Good morning. I have completed session 2 of 3 of introduction to Crocheting class!!! My goodness, a challenge for my brain and fingers to work with this new skill. I will continue to practice..
thanks to you, I now have the freedom to knit for donations. I am really not knitting for others, but I love the process, so in the donation box they go!
I just finished reading The Frozen River, a historical fiction about a midwife in 1789. Her husband is friends with Paul (as in Revere). Also just found The Alice Network in our neighborhood Little Library. I loved Briar Club so much; am hoping this is also a good screen porch read.
I loved the Frozen River! And the Alice Network is also excellent. You're in for a good time.
And welcome to the world of crochet! I think the part of crochet that trips up knitters is that there are so many different places the hook can go to form a new stitch - it's not just stick the needle in the next stitch like is for knitting. You need to consider front loop only, back loop only. Post stitches and dip stitches add another layer of "now where do I stick the hook?" You can even go left to right instead of right to left!
YES!!! You are do right! For me, add to that, the tension. My knitting is very even and to gauge. So far, I am still working on a comfortable hold of the yarn! I shall get there.
For my half of this equation, I can say I greatly respect your intelligence, appreciate your kindness, and absolutely love your sense of humor! All the rest is just extra stuff!
The NY Times has been instrumental over the past few years in spreading anti-trans rhetoric, and so it's a little disgenuous for them to come out now and try to do a "both sides" podcast.
Firstly, that is a very lovely cardigan! I do believe you'll get a lot of wear out of it. Isn't it wonderful when you knit a sweater that you then find yourself wearing almost everyday. That usually only happens for me in winter, but still ... ;-)
Secondly, I'm excited that you'll be sharing your progress with the waffle sweater. I've put a moratorium on myself to not buy any more yarn so it will be helpful for read about how you adjust the pattern to your gauge.
Thirdly, not a day goes by when I don't feel the pain of losing yet another vital public employee to Trump's destructive forces. We went to our local No Kings protest on Saturday. They estimated 5,000 people in our (relatively) small city of Tallahassee. It was a great turnout. It was peaceful and it was fun and for a while I could hope.
Finally, thank you for the links. I might check out the retreat. I haven't been feeling very creative lately (too much of that energy going into protest signs) so maybe the retreat will give me a boost. Read far and wide about the hurdles that transgender people have to go through. I read a wonderful interview with Vivian Wilson (Elon Musk's daughter) in Teen Vogue. What a spitfire! Thank goodness she has a supportive mom, and she can be who she wants to be (which is no longer Musk's kid). As for my own reading, I've been listening to The Right Sort of Man, a bit of a romp with two women--one widowed, one single--in England post-WWII. They start a marriage service and very quickly find themselves deep into a murder investigation. Lots of twists and turns, good humor, and good character development. It's almost 9 hours so a bit long for a beach read, but it was fun!
I meant to mention that I was also in San Francisco during the earthquake in 1989. I was on a bus on the way home from San Francisco State U. At first I didn’t know what was going on. The bus had been parked to pick up passengers when all of a sudden it started bouncing. I thought something was wrong with the bus until I looked across the street and saw parked cars also bouncing. The walk home from the bus stop was surreal. We lived at 9th and Irving and I had to walk 10 blocks to our apartment. At every other block, long cracks appeared in building foundations. I was relieved to find my husband home. He was on his way home from running in the park when it hit. He said our apartment was a mess when he got home, enough of a mess that he quickly tidied up so I wouldn’t see it. We went up on the roof and could see the fires in the Marina District. I had been through earthquakes before (as you also must have being a native), but this one was enough to make me want to pack my bags. The aftershocks were so stressful. One time an aftershock knocked me off the toilet (sorry, probably too much information 😆).
We lived on the other side the park, at 26th and Clement. Our apartment was also a mess. My partner had a large salt water aquarium that fell of its stand. The living room carpet was saturated and scattered with dead or dying fish. We spent the next day cutting the sodden carpet into strips and throwing out the front window onto the sidewalk. Then we set up a charcoal grill on the sidewalk to cook up the meat from the freezer that had thawed in the power outage.
I've been through many earthquakes, but that was the worst.
A government run by those dismissed...I love it! I am finishing Muriel (my own pattern) in Jane and am enjoying the yarn. I purchased some Feederbrook Farm at H&H for the waffle pullover. I think I won't have to do much gauge fussing.
