Camp Loopy Project Two - Rainbow Vest - Finished!

I realized that I did not post finished pictures of my July Camp Loopy project.  This one I finished up on July 15, so easily done in time for the deadline.

Pattern:  Desert Arrows Vest by Jean Clement
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cloud Nine in Taste the Rainbow
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Rainbow Vest - Camp Loopy 2017 Project Two - Making Progress

I decided to focus on this project this week and I'm happy to report that I'm making progress.  I've made it through the short rows.  This morning I pinned it to my dress maker dummy and spritzed it with water.  It was curling up on itself something fierce, which was just annoying my while I was knitting.  I decided to take advantage of the fact that it was pinned to snap a couple of quick pictures.

It is definitely behaving itself now.

Pattern:  Desert Arrows Vest by Jean Clement
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cloud Nine in Taste the Rainbow
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Rainbow Vest - Camp Loopy 2017 Project Two - A Slow Start

I will confess that I have been neglecting my Camp Loopy project.  I just have too many fun projects going on at once.  And I have a test knit that I have to get started on (I spent most of the morning prepping the charts for that one).  But I have been making progress - two repeats of the lace so far.  I'm not sure what is going on with my selection of crazy yarn and lace.  I did the same thing with the first Camp Loopy project (more out of necessity than choice).  I think this will turn out okay.  In both cases the lace pattern is simple, and I do like the colors.

Pattern:  Desert Arrows Vest by Jean Clement
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cloud Nine in Taste the Rainbow
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Rainbow Vest - Camp Loopy 2017 Project Two

Yesterday I finally got around to swatching for my second Camp Loopy 2017 project.  It took me a couple of tries to get it right.  The pattern called for a US 7 (4.5 mm) needle.  I started out working with a US 7, but quickly realized the resulting fabric was going to be way too loose, so I pulled it out and started over again with a US 6 (4 mm).  That didn't seem much better so I pulled that out and started again with a US 5 (3.75 mm).  I finished the swatch with the US 5 needles, and it seemed better, but I suspected it was still going to be too loose and when I blocked it my suspicions were confirmed, so I did another swatch on US 3 (3.25 mm) and that one was right on.  Hmm, and I am not a loose knitter.  Of course I did substitute a different yarn.

Pattern:  Desert Arrows Vest by Jean Clement
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cloud Nine in Taste the Rainbow
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Pippi Short-stockings - Cast On

You know how I hate having leftovers - so after finishing up the Morphology Cowl I decided that I would make socks out of the leftover yarn.  I had to wait to cast on until I had finished my most recent basic toe up socks.  I actually cast on a week and a half ago, but I didn't know what to call the project, so I couldn't create a project page.  I thought about calling them "Fire and Ice Socks" but that just seemed a bit pretentious.  I thought about calling them "Hot and Cold Socks" but that just seemed nonsensical, without being funny.  I thought about calling them "Sprinkles and Shannanogins Socks"  after the color names, but that was just too hard to say.  Then, today while I was knitting during a break in a meeting I suddenly thought of Pippi Longstocking, and I knew I was close, but these were not going to be long stockings, they will probably turn out to be ankle socks, so I had to flip the name.

Pattern:  Basic Toe-Up Sock from Custom Socks by Kate Atherley
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Sprinkles and Shannanogins
Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm)

Morphology - Done!

I took this project along with me to The Unique Sheep retreat, figuring it would be easy car knitting.  I finished it up while we were in Harriman, Tennessee.

It's a good thing, too, as the next shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club has shipped and I'm way behind on knitting them.  Here are a couple more photos.

I'm not quite sure how to wear these.  I just wore it around my neck this past Friday.  This photo shows the colors and stitches the best.

Pattern:  Morphology by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Sprinkles and Shannanogins
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Morphology - Nothing Left But The Blues

Having finished my test knit, my sample knit, and putting together the first 6 of the 12 clues for the latest Unique Sheep MKAL (The House at Pooh Corner) I picked this project back up.  It is pretty mindless and I don't even need to use a counter - just count the bars from slipping with the yarn in front.  With a little steady work I've made it through the section that alternates the two colors and am in the home stretch - 28 rows of the blues.  I'm not entirely happy with the color switches (they aren't horrible, but they aren't perfect), but I'm hoping that once the piece is blocked they won't be too noticeable.

