Sooza's Knitting Stuff

 
I cannot believe that we're going on Halloween already. The halfway mark of my pregnancy came and went and now I'm already nearing the magical remaining 100 days. And the baby bundle is well and already kicking up a storm in my ever growing belly. Naturally baby knitting has been done - romper, pants, leg warmers are only the very first on my list. A cardigan is supposed to be next. And I managed to work up another quilt for a baby blanket.


 
I really like how this little quilt turned out. Bright, sunny cotton fabric against cold and drab winter days. I think the backside with it's cute butterfly fabric is to die for.


 
The little quilt might just be the right size to cover the changing table or to take with in the pram or in a bag. My first attempt at quilting triangles and putting them together in the windmill pattern. It was fun and easy.

 
Finished this fun little blanket while on a visit to family last weekend. A four hours drive always provides ample of knitting time. The blanket is very graphic and constructed out of garter stitch triangles running in different directions. It's done with short-rows and modular knitting. It's been so much fun and a quick knit.Ate up some left-over yarns to boot. There's four different yarns in there but since they are all round about the same yardage they work well together. Thinking of doing a couple of color studies and some variations to make up a pattern for this one. I can see so many possibilities here, my mind is spinning.

This weekend a friend asked about my well-being since I hadn't shared any new knitting around here for a while. Ouch. Apart from the regular everyday stuff like work, family, the house, friends and whatnot there has been knitting going on, of course.



One of the most interesting and fun projects over the last months was the Inspiria Cowl. There were so many fabulous Inspira projectst in Ravelry's database! Beautiful colors. Many variations regarding size and shape. And all that based on the most basic colorwork. With pretty self-striping yarns that sported long color repeats.


The first Inspira was intended to end up as a small cowl or neck warmer for me. The pattern was a bit difficult to figure out and adjust at first. That's probably because the instructions are more of an entertaining guideline than a clearcut pattern. It took some frustrated ranting but in the end was possible to put two and two together. The photos and project descriptions on Ravelry helped, too. The pattern in combination with the lovely Drops yarn made for a lovely end result. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it for long. The girl laid claim to the cowl declared it a "kids poncho" and off she went :-)

Well, there was nothing to do but sit down and knit another Inspira to have one for myself. This time larger and with random variations on the stripes. It turned out just as lovely as the first one. And the simple stranding over only two stitches worked up nearly as quickly as plain ribbing. Who would have thought it?


This is definitely one of those knits that look much more complex than they actually are. In this one a traditional knitting technique paired with a modern yarn combine to the best effect.



Along the lines of those two projects I also discovered a new yarn that I hadn't worked with before. Drops Delight is one of those new yarns that are clearly inspired - I hesitate to call them poor copies - by Noro's trademark color gradations. For all intents and purposes Drops Delight appears as a soft singles yarn while a closer look shows that there might be more to it. The 75% wool, 25% nylon content suggests that it would also be suitable as a sock yarn. If knit on a somewhat tighter gauge it might actually hold up against harder wear. I haven't tried that myself though. In those projects I worked the yarn on 4mm neeedles producing a slightly looser gauge while still resulting in a nice, coherent fabric with a bit of drape. And while the yarn imitates Noro yarns to a certain degree it's an entirely different thing to knit with. Much softer, not as much knots or slubs and not half as much vegetable matter. Cheaper, too. On the other hand it's absolutely clear that nobody can imitate Noro's vibrant, unique color schemes. The same item worked in Noro yarn will always stand out in a crowd. So it's not a real competition at all.

 
And here we are. Another year in front of us. Full of new possibilites and challenges. Time to see what's been going on knitting wise here at Sooza's. The clever Ravelry database tells me I've got 35 projects logged in for 2011. Not bad. Lots of this has actually been crochet which was a surprise for me. The year 2011 was all about re-learning and improving my skills with a crochet hook. And it's been fun.

Another skill I wanted to try my hands on was weaving. No progress on this front though. But I've got the loom now and it will be one of the projects I'll take with me into 2012.

