Some loyal readers may recall that when I finished my Hanne Falkenberg Ballerina I was shocked that the sleeves went from being 5″ too short before blocking to the perfect length after blocking. Woo Hoo for me — project finito. Well, today I decided to wear Ballerina and BUMMER: the sleeves are too short by about 2″. It just feels skimpy. So I must go back to the knitting grindstone and knit a cuff onto the sleeves. The pattern calls for a 2″ cuff on the sleeves, so I my jacket will actually look more like the original. I don’t know about you, but I really do not like to go back to a project even though many would benefit from some kind of redo.
September 19, 2006
September 2, 2006
From Sally — More Fair Isle Knitting
Ahem. Let’s move away from the sock monkeys, ever so briefly, and start talking about knitting again. I wanted to show you some photographs of one of my favorite Fair Isle sweaters: Henry VIII, designed by Alice Starmore. I realized that I don’t have a good “distant” photograph of it that shows the whole sweater and I just can’t hobble up the stairs again to find the sweater, lay it out, and take another photograph. Instead, I’ll post these photographs of her slightly reworked version of the design.
If you own the book Tudor Roses, and feel adventurous, you can purchase this as a kit at Virtual Yarns. She and her daughter Jade have many other lovely designs available there as well.
Anyway, I knit this sweater for my husband. Fortunately, I can wear this one too — it’s somewhat “big” for me but I’m willing to make the sacrifice.
Here is a detail of the neck:
Here is a closeup of the main part of the pattern:
Finally, because you know how much I like to look at the inside, here is the reversed stranded design:
I always have at least one Starmore project going. (Right now, including ones that have been “aging” a bit, I have four on the needles.) The most current one, which I expect to get back to very shortly, is Rosarie, which was designed by Jade Starmore. Although I don’t usually go for vests, I really loved this bold design and just had to work on it.
I haven’t had a chance to do to much knitting on it. Here is my one photo in progress.
This Fair Isle has only 5 colors in it, whereas there are fourteen in the original version of Henry VIII. (I haven’t checked on how many there are in her revised version.)
August 29, 2006
From Susan — Erika’s Sweater
Here is the sweater I made for my niece. I knitted it out of Cascade Etoile in color Iris — very soft: 70% kid mohair and 30% acrylic, 164 yds/50 gm. Probably similar to Kidsilk Haze but bigger. The gauge on the label is 5 sts/inch on a US 7. I used a size 6 to get 5.5 sts/in.Â
 
Here is the pattern. It is a bolero style from Sirdar. I made a size 4 because everything I have ever bought her is too small. I hope she’ll get to wear this some day! I love the picot edging, but I would have done it differently if I had had time to think. They picked up the edges after knitting each piece and then did a picot bind off — I would have done a picot cast on and saved a step. The pattern shows the collar in 1×1 ribbing, but I changed it to reverse st st due to LACK OF TIME!
 
It looks very different in the yarn I chose but I think it turned out pretty cute.
August 28, 2006
From Susan — Knitting Update
Since this is a knitting blog, I guess I’ll actually share some knitting updates :). I have done very little on the Woman’s Continental, but I did knit a sweater since my state fair post. My great niece turned two today (Happy, BD, Erika!). Her mom called me Wednesday evening to invite us to a little party for Erika to be held yesterday afternoon. I realized that other than her family Christmas stocking, I had never knitted her anything, so I thought I’d try to whip something up. Good plan, but the timeline was a little tight. I bought the yarn on my way to knitting (on Thursday, after my day at the fair) and started that evening. Friday I worked all day. That did not leave a lot of time. I had until 3:15 pm Sunday to finish. I sewed the button on at 3 pm. I was still wet and not dressed. That is cutting it close. I’m not sure if or when it will fit her — she was covered in chocolate cake and frosting when the gift was opened, so we did not let it near her! But it was a labor of love. I’ll share a picture and project details when my daughter brings the camera back.Â
August 24, 2006
From Susan — The 148th Minnesota State Fair
The Great Minnesota Get Together
The weather: cloudy, rainy, dreary
The crowds: not bad
The food: put it on a stick, fry it and you’ll find it there. This is pretty much how I looked after a Pronto Pup, pork chop on-a-stick, and a Caramel Pecan Log (omigod, the best!):
This is a momma pig waiting to give birth in the Miracle of Birth Center. They time the pregnancies so live births occur every day of the fair. It is pretty fascinating. The bars are to prevent mom from rolling over on the babies.
Back to What’s REALLY Important
Yes, the phone rang just as Sally hit “publish.” I called her with the “breaking news.” As usual, I was a bit surprised at what ribbons went to each item. I was absolutely certain that some things would do extremely well (they didn’t), and equally convinced that some things would not do that well or even get a ribbon (they did). This happens every year and every year I am surprised — last year pleasantly so, and this year, not so much.
