My First Handspun Yarn to Try!

This is so cool! In the mail today we got a package full of lovely delights from my daughter, who remembered us during her trip to Ireland this month! She sent me my first handspun yarn, and how exciting that it's from Ireland. Here it is, with my Enchanted Doll, Yren.

It's labeled "Markree Wensleydales Wool Products 100% Handmade in Ireland." On the back, there is a handwritten notation that says: "Glowing Embers 2010. Long staple, Lamb's Wool. Made by Mary Cooper. 90 grm 96 yards approx.  £18 -- 00."

I just got an email back from Emily, in response to my thank-you note, which gave more information about the yarn:

"The yarn came from the Castle that we stayed in - http://www.markreecastle.ie/ 

"A husband and wife own the Castle Hotel, and the wife makes the yarn from sheep at the Castle. They are a special breed of sheep that are bred for their long wool. 

"She has an Etsy shop too: http://www.etsy.com/shop/markreewensleydales#  "

And she sent this picture of where the wool was being sold:

So now I have the complete story of my handspun wool!

Color Studies for Knitters

Whenever another "color for knitters" or "color for quilters" book gets published, it's nearly always the same thing: a rudimentary look at the color wheel and the supposed combinations that will produce attractive schemes.

Knowledge of the color wheel is useful enough, but these books never go far enough. First of all they tend to deal strictly with fully saturated colors and maybe a few pastels. Projects based on these will give you flat, coloring-book effects with a rather childish mood.

Second, you can go from cover to cover and never factor in all the colors NOT on the color wheel--browns, greys, blacks, whites, and the whole range of dark and muted colors. 

So instead get your hands on a copy of this book, Color Harmony, or one of its subsequent editions. Yes, you will see a color wheel, and yes it will explain similar, contrasting, and complementary hues--but it goes way, way, WAY beyond that.

Color Harmony teaches you to think of color in a new way. You already know warm and cool colors... Now add some more concepts to that. Think of colors on their own as light, dark, dull, or vivid. (And "dull" here does not mean "boring"--it means "greyed" or "softened.")  When using colors together, identify them by their functions: main color, contrast color, background color.

To BE CONTINUED...

A better look at Shaelyn

Yesterday was a knitting marathon! Finished almost two complete repeats on my shawl. Today was church and laundry and housecleaning, so had less knitting time built-into it, but I still finished off the second repeat. Here is what we have at this point:

Notice the ripple effect we have going here. This pattern is actually similar to Feather and Fan (Old Shale), which also creates ripples for the same reason. I don't want to say too much about how that's achieved because I want to respect the designer's intellectual property.  But as I said before, it's an easy pattern to learn and keep track of, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants either a first-shawl pattern, or one that is good as a take-along project. I'm hoping to finish it soon, even though the next three repeats are going to be much bigger than the first two!

Beginning the Shaelyn Shawl

This is my second cast-on for Leila Raabe's Shaelyn Shawl. The first time, I got through row 15 and had to start over: first, a knot appeared in my yarn (Omega Sinfonia) that I didn't want to deal with; and second, my defective "Make 1 Right" increases were creating big holes. Big holes. If I'd been deep into a perfect piece, then I would have dealt with the knot. (And I would have known how, too, because it's on my Lucy Neatby DVD!)

Before frogging I consulted some resources and practiced making M1 increases correctly. And I had to find my own way on that, because the books and the videos all varied slightly. Done right, the increase feels very snug as I knit into it, and that's the sign that it's not going to make a hole.

So this Shaelyn is looking much tidier and nicer than the first one. The increases are invisible, as they should be, and it's assuming a shawl-like shape even at this early stage. The pattern is very easy to memorize and to read--especially since the designer gives you one whole illustrated page on how to read it.  

Now sometime before the weekend slips away, I need to finish my vanilla sock toes so I can publish a Stage Three Finished Picture of them too!

A Finished Object!

One of the very nice things about knitting socks is that you can celebrate finishing them three times! When the knitting is all done is the first stage, next when the kitchener stitching is done to close the toe, and last when the ends are woven in and they're ready to be worn. (A determined knitter could pack in even more Official Observances than just those three, for that matter.)

Oh Frabjous Day, Calloo, Callay! My vanilla socks in Fortissima Socka are Stage-1 Done! Tune in for more chortling when the toes are closed!

Lucy Neatby's Knitting Essentials DVD

From the bits I'd heard of Lucy Neatby on Knitmore Girls, I was figuring her DVDs would be really terrific. She just comes across that way, a knitting master who is gifted to teach. The few youtube videos I saw confirmed it: she demonstrated a provisional cast-on that got me all excited about starting the Shaelyn shawl--at last!

