Meet the Bear

Let me introduce you to my knitting chair companion. This is Robert the Bear, given to me by my friends Robert and Anne when I visited Scotland in February. They gave me the Bear and a magnet that plays Scotland the Brave – the whole Scotland the Brave – all 3 ½ minutes of Scotland the Brave. Still I play it every once in a while when I need a smile. Do do da dodo do do dooo do do do dodo do do. Robert and I exchanged tacky Christmas gifts for several years until I moved away – he gave me a sampler paint pot one year and I sent him a cheesy Christmas yard decoration one year. Ah, good times.

Anyway, the Bear got put in the corner of my big chair when I got back from my trip and he seems to really like it because he almost never leaves it. He’s really helpful and sometimes even holds my patterns for me. Good Bear.

A couple of finishes or almost finishes. I've got almost 700 yards of wool spun for my planned fisherman's gansey sweater. I reckon I'll probably need about 500 more yards but that means I'm more than halfway there (and it's only taken me 2 years!) I wasn't pleased with it after I'd plied the first skein. I'm not that experienced a spinner and my plies are really only good for 2 ply unless you're after super big fat chunky yarn - and I'm not. Like I've been reading on other blogs, my 2-ply yarn was way under spun and I wasn't at all pleased. My friend, Karen, who is quickly approaching master status suggested I should put it back on the wheel and add more twist. At first it seemed like too much trouble but then I thought, "Isn't spinning any yarn way more trouble that just buying some yarn? Is trouble really the point?" I put it back on the wheel, added some more twist and Bob's your father's brother - it came out great. And I got enough twist put into the other 2 skeins that they were fine even after I'd washed them. I'm gonna love this sweater. The plan is simmering away in my strange little brain. I'll let you know when I get it started.

Anyway, back to the post. I finished my scarf that started out as a sampler to show the pattern on the Desert Sunrise yarn I dyed. I liked it so much, I decided to just keep going and make the scarf. Can’t wait for the cold weather to come back so I can wear it. I’m not, by the way, talking about the seriously cold weather, just the weather where it’s cold enough to wear things like this. I need to get some socks knit before the really cold weather comes.

And I wanted to show this project, too. Before I show this project, I want to share the stitch pattern I’ve been using. For some reason this has become my catch-all stitch pattern lately. I started using it because it was the cuffs of the Nancy Bush Norwegian gloves I finished last week. But it’s such an easy, nice looking pattern that you don’t need to think about (too much-see note below) that I used it for the scarf right up there and I started using it with this lime green Mandarin Petit yarn (100% cotton yarn from a Norwegian company called SandnesGarn).

(Cast on multiple of 10.)

Row 1: SSK, K2, yo, k2, yo, k2, K2tog
Row 2: Purl (unless you’re working in the round, in which case you would knit the second round)

Repeat as needed. That’s it. Yeah, the only thing you need to watch out for is that it can be easy to get into your mind that you should yarn over after every time you k2. Not so much. You’ll get into all sorts of Scotland the Brave if you do that because that last k2 is there to keep you on your toes. Ask me how I know.

You probably have gotten an inkling that I don’t generally like cotton yarns but this is one of those yummy soft cotton yarns that knits like a dream, kind of like the Katia Mississippi 3. It not only knits like a dream, it is a dream to knit with.

This, like many of my projects, started life as a shawl/stole. In fact, the reason I bought it was to make a shawl. I have about 6 skeins (180 meters each) and thought that would be a good use so I promptly cast on 120 stitches. I wanted a wide stole and figured almost 1,100 meters would be plenty to make something a decent size. What I didn’t know at the time was that this yarn actually was born to be a lacy raglan-sleeved cardigan. It wasn’t until I had about 6 inches knit with this lovely stuff that I understood what the universe had planned. I did a provisional cast on and will use that to crochet off a little lacy edging when I’m done. I’ll just wait until I have both fronts done and get it put together so it will have a continuous edging.

I’ve already started on one of the front pieces and in an hour tonight got about 6 inches done. I don’t know that I’ll do a formal pattern but I am keeping notes so let me know if you want directions after I’ve finished. It will have raglan sleeves but I haven’t yet decided on the front. My really narrow shoulders don’t do so well with the v-neck so I’ll have to wait till I get there and see what happens.

