How The West Was Spun

FOs: Earl Grey Mitts and Lore Hoodie

A 2-for-1 FO post for y'all today.

First up, the Earl Grey Mitts.  My WIP progress picture really was pretty close to being done, so they won't really come as visual surprise in the finished version. 

Again, I knit these out of the leftovers of the 50/50 cormo wool/yak yarn from Bijou Basin I used for my Sweetwater shawl.  I modified the pattern a bit by not working all the decreases for the wrists since I have large hands, comparatively, and needed a bit of extra circumference.

A quick, easy, warm project.  I could see these becoming addictive and a great way to use up bits of handspun too.

Next up is the Lore Hoodie sweater. Crazy-quick to knit using bulky yarn.  I really love how this came out. It's like a big squishy bathrobe but ... you know... a little more stylish. 

I love this over jeans and a T-shirt right now, but it's big enough that I suspect I may wear it as an overlayer over turtlenecks and/or fine-gauge sweaters this winter as an outer layer.  (And no, the hemline isn't really that uneven - I must have yanked it oddly when I rotated the dressform).

I had been trying to decide on closures - I had found some nifty painted toggles on Etsy, but couldn't get the shop owner to respond, so in the end I went with a copper "full moon" pin that I like very much and will probably wear on some other things (like shawls) too.

All for now.....

Weekend Project

This was a quiet weekend for me - I curled up on the couch, read a bit, took a few naps, and did a lot of knitting, along with some foozball watching.

I wanted another little "for me" project, so I wound up casting on a set of Earl Grey Mitts.  I had about a half-skein of each of the two colors I used for my Sweetwater Shawl leftover - the yummy, soft and squishy cormo/yak from Bijou Blend.  It is a little bit light for the gauge recommended for the mitts, and I also have fairly large hands, so I wound up working fewer decreases as I worked the wrists and made these a little larger.

I have one mitt completely finished, and the second one is just about there - I just need to work the upper ribbing and the thumb ribbing, and these are all done.  They are knit in stockinette in the round, but then for a fun change, you flip them inside out so they are reverse stockinette, but without all the purling. 

The finished mitt (on the top in the photo) has been flipped, and then the unfinished one, still on the needles, is shown with the inside out.  I'm hoping to finish these up this evening and then hope for another batch of cool air to filter south to us so I've got an excuse to wear them!

All for now....

New Pattern: Blenheim Roses Cowl and Mitts

Have you gotten your Summer 2012 issue of Spin-Off magazine yet?  Mine arrived this weekend, and I am delighted to announce another new pattern published: The Blenheim Roses Cowl and Mitts. 

This matched set features a long cowl with buttons at one end, which can be worn loose, like a scarf, or looped more snugly around the neck.  It also features a pair of feminine fingerless mitts with lace cuffs and striped stockinette sections for the hand, and also have little buttons at the cuffs.

The yarn is a DK-weight handspun.  The darker rose is Polwarth from Two If By Hand in the "Blooming Bouginvillea colorway, and the paler pink is a 50/50 merino/alpaca blend from Pigeonroof Studios in the "Blithe Spirit" colorway.   This would be a great project if you wanted to knit half with handspun and half with a commercial yarn, or even use up scraps of handspun. 

The Summer edition also has a ton of great information about spindles, lots of other nice portable summer-knitting-type projects, and a great technique section on chain plying yarn on your spindle on the fly.  The pattern is available only via the magazine, which is on sale right now through Interweave (or at your local bookstore/craft store, I believe). 

All for now......

 

Pattern Release: Viviane Mittens and Hat

The Viviane Mittens and Hat is now available through my Ravelry pattern store.

Instructions for both accessories are included in the pattern, and it is knit from one 325-yard skein of a light DK/sportweight yarn (my Freya BFL DK in the shop, colorway "Wisp").  If you have more hair than my stick-straight version, or just want a slightly looser fit for either the hat or the mittens, you can up-size the pattern by using a light worsted-weight yarn like Cascade 220.

The inspiration for this set came from the legend of Viviane (called by this and several other names, depending on which Arthurian legend version you read).  Despite the fact that Merlin foresaw his demise at her hands, he taught Viviane all his magical arts and she learned them so well she imprisoned him within a gnarled tree trunk.

The patterns are suitable for an intermediate knitter.  They are both knit in the round (the hat on a 16" circular and DPNs, and the mittens on DPNs), and assume some knowledge of reading charts and basic gusset-thumb mitten construction.

