Winter Knitting

My needles have been flying! I finished the Malabrigo Rios sweater (Indiecita) that I fell in love with in an ad in Interweave last fall. (It actually called for Silky Merino but I couldn't find any at the time) One thing I love about this sweater is that it is oversized and stretchy. Really comfy.




















I interupted work on that project to knit a hat and scarf for Emily's birthday. She found the pattern from a friend whose hat she admired and we picked out the yarn together online. It turned out oranger than expected but looks good. I designed the scarf from the hat pattern.




Then I finally found a pattern I liked for the Noro Silk Garden yarn I had bought when I was looking for the silky merino and decided not to use for that sweater. I am really pleased with the short sleeved cardigan even though there are only about two days a year that are right to wear it. Today was one. Thanks to a weekend train trip to New York, a flight to Texas, and a two day off-site meeting where I could knit while listening to presentations (honestly - less rude and distracting than checking a Blackberry constantly!), and the fact that it was mostly stockinette stitch, I finished in three weeks.

Winter Knitting

I knit this quicky "gathered pullover" in just about a month, starting on a car ride to Philadelphia on 9/11. The Berocco "Jasper" wool is really soft and warm and the pattern is totally simple stockinette except for a complex cable that brings it in under the bust and gives it a nice fit. I bought the yarn because I fell in love with it, and found the pattern on Ravelry.

About the same time, I also made a scarf of Malabrigo worsted - Emerald Blue. I really like the pattern RIVULET (from Interweave - because it is totally reversable and is an interesting ribbed cable. Very thick and warm. I love Malabrigo yarns. I was looking for another pattern and yarn for a sweater when I found the worsted the the Jasper in my local knitting shop. Later I found the pattern and yarn I really wanted on line and am working on that sweater now.

hello, blackbird

I somehow managed to not get very good photos of this scarf, despite it being one of the more photogenic things I have knit and having the most photogenic model come visit Hartford to help me out.
Regardless, I'm quite pleased with it (and, more importantly, my mother seems pleased with it as a birthday gift). It's the Dipped Infinity circle scarf, a pattern by CosmicPluto. I now want to knit lots of patterns by CosmicPluto, since this one came along at a time when I was feeling very disengaged from knitting and it was fun and exciting and completely turned me back into a knitter. (Plus, she went to David Berkeley's Boston show the night after my DB house concert. I'm not quite sure why that makes me want to knit her patterns, but it sort-of does.)


The yarn is the Plucky Knitter superwash merino fingering, sold as a kit for the dipped infinity pattern, in Retro Infinity.
I've started putting skeins of sock yarn aside in the hopes of knitting one of these for me someday!

I miss blogging, the post

Hey dudes!  I miss blogging.  And You!  But here's something I knit mostly in September, blocked in late December, and finally sent to its recipient in January.  I know.

Happily, the recipient said this was her favorite color "in the world" and that it was the best thing she'd ever received from a student.   Success!  It was really pretty, and I did have a hard time giving it up at the end.  Does someone want to knit me one of these things?  They are super easy (just knitting!) but lord, there is a lot of knitting.  This one was probably half as wide as heb's, but it still took forever.  Seriously, I even have the yarn.  Anyone have too much time on their hands???

The blocking shot:

And to conclude this post, here's a little ruffle scarf action.  I knit this in November and gave it to CEM for her most important birthday ever. 

I have wanted one of these for myself for ever as well, and I actually bought this yarn in Boston but when I started making it, I wasn't as in love, but thought the colors would suit cem, so I gifted it.  Of course, by the time it was done, I kind of wanted this one too.  But, really, so it goes.  I would happily receive one of these as well, though I probably need another skein of this yarn for it to work (malabrigo).  Less knitting though!

Is this lace?

I've blogged lots of pictures of this project, just because I love it so. But, I finally blocked my Fathoms Below, and have to share the finished product with you all.



Designed by grumperina as the Mother of Pearl scarf, and knit with my birthday Hear Me Now pluckyknitter yarn, I really wanted to keep knitting this scarf forever.



