Ready to be knit up

Remember the yarn I spun on Sunday? Here it is, all skeined and ready to be knit up. To be honest I have no idea what I am going to knit with it. Maybe it will become the yoke of another Cerise Baby Sweater... maybe mittens, or a hat, who knows...

For now, I am going to enjoy looking at it. It will sit on my bedside table.

Tying up Loose Ends

This morning, I woke up with the worst back pain. No painting walls for me today. My problem is I hate being idle, in particular when I am determined to accomplish something.

I had to find something to do that would still relate to making the house nicer. About a year ago, I finished a quilt top. It had been sitting on the chaise in my room, ready to be finished.

Now that was a project that tied in well with the house, and would be fun, and satisfying to do.
I grabbed a ball of left over red yarn, and sitting comfortably started tying little bits of red yarn at the intersections of the fabrics.

No heavy lifting while hand-quilting, and before I knew it, I was done.

This back pain was a great thing after all, it forced me to sit long enough to finish the quilt top, and led me to choose the simplest way to finish the quilt. Mind you, I really love the minimalist look of the yarn ties. They add a touch of color and texture, but do not distract. The fabrics still are the center of attention, and are both physically and metaphorically tied together.

After the tying was done, I guess I must have relaxed while doing it, my back felt a little better. Nothing like tying loose ends!

Orange Socks, White Rabbit

I recently joined the Solid Socks group on Ravelry. I have all this really old bright sock yarn that has long since been discontinued. I think of it all as candy colors or circus colors and I am not sure I want to use all the colors together in colorwork. Anyway, the group has challenges each month and June's color is orange.

Here are the Puppy Love Socks designed by Pauline Schultz from the Joy of Sox. I used Froehlich Blauband (color 59) and size 2.75 mm dpns. I did do a few mods - I made the legs longer by adding three pattern repeats, I did a longer toe, and I did a regular cast on for the triangles on top and just picked up the stitches. It is a nice, easy pattern that is perfect for these hot days where I keep the house pretty dark.

Bubbles actually came over and plopped her large bunny self right down next to the socks during the photography session. She usually doesn't like the camera but I guess she felt her photo hadn't been on the blog in a long time. In other important Bubbles news, this summer we learned that she hates watermelon but loves blueberries.

I'll post some pillow photos this week as soon as the pillow forms I ordered show up.

Destiny

This morning, I forced myself to walk to downtown Jamaica Plain to the post office and to the paint store, because I really had to. The heat has been incredible today. It is sit and sweat weather.

I reached downtown JP, soaking wet. After I was done with my errands, I stopped by Goodwill and and was about to leave the store when tucked in a corner I saw something ...
I walked over, drawn by the lovely jadite color, knowing full well, that once I got close there would be no turning back, I would have to buy this gorgeous vintage Singer Sewing machine with its cute little table.

I got closer, gently touched the 1958 Singer 185J , and looked for the price sticker, hoping it would not be too expensive. You see, it would be difficult for me to justify buying yet another sewing machine. I am not a collector really, but I happen to have 2 Victorian sewing machines in their gorgeous tables, one of them a Singer in mint condition, then a vintage Necchi in its table as well, a modern Brother, and a modern Janome. I did not really look for them, I just happened to find them on the street, sitting there all lonely, or at a garage sale. The Janome is the only one I really ever bought, until today...

I made up my mind, marched to the counter, debit card in hand, ready to scream, "I saw it first"! I paid, and picked up the machine.

It did not matter to me that it was swelteringly hot ouside, that I would have to carry this piece of furniture all the way home, walking, for about 20 minutes.

Now something amazing happened, which convinces me that this was all meant to be. As I was carrying the sewing machine, a gentleman asked me if I needed help. I told him I had to walk for about 20 minutes, but  he said he was on his lunch break, and would help me. He carried it to the cross street nearest to my home. He talked gracefully all the way, inspite of the heat, and inspite of the heavy table. In the process, he said he was a  software engineer, so I told him my husband ( also a tech guy) and I  would take him out for lunch to thank him.

I have carried lots of very heavy and awkward pieces of furniture in my life ( not knowing how to drive), but nobody has ever offered to help. In my eyes, this was a sign that buying the machine was the right thing to do since the heavens smiled on me.

The other thing I have not told you is that we have been thinking about moving to a 1950s house in Natick. Should I read finding a 1950's sewing machine as a sign? When I told Mr SockPixie about the adventure, he said " Next, you are going to tell me that we need a house to match the syle of the sewing machine!" I think he knows me too well!

