red

Mention Victorian lace, and it doesn't take me much more to get interested. For that very reason, Victorian Lace Today really piqued my interest. But I'll admit that I wasn't entirely sold until I saw this curved shawl.

It's rare for me to use the same color that the pattern calls for, but I thought the red was so perfect that I couldn't change it. I used Jaggerspun Zephyr and US size 0 needles, which were much smaller than what was called for but gave me the same gauge. I also did fewer pattern repeats, and attached the border with single joins, rather than double.

soul-sucking scarf

Seed stitch.

Knit one, purl one. US size 3s. Forty-five stitches per row. For seventy-eight inches.

It casts a long shadow.

little cat feet

It rains, and it fogs, and it mists, and it threatens to snow but hasn't quite yet.

So I knit.

Some of these are holiday presents, and some are just for me. I'm not saying which is which, just in case a recipient happens to read my blog.

These are the "English Dales Mittens" from Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski. I'm still on a quest to get rid of my wool remnants in order to make more room, and these helped quite nicely. The pink is from Snow Sky, and the white and purple that peeks out at the bottom are actually from Crichton, if you can believe that. The cuffs have a double layer of knitting, which makes them stiff enough to stand up by themselves. When worn, they flare just enough for coat sleeves to fit underneath comfortably. I cannibalized the fair isle mitten from my last post because it turned out so small, and these were a nice solution.

I've been in love with the railway socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush for years now. I finally knitted a pair, using Scheepjes sock yarn and using up some scraps from my New England socks for the stripes. I'm already thinking of other color combinations for heels and toes, since I have so many tiny leftover balls of sock yarn, and I like those hidden stripes.

I also finally finished the Alpine Lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today. The Crystal Palace lace yarn washed and blocked beautifully. The minute it hit the water it opened up all by itself, and blocking only consisted of a few careful pins to keep the edges straight. I discovered that the way the pattern is written, the scarf will not be symmetrical on its ends, so I knitted one extra pattern repeat of the leaves before beginning the garter stitch. If you knit this you might want to do the same - I think it would look rather funny to only have 2.5 diamonds at one end, and 3 at the other.

Next week - more mittens, a sweater, socks...maybe sunshine, too?

stripes and torchon, blocked

Daisy wanted a turn, too.

This is my finished Stripes and Torchon lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today. I used 2.5 balls of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze in "Marmalade", and US 0 instead of U 6 needles because I wanted the fabric to be more dense. The pattern calls for 5 columns of diamonds with 23 repeats, but I only did 3 columns and 21 repeats, to help make the piece smaller. I like smaller shawls and scarves. It measures 49" by 17", which is a perfect size for me.

It's hard to photograph just how much light comes through the scarf. It almost looks ethereal.

a new jacket

I finished the stripes and torchon lace from Victorian Lace Today this morning. Unfortunately, I seem to have accidentally thrown out my blocking pins, so for the time being it is still crumpled and kind of useless. I hate knitting things without a use, even if it is only temporary, so I searched around the house and discovered one thing that it can do quite well for now:

Super modern, attractive, warm and soft greyhound jacket. As an added bonus, it will make your dog so frightened that he will stand very, very quietly to have his picture taken. He wasn't so sure that men can pull of lace.

noro scarf

This pattern comes from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's one of those ideas that seems so basic, yet I never would have thought of it if I hadn't seen it. The book calls for two skeins of Noro, alternated every few rows, in mistake rib. I used two skeins of Noro Silk Garden and one skein of Plymouth Alpaca (unbelievably soft, I can't wait to work with this again), and alternated those throughout the scarf. I think it's really pretty. I think I might buy these same yarns and make another scarf, only this time in entrelac.

some reconstruction

I pulled my Crichton Cardigan out of the drawer the other day and had a hard look at it. I tried it on a few times, posed a few different ways in the mirror, and came to the indisputable truth:

First, that it is at least two sizes too big for me. (I was afraid What Not to Wear would show up any second.)

And secondly, that I would never wear something this vibrant. The colors are beautiful, but if it remained the way it was, only my drawer was going to be appreciating that.

So, I ripped:

This is what's left now. I think I might make it into a pillowcase. It really is so soft, and the colors and pattern are lovely. I'm also extremely proud of it - this was my first foray into colorwork.

Of course, I'm not going to leave the ripped out yarn sitting idly - so why not make them into socks?

