just another raveller

Still here, just busy

2012-01-23T22:47:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I haven't posted during the month of January. I have a few good subject to write about, like how I sold my shawl to a woman on the plane to Dallas, and the wonderful time I had there, but I have been super busy and tired.

Anyway, hiya! I'll be back soon.

Mending

2011-12-31T11:54:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! It's 42 F / 6 C here today!

We've been having beautiful weather. The grass is still green and there has been hardly any snow. You know, I've always been a lover of winter but I think I could get used to this!.

Locals will have noticed that the squirrels are in fine fettle. They still have easy access to their hoards.

The white globes in the following photos are my neighbour's garden lights. They are powered by the sun and hang around a cute little patio that they made for themselves in the bottom of the garden. They have one of those metal fire pots on it (you can just see it in the second photo). In the summer they put chairs around it. You could almost use it now, it's so warm.

I would have written sooner, but I got bogged down with various things: getting ready for kitchen and basement renovations, holiday visit from my daughter, plus I messed up both my ankles back in October and the achilles tendons do not seem to be getting much better.

Whenever I give someone a piece of knitting, I assure them that they can bring it back to me at any time for mending, blocking or even washing. The only person who ever takes me up on this offer is my daughter. This year, I had several items to mend. This dickey did battle with moths during the warm months which is sad because it's a favorite of the wearer. First, I darned the holes with pale green yarn to stabilize it...

Then Nadia hid the darning by embroidering over top...

For those who care, the pattern is my own variation on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Dickey von Beethoven. I just added the front opening, the edging and fancied up the collar by using contrasting yarn. Here's another, more recent example:

Cheers and best wishes for 2012!

Not all is grey

2011-11-29T20:57:00.001-05:00

Our long greyness has begun. We only see the sun for a few minutes in the morning before it disappears behind the cloud. As the sun came up the other day I was thinking about a mitten I would call "Rochester Sunrise." It would be all grey and soft like a cloud, except for the wrist which would be shades of yellow crescents soon to disappear inside the cuffs of the wearer's jacket.

Here is what we saw on our drive to Ottawa over the weekend. I love the part of New York state north of Syracuse, along Black Lake. It's depressed but moody and beautiful.

This is a picture of the only piece of knitting I have finished in the past month, apart from a little scarf. These are my sister's xmas socks but I gave them to her early. The yarn is Nashua Handknits Best Foot Forward.

And here's what I'm excited about now. This is a swatch in the Fleurette Stitch from Walker's 4th Treasury. Some of you may remember that I made a little cardigan with this as an all-over stitch a few years ago. While in the Ottawa area this weekend, I dropped in on Kathryn Dryden's studio in Wakefield (above the Tulipe Noire). Kat has been hand dying Amtex yarn for a while now and I can't say enough about her colours, not to mention the beautiful quality of the yarn itself. Kat is also a painter so of course she has great colour sense.

Luckily she was in and I we were able to have a chat. I purchased three skeins of this gorgeous fingering weight merino. Think Tosh Merino Light in Koigu colours. The colour changes are fairly short, which is good because you don't get enormous pools of a single colour. It's hard to get a good picture because of the subtle colour changes of this yarn. This photo is a bit too orangey, but you get the idea.

So, my idea is to knit a top down raglan with a solid yoke and a Fleurette bottom. We'll see if I do it. I'm moving slowly these days. Cheers!

Adjustment

2011-11-15T18:23:00.001-05:00

I am in awe of my yarn even though it's really not that great. I recently received and put together 3 IKEA cabinets to hold it all. They are very tall and full of yarn and knitting books. They have glass doors on top and a series of drawers below, made from soft Spruce wood stained a pale gray brown. Two of the big drawers have fabric in them. The rest holds about 80% of my stash. It's all organized. It's all beautiful: lace weight here, sock yarn there. I can stand and gaze at it or just paw through it.

Terrible, just terrible. When it was stashed away in places where it probably shouldn't have been, I had to use my imagination. I would stealthily get it out and peer at it under poor lighting conditions. Maybe I would put it away again or maybe I'd get to work with it and make something wonderful. I would lie in bed at night and make plans. Now it looks at me face on. Pick me! Pick me! I retreat in horror to knit on a sock. I am unaccustomed to this openness. I'll get over it. Just give me a few days.

Footwear

2011-11-05T17:29:00.001-04:00

Sitting on a rocking chair in the Philadelphia airport, I'm knitting a pair of socks and observing the passing feet...I see a preponderance of what we used to call running shoes...slip ons for middle aged women, ballet flats and Uggs for the younger ones. A certain number of short leather boots are worn by women too, a few wear mid calf level boots. A little kid just called out "hello..." An older man shuffles by in carpet slippers.

Black leather shoes seem mostly to be worn by people who are working, but hey, that's what I'm wearing, too on my way home from a conference....

A Bit of Frost

2011-10-30T11:59:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning. Up here by Lake Ontario it is balmy 40 F (4 C) this sunny Sunday morning. The 50 year snow storm which hit the Atlantic coast missed us entirely. We had only a little frost on the ground and plants these past few mornings.

I have admitted Vitamin D into my wardrobe even though I think I'd look better in it if I lost 5 or 10 pounds. I got compliments on it at knit night on Thursday and at work on Friday. I will not post the side view. In any case, it's tremendously comfortable, soft and light feeling. You could easily amend the pattern to leave out the short rows and just knit it as a normal top down cardigan to whatever length you like. Note to self: keep on trying to buy trousers that fit properly.

Thanks for the comments on pattern choice. I am leaning toward modifying Celtic Dreams and knitting as a cardigan. It would be easy to do by leaving out the centre cable, lovely as it is, and maybe adding a couple more narrow cables on either side of a steek. Tweedy Aran is lovely, but the collar could be itchy and it has that dangerous horizontal line in the mid section, as Joan points out.

A few posts ago, Helen asked about the cardigan pattern that I have had success with. It is called Delicate Details was published in 1991 in Paton's Cardigans Booklet no. 654. It's a fairly standard cardigan pattern featuring a faroese type lace yoke. I think that the reason that it works for me is that it draws attention to the bust and shoulders and away from the midsection.

My best advice is to spend time in a store that has a lot of knits, or possibly before your own closet, trying on different styles until you find one that suits you. Figure out why it suits you and then look for patterns like it. It is important that you be accompanied by an honest, yet supportive critic as the process can be discouraging and exhausting.

Here is the cover of the Paton's booklet with an image of the pattern in question. Ignore all styling, colour, youth of the model and so on. The yoke pattern is the thing here.

Almost

2011-10-26T20:32:00.000-04:00

The Vitamin D is more or less dry. I tried it on. It fits but I don't think it's very flattering, but I'll give it a chance. I'm letting it hang on a hanger over night and I'll try it on again tomorrow over all black. I may have to find a new owner for it.

Here's what I'm thinking of embarking on next, sweater-wise. Please do tell me if you think I'm on thin ice. The Longmeadow Farm yarn is aran weight and is enough to knit Beth Brown Reinsel's Celtic Dreams, which I think is beautiful. I'd want to make it into a cardigan though. OR, should I knit Nora Gaughan's Tweedy Aran, which has been on my radar for much longer?

The Celtic Dreams pattern sits before me, crisp and ready, while the Tweedy Aran lurks somewhere in a pile...

I think I need to take a break and knit a shawlette!

Drying

2011-10-24T22:13:00.003-04:00

Here she is drying. I feel hopeful, but still a bit nervous. I'll just go straighten out that curve on the right front edging...and the one on the left hand side seam....

Soaking

2011-10-24T21:45:00.001-04:00

Vitamin D is now soaking. I just had it on. It could go either way. Very comfy though.

I did the garter stitch rows to finish, not the i-cord as Aniko did. Then the instructions said to cast off loosely so I did that. Maybe too loosely. Before blocking, it was longer than I expected plus the bottom edges were all curled up and splayed. I tightened up when I cast off the fronts and neck and that part is fine. I can always re-do the bottom cast off, but I'll take the iron to it first if need be. Wah!

Autumn Whine

2011-10-19T20:28:00.002-04:00

I just finished my March socks and I'm part way through my April socks. It's all very dull. I completely blew off the "knit a pair of socks per month" thing that I was enthusiastic about earlier in the year. After these are finished, I will still knit socks, ordinary, occasional, and only because I like to wear them.

