Nov 16, 2010

This yarn is finally all caked and ready to start knitting. This yarn is VERY fine knit holding two strands together. There are also beads to add. The only real question is - should I make this hat?

This is called the Square Necked Cardigan. This is another clearance/sale find.

I think out of print books and sale kits is the main cause of my SABLE status.

St. Brigid is currently being sewn together!

Nov 15, 2010

This yarn is destined to become Tempest.

I used Jaquard dye to create the lighter purple one myself, I was very pleased when it was finished, it was exactly the color I was trying to make. The darker is the Amethyst colorway. Both are Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 weight. When I ordered them I ordered a blue one - called Storm (I think) as the darker. It didn't have as much purple as the picture made it appear and the Amethyst was ALOT darker then it looked.

This is the trouble with online shopping. It's so hard to judge color, and even harder to judge how well they go together. I was concerned when I bought the yarn, but no yarn store near me carried this yarn so an in person review wasn't possible. I know I could probably have returned one of them, but I wanted to knit a swatch to see how they would go together, just in case they'd work.

Nov 14, 2010

Poetry in Stitches and a sale strike again. This was too cheap to pass up, since I had the book (this kit didn't include the book) and the book had gone out of print and was hard to find. If I recall correctly it was cheaper then the cost (to the store).

This yarn is lace weight and very fine. Lovely hand and color.

I have less then 20 rows left before I finish my St. Brigid. I really want to get that finished so I'm going to make this a shorter post than usual.

Nov 13, 2010

In the continuing line of my delight in Starmore Designs - Zauberflote.

Unfortunately it isn't available on the Virtual Yarns website anymore. Too bad really, it's a lovely piece.

As you can see I have started caking the yarn. The yarn is quite lovely, soft and with great color.

Nov 12, 2010

Today's edition is the Lopi edition. Ah lopi, a hearty yarn that doesn't get nearly enough credit. I have made several lopi sweaters, some out of other yarns for the more delicate members ofmy family. I adore the sweaters I have made using lopi, in spite of (or maybe because of) how hairy they are. I find them warm, but not too warm. All of this yarn was purchase 75% off or is left over from a kit I bought a couple years ago. Isn't it annoying when you only just break into the last skein, use a few yards and are all done?

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The only problem is deciding which sweater to make. I have enough yarn to make two of the patterns in my pattern collection. Today's choices are:

But there are at least three others that are always neck and neck in the running.

Maybe I should just put the main colors in a bag pattern numbers in another and do a random draw. Luckily, I have enough other things to work on that I don't have to decide today.

Also - mustn't forget. I finished this hat last night.

It's a gift for my mother. (well, she bought the yarn, I did the knitting) The pattern is Swirly Gig from Knitpicks. The yarn is Gloss, in fingering weight.

Nov 11, 2010

I love this sweater:

This is especially amazing when you know that I really dislike the color yellow. (except on kitchen walls - I have no idea why that is, it just is) But in this case there is just something visually appealing about the color combination. The pictures is from Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified. The chart is there and I have what I think is the proper yarn amounts.

The yarn is from Philosopher's Wool. It's their two-ply. The 'pattern' isn't in the book exactly, but in keeping with the Philosopher's Wool philosophy (Choose your colors yourself) I plan to 'follow' the pic and make my own version. I also plan to use Elizabeth Zimmermann's EPS system and make a more fitted/less baggy style. I will still knit it in three pieces and steek. I will also need to knit all three pieces in tandem in order to keep the band sequences similar, just in case I'm wrong about the amounts I need.

It's amazing to me how much less scary that thought is after you survive the first one.

Nov 10, 2010

Today I bring you a submission from Poetry in Stitches.

I thought this sweater was lovely, except for the colors. Orange is just not one of my favorites. However, one day I was browsing the clearance rack at one of my favorite local yarn purveyors and found this:

It is New England shetland in grey and two purple shades.

Poetry in Stitches is a particular collection of lovely knits that will be making a repeat appearance or two.

