Do you ever hear a word and see colors? I do! This week's SockPixie collection is a play on words and colors. This was great fun to design and I hope you will enjoy the colors.
The Colorway above is called Intense...
Words are Colors
Do you ever hear a word and see colors? I do! This week's SockPixie collection is a play on words and colors. This was great fun to design and I hope you will enjoy the colors.
The Colorway above is called Intense...
I looked online without success for a photo that would show you the Spontaneous Scarves up-close. (I did, however, find a fun but small photo at Interweave of a Spontaneous Scarf done with 70 different yarns HERE.)
So I hunted down the original article in my Winter 2002 issue of Spin-Off and did a scan. This is what the texture looks like using seed stitch. Don't they look almost woven? The article says you can use any reversible stitch pattern and again the scarves are knit lengthwise with a different yarn each row with long tails to knot the fringe at each end. The Kool Aid scarf I showed yesterday was indeed done in garter stitch as Laurie astutely noted. I knit most of mine more loosely (out of sheer laziness) so they did have more of a lacy look.
I am going to do a purple version once I hunt down enough yarns. I have some Knitpicks' Gloss which I'm planning to use to make my scarf nice and shiny. I also think I'll use my twisted cast on because it is imperative you use a really loose cast on (or you won't get a straight scarf) and that cast on is much looser than my traditional long tail cast on. It really is a perfect project if you have a lot of leftover yarns from stranded color knitting or if you have a lot of handspun or hand-dyed yarns.
So I hunted down the original article in my Winter 2002 issue of Spin-Off and did a scan. This is what the texture looks like using seed stitch. Don't they look almost woven? The article says you can use any reversible stitch pattern and again the scarves are knit lengthwise with a different yarn each row with long tails to knot the fringe at each end. The Kool Aid scarf I showed yesterday was indeed done in garter stitch as Laurie astutely noted. I knit most of mine more loosely (out of sheer laziness) so they did have more of a lacy look.
I am going to do a purple version once I hunt down enough yarns. I have some Knitpicks' Gloss which I'm planning to use to make my scarf nice and shiny. I also think I'll use my twisted cast on because it is imperative you use a really loose cast on (or you won't get a straight scarf) and that cast on is much looser than my traditional long tail cast on. It really is a perfect project if you have a lot of leftover yarns from stranded color knitting or if you have a lot of handspun or hand-dyed yarns.
Lately I've had a strong desire to knit another Spontaneous Scarf. The idea for this scarf was published a million years ago in Spin-Off magazine (actually the Winter 2002 issue) and I must have knit 12 of these scarves. All of them are long gone as they were a very popular gift.
To make a Spontaneous Scarf you need to collect a lot of different yarns, preferably in the same color. I've used many different weights and fibers in the same scarf and it is a great use for tiny bits of handspun. Here's an old blurry photo of one in varying shades of red.
These scarves are knit lengthwise back and forth on a long circular needle in seed stitch. I generally just cast on stitches until I'm completely sick of casting on stitches but I like my scarves long, about six feet or so. For these scarves you use a different yarn for every row and leave long tails each time you begin and end a new row to knot and make fringe. I knot them (about four yarn strands per knot) during the actual knitting because they will unravel.
Here's one I knit in Kool Aid dyed handspun during an electrical black out. That is my only excuse for the strange colors. This was knit pretty loosely but you can get an almost woven look if you do it tightly.
To make a Spontaneous Scarf you need to collect a lot of different yarns, preferably in the same color. I've used many different weights and fibers in the same scarf and it is a great use for tiny bits of handspun. Here's an old blurry photo of one in varying shades of red.
These scarves are knit lengthwise back and forth on a long circular needle in seed stitch. I generally just cast on stitches until I'm completely sick of casting on stitches but I like my scarves long, about six feet or so. For these scarves you use a different yarn for every row and leave long tails each time you begin and end a new row to knot and make fringe. I knot them (about four yarn strands per knot) during the actual knitting because they will unravel.
Here's one I knit in Kool Aid dyed handspun during an electrical black out. That is my only excuse for the strange colors. This was knit pretty loosely but you can get an almost woven look if you do it tightly.
Today's FO is courtesy of DH. I asked him to make me a basic dresser for my birthday and here it is several months late. It truly is amazing he makes anything at all because he doesn't have a garage or workshop so he has to do everything outside. It rained a lot this summer which put him off schedule.
Really though the dresser was just a vehicle for the incredible knobs - these are the Mediterranean Italy knobs from Anthropologie. Every time I go in that store I start dreaming of ways to use up some of those gorgeous knobs and handles.
Thanks so much for your help on my basic wool yarn list! I have mainly been going by the listings at Yarndex and Ravelry for whether or not a yarn is machine washable and what weight it is. It is an inexact science though - Reynold's Whiskey is listed as 3 different weights at 3 different sites.
After I went through Yarndex I started adding in the yarn lines from small mills and now I'm trying to add in some more Canadian and European lines. The list keeps growing as I get more suggestions and it currently has almost 80 yarns listed. The list is on Ravelry HERE and there are links to each yarn's Ravelry page so you can easily find vendors for the yarns. I will make a second list soon with all the yarns great for colorwork that don't fit into the original categories (machine washable, sock yarns, blends, other fibers, etc.) and for that I'm just going to list only those yarns that are specifically recommended by knitters.
Really though the dresser was just a vehicle for the incredible knobs - these are the Mediterranean Italy knobs from Anthropologie. Every time I go in that store I start dreaming of ways to use up some of those gorgeous knobs and handles.
Thanks so much for your help on my basic wool yarn list! I have mainly been going by the listings at Yarndex and Ravelry for whether or not a yarn is machine washable and what weight it is. It is an inexact science though - Reynold's Whiskey is listed as 3 different weights at 3 different sites.
After I went through Yarndex I started adding in the yarn lines from small mills and now I'm trying to add in some more Canadian and European lines. The list keeps growing as I get more suggestions and it currently has almost 80 yarns listed. The list is on Ravelry HERE and there are links to each yarn's Ravelry page so you can easily find vendors for the yarns. I will make a second list soon with all the yarns great for colorwork that don't fit into the original categories (machine washable, sock yarns, blends, other fibers, etc.) and for that I'm just going to list only those yarns that are specifically recommended by knitters.
I’m working on a yarn list of yarns suitable for colorwork to put in the Ravelry Stranded forum group pages. I know you can (and definitely should!) do stranded color knitting with any and all yarns but I wanted to keep this list a reasonable size.
I narrowed down the list to 100% wool yarns, smooth-textured, non-superwash, plied, that come in a wide variety of solid colors or heathers - yarns that are traditionally marketed to color knitters such as Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift or Dale’s Heilo or Rauma’s Finullgarn.
Please let me know if I’ve missed any yarns that fit into the category!
FINGERING WEIGHT
Nature Spun Fingering Weight
Rauma Finullgarn
Knitpicks’ Palette
Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift
Jamieson & Smith 2-ply Jumper Weight Wool
Rowan 4-Ply Soft
Vuorelma Satakieli
Jaggerspun Digit Yarn
Koigu Premium Merino Yarn
Rowan Harris 4-Ply
Harrisville New England Shetland
SPORT WEIGHT
Nature Spun Sport Weight
Elann’s Peruvian Highland Sport
Knitpicks’ Telemark Yarn
DK WEIGHT
Dale of Norway Heilo
Knitpicks’ Merino Style
Jamieson’s Shetland DK
Sandnes Peer Gynt
Rauma Strikkegarn
Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport
WORSTED WEIGHT
Cascade 220
Nature Spun Worsted Weight
Elann’s Peruvian Highland Wool
Knitpicks’ Wool of the Andes
Jamieson’s Shetland Heathered Aran (formerly Soft Shetland)
Ram Wools Selkirk
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted
Ella Rae Classic Worsted
Paton’s Classic Wool
Briggs and Little Heritage 2 Ply
Reynolds Candide
Universal Deluxe Worsted Solid
Plymouth Galway Worsted
Harrisville New England Highland
I narrowed down the list to 100% wool yarns, smooth-textured, non-superwash, plied, that come in a wide variety of solid colors or heathers - yarns that are traditionally marketed to color knitters such as Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift or Dale’s Heilo or Rauma’s Finullgarn.
Please let me know if I’ve missed any yarns that fit into the category!
