I have decided to make Alice Starmore's Grapevine from Stillwater. I have heard from several knitters who have made it and one who has the Bainin in the original Clover to make it and everyone seems to think it is a really enjoyable project. I'm convinced. It is a V-necked cardigan with vines and berries and leaves and a basketweave pattern under the arms. There are a couple of photos HERE in the January 5 blog entry for Theresa (the Keyboard Biologist) - she made hers in a pretty teal color.



Originally I was thinking I'd do it in green but I just made myself a green cardigan (Sirdal). And since Malin is purple I'm trying to find another color. I can get a bag of 10 skeins of Cascade 220 for $56 and I enjoy this yarn for textured knitting. I may end up just finding another purple shade I like. It is hard though choosing Cascade 220 colors because there are so many and each online vendor sells different colors (which look different at every web site).







Here's the Cascade 220 I'm doing Malin in - a very nice purple, color 8885. I really am enjoying knitting Malin and I'll enjoy wearing it. I'm just about done with both sleeves from both Malin and Trondheim.

Telemark Headband

Here's the Bea Ellis Knitwear Telemark headband done in Peer Gynt yarn with a cotton lining. Note - If you ever knit this, rearrange the pattern so that each end of the headband is not sewn together on the center interior. I had to kitchener the whole thing to avoid a seam that would feel very noticeable when wearing the headband.

There's a discussion on the KBTH list on what knitting publications are in your mailbox. Here's my list:

Spin-Off (Excellent and I keep all the back issues. My favorite publication. I'm currently waiting impatiently for the summer issue.)
INKnitters (I'll re-subscribe because there is nothing else like it from a technical standpoint.)
Interweave Knits (I haven't decided if I will subscribe for another year.)
Heels and Toes Gazette (The Dawn Brocco socks newsletter - I'm not quite sure if I'll continue as I don't knit that many socks. Instead of subscribing I think I will occasionally purchase issues that have interesting techniques like Shelly Kang's terrific intarsia in the round socks or fun designs like Dawn's Peace on Earth socks.)

I've decided to have my own personal knitalong. Because I want to finish Trondheim and because I'm enjoying Malin so much, I'm going to work them both simultaneously. If I finish the second sleeve of Malin I have to finish the second sleeve of Trondheim and so forth. It will be fun to finish two sweaters at the same time. Plus then I can get started on my next sweater projects. I have Dale of Norway's Kashmir waiting in the wings and I think I'm going to get some yarn to make another Alice Starmore textured project - perhaps Na Craga in some Black Water Abbey yarn for DH or perhaps Grapevine from Stillwater in more Cascade 220.



I've enjoyed reading about Wendy's catnip mouse knitalong. I decided I needed to knit something for the cats so I spent 1 1/2 hours yesterday designing and knitting a lizard. Lizards are the exciting cat thing around here - they dart around the window screens and drive our indoor cats crazy. I was so impressed on how it turned out - I did the bottom half gray and the top half green with I-cord legs and French knot eyes and the mouth even opens. It is the same size as the lizards we have also. Did the cats even spend 1/2 a second with my gorgeous creation? They could care less about the knitted lizard and barely even looked at it. I may give it to my favorite four year old boy instead.



Here's another photo of the tremendously photogenic Jack the cat hanging out on the kitchen table just waiting for a real lizard to show up.

Spin-Off Entrelac Socks

Blogger is taking so long to load photos these days that I probably shouldn't include these but I just had to show the photos I took of the Spin-Off entrelac socks 2 weeks ago (on an outdoor bench DH made and painted wildly). These are done on size 1 needles in mostly handspun (on my Ashford Traveller) yarn (about a sport weight) dyed with either Kool Aid or Easter egg dye. The ten colors used are a little muted in the photo as a result of the killer NM sunshine but you can see why I call them my Cirque de Soleil socks.

Check out Elann's sale on Louet Elements. This yarn would be absolutely perfect for the AS Na Craga sweater for DH for an incredible price but he has challenged me to finish the two sweaters I'm working on first before embarking on another project. The nerve. I'll be back blogging on Tuesday next week. Happy Memorial Day to all!

