still knitting: Patterned legwarmers in Outlaw Vanitas

I had my eye on this pattern ages ago when I was living in Flagstaff and bought the yarn there.  Weirdly the instructions for the cast on convinced me that I didn't know how to do it, and that held me back for a solid year before I discovered the cast on she meant is the normal one I always do. 

It is a free pattern on Ravelry. (here)
I finally started knitting them over Christmas.  But the yarn was too pretty and I didn't think it suited them so I frogged. (You can see that one over on Ravelry if you are curious.)

Only after a bit did I realise my endless stash of Outlaw Vanitas DK was here to save the day.  It suited them perfectly.  The first legwarmer took a long time and I kept losing grasp of the pattern.  Because it's full of holes anyway you really can't tell if they are in the right place, and that realisation was what kept me going.  I knew I'd love them even if they weren't perfect, and that's a good motivation.

I knitted them one set of repeats shorter than the pattern recommended as I figured that was about how I wanted them. 

The second legwarmer went really fast! 
I used the needles recommended by the pattern and was happy with the results; the whole matter took about 1.25 skeins of the endless yarn. 

I have recently decided to knit more.  Partly because my lifestyle is likely to be increasingly unstable for awhile and I can't take sewing with me, but also because I have a new Life Goal which is to make the Rose Cardigan.  Naturally, I have built up a 10 project queue of the Things to Learn before I am ready to tackle the cardi.  Yes I know I could just dive in and go for it but I feel like my knitting tolerance is low and my frustration builds really easily when things don't work out.  I've tried really hard in the past year to build up my skills in slow steps so I'll keep doing that.

ACcH cowl in Outlaw Vanitas DK

I really wanted to make my friend Kate a cowl from this endless yarn that I have (Outlaw Vanitas DK). Five skeins have lasted me through so many projects that I am basically sick of it, though initially it was a colour I loved.  We thrive on variation...

I really wanted to make the thorn stitch cowl.  It is a free pattern and looks so beautiful!  I had planned to do it in Nepal but of course my queue of projects was longer than the time I had.  Then I mentioned it to Kate, because I was going to also shorten it and make it much smaller, and it ends up she, being an artist, loved the idea of a massive droopy cowl.  Hm.  So I had to go full size...

I cast on, which took so many attempts because of counting all the stitches not being my strong point, and then after three rows I realised I simply could not do the pattern.  I mean, I couldn't get my needle into the stitches.  I couldn't do the thorn thing.  It involves turning three stitches into one and I could not do it.  So I went hunting for a quick and easy cowl, as I thought I would be leaving soon and wanted the project done within the week.

I settled on this pattern, ACcH, which I found by hunting around on Ravelry.

I liked the droopiness of it, but I also thought it would be simple enough for me to get through pretty quickly and I liked how you actually do the increases by changing needle size, which is pretty neat.  It took me almost exactly one skein of yarn to do the whole thing.

Kate likes it but I suspect she would love something Even More Massive and Droopy so I have space for improvement for another time. I think that I need to use bigger yarn to satisfy her, this yarn is beautiful though I am thoroughly sick of it, but it's very drapey and relatively fine for a DK weight yarn.

Eased sweater by Alicia Plummer, and associated life limbo

The plans for this sweater sprung fully formed a year ago, in Flagstaff, when I fell in love with the colourway Pocion of Malabrigo Mecha.  I bought all the supplies and thought the sweater might not even be too hard for me.  Then it had to stay behind due to the usual luggage constraints of my life.

Fast forward to my stuff, idling with my parents in Seattle.  I was feeling relatively competent with knitting after my four months in Nepal.  I thought maybe I could whip this out in a few weeks before leaving Seattle to wait out my visa-limbo in New Zealand.  I got the body halfway done before I left...the rest of the sweater was a lazy process dependent on the weather not being too hot or sticky to knit.  New Zealand summer hasn't made me in a hurry to finish this warm jersey!

I skipped all length below the waist, assuming that I wouldn't want any hip shaping.  Otherwise I followed the pattern knitting for the second smallest size.  I think I tend to size down too much in my knitting - things fit but with a lot of negative ease.  This too.  When I tried it on before starting the sleeves I was a little worried I had gone overboard with shortening the waist.  When I wear it I am definitely pulling it down a lot.

It was a great project to move on with - a few new things but mostly stabilising the knowledge I have and not too overwhelming.  Working with size 10 needles also makes things go along really fast.  The weather kept me at a slow pace, but finally, it's done!! In fact, just the day the weather hit 9 degrees, I put it on and wore it for two days before even thinking about blocking it, or weaving in the one last loose end.  I will do those things eventually but of course now it's too cold and nothing dries - but I want to see whether I can pull it a bit longer.

