Category: Knitting

Evenstar

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Project Details:

Pattern: Evenstar, by Susan Pandorf

Yarn: Colourmart Cashmere/Silk 2/28 NM lace weight, 1500 yards

Needles: 2.75 mm

Started: February 12, 2010

Finished: September 18, 2015

For: Me!

Modifications: None

What I Learned: Oh boy. I learned that slow and steady gets you there eventually. This is easily the most complex thing I’ve ever knitted. The pattern itself isn’t that difficult. The yarn I chose is just a hair heavier than thread, and has absolutely no memory, and it’s a bit on the slippery side. So this wasn’t mindless knitting by any means. And the border is endless. You knit the whole thing in big concentric rings, then knit the edging on perpendicularly to the shawl. The edging is a mindless 20 row repeat, but in thread and with beads so it took forever. There were a couple of complex stitches in there but mostly it’s just following a series of charts.

The pattern is well written, this is the first of hers that I’ve done, but it was clear and mostly without errors (there is a link to errata on the Ravelry page). The lace is charted and written, though why anybody would want to knit lace from written text is beyond me. I started this before I was using Knit Companion, but used it for the last couple sections after I pulled this out of the UFO pile to finish.

Lora asked in the comments on a previous post about the blocking process. I soaked the shawl in slightly soapy water (Kookaburra wool wash), then rinsed in cool water. Silk and cashmere aren’t as durable as wool when wet, so you really need to support the wet lace when pulling it out of the bath. Then I blotted most of the water out with a bath towel, and pinned it out on my blocking mats, which are foam play mats that you can get in carpet shops or places like Costco. I have a ton of them so I can block almost anything.

Before I tossed it in the water, I ran a cotton thread through all the points, then pinned the thread and not the actual shawl. I forgot to take a photo before I had all the pins out this morning, but here’s a mini-recreation to illustrate.

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Lora, I start by stretching it out gently by hand into as close to a circle as I can get it, then start pinning the running thread between the points to stretch. It takes a few times around, pulling a little more each time, and smoothing out from the center to get it as even as possible. I probably could have blocked this a bit larger, but I wanted to retain just a bit of the texture of some of those stitch patterns. I use a yard stick to measure in places to see if I have it even, but mostly I just eyeball it.

I love this one! It’s by no means a practical warm shawl, but I can see wearing it for special occasions. In fact, we have symphony tickets tonight, so I’ll wear it there. I’ll probably leave the tiara at home though.

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Edited with one more photo. John wanted me to add a photo of just the edging. Here you go.

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Bath Time

Blocking Day at last!

The first step was to run a fine cotton thread through all the edging points to make pinning easier later. Then it's into the bath for a soak. I use Kookaburra wool wash and cool water, and at least a 15-20 minute soak to make sure everything is saturated. This has also been hauled all over the place for 6 years, so it likely needs a good wash anyway.

Update to follow!

 

Antidote

This past work week was a bit hectic. To compensate, I've done nothing but just what I wanted to do all weekend. There is no better antidote to a crappy week than a Saturday and Sunday spent knitting, reading, playing flute, and cooking with my husband.

The cooking was scallops and grits. Here is the finished project.

Scallops with red pepper, green onion, a little jalapeno, garlic, parsley, and white wine, served over cheese grits. Yum.

Here's the knitting.

I've finally gotten to the last ball of the handspun yarn. I wet spliced it together this morning.

This is a pretty simple shawl pattern, the only challenge will be to guess how much yarn I need for the 12 row garter border. Since this is handspun and hand dyed, I want to use every bit of it that I can.

Out came the trusty drug dealer's scale. The last row I did took 2.6 grams of yarn. I have 126 grams left. Of course the rows get longer as I go, so I'll have to keep weighing as I knit, but I should be able to get several 12 row repeats done still. This should be a nice big cozy warm shawl when it's done.

We're off to the market for provisions, then back to knitting!

 

Coreopsis

I was about to catalogue that lovely Coreopsis dyed yarn and get it into the stash, and then decided that this is just ridiculous. It's not every day you make your own yarn. I handspun this on my Watson wheel (100% BFL fiber), then dyed it myself using flowers we grew in the back yard. It deserves better than to disappear into the stash forever.

So I hunted around for an appropriate pattern, and came up with Stephen West's Boneyard Shawl. I didn't want something complex and lacy, since this is roughly worsted weight and a bit on the rustic side. I also already have 3 lacy complex shawls on the needles. This pattern is one of those that you could knit with almost any weight yarn, and is adaptable to variable yardage. These are fine qualities when one is knitting with handspun that isn't entirely even, and when one isn't 100% certain of the yardage. An extra bonus is that it's a free pattern. I can see making more than one of these.

Here's where I am.

This is pretty much dead simple. It's mostly stockinette, with a garter row thrown in every so often, and increases along each side of the center spine and at each end. You knit until it's big enough, then knit on several rows of garter stitch and bind off. Bob's your uncle.

And yes, those are little Buddha stitch markers. I made those myself, too, with little Buddha beads I found a long time ago.

Have a happy weekend!

 

Give Us This Day–

The Daily Bread!

