tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130528762024-03-13T04:40:56.663+01:00alalarope. tree. fan. spear. snake. wall.alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08504045003702100248noreply@blogger.comBlogger584125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-40918034849916550792019-03-05T23:21:00.002+01:002019-03-05T23:21:25.277+01:00Sweater-grading math: fun? Or crazy-making?How about some numbers? So I looked up the standard measurements for German baby clothing sizes and multiplied those chest measurements by my gauge (2.8sts/cm, if you must know) and got... some odd results. Frex, size 80 (10-12 months) and size 86 (13-18 months) came out pretty much the same, so I have all these little two-month ranges and then suddenly this sweater will fit your infant for alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-5298841706747343882019-02-27T22:00:00.000+01:002019-02-27T22:03:01.882+01:00Grading the Lucky Baby LopapeysaThe other night I went down a rabbit hole of sweater-grading math, and now I have a bunch of columns of mysterious numbers. There was some serious figgery-pokery going on (that's like jiggery-pokery, only with numbers): this is the math I would have to do to get the numbers I already have, so if I apply that math to these other numbers, hey presto! A knitting pattern that may or may not work, in alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-50867860787608076022019-02-24T14:02:00.001+01:002019-02-24T14:04:31.689+01:00Oh right, this exists.
It's less contrasty
in real life
I seriously had no idea it had been that long since my last blog post.
So the WeatherCAL that Arja invited me to! Is making progress! I do fall behind occasionally, but I'm all caught up now. I've made a few changes to the color scheme – that jump from yellow to pink was just too abrupt, so I went in search of an orange. That is not the fashion color this alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-53561360874053339632018-12-31T10:37:00.000+01:002018-12-31T10:39:34.845+01:00Happy Almost 2019!At the behest... well, no, request... actually, more like a suggestion - of my awesome friend Arja, I am going to crochet one teeny granny square per day next year, and sew them all into a teeny blanket and then... oh, probably give it to some baby somewhere. Anybody having a baby in 2019? Arja will too! Crochet a weather blanket, I mean, not have a baby. Only it's hexagons, not squares. And I alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-22531391974070679812018-12-08T22:51:00.002+01:002018-12-31T09:53:17.725+01:00The Lucky Baby Lopapeysa basic patternSo here it is all in one post, and each subheading links to the post that describes the steps in more detail, but for an advanced knitter, this should cover the most important points. If it does not, please let me know, and I will amend accordingly.
Materials
About 1/3 of a skein of Aldi or Regia 4-ply self-striping superwash sock yarn
Most of a skein of Aldi or Regia 4-ply superwash sock wool alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-92006988493863276232018-10-26T21:50:00.001+02:002018-10-26T21:50:43.308+02:00Step 5: The bodyThe body is actually the simplest part. As you may recall from Step 3,
Finish the left sleeve, cut the yarn, and then start at the base of the left sleeve and work the back stitches to the center-back marker. That was round 33.
As you cross the center-back marker you begin round 34. Knit to the right sleeve and pick up five stitches in the base of the gusset stitches you created for the sleeve. alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-10651970694509253982018-10-15T20:44:00.000+02:002018-10-26T23:30:30.540+02:00Step 4: The sleevesArgh, I keep forgetting to take pictures! Why does it get dark so fast?
So in the previous entry. we put the front, back, and left sleeve stitches on a holder and now we have 45 stitches on the needle. Now we start a 5-stitch gusset. I generally place a stitch marker before the last sleeve stitch (on the right needle) and after the first sleeve stitch (on the left needle), so that with the alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-75383909103498562612018-10-14T20:37:00.002+02:002018-10-26T19:53:09.913+02:00Step 3: Dividing the body and sleevesMore stalling, because, hm, well. There is more than one way to do this, and I'm not sure how much nerdy detail to go into.
