Boots loves my sock basket and rearranges it daily. Good companion and loves those odds and ends of yarn I find scattered all over the house. Whirligig vest continues with start of the fourth pattern repeat last night. Almost to the start of the V neck shaping. Fighting with myself not to start the Celtic Knot sweater at the same time. Done with half of one sleeve on the Dale Reindeer sweater and using that as the mindless knitting project.

Snowing today so when I'm back from fitness center, I'll work more on the Whirligig Vest. I've done ribbing, one perrie, one complete XO pattern, second perrie and started on the second XO. Colors are quite muted especially after seeing friend Shirley's Sunset Vest this weekend. Photo soon as the second XO is done.

Attached is a close up of the I-Cord under construction on "Russian Prime". A KBTH member was asking about I-Cord. The neckline on this sweater gets a second I-Cord in white knit in also.

Anne

Contrast? Not - rip, rip

Sigh….. the plan to spend this incredibly windy, rainy, but warm afternoon knitting away was in vain. I finished the corrugated ribbing on the Whirligig Vest and started off on the body. Note to self – do NOT try to set your pattern on the first row while watching HGTV. My memory is just not that good anymore. Out came the first row since I kept insisting on not starting each pattern repeat at the right place. Finish knitting up 7 rows on 321 stitches plus steek and decide that there is not enough contrast (and yes I did swatch and thought it was okay). Have husband look and he says “how many colors are there supposed to be there?” RIP what is shown in the photo except for the ribbing. I had found only 5 balls of Jamieson Mulberry (#598) and was trying to use Mulberry in the ribbing and the 5 balls of Port Wine (#293) in the body. I thought it would be okay to have two dark colors and was trying to use what I had. Wrong. Will now continue with the Mulberry in the body and go on a search for 1-2 more balls from any LYS and/or on line vendors. I’m a bit frustrated but at least now I hopefully will remember where the pattern starts for the size I’m making. I always photocopy the graph and use a magnetic marker strip/board to keep track of the pattern. Guess I’m going to have to color code the starting line <G>. At least we still have power after this wild wind storm; many in the state of Maine do not tonight. Then again, I’ve knitted and quilted by Coleman lantern light before.

The Acorn Tam from SFC

The Acorn Tam from “Sweaters from Camp” is done, not blocked yet but done. I only had two tails to sew in when done instead of the tangled mess I would have had before learning spit splice. Very glad I tried a small project before tackling either a vest or a sweater. I did not get the 32 stitches = 4" on size 2 that I had hoped for. I get about 29 stitches. To knit tighter is going to be hard on my hands so I think I'll be adjusting what size vest/sweater I make rather than try for size 1.

I’ve done two color knitting before but never using the two hand throw/pick technique. It is SO much easier on the hands and so much nicer not to have to untangle the balls of yarn all the time. Meg’s lessons in the front of the book are worth the price of the book.

The tam was done in Jamieson and Smith yarn from Water Street Yarns in Hallowell, Maine. I barely broke into the second skein of the blue and the other five colors were maybe 50 yards each. I still have to wash and block it before wearing but it was a fun project. There is an error in one of the arms of the top spiral but I only saw it when taking the photo! The short yellow row is going to stay as I sewed in a button on the top to "make" the acorn and those ends would be impossible to undo.

Been raining hard all day so just stayed home by the fireplace and read and knit. I'm still up in the air over starting the Whirligig Vest or the Celtic Circles. Having just finished a big two color only project, I should do the vest and learn to work with more color. With friend Shirley, we’ve now found three local yarn shops that carry 2 ply Jamieson and Jamieson & Smith so finding color should not be a problem.

This is a Dale of Norway design showing use of Heilo and Tiur yarns mixed in the sweater. The gauge works the same and there is no pull in or pucker. The Tiur has 60% mohair in it so gives a nice feel to the background. Photo is uploaded for a KBTH group user who asked if they could be mixed. The charcoal color is Heilo, the tannish is Tiur.

For the SWCKAL I've decided to make "Whirligig-Jeff's Vest" on page 34. Reason? Start smaller with my first time at full Fair Isle patterns. Today we drove up the Kennebec River to Water Street Yarns in Hallowell, Maine. First portent that this was a good trip was an adult American Bald Eagle sitting in a tree as we entered Hallowell. Second was being greeted by a Newfoundland dog as we entered the shop. Third was hubby wandering this tiny town and finding a good place for lunch.

Water Street Yarns, 190 Water St, Hallowell, ME 04347 (207) 622-5500. This is a small, very friendly yarn store where you are greeted by name after only one or two visits. She does not have a web site or email but does sell mail order. Jamieson's Spindrift 25g skeins (old put up) were $4.00 and the new put up 25g balls were $4.45. Selection was limited on quantity of any one color but she had quite a few single skeins in stock.

Basket on left (second photo) shows the yarn for the vest. Instead of using #80 Dark Brown, #141 Sage, #30 Lovat and #FC62 Grey Blue I'll be using #598 Mulberry (that really is a dark purple), #155 Bramble, #180 Mist and #175 Twilight. These are all purple/blue colors, mix well but still have contrast. Want to bet I'm swatching tonight?

Top photo shows all the single skein colors purchased today; well a couple are triples, not singles, but no one would ever imagine I'm a bit obsessive about yarn! Those are for eventually making the SFC Shirt-Tailed Vertical Paneled Sweater which will take some practice first.

In a vain attempt to control the knitting needles, I've been doing inventory. Since this collection goes back years and years, there are many brand names, lengths, etc. I made up an Excel chart of the most common sizes in USA, European and English sizes and lengths. Inventoried, checked them off and now can see where the empty spaces are. I need to make a trip to the LYS to fill in 16" size 0,1 and 2. And how on earth did I end up with 6 circular 29" needles??

Hope this chart will download for your use.

I like Meg Swansen's designs and have made quite a few. This is "Russian Prime" from "Knitting". My sister liked it so much, I made a red/white one for her Christmas 2005 present. The fiber in this is Peruvian wool from Elann.com.

We live in mid-Maine, snow belt right now and use a lot of wool and fleece to stay warm especially this year with oil prices higher. My fiber collection goes back about 30 years but is never enough for the current project. Fortunately there are quite a few very good LYS (local yarn stores) nearby and they know me well. Of course, as a quilter also, there are fabric stores that know me also. Since we have both recently retired, there is finally time to use some of this collection.

I'm very excited to be taking part in the Fair Isle knit from "Sweaters from Camp" by Meg Swansen. Most of my knitting has been complicated Aran knits mostly from Alice Starmore's patterns or very old Spinnerin patterns. I've made a few Norwegian ski sweaters but never an all over Fair Isle. Today I went to Halcycon Yarn in Bath, Maine http://www.halcyonyarn.com/ and got a copy of the book. I think there is a bit of study coming up!