Saugerties Shrug - Cast On!

Yesterday I received an inquiry from a fellow Raveler, apologizing for stash stalking and asking if I might be willing to part with a skein of my Plucky Knitting Scholar Worsted yarn in Bisque (the lighter color) as she had a sweater knit in that yarn and colorway with a sleeve in need of repair.  I had purchased this yarn back in 2016 as a kit from Plucky Knitter to make the Saugerties Shrug, so obviously I could not just send her off a skein if I ever wanted to knit that pattern.  Instead I offered to knit the pattern up and send her any leftovers.  So yesterday afternoon I pulled the yarn out of my stash, caked it up and cast on.  The darker color is Attaché.

I did not do a gauge swatch, after all, this is a shrug, and unless my gauge is way off it will still be wearable.  The needle sizes recommended for the pattern are US 6 (4 mm) for the edging and US 9 (5.5 mm) for the main body.  It should be noted that there is no recommended needle size on the skein band.  I went with my trusty method of comparing the double width of the yarn with the diameter of potential needles sizes and decided a US 6 would be too tight and a US 9 would be too loose, so I went with a US 7 (4.5 mm) for the edging and a US 8 (5.0 mm) for the main body.  My gauge is a little bit tighter than what the pattern calls for, but I’m good with it.  I like the fabric.  The pattern calls for 15” width of the folded fabric and mine looks to be about 12.5 inches.  Definitely smaller, but I’m petite, so it will fit me just fine.

I had forgotten how much fun colorwork in the round is, and the pattern is very easy.  The longest run of a color is 5 stitches, so I’m not bothering to catch my floats.  I’m almost done with the colorwork on the left sleeve, then there will be a long boring stretch of working single color back and forth on the body until I get the right length, then more fun colorwork on the right sleeve.  It should work up quickly.  I weighed all of my skeins before I cast on.  I try to do this so I can keep an accurate record of my yarn usage, and I’m very glad that I did as all of my skeins are underweight.  According to the yarn information on Ravelry the skeins are supposed to weigh 115 grams, but most of mine are coming in a little over 100 grams.  I have one skein that came in at close to the called for weight.  The pattern calls for approximately 363 yards of C1 (Attaché) and 910 yards of C2 (Bisque).  Based on the weights of my skeins I have approximately 456 yards of C1 and 933 yards of C2.  We’ll see how my yarn usage works out given my tighter gauge.

Pattern:  Saugerties Shrug by Jill Zielinski

Yarn:  Plucky Knitter Scholar Worsted in Bisque and Attaché 

Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 8 (5.0 mm)
 

Sweet Violets at Sunset Capelet

So I did a thing.  I designed a capelet.  Shirley Paden had a contest called the Knitted Kingdom Design Quest and I decided to throw my hat in the ring.  Apparently my aim was bad as I didn’t even place.  But that is okay, as I had mixed feelings about the possibility of winning and having to send my finished capelet off to be modeled at Vogue Knitting Live.   You had to incorporate a design element from one of her patterns, so I picked the cable and lace pattern from the Tige Cardigan.  I think the dark purple yarn may not have been the best choice to show off the cable and lace pattern, and that probably counted against me.

I also did not do a sketch of the pattern - I mean seriously what is there to sketch?  I do have a piece of graph paper where I did a bunch of maths and figured out the shaping for the body panels, but that is all.  I also didn’t do a swatch for the cable and lace pattern - well really the panel above (which goes down the center back) was my swatch.  I did do a stockinette swatch for the body panels, but who wants a picture of that?  Anyway, I wanted a sort of military vibe with cable panels going up the shoulders like epaulets, and I also wanted panels down the front and down the back, so that pretty much determined the design.  For the yarn I was thinking of a something hefty - a nice Aran weight.  I also knew I wanted a dark purple and that I wanted a contrast color for the body panels.  I went with some of my Sundara Yarn stash because she dyes up such luscious colors.  Although the yarn is labeled as an Aran weight, by yardage and the way it knits up I think it is more of a DK.

 

Once I had knit all of the panels I joined them together and knit the collar, continuing the cable and lace pattern as established.  At first I tried to work the body panels in situ, picking up stitches and joining as I went, but I really didn’t like the way that looked.

Granted blocking might have helped, I just didn’t think it would help enough, so I ripped it back and did them separately and then sewed them in.  I used back stitch for sewing the panels in place.