Ever so basically, somewhere between round 28 (the last increase round) and round 32 (the last round of the yoke), move the markers to mark off a back and front of 55 stitches each, and two sleeves of 45 stitches each. The center-back marker should remain at the center of alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-63282326968596502122018-10-04T21:33:00.000+02:002018-10-08T17:02:30.082+02:00Step 2: the yokeOops, don't have a picture for today's entry. I'll try to remember to add one tomorrow.
So we've knit round 1 in the self-striping yarn, and re-set our row counter to 1, if we're using one. In round 2, insert the stitch markers, dividing our 80 stitches into 8 sets of 10. I put the row counter in the center back, because that's where I change colors, start increase sequences, etc; for the centeralalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-67296246980948050072018-10-02T21:05:00.001+02:002018-10-02T21:05:39.561+02:00YES, I am stallingThe next bit includes increases and short-rows! Can you blame me?
Here's another sweater pic to tide you over. I'll try to use the holiday tomorrow to tackle the yoke pattern.
alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-42507095306116847822018-09-15T20:42:00.002+02:002018-09-15T20:42:52.664+02:00Step 1: The ribbed neckbandWe want a fairly close-fitting neckline for warmth, but it needs a lot of stretch to accommodate that big baby head. I don't remember where I learned this method (Maggie Righetti?) or what it's called, but you basically work twice the height you want your neckband to be, and then fold it over and knit the top stitches together with the bottom stitches. No idea what this cast-on is called, so I alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-58872956398453454092018-09-14T20:05:00.001+02:002018-12-08T15:47:31.677+01:00Basic constructionLet's start with a basic overview. The sweater starts with a folded-over neck ribbing for maximum snuggliness and stretchiness. The whole thing is knitted in the round with no seams. There are short rows in rounds 3, 7, & 11, and four increase rounds, in rounds 4, 12, 20, and 28. Then you separate the sleeves from the body, add some underarm gussets, and then decrease them out. You finish alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-88641282914086262262018-09-12T20:00:00.000+02:002018-09-12T20:00:31.047+02:00I'M BACK! Didja miss me?Okay hi yeah, there was a teensy hiatus there. I got a little sidetracked by graduate school. Yes indeed, I am going for my M.A. in English Linguistics with a side of Transcultural Studies, and it's going about as well as you can expect for someone as distractible as I am. Suddenly everything is a squirrel. A shiny one.
Because of grad school, I'm not designing, not taking on any challenging alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-65686717680663502392014-09-30T14:44:00.005+02:002014-09-30T14:44:59.031+02:00the pictures are the problemSo I STILL haven't blocked the two sweaters I'd finished as of my last entry. Since then I've finished another one and made significant progress on the Giant Clam featherweight, a hat I keep starting and then frogging, that cool cobalt-colored leafy-lace silk scarf I started, and the adding of sleeves to a cami that I test-knitted for Adri, who has a new baby and is still better at blogging than alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-10217665295482306792014-06-01T09:43:00.000+02:002014-06-01T09:43:21.737+02:00progress on variousRight! So May was reasonably productive, I think. Aliénor is cast off and end-tucked, but not yet washed or blocked, and I need to figure out who the best person is to help me photograph it. Also still need to finish writing the pattern and get test-knitters, but - ulp - that means letting other people see the pattern and - ack - possibly CRITICIZE it, oh noes! This is not a thing at which I alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-46632572319435154942014-04-26T17:40:00.000+02:002014-04-26T17:41:18.723+02:00First German Wollfest in a whileSo one of the Heidelberg knitters posted that she was driving to the Backnanger Wollfest on Friday the 25th and did anyone want to ride along, and I said oo! me! so that's what I did yesterday.
The location was the local Waldorf school and hoo boy, I'm a little skeptical about the Waldorf method, but if we'd had this available, I'd've sent my kids there, because LOOK!