St. Enda Sweater

Here is Alice Starmore's St. Enda from Aran Knitting. Throughout this project I had one heck of a time capturing the right color (sage green) on film and these photos are still off. It was done on size 8 needles in now discontinued Gaelic Aran yarn. As you can see in the photo with camera shy DH, it turned into one heck of a gigantic sweater but we both enjoy wearing it. If I had it to do over again, I'd use the slip stitch crochet seam around the saddles and between the shoulders and the body of the sweater.

Strangely enough Malin (In the Hebrides) which looks so complex is a lot easier to do than St. Enda (Aran Knitting) which looks relatively boring. I am on the second sleeve in 4 days partially because I have the pattern memorized and partially because the Cascade 220 is nice and elastic. This is the first Aran sweater that I will have knit completely without a cable needle. Initially I was just doing two stitch cables without a cable needle but with a nice elastic yarn I have no problem doing four stitch cables sans cable needle. This is definitely a good thing as I constantly lose my cable needle and doing the cables without an extra needle speeds things up considerably.



It is kind of hard to explain how to make cables without an extra needle. Let's say you have a two stitch cable. Transfer both stitches to your right hand needle knitwise. Take your left hand needle and insert it into the second stitch from the right on your right hand needle (either insert it in the front of the stitch or back of the stitch depending on which way the cable twists) leaving the first stitch alone on the needle. Gently pull both stitches off the right hand needle and quickly catch the loose stitch with your right hand needle and put it back on the left hand needle. (The other stitch will already be on the left hand needle.) Then knit the stitches which have already been twisted on the needles. Clear as mud? This is MUCH easier to do than explain.







What is that in the photo you ask? That is Trondheim, my much neglected Dale sweater. I am on the second sleeve and have to force myself to pick it up and work a few rows these days. It will go fast once I'm on the top yoke of the body of the sweater but until then it is deadly dull.

I was amazed to find that the chart key for Malin (In the Hebrides) fails to include two symbols that are used in chart C (lines 3 and 5). I have heard that Alice Starmore's designs are always flawless but there was also a small error in the pattern for St. Enda in the number of stitches to be picked up for the neck. I am almost done with the 1st sleeve of Malin and am really enjoying Cascade 220 for this project.







Here's some spindle spun angora from fiber I purchased at my LYS, Village Wools. I guess you'd call this designer yarn as it was hard to spin such a slippery fiber. I'm currently spinning a similar-looking yarn on my purpleheart Bosworth spindle from some mixed carded black and white cat fur (from my black cat and my white cat). I didn't originally get along with my Bosworth spindle but it is doing very well in this particular project. It is just the right weight. I have no idea what I'll do with the completed yarn. DH has asked for a cat fur item but I can't come up with anything he'd actually wear.



I organized my stash yesterday. I have WAY too much yarn - especially small odds and ends. I need to make more spontaneous scarves or possibly some fun intarsia pillows. I decided to give up on the Highland socks from Latvian Dreams. I prefer not to have so many WIPs going at the same time and I don't like short row socks much anyway.

I have been musing lately on what the next Dale of Norway Olympic sweater will be like. I'm third-generation Italian and I love most of the Olympic sweater designs anyway so I'll definitely be making the the Turin Olympic sweater for myself. I can't believe I've decided to make a sweater sight unseen as I'm not usually that impetuous. I'll probably have to wait awhile though for the new sweater design - the next Winter Olympics aren't until February 2006.



I ordered some replacement parts for my Denise interchangeable needle set. It is quite old - at least 15 years old I think and part of the black cable edge broke off in my size 5 needles. Still I love this set and am working on the Starmore Malin using Denise circulars instead of straight needles. The Denise web site is located HERE. I had to rip out the Alice Starmore Celtic Keynot pillow as I had twisted it inadvertently when I joined the stitches. It is all good though as I was really getting annoyed by the 2-ply Hebridean yarn sticking at the join of my cheapo circular needle and I need to use different needles. Geane says her gauge was off and mine was also - my pillow was going to be quite large. Check out Geane's blog for her photo of the completed pillow and her terrific tassels.







