Long Live LaReine!

Another shawl, number 8 for me this year, but definitely one of my favorites.  Why?

Well, in part because it was designed by a friend, the first pattern I have ever worked that was designed by an honest to goodness friend.  Angela was one of the three founding members of the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Knit & Crochet Group, so I've known her for more than two years now. In addition to being an accomplished knitter and crocheter, she used to design jewelry, so I knew she had latent design capabilities, but only recently have they re-emerged.  And boy, have they emerged.  This is her first design, and will be available to the public later this week, but she's already worked up another design and has plans for a third.  You'd never accuse her of being lazy.

Details:

Pattern: LaReine, by Angela Tong

Yarn: Araucania Itata Solid

Needles: 3.75mm

Started: September 12

Finished: September 29

Although it took me 2 weeks to knit this, it is not a two week shawl.  Because I was a test knitter for this pattern and I wanted the finished result to look as good as possible, when I made mistakes (dropped a stitch, missed a yo, etc.) I actually fixed them instead of ignoring them.  Also, because this pattern consists largely of stockinette, mistakes become pretty glaring, which makes them easy to find and easy to fix. The yarn that I chose is a light and airy wool/bamboo/silk blend, resulting in a soft, drapey shawl that's more suited to spring and summer than winter.  I love the color and chose it, in part, because the lace pattern in the shawl reminded me of flames, so I thought the orange would make a good pairing.  Almost all of the other test knitters picked up a water vibe and have knit LaReine in shades of blue and blue-green.  Not sure what that says about me . . .in any event, I give this pattern, and it's designer, a thumbs up

p.s. Angela's hosting a give-away on her blog right now, featuring yarn and the LaReine pattern, so I'd pop on over if I were you. 

My style, but not entirely

I spend kind of a lot of time on Ravelry peeping at other people's projects.  I do it the way some people read House & Garden or Vogue.  I'm always looking for inspiration and interesting twists on patterns.  I've found that there are some crafters whose work I almost love.  PetraO is one of those.  She has such an amazing sense of color, usually pairing solids with solids (which is totally up my alley; I dress almost entirely in solids or horizontal stripes).  I've been particularly taken with her shawl modifications.  She knits lace shawls according to the pattern and then crochets a border in a contrasting color.  It's the perfect way to take something that could look frumpy or very Renaissance Faire (you know what I mean) and make it fresh, pretty and modern.

So I totally bit her style.

Twice. So far.  

Details:

Pattern: Diamond Knit Shawl, by Lion Brand (free)

Yarn: Sheep Shop Sheep 3 (discontinued) - body; Wollemeise Sockenwoll 80/20 twin (border)

Needle: 5.0mm

Hook: 3.25mm

Start: July 29

Finished: August 2

This worked up so quickly, I could hardly believe it.  The pattern is so well written with short, simple repeats.  The Sheep Shop yarn is no longer available as the company went out of business, which is too bad because it is lovely (it was also expensive, but I got this on deep discount at Webs last fall).  A wool/silk blend it's soft and snuggly against the skin and has a wonderful drape.

Despite the silk content, the yarn gives good stitch definition.  The pink is so pink, so sweet, that I knew I needed something bold to make it less saccharine.  I considered green, but thought it would look too preppy.  I had the red Wollmeise on hand (color is Herzblut, which means lifeblood in German) and decided it would add the right amount of aggression to the shawl.

I had no one particular in mind while I was knitting this, but once I finished the border, I knew it was for me.  Mine, all mine.

 Just a few days afer finishing #1, I cast on for #2.

Details:

Pattern: Diamond Knit Shawl, by Lion Brand

Yarn: Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted (main); Spud & Chloe Fine (border)

Needle: 5.5mm

Hook: 3.25mm

Started: August 6

Finished:  August 13

This one took me longer to finish, in part because the yarn was less fun to work with.  It's a woolly single ply, so will be warm, but was a bit splitty and not as soft as the Sheep 3.  I think that softness can be overrated sometimes; it's not the only think one wants in a knitted garment, or we would all run about in angora undergarments wouldn't we?  No, that this is woolly gives it substance, makes it appropriate for cold winter days.

