RUST complete!

I have completed my test knit for RUST by Gabrielle Danskknit. It was a surprisingly quick to knit pattern with interesting and simple changes in the fabric as you go along, such as color changes and eyelets. It only took a total of 170.30 yards and/or 104grams of worsted and heavy worsted weight yarn to complete the single loop cowl.

I was using what I had on hand (at first--who doesn't end up using a test as an excuse to hit the LYS?) and thought it might be cool to use some different textures. I started out with a base of Knit Picks City Tweed in Habanero, heavy worsted weight. Then, I decided to pull out the fleck colors in the tweed besides the main rust color: black, cream and brown.

For that, I added Lamb's Pride Worsted Weight yarn in Oatmeal and Wild Oak and Lamb's Pride Bulky Weight in Onyx for the center piece.

The piece is designed symmetrically in stitch count from top to bottom, with evenly spaced eyelet rounds and a central garter stitch band, so I did the same with the colors.

I am modeling it with my Fuego hat (new) and my 1980's Stratojac Coat (Old....Goodwill but vintage find!!).

I would recommend this pattern to newish knitters who are looking to learn knitting in the round and/or some yarn overs/eyelets. It is VERY fast to knit. All of us testers were surprised, and at only 3 stitches to the inch if you use the right yarn (mine was smaller at 3.5 st/inch), you can be even faster than I was.

It is not "live" yet, but should be for sale soon in Gabrielle's Ravelry shop.

Happiest of knitting to you all! :)


(Does anyone else notice how we all say that? 'Happy knitting?" It's like the knitter's version of the Vulcan salute: "Live Long and Prosper." Just sayin....)

The Sweater that Only Took a Year

....to make.

The sweater took one year to complete, nearly to the day. Why? You say? Or, if you are a knitter, you may have maybe just a few ideas why this would be. No, it is not a complicated sweater. In fact, just the opposite.

First, the entire sweater is stockinette with 2x2 ribbed edging. In pieces. That you have to assemble. There is no colorwork and not a single stitch of any other type besides stockinette--did I mention that already? There is no shaping, and the funnel neck simply extends up from the front and back halves of the sweater. I just couldn't bring myself to keep working on it when distracted by so many other tempting and yummy things that wanted to be made. So it sat, sadly in the bottom of the knitting queue (figuratively and literally) for a very long time.

Then recently, upon picking it up again, I realized that this sweater had potential. It was something that I would probably buy if it were on a store rack. It might not even have to be on sale. It had a boxy shape (one of my personal favorite shapes for sweaters and tops) and a turtleneck. In fact, that piece was even in the name! What was I waiting for? I picked it up and took a second look. (Okay, a 55nd look...)

This sweater, from The Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits, is called "A Tempting Turtleneck." It is a curious, and really, to be fair, interesting combination of techniques. For the person looking for a first sweater pattern, this may be for you as it truly does not have any shaping and is really straightforward construction-wise.

And though I am joking about stockinette, let's face it: when it is done right and in the correct yarn, it is very nice indeed. It looks nice on just about everyone as far as a fabric goes. And in this case, you have absolute control over the length of the body of the sweater and the arms. (My arms are extra freakishly long, according to off-the-rack clothing.)

The challenging parts of the sweater include seaming and the construction of the turtleneck.

Yes, I said it has no shaping, and it is knitted straight up from the front and back, then the two pieces are seamed together at the shoulders and continued up said neck to the end. Wait a minute, you say, If I seam the turtleneck right up the sides, that creates a seam selvage on the inside. If I turn down the turtleneck (which you are "supposed" to do), the seams will show.

My solution to this was to seam the shoulders together, NOT break the yarn, poke the needle into the inside of the turtleneck and seam it from the "inside," the part you see when turning the collar down. That way, the seams were formed on the "outside" of the collar as it is seen when it is unfolded.

I like how it turned out, and when the sweater is worn, collar turned down and all, the seams are not seen.

The sweater was knitted in Marble Chunky by James C. Brett. Here it
is at WEBS yarn store, I bought mine at Craft Warehouse locally
on sale.

And since I have been wanting to become more proficient at seaming, I used very light purple yarn, sport weight, on the chunky weight sweater. I thought it might be a good way to reveal any seaming issues. But to be honest, I would do it again as it was very easy to see and actually made the whole process easier.

The Yarn Girls, in their books, say that, in theory, you should be able to seam a sweater in highly contrasting yarn and, in theory the yarn should be invisible to the observer.

This experience showed me the theory is sound; it played out just fine in real life. Now...if only we could try that with wormholes....

