Decisions decisions

I'm blocking the sweater fronts now, so button bands will be added soon, probably within the next week or two. Which brings me to a decision I've been putting off for a while - which buttons will I use? I have two choices seen above on the blocking sweater - the upper one is from a set of bone buttons purchased over Christmas break with no intended purpose, I just thought that they were cool. I really like the way it has swirly patterns on it - like the cables. I adore button-band ornamentation, as can be found on 17th-18th century menswear like in this pic, taken from a collection from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Styles like this can also be seen on Centauri men's jackets on Babylon 5, and to a lesser extent on King Theoden's gear in the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. He aso had gold braided rope-like things around the armbands of a velvet cloakey-jackety thing, which I have also included in my sweater. I wonder why the Elves had no knitwear (even though some designers have been inspired to create some), in fact there was surprisingly little knitwear visible on the Humans, and Hobbits (even though other designers have also been inspired...). In fact, the only possibly knitted garment I saw displaying celtic textures (the happiness sign) was on Gandalf, when he had become the white wizard. He was wearing a white hooded cloak, and there were some textured cables around the hood. But the garment didn't look knitted, so I'll bet it was felted, but retained the texture panels. And why hasn't anyone started a LOTR knit-along yet?

Anyways, back to my decision. The upper one is the bone button, and the lower metal one is from a set of Tudor Rose pewter buttons, actually purchased for this sweater. Which one do I pick? I'm torn! Please delurk, and leave me an opinion!

Now here I am, not even finished the current sweater and I'm planning the next one!
Here's a scan of my sketch:
OK, I know I can't draw, but I try anyways. It will be a raglan shaped cardigan, with a deep v-neck, and deep waist ribbing, made from some DK weight tweed I have in the stash. This design was inspired by Elsebeth Lavold's Fjalar, shown below from an old post.
I had highlighted my issues with this sweater. My solution: eliminate the puckered neck by making it a cardigan with hook and eye closures. And the baggy sleeves by making it a raglan sweater. I also switched cable panels because I will be continuing the cables all the way around, and I won't have to graft at the back of the neck if the panels have up-down and left-right symmetry, so the button bands and collar can be knitted in one piece. I chose a linked-ring motif from the same book, Viking Patterns for Knitting. Now to work out the details... I'm so excited I can't wait to cast on!

Ivanova

I'm seeing red...

in the red lace and cables capelet!
I think I gravitate towards the color red. Since I've started knitting (2.5 years ago!) I've made Kiri, Lotus Blossom, Shedir and the mystery project using red and burgundy yarns. I see any dark red yarn, and I think of what it could be knitted into (like the dark red Donegal Tweed I've been eyeing on eBay). Finally we've had some actual sunshine, it's like spring out there, so I snapped a few shots of one of the front halves of the Lace and Cables Capelet from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006. I pinned it to the bed to have a better idea of how it will look when it's blocked, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Here's a detail shot...
Usually I'm not a fan of bobbles, but these are 3-stitch 2 row bobbles (not including the finishing row), so I've decided to keep them in. It's a simple enough chart to follow, though I put in stitch markers in a few arbitrary places to keep track of where I am in the pattern. And it's useful to know how to yarn over into a purl stitch properly, because there's a fair bit of that going on here, and it took me a while last year to figure that out. As we all know, to y0 into a knit stitch, you hold the yarn like you're going to purl, and then wrap the yarn over the needle and knit. To yo into a purl stitch, I used to do the opposite: hold the yarn like I was going to knit, then come over the front and purl. Wrong! (It actually dosen't look wrong, but it's not so easy to work on the next row). You're supposed to hold the yarn like you're going to purl, but wrap once before you enter the stitch, then make the purl stitch. You get more open yo holes that way, and it's easier to work on the next row.
As I mentioned earlier, I don't have enough of the Christmas Market yarn to finish, so I bought some yarn to complete the project from eBay. I'll never find that stall again (until maybe next Christmas), so I figured some black Rowan Yorkshire tweed (color Darkly, now discontinued) would fit the bill. Here they are together, and I think it's going to work. The tweed has some rusty and reddish flecks, so they'll go together. The way I have envisioned it, is that the lace will be red, and the cabled parts (the part where it joins at the shoulder and the collar) will be black tweed. Then, to resolve the color discontinuity, I will probably do a crochet chain with picots edging to tie it all together, so to speak. I figure I'll either look kind of like a Victoriana-inspired goth, or a clown. Either way, I don't care.

