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.

To rip or not to rip the first Beadwork sleeve? Miss Boots the Cat says leave it alone! One side of my knit brain says the decreases are too fast even though made using the calculations from Sweater Wizard. The other side of my knit brain says rip it and make the decreases slower. It looks silly stretched out flat but okay when tried on. I'm just past the point shown in the photo and the three small cables are now lined up under the sleeve next to each other with no diamond pattern stitches left to decrease. That is as designed and I'm pleased with that portion. I might just keep going to the wrist ribbing which is not that horrible far away. Remember this is a dropped shoulder sweater and I have short arms so never make the sleeves as long as pattern calls for. The decreases are smoother than the photo appears and yes that is a length of straight/no decrease just before the circular. And I even drew out a diagram!

I did the duplicate stitch on the Dale of Norway sweater sleeves and am very happy with that outcome. I will not be ripping that sleeve to do over and now know what to do to make the pattern match better at the underarm. I've cast on 282 stitches for the body, made the steek area a bit wider, finished the 16 row plain knit hem and am almost done with Chart 1. That was on US #3 circular. Rest of the body gets done on US#4.

I've never been much of a sock knitter but just picked up the Interweave Press "Favorite Socks" book and there is not a sock in there that I don't like. http://www.interweave.com/knit/books/favorite_socks/ . But I WILL NOT start a pair of socks until the Beadwork sweater is done and at least one big chart on the Dale. So there!

Beadwork is a very difficult sweater to photograph. These are the best pictures I could get showing the start of the first sleeve. It is being knit from the armhole down to the wrist. The true color is more the darker grey. Interesting sweater to knit since I'm pretty well winging it with help from the Beadwork KAL and basic sweater design books and the Sweater Wizard software. Sleeves are NOT my favorite thing but this one is going quickly. Taking copious notes as I go so the second sleeve will match. The body fits and is very comfortable in the Patons Classic Wool.

Two partial sleeves of the Dale of Norway "Hemsdale" pattern are shown side by side. The one on the right is the first one where I did not increase in pattern but put a two stitch solid color up the back of the sleeve and increased on both sides of it. Sleeve on the left is increasing in pattern. Very apparent that the patterns don't match at the increases but I'm pretty sure I can fix it with duplicate stitch or at least fill in enough to be acceptable. I'm also thinking of duplicate stitching the sleeve on the right since ripping it out just seems like such a waste. Learn something new every time I pick up knitting needles and this sweater is teaching me patience! There is also an increased appreciation of the patterns written by Janet Szabo, Beth Brown-Reinsel, Meg Swansen, Ann Feitelson and the Starmores and the intricate meeting of patterns at edges.

Knitting with a KitchenAid stand mixer:

Faced with winding 30 some skeins of Jamieson & Smith 2 ply jumper weight into center pull skeins, I decided to search the web for an easier method than a swift and a hand cranked ball winder. Not wanting to pay for an electric winder, DH and I figured out there had to be a way to attach a small motor to the ball winder. NOT! So what other small motors were in the house that allowed a circular wind motion? Why an electric mixer of course!!! Having had surgery for carpal tunnel once, I prefer to save the hand motions for knitting rather than winding.

Google search brought up these sites from knitters who already had the idea:
http://www.figandplum.com/archives/000365.html using a hand held mixer
http://geocities.com/mama_bear_007/ using a stand mixer

So out came the Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook. I found that cutting a 4" square of lightweight cardboard, taping it into a tube and slipping it over the dough hook worked perfectly. There were no empty cardboard cylinders in the house at the moment but I will save some paper towel cardboard. I think they would be even better than thinner cardboard tubes.
The first couple of skeins were a bit comical as they looked more like children's tops than balled yarn but what the heck. It saved a lot of hand winding. Kitchen Aid stand mixer run on motor speed 6 balled a skein of yarn in about 45 seconds.

Lesson learned - Google is your friend.

The colors being considered for "Erin" out of "The Celtic Collection" are shown in the photos. Double click on each photo to see the color tag beside each yarn. The original Rowan colors and types are long gone and rarely available even on Ebay. I'm trying to substitute like colors from my stash of Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper weight, trying to recreate the feel of the original, not duplicate it. I'll use J&S 28 for both J and O and a Jamieson 524 for the G chenille. Since this sweater is about third in line, these might change but look pretty good right now.