Again, I considered a lot of different colors for the border.  A straw yellow was an early contender, but I decided to go with something that would jump out a bit more.  I have to say I really, really like this one, too.  The resulting shawl is less femmy that the first which makes it an appropriate gift for any number of my friends.  I have an idea where I'll be sending this, but don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

Tack så mycket for the inspiration PetraO!

See what I mean about solids and stripes?  I'm dressed like a Kool-Aid multi pack.

Too sweet to be sour, to nice to be mean

I made a couple of purchases the other day.

Totally accidental, I swear.

I bought the yarn Friday afternoon at the new Purl Soho store on Broom.  Their new space is beautiful and roomy, and while I wasn't intending to make a purchase, the Koigu was 40% off. And those pinks and yellows were begging to be paired with a solid and turned into a pair of striped socks.  I cannot wait.

I'd also had it in  my mind that I needed a pair of walking to work shoes, something cuter and zippier than my white New Balance, which give me a distinctly Working Girl vibe when paired with a work outfit, rather than  running shorts as intended.  So into store after store on lower Broadway we went, searching for something with the right vibe, and low and behold, we found them. The last pair, in my size, discounted by $110.  Yes, all that lovely for $29.99. They're loud and crazy and intergallactic and I love them.

So: pink and orange in full effect.  The heart wants what the heart wants.

On a discinctly less springy tip, I made this lovely a couple of weekends ago:

I started it the night that I returned from the mondo yarn swap and finished it the next day. The yarns are all worsteds and aran weights, so it wasn't too much work, but I did work pretty furiously.  I think it was a means of coping with the overwhelming amount of yarn I found myself staring at.  I wanted something that would eat up a few skeins immediately and make me feel as though I'd made a dent towards stash reduction.  I'd also been wanting to make a granny square inspired shawl for a long time, so this was kind of perfect.

Details:

Pattern: 106-40 Shawl by Drops/Garn Studio

Yarn: Misasol Miski, Ístex Plötulopi, GGH Bel Air and several others

Hook: 5.0mm/H

 

I'd estimate that this took me 6 hours total, so not too bad.  I wet blocked it, as I do with almost every thing I make, and it grew by about 10%.  The fabric is neither stiff nor flaccid, so I'm happy with the tension I used.  And it's the slightest but rough, but I don't mind.  A little texture makes it feel old-fashioned and traditional, which I like.  The colors put me in mind of both a cold Scandinavian winter morning, or a rainy Portland fall day. Cozy.

Speaking of Scandinavia, Iceland has been much in the news this week, so I thougt I would take this opportunity to remind you of what is probably that nation's most famous export.  More enjoyable than volcanic ash, that's for sure.

Let The Sun Shine In!

We had unusually warm weather last week in New York.

I enjoyed every minute of it.  Spring may be my favorite season, although it's got a strong competetor in fall.  A lot of people claim to like summer the best, but not me.  What I mean is that summer's nice, but it's obvious, and in some ways a little base.  As a season, it lacks subtlety.  Spring, on the other hand, is fresh, dramatic, a little unpredictable, yet you know how it wil end: warmly. 

One of the things that I particularly enjoy about Spring is that it affords me the opportunity to lunch outside again.  For most of the late fall and winter, I eat my lunch at my desk while cruising about on the Internet, so I feel absolutely liberated when it's nice enough for me to take my lunch and sit outside. 

A favorite spot of mine is the cemetery across the street from my office.  It's very old (Alexander Hamilton is buried there) and is set up more like a park than most American cemeteries.  It reminds me of a smaller version of Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen, where I once enjoyed a lunch of smorrebrod after visiting the grave of Hans Christian Anderson. There are paths to wander and lots of benches on which to rest, and while it's right on a busy street in lower Manhattan, it's really green and calming.

It makes me happy that it's so well utilized, by both New Yorkers and tourists alike.  The grounds keepers keep it up so well, and there are always different plants blooming and coming in to their own. Can you tell I'm a little in love?

In addition to eating and people-watching, I do a fair bit of knitting in the cemetery, including work on my most recent FO:

Details:

Pattern: Damson, by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Okay Knits Sena & Muthoni

Needles: 3.75mm

I've got a little bit of a shawl thang goin' on.  I just counted, and this is the 12th one I've made since last May.  Wazzup?