Ivanova

The beginnings of a coronet

This hat has been featured twice before on this blog.



C asked me to make him something knitted, and I need an easier project to do when my brain turns to jelly at the end of the day. A couple of skeins of soft superwash wool that I bought last year in Saratoga Springs fit the bill nicely.

Long projects and short

Last week was one of those weeks. I did manage to get the body of Arisaig finished, blocked and seamed, as you can see. The sleeves are coming along: I started the second sleeve with the intention of knitting both at the same time once they've reached the same length.


While going through the stash, I found a single ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which was orphaned at the NPS store, of all places (it was $3 USD, how could I refuse?). So what do you do with 1 skein of this yarn?
OK, that was fast. Do I have enough yarn to continue?

My hands get cold when I'm working on our home office computer.

Some late u.d. and a sweater in progress

Here's a view of the old town wall.
I figure it was built during or after the Thirty-Years War, which would put it's construction somewhere around the 17th-18th century. Some houses were incorporated into the wall, like the one to the right, where the residents served as guards of a sort. The building on the right is still used as an actual house, and one of the residents was sitting on a lawn chair when I took these pictures.

Now others built there houses into the wall to save on bricks and stones, like the one on the left! I think that's pretty cheapskate and decayed ;). Here's a closeup.
Now this building is the only Mexican restaurant in town, and it's pretty good, just don't expect anything to be particularly fiery, like real Mexican food (no Tacos al Pastor on the menu) or even like some Tex-Mex, but I still like it! Here's the side view.
Now for the wip update. I finished one half of the lace and cables capelet, up to the part where it will be joined to the yoke. Not bad for a night's knitting! I am also nearly done the right half of Eva, and started blocking the pieces. Here's the back blocking, and sitting in the remains of today's sunlight.
I'm blocking early because I don't want the seaming and knitting of button bands and collar to take forever! I'm also blocking Shedir, and I have to say it's hard to stretch out a hat! I need to buy a bowl about the size of my head... And I definitely have to get the Vining Knits Collection Volume 2, recently completed by Elsebeth Lavold, check it out here. I love it! As soon as I found out about it, I checked internet retailers, and my only positive hit was an Ebay merchant in the US, where the postage alone is half the price of the book! I guess it'll have to wait till Christmas, so either some UK retailers will carry it (guess where I've been doing my online yarn/pattern/equipment shopping and browsing) or I can have it sent to my dad's house in time to get it when I visit.

Ivanova

Stash-busting

This was the most recent addition to my stash, purchased at a booth from the Christmas market in town. I fell for the semi-varigated red colorway, and purchased 3 hanks, totalling about 660 yards. I really should have bought a fourth, but I felt a little guilty about buying something for myself, when I was supposed to be shopping for friends and family. Needless to say, I'll never find the vendor in the next 10 months. The vendor also pulled out a gorgeous blue colorway, after the red was gone! Oh well, maybe next year...
Isin't it pretty? It sortof feels like the Manos aran weight that I have fondled in a former LYS, and bought for a friend. Similar softness, slightly thick-and thin single ply, and strong scent of vinegar. All I could get from the non-english speaking saleswoman, was that it was 100% wool, of which variety I have no clue. When I saw it, I wanted it to become this:
the Shetland Triangle Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark from Wrap Style. The original was made fom a lace/fingering weight cashmere, and I knew it was a bit risky to swap in an aran weight and size up the needles, but I figured it could be done, and that I had enough yarn to make a shoulder shawl/scarf thing. I swatched it, and it looked bad, like a puckered up egg carton. I then knitted a few chart repeats of the Swallowtail Shawl from Fall 2006 IK, also by Clark. I thought it looked OK, but the thought of making nupps, and doing a p5tog with this stuff made me cringe. Here's a craptacular photo that I took before deciding to frog.
It's kindof hard to see the lace, but blocking would have helped. After I knit those 2 repeats, I put it on hold for faster gratification projects, where I could see good results before blocking. I mean, who would want to knit for weeks, only to block and have it not turn out the way that they had hoped? So, after seeing the beginnings of a lace and cable capelet from the Holiday 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting on tweeding along, I was inspired. Here's a picture from the magazine preview.
I figure that this is the one for this yarn. It was designed for a worsted/aran weight yarn (Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted), and the recommended needle size is .1 mm smaller than the needle I thought looked best for this yarn and a lacy pattern (the Denise US 10 is 5.6 mm, while a 'standard' US 9 is 5.5 mm, go figure!). I've knit a few rows, and so far so good, but not enough to photograph well. So, I found a winner, and I can get this lovely yarn out of the stash! The only problem? I'm about 220 yards short of the pattern requirements. I figure I can do the lace in the nice bright variegated market yarn, then do the cabled yoke and collar in a dark solid wool. I am clearly not opposed to mixing textures and colors in a project, and I share Carter's opinion that cables and variegated yarn don't always work well together. The color can detract away from the texture. There are exceptions, though, so this is not a hard and fast rule for me.
The other problem? I don't have the stash I used to have before moving because I donated a serious chunk of the stash to Thrace. So I have no solid dark colored worsted/aran weight yarns in the stash that would go with the red! I *could* go to the LYSs and see what's available (this isin't breaking the KFYS rules, because you're allowed to buy exactly enough to complete your project), but after surfing their web pages, I decided that I really wanted a black tweed. In comes eBay to the rescue! A discontinued black Rowan Yorkshire Tweed at bargain basement prices and free shipping. So my first stash-bust is a success in principle.

