Sunday Morning Lace

Sep 232012
 

The first time I heard Gigi of The Knitmore Girls talk about the indulgence of knitting in bed Sunday mornings, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. Sunday morning lace knitting is just one of the reasons Sundays are my favorite day of the week. It all happens here. A steaming cup of chai, a good audiobook to listen to, and my latest or even better, long forgotten lace project are all that’s needed. Throw in a plethora of down pillows coupled with a down comforter on a cool September morning with the honey-colored early morning Vineyard light  and such sweet indulgences become truly irresistible. I set my alarm each week to make sure I don’t miss out. Yes, seriously. I drag my ass out of bed on 6 am on Sunday mornings just to knit lace and drink chai. I highly recommend it.

Today’s lace knitting was dedicated to finishing up Rose Flora by Romi Hill. It’s the latest in her Pins & Lace Club as well as my favorite of all of her designs. Romi’s designs  just keep getting better and better, and when it becomes hard to believe she can top herself, she comes out with something even more breathtaking. Here’s Flo before her well deserved bubble bath: I used Dye For Yarn’s Limited Edition Silk/Cashmere Lace. The hand on it is just how you would expect of such a luxurious blend. The softness of the cashmere and the stitch definition the silk provides combine to make it perfect for lace projects. It took 581 yards to complete and I added some matte beads rather than the more dressy silver lined crystal – otherwise I’d have no where to wear it here on the Vineyard. The second round of signups for Romi’s 2013 Club are coming up soon and are not to be missed.

Oh yes, I’m back on the Vineyard! After a year of living in exile on Nantucket I’ve returned to Terra Nova. I couldn’t be happier to be home, and I’ve been busy nesting. I’ve been unpacking little by little, and along with feathering the perfect Sunday lace knitting spot above, I’ve nestled into a sweet spinning space next to the fireplace. And yes, the fireplace is a working one.

I’ve needed the spot lately as I’ve been hard at work on spinning Plover, the fleece from MDSW! I’ve actually taken a stab at processing the lovely chocolate brown romney cross fleece and it’s going fairly well. I’ve decided to make it my Fall term Harry Potter House Cup Owl. I did some research on the web along with some great video downloads from Interweave Press and am combining all I’ve learned into making my own process up. I decided to wash it a’la The Yarn Harlot. I’ve gotten that down, but still am working on my carding. I’ve got two great cards from Schact, and I’ll tell you all about it in a later post. I’ll leave you with a shot of how it’s spinning up:

When is your favorite time to knit?

~Purled

Design Elements

Jan 222012
 

I’m liking the Harry Potter House Cup thing much more than I thought I would, given I’m just a NQFY. (Not Quite First Year =  newbie, too untested to sort into a House just yet). I wasn’t sure if the whole thing would make me more of an obsessive knitter, staying up late on school nights to make a deadline. Instead, I think it’s made me a more committed knitter. In order to get points, you actually have to finish a project (imagine that!), and we’ve already discussed our propensity to turn ohmyGodIhavetoknitthatandknitthatrightnow projects into another submission to the ever growing UFO piles we hide from ourselves. The other thing I love about participating is that you can knit whatever suits your fancy at the given moment, because just about any project can be made to fit the requirements of one class or another.

I’m working on finishing my Shipwreck Shawl by the end of the month for one class, and casted on another pair of Susie’s Reading Mitts for another class. The latter is a quick knit, and I’ve already made one pair. One mitt is off the needles, waiting for hemming and here you can see where I forgot to add two purl rows at the end of the lace pattern added a design element. I’ll be sure to knit the other mitt wrong as well so they both match. Yes, the bottom lace is supposed to match the lace on top. But there is such a thing as too matchy-matchy. I’ve almost talked myself into believing this.

I’ve also been spending some time with my new Sidekick. It’s different than my Louet Victoria. For one, it doesn’t annoy me like the Queen did. And I love the looks of her.  It also requires a different way of sitting in order to treadle comfortably, particularly when plying – the couch with a pillow behind my back just doesn’t do it. Now I’m on the hunt for a good spinning chair.

