Achieving Bliss

Lately I've been asking myself, why knit? I have lots of clothes, admittedly none of them are exactly right for every occasion, some I never wear but they lie in wait for the perfect opportunity ( a combination of temperature, venue, slenderness and time of day), some were great for a specific occasion and some are favorites that I reach for over and over but are wearing out. I suppose I'm always dreaming of some piece of clothing that will be just right, but never found. I knit for the challenge of it, or to realize an idea that just might work. Sometimes the yarn is so beautiful it begs to be knit into some article that will show its beauty to best advantage,sometimes this goal is achieved, and sometimes not. This sweater began as a bag of 10 skeins of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran, a discontinued yarn in a perfect shade of teal blue, bought at Webs in the back room. It sat in bags for a while, was swatched, but never seemed to materialize. Finally I thought I'd try a top down cable and rib sweater, as I only had 10 balls. I knitted the whole thing, only to find I'd miscalculated and it was too tight. I scoured Ebay and Ravelry, only to buy 2 balls of same color number but different dye lot which were noticably different in color. I ripped out some , reknit, and found it was too short. Finally I though I'd sacrifice the sleeves and rip some more, reknitting from the waist down and having a short sleeved cowl necked vest/sweater. I love the result, and finally achieved some measure of Bliss..

Wonderful Wisteria

A new online knitting magazine, Twist Collective ( www.twistcollective.com ) recently had a fabulous sweater by Kate Gilbert on it, and I had to knit it immediately. I loved this pattern at first sight, and couldn’t wait to cast on, so I used some hand dyed yarn I had purchased last year at Rhinebeck, but didn’t know what kind of yarn it was, as a small vendor had it for sale and I bought 5 skeins because I liked the color. Swatching yielded gauge, so I went with it. It was a bit unevenly dyed, so the total effect is uneven, but I loved making this sweater and watching the cables merge and emerge. I think it came out a bit long for me, and I shortened the arms by about 4 inches, but I loved the total effect. I might have to make another one in a plain yarn so the cables pop more.. Thanks to Kate Gilbert for a wonderful design!
Here I'm wearing it in the shop where I work, Sticks and Strings ( www.sticksandstringsknitting.com ) where I admire the Koigu and wish I could have every color....

Side to Side Cardigan II

Continuing on my quest to design an easy and fun sweater using odd balls of yarn, (purchased on yarn buying binges, furtive sales,random search and buy operations), here is the next in the series. Designing sweaters is kind of like making art in a series, where one idea leads into another, and all the tricks and tools I've gleaned are used to fabricate something interesting.
This sweater follows my earlier Ariel sweater, and is constructed basically the same way: knit in the round from the wrist up to the underarm, then stitches are cast on for the body and knit flat in one piece back and forth to the base of the neck, then stitches are divided for front and back. Then the back is knit to the center where both halves are joined with a 3 needle bind-off. Then the front is knit, stitches picked up at back neck, and knit down the other front to create the fronts and the shawl collar. I cord is used to bind off the fronts and collar. I've found an easy double sided cast-on for the side "seams" which delighted me, as there is no visible seam, in fact!
Here I've used Rowan Summer Tweed, 6 skeins of the grey and 2 of navy blue, with a skein of hand dyed sari silk to give a contrast and some color punch. As usual, this sweater is customizable to any yarn and any size, in theory, working from gauge of yarn and body measurements. I actually wrote up the pattern for my friend Linda, who is here modeling the sweater ( before darning in ends and blocking!):. She looks fabulous in it. If you want the pattern, email me! I think I might attempt it in Koigu Kersti next...

Side to Side Sweater

Ah, summer. Hot and sticky. But sometimes I want to wear a sweater, and so far everything seems too hot. I thought it might be interesting to knit with Ariel, a dk cotton/rayon blend, but on larger needles and produce a light, airy sweater, so I cast on 27 sts with size 10 1/2 double pointed needles, and proceeded to knit a sleeve. I liked how the fabric was coming out, so I increased 2 sts every inch or so until I reached 47 sts at the armpit, then cast on another 47 stitches to knit the sides. By casting on both sides of the needle, I could knit up the side, around the arm and down the front. I knit about 6 inches, then divided for the back neck, and did some decreasing to make a V neck in front. When I had half a body, I cast on for the other sleeve, and likewise knit merrily along. Finally, I did a 3 needle SSK bind off ( to preserve the stretchiness) and then arrived at the top back neck. I crocheted scallops of 5dc around the fronts and bottom edge, arriving at the back neck. At this point I thought it might be nice to close with 2 crocheted double bobbles, so that is what I did. A very light, airy sweater, perfect for summertime. I used around 580 yards, or most of 4 balls.( 160 each). Here is another photo taken by my artistic son Bobby:

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!

Diagonal Triangle Tank

Ever handy with a spatula or knitting needles, here I am wearing my latest creation while cooking dinner. This is the Diagonal Triangle Tank (P90) by Iris Schreier of Artyarns ( http://www.artyarns.com/ ), who gave a workshop at the yarn shop I work at ( http://www.sticksandstringsknitting.com/ ) last weekend. I thought it might be fun to make her pattern and wear it to the workshop in case someone needed help with the class, and I had some silk yarn on hand in my stash from last summer's expedition to Webs. I used a size 6 needle, and, true to my propensity to modify all the patterns I encounter, I decided to knit this one "in the round". It was a challenge to interpret the instructions to knit as one piece, but I really enjoyed the construction of it, and of course, it is always useful to try on stuff as you go. I had to add a bit to the front to make it fit without being too revealing, and I kept the V in the back instead of squaring it off. I was going to add sleeves, but ended up finishing it as a sleeveless tank, so I could wear it as a vest. I used about 650 yards of yarn, and I have a bunch left over, so it might appear as a scarf in future!

Here is my friend Dot modeling it for me:

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.