She Said Aran Modeled

I finished this sweater last April, just in time for it to be completely unwearable weather wise. I packed it away knowing I would enjoy seeing it again in the autumn.

The autumn that seemed so far away in June is now here, complete with cold weather inviting the woolies out of hibernation.


Other than the photo shot a few weeks ago, I still haen't worn it. It's truly a winter sweater, 100% wool, tightly knit, and heavy.





Pattern: She Said Aran by Barbara Venishnick in Knitters Winter 1999, #57.

Modifications: Sleeves were knit on picked up stitches with short rows across the sleeve cap. The pattern's turtleneck collar was shortened to something more like a crew neck.

Yarn: Cascade 220, 100% wool worsted weight

Color: 7808 Violet

Needles: Options #5

Gauge: 28 stitches/29.5 rows in 4 inches on lower sweater. 26 stitches/33 rows in 4 inches for upper sweater.

Hats Are Always Handy

Last week we had unseasonably warm, sunny weather and not much knitting got done.

This week? Well, it's November and the weather is acting like November in SW Michigan. Cold, rainy, a little snow overnight. The ground is still too warm for the snow to linger, but it did nicely coat my cold car.

It's a little too warm yet to wear my Helmet hat, but this nice wool head covering is just perfect.

I only had one skein of yarn, 128 yards, originally purchased for the failed twining experiment. After the yarn was frogged and untangled, I decided to go for a simple and quick hat instead of storing it in my stash bins.

The hat isn't windproof like a twined hat would have been. Not a problem since I wear it under a nylon parka hood that keeps the wind out.


Pattern: Basic hat on 102 stitches. Ribbed cuff and then knit tall enough to use up all the skein.

Yarn: Crystal Palace Taos, 100% wool worsted weight

Color: Hopi

Needles: Options 6 and 7.

Gauge: 5 stitches/inch, 7 rows/inch.

Spider Scarf Finished

I've always wanted to knit the spider in Barbara Walker's Third Stitch Treasury. Usually I think of it the day before Halloween. This year I though of it ten days before Halloween, picked some yarn out of the stash, and went to work on a scarf.

Doggy school is having a Halloween party Thursday night with mandatory costumes for the dogs and optional costumes for the humans. I plan to wear the spider scarf with a bright orange turtleneck. Not exactly a costume, but certainly Halloweeny.


Pattern: Basic Seamen's scarf, 36 inches long. Spider is from Barbara G. Walker's Third Stitch Treasury in a tutorial on twist stitches.

Knit at this gauge in this yarn, the spider is about 5 inches long.


Yarn: Opal UNI-Solid, a fingering weight sock yarn.

Needles: #2

Gauge: 7.5 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch

Painful Pearl Modeled

For more details on the sweater and close up pictures of the lace, go here.

There were a few occasions to wear Painful Pearl before the weather got too cold for short sleeves, but today was just for the camera.


I'm so glad I got bored knitting stockinette and put that extra row of lace across the shoulders.


The same faux seam and gusset detailed in my previous post.


Pattern: My own creation. I'm calling it "Painful Pearl" because knitting this yarn hurts my hands and the yarn color is Seed Pearl.

The horizontal lace pattern is the Garland Pattern on page 252 of A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. Two rows of stockinette have been added before and after the start of the lace.


The lace triangle is adapted from the Idella Seamen's Scarf in Stahman's Shawls and Scarves by Myrna Stahman.

Yarn: Elann Soie Lin. DK weight. 70% silk, 30% linen.

Color: Seed Pearl.

Needles: Options #4.

Gauge: 6.25 stitches/inch, 9 rows/inch after washing.

Warmth is Beauty

Three years ago I knit a helmet hat in bulky weight alpaca (see it here) and for three winters I pulled it on my head multiple times a day to walk the dogs during the five coldest months of the year.

The beautiful colors of autumn reminded me that my three year old helmet looks ugly and used. So I searched my stash for yarn to make an ugly new version.


There is nothing visually attractive about this pattern or the way a person looks when wearing this pattern. But when worn, no cold breezes are going to assault the neck and that is beautiful to me.

I wear my helmet with a Land's End Squall Parka, so there's a hood on my head as well as the helmet.


The section over my mouth pulls down under my chin if, for some reason, I want my mouth out in the cold.

Readers who endure winter understand. Readers who don't endure winter are likely wondering why anyone would knit anything so ugly. The answer: Cold, wind, snow, sleet, ice, wind chill, chapped lips, and did I mention cold?

The pattern is knit top down in one piece shaped with short rows. For a better look at the construction, my former version knit in a much light color can be viewed here.


