Tour de France Knitting

So before my pregnancy induced lack of knitting mojo hit full force, I signed up to participate in the Tour de France Knit Along. Sadly, despite this being Day 11 of the Tour, this is the first time I’m posting about it. Sorry, folks.

I admit that the major part of this is that my fatigue has left me staring into space while listening to the Tour a lot more than knitting while I watch it. However, the shear heat that we’ve been experiencing at our house has also made knitting and sitting with a hot laptop in my lap less than appealing.

So how is my knitting Tour going? Well, after I realized that my energy level meant that my original goal (knitting a cycling jersey for my husband) was unrealistic, I decided to focus on the many shawls I highlighted in the last post. Specifically, the Stolen Moments Wrap.

I thought alot about how appropriate this was. First, for my own comfort, it is lovely mercerized cotton. Second, it is a relatively simple pattern, but it is quite long. This second part seemed to fit the bill exactly. The Tour is long. It takes endurance. I thought about how I would have to stick to it, just like the riders must for mile after mile.

The only problem was that it was long, and pretty much looks the same as I go along, making blogging about it really boring. You may have noticed that is the same picture as last time. I promise, I’ve made progress, but really the essentials are the same. It’s just longer. Thus, another bad excuse for not blogging enough. Sigh.

However, there is hope. I’ve decided that in addition to my major Tour project, I’ll be working on some stage wins as well. (Mostly to help the blog be more interesting.) After all, the riders on the Tour must seize the opportunities that come their way.

So for my first stage win attempt, I’ve cast on another Baby Surprise Jacket. It is out of Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock in the Life’s A Beach color way. Looking great so far. I’ll try to have a photo of progress for the next post.

A Shawl Jag

As things slowly warm up around here, I’ve transitioned from working on cozy sweaters to lovely lace shawls. Some I’ve been working on for a while; others have been inspired by some gorgeous yarn I picked up on my recent tour de Connecticut yarn shops when mom was in town.

 

This gorgeous Schaefer Laurel in the Catherine the Great colorway came from Yarns Down Under. So far, this is the result.

 

Mostly completed during our recent sailing trip, I’m not working on this too aggressively at this point since the cool, mercerized cotton will be nice to work on once things really heat up. The colors are stunning, though. And, I’m amazed at the really vivid colorway in the cotton. The pattern is Amy Swenson’s Stolen Moment’s Wrap.

Also from Yarns Down Under, is this Malbrigo Lace. I had heard stellar reports on this, and the intense color combined with the very reasonable price convinced me to give it a try.

 

I started this on a trip down to Atlanta for a friend’s wedding, so the pattern is simple and definitely improvised. I’m nearing the end and am pleased with the results so far.

In addition to these two recently started shawls, I’m also trying to dedicate some time to my long neglected Pi Shawl from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac.

Yeah. This project has definitely made me understand what people are talking about when they say their lace looks like chinese noodles. I am definitely going on faith at this point. But the fact that I’m already halfway through the last lace pattern keeps me going.
 

This is the yarn: J.Knits Lacelicious. Sorry that photo looks a little blury. This is one of the first yarns I picked up at Mocha’s Fiber Connection. Lovely stuff.

 

Well, the answer is…not long.

Almost immediately after writing the last post, I wound the skein into a ball.

And then, cast on for the Nova Scotia Old Shale Wrap.

The pattern is of my own invention, but is based on the Old Shale lace pattern for Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. Both the yarn (Hand Maiden Mini Maiden in Nova Scotia) and the pattern were a total dream. I could barely put it down, and it seemed to just flow right through my fingers.

After blocking, it wound up being 16 inches wide and 56 inches long. This is perfect for me and because of the lace pattern, I was able to use every last yard of the beautiful yarn. If I were taller, I might want a larger one. The blocking did all the difference on this one. Before blocking, the wrap barely met when wrapped around my shoulders. But after blocking, it gracefully drapes with plenty to spare.

Finishing this beauty inspired me into a spate of finish-it-upitis. So I’ve also finished a baby sweater, an ill-fated baby soaker, a pair of gloves, and several pairs of socks.

