All Yarn, All the Time

Flo's Triangle

2007-11-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

This is a gift for my Dad's older sister, Florene, who is the favorite Auntie for me and all of my cousins. She is turning 80 this year and we are having a party on Saturday to celebrate her!

Pattern: Flo's Triangle by me as directed by Evelyn A. Clark in her book "Knitting Lace Triangles"
Yarn: 2 ply lace weight "optimum" stretched merino spun by me on my Jensen
Needles: US size 5
Experience: This is a great book to use to make your own combination of lace for a shawl. It was the perfect vehicle for the about 500 yards of handspun optima I had that wasn't sure what to use it for. This yarn is so ridiculously soft and shiny! I cannot find this fiber to buy more - I bought this 4 ounces at the Knitter's Connection in June. If anyone knows where to get some, please tell me! Here is a review of SWT yarn made from the same fiber that describes the process somewhat.

The requisite "unblocked" picture.

My attempt to capture the shine.

Evidence of reckless planning - I ended up having to ply some singles that I sampled because I ran out 5 inches from the end while binding off. The remnant doesn't even register on my kitchen scale. And people think knitting isn't thrilling! ha!

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T19:39:00.001-04:00

2 Weeks Later....

2007-10-29T13:30:00.000-04:00

And since the bones are healing nicely we have a lovely blue smaller, lighter, waterproof, glow-in-the-dark-striped cast.

She will have to wear this smaller one for 4 more weeks, but the fact that IT'S WATERPROOF makes it all OK. The worst part for Em seems to have been that she needed help bathing.

snagged from cuteoverload.com for "Caturday"

2007-10-20T16:21:00.000-04:00

You must have the sound on. It's a cat thing.

Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties

2007-10-19T18:34:00.001-04:00

I made this in August and am just now getting around to blogging about it. I started this blog so I could keep track of my knitted things, but now there's Ravelry and it seems kind of redundant to post here as well. I may be giving up the blog.

Front view with puffy-looking eyes

back view - note the longer length

Pattern: Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties by Stephanie Japel, Fitted Knits
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha from Little Knits, light granny smith green. 9 skeins
Size: 45"
Needles: US 5 Addi's
Mods:

- I made the sleeves and body a little longer
- I used leftover Cotton Fleece from the diamond mesh sweater for the hem facings because I was afraid I would run out of yarn, but I like the yellow contrast and think it turned out well.
- completely changed the leaf ends and made the ties a little shorter. The seed stitch leaf in the pattern looked wrong to me, so I made a generic leaf from one of Nicky Epstein's edge books and and a matching back for each leaf which turned out really cute.
- The cardi turned out too big even though I got spot-on gauge. I have (maybe temporarily until I think of something better) turned the front edges in at about the place where the cast-on stitches start, and then sewed them in place like a facing. I started the applied i-cord then at the folded edge. Any suggestions for finishing this another way - short of re-knitting - are appreciated.

The pictures look pretty crappy (color-wise) and it's actually more flattering than it appears. The sleeve picture is probably closest to actual color.

See the cool Cotton Fleece yellow facing? Clever, clever!

Tie Front Cardigan #6

2007-10-17T10:35:00.000-04:00

Front of the sweater. Obvi.

The back. I think it looks funny from this angle, I had my husband take the picture.

Pattern: Tie Front Cardigan #6 by Shirley Paden from the Holiday 2006 Vogue Knitting, largest size
Yarn: Kraemer Sterling, less than 4 skeins. 63% Superwash Merino, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon & 2% REAL Silver fibers
Needles: Addi's in sizes US 4, 5, and 6.
Modifications: I didn't make the waist shaping since I don't have as much real-life waist shaping as I would like. This made the ending stitch count on the shoulder seams larger which was OK because I have broad shoulders. I think I could have made them a little bit smaller, though - the pattern said 29 and I had like 35 stitches. I also had to work with the shoulders in order to get them set in - I could have knit them at least an inch shorter on the cap.