Coolest school I've alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-19207816501194921832014-04-20T23:19:00.000+02:002014-04-20T23:19:01.461+02:00a possible step forwardI'm going to the Backnanger Wollfest next Friday, where I will be taking a "Photograph Your Knitting" workshop! Maybe that'll help me blog. I am not finding a good surface for taking pictures, my camera does not love me, and there is probably good light, but it's on the other side of some pretty filthy windows. I'm thinking of buying this dress form from eBay. I daydream about getting a better alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-26954853618193264492014-02-02T21:28:00.000+01:002014-02-02T21:28:43.490+01:00One more tiny sweater
Here is the last of the 4 tiny sweaters I made to test the update of my 5-Hour Baby Sweater pattern (almost done, I promise!) and also for my friend Ann's new babies. They've been done a week (the sweaters, that is. Not the babies), and I still haven't mailed them out. I did gain a new job this past week, and lose a cat (*snif*sob*) so I've been a little busy. Mostly moping. I really loved thatalalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-85794656758657953642014-01-25T20:28:00.001+01:002014-01-25T20:30:29.792+01:00oops more sock yarn fell into my shopping cartHm, so looking over my previous post I see that I did not tell you to stop me from buying more sock yarn at Aldi. That was a serious oversight on my part, because I am sure you would've come through for me if I'd asked. But I didn't, so you didn't, and this happened:
Uh-oh.
alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-78283104001676793942014-01-16T22:50:00.000+01:002014-01-16T22:50:14.118+01:00tiny sweater update
Size newborn1, worsted weight
Size newborn2, worsted weight
Size newborn2, fingering weight
Four sweaters knitted, three photographed, none washed or blocked yet. I'll try to get that all done this weekend so I can mail them to their new little owners on Monday.
I wrote out the pattern for four yarn weights and six sizes, and sent it to Arja(aaa), who invited, oh, 27 of her closest alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-72639866486493293942014-01-04T00:30:00.003+01:002014-01-04T00:31:24.326+01:00Oh! Right! Pictures!... of socks, yay. For the record, I took the pictures when I said I would, and edited them and uploaded them to Ravelry, I just forgot to put them here. So here they are: six pairs of socks, received with various degrees of enthusiasm.
For the Sniglet
For Ignaz
For me!
Man, I have got to get a better camera...alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-84244982691856625512014-01-01T17:52:00.002+01:002014-01-01T17:52:57.702+01:00from socks to sweatersAgain I am not posting because there aren't enough pictures - yes, I know: stupid. So here is my New Year's Resolution vis à vis this knitting blog: I will certainly try to post more often, because I actually do use this blog for documentation. Sometimes.
BUT ANYWAY. I bet you were wondering what it would take to break my sock obsession, and it happened about a week after my last post: a friendalalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-21427182234686915582013-11-16T11:51:00.002+01:002013-11-16T11:51:51.787+01:00I got a picture !!11one!
As you can see, some of the socks are inside out. Yeah. That's because I had to tuck in the ends but I haven't snipped them yet because you're supposed to do that after you wash them, so I decided to wash them inside-out, then snip them, then right them. To save myself some trouble. Because turning socks inside-out is so hard.
It is just now occurring to me (not for the first time) that I mayalalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-65588667906085598292013-11-16T00:57:00.002+01:002013-11-16T00:57:26.643+01:00the problem is getting the picturesLiterally. That's the actual reason why I haven't blogged in nearly four weeks. Because night is when I think "ooo - I should blog, oh but I can't because I don't have pictures" but I can't take pictures of my knitting at night because my camera is kinda crappy and learning teh mad photography skillz will take up valuable knitting time. Maybe writing this will remind me to take the dratted alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13052876.post-37308784307872224112013-10-22T22:46:00.001+02:002013-10-22T22:48:47.694+02:00sock obsession, probably temporaryThree weeks? Wow, it seems like I would've gotten more done in that time, since I've been neglecting every other project, even The Fat Squirrel's Squirrel It Away Knitalong which was SUCH a great idea and I signed onto it with immense enthusiasm, only to drop it like a hot rock when the grocery store stocked some cheap yarn. I am... a unique and special snowflake, I suppose, as long as you alalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04450793988732051407noreply@blogger.com4