While waiting for the second clue in the Mystery scarf project, I began the socks using the Hazel Knits yarn that came with this month’s shipment.  The pattern is called Boreal.  It is a toe-up sock, not usually my favorite.  I have not found a good way to make a heel work for a high instep, and I find it more difficult to know where to start the heel.  On a top-down sock I knit until my toes start, then work the toe section, and I can easily try it on for fit.  When trying on the toe-up sock, you have to be much more careful, as you are pulling up the end with the live stitches on the needle over your foot.

This pattern has proven to be very stretchy and accommodating for different sized feet, even with the short row heel.  After I got the increases finished on the toe, it was also an easy-to-remember repeat pattern, so I could take them along with me and knit little bits at a time (the pattern looks like little tadpoles swimming to me).  I have stopped on the first sock, and am going to knit the other sock from the opposite end of the skein of yarn, that will allow me to use all of the yarn and make them higher, the great advantage to toe-up socks.  This yarn is really soft and very nice to knit with.  My husband has a pair of socks from this vendor that I made him last year.  He says that they are his favorite socks, but I have noticed a lot of pilling on them.

This was the January shipment from Janel, beautiful merino-cashmere yarn from Hazel Knits (which I used last year on these socks that my husband took, and loves), stitch markers, and a cute project bag:

I am finally breaking down and using my handspun yarn.  This is the Raspberry to Cream gradient from Fiber Optic that I spun up in December.  Refer to this post for a description of how I spun it up.  I love how it wound up into a ball with gradient upon gradient.  The pattern is a mystery pattern as part of the 2012 Janel Laidman sock club.  I only have clue one, shown completed here, so obviously do not know how it will knit up, but so far I am really pleased with the progression.

While I am not sure of what this shawl will end up looking like, I think that it is designed much like Arcadia by Janel for her Art & Sole club last year.  So, if my theory is correct, we are at the center and will work back in decreases, then pick up along the long edge for a design.  Not sure how the gradient will work on this, but it will be interesting, and since it will be wrapped around a neck, the color should add interest.

Project Specs
Pattern: Hex Socks
Pattern Source: CookieA 2011 Sock Club
Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool
Needles: US 1
Date Started: 11/26/11
Date Finished: 1/19/12
Finished Dimensions: Size Men’s large

And the main reason for our little retreat was so that Dan could go to a remote Wisconsin town that had an amazing selection of electric guitars.  He is so excited to have this new toy.  Might make that spinning wheel that I covet easier to get.  It is fun to see him so excited, and to have the time now (just finished his Master’s) to enjoy his hobby.  I do understand the importance of a hobby, and having the best tools at hand.

Along the ride, I worked on my mittens with handspun.  This was the second time starting.  I am not sure if I will keep them or rip them out again.  They are a bit large, I think that I overdid it on the cuff length.  I have had so many mittens that are too small.  I need to think about this a bit.  A lot of work in here….

The first, The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook, has been one that I have been drooling over since first seeing it at a Wool Festival last summer.  I have 2 other books that focus on sheep and wool types, but this is the mother of all fiber related source books.  It not only has Sheep, but Goats, Camels, Musk Ox, Rabbits, Horses and Dogs and Cats too.  If this book had been out first, it would definitely be the only fiber source book that I would own.  I am off to read about Yak soon, as it is in a blended fiber that I am interested in ordering soon.  No superfluous patterns or fill-ins here, just 400+ pages of fiber info.  This book will be close at hand when spinning.

The other books that my husband gave me are both reference books for color knitting.  Alice Starmore’s Charts for Color Knitting.

And, 200 Fair Isle Motifs by Mary Jane Mucklestone

Both of these books contain hundreds of charts for fair isle motifs.  Again, no patterns, just reference.  The Muckelstone book has the motifs knitted up in swatches on each page and computer generated colorings of the charts.  The patterns tend to be smaller and repeatable.  The Starmore book is basically charted designs in B&W, has a couple of knitted inspirations, and general instructions on how to apply the charts to your own sweater.  This book also has some larger one-off designs that would be great for not only sweaters, but mittens and smaller objects.   Both books would be good as design elements to put tracing paper on top of and design away with PrismaColors at hand (my absolute favorite colored pencils of all time).  This is my dream set…

vv

Project Specs
Pattern: Chess Sweater
Pattern Source: Hanne Falkenberg kit
Yarn: #2 Shetland by Hanne Falkenberg, colors Aubergine and coffee
Needles: US 2
Date Started: 8/15/10
Date Finished: 12/28/11
Finished Dimensions: Size Men’s large

And I have been working on my mittens, I think that I need to reverse the colors, as it is not detailing well.  I thought with windows and doors being light, it would look like nighttime with the lights on.  I don’t think so.  All of the other patterns knit up on Ravelry have followed the chart.  So much for being a maverick, ripping back again.  This time just to the cuff.

