Fluffy, or There and Back Again

They say that knitting is therapeutic. I say that knitting IS therapeutic. Let’s knit our astonishment about the last US elections into astonishing garments – at least something good would come out of it as a result! For the next four years I am going to knit up a storm – promise!

Meanwhile, back to my knitting life adventures. We went to Pennsylvania and spent three extremely busy weeks there. What do you normally do when you leave a place? If you ask me (you didn’t but let’s pretend…), I clean. And what do you do when you come back home after a long absence? Again, I start with cleaning. Therefore, I spent quite a substantial chunk of the last month cleaning and didn’t have time to write here. Yet, between cleaning and other important stuff I miraculously managed to squeeze some knitting.

It’s my favorite season in Pennsylvania now – fall. Every day I walked on a trail and took an insane amount of pictures.

What’s not to like – bright colors, crystal clear air, soft light, balmy wind, perfect temperature... Since I knew that this year my fall season was meant to be only three weeks long I tried to enjoy every second of it.

And I finally could get my hands on my stash! Yay! Four bags of yarn in Florida were not enough for my appetite. So I went down to the basement where all the yarn is stored and saw this big bag of Rowan Alpaca Cotton in a cloudy and pearly grey color. I used this yarn before a couple of times and the only problem with it is that it is extremely soft and pliable. And rather stretchy. My initial idea was to make some sort of poncho with sleeves. Something like this.

(This is a pattern from Phildar #38 2011, by the way)

Normally I don’t wear ponchos. For a couple of reasons: 1) I use my hands a lot and don’t want anything to stand in the way between me and them; 2) ponchos are for tall, skinny, and young, and I look really funny in a poncho. But this yarn was asking for something roomy and airy and what can be roomier than a poncho?

There was another possibility. I could make one more Riverband (I used the same yarn for my Riverband # 1) with two strands of yarn together. Riverband is a great pattern – versatile, comfortable, and extremely flattering. I wear it a lot. The problem is that I already have two Riverbands.

If using one thread of yarn, I needed something to reinforce the garment’s shape to prevent it from stretching. What could be better than cables for this purpose? If you have any other solution, please tell me.  So I started experimenting with different cable patterns and eventually picked this one.

As I already have mentioned, I was busy. Yet, the yarn was calling, and my totally improvised pattern seemed to be so easy to make that I would spend every free moment knitting till I almost finished the back.

Do you know what “knitter’s remorse” means? It’s like buyer’s remorse but with knitting. When you pick a pattern and yarn, start knitting, make some progress, and all of a sudden look at your work from a different angle and don’t really like it. Actually, don’t like it at all. Does it happen to you? If it does, what do you do?

It happens to me on a regular basis. Usually, I keep going even though somewhere inside my guts there is this little vermin telling me that I am just wasting my time. Yet, in some cases, I stop and unravel everything. This is how I felt while working on this sweater. I even shared my doubts with the Universe (aka Instagram) and got an answer: Sleep on it, and then, if still dislike it, unravel.

This is how my work was saved and eventually I got this wonderful sweater, if I may say so myself, because this whole thing is totally my invention.

The end result doesn’t look like a poncho, but it is roomy enough. Warm and fuzzy, like a kitten or puppy (hence the pattern’s name). Flattering to any body type. And I am in love with its color!

More pictures on Ravelry.

While we were up north, we visited our daughter in New York and she asked me for a cardigan. A warm winter cardigan. I thought about Flaum from Amirisu Fall 2015 almost immediately. I saw these wonderful incarnations of this pattern on Ravelry and purchased it a while ago (and even started making it but didn’t have enough yarn to finish). 

This time I decided to make it from Rowan Kid Classic that has very generous yardage. The cardigan’s pattern is clear and straightforward. As soon as I figured out all the abbreviations (they are not included in the pattern and you have to download them separately, which took me some time to realize), it was a smooth sailing.

Have I told you how much I love ribs? Well, it turns out that as much as I like wearing ribbed sweaters I hate the very process of ribbing. It is tedious, nothing happens, and it puts me to sleep. At first, I wanted to make two Flaums in a row, but then decided against it. I couldn’t stand even the idea of the endless ribbing. And the fishermen ribs literally make yarn disappear. I used up all 10 balls of Rowan Kid Classic that I had in my stash.

