Lorri's Knitting Link

Vacation Treasures

2008-07-09T18:58:00.006-05:00

I just got back from a 2 1/2 week trip to Pennsylvania and Maine to visit relatives. Overall we logged in 3100 miles of driving. I'm definitely glad to be back home.

My family is selling our family home of a hundred years. While cleaning it out they came across a "circular-type knitting machine." Of course, I immediately laid claim to it and identified it as a sock knitting machine. My grandmother claims to have never seen it before and she has lived in the house since the 1940's. Since the machine dates from 1922, I would guess that my great-grandmother had a little side business knitting socks in the 20's. Unfortunately the machine is in poor condition after 80 years in the attic.

The Autoknitter

A Broken Gear Ring

A Broken Cylinder

Although many have suggested that this machine is beyond hope, I am hoping with a couple new parts that it might be usable. It would be nice to have that connection to the past. Any wisdom would be appreciated!

In other news, I visited Halcyon Yarns and purchased a drop spindle and some wool. Not a pretty sight so far but I am hoping to improve with some practice.

Is there room for blogs in the age of Ravelry?

2008-04-07T07:45:00.003-05:00

I have not posted in a long time. Partially Ravelry has fulfilled my need to post about my WIP's and my FO's. It also seems that people are not cruising blogs as much now since everyone seems to be cruising Ravelry. I wonder if knitting blogs will not become more of a place to discuss either your personal life and/or a place to post knitting techniques. I don't feel like I have time to post lengthy and witty contents since most of my day is spent chasing around my children. I guess that I will wait and see where this blog goes.

I will include my latest pride and joy though. This is a mitten from Latvian Mittens. If you have seen the cover of the book, it is the black and white mitten in the center of the cover. I have knit is as charted although I believe the mitten was originally supposed to be a man's mitten. I have knit it on 1.50 mm needles to get a smaller mitten. The final gauge was 12 stitches per inch. Finally I blocked it on a bent plastic coated wire hanger. The blocking was perhaps not as severe as I would have liked but it did the job. Now will I ever be brave enough to wear them?

Shirt-Tail In Progress and Some Holiday Spirit

2007-12-17T11:10:00.001-05:00

I started knitting the Ribbed Tunic from Vogue Knitting's anniversary issue. Unfortunately the eyelet row went off in it's own direction. I had to frog a couple inches. Since then my ambition has lessened.

My newest love is Shirt-Tail Hemmed, however, from Sweaters from Camp. Very beautiful, huh?

And for those of you celebrating Christmas, here is a picture of the nativity scene my daughter made from her Polly Pocket dolls and the gingerbread house I made with the kids. Happy Holidays!

Some Quick Knitting

2007-11-26T21:40:00.001-05:00

Katherine left me with the urge for a quick and easy project. So I knit up the Cabled Cardigan from the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting. I really like the finished sweater although there were many, many errors in the pattern several of which were not included in the errata. I changed the pattern to knit the body in one piece and the sleeves to be knit in the round. I think it will be a nice cozy sweater to get me through the winter.

Now with this sweater behind me, or rather on me, I am feeling a case of startitis coming on. What I really need is a case of finish the old projects though.

Katherine Komplete

2007-10-27T09:12:00.001-05:00

I have finally finished Katherine after a long 10 month journey. Granted more off than on a good bit of the time. I am actually wearing her as I write although she grew a bit during the blocking process. Even decreasing the pattern by one full repeat she falls to my midthigh. I am considering felting her a bit to give her a good all over shrinking.

I have added all of my colors and suggestions for future knitters on my Ravelry projects at LorriAnn. Hopefully Ravelry will be accessible to everyone soon but if you need any information in the meanwhile feel free to write me.

Next on my standed que is Shirt-Tail Hemmed Pullover from Sweaters From Camp. I have stashed the yarn for this for awhile and am looking forward to it.

Would it be wrong to buy a coat to match stash yarn?

2007-10-15T07:50:00.001-05:00

I ordered a coat the other day, in part, because I imagined how it would look with some Noro Silk Garden that I have in my stash. Matching hat and mittens . . . Is this wrong?

I am continuing to plug along on Katherine. I am a third of the way done on the last sleeve. At this point I just want to finish this sweater so that I can wear it and start on something new. It has been a long knit but I find myself continuously amazed at how beautiful she is.

In preparation for winter I have also been knitting the requisite mittens, socks, hats, etc. I have just finished up a pair of thrummed mittens for my son. So warm. They should be a good addition for the winter.

Of Iceland and Tudor Roses

2007-10-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to say that I have finished the Icelandic Lace Shawl. It was a quick and easy knit. The color changes seem to have given it some interest. That said I am not sure that the finished product really appeals to me that much but it does seem to be a practical shawl that you don't have to agonize over getting snagged.

Here are some pictures. I look somewhat agonized. My husband sometimes has trouble taking pictures and I think I was letting it get to me.

I have also finished Katherine's first sleeve. The people in my knitting group so agonized about cutting the armhole steek but really what are you to do? A sweater with no arms would not be of much use. Likewise, I have two arms so off to finish Katherine up. I am hoping my energy can hold up until her completion.

In other news, if you have a Ravelry account I have been loading pictures of old stuff onto it. It's been a nice trip down memory lane. Check me out at LorriAnn.

Back in Action with Icelandic Lace

2007-09-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

After getting to the blue border of the Icelandic Lace Shawl, I realized that one of my colors was off. I substituted the darker pool for the sky that I had been intending to use. I think it fits in with the overall color scheme better but I had to wait for KnitPicks to send me the one skein of yarn. Now that I have it I am back in action. I only have 10 very long rows left!

In the meantime I started a Large Rectangle In Spider Netting from Victorian Lace Today. I knew that I shouldn't because I have enough WIP's. Furthermore, I don't even know why I want to make this shawl. It is very plain with nothing very interesting about it. Never-the-less, I started yet another project and am very much looking forward to it.

Plugging Away on Icelandic Lace Shawl

2007-09-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting away on the Icelandic Lace Shawl. It has been a quick knit although the pattern doesn't seem to be well written. I will have to check the errata and get back to you on that.

I had enough foresight to use a provisional cast-on at the beginning which made it much easier to pick up the 339 stitches for the border. I am 10 rows into the 30 row border and then I am done. I would be doing the happy dance but the last row has in excess of 600 stitches so I am not that close to the end.

In other news, I finally got on Ravelry. I am just loving it. Wonderful places to organize your projects, patterns, and stash. I also love how easy it is to look at other people's projects. If you are on Ravelry my name is LorriAnn. If you are not sign up to be a Beta tester because you will LOVE it.

The Fall of Knitalongs

2007-09-12T08:14:00.000-05:00

There are so many wonderful knitalongs out there that I am always tempted to join but eventually I see reason. Reason says that I should finish some of the stuff on the needles before starting yet another project. Two knitalongs have called out to me so much lately though that I have joined.
One of the knitalongs is for Fulmar. If you have been reading my blog you may remember (or you may not since it has been awhile since I have worked on it) that I have been working on Fulmar forever. This is a great knitalong for me since I obviously need some inspiration and I don't need to add another project to me needles.

My Fulmar is currently on the home stretch of the front. Yes, that means that I still must knit 2 sleeves and the back. Someday I will finish this sweater. Honestly. . .

The second knitalong is for the Icelandic Lace Shawl courtesy of Knitting Daily. The pattern was free. I had most of the yarn. I am not currently working on a lace project. So I took the plunge. It looks like it will be a fairly quick knit also. I have only been working on it for a week.

I am using size 6 needles and 9 colors of blues and greens from Knitpicks Palette. I have been hearing some grumblings about the shawl being too small. The jury is still out on mine. I tend to block things quite large anyhow. I may switch to a size 7 for the border though.

Happy knitting everyone!

From the Land of Lace to Colorwork

2007-07-11T09:08:00.001-05:00

Since I finished my Shetland Lace Stole, I have contemplated starting another lace project. I was going to start on the Mystery Stole 3. The main attraction for me, however, was the beads. Since I would either need to order them or go to the local bead store, I am beadless. My local store is a 1/2 hour away and only open during hours that my kids would be with me. You can imagine what fun a 2 and 5 year old would have in a bead store. I guess I will be picking a different lace project.

Now I have moved to colorwork. I have finished the body on Katherine of Aragon. I will be cutting the first steek at my knitting group tonight. Since the thought strikes fear in the hearts of many I told them that I would cut the first steek there. Now I need to do two sleeves, the button band, and then finis. I guess I am counting my chickens too early though.

I am also starting a self-designed intarsia project. I am thinking of submitting the design to Knitty or such so this is all I will show you:

I have also started a Latvian mitten. The fringe and braids have been a bit of a challenge.

Finally I have finished my Horcrux socks from the Six Socks Knitalong in time for the movie and the new book. My feet shall be toasty warm while I am enjoying my new book.

Shetland Lace Stole in all of her glory

2007-06-29T09:18:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting the pictures of my Shetland Lace Stole. My daughter is 5 now and as we speak is pestering me to play Webkinz on the computer. I guess my computer time will be infringed upon until I get her off to college. Sigh.

Shetland Lace Stole
Pattern: Self-designed, but inspired by Sharon Miller's Unst Stole and Hazel Carter's sampler stole.
Size: 35 inches by 90 inches.
Needles: Aero size 2.75mm circular.
Yarn: Lacey Lamb in natural, approximately 1800 yards.
Time to complete: over a year working sporadically.

Shetland Lace Stole Blocking . . . Finally!

2007-06-14T12:01:00.000-05:00

After over a year of on and off work, I have finally completed my Shetland Lace Stole. It is my own design although you will probably notice the similarity to both Sharon Miller's Unst Stole and Hazel Carter's Sampler Stole from Gathering of Lace. It is my own creation but like most Shetland Lace I can't call is completely original. None-the-less I learned a lot about designing lace and am excited to begin the next project. Sharon Miller's book, Heirloom Knitting, was a great help.

I used just over two balls of Lacey Lamb for the project. I probably used around 1800 yards or so. Lacey Lamb is a cobweb weight superwash wool and I knit is with a size 2 needle. I would not recommend superwash lace weight yarn because you aren't going to put delicate lace through the spin cycle anyhow. It also makes is much more difficult to splice the yarn. Lacey Lamb is easy to knit though and it blocks beautifully. My only recommendation if you are going to use Lacey Lamb is to work from the outside of the ball. Had I known that it would have saved me hours of untangling yarn.

