Jeri Rigged

New Year Blues!

2012-01-03T13:02:00.002-05:00

For a change, I decided to work up some cowls and infinity scarves as the year came to a close. This first one is one skein of Misty Alpaca Chunky, which I overdyed with BlueGum dye. I love the bright blue color, and this one skein project is very easy. On a size 10.5 needle, Cast on 30 sts using a provisional cast on, and knit 30 sts. Turn and knit 30, then turn,* knit 15, wrap and turn, knit 15. Turn, knit 30 sts 4 times, repeat from * . When you have approx a yard of yarn left,and yarn is coming out at opposite end from beginning tail yarn, remove provisional sts and place live sts on a needle. Here you can either do a 3 needle bind off, or graft by Kitchener stitch for Garter: which is as follows:( set up leave P front, P back), then work across row as follows:
Front needle:K off, P leave
Back needle:K off, P leave.

Now, this seed stitch cowl was done with size 19 needles and 2 skeins of "Baby", a kind of big wool. A nice warm merino!

This infinity scarf was made with 3 skeins of Bocciolo, which was a birthday gift from my friend Cara. I love how the yarn's bobbles of bright blue popped out! I used double moss stitch, which was loosely followed, as this was my knit-in-public knitting for a while, and some wine may have been involved. But I love this scarf!

My final project for December, shown here still in progress, was done with "Crazy Sexy Wool" by Wool and the Gang ( www.woolandthegang.com ), which also made the size 19 needles.Talk about instant gratification! This scarf took about 6 hours to knit, and was a lot of fun to watch grow. I have been having fun learning how to graft in seed stitch, and that formula is approximately thus:
front needle: opposite off, same on
back needle: opposite off, same on
with "opposite" meaning the reverse of how the stitch looks to you ( either K or P), and "same" meaning how it appears ( k or P).
So, Happy New Year to all of my faithful readers, and I hope 2012 brings you all health, peace and prosperity, but also joy and delight!

Thanksgiving Roast Vegetables

2011-11-22T11:49:00.000-05:00

When I visited my kids at college last month, we had the most delicious vegetable medly for dinner. I recreate it here for your enjoyment:

Roasted Root Vegetables:

Peel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes the following vegetables:( or purchase pre-cubed)
2 Sweet potatoes or yams
1 butternut squash
2 or 3 Parsnips
3 or 4 fresh red beets

Toss with 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread one layer thick on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and a small amount of salt. (Other herbs may be added, but caution: they may overpower the delicate flavor of the veggies).

Roast at 400 degrees for 45 min to 1 hour, turning over every 20 minutes, until most of the veggies are soft and lightly browned.

Serves 6-8.

Serve warm. Will keep in fridge for several days, covered. Reheats nicely!
I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Change of Seasons

2011-10-11T14:04:00.000-04:00

Changing seasons here in the NorthEast USA is always a challenge. There is no clear demarcation, so the weather can change from summertime 80 degrees down to chilly 50s in a day. Thus one needs an array of clothes to cover every eventuality! Thus I made 2 similar sweaters, one in linen and one in wool/alpaca to chase away the chills. The top photos are of Waterlily Cosmos, so called because of the waterlily edging and the top down construction like my other Cosmos sweaters. I really enjoyed knitting that one after the unforgiving linen, but the second sweater, Summer Leaves, has its charms also! It is a variation of the Metamorphosis sweater, with same numbers but different lace patterns. It was a pleasure to play with pattern and texture in both of these, and I am already thinking of more variations.

Labor Day blues

2011-09-05T12:26:00.001-04:00

I finally finished my quilt for my son, even though he left for college 2 weeks ago! I always underestimate how long quilts take to make! This one is 72in X 88 in, the size for a Twin bed, and is made of mostly blue and white fabrics which I had on hand. Some are rather old ( one was used as a maternity dress when I was carrying him), one was used in his Bar-Mitzvah quilt, several were used in "Crystal Blues", a quilt I made in 1998, whic I still enjoy. I also bought a few new pieces of fabric for this quilt. It is machine pieced and quilted, with a walking foot for the body of the quilt, but with free motion for the border. I also machine applied the binding. It was a challenge to photograph this huge thing! I hope he likes it...

Baby Cat

2011-08-10T16:26:00.000-04:00

As I am getting my kids ready to go off to college, and thinking about my "empty nest", naturally I recall how much fun it was to have a new baby in the house, and fondly recall the fun of each of my children's growth and childhood. It is incredible to me that these young men are ready to enter the world, albeit the relatively safer realm of college, but still my house will be quiet! Except for the 2 cats, of course. They would keep me busy. And my older son requested a quilt for his bed, so I have been busily sewing and cutting and enjoying watching that take place.

Meanwhile, last night at 6pm my son's Japanese teacher called in a panic, as she had found a baby kitten in the road near her house and didn't know what to do with it, but couldn't keep it because of her dog being too aggressive. She had called her vet who said they maybe could take it later today, but she needed someone to take it for the night. I agreed to take it over night, so she dropped off this little kitten. And I mean little. Its eyes were still closed, and the umbilical cord was hanging off it, so it probably was 2 days old if that. I had some cat milk and an eye dropper, and Bobby and I made it a warm nest with a hot water bottle and one of those plastic boxes and an old towel. It mewed pitifully, and we tried to feed it while I called shelters and vets offices which were all closed, and I concluded it wasn't going anywhere last night. My younger son, who loves kittens, was up till 4:30 am with it, and I got up at 9 and resumed feeding, trying to get it to pee ( mother cats lick their babies butts to make them pee, so the website I found ( http://www.kitten-rescue.com/) suggested cotton balls and warm water....it was very stressful as it kept mewing for its mother and was kind of freaked out, but so cute and fluffy and tiny! Little claws and whiskers! I was relieved and sorry when Mako came to take it at 1:30, but it was good because by then I had remembered the anxiety and the stress of babies, their incessant neediness, and their inability to be alone for a moment, and the huge feeling of responsibility for a tiny creature, adorable as it was, was too much for me! I am glad and proud of my kids going off to college, and I did my bit, so perhaps it is time for a new phase of life, with a bit more freedom to do as I please! I still have to sell the house, so there is a lot to keep me occupied.....

Hot time

2011-07-20T20:45:00.000-04:00

Summer! It has been blazing hot lately, and all I want to do is knit with linen. I finished a couple of sweaters in lovely linen, and am in the process of designing and knitting several more. Of course, with the heat I haven't worn them much, although with the airconditioning in some buildings, a lacy linen sweater is just the thing.The beige one started out as a square block, then grew into a long strip, then I added the sides and followed my "Medallion Cardigan" pattern. You can see details on my Ravelry project page here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knitbird/medallion-lace-cardigan-3

The blue one is a version of Cosmos Cardigan, which I really must make time for writing up the pattern! Lazy me...but it is tricky to explain, so I have let that one languish.

But in the meantime, I have published my "Metamorphosis Sweater" which is the result of our BadCat winter KAL where we designed a custom-fitted to your measurements seamless lace sweater, along with the folks who test knitted the pattern with us. It really is a workshop in a pattern. It runs 30 pages, and is available here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/metamorphosis-sweater. You need to get the 47 pages of lace charts from BadCatDesigns, though, so in total the package runs $20, but it is a goldmine of step by step information to customize this amazing sweater in 8 sizes, so it can really fit anyone.

I have also started knitting the Back To The Garden Shawl, as part of BadCatDesigns Summer KAL ( http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ )but that one is taking me a while because it is the most complex lace I've done in a while and not suited for watching TV quite yet..but it is so gorgeous I want to do it. It will have to grow slowly though, as I've never been much of a gardener.!

It has been a busy spring, with one son graduating from High School, and with college and jobs and various transitions happening all at once. I am still in the process of trying to sell and to declutter the house, but it isn't easy to part with my stuff....so, that is what I've been doing...

Waiting for

2011-05-04T19:25:00.001-04:00

In the midst of cleaning and decluttering the studio, and my house, it is difficult to create things, as one doesn't want to make a big mess.But what could be neater than doing a big quilting project where the design hinges on the quilting itself?

At least 5 years ago, I dyed 2 pieces of fabric in a radiating color pattern, and drew a design on one piece. Then it sat for a long time, as I was hesitant to find the perfect way to quilt it. Last month I got inspired to use black thread and just go for it, using as many references as I could to find for patterns for the areas to be quilted. I used "The Grammar of Ornament" by Owen Jones as a kind of reference manual, and when I got stuck for inspiration, I would open it at random and see what patterns spiked my fancy. Then I adapted them for quilting patterns. Co-incidentally, my friend Elizabeth ( http://www.elizabethrosenberg.com/weblog/ ) had been doodling with marvelous designs, and somehow I heard about Zentangles, so I was primed to find lots of doodle inspiration to guide my quilting. So, here is the result, "Goodbye New York" 39X39 inches,which won an Honorable Mention at the Northern Star Quilters Guild show this past weekend. And some detail shots:

And I've kind of been on a finish up UFO kick lately, so there are a few sweaters coming to fruition. Of course, in the process of cleaning and sorting I am finding lots of fun ideas and half-finished things which cry out for frogging or for finishing.

So it is fun to make that decision sometimes.

Also, for the Northern Star show, I made a small auction piece, which was kind of a sample, and used hand dyed fabric I made a few years ago, with a portion of the design. I thought it would be good to have a place to experiment, but I ended up doing that piece afterwards. I also quilted the negative space in that one with matching thread, which I thought wasn't as effective as leaving some areas unquilted, as I did with the big one.. It sold at auction, and now has a happy home.

I have designed the outline for the next one, and I'm in the process of quilting that, so hopefully it will turn out as nicely as the first one! . One never knows, in a series. If not, I might have to dye some more fabric...

Quilter's Dream Home for Sale

2011-04-25T10:31:00.000-04:00

My house is for sale!

Designed in 1999 by renowned architect Ferdinand Gottlieb in collaboration with a dedicated quilter, this house in suburban Westchester County, NY, has everything a quilter and family could wish for. Huge (16ft 6 inch by 15 ft) studio space right off the main entrance, with two generous fabric closets and large design wall, big enough for your longarm set-up. 5 bedrooms ( with huge walk-in closets), custom marble and tilework mandalas in two of the three full bathrooms, eat-in kitchen with cherry cabinets and plenty of counter space, au pair/office/guest suite with private bathroom and separate entrance, two car garage, dye studio space, and huge Recreation room (18ft 5in X 28 ft 5”) in basement. House has excellent storage with 20 closets, plus attic. Room for all of your stashes!
Living room has fireplace and south-facing , fully heated/ cooled greenhouse with automatic drip watering system. Central air conditioning, central vacuum, 3 zone gas heating, large sunny yard. 35 minutes by train to Grand Central Station. Near 3 local quilting guilds, large nature preserve and all the amenities of suburban life with excellent schools and lots of local culture, plus easy access to New York City!.

Asking $989,000., in mint condition. Move in and start quilting today! Contact Hudson Shores Realtors at 914-591-5600 and ask for Bernice or the Quilter's Dream Home.

I even grow pineapples and figs in the greenhouse!

No pain, no gain

2011-03-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

I suppose pain is inevitable; despair is optional. With lots of physical therapy, icing, heat, naprosyn and resting, I finally finished my own Metamorphosis cardigan sweater. It always amazes me how pain free I can be during the knitting, but when I stop, owie owie. Very bizarre. But I am finished, and I love it. I may never take it off.I love how the sleeves bell out slightly, and the length is great, and it is warm but light.
Thanks to Andrea and the Metamorphosis group for encouragement, ideas and support!

Meanwhile, I am packing to move house, and trying to sell, so it is important not to make a mess in my studio. Which is really hard for me. But I started a quilt a few years ago, and it is a quilting rather than piecing project, so all I need is the machine and some thread. Of course, time is always important. Perhaps tomorrow I will give you a peek at it.

In Celebration of Pi Day

2011-03-14T19:28:00.000-04:00

My son found this marvelous song in honor of Pi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaMWEz-jaHE
so I had to share it with you.

It is lovely to knit to...although I am still limiting my knitting time and icing and getting PT, etc. But nothing is as disheartening as seeing the scenes of destruction in Japan. The scope of the world-wide disasters lately has been astonishing. If it brings the world together and helps us rise above our petty differences, that might bring some good out of all of this. With Uranus entering Aries , at a time of Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Libra, it is certainly a time where compassion and mothering are sorely needed. Maybe Neptune entering Pisces will help usher in an ideal of universal compassion and we can start to heal some of the wounds of the world.
In the meantime, there are blue orchids.

I had to buy this blue orchid, which I ran across at Home Depot of all places. It is the most perfect color I have ever seen in a flower.

Type A

2011-03-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

Happily, I managed to finish my third metamorphosis body, this one using patterns ABCD, and Madeline ToshSock, in an amazingly bright Nikko blue yarn. Again, blocking was magic!

This is the blocked body, lying on the blocking area. I love how the wires curve to allow for some waist shaping. Later I smoothed out the lines by spreading out the sweater and lightly spraying the lines with water and letting it dry.

Here are the unblocked photos for comparison:

Ruler shows length to be about 20 inches. (blocked was more like 29!)
Here is the try-on , unblocked:

I forgot to take blocked try on pics, and went directly to knitting the sleeves, which involves putting the body in a draw-string bag so it won't get in the way while I'm working the sleeves ( in the round, on DPNs).

Unfortunately, last month I developed another episode of repetitive strain symptoms, so I stopped knitting for a couple of weeks. This made me really frustrated! And didn't seem to help much, despite some icing and all the rest. So lately I've been getting physical therapy 3 times a week, with chiropractic, and exercises, heat, ice, etc. It is sort of helpful, but apparently my neck discs are impinging on my nerves, so that just exascerbates the whole thing. Jane Brody in the NY Times had an interesting article about tendonopathies: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/health/01brody.html?_r=2&ref=science

So, how could I stop knitting ( or typing)after this? Impossible. So, I'm taking frequent breaks, stretching, icing and trying to knit differently ( knitting backwards instead of purling, doing some rows in continental instead of my usual english style), supporting my arms and using "aircast" arm bands sometimes to isolate the painful muscles. It is slow, but I am determined! And I'm reading more books, which is the one thing I can't seem to do and knit at the same time...so, we shall see. But if you don't hear much from me, it is due to my laying off the typing for a while.I do want to hear from you, though! So, email me!

Greensleeves

2011-02-15T19:16:00.000-05:00

Here is the Green Cardigan with the addition of sleeves. They ended up a bit short on my model, but that way they won't get in the way of her violin playing! But I think I could have been more agressive with the blocking.
As I told my son the other day, In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they are not.
Hence the great utility of trying on one's knitting as one works. But the tricky thing with lace is the blocking element, which can sometimes be predicted ( with a good swatch) but sometimes not.
My blue pullover seemed very happy as a tunic, so for now it is merely finished off at the sleeve edges. I still have my third skein in case I decide to add sleeves later, but for now I really like it as a sleeveless tunic.

