Finally Francie socks

My first pair of finished socks for, I don't know, quite a while. For a while there I didn't feel like knitting socks at all. No inspiration. I have a number of started socks but none of them really appealed to me.

Besides, I have been knitting two sweaters lately. (Yes, the EPS is done, I just need to force M to take some nice pictures for me)

Then I found Francie. Finally a pattern I really, really liked. And which seemed perfect for the poor beautiful red yarn that had been wound in a cake forever and ever and that I had started (and frogged) three or four patterns with already.

Pattern: Francie by Rebekkah Kerner at Bowerbird Knits
Yarn: All Things Heather kettle dyed superwash merino, colour Maraschino, 1 skein, not too much left overs.
Needles: 2.25 mm KnitPicks circ, magic loop of course :-)
Mods: None, really, except that I did only 2 pattern repeats on the legs. They are 7" long anyway. Good thing too, because I would have run out of yarn otherwise.

I'm not all that excited over the leg pattern, it's just a bit strange.

If I knit these socks again I will probably just do a 2x2 ribbed leg.
The foot, however, I adore.

I have high arches and the fabric hugs them wonderfully. And the sole is so beautiful! I'm toying with the idea of making them upside down. I.e. have this tree structure on the instep. Should be possible. Somehow. Hmm.

Both socks. They are a tiny bit big, even though I just have one single row between the arch shaping and the toe. Maybe my row gauge is very different from the designer's. At first I thought I would have to give them to M, but right now it seems like they fit me fine.


They look very silly off the foot or blocker...

All better now

Fits like a glove, just as I wanted. The sweater will probably grow a little in its first bath, and the puckering from the short rows and the decreases will even out.

I have a good chance of finishing this in May after all. It would be fun to finish *two* sweaters for the DIC KAL :-)

Slap!

Shouldn't have said that the EPS sweater was almost done. Slap! on the head from the knitting godess. I tried it on yesterday evening, almost done with the yoke, and the fit was... strange... to say the least. Bodice nice and fitted just as before. But the yoke hung like a sack, much too large. Sigh. I put the monster away and worked on a sock.

It was obvious that I had too many stitches in the yoke but how should I decrease for a better fit? Suddenly I remembered that there is a 4-decrease variation in The Opinionated Knitter (incidentally, this is the same decreases as for the seamless yoke sweater in The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns) So this morning I ripped, ripped and started doing the decreases this way instead. The first decrease is done at 2.25" instead of after 4.5-5" and this seems to work much better for me.

Knock on wood, and all that.

EZ

I am on some sort of Elizabeth Zimmermann binge. Reading her books (I got The Opinionated Knitter and Knitting Around in the post this week), watching her on DVD (I got the Knitting Workshop DVD too) and knitting her pattern (I'm almost done with an EPS sweater), feeling very inspired and wanting to knit many more of her patterns. To think that I never knew she existed until a few years ago... Amazing how her patterns don't look very dated either, after all these years.

As I was finishing up Twist I felt the urge for another DIC sweater, and I have been wanting to knit an EPS sweater for some time, soooo I got me some DIC Classy in Flamingo Pie, plus a lone skein of Gothic Rose to use as contrasting hems (from The Loopy Ewe of course) These colourways go together really well! I was a bit uncertain of the combination but the Loopy Elves very kindly checked it for me. Gothic Rose is a dark eggplanty colour, and Flamingo Pie is a mild orange with yellow and light eggplant accents. I would love me a sweater of Gothic Rose someday, lovely colour!


You may see that the 'non-pooling' Dream In Color has pooled into a yellow zigzag on the chest (of course not on the back...) I don't think that it is very visible IRL though.

The hems of my sweater have the dark yarn on the inside and picot edge


and the rest of the sweater is plain except for a small zigzag on the yoke, right after the first decrease round.

First I wasn't going to put in any yoke patterns, but the sweater asked for it! I haven't decided what to do about the neck yet, maybe a picot hem just like the other edges, maybe just a plain roll neck. We'll see.

I have read many discussions about how to hold the yarn when knitting with two colours, but I have never seen my way described. So here it is. I hold both yarns parallell in my left hand (I knit left-handed/Continental/picking)


If I am careful to keep them some distance apart it is easy to pick the one I want for my next stitch.


