knitting – Page 25 – Daily Fiber

Cast on Monday – Mostly Alpaca

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Laura Kate

This week-end, I cast on a shawl from yarn that was 1. in my stash and 2. frogged from a UFO. This particular pattern is a top-down triangle design with a twist – literally. By increasing more stitches on one half of the double yarnover section and using short rows, it creates a gentle slope across the back of the garment. The pattern is by Manos del Uruguay and is available free on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gentle-slopes

Here are the yarns I am using.

The Letitcia is Peruvian yarn blended of wool, alpaca and silk. Gloss is a Knitpicks – super wash merino and silk. The three lace weight yarns are 100% alpaca, in my stash for so long that I no longer have the labels. Just last year I blogged about a UFO with this lighter-than-air yarn, in which I moaned about the way the stitches simply floated off the needle. To solve this problem, I am holding them TRIPLED in this project, and following with the Leticia yarn to LOCK THEM DOWN.

My variation to the pattern is the insertion of the striping row of eyelet lace. This will show up every 16 garter ridges, to break up the plain vanilla and keep things from getting too boring.

**I think that the back side is just as pretty as the front side.**

I like that this pattern works for mindless knitting. The pattern repeats every four rows that are easily memorized. The only hiccup I foresee is that I am going to need a longer cable very soon.

knitting

Cast on Monday – Last week of the month

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Laura Kate

Having finished a pair of socks, I am beginning another knitted accessory – a cowl. I have been wanting to make one for myself in this teal color.

The yarn is a mysterious orphan ball given to me by my friend Kathy, who is in the middle of a stash-clearing phase. There’s no label, so I am guessing about the fiber. It is very soft, with a prominent halo, suggestive of alpaca. If you look closely, you will detect a bit of gold glimmer. The total weight is 80 grams, and based on its thickness I am guessing there are about 250 yards of yarn here.

I started off making this lovely cable and lace pattern, from my book “60 Quick Luxury Knits.” But the yarn revealed a structure that did not sit well with complex stitchery – it has a thick and thin composition and a loose twist which suggests to me that it might be hand spun. I started over. After six rows of garter I worked a combination of yarn overs and knit togethers to create the undulation you see.

What I do next is still unclear. The only thing I know is that it must narrow as it rises.

This knitter is open for suggestions.

knitting

F.O. Friday – Knitting

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Laura Kate

Here you see the pair of socks I knitted for my S-I-L. This was to be a Christmas gift, but it appears that I missed the deadline by about four weeks. I have no regrets – I did what I had to do.

**On my feet – a pathetic stand-in model for the giftee.**

You can almost make out the 3 by 1 rib I used on the leg and instep sections. This is currently my favorite stitch for socks. I find it more soothing to work than a 2 by 2 rib. Another feature of this sock is that I doubled up the yarn at heel and toe. I am hoping the extra thickness will increase the lifespan of the socks.

Pale blue yarn is a blend of alpaca, wool and acrylic. Dark blue is Cascade Heritage, a superwash merino, reinforced with nylon, and one of my favorite sock yarns.

TGIF, and TGI ready to mail off to the giftee!

knitting

Friday FO – 1st of 2021

Posted on January 8, 2021January 14, 2021 by Laura Kate

Today I finished this capelet, designed by Barbara Benson.

It was a breeze to knit up. I enjoyed working a combination of mosaic and lace stitches. My colors are deep green and bold rust. I’m glad that I was finally able to use the Knit Picks Gloss yarn that I purchased nearly ten years ago. It had been in a shrug, which didn’t look good on me and felt scratchy on my neck. Since this capelet stands away from the neck, scratchiness isn’t a problem.

Sorry about the shadow on the photograph above.

Now that I have it on, I have to admit it is not the most useful article of clothing that I ever knit. But it’s fine for sedentary activities when reaching your arms up is not required. And it’s not as warm as a shawl. (Yeah, the back of my neck is exposed.)

I can’t help but like it, because it’s pretty and graceful.

This pattern is available on Ravelry. I rate it a five for quality of design and clarity of instructions.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/isochronal-arc

P.S. I couldn’t leave this post without including a picture of me in my new Isochronal Capelet!

**The color combination turned out just fine.**

knitting, painting, quilting

Carrying On

Posted on January 7, 2021 by Laura Kate

While it was a struggle to pull my eyes away from yesterday’s news feed, I got a surprising amount of work done. We even managed to take down and store the Christmas tree.

My new approach to watercolor painting adopted on Jan 1st has me excited about the potential. This time I chose to apply a quinacridone red wash. After it dried, I added a miniature landscape of snow-covered mountains at dawn.

This took me very little time to complete and I enjoyed every brush stroke.

Moving on to sewing, I got another block design worked up on the Animal Friends project. Here is a little pet condo in bright colors and fun geometric shapes.

That brings my completed block count on the project to twelve. I’m half-way there!

And finally, I found a use for some old yarn from a knitted item that I frogged almost ten years ago. It is a KnitPicks yarn called Gloss – a very soft blend of wool and silk in a dark green color. I bought three balls of a complimentary color to make this charming capelet.

https://ravel.me/isochronal-arc

The combination of slip stitch and lace kept me alert and engaged as the fabric appeared.