Thursday throwback

April 24, 2024 

After returning from the knitting tour in Ireland last October, I finished the headbands from the Inis Mór workshop with Una McDonagh. In the morning before our workshop, we bussed to the visitor center and then hiked to Dún Aonghasa, an ancient stone fort, which is over 3,000 years old. On the way to the fort we stopped at Teampall Mac Duach (the Church of St. Mac Duach), an early 9th century (?) church dedicated to St Colmán Mac Duach.

 It was appropriately foggy and misty on the hike to Dún Aonghasa.

Teampall Mac Duach

After our hike, we took time to do some shopping in the village shops.

Knitting workshop after lunch.

Aran Headband with Chain Link Cable Stitch by Mairéad Sharry and Una McDonagh

Inis Oírr Stone Walled Garden Ear Warmer  (snail's trail cable) by Úna McDonagh

Knit knit knit...size 6 = size 1

 05.09.22 Now that summer is waning, I am back to teaching classes.  The Ranunculus 2 was finished around the end of July. The process was much faster the second time thanks to my Ravelry notes.  This is a new addition to my Pick A Sweater Class at beWoolen.  The color is unusual, reminding me of the stormy sea color of Léttlopi I used for my April sweater and it has the color bits like the Ranunculus shop sample at BW.  Truthfully, I did not see the attraction of knitting this sweater until I finished the sample.  Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn is lovely and my knitting a size 6 to get the measurements of the size 1 worked beautifully.  It is a good lesson about using knitting gauge, sizing and some craft math to make it all work.  

After the yoke, it's smooth sailing

A go-with-everything sweater ❤️

R2

 11.07.22

R2 stands for Ranunculus 2.  Yes, I got sucked into the Ranunculus vortex!  Of course, this one is progressing quickly because of my previous notes.  The sample ticked all the boxes with the tweedy bits of the Noro Silk Garden Sock Solo yarn and the perfect fit.  I love when a plan comes together.  The second version is one I can wear now.  The yarn is the same except for the base color.  It was a pleasant surprise to see some warm brown in the yarn as the yoke progressed yesterday.  

The tweedy bits are so beautiful against the dark base color of the yarn
 

Deck knitting with Gus before the rain

Seeing green 💚

In time for St. Patrick's Day, I present a FO in gorgeous green💚!  A week ago I finished The Cranberry Gose top, a sample knit and one of the choices for the Pick-a-Sweater class at beWoolen.  The yarn, WYS Fleece BFL, has the starring role of this project and made knitting a joy!  The knitted fabric has a soft hand and the color, Fellside, reminds me of the hills and mountains of Ireland and Scotland.  Wet blocking the front and back pieces improved the fabric by measuring carefully (using the schematic) and pinning the pieces to size.  After air drying, I used duplicate stitch to join the shoulders, lining up the texture stitches.  Seaming with mattress stitching at the sides made a tidy finish.

The pattern instructions are straightforward.  Taking time to plan ahead for the texture stitching at the neck and shoulder areas is helpful.  I used German short rows and placed six markers for the initial shaping so I could see where to stop the texture and just use stockinette stitching.  The back and front texture work should mirror each other when finished.  Shaping the front and back at the same time (so to speak) on separate needles also helped.  I tend to knit while watching TV, so those markers keep me on track.  The designer confesses to be confused by the right and left side before beginning the shoulder shaping.  The right side is as the sweater is worn and the knitting universe is correct.  The second size has the right amount of ease and I like the funnel neck, which is about 6.5".  There is enough length to flip the neck down for a turtleneck.  

Tidy mattress stitch side seam.

On the loom and on (and off) the needles

20.04.2021 Only one of my looms (the small Good Wood) is empty at this time.  Recently, I re-warped the tapestry loom and made new string heddles for it...only because I could not locate the other heddles.  I lost one warp thread in the process.  My current read is Rebecca Mezoff's book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving: A Complete Guide to Mastering the Techniques for Making Images with Yarn.  It is a good book with plenty of photos and well-written instruction for self-guided learning.  

Sampling on the little loom.

Schacht Tapestry Loom, cotton warp approximately six-inches wide.

A couple Saturdays ago Louie and I into the shop and I plied a full bobbin of Jacob yarn from roving purchased years ago at Shepherd's Harvest Festival.  It will be helpful to have more Jacob if needed for a knitting project in the planning stage.

My office (using the term loosely) is a bit cramped, so it was time to reclaim yarn, needles and markers from a couple of UFOs.  The blue Gansey is frogged along with the Eid Top.  I would get more wear out of a blue cardigan and keep the Eid Top's yarn and repurpose into another colorwork vest.  