Ivanova

A resolution

It's the KFYS year, and a bunch of stuff in the stash had intended projects that didn't work out as planned (stupid gauge swatches!) so instead of drooling over other people's yarn on the internet - a major source of yarn spending for me - I will instead flash my own stash with the project ideas that accompanied the purchase, and the revised decisions about the project(s). I have enough things on the needles, however, so this will have to wait a couple of weeks, until I clear some things out of the knitting basket. I did, however, wind another ball of the blue tweed because the front's coming along, and I have noticed also that wound balls photograph better than yarn in hanks. I wonder why that is... I also wonder why my photos of knitwear suck so badly, when I'm not that bad of a photographer, and my camera is pretty decent (last year's Nikon Coolpix).
So my first photo is an attempt to accurately capture the blue tweed yarn's beauty in a digital
format.
I think I finally did it! The colors are accurate. I LOVE this stuff, and can't wait to break into this new ball. I wonder what I'll do with the leftovers... I estimate 3 hanks (of about 90 yards) will remain. I guess they'll live in the stash until I have enough leftover aran weight yarn to do something interesting with.

Here's a "snowy trees" shot to prove that I can take allright pictures!
It's been snowing and snowing and snowing over here. I love it - it's so pretty and I missed the snow when I went home for Christmas. It was my first green Christmas ever! Stupid global warming! Time to buy some polyester blouses I guess, according to a study done at Cambridge University on carbon emissions and fashion. But now it's cold, so I need sweaters!
This one's just for fun - it's the snow streaming past the neighbour's stable using a slow shutter speed. If you look really closely, you can see some horseshoes on the upper doors/windows(?).
I know, you're thinking "stable ?". Well, I figure this neighbourhood was built between the 20's and 40's, by the style of the buildings - art-deco-ish, and this *was* the boondocks of the town, and some people still had horses then, so there you go.

Ivanova

Baby kimono

The baby kimono got finished last week, but I'm just getting around to posting the photos. Haven't had a chance to deliver it yet.

Pattern notes

Finished (unstretched) dimensions: 6 inches around arms, 6 inch sleeves, 18 inches body circumference, 4 inch neck opening

I used the instructions in the Kimono sleeve chapter in Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top.

Here's a brief summary of the pattern: I provisionally cast on 127 stitches (23 stitches for the neck, 33 stitches for the sleeves) and knit down in k3p1 rib. When I reached the appropriate length for the sleeves (about 3 inches), I undid the provisional cast-on and knit one row in stockinette (in hindsight, I'd knit 2 rows stockinette instead to make it a design element) to minimize the jog from picking up and knitting a rib pattern in the opposite direction. While knitting the stockinette row, I bound off the 23 neck stitches.

