I've moved

I realized some time back that my own knitting projects are all shop projects, so I'd been double posting which was kind of a pain.  So I decided to merge all the relevant posts from this blog to the Crazy for Ewe blog.  If you're interested in what I'm knitting and what I'm doing, check it out.  

Nob Hill blocking and finishing

This yarn isn't so stretchy, so my Nob Hill wasn't rolling as much as it might, and I was almost not sure  it needed blocking, but I wasn't ready to sew it up, so I went ahead and pinned it the board.  Couldn't find my spray bottle, and the steamer lives in La Plata, so I did it the old fashioned way  - wet towels laid on top.

It wasn't quite dry when I took it off the board, but I wanted to take it up to La Plata to seam and let Paula see it.  I pinned the sides in preparation for seaming. It was amazing how much better it looked after the blocking.  You know, everything benefits from blocking, even if it doesn't need to be flattened, or shaped, or sized.  It just looks tidier and more even. See.

Obviously, it doesn't go with what I was wearing today, but I love it.  I would make the Nob Hill again, but  I think I might make the smaller size.  This one is very easy-fitting and comfortable, but maybe just a tad big.  The sizing goes from 32 to 40, which is kind of tricky, so I'd probably have to adjust the pattern myself.  I'll try to put it on tomorrow with something that actually goes with it and see how I feel about the fit. 

Armhole finishing

I had finished my Valour Vest some months ago, and although I loved the color and the styling, I had never worn it.  I tend to like my clothes somewhat form fitting, so when I wear something that wraps, I pull it close around the waist.  When I put the vest on and pinned it to fit my waist, the armholes stretched at the back giving it an odd appearance.  See how big the armholes look even when it's on the hanger. It was even worse when I put it on.

Thinking back on the pattern, I remembered that it said to pickup around the armhole and then bind off on those stitches.  The number of stitches it directs you to pick up is substantially fewer than you would do if you were picking up for a button band or some other type of border.  The result, of course, is that the armhole pulls in to fit while you still get the nice effect of the ribbing around the bust.  Genius. 

This morning I finished around the armhole and it looked perfect.  I can pull it as close at my waist as I like without looking like I"m wearing a wife-beater undershirt.   The only down side of finishing the armhole is that now I have defined an inside and an outside of the garment whereas before, with the flat seam, it had been reversible.  Of course, if I wasn't going to wear it at all the way it was, then it didn't really matter whether it was reversible or not, now did it!  I chose the side with the strong rib texture for the outside (per the pattern), as it really is the more interesting side.  Here's the new and improved Valour.

Calling Einstein for some mindless knitting

There have been so many times in the last few weeks that I've just needed to sit down with my knitting and not think at all.  I think that's an indication of stress level, exacerbated by lack of an appropriately mindless project on the needles. Or, it could just be a renewed interest in football with the playoffs and what not. I had some fuchsia Donegal Tweed Chunky hanging around and decided to make it into a new Einstein coat since my current one seems to have been confiscated as a blanket by my youngest son.  I'm making it 1 inch shorter around the bottom (53 stitches).  Here's where I am so far.

That's just over one skein in - it measures about 15 inches so far.  Hmmm... that's 15 down and some 30 or 40 inches to go.  It should be done by Easter.  When is Easter this year anyway? 

Nob Hill Sleeve

Here it is from the right side.  It's a very nice reverse stockinette rolled edge.  It's an elaborate method, but it gives a very clean effect inside and out.  She has you pick up stitches around the armhole with the wrong side facing, so the little pick up ridge is on the right side.  This is so counter to the way we normally pick up on garments that I didn't even really look at the directions the first time and just picked up the normal way with the right side facing.

 
Then you work in reverse stockinette, making short rows to give the center section more length.  See how the armhole edge tapers down toward the underarm. 

When you've worked all the short rows and picked up all the wraps (knit wise and purl wise), she has you use a crochet hook to bring the live stitches from the right side to the back side where you slip them onto a smaller needle and finally bind them all off.

