Tag: #laceknitting

Slow Progress is Better Than No Progress

Muqarnas

My knitting progress is slow but better than no progress, right?

Knitting

This post, like many, will be an update on the late couple of weeks. I will begin with knitting progress.

I am still slowly working on my Muqarnas top, designed by Anne Hanson. My Classic Merino Bamboo yarn is one of the recommended yarns for this project. I am using one of my new colors, Rose, and I am making the L size/43″. I am making the short sleeve, short length version.

Muqarnas

I have completed both of the sleeves. I am 3 rounds away from completing the bottom rib section. After that I will begin the main body which is worked in the same lace pattern as the sleeves.

It is slow going because I am using US2 needles for the ribbing and US4 needles for the lace patterns. I initial swatched with a US5, but the fabric was not firm enough and the gauge was a bit too large. Another reason it is slow is because it’s not very good booth knitting because it’s lace that I need to pay more attention to, especially when working the sections requiring shaping. Hence, it’s slow progress.

Festivals

Speaking of booth knitting, when I wrote last I was waiting to set up at Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival. It did end up being a great show on Saturday and Sunday, despite the rough start.

Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival Knitting Notions booth
Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival Knitting Notions booth

Most of us vendors that were in tents and the Pavilion set up bright and early at 6am on Saturday. That made for a very long and tiring day, but definitely worthwhile. The attendance was fantastic and the weather for the remainder of the weekend was beautiful.

After a brief couple of days at home, I headed back out the following Thursday for Wooster, OH for the Great Lakes Fiber Show. The weather this year was very cool and pleasant, which was a nice change. I had no issues this time that was also welcome. :-)

Great Lake Fiber Show Knitting Notions booth
Great Lake Fiber Show Knitting Notions booth
Great Lake Fiber Show Knitting Notions booth

Home and Reading

I have been enjoying a full week at home since my return on Memorial Day. I am heading out this weekend for Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival, but after that I have the rest of June and July at home.

I have put in an order to the mill for yarn to dye. That will begin when I get home from Indiana. It will probably take a few weeks to get all of that processed. While on my break, I might even get that vest pattern done.

In reading, I am down to the last 25% of War and Peace. I am definitely getting a better retention and grasp of what is going on than I did on my first read in 2012. I think a slow, deep read is just right for a work of this scope. I like it a lot! I am also currently reading/listening to The Trackers by Charles Frazier. I plan to start the new Stephen King – Never Flinch, this weekend. I received the hardback this Friday that I had pre-ordered. :-)

I have been reading other shorter books on the side too. Since my last post I read or listened to the following books:

  • The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – read
  • The World According to Garp by John Irving – Audble
  • Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr – Audible
  • The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel – read

Closing

That is enough for one post I think. I’ll see you next time and thanks for reading!

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Some Finishing, Frogging, and New Beginnings

sorrel front

Let’s get started with some finishing, then move on to some frogging and some new beginnings in my knitting.

Sorrel (Finishing)

I mentioned in my last post that Sorrel would be done very soon and here she is! This is the smallest of the three sizes in the pattern. All three of the sizes can be knit from one skein of Classic Merino Bamboo. I used 65g, which is about 320 yards, to make this size.

sorrel front
Sorrel front (color more accurate here)
sorrel back
Sorrel back to show the button and keyhole opening

It is quick to knit and fairly simple for even newer knitters. You need to be comfortable with knitting in the round. The shaping is simple and the stitch pattern is only knit and purl. What I think the most special attribute of this design is that the range for wearing is flexible. It can be made a bit larger and be worn as a dress, but later as the baby grows it can still fit as a top.

Spiral Splash Socks (Frogging)

There is a story here.

When I began the Spiral Splash Socks in late January, I had a hard time choosing the size to make. My foot size was in between sizes 2 and 3. Size 2 began with 60 stitches and size 3 with 72 stitches. I know that socks that fit me best are 66-68 stitches but 64 can work too. It was with trepidation that I went for size 3.

