Pattern: scroll stitch from Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting
Yarn: Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple silk
Needles: 4.5 mm addi
Finished Blocked Size: 57.7 inches long, 5 inches wide
Started: 7.12.06
Completed: 7.28.06

Posted by brooke at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

looking for yarn in my stash

watercolor 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches

Posted by brooke at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pattern: Icarus Shawl by Miriam Felton, Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Yarn: Sundara Yarn hand-dyed silk lace, color 012
Needles: 3.25mm Addi circular needle
Gauge: 21 sts and 38 rows equals 4 inches
Finished Size: 72 inches wide, 36 inches from center top edge to bottom point, after blocking
Started: 5.8.06
Completed: 7.26.06

I am usually eager to give my knits away, but this one will be hard to let go. It’s off to my sister who I know will appreciate it, especially because of its color. Red is her favorite and I think this yarn is the perfect shade. Vibrant. Bold. Rich. The pattern has a simple elegance that I think suits her style. There are mistakes - a few lace patterns on the left side that don’t line up and look like they are taking flight. Knits and purls with minds of their own – or at least that’s what I tell myself when I make mistakes knitting lace.

Posted by brooke at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)

I needed a little project. Something easy that I could work on while I tackled my wips. Knit a little of this, a little of that. Maybe a scarf. I’m in a scarf-knitting mood. Weird - I haven’t knit a scarf in almost a year, let alone had the desire to knit one. I made a list of yarns I wanted to try and headed to one of my lys. A list of yarns for a scarf? But at this particular store I tend to buy yarn in bulk with no pattern in mind and usually in a color that 10 minutes later I hate. I left with lots of good yarn, but forgot my list on the counter - which also contained my grocery list. The list went something like

TT 1 sk
Manos mint 2 sks
Madil Kid Seta souffle & lime
Asparagus
Eggs
Almonds

They didn’t have the Madil Kid Seta so I’ll have to add that to a new list. It will be combined with the manos based on a pattern/yarn combo from a book. I decided to get a bit more creative with the first scarf, using a stitch pattern out of Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

Posted by brooke at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Thank you for all your comments on the turbulence pullover. I plan to knit another pattern from Knitting Nature – maybe the hex coat, but make it shorter and smaller?

Last night I did a quick summer inventory of my wips. I was hoping I wouldn’t have a complete meltdown counting the total number of projects I have on the needles. I only counted ones that were in sight – it was late and I couldn’t face a closet of bins filled with started and abandoned projects hidden between skeins of yarn. That said, the damage wasn’t too bad. The breakdown.

Two lace shawls. I think it’s okay to have one, even two lace shawls on the needles without touching them for weeks because knitting lace takes time, patience and stamina. I’ll probably always have some kind of lace shawl in the wip basket.

A sweater. The hourglass sweater that I didn’t finish in time for the Olympics. I ripped and started this sweater a couple of times and eventually changed to a different yarn. (That’s the cash iroha above. I’ll show the new yarn later…if it works.) Disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to finish it…but I will eventually.

A pair of socks. Toe up. I don’t like the yarn. I’ll be ripping it.

My goal is to finish these by the end of the summer- to have a clean slate come fall. (But I’ll still probably start that hex coat!)

Posted by brooke at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

my lunch (plus coffee, always coffee!) - reminds me of the yarn (I'm still not sure of the true colour, pink or deep red?)

Pattern: Turbulence U-Neck Pullover Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Debblie Bliss cashmerino dk
Needles: Addi turbos 3.5 mm & 4 mm
Gauge: 22 sts and 30 rows = 4 inches
Modifications: None
Size: Petite
Started: 6.14.06
Completed: 7.4.06

This pullover was a straightforward knit – make a front, back, two sleeves, submerge block and then sew, sew, sew. The front piece with the gorgeous cable was the most interesting part of the project, but it went by too quickly. I stuck to the pattern, but if I had to knit it again, I’d consider knitting it in the round and adding waist shaping. It’s big on me and very square/boxy – my own fault, I should have taken the time and adjusted the pattern knowing that the measurements given for the petite size were going to be too big.

The turbulence cable chart is missing row 36 – no big deal, just follow the established pattern – then the next row will be a knit row and you decrease 4 sts between the markers evenly.

I’m not completely satisfied with the finishing job I did on this sweater. I spent days blocking, carefully pinning the pieces together, sewing them up, picking up stitches. I held up the sweater and knew immediately that I needed to work on assembling a sweater. Maybe pressing the seams would help, but I think it would just emphasize my sloppy sew up job. More practice? (This is my second sweater with set in sleeves and lots of seams.) Bottom line: I want my projects to look hand-knit, not homemade. It’s all in the details and finishing, no?

Posted by brooke at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)