This has been an unusual January with cold but not a lot of really bad snow storm days. A rare rain storm took the snow pack down by half. This break in the normal weather pattern did let the roof crew install the new steel metal roofing on the garage and the deep north and south valleys. Later snow proved that the snow will slide off those areas and may finally have solved the ice dam problem. Solved is always a relative word when doing any kind of house maintenance.



Since we don't play in the snow any longer, we've had lots of time for hobbies - reading, model trains, planning this years truck camper trips, knitting and trying new recipes. Joe's leg hasn't relapsed so we've got fingers crossed for camping this spring.

Canyonville is progressing nicely. I'm two rows away from the second pattern repeat on the body and then will switch back to work on the sleeves until that second pattern repeat is done. Perhaps this will be a way to get sleeves done - use the body as incentive and not work exclusively on that. Will be interesting to see if I can be happy with both body and sleeve length for when the raglan starts as the pattern has to be on the same row. Stay tuned!



To switch needle sizes and yarn thickness and hopefully keep my hands going, I'm also working still on Oversize Panel Cardigan. Pink is not one of my favorite colors and the photo makes this sweater look very pink. It's not that pink to the human eye but maybe that is the reason it isn't being worked on very much? I need to get at least half way through the second pattern repeat to see if this is doing what I want. Lots of knitting to rip out if so ......

Canyonville is underway! After all the swatching, I've decided on the Galway Highland Heather in color number #748, a sage green. Ribbing is done and about half of one chart repeat. It will be knit in the round bottom up with raglan shaping.



Still working on the Oversize Panel cardigan, a few rows each night. So much yarn, so little time!

Received a pair of beautiful yellow socks today from friend Shirley. What a great way to cheer up a cold time of year - lunch and socks! She does such precise work and the socks fit perfectly.



Perhaps I can break out of the "what to make next" doldrums by making some socks? I've been stuck on swatching lately but at least one of the swatches made it into a hat. This is the basic pattern for Starmore's "Inishmaan" sweater but with two of the smaller cables substituted. I used Annie Maloney's "Cable Knitter's Handbook" cables No. 3 and No. 9 and mirrored them around the center Inishmaan big braid. The hat is drying on a balloon so it kept the shape and dried faster. It's from Cottage Crafts 2 ply in Yellow Birch color.




The swatches below for "Canyonville" aren't going to be made into anything. A knit friend said she wished all her swatches were the same size so that she could sew them into a blanket. Good idea! All of the yarn colors are Cascade 220 except for the light green which is Galway Highland Heather. Not sure if I'll proceed to sweater stage but have enjoyed swatching the travelling stitches. The depth effect created by the stitches moving over the fabric is fascinating.

Starting off the new year with swatching and finishing off Sarah's Lopi. The Lopi was a gift from her mom's trip to England. Sure feels odd to go back and forth from Lopi weight to 2 ply jumper weight but it's a good rest on the hands. It's also time to get back to the Oversize Panel sweater which is a KnitALong on BlueDragon's Yahoo group. This picture shows my "helper" Miss Boots choosing the yarns.



This swatch is from Annie Maloney's "Knitter's Guide to Stitch Design", Cable #112. I'm nesting three of the cables off set with her wrapped stitch where the cable edes meet. The bottom wheat color is Cottage Craft in stone color. The top is MacAusland's worsted weight in a green/teal. The stone color doesn't show the cables well; the green shows the cables but is quite heavy. Not sure I want to knit another heavy sweater right now.



I was able to get Alice Starmore's "American Portraits" (way out of print) from interlibrary loan. There is a beautiful sweater called "Canyonville" in the book. It is all travelling stitches that curve and swirl and looked sculpted almost. One of the knitters on Ravelry made this sweater into a raglan instead of a dropped shoulder. I'm swatching with stash in the house to see what I can come up with.



The Lopi body is done and half of one sleeve. I changed the structure to make it a top down raglan but did preserve the color detail. Been working with thinner weights for so long now, I'd forgotten how quickly a fat yarn knits.