My red Vitamin D cardigan is almost finished too. I've started on the last 24 rows. Each row has 330 stitches of stocking stitch. Yawn. After that, there will be a lot of i-cord. I believe that it fits and am crossing my fingers that it will suit me and that I won't have to give it away. It's knit from the top down so I've been able to try it on. I am not, however, been able to tell whether the fronts will drape attractively.

I'm not good at sweaters. Sometimes I select a pattern or a colour that doesn't suit me. Sometimes I make the wrong size, or I think that I can knit without a pattern. I have given away a cardigan and seen it unravelled and returned to me in the form of balls of wool. I said "oh no you must keep the wool," and saw again it later, knit into yet another cardigan. I think that my daughter has it now. I have had an enormous sweater mailed back to me after 4 years of lying in a drawer unworn. I did my first steek on it and made it into a coat. When asked, I claim that it has dolman sleeves. Another cardigan I made was only ever worn under a coat as a layer of insulation. Those are the ones that I know about. Poor things.

Of course, I have had a few successes. I have a black wool sweater that I knit for myself with yarn that I bought from the back of a truck in the market in Sienna, Italy. I knit the same pattern with Icelandic yarn for my sister and a third, pullover version for myself. We wear those and get compliments. I think I will knit it again. I have some lovely grey yarn from Longmeadow Farm in Freedom, New York.

So, what have I been doing for fun? I've been playing with three skeins of lace weight that I bought from Jill Draper at Hemlock. The swatch below is made with 4 patterns from Heirloom Knitting. I knit the dark green edging and insertion first and then picked up with the pale green and gold. After blocking and admiring, I pulled back to the dark green and have kept going with that. I'll make that as long as I can with the one skein. After that, I envisage picking up all along the edge with the pale green and knitting the diamonds in a kind of reverse Faroese way until I run out of that and I'll switch to gold leaf lace. This could take some time.

It's a mystery to me...

2011-09-26T22:21:00.000-04:00

Thanks for your compliments on my orange yarn combination. Helen commented: "Gorgeous. I think that's the loveliest thing you've knitted out, of a lot of lovely things. I would admire your patience but I expect it's something darker than that. Obssession?!"

Obsession indeed. There is definitely an element of obsession in how I operate. Fortunately, my life is currently such that it can accommodate endless knitting outside my day job. From the time we were small, my sisters and I were always making things or reading books. Tracing each other's outline on huge rolls of paper, making little worlds in the roots of trees with flotsam and jetsam, cutting out images from magazines, pasting and colouring, making puppets, houses for dolls, sewing and fiddling with yarn. I fought my way onto the sewing machine when I was 8 but only using the treadle. There wasn't much knitting until later but there was yarn. My mother wove and did rug hooking in addition to sewing. Alternately, we were glued to books. I don't remember being heavily scheduled or receiving much direction when I was young. Meals, school and bedtime were definite interruptions. Now it's meals, work and bedtime that are the interruptions. Oh and cleaning the house, but we won't talk about that.

My earliest memory of knitting involves my mother, her sister, my grandmother and my older sister. At least one of them must have had knitting in hand. My aunt, who was probably in her mid 20's said something like, "And why aren't those girls knitting?" We were probably hanging around to catch the adult conversation. We would have been quite small, perhaps 5 and 7. Anyway, someone gave me some pink yarn and some needles and I did it for a while and then just began to pretend to knit after I forgot what they showed. Then they took it away and that was it for several years until someone else showed me and I made a few doll blankets. Serious knitting came when I was a teen ager and my boyfriend's mother taught me how to follow a pattern and make a pullover for her son. Then I kept at it off and on until I was in my forties and quit smoking. My friend Shirley showed me how to knit socks and it was game over. Now it's an obsession. Thanks Shirley!

So I've finished 2 more shawls since the orange one. Purple Island in the Sea, a lace square on the smallish side, it wears well folded corner to corner. It is made from Malabrigo Sock - The Queen’s Lace with Bead Stitch Insert from Heirloom Knitting around a garter stitch diamond centre. Here:

Also, another mohair laceweight mohair combination, this time a bright sea green mohair with alpaca in a milky shade of robin's egg blue. Ah, the depth! The pattern is Stahman's GS Catharina Here's how it looked in the bath but the dye ran and the colours blended somewhat. I saw one of these felted at the Fiber Fest at Hemlock Looked great.

Now I'm messing with Jill Draper's laceweight, Aurora which I bought at Hemlock. I'll let you know how it works out.

And what have we here?

2011-08-24T19:37:00.031-04:00

I went to work early this morning because it was freshman move-in day, and we had to park father away than usual. Turned out that I had some extra time so I walked around campus looking for statuary to use in my modelling shots of the Wild Orange.

I think this guy needs someone to manage his image.

Here's a closer shot:

It was really hard finding a cooperative statue...

So I gave up and hung it on a tree. Meh. I only had 15 minutes, after all.

It turned out that an ordinary office table was just what was wanted.

Now it's back to the Purple Island. Stay tuned!

Everything's coming up orange

2011-08-17T22:04:00.011-04:00

It's drying. I can hardly wait to unpin it and take it out in the light of day.

The pattern requires knitting two Crest of the Wave borders and a smaller lace centre. For the borders, I just knit the yarn as it came, but for the centre I tried to control the colours, clipping out the orange and knitting blues, turquoise and purple only. Orange lace mohair throughout. Better pictures soon.

Oh yeah, these are actually cucumbers and they taste good too. Not sure about why they are orangey yellow. Could it be because they were planted between tomatoes and strawberries?

Purple, blue and orange

2011-08-06T22:03:00.011-04:00

I've managed to maintain slow but steady progress on the 20 row repeats of the Queen's Lace edging around the Purple Island despite a major distraction. It just happened, I tell you.

I'd been walking past the same pile wild orange coloured balls of Karabella Lace Merino in the LYS for months. Last week it came to me that this yarn would perfectly complement and in fact give a boost to the 5 skeins of Jojoland Melody that I have been stashing for a few years. Now Jojoland Melody is a fine yarn, somewhere between sock weight and lace weight. it has nice slow and subtle colour changes. People on Ravelry have made lovely things with it. But I adore combining mohair with other yarns. It adds such depth. I've done it before with mohair and alpaca in the same pattern, Cheryle Oberle's North Sea Shawl from her book Folk Knits. It's a fun and easy knit. For most of it there is just one lace row so you can knit it without looking at the pattern too often. Gotta go!

Purple Island

2011-07-24T21:59:00.008-04:00

I started a purple garter diamond because I needed some mindless knitting for the car. I selected the yarn (Malabrigo Sock) just because I like the feel. I figured I'd knit the diamond centre and choose a border and edging later. It has 162 stitches at its widest. I finished this centre just after completing Rock Island Canopy, when I still had the itch to continue with Shetland Bead stitch. So that's what I went on with. In a way, it's an extension of the last several projects.

If you embiggen, you can see the Shetland Bead stitch right next to the purple, though you can hardly tell that's what it is. I used the same needle size throughout. I persevered through 20 repeats. I did wonder, while knitting the border whether or not I should change to a larger needle. It felt a bit tight while I was doing it but I just kept going. Blocking should fix it.

The edging, similarly unrecognizable at present, is Queen's Lace Edging (Heirloom Knitting page 129) with Small Bead Insertion (page 128). I don't know why I'm even explaining all this when it's impossible to make it out in the picture.

My guess is that apart from the colour choice it will look very traditional. I ran out of the purple even before finishing the centre and switched to blue because it was at hand. I have no inkling about the final size or whether my proportions are reasonable. I am enjoying it, however it all feels a bit irresponsible.

Our heat wave/drought ended yesterday evening. Up until then we had less than half an inch of rain in all of July. I did minimal watering, focussing on the vegetable plot and phlox bed. Nevertheless some things continued to bloom...especially weeds.

Been and gone

2011-07-14T19:33:00.015-04:00

We have been and gone to Wakefield for our summer week off. It was quite hot and we swam every day often more than once, and as it turned out, right alongside a beaver. Once Nadia saw him pass by as she floated in the water, we switched to swimming at my sister's dock on the other side of the river. It was near the end of the week anyway.

The latest pink shawl has been sent off to an elderly and housebound friend who has a hard time dressing stylishly and loves something pretty to throw over her shoulders.

