FO: Kuura

Blocking lace always amazes me. Intellectually, I know how it works - how a short bath and some stretching and pinning can drastically change knitted fabric. But I really wasn't expecting my nice, thick, cushy polwarth/silk blend handspun to transform from this:

into this:

The drape! Clearly the silk is doing its job here. I had been envisioning a cozy neck warmer and wasn't expecting this slinky little piece to come off the blocking wires.

The striping in the handspun works really well with this pattern. (Note to self for future handspun projects).

Pattern: Kuura
Yarn: polwarth/silk 2-ply handspun (418 yards/4oz). I used all but maybe a yard of the skein.
Needles: size 6
Mods: Kuura comes with two lace charts - a simple base for the shawl body and a lacier version for the edging. Using this project as inspiration, I had planned to flip the charts (using the edging chart for the body and the body chart for the edging). But I ran out of yarn before I was ready to work an edging section so I just stopped after an eyelet row and worked the lacier chart throughout. I had been debating whether I had enough yarn to work an extra row and then use a sewn bind-off but didn't want to chance it. Instead I used k2tog through the back of the loop bind-off and it came out just fine.

I loved knitting this one (the handspun was a dream to work with). Now for the real test: will I wear it? It's not exactly office appropriate. And it's a bit too delicate for weekend wear (I have two small kids, after all). Who knows, maybe Tadpole will put in a request for it next fall. She was having fun with it during our photo shoot.

Change of pace

We have had quite a whirlwind here at chez Tinks and Frogs this past week or so. I went back to work on Monday for the first time since Tadpole was born, starting an exciting (and sometimes scary and stressful) new job. And Mr. Tinks and Frogs switched from working a a job that required a certain amount of travel to being a full-time stay at home dad. One of those changes was expected.

We had hired a nanny to come care for Tadpole and had a transition week before I started work. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on how you look at it - we discovered that the nanny was not working out as hoped and we had to figure out alternate child care just days before I was set to start my new job. All I can say is that I have an amazing husband and it was such a weight off my shoulders going in to work on Monday knowing that he was taking care of Tadpole.

But this is a knitting blog, I'm sure you're thinking. What does all this mean for knitting? Well, it means that I haven't really done a lot in the last week or so. Catkin progresses slowly but steadily. It's a relatively straightforward knit at this point but still takes concentration and energy that I didn't always have in the evenings. My newest project, a blanket for Tadpole, is moving a bit more quickly - at least in terms of number of rows completed. But it, too, grows slowly since it's worked in fingering weight yarn on tiny needles. A picture will probably have to wait until next weekend, although you won't notice much difference since it's just a garter stitch center square worked on the bias at this point. That garter stitch has come in handy this week when I was just too exhausted for anything else.

What else do these changes mean? They mean that I didn't get nearly as much done as I had planned in the week the nanny was here. I had whittled my to-do list down to a manageable level and was making great progress until we had a bit of a scare Wednesday night. So I spent Thursday keeping a close eye on what was going on in the apartment and agonizing over whether my anxiety had more to do with new job nerves or genuine concerns about the nanny. We let her go Friday morning. As you'll understand, that sapped any energy that I might have had for pattern writing and Tadpole's Purple Sweater is still unpublished.

But I did finish something that week!

Happy Early Birthday, Sis! I had asked my sister whether she minded if I posted her birthday present on the blog or if I should keep it a secret for another month and a half. Knowing I have a terrible time keeping gifts secret, especially ones I'm really excited about, she said to go ahead. Then, when I hadn't posted anything for a while, she cheekily asked if Tadpole's latest purple sweater was meant to be her gift and whether I had made a bit of a mistake with the sizing on that one. And since I forgot to respond to that email (sorry!), I'll answer now: nope, this is your gift.

And this is 500 yards of roughly worsted weight 2-ply 70/30 merino/silk blend. It's soft and bouncy and has that lovely little crunch that silk does. It'll make a perfect present, assuming I can pack it up and put it in the mail sometime between now and the end of next month.

The combed top was a beautiful blend of reds, greens, and golds that were given a muted sheen when spun up with the silk. I actually find merino/silk blends easier to spin than straight merino because the long staple length of the silk makes drafting a bit more manageable.