Even though the contest was announced back in September, I didn’t cast on until December 1, and the entry was due on December 20, so I didn’t have much time.  I almost dropped out because I thought I had to mail in the finished item, but the week before the deadline a submittal reminder came out, and when I clicked on the link it turned out that you only needed to submit photos.  The submittal page itself  was a bit of a pain.  There were three possible categories of garment:  Capelet, Opera Gloves, or Stockings, and the submittal page had fill ins for all three, and all three were required to be filled in.  You could put N/A in the others, but they still wanted at least one picture, so I put pictures of my yarn in.  I didn’t know what else to do.  There were also discrepancies between what the announcement page said was required for the submittal and what the submittal form said was required.  The finalists were announced a day late (on December 28, instead of December 27 as the announcement page indicated), and I still haven’t seen any pictures of the finalists.

Overall, as a design exercise, it was fun, and I’m happy with the result.  As a contest experience it was a bit “meh”.

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Aran Merino in Sweet Violets and Last Sunset

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm, for the cable and lace panels) and US 5 (3.75 mm for the body panels)

Wallflowers - 44 Popcorns and 8 Pebbles Incorporated!

I have been focusing almost exclusively on this project, wanting to finish it up before the Tesselation course starts in January.  I finished up the popcorns this past week, and managed to get them all incorporated into the blanket in just a few days of focused work.

As you can see, I had already started incorporating the popcorns when I took this photo. I had also already incorporated 4 of the pebbles - those were added once their spaces were created.  The last four I added after add the popcorns.  I had to lay it out on the kitchen floor in order to have enough space, and enough light to take a picture.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Notions Organized - Update!

Of course as you use things, sometimes you need to update the organization scheme.  This morning I did a little update on my notions tables.  I had my needle sets stowed in a typing table that my father and I made back when I was in high school.  I taught myself to type one summer on my Mom’s old IBM Selectric type writer (she had upgraded to one that had memory cards!).  This piece of furniture is sturdy (made of 3/4 inch plywood) and it sits behind my daybed to help keep it from shifting on the hardwood floor).

This is basically where the needle sets used to live.

The stitch marker tin basket moved to the top of the two drawer stack, and a few more stitch marker holders were stowed in it.  And where the stitch markers used to be, a box that holds most of my needle sets.  The top drawer holds my ChiaGoo sets, and the bottom drawer holds random loose needles.  Mostly from Jimmy Beans Wool Advent calendars.

Not all of them fit, hence the ones in the drawer, and if you go back to the first picture, there is a set stowed behind the lotions and wool wash basket on the left.  And to far right in the top photo you can just see the back of one of my looms, which also helps prevent my day bed from shifting.  More about that later.  And where, might you ask, are the darning needles?  Those live in a Jimmy Beans Wool mug commemorating 20 years of business on my coffee table.

More about the coffee table later.  Of course I have more knitting needles than are organized here, and those all live downstairs in my studio.

Tins of straight and double point knitting needles hang out with the bulk of my knitting books.  The circular needles that I have bought as individuals live in shoe boxes sorted by size and cable length.

Regular tip - mostly Addi.

Lace tip, plus my sock knitting needles from KnitPicks - my favorite method of knitting socks is on two 16” circular needles.

And the overflow box, of the larger sizes I almost never use, plus wooden needles (all the other ones are metal).

More Studio Organizing!

As you go down the stairs to the basement, there is a “foyer” area that mimics the one upstairs, that separates my studio (to the left) from my husband’s study (to the right) that had a lot of unused wall space.  The shelves were part of the booth infrastructure that I used to take to the Bead & Button show and they fit perfectly, all we had to do was buy the mounting hardware.  These shelves hold my sewing patterns, and a few other odds and ends.

This is the facing wall.  I have had the “file cabinets” (stacking file drawers) for a while, they also hold sewing patterns, and are surrounded by an overflow of yarn in pest proof bags and boxes.  If you turn to the left to go into my studio, you see the back side of the grid wall that now surrounds my beading station.

I have a lot of project bags, and on the left is a swift that conveniently disassembles for storage, and beneath that is a scroll frame for needlework - I have done embroidery and needlepoint in the past, and will do more of that in the future.  I had four boxes of grid wall - each containing three grids - from the booth infrastructure, and this is one box.  As you enter my studio, you can see my display of pins.  That is an Inkle loom that is resting on the top of the grid.  You can also see a beading loom, and my Niddy Noddy hanging on the other side of the grid.  So my beading corner holds more than just beading supplies because grid wall is just so great for providing storage.

