Knitting With Granny LJ

Good morning.

The weather is fair and sunny again.  What an incredible bonus for this winter.   Yesterday was very quiet.  I got groceries and then Karen and I went to breakfast.  After I got home and knit for the rest of the day. 

 I planned to work on the contest cap.  Instead,  I cast on a cap of hand spun yarn done by a friend of mine and got the ribbing done and the first 4 or 5 rows of the body done.  It is going to be like the contest cap except in 2 colors, white and Navy blue.  And I am knitting it in 3 stitch color repeats.  I showed it to Karen this morning and she gave it the KH seal of approval. 

The yarns my friend spins collect all the joys of working on handspun into one skein of yarn.  She and her husband do craft shows all over Oregon and into Washington.  She spins and he makes area rugs from mill ends.  They both do excellent work.

At the market in Yachats in November, I bought the white yarn and the Navy blue yarns.  I also got some in darker tones, too.  I had had a good weekend and my caps had sold well, so  I put the money back into yarns.

Today, though, I have to do desk work — you know, the kind that keeps the roof over the head and food in the kitchen — so I will go back to work on the contest cap.  I had thought I would name that cap Ripples, but I was looking through some old records yesterday and I have already done a Ripples cap.  So this one would have to be Ripples II or I’ll  come up with some other name for it.  Am leaning to the latter, because Ripples II seems like an afterthought. 

If anyone has a clever idea for cap name for the contest cap, I would love to know what it is.  Otherwise, I may just end up titling it Contest Cap and be done with it. 

Hope you all have a good day.  Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

The weather has turned back to winter.  No rain storms yet, but the local radio station keeps predicting them. That’s OK, though.  I can park and knit my little heart to the bone.

My friend and mentor, Dodie, emailed me the other day, and told me that I had read  the information on the contest incorrectly.  The deadline is 03/13/2009 — and not  O3/31, as I had thought.   As a result, I spent yesterday from 8:30  a.m. to about 3 p.m. working on the contest cap #3.  It is going along pretty well, I think.  By 3:30 I was so tired of it that I could not tell any more.  So I switched to the royal blue and fuzzy IO cap that I have almost ready for double point needles. 

I think I will give my thumbs a rest today, and my brain a bit of a rest today, too.  I will top the olive green cap that is waiting for double point needles.  And maybe do some finish work.  I have about 5 caps that need finish work and I want to get them ready to show at the shop by the first of February. 

Doing cap #3 on size 4 needles is  labor intensive.  But I showed it to Karen this morning and she likes what has been done so far.  She thinks the smaller pattern changes make it look more like ripples in the sea water.  So I have decided to name the cap “Ripples.” 

Name a cap?  you ask.  Yes.  It is a family tradition of sorts.  I think it comes from Dad’s side of  the family.  Things are named.  For years, I drove a pickup truck named Lurch (for obvious reasons).  My very first car was a Volkswagon bug named Grimm (after the brothers Grimm).   But like Lurch, Grimm sort of lived up to his name, too.  The list goes on and on.  The first cap I made here on the coast, I named, and have pretty much named  most of my caps.  Customers think it is kind of neat to have a cap that has a name. 

At any rate,  Ripples and I are going to have a bit of a vacation today, and I will get  some caps topped and  ready for finish work. 

Good knitting.  Have a great day.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

Karen and I Just got back from taking Red and Parker down on the beach.  Those dogs relish every scent, every foot print, every piece of drift wood with a joy that I can almost feel when I walk into a yarn shop.  Almost but not quite. 

We decided that we needed to get the boys out today for a good run because the weather reports that winter is returning tomorrow.   Well, the rain at least. 

Yesterday, I spent the day in the  house topping off 2 caps.  And I got the 3rd cap (hopefully) for the contest cast on and 5 rows of ribbing done on it.  I decided  that a pill box shape was not right for the cap.  So this one I am working as a deep bodied cap.  I am still using the size 4 needles and have cast on 100 stitches as the base.  I opted to do the mistake ribbing because I think it will be interesting to look at along with the diagonal sets of stitches going up the cap body.  I have not decided on whether to do the diagonal on a 5 stitch repeat or to go something different but keeping the diagonal slant to the body of the cap.  I have thought about doing the diagonals in a 3/4 combination instead of the 5/5 combination.  And really cannot make up my mind on it.

