Stalking Sometimes Turns Into Finished Objects. Then You Stalk Again.

Jun 112012
 

Remember, I was so proud of myself for getting some stuff off my needles that I went on a stalking spree? Well, sometimes, these sessions actually results in me casting on and knitting projects!!!!

First off, I used SusannaIC’s Frederica shawl as an excuse to buy the Jane Austin Knits, Summer 2012 magazine. (And have we talked about how I LOVE digitally downloadable magazines!?) I loved the color, I loved that there was lace work on the inside edge of the shawl and I thought it would be the perfect summer shawl. I NEEDED an orange shawl.

Well? The shawl was a very quick knit and it is off my needles and I’ve already worn it! I made it out of Wollmeise 100% in Campari Piccolo — which looks like Campari mixed with Orange Juice — and beaded it with 6/0 clear amethyst colored round seed beads. It took EXACTLY 1 skein…in fact, I had to bind off using a different yarn (I used Clementine…I wasn’t going to break into a new skein just for the bind off!).

I’ve not made a crescent shaped shawl from the bottom up. Once the lace section was done, the rest of the shawl flew as I short-rowed to a very quick finish.

The second project I mentioned was Heidi Kirrmaier’s Buttercup, which is a very sweet little sweater with puffed sleeves and a lace inset. Mine is not quite so sweet, but I got my “I can’t follow a pattern” ya-yas out with this one. Tons of modifications to make the top more into a tunic, to make it a bit slimmer, make the neckline a little tighter, and make the sleeves not quite so little-girl puffed but a grown up puffed. I made it out of Rowan’s Linen Drape, which is beautiful as a garment but was perhaps the split-tiest yarn I’ve ever used. I think the yarn has 1,000,000 plies!!! As the name suggests though, it does drape really nicely. I hope it wears OK with all these plies!! Right now, the sweater is trying to dry in this very wet summer weather we are having thus far, but I did get a snapshot pre-blocking.

See? I do finish projects after all!

Other than this, I’ve some test knits and sample knits on the needles, which I am working through.

But….I’ve gotten things off the needles, WHAT AM I STALKING!?

Good question. I’ve been doing more than stalking. I’ve been winding yarn, as I have some air plane knitting time coming up shortly. Here’s a preview, and while you can see what these cakes are intended to turn into if you go to my Ravelry project page, I will leave it here as images to ponder instead. On the left is a pile of fingering weight yarn from At Bullard Farm and a lone skein from Hedgehog Fibres. On the right is some lace from French Market Fibers.

YUMMY, right?

~Twisted

 

 

OMFG It’s Alice Starmore!!!!

Jan 172012
 

Yes, I saw The Goddess in real life. She was the keynote speaker at the Gala Dinner at Vogue Knitting Live, which was held this past weekend in NYC.

I bet you imagined her in tweed. No such thing. Vivienne Westwood skirt and a simple top. Is she totally cool or what!?!?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what had happened to Alice Starmore before she started showing up at some big knitting events recently. I had heard that she had a big falling out with one of her publishers or something like that. Many of her popular books were completely out of print — in fact, I’ve had offers by people for my Tudor Roses book for a ridiculous amount of money. (No dough, folks, that book is mine.)

In fact, apparently there’s a book that someone wrote about knitting the Mary Tudor sweater — did you know that? Someone suggested that I read it, but frankly, I’m not sure If I am interested in reading about someone who knit the same sweater I am knitting. I can’t remember what the book is called at the moment.

Speaking of the Mary Tudor. It has got to be My Most Famous WIP. I thought I cast this sweater on in 1998, but going back over my records…I am pretty sure I cast this sweater on in 2000 while I was living in San Francisco. Last week, thinking that I would be a crazed fan girl wearing a Starmore sweater at the Gala, I finally cut the steeks that were left on the sweater and picked up for the sleeves.