What else has been going on? I discovered the concept of everyday carry and fell down the rabbit hole of collecting pocket knives. To keep this blog mostly about my crafts and some personal side notes I've been setting up a Tumblr blog for my EDC hobby - Sooza's EDC and Stuff. I'm thinking about putting out some knife reviews in the upcoming weeks. Will have to see wether I find the time.

 
Here's a knitted FO from back in October that went to a friend as a gift. Ishbel by Isolda Teague is one of rare patterns I've knitted more than once. And since the results are always so nice I'll probably do it again. I'm thinking Wollmeise this time. Project details on Ravelry.

With only about 7 months in the making this crochet blanket hasn't been the most epic project I've ever done. But after years of blocking out crochet completely this one feels like a real achievement. And after a handful of cute crochet scarfs this is my first big project off the hook. I already liked working on this big project and I sure am in love with the finished object! It turned out better than I might have imagined. The Granny Stripe Blanket by Lucy of Attic24 is such an accessible pattern and in combination with the right yarn it's plain magic in the making.


 
I used Schachenmayr nomotta Cotton Linen yarn for this one because I fell in love with the powdery slightly toned down colors. Apart from the colors it's also comfortable to work with and the resulting fabric has a good drape and a crisp handle. I started out with every color in their range but decided to drop the black and navy because they were too harsh a contrast with the other colors. After the first batch was used up and more than half of the blanket was done I reordered and discovered that the "coral" color wasn't available any longer and I plain forget to order the sky blue. Well, no help for it but to go on without them. For the border I had stashed to extra skeins in the natural color-way.


 
I started out this project way back in January with the hope that over the course of this spring Little Girl would grow to like her room and her pretty white princess bed and outgrow the parental bedroom. As an incentive I wanted to add a cute blanket as a bedspread. Well, turns out I'm actually a bit late. She's been in her own bedroom for a few months now - ever since we painted it all purple and pink back in May. Maybe the blanket project was a good omen. In any case, it's a nice addition to the girly room :-)


 
Details
Pattern: Granny Stripe Blanket by Lucy of Attic24
Hook: 4 mm/G
Yarn: About 32 skeins of Schachenmayr Nomotta Cotton Linen (78% Cotton, 22% Linen)
Size: 140 x 85 cm

Elizabeth Zimmermann (EZ for short), knitter and knitting teacher extraordinaire claims garter stitch to be one of the most versatile, useful and fun stitches in knitting. Most other people think it's the most basic and therefore boring thing ever. I've got to admit I've always been a bit of a garter stitch snob. It does have it's uses but it never struck me as particularly inspiring.

But then you go and check out Jared Flood's aka Brooklyntweed's blog with its beautiful photography, pretty projects and his love for all things EZ. And suddendly you feel the magic. I mean just look at his Tweed Baby Blanket or the beautiful Bridgewater Shawl. Most of their charm is derived from a very basic garter stitch square that's topped with a bit of fancy lace. Further search on Flickr and Ravelry quickly uncovers EZ's Stonington Shawl as one of those very easy pretty much all garter stitch patterns that seem to produce stunning results. And the construction on this one seemed really intriguing. Well, what else is a girl to do but jump over her shadow, pick up some delightful Shetland lace yarn and dive in head first into hours and hours of garter stitch?!


 
I cast on for this shawl back in 2010 before going on a weekend trip with the company that involved airports and bus transfers. The diamond shaped center worked up quickly enough but after that things slowed down considerably. And let's be honest here. Miles and miles of garter stitch IS a fairly mindless endeavour.


 
In the end it took 8 months to complete and I had to reorder two times with Jamieson and Smith in Lerwick, Shetland to finally be able to finish this shawl. After the plain garter stitch got done I decided to go for a slightly deeper and a more elaborate edging than the original pattern asked for to spice things up a bit. The double diamond row works nicely with the simple garter stitch body if I dare say so myself.


 
The whole shawl only took 8.5 skeins of Jamieson and Smith 2ply Lace yarn. That's a mere 212 grams of yarn. On 4 mm needles the fabric is open and airy but not too flimsy. As always I really enjoyed working with Shetland yarn. There is nothing artificial to it. Just a natural beauty that makes even the most simple patterns stand out.

