Grey and Soggy

We've just lived through an extremely rainy and cold week in eastern Newfoundland. "Well, there can't possibly be much more rain up there to come down, can there?", I thought to myself this morning as I trudged to the office in the mist and the fog.

No such luck.

(Depressing image, courtesy of Environment Canada)

Fall was a beautiful time of year when we lived in Ontario, and I always wondered why I hated the fall so much when I was growing up. Now I remember. Well then, I guess it's time that I gave up on outdoor running and went back to the gym. Hrmph.

We did get a bit of a break from the rain (but not from the freezing cold) on Sunday for the Run for the Cure. I organized a team at my workplace this year, and 20 of us, including some family and friends, participated. Nick and I both ran the 5 km. It was his first organized run, and I beat my previous best time by a couple of minutes, so we're both pretty proud of ourselves.


Since the weather has turned so chilly, it is a good time of year to have a newly completed woolly vest. My Ivy League turned out just lovely, a perfect fit.

Ivy League Vest from Interweave Knits Winter 2007, knit in KnitPicks Pallette in colourways twig, cream, tidepool heather, blue note heather, brindle heather, and mist.

I knit it exactly as written with no modifications, which worked well for me because I'm short. The vest is a very nice addition to my fall work wardrobe. I definitely like this Fair-Isle business, and there will certainly be more of it in my future. Steeks aren't so scary - you just have to show them who's boss.

Steekage

First there were no holes....


And then there were holes.


I did it!

The Latest Project

I've had the pattern earmarked for two years, and the yarn in my closet for nearly a year, so this week at long last, I started the Ivy League vest from IK Winter 2007.


I'm using Knit Picks Palette, in the same colours that Glenna used in her Ivy League last year. I liked the way her colour choices turned out, and Palette is such a wonderfully affordable yarn substitution.


This will be my first project with steeks, and my first full-blown Fair Isle project, though I've done lots of stranded colourwork before. I'm struggling with tension a little bit, but hoping that blocking will flatten everything out, and also take care of the rolling on the edge of the corrugated rib. Wishful thinking? I hope not!


The colours are pretty close to reality it that last photo. So far so good. Onward.

Home again

Well, I arrived safely back in Ottawa around 2:30 this morning, after only a three-hour flight delay in Winnipeg. By my standards, that's actually pretty good!

I didn't get too much knitting done in my travels. I knew that I had a very busy weekend conference ahead of me, but I didn't even knit much on the plane. I was so tired I slept most of the way back. I did get one man sock finished, and Nick was kind enough to model it:


His feet are a little bigger than Dad's, so it's a tad over-stretched in the ankle here. I like the striping in this yarn, but it's not a particularly regular stripe interval. I don't think it will be possible to get identical socks out of it - I don't remember the last time I managed to get identical twin socks out of a self-striping yarn anyway! It is turning out to be a little splitty to knit with. I added a strand of black reinforcing thread in the heel, but I forgot about it for the toe. It probably looks better without it in the end. On to sock number two.

I thought I'd photograph a few more of the knits I've done for Warm Woolies over the past few weeks.

Good Friend Cable Vest

Assorted hats. The top one is felted.

The box is getting fairly full, but I think I can still cram in another couple of hats and socks. Did you see that flash of fur in the hat photo above? We're kitty sitting this little cutie for a couple of weeks while our friends are on vacation.


I grew up always having a cat and a dog around the house, but Nick has never had a cat, so it's a fun new experience for him. So far so good!

Warm and wooly

... and just in time for spring.

Vest, based very loosely on Leftovers. Knit in the round on 3.75 mm Denise interchangeables.

I altered the pattern for my finer gauge, made the bust size 36" (the pattern had 34 or 38), didn't double the yarn for the bands, and knit the bands in twisted 2X1 rib. I also changed the v-neck band style a bit. Basically, the pattern gave me the general shape and construction.


The yarn is from a cone of laceweight, labelled "T. Forsell & Sons 2/8WC Super Slalom Derby Tweed", knit with two strands held together approximating sport weight. I'm not sure of the fibre content (mostly wool, maybe a little mohair?). A Google search identified the company as a wholesaler of machine knitting yarns, but this particular yarn seems to have been discontinued. I could find nothing about it. I purchased it from Woof Designs in St. John's. There's still plenty left, so I might consider a lace project sometime. I've also considered over-dyeing some of it.

I'm knitting faster than I'm blogging these days, so I'll have to post an update of new things I'm working on. Maybe on the weekend.

Guess what's blocking...

Yup, it a vest! I finally finished it. Details and action photos to come soon.

I mentioned last weekend that I was felting my French market bag. It went through the washer and dryer twice, on the hottest heavy-duty settings, but it's still not quite as dense and firm a fabric as I would have liked, but nevertheless it's quite functional and kind of cute:

French Market Bag from Knitty, made in recycled bulky weight wool. Modifications: I used 5.5 mm needles to accommodate the thicker weight wool, and only 192 stitched instead of 200, mainly because I ran out of the colour I was usuing for the base!

I sewed in a lining, made from some leftover dress-lining fabric:


And what's that in the bag? I might have done a little eBay shopping recently. It's my last purchase for a while, I swear! I got a good deal on these 6 balls of laceweight wool. Black lace.... I'm thinking there's a shawl in my future. It's a chinese brand, and is incredibly soft. I've been walking around petting a skein of it.