Here's a shot from the inside.  Very nice and clean inside - and for those of you who hate finishing, there's no sewing.

Honestly, I think it might have been easier to pick up from the right side, work the short rows , bind off and then whip stitch the bind off to the pick-up ridge.  But hey, I'm one of those weird knitters who likes finishing.  I am anxious to wear this.  

I love shoes

Today the UPS man brought me four pairs of shoes I'd ordered.

 

My husband saw all the boxes and tissue and stuff on table, looked at my happy face and said, "It's so cute how you get so much pleasure from such a little thing as shoes."  How could you not love this man!

Nob Hill progress

Yesterday afternoon Colton called to me saying, "Come see the beautiful sunset," and it was indeed lovely.

After dinner we watched a movie and I finished the body of my Nob Hill. Here it is just before binding off the bottom edge.

The movie was Home Alone 3, Colton's pick, and possibly the worst movie I've ever seen, but he loved it, and I had my knitting.  

Nob Hill progress

I started this little shrug a while back - like mid December.  I know that doesn't sound like a long time ago, but on size 13 needles with no sleeves, it really should already have been finished.  The back has been done for a while, and I had worked most of one side of the front.  I've been really distracted over the past few weeks, and I'm pretty sure I'd messed it up.  One of the things that bugged me was that the pattern has you working the back then putting one front and the back neck on holders while you work the other front.  You know I hate that approach because it just find it so much more intuitive to work both fronts at the same time - then you only have to keep track of where you are once - half the opportunity for distraction.  So I ripped out what I'd done and began the fronts together.  During Project Runway (the one where the poor guy who doesn't get to go to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has a total meltdown) I worked quite a bit of the fronts.  Actually even more than I had done of the one front.  And then I ran out of yarn.  Here I am, zipping along, and I am out of yarn.  Oh, there's more yarn to be had, but it was at the shop, and we were having a snowstorm that was already keeping me from getting to the Kennedy Center, so I sure as heck wasn't going to risk life and limb to go to the shop. Frustrating, yes, but there really wasn't anything to be done but fold it up and tuck it back into the bag until Tuesday.  

I did end up going in to the shop today, though, and picked up two more skeins of this delicious brown Sundae, so I might be able to finish it all up tonight.  Woo hoo!

Brigitta in Ushya

At long last, I had my new Brigitta and my camera in the same place at the same time.  As far as this yarn for this project, it is a match made in heaven.  Ushya is super chunky, but so light - a 100g hank gives you a generous 114 yards.  I made the size 36, and it took just 6 skeins. Ushya is also really springy, so it bounces back from knitting errors and garments made from it keep their shape really nicely.  I love this color too - a great heathery teal.  Yum. 

You're kidding me, right?

 In case you can't see the print, this is a jury summons.  Not familiar with such?  Well let me explain.  This is when you have to show up for days and days to view the court proceedings of someone who has been charged with a crime.  These cases can last a couple of days, or they can drag on for weeks and months.  As I understand it, you are required to sit in the jury box and not only stay awake, but listen attentively to the evidence presented.  All this you have to do patiently without your knitting.  Um, did you catch that?  WITHOUT MY KNITTING.  I don't do that whole sitting still thing very well without my knitting.  I am always surprised when people who see me knitting in the doctor's office waiting room or at some school sporting event with my knitting and feel compelled to tell me that they don't knit because they don't have the patience.  Excuse me?  How do you have the patience to sit and wait three hours without knitting?  Oh well.  Not everyone gets it.  Too bad for them.  Anyway, back to the Jury Summons.  I am not at all looking forward to serving my community in this way.  My life has been too much these past two weeks to deal with it right now.  It is raining, and I am cold and tired. My bed looks amazingly appealing although it is not even 9 p.m.  My dog agrees.

So I fixed myself a big mug of hot chocolate and got my Nob Hill Shrug and climbed on in. I'll think about jury duty tomorrow.