State Fair

The Illinois State Fair kicked off this week and my work to get some things entered paid off.

I entered a few things in the Illinois State Fair this year and was very excited to win several categories. There were 2 things which won big. One was the Skrå-Trøyer (Danish) Sweater which won first place in both the Scandanavian section and the Sewing with Wool. It also won the purple champion rosette for the best garment and for best wool construction.

The other was the Miser’s Purse which won the blue ribbon for best crocheted purse and it won the purple rosette for best purse and the silver platter for best in the division. I liked it but I really didn’t expect this. I’m guessing part of the reason it won was because it was so unusual.

There were a couple of other things that placed. It was really difficult to get good photos in the cases so I've used my file photos.

A knitted doily - 3rd place (the other one didn’t get a look in):

A knitted purse (second place):

Another crocheted (reticule) purse - second place:

A baby outfit - second place:

They did a much better job this year of displaying all of the entries and there were some wonderful things entered in all of the categories. I was amazed at some of the stuff. But I have to say, the cutest thing in the whole show, for my money was a wall hanging that didn't even place in it's category. It was a quilted wall hanging of an underwater scene and it was so cute that I had to go back and look at it 3 times!

The shame was that, the way it was hung, you can barely see one of the cutest aspects (see the little frog's leg?):

Movin' On Up

I get weird mailings from time to time, as I’m sure you do. There are credit card offers and catalogues and book clubs and loans. Sometimes I can even tell the genesis of the offer. About 10 years ago I had a gasoline credit card. For some reason, when they processed my application, they wrote my name weird. Even today, sometimes I get offers that have that particular spelling of my first name which tells me they got my name off of a mailing list that has been sold over and over and over in the past 10 years. A little scary, I know.

I don’t always know where the offers come from however. In my mother’s case, she started getting catalogues and suddenly she was buried beneath an avalanche of catalogues. My stepfather would occasionally send in the cavalry to rescue her. She started a campaign to get off the catalogue listings of these hundreds of catalogues. It’s taken years and countless hours of letters and web sites and, although she can never let down her guard, she is managing to live a fairly normal life.

I’ve never had the catalogue thing (evidently it’s not inherited) but I think I’m moving in a positive direction with the mailing I got today.

It’s a “special invitation” to “experience The Phillips Club, the smart way to own a luxurious second home in Manhattan.” They let me know that they have “set aside an elegant Club residence for you at a special preview rate of only $400 per night.” Of course the effect is somewhat lessened by their need to inform me that this is a $700 value.

The elegantly prepared brochure continues by telling me that “The Phillips Club on Lincoln Square combines the advantages of home ownership with the amenities, services and convenience of a fine hotel.” Evidently, at The Phillips Club I’ll be much more than a guest…I’ll be home.

You’ll be happy to know that this is the “Sensible way to own the very best.” My Club home is available (ownership starts at $200,000) whenever I like and as often as I like, subject only to a flexible and generous reservation policy.

That’s gotta be better than the Billy Joe Jim Bob’s Mail Order Heaven catalogue.

Desert Sunrise (or is it sunset?)

This is one of the skeins I dyed with Wilton cake icing dyes. Remember I said that you never know what you're going to get with some of the colors? This started out with the yarn having been cooked with tea bags. After that, on a third of it I added some brown. It was actually brown, not this sort of ginger, clay sort of color. Then on the other third I added some "Delphinium Blue" which is a lighter blue. It wasn't as strong as I wanted it so I added a bit of regular blue. Here's what happened:

Do you see any blue here other than the flecks of teal? No, because it broke up into pinks and purples and, of course, the teal. Who could have planned this?

Now I like the sample so much, I think I'm just going to keep going and make a nice little scarf. These aren't particularly my colors but I find it so fascinating, I think I'll enjoy it.

State Fair

I've been cruising along thinking I needed to get my things out for the State Fair because it's coming up. Look at me cruising along and almost missing the whole thing (not like it's the first time that's happened). I did start pulling things out last night but was going to work on tagging, etc. this week, mistakenly thinking that I had to have them in on Friday. I just happened to look at my sheet this morning on the way out the door and discovered that they were actually supposed to be in yesterday or today!! It's just as well I have such a nice boss who let me take some time this morning to take care of it.

