Kid in hat

She's finally big enough to wear the hat:


I'll post the latest Icarus photo later: only one chart left!

WHY...?

Do people do THIS to their children?
http://www.goingjesus.com/2006/11/jive.shtml

And THIS...

http://cast.off.net/archives/004772.html

You know their kids will hate them for it in 20 years, even though it is mildly amusing now. They already look quite displeased as it is!

Ivanova

So I took a quiz online...

About knitting needles! What a hoot! No, I did not fake these results.

Cheers,

Ivanova

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are plastic.Futuristic, milky, and silky, you are willing to go where no crafter has gone before. You can do just about anything, with strength agility, and pretty colors to boot! While you are good at slipping and sliding out of sticky situations, remember to stay where and when you are needed. Don't overdo it on star gazing when there's earthbound knitting to be done!
Take this quiz!








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WIP update

So here I am, keeping up my promise to post more regularly. I have completed the back, and left and right front of Trellis, the baby sweater to be given to a friend who is due in the new year. I have also cast on for one sleeve, but I have put it on hold, to work on the latest Ivanova-original sweater, shown below.

This picture shows the back, and I have made it up to the armhole shaping. I have fiddled with this picture to enhace the cabling, the colour is way off. The picture below shows the color more accurately:
The main color is Kilcarra of Donegal irish tweed in a gorgeous blue, and the striping is Noro Silk Garden. I was inspired by Williamsro designed by Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton. My issues with that sweater, are that it is knit with aran weight yarns held doubled, so the overall effect is that of a chunky/bulky yarn. Not ideal for short people! Also the cabling is kind of boring, with only twisted rope cables. Yawn! So I made this sucker up from the Knitters Handy book of sweater patterns, for an aran weight gauge, with the cable panels of MY choice, from Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting book. I didn't sketch it, because I just can't draw the cable panels competently. I am quite happy with it so far.

I am also working on a pair of mittens for my Mom's (and Thrace's mom too) Christmas present, shown below.
The yarn is some German tweed-look yarn of the superwash variety, 100% merino wool. The cable panel which is kindof blurred comes from, you guessed it, Lavold's book, my own general mitten design. I like it allright, but I'm not too fond of the yarn. And I think it looks too masculine for my mother. I want to finish these, and start another pair in a more feminine yarn with more elasticity that will hold the cables better. Anyone out there want a pair of mittens? First come, first served!

Cheers,

Ivanova

Fall knitting

Happy blog-versary everyone (a bit late, I know)! I've been busy preparing demo material for this. We also went on vacation at the end of September and saw some amazing sights.



While driving around BC and Washington state, I took the opportunity to start gift knitting for the Moms. The photo has other WIPs that may look familiar. Click on the photo for annotations (I've been playing around with the Gimp for Windows).



The Trellis scarf is being knit in KnitPicks Gloss Woodland Sage (for the Mom who prefers heavier-than-laceweight gifts): I've used an entire skein of Gloss so far. The pattern calls for Alpaca Cloud, but I think it looks great in fingering weight yarn. I haven't tried washing Gloss yet, I'll post comments on how well the scarf blocks when it's done.

Icarus is being knit in KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud Tide Pool. The first part of the shawl with all that stockinette makes for a great roadtrip project.

The hat is my backpacking project since 50g + 1 needle isn't much to take in my pack. I've been motivated to work on it more since it got cold last week.

Trellis WIP and Finished Sweater

So here I am a week later, and I have finished the back of Trellis, from Knitty. It is very cute, and such small garments really do go faster! I am making the 12-month size, out if Wolle Roedel's Soft-Merino, superwash aran weight 100 % merino wool. My opinion of the yarn? I haven't tried a lot of baby or superwash wools or wool blends, I've only ever used the Mission Falls superwash merino wool for a hat. This stuff is more loosely spun, so it's a bit of a pain in the butt, as it splits more easily. Then again, I think I am too hard on plied fibers, and my preference is clearly for single ply fibers. On the other hand, I think it is definitely softer and hairier than the Mission Fals, so it will be a very luxurious feeling baby sweater. I'd be tempted to make a sweater out of it for myself... Let's do the math. Approx 1800 yards /110 yards per ball = 17 balls * 3.50 euros/ball = 60 euros. Ouch. Never mind :).

