Noro Scarf

I know I've said it before, but there are some projects that I think I enjoy photographing even more than knitting (we're splitting hairs here, but there it is). This scarf is surely one of them - and this post is so photo heavy, I doubt the text will be able to hold its own.

Pattern: Generic 1x1 Ribbed Striped Scarf (See details below)
Materials: Noro Silk Garden; 45 silk | 45 kid mohair | 10 lambswool
Amount: 4 balls in total in Shades 201 (2 balls), 234, and 86; Approx. 440yds/200g
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm KnitPicks Options
Dimensions: Approximately 5.5 inches in width and just over 6 feet in length, unblocked

Start Date: 6 April 2007
Finish Date: 25 April 2007

Manually striping Noro is a classic trick done by many a knitter before me - just check out all the beauties over on Flickr. I admit to spending a good amount of time appreciating all the interesting variations on the same theme for quite some time before taking the plunge myself. For full disclosure, this one sent me over the edge.


I've gotten a lot of e-mails about this scarf so I thought I'd throw out all the details - if it's too much for you, feel free to gloss over this section and rest your eyes on the hypnotic color changes. Noro is good like that.

The scarf is worked over an odd number of stitches in 1x1 ribbing which, in my opinion has two big benefits: the scarf is reversible and behaves very well (no curling) while also plumping up into a thick fabric that will look suspiciously like stockinette if you leave it unblocked. I cast on 39 stitches using US7/4.5mm needles to get a width of about 5.5 inches. On scarves of this nature I prefer to work a slipped stitch edging which adds a nice, polished touch and perfectly hides the working yarn as you carry it up the sides whilst striping to your heart's content. I worked two-row stripes using two different colorways of Silk Garden, slipping (purlwise) the first and last stitch on the second row of every stripe.


Colorways: I can appreciate all the amazing colors that Noro hits out of the ballpark, but in general wouldn't wear most of them. They're pretty bold. Lucky for me, Noro makes a few colorways that are toned down a bit but retain their luscious, tasteful, saturated quality that the knitter in me is drawn to. Not to mention the texture, which will slay me every time.

I used a total of 4 balls of Silk Garden (which will land this scarf in the $40-45 price range if you buy full price retail. A bit pricey for a scarf but ... so ... beautiful... ) in three different shades.


Two of the four balls of yarn I used were shade #201 which is a nice mix of deep blue-blacks, marine blues, silvery greys with a little purple shock thrown in to keep things interesting. See them pre-knitting here. I striped 201 throughout the entire length of the scarf with Silk Garden #234 and #86, two colorways that to me are rather similar. Main colors in both are understated and elegant crimsons, golds and blues, with lots of cool and warm grey tones in between. In their current configuration you can scarcely tell that they're from two different color families. Pre-knitted cakes of 234 here and 86 here.


I'm not sure there's much else to say about the knitting - it feels a little like cheating working such an easy, mindless process and ending up with such a stunning result. The benefits of a quality fiber (and dye job) have never been more apparent.


With spring upon us and summer approaching, I'll take what few opportunities I can to throw this thing on, but for the next couple of months I'm happy to call it wall-art in my apartment.


Happy Monday, one and all.

Cap Shawl Finished

One week later, and one massive frogging later than planned, I am finally finished with the Cap Shawl. Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace

Needles: Susan Bates DPN size 4 and KP Options size 4 with various length cables.

Time: Just a little over 7 weeks, due to a mistake in the edging and having to frog 1/3 of the way back around.

More photos and stats are available on my blog.

Cynder

A new start

I've been wanting to knit another shawl. Shawl knitting must be at least as addictive as sock knitting. Once you finish one, well, you're sunk. They're so wonderfully satisfying to make! I have this green mystery yarn...


