Winter Obsession part 2

So here are the fruits of the last few weeks of knitting pleasure. I have had to graph out the project nearly line by line, as I decided it might be possible to make this into a raglan V necked design, which pleased my sense of geometry and hopefully will fit me. All the possibilities of set- in sleeves seemed to do inelegant things to the cables, and while I will probably attempt top- down set- in sleeves in one piece in future, these cables seemed to want to merge in diagonal ways. And to make it less warm to wear, a V neck seemed like a good idea at the time.
So I began to make the braid cable emerge in the front while I decreased in the center cable panel. I'm in the middle of the 5th repeat , and took advantage of the end of this ball of yarn to work on a sleeve. I decided to add 2 stitches every 4 rows until I had a whole cable on either side of the center "seam" and then knit straight to the armpit. 5 cable repeats gives me the arm length measurement I need, so I am pleased. It is kind of scary, though , to work bottom up, as I have become so used to the control and predictability of working top down and being able to try it on as I go. Ah well, live and learn! I am enjoying this quite a bit, watching the graphs turn into stitches and seeing my measurement predictions turn out. As this is a superwash wool, it may turn out bigger than it is as knitted, after I block it, which will be fine, as it seems to be a bit smaller than I predicted from the swatch. In my eagerness to get going of course I didn't wash the swatch! Live dangerously! Luckily I don't have to please anyone except myself, so it is all good. And I can always rip and re-knit. Or find some unsuspecting child to give it to. Or put it in the Museum of Knitting Experiments.

Salon Seven Quilt Show

I spent a lot of happy hours this week quilting a quilt that I had begun a few years ago, but never finished due to getting discouraged with quilting and taking a detour into knitting. I had been invited to curate an exhibit in the New Rochelle Library several months ago, and began to realize I should at least have one new work to hang. I dug this partly finished quilt out from where it was resting and had alot of fun quilting it, and when I put the last stitch into it last night at 1am, I was pleased. It is called "Cats are everywhere"( which you can see in the detail of the quilting)... and here is my panel in the exhibit, which we hung today. You'll have to go see the other 37 quilts in the show; it is wonderful! Here is the press release:

The Salon Seven: Stitching it Together
Group Exhibition at New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, New York http://www.nrpl.org/

The Salon Seven announces the opening of their newest exhibition. In a time where the very fabric of society appears to be falling apart at the seams, this group of seven textile artists continues to meet monthly to encourage and support each other while offering constructive critique. When they are together, ideas and creativity flow, excitement fills the air, and the members encourage each other in their individual explorations of color and design, stitching together their own personal view of life’s journey.
The 41 art quilts included in this exhibition, which runs from Saturday, January 3, 2009,through January 24, 2009, exhibit a breathtaking range of styles, textures, colors and subjects yet remain true to the quilt making tradition. Each member of this group has her own way of using textiles, and each uses fabric, thread, and batting to create her distinctive artwork.
Salon Seven members: Benedicte Caneill, Beth Carney, Georgia Heller, Jeri Riggs, Elizabeth Rosenberg, Linda Schoenfeld, Susan Schrott

Artist's Reception: Sunday, January 11, 2009: 1-3pm

Winter Obsession

Alice Starmore's knitting oevre is legendary among knitters. She has a site now called http://www.virtualyarns.com/ with lovely photos of her designs where you can purchase kits for the yarn. Sadly, many of her books remain out of print, but now and again they can be found on Ebay or, amazingly enough, in local libraries!

When I started this knitting odyssey, I was attracted to very complex designs, with lovely intricate colorwork and/or cables , but soon realized they were way beyond my skill level. I had a while to go in terms of learning before I could tackle anything that complicated. There is also the time factor: dancing between desiring instant gratification and long term projects , as well as the need to master as many things as possible, I gravitated towards lace, which gives the satisfaction of complexity with the speed of human timeframes on larger needles. For some situations, my RSD strikes and I have to back off, so that factors into my choice of projects . Also, I like to make garments that I can wear, so there is the intellectual challenge of knitting to create a 3 dimensional object and making something that fits me.