I am running up to Newport with Karen this morning and I always think better in a moving vehicle.  Have come up with some incredible ideas.  The only problem is that I do tend to forget them when I get out of the car, but I have decided that if I get any wonderful idea or insight into the cap, I will tell Karen and ask her to remember it for me. 

I like the blue varigated Noro better than the Noro I used for prototype 2.  I think it looks more like  the ocean and oceanie things. 

Well, that is about all from here for now.  I want to get some stitches in the  Cap #3 while I have a few more minutes.

Happy knitting to you all.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

The gorgeous sunny weather continues here on the coast.  Last winter we had a pretty normal Oregon winter, lots of rain — lots and lots of rain.  This year we have had this wonderful oasis of sunshine in January.  The wind was pretty high yesterday, but right now it is calm.  Will try to get out in it a little later when I have a knitting break

Had a quiet day knitting yesterday.  Plan on another one today.  Spent the day topping a cap made out of a varigated red/pink Noro yarn.  Silk Garden, of course.  I have spent so much time on the contest cap lately,  that I have been neglecting getting caps ready for swap-out at the shop for next month.  This month has sped past like the pony express.

I have 5 more rows and this Noro cap is topped.  I also have several other caps, not Noro, that need to be topped and have the finish work done on them.   It is my goal to keep the inventory at the shop changing on a monthly basis so that customers will not see the same caps every time. 

Will finish topping the cap I have on double points this morning and will get that gorgeous olive green on double points today.  It is going to be a  good cap.  I also have a blue inside-out (I-O) cap that needs topping.  That  one will be fun to get done.  It will also be a fun cap to wear, I think. 

With regard to the prototype caps #1 and #2.  I am going to do the finish work on the first one and keep it for myself.  I am also going to do the finish work on the other one and put it into inventory.  It is a good cap.  It just didn’t turn out the way I envisioned it.  Oh well.  One of these days, the right person will come along and say, “That’s the cap for me.”  And it will go home on a head.

Life would have been easier if I could make the caps as fast as I get ideas for them. 

Hope you have a good day.  Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

Was running around yesterday again.  Got groceries and took Karen to brunch.  The weather was incredibly gorgeous.  This morning, we have had a wind come up that is pretty stiff, but the sun is out and the sky is cloudless. 

Came home and put the groceries away.  And went back to work on the contest cap.  Knit all afternoon dililgently.  And got the cap topped off.  I was hoping it would turn out better than it did.  It  is still at a prototype level of work.   I have that other Noro yarn in the blues and blue-greens that I found in my stash recently and will probably cast that yarn on this morning.  I have been thinking that if I go to smaller needles and do a ribbing — probably mistake ribbing — and make the body looser — maybe it will be more to my liking. 

One thing that really  has me baffled, though, is that I did the top-off on  prototype 2 exactly like I did on prototype 1 and it is not as neat, somehow, as proto-1.  I have not a clue why that should be.  If there are any knitters out there who might have an answer to that question, I would love to hear from you.  I sure can’t figure it out.

At any rate, I have to get myself a little bit out of the contest-cap mood for a while and get the caps on the finish table topped and ready for finish work.  I have some good ones that  need tops and need to get out to the cap tree at Shorebirds. 

This weekend I emailed Dodie, my friend and knitting mentor, and asked if she would like to go to the knitter’s convention in Portland in March.  She does not drive either, but she has a husband who is willing to drive us around a  bit. I have never  been to a show that caters to knitters and crocheters.  I would love to go and smell the yarns and see what other people are knitting — yarns, patterns, needles the whole ball of wax. 

I had a note from my granddaughter, Sasha, this week.  She has been reading these blog messages and says that they are cool.  What a compliment!  I hope others are reading them, too.  And enjoying them as much as I enjoy writing them.  Makes me feel like I am in a circle of knitters, knitting and visiting. 

Thanks again, Sasha, for the card and for letting me know that you are reading my blog.  Hope you have a good week.

Have a good day knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

Had errands to run the last couple of days.  But getting out in this weather is wonderful.  It is a bit  breezy and there is some chilliness, but the sun is out and things warm up toward the end of the day.  This is such a great place to live.

I worked on the contest cap both days, when I was not running around.  I decided that I could not carry the thing in my little hip pouch otherwise I would be tinking and tinking and would never get the cap finished. 