Here’s the next problem I was worried about: the leg stitches increase after the cuff to 80/88 respectively for sizes 2/3. This is to account for the slipped stitches, I assume, to prevent them being to tight. This was feeling very wrong to me all the time I was knitting them. You know how it is though. You’ve already invested the hours and you hope if you keep going it will work out. Hint, it usually doesn’t. Trust your knitter instincts.

spiral splash sock
spiral splash sock

After I knit the heel flap and turned the heel, I tried them on. You can see how huge that leg is. My ankle was swimming in there. It was a little painful to do it, but I frogged them. I considered casting on the size 2, but I really don’t see how 8 stitches less was gonna help that leg section fit. They were way more than 1 inch too large. So, that brings me to the new beginnings part of my post.

Knitting Glittering Snowscape Socks and Dora (Beginnings)

I am using that same Dark Rose Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn to make the Glittering Snowscape Socks by Stephen West. I am making the size 2 this time which begins with 64 stitches. I thought about going with a three color gradient, but then changed my mind. I am not in the mood for the extra fuss of color changing so I am just using the one color throughout.

glittering snowscape socks
Glittering Snowscape Sock
dora cardigan sleeves
Sleeves for large size Dora Cardigan

My other cast on project is the Dora Cardigan in the large size. I showed you the yarn in my last post. I like to begin this sweater by knitting the sleeves. These are small and quick and work as a swatch too. I am spot on for the gauge on size 3 US (3.25mm) needles.

The sleeves are knit flat and then joined to the body stitches after that piece is knit to the underarm length. The raglan shaping forms the top section. The button bands are knit along with the body. When the knitting is complete, the sleeves are quick to seam and you stitch closed the underarm stitches at the same time.

I knit about 1-2 inches of the sweater body but I didn’t take a picture yet. I’ll show you next time. It will be big enough by then to see that lace better. I hope I will get some time to finish it while I am in Raleigh, NC this weekend.

I am leaving on Wednesday for the Carolina Fiber Fest. I am setting up the booth bright and early at 6am on Thursday. I received by booth number today, so if you are planning to come, look for me in booth 21.

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Two More Knitting Projects Done

classic baby cardigan large

Two more knitting projects are done this week. I cast on for another and I am still working on my sock in progress.

Knitting Projects Done

My large Classic Baby Cardigan is all finished, even down to the buttons. I ended up using almost 460 yards of Classic Merino Superwash Sport for this sample. In the Earl Grey I used about 105g and about 30g in the Garnet. This is the second time that I have knit this size and I am glad to find that my required yardage in the pattern is accurate. I recommend 450-475 yards total, and I stayed within that range.

classic baby cardigan large
Classic Baby Cardigan Large size
classic baby cardigan trio
Classic Baby Cardigan Trio

The other knitting project that I have completed is the Spiral Effect Cowl. I used about 353 yards of Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn in Heather to make this cowl. The first time that I knit this pattern, I knit it with US 6 needles, but the last two times I went down to a US 4 and I prefer that size. The lace is very open anyway, and I think the texture comes through better with a smaller needle.

spiral effect cowl
Spiral Effect Cowl
spiral effect cowl on catherine
Spiral Effect Cowl on me

Current Projects

I am still working on the Spiral Splash Socks but they are progressing slower than I would like. I think I only pick them up to work on them about 2-3 a week, so that is part of the problem. What also slows me down while knitting them is the stitch pattern. It’s pretty simple but I find changing colors every other round is just not as fast as using only one color. I hope that by the next knitting session on them, I can get to the heel flap. That always feels like a milestone to me when knitting a sock.

spiral splash sock in progress
Spiral Splash Socks
sorrel small
Sorrel Small

Here is the other reason that my sock in progress is languishing. I started a re-knit of another booth sample that I designed about 12 years ago. This is the smallest size of Sorrel made in my Classic Merino Bamboo, also in Heather. This skein of yarn was already in my stash. I pulled it from inventory last summer when we dyed it, but I can’t remember why. I judged it slightly irregular, and I think it was that the color was off a bit from the rest, for some unknown reason. It works fine for a booth sample though. :-)

This project is a simple and fast knit. I am also highly motivated to have it ready for my first festival in a couple weeks. That is probably why I am making much more progress on this than on the sock.

