Peon Sings Praises of Budget Cashmere

Don't you just love days when your postman leaves you one of those lumpy tyvek packages? For me, those packages almost always contain yarn.

Today my kid brought such a package upstairs and dropped it at my feet as I was working on the MS3 clue #4. I had a hard time making myself finish my row before reaching for the big scissors and carefully cutting open what must be . . . yes! . . my order from Sarah's Yarns! In addition, there was a smaller package containing 3 patterns I'd ordered from Loop Yarns. It was like a mini-Christmas morning with 85-degree heat. All this and a new super-sized MS3 clue!! Let the wild rumpus begin!

So here's what was inside my Sarah's Yarn order:

Click for close-up. Really, this one is worth the wait!

In short: 2 skeins (800 yards total) of a 2-ply cashmere/silk blend I plan to dye, and "samples" of dk weight bamboo, dk weight cashmere, fingering weight merino/cashmere blend, sport weight spun silk, and 2 different lace weights.

If you haven't bought from Sarah's Yarns before, the deal is you can order free yarn samples for swatching on many of the yarns she carries. If you order just samples, you pay only postage costs. If you order additional products, the samples ship for free. (I'll post photos of the swatches as I knit them up, so you can get an idea.)

The first time I tried out samples from SY, I was shocked by how much yardage there was in each. These are truly generous dollops of yarn -- enough to knit at least a 4" X 4" square, and generally a fair amount more. It's a smart business move on the company's part, because the luxurious yarns do sell themselves.

Just in case you're wondering, no I don't work for SA, and no I haven't received a clandestine bale of cashmere (dropped on my stoop by the cover of a moonless night) in exchange for blubbering about how much I lo-oo--ove their yarn. (Not that I wouldn't accept a clandestine bale of cashmere from just about anyone.) But my orders from SA have been so universally delightful, I wanted to pass the word on. Have I mentioned that I usually receive an SA order 3 to 4 days after I place it? Or that they ship priority for what others charge for parcel post?

I love several of my local yarn stores, but it's hard for them to carry all the yarns I am interested in. Around here, it's especially hard to find a good selection of quality yarns for dyeing. (Undyed cashmere, in particular, is almost impossible find within 40 miles of where I live.) So, with the price of gasoline what it is, I yarn shop on the internet reluctantly -- It's so hard to really know a yarn based on a tiny picture and a one-paragraph description. That's where swatching samples come in handy -- the whole process (i.e. ordering samples, waiting, swatching, waiting again . . .) takes longer, but it's great ordering yarn having swatched it and knowing you will love it when it arrives.

And, finally, there is the $$$ factor. It's not the only factor, but it does rare its ugly head. I want to buy locally, but if local prices are two or three times as much as internet prices, my resolve weakens. Like almost everyone, I'm on a budget. The bottom line: 400 yards of 2-ply 55% silk/45% cashmere is $12.50 at Sarah's Yarns. Seriously. Pure cashmere is just slightly more. I don't know how she does it -- maybe her back yard is cheek-to-jowl full of cashmere goats -- but these prices allow me to knit cashmere on a merino budget.

Here's the patterns that came, which I am also quite thrilled with:

Patterns from Bad Cat Designs / Jade Sapphire

I bought these particular patterns not only because I like them, but because each calls for approximately 400 yards of 2-ply cashmere. I think these will make great gifts -- little kitten-soft handmade luxuries. And (this is a total win-win, as far as I can see) I get the gift of working with blissfully decadent (and easy-on-the-debit-card) yarn. All-in-all, I am currently one copacetic, yarn-besotted peon.

MS3 Undergoes "Renovations"

click for close-up

Well, I wasn't going to do it. The thing is, for much of this week the phones didn't work, the internet didn't work, and I got really sick of the 6-row repeat in my melon shawl (see below).

So I started casting about, wondering what I could start or finish or mess with. I kept fondly going back to my MS3. Picking it up and sighing and wishing I had more pattern to knit. Once I started looking at it (FIRST MISTAKE), I realized there were certain areas where I wished there were more beads. To be specific, the leafy looking rows, and the flowery rows.

