Friday, February 29, 2008

I'm up to row 48 on Oregon and done with the second sleeve (except ribbing) on Fulmar. Oregon is such a pretty sweater and the colors just glow in a subdued fall feeling, not bright like either the original pattern leaflet from VY or the Vogue photo. I actually like it better.

More snow tomorrow - 10 to 14" but it is very cold so it will be light, not that heavy, water laden mess like the last storm. Tomorrow is available as a knitting day so I might even make it up the armholes for Oregon and start the shaping. Doubt I ever make another dropped shoulder fair isle as there is just too much fabric at the armholes for me.

Think we have snow? This is our camper off the truck waiting for spring. Come on spring!

Friday, February 22, 2008

The Oregon Autumn sweater is coming along so well. The yarn is a joy to work with and the colors just glow. These are pretty difficult colors to photograph well. I like steeks that might be a cople of stitches wider than most but I do crocheted steeks and like them this way. Still haven't decided whether to keep it as a V neck as designed or go to a crew neck which I'm sure I'll wear more.



Yesterday we drove up to Halcyon Yarns and bought two 900 yard cones of Harrisville Shetland in off white. I have a great collection of Jamieson & Smith jumper wool in color but nothing in light. Today I skeined off the yardage and washed it to make it bloom. The coned wool is not pre-washed. The skeins are now on the wooly board drying. They bloomed and now look like J&S weight. My "Knit from Stash yarn diet" obviously didn't last long!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Somehow I felt that Saturday would be the delivery day for the box of Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper weight yarn in the discontinued colors. However we had to go out before the mailman came. Of course, when we got home, there was the postal slip saying to come to the post office on Tuesday to pick it up since we weren’t home to sign for the box. Monday is an American federal government holiday so the postal workers were not delivering and I was really anxious for the box. I called the number on the slip and a clerk did answer as they were still working behind the closed counter windows. She took pity on me and called the carrier on his cell phone to see where he was on his route. I ended up driving about five miles to meet up with him but I got the box!!!



Forced myself to wait to open it until I’d gotten the notes out on who had ordered which colors and how many. A couple of us had ordered together to hold down the shipping costs.

Ripped open the box with assistance from Miss Boots, The Cat, and there was the PILE of beautifully packaged colors. Thanks go out to S. Johnson, the shipping room clerk, for a great job on packaging and carefully checking the yarn against the invoice.




I had a great time sitting out in my sunroom spreading out the colors and sorting them into piles. Every color we ordered was available and all the counts and colors were correct. Last photo shows the split up orders all ready to go to the happy knitters. The biggest box is mine

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Enough snow already! We shoveled roofs, chopped ice, tried to throw it up over the huge mountains near the house. We lost power and internet last night but only for three hours unlike many who are still without power. It is beautiful though with the ice hanging on the trees and the snow so white and unbroken. This is our back porch.



Finally the neck ribbing of Fulmar is done except for the bind off. I
wanted to look at it a bit more before the final binding. The neck
fits well, is a good height and finally the cables went up into the
rib without a lot of stress. The change was in picking up the row
BELOW the cast on stitches across the front and back. I was quite
careful to have the picked up stitches the same in each section side
to side and front to rear. There are a couple of small holes that
could have been picked up better but there is this marvelous invention
called a blunt tapestry needle and a piece of the red yarn to fill in
the holes from the inside. Now that the neck trauma is over, I will
get back to knitting on Oregon Autumn Fair Isle which is a very
soothing knit. Thanks to all for the hand holding.


Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What a struggle on the neck for Fulmar. I've not had this much trouble before but usually neck ribs are knit up from the body on live stitches. This is being done FLAK style so I'm picking up the stitches from cast on edges. First photo is the neck as originally knit in K1b,P1 rib which of course spiraled when knit in the round.



Annie Maloney just posted an informative post on the "Annie Maloney & Friends" Ravelry group about neckbands. I ripped the neck and sectioned it off by cable count and then ripped it again.



Now I'm at the point of wanting to rip again. See the last photo which shows where you can really see the line of picked up stitches and the attempt to add cables into the neck rib. I don't like the visual stop where the body goes to the rib. I'm beginning to think of a sewn on cable round like on Starmore's St. Brigid but wonder if that would be too heavy. At least I have enough of the Wendy Guernsey yarn that when all this ripping disintegrates the neck yarn I have enough for new yarn.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Oregon Fall version is up to row 17 on Chart A. No way does the photo even come close to the richness of these colors.



Still working with the cables in Annie Maloney's "The Cable Knitting Handbook" to revise and design the center panel for an aran sweater. This is chart #77 with revised #56 on each side separated by a cluster stitch. You can see that on the right side I've laddered down and replaced the knit stitch with a purl stitch on each side of the cluster stitch. The chart is only about half done in heighth so will be interesting to see if this works or not. Click on the photo to read the photo labels.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Oregon Autumn KAL has started and I've got the corrugated ribbing done and the divisions for Chart A set up. The colors show a lot more muted than the Vogue photo or the original VY pattern but they are so beautiful. As usual, the color progression as set up by Alice Starmore just leads you along as you knit.



The second sleeve of Fulmar keeps growing. Arans on US#2 grow slowly.



When I get tired of larger projects, I've been making a second pair of Selbuvotter mittens. This is pair NHM #8 and is being made in Cottage Craft one ply white and Harrisville jumper weight.


Friday, February 01, 2008

Back from a week in VA visiting family. Knitted on Fulmar both ways from ME to VA so got a bit more done on the second sleeve. It's probably at a third done and still a fun knit. The red is such a beautiful color and the Wendy Guernsey is going to wear like iron.

Today I'm going through all my stranded knitting books looking at projects that I truly want to make. Jamieson & Smith is discontinuing some of their colors as they are slow sellers. I'll see what is used in those sweaters I want to make and place an order.



The Oregon Autumn KAL started today and I'm already swatching for size. Both of the finished Starmore Fair Isles, Erin and Marina, were made with J&S and ended up at 7 stitches to 4" after being washed and blocked. Oregon will be my first Virtual Yarns sweater and it just feels heavier to my hand. Swatching we will go since today is going to be snow/sleet/rain/yuck.