I also finished off this La-La made by holding the Noro lace yarn along with a strand of grey Karabella lace weight Mohair. Someone commented that he wood really brings out the grey in the scarf in this picture. That made me laugh.

While in Wakefield, I made my annual appearance at my friends' knit night. It was held at potter Maureen's with my sister Tina, friends Julie and Kathryn, and a couple of others in attendance. I don't remember their names but they had done interesting things locally like bringing back midwifery in the 1970's. Kathryn has been hand dying Amtex yarn - superb yarn, superb colours. She has a small studio in Wakefield and has done some kits with patterns by Julie. Hope to see more from them. Wish I had a link to share.

It was a fun but exhausting week. We had to cart in our drinking water. Good thing there were 2 sisters and a daughter to spread the load.

Pink Update III: among the tomatoes

2011-06-30T22:16:00.008-04:00

To re-cap - I started at the top with 11 repeats of leaf lace motif from Forest Canopy. On the last row, I increased one stitch for every yarn over in order to transition to several rows of garter stitch, maintaining the openness of the leaf lace. Then I knit the bead lace chart from Heirloom Knitting, a few more garter rows. I finished up with the Wave lace chart (also from Heirloom Knitting). It's sort of a Rock Island knit backwards with leaf lace instead of garter for the centre.

Purists will insist that my edging is backwards but frankly, it's not a problem for me.

Here is our local feral cat, Cleo. She's fixed and has had her shots, thanks to our neighbours. Here she is lying on the cat pedestal, under the birch.

Pink Update II

2011-06-22T21:54:00.017-04:00

I'm slogging through the Wave Lace edging from Heirloom Knitting. This photo shows where I was on Sunday morning. Now I'm at the halfway point. It is essentially the same as the wave lace used in the Rock Island Shawl.

I'm not convinced that I will have enough yarn to finish the edging, but I can't tell yet. If I run out, then I will wish that I had done the Doris edging. That's because in the Wave Lace pattern, the first stitch of each inwards row is fortified with a yo paired with a decrease and this uses up more yarn. I might be OKAY. If not, watch out Marcia, who bought the same yarn at the same time last year at Hemlock. I may be plaguing you for a few yards.

The yarn is Piggy Toes B Pot Luck Yarn. 65% Superwash Merino/35% Bamboo. Soft, but the bamboo adds shine and a bit of weight which is just right to hold a shoulder shawl in place.

Pink update

2011-06-16T22:08:00.003-04:00

On the subject of the ants, colleagues here think that there are more than usual this year because of the exceptionally wet weather we have been having. Apparently floating a blossom in a glass of water isolates the little beasts. Guess I'll have to admire them outside.

I'm about halfway through the bead lace portion of the pink shawl. I haven't quite decided about the edging yet, but I'm thinking about the Wave Lace pattern from Heirloom Knitting. Love that book.

Down the garden path

2011-06-12T22:08:00.008-04:00

I tried to bring these peonies inside, but they turned out to be full of ants. When are peonies not full of ants? There must be some trick to getting rid of them.

In any case, in my current project, I've decided to mix and match the Shetland bead lace border featured in the Rock Island Shawl with the leaf lace centre from earlier efforts. I'm not sure about the edging yet. I might use the wave lace from the Rock Island or maybe the wave lace from Heirloom Knitting. I think they're related.

You can see my new pink knitting below. I start at the top, unlike Rock Island which starts with the edging. These pictures were taken this morning. By now I have finished the leaf lace and garter stitch transition and I'm about to embark on the bead lace. I'm doing it in reverse, increasing at the sides and centre as I knit, rather than decreasing as in Rock Island. I'm not quite sure how it's going to work.

Red, Red and Red

2011-06-08T22:29:00.007-04:00

Here is my finished Rock Island, before and after blocking. This was the first time that I knit with Madeline Tosh Lace and I must say that it was very satisfying. It is both strong and soft and it the colour has depth. It's a present for a friend who is moving away, though it's very tempting to keep it.

It has been very hot, 33C or 92 F last I looked. My cucumbers sprouted today. In this weather, you have to keep an eye on the small plants and water them often. Sadly, the longer garden hose is set up to water grass seed on the front lawn so I've been hauling watering cans to my humble little vegetable patch. There are masses of strawberries too, not yet ripe but clearly enjoying the heat.

The Purple Season has passed

2011-06-04T22:22:00.020-04:00

It's been a while. I'm barely keeping up with the seasons. Winter swam into Spring this year. There was a lot of purple in the landscape for a while. Now summer flirts with us; one day hot and steamy, the next cold and cloudy.

Whenever we have a dry half day, we run outside and work in the garden. I never had a chance to turn over the soil in the vegetable plot properly. I just kind of mixed it up a bit and threw in a bag of fresh earth before adding 5 tomato plants and some cucumber seeds. In the this picture, there are strawberry plants in the foreground and rhubarb in the back.

I've been challenged knitting wise too. I keep knitting simple shawls. Now that I look at them, they all have a lot in common. Here's the first one in brown Malabrigo Sock with a leaf lace centre...

Next, a classic small sized Aestlight. The yarn is Pagewood Farms Denali....In these first two, you knit the centre first, then pick up around to knit the border and edging.

And finally, I thought I was knitting something completely different when I let myself get caught up in the rage over Jared Flood's Rock Island pattern in red Tosh Lace. Now doesn't this remind you of the others? It's constructed a bit differently, they all have an edging, an openwork border and a tringular centre. On this one, you begin with the edging. Then pick up all along it and knit the border which is a Shetland bead lace pattern and last knit a garter stitch centre. The original pattern is knit with a silk yarn and stretched within an inch of it's life so that in the pictures, it looks less traditional than it might otherwise. Can't wait to see how mine blocks out.

Knit it!

2011-04-28T21:14:00.008-04:00

Spring in Western New York has been recalcitrant and angry, like a spoiled child. We had snow in mid April, lots of high winds and rain. The Forsythia has just now come into it's prime and the lovely Red Bud trees haven't even bloomed yet. Some people say that their tulips are blooming. I don't know about that.

I should be ashamed to post this photo, but this is what my vegetable patch looks like. It's awash with weeds, but you can just see the Rhubarb poking up. I've decided that the Rhubarb is the most important thing.

I've been extremely busy at work, and it leaves me little energy to do much but knit in the evenings. I finished the Storm Water Shawl (2 skeins of Handmaiden Sea Silk) and found a fellow to model it.

I finally knit myself a top that fits, though I'm having a hard time getting a good photo. This is Reid in purple.

I managed to make a little logo, but it doesn't look good embiggened. Too little time, too little energy.

I'm still on track with the sock a month thing, but I don't have photos. I knit my brother a pair bed socks out of leftover yarn for March and mailed them off to him. For April I have a red sock and a yellow sock done, the first of two different pairs. I think that counts.

Soon I'll show you a new Eastern Canopy. Brown though. Maybe not so exciting.

As far as seasonal projects go, my sister Tina pointed out that there are some nice patterns for summer tops in the Summer issue of Knitscene. OKAY, I'm running out of steam. Nightie night!

The Hat: Dotson, but not Dottie

2011-02-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

I fell in love with the honeycomb pattern on those last mittens and went on to knit a matching hat with the remaining yarn.

I started by typing "honeycomb" into the pattern search on Ravelry to see what others had done. I admired Mesi by Finnish knitter Suvia Simola. Here's a Flickr link to a photo. I really liked it but I wasn't sure it would suit me.

I decided that I would just start knitting and see where it went. Maybe I'd try for a tam shape. A flat top in a solid blue would provide some good negative space. Anything to avoid the pin head look of a head hugging tuque. The honey comb stitch pattern has a multiple of six stitches. After some swatching of the Malabrigo worsted, I decided to cast on 102 stitches. I knit an inch and a half of twisted rib and contemplated increasing. I knew that I didn't want a tight hat that made my head like a pin, but how would I incorporate sufficient increases into the structured honeycomb pattern?

I began by increasing to 120 stitches evenly across the last row of ribbing and then knit two repeats of the honeycomb. I wanted to make it still broader and came up with the idea of separating the next pattern repeat by a few extra knit and purl rows during which I could add an additional 30 stitches, bringing the total to 150. I'm not 100% satisfied with the resulting transition; it's not very elegant but it did the trick. I have better idea for the next time. Then I knit 4 more patterns repeats.

