October 2012

I think October was a pretty productive knitting month... 

First, I did it; 100", give it a twist and sew a seam and I LOVE it.  The Mobius sweater.  It is so easy and comfortable to wear.  I'd make more of them, but there is that 100" and how many of these can you have in your wardrobe before people start to wonder about you (maybe they already are...)  Anyway, it was worth the 100", I'll get alot of use out of it.

There was lots cast on last month and a few things to show for it this month and some things that weren't even cast on yet, that came up along the way.
First the jacket.  Done!  I used Mirasol's Tuhu and it has a fair amout of angora in it.  It gives the bright colors a nice softness and is really pretty.  I am pleased with the way this turned out. It will be a nice warm jacket for the winter.

The other cast on sweater has the ribbing done.  And I am sad to say that's it so far.  It will be a cardigan with a fabric lace ruffle (scarf yarn) one of these days.

And now to the distractions... I don't know why but I thought a sparkley side to side sweater would be nice for the holidays.  Tahki's Adele has little sequins that just pick up the light, but don't look over the top.  So, I swatched, I sketched and I knit. Twice.  I finished this sweater, went to block it and thought, hmmm, something's wrong. I had not centered the neck correctly and it was hanging really weird. Ugh, so, I ripped it out to the 1st sleeve, confirmed my mistake and put it back on the needles.  They I barreled through and did it again.  I knew if I put it down, I'd never finish it, so I did it.  All that's left now is to finish writing the pattern.  If you do it right it's actually very easy to knit and you can use other light yarns without the sequins too.

Then a new magazine came out,  it was so good it sold out already.  Knitwear, from Interweave Press.  I got the pattern for the mobius sweater from the spring issue and this sweater caught my eye from the fall issue.  Here are the before and after pictures.  This is a great pattern.  If you know me, you know that I rarely knit a pattern as written (the pattern is merely a suggestion), but I am very impressed by this pattern.  It is very well engineered pattern.  It is knit from the neck down and starts with a cabling at the neck, you then increase sts to give it the fullness in the front and sleeves and use raglan increasing to shape the back.  It also uses short rows to shape the neck.  You can't see it here but there is a little strip of cabling in the back at the waist too pull it in a bit.  Very clever.  I am really enjoying the knit!

One of the swatches on my desk is for a winter jacket.  I am thinking casual coat/jacket.  I want it to have a zipper and drawstring and hood and pockets.  I am still working out some of the details in my head, but, I knit the drawstring (This comes first, because it gets encased in the jacket as I knit it rather than threading it through after).

I am holding a class on the earflap hat, over the years you have seen a lot of these, well, here comes one more.  My daughter's boyfriend is in the army and has a very short haircut.  I think he'll be cold this winter, so I decided to knit a hat along with the class and will put it in his Christmas stocking.  Homework is to knit 2", almost there.  (The purple is just a provisional cast on and will not stay on the hat, don't worry!)

I think that's it... almost.  I saw an ad (not a pattern) and the model was wearing a cabled dress.  Hmmm, wouldn't that look pretty on my daughter?  Yes, it would and she even liked it.  So I am ordering the yarn and planning the dress.  I have a swatch made and the cables picked out.  Hopefully that will get started this month, watch for the progress. 

Now, I think that's it.  I hope your November is filled with finished knitting projects and wonderful times spent with family and friends for Thanksgiving.  I am grateful that I am surrounded by things I love to do and people I love to be with every day.  How lucky am I?  Happy Thankgiving!

Until next month, Happy Knitting!  Nancy

September 2012

Well, I thought I was busy knitting this month, but it doesn't look like I got as much done as I thought I did.  Oh well...

The scarf from last month - done.  This yarn is soooo cool.  It has these tiny sequins, they are just enough and pick up the light and sparkle.  Every time I look over and see the sparkle, I get thinking about what kind of sweater....  maybe someday.

Headbands, a few more of them were made.  All cute, some with flowers, some with buttons, some with both.  Now there are 6, done for now, I think.

 

Another beaded necklace and the start of a beaded bracelet.  I think this is winding down too.  Lot of holiday gifts made and I have other things too knit.  So much fun though...