The Noro yarn I chose to do the cap in is a much thinner weight than the Lamb’s Pride I did the prototype in.  I got about 4 inches done of the body of the cap and the design was fading into the colors.  I was using size 6 needles, which is what I use for most of the caps I make.  So I took it all out again  (this must be about the 5th or 6th time) and cast it onto size 4 needles.  Now I have about 3 inches done and the pattern is more distinct than when I was using the size 6 needles.  The pattern is not as intense as I would like it, but I am pleased with the outcome so far.

I will be doing the top off on this cap like  the one I did on the prototype cap.  Usually, I do a simple 7-point top off.  Just stop  the pattern and switch to all knitting on my double point needles.  With the prototype, I marked  the 7 points and just continued the pattern through the top of the cap and  doing the K2tog at each point.  It is a good top in the prototype.  Very visually interesting.  I hope that the top off will be as good on the Noro cap.  Will have to wait and see, I guess.

Well, I have a day at home today, and I want  to get knitting on the contest cap, and make up for lost time.  There is a market in Yachats this weekend.  I opted to not do it for a lot of reasons, but right now I am glad that I can sit here and knit the contest cap.  Am anxious to see how it turns out. 

Have a great day.  Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

The weather is wonderful this week.  Cold, but lots of sun and very little wind.  Karen and I got Red and Parker down the beach yesterday and again this morning for a good romp.  They were really getting rather stir crazy while the weather was stormy. 

Worked on the contest cap yesterday.  Finally got the cap cast on and the first rows done.  Tried to work on it Monday afternoon but had to put it aside and wait until I could focus better.  What  I would like to know is how come when a task is a practice or a ho-hum type of thing it goes off without a problem.  But let something become important and every thing that can go wrong with it will go wrong.  Well, that was the day yesterday when I was casting on the cap for the contest. 

About lunch time, I finally got the cap on needles and started the base.  I am going to do it in a basic pill box with the top off the same as I did with the red prototype.  Am working the contest cap in a Noro  Silk Garden yarn.   I got about 3 inches done yesterday and as I was working along, I noticed that the stitch changes are not as distinct as they are in the red prototype.   

My first inclination this morning when I looked at it was  to take it out and try another yarn,  but the yarn has to be something that is sold by Yarnmarket, and the Noro is the only yarn  I have on hand that is sold  by  Yarnmarket. 

I spent about 20 minutes on the Yarnmarket site looking at yarns and the only yarns that I  liked were the Noro yarns.   But I did see some that would probably do pretty well.  It is just that I did not want to enter a “pretty well done”  cap.  I don’t do things like contests very often and I don’t want to send pictures of a cap that could have been done better. 

The other thing I can do is to switch down to smaller needles.  I have the cap on size 6 needles now.  If I took out what I have done and went to a 5 or even a 4 that might solve the problem.  I think I’ll go start again even though I may have set a record for the number of times a project had to be cast on.  But that is one of the really good things about knitting.  You always have the option to take it out and do something else with the yarn. 

I want you all to know that today is my sister-in-law Flo’s birthday.  A few years ago she joined the 39-forever club like the rest of us.  Happy birthday, Flo, hope you have a great day. 

 Good knitting to all of you out there.   Granny LJ

Good morning. 

Have been working on the contest cap prototype.  I have it on double point needles and am going to top it off in the pattern stitch.  Yesterday after I  got the prototype on double point needles I  cast on the cap in the Noro.  It was toward the end of the day when I cast it on and so I made some errors and will be taking it out later today and casting on again.

That is one of the great things about knitting.  If something is not quite right  you can always take it out and reuse the yarn.  I once went to a craft show and a woman did pressed flower pictures and the pressed flowers were backed by some water color designs.  I asked about the backing and she had gotten the discarded pictures from a local artist and had essentially recycled  them.  I guess they were not much as pictures, but as background to the pressed flowers they were gorgeous. 

One of the things about working on the prototype that has been exciting is that I can see several dozen ways that the basic cap I have been working on can be adjusted, tweaked, redone and made better and more wonderful.

So far this is the list of options I have with this design, in addition to the basic diagonal pattern:

1.  Inside-out.  The inside of the cap is as visually interesting as the outside and the stitches do not mirror the outside.  They make a ribbing-appearance that is really lovely. 

