No, not the movie. Knitting sixth sense.

I was asked in the comments yesterday:

Why did it come out to 38″ if you knit exactly to gauge on the smallest size? I just got the book recently and I read about the problems with Klaralund. Is all the math messed up? I’m a 32″ and would like to get 33″ without messing around with a smaller gauge because the hana silk looks divine the way it is.

Well, I don’t know if all the math is messed up. The only two patterns I’ve looked at with close scrutiny are Klaralund and Lovlund.

Another question:

I’m just puzzled how to do the math on those chevrons. Knit gauge square and measure on the diagonal?

The gauge is measured in regular ol’ stockinette stitch. My gauge in stockinette stitch is exactly correct with the Hana Silk on US 8 (5.0mm) needles. (Hana Silk is the yarn called for in the pattern, Andrea.)

Here’s where the sixth sense comes in. I calculated what the finished size would be with the number of stitches in the pattern and regular ol’ stockinette stitch. Approxmately 38″ for the 33″ size.

I thought: Huh? No way. The design is knitted in reverse stockinette stitch with paired increases/decreases to give it the slanty shape. I knew there was no way that would reduce the size from 38″ to 33″. In fact, I didn’t see where it would make much of any difference, for that matter. I mean, sure, the design is slanty, but it’s still the same number of stitches across.

So I cast on for the smallest size and blithely knit away. And yup, my finished sweater is 38″.

Incidentally, there’s a small error (I’m pretty sure — if I did my math right) in the directions for the smallest size right after you cast on for the sleeves. I did email Cornelia to let her know about it, so it will probably show up on her errata page for this book. Don’t ask me about it — I’ve forgotten what it is already.

Looking for her website? Do a Google search on Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton and you’ll find it. That’s how I found it. Google is your friend.

I wore Lovlund to work yesterday with a white linen skirt and it looked very nice, I must say. And a very comfy sweater to wear, too. By the way, it’s not quite as sheer as it appears in its photo. The flash is deceptive.

Hana Silk, how do I love thee? A whole heckuva lot!

Spongebob Stashpants believed in full disclosure, so he’s showing you this:

Ten skeins of Hana Silk in a yummy dark green. Purchased on eBay.

Wendy Haircut-less also believes in full disclosure. The state of my hair, 5:00pm EST, August 9, 2004.

Cat, how much of my hair do I have to be able to put into a ponytail to win the Great Ponytail Challenge of 2004?

What Else Is New?

So I finished another sweater over the weekend. Yay, me. I started the AbFab Throw. Yay, me. But the AbFab Throw is a tad large to be schlepping to and from work, so Liam bravely stepped up.

You remember Liam. Cast aside due to heat and humidity. I left him sitting out on a dresser in my bedroom, and every time I go in there, I can hear him sigh. The guilt! The guilt! So he’s getting some primetime action.

Ingrid, on the other hand, is in a knitting bag in my stash room, so I can’t see her. Poor thing.

But I digress.

Do you ever mark time by an event that’s coming up? See, I have a business trip and will be out of town for a week. That’s in three weeks. I return home the Friday before Labor Day. And on the Wednesday after Labor Day I will begin my Klaralund.

When I finished Lovlund I was sort of casting around for a new project, so decided to start on an AbFab. I thought about starting something else as a commuter project, but resisted the urge. There’s something I want to knit for my Secret Pal, and I’m gonna look for the yarn for it at Knit Happens on Wednesday. Don’t wanna start anything else new before then.

When I finish that, I’ll have to start on something else for commuter knitting, unless I decide poor Liam is worthy of being worked on.

And then I’ve got something planned for my trip knitting — another gift for my Secret Pal.

Of course, all these plans are subject to change. At my whim.

Aren’t you glad I shared all this?

Thanks for all your kind comments. I was feeling much better yesterday. Almost human today, in fact.

And I got another coupla squares done on AbFab.

Lucy pronounces it “snuggly!”

What’s the significance of that number?

That’s the number of blankets that Liz has received for the Critter Knitters Knitathon.