All done but the cardigan kept saying it wanted to be a vest - so it is.



I-cord was knit all the way around the front edges and neck using a US#8 instead of the US#5 the body used. For the neck, stitches were picked up from the I-cord and eight rows of ribbing were knit.



The armhole edges were left in I-cord.



This was a fun project and I learned a lot as always. Wonder what's next?

Mid Coast Cardigan is basically done and probably becoming a vest with I-cord edges and no buttons. It has been a fascinating process and learned a lot. Here it is modeled by Joe's mom who is with us recovering from surgery. She's doing great and has had fun watching the knitting.





Part of the learning process was making the shoulder straps and knitting them together with the front and back shoulder stitches in one continuous process. It is detailed in Alice Starmore's "Fishermen's Knits" on Page 121. First shoulder I started with double pointed needles holding the back stitches, the front stitches and the shoulder strap/saddle put onto a provisional cast on. Second shoulder I went to one circular holding the back stitches and strap and a second circular holding the front stitches which was a lot less to manuver.

Start of the process - Provisionally cast on the number of stitches you are going to use for the saddle cable plus two on each side. I knit one plain row and a purl before starting the saddle cable.



As you start to knit the saddle cable, pick up one stitch from the back stitches and knit them together with the first stitch on the saddle needle. The last stitch on the saddle needle will be knit together with the first of the front stitches. Turn and pick up one stitch from the front and purl it together with the first stitch on the saddle needle. The last stitch on the saddle needle is purled with the first stich on the back needle. Etc, etc. until you have knit or purled all of the stitches on the front and back. The saddle is now the same length as the front and back of the sweater/vest. I did figure out the gauge of the #113 cable and decreased some stitches when knitting the last row on the fronts and back to make them more consistent with the saddle gauge.



Progress photos:







This is the finished saddle. It does not look as messy as this photo does. I used K2 together on the right side of the saddle and "slip one knit one pass one over" on the left side. Because you are purling back over these stitches, it just doesn't look as neat as it could but couldn't figure out any other way to do it.



I'm glad I learned how to do this as Starmore uses it often with ganseys. For a heavily cabled sweater, it would have been better to have knit it top down like a FLAK from the start.

Now to decide - cardigan with less densely cabled sleeves? vest with I-cord?

I was really loving this cardigan and enjoying working on it. Last night, picked up the right front half and started the under arm decreases. That side is the last piece as the back is done and the left front including the shoulder strap. Looked down and what do I see - cables in the wrong order!!

Let’s see if I can illustrate what I’ve done and if anyone has an idea. First is the right front (double click on the photo to enlarge it).



Then the left front (double click on the photo to enlarge it).



The cable sequence from the front opening should be below. The right side is how I wanted the layout.
2 st braid, 6 st braid, #13, 6 st braid, 2 st braid, 4 st braid, cable #89, 4 st braid, #13

The left side sequence is messed up probably because I didn’t have the chart written out in reverse.
6 st braid, 2 st braid, #13, 2 st braid, 6 st braid, 4 st braid, cable #89, 4 st braid, #13

I reversed the left side 2 stitch and 6 stitch and they aren’t even symmetrical! The back is how I wanted.

So….. just finish it as a vest? Rip it and start over bottom up? Rip it and knit top down ala FLAK? Relax and have a nice single malt ? or two?

Would another cable knitter notice this? These photos are early on. I’ve since finished the left side totally including the shoulder strap. The right side is picked up and decreases done. This is what I get for pretending to put my own sweaters together - but it is fun.

MidCoast cable cardigan is coming along great. Now that Henry VIII is in the mail, it's almost like a weight is off my shoulders. Not fun to knit so many tiny stitches on something you aren't really enjoying. Because I do like to have a stranded project going also, I'll enjoy the Oversize Panel Cardigan. After yet more garden cleanup today, I'll ball up the colors I chose.