Miette by Andi Satterlund - a two year project

I cast this on in Ukraine but realised the lace was too difficult at that time and stopped it.  I had considered using Malabrigo Rios (I ended up making my second simple sweater with it - here) but I thought the single colour that I had originally planned to use would indeed be nicer.  The yarn is Cascade Heathers 220, the colour is called iridescence, it is pale mauve from a distance but close up it's a rainbow and very beautiful. 

So I really cast on in 2016 while I was in Poland travelling with my cousin.  I got through the first 20 rows and then ran out of knitting time...until now.  I had progressed through increasingly challenging projects in Nepal and felt ready to tackle this monster!

This is a much harder project that the simple pullover I made before, and for that reason I'm glad I put so much time in between the two.  I had to relearn everything in Nepal - yarn overs, and ssk and all of it...maybe it will stick in my head this time?  The awesome thing is how my projects inadvertently were a progression of skills.  I started with the legwarmers, doing nothing new, but really needing my project to fit me.  Then I made the cowl which reminded me how to concentrate as you only have two rows of pattern but they are slightly offset.  After that I made the handwarmers and was really amazed how ok it was to do the thumb gusset and the thumb overall - plus those went into use RIGHT AWAY! The cables in my earwarmer made me more confident doing new things - so by the time I picked this back up my confidence had grown.

I picked this up at row 20, and with one week left in Nepal I was on a mission to get it done!!  I was a knitting machine!  I didn't finish it before leaving Pheriche - I had the body and one sleeve done and determined to finish the rest in Kathmandu.  As always with knitting, I have found that the minute you stop a project you doom it to potential eternity.

My colleagues in Pheriche totally laughed at the diminutive size of this thing.  They couldn't believe it was for me.  I made the XS and it's really small looking! But when I put it on, noting there were still no ribbing front bits, it seemed to stretch to fit.  So I guess blocking is when you really make something your size. 

I'm not sure what difficulty level people place this sweater at, but I believe it's relatively challenging for a beginner.  The lace rows mean that you are endlessly counting, ugh!  If you miss a stitch, you have to put it back into the right quadrant of the sweater.  I was totally mad at the single purl row at the bottom of the sweater, not realising it really is pattern!  And after that I didn't have the energy to figure out knitting and purling into my back loops, it was too hard, so I went with normal k2p2 for the bindings.  (During my last week in Pheriche I had no internet to check on things!)

 Also I thought the way the sleeves are continued makes it really hard to actually not have a hole in the armpit.  I assume this is beginner problems.  You only pick up two stitches at the bottom, then you knit those stitches together...on my first armpit that led to a massive hole.  I left a large yarn tail luckily so I kind of darned that thing shut while weaving in the ends.  I used a very short US 8 round needle for the sleeves and it was kind of a pain but I did the same with the second sleeve (not enough of a pain to switch to DPNs).  I didn't have a smaller needle for the sleeves so the cuffs were also done with US8.  I tried to be more clever about the second sleeve but even trying to pick up strategic stitches, there is a huge hole. It seems to me like you need to pick up 3-4 stitches to avoid having a hole.

I did get around to relearning purling in the back loops for my button bindings.  It is not all that easy and for some reason I had a real block at first but I got the hang of it.  However I don't think it looks better at all and it is *so much* harder than just purling, so I'm not convinced.  Or I'm doing it wrong?

The pattern read that I needed 7 buttons, which I already had gotten in Kathmandu, so I didn't double check.  It ends up you need 8 and I could have gotten one more!  I finally finished the bands after the holidays - didn't manage to finish it in Nepal, but I'm still really pleased it's done.  I feel more confident and ready to make larger sweater projects that will actually fill gaps in my wardrobe - I'm not really confident that I'll wear this much since it is best suited to going over dresses. 

Cable earwarmer in Malabrigo rios

I felt so confident after making myself handwarmers!  Plus I was still wearing my legwarmers every day!  And nothing could be as boring as the cowl that I finished.  I've never progressed through skills like this before in knitting and the feeling of confidence - that I could start a project and conceivably finish it successfully - is really addictive.

So I decided to try using up the rest of my Malabrigo Rios and making my friend Helen, who is obsessed with knits, an earwarmer.  I saw her wearing one a few months ago and she's moving to the depths of northern Scotland soon so I reckoned she needed another one. Plus this gave me a chance to try out another new skill - cables!

I trawled Ravelry, as always, for something that fit my criteria and came up with this free pattern: the Chevron cable headband by Kirsty Grainger.  I wanted something with clear cables but not with too many of them and this fit the bill.

I cast on initially using size 4.5mm needles, as the pattern recommends, and knitted about three rows before deciding I thought it was too loose, so I sized down to a 4.  I was happy with that.  I found the c4 cable pattern to be pretty accessible, although of course with an extra tool in my hand things seemed to go awfully slow, I definitely gained confidence with the pattern as I saw my beautiful cables emerge!  This was a really fun project for that reason - I got faster as I went along, and I couldn't believe that I was making such a nice result! 