So this is just to say: I get to be right! She really *is* terrific! And I was right about something else too: it was best to start out with volume one. An LYS (which just happened to be the very wonderful Threadbenders in Grand Rapids) had several of her DVDs and I pondered which one to buy. Shouldn't I skip ahead to volume two, on the assumption I already knew the stuff in volume one?

Ooo baby, it's a good thing I didn't! In the first five minutes I learned some extremely useful things I'd never heard of before! Even though you can use the index to skip to a particular topic, I'm enjoying just starting at the beginning and gazing in slack-jawed amazement at what this gal can do! For one thing, I'm going to be binding off the Lucy Neatby way from now on.

Among the topics covered so far have been different cast-ons, different increases and decreases and their effects, how to read your knitting, making yarn butterflies to control strands of yarn, knitting in ends, and much more--and I'm not even half-way through it yet. She even demonstrates how to use a ball winder and swift, knowledge which gives me confidence to buy a set of my own.

And here is another thing I learned: I'm not going to hesitate to purchase any other Lucy Neatby knitting video again. They are available on the web, but you know how that goes--it's hard sometimes to push yourself to order something cold on the web. If my LYS hadn't had it right there on the shelf, where I could pick it up and bond with it, and have the instant gratification of taking it home with me, I probably never would have ordered one. But now, hee hee ho ho, I am over that particular hurdle. Volume two cannot be far in the future.

The Reverse of Progress

The Arrowhead lace shawl project is no more: I frogged the entire thing, with no plans right now to start it again. The 33rd row did give me problems--was mysteriously short two stitches, even though I hadn't missed any yarn overs on the row before, that I could see. But the main reason was an unhappy combination of needles, yarn, and maybe pattern too.

I was knitting with size 6's because that was the largest set of Addi Lace needles I have--yet (the day isn't over!). But 7's, as was called for, or even 8's would have been better with the Trekking. So it was coming out way small.  And then there was the fabric it was making: maybe wool sock yarn is okay for that pattern, but maybe something a little drapier would have been better. So I aufed it.

Sometime soon I will cast on that pattern or a similar one. But right now I'm more interested in working on a baby hat I started knitting for Ideal Image's hats for charity project, and also a pair of "Show -Off Socks."  These socks have a very pretty pattern and an entirely different architecture. But since my vanilla socks are still on my sole and only pair of size one circs, I'm experiencing another shopping necessity!

The Weekly Herald

My own little online newspaper of recent developments...

Hookin' Up
     While putting myself on the Knitmore Girls' map locator on Ravelry, I discovered there's another Knitmore fan who lives in my area. So I sent her a message--and she answered! Her name is Sue and she is very nice and we are going to meet up next week! How will we recognize each other inside a busy Subway? By our knitting bags!

Recent Acquisitions

      Knit Socks! by Betsy Lee McCarthy.  I'd been checking it out of the library and finally decided I needed my own copy. It has patterns for socks made with worsted yarn among its great selection, plus a number of helpful hints. Plus it's shaped like a sock!

      Not entirely coincidentally,  another new sock book came to live with me this week: Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrot's Sock Club.  I've been wanting that book ever since I found out it existed, but then the Knitmore Girls gave it a very favorable review on Episode 110 so then I really needed it. (Jasmin: "Did you need it or just want it?" Gigi: "Same thing.")

       I will just mention that I made both of these purchases after sternly telling myself that I do not need any more sock books.

Project Progress
        For my Vanilla Sock, I have started the toe decreases... For my Little Arrowhead Shawl, ummm, I have taken it out and petted it. And should I count work on this blog as progress? Okay I will: I made two blogs posts this week! There, that made this article a little more substantial.

I have a new project in mind too, but am not going to talk about it until I start it, in case I don't.

 

On the Needles...

....with apologies to the Knitmores for swiping their segment title!

On my needles currently are a vanilla sock made with Fortissma Socka yarn, which is in a glorious colorway and knits fairly easily except it's a little bit splitty.

I'm knitting this one with 60 cast on stitches on size 0 needles, and although the sock fits my foot, it's a little snugger than it needs to be. So I may knit its mate on size 1's instead.

This has my current Knit-in-Public project, but as I get close to the toe decreases I'm going to have to finish it in solitude. It's only my third sock, so the pattern isn't well-imprinted on my brain or in my fingers just yet. In other words, I can't talk and knit at the same time! For my next pair of socks, I'm planning to be more ambitious with the leg, and use a fancier pattern, but for this pair I just wanted to concentrate on getting the numbers and techniques right.