As the green cardigan is not my size, I thought it was a good idea to start a new cardigan for myself, so I started the Metamorphosis Cardigan Type A. Andrea designed a slight variation on the B lace, which makes a lot of difference in the look. I will add some photos of that next time. You can also see it on Ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knitbird/metamorphosis-3

Whole Lotta Lace

2011-02-07T08:22:00.001-05:00

This month has all been about Lace! I worked on my two Metamorphosis sweaters: one, a cardigan in green BB Toes yarn, and the other a tunic in Knitpicks Bare ( silk and Merino) that I dyed myself with a combination of colors including Brilliant Blue, National Blue and golden yellow.
These sweaters were made to illustrate the concepts we have been working on in the Metamorphosis Knit Along ( see http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ for more details).

This green one will have sleeves, which will be shown next week; the other one I left as a sleeveless tunic so I could wear it to Vogue Knitting last month. Here is a shot of the lace hem:

I also released my new pattern ( available at http://www.ravelry.com/ at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leaf-lace-vest-2) for the Leaf Lace Vest which came out very nicely:

I sized this one for sizes from 34 to 62 inch chest, as I had worked out the math while doing the Metamorphosis project, and this one works the same way.Or maybe it is the other way around? I designed the Leaf Lace vest in 2007, so it has been percolating a long while.

In other exciting news, I am the featured guest this week in Math4Knitters, a podcast by Lara Neel, available for your listening pleasure here:
http://www.journalgazette.com/article/20110206/BLOGS2601/110209890
So, lots going on lately!
The one good thing about all of the snow and ice storms we have had this winter is the knitting I can work on! I hope it warms up soon, though, as I am tired from all of the shoveling...

Metamorphosis Casts On!

2011-01-15T12:17:00.001-05:00

We have been very busy lately knitting swatches and collecting yarn and beads for the Metamorphosis Project, the collaborative effort of Andrea of BadcatDesigns ( http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/) and myself. Andrea is designing the gorgeous lace patterns and I am designing the sweaters to go with the lace.

It has been so much fun to watch the ideas manifest in form. I am knitting 2 sweaters to test the concepts, one as a pullover with the yarn above ( for myself! Of course it is blue...) and the other as a cardigan in a lovely green, which happens to fit Andrea's daughter and beautiful model BadKitten.

You can still join the fun by going to BadCat's blog and following the instructions there.

The green cardigan is really lovely, and uses a merino fingering weight yarn called BB Toes, which we all fell in love with at Stitches East. It is available at https://mochasfiber.com/ , and blocks out into a drapey smooth fabric that really shows the stitches well.

Tomorrow we will release the first chart and the instructions for the beginning of the sweater, which is a top-down, seamless raglan style yoke. The beauty of this is how the lace pattern flows seamlessly around.

I have done the calculations to size the sweater from 34 inch chest up to 60 inches, and it has been interesting to see how the design can be upsized. I have kept Andrea busy desinging her amazing charts so we can have shaping and flare in the sweater, and I think it will look lovely on a range of sizes. Being top-down, you can adjust the lengths as you wish.

There are also 3 shawls which will use the same lace patterns and combinations of those, so it is wonderful to see how Andrea has concocted such lovely patterns.

Christmas Handwarmers

2010-12-21T09:21:00.000-05:00

Last year I knitted an alpaca scarf for each of my brother's three daughters, and had fun trying different combinations of reversible cables. This year I decided matching handwarmers might be fun, and I found some worsted weight alpaca that matched the colors of the scarves. Over the summer, I had participated in BadCatDesigns Summer SwatchMe project ( http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ ) , so I have a wealth of lovely 14-stitch lace patterns to play with. I decided to use the same dimensions for each set, but vary the lace, so here is my generic formula:
Fingerless Gloves: Worsted Version: 7 inches long
Aslan trends Alpaca; 100gm/220 yds. Need 40gm, or about 100 yds for a pair.
Size 6 Double pointed needles, and size 4 DP needles.
Cast on 42 sts ( 3 reps of 14 sts)

Knit one round,
Purl one round

Start lace pattern.Repeat 3 times around ( once for each needle)

Work 40 rounds (e.g. 2 1/2 reps of 16 rows).
Bind off 8 sts, continue around
Cast on 8 over the bound off sts on next plain round.
Work another 8 rounds ( e.g.½ rep).
Switch to size 4 needles and work K2P2 for 8 rounds. BO in pattern.

I decided not to make thumb gussets, so these can be pushed down to the cufffs if needed for extra wrist warmth when you are wearing gloves with them.
I hope they love these as much as I do!

Transformations

2010-12-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

What is it about knitting that so appeals to me? I think it is all about transformation and possibility. I love the idea that I can start with an image in my mind and then , through the slow and steady application of a skill, involving problem-solving, geometry, chemistry, or just plain magic, gradually see my imagined idea appear in reality. The transformation of a hank of soft, lovely yarn into a fabric has been very captivating, and I know I'm not alone because there are at least a million folks out there who love this metamorphosis activity so much that they have joined Ravelry.
A few months ago I was invited to participate in a design challenge with Andrea of BadCatDesigns, who blogs at http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ , and designs the most gorgeous lace shawls. I have been following her for some time now, and last summer participated in her Summer Swatch Me project. So Andrea and I are now collaborating on a lace knitalong idea, which will debut on January 1st, and be called Metamorphosis KAL!

Stay Tuned!

Holey Cowls

2010-12-07T08:42:00.003-05:00

It has gotten cold here in New York, and I wasn't happy with any of the scarves I have. I needed a cowl. What is a cowl, you might ask? I think it is like a big snuggly turtleneck, or maybe a circle of warmth that you pop over your head. Like a scarf, but not dangly. The wool goes where you need it most! It shouldn't take much to make it, so I thought perhaps I could design one quickly. I remembered I had a skein of electric blue Big Wool which I had purchased for $3 at the LYS sale in the summer of 2009. The largest needles I had were 13s though, and I didn't think I wanted to run out in the cold to buy some 15s. Pencils were even too thin to use for DPNs. In the end I went with knitting really loosely on the 10.5 DPNs I had, and switching to my 13 circular when it was big enough.

This idea was a welcome break from the secret project I've been working on, which involves fingering-weight yarn, lace and much smaller needles.I thought it might be fun to make another one, so I got out the Noro Cashmere Island I bought a while ago. That yarn has long color repeats, as is a feature of Noro yarns, and it was so pretty that I had been saving it for something special. I thought it might be fun to double strand it and see how the colors interacted. Plus I could knit on large size 11 needles and have another really fast project.
I decided to call these "Quick Leaf Cowls" although I thought of them as Holey Cowls, but that name has already been used!

The Cashmere Island yarn is 60% wool and 30% casmere with 10% nylon, so it is soft and warm. And my cat loves it! He likes anything Noro, and carries little balls of it around if he gets the chance. I forgot, and left a ball of grey on the table, so it ended up in my bedroom this morning, in a tangle on the floor!

I've uploaded the pattern to my Ravelry store in case you need some instant gratification, too...Now it is back to the Winter Project...

Birthday Beatitude

2010-11-15T13:23:00.001-05:00

This amazing piece was given to me by Teri Lucas, who blogs here: http://terificreations.wordpress.com/. It is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time! I am speechless with amazement! I'm thrilled to own it and certainly it makes my birthday week complete!

Speaking of which, I finished this one for myself: on my birthday, hand dyed fabric, black thread. I'm pleased with it, but after seeing Teri's quilting, I have lots more ideas for the next one!

And my cat joined in the celebration:

Here I am dressed to go out with my dear husband Peter for birthday dinner. Lots of rayon chenille, hand painted and made by Judy Zemel, whose work I adore.

It always amazes me how fast the birthdays come. Every year is fizzing by faster than the year before. I'm so lucky to have a group of marvelous friends who manage to make me feel so special and blessed! This year, I had a surprise celebration, complete with gluten-free cupcakes and presents, with my dear Knitting group friends, who gave me lovely gifts:

Square needles, hand-made stitch markers and a book on thread sculpture! What fun!

As time whizzes by, it is always good to stop and be thankful for the connections and joys I've had through the fiber world and the amazingly beautiful things people make. I am really lucky to be alive at a time when Ravelry ( http://www.ravelry.com/ ) has hit a Million members! and so much good is here on earth. Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family!

October projects

2010-10-23T17:30:00.000-04:00

I finally finished a vest I have been wanting to wear , and not a moment too soon, as the weather is growing colder now that it is autumn. And speaking of which, NY Sheep and Wool Festival was last weekend and as usual, the festival was marvelous. A gorgeous cool day, and lots and lots of people and vendors selling every kind of wool, yarn, fleece, knitting needles, alpaca, buffalo yarn, musk ox yarn, regular hand-dyed wool, and lots of animals: goats, sheep, llama, alpaca, angora bunnies, etc. It was huge. We got there at 11 am, and left at 5pm, having looked at all of the hundreds of vendor booths, bought lots of yarn, and patted many sheep and lovely alpaca! And managed to have lamb for lunch!

I was very much entertained, and while I didn't watch shearing, there were many opportunities for that as well. They also have wine-tasting, and a whole room filled with hand-made food such as cheese, pickles, breads, wines. It is like a county fair, only centered around wool and knitting. The link for it gives a bit of an idea: www.sheepandwool.com . It was huge, and lots of fun, but I wished I could go for both days, as one day isn't really enough to see everything.
And the people there are a lot of fun, as everyone wears their hand-made clothing and hand--knitted sweaters, hats and shawls, so there are many chances to meet folks by going up to them and admiring their garments.I wish I had more time for that, but I did meet some folks I've known from various knitting lists, and it was great fun.And with the rise of http://www.ravelry.com/, our own social-networking site with 650,000 world-wide members on it, it is such a blast to meet people you know from there, too.! Kind of like MySpace for knitters. So, I am involved in that community, and this festival is one of the big highlights of the year for us! And of course, buying yarn is always fun, but the choices there are astounding. I managed to do my part for the yarn economy thusly:

And I also made a small quilt, which is 12x12 inches, intended for the SAQA NY show, Fiber Celebration, which will be hung in Chappaqua Library in late November, thanks to the dedicated work of Susan Schrott, our NY SAQA( http://www.saquany.blogspot.com/ ) rep who has a great blog here: http://www.susanschrottartist.com/weblog/

Time Unfolding #1

Summer's End

2010-10-18T10:32:00.002-04:00

Well, it has been a whirlwind month so far! I was invited to accompany my brother's band, Phideaux, ( http://www.bloodfish.com/ ) to the UK, where they were performing in the Summer's End Progressive Rock festival,( http://www.summersend.co.ukm/ ) in Lydney, UK, at the Lydney Town Hall, the same stage where the Beatles played in 1962.

We flew into Bristol Airport, on an overnight flight from Newark, NJ, landing in the morning after not much sleeping on the plane. The weather was foggy and cold, but it was delightful to be driven on the "wrong" side of the road and to be hearing English spoken properly.

Bristol Airport was small and cozy, and we were glad to be here, especially since we had a lot of instruments and equipment to schlep. Amazingly, none of it got lost..

Phideaux performed on Sunday, so we had 2 1/2 days to enjoy the music festival, check out the local Tesco supermarket,and enjoy our accomodations at Whitemead Forest Park, a "fabulous holiday setting in the idyllic Forest of Dean"( http://www.csmaclub.co.uk/ ). On Saturday, the band had an acoustic rehersal in the apartment.

The festival was wonderfully organized, thanks to the efforts of Stephen Lambe, Huw, Graham and the rest of the folks who laboured tirelessly to make this a success. People came from as far away as Cairo, Egypt, Norway, Spain and all over the UK to hear the music and enjoy the fun of listening to the 13 bands who played over the weekend.

It was such fun to hear the rehersal and see how wonderfully prepared the band was after a week of rehersal in New York.

Hearing Phideaux play was the high point of the trip, of course, and it was magnificent to see how much the crowd loved the music.

A large crowd enjoyed the music

Anyway, back home we flew on Monday morning, after an amazing weekend ,having made some new friends, eaten some great Indian food, heard some lovely music, and not gotten much sleep!

Setting up

Phideaux performing

All in all, an unforgettable weekend, despite being completely exhausted afterwards! But so worth it. I am already looking forward to their next performance at Rosfest, http://www.rosfest.com/ , in May 2011..

Bye bye Summer...

2010-09-06T18:21:00.002-04:00

Alas, the days are slightly cooler and the evenings come just a bit sooner. Tomorrow is the first day of school around here, so that means Summer is over. I managed to snap some photos of Fuchsias at my local Plant Nursery, as these are a much better match for the pattern in my sweater. I was thinking of Tulips, but since the sweater is worked top-down, the image is reversed so the flowers hang downwards, just like these Fuchsia flowers. Finally I had photos to share.

Meanwhile, my Summer Swatch Sampler Sweater is done. I got the buttons on and took some photos. It is as yet unblocked, which I will save for another day. I think Andrea of BadCat Designs(http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ ), who designed the lace which I used to make the sweater, did an amazing job, don't you? Each pattern was such fun to knit. I managed to get all 9 patterns on the sweater, but unfortunately, ran out of yarn before I could do the edging, so that will have to appear somewhere else.

Now I must start to think about wintery sweater knitting...but I still am enjoying the final bits of summer...

Buckyball Day

2010-09-04T21:13:00.001-04:00

As today is the 25th anniversary of the Buckyball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene

I thought it would be fun to share my month-long obsession with making beaded beads, using wire or fishing line to string crystals in various configurations. You can make dodecahedra, icosahedra, octohedra, etc very nicely using Czech crystals or Swarovsky crystals, and weaving them into Platonic or Archimedean solids!

Here are some of the ones I've made this month:

I first learned how to make these from this website: http://mydailybead.blogspot.com/

and then have been playing with this idea for a while. It is very addicting!

I also finished a vest:

Harvest Time

2010-07-21T10:36:00.000-04:00

Finally, the sweet smell of pineapple in the greenhouse lets me know the fruit is ready. That and the fact that the stem has drooped under the weight of the fruit! Fun fact: apparently Victorian greenhouses were specifically introduced to allow folks to grow pineapples! Who knew? 150 years later, I'm growing some, too.

Meanwhile, as I cannot grow tulips outside anymore because of the voracious deer, I've designed a sweater with tulips in mind.I wanted this to be more of a knit/purl design rather than openwork lace, so I closed all of the yarnovers by knitting into the back loop. I really like how this came out.

Dear Deer Deer

2010-06-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, the cats and I were mesmerized by this baby deer who hung out in our back yard for several hours.

It was accompanied by its mother, a considerably larger creature!

They were amazing to watch.

Their ears swiveled with the slightest sound, and they stood still as statues. The cats were very intent on watching them, and so was I. Eventually they ran off , and I could finish my sweater:

Now I have to block, obtain a zipper, sew it in and all will be well!

Summer Swatch

2010-06-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

St Margaret is coming along nicely. I decided to try the braid cable on the bottom, and figured I'd have enough yarn with my last skein....drats! FOILED AGAIN!

I started the edging with an I cord cast on of 17 sts, then began working braid cable, attaching it by SSSK on every RS row. I was moving along pretty well, but ran out of yarn 8 inches before the end! Luckily Ravelry has a stash feature, and generous folks who want to sell or trade their orphan balls sometimes list them in the database. So, I got really lucky, and found someone kind enough to trade a ball of yarn ( same dyelot! Joy!) for a copy of my Ingrid Cardigan pattern....so now I wait until it arrives...