Looking pretty good.

I love the yarn colors, yarn type and the pattern, but
sometimes one just cannot get into the groove with a project.

It was the end of the road for this Gansey.

Needles and markers reclaimed from the depths of the knitting bags.

I finished a shop sample for beWoolen using the beautiful Tahki Donegal Tweed yarn.  The pattern is Strange Brew from Tin Can Knits using Aran weight yarn, top-down construction with short rows at the back, and extra colorwork at the cuffs and bottom.  This was such a fun knitting project and the class is going well with all the lovely sweaters in progress.  Next will be a cardigan version...steek!

Happy knitting!

Tweedy bits love

13.01.2021 

 I love rustic tweedy yarn.  This past year I have been enjoying using handspun and commercial  tweed yarns for my projects.  The bits of color add texture and interest when viewed up close,  and blend optically at a  distance.  

Small tapestry weaving in progress

 

It was a happy day when beWoolen yarn shop stocked Tahki Donegal Tweed.  The perfect project to highlight the lovely yarn was Doocot, by Kate Davies.  The pattern calls for DK weight yarn (11 WPI).  This yarn is Aran weight (8 WPI).  WPI means wraps per inch, a way to determine the thickness of yarn,  something I did not know about until I learned to spin.  It is also helpful to measure the WPI when a commercial yarn label is missing.  The Craft Yarn Council (a very helpful resource, by the way) has a chart showing the yarn weight system.  

Back to the sweater...to knit the appropriate size for myself, I went up with my needle size and yarn weight and down a pattern size and the numbers and measurements from the pattern were perfect with the correct amount of positive ease.  The only other adjustments I made were to the sleeve decreases, which I did every five rows to the cuff ribbing and to widen the neckband ribbing.  It worked out beautifully.

Tahki Donegal Tweed yarn for a sweater and a mini skein of handspun

Donegal Tweed, Fossil colorway

It helps to have a knitting buddy in the camper.  We were staying at Itasca State Park when the yurt was unveiled in Bemidji

There was enough leftover yarn for a pair of mittens

My second sweater with Donegal Tweed is Dacite.  I knit one for a yarn shop sample in 2014 and then taught a class.  I received an update to the pattern through Ravelry.  Carol Feller, the designer, updated the pattern with extended sizing.  It was a good opportunity to knit this sweater again and teach a class. The pattern is well-written and fun to knit, as there are lots of fun knitting techniques throughout.  In my excitement to take the sample to beWoolen, I did not snap a photo of the sweater when it was done blocking and the buttons added at the neck.   

Hot off the needles

The back has a natural dip (no short rows) because it and the sleeves are worked in stockinette stitch.

The barn sweater and some spinning

13.02.2020

The barn sweater is named for the lovely red color of the yarn, which came to my stash in a round about way.  The original color of the wool cone yarn was tan and part of a stash, which ended up at Anoka Fiber Works after a yarn swap event years ago.  Mary, the shop owner, gave it to Linda, who dyed the yarn red and proceeded to knit a swatch for a sweater project.  The yarn was (and still is) not next-to-the-skin soft, the project was abandoned, and the remaining yarn was left at the shop with Mary.  Mary and I were having a chat about yarn, particularly sheep's wool and that not all knitting yarn needs to be soft to be useful in garments.  The bag of yarn ended up with me and the well-worn copy of Knitting Pure & Simple V-Neck Neckdown Cardigan For Women #994, was the logical choice for the project.

I added length to the bottom back with short rows and then knitted two by two ribbing at the cuffs, bottom, and the neck.  Seven light-color wood buttons from the button jar looked very nice with the red.  The fit is oversized, comfortable, and given the freeze and thaw of winter weather up here, the sweater works as a warm layer under a jacket or as an outer layer on the warmer days.  Either way, I wear a long sleeve shirt or turtleneck underneath and have no issues with scratchiness.  It is meant to be a working sweater, just like the well-worn garments I used to see hanging by a door on family farms many moons ago.

15 days pass...I love the sweater and have worn it often.  Yesterday, it was a great jacket!

Now, an update on another project!  I've been hand-carding and mixing colors for a small tapestry project using Lincoln Longwool from Snake River Acres and dyed wool from Ireland.  Carding the  the Longwool with the dyed wool makes drafting and spinning a smooth process.   The colors look so pretty lined up in the natural light near my easel.  I have a general idea of what to weave, but when a new idea pops into my head, I thank goodness for the notes feature and the iPencil with the iPad.

