Anatomy of Baby's Bloomers

As you know, I've been knitting for baby(ies), though I believe I'm nearing the end both in terms of having enough for upcoming babies and in desire to knit for babies. But I've learned something really easy I thought I'd pass along. For one of the babies I knit a little dress but I wanted bloomers to go under and discovered an easy-peasy way to make them.
The little dress was very blousy at the bottom so I used about 80% of the stitches I cast on for the dress to cast in the round for the bloomers. I'd decided I wanted to use elastic for the waist so I knit 4 rows in stockinette, did K2together/yo for the next row (for a picot edge), then knitted 6 more rows in stockinette before I started my little eyelet pattern.

Next I knit even using my eyelet pattern until the tube measured 7.5 inches from the picot edge. I then marked 10 stitches from the middle back and 10 stitches from the middle front to use as the crotch. I put all the other stitches on stitch holders. I knit about 10 rows over the 10 stitches on either side, then bound them off using a 3-needle bind off.

Now I was ready to do the legs. I did the same thing for the legs that I did for the waist because I was lazy and just ready to be done but you could knit longer and make little shorts or even pants out of it. I picked up the stitches from one of the legs and then picked up 10 stitches from the crotch piece I'd just finished. The gave me the stitches I needed for the leg so then I used my double pointed needles to finish off the leg edging. I did the second leg the same way and boomps-a-daisy, we have baby's bloomers!

It all adds up

I finished another 8 oz of the Wisconsin wool that I’ve been working on. That gives me 1.5 lbs spun so far and another pound to go. I'm having to rethink what I was going to do with it because, after having done the swatch, I realize that it's more chunky than I thought it was going to be. If I've figured my yardage right, I only have about 730 yards of 3-ply.

So I’ve now done a swatch to figure out how much yardage I’ll need for a sweater with this yarn and I’m going to have to spin a little more but not too much. Want to know how I figured it out? I learned this technique from Pat Maley at a cotton spinning workshop.

1. I started a swatch that let me measure over 4 inches with a selvedge on each side.
2. After I knitted about 1 inch, I knit 4 stitches into the swatch and tied a string tightly around the yarn immediately as it came off the right hand needle.
3. I measured out exactly 1 yard of yarn and tied another string tightly around the 1 yard mark.
4. Next I continued knitting my swatch as normal until I was able to measure the rows per inch over 4 inches.
5. I counted the number of stitches knitted using the yard of yarn.
6. Then I figured out the stitches per inch and rows per inch.
7. Knowing the measurements I would need for the sweater, I figured out roughly the number of stitches that would be needed for the body of the sweater.
8. Now I could divide that total number of stitches by the number of stitches knitted with my yard of yarn which gives me about how many yards I would need for the body. From that number, I guestimated how much I would need for the sleeves.

So, for instance, let’s say (for sake of easier maths) I have a swatch measuring 5 stitches to the inch and 7 rows to the inch. My sweater is going to be 40 inches around which means I will need to cast on 200 stitches. The body is going to be 18 inches from the cast on to the shoulder. 18 x 7 = 126 rows. 126 rows x 200 stitches = 25,200 stitches. Now, let’s say my yard of yarn allowed me to knit 45 stitches. 25,200 stitches divided by my 45 stitches tells me that I’ll need 560 yards for the body. I’ve guestimated that I’ll need another third of that for the sleeves. That’s about 187 yards + 560 yards = 747 yards for the garment. I don't know how close this will give me an idea of where I’m headed.

The Best of the Worst

I have a new favorite worst movie of all times. I know it will show how behind the curve I am but I just discovered that you can get video podcasts from iTunes. I came across one called “Matinee Movies” which has provided me the most amusement I’ve had for ages. First there was “Luck of the Irish” or some such. Then there was “Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case” where he discusses providing insulin shock therapy to a man who’s mentally deranged (the proof of which is a whole different discussion).

