theraineysisters knitting and so much more

July 11, 2007

From Susan — Some Questions about the Kauni Cardigan

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 4:41 pm

I was asked a couple of questions about the construction of the Kauni Cardigan.  Here are the responses:

1) When you knit the garter stitch block trim, do you work it in the round and steek that portion of the sweater open, or do you work it back and forth (flat)?
I worked the garter stitch check in the round with a steek. 

2) The color transitions are mesmerizing. Did you consciously select combo B by picking where you started each of the skeins? You probably have to be careful when you join in a new skein? I imagine that your tension has to be pretty consistent to maintain the color combo.
The way I chose B was not very scientific, though I did not want to start with light colors.  I started from the outside of the two different skeins I had.  I did not want to pull from the center because the balls are very large and collapse on themselves as they get empty in the center.  I wound off a bunch from one skein – just enough to guarantee that the same color would not meet as I was knitting.  I had decided early on that I would not try to lose sleep over the color combinations — just let it evolve. 

The tension just takes care of itself — nothing special there. 

I wound each of my full Kauni skeins into two balls because the skeins are so big.  I will simply join to the end where I broke the yarn and it should continue in the color transition as established without a problem.  This yarn is 2-ply and very similar to Shetland wool so it splices incredibly easy.  I have come across a couple of knots and just spit splice it together.

July 10, 2007

From Susan – Over the Rainbow

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 2:04 am

I have been playing around with the Clowny Kauni Cardigan.  I started it several times as a matter of fact!  I had difficulty getting gauge and even ripped back after completing two full squares.  I started out on a US 5 (3.75mm) needle and finished the garter check with those needles — a little snug, but blockable.  Then I started the body using the same needle, and it looked sloppy.  Plus, I went up one size to a US 6 (4mm) to do the stranding so it would not “cinch in”.  That is the right thing to do, but the wrong needles.  So I ripped back to the garter check, and changed to US 4 (3.5mm) for the straight knitting and 5’s (3.75’s) for the stranding.  B-I-N-G-O!!  Much better looking and much nicer to knit.  Up to that point, I was not enjoying this project at all.  That has happened to me before — going down one needle size and making the project much more fun to knit (?).  It is amazing how that small difference made such a big difference to me. 

I put together a graphic showing the various color combinations of the Kauni Rainbow yarn.  It is not terribly scientific, nor is it 100% accurate for the colors, BUT it does show how the various combos will play out.  There are 5 sets of colored bars.  The left bar in each pair (separated by black) is the same.  The second bar starts in a different place on the color wheel.  You look at the combinations from the bottom up, as they would appear as you are knitting them.

KauniRainbow2.jpg

In the above graphic, the colors are transforming from purple to red to orange, etc.  You can also knit the colors in the opposite direction — purple to blue to green — as shown below:

KauniRainbowOtherway.jpg

I am essentially doing combo B from the first graphic — why?  No particular reason — it just worked out that way.  As I looked at the other combos, I guess mine is as good as any, though it is a bit shocking to the eye to start a purple and orange sweater.  My daughter said she won’t be seen with me when I wear it!  It does look a bit clownish at the moment and I keep telling myself that I need to let it unfold and it will be beautiful.  I have looked at many other Kaunis on line and they all share the same color combinations, so I need to keep that in mind and appreciate the totality that is Kauni, not parse out every single color combination.

Here is what I have so far — this picture is quite true to color:

Kauni7-9-07b.jpg

I really like the garter check border*.  The pattern calls for 1×1 rib, which I am not fond of.  If I had chosen ribbing, I would have opted for 2×2.  However, I think the garter check is very much in keeping with the “square” theme of the design.  As the knitting progresses, I am liking my Kauni more and more :).  I have done about 10 inches and looking at Color Bar “B” you can tell I’m about 2/3 of the way into the full color cycle.  BTW: My knitting does not look this smooth in person, but blocking may get it there ;).

