Page 62 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Iceland, The End of Malabrigo March, And, Of Course, Knitting

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

This is where I spent the last week of March.

Iceland was beautiful and our time there was everything we hoped it would be. I will surely have more to say about that later, but in the meantime, if you are thinking about traveling there, do.

Iceland was a good place to knit because it was cold but not frigid. Average temperatures were in the 30's unless you got into wind chill. So I finished off Malabrigo March with two hats you've seen in progress before.

This is Lutz Jump, one of the Salchow Trio of Hat patterns.

And this is Fuego. I had a hard time getting a photo of this colorway, Fuschia, that didn't bounce light back in an overbright way, but in reality this hat is just the perfect very intense pink color. I may go ahead and add a pom pom to it now that we're back home, because it is begging to be just a bit silly.

I also finished another square for the infernal Barn Raising Quilt that I will be working on for the rest of my natural life awhile longer.

I finished Fuego while we were out hiking between waterfalls and driving back to visit the Alafoss Yarn Store on the outskirts of Reyjkavik, which seemed particularly appropriate. Who says you can't knit while wearing four layers of clothing, which is what I resored to that day for both the chill and the wet.

I was amused when I saw the photo my daughter snapped of me knitting between waterfalls to notice I was wearing my Douglas Fir Hat and my Simple Cowl (this was one of the colder days), while knitting Fuego. A perfect ending to Malabrigo March.

Fuego Hat

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Here is the progress on my Fuego Hat (I can't figure out how to embed the link while posting from the phone, but it's here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/elliebelly/fuego-hat ). This is a great knit for expanding your horizons, from learning the über-stretchy German cast on to making the rib pop by knitting through the back loop.

An Update on Malabrigo March: a Month of Knitting with one Company’s Yarn

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Malabrigo March is almost over and it has been a whirlwind! I've been out of town almost as much as I've been in town, which has been bad for blogging but rather interesting for knitting. Before each trip, I cast on several projects and then negotiate with myself over space in my suitcase. I have been known to turn two changes of clothing into a week's worth of outfits, just so I can take four knitting projects along as well.

I'm getting ready to head out of the country for the rest of the month and, predictably, I'm taking four projects along with me.

The first is so new that I've only just cast on and will be working on the brim during the flight. The pattern is Fuego and I'm knitting it in Malabrigo Worsted in Fuschia.

I'm also taking along my Lutz Jump hat. I'm midway through the first of three pattern repeats and I highly recommend this pattern. It zips right along and has clever little stitches in it, like one reoccurring motif that depends on a slip one, knit one, make a yarn over and pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch and the yarn over. It's fun and fast, and I love it in this Damask Rose colorway. I've never made a pom pom before, but I think this hat will need one!

I haven't gotten far with my Steam Punk Cowl. The pattern is called Metallurgy and I adored it on sight. But, it hasn't been my favorite knit so far. I'm hoping that under the influence of very cold weather on this trip, I'll get more excited about knitting it. (and yes, for those of you who follow my Maine Moon Cats, that's Hermione guarding my knitting). I'm knitting with Silky Merino in Smoke.

Last, but not least, I'm taking the current quilt square in progress for my Barn Raising Quilt. My goal for this year is to knit one a month while doing other projects and to finish up knitting squares by the middle of next year so I can put it together before my darling daughter goes off to college. It's nice to have a child who knits and appreciates knitting, and I'm hoping the quilt will be a piece of home she can take with her when she leaves the nest. I"m knitting the quilt from Malabrigo Sock in Piedras.

That's it for me for now, although I will try to do a couple of quick posts or at least photo updates while we travel. Please keep my house in your prayers as it is in the hands of our two twenty-something children while we head off. This could be interesting!

Recently Finished Knitting

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

At the beginning of March, I queued up a sizeable number of projects using Malabrigo yarn and promptly decided I was crazy to even attempt so much at once. But with the month almost over, the verdict is in, and I think the support and enthusiasm generated but all the knit-a-longs and chits chat.

In my last post, I showed you my first finished project, the ReDeux Hat. SInce them, I've finished several more to share with you.

Douglas Fir was one of the hats chosen for a knit along this March, and I adore the result. Although my youngest has claimed it for his own because green is his favorite color, this hat is really perfect for anyone and the cable motif is fun to knit. Fair warning if you decide to take this one on — the brim is fidgety and takes at least as much time as the remainder of the hat. But conquering it will make you feel incredibly accomplished! There are video tips on the brim included in my pattern notes that may help.

