There’s always something to knit …

Sometimes I feel like the mythological Sisyphus (remember Camus’ essay from high school English?), rolling my own stone up the mountain as I try to sort out and make progress on the mountain of UFOs. I often say I just need periodic stimulation of something new, to break the monotony of stockinette (as in the Cobblestone Pullover for Son#2), but I suppose I have to admit to suffering from Knitting ADD …

I think that in the past week I’ve worked on at least 12 different projects (!!!), and finished only 2.

1. Completed: Another charity knit hat, teen or adult size this time, made with the never-ending patties of laceweight merino from Handpaintedyarn.com. Even with regular knitting sessions on the recumbent bike this one took too long. But I always managed a smile as I tried to work on it as I walked for errands about town – the hollow plastic cable on the cheap (Chinese) circular needles I used was usually too stiff to work with in the winter air.

2. Completed: a “kippah nipple” for The Nipple Project. This was something of a lark. I’m not sure how I stumbled across this “knittivist” project (if you can characterize as knittivist this tongue-in-cheek challenge of taboos associated with the female nipple), but I immediately took out the never-ending cones of silver metallic cord to whip up a nipple based on my usual kippah/yarmulke pattern.

3. Serious progress was made on my son’s Cobblestone Pullover. With so many projects in progress, I needed a few more stitch markers – which meant a quick trip to the bead shop and an hour with the pliers. I’m very, very pleased with the knitting genies I made, one of which guards the center-back stitch so important to Jared Flood’s pattern. I can smell the end of this project, but never seem to manage the time to sit with it in my lap – it’s just too large and the rows too long to work on in the typical short bursts of time I have.

4. The second of my Chevalier Mittens is nearly done! These are so much fun to work on – it’s hard to put them down, in spite of the fact that the cables demand such care (I’ve frogged more than a few of them a few times already).

5. My stash of sock yarn is overflowing, and a good friend wanted to learn to make socks. So I finally started a new pair of socks: Knitzi’s Nutkins, with one of Kaffe Fassett’s colorways for Regia. The pattern is easily memorized (perfect for mobile knitting), the yarn a pleasure to work with – pools pleasantly. I’ve decided to shorten the leg by two repeats. Ellen-the-tikkuntree-leaf-machine is learning with toe-ups (photos soon, once I’ve seen how she made out after our first lesson).

6. Ever on the lookout for slippers for our front hall hospitality basket, I started another pair of guest slippers. This time, revising the homely (but useful!) Pocketbook Slippers and Norling Kay’s Slippers – from simple rib to sophisticated (and warmer, firmer) twined knitting. Why repeat what one already knows when a new technique can be learned or applied?

7. I cast on the ubiquitous Shedir hat, thinking it would be a straightforward project for a friend with cancer. What was I thinking? The Cashmerino is a pleasure to work with, but the pervasive twisted stitches and cables demand far more attention than I expected to have to give. I’ll see how far I get this next week on the recumbent bike, which has a reading slot for the chart.

8. Another car project (there’s always the light over the passenger seat’s primping mirror for late night travel!) – a reversible cabled scarf. I think I started this for Son#1, who probably doesn’t need it – but his brother’s Cobblestone makes me feel guilty, and obliged to give him something approximating equal (knitting) time.

9. Designing and drafting always tempts me away from my needles. It was necessary to take a hard look at the Valentine Cables Hat – after repeatedly frogging and reknitting the from-the-top cable knotwork, I decided to rip the entire thing and read a few more books on cables. Sigh. I’ve been working on a circular version of the MillionVoices colorwork chart, and converting (finally) sketches of op-art designs to charts (both stranded and cabled). They’ll find there way to posts soon enough (or not, I suppose, if I can’t get the repeat to work over 6 or 8 wedges).

10. The synagogue’s knitting group met for its first evening gathering (a “Knit & Knosh“), and I quickly made a pair of Quick Baby Socks to demonstrate, and also  another Sweet Baby Cap  (the skein  had more than enough for two of these in the smallest, 6 mos. size).  The cap was a favorite  at the meeting,  so I expect to be coaching more than a few of these at the next meeting.

11. The TikkunTree Project is moving slowly. Each week I manage to have a conversation or two about its peace-ful intentions and needlework needs. I finished another Safed leaf, and am working on a couple of new designs, one cabled and the other stranded (examples and patterns coming soon).

12. Finally, my “kippah project” is still in the works. I’ve started a few to work out technical challenges (my brioche cables aren’t yet fit for prime time, but will be soon). I have a bobbled Bukharan kippah on the needles, but it also needs some tweaking. Some back-ordered (from last year), MCY wool & silk fingering/DK weight yarns finally arrived; their colorways are inspiring. Along with my collection of DK weight wool & sari silk colors, I’m looking forward to trying out a few ideas with them, …. when I have a few minutes down time.