Henry VIII is taking a trip tomorrow to Oregon, winging his way to another home. I just never fell in love with Henry and the colors. The yarns are gorgeous and each one on its own would be incredible in a solid color sweater. But (for me) the sweater was just not colorful enough. Since each row takes about 22 minutes to knit, it was a huge time commitment to keep going on something I didn't love. The pattern is beautifully written as always. My online knit friend Helen in Oregon is now the proud owner of Henry VIII. May he reign her house well.

Helen also moderates a Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mara_class/. The group will be doing a KAL (knit along) and we'll be making any sweater from Alice Starmore's "Book of Fair Isle Knitting" which has just been reprinted. I forced myself to wait to Sunday before getting out all the boxes of J&S two ply jumper weight wool and start the happy search for colors. I've been going back and forth between the "Oversize Panel Cardigan" on Page 136 and the "Child's Panel Gansey" on Page 117 of the reprint of Alice Starmore's "Book of Fair Isle Knitting". I like the vertical lines of the Oversize and the colors of the Child's. Most of the blues I have are fairly dark and most of my completed fair isles are also fairly dark. So... I'm going to make the Oversize in lighter colors similar to the book colors. I miss the sweater schematic like in most of her other books as it's easy to see the sweater construction and figure out what you are going to change.



I have all the colors in stash except for the Jamieson & Smith jumper weight #96 which I've been told is a lot like #66. I have one skein of that but would never dream of using it for the main body of a sweater. I have some Harrisville shetland yellowy beige which will be perfect. It comes on a cone but it's all skeined off and washed ready for use.



I know I'm going to make an inset sleeve and it won't be as long in the body as the pattern. I'll be knitting in the round with a front steek. The neckline will probably end up tighter than hers usually are. I also might not make the darker colors go all the way around the sweater but use more areas of solid light color. That means swatching!

Why have I named the newest cable/aran sweater on the needles "MidCoast Maine Cardigan"? Because the DH landed in MidCoast Hospital for 13 days with a leg infection called cellulitis. Nasty stuff but he is home, recovering and pretty tired of resting with his leg up most of the day. I started this sweater while sitting with him every day for most of the day and early evening. Took a basic old Candide cardigan bottom up pattern and laid out many of Annie Maloney's beautiful cables until I had a design I liked.



Above is a photo of the front of the sweater. The cables read from the front opening going from the middle to the left as Cable Knitting Handbook (CKH) Cable #13, 4 stitch rope, CKH Cable #89, 4 stitch rope, 6 stitch rope, CKH #13, 6 sttich rope, moss stitch.



Above is a photo of the back of the sweater. The cables read right to left as CKH #13, 6 stitch rope, Knitters Guide to Stitch Design (KGSD) Cable #117, 6 stitch rope, 4 stitch rope, CKH #89, 4 stitch rope, 6 stitch rope, KGSD #117, 6 stitch rope, CKH #13.

There are various purl spaces here and there not listed but that's the basic layout of the sweater. It's being knit in Lion Brand Fishermen's wool in off white. The wool is four ply and a light worsted being knit on US#4 circulars. I'll knit circular up to the armholes and then divide for fronts and back. Probably will pick up armhole stitches and knit the sleeves down as I always get a better fit this way. Original plan was to make the buttonholes inside of the CKH #13 as I knit but that didn't work out. I might just add a small buttonband when done. Also toying with adding a saddle in a different cable to run down the center of the sleeve.

Annie's cables are amazing, so much so that I created a Ravelry group for her. If you are on Ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com) come join us on "Annie Maloney & Friends". Lots of hard core cable and lace knitters hang out there.

Her books can be found here:
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/knitting_books/Cable_Knitting_Handbook.html
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/knitting_books/Knitters_Guide_to_Stitch_Design.html
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/knitting_books/Mastering_Lacework.html
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/knitting_books/Personal_Knitwear_Design.html
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/knitting_books/Tips_From_A_Knitters_Notebook.html

St. Brigid proved a bit challenging to make as a FLAK and has been put on hold for now. Not like I don't have anything else on the needles!

Henry VIII is underway but I'm having second thoughts.



