A Tiny X-mas Present

I have a new pattern for all of you!  Here is my Tiny X-mas Stocking, now available for free on Ravelry!

Download yours today!

Isn't it adorable?

And in other news, I have finished the knitting on my Even Flow Sweater!  I will be weaving in ends and seaming pockets some time today and will have it blocked by some time next week.

This is the first sweater that I have knit and I am very proud.  

I have yarn all ordered up for my next one already.  I am planning on making a Chickadee by Ysolda Teague in KnitPicks Capra.

See? Two sleeves and everything!

All-in-all, a good week.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @AngieChervenak and I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

A New Pattern!

That's right!  I have released a new pattern!

The Harney Peak Hat is a spiral ribbed hat made from wool and alpaca.  This hat is super warm but unlike 100% alpaca it holds its shape.  I am very excited to see other people's versions of this hat!

I have priced the hat at $2, but for the first week (until November 29), you can get it for $1 by entering the coupon code "AJC" at checkout.

So go!  Get your copy today! It can be found here or from my Patterns page.

You know you need a warm winter hat.

And in other absolutely amazing news, I finished the black socks of doom.  I just sat and watched Poirot and let my hands go.

Not too shabby

They are now washed and blocked and once they are dry I can give them to my dad.

So, grab a copy of my pattern for yourself or your favorite knitter and I think I will kick back and have a beer for a week well done.

Working it

I have been pretty busy the past few days working on my crochet design project.  If all goes well, I should have my first crochet pattern out some time next week! 

I have realized through switching  back (I learned to crochet first) that I am a much better and more sophisticated knitter than crocheter.  And the next time I say that crochet is easier, because I will, remind me to read this post. 

The stitches aren't difficult, but there are so many different kinds of them!  And seriously, I cannot remember the last time I had to count this intensely.

Lovely double crochet

In other news, another design project (a knit one), that I have been working on for a couple of weeks, has hit a snag.  I am almost done with it and I am not happy with the gauge.  And I am out of yarn.  And I was already working on the largest needles I own.  This is very frustrating.

So, I picked up some numbers 17 and 19 needles and I am about to frog (rip it) the whole thing and start over from scratch at a looser gauge.  Maybe I can get the drape of the thing right this time and stretch the project yarn to be enough all at the same time.

Otherwise, I am continuing to work on the black socks that plague me and the Even Flow sweater.  I am almost done with the patterned body of the sweater and will soon be working on the collar and the central front.  And I have turned the heel on the socks.

More work to do today, and I'm trying to dye over the coffee portion of my last dye project.  There's no rest for the wicked.

Knitters Love Winter

It snowed last night!  And it is still snowing.  Sometimes there is nothing better than weather that tells you, "Just stay inside and knit."

And what will I be working on?  Why, my Even Flow sweater, of course.  The last week or so hasn't been all that great, but I tell you what, sitting around and watching movies sure helped me make progress on this sweater.  I'm starting to get excited about it.  I'm not so excited about picking up the stitches along both sides of the front to make the edge, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

And to anyone who is wondering, that curl will come out when the edge is added.  And if there's any left after that, that is what blocking is for.  Wet it down and shape it nicely, there will be no curl at all.

Tons of progress for less than a week.

Last Saturday was my wheel spinning class at Fall River Fibers in the Ace Hardware Store in Hot Springs, SD.  It was great.  I took a sleeping pill the night before so that I could be up in time to make it to the 9 AM start, and then I slept through my alarm.  But I wasn't too terribly late, thank goodness, and it was awesome to be around other people who love yarn.  Ok. it was awesome to be around other people period.

I found out that I am a fast spinner!  I am a productive spinner!  I make "art yarn"!  These are all really nice ways of saying that I should slow down and that I may need some more practice before I can be consistent.  Well, everyone starts out as a beginner, and I really did have fun.  Throwing myself headlong into new things is really how I learn best.

