demi, from rowan vintage knits

The neckline was easy to fix. The abalone buttons weren't what I had in mind, but ended up being perfect.

The best part about knitting it circularly was seeing neat details like the side ribbing emerge right as I knitted them.
And yes, it is entirely possible to knit this circularly, even with its set-in sleeves. Simply consult Knitting Without Tears (Elizabeth Zimmermann)for instructions on how to knit up to the underams, follow the pattern's instructions for the initial decreasing of sleeves and body, and finish the decreasing and neck using Knitting Workshop (also EZ) as a guide.

This, along with four (or was it five?) skeins of Cascade 220 (I had to knit a different size to achieve a good fit since my gauge was different), should just about do it.

And while we're on the subject of finished projects, remember the bobbin lace tablecloth?

It had a makeover.Happy new year!

let it snow!

I honestly haven't had any time for knitting lately, so it was a great surprise to wake up on Friday and realize that I was going to be snowed in for the whole day.

I had ripped out the appropriate parts of Demi a few days before, so I was able to jump right in and try to solve the problem I had made for myself.

The sleeve "seams" are great. I used Elizabeth Zimmermann's technique for set-in sleeves on a circular needle (found in Knitting Workshop) and it all went smoothly. I had the presence of mind to even try it on at that point, and it fit just as I had imagined it should. But then I tried to tackle that neckline, and found myself hopelessly lost and confused. I think I might have solved it now, but I need to do a little more work on it before I can post pictures. The pattern has a little separate shoulder piece that has to be sewn onto that left shoulder, in addition to the separate button band, and then picking up stitches around somehow incorporating them all together. I misunderstood the directions, and I think I picked up too many stitches around the neckline, too. I'm in the process of fixing that now.

The other project I've been working on involves the antique lace I mentioned before. Here's one of the tatted doilies. There are five altogether, all matching.

They're beautiful, but have some nasty looking stains in the centers of them that won't come out.

I think my solution wakes them up a little bit. I've still got one more to go, but I'm getting there.

I also have this small circular tablecloth of Cluny lace that needs some help.

The stains on this one are horrendous, although of course they stubbornly refuse to show up in photographs. I've made a whole lot of progress on this one, but you'll have to wait until I've finished it to see. This is going to be a Christmas present, so let's see if I can get it together.

I've been handsewing all of these items, and I'm really starting to get the hang of it. True, I still have to use a ruler to make sure that I'm placing my hemming stitches exactly half an inch apart, but I'm enjoying myself. As a guide, I'm using Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire B. Shaefer. Couture sewing refers to garments that are entirely made by hand, and there is wonderful information in this book on different hand sewing stitches, and what they are best used for. For the complete novice like me, there's even diagrams of the knots you need to use to begin and end your sewing. I actually bought this book with the intention of trying out some of the techniques on clothes, and now that I know how easy the actual sewing can be, I'm newly enthusiastic over persuing that. If you want a quick, free guide on a few sewing stitches, I was also shown this site. It's nowhere as good as Couture Sewing Techniques, but it's a place to start.

If you can stand anymore sewing, I've got a whole pile of it that's (almost) done and ready to go out for Christmas.

For now, though, I'm once again snowbound for the day, so I'm going to get to work on Demi, wash the pair of socks I finished, and then pick out something new to cast on. This will take my mind off the fact that I still don't have any milk in the house, and probably won't until tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy your Sunday, I know I will!

the good, the bad and the ugly

I'm really nearing the finish line on Demi. I have the body, arms, and a good deal of the shoulders done. I knew that I had made a mistake somewhere along the shoulders, but since I was having a hard time grasping how the construction of this sweater worked, I figured I'd finish off the shoulders, graft one, and then try it on.

The good news is that most of it fits great, and it is so comfortable to wear. The lace blouse I had on today even mimicked the outfit on the model in the book. I was right, though, I had made a mistake on the shoulders.

Yikes. I just decreased incorrectly on the last few inches - namely, I forgot to keep the sweater in one piece, which would be the total goal of circular knitting. It shouldn't take more than one really good knitting session to fix the shoulders, re-knit, and finish up little things like weaving in ends and grafting the underarms. I'm going to use Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop as a guide. So maybe you will see the end of this sweater next week!

are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I was without internet access for a month, so Demi will probably look a lot different from when you saw it last.

I don't know if I ever mentioned that I'm knitting this circularly, so I won't have any seams to sew when I'm done. I managed to knit the sleeves and body up to the underarms without any problems, but now I am a little perplexed.