Knit friend Shirley suggested taking the project out into the sunshine as it looks so dull inside the house. The Virtual Yarns colors are a lot brighter in the sun and really show their depth but something’s just not working.

I’ve got to confess to not being absolutely in love with Henry to this point. I keep thinking of Ravelry member Kibben’s Henry VIII cardigan and that I’d wear it much more than a pullover. Also know that I’ve got to slightly inset the sleeves as I did with Lismore. Those dropped shoulders and my shape don’t work well. I might just put it aside for a few days and think on it. It’s always painful to rip out what’s done but a lot less painful than finishing the sweater and not wearing it.

I have finished a pair of socks from Melissa Morgan-Oakes "2-at a time Socks" book though I did them one at a time on double points. Not being a long term sock knitter, figured I'd not overly complicate the first pair. I used Ravelry member Susinok's Slackford Yarns, Stalwart sock yarn in "Boots & Jeans" color. Here is her shop on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6946141



Wore them today and they are very comfortable and easy to wear. I did pick up Kathleen Taylor's "Big Book of Socks" at Border's today. I love getting those 30% off coupons.

Joe's "Kangaroo Pockets" sweater is up to the shawl collar start on the front (back is finished). I'll work on it again after I decide what to do with Henry.

Can I make St. Brigid as a FLAK? Should I? It is such a beautiful sweater as designed in pieces, knit bottom up and then sewn together. FLAK is a method by Janet Szabo of Big Sky Knitting of starting a sweater with the shoulder saddles and knitting down from there. I've made three so far and they fit just right.

First photo shows the blue finished FLAK with pieces of the new lavendar St. Brigid laid on top. The bottom lavendar piece was the original start to St. Brigid and is being used as a swatch (or to be continued if the FLAK doesn't work). The charts for St. Brigid used as written in Cottage Craft worsted yarn work perfectly for the width I want for the finished piece. The yellow Post-It notes are the blue FLAK's width before adding the sleeves.



Second photo shows the two 5" saddles knit using Annie Maloney's cable #8 from "The Cable Knitting Handbook". The center thinner area is Chart D and half of Cable #8 on each side. This makes the neckline 9" instead of the 7-1/2" I'd like but can handle that. Actually as the D cable progresses it should draw in some to match the big swatch. However, there are still a chart B (#8) to add on both sides plus a few stitches such as seed for smoothness.



Here's the whole view:



So what's the hesitation or problem? My cross shoulder measurement is 18", the width of the cables "hung" on the saddles is 19". I don't really want to remove any of the cables as it would spoil the look of St. Brigid. With a FLAK, the sleeves are picked up from the chest area's front and back and then width is added after the added width matches the full width you want on the body. The only way I can see making this is to use the full charts at full width as the original St. Brigid and then pick up the sleeves from that width (no more width added). At this point, might as well make the original sweater from teh bottom up.

Anyone else who makes FLAKs want to weigh in on this. If you belong to Ravelry, a free knitting/fiber discussion group at http://www.ravelry.com take a look at the Big Sky Knitting group at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/big-sky-knitting-designs.
In that group there is discussion of making St. Brigid a FLAK under the heading "I Just Realized" started by another knitter trying the same thing.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/big-sky-knitting-designs/795690/1-25#5

Lismore is done and just in time for wearing during our crisp fall New England days. It's a perfect weight for outdoor wear and bet I'll wear it a lot. Here it is drying on the wooly board.



The yarn is Jamieson & Smith two ply jumper weight and was picked out of stash. If you knit or crochet do yourself a favor and join Ravelry on the web at http://www.ravelry.com. It is a world wide community of fiber lovers and the help and encouragement there is amazing. Marina from mid America graciously shared her list of color substitutions for Lismore as the originals are no longer available. Helen from OR told me about insetting the sleeves slightly to get rid of the bulk of a dropped shoulder. Used their ideas to base my Lismore on and couldn't be heppier. Here is a slightly blurred photo of the inset sleeve.



