Winter Wonderland Vest - Two Skeins Done

Yesterday when I got home from work I decided that I wanted something simple to knit.  I wanted to read on my Kindle (I was re-reading the first book of The Expanse series) so needed pretty mindless knitting, and later on we also watch a silent movie, which also requires pretty mindless knitting.  I finished up skein 3 (I started with skein 4) and joined skein 2.  Now I'm about half-way through skein 3.  It looks like I will get about 37 rows each from skeins 3 and 4, which should be just about perfect.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Super Wool Worsted in Winter Wonderland
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - One Skein Done

I've used up one skein on the body, and have started the second skein.  I'm about 8.5 inches in, and about half-way to where I will join the sleeves.  Here is the front, so you can see my buttons.  I add them as I go the same way I would add beads.

Once I get through the body shaping I'll study the next phase of the pattern.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - Bottom Band Done

Once I got my Winter Wonderland Vest to a point where I didn't need the pattern anymore (making it perfect for my work bag) I went back to my Dusky Nor'easter and cast on for the body.  I had caked up the next skein when I was caking up skeins for my vest.  I did a long-tail cast, knowing that with the next row being a right side row I would end up with the purl bumps along the bottom edge, matching what I did on my sleeves.  I had to cast on 224 stitches so I pulled out three good lengths of yarn from my cake for the tail.  A length is pretty much the distance between my hands with both arms stretched out - so about 5 feet for me.  The pattern has you place stitch markers as you cast on, which makes counting a lot easier.  While I don't usually use stitch markers when working shawls, I will use them when working garments.  I kept the button and button hole bands per the pattern but replaced the k1, p1 ribbing between the bands and the cable panel with k2, p2 ribbing to match what I did on the sleeve cuffs.  I am now ready to start working the body proper, but first I need to figure out button hole/button spacing and shaping.

The pattern as written gives you a 17" band for placing your buttons and button holes.  The first buttonhole is worked at 4" and the remaining 4 buttonholes are worked at 3" intervals.  I like visuals so I drew up a quick schematic.  (My only real gripe about this pattern is that it doesn't have a proper schematic.)

I have a notebook that has graph paper in it so I counted out 17 squares and then marked where the button holes would be.  The numbers next to the button hole marks are the row numbers.  The nice thing about doing a quick schematic of your own on graph paper is it gives you a visual sense of the spacing, and if you don't like it you can easily experiment with other spacing options.  I know I have 28 rows in 4" or 7 rows in 1", and the first buttonhole is at 4", I then added 21 to each buttonhole row number (21 rows in 3") until I had all of my buttonholes marked.  So, now I know I will be working buttonholes on rows 28, 49, 70, 91 and 112.  For my buttons I found some nice light-weight shanked buttons in my stash.

I have six buttons, but only need five.  I like to use shanked buttons for knitwear because they naturally provide a little standoff, making it easier to button and unbutton.  I like using light weight buttons so they don't distort the knitwear.

The last thing I need to do before I start working away at the body is figure out where the body shaping happens.  The pattern indicates that decreases are worked at 5", 7", 10" and 12" from the cast on edge.  That would equate to rows 35 (5" times 7 rows/in), 49, 70 and 84.  The increases are worked at 13" and 15" from the cast on edge.  That would equate to rows 91 and 105.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora

Winter Wonderland Vest - Yoke Done

I worked on this last night while we were watching a documentary on the Roman Invasion of Britain and again this morning while watching some Knit Stars videos (till Bruce woke up) and then reading.  I just did the cast off of the sleeves and the cast on for the underarms, so now it is just the body from here on out.  I have about 30 grams of my second skein left, plus two more skeins.  I'm working the gradiance from light to dark, which with this set is from skein 4 to skein 1, so right now I'm working with skein 3.  It is now to the point where I don't need the instructions and can just work rows until I get to my last skein and have to do the math to see how many more rows I can work.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Super Wool Worsted in Winter Wonderland
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Winter Wonderland Vest - Cast On

Of course, now that I finished up the sleeves of the Dusky Nor'easter I needed another simple project to throw in my work bag.  I have been looking at my stash (on Ravelry) and decided to do some more projects with worsted weight yarn.  I have a couple of Unique Sheep gradiance sets in amounts that should be just about perfect for more vests.  This set is from one of the Christmas Clubs, I think and is called Winter Wonderland.  If I recall correctly the pattern that came with it was a cabled scarf.

But I don't really do scarves so I thought I would make another Practically Vest.  The best thing is the vest is knit top down so I can use up all my yarn and it doesn't matter too much if it comes out a little short, or a little long.  The yarn is Super Wool Worsted and is a superwash merino.  It has great stitch definition and feels great to work with.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Super Wool Worsted in Winter Wonderland
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - Two Sleeves Done

The second sleeve went quickly and now I need to cast on for the body.  I'm going to continue with the k2, p2 rib on the body, so I need to do some figuring on that.  I've got the chart all set up in knitCompanion, as well as some of the text directions and I've got another skein of yarn caked up and ready to go.  I've been working so much with the lace and fingering weight yarns lately, it is nice to be working with heavier weight yarns.

