January 28, 2010
Handspun Sawtooth Mittens

The subtle color shifts in these stranded mittens are so pretty- It reminds me of mountains at sunset (if you have a vivid imagination.) I love how the mitten top closes with a little sunshine (or star/flower - whatever you see).

The beautiful colors in these Sawtooth Mittens come from handpainted braids of Falkland Wool from FatCatKnits December Mixed Blessings. More yarn pictures and details here.

Pattern: Sawtooth Mittens by Robin Hansen from Favorite Mittens Yarn:3 ply Handspun Falkland Wool from FatCatKnits Mixed Blessings December Club Needles: 2 mittens together on 1 circular needle.2.75 mm circular for cuff; 3.25 mm circular for hand. Size: Vacillated between ML and XL using a smaller gauge (7.5 stitches/inch) for a nice size (fits both Dave and I) pair of adult mittens.

All the increases (gusset) and decreases (hand/thumb) are done "in pattern" so the sawtooth is never disrupted. I must admit that I got lost in her directions for the thumb gusset/mitten top, so just winged it - my stitch counts were different, but it all worked perfectly. Dave is the hand model - I think he missed his calling :-)

This heavenly pile of alpaca fluff arrived at my doorstep this week from Jody (gypsyspinner). After seeing Jody's spinning (as well as her start to finish fiber prep and beautiful knitting), I decided I needed to experience spinning with alpaca. All of this fiber is from Hubbert Farms - there is a Cria Blend, Golden Suri, White Suri/Huacaya, Fawn Suri/Silk and some other beautiful blends - The original pile was twice as big, but half went to Marcy, my partner in fiber crime.

The alpaca has to wait though - because I'm spinning for a sweater.

I may be in WAY over my head, but I'm going for it anyway! This beautiful undyed Oatmeal Blue Faced Leicester (from Paradise Fibers) is the chosen fiber - 6 ounces done and 12-18 ounces to go (depending on the sweater). I'm on the hunt for a perfect pattern....

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January 21, 2010
What's This? A Sweater?

Did you think I had forgotten how to knit sweaters? Prior to 2004 (my entrance into knitting blogs and computer enhanced knitting), I had been mostly knitting sweaters - LOTS of sweaters with occasional hats/mittens thrown in - I seem to have pretty much dropped sweaters in lieu of socks over the past few years. I usually have a sweater on my needles, but it just sits in a corner forgotten most of the time. This simple raglan v-neck was started in March 2009 - It is the one I spilled a whole cup of coffee on in Virginia last year, without any lasting damage - It is a survivor!

I love top-down raglan construction worked in the round - so easy to get a good fit and very little finish work. This pullover fits to perfection and soft....oh so soft made from cotton and angora. Can you see the angora halo?

In the old days, I made complicated sweaters with cables/colorwork/lace, but realized that what I WEAR are simple plain sweaters - exactly like this one.

Pattern: Pink (Top-Down Raglan V-Neck Pullover) by Wendy Bernard from Custom Knits Yarn: Artful Yarns Serenade (70% pima cotton, 30% angora) in colorway 6001. 11.2 ounces (316 grams) - 6.3 skeins - 700 yards. Needles: circular US size 6 for ribbing; US size 7 for body Size: Medium - 35" Modifications: adjusted waist and sleeve shaping to fit my body - otherwise followed directions as written. Thank you to Cam, my 11 year old photographer :-)

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January 15, 2010
Ivy Vines and Pomegranate Yarn

This is the softest cowl on the face of the earth!

Pattern: Ivy Vines by Anne Hanson.
Yarn: 25 grams (1/2 skein - 120 yards) Colorado 100% Cashmere 3 ply fingering from Jabberwocky Farm. (natural light tan)
Needles: cuff 3.25mm - neck 2.75 mm - 16" circular
Size: Followed larger size directions, but used smaller needles and thinner yarn - Worked 4 repeats of body chart before garter edge. Mine ended up 19.5" around bottom edge - 16" around neck - 6.75" tall.

Other than these changes for gauge, I followed the excellent directions as written.

It was when I saw Kim's Ivy Vines, that I knew I had to make this cowl - It is everything I hoped for - my neck is hugged in warm, downy soft, luxurious lace. I took these photos by holding my arms out - therefore have a short neck, so it actually looks better in real life. I didn't get one with my whole head in the picture, so cut it all off instead - this is what they all looked like :-)

For the first time in many years, I have no socks on my needles - it feels a little weird and I miss having something simple to work on for take-along - so.....

From this beautiful FatCatKnits Fiber (60% sw merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon) in Pomegranate Colorway - I spun these 3 bobbins of singles.

Then plied (regular 3 ply) 430 yards (102 grams) of fingering wt. yarn for socks - the yarn is so light and soft and has quite a sheen from the bamboo. It is probably a bit underspun for socks, but I'm hoping the bamboo/nylon will help out in making them durable anyway.

There was a bit of leftover singles, so I used the opportunity to practice navajo plying - this is my teeny 25 yard skein of n-ply.

Next up....I actually finished a sweater - only took a YEAR :-)

I've figured out how you can leave your blog URL link in this new comment form (so I and others know who you are)....just click on "from" then click "my other site" and put the url there. Then when someone clicks on your name, the website link will be displayed. I don't know why they had to make it so confusing!

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January 8, 2009
Annemor #5

I have had Selbuvotter since the day it was released and these are the 1st mittens I've made from this book - more will certainly follow! I was immediately drawn to this particular pattern - the ravens were too wonderful to pass up.

I have a need to use up every last inch of my handspun, so decided to use the leftovers from these socks coupled with some Elann Peruvian Highland Wool. I doubled the handspun for a perfect worsted weight compliment to the grey yarn.

Pattern: Annemor #5 from Selbuvotter by Terri Shea
Yarn: Leftover FatCatKnits Merino handspun doubled up and 42 grams of Elann Peruvian Highland Wool
Needles: 2 mittens together on 1 US 6 circular needle
Size: Followed directions for child's small, but used worsted wt. yarn and big needles so they fit me perfectly - also fit both boys....but NOT Dave.
Modifications: Other than size mentioned above, I made several other modifications. I decided to mirror the birds, so followed chart backward on one mitten. I also noticed that the palm pattern was not centered, so I centered it by picking up 1 less stitch over each thumb gusset (cast on 4 stitches) and eliminating the 1st stitch on that side - this made perfect symmetrical mitten top decreases too...I like this simple mod a lot! The chart has 2 stitches that are black and should be white (3 rows above thumb gusset 2nd stitch in on both mittens). To make the thumb patterning work, I picked up a total of 7 stitches before starting the thumb. There is other errata for this pattern related to the gusset.

I love the basic design of all the Selbuvotter mittens, especially the thumb gusset - I like the way it looks AND the way it fits! Here they are with the ravens right side up...

New yarn....

This is Crown Mountain Farms Falkland Wool ( January fiber of the month). I was aiming for 3 ply worsted wt and got pretty close - this is probably between worsted/aran. I split the roving into 3 horizontal sections, spun each onto a separate bobbin and plied the 3 together for some soft, round, squishy, luscious deep pink yarn...final tally is 212 yards from 104 grams. What to knit?? I'm thinking something with fat cables.

Sorry about this comment form - many people are complaining to "Echo" about the fact that no one can leave their email/URL, so hopefully things will change. In the meantime thank you for letting me know who you are :-)