November 27, 2009
~ Bianca's Pullover ~
Pattern: Bianca's Jacket
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (approx. 6 skeins)
Needles: US 7
Ravlink
This was a 14 - day sweater, possibly my fastest sweater of all time. I cast on the first stitches on November 13th and bound off on November 27th. Fourteen days for a sweater is fast, and particularly impressive considering that I was doing plenty of other knitting.
This is my Bianca's Pullover, a modified version of Bianca's Jacket. My initial cast on was 120 stitches. From there, I worked two repeats of the stitch pattern and then 11 inches of stockinette. For the sleeves, I cast on 44 stitches and worked in the stitch pattern for about 13 inches. Connected the sleeves and body and worked the pattern with circular yoke style decreases until it was about 13 inches circumference, at which point I worked two repeats for the turtleneck.
You may recognized this yarn from my Tweedy Waistcoat. The existing tension issues of that project were exacerbated after the yarn sagged and drooped over time with wear and washing. When I decided to unravel that project, I couldn't remember the last time I had had any desire to wear it; it had become so unattractive. I figured that it wasn't the yarn's fault that it had succumbed to some bad knitting, and decided to give it a new life.
I have wanted to knit Bianca's Jacket for some time and around about November 13th I decided that it would be a good project for the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. Because I've been customizing many of my cardigans lately to be pullovers, I gave into the inevitable and cast on for a pullover. I anticipate that if and when the yarn begins to droop, that it will form a nice drape in this pullover.
November 23, 2009
~ Honeybee Pullover ~
Pattern: Honebee Cardigan
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino, Neptune 1040 (5.5 skeins)
Needles: US 3
Ravlink
I finished my Honeybee over the weekend and am very happy with how it turned out. The pattern was very well written and it had a unique layout that I found particularly easy to follow. This was my first experience working seamless set-in sleeves, and I was delighted by how simple they were to knit. I always admire how nicely a good set-in sleeve looks, yet I hate knitting them. As such, the seamless version is a fantastic alternative.
Modifications: It may shock you to learn that my modifications were minimal. Along the borders, I used seed stitch rather than ribbing. For the sleeves, I initially cast on fewer stitches and did a dramatic increase to have a wee bit of a poof. Specifically, I cast on 54 stitches, worked in seed stitch for 1 3/4 inch, place stitch markers every 11/10 stitches and increased one stitch on either side of marker until 72 stitches, at which point I continued all the way up in stockinette. The final modification was to seam up the center to make it a pullover rather than a cardigan. I've been doing this a lot lately to my cardigans; I'm not sure why, I love cardigans. Hmph!
My Honeybee is ideal for late spring or early fall weather. The cold of weather is not its optimal season, what with merino sock yarn in an openwork lace pattern not being the most insulating fabric. I like how the Honeybee has potential to be dressed up for either fancy or casual situations - - I can imagine it with a pair of nice jeans or with my Grandmother's pearls.
As for the yarn, I'm curious to see how the Koigu holds up as a sweater. In my limited experience with this yarn, I've learned that it fuzzes easily. I hope to treat this sweater particularly careful to avoid fuzzing. I used about 5.5 skeins of the Koigu. Ironically, I was very worried that I was going to run out of yarn, which is why I made the length semi-cropped. I used about half a skein each for the sleeves, about four skeins for the lower body, and half a skein for the yoke and sleeve caps.
Finally, I apologize for these weird photos.
November 15, 2009
~ Trail 5, Fat Tire, Sidewinder ~
Today I took Elizabeth on a training ride. We agreed to ride today several days ago, and I had taken the time to mull over where to take her. I suppose that there's two ways of thinking about teaching someone to mountain bike: you can take the person on exclusively beginner rides and wait until they are totally comfortable with the easy trails before introducing them to slightly more difficult trails / / OR, you can introduce them to more difficult trails before they've become totally comfortable with the easy trails and just focus on being really encouraging. I've taken the latter approach.
So today, I had Elizabeth ride up Trail 5, along Fat Tire, and down Sidewinder, arguably not at all a beginner ride. Trail 5, in particular, has some pretty beginner-unfriendly climbs, yet Elizabeth rode them with sweet determination. Fat Tire, with its side drop-offs, rocky hillsides, and tight turns, is also not very beginner-friendly. Yet Elizabeth rode it.