Here is a picture of my finished sweater, modelled by me, with my face scribbeled out to ensure anonymity. Not bad, eh? The sleeves are a bit long, but everything else is perfect. Good size, exactly the look I wanted, and the yarn (Kilcarra of Donegal Tweed) has softened up very nicely with a wash and a rinse with conditioner. Nice drape, I will definitely use this yarn as an aran weight staple. Let's compare this with the planning sketch...
Not bad, eh? I intend to write up this pattern in a couple more sizes, with a petite and normal
length. This sweater came out at 41 inches accross the chest.Would anyone out there be interested in trying it out? I will not pay for the yarn required to test knit this pattern.

Ivanova

Some WIPs and a flash of my stash

So I promised yesterday that I'd post about knitting... I'm nearly done the collar of Menja, and making it was REALLY ANNOYING! It's a 48-row cable panel repeated 7 times (not so bad...) but then there are short rows thrown in all over the place to confuse me! In the spring, I thought it looked like cr*p, so I put it aside. I ripped the whole thing in France (5 repeats in), and now I'm nearly one repeat number 7. It looks MUCH BETTER the second time around. I guess I'm interpreting the short row instructions better this time around. Here's a pic of the cabling on the collar.
Not bad, eh? The short rows give it that curve. The yarn is Knitpicks Merino Style, and it's beautifully soft. I hope it dosen't pill though. And I know it's knot very colour fast, because my
woodn DPNs used to knit the collar are stained with a bluish tinge. Now for the Ivanova-original purple tweed sweater...,
All that's left is to seam that last sleeve in, and block it. It took me forever to get those deleted
expletive sleeves right, but now I think it's good to go. I may yet redo the button holes, I used a
crochet chain button hole, and they may be a bit loose for those tiny little buttons. Live and learn, I guess. The color is quite accurate in these photos, it is a very lovely purple.

I bought some new yarn, as I just moved and my stash was greatly reduced. While I miss my stash tucked away in my Dad's basement, I have a few future projects that will be in the works very soon. An old friend from back home is due in February, gender unknown, so I have decided to make Trellis from Knitty. I believe that Delenn is working on one now, so I'd love to hear feedback on the pattern. I bought some yarn I have never heard of before from a LYS, it is
aran weight superwash merino. It is SO soft, I could lie in it and snuggle up! Fortunately I don't
need that much for a baby sweater! I belive the price was about 3.5 euros for 100 m, so that's probably half the price that Rowan would charge for a comparable yarn. It's the store brand,
Wolle Roedel, so I have no idea who it is made by, or how someone would get it outside of Germany. I will deliver a full review once the sweater is done.
I figured that a soft gray is sophisticated and gender-neutral enough for baby clothes. I was initially gravitating towards a dark charcoal grey but the shop girl convinced me to go down the lighter color route. I also noticed a silk-wool-angora tweed yarn on a half-price sale, probably their equivalent of Garnstudio's Silke Tweed, and it was pretty cheap, 2 euros a ball down from 4. But I didn't note down the yardage, or get a good look at the colors before the sales associate pounced on me. I guess browsing is not really done here.

Now for the next Ivanova-original sweater, to be started once Trellis is complete. I bought some Noro in Grenoble, as noted below, and I also ordered some Donegal Irish Tweed to be combined for a sweater. Here they are, nestled together, and I think they'll look great.
The tweed is a deep rich blue flecked with cranberry black and light blue. The Silk Garden is going to be used for a 4-5 inch band at the waist, the button-hole and button bands, collar and cuffs. The tweed will be used as the main color. This idea was inspired by a design by Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton in one of her Noro books, but her design uses chunky yarns. I do not believe (and I cannot overemphasize this) that short people like myself should wear chunky knit sweaters. Especially paired with horizontal lines. Plus, you can't fit that much cabling on a chunky sweater, compared to an aran, worsted or heavy DK sweater. I will post the sketch of my idea when I have selected the main cable pattern.

