Sally was planning on writing a post, but got waylaid from having no power and being surrounded by chaos!  She is in the heart of the storm that struck the east coast this weekend.  They are struggling with record heat and no wi fi!!  Ouch!

So blogging is left to me.  I did just finish a project.  One that I have been working on for months.  Partly because of the scale of the project and partly because of yarn “issues.”  Yes.  Handpaints.  The yarns we love to buy and then love to hate.  My Daydreams in Lace is knit out of my “crack du jour” Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in color Midnight Pass — a color that truly eludes capture.

Here is my finished Daydreams.  An amazing feat because it actually fits.  You know how much I hate being photographed, but here I am – bad hair day and all – to prove that it is possible to knit something that fits.  I was worried because it is an unusual garment.  But because it was knit from the top down, I did feel pretty confidant all the way along.  The pattern calls for laceweight and Tosh is heavier, but I did see that some other knitters had used this yarn and their projects were gorgeous, so I forged ahead.

My Mods:
First, I cast on provisionally.  I knew I did not like the 1×1 ribbed neckline, but did not know what I would end up doing.  I finally decided on a 3-row reverse stockinette roll (4 rows with bind off) — after adding about 4 sts per repeat to keep the opening size large enough.

Next, I increased my needle size as I worked the body of the garment: from a US 4 at the yoke, to a 5 and then to a 6 to give it an A-line shape.  On the sleeves I reversed the sizing, going from the Size 4 to a 3 then a 2.

I added the bottom border from the Percy Shawl (free pattern!) after seeing Catherine’s project on Ravelry.  The sleeves were finished in a modified feather and fan of my own devising.

About the yarn: a stunning color, to be sure.  EVERYONE who sees it says, “Wow!  I love that color!”  And it is true.  But as we know, there is variation among these handpainted skeins.  The first three skeins were dead on…very little variation.  I finished the entire body with those three skeins.  Then on to the sleeves.

As I started knitting, I could tell the color was very pale and washed out.  Bummer.  So, I started knitting with my 5th skein to see what would happen: very noticeable line.  As luck would have it, Sally was arriving for Yarnover, so she brought the remaining yarn she had from a project yet to be named 🙂 .  I made her buy it because the color was so beautiful!  The color in her skein seemed much more tonally varied: the dark was darker, the light lighter.  I contacted A Good Yarn in Sarasota to see if they had any more, thinking I could buy a few skeins and see which one matched the best.  They had a new batch (? would it even remotely match the old?) but only give store credit for returns.  Hmmm.  Bummer.  So, I used Sally’s partial skein to transition from the body to the sleeves and then finished the sleeves with my darker skein.  Overall, I think it is hard to see the difference.

So, monkeying around with the different skeins slowed me down a bit.  Plus, I think I did too much knitting.  It is hard to tell how much additional length you’ll get from blocking lace.  I did a LOT more knitting than called for in the pattern (I am the big one after all), but maybe too much.

Grade for Daydreams in Lace = A+
Pattern: A+ (and free besides!) — apparently there is errata but maybe not for my size
Yarn: A (it would get an A+ except for the trials described above!)
Buttons: A+ — Irridescent blue glass – stunning
Fit: A- (I am never 100% sold on how things look on me!!)

I may knit this again in a very different color, and make it shorter — more like a regular sweater length.  I really enjoyed making this.  If you have any interest in it, I say, go for it!!

Just a note: we have not died or fallen off the world.  But, it is summer and things are very busy for both of us.  Hope your first few official days of summer have been splendid.  It has been quite beautiful here the last couple of days and my DH is out there digging in the dirt like a 3-year old!!

So why the title “Quasi-mood-o?” You may recall that I was working on a vest called Vintage Mood.  It is a cute vest with a big problem.  A Quasimoto problem!  Several knitters complained about the hump at the base of the back of the neck.  I myself described this problem when I first posted about the project.  A fellow Raveler read my post and asked me what I had done to fix this.  I told her my plan, though I had not actually completed the repair.  I did so last night and thought I would share it.

Upon examination, my Vintage Mood had  ~3 inches of excess fabric at the base of the neck.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the hump before the fix, but you can see a smaller “pouch” here.  I thought through what was needed and came up with a step-by-step solution:

Step 1.
Put on the garment and mark the width of the back neck edge. Count these sts and make sure they are centered to the center back neck.

Step 2.
Pinch the “hump” together to see exactly how much extra fabric you need to get rid of — probably 2-3 inches. Measure down from the collar and mark the row at that depth.