The yarn will come with a pattern or two. I have a couple of ideas but I'd love to hear suggestions.

Best yarn yet

Wow, I knew my last post was a hot topic but I was blown away by the number of responses. Thank you! It was really nice to hear all of your different ideas (and to get confirmation that I shouldn't be expected to provide the sort of assistance that some knitters have asked for). If you want to add your 2 cents to the discussion, and get a chance to win some yarn, you still have until Monday.

Moving along . . . you're probably here to see that yarn I promised.

Let's see, I started with this

which became this

and this

that in turn became this

That's 444 yards of 2-ply worsted spun BFL/silk from the Portland Fiber Gallery (Etsy shop). What weight? Umm, I forgot to check that - I was too busy fondling the skein.

It's about this thick

So what do I do with it? Besides fondle it and admire it as it sits in my knitting basket, of course. It should be a wrap of some sort with a simple yet interesting texture that keeps my interest while knitting but lets the yarn do the talking. Something with the feel of Terra, but not Terra. I want something new.

Pattern suggestions? I'm all ears!

And while you're thinking about it, how about a little bit of Tadpole/yarn love?

She thinks the skein is pretty nifty, too. And the yarn . . . it's not felted yet.

The votes are in . . .

And the winner is: February Baby Sweater

I ran into a few hiccups starting this sweater. After working a quick gauge swatch, I found I was getting 5 spi, calculated the key (chest circumference) number that I wanted, and took a quick look at EZ's pattern to see if I was anywhere close or if I would have to re-work the numbers. Lo and behold, she gave a number pretty close to what I wanted. So I blithely cast on as directed in the pattern and knit several rows before realizing that the neck opening would be far too small.

I took another look at the numbers and realized that EZ's stitch count measured the sweater right before separating the sleeves from the body stitches rather than after, which was what I wanted. (EZ's stitch count covered chest and arms, while I only wanted the chest measurement.) Naturally, I ripped and pulled out my scratch pad and calculator again. I had a general sense of what I wanted and so got a better number of stitches to cast on and started over again. My numbers were really only scribbles at best but I decided to wing it and fudge things later if I had to.

When I got up the next morning to work on the sweater a bit more (and double-check my math), I realized that somehow I had managed to make the numbers work perfectly. Not quite the way I had originally planned things, but once I remembered to figure in the underarm stitches everything worked out perfectly. So perfectly that I'll probably write this up in case anyone wants to use my lace substitution (and toddler sizing). 

I just love how the vine lace looks in the handspun.

Actually, I love how the whole thing looks in the handspun. This pink is really growing on me.

Happy birthday, little n!

Safely across the finish line (and with time to spare)

I finished Coraline last night and I have to say that I am really pleased with the result. I've been wearing it around all day - the DH and I even took it to go see the Modern Wing at the Art Institute this afternoon as a bit of a "coming out" party - and I absolutely love it.

Pattern: Coraline by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: my handspun! A 2-ply dk-weight (14 wraps per inch, according to my iSpin Toolkit app) worsted spun yarn from 13.1 oz of BFL fiber dyed by Chris at Briar Rose. I can't say enough good things about this yarn or the fiber that it came from.

Needles: size 4 (3.5 mm) Addi lace needle for everything but the turned hem and a size 2 (3.00 mm) needle for the inner part of the hem.

Gauge: 5.5 spi and 8 rpi

Started: 9:30pm on Friday, February 12

Finished: 9:05pm on Saturday, Februrary 27

Mods: Well, the obvious change is that I shortened the sleeves. The pattern calls for long, bloused sleeves and at first I planned on shortening them because I was worried about having too little yarn. But as I progressed through the pattern, I realized that, even though I probably had enough yarn for long sleeves, I much preferred the look of a just-below-the elbow sleeve. This would also save me the trouble of pushing the sleeves up to my elbow like I normally do.

The modified sleeve has no shaping other than the blousing just above the i-cord edge.

