Sooza's Knitting Stuff

Snow, snow and look! More snow. Still perfect weather for spinning, knitting and keeping warm next to the heater. Here's some yarn that got finished last week. I'm calling it 'Sunkissed' because someone on Ravelry commented it reminded her of well planted garden with all the flowers in bloom on a bright sunny day in summer with big fluffy clouds in a clear blue sky.
 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

It’s been a while since I’ve tried knitting two socks at the same time on circular needles. All I remember is a whole lot of fiddling. I wanted to give this thing another try because ending up with two socks at the same time sure sounds like a cool thing. And besides there's lots of people out there who swear by this method so there's got to be something to it.

So far it’s fun and I’m speeding along. There’s been a bit of fiddling and trial and error involved when I tried to find the right circular needle/s for this job. I went through 3 or 4 different needles from really long wooden circulars to two short circs but in the end the 2.5 mm/80 cm Addi Turbo lace made it. The join is fabulous and makes sliding stitches around effortless.

I'm using a hand-spun 3-ply yarn that actually ended up in the right weight range for socks. It's neither too thin nor too thick. Which was a surprise. It's the first time I did a real 3-ply yarn (as opposed to chain-/Navajo-ply) and I am totally in LOVE with this yarn. Couldn't resist its charms hand had to cast on something right away.


 

 

 

 

 
Fiber: Blue Moon Fiberarts Sheep to Shoe Kit, color "Fire on the Mountain"
Yarn: hand-spun 3-ply, about 420 meters per 120 grams (4 oz)
Spindles: Bosworth Minis in Karelian Birch and Walnut

It's not as if I wouldn't own a sizable stash of yarn and fiber to choose from. How does one choose fiber for the next project anyway? Well, this nice and soft Merino/Nylon top in the tempting colorway 'Magnolia' was calling to be spun as soon I had opened the parcel it came in from Zauberwiese. I divided the combed top in two halves and spun up each half on one of my two latest Kevin Rhodes spindles. Since I had 130 grams of this fiber in total I didn't dare using my wheel for plying because I was afraid the bobbin might be too small for the whole finished yarn and I was really not keen on breaking this lovely yarn. Alas, what's all those lovely spindles for? I knew I could easily fit 130 grams of a fingering weight 2-ply yarn on one of the larger spindles in my collection. The Quad from Tom Forrester did its job beautifully and my appreciation for spindles as a powerful fiber tool even grew, if that's at all possible.

The finished yarn was very beautiful but I wasn't really sure about the color distribution and the barber-pole effect in lots of places. Yet somehow my mind kept coming up with possible projects for this hand-spun. One pattern came up again and again. I took it for a sign and just went with it. Ishbel is a cute little shawl pattern by Ysolda Teague that everyone and their aunt has already knitted if Ravelry is anything to go by. Currently it has 3553 projects and counting. But you know, what can I say, it's what the yarn wanted to become. The kitting was done in about a week and was a delightful and addicting process. I used my new KnitPro Spectra needles in the 4 mm size. The more I knitted with my own hand-spun yarn the more beautiful it became. What a heady feeling to know that you've made this item nearly from scratch. Can only be beaten by knowing the name of the sheep the wool came from

Here's the story of my Magnolia Ishbel in pictures:


 

 

 

 

 

 

Diese schönen Socken sind schon vor über zwei Wochen fertig geworden, nur leider hatte ich nie Zeit, hier mal ein Bild einzustellen. Sie sind gestrickt aus dem handgesponnen Corriedale-Garn, dessen Werdegang ich im August hier gezeigt hatte. Das Muster ist vor mir ersonnen und ich bin gerade dabei, die Anleitung dafür fertigzumachen, bzw. wird die Anleitung gerade testgestrickt. Mehr dazu, wenn die Anleitung tatsächlich fertig ist.

This nice pair of socks got finished 2 weeks ago but I somehow couldn't find the time to post the picture here. They are knitted with the hand-spun Corriedale yarn I showed a month or so back on the blog. The pattern is of my own making and I'm currently writing it down. Or to be more precise, it's currently being test-knit for me. More when the pattern is ready to be published.

Während des Umzugs habe ich mir extra eine recht einfache Anleitung ausgesucht, die man auch im größten Stress ohne viele Gehirnzellen einzusetzen stricken kann. Ein Featherweight Cardigan schien da genau richtig. Ich stricke ihn aus dem Origianl Garn, dem wunderbar weichen Malabrigo Lace. Das Jäckchen soll länger werden als von der Designerin vorgesehen, d.h. es sind noch viel mehr Reihen schmucklos glatt rechts zu stricken. Aber es macht trotzdem noch Spaß. Hier mal eine Detailaufnahme vom sehr schönen Garn in der Farbe "Pearl Ten".

