Wry Punster

Tweed-a-licious

Dear Glenna,

 After you so publicly handed me my arse, I got down and dirty with the Rhinebeck knitting.  I mean, it's no Autumn Rose that I've got here, but we might call this an "ornately cabled sweater, the likes of which I've never knit and loved before."  Oh, all right, I suppose you'd like to know that it's a Portland sweater, from the Lisa Lloyd book, A Fine Fleece.  An excellent book, you know; you did knit a Halcyon.

This sweater is a gorgeous thing and I love it in ways that are probably unhealthy.  I had to shrink it down, both in gauge and actual stitch count, as I am much smaller than the smallest size of the pattern.  I changed the sleeves and the finishing, the collar and the shaping, but we can all agree, this is an aran with sass.

Oh, and I knit an Ishbel, too.  Three skeins of Felted Tweed, size 5s, small stockinette and large lace.  Wham, bam, shawl-tastic.

So, Glenna, when we squee our way towards each other at Rhinebeck, with a zeal borne of wool fumes and transnational comraderie, I'll be the one in the cable knit!

Yours in Alpaca,

Elspeth

A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a knitter with a blog.  She loved her blog, but sometimes she forgot about it for so long that people emailed her to ask if she weren't posting because she was sick/dead/trapped under something heavy.  "Oh, no!" she said, "I'll post this week."  After three weeks of "Yes, I'll update!" she decided to get busy.  But then she forgot.  Finally, she got an email last night asking if she had been trapped in one of the many accidents on the DC metro and decided it was time to re-enter the world.

So what have I been up to?  I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool with three of my best girls: Ann, Sara and Beth.  We bought yarn.  We ate ribbon chips.  We attempted to kidnap adorable children.

But before we went to Maryland Sheep and Wool, Sara, Ann and I did a little knitting. 

When Ann and I visited Sara this Spring, Ann hatched a plan of unmatched brilliance: knit a Hanami for someone; someone else knits a Hanami for you!  Ann knit me an amazingly gorgeous wrap with over 3,000 beads (oh yes, you read that properly.  I am not worthy!) and I knit Sara a shawl with Dream In Color Starry, in the color Nightwatch!

Can you stand it?  It was approximately the most fun ever.  More deets are available on Ravelry but the basic round up: I knit a twelve foot shawl in a week (yes, I slept.  no, I couldn't put it down) on US 8s and used about 875 yards of sock fingering weight yarn.

Since the Great Hanami Along of Aught Nine, I knocked out a sweater for me and a shawl for Punsir's Mother.  Oh, and another sweater for me, but I don't have pictures of that because it's an aran and zomg, it's a million degrees right now. 

The sweater for me with pictures is a Punster original, inspired by the Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang.  I took the cable detail directly from the pattern, altering it only to be seamless and uninterupted.  Unfortunately, I can't send you the chart but I can talk you through what I did privately if you can email me the cast on directions for all the sizes.  If you insist that I send you the chart because you just don't want to buy the excellent Ms. Jang's work, I'll be very grumpy.  (Sorry.  Sore subject.)

The shawl for Punsir's Mother is part of the collection I'm doing for the wedding.  Every bridesmaid is getting a handknit shawl in laceweight silk, which really did seem like less of an undertaking when I started.  Punsir's Mother's shawl is knit from yarn that I bought at this year's Maryland Sheep and Wool, in a handyed base of cashmere, wool and silk.  I'd link to it, but the shop insists it doesn't exist, so boo on them.

It's a Swallowtail Shawl (I know you're shocked, it's what, number five of the ones I've knit?) with the nupps replacing the beads.  I hope she enjoys it; I know she's making her dress for the wedding match it, so that's a lot of fun.

Currently on my needles is another sweater for me, a modified version of Salina from Vintage Knits, in some stash cormo from Rhinebeck 2007, a shawl for a bridesmaid, and a shawl for a friend getting married at the end of August.  Looks like there'll be a lot of lace on this blog soon!

SHEEEEPS!

Hello, friends!