Because I was worried about having enough yarn, I also made a much larger modification and changed how the sweater was constructed. When I was browsing through finished Coralines on ravelry, I thought the pattern was worked top-down. That seemed like the most natural construction for a sweater of this sort and I was expecting to have a lot of flexibility in how and where I shaped the piece. Sadly, that was not to be and had I actually looked at the pattern before the opening ceremonies, I could have saved myself several moments of panic. 

The pattern calls for working the body and sleeves up to the armholes and then joining everything together to work the yoke. That is fine when you're not concerned with running out of yarn but it inspires sheer terror at the thought of running out two-thirds of the way up the yoke. I like a wide scoop neck as much as the next person, but I like it to be intentional.

So I decided to work the body up to the underarms and then provisionally cast on stitches where the arms should be. This let me work the yoke without worrying about yardage. Once the yoke was completed, I picked up the stitches from the provisional cast on and worked the sleeves top down. I switched the pattern increases to decreases and then worked an i-cord bind off.

One last little mod: since my row gauge was a bit off from what the designer used, I added an extra 2 rows to each section of the smocking pattern and worked an extra set of short rows at the top of the yoke. This just brings the proportions a little closer to what the designer intended.

I think this is a great pattern for handspun yarn. The endless rows of stockinette on the body and sleeves really let the yarn speak for itself while the patterning on the yoke provides just enough interest to keep the knitter from getting bored, without taking any attention away from the yarn.

This was my first experience with the Knitting Olympics and at the finish line I have mixed feelings about the experiences. First, let me say that the excitement of the whole thing was a lot of fine. I truly enjoyed picking a project that was going to be a challenge (and this one turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be) and then pushing through obstacles (like big work projects) to complete the piece before the close of the olympics. I also adore this sweater - my first knit out of my own handspun yarn. All that said, knitting to a deadline was a bit more stress than I really wanted in this experience. Perhaps if I'd been a bit more on-the-ball with my Christmas knitting this past year I wouldn't have minded quite so much. 

Ultimately, I don't think knitting monogamy is for me. Sometimes you just don't want to spend the night with stockinette and that new cabled pattern or intriguing little sock is a bit too enticing. What can I say? In my knitting life, I'd rather play the field.

But monogamy isn't all bad. It gave me this:

Off to a slow start

Coraline is turning out to be much more of a challenge than I had initially thought. First, the issues with gauge (it always starts with gauge, doesn't it?). I knit a swatch and got stitch gauge (6 spi) on size 4 needles so I decided to go ahead with the 34" size as written in the pattern. Not having to tinker with the pattern sounded great.

Off I went and after knitting the inside portion of the hem facing, I decided to alternate skeins every two rows. As you can see, the skeins have a fair amount of variation in them and I thought it would be a good idea to try and even things out.

Two to three inches later, I decided that I really didn't like the look of alternating skeins but that I did like the gradations that appeared on the inner side of the hem facing. Not wanting to rip everything, I decided to cut the second skein and proceed with only one skein at a time. Cutting your own handspun is horrible, just horrible, so I strongly recommend frogging in order to avoid it. About 20 stitches into the next row, I decided that I couldn't live with the stripes and frogged back to the turning row of the hem. 

Fast forward several inches of plain, boring stockinette (but with beautiful color shifts in the handspun) and I start to think that maybe the piece is a bit wider than 34 inches. Lo and behold, my gauge had loosened up to 5.5 spi and now I was knitting a size 36. That's ok, I thought, I'll just add waist shaping to nip things in. I dutifully did the math and progressed another several inches with the newly added shaping. Then I tried the piece on.

It looked terrible. The shaping was too curvy for what is ultimately a swing jacket. And no amount of blocking was going to fix things (despite what I tried to tell myself). 

Lovely, no? Well, this was reduced to a pile of spaghetti when I ripped it all out this morning. As I was trying on my first attempt at Coraline, I realized that the shape that I really wanted was not a shaped garment but rather a swingy piece with a lot of drape - a lot like a lovely little linen cardi I had picked up from JCrew last summer. So several days later than I should have, I actually measured the linen cardi and found, much to my surprise, that it is a 32 bust with no shaping at all. That's not a number I'm used to using.