Pattern: Turns Ahead Helmet from Fall 2003 Knitter's Magazine

Yarn: 2 strands of Dream in Color Classy Worsted Weight Superwash Australian Merino and 1 strand Knitpicks Gloss

Color: Midnight Derby and Dusk

Needles: Options #8 and #10

Gauge: 4 stitches/inch, 4.5 rows/inch in ribbing (This is what the pattern says and the size of mine came out approximately OK, so I'm guessing my gauge was approximately right. I have no idea how to measure gauge in ribbing. I can expand or contract ribbing to be almost any gauge I might desire.)

Painful Pearl Finished

But not washed and blocked yet because we've been having water problems.

Once again I opted for the easy way and knit the sweater all in one piece with drop sleeves, small underarm gusset, and square neckline.

The yarn is 70% silk, 30% linen, giving it a nubby texture. I had to knit slower than usual because the yarn wasn't smoothly sliding on and off the needles due to the tight gauge. Still I managed to enjoy the process and I like the results.


The neckline lace triangle is repeated on each sleeve. That resulted in the sleeves being fun to knit instead of the usual big bore.


As previously reported, I repeated the horizontal lace across the shoulders on the back because I was weary of knitting stockinette. The result is pleasing to me.


Pattern: My own creation. I'm calling it "Painful Pearl" because knitting this yarn hurts my hands and the yarn color is Seed Pearl.

The horizontal lace pattern is the Garland Pattern on page 252 of A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. Two rows of stockinette have been added before and after the start of the lace.


The lace triangle is adapted from the Idella Seamen's Scarf in Stahman's Shawls and Scarves by Myrna Stahman.

Yarn: Elann Soie Lin. DK weight. 70% silk, 30% linen.

Color: Seed Pearl.

Needles: Options #4.

Gauge: 6.25 stitches/inch, 9 rows/inch after washing.

Summer Spice Gansey Finished

Summer Spice Gansey is done. I'm super happy with it although it hasn't passed the final test yet - I haven't worn it anywhere.

It has been machine washed and laid out to dry, my version of final blocking.


The back has one more row of gansey pattern than the front.

This is a simple type of sweater to knit without a pattern. It's basically a tube.

Using the swatch to measure stitches/inch, multiply the stitches/inch by the desired bust and/or hip measurement. That's how many stitches to cast on.

Using the swatch to measure rows/inch, lay out some pretty Gansey stitch patterns to end at the neckline. Also, calculate where to split the front and back for the arm opening.


The sleeves are super simple drop sleeves echoing some of the smaller, simpler Gansey stitch patterns from the body.


The sweater was knit in one piece. Other than the three needle bind off shoulder seams, the rest of what looks like seams are fake - a column of two purl stitches into and out of the underarm gusset.

The small underarm gusset allowed me to avoid armhole shaping.


Pattern: Making it up as I knit using various knit purl stitch patterns from several Gansey books. Special credit to Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel.

Yarn: Elann Coto Canapone. Worsted weight. 52% cotton, 48% hemp.

Color: Summer Spice.

Needles: Options #4

Gauge: 5.5 stitches/inch, 8 rows/inch.

Manon Shawl Finished

Sister Carrie's shawl is done and ready to mail to North Carolina.

The yarn, Elann's Coto Canapone, Worsted weight, 52% cotton, 48% hemp, is now my favorite summer yarn.

It knits up like a dream, without splitting, and gets softer with each washing while still maintaining good stitch definition. Highly recommended.


The yarn is "Machine wash cold, dry flat". I machine washed it in warm water and threw it in the dryer, knowing that was OK because I first tried it on a generous swatch.


Pattern: Manon Shawl by Ilga Lega Design.

Yarn: Elann Coto Canapone. Worsted weight. 52% cotton, 48% hemp.

Color: Murano Blue.

Needles: Options #3 for the purl sections, Options #10 for the gathered sections.

Size: Approximately 66" wide and 16" long at center back.

Twisting in Lilac Mist Finished

This was a super fun knit.

I got to knit an easy, soft, non-splitting yarn with a pretty Barbara Walker stitch pattern up the center of the front and back. Best of all, no sewing and short sleeves.

The sleeves are knit top down on picked up stitches using Barbara Walker's short row method. They knit up very quick - one sleeve per one evening's knitting.


When knitting without a pattern, the square neckline is super simple. No neck shaping.

Figure out what part of the pattern needs to be on the very top and do a little math to get that row about four inches down from the shoulder seam. (The math will be to determine where you need to start the armhole.)