I have already made a lovely red and white number, which will be knit again. The first one, while lovely was too big for me and I just never wore it. On those few rare occasions when I did I felt like the 4 year old who'd broken into mother's closet. I considered ripping it back or steeking and making it smaller. Since I couldn't decide which would be preferable I did neither and in the end gave it to a friend. She wears it often (or so I hear) and loves it to pieces. Perhaps the next one will be blue and white.

Nov 9, 2010

Sometimes life and the heart call for a simple project. This sweater is a simple classic. I am sure that I will find the endless ribbing to be mind numbing. But I'm going to make it.

And in honor of my inner geek I'm going to make mine in Ravenclaw colors. I admit I'm a Harry Potter geek. My daughter loves it so I may as well enjoy all the time I get to spend watching the movies and discussing the stories. If Harry Potter isn't your thing it will also pass for the Indianapolis Colts colors, if that's your brand of geekage.

Tonight was Shepherd's Choice Mystery book club. It is a great deal of fun and we almost talked about the book this time. We choose our next book and are having a holiday theme next time.

Nov 8, 2010

Pictures do not do the colors in this yarn justice. It's a lovely brown with tweeds of orange. This is one of the very few yarns I bought without a project already in mind. I have MANY skeins.

It didn't take me long to find a project for which it is perfect: Thermal, from Knitty.com. It will be perfect when made from this. Knitty.com is a great source of interesting patterns. I'm not sure how many patterns I have knit from there - but I usually check there when I'm searching for inspiration and I am seldom disappointed.

Initially I had planned another project to post today. Then I saw this yarn and I decided to cast it on, while I waited for the extra skein of Black Water Abbey 2ply to show so I can finish St. Brigid.

Nov 7, 2010

Today's edition of 'holy crap I have a lot of yarn' is Starmore's Beadwork. A pretty bit of texture knitting. If nothing else this exercise is making me pretty sure I don't need to buy any yarn next year. Certainly not any sweater-worth quantities.

The yarn I selected for this is Scottish Fleet from Frangipani in Greystone. This is a lovely company to work with and having swatched this I can tell you the yarn is fabulous. The colors are vibrant. I fondle the sample card on a regular basis.

I have been forced to stop work on St. Brigid, at least until later this week. As I feared, I am going to run out of yarn. I estimate that I am about 1/4 of a skein short. Luckily I was able to locate someone who had a skein they were willing to get out of their stash. It should arrive later this week. I can only assume that promptly after receiving the replacement I will find an additional skein in my OWN stash. This would be pretty typical for me.

Hopefully pulling all this yarn out and reorganizing it will help me with that little problem. As I'm posting these up they are being bagged together and placed on the 'sorted' shelves. Perhaps January 1 will result in a picture of the organized work room.

Nov 6 2010

Meg Swansen and Elizabeth Zimmermann are my knitting heros. I freely admit to a love affair with the baby surprise jacket. Attending Knitting Camp did great things for my fearlessness at knitting (well that, Alice Starmore and Philosopher's Wool).

Today's edition of 'view my stash' is this lovely number by Meg.

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The yarn is Cascade, and what keeps this sweater from being completed is - my fear that this sweater will be so large that I will never wear it. The finished measurements are more than 10" larger then I am. But I am also deeply in love with it.

Maybe I should buy dk weight? Will that work? And although the yarn is listed as being worsted weight the sweater is knit on size 3.5mm (US 4) needles. Which implies sport/dk weight already, right?

But the gauge is 20 stitches to 4" which IS worsted weight - on size 4.5 (US 7) needles. And so, even though I already have the working copies of the charts and I have read the pattern a few times and can remove 4 inches from the circumference without messing up the design I am too uncertain to start. Even the swatching gives me pause.

Nov 5 2010

For a very Festive Friday I give you BLUE

This lovely royal blue knitpicks palette is set aside for Myrtle Cardigan.

It is quite lovely, both the color and the pattern.

This has been a useful week for getting things together and sorting out my work room. I need to get some additional storage containers. Since I'm going through all the work of pulling this yarn together it seems a shame to let it return to the mess it became because of all the moving.

There has also been knitting. I am about 1/3 finished with the back of St. Brigid. I plan to complete it by the end of the month. I think I'm right on target for that!

Nov 4 2010

What joy I have found in Norwegian knitwear design.

