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A new sweater is swirling in my head, along with the Nordic one that is almost on the needles. I am doing research on motifs. I especially like the work of Mackintosh. My California sister has been clamoring for a sweater that goes along with her house style. How can I resist?
One of the first sweaters I ever designed, knit, and am still wearing, is the Tunic Sweater. (Pardon the lack of a picture...need to get one taken). Back in the late 70's, sweaters all of a sudden became HUGE, and patterns for them were few and far between. The whole oversized movement took off, and I envisioned a sweater to wear with leggings. Knit, of course, in the round, in some lovely pattern stitch that was attractive, not boring to knit, and interesting to look at once on a body. I made one in Lamb's Pride Worsted Loden and there has not been a winter since when it did not become a staple in my wardrobe. I made another in Charcoal Heather, and then Clematis. Fabulous.
Yesterday, the third day of dreary and increasingly chilly rain, saw me reaching for it with black leggings, along with a pair of Sheepy Socks:
I spent the day in my wool clogs, all dressed in wool, and was cheerful and toasty for the first time in a week.
I love wool.
At any rate, it occurred to me I need to make another of these sweaters in something a little lighter in weight. So, I wound a skein of Mountain Goat and off I will go on that mission.
I have been a spinning fool since the Fall Rip Van Winkle Spinning Retreat, but now that I have organized the one for next spring, I've decided to put spinning aside for a few weeks and work on my knitting. But first, I needed to organize all my knitting stuff. I dragged a cabinet to my knitting spot last evening and spent time collecting all needles, notebooks, tools and such into the area. (This was not a small job, and the first thing that had to go was my Norman Hall wheel (sob)).
Three years ago, I handspun 1800 yards of yarn(that perfectly matched the hazel in my husband's eyes)for a surprise sweater for my husband. As I knit a square to determine the gauge, I showed him the fabric and asked what he thought of it. "Nice color! Not something that I would wear, though...too busy."
(sob)
I put the yarn away for a few years while I pondered what to do with it.
This past summer my son dropped by while I was sorting projects ideas and remarked at the great knitted swatch (I had kept it...). Voila! Even though my son does not have my husband's eyes, he loves to wear earthy colors. So his Christmas gift was determined.
How do you go about turning yarn into a sweater without a pattern? Years ago, Elizabeth Zimmermann and others made a simple formula out of this, as explained on my free seamless circular knit pattern Betsi's Raglan Sweater.
Having made my son sweaters for years, I see how he wears them and I always build in extra short rows to accommodate his shoulder slouch. I end up knitting in about 2" of extra back length to make up for the unbalanced sit on his shoulders, and the sweaters looks strange after I block them, but FABULOUS once on. I have knit 6 extra half rows into the back so far, and will knit another 2 before I reach the underarms. Then I will add in another 6 at the back of the neck. That should do it.
At 3 sts=1", ths sweater is moving right along. I hope to have it done in a week if all goes well.
Needles ready?
I've listed ALL the details for two headbands to get some of you started knitting.
Besides spending today writing the patterns up for the web, I've contacted three newspapers, my charity knitting group, and everyone on my COUNTRYWOOL NEWSLETTER list.
And we're off...
In this very fluid situation, our Southern Pilgrims will arrive in many different spots. The Cape Cod plan has been put on hold for now, and Syracuse will host 150 families who will be resettled into apartments.
The planning continues, and our knitting will keep pace.
In the works is an adult knit vest pattern, along the lines of the Children In Common Vest Pattern I wrote years ago for that continuing worthy cause. But to start things off, we will make headbands and fingerless mitts out of the warmest stuff we have on hand.
Word has just come in that 2500 folks displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be arriving at Camp Edwards in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Our thinner blood southern neighbors will be mighty cold once the New England wind starts blowing.
It is supposed that some of them will decide to settle in Massachusetts, and won't it be fun to show them all how warm wool can be? What a nice welcome a box of warm handknits would be for someone starting a new life here, eh?