The results, in a nutshell:
And, as they were displayed in the Creative Activities Building:
Sunrise was tucked behind a post, next to Mermaid:
The silk scarf was displayed rather nicely:
I could not get a good picture of the Camilla Gloves — they were hanging down from the ceiling and the light reflected so much off the glass that you couldn’t see anything.
There are many types of handiwork in the fair. In the What-the-Heck-is-That? Category:
Another guy and I were looking on in slack-jawed amazement. Check out the dress behind it with the built-in Monkey Bra.
As someone who tats, I love to see beautiful work:
And here is the sweepstakes winner:
What a gorgeous shawl. Thursdays at Four is contributing a $25 gift card from Panera’s:
I guess now we have to pay up! There was a sweepstakes award on another item as well (I don’t quite get how all the categories work). You may recognize the Koigu Hexagon Skirt from Vogue knitting:
The real excitement for me came when I found that my daughter Laura’s artwork, “Through the Woods,” had been selected for display from among the many high school entries. She won Honorable Mention (whatever that means — but, hey, a ribbon is involved!). Again, the reflection made it difficult to get a good picture:
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So, please excuse this long post. It’s been a long day! But — it’s Thursday! I am heading to Panera’s for knitting group!
August 19, 2006
From Susan — Woman’s Continental
I have been making some progress on the jacket. I am just a few inches shy of the raglan shaping. I am clipping along because this is mindless stockinette and I am enjoying the yarn tremendously. This shows the fabric — just picture a bigger rectangle!
Because I am sizing this up — for two reasons: one, because I am larger than 40″ and two, because I want it to fit as an outerwear jacket — I have had to make changes to the pattern, but nothing too drastic. So far I am happy with the results.
August 7, 2006
From Susan — The Shirker
Lest you get the idea that I have been shirking on both my knitting and blogging duties, I will admit only to shirking my blogging. I have gotten a small bit of knitting done in the past few days. I have been finishing up a few loose ends in preparation for the State Fair. Entries are due next week so the unpleasant part of completing a project has been left to the bitter end in several cases.Â
I have finished my Beaded Bag:
This is my design in the sense that you have to basically create a shape to fit the purse frame that you buy.
I also finished up the silk American Beauty Scarf:
I had several ideas about how to finish the ends. My first thought was some kind of beaded fringe, but it seemed like guilding the lily. I ended up doing a double crochet scallop. I do not crochet, so it presented a challenge. I made my daughter a sweater last year with this crochet stitch along the hemline so I had done it before, but it is quite pathetic to watch me struggle with crocheting! I am not a huge fan of crochet, but it certainly has its place.
I also finished knitting and felting a bag for my youngest — if I make something, she always wants one, too. It is like the purple bag my daughter, Laura, made but of course in pink. It is drying. I worked on Oregon a little bit with very little progress to show and also finished up the second baby hat.Â
The hats are turning out like “Goldilocks and the Three Hats” — one was cast on too tight, one was cast on too loose and the next should be JUST RIGHT.Â
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So now I am caught up on my blogging for a day or two. Â
July 31, 2006
From Susan — Response to Comment
Wendy, thanks for your question about the ribbing. It is called corrugated ribbing: 2×2, using one color for the knit sts and another for the purl. The colors change along the way. AS rarely changes both colors on the same round in order to soften the color changes. It is terribly slow to do.
July 30, 2006
From Susan — I’m on the Slow Train to Oregon
This looks like the other picture, n’est-ce pas? You’re wrong! The trees are starting to emerge! I’ll keep doing this for 20 more inches with a stop along the way to add armhole steeks and do the neck shaping.
The fabric is very thick, but lightweight. You can see the nubbiness and multi-colored nature of the yarn.
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July 29, 2006
From Susan — Sundry Updates
Thank goodness bunions aren’t on the thumbs — Sally can still knit! I just talked to her and she sounds great. So far, so good.
I really did miss my knitting peeps on Thursday, but it was well worth it. My kitchen (as old and outdated as it is) looks the best it has ever looked. It has inspired us to move on.Â
I have been working on Oregon and my American Beauty scarf. The scarf just gets longer so it doesn’t look any different (just look at the old picture). I received my latest issue of Interweave Knits and Kate Gilbert (Sunrise Circle designer) has a bolero pattern in it made with the same silk yarn as my scarf. Tres cher (French for ‘mucho bucks’). It’s kind of pretty but you can’t see how gorgeous the yarn is from the photo.
The other thing I’ve been doing is finishing up my State Fair entries. Everything must be turned in by mid-August. I’ll do a State Fair post then.Â