What to do next? I looked at the Star Tam pattern in Homespun Handknit and I had another idea. I skipped the big increase row but I did knit matching double decreases and increases spaced evenly around for about 4 inches as called for in the Star Tam pattern. This made the hat taller without changing the shape. It also broke up the dots a bit. I kept trying it on. When I felt there was enough height, I decreased fairly drastically over the final 3 inches, closing it off with a bit of a pucker. Now it reminded me of Felicity.

I wore this hat skiing this morning and got some modelling shots for you.

It's high time for all this snow to melt. The skiing was horrible. We have those "waxless skis" and ended up with two inches of sticky snow appended to the bottom of our skis. Tromp, tromp tromp. I took mine off to walk back.

PS. February Socks

I finished them and wore them skiing. Very boring plain knit dark blue 8 inch socks out of Lang Jawoll. Here on Ravelry.

The real colour of those mitts

2011-02-20T20:10:00.003-05:00

Those honeycomb mittens in the last post? Well, they're not really purple. The background is blue-green like a northern sea on a sunny day.

I'm going to make a hat now. I'll try to make it a tam, but we'll see.

Hanging in there..

2011-02-18T20:43:00.012-05:00

It's still Winter in Western New York. A lot of the white stuff melted in the last 2 days but as of tomorrow, it's back to the deep freeze. Nevertheless, Spring is in the air. Somehow. Somewhere.

I think that for me, the rest of this season will pass very quickly. I find myself with two jobs, coming home stunned at the end of the day.

Knitting continues. I had just time to snap this photo of a baby blanket that I knit for a co-worker before giving it to her. I used the charts and math from Sharon Miller's Cobweb Crepe pattern, but I made a smaller center and left off the edging. I think it's just right for a pram blanket for a little baby (Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted on 4mm needles)

I've knit one of a pair of the Honeycomb mittens from Homespun Handknit. It was easy and yet fun to watch the little windows accumulate on the needles. Like the blanket above, if you look around you'll find many similar patterns for what is basically the same item. This pattern calls for sport weight yarn , but I used worsted and just knit the smallest size to get an average women's size.

January Socks in under the wire!

2011-01-31T23:08:00.004-05:00

Here are my January socks. I just finished them and am posting in the 11th (or is it the 12th hour?). The yarn is Regia, Kaffe Fasset something or other. The labels are around here somewhere.

I really, really like the idea of having 12 pairs of hand knit socks at the end of the year. Knitting one pair of plain socks per month can't be too difficult.

.

NHM # 7

2011-01-28T19:39:00.022-05:00

Here is my first pair of stranded mittens: NHM#7 from Terry Shea's book, Selbuvotter. I've done sweater yokes before, but mittens are trickier and I'll tell you why. Maintaining the same tension over both mittens is more difficult than I thought it would be. No, I lie - I didn't even think about it beforehand. It wasn't until I finished the second mitten and put them side by side, that I noticed that the right one was significantly larger than the left. You can see it in the second picture. In addition to the tension issue, I started carrying the yarn differently and I moved from a 2 mm to a 2.5 mm earlier on for the second mitten. That's why the checkboard at the beginning of the cuff is bigger on the right mitten.

In the first picture the mittens are artfully arranged to hide the problem. Frankly, my dear...

I was out in Fairport today and discovered a neat little shop called Craft Bits and Pieces, located in the mall above the Fairport Public Library. It's run by entirely by volunteers and sells second hand craft materials of all types, including yarn, needles, patterns, etc. I didn't buy anything; the yarn was all acryllic and the patterns were all from the 1980's, but I think it's the kind of place that may be worth stopping by on a regular basis, early in the day, if you're into it. They might have some good stuff. Maybe. You never know. If you're in the market for different colours of doll's curls - they had plenty today. Also, there's a second hand tool shop around the corner. Must investigate.

Tons of doll hair in little bags, who knew...

I'm working on a baby blanket to be completed by next Thursday and I'm almost finished my second of my January socks. Cheers!

One mitten short of a pair

2011-01-21T15:44:00.019-05:00

Let's see. I've been struggling with a nasty bug all week and it's left me a little empty headed. I have, however, managed to knit a Norwegian mitten. Voila.

If it weren't for this little mitten, I'd have no sense of accomplishment at all. None whatsoever. The second one should go faster.

The yarn is Classic Elite Fresco (60% wool, 30% alpaca, 10% angora). I used US 1 - 2.25 mm and US 0 - 2.0 mm needles. I used the smaller needles on the cuff and on the thumb.

What else did I do? Lost internet for several days, nipping in the bud a dangerous addiction to Mahjong. Thanks go to Frontier, our phone company. Mended my daughter's fingerless mittens that she loves. Must have done laundry. Yes. Made more chicken soup with feet in it. Knitted myself plain gloves.

Now I'd like to knit an exciting Norwegian pair, but next on the menu is Maya Poffenberger's Japanese Wave Mittens (Ravelry link). Here's the photo from the project page. I think that a couple of skeins of Malabrigo Worsted could make a stunning pair.

I've been working on a few other projects too but have made negligible progress. If anything else of interest that I have thought about, seen, or done comes to mind later on, I will certainly let you know. For now, please accept instead this photo of my daughter Nadia's lovely Boojums sitting on my suitcase at Xmas.

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T19:13:00.005-05:00

I'm in Montreal, writing on someone else's laptop so no pictures. I'm knitting the last toe on the last plain sock of the year and I have plenty of knitting dreams for the New Year.

1) Finish some projects like the Storm Water shawl and Citron.Those are the most likely to be done soon.
2) Less likely, but no less desirable to finish - the Pine Tree Palatine and the second of two lace curtains out of the pale green Icelandic yarn.
3) Mittens. I'd like to practice some new mitten techniques. Before I left the house I was flipping through Favorite Mittens: Fox and Geese and Fences by Robin Hansen and thought I might experiment with different fibres on the Double Rolled mittens on page 36. I'd like to start early and have a pile of mittens to give as presents and donate to the Rochester Mitten Drive next winter.
4) I really like the Yarn Harlot's reflections on knitting a pair of socks each month. By the end of the year, she had 6 pairs to give as presents and 6 for herself. Nice.
5) I'd like to make a garment for myself that fits and can be worn to work.
6) Mend Nadia's fingerless mitts that she loves so much.
7) Make myself some gloves.
8) I'd like to enjoy my knitting and balance obligation with pleasure.

This is what I'm thinking about just now, but the longer I think the more projects come to mind. I'll stop before I depress myself.

Happy New Year!

In the Vortex: yes we can!

2010-11-20T13:09:00.051-05:00

It's almost a month since I wrote here last, that long dark month between November and December. I've been humming and hah-ing, writing and re-writing and finally conclude that if knitters near the Arctic Circle Lene and Harpa can present a good face during the short days, then so can I.

Love is an old pair of black gloves; at least it has been for me this past week. I knit them a year or 2 ago for my husband and he only recently complained in his mild way that the fit on the baby finger wasn't right. Don't worry, I won't torture you with photos except for this one which shows the fingers after I cut them off.

There's an article about gloves in the most recent issue of Cast On. It has now finally sunk into my brain that after you have knit the cuff and thumb and built up the hand, it's best to knit the baby finger first before building up the hand with a few more rounds and completing the other fingers. I don't like the way they tell you to close the finger tips like sacks of flour though. I prefer to kitchener them shut. Pigs will fly before I knit anyone else a pair of custom gloves.

Otherwise, all my knitting is plain socks and pleated tea cosies that I can't even show you because they're presents for familial lurkers on this blog, however I promised a link to the pattern to Debby and a few others at the LYS so here it is. And here's a photo of an old one. That's Aniko's sister making an appropriate face in the background.

A few weeks ago, when I was coming back from a cold or something, I blurted out that I had made soup with chicken's feet in it. A few of those present recoiled in horror. Well, I'm not alone in adding the feet to chicken broth and here's the proof. It's a long established ingredient according to Simply Recipes. And there's a kosher recipe too, over here.

And that's all I'm saying.

Hard Frost

2010-11-07T16:49:00.010-05:00

There was a hard frost here last night. When we went out this morning, the round yellow fruits of the Gingko trees across the street were drop drop dropping onto the pavement. The day was just beginning to warm up. A little later, we passed by a maple tree in Mendon Ponds park just as it decided to shed it's remaining leaves. One, two three, they all fell off with a popping noise.

