Things on my Mind

Here's how the Snowflake sweater is looking tonight:

I got through the colourwork on the first sleeve,

(it was a bit of a slog, but perseverance came through for the win)

and have gotten a good start on the second sleeve:

When I tried it on to test the fit (and take pictures), the sleeves felt more snug than the body of the sweater. I know that the sleeves are tighter now than they will be after blocking because of the colourwork, so I trust it will all work out. I mean when has a gauge swatch ever lied? (ha ha--nervous laughter)

The other project I've been working on has hit a crisis of indecision. Or maybe I should say crisis of changed-my-mind.

I've been working on this blue and green scarf and really love the colors and the look of the brioche stitch. BUT I've come to the realization that the person I'm making it for doesn't wear long scarves.

My original idea was to add some subtle shaping so that the scarf would also work as a hat in a pinch. I figured it would make it an easy accessory to grab and use for whatever the weather threw at you.

But I went a little crazy, maybe, and the first half of the scarf hangs practically to my knees. I wanted enough length to make sure there was enough to wrap around your neck, but I'm realizing it's just too long.

So now I don't know what to do. I love the yarn; it's perfect. But what to make for someone who really doesn't use hats, mitts, or scarves? Do I press on just because it's pretty? Pretty, but useless--is that really what I want to give as a gift? (Well, that sums up a lot of things sold as "gifts," if you ask me, but I still don't like it.)

On the bright side, I've gotten pretty good at a two-colour brioche stitch. (That's not really making me feel much better though. I wouldn't mind taking out this scarf if I had a good idea of what to do instead. As it is, I'm just frustrated. Sounds like it's time for a time out for this scarf.)

The other thing I've been doing the last few days is working on my raveled sweater stash. It's part of a recently renewed process of decluttering around here. Instead of just putting it in a closet and doing stuff that maybe I "should" be doing (like knitting a sweater which needs to get done), it "had" to be dealt with. So I tore apart sweaters, raveled the yarn, balled it up and labeled it. There were also three sweaters I decided I would never do anything with or didn't need (like the third red cotton one) and so I donated them back.

(In the following pictures, the real colour is usually closer to the one the right, if you're curious.)

307 grams of wool/angora/nylon blend:

I wore this last winter and it was ok, but I was done with it and the neckline never was very comfortable.

219 grams of cotton:

I wore this for the summer since "tangerine tango" was picked as the colour for 2012. It didn't quite fit right, so I didn't mind raveling it. It's a lovely colour and probably still will be in 2013 (or whenever I use it). ;)

517 grams of off-white cotton:

Is there dying in my future? Who knows...but if there is, I'll be ready with this on hand!

425 grams of red cotton:

(Check out the details on those sleeves!)

441 grams of bright pink cotton:


314 grams of a silk/rayon mix:

What a hideous style this sweater was. The yarn, however, is a really nice warm wheat colour; not too yellow and lovely. And silk...I'm a sucker for silk.

350 grams of a wool/acrylic blend:

Normally I wouldn't do acrylic, but this blend is washable and a lovely soft pink. It'll be good for a baby or child item.

285 grams of silk:

It's hard to photograph the colour, but it's a really nice teal.

So it's all rolled into cakes, wrapped up and stored away. And no more piles of sweaters in my living room!

I really don't know what I'm going to do with all that cotton--I don't use it that much besides the dish clothes that I make while walking (which hasn't been happening all that often). But it's all I've been finding to ravel and the colours are very seductive.

With this project off my mind, perhaps I'll get to some of the other stuff that needs to be done!

More on the "Little Projects"

I will update you on the commission sweater soon, but meanwhile what else have I been doing?

I started some plain socks from the yarn I purchased in the U.P. As planned, I am doing them two-at-a-time.

I went ahead and bought a long Addi Turbo cable needle in the size I've done my last few socks in. I couldn't use my interchangeable cable set because the needles don't come that small in my set, none of the cables are long enough, and the cable join isn't nearly smooth enough. Plenty enough reason to buy a new needle! :)

I've been enjoying the needles and the "magic loop" method isn't bad either.

I was disappointed that the colours are just knitting into regular variegated stripes instead of the agate look that the wool label promised. Then I looked at the picture again:

The feet on these socks are just regular stripes too. There's hope for my "agate" socks yet.

Usually this would be a perfect project for taking out with me: simple, small, and no loose needles to lose. But instead of winding two balls from the two strands on the roll (which is a bit of a pain by yourself), I set it up so that the roll can spin and I can work on the strands at the same time.

No re-winding necessary! It's been working really well. And even if it's not quite as portable, I take it out with me anyway. They didn't wrap the yarn perfectly so although I had the two strands lining up perfectly for a while, a couple of double wraps of the yarn have made them slightly misaligned. That's alright though; it's close enough. And I still think it's fun to work them two-at-a-time.

I did quite a bit of work on these as I waited on word back from my sweater guy on the redesign we had to do. Now that that project is up and going again, I have put these to the side.

Another project that has been going like gang-busters is a brioche scarf. Last time I talked about it, it looked like this:

It was using too much yarn, so I started over with fewer stitches, larger needles and two colours. It's going really well. Here's the "blue side" where you can see the original yarn:

and here is the "green side" with the new green yarn:

It is a wool/cashmere blend and much softer than the 100% wool variegated yarn. I figure the nice soft cashmere can be worn against the skin, and that will leave the pretty blue wool to show on the outside. Should be very nice.

With the changes, it now looks like I will have plenty of yarn. I haven't even knit up all of the blue that I had to frog back and the scarf is about 22 inches long. No more worries there.

