Kaffe Fassett, Shawl up-date

This is the basic shawl that I am currently working on, I have completed what was left of the faulty yarn:-(
I saw this type of shawl at knit lab so I thought I would have a go.

This is the 1st time that I have made this type of shawl by increasing one stitch every row and starting with three stitches on side 8 needles.
(easy and effective)

My knitting must be improving as I can actually work out how some patterns are made;-) (Blankie mania, progress to follow)

I always seem to slip quickly back to crochet, as I'm just much quicker. So it feels good to focus on some knits for a change.

I love the colour scheme, my only problem is that I will need to find another ball of 100%wool that will tie in with one of the colours as one skein with this pattern is not enough.

I looked online without success for a photo that would show you the Spontaneous Scarves up-close. (I did, however, find a fun but small photo at Interweave of a Spontaneous Scarf done with 70 different yarns HERE.)

So I hunted down the original article in my Winter 2002 issue of Spin-Off and did a scan. This is what the texture looks like using seed stitch. Don't they look almost woven? The article says you can use any reversible stitch pattern and again the scarves are knit lengthwise with a different yarn each row with long tails to knot the fringe at each end. The Kool Aid scarf I showed yesterday was indeed done in garter stitch as Laurie astutely noted. I knit most of mine more loosely (out of sheer laziness) so they did have more of a lacy look.




I am going to do a purple version once I hunt down enough yarns. I have some Knitpicks' Gloss which I'm planning to use to make my scarf nice and shiny. I also think I'll use my twisted cast on because it is imperative you use a really loose cast on (or you won't get a straight scarf) and that cast on is much looser than my traditional long tail cast on. It really is a perfect project if you have a lot of leftover yarns from stranded color knitting or if you have a lot of handspun or hand-dyed yarns.

A good reason why

Naughty
Naughty Rasmus

Why not to leave your 7 month old puppy, alone with your knitting.

Lately I've had a strong desire to knit another Spontaneous Scarf. The idea for this scarf was published a million years ago in Spin-Off magazine (actually the Winter 2002 issue) and I must have knit 12 of these scarves. All of them are long gone as they were a very popular gift.

To make a Spontaneous Scarf you need to collect a lot of different yarns, preferably in the same color. I've used many different weights and fibers in the same scarf and it is a great use for tiny bits of handspun. Here's an old blurry photo of one in varying shades of red.



These scarves are knit lengthwise back and forth on a long circular needle in seed stitch. I generally just cast on stitches until I'm completely sick of casting on stitches but I like my scarves long, about six feet or so. For these scarves you use a different yarn for every row and leave long tails each time you begin and end a new row to knot and make fringe. I knot them (about four yarn strands per knot) during the actual knitting because they will unravel.

Here's one I knit in Kool Aid dyed handspun during an electrical black out. That is my only excuse for the strange colors. This was knit pretty loosely but you can get an almost woven look if you do it tightly.

Colour scape chunky by Kaffe Fassett

Up close, love the colours it's called Candy Pink (I think)
New shawl, below flogged poncho that is now a scarf I used another yarn with the Kaffe Fassett to get texture but that yarn too was very fragile for the chunky needles project.

Kaffe flop-it yarn, is a more likely title! My most expensive buy yet a whopping £10 for a ball of yarn and I was really disappointed with its quality.

For those who know me, I use an incredible amount of acrylic and I know how it feels and I get what I want. With this 100% lambs wool, I began to knit the scarf that was a suggested pattern that came in a leaflet with the yarn, I came to a quick halt.

I had only brought one skein, hence the scarf. The yarn broke as soon as I started my 1st row and then continued to brake.

So I frogged the scarf and attempted a quick shawl, where the same happened again, the yarn is a multi coloured hand dyed and typically seemed the pink was the faulty colour, my favourite ;-(

This I know from fabric, that some dye colours can be harsher than others. So the poncho is now a scarf and now I have used what's left to make a basic shawl and It seems now I am into the yarn a bit deeper that the quality is fine.

And so yes I will be writing a letter of complaint to John Lewis Milton Keynes about the quality;-(

a busy season

"The sunlight and shadows in the woods were beautiful that morning, the sunlight a little pale and the air with that quality of hushed expectancy that the coming of autumn brings. Birds were calling to one another and telling of the wonderful Southland and the journey they must take before long. The whole, wide outdoors called me and tired muscles and nerves rasped from the summer's rush pleaded for rest, but there was pickle to make, drying apples to attend to, vegetables and fruits that must be gathered and stored, the Saturday baking and the thousand things of the everyday routine to be done."