Blocked with blocking wires, and I used the small flexible ones to shape the sleeve caps which was pretty neat. You can see them in the blocking pictures.**for some reason I can't upload my blocking pictures, but you can see them on Ravelry. It was a real pain steaming the ruffled collar, but it looked so much better after I had. It really looks much better in person, you can appreciate the "bling" in the yarn and feel the soft silky goodness.

This picture is for Lisa because she complains I'm always headless. Lisa, now do you see why I cut off my head??!!!

Soccer Season is Now Over

2007-10-14T10:21:00.000-04:00

At least it's over for Emily. Poor baby took on the Biggest Girl on the Orange Team in the first game of the playoffs, and paid a price for stopping a goal. She had a clean break of both her radius and ulna just above the wrist on the right arm, and is in the big cast for a couple weeks, hopefully to go to a smaller one after that. She was very brave during the treatment and setting, and we all hope she feels better soon. Thankfully children heal quickly!

She's getting lots of TLC from the family. Oh, and her team won! Go, Blue Bombers!

Knitting updates to come soon. I am claiming that I'm too busy with school, dance, and soccer to have posted since September. :o)

Denim Tank Top

2007-09-06T18:26:00.002-04:00

I still owe pictures of the two cardigans I've finished, but here's a nice little denim tank, WITH BEADS!!

front view showing button closure.

another front view showing right side with increases.

beaded bracelet to match!! only took about one hour to knit!

detail of button closure on bracelet.

before washing the tank and the prewashed swatch. I love the fade!

Pattern: Denim Tank Top from Knitting with Beads by Jane Davis
Yarn: Den-M-Nit from elann.com, mid-indigo color
Needles: US size 5 Knitpicks Options
Beads: a mixture of 2 colors from a local bead shop, size 6, about 1,904 beads total.
Beading Credit: I must give credit to Elise who helped me string lots of the beads, and also to the girls from the Wednesday Night SnB. Thanks, peeps!
Modifications: I put in buttons instead of a zipper closure, and I like the way it turned out. As usual, I did make it a bit longer to compensate for my height.

Knitting with this 100% cotton yarn was nice, not as hard on the hands as some cottons, and the top took me less than a week to finish. I like the way the denim yarn fades in the washer and dryer. It does shrink, but like jeans it stretches right back out. I made the bracelet about 8" unwashed, and it shrunk to a comfortable fitting 6.5" - however with the stretch factor I should have made it shorter.

Yep, I'm pretty happy with this one. :o) Having a little bit of a beading phase - I never should have gone to that bead shop!

Wow

2007-09-01T12:14:00.000-04:00

I just impressed the heck out of my newbie-spinner-self by making a 2-ply sample using beaded silk (my first spun silk!!) with a slightly fatter strand of BFL. The silk is hand dyed tussah from the amazing Abby of Franquemont Fibers. The colorway is "dandelion". Anyhoo, on to the pictures.

I'm going to say it's about fingering weight, and the color seems pretty accurate in these pictures. I'm going to have more opportunity to spin now that football has started, and I might try sampling some 2-plies of only silk with beads next. Who knows what I'll do? I certainly don't.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Part II

2007-08-16T08:44:00.000-04:00

I did very little knitting on the beach because I was mostly swimming or playing or just resting. This is part of the Bianca's Jacket from Fall 2006 IK that I would have finished if I hadn't run out of yarn for the finishing border. Curses on my long arms making me use up too much yarn!! Notice the happy man flying his kite and the children in the water. Heaven, I say!

Typical beach scene of me and my doggers.

This is the semi-completed jacket on the porch swing. I sewed up one side to check the fit, but naturally lost momentum after I realized I wouldn't have enough silk to finish. Below is a snap I took myself of the one arm. Fit seems to be right.
Of course it needs a good steaming, too. I think this one is going to be a favorite, even though the silk was tough on my hands. More details about it when I post the finished product.

