June 03, 2004
Knitting the Blues
Life is very hectic right now, but I have been knitting. I did the cover poncho from Rowan 35, "Lola", which is crocheted from Rowan Handknit dk cotton. I had a couple of false starts figuring out gauge and remembering that the crochet terms were British, and need to be converted to American (I won't tell you how much I had to rip out when I finally figured that one out), but then it was smooth sailing. This is for a gift, but my daughter and I both like it, so I see at least one more Lola in my future.
The Yarn Harlot inspired me to start my own "Boring Cardi". Actually, I was really drawn to the pattern, "Beth" by Kim Hargreaves in A Season's Tale. The colors of the Rowan 4-ply glow, and are set off beautifully by the simplicity of the classic cardigan. Two Swans Yarn obtained the yarn for me, and it is just what I wanted. I am knitting the cardi in one piece to the underarm, and doing the seed stitch borders as I go (some short rows inserted along the way), so it has been great mindless knitting. With all of the school concerts, assemblies, meetings, etc I have been attending lately, I am actually making pretty good progress, even with the (gasp) size 2 needles. 
I seem to be on a Rowan kick, and everything is blue! Here is a project which is also blue, but does use Austermann cotton yarn. I am still working on this lacy shawl which is supposed to be star-shaped when it is done. It is the Lacy Starfish Shawl from Just One More Row. Notice the current "blob" status. Does this look like it is going to work out to you? I suspect that it may be enormous when blocked, and am thinking about ending it shorter than the pattern calls for. Well, that also may be because I am tired of knitting it!
Anne, everything looks way cool! I'm kinda on a Rowan kick too - something about the way they do colors...
Posted by: Linette on June 3, 2004 10:45 AMYour Beth looks lovely! I just made her too, in the suggested colors...so rich and tweedy, right?
I did sort of combine her with Bonnie and Isla too cause I made my Beth with raglans and eyelet decreases! I love her and wear her all the time, the 4 ply is great for here in Florida, but the size 2 needles were a killer, and I needed a 50"!!!
My only complaint would be that the Rowanspun 4 ply has almost no memory and I find I need to wash the sweater often to maintain the shape...even the cuffs get stretched out after one wearing!! It's a lovely sweater and I know you'll enjoy it! Have you thought of buttons? If you want the buttons shown in A Season's Tale, I have 12 and you're welcome to them...I went with small silver filegree buttons....drop me an email if you're interested!
Debi, it is so cool to get your input! I chose silver buttons, too - small, but a bit more stylish than Rowan's choice.
Posted by: Anne on June 4, 2004 09:39 AMLove the boring Cardie, and sympathise on the blue phase. I'm attempting to break out of it, but so far have only been sucessful in changing colour via photoshop.
Posted by: Stephanie on June 4, 2004 11:49 AMHey, could you answer a question I have about the Lacy Starfish Shawl? How many points (arms?) does it have? 5? 6? I've wondered about this forever, as it's very hard to tell from the photo.
Posted by: Kit on June 4, 2004 11:29 PMKit, it has six sections.
Posted by: Anne on June 6, 2004 06:20 PMHmmm. I was hoping it had 5.... (starfish, you know) but it gets me thinking.... this would probably be an easy design to add a section to and get that "more than circular" effect, wouldn't it? But then, you say you're tired of knitting it, and that would also add *more knitting*.
Thanks, Anne.
You could definitely add more sections to this. I just find that knitting the tiny yarn on the big, size 11 needles is fiddly and slow going. I am on Row 77 now and have 474 stitches on the needles, so one row takes awhile. The pattern goes for 85 rows, but I may stop a few rows short.I will definitely post a photo when I am done!
Posted by: Anne on June 7, 2004 10:57 AMHi!
My name is Marianne Froding and I´m living in Sweden. I visited your blog and look at your Marianne Sweater, nice!!! ( Why is it so nice to have the same name as a sweater??) Look look around and you have made so many beatiful things. Especially from Dikt i maskor or Poetry in stitches look at the bottom on this side, http://froding.web.surftown.se/stickning.htm, and you see my sweater( I always have alternativ colours, its my ancesters mistake long ago. I cant do it as it schould be...)If there is something you dont understand about the language i mean please mail me and I translate!! I understand much better than I write...
Regards Marianne
I was actually looking up the name Froding online and came across your page. I want to let you know there are some Frodings in NJ and DE. Distant relatives of Gustav Froding. My grandfather Karl Froding came over from Sweden in the early 1900's. He and his wife (I forget her name right now - terrible, I know) gave birth to Kent and Ray Froding (my father). Ray married Barbara and they adopted 4 girls (Nelle, Maria, Grace and Kiaira). We gave them a total of 7 grandchildren, two of which have the Froding last name. Kent married Aunt Izabel and they live in Newfoundland. Just thought you'd like to know a little bit about your family in here in America.
Posted by: Grace Froding on August 19, 2004 11:59 AM