No pain, no gain

I suppose pain is inevitable; despair is optional. With lots of physical therapy, icing, heat, naprosyn and resting, I finally finished my own Metamorphosis cardigan sweater. It always amazes me how pain free I can be during the knitting, but when I stop, owie owie. Very bizarre. But I am finished, and I love it. I may never take it off.I love how the sleeves bell out slightly, and the length is great, and it is warm but light.
Thanks to Andrea and the Metamorphosis group for encouragement, ideas and support!

Meanwhile, I am packing to move house, and trying to sell, so it is important not to make a mess in my studio. Which is really hard for me. But I started a quilt a few years ago, and it is a quilting rather than piecing project, so all I need is the machine and some thread. Of course, time is always important. Perhaps tomorrow I will give you a peek at it.

Metamorphosis Casts On!

We have been very busy lately knitting swatches and collecting yarn and beads for the Metamorphosis Project, the collaborative effort of Andrea of BadcatDesigns ( http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/) and myself. Andrea is designing the gorgeous lace patterns and I am designing the sweaters to go with the lace.

It has been so much fun to watch the ideas manifest in form. I am knitting 2 sweaters to test the concepts, one as a pullover with the yarn above ( for myself! Of course it is blue...) and the other as a cardigan in a lovely green, which happens to fit Andrea's daughter and beautiful model BadKitten.

You can still join the fun by going to BadCat's blog and following the instructions there.

The green cardigan is really lovely, and uses a merino fingering weight yarn called BB Toes, which we all fell in love with at Stitches East. It is available at https://mochasfiber.com/ , and blocks out into a drapey smooth fabric that really shows the stitches well.

Tomorrow we will release the first chart and the instructions for the beginning of the sweater, which is a top-down, seamless raglan style yoke. The beauty of this is how the lace pattern flows seamlessly around.

I have done the calculations to size the sweater from 34 inch chest up to 60 inches, and it has been interesting to see how the design can be upsized. I have kept Andrea busy desinging her amazing charts so we can have shaping and flare in the sweater, and I think it will look lovely on a range of sizes. Being top-down, you can adjust the lengths as you wish.

There are also 3 shawls which will use the same lace patterns and combinations of those, so it is wonderful to see how Andrea has concocted such lovely patterns.

Christmas Handwarmers

Last year I knitted an alpaca scarf for each of my brother's three daughters, and had fun trying different combinations of reversible cables. This year I decided  matching handwarmers might be fun, and I found some worsted weight alpaca that matched the colors of the scarves. Over the summer, I  had participated in BadCatDesigns Summer SwatchMe project ( http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ ) , so I have a wealth of lovely  14-stitch lace patterns to play with. I decided to use the same dimensions for each set, but vary the lace, so here is my generic formula:
Fingerless Gloves: Worsted Version: 7 inches long
Aslan trends Alpaca; 100gm/220 yds. Need 40gm, or about 100 yds for a pair.
Size 6 Double pointed needles, and size 4  DP needles.
Cast on 42 sts ( 3 reps of 14 sts)

Knit one round,
Purl one round

Start lace pattern.Repeat 3 times around ( once for each needle)

Work 40 rounds (e.g. 2 1/2 reps of 16 rows).
Bind off 8 sts, continue around
Cast on 8 over the bound off sts on next plain round.
Work another 8 rounds ( e.g.½ rep).
Switch to size 4 needles and work K2P2 for 8 rounds. BO in pattern.

I decided not to make thumb gussets, so these can be pushed down to the cufffs if needed for extra wrist warmth when you are wearing gloves with them.
I hope they love these as much as I do!

Holey Cowls

It has gotten cold here in New York, and I wasn't happy with any of the scarves I have. I needed a cowl. What is a cowl, you might ask? I think it is like a big snuggly turtleneck, or maybe a circle of warmth that you pop over your head. Like a scarf, but not dangly. The wool goes where you need it most! It shouldn't take much to make it, so I thought perhaps I could design one quickly. I remembered I had a skein of electric blue Big Wool which I had purchased for $3 at the LYS sale in the summer of 2009. The largest needles I had were 13s though, and I didn't think I wanted to run out in the cold to buy some 15s. Pencils were even too thin to use for DPNs. In the end I went with knitting really loosely on the 10.5 DPNs I had, and switching to my 13 circular when it was big enough.

This idea was a welcome break from the secret project I've been working on, which involves fingering-weight yarn, lace and much smaller needles.I thought it might be fun to make another one, so I got out the Noro Cashmere Island  I bought a while ago. That yarn has long color repeats, as is a feature of Noro yarns, and it was so pretty  that I had been saving it for something special. I thought it might be fun to double strand it  and see how the colors interacted. Plus I could knit on large size 11 needles and have another really fast project.
I decided to call these "Quick Leaf Cowls" although I thought of them as Holey Cowls, but that name has already been used!