So, looks like the daughter's boyfriend is here to stay.  Therefore he gets a sweater for Christmas.  Thought I'd get it done, so I have time for the last minute holiday things that tend to crop up.  This sweater was knit with Plymouth's Superwash Merino and the pattern is from the fall Debbie Bliss Magazine.  Hope he likes it, I do.

I should have taken a picture, but I forgot.  I had a customer order for a pair of double mittens.  One mitten inside of the other.  I or she didn't have a patterns, but she said "a good knitter would know how to do it".  So, I did a little research and it's not as hard as it may seem.  You do a provisional cast on, knit the ribbing and the 1st mitten, then I used a smaller needle and made a 2nd mitten off the provisional cast on.  And you have double mittens.

 

Of course, the mobius/sweater.  You will probably see this for a few more months.  The good news, I am halfway.  50", only 50 more to go...  I am getting tired of it, but it is great to pick up when you can't concentrate on a pattern.

So that's what I acomplished in September.  Now, newly started projects...  I have 2 sweaters cast on (no pics because they are litterally just cast on with 1 row knit) and 2 more swatches laying on my desk.  One of the cast on sweaters is of a jacket from the latest Knitter's magazine.  It will someday (soon, I hope) look like this, except mine will be hot pink and turquoise.  Looks like I have a busy October ahead. 

Until then, Happy Knitting.... Nancy

August 2012

Ok, ok, it's official, I am easily distracted and attracted to shiney objects.  That will be the story of my knitting for August.

I was off to a good start.  Finished the second cable scarf for the cable class.
Worked a little more on some of my started things (update on those in a bit), then this is where things took a turn.

I meet with a group of knitting friends and each month we try to do something new, a technique, a new book, etc.  Well this month we tried a project from the new book Betsy's Beads.  What fun!  Made one of the necklaces... tried another... what about these beads and this yarn?   You can see where this is going.  So, everything came to a halt and I made knitted, beaded neclklaces.  Lots of Christmas gifts.  The 3 pictures are just the tip of the iceberg.  There are more.....

So, finally after a few weeks of this I decided I better get back to work, even though there are still a few more beading combinations I want to try.  I made myself finish the sample sweater out of our new yarn, Montana, from Sirdar.  It turned out cute and is a pretty yarn.

Then new scarf yarn came in, so I had to whip up a scarf.  Pretty easy, only 3 sts, but such fun stuff. 

And there was some movie and car time, so I made a little progress on my mobius sweater.  I have 100" of stockinette to knit.  It is perfect social, don't need to pay attention knitting, so I am not really hurrying, just picking it up when I need it.  But, progress is being made.

My daughter's boyfriend admired the Felted Clogs in the shop when he came to visit and I promised him a pair.  I told him I'd do them for the fall.  I've been carrying the yarn around with me all summer, but as it is September now, thought I'd better get to work.  So, we have a pair of Men's XL Felted Clogs, finished this weekend.

This past week I have had a couple of people ask me for a pattern for a wintery knitted headband.  Since I don't have one, I thought I better get to work.  They are showing alot of then for winter and seem to be quite popular, so a pattern is being written and samples being made.  A little trial and error and 4 are done so far.  Chunky yarn, with a flower or button.  The pattern should be available in the  next couple of days. (I don't know why, but sometimes it turns my pictures on their side, sorry)

And one more thing, there is a scarf on the needles and at the counter.  A beautiful new yarn with little sequines arrived.  So a lace scarf is being knitted. 

Whew, I think that's it.  Next month will bring a couple more headbands, beaded necklaces and......

Until then, Happy Knitting, Nancy

July 2012

 
Whew, now that the dress is done I have about 20 projects started and in my head.  It's getting a little crowded in there.  I feel like I'm behind.  I am not used to a project taking so long.  The results were worth it.  I know I showed you the finished dress last month, but her it is on the owner (new owner).  I think it looks better on her than the dress form.

Now, on to July...  The pretty new scarf yarn that was started in June, was finished.  It's cute, it has pretty little sequins on the edges of the ruffle.  Fun.