I am so glad that I was a total anal-girl when it came to this sweater. I had extensive notes. I made a relatively big change in the colors of the sweater. While I kept the red to blue variation in the background, I changed the motif color family from an ochre/brown tone to different shades of gray (GASP, yes I did — sorry, Alice. But I stayed true to your colors by using your Scottish Campion yarn). It makes the sweater a bit quieter. This could have been such a big problem, if I wasn’t good about writing everything down! Luckily, all the yarn was labeled, and all the color substitutions that I made was notated on the color key. I thought I was all set and I would breeze through the sleeve and the edging that was left to do. I saw myself with this sweater on, sashaying into the event.

But it was not to be. It took me an entire evening, even with the great notes and labels, to pick up the sleeve that I had to knit and get organized. I did abandon this sweater over 11 years ago! I did get to post a couple of photos of me cutting the remaining steeks on this sweater, though, which usually creates a bit of drama among people who think that I’m taking my scissors willy-nilly to a knitted garment. (Look closely at how crazily I’ve stitched down the knitted stitches next to the steek. Not only is this yarn sticky, I’ve zig-zagged the daylights out of it them.)

I am determined more than ever, after hearing Alice speak, to finish making this sweater. I’m so glad that she is coming back into the knitting world, designing, and having many of her books reprinted!!

Couple of observations about picking up a WIP that has been dormant for 11 years….surprisingly, MY GAUGE IS THE SAME!!!! Sticky shetland yarn sort of….sticks and it is difficult to pick up stitches! And it pays to make very good notes, especially if you have a complicated project. In pen, if possible (mine is in pencil, and rubbed away in a few places). These days, Ravelry makes this easy for you to do online — and I have started to take better notes on my Ravelry for projects as a result. Although I am hoping that I will not let another WIP sit for 11 + years, I have definitely learned the lesson about being good about documentation!

Oh, by the way? Alice Starmore made a HUGE announcement at dinner.

Tudor Roses is getting reprinted. It’s going to get “re-envisioned”, by a different publisher, for distribution in the fall of 2013.

What do you make out of THAT!?!?!

 

~Twisted

 

My Brooklyntweed Knitting Life.

Jan 052012
 

Brooklyntweed is really keeping us busy! I feel like the Loft Collection just came out!

As for my ability to keep up with all these gorgeous patterns that are coming out….I’m not sure I’m doing too well. The eye is much bigger than my knitting time, that is for sure.

Wool People 1 didn’t really tempt me, although I almost fell for Levenwick by Gudrun Johnson.

I did make Bedford out of BTFall11, if you remember — it was my first experience with Shelter yarn. I have been wearing this sweater a bunch as it has (finally!!) gotten cold. This yarn does get considerably softer with each washing, and I think I’ve washed it 3 times so far. I know that sounds excessive but I wanted to see how this yarn holds up. The only downside is that the yarn doesn’t have the greatest memory ever, and the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater is stretching out a bit. The stitch definition is also getting a bit lost as we progress through the softening/aging of the garment. I am not saying that this is bad, especially for what was intended with this particular sweater.

I made Ashby out of BTFall11 as well, but used Sanguine Gryphon Codex for that. I can’t remember if we talked about that project much here, but it was a really quick knit, I think Codex is perfect for big squishy shawls, and this project on my Ravelry page (I think) has the most hearts on it so I think it looks good — photographed, anyway. Not sure if people like it because of the shawl or the yarn. It is, after all, knit in the Codex equivalent of Strawberry Crab which is a very popular color (but you know that from our tutorial on Gaia Lace!) Here it is:

You know how I was with Loft Collection. I love love love it. And I’m not done knitting from it. I just downloaded Spire by Leila Raabe. I really love her designs. (She also designed Ashby, above.) And I’ve got news. I DID finish my Leaves of Grass. Remember I was working on the edging the last time? Well. I got sick of it one night, stayed up until I was done and blocked it. Needless to say, I was up LATE.