The Cashmere Island yarn is 60% wool and 30% casmere with 10% nylon, so it is soft and warm. And my cat loves it! He likes anything Noro, and carries little balls of it around if he gets the chance. I forgot, and left a ball of grey on the table, so it ended up in my bedroom this morning, in a tangle on the floor!

I've uploaded the pattern to my Ravelry store in case you need some instant gratification, too...Now it is back to the Winter Project...

Spring Ahead!

Spring has sprung upon us, with sunny skies and warm sunshine. Bulbs are springing up all over my yard. Time to get the deer fence up again, and break out the spring sweaters. I knit and designed this sweater which I called Column of Leaves Cardigan in 2007, and have enjoyed wearing it . Folks have been asking for the pattern, but it always seemed way beyond my skills to write up.Funny how things can be easier to do than to describe, but the problem is sizing it for other people! Because of the nature of the construction I used ( seamless yoke) and the lace pattern, it is almost a different sweater and has to be figured out anew for each size. But I loved how the back came together:

So I've been crunching out the numbers, making charts, swatching and making little paper models to figure out the sizing and I think I've almost nailed it! Then it is off to my test knitters, and hopefully I can publish it soon....

In other news, my son returned from college with is stuff which is now in boxes all over the living room. What does he have? Here is one box of treasures:

He can actually solve all of those! Amazing!

Crop Sleeve Raglan

I don't usually knit a pattern exactly as written, but this sweater called to me. "Crop Sleeve Raglan" by Gayle Bunn, from Knit 'N Style, August 2005. Yarn: ggh Bali, a cotton/acrylic blend. Usually I avoid acrylics, but this was on sale and also it didn't feel squeaky or icky. It had the added advantage of being sproingy and lighter than 100% cotton would be, so a good mix.
This was a fun sweater to knit. Of course, I knit it in the round and seamlessly, despite it being written in pieces, as I love the possibility of trying it on as I go along.
After establishing the pattern, it was very easy to keep track of and turned into my favorite summer drag-along project. The yarn I used was very stretchy, so it was a challenge to get gauge. I tried it on every inch on the way up the body to make sure it would fit! I modified the pattern to be knit seamlessly in the round, and used seed stitch instead of moss stitch on sleeves and ribs, adding a bit of width in the bust area, and 2 inches in length to the sleeves for a bit more coverage. .


A very comfortable summer project!

Medallion Lace jacket

Yarn: Queensland Collection "Cotolino": 60% cotton, 40% linen, size 8 needles, approx 650 yards.
Knit sideways from the center back. I provisionally cast on 81 stitches ( 8 repeats plus 1 of Medallion Lace from Evelyn Clark’s book “Knitting Lace Triangles”) and knit 9 inches, then put 31 stitches on waste yarn hold for sleeves, continued knitting 10 inches or so to center front, bind off. Then undid provisional cast on, knit another 9 inches in other direction, waste yarn sleeve stitches, finish front. Then seam shoulders, pick up sleeve stitches, knit in round to 3/4 length, bind off. Single crochet around fronts, bottom edge, center back.
A wearable and cool summer jacket. My cat loved the sweater, for some reason, and wouldn't leave me alone while I was knitting it! Here she is trying to get in the photo!

Some Summer sweaters

Here is my most recent experiment in knitting: The Medallion Lace vest. I used size 8 needles, Provence cotton yarn, and adapted a shawl pattern from Evelyn Clark's wonderful book "Knitted Lace Triangles" for the pattern. The border is two offset repeats of the same pattern I used in the Leaf Lace vest from a few months ago. I initially thought this would be a cardigan, but when it was done, I thought it might be fun to sew up the center seam and make it a pullover. Probably I should have made it a pullover to begin with, but sometimes these experiments take on a life of their own! Here is the back view:
I also made this cardigan ( knitted top down, adapted from the CeCe cardigan by Chic Knits) ,in Provence cotton yarn, which I call the Torchwood Cardigan, as I watched the first 2 seasons of Torchwood while knitting it:
I probably should do a better job of weaving in the ends...but I'm lazy!

Leafy Lace Tunic

Here is what happened to the leaf lace vest I started a while back. I began from the top, using Cotton Classic, size 9 needles, and Leaf lace, and joined in the center to get a pullover. When I got to the waist, I ran out of yarn, but I wanted a longer sweater, so I rummaged around in the stash, and found one skein of a similar color, and two skeins of the darker teal, so I figured that if I changed the lace pattern when I changed yarn colors, it might turn out to be interesting. I used hexagon mesh, then transitioned to an arrowhead pattern, then transitioned to a lace edging #49 from Lavori Artistici a Calza 11. Then I single crocheted two rows around the armholes and a row of SC2, chain3, to make a picot edging , which also finished off the hem. Below is a snapshot of my neice Allie modeling it. I thought it needed something, so I knit an I-cord and added that. Lots of fun to wear, and fun to knit! I have yet to block it, though, as I'm waiting for it to stop raining.