But Fritz thinks it's awesome.

After washing and setting the twist.  I think that little bit of plain white is probably my best piece.

And I am still working on dyeing yarns.  I now have pH paper!  I'm not sure that it makes me a better dyer, but it makes me feel more confident that I know what I'm doing.  This latest skein, I tried coffee and my new neon McCormick food dye.  I also tried a non-immersion dye method. 

I really like the blue.  I am very happy with the food dye results, but I am pretty nonplussed by the coffee.  I think that I will have to overdye the coffee part of this one before I am satisfied.  I think I may go for a purple rather than a brown.

Ooh, blue!

I also picked up a 100g skein of undyed, New Zealand, 2-ply, wool yarn.  It is about worsted weight but I will check.  I was thinking that this skein has hat written all over it and I will have to dye it in colors that I will actually wear. 

Well, that was the weekend for me.  Pretty dang productive actually.  And now I have to leave you to work on the crochet design project that I have become obsessed with.  I have a few more knit designs currently on the needles, but they have to stay under wraps for now.

Publish or Perish

Ok, so the title of this post is meant to be a really bad pun on dyeing.  I may occasionally be guilty of awful puns; I blame the geology degree.

It was a pretty good weekend.  I even managed to have a somewhat relaxing day on Sunday in which I only knit for some of the day.  Otherwise, some very exciting firsts happened:

I published my first pattern:

Double Heart Dishcloth

It can be found here, as a free Ravelry download or from the links on my brand new Patterns page!  Seriously, download one even if you don't need one; just to make me look good.

It actually is a kinda fun, quickie project and the cotton yarn it's made of is dirt cheap.

I also swatched for my Joji Locatelli Even Flow sweater.

Mmm . . . swatches

I have to admit: I hate swatching.  I want to just cast on and go!  That is why so many of the projects I do are items that you don't need to swatch for or that (like socks) you can measure your gauge as you are knitting it.  I know that you are supposed to swatch on pretty much everything, but I find it very boring.  

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that I would be more annoyed to knit an entire sweater only to have it not fit.  And judging by the fact that my swatch on the recommended needles didn't match the gauge in the pattern, it is time well spent.

Then, the most exciting news:

I am teaching myself how to dye yarn!

I started with food dye on some cream colored Cascade Eco Wool that I had lying around and came up with this:

My first attempt

Not too bad for the first time.  Of course it leaves plenty of room for improvement though. 

This was done with just water, white vinegar, and McCormick food dye.  Apparently if your dye bath is too acidic, the red will be taken up into the yarn faster than the blue and instead of getting a purplish-blue, you get red splotches with blue around them.

In order to prevent this from happening again, I have ordered pH paper from the internet.  When in doubt, apply science.

Finally, tonight I may go check out the Black Hills Fiber Arts Guild meeting.  I don't necessarily feel like going out and talking to people, but I think I have to remember that it is never as scary as it feels before hand.  And I have baked an apple spice cake to take with.  How could I go wrong if I'm bringing a cake?

A Very Busy Week

I have been working very hard in the last week.  Mostly because I am trying to spend more time working and less time dwelling on the traumatic past.  I guess this is the productive stage of grief.

I have been thinking lately of actually getting a job, but life is funny, and it seems to be easier said than done.  Out here in the Black Hills, the economy is very focused on tourist season.  It is very, very easy to get a job here between May and September, but it is almost impossible to find a job in winter, especially if you are looking for something non-professional.

So, here I am, with nothing to do but focus on my knitting and fiber projects.  And in a turn that I could never have predicted, I have the time, the support, and the space to really go for it.

First, the projects that I have finished:

A River Runs Through Mitt

I finally finished making the second mitt of A River Runs Through Mitt from Darn. Knit. {Anyway} at the 2013 MN Yarn Shop Hop!  I even wove in the ends.  Now I just have to give them a good wash and they will be ready just in time for cooler weather.