{Laura Ingalls Wilder Farm Journalist: Writings From The Ozarks}

The garden is calling me loudly of late ~ peppers and eggplant ripening, endless green beans, onions reaching the size of baseballs, and tomatoes to can...

My dad delivered this corn one morning, freshly picked. Within a short time it was husked, blanched, kernels cut off, bagged, and popped in the freezer...

...the fresh flavor to be enjoyed some cold winter's day, when all this work will seem well worth the trouble.

Today's FO is courtesy of DH. I asked him to make me a basic dresser for my birthday and here it is several months late. It truly is amazing he makes anything at all because he doesn't have a garage or workshop so he has to do everything outside. It rained a lot this summer which put him off schedule.



Really though the dresser was just a vehicle for the incredible knobs - these are the Mediterranean Italy knobs from Anthropologie. Every time I go in that store I start dreaming of ways to use up some of those gorgeous knobs and handles.



Thanks so much for your help on my basic wool yarn list! I have mainly been going by the listings at Yarndex and Ravelry for whether or not a yarn is machine washable and what weight it is. It is an inexact science though - Reynold's Whiskey is listed as 3 different weights at 3 different sites.

After I went through Yarndex I started adding in the yarn lines from small mills and now I'm trying to add in some more Canadian and European lines. The list keeps growing as I get more suggestions and it currently has almost 80 yarns listed. The list is on Ravelry HERE and there are links to each yarn's Ravelry page so you can easily find vendors for the yarns. I will make a second list soon with all the yarns great for colorwork that don't fit into the original categories (machine washable, sock yarns, blends, other fibers, etc.) and for that I'm just going to list only those yarns that are specifically recommended by knitters.

Crossing the Finish Line

I finished my Ravelympics sweater!

I won! YAY! I WON! What..?...oh wait... I didn't win anything....nevermind...

Well, I think it turned out pretty cute! The pattern was written very very well and was easy to follow. You could describe this project as simply ideal. It was a joy to work on! It worked up quickly and the pattern well... it was just fun to knit.

As far as the finished sweater goes, I really like the style and I look forward to wearing it when the weather permits.

Ya know, it's not all that comfortable modeling an angora sweater in 90 degree weather.. ahhh the things I do for this blog. :)

Another awesome thing about this project is that I used up some yarn that I had already which makes me feel very good about myself. I am such a good person.... Now I can go buy some more...

I sewed on a hook and eye closure to keep the fronts together until I find the perfect buttons. This sweater is a unique color and style, so it needs just the right buttons to look appropriate. Does anyone have any button suggestions?

I used size 9 needles to make this cardigan and needed 8 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Angora to complete it. The Angora I used is similar to the yarn Lush that this pattern calls for and is a perfect gauge match!

I definitely recommend the Lush and Lacy Cardigan pattern!

in the henhouse

"Sunflowers can be raised in odd places. They will grow very good heads without cultivation and for this reason can be grown in fence corners and places where nothing else can be raised to advantage. The seeds are very rich and will make the plumage of the fowls bright as well as increase the number of eggs, and all they cost is the planting of the seed and the gathering of the heads."

{from 'Laura Ingalls Wilder Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks' }

The meat birds are in the freezer now, and the old layers have been given away for soup birds. The henhouse was thoroughly cleaned {by Mike, thank goodness!!}. I would have done it myself...really...but he wanted to give it a go using a leaf blower. Well, I think you can imagine that ~ all I could see was a cloud of dust blowing out the henhouse door. When he stepped out, well, it wasn't a pretty picture. But, the henhouse was very, very clean!

The new hens have been moved over--including one surprise rooster. He is a character and never seems to stand still...

The ladies were busy checking out the new surroundings...

I'm going to get them some sunflower heads, and hope for some eggs real soon!

I’m working on a yarn list of yarns suitable for colorwork to put in the Ravelry Stranded forum group pages. I know you can (and definitely should!) do stranded color knitting with any and all yarns but I wanted to keep this list a reasonable size.