Once you get there, put the center stitches on a holder and knit straight up each side to the shoulder seam.


The back panel ended about an inch below the shoulder seams.

This twisted stitch pattern had a three inch repeat, so it was easy to end the back three inches higher than the front with both front and back twist stitch panels ending on the same row.


Pattern: The twist stitch center panel is from the third Barbara Walker Treasury - Three Diamonds flanked by Braid X. The rest I'm making up as I go along.

Yarn: Knitpicks Comfy, Worsted weight. 75% Pima cotton, 25% acrylic.

Color: Lilac Mist.

Needles: Options #4

Gauge: 5.5 stitches/inch, 8 rows/inch.

Toddler Guernsey Gal Done

Knit at a tight gauge with lots of stitch patterning, this little sweater for CIC was not a quick project. But it was fun.

The picture in the pattern book doesn't do it justice. It was glanced at and ignored many times though the years I've had this book.

Like most all of Kathy Zimmerman patterns, it's a work of art to my eyes and I had fun knitting it.

Click on picture to see the detail better.

Pattern: Guernsey Gals by Kathy Zimmerman in Best of Knitter's Arans and Celtics.

Knitting the smallest size, about 24 inches around. Modified pattern to knit sweater in one piece. Added underarm gussets.

Yarn: Cascade 220, 100% wool worsted weight

Color: 7808 Violet

Needles: Options #6

Not the best Oriole picture I've taken this year, but surely the funniest.

Check out the legs. He appears to be double jointed. No wonder these bird have no problem weaving a nest in the highest tree tops.

Waffles For Brunch Done

Many thanks to Jean for this well-written, easy to follow, easy to knit toddler sweater pattern.

I'm sure I'll be using it many more times.


Pattern: Waffles for Brunch designed by Jean and posted as a knit-a-long on her blog Needles, Notes, and News.

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky

Color: Deep Red

Needles: 10.5 Addi Turbo

Gauge: 3 stitches/inch, 4 rows/inch

WOW Thanks and Shamrock CIC Vest Finished

So far yesterday's post has resulted in 36 comments. What fun! I've enjoyed reading every comment.

It's not too late to add on to yesterday's comment log.

Last evening I visited the blogs of the first seven commenters in return. Four of the first seven were new blogs to me so I took the opportunity to linger over them, read the current posts, read some older posts, read the author profiles if available, and enjoy the lovely knits.

Visiting all the commenter blogs and doing them justice is going to take some time, so please be patient. I want to take my time and enjoy what you all have to offer.

I'm visiting in the order the comments were left.

Since it was so satisfying to reduce my leftover yarn stash making four CIC sweaters, I decided to dig into the bins and see what other yarn was calling out to be used up.

I found 3.5 balls of Knitpicks Shamrock left over from Frode, a CIC big kids sweater project. With 82 yards/skein there wasn't enough for a sweater, but I was inspired to whip up a simple little size 2, 24" chest vest.

I'm expert at making sweaters with necks too tight. It was fear of a too small neck that caused me to make the front drop almost three inches. The neckline is a little too deep and the curves are a little to angular, but the vest fits over my head and I'm calling it done.

I won't buy Shamrock yarn again. It looks and knits like cotton even through it's 100% wool and I don't care for the way the lighter accent color pools when knit. I'm happy to have Shamrock out of my bins and on it's way to warm a cold child. It will do that well.


Pattern: Made it up while knitting. 110 stitches around. Final vest laid flat measures about 12 x 12 inches.

Yarn: Knitpicks Shamrock, 100% Peruvian Wool heavy worsted.

Color: MacNamara

Needles: #7. #5 used for ribbing.

Gauge: 4.5 stitches and 6 rows/inch

Blue Gansey Finished

Done! Met my goal of four ganseys in January for the current CIC challenge.

At 3 stitches/inch the knitting was quick. I used the schematic measurements from Jerod's Gansey pattern and calculated the stitch counts as I knit using the concepts from Beth Brown-Reinsel's Knitting Ganseys book.


Pattern: A piece here and a piece there from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky, 85% wool, 15% mohair

Color: Brite Blue (their spelling)

Needles: Addi Turbo 10.5

Gauge: 3 stitches/inch, 4.5 rows/inch in stockinette

Now would be a great time for my Cascade 220 to arrive at the yarn store in Kalamazoo. The roads are not slippery and I'm ready to start a new project.

It was 40 degrees F when I went to the grocery store late this morning. Michiganders were walking around enjoying the balmy weather with their coats hanging open. Me included.

