Knitting Update: Works in Progress – Page 12

Malabrigo March KAL Begins

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm not sure what it is about Malabrigo March — the idea that you're up casting on in the middle of the night with knitters all over the world? Whatever it is, I stayed up past midnight and cast on my projects.

I want to go to Marz – Hannah Fettig's Featherweight Sweater

It's going to be a finicky knit, alternating three skeins (because these skeins look nothing alike!) in a light fingering yarn. But I think it will be worth it in the long run. The very long run — because who am I kidding? This is going to be a long slow knit. Do the tight little M1R and M1Ls in this yarn slows me down!

March Monkey – The Monkey Jacobus Pattern

I'm already in love with his cute little Intarsia in the round face, and I've got eyes (I hope they're the right size) coming in the mail next week. The body is in my favorite Malabrigo colorway, Arco Iris.

Blue Mittens - Super Bulky Mittens by Diane Soucy

I knit a pair of these last year for Malabrigo March. They were quick and fun, and I've worn them a lot. I thought a solid colored pair might be a good addition to the family stash of mittens. Here is last year's version.

I'm looking forward to all the good knitting support, inspiration and fun that always comes along with this knitalong.

A little progress on Drachenfels

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

I wanted to share the introduction of color onto Drachenfels. It's so much fun to knit!

I've deviated a bit from the pattern to have all three colors show on each of the ends, so the green bit is my own addition. Knitting with cashmere is awfully, awfully fun. This project is more guilty pleasure than work.

The whole carrying the yarn along the edges to avoid weaving in all those ends thing is a challenge for me. I'm only going to be able to carry where there is a two row change in color. I'll need to spend some time looking for a better way to do it on longer runs, but for now, I've decided to be old fashioned and weave in my ends on those pretty pops of color!

Knitting A Sweater

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

Sweaters have always been a knitting nemesis for me, so let's just get it right out there. I'm not a math geek. It took me a long time to appreciate both stitch and row gauge. I have a lot of bloopers in my knitting past (I'm thinking about you pint-sized Agnes that was meant for me and you Little Red, that looks to be turning out even smaller), although I've also had some successes. Those were mostly despite myself or on baby sweaters.

So now we have Vodka Lemonade, the first of my post-self awareness about gauge sweaters. Isn't it pretty? That's the Plucky Knitter's Crew, a cotton and merino blend that feels great to knit with and that I'm convinced will be light enough for spring in Alabama. I've also become convinced that the color is a neutral, or at least it is for me since my wardrobe is mostly black and gray.

But, the question is going to be fit.

Here are the start of the raglan increases. The pattern suggests about 30 of them in my size, and yes, I am good on gauge so far. But since this is top down, I'm going to try to take advantage of the opportunity to try on, to measure me, measure the knitting, measure other sweaters that I like the fit of, and NAIL this one. Or at least end up with a sweater that fits.

I am not a fast knitter at the best of times (plus the kids do seem to like having dinner on the table at night) and this yarn is a light dk weight. So this sweater is, in some ways, going agonizingly slowly for me. At the same time, it's a very pleasurable knit once you establish the rhythm of the border edges and the increase stitches on either side of the sleeves. And I am apparently a freak of nature because I enjoy knitting seed stitch. So I'm not in any hurry to finish, although I do want to wear the sweater this spring/summer.

I'll share my progress on this one with you over the next few weeks, although I plan to knit it along with Drachenfels, so expect slow but sure progress. And please keep me in your thoughts on the issues of gauge and fit. I'm going to need all the support I can get!

Cold Snap Hat. And It’s Just In Time.

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

Amy Miller's Cold Snap Hat was among the patterns released in in The Plucky Knitter's All Bundled Up Collection. I started mine, with the leftovers from my Olivia wrap, the minute I cast off. I couldn't wait because loved the yarn so much, with its beautiful teal green colorway, which seems to defy capture on film (particularly in late night hotel room photography). And the weather forecast for Alabama was cold. Very cold.

This is how my Cold Snap looked after that first bit of knitting.

If you look carefully, you'll notice the cables are wonky. I misread the pattern and inserted two purls in place of two knit stitches throughout. The mistake popped into focus for me as I was finishing the fourth cable repeat. In my defense, I've been fighting the flu for the last week, and it doesn't seem to do a lot to improve my pattern reading skills.

So, I ripped out back to the ribbing to start over. Yes, that fabulous background is me, wearing my husbands fleece pajama pants. I'm not proud when I'm sick.

A lot of people who have knit Cold Snap mention that it is a quick knit. I thought that those comments must have come from knitters who are not like me — I am a slow but steady knitter, with lots of distraction in my life. But they were absolutely right. It's a stunningly quick knit. I've been listening to one of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami's, Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World on Audible (one of the guilty pleasures of being sick) and Cold Snap seems to be knitting itself.

