Posts from the ‘Knitting’ category

Revisiting Projects + Good Yarn

Last week, I posted a photo of Mark on Flickr to show off Steven‘s lovely Clockwork Scarf, which visited us for a bit. Some people mentioned Mark’s natty jumper and hat, and I got to thinking about how old they are on how well they’ve held up. No doubt it’s due to the fact that they were made from wonderful yarns.

The gansey with skull cables was knit way back in January of 2006 using Cascade Ecological wool, which I was unsure about at the time. I’d gotten it in a trade and it didn’t feel so great in the skein, but seemed better when knit, and was FANTASTIC when washed. Mark wears this sweater an awful lot and we’ve never even had to de-pill it! The cables are plump and soft, the sweater is toasty warm. The whole thing is a success.

Eco Wool turned out to be very sturdy when knit at 4 sts. per inch, but I don’t like it any looser than that. The fabric at 4 sts. per inch is soft, supple, and has a lovely cohesive quality. I found that at their suggested gauge of down to 3 sts. per inch, the holes in the fabric were far too large.

The sweater is still a favorite, no doubt because of all the lovely details. The chain cable is from Barbara Walker’s Fourth Treasury of Knitting patterns. Here’s a swatch. I remember it requiring 2 cable needles and perseverance, since I never did manage to memorize the pattern, which is not usually a problem! The skull cable is my own invention and available as a chart. The design of the sweater, itself, is my own, following methods described by Alice Starmore and Gladys Thompson in their fisherman sweater writings.

The hat was such an accident and turned out to be his favorite. My friend Michelle sent me some scraps of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky way back when and I knit them into this hat, inspired by a hat I’d seen in a photograph somewhere, in November 2005. It’s knit flat and seamed and it was supposed to be for me, but ended up being too big. Mark snatched it and has been wearing it faithfully ever since. It looks brand new! Unfortunately, the yarn was discontinued in 2006. Fortunately, I still have a bunch of it (ha!) and it can be found kicking around for sale on Ravelry.

What Else is Awesome This Week:
* making your own lotion– This turned out so well! Just like making mayo. It looks a bit like mayo, too, but thankfully doesn’t smell like it.
* watching old movies – It is so so cold out (-21 last night!) and there’s so much snow down (feet of it) that we are staying in most of the time. Last night was Close Encounters night. I feel some Jaws coming on soon. I do so love a young Richard Dreyfuss.
* If Pippa could talk, I’m sure she’d love to tell you about her Pawz booties. They keep the ice and salt from irritating her paws, plus they’re really comfy. They’re also pretty cute. I mean, seriously!

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New Pattern: Flocked Mittens

Flocked Mittens

PATTERN: Flocked Mittens(also on Ravelry)
SIZE: S (M, L)
TO FIT: 7.5” (8.25”, 9”) 19 cm (21 cm, 23 cm) palm circumference. If you are between sizes, knit
the closer size. If you wish to forgo the lining, choose the size that is approximately 1/2” larger in circumference
than your hand.
ACTUAL MEASUREMENT: 8.5” (9.25”, 10”) 21.5 cm (23.5 cm, 25.5 cm) circumference, and
9.5” (10”, 11”) 24 cm (25.5 cm, 28 cm) long.
GAUGE: 28 (26, 24) sts. and 30 (28, 26) rows = 4” 10cm in colorwork pattern. Gauge is critical for
proper fit!
NEEDLES: 3 (4, 5) US 3.25 (3.5, 3.75) mm, or size needed to get gauge. Pattern may be knit on
double points, a long circular for magic loop, or on 2 circulars.
NOTIONS: stitch marker, scrap yarn for holding stitches, darning needle.
YARN: Outer for blue/brown mittens – Quince & Co. Lark, 134 yards 123 meters / 50g, MC – 2 skeins in Glacier, CC – 1
skein in Bark. Lining – Quince & Co. Tern in Kelp, 221 yards 201 meters / 50g, 1 skein. Swiss
darned stitches – 10” worsted weight for each stitch Cascade 220 in dark red is shown.

