a leap of faith.

Learning how to knit has opened up a whole new world of creations, people and expression. Part of my love for ravelry is that at any given moment we can peruse through the millions of galleries of projects and find inspiration in other people’s finished creations. I have long wanted to knit an Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater, namely the seamless yoke out of Knitting Without Tears. Cruising through the projects pages of the EPS sweater I found this sweater. Immediately I thought, I have to knit something like that. 

This is the body thus far. The sleeves are finished and waiting to be added to the body (after 1.75” more of knitting, which I hope to complete tonight). I will type up my notes at some point but I would like to finish the cardigan prior to sharing them. I am knitting back-and-forth rather than steeking mostly because I am having difficulty with my right wrist and need to rest it with alternating knit and purl rows rather than all of one or the other. I am knitting on 3.00mm circulars and knit the sleeves on three 3.00mm DPNs. I will share more when I am a little further along! Wish me luck as this is my first sweater that I am “designing” on my own. . .

-r.

cleaning out.

I always said I would never have a stash. I was so naive. I will always have a stash. However, that doesn’t mean I will let it fester and grow. I have been making a real effort to knit through most of my project-quantity stash and use stuff up this Fall. I had originally said I wouldn’t buy anything till it was all gone but that didn’t happen. I did, however, manage to use up some more Cascade 220 with this wonderful, simple and effective toque: Piper by Christa Giles.

There isn’t much to say about it although I was a little worried about the drape while I was knitting as I had seen some that unfortunately hadn’t worked out. The reason this bothered me is because the few people who’s toques I had seen that hadn’t worked were people that usually get good results – so I was bothered! I had swatched for Cascade on 5.00mm months ago and knew that I was at gauge so I didn’t bother doing another swatch, I just cast on for the 20” toque. I will definitely make this pattern again. It was so fast.

Something that I am adding to my list of “Things to do in the New Year” is learning how to do nice short rows when knitting in the round. There are some online tutorials and I know Knitty has done some articles. That is something I would like to perfect because this is three projects now that I am satisfied but not happy with the short rows in the round. Back-and-forth – No Problem. Circular – not so much.

So I now have two toques for this winter and I am stoked! The colourways for the Cascade 220 are: Cascade 220 Heathers 2441 (tan) and Cascade 220 Wool 9404 (red). I used about 0.5 a skein of the tan and about 0.2 of the red. Go go stash-busting!

-r.

turn-a-green-square-in-blue

This is the second Christmas that my brother has asked me for a toque. Last Christmas, he just asked for a toque. This year, however, he was pretty specific. “Can I have the same one as last year, just new?” No problem. Jared Flood’s Turn-a-Square is a great pattern and it knits up quickly. Because my brother has a small head, both years I downsized the pattern by using a full needle size smaller. The ribbing is on a 3.00mm 16” circular and the toque itself is knit on 4.00mm 16” circular. I think next year I won’t actually do the increases after the ribbing – my brother’s head is just not big enough to need them. The cast-on number of stitches are perfect for the size needed for him – I’ll try that next year.

The Noro Silk Garden is the same ball as last year but that’s the beauty of Noro – because the first row of colour picks up right where the other one left off, the colour changed right away (you can see the first row of blue in this toque) and – LO! - I ended up a green toque. Very green. Thankfully, my brother loves green. The solid colour is Cascade 220 wool in navy blue. It’s a very dark colour of navy and almost looks black, but it’s not. I really like it and the toque that I knit for my father-in-law is out of the rest of the skein (I got both toques out of the one skein).

Mistakenly, I didn’t do 3 rows of solid and 2 rows of Noro until the crown. I totally forgot. So it ended up being quite green being 2:2 rows of solid:noro - and bright. But I still like it. When dear husband and I were out on our walk yesterday and I was photographing, the colours look great. For blocking, I pinned the 4 corner crowns to my blocking mats and let it dry. It worked well because the square is quite nicely defined compared to the one I knit for my brother last year.

Did I mention that I was photographing yesterday? December 16th. Yup – Vancouver is still bright green and although the trees are naked (except the evergreens in the background), it looks like Fall. Hope the weather where you are is treating you nicely too!

-r.

safari.

For my birthday in June, dear hubby bought me some roving from FreckleFaceFibers in California. I love her roving so much but since I hadn’t been able to get my wheel working the way I wanted it to be working, I had put the fibre on hold. Now that I figured out what was wrong, and the wheel is spinning like a dream, I decided to delve into the Safari colourway:

The roving is beautiful to work with. For a first-time, beginning spinner, once I got going, it was not daunting but very very enjoyable. I am very happy with the 2-ply results:

Once I washed and measured, the finished results:

I have a plan for this yarn – the Mitered Mittens by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I have about 26 yards and I purposely spun worsted/aran weight to get the right weight (although I can play with needles to get the right gauge or do some math). Knitting with this yarn is going to be awesome – I can’t wait. So, as soon as I am finished a sweater that is currently on the needles, these mitts are next! 

Sorry for the dark photos. We had our first snowfall yesterday here in Vancouver (very odd) and I didn’t want to go outside to photograph the yarn like I would normally. I have about 6 projects on the dinning room table blocking and waiting to be wrapped for Christmas and I am finishing up one last gift for my father-in-law. Then Christmas knitting is f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d! Hope you are doing well with yours!

-r.

MISTER W-I-L-S-O-N!