This Coppertina Ninebark is still holding on to its foliage for the time being. And the greenery from the daisies is also quite stubborn. In a word, there's still colour out there to admire.

Back from Charleston, I hardly saw the place. I was in meetings almost the whole time, but it was overcast anyway. I know it's a beautiful city from past visits.

Very funny comments about the afghan. It's a Salvation Army rescue. I was just so excited about finishing Coquille. Here are some better pictures...

Dirty Blonde

2010-11-02T21:47:00.009-04:00

I'm going to Charleston. I may have to take Coquille with me damp!

Next up? Maybe Citron out of the Machair that Helen gave me. It was pictured on the Yarn Yard site in 2008, about 2 thirds down this page. It now appears to be a rare, discontinued yarn. Thank you, Helen!

When you just need to knit...

2010-10-25T19:33:00.007-04:00

Maybe it's been a long day at work. Maybe you're coming off a complex lace jag. One more Russian chart will make you cry, but straight stocking stitch will just put you to sleep.

You like garter stitch, but you're looking for a project with a bit of interest.

Something that will let the beauty of the yarn shine through. Something that will use up that sock yarn you keep buying. Something that will show you a different side of short rows. Did I mention that you're not afraid of short rows?

Coquille. By Yarnerinas. You know you want to.

(Ravelry link here. Queues instantly!)

What I bought at Rhinebeck

2010-10-24T18:25:00.010-04:00

As a member of the consumer society, I have done my duty. Modestly.

I bought the requisite skein of yak fibre. I'll make some mittens. Supposed to be nice and warm.

Two skeins of Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors II sock yarn in the Stonewashed Denim shade. which will likely become a shawl or two. Tina made a nice teal coloured Citron out of this yarn.

Skaska Designs 50% Silk/50% Merino. I'm sorry to say that I don't know more about this yarn, such where it came from, but it's awfully soft. It reminds me of Touch of Twist. He was there too, but I bought from him at Hemlock. I would buy anything from Galina. With my eyes closed.

Then 2 mohair/merino blended skeins from Persimmon Tree Farms. These are the folks who make Piggy Toes, which I used for the brilliantly orange scarf in the last post. Love their colors.

And lastly, 2 sets of leather handbag handles from Homestead Heirlooms, for which I paid more than I would have liked, but which are pretty nifty. They come with waxed thread and buttons to hold them on from the inside of the bag. I swear to get on with more felted bags from Malabrigo worsted. It felted in record time.

And that's that.

Over the Hills and Far Away

2010-10-18T19:54:00.011-04:00

I woke up on Sunday morning with the feeling that it was all a dream. Having set out in the dark on a Trailways bus at 5 am Saturday morning and returned at midnight Saturday night, it's hardly surprising. First time at Rhinebeck. Wow.

We arrived at the Dutchess County fairgrounds at around 10 am and the place was already packed. There were about 20 buildings, many containing vendors, some with animals. I got bogged down for the first 2 hours in buildings A and B, the highlights of which included losing my hat at Skaska Designs (Galina saved it for me) and a company that sells leather handbag straps. Plenty of knitting to look at, good and bad, but my photographic skills were out the window with my wits. Most of my pictures looked like this. Here you can get a glimpse of some of the lovely flowers which were everywhere:

I stopped outside and wolfed down my cheese sandwich. It's really easy to find a place to take a break. There are a lot of wooden benches scattered about.

I wish I had spent more time sitting and watching the passers by. Instead, I got caught up gawking at the consumer goods. Hemlock times 10. I'm pretty sure that I got to the noon time Ravelry meet-up, but did I really see Ysolda Teague donning a gigantic knitted Bob-head? Did I really go up to Casey and say something sentimental about Ravelry? Oy, what would I have done after sunset had I stayed?

After lunch I staggered through the remaining buildings. I passed long lines of young women queuing to buy Bugga and STR. My head was spinning when I saw a familiar booth: Persimmon Tree Farm, the vendor who sold me the yarn for my Eastern Canopy at Hemlock:

Late in the day, after a good sit down, I managed to get this shot of some of my bus buddies. Here's Tina Turner leading us back to our bus before the sun set.

Had a great time. I'm ready to go back next year. Next time, I'd focus my time with the vendors, sit around and chat more and try to see the sheep dogs. Once at Hemlock I saw dogs herding geese. I think. You never know.

Rhinebeck Eve

2010-10-15T17:28:00.013-04:00

I've laid out my clothes and packed my bag. I have only to make sandwiches and a thermos of tea, sleep for a few hours until it's time. Time to catch the bus and be off to Rhinebeck in the morning. I'll be a first timer at the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival. The GVHG bus leaves at the crack of dawn. Am I crazy or what?

I'll be carrying the blue mosaic bag of earlier posts.

I lined it with pink satin, sewed the zipper to the lining and tacked it inside the bag.

Eastern Canopy

2010-10-10T20:33:00.025-04:00

First things first: Status of the Blue Bag - I cut out a pink satin lining for it and found some blue buttons. I'd like to find a piece of card or plastic and cut it to fit the bottom of the bag so that it retains its shape. I'd really like to finish it up this week so I can take it to Rhinebeck. Shandy, it's the easiest thing to make. Just experiment with some leftover yarn that is suitable for felting. Try out a few sample stitches and shrink them and go from there. I knit it in the round which made the mosaic stitch a lot easier - you just repeat the same row twice! Mary Lou, looks like you need a break! I do my best to keep my work at work, but I know it's not always easy. For now, my gadding about continues. Today we went to Canadice Lake and I brought my knitting.

The latest:

Last week, I started out knitting a Forest Canopy and ended up knitting the border and edging of Aestlight onto it (after adding about 40 stitches on to my last Canopy row). I'm calling my version Eastern Canopy. I just love that eyelet border!

Yarn: Persimmon Tree Farm - Piggy Toes B Pot Luck Yarn. 65% Superwash Merino/35% Bamboo. The skein has 560 yards/about 4 ounces but I only used about 3 quarters of it, maybe not even.

I finished it in the car today and took it on my walk by Canadice Lake. The colours of the shawl were everywhere around - in the leaves and the earth.

It was the perfect Fall day. Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

On the way home, we bought honey. We could see the hives behind the house. The stand is at the corner of Canadice Lake Road and Purcell Road. Mmmmm.

Once home, I blocked my shawl. It's 50 inches across the top while pinned.

Here's what I have left out of 4 ounces:

Up and down and back and forth...

2010-09-27T22:18:00.026-04:00

My sister Christina has pointed out that my last post was a full month ago. And where haven't I been these few weeks? I feel as though I've hardly sat down until today, when I decided that enough is enough and I put my feet up.

I started the month with a visit to the Federal Building in Buffalo to be fingerprinted for my new green card. I learned that your fingerprints can actually wear off. Some of mine are almost gone. The officer taking my prints paused and regarded me with great satisfaction. "That's from work," she said. It didn't occur to me in time to say that it was probably caused by knitting needles. Books don't rub off your finger prints, tho if they could...

From there, we went on to tour the Frank Lloyd Wright House at GrayCliff on Lake Erie. We cruised through Cattaragus county, stopping only for Tim Horton's. We flew past the Zoar Valley which I really want to visit one of these days to it's waterfalls and old growth trees. Finally we wended our way up though Wyoming County to visit the Dancing Goat in Warsaw, where I welcomed Mara back to Western New York and purchased a skein of that Ella Ray Merino Laceweight that Chronic Knitting used for her Swallowtail. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. Eight and a half hours in the car that day and we never left New York State or went east of Rochester.

The rest of the month has been similar. I've picked raspberries in historic Egypt, giant mushrooms by Hemlock Lake and tomatoes from my own backyard. I've wandered the slopes of Harriet Hollister park. I've gadded about at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival and followed my favorite paths at Letchworth, where I must say there are too many people these days. I've knitted socks in the woods, at the car wash and on the road. I've showed off my summer knitting at the first Guild meeting. I finished the navy blue Swallowtail out of Mirasol Nuna - luscious Merino/Silk/Bamboo. Must mail it! At the Guild, I happened to glimpse 2 beautiful and perfect sweaters that Paula made over the summer out of Nuna. Very nice!