Meanwhile, what to do? I finished Cosmos Cardigan.
I decided to cast on for The Summer Swatch Me Sampler, hosted, created and devised by my friend Andrea of Bad Cat Designs, who blogs at http://www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/ . This is an amazing knit- along, with a sampler stole as the focus of a 9 week extravaganza of lace. There is a Yahoo group for it here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SummerSwatchMe/

So I collected all of the laceweight and sock yarn I had and petted it and thought about what I wanted to knit. But, knowing me, I would never really wear a stole, nor a shawl. I'm currently focussing on sweatery things, as you know....So, what if I knit this as a sideways cardigan, and added sleeves along the way? I found 2 lovely skeins of Great Adirondack laceweight Egyptian cotton that I bought last summer. 1000 yards in total.That might be enough for something lacey...So I cast on provisionally as directed in the project , thinking 5 horizontal repeats on a size 5 needle might give me enough width for something useful. Three vertical repeats ( 25 rows) into the lovely pattern, however, I had about 14 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth.Even with a deep border, this wouldn't be enough to make the 24 inches I'd need for a sideways cardigan.So, hmmm...it would be enough for the back of a top-down, set in sleeve sweater, however. I pondered this idea, not wanting to cut the yarn, as each skein was 500 yards and the knots would be difficult to hide in laceweight. And if it didn't work out, I would be sad to have cut the yarn...
So, here goes craziness! I put in a lifeline, and picked up 12 sts along the 2 garter stitch edge, which brought me back to the provisional edge. I picked up 25 live sts along the provisional edge, being careful to capture the stitches, and leaving the provisional yarn in place in case I need to rip the whole thing back to the lifeline.

Now I worked 25 rows, following the pattern, but adding a stitch at the outside edge, and increasing every 4 rows at the neck edge, so when I was done with the 25 rows, I had 12 edge sts already picked up.This left a bit of a lacey edge, which in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done, as I could have just picked those up, but no matter. I placed an orange marker, and knit across the 24 edge sts which formed the top of the sleeve, around to the back, worked across the back, and then picked up 12 along the other side. Then worked 25 sts across the provisional cast on, and so forth. Voila! Now I had 2 fronts and a back, and sts picked up along the top of the armholes. Not exactly symmetrical, but one row extra isn't going to matter much in this busy yarn and lace pattern. Now, I proceeded to add one stitch on each side of sleeves every RS row, and one every 4 rows to each front, keeping the stitch pattern when possible. Here are some views to row 48:

I am having too much fun! On a hot summer day, playing with cotton lace is wonderful. Thanks, Andrea!

Wild Life

2010-06-14T09:38:00.000-04:00

We have had a lot of visitors to the back yard lately! One morning we awoke to the sound of crows cawing, and looked out to see this beautiful red fox in the yard:

And of course, it is deer delivery season

This was a very wobbly speckled baby, and it was adorable to watch it try to follow the mother, until you think of the devastation of the gardens and the rampant Lyme disease in our area...Sigh. What is one to do? Knit!

Here is progress being made on St Margaret, which will be ready for publication on Ravelry by the end of the month! I can hardly wait to wear this cardigan especially since I thought it needed pockets. I used an I-cord cast-on across the held 30 sts, and it looks like a continuation of the cable, so I am pleased with this result.As I only have one skein of yarn in the right dyelot left after this one, I will use the non-matching dyelot for the inside of the pockets so I can get as much length as I need.I'm still mulling over whether to put a braid cable around the bottom or finish it with ribbing. I love the top down process, where I can adapt the knitting to my wishes!

Cosmos Cardigan part 2

2010-05-31T19:33:00.000-04:00

So, after a few days of knitting, and 3 balls of yarn, I have reached the magic row 51, and divided for sleeves. This involves knitting across the front, putting sleeve stitches on a separate holder ( in this case, a cable from my Denise set), casting on 10 sts under the arms, knitting across the back, putting other sleeve on holder, casting on 10 sts under the other arm, and knitting across the other front. I'm pleased with how this is coming along, and I'm glad I chose this type of construction, as the gauge changed as I knit. Now I'm at about 6 rows per inch and 4.5 stitches per inch.Knitting in aggregate sometimes differs from swatch gauge, and luckily, I can try this on to check as I go. Here is the back view:

I'm liking this a lot. I think I will put a single vertical buttonhole in the front, so I can use a large decorative single button for a simple closure. And the 4-stitch purl column will allow some tapering in the back for the waist shaping further down.

Now the questions are: Short, long or medium length sleeves? And, cropped, long, shaped, peplum or what kind of body? I have a lot of yarn, and so I have a chance to play around with the design, according to what this sweater wants to become. I think I'll taper down to the waistline, and see how it goes from there.

Sometimes I like to knit about 4 inches on the body and then do sleeves, so I can get a better sense of how the sweater will hang, so that is probably what I will do.

What to knit now?

2010-05-27T12:16:00.000-04:00

Now that I am working on the long slog down the body of St Margaret (doesn’t that sound lascivious?), I find that I need something to knit that is portable, simple enough for group knitting events and something wearable for the upcoming warm weather, which was foreshadowed yesterday when it reached 90 degrees with high humidity around here.

But what to knit? I wanted something cardigany, in summery light yarn, maybe with a kimono collar and swingy and cool. The sweaters I have knit in the past were all somehow inappropriate. I wanted something in a dark color, not especially black, but maybe, kind of like the sheer black summery cardigan Paula was wearing at the last Manhattan Quilter’s meeting.

So, stash-diving I went. It was, after all, late in the day, and I know I have stashed a lot of yarn. Last summer, one of my LYSs ( www.flyingfingers.com ) had Warehouse Wednesdays, in which yarn ( marked down amazingly) went from their warehouse into mine, so I knew I must have something interesting up in the yarn closet.

I can’t believe I have amassed a yarn closet, but sure enough I have. Diligent attendance at sales pays off!

Rummaging around in the bins yields 13 balls of Cosmos in the S.Charles Collezione.

Normally I wouldn’t have purchased this yarn, which is 45% Viscose,40% Polyamide,15% Cotton, preferring more natural fibers, but at $2 a ball ( reg 10.95) who could resist? And it is a blue/purple mix with black and white that looks like grey at 10 paces, so I loved the color. But oddly, the gauge on the ball band is 3/inch on a 10, which seemed strange to me, as it is a rather thin, loosely plied slippery slick yarn. On a 10 it seemed really flimsy to me. So, I swatched it on a 9. Still really loosey goosey. On an 8, the fabric had a nice density and a lot of drape, and hit about 4.25 sts per inch. This just might be nice, and perfect for a summery knit!

But what kind of stitch shall I use? I tried stockinette, which looked like a lovely tweed, but would be boring and tedious to knit, and difficult to keep track of where I am in a pattern. Cables just vanished in the complex patterning. Seed stitch was lovely, but I don’t enjoy lots of that either. Lace would also be lost in the swirl of colors in this yarn. Because of the inelasticity of the yarn, ribbing might be nice and flat, and seemed to work out well, but then it hit me that a garter rib might provide a hint of line and be easy enough to work with all purl WS rows and a bit of KP on the RS. Perfect for knitting in public!

Now, to pattern. I envisioned a K1P1 collar, and a structured, set-in-sleeve kind of jackety thing, so I began in the same style as Ingrid, at the back of the neck with a 20 stitch k1p1 collar, intending to work a top-down, simultaneous set-in sleeve jacket. Here is where I am so far, at Row 19, making it nice and portable, and easy to keep track of. Now I am ready for any knitting environment. St Margaret has to stay home and be tied to the charts, but Cosmos Cardigan can roam free!

St Margaret Cardigan

2010-05-22T12:45:00.000-04:00

I decided to write up a pattern for doing a complex Celtic-style cable sweater from the top down. I designed two Celtic Knot cable patterns based on various sources, including Elsebeth Lavold’s "Viking Knits", Alice Starmore’s "Aran Knitting", “How to Draw Celtic Knotwork” by Andy Sloss and the celtic knot generator at http://birrell.org/andrew/knotwork/ , which is fun to play with. I'm calling it "St.Margaret". This is a test-knit for the pattern and the charts, and so far I like it a lot. I am doing it in cotton, though, as I wanted a summer version, but definitely I prefer to work this kind of cable design in wool, as the cotton doesn't give as you knit with it, so it leaves holes. Hopefully that will block out when I'm done.
Writing up the pattern is a challenging exercise! So far it is around 18 pages, with huge charts and lots of instructions. I have a marvelous test-knitter, who is meticulously going over the pattern with me as she knits it for herself, so I know I am not the only one who can knit this! Hopefully it will be done soon and then I will offer it for sale in my Ravelry Store (Jeri Rigged Designs). Of course, I'm knitting my own sweater, and today I am almost finished with the sleeves, done on DPNs. I will finish the body after the sleeves are done, and I'm probably going to put pockets on this sweater, as I’m always trying to find my keys. …

Column of Leaves #3

2010-05-02T18:54:00.000-04:00

Column of Leaves #3 arose out of my wish to test knit my pattern in a larger size, but make it fit me. I had this gorgeous blue cotton yarn I had bought ages ago, and as it is a DK weight, I figured I could use my Column of Leaves pattern for size 42 and have it fit size 38. Of course I went down a needle size, too.I purchased some wonderful polymer clay buttons at the Lyndhurst Craft fair yesterday from Karin Noyes, whose work I have loved for years ( http://www.karinnoyes.com/ ), which just delighted me.
Here is the back of the sweater. I love that there is just one tiny seam at the back of the neck:

This pattern is for sale in my Ravelry ( http://www.ravelry.com/ ) store , Jeri Rigged Designs.

Column of Leaves

2010-04-13T18:12:00.000-04:00

So here is the second "Column of leaves" sweater I have knit. I just love this one, especially because I found a way to represent the elements of the lace pattern graphically, so I could figure out how to upsize it and keep the design details intact. Representing it in 5 sizes was a fabulous exercise in geometry and engineering, and I was really thrilled that it worked out!

I love how the back flows organically into the collar:, leaving just a tiny seam at the center back neck.

And I also love how the V neck preserves the design of the lace pattern as it evolves upward:

Figuring out how to make that work while sizing it was dependant on learning the Knit Visualizer ( http://www.knitfoundry.com/ ) software, and thanks to urging from my friend Elizabeth, I finally read the manual! Duh! Great software, very addicting and fun to use.

Now I'm in the midst of writing up my top Down Celtic Raglan sweater, so it is gratifying to have all of this software capability and be able to see this evolve. When my speedy and marvelous test knitters are done, I plan to publish this pattern on Ravelry...

Spring Ahead!

2010-03-20T11:21:00.001-04:00

Spring has sprung upon us, with sunny skies and warm sunshine. Bulbs are springing up all over my yard. Time to get the deer fence up again, and break out the spring sweaters. I knit and designed this sweater which I called Column of Leaves Cardigan in 2007, and have enjoyed wearing it . Folks have been asking for the pattern, but it always seemed way beyond my skills to write up.Funny how things can be easier to do than to describe, but the problem is sizing it for other people! Because of the nature of the construction I used ( seamless yoke) and the lace pattern, it is almost a different sweater and has to be figured out anew for each size. But I loved how the back came together:

So I've been crunching out the numbers, making charts, swatching and making little paper models to figure out the sizing and I think I've almost nailed it! Then it is off to my test knitters, and hopefully I can publish it soon....

In other news, my son returned from college with is stuff which is now in boxes all over the living room. What does he have? Here is one box of treasures:

He can actually solve all of those! Amazing!

Stormageddon

2010-03-17T10:10:00.001-04:00

It was a dark and stormy night, and I woke up to this trampoline in my back yard on Sunday, the 14th.

Our whole neighborhood lost power on Saturday,and all the roads in and out were blocked , and I had a cold, so it was really crazy. Trees down all over the place,

but luckily my house was fine ( remember that big tree we cut down last November???Thank goodness...)My neighbor's trampoline flew like the house in the Wizard of Oz and landed in the spot where that tree used to be! We finally got power back last night. It was really cold in the house, down to 45 degrees and I had to wear gloves and my UGGs in the house so my fingers and toes wouldn't freeze. And all the frozen food got warm and melted. A good time to clean out the fridge by candle light.And it was almost too cold to knit! And too dark to cook on the gas stove. About 7 years ago, during a bad power outage,we got a generator, but hadn't used it since. It came in handy this time, but was very expensive and noisy to run on propane..

so we couldn't use the generator for long ( one tank is about 4 hours and
cost $18...).Yesterday and today it was like camping. Nice warm shower, but
freezing cold bathroom!
We were, on the whole, lucky in my neighborhood. Our neighbor's beautiful pine tree fell down right beside the house:

And luckily missed it entirely. But we lost power because of a fallen oak up the street. Con Ed did a great job getting 2 new poles installed and things hooked up last night, 3 days after we lost power, so that is a huge relief. Things could have been much worse.I'm really greatful for power! It is nice to read my email ,blog, sew, run the dishwasher, shower in the light and even watch some TV! So much of current life depends on electricity. Knitting was possible, but difficult by candlelight, and with gloves on!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Math is Everywhere

2010-03-13T08:47:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about math. The amazing spiral produced by my pineapple plant ( with purple flowers!) follows the Fibonacci number sequence ( http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_17.htm ) and is just lovely. I finished the top of the Tessellation Sampler, which is a quilting exploration of semi-regular tessellations for the next mathematics and needlework book from the group that brought us "Mathematics in Needlework". See my post from 2008 for details about that wonderful book ( http://jeririggs.blogspot.com/2008/01/making-mathematics-with-needlework.html ).

And of course, there is knitting! I finished my second Ingrid Cardigan, this time in blue : yarn:Trendsetter Merino VIII, needle size 8. A very wearable and lovely sweater in my favorite shade of blue!

Pattern available in my Ravelry Store ( http://www.ravelry.com/ , Jeri Rigged Designs).

Snow Laughing Matter

2010-02-25T12:04:00.000-05:00

It is snowing again. Big, fluffy flakey clumps. Slippery and cold. An hour later, more snow:

I am sooo dissappointed, as I was planning to visit Maine for some fibery fun with friends and the group NETA, New England Textile Arts. I finished writing up my pattern for Ingrid Cardigan ( available at http://www.ravelry.com/, but you have to sign up and be a member. Totally worth it if you love yarn, though, as it is like Facebook for Knitters and Crocheters, only better! And free! I'm Knitbird on there, btw) so I could show off the finished sweater and have some context, but it is not to be.

Meanwhile,inside, my pineapple is growing and orchids are flowering:

And I'm in the home stretch of Ingrid #2:

So, time to start a new quilt, right?
This one is for a friend, and it is a Tesselation Sampler:

Of course, at the moment it looks random, but I have faith that it will develop into something interesting!

At least I'm distracted from the snow and the rain....

Gauge Lies

2010-02-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me how gauge lies. Therein lies the difficulty in getting knitted items to fit; yarn stretches and behaves unpredictably when knitted up! My measurements and calculations don't always knit up the way I predict. For example, this sleeve:

Became too long, despite my calculations about length. Thank goodness for top-down knitting! I will rip back and reknit the cuff, and it will fit my exact length! And after blocking, if it stretches some more, I can also adjust it. Using a superwash yarn here can mean it might lengthen in the blocking, as the scales are closed, so the yarn won't stick to itself so much. Or so I believe.

I often will knit the sleeves after I get the body divided and a few inches knitted on that, because if I am going to have just enough yarn, I'd rather the sleeves fit and the body be a few rows short than vice versa.

