The Fair Isle tam is done and stretched out on a 10" plate to dry. It was a fun and quick project and a great way to use up some odds and ends of J&S jumper weight wool. I'm not sure how the final shape is going to look or if I will like wearing it. Here in Maine we generally need something to cover ears in winter, not just perch on top of our heads!

Now back to Erin and Shirt Tail sleeves. Fall isn't that horribly far away and those two sweaters are perfect fall weight to wear without a coat.

Sunset Tam - Helen (BlueDragon) of the online Yahoo knitting group "Mara" has challenged us knit a tam using sunset colors. Maine rarely has the gorgeous sunsets we see in photos of out west in the USA. My inspiration for the tam colors came from the library book cover of "Obsession" by Jonathan Kellerman. Blues, golds, oranges and a tiny hint of purple were in that cover sunset.




I'm using very little yardage of a lot of Jamieson & Smith 2 ply jumper weight yarns. This is a learning process for me as I'd not made a tam with the double decreases in the crown. The pattern I'm using is from Alice Starmore's "Book of Fair Isle Knitting". The photo of the tam and the pattern don't match, with the written instructions having more areas of plain knit than the photo. Doesn't matter as I always change patterns as I go along anyway. Fun to knit and light weight during these days of higher than usual heat in Maine. If my relatives lived anywhere but in the deep south, they'd all be getting tams for Christmas as this is a fun knit.

The Fair Isle knitting doesn't seem as smooth to me as usual but I don't usually use a 20" circular and carry colors. I think it will block out okay. Also need to find out how to do a jogless color join as the dark to light joins show rather abruptly. The photos are of the tam with the lid of a basket stuffed inside to spread it out.

I'm using all Jamieson & Smith yarn with one exception noted:
Dark blue - 135
Medium blue - FC49
Light blue - 14
Purple - Jamieson 133 Mauve Mix
Dark pink - Salmon 129
Medium pink - 9144
Light pink - 95
Pale pink - 101
Dark yellow - 90
Medium yellow - 207
Pale yellow - 96

Just too hot to knit anything large. Wool yarn just sort of sticks to you and itches! I've been trying to teach myself to knit socks. All kinds of great books out there plus web resources. I splurged a while back and got "Favorite "Socks - 25 Timeless Designs" from interweave. While in VA last week helping out mom both in the hospital and back at the assisted living center, I managed to finish one sock and get a good start on the other which I finished up on the long drive home. They are basically the "eesti Trail Hiking Socks" by Nancy Bush with a different rib top. The yarn is Schoeller superwash Limbo in color 2528, a variegated blue green with some rust in it. They were knit on Brittany 3.5mm double points. I live in a cold climate and want warm feet in the winter. I'd use the Limbo again. The socks are actually the same size - success! but are not blocked yet. Hopefully they won't change size much after washing.





If it ever cools down a bit, I'm going to pick up the second sleeve on Erin. A fellow knitter suggested having both sleeves going at once - do a chart repeat on one sleeve, do the same repeat on the second sleeve. For some reason that really clicked in with me and seems like the answer to having a hard time finishing sleeves. I sure do have enough circular needles to keep two going at once.


The gardens continue to bloom something new daily. The Wigelia is stunning this year. We got home just in time to cut both dark pink and white peonies. The smell is so sweet is almost overwhelming. Missed most of the iris but the yellow loosestrife is in full bloom. Lots of work but the rewards with color and smell are worth the weeding time.

Erin's body is done! I will set it aside to work on the sleeves of the Shirt Tail Hemmed Fair Isle that has been languishing for no reason for a year. I seem to have developed an aversion to sleeves.






The Erin swatch looked fine, the dark red at the bottom of the mythical beast not being out of proportion to the other three reds to oranges. In the entire sweater, the red is WAY too dark and creates a line through the sweater that is distracting. Sometimes swatching just doesn't work right. The button is a blown up photo of the perfect button for Erin. Central Yarn Store in Portland, ME is about the only store left that has a large button selection. Fortunately there were 14 of these buttons so I have a spare. The white going down the front button band is thread set where the buttons go.

Long time since I blogged on this blog but we have been travelling in the RV. Recent trips at http://otrafrommaine.blogspot.com/ Can you believe that we made a 3,500 mile trip and never set foot in a yarn store? Too tired at night from all the day activities to knit so not much was done though I did have the Shirt Tailed sweater with me. Also had Joe's all over rib ragland since I can knit on it without watching. Well I should have been watching as the sleeve ragland is a lot smaller than the body raglands. Rip it!