LYS Review and Vacation Booty

A trip to the beach wouldn't be complete without a trip to the really nice yarn shop a little north of us in Ludington, called Nautical Yarn. This shop is a real treat, and was even better than it was last year with much more lace yarn and all kinds of cool stuff. I purchased enough Kraemer Sterling (reviewed today in Knitter's Review!) to make the Shirley Paden Tie-Front Cardigan from Vogue Holiday 2006 (see a beautiful completed one here). The proprietor had made one for a lace class and I was completely drawn to it in person, where in the magazine I thought it kind of "meh". She used an alpaca with sparkle (was it this?Alpaca Yarn Company "Glimmer" I think maybe), and it was lovely, and she also pointed out errors in the chart for me and was generally a nice person to visit with. All the help in the shop was indeed helpful, and they all seemed like true fiber enthusiasts. Anyway, a couple pictures of the loot, which also included one hank of Fino.

I think I showed remarkable restraint considering all the goodies in the store, including the new Kaffe Fassett sock yarns! More soon on other works in progress, including the other cardigan mentioned before vacation, the socks and some spinning stuff.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Part I

2007-08-14T09:25:00.001-04:00

View from my spinning chair on the porch, Cider Moon Australian wool in Peas and Carrots. The view you can't see is Lake Michigan and a beautiful private beach, just a short walk over the dune.

Plying the carrots. I have enough for a pair of shortie socks, I hope. 4 oz. gave me about 270 yards unknown wpi. Oh, and I love my new Louet Victoria travel wheel!!

Peas and carrots in a Fiesta bowl. The cottage has a whole closet full of all manner of Fiesta Ware.

Making the salsa in the morning.

Spinning some avocado singles. I've never knit with my own singles, but I'll be making a scarf of some type to coordinate with my avocado broadripple socks.

Beach dog. Of course. She had a good time this year.

Oh well!

2007-08-02T12:54:00.000-04:00

Just as I'm getting back into the swing of posting, I'm leaving on vacation! I still have catching up to do from before, but just to let you know about stuff coming up: 2 cardigans, 2 pair of socks, 2 mystery stoles (one black, one white, both with beads) and an all-silk version of the swallowtail shawl from Interweave. It's all good.

See you when I get back!

More knitted goodness (plus some spinnings)

2007-07-29T11:07:00.000-04:00

First up, another successful knitted item, from Rowan.
Pattern: Stevie by Kim Hargreaves, It's a Tape Thing
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Tape (discontinued) Fever 555 colorway
Needles: I think I used US 10 1/2
Modifications: There was no closure specified in the pattern, so although I quickly finished the knitting in June, I didn't actually put this together until July when I got "Knitting Beyond the Edge" by Nicky Epstein and found this super-cute leaf toggle. This color doesn't seem to photograph well, but it's actually a nice blue-ish purple color. I wore this the other day received many compliments, but nobody thinks it's looks anything like the model in the book, which is true. I'm very happy with this, and like the drop-stitch detail on the hem and cuffs. I also made this a little bit longer than specified, but it's still on the short side.

Oh, and if you haven't yet, you should join Ravelry! I got my invitation a while back, but just recently started entering my projects, and doing that very slowly. The idea is huge, and I think it'll be a great knitting/crochet/fiber resource. I'm just taking it a little bit at a time, but if you are in and you want to see me there, I'm JulieG.

Next up, the Avocado broadripple socks!
Pattern: Broadripple by Threadbear Fiber Arts
Yarn: Cider Moon Flurry in the avocado colorway
Needles: US 1 dp
How many times have I made this pattern? So many I don't even know, but this is the first time I've used the Flurry yarn. I loved it, it is very soft and knit up beautifully. My picture doesn't look perfectly in focus, but you can see how nice it striped up. I have a bag of the avocado Australian Wool that I plan to spin on vacation to make a scarf this fall. How much do I love you, Cider Moon? :o)

Lastly today I have some nice lace weight merino that I spun, about 500 yards, a little less than 4 oz. This is no ordinary merino, however - it is Optimum stretched merino! I bought this fiber at the Knitter's Connection and now I can't find it, but I absolutely love it for both the softness and the sheen, you have to feel it to believe. The process that stretches the wool fibers basically removes the natural crimp and gives the fiber physical properties similar to silk or cashmere, but it also retains some of the merino characteristics, so I'm told. I can't wait to make something with this! Not sure if I'll dye it or keep it this natural color.

