Longwool

Capelet

Whoa, what happened? Oh yeah, my landlady calls me out of the blue in February and says she wants to sell the house we're renting and that she has another rental available April 1st to move us in to. Right. Well, here I am at the new apartment, but only temporarily because David graduates this summer and we're off to wherever he gets a job so we have to move again. Did I mention I hate moving?

But way back in March before all the packing craziness got into full gear I finished the Nordic Lights Capelet for a class I took at Webs.

Project details here (ravelry link).

This was my first major fair isle project, which is why I took a class in order to have guidance. I discovered that I like to hold both strands of yarn on two different fingers on my left hand. I tried two-handed, but my right hand just couldn't keep up. Two strands on the left felt much more comfortable. I also found that I was knitting way too tightly while doing fair isle and had to go up 2 needle sizes. I'm so pleased with the result and am looking forward to wearing it next Fall wherever I end up.

On a roll

I'm excited to announce that after a year and a half of working on the Mystery Blanket on and off, it is finished!!!

Pattern: Mystery Blanket by Elizabeth Zimmermann from the Knitter's Almanac (April)
Yarn: Cascade Eco+ (red: 2 skeins) and Ecological Wool (brown: 3 skeins)
Needles: 10.5
Thoughts: I'd just like to add that I am AWESOME at weaving/grafting now.

Keeping warm

Thanks for the sewing information. I'm excited for my new craft. But in the meantime, I've been doing lots of little knitting projects.

First, I knit Owen a matching hat and scarf from the wonderful rainbow yarn I purchased at Rhinebeck last fall.

Hat:
Pattern: Child's Cable Ear Flap Hat by Diana Jordan
Needles: Size 7

Scarf:
Pattern: Reversible Cable Scarf by Linda Daniels, modified to fit a child

Needles: size 7

More details are on Ravelry.

Finally I knit a Norwegian Star hat for me. I'm about to start a big colorwork project and wanted to practice my fair-isle.

Pattern: Norwegian Star Hat by Stephanie Taylor

Needles: size 6

a new craft

Hey knitting friends who also sew:

I received a sewing machine from my sweetie for Christmas. I was wondering if you could recommend any sewing books or webpages, both how-to and patterns. I have never sewn before and this is all very new to me.

I just started my first project last night: a tote bag. We'll see how it goes!

My first knit of 2010 was the Meret.

Pattern: Meret
Yarn: Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair in moss, 1 skein
Needles: size 7
Thoughts: Fun pattern! I originally did an extra repeat of the lace to make it more slouchy, as is suggested in the pattern, but I found that I am not a slouchy beret person. In fact, I looked ridiculous. I took it out and omitted the extra repeat with much better results. Berets don't look as cute on me as they do some, but at least it is not ridiculous looking any more.

more on the February Lady

This past Fall I took my very first knitting class at Webs. It taught by my good friend Annie and it was to make the February Lady Sweater, designed by Pamela Wynne (inspired, of course, by Elizabeth Zimmermann's Feb. baby sweater), but in the round with a crochet steek (Annie despises purling).

Here's a quick overview of how we made the sweater:

The sweater has a garter raglan top, so that was done back and forth (remember, no purling!) and then it was joined in the round for the lace part.

Then we crocheted on either side of the steek stitch. I choose to do mine in a nicely contrasting blue sock yarn I had in my stash. I really like the way it came out!

Then it was time to cut, which actually wasn't as scary as one might think.

Finally the ends were whip-stitched down.

Ta Da!

And I found these awesome buttons at Webs that worked perfectly.

Christmas knitting

I was very ambitious with my Christmas knitting, but I managed to finish everything... barely.

This year I knit sweaters for both my parents. Mom got a February Lady Sweater and my dad got a Cobblestone pullover.

Pattern: Cobblestone pullover by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cascade 220 heathers 2435 (brown), 6 skeins
Needles: size 7
Mods: none

Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: Cascade 220 heathers 2435 orangey-brown, 4 skeins
Needles: Size 7
Mods: I knit this in the round and then crochet steeked it. More on this later...

For my husband, I knit the Turn A Square hat

Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood (available for free on Ravelry)
Yarn: Cascade 220 heathers gray, 1 skein and Noro Kureyon 196
Needles: size 7

For my MIL, a Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks scarf

Pattern: Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks
Yarn:

Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino, 2 skeins
Needles: size 8

And remember that I knit Owen tiger slippers a couple months ago?

Well I had to knit another pair for Nathaniel. He loves cats and I still had lots of black in the stash so...

Pattern: Bunny Hoppers by Kathleen Taylor
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lambs' Pride worsted, < one skein
Needles: Size 8
Mods: Obviously lots since I knit cats instead of bunnies and I had to modify the size for my 18-month-old's feet