RUST

I love working with Gabrielle Danskknit. She is my neverbeforeseen friend to the east and north in Montreal, Canada. She is a knitwear designer there who is about to enter medical school. She designs cute and simple patterns that are easy to follow and are friendly to read. That is, her very agreeable personality comes out in them, even in abbreviated fashion. How she does that, I don't know.

Currently, I am doing another test knit for her, and here is my swatch to intrigue you:

"RUST" is a cowl with her signature simple construction and fun feel. I will keep you updated as to its progession and release. If you are interested in her other patterns, you can find them here in her Ravelry store.

And even as spring threatens warmer weather, don't forget to get your cozy on once in a while.

After all, cozy is a state of mind, not a temperature.

Testy Knitting

Lacy&The Leaves Baby Blanket, Gabrielle Danskknit

One of the things I have tried out over the last several months was test knitting.  I joined the group "Free Pattern Testers" on Ravelry back in the late fall of last year and promptly spent too much time looking in from the outside, believing that I would probably not be of very much help to anyone writing new patterns.

Once I got over my irrational fear of failure, I grabbed a pattern from the long list in the group called "Lacy& the Leaves" baby blanket. I took a deep breath and dove in. After all, how hard could a baby blanket be? While the pattern was not hard to knit (and the instructions were just fine, even though it was a test knit), I did not do a good job managing my time on the project. We had planned a camping trip not long after I accepted the test knit and I wound up knitting madly most of the trip, to my family's chagrin, since I am the one who cooks all the camping meals.

After several family meals of granola bars and Capri Suns, I finally finished the blanket at Fort Stevens in Warrenton, Oregon and took some photos of it. My family, who had no pictures of their own from that trip, looked on during the test knit photo shoot, munching on the now barley palatable Nature Valley Oats n' Honey bars in silence and dreaming of a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon that may yet come even if only on the last day of the trip.

The camp ground had wi-fi, which I had mostly been using to apologize to the designer, whose test this was,

for my tardiness in finishing the test. I finally was able to finish up and post photos and fill out the paperwork for the project and head out with my family on my bicycle and into the camping activities sunset.

Since then, I have test knitted a few more projects, including some hats and socks, seen here in this blog post. (Links to my project pages and to the patterns are provided under each photo where available)

Test knitting is a really good learning experience for anyone wanting to know more about design, or even just about knitting. It can be eye opening and even affirming; like in school when you are asked to "grade" another person's paper and you realize just how much you know about commas after all.

I currently am about to test another pattern for a lovely cowl for Gabrielle Danskknit of Montreal, Canada. Look out for another new pattern soon and I will keep looking for fun ways to learn more about knitting!

John's Aviator Hat, Gabrielle Danskknit

Jules for Aviators and Explorers

Embrace the Socks, Gabrielle Danskknit

Beatrix

Alpine Flowers Fair Isle Hat

Tiptoe Slippers, Hanna Tjukanov

Third Annual Homesteading Fair in Lyle, Washington....yes it has been THAT long since I last posted....

Hello again!

I, like so many other bloggers, have been quite remiss in my posting frequency.  I will not say that I am making a New Year's resolution to remedy this ( I also get out of that since it's April and nearly, really, May, right?) but I do have a recently created "to do" list for the blog down on actual paper (does anybody use that stuff anymore? I love it....am I the last one?) in pencil (so as to account for changes) and have the best of intentions to provide you, the reader (and I realize there really may be only, literally one reader...I am okay with that) with hours and hours of upcoming semi-riveting reading and amusement.

And no, I have not--for a single moment--stopped knitting, sewing, cooking and otherwise crafting for one second. I do love it all so :)

Since I last visited you, I had completed my first for sale pattern, which I developed for a class I was asked to teach last fall in Lyle, Washington at the Homesteading Fair. Well, they have called upon me again for this upcoming September and I have been thinking about what to teach this time.

Last year, I taught an all day class on toe-up socks which was fun and informative for me as well as I hope it was for the participants.

This year, I am thinking of something a little less difficult skill-wise, but still at a sort of intermediate level. I am thinking right now of teaching how to knit a hat with simple stranded color work on bulky weight yarn. After all, most knitters have at least tried knitting a hat and, with Christmas not all that distant following the fair, it might be nice for people to have a quick pattern with a new twist (the colorwork) to make simple, fun and what will be well loved gifts.

I will keep you informed as this notion develops!

Anyone interested in the fair here in Washington State can follow their blog here, or their facebook page here. Anyone interested in finding out what homesteading is, can google it or start here. You will be surprised at what you find!