*For those unfamiliar with this edging, using Colors A and B:
Row 1: k2(A), k2(B)
Row 2: p2(A), p2(B)
Row 3: k2(B), k2(A)
Row 4: p2(B), p2(A)

And I know you want to see the inside — admit it!

KauniInside.jpg

It’s funny.  I was hauling this around today and knitting on it, and people were fascinated by it.  Several people asked me about the yarn and the knitting method — both men and women alike.  I’ve been knitting for years, on all kinds of projects, but this one seems to have a quality about it that attracts and interests people. 

I have other projects to work on right now, but I am enjoying the simplicity of this pattern and watching it unfold.

July 9, 2007

From Sally — Mermaid Update and Random Acts (of Kindness and otherwise)

Filed under: Sally's Mermaid — surly @ 4:12 pm

I’m back from Texas (a little more on that later). I didn’t get a lot of knitting done while I was gone: half of one Mermaid sleeve. For all you liberal arts majors out there, that means I’ve still got one-and-a-half sleeves left to knit. Maybe a one-sleeved jacket would be dramatic and stylish? No, I didn’t think so, either. Here is the half-sleeve in all of its glory.

I’ve held it up to my arm in a very scientific fashion and I think it’s long enough, which is nice since I can’t add length to it the way one can with a traditional sleeve. The blue on the “cast on” side is my provisional cast on (done from leftover Koigu). When the sleeve is finished, I’ll do a three-needle bind-off so I have no seam. Hanne Falkenberg does it slightly differently, but I think my way will be easier.

The next photograph is a gift of beautiful handspun yarn I received from someone I’ve never met. She’s a fellow Clay Aiken fan who likes to spin. She’d seen some photographs of my knitting and wondered if I would like some handspun yarn. Yes, yes, yes I said. It’s really lovely yarn, too. I’m not sure the photo does it justice. The darker brown yarn has interesting flecks of color in it, including bits of turquoise. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with yet, but I think I could get a really nice hat or some lovely gloves or glovelets. She wants to work on spinning some fine laceweight yarn which I’ve “generously” offered to take off her hands.

One of my other hobbies, in addition to writing and knitting, is concert photography. I was in Texas for the two opening shows of Clay Aiken’s tour and had a lot of fun hearing him perform and taking pictures under very different and trying light conditions. Here are four shots. The first two are from the Frisco concert, which was outside at night just before fireworks on the Fourth of July. The second two are indoors with stage lighting. (I’m giving you small versions of the photos to help lower the eye rolling quotient.)

Finally, speaking of Clay Aiken and spinning I’ve been following the story of the incident involving his flight from Houston to Tulsa as it gets more and more attention. I first heard about it from friends of friends who were actually on the same plane as he was. This was a smaller plane with no separate first class — steerage all the way. He apparently fell asleep and his foot ended up on the armrest of some woman in the row ahead of him. She tried to get him to move his foot; I don’t blame her. He slept through it. She then started yelling at him and hit him in the chest (not a great idea). That woke him up. Yelling may have ensued. As the story spreads across the Internet, it is morphing like the old game of telephone. I think by the time it’s all over with, the report will be that he was dragged away by the FBI for attacking her with a shoe. Don’t they have anything better to report? (At least it’s not more Paris Hilton.)

I’m going to go work on my baby blanket now. (I keep saying that, don’t I?)

June 28, 2007

From Susan — On Mermaid and DFS

Filed under: Sally's Mermaid,Updates — lv2knit @ 10:58 pm

I’ve been trying to get this done quickly — it’s a smaller project that I will wear often, so I’m trying to stay focused all the way to the finish line.

DFS6-28-07006.jpg

I also want to weigh in on the Mermaid/soft yarn discussion.  I found that my Mermaid softened up a bit when wet blocked, but I agree with Barb Outside Boston: garments can be TOO soft.  I have used some great, soft yarns, but they don’t hold their shape and sometimes pill.  That’s what I like about real shetland wool.  It keeps its shape and wears like iron.  I always wear something underneath so what difference does it make?  I love the feel of real wool.  Now that’s not to say that I don’t like merino or Cascade 220.  They are real wool and soft, so they are great to work with and wear.  But I still love that shetland wool, my friends!!