You have to be careful not to pull the yarns to tight though. The floats must not pull the fabric in.
My zigzag has two rounds with 5 stitches of one colour and then one of the other. On those rounds I tried to carry the single stitch yarn in my right hand and throw those stitches. That worked rather well, and the floats came out nice and loose without any fussing.

I also have a new sock! My sock mojo has been missing lately, but when I saw Yarn Harlot's Francie socks I had to get the pattern and cast on. The pattern has been in my Ravelry queue for some time but now I realised that this, at last, was the perfect pattern for the red All Things Heather sock yarn that I wound up ages ago and had started at least three patterns with already. Hedgerow socks, Brother Amos' Brimstone socks and a few others got frogged. Nice patterns, but not for this yarn. Francie on the other hand is perfect!


One sock is done and the other is started.

And this is how happy you are when you get to climb the stairs!

Twist & Mystery Stole 3

We have finished objects!
This is Twist, my project for the Dream In Color Sweater KAL at The Loopy Ewe.

Pattern: Twist by Bonne Marie Burns, collar version.
Size: 40"
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy in Some Summer Sky, purchased at The Loopy Ewe, 5 skeins.
Needles: 4 mm and 4,5 mm
Verdict: Great pattern, most things are clearly described and the fit is great. I did miss the total length and width of the sleeves when blocking. The yarn is yummy but wanted to stretch like crazy when I blocked it (wet blocking) As a result I think that the sleeves came out slightly longer than intended, but they are quite wearable.



And then, only eight months after I finished the knitting, we have Mystery Stole 3, aka Swan Lake!

Pattern: Mystery Stole 3 by Melanie Gibbons.
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk, about 1,5 2 oz balls.
Needles: 3,5 mm Addi Lace
Verdict: It was so much fun to knit this! I followed the KAL almost in time for most of the clues and it was great to see the pattern evolve. And the result is beautiful. The stole may not be very useable for me right now, with little kids and all, but someday. At least I'll wear it on my wedding this summer (I don't mind about the sad story of the theme)


I finished knitting this the day before my son was born, and the blocking has been on hold because I was unsure about how to do it well. I really would like some blocking wires, now I have to make do with cotton string and pins.


The Addi Lace needles are so-so. They are nice and pointy but I don't like their unslippery-ness (that *must* be a proper word, right?) The brass coating matted right away so they are not so nice to work with as my KnitPicks circs. I did have some extra problem with the short-row part, August temperatures made the yarn felt slightly but it is not very noticeable now after blocking.


Maybe I should block on a more neutral towel?

Party Sweater

My first handspun knitted project is all done! Behold the Party Sweater:


Pattern: Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan
Size: Current H-size, smallish 4-year-old
Yarn: 18 ounces/500 g of my own handspun superwash Corriedale (Party Dress from Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club December 2007) plied with superwash merino from Wingham Wool Work I was aiming for worsted weight but it turned into bulky. My handspun fluffs up a lot in the wash.
Needles: 5.5 mm Addis
Verdict: Good pattern, except that it would have you make a very snug neck. I didn't. Other than that: no problem. H tried it on several times and once I had to rip because the sweater was too big. Bit at 3 sts/in this thing grew so fast that a little ripping didn't matter much.
See my Ravelry project for more info.

Fiber:


Yarn:


Sweater:


Baby A likes it too :-)

Hi again!

I am still here, believe it or not! So much has happened since I last blogged that I hardly know where to start... Brace yourself for a huge post!

I have almost knit a sweater. Sheri at The Loopy Ewe started a Dream In Color sweater KAL with a 20% discount on the yarn, DIC Classy. After much agonising over what colour to get (and they colours were selling out fast!) I ordered six lovely skeins of Some Summer Sky. I figured that six skeins would be enough for any sweater.

Then I had to decide on a pattern... Twist by Bonne Marie Burns won at last. I have knit all the pieces and blocked them this weekend.


Blocking was a bit scary. I decided to wet-block and the even though I tried to be really careful with the wet pieces they wanted to streeeeetch like mad! I had to leave them for a while and then tried to push them together again to the right size. I think I managed to get them about right. Button bands and collar (I'm not doing the hood) will be begun Real Soon. Spring has started for real this time (I sincerely hope!) and Twist will be perfect as outerwear for a while.

H's Party Sweater has grown a bit but Twist has been more fun so it's not done yet. Though when I work on it it grows really fast, 3 sts and 5 rows to the inch, say no more.


