Knitting Left to Right

Don't know about you, but we have a couple of crazy friends who knit left to right instead of right to left and they call it 'normal'. Well, we all know that 'normal' is a relative concept, but in this case they happen to be correct: knitting back the other way is a good way to avoid purling, turning after the short row wrap or knitting right to left, if you happen to be...well...normal. Ok, EmBe, this one's for you! Now, would you show us all how to do a cable that way? And how about knitting into the back of the stitch and purling and...

Two Leaf Lace Shawls

Today we have some vintage knitting, 'cause sometimes we just run out of current knitting to show you. We'll be doing Vintage occasionally because the original concept for our blog was to have a place to archive our knitting and spinning. Common sense demands that we pull out old projects, take photos and post details so that we can go back through the archives someday and claim to remember knitting that.

By Peggy, in her handspun Corriedale from Grafton Fibers

By Rebecca, in her handspun merino from Ashland Bay

Pattern: Leaf Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark from Fiber Trends.
We knit these back in 'o6 with some of our first handspun. I can clearly see some serious over-twist and over-plying in my purple yarn while Peggy's is superior in every way ~ she's a natural talent at spinning.

Koigu Gloves

Working on the ring fingers.

Trying on to check fit.

Not so many ends to weave in...

Preblocking.

Just in time for the rest of Winter:

Knitter: Rebecca

Yarn and Needles: Koigu Sock yarn (KPPPM), 2 sks, #2.0 mm Inox 24" circulars, 2 of 'em.
Pattern: Finding a pattern was problematic. Have you ever noticed how chunky knit gloves look in the pattern photos? I wanted 'refined' gloves, densely knit at a fine gauge and that meant (to me) sock yarn and size 'tiny' needles. There were no patterns with this criteria in our shared library of knitting books, although I came closest with one from VK's little book on mittens and gloves. I just had to revise it from double-points to 2 circulars and I also included the beaded picot cuff, using 32 #8 seed beads per glove. The pattern had a goofy kitchenered end to each finger/thumb which, after working, looked (as I said) goofy, so I changed it to the less obtrusive "break yarn and with a chibi, run yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight; weave in ends." That worked nicely.
Project Notes: Began knitting December 16th, 2007 and finished January 27th, 2008. The Koigu was stash yarn and I used less than two balls, so if you have two balls (which we all know are not enough for socks with a long leg or foot) you can actually knit a pair of gloves with a fairly long arm. On the next pair I will go up one needle size for the fingers/thumb as they are just a tad too tight. The rest is perfect. My first gloves. I like them!

Blue Vest

Swatching with stash yarn.
The holes are yo/k2tog's which indicate
the needle size I used. I started on a US 5
and decided on the US 7.

10 stitch steek and decreasing for front V-neck.

10 stitch armhole steek and decreases.

The steeks after cutting,
picking up for the button band
and armhole trim and blocking.
Preblocking

Blocking

Buttons
FO

Knitter: Rebecca
Yarn and needles:The yarn is GGH Via Mala from my stash. This was a 4-ply chunky weight yarn calling for size US 10.5 needle. I separated it into 2-ply, which was simple to do as the singles weren't twisted (plied) ~ they were just 4 strands laying next to each other (see photo #3 for a peek at the ball) ~ but it was tedious and so handy to have knitting friends willing to help. I'm not fond of knitting with needles bigger than US 8 and I ended up with about 2,900 yards of yarn I can happily knit on a US 7. For this vest I used a #4.5 Addi Lace 32" circular for a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch. This revised vest pattern only took about 820 yards so I have plenty left for more projects. I can also separate the yarn again, into singles, and have some lovely lace weight for shawls.
Pattern: The Artisan Vest from Green Mountain Spinnery, tweaked. I changed the pattern to be knit in the round with steeks and it worked out well. I also changed the button band and the armhole trim from crocheted to seed stitch, so that they matched the border. I added back-neck shaping and short-row shoulder shaping for the three-needle bind-off.
Project notes: Began knitting on January 11th, 2008 and finished on January 27th. The steeks are knit in seed stitch, which lays so flat that I didn't have to deal with the fabric curling after it was sewn on the machine and then cut. I didn't even need to tack it down. Even though the pattern is a cardigan style and I did put button holes in the band, I ended up sewing the button band closed and so wear it as a pull-over. Next time I'll remember to save myself some time and leave out the button holes. The buttons have little thistles on them and came from my button box where they have languished for years. It's nice to finally use them. The difference in the blues is totally my camera, with and without flash, cloudy days vs bright sunshine, etc. The photo closest to actual yarn color is the close-up of the buttons.

