WIP Wednesday

On November 14, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIPLeave a comment

The progress on my Striped Esjan is slow but steady! I’m nearly ready to make the switch from body to border. I may have to stash dive again to come up with more color choices. We’ll see…this sucker is definitely eating up the yarn!

I’m still spending most of my time preparing for the SFEtsy Holiday Emporium! I feel a Bah Humbug coming on…

Here’s the details, if you’ll be in San Francisco Thanksgiving weekend!

Now, back to the stitching and the booth building! There’s still loads to be done!

Artist in Residency

On October 30, 2018October 30, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Misc3 Comments

This week, I’m the Artist-in-Residency at a lovely, quiet retreat in the sunny hills of Santa Clara. Aka, cat sitting out in the burbs. We started our time together with an afternoon photo shoot. The boys cooperated…at least for a few minutes.

They’re friendly kitties so I had a shadow all afternoon. Like when I scoped out the chainlink fence as a potential cross stitch photo spot.

I got a late start so I missed the best light but this was a good practice run. I’m always looking for new places to take Etsy photos. A backyard with a bunch of random stuff in it, is a treasure trove of spots, just waiting to be discovered. Like the random carpet or this great wall…

In the city, we’d call this a park!

Maybe the ‘burbs aren’t so bad! I mean, how can I be mad when I’ve got a driveway to use all week!? It’s been decades since I’ve known that feeling! Woooo!

A New WIP

On October 29, 2018October 29, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Casting On, Shawl, WIP7 Comments

It’s been a busy week! Without my cell phone camera roll, I’d never be able to remember it all!

Partially because I’ve imposed a ‘no knitting at home’ rule for myself as I prepare for the upcoming Etsy Holiday Emporium. I’ve got lots of cross stitching to do and that doesn’t travel well. It made the divide seem easy…cross stitch at home and then get my knitting fix with a travel project whenever I’m out and about.

Turns out, I really still want to knit and I’ve been able to come up with lots of excuses to leave the house! LOL!

When I left you last, I was contemplating this swatch. It’s not bad but I wanted something better than ‘not bad’. In a rush out the door, I grabbed a few half balls that were calling to me and this swatch was born.

It’s perfect – irresistible fall colors! I could not wait to get my needles clicking on this one! It’s a Stephen West shawl (of course!), Striped Esjan. It’s been in my queue for a long time. I’ve emulated it’s loopy edge is several of my own shawl explorations. I’ve certainly thought about it enough. It’s about time I actually knit one!

It’s been a great carry along project. Once I got started, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve taken it to the movies, to the beach, to the park, several bars. Yes, I’m finding plenty of excuses to take it out of the house. So much for rules, eh?

FO Friday – Nephew Sweater

On October 20, 2018October 20, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Nephew6 Comments

My latest Nephew Sweater has been sent off. Fingers crossed that it fits just right! I’m pretty optimistic that he’ll be able to wear it for a couple months! And, I sent him a new little October friend too!

So what’s next? A big old holiday panic! It’s not even mid-October anymore…it’s late October. There’s a Christmas sweater to think about, more stuffies, definitely more hats and cute little baby mittens to make!

At least, I’ve decided no stocking. Despite having a special heirloom Christmas stocking, crocheted by a family friend, when I was born, I do not plan to bestow that gift upon my Nephew. No, I’m definitely going in a different direction with baby’s first “ugly” Christmas sweater. It’s gonna be a good one!

And then, there’s this…

I’ve been accepted into the SF Etsy Holiday Emporium! Wooo! I applied with my snarky cross stitch this year, instead of knitting. I’ve been denied with knitting in the past. They were really doing me a favor. No one buys knitting but still, it was disappointing. So, I’m excited to get accepted this year! Wooo! Now, to get to work.

It’s a month off, which is plenty of time to prepare. The impacts on holiday knitting will be severe, though. Knitting time will be limited for the next couple weeks. That isn’t stopping me from swatching though. I’m itching to get something on the needles…even if it’s just a swatch!

FO Friday – 3 Color Cashmere Cowl-esque

On October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, FO Friday3 Comments

My 3-Color Cashmere Cowl is done! Whoo Hoo! It’s a knock off of Joji’s cowl pattern. The original is fingering weight and my yarn was dk weight. I figured if I was adjusting gauge, I might as well adjust a few other things. I started with a little diagram of the original cowl and used that as my guideline.

The farther along I got, the more I diverged from the plan. I think I captured the feel of the original cowl though.

Too bad summer has finally come to San Francisco…it’s nearly 80 degrees out! Oh well, it’ll get cold again soon enough! I’m thinking chilly thoughts, if nothing else.

