elliebelly – Page 6 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Knitting & Knitting

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

The Elliebelly Knit Along is taking shape nicely!

The sweater I'm knitting for Ollie is coming along (although I'm getting a little bit edgey about the yardage and hoping I won't run out).

Some other Knitters are blogging too! You can read about Jen P. and Plath's knitting and see some great pictures.

Other knitters have finished their projects already. These people scare me!

There is lots of pretty knitting in the works, and I'm going to try to feature as much of it as possible on my blog over the next few weeks. Seeing it has inspired me to organize my yarn and my knitting plans for the fall.

Studio Saturday

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

It's a lazy Saturday here. We dropped Grandma off at the airport for her trip back home, which is always a sad sort of thing, so we decided to do nothing of any consequence for the entire morning. We have succeeded admirably.

It's been a studio day. I set out to do some straightening up, and instead, immediately picked up my first experiment at knitting with silkworm handkerchiefs and decided to knit some more on it, instead of sorting out the room. It's such a pretty color — if the hankies hold out, I think I'll try to get a scarf out of this piece.

I also stopped to press a scarf I dyed earlier this week. The fabric is a Wool/Silk blend. I'm very pleased with it.

I never made it back to cleaning up, because Ollie showed up, wanting to college.

He is always fun to watch because of his fierce concentration, but he seemed happy with his work.

Just about the time he finished, Ellie showed up, wanting to make a card for a friend.

And really, I realized it was absolutely hopeless. There was no chance of organizing yarn because the basket had been taken over by a very contented Hermione.

I was not about to be the person to disturb her, so we've called it a morning and our contentedly lazing our way into lunch.

I think we could all use a lazy studio Saturday every once in a while. I'm very happy to be having one today!

Knit Along Progress

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

I have made great progress with Ollie's Sweater, having finished the raglan increases, put the sleeve stitches aside on waste yarn, and joined the body to knit down in one piece.

But my progress is not the knitting story of the day. That story belongs to Ellie, who made this totally amazing hat in two and a half days.

Isn't she a wonderful next generation knitter?

Now you will have to indulge me and ooh and ahh over the pictures of her knitting. I think it is the most incredible experience in the world to have lucked into a knitting child. (This is actually my second knitter, my first is here.) Isn't she wonderful?

Knitting Ollie’s Fall Sweater

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm knitting Ollie's fall sweater for the Elliebelly Knit Along. I'm a little bit better than halfway down the raglan portion of the top of the sweater.

The sweater is Ragman and the yarn is Elliebelly Talia, a bulky Merino wool, dyed in the Crayon colorway.

Casting On: Ollie’s Crayon Ragman Sweater

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

The Elliebelly Knit Along starts today, and I'm on top of it.

This yarn

is going to become this sweater, Donna Higgins Ragman.

I'm off to a good start.

A very bad swatch indicated I would get gauge on size 9 needles (I've knit with this yarn before so I knew that and was too lazy to do more than just quickly confirm it.)

57 stitches, casted on using the long tail method.

And, on to the set up row for the raglan increases, followed by the insertion of pretty yarn jewelry (stitch markers).

The only hitch in the process involved our large black cat, squirt, who became enamoured with the "new toy" Mom got him, and suddenly wandered off with the ball of yarn, trailing my needles behind him.

He was very disappointed when I took it back. Poor kitty!

Getting Ready For The Elliebelly Knit Along: A Post In Which I Expand My Choices Instead Of Making A Decision

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

I have a number of favorite patterns and potential choices for the Elliebelly Knit Along, which starts Saturday so I'm getting to the point where I really, really, really need to make a decision here. I hope you'll consider signing up and knitting along with me! You can knit any pattern of your choice in any Elliebelly yarn, with lots of fun along the way. Sign up here.

Instead of deciding from among the patterns I looked at a few days ago, I have a couple more possibilities to add to my list.

I adore Karin's Simple Ribbed Cowl pattern. I can't help but think it would be wonderfully warming on a cold winter's day, and I do have just enough bulky Cashmere to knit this one, although I would have to do some quick dyeing as it is still in its natural state. (This is actually not much of a disincentive, because I love dyeing and I love dyeing Cashmere).

Then there is Pinkobbit's shrug. She used the Shrug This pattern, which uses just 153 yards of an aran weight wool. I could probably get gauge double stranding some of my Eco Alpaca.

I also think the black and white colorway Pinkobbit used is fantastic, and it occurs to me something like that, or yarn dyed in my Urban Myth colorway would be nice for this pattern.

We are coming up on decision time here, and I don't seem to be any closer. I'm still eyeing the Sea Three (Seacell and Silk) as the yarn I would most like to dye with. But I haven't hit the perfect pattern for it yet, and the patterns I have found are so tempting, that I suspect a number of them are going to hit my needles between now and the end of the year.

Hopefully a few of you are doing a better job than I am of deciding what to knit. Remember to go ahead and sign up officially once you make your decision.

I’m Not Going To Make It!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Joyce Makes Art

It has become abundantly clear to me the last few days that I am not going to finish Tiny Tea Leaves in time for the start of the Elliebelly Knit Along this Saturday. I have at least another 8" of stockinette to go on the body before I'm ready to do the sleeves and finish the button bands.

I had hoped to finish it before starting my next project, but that is a LOT of stockinette. As in miles and miles of stockinette, with several hundred stitches on my needles.

In its favor, though, I have to say this sweater is adorable. Being able to try it on her in progress is definitely a big plus and I love the way the simple yoke pattern looks.

I'm going to knit this one a bit long to insure she can wear it for a couple of years!