(see bag of yarn purchased at Marias Garn in Stockholm last summer, lower left of photo.  Oh! That was some fun shopping)

Damson is the third project that I've made from Ysolda Teague's collection of patterns, Whimsical Little Knits 2, which means that purchase was officially a good investment.  One of the things that I liked about it was that it consisted primarily of garter stitch, making it a perfect project for subway riding and foreign film watching.  As with Ysolda's other patterns, it was clearly written and had both charted and written out instructions.  The mistakes that I made were entirely knitter's errors, and for once in my knittig career, I ripped back to fix them.  I decided I've been kitting for too long now to walk about in a garment with noticeable errors, and the yarn was sticky enough that I didn't have to worry about the entire thing unravelling on my.

And about the yarn: it was an unusual color choice for me, but I won it is a yarn swap and immediately felt very, VERY possessive of it.  Something about its speckled golden color made me happy (photo 1 is the most accurate representation of the color).  Easy to work with, Sena is 100% superwash merino that was soft while knitting, and it fuzzed up slightly and softened even more after blocking.  I'll most definitly buy more once I'm off this yarn diet.  Based on other people's Ravelry notes, I knew that I wouldn't have enough of the Sena to finish the shawl, so I worked the last three rows using Muthoni, another of Okay Knits hand-dyed yarns, that was leftover from my Spring Cable socks. I'm rather pleased with the result, if I do say so myself.

WTF was I thinking? And a good thing.

For about a week now I have been obsessing over a Japanese crochet pattern, so the other day during lunch, I buzzed up to Kinokuniya to look for it.  If you're unfamiliar, Kinokuniya is a Japane-based book store with several outlets around the world.  I first discovered it when I worked in  30 Rockefeller Plaza, which was just down the block from their NYC store (which has since relocated).  Like many other people, I really grooved on the paper products, and ended up buying a refillable metal ring notebook and paper.  The paper was special, of course, having many, many holes along the left side, requiring that I return to the store for the next three years whenever I needed to stock up.  But that notebook and the special paper, which came in pastel shades of peach, green and blue, made me happy at a time when not much else about my job did, so I gladly made these special trips.

These days I have less of a need for paper, but I still have an appreciation for modern Japanese aesthetics, especially Japanese crochet.  It's often pretty and lacy without being twee, and they do innovative things with interesting fibers, like paper and stainless steele.  In any event, I saw a beautiful crescent-shaped scarf on Ravelry that I couldn't get out of my head, so I decided to track down the book from which it came.  I knew the name of the book and I knew that Kinokuniya had a large selection of craft books, so merrily off I went.

Only I didn't really know the name of the book. I thought it was called "3 Day Crochet." In fact, it's called "Easy Crochet, Complete in 3 Days!"

Also, I didn't have the author's name. Or the book's ISBN.  These mistakes made it impossible for the nice clerk to locate the book in the store's system.  Also, Kinokuniya has a couple hundred knit and crochet books, including special sections for lace, amigurumi and children's wear.  All in Japanese.  I tried browsing the books' covers, but there were so many and I had so little time.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, heading off, essentially to a foreign country with no map, no language skills and no real plan of attack.  So I didn't get that book, (I see Amazon.jp in my future), but I did get this one:

It is so exciting!  Poking about for a good while online (again, I can't read Japanese), I learned that it's called Motif Book, vol. 4, by Nihon Vogue (ISBN 978-4-529-04442-4, in case you're interested).  I love how it's shot and styled as much as I love the patterns, and it has me inspired to get back into crochet, which was rather neglected by me in 2009.  To wit:

Details:

Pattern: Improvised

Yarn: Frog Tree Brushed Suri

Hook: 5.5mm

Started: January 13

Finished: January 16

I've been wanting to make an airy stole in neutral colors for a while now, so this fit the bill rather perfectly.  I hate, HATE knitting with lace weight yarn, whether the needles be big or small; it makes me feel that I'm losing my mind. Crochet, on the other hand, is completely lovely with super fine yarn.  This improvised pattern is a riff on the traditional knitted feather and fan pattern, and I have to say I'm really very happy with the result. It's soft and pretty and feminine and traditional, not words I typically use to describe myself.  Perhaps that's part of the allure? The result also has a very "knitterly" look, but was done in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to knit it for real. And that, as Martha says, is a Good Thing.

