SUMMER PULLOVER TIME!

Climbing Mountains Lace Pullover

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I started on a summer lace pullover. A few years earlier, I'd knit a lace cardigan with white cotton yarn. My mother liked it so much that I gave her mine and then knit another for me. The cotton yarn was a worsted weight, so a little bulky.

Then last summer I knit my first triangle shawl using Wolle's Color Changing Cotton yarn. Her four-stranded cotton yarn was light, like a fingering or sock yarn, and I started thinking that it would make an ideal summer lace sweater, something to toss on over a tank top. I emailed her to see if she had any single-color yarns and ended up purchasing skeins in the color granite.

Summer is here and so despite lots of project ideas as gifts for people, I decided to tackle a project for myself. I found a lace pattern, called mountain peaks from the knittingfool.com website. I also use this website for determining how many skeins are needed for a project. I made a slight variation to the pattern.

It seemed that a drop shoulder pattern with a boat neck would be the easiest (no worry over figuring out lace decreases).

And now both sweater and pattern are done. And this is the first pattern where I've included sizes. Here's the link for the PDF on Scribd and another on Ravelry.

Enjoy!

Reah Janise

KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY

Connie and Reah Janise knitting in public

Today was the start of the Worldwide Knit in Public week. Co-knitter Connie and I set up camp at the Solitude Wool stall at our local farmers market and then moved on to--how could we be so lucky?--a blues festival!

Solitude Wool is local and their wool is lovely. They carry yarns that felt excellently, so I bought some about a month ago and knit a felted bag, using their pattern. The handles for the bag are a specialty item sold only at Uniquities Yarn Shop in Vienna, Virginia. Although I had to wait a month for the handles, I am thrilled with the finished product.

Ta Da!

I brought it with me to show to Gretchen at Solitude Wool. It's inaugural public display, but I'm definitely going to be using this bag for a long time.

Thanks to Connie and Gretchen for snapping the photos.

cheers,

Reah Janise

STRING THEORY SHAWL

The last time I checked in, I'd just spent a lovely day dyeing yarn using Kool-Aid. At the time, I'd also just completed another crescent shawl (becoming a favorite shape of mine). The shawl was a another variation of the Annis shawl. I added three rows of additional lace to make it a deeper shawl.

String Theory Crescent Shawl

Two skeins of String Theory DK Viola were used. Because this is hand-dyed yarn, the skeins--from the same dye lot--have enough variation that you should not just go from one hank to another. So every other row, I switched from one ball to another. This made for a blended pattern.

 



Crescent Shawl

And now I have begun a summer lace cotton sweater. Last year I'd made my first triangle shawl from Wolle's Color Changing Cotton yarn. Her four-stranded cotton seemed like it would make an ideal summer lace sweater, one to toss on over a tank top. I bought skeins last year in the color granite and have finally gotten up the courage to start the project.

 

Here's a sample of the lace pattern, called mountains. What I like is that it combines purl stitches on the front, kind of in between "mountains." The sweater will have a boat-neck, so construction is relatively simple.

 

Cheers,

Reah Janise

 

A TIME TO DYE

Kool-Aid-dyed sock yarn

You might remember me mentioning my artist friend, Relene, who had given me Kool-Aid-dyed yarn that I'd recently knit into socks. Well, she'd also given me undyed sock-weight yarn, with the offer of showing me how to dye it.
Yesterday was the day and she arrived stocked with squeeze bottles and packets of unsweetened grape, ice blue raspberry, tropical punch, and lemonade. We let our yarn soak in warm water that had just a touch of dish washing liquid in it for 10 minutes. Carefully washed it in clear water and squeezed excess liquid out.

Meanwhile, we'd dumped 10 packets of each color into separate plastic cups, added water, and put them into the squeeze bottles with a bit more water. We put each skein into a container and began applying color, working the color into the fibers.

When we were satisfied with the look, we put the skein into a container, microwaved it for a minute, tested it with a paper towel to make sure no color came off, then set the color by immersing the skein in cold water.

Then we gently squeezed each skein and hung them outside to dry. For two skeins, I combined several colors, and then decided to stay with one color for two other skeins.

Apparently the vitamin C in the Kool-Aid makes it so the color adheres to the yarn. Personally I find it somewhat alarming that Kool-Aid is such a good dyeing material and am very happy not to drink it!
Our only error was not using rubber gloves, but Borax soap cleaned us up very well, followed by liberal applications of hand lotion. I prefer the Bee Bar by Honey House.

