2009 Knitting Resolutions…Thinking about knitting and yarn

Since I got married earlier this year, my 2008 knitting resolutions were relatively succient and wedding related. I knitted the Essential Tank Top and started the Lily of the Valley Shawl (which now languishes as a UFO). As for the Silk Ribbed Corset, I decided to frog it after several attempts (and bought a beautiful Jenny Packham wedding dress.) That said, I knit the shawl for my wedding and a few other  tops for the honeymoon. I even have some wonderful pieces that I knit during our beach honeymoon in the Cook Islands. 

2008 was a year of serious stash enhancement mainly thanks to my husband who believes that I should never leave an important yarn establishment with regrets! The biggest contributions cme from the Joan Vass Sales (the knitwear designer decided to retire and sold her amazing yarn collection at $20.00 for box of 10 balls), the Maryland Sheep & Wool Fetival and the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival. Additionally, I visited some new wool purveyors during several trips with my friend Amanda including Tess Yarns in Portand and Loop and Rosie’s Yarns in Philadelphia.  The hubster and I made yarn stops at Chix With Stix, Webs and Purl By the Sea  as well. 

My 2009 knitting resolutions include the following:

1] Cables, cables and more cables. 2009 will be the year that I overcome my cable phobia. I have been avoiding cables since cabled projects caused me to abandon knitting twice in the past. (Of course, it’s possible that I may have moved onto other things without the cables.) I commit to knitting a sweater using cables most likely Elsebeth Lavold’s Hild.

 

2] Expand my lace knitting skills including a wonderful Estonia Lace Shawl for me. Having watched my mother wrap herself in the Triinu Shawl, I want one of my own. My knitting friend Georgia and I are starting a KAL for a pattern that I found online. For anyone interested in joining us, please drop me a line.

 

3] Finish my wedding related knitting. Instead of presents for those who helped with my wedding, I gave balls of wool. I still have one project in process and one to be started. Additionally, I plan to make a variation on a Jean Moss pattern for my husband as a belated wedding present.

 

4] Finally make the After Dark Robe and coordinated After Dark Nightie from Mason Dixon Knits in grey/white linen purchased at the Joan Vass sale.

 

5] Reduce my yarn stash by working with the wonderful fibers that I have acquired. Since I won’t be planning a wedding this year, I should be able to accomplish this. Of course, it will mean curtailing my stash enhancing activities!

 

6] Enhance my Ravelry profile and participation. Despite having been a member of Ravelry for over 1 ½ years, I mainly use it as a source of inspiration and better understanding of potential projects.

 

7] Visit new knitting establishments as well as the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and the New York Sheep & Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival). Of course, this will involve some level of stash enhancement.

 

I hope that by limiting my knitting resolutions I will be able to succeed at accomplishing them. Of course, keeping this blog up-to-date is the unstated goal as well.

Best wishes for 2009!

Read Any Good Knitting Books Lately? – The 2008 Knitting Bookshelf

2008 was a great year for enhancing my knitting library. I attribute this to my interest in learning more about lace knitting and to expanding my other knitting skills.

 

Here’s the list of knitting books that I acquired this year. I have broadly categorized them.

 

Lace Knitting 

• Lace Knitting of Estonia by Nancy Bush. A wonderful journey into the history and knitting of this specialized form of lace. The Nupp sets this form of lace apart. I hear that it flies off the shelf of every knitting store. Even Amazon has none in stock. I made my mother the Triinu Scarf. 
• Victorian Lace Today A combination of a picture journey documenting the evolution of Victorian Lace with wonderful full color pictures and wonderful patterns that can be used as is or combined in other forms to create your own unique pieces. I adapted one of the patterns for my wedding shawl. 
• Lace Style Part of Interweave’s “Style” series. This book contains some great patterns and shows readers how lace can be incorporated into a variety of different garments. I made the Essential Tank Top, a beautiful piece which is stellar, and started the Lilies of the Valley Shawl (which is currently in hibernation).  
• Heirloom Knitting gives the history of lace knitting as well as a great collection of stitches and patterns. This is a British book which can be pricey due to the exchange rate.

