Sweater Love

I finished knitting my sweater from the Carol Feller KAL. I am very pleased with the finished result. I was right about several things in this KAL. The fact that I could see other Knitter's finished projects being posted on a daily basis really inspired me to want to finish my own cardigan. 

Also, the yarn!! OMG! It's a 50/50 silk merino blend from Blue Moon Fibre Arts and its stunning!! I kept wanting to knit and knit just to get to the next colour just to see how it would look next to the previous colour. 

I am so pleased with how these colours slowly transition. This is a real ombré cardigan. I noticed that on some of the smaller sized finished objects the colour changes are more abrupt. I think it's because their kits contained fewer skeins and hence fewer colours. While I knit the largest size using all six of the colours in the kit. I have a fair amount of this left over too. I'm surprised. I didn't knit my cardigan as long as the pattern called for so I know this is where the extra yarn came from. 

Overall, I'm very pleased with this cardigan. I'vet already worn it a lot. I hope the yarn hold up well. Now all I have to do is figure out how to better use a selfie stick!

 

 

 

Top Down Icelandic Cardigan Part 2

Here we are in September already. The weather here in this part of the world has taken a definite turn. Fall comes quickly when you are this far north. The leaves of the birches are turning yellow already. The dogberry trees are almost void of leaves altogether, though I suspect a beetle or disease if doing that, not really due to fall. 

I've been making slow but steady progress on my topdown Icelandic cardigan. I'm determined that this will be a sweater that I wear. I'm determined to knit it perfectly. I'm determined that the fit will be amazing and that I'll be so happy with my cardigan that I'll never want to take it off. 

I've knit many sweaters for myself. Sadly, I don't wear too many of them. There are many reasons for this. Fit is a big one. I've knit one that's too small, another that's too large, another that for the life of me will not stay on my shoulders. (I think this is a design issue - others on Ravelry have complained of the same). There is one sweater that fits fine but looks ridiculous. It has a long peplum and elbow length sleeves. My daughter says it resembles a bathrobe when I wear it. Not a good look for me. 

Then there is this asymmetric sweater that I modified to make it fit symmetric. I really didn't think this one through. The original pattern had a button closure at the neck.  The left front was thin while  the right front was wider. In the original form it was really quite a pretty pattern. I'm not sure what possessed me to try to modify the pattern so that the opening of the cardigan was in the center. I ended up knitting to thin fronts instead of two wider fronts. The result is a cardigan that resembles a cape with sleeves. Not a very fetching look for me.

The final issue that I've had with handknit sweaters is one of sensibility.  I've knit three short sleeved 100% wool sweaters. Let me tell from living in Labrador I've learned that if it's cold enough to be wearing a wool sweater it's cold enough to require sleeves.  It took three sweaters to realize this. That is a sad reflection upon my powers of observation.

So for this sweater I think I finally got it. It's going to be that perfect combination of fit and style and sensibility. That is unless I run out of yarn. 

Sweet Things

It seems to me that certain types of babies are born in batches. I don't know if its something in the water or what it is, but there is a phenomenon afoot. For the past 5 years it seems we have had an abundance of boy babies being born. Any coworker who had a baby - turned out to be a boy! Young friends - all boys. Family members - all boys. We have 3 grandbaby boys to prove it!! But lately, I've been noticing a shift. It started with Lisa (a coworker) in January. She had a little girl. I was so happy to knit for her!! Its been forever that I knit anything for a baby girl.

Next up was a young friend of Kev's. They too had a girl. Kev requested something special for this young couple so I set to work knitting. Now, this baby is also the great granddaughter of my local LYS owner! I had to knit something special!!

So I set to work. I picked out a special yarn. Its a club yarn no less - supposedly destined for a different project, but this is superwash (which is important for new moms) and the colour was outstandingly gorgeous (which is important for impressing your local lys owner) The yarn is by called Andrea May by Studio June on etsy. It was a club colourway from Ann Hanson's Fall into Full Colour Club. Ann's pattern for this shipment was lovely, but I could envision this baby sweater so clearly. It just spoke to me.

The pattern I chose is Cascade from the emagazine Petite Purls The reason I chose this pattern is in no small part due to Jasmine of the Knitmore Girls podcast fame. She has been knitting her daughter this little sweater and talking about it on her podcast. She has also been posting pics on Instagram I've been smitten.

Now, to push this little sweater into even more awesomeness, I sewed a grosgrain ribbon into the button band. The Knitmores have been big advocates of this. It makes the garment more special and it has the benefit of preventing the button band from stretching out and pulling out of shape.











It is a special little sweater and I couldn't be more pleased. If you are interested in sewing a grosgrain ribbon into your cardigans, I highly recommend checking out the Knitmore girls video tutorial! I am certain that you will learn something!