The yoke went quickly, in spite of a couple of decrease mistakes and color mistakes that I had to rip out.   Whenever you attach the sleeves in this manner, the first few rows at the junctions are tight.  I prefer a yoked cardigan for babies, as there is not the bulk at the shoulders, and seem to fit better.  The beauty of knitting this way is that I only now have to sew and cut the steek (still a bit of a frightening process), and knit the front band.  The neck ribbing was called for with a double over material.  I felt that would be too thick, so chose to do a 1×1 ribbing with a tubular cast-off.   The front band is doubled over, but that serves to also cover up the cut steek.

When knitting the yoke, the first couple of major rounds of decreases divided nice and evenly around the body.  then it started to get more complicated.  I am a bit of a nut, in that everything needs to be balanced out nicely.  Decreases starting and ending equal number of stitches from the front band, and being spread out evenly throughout the body.  Here are the patterns that I had to use to get my decreases, I tried to find a mathematical program that would solve this, but it is beyond me.  I have given that task to my son, these I did by writing out the pattern.  I found how many even number of stitches went into a decrease row, and how many remaining stitches there were.  Then, I balanced out the extra decreases over a pattern in the yoke.  Here are my last 4 decrease patterns (each number includes the number of stitches knit + the 2 that are knit together; i.e 7= K5, K2tog — in effect 1 st less).

(7,7,6) 12 times

(5,4,5,5,4,5,5,4,5,5,4) 4 times

(4,4,4,3,4,4,4,4,3,4,4,4,4,3,4,4,4,4,3,4,4) 2 times

(3,3,2,3,3,3,3,2,3,3,3,3,2,3,3,3,3,2,3,3,3) 2 times

I am writing these down here for posterity so that I do not have to recalculate these again.  Hoping for that program Ethan…

Then I went and looked at my Ravelry “favorites”, and found the mittens that I HAD to make next.  I love this pattern so much that I have favorites from 2 different people’s knit up versions of it.  This is a free download of the chart only and can be found HERE if you scroll down to the 36×36 charts.  You could easily get lost however in any of the amazing other charts available to download.   Remember, these are charts only, and assume that you know how to make a pair of mittens, and how to add a cuff and interpret the charts.

Next was choosing the yarn.  I love all 3 of these fibers, and they all seem the perfect weight for stranded knitting at a fine gauge.  I first thought that the blue-green with the variegated yarn would be it, but in doing a test swatch, the purple & variegated combination was perfect.  Both of these fibers were from Fiber Optic, the purple is a Shetland and the multi-colored is a dye-break called “Mad Monet”.

I started with the cuff, doing an Inkel Braid first, followed by 24 rows of corrugated ribbing.  When I finished, I decided that it was too loose, so it has since been torn out and I will restart with 64 sts (72 original).  The charted pattern is 36 x 36, although the chart is only 71 sts wide.  I don’t quite understand this, and the decreases at the top of the mitten are not balanced, so I will adjust the chart to end up with a 72 st pattern.

Now to restart…

My favorite improvement to make is to do a tubular cast-on for the ribbing at the bottom and the cuffs (or a tubular bind-off if working top down).  It gives a very elastic, smooth edge.  I remember the first time that I saw this used on a finished garment, I was biting at the bit to learn the technique, as it looked like the ribbing on a commercial garment, with a smooth rounded over edge.  To learn how I do my tubular cast-on, read this previous post.

This is a new baby sweater that I am making, using one of my Dale of Norway patterns, and my favorite baby yarn, Baby Ull by Dale of Norway.  I have the bottom of the body and one sleeve started.  The interesting color-work comes at the yoke, so it is a lot of plain knitting right now, which works great for playing Scrabble, watching my new Modern Family DVD’s that my daughter got me for Christmas, or late night after-wine knitting.

A simple pattern.  Since I am a numbers person, all multiples of 4.  Adjust lengths as needed…

FINGERLESS MITTS

• Use a fingering weight yarn of your choice
• Size 1 needles
• Cast-on 48 sts, join in a round
• K2, P2 for 24 rows
• K 12 rows St st.
• Increase for thumb gusset as follows:
  • K 23, PM, inc 1 st (by lifting up bar below)
  • K2, inc 1 st, PM
  • K23
  • Knit next round plain (26 sts, 4 for thumb)
  • Increase row by doing one increase inside each marker
  • Knit 1 row plain
  • When there are 22 sts for thumb, place thumb sts on holder after st st row

• Knit hand portion, CO 2 sts at thumb area (48 sts total).
• K24 rows st st
• *For top of mitt, Purl 1 row, K 1 row (to obtain garter st pattern) for 8 rows, last knit row is the bind-off row*
• Put 22 sts from thumb on needle, CO 2 sts at opening and K 4 rows
• Repeat * to* as for top of mitt.