I've had it for years. Found it recently when I was digging through my stash. I think it's a wool blend, but don't even know that much for sure. It's certainly soft, and it has a nice sheen to it. It's a braid or chain or something, not a twist, so has an interesting texture, too. Plus, on top of all that, it's slippery as all get out. I've already dropped a stitch, and had to back up a bit to recover it properly. I'll definitely be operating with lifelines for this one. I'm only up to row 27 of the handsome triangle on page 32, but wanted to show you. Totally jazzed. New shawl project on the needles. I'm a happy camper.


Laura

Knitting With All the Windows Open

Spring came, unapologetically, and I've been doing my darnedest to enjoy it while I can. In New York, if you don't look hard, you'll miss the Spring altogether, and I'm not looking forward to having to employ my air conditioner in order to knit. (I'll do it, but grudgingly.)

So I've thrown open all the windows and spent the week enjoying sunlight and the fresh smelling air and zoning out on some mindless knitting. Night after night its been stripe after stripe of Noro and you know what? It's been wonderful. I'm finishing up my fourth ball of yarn and I'm still happy watching the colors change both inside (in my knitting) and outside (spring!). Not to mention the million-dollar light that has been pouring in through the windows every afternoon.

In many cases I'd consider this a knitting lull, but it isn't. When I need something more than meditative, I've got my new sweater at the ready, although that too is growing organically and without hurry.



The sweater you see here is (the start of) Scott from RYC Classic Winter. The pattern is pretty fussy, in my opinion, so I'm making some pretty broad simplifications (mine will be completely seamless, and as a result, so much less stressful). Some super-soft, chunky colorwork in nice muted colors is just what the doctor ordered for relaxing window-side on the couch. And for the record, the yarn is as light as air.

I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the intensity will kick back up again, but for now I'm gonna zen-out with my needles and relax. Have a great weekend.

spider's-web shawl

Pattern: Spider’s-web shawl
Size: Half hexagon
Finished Measurements: approx. 75” across top, 24” from middle center down to bottom of shawl
Yarn: silk merino hand painted lace from Yarn Ahoy etsy store in color chocolate cinnamon, 1 skein
Needles: 4.5 mm, 5mm and 5.5 mm circular addi turbo needles
Modifications: ended shawl after working Chart C once using 5.5 mm needles (the pattern calls for this chart to be worked 4 more times in 6 mm needles, resulting in a completed half hexagon 84” x 36”), single crochet bind off

I’m not sure what drives me to knit lace. A burst of passion for the delicate yarn and interesting stitches carries me through the bulk of a lace project. What is it that calls you to gather lace weight yarn and needles and find a seat next to good light? In this case I was drawn to the shawl featured on page 42 of VLT – the idea of strolling in a lush garden draped in hand knitted lace, the simple Barège pattern highlighted by the surrounding greenery. It speaks of leisure and elegance, a feeling that I wanted to try to recreate with my needles. This is the first time I used variegated lace weight yarn and I think it worked well in this pattern, but in general it’s a risky endeavor, no? The blocking process didn’t go as smoothly as usual: the yarn bled a lot in the sink, I really could have used blocking wires to get the hexagon shape perfect. I didn’t knit the last four repeats of Chart C – I had my fill of the Barège pattern and realized that the finished size (84”) would mean coming up with a creative blocking surface plan.



Layers of lace & tissue, ready to be mailed to its recipient.

Cross posted at The Daily Purl.

Blocking Lace

I got my new KnitPicks catalog today and there was an interesting article in it about blocking lace. A more detailed article can be found in pdf format on their website, along with a pdf intruction sheet on building a blocking frame. I'm not affiliated with KnitPicks -- I just thought this was good info and worth a look.

Double the pleasure.......

Double Border Scarf (pg 104)

Yarn: Rowan's Kidsilk Haze

Colorway: Candy Girl

Needle Size: 6

Blocked size: 19x57

Here she is, the second of my Double Border Scarves. After having done a previous one, this one seemed to move right along. It took a little over a week to do, most of the progress came on the weekends. I finished this one up Saturday afternoon and she went immediately to blocking. As usual, I failed to capture the true color of this yarn....it's fuchsia, quite lovely. I only had two skeins of the Kidsilk so I went down a size in the needle and had enough to do 19 repeats of the pattern instead of the 20 called for. It's about 10 inches shorter than my first version (see here to compare) but I think it's still a nice size scarf. It goes into the Christmas cache for now, I think the recipent will be thrill when she gets it.

