Tuesdays with Dory

Dory is researching lace stitches this week

Dear Dory,

I have so very much leftover yarn all over my house--a quarter skein here, a few yards there. It's taking over! It seems like I ought to be able to use it for something. Any ideas?

~Suffocating in Springfield


Dear Suffocating,

Once again, I must remind the hoomins: think of your kittehs! Even small amounts of yarn can be used to make cat toys! Most patterns require 50 yards or less. Try this one. Or this one.  Or these little guys. And don't forget the catnip!

If you don't have enough yarn to make toys, I've got a great idea that will amuse your kitties, and help wildlife! Gather up yarn scraps and leave them outside for birds to use in their nests! If you put them in something like this:

and hang it near your house, your kitties can watch happily as birdies fly by to pick up your scraps. Be sure to avoid including acrylics and other materials that won't break down naturally.

If you insist on using your yarn for yourself, you can use scraps to stuff knit toys or Hexipuffs, rather than spending money on "real" stuffing. You can also make dryer balls. Or even, mini skein Christmas tree ornaments!

There are a few ideas to get your started. Whatever you do, DON'T THROW YARN AWAY. Unless it's acrylic.

Have a purrrrr-fect day!

Dory

On perfection

You can stop searching, the world's most perfect sweater has been found.

It's not a February Lady Sweater.

It's not an Owls sweater.

Not even a Tea Leaves cardigan.

Nope.

Not even close.

It's the Wildflower Cardigan.

Can you believe how comfortable, how perfectly fitting, how gorgeous this turned out?

I'm so in love with this sweater I barely managed to take it off all weekend.

I didn't sleep in it, but otherwise . . .


I had many fears about this cardigan, stemming from the sizing difficulties. The gauge called for is 7st/in. In sport weight. On size 5 needles. I moved down to size 4 needles and still couldn't get it. Knitting the whole thing on size 3 needles seemed out of the question--particularly as it would mean using size 1 and 2 needles for certain portions.

So I did a little math.

Yuck.

I plugged in my gauge--6.5st/in on size 4 needles--and determined that following the directions for the smallest size (32") at that tension would result in a bust around 34.5".

But we all know the dangers--incorrect math, lying liar gauge swatches. Anything could've happened.

But apparently I'm not a total math failure, and my gauge swatches told me the truth for change. My finished sweater has a 35" bust and couldn't fit more perfectly.

(I won't bore you to death with excessive commentary about the pattern itself--we all know Alana's patterns are written perfection, nary an error or unclear instruction to be found.)

Don't I look happy? And kind of over-caffeinated?

I was also thrilled to be working, once again, with madelinetosh yarn. The pattern calls for Pashmina, but in addition to being a bit pricey, I couldn't find anyone carrying it in a color I wanted. I envisioned the sweater knit up in a gray/blue, and finally settled on Well Water, which I was able to find in Tosh Sport--and which is, coincidentally, a little more affordable. I purchased 6 skeins, and have at least 1.5 left, so I estimate that this sweater used 1200 yards (and I never mind having extra madelinetosh lying around!).

I'm now pondering the clothes in my closet, wondering if I have a spring-y dress I could wear this over for Easter.

Because with so few cool weeks left before summer creeps in, I plan to be wearing this thing as often as possible!

Warblers now available on Ravelry

My Warblers pattern, previously available only through the Knit Picks website, is now available for download on Ravelry!

A spring-y fingerless mitt, the Warblers pattern  uses two contrasting shades of fingering weight yarn. The weather may be warming up, but in no time workplaces, grocery stores and movie theaters will be over-air conditioned and frigid. Keep your hands warm and your fingers free with these bright mitts!

Also good for reading Harry Potter while sitting by an outdoor fountain--who doesn't do that every weekend?

You can find a link to Warblers, as well as my other designs on my patterns page.

On scraps

I recently made yet another attempt to wrangle my knitting area into submission, and came across a few swatches. Given the number of projects I've completed over the years (150, according to Ravelry), we should be drowning in swatches, but I suppose they scatter over time--some ripped out to scavenge the yarn, others fallen behind furniture or intentionally tossed in the trash, and some just gone--vanished like second socks in the dryer and lip balms that I'm certain climb out of my purse and run away.

These few have survived, and I find myself wondering what to do with them. I feel they should be put to some use, or perhaps displayed.

I can't believe I'm getting sentimental about swatches.

Even more so when I look at this photo, which I've edited with Snapseed. A little focal readjustment, a vintage scrub and even swatches can have an antique-y charm.

