moving back

I have too many sites to update, and it's too complicated for me. So, all of my knitting exploits from now on will be found on my original blog:

http://kismet09.livejournal.com/tag/fiber_arts

If you use that link, you'll only get the fibery content.

And, of course, everything also ends up on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/k8knits

Thanks for reading!

winter break project management

i have two weeks away from work, more or less. 34 hours of that time will be spent in the car, driving maine to chicago, round trip. i am driving-averse, so probably most if not all of that time will be spent in the passenger seat. that, plus lounging about at my parents' place for a week, plus another week at a scrabble tournament, means lots of knitting time. one of the luxuries of driving is that my luggage is not limited by one carry-on - i can bring all the yarn i want. it has been a busy knitting winter for me, and i'm still itching to do more. here's what i'm considering.

burberry cowl

slip cowl

dashing

• burberry inspired cowl (on the left) - i did one of these and love the way it sits. i think the high variegation of rios will look great in this cowl, and i'll have something to match my dashing mitts (on the right). rav project link. or is this the tuesday night cowl? now i can't remember. they seem pretty similar to each other.
• a plain garter stitch cowl - i have russian joined a bunch of odds and ends of purples and greens together, including some berocco jasper, cascade, karabella aurora 8, random stuff i dyed when trying out some potential yarn bases, and who knows what else. i'm hoping for something along the lines of this scrap-happy scarf (ravelry link), minus the fringe.
• slip stitch cowl (in the middle) - another one that i just did and love, and i still have more random scraps left that could easily be incorporated into another one of these. my rav project page. 

i guess everything i have planned at this time is for me... that isn't really intentional. i think i've made something for everyone i know in the past two months who i think might appreciate it!

deconstruction

i just realized that i could link this blog to my google+ account - maybe it'll see more action now that it's linked up. i've knitted a million things for xmas, but i can't post any of them until after people get them (although most of them are up on ravelry... more public details perhaps once they've been gifted and unwrapped). the last thing on the list is to create two stockings kind of like these for my coworker. the complication is that these take on some natural wave due, i think, to a thick and thin yarn rather than anything fancy like intarsia. i have to figure out how to either make my pattern replicate it with the uniformly spun yarn that i have, or come up with something that will complement these but be slightly different. i really don't want to just do straight stripes. any ideas would be welcome here.

Squam Art Fair

The Squam Art Workshops bring fiber artists together with amazing teachers to learn new techniques and share ideas. In addition to classes, there will be a fair with 37 vendors, including woolarina! Come visit me - admission is free, as is beer!

I'll have lots of sock yarn, including the woolarina lux sport, with its cashmere-y goodness.

Saturday June 5, 7:30-10pm, about 1.5 hours from Portsmouth. Click on the image to learn more!

back to the dyepot

I'm trying to get some yarns done for Homespun Yarn Party - someday, I'll get ambitious and create a similar event up here on the Seacoast.

I think it's time to really start recording how I make some of these colors. It'd be nice to be able to replicate some of my efforts, sometimes. Right now, I have a pretty good instinct for how much water to how much dye, and which colors to blend to make new ones that go together, but sometimes I'm sad when the yarns go off to sale knowing I'll never be able to make ones I like again.

These guys are springy colors, since I'm starting to yearn for spring. The bottom picture is my friend Emily's first attempt at dyeing - I love the eggplanty colors together and some of the blends that her different colors made when they ran into each other.

chevron cowl

For those of you who haven't met her, this is Cassie. She often gets stuck modeling my knitting projects. She's a nine year old amalgam of dog breeds. In this picture, she's wearing my newest cowl project. It's based loosely on the chevron scarf in Last Minute Knitted Gifts - I love the idea of alternating a strongly variegated yarn with a solid or almost-solid yarn. I also dislike purling, so working the pattern in the round was pleasing.

Here's how I did it - I'm not a very professional pattern writer, so comment away if you want to try this at home and have no idea what I'm trying to say.

Chevron Cowl

needles: 16" circ in 3s and 5s
yarns: CC - Noro Silk Garden (the neutral one) and MC - Mini Mochi (I have no idea what colorway this is). one skein each (with leftovers of both)
one stitch marker

I didn't work a gauge, but the 5 row repeat was about 3/4” for me on the larger needles.

total length: 10”. circumference ~20”.

CO 144 sts (or another multiple of 18) in CC with larger needles (or even larger, if you cast on tightly like I do), place marker, join w/o twisting.
knit 1 row and purl 1 row in CC (to create a garter ridge, to try to keep the thing from curling up).
join MC, knit 1 row, purl 1 row, knit 1 row.
next row, begin chevron pattern below.
continue to a couple inches short of desired length (i did 15 repeats of the 5 row pattern).
change to smaller needles (i did this to change the gauge enough to make the cowl stay up around my nose when it’s cold).
work pattern twice (10 rows)
work the pattern row (row 1) of the chevron, then purl 1 row CC (this will create a row of garter stitch instead of stockinette). work 1 garter ridge of MC (k 1 row, p 1 row), another of CC, and bind off w/larger needles.

chevron pattern:
row 1: w/CC, k2tog 3 times *kfb 6 times, k2tog six times* repeat to six st rem, k2tog 3 times.
row 2: w/CC, knit
rows 3-5: w/MC, knit

[i knitted three rows of mini mochi because the yarn is a little thinner than the noro and i didn't want the color to get lost]

resolve

My Knitting Year Resolutions:

1. to post something here at least once a month. even if it means no pictures and mundane text. just get something here so that i don't forget that it exists.

2. be more active in woolarina. dye more. knit more. bust through the stash with some handknits out of all the handspun that i'm accumulating. this should be even more fun now that i have my own drum carder*.

3. get to at least one fiber gathering, whether it's spa or nh sheep & wool or rhinebeck or something. it'd be nice to just be immersed in fiberness for a weekend to stay in touch.

*the husband bought me a louet carder for xmas. gold star for husband! i'm still trying to figure out how to use it well (ie so that it makes decent batts, of a good thickness, without being scared that i'll break the crank mechanism).