I have got to say the finished product looks a lot more impressive than the required knitting. The repeats are pretty easy to memorize. (Once you GET to the repeats, Purled, this WAS supposed to be a KAL, remember? I was knitting the “city girl” version out of Wollmeise and you were knitting the “island girl” version out of Loft!?!?!?!?)

I have yet to wear it. But, I think I’m going to wear it to the Big Apple Knitters Guild’s yarn auction on Saturday. (I am hoping for lots of blog fodder there!) I will figure out a way to wear this somehow without looking like I’m playing Superman with a Doily. So stay tuned.

Now Wool People 2. OMG! (I have a question, folks. When people say, “OMB” instead of “OMG”, what does the B stand for? Buddha? Brother? Bieber? I have no idea.) There are so many things I want to make. First of all, there’s Fuse, which you’ve already talked about. I have already purchased the pattern and the yarn for this — Shelter in Soot, which is an amazing charcoal grey. I’m really looking forward to knitting this, mostly because of the construction. Veronik Avery has done many sweaters with interesting construction and this looks to be another. I know you want to make this too, but out of a different yarn. The only advice I would have on yarn selection, and it’s a guess at this point, is that you will probably do better with a single ply or woolen spun yarn. I think if you use a heavier yarn, it will drape very differently, especially when the sweater is buttoned up. I will let you know, once I get somewhere close to a garment on knitting this.

I also LOVE the SpillyJane mittens (34th & 8th), the Amy Christoffers zippered cardi (Ash), and the beautiful shawls in there as well. Among others. All of it. I want to knit it all.

Speaking of mittens, it has been crazy cold here, and I didn’t have any mittens!!!! It has spurred me to finish up a squishy pair and a hat in the same yarn combination (I started these in September but hadn’t finished) and since I had yarn leftover, I am knitting a cowl (a smaller version of Array by Shibui Knits). Nothing like weather to get you going. For the first time in my life (I think?) I am going to have matching hat, cowl and mittens. Exciting, right? The yarn I’m using here is pretty standard — a grey alpaca silk by Debbie Bliss (I had originally knit a sweater out of this, frogged it, knit another with it, gave it away, and am now in accessory heaven with it) with Malabrigo Worsted in the Amoroso color way which is a happy red to pink variegation.

Tell us more about your new wheel. And where you got stuck on Leaves of Grass. And what you are doing for the Harry Potter House Cup!

~Twisted

Happy Selfish Knitting Day!!

Dec 262011
 

For your Christmas present, I have decided to look the other way in regard to your obsessive Gaia Lace stash “Collection” (yes, those are air quotes I’m using) in the face of my Gaia Laceless life. All I can say in response to your weakly layered rationalizations as to why you need every inch of the stuff…wait…let me go count the yards…be right back.

Back…7757.4 yards (yes, that includes the 1.47 of the Moss Man you have left from Madrona) left. That’s like 7.3 Madrona Shawls worth. But I’m over it. Really. Or I will be soon. Merry Frickin’ Christmas.

Speaking of which, I hope you enjoyed yours. I had a lovely time with the family. We’re a bunch of dweebs who love carrying on with the same stuff most people do. Like setting an Old English Cracker at everyone’s place and opening them together. Here we are Pre-Cracker:

But it’s only a matter of time before we bust them open and put on the obligatory crowns for dinner, looking like a Burger King birthday bash gone horribly wrong…

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there are those of us who forget we are still wearing a crown and commence about the rest of the day, wondering why those around us curtsey every time we enter the room…

At any rate, a fun time was had by all, and the mittens were a hit. My nephew was kind enough to model the Northmans I made for him. The alpaca lining feels heavenly next to the skin, and I’m happy with the way they came out. My niece seemed to love her Fiddleheads as well. I must admit, the idea of colorwork mittens this year was brilliant. The colorwork was enough to keep me interested, and I don’t often do mittens so they were a bit of a novelty, keeping me working on them and avoiding any last minute desperate schemes like talking your sister into wearing a half knit shawl for her wedding, for instance.