 
 
Has this been a lot of work and long time in the making? Sure. Was it fun to knit? Totally. The construction with the diamond center and seperately worked border sections and knitted on edging make for a literally seemless construction. That's fun all in itself. Would I work another one of these? I'm pretty sure I would. The combination of simple yet beautiful and classy is timeless and alluring.

Details
Pattern: Stonington Shawl by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Shawls and Scarves: The Best of Knitter's Magazine
Yarn: Shetland 2ply Lace by Jamieson and Smith, Color L63 heathered jeans blue, 212 grams (1440 meter)
Needle: 4 mm
Finished size: 135 x 135 cm

 
This shawl pattern had caught my eye the first time I browsed through Meg Swansen's magnificent book "A Gathering of Lace" back in 2001 when the book first appeared. It's simple but at the same time stunning and beautiful. It's knitted in Icelandic lace-weight yarn which is a very special thing. Back in May in finally managed to procure the yarn and cast on.


 
This yarn is a stark contrast to everything we're used to today. It's not soft. It's plain, rustic wool and no fancy blend neither. It's a rustic singles yarn that feels pretty harsh when you're knitting with it. But when you wash it it develops this beautiful halo and the harsh yarn turns into a drapey fabric that holds its shape wonderfully. It's still not soft by a long shot. But it fluffy and warm and all wool.


 
This project has been my companion throughout spring and summer. The pattern is easily memorized and the round construction makes for very compact travel-friendly knitting. The rounds got really long in the end there and it took some real effort to finish it before August turned into September.


 
As always blocking worked its usual magic and turned a somewhat rumply and ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, or shawl as the case may be.


 
Details
Pattern: Super-Spiral Shawl by Meg Swansen (Ravelry link), A Gathering of Lace
Yarn: Ístex Loðband Einband / Icelandic Laceweight (50 g/225 m, 4.5 skeins), color: 9044 lavender
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: 150 cm in diameter

Oh my, it's been a more than a month since I wrote something here. Time is flying. When I'm not working or knitting I'm playing support team and pit stop crew for DH. He's doing autocross competitions. What's autocross, you ask? Well, here's what the international Wikipedia has to say about it:

Autocross is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe, low-cost competition and active participation. An autocross is a timed competition where drivers navigate one at a time through a temporary course marked by traffic cones, rather than racing on a track with multiple other cars, as in road racing or oval racing. Autocross tends to place more emphasis on car handling and driver skill than on sheer horsepower, and events typically have many classes which allow almost any vehicle, from economy sedans to purpose-built vehicles, to compete. Speeds are slower in absolute terms when compared to other forms of motorsports, usually not exceeding highway speeds, but the activity level (measured in discrete turns per minute) can be higher than even Formula One due to the large number of elements packed into each course. Autocross courses are typically 40 to 70 seconds in length. In addition to being a national-level motorsport in its own right, autocrossing is a good way to learn skills that transfer to road racing, as drivers learn vehicle control and club ethics. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocross


 
It's actually a pretty cool thing to do for a hobby and not in the least as involved as playing any of the usual team sports. There are no training sessions twice a week, no real need for any club memberships, no nothing. For starting out you only need a car and a helmet.

That being said, it's most likely that once involved in the whole scene certain investments will HAVE to be made. Slick tyres, anyone? Better brake shoes? And this data recording stuff and software analysis is seriously neat. But what else is to be expected from a Geek extraordinaire turned autocross racer? I'm not complaining though. I mean, look at me! I've got a hudge spindle collection, more wool and yarn then I can knit up in the foreseeable future and shelves of knitting books. Did I already mention that I'm pondering buying a weaving loom?


 
Those autocross weekends are something of a mixture between boy scout camp, carnival and family reunion. Most people there seem to have known each other for 30 years or more. And then there's already the kids racing around on bicycles, little dirt bikes or karts. And if the weather is as nice as the weekend before last, you can enjoy a relaxing weekend in some out of the way place. The pictures show Groß-Dölln, an abandoned Russian air base about an hour north of Berlin. The whole place is fascinating and totally creepy at the same time. If you imagine that not even 20 years ago they had nuclear bombers stationed there ready for take-off 24/7. And now some crazy guys are using that perfectly flat tarmac to race cars. Weird but happily weird.


