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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Yarn Along: Of Sweater Challenges and Yarn Clubs



It was a little crazy to try to finish a sweater for myself in a short month that has a major holiday in it. However, I was trucking right along on Driftwood, and had some hope. I've only made minimal changes, such as reversing the decreases on the sleeves to make them look better, working the sleeves before doing the bulk of the body, reducing the number of rows before beginning the waist decreases, and working those decreases much more aggressively to nip in at the waist (there was much hilarity from Rich when considering aggressive knitting), then I reduced the number of rows after the decreases so the welt would hit me exactly at my waist. I went one row past where I wanted, just so I wouldn't have to pick up sts from a row with decreases on it. Until this weekend, I was actually on track to be ahead, so I wouldn't have to worry so much about this week eating up my knitting time. Eating up. Ha! Then I got to the so-called pleat. First off, by calling it a pleat, there was confusion, as a pleat is at a 90 degree angle to what this actually is: A welt. And calling it a pleat means that it took a little extra work to find instructions on how to achieve it, since if I had done it as written, it would have been inside out, and I am a pretty good knitter. I know how to interpret instructions that are somewhat vague, and how to use many techniques to get the same results I want in knitting. This is not a common stitch pattern, and now I know why. It is a pain in the rear. I hate working the welt. I love how it looks, but I seriously worked on this one row - ONE ROW - from Saturday to now. It is simple to do. It isn't hard at all. But it is so fiddly and slow, and with my limited knitting time right now, I just couldn't get it to finish. Until today. And it took me all of seven minutes to purl back on the following row. I am so far behind now, and my only hope will be to be able to knit for many, many, many hours over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This is with two road trips in which I could knit in the car for long stretches, and one of which I had hours to myself alone in a hotel room while Rich was busy elsewhere. I need some sort of knitting miracle to finish this by the 30th. This whole pleat/welt thing, the way she titled it and barely described the technique, and how the photographs all show the sweater with a closure and there is nothing in the supply list and no mention in the finishing instructions about it at all. So, I'm knitting the bands (when I get to them, sometime in February) with a button hole on one side to use my sand dollar button. Those were things I think could have been better dealt with in the pattern. There was only one technical error in it (the number of sts decreased on the decrease rows was wrong, but the numbers shown for the following rows were correct), though, which didn't bother me. Anyway, I'm close to 70% through my NaKniSweMo project, and praying I'll be able to finish in time.

As I said, we had two road trips. And you know what that means: Yarn Souvenirs! I picked up two more skeins of the Abracadabra, color changing yarn, this time from cream to blue, nine skeins of a royal blue wool, and another skein of red mink laceweight on our first trip. On the second trip, I restrained myself. I picked up only two, instead of five, of the pomegranate silk and wool from Alchemy Yarns, it was half off, but even at that price, it was quite a lot, and I secretly wish I had picked it all up, anyway. I also grabbed two of the gradient packs in a worsted weight from Frabjous Fibers' Wonderland Yarns that will become an accessory for me or a garment for one of the girls. And only one of the laceweight yak and silk in the gorgeous poppy color. I had two in my pile, along with the three other skeins of the pomegranate, and heroically put four skeins back. Evidently, the weather has me looking for bright colors.

When we got home, the folks who had been staying with our kids and watching our house and animals had a pile of yarn goodness on my rocking chair. Two Magnolia Society sweater club shipments, one of my Magnolia Society yarn club shipments, and my Paradise Fibers' yarn club shipment, which included prize pack of a needle case, a tape measure, 12 labels for knits, and an interchangeable needle which I won for having the most adorable daughter ever. Really. I made Amira's ballet sweater out of club yarn, and I posted the photos and won for having the most adorable child/pet along with my club points for finishing. I was kind of relieved that Amira won over someone's dog. Anyway, since Amira was happy with her cropped hoodie as it was, I didn't undo the bind off and add any more rows. She has been happily wearing it to ballet over her leotard.

There was one more package that came yesterday, my second Magnolia Society yarn club shipment. There had been some dyeing problems so they had to redye and send them later than the other club packages. So here it all is. 47 skeins of yarn in two weeks!





Rich said he'd wear socks made out of the Mountain Colors Twizzlefoot (the muted rainbow yarn), so as soon as I am finished with this sweater, I think I will cast on a pair for him. I still have a sweater to seam, a blanket to finish crocheting, a sleeveless top to knit, and a design to get ready to photograph, not to mention a few smaller items I'd like to make, but I want to make him something. It's been a while since he has had hand knits, and since he doesn't really wear sweaters, only wears hats in frigid temperatures and I made him a hat a couple years ago that he still wears, never wears mittens, and rarely wears knit gloves, socks are really the best option for him.