This is the first of the Christmas knitting. I have knit for everyone in my family but two (dear husband and my brother). Each of them will receive a hand knit for Christmas but both are receiving … how should I say … simple? projects for Christmas. My brother is being given his requisite Turn-a-Square toque, which he got last year. He has worn it so much this past year it has felted. And he asked for a new one. Of course, I said – not realising how close Christmas really is. Holy Hannah – has this Fall gone quickly. And no, Christmas shopping is not started. Since school has been so heavy, I refuse to feel stressed.

The first present finished for my family is for my father. He is easy to knit for because he generally wears everything I knit for him – including the scarf from last year that I was worried he wouldn’t because up until then, he hadn’t worn scarves. I stumbled across this pattern on ravelry and decided that the book didn’t look half bad. I also really liked the Wilson Hat so I decided to track down the book, which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and did a gauge swatch. Ha. And I thought, with pattern and yarn in hand, this project would be easy!

 

After finishing my gauge swatch (I have turned over a new leaf, I am swatching for everything – and washing it prior to casting on, too!), I realized this: Thank goodness I hadn’t cast on right away and started knitting because my toque would have fit a sasquatch. No kidding. My gauge was totally different using 5.00mm circs. I ended up with a gauge of 18 sts = 4in over the toque’s stitch pattern, so I cast on 90 sts, which meant that after the ribbing, I would have 15 repeats of the cable pattern.

To clarify: my gauge gave me 1 repeat per 1.5 inches so that’s how I figured out how to get an 18” toque, which if the gauge was right for the pattern, the pattern’s stitch repeat would give you an 18” toque if the gauge was right. I think it’s more of a DK weight that’s needed for this pattern, not the worsted or aran like the Peruvia (I’m not sure though, just guessing – going down significantly in needle size would give you gauge obviously but then the knitting would be really tight). I did the decreases the same just taking into account I had a different stitch count, so I didn’t count my stitches or anything, I just decreased with faith it would work out ~ and it did!

Lastly, the toque is still very loose. My dad had asked for “a loose fitting, turned-up brim for the cold days – you know I feel the cold more now” when I talked to him back at Thanksgiving {yes, I always talk to loved ones about what they want because I want to knit something they will use – unless they drop hints, then I just go ahead}.

What do I mean by loose. I mean this:

• the cable ends up working like a rib so it stretches a lot more than I initially thought
• even with my gauge, the 18” toque is more like 24” (which is good because my dad’s head is 25” around)
• the photos here look “normal” on dear husband – his head is approx. 21” but do not be fooled – it’s HUGE on him (we folded the brim an additional 0.5-1” to take the photos. There is actually a lot of cable hiding under the brim!)

I really liked making this because it was fast and once the gauge issues worked themselves out, it was fun. I would make it again in the same yarn, doing exactly the same thing for the same results.

So, through the comedy of errors  that was this toque (Dennis the Menace and Mr. Wilson style!), I really enjoyed knitting it and am excited to see it be used. Now all we need is snow …

things to say …

There are so many things that I want to share but I haven’t because I really want this blog to remain my knitting blog. Part of the reason that I abandoned my last blog was because there were things there that were not knitting (and spinning). Upon reflection, I wanted to create a place that I could come just to share knitting and spinning projects. I have ended up suppressing a lot of my ideas because while I like that some people are able to fuse their inspiration and ideas, therefore, creating blogs that encompass more that one thing, I unfortunately can not. For whatever reason, I can not.

Therefore, with much thought and trepidation, I have decided to start a photo journal that I have been wanting to do for a while. It will share my thoughts, ideas and inspirations that may or may not have to do with knitting and spinning but are the things that I come across in daily life that give give me ideas, thoughts, or just plain inspiration and renewal. So, without further adieu:

http://welfordphotojournal.tumblr.com/

This will be my place of inspiration and ongoing creativity, while here, welford p u r l s, will remain my place to dissect and discuss my projects. I am very happy with my decision and will start referencing one and the other, which is the balance I have been trying to strike for a long time.

Thank you for you support and patience as I find my way through blogging, knitting, spinning and general creativity!

texture and teaching moments with wine

I tend to use the same yarns again and again. I also tend to knit the same things again and again. I like comfort. This is all especially true when I am teaching someone else! A very dear friend asked me to knit something with her while we were in Toronto in July 2009. She actually taught me how to knit years ago but with school and other commitments, she has asked me to help her get going again. It’s wonderful to knit side-by-side with her now as we both fly through the balls of yarn and chat and drink wine. I think there’s more wine drinking than anything but it’s wonderful!

So this last time in Toronto, we decided to make the Textured Shawl Recipe together. It taught her how to increase, do a provisional cast-on, and work some patterns other than garter, rib or St st. I bought some Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a new colourway Gneiss. This is one of my favourite yarns out there. I just never get sick of it, the finished product or the colours. I finished my second hank on the plane home halfway through the final pattern repeat and not having started the final garter section. I thought, Well, when we are back at New Years, I’ll get one more hank. THANKFULLY, one of the LYSs brought in Gneiss this Fall, I bought one and finished it so that I can now wear it back at New Years!

I soaked it in eucalan for ~20mins before “blocking” it – I literally just lay it out on the dinning room table to dry. It’s soft and wonderful – doesn’t scratch at all. Eucalan is amazing for that though!

  I knit on 5.5mm circs. While we were flying back I mentioned to dear hubby that maybe I should have gone up to 6.00mm but now that I have been wearing it, I wouldn’t want it any bigger to be honest. It drapes really nicely – I thought it might be stiff but it’s not at all. I did lifted make 1’s for the increases (EZ style) – the results of which are perfect.

This pattern is definitely a favourite. I think I added a few extra garter rows to the end. I did cast off with 6.5mm needles for a slightly stretchier edge, which I am glad I did. Happy Winter!