Nemo’s sweater has been done for quite some time but the weather got really nice and he hasn’t had a chance to wear it. This morning I put it on him and he wouldn’t walk through the park. He did this a lot:

He looks kinda like he needs to go to the bathroom but mostly like he is traumatized and can’t move the entire back half of his body..which is funny because the sweater doesn’t really touch that part of him. I think it is fair to assume that Nemo never had a sweater with his former owners. Phil says that the sweater is probably itchy and that he hates it and shouldn’t have to wear it. Well then why did I knit the darn thing?!

He does look much more regal when sitting….

I sometimes look down at my project bag and realize that everything that I am knitting is the same color. I am currently in a “light teal” stage. I did finally decide on a project for a quick spring scarfy thing. I chose the Opera Scarf project.  I spent much of the weekend walking around with a hank of Miss Babs Moo and Ewe around my neck, knitting right from the skein. The color is amazing! This is the color “Forever.” The one bad thing about Miss Babs being in town, is the amazing quantity of color options.

I am also working on the first project from our Indie Indulgence Club. It is a sleeveless vesty thingy and I love it. The yarn is Savannah from the Fibre Company (now available in a full color range from the shop). It appears to be almost the same color as my scarf…I need to branch out.

Then today Jared Flood released this new triangular shawl pattern! I think I have to make it. I expect to have it at the shop in print version soon, but we haven’t received notice of it being available in print quite yet. I am thinking of using Babs Yet, which we now have in the shop or something in sock weight, like the NFC Luxury Sock that just arrived OR the hank of Dragonfly Fibers Djinni sock that has been “marinating” on my desk for two or three weeks. (For those who don’t know, I “marinate” yarn on my desk to decide whether I REALLY have to take it home…I have this luxury. I realize that you don’t. I am sorry.)

Photo by Jared Flood

I may be a lazy knitter or just too busy…not sure, but now that Veronica lives across the country and has time to knit things, I started sending things her way…things that I have started and just don’t have the energy to finish. The latest is the Balloon Sleeve Jacket by Olga and found on the cover of Sensual Knits. I got all of the pieces knitted and stopped at the sleeves. The design has a poofy sleeve that just wasn’t going to work with the thick alpaca merino yarn that I was using (Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand dye). I had no energy to redesign the sleeves, so I gave up, and it hid in a box until Veronica was willing to take it on. I sent it off in January, I think. It arrived last week, and I can’t even explain how excited I am. There are so many amazing things about this garment. Because it is Olga’s design, there is facing, hems, reinforcement, etc. She loves the details, that Olga. The yarn adds weight and heft to it and it feels like an actual coat. Veronica found the most amazing buttons and belt buckle to match the jacket. The color is spectacular (which you don’t even come close to seeing here.) It is just perfect. Now if only it were October and not almost April…

Homin shawl from Shetland Trader

It is spring. The weather is becoming amazing. The cherry tree in our neighbor’s yard is almost in full bloom. But I am in a complete knitting funk. I am finding it hard to find knitted things to wear to work…I hate this time of year. It is still too cold for most of my spring and summer wardrobe and yet my winter sweaters in jewel tones look ridiculous when folks are wearing sandals already. (We are very very excited about sandals in this area!) I also am finding my current WIPs completely overwhelming. I have a spring cotton sweater on needles that I haven’t gotten more than four inches knitted. I have the Monami cardigan on needles, which requires a table top and complete concentration. Despite that fact that I am teaching two classes on this, I can’t seem to get past the sleeve. I also started this shawl project from Shetland Trader this week in an espresso color from Dragonfly Fibers. I got about five inches of the lace edging done and hit a wall. I decided today that I need more accessory pieces that allow me to wear something knitted but aren’t as heavy as a sweater or my worsted weight shawls. I also need something in one of the “hot” spring colors for the season, since I can’t wear an entire garment in most of these colors. I have settled on sport weight…here are a few of the spring colors that you will see all over the stores this season. There is Hempathy, Neighborhood Fiber Company Studio Sport in her new lavender color, Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk and the Fibre Company Road to China Light (yum!)