Gardens are spectacular this year and not due to extra attention. They have been established now for six years and the perennials are so massive they choke out the weeds pretty much on their own. So nice to go sit on the deck off the sunroom among the flowers and just enjoy the warm weather and all the bird songs. Even what weeding we are doing is enjoyable.

3 Needle bind off is done on Erin but not without a few rips and reknits. The photo shows the shoulder seam and how the Chart C does not line up.





The front and back are not reverse images so no way they would ever meet up. I decided to do a few rows of Chart B at the shoulder. It is such a simple pattern it lines up. Kept dropping stitches during the 3 needle bind off which is why there are still safety pins on two stitches to go back and pick up - again. Neck stitches are picked up and ready to go for the neck ribbing.

The closeup photo shows how even the edge is when you crochet the steek. It takes a long time to do the crochet but, to me, it is worth it. The steek will be folded under when the edge stitch is picked up to be knit for the buttonhole band.

Erin is a joyous knit, it just flies along. Started this sweater on April 5th, just over a month ago. I'm 6 rows away from the neck shaping and thoroughly enjoying this sweater.

The fabric is so smooth. Perhaps this is due to the number of rows that go by without color changes. Most of the other Fair Isles I've knit changed color about every third row; this one can go 6-8 rows before change. Or perhaps it is smooth because I've finally gotten two handed, two color knitting so it is second nature. As always, this pattern of Alice Starmore's is so well written there is no doubt on the next step. My row gauge is a bit long but that is okay since the body of the sweater as designed would have been too short for how I like to wear my sweaters. If you see black spots on the sweater it is probably just Miss Boots, The Cat's hair. She also likes this sweater and, if allowed, will burrow into the body opening. Bad cat Boots, bad cat.

Spring is here in Maine at last. It was summer actually today with 83 degree temps, blooming forsythia, jonquils and the grass was finally long enough to cut. Wonder how much knitting I'll get done tonight while watching American Idol? Hands hurt as we washed all the second floor windows inside and out, put on the screens, took everything out of the garage, cleaned the garage and put it all back in - and weed whacked two of the long stone walls and cut the grass. I seem genetically incapable of sitting quietly without my hands doing something. I'll try to knit slow.

Check http://otrafrommaine.blogspot.com for our RV travels. Hopefully we will find some more of those tiny tucked away yarn stores that are so much fun to explore.

Erin progresses. It is difficult to photograph and is much more colorful than shown here. The darkest red is not that glazed looking and the blue/turquoises don't jump out at you in person. There are actually two orange/reds in the mythical beast's head area. The white line across the ribbing is a basting thread to hold the ribbing from rolling until the sweater is blocked.

I am truly enjoying this design of Alice Starmore's in "The Celtic Collection". That book is one of the few still in print and fairly easily available. Lots more in the book I'd like to eventually make. It (for me) is one of those have to own books.

Today we finished de-winterizing the truck camper and loading all the gear for this season's travels. Went through the canvas bag holding the "Sweaters from Camp" Shirt Tail Hemmed Fair Isle pullover and made sure the pattern, all balls of yarn, needles, notes, etc. were in there. That project and one pair of socks with Socketta yarn are what will be worked on in the camping evenings. This sweater is going to get finished!

Erin progresses and probably will a lot more over the next two days if this huge Nor'easter storm is anything like it is predicted to be. All the storm supplies like candles, Coleman Lanterns, flush water buckets, generator etc. are all tested and ready. If we are lucky the storm will blow past us and out to sea. If we aren't lucky, we'll get slammed with 4-8" of snow with heavy rain on top of it. At least most of the ice is out of the rivers and streams so flooding might not be a problem. We live by a very pretty babbling brook but it would have to come up 12-15' to get anywhere near the house. Roof is clear of snow so no ice dam problems with edge of roof leaks.

I like the colors I'm using for Erin. Major blind trust to use the turquoise colors as they looked so bright in the skeins but they are really pretty knit up. Finally can see the mythical beast in the FI pattern. It is hard to spot on the chart but fairly easy to see in the colored knitting. I'll finish Chart C and then knit 2" on the Shirt Tail Hemmed Cardigan. Alternating is the only way to make myself finish the Shirt Tail Sleeves. I'm also actually reading the manual for the Stitch Motif software and will be working on charting out my own Aran design. I'd like an Aran in one color to knit while RVing this spring and summer - if those seasons ever show up!

