Just Gotta Show Someone

After buying the book, Poems of Color a few months back, I've had a plan to knit a bohus sweater.  But I decided I wanted to spin the yarn for it.  The pattern that took my spinning fancy was called the Red Palm.  Even though the pattern was geared more to the pink side of the color wheel, I'm not so much of a pink girl so I wanted to do something more with to the orange/yellow side.  That led me to combine a color study I wanted to do with the project of spinning the colors for the yoke of the sweater.  See here. 

Next on the plan was to spin the red merino top from Ashland Bay.  About 800 yards of fingering weight 2-ply yarn was completed and, although not enough for the whole sweater, I thought it would be a good start.  Then I found out it was top down, which allows me the satisfaction of seeing the yoke come to life to support me through the long days of knitting a mile of stockinette.  Granted it will be red merino stockinette but nevertheless the fascination of the yoke will help the journey.

The other night I finally got started down that road and here's what I've come up with:

You can see the pattern as displayed in the hat pattern, although each bohus pattern in the book contains a pattern for a jacket, a sweater, a cardigan and a hat.  I'm making the cardigan.  You might need to click on the photo to see the color blends a little better but I'm really pleased with the effect so far and you can see my colors floating around there in back.  I love the way the strategically placed purl stitches do to add texture to it.  Add to that the "texture" of the not very well spun yarns and it's all I could have hoped for.

(Just a word about the less than perfect yarns.  They started out as a color study where I carded varying amounts of white, yellow, red and black yarns to make the gradual color changes.  I'd never done very well at long draw - which is what you generally do with rolags - which are what come off hand cards.  Add to that the fact that the yarn used was blue-faced leicester and merino - both longer stapled wool - which isn't as conducive to long draw.  It was a recipe for uneven yarn - even though I really like the effect in this project - and I've learned tons and did a way better job on the red merino.)

It's not something at this point that I can sit and work on for hours because the yoke is knit on size 1 needles which makes a dense fabric for the yoke but is a little hard on the fingers.  Like any kind of colorwork, though, it's mesmerizing to see the pattern develop.  Once I get through the yoke I should be able to work through the rest of it pretty quickly.  After all it's just stockinette with red merino.

My Favorite

I know you're not supposed to have favorites but this hat and scarf are my favorites of all the ones I've made this year.  This started out as part of the attempt to knit my handspun stash.  The yarn is handspun from the cloud (a type of fiber preparation, for the unitiated) from a mix of alpace, silk and merino wool that I bought several years ago.  I love the gradations of the yarn and it's really, really soft.

Anyway, I started the scarf just using a little lozenge pattern I found in a book somewhere.  I don't even remember which pattern or where I found it because I started it QUITE a long time ago.  I got tired of knitting the scarf so I decided it was long enough and I was finished.  But I still had half a ball left.  What to do?

At the time, I was in the middle of the great hat fever of 2011 so it seemed logical to make a hat to match the scarf.  Nothing could go with that, right?  Actually, for once, that was right and I threw some stitches on the needles, and started knitting.  Like anything that you do by instinct without thinking too much about it, it ended up fitting perfectly.  I made it extra long so it would slouch a little and when I got to the end, I decreased over 3 rounds to make it bunch up at the top and there you have it:

I wasn't that excited about the scarf until I remembered that it was, indeed, a lace pattern that would not be harmed by a little blocking.  Classic duck to swan transformation followed and now I love it.  I suspect that I'm going to wear these every day.  No matter how many hats or scarves I may have now or in the future, none of them can hold the candle to these.  The standard is now set.

If you're interested in a quick and dirty pattern, here goes:

Scarf
I think I used size 3 needles and my yarn is fingering weight (more or less) so you'll need to work that out for the yarn you use, especially for the hat.  Sorry, the needles had already gone back into the stash before I though to write this down.  I didn't really work out a gauge (which is why this is "quick and dirty") but the best I can tell is that the ribbing on the hat is about 6 stitches to the inch.

Cast on 50 stiches and knit in seed stich for 6-8 rows (or however many you want).
For every row, there's a border of 5 stitches knit in seed stitch.  I won't repeat that on the rows below but you'll know to just do it.  (Seed stitch is just knitting K1, P1 across the base row and then on each subsequent row, you purl the knit stitches and knit the purl stitches.)
(Pattern is a 6 stitch repeat)
Row 1: 5 border stitches in seed stitch, yarn over (YO), *SSK, K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO*  Repeat from * to * to last 5 stitches, do the 5 border stitches.
Row 2 and all even rows: Border, Purl to end, border
Row 3: Repeat row 1.
Row 5: Repeat row 1.  How many tmes you repeat row 1 will determine how long your lozenge is.
Row 7: Border, *YO, slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over, YO, K3*  Repeat from * to * to last 5 stitches, border (this is a transition row)
Row 9: Border, K2tog, *YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2tog* Repeat * to * to last 7 stitches, K1, SSK, border.
Rows 11&13: Repeat Row 9.

And so forth until it's as long as you want.  Do remember that with this lace pattern, it will block significantly longer than it appears.  I would say mine extended about a third again longer.

Hat
I casted on about 108 stitches and knitted about 2 inches of K2/P1 ribbing before starting the pattern.

