Honeymoon Knitting

I have to admit, ever since the holiday season ended, I have been pretty focused on knitting for myself. I guess it is the consequence of spending the month before Christmas knitting for other people and it is the reason January is known as “selfish knitting month.” As I mentioned in my last post, I cast on and finished my Honey Cowl in pretty short order. Actually, my husband and I went on our belated honeymoon to Maui at the end of January and I finished the cowl on one of the evenings there. The next morning we went up to the summit of Haleakala crater and I was so glad that I brought it along! The temperature was in the 40′s that morning since the summit is at 10,023 feet above sea level and that was exceptionally warm! Needless to say, most of the clothing I brought was for warm weather so the cowl all of a sudden became an essential part of my wardrobe that morning!

Black sand beach on the road to Hana

Knitting at the Seven Pools in Haleakala National Park

We were in Hawaii for a week so of course I very carefully planned planned several knitting projects to keep myself busy on the flight and during our downtime. Naturally, I worked on almost none of it. I mean really, we were in Hawaii, when did I think “downtime” was going to happen? One of the projects I packed was the gorgeous Little Leaves shawlette that is beaded. For some reason I thought a beaded shawl would be practical travel knitting!  And just in case that wasn’t enough, I threw in yarn for two other shawls. You know, just in case. Well, I am happy to say that I at least cast on the beaded shawl and knit a few rows, but it was only possible to work on it in the evening in the hotel room. Very fortunately, I tossed in a blue sock out of some Knit Pick’s Stroll that I had just begun. Since it was just a basic vanilla sock it ended up becoming the bulk of my knitting on the trip. Most of the time, stockinette stitch was the most complicated thing I could handle! In fact, to keep the complications to a minimum I even did the afterthought heel technique so I won’t even have to worry about it until we got home! Although overall I didn’t do a lot of knitting, I made sure to have Chris snap a photo of me knitting at all of the scenic spots we stopped at. It amused me to have gorgeous scenery in the background with me absorbed in knitting in the foreground. Don’t worry they were all (mostly) staged!

Knitting after dong a little snorkeling

We had a fabulous time in Hawaii, and on our way to the airport we made one final stop, at a Hawaiian fabric store that we had noticed on the way in. I thought it would be great to get some Hawaiian print fabric to make my own souvenir. Well, I did pick up a nice Hawaiian print, but then I noticed a section off fabric with awesome Japanimation-like cartoon prints. Well, I have a secret love for Japanimation and since I had never seen fabric like this before, I knew I had to have some! I grabbed a yard of my two favorites, one of which is in the process of becoming a purse! Don’t worry, my next post will be all sewing all the time because I have some great stuff to share!

The needles helped me stop on the correct row when I ripped out the toe!

And what about the blue socks you might ask? Well they didn’t go completely smoothly. After being unhappy with the toe decrease and making it too short in the foot, I ended up ripping back to the beginning of the toe decreases. After lengthening the foot and redoing the decreases I am happy with it and finally working on the second sock!

Stay tuned for adventures in sewing!

Endless Knitting

So sorry I disappeared for a while, but I am going to go ahead and blame my fabulous new job at Jimmy Beans Wool! It isn’t that I had less free time since I am still working a normal 40 hour week. It is just that now that I am surrounded by yarn and fabric all day, all I want to do in my spare time is knit or sew! And yes, the sewing thing is a little bit new for me, and there will definitely be more posts on that in the future! I never realized this before, but there were certain brands of yarn that I tended to buy all the time. Now that I work in a place with a huge variety of different brands I am so much more aware of just how many fabulous options there really are! Granted, I am still a sucker for Madeline Tosh yarns, and I don’t think that is going to change anytime soon. However, I am discovering so many other fiber companies that I wasn’t familiar with before. I am practically smacked in the face every day by inspiration, so much so that I am redoubling my efforts at pattern design. There are ideas literally swirling around in my head all the time and I am finally beginning to get them put down on paper. You will definitely be hearing more on this in the future!

Here I am modeling my sister's cowl! I loved it so much I made one for myself!

Manly linen stitch scarf

As for recent knitting, there has been a fair bit since I posted last. Of course there was a slew of Christmas projects, including a manly Linen Stitch Scarf out of Koigu for my brother, a Honey Cowl out of Madeline Tosh DK for my sister and a Rowan Kidsilk Creation ruffle scarf for my Mom. I don’t have photos of this last one, but you can go see it on the Rowan website, and you should know that it took me less then an hour to make. Talk about a quick and easy knit that also results in a lovely finished object!