Liz reports:

We’re still expecting two or three eligible [sent before the July 31 deadline] packages — one from Finland, two that had missed connections with me.

Wow! I mean wow!

If you have blankets finished, but didn’t mail them, and would still like to donate them, contact Liz (contact info on the knitathon page) to get an address to send them too.

We’ll let you know when the names will be drawn for the raffle. There’s still a lot of adminstrative details to work through before that happens!

August Contest

The winner of the adorable little stash savings jar, donated by Joanne, is Margaret in Manhattan. Margaret, it’ll be on its way to you today. Enjoy!

As always, thanks to everyone who entered!

Weekend Update

Wow, what a nice weekend, weatherwise! Too bad I was sick as a dog all weekend. Probably a mild food poisoning due to a dodgy salad I had for lunch on Friday. Note to myself: do not order lunch from that place ever again.

However, I did finish Lovlund. Ta-da!

Please note that I made the smallest size, which was listed as 33″. I knit exactly to gauge, and my finished sweater is 38″. Which is what I wanted it to be. I did my math before I started knitting.

I’m very pleased with the resulting sweater. It’s knitted using 4 skeins of Noro Hana Silk and the pattern is in the Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Book Two.

So, I started an AbFab throw. Not the “Nightfall” throw pictured in Friday’s blog entry, but one in the “Sedona” colorway that I had in my stash. And just to be different, I’m knitting it in the blocks pattern, one of the variations offered in the AbFab pattern. It seems as though everyone does the scalloped throw, so I thought I’d do something different.

I’ve got six out of twenty blocks done.

Lucy Sez . . .

“Absolutely fabulous, dahling!”

The most excellent Heidi sent out a newsletter for participants in Secret Pal 2 and suggested we post some info about ourselves on our blogs to help out our Secret Pals.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? Yup. Yarn Snob.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? Neither.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) None that I know of, but I do have very sensitive skin.

4. How long have you been knitting? Since the Dawn of Time.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Not at the moment.

6. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Light florals and citrus.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Don’t eat sweets but once in a blue moon. Don’t snack, if I can possibly avoid it.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Um . . . nothing, really. Big help, huh?

10. What’s your favorite color? Or–do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? My favorite color is green, but the only colors I really don’t like are yellow, grey, and navy blue.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Single, with one pampered cat-princess.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) To become the Empress of the Universe.

Noro Silk Garden

Marta asked for my opinion of the scratchiness of Silk Garden. I have no problem with it. That is, it’s soft enough to make me happy. But you opinion counts. What do you think? Scratchy or not? Help Marta out and leave a comment!

Speaking of Noro . . .

I finished the back of Lövlund and started the front.

Okay, it’s annoying me that I have to remember to type “ö″ instead of “o” every time I talk about Lövlund. so from now on I’m calling it Lovland.

The Return of Spongebob Stashpants

Spongebob would like to know if you missed him. Hard to believe that days went by without Wendy enhancing her stash, huh? I did do some enhancement on Tuesday at Knit Happens — just haven’t been home long enough at any one time to offer photographic proof.

Behold!

The AbFab kit in the new Nightfall colorway. When Kristine got the new color cards from Colinette she pointed out that Lucy needed this throw. By gum, she’s right!

Kristine, Lauren is moping around at home because she misses you. I attempted to cheer her up by photographing her.

By offering her a Harry Potter Acid Pop, sent to me in her honor by L-B.

I even unwrapped it for her, for gosh sakes.

But all she wants to do is sit at the computer and gaze at Digital Yarn.

Lucy sez:

Geez! What a baby!

I bought the new Rowan 36 at Knit Happens on Tuesday. I was lucky enough to have been there when Jimmy the UPS Guy carted in the box o’ Rowan. Kristine opened the box, and we took a moment to sit down at the table and look through the magazine, reverently turning the pages and “oohing” when we deemed it appropriate.

And then I got to put the price stickers on the magazines! Wheeeee! If you buy your copy of Rowan 36 at Knit Happens, know that the price sticker on it was personally placed there by moi. No extra charge.

