WIP: Lilo's Patterned Cami

This is the cami front I started while watching the Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final. Two more nights of tv knitting, and I finished it. There's no pattern - yet. I'll write it up afterwards. I just followed the shaping of one of Lilo's t-shirts with an inch added to the width, so she can wear it up to next year. I made the neckline a V to follow the pattern that just showed itself on the bottom panel.

Here's the back panel started. I ran out of variegated cotton so I had to return to the mall to buy another ball.

Anchor Lifestyles crochet cotton is pricier than my usual brands, Cannon and Monaco, about P52 (USD 1.07) compared to the usual P35 (USD 0.72). Mind you I'm comparing mall retail prices, since I'm not buying in bulk. Anchor, like Cannon and the local Red Heart, is made by Coats Manila Bay, Inc. "The only ISO 9001 certified thread company in the Philippines." This is the very lovely colorway KAM17 / 210783 / 65-PHHT. It's supposed to be a size 10 thread, but it's just very slightly thinner than Cannon or Monaco. Softer than Cannon, with more sophisticated colors.

I'm using US size 2 (2.75mm) bamboo circular needles, which give me a gauge of 9 stitches by 12 rows. I think my Addi or Inox 2.5mm circular needles would give roughly the same gauge. Again, it's all stockinette and shaping. No fancy stitches. It'll expand sideways to accommodate at least 10 months worth of child growth.

Stay tuned, folks, I might finish it by Wednesday.

Needles Clicking Again!

I know, it's strange when Knittipina is quiet. I was sick of the flu most of last week and spent last weekend trying to get the knitting groove back.

Spent some time spring cleaning too, and to my horror found three undocumented projects that never took off the ground. I promptly frogged them and rewound the yarn. Sometimes when you start something offhand and don't make notes of what you were planning to make, it's hard to get up the motivation to continue with it, especially since you can't remember what it's supposed to be or who it's for. They were left untouched for far too long.

I am looking evilly at my bookcase. Some of the old books there will be donated to a provincial library, to make space for my knitting books, stash and general paraphernalia. The spring cleaning will be thorough! Well, it will take a while, but I need to reorganize my little universe (reclaim rest space, reduce clutter, repurpose items, make space for items on my general wish list).

In the meantime, I continue with Mimi's cappuccino socks...

WIP: Lilo's Cotton Hooded Cardigan

(Account follows Knitting Everywhere: At The Hospital.)

Here's the pic with the finished first sleeve! I am halfway through the second sleeve as I write. I'm surprised that it actually looks like a REAL kiddie cardie already (and I haven't even blocked the pieces yet). Remember, this is my first knitted garment from a book pattern.

Here's another shot (on my mom's shawl):

Am quite pleased. More progress pix as I go along!

Knitting Everywhere: At the Hospital

It's Nanay's 5th day at the hospital. In 3 hours she will have her gall bladder removed because of a pesky gall stone. As the unmarried daughter, I've been her appointed company and attendant. I brought my ASUS eeePC with me to the hospital so I could finish working on an ad for a November conference, but apart from that I haven't been online much, because... I've been knitting.

Nothing beats what I'd call "captive" knitting -- the knitting you do when you are compelled to stay in one place for a certain period of time. I mean, there's cable tv at the hospital, but one can't just sit and watch all day. One must be productive. (I couldn't surf on the internet all day either; wifi is free at this hospital wing but the signal I'm getting is pretty weak. I've been using my cellphone as a modem for about an hour at a time.)

Good thing I brought my knitting. I had a cone of Monaco 6-ply natural color cotton yarn that's like a thinner version of Lion Brand's Cotton Ease. I'm making a basic vanilla hooded cardigan sized for 3yo Lilo (sized for a 4-6yo, so she'd get more wear out of it). The pattern is from Sharon Turner's Teach Yourself Visually Knitting Design. What a wonderful, very precise book! The moment I arrived at the hospital, I started with the back piece. As of today I've completed the back, the left front, the right front, and one sleeve. I've got the other sleeve, the hood, the button plackets and a couple of pockets to go. And assembly of course. Incredible Joie will add the brightly colored crochet appliques and other decorative trim. After this I'm considering making a mommy version for her.