Instead of my usual "Hey, lookie, sweater!" style post, this is a quick one about this weekend: Maryland Sheep and Wool.

MDSW is my local wool festival (hee hee!) and of course, I will be there.  Here's what you should do if you think you see your friendly Punster:

1. Is the woman much shorter than you thought?

2. Is the woman carrying an enormous purse, crammed with string?

3. Is the woman making a terrible joke?

If so, it's probably me!

If you see either of these peeps, I'm probably not far away.   Please come say hello.  I know lots of people are planning to be there, so please let me know in the comments.  I want to say, "Hi!"

Martha, Martha, Martha!

Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with Rowan.  The sweaters are so beautiful but the patterns are often so, so terrible.  And oddly sized.  And strangely styled.  And so very British.  (I guess that's a perk, depending on your viewpoint.  I am an anglophile!)  With some distance from my original impressions, I can suddenly fall in love with a pattern that I overlooked before. 

It's been that way with Rowan 37.  I bought it when it first came out to knit Butterfly (that took eighteen months since I was so timid but was so satisfying!) and then put it on the shelf.  Fast forward four years and I fell in love with Shanti's delicate version of Martha.  Turns out, just about everyone at my LYS has knit a version of Martha and they were right: this sweater is really sweet.

Add a long bus trip to the mix, sprinkle some beads and shazaam!  New sweater!

This Martha is knit from This and That Cormo, purchased at this past year's Rhinebeck.  I used about 2,000 beads for the sweater, knitting a combination of sizes (gauge?  what's that?) for a finished bust of 36 inches.  If I had to do over again, I would make the sleeves much, much narrower since I think they date the sweater.  As it is, I can't decide if Martha is adorably 40s or tragically 80s.  Depending on the crowd's opinion, I might rip and redo. 

My gauge is seriously wonky, as per usual.  I knit on US 00s and 1s for a gauge of 22 stitches and 28 rows to four inches (read: way bigger than the pattern's).  I added several inches of length to both the body and the sleeves and modified the button bands, using the pick up method for more stability. 

There's not much I can say about this sweater: it's a surprisingly simple and quick knit, even at a fine gauge.  The waist shaping is minimal, so it does look best with a belt (I'm wearing a 60s belt of my mother's in the pictures) but you could easily add a more defined waist if you were interested.  For my part, I wanted to maintain the body skimming line, since I think the original styling makes the sweater look slightly tarty; it's perhaps too small for the model.  I have the opposite problem- I think mine might be a little big.  I'm going to wear it around a little, since the finished object isn't what I was expecting.  I was going for more a sweater girl silhouette and wound up with something a little more Dynasty than I had intended.  Or did I?  I can't really tell!

In any case, I'm pleased with Martha.  It was the most fun I've had knitting in a very long time.  I couldn't put her down and finished her in about three weeks, even with some other small projects in between.  After being in a bit of a knitting funk this winter, I fell hard for Martha and got in deeper with my newest project, Hanami.  I started it last week but oops!  I'm more than two thirds done.  Stunning the progress I make when I actually, you know, knit!

Solidly Spring

Thank you, everyone, for the wonderfully warm wishes.  Punsir and I have read and appreciated every comment and very much look forward to this new chapter of our lives.  Punsir also wants to know when I will fix his sweater!  I told him since it was Spring I definitely had until next winter.  Don't you agree?  I've also offered to make him the garment of his choosing as an engagement gift, but wanted to present him with options.  Thus far, I'm really loving Dr. G's Memory Vest but am definitely open to ideas.  Punsir thinks it would be fun to do a shetland, colorwork vest, but we're still investigating.  Things I want to avoid: sleeves for a man over six feet tall.

And returning to the blog's original purpose, guess what?  A new sweater!   Since signing up for the Knit Twelve Sweaters in 2009, I've been plotting and planning every new knit with an eye on the prize.  This cardigan is number four, and I'm on the second sleeve of number five, so another blog post should be coming shortly.  It's been great fun to knit along with so many talented people and see the wonderful finished objects.  Great motivation for maintaining project monogamy.