And now let me present you my Flaum.

I decided to photograph it before washing because I am much shorter than my daughter and, I hope, it will grow after washing to fit her better. It is extremely warm (not for South Florida’s weather, for sure) and its color reminds me of autumn leaves and long walks in Pennsylvania. Happy times! I wish I were more patient, so I could make one for myself. Well, maybe one day (in a very distant future).

Again, more pictures and details on Ravelry.

Of colors, patterns, and happy endings

How do you get inspired? My main inspiration comes from colors and shapes. Some colors almost make me cry, or swoon, or feverishly leaf through knitting books and magazines looking for an appropriate garment to make.

Florida Keys is an especially colorful place. Evenings and mornings here are major events because of sunsets and sunrises. This is not a joke, I am deadly serious. Look at these pictures, for example.

Amazing colors and color combinations, dramatic changes, overwhelming grandiosity, elemental and unfiltered, give an immediate boost to my creativity. I am not sentimental by nature, rather the opposite. Yet, some colors make me feel all gooey and soapy inside.

I had had 3 balls of Knitpick’s Palette in a bright blue-green color for several years without any idea how to use them. Somehow, in Pennsylvania this yarn looked too bright, too loud, and even garish. Here, in Florida, it looks natural. This color basically surrounds me all day long.

So I took a pattern by Jared Flood, Cinder, and used it for a little infinity scarf. The cables look like ocean waves. The yarn is springy and soft, with very good stitch definition. It was very easy to work with, no need for a cable needle to make cables.

Another color very common here on the island is bright green. Avocados, key limes, guacamole, cilantro, jalapeños. 

A friend of mine asked me for a green scarf before I left for Florida. But I already made her a green scarf that she’s been wearing quite often. So, instead of a scarf, I decided to make this avocado-lime-cilantro green sweater. 

Again, the yarn for it has been in my stash for ages. It was discontinued long ago and I had to find a right pattern to use the yarn well and to come up with a decent garment. Fortunately, I had Roz by Uandiknit in my library, and it happened to be a perfect match.

This pattern is really well written, thoughtful, and clear. It was a pleasure to work with. I usually don’t like top-downs (*End note: It doesn't mean I don't like OTHER people's top-downs, I just don't like MINE **End end note). I made quite a lot of them and eventually unraveled almost all. Why? They don’t fit well. Top-down clothes have a tendency to hug my body in a very unflattering way or to be too big and shapeless, making me look too short and shapeless as well. They look good on Ravelry pictures, usually with young, tall, thin models. Being not young, or tall, or particularly thin, I started avoiding top-down designs. This one is an exception.

It does hug your body, but it doesn’t make you look out of shape. I am probably going to use this pattern again in the future, especially when you need to make something easy and quick. That was a very satisfying knit!

See what you get when you ask me for a scarf? With me, you’ve got to be very careful with what you wish for. I hope my friend likes her sweater (at least as much as I like it) and its colors. More pictures and details on my Ravelry page.

I’ve been using discontinued yarns from my stash lately and it made me  feel partly "discontinued" myself. After all, I was a grown up when I bought this yarn and now it doesn’t exist anymore, like dinosaurs. 

Actually, this issue (discontinued items) has been reemerging all the time lately. Half of the materials we picked only two years ago for our new house have been discontinued. And one day I went to a hairdresser and there was the last blow.  At some point she asked her coworker to pass her “happy endings”.

 -   Oh, happy endings have been discontinued, - answered the other stylist. – Here is the last jar. I was really surprised and asked what they were talking about. It turns out that “happy endings” was a brand name for a sort of special pomade that you put on your hair at the end of blow drying to make it stay in place. And it was discontinued. Like so much of my yarn or the materials for our house. Even happy endings belong to the past. Isn’t it sad? Yet, I managed to finish this little sweater even though I had to use every last bit of the yarn and the result is rather successful. Maybe not everything is lost after all?

Home Depot Cardigan, or I am not a designer!

Disclaimer: I am not a designer!

No, I am much better at following directions than at writing them up.  Normally, I find a pattern for my next project somewhere (on Ravelry, in a book or magazine), then find a yarn for it, make a swatch, and if the gauge is the same or close I begin working on it.