First off, the sweater looks amazing! Great fit - and a really beautiful texture! I am stunned by the firings happening - the most appalling recent one being Carla Hayden. Also, I'd like to be more informed about trans youth too. Years ago, I interviewed Diana, a trans woman, for a film I created - but she transitioned as an adult. I will have to dive into the info you shared.
I wonder if you could talk us through how you “rework stitch and row count”.
I look at conferences, workshops offered, and they don’t usually appeal to me. However comma, I really would like to hear how you preform this magic trip!
Just little by little. Every once in a while. Or however is the least painful for you.🤪.
I have lots of yarn I really love, many sweater quantity, that I want to use. I am familiar with going up or down a size because the gauge doesn’t match the gauge proposed by the writer. But beyond that it s trial and many errors and frogging.
Being able to do this smoothly is one of the marks of an expert knitter. In my opinion.🥴
Just a thought.
Also, I don’t know if it was your suggestion or just where I heard it, but Sipsworth is such a good read. Rebirth, grief, identity. So many big ideas in a simple story.
I'm happy to share how I work my way through these adjustments. But I need to be careful doing so on this project. The Waffle Pullover is not my design. It was designed by the brilliant Amy Christoffers for Modern Daily Knitting. Out of respect for the designer and publisher, I can't reveal a lot of specifics about the pattern. For that, you'll need to purchase a copy of the booklet in which the pattern was published. https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/mdk-field-guide-no-29-mosaic/
So here's my plan - as I work my way through this sweater, I'll show my work. I'll share my thinking and my calculations. It's likely to be just a little piece of the puzzle every week or two—not because I'm being coy, but because I'm working at a relatively small gauge, and this is a pretty big sweater. It's likely to take some time.
And thanks for the recommendation of Sipsworth! I don't know this book, but have added it to my queue.
Such a perfect summer cardi! You nailed the fit! :-) As others have said, the yarn choice for the 'waffle sweater' is looking good! Love that you are sharing how you are making the adjustments for the yarn change! Getting into the nuts and bolts of doing this, is how it is learned. My only suggestion is to go with a simple style the first few times to get a feel for where you need to have a 'heads-up' about what to consider. Like row count and as you mentioned an adjustment for things like short rows. The fun part is realizing the you can do this!! :-)
I really appreciated the video about the firing of Dr. Carla Hayden, the long time Librarian of Congress. Hate to think what that might lead to. As she states, The Library of Congress in not a lending library. It is for reference use by Congress.
As to what you share, I suppose if you were expressing Nazi tendencies, I would go somewhere else. I wonder if there are Nazi knitters, hmm. :-) Maybe chain mail?? :-)
As to Dr. Hayden's firing, it illustrates how little the Trump administration understands about the purpose and value of some of our government institutions. It's alarming that they are so quick to tear things down without considering the consequences of those actions. It all seems so pointless and performative.
I agree Sandi. I am also very concerned about what could happen to our public lands and national parks under the current administration. And of course, the flora, birds and other wildlife these lands are protecting. There is much talk about no longer honoring the saving of these lands.
Libraries, food safety, medical research, education, the environment, disaster recovery, the arts in all their diversity and glory—it all seems to be in jeopardy.
As you said, it all seems so pointless, but also so painful for many of our fellow Americans. I don't believe it is just for saving money, or even to put money into the pockets of the ultra wealthy. What has been going on in LA and the plans to expand to other cities, should be an eye opener.
I do hope there will be a good turn out for No Kings Day this Saturday. Great day for a family or neighborhood barbeque! My Old Glory will be flying to honor the memory of my Purple-Hearted Marine Corp father who fought in the South Pacific for his country ... Our Country!
I finished Rebecca Chow's Corran cardigan this month. It has a similar (but more complicated imho) openwork stitch pattern. I used Plymouth Yarn Sea Isle Cotton, which is a 50/50 cotton wool. I am now knitting a "wool" tank top from the remaining skeins.
Corran is a lovely design, and yes, the stitch pattern is used is much lacier than mine. I've worked with Plymouth Sea Isle Cotton in the past, and it's a lovely yarn.
I love your swatch for the waffle pullover! I'm also so impressed by you being able to change the instructions like that... I need to get more comfortable modifying patterns to fit me or, as you say, to use up yarn I already have.
It's not difficult - It a simple matter of using the finished measurements shown on the schematic (or the finished measurements required for the fir you want) and applying your own stitch and row gauge to those measurements, then adjusting for things like pattern repeat. For example, in the Waffle Pullover, the stitch pattern is a multiple of 2 sts, and this seamless, top-down raglan has 4 sections (front, back, and 2 sleeves), so adjustments to stitch count need to be made in increments of 8 stitches (2 stitches in each of 4 sections).