But enough about obligations met. Today is a knitter’s favorite day of the year, after all.

ITS SELFISH KNITTING DAY!!

Yes, it’s the loveliest of all knitting days of the year, where every knitter breathes a sigh of relief that all the Christmas projects are done, or if not, the excuses and promises as to why they weren’t and when they will be done are complete. It’s the one day that you haven’t had for the past few months but have so missed…the day where you ask yourself. “What would I like to knit for myself today?”

Corinth, I have not forgotten you. I begged you to wait for me, and like the most faithful of lovers, you did. Lisa Souza dyed up some Polwarth Silk in her new colorway called Casbah, and I am smitten. The silk and polwarth each pick up the dye differently, and the variations are both subtle and bewitching. Lisa does a spectacular job with her dyes, and her customer service is exemplary. I emailed her one afternoon and she dyed the batch up the very next day. I ordered it and had it in my hands in less than a week. And the results speak for themselves.

I cast on yesterday. I love that Christa Giles starts her patterns with the sleeves. It’s a much better way to get a feel for the hand of the yarn, and to see how it will knit up when working on a small piece rather than the back, where most patterns suggest starting off. And no, I did not swatch. Yes, I am aware that may be the subject of a tearful post down the line.

I love the stitch definition of it. That quality combined with the richness of color (which is certainly on the same par of a certain German dyer we both love – and we’ll talk about your sweater quantities of Wollmeise later) makes it a stunning choice for a sweater like Corinth.

I hope your Christmas knitting was a hit as well, and that you’re enjoying Selfish Knitting Day by casting on something for yourself.

After all, you certainly have enough Gaia Lace to make something nice.

~Purled

It’s a Romi Hill Trifecta!

Dec 192011
 

While I did not jump on the Knit the WIPs challenge, I have been trying to clear the decks a bit.

I don’t know about you, this seems to happen to me often. I go through a period where I feel like all I’m doing is starting new projects. Then, I have so many projects on the needles that it feels like I’m not making any progress on any of them — at which point I try to tell myself that I’m a “process knitter”. Who is kidding who? I’m an end-product knitter. The next step is the phase I am finding myself in — the projects get close enough to being finished that I turn into a serial monogamist and start finishing them. That is, unless I lose my mojo by entering into startitis phase before the finishitupistis phase is fully complete. (I’m reading this, slightly alarmed that I may have some knitter’s version of manic-depressive thing going.)

Anyway, I find myself in the serial monogamy phase of the cycle. As a result, I’ve finished a few projects that have been on my needles for a few months. Here’s the count down:

Number One: The Holiday Sweater. Yes, I’m done! Just in time! This is the sweater which I thought, probably due to my food coma state from Thanksgiving,  would be a good idea for me to knit. This was supposed to be a quick knit. #8 needles and silk mohair….I thought that I would blow through this sweater in no time. It took a bit longer, as the yarn/needle/pattern combination ended up being a bit more fiddly than I’d bargained for. That being said, the sweater has already earned its place as my holiday garment of choice so far. It’s a bit dressy, it’s a bit unusual — and it’s really nice and warm. I highly recommend this design, which is by Romi Hill, available from Interweave Knits. And, if you are not sensitive to mohair-fuzzy, I really think silk/mohair blend (my go to is Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze, the sweater was knit in Shibui Silk Cloud) makes great garments. It’s not for everyone, it’s almost not for me because it tips the scale toward slightly frou-frou, but it is light, it is warm, and you can knit it with large needles!!!!