However, sometimes, my starting point is a yarn. I had this yarn – Naturelle Chunky 14 ply, 100% pure New Zealand wool – in my stash for a while. I bought it for a winter cardigan that I never made. This year I decided to finally use it for another jacket. 

Cardigan is a staple of my older daughter’s wardrobe. She wears them everywhere and with everything and is constantly looking for a new one. And I try to provide her with a new handmade cardigan as often as I can. So I took this yarn with me to Florida hoping to find a good pattern for it.

There have been so many amazing patterns for big oversized cardigans from chunky yarn on Ravelry! I have a whole board on Pinterest full of them.  Yet, none of them asked for the same gauge (11 st. x 14 rs in 4” on size 7 mm needles) and I either had not enough or too much yarn for all of them.

So, after spending long hours looking for a matching pattern I decided to improvise it myself.

I repeat: I am not a designer! It just happened... One long afternoon that I had to spend in a Home Depot with a designer who worked on our kitchen cabinets I just visualized a cardigan and all of a sudden drew a sketch of a pattern. I call it “A Home Depot Effect”, it happens when you look at lots of different design options and materials for a long time. I don’t know about you, but I feel an urgent need to make something with my hands from scratch.

This is how this project got its name.

My first swatch was just white. And I didn’t like it. Looks like a cheap acrylic yarn. Boring.

Fortunately, I brought a bag of Cascade Kid Seta with me in four different colors (don’t ask me why I had this bag in the first place – it’s a long story). I took two slightly different brown threads of Kid Seta, added them to the white, and – voila! It doesn’t look cheap anymore. Far from it.

From the very beginning I wanted cables on this garment. Cables are my obsession “du jour” and they usually look classy and very British.

The cardigan was finished in a week. Thick yarn and big needles normally lead to quick results but in this case my impatience was my strongest motivator. I couldn’t wait to see the finished garment. And now you can see it as well.

Yes, there are some things that I would change and do differently next time but overall I am rather pleased with the outcome. Basically, I managed to incorporate everything that I wanted (long warm cardigan from chunky wool with cables and pockets) and use up quite a lot of stashed yarn in the process.

I summoned my inner Kim Hargreaves, found a belt, and used it during our photo shoot. If Kim’s books taught me something, it is the importance of a belt for quality pictures. Of course, the cardigan can be worn without a belt.

Since I am thinking about using the same pattern again I decided to write it down. 

Again, DISCLAIMER # 150 – I am not a designer! All the details are on my Ravelry page. All the charts are here (yes, I made charts for the first time in my life and I am really proud of myself!)

Chart A

Chart B

Sunset in Florida, or Pull # 079-T12-173

Some yarns just need to wait till the right project comes up. This yarn was supposed to become a cardigan for my daughter. Yet, it turned out that the cardigan required much more yarn so I made it from a different yarn and put the unfinished project away. I am so glad I did, because this yarn worked remarkably well for this pattern.

The pattern is from the same old Phildar magazine that I took to Florida with me and that turned out to be a treasure trove of unknown and wonderful patterns. The structure of this sweater reminds me of body armor and a corset at the same time. It is short, fitted, but not tight, with wonderful, seemingly unstructured cables.

To me it looks edgy and modern. I could instantly visualize my younger daughter wearing it with high-wasted jeans that are so trendy now. Plus I got the exact gauge with this yarn so the rest was a piece of cake. And I mean it. This pattern is extremely well written and easy to follow. Thank you, Nadege, I wish I knew how to find you and your other designs on the Internet.

The only two things that I changed were ribbing and finishing. I used 1x1 ribs because, to me, they look less hand-made on a finished garment. And I find making borders separately and grafting them to a sweater tiresome so I just picked up stitches and knit the ribbing with smaller needles.

I love everything about this sweater: fit, style, versatility, construction. If my daughter doesn’t like it I will gladly wear it myself. If she does, I’ll make another one. 

It is better to use soft yarn with good stitch definition for this pattern. I really liked working with Nashua Handknits Shenandoah even though at first its color got me a little perplexed. It is something in between bright orangey brown and blue-grey. That is why I named this sweater Sunset in Florida. First, because “pull # 079-T12-173” is non-descriptive. Second, because of its colors.

