KnitMe

Practical matters

If you are on Ravelry and look at my projects page you will see FIVE WIPs. This is unheard of for me. I NEVER like to have more than THREE. Here are my excuses.

The felted vest is done except for the zipper, which is still coming in the mail. I measured the front edges - 17 inches. I figured I was also adding on the knitted collar and ordered an 18 inch zipper. Wrong. Mailed it back and a 16 inch one is in the mail from zipperstop.com. Meanwhile it seems to have flared at the bottom somehow since it was blocked, so I may have to soak it down and reshape it as much as I can - otherwise it will be quite drafty.

I need another scarf. I just do. Since the blue-green angora blend I recently completed spinning was meant for a scarf, and there wasn't that much of it, I dove in.

It is almost done - I'm trying to eke out as much length as possible with this. I ended up using size 8 needles, because the yarn is poofier than I thought, and it's working out great. I wanted garter stitch lace so it would be reversible, and after finding that nearly everything in the Barbara Walker books is stockinette-based, I went browsing Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting since so much Shetland lace is based on garter stitch. I chose Cats Paw because the repeats were small, which would help me eke out even more length. It's making a really cushy fabric and I think I'm going to get about 45 inches of length which will be fine.

I decided it was time to make Emmy another sweater. I had intended to make Wendy Bernard's 'Girlfriend's Swing Coat' but she saw this hoodie pattern from Lana Grossa in my book and right away that was what she wanted.

The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool that I got at WEBS on sale a couple of years ago, with Emmy in mind - it's a lovely sky blue shade. The hoodie pattern is very basic and I think I may try to improvise a kangaroo pocket on the front as I know she will like that.

I am knitting the yarn at a loose gauge because it makes such a nice soft fabric - I hope I don't regret that later, I think it would probably be better knit on size 7 needles. Perhaps it will full when washed, or I can wet it down and spin it in the dryer to full it just a tiny bit.

Given all of this WIP activity, the Taconic pullover has been neglected and is sitting in a bin with about 2 inches left on the back. Then I get to to do the front which is where all the pattern interest lies.

I am still plugging away on the Dolomite socks, but they have been somewhat neglected for the hoodie which I can knit without looking at a pattern, and the scarf which I just WANT. I am halfway through the foot of the first sock.

The yarn is making a nice fabric and I love the color - it is darker and less pinky/orange than this photo would lead you to believe.

I want to wrap up some of this stuff soon and move on.

Harbour Lights

Hi! It's me, Mel (Threadbender on Ravelry), back for my quarterly post. I'm such a bad blogger. I find it so hard to STOP knitting to take pictures, so most of what follows are done deeds.

Here is Harbour Lights - another stunning design from Sivia Harding. I saw this shawl last summer at the Victoria Fibre Festival and it stole my heart. I even knit it in the exact yarn used in the sample shawl. I adore the edging design.

The yarn is Alberta Rose 100% alpaca, 2 ply fingering weight. The shawl used one 200 g. skein, 724 m. / 791 yds. in natural white. The beads are 6/0 Czech seedbeads, pearl eggshell. This shawl has a lovely shape that stays put on your shoulders. The finished measurements are 62" by 32".

Here's a close up of the beads. The white on white strikes me as very Victorian.

But wait! There's more! Tired of knitting socks, but in need of some not too challenging commuter knitting, I started the Zetor Scarf, a free pattern that is popular on Ravelry.

I used two 20 g. / 300 m. skeins of Artisan NZ Merino lace weight in that have been in the stash for quite some time. I knit till the yarn ran out and ended up with a lighter than air full sized shawl measuring 68" by 34".

I bought a couple of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep 2 Shoe kits last February at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat. There are about 8.5 ozs of superwash merino fiber in each kit. I prefer fingering weight socks to sports weight socks, so I spun the singles fairly fine. I ended up with 552 yds of 3 ply with enough singles left over to make 805 yds of 2 ply lace weight. This is the 3 ply in the Valkyrie colourway. I love the subtle colour shifts.

I test knit this cute little hoodie for my friend Kerry, the knitting goddess behind Northern Palm Designs. I have to show you this modelled by my teddy bear, because by the time I got it knit, my baby grandson had outgrown it! This is knit with Elann's Superwsh Bamboo, which was very nice to work with.