 
After starting out on the family car, a 2008 Subaru Impreza, DH's got himself the perfect autocross car - a Mazda Miata/MX5. This model already came with sports suspension and whatnot. Driving in this little powerhouse of a car takes some use. Forget comfort. Pure driving fun here we come.


 
People are trying to get me to compete, too. Sure, I enjoy driving most of the time. But this autocross thing kinda scares me. Maybe one of these day I might muster the courage and try my hand at it. It won't be in the Miata though because I barely fit in there without a helmet. But since helmets are required I wouldn't manage to get in there at all.


 
Right now I'm perfectly alright with driving the support car which basically means having it loaded up to the roof with a full set of sports tyres. And knitting is a good method to while away the time - when you're not taking pics, keeping the Little Girl from getting run over or enjoy a little chat with your "paddock" neighbor, that is.


 
If all goes well, your weekend ends with some of those kitschy trophies :-)


 
And you've had some fun in between.


 
And maybe even got some knitting done.


 
Pattern details
Pattern: Sound of Waves by Kieran Foley
Yarn: Soft Silk by BC Garn (100% coarse silk/noil; 350 m/100 g), 2 skeins, color ss13 - turquoise
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: 40 x 200 cm

 

I haven't done much of Elizabeth Zimmerman's pattern so far but I thoroughly enjoy her writing style and her practical and sensible approach to knitting. The modular Tomten Jacket for a small child seemed a good project to venture into EZ's knitting world for the first time.

Since I wanted to knit the jacket in a worsted weight cotton/microfiber blend I calculated the needed amount of stitches for the circumference according to my gauge and went on from there. The back is made longer with 5 short row sections. The pattern is fairly easy to knit and you can modify and change it to your heart's delight. At some point it seemed as if the garter stitch would never end though.



 

It turned out as a nice, slouchy jacket that can be thrown over when spring or summer air turn a bit chilly. Even though I had the feeling the sleeves would be wayyyyy too long they could actually use a few more rounds. But this will be easily fixed.

Details
Pattern: Modular Tomten Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Size: probably a size EU 104, 2 to 4 yrs
Yarn: Lang Yarns Kappa (97% Cotton/3% Polyester; 125m/50 g); 4 skeins fuchsia, 2 skeins purple
Needle: 4.5 mm

 
It might not always seem that way if my recent blog posts are anything to go by but I've indeed been knitting away on all kinds of things and managed to complete a few of them. My latest infatuation has been a shawl pattern from the book "Knitted Lace of Estonia" - Miralda's Triangular Shawl. It's one of those bottom-up constructions that has you cast-on a bazillion stitches that are gradually decreased on the course of your knitting to form a triangle in the end. Not my preferred shawl construction but this one looked so pretty, with the diamonds and the nupps, I knew I would succumb one of these days. It finally happened when I took a closer look at this pretty dark blue lace yarn that had found its way into my stash not so long ago. A nice 2-ply yarn with a bit of a rustic charm to it. I knew it would work fantastic with the lace pattern. Only problem was I had only 600 meters whereas the pattern asked for 750 meters of yarn. Mhm, bummer. But I'm not easily deterred. A closer look in Ravelry showed lots of projects in similar yarns with similar yardages and needle size combinations that had gotten away with 400 to 500 meters of yarn. Still not totally convinced but I cast on anyway. No risk. no fun.


 
All worked out in the end. This shawl has been knitted in record time because the ever decreasing rows have been a real motivation. The pattern was well written and I loved knitting with this rustic wool yarn. Instantly went and ordered a few more colors. The shawl itself turned out lovely, too. It's just the right size between scarf and shawl. Wasn't sure about the nupps at first but like the overall look of lace, nupps and solid areas.


