Wedding Pillow

I love this pillow! I chose to do this from a advertisement in the latest VogueKnitting for Nicky Epstein's new book Knitting in Tuscany. However, I didn't have the book  - It was only released last week and I needed the pillow for my niece,  Britta's wedding June 5 - so I had to start it a few weeks ago. I'm so pleased with the outcome. The original was felted and I'm thinking I like it much better my way (hmmm . . a big surprise!)

Because it was based on a very small photo, I had to imagine what size it really was, along with materials. After seeing the original, mine is much smaller  - 14" square vs 20" square. I used a DK weight yarn, Dale of Norway Heilo vs a Louet worsted and a size 3 needle vs 11's. Of course, as mentioned above, Nicky's is felted and mine is not.
I'm really gonna miss this little beauty!

I Kept My Promise

I promised "the man" I'd finish his 2007 Christmas sweater by Christmas 2008 and I did it!
Yes, this took me about 18 months to finish, but it was well worth the wait. There were many gauge issues that I learned and hopefully will take with me on the next sweater project. Of course stiches per inch are alway very important, but row gauge can be equally as important, especially for shaping sleeves for a man whose arms are incredibly long.

I want to give a special shout-out to my friend, Joan, the Elizabeth Zimmerman of Billings, MT. If it weren't for her, my sweater would not have been sewn together and Jasper's Noro sweater would still be in the ball bands. Her finishing techniques are best you'll ever see and we are damn lucky to have her.

I'm extremely happy that my recipient loves this sweater and isn't lying about it. He was sick recently and the first thing he did when he came home to recoup was to put his sweater on. As the knitter -of-the-sweater, I was pretty pleased. Hugging him with this sweater on is like wrapping yourself up in the coziest blanket on a very cold day.

A New Head Cover

I've recently been knitting out of a fabulous new book, Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin. So far I've knitted 4 patterns from this book and have loved each one. They all have a vintage look. I'll talk about the Side Slip Cloiche first. My choice for yarn? Ella Rae Shibu in shell pink and I pared this with a single strand of Kid Seta mohair in white. I love this combination - extremely soft, and still texturized. Worked on a size 6 needle, the stitch is not too compact, but still looks firm. The mix of these really gives an aged look to this hat. I suppose it looks similar to the cover photo, but since I haven't seen that in person, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, . . . it's similar, but different.

New Sweater for the Jaz man

I've finished a sweater for Jasper - the kids almost alway say they don't want anything hand-knit, but if you keep your pattern books around long enough, they'll check them out and let you know if they like anything they see. It's better to let them call the shots on patterns and colors. The chances they'll actually wear it is a hundred times higher. Jasper chose the "Hacky Sack Hoodie" It's built like a sweatshirt, and is knit from the top-down. It is easy, easy, easy - that is, unless it didn't fit at the end. (It did) He picked out the yarn and the colors, so he won't have any recourse, but to wear it when it's done. He chose Lamb's Pride Worsted in Roasted Coffee and and a Noro Kureyon yarn # 207. It's taken from the book "Son of a Stitch and Bitch" which seems to be a good book for him. I've also made the "Half-Pipe Hat" for him. In fact, that will be a class in February at Wild Purls. I'll tackle that in a later post.
I added a couple of things that weren't in the pattern; namely a thumb hole, which seems to be a necessity, and ribbing at the pocket and hood/neckline.
For a kid who said "I probably won't be wearing this much, I haven't been able to get it off him to go get it cleaned!

I VOW TO FINISH THIS SWEATER!

Yeah, my husband's heard this before. I know I've said that a million - no - bazillion - times before. But I mean it this time! Yes, I've been working on it for over a year now. Yes, I've put it down and picked it up at least 5 times through out the year.
It's the sleeves. I've reworked the sleeves - oh, I don't know - maybe 3 or 4 times.
I've finally landed on the real problem. Any real knitter would have figured this in on day one, but I never said I was a real knitter. The problem is not the stitch gauge, it's the row gauge. My #5 needle is perfect for stitches per inch, but too tiny for the rows per inch. With this needle, my sleeves are too wide and too short. Common problem, I'm sure, but not for an idiot like this one. I . . . think . . . I've got the problem worked out (on paper and in my head) so pray for the Mister that he'll get his 2007 Christmas present in 2008.