A Juniper J&S FC41

B Madder Red J&S 9113

C Rust J&S FC72

D Terra cotta J&S FC8

E Sienna J&S 32

F Roseberry J&S FC55

G Flamenco Chenille Jamieson Poppy 524

H Cinnamon J&S FC60

I Red Violet J&S 72

J Old Gold J&S 28

K Lacquer Chenille J&S 129

L Jade J&S 71

M Light. Jade J&S 48

N Blue Mist J&S 75

O Ochre Chenille J&S 28

Time will tell if this looks good knit up. I'm sure I'll do a bit of swatching for color.

Finally!!! It's cold enough to wear some of the heavier sweaters. This one is "Russian Prime" from Meg Swansen's "Knitting". Knit in one piece with steeks to the shoulders, sleeves picked up in pattern and knit to the cuff. I cord is placed around the neck and along the top of the shoulders. Knit it in Elann's Peruvian Highland wool and yes it does pill down the sleeves. A second one in red/white was given to my sister Christmas a year ago. Wonder if it ever gets cold enough in VA for her to wear it?

Started Hemsdale sweater from Dale of Norway this morning but didn't get beyond 16 rows of the inside cuff. Errands called us out into the 14 degree F very windy day but the snow was beautiful and felt kind of nice to be cold again rather than Maine at 60 degrees in the winter!

A stop at Water Street Yarns in Hallowell Maine just seemed to happen. Hard to get up into that area and not stop at this small but exceptional shop. I've been looking for the Dale book #79 which has a sweater with a moose on it I like. She didn't have that book but did have #85B which just screamed at me to take it home. I absolutely love the sweater pictured here. It has tiny cables up to the yoke and then over the yoke. What to do? What to do? Want to bet I switch from Hemsdale to this one? I've knit so many dropped shoulder sweaters lately that a yoke might be just what I need to do.

Beadwork is a sweater designed by Jade Starmore. I am using the chart patterns but winging it on a pullover with standard ribs. Photo is of the saddle shoulders just added by 3 needle bind off and the neck stitches picked up and ready to knit. This was knit with armhole steeks, those sewn and cut open and then the saddle added. I will pick up the stitches around the armhole and knit down to the cuff with the small cable running along the top and bottom of the sleeve. Not sure what I'm going to do for pattern on the sleeve but probably the diamond.

Yarns arrived today from Kirtland's Yarn Barn. I didn't expect them until at least next Tuesday. Pat certainly does give quick service and the grey/blue she suggested for the star pattern works much better than what I originally thought I wanted. Pretty sure I'm going to use the line up of colors to the left but have a brighter red and brighter gold if I need to switch. Fun to shop in your own stash and only need a few fill in colors. Miss Boots, the cat, helped with the selection. She has become a much more companionable cat since Patter isn't here anymore. It is very difficult to type or knit when she wants her lap space.

The "yarn diet" for 2007 lasted all of 10 days. I've joined the Dale of America Knit Along to start the 20th. I had this pattern, along with a lot of Dale Heilo yarn but not all the colors needed. Pat at Kirtland's Yarn Barn in Dillwyn, VA (http://www.yarnbarn.com/) put the Heilo colors I needed in the mail and hopefully they will arrive before cast on day. Big snowstorm supposedly to hit over the weekend which will be our first real snow of the year.

The sweater is in the "Best of Tuir #170" book but I had it in an older Dale book also. Still working on the one color Beadwork sweater and am almost up to the neck steek. It's always fun to have both colorwork and solid going at the same time to give the hands a break.

The inventory of the yarn is done, the sweater books and magazines almost done. Of course I found many sweaters I had marked as "have to dos" including a truly great Aran out of Cast On Magazine of Winter 2002. Nothing to purchase for that one since I have enough aran weight yarn in this house to insulate the eaves.

Stash reduction is probably the only New Year Resolutions that will be kept. Finally finished opening every bag, box, tub and canvas bag and inventorying the yarn. Found a few old goodies I had totally forgotten, some of which made it to the "to do" list. Gathered most of the old acrylic yarns and called a friend who knits hats and mittens for the western Indian reservations. She was glad to get such a large stash and I was glad to know it would go to a good cause.

