VOGUE KNITTING LIVE

Felted chess set @ Vogue KnittingLive

Knit garden @ Vogue KnittingLive

Ever been surrounded by hundreds of people who all harbor the same addiction? Well that's what I did over a week ago.

The addiction? Knitting. The place? New York City. The event? Vogue Knitting Live.

Classes, teachers, and a really great marketplace of yummy yarns, kits, and more. I'm terrible at taking pictures, so I just have a couple to share from some of the artists: an amazing chess set (love the dragon!) and a garden complete with fountain, flowers and birds.
I took three classes: one on steeking, which is something you absolutely need to know how to do if you want to do a Fair Isle cardigan or any kind of color work that you want to match up. The two part class on designing lace shawls and writing the pattern provided terrific information. I started a shawl that I plan to wear at a big event for my boss's 80th birthday gala. The last class was on designing drop and saddle shoulders. I learned when these are good to use and how to design them.

The Marketplace had many, many temptations, and I was reserved, but I still came away with some lovely cashmere, a few kits, and yarn for making a shawl and a couple of scarves.

Meanwhile, I've been knitting up a few things. I finished a sweater using Mountain Colors yarn, which I wore to the event. I wanted a simple sweater that I could just toss on. The color is so rich that it needed no embellishment, so I just did a cable up the front, back, and sleeves. At the conference, one of the teachers was wearing a cowl that matched her sweater. Aha! I had extra yarn, so as soon as I got home, I worked up a pattern and knit one. I used a triangle pattern using knit/purl. The cowl has been perfect since winter has been unusually cold this year.

Pink Tiger Socks

I also knit up a pair of socks. As I've mentioned before, socks are the best thing to take on a trip because they take up so little space. I finished one sock on the train home and started the second one, finishing it the next day. I call these my pink tiger socks. I used a lace pattern even though with a multi-colored yarn they are not easily seen. But I like how it moves the color lines. The yarn is Pinnacle Fingering from Wild Hare Fiber Studio. It has the greatest colors, even neon, for socks.

After Christmas I knit a pair of fingerless mitts for myself, but gave them to a friend. I had yarn left over from the cardigan I knit for my friend, so I knit another pair for myself--and am wearing them as I type this. Ahh, warm and cozy hands.

But I'm not finished. I bought a kit to make a felted cloche hat. I was so excited about it that I knit it up really quickly and set about felting it, but something went wrong. I somehow didn't felt it right and the hat didn't shrink. Undaunted, I made some adjustments and made it into a rolled band hat. Hat, cowl, and sweater are featured in this photo.

Hat, cowl and new sweater.

And now I've made a swatch for a scarf idea with one of the new yarns.

And the knit goes on,

Reah Janise 

SWEATER & SCARF PATTERNS

Last year at this time, I was finishing two sweaters for my nephews, Matthew and Joshua, who were 12 and 10 at the time. They live at a distance, so sizing was tricky. Here are pictures of these two handsome young men wearing their sweaters.

Joshua in his two-color Berroco
Pure Pima Cotton sweater

Matthew in his sweater
(pattern)

Since I have more projects in mind than time to flesh out patterns, I unfortunately tend to delay writing up patterns. But I have gotten a pattern together for Matthew's sweater (on the right)--complete with sizes. I really liked how this sweater turned out. 

My sister-in-law had asked for cotton sweaters, which is not my favorite yarn to work with, but allergies required no wool.

Joshua's sweater (on the left) is made from Berroco Pure Pima (shades 2245 and 2263). I had originally thought I'd purchased enough yarn to make both sweaters from the Berroco, but realized after I got the measurements that it wasn't enough. Unfortunately I'd had the yarn for a few months and knew it would be next to impossible to get matching dye lots, so I designed Joshua's to use both colors.

Of course that meant hunting for new cotton yarn for Matthew. I found Lily's Sugar 'n Cream and chose the color denim. It's a thicker yarn than the Berroco, but is a workhorse and can be washed and thrown in the dryer, unlike the Berroco. I wanted Matthew's sweater to have some give and to yet have an interesting design. I tested several stitch patterns before finding one that seemed to work well with the yarn. It combines ribbing with a seed or basketweave stitch. Although I call it a boy's cotton pullover, it will work equally well for girls.

Double Cable Scarf pattern

SCARF
Recently I put together a pattern for a man's scarf for a friend. It was going to be her first venture into cables. About a month ago, I started a scarf from the same pattern, but using a lighter weight yarn. I think it's a lovely pattern and wanted to share it with you, too. The pattern is written so that you can adjust the width according to the type of yarn you are using. And, to me the pattern is gender-neutral.
Happy knitting!

Reah Janise