Not sure if I mentioned that Noro put out a new magazine and it has some great stuff in it.  And as I am always distracted by something new, I had to knit from it right away.  It is a very cool jacket, using 2 colors of Silk Garden sock yarn and short rows for shaping.  Love it!!

I had a "social" knitting project in my bag that got finished up.  My kids made me go see the Batman movie, 2 hours and 45 minutes... of batman...  Perfect for my easy knitting.  It is an Infinity Scarf knit with Findley Dappled.  It is a hand dyed, lace weight, merino/silk blend.  Don't faint at the lace weight, it was knit on 7's to make it nice and airy.  I like how it turned out and if feels so good around your neck.  There is a free pattern for it on my website.

A new yarn came in, by now you know what that means... I have to try it.  This is Montana from Sirdar, a machine washable blend that stripes.  I am knitting a little boy's sweater (it comes in girl colors too) and there is a pattern book from Sirdar with kids and adult sweaters.  It is knitting up very nice.

And since I finished up my "social" knitting project, I started another.  Not much to see yet, but it is a mobius sweater type thing.  Very pretty, but the bad news is, I have 100" of stockinette stitch to do.  I am going to have to be very social, I have a ways to go...  (Sorry, this picture will only come out in it's side)

I was writing up the newsletter, deciding on a class to do.  I've had lots of requests for a class on cables, so I decided to make an easy cabled scarf that we could use for the class.  I used a chunky yarn with one braided cable, it went quick.  I am working on another one in a different yarn.

That's it for fininshed/started projects for July.  There will be some new ones in the works for August.  They are already in the knitting bag... shall I tell you?  or surprise you??  I'll surprise you, because you never know when I'll change my mind or be distracted by something new....  So until then..... Happy Knitting, Nancy

June 2012

I am afraid this will be short and sweet, It's not that I didn't knit a lot, I did, but only on a few things.

It seems the latest issue of Interweave Knits got me in trouble this month.  I showed it to my daughter and she picked out 2 things she liked.  One, a summer sweater... that's not too bad, I can do that...  It is knit with coton and has a keyhole back - cute!  I had started this last month and finished up and gave it to her already - looks better on her!

So she liked a sweater, not too bad, but... she also liked a dress.  Very cute a baby doll style.  With cable panels and pleating.  Being the good Mom, I said sure, I can do that.. someone, please smack me next time!  I don't carry the yarn, I had her look on line at the colors, and I ordered the yarn.  I should have known I was in trouble when I needed 18 (used 19) balls of DK weight yarn.  I cast on.  820 sts!!  As I said there are pleats, so the skirt doesn't really decrease as you knit up (only a little) for 20 inches.  So guess what I did all month?  Knit this dress!  And finished it last night.  I did adjust the back a bit.  The pattern had it end at the skirt and get laced up, but I wanted a little more coverage and stability so I knit a back and knit a tube at the top of it to thread the I- cord through.  I think it turned out cute.  She get it tomorrow, next month I'll post a picture of it on her rather than a dress form (it should look better).  Hopefully she loves it and wears it everyday!! :)

The only other thing I had time for this month was to start a scarf in new yarn yesterday.  Just another scarf, you say?  Yes it is like all the others, but... this one has cute little sequins on the edging.  Actually very pretty.

And that's it.  A lot of knitting and not a lot to show for it.  Now back to all the ideas I had before I was interrupted with the DRESS and all the new ideas that have come along the way.  So, we'll see what July brings..... Until then, Happy Knitting, Nancy

May 2012

May, I promised I'd finish at least 2 things in my bag and I think I did.  Not sure I'll make that promise again this month :), maybe....

So, finished... The Comfy Cardi.  I made this before (twice) and gave one away to a friend.  I love the sweater, it is comfy, but wasn't crazy about the color, so I did it again.  Again in Noro's King, but more my colors.  I do love the sweater, I had to bring it in from home to take the picture.  Finished #1.

Also finished, but just under the wire, yesterday... A shawl I've been carrying around in my bag for months.  Knit with Karabella's Gossamer.  It's a light mohair with a bit of glitz and glam to it. 2 make a pretty and special shawl.


And now new... my favorite :).  Scarves are going to be big again this year and some of the scarf yarns are very new and different, which always amazes me since there are already so many things out there.  Just when I think they can't come up with something new... it shows up! 