But the cream of the crop has been a movie that barely even deserves the designation as a ‘B’ movie called “The Horrors of Spider Island.” It’s a 1962 cross between SciFi and Beach Barbi Bingo. It starts out with Gary and his lovely assistant Georgia auditioning dancers for a troop going to Singapore. Considering all one ‘dancer’ does to audition is to take off her dress, you can imagine how impressive this dance troop is. Her name, by the way, is Babs and you want to keep an eye out for her because she’s involved in the most memorable line of the whole movie a little later on.

Anyway, on the flight to Singapore, the plane crashes (of course) and they bob around in the lifeboat (hair, clothing and heels in tact) until they come across an island. Big Gary, strapping young man that he is and without his shirt, has to carry all of the poor helpless ladies ashore. But at least he does it without disturbing above mentioned hair, clothing and heels. They gather strength to explore the island and come across a cabin which contains, much to their horror (thus the title – get it?) a dead man caught in a giant spider web (get it?). As they read his diary they realize he was on this remote island mining for uranium. Now Gary had already guessed there must be uranium so he’s a smart joe (not to be confused with Joe – he comes later).

The women recover enough to get into bikinis (or maybe it was just underwear – I don’t know what 1962 underwear looks like) and make passes at Gary. Georgia, Gary’s assistant and love interest, catches him kissing one of the girls and he walks off with the professor’s gun to cool his heels. On his travels he comes across a giant spider (title – get it?) and shoots it. But somehow, in shooting it, he becomes a spider man (but not in the good way). Spiders, evidently, don’t wear shirts but they do have hairy faces and fangs (looked a bit like a werewolf spider, actually).

The girls just don’t know what to do. They’re helpless and stalk around the island not knowing what to do. But don’t worry. They won’t be alone for long.

Unbeknownst to the girls, 2 research assistants (Joe and Bob) get dropped off at the island to assist the professor in his research. We discover that the research ship is going to pick them up 2 days later but don’t worry, they’ve brought plenty of supplies, including a case of whiskey. Sounds like some sort of research, doesn’t it? Imagine their surprise when they discover the professor has been killed by some giant spider but the island is populated by this randy bunch of beautiful women with no man to protect them. I haven’t yet mentioned the groovy music but this was the early ‘60s and the music will have you moving.

I’m going to just sum up to say they dance and carouse and drink whiskey until one of the men falls for the ‘innocent’ Ann. Babs (remember her? the sometimes stripper?) tries to lure him with her wily ways but he resists her. Ann doesn’t know this until Babs tells her which results in the best line of the movie: “Is it really true, Babs?” Really, that’s the best line. Honest.

It winds up with the spider man chasing Gladys to her death and then the women chasing the spider man with torches into the bog because there is a bog on this remote tropical island (who knew?). The spider man sinks into the bog and the research ship comes and picks everyone up and the rest of them live happily ever after. I’m just assuming the ever after. They didn’t say that, I’m just sure it must be after surviving a downed ship in the ocean, days on a raft and the Horror of Spider Island.

Heavy, Baby

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's done. It's finally done. The grooviest purse I've ever made. The yarn was bought more than a year ago and has gone through various permutation until it came to this.

One thing I hadn't planned on, indeed never thought about, was the weight of it all. Just under a pound with nothing in it. I may not use it too much but I still dig it!

I continue in baby land with a little lavendar dress and an afghan in the works. The doctor moved the due date up by 2 weeks for one of the babies so I'm working in overdrive to finish.

Back in the Saddle

Sorry I've been MIA. I've been spinning galore, just finishing 2 oz of a Merino/Yak mix which was quite a challenge. The yak is an extremely short fiber and the merino is a fairly long fiber so as I spun, the twist tended to go into the long fibers first. I had to pay close attention to keep the yak from clumping up. I spun it using double drive on very easy tension. The singles were spun 'z' and it was plied 's'. Got about 190 yards out of the 2 oz but now I need to figure out what to make with it!