What have I not done? I have not finished the Swing Jacket or the Blue Mosaic bag. I've made a lot of progress on both but finished they are not.

The Swing jacket is almost done - just four more inches on the collar and then all I have to do is to sew the seams. I felted the blue bag. I had a disastrous adventure with a zipper which I sewed on and then had to carefully remove because it overstretched the edges. Sister Frances (not a nun) suggested the obvious - sew the zipper to a lining and then stitch the lining into the bag - brillant! Before I do that, however I must throw the bag back into the wash to calm the overstretched edges a bit. Pics below.

Puffball mushroom:

We picked this one, ate half and dried the other half in the oven for later:

View from Harriet Hollister:

Fiber Fest:

Nuna Swallowtail:

Hemlock Lake boat launch:

Letchworth trail:

Before:

After:

Close-up after:

Blues and Purples

2010-09-06T18:17:00.019-04:00

I have interpreted the completion of the GS Catharina as a of license to start a whole host of new projects. The Swing Jacket is brought out only when mindless knitting is on the menu. It won't take long to finish it and the cold weather will motivate me soon enough. My logic may be bit shaky here, but knitting oughta be fun, right? Here is some of what I have been up to.

As mentioned in my last post, I started with playing with mosaic knitting, trying to take the technique beyond its usual geometric, crafty look. I used two pale shades of Berocco Seduce, a fine linen/microfibre yarn. One is off white and the other is a variegated blue/gray. I knit a 12' x 4.5" rectangle. I shaped one end of into a flap and sewed up the sides. The resulting fabric feels like a good linen suit jacket.

Here's a close-up. You can kinda, sorta see the mosaic pattern. Click. Click.

It's held shut by a snap underneath the button. You get to pore over your button collection for this project. Here, I've stuffed the bag with a little packet of tissues, but you can keep anything in it and toss it in your purse. Think presents!

Here's the back:

Next, I'll work a subtle variegated yarn against a bold background and see how that works out. I have some worsted weight so I'll make a larger bag. For the sake of comparison, I'll knit the same mosaic stitch pattern as I did for the small bag. I'm thinking of felting it. Hopefully it won't look too much like typical mosaic knitting, which I think rather imitates the look of very structured embroidery - okay in small bits. Mmmm..Malabrigo!

I also started a silky blue Swallowtail shoulder shawl for my elderly aunt (who is 91!)

Finally, I'm several repeats into the Handmaiden's Storm Water Shawl using 2 complimentary skeins of blue and purple Sea Silk. But let's keep that for another day.

Subtle Mosaic

2010-09-01T21:41:00.023-04:00

The book: Mosaic Knitting by Barbara Walker. A stitch dictionary of charted designs for mosaic knitting. I have only used this technique in small projects such as little bags to carry things inside another bag, ipod cases, glasses cases, etc. You could knit a variety of squares and sew them together.

The yarn: Berocco Seduce. 4% Rayon, 25% Linen, 17% Silk, 11% Nylon. A stiff and shiny yarn with no memory. I looked at it for months before biuying 2 skeins to try it out. It's kind of like knitting with a stiff flax.

The needles: 2mm / zero US. Warning: knitting stiff yarn with small needles can result in a headache, but otherwise, the result is good. There must be some yoga exercise for this.

I was warned that this yarn could be frustrating because it doesn't wind well and won't stay in a ball. I don't remember where I saw this in practice, but it came to mind that capturing the balls of yarn immediately after winding in footlets would work and did it ever! It's perfect. When you want more yarn you just pick up the thread and shake it out of the footlet. Can you read "no nonsense" on the toes?

After knitting a 4 inch by 12 inch piece, I cast off and put it overnight in a bath of Soak. I'm curious to see what that will do to it, remembering an article (New Yorker?) about some conservators who gave a bath to some medieval tapestries. They did time lapse photography so they could watch how the fibres moved and turned as it soaked. Or am I making this up?

So what's so subtle? Well, the darker yarn is variegated. You have to double click on a photo of the knitting to embiggen it to get an idea of what I'm talking about here. The variegation in the colour makes the hash mark motif in the pattern less visible, but it's still there. It's just subtler. I like that.

Hope to have better pictures tomorrow.

GS II on track for take off

2010-08-29T18:30:00.010-04:00

I've finished the Garter Stitch Catharina II and blocked it. I'll put it away until I find the right someone who can wear this strange clay/pink/purple colour. I could in a pinch. I just love this pattern and will probably knit it again. The garter stitch really shows off the yarn quality. I'd knit it again.

Doesn't it look like it should be slithering along the ocean floor?

I've been sticking to my plan and just today finished re-knitting the back of the Noro Swing Jacket. After this, I think I'll get on to small projects and swatches for a while. It's taken a lot of discipline not to get sidetracked. I'll post about my swing jacket modifications in a few days.

Catching Up

2010-08-20T20:25:00.016-04:00

I'm still plugging away at the Swing Jacket and the GS Catharina shawl, both of which I had expected to be finished with by now. I've re-knit the two fronts of the jacket and cast on for the back, finally. I managed this while waiting at the the Waterloo Outlets. I had 1.5 hours of straight knitting, surrounded by serious consumers, many shopping for back to school items. A band struck up, playing Beatles tunes for the shoppers. And there I was in blue jeans, wearing that blue mesh summer top that I knit earlier this month and a wide brimmed hat. Even my knitting was blue. Felt like a prop for the band. Hmmph.

Here's the beginning of the end of the GS Catharina shawl - finally the edging has begun!

Thanks, Ms Marty. I keep trying to make it to the Seward House there, but I always get distracted along the route and run out of time. Yesterday, we walked on the wonderful pier.

Is there a yarn shop in Auburn? Talk about yarn shops, I recently heard that there's a new shop in Warsaw, NY named the Dancing Goat that was recently opened by 2 people returning to the area from NYC.

Consolation

2010-08-16T20:28:00.005-04:00

With the excuse of signing up for a bus trip to Rhinebeck, I made a trip to the LYS yesterday, specifically to Yarn Boutique. Really, I was only trying to console myself about having to unravel the three pieces of the Noro Swing Jacket.

I looked at patterns. I admired a great deal of yarn. In the end I held off buying the yarn and bought two Berocco booklets, no. 288 and no 298. I'm not the type to spend $9.50 per skein, unless it's something very special. I decided to look in my stash to see if there is anything I could use to make Reid in place of the 9 skeins of Blackstone Tweed called for by the pattern.

I have 9 skeins of Fibra Natura Heaven purchased at Mouline this summer. Hmmm. There might not be enough yarn considering the gauge is smaller than the Blackstone tweed. Tempting though...I could end up with a worse problem than I'm having with the Noro. Must dig deeper into the stash.

In my typically disciplined way (ha ha), I re-started the Swing Jacket after returning from the LYS and have gotten half way up one front. When I finish the last repeat on the GS Catharina, I'll start another project.

Sunday in August

2010-08-15T10:35:00.025-04:00

This is about the time when it hits children that the summer is coming to an end and that school is about to start again. It's a special time of year, either sad or happy, depending on how you feel about school. The feeling can last for life, resurfacing each year around this time.

Frankly, I had mixed feelings about school - I cycled between dread and happy anticipation. Come mid August, my garden looks more grey than green to my eyes, a little deflated, but there are still some striking blooms, and there are scads of tomatoes and cucumbers on the vine. Time to make gazpacho.

In knitting, I have been alternating between 2 projects, a second Garter Stitch Catharina and a second Noro Swing Jacket. The GS Catharina is almost finished and looking like it's supposed to look.

The Noro Swing Jacket has me sweating bullets, however. I can't believe that I've been stitching so mindlessly!

I knit the two fronts and the entire back in the largest size with Noro Retro. It's an Aran weight yarn!! And only now do I look at it and see that it's going to have a finished bust measurement 6 full inches bigger than planned!

Yes I swatched. I thought that if I used a 4.5 mm needle instead of a 5mm, it would cancel out the fact that the yarn is thicker than the one called for in the pattern. Ha ha, yeh, yeh, yeh. That's 2 weeks of lunch time knitting gone to waste. If the yarn weren't so lovely to work with, I think I'd just chuck it and start something else.

Nevermind. The countryside still beckons. Here is Canadice Lake, which the city of Rochester has just sold to New York State. A pristine lake such as this, unembellished by cheek by jowl houses and speed boats is a rare thing here. Let's hope it stays this way.