Melon is Blocked

I used JaegerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk lace weight in violet on size 7 needles.

Moving On

Well. It's been almost a week and I am still completely beside myself from the flattering, generous, and passionate responses you have all been so kind to leave concerning the Aran Cardigan. My very very sincere thanks to all of you. It is absolutely inspiring to have the opportunity to share work with a burgeoning community of artists and appreciators. I've been completely blown away. Honestly. Thank you.

And in the wake of a complete project of such substantial measure, I've been floundering a bit. I'm stuck with a pesky urge to be immediately immersed in the process of something deep and engaging again, while at the same time feeling semi brain dead, busy (tired) and unable to muster the energy or time to assemble a cohesive plan for the next big thing.

Neither of these factors, however, offers a cure to my ever-itchy fingers, and instead of doing the obvious - hitting the works in progress pile - I've turned to another solution. Noro.


The texture. The color. The fiber. The brilliant tendency towards hypnosis. (The Knit Happens sale that changed my life.) All things working in my favor right now as I just sorta need my knitting to entertain me for a bit while I regroup.


Now, I've never been one for Noro, and I've definitely never been wild about self striping. I actually bought the yarn with more of an intent to photograph it and appreciate it visually, because really, it stands alone as something beautiful, even unknit. But if the online knitting community is capable of consistently doing one thing for me, it's chainging (without fail) my perception about things I didn't think I liked. (Can you believe there was a period in my life where I didn't like cables? Granted that was a long time ago, but still.)

Regardless of your preferences towards Noro, or self striping in general, no one can argue with the fact that this yarn is a veritable feast for the eyes. I've photographed my modest Noro horde and have many a cake sitting around the apartment making things a little more easy on the eyes. Click the photo below to see a bunch of pictures of my new yarn from Japan.


And despite all my complaining about lack of a substantial project... I guess I'm not being completely honest. I kind of started a sweater last night. It's from a pattern, so it is also functioning as a relaxation knit. I really just can't keep the sweaters off the needles... oy.

From Cherry Leaf to Handsome Triangle

My first attempt at knitting a shawl from this book has been abandoned. This is the Shoulder Shawl in the Cherry Leaf Pattern from page 134, but after noticing the "stripe" going through it, I tossed it into a bag and put it in a "time out".

The yarn is variegated Graceful laceweight yarn I purchased at Stitches West from the Yarn Place. When I saw the skein, I fell in love with it and I still do love the yarn, but all the color changes were gradual until the "stripe" section. The yarn was a dream to work with, but since I don't like the look of the shawl, I've given it up for something else.

This is the beginnings of A Handsome Triangle on page 32. The yarn is dark navy Grignasco Regina that I purchased when I was with Laura at our LYS. I've completed 80 of the 212 rows and although it says it's an intermediate pattern, I'm really not finding it all that difficult. Maybe the practice from the other shawl helped though. If all goes well, this should be a nice present for my mother-in-law (mum) for her June birthday.

On a side note, if you click the photo to make larger, you'll notice the perfect laceweight stitchmarkers from Team Entrelac. There's not a single open gap or rough edge (burr), so they are ideal!

Handsome Triangle Progress

Here is a picture of my handsome triangle shawl in Kidsilk Haze. Progress was slow since I stopped to work on something else, but it is back in action now. This is a picture of it after row 80. Sorry the detail is bad - I didn't have anything dark to photograph it against. But you can start to see some patterning happening.

Question though. What method are you all using for joining a new ball of yarn? The project is so lacy that you could see weaved in ends- or they could fall out? This is my first kidsilk project so I just wasn't sure the best way to go about it - any suggestions would be appreciated!

