joyousknits

Random Thursday

 

1. I don't get it.  How is it the Estes Vest (from IK fall 2008) knit itself in a week, (even the collar and armhole edges are done), but won't knit itself the front edges and get some toggles.  It's been like this for over a month.

2. Yay! The Embossed Leaves socks knit from Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn didn't bleed in the wash.

3. I made a swatch last night.  It's chenille.  Don't judge. Yet.

 

4. This is one of my oldest ufos from 4-5 years ago, all because I couldn't bring myself to embroider it. I'm not sure I can get stocking stitch this even nowadays.  Some things don't get better with age and experience.

5. I secretly hope that my American colleague will have some leftover pumpkin pie to bring in to work tomorrow.  Happy Thanksgiving to you if you celebrate this holiday! 

November

is something of a birthday month, with L and H celebrating two weeks apart.

 

Here they are, my cheeky monkeys, aged 9, 11, and 13. 

 

Here are their feet, sized 7, 9, and 11.  Do I seem slightly obsessed with their feet size?  I am, because it totally correlates to the time it takes me to knit them socks.  Can you blame me for hesitating to knit such big socks?

 

But L, the 11 year old, really shows his appreciation by wearing his handknit socks all.the.time, only to take them off for a shower.  So I knit him a pair that he could wear all.the.time, even with his school uniform (as long as doesn't take his shoes off to reveal the green bits, heh).

 

The pattern is Nancy Bush's Country Socks from Folk Socks.  The yarns used are 2 balls of navy blue Regia Silk, contrasted with just under 20 g of lime Araucania Ranco.  I cast on 64 sts so didn't need to do any calf shaping.

L's wearing them right this minute as he sleeps. :-)

One cowl, two cowl

I've been looking at cowl patterns for a while, to put to good use the precious skeins of yarn in the stash.  I decided on the simplest ones, to let the yarn do the talking (and for some mindless knitting too of course).

 

This purple one is based on the Diagonal Rib Cowl.  I cast on 80 sts, using a 4.5 mm needle. The yarn is Chameleon Colorworks' Evolution (color Eggplant), held double.  I used up all of two skeins. This is an Optim wool, and feels as if it's got a good dose of silk in it...very yummy, and not itchy at all.  The gauge is a little tighter than in the pattern, as you can't see the yo's here, but I like that it doesn't slouch too much. 

 

This one is based on the Aspen Neck Cowl, 100 sts on 4.5 mm needles, using 2 balls of  Misti Alpaca's Baby Alpaca Royal.  Seriously good stuff.  Has that same powdery softness as cashmere.   I would definitely need to get more for myself when I go off the stash diet (that could be soon).

 

Both ended up about 10 inches across and 9 inches high.  These took a couple of days each to knit up.  At this rate, I could get another dozen or so done before Christmas! ;-)

Socks for mom

I must have looked past Nancy Bush's Spey Valley socks a million times while thumbing through Knitting on the Road.  They looked like just any ol' pair of ribbed socks, until I got my own pair through a sock swap, that is.  That Vikkel braid got my attention!

 

So these were put on the queue, and because this pattern fit me so well, I thought they would be perfect for my mom too. We have like mother, like daughter feet.

 

Off to my mom these socks go! 

Jacoby(s)

I thought I would have to go without a post today because I hadn't taken pictures this morning, but then I remembered these Jacoby mitts.  They are the last of my really old fos. (Finally, I'm freeing up some brain space for remembering things other than details of old fos, heh.)

My mil rarely requests handknits, but when she does, she's quite specific, so none of that vague, guessing around, will-she won't-she like it business.  At the end of last year, as cold weather set in, she wanted a pair of fingerless mitts, in thin. black. yarn.  Can't say I was thrilled about that but at least I knew they would be well received. I had some Sundara sock yarn left over from Tiit's socks, and knit these using the free Berroco Jacoby pattern.  It's easier to see on the website the detail of the neat way the gusset is formed from one of the ribs.

   

(Can you see from the newspaper that it was Finland's National Day?  Told you this was an ooold fo!) 

Then in May, I used the remaining stripey yarn, also from Tiit's socks, and made another pair for the niece.

 

The 2x2 ribs make these very stretchy, and they'd fit a big variety of sizes.  I highly recommend this pattern if you only have 40-50 g of fingering weight yarn (preferably stripey, ok?), and need a quickie-ish gift.  Speaking of which, I need to get going on my gift knitting!

Have a great weekend!

Klaralund!

 

I've always wanted to make Klaralund (from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Noro book 2) but couldn't get over the itch of Kureyon or Silk Garden, so I was thrilled when Noro came out with Matsuri, a cotton stripey yarn, and in dk weight to boot.

   

I started by  knitting from one sleeve cuff to the other in one piece.  The sleeves are straight, instead of belled.  If you don't already know, I'm a bit picky about matching the stripes.  It was a bit of a blessing (ha!) that of the nine balls of yarn used for this sweater, eight of them had knots, and so all that cutting and having enough of whatever colors to match turned out not to be a problem. 

   

I picked up stitches from the upper body and knit the lower part top-down and in the round.  In order to have stripes that aren't too thin from knitting longer rows, I knit with alternate balls of yarn that started at the same color.  There were some rows in the front where the colors didn't match/blend exactly (in left picture) but in general the stripes turned out about the same width as the sleeves.  I added a little waist shaping too.

   

Klaralund weather has finally arrived. Yay!

A to Z

In the middle of my recent sewing craze, I came across this inspiring Japanese sewing book.

   

The ISBN is 978-4-579-11204-3.  I love almost everything in this book.  Most of the shapes are very simple, but the construction is rather unconventional (think sewing in the vein of Norah Gaughan or Teva Durham's knits).

   

One of the patterns I would really like to try is the white v-neck t-shirt, which is double-layered from folding with a twist a piece of cloth that's cut in one piece.  I wish I can explain it better, but trust me, it's cooool.

   

I have some stripey Nani Iro gauze for the tank dress, and the reversible skirt on the right would be very wearable too.  The pictoral instructions in this book are a bit scant compared to other Japanese books I've used, and there're things like welt pockets for the shorts in the middle right-hand picture, so I wouldn't recommend this book for a total beginner.

From all the patterns to choose from, I started with the jacket in the upper right hand picture, because I happened to have a slubby loosely woven cotton that was perfect for it.

 

There're three versions of this jacket in the book, but I only had enough fabric to do the simplest, which doesn't have facings nor a lining. 

   

The fabric is cut on the bias, so it doesn't fray too badly, except around the neckline and parts of the pockets.  Still, I was very paranoid about it falling apart, so I used nearly a whole bottle of Fray-check on all the raw edges (inside seams are serged).  I think it was overkill though, because the edges are kind of stiff now.  :p

Maris

The first time I posted about this cardigan was waaaaay back in February 2007, when all the pieces had already been knit up.  

 

Pattern source: Maris, from Rowan 41.  Yarn: 9 balls Rowan Calmer in Bleached. 

Knitting time:  two weeks.  Seaming time: one gazillion years.  

  The front bands are folded down and tacked with buttons, as are the sleeve cuffs. 

 

It sure feels good to finish!