I narrowed down the list to 100% wool yarns, smooth-textured, non-superwash, plied, that come in a wide variety of solid colors or heathers - yarns that are traditionally marketed to color knitters such as Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift or Dale’s Heilo or Rauma’s Finullgarn.

Please let me know if I’ve missed any yarns that fit into the category!

FINGERING WEIGHT
Nature Spun Fingering Weight
Rauma Finullgarn
Knitpicks’ Palette
Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift
Jamieson & Smith 2-ply Jumper Weight Wool
Rowan 4-Ply Soft
Vuorelma Satakieli
Jaggerspun Digit Yarn
Koigu Premium Merino Yarn
Rowan Harris 4-Ply
Harrisville New England Shetland

SPORT WEIGHT
Nature Spun Sport Weight
Elann’s Peruvian Highland Sport
Knitpicks’ Telemark Yarn

DK WEIGHT
Dale of Norway Heilo
Knitpicks’ Merino Style
Jamieson’s Shetland DK
Sandnes Peer Gynt
Rauma Strikkegarn
Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport

WORSTED WEIGHT
Cascade 220
Nature Spun Worsted Weight
Elann’s Peruvian Highland Wool
Knitpicks’ Wool of the Andes
Jamieson’s Shetland Heathered Aran (formerly Soft Shetland)
Ram Wools Selkirk
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted
Ella Rae Classic Worsted
Paton’s Classic Wool
Briggs and Little Heritage 2 Ply
Reynolds Candide
Universal Deluxe Worsted Solid
Plymouth Galway Worsted
Harrisville New England Highland

Knitted Art

Up close, free form knitting/crochet that I have attached to a canvas frame.
I never waste any thing and my little practice pieces and things that go wrong, if they are at all interesting I attach them together and make my free form.
Full frame.

Crochet on the Orient Express

Afternoon tea on the Orient Express, London Victoria to Folkestone a round trip. I got to do my three favourite things, knit, chat and drink champagne;-)

I'm out of batteries for the camera but HERE is the link to the Peruvian Connection cardigan I bought so you can see the whole sweater. It is called the Haight-Ashbury cardigan and it definitely appeals to my inner Bohemian. It is hard to see but there are a couple of buttons in the front. I'm planning on wearing it here as a winter coat.

It has the inside-out colorwork (they call it bright pebbled stripes) all around the front opening as well. If you look between the orange or blue circles on the scan below you can see that the floats were gathered. Also, I included the seam in this scan.

I'm finishing up a stranded hat design and I also want to do a post on color/yarn dominance. I need to get Joyce Williams' Latvian Dreams out of the library first because she has something very interesting to say about the subject. After that I'm going to start seriously thinking about Christmas knitting.

Ravelympics Day 12

The Lush and Lacy....Its Growing.....

I have 5 days left and I just have one more sleeve,

the button band and all the finishing to do...

I love it!!

the trellis clothesline

Supermommy asked about my trellis clothesline, so as I headed out with my basket of laundry to hang, I grabbed the camera as well. Jodie also asked about the vines--they are morning glories. As I hang my laundry each morning, they are at their best!

The posts in the ground are 4x4's and are shiplap joined across the top with a 2x4--all pressure-treated lumber.

A sheet of lattice was cut to size and nailed to the inside...

It was a beautiful day for hanging out my new flea market napkins and towels.

Next, I head to the barn to feed the cats...

Jessica is waiting anxiously to be let out to graze...

Over at the henhouse, more morning glories climb the fence and nasturiums are overflowing the half-barrel I planted them in. The picture doesn't do them justice; many of the blossoms are hidden inside the foliage...I will definitely be planting many more of them next year--love them!
Thanks for joining me on my morning rounds.

some weekend treasures

Flea markets can be a great place to find 'new' linens. Some of my older dish towels were getting quite ratty looking, so when we headed to one of my favorite outdoor flea markets this past weekend, I was hoping to find some replacements. It wasn't until the last row that I spotted any ~ boxes and plastic totes of vintage tablecloths, pillow cases, sheets, dishtowels, napkins, and aprons. All were beautifully pressed and folded...

The top two on the pile are linen dishtowels [most of the other towels there were a bit fancier than what I needed] and underneath are several sets of napkins. The price...50 cents for each set of napkins, can you believe that?...

I also found a little enamelware container for my block of soap by the kitchen sink...

Hope your weekend was fun!