Brigitta body done

The color on this is off a good bit - it appears turquoise, but it's really much darker - more a teal.  See where the top of the back section angles off?  That's where the top of the fronts get seamed pushing the shoulder seam off the top of the shoulder and down to the back.  It's a much sleeker fit and is a really great approach for such a chunky yarn.  Those two little bits that extend on the fronts get seamed along the horizontal section of the back to create a little collar.

I've cast on for the first sleeve and have worked about half way up.  This should be done by Friday when I want to start Gudrid, which you can see here, along with the new colors of Baby Llama.

Ushya Brigitta

This is the amount that I got done while riding in the car up to Bethesda and back.  So fast.   Haven't knit one stitch on it since then, which is a shame  I love the feel of this yarn and the incredible sense of accomplishment that comes from such quick progress. 

The good news is that the St. Andrews bazaar is over (we cleared $4000) and I can get back to my knitting.  Woohoo!

Newport in Kochoron

I loved the Newport jacket so much that I wanted another one in a very different fiber.  You know Kochoron is one of my favorites, so that's what I used.  Yes, Kochoron sheds like a bunny.  Yes, Kochoron often has knots in the skein.  Yes, Kochoron is pricey.  I know all this, but still, when you see the finished project, you just can't help yourself. 

Sweet Charlotte

Finished Charlotte Wednesday night.  I had been really concerned about the fronts as they seemed to be drooping a bit.  So, when I picked up for the front bands, instead of picking up three stitches for every four rows, I picked up two stitches for every three rows, and the fronts hang perfectly.  Also, instead of doing garter stitch for the front and neck bands, I used reverse stockinette.  It matches the lace edging fine, but doesn't stretch.  The collective wisdom Wednesday night was that Charlotte looked better without a closure at the neck (which honestly, at my age, looked just a little too sweet) so I am opting to just wear it open.

Except for the front bands, I worked this pattern pretty much as written.  It was a little unclear to me why the designer opted for double decreases every four rows on the body rather than standard decreases every other row, but I did it anyway.  The result is a decorative little motif along the body portion of the raglan sleeve. 

Here's a lclose up of the double decreases (left slanting on the right side)

and right slanting on the left side.  

As you can see, when you make the decrease lean in the opposite direction of the shaping, it is much more noticeable, and can be very decorative. I'm not sure if I would work the decreases that way again, but it is really attractive The designer uses slip one knit two together, pass slipped stitch over for her left slanting double decrease.  I opted instead for sssk which I think looks a little better.  You can use whatever you like best.

On the sleeve, the pattern instructs you to decrease on the front and the back.  Again, she probably had a good reason for that guidance, but I like to keep things simple, so I did all of my decreasing on the right side.  Here's a photo of my sleeve. 

After it's all said and done, I  really do like this pattern and am thinking of doing another one.

When will it be fall

so that I can wear my Brigitta?  This was so quick and fun to knit up.  I think it took all of a week.  I knit the second size (36) and was afraid that it would be too short, so I followed the length directions for the next size up.  I didn't want the sleeves to hang down onto my hands either.  I followed the directions for the sleeve in my size and then just did the cuff as directed and it was perfect.  You want to be sure to bind those cuffs off really loosely so that you get a nice graceful bell. 

You can see more photos of my Brigitta on the shop blog.

I like this pattern so much that I'm doing another one in Mirasol Ushya - gorgeous shade of sea glass green.  Ooh ooh ooh.  

Charlotte

We went to Pittsburgh to visit Elizabeth this past weekend.  My DH prefers the scenic route which meant a wonderful drive through the Virginia countryside and near perfect leaf-viewing.  It also meant 7 uninterrupted hours of knitting each way.  Life is good.

I had narrowed my knitting options down to either a second Brigitta in Ushya or Charlotte in Sulka. Isn't Charlotte beautiful!

