Wednesday, May 31, 2017

In Love With Lilacs

Another pair of socks is "done and dusted", as the saying goes.


THE DETAILS

Pattern:  Cast on 60 sts, 2x2 ribbing,
stocking stitch leg and foot,
short row heel, shaped toe.

Needles:  US #0 / 2.0 mm

Size:  Medium

Color exclusive to The Loopy Ewe:
"In Love With Lilacs"

Each month The Loopy Ewe offers an exclusive colorway.  This one is from May, 2016.

Ravelry Link:  In Love With Lilacs

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Roger Moore

I heard on the news today that Roger Moore has died.  I was a bit surprised that he was 89.  I would have guess he was younger.  He has had a varied career.  Before he was James Bond he was a model, showing off sweaters on knitting patterns.  This was back in the 1950s.


R.I.P. 007.

Monday, May 22, 2017

The Best of Both Worlds

As a huge fan of both Pink Floyd and Fair Isle knitting, this is the most creative picture I've seen in quite a while.  I like it and wish I'd thought of it!

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Struggling With Color

Last year a good friend passed away and her husband wanted her knitting friends to have her yarn.  She had lots of beautiful yarns including The Plucky Knitter in various shades and bases.  I decided that I would make a sweater.

Stripes was the most logical choice as there were a number of single skeins.  I have some Plucky Yarn in my stash, but I preferred to use only hers for this project if I could.  I started this top-down design, A Mermaid Darkly by Yelena M. Dasher (Ravelry link).

Originally I had planned to start and end with the color "Rye".  It's also used in the two-row stripe where the colors change.  It wasn't long before I realized that there would not be enough of the color to end with it at the bottom, so I order a skein of Rye.  The original one is Snug Fingering, but the new one is Primo Fingering and the color is a bit darker.  I can live with that.  I was also okay with purchasing just one skein in order to complete the sweater as I envisioned.


I had planned to use at least 6 or 7 colors, starting with Rye - then going lighter with Noisette and then Brulée, then to Breakfast Blend and followed by moss green and the darker rye.  I started knitting but didn't like the direction these colors were taking me, so I ripped out the moss green, going back to where the Breakfast Blend ended on the body.  Then, I wasn't sure if the tan was working, so I ripped out the stripe on the body and knitting another Noisette stripe.  My plan was to knit it, then another Brulée, another Noisette and finish with new Rye.

Now that I'm looking at the photo, again I'm not sure.  Maybe I like the Breakfast Blend afterall.  Maybe I should put it back into the body, replacing the second Noisette stripe.  If I so, than what's next:  repeat the last 3 colors and end with Rye?  Maybe I should reverse them, Breakfast Blend --> Brulée --> Noisette --> Rye?  Confusing?

 At the moment I just can't make up my mind, which is frustrating, as I'm anxious to finish and wear this sweater.  Will I rip out the last stripe on each of the sleeves? Or, will I ripped out the bottom color on the body, than choose the one already chosen on the sleeves.

I guess I should just make up my mind and go for it.  It's not like I'm trying to create something to be hung in the Louvre.  Whatever I finally decide on, I'm sure it'll okay.  It's a sweater, for heaven's sake!

And.....if you're celebrating Mother's Day, have a good day tomorrow.

Dancing Dandelion

I haven't blogged much in the past little while.  Like so many others around me, I've been busy coughing and sneezing.  What time I did have, I've been on a quest to finish up a few knitting projects.

I have socks on my needles almost constantly.  Fortunately, they aren't always the same pair!  The mini-KAL I've doing with my friend is right on track.  Last month I finished the April socks, just as the month was closing out.  When these socks were done I was happy as they were getting to be a bit boring.  The color has a lot of similarities to the socks from March and I was ready for a change.  And change it is this month:  the May socks are shades of purple.  I'm also making a pair of socks in a bright orange.  Subtle?  I think not!  Boring?  Definitely not.


THE DETAILS

Pattern:  Cast on 60 sts, 1x1 ribbing,
stocking stitch leg and foot,
short row heel, shaped toe.

