarn with a different gauge and having to reswatch and rechart.

I’m being crazy with my plans, as usual. Want to know what I’m doing?

Imagine a hat, inspired by this:

Not easy. I know after I do this one, I’ll want to do another one with finer yarn and infinitely more detail. As it is right now, the chart looks like a peacock feather instead of a chakra petal with an eye in it.

I think I have my charts decent enough to start working on A HAT!!!!! so I’m going to dive in now. Maybe I’ll finish it today if I don’t explode and die. Have I mentioned I’ve never done fair isle before?

ETA: bought new yarn anyway

I normally only knit one thing at a time. I’m so bad at keeping interest in things that if I have options, I’ll completely neglect one thing. In other words, I have no concept of moderation. I started those socks for Chris on Tuesday and I’m not very far yet (HELLO 00 SIZE NEEDLES AND GIANT MONSTER FEET??!?!?!):

But there’s a craft challenge on Craftster I REALLY REALLY want to do and think I’ve got a really good chance at if I can get what I have in my head out and into yarn. Problem is, it’s due on the 24th (BAH I knit a blanket in 12 days!) BUT… my idea is probably way too complicated for my current skill level. Here’s the idea (psst: no stealing!)

Yay rough charts! I can DO this!!!

I want to knit it in the round because if I do anything with seaming, there’s the chance I don’t get the colors to match up. BUT intarsia in the round? Possible, but not easy OR fast. And taking into consideration that I’ve never 1) Done intarsia 2) Made a knitting chart or 3) Written a pattern before… I don’t know if I’m being overly optimistic for a project I’d need to have DONE in *counts* 16 days. Granted, my final is next Thursday and I have a week off before my next class starts, but I’m still working 40+ hours a week with lots of overtime forecasted. I know I can do it. I just don’t know if I can do it that quickly. I’m really good with math, geometry, etc., and I’m thinking I might have to sew a mock-up in order to figure out the chart for the color changes, but I KNOW I can do it.

I get the feeling I’m getting myself into trouble.

Completely unrelated, DID YOU KNOW that my first ever FO was made completely without a pattern? I didn’t even realize that was at all weird until two days ago. It’s my knitting bag, but when I first made it, I used it to carry around books. It fits a big fat hardcover book in it PERFECTLY! When I started knitting hardcore in the past few months, I’ve used it to carry around my yarn, tools, and WIPs. Considering I had no idea how to seam, weave in ends, or block, I think it turned out pretty good and sturdy.

I knit it with normal worsted weight Red Heart on size 2 needles. The sides and the strap are knit on bigger needles with two strands of yarn held together. I whip-stitched the pieces all together. I currently have a safety pin keeping one of the straps attached.