As for blocking, the final measurements were 35 inches by 90 inches. A little longer than I was aiming for. I used 96 pins to block it. After the painful process of waiting for the stole to dry I will add some more pictures to my blog.

Unblocked

Border

Center

Edging

Victorian Lace Socks and Other Good News

2007-06-01T09:14:00.000-05:00

I have some good news today! My Victorian Lace Sock Pattern is the June / July 2007 pattern for the Six Socks Knitalong. If you want a copy of this pattern you will need to join the Six Socks Knitalong and download the pattern from the files section. I am very excited to have people knitting my pattern. It was a lot of fun to design and a nice lacey summer project. The pattern is also fairly elastic so it should work well in a cotton blend sock yarn.

In other news, I went to my LYS to attempt to solve the Shetland Lace Stole yarn crisis. Miracle of miracles the store had another ball of the same yarn in the same dye lot! I should play the lottery with that type of luck. Hopefully I will finish the stole soon and then on to the magic of blocking.

Some Good News and Some Bad News

2007-05-15T14:50:00.000-05:00

As the title indicates, I have some good news and some bad news. My friend is having a baby any time now. I knit the baby a tiny cotton cardigan to keep off the evening chill. It took me longer to sew on the buttons and snaps than to knit the entire sweater. This is why I love knitting in the round. Less sewing. The pattern is from Knitty in the smallest size and without the optional hood.

Now the bad news: I am working on the last edge of my Shetland Lace Stole. As you can see I have to finish a loooong edge.

This is all of the yarn I have left.

Sigh.

A Spring Update

2007-04-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

I have been slowly plugging along on my projects. Here's a bit of a photographic update:

Katherine of Aragon is coming slowly along. I am working on the arm steeks now. Everything seems to go faster for me when I get to the sleeves. I guess because the end is in sight. By the way, I am so bummed about the news of Jamieson & Smith discontinuing so many colors. I have written a letter to the company but the situation does not seem very hopeful.

As for my Shetland Lace Stole, you might notice that the edging was not laying flat in the last picture. I ended up having to rip it out and start over. I have just about finished two sides and I am quite pleased. I will have to get it finished and blocked soon for some summer wear.

Finally, I have been knitting socks for my children with leftover sock yarn. After running out of yarn on the first attempt, I decided that toe up is the way to do it. My daughter dyed her own yarn with Easter egg dyes. Although at 5 she has trouble mastering knitting, she can still contribute to her own socks.

Update on the Shetland Lace Stole

2007-02-19T12:37:00.000-05:00

I seem to be zipping along on my Shetland Lace Stole at the moment. I don't know why sometimes I stall on some projects and just get inspired on others. I would guess that Katherine of Aragon is stalling because I have finished to repeats of the pattern and still need to do 1 1/2 more before any variety comes into the pattern. (In the form of a steek.)

The Shetland Lace Stole has provided a lot more interest lately, however. The border includes a different motif in every pattern repeat. So, of course, I zipped along on the border and have started the edging. I edging is perhaps a little wider than I was hoping for but I felt that the elements went well with the rest of the design. The sad part is that I feel as if I am almost all done which I am not. Sharon Miller says that she only does 4 edging repeats per day. At that rate the edging would take me about 20 days. I am not sure that I can knit that fast, however. The good news is that maybe the stole will be ready for a spring unveiling.

Projects in Progress Update

2007-01-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

I've been working a bit on my Shetland Lace Stole lately. I am up to the first border. Since this stole has been self-designed I have knit sections of the border only to discover that I wrote my chart wrong. After briefly cursing to myself, I have commenced with frogging that portion and rewriting the chart. In addition the yarn has been awful in that the skeins get tangled easily. It is Lacy Lamb which is cobweb weight with over 800 yards on a ball. Imagine 100+ yards of fine wool all in a big knot. To make things worse it is superwash so you can't even spit splice it if you decide to cut a knot out. I am past the tangles and the chart seems to be working better so I am having more fun now.

I have also been plugging along on my Katherine of Aragon. I'm about half way to the arm steeks. Happy knitting everyone!

Katherine Off and Running

2007-01-20T11:52:00.000-05:00

I have finally received all of the right yarn for my Katherine of Aragon cardigan and have started knitting after a long wait. This pattern uses 5 charts so I made myself some stitch markers with letters corresponding to the chart letters. This has been very helpful although I have finished a full repeat of the charts and which chart I am using is much more obvious. This has been a fun knit so far and I would agree that the colors are quite engaging.

This cardigan is quite long which seems to be out of fashion at the moment. I am not sure if it would look right if I eliminated one repeat of the charts. The length of the cardigan seems to make it look elegant. Any thoughts on that issue?

Out With the Old, In With the New

2006-12-30T16:30:00.000-05:00

As the old year comes to an end, I have been taking stock of my WIP and planning for the upcoming year. You might remember my Shetland Lace Shawl from Gathering of Lace.

Wish it farewell because it is slated for frogging. I had completed. One edging, one border, and maybe a third of the center. At this point, I realized that early in the border I had made a noticeable mistake. I see no way to fix it except to frog it and although it is not horribly noticeable it has sapped my enthusiasm to finish the project.

The good cluster (quite blurry).

The mistake (also quite blurry).

I am also planning to frog my Amble socks. They have been sitting around too long and I don't like them. Good bye also.

On a happier note, I received my Jamieson and Smith yarn for Alice Starmore's Katherine of Aragon sweater. After swatching I have decided to substitute one of the background colors with a Jamieson color. For more info see the Tudor Roses Knitalong.

Happy New Year and Happy Knitting!

Christmas Knitting Completed! Now what?

2006-12-26T11:01:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas is done and I have completed my meager Christmas knitting goals.

Gloves for my aunt. My aunt always talks about gloves that my mother knit for her 35 years ago. She described them as being knit very tight and being very warm. Apparently they caught on fire during a bonfire. She has been mourning them ever since. She and my mother have always referred to them as gloves. Come to find out they were actually mittens. I told her I am not knitting her a pair of those also.

Yarn: Nature Spun worsted in silver sage.
Needles: Brittany dpn size 1 1/2 (2.5 mm)
Pattern: Belinda's Gloves, my own design
Size: women's large

I also knit my husband his first pair of socks.

Yarn:
Needles: Knitpicks Options dpn size 0 (2.0 mm)
Pattern: my own basic sock pattern
Size: Men's 10 1/2

Finally, I knit my neighbor some socks. She has been a great help to me since our move to Michigan.

Yarn: Knitpicks bare, 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon, handpainted with Kool-Aid
Needles: Knitpicks Options dpn size 0 (2.0 mm)
Pattern: my own basic sock pattern
Size: Women's medium

I also was quite lucky myself this year. Instead of my husband buying his usual toilet brushes and brooms I received:

1. Fair Isle Knitting by Alice Starmore
2. Tudor Roses by Alice Starmore
3. Sweaters from Camp by Meg Swanson

I can't complain.

My next goal is to take stock of my current WIP's. I will be doing some frogging and some finishing hopefully.

WIP Wednesday

2006-12-06T10:55:00.000-05:00

The Mara class has started a WIP challenge to encourage all of us to work on our unfinished works in progress. I have elected to work on Fulmar which I have been tackling on an off since March 2006. Although I have put countless hours into it I have only reached 40 cm out of 60 cm on the front. I must still finish the back and sleeves.

The time consuming part of this sweater is the gauge (252 stitches for each row) and the numerous cables (every right side row). This was something I really wanted to make so I figured that I would just continue plugging along until I was done.

Unveiling the Gryffindor Scarf

2006-11-27T18:26:00.000-05:00

Along with the other obligatory Christmas knitting I have finished a Harry Potter Gryffindor scarf. I will be donating this scarf to my church for a silent auction on December 9, 2006. The scarf was knit in the round with Knitpicks Merino Style DK weight in hollyberry and harvest colorways. I think the colors are just perfect.

The scarf came out beautifully at 67" long before fringe and 6 1/2" wide. I will be sorry to see it go but hopefully it gets some bidders. My church is only five years old. The congregation is still trying to expand programs and acquire a permanent home. Although Unitarian Universalists were everywhere in Massachusetts, there has not been a Unitarian Universalist church in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 60 years. It is exciting to be part of the rebirth of such an entity.

If you would like to bid on my scarf, the All Souls Community Church annual Silent Auction will be held on Saturday December 9th at 12pm at New Branches School, 256 Alger Street SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan. It will be OPEN to the public. The auction will include a “strolling” lunch, which will consist of different pasta stations set up around the items to be bid on. Tickets to the auction are being sold at for $5/ family and at the door.

A Tale of Six Mittens

2006-11-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting a bit of this and that lately. It seems too overwhelming to document everything, so I will focus on mittens for today. It has been getting quite chilly in Michigan so warm winter clothes have been inspiring.

First up are my son's mittens. I used my leftover Palette from Knitpicks and the book Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves to knit these up. The only thing I was missing was yellow yarn so I dyed the light grey yarn with lemon-aide Kool-Aid and voila we have yellow. My only misgiving is that it is probably silly to make such intricate mittens for a child who will probably loose them by Christmas.

Next on the menu is my daughter's pink fuzzy mittens. These are better suited for losing. I think they awful. I carried eyelash yarn with your basic acrylic. My daughter, of course, loves them.

Finally, my mittens. They are self-designed, tufted mittens using Naturespun worsted weight yarn. They are nice and cozy because of the roving tucked inside. I used a braided stitch on both sides of the cuff for the first time. I kind of like the effect.

Donegal: Part 2

2006-09-12T17:40:00.000-05:00

My Donegal is officially blocked and it was actually cold enough to wear it today. So here is the official picture. As an aside, the wooly board is new. My husband helped me make it which almost makes up for past Christmas gifts.

On another topic, my little girl started preschool today. My baby is growing up. Sniff. Sniff.

Related links:
Swatching
More Donegal swatches
Even more Donegal swatches
Ribbing finished
Slow progress
More slow progress
Getting started
Body almost completed
Steeks
Donegal Finished!

Donegal Finished!

