I like to swatch.

Swatching may well be one of the best parts of knitting. you get to try new yarn, new needles, new patterns, new techniques, all without having to commit to a big project.

I don't usually have the yarn specified in a pattern, and when I try to find a substitute yarn with similar characteristics, I might not get the approved gauge. So I swatch to A) find out what size needles will make a fabric I like B) make sure that this yarn really will work for the pattern, and C) figure out my gauge so I can adjust the pattern accordingly.


Trying out new techniques on a swatch? Very fun. Latest discovery is Tubular Cast On. Wow! It rocks! How does it work? I have no idea, but I followed the simple instructions on knitty.com and swatched away. Now I want to start every project with K1P1 ribbing so I can go tubular. Makes me itchy to start another CeCe. or a Pippa. But I have two non tubular sweaters to finish first.

We are in sweater-knitting land around here. As I said before, I want to make Franz a sweater. My first thought was a nice dark green Silky Wool sweater with a little accent color in the (tubular) ribbing. As much as I like this, Franz is...eh.

I thought about the Cambridge Jacket in Summer 2006 Interweave Knits. Zach had said he liked it and it's made with Cascade 220, completely non-objectionable, affordable, easy to use yarn. Franz agreed that it's a nice sweater design. Yup, I guess Ann Budd really does know what men will wear. Only she suggests knitting this sweater on US9s and getting 19.5 stitches/4 inches. Yuck. Zach swatched on US9s and got this gauge and the swatch was really floppy --- not at all what we wanted. So I reswatched in US8s and US7s until we were happy with the fabric. Both Zach and I get 22 stitches/4 inches on US7s and we all like the result. So there it is. With all the sizes calculated for the pattern, it wasn't hard for us to find which ones work with our gauge/desired fit. Alas, no K1P1 ribbing, no tubular casting.

A trip to two yarn stores got us the right colors. With over a hundred choices of colors in Cascade 220, Franz decided on Charcoal Grey. It's really a nice grey, and it's a traditional color he will wear, and that's what matters. Zach thought long and hard about using the bold orange as shown in the magazine; in the end he chose a heathered blue/green.

The cream colored swatch in the lower left is really greenish yellow --- some discontinued "mellow yellow" Rowan wool cotton I purchased from a destasher. The swatch is for Bonne Marie Burns's Ribby Cardi for me. I didn't get gauge, but I did get a fabric I liked, so I just have to adjust which pattern size to use. I think I have enough for the sweater, but I might want to get a contrasting color for the sleeves, just to make sure, and because a two color sweater will be fun.

The silky wool? Still destined for a tubular cast on , V-neck cardigan, but probably for me. Zach and I are in disagreement about the contrasting stripes in the ribbing though. I'll have to swatch.

Chicken post

Hey all.

Thanks for the comments on the chickens. They are beautiful, mostly heirloom breeds. Since Jamie hand-raised these girls, they are mostly well behaved -- as well behaved as a chicken can be, I suppose. The reason I was able to adopt them though, has some sad bits. Jamie had left them for the summer in the care of some folks who said they really wanted them. But, they didn't end up doing a bang up job. One big issue was that they purchased pullet food instead of layer food. Pullet food, for young chicks, just doesn't have enough calcium for laying birds, so they are all calcium deficient. I immediately switched their feed, but it was a bit late. Amelia got egg-bound, meaning that she tried to lay an egg, but with the weak shell it broke before it emerged, leading to a dangerous situation. We took her to the vet for a procedure to remove the bits of egg still inside and to get some medicine. She's now on antibiotics and all the birds are on calcium supplements.

When Amelia was at her weakest, the morning before the vet appointment, Annie hovered over her and acted protective. However, now that she's on the mend, but still slower than the other birds, Tasty is getting a little testy at her. They sure don't like to share. And I have to make sure Amelia gets the medicated food and not the others. Boy, they sure don't understand that and squawk big time, even if they also have a treat. Pecking order is not a myth. I hope that as Amelia improves to full health, she can tell Tasty where to go.

Teresa asked about the eggs. All the breeds produce different eggs. Annie and Tasty have yellow-whitish shells, regular chicken egg size. Lucy's egg is the same size, but a subtle shade of blue. Orpington has a large white egg, while Amelia's is large and brown. Not only is it helpful to have the difference so we know who is laying, it is important that we discard any eggs from Amelia while she's on medication.

Saturday Sky

again, I really have been knitting! I want to share the knitting, but today all I have is sky. Late afternoon Saturday sky looking southeast off the deck.

Meet the girls

Orpington is an Orpington:



Amelia, Speckled Sussex:



Lucy, Ameraucana:



Annie and Tasty, both Andalusians:



















Tasty's full name is Tasty Bastard. So named because it wasn't apparent at first that she was a she. If she had not been a she, she would have been dinner. Roosters are not allowed in the city. I have a two year old neighbor though, so we'll have to modify her name a bit. All the other birds were named by Jamie, who built the coop and hand raised these pets.


I should really blog more about how much fun they are, learning to handfeed and pick them up, chasing Lucy down the street when she escaped from the yard, collecting eggs, our first meal with the eggs, how I didn't see Orpington in the coop and searched all the trees in a panic to figure out where she was roosting (but she was at home in the coop where she belonged) but I don't really know what to say. They are a hoot. They have personalities, they have brains and they also act just like chickens.

I will say this. I had to leave them in the run all day Sunday, their first day here, so they would get used to the place. They tolerated it, but the joy on Monday when I let them out! Free range does make a difference.

Knitting! There has been knitting! will show the knitting later.

After