While knitting the rest of the upper body (also in k3p1 rib), I formed the neckline by increasing every other row a total of 9 times, then cast on enough stitches to equal the number of stitches initially cast on. I reached a sleeve length of 3 inches around this point too. I grafted 27 of the sleeve stitches on each side, leaving 6 stitches per side (12 total) to form the underarm gusset.

The rest of the body was knit back and forth in k3p1 rib. I started shaping the gusset the row immediately after grafting the sleeves by knitting the first 5 remaining sleeve stitches, doing a centered double decrease, m1 stitch (necessary to balance out the stitch count for the remaining gusset decreases), knit 4 more stitches (for a total of 5 stitches on either side of the decrease). I continued knitting the body until the length reached 10 inches, while also doing the centered double decrease for the gusset every other row (you only have to m1 for the first gusset row).

Switching to the contrasting colour, I provisionally cast-on for 3 stitch i-cord, and applied the i-code around the bottom. I like the technique Meg Swanson writes about in Knitting, where you knit the last i-cord stitch and the body stitch together through the back loop.

I used some leftover Merino Style to sew on the buttons (I pulled the yarn apart and used only 2 plies). I figure that machine washing will felt the buttons in place and make sure that they can't be pulled off easily (hopefully).

Once the buttons were in place, I continued the i-cord up the right hand side of the sweater. After that, I picked up the provisionally cast-on i-cord stitches and continued up the other side. I formed 5 row button loops from the i-cord as described in Knitting (handy book). The shawl collar details have already been written up. Finally, I machine washed and dried the sweater a couple times to get rid of all the cat hair that usually accumulates on my knitting.

Materials

Plymouth Encore DK. The body and collar were knit on a US 5 (3.75mm) circular needle at a gauge of 6 stitches/inch for stockinette after machine washing and drying. The i-cord edging was knit on a US 6 (4.2 mm) needle and the cuffs on US 3(3.25mm) needles. Oddly, the heathered green-grey I used for the i-cord edging and button band seemed softer (at least to me) than the dark green.

The buttons came from a local fabric shop.

An old project revisited...

And note that this is a popular idea! brooklyntweed posted one a full 5 days after Kara and I discussed doing this. I think it's a great idea, because the whole world can see how the yarns we chose several months (or years) ago hold up, and we can revisit our pattern/design choices. So here's my first revisit: a scarf made a little over a year ago from Noro Kureyon using a short-row ribbed scarf pattern from Magknits. I did not blog about this at the time I made it, so it's appropriate that I blog about it know, more than a year after completion.

I was looking at the Noro section in my old LYS, and the self-stripey-goodness called out to me. A lot of the Noro Line was out of my price range, but Silk Garden and Kureyon were within the budget I allocated for a new scarf, so there I was. I found that I was more drawn to the brighter colorways of Kureyon than the subtler colorways of Silk Garden, but now, a year later, I find that my preferences go in the other direction! I asked the LYS employee how many balls I would need, and she said 4, (400 meters or so) so I then narrowed down my choices to colorways that had 4 balls of the same dyelot on the shelf. I walked away with an extremely colorful choice, with many colors present.

Once I had the yarn, I was a bit flummoxed to come up with a pattern that would work well with the self-striping concept. I didn't want a striped k1p1 or k2p2 scarf, though that is a perfectly acceptable choice for many people. I had heard of people doing entrelac with self-striping yarns (i.e. the Lady Eleanor stole from Scarf Style), but I wasn't ready for that yet.
So in my hunting on the internet, I came across a short-row ribbed scarf on Magknits, and figured that even though it was done with a variegated chunky yarn instead of an aran weight self-striping, it could work. It worked better than I expected, because each short-row section is one color block in the yarn, more or less. Here it is...
Fabulous! My only regrets: I felt I had to use every last scrap of yarn, because the cost was double that of the itchy too-short and too wide scarf I had purchased at the Gap that I wanted to replace. This scarf is ridiculously long, and I tend to wrap it around my neck many times, to not have it sit bulkily under my coat. Picture this: I walk into school, hop on an elevator with a professor who shall remain nameless, then unbutton my coat and start unwinding, and unwinding, and unwinding the scarf (to not roast in the extremely well-heated building). He looks at me and with a snicker says, "Nice scarf". I say, "Thanks! I made it myself!" He says, "oh...".