Currently, I’m spinning some 80/20 Merino Silk from Fiber Optic in the Timberwolf colorway. I love Fiber Optics top. It is always so well prepared, very little slubs, and spins like a dream. The colors in this are just lovely – muted, earthy and cool.

 

 

 

 

And Tudor Roses is being reprinted??!? How cool! What did you think of She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named when she spoke at VKLive? I did start the book Sweater Quest some time ago, and it has some interesting background on Alice Starmore and her copyright concerns. I’d love to know her side of the story.

With the snow, it’s been perfect knitting and spinning weather this weekend. Gypsy and I went for a snowball fight, which means I throw snowballs and she runs after them and wonders what happened to them once they land on the ground and sink into the fluffy snow.

Someday, I’ll explain it to her. Right now, it’s just too much fun watching her try to figure it out.

What are you working on?

~Purled

Wool People Volume 2

Jan 042012
 

Gypsy and I were wallowing in post holiday ennui this morning, lazily browsing the interwebs until an email hit my inbox notifiying me that the new Brooklyntweed Lookbook was out!

Wool People Volume 2 arrived and initially I could not get onto the site. I kept getting error messages saying the site was either down or filled to capacity. Though I’ve seen this in yarn updates, it’s the first time I’ve run into it when new designs are released.

My Imaginary Knitting Boyfriend did not disappoint. Fuse and Winnowing immediately popped to the top of my must knit list. Though none of the patterns are his, he did a great job in assembling a group of top notch designers to create patterns that would compliment Loft and Shelter well. Even better, several of the designs spotlight an unconventional twist, yet hold true to the traditional look and feel of his yarns.

Take Fuse, for example, which is already #2 on the “Hot Right Now” pattern list on Ravelry. Veronik Avery chose an very intriguing construction for her drape front cardigan. And take a look at Bristol Ivy’s Winnowing. I just love the lines of it! It’s a nice departure from the typical Faroese crescent shawls. The symmetry of the lines that ebb and flow throughout practically make the shawl dance. In addition, other designers such as Spilly Jane, Nancy Bush, Gudrun Johnston and more, combine into a collection that is polished and enticing. Had I not just laid down some cash for my new Sidekick, I’d have been all over the Loft color cards, picking and choosing.

Speaking of my trusty new Sidekick, I am thrilled with her. Though lately, I have been involved in getting going on your swap project!

What do you think about the new LookBook?

Eye of the Tiger

Nov 142011
 

I finished Romi Hill’s Buttonwillow yesterday. I used Madelinetosh Sock in the Betine colorway. I broke into skein number 3 with three rows left to go.

I loved knitting it, and like you, were I to make another, I’d make it more triangular. The more shawls I make, the more I realize that what I like to wear is either a good solid triangle or better yet, a rectangular wrap. The crescent shape of Buttonwillow is pretty, and by doing a total of 24 repeats of Chart A rather than the 16 called for, it made the arms realllly long.

I gave it a good soak and used blocking wires then sprayed it with the Romi’s cornstarch water formula to help set the block. I knit it up using my US 4 Signatures, so you know what that means…

My needles are free to cast on Leaves of Grass!

After seeing your calculations from yesterday in figuring out how to enlarge the Pi shawl, it’s perfectly clear you’re the brains in this operation. Trying to figure it out on my own made my head hurt. After reading though, from what I understand, I can repeat chart B twice and go from there?  Now – is there any way to find out how much more yarn this will take? I have a total of eight skeins. The shawl as written calls for five. I am just about to wind up a skein of the Loft I purchased for it.

But, just so you don’t think I’ve fallen off the redemption wagon, I do intend on finishing my sister’s shawl first. Only 20 rows of yarn over k2 togethers to go!

Eye of the tiger…..

When Things Go Awry

Nov 052011
 

I am working on a project using Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. I posted a sneak preview a couple of days ago. It’s Bedford by Michele Wang, and I’m knitting it out of a really pretty grey colorway called Sweatshirt. I posted the photo because I was sure I was going to finish knitting the sweater by the time it was my turn to do a post.