Chart A of "Erin" shown. I'm much happier with the slate blue background color than the teal blue originally chosen. This is a simple knit so far. Most of the Fair Isle work done to date had color changes about every two rows. This one is every 8-10 rows so a lot less spit splicing. There is probably too much contrast in the bottom red to the rust but I like the colors so will continue.

My time with making Fair Isles isn't long enough to have stood the test of a lot of wearing and washing. So far so good with the steek stitches holding up crocheted. I never knot or tie on. Instead I spit splice so there are no ends hanging ever. The splice ends up being the yarn that is used up while knitting the steek. First steek I ever cut was on a sweater purchased at GoodWill and cut up for practice. Sure took some of the terror away over cutting a sweater you worked on for months.

Good explanation of spit splice with photos at http://morcatknits.typepad.com/spitsplicing/2005/03/or_how_to_join_.html

Even better would be working a Russian Join. See http://www.knittinganyway.com/freethings/russianjoin.htm I haven't tried it yet but I wonder why you couldn't prepare the yarn for a Russian Join like you do for spit splice and then fold them back and spit splice instead of sewing with a needle. I'll have to try that.

I do nine stitch steeks with the colors arranged like this with 1 being the pattern and 2 being the background

First row - 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Second Row - 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2

Third row - 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Fourth row - 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2

See how the center three stitches always have the background on either side of the center patten color? When you crochet half of the 3rd stitch to half of the 4th stitch it is easy to see which stitch you are using because of the alternating colors. Same when you crochet half of the sixth stitch to half of the seventh. The middle fifth stitch is the guide line used to cut the steek after the crochet is done.

The photos show the steek I'm working with now and also a finished crocheted steek on the Marina sweater both on the front band and inside the armhole. I tacked down the front but not the armhole which lies flat.

The joys of Maine in the spring!! Just when the iris start coming up on the south side of the house, we get a foot of snow. It's April 5th and we get a FOOT of heavy wet snow. Good day to stay in and knit.

Erin's ribbing is much better the second time around. Switched to a US #2 circular and also using a cinammon type brown that was a little bit warmer. Sure am hoping I like the main background color better this time.

Facings on the body of the Dale of Norway Hemsdale cardigan are made and all sewn down. I'm glad the decision was made to use loops for the buttons instead of buttonholes. That is one thick front face with the front edge and steek stitches all covered over by a knit strip in the back. Doubt the button holes would have lined up anyway. The front doesn't look like the motifs line up but they do.

Sleeves are close to done except for their turn under facing. Might wait until next week to see if this sweater fits my taller daughter. If so, will knit the sleeves to fit her much longer arms and gift the sweater. She lives in NC and could always use it on a rare cold winter day for a coat.

All is ready to knit "Erin" along with the rest of the KAL and see how my color substitutions work out in Jamieson and Smith. I've wanted to make this one for a long time. Picked up a good Addi US #2 1/2 circular to try a swatch. I know I get 7 to 7.2 stitches to an inch in J&S on US #3 after washing and blocking tightly. I'd like to get closer to the 8 stitches to an inch gauge called for since I don't want to swim in this sweater. Pretty colors and who knows if I'll actually use the chenilles or not.

Steeks are sewn and cut on the Dale of Norway Hemsdale sweater. I kept the neck decreases as live stitches and will pick them up as the front bands and neck are finished. The colors in the photo look muddy. They aren't really but are more rich especially the gold and the red. The sleeves are already knit to about 3/4 of the length needed. I'll three needle bind off the shoulders tonight and then pin the sleeves in to see how much longer I want them. This sweater is more a coat and is quite heavy. It will be welcome next winter or as a gift for someone for Christmas. I'm going to have to go in a quiet room and read the instructions on the front bands. I thought I'd be picking up from the bottom right, up the front, around the neck and back down the other side. Might do it that way any way as the sweater is written for loops and buttons instead of buttonholes and I like the holes better. Do we ever leave sweaters alone to be knit totally as written?

It's been a fun knit and of course it isn't finished yet. Next up is "Erin", an Alice Starmore Fair Isle and to finish up "Shirt Tail Hemmed" cardigan.