 P.S. I just updated the Completed Projects page with a bunch of the stuff I’ve finished this year.

Inspiration

This is what’s been inspiring me lately.

It is a beautiful skein of Mini Maiden from The Loopy Ewe. I want to make a small wrap out of it. I’ve looked at several existing patterns, but I think I’ll probably design my own. Only the shear number of works in progress is keeping me from casting on this instant.

I’m not sure how long I can hold out.

FOs for February

First things first. I have FOs to show off. The first has been a long time coming. In fact, it’s been over a year. It all started last Christmas when I decided that I should express my love and holiday good tidings for my husband by knitting him a complicated Aran sweater. Knowing that there was no way I’d be able to keep such a large project a secret, I decided to let him pick out his own pattern and yarn. After much cajoling, I took him down to my local yarn shop at the time and had him pick out a pattern and yarn. Unfortunately, this didn’t take place until December 18th and since I was in the middle of the Summer in Kansas Shawl, I decided that it wouldn’t be a Christmas present. But, Tyler was about to head out to sea for a deployment so I thought, surely I’ll have time to finish it by the time he gets back. Hmmm. Perhaps not. And then, well, it got hot and we were driving cross country, and…

 Well, at least it’s done now.

Not quite in time for Christmas, but at least it is well in time for the sweater season this year. It is the Gilead Pullover with Shawl Collar from this Jamieson’s book. I used Tahki Donegal Tweed in navy blue. The cables in this pattern are quite simple, and it wound up being the knit, purl pattern that was rather fiddly. He loves it, and I’m quite pleased with the result.

One of the projects I was working on in the mean time, was a long vest for me. In fact, the yarn and pattern were a gift from my mom for St. Nicholas Day.

It’s sort of a goofy picture of me, but at least you can see the sweater. It’s the Wide Collared Vest from Jo Sharp Knit Issue 3 in Silkroad DK Tweed. The colorway is called asparagus, which sort of makes me giggle. It was a great, quick knit. The only part that took a while is the collar, which is truly quite wide and quite long.

So, there’s some proof that I really do knit, and even finish things occassionally. I have several really cool things in the works that I’ll tell you about soon. I did make it to the LYS in town. It is called Mocha’s Fiber Connection, and is a complete treasure trove of gorgeous local products. They also have spinning classes, so I’ll probably sign up for one of those since Tyler finally finished putting together the beautiful spinning wheel my mom got me for Christmas.

 And, I even found a local knitting group, wahoo!

Happy 2008!

Well, the holidays are behind us, and I’ve come out with my wits and most of my wool intact. I must admit that the long lapse in posts has not been due to lack of ideas or knitting accomplishments, but to my reluctance to take the time to upload pictures. (Yes, that means my camera is back on track.) For some reason, that task is one I seem to put off. So, here is a little update, sans photos. 

The Christmas knitting went wonderfully well. I made a pair of socks for my father-in-law, a hat for my brother-in-law, a scarf and Christmas ornament for my mother-in-law, and a purse for my mother. All of these items were completed with plenty of time and sanity to spare.

You’ll notice the absence of Tyler’s Gilead Pullover in that list, but don’t get the impression that major progress wasn’t made. In fact, I made so much progress (both front, back and one sleave completed) I allowed myself to get distracted by a beautiful wide collared vest for myself. Mom sent me the yarn and pattern to me as a St. Nick gift from Churchmouse.  The yarn is lovely Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in the asparagus colorway, and I’m making the Wide Collared Vest from Jo Sharp’s Knit Issue 3. I love it, and it was the perfect easy knitting project for the drives up and down the eastern seaboard surrounding Christmas. This yarn brings us to my previous statement that most of my yarn survived the holiday season. One skein of the Silkroad Tweed fell to the jaws of Bailey, my inlaws Golden Retriever. Now, my mother-in-law knits, and the yarn was (I thought) safely on a table, but she managed to obscond with it and spread it all over the stairs in short, 6-8 inch lengths. That’s right, some how she managed to shred an entire ball of yarn. (Of course it was from far away, she couldn’t have picked the ball of Cascade 220 that would have been readily replacable.) But fortunately, Churchmouse still had one ball left in the dyelot I needed. Disaster averted.