I jinxed myself.

I did finish knitting the sweater as written. I tried it on. I hated it. Usually, when I have a disappointing moment like this, I either (1) crumple the sweater and banish it to the UnFinishedObjects (UFO in knitting parlance — more on the weird language of knitting another time) bin; (2) give away the project; or (3) frog (see note on knitting language and my promise that I will write about it) the entire project.

I decided that I would do no such thing. I stood there, in the harsh light of my bathroom, and stared. What is it about this sweater do I not like? Is it the construction, is it the stitch pattern, is it because the sweater didn’t transform me into the model on the pattern?

I figured it out. It’s the neckline — it’s too wide for me. I wanted this  literally to have a sweatshirt type shaping, with a narrower neck. I have visions of myself wearing this like a Parisian student, with a white collared shirt and a little kerchief, with skinny jeans and loafers!

So no temper tantrum. I calmly ripped it back enough to fix the neckline and to bring it in a bit tighter. I know how to do this, I even sat in a cold hotel room in July in Marshfield, Wisconsin to get indoctrinated in this. I will post a progress report.

Any “When Knitting Attacks” (see the Knitmore Girls) moment for you?

As for Shelter, what surprises me about this yarn is how light (in weight) it is. I love the stitch definition. The Bedford design with the reverse stockinette sleeves and the twisted stitches all over the body is perfect for it.  (So Michele Wang, sorry for the rant about the neckline — I love the sweater otherwise!) I am hoping and was assured by my LYS (sigh….see above about knitting lingo) that the knitted fabric will soften upon washing. And the color. It’s perfection.

This is cast-on weekend for me. Leaves of Grass is going to get cast on today. For me, in Wollmeise Lace-garn. I have, in fact, just pulled out my waste yarn to do a bellybutton start – for this and for the other circular start shawl I’m starting this weekend!

~Twisted

 

Freak Halloween Snow Storm, Dreaded Finishing and Hearing Voices in My Head

Nov 032011
 

Let’s see — during the Freak Snow Storm of 2011, I was up in the mountains with my dogs.  It was a warm day when I left NYC, so I actually doubled back to pack a heavier jacket. It was cold — and it started snowing around noon on Saturday, and it did not stop for many many hours. At least one of us thought snow was for the birds as he waded through the deep snow. It was pretty strange…..”I’m thinking of a white…Halloween”? That doesn’t quite sound right, does it?

While I waited for the weather to settle, I worked to finish up a sweater that I have been working on since June.

The knitting was done in July. It was relatively straight forward — in yarn that slithered through my fingers, the main color in an eye popping orange with just enough variegation that held my interest, and with color work and Latvian braids that was challenging but fun.

 

 

It’s Oranje by Ann Weaver, published in the 2011 Winter Knitty. I knew I had to knit it as soon as I saw it.

The design was for a fitted sweater, with tiny buttons down the front. I, of course, decided that I needed to wear this like a jacket, which meant longer sleeves, zipper (I mean, I can’t fiddle with all those buttons EVERY DAY), a little pocket. And since all the edges were finished with a Latvian braid, I was, of course, going to have braids at the zippers. Of Course. And at the edge of my pocket. Of course.  I had grand plans.

The yarn choice was easy as well. The design was written for Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, which JUST happens to be one of my favorites. And as Dutch Olympic Speed skaters inspired the design, the color choice was simple — I kept the original main color (Orange Assassin Bug), but changed one of the contrasts from black to navy (Karner’s Blue). I mean, those are the colors of the Dutch speed skater uniforms.  Total slam-dunk.

Steeking the said slithering yarn meant my sewing machine needed to rear its head from the darkest depth of my closet.  After struggling with the automatic threader (and in fact taking a lesson in operating my very fancy sewing machine) I finally steeked and thought…”I’m almost done!!!

The sweater has knitted striped facing on all edges. The steeked stitches had to be hidden, so the front opening needed a facing. Because I needed that to be as flexible as possible, I decided to tack down live stitches. That was the easy part.