I fell in love with Malabrigo Mecha in the Pocion colorway and ultimately decided to knit a Shimmering in Blue Cowl with it. I've worn it constantly since it came off my needles. It's an awesome pattern.

Finally, I finished a Simple Ribbed Cowl in Plomo Rasta. The red tip at the bottom is the leftover yarn from my ReDeux hat, and the two together are perfect. This cowl is warm, warm, warm and although I had my doubts about it while I was knitting, it gets compliments from total strangers on the street.

I have a couple of projects left on my needles that I'm going to take along on my last trip of the month — a couple of hats, another cowl, and a quilt square. I've reluctantly decided that my in-progress Sunny Garden Cardigan is too bulky now to pack in a suitcase. The body is done up to where the sleeves need to be knit in, and I'm midway through the first sleeve. Knitting them on size 13 DPNS is awkward and I've decided it's not good knitting to take along while traveling, so finishing the sweater will have to wait for next month.

Finally, there are two last projects I planned for this month that I haven't cast on yet. I love them both and am thinking about casting them on so that they get in under the wire for Malabrigo March and then working on them in April. All in all, Malabrigo March has been a great month for knitting!

Knitting with Malabrigo

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

We are twelve days into the source of knitting inspiration known on Ravelry as Malabrigo March — a month set aside for casting on projects to get you through several months, if not a year's, worth of knitting. Seeing everyone's projects has been motivating and fun. Without further ado, here are the projects I have been working on this month.

My first cast on was a Deux Hat, knit from Malabrigo's Rasta yarn in Stitch Red. This pattern has been in my queue for a long time. It was a good quick knit and using Rasta for it means this hat is going to be soft and warm.

Next up was Veera Välimäki's Shimmer in Blue, knit in Malabrigo Mecha in the Pocion colorway. Mecha is a newer yarn base for Malabrigo. It is a single-ply yarn, somewhere between a worsted and an aran weight. I used it previously and fell instantly in love. Mecha was perfect for this pattern, knit mostly in garter stitch with four traveling cables. I finished this cowl up earlier this week and still need to get a picture of it in action, but the bottom line is that this is a clever and very warm pattern that I wouldn't hesitate to knit again.

I've been working on a Barn Raising Quilt for my daughter for a looooong time, knitting a square a month with some long droughts. I need to kick this project back into gear this year, as I'd like to have the finished quilt by the end of 2015 and I want to knit 20 or so more squares. This one, in Malabrigo Sock in the Piedras colorway, is coming along nicely.

In addition to being Malabrigo March, this has apparently been a month of Veera's patterns for me. This is another one, Modern Garden. Modern Garden is a cardigan, knit all in one piece from the bottom up. The sleeves are knit separately and then knit in once you reach the yoke á la Elizabeth Zimmerman. The shaping is cleverly incorporated into othe leaf design.

This pattern has been a challenge for me for two reasons. First, I needed a different size on the bottom of the sweater than the top, so I've worked math magic — never my strong suit — to make that change around the waist. The verdict is still out on that one. I also had a bad encounter with a buttonhole. I forgot to make the second one and was less than thrilled about ripping back six rounds to insert it. With the encouragement of a couple of very kind knitters on Ravelry, I laddered down and inserted the buttonhole over three stitches in the proper place. To my surprise, the surgery was a great success. Although I have used laddering in the past to fix a stitch, this was a fix of a different magnitude and I was delighted that it worked. I'll devote a future post to documenting the method, as I was so grateful to receive help in accomplishing this fix.

Douglas Fir is a hat with a special brim. It has an intriguing twisted rib stitch that took some effort to figure out but turned out to be well worth the time. I'm into the upper part of the hat now and hoping to have it finished for my youngest to wear on spring break, since green is his color.

The last project I cast on is a simple gray cowl in Rasta. The colorway is Plomo. This is the same pattern I used to make a blue cowl last month. The pattern is a 3×1 rib with a twisted purl stitch that. This one is a tighter fit around the neck than the blue cowl and will be taller — more of a cowl and less of a scarf.

As these projects zing along, I've got several others planned. I have two trips planned towards the end of the month, so I'm thinking about portable knitting. In addition to finishing the quilt square, I'm going to cast on some bedroom slippers in Mecha.

Time permitting, I also have plans to cast on an Underwater Garden Shawl in Malagrigo Worsted, a Metallurgy Cowl in a beautiful pewter gray Malabrigo Silky Merino colorway called Smoke, and a Fuego Hat in Worsted. I've been tickled by all of the Malabrigo March knitters with mottos like "Go Big or Go Home" and "Cast On All Things." A little bit of sillyness in life is a good thing. I like my knitting with a side-helping of laughter and Malabrigo March has been great in that regard.

