Tag: #laceknitting

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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Quick Knitting Update

I am having a busy week, so this will be a short and sweet update on Midlothian shawl.

I just finished chart 3 and am starting the second skein of Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Cerulean.

I am getting ready to begin restocking my yarn inventory asap. I have several days of preparation to do. I am also wrapping up the end of one school year and preparing for the next. We will probably take a couple of weeks off from school starting next week while I work on yarn. I’ll keep you posted as I can.

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Simple Gifts

Well I was going to try and get better pictures of my Simple Gifts shawl but who are we kidding? It’s January and these are about as good as it is going to get right now. I don’t want to do a photo shoot outside even on the better days, so here we go with what I could manage inside.

This pattern is written for DK weight yarn in two sizes. I decided to use my Classic Merino Superwash Sport instead though. I used a size 6 needle. I would have used a size 7 if I had used the DK weight yarn.

My plan was to go ahead and make the larger size and see if that would be big enough since I assumed my gauge would be a bit smaller. I had a third skein of yarn reserved in case I needed it, which as it turns out, I didn’t. The yardage estimate for the large is 680-730 yards. Two skeins of my sport weight yarn is 680 yards. I ended up using 190g for this which is 646 yards.

The interesting thing was that when I measured the dimensions after taking out the blocking pins, it was pretty close to the large size after all. I kind of expected it to be maybe somewhere between the smaller and larger sizes. I am actually happy it turned out this way. It’s a nice size for wrapping you in warm wool but it’s lighter in weight than the same size would be in DK weight yarn. I think it will be a popular sample in the booth this year. I really like how this Emerald color knit up too. I think I will have wear it if we end up going out on my birthday next week.

Ok, that’s a wrap for this post. I’ll catch you up on my current projects in my next post.

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Solstice Day Knitting

I am not a huge fan of Christmas to be honest, but I do like Solstice Day. This is not for any religious reason. I just like Solstice Day because the days will start lengthening and the darkness is receding. It’s only by a minute or so each day but it cheers me just knowing that. 😉

I got all the new yarn labeled and it is stowed in the trailer for next year. I only had one sad skein that may be beyond hope. The ties all came off in the dye pot. I will do what I can to salvage it but it may sadly be too far gone. I’ll let you know. 😬

My knitting projects are coming along. They both have grown but don’t look much different from last time. Here’s some pictures anyway.

Ok, Merry Christmas if I don’t post again until after the holiday.

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Bramwell and other knitting

I am currently in yarn label printing purgatory. But this too, shall pass. While I am baby sitting the printer I am multi-tasking by writing a blog post. It will take quite a while to print over 1900 labels so I might as well get something else done, right?

I did finally get my Bramwell Shawl blocked. The pictures aren’t the greatest due to gray weather today, but here’s what I have.

Here’s a pre-blocking picture just to show the texture. I used almost all of the three skeins of Classic Merino Superwash DK in Pewter. My left over ball is barely 15g. This was a fun knit and pretty quick. I probably could have finished it in 3-4 weeks if I hadn’t been switching between three projects.

The color is more accurate in the blocking shot than in this next one. It’s odd that the one below was taken outside and yet the color is off.

I have gotten back to the other two shawls when I have some time in the evenings. Here is Simple Gifts in Emerald Classic Merino Superwash Sport. I am getting close to the end of the first skein and am on the 3rd repeat of the main chart. The large size is 7 repeats. I’ll see when I get there if it’s big enough.

Last, but not least is my sock yarn project, Adelita. I am using Jade, which is one of my favorites of my recent colors from 2020. I am about to start the second skein and am halfway through chart 4.

Here’s a parting shot from the last two dye days.

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Bramwell and other knitting

I am currently in yarn label printing purgatory. But this too, shall pass. While I am baby sitting the printer I am multi-tasking by writing a blog post. It will take quite a while to print over 1900 labels so I might as well get something else done, right?

I did finally get my Bramwell Shawl blocked. The pictures aren’t the greatest due to gray weather today, but here’s what I have.

Here’s a pre-blocking picture just to show the texture. I used almost all of the three skeins of Classic Merino Superwash DK in Pewter. My left over ball is barely 15g. This was a fun knit and pretty quick. I probably could have finished it in 3-4 weeks if I hadn’t been switching between three projects.

The color is more accurate in the blocking shot than in this next one. It’s odd that the one below was taken outside and yet the color is off.

I have gotten back to the other two shawls when I have some time in the evenings. Here is Simple Gifts in Emerald Classic Merino Superwash Sport. I am getting close to the end of the first skein and am on the 3rd repeat of the main chart. The large size is 7 repeats. I’ll see when I get there if it’s big enough.

Last, but not least is my sock yarn project, Adelita. I am using Jade, which is one of my favorites of my recent colors from 2020. I am about to start the second skein and am halfway through chart 4.

Here’s a parting shot from the last two dye days.

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November knitting

I know it has been a few weeks, but I am now done with traveling for the season and settling in for the next several months. We have lots of productive work planned. We have already purchased lots of yarn and lumber to get ready for next year’s festival season. More on that next post I think. For today I will share my knitting progress.

Bramwell

First up is my Classic Merino Superwash DK project, Bramwell . The top picture shows the stich pattern a little better and the bottom is more accurate for the color, which is Pewter.

I have completed the first two charts and it is bigger than the picture implies because it is a bit scrunched up on a 24″ needle at the moment.

Simple Gifts

Next up is Simple Gifts in Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Emerald. I have completed three charts for this one.

Adelita

Last, but not least, is Adelita in Classic Merino Superwash Sock in Jade. I have completed the second patterned chart. I had no problems with the lace in the second chart even though it contains lace knitting on both right and wrong side rows. It only involves a simple yarn over next to a decrease and a simple 8 count every time between repeats except for the beginning and end of the rows.

I have one more in-person show this coming weekend in Murfreesboro, TN. It is a Saturday only event called Fiber in the Boro. The website is down unfortunately but you can find details on their Facebook group or you can comment here and I can answer your questions.

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New on the Needles

So, I did get all three shawls cast on since my last post. I am using three different yarn weights on these and they all have different shapes so I can jump around between them as the mood suits me.

I already showed you Simple Gifts last time and I have only added a few rows so it looks pretty much the same. Simple Gifts is a triangle that starts the knitting at the point. The increases are on one side only which makes the diagonal edge of the triangle. You then bind off the shortest edge. I like making this style. I completed chart 1 and a few rows of chart 2.

The next thing I cast on was Bramwell using my Classic Merino Superwash DK in Pewter. It is a traditional triangle shape with the center rib and the point at the bottom. What makes it nice is the thicker, cushy yarn. It’s fast to make and looks modern, especially in this neutral color. I got the first chart done and moved to the next shawl to cast on.

My third shawl in progress is Adelita using my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn in Jade. This one is a semi-circle style where you do increases across the row every time the row count doubles. These are fun to make too. They also look so pretty and I find they knit fast even in thin yarn.

I worked through all the increase sections that are plain knit and then through the first pattern chart. It’s very addictive. 😊

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