Now to find something so mindless that it will solve my knitting funk…

I started with the Opera Scarf. It is easy and requires very little attention. But I did just knit one.

Wisp from Knitty would look neat in something larger gauge like sportweight and it is very versatile.

Photo by Wendy Niamath

Autumn Leaves Stole by Jared Flood would also be rather easy but I am not sure if it is mindless enough to get me out of the funk. (pattern available at the shop)

Photo by Jared Flood

hmm…will let you know what I end up doing. Something tells me that I will be hitting the Opera Scarf again..

Many of you have probably reached the neckline shaping on this project, which is a little tricky. While keeping the original cabled motif, the neckline decreases must be worked. First, be sure to read the note in the pattern that explains how to work the bind offs for this section. To bind off 2 stitches, for example, you would slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the next stitch and then hop the first over the second and off the needle. By slipping this first stitch instead of knitting it, you are making the bindoffs less abrupt and flow a bit better with the neckline.

Depending on how you decided to lengthen your sweater, if at all, your neckline may or may not look like that seen here or the photograph in the book. Either way, it isn’t super important, as long as you continue to work as much of the chart as you can. So, for example, if you were instructed to bind off 3 stitches and this falls on row 13 of the chart, meaning that the first 3 stitches of the chart would be bound off,  you wouldn’t be able to work the first cable and would just purl the next stitch after the last one bound off and then continue the chart as directed. Since some of the chart will be “eaten”, you may want to throw a marker onto your needle that marks the halfway point of the chart so that you always have a point of reference. Then mark your chart so that you know exactly where that marker falls. This way, if you are confused about what to do, you can reference the marker and the marked point on the chart and sort it out from there.

How are folks coming along? Isn’t 16 sts per inch the most fabulous gauge! Goes so much faster than my usual sport and fingering weight projects…

I have this overwhelming desire to knit spring things. I really really wanted to break into the new Louisa Harding Ianthe, since it is so similar to Rowan Wool Cotton (which I have a weakness for). After a great deal of debate, I narrowed it down to these three projects:

Nancy from the Louisa Harding Ianthe Book

Shibuya pattern from Berroco Booklet#308

Hibiki from Berroco Booklet #308

For the first project, I was contemplating a great honeysuckle pink with a couple of different trim options. I was actually going to use the Mulberry Silk as the trim for this one, because the little bit of shine on the edges would be gorgeous. Then I saw the second one. Kel thinks it looks like a pineapple…it just isn’t blocked in this photo. The third one really appealed to my love of pullovers that I can throw on for work and not worry about putting “pieces” together. The problem turned out to be that Hibiki is actually worked in a worsted weight yarn and Ianthe is DK. hmm…so I finally settled on the second one, Shibuya. (I will use Remix for the other one, I think).  I am thinking about this for a spring class. Thoughts? I cast on and have a few inches done. The lace is easy to follow and the yarn is amazing to work with (for cotton, that is).

This morning I decided to call Veronica at 11:08 am (which means 8:08 am where she is in sunny California.) She wasn’t awake yet. I didn’t think this was very fair, since she has a tree full of oranges in her backyard and happy hummingbirds to wake her up every day. Here in Alexandria, we have freezing cold, the sound of cars and trains and miserable grey skies to wake us up.  So to get me back for waking her up, she sent me this photo along with a message: “fine, here you go, here i am with my tiny mandarin.”

After I got over knitting one million garments in yellow, I went back to knitting everything in green. I finished my Hooray Cardigan and wore it last week. For those who are planning or currently working on this, I would suggest removing the decreases that occur on the bottom of the sweater after the hip increases. They are meant to draw the front open but they cause a little bit of puckering around the upper “butt” region that isn’t really needed on most normal butt sized humans. No one really needs extra puckering any where. I also added some extra buttons so that it didn’t open in the front right at the spot where all of my stress has become a tummy…yeah, cortisol. Thank you. We love you.

Brigid Jacket Knitalong

Several of you have asked about lengthening the sweater. There are a couple of options. First, you can add another inch to the ribbing on the bottom of the sweater. This is an easy way to add length and not impact the line by line instructions that you will see on the fronts of the sweater.

Another option is to work the fronts first and add one entire chart repeat to the instructions. When it tells you to work the chart 2 or 3 times, just add one additional repeat. This way, the line by line instructions that follow won’t change and length will have been added. This option means that you must knit the fronts first and then work the back to match the front in length to before the armhole bind offs.If you already started the back, just put it on a holder and work your front and then go back to the back. You only need one front to determine how long this option will result in.

If you already knitted the back and just added length to the back before binding off for armhole shaping, you must knit the front to match. This means that the line by line instructions won’t work for you anymore. In this case, you will be working different rows than the pattern indicates. You need to count the number of rows between the armhole and neckline shaping and be sure to work the same because the instructions tell you to “work to row X” of the chart…and this isn’t going to work for you anymore. If you need help with this option, just call or stop by. I can walk you through it.

I have now knitted the entire sweater twice I think. I started by doing the third option above and rewriting the fronts. Then i decided the sweater was still too short and I ripped it back to the armholes and re-knitted it, adding an entire chart repeat. To be honest, it is still on the short side, but a good length for something that has extra ease in it. The pieces will be sewn together tonight or tomorrow so that I can show you all a button band on Thursday night during Stitch n Space. Be sure to stop by if you think you will need button band help. I am also adding buttons to mine and making them smaller, so I will discuss all of this on Thursday. (and post some things on the blog).

Hey, since you are already online. Have you voted for us yet?

Hopefully you have your yarn and are ready to be swatching so that we can cast on this Thursday! Your target gauge is 16sts and 24 rows on US#8 needles. I find that it is hard to hit this on a US#8 unless you are a really loose knitter. I tried a US#9 instead. To make and check your swatch:

• Cast on over 18 sts (like 24) and knit a stockinette stitch square with one or two stitches of garter on the edges to help it lay flat.
• BLOCK THE SWATCH!!! It will likely grow.
• Here is a swatch with a ruler, as an example (from my Austin Hoodie project several months ago):

• Count the number of stitches or “V”s that you see within the four inches. When counting, use something to point at the stitches, like a needle. It helps. Pay close attention to partial stitches. Those partial stitches definitely make a difference to your gauge.
• If you count a number that is LOWER than 16, it means that you are knitting too loosely. In this case, go down a needle size and repeat above.
• If you count a number that is HIGHER than 16, it means that you are knitting too tightly. In this case, go up a needle size and repeat above.

If you aren’t sure, bring in the swatch! We are always happy to measure swatches. They should be off of needles and blocked though

In other (sad) news, I just wanted to let you all know that after several weeks of a struggle with Kirby and his failing liver, he passed away today. We had to make the decision to put him to sleep. His condition was only getting worse and he recently stopped eating entirely. We decided that it was best. Heinz is still here to visit with you on your next visit. He has been rather upset the past few days. I think he knew that Kirby’s time was getting near.

Kirby at the Holidays - 2010

Photo courtesy of Interweave Knits

We are getting excited about the start of our next knitalong, the gorgeous Brigid Jacket, found in the Vintage Modern Knits book. It is a modern twist on a traditional aran sweater – featuring two gorgeous cable panels on its front.

We are starting this week with yarn selection and swatching. Knitted at sixteen stitches over four inches, it is a quick knit that you can have in time for St. Patrick’s Day! You need to know how to knit, purl, increase and decrease for this project. We will help with reading the chart and working cables.

A bit about fit and choosing a size:

The sweater is intended to be worn with some positive ease. The size options are: 36 (40, 44, 48, 52).”  I am 34″ around the chest so will be knitting the 36″ size. The sweater is also cropped, so if you intend to make it a tad longer, be sure to purchase extra yarn. The schematic will help you to determine if this is necessary. You can hold a tape measure to the top of your shoulder and get a good idea of how long the finished sweater will be if made exactly as the pattern indicates. We are happy to help with measuring! Here are the yarn requirements: 784 (882, 980, 1176, 1274) yards of worsted or aran weight yarn.

