Earl Grey in the rain

That actually sounds like a lonely refrain from a heart break song; however, it is the lovely beginnings of a cardigan in MadTosh sport's "Earl Grey" photographed in the rain.

While I started this project a month ago and it feels as though I should be further along, I have to remind myself that I have only been able to work on it during my lunches at the office, as I have had a major knitting deadline project to complete.

It really was a shock when I put this on the mannequin this morning, and it was so short!  I guess I do not often knit cardigans on sport weight yarn with small needles.  However, the yarn is wonderful to work with, and I could not love the colors more.

As a button freak, I sewed the first pair on at the first opportunity. 

Perfect!

Well, I say, perfect, even though they were bigger than the pattern called for and I had to adjust the size of the button hole.  Perfect for me!

This is a clever pattern:  Jacquetta  It is obviously knit from the top down with raglan sleeves in a seamless fashion. What makes it interesting is that the button bands are knit with it in one piece, as well in a 1 x 1 ribbing.  There is absolutely no seaming once the knitting is done, not even under the arms.

As the yarn is variegated, I have been alternating skeins to avoid pooling of the colors; however, my usual point to switch skeins is at one of the ends where I would normally pick up the button band; however, as the button band is knitted on in a single piece, I did not want to carry the yarns up the finished edge, so I ended up moving my skein switching to where the ribbing of the button band met the stockinette of one of the fronts on the wrong side.

The green arrow above is touching the line of yarn carried up every other row, as I alternated skeins on the back side of the piece on the left.  The piece on the right is the wrong side of the other front where I did not alternate skeins.  I think the transition between the yarns was smooth and neat.  I was very pleased.

If I were a more of a monogamous knitter, I might actually finish this before fall...

That is probably not going to happen.  I cast on a tee using two strands of lace weight silk a couple of nights ago...

Happy Knitting!

Elated!

The yarn has fully dried.  A couple of the hanks have been wound into center pull balls.  Swatches have been knit!

The results?

Fantastic!

As the child is named Elizabeth, I have named the blue Dizzy Lizzy.  This will be a hoodie for her.

Cassidy has long been in my queue, I think the Goblin Green yarn will be a fun and funky color for it.  Don't you?

Now, I want to order more yarn to dye...

It's a slippery slope.

Happy Knitting and Dyeing!

The Economy of Naked Yarn

Is there such a thing?

My forays into dyeing have been very few and far between.  I originally bought some natural yarn and acid dyes in June 2010 and dyed about 3,000 yards of yarn for me and a friend of mine.  Since then, I have only overdyed yarn and finished projects; however,the independence and creativity the prospect of dyeing presented has always appealed to me.

I love hand dyed yarns. I love the variegation and depth of colors that are rarely available in commercially processed yarns.  Unfortunately, finding hand dyed yarn in sweater quantities for me is difficult, as well as expensive.

Madelinetosh is a favorite of mine.  To make a plain pullover out of her worsted weight yarn would take about 1500 yards.  MadTosh Vintage is 200 yards and $19.20 a skein.  8 skeins is $153.60, plus tax and shipping.

Ouch.

That is not to say I have not paid it.  Still, ouch.  

A cardigan with cables would require about 2,000 yards...

In January, I found some 100% merino worsted weight undyed yarn from Catnip Yarns.  It is not the same base as the MadTosh.  I have no idea what that base is.  2,520 yards of the undyed merino worsted cost $79.60, which is $.03/yard; however, that does not include the dyes, synthroid, glauber salt, latex gloves, etc., that each vat of dye costs me.  The dye was $6.17 and the small percentage of the other items probably did not total another $3.00 per batch, so to dye 2,520 yards of worsted weight, it cost me roughly $88.77 or $.03523 per yard.

In comparison, the MadTosh is $.09/yard.

Naked yarn before the dye bath:

Naked yarn dressed in dye:

Albeit, this was only one of the four skeins.

No, it does not look like MadTosh above, but I do love the color, and I think I did a pretty good job getting the shade fairly even.

Moreover, I will have more than enough to make a richly cabled cardigan without fear of running out of yarn or breaking the bank.  Perhaps, something like Monami:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted is another favorite yarn.  

A couple of years ago, I used the above skeins to make a pullover. This yarn is a lovely Aran weight that has a strand of superwash wool intertwined with three plys of regular merino.  The superwash ply takes the dye darker, giving the knitted yarn a mottled look.  

Well, also in January, I found the same base at Catnip yarns called Licorice Twist.  I bought 2,100 yards of the Aran weight for $96.75 or $.046 per yard undyed (and adding the same cost per vat for dyeing from above, $.05044 per yard dyed).

Before dye:

After:

The Blue Moon Fiber Art Twisted is $29.50 for a 560 yard skein.  That is $.05268 per yard. 

Wow.  That is only $.00224 difference per yard and a whopping $4.70 for 2,100 yards.  So, it would appear the Aran Licorice Twist is not quite the deal the worsted is.

However, while I had plans for the Aran Licorice, the second the yarn hit the dye pot, my younger daughter appeared and asked if the yarn would be appropriate for a sweater for her, specifically, a hoodie I had already knit for myself, the Everything Nice Hoodie.

As they say, dyeing yarn that is immediately appreciated by the twelve-year-old daughter:  Priceless.

In all, I had a delightful afternoon playing with yarn, color, and dyes!  Now, I cannot wait for the hanks to dry, so I can swatch.