Some smartypants (that would be me) had decided to put in a zipper!!!!! The planning part was simple — I was just going to somehow figure out a way to machine sew the zipper onto the sweater. Riiiiiight. I thought I would be able to put the zipper on my sweater using the cool article I saw in TECHknitting, but at the end of the day, I sewed the zipper in by hand.

My sewing skills have much to be desired. No ladylike tiny stitches. I heard Mother yelling at me in my head — “the stitches are not even!”I thought the sewing would take forever. It almost did take forever.

I think the eyes on sewing needles have become smaller. No wonder there’s an automatic threader on my sewing machine! My eyes were about to pop out of my head (I swear I don’t need reading glasses). And, after hunching over my work for hours, I thought I had a permanently kink.

But I finished. And I present you — My Oranje!

 

While I was crying over my sewing and waiting for the snow to stop, I started knitting on another sweater to keep my sanity. Here’s a peek. It is from Brooklyn Tweed’s Fall 2011 collection. Speaking of Brooklyn Tweed….Have you seen the new yarn and the look book!?

 

~ Twisted.

 

Oh yes, My Precioussssssss…….

Apr 102011
 

Gollum. I’m sure he was a lovely Hobbit if it weren’t for The Ring. A part of me turns into him when I am in the process of acquiring one of my favorite yarns.

I didn’t even know it was a sought after treasure, this yarn that I stumbled on. I liked the unusual color, and how the skein felt in my hand. Slippery as silk, tightly plied. I brought it dutifully home from London. Blissfully I knitted with it — nothing special, just a simple cowl with lots of little cables on it. My needles clicked away and out came this very subtly marbled fabric as the stitches slipped off the needles. And I was hooked.

I wanted more. I imagined project after project that I could knit up using my newly found yarn. So I searched. And I searched. Oh, an online store! “Zur Zeit nicht am Lager” — currently out of stock. I Google. I am queen of Google, I tell myself. I will find you. But, I cannot find the yarn. It is SOLD OUT…I go to my place of last resort. Yes, it’s there, selling for a hefty premium, with other Gollums bidding away.

By now, I am beside myself. My Preciousss?

Despite having had some yarn project or another in my hands at least intermittently for as long as I can remember, I was blissfully ignorant of the celebrity status of this yarn.

One does not normally “stumble on” Wollmeise. One usually acquires the yarn in competition with many others world wide, via only a few retail outlets like The Loopy Ewe here in the US or Loop in London, or directly from a little company in Pfanffenhofen. Claudia, the Wollmeise herself, dyes the yarn. Her semi-solids are so very lightly variegated. And her multicolored dyes — with names like Guide to Galaxy, Tosca, Paul, Franz, Rhubarber, Gazpacho, Petit Poison Nr 5, among many others — look yummy as it slides out of its tight skein and is magic as it is knitted up. I DIDN’T EVEN LIKE VARIEGATED YARN. Well, not until I knitted this variegated yarn.

Her fans flock to her weekly online sales. “Stalking” her sales, actually. Strategizing about how to get the hard to come-by colorways. Clicking furiously and racing with the cart filled with goodies and hoping you make it to the PayPal screen, lest you get “cart-jacked”. Must. Have. Wollmeise. We all turn into rabid Gollums on Fridays.

My Precioussssss……

Once the PayPal confirmation comes and is double checked against your account on the website JUST TO MAKE SURE AGAIN that the order went through… the waiting begins.

My Precioussss……

The yarn generally takes about a week to ten days to arrive in my mailbox here in New York City. And if it doesn’t…I check my online account to check shipping dates. I start wondering if the package is held up in customs. I obsessively check Ravelry to see if others have received their packages. Because, in my mind, everyone in this world, including my mail delivery person, knits and is obsessed with this yarn. At this point, I am an obsessed, addicted, helpless creature.

My Preciousssss…..