Step 3.
Take the number of sts from #1 above and divide in half. Center these sts to the center back neck.  Place a piece of waste yarn through these sts (I used knitting needles).  The markers in the ribbing above are lined up with the first and last live sts that they will be grafted to to make sure the centers are lined up.

Step 4.
Snip the yarn below the ribbing and place the sts between the neck markers on a holder.  Snip the yarn from the row above the sts on the piece of waste yarn (#2) in the middle — pull the ends out through all the held sts from the center until these sts are held by the waste yarn or needles alone.

Step 5.
Using waste yarn, “draw” outline where the collar needs to be sewn down on either side of the center sts (shown in green below).

At this point I cut the excess fabric down the middle to make it easier to work.

Step 6.
Graft/sew the body of the vest back to the neck — make sure to line up the live sts center to center with the neckband sts. Ease the area that is being sewn to the live neck sts.  I grafted as stockinette on the body sts and ribbing on the collar sts.The distance along the green waste yarn is much longer than the number of sts in the collar would accommodate so I really had to pull it in to make it work.

Step 7.
Machine stitch along the inside edge (along the sewing line in Step 6) and then cut away the excess fabric. When stitching, be sure to stitch down the cut yarn ends from Steps 3 and 4.

Okay, that sounded easy enough…but when I got done, there were little pointy areas located at the spots marked as the neck width in Step 1.  It seems that I should have gone beyond the very back neck, farther into the front.  SO, I just machine stitched little darts on the inside and cut the points away.  At some point you say enough is enough!!

The result?  Quasimoto has left the building!!

PS: Julie asked if I would be able to describe what should be done while KNITTING the vest to fix the “hump” problem.  As I responded to her, I do not have the mental energy or motivation to try to figure out the changes that would be necessary in the pattern to fix this.  I think this is something the designer should be expected to do.  Maybe this is not a problem shared by everyone, but it does seem to apply to many and maybe warrants a re-look on her part…but mine is done and I do not have the desire or will to spend more time on it!!

PS to the PS — check out the comment from Sivani about using short rows to fix the problem.  She put in a lot of detail.  If anyone uses her method, let me know!

PS2: Trudy called me “fearless” but I am not.  This is a very expendable project — if it worked, great.  If not, no big deal.  The outcome did not matter one way or the other.

Thanks all for the wonderful birthday thoughts and wishes.  I really did have a great day.  Last night I went out to a lovely dinner with friends I have known for almost 40 years (play dates were tough in the womb!! 😉 ).  We dined outside, which we really appreciate in Minnesota.  It is a special treat with a small window of opportunity.  They got me the Shades of Grey trilogy — which after the hype, I’m a little afraid to read!!

My husband bought me a new camera for my birthday.  Okay, I bought a new camera and told him it was from him!!

I had a skein of yarn in the store with me and I told the guy — get me a camera that can take a picture of this.  I would show you a picture but I don’t quite have the hang of it yet!  I think the learning curve will be pretty steep for me…

Yes, the wondrous day that only comes round once a year:

SUSAN’S BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday to my big sister!

It’s the big one we like. It’s true. Susan is my best friend, my mentor, my therapist, my expert on all things mathematical and technical. We talk FOR HOURS on the phone virtually every day. I don’t know what I would do without her.

For her amusement (although I know she has already seen one of these), I am sharing videos of two Star Trek themed birthday cards. Star Trek reruns were one of our guilty pleasures in college. The original series now streams for free on Netflix and I occasionally watch episodes as great knitting tv. Susan and I can still recite some of our favorite lines by heart. “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer.”

Please join me in wishing my sister a very Happy Birthday. (I won’t tell you how old she is because I am right behind her!)

I’ve been feeling pretty meh about my knitting lately. It seems the wrong season to knit much on my Milkweed sweater/coat, and nothing much has caught my imagination. I’ve been working steadily on an odd little garment that’s almost finished — a kit that I purchased at Yarnover. I can’t tell whether I love it or hate it, and it’s a race to see if I will run out of knitting before I run out of yarn. I’ll post about that once it’s finished and the love/hate verdict is in.

In the meantime, I’ve been wanting to knit something out of linen. I don’t always enjoy knitting with linen, but I love the results. The particular linen I’ve been fixating on is from Shibui Knits. Instead of the string-like fiber I’m used to, it is (in their words) “fine linen strands in a chain ply structure.” I’ve been intrigued for some time, but just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. As we all know, however, the right project surfaces eventually. This time, what surfaced was The Whiteness of the Whale, designed by Ann Weaver.