Diplodocus Sweater

I also ventured into the land of colorwork a little bit with the Diplodocus Sweater for my nephew. It gave me a little trouble so I actually didn’t finish it in time for Christmas. Luckily his birthday is in January! The pattern has a ring of dinosaurs around the yoke that are totally adorable, but unfortunately leaves floats that are 8-14 stitches long at some points. I was pretty unhappy with that, and after several failed attempts, I ended up cutting lengths of each of the colors that were several yards long and then using a tapestry needle, threading the long floats through every couple stitches on the back side of the sweater. This proved a reasonable solution and I was happy with the results!

I loved my sister’s Honey Cowl so much, that immediately after Christmas, I cast on one for myself! It is also out of Madeline Tosh DK, but this time in the Opaline colorway (the original was Alizaran). I was able to finish it in pretty short order and I absolutely love it! Slipped stitch patterns are so great for showing off colorways that are variegated and I guess I am just a little bit hooked on them right now!

My Honey cowl from the summit of Haleakala Crater on Maui!

The other project I finished recently is a reversible cable scarf for my husband. It is pretty basic and I didn’t actually follow a pattern. I just wanted it to be ribbed with a few cables that are reversible and I think I accomplished that! Unfortunately, winter seems to be passing us by right now and it hasn’t really been cold enough for him to wear it! Oh well, maybe next year….

I have also been doing some sewing so stay tuned for the next post with what is going on in that particular sphere of craftiness!

Spinning, Cassidy, Coastal Knits and a new job!

The past few weeks have been incredibly eventful and I have so much to share! First, at the Reno Celtic Celebration I met the ladies of the Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers, and after a brief lesson I was completely hooked on spinning. It is so cool to take a pile of fiber and turn it into yarn. I am not very good yet and my yarn is coming out a thick and thin approximately bulky weight, but I am still learning! At least the yarn is soft and brightly colored, and hopefully I can find something perfect to make with it! Give me time and I intend to create perfectly spun, beautiful yarn!

The product of my first spinning attempt!

Cassidy sleeves

As for knitting, my Cassidy cardigan is progressing beautifully. The Miss Babs Yowza Whata Skein is gorgeous and soft and so far I just love it! I have completed the back and two fronts and am now working on the sleeves. I decided to use the sleeves as an opportunity to try a new technique. I am doing them two at a time magic loop. I have never tried this before, however, the concept of magic loop knitting seemed simple enough so I decided to give it a try. I have to say, for the first few rows I kinda hated it. It is hard to keep the cable twisting and looping the way you want it too until there are a few rows of knitting on the needles to help weigh it down. In the end though, it is worth it to me because now I can be absolutely sure that each sleeve is coming out exactly the same. After I finish the sleeves it is the home stretch with just blocking, sewing, button bands and the hood left to do. Wait, on second thought, that is actually a lot of work…that’s ok, the end product will be worth it! Plus I am eye balling the Rocky Coast Cardigan from Coastal Knits and as more and more gorgeous projects pop up on Ravelry I am sure that I won’t be able to wait too long to cast it on.

Coastal Knits by Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig

Speaking of Coastal Knits…go buy it now! I can’t recommend it more, and nearly every pattern is going into my queue. It is a joint publication by Alana Dakos of Nevernotknitting and Hannah Fettig of Knitbot. Though they have very different styles, the coastal thread maintains cohesion throughout the book and the end product is ten beautiful patterns that flow together perfectly. Also, they have a story for each pattern which gives you an inside look at the creative process behind each design, making them even more appealing in my opinion. In addition to the Rocky Coast Cardigan, the Gnarled Oak Cardigan, the Cambrian Cowl and the Rustling Leaves Beret are all on my list! In short, check it out, and I am sure you won’t be disappointed!

The final piece of news I have is that I have a new job! As of yesterday I am the newest employee of Jimmy Beans Wool, a fabulous yarn shop based in Reno, but with a large online business as well. I am so excited to be working there, and can’t wait to get started next week. I attended a dinner Thursday night where I meet most of my new coworkers and they are a fabulous group of ladies! Although there is a part of me that is sad to be leaving archaeology behind, I think that I am going to be much happier with this job.

The Reno Celtic Celebration

Last weekend, Chris and I headed over to the annual Reno Celtic Celebration. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, having never been to anything like this before, so I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting and fun it was. We saw the opening ceremony which included two pipe bands, the Sierra Highlanders and the City of Sacramento Pipe Band. I know a lot of people don’t like the bagpipes, but I really love the sound of the music they make. Plus, they have people who do cool drum stick twirling as part of the routine!

The City of Sacramento Pipe Band

After that we headed over to the dance stage and saw some great traditional country dancing and Scottish Highland dancing. When I was in college I took an aerobics class to fill the sports/recreation credits that Carolina required. My instructor happened to be part of a highland dance team and she gave us several classes on the technique. Can I just say, it is REALLY difficult. You are on your toes the entire time, and each move includes a hop. It is very aerobic and requires incredible calf muscles all at the same time. It was an amazing workout, even though I was terrible at it (of course, I’ve never been much good at dancing)! Anyway, I have so much respect for the girls who can perform this type of dance.

