UFO Number 2 - Fleece Mittens

Finished mittens, yay! Fleece mittens, a.k.a thrummed mittens (Ravelry link), for husband are done. It feels good!


This was a kit by Nancy Erlandson. The yarn was called Ponemah yarn from Quinnehticut Woolen Co. and had a lot of lanolin in it. It really did make my hands feel soft when knitting it! I wish I could make another pair in this same yarn, but this mill has been closed.

Maybe some people would not have bothered to finish such an old project, but I am compulsive about hanging onto old stuff, so I couldn't let them go. Plus, my husband really likes them!

I am still working on the Glittertind sweater, but it's not exactly tv-knitting. I have completed the first step on my list from last post. It's slow going.

The ufo spreadsheet has been rearranged. Projects that have not yet been started will not be called ufo's. Hannah is getting frogged. So I am down to 8 ufo's and that makes me feel more sane. Next, Setesdal Hat II.

Lipstick red lace

This was so much fun!

Pattern: Scarf with No. 20 border, Victorian Lace Today
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, in color Lipstick, 2 skeins
Needles: 3 mm Addi turbo

Width: 29 cm
Length: 142 cm
Pattern repeats: 22

I did twenty-two repeats of the lace pattern, which is exactly the same as the much larger stole in the book. I thought I would have to knit more than that because my yarn is thinner than what they used in the book, but that's just how it worked out. Check out the picture at the end. If I had made a narrower scarf I could have easily gotten by with just one skein of this yarn. Good to know!

I tried modeling on the pretty one:

Is this my color?

She ran away into her safe corner, but I followed. Just as well, the wood makes a nicer background. See how her right ear leans in? It does that when she in insecure. Poor thing, the tortures she has to suffer through.

Outside was better. As a bonus we got a better representation of the color as well.

This is taking forever...

I am not sure it was worth modeling it on her. I spent half an hour trying to pose her, which was impossible. Every time I tried to move so I could get her from the side, she followed and wanted to face me. And then I spent half an hour afterwards picking out white dog hairs with tweezers. They worked themselves in really well!

I love the way the second border is knitted on. And look how far I got with the first skein of yarn! Ten cm short of the end! So about 97 percent of this scarf from one skein...


I really learned a lot from this project. The knitted on border was definitely cool, and I found that a crochet bind off works better for lace. For me at least. The book recommends suspended bind off, but it worked out tight for me. I tried a few different ones, but none of the others worked. Lace is addictive, I think it's the most fun knitting there is. I had to force myself to put it down.

One amazing thing about the book, is that the author, Jane Sowerby, knitted every single shawl herself. There are forty items, most of them quite large!

Thank you, Jacqueline and Stephanie, for the fun knit-along!

Poetry in Stitches Camisole

The Poetry camisole is finished, and I really like it! After spending more time on the finishing than the knitting (typical), it's ready. This pattern is a copy of an actual vintage under garment. Maybe it was worn over a corset? I love learning about what people wore underneath their Victorian and Edwardian finery.

The shaping makes the top very comfortable, and I believe it would be flattering on most body types. The only adjustment that I made was to knit it size small on the length, but size medium on the width.

The instructions for the button holes were written for the medium size only, so I had to do that calculation for the size small. But I think it was good for my brain to be forced to do a tiny bit of math. It is getting old and creaky.

I found some flower shaped buttons to bring out the summery feel.

Details
Pattern: Poetry In Stitches p126
Yarn: Hifa Luxor cotton in pale blue 315. (Click on the button that says "Fargekart" to see the colors) Kit was special ordered from Nordic Fiber Arts.
Needles: Addi Bamboo circulars, 3 mm, 60 cm (24 in) long (An awkward Addi size, stick with 80 from now on!)
Crochet hook: 3 mm
Started: May 21, 2006, Finished June 28, 2006. A record!

The weather is not cooperating. Sometimes it's too sunny for pictures! I hope to be replacing this picture shortly.

