Pumpkin Butternut

While a little out of season for either pumpkin or butternut, at least in South Texas, I have decided I like orangey colors.  The jury is out, though, whether they like me.

From a gracious yarn swap with a lovely lady, I acquired some of this:

 

Little Lola from Schaefer Yarn Company in Pumpkin Cheesecake.

For a while now I have loved this pattern from Anne Hanson of Knitspot called Butternut Scarf:

Of course, the pattern calls for lace weight yarn and my mind screamed worsted for some reason.  Actually, I wanted a wide and long scarf/wrap because that has become my knitwear of choice in our rather mild winters.  Taking the pattern, I modified the number of repeats and needle size.  Once blocked, I think it will be about 20 inches wide and I'm shooting for about 84 inches in length.

When the little Lola arrived, I knew exactly what it was meant to be:

 

Here is a gratuitous shot in a little more natural environment, the very back of the yard:

 

This has quickly become one of my favorite knits, ever!

Thank you, Maria, for the wonderful yarn.

An Extra Hand?

Anyone have an extra hand?? *S*

I cast on my first practice piece today on my quest to learn how to knit in the round.

Any hints on how to keep the stitches tight so I don't have a ladder up the side?

To Fringe or not to Fringe

Yippee, I've finished my third project (another scarf!).

The next question is, should I put fringe on the ends or leave it as is? I think my next project may be something knit in the round. I don't know how to do it yet, but I believe I'm ready to move it on up!! *L*

What to knit, what to knit.

A few nights ago, I had the house to myself and I happily spent some quality time bonding with this special one of a kind yarn!






As I hand-wound this Hand Maiden Sea Silk into a knit-ready ball...it came alive, the colors melding and mixing together. Colorful skeins like this always seem to take on a new look once they are wound into a ball.



I began thinking of what I could make with these 440 yds of fingering silk and cellulose.



A lacy triangular scarf? No, I've made several of those already.


Socks? I don't think I'd want to walk on them.



Some sort of cowl seemed a likely candidate.






I had recently come across this project on Ravelry which I really like!







But this Blue Sky Alpaca pattern called Button Up Cowl is not available online nor at my local yarn shop. Yesterday, I had decided to try my hand at copying this pattern; but after further consideration, I've decided that the Sea Silk probably does not have enough body for this Button Up Cowl design. I had even calculated how I could turn this pattern into a similar cowl, and have made this much progress:

I still may search for some little buttons that would go with this. If I button up the two edges to form the cowl shape, it could still be worn like the Bird's Nest Smoke Ring, or the Flared Lace Smoke Ring, which I think would work the best for this yarn.



However....I just remembered this beautiful and different and challenging item! I believe I may just have to frog what I've started and make this Victorian Neck Cozy! Is it me?

Prediction

The early indications are this will become the go-to jacket for a long time to come, at least, once it is complete. 

The two strands of sock yarn are soft, springy, and squishy.  The colors are subdued and charming.  The overall weight of the garment will be light, but warm.

Swatching it all out

For the first time in a long time I have only a few things on the needles at the moment, as in a total of five. 

This does not include a pair of socks or two I frogged because they were too small or the rectangular cardi I was designing. As to the latter, I was more than half way finished and the fit was not feeling right, so I need to re-think the shoulder and neck line a bit more before I continue.  It is now in hibernation mode.

Instead, I have been swatching like mad trying to pair yarn to projects and have come up with a long list of things that I am quite delighted over.

These are in no particular order.

Raglan Rust from Knitter's Magazine Fall 2008:

This is a nice, simple top down design that looks comfortable and easy to wear.  What intrigued me about it is the yarn used to make it.  The designer took two different colorways of sock yarn and, held together, knitted this on size 8 needles.  

I love sock yarn!  In addition to being dyed in awesome colors, it is typically incredibly soft, light, and superwash.

One of the first things I test knitted for Woolgirl and Miss Babs garnered me three skeins of sock yarn.  Thinking I wanted to do something big, I chose one color for all three skeins, Black Cherry Monochrome:

The original pattern called for Zitron Trekking XXL.  With a gift certificate from Webs, I found a complimentary colorway (147).

If you look closely, you can see the cherry color in the twists of the Trekking.  Knitted up, it looks like this:

While not as colorful as the original, I think it will work well for me.  In fact, my mother tried to claim it for herself.  The two strands of sock yarn knit to a worsted weight in stitch count, but the feel is so light and springy. 