Dancing Leaves Lace Shawl

Blocking tools: lump of damp shawl,
towels on rug, pins and blocking wires.

Blocked out to about 25"
from collar to cuff.

Close-up with beads

FO

Knitter: Peggy
Yarn and needles: 900 yards of a Rambouillet/Angora blend from pal Evanne; size 5.5 mm circular needle.
Pattern: Evelyn Clark's Dancing Leaves Lace Shawl, available on her website.
Project Notes: Knitting began January 6th, 2008 and finished January 27th. Choosing a pattern fabulous enough to go with this incredible yarn was challenging and then choosing beads to go with the yarn was intense. I ended up with #6 seed beads in 24k gold plate, 366 of them, from Fusion Beads in Seattle. The finished product: so warm, so cozy! The Friday Knitters passed it around at show-n-tell, trying it on as it circled the envious and now everyone wants to knit one. It fit every body type and looked great. Evanne modeled for the FO photos.

Mt. Tango Targhee

8 oz of Top from MT. Colors

Spun 2-ply

Grafting the 2 ends in the middle
Blocking
Another FO!

Spinner/Knitter: Rebecca

Fiber: Mt. Colors Targhee in the Mountain Tango colorway. Fiber purchased from Woodland Wool Works in June 2006 and spun during 4 days in November, 2006. I came out with about 600 yards of maybe DK weight ~ I forgot to check wpi.
Knitting: Began on December 5th, 2007 and finished December 13th, 2007. The pattern is my own. I took the Lilly of the Valley from Barbara Walker and began two pieces on the same 32" 5mm needle, thus ensuring the two ends have the scallop that I love. I used the bobble only through the first three repeats and then left it out as it uses a lot of yarn and who really likes being slowed down by bobbles anyway? When I was almost out of yarn, I kitchenered my two halves together and waa-la! Wrap!

Snow Day

January 28th, 2008
Does it get any better than this?
No, not if you're in Seattle.

Wild West Shawl

Blocking

Closeup of bison and hoofprint

Draped nicely on Evanne

Knitter: Peggy
Fiber and Needle: Paternayan Crewel Wool on size US #6 needle.
Pattern: Wild West Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark, available on her website.
Project Notes: Using SRY* is always smugly satisfying. I had a big cone of the Paternayan which I used to bulk up some Jamiesons Sport Weight Tweed for my Braids Cardigan. I used three #8 seed beads at each point of the cast-off edge. Knitting began sometime in December, it took about three weeks and I finished before the end of 2007. The original version is larger, but this size makes the perfect scarf. I loved this pattern. Each section had a different graph which made it fun and kept my interest. I would definitely recommend the Wild West Lace Shawl pattern to beginning & intermediate lace knitters who like a challenge. Next time I knit it (and it will be soon), I'll use a warm, soft 'hairy' handspun yarn -- maybe some fine wool fiber with alpaca or yak or angora blended in. I have all of those just waiting for my spinning wheel to free itself from the current spinning project.

Note-to-self: Next project with Paternayan Crewel, use a larger needle. Maybe a #8.

*Stash Reduction Yarn

Yarn Search in Progress

Edited on 021208:

THANKS EVERYONE FOR SEARCHING
YOUR STASHES FOR THIS YARN.
WE FOUND IT ON (WAIT FOR IT...)
EBAY! Michale is extremely happy.
Now she can make a sock monkey sweater of her own.
Top Down, of course.

This falls under that wily category:
"Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

DOH!

See this sweater?
(not the little red monkey suit, the Sock Monkey Sweater!)

See this yarn?
It's Rowan DK Marl ~ Shade 822 Buttermint.
(The lot # doesn't matter as long as it's all one lot.)
I need more. I need 10 skeins more.
Help. Thanks!

This yarn is discontinued, has been for years. If you have some you don't want any longer please let me know. My friend Michale must have a Sock Monkey sweater and I told her I'd do what I can to help her find some yarn like mine. (She's buying, btw.) We've tried the usual searches, including ebay. No luck yet but we have our feelers out! Any leads are appreciated.