I love the Hifa cotton yarn. It's smooth and makes a pretty fabric. I would love to make something in plain stockinette using this yarn to really bring out the sheen.
The only problem was that the plies tended to separate some when crocheting, but I don't mind, because this is what makes the yarn so smooth and silky. Crocheting was much harder on my carpal tunnel than knitting, though. I think I need one of those ergonomic hooks!

I had a problem with my cast-on being looser than the bind-off (the cast-on side is the button hole side), and when I tried it on, I realized that it would not look good. One side was a little longer than the other. So I picked out the row before the double seed stitch area, picked up the stitches, and reknit the 14 rows in the opposite direction. Now it's great. There is not any gapping between the buttons at all, even though the top is quite form fitting.

The garter stitch was quite stretchy, but the crochet edging firmed things up nicely.

I really liked knitting sideways like this, and I am thinking of making this Solveig Hisdal jacket from Norsk Strikkedesign later! I also love this Hanne Falkenberg jacket, the Mermaid. Isn't it the coolest, most awesome design ever?

Ooops, and I did some socks, too...

Ribbed Lace socks from Sensational Knitted Socks.



Yarn: Silja from Gjestal
Needles: 2.5 mm
Pattern: Ribbed Lace from the Eight Stitch Patterns chapter.
I love this book, and I can't wait to see the new one from Ms. Schurch!

For my second pair I thought I would try top down socks. These were started for me by my mother back in October. I liked toe-ups better for a couple of reasons. First, here I ended up with a small amount of leftover yarn, and second, it took me forever to get around to grafting the toe! Should I admit that the second sock was actually done about a month ago?

Trying to get creative while looking for a suitable background for my sock portrait. Turns out granite makes socks fuzzy!

Boston traveler

My dear friend came to chilly Boston, so it was a perfect time for her to model her hat.




Blossom wished for a Norwegian hat, and I picked this one because I thought it was a little more urban and sophisticated than the standard Norwegian hats. Doesn't she look chic?




We had a great time checking out shops (Yarn and Other) and totally stuffing ourselves with delicious food. Now I want to eat out in the North End every week!


Yarn: Dale of Norway Falk (charcoal backgound) and Heilo (all the contrast colors) , gold lame thread.
Pattern: Dale of Norway book 161

Details:
The edging is knit with standard color stranding. The stars are duplicate stitched after the hat was finished. On the back of the edging I used black cotton instead of the wool.

The pattern called for using a strand of gold thread together with all the contrast color and duplicate stitching, but my gold thread was too thick, (you can see it obscures the companion color) so I only knitted in the gold on the two stripes on the edging. It would have been too much otherwise.



I hope it will keep her warm!

Tweedy hat and scarf

Back to knitting! This week I finished the scarf for my husband and made a hat too, while watching a lot of good movies and Poirot mysteries. The Sisik yarn is beautiful and warm, a tweedy mix of mohair, wool and a small amount of acrylic and rayon. I might have to make a simple hat like this for myself, too!

Yarn: Dale Sisik, 5 skeins, from Kris.
Needles: 3.5 mm
Pattern: Trial and Error
Sisik: Here is a picture of a sisik for which the yarn is named.

We are having really bad lighting today, I should maybe take new pictures tomorrow...

Pippi is wondering when we can get rid of this pesky tree which is keeping her from her corner. She likes to hide there.

I wish everyone a fabulous new year. Don't make too many new years resolutions!

All Blue

Thank you so much for the great compliments on the Glowing Colors sweater. Pippi thanks you, too!

I have a new favorite distraction now, which is watching the live Elecam, from the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. I became aware of this sanctuary a few years back when seeing a National Geographic program about elephants being retired from zoos and circuses and allowed to move there. If you have ever seen this program, you know how touching their story is, and how happy they are to be able to live in a big family again, and not be living singly as most of them were. Both my husband and I cried when two of the elephants were reunited after thirty years. I love watching this webcast and seeing the animals just move around closely together. They are so sweet. If you are lucky you can catch them having a blast in one of the ponds.

