Rosemary - Foot Done!

I haven’t touched this project since early June, but Saturday evening I pulled it out and started working on it again.  I made it through the rest of Chart 1 and almost to the point where I needed to start the gusset increases Saturday evening, and then made it through the gusset, the heel turn and the heel flap on Sunday.  I did lifted increases for all of my increases, at this point I just need to knit the leg.  I knit all of Chart 1 and one full repeat of Chart 2 on the foot.  I have been using my Lumos neck light when working on this one as well, with the tight gauge and all the cabling it just makes seeing the stitches easier.

Pattern:  Rosemary by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Alpha B Yarn Elite B

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Garnet Cassie - Cast On!

After finishing up my Tredegar Scarflette, I did cast on another Cassie Slipover.  This is the same yarn base as my Foxglove Cassie, but in the Garnet Amaryllis colorway.

The darker yarn does make this a little bit of a challenge, especially in the evening, so I’ve been using my Lumos neck light when I’m working on it.

Pattern:  Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Purple Haze Tredegar Scarflette - Finished!

I finished this up Saturday morning while watching the rest of the Fleece and Harmony wool cast, and more PLY Guild videos, and immediately blocked it.

It is funny, but when I was working on it, I thought it would be longer, based on the amount of yarn that I had, but actually it ended up only slightly (about 4 inches) longer than the pattern called for.  In the end I did 15 repeats of the pattern, with 7.7 grams of yarn left over, definitely not enough for another repeat - no yarn chicken here.  I’ll use up that remnant on my Zoom loom and add the squares to my growing stash of squares that one day will become something.

I found some suitable buttons in my voluminous button stash and sewed them on this morning.  I’m still figuring out how to wear/style it, but I am very happy with how it came out.  The cables are nice and plump even though this is only a 2-ply yarn.

This is the cozy styling, but I will probably wear it with the top edge turned down.

Pattern:  Tredegar Scarflette by Jo-Anne Klim

Yarn:  Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Top, handspun by me

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm) for the very beginning and ending, US 6 (4.0) for the main part

 

Purple Haze Tredegar Scarflette - Nine Repeats Done!

After finishing my Foxglove Cassie, I decided to finish up one or two other projects that I have on the needles before casting on another Cassie, even though I have the yarn all caked up and it is sitting there looking absolutely gorgeous.  So I grabbed my Tredegar Scarflette and focused on that next.  At this point I am past the halfway point on the amount of yarn that I have, and have enough yarn for 5 more repeats (not counting the partial one that you can see in the photo).  I could potentially get six more repeats, but that might involve some yarn chicken, so I will see when I get there.  So far I am very happy with how this is turning out.

Pattern:  Tredegar Scarflette by Jo-Anne Klim

Yarn:  Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Top, handspun by me

Needle:  US 6 (4.5 mm)

Foxglove Cassie - Finished!

And it is finished!  This worked up quickly - one week from cast on to bind off, and it was a lot of fun to knit.  And the fit is perfect - it actually looks better on me than it does on my dressmaker dummy.  The yarn is super soft, so it feels great against the skin, and it looks great as a top without anything underneath it.  I think I will pair it with a nice shawl (I have oodles to choose from).  For the bottom I just continued the ribbing as established by the cable pattern, working the called for 4.5 cm before binding off in pattern.  I did not go down a needle size for the bottom ribbing.

When I’m knitting cables I’m always a little bit paranoid about screwing up a cable - crossing it the wrong way, but I didn’t have any problems with that until I got to the very end.  I had paused and was admiring the colors when I spotted the mistake.

I was already pretty far past it, so I marked it and figured I could fix it when I came around to that spot again.  It was an easy fix.

I just dropped the stitches down, crossed the cable the correct way and picked the stitches back up using a couple of small crochet hooks that are made for fixing mistakes.

Now that I know it fits I can cast on another using this gorgeous set of the same yarn base.  The colorway is The Garnet Amaryllis.

Pattern:  Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub 

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Foxglove Cassie - Neck and Armhole Edging Done!

Once I had gotten to the end of my second skein, I caked up skeins three and four and worked the armhole edging and the neck edging with skein four.  The pattern calls for an I-cord edging on the armholes, and specifies the stitch pick-up ratio, so that was very easy and straight forward.  I did go down a needle size for the edgings to a US 6 (4.0 mm).  For the neck edging, the pattern called for a 1x1 rib, which I really don’t like, so I decided to maintain the established rib pattern from the body and picked up my stitches accordingly.  I worked about an inch and then bound off in pattern.  I now get to concentrate on the semi-mindless knitting of the body until I get to the body ribbing.  Once again the pattern calls for a 1x1 rib, and once again I will simply continue the established ribbing pattern of the body, and I will probably go down a needle size (US 6) there as well.