2006-09-11T17:56:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Donegal from Celtic Collection by Alice Starmore
Needles: Addi Turbos 3.0mm and 3.25mm and Knitpicks 3.0mm and 3.25mm in a variety of circular sizes.
Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in 11 colors.

Impressions: This pattern was a lot of fun to make although the color pattern was so irregular that it was hard to memorize. This was my first stranded sweater in a small gauge and I had fewer problems with it than I thought I might. I am still not sure about the colors though. The sweater is a bit loud although perhaps that will come back in style when we revisit the 80's. The Knitpicks Palette was nice yarn to work with. It was sticky and the steeks did not run at all. It blocked out nicely and most the tension problems that I initially encountered blocked out completely. The problem, of course, is the color choices. Since this sweater uses 11 colors and Palette only comes in 30, it is very limiting. I also prefer the heathered colors found in Jamieson and Smith or Jamieson's. In the future, for the time I am putting into knitting, I will splurge on other yarn.

So my sweater is done in time for winter. For a next colorwork project I am planning to knit Katherine of Aragon although I still need to work out the colors for this sweater.

Quick Update

2006-09-04T20:49:00.000-05:00

Just thought I would add a quick update. I am working along on my Donegal sweater. I am halfway through the second sleeve so I should be done in time to wear it for winter. Yeah!

I have finished a skirt for my daughter. Isn't it just awful? She loves it though. Colors hand-selected by a four year old girl. The pattern is from Greetings from Knit Cafe. A very quick knit for a little girl who loves anything frilly but who won't wear sweaters. The only thing that I would do differently is to use a hemmed edge on the bottom the next time around. (No pun intended.)

I have also finished my entrelac scarf finally. I am not much of a scarf knitter but I think that it came out nice thanks to the Noro Kuyeron yarn. My onlycomplaintt is that I like my scarves to be reversible and this one definitely has a wrong side.

In the future I have a lot of sock action that I have not yet blogged on. But that is for another day. . .

Donegal Steeks

2006-08-11T17:52:00.001-05:00

I finished the body of my Donegal sweater . . .

cut the steeks . . .

and started the sleeves.

So far palette does not seem very slippery and I have noticed no runs in my steeks. I am happy with the way the seem looks. I have only cut a steek one time before on a cardigan for my husband. At that time I didn't know the name for a steek and just did what the instructions told me to do. All came out fine. As other bloggers have said, it is easier not to be scared of steeks if you don't know that you are supposed to be. It is a bit like a short row heel on a sock though. At the end of it, it seems like such a miracle that it all worked out.

To Blog or To Knit?

2006-07-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

I've been decreasing my time on the computer in favor of spending time knitting lately. I'm pretty sure that I am spread out in too many directions. When my son was born (only 18 months ago) I brought my socks in progress to the hospital because that was the only project I was working on. How times have changed.

I was working along on my Shetland Lace Stole (self designed) in Lacy Lamb. Eventually my interests went in other directions. This is where I left off.

My main project now has been Alice Starmore's Donegal in Knit Picks palette. I can never decide if I like these colors or not. None-the-less, next time I am opting for Jamieson & Smith. I am now working on the neck steek.

I have also been working on some black cotton socks . . .

And an entrelac scarf in Noro just because I wanted to try entrelac.

And now for some finished objects:

I also finished some plain mittens for charity. A school meals program in Grand Rapids is soliciting mittens for children in its program.

And last, a tee from White Lies Designs made from Dale of Norway's Svale. It fits quite nicely. I shall have to take a picture of myself wearing it sometime.

I hope that you all are having a productive summer. Happy knitting!

Back At Last

2006-06-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

After over a two week journey to visit relatives we have returned to Michigan. We did almost 5 days of driving and unfortunately I get car sick so I could not even knit in the car. On a positive note, I arrived home with 2 pounds of yarn and 9 cirucular needles. I took almost 300 pictures so I will give you a photo tour of my trip.

My in-laws live in Maine and I was lucky to find an organic farm that raised alpaca, sheep, and various other animals. I picked up 2 pounds of worsted weight yarn in a mohair and merino blend. I envision a sweater in its future.

When returning home, we stopped at Niagara Falls in Canada. Lace knitters may know what vision that inspires. . . Aero circular needles, of course! I visited The Knitting Habit and purchased 9 circular needles. I purchased a few Inox greys, aero, and pony needles. They seemed to be nice and pointy. I am looking forward to seeing how they work for me.

Currently I am using my 2.75 mm needles to work on a stole out of Lacy Lamb yarn (a cobweb weight). I am designing the stole myself with the help of Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting. You probably can't tell much now since lace always looks awful until blocked, but my stole bears a strange resemblance to Sharon Miller's Unst Stole and Hazel Carter's Sampler Stole from a Gathering of Lace. Strangely enough these stoles bear a strange resemblance to each other so I decided to create a variation that is uniquely my own.

In the Center of the Shetland Lace Shawl

2006-05-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

It has been a zoo around my house lately so I am just doing a little drive by blogging. Here are a couple pictures of my Shetland Lace Shawl from the Gathering of Lace. I have finished the first edging and border and have begun the center. I feel like I am in the home stretch which, in fact, I am nowhere near because I still have 3 more borders to go. At least I feel like I am making some progress.

There has been some skepticism on the Internet about the "lengthening the edge" technique used by Hazel Carter on this shawl. She says that it is a traditional Shetland technique but other designers don't seem to use it. I have included a picture of my very long border edge. I can't say that I have any opinion about how well this will work as of yet. I am just proceeding with blind faith. Wish my luck!

Summer Knitting

2006-04-26T18:42:00.000-05:00

I have pretty much abandonned my winter projects for summer knitting. I found this old pattern for a bedspread square and thought about actually knitting a summer bedspread. I made up a square out of DMC Senso to try it out. This is what I discovered: each square is 11" x 11" blocked and I needed about one entire ball per block (150 yards). As a result, I figure that I would need about 70 balls to make a bedspread. At $2.50 per ball that would put the cost around $200. Quite cost prohibitive. Sigh. Now to plan B, whatever that may be. (No pun intended.)

My other summer project is the Shetland Lace Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I am up to row 35 on the first border. I feel like I am actually getting the hang of it and have been able to memorize each pattern row. My version is not as flowing as the one in the book because I am using thicker yarn. I think it may make a fairly wearable shawl though. I am often afraid to wear my Peacock Feathers shawl because it seems to fragile although it has held up so far.

Photo Shoot

2006-04-13T08:35:00.000-05:00

I have been pondering the Soleil fiasco. The v-neck is too low and the strip up the shoulders is too wide. In addition, I would probably add a row of garter stitch at the edge to discourage rolling. I had thought of frogging it to the bottom of the v-neck and redoing it but quite honestly the bottom of the lace is curling also. I'm not sure that the yarn is a good blocker. I am thinking I will probably frog the whole thing and make up my own pattern. So discouraging. Sigh.

My WIP's lined up this morning for a photo shoot in the nice spring sun. I think I am spreading myself too thin.

First is the River Rapids sock in Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock. I LOVE this yarn. Generally I cannot wear primarily wool yarn because it feels like someone is pricking me with pins but this yarn is so soft. I love the way these socks are turning out and I have cast-on for the second sock to avoid second sock syndrome.

Next is Fulmar. I am slowly chugging along on it. I know that I am not going to finish it before next winter so I am somewhat unmotivated. I have been mostly knitting on it when I go to the LYS.

Another Alice Starmore design on the line-up is Donegal. I substituted Knitpicks palette in this sweater. I am not sure how I like the colors and have been contemplating frogging it. I figured that I would keep plugging along though and see if it grows on me.

Next we have the Shetland Lace Shawl from Gathering of Lace. I have finished the first edging and am now working on the first border. I anticipate the border to be the hardest part because the pattern is fairly long and hard to remember. This will be my main summer knitting so I imagine I will work on it more now.

Finally last weekend I took a field trip to ThreadBear in Lansing. What a great yarn store. I was so overwhelmed otherwise I would have probably bought more. I came out with 2 skeins of Misti Alpaca for gloves and 3 skeins of bamboo yarn. I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet.

In parting, here is a first flowers of the season shot. Spring is here!

Soleil: It's Time for Summer!

2006-04-06T10:42:00.000-05:00

I have finished and blocked Soleil from Knitty.com. This sweater used 5 skeins of Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK in crocus.

Since taking the picture I have added another row of single crochet to the arm holes to keep the sweater from curling so much. After trying to wear this sweater under a cardigan yesterday I am finding the sweater not very wearable. Every time I lift my son up the sweater pulls down and I end up flashing everyone. I feel like the sweater just barely covers what needs to be covered with the result that I end up pulling it down or up all of the time. I am considering adding some croched lace to the neckline. What is a girl to do? Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Soleil blocking: I'm ready for summer!

2006-04-03T17:36:00.000-05:00

I have pretty much finished Soleil. It is currently blocking on the floor. I tried it on before blocking it. Thus far I'm not really sure about it. It is extremely low-cut and it is also not very long. Perhaps it would work better on someone petite. The sweater also requires some pretty severe blocking to open up the lace on the bottom and to keep the armhole edge from curling. This concerns me a bit because it is a summer sweater that you would not wear over another shirt. As a result it seems that the sweater would require a lot of washing and hence blocking every time. Anyhow, I will post a picture when I am able to wear the sweater.

Stress Relief = Stockinette Stitch

2006-03-15T13:45:00.000-05:00

Geez, it has been a long time since I've blogged. Anyhow . . . My 13 month old has learned how to climb. He has been climbing up on the kitchen table and walking around. This has put me in a constant state of stress for fear that he fall off and kill himself. Although he is fairly confident about his abilities he still falls a lot when walking across an empty room.

What to do. I feel like I am in a constant state of vigilance trying to anticipate what he will climb next. Meanwhile I am knitting one sweater of worsted weight on size 1 needles, one sweater in fair isle fingering weight on size 3's, and a shawl on lace weight with size 4's. None of these projects allow for the type of stress relief I felt I was needing. So what's a girl to do but start another project.

You might notice that my newest project is DK weight stockinette stitch on size 6 needles. Much more relaxing. I am knitting Soliel from Knitty which I was going to save for the summer but perhaps I will have it done by summer instead. I am using the Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK which I acquired at the great after Christmas sale and one of my LYS's. I am loving this yarn but it would normally be a bit out of my budget. The color is called crocus. I have actually seen crocus' lately although this yarn bears very little resemblance. The color is nice though. It is hard to tell whether it is tan, pink, or orange.