Ivanova

I took a trip to France...

Two weeks ago, I did some experiments at a synchrotron in Grenoble, France. I'm kindof amazed, now I'm doing Big Budget Science. Anyways, I most certainly brought the knitting. When things were working, I was running around the experimental hatch and was very busy, but when things were not working, there isin't much to do but peer over the shoulders of the people that run the place, and, you guessed it, knit. When the beam was down for about a day, I went to town, snapped a few photos, and hit the LYS for Noro Silk Garden, which isin't readily available in Germany, and when it is, it is quite expensive, about 1.5 times the price in North America. So here are a few photos of the town...
It is very pretty, near some very big mountains. There is a castle up in the mountains, so I took a cable car up there to check it out. Here is a view from an archway on the mountain-top castle
(it's called the Bastille)...
I went down the trail, to see if I could see the synchrotron from the mointain top, and I managed to find it. This is were I did my experiments...
The big red arrow is pointing at the synchrotron ring. I believe my beamline is 1/2 an inch to the left of the arrow, very very close to the freeway. So what did I get to see on my way to and from the artificially lit and constant temperature and humidity hatch?
The buildings were a cross between 90's modern and 50's bunker, as you can see in the photo above. This is where I slept, on the inside it is totally a bunker, but on the outside there is a lovely view.

Cheers,

Ivanova

Yay! Happy Birthday to us!

I second the motion, Delenn, to be better about posting. So while I am not posting about knitting, I will be poting very soon because I am nearly finished my original purple tweed sweater, as well as Menja. I will post about them in the very near future, I promise. So instead, I thought I'd finally post a few photos of the city where I am living. It is quite old, some of the buildings date to the 13th century, although very few of them. The Grimm brothers lectured at the University in town, so people around here like to think that some of the stories were inspired by nearby events and locations. My husband and I took a walk around the old town wall, and I snapped a few photos of scenery I thought was especially pretty.
Here is a rooftop view of an old church taken from one of the highest points of the wall.
My husband pointed out that the wall which was facing the general direction of France was much higher and more substantial than the sides facing other areas !
This is a view of a part of the botanical gardens. I thought it looked kindof fairy-tale-ish, with the big old house, fountain, and many clear plastic bags in the pond. What's up with that?
This is an alternate view of the church (in the first photo) taken from behind some pretty foliage. This city is very green, and there were beautiful gardens everywhere. Now it is quite cold, but not as cold as what some of you blog co-authors are experiencing! So I am knitting away on the sweaters because I need them! Happy birthday to us!
Cheers,

Ivanova

Happy Birthday to Us!!!

Wow. I was just scanning the archives and discovered that our blog had just turned one! To think that I could have forgotten such a momentous occasion! It's not every day that my poor, neglected blog turns one. This year will be different... I promise!

Another Modelling Pic

Here is a picture of my friend's baby who finally gets to wear that MF cotton hat that I made wayyyy back in July. C'est tres cute, no?

Finally, some pictures!

On the bottom are two of the three body pieces re-knit with the tubular bind-off for double rib and on top, the original cast-on. I don't know if you can see much of a difference in the photo: I think the tubular bind-off looks tidier with ribbing and it is nice and stretchy.
















Now on to FO, which is on it's way to it's new home. Here's the stole, unblocked:













Blocked:












And the customary self-portrait:

Pattern

Estonian Garden stole (larger size)

Yarn

Lacey Lamb knit on US 5 needles

Mods

None.

This was a fun project, once I got used to dealing with such a thin yarn (and the relative largeness of the needles).


This is also the time of year to start on (more) gift knitting for winter holidays - I ordered some Gloss from the new KnitPicks fall line and some of the alpaca lace weight. Haven't tried the new needles yet.

More Blogger beta

Yes, I've actually been knitting and there will be an update very soon (I just have to upload and edit some photos). Two out of the three Arisaig body pieces have been re-knit with a tubular cast-off (IMHO a big improvement). I also made this out of this, both bought during shopping trips with Susan.

In the meanwhile, I've been playing with this.