Pattern:  Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub 

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Foxglove Cassie - Bodice Done!

After pondering the way the yoke is finished and joined, I decided to modify the pattern.  As I mentioned in the last blog post, the left front chart (P1 in the pattern) has an extra row and an extra stitch as compared to the right front chart (P5 in the pattern) and I just couldn’t go forward with that.  So, when I was working that final row (row 32) I worked an extra row on the right front, and did an increase, following the established pattern.  I then cut the yarn, slipped the right front stitches from the right needle to the left needle, reattached my yarn, and started working the front chart (V1 in the pattern), but I only cast on 6 stitches instead of 7 stitches as I had already done an increase on the right front to match the left front.  I worked the first 2 rows of the front chart, and then started working the back chart (R1 in the pattern) using the other end of the yarn cake.

I continued working through the two charts, working from both ends of the cake until I got to the first increase row.  At this point I looked at the length of the armhole and decided that it was too short and that I needed to extend the straight section between the decreases and increases that shape the armhole.  For the front (chart V1) I repeated rows 19-26 and for the back (chart R1) I repeated rows 18-25.  I worked those rows 2 times total and then continued on to the increase section and finished out the charts.  At this point I have joined the front and the back and now I get to work in the round until the body is long enough, or I run out of yarn, whichever comes first.  Once I finish using up the second skein, I’ll use the fourth skein to work the collar and the armhole edging, so I know exactly how much yarn I can use on the body.  I tried it on, and the fit is perfect.

Pattern:  Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Purple Haze Tredegar Scarflette - Four Repeats Done

I have also been making progress on my Tredegar Scarflette, although it isn’t very interesting, just more repeats of the cable pattern, which is a very nice cable pattern, and which the yarn does show off very nicely, despite being a 2-ply.  I mean, what’s not to like?   I love Celtic knots, and I love purple, and the fact that the yarn is my handspun just makes it that much sweeter.  The pattern calls for this to be just long enough to wrap once around the neck, calling for a finished length of 30 inches.  I am already one-third of the way there, and still have lots of yarn left, so I’m going to be making mine longer.  We’ll see how long it ends up being.  The pattern also has you make button holes in the far end before you bind off, and then sew buttons along the long side at the cast on end, so the ends meet at a right angle under you chin.  I’m thinking of putting buttons on the short side of the cast on end so I can turn it into a cowl, or wear it as a scarf.  I may also add buttons along the long side at the cast on end, as the pattern calls for, just to give me more wearing options.  We shall see.

Pattern:  Tredegar Scarflette by Jo-Anne Klim

Yarn:  Rosie’s Multi-colored Merino top, handspun by me

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)

Foxglove Cassie - Yoke Done!

I am ready to cast off the stitches for the saddles and start working the front and back separately, but first I have to do a little deciphering of the pattern.  At this point the pattern has me start to work across on the right side, binding off the saddle shoulder stitches as I get to them, but when I get to the other front piece (right front, which is on the left in this picture) I have to start working from the front chart instead of the yoke chart, but that means that I have an extra row, and an extra stitch on the left front (which is on the right in this picture) and I’m still coming to terms with that in my head.  I do want to draw attention to the beautiful and elegant construction.  There are lots of increases (almost every row) and the pattern uses the ones where you pull up the strand between the stitches and knit or purl in the front or back of the resulting loop.  If you do it correctly, using the proper increases in the proper places, you end up with a beautiful line of stitches.

Just look at how the stitches come off of the saddle in a neat line.  You can really see it on the wrong side.

Instead of translating the key from the pattern, which is in German, I created my own key using PatternGenius.  I just created a blank chart and put in the stitches that I wanted and spit out the PDF of the “pattern” and then just grabbed the key page with the symbols and the description of how to work the stitches.  I was not doing them correctly on my first attempt and so I frogged back and started over.  I get hung up on the usage of “front” and “back” because it can be relative or it can be absolute.  In this case it is relative.  Once I figured that out things went great, and if I did slip up (typically because I was tired) I was able to spot it right away and fix it.

Pattern:  Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Ashen - Finished!

This dried a lot faster than I thought it would.  I had it pinned out on blocking mats for the first 24 hours, but once things had settled into place I pulled it off the mats and laid it on my mesh sweater rack, which allows air to circulate around it, greatly speeding up the drying process.