Only Joe's brown sweater on the needles for cable work currently and I need one a bit more complicated to work on also. Thinking of turning Starmore's St. Brigid into a FLAK style knit from the saddle shoulders down. Planning alone will take a while but that's part of the fun. Also will be knitting Henry VIII, another stranded sweater, with a Ravelry group as a knit-a-long starting next week. Hope the beginning arthritis in the hands holds off for many years as there is a lot of yarn still in stash.

Where did the summer go? At last in Maine there is sun, heat and lots and lots of weeds. We missed the five weeks of rain since we were on a RV trip out west. Love living here and seeing all the season changes. We are back from working with the siblings at cleaning out mom's condo, readying it for sale. 32 big bags of beautiful clothing in extra petite size went to the church clothes closet for use by women's shelters, women just starting work and whoever else can use them. Over 30 bags went to a church readying their biannual yard sale. We certainly were thankful that mom's goods would be put to good use.

While cleaning closets and drawers, I gathered up all the sweaters I'd made her through the years. She wore some constantly so they must have been liked. The white aran doesn't look like it was ever worn. Should have fit her as it was a 34" - maybe too big but it was too small for anyone else in the family. I brought it home to recreate it in a larger size.




Here's what I found - all donated to church except the white aran.

This is mostly in a salmon with highlights of pink and white. She must have liked it as the cuffs were almost worn out.



Wonder how much she wore this Lopi? VA winters aren't that cold.


This one was almost worn out, had a lot of small wear holes. I can remember her wearing this like a jacket.


Love this old Candide pattern but it had little wear as it must have been hot even as she got older and was always cold.


Finished the first sleeve of Lismore last night and plan on picking up the second sleeve tonight. Our Knit-A-Long for Henry VIII starts mid September. I really want to be done with Lismore before then. Note to self - do NOT START ANYTHING ELSE.

Rain again. The day lilies are blooming and are gorgeous. All the perennials did well this year with the extra water. We however are rusting. Went to Portland today and finally got off of I-295 and took back roads as the crazy drivers weren't slowing down for the heavy rain. There are times I miss the ammenities of a city but don't want to live in one again. Today I watched the three red fox pups wrestling in the field across our road. Don't see that in a city!

Lismore is coming along well. Picked up 3 out of 4 sleeve edge stitches and am about four inches down. I have this love/hate thing with sleeves so really have to force myself to finish them.



Miss Boots the Cat was happy today as I've got piles of quilt fabric all over the work room floor. I want to make a quilt for the camper before fall (HA!). Have the dinette cushion from the camper in the house to guide in color choices. I think it will end up being a cream/white/beige/tan scrap background and a simple 9 patch block with batiks. "Combing through the Scraps" by Karen Combs is a good inspiration and a way to use up some of the fabric in this house.

Knitting again! Home from our western trip and the weeding is almost caught up. Those five weeks away and Maine had rain almost every day. The weeds were huge and dug in tight. Yard really looks good and the day lilies are starting to pop in all their glorious colors.

Joe's brown sweater got ripped back 3" the other night. Simple pattern means you don't pay as much attention so sometimes a cable doesn't get crossed when it should. The back is almost done.

On one of the Ravelry knit groups we've been discussing steeks. There are a lot of ways of making a steek but this is what I do. I make my steeks pretty wide, usually a total of nine stitches with the two outside rows being the darkest colors so I can use those to pick up neck and button bands. I crochet my steeks leaving one full stitch between where I’m crocheting. That stitch is cut exactly in half vertically. This makes a nice neat edge that folds over to the inside easily. This example is Lismore being made with Jamieson & Smith two ply jumper weight wool which is quite sticky. I know many of you just cut and let the edge remain as cut but I like the look of the crocheted edge. I’d also probably wake up at night and listen for the sounds of unravelling coming from my closet if I didn’t finish the edge.

The first photo shows the crochet hook picking up the two adjacent stitch edges. The black vertical line is the crochet edge.



Second photo shows the steek being cut with very sharp scissors with a small blade so they don’t get away from you. Take your time!