The brioche stitch was a little bit of a slow start. There are two main ways to do it--one with yarn overs, the other by knitting in the stitch below--and I had previously done it knitting into the stitch below. I got Nancy Marchant's brioche guide book from the library to read through. It is pretty much the bible of brioche stitch and she teaches the yarn over method so I thought I would give that a go.

I soon discovered that knitting continental is the way to go with all the moving of the yarn from front to back. Here let me show you the difference:


So the only thing I don't like about it is that I have to watch my knitting because it is done continental style (it's still not "automatic" for me) and because of all the yarn overs I have to make sure I catch. Other than that, I wish I could work on it all the time!! It's very compelling.

PS: If you want to see that Norwegian purl better, I did specific post about it (with video) here.

AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids

Today I zipped up to Grand Rapids for the AQS's first show there. I knew I wouldn't have time for classes, etc., as I did when I went to the show in Des Moines, but I thought it would be worth a trip just for the exhibit hall.

There were a lot of quilts to be seen. I can't show you any of them. Photography is allowed, but putting them online is not. So if you want to see them, you'll have to visit me and ask.

Besides the usual stunners in the usual categories, they also had a show by tent makers of Cairo. The quilts were unbelievable works of precision applique. Most of the quilts looked like big works of mosaic tile designs, a lot in blues and whites. They were incredible. One thing that surprised me was how far apart their applique stitches were. Makes me think the rule I've heard of a 1/4" is too demanding. Maybe I'll relax it on whatever I might next applique!

I also really enjoyed an exhibit of quilts from 50 award winning Japanese quilters. I am quite enthralled by the Japanese aesthetic. I don't find it easy to incorporate into my own work, but I love to look at it and study it.

In addition to seeing the exhibited quilts, I went to a lecture by Sue Nickels where she talked about her collaboration with her sister, Pat Holly. They have worked on a number of wonderful quilts, including probably their most well known, the Beatles quilt. As if the front of the quilt wasn't enough, they hand wrote the lyrics to every Beatles song on the back of the quilt!

My version of the Hawaiian Star (still waiting for quilting).

Oh, one more thing before I go on to things I can show you pictures of. I was very interested to see versions of Judy Neimeyer's pattern that I have done, the Hawaiian Star, and her similar Dragon Star pattern hanging at the show. A version of the Hawaiian Star was at the Des Moines show as well, which was the same year I did the quilt. Apparently it is still a popular pattern to do.

The one in the Grand Rapids show played with the colours so that there was more unity to the quilt. (Although I changed what colours were used, I positioned them exactly as prescribed by the pattern.)

Ok, so what can I show you? What I bought, of course!

First some fat quarters:

Nothing too exciting there, except the red ones on the right will be going to my sister who is doing a "sister's choice" quilt (wall hanging, I believe). She has asked all four of us to send her two fabrics which she will use in blocks with fabrics she has picked out. It will be fun to see what comes of it! I have no plans for the other two fabrics; they were nice and finished out the "4 for $" price.

Second, I bought an Asian or Asian inspired fabric.

The price was good; I loved the orange; and I think it may go well with the Asian wall hanging I am thinking about. If not on the front, then as a backing.

Lastly, I stopped at a quilt store on the way home. We saw the billboard from the highway on the way home from the cottage but did not stop. (No way I'm making an 7-hour drive longer.) But today I decided to go for it. The shop was nice and I found this Kaffe Fasset fabric (on sale, no less):

Yup, it's small scale, very busy and pretty bright. I am thinking it will be the perfect binding for the quilt made with these fabrics (which I bought last time I was in Missouri):

I tried to buy a Fassett book they had on quilts as well, but their only copy had a torn dust jacket. When they said that was the only copy, they offered a discount of 10% ($3.50). I don't think so. Don't you think a damaged dust cover is worth more than that? It was a big noticeable rip. Anyway, I'll go look on half.com or something. (But LYS owners should realize, I tried!)

Then the side trip took a worse turn as I tried to get back on the highway. There was construction and a bridge was closed and I ended up driving circles in town looking for the detour. (GPS, which I deigned to take along, was no help as it kept telling me to turn where the road was now a sand pile.) The detour took me east (away from the highway), then north (when I wanted to go south), then back to the highway. That's when I learned that there was only a north-bound ramp and no access to the highway south bound!! The detour continued further west (away from the highway on the other side now), then south again, and then finally back to the highway. I was beginning to regret my little spontaneous adventure!

And what was I knitting through the day, as I had a chance? I've been working on a scarf in brioche stitch, something I haven't tried before. It looks like a loose ribbing and acts like a double-sided fabric. Let's see if you can see in it the following two samples (ignoring the top few inches for now):

Look closely at the two pictures and you can see that the two sides are not identical. Follow the bottom green stripe on one, and you can see that the same area is blue on the other. There are two things to note: not only is the fabric reversible and different on the two sides, the brioche stitch also causes the colours of a variegated yarn to fall in such a way that you get these long wavy stripes.

Compare the two colour patterns in the picture below:

The bottom is the brioche stitch with the long full-width stripes. But the couple of inches just below the needle is regular rib. You can see that the colours sort of start a pattern, but the stripes of green or blue are relatively short and the colours are spread out in smaller chunks. I can't say exactly why Brioche brings more of a colour together at once, but I sure like the effect.

In the big picture, however, I am going to have to tear this all out. It's been a good practice at brioche stitch, but the part I had done took about 25 grams, and I only have about 125 in total. That would make for a very short scarf! (Brioche does tend to soak up the yarn as it's thicker (front to back) than most other stitches.) There's no more of this yarn at the store (I can't even remember exactly what it is), so I am thinking of getting a second colour. Then I would knit a two-colour brioche and you would get this colour on one side and the new colour on the other. I'm excited to try it.