KnitCrit

Helmetliners

Saturday, I delivered helmetliners to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virgina, located just up the road from the base at Quantico. I learned about the project on Ravelry.  Rachel has run the program for the four Saturdays in February. 
                           

Each week, knitters and crocheters gather at the museum and knit/crochet helmetliners for Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. A local yarn shop, Knit Happens, provided a discounted price on the Ella Rae wool yarn in the required colors. 


Last Saturday, two of my friends from SSK, Jennifer and Barbara, went with me to Knit Happens where we began our helmetliners.

The museum is a place that we drive by often, but this was my first visit.  I know we will go back again when we can spend more time there, and I can learn more about the history of the Marine Corps.  I need to.  It would be good to do that because of my recent hire at the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.  Too, Bruce saw the aircraft inside, creating an enticement for him to accompany me on a return trip. 

If you have some time, this was a fun charity project; one that I highly recommend.  In fact, I may even knit a helmetliner for me to wear under my bike helmet when I ride in the winter.  Hmmm, perhaps a really soft yarn, like Sublime or Cashsoft? 

The New Girls in Town

Please meet Mia and Sophie.  Mia is the gray girl, a long-haired twin of Mosby, who we adopted several years ago.  He is not in the picture because he has decided that he is not fond of his new little sisters.  Instead, he is hanging out with the dogs; all three doing their fair share of moping.

The tiger girl is Sophie.  Thank heavens that the 14 y.o. son obsessed over adopting her, also, when we went to the Washington Humane Society to look at kitties.  She is very active and mischievous, making me laugh at her every move.

Sadly, they both ended out bringing severe respiratory infections with them and are currently on antibiotics.   Mia was worse and gave us a real scare when she would not eat for a couple of days.  We spent a lot of time with syringes-full of liquefied food, a series of events that were not working for her.  Finally, late yesterday, she ate a full bowl of cat food laced with canned tuna and is clearly on an upward track to wellness.

I can thank my SSK and Ravelry pal Carol for sending the cat adoption fever our way.  While reading her blog, I was reminded what pleasure a household with more than one cat can provide.  We lost two kitties over the last 18 months; both to old age.  Now, they have been officially replaced with two cuties. 

Eventually, they will get to know their doggies up-close and personal.  For now, however, we are giving them time to seek out the good spots for bird-watching and such, free of the hassles of a 100 pound lab mix and his side-kick border collie mix.

   

Pattern Critique #29: Eric's Glovelets

Pattern Name: Eric's Glovelets
Designer: Eric Robinson
Source:  Green Mountain Spinnery
Pattern Yarn: Sylan Spirit

Images:


               
Pattern Review and Personal Notes:

First of all, let me state that I was very late to the fingerless mitts party.  I have no idea why that is.  Me, who hates gloves, especially when I am driving.  I live in an area where mornings are very cold in the winter.  In fact, I have often driven with the gloves off my hands, but held between my hands and the steering wheel in an attempt to prevent my hands from hurting from the cold.  That is what I did until last week, when I completed these mitts.

Some of the greatest pleasures I have gotten from this blog are the memories of exactly how a yarn and project come together.  It seems there is often a round-about way, and this is no exception.  Tencel is one of my most favorite fibers, having bought ready-to-wear garments in it for years.  Green Mountain Spinnery is an old favorite, having discovered them at my very first Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in 1998.  So, last year when I discovered this new Sylvan Spirit yarn, a 50/50 blend of Tencel and wool, I knew I had to have it.  At one of their booths at last year's New York Sheep & Wool Festival, I finally got to see and touch the yarn and put it together with a pattern.  Just the night before, it hit had me that a pair of fingerless mitts would serve as a great accessory for me.

The mitts are knit in "Baby Cable Ribbing," which is from Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.  After casting on 48 stitches in the round (I used 2 circulars, while the  pattern calls for dpns), the 4 row pattern is knit for 3-1/2 inches.  The first three rows of the pattern are a basic two stitch rib pattern.  The final row's knit stitches are a "fake cable:" K2tog, but leave on needle; then insert right-hand needle between the 2 stitches just knitted together, and knit the first stitch again; then slip both stitches from needled together."  The result is just the sweetest, cleanest little rib!

The thumb gusset is created by increasing stitches every third row over a section of 16 rows.  At the same time, there is a section of 17 stitches knit in reverse stockinette that form the palm.  The thumb gusset stitches are put onto a piece of scrap yarn while the final pattern around the knuckle area is knit.  This only comprises six more rows of the pattern and then you bind off.

After the live stitches from the thumb are put back onto the needles, an additional five stitches are picked up at the top of the thumb opening.  With these remaining 20 stitches, the pattern is knit for six rows before binding off.

Rating:

The pattern was great until the thumb.  When the five additional stitches are picked up at the top, there are not enough stitches in total to knit a close wound fabric.  In addition, if the pattern is followed to the "t," then those five stitches cannot be matched to the pattern stitches from the hand.  The combination of these two issues caused some a ridiculous amount of frustration. 

In the end, on both, I knit those top five stitches in stockinette.  When I wound in the yarn ends, I wove in and out and around many times; enough to close in the gaps.  The actual knitted stitches are not visible when wearing the mitts, so the fact that it doesn't look very good is a secret, known only to me (and all of you now).

Despite the thumb issues in the pattern, I love these mitts!  I know they will be softer if I take the time to gently wash them, but that would mean that I couldn't wear them for a day or so.  That will have to wait until the weather is warm and I don't need them. 

           

If you have knit this pattern, please rate it and submit as comments. Thank you!

Pattern Critiques #27 & 28: Baby Knits

Lately, I have been in a strong finishing mode.  That feeling has been known to swoop down and take over following yarn purchases; yarn purchases that exceed that invisible limit.  It's that limit where I know that I have to focus on completing the projects that I have, so that I can start more.  I must start more to justify the recent purchases.  It's a whirlwind, like my knitting brain going around and around on my swift.

