Category: Blog

I had so much fun doing that yoke Sat & Sun that I decided yesterday afternoon to cast on another! This time I am using Knitpicks Merino Style wool in colors I had on hand. I am stashbustin!

The math to figure this one out took me a while. I couldn’t find my calculator so I did it all by good old fashioned long division & multiplication. I even did a gauge swatch to make sure I got it all correct! So once that was figured out I provisionally cast on in the main body color of brown. I don’t remember the actual knitpicks color name but I am sure it’s not anything close to the actual color. I am going to do short sleeves on this sweater, I think the cherry motif lends itself to that. I have a ton of cotton in my stash that I am thinking would be used perfectly for some fun summery fair isle tops.

The lamb’s pride yoke sweater is all divided for sleeves and body & I have an inch and a half or so done on the body. Tracy has the size 8, 12 inch, addi turbo’s that I need for the sleeves, once I get them I will start one of the sleeves too.

I forgot to mention it but I used one different yarn in this yoke. If you look under the large section of red you will see a light green with a little bit of sparkle in it. It’s berrocco Beadnik, it is prestrung with beads! You can’t see them on the picture, they are pretty spread out but they add just a tad bit of bling. I did another 2 rows of it up at the base of the collar too.

My thought is that you can never have too many stockinette projects on hand for working on in front of the tv, traveling or taking to a coffee house to work on. But isn’t knitting all about enjoying what you are creating? Not just torturing yourself to get something finished? Therefore, I will do as many fair isle yokes as I can until I just don’t wanna anymore!

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!

Today was not an accomplished day. I got a whole lotta nuthin’ done! Oh the kitchen got cleaned, the kids bathroom got sanitized but I didn’t get anything done that I wanted to do. I got a whopping 18 rows of the trellis scarf done. I am not inspired by the yarn or the pattern & I am thinking a pair of socks or felted slippers is going to be much more appreciated. I found myself on and off ebay drooling over yarn all day. Oregon Trail Yarn and Books was a hotspot of mine today. I love cones of yarn, in case you didn’t notice, and the Brown Sheep always gets my attention. On my watch list right now are these few things:

 Mill 2nds of cotton fine in candy apple, over 1000 yards of it.

 Lamb’s Pride 1lb Tiger Lily. I know I don’t need any more orange sweaters but I love this color!

 1lb Lamb’s Pride worsted Prairie Fire. This is hands down my favorite color in the lamb’s pride line. I love it! Amazing it’s not green huh?

 This is the one that is on the top of my list. I need to have a sweater this color! NEED IT! Pistachio worsted weight 1lb

Notice how the pictures get bigger the more I want the yarn?? Fantastic!

My Araucania Patagonia

should be here tomorrow! I am so excited I cannot contain myself~ what will I do with it you say?? I have no clue but a swatch will be done ten minutes after I open the package! I don’t want another cardigan, I don’t necessarily want another solid, plain sweater but there are not alot of options with this yarn to really show it off. I think once I look at it I will be inspired. I have 8 coming, that should be enough to make whatever strikes my fancy. If it is not enough for a pattern, I won’t use that pattern! I am thinking I want it to be something I can wear on humid, cool summer nights here in SB. Maybe I will just need to do some kind of simple openwork cardigan/jacket with straight drop sleeves, maybe 3/4 length, and a kimono style wrap front. Plain dropped stitches are too blah. Rippley waves are well, too wavy! I will have to go to the Stitchionary  to find my perfect stitch pattern.

Aren’t I just in the design mode lately? I doubt any of it will come to much other than a garment for myself but hey, that is what knitting is about sometimes! Selfish, narcissistic knitting. Fantastic!

That was my Earth Day, we didn’t drive the car anywhere at least! Didn’t use the house heater. We were rather productive (or non-productive depending on how you look at it) on this Earth Day!

 

The knitting machine. 12pm-6:30pm Saturday April 22, 2006 6 charity blankets complete.

Once again Tracy & I had a knitting machine marathon trying to get rid of all that charity yarn.

Here is the end product. 6 blankets, all they need is a bit of edging, washing and blocking.

I love the one on the end right, Tracy did that one. Rainbow Brite for sure! On the yellow blanket Tracy thought she would try something new, just for the hell of it. Now, the EZ-Knit book says that you can do fair isle, cableing, intarsia, we just didn’t believe them. So we figured the fair isle was going to be the easiest to accomplish & she did! She did 2 rows of fair isle, which is actually 4 rows of knitting, don’t ask.  But overall we decided that it would be something that would be totally feasible on the machines. My wish was that I could do the Kaffe Fassett shawl but our max width is only 160 stitches. That is not nearly wide enough!

We had a bit of a multi-tasking day. Tracy needed 2 colors for her Babette Blanket that we couldn’t get through Knitpicks in Wool of the Andes so we dyed our own! Let me introduce Vicious Green and Sunshine Yellow!

I did a hank of the green for my shawl also. It’s an absolutely gorgeous color! For the Vicious Green we layered the yellow & green dyes and added vinegar at the end to make the green really take hold. Then we cooked it in the microwave to set. It worked perfectly!! The yellow was an entire bottle of lemon yellow dye on the hank just barely covered with water. No vinegar or cooking needed.

I started to chart out the colors for the Kaffe Fassett shawl and found myself with a problem. I will have to use multiple sheets of graph paper side by side to get the whole triangle of the shawl graphed. I think I will just do the color and pattern on one paper, it will be the center of the shawl starting from the bottom cast on point and going to the top of the shawl. I only need to see the colors and not worry about the pattern. After a couple of repeats the pattern will be memorized and I will only have to worry about the colors. I am probably putting way too much thought into this and I should probably just cast on & figure it out as I go. I hate putting a ton of work into planning, coloring charts and then abandoning them after just a few rows of knitting. My gut instinct is to do it free form coloring, just knit with the color that strikes my fancy! Two color knitting isn’t all that difficult to begin with!

I am tempted to cast on today but I really can’t. The Jefferson needs to be finished and Mother’s Day is right around the corner and my mom’s trellis scarf only has 4 rows done. I cast on one night, then put it away. I was happy to even cast on with how many things I had going. So, those are the priorities in knitting right now. Once I finish either of those projects I can cast on the shawl, that is the deal with the devil I have made.