Is this more tedious than following a pattern as written? Yes. But I think it's worth it to get the sweater I want.
I appreciate your blog, all of it: the knitting, and the commentaries and links on books and what's happening. I enjoyed Orbital following up on your recommendation. Recently binge listened two David Wroblewsi books: Familiaris and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and just finished State of Terror, by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. Did a lot of spinning and weaving in the process. Oh, and nice sweater!
I read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle many years ago, and still think about it often. Just a great book, especially for dog lovers. I don't know Familiaris, but will add it to my queue.
Familiaris was recently published, but it's the prequel to Edgar Sawtelle. A long, but engaging listen, with quirky tangential stories. I think you'll like it!
I'm glad you enjoy my writing about knitting. And I understand if you choose not to follow me because of my occasional expressions of a political opinion. One of the benefits of our interconnected world is that everybody gets to choose what they do and do not want to read.
As a thinking human, I do have political opinions, and they are generally liberal/progressive. I believe in leading with kindness, I believe it is important that we build bridges instead of fences, and I believe the worth of our lives is measured by the care we give those less fortunate than ourselves.
I am amused that when readers don’t like something a blogger, podcaster, says, they feel a need to say they are leaving. Akin to slamming the door. Just leave. No big deal.
It’s Sandi’s page. And if you read her comment back, she graciously responds. Such a lovely person.
Good morning. I have completed session 2 of 3 of introduction to Crocheting class!!! My goodness, a challenge for my brain and fingers to work with this new skill. I will continue to practice..
thanks to you, I now have the freedom to knit for donations. I am really not knitting for others, but I love the process, so in the donation box they go!
I just finished reading The Frozen River, a historical fiction about a midwife in 1789. Her husband is friends with Paul (as in Revere). Also just found The Alice Network in our neighborhood Little Library. I loved Briar Club so much; am hoping this is also a good screen porch read.
Happy knitting and reading
I loved the Frozen River! And the Alice Network is also excellent. You're in for a good time.
And welcome to the world of crochet! I think the part of crochet that trips up knitters is that there are so many different places the hook can go to form a new stitch - it's not just stick the needle in the next stitch like is for knitting. You need to consider front loop only, back loop only. Post stitches and dip stitches add another layer of "now where do I stick the hook?" You can even go left to right instead of right to left!
YES!!! You are do right! For me, add to that, the tension. My knitting is very even and to gauge. So far, I am still working on a comfortable hold of the yarn! I shall get there.
Oh - and not a "beach read" gal, as you know. Loving a documentary on black holes right now. That's more my jam. :)
How is it possible we are such good friends when our tastes diverge so much? 🩷
For my half of this equation, I can say I greatly respect your intelligence, appreciate your kindness, and absolutely love your sense of humor! All the rest is just extra stuff!
On the trans issue, I'd suggest listening to these two episodes from the podcast Maintenance Phase. https://pca.st/episode/768cf9aa-40f4-4ab1-b887-812d4996b7cc
https://pca.st/episode/3e96663f-b2b6-4d47-9286-d14ab6bd66c5
(The podcast as a whole is marvelous!)
The NY Times has been instrumental over the past few years in spreading anti-trans rhetoric, and so it's a little disgenuous for them to come out now and try to do a "both sides" podcast.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I will listen to these episodes.
Thank you Tay for the links. Maintenance Phase looks to be an interesting website as well!
Well, maybe. Or maybe the Times has rethought their stance and decided that a more balanced approach acknowledging both sides would be better.
Firstly, that is a very lovely cardigan! I do believe you'll get a lot of wear out of it. Isn't it wonderful when you knit a sweater that you then find yourself wearing almost everyday. That usually only happens for me in winter, but still ... ;-)
Secondly, I'm excited that you'll be sharing your progress with the waffle sweater. I've put a moratorium on myself to not buy any more yarn so it will be helpful for read about how you adjust the pattern to your gauge.
Thirdly, not a day goes by when I don't feel the pain of losing yet another vital public employee to Trump's destructive forces. We went to our local No Kings protest on Saturday. They estimated 5,000 people in our (relatively) small city of Tallahassee. It was a great turnout. It was peaceful and it was fun and for a while I could hope.