Sunday Spinning

I like to spin on Sundays. Spinning seems to go so well with the relaxed pace of Sundays in the SockPixie family.

Spinning is the opposite of work, it is the opposite of hurried, it is the opposite of busy, it is the oppposite of quick, it is the opposite of a duty. Spinning feels like a vacation on a beach, slow, bright, soft like the sand running through one's fingers, it is sweetly musical, like the gentle ocean waves...

I have a chest full of rovings. I never really pick randomely which one to spin. I stand and look at the colorful display before I pick, until one roving draws my attention. Today, the deep reds and aqua with a touch of sunny yellow caught my eye.

I spun my favorite worsted weight singles, effortlessly drafting, relishing the play of colors on the winding bobbin.

Today's spinning was like taking a stroll in the hills of Trouville in Normandy, with brightly colored red and yellow flowers along the roads and being surprised to find, after a turn in the road, the aqua sea.

In Betweens

There is something about that time when I am in between projects. Yesterday night, very late, I finished work on the Cerise Baby Sweater. This morning I felt I needed a rest from knitting, but of course, as I sat there sipping my coffee, working with Mr. SockPixie on the design of the blog, my fingers slowly started to itch.

Swatching, I told myself is not really knitting. So off I went to my craft room, I picked up a periwinkle skein of Cotton Fleece, some size 6 needles, sat back down next to Mr. SockPixie, knitting and talking.

The first swatch: a P3 K1 rib.

Then a second swatch, same P3 K1 rib, but then came the fun, smocking with a contrasting red yarn.

I love the result. I am so excited to be working again. I guess my in between rest is finished. Off to work on a classic design...

The Cerise Baby Sweater Pattern is Ready!

The Cerise Baby Sweater pattern in sizes preemie to 24 months is ready (Link to the pdf at the bottom of this post)!

I love that it is a touch retro with a little Japanese inspiration...I love that it looks like a cherry against the pure, blue sky...

I love that the yoke looks so bold, like the coat of a precious little emperor...

I love that Cerise is as simple as it looks... I love that it is worsted weight... I love that it knits up so fast...

I love that $3 will be donated to March of Dimes for every $5 pattern sold...

I love that together we can make a difference in a baby's life... Thank you...

Click on the Buy Now button to purchase the pattern and immediately receive an email link to download the pdf file. (You do not need to be a Ravelry member, nor do you need to have a Paypal account.)

If you experience any difficulties downloading the pattern, or have a question about the pattern click my picture in the top right column to contact me.

Cerise Baby Sweater

You remember a few weeks ago I created a little preemie baby sweater. I have reworked Cerise since, and it is now ready to be published as a pattern which I will be offering for sale for $5 and will be donating  $3 for every pattern sold to March of Dimes an organization that helps babie start healthy lives.

Here are 2 little twin sweaters I knit for a friend who is expecting a boy and a girl in the fall. I love to test knit with a pupose.

Cerise knits up really fast using worsted weight yarns, one in a striping pattern, and the other a solid. The pattern will be offered in sizes from premie to 24 months. Easy garter stitch and thoughtless stockinette as well as no seaming will make this project a breeze no matter how close your deadline is! I have to warn you, though, these baby sweaters are addictive, I have already knit 6 of them, and am working on a 7th one using some handspun for the colorful yoke.

The pattern should become available tomorrow evening. Mr SockPixie will help me set things up so that you can download the pattern easily after purchase. I can hardly wait to show you the particular sweater I selected to be in the pattern's pictures. Same easy pattern but a completely different feel... Shall I say that I am crazy about it?

Singles

Though I have been quiet in the blog world since my return from Paris, I have not been idle. I have been spinning a storm.

I have fallen in love with spinning worsted weight singles. I love that the colors retain their brilliant contrast.
Though I love plied yarn, I find that the colors are attenuated by the plying.
With singles I get to spin a usable yarn in a shorter amount of time, and the colors delight me. Imagine an hour and one half of relaxed spinning and a glorious skein to show for it.

Here is one of the many singles skeins I have spun. It is spun out of a Blue Face Leicester I hand-dyed a few months ago.

When spinnning singles you intend to use as singles, it is important to not overtwist. I set my wheel on the largest whorl in order for less twist to be put in the yarn. I also set the wheel so that it will have a fast uptake. I also make an effort to treadle slowly (I usually put apeaceful music on with a slow beat, somehow that helps remind me to go slowly.) I try not to hang on to the yarn too long, but rather let it slide quickly between my fingers.

The result is a beautiful, soft, yarn that holds together well. I do not full my worsted weight singles as there is enough fiber in them for them to hold well on their own.

I usually let the freshly spun singles sit on the bobbin for at least 24 hours, and then set them. To set them, after winding them into a skein, I soaked them in a lukewarm bath with a little soap. I let the skeins soak for about 30 minutes. I then rinse the skeins in cool water. I gently squeeze the water out, I thwack them, and then hang them with a weight at the bottom.

Et voila! Delicious yarn to be eyed, petted and knit up!

Meet the Trouvillaise in Petite Purls

I have been unduly quiet, I know, but I am back. Thank you for checking on me.
I am coming back to my blog with something I am really proud of.
I am so happy to share with you my secret project laTrouvillaise, a classic looking bathing suit I designed for the summer 2010 edition of Petite Purls.

I wanted it to have the feel of my childhood holidays in Normandie, I wanted it to be fun, cheerful, and easy to wear, perfect for playing...

To knit a bathing suit, there is no better choice than Cascade Yarns' Fixation. Just the right amount of stretch for a perfect fit. I picked the colors after the color palettes so often found in the early 50's. The possibilities are endless though, and why not a 2 color palette...

I designed the bathing suit to have a comfortable fit, with wide shoulders to protect them from the sun, and nice legs to avoid the bathing suit riding up with even the most emergetic games.

I am sure you all recognize Miss SockPixie as the model. We had so much fun together taking these great pictures of her wearing La Trouvillaise. We were so lucky, we only had a short window of time to take the pictures, and the heavens smiled on us. The weather was incredible that day.

Miss SockPixie is in love with the bathing suit, and has been wearing it secretly around the house only since this was a secret project. She can hardly wait to go the beach and wear it.

I won't hold you any longer. I know you will want to go check this wonderful new issue of Petite Purls. It is full of beautiful projects for our little ones. Happy Summer Knitting!

Book Stash Enhancement

I recently received both Think Outside the SOX and the Joy of Sox. I'm really glad I added the Joy of Sox to the order because that is the book I'll be using most. The Joy of Sox has more stranded patterns I like but Think Outside the Sox features some socks with interesting construction. The Jungle socks in Think Outside the Sox are done in a mixture of stranding and intarsia in the round which sounds fun. I prefer colorwork with solid color yarns but the lovely stranded Snow Under Cedars Socks in Think Outside the SOX use two multi-colored yarns with beautiful results.

In a separate order I bought Color by Kristin by Kristin Nicholas because I need to make her Marrakesh Market Pillows. I know I'll use it a lot because I like doing colorwork with worsted weight yarn and I have a nice stash of Cascade 220.

 

I am also waiting on three soon-to-be-published books. The first book is Norwegian Patterns for Knitting which will be available June 25th. As soon as I realized the author was Mette Handberg I knew I had to purchase it. Mette is the designer of many Dale of Norway designs I like including the famous polar bear sweater and the foxes sweater. The cardigan shown below that I knit in Heilo is also one of her designs. Best of all, from the Knit Picks preview it looks like there are a couple of men's sweaters that are stranded throughout that I can make for DH. No more boring plain sections!

I pre-ordered two books through Amazon. Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie Van Der Linden will be released in September and promises to have many delectable stranded patterns. I combined it with Alice Starmore's re-release of Aran Knitting: New and Expanded Edition due out at the same time to get free super saver shipping. I already have Aran Knitting but the new book is supposed to have two new designs.

Old Dale Norwegian Sweater booklet

This summer I thought I'd show you some of my out-of-print knitting booklet collection. Many of the booklets are hard to find and some are selling for high prices. Today's booklet is called Dale Yarn Company Knit Your Own Norwegian Sweaters and is a Dover reprint of a 1966 Norwegian book. I've occasionally seen this book for high prices at used book places - don't pay too much as you can find it for less. I bought the booklet for under $9 including shipping. There are a few decent sweaters and a few that don't appeal to me along with some accessory patterns.

The main attraction of this book for me is the introductory chapter which includes drawings and instruction for Norwegian sweater construction.

This booklet refers to Norwegian 2-color knitting as "Fair Isle" knitting although I don't know if that term was in the original text. Here are some interesting quotes from the booklet.

"Special attention is drawn to the fact that Norwegian sweaters are made larger than most other sweaters in order to assure comfort and warmth. The usual practice is to allow at least an extra two inches in girth in order to enable the wearer to move freely when skiing and to allow an insulating air-current to circulate between the body and the knitwear. Norwegian sweaters and jackets are also longer than other garments in order to protect the lower back when one is exposed to the cold winter weather."