The yarn was so soft, and every stitch brought a new color, and as winter melted into spring and spring into summer, the changing light changed the elements of color in the yarn and seeing them come together in this pattern made me incredibly happy.

Mine isn't as long as grumperina's, but I love it muchly nonetheless. (But, is it lace? I need outside advice!)

I will knit socks, I will I will I will

I remain bound and determined to be a sock knitter, despite the difficulties I've had with my attempts thus far. I finally got my hands on some plucky superwash fingering and set out to make ThroughtheLoop's Althea socks.



I wanted to explore textured sock designs, and this pattern seemed like an excellent opportunity. Plus, it had already been tested on plucky yarn! (I'm using the hello lady colorway.)

Despite my whining about small needles, this project is actually speeding along. We'll see how my speed is affected by the heal and the actual leg of the sock, but it's been a satisfying and easy-to-travel-with knit thus far. I'm also taking the opportunity to knit cables without a cable needle. There are many sites with great pictorial instructions out there, and though it sounded a little overwhelming, I do think it's saving time (as well as my sanity. This project is all about the cables.)



And finally, a project that needs a large flat surface and some pins....

My Fathoms Below (mother of pearl in thepluckyknitter Hear Me Now) scarf!

spring planting

This is really the only knitting that I have to show for the spring. An Elm Row scarf in Plucky Knitter Classics Silk Merino Fingering, Container Garden colorway, for a belated birthday gift for my grandma. I knew as soon as this yarn arrived in my mailbox that it was meant for my grandma, and I'm hopeful that she'll like the scarf enough to make up for its belatedness.

I never managed to memorize the lace repeat, so I had to carry the directions around with me, but each row was relatively logical so I could spot mistakes quickly. The only real problem that I had was that there are two rows (of the ten row repeat) that result in fewer stitches than the rest of the rows. Since I assumed that all rows would maintain the number of stitches that the pattern started with, I frustratedly frogged those rows many, many times before I bothered to do the math and figure out that I was supposed to have fewer stitches. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Not having much time to knit recently (as I have whined about a number of times), I had to be a little creative to squeeze this project in. I wish I had a picture of my knitting while sitting on a cardboard box, saving an empty parking space outside of KZ's old apartment while her father went to get the van before we loaded it up and moved her out. I almost got two repeats in.

Here's a picture of it while blocking:
I knit it on US 6s, and only knit three lace panels instead of four as the pattern was written. No other mods than that. Rav deets here.

Homework is for people without knitting blogs

Plucky Merino Cashmere Nylon, colorway: Hear Me Now*

Tonight I wound up my birthday yarn instead of doing reading. (Nostepinne = such fun!) I had some thoughts for what I could do with this beauty. I would love to hear your thoughts or recommendations!

Yarn on the Nostepinne.

The options I was considering tonight include Grumperina's new Mother of Pearl scarf (rav link) and the Point's Claudette Hat (rav link only, sorry!).

The scarf:
Pro: I was checking my google reader just before class today and thus spent the boring part of econ thinking about this pattern. That's got to mean something.
Pro: The colorway totally fits the idea of the pattern! It's not the pinky white kind of mother of pearl, but it's shimmery and ocean-like all the same. While I would normally hear "brown and green" and think forest, this yarn has hints of turquoise and greyish green that really says "ocean forest" to me.
Pro: I was thinking today that I love how scarves drape and flow and get tossed over one's shoulder.
Pro: Grumperina's patterns are always nice, and (so it seems) are good with plucky yarn.
Con: The pattern calls for 600 yards of DK, and I have just less than 400 yards of fingering. I was thinking how I love long scarves!

**
The hat:
Pro: I mean, take a look. Freaking cute!
Con: Do I have enough yarn? Is this fingering the same as what the pattern calls for? (It seems much thicker to me!)
Con (secret pro): This is a pattern I could see myself making with other yarn and being perfectly happy.

Ok, so maybe the hat isn't really a contender. (Except, the yarn would look lovely in that pattern, I'm sure of it!) But despite my list of mostly pros, I'm not totally sold on the scarf for the yarn. What to do?