In knitting news, you all were right, socks are fun! My first socks are finished, and actually they have been finished since last week, but the thought of making a "modeled" shot kept me procrastinating. It's cold, and I don't want show off my purple long-johns, and besides, purple doesn't seem to photograph well anyway.

Pattern: Beaded Rib toe up socks from Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Gjestal Silja in denim blue

My only problem was that I didn't stretch out the ribbed fabric before measuring my gauge and calculating the number of cast-on stitches. Silly me! Therefore they are a little bit big and are going to be for the husband. Good thing I picked a dark color!

They were fun to make, but not nearly as interesting to look at as all the cool socks you all are making out there. I have ordered some handpainted sock yarn for future fun, though.


I have also started working on a scarf in beautiful, tweedy Dale Sisik, which I was lucky enough to get in a swap with Kris a few months ago. The colorway is Camel, and the yarn is delightful! So soft and silky. It's a mohair, wool, acrylic, viscose blend. I join the chorus of people wishing it had not been discontinued.


And there is more! My next sock project is this turquoise lacy sock, also from Sensational Knitted Socks. Top down this time. Actually my mother started this one for me when she came to visit me from Norway, so I am kind of cheating. The yarn is again Silja.



While she was here, she also knitted me some mittens. She was really inspired when we went to Knitting Treasures in Plymouth, where she found this pattern for Newfoundland Mittens (click on the picture to see the pattern better). The yarn is Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted, and I was the one who picked out the bright colors, Kiwi and Sapphire. I keep finding myself gravitating towards brights recently. They are really warm and the Lambs Pride wool/mohair mix is super soft.

We also picked up the book Jackets for Work and Play from Knitter's Magazine which is excellent! She took it with her of course, and I may have to go and get my own copy. It was so interesting that my mother, coming from Norway, was finding all the knitting interest here inspiring. She tells me that all the yarns stores near where she lives have closed!

Glowing Colors Sweater

The second of my three projects. It's been so long since I published FO number one, that it seems lame to now bring out FO number 2. We will just forget about that whole numbering scheme... Instead I am naming it the Glowing Colors Sweater, formerly known as the yellow, red and green sweater.


I finished this on Saturday morning, and I have been wearing it ever since. It is so incredibly comfortable, nice and warm, but not too warm, very lightweight. I love the square neckline, and the tapered sleeves. It is practically windproof with that double thickness of wool, but not too hot at all. This yarn is perfect. I have usually worked with worsted yarn before (worsted type, not worsted weight), and this is woolen yarn. It traps a lot of air, and therefore is very lightweight, and seems to keep the perfect temperature indoors and out. Most knitting yarn is worsted, and therefore heavier.

I tested it out by walking all around Cambridge Sunday, in alternatingly sunny, windy and overcast weather, and then sat down on the ground to watch some of the Head of the Charles regatta, and never got cold, never got hot. It's also been great for walking Pippi.

Detail of sleeve patterns

Only problem, you don't get to see this sleeve pattern much, because the sleeves are too long on me and bunch up a little. I may have to make them shorter... Arrgh! Blossom, I am ready to swap this now, for a bottle of tequila...

The finishing for the neck and the sleeve.

Pattern: From "Norsk Strikkebok", 1990, Tone Takle and Lise Kolstad
English version known as "Sweaters: 28 Contemporary Designs in the Norwegian Tradition".

Yarn: Rauma 3-tr Strikkegarn, from Nordic Fiber Arts

Size: Unisex size Small

Colors: Yellow 131, red 144, green 198, honey 146, brown 199
(I think of the colors as Saffron, Red Pepper, Apple, Honey, and Chocolate. I am always thinking of food). The red is one of the most beautiful dark reds I have seen.

Modifications: Square neck instead of round, tapered sleeves with cuffs and picot edge, changed the dark natural brown with a lighter brown. I kind of wish now that I had stuck with the original dark black/brown color; it would have been a much better contrast.