If I can't talk and knit on that project, on this one I can't even knit and breathe! Intense concentration row-by-row is the only way to get through this, Pam Budd's Little Arrowhead shawl and my first lace-knitting attempt. Other Ravelers scored it as "easy" so if it's easy for them it might be almost achievable by me.

Sigh. It sure doesn't look like much in this picture. I didn't have any way of spreading the stitches out more like they'll look when blocked. But you can see how pretty the color is, and I have to say that Trekking is lovely to knit with. I don't find it as splitty as the Fortissma Socka.  

This morning I got two more rows on successfully, counting and checking constantly.



 

A Visit to Ideal Images

Yesterday I went to visit a new yarn shop in my area, Ideal Images. I knew from the moment I stepped through the door I had found a very special, personal, creative place to be.

Wonderful colors and samples were everywhere, luscious yarns stacked high in row after row, down one side of the room. Along the other side, I was delighted to see many comfortable-looking, upholstered chairs gathered into a circle, awaiting knitters to fill them. The area was set off by deep red draperies swagged overhead and down each corner, giving it a very gracious, inviting, parlor-like atmosphere. I could tell that Ideal Images must be in the habit of entertaining many knitters at once, because directly behind this area was another one just like it! 

I'd been looking around for less than one minute when the owner came out to greet me and introduce herself. Jeannie told me that she's been a knitter for many years, but just went full-time into yarns about a year ago. And she said she was indeed expecting some people to be dropping in for Open Knitting. 

Fortunately, I'd brought my knitting bag along so I got out my Vanilla sock and joined in as the circle started filling up. Two people were working on Citron shawlettes, encouraging me to give that pattern a try. One person was a new knitter working on her first hat; Jeannie explained to me that at her store they do a great deal of charity knitting and she showed me some of the 241 hats customers had donated in just the past few weeks. She also showed one of her latest finished objects to the group--a deep red Ruffles and Ridges shawl that is just lovely.

Before I left, I picked out yarn for a Citron or other lace shawl, and bought a pair of #6 Addi Lace needles and a copy of the Interweave Knits' Accessories issue 2009 I'd been searching for. (I have my eye on that Pam Allen pattern, Little Arrowhead shawl.) And I had a great time seeing all the other things that store is bursting with--knitting notions and needles, buttons, lotions, patterns, books, roving and the shop's hand-painted spinning wheel and hand-weaving loom, cute little colorful sock monkeys hanging here and there--and hundreds of samples! 

I hope to be able to drop in for Open Knitting again next Saturday, when they'll be doing charity knitting again, and Jeannie has promised to help me get started on my own first hat. Ideal Images is definitely a place where you can rev up your knitting mojo, as the Knitmores would say.

It might be tricky, but I'm "tryin' knit"

...And that is the explanation of my blog title--yet another knitting pun. A friend at work was bemused by the knitting community's insistence on puns like "Ravelry" and "Dominknitrix" so now that it's been pointed out I have to do it. We pointy-stick-people have also started a lunch time knitting group we're calling "Purls of Great Price." We may never utter a knitting-related straight line again.

So this morning I was up earlier than everyone else and had some peaceful time to myself. I spent part of it watching spinning and knitting demonstrations online. No, I'm not planning to take up spinning; I just wanted to learn something about it so that as I listen to the "Straw into Gold" segments of the Knitmore Girls podcast, I can picture what Jasmin is talking about.

It was the knitting demos I was really into, as new things to try. First I stumbled on one about double knitting on YouTube. Sunbonnet Sue isn't really a favorite motif of mine, but I'm willing to knit her to learn the technique. And because I *can* embed the video, I shall:

 

There's a link on YouTube for the free pattern, but don't follow that one--it's much easier to find on Ravelry.

I was also very pleased with the demonstrations on Fair Isle and intarsia color knitting that I found here. 
And there are lots of other videos that look helpful too. I'm really anxious to try color knitting, but first I want to finish my vanilla socks and try some lace knitting too... and there is a Scaruffle pattern in one of my books... but definitely color knitting is on the horizon.

And now, it's time for breakfast. Knitters have to keep their strength up.

Bloggin' Beats Froggin'

I should be finishing my second read-through of Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Instead I'm playing with design selections for another blog. Lately when I've posted--or thought about posting--on my other blogs, I'm bummed because they aren't about knitting.

So this one is.