Heritage Knitting Retreat

I meant to be posting a bit more about our upcoming Heritage Knitting Retreat coming up June 18-20 but haven't done much yet.

For those who don't know, my friend, Jane, and I discovered quite by accident that we're both besotted with antique patterns and knitting.  We happened to show up at Knitorious is St Louis where Deborah was doing a program on Civil War-era purses and got started talking.  As things fell into place, Jane had the idea to do a Heritage Knitting Retreat and asked me if I would like to work with her on it.  Of course I did and here we are.  We've got a lovely place in hand for it where the owners are into Civil War re-enactment and are excited to have us and we've got lots and lots of plans.  There will be a ton of resources the participants will go home with to carry on the journey after the event, too. 

Have a look and maybe you, too, will come join us in beautiful Petersburg.  Oh, and we're listed in the events section of the new PieceWork magazine, too.

Scared silly

Before I start, let me just answer a question from Tricia about the Vintage Rocks Baby sweater and the sizing.  I'm not that good at baby sizing but I would say the pattern as written is probably 6-9 months.  But the nice thing about the way it's worked is that it's really easy to adapt.  The top part is worked from sleeve to sleeve so you can just make it longer, if needed, and the 'skirt' part can be knit longer or fuller by completing more pattern repeats.

Now to the purpose of this post.

I got my 000000 and 00000 double point needles in the mail yesterday.  When I opened the package, I realized just how glib I've been, talking about knitting a project with size 100 crochet cotton and US size 000000 needles.  Good googly moogly, these suckers are tiny. 

How about this:

Even seeing them in context like this makes it hard to communicate.  You've really got to hold them in your hand to get the full effect.  I've included the yarns, too, just as an added bonus.  I had no idea what I was getting into.  All I know is that I'll have to have a quiet period with no pressure to do anything else before I start the new pattern.  More about that later...

I did finish a skein of the spindle-spun natural color so I could start my Norwegian mittens.  It came out a lighter weight than the blue but when I washed it (it was just a quick wash) it bloomed quite a lot.  I'm thinking it will fill out a bit more once it's worked up and given a proper wash.  Nevertheless, it's still going to be a lighter weight.  The mittens I'm doing (more about that later, too) are knit on size 0 needles so I've got them started and I'll see how I like it.  I've got more of the blue and the natural so I can always spin another skein if I feel like that will work better.

Exceeds expectations

You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see the  motif but I'm pleased beyond all measure.  That center diamond just looked naked without this little bit in the middle.

My original idea was to knit this medallion in which I could have done had I had the patience to find the pattern and if I had been a little more confident of how this center diamond would work up.  But having it done and attached afterwards gives it a nice textural feel, I think.  The downside is that you have to sew it on.  Actually, I have to sew it on and that bothers me more than you having to sew it on, sad to say.

And next?  This little tea cozy: