Knitting Update: Works in Progress – Page 2 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

It’s All About The Sleeves

Posted on February 6, 2017February 8, 2017 by elliebelly

I’ve been devoting most of my knitting time to Two Track, a sweater with an unusual construction. Although it looks like one piece up above, I’m actually knitting two separate pieces. You start at the cuff edge of the sleeves and knit in. And, you’re knitting both the front and back at the same time (there was a bit of excitement in the cast on). I’ve got miles of stockinette to go, and then there is a bit of magic to put in a neckline before using a three needle bind off to connect the two fronts down the middle and then do the same for the backside.

I’m knitting with The Plucky Knitter’s Lodge Worsted: 60% Merino, 20% Cotton, 10% Silk, 10% Linen / Flax. It’s a very lovely yarn, and the dye uptake with this particular fiber mix makes for soft, heathered colors. Although this is my coffee shop knitting at the moment, because I can knit stockinette and talk, I am really looking forward to wearing the finished sweater. It gets ribbing on the bottom and a nice full cowl on the top, so it will definitely be a while, but it’s so lovely! I really love both the yarn and the pattern.

A Long Suffering Work In Progress

Posted on January 17, 2017 by elliebelly

Grannie Annie

This is my Grannie Annie, a relatively simple shawl with garter ridges and feather and fan lace patterning. It should have been a quick and simple project, but since I cast on for it in late August of last year, I’ve started and finished nine other projects and finished one other outstanding WIP. Grannie Annie has gotten a little love here and there along the way, but I haven’t worked on it consistently.

Now, it’s my next project in line for finishing. I’m adding a few pattern repeats to take advantage of the scrumptious Plucky Cachet. I have about 12 rows left. At 300+ stitches each, that may take a little doing, but I’m very excited about finishing and wearing this shawl. Having knit most of the pattern now, I have immense appreciation for it. It would be lovely knit in a solid color. Since you can easily add in a repeat or two as well as additional stitches for length, this pattern would be suitable for virtually any weight of yarn. And, I think a silk version would be amazing. It’s a very enjoyable knit and a versatile pattern. I’m so glad it’s almost done!

Knitting in the Alabama Snow

Posted on January 7, 2017January 7, 2017 by elliebelly

It snowed in Birmingham! We started with ice last night.

porch Swing

By the time we woke up this morning, there was a dusting of snow on the ground. It was just right for putting on all the knitted things and going for a walk, which I did. I managed to snap this picture of my Pussy Hat in progress, although I practically lost a couple of fingers to frostbite. It’s that cold here this morning! The yarn looks über-pink against the snow. I’m worried I may have overdone it a little bit.

Pussy Hat in the Snow

The snow makes everything beautiful. Especially my rosemary, which is blooming.

Blooming Rosemary in the Snow

The big winner in all of this is Bella, our 8 week old German Shepard puppy. She loves the cold and loves the snow. I think she has a lot of growing to do if those ears are going to fit her, though.

Bella's Ears

I hope it’s warm and cozy wherever you are. I’m going to snuggle up with my knitting and a book, and tuck my self in on my window seat where I can look up periodically and enjoy the unusual site of snow in Alabama. Stay warm!

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A Very Pink Hat

Posted on January 6, 2017 by elliebelly

In case you haven’t seen, knitters all over the country are knitting bright pink hats for the march the day following the inauguration in Washington. It’s part of the Pussy Hat Project, which proves, yet again, that knitters can creatively and respectfully voice their views better than just about anyone else on the planet. The verve of knitters has even hit the nightly news. One of my friends is marching and I am knitting a hat for her. I dyed up the brightest, most neon, pink I could muster.

It was promptly claimed by one of our cats, Dingus, who became very possessive about it. I managed to reclaim it and wind it into a ball. Then, while I was distracted, this happened:

Harry is meaner than Dingus and has bigger claws in those huge paws. There was damage done (to me) before I reclaimed my ball of yarn. I did not soak this yarn in catnip tea or anything like that. I have no idea why it’s so attractive. Typically, my haughty little tribe of cats won’t even dignify the leftover balls of yarn I make into toys for them with as much as a swat. But, every once in a great while, a particular skein of yarn or a project catches their attention. I’ll have to be vigilant about knitting this when they aren’t around.

Maybe it’s the color they like so much? Definitely, definitely pink.

We are waiting for snow. Snow in Alabama! Fingers crossed. I think knitting is a good way to encourage it.

True Love: Cashmere

Posted on December 4, 2016 by elliebelly

I am knit, knit, knitting away on a cashmere scarf. The yarn is Plucky Cachet in Dreamy, and it is my second favorite yarn, only because Plucky's newest cashmere, Groovy, a felted cashmere yarn, became an immediate favorite when I knit this hat a couple of weeks ago. The truth is, I love them both. I have a thing for pure cashmere. And Cachet, which is somewhere between a worsted and aran weight is a really wonderful yarn to knit with. So wonderful that I don't mind the endless knit, knit, knit (because this entire pattern is in garter stitch) that will produce a wonderful scarf, based on a shop pattern at my local yarn store In The Making, when I'm finished.

It’s A Gansey (Sort Of)

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm a little bit obsessed with Amy Miller's new mini-sock patterns, and have been working on a pair of Jimmies in between other projects.

Because knitting Jimmies made me even more obsessed with the other three mini-sock patterns, I sent off yarn to Ravelry knitter, Mommajnine, for a pair of It's A Gansey, another of the patterns in the set. Ganseys are sweaters with distinctive local patterning, which this sock pattern mimics, and to kick up up just a bit, I sent four different colors of yarn to use for the sock, rather than knitting it as a solid.

The yarn is Elliebelly Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) Constant, dyed in Dear Theodosia (Green), Muslin (Neutral), Lady Mary (Blue), and Lost Coast (Salmon Pink).

Janine, who is the most amazing of sock knitters, turned the yarn into a pair of It's a Ganseys, quicker than I can turn the heel on a sock! Here they are in all of their loveliness. I adore how she aligned the colors.

I'm enjoying knitting my Jimmies and encourage you to pick up some sock yarn and knit a pair of Amy's socks. They are the perfect quick little knit to make sure that you don't forget yourself in the middle of holiday knitting for friends and family.

Cables And Cables

Posted on November 25, 2016 by elliebelly

I've been working on Rob Roy this afternoon. The cables were hard to figure out for the first few rows, but now they seem to be making sense. I'm a few rows shy of halfway through the first repeat of the cable pattern, and although it was hard to get a photo that shows much of anything, I did want to capture how pretty the yarn, Elliebelly Lyric in the Catherine, Are You Weeping? colorway, looks in progress.

This yarn is incredibly soft and the finished hat is going to be lovely and squishable. Like all of Thea Coleman's patterns, Rob Roy has just enough of a challenge to it that you feel good about conquering it. The quirk here is that on a few rows, the cable crosses start at the end of the last row, which sounds somewhat confusing until you get there, but her directions are so well written that all you need to do is trust the pattern and follow them precisely.