Outer for gold/blue mittens – Quince & Co. Lark, 134 yards 123 meters / 50g, MC – 2 skeins in Honey, CC – 1
skein in Glacier. Lining – Quince & Co. Tern in Kelp, 221 yards 201 meters / 50g, 1 skein. Swiss
darned stitches – 10” worsted weight for each stitch Cascade 220 in burnt orange is shown.

Lark is a wonderful yarn to work with that comes in some seriously heart-stopping colors. I have taken photos of some really lovely Lark color combinations, grouped here in a Flickr set. This is not, by any means, all of the beautiful color combinations possible.

Flocked Mittens

I’ve created a thread in the Hello Yarn group on Ravelry for discussing the pattern.

These mittens were originally created for Mitten School, so I filled them with fun little bits that make mitten knitting exciting to me. The are hemmed, have a picot edge, a stranded braid, gusset, Swiss darning (duplicate stitch) and a gorgeous soft lining. Once you’ve knit these, you’ll be fearless! This is a charted pattern with written instructions and full color photos.

For best results, please know how to knit in the round and are familiar with placement of stitches on your needles of choice. Be familiar with the long-tail and backward loop cast–ons, increasing and decreasing, picking up stitches, working from charts in the round, and stranded knitting.

Enjoy!

I’ll be back soon with handspun socks!

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4 oz. Challenge

It’s been a while since the 4 oz. Challenge, but I finally finished my contribution, which reminded me that I needed to post a wrap-up of the contest. We had some seriously wonderful entries, but our super duper favorite was Stacey Simpson Duke’s Sweetgum (free Ravelry download). It’s a beautiful use of just 4 oz. of handspun yarn! Seriously, how cute is she?

Sweetgum

Our other winners were:
Valeria by Jacie Falkowski
Shelburne Falls by Rachel Brown
Albina Armwarmers by Vera Brosgol

Here’s a link to a Ravelry page with all of the submissions. There are so many fantastic ways to use just 4 oz. of handspun yarn, and many of the patterns are free!

My entry, so late to the game, is Tip Down Mittens (free Ravelry download)

Tip Down Mittens

Spun from Southern Cross Fibre’s Polwarth wool in the Boys of Summer colorway. Yarn measures 804 ypp and 11 wpi. Mittens used 3.1 oz./ 156 yards. 9” in circumference and 9.5” long. Gauge is 5.25 sts per ”. Happy happy soft soft.

Tip Down Mittens

Spun from Spunky Eclectic Corriepaca in the Orchard colorway. Yarn measures 614 ypp and 10 wpi. Mittens used 3.3 oz/ 127 yards. Mitten measures 8.5” in circumference and 10” long. Gauge is 4.75 sts. per ”. Happy happy color color!

You might remember the tragedy of two left mittens. Thankfully, I had 8 oz. of fiber and now have 2 pairs of mittens. :)

Oddments:

– Much sitting and knitting was done leading up to the holidays, which is always prime TV time here. We have become obsessed with Black Books, which is available for viewing on Hulu. It’s so funny that we’ve watched it two and a half times through in the last month. “Which… one of you bitches… wants to dance?” < — quote for those who’ve already watched and want a giggle.

– FOOD. I made some glorious foodstuffs over my holiday break. Salted lavender caramels, milk liqueur (trust me on this), cordials, pebernødder, salted chocolate dulce de leche tart, TV cookies (I need to make these again), dark chocolate honey lavender tart, and Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon recipe (twice). All recipes are perfection. PERFECTION. Half of the reason I’ve just listed them is to remind myself of how delicious they all were.

Salted Lavender Caramels

Trust me. Make them.

– HOLY COW, it’s nearly potholder time again. We are going to host the potholder swap again this year. I’ll be back with more info once we hammer out the details.

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