Still Knitting

It's been awhile and I've been debating quitting the blog as it seems I don't have the time. Still debating. The knitting I've been doing has mostly been for the shop samples for classes, and am now down to the last two and then I can knit what I want to. Here's what I've been doing although there are no pictures of the last two yet.

 

In addition to knitting for the shop I've been doing some test knitting of the next Cottage Creations pattern and tech editoring for Kimberlolly from Ravelry-4 patterns.

 

These are the mittens. What is unusual about them is the gusset which is placed on the hand rather than the traditional thumb portion of the mitten. They have a great fit. The purple ones are made from Ella Rae Classic which is wool and acrylic using US #6 needles. Size, Large Child/Small Woman,

These are from the same pattern but are made for my good friend. The tip of the mitten was changed for the adult size mitten rather than the pointed one-the pattern is still in testing. The yarn is Malabrigo Rios which I sort of like. I've had trouble with the difference in color between skeins of this yarn, but figures making mittens out of one skein should not be any problem. Wrong. I got about 3/4 done making both at the same time one from each end of the skein and decided I couldn't live with the difference in color between the two so frogged and made one at a time, alternating the yarn from both ends. What a hassle and it resulted in a noticeable line where the yarn was changed.

 

I did not make these but were made by my good friend. They are microwave bowl hot pads to be used to microwave bowls which usually are too hot to handle when the food is hot. Love them!

 They are so pretty I just stack them, put a candle in the middle and use as a centerpiece.

This is Purslane Beret from KnitScene Fall 2012 made from Frog Tree Pedaboo which is really nice to work with. After it was finished, washed and blocked when I put it on it hung down over my eyes so I took out the last inch or so and redid it on a smaller needle. It is pretty, even if I never wear it. It is a class sample.

The shop has had so many Learn To Knit Classes that we are looking for easy classes for beginners. This is the first dishcloth for a dishcloth of the month class. Pattern is a free download on Ravelry called Purple Heart Knit Motif using Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale and size 8 needles.

Another class sample. These are from Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel book. I decided to make fraternal twin socks-same yarn, different pattern. The sock on the left is Simply Splendid Socks and on the right is Hidden Pocket. I used the e-book and made both from top down and found there was a lot of going back and forth between pages. I had a problem with the beginning of the Simple Splendid Sock as I think there is a mistake in the pattern, but never got a response from Cat Bordhi about it. Will I make this heel again? Probably not. One side looks good-the one on the picture, but the other side has holes at the turn. I did them over trying to follow suggestions on the Ravelry Forum, and the hole size decreased, but I still am not happy with them. The yarn is CoBaSi which has a little elastic in it.

This is my fun project I did start for myself. The yarn is custum dyed by my friend, Dawn, of Propaganda Yarn. It will be a round shawl based on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Pi Shawl and is a "map" of the northern hemisphere sky. If you look closely, you can see the north star in the very center and the Big Dipper from it.

Off and On the Needles

I'll start with finished projects:

 

Thistles by Kimberly Gintar is another winner and another test knit. This shawl is number 17 in 12 Shawls in 2012. The yarn is KnitPicks Shadow, something I found in my stash; knit with US size 5 needles.

Shawn the Shelf Elf is based on the book, Elf on a Shelf and is another test knit for Kimberly. (Kimberly is living in Germany and is my unnofficial adopted daughter- found each other on Ravelry.) I used left over sock yarn from my stash and knit it on US size 1 1/2 needles. He is so cute!If you are not acquainted with the story, the child is given the book and the elf and when the child names the elf it comes to life. Each day it sits in the home and observes the child's behavior (hopefully it is good before Christmas) and at night goes to the North Pole and reports to Santa. When he returns in the morning, he will sit in a different place, so the child has to fine him.

On the needles:

This is Firebird by Rosemary (Romi) Hill. The yarn is the yarn I got from Ann Swanson's stash sale at Vesterheim last month. For some reason this shawl has given me lots of trouble. I can't seem to count! But it is progressing.

 During the busy Holiday season  this is a fun knit which takes me away from the hectic times (Actually, I haven't even started preparations) to relax and think about the meaning of the season and hopefully to enjoy the days more. It is Lila and Claudine's Advent Scarf for 2012. Each day they send a new stitch and very short meditation. I'm already behind- only 3 days done.