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Sometimes Weekends Are For Knitting

saltarello shawl

It’s not often that I get weekends off but sometimes weekends are for knitting. I was home and my work was caught up so I took the weekend off and did lots of knitting. It was wonderful!

Knitting Saltarello

I will get to my current knitting projects that I began this weekend in a moment, but first let me share my finished Saltarello (Ravelry project page) with you. I cast off on Friday morning and took some before and after blocking pictures. The transformation is always so amazing!

saltarello shawl unblocked
Before blocking
saltarello shawl blocking
During blocking

I am thrilled with how it came out! I used 160g of Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn in color Obsidian. That calculates to about 690 yards. I used size 5 US needles. I measured it the day after I took it off the blocking pins, and the relaxed size is 72″ x 31″. So, mine is a bit smaller than Dee’s sample. She notes in the pattern that hers is 75″ x 35″.

saltarello shawl

I think I want to wear this in my booth this coming weekend at SAFF. It is a good size for me and I am excited to show it off. I hope it will be an inspiration for knitters to want to make it. I just love lace knitting. It is fun and interesting to make and looks so elegant.

New Knitting Projects

Mingling Daisies

Speaking of interesting knitting, I decided to go with the Sea Coral for my Mingling Daisies shawl (Ravelry project page). It is definitely interesting to knit. I had a rough start, which is mainly due to the inflexibility of the I-Cord edging I think. I started 3 times before I got everything going right.

classic merino bamboo for mingling daisies
mingling daisies shawl

Once I got past the setup and worked it bit of length it started to get easier. The daisy stitch is fun now but I hated it in the first rows. I am also used to working pattern stitches and lace from charts. This is not charted, but it’s pretty easy to memorize so it’s not too big a deal. I am adjusting and using my progress keeping app (Row Counter) to chart my place in the pattern. I really like how it is looking so far and it is fun to work on now.

Knitting the Geogradient MKAL 2023

This is an impulse project that I cast on this weekend along with the above. I can’t explain why I felt compelled to knit this shawl (Ravelry project page). I have never done a Westknits MKAL for several reasons.

  • I don’t generally like surprises in my knitting.
  • Despite his obvious gift for designing, I am rarely tempted to knit them. They are not typically to my taste.
  • I don’t care for garter shawls in lots of colors, but here I am making one. Who knows why?
Classic merino superwash sock for Geogradients MKAL 2023
westknits geogradient MKAL 2023

I think what intrigued me was the colors. I have been watching and even helping some of my customers pick out the colors for theirs and it just seemed like such a fun knit. I dragged out almost every color I have in my Classic Merino Superwash sock yarn and started playing with sets.

I took dozens of pictures and looked at them in gray scale. I narrowed the sets down to three. The greens and the blues/teals fit the gradient criteria the best. It should come as no surprise that I settled on the greens. I love green.

classic merino superwash sock geogradients sets
classic merino superwash sock geogradients sets
classic merino superwash sock geogradients sets

I have completed a bit less than half of Clue 1. I am not going to stress about the time table. I am not concerned much if I fall behind or see clues before I get there. I got started a bit late anyway. I just hope I like where it goes and plan to have fun with it.

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Present and Future Knitting Plans

Present Knitting

Today’s post is focused on my present and future knitting plans.

I have progressed, in my current knitting project, to the last chart, with fifteen rows and the bind off to go. I am excited to soon be adding Saltarello to my booth samples. I think it will be a popular one. I am confident that the color I chose in my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn is going to look great after it is blocked. I was thrilled to see Dee’s Saltarello on Saturday. It’s the one in the link above. She came to the Fall Fiber Festival and we had a lovely chat. I am kicking myself that I forgot to get a picture. I can share a few booth pictures though.

Fall Fiber Festival

The festival was great as always. It rained a bit Friday night and Saturday morning, but it wasn’t really much of a hindrance. The rain stopped and the sun came out by 11:00 am. It was lovely cool fall temperatures after that.

Tent shows can be wonderful when the weather cooperates. The natural light makes the yarn look great!