 
What's a nupp, you might ask?! Well, it's those special kind of bobble Estionian lace knitting is well known for. On a right side row you increase 5, 7 or even 9 stitches from just one single stitch just to purl all those stitches back together in the following row. It's kinda tedious at first but once you've gotten into the rhythm of things it get easier. The nupps give a nice, three-dimensional effect and sometimes even look like little pearls worked into your knitting. Strange but neat.

Details
Pattern: Miralda's Triangular Shawl by Nancy Bush from Knitted Lace of Estonia
Material: 1 skein of Filcolana New Zealand Lammeuld, 100% wool, 600 meters/100 grams
Needles: 4 mm
Finished Size: 160 cm wide, 80 cm deep

There's been a few other projects that got completed in the last weeks, like my first pair of Socks out of Wollmeise Twin yarn for example. They belong to the best husband of all now and I'm really curious about how well the yarn will stand up to wear. My last Wollmeise socks were still out of 100% superwash and they were worn through in record time. The Twin yarn consists of 20% nylon so it's supposed to wear better. Yeah, well, seeing is believing.


 
Details
Pattern: Earl Grey by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: 2/3rds of a Wollmeise Twin skein, 80% Merino/20% Nylon, 466 meters/150 grams; color 'We're different Tant Grön...'
Needles: 2.5 mm
Size: EUR 41/42

And then there is this small shawl knitted from only one 50 grams skein of Malabrigo Lace yarn in the funky and intense 'Gernanio' colorway.


 
Details
Pattern: Birch Leaf Shawl sideways, my own pattern
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace Merino, 100% Merino, 400 meters/50 grams, color 'Geranio'
Needles: 4 mm
Size: 140 cm wide

And knitting continues, of course. I'm bit on a shawl binge right now so there is already the next one on the needles. It's Evelyn A. Clarks Prairie Rose Lace Shawl from The Knitter's Book of Wool.

Well, it's snowing up a little storm out there and the wind keeps heaping up snowbanks in the most inconvenient places. Like our door for example. But I won't complain. It's weekend, all the snow looks real pretty and we don't really need to go outside if we don't want to. Gives me the chance to get in some knitting and spinning and blogging and of course some quality time with Little Girl and the best husband of all. So, on to the blogging part.

When KnitPro started to make clear acrylic needle tips (KnitPro Spectra = KnitPicks Zephyr Acrylic) for their interchangeable needle system I was instantly hooked. They looked so stylish and the idea of lightweight, flexible and warm needles appealed to me. I bought a couple of tips to give them a try. Even though some people complained about icky noises and about the needles being too sticky I got along very well with mine. So when KnitPro offered a special needle set in fuchsia I couldn't help but buying the whole set. I'm a sucker for everything pink/fuchsia/purple. The set contains 8 needle tips from size 3.5 to 8 mm and 4 different cables. It's not as if I really needed more knitting needles but who can refuse something that looks like this?
 

 
The Spectras feature the same sharp tips as all the other KnitPro needles. I like the fact that they are less slippery than the metal and wooden needles and that they are more flexible and kinda feel nicer to the touch. Not sure how long the smallest size needle will survive though because it really BENDS quite a bit. But maybe that's the trick. I like the little case the set came in. My other needle tips and cables fit in too so now I finally have a place where to keep them all in one place. Since it's a KnitPro product it has the same quality issues as all their other needles. On one pair of needles the acrylic part of the needle is glued to the metal casing off center so their is this place where the yarn catches. I contacted the seller about a replacement and will see what happens. Personally, I think these needles are great value for your money and a good investment for a beginner or if you want to complete your needle collection. It might not be ideal choice of needle for if you're knitting really tight or if you like to work with acrylic yarns. I shudder at thought of the electrostatic buzz you'd be creating.

The first thing that came from this needles was an airy piece of nothing I dubbed Ice Leaf Scarf. The construction and lace pattern are inspired by a commercially available pattern Cedar Leaf Shawlette.
 