This newest sweater is the Minimalist Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007.  I knit the smallest size at a gauge of 18 stitches and 28 rows over four inches for a finished bust size of 37 inches.  The pattern is very simple, but a little quick and dirty for my tastes, especially with Interweave's reputation.

For me, the key to a successful verzion of this sweater is a yarn with great drape.  I used Sliver Moon Farm's Silk and Seacell from my stash- an apparently imaginary yarn that isn't in Ravelry or the Sliver Moon website.  I purchased it at their Rhinebeck booth in 2007 after correcting the price (it had inadvertently been marked about $15 cheaper a ball.  Ah, well!).  I had 2060 yards of fingering weight and held it doubled, meaning that I "actually" used 1030 yards.  And use that yarn I did; I had less than an inch of yarn left.  Cutting it a little close, eh?

I added length to the body (about two inches) and sleeves (about four) for a slightly dressier cardigan than the original design.  The cropped silhouette of the original is charming for someone with a longer waist, but I am more leg than waist so I wanted to balance my height with a cardigan that came to my hip.  Also, I hate cropped clothes.

As written, the cardigan is completely unshaped, so I wanted a size that would move around the body, without being clingy.  This isn't a time for negative ease, if you get my meaning.  The sleeves are a touch longer than I had intended for a Spring sweater, but I think the sweater is better served by full length sleeves than the three quarters in the original.

This isn't the best fitting sweater I've ever knit, because the shape is definitely on the shapeless end of things.  A little more Eileen Fisher than I usually go, but a versatile and interesting addition to my wardrobe.  It's going to get a lot of use as a work piece, tossed over all the dresses I buy thinking that I won't freeze with bare arms. 

And now, back outside to enjoy the nice weather.  It's so pretty!

Two-Fer

 I suppose the advantage to saving the blog fodder is that my internal editor has a better time processing work that's been in the queue for a month.  With some distance, I can better reflect on my projects and offer some feedback to the lovely readers who flooded my inbox with their comments and insights.  Thanks, peeps.  This blog ain't going no place except the Land of Knitting, so fear not!

And speaking of knitting, I made a shawl! 

Many of you are familiar with the Icarus Shawl by Miriam Felton from the Spring 2006 Interweave Knits.  I believe it was also featured in the Best Of book?  It's a lovely pattern, with some small issues, but I can really understand its popularity. 

The majority of the shawl is so simple I wouldn't even call it lace!  I watched about three seasons of The Wire and went to town.  For me, the key to enjoying all those tiny stitches was a scrumptious yarn.  I used Schaefer Andrea, a cobweb weight pure silk in Georgia O'Keefe.  The yarn has spectacular drape but I wouldn't recommend it for a beginning lace knitter: very slippery!

The edging really makes the shawl and while the edging is beautiful and the body is beautiful, the transition is a little rough.  So often, lace is a technical marvel and one I don't pretend to understand.  That said, a little tweaking would benefit the last few rows enormously.  Also, not running out of yarn is good.

You'll probably have enough yarn if you don't inadvertantly knit a horse blanket, by the way.  This Icarus is over 100 inches wide and 50 inches deep.  Ostensibly, this is a gift for my brother's fiance, but she is a good six inches shorter than me so ...mine now!  I wore it work yesterday like a cowl; that silk really does compress.

In the end, I used 1093 yards of the Andrea and about ten yards of MadelineTosh Pure Silk Lace in Sea Anemone.  I omitted the last rows of the pattern (the ones after the last chart) and did a modified Russian bind off.   I knit on 2s and while my swatch had the correct gauge, the finished project is about twice the size of the pattern.  Unsurprisingly, I needed more yarn.

This shawl will likely by the first of many to parade on the blog.  There's some serious lace knitting in my future and while it makes terrible in progress pictures (like I even slow down enough to take those, ha!) the finished results are always so lovely.  As a side note, I really must invest in a better blocking surface.  Our double bed isn't big enough for some of the projects I'm planning.

Oh, one other thing.  Punsir asked me to marry him.  I said yes.  I guess I'll knit some stuff for that.