Double Bump Dishcloth

I tried my hand at dishcloth knitting with the Double Bump Dishcloth.  Amazingly, this is my first dishcloth.  It was fast, really fast, and kinda fun.  I worked this one up because I wanted to make one with someone else's pattern before designing my own.  I am currently planning out a 3-class, beginning knitting class that teaches the basics though a dishcloth pattern that I designed.  I will keep you all updated as to when and how this class might happen.

The black bamboo/silk socks from hell.

I really don't mean to whine about knitting.  I love knitting, and I love knitting socks, and I really love a challenge.  But these stockinette, black, size 1.5 needle socks really seem to be kicking my butt.  The stockinette is boring, the yarn can be hard to see, and there are quite a few stitches.  And just to make it harder, I was trying to make these socks for my husband just before he passed away.  But I believe that the project is worth it and they will be beautiful socks when I am finished, and I will be able to give them to my dad.

The good news with these socks is that I finished the first one this week and started the second.  The bad news is that I still need to pick up tiny black stitches along the heel of the second sock.  Oh well.  All projects have their frustrating points and I'm sure they will turn out beautifully.

A sweater finally?

I have also decided that I am going to make a sweater with the sport weight Wool of the Andes that I have had stashed for an age.  I picked up the pattern for Even Flow by Joji Locatelli.  I'm thinking of casting on today.  Wish me luck.

Finally, I submitted my first design proposal this week.  I have been designing a cowl and I pitched the pattern to a magazine.  We will see if anything comes of this.

Otherwise, for future excitement:
-  I will be working on networking in the Black Hills fiber arts scene.
-  I am signed up for a wheel spinning class next weekend at Fall River Fibers and my mother might be joining me in that adventure.
-  I am teaching myself how to dye yarn with food dyes.

Just some things for readers to look forward to.  I have assigned myself a posting schedule of Tuesday and Friday every week, so please tune in!

Why Do I Even Ask?

I wonder if everyone experiences this:  Last night I talked to my brother.  He lives out in California and I wanted to get his sweater measurements because I'm kicking around an idea for a Christmas present for him.  However, I have been so excited about this idea, that I actually told him the basic concept.

I think this is where I may have started to go wrong.  Now he has an opinion for everything from exact length, to zipper vs. buttons, to design motif, and I am listening to him.  I know, it will be his sweater, but it will be mine as well since I am designing it.  Where do you draw that line?  I want him to be happy with it, but it is a present that I am going to be spending a lot of time on.

And my brother may be notoriously fussy, but I did explain to him that if I take the time to design and knit a f***ing sweater for him, he will f***ing love it.

I guess I may be a little cranky today.  I have been pretty knocked out by the flu for most of a week now and although I have gotten some knitting done, I have managed to take care of very little else.

Right now, my socks are the only thing that I have on the needles that isn't a design project.  I have moved from the instep decreases to the foot now and feel like I am in the home stretch with this first sock.  I will be teaching myself how to graft with Kitchener stitch for the toes!  I am actually kind of excited.  I love how seamless Kitchener stitch can look and I know it frustrates some people, but I seem to enjoy some of the more frustrating aspects of knitting.

So close to done!

And now, the moment people have been waiting for:  The Drawing!

I ran the 35 comments through the random number generator at Random.org and the winner of the Knit Picks 4" dpns is . . .

#23 - Connie K.  greyowl (on ravelry)

Congrats to Connie and I will be PMing you on Ravelry to get your mailing info!

May these needles make you many beautiful socks.

Fritz don't care, he's got a sunbeam.

Blocking for the First Time

Today I actually blocked something for the first time.

I know. I probably should have learned about that long before now, but there is no time like the present.

This is a swatch for something that I am designing for self publishing. I will definitely post here when I finish the pattern, but other than this picture, I am trying to keep my mouth shut about it until it is done. Wish me luck, both with the designing and the keeping quiet.