Zufflers!

What is a zuffler you ask? It's a zill muffler! Still don't know what that is? "Zills" is a word for "finger cymbals". Sometimes you may also see the word "zagat" or "sagat" used for them. They are a set of 4 small metal cymbals that you attach to your middle fingers and thumbs with elastic. I think they are one of the most exciting additions to a bellydance performance.

I've been practicing playing different musical patterns with them lately and my ears and my dogs' ears are starting to suffer. Last night I looked up cymbal cozy patterns on ravelry and found the Zuffler pattern and decided to try it. I knew of a few other really cute crochet patterns but this was the first knit pattern that I thought I would try. I used a tiny ball of leftover sock yarn and a set of 5 double points in 2.5mm size. They came out really well. The pattern calls for using thin elastic to secure them to the zills but since I didn't have any available I used a drawstring of matching yarn instead.

I only made 2 of them. I found that I really only need to cover 1 cymbal on each hand to get a nice muted sound. I can still hear it, but it doesn't have the ability to really make the bell sound and vibrate. It's effect is similar to using the "practice pedal" on my piano. So now I can work on my rhythms and cymbal patterns for bellydance and the pets and family don't have to suffer =) I'm getting pretty good at playing them, but playing them while dancing at the same time is a whole other story....

Pomatomus Sock #1 Complete

Good grief! It seems like knitting these socks is taking me forever. I don't know what the deal is. I got my "Monkey" socks done in like 2 weeks. I've been working on Pomatomus sock #1 since I left Ohio for Virginia 2 weeks ago. And I managed to finish 1/2 of one sock in that time. I had already completed up through the heel turn before I left.

Maybe it's just the pattern that is making me go so slow. It's really pretty when finished but its not an easy repeat for me since the repeat chunk is 22 rows. I think the next sock pattern I do should have less rows in the repeat and less stitches wide, something a little more simple. Right now this one seems like it takes ages to get through and I don't think I am enjoying it as much as I could be.

Might also be because the yarn doesn't thrill me right now. Yes, it is pretty yarn and I did pick it out for myself, but it's like the second skein of sock yarn I ever bought. Some of the yarn I have bought since then is really exciting in color and texture, really making me want to work with it. But this one not so much. Maybe its the dark colors that don't have so much contrast in them or something, I don't know.

But I really want to get the second sock completed so that I can start on a new pair of socks with a new pattern and new yarn. I guess I will just have to push through it, because otherwise I will put it down, pick up a different project, and then sock #1 will sit around not being worn. And that really would be a waste. I just wish I was more interested in this project right now. =/

Another random video

Today I decided I wanted to wind the second skein of laceweight yarn for my Aeolian shawl into a ball to take with me when I move. I need to get these kinds of things done so that I can pack away some of my stuff before I move. So I figured while I had the swift and the ball winder out, I might as well make a little video about how they work. Here it is:



It's bumming me out that I have to take my spinning wheel apart and pack it away. But there is not any room for it in the van with all of the family, pets and our stuff so it's going to have to get delivered with the household goods. I will miss it. I hope it travels well and the moving company takes care of it.

Lelah

After writing the last post, I decided to go ahead and rip out the turtleneck and use the yarn on a new project. I cast on for the Lelah top using a smaller gauge than the original pattern. I did some calculations based on the gauge from my purple tube top and my measurements and came up with 170 stitches on size 5 needles (for the top part) and then a slightly bigger gauge with size 7 needles for the bottom part.

The lace pattern is really easy to memorize and looks really pretty. For whatever reason, it seems like it is taking me a really long time to knit this project. I don't know if it's because of all the lace and me going slow with it or if it is simply because I haven't had a lot of time to sit and work on it. I've been trying to get my house cleaned and organized for moving, and every so often I sit down with the knitting to relax.

I've started my 5th lace repeat and the top measures about 4" long right now. I'm going to be at this lace pattern for quite a while considering how tall I am and how long I will want this top to be. But at least it will give me something to work on during the eventual travel and hotel stays etc. that go along with the move (whenever that may be...)