Come by the shop and let us help you choose yarn.  I went ahead and chose a few for myself…now which one to pick?

Some yarn options

Berroco Remix

The original jacket is knitted in Terra, which if you are not familiar with you must come see it for yourself! The colors are lustrous in this single-ply Merino/Baby Alpaca/Silk blend. (sweater cost: $144-$234)  Or try Silky Wool XL, an 80% wool, 20% silk blend in a saturated color range. The silk content adds unique contrast to the wool, and it will catch the cables beautifully. (sweater cost: $80-$120)

For an animal-free and eco-friendly option, we have Berroco Remix. This special yarn is 100% recycled fabric! Just arrived are new cheerful, spring colors. (sweater cost: $44-$66) We have solids in lovely bright colors from Spud & Chloe Sweater, a soft organic cotton and wool blend. (sweater cost: $78-$124)

Looking for something 100% wool? Brooklyn Tweed Shelter would knit up nicely at a looser gauge, and we have the full color range! (sweater cost: $75-$112)  For those who want a more dense jacket, Eco Wool is an excellent option. This yarn comes in several color ranges, from undyed to heathers to rich hues. (sweater cost: $33.50-$50)

Brooklyn Tweed Shelter

Once you have your yarn picked out, be sure to swatch! We will then meet up on Thursday, February 24th during our Stitch in Space to get started on the sweater. If you are knitting from afar, no worries! I will post lots of guidance right here on the blog.

I have no idea why I have been knitting with yellowish yarn…I can’t wear yellow. It make me look dead. or getting dead. So here are photos of my most recent yellowish projects. The first is the Honey Cowl – a free pattern from Madelinetosh. It is a fairly easy slip stitch pattern in the round. It seemed to go on forever, but I think it would be a bit more interesting if I had used a yarn with some color variation. I think the new Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK would really rock in this pattern. The Rimu was so interesting to work with though! It gets fluffier as you knit with it. The oils in your hands really makes the possum fibre come out from the yarn.  I haven’t even blocked it yet but it already feels so much softer than it did when I started.
The second project is my Steeler hat, of course. It is the Selbu Modern pattern from Kelbourne Woolens. I think the yarn is Sweet Georgia…but it might be Fiberphile. I honestly have no idea what it is! It was in my stash…hrm…I guess this is why I should start putting thing on Ravelry.

Honeycomb in Rimu

Steeler's Hat in Sweet Georgia

Brigid sweater from Vintage Modern Knits

Yesterday was a roller coaster, to say the least. The ladies from Kelbourne Woolens were here for a fabulous trunk show, book signing and workshop for their new book – Vintage Modern Knits. Seeing the garments in person was amazing. I am inspired to knit several more projects in the book after seeing them here in person. If you haven’t already, check out Kel’s Inspiration post about the book, with a full review of the projects. We will be hosting a knitalong for the Brigid Jacket seen here starting on February 24th. I am hoping that we can get a classic cabled sweater finished in time for St. Patties day! If you want to knit along with us, you will need to know:

-how to increase and decrease

-how to read a cable chart

-how to cable

Courtney and Kate in the window seat signing books

So anyway, Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn were here yesterday for the day, and it was wonderful! They taught a Roositud workshop, one of the unique techniques in the book. (no worries, if you missed the workshop, the book includes instructions on how to work this technique, and we can help you as well.) We enjoyed some fab cupcakes from Lavender Moon Cupcakery and chatted in the lounge with the ladies during the book signing. We have almost sold through our second shipment of the book, but there are still some copies here, if you haven’t picked one up yet. If you did make it to the trunk show yesterday, what was the garment that you were most excited about?

I did actually finish my steeler’s hat…photos coming soon. (I left the darn thing at home). But it didn’t seem to help us win last night. So after a wonderful day at the shop, I went home to a house full of people and a Pittsburgh loss I like the Packers, so it was an odd game for me. So congrats to the Packers fans out there!

