Warm hands and feet

Things have been in high production mode here at Chez One Potato. This weekend I finished the Boy's socks and the Anemoi Mittens.

First, the mittens. I think I've established that I'm quite pleased with these. I blocked the second one yesterday and my goodness Koigu grows when wet - I got very concerned because the sodden blocking mitten was about 1/2" longer than it's previously blocked mate. I got so nervous, in fact, that I reblocked the first mitten, only to discover it too grew (and then shrank). Thankfully, they match. Not much else to say, except that I took them for a test run outside and they are soft and cozy. These will be going off to a friend in the mail and I'll be sad to see them leave.

Project: Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens
Materials: Koigu KPM purchased at Purl. Knit on size size 2 (2.75mm) Crystal Palace Bamboo DPNs. This produced a blocked gauge of about 10st/1".
Modifications: I'm not sure if this is really a mod, but I used a tubular cast on found at this tutorial rather than a regular tubular cast on. I also didn't use smaller needles for the cuff because I thought it was going to be too narrow, and I think this was the right decision for my hands.

Next, the socks. When I got to the end of sock two I discovered my stitch count was off. I made the executive decision that no one cares, since socks live in shoes, and I carried on. It was just a little error (I think I forgot to move some stitches around before starting the toe) so it didn't make a difference, or at least not one I could see. As soon as they were finished the Boy put them on and did not take them off for two days. So, I think they are a success.


Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces in Mineshaft. The pattern led me to believe I would need 3 skeins but I used less than two.
Modifications: Substituted a short row heel. I know it's sacrilige to change a Nancy Bush sock pattern but I thought the heel flap would be uncomfortable and the Boy was already skeptical about the knitted socks.

Now that these are done I am swatching for a variety of new projects but I'll discuss later this week. However, I will show you this pile of goodness that arrived this weekend. That's the last you'll be seeing of it for a while, though, because it's for a top secret project. Stay tuned!

Paint a pot

A few weeks ago some girlfriends and I decided to go for brunch and to a paint-a-pot place in the City. I am a big fan of paint a pot - it's like being back in the craft shed at camp (I am a former arts and crafts counselor). However, before going to paint a pot in New York City one must mortgage one's house and pawn the family jewels. Now I understand there's rent to pay and profits to reap, but please people.

First there is the cost of the actual item. Usually I blink more than a few times before plunking down $14.99 for a mug, much less one that needs glazing before I can even drink out of it without toxic repercussions. After selecting the least offensively expensive item in the store, one flags down the store attendant who aimlessly wanders to the table and proceeds to ramble an incomprehensible list of rules and regulations regarding use of glaze, which colors absolutely cannot touch, which colors are hidden in the back and which colors will cause lead poisoning. Funtimes! She then inscribes your name on the bottom of your $3,000 unpainted item and disappears.

Now these ladies have special "underglaze" pencils that write like a pencil and will not burn off in the kiln. I am a big fan of using these to do cute drawings on the piece and then using minimal color to highlight. However at this outing, the woman informed me that the pencils were "really really expensive" and therefore I was not permitted to use one. I reminded her that this mug and the entire activity was "really really expensive" and shouldn't the cost of a few scribbles with her precious pencil be included? But no.*

The dirty little secret with NYC paint a pot is that you pay a fee per half hour! Please note that at least that much time elapses while the shopkeepers wander around searching for hidden glazes and marking your initials on things. So, by the time you get started you are exasperated and settle on painting the whole thing like Rainbow Brite just to get glaze to ceramic and get out of there for less than fifty bucks.

All of that said, we did have a fun time and I am very pleased with my mug! In the end I didn't wind up using the coveted underglaze pencil and instead stuck to the fine-tipped glaze bottles. It's always tempting to overdo things at paint a pot, but I think I kept with my design sensibilities, if only because it's not in day-glo colors.

As for knitting, I'm so close to done on both the mitten and Boy's socks!!! Note that this picture of the mittens does a good job of showing the benefits of a good bath for fair isle. Look how lumpy the one on the left is!

Finished projects mean new projects! First on the sewing agenda is a double-pointed needle case like the one featured at dogged knits. As for knitting, I have been eyeing Rambling Rose over at Woolflowers. I have a big pile of unloved gray Karabella Aurora 8 that needs a home...

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* Note: The woman proceeded to abandon said pencil on the table and completely forget about it, so we all got our money's worth.

We have mitten

I finished one of my Anemoi mittens and I love love love it! In these pictures it's still wet and blocking, but I couldn't resist the hand model shot. The Koigu softened and loosened a bit during blocking, and of course a good bath makes for happy fair isle.










I've been reading a lot about yarn dominance and it is definitely in play here. I knit continental, so I prefer to keep my more heavily-used yarn in the left hand and the contrast in the right. As is evident in the palm shot, the blue background dominates the white. I considered switching it up in the other mitten, but I'm afraid the difference will be unpleasantly significant. So, I think I will save that for the endpapers.

To avoid second mitten syndrome, I've already cast on for the mate. Remember how it took me 6 hours to cast on? Try 5 minutes this time; I'm a regular Italian tubular cast-on expert.