While managing the moving adventure I totally needed a plain knitting pattern that would not require much brain or concentration. A Featherweight Cardigan seemed the perfect choice. I love my Whisper Cardigan/Shrug/Thingie and find that another very lightweight cardigan would really come in handy. I knitting this one out of the original yarn Malabrigo Lace. It's such a delight to handle and even though I'll knit even more plain stockinette than the designer intended (because I want my Featherweight considerably longer) it's still such a fun project. Here's a detail shot of the wonderful yarn in the "Pearl Ten" colorway.


 
Allerdings brauchte ich mal eine kleine Abwechslung von all dem glatt rechts Gestricke, und so wurde dieses kleine Tüchlein gestern fertig. Es ist nach langer Zeit das erste Strickprojekt aus handgesponnenem Garn und ich bin sehr begeistert. Ich werde mal mein Archiv abgrasen, ob sich noch mehr so nette Anleitungen für den Verbrauch einiger der Garne finden, die ich in den letzten Monaten von Hand gesponnen habe.

As much as I enjoy all this stockinette knitting I still needed a bit of a change. This little shawl/scarf pattern had been in my Ravely Queue for ages and it struck me as perfect for using up some of the hand-spun yarn that's been accumulating in my stash. I totally adore the finished project and am already thinking of other lace patterns that might work nicely in hand-spun.

 
Details

Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl/Scarf by Sivia Harding
Yarn: hand-spun yarn from Pink Lady batts by Fiber Monster
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: 140 cm wide, 70 cm from tip to neck

It's been on my Spindlewood Mini spindle for a while now but today the second skein finally got finished. Sunset Fibers' combed top has been spun and plied on the fly to preserve the lovely color sequence. I intend to knit this yarn into a pair of socks to see how well hand-spun yarn holds up. Corriedale is supposed to be fairly well-suited for stuff where you'd want a bit more durability then finer Merino could provide. I'll try and see.



 



 

 
Fiber | Faser: Falkland combed top, hand-dyed from FatCatKnits; 4 skeins à 1 oz (150 m/50 g)
Color | Farbe: in ZigZag colorway, violet, pink, magenta, orange, rust
Tools | Werkzeuge: Spun on Bosworth Midi drop spindle, plied on wheel
Prep | Vorbereitung: some predrafting, wound into Andean bracelet and plied from both ends | etwas ausgezogen vorm Spinnen, von beiden Enden gezwirnt mittels "Andean bracelet"
Comment | Kommentar:
FatCatKnits colorways are fun and the Falkland combed top was easy and fun to spin. The resulting yarn is a crazy color mix but somehow the orange and rust seems to find a cool match in the salmon, magenta and violet tones.
Die Färbungen von FatCatKnits sind immer sehr witzig und lebenig. ZigZag als Falkland Kammzug war einfach und angenehm zu spinnen und die so unterschiedlichen Farben ergeben ein witziges Garn. Ich hätte ja nicht geglaubt, dass orange und rostbraun irgendwie gut zu pink und lila passen. Aber es ergibt ein harmonisches Ganzes, wenn auch der etwas schrägen Art.
 

 
Fiber | Faser: Strawberry Field , carded batts from Fiber Monster; Merino wool, a bit of sparkle; 2 skeins à 1.5 oz (120m/75g)
Color | Farbe: red, salmon, fuchsia, white | rot, magenta, lachs, weiß
Tools | Werkzeuge: Spun on Greensleeves drop spindle, plied on wheel | Gesponnen auf Greensleeves Spindel, gezwirnt am Rad
Prep | Vorbereitung: some predrafting, wound into Andean bracelet and plied from both ends | etwas ausgezogen vorm Spinnen, von beiden Enden gezwirnt mittels "Andean bracelet"
Comment | Kommentar:
Again, Fibermonster's batts were a pure delight to spin. The soft merino has just the faintest hint of sparkle in it to give the resulting yarn a bit of a twist. I chose a heavier spindle to get somewhat thicker singles to result in a worsted weight yarn. And it actually worked. There is something to say for having a lot of spindles to choose from.
Wie immer war die Wolle von Fibermonster einfach ein Traum zum Spinnen. Die weiche Merinowolle hat gerade genug Glitzer drin um dem ganzen einen interessanten Kick zu geben. Dieses mal habe ich extra eine etwas schwerere Spindel gewählt, um einen dickeren Einzelfaden zu spinnen. Hat auch tatsächlich funktioniert.

 
Fancy Linum Light Spindle
Whorl: Canarywood
Shaft: Cherry
Whorl diameter: 7,5 cm
Weight: 24 g
Length: 28 cm
Maker: Tom Forrester
Fiber: Pink Lady by Fibermonster, Colonial wool. Tencel with some white sparkle
Comment: The spindle is a lovely design that is inspired by the little white flowers of the flax (lat. linum) plant. The fancy turned shaft is very beautiful and on top of that it's also a working very nicely.

 
Lizzie Spindle
Whorl: Birds-eye maple
Shaft: Birch
Whorl diameter: 6 cm
Weight: 13 g
Length: 22 cm
Maker: Adam Mielke at Mielke's Farm
Fiber: Buffalo Fiber
Comment: The spindle is very lightweight and proved ideal for spinning the very fine Buffalo Fiber I got with my Greensleeves spindle. The Buffalo reminded me a bit of baby camel fiber only in a dark chocolate brown. It's incredibly soft and cozy. I ended up with 10 grams/65 meters for yarn.