The weather is warming and the days are getting longer.  Spring is fast approaching and I have upcoming classes on the schedule at Anoka Fiber Works and BeWoolen.  The newsletter for AFW is released on the first of every month.  I'm excited about teaching a yoked sweater class at BeWoolen because the shop just got the first delivery of Lett Lopi yarn this week!  My classes at AFW include Stranded Colorwork, Yorkshire Buttons, and First Socks, a new class.

Making progress!

January brings the snow;
Makes our feet and fingers glow.
Sara Coleridge

16.01.2020 Today is sunny, -4 degrees F, and feels like -15 

January has been a productive month thus far.  The fabric I was weaving at the shop is now off the loom, washed, and steamed.  Checking the pattern/recipe for the Sarah-Dippity skirt by Sarah Swett, I  am pleased to know the fabric will work well for the project.

The fabric is 12-inches wide and 2.72 yards long

My palette of colors is getting larger.  Each color is a rolag's worth and just enough for a sampling.

Carding and spinning a palette of colors for a small weaving project.  Dyed wool from Kerry Woollen Mill

Progress is being made in the room by organizing the WIPs, UFOs, stitching, weaving, and knitting goods so things are easier to find.  Storing unspun fiber in tubs is the best solution because I can see the fiber through the translucent tub.  The downside is the tubs take up quite a bit of space in the small room.  The closet is where I store my art supplies, it is well-organized and out of sight until I need something.  The fiber and everything that goes with it takes up a lot of room and is distracting when I sit at the drafting table or the computer.  I have confidence that things will be much better soon.  No photos yet!

Meanwhile, there are plenty of small projects to keep me busy when I want to do some social knitting.

Boot cuffs are quick-to-knit projects and they are nice and warm.

I finally pulled out the 21-colors of Blue Sky Woolstock mini-skeins for a project, which will most likely be a hat.

Sample knitting for an upcoming class

One of my favorite sweaters is Aranmor by Alice Starmore.  Knitted in 2011, it was a joyful knitting project not only for the lovely cables and texture stitching, but the yarn was (and still is) just beautiful.  Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran, has been discontinued since I was in the finishing stage of my project.  I calculated the yardage for my sweater (I thought correctly) but ran out of yarn at the collar.  Thankfully, an online shop had three skeins of shade 025, which I bought even though only one skein was needed.  Since finishing the sweater, it became my go-to travel sweater and the only thing about it that irked me was the collar.  The decorative twisted stitch section after the ribbing rides up.  Not a terrible thing to happen, but I am not above changing neckbands and collars on sweaters multiple times.  It was not difficult to find the yarn end and then frog back to the ribbing.  Adding a turning ridge would fix the issue.  One row, not enough...two rows, meh...three rows, it will work.  

Knitting the twisted stitch section on the wrong side of the collar, the purl rows above the ribbing create a fold.

Stay warm!

Fiber Friday

Since we added Gus to the family my home work has been spotty.  Because he likes all things fiber,  I have to be mindful of where I leave my knitting and such.  When he arrived (I didn't have much time to puppy-proof the house) and after the mitten incident, I tossed the tempting things into my room or the extra bedroom.  I was in the process of reorganizing and the extra stuff I tossed in the room only exacerbated the already messy workroom.  Now I am back at it, cleaning and sorting yarn for knitting and yarns that can be used for weaving.  The art materials have always been well-organized.  I can easily find what I need and the paint boxes are set up for oil painting and acrylic painting on grab-and-go plein air painting days.  Fiber, on the other hand just seems to explode because it is bulky and fluffy in its unspun state.  Once it is spun into yarn it is easier to store.   With this being spring shearing, and Shepherd's Harvest Festival (Mother's Day weekend) the temptation to acquire more fleece is ever-present.  It is humorous, or not, that I was a project-to-project knitter with only leftover yarn in my stash until I learned  how to spin over twenty years ago.

Last weekend was productive starting with Saturday spin in at Anoka Fiber Works.
On Sunday, I found a small bag of colorful wool batts from Ewespun Fiber Mill
and began to spin them for a future project.  The green wool has silk noil nubbles, which I just love.
 It was nice to spin at home with Gus napping in the same room.  

We had our first plein air session last Thursday at the Round Barn in Andover.  It was not rainy, but chilly and windy in the morning.  I was painting with acrylic this time and I much prefer oils for outdoor painting because of the long drying time.  I managed to get a sketch of the barn and will have to work on it at home because my hands were cold and fingers were getting stiff. 