Meanwhile, to answer Tanja's question, here is a nifty free charting application that I have been using:

http://jacquie.typepad.com/Charts/knitChart.htm .

Meanwhile, my pineapple is growing!

And of course we had more snow the other day, so here is that obligatory shot:

I am having a lot of fun with Ingrid, both my own knitting and that of my test-knitters. Here is one beautiful example, using yarn hand dyed by the knitter:

You can also see how Ingrid herself is coming along with her sweater here: : http://strickpraxis.wordpress.com/

Snow Day

2010-02-10T15:09:00.001-05:00

Snow days are often fun, if you have a warm house and some knitting to keep you sane. Here is what it looks like outside after a bit of shoveling:

Thank goodness for teenage boys willing to shovel!

And with a sense of humor....

Meanwhile, in other news,

A pineapple fruit has sprouted and is growing in my greenhouse!

I started this plant at least 3 years ago by cutting off the top of a purchased pineapple and putting it in a bunch of dirt....

And of course some knitting is going on. I am reknitting Ingrid Cardigan in a different gauge yarn and writing the pattern for 5 sizes. I am almost ready to release it to the world. My first test knitter has started hers also, with a different cable. You can see her just finished beautiful alpacarina sweater here: http://strickpraxis.wordpress.com/

So here is my new one:

front view

Back view

Shoulder view.

Now, back to knit some more...

Ingrid Cardigan lives!

2010-01-29T12:44:00.000-05:00

On the coldest day so far, I finally finished my cardigan, which is great, as it is 19 degrees here today! My son obliged me in taking some photos. On the whole I am pleased with how it came out, as I gave in to the zipper fetish I seem to have. There is just something so cozy and symmetrical about zippers. Maybe it is the nice hug feeling, or the fact that, despite shaping and such, I always feel buttons will gape and open unattractively. Anyway, I have nearly finished writing up the pattern, except for the size modifications, and then it will be ready for prime time.

Now I'll have to finish my blue cardigan, and then contemplate my next project...

Here it is with collar up...and then, back view:

And finally side:

Ingrid Cardigan, part 2

2010-01-12T10:10:00.000-05:00

So, the most challenging part of working a top down set in sleeve cardigan is, of course, incorporating all of the cables and shaping as you are knitting it. I find I must have an image in my mind of what I want it to look like when finished, and work towards that. It is naturally easier to knit from the bottom up, as you have all of the main cables established, and the shaping for armholes and sleeves and such occurs by decreasing mainly, so you don't have as much to keep track of. Of the other hand, you don't get the fun of watching things emerge from nowhere either, so there is that. Also the piece can be tried on as you go, so adjustments for length and proportion can be done on the fly.

So, here I was last night, having divided for sleeves and knitting merrily along. I am liking how it is coming out, but decided I needed to add a rope cable at the armhole edge of the fronts and backs. This meant doing a bit of surgery, by unknitting the 6 sts at the edges of the armholes and reknitting them as 4 knits of cable and 2 purls. Doing this 4 times took a couple of hours, but I was very pleased with how that came out. Writing that into the pattern ensued. Now the pattern is probably complete, and most of the details worked out except for sizing. I'm going to wait on that until I finish knitting this one, in case of surprises.

Here is another view of the front:

And here are two more views after a bunch of more knitting:

And the front:

I'm really liking how this is coming out, fortunately!

Ingrid Sweater,part 1

2010-01-08T10:48:00.002-05:00

So, here is the cable I started with for the collar of my new sweater. I hope the chart and directions make sense!

This is the front( RS) of the cable.

This is the back, or WS. But it might as well be the front side!

In designing this cable, I decided to have all of the crossing action occur on the RS. This makes for a lot of cabling in one row, but ultimately easier to keep track of, since the WS knitting is all "K the Ks and P the Ps" as they appear.

Here is the chart:

And here is the key:

P4F: Move 2 purl sts to cable needle( CN), hold in front, p2, p2 from CN

P4B: Move 2 purls to CN, hold in back, p2 ,p2 from CN
C4F: Move 2 knits to CN, hold in front, work next 2 sts as they appear, k2 from CN
C4B:Move 2 knits to CN, hold in back, work 2 sts as they appear,k2 from CN

And here is the cable pattern in words:

Cable A: on 24 sts

Row 1: (RS) K2,P4F,C4B,P4F,C4B,P4F,K2
Row 2: (WS) P2,K4,p4,k4,p4,k4,p2
Row 3: k2,p2,C4b,c4f,c4b,c4f,p2,k2
Row 4: p2,k2,p2,k4,p4,k4,p2,k2
Row 5:K2,p2,k2,p4b,c4f,p4b,k2,p1,k2
Row 6:P2,k2,p2,k4,p4,k4,p2,k2,p2
Row 7:k2,p2,k2,p2,c4f,c4b,p2,k2,p2,k2
Row 8: p2, k2,p2,k2,p2,k4,p2,k2,p2,k2,p2
Row 9: (k2p2) twice,k2,p4f,(k2,p2) twice,k2
Row 10: (p2,k2( twice,p2, k4, (p2,k2) twice, p2
Row 11: (k2,p2) three times,(p2,k2) three times
Row 12: same as row 10
Row 13: same as row 9
Row 14: same as row 8
Row 15: (k2,p2) twice,C4F, C4B,(p2,k2) twice
Row 16: same as row 4
Row 17: k2,p2,k2,P4B,C4F,P4B,k2,p2,k2
Row 18: same as row 4
Row 19:k2,p2,C4F,C4B,C4F, C4B,p2,k2
Row 20 same as row 2

I find the chart much easier to knit from, as it is a graphic representation.
So, here is the beginning of the sweater, with the collar and the two fronts attached.I'm using two different cable patterns, but the second one is not reversible. Now, back to knitting!

And here is progress up to Row 11 of the yoke:

Meanwhile, I'm still working on my other cabled sweater, having divided for sleeves and now knitting the body:

And here is my friend Linda trying it on from the back:

Design and Conquer

2010-01-01T12:18:00.002-05:00

For the last few winters, I have found myself captivated, obsessed, enthralled and overwhelmed. Not by all the usual holiday whirlwind of presents, food and family, but (perhaps as an escape?) posessed with the glimmer of an idea. I can see it, in my mind's eye, shimmering just around the corner, whispering to me, teasing me with its seductive beauty and alluring charms : here is A new sweater that I must make. Now this is not a picture in a magazine, or maybe it starts that way, or maybe an offhand comment by a friend, or, in this case, a series of emails from a reader of my blog, in a far away place, suggesting, ever so nicely, that I consider making a particular sweater in a new way. Being an aficionado of top down all in one piece sweaters, I have studied this method for the last several years, applying it to many forms and shapes of garments,. I love watching my idea take shape, so gradually, slowly, as the knitting progresses over time. I make swatches, predictions, decisions, charts and drawings, but it is only over slow time that I can see if my idea will work. Writing down what I do as I go along is tedious, annoying, subject to errors of omission, as I change my mind, rip out, backtrack, revise and ultimately jeririgg the whole thing together. I am rarely satisfied when the thing is done; seeing the miscalculations and flaws, and dreaming already of the next adventure. For these knitting inventions are like an adventure for me. An excursion to the land of possibility, a ride through perilous thickets of uncertainty, a jaunt through possibilities in which I have only myself to please, and only myself to blame. Writing the result up as a pattern, either while it happens or after the fact, becomes work, becomes like trapping a butterfly under glass and fixes the form forever more, rather than documenting a dynamic process as it unfolds. Maybe the form should be a film, but perhaps this would be as interesting as watching paint dry. Certainly my share of films is watched during the knitting/designing of a sweater, and the world and family events swirl onward as the days and weeks flow by until the sweater emerges, full in form, a miracle of loops.

In any case, this winter’s project crept up on me, spurred by a reader who innocently wondered if a collar could be started in the center back of the neck instead of on the front side edge, as I have done with my raglans. This idea, combined with the recent flurry of reversible cable scarves I made, got me wondering if a shawl collar would be cool if done in a reversible cable, so it could be turned up or down and still look good. And I loved making my Diamond Cardigan last winter, but wanted another one with a different neckline, so I had already the bones of a new sweater.

So I started swatching. And graphing (on graph paper, with a pencil and eraser handy).

And more swatching, realizing I had no yarn in the house that fit the requirements of gauge (4 stitches per inch on a size 9 needle) and color (a lighter color so I could photograph it). A trip to the yarn store ensued, and a bunch of Cuzco by Berocco came home with me. Although it was a natural color, quite unusual for me, the yarn is lovely, soft and gorgeous, so it will be a pleasure both in the knitting and the wearing. And maybe overdyeing will happen, or not.

Of course, this precipitated more swatching..

I started with the first cable I designed, which delighted me, and was based upon the arm cables from the Celtic Braid Cardigan that I made last month. This cable pattern, if you cross when you have a group of 4 purl stitches as well as when you have 4 knit stitches, becomes reversible, or pleasing from both sides. It is not the identical cable pattern on both sides, but it is pretty. I found it acceptable, and began to knit it. The thing about designing with cable patterns is, you must swatch each variation of each cable pattern, because predictions don’t really work. If you design in stockinette, for example, you can pretty much figure that when you increase by “X” number of stitches, you will get “Y” number of inches. Not so with cable patterns, as the ribs and the crosses pull in the fabric quite a bit. The more crosses you have, the more it pulls in, and therefore it is not a simple matter to add cables to a stockinette based design, unless you swatch each cable in the yarn you are using. However, recently several designers have published cable sweaters where they accomplished the sizing and the various shaping required by adding stitches in columns or wedges of stockinette (or reverse stockinette) or in seed stitch. This becomes a lovely way of working more predictably. But still, knitting stretches and yarn will have different characteristics of stretch and elasticity, depending on the fiber. And in aggregate, stitches will stretch unpredictably, so you sometimes don't know if the whole thing will actually work until you knit a good portion of it. In this case, the cable I had was a bit too short for the back of the neck, as I wanted the repeats to come out evenly, so I had to rewrite the cable and make a new chart for it. The Diamond cable I was using for the body of the sweater also was too long, so I decided to compress this one to give same number of rows for both cables.That way I could simply tell at a glance which row I was on in both cable patterns.

When I design for myself, I can play with it, knowing I have only to please myself. If I design a pattern for someone else, I have to worry about which yarn is used and how it will work in the knitter’s hands.

So, caveat emptor!

Meanwhile, I realized that if I was going to share this design, I’d have to have charts in a format that I could share. In the past, I just made my graphs on graph paper, and photographed them. I thought this time I should use a computer program. I have a knitting font in Excel, so I started with that. Too tedious for me. I did a search on the ‘net, and found Jacquie’s amazing Knitting Chart Maker here:

http://jacquie.typepad.com/Charts/knitChart.htm This is a fantastic tool! I had a great time playing with it, and with the help of my husband, and Photoshop, was able to get some charts made.

The only thing is that there was no clear symbol for a cable where you hold 2 purl stitches on the cable needle, purl 2, then purl 2 from cable needle, so this has to be up to the reader to follow the key and think about how the knitting actually will go. But I think it works well.

I spent the entire day yesterday working with the charts, so didn’t get much actual knitting done on the sweater! But I think it is coming along the way I envision.
So, back to knitting and swatching...
Happy New Year! Let's hope 2010 brings good things to all and some relief from the stressors which 2009 had in abundance..

Kaitlin's Scarf

2009-12-25T15:57:00.000-05:00

Here is Kaitlin's Scarf. A Double Moss , 2x2 cable , which is completely reversible.

Here is the pattern:

2 skeins of Misti Alpaca chunky, on size 11 needles,

3 stitch markers ( the safety-pin kind work best), cable needle.
Use the 3rd stitch marker as a row marker to keep track of when to cable next by hanging it off one of the selvedge loops. As the scarf is reversible, it makes it easier to tell when you are on the correct side for cabling if you don't want to look at the pattern, and then you can just read your knitting instead of counting rows. Also,I knit the first stitch of every row and slip the last stitch with yarn in front to make a chained edge.
57 X 6 1/2 inches
SM= slip marker
Cast on 24 stitches. Place a marker after stitch 8 and after stitch 16.
Row1: * K2,P2* 11 times,P1, Slip 1 with yarn in front.
Row 2: *K2,P2* 11 times, slip1, WYIF
Row 3: K1, P1, K2,P2,K2, SM,*K2, P2 * twice, SM, P2, K2, P2, K1, S1 wyif
Row 4: K1, p1, K2,P2,K2, SM, *,K2,P2* twice, SM,P2, K2, P2, K1,S1 wyif
Row 5:: same as row 1
Row 6: same as row 2
Row 7: same as row 3
Row 8:K1,P1,K2,P2,K2,SM,place first four sts on cable needle, hold to front. Knit2,P2, then K2,P2 from Cable needle, SM, P2,K2,P2,K1,S1wyif
Mark the row you cable on to make it easier to keep track, and repeat rows 1-8 for pattern . Cast off in pattern, weave in ends, block and enjoy.

On this scarf, I actually cabled every 6 rows, but I think it is easier to keep track of on every 8 rows, and makes a looser cable.

Enjoy!

Scarf Attack, part 2

2009-12-23T17:21:00.000-05:00

Here it is, December 23rd, and I have finished 2 scarves, with 1/2 of the third one done. What happened? Well, it turns out that knitting on large gauge needles ( size 11s) gives me a case of Knitter's Elbow, and the neck pain to go with it. Oy. Something about the way I knit at that gauge sets off pain in the small muscles of my forearms. But I have the yarn, the idea, and the deadline. But the flesh won't cooperate. I can knit for 1/2 hour, and then the pain sets in. Pushing it only makes it worse. Rest is the only cure, but how long can you rest? How to get these done? Frustration is setting in!
I finished the second one by a combination of resting for a week, then limiting the time to 20 minutes at a clip, changing to 14 inch straight needles so I could rest the needles on my lap, using cushions to prop up my elbows. Neck exercises and hanging my head over the side of the bed with my head suspended in my hands helped a bunch, as well as Advil and heat.
Here are the scarves so far:

The middle one is Lauren's Scarf: A double Moss pattern with 1x1 ribbing cable. I like the fluffiness of this pattern, and it is a snuggly scarf, same size as the green one. The purple one is Kaitlin's Scarf, but it is half done. It is also Double Moss on the sides, but here the cable is 2x2 ribbing. I think it makes a more raised cable, and it is easier to work with the Double moss, as the whole thing is K2,P2. I like all of the patterns, I just can't knit with such large needles!

Meanwhile, for breaks, I resumed knitting a top-down cardigan version of St Brigid which I'd begun last winter and put aside as the weather warmed up. This is on size 6 needles, and for some reason doesn't hurt my arms! I can knit on this one for 3 hours at a clip ( with short breaks, of course). Very odd. But I'm glad I can do something! It would be very hard if I had to stop knitting entirely. Shudder....

Anyway, I am going to try to finish that last scarf! Otherwise, she will get an IOU...
Next year I will remember why I don't knit to deadlines!