That's all for now! thanks for looking.

As promised

2007-07-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Not the really informational and interesting post that I intended to make earlier this week, but I put together a quick collection of pictures of stuff I've been doing. But to begin, some "toe painting" the girls did in camp this week (and yes, it's what you think it is - fingerpainting but with their feet and toes):

Emily's

Elise's

Nice, eh?
And now for something that should have been nice, but turned out wrong, for the time being.

Pattern: Shaped Lace Tee from Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael
Yarn: 8ish skeins of Noro Lily 70/30 cotton silk
Needles: US 4 Addi circular
Modifications Not enough, apparently.
I love Joan M-M's work, and as soon as this book came out I had to have it. Even if you don't want to make anything from it, it's beautiful to look at and she explains a lot of interesting stuff about lingerie history and evolution. There are many patterns in it that are suitable for "ordinary people" wear, including this cute Tee. However, for some reason I can't get the sleeves right! I've made them 5 times, including 3 times after getting a lovely and helpful note from Joan when I asked for help making this fit middle-aged arms better. It still pulls funny and I cannot make them work, even after aggressively wet blocking it when steaming failed. I'm sure it is just me, and not her pattern, and I'm not just saying that. The pattern is very cleverly designed and quick and easy to knit, and I can't actually say enough good things about the Noro Lily yarn - love it! So, I'm going to put this one away for awhile, and see if a little body shape change in the form of weight loss will help me work this out later. The picture doesn't look great because I wadded it up in a ball in disgust. Oh well.

Next up, a success story.
Pattern: Diamond Mesh from Knitter's magazine summer 2007 by Simona Merchantdest
Yarn: Cotton Fleece from Brown Sheep 80/20 cotton wool blend.
Needles: I'm thinking US 4, but maybe 5. This is why I need to stay on top of documenting things!
Modifications: Changed from cardigan style to pullover top. I also made it a little bit longer, but now that I've worn it I don't think I needed to. Anyway, I didn't see the point in having a sort sleeved lace cardigan, plus I hate to pick up all those placket stitches, so here it is. I made the front like the back and sort of ad-libbed the neck shaping, then made the sleeves, assembled the bodice and sleeves, then knit the bottom lace part in the round while reading Harry Potter 7 this weekend. The book saved me from a long and boring section of the sweater! It fits wonderfully, I love the mustard color, and I love working with Cotton Fleece. I must say I think this works very well, maybe even better than the cardigan version. I got tons of compliments when I wore it today.

You know, I have a lot more to post, and it turns out I am being informative in my explanations, so I'll try to get the rest done this weekend. I have the pictures, so it's just matter of writing! Bye for now!

You know it's time to post...

2007-07-23T17:47:00.001-04:00

You know you've been away too long when your mother-in-law asks when she's going to see new work up on the blog. ;o) Hi, Judy!

I have been knitting and spinning all kinds of stuff, randomly, and will have pictures to document these activities soon. It's summer, and I've been busy with the girls home from school and have been having a tough time just making it through one day at a time since Mom passed away on June 14th. Mom was a very good person - you know how God wants us to be? she was that way - and I miss her so very much. My friends and family have been wonderful in helping me get through this, and I feel very blessed to have you, just as I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful and loving mom.

Pictures to follow soon - the girls are in day camp all week! Yea, camp!!

It's harder than it looks

2007-05-22T19:09:00.001-04:00

Em spinning in her jammies

Both the girls have been trying their hand at spinning on Gramma Kay's wheel. I won't let them touch mine, but Kay is very generous with her equipment. :o) They have both practiced just treadling, and also spinning with some White Buffalo Unspun that I had around and used when I was first starting. Elise seems very at ease with the process. Emily is analyzing it and maybe making it harder than it needs to be at this point, but they are both doing very well. You need to get ready for your lesson, Kay!