P.S. to this post. It's later this evening, the three needle bind off is done on both shoulders. I also picked up stitches up one side front and am actually following the directions. Front bands are done separately, then neckband is picked up including the stitches on top of the neckband. No button holes, will use loops as called for. See!! I can follow directions.

Dale of Norway "Hemsdale" sweater is racing along. Yesterday was a nasty weather day with 12" of snow topped by sleet and freezing rain. Fortunately we snow blowed right ahead of the rain so didn't end up frozen in until June. Most of the day was spent knitting and watching old movies. I'm up to the back of the reindeer with about 60 more rows to go for the body. Sleeves are 3/4 done and length will be adjusted depending on how far the shoulders drop. It's been a fun knit but the Heilo is not as pleasing to the hand as the Shetland wools. It will be a warmer sweater though.

Miss Boots the Cat has blossomed since Patter passed away. She has become the constant companion that he was and has started to be very vocal. She snuggles in beside me when I'm knitting and doesn't chew through the yarn like he did. Fun cat. Wish I understood what she was talking about.

I'm also knitting ten rows on the Sweaters from Camp "Shirt Tail Hemmed" sweater each time I sit to knit. Don't know why I'm having to force myself on this one other than it is sleeves and sleeves are not my favorite. The colors are so pretty and the pattern is exceptionally well written.

Other thing I did yesterday was to get out most of my Aran books and patterns and go through them looking for a cardigan that called to me. I want to use Janet Szabo's book as a guide and design my own. So many beautiful cables out there and so far, I'm trying to get too many complicated ones in one sweater. This will be a long thinking project.

Living near LL Bean in Maine has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is being near the outlet store and being able to pop in from time to time to see what is on sale. The disadvantage is almost always finding something and spending money! My winter parka was not very long, only barely longer than waist length and with the brutal cold and winds lately, the coat wasn't doing a good job. Popped into the outlet store and walked out with a Thinsulate thigh length yellow winter parka with detachable hood and sleeves that didn't fall to my knees. $169 coat, marked down to $89 and on the sales rack at 50% off. With a coupon I paid $31 for a perfect winter coat.

So.... why is this on my knitting blog?? Because now I have to knit a hat and gloves to go with the coat Was thinking of a fair isle tam but tams sit on the top of your head and don't do much for your ears. If you do pull the tam over your ears the hat just looks silly. Out came lots of knitting books and I found the "King Harald Street Hat" in Ann Feitelson's "The Art of Fair Isle Knitting". The hat is designed to pull over your ears and help combat our current 9F degree temps with 25 mph winds. One of the joys of having both reference books and magazines and a stash of Jamieson and Jamieson & Smith 2 ply jumper is pulling colors in the warmth of your own knitting area. It's such fun to move them around until something potentially pleasing appears. If you don't have the Feitelson book, it is almost a must have if for nothing else than the discussion of color in fair isles.

I'm starting with these colors and will do a quick swatch. Only change might be to a J&S dark blue and medium blue instead of the Jamieson greens. The coat does have a blue lining. Jamieson Dark Pine Green #234

Jamieson Ivy Green #815

Jamieson Rust #578

Jamieson Mustard #425

Jamieson Yellow Ochre #230

Jamieson Buttercup #182

J&S Light Yellow #96

Spread against the coat they look good for contrast and liveliness. I'll skein off, copy the pattern for a working copy and put all in a canvas bag with needles. During our recent trip to VA to help mom with health issues, I didn't have a small project and missed one.

Hemsdale cardigan continues. I'm at row 65 on the body knit in the round. The sleeve steek will start at row 99 so I'm not so far away. I am going to steek this sweater no matter what the Dale pattern says. I just don't like cutting right into the fabric. It's a fun knit, going fast but I like the feel of the J&S jumper weight yarns much better.

The plain grey vertical stripe is the steek for the front of the sweater. Notice the difference in the bottom points of the arcs. The one on the center of the photo is the normal arc. The one of the left side which looks double is the underarm of the sweater side. The only way the charts would line up was to have this double dip. Hubby calls this the "sweater with the swoop-de-dos (arcs) and seagulls". The double arc bottom does look like seagulls. At least the sides match.

