joyousknits

Fire and Earth

I had 50g each of orange and cream Debbie Bliss cashmere to make two pairs of Fetching for gifts.  It turned out there wasn't enough yarn (boooo), and then, inspired by Project Spectrum, bought 50g more of each in red and pink (back in February when it was the fire colors of red, pink, and orange), and knit a scarf instead.

 

I cast on 200 sts on 5mm needles and tried to squeeze as many garter stitch ridges as I could out of each color, and used the remaining yarn for the fringe.  The scarf (without fringe) measures about 5.5 inches x 57 inches.

I kind of like the way this scarf brightens up my almost exclusively black winter wardrobe, and jjust might keep this for myself. :-) It woud certainly be the most extravagant scarf I ever owned! 

For the Earth months of April and May, I knit up the green Satakieli sock yarn in my stash (thank you Terhi for such a wonderful gift!). 

The pattern is Nancy Bush's Ellen's Stockings from Folk Knitting in Estonia. Instead of starting with 72 sts and decreasing to 68 sts, I just started with 68.  I also subbed in slipped stitch heels and round toes.

My favorite part of the socks is the twisted ribbing with eyelets in the back, even though surely no one would see them. 

Well, what should one knit after a successful pair of green socks,

but another pair!

Smooshy spirals

O Spiral Boot Socks!

addictive and fun to knit

Veronik’s design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

one lone skein needed

Dream in Color’s Smooshy in

luscious Gothic Rose

(Dracula would approve)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

elastic might help

keep the socks from falling and

bunching ‘round ankles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wear with boots or not,

I will one day, but alas!

too hot to wear now

 

 

Other details: used 2.25 mm needles, subbed a round toe, and made fewer repeats in the middle section, otherwise there might've not been enough yarn (only 4 grams left!)

 

 

Spring cleaning

I've been doing a little spring cleaning, and found a few things I won't be knitting for a while, so they're being destashed.  Please take a look at the Destash album on the side bar.  Email me or leave a comment if there's something you like.  I've been guilty of email negligence of late, but I will get back to you as soon as I can.  All the money from this destash I will send to Sowers Action, who will be rebuilding schools in the earthquake area. 

The knitting is alive and well; I've just been knackered down by a case of blogger's block.  There're about a dozen fos piled up and waiting their turn to be posted.  I'll be back faster than you can say 'flash in the pan'.

FABruary sweater

Thanks for all the comments on the Tomten Jacket!  I'm happy to share another Elizabeth Zimmermann and Noro pairing today.  It's EZ's February Sweater (from Knitter's Almanac), and knit with 2.5 balls of Noro Matsuri (color #2).

Matsuri is a DK weight yarn, so I started with 55 sts, and all the stitch counts were about 10% more than original pattern.  It's knit all in garter st to show off the stripes.That's all I have to say about this much-loved pattern; for me, this knit was all about the new cotton/wool yarn.  It has chain construction, so it's a bit stretchy (easy on the hands), and lightweight too (great yardage!).  It is soft, but didn't break no matter how hard I tried to pull it apart.  It says to hand wash, but I machine-washed it anyway on wool (gentle) cycle in cold water and it came out fine.  There were a few thick and thin bits, but on the whole it's much more even than other Noro yarns I've used. Can you tell I like this yarn?  I bought some more so I can make Klaralund, which I've always liked, but found Silk Garden too scratchy around the neck.  Good thing there's only one colorway (the black) that I would wear, or I would end up with lots of this, since a thin cotton would probably get lots of wear in the warm climate we have here.

I might have mentioned a few (gazillion) times how much I like knitting for babies.  This year seems to be a bumper year, with colleagues, colleagues' relatives, relatives' friends, and just plain friends all expecting.  This February sweater is going to a little boy born in January, so it should fit right about now (I hope- next time I might consider lengthening the sleeves a bit).  There are more baby knits on the horizon, and you can expect to see more of this guy to model them.

 

Tomten jacket

When knitting for kids, it's probably a good idea to strike while the iron is hot.  I had 9 balls of Noro Silk Garden (color #203) stashed a few years back to make something for H, the oldest.  Of course, he's grown at a fantastic rate, and there wasn't enough yarn for such a large garment, so I knit something for L, who is ten.  Right from the start there wasn't going to be enough for a hooded version of the Tomten jacket, but I still ran out of yarn! 