All for now.....

WIP Wednesday: February 1, 2012

SPINNING PROJECTS:

Finished up the Funky Carolina batts, and I'm moving on to the February 12 lbs in 2012 challenge.  The goal for the February challenge is to spin up at least 8 oz of something - enough for a garment.  I'm tackling what I think will wind up being an ongoing project this year to spin up enough 3-ply worsted weight of a pretty charcoal-gray CVM fleece I purchased at Taos S&W in 2010 and was processed for me by Stonehedge Fiber Mill.

No specific goal for this, although I have started the first 2 ounces, and would love to get those singles spun.

KNITTING PROJECTS

I have gotten the Vitamin D cardi to the point I'm ready to put the sleeve stitches on holders and start the body.  I'm hoping to at least get a few rows done of that this week, chipping away at this bit by bit.

I also finished up another foot for the froggie.  I'm going to try to get the final foot finished up this week.

DESIGN PROJECTS

I finished up the SIL sample socks.  Those are ready to go and the pattern is off at the test knitter.

I am still waiting on yarn for the project I've got a deadline of February 21st for.  If... no WHEN.... that yarn arrives this week, that project is going on the needles as top priority to get finished ASAP, so it may be quiet regarding every other project, when I can get going on that.

But until that yarn arrives, I started a pair of slightly slouchy gansey-patterned mitts out of Terry's Snowshow Farm sock yarn.

I'm thinking some other accompanying accessory to go with these.  What do y'all think? A coordinating hat? A cowl?  A scarf?  Something else?

All for now......

FO: Thicket Cowl

I took advantage of some couch time this weekend and finished up my Thickets gloves and cowl set.  The Thickets gloves you've seen already - they appeared in the Ennea magazine over the winter, but I reknit them in the sportweight SW merino I carry in the shop and then designed a matching cowl to go with them. 

This is one of my favorite colorways (what can I say, I'm a gray girl), and hopefully will suit my mum as well as these are destined for holiday gifts for her.

The gloves:
 

And the cowl:

 

I wrote two versions of the cowl.  One with one less repeat in case you like yours to fit more snugly, but I know my mum prefers a looser version, that she can secure with a pin if she wants it to seal out more winter drafts.

The set is available on Ravelry here.  I was able to squeak out a set from one skein of the Belisama sportweight (each skein is 250 yards), but that was cutting it very close on yardage.  If you are making the smaller version of the cowl, you'd likely be fine, or if you have small-ish hands (I do not and neither does mum), you'd likely be fine with 250 or so yards, but for insurance, 300 is probably a more realistic estimate if you're knitting yourself a set.

All for now.....

What I'm Working On

As the Tour is winding down soon, I've been also looking at knitting projects.  I am still slogging along on the (insanely large) Sekret Lace Knitting Project, but I am hopeful to get to the final border in the next week or so. 

I find that I cannot work on said SLKP if I am tired or distracted.  I just wind up having to tink too much, so I also started another more mindless project, which I can share with you.  You might remember I designed a pair of gloves for Ennea last year - the Thicket Gloves.  I wanted to reknit these in a commercial yarn, and I have a nice, springy SW merino sportweight I carry in the shop that works up perfectly for these. 

While I was at it, I thought I'd also design a matching cowl since the gloves don't take an entire skein of the yarn, so I've cast on for that as well.  I've finished up one of the pair of gloves and I've knit two full pattern repeats of the cowl so far.

 

(This is the Belisama sportweight in the colorway "Chaplin", BTW.)

And a modeled shot of the glove.  I'm working these up to fit my mum as a holiday gift.  She is a strong proponent of anything black or gray, so I think these will suit her wardrobe quite nicely.  I'm also thinking of including a little shawl/scarf pin for a little bling along her jacket neckline.

 

Anyway, these are a nice travel/TV/semi-mindless project.  The updated pattern for both items will be available once I get them knitted up.  Just the gloves will be available as a stand-alone thru the Ennea pattern collection as well.

All for now......

Ennea Collective - April 2011

The newest Ennea Collective edition is live!  The theme for this edition is Celtic and natural wools.  We had a lot of fun with pattern concepts for this one.  There's a great article on CVM sheep by Nancy Zeller at Long Ridge Farm, and we've profiled FatCatKnits as our Indie artist this month. 