*Elizabeth's autoresponse: I WILL ALWAYS COME FOR YOU! *swoon*
**Picture totally stolen from ravelry--I'll take it down if anyone wants.

coach class cozy

You all may recognize this yarn as the same yarn that made the ill-fated tank top. After I finished the to-be-frogged version of that tank, I used some of the leftover yarn to make this little neck-warmer. I loved knitting with that yarn so much that finishing it made me sad, so I had to start some thing else immediately. (The yarn was, after all, my graduation gift to myself, so I should at least get two projects out of it, right? And I will, once I manage to finish v.2 of that tank, which had to take a backseat to all the wedding knitting.)
The pattern is the Bainbridge Scarf, modified as suggested by Flint Knits. I found both the pattern and the mods to be brilliant, and will definitely try this again (probably both in original and modified form).

I didn't bother with gauge, so it's probably shorter than it should be, but it's still quite warm and functional so I'm not going to complain. I think it may become a permanent part of my travel carry-on, since it's tiny when folded but kept my neck warm so that I could sleep.

Ribbons at the County Fair

I entered four knitting projects in the Arlington County Fair and won two blue (first place) ribbons (for the Ladybug sweater, which you have seen) and a scarf which I finished just in time for the fair and two red (second place) ribbons for the blue sweater you have seen, and a more recent turquoise sweater. Lots of areas have fairs, and it's fun to see what other people have done and satisfying when your hard work is recognized. (My grandfather was a county and state fair manager in the first quarter of the 20th century, so fairs are in my blood.

The scarf was from the Filatura Di Crosa fall/winter 2007 collection pattern book, knit of one skein of "Superior" - 70% cashmere and 30% silk - very soft and fine. It is called Lacy Sampler" because it uses five different lace patterns, with eyelet in between - wicked because as soon as you get into the rhythm of knitting one pattern you have to learn another one. It decreased between each pattern so it was narrower around the neck. It was also knit in two identical sections and then woven together in the middle with kitchener stitch (which went much better than on the socks I tried).

The first pattern is Horseshoe.

The second is Flame Chevron.

Diamond Mesh is the one I had to rip out and reknit (and unknit - yes that is the only way sometimes) repeatedly to get it right.

After Diamond Mesh, The Cloisters was a breeze.

Then Twin Leaf was the center pattern that was joined in the middle. You can see where the pattern changes directions when it is connected.


Here's the Turquoise sweater.


It was a strange pattern, with the bottom band knit first as a long scarf-like band sewn together in a loop and then the stitches for the body are picked up onto the band. (Interestingly the judge at the fair commented that the seam attaching the band was too bulky and I should consider using the Kitchener stitch - which would have been impossible since there weren't unfinished stitches to weave together) I altered the pattern a little by eliminating the side seams and knitting it in the round up to the armholes. The pattern called for crocheting around the neckline and sleeves, but didn't tell how many stitches - so I had to improvise to find out how many stitches to skip when it turned out too floppy when I crocheted into every stitch on the bound off (or cast on) edge.


The Yarn was Saucy Sport, a very commonly available yarn, and the Reynolds pattern number is 82382.

Knitting in the Great State of Texas

Texas is generally a pretty warm place. Some might even say that it's too warm a place to bother with knitting.

But to those knitting naysayers, I respond: "Untrue!"

However if you need further proof of the true necessity for knitted things in a place where snow and hurricane, desert and swamp shade into one another across the miles, reference: my mother.

She knit this scarf for herself out of some lovely bulky alpaca yarn and found inspiration in Joan (of Arcadia's) long, long scarves. Go Mom!

These fingerless mittens (halfings, lessmitts, halfmitts) are based on knitty's Fetching. I knit a couple of pairs for my grandmother's last year and since then my mom has been constantly hoping and hinting for a pair of her own. I'd meant to finish them for Valentine's Day, but just barely managed to do it in time to leave them in Tejas on my last visit.

They're very simple, but even without the made up (and thus oddly shaped!) intarsia, they can be very lovely. The cabling is pretty, and depending on the yarn can be done all the way up instead of just on the cuff and fingers.

Christmas Projects

I made several Christmas scarves inspired by the yarn I bought at "Faulous Fibers" in St. Michaels, MD, and the "Feather and Fan" pattern Hannah found for me.