Swatch for Amira, which needs testers in about a month.

I only have a couple testers for this design, and I know that Christmas knitting might be getting in the way of this. I'm still looking for testers so I can get the KAL/Test started in December. This is a woman's, sleeveless shell that requires seaming, but only two seams, one on each side. As you can see from the swatch, it involves texture and simple lace. The pattern requires standard chart reading skills, ability to increase and decrease, make yos, knit in the round, and pick up stitches. Right now, I'm working on my own top in a deep red. There are no specific brand requirements for the yarn, simply a DK weight yarn that knits up at 5.5 stitches per in in stockinette (the gauge for the top will be about 5.25 spi, but I want a yarn that will drape well at that gauge). I'd like to have at least two testers per size: 29", 34", 39", 44", 49" finished bust. Yardage requirements are calculated for each size, respectively, as: 790, 900, 1000, 1100, 1225 yds. This is still an estimate, however, so I recommend getting an extra skein of whatever you buy, or if you are using stash, making sure that you have an extra ball's worth of the yarn. I'll want you to join a Facebook group for testers, if you are able, but will strongly request a Ravelry entry, tagging me in it, and a link up when the pattern is released. The specific details will be given if you take this on for me. I will give the finished copy of the pattern to testers when the pattern is released, a percentage/amount off coupon to my Ravelry Store for those who complete the test, and a coupon for a free pattern for those who provide photos and link up to the pattern page. If you are able to do this, please contact me. Here's the weekly reminder to like Arabian Knits Designs on Facebook, if you haven't already. That's where I put updates and testing opportunities and other design news. Thank you!

Amira and I finished The Sanctuary Tree, and we started A Mustard Seed of Magic. We're almost finished reading The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 25th Anniversary Edition to the kids. I have been reading the most recent issue of Touchstone, and I think magazine articles are about the length I can handle right now. It's an excellent magazine that always makes me think.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:46 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 23, 2015

Menu Plan: Thanksgiving Week


We are not having any school this week, with the exception of Alexander who has two days of it at the college, so all we are doing is preparing for Thanksgiving. This year, we are sort of hosting. We are doing most of the cooking, and our friends are providing a house that is both larger and cleaner than ours. Another family, and perhaps another friend, will be joining us there. One nice thing about this is that I am not in a frenzy of house cleaning. Also, the other families are providing the hors-d'ouevres, some of the side dishes, and the drinks. And, they are taking care of the dishes! One family was asking what to bring and I suggested that if they preferred a sweeter cranberry sauce to my sharp/spicy relish, that they could bring that, but I don't know if they will. I also don't know if anyone has decided to make dressing/stuffing yet, so it's not on our menu plan. I decided to drop those, since they are the least favorite Thanksgiving dishes of our family. Everyone likes them, but not as much as they like the other things, so we always have quite a bit of it left over. Rich asked if I was interested in still making the wild rice dressing, but as it required my buying wild rice at a somewhat expensive price for something that might leave us with more leftovers than not, I decided against it. If I find some wild rice in the house, I might make a small amount for him this weekend, since he really does like it. I figure the mashed potatoes and turnips will provide enough of a starchy base for our casserole with what we have left over of those, and if not, I'll make some plain rice to add to the mix. I'm cheating a little with my one pie per person ratio this year. I'm making about 13 mini pies for most of the kids to meet the head count. That still means 11 full or larger size pies. And the kids will be able to have slices of the other pies, too, but this way, I won't break my record. It will be 24 pies plus Alexander's gingerbread and our friend's ice cream, so that's 26 desserts for 23 - 24 people. I can live with that.

Yasmina's name day is this week, but I'm not sure how we will mark it. Rich wants to make it to the Thanksgiving mass at church this week, but that is also still up in the air, as it depends on how much we have accomplished in the kitchen. Actually, I may suggest that he take some of the younger kids, or all of the kids, so either I can have real help in the kitchen, or no distractions. Anyway, we have a couple repeats this week, but mostly my goal is to cook just enough so we eat it all and don't take up any more space in the fridge than necessary, now that we are down to one fridge. Lunches are all leftovers this week - clear it out!

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. We read through all of the Old Testament and New Testament, reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice. Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings, I Ezra is also called I Esdras in other translations, II Ezra is often translated as Ezra or II Esdras, though this is complicated by it sometimes being I Esdras being Ezra in modern language and II Esdras being Nehemiah, and in that case, there is a III Esdras, it really depends on which translation you read).