Let's Talk Sweaters And Real Life And ZOMG, Everything

This poor blog, Punsters.  What has happened to it?  So much of my internet energy is going to Flickr and Ravelry that it's time to redefine what WryPunster is.  Originally, WryPunster was conceived as a knitting blog, with only brief forays into other aspects of my life, such as cooking, travel and major changes.  Now that a big project reveal happens on Ravelry before it appears on the blog, sometimes weeks before!, WryPunster has been neglected.  Taking WryPunster down has never been an option, since it documents so much of my life, but I think WryPunster's domain is going to expand to include what I'm doing outside of knitting.  I hope you still find it interesting, though perhaps it's only PunDad who pops by here to see if I've posted!

Having announced that this blog is no longer just about knitting, let's talk about knitting.  And more specifically, sweaters.  You're shocked, right? I've knit some sweaters!  Who'd thunkit?

Sweater First is a simple, Spring cardigan knit to spec and without any real design. The yarn was a destashing gift from the ever-delightful 4-Ply Katie.  Katie also supplied the yarn for my most recent Hourglass and the blanket I made for Punsir's parents; what a great destash! 

This Spring cardi was knit from 7.5 balls of Rowan Wool Cotton in Tender, or about 950 yards.  It's very simple and went wickedly fast on US 3s and 5, all stockinette with a button band and basic silver buttons.  Since I finished it a few months ago, it's seen a good deal of wear, though the yarn has pilled somewhat under the arms.  All in all, I'm very pleased with how wearable this sweater is and hope to get a lot of use of it. 

This sweater, incidentally, is all part of my Work Clothes 09 spree, wherein I am desperately attempting to pad out my graduate student wardrobe with appropriately tailored pieces that can be worn with flats.  I have a closet full of great dresses and suits, but they look silly with the kind of shoes I wear to work now and since I stand for up to eight hours a day, my sky high heels don't see nearly as much action.  With comfort being ever our watch word, I'm trying to supplement my favorite slacks and blouses with sweet cardigans and lots of knitwear. 

Sweater Second has been even more of a success than Sweater First.  Knit from seven skeins or about 1337 yards of Rowan Felted Tweed in Rage from the pattern Espresso in A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd, this sweater has changed how I feel about cardigans and the color red.  I've worn it constantly since I finished it and love it even more than day one.  It's perfect!

I added an inch or so to the body and sleeves, changed the collar and omitted the reverse stockinette from the sleeves.  Otherwise, the pattern was thoughtful and fun to follow, if a little unclear.  The collar was especially difficult to understand, but if you've ever knit a sweater before, you'll have an easy time solving the issue. The sizing of the pattern is a little unusual: the smallest size is quite a bit larger than the usual "small" these days, but the book is geared towards a different silhouette than has been popular of late.   

Speaking of the book, it's beautiful.  Lisa Lloyd has largely designed for yarn companies like Harrisville, and her Starmore like aesthetic beautifully matches the wooly, tweedy sensibilities of yarns for whom softness is not the top priority.  By no means is Lloyd new to the knitting scene, but if you've been itching for an intricate, cable driven knitting fix, A Fine Fleece is a book for you!  Knitting to Stay Sane's Glenna offers a great review of this under appreciated book, so I hope you'll visit your LYS for a looksee and a squee.

These two sweaters have been such wonderful additions to my wardrobe that I've really gone on a cardigan kick!  Currently drying is a Minimalist Cardigan knit from a beautiful, hand dyed yarn purchased two Rhinebecks ago.  For anyone still with me, that makes four cardigans in a row this year, all part of the Knit Twelve Sweaters in a year challenge.  I've also polished off the beautifully beaded back of Martha, knit in fingering weight Cormo from last year's Rhinebeck.  In addition to falling head over teakettle for cardigans, everything has been knit on smaller needles, from Martha, which is crusing along on US 1s, to Espresso, on US3s.  Delightful!

Lastly, lest you think I only make sweaters (which, I guess is mostly true) I've also knit and designed a cowl for the winner of Carrieoke's recent Literacy Raffle.  I'm thrilled to present the newest WryPunster design, Flock Together!