Pink and Blue and Cream All Over

There's been a bit of a lag since my last post, but don't for a second think this means I have not been busy. On the contrary, my fat but long fingers have been whipping up many knitted delights; the problem is that most of them are gifts, and hence to be kept on the Q.T., you dig? I'm excited about them all and look forward to a time in late December when I can share them with you. While I've been Christmas planning, I've also been feeling a bit grabby lately, like I see yarn and think "Ooh, I want that and I want it now." I don't feel guilty about this, since I seldom make things for myself, but I do have to be careful: On Monday I "accidentally" dropped $60 on three skeins of Malabrigo Sock Yarn in lettuce, an electric green. My plan is to make Laura Chau's Honeybee Cardigan, the cropped version. After the holidays, I imagine.

While there's much I can't reveal, there are some projects which I can. Like this:

Details:
Pattern:My Kind of Town Cowl, by Trish Woodson
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick
Needles: US19/15.0mm

Started: September 15

Finished: September 19

This started out as Jane Richmond's Marian, but I wasn't feeling the combo of the yarn and the pattern, so I ripped it out and started over. The cowl I ended up making is chunky and dramatic, but it has the problem that plagues so many of the new and trendy cowls: it leaves a gap in the front of my neck through which the wind can whip me. Wind whipping is precisely what a cowl is supposed to stop, so this project rates only an OK from me, and therefore, is unlikely to find another home.

Now, this next project made me much, much happier:

Details:
Pattern: Fetching, by Cheryl Niamath (highly modified)

Yarn: Noro Retro

Needles: US7/4.5mm

Started: October 26

Finished: October 28

I love these! Love, love them. I wear so much grey and black during the winter and have been looking for ways to bring some color to my wardrobe, so when I saw this beautiful ball of yarn at Seaport Yarn downtown, I couldn't walk away from it. I tried, because I was just there to buy some crochet hooks. But it was so pretty: chunky, bold and rustic yet feminine. And the blend of wool, silk and angora just felt so good. Later I learned that it's a new yarn from Noro, which somehow made me feel better about the impulse buy.

I used Fetching as the jumping off point for these, but I modified heavily. I omitted the cables, adjusted the number of stitches cast on to accommodate my gauge, knit the wrists longer and wear them inside-out. I like the look of the reverse stockinette; it has a more open and textural feel than regular stockinette. I call them my Pink Shockers, in part because they're shocking pink in color, but also in honor of some Minneapolis friends. They know why, oh yes, they do.

And now, so do you.

Earlier this fall, I was seduced by a Webs sale. It seems that Sheep Shop Yarn Company is going out of business, because their yarns are on sale all over the place. This was the first time I've purchased anything of theirs, because I found the yarns to be rather spendy. Hmm . . .perhaps this is why they're going out of business.

Details:

Pattern: A Little Ruffle, by Jennifer Lang

Yarn: Sheep Shop Yarn Company Sheep 3 Yarn

Needles: US7/4.5mm

Started: October 1

Finished: October 25

This yarn gets a mixed review from me. It is incredibly soft and was a great choice for this project. However, and this is a big however, the skeins were drastically different. One was a bit of a semi-solid pale blue, while the other was variegated blue and cream, heavy on the cream. The result is that the wrap appears to be almost striped in one section. It's super annoying, and I've never had such a problem when ordering yarn on line.

On a more positive note, the pattern was well written and I think the project came out really well (ignoring aforementioned color issues). This did involve yards and yards of stockinette, which came to be incredibly boring, which is the only negative thing I have to say about the pattern, and that's not even a criticism, just a comment.* So beware: If you're not up for a few days of straight up stockinette, work a different wrap. But if you think you can stomach it, this project is well worth the monotony.

*That was a bad run-on sentence up there. Sorry for that.

Did someone say birthday?