(Second photo taken at night.)

While at the hospital, my dad brought the bamboo knitting needles that I'd ordered a month before from eBay. I'll save that for another blog entry. *happiness*

Nanay and I have been bonding. Incredible Joie brought her a small sketchbook and she's been drawing the (smoggy) view from her hospital window.

Am I apprehensive about my mom's upcoming procedure? Not really. She underwent a gastroscopy like a trouper (fiber optic camera down the esophagus check to rule out ulcer as main cause of abdominal pain). Our family talked about the gall bladder removal and we convinced her that it's better to have it done now than when she's older and heals slower. We opted for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy instead of a standard big incision. The "lap-chole" involves making 3 or 4 small holes through which the surgeon inserts a tiny camera and various robotic surgical tools. At least that's how I imagine it would be; I remember seeing something like this on the Discovery Channel. The small holes ought to heal faster than the big incision, with less post-operative pain. We expect she'll be right as rain after 3 or 4 days. We're not too worried, because this procedure has been done successfully in the Philippines for the past 7 years. The surgeon she's been assigned to has done a prominent local figure or two.

I figure by the time Nanay is fully healed this hooded cardie will be DONE! Will post pix as soon as it's assembled and decorated. This project actually has a few fans among the nurses already. They've been coming in every 3 or 4 hours to check my mom's -- and the project's -- vital signs!

WIP: Pavel's Olive Merino Socks

Yesterday was a national holiday, Eid al'Fitr (the start of Ramadan). I managed to finish the first sock. I really enjoy knitting with merino! So relaxing, much more so than with cotton. After knitting with cotton I need to stretch my fingers every once in a while.

Here are some pictures I took with my ASUS V80 phone, while waiting for my dad at the dentist's (he likes to have me around for "molar" support, hehehe). The first two pix don't use flash, I manipulated the brightness and midtones to make the cable details pop out. The last one used flash. It doesn't look so bad, except for the lopsided flashing (2mpx cellphone camera, but one day I'll do better). All photos use macro mode for better close-up detail.

I'm using 2.75mm / US size 2 needles, as recommended by Ann Budd. Knitpicks! (The Addis are on the tv knitting.) The size here is for a child's medium with a 6.5-7" foot measured from toe to heel. Pavel is 4 years old but has big feet. I'll see what I can use to block it with. Maybe the nifty corrugated plastic I saw at the bookstore (in office supplies), cut to shape.

One day I'll get me some sock blockers, the nice wooden ones like they have in Ravelry. They don't have to be fancy. They just have to be the right size. Or... I'll ask our friendly furniture repairman (the one who made Incredible Joie's nostepinne from a chair leg).

Knittipina Report 001

This last week was my little niece's birthday week, so things have been a little topsy-turvy around the house.

Incredible Joie was a little freaked about the tainted Chinese milk business, so instead of crafting or blogging this week she has been madly researching distributors of infant milk brands here in the Philippines. As a result, Lilo's birthday party is milk-candy free (no White Rabbit, folks *sadness*).

Our Tita Nora D. passed by the house recently, visiting from LA. She's leaving Manila in November, so that gives me time to make some cable rib merino socks for her grandchild. The 3yo Pavel is German-Filipino, son of our close friends Annie and Ingo, who are based in Germany but are spending Christmas in LA. According to Annie Pavel's feet measure 6.5" from toe to heel, which would make his socks a child's medium (according to Ann Budd's book). Since baby merino is the only sort of appropriate sock wool available locally, I'm using olive green. (My other baby merino yarns in the stash are in pale pink and cream, and Joy's using her cream one for Annie's crocheted scarf.) As of this writing I'm 75% done on the first sock.