2.  Two color.  Any two colors would be gorgeous.  I have been thinking about doing a 2-color in red and black once the cap for the contest is completed, and doing the cap in all knit stitch with the colors going diagonally up the side of the cap.

3.   The knit and purl spaces could be reduced to  fewer stitches and even knit in odd numbers such as 3 of the knit stitches and 2 of the purl.  Or 3 of the purl and 2 of the knit.  Or any number of  either one. 

4.  Two color in the knit and purl  pattern.

5.  I have opted to do the cap as a pill box cap without the ribbing.  But it could be done with ribbing both standard ribbing or mistake ribbing.

6.  Carry the pattern through the top-off or switch to a knit stitch to do the top off. 

And the list continues.  Every time I pick up the prototype cap I  think of something else that could be done to make it a remarkable cap.  And a useful one, as well. 

Well, this is going to be short again because I am anxious to get at the knitting.  I want to get the prototype topped today and get the contest cap taken out and recast on. 

Have a good day.  Good knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

I am pretty excited about this contest.  I got about 2 inches of the prototype done.  Have made some mistakes.  Some I have caught and tinked.  Some I did not find until several rows up the body of the cap.   Have opted to leave them for now since this is a prototype.  But when it comes to doing the cap for the contest, I’ll set markers about every 20 stitches. 

The cap, itself, is looking good.  If you ignore the errors.   I think that the finished cap will be an interesting cap visually, as well as one to keep a beach-walkers ears warm. 

I rooted around in my stash this morning and found a Noro yarn that is in  bright colors.  Looks like  spring just before summer gets here. 

The Noro yarn I use for my caps is Silk Garden.  It is wool and silk combination that does not scratch the ears and always has a wide selection of good colors to choose from.  I like to have 2 or 3 of the Noro caps in inventory.  They sell well and look good on the wearer’s head. 

Well, this entry is going to be shorter than usual.  I am anxious to get back to working on the prototype cap so I can get going on the one for the contest. 

I hope you all have a goood day.  Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

We have a huge storm blowing through today.  Most of the worst of it will hit the coast around Tillamook so down here we will be getting the edges of it, but it is still going to give us a lot of wind and rain.  My day yesterday, besides knitting, was spent ruminating about a knitting contest.  The contest was part of a monthy message sent to me by an online yarn company. 

I talked  to Karen about it.  She is a believer in contests.  Her advice was “Go for it!”  I went through all the negatives for doing it.  The entry fee, the fact that I knit “funny”  compared to other knitters, my work is not fancy or unusual enough, etc etc etc. 

Finally, I decided that the only thing I really have to lose is the entry fee which is about $25.  If the cap is  not selected for the finals or it is and it does not win, what have I lost?  The answer that came into my mind last night, while I was trying to focus on a biography of Tolstoy, was:  Nothing.  Except the $25 but that also gets me a membership to a national knitting guild, even if the cap doesn’t make it beyond the perliminaries. 

So then, continuing to try to read about Tolstoy, I thought about the cap that I would submit.  My basic tenent has always been that the cap has to be wearable and serviceable as a protection from the weather here on the coast.  So I  have really not done much in experimenting with the odd-ball designs   I have seen in books and magazines.  I have sometimes felt like Little-Johnny-One-Note.  But the caps I knit are always something to keep the ears warm. 

Then I remembered a picture I saw in a magazine several months ago.  It was a simple beanie cap with a deep body.  It was done in 2-color.  The base color and the contrast colors were done on a leftward slant .  It would not be hard to do, but was a striking looking cap.  The picture did not show the depth of the body of the cap nor the top-off, though,  but  I have  had that cap in the back of my mind since I saw the picture. 

I decided last night, as the cap issue won out over Tolstoy’s biography, that I could do it.  I did not need to look at the top off, because I would do my standard 7-point top-off and let the colors of the yarn do the talking. 

Then (and here is where Tolstoy really  met his doom) I started to figure out the pattern repeat.  The picture looked like a 2 or 3 stitch repeat.  But I decided that a 5-stitch repeat would be better.  I thought about the yarns I would use and finally decided to make a prototype in one color and do the pattern in a simple K/P to see if it worked out the way I have it pictured in my mind. 

So that will be knitting for the day, while the wind howls outside and Tolstoy  awaits my return  – I will free up some needles and pick out a single color yarn and start the prototype.  Will keep you all posted on how it is going.

Have a great day.  Good knitting.   Granny LJ