Anyways, I still love the scarf, even though it has sagged and stretched even longer. I should have knit it at a tighter gauge. And the yarn? It does pill, but not as severely as some store-bought sweaters I have purchased, and the pills are easy to remove. And the colors and ribbing really detract away from the little pills, so it's all good. I'd definitely use Kureyon again for a larger project, if the colorways were a little less like a bunch of crayons and more sophisticated like the Silk Garden line. I know there are a few like that out there, but I'm on a yarn diet, so we'll see what's available in a year or two. And I have seen other Kureyon short-row ribbed scarves out there, some made by friends, and some made by strangers in internet land. But there days, it's all about the tweed for me...
The left front is DONE! Now only 2 pieces to go... and I cast on for the right front in time for the monthly student pub night. (Okay, I know I'm not a student, but I get invited anyways.) The seed sitch hem is better social knitting than any of my other current projects, which all require charts. I'm hoping it will be done in a couple of weeks. Here's a closeup shot to view the color and tweediness more accurately.
I LOVE this yarn - Kilcarra of Donegal tweed, in a blue colorway. If it holds up well with long term use, I will always hace some in the stash for a rainy day sweater. Maybe next time... red. Or green.

Ivanova

More old U.D. ...

This is another old and slightly distorted building, but not as severe as the first one I posted about. It's from the Renaissance, about 1550 or so.
Now it's a bookstore, and it looks fairly well maintained. It's very beautiful, but if you look really closely you can see some of the horizontal beams are kindof crooked. Here's a detail shot.
If I lived in that building, I would wear pseudo-renaissance gear and handknits every day, just to play it up a bit. On a slightly related note, I saw a beautiful garment on the season finale of Stargate SG-1 season 9 (episode Camelot). SG-1 goes to a medieval town (one of the eight million or so in the show's creators' perception of a galaxy inhabited by displaced humans) in search of a weapon. Mitchell befriends a girl who pulls a sword out of a stone - I think her name was Valencia. She was wearing a bluish grey sweatery-coatish thing that seemed to have a cellular or latticed texture. It had puffy lace-up arms (similar shaping to the Stefanie Japel contribution in this season's Knitscene), fit over the bust like the lace trimmed bolero I finished last year (see my 2006 FO gallery), and the back was narrow at the waist, and long and
shaped like a skirt to 3/4 calf length. I loved it! I also dig the numerous shawls and wraps (not to mention the cinched-in waist dresses in fabulous earth tones) that Valla wears in the Ori galaxy. Anyways...
Shedir's done! Two weeks on and off the needles... a bit slow for a hat but well worth it.
Pattern: Shedir from Knitty
Yarn: Alice Starmore Hebridean 3 ply, color Erica
Mods: I only did 3 repeats of the saxon braid pattern and twisted all knit stitches like Eunny.
Yarn comments: LOVE IT. Will definitely buy again, but the price is a bit steep for large projects, so I'll wait to see how the hat holds up to decide if it's worth it for a sweater. I don't mind spending the money if the garment will last. Definitely not if the garment will pill up with regular wear and reside in the closet most of the time.
General comments: It's a bit short, it almost covers my ears. I'm hoping it will grow with a good blocking (chances are good that it will) and I'm also hoping the pointy bit will flatten out.
Any guesses yet? Come on guys! I successfully ripped back one pattern repeat, and my new yarn came in the mail, and it's a close enough dye lot match (not noticeable in natural light) so I'm going on full steam ahead.
Now I leave you with ducks:
I plan on making a cabled sweater from Vogue Knitting (inspired by this picture) in a chunky tweed (Carloway Mills Shetland Tweed) in the color mallard, and a mallard is a duck, so you get duck pictures until the KFYS period is through.

Cheers,

Ivanova

Viral Poetry

So apparently it's Imbolc/Brigid's Feast as well as being Groundhog Day (some sources say Imbolc was yesterday, but whatever), and there's poetry thing (via January One) going on to celebrate. Now I'm more of a prose girl (also the one university-level English course I took managed to put me off reading poetry for a long time), so my contribution comes from a singer/songwriter.

Dante's Prayer

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and fire

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me...