Just prior to heading to VA to help with a medical emergency with my mom, we had folded down the treadmill and made a workout daily plan. Of course the belt on the treadmill wouldn't work. Back after 12 days away and it still wouldn't work. Found the ProForm web site and who in Maine might repair the treadmill in our house. Only two numbers listed, one is Aroostock County which was 400 miles away, the second one within 3 miles of our house! Isn't that odd? Called and the man said he could come the same day. The treadmill repair man was a cutie! Probably 75, retired Navy, does repairs to keep himself occupied. Turned out to be a burnt controller part and it was ordered over the net. Joe can put it in when it comes and we'll be back walking again. It is -1F today with a 20-25 mph wind. I'm not walking outside today. I've gained too much of my weight back, just stress eating but that is not an excuse. Talked to mom a lot about eating and drinking well and regular exercise and here I'm not doing it. Better start practicing what I'm preaching.

The yarn diet never really had a fighting chance. I could use yarn/fiber to stuff the eaves and act as winter insulation but who knows what you might need when? . Today in Maine was gorgeous, clear, deep blue skies, 34F degrees and no wind. That is the first time in about six weeks the temperature has gone over freezing. In honor of the beautiful day we took a ride up to the western Maine mountains and foothills. DH thought we were going to a ski slope brew pub to have micro brew and ribs. Silly man!! I finally got to Norway, Maine and the "Irish Ewe" knit shop.
http://www.theirishewe.com/
If you are ever in that area, you HAVE to stop and chat with Dagney and look over the fiber and items from Ireland for sale. DH bought me pretty pewter sheep earrings and for his mom, some heart buttons. I bought the most beautiful blue fleck Aran weight yarn and a new copy of the Straker Design called Shalor. This is the Aran yarn that the shop has spun for them and imports. Penelope Straker has reworked the sweater pattern so that the sleeves now have a deep cable on them instead of just seed stitch. It is truly a classic pullover raglan and would going to be stunning in the blue yarn. DH actually picked the color over a more muted blue. The shop is stuffed with quality yarns, patterns and some books. There was a bin of vintage Aran design leaflets like the old Bernat ones we probably all have in our stash.

She also had a yarn called Digit which is fingering weight and equal to the Jamieson and Smith jumper weights. I have a lot of J&S on hand but if I were trying to fill in a color, would make the trip back up to go through the Digit.

Now I have to wind off a bit of the blue (using the Kitchen Aid mixer) and swatch. Final decision will be making Shalor, Starmore's Malin or Ann Gallentine's Country Cable Cardigan from Cast On Magazine, Winter 2002/2003. That cardigan was her level III master's hand knitting project and has called to me for a long time. Click on photo above to see more detail of patterns.

The Dale of Norway sweater "Hemsdale" progresses. Decided to make steeks as we do with Fair Isles. Front steek is at left of photo. The pattern lined up fairly well with a double V at the side instead of a single. Already sewn the hem under and it is comfortable to work with. This will end up being a gift for a smaller person as the gauge is 7 sts instead of 6 sts to an inch no matter what needle size I used. The sleeves are both done to about elbow length and will probably be added by three needle bind off once the sleeve steeks are cut.

Storm is gone and the day is 13F and bright and sunny. Joe cleared the porches while I used the garden tractor to do the driveway and parking areas. It is so pretty but still pretty windy and the wind has a real bite to it. First real snow storm of the year and here it is mid February. Birds are frantic at the feeder including some crows who seldom use the feeder. Red squirrels run under the snow to the feeder and just sort of pop up, very comical.

Beadwork is done!!! Still have to wash and block it and probably add a half inch to the sleeve ribbing but it is done. Click on the photos to get a larger image. A fun knit especially since the sweater sort of evolved as I went along. The cable charts are from Jade Starmore's "Beadwork" pattern, the construction winged as I went along. The sweater was knit on US #4 in Patons Classic Wool, a soft gray color. The sweater is exactly what I wanted for warmth and fits well. Its 2F degrees at the moment with a 20 mph wind so the wind chill out is fierce and there is supposedly 12-16" of snow coming tomorrow. Seeing as we keep the house around 62F - 64F warm sweaters are welcome. Would I make the sweater again? Probably not but it was fun. The others in the internet KAL (knit along) are making the sweater using many different methods. A couple are even knitting it as it was designed - a tightly knit, formal, cardigan. Its hard for most knitters to leave patterns alone.

Next on the needles is the Dale of Norway "Hemsdale" cardigan with Starmore's Fair Isle "Oregon" and "Erin" all set aside in their cloth boxes waiting their turn. For small projects, there are a couple of pairs of socks I'm learning on never having been a sock knitter.