Wednesday, March 4, 2015
How long does it take to block a project?
Well, it's finally complete! Blocking really helped make each section more uniform. I pleased with the way it turned out, but I wish it was a bit longer.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Frost Flower Scarf
This scarf is supposed to be a gift for a friend who is wool-sensitive. Rowan's linen/silk blend Silkystones is beautiful and wool-free. The great thing about this pattern is that is doesn't require grafting to halves together; the lace pattern looks the same at both ends!
Monday, February 23, 2015
Stitches West 2015
This year I could only go for one day, and only on the last day. Once again, Sunday is a quiet day at the show. I think they have the big drawing just to get people in the door. I started at the back of the show because that's where the newer vendors end up and I find them to be the most interesting.
Absent this year: Brooks Farm for the second year and Jordana Paige. Popular newcomer: Toth - the booth was very picked over; they did have some classy pattern support - classic designs that show off the simple beauty of their yarn.
Most vendors were dyers with yarn. It seemed smaller this year...or about the same size as last year. I wonder what the future will bring. Where are people getting their yarn? Where are people learning about new vendors? Ravelry? Facebook? Pinterest? Instagram? How can find out?
Anyway, I picked up some yarn from new-to-me producers, probably more than I should have. And for some reason this year my color selections were dark and muted. I guess I wasn't shopping for the girly teens .And no "sweater" quantities.
From left to right, top to bottom: Dragonfly Fibers Squishy Lace, Pepperberry Knits Mini Skein Fun Size Bundle Sport, 2 Guys Yarn Company MCN DK, Polka Dot Sheep Stumptown DK, Black Wolf Ranch Alpaca Blend with Angeline, Indigodragonfly Wingenhooven.
Absent this year: Brooks Farm for the second year and Jordana Paige. Popular newcomer: Toth - the booth was very picked over; they did have some classy pattern support - classic designs that show off the simple beauty of their yarn.
Most vendors were dyers with yarn. It seemed smaller this year...or about the same size as last year. I wonder what the future will bring. Where are people getting their yarn? Where are people learning about new vendors? Ravelry? Facebook? Pinterest? Instagram? How can find out?
Anyway, I picked up some yarn from new-to-me producers, probably more than I should have. And for some reason this year my color selections were dark and muted. I guess I wasn't shopping for the girly teens .And no "sweater" quantities.
From left to right, top to bottom: Dragonfly Fibers Squishy Lace, Pepperberry Knits Mini Skein Fun Size Bundle Sport, 2 Guys Yarn Company MCN DK, Polka Dot Sheep Stumptown DK, Black Wolf Ranch Alpaca Blend with Angeline, Indigodragonfly Wingenhooven.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
The Three-Color Cowl
Well, I didn't end up using all of Bird's Egg and Egret. I have about 10g of each leftover.
Section 1 in Egret using the grill stitch does curl along the edges because of the alternating knit and purl rows. This section is also the softest...maybe because Egret is not dyed?
Section 2 in Bird's Egg and Egret does not curl, and so it is my favorite section. It lies nice and flat because it is all knit. I did make a mistake, but didn't go back to fix it so it will just add some character.
Section 3 in all three colors doesn't curl exactly...it pulls a bit on the diagonal and the edges are wavy. I'm hoping that blocking with straighten it all out. This is the most nubbly of the stitch patterns.
Next up, vigorous blocking! Wet and steam to work out the kinks, then I'll sew the short edges together to make it into a loop. Let's see it's 3x18" long...that's...54"? Right? That should be long enough to twist once into two loops.
Pictures coming soon!
Section 1 in Egret using the grill stitch does curl along the edges because of the alternating knit and purl rows. This section is also the softest...maybe because Egret is not dyed?
Section 2 in Bird's Egg and Egret does not curl, and so it is my favorite section. It lies nice and flat because it is all knit. I did make a mistake, but didn't go back to fix it so it will just add some character.
Section 3 in all three colors doesn't curl exactly...it pulls a bit on the diagonal and the edges are wavy. I'm hoping that blocking with straighten it all out. This is the most nubbly of the stitch patterns.