And while I was at it, I got a couple of balls of sock yarn:



Fabel Superwash by Garn Studio. I've never tried this brand before, but I really like the colourway.

I should apologize because I'm not feeling too wordy lately - I'm spending my days writing and re-writing technical stuff - so I hope you enjoy this style of short snippets with photos. I'll try to get good FO photos of the vest as soon as it's dry. And I may have wishfully started a summer top over the last few days. What a joke! We had 10 cm of snow last night. Will it never end?!

Inching along

Just a quick update on progress, as there's not much news to share this morning.

I've finally got the vest past the point at which I frogged it before. And yes, I tried it on and it appears to fit nicely. I've split for the armholes and am working on knitting up the back. I'm mostly following the directions for Leftovers, but adjusting for different gauge and sizing. I really hope the bottom isn't going to decide to roll like this once it's blocked. It seemed okay stretched out when I tried it on, so I think it will settle down.


The lace scarf that I started on the weekend is also plodding along slowly:


I really like this having one lace project for concentration, and a second mindless stockinette project for my more blah moments. I have been resisting the urge to start Lola, or Soleil, or Shedir (all linked in the sidebar) until the vest is finished, but I have also been pondering frogging a couple of older (alas unwearable) projects and knitting cute summer tops out of the yarn. The free patterns section at Drops Design is providing much of this inspiration. Argh, I need to spend more time working and less time browsing knitting sites and fantasizing! And on that note, back to work...

rip, rip, rip

I'm not sure how I managed this one.

I swatched for my vest on 3.75 mm needles. I washed and dried the swatch. I did another bigger one, with the twisted ribbing included. I was happy with the fabric produced, and sat down to figure out the math and draw up a rough pattern. I cast on. I thought perhaps the gauge was looking a little loose, but somehow I managed to ignore it, thinking the yarn would "plump up" in the blocking to look just like the swatch. Absolute denial.

I was getting close to spliting for the arm holes yesterday, so I decided to join the longest two cables in my set (I love having cable connectors!), and tried it on. It was miles too big. The vest that I had designed to be form-fitting was hanging off me. Interesting. It didn't take long to figure out that somehow, I had been knitting on 4.5 mm needles.

Sigh.

Nothing to do but start over.

knit knit knit

Well, now that I've taken care of the pile of sweaters, you'd think I'd be looking to jump into a big, new, intricate project, right? I thought I would. I usually like knitting that makes me think, or teaches me something new.

I'm buried deep in thesis writing right now, nearing the end (or at least that's what they tell me. Sometimes it feels like it will never end!). So I'm spending very long days at school six days a week, writing, tweaking, editing, thinking deep thoughts. It's finally starting to come together, and it's pretty exciting after such a long, and at times very frustrating slog. The result is that at the end of the day I still need to de-stress with knitting, but I have no brain cells left to spare for thinking about cables and lace.

In the interest of burning through some more stash and giving my mind a break, I've been working on some simple little projects.


This is the Bamboo Baby cardigan from One Skein Wonders. Simple, but cute. It's the leftover cotton blend from my Sitcom Chic. I did use slightly more than one skein, but I also altered it a little to make the sleeves bigger, and I wasn't using the recommended bamboo yarn. It still needs blocking and buttons. I don't typically knit a lot of garter stitch, but I think it's cute, and it was very quick and easy. If you can knit a dishcloth, you can make this.

I also started a French Market Bag from Knitty a couple of weeks ago.


This is bulky wool from a thrift shop sweater I recycled last year. I'm not sure how well it's going to felt (I know, I know, I should have felted a swatch before I started), but I'm not going to worry about it too much. It's a perfectly nice tote bag even before felting. I just need to knit the second handle, and I might get around to the washing machine fun on the weekend.

And then there's my vest. It doesn't look like much right now, but it's been comforting to knit row upon rown of stockinette in the round. I used to hate plain stockinette, but I'm starting to understand the appeal!


The Denise needles have been a little bit frustrating on this one. They needle tips are great, but I find that the cables, which are thicker but more flexible than the average circular needle are a bit tacky and the yarn sticks to them. So all of the stitches bunch up by the right needle as I knit and I have to keep stopping to push them around. They seemed better with the cotton on the baby sweater, so perhaps this wooly mohair blend is particularly grippy. They might also work better with bigger gauges, and therefore bigger stitches. Oh well. I'm not aiming for speed right now anyway!

A new adventure begins

It's been an incredibly busy week here, but here's a quick fly-by. The new Denise needles arrived, and while I'm not completely sold on them (well, I guess technically I am, as my credit card statement can attest!), I'm giving them a test drive on my green vest. This is inspired by two patterns, Leftovers from Knitty, and Tori from MagKnits. Both are fitted v-neck pullover vests with waist shaping.


I'm working in a single colour, that cone of green tweed that I picked up in Newfoundland last month. I'm knitting it as a double strand since the yarn is very fine, with twisted ribbing bands for a little texture. Other than that, it's going to be fairly plain, mostly stockinette. I'm focusing on wearable wardrobe staples lately, and I do tend to lean towards earthy colours. I'm not totally sure of the fibre content here, but I know it's got to have some mohair in it. I love the many heathery shades of green and brown.


I have several other things to show, but I haven't been home in daylight hours much to be photographing them! Soon....