There is one row of leaves where each leaf does not have a bead in the middle, and the more I looked at it, the more I didn't like it. And, to me, it looked like each little flower in the flowery rows near the top of clue 3 needed a bead in its center.

I made myself sit down and think about this. I went back to the chart and figured that, in order to insert the beads and -- while I'm at it -- fix my most egregious errors, I would need to rip out 45 rows.

And the moon must have been in Sagittarius with Jupiter aligning with Mars, because I just said "What the hell" and started ripping. Here are some "after" photos. Please note -- the color is completely off in some of these, I'm not sure why ---

Beads added to leaves - row 175

Flower centers added - you'll have to trust me on this one.

Here's the good news: I seem to be learning this chart, as ripping back and re-knitting 45 rows wasn't nearly the cuss-fess that knitting the same 45 rows was originally. I think I'm learning to slow down, count my stitches on the purl side, keep good track of my stitch markers -- all the low-glamour type stuff that can make a big difference with lace.

"It seems, grasshopper, that lace knitting is teaching you discipline."

( Surely, somewhere, pigs are in flight.)

The kid is going to show me how g-mail works, if the cat will let him. (He thinks the computer is his, or at least the monitor.) So ta-ta for now.

Little House in the Suburbs

Day 1: The internet guy came out to fix the internet; while he was doing so he broke the phones.

Day 2: No phones, no internet. I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Day 3: Internet guy comes back and fixes internet and phones. Whole family breaths collective **sigh** of relief.


What did we do back in the "good old days"? We knit, of course! Well, at least some of our fore-mothers and fore-fathers did. My mom tells me that around the time of the depression her father used to knit socks for the whole family. And I can remember my Dad crocheting us kids simple booties to wear around the house. Little did these guys know they were so ahead of their time! I taught my son how to knit when he was in 5th grade, but am forbidden from mentioning it to anyone under 20. (I know you won't tell.) He's actually pretty good -- he learned the longtail cast-on in one session. Of course he knits opposite of me -- American and tight (I'm continental and loose) -- go figure.

So, while the electronics were down, I started thinking about making another needle roll, something that I could use specifically for lace knitting. I piled up some fabrics that looked promising:

A little silk, a little cotton. A dish towel I like. Design-wise, I'm thinking of doing something similar to my all-purpose crochet hook roll-up:

-- but with more different types of compartments for circulars, dps, and a zip pocket for stitch markers and whatnot. I'm still at the putting-it-on-paper stage right now, but I'll keep you posted.

Internet Connection Kaput

Just wanted to send out a brief note -- my home internet connection is apparently deceased, at least for the time being. My significant other is working on it, but I probably won't be posting again for a few days. (Insert frowny face here.) I'll keep writing -- my word processor still works, thank God for small favors -- and post a long catch-up blogzilla when I'm back up.

P.S. Thank you for the suggestion on the Kiri shawl for the variegated yarn! I think that might work!

MS3 Clue #3

Here's my MS3 stole so far. (The white thread running width-ways is a lifeline at row 150.) If you see something that looks a little whack-a-doodle, that is because there are a few whack-a-doodle things going on here. I pinned and stretched this sucker to see what it would look like at 20" wide and blocked. The stitches really do pop out nicely, and 20" actually seems about right for my stole width. Doesn't it just figure: When gauge doesn't really matter; I get gauge!!


I'm still mulling over whether I'm significantly bothered by the, shall we say, "nonconformist stitches" (?) to rip back 45 rows and fix them. Currently I'm leaning toward "eh, screw it."

Here's a close-up. I really like how the size 6 beads show up, although I think the #8's on the edge are almost invisible.

Ravelry Hard as Nails, in Spite of Whining

You all have heard the Ravelry buzz, haven't you? It's the new web site, currently in beta testing, that is supposed to do for knitting what e-bay did for online garage sales. Some of these beta testers have reported tantalizing little crumbs of information about how truly beyond beyond Ravelry is. Some of us still on the 10,000-person waiting list to become Ravelry beta testers are feeling a wee bit pissy and jealous. And perhaps a smooch desperate. So I sent the Ravelry team this message:

I don't suppose begging and whining will help make me a beta tester earlier, will it? Just in case:

Please, please! I'll clean my room and mow the dog and feed the lawn!