Celtic Braid Cardigan

2009-12-13T23:15:00.001-05:00

In October, I made the now yearly pilgrimage to Rhinebeck for the NY State Sheep and Wool Festival. What a euphoric extravaganza of delightful fiber! It was fantastic to walk through the vendors offerings, touching and fondling and oohing and ahhing. I found a glorious skein of beautiful brilliant blue yarn at the Decadent Fibers booth, and I had to have it. This skein was 490 yards, huge, but to make the sweater I envisioned, with cables and flourishes, I thought I'd need 3 skeins probably. They happened to have 3, and although they were hand dyed by the same dyers, of course it is very challenging to get them exactly the same, so there were differences in the intensity and value of the color. However, I didn't care, so I bought them! This yarn is 50%merino, 30% silk and 20% mohair. I was a little worried about the itchiness of the mohair, which I usually don't like, but this yarn was soft and slightly fuzzy with a bit of a sheen.
This cardigan was fun to knit. I started with a top down raglan with some idea of the cables I wanted to use ( mainly the saxon braid and a simple 4 stitch cable) and kind of winged it from there, trying on as I went, to get the fit. It was a lot of fun to design, and despite the slightly differing colors of the skeins, it is fine to my eye. The zipper makes it a close hug of a sweater, perfect for those cold days, but the comfortable yarn makes it soft and light weight. And of course, it is blue! I ended up using only about 1200 yards, so I still have around 300 left.

Scarf Attack

2009-12-07T10:37:00.002-05:00

Each of my lovely nieces requested a scarf for Christmas in her signature color. Here is the first of three.

It is Reversible Cable and Seed Stitch Scarf, and here is the pattern:

2 skeins of Misti Alpaca chunky, on size 11 needles,

3 stitch markers ( the safety-pin kind work best), cable needle.

Use the 3rd stitch marker as a row marker to keep track of when to cable next by hanging it off one of the selvedge loops. As the scarf is reversible, it makes it easier to tell when you are on the correct side for cabling if you don't want to look at the pattern, and then you can just read your knitting instead of counting rows.

57X6 1/2 inches

Cast on 24 stitches. Place a marker after stitch 8 and after stitch 16.

Row 1:(K1,P1 ) 11 times,K1. Slip 1 With Yarn In Front, turn

Row 2: K1,(K1,P1) 3x, K1, Slip Marker, (K1,P1) 4x, SM,(P1,K1) 3x, P1, Sl1 WYIF, turn.

Row 3 and 5: As row 1

Row 4:As Row 2

Row 6: K1,(K1,P1) 3x,K1, SM, Slip next 4 sts onto cable needle, hold to front. (K1,P1) 2x, then (K1,P1) 2x from Cable needle, SM ( P1,K1) 3x, P1, Sl1WYIF, turn.

Continue until almost out of yarn, bind off loosely, block, enjoy!

Now I have 2 more to make. I'm thinking of trying variations on this one, but who knows. Must swatch!

Holiday Cats

2009-12-05T17:37:00.000-05:00

While doing some wrapping of gifts, I had the candy canes on my table, and was astonished to find my cat enjoying them!

I never would have thought a cat would enjoy peppermint candy canes!

I finally had to take them away for fear that the sugar would hurt him!
Do you think I can still give these to the kids??? They are organic, after all....

Gluten-Free Magic Cookie Bars

2009-11-26T15:40:00.001-05:00

As it is Thanksgiving, here in the USA, I thought it appropriate to say Thank You to my readers by sharing something delicious! After being gluten-free for several years, I find it is always fun to try to replicate favorite recipes without changing them overly much. For years my favorite cookies were on the back of the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk can, but the graham-cracker crust has wheat in it...so, this year I decided to see if I could make a gluten-free version. So, here it is!
Gluten-Free Magic Cookie Bars ( makes 2 dozen bars)

2 cups Rice Chex, smushed
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter
1 (14oz) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups ( 12 oz) semi-sweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut ( sweetened is fine)
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 1/2 stick of butter in 13x9 inch baking
pan, and put in oven until butter melts.
2.Sprinkle Rice Chex evenly over melted butter in pan
3.Layer chocolate chips, then walnuts, then coconut over Chex and butter.
4.Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the whole thing by using a can
opener to punch 2 holes, and in criss-cross weaving pattern, layer milk over
top of coconut.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars. Store
covered at room temperature or freeze to deter immediate devouring of the whole plate of cookies.
To unfreeze, leave out for 1/2 hour on a plate. Calories: 205 each.
If you cut them in half, then it is only 100 calories each, and you can eat twice as many! Plus, they are full of omega 3s and antioxidants from the nuts and chocolate...what's not to like?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Simon Says

2009-11-19T16:13:00.000-05:00

In the blogosphere, there are a few blogs I read often, and one of them is http://fibermania.blogspot.com/ .Melody manages to delight and inspire me regularly, so it is always fun to see what she is up to. Last week she knit the fabulous Simon Cowl, out of leftover sock yarns, and it just delighted me. The lovely colors and the simple elegance of the design were in perfect harmony. I thought that would be a lot of fun to knit, and she so graciously shared the pattern here: http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2009/10/in-dyeing-mood-when-i-see-yarns-like.html .
Naturally, I don't have any sock yarn lying around, mainly because I don't knit socks, and I don't have any appropriate size 3 needles either and so I had to consider how I would get the perfect yarn for this project, which probably is coolest if 2 alternating colorways are used. A trip to the yarn store was certainly in order.While there, none of the sock yarns enthralled me, but I got the idea to knit this in Blue Sky sport weight alpaca, of which I happen to have a bunch at home. I got another skein in white, a set of size 3 needles, and headed home after a lovely lunch with a friend who met me there to help fondle the yarn. On the way home, who could resist a church used clothing sale? I stopped in, and found the softest loveliest light blue Eileen Fisher sweater for $10! I had to buy it!So, pondering all of this wonderful wooly fun, it seemed a dyeing day was in order, so yesterday I got out my dyes, and searched the house for yarn to dye. I found a couple of skeins of sock yarn which were not blue enough, and some Blue Sky sport alpaca in a turquoise, which would do nicely to add variegation to the project. I mixed up a batch of brilliant blue acid dye, and a tiny bit of yellow, and dyed the white yarn green and blue, and overdyed all of the other yarn and the sweater with the blue dye. Here is a shot of the drying results:

So, now I have enough sock yarn and enough alpaca to play with, and a lovely mottled blue sweater, which is taking too long to dry! I am very happy with all of this blue! Isn't it amazing how many shades and types of blue there are? The lighter shades came to be as I dipped the yarn in the big pot at the end of the immersion process so the dye had nearly exhausted. It tends to strike pretty fast, and the pot I used was a bit small so the sweater dyed unevenly. Which is fine with me, actually, as I like a bit of shading and interest in that way. I'm looking forward to winding the yarn and playing around with it, and maybe even knitting the cowl that started this particular diversion! . It is sometimes difficult to read blogs, however, because my cat gets in the way:

Anyway, that is my plan...

Finishing up isn't hard to do

2009-11-18T09:55:00.002-05:00

I bought this yarn with my friend Dot as a gift for her. The pattern was simple and this was my take along default project for 3 months.It took that long because it wasn’t blue! But finished in time for Dot’s birthday. I hope she likes it!

Pattern: 2 skeins Misit Alpaca chunky, size 11 needles.Cast on 19. K3,P2to end, slipping last stitch wyif. Bind off. Done.
Next UFO finished:

A couple of years ago, I started this as a lace circular shrug, but ran out of yarn. It languished in the yarn closet for a while, until I got the idea to make it into a hat, after I discovered a lone skein of this yarn in the LYS stash of discontinued yarns. I had knitted about 15 inches in diameter of lace, but ran out of yarn. Now I had a bit more, so I then I gathered it into an inch of ribbing on a smaller needle so it would snug my head. It is a very warm and fun hat! So nice to finish a UFO.Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky, size 10.5 and size 9 needles, one and a bit more skeins ( 106 gm of yarn!) .

Glove Love

2009-11-04T10:52:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed making these warm and dense gloves!I started with Ann Budd's amazing "Knitter's handy Book of Patterns" basic glove pattern, using worsted weight alpaca yarn knit on size 3 needles to get 6 sts/inch, and plugged a 24-stitch celtic cable from The Knitter’s Bible into the back of the gloves, which provided interest and extra warmth. I modified the basic pattern also in length to give longer cuffs and tried on the gloves as I knit to customize the finger length to fit me. I also found that using kitchener to finish the tips after a round of K2 tog gave a nicer tip, and putting the ” resting” hand stitches on a small circular needle while knitting the fingers in sequence made things less fiddly and more fun. I love the color and warmth of this alpaca yarn, and removed most of the sparkles as I did on the sweater I made last month.

Leaf Lace Yokes

2009-10-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

I loved the idea of a sweater called Leaf Yoke Top by Angela Hahn, which was published in Knit.1 magazine, spring 2009 after I saw it on a customer in my LYS, Sticks and Strings. I found the magazine and read over the pattern. It was a delightful concept, the lace yoke, and I'd always liked that idea, but I wanted a sweater with sleeves instead of a tank top, and I wanted to use a totally different yarn. I had lots of Sojabama, a soy and bamboo yarn which had marinated in my stash for a year, and I thought this might be a good choice. After using an I-cord cast-on, I knit the lace yoke and then made horizontal I-cord to transition to the stockinette portiion of the sweater. In order to raise the back neck, I used short rows to increase the length in the back, while maintaining yoke increases. This had to be done twice, as I tried to do it in a coffeeshop and got hopelessly confused and had to rip out a bunch! At home with my counter and a diagram, I could keep track and ended up figuring out an elegant way to hide the short rows at the base of the horizontal I cord. Once I had enough depth, I switched to raglan increases until I reached my target size. Then I put sleeve stitches on holders and continued body of sweater, adding 10 sts at underarms, adding bust darts and waist shaping. At the hem I repeated some of the leaf pattern and finished with I-cord bind-off using a size 7 needle to get the proper stretch.
Then I returned to the sleeves and added a small leaf edging at hem, and I-cord bind-off.

I love this sweater! And the yarn was great to work with. I was very pleased with the final result, and decided to immediately do a similar thing with some lovely alpaca I had stashed, as suddenly the weather turned colder and this sweater is for warm weather! In the meantime, I happened to see a beautiful shawl on a friend, and lusted after it. But it reminded me of something I'd seen before. In perusing my bookshelf, I found The First Book of Modern Lace Knitting, by Marianne Kinzell, and sure enough, her amazing charts ( published initially in 1954, then reprinted by Dover in 1972) included one very similar to the shawl and to the Leaf Yoke Top laces. The "Primula Design" is fabulous, and to see the interpretations in today's knitting is very exciting.
Thus my next concoction took this a bit further, and here I used a worsted weight alpaca yarn, changed the lace a bit and added a peplum on the bottom, and 3/4 length sleeves. The lace is derived from the same “Primula Design” and I recharted it and added a tulip in the spaces between the leaves. I adored this yarn for the amazing color, wonderful softness and warmth, but hated the sparkles. I ended up picking out a lot of them, and wishing I had this yarn in a plain variety, as removing the Stellina fibers took a lot of time. I'm still waffling on the peplum idea, but for now I'm pleased with this sweater!

Blue is not the only color

2009-09-10T13:20:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I get carried away by my passion for blue, and I forget there are other, equally luscious and willing colors out there. After finishing "Leafy Wells", I wondered if I could make the same design using oranges and olivey greens. Sure enough, my stash yielded a lovely array of various fabrics which seemed to work well together, so I got busy and sewed myself into a fabric frenzy. The resulting top is finished, but needs to be layered, quilted,bound, etc. I'm pleased, and wonder what my next color combination should be. Purple and yellow? Orange and blue? The possibilities are limited only by my available stash. ANd time, of course..."Leafy Nights" is still tapping its fingers wanting to be done...

Leafy Wells

2009-09-08T17:15:00.006-04:00

The versitility of quilting makes it the ideal medium for exploring color, shape, size, line, pattern, all without getting your hands wet!
But sometimes things just get to be overwhelming and too large to handle. Thus it goes with "Leafy Nights" which is now around 90 inches square. It is really big, compared with my usual size quilt, which is why that one is hibernating for a while while I decide if I want to quilt it myself or let someone else ( with a longarm machine) have that pleasure.

So, as a form of procrastination , and also due to the myriad leftover half-square triangles, bits of strips of fabric, and the gorgeousness of all of these colors, which I can't bear to put away yet, I made another quilt. This one is considerably smaller ( 37 1/2 inches by 62 1/2 inches ), and is meant as a wall hanging. I used the "Hidden Wells" pattern by Mary Ellen Hopkins, which I have loved since the first piece I made with this design in 1994, for the center strip.
I wanted something quick, interesting and not too fussy, to showcase the fabrics, and this pattern fit the bill. Adding leftover triangles, strips and such to the sides made it have an Art Deco feel, and gave me the shape I wanted. The quilting was a challenge, and I used Contact paper templates to quilt around. The side strips I quilted freehand in leafy designs. On the whole I love this quilt, although it is really uncomplicated and peaceful.

And in the end, Leafy Wells is the best revenge. Now I guess I'll have to quit procrastinating. Maybe later....

Crop Sleeve Raglan

2009-09-06T16:38:00.002-04:00

I don't usually knit a pattern exactly as written, but this sweater called to me. "Crop Sleeve Raglan" by Gayle Bunn, from Knit 'N Style, August 2005. Yarn: ggh Bali, a cotton/acrylic blend. Usually I avoid acrylics, but this was on sale and also it didn't feel squeaky or icky. It had the added advantage of being sproingy and lighter than 100% cotton would be, so a good mix.
This was a fun sweater to knit. Of course, I knit it in the round and seamlessly, despite it being written in pieces, as I love the possibility of trying it on as I go along.
After establishing the pattern, it was very easy to keep track of and turned into my favorite summer drag-along project. The yarn I used was very stretchy, so it was a challenge to get gauge. I tried it on every inch on the way up the body to make sure it would fit! I modified the pattern to be knit seamlessly in the round, and used seed stitch instead of moss stitch on sleeves and ribs, adding a bit of width in the bust area, and 2 inches in length to the sleeves for a bit more coverage. .

A very comfortable summer project!

Diagonal Triangle Tank

2009-08-13T09:40:00.004-04:00

I started this tank top last summer, thinking it would be a great wearable piece, but got into counting trouble and had to let it rest. This tank languished all winter, but I finally picked it up again and finished it. I added a purl row every so often to make a garter/ stockinette stripe, which enhances the plain yarn a lot. I’m pleased with this, even though I made some mistakes and had to redo the shoulders. I knit one sleeve, but didn’t like how it was sitting on my shoulder, so opted to make it sleeveless. I knit this one in the round and so had no seams at the end. Cotton Classic, size 7 needles, 5 1/2 skeins ( around 600 yards) Pattern: Iris Schreier's P90 Diagonal/Triangle Tank http://www.artyarns.com/newsite/patterns_main.htm

Blue Medallion Cardigan

2009-07-29T09:34:00.004-04:00

Of course, some knitting is still going on! I finished another version of the Medallion Cardigan, this time in Cotton Classic, color 3806, which has been sadly discontinued. I used 7 skeins, size 8 needles, and put 3 rows of single crochet around the whole thing. When I got to the end, I was going to put a button on, but somehow this looked messy, so in the end I crocheted together the top 4 inches, which serves to close the top but preserve a cardigan feel. I'm liking this a lot! It is cool and easy to wear.