Another Double Border Scarf

Apparently....well.....I'm addicted to this scarf.....can't get enough of it. I had bought 2 skeins of Rowan - Kidsilk haze for a scarf...any scarf, just to do another one from this book.But no, what do I do...I co another Double Border....it's like I can't help myself. The yarn is such a beautiful color, more of a fuscia than I can get my camera to show you.

I'm about half way through and should just-about-have-enough to do 19 repeats (instead of 20) but I've also downsized the needle to a size 6 to help make the scarf long enough. I don't want to chance getting on the 20th repeat and to about row 18 then run out of yarn....[just my luck]...so I'll stop with the 19th repeat. This one is likely to go into the 'Christmas stash' too...we'll see.

Melon is Finished!

I finished knitting my Melon Shawl. Off the needles it looked like this:



Then I pinned it out:





Although I enjoyed knitting this shawl, I did start to get a bored by the end of the center panel. There just wasn't enough going on with the pattern to keep me interested. I love the border though, and think that it provides the perfect counter-balance to the center panel's curvy, circular shapes. I would really recommend using a provisional cast on for the center panel and the border if you knit this shawl. I didn't read far enough ahead in the pattern to figure out that I should be doing that. It would have made it easier to attach the border and graft together the ends of the border as well.

I used Jaeger Spun Zephyr (the laceweight version) to make this shawl and I love it. It's seems to me to be a perfect lace knitting yarn. It's wool so it's flexible and soft and slippery on the needles, but it also has some silk blended in so that it has a fantastic sheen to it. I love it. The color is really sort of lavendar/violet rather than light blue. Anyway, I loved knitting this shawl and I will post pictures as soon as it is done blocking.

Knitting at the Edge

I've made it to the edge of the Cap Shawl, and I think we might have a FO in the next week or so. Before I started on the edging, I had almost 740 stitches in each round, which has made for some slow progress.

Since I downsized the yarn and needles for this shawl, I know she is going to be smaller than the 6ft, but I won't know how much smaller until I am blocking.

Cynder

Saddle Shoulder Aran Cardigan

Well it has indeed been an eventful month on my needles. I must say that this has positively been the most exclusive I think I've ever been with my knitting. In retrospect I think that is probably the result of a rare combination of things: just the right balance of freedom and interest from the pattern, an available amount of time for some serious knitting (a luxury!) and a heavy love for the wool involved. Either way, here she is, already for you...

Pattern: Saddle Shoulder Aran Cardigan by Elizabeth Zimmermann/Meg Swansen
Source: Wool Gathering #63 (School House Press)
Materials: Classic Elite Skye Tweed in Spruce Green/1215.
Amount: Twelve and a half 50gm balls. Approximately 550 gms/1300 yards worsted weight
Needles: US8 Circular 32" Addi Turbos. US 7 for sleeve cuffs and garter band at base of sweater

Start Date: 10 March 2007
Finish Date: 9 April 2007

Modifications: When it comes to knitting with Elizabeth Zimmermann, I guess everything is a modification in some sense. Although I guess the word 'modification' implies the presences of a fixed starting point, which we don't have here in Wool Gathering. What we do have, though i a few pages of solid good sense and enough structural advice to get your creative juices flowing.

At the base of this pattern is, of course, EZ's seamless recipe for a saddle shoulder pullover. I've worked many a Zimmermann seamless, but this is the first time I've conquered an official Saddle-Shoulder in its pure form. The fit alone has made me a believer - its a perfect match for those square-shouldered lanky types... ahem.

Of course, it's more than your simple seamless saddle, with a spattering of many a beautiful cable panel and the excitement of that steek - all things that intrigued me to the very end.