Next up - booties. My coworker Jody is having a baby....and yes, its a girl. There is something in the water, I tell ya!

A New Beginning

Its the New Year already. I swear time seems to speed up the older that I get. I had every intention of posting a list of fiber resolutions of sorts, but I just couldn't get around to it. I don't know what it is, but ever since the fire, I seem to have lost my knitting ambitions. I guess its because the majority of my stash is stored in the shed (still not washed) about 5 miles from where we are currently living. And the place that we are living is so small that its really hard to organize the stash. So, there will be no fiber resolutions for me. I honestly think it will take until I'm back in the new house for me to feel the same way about knitting and my stash.

Now, that didn't stop me from acquiring new yarn...no. See this stuff? Its Veronique Avery's yarn. I bought this in Montreal!!

Amy has moved there and is taking some phycology courses from Concordia. I'm really happy for her, because she was getting pretty miserable living in a small town after being a city girl for the duration of her first degree. But, I miss my girl!!

This darling little cardigan was my New Year's Eve cast on. Its for a coworkers baby who showed up a few weeks early

It needs buttons yet, but I plan on picking some up today. The pattern is from Hannah Fettig's newly released booklet called Mabel's Closet. This little book is so sweet and the patterns are completely charming. I've also knit a little striped beret from the booklet to go with the cardigan, but haven't taken any real photos yet.

I knit the cardigan out of Quince and Company's Chickadee. Its my first time using this yarn, and I must say, I really liked it. The yarn is reasonably priced, though by the time duty was charged, I'm not sure that it was that reasonable. I did like the yarn. It was very soft and almost doughy. I also have a sweaters worth for myself. I haven't knit myself a sweater in a lightweight yarn before, so we'll see how that pans out. Seeing as I still have an aran weight sweater languishing on the needles I won't be holding m breath. Lol.

Well, happy knitting and happy New Year!

Aaju has arrived

For the past two weeks Kev and I have been playing host to a couple of our friends from the small northern community of Makkovik. They are here waiting the birth of their daughter -Aaju (it means big brother/sister in Greenland dialect of Inuktutut) Well, she arrived on Thursday night, in the middle of a big snowstorm. She is as pretty as can be.

You may recall that I spun up some yarn a while ago - especially for her. I thought about her while I spun the yarn. Mindful spinning if you will. I put good thoughts into that yarn. As I spun, I hoped that she would lead a good life, that she would be healthy, happy, safe and warm.

And then I knit up the stuff. No pattern for the sweater - all out of my head. I'm so happy with the little cardigan. It has a little welt knit right in which I'm using as a drawstring casing. I just love those little pompoms.

And here is the little hat. I've knit this before and each time I do, I find it completely charming. I love knitting the little short rows. I think it highlights the fractal spun handspun very nicely. The pattern is Aviatrix and its free. So, go - and knit one for a baby you love today!

Pink Cardi gone to waste?

Here is the cute little pink cardigan that I just finished. I think it is perfect in so many ways. The shade of dusty pink, the nice contrasting chocolate brown, the sweet little peter pan collar (why is it called that?) and I even managed to find the perfect little buttons in my huge button stash, and its knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK which is also superwash. The pattern was also designed by Debbie Bliss, queen of the baby knits.

But......sadly, this cardigan will not be worn. Nat had another boy! Now don't get me wrong, I'm super happy about that, as he was born healthy and Nat had a quick, relatively stress free delivery. But alas, he is a boy and his dad will not permit him to wear this cardigan.

The good news is, Nat said, I'm not giving you back that cardigan (like I would take it back?) I'm still planning another pregnancy. Joy of joys!!! Hopefully the cardigan won't be out of style by then. But I don't think so. Its a classic design. The pattern was originally published in Vogue Knitting 2007, four years ago. I wanted to knit it ever since I first saw it. There is a boy version too, but I still think that even knit in a masculine colour, this little cardigan is totally feminine.

Slog Sweater

I cast on for this sweater back in September. Its from the book New England Knits which I really, really like. There are a number of other sweaters in this book that I want to knit, but this one really caught my eye, and I cast on right away.

Well, here I am 6 months later and I'm just now finishing it.

I'm very happy with the finished cardigan. Its very wearable. It fits well, and I like it a lot. Why it took me so long to finish is anyone's guess. I think it was the endless amount of garter stitch. And when I got to the sleeves it was even worse. Garter stitch in the round is not for the faint of heart. It was beyond monotonous. So, I opted to knit them flat. I love knitting flat garter in front of the TV. The down side to knitting flat sleeves is seaming. But it appears I hate seaming less than I hate garter stitch in the round.