I got to the end and kind of winged it regarding sewing the ends together.  The join looks a bit rough but I think it's not going to be too visible, and it will hold pretty well.  I used a tapestry needle and the ends from the earwarmer and just weaved it through the obvious loops on each side.  I am not sure how you are supposed to knit pieces together.  There's always something more to learn in knitting!

Anyway my success with this bolstered me to pick my Miette back up.  That's a project I started over a year ago, when I was living in Arizona, and then put down early on.  Because of the lace, plus being a sweater, it seemed overwhelming!

Also this earwarmer took very little yarn.  I made two legwarmers and this from two balls of Malabrigo rios and I still have half a ball left - probably enough for another earwarmer! 

Easy handwarmer mitts in Outlaw Vanitas DK

These entered my head as a good next project after my cowl because my hands were freezing.  I needed mitts.  I needed easy ones.  And of course up in Pheriche, high in the Khumbu, I had some limitations on my yarn and needles.

The yarn is outlaw vanitas DK.
I accidentally didn't bring size 3.5 - 4 DPNs with me.  This yarn worked on smaller needles, and I thought it was the best choice for cozy handwarmers - everything else I had was too fine or too big.

The pattern is a free download from Ravelry, called the Sarah - basic fingerless mitts.  The yarn in the picture is so beautiful!  (It's Manos del Uruguay silk blend.) 

I got ready to start and realised that it required bigger needles.  I was nervous to do any changes to the pattern, but I went ahead with 3.5 dpns and this yarn, and did the size Large instead of small.

The knitting went very well.  I was nervous about the thumb gusset and really everything to do with the thumb, and so I was really impressed when it all went well!  I made these in just about 2 days each.  The only trouble was with the hole where the thumb meets the fingers - I did a good job on the first mitt and a bad job on the second one. The instructions have you mirror them, but I think this is not necessary as they are truly identical. Considering the location of my dpns, it would have been easier to make two right mitts.  That's what I would do in the future.

These got put to use right away.  The yarn has fluffed up and pilled a bit from use, but it has been literally daily use in the clinic for about a month, so I think they are holding up well.  They are warm and really help!  I was struggling not to have my fingers freeze every day, as our clinic in Pheriche is not heated and was averaging 3 degrees in the mornings - inside!  

When we closed our clinic I gave them to the guy running one of the lodges nearby as he is keeping it open for another month.  He was really happy to get them and I was particularly glad to have made the size large as it stretched to fit without problems.  I think that I could have made a medium for myself, considering that there was stretch over time. 

I might buy the beautiful silk blend yarn and make more of these. They were so fast and mitts are so handy that these might become a gift staple in the future.  Because it was a straightforward project I also really felt my confidence increase.

Simple Legwarmers in Malabrigo Rios

This pattern is called Simple Legwarmers, by Wendy Easton.  It’s a free pattern available on Ravelry.

I followed the pattern, casting on 52 stitches, but got the idea from a different pattern to do k1p1 cuffs for about 7 rows. 

These are really easy so there’s not too much to say about them.  I chose the pattern because I had this yarn: Malabrigo Rios (in hojas) and I did not have size 3.5 or size 4 needles, which limited me from a bunch of other nice patterns.  This was the best compromise based on the yarn and needles I had, plus cold legs (I didn’t want something too difficult.) 

I measured from ankle to knee and that’s how long I made them. I used size 4.5 Chia Goo bamboo sock needles for the cuffs, and have to report that the short needles made for socks piss me off, my stitches kept falling off.  Also these needles are really sharp.  I used size 5 Addi in the round for the rest, using the shortest cord that my amazing kit had in it (the Addi click turbo kit, a birthday present from my mum!)  It was a bit alarming to see the legwarmers stretched on the needle but of course they shrink back down fast.

I used Jeny’s super stretchy bind off which is now, rather embarrassingly, the only one I know. 

I didn’t block them because I couldn’t see the point. I get that blocking makes scarves longer.  But is there a reason to use it on tubular things like legwarmers before they stretch out of shape? 

Anyway I put them on and have only taken them off to sleep.  It’s no joke living in a village with no heating - emergency upcoming project is handwarmers and I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m getting very 19th century chilblains on my feet because I just can’t feel them half the time.

I mentioned on Ravelry that if I were going for fashion I would prefer legwarmers in a finer weave and I will get on with those lace ones as soon as I can access the supplies.  (Er and the time…)  But for simple warmth these do, and I think when I return to civilisation I will block them (to make them smaller) and then wear them squashed down as per the photo below.

And the Malabrigo rios is as always delightful to work with, warm and chunky to wear.
On Ravelry too!