I primarily stuck with the cable advice suggested in the pattern - the Sheepsfold Cables (the ribbon-like traveling stitch panel) and the Fishbone Cables are such classic EZ features that I couldn't resist. Not to mention all the garter. Garter glutton here, and proud to admit it. As for the back panel, it's a slight modification that I ripped off from the magnificent Na Craga pattern by Alice Starmore (the combination of these two knitting gurus was enough to make me all aflutter in the designing stages, it's true). It's a basic horseshoe cable ascending up the center with smaller horseshoe cables mirrored on either side and facing the opposite vertical direction. I really love how it turned out (see below). The underarm panels are a combination of the fishbone and the smaller horseshoe. All these panels together with a bunch of twisted stitch (ktbl) dividers strewn about came together in a great way.

A word on the construction sequence: I did your standard formula of body first, two sleeves, unite at underarms and shape yoke until bind off at collar. The Saddle Shoulder formula leaves a rather square-ish neck, I played this down a bit by shaping the back neck with shortrows. This was totally a freeform operation but did serve well to raise the back neck an inch or so, which was exactly what I needed. After I had the major part of knitting out of the way, I wet blocked the whole thing then cut it into its cardigan form (and rambled non-stop about it. Just check my March archives). After all this I went back and picked up stitches along the base of the sweater with a smaller needle (US7) and worked a 2 inch garter stitch band. Rather than start with this way back at the beginning of the sweater, I liked the idea of picking up stitches after blocking (also I was slightly worried about running out of yarn. The garter stitch base was an option I kept open for that reason). Finally, I worked the button band and collar altogether in garter stitch, mitering the corners at the neck. I wet blocked again just for posterity before sewing the buttons on. To answer some of your questions about the facings - I do plan on sewing them down, solely for the sake of a thorough finish, although I haven't done so yet. The photos you see here feature unsewn facings (not pictured, as they're on the inside of the piece).

I really dig doing the buttonband this way. I like changing things up a little with a vertical garter stitch band, and its integration with the collar I think also is a unique quality. Working the buttonband vertically also makes it possible to place the buttonholes exactly where they should go, evenly spaced and all, since you know exactly how many total stitches there are from the very first row. Speaking of buttonholes, have you ever tried EZ's one-row buttonhole (explained in KA and KwoT, and I'm sure others)? This is my first time using this method and I'm completely sold. It's brilliant! (Are you surprised, though? really?)

In closing, I felt I should mention that the completion of this sweater has been met with such a mixed bag of feelings for me. Accomplishment and satisfaction surely are first and foremost... but to be honest I sort of feel like someone died. This is the unfortunate curse that plagues the process knitters of the world I guess - but I am acutely aware of the absence of this sweater in my day-to-day routine now. At this point, on such an involved project I would usually be shouting to the hills in excitement for the freedom to move on. There's some sort of postpartum wool withdrawal happening. I guess when you're really in the zone with Elizabeth and Meg, this is par for the course.

I guess all I can do is go back to the source... give me some more of the good stuff, Liz!

The Finishing Touches

The sweater is done. All the knitting. All the button-banding. All the wet blocking. Wow, it's almost disorienting. I find myself wanting (needing) more to do on it... but hey, when it's done, it's done right? This must be a sign of an absolutely enjoyable overall-process. Or maybe I just love Skye Tweed that much.

I picked up some buttons the other day that I thought fit nicely - I wanted a simple and natural warm wood button that would seem right at home nestled amongst all that tweed.


I also wanted to show you one more picture of the button band in progress. The finished button band is about an inch and a half of garter stitch. This picture was taken after knitting several rows up from the pick-up stitches that I showed you in my last post.


We're looking at the wrong side of the work here - see how the facing is playing nice and laying itself flat on the inside of the sweater? I like that very much.

I'll do my best to orchestrate a proper photo shoot over the weekend (this sweater sure deserves one!). And starting today you should know that I will be effectively living in the sweater until the identity crisis that the weather has been having is officially over.

Melon Border

I am now more than halfway done with the border on my Melon Shawl. The color is kind of a violet-periwinkle color. A very light, blue-purple. I've had a really hard time capturing it so far.