This project is the one that is taking me forever, mainly because I've ripped most of it out twice. The first time was because of a noticeable stripe where I changed balls of yarn. We are told when using hand painted yarn to knit from 2 balls, alternating every 2 rows. But, who am I to follow directions? I had used Malabrigo yarn before and never had any trouble, but this one was very different. I know where I started the new balls, but it is much less noticeable than it was before. The second time I had done something wrong in the pattern because I had 2 extra stitches in one of the fronts. I tried just decreasing them out, but then my stitch count was wrong and one front was smaller than the other. I tried to live with it, but the sweater won out and it was frogged again. This sweater is a good "public" knitting project at this point.

Perpetua Shawl

I think this is shawl number 15 for the year. The pattern is called Perpetua, another one by Rosemary Hill. It is from Knitscene, Fall 2012, along with 2 other patterns by Romi. I had difficulty photographing the correct color of the shawl as it is more green than the pictures show. The first picture here is probably the closest I could get.

Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. I love!
Needles: US #5

This was not a hard knit-a good one to learn or use your "read your knitting" skills. 

North Country Fiber Fest

This last weekend I taught at the North Country Fiber Fest in Watertown, SD. What a wonderful event! The energy and enthusiasm of the whole weekend was something that is rarely experienced. I taught lace/Haruni shawl, Steek your Coffee Cozy and a Sea Foam Scarf, so I didn't get to take any classes but did walk around and observe some of them.

 

The variety of classes was exceptional. Everything from raising silkworms to basket weaving. Some things I had never heard of or seen before such as tapestry crochet, cardboard loom weaving, kanzashi blooms, Japanese Braiding. Lots of spinning and dying classes.

 

The center of this large building had a "Fiber Circle" where people were always spinning, mostly, but knitting, needlepointing, whatever. This is only about half of the group. the variety of spinning wheels was interesting, too.

This is a kick spindle, sort of a cross between a drop spindle and a wheel. She actually kicks the spindle to turn it.

Of course there is always show and tell and this beauty caught the attention of everyone. It was made by the woman on the left and took her 10 months. It was hard to get a picture that really shows off the beauty.

 I had heard of "fiber sandwich" but had no idea what it was. Well, here it is. People bring in a certain amount of fiber-any kind, any color. It then gets layered together.

 And distributed among the spinners. Sorry these are pictured in plastic bags, but they are the left overs which were auctioned off at the end.

 The spinners then spin the fiber into yarn.

The finished skeins are auctioned off at the end of the festival.

There were also vendors. What did I come home with? Only one quilted knitting bag.

The festival was very much spinning oriented. What did I order after I came home? One weaving loom. More about that when it comes.

My "Have to Do" List

Do you ever feel pressured by the knitting you want/have to do? This happened to me during the Olympics when I set a goal for my Knitting Olympic project. Once the Olympics started my priorities changed. (See my last post.) So, I sat down and made a list of MUST do projects-it totaled 12. That doesn't count a shawl already started and a KAL starting soon. So, here is my progress:

 

Finished. Mimi's Rosa Rugosa is a test knit for Kimberly Gintar (Kimberlolly on Ravelry). I took this on even though I knew I had too much to do. My husband tells me I do it to myself when I voice how overwhelmed I feel.

These are socks for my daughter in law's birthday. She bought the yarn when we were at Arnhild's Knitting Camp in February so I decided I'd knit them for her birthday. They are done except for the toe decreases I think. I want her to try them on before I finish. We'll see her Saturday so hopefully they'll be finished then. This is the first time I tried Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel but haven't decided how I like it.

The rest of the projects are for classes I'll be teaching at Amazing Threads.

 

Finished. Opal Sock Bunny. This was fun as the instructions were good and it is completely seamless, but it took forever with sock yarn on size 1 needles.

In progress. #5 Lace Poncho on the cover of Fall 2012 Vogue Knitting. I should have looked at this pattern before I said I would do it. It is knit in the round with patterning on all rows which actually isn't bad because all rows are knit, but it increases to about 1000 sts. I'm a little over 500 stitches here.

This is for a class I'm teaching at North Country Fiber Fair in Watertown, SD in September. The pattern is Haruni. I've asked myself many times why I'm knitting with this iridescent color yarn, but just keep going and haven't ripped and started over. (It is newly acquired stash yarn as I don't like the pattern that came with it in the club I got it from.)Probably because I don't have time to spare. Two more repeats of 16 rows before I do the beautiful border.