June 27, 2007

From Sally — Mermaid

Filed under: Knitting Tips,Sally's Mermaid — surly @ 5:42 pm

As promised (threatened?), here are a few progress shots of my Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid. I’m finished with the body and I’ll start the sleeves as soon as I have a chance. (That might not be until I finish the Widdicombe Fair baby blanket; that baby’s arrival is getting closer and closer.)

I’m not sure what I think of this project yet, although it looks better in person than it does in my crappy photographs. It started to rain just after I got Lucy nice and comfortable on the bench so I had to flee to the indoors before I could get some better shots.

Here’s the front (I would have positioned the lapel better if I had had the time):

Here’s a shot of the back:

The garment feels a bit “stiff,” and it doesn’t have a nice drape to it. I’m hoping that wet blocking will soften the yarn and let it relax. We’ll see.

Like Susan, I made a couple of changes to this pattern. You are supposed to knit the i-cord edge for the left side, then pick up stitches into the i-cord and start knitting. Instead, I did a provisional cast on so that I could knit the right and left lapel/collar in one piece and not have any seam up the middle of the back neck. In other words, I had live stitches on both the right and left side and worked the i-cord on those. That turned out nicely. The one issue is that when knitting an applied i-cord in a contrast color, the original color (white in this case) sometimes pops through. To avoid that, the easiest solution is to knit one row in the contrast color before binding off in the i-cord. I couldn’t do that here, though, because the entire jacket is knit in garter stitch AND the collar/lapel folds back on itself. If I had knit a row in blue, there would be obvious “bumps” of blue and white at the edge of the i-cord when the collar was folded back. It would look like the color transitions on the inside of the jacket:

Wrong side:

Susan reminded me of a technique we learned at Meg Swansen’s knitting camp. It was invented by Joyce Williams and can be found on page 18 of Sweaters from Camp. Let’s assume you are doing a three-stitch i-cord bind off. Normally, you would have your live stitches on the left needle and then cast on three stitches. Then you would knit 2 and then SSK (slip two stitches one at a time as if to knit — the second stitch being slipped would be one of the live stitches from the garment — then knit the two slipped stitches together through the back loops). When faced with wanting to make sure that the color of the live garment stitches doesn’t show through, you do this variation: Knit 2, slip one, yarn over, knit one (this is a stitch from the garment, in my case white), then pass the slipped stitch and the stitch produced by the yarn over over the knit stitch. It’s a bit futsy (the yarn over can be tricky to get your needle under), but it definitely helps hide the color.

Here is a close up of the i-cord bind off.

The jury is out on how Mermaid will turn out. I’m still undecided.

June 23, 2007

From Susan — I’m Proud as a You-Know-What!

Filed under: Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 9:22 am

I am done with the Peacock Feathers Shawl — and it’s shawl-tastic! ;)  I finished the knitting several days ago but had not found a “block” of time to actually finish it.  

I am so in love with this project.  Sally said she felt like an alchemist or fairy having created her magical Peacock, and I would love to plagiarize her every word.  But if I can’t steal her words, I will say instead that I feel like Rumpelstiltskin — I have turned straw into gold.  It was merino and silk “straw,” but you get the idea!  I cannot believe that anyone can do what I just did (and obviously many others before me).  

I have never aspired to knitting these ultra-fine laceweight shawls — why would anyone spend their time on something so impractical?  Something that takes so long to make?  Several years ago a very well-known knitter and expert on cobweb weight shetland shawls (aka wedding ring shawls) was the keynote speaker at Yarnover (unfortunately I do not recall her name).  I was duly impressed with the knitting and the beauty of the shawls, but thought I would never, ever consider that type of knitting.  Never say never — not that this is in the league of those in terms of complexity or effort or skill (though the design surpasses them in elegance and beauty), but to me it feels like it! 