 Knitwear Design

• Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton. A great reference book on how garments are constructed with several patterns as a bonus. I use it for reference and eye candy.  
• Knitting: A Step-By-Step Guide edited/authored by Sandy Carr and Josie May. The book was published by Portland House in 1990. I picked this hardcover book up in The Strand, a New York City book haven, for about $15 and it’s bargain! It is a wonderful of information about knitting and designing sweaters with schematics and illustrated techniques including 48 patterns for women, men and children. One drawn back of these patterns is that the yarn used is no longer available and no yardage is given which means guesstimate! While the patterns tend to be big and bold styles that haven’t ignited my desire yet, the information about design is really well organized and useful, especially when I decide to change a pattern on the fly.  
• Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns It’s surprising that it took me this long to add this stitchnary to my collection. (Probably due to the fact that I already had a variety of other sources.) My major gripes with the book are the lack of charts since I like the visualization and the use of one swatch containing multiple stitches. I tested several patterns from this book for my mother’s black scarf. 

Designer Focused Books

• Jean Moss’s Sculptured Knits. I found my copy of this book hidden away at a Barnes & Noble and have been in love with it ever since. It appealed to my desire to learn more about creating textures in my knitting. It has a diverse array of patterns for women, men, children and home. I love the Woodstock Sweater and Saffron Tunic that I made and have at least one pattern queued up for my husband. The one gripe I have with the book is that the sizes tend to run large and that the yarn estimates tend to be high as well. Very few of these patterns have been knit by the members of Ravelry.  
• Viking Knits by Elsebeth Lavold. Since I was longing for this book, one of my knitting friends found it discounted on the web and sent it to me. I had seen Elsebeth Lavold’s Hild sweater at the Knitting Connection and wanted to get the pattern. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any copies at the time. I thought that it would be a great way to get into testing the cable waters of knitting. Elsebeth Lavold has studied Viking motifs and translated them into cable knitting patterns.  
• Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. A gift from another of my knitting friends who knew that I loved Mason Dixon Knitting for its insight into how to use knitting to create everyday functional products. This second volume expands their use of knitting techniques and adds patterns for a number of sweaters and other products. While the section on fair isle knitting is enticing, I may wait another year before trying my hand at it. Please look for their Bathrobe and After Dark Nightie to appear on my 2009 Knitting List!  

For those of you who thought that I was going to write about the knitting club chic lit that has appeared, I am sorry to disappoint you. I own several of these books including one that was a gift from a client who knew that I knit. Since these books all involve some major disease or other personal crisis, I haven’t been able to pick them up.

 

What did you add to your knitting bookshelf this year?

Apres Surf Hoodie Progresses

In reviewing my list of 2008 UFOs, I decided to pick up my Apres Surf Hoodie and focus on completing it. Started as part of my honeymoon knitting, this sweater has a special place in my heart. I worked on the early phases of swatching and working out the math on the beach in Rarotonga at the Rarotonga Beach Bungalows.

Note to self, don’t leave abbreviated post-its all over an incomplete pattern for six months. It’s difficult to jog your memory to remember what you were thinking when you scribbled them. That was the state of my Apres Surf Hoodie when I picked it up. Fortunately, I read through the pattern and examine the work in progress. After transfering the hoodie to a pair of number 2 lace addis, I was in gear. What a difference experience with lace patterns has made, I find that the knitting is flying along.

I  added a knitted hem instead of an i-cord edging since I hate doing i-cords and I don’t like the way that stockingknit stitch rolls.