I have been doing some spinning and some blending and some more spinning. First I made about 175 yards of 2 ply natural colored Blue faced Leicester (I looked it up because I didn't know how it was pronounced: "Lester") and you can see from the quick sample that it's not super even, but still nice and soft.

Then there is some wool from the Fiber Event I've been playing with. I made a really nice 3-ply - my first!! - shown here in the picture on the left, and then determined I would like to use it to make the Sunrise Circle Jacket (.pdf file) by Kate Gilbert. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough for that entire project, but decided I could blend it on the drum carder with some natural brown ram's wool(also purchased at said Event) for a nice yarn, shown on the right in this picture. You can't really see the swatch, but it's nice. I will have plenty for the sweater, and decided I would make it 2-ply because I can't imagine having the patience to do 3900 yards of singles for a 3 ply. This is my first time really calculating and spinning for a specific project, and I hope I'm doing it right!

Another thing I've been working on is a quicky cardigan, the Stevie from It's a Tape Thing
(but I call it Stella??) out of color 550 Electric Rowan Cotton Tape. This is going fast, and I'm enjoying some immediate gratification: I'm already done with 1-1/2 sleeves.

Finally, talking about a quick payoff, I spent an evening knitting up the Berroco free pattern for the Air Bear using ?? color of Air, about 1/2 a ball. Obvi I still need to sew on a face, but he's still super-cute! This is a really simple and satisfying little knit. I love making toys!

Personal Note: I'm not sure how frequently I'll be posting in the next couple weeks or so. My parents are having some health issues and I'm keeping pretty busy with them. I'm sure I'll be knitting a lot - it's my biggest stress reliever! - so when I'm back I'll probably have plenty to post about.

A conversation yesterday

2007-05-22T19:02:00.001-04:00

Roger: Happy 13th anniversary, honey!
Me: Oh, how lovely...I didn't even get you a card....
Roger: That's OK, you never do.
(hugs)

a couple things

2007-05-17T15:55:00.000-04:00

I haven't felt much like blogging in the past week, but thought I should post this picture of a scarf I made for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I think she liked :o) I made the same pattern I made for my mom, but with a completely different result. I used 2 skeins of the Great Adirondack Sequins .

I'm also posting the Nashua Knits North American Designer Collection No. 4 Surplice Lace Top I just finished, but I realized after I took the picture that I really needed a camisole, so I've edited the picture to add one (and of course wore one when I debuted the top in public). I would have taken a flat picture, but it looks so much better on. I used 11 skeins of Jaeger Albany, a mercerized cotton tape-like yarn that knit up beautifully for this. Of course if you want it, it's been discontinued, sorry. I used the yarn from my stash like a good girl. :o)

I might make another one, I like this little pattern so much. It was a quiet, fairly mindless knit and the only change I made was to make the decreases for neck and sleeve fully fashioned - I think it looks a little better that way on this piece. Oh, and I added an extra repeat of the lace for additional length since I'm a tall girl.

Silken Goodness

2007-05-09T16:34:00.000-04:00

see the shine of the silk?

This is a little shoulder scarf I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I gave it to her today along with a cute brown shirt from Talbot's, and I think she really likes it. It was a pleasure to knit, the silk was just luscious to touch, and I think it came out well.

Pattern: Versatile Scarves from Evelyn A. Clark, Fibertrends, the one with the 3 row eyelet
Yarn: Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple 100% Silk (a.k.a. "Butter"), Glazed Ginger colorway
Needles: US size 7 bamboo circulars

Even though the label said dry clean only, I soaked it briefly in Eucalan and blocked it out with wire. I give this pattern 2 thumbs up!

When I went over to see Mom and Dad today, I brought my wheel and gave them a little spinning demo. I think they find it funny and kinda goofy that I'm so into all the wooliness, but as always, they are very supportive. I'm such a lucky girl to have them!