(The color is somewhere between these two pictures.)

The joining of the sleeve and body looks right, but I'm just not sure. All I did was follow the decreasing instructions that the pattern gave, I just worked the whole sweater at the same time rather than worked on one piece at a time. (Many, many Post Its were used in this effort, and one bamboo knitting needle was sacrificed.) I am not too concerned, because I know that at least I am right up to the underarm. I don't see why I would be wrong, but I'm also not too convinced that I am correct.

Every time I got bored or confused with Demi this past month, I worked a few rows on some other knitting until I felt like looking at Demi again.

Okay, so I got bored and confused a lot. But the good news is, with the way I am confused over Demi's neckline, I will have two matching pairs of socks in no time.

bobbin lace

Here are two of the bobbin lace pieces that I had the opportunity to work with recently. As far as I know, they were made in the Victorian era. When I first received them, they were absolutely filthy and I thought they would have to be dyed to hide the stains. However, after soaking in lukewarm water with a mixture of Woolite and Borax, they came out almost entirely perfect. I'm guessing that the designs must have been pretty exotic when they were made. Each girl is wearing a turban, and one of them has a snake.

I sewed them carefully onto cotton fabric and framed them so that no further harm could come to them. I figured if I had done some true evil by sewing them onto fabric, it would be easy enough to clip the threads on the back of the piece and free them.

I'm now working on resurrecting a table cloth of Cluny bobbin lace, and I have some more beautiful Cluny lace that I actually get to keep. The table cloth needs to be done by Christmas, so I'm posting this to motivate myself to keep on working on it and posting pictures. I've also been messing around with creating some of my own bobbin lace, so I will have to show you how it is made. It is really very clever.

I've also completed three repeats on Demi. The color in this picture is completely off, it's really more of a red with flecks of brighter red and the purple you see in the picture. It really photographs erratically, depending on the light. I only have 1.5 inches to go, then I can start the arms and attach them all onto one needle. To the left you can see the neat effect of the cables on the seam. It reminds me a little of a rib cage.

distraction

I needed something to distract me from the unarguable disaster that my last cardigan turned out to be. I had set aside a few sweaters to be ripped and re-knitted into something more classic, and the heathered red Cascade 220 I had really caught my eye. I decided to start Demi from Rowan's Vintage Knits, a sweater that I have been meaning to knit for at least two years now.

Cascade 220 is not an exact substitution for the Rowan yarn that is recommended. This means that even though I'm following the pattern for the extra small, my finished sweater will be a few sizes larger. I'm also knitting this in the round, which is already working out much better than knitting it flat. The "wrong side" rows are so much easier to work when all you need to do is knit through the back loop and purl.
So far, so good. I'm nearly obsessively checking my progress on this one, making sure that I don't have another ill-fitting sweater on my hands. I've already finished the ribbing and one pattern repeat, making seven inches of this sweater completed.

Today is deceptively sunny. It looks beautiful outside, but in reality we've hit freezing temperatures. I can't wait until this sweater is done, I know it will get a lot of use this winter.

I'm sheltering these flowers inside the house, since it's too cold to plant them outside now. Besides, they would be prime deer treats since I still need to put up my fence. They look remarkably fake, don't they?

a confession and a body

The keen eyed of you might have noticed that the cowl neck sweater in my last post is suspiciously the same color of the Salina sweater that I was working on. I admit it - I am a yarn cannibal. After finishing Salina and seaming, I tried it on and was horrified by the fit. I think my mistake is that I followed Rowan's suggested fit size, instead of looking at the measurements and choosing what I ordinarily would. The seed stitch border, which looked so pretty flat, also fell at a rather inconvenient place on my stomach and added about 10 pounds. I am still going to be knitting some patterns out of Vintage Knits, but will probably not be trying Salina again, and will be more aware of what size I am actually knitting. I'll probably also convert the sweaters into circular knitting. I just hate the way seams feel in a handknit sweater!

In more happy knitting news, my cardigan from Poetry in Stitches is trucking along nicely. I've finished the body up to the armholes, and also finished the two fronts. Now I'm knitting the back up to be the same length as the fronts. I have about two pattern repeats to go. The pattern calls to knit back and forth on the three pieces - or, in other words, to purl while stranding. I finally caved in and taught myself the Norwegian purl method (also found in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears), which has made it a little easier.

Whenever I get frustrated with it, I just look at the fronts of the sweater and admire my "spiked" edge.

