82,950 Stitches, that is how many are in this shawl so far.

This has been an easy knit, but a massive amount of it.  I decided to see how fast I knit on average in both a knit and purl row on this.  So, I timed myself for 3- 3 minute segments on both the knitting portion and the purling.  I did it at different places on the shawl so that it averaged the amounts of increases/decreases, and slipping of stitch markers.  I did not race, but kept my normal pace.  Of course, these times do not account for mistakes, ripping back, or just taking a breather.

Knitting speed was 49.22 stitches/minute.

Purl speed was 46.67 stitches/minute.

Average speed for knitting and purling was 47.94 stitches/minute.  Since there are about equal knits and purls (the accent row is actually a garter stitch row), I calculated that this scarf has taken 1,730.29 minutes (28.84 hours) to knit thus far of just knitting time.  Not including the cast-on, breaks, mistakes, etc.  I would have thought that it was more, given that I have been at it for 3 weeks.  I have, however, slipped in parts of a sock or two also.

Now, onto a tubular bind-off, and tubular edging on all 3 other sides.  That will take a bit!

Free Viking Boat Sweater Pattern

SandnesGarn, the makers of the yarn Peer Gynt, have decided to make the pattern for the Viking boat sweater available, both for free and with an English translation to boot!  You won’t have to make the same mistake that I did in my pathetic attempts at translation of a language I know nothing about.  I blogged about this earlier.  Here is the link for the pattern, available as a downloadable PDF:

http://www.sandnesgarn.no/Strikkekurs.aspx

 

Now, this makes me want to finish up my sweater that I put away last year.  Here’s my last photo for inspiration to you and myself:

Chugging along

I am still knitting away on my lace shawl.  Almost to the last color, and then the I-cord edging, which will take an eternity in itself.  I had hoped to have this done by Halloween, it was the 25th anniversary of my husband’s & I first date together.  We went to a nice restaurant to celebrate, and I would have loved to wear this.  It is an easy knit, just a lot of stitches at 395/row!

I also cast on for another pair of socks, using Malabrigo, the color is Impressionist Sky, and it is a beautiful semi-solid blue..  I am making the Gentlemen’s sock with Lozenge Pattern by Nancy Bush.  I think that I will have to purchase another skein of this yarn.  It is knit up on size 0 needles.  I love the color, and will give these to hubby for Christmas.  Good thing he never reads my blog!

RAK

I joined the Ravelry forum RAK last month.  I have gotten a couple of good patterns there, and this week recieved a gift, all the way from Denmark, of some Dale of Norway Falk yarn.  This is the washable version of Helio.  I have never worked with it before.  (The blue-green at the bottom is a Helio that I had left over)

I originally thought of making mittens, but decided to make a Christmas stocking instead.  I have wanted to make one for years, and got this pattern book last winter for Dale of Norway yarn:

The RAK forum has been fun.  I have sent out several packages all over the world, from Michigan to Canada to India, England and New Zealand.  Also a great way to look and see what others are asking for, and thin out my stash of yarn that I probably won’t use.  I had been saving the sock yarn remnants for years.  Sometimes I use them in a toe, or heel.  But, by and large, was not ever going to knit with all of those, and just couldn’t throw them away.  Along came several people who are make sock yarn blankets out of the scraps, and problem solved.

I am going to make the Stocking pattern on the right, using the yarns shown above.  Will start this over the weekend.  It will also be eligible for the Sock Knitters Anonymous October challenge.  I had not started anything for that yet.

I’m a small needle & wool snob

I admit it.  I really think that items knit with a small needle have more definition, greater drape to the fabric, and usually (not always) better detail.   I also prefer wool above all else, and wood needles.  So there!

I am just finishing the third of my doily lap blankets.  Using a size 10 1/2 needle was like knitting with baseball bats for me.  Not my preferred option.  I will have to adjust that thinking when I start the Sylvie coat next year though (waiting until January to order the yarn for that, I can’t wait).  The 2nd and 3rd doily lap blankets were made with a lighter weight yarn and size 7 needles.  That seemed so much more civilized to me.  At my  recent visit to stitches in September with my sister, there was a woman demonstrating size 50 (yes 50!) needles, and the merits of them.  Now those really were like baseball bats.  Jill tried them out, but I took a pass.  Size 1 and 2 are more my cup of tea.  I guess that is why I like socks and Fair Isle so much.  Even with mittens, they just seem to need to be knit with the smaller needles to get the proper density to make them wearable in the cold Chicago winters.  And, speaking of mittens, here is my latest pair of Fair Isle mittens, using the Postwar Mittens pattern by MaryAnn Stephens (www.kidsknits.com), and featured on Twist Collective.