Here's a photo of the completed Fuzzy Feet done in an unknown wool yarn. I did the cuff in another wool which didn't felt at the same rate so I just cut the cuff off.

I've been reading the TricotNordique list on Yahoogroups. Even if you can't speak or read French, the photo gallery alone is worth checking out. Their sweaters are amazing - lots of Dales and Starmores. My undergraduate college degree is in French but I've apparently forgotten a lot. One thing I did manage to learn from TricotNordique is that Debbie New has a new book coming out - check it out HERE. I think she is tremendously talented and can't wait to get her book.



I had some bright pink Kool-Aid dyed fleece drying out on the back patio and saw a tiny crested gray bird trying to steal some of it. I put out some extra cat brushings I'd been keeping from my long hair cats to see if the birds want to use that. The ultimate irony - cat fur nests for the birds. Jack the cat isn't as interested in the birds outside the window as all the lizards crawling on the window screens.











I still have the Vinternatt kit from Nordic Fiber Arts to start. NFA sent me their current mail-order catalog with lots of their own design sweater kits along with hat and sock kits and apparently there are two new mitten kits not listed on the web site. My Cascade 220 from Webs showed up today so I will get started on Malin tomorrow. Although I like the way the Highland socks look, I may have to postpone or abandon the project because I'm not comfortable with so many WIPs.

Cross-Country Ski Socks

Check out Stasia's gorgeous spontaneous scarf. I am tempted to make another one in purple but I have too many projects going now. I'm trying to work on each one every day.My current WIPs include the Celtic Keynot pillow from Virtual Yarns, the Trondheim sweater in Emu Superwash DK, and the Highland Socks from Latvian Dreams: Knitting from Weaving Charts by Joyce Williams in Nylamb. I recently checked Latvian Dreams out from the library and am enjoying reading through it.

Joyce Williams' designs have a certain unusual style similar to those of Meg Swansen and Elizabeth Zimmermann. It is hard to explain but the designs often have minimal necklines, lots of garter stitch, I-cord edgings, and not much ribbing. There is some excellent technique info in this book that I'm copying down in my knitting journal. For instance, in her discussion of toe-up vs. cuff-down socks she states that one advantage of a toe-up sock is that increases have less bulk than decreases so your toes will have less bulk.

The projects in Latvian Dreams are not for those who dislike math. There are no needle sizes given and a cast on number is rarely provided. I think you just get a suggested gauge and a chart and you're supposed to figure out what part of the chart to knit and what not to for your desired size. The Highland socks from the book are unique in that you increase stitches before the heel and decrease after. The bottom of the sole has striping where I assume you do the increases and decreases.



I was searching to see if I had any photos of an EZ design but all I have are these EZ memorial cross-country ski socks I knit from purchased naturally-colored handspun after hearing of her death. I used some charts from one of her books for the color design and just made up a pattern as I went.

Here's a photo of a pair of men's hiking socks. I made a few pairs of these for DH and his hiking buddies along with a pair of higher boot socks for my brother-in-law's partner Matt. This is my own design although knitting all that K2P2 rib was torture.



I finished the Spin-Off entrelac socks today. They are a Kathryn Alexander design. I also knit her artist's fingerless gloves from a previous issue of Interweave Knits. Knitting with many colors seems to be a Kathryn Alexander trademark and I was pleasantly surprised to find her web site. She has a few knitting kits and some sweaters for sale. Check out the photo composite of her studio. I should be done with my pair of entrelac socks tomorrow from 10 different colors of Kool Aid and Easter egg dyed handspun yarn.