Leafy Nights part 3

2009-07-29T09:24:00.004-04:00

I finally finished making 36 of the 4X4 blocks, and had a lot of fun arranging the colors and shades. Then I sewed them together in groups of 4 like this:

You can see how this makes a large blue X in the middle. Given that I want a queen-sized quilt, I need an array of 6X6 small blocks, which turns into a grid of 3X3 larger blocks. When I put together two large blocks, another secondary pattern emerges, like this: So this arrangement turns into Xs and Os. I'm enjoying playing with the blocks, but I think I want to arrange them so the Xs aren't so prominent. I think this will involve sewing 6 big blocks, and then single small blocks on the sides. After that, I'll have to consider borders and quilting...but first I have to clean my studio to have room to lay out all of the blocks!

Leafy Nights part 2

2009-07-09T09:16:00.003-04:00

So now I'm in the making blocks mode. It is very relaxing and fun to design and sew all of these blocks. I have to be mindful of all of the possibilities, as I want to scatter the colors around the final quilt, so I need to see all the ones I've already made and try not to repeat color placements. So far I've made 17 blocks. Here they are pinned up on the design wall in the same orientation. This might be a fun arrangement, but I'd probably use this design on point if I were to use it. However it is a bit static. Once I have all 36 blocks made, then I'll have fun arranging them. Looking forward to that is a nice motivator. Chain piecing these makes it easier to keep track of the squares.

Leafy Nights part 1

2009-07-07T10:22:00.008-04:00

Sometimes you just have to make a quilt. As someone who has collected fabric since childhood, I have a lot to choose from, but sometimes that makes it difficult to get started. There is always fabric that is new or better or somehow different, yet I find the same things call to me over time. I decided to make a blue and green bed quilt, as I happen to have a lot of fabric on hand, and those are my favorite colors.I wanted something that would be complex, but not too complex, large, easy and fast, relatively speaking. Something I could enjoy working on without too much frustration, but interesting enough to allow for delight; a block quilt that didn't look like blocks. Sometimes finding a good pattern is the most difficult part of getting started. Making something big is a challenge to handle, so I wanted it to be broken up into squares to make it easier to sew.

I had long admired a quilt called Interwoven by Barbara Graham ( http://www.bgmysteries.com/ ) from the 2004 Quilt Art Engagement Calendar, which was a two color 4x4 patch block pattern, and thought that would be a perfect design. I started cutting 4 inch strips of my favorite blue and light green batiks:

I then cut half- square triangles from each strip and paired them to make unique triangle squares:

Then I cut more blue strips, and then into 4" squares, to make a block:

Now I will make 36 of these, and see what happens. I'm trying to use as many unique combinations as I can, so it is a bit like playing concentration, trying to vary the fabrics chosen in each position of the grid. And keeping the cats from lying on top of them, of course! Back to sewing.

Medallion Lace jacket

2009-06-04T09:25:00.005-04:00

Yarn: Queensland Collection "Cotolino": 60% cotton, 40% linen, size 8 needles, approx 650 yards.
Knit sideways from the center back. I provisionally cast on 81 stitches ( 8 repeats plus 1 of Medallion Lace from Evelyn Clark’s book “Knitting Lace Triangles”) and knit 9 inches, then put 31 stitches on waste yarn hold for sleeves, continued knitting 10 inches or so to center front, bind off. Then undid provisional cast on, knit another 9 inches in other direction, waste yarn sleeve stitches, finish front. Then seam shoulders, pick up sleeve stitches, knit in round to 3/4 length, bind off. Single crochet around fronts, bottom edge, center back.
A wearable and cool summer jacket. My cat loved the sweater, for some reason, and wouldn't leave me alone while I was knitting it! Here she is trying to get in the photo!

Pie Love

2009-05-26T11:04:00.005-04:00

About 10 days ago a client came to my studio and wanted to commission a small quilt for a friend's graduation gift. The recipient loved to bake, especially Lemon Meringue pies. Could I make a quilt about that? I drew up some sketches, and we settled on one:

We chose some fabrics that spoke to us of lemons and pies and blue skies, and meringues, and looked at some images on the internet to get the colors right. The top of the pies brown especially at the peaks, but when you cut a slice, the underneath meringue stays white. We liked the idea of the lemon slice overlaying the pie and the words "Pie" and "Love" on it.

I converted the drawing to a pattern on Freezer paper, cut out some pieces and started assembling the quilt.It struck me that I could manipulate the meringue fabric to provide texture, and I loved the result, but then it would be difficult to find a pleasing way to overlay the lemon slice. The bumpy texture of the meringue might make threadpainting bumpy, and fusing fabric over it would also result in lumps. In the end I added a lemon, and used the slice idea in the quilting, as I did with the words, and also some eggs and wheat.

I used fusible batting, so I could hold the texture of the meringue in place while I quilted it. The binding fabric was used on the back as well, and has silver stars in it, so it ties the spoon together with the pie in the sky.When you get lemons, make lemon pie!

The silver spoon added a bit of invitation to enjoy, and the whole thing has a folk arty feel. Yum!

I hope the client likes it, too! I'm not sure of the title yet, but call it "Pie Love" in my mind!

Size: 19 inches X 19 inches.

Pashmina Jacket

2009-05-16T21:44:00.004-04:00

As a lover of textiles and intricate prints and patterns, I often am seduced by the beautiful Pashmina shawls for sale in midtown Manhattan. Over the years, I have purchased several of them which are beautiful, soft, warm and colorful.

Trouble is, I never wear them. In fact, I rarely ever wear shawls. Recently I was folding and admiring the pashmina shawls I have and an idea popped into my head: why not turn one into a jacket? My shawls are 27 inches wide and 72 inches ( 2 yards) long, excluding fringe.

I got out one of my favorite simple classic jacket patterns, Butterick 6474, and laid it out on a shawl which I folded in half:

If laid out this way, the fringe would be on the cuffs and front edges, but not on the back.
I cut out the pieces, and sewed them together using overlock stitch and french seaming when possible, as the weave is a bit loose and the wool is somewhat ravelly and delicate.

Here is my friend Sue Dennis ( www.suedennis.com) , visiting from Australia, modeling my jacket:

A comfortable, warm and light jacket! And Sue makes a great model.

Winter Knitting

2009-04-22T22:00:00.003-04:00

Here is mysecond take on Alice Starmore's St Brigid sweater, this time done as a top-down raglan. I really enjoyed how this one came together, although I wished I had a bit more yarn, as it is a "cropped" length, which sometimes I like and sometimes I don't like. But I'm too lazy to order another skein or rip out the prevvious sweater which is a bit too long! I have already cast on for another one...

Here is a pullover version of my Top Down Diamond Alpaca sweater, this time with V neck.Reynolds Regal Alpaca, size 9 needles, 8 skeins exactly. I have been wearing this one every day since I made it, as it has been really cold for New York springtime...I'm finally warm enough with this sweater on! ( and two cats who adore alpaca also).

Beguiling Beads

2009-04-22T21:39:00.002-04:00

My dear friend Elizabeth Rosenberg ( http://www.elizabethrosenberg.blogspot.com/ ) invited me to a bead show last month, and I had a divine ,delirious time! I bought a lot of gorgeous beads, including some amazing lampwork by Grace Quinyi Ma ( www.gracebeads.com ) . These beads came home and sat in my stash, dreaming of necklaces and bracelets, but alas, inspiration was not yet free. Then this past weekend, I dragged my friend Debbie to a local bead show and had another amazing time looking at beads, playing with colors and finally buying more beads. I came home and spent the last few days creating ! I had the best time, and so far am pleased with my initial attempts. I figure, like knitting, beading can always be redone, so any mistakes can be reworked and the materials re-used. Which is a freeing thought; one can't really make a mistake! There are only new opportunities...

This necklace, with black and white lampwork and a special bead from Venice, will be the perfect gift for my mother, whose birthday is coming up in June.This necklace I have been wanting to make for 4 years, ever since I bought the fabulous focus bead in Houston at Quilt Festival. I found the perfect beads for the necklace portion at the show last weekend, and strung this in time for Paula Nadelstern's fantastic opening yesterday at the Folk Art Museum ( www.folkartmuseum.org ). Her quilts are breathtaking, inspiring and just plain magnificent. Her exhibit is the first solo show of work by a living artist, and as such is a joyous tour de force. I was privleged to go to the opening reception last night, and wanted to wear my special beads.

This piece is another marriage of a focal Thai silver bead which I bought in Lowell many years ago, and Tibetan silver and gemstone beads purchased last month.

I love the Grace lampwork beads in this necklace and earring set, with Swarovsky crystal and Czech glass beads. I'm having a lot of fun playing with these instant gratification bits of color and light.

Diamond Cardigan

2009-02-20T17:40:00.003-05:00

The coincidence of getting “French Girl Knits” in the mail the same day I had lunch with a friend wearing a marvelous cabled sweater instigated this sweater. I wanted to use my stash of lovely blue Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal yarn( which I had used for the mittens and had 8 skeins left!) , and Kristeen Griffin-Grimess' top down, set-in-sleeve pattern “Viola” was so well written that it just flowed together. I used the “X-in-a-diamond” single cable from Barbara Walker’s First Treasury (pg 287) to give added texture, and also made long sleeves. As I knit a different yarn at a tighter gauge ( 16 per inch on a size 9 needle) than the pattern was written for, I used the numbers for the 44 inch size. I am very happy with this cardigan, although I think the zipper is a bit too long and may re-do it when the mood hits me. It is warm and soft and has the right shade of blue.

Plus, it went very fast! I watched "John Adams" and a few other shows and it was done in 2 weeks!

Winter Obsession, part 3

2009-02-05T10:18:00.005-05:00

I finally finished my deep V-necked raglan version of St Brigid, and sewed in the last end .I'm not sure I like it yet; I'll have to wash and block to see how it really looks, but for now all the parts are connected and the sweater is warm and interesting. It ended up more like a tunic, and is very comfortable and warm on this frigid day, but I still wish I had started it from the top down so I would have more control over the length and such. As it was, I had to re-do the yoke once because it wasn't coming together at the correct rate of decrease( it had to be 16 sts per every other row instead of the usual 8), so after 300 yards of knitting from the armholes up, it had to be frogged and re-done. In retrospect I probably shouldn't have made the V so deep, but it was difficult to judge how it would fall without the yoke being finished. I am tempted to rip it back and re-do it again, but in fact I am ready for it to be done! Which of course means I have to start something new...oh, dear!

Yarn:Nashua Handknits Superwash 7.5 skeins ( 218yds per skein), size 6 needles, color:24

Cold Hands, warm heart

2009-02-03T10:33:00.003-05:00

This winter has been particularly cold and snowy here in the Northeast. It seems like every 3 days, the white stuff is swirling around and temps are below freezing. Not such a big deal, I know, but my hands tend to turn very painful and white at the tips when exposed to any cold. I've tried all sorts of gloves and layers of gloves, but still suffer. Recently I had a discussion with a friend who swore that mittens were much warmer, so I thought I'd give them a try. Oddly enough, I didn't find any for sale in my various haunts, so I had to make some.

Yarn: Andean Alpaca Regal, size 9 needles, probably 1/2 skein ( 50 yards) made both. Pattern: Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns, Mitten pattern.

I made a little mistake on the ribbing, but what the heck. They fit and were soft and warm. However, given the abuse of putting them on and off, handling keys, snowshovels, etc, and with velcro on my jacket, I thought they should have polarfleece outer gloves, which would absorb the brunt of abrasion, so I made some and slipped the mittens inside them.

They might look like oven mitts, but they are toasty warm! Finally!

Winter Obsession part 2

2009-01-07T10:57:00.004-05:00

So here are the fruits of the last few weeks of knitting pleasure. I have had to graph out the project nearly line by line, as I decided it might be possible to make this into a raglan V necked design, which pleased my sense of geometry and hopefully will fit me. All the possibilities of set- in sleeves seemed to do inelegant things to the cables, and while I will probably attempt top- down set- in sleeves in one piece in future, these cables seemed to want to merge in diagonal ways. And to make it less warm to wear, a V neck seemed like a good idea at the time.
So I began to make the braid cable emerge in the front while I decreased in the center cable panel. I'm in the middle of the 5th repeat , and took advantage of the end of this ball of yarn to work on a sleeve. I decided to add 2 stitches every 4 rows until I had a whole cable on either side of the center "seam" and then knit straight to the armpit. 5 cable repeats gives me the arm length measurement I need, so I am pleased. It is kind of scary, though , to work bottom up, as I have become so used to the control and predictability of working top down and being able to try it on as I go. Ah well, live and learn! I am enjoying this quite a bit, watching the graphs turn into stitches and seeing my measurement predictions turn out. As this is a superwash wool, it may turn out bigger than it is as knitted, after I block it, which will be fine, as it seems to be a bit smaller than I predicted from the swatch. In my eagerness to get going of course I didn't wash the swatch! Live dangerously! Luckily I don't have to please anyone except myself, so it is all good. And I can always rip and re-knit. Or find some unsuspecting child to give it to. Or put it in the Museum of Knitting Experiments.

Salon Seven Quilt Show

2009-01-03T17:29:00.005-05:00

I spent a lot of happy hours this week quilting a quilt that I had begun a few years ago, but never finished due to getting discouraged with quilting and taking a detour into knitting. I had been invited to curate an exhibit in the New Rochelle Library several months ago, and began to realize I should at least have one new work to hang. I dug this partly finished quilt out from where it was resting and had alot of fun quilting it, and when I put the last stitch into it last night at 1am, I was pleased. It is called "Cats are everywhere"( which you can see in the detail of the quilting)... and here is my panel in the exhibit, which we hung today. You'll have to go see the other 37 quilts in the show; it is wonderful! Here is the press release:

The Salon Seven: Stitching it Together
Group Exhibition at New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, New York http://www.nrpl.org/

The Salon Seven announces the opening of their newest exhibition. In a time where the very fabric of society appears to be falling apart at the seams, this group of seven textile artists continues to meet monthly to encourage and support each other while offering constructive critique. When they are together, ideas and creativity flow, excitement fills the air, and the members encourage each other in their individual explorations of color and design, stitching together their own personal view of life’s journey.
The 41 art quilts included in this exhibition, which runs from Saturday, January 3, 2009,through January 24, 2009, exhibit a breathtaking range of styles, textures, colors and subjects yet remain true to the quilt making tradition. Each member of this group has her own way of using textiles, and each uses fabric, thread, and batting to create her distinctive artwork.
Salon Seven members: Benedicte Caneill, Beth Carney, Georgia Heller, Jeri Riggs, Elizabeth Rosenberg, Linda Schoenfeld, Susan Schrott

Artist's Reception: Sunday, January 11, 2009: 1-3pm

Winter Obsession

2008-12-21T15:52:00.007-05:00

Alice Starmore's knitting oevre is legendary among knitters. She has a site now called http://www.virtualyarns.com/ with lovely photos of her designs where you can purchase kits for the yarn. Sadly, many of her books remain out of print, but now and again they can be found on Ebay or, amazingly enough, in local libraries!