This was really fun to do. If you want to try it just make sure you get lots of Kool-Aid and don't water it down too much.

cheers,

Reah Janise

 

No Noodling or Nodding, Just ‘Nittin’

String Theory Loopy Socks

Close up, Loopy Socks

From the looks of it, you might just think I’ve been nodding off at the needles since it's been so long since my last post. But that would be incorrect.


First off, a pair of socks knit (Loopy Socks) with String Theory (great yarn!) came off the needles. I’d started these while traveling for Easter because socks are easier to knit on planes and don’t take up as much room in your bag as does a sweater.

Next, I finished my “Wee Bit ‘O Scotland” cable cardigan, made with one of the Great Scottish Yarn Expedition yarns.  The yarn comes from Shilasdair Shop on the Isle of Skye, Waternish peninsula, and is handspun with natural dyes. I had a lot of fun designing the pattern and really like the finished product. Buttons are always a bit of a challenge, but found some that were varigated like the yarn. Thanks to the clerk at G Street Fabrics with the great eye!


Loopsy Artsy Socks

Have begun writing up the pattern and will post it when completed. For this one, I will also attempt to include sizes. (Fingers crossed!)
Meanwhile, on a visit to my mother, who is now in long term care in Pennsylvania, I started another pair of Loopy Socks only with yarn my artist friend, Relene, had Kool-Aid dyed. I'm calling them Loopsy Artsy Socks because of their lively color! Am close to finishing these, but meanwhile, also started a crescent shawlette.

Creamed Crescent Shawl




Wee Bit 'O Scotland Cardigan

Thursday night saw the completion of the shawl. I'd purchased the yarn on a visit to my mother about ten years ago when she lived in North Carolina. (It’s called yarn stashing, not hoarding.) I improvised the Annis Shawl pattern, adding a few extra lace rows because I wanted a somewhat deeper crescent shawl. Unlike the first time I knit this shawl, I worked the nupps, but left out one row because they … take … so … long.  

 In the midst of all of this, last weekend began the Metro Yarn Crawl, a nine-day journey threading through the yarn stores of the DC metro area. Two friends participated in this journey with me on separate days. What a delight to visit new shops and get a feel for the creative knitting community. Each shop has its unique personality and selection of yummy yarns.

Now, needles ready ... NEXT!

Reah Janise
 

Close up of pattern

BLUE CABLE MITTS

Blue Cable Mitts

Well, there I was knitting the sweater I mentioned in my last blog with my pink Shilasdair yarn when I realized that I needed to have a gift for friends we'll be seeing at Easter.

Hmm. As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Think. Think. Think."

So I thought about what I might be able to knit in a week. Might I be able to make fingerless mitts? So I dug into my yarn stash and found some soft washable yarn: Lion Brand Micro Spun.
One of the cable patterns I'm using for the sweater is a 4-stitch cable. It looked like it would make a nice pattern for the back of the hand.


And here are the mitts--with thumbs. And they are soft and warm. I think I'm going to have to make another pair--for me!

Pattern on Ravelry and also Scribd.

XO
Reah Janise

SCOTTISH SWEATER AND BABY SWEATER PATTERNS

Shilasdair Yarn

I spent most of a Friday evening working out the pattern design for my next sweater. It was time to work up another of the Scottish yarns. For this sweater, I chose the naturally dyed pink Shilasdair yarn.

Well, part of Saturday was spent knitting a swatch to make sure the gauge I'd tested Friday night with some of the pattern was correct, realizing it wasn't balanced, ripping it out, rethinking the placement of the cables, starting over, ripping it out because I had decided to go with a seed stitch border increasing just a few stitches from the border to the main section. The problem was that unlike ribbing, which makes a border snug, thus allowing for the body of a sweater to blouse a bit, a seed stitch does not snug. After about 5 inches, I realized my mistake and ripped it out (again). If I wanted to keep the seed stitch border, I had to cast on a lot fewer stitches and increase more stitches in the last row before the body to ensure a nice flow from border to body.


Blue Hearts Baby Sweater

And that's where I am today.

In the meantime, I have drawn up the patterns for the baby sweaters discussed in the last blog. The pattern is designed for 6 month olds. See the photos for the links to the patterns. Patterns can also be found on Ravelry.

Cheers,

Reah Janise

Blue Blocks Baby Sweater