Category: knitting

  • well loved

    Latest progress shot of the Dulaan raglan – it’s actually done now, save for the ends, but my camera batteries gave out before I could take a photo. It is so. cute. Obviously the sleeves are a different shade than the body, but who cares? It’s made with love. And lots of warm warm handspun.

    I also knit a little hat out of leftover Lamb’s Pride Bulky – okay, so you can’t reallllly see it here, but it’s just a stockinette hat with a garter trim. Aw, Zeddy. Is that a Canadianism or what!

    Annnndd…..I had been thinking about getting the plying head for my spinning wheel, to be able to do way huge skeins (250 g/8 oz!). It’s about a hundred bucks, plus tax, plus shipping. So what does the lovely Denny do? Dig around the house and come up with one!

    This thing is HUGE. The yarn? That’s a normal yarn-doughnut-sized ball of rowan wool cotton, and the beginning of the back of VBC. Needs a bit of a cleanup and buffin’ up, and a bobbin, but hey – Denny rocks! Thanks Denny!

  • when in doubt, Dulaan

    I finished the back of the Rowanspun jacket today – I think the fronts will go pretty darn quick, and I’ve got a cool idea for the sleeves.

    I think I’ve found a good, interesting project for the next little while (well, once I get some other things done, maybe). It’s the mermaid mesh tunic from Interweave (scroll down). I think I’ll do it in the Jaeger Trinity I bought from the beautiful erin in her ebay stash sale. I should have enough; it calls for 5 x 184 yards, and I’ll have 4 x 218 – plus, I’m going to make it both shorter and smaller.

    In the meanwhile, I figure it’s as good a time as any to get some things done for the Dulaan Project so Joyce can send out a box in a few weeks. Here’s some handspun I’m going to use:

    And some lamb’s pride bulky leftovers – I love the colours together, so maybe I’ll combine them for a sweater or a couple of stripey hats.

    My goal is to knit all this up, if not more! I’ve already started a sweater out of the melon-coloured handspun. It was my first wheel-spun yarn (on Denny’s little gem), corriedale, bulky as all get-out. Also my first dyeing experience – kool-aid in the microwave. There’s actually a third little skein of the yarn as well. So far this top-down raglan is looking super! I’ve already separated for the body, so it’s damn quick knitting, too.

    I think it’s tiring out my hands a bit due to the bulkiness – and it’s not even that bulky, I’m using 6.5 mm needles – so I’ll take it easy. It’s so cute and small, it’ll be done quick anyway!

  • of sweaters and squares

    Despite my being sort of ….eh about the knitting right now (and even my not-that-pumped is still pretty damn obsessed), I’ve been working on this raglan out of Silky Tweed.

    I think I’m just about to the underarm now – I’ll probably do a few more rounds to make sure it’s long enough. Then I’ll have to decide what I’m going to do for the yoke! Luckily, I think I’m going to have enough yarn. I’ve got two more skeins of the grey left for the yoke, and the front’s going to be a vneck, no so worries there. Maybe I’ll start a sleeve just for a change.

    Last night at SnB with stephannie looking over my shoulder (just kidding), I wove a square out of Artyarns Ultramerino leftovers.

    As you can see….it’s acting weird. Very, very weird. (I really like that photo though. Good light today.)

    Here’s how the fabric should look: all nice and even, flat.

    Here’s what it looks like in the bottom half of the square…

    See the slanty bits in the horizontal strands? The yarn was twisting, so I let out some of the twist, but I either did it too much or not enough. That’s what’s causing the curling! It’s the damnedest thing. Hopefully it’s just a one-off – or I’ll have to stick with the yarns I’ve used so far and had good luck with!

    Final tidbit of the day (and I promise there are going to be some FO’s around here soon) – I was at Ikea the other day and bought this cute basket. I’ve decided it shall be…the shawl basket. Yeah, it’s actually full of shawls. They could be folded more efficiently to maximize the number of items, but for now – it’s just the right size!

    (Visible: grey Charlotte’s Web, handspun Flower Basket, and Silken Clapotis on top.)