Melissa commented about my yarn substitutions. I definitely do not always achieve success but I try to stay flexible. For instance, I purchased the Gaelic Aran yarn in a bag on sale. I planned to make Na Craga from Aran Knitting but I couldn't get gauge at all. So I switched to St. Enda instead and it worked beautifully. I swatched with some Cascade 220 to see if I could get gauge on Malin (I went up a needle size) before I ordered the yarn. I had previously noticed that someone made St. Brigid with Cascade 220 so if I'm not getting gauge once I actually start Malin I figure I can do St. Brigid instead. I do measure gauge on the sweater throughout to see if I can make any adaptations like knitting more loosely. I use Nature Spun for many Dale of Norway sweaters. I go up one needle size because NS is thinner than Heilo.

Fair Isle Socks

Although I'm not a knitting designer , I do read the KnitDesign Yahoogroups list. They are currently having a discussion on the lack of good yarns currently available for colorwork or Aran designs. I am ordering more from overseas locations because yarn stores in the U.S. seem to be focusing more and more on novelty yarns and bulky yarns and self-patterning yarns. I guess basic yarn lines with wide color ranges are a thing of the past.

I really really wish I could spin (and ply) a more uniform yarn so I could produce my own yarn weights and colors. My handspun yarn still is quite exotic looking. I've watched a few videos to try to do better (an Ashford and a Judith Mackenzie video rented from Village Wools) but I suspect it just takes more practice and effort on my part. I'm better on the spindle than I am on the wheel.



Here are some fair isle socks from a variety of yarns - the main color is Froehlich Blauband.

Thrummed Mittens

Check out Webs' sale on Cascade 220 - only $4.69 a skein compared to almost $7 elsewhere. I bought some purple to make Alice Starmore's Malin from In The Hebrides. I'm making a smaller size this time because the large size ends up about 51 inches wide. I did a web search to see if I could find any photos of a finished Malin and there is a pretty blue one by Veronique and nice red one on Victoria Palay's site . I think this sweater may be a faster knit than St. Enda because there are no stitches that need to be twisted on the reverse side and no honeycomb stitch fortunately. I plan to do the large roll collar version.

The Philosopher's Wool socks are history. I couldn't fit them over my heel even though I was getting gauge using the pattern from Foot Notes. Hmmm. One interesting thing I did discover about PW yarn is that it has a tendency to stick together. Wendy has talked previously about yarns that don't need to be stitched in any way before steeking and I suspect you could get away with it in PW.




Today's photo is a pair of thrummed mittens that I made for DH several years ago. Even though they've been worn a lot, the thrums never managed to felt so the mittens still have these stringy pieces of wool inside but they're still quite warm. The wool is some very old single ply Lamb's Pride and the pattern came from HERE.

I finally started the Spin-Off entrelac socks. I've never done entrelac before and I'm enjoying it. Here is the original colorway for the entrelac socks in some irregularly handspun Easter egg dyed Shetland - I've since added about 4 brighter colors to jazz them up. All the colors used in these socks give them a circus look.











I have also started the Stars Socks from Joseph Madl's Foot Notes: Socks to Make Your Feet Dance in the autumn colorway of Philosopher's Wool. The pattern reminds me enough of intarsia to possibly stave off the intarsia craving I've been having. (I'm trying to avoid forking over the money for a kit for the landscape socks from Borealis Sweaterscapes.)



The PW yarn is coarse. I'd compare it to Peace Fleece. I could never wear PW yarn as a sweater so I'm glad I found this out by trying out a smaller amount. The award for the coarsest, roughest, coarsest wool yarn goes to Briggs & Little Regal. I tried knitting a beaded cable mitten with Regal last year and couldn't go on to the second one. It was like knitting with thistles. Anyway, I bought the PW in a kit for socks and I have no clue if I'm going to have enough of each color for my design so I'm working both socks simultaneously.

Here's a felted bunny rabbit from an old Fiber Trends pattern. I can't remember the yarn I used but obviously I wasn't listening to the old adage about naturally-colored yarns not felting well.



Last week I was watching a quilt show on tv and this quilter had made this extraordinarily complex and beautiful quilt. She told the hostess of the show that she had not left her house for 9 weeks while adding hundreds of appliqued flowers to the quilt. The amazed hostess asked about food and the quilter stated her husband had brought home food and cooked that entire time. She said she was relieved when she finished the quilt because her husband wasn't a very good cook.