I've finally gotten back to the Grooviness Purse. I'd run out of the green but found the right stuff in Jacksonville at the Sticks and Stones shop there. The crochet pattern gives such a fun texture. I still need to figure out what sort of closures I want to use. There're 3 pockets and I want each of them to have some sort of closure. I also need to figure out how I want to do the handles. I have to decide if I want to crochet them or use wooden store-bought handles. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it tomorrow or Friday.

Camel

I'm on quite the spinning spree. I've got a little better picture of the Louet wool and the Ashland Bay alpaca that I completed this weekend. It's still hard to see the colors in the wool but you can see some of the highlights.

The next thing to hand was a 1 oz bag of camel that I bought from Karen. I've never spun camel before but I did know that it's a short fiber so I needed lots of spin in it. I decided to use my lovely Kromski Minstrel set up with Scotch tension and the 8.5:1 ratio whorl, I spun 2 whorls of 1/2 oz each and then plied to get just over 95 yards out of the ounce of fiber. I was a little concerned that I'd spun the singles too tightly but, with the plying, it softened up amazingly and it's made a really nice skein. I'm thinking now that I need to get a couple more ounces, now that I sort of know what I'm doing with it and get a little more yardage for a scarf or maybe gloves. Wouldn't that be wonderful?! Soft camel gloves.

1860

We've been researching again! We got to spend another day at the Lincoln Presidential Library in the midst of the Godey's Ladies Books and found some goodies. We did manage to find two of the most convoluted , confusing patterns ever, but, with the aid of a woodcut and some patience, I've got one of them decoded. Here's a picture of the original pattern:

(click to see larger image)

Don't worry that there's a line cut off at the end. It has, as with most of the rest of the pattern, no relation to the finished product. Here it is done in fingering weight and size 4 needle (top) and in lace weight (bottom).

So, with this in mind, here's the pattern as it actually works:

Cast on 3 stitches.

Row 1: K1, knit in front and back of next stitch, K1

Row 2: K2, yo, K2

Row 3: K2, knit in front and back of next stitch, K1

Row 4: K3, yo, K3

Row 5: Knit

Row 6: K3, yo, K1, yo, K3

Row 7: K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 8: Knit

Row 9: Repeat row 7

Row 10: K3, (yo, K1) x4, yo, K3

Row 11-13: Repeat rows 7-9

Row 14: K3, (yo, K1) x7, yo, K3

Row 15-17: Repeat rows 7-9

Row 18: K3, (yo, K2tog) x2, (yo, K1) x7, (yo, K2tog) x2, yo, K3

Row 19-21: Repeat rows 7-9

Row 22: K3, (yo, K2tog) x4, (yo, K1) x7, (yo, K2tog) x4, yo, K3
Row 23-25: Repeat rows 7-9
Row 26: K3, (yo, K2tog) x6, (yo, K1) x7, (yo, K2tog) x6, yo, K3

Row 27-29: Repeat rows 7-9

Row 30: K3, (yo, K2tog) x8, (yo, K1) x7, (yo, K2tog) x8, yo, K3

Row 31-33: Repeat rows 7-9

Row 34: K3, (yo, K2tog) x10, (yo, K1) x7, (yo, K2tog) x10, yo, K3

Row 35-37: Knit

Bind off loosely.

I've also been spinning and feel good about the fact that I've actually finished 2 lots of yarn. I've had so many spinning projects in process and finished so few of them that I feel a real sense of accomplisment with these. I don't have a good picture of the finished skeins (they're still wet) but here's a photo of them on the bobbin.

One is a light grey skein in beautiful alpaca from Ashland Bay and was such a dream to spin. Can't wait to get more of it. The other skein (above) is Louet wool top which was also a lot of fun to spin. The colorway is 'Sunset' which you could see a lot more before it was spun up. But it's the perfect color for a project I was wanting to do for a yoked sweater and I got almost 450 yards out of 1/2 pound of fiber. I got almost 300 yards out of 1/2 pound of the alpaca (alpaca is much heavier than wool).