Yeah, there’s stuff I wouldn’t want to make, but there are several designs that do call out to me. A couple by Kim Hargreaves, and one by Marion Foale.

I was delighted to see designs by Marion Foale and a profile of her in the magazine. I’ve long been an admirer of her work. If you search my archives for her name, you’ll find photos of several of her designs that I’ve knitted from Marion Foales Classic Knitwear, one of my all-time favorite knitting books.

A few weeks back someone asked me in the comments if Kristine was turning me into a Rowanette. The truth is that I was a closet Rowanette years ago.

Back in the olden days, pre-Internet, I bought all the Rowan books and knitted a number of the designs. I’ve always loved Rowan. I just strayed away from the fold for a few years, concentrating on traditional knitting.

But what goes around, comes around. Full circle. Freaky, huh?

Klaralund Update

More info from Cornelia. (I think I’ve pestered her via email enough to put us on a first-name basis.)

Here’s what she says:

Here are the measurements as they should be in the book.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

BUST: 34 (36, 38, 40)” / 86 (91.5, 96.5, 101.5) cm

LENGTH: 21.5 (22, 22.5, 23)” / 54.5 (56, 57, 58.5) cm

I will be adding sizes 42, 44, 46 in the coming week. Hope that soothes the pain . . . I’ll post them to you directly and they will be out on my errata page on the website.

So, as soon as I get the info from her on the additional sizes, I’ll post here. Thanks, Cornelia!

As for amounts needed for larger sizes . . .

I don’t know if Corneilia will be posting amounts for the new sizes. But I think it’s pretty easy to get a ballpark figure, based on the amounts shown for the sizes given. I’d buy an extra skein, just in case, over and above what you figure, at any rate.

Easy for me to say, right? I have 14 skeins of Silk Garden in my stash and am making a smaller size. So I’ll have leftovers.

Froggy is planning on making some knitalong pages over at her site, so stay tuned for that.

Speaking of Klaralund . . .

The very talented Eklectika made us a new button for the Klaralund-Along!

Much better than my lame attempt. Doh!

Speaking of Cornelia . . .

I started knitting Lövlund from her Book 2 on Tuesday. I’m making mine in black Hana Silk.

I know that knitting a black sweater is very blog-photo-unfriendly. But fellow knitbloggers who are knitting in black have inspired me to say: “To hell with blog-photos! Full steam ahead!”

Yeah, I’m a Bad-Ass Knitter.

Lauren

I took Lauren to Knit Happens last night. Woooo . . . bird’s eye view!

Woooo . . . bird’s eye view of Holly!

Kristine tried Lauren on and struck a supermodel pose:

Kristine, could I please have your jawline?

Kristine and Lauren had a touching good-by scene when Lauren had to go home.

Woooo . . . bird’s eye view of Lucy!

Yesterday I attended a color workshop given by Sasha Kagan at Knit Happens. What fun!

Sasha started out with a slide presentation, showing photos of her lovely home in Wales and the surrounding countryside, which provides inspiration for many of her stunning designs.

We then had a hands-on workshop where we chose colors we liked and ones we didn’t like so much, then put many of them together in knitted swatches.

Much hilarity ensued, and Carol and I made it a point to torment poor Phyl-Phyl, who was a good little soldier and didn’t cry, even though she might have wanted to.

And of course we made fun of her swatch.

It’s because we love you, Phyl-Phyl!

Sasha showed us swatches and sample sweaters.

She demonstrated her two-color knitting style.

And we tried on sweaters!

Wendy: “I’m much happier than I look here, honest.”

Kristine: “Ooh! I’m happy because this is so pretty!”

Phyl-Phyl: “I’m happy because Wendy and Carol aren’t picking on me right now!”

Lucy: “I’m happy that Mommy finally came home and fed me.”

Yeah, I’m a bad Mommy — got home late because we went out to dinner with Sasha after the workshop. But Lucy forgave me when she heard what a good time we had.

I did finish the Lauren tank yesterday morning. Photos when I get a chance!