Ever since I saw that I was thinking about how much more I get done when I have uninterrupted time. Now that DH has returned from his business trip I am back to cooking and cleaning and less knitting gets done. I wonder what it would be like if I had 9 weeks of uninterrupted knitting time when I did not even have to grocery shop or cook or clean. I certainly think I could finish a couple of sweaters.



Stasia asked about the Taos Wool Festival. It takes place in Kit Carson park right in the center of town and you can walk right across the street to La Lana Wools or Weaving Southwest. Last year we took some extra time and also visited Tierra Wools in Los Ojos. The festival is preceded by a week of workshops. The vendors vary each year. The judged items on display in the center tent (handspun yarn, fleeces, garments) have to be from the region.



One year La Lana Wools had an indigo dye bath going and you could bring any yarn to be dyed. I also recall Valentina Devine's booth one year with some of her unique knitted items. One unique thing about the Taos Wool Festival is that there are tours of nearby Taos Valley Wool Mill in conjunction with the festival. I think they may even bus festival participants to the mill to see yarn being produced commercially. There are events for kids, demos, cowboy poetry, music, food, sheep to shawl, sheep shearing, animals, fashion show, etc. While it isn't huge it is a pretty mellow and friendly crowd. Dogs are allowed - word is that Goldie Hawn attended with her Jack Russell terrier 2 years ago. And because it is smaller you can really have great conversations with designers and wheel builders and shepherds, etc.

Handspun Mittens

Here's a wool/mohair mitten from my very first spindle spun yarn. I felted them slightly in the washing machine and they wear like iron.

Last week I checked out Zen and the Art of Knitting: Exploring the Links Between Knitting,
Spirituality, and Creativity by Bernadette Murphy from the library. I agree that knitting can be meditative and can be spiritual but so can brushing your teeth or changing a light bulb in the right context. But knitting is not always meditative or spiritual - sometimes it can be stressful or mindless as well, at least for me.

I did find this quote in the section about knitting and feminism. From page 151 and 152 of Zen and the Art of Knitting:

"I think it's of note that most of the younger women exploring knitting today are highly educated, many with graduate degrees and ambitious careers. Perhaps the women who fit the suburban stay-at-home wife/mother model were already active knitters before the craft became fashionable. Whatever the reason, the majority of new knitters I've encountered are coming from an urban sensibility that encompasses a breaking-the-mold approach to life. These urban knitters are welcoming the craft as more than a way of decorating their homes and making the man in their life feel special. They see their own knitting as an important unearthing of the creative and mystical side of themselves, as a journey in self-awareness."

Too bad this "breaking-the-mold" creative approach doesn't apply to the simplistic and uninspired designs in all the knitting magazines lately. But I have to go now. I'm way overdue in decorating my house and making the man in my life feel special.

I have a serious case of MD S$W Envy. I wish I could go to Maryland Sheep & Wool but instead have to amuse myself hearing about everyone else's experiences and purchases. Today I've been reading stories on blogs about the big event which just makes me more jealous. One of these years I hope to go; my best friend lives nearby so I even have a place to stay.



DH always says Maryland would be too big but he just hates crowds. At Taos Wool Festival I try to have a plan. I have a set budget then try to pre-determine what I'll buy. I also leave myself some leeway with the budget in case I find something I can't live without. That is how I ended up with my favorite Tracy Eicheim spindle one year. Last year I knew in advance I wanted a Bosworth spindle along with a copy of the Twisted Sisters Sock book. I always buy a t-shirt also. Two more weeks until the Fiber Arts Fiesta here. Robin & Russ from Oregon had a booth last time with hundreds of fiber books. I'm hoping to find some roving or top to buy. Here's some roving from my latest dye experiments.







I ordered another mitten kit from Nordic Fiber Arts today - this time I am going to do the Vinternatt. I chose blue and yellow Istra - I like Istra more than the Strikkegarn which lent an unusual puffiness to the finished mitten. NFA also has a mail-order catalog with kits for a lot more items like sweaters and hats and socks that aren't on their web site.

