tangled yoke and carnival

If I look like I'm wilting while wearing my new sweater, the Tangled Yoke Cardigan it's because of the heat wave. Many cups of coffee helped me through the weekend and a visit to the fair that parked across the street from our house. And I was determined to finish my sweater, maybe the heat will go away and cool air will prevail a little while longer if I get all the ends woven in and the buttons sewn on. Yes, magical thinking is my friend.

Part of me wanted an oversized, comfy cardigan but I'm glad I decided to make it more fitted. The yoke feels roomy even with the snug fit through the body. I like the finishing on the neck, how it is doubled over and bound off together with picked up stitches along the base of the neck. It feels sturdy and I like the look of the rolled edge uninterrupted by a chained bind off finish. Of course, my favorite part of the sweater is the unique, tangled cable stitch and for me it's just the right amount of cable.


I made a couple of modifications to the pattern. The yarn is Rowan Scottish Tweed and my gauge: 20 sts and 30 rows = 4 inches. Needle size US 4/ 3.5 mm for main body, US 3/ 3.25 mm for button bands and collar.
I cast on enough stitches to make a 35 1/2 inch finished bust circumference. After 2 1/2 inches of ribbing I switched to stockinet. The yoke has 20 sts less than the smallest size in the pattern.


C'mon who doesn't love a house of mirrors...


and smiley faced lady bugs going around and around?


These are the pretty buttons I bought for the Tangled yoke. They have weight and I like the burnished metal color with the tweed. If you're in L.A. and need buttons, I got these at The Button Store, a wonderful place for button lovers.

boys do knit

Last weekend Felix helped his dad make a wood box for my sewing machine. It was a surprise. My sewing machine came with a flimsy plastic cover and I think Johnny was tired of looking at it on the shelf. I didn't want to store it on the floor in the closet. But, now I can. Anyway. Felix helped make this box. He hammered nails, and sanded the wood and other stuff too; and he was so proud of himself. We were all proud.


The little striped toy is named Tiny and he made it out of a sock filled with stuffing, eyes are glued on and a string is tied at the “neck”. It’s a great project for a four year old. He’s been carrying Tiny around all week.


I got to thinking, if Felix can work with wood, why couldn’t he start learning to knit? My mom taught me to knit when I was eight so I had that age in mind for teaching my child to knit. Nevertheless I already own a great book for kids knitting appropriately titled Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick.

I asked Felix is he wanted to learn knitting. “YES Mommy!”
Off to a good start, I handed him knitting needles and yarn, I cast on a few stitches and started to show him the motions.

“Now I’m a granny momma.”
What?! Not that I have anything against grannies, but where did that come from? Must have been TV. So, I said, “Boys knit too, and I knit everyday and I’m not a granny”.
He giggled and said, “BOYS DON’T KNIT”.
Yes they do! I showed him the pictures of boys knitting from the kids knitting book. It helped my case a lot to see boys knitting, and lots of kids knitting too. He was excited.


The first lesson ended shortly after that when frustration set in, that his sticks weren’t going to be immediately flying through the yarn. He gave it a good try.
I asked him the next day if he wanted to knit. He did but said he wanted to do it "by myself" and when that didn’t work out he ran out of the room.

babette blanket begins

You've seen my stash, now see it at work. The Babette Blanket by Kathy Merrick (available to purchase from the Knitting Daily site) is a perfect pattern for all my Tahki Cotton Classic and Gedifra St. Tropez leftovers. Crocheting around and around is addicting. Just one more square, just one more square….
What will these two colors look like together, and then this one too? What will happen if I combine these together?


An embroidered Spanish shawl guides some choices.




The blanket’s explosion of color compliments my painting of two skunks kissing.


Who am I kidding; it’s pretty psychedelic over here at my house.

tangled sleeve, arctic diamond and stash

Thanks for the encouragement to knit on with the Tangled Yoke. It is such a great pattern and design. I finished most of the five balls, leaving some to transition to the next batch of yarn on order of a different dye lot - 6 more is what I settled on. Hopefully, the colors won’t be too dissimilar.


Progress has been made on the Arctic Diamond as well. I ripped quite a few rows back to the armhole shaping and then went bonkers staying up all night knitting like a person possessed. Here you see my little helper holding up three repeats of the pattern. I think six repeats will be just right to finish and use up what yarn I have on hand.


Speaking of yarn. Something else that kept me busy this weekend. Organizing the old stash. Yikes! What isn’t shown here are the coned yarns, mostly denim and crochet cotton.


Perusing Ravelry the other night I stumbled upon the Babette Blanket. Some of these projects are amazing. And, brilliant for stash busting. It should make a miniscule dent in mine.

more knitting

Apparently, I really can't stop knitting. I finished the Lace Ribbon Scarf last week. Blocked it and sent it on it's way without a taking a picture. No time to do so. So, many pretty finished knits leave without a farewell photo session. I work well with a deadline but always to the last minute. With only one hank of yarn the scarf ended at 57" in length, it's a decent length for wearing with a jacket and not getting all tangled up.

Speaking of tangled up. That green expanse above is my Tangled Yoke Cardigan that I started two nights ago in a frenzy. The yarn is Rowan Scottish Tweed dk and I only have 5 balls. Hmmmmm, will definitely need more, but how much more? I'm guessing 7. Still, I'm waiting until all 5 are knit to place an order. It's a risky move because it means putting the project down and whenever I do that it usually takes me YEARS to finish. I need to work obsessively on one thing until it's done or else it will languish.