Apres Surf Hoodie Swatch

I am also considering making a collar instead of the hood because I want the edging to match the rest of the pattern. I’ve spent some time going through my pattern books and old Intetweave Magazines for ideas. IM Winter 2007 has Connie Chang Chinchio’s Henley Perfected, which combines lace and stockingknit stitch with hemmed edging so that it doesn’t roll. Since this is similar to my changes to the Apres Surf Hoodie, I may use its stand up collar.

2008 FOs and UFOs

As 2008 draws to a close, I have been reviewing my knitting for the year and my growing list of UFOs. Due to our wedding, much of the first half of the year was focused on the big event. As a result, 2008 was not as productive as 2007 in terms of finished objects (aka FOs).

 

2008 FINISHED OBJECTS:

• Essential Tank Top in pink cashmere/silk bought at Silk City Fibers – Pattern from Lace Style
• Woodstock Sweater in beige mercerized cotton bought at Silk City Fibers – Pattern from Sculptured Knits by Jean Moss
• Wedding Shawl in grey Jaggerspun Zephyr bought at Sarah’s Yarns – Inspired by Victorian Lace Today
• Honeymoon Cami in white silk bought at Sarah’s Yarns – Pattern from Knitty
• Honeymoon Vest in Noro Sakura in blacks/greys from The Point – Pattern loosely based on The Knitters’ Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
• Leaf Lace Kimono in Noro Lilly bought at The Point – Pattern from Interweave Magazine Summer 2008
• Baby Kimono in yellow cotton bought at Silk City Fibers – Pattern from Mason Dixon Knits
• Warshrag in Rowan pink and black cotton bought at The Point – Pattern from Mason Dixon Knits
• Souvenir Socks in Crystal Palace bamboo blend bought at Colorful Stitch
• Lace Ribbon Scarf in white silk bought at Sarah’s Yarns – Pattern from Knitty
• Lace Ribbon Scarf in pink/purple Koigu bought at Loop from Knitty
• Saffron Tunic in Beige Jaeger Sienna Cotton bought at Webs – Pattern from Sculptured Knits by Jean Moss
• Purple Chevron Sweater in purple Twinkle Toes from Tess Designs – Pattern inspired by Interweave Chevron Tank Top
• Sister’s Purple Vest in Kyoto bought at ArtFibers – Pattern loosely based on The Knitters’ Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
• Shetland Triangle in Berrocco NaturLin Green bought at Purl by the Sea – Pattern from Scarf Style
• Triinu Shawl in Grignasco Top Print Pinks/Purples bought at Smileys NYC Sale – Pattern from Lace Knitting in Estonia

 

2008 UFOs (Unfinished Objects – a graceful name for knitting that still languishes on a set of needles buried somewhere in the knitting basket)

• Lily of the Valley Shawl in white Jaggerspun Zephyr bought from Sarah’s Yarns – Pattern from Lace Style
• Silk Ribbed Corset in Jaeger 100% white silk bought from Webs(will probably be frogged and used for a wonderful shawl)
• Laced-Front Sweater in white/butter merino/silk blend from Tess Yarns bought at MDSW 2007 – Pattern from Knitted Lingerie
• Apres Surf Hoodie in magenta merino blend  bought at Joan Vass Sale May 2008- Pattern from Interweave Magazine Summer 2008 – Honeymoon project
• Sister’s Lace Ribbon Shawl in grey angora/silk bought from Knitty City – Pattern from Knitty
• Dad’s Classic Ribbed Pullover in Italian wool blend bought from Silk City Fibers – Pattern from Sally Melville’s The Purl Stitche
• Raha Scarf in blue alpaca bought at NYSW – Pattern from Lace Knitting of Estonia
• Dreaming in Orange – Noro Lilly Ribbon Lace Scarf
• Mom’s Black Lace Scarf in alpaca/silk laceweight bought from Knitty City – Pattern from Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting

(Not documented is the Navy Mohair Lace Scarf which is still waiting to be finished. Since it is in mohair, it is easier to finish than frog!  It is still left on the needles from last year.)