You can follow my progress on my Ravelry Project Page for my "It's a Snap" version of Cold Snap. I'll note needle sizes and other notes on the yarn and this project to help those who are starting out. I'm going to sit back down and finish mine now. It looks like I'm just in time!

Olivia At Last

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm done with Olivia! Despite some last minute, late night concerns about finishing the short rows and some early struggles with fisherman's rib, I'm finished and really very please with the result.

I like the color. In case you've forgotten, since it's taken me months to do the knitting, this is the Plucky Knitter's Holloway colorway on her Primo Aran yarn. Lovely.

Let's be candid. Because we are all friends here.

There are mistakes in my Olivia. Mistakes I did not fix. I struggled to fix mistakes in the rib, so I finally decided that the two places with mistakes needed to stay. And I needed to embrace them because, well, Olivia is not perfect and neither am I. Good reminder of my limitations.

I love her despite, or perhaps even because of, her mistakes. She's so warm and scrunchy, even though the yarn grew and softened with a good wet blocking. I'm hoping my model will give her back to me at some point. It's been hours, but she still shows no signs of returning Olivia to me.

I've got almost three-fourths of the last skein left, so I've cast on a hat to match. I love the host of cables. Hopefully with a three day weekend, there will be some time to knit this up.

New Knitting Project: Tipperary

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

I liked my last Norah Gaughan project, this capelet, so much, that I decided to try another. This one, straight off of her beautiful new website in her Volume 15 pattern book. It's called Tipperary.

In a mere five more repeats, this small start will grow into a beautiful, full shawl, that I intend to wrap around my neck like a large bulky scarf — there seems to be a lot of that going on in my life this winter, proportionate to the amount of time I'm spending up north this year.

The yarn is my new and continuing favorite, Plucky Snug. Swoon.

This is in the Steel Cut colorway, and it is still like knitting with butter. I really adore the merino/alpaca blend with just enough cashmere to make it perfect. Alpaca sometimes makes me sneezy, but in this blend, I have no trouble with it at all, and none of the hairy halo that I have found annoying in other Alpaca yarns. Five skeins of snug, or roughly 550 yards of this yarn, should do it.

I'm doing something new with this one, and using an app on my IPad called Knit Companion, which makes dealing with patterns a snap. Although I'm just learning to use it, it lets you blow up those tiny lace (or cable) charts so you can actually see them, and keep your place in the pattern with a row marker. Some kind Ravelry knitters pointed me towards Knit Companion and I'm really glad I tried it. You can download a free version and do a couple of tutorials to see if it's something that might work for you. I'm really glad I found it!

Knitting Catch Up

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

With apologies — my long lovely weekend with this child

kept me from blogging. But, not knitting. In addition to reporting that she thoroughly enjoyed visiting Georgetown and had a great time auditioning at the Washington Ballet, I have some knitting progress to share.

One thing I have come to accept about myself is that although I can pack a week's worth of clothing in a carry on bag, my "personal item" — the second carry on airlines allow — is exclusively devoted to knitting. For this four day trip, I had four projects along with me.

Top to bottom you can see my newly cast on Tipperary Shawl, the French Laundry colorway portion of my Sugarloaf Cowl peeking out, a wee bit of my Vodka Lemonade sweater in the bag with the green zipper, and Olivia, which grew a lot on this trip.

I'm indulging my inner geek here, and sharing my Da Vinci drawing style Dr. Who meets the Daleks project bag, which is Olivia's home.

My big knitting news is finally finishing the fisherman's rib portion of Olivia, and moving on to the short rows. For some reason, short rows and I have never been friends before, but we are getting along famously this time.

There was, however, the predictable knitting disaster without which no trip would be complete. Forgive the late night/hotel room/bad lighting photo, but it portrays the exact moment at which my lurking suspicion that the game of yarn chicken I was playing with my third skein of Plucky Primo Aran was going to end badly. See the little bit of yarn that trails across the right front side of Olivia? That would be the 12" of yarn left from my last skein. And, at this point, I still have 50 short rows left before I get to the lengthy cast off row.

This was the first project I cast on with Plucky yarn, and I didn't stop to realize that the yardage for the pattern yarn, Plucky Traveler Aran, is different than the yardage for the Primo Aran that I substituted. Several other knitters noted the need to shorten the rib when knitting in Primo to conserve yarn for the garter portion of the pattern, but apparently oblivious, this girl knit a fulsome seven inches of rib and then came up short on the garter.

Thankfully, a kind knitter has already put one of her precious skeins in the mail to me. I'm hoping for a good match and a bit of time this weekend, as I'm ready to wrap Olivia's squishy goodness around my neck. Love, love, love this pattern.