Pattern:  Morphology by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Sprinkles and Shannanogins
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Morphology - Progress Check

I have been using this project as a default easy project when I don't feel like working on anything complicated.  The picture above shows where I was last weekend.  I do like the tighter tension I am getting on the smaller needles, even though it means I don't get the color pooling that I was getting on the first go around.  I know some folks don't like color pooling, but I always have.  This past week I got to the point where the second color is introduced.

The pattern indicates that you shouldn't cut the yarn between the stripes, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to carry the blue up without creating distortions.  I screwed up when I switched back to the yellow skein and ended up cutting the blue to fix the problem.  I have several more opportunities to figure it out.

Pattern:  Morphology by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Sprinkles and Shannanogins
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Morphology - Take Two

I knit a few more rows on this project on Tuesday and found myself growing more and more concerned with what I perceived as a mis-match between the yarn thickness and the needle size.  I found myself playing with the knitting, pulling it and stretching it and worrying about the stability of the resulting fabric.

What really worried me was the size of the purl bumps.  That is a lot of yarn sitting there, and a lot of potential for stretching.  There were a couple of statements in the pattern directions that I found particularly disturbing:

"Linen stitch pulls in dramatically as the work progresses".

This would be due to the bar of the slipped stitch, and would be exacerbated by a tight knitter.  I found myself working tighter than I typically do, just because of my psychological discomfort with the larger needles.

"You will find that the resulting fabric is stable when dry, but quite flexible when wet. You may find that with wear, the fabric may grow in circumference; with wet-blocking you can shape the fabric back to its original proportions."

These statements really got me wondering, so I dug through my stash for more "emergency" sock yarn skeins and knit another swatch on US 6 (4 mm) needles.  My needle size choice was driven by a simple consideration of the linen stitch - each stitch has to span two rows, so I used a needle size that was twice the size of what I might have used in a normal stockinette stitch garment.

The original swatch is on the left, the new swatch is on the right.  The original swatch is 32 stitches by 44 rows, binding off on row 45.  For the new swatch I cast on 32 stitches but bound off on row 44 because I didn't feel like cracking open a new "emergency" skein to finish off row 44 and bind off.  The new swatch was blocked to 5.5" wide by 4" tall, but it rebounded to 5" wide by 3.75" tall.  The original swatch was blocked to 6.5" wide by 4" tall.  The width rebounded to 6".  The new swatch still has some stretch, but not to the extent of the original swatch, which has considerable stretch, especially in the width.  Both have nice drape - so despite going down on the needle size, my new swatch is not stiff as a board.  You could get it there, if you went down even further on the needle size, but that was not my goal - I just wanted a garment that would have some stability.

If you look at the back side, you can again see the extra fiber in the purl bumps in the original swatch.  The other advantage of going down on the needle size is that I don't need to work a super stretchy cast on and bind off.

So, I'm going to frog what I've got and cast on again on the US 6 needles.  I've got to say, I love the colors.  They just make me smile.

Pattern:  Morphology by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Sprinkles and Shannanogins
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Morphology - Cast On

Some years back I caught the Sock Club bug that was going around and joined several - CookieA, Janel Laidman, and the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club.  I dropped the clubs for a while, although I did rejoin Janel's and actually kept up with the projects until the last one, when she disappeared due to a family emergency.  I tried to rejoin CookieA's sock club, but then she took off for a trip around the world.  Last year I rejoined the Rockin' Sock Club on something of a whim.  I didn't knit any of the shipments from last year, but decided to rejoin again this year - after pulling out all of the shipments and patterns from last year.  This is one of the patterns from last year's first shipment and is a Linen stitch cowl using two variegated skeins.

