Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Lots of Knitting, but no Photos

I have been knitting with abandon for what seems like months, but I have no pictures to post.

My sweater was judged Best in Show for the knitting, crochet, tatting and weaving division of the Panhandle South Plains Fair last month. I was quite pleased. It was a design that I made up as I went. I started with a hemmed border, knitted a bi-color slipped stitch pattern throughout the body and sleeves to the underarms, then starting from the top, using Carol Sunday's Acorn Cardigan yoke modified to suit my yarn and gauge, I knitted a round yoke and joined the yoke to the body and sleeves using a 3-needle bindoff. Nothing was left but to add the ribbing to the neckline. I like it, and apparently, so did the fair judges. I also entered a pair of socks that received a second place ribbon.

My faithless Faith cardigan is finished except for assembling and the neck trim. I think it is quite lovely.

Currently on my needles is a baby sweater for my granddaughter. It is frustrating to knit because the pattern is very poorly written. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Punky Fuchsia. It is not at all the kind of color one thinks of in baby clothes, but I cannot picture my granddaughter in pastels. She is going to look great in strong, saturated colors. She has to be a bold, assertive little girl with three older brothers.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Faithless "Faith"

Well, that reverse stockinette stitch in Faith was bugging me so much that I have frogged Faith. I did not frog the cuffs and peplum because I really like them and the sweater I will knit from the yarn will still incorporate those pieces. I just want to change the pattern stitches on the main body of the garment. Faith will never make it to the fair -- at least not this year.

On a totally different subject -- on Saturday, I did a household task that should never be attempted in the heat of summer. I decided it was time to run the self-cleaning cycle on my oven. The cycle takes five hours to complete and heats up the kitchen something awful. I'm sure it is not a process that should be started during peak electrical usage hours. I will probably have to ransom my first-born child to pay my electric bill for August.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Faith knitting

Faith is going really well. I am above the armpits on the back. I think the sleeves will be different from the sleeves designed for the sweater. In my opinion, those balloon sleeves just don't seem to fit with the rest of the sweater design. I will start the sleeves in the same way as the peplum and make them close fitting from cuff to shoulder. I think I will be more pleased. The yarn seems to be working well for this design.

I think I want to make another Faith-like sweater from a different yarn. I like the sweater shape very well, but I don't think that reverse stockinette as the main stitch for the body is the best choice. I think I will make one for my sister (who wants a black sweater) with a higher neckline, using stockinette stitch as the main stitch on the bodice and sleeves and using a delicate cable stitch that I like very much instead of the rows of eyelets on the front, sleeves and back. The cable stitch seems most like the gull stitch cable in the Barbara Walker books, but it was called the "lobster stitch" in an old Vogue Knitting when I first encountered it in about 1980. The fabric and style modifications will make a more modest garment and a lovely difference in stitch patterns. -- at least these are my thoughts at this time --

Friday, July 09, 2010

Started knitting for the fair

Today, I started knitting on my entry in the "sweater" category at the Panhandle South Plains Fair. It is "Faith" (Heartfelt the Dark House) by Kim Hargreaves. I am using Knit Picks Andean Treasure 100% alpaca yarn in Summer Sky (blue) for the garment. At this time, I do not plan to make any modifications except to make the sleeves more fitted. I would like to have made Erin from the same book; however, I only have 15 skeins (110 yds/50 gm) of the yarn and the color has been discontinued. A co-worker gave me 5 skeins for Christmas last year and I purchased 10 skeins. I have planned to knit a garment from the yarn before she retires next February so that she can see what I've made with the gifted yarn.

I think this project will not take more than 3-3.5 weeks to complete. Then I need to work on my entry for the "vest" category, Meg Swansen's "Mimbres Vest." I have ordered the yarn from Schoolhouse Press.

Last month, I began a major project -- doing my best to exercise and eat more intentionally. To start with, I joined a nearby Curves gym. So far, I am enjoying the program and feeling increased energy; although I don't believe I have lost more than a couple of pounds and maybe a couple of inches. There have been a few activities that have interfered with my getting a really good start on the program: VBS, and vacation. Nonetheless, I like being more mindful of my activity level and what I take into my body.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Photo: Mostly Just Right Wrap



It has been about a year since I completed this sweater, and finally, I am able to post a photo of the completed cardigan. The fellow in the picture is not yet finished, but he's definitely a "keeper."