Leaf Lace Vest

After having a fun time knitting the Leaf Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark from Fibertrends, I wondered if I could adapt the lace to a vest. I was enjoying knitting with the yarn, Schaefer's Laurel, a worsted weight cotton in interesting variegated colors, on size 9 needles, and now that I had the tension numbers, I could use that info to make a raglan vest. The result took one skein of Laurel ( 400 yards), and I knitted it entirely during the week I spent flying to Los Angeles and touring around Southern California to deliver my son Michael to his freshman year at Caltech. Lots of good memories are encoded in every stitch.

Triangular Shawl Edgings

I've been fooling around with edgings other than garter stitch,on a triangular shawl, thinking that garter would not stretch as much as the stockinette-based fabric of the rest of the shawl.( Although sometimes perhaps you want this to happen so the thing stays on, but that is a different question...) I found that a 5 stitch edging of ribbing, e.g. PKPKP would have the same vertical stretch as the rest of the shawl, but not curl as a stockinette border would.. I started a shawl using this edge but haven't finished it yet, sorry. But so far, the edge is really nice.The ribbing kind of contracts like I-cord, but has the correct number of rows. And you can start it the way you do the usual 3 stitch garter-edged shawl, e.g.: provisionally cast on 5 sts, PKPKP, turn, KPKPK, etc, until you've done twice the rows needed for picking up on the edge, ( usually around 14 rows,) then pick up 7 sts along the edge of the strip you just knit, then undo the provisional cast on and pick up the 5 live sts. Now you'll have 17 sts on your needle, and you can start your shawl pattern. There is going to be a slight jog where the sts are 1/2 stitch off, but it isn't very noticeable and gets buried in the ribbing ( and is at the back of the neck anyway). Then you can start the pattern of the triangular shawl as usual, marking the 5 edge sts on both ends of the row as you would if doing a garter edge . See photos, and try it!

Miniature leaf Triangle Shawl

Several years ago, I bought one 273 yard skein of Great Adirondack Silk Delight, in Orchid, a lavender, blue, grey, green and purple colorway. It was lovely silk, but I couldn't decide what to make of it, as I only had the one skein. . Last month I played around and made a shrug, using the same pattern I'd used on the black one, but with short sleeves. I finished the piece, but didn't find it flattering. So, I had fun frogging it entirely. Then I thought it would be nice to see if I could make a triangular shawl, using the same stitch pattern, and graphed it out. I liked how the repeats fell regularly, and soon I was happily knitting along on size 10 needles. I had no idea how large it would be, exactly, and I wanted a little bit of a different edging, so as the ball got smaller and smaller, I knit and pondered. ( I also read Harry Potter 7 while I was knitting it, it was such a simple stitch pattern.) Finally I realized I could weigh the yarn remaining with my kitchen scale, so to determine how much to leave for the edging and the bindoff. After about 85 rows, I was ready. I had 12 gm left. I knit another row,and had 10 gm left. So I figured I could knit 3 more rows, so I had 4 gm left for the bind off. I was thrilled that it worked out exactly and I had 2 feet of yarn left at the end! It blocked out at 55 inches wide and 31 inches long, and it was a fun knit. I think my next challenge will be a variation with a straight section in the middle, like the Fareose shaping, to make it slightly wider and to fold better on the body, as the triangle does fall off easily! Now I need a nice shawl pin...

Cat is for scale...

Lace vest

I finished my lace vest. Cotton Classic, 5 skeins, size 6(5,4) needles. Very fun to knit, and comfortable to wear. Good thing, as the weather is heating up. I enjoyed designing this, and now am planning my next concoction.

Playing with lace

I became intrigued by a Japanese book I bought recently, of patterned lace, and wondered if I could use a pattern in the book to make an interesting summer tank top/vest thingie. So, I swatched ( in leftover blue Cotton Classic, no.6 US needles, which I had on hand) , calculated and cast on provisionally, for a bottom-up circular tank, figuring I'd knit till long enough, divide for armholes, plug in a V-neck and bind off sloping shoulders, and decide on the edge treatments later..
Of course, after about 4 inches, the pattern seemed way too busy, so I simplified it and decided the bottom was a border, and continued in pattern up the trunk. I'm liking the effect, and having fun seeing what comes next. I'm also going down some needle sizes( 5 then 4, then 5 and 6 again) to create waist shaping. I hope it comes out as I envision, but the journey is sometimes more interesting than the destination...

More knitting projects!

The hat obsession continues. Here is one for my brother, who I'll be seeing tomorrow at Christmas at my Mom's house. I hope he likes it...














And this is a lace sweater I knit over the summer in bright yellow green and blue silk yarn. I never could bring myself to wear it because the color was overwhelming. Last night I overdyed it with blue, and now it is drying. I think this one will definitely be wearable.
Happy Holidays to all!