At The End of My Yarn

Well, penitentiary Monkeys. Close enough. I spent this weekend at the historical West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, WV for the annual Para-con, complete with overnight investigation of the massive prison. I had to leave early last year when my friend had to leave but this year I was able to investigate the whole night. Had a wonderful time!

Took a moment to photograph my new pair of Monkey socks, a classic pattern by Cookie A. The lace pattern is easily memorized, and knits up so quickly that these socks just fly by. The yarn is Borgo de’ Pazzi Firenze Bice, in a colorway that is either coffee colored or elderly dog sick colored, depending on the day. It’s my first time using this yarn, and it knits up like it’s got more nylon than the ball band says. It’s a little rough on the fingers, but that should translate to a pair of long-lasting socks.

After seemingly ages of having this knit languishing on my needles, I’ve finished my Sea Glass Tee by Wool and Pine! I feel bad. What should have been a quick knit (judging by the start and end dates on other’s projects in Ravelry) took me almost a year. I ran out of steam once I spit for the armholes and started my way down. However, after buckling down (and bringing it to Maine with me so that I’d have to knit on it if I wanted to knit at all) I finished it! I didn’t add any length to the sleeves, so they’re just cap sleeves but it fits pretty well. I used mainly sock yarn scraps, with a little bit of KnitPicks Palette. The Palette disappointed me, though. I hadn’t even finished knitting the body when it broke in several places in the yoke. Never a bad time to learn duplicate stitch. Luckily, the colors are so busy on this sweater that I can do a beginner’s job on the duplicate stitches and you can’t really tell.

The way the pattern is written you change out both yarns every row using the magic knot technique, but I did it every couple of rows (and once I got past the yoke didn’t switch out yarns for inches at a time). The great thing about Wool and Pine’s patterns is that they come with multiple videos for techniques, etc., such as the Sea Glass Tee pattern having a video for the magic knot (a method for joining colors without weaving in ends).

I don’t generally wear short socks. They get kicked off while sleeping, and they slide to the bottom of the bed and hide from me. Even worse, sometimes they get swallowed up in my shoe while I’m walking and that’s guaranteed to ruin the moment. Short socks leave me with too much leftover yarn. I much prefer to knit and wear longer socks. However, despite all that, I sometimes get the itch for a quick knit, and a quick new pair of socks. This time around I turned to a pair of Rose City Rollers by Mary Catherine Bryner. This was my first time knitting this pattern, and I see why it’s such a popular design. I used some seriously ancient ONLine Supersocke and knocked out a pair in a few days.

Sure, yeah, I’ve got more than half the skein left, but I can easily imagine striping the rest with a solid yarn (or another self-striping or tonal) to make another pair.

I’m spending this week up in Maine to see my family, a.k.a driving around the yarn store capital of America. It certainly feels that way! I’ve made a promise to myself to rein it in little, I’ve still got stash from the last time I was up here that hasn’t been touched. And, to be honest, from the last few times I was in Maine as well. Trying one’s best to use up older stash first does lend to yarn ageing gracefully in the stash for a while. Good thing yarn doesn’t spoil!

“One can only cite the elegant appearance of Garter stitch. It forms beautiful crinkly ridges, which are handsome in themselves. They can be employed horizontally or vertically or both and enable the structure of offbeat knitted pieces to be visible and organically decorative. I like to think that the very first knitter, doodling with sticks and sinews at the sunny entrance to his cave, or peering at his knitting by the flickering firelight, doodled with, or peered at, Garter stitch; the bread and cheese of knitting, the basic stitch — surely the prototype.” — Elizabeth Zimmermann, Knit One Knit All

I’ve never met a knitter (or read a knitter’s books) who stretched a pattern to the limits in order to avoid a purl stitch like Zimmermann did. She purled only when she had to, and then only with reluctance. To be honest, I’ve been skimming through some of the other Zimmermann books in my library to find where I first heard about her dislike for the stitch, and so far I found a quote from Knitting Without Tears “Why do so many of us object to purling? Is it because as children we are taught to knit first, and are then presented with purling as the second and more difficult step? Who knows? Who is willing to take a little innocent child and teach it to purl first? You must admit it’s the trickier of the two.”

Knit One Knit All, therefore, is a collection of Zimmermann’s garter stitch designs. There is a good variety of patterns, starting with hats and working through to jackets. Despite the constraints of only knitting every row (although now that I use that word, I wonder how much of a constraint it really was to Zimmermann, considering her preference for the stitch). There are quite a few patterns I had never seen before, which was cool to see. The cover hat, the Chambered Nautilus Tam for instance is a hat made out of a spiraling i-cord. The pattern instructions for the book are a mix of Zimmermann’s more conversation writing style (more like a description of how to knit the item and less of a row-by-row list of directions) which I find makes this book a bit more beginner-friendly in comparison to her Knitter’s Almanac. Something I learned while researching this post is that Zimmermann’s company Schoolhouse Press has a very comprehensive website. I’ve been trying to order less from Amazon, etc. and more from small businesses, and I learned that you can order books, yarn, and individual patterns directly from the Schoolhouse Press website. I’ll have to take a closer look!

