Weaving Handspun on my Cricket

I spent a good part of the summer weaving up some handspun singles that have been lying around for a couple of years. It was lovely wool, spun from layered rovings purchased from SnokistFarmGirl
in 2009. Since I had only a few ounces of each color combination, I decided to warp my rigid heddle and weave some scarves. 

I used the 8 dent heddle that came with the loom, which gave me a nice, open cloth that fulled very well. 

 

The scarves are light and airy, soft and warm. 

I played with stripes  in the warp,

 

and stripes in the weft.

But mostly I just played with color,

 

and enjoyed the calming rhythm of plain weave.

It was delightful to not worry about structure and pattern for a while,

and just play.

May Day Morris Dancing Schedule

Please note:

 Westminster Recreation Center should read Westminster Swim and Fitness Center. 

 

Please note:

 Westminster Recreation Center should read Westminster Swim and Fitness Center.

January Aran Completed!

 
Well, it took me nearly 3 months instead of 1, but I finished Finn's January Aran late last week. I forgot how much I resist sewing up sweaters, but once I made myself sit down and do it, it went pretty quickly. As you can see, he was pretty glad to have it even though it was 70 degrees out that day.

If I were to knit it again, I would have added a couple more pearl stitches on either side for sleeve steeks, as there wasn't much wool to sew into between the twisted stitch in the center and the twisted rib cable next to it. I solved that problem by tacking into the center stitch of the cable on the back side each time I took a stitch. It came out pretty sturdy, and I think it looks great, but it did make me a little twitchy at first.

It will definitely fit him next year and the year after, but it's still perfectly wearable this year too. I suspect he'll wear it when we dance up the dawn on May Day.

Next item from the Almanac: April Mystery Blanket.
I had thought I would do the months in order, but tomorrow is April 1 and I've thought about knitting this one for a while. Since the sweater took so long, I'll just pick up February and March next year. ;) I have to dig through the stash on Monday to see what I want to use. I think this will be a good carry-around project to work on during breaks and lunches at work.

February Socks

Cast off the February socks last night, late but not grievously so. Last night's pic is pretty accurate color and value-wise, but you can't see the stitch pattern very well. 

This afternoon's pic is a bit washed out, but the stitch pattern shows up nicely. Modeled by Finn, the new sock owner.






























All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the socks. I plugged a "box-in-a-box" texture pattern into my default toe-up sock pattern for something easy to knit in public but with a little dash to it.

Second Sleeve, Second Sock, Second Rug

I'm still working on the January Aran, started the second sleeve last week but haven't worked on it much. The February project from the Almanac will be the double knit baby bag. I've had my eye on that one for a while. I spent the weekend working on the first February sock. That one's done, and I'm almost to the heel on the second sock. I just may finish in February! It's been a while since I finished a pair in the proper month.

It was a glorious February day yesterday, calm and sunny, not too cold to weave on the porch in a wool sweater. I wove a second denim rag rug, maroon and indigo, before the sun got too low and my fingers started to freeze. I need to cut another pair of jeans into strips to have enough for the next rug, more indigo I think, as there some maroon left in the strip box and I don't want it to bee too busy. Snow this afternoon, I hear, so maybe I'll get those strips cut today and wait for another sunny afternoon to come along.

King Midas

Colette saw Cupid's Arrow at Mew Mews yesterday and said I should make a gold one, so here it is.

2 skeins of metallic gold DMC 6 strand embroidery floss and size 1 needles, same modifications as Cupid's Arrow.

Cupid's Arrow

Those who know me well will not be at all surprised to hear that, after knitting more than a dozen hearts, I began to look at them differently. So, after Valentine's Day was over and the knitted hearts had been distributed, I cast on for a variation on the same theme. I call it Cupid's Arrow.

Sorry for the bad pic, I'm still not good at photographing small things. You get the main idea, though. ;)

Here's how to do it:
Follow pattern until you have 16 stitches. Work 2 rounds plain.
Next round- k2tog all the way around.
Knit one round.
Next round- (k1, m1) all the way around.
Work plain over 16 stitches for about 20 rounds (use your judgement on proportions here).
Stuff tube and continue working pattern as written.

This one was knitted in some leftover Scout's Swag sock yarn on size 0 needles. Not sure what I'll do with them (party favors? jewelry?), but I'm planning on casting on another one very soon, just 'cause.