I've also wound up my freshly bathed Koigu. Delicious!

This weekend, though, I have big plans to get more thread and finish the beloved potholders so my friend doesn't have another birthday before I give her this year's gift.

I guess I have accomplished something

I always feel like I'm getting nowhere on all of my projects but turns out this here blog is helpful for showing that's not the case! I only got to knit for 15 minutes yesterday, but look how far these two pieces have come since their last appearances!

First, the Anemoi Mittens - I've reached the chart! They are still as much fun as ever. I never get tired of Koigu. Unfortunately this project is not very portable - between the five needles, two balls of yarn and 8"x11" chart, I feel like I'm taking up half the subway when I work on this. Sadly, this means it isn't getting so much love right now.









Next, the Frost & Flowers Scarf. I just love love love working on this thing. It is so soothing, and I love the pattern so much that I have to stop every row to admire and pet it. I'm actually another repeat further along than shown in these pictures. This thing is going to take forever though - it doesn't feel like the ball of yarn is getting any smaller and I still have two more to go!










As for that Fishtrap Hat... um... uh... I don't know what you're talking about.

Totally tubular

Tubular cast on issues resolved! Mittens chugging along! Hurray! At this rate you are going to witness every last stitch of these girls from start to finish.

First, on my too-tight ribbing and cast-on edge: I went snooping around Miss Eunny's site looking for clues on my tubular cast on issues and realized my mistake after reading her pattern for Endpaper Mitts. In the Italian cast-on tutorial I was using, four "set up" rows of k1, sl1 wyif were included before the ribbing was started. Eunny's pattern also includes "set up" rows with a similar pattern. I was doing the set-up rows six times - six rows of slipped and twisted, hand squeezing stitches! That's way too many if you want any flexibility in the resulting cast on edge. Oh, and I fixed my gauge problems.

Now I am rocking along! I'm so excited! The cast on is really pretty and the ribbing is looking great. The only slightly agonizing part is the contrasting color purl stitch in the ribbing. I knit continental, so throwing a purl and using the contrasting color makes for some interesting finger acrobatics. However, my moves are slowly becoming more elegant.

Also, check out Diana's beautiful mitts over at Streets and YOs.

PS: Click on the pictures and you can see every last detail.

She made an itsy bitsy teeny weeny...

...little fair isle swatch.

My oh my, it's so lumpy bumpy. I am out of colorwork practice! Actually it looked a little better after a bath, but still rather grim.

I didn't have any patience for swatching this because I am so antsy to get going on the mittens. Not to mention mittens are so small anyway, it hardly seemed worth it. But it was, since I was getting getting about 10st/"... 1.5 more than I hoped. Damn. I guess that explains the tubular cast on debacle as well.

The good news is this morning on the train I achieved gauge on my 2.75mm's! Huzzah. Tonight: Tubular cast on, the return!

Delft blue

At the beginning there was beautiful Koigu from Purl. I'm always a sucker for that wall of color and memories of the ripped out mitten yarn from this weekend quickly went out the window (that will become something else, I promise). I was inspired by the colors of Delft blue ware. It's so hard to capture Koigu's colors accurately but these shots aren't bad.


Then, I cast on for the Anemoi Mittens. Eunny recommends a tubular cast on. Her instructions are incredibly detailed but don't describe this technique. No bother - although I haven't used it before, I am familiar... flash forward to 6 hours later when I have reknit the first 5 rows of these gorgeous mittens at least 6 times.

I started with Amelia Raitte's tutorial. It produced an lovely, clean, elegant edge. I recommend this tutorial; it is very easy to follow and yields great results. However, I could not believe my hand was going to fit through the resulting opening (you are instructed to cast on 56 stitches in a tubular cast on on 2.0mm needles; so I cast on 28, increased to 56 and went on my way). After a period of denial, I ripped.

Then I continued to the next approach: the Italian tubular cast-on. I saw Eunny note this on her blog when discussing the Endpaper Mitts, so maybe this was what she had in mind? It produces a more forgiving cast-on edge because you start with all of your stitches. I used the tutorial here (also recommended, particularly the little movie). This produced a more elastic edge. Hope! Here are some pictures.

But then I got to the set-up rows for the mitten ribbing... there are a series of twisted and slipped stitches which gathered in my formerly elastic edge and again made it impossible to fit my mitt in there. GRAH! Needles were thrown, rip rip rip. The husband was called in to confirm that yes, I was a good knitter and no, I was not going crazy.

I went up needle sizes, I went down needle sizes, I fiddled, I fudged. And finally, at the end of my rope, I emailed Eunny herself for advice (I really hated to do that - what does she need with me bugging her?!). We'll see what she says. For my own sanity, though, these need a time out until I hear back.

Updated to add: Eunny graciously emailed back and it appears all issues are my own. The twisted- and slipped-stitch rows are meant to prevent the tubular cast on from flaring, as it usually likes to do. I'm going to try just ribbing those rows instead to see if it helps. In the meantime I'm working up an itty bitty fair isle swatch and check that my gauge is behaving.