Finally, I find it really unfair that such wonderful patterns got totally ignored and forgotten by knitting community because Phildar did such a poor job at photographing and marketing them. They look like nothing in the magazine, and there is only one picture of each, which doesn’t help imagining their fit and structure. And I don’t think that the yarn choice complements these garments either.

Knitting in extreme weather, or pull # 079-T12-193

After Canada we spent some time in Pennsylvania but then went to Florida. I've never been to Florida Keys in August and soon discovered that it is not the best time to visit this place. Besides scorching heat and high level humidity, there are mosquitoes! I couldn't even imagine they can be so omnipresent and vicious.

Strangely enough, this kind of environment (hot, humid, and swarming with mosquitoes) is a great motivator for knitting. You see, while in Pennsylvania, I made two summer t-shirts, didn't like them, and promptly unraveled them both. After this I kind of lost my knitting mojo for a while, plus we were moving from place to place and I had other things to do.

As soon as we got here I started looking through my collection of old Phildar magazines that I brought to Florida with me and found this sweater called unpoetically "pull femme #079-T12-193", designer - Monika:

From this magazine:

They don't bother with patterns' names at Phildar design team, and they certainly don't promote their designers. There is something futuristic and mesmerizing in all those numbers and a T for a pattern's title. Anyway, I never liked this sweater before: it looks dark and short on the picture. Yet, this time I discovered that it was a rather interesting pattern, made from pieces like a puzzle, with a shorter front and longer back, and some nice ribbing all over, with thin vertical motives made with slipped stitches.

I made a small swatch using Rowan Silky Tweed and fell in love with this pattern. Monika  (sorry, don't know your last name), thank you! It was a very fast and enjoyable knit.

I described all the changes to the pattern on Ravelry.

I was very surprised to learn that my project is the first for this pattern on Ravelry. Poor thing, nobody liked it before! Pity, because this sweater is very flattering, roomy but not shapeless, and its squishy, porous fabric makes it perfect for transitional weather. And I love the yarn - its color, structure, tweediness, and softness.

Taking the pictures of the finished garment was not a small feat. I was sweating like a pig during all 15 min that we stayed outside (that's why I don't look particularly happy on the pictures). I have another finished project - a cowl - that we photographed at the same time because it was unconceivable to get inside, change, and then do it again. So here you go, my Oak cowl:

I took a pattern from Marie Wallin book Windswept and made a cowl instead of a scarf (because I think that cowls are more practical, that's why). I used the rest of Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift yarn, and it didn't disappoint again. And again, all the details - on Ravelry.

It was a fun knit - addictif, like eating pop-corn - and I hope that the recipient will like it. Which brings us to a difficult topic of knitting for other people.

You know, every time I knit outside of the house, I am asked the same question "For whom are you making it?" And every time I feel a little guilty answering "For myself".

Many years ago, when my older daughter was in third grade, I made her a dress. I put a lot of effort and love in that dress, and, as soon as it was done, I absolutely wanted her to wear it. She did. She came back from school and told me that her teacher complimented her dress. But looking at her face I sensed that she herself didn't like the dress and would prefer to wear something completely different to school. I put the dress in the Goodwill pile and stopped making things for my children. There is no accounting for tastes and they obviously couldn't appreciate my efforts. Since then my rule of thumb for making gifts is: I have to like it myself and be willing to wear it if no one else does. So, yes, I knit for myself, but when other people like my things, I give them away.

Usually August and September are for Christmas gifts. One is finished, and the other one is already on the needles. It is a sweater from the same old Phildar magazine called "pull femme # 079-T12-173", designer - Nadege. Here it is:

Again, no finished garments on Ravelry, so I will be a trailblazer (scary!). It is a short and sweet number, very modern and trendy (I think). Cables look haphazard but there is a system in this madness. I spent quite a while to get the system, but now, after unraveling it 3 times, I think I mastered ithe pattern. I started it while my pull femme #079-T12-193 was drying.

Beloved (well, sort of...)