Knitting for all seasons…

Most of my stash is wool. This translates to 98% of my stash. Most anywhere else in the world, that would probably be a wonderful thing, but in South Texas, there are only six or seven really good days to wear wool without sweltering.

Why then, did I knit, at least, nine heavy wool sweaters for myself last year?

In all honesty, three of them have yet to be worn.

The answer: I really love the feel of wool in my hands. There is something about the soft springiness of it that is such a pleasure to knit.

While I love to wear hemps, linens, silks, and cottons and do so more than nine months out of the year, they nearly make my hands bleed to knit with them.

The last year or two has seen me pare down the stash considerably. While this blog has been largely idle, much designing, knitting, and test-knitting have been going on. Surprises are on the way, but nothing that can be revealed at the moment. However, all this knitterly industry has translated into a significant depletion of the stash, not only for projects, but as payment to lovely and talented test-knitters. What remains of the stash are the things which I truly, dearly love.

As such, I have spent a great deal of time ruminating on the perfect project for each yarn. My queue is long, but I have managed to appropriately pair my sweater quantities of wool to almost three dozen designs. Unfortunately, unless I move to the Great North and beyond, my queue contains more sweaters than I will ever be able to wear in three lifetimes in South Texas.

After that little realization, I decided I needed a very different approach, to not only my stash acquisition, but my knitting priorities.

Never will I cease to buy wool, but I decided to refocus my energies on less heavy worsted and Aran weight wools to fingering and sport weight.

Secondly, I will be (and have been) less selfish in my knitting. Why not shower those I love best with what I love best? Besides, several of them are far more cold natured than I am. Win-win, right?

Lastly, I really do need to explore knitting more with natural fibers like linen, flax, and hemp that are so much more comfortable to wear in my present clime.

Along those lines, I had another startling revelation: less than 2% of my stash is non-wool!

More intelligent readers would have divined that nugget of truth way back in the second sentence of the first paragraph; however, life has been stressful lately and, perhaps, I have become daft with age and infirmity…

In any event, I see a definite green light opportunity for stash acquisition, which, of course, is the next best thing to knitting itself.

Anyone with me?

Last night, I gently reminded my husband that Mother's Day is just around the corner and that I have a birthday in June.  His response was a single raised eyebrow, instead of a wry comment along the lines of  "You're not my mother."  I reminded him that gift buying and most all other forms of affection for me were as easy as a gift card for yarn.  This morning, he emailed me that a gift card for one of my favorite haunts had been acquired.  It is no wonder we have been together for almost twenty-five years!

Dichotomy has been in queue since the Spring of 2009. 

Imagine it with steel grey on top and black on the bottom:

The yarn is Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic (100% Mercerized Cotton).

Barbara has languished in the queue since Spring 2010:

I see her in Cocoa:

Yarn:  Grignasco Knits Mousse (50% Soy/40% Fine Merino Wool/10% Silk)

Good?

Yes!

So, what are YOUR summer knitting plans?

Penelope

With a beaded lace edging and simple, but charming cabled and lace body, Penelope is as sweet, as she is versatile. Knit in fingering weight, she is light and airy as both as scarf or a shawl. In dk or worsted weight yarns, she is slightly more substantial, but just as flirty.

Penelope is created by knitting both of the lace edges first, then picking up stitches along the top of each lace edging. One edging is set aside, while the project is worked back and forth until almost all of the yarn is used. Once the desired length is reached, the lace edging, which was originally set aside, is grafted onto the body of the work using an elastic three-needle bind-off method.

Materials:

• Scarf: 1 skein of fingering weight Wool Tree Yarn (~450 yards) and Size US 5 needles (or size needed to obtain gauge) and 50 grams of size No. 6 beads
• Shawl: 2 skeins of fingering weight Wool Tree Yarn (~900 yards) and Size US 5 needles (or size needed to obtain gauge) and 100 grams of size No. 6 beads
• Size 1.25 mm crochet hook
• Waste lace weight yarn or dental floss for life lines
• Stitch markers

Size:

• Scarf: 6.5” wide and 72” long
• Shawl: 15” wide and 66” long

Gauge:

• 6 sts/inch, washed and blocked in stockinette

This is available now as a kit through Lucky Ewe Yarn.  Ravelry link.

The pattern will be available to the public on October 1, 2013!

Among Friends!

The latest installment of the Among Friends Club has arrived!

Coastal Tide Cowl

Designed by

Christina S. Wilkins

In celebration of America, the Rising Tide Cowl is designed using American-grown Targhee wool artistically dyed by Curious Creek Fibers’ own Kristine Bouncer.  This fingering-weight yarn is from the new Curious Creek Homegrown Collection.  Rustic and warm, this wool is minimally processed, so it has that slightly crunchy feel of vintage yarn. 

After an evening or two of knitting before a roaring fire, you will have a lovely cowl to keep you warm on your next outing to the Farmer’s Market!

Materials: 
1  skein of Curious Creek Homegrown Targhee fingering weight wool (approximately 339 yards)
1  pair of 24-inch circular needles, size US 5 or size needed to obtain gauge

Sizes:
Small:  Flat measurements are 12” wide x 8” tall with a circumference of 24”
Medium: Flat measurements are 14 ½“ wide x 8” tall with a circumference of 29”
Large:  Flat measurements are 16“ wide x 10” tall with a circumference of 32”

Gauge:
20 sts/4 inches in stockinette, knitted flat, soaked and blocked

More information on Ravelry.

This pattern will be available to the public on May 1, 2013.

MadTosh Crafts in Ft. Worth...

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