Next up is Irish Moss. I'm using Virtual Yarns 3 ply Hebridean in the Tormentil colour. I ordered 13 x 50 g. skeins and received 26 skeins of assorted sizes - perhaps it was the end of the lot. I can't complain, though, because they actually sent extra yardage. I can't get gauge, so I'm fudging it. I'm close on the stitch gauge, but the row gauge is off. Unable to leave well enough alone, I'm going to make it as a cardigan, and I want armholes instead of drop shoulders. The picture does not do the colour justice. It's a rich, tweedy cinnamon brown, not the washed out pinky brown I see in the photo. The yarn is rugged, yet is not the least bit harsh. I don't have a lot of knitting time at the moment, but I look forward to the few rows I can do each night.

monday

I finished my pretty purple socks.

They fit fine, but this is not my favorite Cat Bordhi architecture. I much prefer Ridgeline or Riverbed for toe-up. This yarn was just lovely - Fleece Artist Somoko in 'amethyst'. Beautiful.

I couldn't NOT be making socks, so as we ran out the door to Emily's swim class I grabbed the stuff to start these:

Dolomite socks, by Anne Hanson of Knitspot. When I first saw this pattern I knew I had the right yarn for it. The photo on the pattern is a lovely shade of berry, and this skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in 'In Vino Veritas' seemed just right for it. I love this color too.

Last week when I showed the sherino I was spinning, I neglected what might be the best part of this:

That's the bag of roving as it came back from Morning Sun Fiber Barn. Isn't it yummy looking? Like soft-serve ice cream.

The vest was nearly done on Sunday when I took this picture. I had started putting the cotton temporary borders on, so it was looking a little odd, but you can see that the thing reached almost to my knees, and the armholes were definitely down to my waist.

Yesterday I stuck it in a mesh bag and put it in the washing machine in hot water. After a mere TEN MINUTES it was 17 inches long from front neckline to front bottom edge. TEN MINUTES. This Knitpicks Wool of the Andes felts like mad, and if you look away for too long your piece will be the size of a coaster.

It is hanging to dry now, I can't knit on the permanent borders until it's dry. The fabric it made is really nice, it just happened so darn fast.

And by the way - it bled dye like mad in the hot water. The water that pumped out of the washer was bright green. I would beware of doing color work in this yarn, including a light color, and then putting it in to felt.

Gotta shop for a zipper!

Purple socks

Fall is here and I've worn wool socks again for the first time. It feels good to have a pile of knitting in my lap. These socks are a good thing to be knitting at this time of year.

I really really love this yarn (Fleece Artist Somoko) and the amethyst color of them. I'm glad I have made a pair of Coriolis socks but this is not my favorite fit of the New Pathways socks I have tried so far. Maybe it's because I made a flat toe instead of a toe that can be rotated slightly when you get to the ankle, but I find the shape just a tad strange across the instep. They fit ok, but I'd rather make more Ridgelines.

I've been spinning some natural grey CVM on the Mazurka, which I got at someone's stash sale on Ravelry. It is springy, sort of like the targhee I spun once. I'm not sure what this will grow up to be, but it's about 4.3 ounces and something over 200 meters.

I also dragged out some shetland X merino that I had bought as fleece and had processed, and I'm spinning it on the Symphony.

It is very silky and fine, a bit like cormo to spin.

Stupid spinner story: I sat down at the wheel to spin some of this earlier in the week, and I got a really annoying clunk in the rear footman and the wheel seemed to snap forward and then back again inside its axle bearing. After this happening a couple of days, I decided it was time to take the wheel off and put it back on to see if it got better, so I put the wheel out in the middle of the floor and started fooling with it. The bushing on the rear footman was very dry and sticky so I oiled that up, and I tightened the leathers, and it seemed to spin better. I put it back in its place and sat down to spin again - clunk, snap. Grrr. I loosened the screw on the front footman slightly, so it would move more easily on the axle and not stick, and I got down on the floor to oil the treadle rail. To do this, I almost have to stand on my head, as the little holes are underneath the treadles. When I was down there looking underneath the treadles, I saw a rubber ball the cats had pushed under there. When I removed the ball - wow, quiet. No clunk. Sigh.