Artful Ewe Green Shetland

Roving and Singles
3 hanks of 2-ply

Spinner: Rebecca
Fiber: 100% Shetland, hand-dyed by and purchased from Heidi Parra of The Artful Ewe in Port Gamble, Washington. Heidi also has a blog, which has wonderful photos of her shop.
Results: Spinning began November 6th, 2007 and ended on November 18th, 2007 with 1600 yards of 18-20 wpi 2-ply. I'm stumped for a project to knit with it because that's a lot of yarn. It is probably the best spinning I've done and I owe it to the fiber, which was wonderful to spin. If you have the chance to get hand-dyed Shetland from Heidi, go for it. You won't be sorry. Hey! She's going to be vending at Madrona again this year! You could get some there, or you could stop in at her shop on the weekends, which is when she's open. Or you could just call her and find out what colors she has right now.

Targhee Drenched in Red

Targhee fiber ~ some good combed top.
One pound, white This 'domestic' targhee is called
"Mountain Top" and came from here
and is also available locally (Seattle)
at Village Yarn and Tea.

Then dye it.

In the light-to-medium parts the dye diluted
and the really dark bits are deeply saturated color.
I used Jacquard Dye in 4 different reds:
Crimson, Burgundy, Scarlet and Fire Red.

Dabbing the dry dye onto dry fiber with a damp chopstick and then submerging in water and a little vinager and heating, the process is more time consuming than difficult, although it's nice to have a guide the first time through. My guide this trip was Sandi, who is famous around Seattle for her hand dyed/hand spun merino. Sadly, Sandi has no website. Happily, we like it this way because if she did, none of us would get any ~ she wouldn't be able keep up with the demand. Bonus: she's happy to share her knowledge!

Spin
4 spools of singles
Ply
2-ply ~ it looks way pink!
4 Hanks
of
"Stabbed in the Heart Red"

Dyer/Spinner: Rebecca
Project Notes:
We left Seattle on June 21st, 2007 for the annual Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon, which began the next day. I acquired this fiber on June 23rd, 2007, dyed it in November at the Friday Knitters Dye Day, began spinning on November 22nd, 2007 and finished plying on January 1, 2008. Interested to see how far a pound would go, I'm very happy with the pre-washed yardage of 1550 in 4 hanks. It's about 13-15 wpi, 2-ply. It fluffed up with washing, is very sproingy and no doubt has less length now that it's dry ~ I'll have to measure again before a knitting project is chosen.

Snow for Santa

It hardly ever snows in the Seattle area.
Some years, none at all.
This is a treat.

1:23pm

1:45pm

2:12pm

The little kids must have gone out of their
already over-stimulated minds!
How much better does it get than Santa AND snow?

Top-Down Magic

The problem with stripes...

The solution: an evening of weaving in ends.
Pre-blocking
Blocking with Fiesta

FO

Knitter: Rebecca

Pattern: Top-Down Sweater, #6 Unpattern by Karen Alfke. I love this pattern. I've made at least five sweaters with it, all different and all of them fit perfectly. The pattern is designed so well that perfect fit is a given. It's all about gauge. Your vision, your yarn, this pattern = the best sweater, ever. Once in a while I teach a class for the Top-Down Sweater using the #6 Unpattern.
Yarn and needles: Jamieson DK in 5 colors, size 4.5 Inox grey circular needles, G crochet hook.
Project Notes: I started this sweater in September, 2004. I cruised through it until I became hopelessly stumped when trying to figure out the hood ~ I'd never knit one before and had all my 'how to' books out, trying several styles, frogging each in turn, putting it away to think about and losing track of it until a couple weeks ago. This time around the hood just about knit itself and wa-laa, a little crochet chain 3 times around, weave in the endless ends, block and done on December 2nd, 2007. Took me three days. If only I'd known how easy a hood really is...

And now for an 'omg moment': I just realized that I did a really good job matching the repeat from the body to the sleeves! I hadn't noticed this until I looked at the photos of the FO hanging in the Rhody. Just-goes-to-showya ~ step back and admire your work now and then: you may see something different and wonderful.

The Magic Bits

(other sweaters from this pattern)

Sock Monkey Sweater
in Rowan DK Marl

Sock Monkey Suit
in Tweed DK
using the same pattern.

Jamieson DK Henley with
vintage buttons, a little pocket
and side-vents

Koigu V-Neck with short sleeves
(7 skeins)

Koigu Crew Neck with long sleeves

Boyds Bear in worsted weight v-neck