When it finally arrives…the package gets ripped open and inside, the familiar contents. A brown bag. A free pattern. A bag of gummy bears. The German gummy bears that somehow is more delicious than the gummy bears that I bought in Frankfurt. Even the Wollmeise gummy bears are special!!!

I eat my gummy bears as I peek inside my brown bag. The yarn smells good. Herby, sort of. Is the color as gorgeous as the photos? If it’s a grab bag, what did I get???? Is it my Lace-garn???? I pet it. I marvel at the silkiness of the wool. And finally, I pull the yarn out into the light to admire the color. Saturated like no other yarn.

Sigh….MY Precioussss. Pfanffenhoffen isn’t that far from New York City. Lufthansa flies to Munich. Lufthansa is in Star Alliance. I have miles.

So, should I use one of My Precious for Rock Island?

I go through this process with every project. Whether I begin contemplation with yarn in hand looking for the perfect object that it will be transformed into, or a pattern.

My Rock Island will be a gift. It is for a very special occasion — and this is a beautiful shawl. It is all about the openwork in the lace panel after the edging. It needs to be a cool color. It needs to be light as gossamer, and drape JUST SO.

Decisions, decisions…

- Twisted.

 

Resurrection

May 142010
 

Hey kids…I’m back!

And I’ve been knitting.

First of all, Sock Madness Update! The second round featured *gasp* colorwork, featuring  Heatherly Walker’s pattern Cool Beans. I had never done a colorwork sock before, and hemmed and hawed about continuing after some miserable attempts.

However, after being reassured by my teammates that it would block out beautifully, I kept going. I knit English style and had a hell of a time learning to hold the yarn in my left hand while throwing with my right, but by the second sock, I was doing better. I read about keeping the contrasting color in my left hand so it would ‘pop’ and show up well, so knit one sock that way and the other opposite. It really shows in the stripes on the feet. I used Wollmeise 100% Merino Supewash in Fuchsia and Grasshopper.

At any rate, by the time I was finished, I felt better about tackling colorwork and becoming more skilled at it. Which will come in handy for the KAL I signed up for, but more on that later!

On to the next round of Sock Madness – Gams by Taya Schram. Can I just say I loved this pattern? It was my first time using Skinny Bugga and I chose Tomato Frog for the lace sock. It knit up quickly, and though many were remarking on how tough it was on the wrists, my Signature Needles came through and made it a breeze. I finished the pair shortly before leaving for Spring Fling. And these socks actually fit me!

While waiting for the next pattern to be posted, I cast on Vesper Socks for The Loopy Ewe’s Spring Fling which was held in St. Louis. Lala had an idea for a bunch of us to knit up a pair of vespers and take a pic of them all together. I chose Spring Meadow and love the colors of it. I’m almost to the toe decreases of sock # 2 and hope I don’t run out of yarn! This is where a yarn scale comes in handy. I was watching my new favorite knitting podcast/videocast the Knitgirllls and saw first hand how Leslie was weighing yarn left after knitting sock #1 comparing it with the weight of the actual sock hoping she’d have enough.  I gotta get me one of those!

Speaking of the Knitgirllls, you really ought to check them out. It’s fun watching the two of them go back and forth amoungst yarny goodness and they are really funny as well as informative – but be warned! Do NOT watch this if you are either on a yarn diet or bag diet! The stash and bags these two have would fill an upscale yarn shop. Just sayin’.

Next post, though belated will be all about Spring Fling!

Death, Sockmadness and Sisters

Mar 242010
 

I am dead.

Spalc’s socks of death reached my doorstep more than a week ago. Despite heroic measures, I could not be saved. They struck me down and though slain, I had warm cushy feet.

Made from Regia 4 Ply, they fit perfectly – and I do love the color. Perfect for jeans and Birkentstocks. I tell my sister in Chicago this is a fashionable way to wear hand knit socks and she scoffs and mumbles something about me living on the Island for far too long. Frankly, I think she’s secretly jealous she can’t get away with wearing jammies to the post office and would love to live here.

Sockwars was really fun. I had a great time doing it and was happy to make it to the final 15. Can’t wait for Sockwars VI! Hats off to Casualknitter for organizing and running such a great event.