In the last couple days I have found myself straying back to Fulmar. The progress is not really noticeable. I am not inspired to knit too fast since I don't anticipate wearing this sweater until next winter.

Too Many Projects?

2006-03-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

I figured that I would give you an update on my projects now that I have finished Leaves In Relief:

1. I haven't worked much on my Shetland Lace Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I started it to get a sense of it. I am trying to hold off on it so it can be more of a summer project though. Over the past couple days it has been sunny and warmer though so I have been working on it a bit. I am sure that when it snows again I will lose inspiration.

2. Here is my Donegal sweater from Alice Starmore's Celtic Collection. I also have not finished much of this. I still am not sure about the colors and that it making it hard for me to stay inspired. This much I know -my next fair isle project will use Jamieson and Smith's 2-ply.

3. My newest project is Fulmar from Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting. I am using Nature Spun in pink please. I have been knitting on this a lot but am using 2.25 mm and 2.50 mm needles to knit this out of light worsted weight wool. The ribbing was killing my hands. The needles kept bending and the knitting was so tight. I am happy to say that I have switched on the larger sized needles in Addi Turbos and my hands are much happier. I have also been trying not to use a cable needle although I have needed to on some of the larger cables because the fabric is so firm. I am in love with this sweater so far though. It is just beautiful.

One of my main reason for making at least one project out of worsted weight wool is that my LYS does not carry much else that I would use. They carry a lot of bulky yarn, acrylic, and novelty yarn. I do like to go there every couple weeks to knit and hang out with other knitters though so I like to keep a LYS project going.

Finally, off topic, Meijer Gardens has a temporary butterfly exhibit going now. Aren't they beautiful? If you are in the area stop by and check out the butterflies.

Product or Process

2006-02-23T19:27:00.000-05:00

It seems that people all fall somewhere along the product and process range. Some people just knit for the act of knitting while others want to own whatever object they are knitting.

I usually fall somewhere in the middle. I will not knit something usually unless it is somewhat challenging for me and I feel I will learn something from the process. I also, however, have to like the finished product also. It generally needs to be something I would wear and if it does not fit right I will be depressed. Each of my projects falls somewhere along the continuum I guess though. I knit my Peacock Feathers Shawl mainly for the process since really how often have I worn a shawl previously although there is something magnificent about owning something so beautiful.

My latest project was a pure product knit though. My current slippers wore out and apparently stores do not sell slippers after Christmas. What is a girl to do? Knit her own, of course. So here are my Fiber Trends felted slippers made from the leftover Patons Merino from my Green Aran Sweater. I can't say I liked much about knitting them. Size 15 needles. Yuck. Stockinette stitch. Yuck. Lots of fiddley counting. Yuck. And then felting. Yuck. I think that I am too much of a perfectionist to like felting. It never seems to come out quite right. I have my slippers though and that is good at least.

Leaves In Relief Finished!

2006-02-14T18:42:00.000-05:00

Well, here is my Leaves In Relief blocked and finished (almost). I am in love. It came out very nice and was so much fun to make. I have been searching blogs to find someone else making this sweater and have been unable to find someone. There is a lot of talk about the charts being needlessly complicated and about preferring different sleeves. If you are intimidated by this pattern, I would say go for it. It was not nearly as difficult to follow as I imagined. By the time you finish the first repeat on the sleeves you know the chart symbols pretty well and you can just buzz along.

Other impressions:

1. There were many times that I was tempted to alter some part of this pattern. I thought that this or that might look better another way. I always followed the pattern and realized that it always looked better as written.

2. On the model I thought that the neck looked too large and that the sweater seemed too tight for my rather lumpy figure. The neck was fine. Initially when I tried on the sweater it did look tight and lumpy but blocking has cured that.

3. The sleeves are written to be 20 inches long for everyone. I like my sleeves a little long so I lengthened the cuffs. Big mistake, now they are too long. I actually took apart the cast-on on one sleeve and decreased the length and bound it off again. In Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting she explained that early Aran sweaters had the cuffs knit in the round so that it they ripped they could easily be unraveled and reknit. Apparently this only works well if your sweater is knit from shoulder down. This evening I will be tackling the other cuff.

4. Initially I thought that I did not like the leaf sleeves. Since making them they have really grown on me. I have been thinking of other things that I could make with this pattern: hats, mittens, socks. I also love the way the leaves are repeated in the tree pattern.

5. The tree on this sweater was so much fun to knit. (Did I mention this before?) I would definitely recommend this sweater. The one problem that I did have reading this pattern I e-mailed the designer about and she clarified it for me. For that I take that help is available which should make the pattern a bit less daunting.

What now? As luck should have it I received my order of Nature Spun in Pink Please for my Fulmar sweater. I am also still plugging along on Donegal. Now I will be working on two Alice Starmore's at one time. I may regret this.

In review:

Pattern: Leaves In Relief from Knitty.com
Yarn: Nature Spun in silver sage from Stitches, Plainfield, MI (5 1/4 skeins)
Needles: size 7

Related Links:
The Beginning
First Sleeve
Sleeves
Roots
Progressing
Growing
Blocking

Leaves In Relief Blocking

2006-02-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

My Leaves In Relief is coming around the home stretch. I finishedthe knitting, grafting, and weaving. Now it is blocking under the ceiling fan. I can't wait to wear it. More pictures to come. . .

Twinned Trees Completed

2006-02-10T18:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Olympics! or however you offer that greeting. Good luck to all of you knitting your hearts out in the Knitting Olympics. After much deliberating I have decided to just be a bystander. One of the reasons I have decided to opt out is my Leaves In Relief sweater. As you can see, I have finished the trees and am coming into the home stretch. I hated to abandon the project for 16 days while I worked on something else. I also have a couple other things that I want to work on that don't really lend themselves well to 16 days of knitting. So I will be watching the rest of you with some degree of excitement.

As I have mentioned I am finishing up my Leaves In Relief. I have attached the sleeves and finished the trees, now I just need to finish knitting the shoulders and neck. I can't wait to wear this sweater. It also was so much fun to knit. Not too much repetition to bore you.

As an aside, my husband continues to misunderstand the art of knitting. His most recent quote was, "Wool is not sexy." Have you seen the centerfold in the Men's issue of Knit 1. I beg to differ on the not sexy issue.

Leaves In Relief Growing

2006-02-07T12:37:00.000-05:00

In a rare moment, my one year old is napping and my three year old is playing next door. What do I do with my free time? Clean the kitchen? Change the sheets? No, blog and knit of course.

I have been knitting away on my Leaves In Relief sweater. I have gotten to the top of the tree at about row 106 and will be attaching the sleeves in 8 row. Yeah! My LYS had a Super Bowl sale last weekend. I ordered more Nature Spun in "pink please" to make Alice Starmore's Fulmar sweater next. It should arrive in a couple weeks so I am trying to get Leaves In Relief done by then.

I love my LYS and like hanging out to knit but the manager there gets under my skin. Every time I try to buy something, I have to convince her that I should be allowed to. Don't you want to make money!?! When I ordered the yarn for Leaves In Relief, they didn't have enough yarn in one dye lot so I had them order it. The manager argued with me that I didn't need the same dye lot if I was felting. Well, I wasn't felting. Is that the only thing people use wool for anymore? The time I needed 14 skeins for Fulmar. This is a lot of yarn since I only bought 7 for Leaves In Relief. I know that it is a lot of yarn but it is knit on a size 3 needle and is knit very thick. Nature Spun has 245 yards per 100 oz which is the same as the original yarn used in this pattern. Well, anyhow I had to convince the manager that I was buying the right amount of yarn before I was allowed to buy it. What can I even say?

Sweaters Progressing

2006-01-30T17:22:00.000-05:00

Both of my sweaters are progressing slowly. Granted they would be progressing faster if I was only working on one sweater. I used to have the rule that I would only work on one knitting project and one crocheting project at a time. Then it became one sweater, one pair of socks, one pair of gloves, and one shawl at a time. Now it has turned into one colorwork sweater and one aran sweater at a time. I might as well give up and limit my projects to the number of needles I have.

Anyhow, my Leaves In Relief sweater is up to the beginning of the branches and the waist shaping is starting to increase. This sweater is a lot of fun and I have been surprised about how easy and quick it is.

As for my Donegal sweater, I am still working on the first chart. I have been learning a lot with weaving in floats and ends. The sweater is also 336 stitches around, I believe, so it does take awhile to knit. I am having so much fun that I am already pondering what Fair Isle I would like to do next. I think that is premature as I will probably will not make it there until next winter.

Donegal Ribbing

2006-01-27T11:13:00.000-05:00

I have finished the ribbing on my Donegal sweater and I am learning so much. I am using the two-handed method which I have never used before. I feel so cool alternating picking and throwing. I have also learned to weave in my floats and ends. I'm still a little nervous about my color choices but I will give it a go and hope for the best. I am having a lot of fun with this sweater so far.

I have knit other Fair Isle patterns but I just picked up and dropped the yarn. Also the only all-over Fair Isle I knit was, oddly enough, not knit in the round. When you learn better, you do better.

I have also been reading some library books. I have finished At Knits End. I laughed so much. There were many situations which hit close to home. For example, the part about not renting subtitled movies so that you can look at your knitting. I have been guilty of that since the birth of the VCR. Stephanie says that it is good to know that you are not alone in your knitting mania and I would have to agree. I also checked out Fabulous Fair Isle. I guess it is a good reference for basic Fair Isle patterns. I love looking at the museum photos and pieces.

My husband and I have an argument every evening about who should sit on our couch. We have a couch and love seat in our living room. I want to sit on the bottom end of the couch because it is the only seat with good lighting. I would put another light elsewhere in the room but our children would pull it over on themselves. My husband wants to lay on the couch and refuses to just put his feet on my lap so that I can sit under the light and knit. In the middle of this daily argument, my husband actually said that I should take a night off from knitting once in awhile. He might as well suggested that I close my eyes all day. Can you believe that?

