Knitting Update: Works in Progress – Page 16

Soxies in Progress

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Soxies have gone from this

to this

to this.

And, one more view of the loveliness that is a complete Soxie.

The second Soxie is on the needle. They are a quick knit, and I'm trying to hold back and only knit while flying and in carpool lines so they won't go by too fast. Since I have another week of flying, followed by carpool lines, ahead of me, I think they will be done by next weekend. They seem to have already been adopted by Ellie, who was won over by their comfiness after agreeing to be my model.

This pattern may be the winner for the perfect, cushy, quick-to-knit gift. I want to knit a pair for myself, but could also see doing a few more for Christmas presents.

The Self-Indulgent September Knitalong

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

The Self-Indulgent September KAL for the Elliebelly group on Ravelry started September 1. We picked the Soxie pattern for the KAL and there are a number of projects in the works already.

I'm having an enormous amount of fun with this! At first I wasn't sure a simple pair of slippers would hold my interest, but I love knitting this pattern and especially seeing how this yarn patterns for it.

As you can see, the colors pooled. I don't usually find this to be appealing, and considered ripping it out and starting in a different place in the skein to force the colors to break up differently. But after a few rows I began to like the color placement, and now, despite the likelihood that I won't be able to make the second slipper look the same (I can be matchy-matchy obsessive like that), I'm committed.

One of the great things about this pattern is that it's a quick knit. After the provisional cast on, you do six six row repeats and then transfer the stitches onto DPNs on round 6 of the next repeat to do the toe. Quick and happy!
I'm about to put my first slipper onto the DPNs and can't wait to get the first slipper finished. I'm hoping my love of the color pooling holds up!

Knitting Nae, Continued.

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Diane, whose beautiful photoblog is well-worth checking out, commented that she wanted to knit a Nae, but was confused by the pattern. It can be hard to visualize before you get about one-quarter of the way into it, so here are some thoughts and pictures to help.

The start is the point on the left in this photo, with the cast on of a few stitches. At this point, you begin work on what will be a 3" band of moss stitch, and it will run across the top of your shawl. To orient yourself, visualize the start of the shawl as the top left-hand corner point of a triangle, where the base edge will be along the top of your knitting, and the point will be bottom center as your knitting grows. This is surprisingly hard to explain — I'm not so sure that helps, so here's a bit more.

The starting point of the project is still on the left. As you continue to knit the moss stitch border, on the top here, you also begin to knit the stockinette stitch triangle below it. You do this, starting on the right side of the project, with what at first is just a couple of the stockinette stitches. See how few stitches are on the row over on the left side? You grow the triangle with one increase, after the first knit stitch on every right side row (every other row). I followed the advice of some knitters who suggested increasing every fourth row, to get a less steep line. You can see my big blue marker, reminding me to increase. From that point on, you continue, doing the stockinette portion first, followed by the moss stitch border, and then you turn your work for the wrong side row.

You get a better idea of it once you see it in progress. This is about one-third of the way in.

And here, you can see the start of the project on the left, with the moss stitch border first increasing to its full 3" width, and then the stockinette portion beginning to increase once the border is in place.

Diane, I hope this makes it all clear. It's a lovely pattern, and although summer trips have cut into my knitting time, I want to finish this up before cooler weather hits.

A New One Skein Project – Knit From Black Bean Dyed Yarn

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

If you are looking for the one skein pattern giveaway, please click here so you can enter! Thursday is the last day

I've been searching for the perfect project for some of the yarn I've been dyeing with black beans this spring and fittingly enough, given my current focus on one-skein patterns, that's where I went. One of my favorite skeins is this Aran weight cashmere, that dyed up into a soft, blue-gray and was just begging to be knit with.

I stumbled across the perfect pattern for the yarn, the Golden Tulip Cowl. The pattern is written with four 16-stitch repeats that creating the leaf or tulip pattern. I used the knitted cast-on instead of my usual long tail cast on, per the pattern instructions, but added an additional 16-stitch repeat so the stitches would move easily on my needles.

The pattern knits up quickly! I was half done the first day.

It's about three-quarters of the way done now, and I'm hoping there is a second skein of this yarn tucked away when I get home, as I didn't think through the fact that the additional repeat would bust the yardage estimate.

And yes, that is my favorite project bag in the photo. I love the creepy knitting ladies!

One Skein Projects – Pattern Giveaway!

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Get your needles ready! On the heels of our one-skein yarn giveaway contest, several of the designers whose patterns were included in the contest have been gracious enough to offer a free copy of their pattern to readers of this blog. Post the patterns you are interested in in the comments below (make sure to include your Ravelry ID or your email address so I can contact you) by Thursday July 17 and we will draw for winners. And make sure you show these wonderful designers some love!