Number Two: Modified Buttonwillow. I made the original Buttonwillow, another design by Romi Hill, as soon as the pattern became available to the public in Road to China Light in Hematite. This yarn is very yummy — it’s 65% alpaca, 15% silk, 10% cashmere and 10% baby camel. It’s got a slight halo, it’s really nice going through the hands for the most part (I noticed some dust or bits of fiber coming off on my hands, but I could have imagined it), and blocks like a dream. The original pattern is a sort of an elongated triangle, which is nice for a shawlette, but if you want to make it bigger, not the ideal shape given the long wings. My first shawlette was barely off my needles when I cast on the second shawl, with the same yarn but this time in Lapis, and started my modification plan…I wanted a large triangle, while keeping the center spine pattern. I also decided, given the size of the shawl, to do more repeats of the “flower” part of the pattern. And of course, I had to modify the bind off a bit so I did that as well. The result is a very large shawl, 78″ across and 39″ deep. It’s a big yummy hug of a shawl. I used 6 skeins of yarn. I really love the garter rib that make up the body of the shawl. And it is a warm, cozy, soft thing to wear around the shoulders.

Number Three: MADRONA! I cast this on as soon as the pattern became available to me (it’s a Romi Hill Pins & Laces Club pattern, I believe this becomes available to the public sometime early next year). Then, I had a massive mishap with one of the skeins of Sanguine Gryphon Gaia Lace that I was using for this shawl — the cake of yarn flew off my ball winder as I was winding the skein and it took me 4 hours to untangle the mess. It almost derailed me. Then, I felt like the yarn was a little fiddly, and I was not progressing along the shawl at my normal clip. The Holiday Sweater cured this feeling though, and as soon as I started knitting the sweater is when I decided that Gaia Lace wasn’t fiddly AT ALL (and it wasn’t compared to having mohair/silk on blunt metal needles trying to do k2tog for basically the entire sweater)….and I finished this as well.  When this shawl came off the blocking boards, I could not believe what I had in my grubby little paws.

First of all, I could not believe that I made this shawl. It’s really that pretty. The construction is interesting — you start the center sort of like a circular shawl, and then knit wings off of it, which results in an L shape — it’s a stole/shawl! I’ve been wearing this around this weekend, and it stays on my shoulders like a champ! Important especially as you have food in one hand and an adult beverage in another as you are sharing holiday cheer with friends! I actually think I’m going to get a lot of mileage out of this shawl in the spring. Perhaps it’s the color that I used, but I can totally see throwing this over a dress (or more likely, white t-shirt but I can pretend I’m going to be wearing dresses instead). There is short row shaping, there’s crochet chains in the cast off….it’s a really fun knit.

There you have it, there’s my December Romi Trifecta!

Update of my swap gift for you. I believe I have settled on the yarn that I’m going to use, and I am swatching currently for 3 different things. I’m hoping that the yarn will tell me what it’s going to turn into. All I have to say is, whatever it turns into, I hope you like it and if you don’t, don’t tell me!!!!

As for Susie’s Reading Mitts…I don’t quite understand why this pattern has gotten yanked from Ravelry (it appears, as of very late Sunday night, that the pattern is off Ravelry again). It has been a free pattern for such a long time that I’m not exactly sure what Dancing Ewe is going to do with it. I feel like the disappearance has caused some sort of a mild panic among Ravelers.

Your red pair are gorgeous, by the way.

What are your plans for Christmas? Is it in the islands? Elsewhere? Knitting? Spinning? And do you have a New Year’s cast on planned?!?

~Twisted

 

Just Working Through….

Dec 092011
 

I, too, love my iPad….I use GoodReader as well, but am a big fan of iAnnotate. It’s got many markup options that I like for knitting patterns. You know that I cannot leave well enough alone so end up making many modifications to patterns — so the ability to take notes right on the pattern is very important for me (and you can print it out with your markups, too.) That said, I am very interested in what you think about Knitcompanion. I, too, have heard good things about it, but have not had a chance to go through the free version of the app to decide whether I want to buy the paid version. Let us know!!!!