I need a light, breezy cardigan and I love the back detail. My whale will be more Blue Whale than Moby Dick, though:

Here’s an attempt to show the chain-like structure (reminiscent of Rowan’s Lima yarn):

I will make a few changes (longer, slightly wider sleeves for example) but the main change will be in construction: I want to knit this as a top-down contiguous sweater. The pattern is already written as a top down in sections, so it should be relatively straightforward to convert.

As long as I’m blathering, I’ll point out my wooden “Yarn Marley” in the photograph of my yarn. Technically, it’s called a Yarn Buddy and is a wonderful lazy Susan for a yarn cake or pull skein. I love it.

But I lovingly — LOVINGLY — call it a Yarn Marley because I sometimes drag mine behind me from room to room. You remember Marley from A Christmas Carol, don’t you?

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”

My Marley is made of Canary Wood. I bought it at Yarnover from Sun Valley Fibers. Jeannette and George of Sun Valley Fibers are, hands down, two of the nicest persons I’ve ever met. My sister will concur. Their Yarn Buddies/Marleys were so beautiful that people were buying them before they could even be put out for display. I had a terrible time choosing which one to buy, and I may have George make me a custom Marley out of Purple Heart. If you’ve ever been tempted to buy one of these, stop resisting. The photos of George’s work don’t do justice to the beauty of the woods he uses. Their yarns are gorgeous, too. They are one of the most dangerous vendors for me to try to walk past at Yarnover.

Anyway, off to swatch with my linen chain. Wish me luck!

Add on from Susan — I, too, fell for the Great White Whale myself, but no yarn yet and two projects to finish first. I did happen to see the Shibui Linen tonight at my knitting group. Kathy had a skein of it in “Apple” and it is really, really lovely.

Wow. Talk about a blast from the past! I forgot I finished this a while back and did not post about it. Remember the steek cutting and color commentary from a month or two ago? I did go on to finish the project: Taiga Cowichan.

It fits and I like it and I have even worn it. I was pretty pleased with the whole thing until I went to DC in early May to visit Sally and saw HER Taiga. Her yarn is SO MUCH NICER!!!!! I felt sick. Mine looks like a POS in comparison. Her yarn is softer, smoother, prettier.

I knit mine out of the yarn that was used in the original: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed. Sally used Blackstone Tweed Chunky. Just. So. Much. Nicer.

I did make some mods: the first of which I already wrote about – the steeking of the colorwork. The interesting thing is, the front band is bulkier where I picked up sts than where the steek is located.

I did a couple of inches of stockinette on the sleeves before starting the ribbing. I also wanted to make sure that the neckband fit like a mock turtleneck. It really wanted to slide down into crewneck territory. So I made a crochet chain and wove it into the inside of the collar. When I put it on, I pull up on each side and adjust it to fit. You can’t even see it from the outside, and the nubby yarn keeps it in place.

PS: Barb asked for a picture of Sally’s — this is from a former post! Hers is not yet done.

When I first saw this book, I thought, “What a nice assortment of classic designs.” Upon closer review, I realized that there is more here than meets the eye.

Wearwithall is the collective effort of The Yarnery’s talented staff. The book provides some basic patterns as the starting point for your creative touches. They give you ideas and direction, but of course you control the results. Very nicely done!

This beautiful cardigan is knit in Kidsilk Haze, so c’mon!! What’s not to like!! I saw it in person at Yarnover — simple and quite fetching!!

There are socks, hats, kids’ designs, items for the home…all the essentials that we love to knit and gift.

Optimism (n.)
1. the tendency to expect the best and see the best in all things
2. hopefulness; confidence

Do knitters possess a higher degree of optimism than other people? I think we have to…or else we would never start a project!

One of the several things on my needles right now was born not only of my tendency to view a project’s potential through rose-colored glasses, but also of my frugality. I bought yarn from Webs on sale — it cannot be returned. You may remember this yarn as the orange bulky that did not work for my Taiga Vest. The same designer also must have had a surplus of this yarn because she designed another vest out of the same color as she used in HER Taiga and called it Vintage Mood.