Here's the finished bread from Friday;

It was lovely. “Was” is the key word in that sentence. So I made some more:

This one was baked in a bread pan in the oven. I made it partly in the bread machine, but hit the “quick” rise button by mistake so I finished kneading it by hand. This is buttermilk/wheat/oatmeal bread. Here are the ingredients. I made this partly by weight instead of measuring cup, just as an experiment.

2.6 oz rolled oats

1 1/2 cups water

12 oz white bread flour

4 oz whole wheat flour

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 Tablespoon honey

2 1/4 tablespoon avocado oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoon yeast

1/2 tablespoon vital wheat gluten

Mix the oats in the water and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Add the wet ingredients to the bread machine pan, then the soaked oats, then the dry ingredients. Process on the dough setting. Shape into whatever loaf you want and bake. My baking times tend to be a bit free form. This was baked at 425 for about 35 minutes, but I turned the temperature down about half way through. The milk in the dough makes it brown faster.

And here is some of the last of Friday's bread, toasted and with some peanut butter for my lunch today.

 

In other news, there might be a finished knitting project around here. Here's a preview:

It needs a light blocking but it is done. This is one of those patterns where you just knit till your yarn runs out, but you need to bind off after a pattern repeat. I wanted to use as much of that Pink & Sparkly as possible, so out came the trusty drug dealer's scale.

6.7 grams left–not enough to do another pattern repeat with! Full project details to follow when it's blocked.

Still Working On It

This is the never-ending knitting project, but I am nearing the end of this monstrosity.

I have “only” nine repeats of the edging chart to go. Each repeat has 20 rows, 370 stitches, and 50 beads.

Sigh.

In other news, yesterday was a momentous day. It was my last day of working full time. On Monday I start working just 4 days a week. Of course, in a blast of karma from the universe, I developed a case of food poisoning from a “free” lunch on Thursday, and ended up calling in sick yesterday. All is well today though, and I am certainly going to enjoy this tiny first step towards retirement.

Maybe with that extra day each week, I can begin to make a dent in the 211 MILES of yarn in my stash.

 

Pink & Orange!

One pair of socks done, another pair started. I tossed the stash, and this is what came up next.

 

The yarn is Trekking, fairly vintage. The color is imaginatively named “1000”.

I just love knitting little picot sock tops. They are sort of a pain in the arse to get started*, but they are so freaking cute once they get to this point.

I know, I know. I am a sock nerd. This will be the same damn pattern, with picot tops instead of ribbing. I live on the edge.

*Cast on, knit seven rows plain, then do one row of yo, k2tog around, then another 7 rows plain. Then turn up the hem and knit the next row with the cast on row to make a little picket fence top. Ingenious. I didn't make this up, I learned it from Claudia.

 

A Hap Of A Different Color

Hap version 2.

The Whisky Galore!* yarn just didn't work with this pattern. It is a very fine drapey yarn, and really wants a lighter, more delicate lace pattern. Since I already have a big light and delicate lace shawl in progress (Evenstar, I'm looking at you), and I already had the Hap pattern loaded into Knit Companion, I went rummaging through the stash looking for a more suitable yarn.
This is another well-aged stash selection. It is Elemental Effects Rustic Lace, a 100% Shetland wool yarn, which is a much better fit for this pattern. Here is a photo of the yarn.
It's pretty tough to get a photo of that color, especially on a grey April day. It's a deep bluish green, more green than blue, and approximately the color of our backyard Douglas Fir trees at twilight. So Whisky Galore! has been renamed Douglas Fir!
This isn't actually version 2, it's more like version 5. This isn't that complicated of a pattern, but I kept screwing it up and having to rip it out. I think I have it off and running at this point. I don't think this will be TV knitting, but only because of the dark color of the yarn.
If you are trying to figure out the pattern, it is knit side to side. The body is garter stitch, with those lace mesh points at the bottom border of the shawl, knitted on as you go. The garter section keeps getting bigger until it's big enough, then knit straight on for awhile, then decreases again at the other side point. I have 3 skeins of this yarn, so it should be a biggish shawl when done.

*Yes, the yarn name has the exclamation point in the color name. If the dyer thought it was important, so do I.

 

Because I Can

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Let’s call it New Project Saturday, shall we?

That is well aged yarn. It is Old Maiden Aunt, a lace blend of alpaca, silk, and cashmere. Who knows when I bought this, the date on the photo in the database is from 2012, but the dye lot on the ball label is 2009. Knitting from stash, what a concept.

The color name is Whisky Galore, which is no doubt why I bought it, but it really is just the loveliest shade of Scotch whisky.

And what might I be making with this?

How about this?

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A Hap For Harriet, by Kate Davies. The pattern calls for Old Maiden Aunt lace weight, though one of the heavier lace yarns from that line. The Whisky yarn is a bit finer, and has the silk and cashmere so will be more drapey, but I think it will be a good match. I also have more yardage (1189 meters) than the pattern calls for, but Kate is nice enough to have instructions in the pattern as to how to up or downsize the shawl to fit your yardage.

I’m off to find needles  to match.