But I wa-aa-nta be a beta tester! Everyone else is a beta tester, and if I'm not a beta tester soon my entire summer will be ru-uuu-ined! I WANT IT! I WANT IT NOW!!

Still stony and unmoved, aren't you? Heartless SOB.

P.S.: How about blatant bribery: kickbacks, payola, a load of Koigu that just fell off the back of the truck? Let me know.

So I heard back from them today. Apparently, they think I'm joking. Hi-jacked that truck full of Koigu for nothing.

Take this Shawl and FROG IT!

Last night I was listlessly pulling at the shawl I knit for my friend Eileen, and the darn thing started coming apart in my hands! Now is that God giving me a little prompt or what? And frogging it was not the nightmare I was afraid it would be, once I got started.

Everybody has their own system, but here's how I "freshen" used yarn. Wind it on to a long (24" or so) piece of cardboard, tie it off with figure-8 knots in 4 places, soak skein in Eucalan for 20 minutes, squeeze out water, wrap yarn in a towel, sit on it until it's as dry as I can get it, then hang the skein on a plastic coat hanger in my closet with a big bottle of something weighting it. This morning I woke up to this:

Oh, yeah.

Eucalan has restored my motivation.

Mojo-licious: Rich, gorgeous Helen's Lace

These aren't my colors, but Eileen is a green-eyed blond and I think they will look smashing on her. As for patterns . . .I still don't know what I'm going to do with this 1,200 yards of buttery-smooth loveliness. Any ideas? I'm afraid the variegated colorway would not show off a super lacy pattern, so I'm looking for a shawl designed for multi-colored yarn. I think I will be perusing Barbara Walker's 2nd stitch pattern treasury tonight . . .

Screamin' Green Victorian Shawl

I have heard/read so many stories of knitters who picked up Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today and immediately knew which project they wanted to do first. For me, it was the cover shawl, aka the Melon Pattern Shawl. Here it is:

Ooooh. Aaaah. Just aglow with rich mohairy goodness.

I love everything about it, including the funky green color. The instructions call for Rowan Kidsilk Haze, but after seeing a gorgeous 40% silk/60 % mohair blend online at Sarah's Yarns (available in natural white only), I decided to try and dye my own. What motivated me? Price, for one thing. I could dye my own for less than half the cost of the Kidsilk.

If you would prefer not to discuss filthy lucre, please skip down 2 paragraphs. For everyone else, here's the straight scoop on costs:

• Kidsilk Haze, 3 skeins @ 13.50 per sk = 40.50
• Sarah's Yarn Kid Mohair Silk, 3 skeins @ $5.50 per sk. = 16.50
• Both yarns are 230 yards/25 gms per ball. I already had the acid dye.

In addition to cost considerations, I've been wanting to work on my dyeing skills. Right now I'm something of an "advanced beginner" -- smart enough not to use the dye as a margarita enhancer, but not a lot beyond that.

And, as much as I'm a flighty knitter, I am a serious-as-a-traffic cop dyer. A row of knitting goes bad, you rip it out; a dyepot of woolens goes seriously bad, and they can hear me cussing the next town over. I take my time, use separate "dyeing only" spoons bowls, measuring cups, etc., and pray A LOT. But nothing beats seeing a yarn come up the color you were hoping for. I wanted "CHARTREUSE" and that's what I got:

I'm about 22 pattern repeats into what is supposed to be a 62-pattern-repeat shawl, and there is a cloud on my horizon: Word out on the street is that this shawl is a "yarn hog" and silly me only dyed 700 yards (what the pattern called for). In other words: There is no getting more of this yarn! (Picture knitter hitting her forehead repeatedly with a tailor's ham. It was handy.)

One thing that makes this situation less nerve-wracking is my handy, dandy electronic scale. I don't know what I ever did without one. I can weigh my stole-in progress, see how many grams of yarn I've used:

• 15 grams for 23 repeats (I weigh the other needle & same # of stitch markers, so I can subtract that number from the working stole weight.)


• from this information calculate that there is approximately .652 grams of yarn in each of my pattern repeats, and
  
• multiply out .652 grams times total # of repeats (62) = 40.424 grams.

SO, based on this info, I should have enough yarn, since I have 75 grams and 35 grams (75 minus 40) should be plenty for the border.