I feel like Rocky jumping up and down at the top of the steps!  Doo-doo-doo..doo-doo-doo…

So, let’s look at the blocking of Peacock.  How did I get from this, Peacock in its crumpled state:

Peacock.jpg

To this:

PeacockBlocking003-1.jpg???????????

First, I started by soaking the shawl in water for 30 minutes.  While that was going on, I set up my floor.  I obviously used old, crappy-looking sheets as a base! 

I laid out an outline of the finished shawl dimensions in string (you can barely see it in the photo).  I did this because Sally said it was a hassle to line up the sides, keep them straight, and measure to make sure everything was even.  Once my perimeter was set, I never had to measure at all, which saved a lot of time and effort.  When I flopped the wet blob of knitting onto the floor, it appeared to me that there was NO WAY I could get it to the given dimensions.  It seemed absolutely impossible! 

Here you see the first step in the pinning process — each feather’s eye is pinned at its longest point:

PeacockBlocking001.jpg 

Then I just kept pinning:

PeacockBlocking005.jpg

In this picture, you can see my “chalk line”:

PeacockBlocking008.jpg

PeacockBlocking005-1.jpg

PeacockBlocking008-1.jpg

I don’t have a dancing daughter to model the finished shawl, but I do like this picture.

Sally said I am her inspiration, but obviously she is mine as well.  I had this pattern for years but may never have tackled it had it not been for her.  To say I am thrilled with the results is the understatement of the century! 

PS — if you see any mistakes, please feel free to keep it to yourself!  It’s too late!  🙂

PPS — to Michelle: it took me 6 weeks from start to finish, though I could have wrapped it up faster.  I did not knit exclusively on Peacock and I ripped back a couple of times.  Regarding Kidsilk Haze: I’ll defer that answer to Sally, as she has knitted shawls with both Zepher and KSH and can probably comment on substituting one for the other.

From Sally — I’m averting my gaze from the bad puns and just looking at the beautiful shawl. I think you could substitute KSH and it would be beautiful, but you might lose a little bit of the definition of the feathers. On the other hand, you’d get a feathery look from the yarn. I don’t find that KSH stretches as much during blocking, though — Zephyr Wool & Silk really blocks out a lot. So, if you substitute KSH, you might want to use a size larger needle than you would normally for this project so that your shawl doesn’t end up being too small.

June 22, 2007

From Susan — The Elusive Kauni

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 7:28 am

I have not had much to post about this week because of my busy and ::cough:: exciting lifestyle, so this will be brief.

I have not forsaken Kauni — that said, then where is it?  I have been trying to capture and tame the elusive Gauge.  You all know that wily creature!  A squirmy lil dickens that hides in the shadows, peeks out ever so briefly, only to sink back into the darkness before you can make out its true nature.

I did cast on and then thought the sweater was going to be too small.  It looked like I was getting 30 sts/4″ which seemed ridiculous (that is true fair isle gauge, my friends).  I am knitting with heavier yarn on a size 5.  SO, I did as I was told by my lil knittin’ sister and knitted back and forth in stockinette st to check my gauge.  It is really more like 25 sts/4″.  The pattern says 24 sts/4″, while the ball band says 23 sts/4″.  The pattern appears to be inaccurate because all of the calculations given only work if the gauge is 23 sts/4″.  I had calculated my cast on using my original “gauge” of 26 sts/4″ — so I have too many sts.  Whew.  If you stayed awake through that boring bit, I applaud you or pity you!!  So now I am going to start over.  Pictures will be forthcoming if I can ever get the project started ;)!!