First I made two scarves, one skein each, with Filatura Di Crosa "Fancy" - multicolor yarn of 60% mohair and 40% acrylic. Each only took about one week - knitting on the metro during my commute and a few hours of television. I used two repetitions of the motif, with two edge stitches on each side, as the pattern suggested. The scarves are pretty short, but they fit around the neck with just enough to hang down on each side and fold across, but not enough to tie a knot. The color changes in the yarn were fun to observe, but I had no control over them. The two skeins weren't exactly alike. The lace pattern automatically makes the ends curvy.

I had bought two hanks of Blue Heron yarn - hand dyed in Easton, Maryland - 89% cotton/11% Nylon,/367Yards each, but hadn't decided what to make with it. After the success of the Fan and Feather pattern, I decided it might work for this expensive cottony yarn and decided to make a shawl for Emily, thinking the colors were kind of African, and it might work for cool nights there, or she could use it as a throw on her couch. When I was partway into it I decided it would be too short, so I added a band made with leftover cotton yarn I had (Marks & Kattens, Camomille/ 100% mercericzed cotton). I tried knitting it double to match the weight of the Blue Heron yarn, but it didn't look right. Then I bought some hairy (feathery?) yarn called Fizz/ 100% polyester, from Crystal Palace Yarns, in a marigold orange and knit it together with one strand of the Camomille. It was perfect. I knit one band on each side and a wider band at the center with the contrasting yarns. For the width, I knit four repetitions of the Feather and Fan pattern and doubled the number of edge stitches. I was really pleased with the result.



Imade one quicky scarf for a friend that only took about 3 hours. I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it. But it was made of one skien of "Mystery" by Artful Yarns - 40% wool/25% cotton/20% acrylic/15% nylon. 98 yards. (Much thicker than the mohair I used for the other scarves) The pattern was on the label - size 9 needles - cast on 16 stitches and knit one row. Then the pattern is a three row repeat:
Row 1: K wrapping yarn twice. Row 2: K, dropping extra loop. Row 3: K. Repeat, ending with row 3 with about 18" remaining to bind off.
The dropped loops result in very long open stitches. The scarf was plenty long enough, but pretty narrow.

Finally I was inspired by all that lace work to make a hat for Emily's African roommate Glory, who is a seamstress, and is always asking Emily about her mother. Emily says she likes hats. This is the first thing I ever designed entirely by myself! I based it on a pattern for a simple round hat in stockinette stitch with a rolled edge. It called for casting on 99 stitiches. Since I was using finer yarn and smaller needles, I figured I could start with more stitches. I found a motif in a knitting design book called "fern" with a 29 stitch repeat, so I decided to use 4 repeats and cast on 116 stitches. I used more of the leftover Camomille cotton yarn. When I did the decreases for the top of the hat, I followed the natural divisions in the patterns to make it symmetrical. I should have realized that the lace motif would make the rolled edge curvy instead of straight, but it didn't occur to me. I do like the effect, though. The hat is a little small for me, but I have a big head and Emily says Glory doesn't, so I hope it will fit and she will like it. I want to make one for myself later. It only took me one week from start to finish - and it was after I went back to work after the holidays so I was only knitting on the Metro and in the evening.

I have finished my first sock with self striping yarn I received for Christmas and am working on the second, hoping to make it the same size! I discovered the second ball of yarn was wound in the opposite direction, so the colors are in reverse order.
At the same time I'm working on a sweater made of a luxurious yarn "Starlights" by Ironstone Yarns (hand dyed in New Mexico) (Mohair/wool/rayon/nylon) I'm hoping to finish while it's still cold enough to wear it this year. I've finished the back and started on the front.

I don't think I've ever knit so many items in so short a time. This blog is inspiring.
I even got up my nerve to take my knitting (Emily's shawl, and the mystery scarf) to an off-site work retreat. When my boss saw me knitting she got out hers! One of the younger male managers pondered whether he'd have to take up knitting to get ahead in our agency! He said it used to be enough to play golf with the guys, but now he might have to learn to knit.
Knitters Unite!