Chat Back for August 2

Answering questions from comments and email.

Susan asked . . .

Have you tried the Elann Sock It To Me? I'm going to give it a try too. It's soft as can be. Did you ever make your Shi Bui socks?

The Shi Bui is still in my stash waiting for inspiration. It's beautiful yarn picked out by Granddaughter Sydney and I want to knit something special with it. It won't last the coming winter without being knit.

I haven't tried the Elann Sock It To Me yarn but some of it may sneak into an Elann order before too long.

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Thanks for all the nice comments on my finished Summer Spice Gansey. There were a few questions, as well.

Dorothy asked . . .

How will the worsted weight fare in your hot, humid summers?

Kate asked . . .

Can we see a model shot?

Lynn asked . . .

Did you keep good notes?

Alwen asked . . .

I love the underarm gusset on Summer Spice -- maybe you could post more about that?

I'll be wearing it to church, out for lunch, and other air conditioned places where I go in my air conditioned car, so I'm not too concerned about overheating.

The yarn is more like a DK and the sweater fabric has a light, cool, crisp feel to it. I don't expect it to be hot to wear. Summer Spice will get its premier outing tomorrow morning when I wear it to church.

I hope Elann sells Coto Canapone again next summer. I'm resisting buying some for the stash because if I do they'll have better colors next year and I'll be sorry.

Most of last week my right arm was covered in Calamine lotion, so that's my excuse for not having a modeled picture. It was a minor case of poison ivy, but scattered from wrist to bicep. At this point the blisters are dried up and only red spots remain. Not pretty, but not a good enough excuse to procrastinate the modeled shots much longer.

I'm afraid I didn't keep good notes. Mostly I did calculations to get the right size sweater and the stitch patterns in what I considered attractive placement. Since the sweater was knit in one piece, I just kept eyeballing it and knitting.

For anyone who wants to learn how to knit a gansey, this is a wonderful book. And it covers many styles of gussets, although not the smallish ones I used for Summer Spice.

Alwen, thanks for the idea for a post. I've flagged your comment so I won't forget to blog details of the Summer Spice gussets because I don't think I'll have time to write it up before leaving for Idaho next Friday.

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Macy asked . . .

That lace triangle (here) is lovely! Can you tell us more about where the lace pattern comes from, etc.?

It's the lace pattern from the Idella Seamen's Scarf in Stahman's Shawls and Scarves.

After charting it out on graph paper, I worked with the edges until I had a nice looking triangle with a pretty border.

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Dani asked . . .

Have you ever considered offering your designs as pdfs on Ravelry?

Yes, I have considered it and have to remind myself that turning a hobby into work - well, it turns a hobby into work.

I won't say it will never happen, but it's unlikely. I'd rather teach a class on how to design your own sweater that fits and flatters.

Meanwhile, if you have a yearning for some gorgeous sweaters that are traditional and more complex than patterns found in American knitting books, check out the sweaters in this book.

It's available at Needle Arts Book Shop. Click on over and you can see pictures of some of the designs inside.

All the patterns are written in Japanese, but they're all charted in detail and Needle Arts Book Shop offers a .pdf tutorial on the Japanese symbols.