April 2005 Archives

It's good to see that my readers are as split as I am on which yarn to go with for my Mariah. I'm still undecided so I'm going to let it mull for a little longer.

Project from the Past

I bought a pack of Linen Drape over a year ago as part of the Alison's Linen Drape Along. I think I tried a half dozen different patterns but none of them stuck.

It's been bugging me that the yarn is still in my stash and not being used. I was reading Jackie's blog and saw that she started Wrapped Lace Cardi from VK Spring Summer 05. I love the sleeves but I can't do eyelets across my bust.

Then I remembered I recently bought this little shrug from Old Navy and I love it.

Following me yet?

The Grand Plan

Take the Linen Drape, knit up the sleeves from the Wrapped Lace Cardi, but do a solid body.

The LD is a different gauge than the Glace used in the original, so a little math was in order.

I'm starting on a front and I'll do the whole body before switching to the sleeves. I'd love to make those beautiful full length sleeves but I'm not sure I have enough yarn. I have 9.5 balls and if my estimates are right I'll need 3 full balls for the sleeves. Six balls should be enough for that small bodice but the ties have me wondering. I'll have a better idea after I finish one front piece.

Nothing like a little mystery to keep ya knittin'.

I finished one half of the front of Mariah back in February. Here she is:

click on me for a (slightly) better view of the cabling

After I put it on a stitch holder it looked a little big, which concerned me because cardi fronts (if anything) tend to look small, right? I measured it and sure enough, it was a good inch/inch and a half too big. WAY too big to salvage.

Now, I did a gauge swatch, and measured, and got perfect gauge. Then, since I planned on washing and drying this cardi, I even washed, dried, and re-measured it.

I think I used a bigger needle when knitting it though. It seems lately most everything I knit is on 7's, but for some reason I knit cotton looser, so I had to go down to 6's. I'll bet I just grabbed 7's without even thinking about it.

Not the end of the world. It's a quick piece to re-knit. I think I did it on one Saturday morning and afternoon. But since I have to re-knit it anyway it has made me reconsider the color choice.

I have some celtic green cascade 220 in my stash that would also make a lovely Mariah.

So now I'm not sure what to do.

Stay with the black. It goes with everything. The cotton will make it more of an all-season cardi, and who doesn't need more black in their wardrobe?

Or, go with the green. It's a beautiful color, it'll show the cables better, and if I'm already considering it then I should just go with it. Plus it's from the stash and that's gotta count for something, right?

I'm not putting up a poll because I want to hear your thinking behind the color (and fiber) choice.

Whaddya think?

Anoyone who's been reading this blog lately must realize that:

1. I've been really busy
2. I've been desperately searching for knitting inspiration

While I still haven't cured my lack of free time, I may have found inspiration.

Martha from Rowan 37

I started a sleeve last night. The yarn, you ask?

It's Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet Thread. Nothin but the best for my Martha!

Honestly though, it's really nice! Take a look at its stitch definition. It's mercerized, slips wonderfully on the Addi's, and got perfect gauge! I bought it in a desperate attempt to find something summer-weight in the pink I liked. I tried buying the 4ply used in the sample but the pink is nowhere to be found (at least, without waiting for mailorder, and when you gotta start a project you gotta start a project, ya know?)

So I sat down last night at 9:45, cast on, and got through a full repeat on a sleeve. It started out with a few rows of garter so I used the knitted on cast on. It's my favorite cast on for garter stitch. If you look at the closeup you'll see it makes that pretty scalloped edge.

Finally, something I can't wait to get home to knit!

Stella and I had planned to work on my garden on Sunday. But we were both feeling a little restless.

So we traded a day in the garden for a day on the road!

We started out our day at Knit Happens. It's in a great location on a busy street in Old Town Alexandria. It's situated in 2 rooms -- the main room where most of the yarn is, and a smaller room toward the back where the needles and patterns and some more hanked yarn is artfully hanging on the walls. Toward the front are 4 cushy seats for you to kick back and relax in, and there's also a good-sized table for groups to gather and classes to be held.

Most of you know in blogland know Knit Happens already. They carry many of the popular brands and I'm sure it has been a great addition to the area's LYS.

Next up was Springwater Fiber Workshop. While they have a great selection of yarns, what makes this store so special is the fiber they spin and dye themselves. The colors are vibrant and clear, with color changes that are sharp and unmuddied. I was tempted to bring home a few hanks of their silk merino in greens and blues but I thought I'd hold out for MDSW.

They also have a full supply of dyes, rovings, and coned yarns. We spent a lot of time at the wall of hand-dyed yarn, fondling and imagining what we could make with all the pretty choices.