The great thing about this book is that it's kind of a recipe for making sweaters. It has modular sweater instructions in the back where you pick the neck style (boat, round, square), the size (kids to adults), the gauge (baby wool to bulky). But there is so much more than sweaters though; there are several jackets, child's dress, a cape, a long coat and many really cute hats. I have made a few in the past. Too bad this book is out of print, it's one of my favorites.

Thanks to the husband for taking the pictures!

Elspeth Bolero FO Number 1

It's very lovely at the moment. Mostly sunny days, a little crisp at night, dry and clear. Whenever I think of September in Southern New England, I picture the clear golden light and the green trees all around me just on the verge of turning a beautiful yellow. This is my favorite month here. Maybe except for October...

And just in time for summer to be over, The Amazing Lace entry was all knitted up on Labor Day. But not quite done. The seaming and edging remained. It has taken me FOREVER to do the finishing on this. But I can still wear this for a little while as the days grow cooler.

The edges and the ties are crocheted. It goes perfectly with this tan and denim colored dress.


This photo shows the required laciness better


It also goes perfectly over a t-shirt.



Pattern: Elspeth in Rowan Magazine #37
Yarn: Berrocco Denim Silk, color 1414 Unwashed Denim. 5 skeins. Gift from Blossom.

For the edging, I had to reacquaint myself with crochet. It was much like riding a bicycle though, and I used my good and trusty "Harmony Guide to Crocheting. Techniques and Stitches" just to verify how many times to wrap around the needle for the different stitches. I stuggled some and pretty much had to make up the edging as I went along, because I didn't know that English and American crochet stitch names are completely different. What I mean is that they are the same, but they mean different things. British double crochet is American single crochet. Et cetera. I just realized this yesterday when I got Rowan #40! There are still some mistakes in the crochet pattern directions, though, I'm just saying...

On a completely different note, I saw a childrens movie the other day, Nanny McPhee, with Emma Thompson and Colin Firth. Was I the only one who thought that it was like a Kaffe Fassett fairy tale?

I was really into the sets. If you have ever admired the photos in the Fassett books, the ones where he shows inspiring interiors in glowing, amazing colors... the set of this movie was like one of those books. Deep saturated colors everywhere, acid green walls, cobalt blue woodwork and floor, with fuchsia and lime green costumes. Green and aqua woodwork with yellow walls. It was a visual feast! I want to buy this dvd only so that I can admire the colors! I wish I had better photos to show you than these stills...

In the childrens bedroom, and there were seven children, each bed had a different quilt or blanket in jewel colors. Every single one different, patchwork, granny squares, log cabin, plaids. The effect was so rich. I just wanted to make some quilts!
To top off the textile inpiration, in a beach scene the boys had on ganseys, which looked like they came straight out of Rowan Magazine. Too much fun.

Pictures, pictures

Finally, a picture of the little scarf. I think I am photo challenged, because this has been finished for about a week. This will be my spring and summer scarf. I like how the snowdrop pattern came out, and how the scarf is light and drapy after blocking. I highly recommend this yarn, it's silky and soft, and looks great after I washed it. I am thinking hard about making a summer top in the same yarn. Unfortunately, it is impossible (for me) to get a good picture of the color, and I think that is because the yarn is shiny. The reflections are confusing the camera lens. Take my word for it, it's periwinkle blue, not the royal blue which the pictures want to show.

Let me try another picture, this time with flash:



Now it looks more like the denim it's named for, but it's all a trick of the light.

Yarn: Plymouth Royal Bamboo, color Denim (47), 2.5 balls
Needles: 3.25 mm
Tension: 27 sts per 10 cm (over pattern)
Dimension: 10 cm wide, 1.80 m long (72 in)

I have been thinking about ripping out my Birch shawl. Since I made it with a much looser tension, it came out very large. What was I thinking? A shawl could not be too big? I love Birch, I really do, but it is kind of unwieldy. If I remake it I will remake it with the looser tension, but with 25 percent (at least) fewer stitches. Unfortunately, frogging Kid Silk Haze is pretty difficult. I will be mulling this over for a while, it won't happen until I finish some other projects.

Birch lace shawl done!

