Thursday, May 25, 2006
Brown Paper Packages
There's a brown paper package sitting in my living room right now--my wooly board! But that is going to have to wait. I'm off to a conference and visit in California and then to Oregon. I'm sure to hit a few yarn stores... And I've packed the current sock and the lovely mitten kit that my Mom gave me for Christmas. See you in a week.Monday, May 22, 2006
The Zipper, Again
I feel like I'm stuck in finishing hell. I am in the process of crocheting the tank top (going better than one would expect, but it's crochet-yuck) and ripping the zipper from Bless.I steamed the bejesus out of the sweater this time, which made the cable much flatter and easier to sew. Then, I hand sewed in the ribbon to stabilize the piece. Finally, I added the zipper. So far so good on one side.
The Zipper, Again
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Why the sudden interest in finishing Bless? I want to take this sweater with me when I head to San Francisco (for the American Literature Association conference) and Eugene, Oregon (FUN). It won't be 95 degrees, and we Texans tend to get cold... Recommended yarn stores?
Friday, May 19, 2006
Lopi Yoke
Here's a taste of my Lopi sweater. I really loved the way that this sweater was built--no finishing, all in the round, thick oily yarn. It was a real treat to knit. It isn't quite ready for show. The color work looks pretty good, but a nice dip will help. I'm going to wait for my wooly board, then I will block. More soon!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Another object near completion
Oh so long ago (last summer) I started Arabella from Rowan 35. It is in cotton and a fine gauge, which is never fun for my hands, so it was pushed to the bottom of the pile. I finally finished the front--just in time for the summer. I'll be stitching it up this weekend and trying to add the cute, but annoying, crochet edge.
And in case you think I have given up dreaming about new projects, take a look at this lovely hand dyed Peace Fleece yarn:
Peace Fleece Hand Dyed Heavenly Blue
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
I'm going to make this:
I subscribed to Twists and Turns and this was in the Spring 2006 issue--the Electric Beret. I thought a little extra cable practice might come in handy before trying a sweater.
I subscribed to Twists and Turns and this was in the Spring 2006 issue--the Electric Beret. I thought a little extra cable practice might come in handy before trying a sweater.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
A Tale of Two Sweaters
There are two sweaters on the sticks right now...There's the never finished Bless:
I like the feel of the Rowan Cork, but here's the problem--the stretch. I put the zipper in and am not happy with the way that it has stretched and become wavy. I'm going to rip out the zipper and put in the ribbon to stabilize the yarn before I sew in the zipper. This SHOULD help, but we'll see. It isn't bad now, but I think I will wear this one quite a bit and want the zipper to look correct.
The other sweater is a joy. Here's the lopi sweater I'm working on:
The other sweater is a joy. Here's the lopi sweater I'm working on:
Lopi Sweater
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
I finished the body and then the two arms. You join them all in a circle and knit the yoke in the round--very little finishing this way! I put 7 stitches on holders under the arm and will graff those together at the end. Notice that the sweater is inside out? I read that knitting inside out will help to stretch the stranding properly--and it is working nicely so far.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Elizabeth Lovick's North Ronaldsay Wool
I have mentioned before that I am very interested in traditional knitting and increasing my skills in that direction. I have a number of projects on my needles, but I am looking at a number of traditional projects for the future:- The Lopi sweater in production
- The Nordic Mitten Kit in my Stash
- The Faroe Island steeked sweater
- a true Aran sweater
- and a sweater from one of Alice Starmore's books.
In my search for more expertise in traditional items I joined the Knitting from the Hebrides listserv. This has turned out to be a wonderful website and listserv for learning about knitting. And, one of the listserv members is Elizabeth Lovick, who lives in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. I looked at her website, Northern Lace, and was immediately fascinated with the North Ronaldsay Island sheep. These are primitive Bronze Age era sheep and survive for most of the year on seaweed. Make sure that you look at the photo gallery in the site--the sheep are really cute! There is a small mill on the island that processes the yarn--you couldn't find a better way to support a local, traditional economy.
I wrote to ELizabeth to inquire about her yarn and patterns and ended up buying her A NORTH RONALDSAY YARN - The Sheep, Their Yarn and Their Island and Patterns for North Ronaldsay Yarn. The pattern book contains some lovely patterns, and I am particularly interested in one of the traditional gansey patterns. Here's the package I received from Liz:
And the yarn is beautiful! Liz hand dyes yarn, but I am particularly interested in the natural colors. Choices, choices.
Mixed yarns
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Weekend of New Beginnings
This was a weekend of new beginnings.First, our lumpy old cat (13 years) managed to get out during a horrible thunderstorm on Friday night. He is declawed, has had a fang tooth removed, has never been outside and is generally a whimpy cat--I was convinced that the coyote packs or the hawks would have picked him up and had him for a snack. I was heartbroken--he has been my buddy for years and years. I walked the woods, roads, talked to neighbors for three days.
On Monday night I called him one more time on the porch and heard something. I took our spotlight out and walked around the back of our property and who should I see in the barn, but Rollins. Unbelievable. He refused to come out of the barn, so I scooped him up and took him inside. He was so happy to be back that he showed us his belly:
I'm so happy that he is home!
We also attended a lovely wedding this weekend. The bride works with my husband. The child loves Miss Karen:
We also attended a lovely wedding this weekend. The bride works with my husband. The child loves Miss Karen:
Wedding Fun
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
And Mommy and child were able to take a ride in the wedding mobile--a model A car. As you can see it was warm and beautiful at the B&B ranch.
Riding in the Model A
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
Wedding gifts? Well, we are Texas A&M Aggies, you know! Watch out Hershey.
Texas A&M Chocolate
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
And there was entertainment for the kids--a tu pinata. For those of you unaware of the strangeness of Texas A&M tradition, take a look at this website or this one. The big rivalry is between the University of Texas (derogatively named tu) and Texas A&M... and Aggies are often called upon to saw the horns of the tu longhorn --"beat the hell outta t.u.". Seems appropriate for a pinata.
TAMU Pinata at the wedding
Originally uploaded by amyeetx.