Etsy put out a trend report for the coming holiday season. After reading it and listening to the Etsy trend expert on a podcast, I’m feeling rather festive. I worked up a couple Christmas cross stitches. The trend expert called out ‘Christmas Clutter’, bold fonts and 90’s nostalgia. I don’t usually go out of my way to be trendy but I’ve been working on the fonts already, so why not add a little Christmas flare, too.

Happy October, eh?

Sweater Weather

On October 11, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Nephew, Sweater, WIP3 Comments

Once I got beyond the sleeve divide, yesterday, it was smooth sailing. I made it through the body of my nephew sweater no problem. When I got the bottom, I added another feature, designed to aid in long term wearability.

A split hem. Hopefully this will allow little man to wear it longer. I’m also going to extend the sleeves, so they can be rolled up and then unrolled as he grows. Hopefully he’ll get to wear this one into the new year. Fingers crossed!

Of course, it’s time to knit all the sweaters! Sweater weather is the best. I’ve got a holiday sweater in mind and he’s definitely going to need a grandpa sweater for the winter. Maybe something with elbow patches. I love a good elbow patch.

For Throwback Thursday, I submit this photo of my favorite elbow patch sweater (taken 20 years ago next week, on my 21st birthday)! You can’t see them, but rest assured, they were the perfect leather patches, soft and just the right color. I loved this sweater…a lot. I lost it at a blizzard party a few months after later. I didn’t knit it, but still, I was saddened by it’s loss. It was a great sweater.

Here’s another sweater with an interesting use of leather. I spied it while watching Kingpin, the second best bowling movie of all time. I’m undecided on whether it’s a great sweater but there is no doubt, it’s got an interesting construction.

It’s got the leather panels down the front. They evoke a certain time period, which is what they’re going for. This is supposed to be a scene from the 70’s. That’s not the interesting construction though. Those cable bands are what caught my eye. I think, they’re an appliqué, sewn on after the fact. The band looks rather stiff. The sweater shows folds from movement but the band is solid.

The close shot really confirms it for me. You can see the base sweater and the cable band are distinct from each other. The usual tension you’d see at the cable row is non-existent. You get a clear look at the band too. It’s not even really cable knit. It’s two pieces twisted together and then sewn on.

That is an interesting design choice. Why would they do that? Would a hand knitter do that? No, I don’t think a hand knitter would. I think it must be a decision based on industrial production. I can’t imagine it’s a feature of design. I’m going to assume it’s a feature of convenience. What else could it be?

The longer I look at this one, the closer I get to declaring it a great sweater. It certainly makes me think I should be checking goodwill for sweaters more often. This would be a great vintage find! Perhaps I’ve found my afternoon adventure…

WIP Wednesday – Tweed Season

On October 10, 2018October 10, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Nephew, WIP3 Comments

It’s only one tiny thing, in a long list of things but I fixed my knitting! Wooo! My tweedy nephew sweater is back on track!

It’s not often that I rip out all my progress and just start over but in this case, I’m glad I did. The sleeve cap on this little sweater is so much better today than it was yesterday.

The good one is on the left. The one I ripped out, on the right. The difference between them is a matter of fit. On the left the sleeve cap is a bit ‘puffy’ and on the right, it’s more sleek. For myself, I’d pick the right sleeve cap but for a wiggly little baby, a roomy shoulder is a good thing.

With the raglan shaping done and the sleeves divided, it’s just stockinette in the round from here on out. Happy place knitting! Yaaaay!

I’m really enjoying this yarn. It’s KnitPicks (relatively) new yarn, Provincial Tweed. It’s a superwash Highland Wool but I’m not hating the superwash. There’s really no way around superwash when it comes to baby clothes so I’m just enjoying the softness of the yarn, it’s lovely sheen and the fun tweed.

I’m not convinced the tweed bits will last through a machine wash cycle. They’re very loosely spun, in most cases. I’ll definitely get my sister to report back to me on that. She’s a maniac when it comes to doing laundry. When we were kids, the washing machine broke one day and it never got fixed. We spent the next decade carting our laundry to a laundromat…10 miles away. And, we never had a dryer. Line drying was the norm. I think the ‘novelty’ of having a washer and dryer right in the house never wears off. At least, for me, it hasn’t. There are loads of chores I hate but I don’t mind doing laundry. Doing laundry is mostly sitting around waiting for the machine to finish. I am very good at that.

So, tangent aside, I’m confident this sweater will get a trip through the washing machine and I’ll get a report on how well it wears. It could certainly be a contender for more fall sweaters as the nephew grows. It’s not fall, if you don’t have a tweed sweater to wear!

As for my wordpress/photo problem…That’s a work in progress too. It seems like lots of people have tech issues when it comes to image display and loading. I’ve now done all the basic re-boot stuff, cleared my cache, etc. Hopefully some of that helps. I’m gonna work my cross stitch gallery a bit this afternoon, should be a good test.