it started simple enough. just chatting with a friend about fabrics and sewing.then it turned into a little obsession between us.

I kept dreaming about fabrics and quilts. nevermind that I've never made a quilt and haven't sewn in years. nevermind that I didn't even have a sewing machine in my possesion. I needed to quilt.

constantly being teased on flickr didn't help matters.

of course all I've been doing this week has been looking at fabrics online, ordering fabrics online, buying fabric locally, and asking for a sewing machine as a present. answering emails? yeah umm no.

I found a pattern that I figured would be easy enough to practice and small enough for instant gratification. we'll see about that!

there's still knitting around here though! I started a baktus scarf this week after so many enablers commented about it on a previous post. koigu + garter stitch = heaven.

Posted by bitter purl at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)

since I have nothing on the needles right now (let's blame wrist pain, in-laws, and indecision), I thought it would be a good time to backtrack and talk about one of my sweater fails.

pattern: minimalist cardigan
yarn: louet riverstone worsted, charcoal, 7 hanks
needles: 4.5mm
date started: 12.03.08
date finished: 12.08 and 02.09

where do we even start with this one? this is yet another yarn that didn't work for the ram's horn jacket and you've already seen it as the hap blanket. I saw Isel started the minimalist cardi with the same yarn, so instead of letting the yarn languish in the stash I blindly jumped in to this massive bandwagon. can we blame Isel?

it all started pretty smoothly - got gauge, knit the mind numbing moss stitch, and complained all about it on twitter. the knitting went by quickly, enough for me to think I would wear this by christmas. I did notice that the sweater pieces grew, by a lot, when I blocked them, but then I imagined them shrinking back. you can guess where this is going right? after I finally seamed the pieces and tried it on, I realized I had knit this thing with about five inches of ease too much. I quickly ripped the sleeves out (which looked awful) and let the sweater sit, ignored, for months.

it doesn't matter that I reknit the sleeves from another size. this sweater was pretty much dead to me since the first time I finished it. I finished it to finish it. To get it off my desk and off my to do list. if I would have cared, I would have reknit the body as well or just knit something else entirely.

lessons learned here? don't knit something just to use up the yarn, pick a design you love, check and recheck your gauge, make sure it matches the one in the pattern!, and if you don't love the end result rip it. a plus side to this is that at least I now have an oversized sweater to offer guests when they're cold.

Posted by bitter purl at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)

which is probably something I've written on this blog, one way or another, a million times. but really, it takes me a long time to make decisions. once I do though I go full force with it. let's take my next project as an example.

I've been carrying this little doodle around for two or three years now and didn't finally swatch it until last summer. looking at my files I can see I typed out a rough pattern in july, so what has been the hold up? I did drag the yarn up with me during christmas, but just didn't get around to it. I finally whipped this swatch out again last month just for me to question the gauge I was going for. maybe it's the brat in me that wants this now!now!now! or I just love to second guess myself. maybe I just have commitment issues.

anywho, I originally swatched this on 3.25 mm needles, which are the needles stated on the pear tree merino 4ply label. I really like how delicate the little scales look, but worried if I would be able to wear this sweater this season. veronique, in all her genius, suggested swatching with bigger (faster!) needles. wha? why would I do that?! ohhhh.

I ended up swatching with 4.5 and 5.5mm needles and was surprised that the fabric didn't look too airy which was a worry of mine. it would definitely be a lot faster (pro), but I'm losing the little scales (con). is the texture as interesting with the larger needles? I think I decided that I'm going to go with the 5.5mm, though I'm already talking myself out of it. I just have to rewrite the pattern for the new gauge tonight and maybe I'll actually cast on for this sweater this weekend.

Posted by bitter purl at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

the colors stayed true and are as vibrant as ever.

