Author: Chauntel Ensey

I am only the back neck shaping & collar away from being done with the fair isle yoke.

I love it! I am very pleased with how it turned out. I didn’t need the whole chart so I worked my favorite parts of it to get them all in before running out of space. Now I have to decide what I want to do for the collar & cuffs. I am going to steek it to make it a cardigan so the fronts will need to match. I am thinking that I will do a 2 color rib but do I do a pattern like peaks (triangles) or do I do 2×2 rib with 2 colors. Not sure, I will go right back in & start messing around with it to decide. I do think the 2 color 2×2 is what is going to win out.

Yesterday was great with Tracy working on her fair isle shawl. She posted pics, you should go check them out! For her 80+ rows of fair isle on the machine, I finished 12 rows in the same amount of time. Granted, I was not sitting at the machine non-stop like she was. I had little beasties to discipline, torment & generally just be a mom to.

 

 

 

I am doing a little sidestep away from the projects I have going. Not enough completed projects happening for my taste. Instead of waiting to finish the Jefferson or the Carla I just put them away in their nice little canvas case & stored them in another room. That way I didn’t have the guilt of association with them by my chair while I cast on for the lamb’s pride fair isle sweater.

Have I mentioned I love lamb’s pride?? I do. It’s just a perfect yarn all the way around. The color choice, the weight, the gauge. Perfect!

I got my colors all figured out on the chart last night & wrote out the pattern, basing it on the Kureyon yoke sweater that I finished not too long ago. I started at the yoke to work the fair isle first. Please, please ignore the fact that these pictures are all blurry. My camera is about to completely die. I can get good closeups but not good medium distance pictures, ie 5 feet away.

Mess o’ lamb’s pride

I also worked on a pair of socks using yarn that I dyed.

I love how the heel went to perfect stripes

I also dyed some more yarn on Thursday night, I needed something fun to do while I was missing knitting at JS.

Using knitpicks dye your own wool of the andes and food dyes from smart & final first I did a hank of blue. All blue dye with a little water, maybe 1 cup.

I cooked it on the stovetop this time instead of the microwave & I think the results were great!

Second I did a yucky hank that we tried to dye caramel & it all rinsed out so then we dyed it turquoise & it didn’t all take. So I used the leftover turquoise dye we had & didn’t even bother to hank it I was so tired of dealing with that damn yarn. If it worked, great, if not who cares!

And here they are completely dried. I ended up balling the blue & hanking the green so I could get the whole thing rinsed out. Once again the brighter blue is blown out in the picture, it’s not actually that bright but I couldn’t get a decent picture for the life of me. Can you see the variation in the colors in the green hank? I love how it turned out.

Have I mentioned that I hate my camera lately? That photo is fantastic! The one above, not so much. oh well

Today Tracy is coming over for some machine knitting, shhhh, it’s a surprise what she is making. You will have to wait for her post! I am going to work solely on the fair isle yoke. I think the colors are going to work out well. I am kind of fudging with them as I go along. Once it’s farther along I will get a (good) picture posted of progress.

If the whole sweater turns out well I may just post a pattern of the kureyon & the fair isle for free, we’ll see!

 

I posted a new photo to apad2.

I am so jealous of you all. Sitting in Java Station drinking yummy drinks with mounds & mounds of whipped cream on top. sigh

I am here with a pile of kids homework that needs to be finished under much duress. We are on a practice spelling test with the kid that doesn’t yet read, go figure! I have a new pot of coffee all brewed just for myself. No sharing tonight! Oh no, the man has gone to smoke cigars with his own friends, whatever!  Hey, if he is only gone one night a month with his friends compared to my weekly excursions I cannot & shall not complain!

My lamb’s pride worsted cone in pistachio came yesterday & I LOVE IT!! It has taken all my willpower not to cast on the fair isle yoke sweater I have planned. I will be steeking it to make a cardigan.

I have been surfing the net looking for the perfect yoke pattern. I just love the patterns here, tons of free charts, sweater patterns in the round, pieced. It makes one smile, doesn’t it?? I think this is the first choice.

 Not too wintery but just enough color. Not the colors pictured of course. But this one sure does strike my fancy too.

It may be a bit too whimsical for this sweater but it’s so cute! Can’t you see that on a full black fitted sweater? How freakin’ cute!

I think the one below is the winner though.

 

I do love the flower, it’s not too girly. Just right I am thinking. Here are the colors I will be working with.
Main color of the body   M-184
Pistachio       

Fair isle colors

M-120
Limeade

M-38
Lotus Pink

M-29
Jack’s Plum

M-34
Victorian Pink

M-51
Winter Blue

M-124
PersianPeacock

M-151
ChocolateSouffle

M-181
Prairie Fire

M-83
Raspberry

M-25
Garnet

M-155
Lemon Drop

 

Now, I won’t be using all those colors but that is what I have on hand to choose from. Most are leftovers from other projects but there is plenty to do the yoke.

While you all are enjoying yourself, laughing, sharing, I just wasted 45 minutes of my evening writing this post. I will be going to knit now.

 

I posted a new photo to apad2.

I finished the felted clogs yesterday & then made Trevor a pair out of scrap wool that I had. I just finished felting them this morning!

Before:

Dirty little boy feet are optional in the knitting of these projects.

 

After:

I am very pleased with how both pair turned out. I have the best orange Ecological Wool that I am going to make Tyler a pair out of. He will be so pleased with orange clogs! If they didn’t grow so fast I would totally put the full slipper bottoms on them. But I think it’s just a waste of $12. Besides, I don’t even really know if they will wear them that much with warmer weather coming.

Oh, is it actually going to get warmer or are we going to go straight from spring rains to June Gloom in a hurry! We better have a good summer or I swear, I may throttle someone!

I worked on the Carla last night after finishing up the clogs. It’s a fast knit but I am just not totally into it. I will switch back and forth between that & the Jefferson until one of them really catches my fancy. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I found myself making more slippers. Satisfying is what they are!

 

The Patagonia arrived yesterday afternoon & I LOVE IT!!!

The color blend is amazing! I swatched on size 9’s. THe range given in needles size is from 8-10 so I thought right in the middle was the way to go. I think it’s a little too tight for the drape that I want but I also have to remember that cotton has a tendency to grow a drape of it’s own! I will stay with size 9’s.

I have yet to really make a plan for this yarn. I do think that a kimono style cardigan with 3/4 sleeves is what I will make. It doesn’t roll too much in stockinette stitch so I my not even need a rib of anykind. Simple is what I am thinking, nice and simple!

I also decided, after talking to my sister, that for Mother’s Day my mom needs some felted clogs like my dad’s. She loved his so much that I would feel bad if she didn’t have a pair for herself. I finished one yesterday & I am about half through the second.

I am using Lamb’s Pride worsted, held doubled throughout, in mulberry and chocolate souffle for the bottom and cuff and winter blue for the body of the clog.

I love how fast they work up & solid they become after felting. I have the children’s clog pattern also that I have been meaning to make for all 3 kids. With how fast they will go i am thinking that will be a piece of cake! Or maybe chocolate souffle!