Wendy Knits

Yes, I’ve decided that Lucy most definitely needs a felted kitty bed. And of course it must be made from Kureyon.

This will not necessarily make me fall off my yarn diet, as I have an unopened bag of ten balls of Kureyon color #80 for which I had no firm plans. That’s Option Number One. Option Number Two is to fall off the yarn diet and buy Big Kureyon to make her a nice thick very pricey kitty bed indeed. Hmmmmmmmm . . . I did just get a whopping big bonus at work, and I do think Lucy deserves a special gift. And I did decree that yarn purchased to make gifts is not necessarily in violation of the Code of the Yarn Diet.

Or . . . I could knit a bed using regular Kureyon held double and use the yarn I have, thereby not violating the yarn diet in any way, shape, or form.

What do you guys think?

I did an internet search for felted cat bed patterns and found the one I remembered — made from Lamb’s Pride Bulky and knitted in “pie wedges.” That’s not exactly what I want, so I think I’m going to design my own kitty bed.

I could knit it like a big ol’ bucket hat (and thanks to Bonne Marie and her Bucket o’ Chic pattern for giving me this idea) without the brim. Knit the “wall” of the bed first, then knit circularly into the center, decreasing as I go.

An alternative would be to knit it out from the center — make a flat circle (like the start of a Pi shawl) and then knit up sides.

I think I’ll start this after I finish the multidirectional scarf. If my attempt is successful, I’ll write up the pattern. I’m sorry, Bonne Marie, but in my head I’m already thinking of this as “Bucket o’ Chat.”

I promise not to call it that.

Lucy obviously likes Kureyon.

Fern!

As predicted, not much knitting time last night.

But I did get a start on the back.

Electric Ball Winders

Allana asked yesterday:

A question for you about the electric ball winder — do you find that it stretches the yarn too taught in the ball? I received one as a gift and I find that it spins so quickly that the yarn is stretched and the balled yarn is much thinner looking than it was in the skein. I just wound some of the Hebridean yarn for Rosarie and am concerned that if the yarn has been permanently stretched it is going to affect gauge! I would hate to have wound the lovely springiness out of the yarn. Have you had this experience with your winder? (Mine is the one from Halcyon).

Allana, I took a quick look and saw that Halcyon carries two electric ball winders — one that will wind up to a 4 oz ball and one that will wind up to an 8 oz ball. The larger of the two has an adjustable automatic tension device, while on the smaller one you have to tension the yarn through your hand as you wind. I have the larger one.

When I first got it, I spent a fair amount of time adjusted the tension to get it just right. Once I did that, I’ve had no problems with skeins that are wound too tightly.

In the “Believe It or Not” Department . . .

Tevilla asked:

I noticed on some of your older fo that you put the date started and finished. Your recent ones only have the finished date. I love groaning over how fast you knit–and I guess being inspired by what is possible. Any chance would you include both in future fo’s?

The reason I stopped putting starting dates on my FO pages is because (and this is the truth, I swear) I was getting hate email from people who berated me for bragging about how fast I knit.

Some people are pathetic, huh? This could open up a whole discussion about internet & email etiquette, but I’ll save the tales of what some total strangers think I owe them for another time. When I’m pissed off.

It’s Monday, but I’m not going to work. I had the foresight to take today off, so I won’t be back to the daily grind until tomorrow. Aren’t I a clever girl?

Guess what I finished?

More photos on the official Amphora page.

Guess what else I finished?

Here’s what it looked like before felting:

Guess what I started?

This is Fern, from Alice Starmore’s book Stillwater. I’m knitting it in Classic Elite Devon, which is 90% wool and 10% silk. It comes in 50 gram skeins of 123 yards each. The color is called “Ivybridge.”

Some of you might recall when I first mentioned using this yarn for this design, I was a little concerned that it might be too dark to show the pattern well. I’m pleased to report that the pattern shows nicely, more so than the photo depicts.

I started knitting with an Addi Turbo, but switched to an ebony needle — I found the Addi Turbos to be too slippery. I think the silk content in the yarn makes it slide more than juast wool would. The yarn has a nice light, crisp hand, and should be comfy for indoor wear.

I altered the pattern slightly — rather than the diagonal texture pattern that is used for the sides of the sweater, I substituted a fisherman’s rib (right side: k1 p1 across, wrong side: p across). I thought the pattern used was a little too busy.

I am knitting the bobbles, though I originally thought not to. They aren’t too large and I like them, so I’m happy I decided to include the little guys.

The discerning among you will see something else new in my list of WIPs. I’ll talk about it tomorrow.

Lucy had a fun Thanskgiving — here she is in her daddy’s lap.

Yup, this one’s a regular size Booga Bag (in answer to Teresa’s question).

And Anne had an interesting idea:

What do you think of doing one or two purl stitch(es) each row at the corners? Would that make the blocking easier? Like turning a facing, only vertical, to define the corners?

Cool, huh?

It might be worth a try! I block my bags over two small size Priority Mail boxes and they fit perfectly, but for someone who was unsure or inexperienced in blocking, that would be a good idea, I think.

Lucy’s Dinner Service

Lucy has quite an array of dishes, doesn’t she? I forget to mention that Lucy’s placemat under her dishes has a lovely photo of Devils Tower Monument in Wyoming on it. I wonder if she looks at it and wants to visit there?

Who’s a fuzzy girl?

Amphora

More real life nonsense cut into my knitting time last night, but Lucy did help me do a bit more on the second sleeve of Amphora.

Knitting Baskets!

Late yesterday afternoon we hit the seven basket mark! Woo-hoo!