A couple years ago I went to Yarn Over and purchased this

on clearance from one of the vendors. (I also purchased the kit for Box Sweet at the same event.)

This is a beautiful sweater - but I want to make it smaller (that over sized sweater issue again) and skip the collar. I pulled this kit out a month ago, thinking it would be a good time to start it. Then I read the instructions.

Nearly all the color work is done using swiss darning. Hmm - fiddly work after the knitting is done. I know me well enough to know how that will work out. On the other hand it isn't so much of an annoyance that I've put it back in stash. I keep thinking I should just cast this baby on and start knitting.

Hey - it could happen

Nov 3 2010

For today's sweater we have Silk Ribbed Lace Corset designed by Annie Modesitt.

The yarn is Passion from Yarn Source. It is 100% silk and has great sheen. I purchased this yarn from Lambkin's Hideaway. Their customer service was great.

Nov 2 2010

Today's installment is a lovely bit of fair isle from Alice and Jade Starmore. Frankly I think it's fair to say that these are some of my favorite designs. Their book Tudor Roses has inspired a lot of my knitting. I've already completed Anne Bolyn and Elizabeth I and I have only the sleeves remaining on Mary Tudor.

Mary Tudor was quite a challenge. The pattern is a cardigan, which for some unknown reason I am not fond of, so I decided it should be a pullover. Shaping the neck and knitting the neckband took a really long time, around a couple years. And I have yarn set aside for one more of them: Margaret Tudor. The hold up on this one is the buttons, I'm still looking for the perfect buttons.

This lovely pattern is call Katherine of Aragon. I have the yarn to make either version I'm leaning toward the pullover. But that changes everything I contemplate casting it on. I will not be casting this one on until I finish the sleeves on Mary Tudor.

Nov 1 2010

In the interest of getting back into the habit of posting and in honor of nanowrimo (which is crazy, by the way, all due respect to those who dare). I am going to attempt to post every day and in order to 1) give myself something to blog about 2) get a grip on my stash and 3) get a good look at the cool stuff therein I plan to post on sweater kit from my stash each day.

First up we have one of my Philosopher's Wool sweaters. This one is Colour Your Own in Fall colorway.

I love these sweaters, the yarn and the designs. They have really helped me to grow as a knitter. It's scary to choose the next color, the first couple sweaters. But what they say is true, if you have a matched palette you can't go wrong. Even the one I made with leftovers from other kits turned out quite well. I'm still a bit nervous when I put my own palette together, but I'm not as paralyzed as I once was. I have made probably 5 of these to date. I have started changing the shaping a little for the last few and will probably make more shaping changes to this one when I make it.

I also used this yarn the first time I fixed a mistake. I grabbed the wrong yarn, didn't notice right away and had to removed the cuff and three inches of the sleeve and reknit it. It was a bit scary, but worked out well.

Something finished

Since this didn't get blogged yet I'm going to drop it here.

I finished my Liz I sweater. It's beautiful. I did have to rip back the top and shorten it so that it fit me, but it's a great fit now and I love it!

Prior to the adjustment it looked like this:

It's hard to see in this picture but the armhole starts under my bust about 5 inches down from my actual arm. It felt like I was 4 wearing my mother's clothes.

I really love Alice Starmore's designs. But they are always oversized for me. In many cases this is not a big deal. In this case, I think I'd like it better if it was a closer fit. However, not enough to make all the changes that would be necessary to adjust this pattern.

Fall is falling

well - Rain is falling.

A lot of things have happened since my last post. I started a new job, found and moved into a place of my own and I have been trying desperately to get all my stuff moved in, unpacked and put away. There are a few things that I can't find. I hope they show up but I'm not holding out much hope.

There has been quite a bit of knitting and I will get pictures up soon.

Now I am working on an AS aran sweater. I'm quite pleased that she decided to reprint that book. It's quite lovely and the library copy is nice, but quite inconvenient when you decide you want to use a certain yarn but aren't sure what to do with it.

So far I have finished the front and one sleeve. The pattern is St. Brigid, the yarn is from Blackwater Abbey, 2-ply in Autumn. It's a lovely color and a fantastic yarn. I'm very pleased with it. I can't wait for it to be finished so I can wear it.