Jerod's Gansey Finished and Cascade Status

Right out of the washing machine and onto the blocking table this morning.

Three toddler sweaters for CIC are done. One more to go to meet my personal goal of four, but first I'm going to work in a pair of birthday socks for John.


Pattern: Jerod's Gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Normal caston instead of multistrand caston.

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, bulky weight, 100% wool for ribbing and stockinette. Knitpicks Sierra, bulky weight, 70% wool 30% Alpaca, for the main part.

Color: Grape and grape. Yes, both colors are called Grape. The yarn on the bottom is actually a much darker shade of the yarn used for the pattern area. It is not the reddish light color in the picture

Needles: #5 and #7.

Gauge: 4.5 stitches/inch, 6 rows/inch. Sweater is 26" at chest, toddler size 4.

---

Dani asked . . .

Any word on your cascade yarn order yet??

Debi asked . . .

Can you still be waiting on the purple yarn you ordered??

What? Are they waiting for spring to shear the sheep for you?

Since the roads are brutal and I didn't feel like driving to Kalamazoo just to find out there's nothing there, I emailed the yarn shop today to ask for a status.

This is the reply . . .

Thanks for your email. I hope you're staying warm today!

We're so sorry about the delay in your 220. It should have arrived here at the beginning of January! I totally understand what it's like to anxiously await yarn for a project! I understand that you stopped by last week hoping that it was in, and I believe at that time our news from Cascade was that it would be two more weeks.

I did just contact them again to make sure that that date was still their best estimate, and they said that it could possibly be in late this week, but early next week was their best guess. I apologize for the inconvenience that this is causing you! We will let you know as soon as the box arrives on our door!

So I guess I'll have time to knit one more little sweater before it arrives. I have red yarn and blue yarn. Which will it be?

Second Gansey Done, Working on Third

Another quick, fun knit for CIC.

Now I'm half way to my goal of four toddler sweaters for the current challenge.


Pattern: Chelsea's Gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Split, overlapped garter welt on bottom replaced with ribbing and an extra inch of stockinette inserted to lengthen the sweater for warmer coverage.

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, worsted weight 100% wool.

Color: Firecracker heather (left over from Autumn Song)

Needles: #2 and #4.

Gauge: 6 stitches/inch, 8 rows/inch in pattern





Pattern: Jerod's Gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Normal caston instead of multistrand caston.

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, bulky weight, 100% wool for ribbing and stockinette. Knitpicks Sierra, bulky weight, 70% wool 30% Alpaca, for the main part.

Color: Grape and grape. Yes, both colors are called Grape. The yarn on the bottom is actually a much darker shade of the yarn used for the pattern area. It is not the reddish light color in the picture

Needles: #5 and #7.

Gauge: 4.5 stitches/inch, 6 rows/inch. (I must admit I haven't measured the gauge and suspect that the sweater is not exactly on spec. I'm eyeballing it into human proportions, however, and it will fit some child when it's done.)

For those of you who are getting ready to comment on how fast I'm churning these out, please remember . . .

• It's the middle of winter in SW Michigan. The weather is cold, the days are short, and it's perfect knitting weather.
  
• These little sweaters knit up fast. They're only about 24 inches around the chest and there's no seaming.
  
• I'm not knitting on any other projects right now.

Snakes and Ladders Finished

This sweater is for the January, February, March CIC toddler sweater and vest challenge.

We're knitting sizes 2 (24") and 4 (26") with a challenge goal of 200 sweaters/vests for the Eastern European orphan homes.

My personal goal is four sweaters. This is the first of the four.

It's not washed and blocked yet, but it's done.

I still have red wool left, maybe enough for another little gansey, so I'll wait and wash them together.


Pattern: Pattern: Snakes and Ladders Gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Rolled neckline replaced by ribbed neckline. An extra inch of stockinette at the bottom to lengthen the sweater for warmer coverage.

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, 100% wool.

Color: Firecracker heather (left over from Autumn Song)

Needles: #2 and #4.

Gauge: 6 stitches/inch, 8 rows/inch in pattern

Dorothy and I are planning to knit the Set-in Sleeve Aran in Janet's Szabo's book Aran Sweater Design starting in April. Anyone like to join us?

I do have to give this sweater a better name. Set-in Sleeve Aran is too uninspiring, even for me.





This Knitpicks Wool of the Andes worsted swatch for the Set-in Sleeve Aran was knit last month. The color is Blue Ice Heather, needle size #5.

Gauge is almost perfect, but I've decided I want to find a softer yarn since this sweater will be worn next to my skin.