Words and music by Loreena McKennitt, from Book of Secrets (2004)

For some reason, people around here (at a LYS I frequent for example) get her mixed up with Enya. If you haven't heard her before she's worth checking out, especially her last three studio albums.

There's an old guy in Tokyo who really needs my foot up his ass

Check this out (via Boing Boing).

"...may not be so appropriate to call them machines"? Who the hell writes this guy's speeches? The pace of social change can be glacial.

Shawl collar tips

The baby kimono jacket is coming along nicely.

The i-cord edge rolls a little, but I don't care that much since the line of picked up stitches looks fairly neat.

I wanted to share a lesson I learned while working out how to do a shawl collar in a contrasting colour:

First pick up the stitches in the main colour, then start working the collar stitches in the contrasting colour. I found that picking up stitches in the contrasting colour looked terrible because of the gaps left by using only a fraction of the rows of curved neckline and having the selvedge show through.

I used a couple of Knitty patterns (Starsky and Folly) to figure out how to shape the collar with short rows. I knit 1 row in k1p1 rib (including the stitches from the i-cord edging, however I knit the last i-cord stitch and the first picked up stitch together to join the edging to the collar more firmly), placed markers at the shoulders, then did short rows at 2 stitch intervals in k1p1 rib until I used up all the stitches. Be sure to pick up and knit the wraps if you use the wrapped stitch short row technique, or whatever you're doing to prevent holes, while you're making the short rows. I did a couple more rows of k1p1 rib, then used the crochet bind-off. I wanted a firm bind-off edge to help keep the shape, which allows the collar to fold over nicely. We'll see how this looks after washing.

My first FO of the year!

Well Menja is finally done and wearable! I do love it, even though the collar still succumbs to gravity, and it's toasty warm too. Good thing too, because we got hit by a cold spell this week, and I really need the wool sweater. Here's a couple of pics:
Pattern: Menja by Elsebeth Lavold, fron the Viking Knits Collection Volume One.
Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style color Storm
Mods: none, but I checked the errata at the last minute and I'm glad I did. There was an error in the book about the hemline needle size.
If I could do it again what would I do different?
Well, I didn't like the way the pattern said to do the raglan decreases: decrease 2 sts every 4 rows. I thought it looked bulky and sloppy, but luckily it's all hidden by the enormous collar. I would have decreased 1 st every second row, which I believe is the 'standard' way to do it.
I also would have swatched the collar on needles 1 and 2 sizes smaller, because my collar was much longer than the space around the neckline. I also would have bought an extra ball of yarn, because I ran out while working on the collar, and Thrace totally bailed me out with leftovers from a baby sweater made in the same yarn, same color. I am deeply grateful. So if anyone out there wants to make this one, GET FIBER INSURANCE!!!
Comments about the yarn:
I like it very much. Extremely soft, excellent price, great color, and it shows texture beautifully.
Comments about the garment:
I'm not a big fan of pullovers, but I can live with this one, because of the open neck i.e. I don't feel like I'm being choked by the sweater. But the neckline is extremely open, which means it's harder to get a shirt under there to protect the garment from the dreaded white antiperspirant
stains. I bought a black ballet-style neck extremely tight shirt from H&M in anticipation of this problem, and it's ok... but it's not great. Still, I am not a fashionista, and I care more about preserving the sweater then about some black shirt peeking out around the neckline. I love the drape and waist shaping, and the way the hemline and sleeves are slightly flared. The most important feature: it's warm!

Now for the WIPs:
Here's the blue cabled tweed sweater. I think I should name it, how bout Eva? From now on, it's Eva. This is the left front, and I think I could finish it today. Then the plan is to do the right front, and while finishing the right sleeve, block and seam the back and fronts. then while the sleeves are blocking, finish the button bands and shawl collar. I think I may be able to finish it in a month or so, now that I've finished the back it's a pretty fast knit. Now I have to decide which of the buttons I've aquired over the Christmas break will look best with this sweater. Tudor rose metal buttons or really old-looking bone buttons with knotwork-style carved in detail. More on that later, when it's time to work the buttonholes. Maybe I'll hold a vote, to try
to lure some of you out of lurking.

