Way way way far behind on my knitting blog. I'm learning lace knitting and having a blast making shawls. Aunt Cecil had given me a bag of Jamieson & Smith two ply jumper weight many years ago. She'd bought it while on a trip to Scotland with Uncle Bubba but never got around to using it. Kept thinking how much fun it would be to make her something from the yarn.

This was the result - Alix's Prayer Shawl - a real beginner project

The second one was Heartland Shawl designed by Evelyn Clark:

Not great photos and they show the shawls being blocked on a mattress.

Next came Tibetan Beaded Shawl which was a bit more ambitions and included beads. The shawl is rectangular and actually is a light lavender not pink. They sure are fun to make.

Also currently working on another shawl and a top down Alice Starmore sweater called "Irish Moss" for an online Knit Along on Ravelry. I'll catch up the other stuff later.

Temperatures hitting 88-95F are not exactly friendly to knitting worsted weight. St. Margaret is in hiatus until the temps drop a bit. The first sleeve is done and the second was down to the wrist ribbing. Had to rip that back as the decreases weren't matching the other sleeeve and my notes were poor. Note to self "make better notes"! This is first sleeve done.

On a recent short RV trip up to New Brunswick, we camped at Cobscook Bay State Park. Knitting at Cobscook Bay State Park beside the ocean, breezy and not horribly hot was great.

We also camped in St. Andrews and visited Cottage Craft yarns to fill in colors on the one ply for stranded work.

Right to left

#24 St Croix Navy

#30 Horizon Blue

#21 Blue spruce

#9 Meadow Green

#8 Forest Brown


Right to left

#16 Stone

#7 Yellow Birch

#18 Goldenrod Yellow

#25 Scarlet







I'll be knitting along with BlueDragon (Helen) on her Ingvold Aran KAL which is happening until we start a KAL out of the reprint of Alice Starmore's "Aran Knitting" this fall. I've taken her charts and using a simple hat to check the gauge. I'm using US#4 needles and Halycon Victorian sport in a forest green.
Hat Swatch - right side



Charts - right to left

Five Strand Braid, Flat rope, Little Waving cable, Railroad Tracks,

Hat swatch middle

Charts - right to left

Railroad, Ingvold Back Braid, Railroad

Hat swatch left

Charts - right to left

Five strand braid, Seeded double cable

Still having fun knitting away on Jeri Riggs'  "St. Margaret" design.  Body is done from neck down to two chart repeats below armholes. First sleeve is 35 rows down. It fits beautifully which is one of the reasons I like top down raglan sweaters so much.

EDITED: Several people wrote and asked where Jeri Rigg's designs can be found. Here is her information:
Her blog is at : http://www.jeririggs.blogspot.com/

Her designs are on Ravlery at http://www.ravelry.com/stores/jeri-rigged-designs
If you don't belong to Ravelry you have to as a knitter - go to http://www.ravelry.com/

On a recent RV ramble through NH and VT, I sort of convinced Joe to wander down into MA to WEBS, a huge yarn warehouse. There is a "Grandpa's Attic" area of orphan yarns, not enough to sell in the catalog or on the floor anymore. This place is amazing and I'm glad it is four hours away. I did pick up some Nashua superwash worsted in a deep purple. It will probably be used this fall in a Starmore KAL top down.

Gardening continues with lots of recent rain so the weeds are happy. We'd just come into the sunroom for a rest and Joe said "Oh look at the moose!". I went, yeah sure until I went to the window. She was HUGE and just sauntered around the yard a bit before disappearing into the woods on the other side of the road. Sure would hate to come face to face with her in the dark.

I'm privileged to be test knitting Jeri Rigg's new design "St. Margaret". This is an innovative way of knitting from the top down, with raglan sleeves and incorporating a lot of cables. The sweater grows out of the initial back neck and can become a pullover or cardigan.

This is a view of the full sweater to Row 51.

Currently I'm 6 rows away from deciding on cardigan or pullover and probably will keep it a cardigan. Jeri has written this pattern for a finished size 38" chest, using DK weight yarn. I need the sweater larger so am using Briggs & Little Regal, a full bodied worsted weight on a US #8 circular.

Jeri and I have been writing back and forth with a few corrections, suggestions and thoughts on making the design clearer. Her charting is impeccable and easily followed. Lots of fun and the first test knit
I've ever done.

Here's a closer view of the work. It's really exciting to see what comes next and how it will grow below the armholes.

I so thoroughly enjoy the knitting stitch designs of Annie Maloney of Canada. She is a self published author and her books are available through Unicorn Books. Lots of us on Ravelry had been eagerly awaiting "Aran Lace". Annie has designed 101 stitch combinations of lace and cables. Here's a sample of a mixture of three of the charts - #3, #18 and #72 in the middle. This is a test swatch and I might continue with it for a scarf.

I need to get back to stranded color knitting. Miss it and have too many things on the needles. Also waiting for Ravlery friend BlueDragon to start a KAL (knit a long) for a top down sweater for a summer project. This fall we'll do a KAL for a top down sweater taken from a design for the reprint of Alice Starmore's "Aran Kntting".

Just back from a camping trip down to VA and NC. Rather than continue with the Ridgeway pullover, I started Alice Starmore's Bodega Bay. The Ridgeway as I was reworking it, just didn't work.



The idea was to use a cable up the center in place of the basketweave and then to run the cable over into the shoulders as they were formed. The cable I used is just way too big and heavy and didn't flow. I'll eventually rip out the Cascade 220 since I like the color and will reuse it. Still like the Ridgeway pattern and one day will knit it as designed - probably why I liked it in the first place!

Bodega Bay is a structured cable sweater with fairly simple cables. I'm knitting it bottom up in Halcyon Yarns Victorian 2 ply which is a DK weight. this must might end up being the camper sweater as the cables are quite repetitive and no need to refer to the charts constantly.



Annie Maloney has just published a new book "Aran Lace". I'm eagerly awaiting my copy and may just throw everything else aside and try knitting lace within cables.

So what knitting to work on? Looking at all the projects on Ravelry.com leads to being fractured on what comes next. Too much to try for new techniques and fibers. Make a shawl? scarf? sweater? cable or stranded? socks? Too many riches to chose from.

I've packed a box of Jamieson & Smith yarns, needles for that gauge and the book "Knitted Tams" by Mary Rowe to carry in the camper this summer. Figured with 40 colors and graph paper could have endless possibilites for hats and/or tams for Christmas gifts.

The shape of this sweater fascinates me along with the construction of raglan shoulders winged out from the body. It is "Ridgeway #304" by Cabin Fever.



Because I seem incapable of leaving any pattern alone, I'm adding a cable up the front and back and will wing it out into the raglan. The cable is from Melissa Leapman's book "Continuous Cables".



As always it's only knitting and can all be ripped out and reused.