Leaves In Relief Roots

2006-01-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

I have finished the roots on my Leaves In Relief sweater. This sweater uses a crochet cast-on to make a hemmed edge. I'm not sure if I would have selected this but I figured that I would give it a try and see how I like it. On a positive note, I actually made the crochet cast-on correctly. The last time I tried it I picked up the stitches through the front of the chain stitch instead of the bump in the back. This results in you having to painstakingly pick the chain out bit by bit which really defeats the entire purpose of the crochet cast-on.

Anyhow, here are the roots. The trees are starting to take shape. There are a couple of amazing things about this sweater. One is that you don't use a cable needle for any of the sweater. The other amazing thing is that you do the sleeves first so I don't have all that much more to knit. After the Peacock Feathers Shawl this seems to be zipping right along.

Tired of Donegal Swatches

2006-01-21T14:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, I did a third Donegal swatch. I am now official tired of swatching for this sweater. I figure that if I have to knit any more swatches I might as well sew them together for a sweater. So this is what I am concluding.

Swatch 1: I was happy with the pattern colors but felt the background colors were a bit overwhelming.

Swatch 2: I added 2 shades of brown (wood and bark) and didn't use green in the background. If you notice, I am adding 2 colors but taking away only 1. This brings me to 6 background colors which is what the pattern originally called for. I liked this better although I thought that maybe the background could use a bit more color.

Swatch 3: I replaced wood with green. After looking at this I decided that I felt the wood colorway added more than the green did.

Conclusion: I am going with the colors in swatch 2. Finally back to knitting. With the swatches I felt like all I was doing was cutting and knotting yarn.

Other items in the news . . . It seems like the Knitting Olympics have really taken off. I have been contemplating my current projects and what I could actually knit in 16 days. I have a lot of big knitting plans and am still trying to determine if I can sacrifice 16 days. (No, I don't have a birthday to knit for or anything but the seasons they are achanging.)

We also got a cat this week from the shelter. My daughter has named her Ariel (after the Little Mermaid, of course.) We are enjoying having a cat again. Our last cat was lost in August. Now I am working on teaching Ariel to stay out of my yarn. Quite honestly, she is better about it than my children.

Donegal Swatch Revisited

2006-01-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

I have finally received some more Knitpicks Palette and have tried another swatch for my Donegal sweater. The first swatch (still pinned out) is my new swatch. I have added some browns to it and removed the green. I actually knit up the bottom of the swatch and then realized it needed more color so I added a band of red to the top of the swatch and used fewer rows of the other background colors.

The second swatch (without the pins) was my original swatch. The background colors seemed a bit bright for an entire sweater.

I would love any votes for either swatch. I would also welcome any suggestions. When I originally posted the first swatch I got no feedback which was bad for me because I am just jumping in the water here and hoping that I figure out how to swim.

Leaves In Relief - Sleeves finished!

2006-01-16T15:33:00.000-05:00

I finally completed all of my short-term goals so now I can go on to other plans. These are my Leaves In Relief sleeves. Now I can start the fun tree on the body. The sleeves were fun but the second one started to get a little boring. You can see my son's hand in the corner. Always ready to help. Can you believe he is one already?

I also finished my gloves but I am going to hold off on the picture until I finish writing up the pattern.

Next I will be doing more swatching for the Donegal sweater. Stephanie, aka Yarn Harlot, has announced the knitting Olympics on her blog also so I will have to come up with something for that. Should be fun!

Blue Striped Socks Finished!

2006-01-11T11:54:00.000-05:00

I finally finished my blue striped socks made from Regia Cotton. I am one step closer to my sock utopia in which I will only own hand knit socks. It may be awhile because my progress is less than impressive. I now own four pairs of handknit socks. My first pair is made from Magic Stripes yarn. It is a primarily superwash wool and very scratchy. I end up taking them off halfway through the day. One pair is made of Sock It To Me! Esprit which is cotton and elastic. They already have a hole in them and I'm not very inspired to fix them. The last pair is Sockotta which is a cotton wool blend like these. I wear them often.

This FO is part of my effort to finish some of UFO's before moving on. I still have to finish a second glove and the sleeves of my sweater and then I will feel less scattered.

Stash decluttering and Scarf

2006-01-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

Since a new year has started it seemed like a good time to take stock of my stash (never mind that I still don't have all of the boxes unpacked from when we moved in October). This is our walk-in closet with some of my stash filling it up. I then took all of the yarn out and organized it by weight and fiber type. Now I know where all my sock yarn is, all my cotton yarn is, etc. What a nice feeling. I also sorted out a box of yarn to donate to my LYS. A lady there brings the yarn to a local shelter and teaches women to knit with it. So now I am blessed by getting everything reorganized and hopefully someone else will be blessed by learning to knit. (If any of you are familiar with the Flylady, I am applying some of her concepts to knitting.)

By the way, I have also finished my Harlot scarf. I think that it would be less tedious if I had used a yarn with some variegation. None-the-less it is quite soft and warm. Believe-it-or-not I didn't have a scarf before today.

Random Thoughts

2006-01-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

Last weekend my family and I finally made it to Lake Michigan. The lake is only a half hour away so this is kind of pathetic. I've included a picture here to show you the headband that I knitted. It is Nakiska from Knitty. Very snuggly on the ears which is important with the wind on the lake. I used a wool/acrylic blend. I think it would have been even warmer in all wool. (By the way, you might notice a hand on my shoulder. That is my son in a baby backpack.)

Did you notice that the shipping limit at Knitpicks increased? Now you have to order $40 to get free shipping. So sad . . .

Yesterday my daughter was pining away for a fuzzy scarf. While we were at the grocery store (yes, the grocery store has yarn even) I let her pick out a couple skeins of Fun Fur for a scarf. Now I have secretly mocked people who knit novelty yarn scarves since it just seems too trendy. I knit this baby up in one evening though and had a lot of fun with it. My daughter woke up this morning and was so surprised that her scarf was finished. I have to admit that I understand the allure now although I don't think that Fun Fur will do much to keep your neck warm. (Yes, my daughter is wearing a blue velvet dress today. She is 3 and this is her idea of high fashion.)

Happy New Year!

2006-01-02T19:39:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a happy new year! I figured I would use this as an opportunity to show you what I am working on now:

1. A pair of socks of my own design from Regia Cotton. I love this yarn because it doesn't itch your feet and I am desperately in need of some socks. I have decided that I would love just to own handknit socks and my other socks are quickly wearing out so I need to get knitting.

2. A scarf from my Rowan Polar on size 11 needles. I have adapted the pattern from the "Yarn Harlot's" post. She sounded like she was having so much fun knitting scarves that I wanted in on the action. I am actually finding the large needles annoying though.

3. My Leaves in Relief sweater from Knitty.com. The first sleeve was more fun to knit than the second but I should get knitting so I can do the cool tree pattern.

4. The beginning of the Shetland Lace Shawl from Gathering of Lace. This is the edging. I am working on it in ice blue Zephyr. This is my first "true lace" but I am not finding it to be as hard as I thought.

Donegal Swatch

2005-12-27T14:07:00.000-05:00

Alas Christmas has passed and my mother sent me the Knitpicks Palette yarn to make Alice Starmore's Donegal sweater. The colors on the left are the background colors: red, purple, blue, green, and ash. The colors on the right are the pattern colors: petal, blush, cream, sky, and mist. Thirty colors seems like a lot to choose from but compared with other fair isle yarn manufacturers these colors are slim pickings. I had a hard time substituting colors but I figured that swatching them would tell me if this would work. So I have immediately swatched these yarns. This is the result:

I am happy with the pattern colors but am not sure what to say about the background colors. I wish the dark colors were not so bright. I was thinking about scrapping the red and green and perhaps substituting something more in the brown range. Maybe bark and wood. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

As for those of you who have read the post about last years Christmas gifts from my hubby, you will not be disappointed. Here is a picture of me holding my shiny new dust pan. (I think this will become a Christmas tradition.) The good news is that I also received gold earrings and a yarn store gift certificate from hubby.

I also received a pound cone of Zephyr in ice blue that I picked out for myself. I guess that I can't really complain this Christmas.

Yarn Sale!

2005-12-26T13:52:00.000-05:00

Yarn Sale. Do any words make your heart beat faster? This morning my LYS had a progressive yarn sale with 50% off all of your yarn for the first hour this morning. I had to restrain myself a bit but this is what I came out with.

1. 2 balls of Kidsilk Haze in Heavenly. I think that I will make a lace scarf from this.

2. 2 balls of lace weight yarn in cream. This was a leap of faith since the ball band is written in Chinese. Each balls is 62.5 g. I will make some type of shawl from this.

3. 2 100 g balls of Regia Cotton sock yarn in Navy & Blues and Pale Blue/Tan.

4. 2 balls of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Black Watch. I had been wanting to try this for awhile and am finally getting a chance.

5. 6 balls of Cashsoft Baby DK in crocus to make Soleil from Knitty.

6. And finally 2 balls of Rowan Polar in silver lining for a quick scarf.

This should keep me in yarn through the summer.

Library Books

2005-12-22T12:56:00.000-05:00

I love to check out knitting books from the library. One of my newest acquisitions is Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore. I generally check out the books just to have a look through the patterns. I have been enthralled by the introduction materials, however, which discuss the probable origins of Aran knitting. The author comes to the conclusion that Aran knitting probably evolved from the Scottish Gansey in the 1930's from the inspiration of one person. From there on the Aran people experimented with it in an attempt to make it marketable. The research that she did is fascinating. The patterns are also great. I would love to make Fulmar that is on the front cover. I have some other sweaters that need to be finished first though. The other shocking this was that this book is available through Amazon for the low price of $229. Thank goodness for libraries.

Leaves In Relief - First Sleeve

2005-12-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

I have finished the first sleeve on my Leaves In Relief sweater from Knitty.com. The nice thing about doing a sleeve in the round is that you can actually try it on to make sure it fits and I am happy to say that it does. The bad thing about this pattern though is that the sleeve will only come out the right length if your row gauge is correct. I don't know about you but it is hard enough for me to get my stitch gauge correct without also having to worry about rows. I think that my sleeve is a bit long but it still works well so I'm not going to worry about it.