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:59 PM 0 comments

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Menu Plan: November 15 - 21


I couldn't believe it, but our garden still had eggplant and green and ripening tomatoes (slowly), and even a single cantaloupe that was all still edible. So, we're finally finishing off our garden produce and using the last of it in our meals.

We had our last chance vacation this past week, that we try to do each year. We had to cut it short this time, because of our end of session at our co-op and a neighborhood harvest dinner. However, we had such a lovely time, and it was so good to be back "home" again. I keep hoping that this area will feel more like home, but in some ways I think that is harder for me and Rich, because it is so tied with losses. The loss of the job in the town we loved (the job went away entirely, so at least we didn't have to live with being laid off or fired), and, therefore, losing our postcard hometown, losing Rayan four years ago today. I think even if we had moved to Hawaii, we would still feel unsettled there. Even though everyone we've met here has been great, and it's really a great place for our kids. It's not better, but it is good. And we feel bad not feeling at home here because everyone has been so kind. Most people here tell us that it took them five years to love it. We aren't quite there at nearly six and a half years, but we don't hate it, and we do like it (except for winter). Anyway, today has been a rough day of remembrance for us being the anniversary of losing Rayan. It has also been tough for me because I'm remembering Kim's funeral and losing one of my dearest friends. It doesn't help that it's getting darker and colder every day.

Anyway, we're finishing the last week of our Michaelmas term and getting ready for Thanksgiving and our Advent term, so there is a lot of cramming going on here, too. I'm hoping that some celebrating with our family and friends at Thanksgiving will help give me the kick I need. Rich is such a blessing, as he remembers and mourns in his own way, but also gives me a little extra love on these anniversaries. The kids know, of course, but they don't remember the date like we do. So, it's a little private grief that we share, and some private love and care, too. I could use your prayers, if you can spare them. I'm trying to do things as simply as possible this week. Which is kind of a joke, but as far as our schedule allows, I'm doing it.

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. We read through all of the Old Testament and New Testament, reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice. Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings, I Ezra is also called I Esdras in other translations, II Ezra is often translated as Ezra or II Esdras).

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 4:16 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 09, 2015

Menu Plan: November 8 - 14


We have a pretty busy, crazy week this week. More than normal. So, we're doing some repeats and taking some short cuts. However, we're going to try to light some Martinmas lanterns this year, and we'll have our rolls in celebration. It's so appropriate that Veteran's Day falls on his feast day. And it's nice that it is one of the few federal holidays that Rich gets off of work, especially since he is a veteran himself. We take off liturgical feasts and some fasts from schools, and otherwise ignore the government's holidays and schedules, unless Rich gets the day off, then we join him. This is the first year that we've had to consider a school schedule other than ours, though, since Alexander's program is at the community college. So, we've rearranged some of our normal plans so he doesn't have to miss school, or only one day for one of them.

Anyway, this is the last week of our co-op for the term, but that means the end of session and potluck, and we have a neighborhood potluck, and next week ballet ramps up to take the place of co-op, as the three older girls are in a winter performance this year (not Nutcracker - we thought we wouldn't have two shows this year since it wasn't a Nutcracker year, but they added a winter cabaret). Then, of course, is the gearing up for Thanksgiving, and then Advent, and off we go! Oh, and Alexander will have finals, too! Somewhere in all of this, we need to get a pig butchered, and we need to butcher a bunch of turkeys. We have one in our freezer, so we definitely have a bird for Thanksgiving, but we have several that are slated for the freezer, and soon.

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. We read through all of the Old Testament and New Testament, reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice. Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings, I Ezra is also called I Esdras in other translations, II Ezra is often translated as Ezra or II Esdras).

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 2:46 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Yarn Along: NaKniSweMo







Amira's cropped hoodie is technically finished. It is knit, seamed, ends woven in, and steamed. Amira likes it, too. The top shot is her getting ready to go to ballet class. However, I'm thinking of undoing the bind off on the edging and adding a couple/few more rows to make the ribbing deeper and extend the hood a little, since I have enough yarn to do at least two more rows plus the bind off. What do you think?



