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....

Scarf Riot

And now, just in time for Holidaze, I present two scarves. Both are one-skein salvations...

Scarf One: Loop Scarf:

You make the loop first, and then knit until you run out of yarn.:100 yards worsted weight yarn, size 8 needles ( approx gauge 4.5 /inch for a 6 inch wide scarf) Cast on 14 stitches. Knit until strip is 8 inches long. Curve the strip around until you can stick the tip of the RH needle into the corner edge of the cast on , and pick up 14 stitches along the cast on edge, making now 28 sts on needle.Knit until you almost run out of yarn ( leave about a yard remaining) and then bind off.This one I actually made in Misti Alpaca Chunky, and used 10 stitches for the loop and 20 for the body, and Double Moss Stitch, but the principle is the same. You can also slip the last stitch of each row and knit the first stitch for a nicer edge.

Scarf Two: Sparkly Triangle Scarf.

Uses one Skein of Artyarns Ensemble with Beads and Sequins, ( 128 yards) size 11 needle.

Cast on 3 sts;

Row 1: Kfb,knit to last stitch,kfb. Repeat row until almost out of yarn ( about 4-6 yards left).

Stretchy Bindoff: K2,* knit these 2 together thru back loop( insert tip of LH needle into front of the two sts as if doing SSK). Knit one. Repeat from *to end. Weave in ends. Enjoy!

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..