In this issue, I've got three patterns.  The first is a lacy stole knit in 3 natural colors of CVM handspun (from Long Ridge Farm), but it'd be great in any DK or light worsted yarn in a solid color too.  (If you had something like a Silky Wool from E. Lavold, or even Cascade 220, those would be great to use.) It knits up quickly on size 8 US needles.  That's the Currach stole.  Knit on a lot of our driving trips to and from Texas this winter.

 

Then, I worked up two smaller projects.  The first is the Ballycastle Tam.  And MANY thanks to Christina for test-knitting this sucker.  The charts took some finagaling, but we got them there!. This is knit from 5 different Shetland fingering-weight wools.  It has two traditional peerie patterns and a star-shaped crown.  If you don't wish to spin your own fiber, you can easily substitute in something like Harrisville Shetland or Jamieson's Spindrift yarns in any color grouping you like.

 

Finally, the Triskele Mittens, which are also knit in a fingering-weight yarn, this time a colorwork kit of BFL from Two If By Hand in Fawn and Cranberries.  Again, Harrisville Shetland or Jamieson's Spindrift yarns would be great substitutions if you don't wish to use handspun.

 

Look for our next edition to be out this summer!  We are also planning a spin-along of an exclusive colorway with another indie artist for that issue, so details on that shortly.

All for now.......

FO: Blackberry Mittens

Here are the finished Blackberry Mittens.  They have had a bath and are already in the to-be-gifted box.

 

PROJECT SPECS:
Pattern:  The pattern came in the kit with the yarn.  It's Blackberry Mittens from Blackberry Ridge Mill. (They do still carry this kit).
Yarn:  150 and 125 yards of 2 colors of sportweight yarn.  I used the kit yarn, which is a 75% wool and 25% mohair blend.  It's nicely rustic and works great for colorwork. The mohair content isn't really noticeable in terms of halo, but I suspect it will make these wear like iron.
Needles:  US size 3 DPNs.
Mods:  None.  I was knitting these mostly to move them out of stash, but if I did knit this pattern in the future, I would end the increase rows for the thumb gusset back by about 6 or 8.  It's a very shallow thumb otherwise.  The length itself is fine; they just don't sit snugly down in the bend of my thumb.  My only other gripe is that, while I get that not charting the top of the mitten decreases means you can customize the length, it's annoying when you just want to knit a pattern to have to figure out those and how to keep the colorwork in pattern while adding the decreases in.  And then remember to make good enough notes you can duplicate it for the second mitten.

At any rate, these are done and are VERY nice and warm, so I'm sure they will be a good charity gift for someone who needs a pair to keep their hands toasty!

All for now....

WIP Wednesday: March 2, 2011

Since I had finished up the Milkweed Shawl, I also cast on for another stash-buster project on our travels to and from Texas to get the horses picked up.  These aren't the best easy knitting project, as I do need to follow a chart pretty closely, so I think my next project on the needles that isn't a design-in-progress will need to be something that requires less mental effort.

At any rate, I dug deep into the stash - I think this kit is around 5 years old?  Ish?  It's a pair of colorwork mittens from Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill, a pretty pair from their sportweight wool/mohair yarn blend.  The kit came with the pattern and the preselected color choice. I finished up one of the mitten pair last Friday sitting with my IV running.

 

The pattern is Blackberry Mittens and they are a fairly quick knit on size 3 US needles despite the colorwork. I like the design a lot - I find it quite pretty, but I don't care for the thumb shaping at all.  I have a very deep thumb joint, and these don't sit down in the bend of my thumb very snugly.  If I were to make them again, I think I'd probably modify the thumb increases/shaping, but they ARE nice and warm with the colorwork, so I think I will probably finish them up and pop them into the give-away box.

I've got the cuff knit on mitten #2 and I'm going to work on getting the second one mostly, if not totally done this week.

I've also gotten the big project of the 3 I'm working on for the April Ennea magazine edition finished (just need to finalize the pattern), but I am trying to keep a sort of clean slate as I'm going to be also test-knitting for another designer, and her project is also a larger-sized one.  I have a couple of other smaller designs for April also in the works, but while I have a wicked case of startitis right now, I am trying not to put too many things on the needles that I will likely not have time to work on in the near future with any sort of focus.  It makes me wonder if startitis and spring fever are first cousins in some way.

All for now......