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.
Beauty is in the details of White Whale. It is gorgeous.
I purchased a yarn buddy for myself and shortly thereafter ordered one for my mother. I love it so much that I sometimes pack it in my knitting bag so that I can use it on the go.
Comment by Beverly — June 7, 2012 @ 9:17 pm
I have 2 of these Yarn Buddies for when I am holding yarn double or doing fair isle. This is the most wonderful invention ever!
Comment by p — June 8, 2012 @ 11:17 am
I really love the Shibui Linen! It has such a wonderful drape. The biggest problem I had was splitting the chain ply while knitting with it. I’m anxious to start another project with it.
Your Yarn Buddy is much prettier than the ones my DH made for me: He made the first ones by embedding some copper pipe into pieces of 2×6 when I was making a cardigan from 4 strands of Habu yarn – he made two which each have 2 spindles. Last week he made a single spindle version, using the plastic spindle from a large CD/DVD container attached to a block of 2×6.
Comment by Cheryl S. — June 8, 2012 @ 12:26 pm
This project looks divine. Thanks for the tip to the design – I like Ann Weaver’s stuff (already have two in my library and Rav queue).
Comment by stashdragon — June 8, 2012 @ 12:55 pm
I’m using my Marley for a cone of Habu. It works great for letting the yarn roll off the cone, not off the tip, which would introduce more twist.
I’ll look forward to your Blue Whale – it promises to be a winner!
Comment by twinsetellen — June 9, 2012 @ 8:57 pm
I can’t wait to see that yarn knit up. It’s a beautiful color.
Comment by rebecca — June 10, 2012 @ 12:05 pm
Have always loved this pattern but have to limit myself to small projects these days so I’m glad I can enjoy knitting it vicariously through you guys. Attended one of Ann Weaver’s classes a little while back and she was an absolute delight. So inspiring. Love your Yarn Marley nickname. That device will have no other name in my mind from now on!
Comment by Chloe — June 11, 2012 @ 12:20 pm
How on earth do you manage to make so much stuff and to such levels of perfection? I can only think you have no work, children or significant others!
Comment by Sue — June 14, 2012 @ 8:11 am
Well, Sally, I was nowhere near Yarnover, but thanks to your post, I am now the owner of my own Yarn Buddy! The wood truly is more beautiful than can be shown on the website.
Mary G. in Texas
Comment by Katie's Granny — June 15, 2012 @ 1:18 am
I happened across a reference to your blog and remembered that I always enjoyed you guys’ projects, skill, and sense of humor. I had to pay a visit after all this time. Happy Belated Birthday! Beautiful yarn and new projects. And I love my Yarn Buddy, too! It always is the subject of conversation the first time anyone sees it. Handmade and unique.
Happy days to you both.
Comment by Karen B. — June 24, 2012 @ 2:51 pm