After Springwater we made our way across the river to the Capitol Hill location of Stitch DC. This was by far my favorite store of the day! The ambiance was great -- light hardwood floors, white cubbies for the yarn, and windows EVERYWHERE. No need to bring yarn up to the front of the store to see their true colors. It was split into a front half and a back half, each of which had seating for 4-6 people. They had some yarns I hadn't seen in person before -- for example, a bamboo in a variety of rich, saturated solids (maybe it was by Plymouth? not sure). They had plenty of the requisite Rowan, Debbie Bliss and Jaeger. Some of the notable yarns that I recall -- a great selection of Artyarns Supermerino, a full cabinet of Araucania Nature Wool at 20% off, some fingering weight cashmere from Jaeger, and a laceweight mohair from Karabella.

The owner was pleasant and knowlegeable and let us know she runs special sales and announces them via email. And I'm talking a serious sale. The last one she held was a "one hour sale" the day of Daylight Savings Time where the first hour she was open your entire purchase was 25% off!

One of the best features of the store wasn't even available yesterday -- a table in their courtyard where you can sit and knit outside!

I left the store wishing it was my own LYS. I could see myself stopping by on a Saturday morning knitting by the big windows in one of their comfy chairs. DC residents really struck gold when this owner opened a second location in Georgetown. We spent so much time in the Capitol Hill store that there wasn't enough time to go over to Georgetown.

*sigh* guess we'll just have to go back!

For the past few weeks I've been looking for a project to get me excited. All this stockinette has led to me all but avoiding knitting! Well we can't have that, right?

lace *sigh*

It's Susan's Branching Out from the latest Knitty.

I'm using Artyarns Supermerino in color 110 on a US 7. The colors look pretty true on my monitor. I tried out this yarn before Christmas for a pair of socks for my Mom but I just couldn't get the yarn to look right for socks. They never seemed correctly sized -- either a bit big and droopy or too tight and stretched out -- so I frogged the sock and the yarn has been in my stash ever since.

I modified the pattern slightly. I started out with just 2 rows of garter and I eliminated the garter edge going up the sides. I was hoping the edges would scallop and they are! It's about 6 inches wide. I have 230 yards of the yarn and I'm planning to just knit until I run out.

Lace knitting from the stash on a cool spring day.

Ahhhhhhhhh

I'm going to knit with some girlfriends this afternoon and the food theme is poetry -- pick a poem and use it to inspire your food choice.

Today would have been my dad's 81st birthday. All week I've had it on my mind. Not in a bad way, just in a remembering fond moments kind of way.

Dad and I probably spent more time in the kitchen than anywhere else. He taught me most of the italian cooking that I know, and I loved our times spent together, cooking and stirring and learning.

I learned how to bake break in home ec class as a freshman in high school. Always eager to impress my dad, we went out that next weekend and bought the ingredients so I could do it at home. It was a huge success and dad couldn't stop raving about MY BREAD! Made by me! Just me! I was thrilled because I found something I could make him, and I think it tickled him too. He even started requesting that I make it. He'd have some with dinner. He'd toast some up in the morning to dip in his coffee. He'd show my uncles when they came over.

My simple loaf of bread.

In honor of dad's birthday, and inspired by the poetry theme, I baked up some bread, cooked a pan of sausage, peppers, and onions, and wrote this little poem. I'm no writer, and certainly not a poet, but it does convey what a special time it was, cooking with dad.

Last month I had said February was a slow month, but March really wasn't any better! I'm not feeling too badly about it though. We're continuing to do more work on the house (we have insulation, electricity, a ceiling, and 2 out of 4 walls done in the future bedroom!), and I know in a couple of weeks I'll be spending more time outside in the garden. Once I get past these few knitting deadlines I've made for myself I want to try and enjoy the leisure of knitting again. Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself.

In truth, I can't seem to stop creating self-imposed knitting deadlines, even though most of them are more aggressive than they should be. Do any of you struggle with that? I think it's partly my competitive nature (not my proudest trait, but there ya go), and partly the fact that there's SO MUCH out there I wanna knit!

Having said that, here's last month's progress:

1. A pair of gloves
2. St. Brigid
3. Mariah I'm reconsidering my yarn choice for this one. I'm still not certain though. Black is a great wearable color.
4. Start Complete 4 other sweaters for me. I started a ribby. Does that count?
5. A tank/sleeveless top that fits well.
6. An aran sampler throw blanket for my Mom. (I think this will be for her birthday in September)
7. 6 4 pairs of socks. paul's socks, sockapalooza socks, and 1 sock for me.
8. Some lavender-filled lace sachets for my Mom and Aunt Mary. I'll probably make these up in late April or early May for a mother's day mail surprise.
9. 6 4 other small items (hats, scarves, mitts, etc.) natalya and a little bag that still needs its picture taken./li>
10. Something nice in lace. hanging vines scarf
11. No 2004 UFOs remaining at the end of 2005
12. At the end of 2005 I will have a smaller stash than I started with. I'm doing better this year than last certainly, but I'm averaging about one yarn purchase a month. Two weeks ago I bought the Cotton Fleece yarn for Ribby.