I had to mount the doilies on light card (which meant a trip to Hobby Lobby) and a hunt for all the staples in the house and then attach labels to all the items. I had 7 entries this year, mostly purses and doilies (and one very treasured Danish sweater).

I finished my Mom's gloves because I was going to enter them but I didn't get the 5x5 sample I would have needed to submit them for the category I was going to enter them into. Never mind, I finished them and am very proud (although tired of the pattern) of them.

I got many of my dyed skeins of yarn balled but I did also get another batch dyed. The Jacquard dyes come in a deep purple that's very exciting. I did 2 skeins of sock yarn and 1 of lace weight with the purple but I think I'm going to put them in one more time - there were some imperfections in the color of the sock yarn and the lace weight didn't get quite dark enough for me. I experimented by putting the 2 skeins of sock yarn in the bottom of the pan so they would have most access to the color and then put the lace weight on the top, with some of it barely in the water. I did like the way the lace weight took on the dye inconsistently so that there are quite a lot of color variations but I don't know if I can live with the lighter purple color. See what you think.


I also decided I like the "desert sunset" yarn and balled it before getting a photo but I'm going to do a gauge swatch to show the colors and will post a pic when I get that done.

Oh, yes, word to the wise. While it's a good idea to buy kool-aid when it's on sale, it can get hard if stored for a long time. It will melt in the water but it takes some attention when mixing before putting the yarn in. Voice of experience.

I did get some dying done this weekend as I’d planned. I started Thursday night dying some yarn I got last year at the Webs booth at Stitches. It’s about 1900 yards of wool that was originally a grayish color. I’ve over-dyed it red (Schucks' brand kool-aid) and it came out exactly as I’d hoped. It’s a sort of faded brick red that will someday become a gansey-type sweater.

I love the colors and the effects of the Jacquard Acid dyes and I was very pleased with how easy they were to use. This is Chartreuse. Very Chartreuse. I’m inordinately in love with both this and with the golden lace weight below.

This was done in the remains of the orange (mix of yellow and vermillion Jacquard dyes) from below. Somehow the first batch soaked up almost all the red and left this beautiful gold for this last batch.

These were soaked in tea bags. I really love how they came out.

The lace weight

And the fingering weight

These are skeins of superwash fingering weight that I thought I would do a bright mix. They came out a little messy. For these I had 2 pots. One with yellow and one with chartreuse. I hung the skeins over the 2 pots with an end in each. Then, once those were done, I rinsed them, put a plastic mixing spoon through each end and then hung the middle of the skein into the orange mixture. I wasn’t completely happy with the colors so I did a final pass with them through another yellow pot. That made it better but it also made a bit of the mess. Next time I would do the whole skeins in the yellow and then hang it over the 2 pots, one with green and one with orange. I think that would have been a much better way to do it. Live and learn, right? I still think these will make interesting socks.

I do have 2 more skeins that aren't quite finished. I did them with theWilton cake icing dyes. One of the things I love about using these for dying yarn is that you never know what you're going to get. I started out with soaking the skeins in tea and then I was going to use a brown and a light blue to variagate them. Well, they came out as a sort of high desert sunset. The brown was beautiful but the blue broke up into blues, purples, pinks and other colors. The problem was that the parts that had been soaked in tea lost most of that color so I'm going to need to do another color along that side. I think they'll be pretty but I need to decide what colors I need to use to finish them.

Rats.

I was so pleased with myself for finishing the Norwegian gloves. Then when I looked at the post, what was the first thing I saw?

Yep, a great big fat mistake in the beginning of the first glove. Argghhhh…..

I guess the silver lining is that I get to make a new pair and customize them for my Mom. Good for Mom.

I’ve designated this weekend as a weekend to dye. I’ve got a gob of natural colored yarn that I’ve been meaning to dye for a long time. I have a class on beginning lace in early December at the Community College here and I will need to have some yarn for students to buy should they not bring their own. Instead of just getting boring old yarn, I thought it would be nice to do some hand dyed for them. The class is going to be based on working a sampler scarf so this will give them scope to go all out!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done any dying so I’m pretty excited about getting into it again. I’ll post pictures once I start getting some colors working.