 

While last year, I was inspired to finish my projects. I found that not having any knitting in the queue can be a challenge if you can’t decide what to make.  I hope to finish many of these UFOs in 2009 while adding new projects with different challenges.

 

My biggest piece of advice is not to knit any part of your wedding outfit. It’s waaay too much pressure and the planning is enough pressure on its own. That said, I was glad to have the wedding shawl and other honeymoon tops to wear.  Also, bringing knitting on my honeymoon allowed us to have souvenirs of a trip to a place that didn’t have lots of touristy trinkets.

Mom’s Black Lace Scarf Progresses

Before starting the black lace scarf for my mother, I spent a lot of time going through my various knitting books focused on lace shawls and stitch guides. Since I was going to be knitting in black, I wanted an easy pattern that only needed a few rows of pattern.

I started out assuming that my mom wanted a relatively wide scarf like the one that I’m making for my sister in grey. While we were at her house, I showed her two of the options. One was a wide version of the Ribbon Lace Scarf that I’m making for my sister and  the other was a razor shell pattern from Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, which was narrower.

To my surprise, she liked the narrower razor shell pattern. It is a traditional Shetland pattern which makes a nice stripe pattern. It has the great advantage of being a one row pattern and the size of the pattern can be modified depending on the width that you want. What’s nice is how the edge forms a nice scallop pattern.

Mom's Black Lace Scarf - Razor Stitch Up Close

Purple Chevron Ribbed Sweater Stitched Up

Since we don’t celebrate Christmas, December 25th is a great time for knitting projects. This year, I spent the day sewing together my purple chevron ribbed sweater. I finished knitting and blocking it in mid November. For some reason, I wasn’t inspired to finish putting it together which is unusual for me. 

The wonderful sunlight streaming into my mother’s sitting room was helpful in proding me to finish this project especially given the dark color of the yarn. It didn’t hurt that I wanted to wear it for our Annual Kwanzaa Kocktails.  

I am so happy to have finished this sweater! The pointed bottom was a challenge at times to estimate sizing and I had to sew the sleeves together to get the approximate length in the ball park. (Although as with other sleeves I have knit lately, they are a bit snug!)

For the neckline, I added a border of single crochet which was a lot less work than picking up stitches and knitting four rows of garter stitch.

Chevron Sweater in Purple Twinkle Toes from Tess Yarns

For those who are interested, I used Ann Budd’s Chevron Rib Tank as the initial inspiration. (It’s a free download!) I knitted the front and back with a point and added sleeves using another pattern for guidelines. I used three skeins of Tess Yarns Twinkle Toes (440 yards each) and knitted using size 2 circular needles.

Death of a LYS-Yarn Connection NYC

It is with great sadness that I note that a friendly New York City yarn emporium is going out of business.  Since it is located on 36th Street and Madison Avenue, a neighborhood I rarely frequet, the second floor shop isn’t one of my usual yarn haunts. Nevertheless, it’s always a source of inspiration.

By coincidence, I was in the neighborhood and stopped by to get a pattern for an Elsebeth Lavold sweater that I had seen in the shop before my wedding. At the time, they didn’t have a copy of the pattern. It is the “Hild” sweater which is an interesting variation on a ribbed pullover that works in Lavold’s viking inspired cables. Since the store was going out of business, I bought the store copy of “Designer’s Choice-Book Nine”. It has a couple of other patterns that I’m interested in.

Death of a NYC Yarn Store - Yarn Connection going out of business

Triinu Shawl in Pinks Becomes Blocked Beauty

Since my mother wanted a shawl that was at least six feet long, I used eight of the ten balls of Grignasco Top Print for the main portion of the Triinu Shawl which measured about 70 inches before I added the edging lace.  Adding the border was easy since the top portion was a continuation of the main part of the shawl and the bottom border had live stitches from the provisional cast on.

Once it was finished the pink alpaca bundle was sizable and I was left with part of one ball of wool at the end. To soak the shawl, I needed to use the kitchen sink to have enough room to cover the entire piece. I was surprised at how much the shawl expanded after soaking in hair conditioner for a half hour.  Here are some before and after photos.

Triinu Shawl has its lumps before soaking and blocking...

Triinu Shawl in Grignasco Top Print Blocked

The shawl blocked out to 24″ by 75″. It can be wrapped around me twice which makes it a great addition for these energy saving times! I hope that my mother enjoys it.

Pattern notes: I used 9 1/2 balls of wool (110 yards each) and knitted on size 9 needles. Due to the lace, I could have used one size larger needles.

The Triinu Shawl has inspired me to make myself an Estonian lace rectangular shawl.  A friend is joining me on this adventure. I plan to use the Brooklyn Handspun Yarn that I bought after Thanksgiving at The Point NYC.

Dreaming in Orange – Ribbon Lace Scarf Again

The color orange seems to be peaking out this season. It started as more of a pumpkin color which inspired me to knit the Luna Moth Shawl in rust angora (discovered in my stash). Lately, orange making more of a splash in the display windows on Fifth Avenue.  This orange is a brighter color. It’s the main highlight at the local Club Monaco (where black, white and grey are always in style! Remember this is New York City.) 

Club Monaco Displays Orange Clothes on Fifth Avenue in New York City

 

Club Monaco Window on Fifth Avenue with Orange Scarves & Background

This color trend combined with the ever present scarf to accessorize every outfit has inpsired me to knit a holiday present for my sister-in-law using the Noro Lilly (which is a 70% cotton/30% silk blend from The Point) which is a dream to knit with. I am embarking on another Ribbon Lace Scarf from Knitty Summer 2008.  In general, I get bored knitting the same pattern more than once but for some reason I just love this pattern.

Noro Lilly in Orange from The Point NYC

Triinu Shawl-3 Nupp Helpful Tips

I am really enjoying knitting the Triinu Shawl from Nancy Bush’s Knitted Lace of Estonia (Word is that it flies off the shelves of yarns stores.) The joy of this project is threefold: knitting lace using a fingerling/sport weight yarn, watching the unusual red/purple colorway evolve, and conquering Estonian nupps.

Grignasco’s Top Print is composed of a twist of three different shades of the red to purple colorway. When knitted, it’s like the dots blur to create softer color changes. Added to this is the normal fun of watching the colors evolve as the piece continues to grow.

According to Knitted Lace of Estonia, nupps prove that a garment is hand made since they can not be produced on a machine! Hence, long live nupps. Nupps as I have discovered can vary in the number of stitches from five to nine. In the process of knitting this shawl, I’ve discovered a couple of tricks to keep your stitch count on track. They are:

1] When picking up the stitches for the nupps on the knit row, make sure that the stitches are relatively loose.

2] Take care when purling the nupp stitches together on the purl side so that you do not inadvertently pick up a single stitch (non-nupp loop) on either side of the cluster of nupp loops. This can result in a lower number of stitches in the pattern repeat further on. To correct this error without unknitting multiple rows, I recommend carefully unladdering the stitch containing the nupp and the additional stitch to where the nupp is purled. (Note:  This assumes that you discover this error before proceeding to your next set of pattern repeat row-wise.)  Then use a crochet hook to re-purl the nupp loops. Then continue to bring the stitches up to your current row. Once you have done this, use the crochet hook to pick up the additional stitch and bring it to your current row as well.

3] Make sure that you purl all of the nupp loops together. Otherwise, this will result in a loop that sticks out from the rest of your knitted work. If you discover this loop before you proceed to the next set of pattern rows, you can let the nupp stitch ladder down to the nupp and use a crochet hook to add the missing loop to the cluster. Otherwise, you either have to choose whether to unknit your work back to the problem or (dare I say this) pull the loop through to the back of the work and carefully sew it in place.