What has Mom been doing?

2007-05-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

It looks like she doesn't have any furniture in this picture, but her room is big and it's all out of the frame. We really didn't give her just a bed and a closet! Oh, and notice the floor: no piles of clothes and toys! She promised me she'd keep it picked up. While I do appreciate the gesture, I'm not holding my breath.

Well, I've been knitting, spinning a little, and playing with blending yarn, but mostly I've been getting Em's room ready. This Sunday she will be 10, and my gift to her is to re-do her room. She picked out the comforter set from Target, and I helped her pick the paint, "Florescent Lime" and "La Fonda Turquoise" from Valspar at Lowes. The carwash style sheer curtains and green glass hardware are from JCPenneys, thank you Sherrie for telling me to look there! Still need to find a bulletin board (is someone getting her one for her birthday?) and a new desk lamp for her. Oh, and a trash can.

Pictures of the fiber related stuff will be forthcoming. The painting etc. has kept me really busy, but I should be ready to post about my knitterly activities soon.

Child labor and Atomic Lace

2007-04-29T12:06:00.000-04:00

the first skein posing seductively in the sun.

Just a few quick pictures - I couldn't wait to share my Atomic Merino Superwash Lace. I haven't done the WPI yet, but it's quite fine enough to make a nice lace item. The Atomic merino is from Cider Moon, and is the first almost complete project on my new wheel. Almost complete, because I still have an estimated 200 yards left on the bobbins that I haven't plied yet. This is nearly 600 yards of 2 ply. I like it.

I was forced to employ child labor as I got tired of winding it on my own. She was most helpful.

This is the yarn posing with dime for perspective.

Finally, this is a little blending experiment I started on this morning, including plain purplish wool, teal ingeo, and a little sparkle fiber in random amounts. Looking forward to seeing how it spins up - I think I used a little too much bling.

Baby Stuff

2007-04-26T11:31:00.000-04:00

Roger's boss and his wife just got a new baby girl (they already had her brother - they are very special people who have adopted these babies!), and this is something I made to keep her in cottony comfort.

Pattern: Made the sweater a time ago just to try this yarn(months ago) and I don't recall, but the booties are from this Leisure Arts booklet, Precious Layettes to Knit. I think the sweater might be from here too, I've made lots of them from this book.
Yarn: Bernat cotton tots in Jelly Belly
Needles: US 3
Fun? lots

I feel like been in a little bit of a knitting of slump, and making these booties Tuesday afternoon during "Night at the Museum" made me feel a lot better. I love having something I can just whip up. The yarn is super soft, and machine wash and dry. I made the cords for the neck and ankles out of crochet chain, and think the effect is very cute.

Here is a quick shot of the first handspun sock, edited for your protection:

I'm working on the other. And because I didn't have the yarn ready, I am also just past the gusset on a Hedera sock. Nice pattern, from knitty.com and Cookie A.

I also cast on for a sweater Tuesday night to help me get out of the slump, the same one that my friend Delana just started.

I will be making a post some day soon for Jacki of Cider Moon about the other toy I got from the Fiber Event, a Louet Junior drum carder. I just haven't had a lot of time for this, and I haven't even had much time for spinning, and I'm still working on the atomic lace weight. I'm finding that I'm probably going to have trouble with spinning monogamy just as I have many projects on the needles at once. Big surprise, right?

The New Wheel

2007-04-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

I'm mostly caught up posting what I've been doing with this third post this week. I still don't have a picture of the finished first Sunny Day sock, and I don't think I really have a great picture of the wheel, but here she is:

I'm not the wheel naming kind I guess, but if I were to name the wheel it would probably be to call it "Jane" after my dear mom who has been encouraging wheel-buying behavior. Everyone should have a mom like her! Anyway, I picked it up at The Fiber Event last weekend in Greencastle, IN. The weather was crap, but it didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying myself. As soon as I got the wheel up to my hotel room last Saturday night, I started sampling some of the many wools that I purchased that day and was able to easily whip up some lace, fingering, and novelty thick-and-thin stuff. Roger looked at me like I was crazy, but he still could appreciate the beauty of the wheel.