Photo editing apps probably aren't making professional photographers or graphic designers jump for joy, but I personally appreciate simple, inexpensive programs that allow the common man to get a little creative with photographs. The price of that simplicity is the loss of precise control over editing (which you would retain using Photoshop or GIMP), but for the purposes of blogging about squares of knit fabric, I think it's a fair trade.

Snapseed is my preferred app; of those I've tried, it gives you greatest number of editing and effects options and is the most user friendly. Not bad for $4.99.
Instagram is useful for quick "washes," but gives you far less control, and is marketing itself more as a photo networking site. On the plus side, it's free.
Photoshop Express is free and also provides a number of editing options, but wants you to buy "expansion packs" for various features, and in my experience just isn't as user friendly as Snapseed.
Color Effects is another free app that turns your photos black-and-white and allows you to recolor small sections--fancy! That's pretty much its only feature, though, so you've got to save your photos and take them to another app for any additional editing.

That's just a quick review of some photo editing apps knitters might find useful--do you have an app to recommend?

(Apps are available on the iPad, and possibly some other devices, I didn't check.)

(This post is not an advertisement for the iPad.)


(Though it is pretty cool.)

Tuesdays with Dory

I think I'm emo today

Dear Dory:


Easter is coming, and though I've yet to put the Easter baskets together, I am somehow already finding my cats running around with plastic Easter grass trailing out of their mouths. I fear this decorative floof, much like tinsel, is bad for their digestive systems. What should I do?

Cat-cerned in Cleveland


Dear Cat-cerned,

Your cats are playing with Easter grass because Easter grass is a cat toy. Obviously. Why else would it exist?
But you're right--it's no good for the bowels and can cause serious discomfort. One option is to purchase paper Easter grass--while I'm no veterinarian, my guess is that it's probably not as dangerous as plastic grass, and might break down in kitties' tummies more readily. It also isn't shiny and doesn't make that fun crinkly sound, so your kitties probably won't even be interested in it--though I am, and spent a good 10 minutes chasing a piece around under the dining room table last night. I didn't eat it, though, which is a step in the right direction.
But if you really want to nip this problem in the bud, your best bet is to line your Easter baskets with yarn--knitters will like bright shiny new skeins, but non-knitters will probably be happy with scraps, as long as they're covered in chocolate. Or fish.

And if you want a chance to win some bright shiny new yarn or other knitterly prizes, don't forget to check out Kristen's CCFA fundraiser!

Have a purrrrrrfect day!
Dory

On embellishment

I picked up a set of 6 of these buttons on Etsy a few months ago, and am excited to use them for my Wildflower Cardigan this week! (Shop4craft has adorable buttons that I'm sure are manufactured in a sweatshop somewhere, which makes me feel more than a little guilty, but I can't find buttons nearly as darling anywhere more . . . legitimate. If you have a recommendation, please share!)

My sweater is currently blocking, so I'll sew the buttons on as soon as its dry. I have to rejoice just a bit--you may recall I did some mathematical gymnastics to work out the gauge and fit of the sweater, and I'm happy to report that the bust came out exactly 35", as predicted / hoped.

Here's an unflattering photo of me setting in the sleeves (the only knitting work I ever do at a table):

FO Friday: Norie

In between utterly failing to make any progress on the Rock Island Shawl and actually finishing all the pieces for the Wildflower Cardigan, I managed to squeak out a new hat, which will be living in a closet until at least October, because it's 80 degrees here today.

Pattern: Norie, from Gudrun Johnston, in Shetland Trader: Book 1
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Baltic
Needles: Sz 6
Mods: zip, zero, zilch
Rav link

The pattern calls for 260 yards of DK weight yarn, so I'm not sure why I thought I could make do with 225 yards. Somehow, it worked. I had just a few yards of yarn left over, so if you're faint of heart, I recommend starting out with more yarn. If you're brave, though, I think the Tosh DK is a great choice for this hat (or anything, really, I'm such a Madelinetosh fan girl).

I didn't bother with a gauge swatch, I just went up a needle size as I always do--it's a smidge big, so I probably should've stuck with the size 5 needles. Live and learn. (Or, live and repeatedly make the same mistakes and then whine about it.)

This isn't my usual hat style--I tend to go for berets--so when I was done, I had no clue how to block it. I didn't want to stretch out the body of the hat, just relax the top a bit, so I popped it over a small plate, spritzed just the top with some water, and smoothed it out. Seems to have done the trick:

It's quite slouchy, just like the pattern photos indicate it should be. Should keep my ears nice and warm . . . if and when it gets cold again. I hope it doesn't stretch out too much with wear, or I'll have to pull it all the way down over my face and cut out eye holes.

Don't forget, you can enter to win your very own copy of Shetland Trader: Book 1, or several other awesome yarn-y prizes, by donating to my CCFA fundraiser!