Posted in knitting

Casting On a Cardigan

Posted on by Laura Kate

In my last post, I shared a picture of some tweedy wool-silk blend yarn purchased recently. After studying the swatch I made, I thought that it looked like a vintage yarn. This led me to remember the giant Vogue Knitting retrospective book that I received from my daughter last year. Perhaps I can find a vintage type cardigan there.

I had been wanting to make a pattern from this book but could never settle on any of them. Either the pattern required a massive amount of expensive yarn or the design didn’t suit me and my lifestyle. But I now had 1500 yarns of a classic tweed – more than enough for Vogue Knitting. And after carefully studying several likely patterns I chose this one.

Forestry Cardigan appeared in Vogue’s Fall 2008 magazine – an edition that was dedicated to Canadian designers. What a happy bit of symmetry! Fall 2008 was the very season I was re-introduced to knitting. This pairing was meant to be.

I like the coin shaped cables and the shawl collar on this design. But I don’t quite agree with knitting instructions. Vogue has us knit the two fronts and the back separately, and then seam them together. I much prefer knitting front and back in one piece. Also reviewers of this pattern on Ravelry cautioned about errors.

Ravelry: #11 Forestry (Old Penny Cardigan) pattern by Veronik Avery

With a bit of trepidation, I started on a sleeve.

It’s going brilliantly. I love the quality of the fabric this yarn yields. But! I am ALREADY playing yarn chicken! Only 3/4 finished with one sleeve and my first skein is but a hollow version of its former plump self. I’m flummoxed. I am getting the gauge required by the pattern, and for the size I am making I should have over 200 yards of yarn more than needed.

At this time I’m willing to trust the pattern and carry on. After all, this is a long-haul project. With a gauge of 20 stitches by 28 rows, there are a LOT of stitches to go before the end is near. I expect it will be Autumn by the time I finish. And in the meanwhile, maybe I can source one more skein of yarn

Posted in knitting

Local Yarn Shop Week

Posted on by Laura Kate

I’m told that this week is dedicated to recognizing our local yarn shops. While sadly, there are no yarn shops in my town, I recently returned from Wisconsin. While there I visited two very nice shops and scored these yarns:

In Madison, WI, Lynette Tucker opened her shop Sunset Yarns just last November. While only a few months in business she has done a terrific job creating a cozy and friendly atmosphere for yarn crafters.

Madison’s Neighorhood Yarn Store | Sunset Yarn

In addition to the labels typically offered, she carries locally produced yarns. I browsed these, which included Galpaca and Ewetopia. Home | GalPaca Farm

The Wisco Sock yarn by Ewetopia is one I have knit before, so I picked up one skein in colorway Superior. (as in, the Lake.) I love those soft, watery shades. I also got Berroco Remix light, which is made from 100% recycled fibers. The skeins of Vintage DK in a plum color will be used to make heavy-duty socks for my husband. I am hoping that the high percentage of acrylic in the mix will wear better and last longer than the typical wool-nylon mix.

Next stop was the quaint town of Veroqua where I shopped at the Ewetopia company store. All I can say is Wow! It is truly the yarn lover’s heaven.

Our Shop — Ewetopia (ewetopiafibershop.com)

In addition to their own label, other Wisconsin yarns and the standard yarn shop yarns are available. They also carry a selection of fleece, tools for felting and many books.

Since I had already purchased some Ewetopia, I was browsing for something different. In the back of my mind I toyed with the thought of another sweater for myself. When I came across the Cascade Roslyn ON SALE, I couldn’t resist it. Cascade is a company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The Roslyn is a DK weight made from 65% wool and 35% silk. Its tweedy texture will be perfect to make a light-weight cardigan useful here in the warm climate of Oklahoma. I chose a leaf-green colorway that reminds me of Autumn.

Now to browse patterns and cast on. I foresee many happy hours in my future, with needles in hand.

Posted in knitting

Finished Object – Water Shawl

Posted on by Laura Kate

Today is the last day of March. I told myself that I would have this KAL done by today. Despite the difficulties of working on the road, the obstacle of my computer WIFI failure and the minefield of working on Someone Else’s Computer, I am ready. Here you see the blocked shawl hung up against a striped curtain.

My daughter agreed to model for me.

The temperatures here in Wisconsin dipped down into the upper 20th last night. At the time of the photo session, it was still only about 45 F. She professed that the shawl is quite warm.

I’m pretty happy with it. I did run out of the dark yarn and had to improvise a bit at lower edge, just above the lacey bind off. I have plenty of pink left. So I can’t call this a stash buster. But it is a unique and graceful design. I recommend this pattern for intermediate knitters.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Ravelry: Water pattern by Sylvia McFadden

Posted in drawing

Celebrate Equinox – Belatedly

Posted on by Laura Kate

Since I missed celebrating the equinox on the right date, I am belatedly posting pictures of spring flowers blooming in my yard. This one is the front yarn, showing multiple pansies, some grape hyacinths, and the foliage of daffodils whose blooms got zapped in the late February freeze.

Another view including late blooming daffs that just opened up this week.

Two views of the back yard.

On to more artsy subjects. I may have mentioned that I am taking a course in traditional art. It runs for ten weeks, five of which are devoted to drawing. Since I am nearly finished with the drawing portion of the course, I thought I would share some pages from my sketchbook.

Full disclosure: I am not really working very hard at this, due to other, more deadline-driven projects that have eaten away at my free time. Here are some pages with notes and examples of drawing adult and child portraits.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF UNIVERSAL PROPORTIONS APPLIED TO ADULT AND CHILD FACES.

The first lesson was about still life drawing.

Next came portraits of children. I chose to draw three girls from a photograph I found on Unsplash.com. I was charmed by their expressions.

Last Monday, we moved on to animals. This drawing is based on a magazine photograph – probably National Geographic.

SNOW LEAPORD

It’s been pretty fun so far. There is a lot light-hearted banter, and no-one is stressing about their performance very much. From feedback I have received, I am encouraged to try more portraits. I’m also ready to have a go at drawing those frisky squirrels which make their home in our trees and regularly steal food from the bird feeders.

Posted in quilting

Finished Object Friday – Quilting

Posted on by Laura Kate

After three months, I have finished the pet-friendly quilt that started with this fabric.

Inspired by Rayna Gillman’s improvisational piecing technique and using a combination of log cabin and strip pieced squares, I designed a pair of blocks I call Dog House, Cat Barn.

The blocks finish at 12 inches square. But how can they turn into a bed quilt? After mulling it over for awhile and making several sketches on graph paper, I found that I could fit four blocks across five rows to come up with a twin-size quilt. To create balance, I staggered the rows by four inches with a spacing strip, alternating between left side and right side every row.

I also felt that the balance would improve if the center row was different. Thus was conceived the Pet Condo construction project in “mid-town,” (if you will permit my flight of fancy.)

Four inches of sashing in a grey polka-dot fabric between the rows made a “street,” giving the animal neighbors a nice boulevard for walking over to visit. With my concept complete, I re-named the quilt Animal Friends.

Oh, another group of animal friends were introduced via the background fabric: Our hardworking and very dear bees.

The Animal Friends quilt measures 57 by 84 inches. It was quilted with a combination of walking foot “stitch in the ditch” and free motion stitching on my Bernina.