It's a weekend, and I'm enjoying my dose of TV series, so I would need some mindless knitting to keep my fingers occupied, right? When I started this blog I wanted to make a free-style tank dress for Lilo, using a buttery yellow Cannon crochet cotton. After an inch or so I realized it would be a drag to knit two sides, sew them together and finish them off with a crocheted border. So I frogged it. Then I cast on again and tried a circular knit this time. Only I used circulars that were too long and it became a drag to Magic Loop something that's supposed to be 30" in circumference. Yes, there's a reason why Magic Loop is recommended for SMALL circumference knitting. I frogged it again. All this frogging was frustrating but also part of the learning process: a knitter should find the most efficient technique for whatever he/she is knitting. Good thing I remembered my 16" Milward circulars, and they were the very thing for the project (although the bent ends ala Boye and the join really annoy me).

By now you must be wondering, what pattern am I using? The pattern should be what's most efficient. Ordinarily it is, but I wanted TV knitting. Which means, right now, no pattern: just knit a basic tank-dress, using stockinette and some shaping, and then embellish later with crochet or crocheted appliques. Why the crochet and crochet appliques? This is for Lilo, this is sister-bonding crafting. Incredible Joie does the crochet. She can embellish the plain vanilla knit dress with whatever she likes. Give it some personality. A mom knows her kid best. That's how we divide the work. We were able to do it the first time around with Lilo's coral babydoll blouse.

The ballet slipper project is temporarily shelved because of the Pavel socks.

Amy is requesting local knitters to make hats and scarves for Mongolia, to be sent through her sister who's coming home from San Francisco in February. I have never knitted a hat before, but maybe it's about time to learn. Besides, we're going to Baguio end of January, someone in the family might like to wear a hat there too. Amy would like everyone to check out WarmWoolies.org, a charity knitting site whose latest campaign is to send items for orphans in Mongolia. I don't have a lot of wool, actually, but it says in the guidelines that you can use acrylic for a baby blanket.

This is definitely an eye-opener for a lot of knitters like us outside the US. Knitting for those close to you is an expression of love, but knitting for people you don't know really extends the boundaries of love. Of course you only knit what you can, how you can, but think that a worldwide effort gives your participation a bigger picture. Isn't it great that you can help people and enjoy your hobby at the same time! Of course critics will say, why don't you do that here at home first? So many people have been victimized by floods and storms! Baby steps, dear readers. One day Amy and the rest of us will learn how to do it properly for here. Let's say right now donations get too politicized for our taste, and knitters might get frustrated and fatigued. Baby steps.

I have also started moderating at a local tech forum where I have been an active member for some time now. I'm not an IT professional, by the way. But I think there is a role for intermediate-level tech users who have ventured into areas where newbies fear to tread: software tweaking and hardware configuration. People who save money by doing the easier things themselves. We're relatively easier for newbies to approach, don't you think? I'm one of three such mods trying to attract more participants into the discussions: first-time gadget owners, parents choosing gadgets for their children, more GIRLS. The tendency is for these kinds of forums to be populated mostly by guys, but we're going for more balance. These days, GEEKY IS HOT! My current role model: blogger Gina Hughes, the TechieDiva.

Over the past few nights my guilty pleasure has been reading the books that I recently got. My fellow Pinoy Raveler Jinky and I were discussing fun topics like size conversions, yarn substitutions and dyeing, and out of curiosity I tried to find out how we could do things here in Manila. We don't have a lot of wool available to local knitters, but then I aim to find out other unpublished sources. I won't be deterred by the idea that I can't make something because I can't find yarn or needles to produce the right gauge. The size conversions, however, was a great discussion, because it led me to re-examining The Knitting Fiend online knitting calculators. Going over my books I realized that getting Debbie Stoller's Stitch n' Bitch Nation (apart from Ann Budd's Getting Started Knitting Socks) was one of the best investments ever. Why? She simplifies knitting as a process and makes sure crafters have a RELAXED, practical, and fun approach to knitting. A lot of knitters are discombobulated by the math involved in adapting sizes different from what is in the patterns (if other sizes are not provided specifically). They get wistful or tense. I was one of them. If I were you, I'd read and re-read the chapters before the actual patterns. Debbie Stoller, you just removed the woolly gauze from my eyes!