Shifting gears, this weekend I participated in a paranormal investigation of the USS Wisconsin along with the Wraith Chasers and hosted by Haunted Nights Paranormal Events. Very cool night!

Getting there from Fredericksburg to Norfolk, I was so giddy over driving through the midway tunnel (dork) that I took a wrong turn once I emerged from the other end and ended up driving through it twice more before I managed to reach the park where the battleship is permanently docked. I parked my car in the first available spot I found (a bit of a nail-biter there, the sign said two hour parking and I was going to be gone for quite a bit longer). Next time I’m in the area I want to check out the science center nearby and take a proper tour of the battleship itself. Fascinating history! If you’re interested in some more photographs and ghostly details, check out my up-coming Patreon post.

Yeah, I know I’ve done this one before. But I was never happy with it. Reading the first few sentences of the post from two years ago shames me. I love this designer, I knit her patterns all the time, and yet I never share the post because there is a lady in her underwear on the cover? C’mon, me! Get it together! The thought has been in the back of my mind to re-write the review, but I finally got the kick-in-my-pants to do it when I saw how many readers were finding my site (thanks!) by searching for this book. Let’s do it proudly and properly this time.

“Quite simply, lingerie is the very first layer of clothing a woman puts on and the last layer she takes off. It holds and shapes a woman into whatever form is dictated by the trends of the day and also symbolizes femininity, eroticism, and the mysteries of intimacy.” –Knitting Lingerie Style, Joan McGowan-Michael

I read that first paragraph back when I first got this book, and noticed immediately that McGowan-Michael took her underwear far more seriously than I ever have. I appreciate that level of dedication in a person, even if I only care about whether my undergarments are clean or not. You’re welcome for that mental image.

Knitting Lingerie Style is split into chapters, each one focusing on an item of underclothing. Chapter one features the bra, with both an actual, well-written pattern for knitting your own bra with a matching bottom, moving on to a twinset with similar front shaping, to a 1940’s inspired design for a tailored crop-top, and more. Each pattern in this section focuses on bust shaping. Chapter two focuses on the concept of the slip, but also contains a lovely knitted trumpet skirt as a play on a half-slip. This chapter also contains the cover pattern One-Piece Wonder, which is designed to be a bra, underwear, slip, and garter belt in one. Before you look at this and think what occasion ever on earth would I wear this, McGowan-Michael sees you coming and suggests you wear it with a skirt and cardigan (jeans might also be cute) and treat it as a top.

The following chapter centers on the concept of the corset, with one actual corset pattern (complete with boning), and the others with the basic shape as the focus. Chapter four (my personal favorite) contains designs focused around the camisole, including the Shaped Lace Tee (also known as the Krista Tee, which is one of her most popular designs). I knit one years ago, and it’s on my list to knit again now that I…uh…understand the concept of matching a yarn to a pattern. Used a rough, thick cotton, wearing the finished tee wore (and draped) like a cardboard box. Cute!

There is also a chapter on stockings, and you know how I feel about socks. Naturally, the book contains a pattern for a pair of knee-high fishnets, but there is also a pair of more solid knee-highs with a cute lacey edge. Chuck in a design for short summer socks and also an underwear set with adjustable garter straps. And yes, despite how far I’ve come with body positivity between now and the first post about this book, I still struggle with saying the ‘p’ word. You know, the bottom half of your underoos! Undergarments. Bottom-half containment devices. A pair of…panties. Eee-yuk! I’ll get over it. Baby steps. Hate that word. Honestly not sure why.

Knitting Lingerie Style finishes up with a section on lounge/night wear, with a knitted baby doll, mesh leggings, a matching tank top, lacy wrist-warmers, and a bed jacket.

If you’re into clothing with a lacey, feminine edge, you can’t go wrong with Joan McGowan-Michael. Just saying, if she ever feels like coming out with another book I’ll get right on it!

And by the way, if you’re interested, I now have a Patreon! I’ll be sharing progress photos, musings, yarny-thoughts, and possibly ghostly sightings. It sounds like a whole lot of fun, and if you can hang with me I would really appreciate it. Check out the link on the main menu of this page.

Speaking of ghostly, next week I’ll be on the USS Wisconsin! Nothing like a really haunted battleship to kick spring into gear!