When I started this knitting odyssey, I was attracted to very complex designs, with lovely intricate colorwork and/or cables , but soon realized they were way beyond my skill level. I had a while to go in terms of learning before I could tackle anything that complicated. There is also the time factor: dancing between desiring instant gratification and long term projects , as well as the need to master as many things as possible, I gravitated towards lace, which gives the satisfaction of complexity with the speed of human timeframes on larger needles. For some situations, my RSD strikes and I have to back off, so that factors into my choice of projects . Also, I like to make garments that I can wear, so there is the intellectual challenge of knitting to create a 3 dimensional object and making something that fits me.

I have long adored Ms. Starmore's

St. Brigid, http://www.virtualyarns.com/scripts/showitem.asp?ID=61

an intricate cabled sweater, but because the smallest size is 43 inches across the chest, and has dropped sleeves, I knew I could not wear something this big, and it would not flatter me.

Zooming around Ravelry, ( www.ravelry.com ) I came across several folks who had modified the design to fit them, and I had the idea that I could try to knit something for myself.

I finally knew enough to have an idea how I could manage this! And I had several stashed yarns that might be fun to knit this with. And finally, I had a dear friend who had the book Aran Knitting, so I was able to borrow it on Dec 10th and obtain the pattern, which is charted out. So, it all came together into my winter obsession.

Now, what is the first thing one does when starting a new knitting project? Swatching! My first swatch, in Zara on a size 4 needle, didn't make me happy somehow. I swatched again with Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Superwash, a merino wool blend that has a rustic feel, but is actually nice to knit with. And it shows the cables nicely, and I had 10 skeins ( at 218 yds each) so I had plenty of yarn! And of course, it is in electric blue.

My swatch of this yielded 22 sts per inch on a 6 in double moss, which is pretty close to the pattern gauge, so I cast on and knit a repeat in the round of the whole sweater, subtracting 12 sts on each side, hoping it would come out to something more like 40 inches.I needed to make a set of stitch markers with letters on them so I could keep my place in the charts.

As is the nature of swatches, they lie! LOL! My swatch measures 46 inches!

But I now have a nice piece of fabric to measure and gauge how to redesign the pattern so it will hopefully fit me.

And it's back to the drawing board for thinking about this some more...

In search of blue

2008-12-18T17:18:00.003-05:00

At least a year ago a friend sold me some Lorna's Laces Worsted in the colorway "Stormy". I thought it was lovely yarn, but of course, the black and white was a bit too graphic for my taste. I thought it would look lovely overdyed with blue, but never got around to it...On the 9th, I had my going away party at the shop I have worked for for the last nearly 2 years, and chose a lovely skein of Gread Adirondack silk yarn in a cream, beige and white colorway. Everyone looked at me like I was kidding when my eyes lit up and I said I loved the yarn!. I could see the possibilities....So I made up some dye ( Brilliant blue, a warm blue) and finally had a chance to dye both the silk and the Lorna's....the photos don't do it justice, but all of the yarn is gorgeous! Now it has to marinate in the stash for a bit until it tells me what to make.

Before dyeing After dyeing

Vested Interests

2008-12-18T17:07:00.005-05:00

I'm lucky I invested in yarn this year. With the current economic climate, it is reassuring to have boxes and bags full of potential projects waiting for me. So I decided to make a vest. I began this November 24th, at a knitting guild meeting, and enjoyed knitting it during Thanksgiving, finally finishing it December 9th. I used 6 skeins of Blue Sky Worsted hand dyed alpaca/Merino on a size 9 needle, and as it was top down, I could play with shape and sizing as I went along. I intended to make it long sleeved and a bit longer, but to tell the truth, the weight of it began to hurt my neck, so I called it a vest and finished it off as a short sleeved top. I enjoy wearing it, though, as it is warm and comfy, but not too warm. Here is my friend Debby modeling it, and you can barely make out the cables because it is black!

The Joy of Sox

2008-12-12T17:53:00.003-05:00

Just look at these beautiful, perfect, wonderful and lovely socks! They were knitted for me by my dear friend Elizabeth Rosenberg ( www.elizabethrosenberg.blogspot.com ), and they are the most amazing shade of electric blue Fleece Artist merino. I'm loving the pattern, the way they fit, the warmth of them. What a fabulous gift! Thank you, Elizabeth! Wow! Now I'll have to make a sweater to go with them...I must have some blue yarn around here...

Get enough blue?

2008-12-02T22:10:00.005-05:00

I had to knit another Wisteria. What a great pattern! I loved knitting this the first time, but wanted to use a DK yarn now instead of the worsted weight called for, so I did some math and found that the 40 inch size numbers worked out to the 36 1/2inches I needed. I cast on with some scrumptious blue Koigu Kersti, and merrily knit away. Added bust darts, shortened the length and sleeves by 2 inches and had a great time. A wonderful pattern!

Size 7 needles, approximately 8 1/2 skeins later, and I am happy!

For the moment...now to knit something completely different....

Scarf Riot

2008-11-23T10:17:00.004-05:00

And now, just in time for Holidaze, I present two scarves. Both are one-skein salvations...

Scarf One: Loop Scarf:

You make the loop first, and then knit until you run out of yarn.:100 yards worsted weight yarn, size 8 needles ( approx gauge 4.5 /inch for a 6 inch wide scarf) Cast on 14 stitches. Knit until strip is 8 inches long. Curve the strip around until you can stick the tip of the RH needle into the corner edge of the cast on , and pick up 14 stitches along the cast on edge, making now 28 sts on needle.Knit until you almost run out of yarn ( leave about a yard remaining) and then bind off.This one I actually made in Misti Alpaca Chunky, and used 10 stitches for the loop and 20 for the body, and Double Moss Stitch, but the principle is the same. You can also slip the last stitch of each row and knit the first stitch for a nicer edge.

Scarf Two: Sparkly Triangle Scarf.

Uses one Skein of Artyarns Ensemble with Beads and Sequins, ( 128 yards) size 11 needle.

Cast on 3 sts;

Row 1: Kfb,knit to last stitch,kfb. Repeat row until almost out of yarn ( about 4-6 yards left).

Stretchy Bindoff: K2,* knit these 2 together thru back loop( insert tip of LH needle into front of the two sts as if doing SSK). Knit one. Repeat from *to end. Weave in ends. Enjoy!

Achieving Bliss

2008-10-22T14:25:00.003-04:00

Lately I've been asking myself, why knit? I have lots of clothes, admittedly none of them are exactly right for every occasion, some I never wear but they lie in wait for the perfect opportunity ( a combination of temperature, venue, slenderness and time of day), some were great for a specific occasion and some are favorites that I reach for over and over but are wearing out. I suppose I'm always dreaming of some piece of clothing that will be just right, but never found. I knit for the challenge of it, or to realize an idea that just might work. Sometimes the yarn is so beautiful it begs to be knit into some article that will show its beauty to best advantage,sometimes this goal is achieved, and sometimes not. This sweater began as a bag of 10 skeins of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran, a discontinued yarn in a perfect shade of teal blue, bought at Webs in the back room. It sat in bags for a while, was swatched, but never seemed to materialize. Finally I thought I'd try a top down cable and rib sweater, as I only had 10 balls. I knitted the whole thing, only to find I'd miscalculated and it was too tight. I scoured Ebay and Ravelry, only to buy 2 balls of same color number but different dye lot which were noticably different in color. I ripped out some , reknit, and found it was too short. Finally I though I'd sacrifice the sleeves and rip some more, reknitting from the waist down and having a short sleeved cowl necked vest/sweater. I love the result, and finally achieved some measure of Bliss..

Wonderful Wisteria

2008-10-05T22:48:00.004-04:00

A new online knitting magazine, Twist Collective ( www.twistcollective.com ) recently had a fabulous sweater by Kate Gilbert on it, and I had to knit it immediately. I loved this pattern at first sight, and couldn’t wait to cast on, so I used some hand dyed yarn I had purchased last year at Rhinebeck, but didn’t know what kind of yarn it was, as a small vendor had it for sale and I bought 5 skeins because I liked the color. Swatching yielded gauge, so I went with it. It was a bit unevenly dyed, so the total effect is uneven, but I loved making this sweater and watching the cables merge and emerge. I think it came out a bit long for me, and I shortened the arms by about 4 inches, but I loved the total effect. I might have to make another one in a plain yarn so the cables pop more.. Thanks to Kate Gilbert for a wonderful design!
Here I'm wearing it in the shop where I work, Sticks and Strings ( www.sticksandstringsknitting.com ) where I admire the Koigu and wish I could have every color....

Side to Side Cardigan II

2008-08-28T20:46:00.004-04:00

Continuing on my quest to design an easy and fun sweater using odd balls of yarn, (purchased on yarn buying binges, furtive sales,random search and buy operations), here is the next in the series. Designing sweaters is kind of like making art in a series, where one idea leads into another, and all the tricks and tools I've gleaned are used to fabricate something interesting.
This sweater follows my earlier Ariel sweater, and is constructed basically the same way: knit in the round from the wrist up to the underarm, then stitches are cast on for the body and knit flat in one piece back and forth to the base of the neck, then stitches are divided for front and back. Then the back is knit to the center where both halves are joined with a 3 needle bind-off. Then the front is knit, stitches picked up at back neck, and knit down the other front to create the fronts and the shawl collar. I cord is used to bind off the fronts and collar. I've found an easy double sided cast-on for the side "seams" which delighted me, as there is no visible seam, in fact!
Here I've used Rowan Summer Tweed, 6 skeins of the grey and 2 of navy blue, with a skein of hand dyed sari silk to give a contrast and some color punch. As usual, this sweater is customizable to any yarn and any size, in theory, working from gauge of yarn and body measurements. I actually wrote up the pattern for my friend Linda, who is here modeling the sweater ( before darning in ends and blocking!):. She looks fabulous in it. If you want the pattern, email me! I think I might attempt it in Koigu Kersti next...

Side to Side Sweater

2008-08-14T19:20:00.003-04:00

Ah, summer. Hot and sticky. But sometimes I want to wear a sweater, and so far everything seems too hot. I thought it might be interesting to knit with Ariel, a dk cotton/rayon blend, but on larger needles and produce a light, airy sweater, so I cast on 27 sts with size 10 1/2 double pointed needles, and proceeded to knit a sleeve. I liked how the fabric was coming out, so I increased 2 sts every inch or so until I reached 47 sts at the armpit, then cast on another 47 stitches to knit the sides. By casting on both sides of the needle, I could knit up the side, around the arm and down the front. I knit about 6 inches, then divided for the back neck, and did some decreasing to make a V neck in front. When I had half a body, I cast on for the other sleeve, and likewise knit merrily along. Finally, I did a 3 needle SSK bind off ( to preserve the stretchiness) and then arrived at the top back neck. I crocheted scallops of 5dc around the fronts and bottom edge, arriving at the back neck. At this point I thought it might be nice to close with 2 crocheted double bobbles, so that is what I did. A very light, airy sweater, perfect for summertime. I used around 580 yards, or most of 4 balls.( 160 each). Here is another photo taken by my artistic son Bobby:

Some Summer sweaters

2008-08-06T01:45:00.006-04:00

Here is my most recent experiment in knitting: The Medallion Lace vest. I used size 8 needles, Provence cotton yarn, and adapted a shawl pattern from Evelyn Clark's wonderful book "Knitted Lace Triangles" for the pattern. The border is two offset repeats of the same pattern I used in the Leaf Lace vest from a few months ago. I initially thought this would be a cardigan, but when it was done, I thought it might be fun to sew up the center seam and make it a pullover. Probably I should have made it a pullover to begin with, but sometimes these experiments take on a life of their own! Here is the back view:
I also made this cardigan ( knitted top down, adapted from the CeCe cardigan by Chic Knits) ,in Provence cotton yarn, which I call the Torchwood Cardigan, as I watched the first 2 seasons of Torchwood while knitting it:
I probably should do a better job of weaving in the ends...but I'm lazy!

Diagonal Triangle Tank

2008-06-04T13:36:00.004-04:00

Ever handy with a spatula or knitting needles, here I am wearing my latest creation while cooking dinner. This is the Diagonal Triangle Tank (P90) by Iris Schreier of Artyarns ( http://www.artyarns.com/ ), who gave a workshop at the yarn shop I work at ( http://www.sticksandstringsknitting.com/ ) last weekend. I thought it might be fun to make her pattern and wear it to the workshop in case someone needed help with the class, and I had some silk yarn on hand in my stash from last summer's expedition to Webs. I used a size 6 needle, and, true to my propensity to modify all the patterns I encounter, I decided to knit this one "in the round". It was a challenge to interpret the instructions to knit as one piece, but I really enjoyed the construction of it, and of course, it is always useful to try on stuff as you go. I had to add a bit to the front to make it fit without being too revealing, and I kept the V in the back instead of squaring it off. I was going to add sleeves, but ended up finishing it as a sleeveless tank, so I could wear it as a vest. I used about 650 yards of yarn, and I have a bunch left over, so it might appear as a scarf in future!

Here is my friend Dot modeling it for me:

Leafy Lace Tunic

2008-05-17T08:26:00.004-04:00

Here is what happened to the leaf lace vest I started a while back. I began from the top, using Cotton Classic, size 9 needles, and Leaf lace, and joined in the center to get a pullover. When I got to the waist, I ran out of yarn, but I wanted a longer sweater, so I rummaged around in the stash, and found one skein of a similar color, and two skeins of the darker teal, so I figured that if I changed the lace pattern when I changed yarn colors, it might turn out to be interesting. I used hexagon mesh, then transitioned to an arrowhead pattern, then transitioned to a lace edging #49 from Lavori Artistici a Calza 11. Then I single crocheted two rows around the armholes and a row of SC2, chain3, to make a picot edging , which also finished off the hem. Below is a snapshot of my neice Allie modeling it. I thought it needed something, so I knit an I-cord and added that. Lots of fun to wear, and fun to knit! I have yet to block it, though, as I'm waiting for it to stop raining.

Summer Fling

2008-04-09T13:55:00.003-04:00

I finished my top down raglan cabled sweater. It turned out a little bigger than I wanted, so I might have to give this to some unsuspecting friend, but I love the yarn. Rowan Silk Tweed, 8 skeins, size 8 and 6 ( for ribbing) needles. You don't need a cable needle for this yarn, as it stays right where you put it! Lots of fun to make, warm and cozy and not heavy as cotton might be. A great inbetween season sweater, but I miscalculated on the design so it is a bit bigger than I'd like. Oh well, next one will be perfect!

Filling in Triangles

2008-04-09T13:49:00.005-04:00

Moving right along, I picked up along the angles and finished the sleeves, doing a double decrease on every right side row, and on the purl side every 4 rows to taper the sleeves, and SSK or K2tog on the edges to finish off the edge of the sleeves. The sides were worked similarly, but when I got to 30 sts on each side of the side triangles, I inserted a mitered square, and then finished off the triangles sideways for more interest. Now I want to add a bottom and center front garter edging and build up the neckline a little bit. It is coming along, although slowly because in the meantime I got inspired to knit something else!