Now for a flash of some stash:
These are what I aquired from virtual yarns, the hank at the back is Alice Starmore Hebridean 3ply (DK weight) color Erica from the Moor and Mountain collection. This hank is my fiber insurance for Shedir, and the color is fabulous. Slightly tweedy, with flecks of grey and fuschia with some cream halo. I love this yarn, it is a complete pleasure to work with. The next two hanks from the back to the front are Hebridean 2 ply (fingering weight), colors Mara and Pebble Beach from the Sea and Shoreline collection. Mara is not tweedy, and Pebble Beach has fabulous flecks of bluish and reddish tones. They are destined to become Eunny's Endpaper Mitts some time in the next year.

That purple tweed cabled number I made last year that I gave to my mom, and was stolen by my grandmother (nobody minds because she loves it), is causing quite the stir at the post-retirement facility she is settling into. People are noticing the unusual design and interesting cable patterns!

Ivanova

I knew Shedir would be tough...

with the biggish yarn (DK weight) on tiny (US 3, 3mm) needles, but I had no idea it would break my cable needle! Snapped, clean in 2 pieces! Here's a photo of the offender.
The yarn is Alice Starmore Hebridean 3 ply color Erica. I purchased it from her website. I must say (and I am in no way affiliated with the yarn company) that this is the nicest wool that I have EVER used. Soft feel, gorgeous color, good twist and tightly plied. I find that yarns ALWAYS split on my needles, especially on wood or bamboo. Not this stuff! It's knits well, shows texture nicely and is tweedy to boot. What could be better?

I am sad about the snapped cable needle, though. It was a nice wooden one, from a Knitpicks set. I'll have to wait till I go back to North America to replace it, I guess. I already lost another one of the three on a plane, and I was bummed about that too. I spent the afternoon looking for a suitable replacement at the LYS, and they didn't have any teeny tiny dpns (for fingers of gloves) at the store, so I got one of those awful big bent metal contraptions. I guess I'll have to ebay Addi Turbo products to get a set of small DPNs.

Ivanova

I can see myself in...

the Cable-Down Raglan by Stefanie Japel, as seen in the preview of the Spring IK! Isin't it pretty? Wouldn't it look great in a nice heather or tweed in a light color? I can see myself purchasing yarn for this once the KFYS year is up!

Ivanova

FO: Shedir

I skipped out on SnB tonight to watch some tv. That left me with some time to finish off an old project.

Pattern

Shedir by Jenna Wilson. Great pattern, I'd love to make another one!
Approximate dimensions:

• unblocked: 8.5 in (21.6 cm) diameter, 7 in (17.8cm) depth brim to crown
  
• after very gentle blocking: 10 in (25.4 cm) diameter, 8 in (20.3cm) depth brim to crown. The hat gained 18% in width and 14% in depth.
  

Yarn

Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK (used 52.7 g) on US 3 (3.25 mm) Inox/Prym needles. I used the 2 circulars method when there were too few stitches for a 16 inch circular.

The fabric I got as the final product is a little dense, which is fine for a hat, but still drapes well. The cable pattern shows up reasonably well after blocking and running a pumice stone very gently (I left most of the fuzz alone) over the fabric. Alpaca Silk doesn't tolerate frogging very well, and will pill with frequent handling, such as when you're knitting with it.

Mods

Like Eunny, I only did 3 repeats of the Saxon braid. My intuition about the yarn was that it would bloom after washing, and it did.

In hindsight, should have gone down a needle size for the ribbing at the bottom: as you can see from the photo below, the bottom looked sloppy. On the other hand, there was no fracking way I was going to rip out the tubular cast on, so I ran some elastic thread through the ribs near the cast-on edge. I think it turned out OK.

I now have 42.1 g of Alpaca Silk to use up, probably as embellishment on a small project, preferably not near any stress points.

I used this project as an experiment to see how a garment knit in this yarn would turn out (Elizabeth Zimmermann recommended knitting hats as gauge swatches, which is genius). Based on this experiment, I'd knit patterns from the Alpaca Silk books with sturdier yarns with at least some wool content.

Ugh! I HATE finishing!