I thought it was cute, and I had the exact yarn called for in a generous quantity. The design itself is unusual and here is where my optimism comes in: will this crazy, twisted around, origami of a vest work?? I think it will (?). Here is what I have so far:

You start across the back with a provisional cast on. Then you work up the back and over the shoulders, with the garter sts edges forming the armholes. You convert to ribbing for the shawl collar. At that point, you fold the thing in half and pick up sts and work the lower body from the top down in ribbing (some people substituted stockinette, which I kind of wish I had done).

I tried it on and it fits and is pretty darn cute…BUT, there is a huge “hump” at the back neck, like there should have been some shaping somewhere along the line (after I started this, I noticed that others on Ravelry have mentioned this problem). This will require some machine sewing and surgery to correct. Again, I am pretty optimistic that I can fix it 🙂 . I will wait until it is blocked before I do anything — I don’t want to “over correct.”

Would someone please hand over my rose-colored glasses?

Like lemmings plunging off a cliff, we both joined the latest Ravelry craze: Color Affection.

Susan’s Color Affection
I understand the appeal of the shawl, but not the magnitude of the appeal. In any case, I still purchased yarn for the project at Yarnover. I got caught up in the beauty of the Grinning Gargoyle’s wares and the joy of pairing three colors together (can you pair three things?). I used Grinning Gargoyle’s Seda Sock in light gray, darker gray, and a soft, “cedar” green.

The knitting is simple garter, with some short rows thrown in. I opted for the “k1, YO, k1” option that most knitters have used to mitigate the very tight edge that occurs.

I decided to do a 2-stitch i-cord bind off (after seeing a project on Ravelry) and it turned out quite nice. The blocking helped get rid of the shawl’s inevitable hump…hope it’s gone for good!

Sally’s Color Affection

My son attends Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and when I’m in Portland I always stop at Knit Purl, a lovely shop with an interesting selection of yarns. (They are the home of Shibui.) Unfortunately for my wallet, I am on their email list and periodically receive offers I just can’t refuse. They emailed that they had a new shipment of Madelinetosh Pashmina, and that’s when I took the plunge off the Color Affection cliff. I used Silver Fox, Logwood, and Charcoal. My colors look somewhat similar to Susan’s, but the difference is the lavender that glides into purple. The color reminded me of two of my favorite flowers: lilacs (which I can’t get to grow in DC) and wisteria (which I have in abundance right now).

PS from Susan — Pat asked how we blocked our shawls. I can’t speak for Sally, but I did not use any wires or guide thread to block mine — just a pin on each end to make the points pointy! My shawl was quite damp and I just shaped it to the desired shape. It was kind of difficult because the garter ridges were very moveable (like an accordian). I just made sure the stripes ran parallel to each other. Plus, I made sure the hump (at the cast on area) was flattened out. This additional blocking photo may show it better.

PS2: Pat asked if my Color Affection was blocked on a piece of styrofoam — indeed it is! I show the process in this post…but glossed over my ridiculous trip to the car when the styrofoam had me nearly airborne!!

As you are well aware, I just got back from a couple of knitting excursions. Credit cards were used. Yarn was purchased.

Here is a sampling:

The well informed among you will recognize two skeins of Madelinetosh Light in the upper left of the photo: the blue is called Worn Denim, the green is called Grove. I love Tosh Light, what else can I say? I wanted to get 4 of the Worn Denim, but Stephen Be only had 3, so I got the green for (perhaps?) a two-color shawl.

The gold laceweight in the upper right is from MS&W, Spirit Trails: Yarn is Decima in color “Vintage.” 550 yards of merino and silk per skein. Lovely. No idea what to do with this…another shawl, but how many can I stack up? My house is already lousy with shawls!!

The ball that is wound is a boucle that I also purchased at MS&W, from Tintagel Farms: Yarn is a mohair, silk and wool blend in color Bayberry; 250 yards per 5 oz. It called my name. Very loudly. And I don’t really know why! It has already been tapped to make another Easy Missoni Mobius Cowl. I can’t get enough of them, plus I was teaching the Cat Bordhi cast on today, so I needed a sample. That’s my story, anyway!! The color is knitting up absolutely beautifully and is reminiscent of something deep in my reptilian brain. Someday that memory may pop to the surface.

Last and not least is an ethereal color called “Sugar Plum” in an 80/20 bamboo and nylon mix that positively glistens. It is from Sun Valley Fibers (purchased at Yarnover). I have a shawl in mind for this (hangs head in shameful resignation). The picture captured the color pretty well, which is amazing.

Sally and I also are making the same projects (in different yarns) which will be revealed shortly. And I will be again hanging my head in embarrassment over the type of project it is. 😉