I thought that there might be an error in the pattern but I contacted the designer, Ariel Barton, and she promptly clarified things for me. I am making a large sweater. At the end of the sleeve you end on a row 16 which has 16 pattern stitches per each of 3 needles. The pattern also says to increase 27 stitches along the way which adds 9 stitches to each needle. The pattern, however, says that you should have 78 stitches on your needles by this point. This stitch count only adds up to 75 though. Ms. Barton said that I also need to add in the initial increase row (3 stitches total). So by this point each needle should include 16 pattern stitches plus 1 initial increase plus 9 increases. A bit confusing but it all worked out in the end.

I think that the one thing that makes this pattern hard is the designers attempt to write the pattern for so many different sizes. The variety of sizes makes reading the pattern somewhat confusing but it is wonderful to see a pattern that includes plus sizes.

Ghost of Christmas Past

2005-12-17T14:32:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of me last Christmas. Yes, I have lost a lot of weight since last year but that is because I am 8 months pregnant in this picture. Yes, I am also holding a squeegee and a toilet brush. These are both gifts from my loving husband.

Now I love Christmas and it has nothing to do with the getting. I love picking out the perfect presents for people, making things for people I love, singing Christmas carols, drinking egg nog, baking cookies, decorating the tree, everything. None-the-less last years Christmas presents were . . . well . . . what can I say. I got a toilet brush.

This year I decided to things into my own hands. I have ordered myself some lovely new yarn and have told my husband that he needs to wrap it for me. Now everyone is happy because he doesn't need to figure out what to buy me either and I get, well, yarn. So stay tuned for the pictures of the new yarn after Christmas . . .

Starting Leaves In Relief

2005-12-15T14:28:00.000-05:00

Now that the Peacock Feathers Shawl is behind me, I have launched into starting other big projects and finishing up other small projects. The one project that I am starting is the Leaves In Relief from the Fall 2005 issue of Knitty.com. I had been hoping to have some company in knitting this but I cannot find anyone on the Internet that has started this sweater or who seems like they are actually planning to knit it. It is such a beautiful sweater but I think that all of the charts are scaring some people away. My life, on the other hand, is filled with wiping bums and cleaning up baby spit-up so I am finding that unless it includes complex charts I am not interested. I think I need something to keep my brain moving.

Anyhow I have started that first sleeve in silver sage Nature Spun that I purchased from the LYS. I have just been plowing through chart B and have found it quite easy and engaging after I got going. A lot of people have commented that they don't like the sleeve on this sweater. That was my initial reaction but I like the way the leaves compliment the twin trees. Now that I am actually knitting the leaves, I love them. I have been trying to think of a way to adapt the stitch pattern to a hat maybe.

So far I am loving this pattern. My only reservation is that it seems very fitted and I am not sure how it will look on me. I have been thinking that maybe a few sit-ups and 10 less pounds will compliment the sweater better. Maybe it will motivate me.

By the way, thank you to everyone who commented on my Peacock Feathers Shawl. I have been rushing to my computer each day to see what people have to say. It is such a feeling of accomplishment to finish such a complex piece. Thank you!

Unveiling the Peacock Feathers Shawl

2005-12-12T07:42:00.000-05:00

My Peacock Feathers Shawl is finally finished. I feel so empty without it to work on. This was my first lace project and I am thrilled with it. It took me 4 months of fairly steady knitting to complete. Then again I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 11 month old to impede my progress. My baby loved to pull on the shawl while I was knitting it resulting in stitches falling off the needles.

I used about 1000 yards of Alpaca Cloud in Iris from Knitpicks and size 4 Addi Turbo needles. The finished size was 86 inches by 45 inches, almost the same as estimated in the pattern. The pattern is, of course, the Peacock Feathers Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting. I found life lines and stitch markers to be invaluable. I had a lot of fun knitting this pattern in spite of my numerous frogging incidents.

Related links:
A Peacock Birthday
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
Chart 5
Chart 6
Chart 7
Before Blocking
Blocking

Peacock In Progress - Blocking

2005-12-11T15:51:00.000-05:00

As I write my Peacock Feathers Shawl is blocking under the ceiling fan in my son's room. The transformation is amazing. I could have fiddled with the pins all day but I finally just let it go and am trying not to visit it while it dries.

I used the Yarn Harlot's method of blocking except I blocked it on the floor with towels. Blocked it measures 88 inches across.

Peacock In Progress - Before Blocking

2005-12-10T21:34:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished my Peacock Feathers Shawl! Hurray! Unfortunately my family's response was underwhelming. My husband said that it was good that I finished because now I could start to knit something useful. My daughter was more interested in my tape measure. Oh, well (sigh).
The shawl is 65 inches by 32 inches unblocked. It is bigger than I thought it looked on the needles. The crochet cast-off was also harder than I thought. I have been an avid crocheter for a long time. I found it hard to crochet cast-off while trying to keep the remaining stitches from falling off the knitting needles, however. Plus the cast-off required 1320 chain stitches. That is a lot of crochet but off-course by then I was inspired.

I am hoping to be able to block my shawl tomorrow if I can convince my husband to pen the kids up somewhere so that I can do it. Meanwhile my house is in shambles, my family is malnourished, and all of our clothes are dirty in my obsession to finish this shawl.

Selecting Fair Isle Yarn

2005-12-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

Question from the comment section:

How do you select yarn from Knit Picks Palette to substitute in a fair isle pattern?

Well, I just looked at the yarns and used my natural artistic talents. Actually, not. In reality it took me three days of obsessing until I gave up and decided that I would order the yarn, swatch it and at $1.79 per skein if I need to change some colors so be it. I was also beginning to feel like a bad mommy because color combinations was all I thought about.

First I took some graph paper and colored in the pattern to try to get an idea of how the colors interacted with the pattern. Then I looked on the Internet for pictures of other peoples Donegal sweaters. Not a single picture used the same colors as the pattern book. It was rather interesting to look at what people had selected. I chose which color variations I like best and tried to see if I could come up with a similar combination out of the Palette yarns. Although the Donegal pattern calls for 11 colors I ended up altering the pattern to use only 10 since I couldn't find 11 that worked well for me.

As for the Palette line from Knitpicks, I am grateful for it since it seems like the only fair isle yarn out there comes from England. On the other hand, there are only 30 colors to chose from which seems like a lot but is not compared to the 161 colors from Jamieson & Smith. The Palette colors seem quite bright also. I don't know why they don't make colors in the darker range such as Burgundy and forest green. I figure that I will give it a go. Check back after Christmas when I knit up a swatch to find out whether this is a failed experiment.

Upcoming Goals

2005-12-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

As I am winding down on my Peacock Feathers Shawl and as the New Year approaches I have some knitting goals.

1. I have ordered Nature Spun yarn in silver sage to knit Leaves In Relief from the fall 2005 Knitty. I have set up a group on yahoo in hopes that someone would like to knit with me. I love the intertwining trees on this sweater. I have used charts for Fair Isle and lace but I do not ever remember using them for aran knits so this should be a learning experience.

2. For Christmas I requested some of Knitpicks Palette to make Donegal from Alice Starmore's The Celtic Collection. I probably have had this book for 8 years and have been looking longingly at the sweater for that long. I have not done Fair Isle with fingering weight yarn before plus I am planning on using the two-handed method for this sweater which is also new for me. I'm really looking forward to it.

3. My last goal for 2006 is to make a lace project using cobweb weight yarn. I am currently thinking about how I should work up to that. I also would love to do the Wedding Ring Shawl but I don't think I have the ability to concentrate on it the way I would like at this point in my life. Either my 3 year old and 10 month old are pulling at my yarn or it is late at night and I am tired. There is no other knitting option. I will have to ponder this goal a bit more.

Peacock In Progress - Chart 7 (Finally!)

2005-12-03T09:14:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished Chart 7 of my Peacock Feathers Shawl. That means I only have the edging and crochet cast-off to finish. My goal is to have it finished and all blocked by Christmas. Now that the end is in sight I am much more motivated though. Of course, I would have been done with chart 7 awhile ago if I had not had that unfortunate tinking incident that resulting in my frogging 12 rows. I figure that I frogged about 4000 stitches. What did I learn? Never get too confident to put in life lines.

Each row is 450 stitches now. I'm happy to get 2 rows done per day. When I stretch the shawl it looks so nice. I can envision how it will look blocked. Right now it does not look that impressive though.

I have also put my one mistake in the shawl. Somehow I ended up with one extra yarn over. I tried to fix it but I ended up with a lot of extra yarn where the extra yo was so it wasn't really fixable. As a result there is an extra hole in the shawl but I think that I would be hard pressed to find it at this point.

Stashbusting Projects

2005-11-27T13:12:00.000-05:00

I have taken out the book Oddball Knitting from the library. I have also been continuously unpacking which is leading me to organize my stash. I really should get rid of a lot of my yarn but it seems to have so much potential. I thought that it might be fun to list some projects which could help you use up your stash. Feel free to offer any stashbusting suggestions!

Stashbusting Suggestions
1. Stashbuster spirals socks
2. Mittens and gloves
3. Holiday ornaments
4. Knitted flowers
5. Bookmarkers
6. Winecozy
7. Nosewarmer
8. Wig
9. Balls
10. Stockings

Another Winecozy

2005-11-23T18:51:00.000-05:00

I have finished another wine cozy. I figured that these would make good hostess gifts for the holiday. The first one I had made for a friend who invited me for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Unfortunately with the snow coming through we are not going to be able to make it since she lives two hours away. I guess I will save the cozy for her when I see her again, however. Meanwhile I am in the business of preparing an unexpected Thanksgiving dinner.

I made the winecozy using a Fair Isle pattern from Knitting Over the Edge. I expanded the waves pattern from a 7 stitch repeat to a 9 stitch repeat to fit the circumference. I am planning to start a fair isle sweater after Christmas. My mother is buying me yarn to make the Donegal pattern from The Celtic Collection for Christmas. I have been wanting to knit this sweater for ages and I have finally gotten up the courage to do so. I'm hoping to have my Peacock Feathers Shawl knit by then. Hopefully.

FO - Winecozy

2005-11-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

I have just finished my winecozy, a hostess gift for Thanksgiving. Although the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, the gauge is 4 stitches per inch. The yarn I used knitted up at 5 stitches per inch though so I made some alterations to the pattern. I also knitted it in the round because there was no way I was sewing it up afterward.

