whispers.

I finished the Whisper Cardigan back in August but since life was a little hectic and busy, I slung it over the back of a chair and left it until we came back from Oregon. I feel that it’s waited long enough for a proper entry and discussion. Firstly, I used different yarn – therefore, a different gauge and a slightly different look. I am very happy with the results but I’ll get to that later.

1. The yarn. I used Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Fine in Prune Mix {colour 1284}. I’m not sure exactly what weight this yarn is but I would hazard a guess (at the risk of being wrong) that it’s Sport/Baby weight. I did a gauge swatch and I wasn’t actually that far off in terms of my needle size and ended up going down to 3.5mm, 2.5mm and 2.0mm for the knitting up. Basically, I went down an entire needle size for the whole thing! Not bad.

2. The fit. The Whisper is really cute just the way it is – and I plan to knit one just like the one in the pictures! However, as I am stash-busting right now and using up everything I have before I buy more, I didn’t want to spend a ton of time on the sleeves as I was unsure how much yarn I would really need. Also, if the fit with the different gauge and needle size didn’t work, why in the tarnation should I spend a bunch of time working on beautiful sleeves when it may get ripped? Right. Short sleeves with ribbing on the end as there wouldn’t be the weight to keep them from curling. I did the same at the bottom of the skirt as the yarn was curling upwards really badly, something (from another experience) I knew wouldn’t be fixed with blocking. I liked the look of the corners curling but not the middle of the back hem!

3. The modifications. Even with the change in yarn and needles, I didn’t actually change that much. I was surprised in the end. I only cast on 72 stitches at the first sleeve and cast off 6 for the armhole rather than 8. I knit across the back 11” and did the same on the other side. I was a little nervous about the gather in the middle but it turned out really well on 2.00mm needles. Picking up for the ribbing … I have no idea how many I actually picked up. I don’t ever count when I am picking up because I figure we all knit a little differently and 30 picked up stitchs might look great in the pattern, but I may need only 25 or as many as 35 for it to look as good! It just depends, so I can’t give a number for that. I can tell you that it was a lot! For the skirt, I did the same thing. I picked up however many looked nice. I continued with the pattern and added 2” to the bottom for a slightly longer skirt.

Overall, I am happy with the fit. I really like the colour. I am happy!

continuing quiet …

We went travelling down the Oregon Coast last week to get away from the city and to camp. Although my wrist is now quite sore (I should know better), I have a lot of knitting to share! Most of it is currently blocking on my new blocking boards and I will share my mods in upcoming posts. It was mostly stash-busting knitting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The drive from Pacific City, Oregon, to Portland to Seattle to Vancouver on Monday proved to complete a sweater, a mitten and finish 1.5 sleeves. Like I said – lots to share! Here are some photos of where we went:

The beaches were mostly deserted by people but highly populated by birds! We also did something completely out of character and rented ATVs in North Bend to explore the sand duns and ended up at the beach:

We did no shopping while away but of course by ‘no shopping’ I mean that we did do a little! In Homespun Quilts in Astoria, Oregon, I found some fabulous fabric (I don’t know what I am so drawn to red right now but I am):

  

In Canon Beach, I think my most favourite things I have found for a while are these:

I’m sorry that the second photo isn’t as good – the owl button is incredibly small and I was using my point-and-shoot rather than the ‘good’ camara (oh so lazy). BUT, let me talk about the Little Owls pattern – it’s quilted by fusing and top stitching but I saw it and just about fell over. I just love this pattern by Barbara Brandeburg. Amazing. I can’t wait to make it – I think my husband thought I had officially gone crazy when he saw it but oh well! I have been quite owl crazy for a while and I thought these would be good additions to my little craft collection of owls.

As I wind down on my summer projects and knitting to get ready to go back to school, I hope everyone else is getting inspired by the changing colours of Fall and pulling out their needles. Happy Fall!

quiet . . .

Although it's been quiet from me for the past couple of weeks, I have actually been quite a busy little knitter. Things have been coming together - however slowly and however many times I need to re-do things. I have been working on the adult Pinwheel Sweater with some Cascade 220 that was lying around with no project to call home. It was meant to be the Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan but it was ill-fated. I love the Tilted Duster pattern but unfortunately it didn't love me. I knit a too-small size but I think eventually I may re-knit this. In the meantime, the heathered-grey (colourway 8401) is being knit into a circular sweater that I am loving.

The pattern is written for the increases to be yarn-overs and to change colours every 18th row. I like the look of just make-one along the back like this one, so I decided to keep it "solid" as well. I also scrapped the colour changes - too crazy for my neutral lovin' wardrobe! The garter stitch rows around the edge look great - I actually can't wait to block it out gently because I love the look of ever-so-slightly stretched garter. It looks so crisp!

I am working up the sleeves right now (use the afterthought heel method found here) but as the sweater is now quite bulky and no so good for bus knitting, I have cast on for the Interweave Knits Fall 2009 ohmygoodnessIhavetoknityou cardigan. More on that to come! We are heading down the Oregon coast for a week so this will be my roadtrip sweater. I am also working away on the Triangle Lace Shawl by Karen Joan Raz that was in Knit.1 this past Fall/Winter 2008. It's slow and I have to be at a table when I am adding the beads: Not so good for planes, trains or automobiles as I found out when we went to Toronto in July. Needless to say, I try to do a repeat/week and it is slowly growing!