The Knewest Knit

Well, as usual I can't knit just one project, but many, many projects! There have been hats, pillows, mini-bags, a felted bag, socks, and some things only because I loved the yarn. And I know I"m committed to more: mittens, another baby bottle. I'm vowing right now to finish a sweater soon - no firm deadline though - for my husband. But I suppose the project that has taken the most time and thought process is this bag, called the "Lucy Bag". Essentially, it's quite simple and plain really, so I felt inclined to add to it. I thought leaves vining up the handle might look good. I've been quite busy putting together
a new window display for Wild Purls, and had come up with the idea of growing an apple orchard in the window. The apples required their own embellishments so knitted leaves were created. which led me to believe I could also use these leaves for the Lucy Bag. The bag itself is knit from Lamb's Pride Worsted. This yarn is quickly becoming my favorite for felting. It has a touch of mohair, which lends it some fuzzy appeal. The leaves are knitted from some stash yarn, a Rowan Felted Tweed, in green and purple and done on a size 1 needle.. The leaves are a variety of sizes for a somewhat realistic look and were appliqued on both handles.

Lot's of new little projects!

Wow - I haven't touched my blog for over a month  - Lots of things happening - My mom went into the hospital with double pneumonia - she was there for over a week and we weren't really sure what was going on, but she's finally home! She must be doing better cuz she just had to go get her nails done! 

Maddie came home twice! We knew she was coming the first time, but she totally surprised us the second time. Her motive was Alice's 18th birthday - Maddie flew in around midnight, just when Alice and her friends were gathered around the firepit. Jim said he's never seen me look so dumbfounded when Maddie walked into the house. And when Alice realized her sister was home, she lost it and turned into a blubbering idiot! Maddie stayed 5 days - her job and school and  real life in Seattle was calling. We had so much fun.

Knit-wise: I've been knitting up storm - when don't I? 

I needed to get started on class projects - I taught 3 classes this summer - The beanie class was especially good, I guess because it's a beginner class and it teaches a few basic techniques which will be used in many other projects - knitting in the round, decreasing, changing or adding another color, and moving to double points. 

I also taught a beret class, which went much better when we split it into 2 classes, instead of 1  four hour class. We needed to master two important techniques: provisional (or invisible) cast-on, and short rows before moving on to the 3 needle bind-off. The break between the two classes let the students get comfortable with recognizing the wrap and turns of the short rows. This beret is a good learning as well as a creative project, since the size and feel of the hat can vary widely depending on the needle and yarn choice. 

My final class of the summer was the Rusched Pillow class. This was incredibly easy - the pattern is "Penelope's Pillow" from the book "Knitters Stash". The August class went especially good, since the gals taking it were visual people and could see the expansive possiblities. One gal is making the pillow, one is making it into a shawl, and the other an afghan. Mine morphed from a pillow to a scarf back to a pillow, but much different than the first. The front will remain pretty much the same, but different colors and the flipside will take on a totally different vision. I'll be using the same colors but it will be a fair isle pattern. If I get it done, it will be fabulous!

I also knit 3 little bags, two of them are an evening-size bag and one is more wallet sized. The pattern is the "Pleated Denim Bag" out of the Fall 08 Knitscene and a book called "Boutique Knits".  I used totally different yarns in all of them.
The wallet-sized one is out of Pagewood Sock Yarns, one is Ella Rae Shibu, and the other is a mix of Rowan Felted Tweed, Mountain Colors Barefoot and a metallic mohair. I went to the bead store and took a class and constructed a necklace that could be use as a handle for this last one.

Currently I'm working on the "Lucy Bag" for a class this fall, and I'll be teaching the Target Wave Mitten, by Norah Gaugan. I still have to work on Jim's sweater - Eeerrrggg! I feel like I'll never finish that!