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What if …. my knitting could sing for peace

What would happen if the moderate majorities in Israel and in Palestine demanded results from their leaders – if, with one voice, they called for ongoing, immediate, and uninterrupted negotiations toward a two state solution, to be reached on or before a given deadline – December 12, 2008? from, One Million Voices

What if moderate Americans supported the moderate majorities in Israel and Palestine, and demanded results from their leaders – if, with one voice, they called for ongoing, immediate and uninterrupted support for ongoing, immediate, and uninterrupted negotiations toward a two state solution, to be reached on or before a deadline acceptable to the moderate Israeli and Palestinian majorities? What if. Anyone can find out more about that moderate majority in Israel and Palestine by checking out: One Million Voices, to learn more about the One Million Voices Campaign and OneVoice’s Platform & Methodology

The work of this group prompts this knitting musician to maker some needles sing. Here’s my chart for the next project, based on the One Million Voices logo:

One Million Voices, hand in hand, on my hands. I expect to be making a pair of fingerless mitts just as soon as my sportweight Peace Fleece yarn arrives.

Add your voice!

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Hands and Hearts

There’s been small amounts of progress on many needlework fronts lately, and closure on a few smaller projects. Flu has kept me indoors more than usual, and there was a work-related trip to Boston, which has meant more knitting. I’ve been switching from project to project, small to large, fine to chunky, straight needle to circular, to see if the variety minimizes carpal tunnel symptoms. It’s hard to tell yet, as the condition seems to have stabilized at moderate chronic discomfort. Typing seems to aggravate it, so I’ve been slow to share progress on projects and ideas.

What’s been happening? I finally finished knitting the second of two pairs of Turkish-style slippers with SWS from the stash; these go quickly, and I look forward to seeing how they felt once I have a large enough pile to start the machine. I’ve also finished a pair of mitered booties a la Elizabeth Zimmerman the first of two new booties (for demonstrating mitered knitting techniques to the RS Tikkun Knitters), and I’m having a go at a new pattern available through Ravelry, Jolene Mosley’s Baby Shoes, a knitted knock-off of the standard cloth or leather booties on so many infants’ feet. I’ve used some merino worsted in the stash from Handpaintedyarn.com leftover from the felted clog fest a few years ago. The blue booties are as diminutive as the usual Saartje’s booties, and I’ve tried to enlarge the orange slippers by working with worsted and slightly larger needles.

Three ideas for the Patterns for Peacebuiders have been started and then frogged. I was particularly inspired by a cabled sweater that crossed my path one night on Ravelry, theyarnmonkey‘s gray man’s sweater – he’s set it aside as an “ugh” project, but I was inspired by the edge treatment, which reminded me of the columns of poplars and cedars I remember during a trip to Israel/Palestine long ago. This sweater inspired the idea to create a set of projects based on the flora of Israel/Palestine, starting with cedar and fig motifs. The test swatch with Peace Fleece’s Shabu Green just didn’t seem to work, so it’s been set aside for the time being (frogged before I remembered to photograph it, but theyarnmonkey’s is here).

Brioche berets seem to fly off the needles – they’ve become a standard project for the recumbent bike. The Rooftop Beret is worked in 4 sections. The spiralling Ying Yang Beret is my favorite of Nancy Marchant’s patterns, and this (second) one will go to auction for the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia.

When a Ravelry editor asked to use a photo of a hat I’d made last summer, inspired the vintage Five O’Clock Hat pattern,

I thought I’d best provide a proper example as well. My Kureyon striped hat was really only inspired by the stovepipe shape of the vintage version. The second one is was knitted with Rowan Felted Tweed doubled, which gave it fine weight (the pattern calls for a sportweight boucle). The strip of garter ribbing up one side works like ruching, creating the jaunty tilt (in the original). Unfortunately, I tried to be clever and close the top by “turning the heel”, so to speak, rather than binding off and sewing a seam. I’m not satisfied with the shape of the top, so it will just have to be reknit when there’s time.

There’s also the top-down Valentine’s cable hat I’ve been working on designing (cables have been the order of business for the past few weeks, now that I’ve finished the owl cap and Nottingham hats, and finally received my copy of Vogue’s Stitchonary, Vol. 2). Working out the interlocking knots was quite a challenge – at one point I was reduced to working with papercut images. I’m still not satisfied with the circular cables, but it’s been knit and reknit so many times that the merino has acquired cloud-lets of fuzz. My hands will be full of hearts for the rest of the week.

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