They keep me busy, those birthdays. The thing is that I much prefer to make a gift instead of simply buying one. I like the mental effort it takes to think up an appropriate project, and then selecting the yarn, well, that's super fun. Like this here:

I found this yarn at Yll o Tyll in Uppsala, Sweden. The color is very Adrienne, and it's a rustic, slightly nubby silk, which is perfect for someone who is sensitive to itchy fabrics (Adrienne) and lives in a temperate, yet dampish climate like Seattle (also Adrienne). And I just really loved it. So purchase it I did, and then toted it around with me back to Stockholm, up to Karlstad, back to Stockholm and then home to Brooklyn. So, it's seen a bit of the world.

Adrienne's birthday is the first week of October, but I was so cranked up that I started this the week that I came home from Sweden.

Details:
Pattern: Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Yll o Tyll Soft Silk
Needles: US7/4.5mm
Started: July 16
Finished: July 31

I am SO MUCH happier with this Ishbel than I was with my first Ishbel. The pattern is great, pretty yet straightforward. It just goes to show how important it is to select the right yarn for a given project. The one mistake I made in working this up was using bamboo circulars; as bamboo and silk are both a bit sticky, I had to work kind of hard for each stitch. The next time that I work with this yarn (I bought two more skeins in different colors) I'll use metal or plastic needles. The project will sing off the needles!



Now that I'm looking at this, I realize that the lace portion is a variation of the one used in the project below:

It's pretty obvious, so it's a little doofy that I'm only now making the connection. I know that I have a distinct sensibility, but I'm surprised that it's so evident in the projects I make for others.

Details:
Pattern: Haven, by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky
Needles: US11s/8.0mm
Started: October 6
Finished: October 13

I have been wanting to make this for over a year, ever since Amy gave me Kim Hargreaves book, Heartfelt, The Dark House Collection. There are so many lovely patterns in the book, but thus far I've only managed two make two of them, and both for the same friend, affectionately known as ABD. She's rather glam and ladylike and stylish, and since chunky, bulky scarves and cowls are all the rage this season, as are all shades of purple, I thought this would be a good birthday prez for her.

I need to find a better solution to the bathroom self-portraits.

The project didn't travel overseas, but it did come to Minnesota with me. For $$ reasons, I subbed in the Berkshire Bulky for the Rowan Cocoon called for by the pattern. I ordered 5 skeins, thinking it would be plenty, then panicked when it arrived and was convinced that I wouldn't have enough. As a fix, I modified the pattern so that I worked only one lace repeat each row, rather than the two directed. This worked out just fine, but I have 1.3 skeins of yarn left. I loved the scarf, and now want one for myself. Well, perhaps after Christmas crafting is done.

You are an obsession, You're my obsession*

When I get into something, I really get into it. I know in my heart of hearts that it's a good idea, a good plan, a worthwhile use of my time. I want to know it, understand it, really experience it. The obsession may not last forever, but while it does, it is glorious. It's how I was with knitting, how I was with cake baking and how I've become with canning. Witness:

The product of my first week of putting up food. So far I've canned cherries and plums, made dill pickles, dilly beans, apricot jam, bourbon cherries and sour cherry preserves, and enjoyed every sweaty (it is August, after all) minute of it. I have to say that this has made me feel incredibly productive. What I mean is that I'm not a lazy person, but the projects I usually work on are small and discrete: knitting a child's sweater, sewing a set of napkins, crocheting a lapghan, baking scones. With canning, the volume of the end product seems so much more significant and takes so much less time to produce, that it's rather gratifying. I'm a little late to the game this season, so I may be doing more pickling than fruit canning this year, but I'm excited about it nonetheless. The Ball Blue Book has lots of intriguing recipes that will keep me busy for the next few weeks at least.

Last week I did manage to do a bit more than simply go to work and preserve foods. I also watched Season 5 of Entourage in it's entirety, met up with the Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill Kitting & Crocheting peeps for some crafting and bingo:

and went to the Flea with Alex and Matt.





Fun! They just moved to Brooklyn from the UWS and have done a commendable job of integrating themselves into the 'hood.

That's the lobster roll they bought for me. It was delicious! Not too much mayo, toasted bread and some green onions, rather than the celery more typically found in a lobster roll. I could not have asked for a better summer lunch.