I didn’t do much pinning, just a little bit around the armholes, and the neck edge, where things did not want to lay flat.  Mostly I just laid it out and smoothed things into place.  I knit at a fairly close gauge, choosing my needle size based upon the diameter of the yarn that I’m working with - I pick a needle that is about twice the diameter of the yarn for garment knitting.  I really get annoyed with folks that say that to get more drape just use a larger needle and knit at a looser gauge.  No, if you want a finished project that drapes, choose a yarn that gives you a fabric that drapes.  If you knit a garment at a looser gauge than the yarn really wants all you end up with is a swatch that lies to you and a garment that does not fit properly.  Obviously, if you’re knitting lace, other rules apply.  That does require stretching out when blocking, but if you’re having to stretch out stockinette to meet the measurements called for in the pattern, you’re going to have a problem.

I tried it on over my t-shirt this morning and the fit is perfect.

Pattern:  Libraire by Tricot Design MCL

Yarn:  The Ross Farm Ashen Wensleydale 

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm) for the body, and US 5 (3.75 mm) for the ribbing.

Foxglove Cassie - Cast On!

I finished up my Ashen vest this past Wednesday and blocked it Thursday morning - it is still drying, but it looks great.  So yesterday I cast on the Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub.  I have been searching for the perfect pattern for this yarn set, and came across several strong contenders, but when I saw the Cassie Slipover I knew that I had a winner.  Here is the yarn set that I’m using:

It is Sundara Yarn’s extra fine Aran merino, and it is luscious.  I wanted a top down pattern, as that allows me to make the best use of my yarn.  The very cool thing about the Cassie Slipover is the construction.  It has saddle shoulders and when I saw the photo I thought they would be cool to knit in the darkest color, while the rest of the bodice was knit in the lightest color, but once I bought the pattern and understood the construction I realized that the only way to do that would be Intarsia, and I don’t do that.  The pattern is only available in German, but it has excellent charts, in fact it has multiple charts for the different sizes, and the instructions are pretty easy to decipher thanks to Google Translate.  The first set of charts enables you to work the front, the shoulders, and the back, all at the same time.  Once I finish that set of charts I’ll work the rest of the front and the back down through the armholes.  There are charts for that, with the armhole shaping already included.  I can work those at the same time from both ends of a cake of yarn so that I use my colors up evenly.  Once I join in the round it gets even easier.  The neck band, and armhole edging will be worked in the darkest color, my standard for working with these gradient sets.  The construction of this top makes it super easy to use a gradient set because you don’t need to weigh anything or worry about matching the color changes for the front and back.

Pattern:  Cassie Slipover by Sarah Kaub

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn’s extra fine Aran merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)

Ashen - Neck and Armhole Edging Done!

Yesterday I was able to get a fair bit of knitting done on this vest.  I finished up the second skein of yarn, so I put point protectors on those tips and did the neck and armhole edging.  I did the neck edging first, going down a needle size for the ribbing to a US 5 (3.75 mm).  Given how dark and fuzzy the yarn is, picking up stitches was a bit challenging, but I used my Lumos knitting light, which made it a lot easier.  The pattern recommends a stretchy bind-off in pattern, and specifically calls out tubular bind-off.  I didn’t feel like going to all of that trouble, so I just did a regular bind-off in pattern.

I tried the vest on over my t-shirt and the fit is perfect.  I am very pleased with how the Wensleydale is knitting up, The knitted fabric is substantial without being too heavy, and I think it shows off the yarn beautifully.  I’ve already woven in all of my ends on the bodice, so now all I have to do is finish up the body and my vest will be done.

Pattern:  Libraire by Tricot Design MCL

Yarn:  The Ross Farm Ashen Wensleydale 

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm), and US 5 (3.75 mm)

Ashen - Upper Bodice Done!

This went very quickly.  The pattern is very well written and easy to follow and set up in knitCompanion.  I think I just wanted an easy and mindless knit, which this one is given how well written the pattern is.  The pattern actually has all the shaping written out for all of the different sizes, so all you have to do is find your size and follow it.  No expanding out condensed text with strings of numbers for each of the different sizes and the “at the same time” instruction with yet more strings of numbers for the different sizes.  I can follow those just fine, but sometimes you just want easy.  Now I’m into the body and it is just endless rounds of knitting that I can read during.