What can I say, it makes me happy!

From red to green, there is some Madelinetosh worsted in Thyme in my stash for which I have been looking for the perfect sweater. 

The tosh worsted is a lighter weight worsted that, again, is so wonderfully soft and squishy.  Heavy sweaters are too much down here most of the winter, so making this out of an aran weight like Malabrigo would be far too much, but as comfortable as my saffron sweater is, I think this will be perfect for this pullover:

Pattern:  Waterlily from Classic Elite Knits

It is simply coincidence the yarn and pattern are green.  I just happened to have enough of the Thyme in my stash to make it.  I suspect the cables will add visual weight, but have I mentioned it has been really cold around here lately?  I am hoping this will be become a casual knock-around sweater to slip over a cami and jeans to run errands, rather than don a coat or jacket.

Speaking of Malabrigo, that bag of Sealing Wax is still languishing in my stash, just waiting to entice me into playing with it.

A couple of weeks ago, I caught my mother in my yarn.  She spied this stuff and asked me what I had in mind for it.  When I told her I was unsure, she hinted rather strongly she would like something out of it, even though, in her words:  "It's more orange than red and I prefer red."

Normally not greedy with my yarn, I resisted committing it to her because a) I knew she preferred red and b) a sweater for her would take five or six skeins and I have ten and there was the question of what to do with the remaining four or five skeins.

Instead, I found some luscious yarn the other day and showed it to mom.  She instantly alighted onto a deep red color she offered would be much better for her than that other "orange stuff."

So, I am now free to do with the malabrigo as I please.

Cassidy has been on my list for a while. 

 

I swatched for it the other day in Miss Babs Yowza in Frog Belly, but had an issue with the dye lots in the yarn (that has been resolved and all four were returned and I am awaiting a shipment to come in so the vendor can match skeins for me - YAY!).

With the recent cold snap (at least for us), I realized I wore my B-Side Cardigan nearly every day, in lieu of a coat, and it was the perfect weight and comfort.  So, I decided the Malabrigo Sealing Wax would be made into Cassidy for me.  As an outer jacket, I have decided to go up a size which should use up most all of the yarn I have.  Bonus!

That, of course, left a little problem with what to do with the Frog Belly.

Like Madelinetosh Worsted, Miss Babs Yowza worsted is on the light side.  In the most recent issue of Knitter's Magazine there is a pattern called Curly Willow knit up in Malabrigo.

It was a very cold day with the temperatures in the teens when I was flipping through this magazine and decided to swatch this pattern in Miss Babs Yowza, as well as some left over Malabrigo.

Not surprising, the Malabrigo was dense and heavy while the Yowza was much lighter and almost airy at gauge. 

The high neckline is usually something I avoid because it typically only enhances the bustline (as do textured patterns), but the chill convinced me to forgo a little vanity for warmth.  This is the most questionable choice at the moment and I will probably end up looking like Baby Bop, but warm I shall be.

Have I lost anyone to sheer boredom yet?

Another of my test knits for Woolgirl and Miss Babs resulted in three skeins of Yowza worsted in Obsidian:

The yarn is simply gorgeous and just as lush and beautiful as pictured.  I have had it for over a year waiting for just the right project.

Verena Knittng has turned into one of my favorite magazines.  In its current issue is this:

 

It even has beads in the open work down the front center panel (Maria, you might have to talk me through this beading thing!).

Now this one is way outside my comfort zone, but I used to have a sweater with similar lines, just not as detailed as this one.  I wore it all the time with a nice, long, sleek black skirt with a slit down the back and loved it.  The trick for me will be making sure there is not a ton of fabric flowing over the hips and behind.  I will also omit the ties at the wrists.

While there are a half a dozen more I have mapped out, 2010 looks to be the year of selfish sweater knitting.

I could not be more pleased.

Anyone else have big knitting plans?

Mini Mochi Waving

About a year or so ago I began seeing cute little striped socks out of something called "Mini Mochi."

In the Asian markets, Japanese Mochi is a sweet made of sticky rice pounded into a paste and shaped into a little rounded mound.  Wee One likes the frozen version which has ice cream inserted into the middle of it.

To be honest, I saw absolutely no correlation between the yarn and the sweet, but the yarn came in lovely colors.

Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to meet the yarn in person and found it to be a squishy and soft, thick-and-thin, single ply.  It was relatively inexpensive (eight-something for a 50 gram skein) and bought two skeins for a pair of socks.

On size US 1 needles, the mini mochi and I quickly became enemy combatants.  I did not like it at all.  The knitted fabric was extremely fuzzy and difficult for me to work with.

Disappointed, I immediately switched gears, determined to match the yarn up with an appropriate pattern for me because I hated to waste my money.

On an aside, I am well aware I have quite a bit of ridiculously expensive yarns languishing in my stash.  I really need to stop buying that expensive stuff because when I pull it out to work with it, performance anxiety strikes and I am left uncertain if the project at hand is the highest and best use of the stuff.  Again, I hate to waste it.  Of course, the end result is that it continues to languish...

Anyway, I so loved the color and feel of the yarn, I searched through my patterns to see what, if anything, that mini mochi might want to become.

Along with everything else, I have a system for this.  The first step is to go through the patterns I have actually purchased.  This is followed by books in my library, then magazines.  It is an investment thing.  Single patterns are the most expensive per pattern items, followed by books, etc.

A couple of the first patterns I purchased on-line were from Oceanwind Knits:  Gothik (I knitted it up here) and Waving.

As the title indicates, Waving won!

 

 

Pattern:  Waving by Lori Law (Oceanwind Knits)

Yarn:  Mini Mochi by Crystal Palace Yarns

Ravelry

The weather is yucky and misting this morning and none of my models were up, so I did the best I could with the photos.

Overall, love the pattern and the softness of the yarn makes it a lovely light little scarf.

Yay!

From the ashes of failure...

For the last several days I have been furiously working on Jamison Square.  It was the dk weight sweater I started in October knit in-the-round on very small needles...

Yes, well, yesterday I finally reached the point where I could separate the front from the back at the arms, then completed the front so I could try it on.

Because I was using 32" circular needles, there was no way to try it on, unless I ran a life line through all the live stitches, some 280 of them, then picked them back up.

That is certainly what I should have done because with the end very nearly in sight, I was devastated when I finally tried it on only to find I could hide another small person in there with me.

My gauge was spot on.  The pattern is awesome.

I am soley responsible for the epic fail.

Poor self-image, I guess.  Instead of just using my bust size to calculate the size to knit, I went up one thinking I might need a bit of positive ease.

As mentioned in previous posts, I'm top heavy with no hips and no caboose.


Here is a shot taken on a cold rainy day, meaning it was taken inside on my bed...

Still love the pattern, yarn, and color, but at this point do not know if I have the stamina to rip it out and start all over again.  I am trying to decide if I put in on hold for the next fifty pounds I gain or try to find someone it *might* fit, finish it and pass it along.

To console myself, I went through my stash and found a little mirth to brighten my day.

Specifically, Madelinetosh Vintage in Mirth.

Thereafter, I poured over my queue trying to pair it with the perfect pattern.  About ten o'clock last night I thought I had found it.

Pattern:  Sculpted Cooper by Kathy Zimmerman

Here is a close up of the pattern on the body:

By half-past eleven in the evening, I decided it was a lovely match!  Starting small, I began knitting one of the sleeves which uses the leaf-like pattern between other decorative stitches, unlike the overall leaf pattern on the body.  This is from the cuff up and is not quite a full pattern repeat:

 

I could not love the color or stitch definition more, but I am probably setting myself up for another failure.  This pattern has sizes from 45" to 50".  The last pattern was 48.5" and swallowed me whole.  Obviously, I went with the 45" for the bust this time around.

Of course, this is probably doomed for failure.  The pattern calls for 1700 yards and I have only 1600 yards.  I read somewhere in Ravelry that designers usually add up to 10% to the yardage as cush.  I pray that is the case here.  In order to save a few yards, as well as work with my shape a bit better, I have decided to drop the neck line a couple of inches to make a scoop neck, rather than the crew shown in the original design.

Wish me luck!

Recent Projects

Woo Hoo I now can say I've officially finished my second project!! No, not of this year, but of my knitting career!! *L*


I finished the little blue scarf just in time for the youngest grandson's birthday (next week). He loves hats, scarves, gloves or any article of clothing that says he's going outside to play. Since his mother is my daughter I can get away with telling her that if she shows the scarf to anyone who knows how to knit I will kill her!! *L* I cast on 13 times before I finally got it right! (or as right as it's gonna be, anyway!)