Friday, May 07, 2010

Throw some modular into the mix

As if I were not already working on too many projects (all sweaters), I have started a modular cardigan, the Mola Jacket by Patricia Werner in Dazzling Knits. I am making one last attempt to make something with the bamboo yarn that I purchased more than a year ago. I went into the local yarn shop (no longer in business) and asked for some red yarn in a DK or lighter weight. The only yarn that even faintly resembled what I'd requested was the "no brand" bamboo in poppy, not really the yarn or color of red I had in mind, but I bought enough to make a simple top with 3/4 length sleeves. In the time since I purchased the yarn, I have attempted to knit and subsequently unknit three different garments. The yarn splits if you breathe and the stitches slip and slide around as if they are snakes in a pit. I will never, never, never buy 100% bamboo yarn again. Did you hear that? I said NEVER!

Modular designs are interesting to knit and produce garments that are unlike standard knitted garments. The knitter must beware of the deceitful nature of modular knitting. It's easy to stay up way past bedtime, not with the "just one more row", the famous last words of the knitter of standard garments, but with the "just one more module" which leads inevitably to another and another and another. I started knitting this garment from the bamboo yarn so that I would discover split stitches sooner and have less to rip out to correct the mess. I had visions of taking my time, and working on the jacket a little at a time to keep the frustration level down.

I should be able to post some "in progress" pictures soon. Until then, happy knitting!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Socks for Mom

The first picture is a pair of socks for my mom made from Knit Picks bare merino sock yarn kettle dyed with pink lemonade Kool Aide. These are plain cuff-down socks with foldover cuffs and eye-of-partridge heels.


The second picture is a pair of socks for my mom made from Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn in the discontinued glacier color. The pattern is "Undulting Rib" from Favorite Socks.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Knitting like crazy, but nothing to show

I have been knitting on several projects so far this year.

Socks
2 pairs for my mother completed
1 pair for my mother-in-law completed
1 pair for my grandbaby due in April completed
1 pair for my grandbaby due in April half done

Hat for husband from frogged and leftover sock yarns

Cardigans
2 cardigans for me in the works

In addition, I am working on a pieced receiving blanket for my new grandbaby and a game for my grandsons.

I really do have some pictures of my mother's socks, which I will publish another day.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

More photos

For Christmas, I made the Flowered Cardigan for my mother. The design is from Rebecca Lennox for Elmwood Yarn Shop. I used Knit Picks Swish DK superwash merino in amethyst heather on US 5 needles. My mother was pleased with her gift -- and -- best of all, it fits her.






The photo above, Reversible Vest from Knit One Below, received a first-place ribbon at the Panhandle South Plains Fair in September, 2009. It is made of two colors of sport weight Peace Fleece yarn, which when used together sort of remind me of pigeon feathers -- gray when viewed from a distance, but violet and green when viewed close up. I spit spliced the yarn to eliminate ends to weave in; however, I could not figure any way to avoid weaving in ends at the beginning and at the shoulders. So, my reversible vest is not reversible. The buttons that the I-cord is passed through are metal and partially overlaid with mother of pearl. I think they are perfect buttons for the garment. Alas, the vest is quite large, both too long and too big around for me or for my sister, so I will probably felt it. I am afraid that if I felt it, the loops for the buttons will not go over the buttons, so I am hesitating on felting.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Pictures, pictures, pictures

I have lots of knitting project pictures to share.

The Katrina Ballerina cardigan that I made for my daughter's birthday present is pictured below although it is not modeled by its recipient. Currently, the recipient is pregnant, a fact that my husband and I did not know until Christmas. After presenting us with three little grandsons (who are indeed wonderful), she is due to give birth to a girl-child in April. Now I have the perfect project in mind for some of those luscious leftovers of sock yarn -- little baby girl socks.



Next project is the Triangle Scarf from Norah Gaughan's book Knitting Nature. It is made from yarn given to me as a prize by Chris Hanner (http://www.myfavoritethimble.com). The scarf was a gift for my sister.




I made the fingerless gloves "Musica" for my niece who is 15 years old and plays flute, violin and piano.




That's enough for today. I'll post other pictures another day.