Thi is an old pic, I have almost finished the body and 1/3 of a sleeve. It is great to be able to try it on as I go! There has been some ripping and adjusting. First I made it too big before splitting for sleeves, then the sleeve got too narrow. I hope I don't have to rip back any more now, I want this thing finished!

I have blocked other things as well. The Zenzi scarf has been patiently waiting since October...


Pattern: Woodland shawl, scarf version
Size: 41 sts, about 150 cm long
Yarn: Wollmeise sockenwolle, colour Zenzi
Needles: 3,5 mm
Verdict: Nice pattern, easy to learn by heart. I prefer to knit from a chart and made my own. Now there is one linked from the pattern page. There were one or two small errors in the pattern but they have been corrected. The stitch pattern is of course somewhat lost in this busy yarn but I like it anyway. The brown black and white reminds me of birch bark.
The yarn is a bit odd, it feels almost like cotton even though it is 100% wool. It is also a bit splitty. It blocked just fine, and softened too. I have to make socks from this yarn (I have a few more skeins) and see how it behaves then.


Obstacles is also done.


Pattern: Obstacles by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy, 2 skeins Ruby River
Needles: 4,5 and 5 mm
Verdict: Mmmm. Lovely pattern, great texture to the stitch pattern, easy to learn by heart. I love Anne's designs!
The yarn is really nice too and it got a lovely drape after blocking. The second skein was more varegiated than the first one but I don't mind.


The shawl fits little girls too!



What else? Lets see... Oh yes, socks! I finished the Tall Tibetan socks over Easter (at the cottage. This fireplace is the main heat source. Very cosy)


Pattern: Tall Tibetan socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi.
Size: 50 sts
Yarn: Schaefer Lola in Raspberry Mocha
Needles: 2.75 mm
Verdict: I like knitting this pattern but the fit isn't so good for feet with high insteps like mine. The sock is a bit inelastic just there.
The yarn is nice to work with (and sportweight yarn make quick socks :-) but I'm not really happy with the pooling. The light brown is my least favourite colour in the yarn and of course it wanted to show itself off in big streaks...

I started a new pair of socks too (even though I have two other OTN) I saw someones striped Noro socks and just *had* to...

I'm using colours S40 and S102 of the Kureyon sock yarn, two rounds of each, and Wendy's toe-up slip-stitch heel pattern. I am almost at the start of the gusset. The yarn isn't very nice to work with, tight and a bit rough and splitty with my 2 mm needles, slow going. But it softens as you work with it and it is fun to watch the colors change :-)

And when Spring Knitty came I just had to cast on this:


The Lace Ribbon scarf. I am making it a little narrower than the pattern suggests, 44 sts instead of 53. The yarn is from Gypsy Girl Creations, fingering weight in Blueberries and Cream.

Spinning: I spun some lovely top from Squoosh, merino called Kiss. Here is the fiber


the singles

and the yarn

185 meters of two-ply, about sport weight or DK I think.

Then there was the Spunky club fiber for February, Think Spring. Fiber


singles


yarn




4 oz/110 g South African Fine, Navajo plied (my first. That took some concentration!) 100 m/110 yds of worsted weight. I have 12 more ounces of this (I got 8 ounces from Spunky, then someone on my mailing list wanted to sell her 8 ounces and I jumped) I haven't decided if I want to treat the rest of the fiber the same or if I should experiment.

Last but certainly not least, some superwash merino handpainted by Aija of Zero. I won't show the fiber because I couldn't get a colour correct photo of it. Here are the singles:

and the yarn:



I really liked spinning this. The fiber was pretty, and the yarn is oh so much prettier. The colourway is called Glass Nyctimene and it really looks like glass. The colours are translucent somehow and they go together so well. I am happy! This is 115 m/125 yds of DK weight 2-ply.

And today my four year old H learned to ride a bike without training wheels! On the first go! She is amazing. She wanted to try her friend's bike without training wheels and I said sure, I'll hold on to you. But I didn't have to. She figured out how to start all by herself too. Turning corners is still a litte difficult, but I bet she'll have that down pat when we get to daycare tomorrow.
Here she comes with her big brother E (who was a year older when we coaxed him to shed the training wheels)

Wrooooom
She was smiling so wide I thought her head would burst :-)