At least now that I am progressing forward again with the new size 32 numbers (I'm actually following the size 30 numbers to account for my slightly larger stitch gauge), the rows are a lot shorter!

Scarf Kick

As I looked through my flagged photos in iPhoto, I realized that the blog is about a week and a half behind my knitting needles (and spinning wheel, for that matter). I've been doing a lot of sweater knitting and spinning lately, but right now I've got two more scarves to show off.

Pattern: Wisp from the Summer 2007 Knitty (pattern here)

Yarn: 1 skein malabrigo lace, colorway Vaa

Needles: size 3 (3.25mm) Addi Lace circular

Mods: no buttons/button holes but otherwise knit according to pattern until I ran out of yarn.

Timeline? I'm pretty sure I started this little scarf back in August or September and I finished the knitting sometime in late November. Then I let it languish in my knitting basket until I blocked it a week or two ago. This was definitely not a project that I worked on consistently - just something I would occasionally throw in my bag to work on during my commute.

Despite my lack of commitment to this project, I absolutely love the malabrigo laceweight. It's like candy in my LYS - bold, beautiful colors and inexpensive enough that I can justify picking up a skein whenever a color really catches my eye.

This pattern showcases the malabrigo beautifully, letting the softness of the fibers and the subtlety of the colors do all of the work.

Are you up for another scarf?

I've been calling this one "handspun scarflet" in my head since that's exactly what it is. I started out with this (490 yards of navajo-plied BFL top from Spunky Eclectic, roughly fingering weight):

Originally I thought about knitting Multnomah (Ravelry link), but I wasn't thrilled with the center increases. Instead I decided to use the same pattern components - garter center and old shale edging (I modified the lace to be a true garter lace with no purl rows) - and the basic shawl construction used in Evelyn Clark's triangular shawls. Think Swallowtail, Flower Basket, and Shetland Triangle.

NB - the colors are most accurate in this pic.

Even though the project was so simple, I had a lot of fun knitting it. There's just something special about knitting with handspun. I know I said that last time, too, but it's true!

I'm planning on making another one of these with some Dream in Color Smooshy that would look great on my sister. If there's any interest, I'll write up a little pattern for the scarflet (free, of course, since there's nothing revolutionary here).

I'm not the only one here at chez Tinks and Frogs who gets a big kick out of the scarflet. I had set it down on the bed for a moment and when I turned back around, I found this:

After reassuring myself that no claws were near the scarflet (Nayyir came to us front-declawed), I did what any normal person would do: I grabbed my camera. Enjoy!

SSKs and YOs and Nupps, oh my

There was a delightful confluence of events this weekend: I finished a shawl, the sun came out, and the DH was around to take pictures.

Pattern: Miralda's Triangular Shawl (ravelry link) from Nancy Bush's book Knitted Lace of Estonia

Yarn: handspun alpaca 2-ply laceweight spun this past fall out of alpaca top from the Frontier Fiber Mill (this is the source of the lovely yarn that I used for my Staghorn)

Needles: size 5 (3.75mm) 47" Addi Lace

Finished Size: 60 inch wingspan

Started: December 27, 2009

Finished: January 16, 2010

This one was a lot of fun to knit. Yes, I know I often say that but the stitch combinations alone were really interesting on this shawl. I've worked nupps (pronounced "noops," according to Nancy Bush during a Knitting Daily appearance) several times before and I always get a kick out of them but there were two new stitches that I had never seen before. The first is a delightful little cross stitch that serves as  a border to the diamond/nupp section. For some reason, this little pattern makes me thing of anemones and is probably my favorite stitch in the shawl.

The other new stitch is in the center (or top) section of the shawl. It creates a woven-looking fabric without a lot of elasticity and adds some nice contrast to the other textures of the shawl. An added bonus: it looks tricky but is actually quite easy to work.

I've always enjoyed knitting lace shawls - you get to learn many different techniques and you can get a lot of pleasure for relatively little yarn money ($10 for a skein of malabrigo lace, anyone?). All that said, they're often too old fashioned or dramatic looking for my style. Naturally, I was delighted to learn that you could wear a shawl like this:

Now that's something I'll actually wear.