Katarina is knit to the armholes, but haven't started the sleeves yet.

The rest don't even have yarn for yet.Progress?

Why Do I Knit What I Do

Knitters say they are either a process knitter or a product knitter. Process knitter knit for the joy of making what they are making. Product knitters knit for the finished product. I don't think a person is one or the other, but a combination of the two. I am much more of a process knitter, because once I see how the knitting looks, I'm ready to move on to something else.

As you've seen on this blog, I love to knit lace shawls. My theory behind this is that I am my great grandmother reincarnated. In my cedar chest I have a set of sheets and towels with knit lace which I discovered Great Grandma Kate made. Now this was in the late 1800's, early 1900's, she lived on a farm and had 11 living children. But she still made a set of these sheets for each one of her children.

As a process knitter, I love to see how the next row will change the appearance of my project. Lace knitting often is the most exiting because it changes so often. I often say that if I wouldn't stop to admire what I'm doing so often I would get so much more done, but that is not the object of my knitting. Plain garter stitch or stockinette stitch bore me, although they both have a time and place. Knitting in public requires a project that doesn't take a lot of concentration. So, why do I have a sweater in the closet that is waiting for me to cast on the sleeves?

Mystery knits are perfect for a process knitter. Each clue as it arrives changes the appearance of the project. Here is a good example: Clue 1.

Clue 2. Unfortunately, this has to be put aside because other things have now come up which have deadlines.

I teach at a knitting shop and the employees knit samples for the shop and I knit samples for my classes. Yesterday I got a call wondering if I would make the lace poncho on the front of Vogue Knitting as a shop sample and also do a class on it. Sure, why not? After deciding to do it, I see that I'll be increasing to nearly 1000 sts!

I love to test knit patterns, especially lace patterns. Through the Free Pattern Tester Group on ravelry I have met 2 talented shawl designers and now they request me to test their patterns. This year, I have test knit 3 shawls for Kimberly Gintar in Germany and today got the pattern for the 3rd one for Aino Haikala in Finland. The last 2 I can't publish pictures yet as the patterns have not been released.

Evening in the Garden by Aino. I love the uniqueness of her designs and shaping.

Blue Ivy by Kimberly. Her shawls are wonderful to cuddle up with.

Judy B by Kimberly.

Ribbons and Lace for the Cure by Kimberly. This pattern is still being tested and has not been released yet. Proceeds from the sale of the pattern will go for breast cancer research. My shawl is orange for leukemia.

This is a sneak preview of Aino's pattern.

I try real hard to do charity knitting, but it is so easy to let that slide. Maybe related to that is that I like to knit things that proceeds of the pattern or kit go for a cause.

Mathilda Monster went to Beyond the Yellow Ribbon for families of military personnel.

A portion of the price of the yarn and pattern for Cardioid went to Susan Koman Foundation.

My least favorite knitting is the request from family category. I really like to knit for them especially when they specifically ask for something, but it might not always be what I want to knit. On the list right now is a pair of socks for my daughter in law. She bought the yarn for me and I'd like to get them done for her birthday in August. My schedule is that this will be a good project when we drive to Illinois for Stitches in August.

Finished Projects

Two projects completed. One was started in October and took me this long to finish.

Rivel  Cardigan.

Yarn: Three Irish Girls McClellan DK (Wool and bamboo) Wonderful yarn!

Needles: US # 4 ad 5

The sweater sat around for a long time waiting to sew the pieces together. Sewing in the sleeves was a pain! But the finished project is great. The yarn is so soft and the drape perfect. Shaping on this sweater was very unusual. Waist shaping was done on the back only. Bust shaping was done on the front only. Back neck was shaped with short rows. The pattern was for sleeves just to the elbow, but I made them long-cast on 56 stitches. If I did it again I would probably cast on about 12 fewer stitches.

Cardioid Shawl from Knitters' Brewing Company. A portion of the cost is going for Susan G. Komen Foundation. It came as a kit with the pattern, yarn, and a stitch marker.

The yarn is a new yarn from the Brewing Company, Sock-aholic Serene Fingering Weight  which is 50% Alpaca, 30% fine Merino, and 20% Tencel.

When I blocked it, I put the flexible wires at the bottom of the shawl just before the points on the edge, pulled it out and pinned, then pinned the points.

 Love it!