knitting – Page 19 – Daily Fiber

Cast-On Monday: Spring Sweater

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Laura Kate

The weather is so glorious this morning that I moved outside for this photo shoot.

Today I am starting a coat/sweater for my granddaughter. You see my swatch, which turned out with the correct gauge on my first attempt. (I was lucky.) I wanted to make a big sweater, with cables, pockets and a hood – all the design features that a northern girl needs to keep warm while playing outside in early spring. I was fortunate to find the perfect pattern by Elena Nodel on Ravelry

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lavanda

For the yarn, I chose Wool of the Andes Superwash by KnitPicks. Just last year I used it in the Weaver’s Square vest knitted for my daughter. It has become a favorite of mine for hard-wearing garments.

https://wordpress.com/post/dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/1559

The color here is a bold one.

The sweater is worked from the top down. It features ribbed and cabled sections, with a knitted in seed stitch button band. All of these features are set up in the first 12 rows. When you take into consideration knitting raglan increases on either side of the sleeves, it makes for a somewhat complex start to the knit.

Oh, I forgot to mention the provisional cast-on. I used the crochet chain method. This allows for the hood to be added by knitting up from the neckline.

Whew! Now that I have established each section, the next couple dozen rows should follow without incident. I’m so happy to be working on a big, size 7 cable needles, after what seems like months of working with sock needles.

knitting

Finished Object Friday: Socks!

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Laura Kate

It’s been a while, but I finished a knitted garment this week. These socks were started as a travel project to fill the long drive to and from Ohio.

I picked up the yarn on sale last summer. It’s a typical superwash wool + nylon sock yarn, but one new to me: Static by Knitpicks. The colorway is Paradise.

I rarely make socks with self-striping yarn, but now I truly understand why it is so popular. It’s weird how many people that see these socks think they are Really Good!

Using a very basic sock stitch pattern, one can achieve a sock of great interest.

To me, the only skill I demonstrated was matching up the stripe pattern on each foot.

Yep. They match while I’m standing up in them too.

drawing, knitting, painting, quilting

The Best of 2021

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Laura Kate

As the snowflakes drift gently down – and blow slightly sideways – across the backyard, I thought I would take some time to review projects I completed in the past year. No, dear reader, I won’t drag out all of them. Instead, let’s focus on the best loved, by you, in each category.

KNITTING

I wanted to start with knitting, because it seems I spent a lot of time doing just that. I even ventured into teaching knitting, just a little bit, for my local arts association.

It seems there was a three-way tie for the best knitting project of 2021. So I have to go with the most charming one. And who better to model it than little LL?

**POLKA-STRIPE VEST, WITH BUTTONS AND POCKETS**

https://wordpress.com/post/dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/3734

Runners up were Gentle Curves Shawl and Woodsmen’s Socks

DRAWING

I was pleased with the progress I made in this medium. It helped me to take classes from Ross Meyer. His lessons on getting high values using graphite were most informative. I also began to develop a more personalized style with casual portraits using ink and watercolor washes. The winner in this category is my sketch of H as a toddler sitting with Cat.

Also strong contenders: Happy Father’s Day and Hummingbird at Fuchsia.

PAINTING

My personal goal for this year was to improve my watercolor paintings. At the beginning the year, I painted a little bit everyday on paper the size of postcards – a very doable goal, which lasted only one month. I put my money where my mouth was and paid for in-person lessons. This helped me a lot.

Surprising to me, the most successful watercolors were some of these small experimental ones. A post called “Back to My Routine” got the most attention for this 6 x 9 painting of a stormy sky.

https://wordpress.com/post/dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/3968

Equally popular were these two:

QUILTING

In the early months of the year, I spent time making quilts. I gained skills by following along with a group that was sewing Stay-at-Home Round Robin quilts. Not only did I learn a lot but I was really happy with my finished object.

Two other quilted objects of note were this art quilt……….

and a twin sized quilt made for LL featuring dogs and cats.

And that’s a wrap for 2021. What does the new year hold for me and my art? I haven’t come to any conclusions yet. But whatever I choose, I’ll make it worthy of my time and effort.

colorwork, knitting

What I’m Knitting Now

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Laura Kate

I can’t describe this post as a cast-on, because I started this project immediately after I had cast off and kitchener stitched my last Christmas gift item.

My inspiration for this project is a slipped stitch pattern used in a shawl design.

https://www.i-knt.com/product/3879940/co-zzy-shawl-eng

The two yarns I chose are Rowan Felted Tweed (purple) and Tosca Light by Lang (multicolor.)

The Rowan was acquired in Madison at Sunset Yarns, although it is readily available from many on-line sources. The Tosca Light? Honestly, I can’t remember, but it was probably found at a Wisconsin yarn store. It is no longer available (according to Ravelry, the yarn is “dyed and gone.”) I’m in love with the long color changes that unfold as I knit.

The thing is, I don’t want to knit another shawl. There is simply no more room in my “shawl drawer” for another one, no matter how beautiful. Instead, I plan to knit a sort of serape/poncho kind of thing based on this design from Cheryl Oberle.

This jacket is knit in two matching rectangles that will be seamed together at the center back. I simply replaced the arrowhead lace section with the slipped slip pattern from the Cozzy shawl. Next I filled in the rows between pattern sections with alternating stripes of the multi and purple yarns.

Oh, and I threw in a few rows of eyelet lace for good measure.

It’s all going pretty well so far, as you can see in the first photo. The tricky part will come next, as I finish up the first half and start knitting the sleeve down.

I’ll have an update in a few weeks. Until then, happy knitting!

knitting

Christmas Knitting Reveal – Stash Yarn

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Laura Kate

This Christmas I gifted my daughter’s family with adult booties, aka Dorm Boots.

https://auntekristy.blogspot.com/2016/09/better-dorm-boots-lace-edition-free.html

I was determined to complete all three pair in yarn sourced from my stash. Fortunately, the pattern does not require much yardage. The trickiest part is getting the right sizes for people with vastly different foot lengths.

The fun part was choosing yarns that mirrored my loved ones’ tastes.

First the soles. In the waning days of Bluprint.com, they were trying to unload all of their product, including yarn. I bought two skeins of a blended yarn – part wool, part acrylic. It turned out to be a disgusting color and very rough. So it lanquished for a year in my stash closet.

Eventually I tried it out as the sole section of a pair of dorm boots I made for myself, where it revealed itself as made to be crushed under foot.

With a proto-type complete, I moved on to the Christmas knitting. First up was a pair for 13-year-old grandson, H.

This yarn selection was dead easy. In my stash was a half-complete shawl knit from bluish color-changing acrylic blend that I had purchased in Milwaukee. It was incomplete because I had run out of yarn. With no more available, it was evident that unraveling the shawl was necessary. It yielded more than enough for the boots. And blue is H’s favorite color. He also likes multi-hued garments. Win-win.

Next came my son-in-law. A tall, slender guy, he wears pretty big shoes. The challenge here was getting enough length.

I chose to marry together two cotton/acrylic yarns. Both of these had been purchased to make things for their new baby, who arrived in 2018. I had used the white to make a stuffed toy in the form of a snowy owl. The grey had been knitted into a bunting. Lo and behold, the boots fit and SIL was delighted.

Finally came my daughter’s pair. I was running out of obvious choices in the stash. Would I break down and buy yarn? Nay, make it be not so! Adjusting the pattern by adding more stitches to the upper section, I was able to use some dk weight yarn leftover from a top-down sweater knitted for myself.