Have you ever thought about the reasons behind the patterns’ names?  I have a lot recently, because sometimes these reasons are hard to understand. My last pick from Kim Hargreaves’ book Wilder is called Beloved. And the previous one that I made is called Cloudy. Yet, in my opinion, Cloudy should have been called Beloved. Why? Because it is definitely one of Kim’s favorites right now: it is repeated several times in this book as well as in previous ones. On the contrary, the cardigan named Beloved should’ve been called Cloudy. Why? Well, because the lace pattern is not very clear and rather hard to understand.
Why did I pick Beloved in the first place? At the beginning I didn’t like it much. It looks a little bit old-lady-ish and reminded me of the 50s – short, sweet, and feminine. Normally I prefer simpler silhouettes without frills, no girly stuff. Yet, I liked how it looked on the model – with a modern dress. I could see myself wearing it. And as soon as I can visualize the future garment I am gone – I want it right now, yesterday, nothing can stop me. And in this particular case, nothing did.

In this book some patterns have charts, some – don’t. Yet, most lace patterns are recurrent and, if you look carefully, you’ll find them charted. The pattern for Beloved is just written row by row. I spent a whole evening trying to knit something at least remotely similar to the picture in the book without any success. My abstract-sequential brain freezes up when a pattern is not charted.
Then, I remembered about Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. A light-bulb moment! Soon I found Faggoting and Beehive Lace pattern which is the same one that Kim Hargreaves used for Beloved and, I believe, for Lake:
Row 1 (Right side) *K2, yo, ssk, yo, sl 1, 2 tog, psso, yo; rep from *, end k2, yo, ssk.
Row 2 *K2, yo, k2 tog, p3; rep from *, end k2, yo, k2 tog.
Row 3 *K2, yo, ssk, k3; rep from *, end k2, yo, ssk.
Row 4  Repeat row 2.
The only thing that I changed while knitting it was *k2 tog* in Row 2. I did *sl 1, k1, psso* instead, because it was easier for me. Somehow in Barbara G. Walker’s book the pattern looked logical and clear. I memorized it quickly, and from this moment on it was a pleasure to knit. The best part of this particular lace pattern is that you are bound to notice a mistake quickly, usually in the next row. No need to unravel half the garment.

Yet, after my initial failure with the lace pattern I decided to proceed carefully and recalculate everything.
The yarn - Debbie Bliss Cathay, 10 balls;
Needles 3.0 and 3.5 mm.
I'll try to explain my knitting process here as well as I can. If something is still not clear, or you have other questions – ask away!
The pattern itself is multiple of 7 sts plus 4. Plus 2 side sts for me (I do need side stitches for sewing). Back – 98 sts, ribbing 2x2 (I liked it better than 2x1 in the pattern) for 13 rows, in the last (14th) row 13 sts increased - 111 sts. Work in pattern for 80 rows. Begin casting off for shoulders in 130th row.
Left (and right) front – cast on 54 sts, ribbing 2x2 for 13 rows, increase 8 sts in 14th row. Work in pattern for 80 rows (I didn’t make the edge and knit all sts in lace pattern).
Sleeves – cast on 46 sts, ribbing 2x2 for 13 rows, increase 9 sts in 14th row. Continue in lace pattern increasing in every 11th and 12th rows (as recommended) to 77 sts, 102 rows till top shaping. I made sleeves’ tops shorter than the pattern asked for and, I think, they are still too long. And next time I will not increase in two consecutive rows, I’d rather space increases more evenly.
Since I didn’t make the borders while knitting the fronts, I picked up stitches afterwards and did them in ribs. I was afraid that if I did it in garter stitch as per the instructions they would stretch too much for my taste. Plus, in the book there is not one picture of the cardigan buttoned. This fact made me think that it might be because it looks good only unbuttoned.

 

The vintage black metal buttons are from my personal collection. I think they complement the garment nicely and heighten the metallic sheen of Cathay.

After sewing the whole thing together and trying it on before washing I absolutely loved the fit and look of it. A perfect little number to pair with a dress or pants, or even jeans and shorts. Extremely flattering and versatile – main requirements for an item of clothing for me. Unfortunately, after washing it stretched quite a bit. That happens often with Debbie Bliss yarns. Still, it is soft and light, and goes with everything, so I’ll wear it a lot.

Verdict: great cardigan, must be reworked in a better yarn.
Pictures were taken in Canada, in an adorable little town called Niagara-on-the-Lake, where we are staying now for the Shaw festival.