Having an almost wysiwyg template editor is great, although somewhat buggy still and the firefox popup blocker makes opening and closing javascript editing popups interesting. Having labels (functionally equivalent to categories) makes blog organization so much better.

Greetings from far far away...

So I've made it! I am now living overseas, in a smallish town in Germany with approximately 4 (!)
yarn stores! Unfortunately, none of them are particularly large, and they each only carry one or two brands of yarn. So comparative shopping will be challenging, and none of the north american
'standards' are available. No Brown Sheep, Mission Falls, Cascade, Noro (okay I know it's Japanese, but you know what I mean) and there's also no Rowan. So I guess I'll be e-baying it for the time being anyways.

Have any of you cats checked out the latest Knitty? I love it! What a refreshing change, lots of nice-looking wearable sweaters! I particularly like the look of Ivy, but I think I'm too clumsy and graceless to wear those wrap-styled sweaters. I tried it once in a store... and it wasn't pretty.
I also like the idea of cactus flower, but I'm not the biggest fan of turtlenecks or pullovers. But still, it gives me ideas, and that's the really important part. I can just see it, black worsted
weight wool coupled with a BRIGHT red or ice blue laceweight, to give it that hint of a contrast
halo... I think that the 3/4 sleeved cropped wool stockinette jacket in VK Holiday 2005 wood look great with it. And the collar could be made out of only the laceweight, maybe lacey... or not! I have way too much to do these days... But I am making decent progress on the original sweater discussed in previous posts. I have one back, half a front, and one sleeve so I'm definitely over the hump. I just can't wait till it's done, I just have to hunt for perfect medieval-style buttons, round and metallic. Anyone know german for 'button'?

I know I should be posting pictures of this very pretty town, and I promise I'll do it soon, but for the time being I'm posting a picture I took of the sky somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, on the plane ride over. Pretty convection rolls, huh? Guess I'm just a big science nerd. But on the topic of science nerds and specifically science fiction nerds, I am now making this site's first sci-fi comment. I've been watching the latest season of Stargate SG-1 and is it just me, or does Michael Shanks (actor who plays Daniel Jackson) perpetually look like he's been smacked in the face with a frying pan !!??

Cheers,

Ivanova

Some non-knitting news (for a change)

In case you haven't seen this already, Google finally announced updates to Blogger (there's a Slashdot posting too). The good news is that they've added lots more features including topic labels (categories) and a simplified template editing interface. The bad news is that these updates are only being beta-tested by a select few Blogger users.

Arisaig update

I've actually got the body done! Finally! House shopping and moving really cuts into knitting time.

I wasn't thrilled with the cast-on edge, so I'm in the process of picking it out and doing a tubular edge. I'll post pictures soon.

More Baby Hats...

I can't think of a better way of getting rid of my leftover Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. Odds and ends leftover from Childhood and the Strawberry Hat. In the fact the pattern calls for MF yarn. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the library book I photocopied this from. The pattern in the book is the one with the i-cord tie. I made a gender neutral one for another friend because, well, mom and dad to be don't want to know the gender.

Some pics of the latest FO being modelled

I don't usually model my FOs, but I'm just so happy with it, and you can see the colors in the red yarn better with the natural light. This Lotus Blossom shawl (pattern from Fiddlesticks) is a great size, the bottom point more than covers the bum (if you guys care about such things).
My favourite way of wearing it is the so-called dramtic throw (M. Waterman, Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls) shown below.
Now all I need is some nice Druscilla dresses, to go with it. Anyone know where I can get one?

Ivanova

Lotus Blossom shawl finished

Well here it is! What a fun and easy knit, it was done in 2 weeks plus a day! And it's gorgeous, imho. The pattern is the Lotus Blossom shawl from Fiddlesticks, and the black yarn is Alpaca Cloud from knitpicks held doubled, color Midnight, and I used a bit over I hank. I had some leftovers from the shawl I knit last year, and the Branching Out made just in time for Christmas. The red yarn is some Basic Merino Sock from Fleece artist, I have no idea which colorway, it wasn't written on the label. That stuff is way to pretty to wear on my feet, in my opinion. It turned out quite large, 70" along the top, and a bit over 36" down the center. I'm so happy with it, I can't wait to wear it! Can you tell I just blocked it?

