Page 74 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

A Little Bit of Interior Decorating

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

I haven't blogged much about the conversion of our house from World War III battleground (where small children, dogs, and cats fought for territory) to a decently presentable, comfortable living space since last summer. But, work has been progressing. What started as a new floor in the kitchen turned into a kitchen redo, with living room and study updates done to on the ground floor.

We then turned our attention to a much needed basement redo. This involved removing a whole wall of windows, because the temperature in our "playroom" was about 25 degrees for much of the winter, and absolutely unuseable. Now replaced with thicker, double glass and with windows repaired, our intrepid decorator, the wonderful Miss Sarah, has begun installing all of her wonderful finds, after turning the walls from a sickly shade of terra cotta to a perfect oyster white.

I am so sorry I didn't take before pictures. Suffice it to say, it was hideous. The difference is so incredible that it's as though we added a whole new room to the house. I'll have to add in more detailed photos when the work is complete, but will leave you with this snap of the cute shelves outside the door to my studio, which is just off of the playroom. I decided to fill them with yarn and knitting projects in progress, as a little taste of what is inside the door.

Trades

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

Blue Kitty Double Pointed Needle Roll $15

Has been very gently used, still like new.

original item

Delia Q Needle set cases — store your knitpicks, etc. interchangeable needles and cables. One in purple silk, the other in green.

$35 each

purple has been gently used, but is like new. green has not been used.

original item

Offhand design circular clutch $40

very gently used, still in like new, giftable condition

original item

Offhand Designs Switch Clutch for knitting needles and notions

Never used-brand new $50

original item

Brand New Off Hand Design Switch Cluth in Limited Edition Fabric (tag still in bag)

$50

Yarn 1 — from Top left

1.5 skeins Misty Alpaca Bulky in a multi-colorway. $30

This is leftover from the Shrug I knit for my daughter, which you can see here

[This is the only yarn in the trades that isn’t Elliebelly]

1 Skein Elliebelly Bulky BFL Treasure, wound into a ball. $20

this may be slightly less than a full ball, as I believe I swatched off of it.

4 skeins Crayon Bulky British Premium Merino

Bottom Row:

2 Skeins Elliebelly Tree Star on Premium British Merino $55

2 Skeins Crayon on Elliebelly 100% Silk Arabesque $70 (aran/heavy worsted)

1 Skein Crayon dyed on Baby Alpaca and handspun into approximately 200 yards of sport weight yarn $28

1 small skein Bulky BFL in a paintbrush colorway $22

3.5 Skeins of Merino/Alpaca in Eco $24 a skein

here is an example of it knit up

1 Skein (already wound) of Single Ply Silk Merino in the Copper Patina Colorway $30

you can see in the picture I swatched a bit a the beginning of the skein, but have never knit it up

This is almost all Bulky Superwash Merino Wool (except as noted) — the Superwash cousin of Elliebelly’s Talia $25 each. From top, left to right:

Nightingale

1 Skein Sheila’s sparkle sock yarn, $22

Handspun elliebelly alpaca 2-ply 237 yards laceweight $20

2 Skeins Sacajawea

.5 skein Crayon

1 Skein Farmhouse

1 Skein Dark Treasure

1 Skein Moulin Rouge

1 Skein Sunshine

1 Skein Urban Myth

1 Skein Agatha Wants to Win

2 Skeins Talia Bulky (not superwash) Merino in Farmhouse

$55

Dreamy Knit Shrug

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

This is the Dream in Color Shrug I'm knitting for my Mom out of Jade Sapphire Cashmere, exactly halfway done.

I seem to spend a lot of time spreading it out and looking at it. I like the lacy pattern very much. I love how the Cashmere feels. Knitting this pattern in this yarn reinforces my belief that life is too short to knit with cheap yarn.

This is a surprisingly easy pattern — the repeats are short and quickly remembered. I've inserted markers to make it easy to keep up with where I am, so I can knit this in lectures or while talking with friends over coffee. It looks a bit long, or perhaps that's just wishful thinking on my part, as my Mom is smaller than I am, so if it's too large, well, um, we all know how that one goes.

All Over But The Finishing

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

Sixteen skeins and done. I still need to weave in some ends and block. But the results were too fun not to share a quick preview picture with you.

This Post is for you, Mom

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

Dear Mom,

This is your Dream in Color Shrug in progress. I love the pattern. The cashmere is, well, dreamy. I’m loving the not-quite-solid yarn.

I sure, um, hope it fits you when it’s done. Really. It would be such a shame if it fit, say, me instead.

Love,

Joyce

Finished: Little Copernicus. Started: Dream in Color

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

Little Copernicus is finished. Down to the sweet little Mother of Pearl buttons. Very cute. All it needs now is a baby!

I have knitting work to do. I'm about three skeins away from finishing the endless black hole afghan. And, I should be knitting it over the weekend as it's so big it can only be worked on at home.

But no. Write it off to knitter's ADHD or spring fever, but I put the afghan down for the weekend. I also bypassed two charming projects I've purchased pattern and yarn for, Norie and Laar by Gudrun Johnston, but not yet started. And I even let the hat I'm knitting for my snowbound eldest child in some incredibly soft Eco Alpaca from Cascade Yarns sit swatched, but not started.

Instead I picked up the shrug I've been meaning to knit for my Mom for quite some time. I have four luscious skeins of Jade Sapphire 6-ply Cashmere in the Blackberry Fudge colorway and I had selected the Dream in Color Shrug Pattern. I selected that pattern after seeing this Shrug knit up last fall — one of the dancers at my daughter's ballet school was wearing it, and it was beyond-words-amazing. I always have lace anxiety (really, you keep count with kids chirping about homework, the Judge whining about "where's my dinner," and a Blackberry that goes off incessantly with work) but decided to tackle it and see what happened.

Things are always much more manageable after you start, right? The 30 rows of ribbing zipped by in the dentist's chair (the pattern is knit from cuff to cuff). The yarn is just fabulous. It's soft, the knitted fabric is squishy, it's everything I like best in Cashmere. And the lace is a simple 11 stitch 20 row repeat. With only five sets of 11 stitches and a few extra on each end to the row, this pattern is very do-able, even for someone tackling their first lace project. So much for the anxiety!

I'm midway through the second lace repeat and finding this to be lots of fun to knit. But, I'm going to set it aside to pick up the afghan for the next few evenings. It now has the benefit of being large enough to snuggle under while knitting. And it's so soft and inviting that the time has come for me to finish it off and make it available to the whole family.

Drum Roll Please

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

And the winner of the silk hankies is…….

……#10 – Kathy.

You have Ollie to thank for pulling your number.

Please email me with your shipping address and I'll put your silk hankies in the mail to you. We'll all look forward to seeing what you knit with them.

And if, like me, you are curious about how silk fibers are worked from cocoons, here is a fascinating (and quick) video showing cocoons being stretched over frames in a store in China.