My sleeveless Hooray Cardi

our so the pattern is called…

Last month we had this cabled raglan cardigan class, which uses the Hooray Cardigan pattern by Veera Välimäki. I grabbed a few hanks of Madelinetosh DK for the project and worked along with the class..which brings me to this stage seen here (well, this looks done, but it needs sleeves. But the back looks cool!) The pattern is a fairly straightforward raglan but includes some interesting cable charts on both fronts and down the back. It also has a large turned collar that takes quite a bit of time to knit (2×2 ribbing for 16″ anyone? No? yeah..i didn’t think so.) I suppose I should just knit the sleeves and be done with it, but who likes to knit sleeves? After working the ribbing around the front for almost a week, I have come to a screeching halt on the sleeves. It probably doesn’t help that I have a stealth knitting deadline looming over my head right now too. Fortunately, others have had more success with their Hooray Cardis. Here is Jennifer’s finished cardi:

Here is one of the student’s from the class, also Jennifer, with her card:

Now I know that I have previously scoffed at raglans, since they do nothing but accentuate my giant shoulders..but the raglan lines on this one are very vertical, so I am hoping that it works for my body shape.

So now that I am mostly done with the thing, we get an entire order of the new Madelinetosh DK yarn into the store – Tosh Merino DK. Of course it is lovely. The single ply takes dye similarly to the TML that I adore so much. So I am itching to get a sweater quantity of it.  I have to resist until at least this cardi is finished or the Monami cardi is finished…(also a class and also worked in DK weight yarn, by the way).  I am having this overwhelming desire to start knitting spring and summer projects so that they are done in time to wear them, but it is also freezing outside and I have a few sweaters so close to being done…

Lost in space

This adorable red cabled beret was left in space yesterday. Let us know if it is yours!

UPDATE: the shop will close at 7 pm today, Wednesday, due to weather. Stay home and be safe.

When you have a knitting deadline, there is nothing more wonderful than getting a nice extension. My steelers hat now has a two week extension, which is fabulous. They won on Sunday and will now face the Packers in two weeks!! Without this win, the project was doomed to sit in my stash with the steelers socks that I started several seasons ago…I am not good at finishing football inspired knits after the season has ended. So this is the Selbu Modern pattern by Kelbourne Woolens. I am finding each row of the colorwork to be fairly easy to memorize and rock through. It just requires my full attention, which means no television shows that have subtitles (sorry Toddlers & Tiaras) or are mostly all about the visual element (like Animal Hoarders). So without my favorite trashy reality television, I haven’t been able to get much done on this thing. I have to focus!

In other news and speaking of Kelbourne Woolens…did you all catch that Vintage Modern Knits is in?! I haven’t been this excited about a book in awhile. I love the Fibre Company yarns and the entire book features their yarn! I am thinking this will be the knitalong for Feb/March:

Brigid sweater from Vintage Modern Knits knitted in Terra

I will now leave you with your Pittsburghese lesson of the day: red up. In a sentence, “We are having a party for the football game so I have to red up the house.”

NFC Luxury Worsted on US#5 needles

There isn’t anything more to say about the weather than that. While folks are trying to start thinking about spring knitting projects, the temperature continues to drop outside. When the Neighborhood Fiber Company Luxury Worsted arrived (merino, cashmere, nylon), I decided that a hank needed to become house socks..something that I could slip onto my feet when I get home, to keep my feet warm. (Course going up and down the stairs in hand knit socks is very dangerous apparently, as I have wiped out a few times already in my handknits.) Since I own a sweater or hat or scarf in a large number of the NFC colorways, socks gave me an opportunity to knit in the yarn with yet another color that I haven’t already worked with. I selected the Georgetown colorway, which is a much richer purply blue than this picture can even begin to capture. I used a basic toe up pattern of my own creation and was able to knock out most of the first sock while at the bar on Friday night. While I love to knit at a bar, it is only for the most secure of individuals…especially a good DC dive bar. They don’t take too well to a lady sitting alone with a pint and five pointy sticks. I got a lot of funny looks. But really, a worsted weight sock on US#5 needles is a great bar project. (and this pair of socks is only 200 yards!!) The second sock is well on its way and will likely be done tonight. I started wearing the first one last night, so at least one of my feet was snuggly and warm.

You can grab the basic pattern here.