At the knitters guild meeting we heard about a fun opportunity from Three Kittens Yarn Shoppe:

Kruise with Karabella and 3 Kittens

Join us on Saturday, June 30th, for a trip on a Padelford riverboat along with Berta Karapetyan, yarn store owner, Karabella Yarns founder, and author of the new book “Runway Knits.”  The 3-hour boat trip will include a short lecture by Berta, a fashion show of garments from her new book, and lots of time to knit and enjoy stitching and visiting with other knitters.  This is a perfect opportunity to have an afternoon out with your knitting friends!  The boat will leave at 1 pm and return around 4 pm.  Cost is $30 for 3K Club members or $40 for non-members.  Come sail away with us!

My knitting group peeps and I are planning on going — what a fun summer blast!

June 12, 2007

From Susan — The Peacock

Filed under: Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 1:57 am

I have been knitting away on Peacock and loving it.  I don’t know why I am enjoying this so much.  I think it is the feel of the yarn, the sheer brilliance of the pattern, and the fact that each row is different and seems to go quickly despite the number of sts.

Here is a progress shot:

Peacock6-11-07001.jpg

And another:

Peacock6-11-07003.jpg

I am probably about 8-10 rows from the bind off.  I say “bind off” but it is really a “crochet off.”  I am not the best crocheter to say the least, so I expect that phase to take a while :).

Tomorrow evening (or actually THIS evening, since it is well after midnight), I am teaching a class that I did not know spaced out about until 10 minutes ago!  Ruh roh!!  I did not have it on my calendar and the class is full.  It is the I-cord class, which is a ton of fun, but I’m not prepared.  I’ll need to get up early and pack my stuff — so off to bed I go!

June 10, 2007

From Sally — What in the World Am I Knitting Next?

Filed under: Cap Shawl,Sally's Mermaid — surly @ 12:25 pm

I know you’re all dying to know. First, let me thank you for all of your kind comments on the Cap Shawl and on my daughter, who modeled it for me. It is a beautiful shawl and it is an easy pattern. Really — it is. As I said when I first posted about it, the only thing that might be tricky for a beginning lace knitter is getting started. Once you have some stitches on the needle, the pattern is easy to knit and remember. The border is not difficult either; it’s just slow.

One other note: because Kidsilk Haze is difficult to rip out (the mohair in it acts like velcro), you might want a smoother yarn if you are a newbie.

Oh! And thanks Deirdre for the compliment on my garden. I should have taken pictures a week ago when the primrose and peonies were still in bloom. I’m in a bit of a flower lull at the moment.

So, what am I up to now? Well, I do have to finish the baby blanket (Widdicombe Fair, aka the Carousel Baby Blanket redux). I put it down to finish the Cap Shawl and that baby is due in July which, if I can count correctly, is coming up soon.

I have also picked up one of my *coughgeezhowmanyofthesedoIhavelyingaround?cough* unfinished head start projects: Hanne Falkenberg’s Mermaid. I was actually pretty far on this one when I got seduced by something else:

I started it with a provisional cast on (on the left side of the photo); when I get to the collar on the right side I’ll pick up stitches around the neck and the live stitches waiting on the left side and knit it all in one piece so I don’t have a seam in the middle of the neck. I’m not sure why Hanna didn’t write this pattern that way because she has done that on some of her other designs. Not that I have a cupboard full of unknit Hanne Falkenberg kits or anything.

June 9, 2007

From Susan — Can You Say, “Good Timing”?

Filed under: Susan's Kauni Cardigan — lv2knit @ 4:42 pm

Oh, my!  Lookie what came today!!!!  I am again BESIDE myself, but this time in a good way.  The Kauni fairy left me a box with six of the biggest, fattest skeins of yarn you have ever seen. 

KauniYarnUnwound.jpg

The colors are spectacular — quite bright and sunny — and it appears that the weight of the yarn is slightly heavier than fair isle jumper weight yarn.  Next task: roll this puppy into a MEGABALL and start swatching.

And why is the timing so critical?  Remember when I said that this is the new “it” knitting project?  More prophetic words could not have been spoken.  The Yarn Harlot just started the Kauni Cardigan and posted about it on her blog!  I am so glad our order preceded THAT little announcement!  Whew!  Timing is everything…

 

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress