Category: finished object

  • spencer, and haul

    Sideways Spencer
    Pattern: by Annie Modesitt, Interweave Knits Fall 2004
    Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, “Olivette”, 5 skeins
    Needles: Denise US 7 (4.5 mm)
    Started: May 27, 2005
    Finished: July 19, 2005 (that took a while!)

    Notes:
    I love the way this turned out! The stitch patterns are fabulous and the chart was easy to memorize. Modifications: added length by adding a pattern repeat, 4×2 ribbing on the sleeves and bottom of the body, more ribbing to add length. As you can see, I changed my mind about the buttons from the last post and went and bought new ones today. The sweater took so long because I put it down for a long time – but the knitting was fast and easy! Now I just need some cooler weather…

    Onto stash enhancement. Yesterday I went to the sale at Romni, with the intention of getting this:

    Madil Eden, 100% bamboo, in a mocha colour. This bamboo is soft, silky and shiny.

    I also just couldn’t resist.

    Four skeins of Coffee Bean Calmer. Oy. And I went and picked up some Lorna’s from the store, too. Two skeins of “peach” for the waving lace socks from last spring’s interweave.

    I also got the Addi for the Sapphire tank, and another 2.5 mm circ to replace the one I broke. It was an expensive day.

  • the knitting

    Didja see johanna’s comment to my last post?

    “I don’t know Laura, your last minute attempt to throw in some knitting doesn’t convince me. You’ve gone to the other side. You are a spinner.”

    Hey man, it ain’t all spinning up in here. Evidence:

    Bamboo Chickami
    Pattern: Chickami by Chicknits
    Yarn: Southwest Trading Company Bamboo, “Chocolate”, less than 2 skeins!
    Needles: Denise US 5 and 6
    Started: June 27, 2005
    Finished: July 18, 2005

    Notes:
    I only had 2 skeins, so I made a size smaller than I’d usually do (34″ instead of 36″). It turned out well, if pretty darn fitted. I even had yarn left over…

    …but not enough for me to have done the larger size. Oh, and I did the wide strap version. Bra strap issues, but I don’t care all that much. The yarn is weird; feels really soft on the ball but more scratchy knit up. I think wash and wear will help, and it’s really starting to grow on me, actually.

    Oh, and I even started another project.

    I’m calling it “Sapphire”. A tank of my own design out of Pingouin Sillages, which I assume is discontinued. It’s 50% cotton, 45% viscose, and 5% silk. Yummy colour. In an unprecedented move, I have since bought and switched to an Addi Turbo needle for this project – the bamboo was dragging. Why don’t I like Addis? Well, I find the tips too dull, they’re too slippery (so I don’t have control, and I knit looser as well), and I don’t like the noise. Oh, and they’re expensive. But, we’ll see. Maybe this will convert me or something. (Don’t worry Denise, I’ll always love you.)

    And I finally bought buttons for Spencer.

    See? Not a spinning thing in the bunch. But how about some dyeing?

    “nectarine”, a nice soft wool blend.

    Crazy bright merino that I bought (I didn’t dye it) from my trusty eBay seller.

    Tomorrow: Stash addition.

  • a sewing interlude

    Last night I met up with Jill and Johanna at Fabricland, where they each came away with two fabrics to make skirts! After some dinner and wine, we got down to some sewing and this is what they came away with at the end of the night:

    (Jill on the left, Johanna on the right.) I don’t know if you can see, but Johanna’s has various woodland animals on it – raccoons, bears, moose (or is it elk? maybe deer…) and the like – it’s awesome. Jill’s geometric print looks great on her, too! I’m happy they came out so great!

    This morning I received an impossibly small box containing the fibre I ordered off eBay (seller: wind4934):

    Or should I say, most of the fibre. He’d forgotten to put in one pound of corriedale (bringing the total up to 2). Plus, I had to pay taxes, which sucked (it was $15!). Anyway, we got it all sorted out and he’s shipping me the rest of the fibre and hopefully will check the “gift” box this time!

    Even though I bought a bunch of supplies (funnel, squeeze bottles, tape, wooden spoons) for dyeing, I’m still not completely outfitted – I need an apron, gloves, and a big measuring cup, which I’ll pick up today. Then hopefully I can mix up my stock solutions outside tonight and do some dyeing tomorrow! Maybe even tonight, if I’m up to it and it’s not raining…

    Oh, one more thing – I went to the library yesterday (to pick up my hold copy of “Mindscan”, the new book by Robert J. Sawyer, one of my fav authors) and picked up a whole bunch of knitting/spinning/dyeing books. That dyer’s companion is intense – I hadn’t thought about dye stock solutions and such until now, really.