(This post has been edited... a picture has been added)

I finished Birch this week. I love it, it's like a soft cloud around my shoulders and so warm.

The finished shawl has a very nice drape

My Alice Starmore pose

It will be for special occasions only, because I already got it caught in the zipper of my wallet when I wore it to the grocery store... Ooops!
The yarn is lovely, so light and soft. I can see why it's so popular. One of my dogs playfully attacked it, so I have to be careful with how I carry it. Apparently it reminded somebody of a fuzzy squeaky toy being waved in front of them, but there was no damage done. If the pictures I took myself are not that great, it's because it was so cold out this week, and I couldn't stand to be out taking pictures with bare hands for very long. Hmmm, this is getting me thinking about future fingerless gloves to knit...

With this picture I am trying to show both the stripe effect which was the result of knitting every other row with different dye lots, and also how the garter stitch version looks as opposed to the more usual stockinette version.
One problem with the stripes was that I had to carry two colors along the side instead of one. I don't usually like doing that, because it causes the threads to lock into a firmer knot along the selvedge. Also, it's a double thickness of yarn on one edge, so that edge has a little more firmness to it than the other. While I was working I was worried that it would not look good, but it's not noticeable at all. It's really hard to get a picture of the color effect, but it does give more depth to the fabric, and I am very happy with it.
I think the garter stitch gives a little more softness to the texture. It also makes the fabric reversible.

Project specs:
Birch from Rowan Magazine 34
Yarn - Kid Silk Haze in color Pearl 3.5 balls
Tension - 15 stitches to 10 cm with 5 mm needles
Pattern modifications - the tension in the pattern is 20 stitches to 10 cm, but I wanted it more open so I used 15 st/10 cm.



I decided I needed I small portable project, so I have started a scarf using bamboo yarn. The pattern is called Snowdrops. I got it from one of my knitting stitch encyclopedias, but I am already experimenting with changing it. I am not so happy with how the double decreases are working out, they are making a lot of big bumps. Could be because this is not such an elastic yarn, it's a lot like cotton. The yarn is very smooth and has a good sheen, and I wanted to use a lace pattern which included areas of stockinette to capitalize on that smoothness. I have also been working on my yellow and green Norwegian sweater, and even though I love knitting lace, it is a relief for my fingers to feel some nice springy wool again.

Finishing a UFO!

Thank you so much for all your kind comments! I really feel very welcomed by the high tech knitters out there. I feel so inspired to see all the beautiful work you are all doing. And thank you to my good friend Blossom for getting me involved!

This is a vest called Bettie from Rowan magazine 19. I loved it so much in the picture, but when it was almost finished (I won't say how many years ago), I was disappointed in the fit. The only thing I had left to do was sew the shoulder seams, but I let it languish. So, my figure is not like the model in the picture, which should have thrown up a red flag, but it also highlighted every flaw. The thought was to rip it back half way, and shorten the v-neck. It was too deep on me, which was surprising, but maybe this model is really, really tall. The thought of ripping out, though, was too much for me.

It has taken a shift in my thinking to realize I can wear it after all, so this story has a happy ending. This week, I went ahead and finished the shoulder seams and attached the back neckband. I will wear it over a t-shirt, and unbuttoned. The effect will not be quite the same, but I just do not have the heart to rip it out. The backgound fabric in the photo will be an A-line skirt to wear with it. It's Amy Butler (thank you for the tip, Blossom), and now I can't wait for summer. I think A-line, but maybe wrap would be better for stripes?

It really was quite fun to knit this vest. The yarn is Rowan Cotton Glace, which is a beautful quality. It's firm and silky, with a slight sheen. It stood up to a lot of handling, since I did most of this knitting while commuting on a train.

I admit to not liking finishing very much, all those ends to darn and making your fabric thicker. The knotty seams. It reminds me of the Norwegian word "knotete", which means something like awkward and inelegant ;) I resented the finishing, which was taking me away from the fun knitting. So to overcome this, I am from now on going to allow myself to start on the next knitting project while the previous is still in the finishing phase. I just want to knit!