Judging by what I've seen on recent walks, there is a bumper crop of mushrooms in the woods for those who care about such things.

Home again, home again

2010-07-30T17:40:00.022-04:00

After my week in Wakefield, I tottered off to Montreal and situated myself on this garden swing. My entire vacation was punctuated by visits to yarn shops and knitters. You know the kind of thing - you tell yourself that you're only on the look out for yarn which comes from the vicinity in which you find yourself. Kind of like beer drinkers, I imagine. Either you get carried away or you don't.

In Ottawa, I bought 7 skeins Diamond Yarns Luxury Collection Zen (Soy/Bamboo/Cotton) at KnitKnackers on Bank Street, enough to make this summer top. This is the first thing that I've knit for myself since February. I liked knitting with this yarn. I am amazed that it isn't heavy feeling like so many Bamboo yarns are. Also, the price was right - $4.99 per skein.

In case you are wondering, I knit this sideways - stocking stitch with lace insertion on the miccle front and under the arms. Shaping only for the neck. Finished with I-Cord knit on to smooth the edges. I'm glad that Diamond is making decent, accessibly priced yarn. I didn't see much of it elsewhere, sadly.

In Wakefield, I knit with Aniko, Katdry and WakefieldPotter as well as with my sister and daughter. The Wakefield crowd is dyeing their own handspun as well as some super yarn from wholesaler Amtex Yarns in Toronto. My sister and daughter and I went to their Knit Night - very hospitable folks! I wanted to go to Katdry's studio above the Tulipe Noir, but ran out of time. Apparently they sometimes bring the yarn and their spinning wheels to the weekend market.

And of course there was a certain yarn shop in Montreal where I picked up some really nice souvenirs: Mouliné Fine Yarns on Notre Dame St. I acquired 4 skeins of the Handmaiden's Flaxen (65% Silk, 35% Linen). Oooh. Also, Tanis Fibre Arts' Blue Label fingering weight and Pink Label Lace weight, just a skein of each to try. Apparently, according to a chatty individual who was lodged in the Armchair by the cash, Tanis gets her yarn from Amtex as well and they are the also company that makes the Sea Cell that the Handmaiden dyes. Better than that other stuff that people are using per the Armchair. Mouliné is the one Montreal yarn shop where I feel most comfortable. I can always find something really nice and something else for a really good price there. My kind of place.

Finally, the Blue Fir Cone Diamondways sees the light of day!

Despite what the Armchair had to say about this yarn (I listened for a good hour to its gossip), I absolutely love knitting with the Karabella Lace Merino that I used for this shawl. I unpinned it when I came home and took some pictures. I'll probably take more before I let it go to it's future home (in Russia!). Anyway, here they are - just goes to show what you can do with a few stitch dictionaries and a few techniques.

Summer!

2010-07-15T16:24:00.020-04:00

I'm in Wakefield, Quebec this week, knitting by the Gatineau River. The river is slow this year. Held up at the dam upstream for some purpose or other. The reduced current makes it easier to swim, but reedy in places. When the wind is still, the water is like a mirror.

Yesterday morning, I got up early and went canoeing with my sister Frances. She let me sit in the front of the canoe. Here's how the water looked rowing to the northwest, toward town at about 8 a.m.

And here's what it looked like rowing to the south east, towards the sun.

In knitting, I am working on 2 projects. Here's the beginning of a Garter Stich Catharina from Stahman's Scarves and Shawls.

I also have the hazy beginnings of a new summer top which is not yet worth showing.

Mary Lou, the Wakefield Bakery is still in existence, though I understand from the locals that it caters mostly to the people who come for the day on the steam train up from Hull.

The really good bakery is Pipolinka around the corner. Lavender Scones. Mmmmm.

Here's the Wakefield Bakery from the outside:

The Wakefield Bakery from the inside. Got a decent loaf of bread here:

And here's the unassuming, yet wonderful Pipolinka:

Air mattresses and pull-out couches...

2010-07-09T21:34:00.021-04:00

Between packing lunches and tidying up before leaving on holiday, I managed to block the Blue Fir Cone. Here are the photos that turned out...

When we crossed the border at Ogdensburg, we saw this sign and turned left.

Salad

2010-07-05T16:57:00.008-04:00

Hot. Holiday. Blue Fir Cone. Family. Potato Salad. Chaos.

Heat. Fireworks. Dark crowds. Daughter. Sister. Waldorf Salad. Mine has carrots.

Work. Games. Suitcase. Space. No place to block the Blue Fir Cone.

Post Script

2010-06-23T21:17:00.010-04:00

Thank you all for your comments.

The Pink Blaze is simply a very traditional pattern writ large by using worsted weight yarn. A plain knit centre with feather and fan border and scalloped edging.

Shandy, let's face it, mohair always sheds, it just shows more on black. But some of the new mohair yarns don't seem to shed as much as the older ones. This was from a cone that I acquired in a the Guild auction. It had probably been hanging around someone's stash for decades.

Maybe I will knit another one, but it's time for a break from the feather and fan. A long break.

Here's a preview of progress on the second Fir Cone shawl...more on this soon.

Pink Blaze

2010-06-19T19:28:00.022-04:00

Finally! Funny how you can talk yourself into a state about things.

I had all but convinced myself that this knit would never be done. The last eighth of the edging took about 2 weeks to finish. I worried that the change of yarn weights between the centre square and the border would not work out. I worried that it was too pink. I worried that the slightly darker colour of the centre square would make it look like a baby had pooped on it and it wouldn't wash out. But I was tired of it as my couch companion so I finished it off and gave it a wash.

This is for Bronia and Zoe. May it give you years of pleasure. My only warning is don't get near it if you're wearing black (it sheds a little) and don't kill each other fighting over it. My husband's remark this morning was, "Why don't you make anything like that for us?"

Yarn for plain knit centre square: Pingouin Jarré (cotton, wool acrylic)

Yarn for border and edging: Cascade 200 Heathers knit with mystery lace weight mohair (wool etc.)

Pattern: This is basically the Cobweb Crepe pattern from that Sharon Miller's Heirloom knitting with the Traditional Peaked Shawl edging instead of the Clematis edging.

Needle: 5 mm.

Fir Cone Border Swatch

2010-06-04T21:56:00.006-04:00

What's a blog entry without a photo? Here are a couple of pics of a swatch that I have done for the border of the second Fir Cone Diamond centre.

I used the leftover pale green yarn for the swatch below, but the shawl in question will be of the dull blue gray colour of the same yarn - Karabella Lace Merino. Same stitches, different colour.

The inner border is the Candlelight stitch From Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting. It looks sort of like the Fir Cone stitch. The outer border, which almost looks like an insertion before the edging, is the Cat's Eye stitch and the edging is the Traditional Scalloped Edging from the same book. I think they'll fit well together with the Fir Cone.

The pink blanket is still with me. It just needs one more push to finish the last 1/8th of the edging.

On my birthday

2010-05-19T12:16:00.017-04:00

...I went into the sunny garden, barefoot with my shawl and did dirty things with my socks in the name of knitting.

Really, I just put them over the ends of these bench legs so the Diamond Fir Cone wouldn't get messed up while I draped it there for photographs. I was desperately trying to get good pictures of the shadows of the lace.

This small shawl really does want to be a diamond rather than a square. The fir cone motif is 2 holes by 4 holes and so it stretches more in one direction than the other. I have high hopes for a second shawl with the same centre. I'm going to give it a bigger border. This one has a few rows of garter stitch with a row of holes in the middle before geing finished with Sharon Miller's Doris edging. I wanted to keep it fairly small as it is a present for my petite stepmother for her 90th birthday. But this was my birthday so I took it for a whirl.

Slide show here (26 seconds, no music):

Then I came inside, put on my favorite socks and ate cake.

Slow Going

2010-05-08T09:45:00.018-04:00

I've been chugging away at the edging on the pink blanket for more that a week now and I've just reached the half way point. It's a simple edging - Sharon Miller's Traditional Peaked Shawl Edging - but the knitting is very heavy. It makes my hands hurt after a while and it is turning out to be much larger than I thought it would be - it may end up 5 feet by 5 feet. I have come to accept that I won't be able to finish it in time for the christening.