I guess I had nothing to worry about, it was just excess dye washing off. nothing faded and nothing was stained.

pattern: frostberries scarf
yarn: liz's awesome dye job (I think the base is kona superwash)
needles: 4mm
date started: 03.27.09
date finished: 04.05.09

this scarf went a lot faster than I expected. I guess you could say I was a little obsessed. I pretty much just worked on it during all my free time this weekend. in the end it turned out to be 42" W x 25" D with 10.5 repeats, not bad for just 85 grams of yarn. the pattern was pretty simple to follow, though in the middle of it I wish I had increased differently for a wider, shallower scarf. it doesn't really matter, I still adore it and I know it'll get a lot of wear this spring. it's so easy to just throw on and go. it's warm but not heavy and the little bits of lace and some interest to an otherwise minimal scarf.

in a totally random note:
I guess dobby thought he needed more blog time since he kept jumping up while I was taking my pictures.

Posted by bitter purl at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)

it's grey and wet outside, so dobby and I are just hanging out inside today. his idea of hanging out though involves mostly sleeping. at least that gives me time to wash and block the scarf. I used just about every little inch of that yarn, which led to a lot of breath holding while binding off. it's soaking right now and I'll admit I'm a little worried. the water is pretty dark. ok, it's basically black. I have my fingers crossed that the color won't fade or that the little bright spots won't stain. let's just enjoy this little photo for posterity's sake.

Posted by bitter purl at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

apparently I'm on a quest to have the largest triangle-scarf stash in knitterville or something. that would explain why I have yet another fingering weight kerchief, frostberries, on the needles.

I've been plugging away at it since last week after binding off my springtime bandit scarf. since these pictures were taken, I've knit a total of eight repeats and still have over 30 grams of yarn left. I still have a ways to go obviously.

what I really wanted to show you was this yarn. it's been sitting in my stash for almost three years, which is just sad. I'm such a hoarder when it comes to sock yarn, the prettier it is the less I want to knit with it. it's almost like people who collect toys and never open the box. I've decided that it was time to rip open all the boxes in my stash and just let it loose. I didn't want to hide this yarn away in my shoes, so a scarf it was.

I was lucky enough to get this gift from liz. ages ago. if I remember correctly, she was testing out different ways of dyeing yarn while getting ready for a swap. this was supposedly a "dud" with "muddy colors"! I don't know how she could think that as I'm completely in love with this yarn. the variegation in this yarn is absolutely perfect, the colors slowly merge from browns, to purples, to greens, to small pops of blues in such an organic way. there isn't any obvious pooling and I wouldn't change the way the colors fell in any way. in short, this is true variegation and it's what I've been looking for, what feels like, ages. I don't think these photos do it justice, but hopefully I can get even better ones when I'm done with the scarf.

the only thing I'm sorry about? waiting three years to wind this up.

Posted by bitter purl at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

pattern: springtime bandit
yarn: romney ridge farm yarn
needles: 5.5mm
date started: 03.14.09
date finished: 03.27.09

I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that my blogging has changed from knits in progress to just fo's posts. I'll try to change that, I promise. lately I've gotten so focused on what I'm knitting that my project becomes a little cocoon and I just forget about the online world for a while. this happened a little longer than expected with the springtime bandit scarf, a combination of taxes and a never ending chart are to blame.

I've been trying to only knit from my stash, so this yarn may look familiar since I've already used it for a hat and for the hap blanket. I didn't have enough left for a sweater, so an accessory was in order. since I loved my ishbel scarf so much I thought another triangle scarf would be the ticket. I'm still not sure if this was the best idea, this yarn isn't exactly "soft", even after washing it, and it doesn't really scream spring. I still love the color with its slight variegation and I can always wear this come fall or winter for a pop of color. I'll admit that it did come in handy in the early morning when I didn't feel like wearing a coat.

I pretty much followed the pattern as written, but mine came out a little larger than intended. do I call it a small shawl or a large scarf? it's only two inches deeper than the schematic but it feels huge. again, I just think I chose the wrong yarn for this. that and my row gauge was off. using a worsted weight yarn, I expected this scarf to go a lot faster but that edge chart seemed to go on and on and on. I don't remember how many times I just had to take a break from it and wished it was over. in the end though it was worth it, I have a super cozy wrap I can wear in those really cool mornings or late at night.

Posted by bitter purl at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)