WIP: Prototype Ballet Slipper

Like I usually do on weekends, I surf Ravelry and other sites for free patterns within my skill level that appeal to me. Now that I basically have top-down basic socks well in hand, I wanted to try other shapes, like Pocketbook Slippers by Lisa Vienneau and Allison Barrett. The pattern is also available here. My feet are small and narrow, and while I haven't actually started that particular pattern, I also wanted to learn knitting toe-up basic socks.

The toe-up pattern here is a mishmash of things I've learned, which I wrote to fit my own foot. While I haven't done things scientifically (as in specifically write steps down row by row as I knit them, counting and all -- I only have a shorthand index card) I can at this point give you a basic outline if you want to modify something for your own foot.

Pattern Outline:

1) Magic cast-on from Knitty, using an 80cm circular needle.

2) Toe increases.

3) About an inch of stockinette rounds from toe increases. Or your preferred shoe entry depth.

4) Divide instep stitches into 3. Knit first third with first dpn, bind off middle third, knit last third with next dpn, place heel stitches on last dpn. Dpn 4 is the working needle.

5) For instep stitches, your selvedge will always begin with a slip 1, whether knitting or purling. Knit or purl heel as usual.

6) As you work try on the slipper. Slipper body should reach up to an inch before your heel ends. Leave stitches on instep dpns unworked.

7) Round heel shaping as usual.

8) Heel flap either plain or reinforced depending on your preference (not a very deep one for my foot).

9) When it's time to join the instep stitches to the heel flap, you will notice a gap that forms between the heel flap and the instep stitches. To address that, knit together (or skp) the last stitch on the heel flap and the first stitch on the instep needles nearest. Knit 1. Turn. Knit across and do the same thing on the other side (instead of skp, p2tog). Purl 1. Turn. And so on. Just keep doing this until you knit the last of the instep stitches and are working with only 2 needles instead of 4.

10) Bind off back of slipper. Instead of cutting the yarn, do a single crochet beginning from the last bind off loop. The single crochet will go around the selvedge of the slipper.

11) Use bright contrasting yarn, add details. Present crochet chain is 18". If you want it to go around the ankles, I suggest you crochet 30".

This slipper is made up of exactly one small ball of choco brown Red Heart worsted weight acrylic yarn, plus some contrast color for decor. It took me just under 4 hours. I had to knit AND unravel AND write shorthand, and do finishing carefully. Maybe less if I memorized it already.

Notes: For my foot cast on should be about 10+10 stitches on a circular. This one is 12+12, which makes for a wide square toe. Body stitches follow a 20 instep +20 heel total.

Rewriting as I blog before the lunch break. Will do the other slipper tonight after dinner. With the 30" chain to go around the ankle. Joy wants to wear it at the Little Gym when she plays with Lilo. Just to feel like Gymnast Mommy. As for Lilo, I still have to trace her foot. Hers will be a princessy pink.

I want to try the same thing with mercerized cotton, possibly 3 strands together. So excited!

Work In Progress: Maize Cable Scarf

When I started knitting this scarf I thought it would be for Tristan's birthday, but when I showed it to Joy, she suggested it would be better for our dad PEC, who might actually need it and use it more each time he travels to Baguio.

Given that the stockinette stitch makes the edges curl, I will try to block it properly before presenting it to him. There's roughly 17" length knitted so far (I did the first 15" in one afternoon while watching the CSI Sunday Marathon on AXN). The cable stitch is "Coiled Rope". I cast on 45 sts using a double cast on (slingshot style) which should create a width of 9". The tension is not too tight. Most likely I'll use up both 100g skeins of Lion Brand Cotton Ease Maize from my stash.

It is so incredibly soft!!! I'll post more pictures when I finish and block. Hopefully that's by this weekend.