Yes, that's right - spikes. On my sweater. How cool is that?!

around and around

This sleeve didn't work for a variety of reasons. My plan was to incorporate a steek at the top, so that I wouldn't have to work back and forth to shape the sleeve cap. Unfortunately, even my small 3 stitch steek added enough bulk at the arm hole (where there was another steek for the body) that it was uncomfortable and looked strange. I had planned to sew it in place, but literally over night about two inches of an arm hole steek mysteriously unraveled. I've been questioning the cat, but she pleads the fifth and reminds me that she's innocent until proven guilty.

So, I try again. This time I used a technique I learned from knitting the Crichton cardigan, also in Sweaters From Camp. After I grafted the shoulder, I picked up stitches from around the arm hole, added on the stitches at the underarm that I had put on a string, and started knitting down. I had thought that it would bother me that the body was knitted up, and the sleeves down, but I think it looks fine. I also had to pick up stitches from the actual pattern, not the line of brown that I had made because it unraveled, but I think after a blocking it should look okay. I've tried it on and there's none of the lumpiness that the previous sleeve had, so it looks like I'm on the right track. Sorry these photos are so dark - the ones in the last post are actually true to color. However, it's in the single digits (Farenheit) outside, and I'd rather deal with the poor lighting indoors than go anywhere near the door.

In the meantime, I've started Salina from Rowan's Vintage Knits and the Lopi Mittens from Folk Mittens. Salina is made from Cascade 220 in a heathered merlot color, and the Lopi Mittens are made from even more leftover Crichton.

I know some people hate thumbs that stick straight up on the mitten, but I love them. It makes the mitten look so tidy. I've also discovered that not having a tight cuff isn't a bad thing, as long as the mitten is long enough in the wrist to tuck into your jacket sleeve. This is good, because I find it more fun to start right in on the pattern than have to do a few inches of mindless ribbing first. The second one will be knitted as soon as the first sleeve of Snow Sky is done - they both use my US 3 needles and I don't want to buy another pair.

lace cardigan and norwegian stockings

The angora, it seems, can be turned into something. I'm following the lace cardigan pattern from Sarah Dallas's Vintage Knits, and so far it's going well. I've finished the back and will start the fronts as soon as the humidity holds off - sweat and angora fuzz do not work so well together. I'm probably going to end up with 3/4 length or cap sleeves, but that's fine with me. I think it's going to look really nice once it's all washed and blocked.

In more photogenic news, I've just started the Norwegian stockings that Meg Swansen had published in the latest Vogue (Fall 2006). The pattern is absolutely gorgeous, and it's going so quickly for me. I'm using up some leftover Morehouse merino wool instead of the suggested Schoolhouse brand. The stripes go on the left and right of the leg, and the diamond pattern runs down the front and back of the leg. Not so coincidentally, the red matches perfectly with the new Kenneth Cole boots I just bought. It's going to be a lovely fall.

Whoops - more knitting bad luck. The stocking pattern is completely incorrect from the heel flap on. If anyone else is working on these, I've already contacted Vogue Knitting and Meg Swansen and will post the response once I get it.
And here it is!

many new things

The angora sweater is steadily plugging along. I have decided on a v-neck, with 3/4 length sleeves. The brown ribbing on the body measures at 5.5 inches, so I think the ribbing on each sleeve will be 2.25 inches. I'm going to have a good amount of yarn left, but I think the sweater will look nicest this way.
The body measures 12 inches right now. I think I may start the neck shaping now.

I've also picked out a new sweater to start. It will have to wait a few days because I'll be using the same needles as those for the angora sweater. It's the "beaded sweater" from Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas.

I'm making mine with some leftover Morehouse merino, instead of the Rowan Botany that is suggested. You can see a little ball of the color resting on the page. The color is "charcoal", and as you can see it's a very dark gray. I'm wondering if black beads would look nice, or if I should choose something lighter. I'll take a trip to the bead store later this week and decide.

And finally, one more project. I inherited a lot of yarn a few years ago. I probably have close to 75 skeins. The problem is, not a single one matches. They were all sample skeins that my grandmother used to receive for free. I've been trying to think of something to do with them, because I'd rather not give them away - call me sentimental. I've decided to do a tesselating fish blanket .

The gray fish is made out of fake chenille, and the red fish from Lion Brand's woolease in cranberry. Right now I have 4 gray fish and 1 red one. The pattern is really fun, and each fish only takes me about half an hour. The fin detailing is my favorite part, and I also love how garter stitch so accurately depicts scales. I'm excited to finally have a solution to all that yarn, and to make some room underneath my bed!