Category Archives: knitting

saturday.

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It is already this kind of day. And I’m okay with that.

I started knitting my brother’s (now incredibly delayed) Christmas present out of my CMF superwash merino albatross handspun. You may be wondering why that doesn’t exactly look like a mitten. My little brother has been having some trouble with his back the last few weeks, and he isn’t really spending a lot of time walking outside. (You know, or standing up straight.) I wear hats inside to stay warm and cozy, but I rarely wear full on mittens in the house. So I cast on another seaman’s cap for him, and after four or five rounds, I am already in love with the way this yarn is knitting up.

Happy weekend!

tough love.

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I read all your comments on my brompton cardigan, and I thought about what you said.

I thought about it while I made vegetable stock. I even asked Boh to think about it.

Boh thought about it, and then he thought some more.

When I got home from yoga this morning, I ripped out the progress I’d made on one sleeve, and tried it on again. Definitely too big. So this afternoon, I sat down and slowly picked out the seams connecting the basketweave button band to the body of the sweater, and frogged the whole thing.

Well, all but the button bands. I might hold off on those until I absolutely need that yarn, because basketweave in a sticky yarn like Rowan Felted Tweed is a pain to undo.

Later I’ll skein it up and wash it, and then it will be ready for a new project. I’m not giving up on brompton (still LOVE the pattern), but I’m not sure I have it in me to re-knit it out of this yarn right this second.

Thanks, you guys. Ripping out this project was strangely liberating, and I’m excited to start daydreaming about what else this yarn might become.

brompton, revisited.

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Yesterday I was feeling inspired by all of the “finish or frog” talk on ravelry, so I dug out my brompton cardigan and took some pictures. (I have to be honest: these are the good, hopeful ones. I have other pictures where it looks way too big.) See, I love this sweater. I cast on in January 2008 in Rowan Felted Tweed, imagining that this would be a cardigan I’d reach for often when I was in grad school. Fast forward two years: I am in grad school, I do wear cardigans, but this one isn’t done yet.

The trouble is, I really didn’t understand ease and sizing as well as I thought I did when I cast this on. Bottom line? This is essentially a 42″ sweater, with the body finished and the button bands both knit and seamed onto the sweater. (This would have been big on a 2008 rooster, and I am smaller now.)

I LOVE this pattern, love the yarn, and I don’t want to frog this, so here’s what I’m thinking: decrease as I knit the sleeves so that they are slim and fitted, and maybe only 3/4 length. The cardigan itself is light and drapey. I’ll never wear this all buttoned up because of how big it is, but I could see it as a layering cardigan. I may be able to sew closed some of the button holes discretely (because of the basketweave stitch) and either give it an asymmetrical closure or one bigger button in the upper half of the sweater.

Thoughts? (Are you with me? It’s okay if you’re not. I could really use some advice on this one.)

FO: garter yoke cardigan.

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At long last, I sewed the buttons onto my garter yoke cardigan. I tried it on after the first four, just to make sure I liked the look of these buttons (which may or may not have cost me more than the Cascade 220 part of the sweater). I decided to do this late last night, so the pictures are less than awesome, thanks to the overhead lights in my apartment, but I think you’ll still get the idea.

I love this, and I’m especially glad that I knit this alongside Mick and Laura! I decided not to block my GYC, at least not yet, mostly because I am anxious that it will grow, and I don’t want it to get wider or longer. (Also, I’m lazy.) I’ll block it eventually… I’m still working on sizing sweaters, and I think I need to trust the idea of negative ease just a bit more, as I tend to knit my sweaters a little too big. That said, I’m very happy with this sweater, and I expect it will get quite a bit of wear!

Details:

Garter Yoke Cardigan, size 38, with a handspun yoke (out of 144 yards of Hello Yarn romney in Alpine) and a Cascade 220 body (814 yards).

I knit the yoke and sleeves on size 6 needles and knit the body on 7s, and I shortened the sleeves to 3/4 length.

Here’s an outtake — despite the blurriness and awkward angle, I like this one:

Hooray!

FO: handspun mittens.

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See? They’ve already found a home in my basket o’ warm stuff near the door. These are mittens out of Paradise Fibers oatmeal bfl and local undyed jacob, initially intended for my brother, but due to inexplicable (or, more likely, subconscious) sizing issues, it looks like I’ll have to keep them. (Life is really tough sometimes.)

I used the Alex’s Mittens pattern, and modified for gauge/size. I cast on 36 st, increased to 42 st after the ribbing, followed the thumb gusset instructions but only up to 15 st for thumb, and did one more uniform increase row (up to 48 st) on the last thumb gusset increase row. I followed the pattern for the decreases at the top and for the thumb.

I love these: they are rustic, cozy, and wide enough that I can probably wear these as an outer layer over close-fitting mittens or fingerless mitts.

Now that I’ve freed up these needles, I can cast on a pair for my brother — for real this time. (Unless he fails to email me his hand measurements. If I don’t get them soon, he’s getting a hat!)

tea and seed stitch.

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This year, instead of way too many truffles and Guylian hazelnut shell chocolates, I asked Santa to fill my stocking with something that would last longer: a collection of loose leaf teas. I am having so much fun trying different varieties. This mug is filled with a lemongrass blend of organic herbal tea from China that also includes clove, roses, and schizandra berries: perfect for appreciating the snowfall and below-zero windchill from inside my apartment.

I’ve been welcoming the new year with some soothing seed stitch — a perfect pairing for this tea. I’m knitting a sample, and since I don’t get to keep the finished object, I was given the yarn: luxurious Schaefer Laurel in the Elizabeth Blackwell colorway. Usually I’d say that knitting with cotton is not my favorite thing to do, but this stuff is heavenly. Here’s a seed stitch close up:

Boh thinks it is pretty cool, too.

Or he just likes that I sit next to him on the couch while I work on it, doing my part to keep us both warm.

Actually, I’m just using Boh to transition to this super cool pair of yoga socks that my friend H. (who introduced me to yoga here) knit for me! She knit them (beautifully, I might add) out of Noro, and I absolutely love the color transitions. Also, they fit perfectly! Gifts between knitters are extra special.

Hope you’re staying warm on this blustery Sunday morning!