Lastly, I am very excited that before we go to Oregon, Mom and I are going to the Gibson's Fibre Festival. I have never been to the festival - I have been told it's quite awesome. We are going to head over on Thursday to miss the Friday/Weekend rush on the ferry. Can't wait!

Hark the Romni, evermore.

We just spent a little over a week in Toronto. While M. was working, I walked the streets of the city with my good friend, Sam. Since we are both knitters, our first stop was Romni Wools (per usual). For those who don't frequent Toronto or know the city, Queen Street is the centre of the "craft" world. There is anything from beading & jewellery, fabric (sewing machine shops too), tattooing, yarn, ceramics ... the list goes on ... and on. But the basement of Romni is infamous!

At the beginning of the year, I made a resolution with myself not to have a stash. It's kind of working. But my rule is that everything I buy must have a project in mind at the time of buying. If I see something and can't think of something to knit with it immediately - it's not bought. I have been on a lace kick lately and when I found these little 50g balls of yarn (and the colours -- oh the colours!) stashed deep in the basement of Romni, I think I swooned.

The little plastic bags covering the yarn may not look like much but when you unwrap them ...

They are like little balls of silk! But they trick you - it's cotton. I know. Amazing. I have been eyeing the Druid Mittens from Vogue Knitting Fall 2008. Some discontinued Rowan rowanspun 4-ply was tucked away in one of the bins so I grabbed some of this $4.25 with a 20% discount goodness also:

It's not the looks-like-silk-feels-like-silk-but-it's-cotton-beauty from above, but I love the tweed-y, home-y goodness that a neutral gray brings.

So while it was pouring rain and cool in Toronto, we are now home in the sweltering heat of Vancouver! No sweater knitting for a while me thinks.

ps. The title for this blog was not 'invented' by me - it is courtesy of Franklin Habit's submission to an episode of Cast-On a couple of years ago.

unfinished and ready to start

To attempt to cure my "finishitis", I have been working on one project at a time (even though I still have three projects on the needles - I am trying to focus). The project I am currently trying to finish - and will do so tonight - is the Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. It's being knit out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine {colour 1284}. The fabric knitted is slightly denser than the laceweight that the pattern calls. What I like about this yarn is (1) the sleeves were so much easier to knit, (2) the drape is still perfect, and (3) the finished object will be slightly warmer (key for me). I made the cardi with short sleeves instead of 3/4 length.

With my new resolution in the back of my mind, I decided to go to Chapters yesterday to buy Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin. I have had my eye on this book since it was published and finally just broke down yesterday and bought it. I am keen to finish the Whisper as this is what my travelling-to-Toronto knitting will entail:

Yes - the Sideways Grande Hat. So excited. I have been spinning - although not a lot. Mostly it's been a matter of no time. But slowly and surely, I have been working through the Chronicles of Narnia roving to create this:

This pretty handspun is destined to be another Springtime Bandit (at this point ~ destiny may change) by Kate Gagnon. I loved knitting it the first time and wanted to knit one in purple as I stood watching the first one block.

So, here's to will power to finish my unfinished! Cheers.

o w l s v2.0

Somehow, someway, I end up knitting things twice. Often it's because I change my mind about the yarn half-way through, I realize my gauge isn't as bang-on as I thought, or I just plain-don't-like-it.

Owls by Kate Davies befell the same fate. I decided to re-knit this fabulous pattern with some modifications {please find all of the mods written up here, on ravelry}. The need to re-knit had nothing to do with Kate's pattern, rather it was my inexperience with sizing. The first version, which will be frogged now that I have finished the "new and fixed" version, didn't fit me in the back - there was too much extra fabric. I removed it and ~viola!~ fixed!

I learned a lot and have moved onto working the Whisper Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. It's almost finished, so I will refrain from showing photos until completion.

Some final thoughts about Owls:

I chose to knit it in Cascade Ecological, shade 8019 (aka light grey). I bought the yarn at a knit shop in Anacortes, WA, where I will definitely be returning since they have amazing selection. I used my Knit Picks 6.00mm for the ribbing and 6.5mm for the rest. It was fast to knit - I used my Knit Picks cables to hold the stitches while I knit the sleeves, then knit around, transferring the needle tip onto the next cable as I went. Brilliant.

a smattering of colour ...

Recently I celebrated my birthday, which meant I was "allowed" to go out into the online world of Etsy and purchase from roving. I ordered some handpainted merino roving from FreckleFaceFibers, which I am stoked to say arrived today:

The above is colourway Safari, the below is colourway Frankincense.

I came face-to-face with the realization on Monday that I am not a true spinner yet. I have been looking for a certain colour of purple for the past month or so. The number of different "colourways" of "purple" is astounding. Let me just say, I am glad it is not my job to decide whether a ball of yarn is mauve vs. lavender vs. grape vs. the list goes on and on . . . Actually, I would love to be that person, but the point is: I was having a lot of difficulty finding the right colour of purple for a particular project that has been festering in the back of my mind for a while. On Monday, I was in the LYS and bumped into a friend from Knitting Group. I told her what I was looking for and she said "Why don't you spin the colour you want?" Duh.

The LYS that I tend to frequent has recently started selling roving. They happened to have the above bag sitting quite nicely on the shelf. It's Shades of Narnia from out in Chilliwack, BC, in the colourway Purple. So simple. So perfect. It's the colour I had been dreaming about!

Happy Spinning!