I am reading an actual physical book, a paperback, from my book stash (also known as a library) - Mars by Ben Bova from 1992.  You can’t even buy it on Amazon and it is not available on Kindle.  I know that paperbacks typically require a hand (or two) to hold them open, but I have this nifty thing called a book weight that I bought from Levenger.  I just put the book in my lap and lay this across the open pages.  I have to shift it up and down as I read, but it works and lets me do two of my favorite things - read and knit.

Levenger sells lots of neat stuff for readers, and fountain pens.  I really love fountain pens.  I am enjoying this knit so much more than Last Word, and I may have to make more than one of these vests.  The pattern does say that it is so quick and fun you will want to make more than one, and they may just be right about that.

Pattern:  Libraire by Tricot Design MCL

Yarn:  The Ross Farm Ashen Wensleydale 

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Ashen - Cast On!

I really liked my stockinette swatch of the Ashen Wensleydale yarn, so yesterday I frogged Last Word and cast on Libraire by Tricot Design MCL instead.  The yarn was still damp, so I didn’t even need to soak it to un-kink it.  As I frogged, I wound the yarn onto my Niddy-Noddy, tied up the skeins and hung them up to dry.  Libraire is a simple v-neck vest knit from the top down.  My gauge doesn’t quite match the gauge called for in the pattern, I have more stitches per inch, so I’m knitting a medium, and because it is top down I can adjust the length as needed as I go.  I am enjoying the knitting on this so much more, even if the stockinette curls like crazy.  I’ve already finished the upper back and am ready to pick up the stitches for the upper front.

Pattern:  Libraire by Tricot Design MCL

Yarn:  Ross Farm Fibers Ashen Wensleydale 

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Purple Haze Tredegar Scarflette - Cast On!

As part of my efforts to rekindle my knitting mojo I also pulled out some of my handspun skeins.  I do really enjoy working with my handspun yarn.  This yarn is what is left of the three spins that I used in the Practically Handspun vest.  This is spin 13, and I have another full skein, besides the partial in the picture, over 250 yards total.

Here is a picture of the original set of skeins.  I used about half in the Practically Handspun vest, and I really loved working with it.  I spent some time yesterday going through my Ravelry library looking for a pattern that I vaguely remembered buying at some point that I thought would be perfect for this yarn, and I finally found it - The Tredegar Scarflette by Jo-Anne Klim.  I’m very happy with how it is knitting up, even though the yarn is a 2-ply my cables are popping quite nicely.

Pattern:  Tredegar Scarflette by Jo-Anne Klim

Yarn:  Handspun Rosie’s Multicolor Merino Top in Purple Haze

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm) for the border, US 6 (4.0 mm) for the cable pattern

Swatching and Watching

I haven’t had a whole lot of knitting mojo since I finished up the two colorwork bolsters.  I cast on Last Word with the wonderful Wensleydale from The Ross Farm, but just wasn’t feeling it, I wasn’t enjoying the knit, so this morning I decided to block what I have knitted so far and just see how it looked and felt.  I put some Barber cord on my tips and soaked away.  We’ll see how it comes out, and then I will decide what I want to do next.

In the meantime I did a couple of swatches while watching PLY Spinners Guild videos.  I have had this luscious set of Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Aran Merino in my stash for a little while.  And it has been quietly insisting that I do something with it.  I mean, just look at those colors!  That is what I love about Sundara Yarn - her  colors.  Seriously, she dyes beautiful yarn, and I love her Daily Dreams emails.  She is pretty much my only impulse yarn buy these days because if you see something you like in the Daily Dream you have to get it, as all of those are essentially limited runs.

Before I started swatching I spent some time sipping my first cup of tea and cruising the pattern library on Ravelry looking for some potential patterns for this set, as well as something that might suite the Wensleydale better.  I found a few prospects, noted the called for fiber and the stitch gauge and swatched away, while I watched the aforementioned PLY Spinners Guild videos.  The swatches are blocking, but I think I know what I want to make with the Sundara Yarn.  Even still damp the swatch is wonderfully soft and has nice drape and the gauge looks pretty good for the pattern I have in mind.

Regarding the PLY Spinners Guild, if you’re a spinner, or want to be a spinner, it is a really great resource.  They have a whole series of videos that are really quite excellent.  I am also reading PLY Magazine, which is also an excellent resource.  The Sheepspot Society is another great resource.  I took the Fall 2024 Spin School on line course, which is actually how I learned to spin, and now I’m in Breed School.  And I don’t know what happened to that first paragraph.  When I put in the link for The Ross Farm it centered everything, and I can’t get it to go away.  Oh Well.