If mistakes add character, this scarf is so full of character it probably will get it's own TV reality show!

Question

In October, I had the husband order me some rather expensive yarn as a Christmas gift.  The yarn arrived and he wrapped it up.

I received it on Christmas day, but did not open the clear bags the four large skeins came in until today.  When I did, I discovered two skeins were of a cool tone and two skeins were in a more acid tone of the same colorway.

Now, I know with hand painted yarns there is going to be some variation and I usually alternate skeins every two rows to even out the colors, shades, and tones; however, when I did a test pattern of these two colors, I see stripes.

What do you think?

This really makes me unhappy, but I have no decided what, if anything, I am going to do about it.

I need three and a quarter of the four skeins to make this:

So, I have to use the yarn I have.  The colors are too different for me to use the acid skeins for the sleeves and the pretty cool tone for most of the body.  I really do no like the stripes at all.

I could use, I suppose, two skeins for one project and the other two skeins for another project, but these are expensive and I would have to spend quite a bit to acquire more yarn to make this cardigan.

The seller is someone I have done quite a bit of business with and I have not yet decided whether to say anything to her because I am not sure whether I am just being too picky about the whole damn thing.  All I know is that I am terribly disappointed.

Again, any thoughts?

All in the details

Last night I finished my second Eileen Tee.

The first one was done in Malabrigo and while comfy and lovely, there were a couple of fit-related items that were off: it was too short and I, apparently, do not require any hip shaping whatsoever as I only have half of a womanly figure, the top half of the hour glass.

In any event, the Malabrigo test sweater paved the way for the perfect sweater in Madelinetosh Worsted, color Saffron.

While soft and luscious, the Malabrigo was also a little too heavy a sweater for me.  The Madelinetosh worsted is a joy to work with, washes and blocks beautifully, and is the perfect weight.

As for the color Saffron, I am so pleased I decided to leap outside my box of browns and blacks.

How about a peek?

Still Learning!

This old dog is still learning a few new tricks!! *S*

I don't have any new pics to post right now. I've finished my second scarf (ribbed) and starting on my third using a Faggot Stitch. This is the first pattern I've used; so far it doesn't resemble the picture but I'm hoping it gets there eventually!

I can increase/decrease stitches on purpose now!!!

You know you are letting a new stitch get the best of you when you hear a comment from the hubby 'I didn't know knitting was a contact sport.' Apparently I'm very verbal when things aren't going the way I think they should,,,,

Current project - top priority

There's a very special birthday coming up this Sunday - my granddaughter's. She'll be five! Look what I'm knitting for her.

It's been an amazingly quick knit for me. I started it one week ago and I think I'll finish up tonight or tomorrow. It will be my first completed sweater!

Can you tell what pattern that is? Look closer...

Can you see the owls taking shape?

If you're not familiar with Kate Davies' Owlet, you start at the bottom, knitting in the round, and you knit up the body of the sweater to the underarms. Put that on hold. Then knit up the first sleeve to the armhole. Put on hold. Do the same for the second sleeve. After putting a few underarm stitches on "hold" you start knitting one sleeve, the front of the body, the other sleeve, then the back of the body, and you've made a round connecting all the pieces together! And that's when you start the pattern for the owl yoke. It's easy and quick.

I'm so glad I undertook this project. I had taken my granddaughter's measurements back in September. I'm a bit worried that she may have grown a couple of inches since then. According to my measurements, there will be about 4 inches of extra room through the chest, which will allow the sweater to easily be worn over an undershirt and still quite comfortably loose (I hope not too much.) The sleeves look plenty roomy too, with the cuffs snug. The bottom of the sweater should hit her just below the waist (unless she's grown.) I probably should have added an inch or two to the length to ensure that she'd be able to wear it next year, too! But we'll see. Knit and learn, right?

Ravelry link here.

More later - (I'm doing my best to be on time for work this New Year! Yeah, we'll see how long I can keep THAT up.)

Some of those Christmas Knits

2010

It's a new year and the first project is done!

I started this last night and the husband is wearing it now.


Yay!

Pattern:  Habitat by Jared Flood

Yarn:  Malabrigo Twist in Terron

In other news, I guess it was too much to ask for everyone to don their Christmas sweaters at the same time for a picture; however, Mom wore her sweater to go shopping today.

Happy Knitting!