FINGERING WEIGHT
Nature Spun Fingering Weight
Rauma Finullgarn
Knitpicks’ Palette
Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift
Jamieson & Smith 2-ply Jumper Weight Wool
Rowan 4-Ply Soft
Vuorelma Satakieli
Jaggerspun Digit Yarn
Koigu Premium Merino Yarn
Rowan Harris 4-Ply
Harrisville New England Shetland
SPORT WEIGHT
Nature Spun Sport Weight
Elann’s Peruvian Highland Sport
Knitpicks’ Telemark Yarn
DK WEIGHT
Dale of Norway Heilo
Knitpicks’ Merino Style
Jamieson’s Shetland DK
Sandnes Peer Gynt
Rauma Strikkegarn
Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport
WORSTED WEIGHT
Cascade 220
Nature Spun Worsted Weight
Elann’s Peruvian Highland Wool
Knitpicks’ Wool of the Andes
Jamieson’s Shetland Heathered Aran (formerly Soft Shetland)
Ram Wools Selkirk
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted
Ella Rae Classic Worsted
Paton’s Classic Wool
Briggs and Little Heritage 2 Ply
Reynolds Candide
Universal Deluxe Worsted Solid
Plymouth Galway Worsted
Harrisville New England Highland
We are off to Venice
Last week I took you on a voyage through literature. This week, SockPixie is taking you on a voyage to Venice. We will see so many beautiful places, the Ponte dei Pugni, Burano, the Rialto, and of course we will take a lovely ride in a Gondola... I hope you enjoy your visit!
I'm out of batteries for the camera but HERE is the link to the Peruvian Connection cardigan I bought so you can see the whole sweater. It is called the Haight-Ashbury cardigan and it definitely appeals to my inner Bohemian. It is hard to see but there are a couple of buttons in the front. I'm planning on wearing it here as a winter coat.
It has the inside-out colorwork (they call it bright pebbled stripes) all around the front opening as well. If you look between the orange or blue circles on the scan below you can see that the floats were gathered. Also, I included the seam in this scan.
It has the inside-out colorwork (they call it bright pebbled stripes) all around the front opening as well. If you look between the orange or blue circles on the scan below you can see that the floats were gathered. Also, I included the seam in this scan.
I'm finishing up a stranded hat design and I also want to do a post on color/yarn dominance. I need to get Joyce Williams' Latvian Dreams out of the library first because she has something very interesting to say about the subject. After that I'm going to start seriously thinking about Christmas knitting.
I'm still behind on blog posts and email and answering blog comments but I am hopeful I will catch up soon.
I recently splurged on a long alpaca/cotton cardigan on sale (there's no way I can afford their regular prices) from Peruvian Connection. I adore this sweater but it wasn't until it arrived that I noticed something interesting.
Here's a photo of the cuff of the sleeve:
And here is the cuff inside out:
The slip stitch colorwork on the sweater is inside out. I often think the reverse of one of my projects is cooler than the outside but this may inspire me to try something new.
I recently splurged on a long alpaca/cotton cardigan on sale (there's no way I can afford their regular prices) from Peruvian Connection. I adore this sweater but it wasn't until it arrived that I noticed something interesting.
Here's a photo of the cuff of the sleeve:
And here is the cuff inside out:
The slip stitch colorwork on the sweater is inside out. I often think the reverse of one of my projects is cooler than the outside but this may inspire me to try something new.
Romantic Couples
This week's SockPixie colorways were inspired by famous literature couples.
Here is the irresistible Mr Darcy!
Placitas Gloves
These are the Placitas Gloves and the pattern is at both Lulu and Ravelry. The pattern uses 7 colors of Knitpicks' Palette - white and six shades of blue. The gloves feature a sore thumb gusset and rounded, contrasting fingertips. The two-color design on the back of the hand is done in duplicate stitch.
New Colorways
This week's SockPixie new colorways were inspired by Hermes, Dior, and other creative designers. I had fun capturing their spirit, and giving my own interpretation of their work.
I really love their deep saturation, and I hope that you will enjoy them.
Hexagon Progress
Progress has been made on the Hexagon Scarf. I am finishing the picking up. I did find the perfect dark purple yarn. It is Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed. I chose it for its natural handspun look. I thought this would go really well wit the look of Kureyon.I just love the new dimension that is added by the two-tone edging.
The next step will be blocking then piecing.
I purchased the velvet at Winmill Fabrics, the other day. I have to say that this project has made me really happy. There is nothing like combining great colors, and interesting construction.
I'm calling these the Lupine Mittens and they use 4 skeins of Elann's Peruvian Pure Alpaca worsted weight in periwinkle, black, mineral and deep teal. They have corrugated ribbing and a peasant thumb.
I also included instructions for these matching fingerless mitts using Knitpick's Andean Treasure alpaca in sport weight - Fog Heather, Summer Sky Heather, Granite Heather and Moss Heather.
I'm a bit behind but next week I'll have a pattern to show you for some gloves in many shades of blue with a design duplicate stitched on the hand.
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