The last couple gifts

As promised, here are the last couple knits that I actually finished in time for Christmas. First up is some handspun merino: 440 yards of fingering weight 3-ply (I navajo plied this one). My mother bought the fiber a couple years ago when we went to Maryland Sheep & Wool for the first time. We both were captivated by all of the lovely fiber available but less thrilled with the yarn selections. After holding out for about a barn and a half, we gave in and bought drop spindles and a bunch of fiber. The spinning bug bit me hard that spring. First, I learned why a drop spindle has it's name (probably putting permanent dents in the floor while I did so). After much swearing and frustration, I asked for a wheel for my birthday/graduation from college that year and haven't stopped spinning since. My first couple attempts at spinning were nothing to write home about but I was absolutely delighted that I had made yarn all by myself. Actually, it never ceases to amaze me when I take a project off the wheel - I just made yarn!

When you look at a picture of the first yarn I ever made




you'll see why I am so proud of my mother's present:



That's a 4.00mm knitting needle for scale.

My last present was a secret project for my husband. Given how suspicious I must have sounded whenever he came home, saying things like "stay right there, give me a minute before you come in any closer" and hiding the project under some papers in the bedroom, I am surprised that the gift was still a secret and delighted that it worked out that way.

About a month or so ago I spun up this lovely worsted-weight three-ply alpaca.



Since the yarn reminded me of tree bark in winter with its hints of silver and chocolate I looked around for a suitable stitch pattern that would evoke the same feelings. There were a couple of possible stitch patterns in my Barbara Walker books but with exams coming up I did not want to take the time to design a full pattern; plus, I needed something that I could knit while I studied. Finally, I settled on Anne Hanson's lacunae pattern and resized for my slightly larger gauge. Simple and elegant, it was just what I was looking for.



DH likes it too.

Still working on the Christmas knitting

Yes, I know that Christmas has already come and gone but I still have two last projects to finish up before my holiday knitting is complete: socks for my father and a sweater for my sister. Happily, one sock is done and the second one is well on its way. Sock number two is about an inch longer than this:



Pattern: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in color Black Parade

My sister's sweater is a basic bottom-up raglan with turned hems and a cable detail between the raglan decreases and is knit out of this lovely alpaca:



I made a similar sweater for myself a couple of years ago and I am basing the pattern (if you could even dignify my notes as a pattern - it's really just EZ's percentage system with some waist shaping) on that. My sister borrowed the sweater when we went to Rhinebeck this past fall and asked if I would make her one if she could find the yarn.

I have some interesting projects coming up (as well as some finished ones that just need a bit of blocking to be truly complete) that I am going to keep secret for a little while. Hopefully some pictures of what I actually finished for Christmas will distract you.

First, socks for my grandparents:





On the left is my grandmother's present: "Lady's'" Sock with Lozenge Pattern from the same Nancy Bush book knit in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, color: camouflage. I say "lady's" sock because I added a bit of calf shaping to the basic pattern and downsized for a smaller foot. On the right is Gentleman's Fancy Sock, same Nancy Bush book, knit in Dream in Color Smooshy, color: November Muse.

Some handspun socks for my father-in-law knit with yarn spun from Spunky Eclectic superwash corriedale, color: burning bush.



More socks - this time for the DH, knit with some Socks that Rock mill ends.



That's it for now. I'll share the rest of my Christmas knits tomorrow, including a secret project that I managed to pull off without my husband knowing about it (I'll always thrilled to be able to do that).

Piles of Purple

With the exception of socks, it seems like everything that I am knitting these days is purple. First there is Victoria, which is coming along nicely. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how far a single skein of the Shibui merino-kid goes. This is one skein:



That is the back, just past the start of shaping for the armscye. So far I have been very pleased with this pattern - the details are clever and well thought out. I especially appreciated seeing short-row shaping on the shoulders. This is something that I have been adding to patterns for a while now and it was a joy to see the technique actually incorporated in a published pattern. Perhaps this is yet another benefit of twist collective: patterns written for a knitter instead of a style guide.

In addition to Victoria, I have another gorgeous creation from the talented folks over at Shibui. My husband came home last Thursday with these (my latest project for My Sister's Knits)



and these



It would be tough to say which delighted me more. But I digress. The latest installment of purple consists of 4 skeins of Shibui dk alpaca (to die for) and 3 skeins of a silk-mohair blend (heavenly). The two are held together in the Cabled Rib Wrap. I got to see this sample knit up at the Shibui booth at TNNA last June and it was absolutely stunning. I am so delighted to be working on it now. The combination of the two yarns is breathtaking. Not only is the dye job beautifully done but the softness and drape of the yarns is a true delight.

I have been spinning too - some merino and then a border leicester-mohair blend from Foxfire Fiber that I picked up at Rhinebeck. More on that when I can snap some pictures of the finished products.

Go Vote

I just got back from my local polling place. Now it's your turn. Go out and vote.

(Nayyir says so too)

My gauge swatch lied to me

It is not often that I actually use the recommended yarn for a pattern. Usually this is for one of three reasons: because I am trying to use up stash yarn, because I think the recommended yarn was not a great fit for the pattern (for example, I much prefer the malabrigo worsted that I chose to knit my wisteria to the pattern choice - probably because of my deep aversion to all of the "flashing" that is going on in the sample), or because I just cannot bring myself to use the yarn selected by the magazine. A good example of this is the gorgeous cabled hoodie in this falls's Vogue Knitting, which is knit in Lion Brand. Perhaps Lion Brand has changed since the last time I saw its wares (admittedly this was a couple of years ago) but I have absolutely no desire to knit with what I have seen.

That said, this weekend I finished Wisteria and cast on for a new sweater in the recommended yarn. (Brief aside - I only have a couple very bad pictures of the finished sweater so the reveal will have to wait until I can get out in the sun with a camera). Before heading off for Rhinebeck a couple of weeks ago, I was down at My Sister's Knits, where Carol had just received a shipment of Shibui yarns. I had a chance to see these yarns for the first time at TNNA back in June and have been eagerly awaiting this shipment ever since.

I knew when I walked into the shop that I wanted to knit Victoria, a beautiful cardigan with some lovely refined detailing, in the recommended yarn: Shubui Knits Merino Kid. After much debate, I came away with a gorgeous deep purple (I think the actual color name is "Mulberry") and as soon as Wisteria was finished, I cast on. I even knit a swatch. I got 6 stitches to the inch on size six needles (4.0mm) and promptly switched to size 7. I knit a second swatch. 5 stitches to the inch was attained and I cast on for the back.

Two hours later when I sat down to knit some more after dinner I was looking at the patterned section, whose gauge was supposed to be ever so slightly tighter than the stockinette gauge, and thought it looked suspiciously like 4 stitches to the inch. Not one to be distracted from working with a lovely yarn, I told myself not to be ridiculous and kept on knitting. A few rows later, the fabric was starting to have a bit more drape than I really wanted so I convinced myself it was time to check with the ruler.

I was getting 5 stitches to the inch all right, but not in the patterned section. The little stockinette bit at the bottom for the finished hem came in at 5 stitches to the inch on the size 6 needles that I had used. I have no idea how my tension changed so much - perhaps I relax a bit when I am reading from a casebook as opposed to watching football while I knit.

Whatever happened, here is version 2 of Victoria. Isn't the yarn stunning?



Now, because this post has been sorely lacking in pictures, I'll leave you with shots of what tempted me so at the Briar Rose booth at Rhinebeck.

First, the sweaters (to be).

Legend - 1300 yards of dk weight merino in reds and burgundy (I keep thinking cranberry)



Charity - 900 yards of aran weight corriedale in greens and browns



Two skeins of Grandma's Blessing, a sportweight superwash merino sock yarn, for husband socks.

Fall Colors

This weekend I took a break from my normal life and headed off to Rhinebeck. I have learned two tricks to keeping the stash acquisition under control:

1. Pick up a sweater's worth of new yarn the night before you leave for a sheep and wool festival.

Ok, I admit that this one is a bit tough to do, especially when trying to stick to a budget. That said, it is a delightful plus when you knit for a yarn shop. On Thursday I handed in a sweater from the new Debbie Bliss magazine (Ravelry link) and picked up some new yarn in return.



(modeled by Erica, the lovely Alpaca with a Twist rep who was visiting on Thursday)

The yarn? Seven skeins of Shibui merino-kid in a gorgeous purple, destined to become this. It certainly helped to take the edge off when I got to Rhinebeck.

2. Figure out a budget (I ask my husband to pick a number and that is what I stick to) and bring it in cash. Do not allow yourself access to a credit card. I learned this lesson at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival this past July. No matter how good your intentions may be, as soon as you bring the credit card out your budget goes out the window.

My sister discovered this phenomenon over the weekend. To be fair, it was her first fiber festival and we all know how that can affect one's good intentions.

What, you may be asking, does my post title have to do with my latest ramblings? The beautiful scenery of the bed and breakfast where we stayed this weekend.



The trees just do not look like this in Chicago.

By the time I decided that I could take the weekend to go to Rhinebeck, most of the rooms in the immediate vicinity of the festival were already booked (mind you, this was in June) so I broadened my search a bit and found Brookfield Farm, a lovely B & B about 40 minutes away from the fairgrounds.

These were the delightful pets on the farm:



It was a lovely weekend.

But wait, what about the yarn? What did I buy? My adventures at the Briar Rose booth will have to wait until later.

Introducing Ivelet

I think this is the first time in quite a while that I have finished a pattern that is current. Usually it takes me 6 months to a year to decide whether or not I like the new patterns that have come out (the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is a good example). Naturally, I was really tickled to see ivelet mentioned in this week's Knitter's Review.

Well, two football games after I sat down at the couch to do some seaming, I can happily say that Ivelet is done. Ravelry does not have this pattern up yet so here is the pertinent info:

Pattern Name: Ivelet
Source: The British Sheep Breeds Collection
Yarn: Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds

Size: M (36-38")
Yarn Used: 10 skeins of Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds in color 951, Black Welsh
Needles: 10 and 10 1/2 circulars
Mods: I used short-rows for the shoulder shaping instead of the stepped bind-offs in the pattern (I find this quick and easy mod helpful when seaming up the shoulders. I like this article on Knitty for directions on how to convert to short-rows.

Made for: a shop sample for My Sister's Knits

Before I forget, here is the sweater.







I only had one minor issue when knitting this sweater: the publisher forgot to include the chart for the sleeve pattern. I remember a few frantic minutes in the yarn shop flipping back and forth through the booklet after reading the words "cont in patt from chart for sleeve . . . " and not finding any chart. Happily, Rowan has the chart in the errata page on its website and you can find it here.

The sweater is warm and cozy, which I definitely appreciated while doing a photo shoot in the wind by the lake. I might just have to make one of these for me.