Notice the date on the inside part of the thumb.  I love it….

The right hand mitten is tight at the hand.  I was working on it while at my SnB group; the lighting was not good, the conversation was lively, and my floats and stitches are tighter than I would like.  Good lesson, keep the knitting simple during those 2 hours.  The length on the cuff is good, will cover my wrists during the cold months.  I had to add one additional repeat on the hand to get the proper length for my big long hands.  I can’t say, however, that I am anxious to wear them.  It has been a beautiful past 3 days with sunshine and 60-70 degree weather, and gorgeous fall color.  My favorite season.

Provisional cast-on 395 stitches…

I started making the Volt shawl from the new book The Fine Line, by Grace Anna Farrow.  The cast-on and first row took me a bit of time.   Seems my counting abilities were a bit off.  That has proven to be the only difficult thing about this shawl.  I changed the lime green accent to a turquoise (and in doing so, had to use a slightly thicker yarn, but I think it will block out nicely), as I did not like any of the accent colors that they had at Stitches when I bought the book and yarn.  This is Isaeger I lace yarn, and I love it.  The shawl will be very fun to wear.  I already have another pattern in mind to make from this book when I am finished with this one.  I would also like to use this yarn for a Faroese shawl aka Myrna Stahlman.  This photo is a bit wonky, and just shows the first 2 sections with the black yarn being knit up.  The bright blue cotton is my provisional cast-on waste yarn.

I also finished Dan’s socks with the Zauberball yarn that he picked out when we were away for a weekend.  I thought that the colors would be too bright, but it works out nicely.  the yarn is fun, but you could not do any patternwork with it.  It is also a bit splity at times.  I knit them in the Madder pattern from Nancy Bush’s Vintage Socks book.   They look skinny, but have a lot of stretch, and hug your foot nicely.

A Childhood in sweaters

I have been slowly cleaning out the attic, and ridding myself of things that I thought were important to keep at one point in my life.  Some of the things that I found were many (not all) of the sweaters that I made for the kids when they were growing up.  These 2 sweaters are the ones that I will always keep.  They speak to me of my children, and their personalities.

This is the sweater that I made for my daughter at age 6.  I was so proud of the colors, the heart design, and how much it fit a little girl who loved clothes and dressing well.  Much to my surprise, after I gave Sofia this sweater, she announced to me that she did not want any other things that I made for her, she wanted store bought clothes.  Even at an early age, she had a style all her own.  One that she now is embarrassed by.  I will say that she has evolved, and is now always beautifully put together. When she was little, I would only have a clothing discussion when we were going out, and then I would beg her to wear one of the outfits that I had chosen.

Here is a sweater that I made for Ethan when he was about 11 years old.  I had made a sweater for my husband using similar construction where you work each panel separately while attaching it to its neighbor while knitting.   This allowed you to do complex cable patterns side by side, and not have to worry about keeping them straight, or having a similar repeat number.  It also meant that I could change colors for the different cables.  So, Ethan wanted a sweater, and I had recently acquired all of the Barbara Walker Treasury books.  He was fascinated with the patterns in the books, and chose all of the cables to be knit up;  including a spider, a peace sign, and an hour glass.  We call this the Time for Peace Sweater. I couldn’t find a way to add the spiders to the name, although they are front and center.  He lovingly wore this sweater.  He has always been a great fan of my knitting, and telling me what beautiful things I make.

Neglected Sweater

I am trying to finish past projects as I complete more recent ones.  So, today I finished my Doily Lap Blanket #3, and also finished weaving in the ends and sewing the sides of the Glenn sweater by Elsebeth Lavold.  I love the Silky wool yarn, and made a sweater out of it for my sister many years ago.  At the same time, I bought the yarn, and knitted this sweater up, but did not want to weave in all of the ends.  So it sat for years.  Now I have the ends woven in, the seams sewn, and I don’t like the way that the sweater fits on me.  It is so incredibly soft though.  I just have to work on the collar, and it will be finished.  I think that I will have to find a good recipient for this.  Any takers?

And, here is my doily lap blanket drying with Berocco Vintage Wool.  It looks so beautiful all blocked out.

Kittie Yoga

I had to post this photo of Louie, doing his favorite stretch.  I recently got Ella to do the same.  For Louie, all you have to do is pick him up after a nap, hold him upside down, and bounce him lightly.  He arches his back, and stretches his toes out. I have only had one other cat who liked to do this. Once they figure it out, however, they are hooked.