After the painting session, we had a tour of the Farmstead, a senior living facility next door,  to get inspiration for murals we will soon be painting.  

Morning

Early afternoon

The Round Barn's owner has a pet goat, Delilah.
 She is a cute little goat and wears a diaper when she is in the shop.
They have to watch her closely because (being a goat) she love to eat
anything and everything.  

It started with a conversation...

It started with a conversation about a year ago while sitting at the table with friends Mary and Kathryn at Anoka Fiber Works.  We have the best conversations around the table while enjoying our tea.

The conversation involved knitting a sweater without a written pattern.  Not a new concept, but we thought about the process of creating a sweater, slowing down, and being mindful about our knitting.  Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts (Interweave Press, 1985) was the perfect book for inspiration.   I used the garter stitch split hem from The Basic Blouse and The Basic Gansey for the rest of the sweater.   It was easy to look through my books and sketching ideas on my Boogie Board.  Choosing the yarn was another matter.  Keeping in mind the function of the sweater, Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool was the perfect choice for my camping/hiking/working sweater.  The price point of the yarn was great and using a couple of JoAnn, Etc coupons, the purchase was even more attractive.  Fisherman's Wool is 100% wool, it comes in eight-ounce/465-yard skeins, it is worsted weight, and hand-washable.  The skeins of Oatmeal Heather felt softer than the skeins of Brown Heather and the light-color skeins were the same dye lot.

Sweater design elements from one book and a stitch pattern from another book.  I searched through many stitch dictionaries before settling on a simple Ridged Rib.  The pattern is a multiple of 2 + 1 stitches and a four-row repeat.

I found some inspiration from some of the books in my personal library.  The book second from the bottom is the first knitting book I purchased after returning to Germany.  The Encyclopedia of Knitting, by Pam Dawson, Orbis Publishing Limited, London 1984, was (and is) one of my favorite reference books for knitting techniques.

My Gansey sweater in progress.  Two purl stitches at each side, the underarm gusset and the Ridged Rib stitching at the chest.  There will be Ridged Rib stitching on the sleeves at the upper arm above the elbow.

The underarm gusset stitches are on a holder.  The front and back are knit separately.  

The Lett Lopi Flock, my name for it, (Ápril) pullover is finished.  It was started before the Gansey sweater and the mindless knitting until the yoke was a good take-along project.  There were a few bumps when I started the sheep bodies' section.  I made some chart corrections (purl and color, not stitch count) and now I must wait for cooler weather to wear it, sigh...

Markers placed  every twelve stitches to keep the sheep in order.

I ended up frogging to the top of the brown zigzag and re-working that section of the yoke.

The blocked Flock, ready to wear.  

December

November ended and December began on a warmish note.  Now the cold has kicked in and we have a light coating of snow.  We ended up cutting the tree down early (the day after Thanksgiving) and I decorated it by December 1.  This is the earliest we ever put up the tree because the first couple of weeks are busy, which is good because I came down with a virus almost a week ago.  I'm still fighting  it, but at least feel well enough to do handwork.

Photo from the Turkey Day 5K.  Our turkey hats from a couple of years ago were passengers in our backpacks for the run.

The loom in my studio space is finally warped and I got the header and one repeat done before the virus kicked in.  The finished size will be 30" wide by 5 yards long, using my favorite Harrisville Shetland in Russet and Walnut for the warp and Loden Blue for the weft.  The pattern is from A Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite P. Davison (1975 revised edition), on page 14 it is John Murphy's Bird's Eye No. 57/VIII.

Threading the heddles in a pattern--2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3.

Sleying the reed, things are nicely lined up.

The weft yarn will be pretty with the warp!

At this point, Kathryn helped me wind forward and then back to make sure everything is nice and even.  At that point,
I re-tied and snipped the excess ends.  

Four rows of carpet warp and then four rows of plain weave before launching into the pattern.

I revisited the ornament pattern and adjusted the charts, increases, and decreases.  
A great project to use up bits and bobs of  wool yarn.

Knitting gifts for Jim and Ben...

...and making something for Andi.  The pattern is the same one my mother used for the Girl Scouts when I was a little girl.  I found a copy of the book a few years back.  It's a nice little needle case.

Jim's sock are finished!

On a morning walk, I noticed the ducks were having a last paddle around the pond before flying south for the winter.

It was a gorgeous day after Thanksgiving.  You can see there were some unusual trees this year!  I prefer natural green.  The other trees had a Dr. Seuss look to them.

Our little tree.