Unfortunately, I was an English major and I never trust my math (you probably shouldn't either). Still, I will probably keep weighing my shawl-in-progress -- every 5 repeats or so -- to see if that .652 grams per repeat is holding true. Also (I'm not joking about this), run my calculations past my 16-year-old son, because I can trust his math.

So maybe I'll be okay. If not, 52 pattern repeats should be plenty.

Also, here are a couple of detail photos of the "Cathedral Window" lace pattern I used on the lambspun shawl. The pattern stitch can be found in The Knitter's Bible; If anyone wants more information on how I made my shawl just let me know. I'd be glad to write down my pattern -- it's super-simple.

Fear of Frogs

I was digging through my sundry pile of wayward knit goods today, looking for inspiration. *Sigh* What I found instead was this little number (modelled by Mitzy): . . .which doesn't look so bad until you get to the incriminating close-ups. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here is your perp walk:

*The knitting police

Are coming my way ...

They're gonna take away my double points ...

Gonna sell them on e-bay...

*(Sung to the tune of "Bad to the Bone" by

George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers)

So here's the back story: About 5 years ago I wanted to make something really special for my friend Eileen's 60th birthday. (I know! A shawl!! ) No matter that I had never knit a shawl before, or that Eileen's birthday was in --oh -- 3 weeks. I ordered a lovely skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace (50/50 wool silk) and started the pattern printed on the ball band.

From the get-go, this project was a cuss fest. Compared to what I was used to knitting, the yarn was puny, the needles were a matched set of hat pins, and the pattern . . . well, the pattern assumed I had a clue, which I did not. My motto for this project was "Just keep going!" (Wasn't that the last line in "Thelma & Louise" -- like right before they went over the cliff?) I had heard that many errors "came out in the wash" when you were knitting lace, and I was really, really depending on this little truism to save my bacon.

Alas, there is not enough "wash" in the world to erase this shawl's iniquities. I did not finish it in time for Eileen's party (finally gave up and made her a quilt,), and when I did finish it I didn't know what to do with it. It's not that Eileen would have even seen the mistakes -- she's one of the nicest ladies I've ever met, and would have worn the mangled thing with pride. Isn't that the way it goes, though -- the very friends who don't mind substandard knit goods are the people you want to give perfection! (Or as close to perfection as you can muster.)

So, I think I should frog it, wash it, and try again. It has been 5 freaking years, after all. I even thought about knitting another MS3 with this yarn, but I don't think its variegated colors would suit the pattern.

Yep, that is what I need to do. Frog it. But somehow I never get around to it. One of these nights I need to sit down with this wanna-be shawl, a glass of wine and a pair of scissors. Or maybe a bottle of Jim Beam and a machete.

The Sopranos and Clue #2 Don't Mix Well

I've decided I just can't watch The Sopranos while working on MS3. Which is a dagger in my heart, in its puny little way, as watching The Sopranos while knitting is one of my hallowed calorie-free middle-aged pleasures. But I put in the dvd, started working on Clue #2, and almost immediately was in a world of hurting. I have to accept the fact:MS3, for me, requires both eyes full time. No quick glances to see if Tony and Carmella are getting back together.

So I switched over to Court TV (which normally, for me, does not require peeking), and tinked back to row 100. It took me most of the day, knitting at half the speed of smell to complete clue #2. There are at least 2 errors, but Brad Pitt with a rose between his teeth could not convince me to tear out the 30 rows I'd need to frog to fix them. Here it is:

Yeash, I am such a wimp, whining about my traumatic knit session. Next week maybe I'll try something sane and do 20 rows on Friday, 20 rows on Saturday, and 10 on Sunday. Maybe I'll put on NPR and sit on the front porch and drink lemonade and sing hymns. Right.

On another front, here is the Lambspun stole, blocked. It is loo-oo-oong, measuring about 21" by 81". As usual, I probably over-blocked it a wee bit. I will try to add another picture which shows better pattern detail -- these just show how incredibly loo--oo--oong and gold this monster is.

For now, I am craving mindless bimbo knitting. Also known as Sopranos Knitting. I'll let you if any of the odd balls in my stash makes me an offer I can't refuse.