Flock Together is a lacy cowl designed to highlight hand dyed yarn with a spiraling lace pattern and a scrumptious drape.  If you're interested in the pattern, you can download it here (.pdf link) and queue here on Ravelry. 

Since Jesse's Christmas Hat has been so popular, I'm excited to see where Flock Together goes! 

Can I Have An Excused Absence?

I wish I had a better explanation for my month long absence.  Between working on a big project and settling into my new, wonderful job, I haven't had a lot of spare time.  That's changing and I'm excited to give WryPunster the attention it (and you!) deserve.  Despite not posting for a month, I've been very active on Flickr, updating my Project 365 and really enjoying the new people and internet culture.  It's so much fun!  Being involved with Flickr has reinvigorated my love for internet communities and I'm optimisitc that I will make more time for answering my emails (hi, Wendy!), posting on this blog and participating in a community that I so enjoy.

Thanks for indulging me, Punsters!  To thank you for your sweet emails and loving pushes to update, can I offer you some knitting?  I went on a big hat kick recently, knitting a hat for Punsir, a hat for a coworker and a hat for a friend's Aunt. 

Punsir's Hat was a request knit.  While we were visiting his family over Christmas, we stopped in the lovely Uncommon Threads for yarn to repair a vest for his mother.  Punsir made a bee-line for the Malabrigo Silky Merino and asked if I would make him a hat like his brother's, the original Jesse's Christmas Hat. (.pdf)  Because Silky Merino is a DK while the Merino is a worsted, I had to adjust the pattern slightly, and knit on 2s and 4s.  Success!

The next hat I made was a present for a coworker from my last project.  In his spare time, he makes jewelry and presented all the ladies on the team with handmade broaches.  Mine is a beautiful, hammered copper piece that looks wonderfully ancient and funky.  Such a great, handmade gift deserved its own, handmade thank you!  While hunting through the stash, I found some Kid Classic from my Rannoch Dress and knit a double layer hat from a ball and a bit of the Spruce and about half a ball of the Straw.  Using 7s gave the fabric a lovely drape and the double layer of Kid Classic made the hat so warm.  My friend seemed really pleased, so I'm pleased too!

I didn't use a pattern, just starting at the crown and working down, then working a purl ridge and going back to the top.  I wrote up my notes in the project's Ravelry entry and you can read them here if you're interested in knocking off a simple, cute hat. I'm thinking of making one for myself out of some other Kid Classic leftovers, but I have to finish the shawl or the sweater currently on the needles.  With my luck, it'll be Spring before I get around it!

The third hat I made (Hat Trick!) was a present for a friend's Aunt.  She's currently undergoing chemo therapy and while she's not losing her hair, she is cold all the time. Hearing that a nice person is cold all the time was the perfect impetus to try a pattern from my queue, the lovely Odessa by Grumperina!  This project was a real group effort, with Rosemary providing a skein of Cascade 220 Superwash from her stash. The beads aren't pefect; if I'd had a chance, I would have loved to visit a shop to pick out something with more sparkle, but these beads were in my stash and I'm on a crafting diet until MDSW.  In the end, I'm so happy with how well this hat came out.  The pattern is great and goes really quickly, giving you a simple gift with a refined touch.  Beautiful. To get a slightly larger hat, I knit a bigger gauge (oops? I don't remember what size needles?) and added about an inch before I started the decreases.  Being a gal with lots of hair, I sympathize with the need for a hat that doesn't flatten your style.  Mission accomplished!  My friend (also a knitter) thought the hat was the perfect size, deep enough to cover the ears without being overly slouchy or floppy.  This project isn't Raveled yet, but I really enjoyed it.

There are also two new sweaters in the WryPunster closet, but I think I'll save them for another post.  It's my goal to post twice a week, especially as the days get longer and taking good pictures is easier. I'm excited to get back to blogging enough that my knitting isn't five projects ahead!

Have a great Sunday, Punsters! 

Cleaning House

I've been holding out on you.