There are some challenges, like condensation in the tents overnight, but that is easily compensated for by covering everything up at night. There is also no electricity at this one, so no lighting in the booth, but that also saves time on setting up and tearing down. Fortunately, like I said, the sun was out so it really wasn’t a problem to leave off the lights. I have battery packs for keeping my devices charged.

Future Knitting

While I had all the yarn out on display, I took the opportunity to pick out some potential candidates for my next knitting project. I am planning to use my Classic Merino Bamboo to make a new design that Stephen West released last month.

I have only made one of his designs before, his work is unique and interesting but not usually styles I care for. A customer last month at Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival was buying some of my yarn for the Mingling Daisies Shawl. I immediately knew I wanted to make it.

I purchased the pattern and decided that my Merino Bamboo base was a very close match to the original yarn. That was the easy part. Now, I have to choose a color.

So far I have narrowed it down to these five colors. From left to right they are: Tea Rose, Sea Coral, Fern, Lichen, and Winter Sky. I believe all will show off the stitch patterns well. That was my main criteria.

Next important is colors that are not already in a current booth sample. Technically, only the Tea Rose and Sea Coral qualify here, and the other three are only shown in other bases, so they are still a consideration.

The third criteria is which one will look amazing and be fun to knit? That is, of course, a very subjective question. Dee thought the Sea Coral to be a good choice. What do you think?

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Catching Up on the Last Two Weeks

Knitting Updates

It’s time to do some catching up on the last two weeks. I am going to start with knitting stuff this time.

I have made good progress on Saltarello since my last post. I am pleasantly surprised that the color isn’t difficult to read as I am working. Good lighting is a must but it’s going pretty well.

I also got the second sock finished that I began ages ago. This is what I took along with me for booth knitting at Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. I have been wearing these a lot since I got home. They are just the right thing for this time of year. I made this pair from a basic sock pattern in remnants of discontinued colors of my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn. I use 68 stitches and US 1 (2.25mm) needles.

Travels and Festivals

In my last post I was in Ohio for the Wool Gathering festival. I am happy to report that fun was had by all and the weather was fabulous. I came home for a couple days and then left for Virginia. The drive up and the booth set up at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival was great. No problems and weather was nice. However, that was about to change for the worse.

Friday night Ophelia arrived in Northwest Virginia and it was not pretty, LOL. When you are in the midst of weather with a name it is never good, am I right? It was chilly, windy and soggy all day Saturday. Sunday was a bit improved, it warmed up some and rain was lighter. It mostly stopped raining by mid afternoon. God bless every one of the festival goers who braved the weather to shop. I also want to extend a special thank you to my customers who couldn’t make it to the festival who placed orders on my website. (((Thank you!)))

I am home at the moment and will be until Thursday. I am heading back up to Virginia for the Fall Fiber Festival in Orange, VA on the grounds of James Madison’s Montpelier. This show is all in tents so we are really hoping for good weather this year. It had to be cancelled last year due to more named weather. I forget which one it was but it was also a hurricane.

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Good Morning From Ann Arbor, Michigan

I am writing to you this morning from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am going to be setting up the booth today for the Spring Fiber Expo. This will be the third festival for us this year. The first two, Carolina Fiber Festival and Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival, were fantastic! They met and exceeded our expectations. So, the year is off to a good start.

I wanted to write a post so many times in the last few weeks but you know how it is I am sure. So, here I am with a couple of hours before set up time and finally the energy to get it done. The weeks have been filled with the usual tasks. I have done a bit more dyeing to restock a few popular yarns that were already getting low. We have some more Shawl and Hair Sticks on the website. Thanks to my husband’s diligence and hard work, we have eight different woods available.

I made the drive up to Ann Arbor yesterday. I had a bit of time last night to knit on my shawl. I am into the second skein of yarn now. Here’s a picture I took this morning in the hotel room. It’s gray and rainy at the moment so it’s not a great one.

I need to get my lunch packed and head over to the fairgrounds in about an hour. See you soon!

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What a Great Week for Dyeing

With the exception of Saturday, we had a great week for dyeing. What is even more exceptional is that it is still only February. The daffodils are in full bloom too. Of course it’s in the upper 40’s today, after a high of 84 degrees yesterday. Yep, that is totally normal for middle Tennessee.