I had never done Linen stitch, so I swatched using the miniature "emergency" skeins that they include with each of their big skeins.  I really liked the resulting fabric.  And the colors, well.  That is one of the reasons that you join the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club.  I think they should start an ad campaign - "The Most Interesting Knitter in the World" - and the tag line would be "I don't always knit socks, but when I do, I knit Socks That Rock.  Keep knitting my friends."  I started this as something that would be mostly mindless to work on when I didn't have Hale-Bopp to work on, but then, well, things happened, so I haven't made much progress on it.  The needle size threw me - a US 9 with fingering weight yarn?  I did do a little research to see if I could find anything on picking the right needle size for Linen stitch, but had no luck.  I even played around with smaller needles while I was swatching, but decided that the fabric looked best with the larger needle.

Pattern:  Morphology by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Sprinkles and Shannanogins
Needle:  US 9 (5.5 mm)

Yarny Goodness

My husband likes to joke that it is always Christmas at our house because of the packages of yarny goodness that regularly arrive.  Now, I don't get such wonderful packages everyday, but I do get them on a regular basis thanks to the number of clubs that I belong to.  These are the packages that came this past week.

First up - the first shipment for the Stop and Smell the Roses Shawl Club from the Unique Sheep.  Packages from The Unique Sheep always fill me with anticipatory delight, and this one definitely lived up to the anticipation.  The yarn is Tinsel Toes, a fingering weight Tencel/wool blend that I have recently become enamored of, the color way is Damask and when I saw it, it took my breath away.  The name of the shawl pattern is, appropriately enough, Damask Rose.  There is also a pretty rose on a clip, a rose stitch marker and a rose button.  I so want to cast on this shawl, but first I have to finish my second Christmas Shawlette.

This is the first shipment of the 2012 Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club.  The yarn is actually more purple than the picture shows.  It is a wonderful, glorious purple.  The official name of the color is H.R.H. Crown Princess of Purple, Violetta.  The yarn is their light weight sock yarn in 100% superwash merino.  The two patterns are just exquisite.  I may have to buy another skein so I can make them both.  I know I could find something suitable in my stash, but I really think they need to be a matching set.  These socks have yet another heel technique for me to learn.

These are my color options for the next installment of the Light and Dark Lace Club.  The yarn is Pelusa lace, which is a lace single in 100% superwash merino.  The colors are, from left to right:  Olea, Golden Locks and Scarlet Letter.  I am leaning towards the Scarlet Letter, but I bought extra, just in case I end up making more than one of the shawls.  After Diadem proved so popular, I thought it best to be prepared.

And last but not least, the February installment of the Crochet Block of the Month Club.  The yarn is Sushi Sock a blend of Superwash Merino, Bamboo and Nylon.  The colors are Forest and Mist.  The pattern is Winter Laurel.  This is my second year in this club, and I am so behind on my blocks.

Evenstar Shawl - Clue 6 - Done!

Well, I finally finished clue 6.  After clue 5, this one was pretty easy.  Now I just have to do the border and then the shawl will be done.  I used not quite 1 skein of my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread II on the shawl.  I am starting the border with the second skein so I won't run out part way through.

Evenstar Mystery Shawl

So this is why I didn't finish the second clue of the Spring Mystery Shawl until today.  Friday night I decided to start a second Evenstar Mystery Shawl and knit this one according to the charts, without modifications.  It took me pretty much the entire evening to get it this far.  I am using the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread II in Tanzanite, which is the first yarn that I purchased for the project.  The yarn is not that easy to work with.  Silk does not stretch and it is slippery, and I'm finding it harder to read the lace, which makes catching my mistakes harder.  Yes, I do make mistakes, but I usually catch them very quickly and I can often fix them without having to tink (that is knit backwards).  I am glad that I did not start with this yarn.  I think that you have to have some lace experience before you tackle as unforgiving a fiber as silk.  It is a beautiful fiber, however, and feels wonderful to knit with, and it all started as the cocoon of a moth.  Pretty amazing.  Silk takes color so beautifully because when you get it wet the fiber opens up, letting the dye penetrate.