Sleeve Details

2008-03-21T12:55:00.004-04:00

I have used a three-needle bindoff to knit the gusset stitches together, picked up and added a row of mitered squares along the diagonal of the arm, and then picked up along the diagonals to knit the final rows of the last triangle to finish off the arm. As I want a taper to the lower arm, I will be knitting 3 rows knit, one row purl, and on every right side row make a slip2-knit one-psso at the underarm "seam". I will also make a double decrease on the knit wrong side row by moving yarn to the front, slip 2 sts purlwise through the back loops, purl one, slip 2 stitches over. This should provide a taper to the arm, and keep the bias knitting continuing as needed. As my arms conveniently are short, I won't be making small mitered squares here, but simply continue to end of the triangle. On the cuff edges, on every right side row, I knit1, SSK, knit to center underarm, S2K1PSSo, knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, slip1.
On wrong side rows, it is: K1, purl to last stitch, slip with yarn in front, alternating with a knit row which has the double decrease purlwise in the center, and slip the last stitch of the row with yarn in front. This will bind off on the diagonal at the cuff on right side rows only, and provide a slipped stitch edge at the cuff. I probably will do a garter edge for the final cuff, but I'll decide that later.. I'm enjoying how the striping is coming out on this, kind of asymmetrical but not too much. This colorway, 166, has some bright green and some pukey pinky greys, which I've used very sparingly. Luckily, this yarn is easily spit spliced, so I have been editing the colors! Lots of fun.

Pineapples

2008-03-19T09:00:00.004-04:00

About 6 years ago,we cut off the tops of some pineapples, placed the tops in a pot with soil, and some time later, the plants rooted, and started growing. I have a small greenhouse room, and put these plants ( I now have 5 of them) in the sunny window....3 years later, two of the plants sent up some buds, and produced fruit! The pineapples were only 4 inches tall, but they were delicious. A few weeks ago, one of the plants decided to fruit again, so here is the developing pineapple! It is so cute! There are little purple flowers around the bottom, and the typical shape. It is such fun to watch this grow...

Divide and Conquer

2008-03-19T08:43:00.004-04:00

As it is raining today, I apologize for the color of these photos (the incandescent lighting gives a yellow cast), but here is the current state of sweater progress. I have divided for sleeves, after reaching my target number of stitches, by folding the square in half along the shoulder lines, then marking every 14 sts and picking up at the underarms to make a mitered square from the 4th group of stitches from the corner. In my enthusiasm to knit this, I forgot to take photos of that process. Oops. In the upper right, you can see a folded square hanging off which becomes the bottom of the sleeve. In this design, I discovered that I could make a little underarm gusset by joining ( in a 3 needle bindoff) a group of sts on the diagonal section between the body and the arm. I think this will give a better fit and slimmer arms.
Here is a photo of the back:
I was clever here to get the colors to line up symmetrically on this row of mitered squares, but I'm sort of going for a random look, so on the front I'm letting the colors fall where they want.
Here you can see how the fronts relate to the back row of squares. I started at the underarms, and worked downward from there, as I wanted the center lines of the squares to be vertical. In this sequence, I can pick up along the sides of one square, and use the live sts from the straight portion, one group of 14 sts at a time. The only sewing is at the center back corner., where I must join the edge of a square to the corner. Sewing it gives a neater join than picking up and K2tog at end of rows, I think.

Olympic Sweater 2 part 2

2008-03-13T09:15:00.004-04:00

So, now I've been knitting away on the straight portion below the first row of mitered squares. It is a lot of knitting; I'll need 30 rows to make up for the row. I could have added another row of mitered squarees instead, but I thought this would be easier. However, every other row is longer by 8 stitches ( 2 at each corner) so it is getting really long! My target is 112 sts in each section , so that is 448 sts. Lots of knitting! Here I've marked off roughly where the points to add next row of mitered squares will be, but those will be added after I divide for sleeves. Stay tuned for this!
My dear friend Melody Johnson ( http://www.fibermania.blogspot.com/ ) spent the day yesterday knitting a teensy version of my basic top down diagonal pattern, and posted it on her blog! It is so cute! Here I'm adding squares, but it is the same basic idea. If you would like a copy of the basic pattern, email me. It is a long pdf, and I'm charging $8 for it.
Off to work I go...more tonight...

Olympic Sweater #2

2008-03-11T22:44:00.005-04:00

I have accumulated a stash of Noro Kureyon, and had the urge to make another version of my Olympic sweater, so I started it a few weeks ago. I love knitting modular one piece top down stuff, as I am lazy about seaming, and I don't like to worry about gauge issues. As I've worked with thisyarn before, I happen to know what to expect, so I plunged right in. The first order of business is to make a big triangle for the back, then establish the shoulder line, then increase until each section has 60 sts. Then I can add one row of 29 stitch ( 14+1+14) mitered squares along the diagonals to complete the square, starting them at the shoulder corners so I can continuously knit squares down until I reach the center back and fronts.
After that, I pick up 90 sts ( 15X6) along each side, and knit a bunch of increasing rows until I reach 120 sts ( 15X8) in each side. That is a lot of stitches! I have to use all the size 7 Addi turbo needles I have, and still it isn't long enough to lie flat. I suppose I could use my Denise cables, but those are presently holding some other projects hostage. At that point, I'll fold the whole thing up, and join for knitting the body and sleeves....better get back to knitting for now...

J&J Sweater

2008-03-10T09:08:00.003-04:00

I was very pleased to finally finish this sweater. It is a combination of many influences, which began when a customer came to my shop with a photo of a cardigan that she wanted to make. As I didn't know of a pattern, and wanted to knit a similar sweater myself, I offered to design and write up the pattern so we could do it together. The first thing we decided was to use a worsted weight yarn and make it a pullover, which was a departure from the sweater in the photo. I chose Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, and a size 7 needle, and went to work swatching the large cable for the yoke. As I couldn't find one in Barbara Walker's Treasuries that fit my specifications, I modified one that she had, and knit the yoke cable first. I then picked up for the yoke and knit that, ripping it out twice to get the effect I wanted. I originally went with reverse stockinette, but later decided on a wide ribbing, which pleased me. The body and sleeves were picked up and knit downwards, so I could customize length and shaping. I narrowed the sleeves on my version to provide a tapered look, and went up to a size 8 needle for the hips. I added a section of wide ( 3X3) ribbing at the hem, which balanced the look and provided more length to the body. I am very pleased at how the sweater turned out, and I love the feel of the yarn.

Facings for Quilts

2008-02-21T22:00:00.009-05:00

This past week I had the pleasure of teaching two workshops on facing a quilt. The usual methods of applying facings are very bulky at the corners and require a lot of handling of the quilt, so I came up with an easier method. For those who missed it, here is the Jeririgged method of facings for rectangular quilts:
1. Quilt your quilt as desired. Square the edges.
2. Cut 4 strips, 2 1/2 inches wide, one for each side of the quilt, a bit longer than the length of each side of the quilt.
3. Press under 1/4 inch on the long side of each strip. If you want, also cut a strip 1/2 inch wide X the length of each strip out of Wonder Under, and fuse it ( keeping the paper on) atop each folded side on each strip.
4. Choose 2 sides to be the "corner" sides ( opposite each other) and pin strips to quilt matching raw edges. Sew the short edge, starting at the crease , turn the corner with a single stitch on the diagonal, then sew the long edge, gently pulling the strip as you sew to take in some of the stretch of the fabric. If you cut these two strips beforehand, make them 1/4 inch shorter than the width of the quilt and ease it while you sew so they match. Sew to 1/4 inch before the corner, turn at the corner and continue sewing down the short length, stopping just at the fold crease. Trim the facing strip even with the quilt top.

6. Now lay long edges with raw edges aligned, overlapping the first strip only as far as to cover the turned under edge of the first strip. Sew this strip to the side, continuing the line of stitching, 1/4 inch from the edge of the quilt. This leaves the corner with only a single layer, and overlaps the strips an inch down the sides where the bulk will be unobtrusive.Repeat for both pairs of strips, then Clip corners. Now, turn the whole shebang to the back, pushing out the corners to make a sharp edge, and iron them flat. If you used Wonder Under, now remove the paper strips, and fuse the facing in place. You might have to iron carefully to get everything lined up, but the turned edges hide the raw edges of the facings, and the fusable holds it in place until you can slip stitch the edge to finish permanently.

The Quilt's Power

2008-01-26T11:58:00.000-05:00

This quilt, which I made in November and December 2001, was recently juried into a show in the Museum TwentseWell in Enschede, The Netherlands, which will run from April to September, 2008. The quilt is entirely machine pieced, and quilted on my home sewing machine in various patterns. The show is called "De kracht van de quilt, or, The Quilt's power, and features 10 large quilts and 6 small quilts, which were all made in response to the events of 9/11. Here is a wikipedia article which describes the motivation for the show:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuurwerkramp

You can also see more of this quilt on my website ( www.jeririggs.com ) in the first gallery page, at the bottom.

Seeing Stars

2008-01-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

For his 18th birthday, my son Michael wanted a purple dodecahedron star. How could I resist making this? Pattern: Celestine by Norah Gaughan ( www.berroco.com/exclusives/celestine/celestine.html ) One skein Cascade 220 ( with 2 inches left over! LOL!) in Purple Hyacinth, size 6 DPNs. It was a blast to make; now my younger son wants one, too. In red, of course...

"Making Mathematics with Needlework"

2008-01-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

The summer before last, I had the great fortune to send my son to the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program( www.yp17.org ) for the second time. He had a wonderful time learning and playing with mathematics, and I got to hang out with sarah-marie belcastro ( www.toroidalsnark.net) , a Math professor at Smith College, who is co-director of the program. She was knitting a magical toroidal object with teeny tiny double pointed needles! We got to talking, and I mentioned my interest in knitting and quilting. She was writing a book about Math and needlework, and I enthusiastically offered to be a pattern tester. Well, several months later, she sent me the patterns for two mobius quilt designs. I had a blast constructing these, and for good measure, made a quilt of a "squashed dodecahedron"...I sent them to sarah-marie, and now, I'm thrilled to hold the book in my hand! My quilts are on the hard cover, and you can read the directions to make these in the book! it is available from Amazon, or directly from the publisher, AK Peters ( www.akpeters.com ). The directions for making your own knitted torus are there, plus fascinating papers on mathematics as it relates to needlepoint,blackwork embroidery, quilting, knitting and crochet. Truly a feast for those of us who love mathematics and needlework.

The Little Flower Doily

2008-01-12T12:07:00.000-05:00

My friend Andrea, of Bad Cat Designs (www.badcatdesigns.blogspot.com ) shared the pattern for her doily to several of us as test knitters, and here is my version of this beautiful design. Size 10 crochet cotton, 00 needles, 7.5 inches diameter.

Pattern Recognition

2008-01-12T11:34:00.000-05:00

My resolution for the new year has to do with documentation. Writing patterns is one of my goals, even though my current main love has to do with devising and making up my knitting as I go along. Enough people are starting to ask me for patterns that I think it is about time to delve into writing down some of the stuff I've made. Trouble is, I do take notes, but sometimes I just have to re-knit stuff to know exactly what I did, as I kind of make decisions as I go along. I suppose I have an attitude that I can figure out anything I want to make now ( except I have yet to comprehend lace circles in a very deep way, but I'm seeing that as a long term goal, too!) and I'm willing to rip liberally if necessary. Writing patterns, however, is a whole 'nother game. It involves setting down in formal terms, using a specific,universally acknowledged code, something that is inherently a process. And since I borrow liberally from every source I find, mutating and metabolizing it to suit my intended effect, it becomes difficult to acknowledge my sources. I just can't always recall where I found a particular idea! When I'm doing this for myself, it is not a problem, but when I consider doing this for someone else, a lot of issues come into play. Anyway, recently 2 people asked me to write up patterns for sweaters , one of which I've made, and the other was a formilization of an idea I'd been kicking around in my mind for a while. I really appreciate having " test knitters"; someone who can knit along with my directions and give me feedback about my instructions, as sometimes what seems obvious to me can be opaque to someone else! So, Thank you Jackie and Patti!

So, I've been working this week on The Leaf Lace Vest. I've gotten it written up to Row 9, and above is a photo of that. Cotton Classic, size 9 needles. As it leans on the ideas of Evelyn Clark, especially in her excellent book "Knitting Lace Triangles" http://www.evelynclarkdesigns.com/ ,I would encourage you to get this book! Evelyn graciously encouraged me to write up my pattern, and I am very grateful to her for her marvelous designs and her clarity of thought. Now all I have to do is find the time to learn charting software, and I'll be good to go! Graph paper and pencil is still my friend...

Apollo Vest

2007-12-29T23:02:00.000-05:00

What do you do if you buy some very expensive yarn and fall in love with it,but don't know what to make of it? I bought 2 skeins of Apollo yarn, a silk and wool luxurious blend hand dyed by Great Adirondack yarns....but didn't have a plan for it! So, I made a shawl. But I don't really wear shawls, so I ripped it out and made a scarf. But the yarn was too pretty for a scarf, so I frogged that. Then I realized nothing would satisfy me until I had a vest, so I ponied up for a third skein, and made a simple lace vest. Size 10.5 needles, raglan construction, v neck. I put a bit of feather and fan on the bottom edge instead of ribbing. Very comfy to wear, warm and not too heavy. The beautiful felted and beaded pin is a gift from my talented friend Benedicte Caneill, who makes amazing quilts, has a glorious singing voice, and is a careful and enthusiastic teacher. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend...

Sea Lettuce Scarf

2007-12-29T22:56:00.000-05:00

In my work at Sticks and Strings yarn shop ( http://www.sticksandstringsknitting.com/ ), I always love to play in the Koigu yarn. We sell a huge assortment of this yarn, and the colors are fantastic. One of the best patterns for playing with this lovely merino yarn is Lucy Neatby's Sea lettuce scarf, which has a very clever short row pattern that is interesting to knit and fun to wear. Here is my version of the scarf: I love how it folds up into a lovely cylinder. I knit it on size 7 needles, in 4 skeins of Koigu Kersti, a merino crepe yarn that is simply delightful...

Rhinebeck Sweater Updated

2007-12-29T22:37:00.000-05:00

I finally finished this sweater sometime in December! At first, I hurried to get it done for Rhinebeck, but missed that deadline. I knit some other stuff, then it got cold, so I went back and finished this one. I lengthened it to below hip length, added some more cables and finished with a wide rib. I had a blast playing with the shaping and now I enjoy the warmth and snug fit! Even though the variegated yarn obscures the cables, I love the complex riot of color and design...

Rhinebeck 2007 Sweater WIP

2007-10-14T19:56:00.000-04:00

I thought it might be fun to design and execute a sweater to wear to Rhinebeck this year. I had purchased 10 skeins of Claudia's Hand Painted Merino in a blue-green colorway that spoke to me and was aptly named "Caribbean Blue". This yarn sat in my stash for a while, until August when it was time to knit it.

An amalgam of many influences;I have been knitting a cardigan with cabled front, triangular upper back and shoulders, short row modular engineered to raglan form. Begun during a very long car ride to Vienna, Virginia for a Phideaux concert August 11, 2007 when I needed to start something fast. I began with a short stretch of the cable, then turned and started a triangular shape. I thought this might work, but decided to short-row it into a raglan shape so I could knit the body and sleeves on the straight of grain instead of bias. I liked how it was coming out, but I decided to use cables to nip in the waist and wrists a bit, and to see if I could make it flare at the hem by using some of the cable ideas in Debbie Bliss's Silver Belle sweater ( in VK 25th anniversary issue). I'm hoping to finish by Rhinebeck Weekend, and also hoping it will be wearable. Knitting is always exciting that way for me, as I kind of make it up as I go along! I plan to add a button band or zipper to the front, but I only have 6 nights of knitting left to do it! Wish me luck!