So I haven't posted about Menja in a while. Last I posted, I had completed all of the pieces, and had seamed most of them. There was just one hitch - the collar was several inches longer than the neckline! Well, I plowed through, and gathered it slightly and evenly all of the way around, and I got it sewn in. Upon trying it on, I realised that the collar succumbs to gravity, and pulls the seam down, exposing reverse stockinette all around the neckline! Also I noticed that one of my sleeve seams was cr*p, and the cables didn't line up at the cuff. So today I fixed the seam, and I'm re-blocking to make a fold in the collar that will hopefully stand up to gravity. The collar HAS to be right - it's the central feature in this design! Here's some pics:
The hemline also rolled, but once it was wet that stopped. It looks so beautiful, I can't wait to wear it!
Here are all of the pins trying to force a fold where one dosen't exist. If this dosen't work, I will try tacking the collar down with a few stitches here and there, and if that dosen't work, I am going to rip the collar and re-knit it with US4 needles. Then it will DEFINITELY be smaller. But that will also take time... and I'm feeling serious cable angst. Must have cabled sweaters!
I gave away the purple one to my mom, who then had it stolen from her bymy grandmother (what can I say - everyone loves that sweater!) and I still have to complete 2.8 pieces on the tweed/noro cabled number. I want one so much, I tried one on at a sale rack while I was shopping yesterday. The price was right - 25 euros - the same price as the on sale towel I had just bought, but it made my butt look a mile wide. I know, commercial knitwear hissssss, but I'm cold! And my favourite wool sweater (also commercial knitwear) gifted to me by my DH in the first year of our relationship (how many years ago... 5?) is seriously starting to pill. Sigh...

On the other projects front, I have completed 2 more inches of the blue tweed/noro number and I have decided to rip back one pattern repeat of my mystery project because it's longer than I had expected. It will be tricky with the tiny yarn and lacey pattern, but I'm willing to start over if I have to, because it has to be PERFECT! Oh the woes of being a perfectionist...

Ivanova

Why yes! It's....

Urban Decay Saturday! I have some old u.d. for you today...
This is the oldest standing building in the city - it was built in the 15th century. It was the city hall from 1789 to the late 1800's. Now it's a very nice restaurant and pub. And yes, your eyes are not decieving you - it's crooked! The inside is equally distorted. Check out the bulging on the side of the building.
Hee hee! I love it! It's pretty AND decaying. I believe they are planning to do some restoration work in the near future. Now for the mystery project update shots:
It's gotten bigger and much more quickly than I anticipated. Can anyone guess what it is yet?
Here's a gratuitous close-up shot as a clue
The stitch pattern is very pretty, and a bit complicated, so it needs my full attention, as well as decent light. You can see a bit of the yarn's tweediness in this shot. I think I prefer my yarns tweedier, but it's still very pretty. Unfortunately, this yarn is kindof driving me crazy. It is a 2 ply (why they call it a 4 ply still excapes me) and sometimes one of the 2 strands gets really thick and thin. And when they both get thick, it makes my stitches bulge and look kindof distorted. And it splits on my needles sometimes - I shudder to think what would happen if I were using bamboo or wooden needles with more grab to them. But it may be my fault for going below the recommended needle size but I just couldn't get gauge on a US 3 needle, and the US 2's are not available here so I had to go down by 0.25 mm and ended up with a 2.5 mm needle. Also the yarn is scratchier than I expected, but I'm sure a wash will fix that up. It's not intolerable or anything.

Now I leave you with some eye-candy:
I love the shade of green of the building in the background. I want yarn in this color! Maybe next year...

Ivanova

Siznock yarn is OK ta buy, riznight?

Yes, I did it. I translated our blog into Gangsta with Gizoogle! Go try it - it's fun! So now you all know what I do late at night when my husband is sleeping... I check out sources of tweedy yarn on the internet, stumble across things like Gizoogle, and take online quizzes. See below, of all the tarot cards in the deck I am the High Priestess. Go figure...

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I have also made decent progress on my mystery project, I had no idea that a project using tiny yarn on tiny needles could go so quickly! I will post some decent pictures tomorrow when there is some daylight. Oh, and I experienced the first real windstorm of my life yesterday, in that I was outside, in it. Everything shut down, even the German railway system. THE ENTIRE THING. So what do I do? Walk home... it was blowing so hard, I was walking at a 45 degree angle just to be able to move forward, and then when the wind stopped for a second, I would fall downwards, and the wind would come back and lift me up again! I guess there was a reason I was the only person out and about!

Ivanova