I have two finished items to report, both of which gave me problems with seaming. St. Enda is a finished item. Both DH and I plan to fight over who gets it. He didn't like the color but was surprised to see it looked good on him. I can wear it over regular clothes like a coat. I tried several seams when I sewed the saddle shoulders to the front and back pieces. Finally I decided on the slip stitch crochet seam (which saved my butt on the vest). I also wish I'd used this seam to sew the shoulders to the body of the sweater. I used the garter stitch seam for the sides of the sweater which looked fine. The more I know about all the different seams, the more picky I'm getting about them. I'll have pictures in a week or two.



My second FO is the Telemark headband from Bea Ellis Knitwear. I did it in Peer Gynt (which reminds me a lot of Dale Heilo - both are very nice yarns) with a cotton lining. I did the whole thing on size three needles rather than sizing up because my gauge was a bit looser than the pattern gauge. Plus I like a tighter headband. The pattern has you seaming the inner cotton lining right near the center. This means that any seam is going to be easily felt over your ears. I first tried the woven shoulder seam from Nancie Wiseman's finishing book which looks seamless (also called the Fake Kitchener stitch from Montse Stanley) but alas it did not feel seamless. Finally I ended up ripping out both cast off ends and just kitchenering the whole thing together. Kitchenering 120 stitches on slippery cotton yarn - Do I know how to have fun or what?







This is a stripe dyed yarn - it was originally some laceweight natural yarn from Blackberry Ridge Farm. I really like the way it turned out and may do a simple lace scarf.

St. Enda is almost done as I'm finishing up the collar. I am surprised that St. Enda is my first Alice Starmore sweater. It certainly will not be my last. In 1996 I took an Aran Knitting class with Alice through my former LYS in Durango, Colorado. I paid what I thought then was the princely sum of $100 and showed up at a local hotel bright and early. I was the youngest person in the class and the two women sitting at my left were discussing how you know when to admit your husband to a nursing home. The woman at my right didn't really know how to knit at all and I had to explain to her what reverse stockinette stitch was.



I wish I could remember what Alice was wearing - it was a creamy white Aran sweater but I couldn't figure out which one of her designs it was. A lot of the students in the class were wearing their own AS sweaters. In the Hebrides had just come out and there was a huge muscular bald guy in her entourage (he looked a lot like Mr. Clean) who was knitting Erisort in the purple Scottish Heather shown in the book. I went over and watched him and mumbled something to him about all the bobbles in the sweater/coat and he said he had actually counted them all. The number was in the hundreds.



Alice first talked about the history of Aran knitting and then focused on knitting using a chart. At that time I couldn't knit with a chart so it was very helpful. She had us all knit a cabled swatch using a chart. When she walked by me I expressed my embarassment at the way I hold my needles. (I knit holding the right hand needle like a pencil - I think this is sometimes called the French method of knitting) Alice replied that it didn't matter at all because I was a fast knitter with that particular method. How cool is that? To have Alice Starmore herself tell you your knitting style is okay. One of the students asked her if she knits the sweaters in her books and she stated that it was mainly done by test knitters. She knits up the swatches and does the design configurations but usually others knit the actual sweaters.



I still have the notes from the classs. She talked for quite a long time about washing and caring for Aran sweaters and even mentioned woolly boards. I know I asked her about cast-ons. I noticed that all the sweaters in the book used the long-tail cast on so the cast-on edge and the patterns always start on the right side row. The result is that the bottom hem of the sweaters and sleeves was the reverse side of the long-tail cast which didn't look that great to me. In St. Enda I changed the cast-on side (i.e., I started the pattern on the wrong side of the work instead of the right side as specified in the patterns) so the hem bottoms would look better.



There was an accompanying trunk show and I got to touch all the sweaters from In the Hebrides. Erisort and Malin most impressed me. Then Alice signed my copy of In the Hebrides (which probably makes it worth 10,000 dollars now) and I went off on my merry way wishing I too could live on an island and knit all day long. But Bosco the cat and Snickerdoodle the lop would miss me probably.