I've read this before - in fact, I've heard that traditional Norwegian mittens are several inches longer than your fingers on purpose. I'd always wondered why so many traditional Norwegian mitten patterns were so darn long.

"In Fair Isle knitting there are two methods of carrying the yarn across the wrong side of the work. Many knitters use "weaving in," a method by which the colored thread not being knitted is woven into every other stitch. Norwegian garments are traditionally knit by the method known as "stranding," in which the unused wool is carried loosely across the back of the work to give a beautiful even finish to the garment."

I thought this was interesting because it sounds like there was a practice of frequently "weaving in" stitches in colorwork even before the Philosopher's Wool folks came along with their popular method.

"Sleeves are knit in the same way on double-pointed sock needles, thus also avoiding any seams... Figure 5 shows the sleeve on four needles. In the United States, usually only three needles are used."

This must have been before shorter circular needles were available but I thought it was interesting that using five dpns (one to knit with, four holding stitches) was considered Norwegian whereas using four dpns (one to knit with, three holding stitches) was apparently thought of as an American tradition.

In my continued quest for more knitting inspiration I often go on Amazon to check out knitting books and I'm usually disappointed. It seems like there are a billion new books out there but only a rare few that offer knitting patterns that appeal to intermediate and advanced knitters. Add in the fact that I prefer colorwork and usually only knit accessories and I'm usually out of luck. When a book does come out that fits this description, I immediately grab it up. XRX/Knitter's Magazine has a book called Think Outside the Sox and I was quite happy looking at some of the designs from the book HERE . I promptly ordered it and am definitely going to make those Jungle Socks first.

I Heard the Bells Mitten pattern is now available at Knitpicks

The Christmas Bells Mitten pattern is now available for download for $1.99 from Knit Picks. The pattern features the first stanza of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem of hope "Christmas Bells." He wrote the poem on Christmas Day 1864 after his wife died in a freak accident and his son was severely wounded in the Civil War.

I think you can read the poem in the following photo. "I heard the bells on Christmas Day, Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat, Peace on earth goodwill to men."

The pattern features three sizes depending on the needle size you use; the blue mittens are size small and use Palette in Mist, Semolina, and Delta. The other mittens are a size large and use the colors Ivy, Pimiento, and White. The mittens are knit from cuff to tip and feature a twisted ribbing cuff and a peasant thumb. The pattern includes color charts for both color combinations.

Cerise Baby Sweater Pattern

Click on the Paypal Now(you do not need to be a Ravelry member, nor do you need to have a Paypal account) to purchase the Cerise Baby Sweater and download it easily.

If you experience any difficulties downloading the pattern, or have a question about the pattern click my picture in the top right column to contact me.

My Summer of Pillows

The comedian Jim Gaffigan once talked about his wife's excessive love of pillows and wondered if she was stockpiling ammo for the global pillow fight. I can relate and will soon be ready for the Great Pillow War as I plan to spend this summer making knit and embroidered pillows.

Here's the first one with the embroidery finished - it is a simple snowflake candlewicking project from Janalynn. I'll get a better photo after blocking and assembly - I think I'm going to add either tassels or an I-cord edging if I can find a yarn color that looks good with the design.

I have also been purchasing pillows - I just ordered this fun ribbon embroidered pillow cover at Pottery Barn Teen on sale for $9.99.

I am not even that fond of needlepoint but I loved this medallion design so I have to make it as well.

Besides the Starmore Celtic Keynot pillow in progress, I have chosen a few colorful knit pillow designs I hope to make:

Here are three choices from the Interweave store. I like that the Fair Isle Pillows use buttons to close one end. The Origata Pillow download includes instructions to make a bolster pillow. And finally they have the lovely colorwork Paisley Pillow designs.

I love Kristin Nicholas' Sunflower Pillow design with the addition of embroidery. Her Turkish Motifs Pillow design includes embroidery and duplicate stitch for a complex colorwork design.

I like this October Fair Isle Pillow pattern for use with a multi-colored yarn (It specifies Noro Kureyon.)

The Snowy Sheep Pillow is really cute - it has sheep grazing in the woods on a snowy day.

I did find one free pillow knitting pattern I really like - the Classic Elite La Gran Fair Isle Pillow uses a zillion colors and would be a perfect way to use up stash yarns. I will re-work it to use my Cascade 220 stash and to yield a smaller pillow. If I feel like doing some intarsia, the La Gran Posies Pillow is also free and really pretty.