This was as far as I was able to get with the hot pink and some of the white. When ripping, I discovered that the pink had bled onto the white in some places. I figured if I used the stained white with the pink, it would be much less obvious. My plan seems to have worked, because I can't tell at all that the pink is stained. I still have half a ball of the pink left, so I'm sure that I'll be able to get a full pair of socks. I have enough white to sink a boat - no worries there. This sock is based on Meg Swansen's design in the Vogue Fall 2006. I did a pattern of snowflakes (found in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around) instead of diamonds, and added a few rows of 1x1 ribbing at the top to help keep it up.

I was able to completely finish a pair of socks (this time following Meg Swansen's pattern without any additions) out of leftover charcoal and white. As you can tell, I really, really like this sock pattern. The arch shaping makes it so comfortable, and I love the striping up and down the leg. It's also much easier to make socks out of the ripped yarn than anything larger. Because I had used steeks in the cardigan, I have many short pieces of yarn instead of the nice tidy ball you might get otherwise. With a sock, I'm able to get about three rounds out of a length of yarn, whereas with something larger I'd be having to reconnect it every half round or so. I tried spit splicing, but for some reason it's just not working for me. At any rate, adding in a fresh piece of yarn only slows me down about half an hour for each sock. Not a big deal to me.

So! I am of course going to finish and make a mate for my pink sock, and I'll be able to make a mate for my red sock that I posted earlier out of my leftovers. This makes me especially happy, since otherwise I would have had to buy another skein to complete the pair. All of this success got me thinking about my poor silk yarn, which I've ripped a number of times, unsuccessfully and half-heartedly tried to sell, and finally shoved it into the back of my yarn container and tried to forget about. Surely, if something can be made out of 20 inch lengths of yarn, I could do something with this?

Enter Clapotis, a very popular pattern on Knitty.com.

This pattern takes good advantage of all of the qualities of the Reynolds Mandalay silk. It uses strips of stockinette between the dropped stitches, which allow the beautiful color variations to show. I had tried making lace out of it, but the variations got lost and it looked very muddy. The pattern also allows the silk to hang however it wants and still look nice. The garments I tried to make out of it were a mess of heavy material, which sagged in some undesireable places. I don't think I'm going to be buying a 100% silk yarn again (I don't mind if it's mixed in with more elastic fibers), but I've definitely gotten over my disappointment for now.

norwegian sock and some more angora!

Here is one of my Norwegian socks. I was shocked to see how tiny my feet are after finishing this. The fit is lovely, and I have high hopes that the bit of curling on top will go away after a good wash. The red striping reminds me a little of an illustrated view of one's nervous system, but I think it's kind of cool. The second sock is going to be on hold until I can make the trip to Morehouse Farm for some more red yarn. In the meantime, I'm going to start another pair in charcoal and cream. I really don't have any idea how I'm going to wear these (I returned the boots that I mentioned earlier - they were just too clunky on me), but even if I have to hide them under jeans I will be proud and WARM!






How many of you will groan when I tell you that the angora lace sweater is no more? I finished everything except the buttonband, tried it on and realized it was way too bulky to very be stylish. This is the fourth pattern that I've made from Vintage Knits (Sarah Dallas), and the fourth that I've been unhappy with. I think it might be time for the book to be donated to the library - it has beautiful pictures, but clearly something isn't working for me. The angora is now becoming a very thick, soft scarf. I only have a few more repeats left and it will be done, with just enough yarn left over for matching gloves (maybe gauntlets?). Can you see my tulips in the pattern? I'd like to think they're more visible in real life - today was my only day for blogging, and of course it had to rain. The picture only shows one, but there are actually two separate bands of patterns in the scarf. I'll photograph the whole thing when it's finished.

purple scarf.

Here's my finished lace scarf out of Morehouse Merino. It's laceweight, in purple. The design is Barbara Walker's Ogee Lace from her first treasury.

Here it is hanging in the window. Because it's double-sided, you don't really get to see the flowers inside of the S curves.

first post

This is my new knitting journal. Hopefully it will soon be full of lots of pictures and content. For now, here's a picture of my newest finished project.

A (mistakenly) adapted pattern from Barbara Walker called "Frost Flowers". Knit in the round on US2s and laceweight yarn in persimmon from Morehouse Farm, a local yarn store.