Possessed to Knit

Handspun Thayer Completed

I spun merino roving with my Spanish Peacock Russian support spindles and plied the singles on my wheel to create a 2-ply lace yarn.  I had 8 ounces or so of a gray merino fleece and I sent it off to be processed into roving.  The resulting yarn is just over 4 ounces and it has a wide range of wraps per inch.  It was a challenge to spin and of course, the very thin parts from one ball were plied with the very thin parts of the other ball.

I wanted a nice lacy pattern and selected Brooklyn Tweed's Thayer design.  This time around, I slipped both stitches before purling two stitches together through the back loops and that step went much more smoothly.  This particular design has lace patterning on the right and wrong side.  I also took out one of the 19 stitch repeats to optimize the limited amount of handspun yarn.  I used my Knit Picks size 6 straight 10" needles and the entire ball of yarn.  I am not set up yet to block with my blocking wires, so I washed the scarf, spun it out, and then let it dry on my drying rack.  I'm not happy with the edges and blocking it better would improve the scarf over all.  With the wide range of thickness throughout the yarn, I thought that blocking it on the drying rack would be good enough.  This scarf is about 8" wide and 74" long and feels very soft with a nice spring to it. 

Herbal Scarf Completed

Here is the scarf I knitted for my friend, Karyn, who does the Herbal Highway podcast each week.  She received a skein of yarn from one of her students and I gladly offered to knit it up for her.

The 2-ply skein was a little over 4 oz, about 200 yards and very evenly spun.  She thought it was handspun, but I think it was mill processed from some home-raised sheep.  At any rate, it has a wonderful sheepy scent and is fairly soft.

To get the longest scarf possible, I used my size 10 Addi Lace Click needles and cast on 27 sts.  I started with a few rows of garter stitch and kept 2 stitches of garter stitch on the edges.  I selected this lace pattern from my Japanese 1000 Knitting Patterns book.  I like this pattern because it is the same up and down, so I did not have to knit two pieces then graft them together in the middle.  The scarf is about 7" wide by 48" long after blocking and I had just a few inches of yarn left. 

Thank you to Karyn for her educational podcast and for this lovely knitting challenge.  

Button-Up Neck Warmer Completed

Here is the completed Button-Up Neck Warmer from Honey's combed fleece that I made for my sister Maria's coworker, Susie.  I used my size 9 Addi Lace Click needles and noticed the  singles catching on the needle joins a bit.  I had decided not to ply the yarn after realizing that I only had a little over two ounces out of the original 8 ounces (which can happen with combing).  Maria cleverly suggested the cute sheep buttons and I found these on the Knit Picks website.  I reinforced the buttonholes by topstitching around them.  The scarf is a little longer than recommended by the pattern, but this way it is long enough for Susie to wear on top of her coat.  This is not the softest yarn I have spun and I am getting better at it as I practice with my processed Icelandic fleece.  I also sent Susie the Handspun Fenimore hat to go along with the scarf to keep her warm in Michigan this winter.

John's Cotton Dryad Scarf Completed

Here is my completed Dryad scarf for my good friend, John, completed just before the end of winter.  I used four skeins of Knit Picks Simply Organic Cotton Worsted in the Toffee colorway and size 9 Addi Fixed Addi Lace needles.  This yarn is made from cotton that is naturally grown in color and it is machine washable on gentle and dryable on low.  The scarf is about 9.5 inches wide and 68" inches long and the resulting fabric is very soft. 

I didn't block it because I thought it looked fine and I wanted to send it off as soon as I could.  It was fun to knit and I am working on a matching hat, which was not cooperating so well.  I mailed the scarf today and hopefully John will be able to wear it for a little while this winter.

Raha Scarf Completed

Here is my completed Raha scarf.  It was difficult to photograph the entire scarf, and the colors are more vivid in person.  The pattern is from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia.  I used my size 9 (5.5 mm) Addi Lace needles and one skein of Fiesta Boomerang yarn in the Sapphire colorway.

This scarf is certainly a unique combination of a European design and a hand-dyed yarn.  Fiesta Boomerang is very soft wool and it is machine washable.  I wanted to make a lacy scarf pattern to increase the length as a scarf entirely in garter stitch would be very pretty, but a bit shorter.  Although the edges are in garter stitch, there was still a bit of curling which settled down after blocking.

This scarf is a gift and should be comfortable and warm for this winter season.