The Year of No Yarn Buying

And there you have it. The last time I bought yarn was exactly one year ago today. I actually thought the anniversary was tomorrow, but I checked the receipt for that last purchase, and it was March 15th, 2014. It was this gorgeous Peace Fleece lace, which I still haven't finished. I got as far as swatching and knit a few rows, and it has been a UFO since. I am not one bit sorry I bought this yarn, since they sold out of it quickly and it hasn't reappeared since.
 
 
That will get back on the WIP list at some point, if I ever finish the Evenstar thing that I showed in my last post.
 
Now, about not buying yarn. This has been very instructive. The first few months were really tough. It has gotten easier as the months have gone by, though I found myself doing a lot of internet window shopping the past few weeks, thinking “Yay! I made it a year! Now I can buy yarn!”. But I haven't really found anything I need, and when I find something I WANT WANT WANT, I go look at the stash. Still at 336,405 meters of yarn. That doesn't count most of the handspun that I've made. It's pretty clear that I mostly buy yarn just to have it, not really to use it for anything.
 
So I'm in for a little while longer. Who knows if I'll make it to 2 years and the pretty pink badge, or 3 years and a platinum badge. But for today, I don't need to buy more yarn. I'm off to do a few rows of Evenstar.

 

WIP* Of The Day

I posted a photo of my Evenstar on Facebook yesterday, and got a nice “I love the cream color” comment. The problem is that it’s not cream, it’s a pale aqua blue. Of course then someone had to ask “is it really blue or is it white”, which cracked me up. But I’m easily amused.

It is notoriously tough to take photos in the Pacific Northwest in the winter time and end up with anything close to the right color. Fortunately we’ve had some gloriously sunny early spring weather here, so I dragged my lace outside and got a few photos. There are some shadows from the trees, and our patio table is filthy, so I covered it with a white towel, since I am way too lazy to clean it now when it’s not going to be warm enough to eat out there for awhile.

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I’m posting all of those, since I can. Of course it’s not blocked, so you really can’t see the lace pattern all that well, but that is pretty close to the right color. Click on those to make them bigger so you can see the beads!

Beads! Thousands of them! The edging to this sucker is taking forever, and it is very boring, let me tell you. It’s knit sideways onto the shawl, it’s a simple 20 row repeat, I have about 22 repeats left. Each repeat has 50 beads. Yes, I know how many rows and beads that is. It is going to be stunning once it is done, but this is just the really boring part. And I sort of have to pay attention for a couple of reasons. First, it is fine thread, and it’s a cashmere silk blend, so it has no memory and wants to jump off the needles if it gets a chance. And then I have to focus on putting on each bead. So it’s not really good TV or movie knitting. It’s not really whisky knitting either for the same reason.

If it looks like there is a stray white thread in there, there is. After I finished the body of the shawl, I put in a fine lifeline since I’ve never done a knitted on border before. I figured if I screwed it up, I’d have somewhere to go back to. I probably should put one in now after one of those repeats as well. When I get all the way around the circle, I will have to graft the beginning and ending of the edging together, so there will be a lifeline there as well.

And just because I can, here is Lewey. He wandered outside while I was taking photos.

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By the way, Wintergrass was a total blast. We had a great time. There were lots of great bands, including some old favorites and new-to-me groups. My favorite of the weekend was Mark O’Connor, who is a terrific fiddler/violinist. He is originally from the Seattle area, though has never been to Wintergrass before. He is a fabulous musician, and plays in multiple genres, including jazz, swing, classical, bluegrass, and American folk. I have been following his music career for years, so it was fun to see him perform. And we got to meet him after the show, he is as nice as he is talented.

My other favorite, which was one of those new-to-me groups, was Steel Wheels, a band from Virginia. They are very high energy, and great musicians. They were a crowd favorite, so hopefully they will be back. Give them a listen, this was one of my favorites that they did.

And another one. This is not as good of a recording, but this was simply electrifying live.

If you want to see some photos, check out my husband’s blog, One Eclectic Guy!

*Work In Progress for you non-knitters!

John’s Old Friend Sweater

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And it’s DONE! It is about time, is all I have to say.

Project Details:

Pattern: Old Friend Pullover, Peace Fleece pattern by Peg Richard

Yarn: Peace Fleece worsted, color Violet Vyehchyeerom, 6 skeins. Close enough to BLUE.

Needles: Swallow Ivore straights, 5.00 mm (4.5 mm for ribbing)

Started: August 1, 2013

Finished: February 7, 2015

For: John

Modifications: the pattern as written has ribbing on the bottom, but a rolled hem on sleeves and cuffs. I did ribbing to match for all, and did a tubular cast on and bind off. I also brought the neck up a bit, the pattern as written has a bit wider and lower crew neck.

What I Learned: Well, it’s a pretty simple sweater pattern. I don’t think I like the dropped shoulder construction so much in this heavier yarn, but John loves it. I finished the neck last night and tossed it his way, I’m not sure he’s had it off since. And I adore Peace Fleece, but I already knew that. I suspect this will be a well-loved and well-worn sweater.

Here are a couple more photos.

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