Finally, thank you for the links. I might check out the retreat. I haven't been feeling very creative lately (too much of that energy going into protest signs) so maybe the retreat will give me a boost. Read far and wide about the hurdles that transgender people have to go through. I read a wonderful interview with Vivian Wilson (Elon Musk's daughter) in Teen Vogue. What a spitfire! Thank goodness she has a supportive mom, and she can be who she wants to be (which is no longer Musk's kid). As for my own reading, I've been listening to The Right Sort of Man, a bit of a romp with two women--one widowed, one single--in England post-WWII. They start a marriage service and very quickly find themselves deep into a murder investigation. Lots of twists and turns, good humor, and good character development. It's almost 9 hours so a bit long for a beach read, but it was fun!
Thank you for your kindness, and for taking a stand with your community.
I meant to mention that I was also in San Francisco during the earthquake in 1989. I was on a bus on the way home from San Francisco State U. At first I didn’t know what was going on. The bus had been parked to pick up passengers when all of a sudden it started bouncing. I thought something was wrong with the bus until I looked across the street and saw parked cars also bouncing. The walk home from the bus stop was surreal. We lived at 9th and Irving and I had to walk 10 blocks to our apartment. At every other block, long cracks appeared in building foundations. I was relieved to find my husband home. He was on his way home from running in the park when it hit. He said our apartment was a mess when he got home, enough of a mess that he quickly tidied up so I wouldn’t see it. We went up on the roof and could see the fires in the Marina District. I had been through earthquakes before (as you also must have being a native), but this one was enough to make me want to pack my bags. The aftershocks were so stressful. One time an aftershock knocked me off the toilet (sorry, probably too much information 😆).
We lived on the other side the park, at 26th and Clement. Our apartment was also a mess. My partner had a large salt water aquarium that fell of its stand. The living room carpet was saturated and scattered with dead or dying fish. We spent the next day cutting the sodden carpet into strips and throwing out the front window onto the sidewalk. Then we set up a charcoal grill on the sidewalk to cook up the meat from the freezer that had thawed in the power outage.
I've been through many earthquakes, but that was the worst.
A government run by those dismissed...I love it! I am finishing Muriel (my own pattern) in Jane and am enjoying the yarn. I purchased some Feederbrook Farm at H&H for the waffle pullover. I think I won't have to do much gauge fussing.
First off, the sweater looks amazing! Great fit - and a really beautiful texture! I am stunned by the firings happening - the most appalling recent one being Carla Hayden. Also, I'd like to be more informed about trans youth too. Years ago, I interviewed Diana, a trans woman, for a film I created - but she transitioned as an adult. I will have to dive into the info you shared.
I wonder if you could talk us through how you “rework stitch and row count”.
I look at conferences, workshops offered, and they don’t usually appeal to me. However comma, I really would like to hear how you preform this magic trip!
Just little by little. Every once in a while. Or however is the least painful for you.🤪.
I have lots of yarn I really love, many sweater quantity, that I want to use. I am familiar with going up or down a size because the gauge doesn’t match the gauge proposed by the writer. But beyond that it s trial and many errors and frogging.
Being able to do this smoothly is one of the marks of an expert knitter. In my opinion.🥴
Just a thought.
Also, I don’t know if it was your suggestion or just where I heard it, but Sipsworth is such a good read. Rebirth, grief, identity. So many big ideas in a simple story.
I'm happy to share how I work my way through these adjustments. But I need to be careful doing so on this project. The Waffle Pullover is not my design. It was designed by the brilliant Amy Christoffers for Modern Daily Knitting. Out of respect for the designer and publisher, I can't reveal a lot of specifics about the pattern. For that, you'll need to purchase a copy of the booklet in which the pattern was published. https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/mdk-field-guide-no-29-mosaic/
So here's my plan - as I work my way through this sweater, I'll show my work. I'll share my thinking and my calculations. It's likely to be just a little piece of the puzzle every week or two—not because I'm being coy, but because I'm working at a relatively small gauge, and this is a pretty big sweater. It's likely to take some time.
And thanks for the recommendation of Sipsworth! I don't know this book, but have added it to my queue.
That’s perfect. It gives one time to absorb the info.
I’m a member of the MDK Society so I get all their field guides.
Thanks for answering back.
We MDK Society members need a secret handshake!
Such a perfect summer cardi! You nailed the fit! :-) As others have said, the yarn choice for the 'waffle sweater' is looking good! Love that you are sharing how you are making the adjustments for the yarn change! Getting into the nuts and bolts of doing this, is how it is learned. My only suggestion is to go with a simple style the first few times to get a feel for where you need to have a 'heads-up' about what to consider. Like row count and as you mentioned an adjustment for things like short rows. The fun part is realizing the you can do this!! :-)
I really appreciated the video about the firing of Dr. Carla Hayden, the long time Librarian of Congress. Hate to think what that might lead to. As she states, The Library of Congress in not a lending library. It is for reference use by Congress.