This past weekend, I was sick.  Staying home sick for over two days brought it all together.  As a result, I finished three small projects.  Two of them are reviewed in this post.

Pattern Name: Ballet Pump

Designer: Debbie Bliss
Source:  The Little Sublime Handknit Book 
Pattern Yarn: Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK

Image:

   

Pattern Review and Comments:

Knitting these reminded me of molding clay or creating origami sculpture.  After casting on 10 or 11 stitches, depending on the size, a handful of garter stitch rows are knit.  These are followed by some short rows that make up the toe.  The heel is begun by casting on some additional stitches after working on some of the sides.  There is a point where the instructions lead you to decrease on one end, while increasing on the opposite end.  Sound confusing? 

It is not confusing at all, as long as you are in a place with complete quiet and without interruption.  The pattern is written so well, taking you through just about every row.  Before I knew it, I had followed along each row of the directions and the knitted bootie was complete.

The final product was a flat blob of garter stitch, with curves and tabs all around.  I sewed the heel seam and then the sole seam, and attached the little ribbon.  Baby gift #1 finished.

These will be gifted to the son and daughter-in-law of a good friend.  Recently they gave a surprise dinner party for my friend that was simply magnificent.  It was held in the private dining room of a well-known, upscale restaurant in Georgetown.  These booties are just a token of thanks for including us in such a special occasion, just a few months before they are expecting their first baby, a girl. 

Rating:

Although this is only garter stitch, with the wraps, decreases, increases and additional cast-ons, this is not a beginner's pattern.  I made a slight modification at the end.  After taking the photo, I cut the ribbon to shorter lengths and it looks better.  No matter how hard I tried, I was not able to get my ribbon to look like the one in the pattern.  Go figure. 

          

Pattern Name: Retro Bonnet

Designer: Debbie Bliss
Source:  The Little Sublime Handknit Book 
Pattern Yarn: Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK

Image:


Pattern Review and Comments:

Back in September, a close friend called me to let me know that their daughter had been born.  This was a magical moment because first, it was a girl!  Most importantly, it was a healthy girl.  You see, this couple has lost two daughters and this little girl entered a family with SIX boys!  For months, I couldn't figure out what to knit for such a special baby.  Then, I discovered Sublime.  What a luscious yarn it is, with its blend of cashmere, silk and superfine merino. 

The straps are knit first, one with a buttonhole.  As you can see in the picture, a series of increases are made as the straps progress toward the bottom edge of the hat.  Each strap is knit separately and put on holders. 

The body starts with casting on 10-18 stitches, working the first strap, casting on 29-35 more stitches, working the second strap, and then casting on the final 10-18 stitches.  These form the base of the hat in moss/seed stitch; for 1-2 inches. 

With larger needles, stockinette stitch replaces moss/seed stitch for 13-21 rows, prior to the start of the crown shaping.  This is shaped by a k2tog + "x" number of stitches.  The value of "x" decreases as the number of total stitches decrease, until only 12-15 stitches remain.  Here, the pattern directs you to break off the yarn and thread it through the remaining stitches, and draw up and fasten off.  Instead of fastening off, I used a longer tail for both the top and to sew the back seam of the hat. 

Whereas the pattern called for a knit flower on the side, I chose to use a second button like the one at the strap closure.  It was a great use for the second button in the 2-pack that I purchased.

Rating:

Of the two patterns, I definitely preferred this one.  It is extremely clear and this yarn simply flourished with the combination of moss/seed and stockinette stitch.  The "v"s formed by the decreases are perfect and add to the elegance of the hat.  If I had another baby gift to knit, I would have immediately picked up the yarn left over from the booties and knit another hat. 

          

PS:

I really love where we live.  Although we are less than one mile from the dreaded Capital Beltway and fewer than three miles from the District of Columbia line, this is a block away:

It is the Woodend Sanctuary, owned by the Audubon Naturalist Society.  Often, we are able to enjoy the expanded populations of certain bird species that are attracted at the sanctuary. 

This morning, this guy visited long enough, at a time when not any of our dogs or cat were around to distract him: 
Thank you for visiting on a day when I felt really, really bad!

Blog Contest for Equal Justice Foundation

A couple of weeks ago, my 25 year old son sent me information about an auction to be held in Washington on March 20, 2008.  The goal is to raise funds to assist law students who plan to intern in the area of public interest organizations. 

He, a first-year law student at American University, asked me how I might be able to spread the word.  Of course, my first thought was to approach my knitter friends, close friends and blog readers - many of whom are one in the same - for donations.

If you have met my son, David, you know that he is passionate about serving the disability community.  From the time he volunteered in high school as a counselor in a community program that blended inner-city teens with teens with developmental disabilities, his focus has been on equal rights for persons with all disabilities.  Now, the pathway to achieving his ultimate goal has been set as he attends American University's Washington College of Law.

What does this have to do with knitting or a knitting blog? 

All persons who donate either a gift card or cash, at least $10 in value, will be entered in a contest to receive yarn.  The organization is a 501(c)3, so your donations are tax deductible. 

So far, the prize package consists of a skein of ArtYarns luxurious Silk Rhapsody and a skein of Lisa Souza's SOCK; over $50 worth of yarn!  I will add more as the donations come pouring in!
                                                                                    
All you have to do is leave your first name + last initial, with the amount of the contribution/gift card donation here as a comment.  I will match the name and the amount to the information received by EJF.  All entries received by Saturday, March 22, 2008 will be eligible for the drawing to take place on Sunday, March 23, 2008.

The law students who are so deserving of the assistance that the auction provides thank you, and I do, too!

Good luck!