Next up, vigorous blocking! Wet and steam to work out the kinks, then I'll sew the short edges together to make it into a loop. Let's see it's 3x18" long...that's...54"? Right? That should be long enough to twist once into two loops.
Pictures coming soon!
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
The Story of a Cowl
Once upon a time, I saw a cowl from Purl Soho. It combined 3 colors of a worsted weight yarn in three different stitch patterns. I really wanted to make this pattern, and spend several months looking for just the right yarn to make it.
On vacation in Pacific Grove, I found Quince Chickadee and really loved the colors and texture of it. Although Chickadee is a sport weight yarn, I figured I'd give it a try and the cowl would just be a little smaller. I selected Egret (white), Bird's Egg (blue), and Nasturtium (orange).
Then I read the pattern...the stitch patterns involve knitting stitches from the row below, which I have not done before. And taking a closer look at the stitch patterns, I didn't really like them. So what could I do? Find three slip stitch patterns that work with each other and with one, two, and three yarns.
Actually, it wasn't that difficult. The first is the Simple Grill Stitch. Usually, this is in two colors, but I decided that this would be the one I would use for the single color because it has a lot of texture. It is worked over a repeat of 3 stitches plus 3. Every third stitch is slipped and the wrong side is purled.
Using Egret, I cast on 51 stitches and started. Chickadee works up very soft and shows off the stitch definition beautifully. I used one full skein of yarn for the first section. I was hoping it would be 20" but it is about 18" long by 8". Things I would do differently: I would work through a row 2 instead of row 4, but it's not tragic.
The second section is a two-color slip stitch pattern that uses a repeat of 4 stitches plus 3. It is very similar to the grill stitch, but is knit stitch only and the slipped stitch is every 4th stitch (which also works on 51 stitches). So the second section is worked with Egret and Bird's Egg. This is when I discovered that the first section curls, but the second section lies nice and flat! I worked this section for 18".
The third section is a three-color slip stitch pattern called "Triple L Tweed." I found it on the Purl Soho site where it is used for linen dishtowels. As you slip stitches in the three colors, each color makes a little "L" shape. This stitch pattern is worked over a repeat of 3 stitches plus 1, so I'm incorporating the extra two stitches as selvedge stitches, one on each side. Working with three colors is slowing me down a little bit, but every row is knit and the wrong side is worked the same as the right side (just slipping the stitches to the front instead of the back).
On vacation in Pacific Grove, I found Quince Chickadee and really loved the colors and texture of it. Although Chickadee is a sport weight yarn, I figured I'd give it a try and the cowl would just be a little smaller. I selected Egret (white), Bird's Egg (blue), and Nasturtium (orange).
Then I read the pattern...the stitch patterns involve knitting stitches from the row below, which I have not done before. And taking a closer look at the stitch patterns, I didn't really like them. So what could I do? Find three slip stitch patterns that work with each other and with one, two, and three yarns.
Actually, it wasn't that difficult. The first is the Simple Grill Stitch. Usually, this is in two colors, but I decided that this would be the one I would use for the single color because it has a lot of texture. It is worked over a repeat of 3 stitches plus 3. Every third stitch is slipped and the wrong side is purled.
Using Egret, I cast on 51 stitches and started. Chickadee works up very soft and shows off the stitch definition beautifully. I used one full skein of yarn for the first section. I was hoping it would be 20" but it is about 18" long by 8". Things I would do differently: I would work through a row 2 instead of row 4, but it's not tragic.
The second section is a two-color slip stitch pattern that uses a repeat of 4 stitches plus 3. It is very similar to the grill stitch, but is knit stitch only and the slipped stitch is every 4th stitch (which also works on 51 stitches). So the second section is worked with Egret and Bird's Egg. This is when I discovered that the first section curls, but the second section lies nice and flat! I worked this section for 18".
The third section is a three-color slip stitch pattern called "Triple L Tweed." I found it on the Purl Soho site where it is used for linen dishtowels. As you slip stitches in the three colors, each color makes a little "L" shape. This stitch pattern is worked over a repeat of 3 stitches plus 1, so I'm incorporating the extra two stitches as selvedge stitches, one on each side. Working with three colors is slowing me down a little bit, but every row is knit and the wrong side is worked the same as the right side (just slipping the stitches to the front instead of the back).
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