First up, we have Fèe by Tabismiles on Ravelry, knit from one-skein of fingering weight yarn. Fèe is a beautiful pattern and Tabetha has a lot of great patterns on her website. I am very taken with this pattern. Even though I swore off anymore queue additions, it made its way in there. Tabetha is on Facebook too.

Kelly, otherwise known as Gunard on Ravelry, has this awesome hat pattern called Rainbow Trout (best name ever for a hat). You should stop reading this post right now and click on the Rainbow Trout link to go see all the amazingly colorful, charming hats people have knit from this pattern. Kelly has a Ravelry group here and is transitioning to the name Pekapeka Designs. Her patterns are just wonderful!

Liz Corke has the final pattern of our giveaway (and a brand new baby!) This is Storm Warning and it is so perfect! It is also knit from one-skein of fingering weight yarn and I have some of my silk-cashmere yarn dyed with black beans to a beautiful gray blue set aside for it. Liz's website is here, with lots more tempting patterns, and she blogs here. I am desperately trying to keep myself from casting on Storm Warning until I finish up a couple of projects.

I love all three of these patterns and am grateful to their designers for being willing to share them with us! And, they are the perfect lead in to the next knitalong on the Elliebelly Group on Ravelry, which will start September 1. It will be our self-indulgent September KAL, and we are in the process of searching around for the perfect one-skein pattern for it. Whether you've knit with us before or are new to the group, please stop by and check out the KAL thread. There are lots of amazing ideas for a pattern, but we're going to have to narrow them down and make a decision by the end of the month so we have all of August to gather our yarn and prepare. We would love to have you join us!

Lida. A Lace Shawl in Progress.

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Lida makes my heart beat. I don't usually knit complex lace, but this pattern, by Bristol Ivy, was beyond my ability to resist.

I am not accomplished enough to knit this pattern while I'm talking, watching tv, or engaged in any other activity, so I haven't found a lot of time to work on my Lida. But I have been able to finish the set up rows and the first lace repeat. It is so lovely. I cannot wait until it is grown up into the perfect triangular shawl and it is mine, all mine, to wear.

One note about taking on this pattern if you are a newish knitter. It is very clear and well written, but it is written for a more advanced knitter and assumes you can internalize the lace pattern, which is set forth in one section of the pattern, into the appropriate place in the rows, which are set out separately. And, with each repeat of the pattern, you increase the number of lace pattern repeats you set inside of each row. If that sounds confusing, it's because I am definitely not one of those advanced knitters who does this intuitively. I have to think it through carefully. And, since I seem to be destined to knit a bit of this and then set it down for several days or even a week before picking it back up again, I wrote out a version of the row repeats with the lace pattern included in brackets within each row. If that sounds like something that might help you with this pattern, my notes are here.

I'm taking Lida along as my knitting project on a yoga retreat later this month. I don't have any illusion that this is going to be a quick knit, but I do want to try to work on her as I find time over the next few months. Some of my simpler projects get more attention, as they are perfect for carpool lines, airports and doctors offices, but Lida owns my knitting heart right now.

Knitting Nae. Part Two.

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm a lot less nervous about knitting Nae than I was when I showed it to you last week.

You may recall that I was concerned, after the first few inches, that I had made a mistake in substituting a thick and thin handspun yarn for the tightly twisted fingering weight yarn the pattern was written for. And, I was also worried about the color placement.

Now that I'm 25% of the way in, I'm finding that the yarn and the colors are both working. I know this to be true because my 15 year old daughter, the intended recipient, is most pleased with it. And as those of you with daughters know, they tend to freely express their displeasure when something isn't to their liking — even daughters as nice as mine. So I'm relieved about the way it's working up and particularly happy about how the stitch pattern, which involves a 3" band of moss stitch across the top and a triangle of stockinette below looks when it is worked up in handspun.

It's organic, in a charming sort of way. You can envision it coming off the wheel of some centuries-ago Scottish Highlands knitter (well, except for the riotous colorway) and being knit into this comforting little pattern, a bit of warmth to throw around the shoulders and chase away the chill.

Unfortunately, these photos, which catch the stitch definition nicely, don't get the colors right. That is probably because I took them while we were sitting in the stadium for the local 4th of July baseball game. Thankfully, we were in the shade. But it didn't do much for the colorway, which is more accurately shown in the photo below, from the first post about Nae.

Nae is a quick knit, which is a good thing because I can't wait to see it finished. I'm hoping to work on it later in the month when we go on vacation. In the interests of full disclosure, I seem to have four or five projects, all of which I seem to have deluded myself into thinking I'll "find" time to finish while we're away. But Nae is first in line and I'm looking forward to it!