They're both perfect car projects because they're knit in one piece and have fairly simple directions.  I needed something that was engaging but not so demanding that I couldn't enjoy the leaves.

It was tempting to simply knit up another Brigitta because it was fresh in my mind and it goes so darn quick.  On the other hand, I had never knit a big project with Sulka, and it In the end I decided on Charlotte simply because the Sulka took up less room in the car.  What a luscious yarn that Sulka is!  I picked a colorway called red onion, which is, of course, purple.  It's a single ply yarn with lots of loft, so it could be knit anywhere from 3 to 4 stitches per inch.  It's a firm fabric at 4, and a little loose at 3, but on at 3.5 on a size 10 needle, it' s really lovely.

 Charlotte has two repeats of Vine Lace around the bottom and then stockinette the rest of the way up. By the time we got home Sunday I'd finished the entire body and cast on for the sleeves.   Here's it is blocking.

Newport Cardigan

Okay, so here's the cardigan finished.  I added ribbing around the bottom because the single crochet didn't really keep the back from rolling up along the bottom edge.  

Here's a photo before the bottom ribbing was added.  It's hard to see because I was holding the bottom in place, hence the ribbing decision.

I do very much like this pattern, and I have pulled a gorgeous colorway of Kochoron for another one.  This time I will make the next larger size (finished bust 40") This fits well enough, but there's not much ease.  

On the next one I'm going to try another edge treatment that is sure to prevent rolling but doesn't require an edging or ribbing. 

Valour- seaming and staging

As I said in the newsletter, I started this July 23rd, and finished it today.  I’m very happy with it—the yarn, the style, and the color.  I am also very grateful to our fellow Ravelers who posted pictures and wonderful advice about joining Valour back and fronts.  In particular, one wise knitter said she’d used a flat, reversible seam to join the parts.  How brilliant!  I had been really ambivalent about the right and wrong sides of this fabric.  The three by one rib gives a very strong textural element about which I have not made up my mind.  With this reversible seam, I can wear it either way depending on my mood.  Here's how it works

and how it looks on both sides

It's not a seam that gives the fabric a smooth and flawless join, but it is flat and you really have to look closely to see the seaming yarn.  I am very happy with the effect, and especially the flexibility it gives me to wear the vest with either side out. 


Other Ravelers mentioned using a sock yarn to keep the seams from becoming too bulky, which I often do anyway, but I was particularly pleased to find this bit of leftover Berroco Sox Metallic with all the same colors of the Colourscapes.  I pulled out the metallic bit so as not to draw attention to the seam. 

This vest is a beautiful way to try out Colourscapes.  I made the second size--a medium to fit bust 36-38, and I got gauge using size 10 needles.  You will want to swatch it yourself and be sure you’re using the needles that are right for you.  Per other posts on Ravelry, I took only three skeins off the shelf, and sure enough, I finished the vest with a small ball leftover.  I think I may, however, get another skein because the color that's leftover is the very pale blue, which may not be the best option for trimming around the armholes.

Here's the back.

I really like this vest and the yarn.  Can't wait for fall!

Valour

I started the back of my Valour Friday night, and finished it today on the way home from Virginia.  How's that for fast! 

 I really love this yarn - so quick to work up, but it really doesn't feel bulky or heavy.  And the colors - so bright and fresh, but not at all in your face. I have the "wrong side" up in this photo.  The pattern calls for a 3x1 rib with the purl 3 side as the right side.  You get a strong sense of the texture in the photo here. 

I think I prefer the smoother side up--just not a big fan of reverse stockinette in great quantities.  I am picturing this with a pair of grey trousers, a white blouse and this belt. 

Always looking for an excuse to wear this belt.  

Willow

Finished my Willow sweater last week.  I really love the way it turned out.  I made it an inch longer, gave it a scoop neckline, and moved the lace panel to the other side on the front so that it would match up with the back.  It's fabulous to wear, and so quick to work up.  The lace panel was a really fun addition that kept the knitting interesting.  I would make this again!