Oh, yes. And, I also finished a pair of socks.

So now I’m still working on the neverending collar for the vest, the second sleave of Tyler’s sweater, the Plimoth Plantation gloves, and a pair of socks for a dear family friend.

 In other big news, Mom got me a beautiful spinning wheel for Christmas. Tyler has stained it and it now only lacks a poly coat and assembly before I can start learning to spin on it.

One last bit of exciting news, I found a LYS in my town. I haven’t visited yet, but it looks promising. I’ll give a full report when I get to visit.

In the meantime, happy knitting in 2008!

The Show Your Colors Shawl Finally Gets Blocked

Oh, I really wish my camera was in working order today. (Camera report: should be good to go by this weekend.)

When I woke up this morning I thought I’d get my day off by changing the sheets in the guest bedroom. To get double use out of the mostly fresh, white sheets, I thought I’d buckle down and block my Show Your Colors shawl. Yes, I finished the shawl way back in August, but we were in temp housing so I don’t think I ever blogged about it. You remember the shawl though, right? It came from this gorgeous yarn.

Yes, that’s Chewy Spaghetti lace weight in the Wicked colorway. I love it. It’s gorgeous. The bright green has subtle undertones of brown and blue. The knitting process was totally enjoyable. I knit most of it while we drove across the country. Since I finished it before we were in the house, I didn’t block it. (I don’t trust hotel floors or really sheets either, at least for colorfastness.)

To be honest, though, I have worn the shawl. Even in it’s pre-blocked state, I enjoyed wearing it. But, after looking at the pictures of my mom’s Summer in Kansas shawl, I decided I really should let the Show Your Colors shawl shine in all it’s glory.

So, before changing the sheets, I decided to block the shawl on the guest bed. I cleaned out my sink, and filled it with water and plunged the green shawl into my very white sink.

Hmm, there seemed to be a slight green tinge in the water. But that was probably just a reflection of the green shawl on the white sink.

I went and made my own bed and did some straightening up while the shawl soaked. Then I went back to lay the shawl out on the guest bed. And, that was when I really wished I had my camera. The sink was full of bright, bright green water. The shawl was carefully lifted from the water, rolled in a towel, and then spread gently out on the bed. But that water was so green.

I’ve closed the door and put the fan on to help with the drying process and keep myself from hovering over it to see if it has lost all of it’s beautiful color as it dries.

Wish me luck. I’ll have pictures of it on Monday no matter what the result.

Dare I Say It?

Christmas knitting has begun. Gasp. I know. Halloween is barely over, yet I am well on my way to finishing my Christmas knitting. Well, most of it.

Since my last post the sweaters have languished in favor of Christmas presents for family and friends. As such, I have finished objects proudly displayed in my yarn room. Last night I finished Tyler’s brown socks as well, so now I’ve cast on for a pair of Christmas socks. I’ve also finished a super cool scarf from Noro Silk Garden in a pretty green, grey colorway. I used a Knitty pattern called Edgar, and I am thoroughly pleased with the results. My mileage was better than the pattern suggested for a single skein. It was a fun knit, and I highly recommend it for gift knitting.

I’ve also knitted and stuffed several lavender eye pillows of my own design. I still need to get some pretty ribbon to accent them, but other than that they are ready to go.

And, I’ve knitted, though not yet felted, another present.

I am now knitting a pair of socks in Regia 4 ply Patch Antik. That link is even the right colorway, but mine came from Churchmouse during one of their awesome sales. Just my standard sock pattern, with the added excitement of guesstimating the recipient’s foot length.

So, all that sounds great, doesn’t it? I think I have a pretty good handle on my Christmas knitting. Except for that big blue sweater! Poor Tyler has been waiting for it for almost a year now. I know he deserves his lovely blue, cabled sweater.

Sigh.

Okay, okay, I’ll go back to cabling.