Last Word - Cast On!

After finishing up the two bolster pillows I wasn’t sure what I wanted to work on.  I have several WIPs that I could have picked up but just wasn’t feeling it.  I did cake up yarn for another Natasja Hornsby pattern, but it was a bit more involved than I felt like dealing with so I grabbed this wonderful yarn that recently made it in to my stash.

This is Ashen, 100% Wensleydale, from The Ross Farm.  It is natural, no dye, and is really lovely to work with.  The pattern is Last Word by Thea Coleman, and the yarn is the one called for in the pattern.  It came out this past March, and I bought the patten and ordered the yarn right away.  I did go down a needle size, but am working the second size.  I substituted a long tail cast on for the cable cast on, and did not do the increases on the sides after completing the ribbing.  I just didn’t see the point.  I’ve made a bit of progress, I’m almost through the first skein.

It is pretty easy knitting.

Pattern:  Last Word by Thea Coleman

Yarn:  Ashen from The Ross Farm

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Bolster Cover 3 - Finished!

This one worked up so fast.  This morning I crocheted the end caps and attached them.  This one does not fit as tightly on the pillow form as the previous one because I cast on more stitches - 96 stitches for this one, 90 stitches for the previous one.  This also made it cover more of the pillow form so I did not work as many rounds on the end caps.  I only worked 16 rounds (as opposed to 18 rounds for the previous one) which made it perfect, as that resulted in 96 stitches on the end cap, which made joining it to the bolster easy peasy.

This is before I had attached the end caps.

And this is an end cap in the making.

The yarn is super soft and nice to work with, and the colors are wonderful.  I do love how this one came out even though these are not my usual colors, but I think they are perfect, and I love the sea creatures.

Pattern:  Improvised

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm) and Crochet Hook G (4.0 mm)

Bolster Cover 2 - Finished!

Here is the finished bolster, in its official spot - Bruce’s chair.  He is very happy with it, and it is a definite improvement over the cushion that he had been using for ages.  Although I did try very had to keep my floats loose, there are some places where there are single stitches that are a little pulled, but overall I am very happy with how it came out, especially considering that I really just winged it.

Here is an end cap in progress.  I just crochet a circle until it is big enough, and then work another round where I join it to the cast on or bound off edge, as the case may be.  Once I get enough stitches in a round that counting becomes tiresome and error prone, I put markers on the stitches where I need to work increases.  I also have an end of round marker.

Pattern:  Improvised

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm), & Hook size G (4.0 mm) for the end caps.

Bolster Cover 3 - Colowork Finished!

This one went super fast.  I cast on Friday and finished it up on Saturday.  It was so much fun to knit, and now I want to do more colorwork.  I used the same blocking process on both bolster covers:  soak, wrap in a towel and walk on it to get the water out, pin the cast on and bound off edges on the blocking mats to combat the curling,  I leave them for a day, and then remove the pins and transfer them to a suspended mesh drying rack so the air can circulate around it.  That speeds up the drying considerably.  I checked on this one this morning, and it is almost dry.  I already have a color picked out for the crochet end caps.

Pattern:  Improvised 

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Bolster Cover 3 - Cast On!

As soon as I finished the colorwork for the second bolster cover I immediately cast on another one.  I have two bolster forms to cover.  This one is a bit of a different vibe.  I had these two skeins and I knew I wanted to use them together, but I really did not want that dark brown to be the background, so I decided to flip things, so the variegated yarn is the background and the dark brown is the motif color.  I had also fallen in love with the octopus motif so I decided on an ocean theme.  Looking at the row counts and how many rows I need for one of these covers (106) I ended up picking three different motifs:  OCTOPUS, SEASHELL, and SQUID.  The order of knitting will be:  OCTOPUS, SEASHELL, SQUID, SQUID (with the chart flipped so it points in the opposite direction), SEASHELL, OCTOPUS.  I cast on with the dark brown and worked one row before switching to the variegated yarn and beginning the first chart.  This time I did cast on 96 stitches, so I am repeating the motif four times around.  I am also using stitch markers between the repeats.  I know that the variegated yarn does have some dark runs that almost match the background color, which does obscure the motifs in places, but I think it just adds to the mystery of the creatures.  Once again, these motifs are all taken from The Doodle Knit Directory by Jamie Lomax.

I reproduced them in Pattern Genius, exported them to PDF, and imported them in to knitCompanion.

Pattern:  Improvised

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)