 
Bosworth Maxi Spindle
Whorl: Tasmanian Rose Myrtle
Shaft: Orford Cedar
Whorl diameter: 7 cm
Weight: 37 g
Maker: Jonathan Bosworth at Journeywheel.com
Fiber: 50/50 Merino/Mohair blend
Comment: The spindle is lovely and relatively light-weight for its size. Since the weight is mostly at the rim it turns very fast and keeps its momentum for a long time.

Der Wintereinbruch am Wochenende half nicht unbedingt gegen dunkelheitsbedingte Depressionen, ließ doch aber zumindest mein Strickerherz höherschlagen und führte dazu, dass ich das Kleidchen fertigstricken konnte. Wie so oft ist der Schnitt mehr oder weniger improvisiert und von einigen anderen Kleidern abgeschaut. Nur war ich am Ende irgendwie sicher, dass das Ganze mit Sicherheit zu klein sein würde. Nach dem Waschen und einer Runde unterm Dampfbügeleisen, welche fast alle Beulen im Mehrfarbgestrick ausgemerzt hat, stellte ich mit Erleichterung fest, dass das gute Stück doch recht gut passt. Es ist jetzt nicht wahnsinnig weit und Fräuleins kugelrundes Babybäuchlein könnte auch noch mehr Platz vertragen aber insgesamt kann ich das Stück als Erfolg verbuchen. Die Farben und der Farbverlauf des handgesponnenen Garns machen so richtig gute Laune und bringen die Sonne ins Haus.

Last weekend winter had obviously decided we were due a repeat performance and brought snow and over-cast skies. Well, at least the knitter in me was thrilled because what else would you do while the world is slowly snowed in but sitting on the sofa with a hot cup of tea and your knitting?! The little dotted dress for my girl could finally be finished. In the completing stages of the project I was growingly worried that the dress would not fit, would be way too small or otherwise disfigured. After washing and thoroughly pressing it with a steam iron pretty much all bumps and puckers were evened out and the whole thing actually fit! Yay! Okay, it's not overly roomy and baby girl's cute little tummy could maybe need some more fabric but all in all it was a fun knit and a total success. B. wore it to kindergarten today and obviously the dress felt very comfy and cozy. The colors and the color gradation of the hand-spun yarn is so much fun and brighten every room.




 
Details for Dotty Dress

Pattern:
Stitch pattern is a modified color pattern out of Sheila McGregor's "Traditional Scandinavian Knitting" and has a 8 stitch repeat. The pattern was calculated after a store-bought dress. I cast on 208 stitches and started with a few rounds of stockinette stitch in main color on smaller needles to create a turned hem. The two turning rows were worked with contrast color. After turning row 30 rounds in color pattern without decreases. After that 2 decreases worked on each side every 7th round 11 times until piece measured 25 cm in width. For armholes 12 stitches cast-off on each side and simultaneously cast-on 10 stitches to form steeks. 7 more stitches decreased every 2nd round on each armhole side. When armhole measures 5 cm 28 stitches for back and front neck opening cast-off. Again with the steek stitches. When armhole measures 11 to 12 cm cast-off all stitches.

This time I used the sewing machine to secure the steeks. But since the garment was so small I couldn't get it under the sewing machine. Therefore I carefully cut the steeks beforehand securing them with small straight stitches on the machine afterwards. It's still a strange feeling to cut up your knitting but again it worked just fine. The hems were picked up with the smaller needle, knitted in stockinette stitch and I made them into turned hems to hide the cut steeks. They mirror the turned bottom hem. It was a bit of a pain stitching down the facing and all that. But the end result is a very professional looking finish.

Gauge: 31 sts = 10 cm

Yarn:
100 g Regia 4-ply uni, natural
75 g hand-spun Corriedale by Sunset Fibers

Needles:
2.5 mm circulars for hems
2.75 mm for body

Size: 12 to 18 month

Ja, ich stricke auch noch. Zur Zeit arbeite ich mit viel Freude an einem gepunkteten Kleid fürs Mäuschen. Inspiration war hierzu zum einen der Westover "Dotty" von Kaffe Fassett aus dem Rowan-Heft Nr. 40 und zum anderen das unten abgebildete handgesponnene Garn aus dem Kammzug von Sunset Fibers. Ich habe das Garn so gesponnen, dass der Farbverlauf des Kardenbands erhalten bleibt. Details zum Projekt gibt es wie immer wenn es fertig ist.


Yes, I'm still knitting. At the moment I'm enjoying myself immensely with a little stranded project for my little girl. The dotted dress is inspired by Kaffe Fassett's vest "Dotty" from Rowan magazine No. 40 and the funny handspun yarn out of Sunset Fibers' handdyed Corriedale Top. I spun the yarn specifically to preserve the color transitions of the roving. More info on the project to follow as soon as it's done.