I worked the above pattern until the hat reached about 9 inches from the beginning and then I decreased this way.  The lace pattern is basically in sections of 3.  So on the first round of the decrease, I slipped 1 stitch, knit 2 together and passed the slipped stitch over.  Then I knit a round plain.  Then I knit 2 together all the way around.  Then I cut the end and used a darning needle to thread the tail through the remaining stitches, pulled them in and I was done.  Usually when I pull the yarn through the stitches like this, especially here where it's a pretty drastic decrease, I use the needle to thread the yarn through several times just to strengthen it.  After that, you just work in the ends as per usual and you're good. Here's a shot of how the top is gathered.

I blocked the scarf but not the hat.  I like the way the hat fits so I don't plan to block it.  You could do, though, if your hat seems too snug.  Enjoy!

Better than expected

Just a short note to say that I've ended up with just about 800 yards from my 3 bobbin and mighty pleased I am at how it's come out.  It been washed and rinsed and is hanging to dry now.  I'll post pics of the finished stuff and the sample that comes from it once it's dry.  800 yards! I'll probably only need about 400 more.  No worries.

Nothing like a bloom

There's nothing like coming home after a hard day of work and seeing this greeting you on the way in the door:

I brought in several of my plants when it started getting colder.  This one hadn't bloomed for quite a while but now it's got several new little growths and blooms ready to pop.  It was so cheery to be greeted by this little guy.

While I've not been accomplishing too much, I've managed to get a good little way on the main yarn for my bohus sweater.

This is a red Ashland Bay Merino wool that I've been spinning at a fingering weight.  Once it gets washed it should be just right for the cardigan.  I'm hoping this lot will get me at least 5-600 yards along the way.  I started swatching this weekend with the first skein I spun a while ago.  Maybe I'll be able to get it started this weekend.

And So I Do

I predicted in the last post that, since I loved the singles and wasn't so crazy about the skeined yarn, that I would love the knitted product.  It's been really difficult to get a picture that really shows the color in the socks.  For some reason, the striping showed much more definitely in the picture than in real life but here goes:

The first two photos were outside and the third inside.  The last shows the colors a little better but makes the poor little sock look deformed because it's propped up against the skein.  Anyway, you get the idea.

This was an unusual yarn for me to use for socks, being a little bit thicker than I would normally use and being a littel more tightly spun than I've used in the past.  The colors remind me of the beautiful colors in the Lion Brand Homespun yarns, the one every beginner buys because the colors are so rich and beautiful and which every knitter who's ever worked with it curses because it's so splitty and hard to knit with.  It has those same rich colors that blend so wonderfully.

Fortunately it's much better to work with.  I was worried at first that I wouldn't have enough for a whole pair of socks.  Now, I know there are ways to split the yarn out so you work all you've got for one and have the same amount for the second.  Too fiddly.  And you can knit them from the toe up, two at a time, and know you're going to have enough.  I don't like knitting toe up socks. 

I began by making the cuff really short thinking that I could always add to the top, if needed.  But someone at knit night commented she thought they were too short (and I agreed, although I didn't admit it at the time).  But as soon as I got home, I ripped out what I'd done on the heel (fortunately just the heel flap) and made the cuff a little longer.  As someone else said that night, you can always make the toes a different color and who will know. 

Now I"m at the stage, having finished the heel in the second sock, that I think I'm going to have plenty of yarn.  But I know enough about life to know that by the time I get to the middle of the foot that I'm going to start monitoring my remaining yarn and be convinced that I'll never be able to finish.  So I choose to live in the denial of the moment and believe that I'll have plenty of yarn left over.

In fact, maybe I'll have enough for mittens!

Finished yarn

Just wanted to post this pic of the finished yarn.  As usual, really different from the singles.  I'm not terribly crazy about the barber poling but, based on past experience, I'll probably LOVE the socks.  Just don't know when I'll be able to start them.

Bluegrass Weekend

I hadn't planned to spend the weekend with bluegrass pickers but I did and boy did I have a ball.  The Friday night concert was fabulous.  I love bluegrass music but I don't really know any of the bands or many of the players.  There are some that I knew about from living in Nashville but I know a few of the names now.  The band that knocked my socks off was Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper.  I can still barely breathe thinking about them.  I also saw the mandolin of my dreams.  Natural wood, with rounded edges, beautiful tone.  Fortunately it was almost $300 so the temptation only went so far!

In fact the concerts were so exciting that I finished a pair of socks, one Friday night and one Saturday night.  Of course, the concerts went from about 7pm to after 11:30 and the pattern was plain Jane but I will still pretty amazed at how quickly they came off the needles.

This was wool yarn I'd bought at 365 Days on a Farm in IA over the summer.  I bought it particularly to make socks but I cast on about 4 times before I got something I liked.  (That was totally on me because the yarn is gorgeous and soft and wonderful.)  I'm afraid I can't remember the name of the yarn but I do know it's yarn made in the US because that's all 365 Days carries.  I knit them on size 2 needles and even though it really is a fingering/dk weight, it's so lightly spun that I could have used a size 1 needle and not worried.

I've even got a spinning project going.  This was 4 oz of blue-faced leicester fiber I bought at Bishophill particularly to spin for sock yarn but once I got the singles spun, I wasn't sure I wanted to lose my yardage.  The colors are so amazing that I really wished I had enough for a sweater.  Here's the bobbins of singles:

How beautiful is that?  But, as you can see, I decided to go for the 3-ply after all.  It will be very interesting to see how the various colors play together.  Of course, I could have kept the color bands but the changes would be too short and I didn't want to do a Navajo ply for the socks.  I wanted a true 3-ply and I think it's going to be very interesting.  The singles were spun with about an 8:1 ratio and I'm plying using the 12:1 ratio whorl to see if I can reproduce my recent experimentation results.  I'll let you know when I get this washed.