This Monday the Neighborhood Knitters meet for the first time this Fall, and I am SURE they will be raring to fill up boxes with hand knit socks, gloves, shawls, scarves and hats as fast as they can. I invite all Internet Knitters to join this effort. I will post updates on items needed as information from the Air Base comes in. There are other knit bloggers who are scrambling to help. I would love to connect with someone near the base who can meet with the folks who will be living there. I'll be glad to supply yarns, needles and patterns if anyone can get there to teach/help/support them with knitting.
There is mailing info on the Neighborhood Knitters website, and if you get your things to me, I will send them on. I will have a collection box at the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck, NY, in October.
Watch this space.
On BareHare I was singing the praises of the lowly headband as an excellent vehicle for using up handspun yarn oddities (and you always have a few yards left over from plying/skeining, etc). Cyndy asked what my favorite pattern was.
I have two that I use. One is garter stitch (shown above) and is worked horizontally, with buttons added for closure and interest. Measure your head around and over the ears, estimate a stitch gauge (or work a small swatch) and multiply the two together. With a pair of straight needles, cast on that number and knit FLAT until the rectangle is 4 or more inches. Bind off. Overlap the short ends and adjust to fit the head. Sew down neatly on both sides, then sew on 3 buttons as shown.
The other is shown on this BareHare link. This is the most useful one in severely cold weather as I get the tightest fit. Knit vertically with a 16" circular needle, work up a small gauge swatch in 1x1 ribbing and measure it S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D. Then measure your head and do the math. Cast on (you need an even number) and JOIN the stitches. Work the headband until it is 4 or more inches and cast off SO LOOSELY that it looks sloppy.
Happy knitting :)
Sooner or later, I knew I would design a Christmas Stocking pattern. I stayed away from cutesy and went for woodsy, with the "dark" colors of Christmas. And you can't beat Lamb's Pride Worsted for a folky look.
This was actually fun to knit for it went REALLY fast, and the heel was a rip and re-do thing that kept me entertained for some time. I settled on a half short row heel(framed in garter stitch to match the ridges in the leg) that allowed the sock to hang straight.
This pattern will be the basis for the September and October Knitting Workshop classes that I teach, for they have voted on learning two handed, stranded knitting and sock structure. Anyone interested in the pattern or the kit can scoot over here
I am always looking for short cuts when I knit and I LOVE knitting gadgets. Trying to keep a piece of paper and a pencil beside me while I work means the dog cannot snuggle with me while I knit, so I try to knit by the seat of my pants whenever possible for Penny is a most welcome companion.
To this end, I was faced with 25 sets of paired decreases, every 3 rounds, for the sleeve I am making on the Handspun Sweater featured on BareHare, my angora rabbit blog.
There are countless ways to do this, but I pulled out my coiless safety pins...both plastic (Clover brand) and metal (Countrywool brand). I have a hard time counting rows as-I-go while watching TV and petting the pup, so the pins are fabulous. I count them out and clip them all to the front of the sweater before I start so I cannot lose them before I need them. I used 9 metal ones placed every time I made a decrease round with the plastic one marking the tenth decrease round. Then I worked by pulling out the first metal one I used to mark the 11th round, then so on, until I reached the plastic one, which got moved to the 20th decrease round, and then five more metal ones were placed as needed and voila..I am done with the sleeve decreases and have arrived at the cuff length...EXACTLY!
FINALLY...I have the week clear to work on another pattern. It seems that as soon as I arrange time for pattern work, all sorts of family/rabbit stuff pops up. I am already behind schedule on my pattern editing!
This Sailor's Rib Cable pattern has been a long time favorite of mine. Worked in ECCO merino superwash wool from Zitron, I like the stitch definition and softness of the fabric it is making. I started this vest last Fall when my Dad underwent knee surgery, and it was my faithful companion while I sat through the hours waiting. I used a similar pattern years ago for my first Aran sweater and have never lost my fondness for it.
This vest will have a reverse stockinette stitch roll edge. I have becomed attached to this "no edge edge" finish after seeing it in Deborah Newton's book
DESIGNING KNITWEAR which is THE hands down classic, in my opinion.