And speaking of lace weight yarns, I need to start my latest test knit - a lace shawl - but I need to get beads for it.  I have some in my stash that might work, I just need to see if I have enough.  I am trying to use up stash whenever I can.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora

Dusky Nor'easter - One Sleeve Done

I do love how quickly worsted weight yarns knit up.  I finished up sleeve one today while on telecons at work.  I caked up a second skein and will get sleeve two going tonight as I have more telecons tomorrow.  I did not work on it at work yesterday as I had no telecons, and even if I had I probably wouldn't have pulled this out - it was at least 100 degrees in my office yesterday morning when I got in at 6:30 - and that is no exaggeration.  My digital thermometer only goes up to 99, but the analog one in the office outside of mine (my office is within another office) read 101, and my office is always warmer.  One office reached 106 degrees.  Apparently the heat decided to blast full bore over the weekend.  When they got the chiller working again the unit in my office was both heating and cooling, so the cooling wasn't very effective.  By noon the temperature had only dropped to 89 degrees.  Fortunately the maintenance guys came by to check on units and I had them fix mine, by the time I left for the day at 2:30 the temperature was down to 73 degrees.  Fortunately the temperature in the building today was fine, even a little on the cool side, which just means it's an opportunity to wear a shawl to work.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora

Medallion Top - Swatched

The box with the Coolfire yarn in it also contained two sets of non-wool yarn - Cascade Yarns Pima Tencel.  This yarn contains 50% Peruvian Pima Cotton and 50% Tencel and is put up in 50 g skeins of 109 yards.  One of the sets I had purchased to make the Medallion Top - #31 in Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Vogue Knitting.  I had made a note when I stashed the yarn so I knew what I had bought it for.  I pulled out the magazine and read through the pattern.  The first thing I did was chart up the lace pattern and then I typed up the pattern from the magazine into a Word file and started working on the modifications.  The pattern has you knit the front and back separately and work the sleeves flat.  I don't relish seaming with this yarn so I'm going to knit it in the round, do short row shaping for the shoulders so I can do a 3-needle bind off and modify the armhole shaping so I can work the sleeves as set-in top down sleeves.  The pattern calls for US 6 and 7 needles (4 and 4.5 mm), but I had to use a US 5 (3.75 mm) needle to get gauge.  I wouldn't want to go any smaller than a US 5 with this yarn, but I think it will give me a good fabric.  The US 7 was way too loose.

Pattern:  Medallion Top by Gayle Bunn (#31 in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Vogue Knitting)
Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Pima Tencel
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Ahoy! Mates Cowl

One of skeins of yarn in the same box as the leftover Coolfire yarn was a single skein of Dream in Color Classy in Ahoy! Mates.  This was a special colorway developed for The Loopy Ewe for their annual Camp Loopy.  The theme that year was pirates.  I decided that it needed to be knit up right away so I caked it up and grabbed a US 7 needle (32 inch circular).  I pulled two lengths of yarn out of the cake and started working a long tail cast on till I ran out of tail and filled up the needle.  I worked one row flat and then joined to work in the round.  I worked a couple of rows of garter and then started working stockinette.  I continued working in stockinette until I had about 12 grams of yarn left, worked a couple more rows of garter and then cast off loosely.  The US 7 gives me a nice drapey fabric and the simplicity lets the yarn be the star.  This was a great project to throw into my work bag as it was just endless rounds of stockinette and it only took 2 days to complete.  I didn't even keep track of how many rounds I knit, but the finished dimensions are about 11 inches high and 17 inches across when laid flat.

Pattern:  improvised
Yarn:  Dream in Color Class in Ahoy! Mates
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - Swatching and Cast On

Another set of yarn that was in the same box as the leftover Coolfire was 6 skeins of Dream in Color Classy yarn in Dusky Aurora.  A quick Ravelry search revealed a likely pattern - Thea Colman's Nor'easter.  I do like Thea's patterns and I remember when this one came out.  The pattern calls for a US 7 needle, but I knew from the October Vest that I just finished that I would not make gauge with a US 7.  The gauge I ended up with on the US 7 was 18 sts and 24 rows in 4 inches and I needed 20 sts and 28 rows in 4 inches.  I started out knitting a swatch on US 5 needles, but that gave me 21 sts and 30 rows in 4 inches so I knit another swatch on US 6 needles, which gave me 20 sts and 28 rows in 4 inches.  Perfect.  You may wonder why the row gauge changed so much between the US 7 and US 6 needles.  Loose knitting expresses itself by increasing the length of the legs of the knit stitches, which reduces the number of rows you can get in your 4 inches.  Why?  Because the strands of yarn can only get so close together - giving you a maximum number of stitches that you can fit into 4 inches - and when the weight of the yarn starts pulling on the fabric the stitches will close up to a comfortable level of squish and any extra yarn will go into the legs, giving you long stitches and a lower row gauge.