As to what you share, I suppose if you were expressing Nazi tendencies, I would go somewhere else. I wonder if there are Nazi knitters, hmm. :-) Maybe chain mail?? :-)
Thanks for your kind words about the Cardi.
As to Dr. Hayden's firing, it illustrates how little the Trump administration understands about the purpose and value of some of our government institutions. It's alarming that they are so quick to tear things down without considering the consequences of those actions. It all seems so pointless and performative.
I agree Sandi. I am also very concerned about what could happen to our public lands and national parks under the current administration. And of course, the flora, birds and other wildlife these lands are protecting. There is much talk about no longer honoring the saving of these lands.
Libraries, food safety, medical research, education, the environment, disaster recovery, the arts in all their diversity and glory—it all seems to be in jeopardy.
As you said, it all seems so pointless, but also so painful for many of our fellow Americans. I don't believe it is just for saving money, or even to put money into the pockets of the ultra wealthy. What has been going on in LA and the plans to expand to other cities, should be an eye opener.
I do hope there will be a good turn out for No Kings Day this Saturday. Great day for a family or neighborhood barbeque! My Old Glory will be flying to honor the memory of my Purple-Hearted Marine Corp father who fought in the South Pacific for his country ... Our Country!
I finished Rebecca Chow's Corran cardigan this month. It has a similar (but more complicated imho) openwork stitch pattern. I used Plymouth Yarn Sea Isle Cotton, which is a 50/50 cotton wool. I am now knitting a "wool" tank top from the remaining skeins.
Corran is a lovely design, and yes, the stitch pattern is used is much lacier than mine. I've worked with Plymouth Sea Isle Cotton in the past, and it's a lovely yarn.
I love your swatch for the waffle pullover! I'm also so impressed by you being able to change the instructions like that... I need to get more comfortable modifying patterns to fit me or, as you say, to use up yarn I already have.
It's not difficult - It a simple matter of using the finished measurements shown on the schematic (or the finished measurements required for the fir you want) and applying your own stitch and row gauge to those measurements, then adjusting for things like pattern repeat. For example, in the Waffle Pullover, the stitch pattern is a multiple of 2 sts, and this seamless, top-down raglan has 4 sections (front, back, and 2 sleeves), so adjustments to stitch count need to be made in increments of 8 stitches (2 stitches in each of 4 sections).
Is this more tedious than following a pattern as written? Yes. But I think it's worth it to get the sweater I want.
I'd rather learn to do the somewhat tedious math than make another sweater that doesn't fit me the way I'd like! Thanks for explaining how you do it!
I'll be your cheerleader! You've got this!
I appreciate your blog, all of it: the knitting, and the commentaries and links on books and what's happening. I enjoyed Orbital following up on your recommendation. Recently binge listened two David Wroblewsi books: Familiaris and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and just finished State of Terror, by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. Did a lot of spinning and weaving in the process. Oh, and nice sweater!
Thank you for the kind words.
I read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle many years ago, and still think about it often. Just a great book, especially for dog lovers. I don't know Familiaris, but will add it to my queue.
Familiaris was recently published, but it's the prequel to Edgar Sawtelle. A long, but engaging listen, with quirky tangential stories. I think you'll like it!
I do like your writings about knitting....until i scroll down and see you get political. I will not follow you any longer.
I'm glad you enjoy my writing about knitting. And I understand if you choose not to follow me because of my occasional expressions of a political opinion. One of the benefits of our interconnected world is that everybody gets to choose what they do and do not want to read.
As a thinking human, I do have political opinions, and they are generally liberal/progressive. I believe in leading with kindness, I believe it is important that we build bridges instead of fences, and I believe the worth of our lives is measured by the care we give those less fortunate than ourselves.
I am amused that when readers don’t like something a blogger, podcaster, says, they feel a need to say they are leaving. Akin to slamming the door. Just leave. No big deal.
It’s Sandi’s page. And if you read her comment back, she graciously responds. Such a lovely person.
Oh my… I view her comments as just that “things that caught her eye”.. not political one way or the other.. in any case… take care.
Oh, that sweater is going to be gorgeous with the color shifts in Feederbrook Farm Yarn!