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How did it get to be July already!?

Today is the last day of knitting camp. We had a great time. I'm all stuffed full of enthusiasm and ideas. If I get any of it done I'll be impressed but I'm so EXCITED.

I finally got brave and cast on the sleeves for my Elizabeth I (Amy said I was chicken - she's probably right). This took a great deal less time then last time I attempted to alter a sweater pattern. I was busy counting and fretting and Amy D made me show the class what I was working on. It's a bit nuts but I'm less worried about cutting steeks then I am about adjusting a pattern.

I'd put up some pictures but I'm not getting nice pictures this morning (stupid camera only does flash at one level (OVEREXPOSED!).

Finally Pictures -


Mother and I had a great time and plan to enter the lottery next year as well. I hope we apply to Camp 2 or one of the retreats. I will actually pack up some of my knitting and bring it next time. (meant to this time - but forgot - well forgot and I'm not that impressed with my knitting, I don't really think it's extra special) Maybe I will get the shetland shawl done (actually starting it would help that happen).

I was naughty and bought yarn. I'm going to design and make a Norwegian style sweater. I am unclear why that is less scary then changing the sleeves on Elizabeth I. I suppose in some way however it comes out is what I planned?

I also need (NEED - snicker) the Armenian Knitting book. I want to make the Lily jacket but put in a poppy instead of the lily.



Better get moving. Good bye Breakfast is shortly and I need to pack.

Post dated post

In the interest of keeping this in some sort of order here is a post that SHOULD have been made in June.

Behold the shawl I made for my mother, as a retirement present, while I was waiting for the floor I was tiling for her to dry and set. The yarn is BLF 2/8 from Fleece Artist which I hand dyed to make Tempest. The color was all wrong - but the second skein I dyed is perfect!

The pattern is Laminaria (from Knitty.com).



The center section:



The border:

Knitting, soon with pictures

I had a good weekend knitting wise. I finished a sweater for a friend. It was self designed, mostly as I went, top down with a lace yoke. It turned out really nicely. I'd consider writing up the pattern, except I don't want to do all the math to get it multi-sized. Now the LYS I'm trying to teach at wants me to consider doing it as a class.

I am still doing Sock Madness. I have finished the first knee-high and started the second, but I have not spent much time on it the last few days. The pattern is great, if imperfect. I'm watching several knitters have the same complaints I had last year (patterns aren't always well proofread and occasionally there errors). Last year I removed myself from the competition over my reaction. I'm doing much better this year at remembering the designers are often producing their first written pattern, sometimes their first complicated pattern/design, and there are only a very few test knitters. PLUS its all volunteer and unpaid/free.

I made some more 'use up yarn' kitchen washing items. These ones use up acrylic yarn. (sorry for the Ravelry link - for all those not on Ravelry - I haven't seen this pattern off Ravelry.)

I also made 1/2 of a pair for the sock class I'm hoping to teach in May. This is just a plain sock pattern, perfect for a new sock maker. So far no students are signed up. I'm willing to wait until Friday to make a decision. But I'm a little disappointed.

I also put a few of my knitting project bags on Etsy. Go - buy them. These are small (pair of socks project size). If they don't sell I will put my sock projects in them and throw away the ziplock bags they are in now.

My next project will be to dye some yarn. I have two skeins that will be for Tempest and the rest will be up for grabs on Etsy. I'd like to do that tomorrow.

First Quarter Ends with Knitting

Finished quite a bit of knitting in March. Sock Madness is in full swing and we've already finished two pairs. I can't wait for the third.

The first round was Sideways Socks (don't know what I'm doing with these, they won't fit me) -













Second pattern was Cool Beans socks. These are for a friend but I may make another pair for myself - but with a few design changes (hourglass heel and plain toe) -












and Cable Vent Cardigan for me. I even found buttons!

It just needs washing and blocking and it's all ready to wear. Now I just need some place to wear it.










I'm hoping to find a yarn store or two that will let me teach. I'm also making some knitting bags to sell at Etsy. I'll post pics when they are available. Still tinkering with the pattern.