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.

Where did the summer go?

One answer to that question is spinning. I finally was able to enjoy some quality time with my wheel over the last few weeks and produced this:



310 yards of sport-weight superwash Corriedale 2-ply in color Burning Bush from Spunky Eclectic.

This week I have slowly been turning that ball into socks for a Christmas present for my FIL. I have learned my lesson: if I want to give knitted Christmas gifts, I have to start in August.



Before the Corriedale, I spun up 950 yards of merino/tencel laceweight in a gorgeous purple that is now becoming the petite version of Anne Hanson's Cluaranach (Ravelry link). Pictures of that to come later when I can get some sun.

Oh, I also started Kate Gilbert's Wisteria a couple of days ago. I was knitting happily along the collar chart yesterday morning when I realized that I had twisted the second set of 2x2 crosses in the wrong direction 6 rows back. I thought for a brief moment about leaving it and calling it a design element but my perfectionist side got the better of me and I ripped. It was a good thing I did since I learned something pretty nifty about the Malabrigo worsted single that I am using. In addition to spit-splicing incredibly well, Malabrigo is also easy to rip! The stitches do not drop at all; they just sit right where they are supposed to be until you put them back on the needle. Hopefully I will not have to take advantage of that particular property of the yarn too much more.

Pictures of Wisteria? Not yet - still waiting for the sun to come in.

Stash Enhancement

The darling husband and I had a lovely weekend with his parents at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Festival. My previous fiber festival experience consists of two trips to Maryland Sheep & Wool and while this festival was no where near the size of Maryland, it was delightful just the same.

I am going to be completely shameless with this post and try to distract you from the lack of new knitting or spinning content with pictures of what I bought this weekend.

The first purchase of the day went to Frontier Fiber Mill, husband and wife alpaca venture in Indiana where they not only raise the alpacas but run their own mill. The quality of the fiber was superb and I cannot wait to start spinning. (The yarn looked lovely also but I was too captivated by the roving to venture much to that side of the booth). I liked their wares so much that I got about 6oz destined to be a scarf for the darling husband:



And another 3+oz for me!



Then I made my way over to the Briar Rose booth, which I have been looking forward to for months ever since seeing the beautiful dye jobs featured on Knitspot. After displaying an impressive showing of self restraint, since the entire booth was to die for, I came away with this skein of alpaca laceweight, destined to be a Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl (Ravelry link).



Next comes just over a pound of 80/20 Coopworth/Silk roving from a lovely farm whose name I cannot remember, destined to be a February Lady Sweater.



Last, but certainly not least, I stopped by the Knitting Notions booth. Actually, this was the first booth that I looked at on Saturday but every color and yarn was just too beautiful to take in all at once and I knew that for the sake of my bank account I would have to look a couple of times to prevent purchasing the entire inventory on impulse. After my second trip back to the booth, I came away with three skeins of laceweight for a Wing o' the Moth shawl (Ravelry link) and some sock yarn for the next pair of husband socks.





That's all I've got for tonight. I'm almost done with a Tangled Yoke Cardigan (Ravelry link) - I just need to graft the underarms, weave in some ends, and find buttons. Hopefully I'll have a finished object post later this week.