Arrowhead Cardigan

I finished my Arrowhead Cardigan a few days ago, and it was just in time. We've been at Connor's parents' farm and the temperatures have gotten down to 15°F/-9°C during the day. Brrrrr. I was in desperate need of a warm coat that would allow me to layer underneath it.

Like many of my knits, I modified a huge amount. The smallest size was 49"/125cm. I didn't want such an oversized jacket, so I resized it to 42"/106cm. There is no shaping in the jacket and the new size didn't leave me with much ease for my hips, I steeked in 5"/ 13cm side vents.

The original jacket didn't have any closures, so I added four toggles. I also gave the jacket a slight v-neck by decreasing 3 stitches on each side and adding a big shawl collar.

Originally I had done a crochet steek. Even thought the yarn I used is sticky (Fancy Tiger Crafts Heirloom Romney in Poppyseed and Spincycle Yarns Independence in Payback), I was manipulating the jacket so much that the steek started coming apart. No matter. I sewed the steek and made sure to add all the facings, including along my vents.

I'm really pleased with how this jacket came out. It's been warm and wonderful.

Miss Steek

School has kept me pretty occupied for the last few weeks. I was looking forward to finishing up my finals, which I did on Tuesday, so I could get back to my sweater. On Wednesday I woke up with a case of tonsillitis. Sigh. 

Luckily I was able to see the doctor on the same day. That mean that today (Thursday), with antibiotics in my system, I was able to get up and finally cut my steek.

Snipping 1-2 threads at a time

Ta da! 

This is only my second steeked sweater, but both times I've chosen to pick up the stitches for the button band before cutting the steek. I find it is easier to make sure I'm matching stitches on both sides. After all, a sweater with offset ribbing on either side doesn't look tidy. 

I used a dk weight yarn for the crochet steek on my worsted weight sweater

Once the button band is in, I'll be ready to steek the armholes and put in the sleeves. I have a personal goal of finishing this by next Thursday. I'm not sure I'll be able to do it, but I think I'll get close.

Front And Center

I've got this professor I really enjoy who has admired my knitting. (I knit in class.) I not-so-subtly asked what color she likes to wear. The answer: red. She told me not to make anything, but I have just the skein for this project. It's a skein of Wollemeise that didn't have quite the spring I like in my sock yarn, but Herzblut is the perfect red color. The scarf is going to be largely plain weave, but I'm putting leno lace at both ends. 

Last week I had hardly started my latest sweater, my Arrowhead Cardigan. I initially thoughts that there wasn't any chance of me wearing the sweater before Christmas, but I might have changed my mind. I'm already at the armholes! I will admit that I've been sweating about where the diamond motif might land. Unfortunately the center of the diamond looks like it is at exactly bust level. (Not good) But there will be a four inch (5cm) button band on that will be put in after the sweater has been steeked. I'm hopeful that even if the diamond motif is at bust level, it will be closer to the armpits rather than "front and center."

I finished knitting my Denature socks earlier month, but it took me a while to get around to weaving in ends and blocking them. I'm pleased. The stripes line up and I only had to cut the yarn and splice it in three times to do it :)

Stray Cat Socks in Silver Star

I've been doing my best to take things off of my crafting list so I can remain relaxed and happy. The scarf is going well enough that I might try to weave one last scarf before Christmas. We shall see.

Stitches West 2017

About a month before Stitches West happened this year, I decided that maybe I did want to take a class. I've been interested in trying out weaving. The all-day weaving class was full, but Deborah Jarchow was doing a one hour market session on how to set up a Rigid Heddle loom. She was an excellent teacher and I have all sorts of aspirations now. Besides the class, I spent two different days at the market. I know, I know... I have plenty of yarn. I'm weak.

This is what came home with me. In the top left are three skeins of Spincycle Yarns Independence in the Payback color way. I'm planning to make an Arrowhead Cardigan out of it. In the top center are two skeins of Lost City Knits Foothill Fingering in the Cerrillos color way. I plan on using it as the weft for a scarf I'd like to weave with my skein of Big Sur yarn that has been waiting for the perfect project. On the second row on the left are four horn toggles from Buttons! to go along for the Arrowhead Cardigan. I really liked how Rachel of Spincycle Yarns had made that mod to her sweater, so I am going to do the same. To the right of the buttons is a bit of fiber by Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks BFL Dark in the Oaxaca color way I got from the Carolina Homespun booth. Earlier this month Connor had taken me to the Cirque du Soliel show that was in town for my birthday. It was called Luzia: A Waking Dream of Mexico. The Oaxaca fiber just captured the feeling of the show so well I had to have it.

I knew I shouldn't have gotten within 100 yards of the Canon Hand Dyes booth. I have so much yarn from her... but I love it. Of course upon walking by her booth, the yarn sirens called and I gave in immediately. The two striped skeins in the bottom left are Canon Hand Dyes on the Charles Merion Sock base. The grey/red one is called Bucky and the yellow/grey one is called Hufflepuff. The bottom left purple skein is Miss Babs Hot Shot in the Amethyst color way. I plan to pair it with another skein in my stash for some color work socks. In the bottom center of the picture are two orange skeins. The one to the left is Hedgehog Fibers Twist Sock in the color way Monarch. (There's the Luzia influence showing up again.) The orange skein on the right is Material Culture Fiber Arts on the Modern Era base. The color way was an exclusive for the show and it was called Indian Paintbrush, after the flower of the same name.

Along the right side of the picture, you might have noticed some mugs. Pawley Studios was at the show and I couldn't help myself. The top mug is for me and says, "No Skein No Gain." The middle mug is a Hufflepuff mug for Connor. He was pretty excited when I brought that home. The bottom mug I got to help encourage my father with his knitting. It says, "Knit Long And Prosper." I was going to give it to him for Father's Day, but I couldn't even wait 24 hours after buying it to give it to him. I was too excited.

Spincycle Yarns

While I was at Stitches, I had the pleasure of meeting the Spincycle girls, Rachel and Kate. I've long admired their yarn. This year, they debuted a new line and I can honestly say this is the most original, yet still practical yarn I've seen in a really long time.

They have developed a line of millspun yarn that looks like handspun! It is called Dyed in the Wool and it is stunning. It isn't obvious in these images, but the yarn gives long color repeats. It is unusual to find long color repeats in yarn and in most cases the yarn is a single ply, which doesn't wear well. This yarn is plied.

Dyed in the Wool is 200 yards of superwash BFL. The fiber is dyed by Rachel and Kate before it is sent to a local mill to be spun up.

Let's have a look at the color range. Oh look... it comes in every color. And it mixes well with other yarns. In the first image of this post, you can see Rachel knitting up a sweater in a combination of Dyed in the Wool and a grey shade of Cascade 220 fingering.

I came away with a skein in the Fallen Leaves colorway. Boy do I wish my knitting obligations were finished because I'm just itching to cast on with this yarn.

For the record, I'm not getting paid for my point of view on this yarn. But I can honestly say I haven't been this enthusiastic about a line of yarn ever. The thought and care put into this yarn deeply impresses me. And although I haven't knit up my skein yet, it feels like a hard wearing yarn. So if you want to get your hands on your own skein (and you know you do), hop on over to their Dyed in the Wool etsy shop.