I have long adored Ms. Starmore's

St. Brigid, http://www.virtualyarns.com/scripts/showitem.asp?ID=61

an intricate cabled sweater, but because the smallest size is 43 inches across the chest, and has dropped sleeves, I knew I could not wear something this big, and it would not flatter me.

Zooming around Ravelry, ( www.ravelry.com ) I came across several folks who had modified the design to fit them, and I had the idea that I could try to knit something for myself.

I finally knew enough to have an idea how I could manage this! And I had several stashed yarns that might be fun to knit this with. And finally, I had a dear friend who had the book Aran Knitting, so I was able to borrow it on Dec 10th and obtain the pattern, which is charted out. So, it all came together into my winter obsession.

Now, what is the first thing one does when starting a new knitting project? Swatching! My first swatch, in Zara on a size 4 needle, didn't make me happy somehow. I swatched again with Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Superwash, a merino wool blend that has a rustic feel, but is actually nice to knit with. And it shows the cables nicely, and I had 10 skeins ( at 218 yds each) so I had plenty of yarn! And of course, it is in electric blue.

My swatch of this yielded 22 sts per inch on a 6 in double moss, which is pretty close to the pattern gauge, so I cast on and knit a repeat in the round of the whole sweater, subtracting 12 sts on each side, hoping it would come out to something more like 40 inches.I needed to make a set of stitch markers with letters on them so I could keep my place in the charts.

As is the nature of swatches, they lie! LOL! My swatch measures 46 inches!

But I now have a nice piece of fabric to measure and gauge how to redesign the pattern so it will hopefully fit me.

And it's back to the drawing board for thinking about this some more...

In search of blue

At least a year ago a friend sold me some Lorna's Laces Worsted in the colorway "Stormy". I thought it was lovely yarn, but of course, the black and white was a bit too graphic for my taste. I thought it would look lovely overdyed with blue, but never got around to it...On the 9th, I had my going away party at the shop I have worked for for the last nearly 2 years, and chose a lovely skein of Gread Adirondack silk yarn in a cream, beige and white colorway. Everyone looked at me like I was kidding when my eyes lit up and I said I loved the yarn!. I could see the possibilities....So I made up some dye ( Brilliant blue, a warm blue) and finally had a chance to dye both the silk and the Lorna's....the photos don't do it justice, but all of the yarn is gorgeous! Now it has to marinate in the stash for a bit until it tells me what to make.

Before dyeing After dyeing

Vested Interests

I'm lucky I invested in yarn this year. With the current economic climate, it is reassuring to have boxes and bags full of potential projects waiting for me. So I decided to make a vest. I began this November 24th, at a knitting guild meeting, and enjoyed knitting it during Thanksgiving, finally finishing it December 9th. I used 6 skeins of Blue Sky Worsted hand dyed alpaca/Merino on a size 9 needle, and as it was top down, I could play with shape and sizing as I went along. I intended to make it long sleeved and a bit longer, but to tell the truth, the weight of it began to hurt my neck, so I called it a vest and finished it off as a short sleeved top. I enjoy wearing it, though, as it is warm and comfy, but not too warm. Here is my friend Debby modeling it, and you can barely make out the cables because it is black!

The Joy of Sox

Just look at these beautiful, perfect, wonderful and lovely socks! They were knitted for me by my dear friend Elizabeth Rosenberg ( www.elizabethrosenberg.blogspot.com ), and they are the most amazing shade of electric blue Fleece Artist merino. I'm loving the pattern, the way they fit, the warmth of them. What a fabulous gift! Thank you, Elizabeth! Wow! Now I'll have to make a sweater to go with them...I must have some blue yarn around here...

Get enough blue?

I had to knit another Wisteria. What a great pattern! I loved knitting this the first time, but wanted to use a DK yarn now instead of the worsted weight called for, so I did some math and found that the 40 inch size numbers worked out to the 36 1/2inches I needed. I cast on with some scrumptious blue Koigu Kersti, and merrily knit away. Added bust darts, shortened the length and sleeves by 2 inches and had a great time. A wonderful pattern!

Size 7 needles, approximately 8 1/2 skeins later, and I am happy!

For the moment...now to knit something completely different....