Started something new

Lace knitting really is addictive.
Just when I finished the first shawl I had to start the next one immediately. Now that I binded off the third one, I really wanted to start another one.

I chose "A Handsome Triangle" on page 30. And this one is for nobody else but me! The three scarves I knit during the last weeks were presents and so I wanted to knit another one for myself.

I had already four balls of the wool but I think that isn't enough so I wanted to make sure that I can get some more balls from the same dye lot before starting this new project.
On Saturday I met with my friend Melli and we visited the yarn store at Siegen. Lucky me, they had some balls from the same dye lot. So I bought three more balls - just to be sure that I won't run out of yarn.
I will add a ruffle to the scarf and so I will need a lot of yarn - many yards more than indicated in the pattern.

On Sunday I started knitting and the picture shows my progress after 28 rows. There's not much to see of the pattern, but you can imagine the beautiful colour. I use Rowan's Kidsilk Spray, colour no. 574.



Aren't the needles of my Boye needlemaster just perfect for this project?
By chance the 4mm needles are lilac too. But I think of changing to my bamboo needles again as I knit always very firm. But when using the lilac needles it is much firmer than usual and the stitches don't slide on the needle. So knitting would be a hard job.

By the way: this scarf needs my full concentration. There are yarnovers and "knit-togethers" in every row. So it's not a project for in-between but you always have to be aware that you follow the instructions correctly.

Karin

The VLT scarf patterns started me thinking -- hey, if you made them wider, you'd have a mini-shawl. It only took one skein of KP Gossamer to make this little shawl. It's 15" X 48". I used the spider-net pattern from VLT for the edging, which was about 11" deep. For the center panel, I wanted something a little more elaborate than the garter stitch/drop stitch design used in so many of the VLT scarves, so I chose the flower lace pattern from the cover sweater of the new issue of VK.

You can wear it like this, or overlap the edges and wear it off to the side, etc.

What Now?

Now that the excitement and apprehension of cutting is over, I feel it's rather anticlimactic (cruel?) dragging this process on for you, loyal readers, any longer than I already have. I am, however, committed to a thorough documentation of this process though, so you'll get just a bit more information thrown at you before it's all over.

To be honest, I especially wanted to cover what happens after the cutting, because for me this has always been the part of steeking that was unclear. I completely understood the hows and whys of the cutting portion, but beyond that the steps to complete the route to 'finished sweater' have always been a grey area for me.

After the cutting you'll have two stockinette 'flaps' that need to be dealt with on either side of the cardigan opening. Again, the yellow wool acts as a good indicator where these flaps are on my sweater. The final step is to pick up stitches along these borders and work the button band. Depending on how many stitches you left for your steek, the width of your flaps (or "facings" as they are more correctly titled) will vary - my faccings are 3 stitches: 2 knits and 1 purl along each side of the cut. So then, we can now begin picking up the buttonband like so:


I love EZ's sensible formula for picking up stitches along a vertical edge. Instead of calculating your own stitch gauge vs. row gauge and doing all that unnecessary calculating, her trusty 2 to 3 ratio works in virtually all cases. That is, pick up 2 buttonband stitches for every 3 rows of knitting on the sweater body. This is the reason you see the stitches on my needle in pairs of two. Its a perfect ratio that is giving me a flat and even buttonband.


Once the necessary number of stitches have been picked up, knit back and forth until the bands are as wide as you need them to be, throwing buttonholes in on whatever row marks the halfway point. Simple as that.

As for the flaps/facings, they'll fold back naturally onto the wrong side of the fabric and behave nicely once all is said and done. I'll give mine a light steam with an iron to flatten them a bit more and to lessen bulk, but not much more than that is needed.

I'll probably post one more photo this week showing you how the steek is behaving once I have a more substantial amount of buttonband knitting done. All that's left is finding a few buttons that fit this beast. We're so very close to the finish!

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.