Punkette

I finally got around to finishing the spinning of my 4 ounces of "Punkette" superwash merino roving the other night. I ended up with 236 yards of a light dk-type weight 2-ply. I don't think it is quite thin enough to be considered fingering weight. I measured about 16 wraps per inch with the yard or so of scrap I had left over. Not sure how accurate a representation it is of the whole skein. But that would put it right on the fine/medium border. Here are the pics of the finished yarn:

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In knitting news, I started knitting a spruce green sleveless turtleneck top using the "Perfect Periwinkle Turtleneck Tube Vest" pattern by Stefanie Japel from the Fitted Knits book. I am not enjoying knitting this one as much as I did the purple tube top. I have ripped this one back I think 3 times so far.

The first time, I didn't like the way the ribbing was. I had purls along the armholes and it tended to curve upward. I followed the pattern, but somehow I was supposed to have knits there instead of purls. Now this pattern has errata and I looked that up online to find the corrections. The way mine came out was like the written instructions in the book and not the corrected pattern notes. So I ripped back to where the neck ends and shifted over 3 stitches so that I had knits at the armholes which looked better. In order to correct this problem if I were to decide to start this project over sometime, I would need to start the ribbing with purls like p3, k3, p3, k3 instead of with knits as I had done (k3, p3, k3, p3).

Then I got another maybe 12 or so rows into it and decided that I didn't like the way my increases looked. The left leaning increases (LLI) look great, but my right leaning ones (RLI) do not look the same as the left ones. I am really obsessive and nitpicky when it comes to symmetry and stuff, so this is bugging me. I ripped it out because I thought I must be doing the RLI's wrong. Then I went searching around on Ravelry looking at other people's projects and read that some other people were having issues with the increases and that they didn't look right but when the sweater was worn/stretched they looked ok. So I started knitting it again and got another 10 or so increase rows done and I am still not having a good feeling about how the RLI's look.

So I am still undecided about this pattern. I am considering ripping the whole thing out and using the yarn to make something else. Maybe another tube top like the purple one I made. This is the same yarn in the same amount as I used for that one, just a different color. And I actually enjoyed knitting that pattern. This one has annoyed me enough already that I don't know if it can redeem itself right now. But here is a pic of what it looked like when I finished the 5 inches of the neck ribbing.



The yarn would make a very pretty tube top....

Purple Tube Top Finished

I got the knitting done last night. I ended up doing 8 lace repeats and then 3 inches of ribbing at the bottom and omitted the bottom eyelet row. Today I went to the fabric store and got some ribbon to go with it. My husband photographed me in it, and I think it looks pretty nice.


It's pretty stretchy and needs the ribbon to stabilize it from slipping. I would definitely knit this pattern again but I think on the next one I would do a little waist shaping to make it a little tighter in the middle. Overall I am really happy with the result and the yarn is really nice.

Progress

I just put another lace repeat into my purple tube top. So far that makes 7 repeats (70 lace rows total). I think I am going to do one more repeat and then start the bottom ribbing and all that. But who knows, I will need to see what it looks like after that next repeat is done. Here's an updated pic:


I really hope that it ends up fitting me well. I read a lot of other people's info on this project on ravelry and hear a lot about the item stretching out a lot when worn. I will probably end up threading a coordinating ribbon through the top eyelets so that I can tie it and keep it tight at the top.

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I still have that aeolian shawl to work on. It has been hibernating since I started this tube top. I can't really adequately photograph it when it is still on the needles because I can't really stretch it out to show how big it is. But here's how far I have gotten on it:

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I haven't taken a recent photo of the Pomatomus socks I am working on. I have the leg portion of the first sock finished. Here is what that is looking like so far:

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Then there is the next in a long line of cotton dishcloths. I try to always have one of these on the needles as my "to go" project. I have the easy pattern memorized and it is small and portable. So anytime I go somewhere that I may have to sit around and wait for something I can grab this out of my purse and occupy myself.

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And finally there is my experimental sweater. This is really just a random project to work on when I need a break from everything else. I really have no idea what this is going to be when it is finished. I'm really just winging it.

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Lastly I have some spinning in progress. I got half of my "punkette" roving spun up weeks ago and the other half has just been sitting here. I need to get the other half done and the 2 plied together before I have to pack up my wheel for the move in a couple weeks. The wheel will probably be in storage with all the rest of our stuff for a little while, so my spinning will have to go on hiatus.

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Well, that's about it for this update. The next few weeks will be insanely busy, so I will need my knitting to keep me sane.