Passive-aggressive subway knitting

I tried to knit standing up on the subway coming home tonight, which is almost never a good idea -- if the Orange Line drivers didn't accelerate and decelerate so unpredictably, it would be fine, but that is not the world we live in, and I almost fell over a few times. It was passive-aggressive knitting, anyway, because I was peeved that the few open seats were rendered unsittable by a wet newspaper, somebody's giant purse, and a businessman with a wide stance, respectively. So I (quietly but audibly) sighed, stood by the door, and started knitting angrily.

I finally got a seat after Community College, and the woman next to whom I sat down expressed concern for my perilous knitting stance. I forget sometimes that people can see me passive-aggressively knit.

I am almost done with my Millefiori sweater, and I am thrilled with it. I blocked and seamed the body pieces this weekend, and I'm working on the buttonband at home right now and the sleeves on the subway. I can't wait to wear it -- I was a little sad when I started it, because I thought we'd be in the midst of a boiling July when I finished, but it turns out this is the year without a summer, so I'll be able to wear it as soon as it's finished. I'm still looking for a cute fabric so I can sew a skirt to match.

Sheeps and WIPs

(Read, please, "sheeps and weeps".)

Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair
So much fun!

I had never been to a fiber festival before, so I batted my eyes at Adam and we drove out to Cummington with our trusty GPS. The weather was fabulous, and we enjoyed walking around and seeing all the yarn and fiber and petting the sheep.

There were some baby angora bunnies for sale, and I got to pick one up and hug it -- they're so soft and cuddly. They're also a lot more relaxed about being around people than our princess is, which is probably because they have to get used to being held so they can be plucked. I think it would be absolutely awesome to have an angora of our own, but Adam thinks the fur everywhere would be a nightmare. (Our rabbit, Miss Abigail, is a mini rex, so she doesn't have the long outer hairs that make for a good angora, but she is fairly hypoallergenic.)

I bought a super-soft alpaca yarn for a sweater from one of the booths, but I suck at estimating how much I need for different projects, so I realized when I got home that I won't have enough -- I have 650 yards, and for a full-size sweater I'll probably need about 1000. I'm trying to decide if I want to a) email the yarn source to see if they'll sell me another skein or two; b) buy a skein of alpaca yarn from another supplier and make a striped sweater; c) make a cropped sweater and/or one with short sleeves. Decisions, decisions!

On the way home, we stopped at Webs in Northampton, which did not disappoint in terms of size and selection. I got a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy, which I'd never actually seen in person before.

Poor Adam was a little sick of yarn by the end of the day. He's such a good husband.

Millefiori cardigan
I'm probably half-done with the back of the sweater, and I really like it. I found the clam stitch section incredibly difficult, but now that it's done I love the look of it. I hadn't swatched it (bad knitter), so I put in a lifeline and read the directions... and was like, "You have to be kidding me." I held my breath and did the whole repeat, and it looked horrendous, so I frogged it, cursing under my breath the whole time. But somehow, when I did it over, I got the hang of it. I love that about knitting -- eventually things just click and some bizarre set of directions produces a gorgeous result.

Several hats and a cardigan

I finished my lacy cabled cap, and gave it to my friend today. She loves it! She told me she used to have a cap like that, but she had lost it and was very happy to have a new one. I'm pleased -- I picked the pattern because it reminded me of her.


I finished the cap on the subway on Wednesday night, which means I should probably be grateful for the fact that there have been delays on the Orange Line every night for two weeks. (I'm not grateful.)


I'm going to start swatching for my Millefiori cardigan tonight, and I'm hoping to work on it a little in the car to Massachusetts Sheep & Wool tomorrow. (I say "hope" because Adam doesn't like me knitting in the car -- he's convinced that we'll get into an accident and the airbag will propel my needle into my heart, or something like that. He's a worrier.)

My real traveling project is a set of hats for a newborn. I'm starting with a chocolate bunny hat, and I want to make a similar rocket hat (the baby will belong to one of Adam's coworkers), then a lacy hat and a cabled hat, probably of something like my own design. It's kind of nice to make baby stuff, because it's so small that I feel accomplished after a few nights on the subway.

I've been neglecting this blog, but I'm back and determined to use it. I'm going to try to chronicle my crafting on a more regular basis so I don't bore my other blog's audience half to death.

On the knitting end of things, I'm mostly between projects -- I'm almost finished with a lacy cabled hat for one of the techs in the lab, but I don't want to work on it this weekend because it's a nice portable project to take with me on the subway. (Except for the cabling part. I suspect, after trying it, that cabling a hat that's already on 4 DPNs on the subway is the definition of insanity.) I love the hat, but I might end up ripping back to the start of the decreases to modify the cables. We'll see.

In more knitting on the subway news, a girl sitting next to me on Friday evening was noticeably staring at my knitting, which made me uncomfortable enough to drop a stitch. I don't mind people asking about my knitting, or looking over casually, but she was sitting right next to me and was obviously staring. Awkward.

I'm really itching to start on my Millefiori Cardigan, but the yarn is still on a FedEx truck somewhere. I looked through the pattern today, and am slightly apprehensive -- this is definitely going to be the most challenging piece I've ever made, not to mention the biggest.

On the sewing end, I made a table runner from a vintagey lemon print. Next weekend I'm planning to make matching placemats. I'm definitely still a novice sewer, and the table runner is not perfectly rectangular, but I don't mind the obviously handmadeness of it. I also patched two pairs of ripped jeans -- no more sending them to my mother-in-law, who patches them with stiff iron-on stuff! I patched them with pieces cut from an old pair of capris, which matched perfectly and which are already worn soft.

I like sewing, and I'm excited to make myself skirts and handbags, but I don't think I'll ever be as excited about sewing as I am about knitting. Still, now I can make sweaters with skirts to match!

Knitting on the subway

I was coming home on the subway tonight, working on my button-tab hat, and two people across the aisle from me began loudly discussing my knitting. The woman thought I was "smart" for knitting, as I could make myself lots of clothes, while the man was confused about whether I was knitting or crocheting. People. I can hear you when you talk about me loudly on the subway. I am knitting, not deaf.

Incidentally, I notice that I get more comments on the subway when I knit with straight needles rather than DPNs. I wonder if people don't know what I'm doing when I knit with the DPNs?

Radical headband

My husband is a freestyle mogul skiier, and freestylers tend to be a little stuck in the late 80s. Clearly, this meant that he needed some radical style to compete in the annual Bust n Burn freestyle competition.

I already knitted him a pair of Knucks in fluorescent green and pink yarn, with BUST and BURN embroidered on the fingers. Clearly, what was needed to complete this ensemble (and bring him home the giant gold winner's trophy) was a matching headband.

Materials
1 set US size 7 DPNs (or circs, if you like them better)
Dalegarn Falk Neon yarn (sport weight 5-ply wool; 116 yards per 50g ball) in 0184 (neon green) and 0144 (neon pink)*
Yarn needle
Stitch marker or scrap yarn

Pattern
Using long-tail cast-on, CO 92 sts in neon pink. Join to begin working in the round, being careful not to twist. Work 6 rounds in k2, p2 ribbing.

Pick up neon green yarn. Knit 1 round. Slip first st of second round, then knit around. Knit 7 rounds.

Pick up neon pink yarn. Knit one round. Slip first st of second round, then work k2, p2 ribbing around. Work 5 rounds in k2, p2 ribbing.

Bind off using . Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Radical!



*This yarn is discontinued, but can still be found in a few places on the internet.