Awesome Kilt Hose!

While we were observing all of this, one thing I couldn’t stop myself from doing was spotting all of the hand knit socks! Or, I suppose they would be called kilt hose, since most of them were worn by men in kilts. They must have some knitters in their life that really love them because some of them were crazy complicated! I saw some in the aran style, with cabled diamonds and seed stitch in the center. Also, another pair had lovely cables all over. Generally speaking, they all had complicated, but beautiful, cableing and they have made me want to knit a pair. If I am feeling ambitious, perhaps Rhiannon, by Cookie A. or Kilravock, by Sharon Rose which are a little less complicated but lovely!

And now, the highlight of my day. We were on our way out when we spotted some spinning wheels set up in an out of the way corner of the festival. Naturally, I made a bee line for them and that is where I found the Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers. I spoke with several of the ladies, and I even got a quick spinning lesson! I have been thinking about getting into spinning for a while now. There is something so satisfying about creating a project from beginning to end, and I think my ultimate goal is going to be spinning enough yarn for a sweater, and then knitting it as well. After my short encounter, I am hooked on spinning and watch for future posts on how it is going!

I'm Spinning!

Wedding Knitting, Part 2

Last winter, shortly after getting engaged, I decided that in addition to knitting a highly complicated beaded shawl for myself, I was also going to knit a small shawl for each bridesmaid and the flower girl. In January, 9 months away from the wedding this seemed totally feasible. And it really should have been easy had I not continued getting distracted by other knitting projects. By February I had chosen the Traveling Woman (with an extra repeat of chart A), and bought Hand Maiden Sea Silk yarn in ivory to match the yarn I bought for my shawl. I cranked out the first two over the next few months, but then the distractions set in. I figured I still had plenty of time to finish them…

And then some months went by and I knit these projects instead:

Twisted Flower socks, HIgh Tides shawl and Seeta fingerless mitts

The adorable flower girl showing off her mini shawl

But finally in August I refocused and by early September I finished the fourth shawl. I had a small ball of leftover yarn from each shawl, and those four combined made a tiny version of the Traveling Woman for the flower girl. Of course, I didn’t finish it until a few days before the wedding, but in my defense it was only because I was focusing on my shawl.

The bridesmaids with their shawls

Anyway, the knitting all went smoothly and the only hitch I ran into was that one of the skeins was a drastically different color then the other 3, even though it was the same color way. It is hand painted so variety is only to be expected, but this was significantly darker with more color variation then the others. I decided to give that one to my sister, the maid of honor, and play it off as if it was on purpose so she would stand out. On the flower girl shawl, I used the different yarn for the end and since it was darker it looked like I faded it on purpose. The effect was actually pretty cool! All in all, the girls seemed to like their gifts, so the work was worth it in the end. And hopefully they will be able to wear them outside of the wedding as well!

The Cassidy Cardigan so far

Now that the craziness of wedding knitting is over, all I want to do is knit the opposite of lace! I still love shawls, and will certainly come back to them but right now I need something different. So what is the opposite of lace you might ask? How about a worsted weight cardigan that is covered in cables and hooded? Enter the Cassidy cardigan by Bonne Marie Burns. Still complicated, because I love interesting knitting, but completely different, and that is what I want! I swatched today and will be beginning my Cassidy shortly in the lovely light gray yarn from Miss Babs that I picked up at Sock Summit. I can’t wait!

Wedding Knitting, Part 1

Last Saturday, the big day was finally here. Chris and I got married and it was fabulous! We did it right on the beach at Lake Tahoe, and it was one of the most beautiful days I have ever seen. We kept it fairly small with just family and close friends which was exactly what we wanted.

Chris and I during the toast

I wish I could say that the days leading up to the wedding were completely stress free, but they definitely were not. And it was all my fault too. Everything with the caterer, and the venue and the florist, and all those things people usually have a problem with were perfect. My mom was especially wonderful and made sure that everything looked just the way we envisioned it would. However, my penchant for procrastination almost caused me to not finish my wedding shawl. I was up until 2:30 am the day of the wedding blocking it…fortunately it dried quick and everything turned out fine. I do want to re-block it at some point because I was definitely cutting corners and I want to make the edge decoration a little more even and nice looking. Of course, only me or another knitter would notice something like that!

I actually wore my shawl for a little bit!

Overall, I feel as though I have created my personal Holy Grail of knitting. I got serious about knitting 4 years ago, and about 2.5 years ago I found Ravelry. Aeolian was one of the first patterns I fell in love with, but it was way above my skill level. I knew I would make it eventually though. When I got engaged, I knew I had to make a shawl, and I also knew it had to be Aeolian. I had advanced enough in my knitting that even though there were tons of new techniques (beads and nupps for starters!) I dove right in anyway. And then I put it down….for months, and months. I didn’t even progress past the first chart until a month before the wedding! Needless to say, it came down to the wire. I knit the final 46 row chart in around 4 days which must be a record or something! There were several painful moments, and lots of late nights, but it was totally worth it. It turned out beautiful and will be something really special to pass down to our future children.