Confessions

So, I have a confession to make. I did something silly (no, I’m not telling you what) and as a result, I have no way of getting pictures of my current knitting projects online. So the long break in posts has been me hoping beyond hope that things would fix themselves and I’d be able to give you a report complete with pictures. Miracles have not yet happened though, so I’ve come with a written report and you’ll just have to use your imaginations.

I seem to have gotten over the moving-in knitting desert. I finished a lovely pair of socks (in my usual pattern with size 2 needles). They were made of Posh Yarn from the Loopy Ewe. I used the Water Nymph colorway, and I loved it. After checking out the Posh Yarn website, I realized that Posh makes a bunch of different sock yarns in combinations of merino and cashmere. The one I used was 30% cashmere and 70% merino. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Pretty much the only word I can think of to describe them. The only down side was that I did have a bit of color transfer while I was knitting them.

I also started some Cotton Panda socks in the Strawberry Lime colorway when we went to San Deigo for a wedding (of course from the Loopy Ewe). On returning to chilly New England, however, I’ve decided to put them on hold until spring starts to look nearer, or at least until the winter is driving me so crazy I need something bright and light to remind me that it will get warm again.

In the active project department, I am well into the second sock of a pair of chocolate brown socks for Tyler. They are made of Apple Laine Apple Pie. (Again, from the Loopy Ewe.) I’m using a pattern from Knitty called Thuja. This is the second pair of dark brown socks I’ve made for Ty. I knit the first pair for him while he was gone and some how went crazy and made them much too small for him. I persisted in completing them anyway and he wound up not being able to get them on his feet. Sigh. I claimed them for my own and then proceeded to loose them on a camping trip. Clearly, these socks had a destiny that did not include me or my family. The current pair is doing well, though. The first sock fits him very well, and the second sock is well on its way.

I am also working on a sweater for myself. Martha form Rowan Studio Issue 2. I’m using the recommended yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed in a very fall-y deep red. I bought the pattern and yarn at Churchmouse this spring with the thought that it would be my reward for completing our move to Connecticut. I decided it reminded me of the brilliant red leaves I remembered seeing here when I visited before we got married. It does. The leaves peaked last week, and my only regret was that the sweater wasn’t finished to wear with the leaves.

I’ve also pulled Tyler’s shetland cabled sweater out. Hopefully, for completion before Christmas. (Keep your fingers crossed for me.) I am almost done with the back.

Speaking of Christmas, I realized I need to get my other Christmas knitting going. Since some of the recipients are readers of this blog, I will only say that I’ve finished one present (now displayed proudly in my yarn room). And, am well on my way to finishing a second.

So, that’s the knitting project update. I’ll work on the picture thing. I swear.

The long awaited Summer in Kansas Shawl

Anyone who has moved recently will understand the long spans between posts. We are finally in our new home and, dare I say it, mostly settled. During the settling process my knitting production (let alone any time for blogging) was drastically decreased, and I am just now getting back on the horse.

The up side is that I had a burst of productivity right before we moved in. (No job, no internet, and no real home will do that to a knitter.) So, I should have plenty to show off until I get myself back up to speed. Part of that burst of productivity might also have been the inspiration of fibers I found along the way. My favorite was definitely some Buffalo Gold I picked up at the Yarn Barn in Kansas. Especially since we saw so many live buffalo in the national parks.

This one was actually following the road in Yellowstone National Park.  

This fall is looking quite busy as well though, so I’m still not promising daily posts. But, I will do my  best. In the mean time, here is some fun stuff to keep you busy.

Yes, that’s right, I have pictures of the Summer in Kansas Shawl. I know, I know. I finished it, well, months ago. But I forgot to take pictures of it when I left it with mom it’s intended recipient) on our way cross country. But she came to visit our new house last week so I talked her into posing for me.

I have to say, the finished Summer in Kansas makes the long time it took me to finish it well worth while. To be honest the last portion of the edging should not have taken me as long as it did, I just kept putting it off.

That is our new back deck. I am especially fond of the clemantis vines that adorn the railing.

So that’s all for today. I promise more pictures of my summer and my summer knitting to come.