To rest my hands, I have started to work on an edging for the pale green-blue fir cone diamond. I'm using the Doris edging - it's relatively simple and narrow. The whole thing is much lighter and easier to manage. It's whipping along. I should have it finished some time this week and I will post a photo then. It's a birthday present. I've started another fir cone in a dull blue gray Karabella Lace Merino. Can you see it in this bed of Ajuga?

I have yet to decide what I'll do with this diamond. The garden has been beautiful. Spring started early here. Everything is blooming at the same time and the resulting pollen levels have really knocked me back. I wish I could have gone to Iceland like I did last year. There is hardly any pollen there at all and the two weeks I spent there last April gave me a real boost. Of course now there is all that volcanic ash...I wonder if it is affecting peoples breathing...

Anyway, here are a few garden shots. You can see that my vegetable patch is very modest. It holds rhubarb, a few strawberry plants and chives right now. Later I will add tomatoes and some herbs. I usually get carried away and also try to cram in cucumbers and even lettuces. That reminds me - fingers crossed - I do not seem to be on the breakfast route of the deer this year so maybe we'll actually get to see the blue phlox blooming later on.

There are 7 lilac bushes between us and the neighbours. The scent is overpowering at times, but they do look lovely. Nearby Highland park has over 500 lilac bushes and the Lilac Festival begins next week. This site explains the history of the local madness for the flowers. More here.

Okay, Okay...

2010-05-01T21:29:00.008-04:00

My little contest induced some of you lurkers to come out and comment, for which I am happy. Others have been phoning each other and me with guesses (all wrong).

So. I'll tell you now what was making the noise that had my neighbour and the police in a such twist - it was the dying battery of a pager. Said pager was lying on top of the refrigerator which is situated under a cupboard. The cupboard is under a stairway. Go figure.

Meanwhile, here is my progress on the pink blanket. I've just started the edging.

Karabella Lace fir cone shawl center, blocked

2010-04-28T20:46:00.028-04:00

I just love blocking lace! And whatever others may say, I do enjoy knitting lace with this yarn. While it has shrunk back a bit, I think it is no more than I would expect. I used a 3.5 mm (3 US) needle.

Before blocking, the piece measured about 16x16 inches. Here it is in a field of Veronica...

Pinned out, it measured about 29x29 inches. I left it to try overnight, unpinned it in the morning and it immediately shrunk 1 inch to 28x28. I left it undisturbed for another 8 hours. It shrunk back one more inch in that time, to 27x27.

When I returned from work, I could resist no longer and took it for another whirl in the garden.

I just measured again and it is now 26x26 inches. The bumps that you can see in the first picture show no signs of re-appearing. For now, I have a 60% increase in size from the unblocked state. Quite respectable, but I will check again in the morning. Now, I'll get back to the pink blanket.

PS. No one has guessed the answer to yesterday's question correctly yet! Keep trying.

A True Tale, and a Contest!

2010-04-26T21:19:00.025-04:00

Really. I was standing at the stove yesterday evening, making chili. I had sauteed the onions and garlic and the meat was browning. I was in the process of opening up the cans of tomatoes and kidney beans, when my husband came in and reported that there were 3 police cars at the neighbour's. Seeing that I was at a delicate point in the culinary process, I continued working while hubby went out to join the growing crowd of neighbours on the pavement.

Various scenarios played out in my head as I drained tomato sauce into the pot. Had E. returned home from caring for her aged parents in Philly to find her house burgled? Worse, had she discovered her husband collapsed in a heap? I scraped the last of the beans out of their cans, put the whole concoction on extra low heat and went to join the little crowd.

At that point E. herself was outside holding court. She had arrived home and before long had become convinced that there was someone walking back and forth on her second floor, stepping on a creaky floor board. Crouching near an exit, she called the cops. For the record, they arrived within one minute, which fact I was very pleased to learn.

They beckoned her outside and 2 of them quietly entered the house with guns drawn (!). They listened and heard the same noise she had heard and took it very seriously: a loud creaking from time to time.They went from room to room, searching the place thoroughly. They eventually had E. show them all the nooks and crannies where someone could be hiding. They checked everywhere with no luck, but were very impressed with the number and nature of the nooks and crannies. After they were fairly certain that there was no one hiding in the house, they replaced their guns in their holsters and drove off.

So. After the police were gone. E. brought the neighbours in. Four of us stood in various parts of her downstairs and listened for the sound. We heard it. It was exactly like someone stepping on a seriously creaky board somewhere above the kitchen ceiling, near a doorway. I got fed up and went back to stir the chili and while I was away the mystery was resolved.

What was it? The house settling with the change of season? The death throes of a suffering rodent trapped between the walls? Tell me what you think! The first person to correctly guess what was causing the mysterious sound that brought a total of 5 cop cars to our quiet neighbourhood wins a skein or 2 of yarn - I haven't yet decided what kind, but it will be decent!

In knitting, I am deep into the feather and fan border of the pink baby blanket (featured in my last post). I've had to give myself a good talking to to keep myself from foreshortening the border before the optimum proportions have been attained. I think the border should be at a bare minimum half the size of the central square. The feather and fan pattern is making me loose my mind. I tell you it is putting me to sleep.

Here is the state of my alternate project, which is much more tempting to me at this point:

I believe that I have successfully worked out how to knit the fir cone pattern on the bias. Only after a good blocking will I know for sure whether I will get a square. I am not sure what I'll do next. I could continue with the borders as laid out in the pattern for the Fir Cone Square Shawl in Oberle's Folk Shawls, or select a border stitch from Heirloom Knitting. Suggestions will be appreciated.

And here is the state of Spring in our neck of the woods:

On and Off the Needles

2010-03-28T20:05:00.026-04:00

It's been a while since my last post. Of course, I will keep on with the Palatine though the third repeat, but I put it aside as it needs solitude and concentration. It's been more than a month since I posted. Spring has sprung in Western New York and the pollen has left me exhausted. I have not, however, been idle.

I have been working on a gift for someone who has been very helpful to our family. First, I knit the Alka shawl out of Stahman's Scarves and Shawls. I've had the book for more than a year and I'm only now getting around to using it. It focuses on patterns for shawls that are fitted to stay on your shoulders as well as on patterns for seaman's scarves. I used Cascade 220 for this project. It turned out well enough, but I have decided that it doesn't really fit the bill. It will go into the present drawer for later consideration.

Afterwards, I ordered 10 skeins of Karabella Lace Merino for a square shawl. I contemplated the Fir Cone Square from Oberle's Folk Shawls but rejected that pattern because it has a wrong side and also because I don't like the way that the fir cone motifs are oriented - just straight up and down. If you wear the shawl by folding it into a triangle, not only do you have to fold it carefully so as not to reveal the wrong side of the lace - your fir cones are all on a slant. I spent a few days pondering how to knit the center square with the fir cones on the bias and finally got it after several false starts. I'll post a picture of it in a few days.

In the meantime, finished another shawl from Stahman's book using some mystery yarn that I picked up at the Guild auction a year or two ago. After knitting with it for a few nights, I realized that it is yarn from an unravelled store bought sweater. I think it has a bit of wool in it, but not much. It is a nice enough colour - dove grey, but it reminds me the stuff that used to fly out of padded envelopes if you opened them up the wrong way, either that or the vacuum cleaner. It's funny how I find myself knitting this. Why did I get so far into the project before noticing that I wasn't enjoying working with this yarn? Another rhetorical question. This shawl will go to charity. Someone will appreciate it. I will definitely knit this pattern again, in wool next time.

I am also mid way through a baby blanket which has to be finished and arrive in Ottawa in time for the christening on May 9th. I just love this knit. Based on Sharon Miller's Cob Web Crepe pattern, I am using worsted weight yarn on size 5mm (US8) needles, so its going quickly. For the center, I'm using a vintage yarn that I acquired at the Guild auction this past week - Jarre by Pingouin. The yarn is a nubbly combination of wool, cotton and acrylic. It came with an enormous cone of pale pink lace weight mohair. Mmmm. So when I ran out the Jarre I switched to a combination of mohair and Cascade 220 for the feather and fan border. So soft.

Lastly, here is some local colour, including a photo of Athena, a feral cat who has been adopted by our neighbours. She has had all her shots, etc. but lives in their garage. She acts more like a dog than a cat and accompanies the family when they walk their dog.