plucky yarn – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Cast on All the Things!

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

Sometimes that mood hits! The perfect new pattern comes along. Or an irresistible yarn. That happened to me this week — times two. Both the perfect pattern and the perfect yarn came along. So despite an impressive array of works in progress, I'm swatching for two new sweaters.

First up is Isabell Kraemer's Criss Cross Sweater. This one went into my favorites as soon as I saw it. But when I swatched with Plucky Scholar for a vest (it wasn't going to happen, the miles of twisted rib would have killed me) and realized my gauge was spot on for Criss Cross, I knew it was meant to be. I'm in love with this Bohemian Blue colorway, and the minute I opened the yarn two days ago, I knew it had to be knit with right away.

Then there was Katya Gorbacheva's Winter Weed's sweater pattern. Its difficulty level is clearly over my head, but how could I resist?

The pattern is written for Plucky Primo Aran, and although I don't have a sweater quantity on hand, I have been hoarding the December Classics Heartstring's colorway on snug worsted. I didn't get gauge on my first try.

But I'm not horribly far off — only 1.75 stitches over four inches, so I'm going to go up a needle size and see what I can do. I love this colorway and think it will be perfect for this sweater. The verdict is still out on whether I have the skills to knit it, but I have good knitting friends to rely on in a pinch.

So it looks like I'll be casting on all the things in the next week or so. I've also got a couple of projects I want to swatch for ahead of the start of the Malabrigo March KAL. I expect to be doing a lot of prep and set up work for the sweaters as well as for Mal March, so there won't be a whole lot of knitting progress this week, but I do love having a number of projects in the works, which makes it easy to pick one up to carry around or travel with.

Knitting with Dragons. Color Choices. Why I Knit.

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

Drachenfels, which means Dragon Cliffs in German, is also a wonderful pattern by Melanie Berg for a multi-colored, knit shawl.

(c) Melanie Berg (with permission)

My plan is to knit it with sport-weight cashmere from The Plucky Knitter.

The issue? Color selection. I have some choices ahead.

Choice One: the blue color is Thank You Note, and truth be told, it is probably my all time favorite color. The green is called Good Old Days, and the first time I saw it, I wondered who could possibly like it. The answer is me. I've got a hat on my needles in it, a sweater in a related shade in progress, and plans to do another sweater (because I want a pullover in this color in addition to the cardigan I'm knitting). I adore it, and although as a kid I was told I couldn't wear green, this one works for me. And gray. Because I love gray.

Choice Two: It's hard to capture the depth of this teal blue-green. It's the same color as the Olivia I currently have in progress, which I've also been unable to get an accurate color photo of.

Choice Three: I am not a colorful person. But I could be, especially if I knit Drachenfels up like this!

Choice Four: Ignore Thank You Note on the left, and focus on the delicious introduction of Cabernet, the red, with the pink (Decorum Dictates) and the light gray. This one might be impossible to resist.

Choice Five: My original thought was to go with the two grays and the scummy green. But the contrast wasn't high enough. Then Decorum Dictates, the blush pink, dropped into my lap while they were out. The three on the left — pink, gray, and green.

Choice Six: Another strong contender (ok, they are all strong contenders or we wouldn't be having this wishy-washy post), I originally thought about doing this is the red and grays combination, and this is the yarn I ordered for Drachenfels. And I still love it. I love them all. I think they would all be splendid. So, I'm having a hard time deciding.

Choice Seven: Finally, there is this lovely concoction of gray, blue, and red. It will look good with black, which is a must in my wardrobe. It is both unusual and familiarly comforting. I like it a lot. But then, as we have previously established, I like all of them.

So help me out. Let me know what you like and why. What would be practical. What would be whimsical. Help me decide on colors for my Drachenfels, and consider joining me! Drachenfels has been knit 511 times on Ravelry (as of this posting) and in such a wide variety of yarns!

This project pretty much sums up why I knit. Beautiful colors. Wonderful, soft fibers. Texture. The planning is as much fun as the knitting. The finished project will be surreal. Truly, I cannot wait!

Knitting Catch Up

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

With apologies — my long lovely weekend with this child

kept me from blogging. But, not knitting. In addition to reporting that she thoroughly enjoyed visiting Georgetown and had a great time auditioning at the Washington Ballet, I have some knitting progress to share.

One thing I have come to accept about myself is that although I can pack a week's worth of clothing in a carry on bag, my "personal item" — the second carry on airlines allow — is exclusively devoted to knitting. For this four day trip, I had four projects along with me.

Top to bottom you can see my newly cast on Tipperary Shawl, the French Laundry colorway portion of my Sugarloaf Cowl peeking out, a wee bit of my Vodka Lemonade sweater in the bag with the green zipper, and Olivia, which grew a lot on this trip.

I'm indulging my inner geek here, and sharing my Da Vinci drawing style Dr. Who meets the Daleks project bag, which is Olivia's home.

My big knitting news is finally finishing the fisherman's rib portion of Olivia, and moving on to the short rows. For some reason, short rows and I have never been friends before, but we are getting along famously this time.

There was, however, the predictable knitting disaster without which no trip would be complete. Forgive the late night/hotel room/bad lighting photo, but it portrays the exact moment at which my lurking suspicion that the game of yarn chicken I was playing with my third skein of Plucky Primo Aran was going to end badly. See the little bit of yarn that trails across the right front side of Olivia? That would be the 12" of yarn left from my last skein. And, at this point, I still have 50 short rows left before I get to the lengthy cast off row.

This was the first project I cast on with Plucky yarn, and I didn't stop to realize that the yardage for the pattern yarn, Plucky Traveler Aran, is different than the yardage for the Primo Aran that I substituted. Several other knitters noted the need to shorten the rib when knitting in Primo to conserve yarn for the garter portion of the pattern, but apparently oblivious, this girl knit a fulsome seven inches of rib and then came up short on the garter.

Thankfully, a kind knitter has already put one of her precious skeins in the mail to me. I'm hoping for a good match and a bit of time this weekend, as I'm ready to wrap Olivia's squishy goodness around my neck. Love, love, love this pattern.

Fisherman’s Rib

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm still knitting Olivia. For the record, that's almost seven inches of fisherman's rib. It has taken me just about all of two skeins of Plucky Primo Aran (more like a light worsted weight that an aran) to get to this point.

It has been a long slog, as you all know, because it's just about all I've blogged about for weeks. But it is so worth it. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is as cushy as fisherman's rib and I can't wait to wrap Olivia around my neck. That is, if I ever manage to finish.

What’s Your Favorite Color To Knit With?

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

It started innocuously enough, with a couple of pretty skeins that I purchased during a trip to a favorite local yarn store in Tuscaloosa. I'd never really thought about chartreuse. It looked like Shrek. And, my Mom never really liked me in green. But those first skeins jumped into my cart over the summer, and suddenly that color was everywhere!

Have you ever developed a color obsession from out of no where? It's not even a trendy, Pantone scale color for 2015. It just suddenly caught my eye. And my needles.

There seems to be no end in sight. I have some coming for a sweater — slightly different, and in different fibers, than the one I already have in progress. And a few skeins for a cowl that will likely be a gift for a friend.

I wonder if it's just me, or if everyone picks up color obsessions over time; only it's magnified for knitters and other crafters who work with color. I would love to hear about your color obsession!