I promised myself that I would not cast on for another sweater until I finished this one. I was so happy to finish this sweater that I immediately cast on for Lady of the Lake Cardigan by Fleece Artist. This kit has been in my stash for quite some time - lets hope it doesn't take me as long to finish this sweater. Here is my progress so far

This is magical yarn for sure. I just love the resulting fabric. I'll keep you posted as to how quickly this one knits up.

Its button time

These are the sleeves of my little cardi.  I didn't like the way it was turning out - see the one on the right.  I hadn't counted on my gauge for garter stitch being so different in the round, versus flat.  The second sleeve cuff (on the left) I knit flat and seamed it shut.  I liked it much better.  So I frogged the first cuff and knit it flat as well.  The whole thing is now finished.  Pretty cute eh?

Well, except its missing button.  I'm still not 100% sure who I'll be giving this to.  Maybe Heather's baby - who will be a boy.  Or maybe a former coworker - who will be having a girl.  I really like these green buttons.  What do you think?

I think they would be perfect for either a boy or girl.  I'm still debating doing a little embroider or needle felting too.  In anycase, I'm super happy with it.  I'm also in love with this yarn.  I bought this yarn with the intentions of finally making a sweater for Kev.  Its 50% acrylic/50% wool, so I thought it would be warm enough, but also easy care.  But I love the colour and I love the way it knits up.   Great stitch definition and just so nice to knit with.  I'm thinking about making myself a Lady Kina.  This sweater looks so much like me.  Its so wearable.  And I'm thinking that the acrylic might make it cool enough to make this garment a nice transitional cover up.  And then I can use a nice yellow/green button too.

Random Saturday

In my efforts to blog more, may I present Random Saturday. Every Saturday I will post some photos and descriptions of what I've been up to this week.

First up....Jerky.


Amy is gone back to Sherbrooke. She left a lot of stuff behind. I had to box up much of it. She loves caribou jerky and was hoping that I would send some. I thought it was a very remote possibility as we have no caribou. (not from lack of trying on Kev and his brother John's part) But, as luck would have it, we were invited to Nat and Blairs for supper on Thursday evening for caribou burgers. Blair gave me about a pound of the ground meat with the cure and seasonings all done. All I had to do was put it in my jerky pistol and fire.

Next up are my fiddlehead mittens. I was on a real roll with these babies. I have one finished - lining and all. The second one is done with just the lining to knit. My right wrist is giving me some grief so I've been knitting continental more often to try to allieviate some of the tenderness. Its much faster. I had the thumb gusset all completed and was almost up to the part where I had to decrease for the top of the mitten when I decided to turn the lining into the mitt to see how it was going. Well, you can see what a collosal mistake I made. I put the thumb on the wrong side.


And finally I'll show off my comfy cardigan.

I strongly suspect that I will have this one finished in time for next Saturday's random post. I only have to finish the left sleeve, then pick up stitches at the waist and knit a 'skirt' onto the cardigan. Then I have to seam the underarms and weave in the ends, sew on buttons (find buttons that I like first) and then block. Well, I'm hoping to have most of the knitting done by next Saturday then, I'm not totally sure about it being actually finished, finished, ya know?

Happy New Year.

Can you believe its 2010? Not me. Well, I'm not too sorry to see 2009 go. It hasn't been kind to us really, at least the last month. Mr. C is no longer with us. He passed away on Dec 26. He was a kind and gentle soul. I will miss his laughter and his wit. The world is a sadder place without him.

A lot of knitters will chose to cast on a big project at the start of 2010 and this year I decided to do the same. I got 'The Knitter's Book of Wool' for Christmas, and I was anxious to start a new project. I will be making Pam Allen's Comfi Carigan. This cardigan appeals to me as a knitter and as someone who wears a cardigan every single day. I'm making this in Knitpicks City Tweed HW in the colour marsh.

The construction is interesting as it starts from the center back and is worked outwards. The yarn is really lovely to work with. I'm hoping it will wear well, unlike the knitpicks swish that pilled like a son of a bitch after a couple of wears.

Here is what I have so far.



A close up of the tweedy yarn. I just love tweeds.

Montreal - Again!

Kevin and I are just back from dropping Amy off for her second year of university. I can hardly believe it! I still have nightmares - yes, nightmares - that I'm still in university. And now my beautiful girl is doing her second year.

This year she opted for an apartment -res life not being for her. So, she needed some help with getting her apartment set up. Here is a picture of her very college-like apartment. I think they will be happy there.
















We drove to Sherbrooke (12 hours to Baie Comeau - overnight there, then 7 hours to Sherbrooke) and spent several days there cleaning, buying furniture, assembling furniture and what not. A picture of Amy and Lucy at the Brick looking for furniture. I don't think the employees were too impressed with us.