Witness, above, the product of a knitting frenzy from last December, it's the Arctic Diamond Stole. Oh, how I love this; but I had to put it away to work on work knitting and this is the first chance I've had to reevaluate it. At some point, I thought it would make a great pullover so I worked some decreases for arm shaping. But, now I'm not so sure because the idea of knitting the rest of this piece, then a front and TWO sleeves does not sound interesting. Better to just frog down to the shaping and continue working it as a stole.

must keep knitting

Impulse yarn purchase left on display for weeks taunting me, turned into an impulse project.


Earlier this week I finished working on several projects that have kept me really busy these last two months. I felt so relieved, and tired, yet also restless. A friend’s birthday is approaching so why not knit something for her? Right now at midnight even though my wrists hurt, I need sleep and there might not be enough time to finish?


Must keep knitting, that’s why.

The pattern is Lace Ribbon by Veronik Avery in the latest issue of Knitty.
Years ago I made a shawl with a variation of this same stitch. The only photo I have of it is ridiculously blurred but I remember loving the stitch and finished shawl.

Hmmm, why not use this sock yarn on display. Yes, it will be pretty.


Little bunny says to the big fish "Happy Easter!"


Weird craft project to do with a four year old: thread together last nights popcorn, sequins and a chick, then hang from orchid.


p.s. meet my new crush: Noro Kureyon Sock yarn #S95

OKAY BECAUSE SILLINESS is good:

The books are in place, the floors redone and walls painted. It's time to break back into blogging. I'm saying a glad farewell to February, and welcome March with open arms.

My scarf hat pattern, Nomad Hat from the Interweave Knits Fall 2007 issue is now available to purchase from the knitting daily online store.

Here is a mohair version I made (different gauge, different look), and another post I wrote about the hat that includes my submission sketch.

Also, here is a link to a finished hat that looks stunning!

This is I, cat adrift. We're painting the walls in my room. Everything is topsy-turvy. Good-bye pea green, hello butter yellow!




Last night I was restless and didn’t have the right mind for math. I’m writing a pattern and cursing my slacker teenage self who never paid attention to Ms. Masaki in 7th grade algebra.

Making some drawings always helps ha ha, here’s one with some hand stitching.




ATTENTION: If you’re in the Los Angeles area this weekend, run over to the Knit Café for their fabulous sale through this Sunday!

If you're looking for a new hat pattern allow me to direct you to the RedLipstick Webshop: Katie Cap designed by Staceyjoy Elkin!
I made this on the last day of December and wore it to a New Year's Eve party that night and felt chic while staying warm. Nothing like a quick and stylish knitting project to make you feel satisfied.
The yarn I used is Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool. I bought one skein of this yarn and let me tell you it never ends, it's huge.

Crochet has infiltrated my desk. Little baskets are cropping up to help me gather my goods as I work on organizing my stuff.
Do you spy the bob sticker? Last week I met the Ravelry folks. I love this sticker, what to put it on that will last? I'll just keep it propped up in this basket for now because that face makes me smile.


And on my dresser, a basket or is it a bowl, to hold more random bits. The photograph is of my mom when she was a teenager. I've been going through everything and I found this photo in a box full of momentos, notes from my grandmother, a toy car, vintage sequined patches, lots of beads, a broken necklace...you get the idea.


The new me - nice and tidy.


Another odd treasure, the fabric doll face a friend brought back from India.


And, to finish, another pin, this one knit on a crochet base.

Felix and I have been walking to the park to feed the ducks.


The floating, soaking process gets the kinks out. I need to do this myself.


Pins are falling from the sky.

papillon

Papillon top in the latest issue of Knitscene (spring 2008)

and my own dimly lit photo of the stitch detail taken seconds before running to the post office to mail the finished garment.



The issue also has an article by Grumperina on how to seam your knits and I was kind of flattered that they used this top to illustrate the mattress stitch. You get to see a little bit of the inside of the sweater and where I wove the end into the seam. Seeing that tail end does something to me... I don't know it reveals something about hand made. I'm not sure what it is.

This design is very simple and is marked as a project ideal to make for your first sweater. The front and back are identical with a boat neck, modified drop sleeve and waist shaping from changing needles sizes.
Thinking about first sweaters led me to reminisce about my first sweater. It might have been 1982; I got the yarn from a designers stash after I helped organize her workroom (maybe I'm making this part up? I'm feeling old trying think back this far)...anyway it was orange bulky cotton, front and backs were the same. And it was an oversized (but short) square necked vest that I made up as I went. I gave it to my friend and she claims to still have it! One of these days I'll have to check and maybe take a picture.

motifs and inspiration

Most of the crochet pins from the last post are made of multiple motifs that I found in this gem: Mini Motif crochet pattern ISBN978-4-02-190416-5. I bought the book at the local Kinokuniya bookstore a few days ago. Dangerous place for me as I saw SO MANY books I wanted. I will be returning soon. There was a paper cut out craft book that I swooned over, maybe next time.


I spent some time pouring over this Karl Blossfeldt book which shows flowers in beautiful, graphic,


stark simplicity but also with a dark edge that highlights their graceful shapes.





The pieces grow motif by motif and have inspired a few simple drawings.



Inspiration everywhere, even in this crowded corner of the yard.