Once I was done with dying, I went on to Sock Madness Forever! Yet another knitting competition, it began March 10 with a sideways sock, appropriately named Simple Side to Side Socks by Deborah Swift.

It was an easy knit, and fun doing socks in a new way. The first tube I knit turned out to be way too small, so I redid it using a total of 44 rows and a larger needle. I used June Studios Super Cash and I love the yarn – soft and cushy. The socks, however, I’m not wild about as I’m not a huge fan of variegated and the sideways pattern makes them look particularly wild. But, it’s good to try new things. Still, I think I’ll gift these.

Speaking of which, one thing I did learn is how stodgy I can be in my ways when it comes to learning new techniques. In Sock Madness, it is required that you not only not alter any pattern, but also use the cast ons and offs that the patterns call for. This one called for a tubular cast off. At first I was all “Fer crying out loud, I already know eleventy ways to cast off, why do I have to learn another???” Ten minutes later, I was all “0oOOh how cool!”

It took me about 10 days to finish them as I was a bit uninspired and the first round of Sock Madness gives you a good two weeks. In the meantime, I cast on another pair of Monkeys using Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Sea Sock in the Cezanne Colorway. I once told my other sister, the pragmatic one, that I was planning on knitting socks for everyone in the family. She looked at me blankly and said “Why?”

When I saw her at lunch last, I whipped out the sock in progress and showed it to her. She kept squishing and petting it and saying “Oh my GAWD!”

That’s why. This yarn is perfect for spring socks and it’s got to be fondled to be believed. It’s 51% silk, 29% Superwash Merino, and 2o% Seacell – and machine washable. The colors are fantastic.

So far, only one sock done. I’m thinking I need to go down a needle size to give it a little more resiliency. Monkeys can be quite stretchy and I want to make sure they stay up after a few washings. But pretty, huh?

I’ll end up frogging this one and reknitting it with 2.5 mm needles. Once done, I may give them to my sensible sister for whom the awesomeness of hand knit socks was a mystery til she held one in her hand.

Alice and Farm Fresh Yarn

Mar 092010
 

Look what came in the mail today…

My shares from Juniper Moon Fiber CSA!

Juniper Moon used to be known as Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm until they moved to Virginia last year. They are the originator of the first yarn and fiber CSA ever. They even have a lambcam!

I wasn’t sure what to expect for roving from them as this is my first year. Opening the box I found some fluffy white goodness that smelled of spring lambing and old fashioned yarn stores when all they sold was 100% wool.

Four bags gave me a total of 24 ounces of 50/50 Kid Mohair/Cormo Roving.

Now before we get to it, let me tell you I still do not know how to spin. Well, let me change that. I do know how to spin dreadlocks of coiled upon itself fiber. Yarn, not so much. But I am learning!

And oh yes, Woolgirl’s Alice in Wonderland Sock Club. The first month started with Alice herself.  The kit lived up to Woolgirl’s reputation of some well thought out and generous loot.

Inside -  a skein of Dashing Dach’s Superwash in an exclusive Alice Colorway made specifically for this kit, a Queen Alice sock pattern by Irishgirlieknits, and an awesome project bag by Slipped Stitch Studios. I already own one of these bags and it’s been my favorite – well made and the perfect size for a sock project, so I’ve been swapping things in and out of it for working on my project of the moment. I’m thrilled to have another! Made from two coordinating Alice fabrics (who knew they existed?) no less!

Also included: A “Drink Me” Alice quote pattern tamer designed by Slip Stitch Studios, a Queen Alice pen, an Alice in Wonderland journal destined to become my knitting notes journal, a set of 16 Alice mini notecards perfect to attach to gifts, and the cutest tiny Alice in Wonderland stitch marker designed by Jillian of WeeOnes.

I’m not sure whether to chance casting on the socks or to wait until the release of the pattern for Sock Madness. Yes, another knitting competition that starts any day now to coincide with March Madness. Women knit while men watch basketball. How sexist. And I can’t wait for it to start!

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