For the most part, the trails were in good condition. Most of Trail 5 was especially glorious. Because the majority of the trail faces into the sunlight, the snow was gone but it was still frozen. Above is one of the few snowy parts of Trail 5. And even when it was snowy, traction was good. Fat Tire had a lot more snowy sections and also had some goopy muddy sections, but was mostly frozen. Sidewinder had mostly fantastic trail conditions. But as we started descending lower, the trails stopped being frozen and there was more sloppy mud.
It's also worth mentioning that, after a bit of coaxing, Elizabeth rode this small rocky section on Sidewinder. I was such a proud trainer!
As for the temperature, it was 45 when we left (with a 'feel like' temperature of 37). During the descent, my fingers and toes only started becoming cold and numb along Freeway and dropping over to the Military Reserve, mainly because we got more into the shade at that point. But my temperature comfort level for the ride was awesome.
~ biking through the cold and dark winter ~
Whereas mountain bike rides bring me significantly more joy than exercising at the gym, I have committed myself to riding despite the approaching cold and darkness of winter. Almost a year ago, I began reading Jill's blog and have been very inspired by the extreme conditions under which she continues to ride. Considering myself no wimp, I plan to ride in my comparatively less extreme conditions.
On Saturday, I spent quite a bit of time at REI selecting some extreme cold weather gloves, wool socks, and headgear to use for winter mountain biking. I also threw down some money at the bike shop on a better lighting system. I've been jetting out on rides right after I get off of work, but I keep getting caught in the dark. My single handlebar mounted front light doesn't give me sufficient depth perception - - so I got a powerful light for my helmet, which will allow me to see in the direction that I'm looking (which isn't always the direction that my handlebars are pointed) and having the two lights should help with depth differentiation.
That evening, after Josh had repaired two flat tires on his bike, we rode halfway up Rocky Canyon Road. I checked the weather before leaving, and it was at a 'feel like' temperature of 25, perfect for trying out my new gear.
The climb was great. I felt energized and the crisp air was invigorating. During the climb, Josh and I noted the ice on the road. He asked me if I felt comfortable descending on an icy road, and I said that Jill in Alaska rides on icy roads all of the time.
The decision to turn around at the halfway point was due to Josh forgetting to don his winter booties to keep his feet warm. His feet were already getting numb and he spent a few moments trying to stomp some blood back into them.
The descent was more freezing than I anticipated. My fingers and toes got really really really cold, despite my new gloves and my wool socks. I also crashed hard on the ice coming around a corner. I think I may have touched my breaks in the icy turn, but I don't know - - it happened so fast, as they say. I've now got a monster swollen bruise on my hip and lots of little bruises everywhere else, and my neck is really sore. But I couldn't be happier about not having to deal with an open wound, particularly on my knees (poor knees).
Anyway, Josh and I are going back to the drawing board for cold weather gear.
In other news, on Friday Josh and I rode the Tablerock Trails after I got off work. The sun was setting right as we got to the trails, and howling in the near-distance we could hear a pack of coyotes. We also saw a herd of deer. And at some point when I descended around a corner, there was a big dog standing in the middle of the trail. This is partly why I wanted a better front light system, to see the wildlife.
November 14, 2009
~ Otis ~
Pattern Basis: Drops 109-3 Jacket
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Navy, 8 skeins
Needles: US 7
Ravlink
This is Otis, a "grandpa"-style cabled comfort sweater. I used the Drops pattern as the foundation, and knit with a mind tuned to feeling bundled and cozy as the cold weather approaches. This is the sort of comfort sweater that I can wrap around myself, feeling soothed by its wooly warmth.
Mods: I worked a number of modifications into this project, to include using stockinette and seed stitch rather than reverse stockinette, working the main cable motif up the full jacket, and incorporating a braided cable. Instead of raglan shoulder shaping, I used circular yoke style decreases and eventually worked just the front cables, bringing them together to have this cozy collar instead of the hood.
Some specifics: I cast on 190 stitches for the body, executed some waist shaping until there were 170 stitches. For the arms, I cast on 40 stitches and gradually increased to 50 stitches. I connected the body and arms, cast on 2 stitches on either side of each armhole, and evenly decreased 8 stitches along the stockinette and seed stitch portions on every RS row, for the next 48 rows, ending with 86 stitches. I then marked the halfway point along the yoke and continued working just the first cable motif, while at the same time knitting it together with the remaining stiches of the yoke. At the halfway point, I grafted the two cable motifs together.
The yarn is soft enough for next-to-skin contact, yet has a nice wooly feel. The dye bled a lot during the knitting process - - turning my needles and my fingers blue. I've read that this yarn pills excessively, a prospect that makes me sad. I intend to take extra special care of this to avoid such pilling. I'd also like to point out that I blocked the sweater extra wide, as my guage swatch was a little off.
