snug – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

New Yarn: The Plucky Knitter’s Cachet

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

Cachet is The Plucky Knitter's brand new 100% cashmere yarn. Although it's listed at an aran weight, it knits up in the worsted range for me, with 18 stitches/26 rows to four inches on size 6 needles.

It knits up like a dream: a soft cloud of stockinette. And, the gauge is perfect for some of the patterns in my queue I'm longing to knit the most, including Carol Feller's Portulaca, Thea Coleman's new sweater, Rye, and Mailin and Monte Rosa, both by Isabel Kraemer . Decisions, decisions.

I'm also going to swatch this yarn a couple of needle sizes down to see what the fabric looks like. Originally, I planned to knit Alana Dakos Cabled Leaf Pullover in this yarn. Since its gauge is 20 stitches/26 rows, it seems like that might be doable.

I know it's obvious, after years and years of being a polyamorous knitter who carried a torch for a lot of different brands of yarn, when I discovered Plucky last year, I fell deeply in love with the wonderful custom spun, hand-dyed yarns they produce. All of the yarns I've used so far, from Snug Bulky, to Bello Worsted, to Cashmere Sport, to Primo Aran, to Crew, to Scholar, have made me really happy. Each new project makes me think I've found my favorite yarn of all time. And truly, they are all my favorites. I adore this yarn, and the new heavy weight Cachet cashmere is like knitting with a dream. If you haven't discovered Plucky yet, it's worth the effort. Although the yarn is sold in an unusual fashion, there is lots of advice for newbies here and a very nice group of helpful knitters on the Ravelry group. You'll be glad you took the time to figure it out!

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.

Another Knit Nevermind Hat. Subtitle: Why I Love The Plucky Knitter’s Snug Yarn

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm sure I sound like I have lost my marbles to anyone who is not passionate about knitting. But, I have a new favorite yarn, and I really don't care who knows about it. Snug. I love you Snug. I love you for your cashmere content and for your beautiful, smooth, round, bulkiness. And I love how you take color. All of them. I loved you right out of the box, even before the first time I put you on my needles.

I love you even more, now that I've knit a second hat out of Snug, my second using the Nevermind cabled pattern. It is what you were meant for.

Forgive me for the glamour shot. I'm rather partial to the model as well. But she still doesn't get to keep the hat!

The colorway is Fisherman's Wharf, a neutral with just a hint of a purpleish undertone in the right light. So subtle that you're not even sure it's there. So beautiful that I'm kicking myself for not getting a sweater quantity.

Here is the obligatory cat photo. I was chided, after the lovely photo of our baby cat Juliet earlier this week, for not including our cats in more photos. So here is Harry, who is skilled at photobombing, but agreed to pose just this once.

In case I haven't been clear, if you don't have any of The Plucky Knitter Snug in your stash you need to RUN not walk and get some. You can buy it at her periodic updates or through destash on Ravelry if you're lucky. It's amazing yarn. You need to knit with some now!