Details
Pattern: Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos
Needles: 4 mm
Yarn: 25 grams of Cascade Baby Alpaca Lace (100% Aplaca, 400 m/50 grams), color: Carribean
Size: 12 cm wide, 190 cm long

This little shawl is obviously the most knitted project from the newest Knitty issue. As of today Ravelry lists 379 projects and counting. When I first browsed this issue it was this pattern that instantly caught my eyes. And I was totally set to knit it in the original yarn - Malabrigo Lace Merino. Alas, I kinda got side-tracked by one of my older hand-spun yarns though. “Bewitch” is something about a lace to light fingering yarn which I spun back in April 2009. Somehow I thought stripes or color transitions would suit this little scarf/shawl well. As it turned out, pattern and yarn fit each other remarkably well.



And here's how the yarn came to be.






 
Details
 
Pattern: Citron by Hilary Smith Callis, Knitty.com Winter 2009
Yarn: hand-spun yarn, 100 grams/400-500 meters, Slushie's Special Blend from FatCatKnits in colorway "Bewitch"
Needles: 4.00 and 4.5 mm
Size: 120 cm wide

I finished the hand-spun socks last week pretty much in record time. The turned really nice and I've already worn them twice. The yarn got me a pair of mid-calf high socks (when worn they are 34 cm from floor to cast-off edge) that work especially well in boots. They tend to slouch down a bit with wear but I don't mind that. The soft merino yarn might not be ideal for hard wear and the heel and underside of the toes are already a bit fulled (felted would be too strong a word here) after two days of wear. But it looks like this might actually help with durability. I take this as an experiment and see how it turns out. The spinning and knitting process was tremendous fun and both socks getting finished at the same time was just great.



On the spinning front I got a wonderful delivery from Amazon.de today. After months and months of waiting it's finally here. Abby Franquemont's book "Respect the Spindle". The books deals with knowledge and techniques about hand spindles exclusively. It's fun reading and has lots of interesting information about this most ancient and simplest of fiber tools and shows contemporary spinners what great stuff can be achieved if you're open and willing to practice.

This was one of those patterns that I instantly liked when first seeing it in Knitty. I like knitting with skinny yarn and skinny needles. And I like plain sweaters that can be dressed up or down according to occasion and mood. But somehow I never quite worked up the nerve to cast-on. The pattern was in my Ravelry Queue for a while and I checked other people's finished Thermals from time to time. In the end seeing all these nice sweaters on Ravelry and following the posts in a very inspiring Knit-Along on the German Knitters forum made my fingers itch to finally cast on. In the end it took me not quite three weeks from start to finish. I sewed in ends on Halloween eve while the door bell kept ringing incessantly and kids kept demanding treats.


 
Details
 
Pattern: Thermal by Laura Chau, Knitty.com Winter 2006
Yarn:Rowan Felted Tweed, color Whisper (SH141), 7.5 skeins (375 grams)
Needles: 3.75 mm
Modifications:

• Pattern is originally written for sock yarn with a gauge of 28 stitches per 4''. I chickened out on the skinny yarn and chose some Felted Tweed from my stash instead. It's still fingering weight yarn but is much more fluffy and lofty than sock yarn. The Felted Tweed gave me a gauge of 20 stitches per 4''. I had originally planned to knit the smallest size but with my gauge that would still have meant I'd end up with a HUGE sweater. I compensated by casting on only 200 instead of 224 stitches.


• Worked body much longer than pattern suggested.


• Didn't like how the button band looked on most Thermal sweaters on Ravelry. Worked it sideways and added two more buttons.


• Knitted the set-in sleeves from the top down according to directions in Wendy Bernard's book 'Custom Knits'. Worked like a charm. Did I ever mention how much I dislike sewing in set-in sleeves?

Comments:
This is a lovely, very simple sweater that wears very well. The waffle stitch was interesting enough to keep me interested but easy enough for TV knitting at same time. And even though I pretty much improvised this whole thing it turned out fitting really well. To top this awesome knitting experience off I found THE PERFECT buttons in your run of the mill department store. No fancy button store. Nope. Just Kaufhof at Alexanderplatz. They match the strange blueish/greyish/greenish (un-)color that Rowan called 'whisper' exactly. Wouldn't have thought this was possible.