Still way too warm in Maine with no snow and mud season starting. No way can I wear my heavy Aran knit sweaters this winter. Want to bet it will snow in March and April? At least the big cactus in the sunroom is enjoying the extra daylight.

Beadwork continues - 12" done in the round. This is a hard sweater to photo and have the stitches show up. The yarn is a soft grey Patons Classic Wool and the gauge is averaging 6 sts = 1" on US #4. Gauge varies per chart pattern from 5 in the diamonds to 6 in the hourglass to 7 in the small cable. Overall I've got 6 so the sweater will come out to the size I planned. THIS time I'm going to be very careful of the length from rib to underarm and get it long enough. It's at 12" now and I'm aiming for 14" and then put it on two circulars and try it on. The sweater book and pattern library is fairly extensive in this house and I've leafed through most of them in the past few days looking at dropped vs set in sleeve designs. Finally decided to ???? - well will see when I get there. I like Jade Starmore's original dropped sleeve design with the small cable run up the sleeve and over the shoulder. Just not sure I need one more dropped shoulder sweater. Since I've already made her design into a pullover instead of a cardigan, what's one more change?

The fair isle sweater "Marina" is done!! I had time yesterday afternoon to rip out the button band bind off and bind off again with size 3 instead of size 2 needles. Worked great this time and the button band laid flat. The buttons are on and we had bright sun this morning for a picture.

I've learned so very much from this sweater, ideas that will be transferred on to other knitting. Spit splicing is a true marvel, two handed color knitting, rewriting charts to "see" the colors and patterns how I like, and the real joy of watching those Shetland colors come to life in a Fair Isle.

We keep our house around 64-65 degrees and I'm used to wearing fleece or Aran sweater tops. I will say that Marina is not as warm as I thought it would be. The sweater is basically two layers of yarn since you always carry one color behind the other. It is very light in total ounces when you pick it up. I just thought it would be warmer to wear. It still needs to be washed and blocked and perhaps that will fill up some of the air holes.

I need to put making more Fair Isles aside for a bit until I finish up Beadwork, Shirt Tail Hemmed (well that is a fair isle but is already way under way) and an Aran. Course I did knit "Oregon"'s bottom rib over Christmas and ....... sigh.....

It's finally snowing!!! 23 degrees and a beautiful fine snow is falling. This winter hasn't been a winter so far. I'm sure after the 5th or 6th storm I'll be cursing snow but right now it is so pretty. Today's project is to continue with the yarn inventory. Every bag will be opened, counted and all the info put into an Excel spreadsheet. It's fun rummaging through the bags, some of the yarn is 30-35 years old and still in good condition. I've worked my way through a lot of the oiled Irish Aran yarn brought back from a trip to Ireland 30 years ago but there is still some left. Amazing what is in that closet, everything from old Tahki to 2 ply jumper weight. Doubt I'll live long enough to use it all up.

Christmas in VA was a good family time. Photo is of mom with the red/white scrap lap quilt I made her. Perfect size for her to sit in her favorite chair and read. It's a 14 1/2 hour drive down to VA but worth the trip. Just seems longer and more traffic every time we drive it.
"Marina" is 6" short of finishing the second sleeve and blocking to wear. "Shirt Tail Hemmed Fair Isle" has first sleeve started, body done. Joe's all over rib has front done, back 3/4 and no sleeves. It's the car sweater since I don't have to look at it to knit. Three fair isle patterns with yarn all collected and ready and who knows what will inspire me going through the stash.

Happy New Year to all. Hoping the new year brings more finished projects than started ones!

Two boy sweaters done! As predicted the blue sweater was a bit too big and the red a bit too small but the boys should get some wear out of them this winter. I didn't have the opportunity to measure them so we went on size 2T and 5T. Mr. Blue Sweater is growing quickly so his will be perfect next year or later winter. Mr. Red Sweater might get some of the winter out of it but it won't go wasted. My daughter has lots of friends to pass this along to. Next set of sweaters, I won't go by the generic measurements but make a trip to visit and break out the old tape measure. Kept waiting for security in kids clothing stores to come ask me why I was measuring all their sweaters!

Christmas gifts are all made. Once they are wrapped I'll get back to both sweaters - Beadwork and Marina. Very different knits and I swap off to rest the hands.