Thayer Scarf Completed

Here is the Thayer scarf I knitted for Brooklyn Tweed designer, Leila Raabe, in the new Loft yarn.  It was so nice to have the opportunity to knit with this lovely yarn.  It comes in 32 colors and is perfect for lace or colorwork projects.  The Loft Collection features a variety of patterns designed with this delightful yarn.

I used size 5 (3.75 mm) Addi Lace needles and Loft in the Stormcloud colorway for this project.  The pattern calls for size 6 needles and I usually have to go up a needle size, however, the yarn was very springy.  I did not knit so tightly and achieved the desired gauge with size 5 needles.  The intricate lace patterning is created in every row of this design.  Jared Flood blocked it and the photos on the Brooklyn Tweed sight turned out beautifully.

Congratulations to Jared, Leila, and Michele on yet another successful yarn line.   

Earth and Sky Mystery KAL Shawl

Here is my completed Earth and Sky shawl drying on my blocking board.  It is for my friend, Gina, who will be traveling to Africa next month to participate in the Kenya program.   The yarn is Hempathy by Elsebeth Lavold in White Beach, Eucalyptus, and Dark Linen colorways.  Gina prefers cotton to wool and Hempathy is made of 34% hemp, 41% cotton, and 25% rayon.  I used my size 4 (3.5 mm) Addi Lace circular needles and I followed Stephen West's clever design.  This is the first pattern of his I have ever knitted and it was a lot of fun.  His pattern worked out very nicely and it was wonderful to see all the KAL projects on Ravelry.  Thank you to Stephen for his delightful shawl knit-along.

Irling's Half Diamond Scarf Completed

I completed this Irling's Half Diamond Scarf for Lawrence in honor of his recent birthday.  I love knittng gifts for Lawrence as he is an incredible craftsman himself.  I seriously considered knitting Akimbo for him, and he is stylish enough to pull it off, yet this traditional style scarf is more practical for winter in Pittsburgh.  It will fit nicely under his coat and it will tie comfortably around his neck to keep the cold out.  If you would like Akimbo, Lawrence, just let me know and I will gladly knit one for you.

The pattern is from Stahman's Book of Shawls and Scarves.  The yarn is Cables and Lace silk/wool blend yarn in the Summer Storm colorway.  I used my 24" size 5 fixed Addi Lace needles.  The scarf is started with a provisional cast-on and knit down from the center.  After I completed the first patterned section and started the ribbing section, I realized it would have been a nice scarf with the half diamond pattern the whole way through the scarf.  This way, though, Lawrence can evaluate this style of scarf and let me know it compares to his Zach scarf.

Dryad Scarf Completed

Here is Al modeling the Dryad Scarf I knitted for Jared Flood.  It is not blocked (as Jared does the blocking) yet still looks good.  I added two pattern repeats (24 rows each) for a total of 19 repeats, bringing the scarf closer to the 75" length that Jared wanted.  I used just about 5 skeins of Shelter yarn in the Nest colorway and size 9 Addi Lace circular needles.  There are lots of cables to keep track of and I especially had to make sure I was cabling in the right direction.  It does not take much of a distraction to twist a cable in the wrong direction.  This is a great project to show off Jared's new line of yarn.

Matt Scarves Completed

I completed these Christmas gifts for my nephews, Justin & Joshua.  I knitted them the Matt scarf from 7 Manly Scarf Patterns by Jade Sapphire.  I used 3 skeins of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Serrano (red) colorway for Justin and a little over 3 skeins of the Deep Ocean colorway for Joshua.  I knitted them with my Namaste size 8 glass needles and eventually memorized the 16 row repeat.  Each scarf is 6.5 to 7 inches wide.  I blocked Joshua's scarf more and had more yarn so his is longer (56 inches).  For Justin's scarf, I just spritzed it with some water so it would by dry by this morning and then I could mail it today.  Justin's scarf is about 50 inches long.  I had made them Fair Isle hats last year.  I had some extra Deep Ocean from Joshua's hat, however, Knit Picks no longer makes the Red Pepper that I used for Justin's hat last year and it turns out Serrano is quite a different shade of red.

I found weaving the ends in on these scarves to be quite a challenge.  I find the Russian Join too bulky and there is no wet splicing with Superwash wool.   These scarves are reversible, so where is the best place to hide the ends on a reversible scarf?  This is why I work so hard to make on large skein of yarn when I spin, I never weave the ends in to my satisfaction and I welcome any helpful hints for this procedure.

Here are Caitlin & Colin wearing their Knit Picks sweaters together before we took them on their walk.  They look too cute walking next to each other, wearing their new sweaters.