Needles:  US #0 / 2.0 mm

Size:  Medium

Color exclusive to The Loopy Ewe:
"Dancing Dandelion"

Ravelry Link:  Dancing Dandelion

Tomorrow I'm planning to blog about a sweater that I'm working on and my color decisions.  I hope you'll come back.  I'm open to suggestions.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

News Bits - 5/2/17 Edition

Book:

I learned today that there is a new book in the works by Alice Starmore called "Glamourie".  I can't find a link to it but will add one later if I see one.  It's described as entering "the magical world of Scottish folklore".  Glamourie is the Scots term for magic.  I'm looking forward to.  I've seen the front cover and, if it doesn't change, the cover sweater will likely be a cardigan/jacket that will be on my needles at some point in the future.  In the meantime, I have the yarn for three other Starmores:  Amphora (started, but I'm thinking of restarting and making it a cardigan with a modified drop or set-in sleeve), Eala Bhan and Meadowsweet.  I do love her designs.

Store:

The Jamieson's store, on Commerical Street in Lerwick, decorated their window to celebrate the Shetland Folk Festival, which just ended.  If you look to the right I think you can see why I particularly liked this window display:


On the web:

Have you ever watched a show like Project Runway or the Great British Sewing Bee and wondered if a similar knitting show could be done?  Well, the Danish have done it.  The show is on You Tube and called "Den Store Strikkedyet" or "The Great Knitoff".  I watched the first two episodes of season two.  The first episode is all in Danish, but the second one has subtitles and it's not at all difficult to follow along.

Shetland (TV Series):

For those of you who have watched the Shetland TV series, the good news is that the fourth season is now being filmed.  I learned that today they were filming outside of the Ninian store.  I'm looking forward to watching it - soon, I hope.

Detective Jimmy Perez' home
On the needles:

With a new month starting, I've cast on for two new projects.  The first is a knitalong with the Solid Socks group on Ravelry.  The color for this month is orange, a color that I'm quite fond of.  My yarn is not just orange, it's ORANGE!

I'm also doing a mini-knitalong with my friend, S.  We're using the monthly sock yarn offerings from The Loopy Ewe for 2016 to make a project each month in 2017.  I've been sticking to socks for my projects.  For May the color is "In Love With Lilacs".  I cast on last night and have made pretty good progress today.  Both pairs of socks have a May 31st deadline.


Temptation Averted:

It seems like every knitter and knit shop I've seen on the web lately is going to participate in Joji Locatelli's knitalong.  I must admit that I was tempted but with a couple of sweaters and socks on the needles, I was good.  I'll watch as others knit.

Another book and more temptations:

Have you seen the book "Springtime Collection Six" by Marie Wallin?  I'm drawn to almost every sweater in the book.  For now, I'm just admiring!  My next Marie Wallin design is going to be "Lovage".  The yarn is waiting for me and I can't wait to cast on.

Denver Yarn Shop:

The shop Tea For You is closing around the end of May.  There will be an online store going forward as well as a Yarn Truck.  I hope that it's up and running in the first part of June as I'd like to check it out.  I've seen one Yarn Truck in Nashville from the Haus of Yarn.  I know that there is also one, Purlin' J,  in my hometown of Kingston, Ontario but I haven't seen it.

Now I'm off to turn a heel.....  Thanks for reading.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Procrastinator

Okay, I admit it.  I've been procrastinating about posting to my blog.  There has been lots going on in life, including a number of knitting projects.  I've been getting my money's worth from one project in which I knitted, ripped back, knitted, ripped back again.  More about that one next time as I need to take some pictures first.

For now...I have a finished object (FO)... a pair of socks.

I have lots of sock yarn and certainly didn't need another skein, but when I saw the color "From The Ashes" from local yarn company/dyers, Ancient Arts, I couldn't resist.  Previous blog post and pictures are here.  I used exactly half of the generous skein and next month the rest is going to a friend for her to enjoy.  When I saw the skein I didn't know that it was going to stripe.  That was a pleasant surprise.


THE DETAILS

Pattern:  Generic.  Cast on 60 sts., stocking stitch leg and foot,
short row heel, shaped toe.

Needles:  US #0/ 2.0 mm

Size:  Medium

Yarn:  Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts
Color:  From The Ashes

Ravelry Link:  From The Ashes

Note:  The socks are actually a wee bit brighter than in the picture, a nice rich red.  The colors in my earlier blog post are more accurate.