November 11, 2009
~ midweek knitting update ~
To begin this knitting update, I'm excited to show off my new scarf, a project for which I spontaneously cast on a few weeks ago. It's a modified version of the ever popular Noro Striped Scarf by brooklyntweed - - the modification is found in the construction being doubleknit rather than k/p ribbing. Ever since my Cheesehands, I have been inspired by the possibilities for doubleknitting.
Pattern: Doubleknit Striped Scarf, modified from Noro Striped Scarf
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden and Berocco Jasper (2 skeins each)
Needles: US 8
Ravlink
This scarf was a good opportunity to use some yarn that has been in my stash for a long time. I combined Noro Silk Garden with the Berocco Jasper with satisfying results. The Jasper adds softness to the (sometimes scratchy) Noro, and the color variations add interest. Because it is doubleknit, the scarf is thick and cozy, but not dense. Overall, I love it.
Over the weekend, I did something that might seem horrifying to some. I unravelled my Tweedy Waistcoat to reuse the yarn for another project. Over time, the yarn (Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed) droops and sags exessively with wear and washing. On the waistjacket, the top portion and the sleeves drooped and sagged significantly different than the lower portion with the colorwork. The result was a very unattractive sweater that I never wanted to wear. Now that I understand the droop-factor of this yarn, I'm hoping to use that to my advantage to create a sweater with a nice DRAPE (not droop).
After considerable thought and investigation, I've decided to knit a modified version of Bianca's Jacket. The plan is to knit this as a seamless bottom up pullover (sorta-tunic style to take advantage of the DRAPE), cropped sleeves (so that when the DRAPE sets in, the sleeves won't extend to my knees), and a funnel neck collar (hopefully, the DRAPE will look awesome).
Here's the status of my Honeybee Cardigan.
I have really enjoyed knitting this pattern in this yarn. I have almost completed both sleeves and have a little bit more of the body to do before I start to work on the sleeve shaping. One of the main reasons why I bought this pattern (other than it being such a pretty cardigan) was because it uses seamless set-in sleeves, which I have been wanting to learn how to knit for some time. So far, this pattern has been very well written that I have confidence I will have no difficulty learning a new sleeve construction.
Finally, I've got two finished sweaters I hope to show off soon: my Open Range and my Otis. I finished blocking Open Range over the weekend and Otis is still drying. I hope to have an opportunity to take photos of them in the sunlight this weekend. I am delighted by how awesome they both have turned out. Also, I hope to have a draft of the Open Range pattern done over the weekend so that I can see about having it test knit.
November 8, 2009
~ Wilson Creek, Owyhees ~
On Saturday, I went on a group ride along some of the Wilson Creek trails in the Owyhees. As my date, I brought Elizabeth. Also in attendance was Karen, Peggy, Dan, Paul, and another dude. Paul was our navigator and was able to show us some exceptionally awesome fun trails in the area.
We parked at the first parking lot on the right on Wilson Creek Road, before the cattle feed lot, and rode up a narrow dirt road that branched off from that parking lot. After just a brief stint on that road, we veered left onto a faint cow path, which was covered in thick sage brush and the skeletons of bramble weed bushes, both of which continually got caught in everyone's bikes.
After a while, we found ourselves on a piece of legitimate singletrack that took us through something of a canyon area. Here, the sage brush was very thick and overgrown along the trails. I received quite a good bit of exfoliation along my legs thanks to the branches scraping along my flesh. The trail itself was turn-ney and decently interesting. It had some abuse from cattle grazing, but was still very ridable.
Eventually, this trail took us back to Wilson Creek Road, where we had couple solid climbs before the next trailhead. Climbing, for me, can feel so good and satisfying. In the above photo is the beginning of the first climb up the mountain, and the group beginning to tackle it.
By the time everyone reached the summit, it was necessary to don windbreakers - - there was a chilly wind blowing and the sweat built up from the climb served to make everyone pretty freezing.
At the summit was a trailhead off to the left which we rode. There was a trail marker, I believe for TW300 or something. This trail was totally rock and roll to descend. It had plenty of roller coaster action, lots of fun turns, and some fun-but-challenging obstacles. There were a few steepies (see below) and some awesome rock steps. Overall it was so much fun and I am looking forward to returning to the area.
Afterwards, I took the group to Freddy's Taco Stand in Marsing. More photos on my photoset
