Stitches of Violet

With no sunshine to wake them up, everybody (3 dogs, 2 humans) slept in this morning.

By the time we got outside for our first walk of the day, it was 9 am with fog and drizzle. As you can see in the picture, we don't have much color yet in SW Michigan - not even green.

Now, at lunchtime, the fog has lifted but the sky is still solid gray. It's warm, 56 F/13 C, and I'm thinking of opening some windows and letting the spring air in the house.





I finished the gansey swatch (details here) in Knitpicks Gloss, a fingering weight yarn of 70% Merino, 30% silk. The color is dusk. Needles #2. Gauge is approximately 7.5 st/inch, 10 row/inch. Approximate because the swatch is still damp.

Today's thoughts on project:

• Even after hours of tiny stitches, I still want to knit the gansey.
  
  
• Gloss might work OK, but it needs to be a different color. I don't want the sweater the same color as the jeans I plan on wearing with it. Also, a lighter color will show off the stitches better.
  
  
• Pat reported in an email about her Gloss socks:

  "I'm washing them by hand and they are fuzzing/pilling quite noticeably - probably wouldn't be so bad with a sweater, but STILL - that could be really upsetting after knitting a gansey on size 2 needles!"

  
  
• I prefer not to wash this sweater by hand and I really really don't want to get upset about fuzzing and pilling. Another strike again the Gloss.
  
  
• The "gloss" is another negative. I don't want a shiny gansey. I didn't know that until I knit the swatch.
  
  
• Enabler Fluffy Knitter Deb suggested a different yarn:

  "Louet Gems Pearl - the base yarn used for Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill and Claudia's handpaint but beautiful solids. A dream to knit with, brilliant stitch definition and you can get it on a cone so less ends to weave."

  
  
• From reading Deb's Blog I know she knows what she's talking about so I have to try this stuff. I ordered some swatching skeins in three weights, fingering, sport, and worsted from Handknitting. Plus a color card.
  
  
• Dorothy suggested Dale Baby Ull. I wanted to order and try some of that also, but my stash control monitor kicked in after the Handknitting order and I decided to pass for now.

All three of the above knitters, Pat, Fluffy Knitter Deb, and Dorothy have excellent blogs with beautiful knitting. If they're not on your reading list, I encourage you to give them a try.

Labels: Knitting Babble, Seasons