I have no exciting news to report. I have been slogging through my Christmas knitting. I’ve a few that I have completed since I’ve posted but since I know one of the recipients reads this blog (can you believe anyone but you and I read this thing?), I can’t post it.

I am also making progress in my Holiday Sweater. I am about to start doing the more dramatic decreases for the yoke, which means the end is in sight. I am hoping to wear it to a brunch this Sunday, and then some holiday type parties and events later in the month. I am hopeful that I will be able to have this done by Sunday! The yarn on this sweater is beautiful. It’s Shibui Knits Silk Cloud. The sweater is going to be very warm and light, and I’m hoping not itchy.

I love Romi Hill’s designs. She has not done too many sweaters, but this one is her design from the 2009 Winter Interweave Knits magazine. Her shawls are fabulous, and I have knit many. She is about to put out an e-book called Dolly Heads, and last night released the first pattern from the series — a gorgeous tam that can be lined or unlined called Poinsettia Tam with matching cuffs. Take a look at the lined version with black on the outside and a magenta Shibui Silk Cloud (think she likes this yarn!?!? Or is it me that likes the yarn?) lining. That would be a really great gift for someone — maybe I will make one for someone with a January or February birthday.

How are you coming along on your holiday knitting??

PS. By the way, did you see the new set of patterns that Veera Valimaki has put out — both in the newest Knitty and Follow the Lines? They are fantastic.

 

~Twisted.

 

 

Ah…..Swap…..

Dec 052011
 

Our swap….

There are multiple swaps currently ongoing on Ravelry. The one that we have both participated in is the one that is put on periodically by Loopy Groupies. It’s a nice swap, well organized, and an incredible marketing scheme (along with Camp Loopy) for The Loopy Ewe, one of my favorite places to shop virtually for yarn and other things knitting.

The concept is to develop relationships with 2 new people — the person who has been given to you to create a package for, and the person who is creating a package for you. If done properly, and virtual conversation is strongly encouraged, you do develop two new “Ravelry friends”. I think this is a neat idea.

One drawback with creating a present for an unknown person is that you may really botch things up. There is a lot of ego tied up in your recipient making the appropriate amount of brouhaha on the chat forum on Ravelry….and of course you have no idea what may be coming to you via snail mail.

So, we have decided to do a mini T&P swap. We are following the rules set forth in the Loopy Groupie swap, with a few minor adjustments. I have been stash, project, queue and favorites stalking Purled. As for the theme…it is supposed to be Winter Wonderland but that’s the easy part — I can concoct a story around anything I may knit…figuring out what She (who is a fellow knitter of substantial skill in this case) is the tricky part. I see that Purled is being appropriately paranoid about keeping my prezzie off her Ravelry pages. As for me, I would say to her….your yarn may or may not already be up on my page!!!! And your project….may already be in my queue.

The reality is that this swap is due on JANUARY 24. For me, this means that I have not even cast on the swap present!!!! I have changed my mind several times already as to what I will be knitting (hence the bit about the yarn may have appeared in my stash already or not), based on what she has been throwing up into her project, stash, queue and favorite pages. When I start in earnest (well past Christmas, thank you very much), I won’t change my mind and in fact, I am about 74.6% sure what I’m going to be knitting for her.

As for Christmas knitting, I keep on “remembering” people I’m supposed to knit for. I didn’t make a formal list because that tends to freak me out, so I’ve been making presents that I’ve had in mind…sort of from memory. I think I will finish, but I’m not sure. I can always make the present, “here is the yarn, here are some ideas, let’s pick one together because I want to make sure you like what I make you” trick. I know you’ve used it, be honest.