Winecozy alterations:

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch

Cast on 54 stitches. Knit pattern as written on 4 double pointed needles.

Form ridge: Turn work inside out and purl on wrong side picking up purl bumps of the row 6 rows down as written. Turn and continue to knit in the round.

Base:
Row 1: [Ssk, k2, k2tog] to end. 36 sts rem.
Row 2-3: K across.
Row 4: [Ssk, k2tog] to end. 18 sts rem.
Row 5: K across.
Row 6: [Ssk, k1] 12 sts rem. 12 sts rem.
Row 7: K across.
Row 8: [K2tog] to end. 6 sts rem.

You might also be wondering about my Peacock Feather Shawl. Last week I got up to row 193. I realized that I had made a mistake on row 191 that I could not correct. I tried to tink back to correct it and dropped some stitches resulting in a big hole. To make matters worse, I had not put a lifeline in at row 190 because things had been going so smoothly so I ended up frogging back to row 180. I figure I frogged about 4000 stitches. I didn't have enough chocolate in the house for that experience.

Peacock in Progress - Chart 6

2005-10-24T20:34:00.000-05:00

We have finally made it to Grand Rapids, Michigan and I am up to my eyeballs in boxes. The good news is that I know where my yarn is. As long as that is accounted for all is well. It has also rapidly turned into fall. I have gotten to wear my green aran sweater for the first time. I think that was overly ambitious, however, since I had to take it off by afternoon.

I have finished chart 6 of my Peacock Feathers Shawl. It is turning out fairly nice and I am actually having a lot of fun with it now. I think that I find knitting it enjoyable so long as I do not have to shift the stitch markers which I find quite time consuming and annoying. I finished my first 440 yard ball of yarn on row 170. I have 3 balls left which makes me think I may have quite a lot leftover. I am thinking of doing the Estonian scarf that was in Vogue Knitting or Branching Out from Knitty. We'll see what I am in the mood for when this is all over.

My First Knitting Project

2005-10-10T14:14:00.000-05:00

I have recovered most of my vision and am frantically getting ready for our big move to Michigan this week. In sorting out all of our Stuff (I think it deserves a capital letter), I came across my first knitted piece ever.

When I was 9 years old I knitted this blanket for my stuffed rabbit. I used garter stitch. The cast-on edge is way too tight and there is a hole from where I dropped a stitch. All-in-all I am quite impressed with myself though. This trip down memory lane . . .

Unfortunately I am a packrat so back to sorting through the Stuff.

Peacock in Progress - Chart 5

2005-10-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

I finished chart 5 of my Peacock Feathers Shawl last weekend. Unfortunately I finished it in time for my daughter to accidentally poke me in the eye. I have been having daily visits to the doctors but I think that my vision is finally beginning to return. I haven't been able to work on my shawl because it requires better vision than I have at the moment. Instead I have been working on an item that requires only stockinette stitch. For awhile I was knitting it with my eyes closed because it hurt too much to open them. I am anxiously awaiting the return of my vision.

As for chart 5 of the shawl, it does seem to be going faster and I am having an easier time remembering the pattern. Of course, chart 5 and 6 are very short. The good news is that the last two charts seem to require few marker shifts.

Berry Blue Thumbless Mittens

2005-10-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

By Lorri Ann R.

After I finished dying my recycled yarn with Kool Aid, I knit up some thumbless mittens for my 8 month old. There is nothing as frustrating as trying to fit a baby thumb into a mitten so I have skipped the thumb. I have written out the directions so that everyone can knit mittens for the babies in their lives.

Size:
Fits approximately 6 to 18 months.

Materials:
50g worsted weight yarn (I used recycled yarn (11wpi) from a white thrift store sweater that I dyed with Berry Blue Kool Aid.)
Four size 3 double pointed needles (or size needed for gauge)
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle

Gauge:
20 stitches = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

Directions:

Make 2:

Cast on 28 stitches loosely.

Arrange stitches evenly over 3 double pointed needles. Join into a circle being careful not to twist your work. Place marker at the beginning of the row.

Ribbing: *K2, P2*, 7 times.

Repeat ribbing row until ribbing measures 1 ½ inches.

Increase row: K next row across increasing 4 stitches evenly around. (32 stitches)

Stockinette stitch: Continue to K around until the stockinette stitch portion of the mitten measures 2 inches.

Next row: *K6, K2tog*, 4 times. (28 stitches)

Stockinette stitch: Continue to K around until the stockinette stitch portion of the mitten measures 3 inches.

Decrease as follows:
Row 1: *K5, K2tog*, 4 times. (24 stitches)
Row 2: K around.
Row 3: *K4, K2tog*, 4 times.
Row 4: K around.
Row 5: *K3, K2tog*, 4 times.
Row 6: *K2, K2tog*, 4 times.
Row 7: *K, K2tog*, 4 times.
Row 8: K2tog 4 times. (4 stitches)

Finishing: Cut yarn leaving a 10 inch tail. Thread yarn onto tapestry needle and sew through remaining 4 stitches 2 times. Tack tail on inside of mitten. Weave in ends.

Abbreviations:
K - knit
P - purl
K2tog - knit 2 together
Dec - decrease
Inc - increase
Wpi - wraps per inch

This pattern is for your personal use only. Please do not copy it, post it, or sell items made using pattern.

What's for Dinner?

2005-10-01T17:52:00.000-05:00

Here is my first attempt at Kool Aid dying with the wool yarn from my recycled sweater. I used Berry Blue and Pink Lemonaide.

My first batch was the Berry Blue which I did in the microwave. I had the skeins of yarn wrapped too tightly which resulted in white lines throughout the yarn. I actually like the final look of the yarn although it is not what I had intended.

My second batch of yarn was the Pink Lemonaide which you can see cooking on the stove. My husband seriously questionedmy sanity when he saw me cooking wool in the kitchen at 9 at night. The color came out more uniform although the pink had a bit too much orange in it for my taste.

Peacock In Progress - Chart 4

2005-09-27T11:41:00.000-05:00

After a Peacock slowdown, I have complete chart 4. I think that the hardest part of this pattern is shifting the stitch markers on most rows. It really slows me down but I am not confident enough to do the pattern without the stitch markers.

I have stopped counting the stitches every row. I realized that if I mess up it is always leaving out a yarn over. It is much easier to just pick up the yarn over on the next pattern row when you realize your mistake than tinking which inevitably ends up in dropped stitches or other catastrophes.

The medium-sized feathers are almost done. After chart 5 I can start working on the large feathers.

FO - Aran Sweater

2005-09-25T19:39:00.000-05:00

So my UFO is finally finished after approximately 5 years. The sweater was supposed to have a crewneck. I knitted it and liked the neck so much the way it was that I did not fold it over and tack it in place.

This sweater was knitted with Patons Classic Merino in a forest green that they don't seem to make any more. I have about 6 skeins left which means that I overbought. I never recorded how much I used though and I don't remember. I will have to think of another project for the rest of the yarn.

For my next sweater I wanted to knit Leaves in Relief from Knitty. I think I might use Patons Merino in sage this time. The merino is so soft that you can wear it next to your skin which I usually can't do with wool.

Recycling and Kool Aid

2005-09-24T19:23:00.000-05:00

So I have finished my green aran knit sweater. I need to have my husband take a picture of me in it, so pictures are still to come.

My latest project is recycling a sweater. I took a trip to the Goodwill Store and found a nice white wool sweater that had good seams for unraveling (i.e. not cut knit fabric that has been sewn together). I have started unraveling the sweater for the yarn. It is a 100% feltable wool. I had thought of felting something with it but being that it is white I do not think it will work well. Since I have been meaning to try dying with Kool Aid, I figured that this might be a good opportunity. I can try two experiments at a time. I have already managed to unravel most of the yarn and have 5 ounces of yarn soaking in Berry Blue Kool Aid in my microwave. I am planning to make winter-wear for my children with the yarn (i.e. hats, mitten, scarves, etc.) I will keep you posted about how it turns out.

On another topic, I have picked my Peacock Feathers shawl back up and am almost done with chart 4. I keep looking ahead to chart 7, it is so long it seems a bit intimidating.

UFO Progressing

2005-09-11T06:58:00.000-05:00

After knitting like crazy on my Peacock Feathers Shawl, I have temporarily abandoned it and am almost done with my aran knit sweater. The catalyst was learning that we would be moving from West Virginia to Michigan. While in West Virginia, I have been inspired to knit with cotton. After pondering the Michigan winters I have been inspired to return to warm winter objects.

I have finally finished the sleeves on my aran knit sweater. All that remains is to sew it up and knit the collar. The collar in this pattern is knit with straight needles. I have always knit collars in the round before and am tempted to do so with this one except I figured I should try this method just because it is new.

Peacock In Progress - Chart 3

2005-08-30T20:58:00.000-05:00

Progress on the Peacock Feathers Shawl is getting slower, not because I'm not working on it but because the rows are getting longer. They are now up to about 230 stitches per row. I find that I am getting the hang of the pattern more and haven't needed to frog although there has been a lot of tinking. Counting the stitches after each half of row is completed has saved me a lot of work.

The medium-sized feathers are showing up better now. I'm very excited to see the shawl blocked but that is a long time away.

I've been enjoying my first attempt at lace so much, I am now planning out my next lace project. It is between:

1. Something from the Heirloom Knitting book which I think might be too hard for my concentration level at the moment, especially with two small children.

2. The Frost Flowers and Leaves Shawl from the Gathering of Lace book. There is a knitalong starting on yahoo which fits into my schedule well and the shawl is beautiful.

3. Or the Mystery Shawl 2 which has the lure of a knitalong plus the element of surprise but does not fit into my schedule as well being that it starts on September 30th.

Peacock In Progress - Chart 2

2005-08-20T18:06:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished Chart 2 of my Peacock Feathers Shawl. You can finally begin to see the larger feathers at the bottom of the shawl. I'm finally beginning to get the hang of the pattern but the rows are also getting longer. I'm sure chart 7 will be slow going. It has so many rows and the rows increase to 450 stitches each. Right now each row is 170 stitches long.

I also am loving the Alpaca Cloud yarn that I am using. It is so soft that I just enjoy being able to touch the yarn while I'm knitting it. It's a little fuzzy which might blur the pattern a little although it seems to show up okay.