This is a Jensen Ashley with a 30" wheel, purchased with probably not nearly enough deliberation from the delightful Carl and Shelby Jaeger. The minute I sat down to spin, I was amazed at the ease of use. It comes with 3 sizes of whorls so I can get about any ratio I need, and is double drive with optional scotch tension, which after I figured out the double drive realized I'll probably never need? It's made of cherry wood and stained walnut, and perfectly compliments the antique wool winder I purchased a short while ago. I honestly could not be more pleased.

I finished spinning the 2nd ounce of single for the Sunny Day socks, and plied it with the 1 ounce single I produced on the Ashford I've been using. My plying is much tighter, and I'm going to have to get used to not having to work so hard to get a thin yarn. I love the way it turned out.

Right now I'm working on lace weight singles out of Cider Moon's Atomic colored superwash merino, and it's like heaven. I really think this is only wheel I'll need to do anything I want.

Thank you to the visitors who have come over from Cider Moon to see the Pistachotis. I have really only been spinning since the fall, in earnest since January, and it seems like it's something I'm meant to be doing and I'm really enjoying it. And really, Gail and Jacki make it easy to have great results with their truly inspired colorways.

gratuitous picture of the dog with the wheel. :o)

Pistachotis, Complete

2007-04-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

colors above are pretty accurate. Below it is draped on a chair for scale.

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert, available free on knitty.com
Yarn: my own spun from Cider Moon's "pistachio" colorway of Australian wool, 8 ounces.
Needles: Addi Turbo...maybe US 6 or 7. I need to start taking better notes!!
Modifications: made it a little longer than stated in the pattern. It blocked out to a really nice size.

This is a very clever design, and provided an excellent showcase for my handspun. I love the way the stripes came out, and it was a nice mindless knit. Would I do it again? Yup. Do I love the Cider Moon hand paints? Yes I do. I got a lot of compliments on this colorway in particular, and I actually bought it because I Gail had spun up a gorgeous skein of it that she had at the trunk show at the Merc. I don't think it can be spun badly (I was worried I might!), because the colors are just so great together.

Blue Sweater

2007-04-18T12:08:00.000-04:00

detail of the buttons and cables. The color is truer in the picture below.

I've been busy and haven't had time to post, but I have lots to update and I'm going to break it into 3 installments, the first of which is to reveal the finished blue cabled sweater! Posts to follow will include the finished Pistachotis, one sunny day sock, and my new spinning wheel!

Pattern: "Aran Family" women's cardigan from Knitting the New Classics by Kristin Nicholas
Yarn: NatureSpun worsted 100% wool, "Bit of Blue" color
Needles: Addi Turbo US 5 (or 6?) and KnitPicks circular US 4
Buttons: LaMode Vintage #1728, Circa 1900-1919 that I found at Joanns.
Modifications: I made it a little bit longer, and it blocked out even longer than I expected but I like where it hits me, mid-hip. I wore it this weekend to the Fiber Event in Greencastle, IN and got a few compliments and a few "you MADE it?!"s and it kept me very warm. I did get a lot of remarks on my most attractive buttons.

This is probably the 4th or 5th sweater I've made from this book (including the sweater the man is wearing on the cover). I've been pleased with the way the patterns are written, and they really are basic, classic designs for the most part.

This sweater was easy enough to knit, but I got bored with it in several places and put it down for long periods - I think it was November, maybe even October when I started the back. I knit the sleeves at the same time after I finished the back, and then knit the fronts likewise. I actually finished knitting the sweater parts in March, but the finishing took hours and hours, from having to seam it together, knit the button bands and sew those on, and pick up stitches to knit the neck band on and I couldn't tolerate just getting it done at once. Still, I would say it was worth it, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of wear out of this.

Draped over the wool winder for scale, sorry I don't have a picture of me wearing it.
The back is also fully cabled. As always you can click a picture for a big view.