I have made one mistake with my Christmas knitting though. As I mentioned last time, I decided (for whatever reason) that I needed to enhance my holiday wardrobe with a knitted item which I can wear and be festive. I know you are envisioning color work Christmas sweater, but I’ve never seen one that I consider wearable (except for perhaps this one — and in fact when I was at Knitting Camp this year I very seriously considered buying the pattern and enough yarn to make this into a little jumper dress for me, but I didn’t). So, I thought, “I’ll knit a sweater out of silk/mohair, it’ll be on big needles, it will go quickly, and with my Shibui Knits Silk Cloud in a perfect gray, I would be able to quickly knit a fabulous thing I will just throw on either with jeans or over a black dress for this holiday season”.

It seems conceivable, and even economical in these times. I already have the yarn in stash, I knit like the wind (or so I am told), so here is a wardrobe enhancer that would be perfect.

I hope think that it will be…..once I finish, if I finish in time!!!! I chose a pattern, seemingly simple, from Romi Hill called Lacy Ribbons. The yarn is fiddly. It’s basically a lace sweater although there are no yarn-overs involved….every other row is full of two stitches knitted together next to another stitch being made into 2. It’s not difficult. It’s just a bit more involved than I expected. The fabric that it creates is beautiful, at least I think so, but the start of each separate piece that needs to get knitted (I’m on the second sleeve so I just started the last piece that needs to get “started”) takes a bit of time. Once there is enough fabric created, the knitting goes faster. So…I am hoping that I am going to be able to fly through the rest of this in about 10 more rows.

Other than that… I have put aside Leaves of Grass and Madrona for now to become a mitten/fingerless mitt/sock/hat factory. Taking appropriate breaks to take the dogs out for their exercise, of course.

~~Twisted

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.

 

Will The Winners Please Approach The Poduim

Mar 012010
 


I’ve been knitting.

Yes kids, that’s right. I am an Olympic Knitting Champion according to The Yarn Harlot, and who am I to argue with The Great One?

Knitting away for Team Manic Purl, I finished Jadis last night, sewing the final hem stitch on the neckline. I love love this yarn, Foxfire Cormo Silk Alpaca. It’s smooth against the skin, and the silk gives it a nice sheen and drape.  I would definitely use it again, I think it’s a perfect next-to-your-skin fiber.

Jadis turned out to be a perfect Olympic Knitting Project. It has been several years since I’ve done a sweater, so I needed something fairly straight forward to ease me back in to making something larger than a sock. I loved Nathania Apple’s design, particularly the hemmed bottom, cuffs and neckline. And it has a bit of waist shaping so it doesn’t look too boxy. I also got a chance to use my Signature Circulars for the first time. Signature had some issues in the early batches, with some snagging at the joins. To their credit, they stopped filling orders until they got the problem solved. I was fortunate enough to get some with nice smooth joins before this happened. Yowza -  do those needles fly! Truly unbelievable. Best. Circulars. Ever.

I did find that my finishing needs some work. Too much time has passed since I sat at Penny Straker’s elbow back in the 80′s, learning some perfectly invisible seaming techniques in some of the more challenging curvy areas. Time to study up and see if I can jog my memory while watching Youtube.

On another note…can I just say that I love the US Postal Service? When we last spoke, I was telling you about how I mailed the completed Socks of Death to make my third kill to Adams North Dakota instead of Watertown South Dakota. I had written down the wrong state and wrong zip. I was certain they would finally find their way back to me weeks later, preventing me from making a fourth kill before my death. So I was begging Mr. Postman…..who did not let me down.

The socks hit their mark. Somehow, some postal person took the time to figure out that I was one number off on the Zip Code and one letter off on the state, and sent them on their way! They were delivered to South Dakota on Friday, and Strangest Angel is now singing with the other angels. I await a pair of socks that she is working on, and hope that I can get them finished and sent out before Spalc (I won’t call her evil this time) finishes my socks of death and sends them from Canada, killing me dead. Spalc just finished her Olympic Knitting project which puts mine to shame…take a look at The Dress.

Nice, huh? Just trying to be helpful, I am suggesting she take the rest of March off from knitting, to rest her weary wrists. Can’t be too careful, now can ya?

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