To the Frog Pond

2005-08-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

I just had to share my latest disaster. On my Peacock Shawl, I had forgotten to put a lifeline on row 60 and put one on row 62. I got up to row 69 and then realized that I was off I stitch. I read my stitches backward only to find a huge hole. Alas I was unable to figure out how to repair it so I had to go to the frog pond. I ripped out 7 rows. That hurt. I'm almost back up to row 69 again. I love putting in the lifelines. It makes me feel like the rows before it are safe.

Peacock In Progress - Chart 1

2005-08-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

I have finished the first chart of my Peacock Feathers Shawl. I told myself that I would only work on it when I really had time to concentrate on it but I have been somewhat obsessed.

These are the small feathers at the top of the shawl. I am still waiting for my circular needles to arrive so I am using single pointed needles.

Things that have helped me so far:

1. Stitch markers are your friend . . .

2. I have been threading dental floss lifelines through my stitches every 10 rows. I have used them. Unfortunately I have done a bit of frogging and tinking.

3. I have been using a row counter.

4. I have also placed a post-it not under the charted row I am working on. This has also helped me keep track of where I am.

5. I found that frogging can be minimized by counting my stitches at the end of every odd numbered row.

Now I'm off to start chart 2.

It's a Peacock Birthday

2005-08-10T13:56:00.000-05:00

For my birthday, I asked my mother for the pattern and yarn to make the Peacock Feathers Shawl. I selected Alpaca Cloud yarn in iris and ordered an extra skein of yarn, just in case. I spent my birthday balling up the yarn. This was the first time that I ever balled yarn in center pull skeins. I started balling the yarn by putting the yarn down my thumb. The end of the yarn was in my palm and looped over the top of my thumb. I then wrapped the yarn in a ball around my thumb until voila a center-pull ball of yarn. Pretty good for just using my thumb and my knees to hold the yarn.

Today I received my pattern after much anticipation. I must say that I have never made a lace project before and I realize this is an overly ambitious beginning. I figure I've done about every other type of knitting at some time or another and I would rather make something that I really wanted to make. Anyhow, any lace knitting tips or any specific tips about the Peacock Feathers Shawl would be greatly appreciated.

My plan for tonight is to make the gauge swatch on single-pointed needles. After I determine the needle size then I will order myself some Addi Turbo circular needles, I believe.

Socks, Socks, Socks!

2005-08-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

I have started two new pairs of socks this week. The first pair is the Amble pattern for the Six-Sock Knitalong. I am trying out the new KnitPicks Essential yarn with this pattern. The color is Dusk. I am using size one double-pointed needles and seem to be getting the right gauge of 8 stitches per inch. The sock seems a bit narrow but it does fit when I tried it on. The miracle of wool, I guess.

The other thing that I am trying this week is a pattern knitting two toe-up socks on one circular needle. This was a big deal for me since I have only done cuff-down socks on double pointed needles. I did the figure-8 cast on which I didn't find too onerous in spite of talk I had heard to the contrary. The worst part was tightening up the stitches in my opinion. I am still working on the toes, however. It feels as if it is taking forever but that probably is because I'm doing double the amount of socks.

I don't have a picture of my toe-up socks at the moment because I have put them in my car. Every time I end up sitting in my car with my 6 month old sleeping in the back seat, I wish that I had some knitting along so I have stashed this project in my trunk. Some day I will finish it.

Booga Bag Transformation

2005-08-02T08:14:00.000-05:00

Before felting

I just finished my Booga Bag. I think it came out pretty well in spite of a few things. This was my first attempt at felting and I broke all of the rules.

1. I used bulky yarn. I didn't know that you weren't supposed to do that until after I started knitting.

2. I didn't make a swatch. I figured that this was an experiment and it's a bag so I didn't really care how much it shrunk.

3. I used Lopi yarn which I understand sheds too much for nice felting. I wanted to use up some stash leftovers so I did it anyhow. I didn't find that it shed too much.

4. I used white yarn which doesn't felt well because the bleaching process inhibits felting. I knew this but I thought that the white yarn I was using was more of a natural off-white color. It did not felt well though which is where I guess a swatch would have helped.

I'm pretty happy with the result, so I think I will make another bag with my remaining Lopi scraps. This time, however, I will leave out the white.

My UFO

2005-07-29T13:51:00.000-05:00

This is my unfinished object. Although there are other things I am working on this is THE unfinished object since I can't even remember how long I have been working on this sweater. About 5 years I guess. As you can see I only have to finish the sleeves so I am just going to force myself to do it. I actually went out and bought myself another set of size 8 needles because these have been in use for so long.

This sweater uses Paton's Classic Wool Merino Blend. It is from the book Paton's Outdoor Aran's, pattern # 5 "Family Sweater."

Chutes and Ladders Socks Finished!

2005-07-28T13:52:00.000-05:00

I finished my Chutes and Ladders socks for the six-sock knitalong with three days to spare. I joined the group a month late so that is my excuse for almost missing the deadline. If members post their completed pictures by the end of the month they are entered into a drawing to receive, yes, more sock yarn. What could be better!

I really enjoyed this pattern. I used Sock It To Me! Esprit yarn from Elann. It is a cotton and elastic yarn which is alittle tricky to work with because it stretches quite a bit while your working with it. For those people familiar with the pattern, I used size 2 double pointed needles and cast on 60 stitches.

The hint for the next pattern is that it would look best in a solid color. I am trying to decide between using more Sock It To Me! Esprit yarn or KnitPicks Essential yarn that I have ordered. It is a new solid sock yarn from Knitpicks.

Completed Harry Potter Bookscarf

2005-07-17T20:02:00.000-05:00

I completed my Gryffindor Bookscarf just in time for the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I think it cam out pretty well and I'm enjoying it a lot. The only problem is that my 3 year old daughter also likes it so I may be loosing my place in the book to her curiousity.

Harry Potter Bookscarf

2005-07-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

I'm waiting for the new Harry Potter book to be released on Saturday. While I'm waiting I'm busy knitting a Gryffindor bookscarf that was posted on the net. I've used thick maroon and gold stripes though which I thought more closely resembled the scarves in the movie.

Check out the pattern and knit a bookscarf of your own:

http://knittingwithlaura.blog-city.com/harry_potter_bookscarf_pattern.htm

Chutes and Ladders Problem

2005-07-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

I have been working on my Chutes and Ladders socks for the six sock knitalong. I noticed that in carrying the pattern down the instep that that pattern was not centered correctly. If you notice the "chute" is immediately next to a knit row causing the cable to be kind of blurry. What I should have done is frog the sock back to the heel but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead I dropped the knit row, took out my crochet hook, and worked that row back up as a purl row. I think that it came out okay although the pattern is off by a row. I'll just say that I'm letting go of my perfectionism and let this sock be living memorial of that.

As for the gloves, I have finished the first one. I am now procrastinating on weaving in the ends, writing out the pattern, and finishing the second glove. That's a lot of work to do.

On the Needles

2005-07-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

I'm currently working on two projects. The first is a glove pattern that I am designing with cables up each finger. It has gone fairly smooth so far. I am using baby alpaca / merino yarn that I found on Elann.com for the design. The yarn feels so luxurious I never want to knit with anything else again. I am trying to write up the pattern as I go along to post on the web. It seems as if a lot of knitting design is just a matter of math. I always excelled at math in high school. My parents didn't think that I was using it now (lol).

The second project that I have been working on is a sock for the six sock knitalong that I just joined. The pattern is called Chutes and Ladders. I have been perusing pictures of socks that people have completed for the knitalong. I think that I prefer the look of continuing the pattern through the foot instead of stopping the pattern at the ankle so I may alter the pattern in that way. I am using Sock It to Me! Esprit, again from Elann.com. This yarn is cotton with a little elastic which I am finding challenging to work with. It has been hard getting a consistent tension since the yarn stretches so much but I think I have gotten the hang of it. I also used the Norwegian cast-on for the first time. I think I should practice it on wool yarn sometime because it was very difficult to do with the elastic in the yarn.

Self-Striping Gloves Completed

2005-06-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

My recent love has been sock knitting. Until last year's issue of Knit It! I never even thought about making socks but after I made my first pair I was hooked. I have made a number of socks out of Magic Stripes yarn. The wool, however, itches my feet so I have recently purchased some Sock It to Me! Esprit yarn off the Elann.com website. This is a combination of cotton and elastic. I plan to use this knit a couple pairs of socks on sock knitalongs that I have discovered on yahoo groups.

Because of my recent obsession with sock knitting I have been looking for other ways to use sock yarn. I have discovered the book The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns which lets you make about anything using any yarn. Last night I finished gloves using the glove pattern in the book with Magic Stripes yarn. I ended up frogging one finger of the glove to try to get the stripes of the gloves to match up but otherwise it was fairly smooth sailing. I used size 2 double pointed needles which enabled me to knit at 7 stitches per inch. The other thing that I learned during this process was to pick up a couple extra stitches at the base of each finger and to immediately decrease these stitches in the next row. That process eliminated any holes that previously sprung up between my glove fingers.

On a less glorious note, I had to frog almost an entire sock last night after I realized it was not going to fit over my heel. This was painful as the sock had a complicated cable pattern and was knit at a painstaking gauge of 9 1/2 stitches per inch. The gauge, of course, was the problem because I was aiming for 8 1/2 stitches per inch. (Sigh . . .) Apparently a gauge swatch worked in stockinette stitch does differ from a gauge swatch worked in the round. I had been warned. . .

Introduction

2005-05-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I have been knitting for 24 years ever since I was 9 years old. (I'm sure you can do the math and figure out how old I am.) Twenty-four years seems like such a long time to do anything. My mother initially taught me how to knit although I can't say that I've seen her knit anything. Any more complicated things that I have learned, I've learned from books.

In spite of my love of and long history of knitting, I can't say that I really know anyone who knits. I have been lucky enough to run across the book Stitch 'n Bitch which introduced me to both the KnitList and the concept of knitting blogs. I am so excited to have a place to share my knitting now since my husband is tired of hearing about it.

Currently my biggest barriers to knitting are my three year old daughter and my 4 month old son. They are also great subjects to knit for being that they are small and I can knit things for them relatively quickly. As a result I forgive them for being a barrier to my knitting.

I look forward to sharing my projects with you!