So on Friday night, my friend Sarah met up with me at the bar in DC. After she got done teasing me about knitting alone in a bar while I was waiting for her, I pointed out that her head attire for the evening was a bit lacking in the style department. She was wearing her fiance’s fur lined flap hat…something straight out of Fargo.  I told her that she needed a proper hat…fortunately something that I could take care of. After sending her a series of emails with potential hat patterns, we settled on the Beaumont Tam by Jared Flood, which is available as a paid download from Ravelry. It is worked on US#4 and US#7 needles, making it a bit faster than the Selbu Modern hat that I am currently working on (and was her first choice…I am up for random knitting gifts, but not ones that take weeks to do!) So I selected a cream Blue Sky Alpaca Sport and a great bright blue contrast color, which will work nicely with her red hair and her camel colored coat. I am super excited to work with the BSA Sport again, which I haven’t worked with in awhile. Speaking of..I think I have a mostly finished pair of wrist warmers on needles somewhere in my house..hmm…

Blue Sky Alpacas Sport

And so a sale….

So I decided that we are all very very cold and need to knit with whatever we can find to warm our hands up. So I have put Mirasol Sulka, Blue Sky Alpacas Sport and Blue Sky Alpacas Melange on sale! Stop by and check out our new front table which features patterns and gorgeous smooshy hanks of these alpaca yarns.

I might have a problem. On the one hand (haha), I love colorwork mittens. They’re a great way to show off pretty yarn and fun designs.

On the other hand, this week’s weather forecast looks like this:

I’m still surprised that this is what January is like. It’s warm, folks. I have the heat off and the windows open. The only time I’ve seen ice in the past three months was in a refreshing beverage. And yet I can’t stop thinking about adorably cute mittens, in a place where I now have absolutely no need for mittens. It’s absurd.

Before I moved to California, I started some wonderful Citrus mittens. After over a year (sock yarn on US #0, anyone?) they are finally done. They have snuggly double cuffs to keep out the cold. I have worn them exactly zero times. I guess they are nice to look at.

I made plans for making the super-cute Carrots & Beets Mittens as a gift for my mom, who is an ardent gardener, for Christmas. A week after Christmas (I know, I’m a terrible daughter), they were finished. Let’s not talk about how long it took to weave in all the ends, okay? At least in Chicago they are useful.

These were knit in Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool fingering weight on US #1 dpns. I lengthened the cuffs to help keep out the cold. The pattern is by SpillyJane and if you like it you should check out her blog and adorable collection of patterns – lots of fun and cute colorwork!

I queued up at least six other colorwork mitten patterns and started collecting yarn for them. Most of them are from indie designers, which is awesome. I love La Joie du Printemps, Kissing Koi, Olga’s Mittens, and Tremblant, to name a few. And at least I have a chance of wearing fingerless Härkeberga Guldmantel mitts.

So now what? I’m sure some of you would volunteer to help me out, distributing my mitten largesse where it’s most needed – particularly in chilly DC/MD/VA! Or maybe you could just try your own and I can selfishly hoard beautiful mittens and hang them on the wall or something.

Here’s a secret about stranded colorwork: it’s pretty much all worked the same way. No matter how complicated the design looks, if you can follow a chart, a seemingly intricate baroque pattern is just as easy to knit as a simple geometric design. Don’t be put off trying a fancy pattern that you fall in love with just because it looks scary. (But do pick one with two colors, not six or twelve, so that you don’t have a zillion ends to weave in when you thought you were done).

Indie designers have made some incredibly fun and creative designs. If there’s something you love, it’s probably on a mitten somewhere. Pints of beer? Garden gnomes? Daleks? Poodles? Skulls? Squirrels? Of course if you want something more traditional or geometric, you can find that too. A Ravelry pattern search for stranded colorwork + hands brings up tons of eye candy and possibilities. One more: Ringo & Elwood (below) would be super cute for kids. I’m getting a little breathless here and I’ll try to stop.

photo courtesy Twist Collective

Have you found any other cool patterns you’d like to share? What else are you knitting to keep your fingers from freezing?