Ivanova

One FO and a few WIPs

Whew! I finally did it - I finished baby blanket #2, the Kiri shawl in KnitPicks sock garden, colorway pansy. I guess that the bright colors detract from the stitch pattern, and maybe I should have stuck to the Flower Basket Shawl, but I just don't care anymore. I hardly ever worked on it at home because I was bored with it. NO MORE KNITTED GIFTS, hear that family and friends! You can expect yarn and needles and patterns but I refuse to knit for anyone else but me (and my non-knitting husband) for about a year. I will knit for him cause he helps me block things. Well, here's the pics:
The classic draped on the couch shot, no natural light at this hour. But the colours are pretty accurate, no flash.
The center point detail shot with flash. Yes, the couch cover is blue, not green as is shown here.
Oh well....
Now for a few of the WIP's... I went to a LYS sale, and some Fleece Artist basic merino sock called out to me. I bought 2 and decided to make the Lotus Blossum shawl from Fiddlesticks, but I didn't have enough for the whole thing. So I decided to use some of my stash to make the shawl, where the stems part is black Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks held doubled, and the bolossomy parts are the sock yarn in a gorgeous red-brown-coffee colourway. See below:
I tried to stretch it out as much as I could considering that the knitting is longer than the circular needles. I'm quite happy with it, and the colors in this picture are accurate. I also really like the pattern, the stems part is a no-brainer, and the blossoms are more challenging, but repetetive enough that I haven't put it on hold. In my opinion, the new Icarus shawl in Interweave knits that Delenn is going to be starting soon is probably a similar level of difficulty. This one is so easy, this is where I'm at after one week. I'm almost done! 28 rows to go! I can see this being completed in 7 days... I love fast and easy lace. This is easier than Kiri was...
And now for non-lace WIPs... I started the sweater I posted about earlier, the medieval inspired cabled number that I sketched. Well here's the back so far:
The colours here are not accurate, but this shot shows off the cabling nicely. The yarn is Kilcarra of Donegal Tweed in a purple colourway - they seem to have two different purples, and all I can say is that I selected randomly between them. There is a color code on the yarn, but the E-Bay store I bought it from do not use the color codes. The store is Irish Yarns and Crafts. I am very happy with this purchase, it seems to be the best-priced tweed aran weight yarn that I could find - $52.99 for 1660 yards. I compared with LYS prices, and this is a VERY good deal in my opinion. And 100 % wool. Not the softest, but considering that I will wear a shirt underneath, it's not a big deal. And it may soften up with a wash or two, using Eucalan or something.

But sadly, I have made a mistake somewhere, and have to rip back to the start of the armholes. And it's too hot now to make bulky sweaters, so I guess it'll wait a couple of months.

Ivanova

Backup knitting

What we have here is my backup project in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK from a LYS sale bin. I started this Memorial Day weekend when Salt Lake got buried under a cold stormy weather front. Trying not to impale myself on these bamboo needles kept me entertained while waiting for the deluge to end. Blue is also the Project Spectrum colour for June.


So far, I'm underwhelmed by the yarn in spite of the soft shininess and pretty colour: it's fragile (loosely plied, fairly splitty, tends to pill) and slippery as hell. For the sake of my sanity as well as my wallet, I would hesitate to use it or the aran weight (assuming it has the same problems) to knit a sweater. We'll see how the hat progresses.

Arisaig progress

As promised, an unblocked back and the right front piece with the bottom half of the lace pattern chart done. The yarn is Rowan Cashsoft 4 ply in Loganberry.

FO and something new

Finishing projects is a good thing. This poor neglected scarf was started well over a year ago.

Pattern

This is the Alien Scarf out of Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook. The shadow knitting pattern is pretty clever and I'll definitely wear this in fall.

Yarn

Shepherd Colour 4 Me 8 ply on US 7 needles. Overall, I wasn't too happy with this yarn (it was available when the local yarn stores were back-ordered on Cascade, Black Sheep and other worsted weight wools that sell an appropriate green colour). I found broken plies and knots in the skeins, and it pills like crazy.