Then we went to Montreal. Again. I can't believe that I've been to Montreal twice this year. And this time we drove. We gave Kev a GPS for his birthday and I really think its the best money that we've ever spent. Seriously, a life saver - well, most definitely a relationship saver as prior to this I was always given the task of map reading and lets just say that my map reading skills aren't up to par. Having a GPS is the only way to drive. I know there is no way that we would have been comfortable driving in Montreal without it. The city of Sherbrooke is only about the size of St. John's Newfoundland, so I'm sure that we could have managed that one, but still - amazingly easy.

So guess what I did when I was in Montreal. Yep, I went to Mouline. The owner guy actually remembered me from last time. I'm not sure what that says about us (or him), but it was very nice. I bought a few things. Mostly sock yarn again. I guess because I had just purchased Cookie A's new book 'Sock Innovations'.

















I've been steadily working away on the Vine Yoke Cardigan, and I suspect that I would have finished up to the back on the long drive home, but I misplaced the pattern. I do have the right front and sleeve finished. I'm really enjoying the pattern. I'm not so certain that my yarn choice was the right one as it is a loosly spun single that is already developing a halo. I hope it doesn't pill too much.
















And I finally finished my One Skein Stole from the Noro Kuryeon sock yarn. It turned out very pretty. I'm not sure how wearable this will be here. Perhaps it will become a gift.

I'm done, I'm done...hurrah

Leisl is finished. She is gorgeous. I'm happy and all is right with the world. I cast on for Ysolda's Vine Yoke Cardigan and I've just finished the right front. I'm taking 3 weeks vacation, traveling to Quebec with Amy. 3 weeks of knitting time (I hope). I wonder can I finish it in 3 weeks? That is rather ambitious, but we'll see. Now, I'm off to wind up those skeins so I can have them to knit on the road.

Ysolda - How do I love thee?

Last night 'Twist Collective' went live. That is, the online magazine published their fall issue. I am smitten with a cardigan by Ysolda Teague called Vine Yoke Cardigan. I bought the pattern within the first minute of the issue going up. This is my dream cardigan. I've been saying for some time now that I've been wanting a cardi knit side to side. I'm a sucker for any type of unusal construction. And the best part - its garter stitch. I'm a sucker for garter stitch too. I just need to see if I have any yarn in my stash that will work, because there is no way that I'm buying another sweater's worth of yarn when I have about 8 sweater's worth in my stash. I haven't really taken a close look at the pattern but I'm sure it is well written. This won't be my first Ysolda pattern. I've knit a pair of her tiny shoes. (There are two of them, just didn't get a picture)














I've also knit Ishbel. I had a bit of trouble with that one, but it was my own fault.


















And I've almost finished the Leisl cardigan. I'm so close on this one that its ridiculous. I've just got about 5 inches left on one sleeve.
















Overall, Ysolda's patterns are so clever and well written. They are classic. Okay, I'm off to finish the Leisl and cast on for Vine Yoke. I'm on holidays starting next week for 3 straight weeks. I wonder can I finish a sweater in 3 weeks? We are driving to Quebec. I hope I don't get motion sickness while knitting in the truck. Its a looooong drive. We'll see.

OWLs sweater finished

I'm super happy with the way that this baby turned out. I'm also glad that I changed the pattern to a cardigan because a pullover would not have been too flattering. In interest of mending issues, I've omitted the button eyes as if they became hooked in anything there is no way that Amy will repair this on her own. She is heading back to Montreal today. I finished the sweater just in time. Yes, she is trying it on at the airport.

Just keep knitting

I've been knitting away trying to finish my symmetric cardigan. I've gotten to the sleeves and have finished one. But now, I've started the 'Owls' sweater for Amy. I got the yarn from Elann and I must say, it is quite nice and soft. Here is how it looks so far.


In other news, I've finally gotten the Webs order. This was placed before Christmas, but apparently they were waiting on a shipment of malibrigo. I told them to send the order on without the malibrigo. I did get Noro Kuryeon sock yarn that I've been dieing to try. Here is what I've done with it so far.



The jury is out on this yarn. It is much like the worsted weigth version, except sock yarn. I do love the colour transitions, but there are quite a few thick and thin spots. I'm not sure how that will wear with a sock yarn. By the way, the pattern is called 'Magic Mirror' and it alot of fun to knit and follow the charts.

March's Sweater

Is Juliet from Zephyr style. This is a very simple top down cardi thats offered in 2 versions. The first one is a cropped cardi thats knit in garter to the underarms, then the lace pattern starts. The second version is longer, the garter is knit to under the boobs and the lace is continued until about 2 inches below the hips. I didn't think the cropped version would suit me and I didn't really like the longer version...I ended my lace at the hips. I also knit a large size up top and a medium in the lace. Fellow ravelers had complained that this was too flared.