Third photo shows the steek cut open with the tight finished edge.



The shoulders are now together using three needle bind off. Next comes the dreaded pickup for the sleeves. Trying to get this one finished as the Ravelry group will be starting another Knit A Long mid September for Henry VIII, a Starmore design.

The Kangaroo Pockets from "Guy Knits" is progressing. I really like the Berroco Ultra Alpaca in the brown color called Potting Soil. The photo is the back which has a bad cable cross way down about 3” from the bottom. This is one time the mistake is going to stay. The yarn does shed some but is just beautiful. Reviews I’ve read on the yarn says it does stretch lengthwise a bit so I’m making the sweater an inch shorter to compensate. The color is much prettier in person. The photo makes it look washed out. The panels of trinity stitch are smooth, not pucketed as they are appearing. It's a very simple pattern that is perfect for knitting while riding in the truck or watching movies.



I’d started that old panic we all do as in “Do I have enough yardage????”. However I’m not quite through the third ball and have started the arm decreases for the back. I have/had 13 skeins so should have enough even though he has long arms. Right?

Not a lot of time to knit on this trip as we are doing so much and seeing the sights of the west and west coast. Follow the trip at

What knitting time there has been has been good. I like the Berroco Ultra Alpaca and the pattern out of "Guy Knits" as written. Plus best of all is Joe is a captive audience so I can measure it against him often!



Almost finished with one repeat and the pattern is going to work out okay.

June 4 - Fort Peck to Great Falls, MT

Morning came early again and we spent the time before places opened, doing basic maintenance on the TC. The gas hot water heater was not working, giving a constant reset light. Joe called our TC friend Mikeee who can fix just about anything in the HVAC line. Joe had already done most of what Mike suggested but he gave a few more hints and one of them worked. Probably a loose wire by the tank where I had put in paper towels - where I wasn't supposed to store anything. Well paper towels are light right? Mike's "payment" of a box of Klondike Bars will go to him next we see him.

We toured the Fort Peck dam area and learned the story of how the dam was built during the 1930s depression. There was a catastrophic and deadly collapse before it was finished. At the base of the dam is the Fort Peck Interpretive Center which lays out the discovery of dinosaur remains and traces their history and the ecology and geography of the area. Excellent exhibits and well worth the time to go there.



There was also an art and sculpture exhibit. I liked this one thinking of all
our TC friends who hike deep into the wilderness.



We travel led on Route 2 today and whoever said this part of Montana is called the Big Empty was absolutely correct. Between Big Sky and Big Empty there is nothing but grass, horses and cattle. We think the vast planted fields are wheat but not sure. You have to be a hearty soul to live out here especially during the winter.



At Malta we stopped at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum. They had one real intact skeleton which was interesting but what was more so was the county museum. There were photos loaned by local families from early pioneer times through the Great Depression up to current farming. Quilts, a roster of those who have served in the wars, class photos, exhibits of old kitchens, parlors, etc. Fascinating to tour and you felt as though you were sitting in your grandmother's parlor looking at family history.

At Havre, we switched over to Route 87 south to go to Great Falls. This road is two lane, no shoulders and 70 mph. I have to hand it to those who live here and put up with the tourists who know one wrong twitch of the hands and you end up in a ditch. Actually not bad driving, much more civil people who pass a TC going 62. The tip of their hat is better than the hand wave back east.

We're in a tiny campground just prior to Great Falls but amazingly there is internet. We're feasting on corn husk covered tamales, fresh salsa that is a bit hotter than we are used to and local nacho chips. When in the country, eat like a native.

Tomorrow our choices are the Memhke Steam Museum (tractors not trains), the CM Russell Museum Complex, Malmstrom Air Force Base museum and a second Lewis and Clark Center. We are close to museum done and time to head for Glacier. I keep checking the "Going to the Sun Road" and know it is not open yet. But there is so much else to see, do and hike that it won't matter in the long run. We'll take 89 north and wander to see what there is to see.