It's time I confessed.

I blame EarthChick, DoggedAshley, Carrieoke and oh heck, you too (probably) (especially if you have an account, because I swear I've looked at it)

Presenting:  The WryPunster Project 365.

The rest of my account is still getting into shape, but I'm excited to explore this new land called Flickr.  And hopefully, blog more.  Since I'll be taking lots of pictures.  See you on the other side!

I call this "To 365 Or Not To 365?"

Clearly, more avenues for expression have not improved my sense of humor.

All At Once

I had planned to spread out the finished object parade over a few blog posts, but I've been remarkably busy these past weeks.  With no signs of increasing free time in the future, I wanted to get everything online, recorded and phew! off my to do list.  Luckily, as busy as I am, I've been really happy and everything that's going on been good.  Just, you know, there's been lots going on.

Which makes this post all the more embarrassing.  I mean, there are Christmas presents in this rundown. Yikes. 

This Flower Basket Shawl was knt for my boss from about 350 yards of Mistraltree Farms Laceweight in Red Maple, purchased at the 2007 MDSW.  I used US4s, knit 8 repeats (that's one more than the pattern specifies) and got a blocked size of 60 inches.  More details and pictures are in its Ravelry roundup, and a special thanks goes to Punsir for the smashing pictures.  The knitting took five days and I was really pleased with result; my boss seems to like it too!

I also knit two hats for Punsir's family for Christmas.  The first was Jesse's Christmas Hat (which you've all been so great about!) and the second was this beret for Punsir's sister. It's the Last Minute Purled Beret from Knit and Tonic Wendy. 

The ribbed band is Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Olive and the main color is a lovely sock yarn that I held doubled.  Angela gave me the yarn with the proviso that it be used for something adorable.  Mission accomplished!

I used US7 double points and knocked it out in less than day.  Hats are always so quick and make such great gifts.  Plus, slouchy hats are "in" this season, so I'm sure more cute berets will be coming out of this house.

Speaking of hats, Punsir liked his brother's hat so much that he asked for one of his own.  While we were visiting his family, we made a side trip to Uncommon Threads.  The shop was lovely and Punsir found a beautiful skein of Malabrigo Silky Merino in Cape Cod Gray, a gorgeous, misty silver gray with a touch of lavender and pink (I know!  He picked it HIMSELF!)  Since Jesse's Christmas Hat is written for a heavier yarn, I added a few stitches and a little length, but otherwise, knit the pattern unchanged on 2s and 3s.  Punsir declared it "super warm" and "ear covering" (absolute. necessity.)  Plus, the yarn scrumptious, so it's hard to imagine anything more fun than a new hat in yummy yarn.  Also, I need an entire sweater in this yarn.  In this color.  Love.

Lest you think that's all hat all the time here, there's also been a new shawl for a lovely friend.  Ann had a skein of Brooks Farm Duet in her "Sell or Trade" on Ravelry.  Since Ann is eleventy billion kinds of fabulous (approximately), I offered her a small trade: if she gave me the yarn, I would knit her a Swallowtail Shawl.  Remembering that Ann gave me two skeins of Brooks Farm previously (they grew up to be my Grandmother's Birthday Shawl and River respectively), it was the least I could do.  Despite having knit the pattern three times previously, I ran out of yarn, and so substituted three stitch nupps for the specified five and modified the edging.  The shawl still blocked out enormous, as they all seem to.  The finished dimensions were an 80 inch wingspan and 37.5 inches deep.  It could have been much larger but our bed is only so big.  Clearly, a blocking board is a requirement.

Finally, I finished my first sweater of NaKniSweMoDo.  It's a February Lady Sweater, knit from eight skeins of Fibre Company Organik.   This sweater is a sample for Knit Happens and took three days.  I knit the smallest size on US6s and used US7s for the bind offs.  It's an adorable sweater, but of course you knew that.

That about catches us up!  There's another sweater, a simple pink cardigan that's been finished for a few days now, but just needs its buttons.  In the interest of quitting while I'm ahead, let's save that for the next go around, shall we?