Besides that, I am permitting myself to work only on my NaKniSweMo project, Driftwood, three design ideas I'm working on for self-publication, and seaming Cross My Heart this month. Have you heard of NaKniSweMo? I hadn't until last year, I think. It is much like NaNoWriMo, which challenges writers to write a novel of at least a certain number of words inclusively in the month of November. Only for knitting an adult sweater (or any sweater which has at least 50,000 stitches). My choice, which is not that large a sweater, is around 95,000 stitches, and I'm using one of my Magnolia Society sweater club shipments. I had a slow start on Sunday, with our festivities, but thought I was doing pretty well to catch up last night, at least to a point where I could catch up enough by Wednesday or Thursday - I'm aiming at knitting around 3170 stitches a day, which works out to around 14 - 18 rows a day, not that bad. I chose a sweater knit in one piece, at a larger gauge, five stitches to the inch, with only one closure and minimal finishing, to give myself a better shot (see the Cross My Heart, which has been awaiting seams for over 10 years). It actually seems doable when seen like that, but this photo is of where I was last night when I realized that I had made an error seven rows back that wasn't easily dropped back to to correct, so not only am I still behind, I am behind-er than I was. I stopped at that point, because I didn't want to stay up tinking, or threading a needle through the row seven below to frog. Perhaps a fresh day and a good night's sleep will get me further today.

There is only one error in the pattern, it says that a certain decrease reduces two stitches when it reduces (and should reduce) four, and there is nothing in the instructions even indicating where to put a closure, let alone how to do so. I'm using a lovely carved bone button that is made to look like a sea star. It was really pricey, but beautifully made, and I went back and forth on it, finally deciding that for one button, I could justify it. If I had needed 10 buttons instead of one, the buttons would have cost more than the yarn and the pattern book I bought put together. When Rich heard that, he said he was going to learn to carve bone and sell his work on etsy. I'm only making minor changes to the pattern. Based on others' recommendations, I am doing more aggressive waist decreases and, like I said, I'm moving the position of the closure to the waist from the neck. I think that's it, but I'll make note of any changes on my project page.


Swatch for Amira, which needs testers in about a month.

I will be needing testers in late November for a woman's, sleeveless shell. This requires seaming, but only two seams, one on each side. As you can see from the swatch, it involves texture and simple lace. The pattern requires standard chart reading skills, ability to increase and decrease, make yos, knit in the round, and pick up stitches. Right now, I'm working on my own top in a deep red. There are no specific brand requirements for the yarn, simply a DK weight yarn that knits up at 5.5 stitches per in in stockinette (the gauge for the top will be about 5.25 spi, but I want a yarn that will drape well at that gauge). I'd like to have at least two testers per size: 29", 34", 39", 44", 49" finished bust. Yardage requirements are calculated for each size, respectively, as: 790, 900, 1000, 1100, 1225 yds. This is still an estimate, however, so I recommend getting an extra skein of whatever you buy, or if you are using stash, making sure that you have an extra ball's worth of the yarn. I'll want you to join a Facebook group for testers, if you are able, but will strongly request a Ravelry entry, tagging me in it, and a link up when the pattern is released. The specific details will be given if you take this on for me. I will give the finished copy of the pattern to testers when the pattern is released, a percentage/amount off coupon to my Ravelry Store for those who complete the test, and a coupon for a free pattern for those who provide photos and link up to the pattern page. If you are able to do this, please contact me. Here's the weekly reminder to like Arabian Knits Designs on Facebook, if you haven't already. That's where I put updates and testing opportunities and other design news. Thank you!

Amira and I are still reading The Sanctuary Tree, the family is still reading The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 25th Anniversary Edition together, and I've only picked Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe up once.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 4:58 PM 5 comments

Monday, November 02, 2015

Menu Plan: November 1 - 7


We had a wonderful All Saints' celebration with a couple other homeschool families we know. There were 18! kids at our house carving pumpkins and turnips and eating tons of food and candy and apples as vehicles for caramel. There were six adults. I love that. Mostly the kids chose saint symbols and other such things for their saint-o-lanterns, but I forgot to take any pictures at all. We have a little less than three weeks until Advent begins again, and we're beginning to think of our reading and study and projects that will go on during that time.

Rich was able to finally find the right sized things (I don't know what they were) to stabilize our upper shelves in three of our cabinets in the kitchen, so we were able to take our holiday dishes from their little containers in the living room and actually put them away on the shelves. SO happy! He also pulled the last of our tomato plants out of the ground to hang upside down in the barn to see if we can ripen any more of the tomatoes before they go bad. We're still getting some summer squash and he found some peppers we'd missed, but last night was below freezing and, according to the weather shaman, there will be no more nights above freezing at our house through the end of the year.

Below, I include our daily Bible readings which we use to read through the entire Bible each year. We read through all of the Old Testament and New Testament, reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice. Remember that the Psalms are according to eastern numbering in our daily Bible reading, also I Kings is the original designation, it is I Samuel in western Bibles (II Kings is II Samuel in the west, III Kings is I Kings, and IV Kings is II Kings, I Ezra is also called I Esdras in other translations, II Ezra is often translated as Ezra or II Esdras).

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:26 PM 0 comments

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