And here is the beading corner itself:

Chock full of stuff.  The table is a computer table with a pullout keyboard tray that my mother gave me years ago.  The top surface is expanded by a piece of veneered plywood that has been stained natural.  My beading trays are neatly organized in the space that would hold an old desktop computer.  There are also a couple of stacking drawers that hold random beads and other odds and ends.  Those are beading kits that are hanging along the top of the grid wall, almost all of them designed by my sister Virginia, who I worked for every year at the Bead & Button show.  Taking a closer look:

The kits on the left are from Earthfaire, those on the right are by my sister.  The cubbies along the back are part of Jimmy Beans Wool Advent calendar boxes, back when they were more sturdy, and are useful for stashing all manner of little things, including a lot of random beads that I’ve accumulated.  Of course I have an Ott light for illuminating my work.  On the side panel are more goodies:

The aforementioned Inkle Loom and a beading loom, plus a small pin loom, more bead kits by my sister, and some sewing notions, because again the storage area offered by the grid is just so useful.  In the background you can see my main bead storage.  I blogged about that in my third blog post back on May 25, 2009.  Since that post I have double my bead stash storage.  And since my very first blog post back on May 10, 2009 I have largely gotten my yarn stash under control, in the sense that most of it is catalogued on Ravelry and is organized by yarn weight.  It is ginormous, but the growth rate has slowed, and should slow even further as I have retired and will no longer have the extra money for buying anything that catches my eye.  Time instead to start working through the stash that I have of all my crafting supplies.

Wallflowers - Sixty-Eight Puffs Incorporated!

Having finished up some deadline knitting, I am back to working on my Wallflowers and today I got the rest of the sixty-eight puffs from Chapter 8 Part 1 through Part 3 incorporated.  I worked these in production mode.

I took a page from Kim and Betsy on the Fleece and Harmony video podcast and started putting my rings onto knitting needles to corral them and keep them safe.

I also have the eight Pebbles made for Part 4.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Notions Organized!

Since starting my terminal leave on October 21, prior to my retirement at the end of the year, I have been busy getting things organized around the house and in my studio.  One of the things I have done is get my notions organized.  I do not have a before photo, but previously these two folding end tables held two black plastic crates that had books, and the two small stacking drawers on the right. With a couple of organizers on top to hold things.  Those items have since been repurposed in my studio - more on that in a later post.

 

The two folding end tables came from the booth infrastructure that I used to bring to the Bead and Button Show every year.  But that all ended in 2020 with the magazine folding along with the show.  Originally I only had two of those tables, but one year I forgot them and had to pick some up en route (during my stop-over at my parents house in Yellow Springs, Ohio) and I ended up with six of them.  They have come in handy.  Underneath those tables is the heating/cooling vent.

The cabinet on the left is a DMC thread cabinet that I also brought to the show.  As part of my organizing around the house I was going through the booth infrastructure looking for useful things and remembered that I had it.  I also grabbed a couple of baskets that came as part of Godiva gift baskets.

Going from left to right:

This basket holds hand creams and wool wash.  The stitch holder containers in front are my Coco knits ones, which are my favorites.

The top of the thread cabinet provides a nice horizontal surface for odd things (one really cannot have enough horizontal surfaces).  I also have a lot of mugs, which are getting used to hold tools.  In this case crochet hooks and stitch holders.  Inside the thread cabinet are, from top to bottom:

More crochet hooks.  Can you have too many?

Scissors, tape measures, stitch stoppers, yarn bobbins, clips, and needle gauges.

Row counters, stitch holders, cable needles, and hiding in the back, rulers.

More useful flat space on top of the two drawer set.  The top drawer currently holds my ChiaGoo mini sets and the bottom drawer holds random things from Finder Seeker puzzles.

And on the right, a couple of needle sets, including the ChiaGoo Forte 2.0, and a basket holding tins of stitch markers and progress keepers.   It is astonishing how many I have collected.  It was so nice going around the house and digging in to project bags and odd boxes and finding notions and putting them in their new homes.  This is set up next to my daybed in the living room, where I do the bulk of my knitting and crochet, so everything is conveniently at hand, and neatly organized.

On the far right is an Ott lamp, with Claude the Octopus holding a crocheted Coronavirus, cause where else would you put them?

Kalona - Body Finished!

According to the date stamp on the photo, I finished up the knitting on the body of the cardigan on November 30.  One of the things that I discovered when I got to the final raglan decreases is that one sleeve had more stitches remaining than the other.  Three more stitches to be exact.  I have no idea how that happened.  I’ve checked everything over and can’t figure it out, so I just did extra decreases to get rid of them and moved on.  I picked up the stitches for the collar and got it established before setting this project aside to work on a secret project that I will share this weekend.  Obviously I did not finish this by the end of the Berroco Cardi Party knit along (end of November), but that is fine.  I had other priorities to deal with.

Pattern:  Kalona by Alison Green

Yarn:  Berroco Ultra Wool Fine

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)