Mods

None. There is a mistake in the chart in earlier editions of the book, so let the knitter beware. I also put a little bit of No-Fray at the ends of the fringe.

I also have a new project on the needles. I cast on for the back while traveling for work at the end of April. The ribbing is nasty-slow but the lace pattern practically knits itself. Blogger is being flaky right now, so I'll post the photos of the completed back and right front in progress later.

FO: baby sweaters

The baby sweaters for the cousin's babies are finally done. They languished while waiting for a high-performance computing course to end (painful!), zippers to be inserted and ends to be woven in. They're only about 7 months late.

From a distance:

And closeup:

Pattern

The pattern is Baby's First Tattoo out of Stitch 'n Bitch Nation in the 18 month old size.

Yarn

KnitPicks Merino Style and Plymouth Alpaca Boucle from the LYS for the border detail (replaces seed stitch in original pattern) on US 5 needles.

Mods

The original pattern calls for Rowan 4-Ply Soft, which is a fingering weight yarn. I did most of the work on these over the winter break and was impatient, so I decided to go with a larger gauge yarn. I used the pattern dimensions as a guide to recalculate row/stitch counts in DK gauge.

Future Sweater Project Update

Well, now that Menja is nearly done, all I have to do is make the collar, block and sew, I have
started to plan the next sweaters that I will try to cram in before it gets too hot to do anything but lace. Next up is Ragna, for my DH, who loves cable knitting (but not knitting it himself ;) ).
Then, I was contemplating modifying Lavold's Fjalar, but I will put that on the back burner for a later date, even though I have already ordered the yarn, Moss green Merino Style from KnitPicks. I think a nice earth-toned yarn deserves to go into a truly medieval style sweater... something like Trud from Lavold's designer's choice book one, the Viking Knits Collection...
It's cute and medieval all right, but it's just too skirty for those of us who do not wear skirts all that often. Can you picture that number over a pair of jeans with a belt? No way! Too bulky.
My potential solution: get rid of the damn 'skirt' a.k.a. peplum, and make the damn thing a cardigan. And to be more medieval-ish, make the cables go all the way up. Kind of like armour, I guess. And a narrower cable panel so I can still incorporate waist shaping. And LOTS of buttons, but no buttonholes, instead little loops to hook over the buttons. Go ahead and blame that adorable movie no one watched, Tristan and Isolde, I watched it twice in the last two weeks and I feel all inspired. So here is a badly drawn schematic of my vision...
I like the flaps on Ragna, but Ragna is waaay to big and busy for me. And I love lots of buttons.
The cable panel is 'narrow panel with little lattice' shown as a sketch beside the sweater, but I may go for the wider version, 'wide panel with little lattice', I still have to do the math and swatching for this one.

Susan

Vogue Knitting August 2005 lace trim bolero

I finished this thing a long time ago... (January-ish) but I haven't gotten around to posting a picture of it. Here are the pics:


I love this sweater, as soon as I saw it in the magazine, I HAD TO HAVE IT. I used Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool 4 skiens, for the medium size, which I think is a bit too big on me. I only needed the 4th skien to finish the lace edging. One thing to note though, is that the instructions say to knit the edging separately and sew it on as you go. WTF? Who would do that? Instead I knitted on the border picking up stitches as I went, as can be done for attaching borders to lace shawls as outlined in Miller's Heirloom knitting.

Now for the catch... as some of you know I've been kinda under the weather for the last 6 months or so, and I've lost a few sizes of girth. So none of my dresses fit. NONE. Waah! So now I have nothing to throw this adorable sweater over! It clearly does NOT go with blue jeans and a tee shirt, as you can see in the lower picture. So I propose giving it to Thrace, wo will treat it lovingly and with care, NOT felt it, keep it far away from her cats, so one day, when I have nice clothes again, I can maybe borrow it? The terms of this adorable sweater adoption are negotiable... And Thrace, if you can think of any of my dresses you'd want (like the black mandarin collared number) let me know too. Blah. I hate replacing all my clothes. :(

Ivanova