Here are two new yarns that are amazing, cool and beautiful.  The first is called Park Avenue. It is luxurious and elegant.  That big ruffle you see is the yarn, you are knitting just 3 stitches.  As you can see I knit the sample in purple, someday this will be mine!

And something called Tecido Trico.  It is a piece of fabric with holes punched in the top, which you knit.  It comes in animal prints and florals and makes a wonderful and different spring scarf.

Next I will tell you the tale of a sweater.  It all started by moving some yarn into the clearance room.  I moved in a yarn (actually it is a carry along) called Pansy.  It is a thin thread with little poofs on it. The colors are pink, yellow and orange and I've always liked it. So as I am moving it I am thinking, "what can I do with this?" Hmmmm..... It's a carry along, so what colors go with it?  Pima Cotton is right around the corner and a DK, so it could be good for summer.  Hmmm, hot pink and yellow, holding the carry along up to it, I like it.  But not sure I want the carry along in the whole sweater, maybe stripes, some with and some without.  Maybe another color to break the yellow and pink.  Lime Green.  Ok, three colors, how do I stripe? Off to the computer and Stitch Wizard, I play with stripes, deciding on some thin and some thicker stripes, with the carry along on the thick stripes only and no thick green stripes.  Now a swatch to make sure I like it.  A little fiddling and a few adjustments and I have a stripe pattern.  Now what to do with it. Hmmm... again.  I see a pattern on the cover of the Debbie Bliss magazine that is cute.  A few adjustments and that could work.  Adjustments?  It has no sleeves, I need sleeves, it is fingering weight, this is DK.  Ok, still doable.  A little math and with the yarn weight difference the next size up will work. It's in pieces, I want to work in the round.  I cast on the back x2 and off we go.  Getting close to the armholes and read ahead to see what to do next. Ooops, should have read better in the beginning, I was supposed to cast on a different amount for the front and the back.  Ok, another adjustment, I think I can make it work. Add sleeves, a few changes at the neck and I think we have a sweater.  Like the pattern only different.  That's my sweater story.

And in the works.  I showed a magazine to my daughter, she picked out 2 things she liked.  A sweater and a DRESS!.  The sweater is started.  I have to order yarn for the dress.  It is cute, but a dress?  I'll keep you up to date of the progress of that.

I also started an Infinity Scarf. They are very popular long circular scarves that you wrap around a couple of times.  I am knitting it out of Findley Dappled and it is my social knitting.  Since it is in the round and just knitting, I can knit and talk, so I am keeping this project for when I need something easy and mindless.

That's it for May.  There are piles of yarn on my desk with ideas attached to them and a new magazine from Noro that has a few things calling to me...We'll see where all this leads to in June.  So for now, Happy Knitting, Nancy

April 2012

Whew, April.  A busy month, but not for knitting.  Just so you know why I din't get as much knitting done as usual, my life for April:  Brought my Mom home from rehab after a hip replacement, Easter and company, daughter in Rochester smashed her thumb and needed surgery.  So, I'm glad April is over :).  Now the knitting...

I did finish the beaded top I had been working on for the last couple of months.  The picture on the left is the front and and on the right is the back.  (though I guess you could switch that too)  It is knit with Findley, a lace weight silk wool blend, doubled to knit as a DK.  It is so beautiful and drapey.  I am very happy with it.

I group of us started an Entrelac Envelope Purse from the book Entree to Entrelac.  I made an evening bag in black and decided that any good evening bag needs beads.  So mine has beads!

Then a new pattern book came in from Noro, really cute sweater on the cover... you can see where this is going already.  We have the yarn it calls for, but I chose a differnt yarn.  Actually I ripped out a sweater that was too big for me and knit it out of that.  I used Katia's Bombay.  I also added sleeves, but it is cute either way.

Other than that, there was a little customer finishing, a swatch for another idea brewing and still the unfinished projects from last month.  I won't bore you with the pictures, sadly, not much has changed with them.

And next month.  I vow to finish at least one of the 2 unfinished things in my bag, then.... who knows.... So until next month, Happy Knitting, Nancy