How Do You Follow The Knitting Olympics? Simple, Welcome Malabrigo March!

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

We’re missing the nighttime routine of knitting in front of the Olympic Games in my house. We aren’t big TV viewers, so two weeks of non-stop winter sports was a real change for us and a lot of fun.

But I am managing to rebound and rebuild my knitting mojo. I'm finding new knitting inspiration from Malabrigo March.

Malabrigo is one of my favorite yarn brands, as you can see from my stash (this is actually my Malabrigo yarn stash before I discovered at least 20, um, several, new projects I wanted to knit and didn’t have the right yarn for, but who’s checking?)

Every year, a group of knitters who adore Malabrigo get together and knit. They plan knitalongs, discuss patterns, and even have prizes, supplied by the company. This is the first year I've stumbled across "MalMarch" and I'm excited beyond words. In addition to finding some great projects and expanding the types of Malabrigo in my stash, there are a lot of nice knitters playing with Malabrigo out there!

Because this event is more about planning projects/casting on/getting started than it is a race to the finish line, it’s just my speed. I have a busy month, but I’m using this as an opportunity to get projects started and far enough along that I can easily pick them up and take them on my travels.

I’ve been busy swatching — doing it right with the whole big, blocked, swatched thing. This is my favorite one. The colorway is called Pocion.

Malabrigo's Rasta has been a long time favorite yarn for me, and I am knitting a couple of projects with it for MalMarch, notably this hat and this cowl. My two most enterprising projects are the Modern Garden Sweater (I'm very grateful to Harry for his help in swatching) and the Underwater Garden Shawl, which I'm knitting in another long time favorite yarn, Malabrigo's Silky Merino in a pale green.

In addition, I'm planning to cast on several more projects over the first week of March:

Fuego Hat in Worsted
Douglas Fir Hat in Worsted
Metallurgy Cowl in Silky Merino
Amy March's Slippers in Mecha

We'll see how it goes from there, but I'm hoping to get a number of projects started to carry me through the next few months, while continuing to work on some of my long term projects. And I've deliberately chosen projects that require me to learn new skills along the way.

So what are you doing after the Olympics to keep your knitting mojo going? I would love to hear from you!

How I Learned To Love To Swatch

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm not a swatcher, at least not until recently. I always wanted to be. And, sometimes, I would swatch, at least sort of, in a small way. But I had never blocked a swatch. That turned out to be fatal a couple of times, like when I knit Tiny Owl's Fairy Lights Hat in Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere, and the yarn bloomed and grew to half again it's original size when I blocked my beautiful, but now very large, hat.

Sometimes, I even pretended to myself that I was knitting a swatch, when my process wasn't sufficient and my count was haphazard. Recently, this resulted in an Agnes Sweater, which, although intended for me, didn't fit my 15 year old or even my 11 year old. A friend's 6 year old became the profoundly happy recipient of a gorgeous, but very small, sweater knit in Malabrigo Mecha.

My historical approach to swatching can only be called denial. It was obvious from pretty far out that no amount of blocking would make that teeny-tiny sweater fit my body!

Going forward, I'm committing to being a better swatcher. I recently discovered knitting podcasts, and one of the first ones I listened to was Kelley Petkun on the Knit Picks' Podcast. She made a compelling case for swatching. And, she made it sound fun. I'm glad I listened.

For example, one of the patterns in my queue is Gathered Pullover by Hanna Jason.

Her photo is gorgeous and I've wanted to knit this for a long time. If you look at the photo you can see you need a soft drapey yarn knit at a loose gauge. I swatched two different yarns I thought I wanted to use and I'm glad I did because even before I blocked them, it was apparent they were not going to be winners. Although I got gauge, neither was drapey or loose enough. Swatching here has caused me to pull out several finer yarns and saved me a lot of unhappiness.

This week, I've spent my time swatching for several new projects. I'm knitting generous swatches and carefully blocking them. I don't cut the yarn off of the skein — instead I wash the swatch and block it still attached in case I need the yarn for the project. And, I've gone to knitting full swatches in the round because I know my gauge changes when I knit flat.

For a project in Malabrigo Rasta, I needed gauge in both stockinette and 2×2 rib. I turned my swatch into a pair of mittens.

I hope swatching will make me a much happier and more successful knitter. I feel like I'm finally on the way with swatching, although I may have gotten a little bit carried away with this one.