For a good two months, this little jacket had three quarter sleeves and was bandless before I purchased a couple more skeins (which amazingly were of the same dyelot!), so I could finish it for CNY.  I started with 168 sts on 4.5 mm needles (gauge of 4.75 sts per inch), and followed the ratios as in the pattern (Elizabeth Zimmermann's, found in The Opinionated Knitter or Knitting Without Tears). 

I bound off a few stitches at the shoulder seam so that the neck wouldn't be too wide, did a shaped neckline and knit a few rows around the neck before picking up stitches from one side of the hem to the other side to make the band.

I probably could have finished this with just one extra ball of yarn, but as you can see, I like to match the stripes as best as I can (a bit obsessive, maybe?).  Besides, there was enough yarn to make some little mitts.  No leftover yarn, so it's all good.  The jacket's already a little pilly from wear; not only does L wear this outdoors, but it serves as his bed jacket too. :-) 

This is probably my twentieth project with stripey Noro yarn, and just when I thought I have exhausted my love for these yarns, I see this , some of which is coming my way.  Can't wait to try it!

The Fair Isle Vest

I've always hesitated to use 4 ply yarn to knit an adult-sized garment that's not for me (it would be a bit of a heartbreaker if it was rejected, for all the time put in); that is, until now.

This is H.  He is 12, and will be taller than me in a blink of the eye.  I can just squeeze into the vest, so when all three boys outgrow this, it will be mine! :-) 

The pattern is from Martin Storey's Classic Knits for Men (UK version, it's the vest on the cover) or Knitting for Him (US version).  The yarns used were Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4 ply (7 balls Stainless, and 2 balls Explode), and Rowan Scottish Tweed 4 ply (a softer, more fragile cousin, 1 ball each of Lobster, Mallard, and Apple).  These are pretty much the same colors as the original, except with a brighter red and dark green (so bold of me to change colors like that, heh).  The only mods I made was to knit it slightly narrower, cast on with 10 fewer stitches in the back and 5 fewer stitches on each front than the smallest size, and lengthened the armhole a tad, because the pattern has a 7.5 inch armhole, which would be small, even for me.

One thing that irks me about this pattern is that there are no pictures that show the tiniest bit of the back, so it was a surprise upon reading the pattern, that there's no fairisling in the back, just all textured rib.  It turns out I quite like the contrast of the front and back.

There's very little seaming to do.  After three-needle binding off the shoulder seams, there was only the band at the back of the neck, and the side seams to do, thanks to the intarsia bands that are knit at the same time with the rest of the body.  There were some tangles along the way, but I still preferred that to seaming!

Not only is there less seaming, the decreases along the fronts and armholes look neater too.

The all important buttons...

These pictures were taken after a few wears.  (H may be too embarrassed to hold my hand in public, but he hasn't scorned the handknits yet, and he's worn this vest without any prodding.)  It's holding up remarkably well, probably in part due to the dense fabric created by a gauge of 10 rows per inch.

Another gratuitous innards picture (the colors look most accurate here).  Just bear with me; I like this knit a lot! ;-)

Rats!

I ended up not finishing all the knits for the whole family for CNY, but I hope to post some FOs soon.  Here's wishing you all a Happy Year of the Rat! I get such a kick out of those huge head-sized tangerines-the bigger the more luck you'll have. ;-) That the narcissus are in bloom is a real treat too, considering the cold weather we're still having.

And Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm not usually keen on heart shaped things, but I bought these cookie cutters on a whim yesterday, and made some shortbread, following this recipe.  They're artery-clogging good. :-)

Last, but not least, a huge thanks to Rebecca of Poshyarns, and Yvette of A Long Yarn, who said I make their day.  They sure made mine! :-)  Next up, some knitting!

Emergency mitts

The handknits are getting a good workout from the record-breaking long stretch of cold weather we've been having.  While I've got all the socks and sweaters I need, the boys were in dire need of warm woolens.  In past years, I'd buy some of those chemical handwarmers to ward off the odd freezing day, but it's been wretched (relatively) for weeks, so mitts are a more environmentally friendly option.  I'm also glad that some stash oddballs could be used.

The pattern is Maine morning mitts.  The mitts on the left are made from some remnants of Noro Silk Garden (shade 203).  They're for Y, who's eight, so I cast on 30 sts and knit them on 3.5 mm needles, and shortened them. Used a total of about 30 grams of yarn.  The mitts on the right are knit using Hamanaka Granbia, which was leftover from this sweater.  I also cast on 30 sts but knit them on 4.5 mm needles, for H, who's 12.

That's it for this quickie post.  In typical last minute fashion, I have some buttons to sew and ends to weave in so that we will have some new clothes to wear tomorrow on Chinese New Year!