Tag: stranded knitting

Spring Cleaning in the Land of UFOs

Last weekend’s enumeration of the many UFOs has been quite a bit of an eye-opener. It’s nice to hear that I am not the only one going to knitter’s hell for an overabundance of unfinished objects. CaffeineGirl has the same thing going on, and other people are ‘fessing to the same crime.

Certainly this has been a satisfying weekend. The plum tree was transplanted, madder seeds from 1802 found and planted (now let’s see if they sprout, and if I remember to water them), the very, very woolly dog shaved and bathed, several loads of laundry done – dishes, too! – and egg bread made and being eaten. And, in between, I really did accomplish a few things . . .

Victorian Shawl

All done! I didn’t have enough yarn to comfortably embark on the lace edgings, so decided that the simplest thing to do would be to crochet along the edges, and create a short fringe of 20-25 crocheted stitches before rejoining the chains to the shawl body. I like the way it turned out. All the edges are woven in, and it is light as a cloud, and comfortably warm for a cool evening. I cannot believe it has taken me two years to finish this.

Cardigan

I finished the last sleeve, threw it into the washer and dryer, and now can see that I need to tighten up the back neck a bit with some crocheted edging.  other than that, all I will need to do is sew on the buttons.  Once that is done, then some pictures.

Mittens

I knitted up the mittens I’ve designed using up some Cascade 220.  The initial pattern was pretty accurate.  A few changes need be made, but they will be easy enough.  These are for a friend of mine up in Oregon, and I hope to get them to her in time for her birthday.  What I like is that the pattern is the same on the palm, and on the back of the hand – and so they can be worn on either hand.

Somethin’ from the oven . . .

And finally, the other half heard my plea for another batch of the egg bread from a few weeks ago. This time, instead of rolls, two beautifully braided loaves to enjoy.

Now that I’ve become so annoyingly virtuous, I better finish up the rest of my stuff!

Winter’s Night

Yesterday was a sunny day, I had some Cascade 220 lying around, I didn’t want to think too much, and I had a delicious book to listen to, and it all worked out together.

For quite some time I have been eyeing the Sanquhar knitting patterns, which are attractive geometric designs with contrasting colors. I chose the traditional white and black (mine is really a cream and dark charcoal grey). I imagine these designs could be quite stunning in all sorts of colors. From the time I sat down with my needles, to the time I finished this hat, was about 5 hours. I was amazed at how quickly 110 stitches knit up, and how easy it was to memorize the pattern once it was set up.  The pattern used for this hat is called the “Duke” pattern, which is very pleasing to the eye.

If you are interested in learning a bit about Sanquhar knitting, you may visit the Future Museum, which has a wonderful collection of different samples of Sanquhar patterned clothing.  If you would like to read about making gloves using the pattern used in Winter’s Night, take a look at tata-tatao.

I guess I can focus again.  Yesterday I made a hat.  And my husband looks great in it!

Thockies, ii

Having another week off before returning to school is soooooo nice! I’ve been able to sort out yarn, focus on designing a few things, and soon enough, get some sumi-e done as well.

I was pretty sure I would make socks out of the Riihivilla yarn – and decided that is exactly what I would do. My final choice of contrasting yarn was a warm, naturally creamy white. The warmth of this white is far nicer with the colors than the stark, wintery white I first considered, and does a lot to bring out the warm reds of the cochineal and purple of the variegated yarn.

You can see from the pictures that the color differences, while subtle, are readily apparent. The hand of the wool is very pleasant and has a nice bounce to it.  I’m looking forward to wearing these socks!

When you dye with natural dyes, it is very easy to make a yarn become harsh and unpleasant, partly from the handling of the wool – such as extreme temperatures – or the chemicals involved. These yarns are mordanted with alum, and obviously handled properly. Having dyed with plants myself, I know only how easy it is to mess up and ruin an otherwise nice yarn. Leena Riihelä, the owner of Riihivilla in Finland, has done a great job!

Susie’s Hat

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I’ve managed to make two hats! One is Checkerboard without the pompom, and more in the shape of a beanie. The other one is Susie’s Hat, which I designed for my sister-in-law for a Christmas present.

Pretty productive, if I do say so myself. And still a few more on the needles!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

This has been quite a busy time period since my last posting. Since then I have been knitting a number of hats, and writing up patterns. I even won a free copy of a pattern, and that has been a fun project as well – but to do the author justice, I will devote a separate post with pictures, once I am done with it.

Anyway, here is the new hat pattern: Checkerboard.

This hat is made out of Dale of Norway’s Falk, which is a wool yarn with a lot of bounce, is comfortable to wear, reasonably priced, and comes in a lot of different colors. If you are allergic to wool, or find it uncomfortable, a washable wool may be a good substitute.

I designed this hat to use up leftovers of yarn, as well as to have something to do with some color in it. Lately, I have been knitting a lot of textured patterns, enjoying the challenges and the pleasures of seeing a hat grow in texture, rather than color, which has been my historical preference. You wouldn’t believe that, seeing the patterns here, but it really is the truth!

Checkerboard is a very good project for the knitter who is ready to try stranded knitting. The 4×4 squares of color don’t require much work when it comes to knitting them up – they are really easy to do because you don’t have to count stitches. Instead, you just watch the colors. Row counting – well, most of us can count 4 rows of stockinette.

If you are a beginning stranded knitter, remember one very simple thing: carry the unused yarn loosely across the back of the knitting. This is very easily accomplished by periodically stretching out your knitting on the right needle as you go along.

Enjoy!