Details:
Pattern: Springtime Bandit, by Kate Gagnon Osborn, from Kelbourn Woolens
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed
Needles: US7s/4.5mm
Started: July 6
Finished: July 16

It's a gift, but for a non-blog reader, so I think it's safe to show. I started this on the plane to Stockholm and had grand plans of finishing it on my return flight. Those plans were disrupted by my viewing of 17 Again, Duplicity and something else the title of which escapes my just now. This yarn is incredibly soft and cozy, requisite qualities for something that's to be scrunched up against one's neck. I've wet blocked it once, and it did open up quite a bit, but not quite enough for my liking. I'm considering another go-around, as I'd like the pattern to be a bit more visible.



Overall, I'm quite happy with this project, and look forward to presenting it to it's future owner.

*Don't tell me you've forgotten about Animotion!

Happy Holidays

What a tremendous holiday weekend this has been! Off work at noon on Thursday, then out to enjoy champagne and dinner in Brooklyn with Lauren, who's in from Paris.

Our last visit was a Christmas, so there was lots of catching up to do. I'd planned for us to enjoy our champers in a little park in Cobble Hill, but the weather neglected to cooperate.

The sky absolutely opened up! We took refuge in a tiki bar on Smith Street, ordered tacky and delicious rum drinks and waited for the downpour to end. Later, we meandered down the block for a yummy Italian dinner. Good night!


The next day, I was up early readying myself for a day at the beach with Lauren and another dear friend, Angela. This was our third annual outing to the the beach at Rye, and we really had such a lovely time. I'm a bit more of a sun worshiper than my fair-complexioned companions, so I was particularly grateful for the clear skies, but so long as I can sit in a lounge chair and stare at the sea, I'll not complain. Late in the afternoon, we repaired to the cabana for aperitifs. Pure delight!





The following day, the 4th of July, was another event: BBQ at Jeffrey's home. More delicious food and good friends. It began wholesomely enough, then devolved into proper debauchery. Quelle surprise!

Crafts? Oh yes, there's been quite a bit of that, as well. About two weeks ago Emily, a member of my knitting group, suggested KAL for a new pattern, Aestlight by Gudrun Johnston. I'd never done a KAL before, and was quite enthusiastic. I was a bit hung up on yarn, however, as I wanted to be sure not to repeat a recent misstep: using a multi-colored yarn on a lace project. Let me show you what I mean:

Details:
Pattern: Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Azelea
Needles: US6s/4.00mm
Started: June 16
Finished: June 27

The pattern is a lovely one, but the handpainted yarn was not the best choice for the project. While it is incredibly soft, all of the details of the lace are lost in the busy color changes. Argh! I shouldn't complain too much, however, because the dark bits do a good job of hiding several of the more obvious mistakes I made on this little project. I blame it on the super sticky lace-weight yarn. My yarn-overs and knit-two-togethers kept getting lost. If I ever work with lace weight yarn again, and that's a big if, it will have to be something smooth and silky like, well, like silk or bamboo. But merino? Nyet. Also, these colors are crap on me! Fortunately, they are fab on Nettie, a friend from knitting group, so I gave it to her.

See? I'm glad it will have a good home.

So, the KAL: After realizing that nothing I have in my stash of yarns would be quite right for this project, I made an indulgent visit to my favorite yarn store, Purl, and bought two skeins from the brand new line, Spud & Chloe. I had originally planned for this to be a travel project for my trip to Sweden, but excitement got the better of me. I knit up Aestlight with what for me can only be described as lightening speed. I'm not a terribly fast knitter, but I was able to get a lot done on the day I was home sick (btw, summer colds suck! It's totally depressing to be stuck inside, sweating with a sore throat when it's 70 degrees and dry outside).

Details:
Pattern: Aestlight, by Gudrun Johnston
Yarn: Spud & Chloe Fine, in Tutu
Needles: US6s/4.00mm
Started: June 28
Finished: July 4

Constructed from the neck down in a traditional Shetland manner, this mini-shawl really grew a lot after blocking. The birds eye lace opened up nicely, and developed a kind of 3D quality that's not apparent from the photos.

I love it! A keeper, I do believe.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow. Hej Stockholm, hej då New York!