9 More Hearts

I decided to keep knitting these, 1 per day, until Valentine's Day. Here are the latest 9.

I've really had a good time digging through the scrap basket and seeing how they turn out. One more tomorrow, I think, then I'll pass them out.

January socks

Well, I finished the January socks last night. I left them on top of Tara's backpack, and when I got up this morning, both the socks and the back pack were gone. In their place was a different pair of socks, turned half-inside-out, no doubt abandoned in a moment of New Sock Madness. They are knitted from the same yarn as the last pair I gave her, in December, in the same colorway but a different dye lot. Santa was kind enough to leave this second batch of sock yarn in my stocking.

I really like how the heels turned out, both different but both making a nice graphic design.

I started a pair of socks for Finn this afternoon, from some sock yarn that Sallie gave me from her stash. I want to jazz up my default toe-up sock, but have not decided on what stitch pattern to plug in. I hope I have it figured out by the time I'm done with the toe.

Spread a Little Love

Cheryl Andrews of Wooly Bear Hand Knits has just put out a pattern for Valentine's Day, Spread a Little Love. She's donating all her profits from this pattern this month to Heifer International . I hunkered down with my scrap basket this afternoon and knitted four of them.

Clockwise from top left:
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (black Lamb’s Pride on size 3 needles),
Prom Queen (pink rayon weaving yarn on size 0 needles),
Pumpkin Pie (orange two-strand yarn on size 3’s),
Sunshine of Your Love (yellow worsted weight wool on size 3 needles).

Pumpkin Pie is a bit different, as I figured out partway through I did not have nearly enough yarn to knit the whole pattern, so I improvised.

Since it was snowing, I popped in a Doctor Who dvd and knitted one per episode. They were a nice break from the larger projects I've been working on lately, a little instant gratification to keep me going. May knit more tonight, one never knows. ;)

January, where have you gone?

It may sound bad, but I really have no idea where this past month has gone. It's the 25th already, and I'm still working on my first January sock, have not woven at all, and am not nearly done with my January Aran. What I have been doing, I think, is trying to get back in the groove after the holidays.

I have been swimming 3 times a week, working my way back up to a mile. I have started doing yoga again, adding one more sequence from my favorite dvd each time. I have been teaching my first knitting class in a long long time and thoroughly enjoying it. I have been doing blocking and finishing work for other people, and some knitting on commission. I have been cleaning up in the living room (found 2 fleeces shoved in the corner I completely forgot about, how could I not see them?). I knitted 100+ rounds on the Scheherazade I rescued from the UFO basket. I have knitted 17" of the body of the January Aran. I did knit a tiny doily and start knitting a small doily I've had my eye on for a while. I have been baking regularly, working a little, sleeping well. Not bad, all told, if you look at the proper criteria.

Here's a link that's too cool not to share: Knitting her CoWorkers

Knitter's Almanac - January Aran

I was thinking about knitting my way through Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac, then saw a friend post on Facebook about the same thing. Well, that decided me! Chris said she was going to knit one thing from the book each month, but not necessarily in order. I decided to start in January with An Aran Sweater and go from there. Finn could use a new sweater (the last one I knit for him was 5 years ago and it barely fits) and I have a lot of stash to use up, so the aran will accomplish two things at once.

Here is the first fishtrap pattern repeat, completed last night:

For an aran, it is a very soothing pattern. The cable needle is only needed every 7th round, and once you establish the stitch patterns and put in markers the chart is only really a reminder. I'm using up some Lion's Brand Fisherman's Wool that I bought on clearance at a chain craft store years (like, 7 or 8) ago. I knitted my February Lady with some of this last year, an afghan a couple of years ago, dyed enough of it purple to knit 3 kids sweaters, and there is still enough in the bin for one or two more adult sweaters after pulling out enough for the aran. Yes, I bought all they had, from more than one location. It's pretty good yarn.

I did a swatch in stockingette, but not the gauge hat (he already has several). The smallest size in the "pithy directions" is 38 inches. Mine is coming out 36 inches, but since Finn is a rather slim 12 year old that ought to work out just fine and should fit him for several winters at least. He is looking forward to wearing it and keeps coming to look at it, which makes me want to keep knitting. ;) I may just finish this in January!