Saturday morning had a very chilly start of 24 degrees, but work must be done. So, we got out there early and got the largest batch of yarn dyed. I forgot to get pictures while it was drying so here’s the buckets after taking them off the lines. The colors were the warm greens, purples, greys, pinks and teals.

We took a day off between batches to allow for drying time and to prep for the next one. Monday was much warmer and we got the second large batch done. The colors we did were cool greens, black, yellows, oranges, reds and neutrals. We took a day off again to let the yarn dry and prep for the last day’s work.

Wednesday was blues day and the weather was even better.

I am very pleased with how great they came out. I am also so glad to put away the dye pots for awhile. LOL!

I am working on labels today while Jerry is back at work in the shop on some new Shawl and Hair Sticks. We are adding back some exotic woods like Purple Heart and Mahogany, as well as restocking the domestic woods.

I have been working on my new design when I can, which is not as much as I would like. Progress has been made though. I completed the edging on the cast on end and have knitted 4 and one half repeats on the main body. The edging will look much better after blocking.

I apologize for the time between posts and for the brevity in this one, but labels await my attention. See you soon!

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It Has Been a Good Week

It has been a good week. Last Saturday, I was at The Yarn Patch in Crossville, TN doing a trunk show. It is a very lovely shop. You should definitely stop in and shop if you are in the area. There’s a bit of my Classic Merino DK there now too. I had a great time meeting knitters and crocheters, helping them select yarn for their projects, and knitting a bit on my latest design. I will get to that in a minute.

On Monday, the weather was finally improved enough to get back out to the dye pots. We dyed the remaining color for the order I showed you last time. It was even dry by the end of the day. That is a bonus this time of year. Once again the color looks a little bit distorted here. It’s actually much greyer in person.

I mentioned above about a new knitting design. I did some preliminary calculations and planning and then cast on with the Classic Merino Bamboo in Ironstone.

The shape is a stole knit from end to end with knitted on edging at each short edge. I began with a provisional cast-on onto a spare circular needle. I dislike this process but it was necessary in order to have live stitches for the edging later. I find it less tedious using a spare needle than using waste yarn when need to use those live stitches later. It saves the effort of putting them onto a needle, which is tedious to me.

I recorded the weight before and after knitting the first two repeats of the body lace chart. That let’s me know how much yardage it will take for a given size shawl. Then, as you can see, I joined a new skein to knit the edging. I want to know how much yardage will be used to knit each edge. I weighed the skein before starting here too. It is a little fiddly with two skeins attached, but it won’t take too long and it is worth it for the information gained. I am happy with how this looks and lace knitting is my happy place!

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Guess What’s Coming to Wisconsin With Me?

I arrived home safely from Pittsburgh last Sunday. It has been enjoyable spending the last week at home. After three weekends in a row, it is a nice break. I’m packing up the truck again tomorrow and leaving Wednesday for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. Can you guess one of the things I will be packing? Do you give up? It’s my newest booth sample, Bensusan.

I took this picture before I put it in the sink for a soak. I used almost all of the three skeins of Classic Merino Superwash DK in Cypress. I came close to running out of yarn. I weighed the finished shawl and it is 297g. I finished the last bit and bound it off last night while Jerry and I were relaxing on Sunday and watching a couple movies.

It is blocking at the moment. It took every one of my Knit Blockers, and I have three boxes. I used a half dozen or so T-pins in addition, to get it all pinned down. I didn’t measure it yet to see if it’s the same size as the one in the pattern for the large directions. It is written for worsted weight yarn and size 8US needles, and I substituted DK weight yarn and size 7US needles.

Now that this project is done I don’t have anything on the needles for my trip. I have the second Gridiron sock that I can start. Maybe that is what I will do.

Tomorrow is a busy day of packing. I plan to get some pictures of my shawl done then. I will be driving all day Wednesday. It’s a 560 mile drive, but at least I stay in my own time zone. Thursday is booth setup day. If I have time in the afternoon or evening, I will write a blog post with a few pictures of Bensusan in the booth. See you soon!

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