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 

LONG TIME

Back of Ready for Adventure

Whew! It's been a long time since my last post. The problem hasn't been for lack of knitting projects, but for lack of time. I also had wanted to be able to post at least one completed pattern.

First, I finished this baby sweater set for a one-year old. I'm getting close to completing the pattern, but ... well, it does take time.

Ready for Adventure
 

As you can see, each piece is different. The back is blocks of color. The front are two colors, and the sleeves are stripes and blocks. The body is about 23 inches around and 11 1/4 inches long. The sleeves are 7 inches long (to the underarm) and the wrist is 4 inches around. I used three balls of Classic Yarns Cashsoft 4-ply, 50 grams, 197 yards each: one of each color. and used size 3 needles. Gauge is 18 stitches for 3 inches and 17 rows for 2 inches. The front is angled past the middle where a big button goes and then almost straight to the neck edge. The edging is a simple seed stitch over 3 stitches.

I've also begun a sweater for my dear husband. I was thrilled to get Interweave's special "The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits" edition and poured through it for patterns. They are so lovely and I really wanted to knit the Sorcerer's Sweater for him, but I had already purchased yarn and it was a worsted, which would not work. So I went to work looking for a cable pattern that might be as magical. I found one in Continuous Cables. Unfortunately Melissa Leapman did not give it a name, but Hadan thought it looked like an atom. And since he's a chemistry teacher, that seemed perfect. I made a couple of modifications on the outer edge and bottom edge. 

I completed the front and back recently, but have not yet blocked it. The side is done using a wrapped stitch, and I have a twisted stitch as the border, and there are three six-stitch cables running up the middle to the atom. I'm using size 7 needles for the ribbing and size 8 for the body.

The yarn is Knit Picks Full Circle, a worsted weight, made with recycled fibers, 220 yards per skein. Color is Blue Moon.

The back is knit without the atom. I've started the sleeves, which will continue with the wrapped stitch on the sides, but just one cable running up the side, with the twisted stitch running alongside the edge.

My goal is to finish the sweater by this weekend. 

Let the knitting commence!

Reah Janise