Blocking at 2am

Here is some quick info about the shawl. I knit it in Handmaiden Lace Silk, and the colorway is ivory. Since the skein was 984 yards, I decided to fudge the size a little to maximize yardage. I ended up knitting a size exactly between the shawlette and shawl. In other words, I did the yucca chart 8 times, the agave chart 2 times and then followed the rest of the charts as written. I never counted the stitches but it should have been around 750 by the end. I ended up with a large, but delicate and lovely shawl and I am so proud of myself for finishing it! I didn’t even make a mistake that required going back more then a few stitches.

Ta Da!

You may be wondering, what was so important that I put off knitting my incredibly complicated wedding shawl until the month before the wedding? There is a very good answer to that question (other then that I am crazy!), which you will have to check back to find out about!

Sock Summit Wrap-up

Yes, I know, Sock Summit was nearly a month ago, I just haven’t had a chance to get this post out. The weekend following Sock Summit I went to Chicago for a lovely bridal shower/bachelorette party. My family did such an amazing job and I had so much fun, but it has also contributed to my not being motivated to post. But finally, I’m back!

Sock Summit 2011, was my very first knitting or fiber related conference and it was completely amazing! I have never been in one place with so many knitters before which was exciting in itself. Throw in the Marketplace and the classes on top of that and it was mind-blowing.

The Marketplace was fabulous. I have never seen so much beautiful yarn in one place and I definitely maxed out my budget! I prefer to look at as I bought a future sweater, three potential pairs of socks and a possible shawlette! The booth I kept going back to and ultimately bought the most yarn from was Miss Babs. Her color ways are gorgeous and the yarn is soft and luxurious. I got a sweaters worth of worsted and two skeins of sock yarns from there. I also was interested in trying the Sanguine Gryphon yarn so I picked up a skein of Skinny Bugga. The final item (not pictured) was an impulse buy on the last day. It is a GORGEOUS skein of lace weight yarn from Jill Draper. I can’t wait to make a small shawl from it!

Sock Summit Booty (Sorry about photo quality!)

I also picked up several things that I had heard about but wanted to purchase in person rather than online. The first is Soak, a soap specifically for washing hand knits and other delicate items. I also picked up some Heel, a foot lotion made by the same company in the cucumber scent which smells wonderful. The second thing I had heard about is the Lo-Lo Bar from the Bar-Maids Company. As soon as I touched it I knew I had to have one! I leaves your skin moisturized, but not greasy, unlike other lotion bars I have tried. Finally I bought a much-needed small project bag that will be perfect for traveling. It is from Slipped Stitch Studios and is absolutely adorable! I was in desperate need of a cable needle for my current project so I decided to try the Lantern Moon style. It’s probably no surprise that I love these too! All in all, if all I had done was attend the marketplace I would have felt the trip was worth it.

But, that is not all I did! I also signed up for three classes. Lately, I have been very interested in learning how to design my own knitting patterns. I have so many ideas floating around in my head but I am not always sure how to execute them. All of my classes were geared toward learning how to do just that. The first class, Choosing Among Choices with Laurel Coombs, turned out to be way below my skill level, but I still learned a few new techniques, which is always good! The second, Story Socks with Deb Accuardi, was a very free flowing class that takes your personal experiences and turns them into a sock pattern. It was very inspiring and I love the personal touch Deb brings to all her designs. The third, Designing off the Cuff with Anne Hanson, was the most informative class that I took. She focused on designing socks with stitch patterns that you personally like for yourself. With her input I feel ready to begin a pair of socks using a lacy stitch pattern that I have completely fallen in love with. I can’t wait to get started!

Viridescent Fingerless Mitts

In knitting news, I signed up for another test knit and have since finished it. The Viridescent fingerless mitts grabbed my attention because the have a very interesting cable pattern up the center and that is really appealing to me right now. I am using Madelinetosh Sport in a subtly variegated green colorway that is gorgeous! The only problem is the yarn is a little heavy for the gauge the pattern calls for. Next time I will go for fingering weight yarn! Definitely watch for this pattern though. It is really a great knit!

Now that those are done, I have completely refocused all of my energy on wedding knitting. The big day is fast approaching (September 17th). I made progress on both my wedding shawl and the secret project that I am working on. I know this is the first I have mentioned of the secret project, and I promise full disclosure after the wedding since they are gifts. There that’s all I am saying! My Wedding Aeolian is coming along slowly but surely. I have a feeling it is going to be blocking the night before the wedding, if I finish at all….fingers crossed!