The swatch on the left was done on US 6 needles, the one on the right on US 5 needles.

Once I had my gauge swatch done and knew what size needles I needed to use I caked up a skein and cast on. The pattern calls for a k1, p1 rib on the cuffs but I've never liked the look of k1, p1 rib so I worked a k2, p2 rib instead.  I used a long tail cast on and worked the first row flat in pattern because I like to have the side of the cast on that looks like purl bumps on the outside.  I split a knit rib across the join - so that first row started and ended with a knit one.  I don't like changing the stitch type across the join, I think it just looks neater when I don't.  I also find it easier to join neatly and easier to keep from twisting the knitting after working one row flat.  That wasn't really an issue with this cast on, but on longer cast ons it can be a bit of a challenge.  I use the tail to close up that little gap at the bottom.  After working that 1 row I joined for working in the round.  And best of all, pulling this yarn out of stash made room for some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Targhee Worsted yarn that has been sitting around in my recent purchases pile.

I made a little video that talks about my swatching process for this project.  I hope you find it useful.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora

Beluga Shrug - Two Stripes Done

This past week was The Unique Sheep Retreat and I needed car knitting so I pulled this project out.  I started this one way back in August of 2018, so it has been languishing for a while.  I had set it aside after working the central panel.  I grabbed my Namaste Train Case to put it in.  I hadn't used it yet.

I set it on the floor of the car and used it as a foot rest (shoes off of course) while we were driving.  It was plenty roomy for the shrug yarn as well as the knitting and a few notions (scissors and a needle case) and I liked feeding the working yarn out of the hole in the side of the case.  It fed smoothly.

The magnetic latch seems to work pretty well.  I was toting it around the Retreat while I was there and it was a great place to stash my check book and my phone.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-Sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Elizabeth of York - Making Progress

I have been slowly making progress on my Elizabeth of York.  Photographing it is a bit of a challenge.  I ended up pinning it to my dress maker dummy.  I did have a mistake that I had to fix - discovered after I had already worked a couple of rows past the mistake.  I ended up dropping the stitches down and pulling them back up in the correct colors.  It was not easy and I'm pretty amazed that I managed to do it.  I'm taking this one slowly on purpose, only working on it in good light and when I'm not tired or watching TV.  I really don't want to make another color mistake because they are not easy to fix.  Here is a view of the back side.

Pattern:  Elizabeth of York by Alice Starmore (from Tudor Roses)
Yarn:  Alice Starmore Hebridean 2 Ply in Wild Orchid and Spindrift
Needle:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)

October Vest - Finished!

I finished this up last weekend, on Saturday, but we were at The Unique Sheep Retreat Sunday through Wednesday so I didn't get a chance to block it until Thursday.  I think my gauge on this one was a little bit looser than the gauge on the December Vest.  This one seems to be a bit more drapey and slightly larger.  It still looks great on me, which is all that matters.  What actually inspired me to knit this was a forum post on Ravelry looking for some Dream in Color Classy in Coolfire.  I had used that colorway back in 2012 on the Briar Rose Bolero, which I think I knit the first year I participated in Camp Loopy.  When I was pulling it from the stash box it was stored in I decided to try and use up the rest of the yarn in the box so I could put more stash away.  My knitting mojo has been a little bit shakey lately.  I have a number of projects on the needles but they aren't really inspiring me right now so I decided I just needed to do something different.  This vest knits up very quickly and is a great accessory.

The needle called for us a US 8 (5.0 mm), with a stitch gauge of 19 stitches in 4 inches.  Unfortunately, no row gauge is given, which makes the stitch gauge not as useful.  To be complete a pattern really should give both.  The gauge I ended up with on this vest is 18 sts and 24 rows in 4 inches, which is not the same as I ended up with on my December Vest (17.5 sts and 27 rows in 4 inches).  The December Vest is also not as drapey.  They are both Dream in Color Classy, but the yarn for the December Vest is Classy with Nylon.  Both are listed as worsted weight yarns.  But the Dream in Color Classy has 250 yards per 113 grams (2.2 yards/g) while the Dream in Color Classy with Nylon has 340 yards in 170 grams (2 yards/g).  So the Classy is just a little thinner than the Classy with Nylon.  I actually started out with a US 6 needle on this vest but it seemed to be coming out too small (just based on the yoke rows compared with the December Vest), so I went up to the US 7.  It just goes to show you what a difference in the finished project a little difference like this can make.

One other thing that you may notice is that the yarn appears to darken as it goes from the top of the vest to the bottom.  That is not an artifact of the picture, it really does darken.  That is one of the challenges of using yarn like this - consistency between skeins.  When I was caking the skeins I noticed that both of the skeins started out lighter and became darker and that one skein was darker than the other.  I caked them so that as I knit from the cake I would start out with the lighter end and work to the darker end, and when I cast on I started with the lighter of the two skeins.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy 2014 October Dream Club
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)