Tag: Ewetopia

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Back to Stashbusting

Posted on by Laura Kate

And back to a favorite designer, Kate Davies, of KateDaviesDesign. This pattern for adult booties was included in her recent publication Margery Allingham’s Mysterious Knits, but it was also released individually on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/slippers-bellew

The yarn I am using is from Ewetopia, a Christmas gift from my daughter. Ewetopia is a Wisconsin yarn maker headquartered in Viroqua. The fibers are mysterious, described by the maker simply as “it’s all good.” I used all but half an ounce of the generously sized ball.

Here is a view of the 3-needle bind-off, which closes the foot and circles the ankle.

The heavy-worsted two-ply yarn refused to give me gauge, even when knit with the size 4 needle. Consequently, I cast on 44 stitches instead of the 52 as instructed.

This decision required some minor adjustments as I went along. But I am an acolyte of the Elizabeth Zimmerman school of knitting. She reminds me that I am the boss of my own knitting, and need not be cowed into submission by a designer.

The resulting booties are a perfect fit for my size 6 1/2 feet. I expect to wear them while lounging, but not for any vigorous walking indoors. They slide smoothly across wooden floors. A fun game for the young, but not recommended for those of us with less than perfect bones.

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Cardi Vest

Posted on by Laura Kate

Fresh off the blocking mat and slipped across my shoulders, here is my version of Kate Oates’ Cardi Vest. Although it’s cold here in Oklahoma, my dear husband agreed to a quick photo shoot in the backyard.

In this image two changes that I made to pattern are visible: the lower body is knit in a baby eyelet rib instead of a twisted rib and I substituted a stranded pattern of my own design on the yoke.

It took some extra time to work out and knit this pattern based on a daisy. Here on the back you can see how many yarn ends resulted from this small square of stranded work – a lot!

Despite the griping I did about picking straw out of this yarn as I worked it, now that it is washed, blocked and dried, the yarn is rather magnificent. The 100% wool in a thick and thin worsted weight made by Ewetopia is every bit as warm as I thought it would be. The fibers bloomed into a nice loft and stitches evened out and locked into place. I must be careful in future launderings about its propensity to felt.

Because I intend to sew in a zipper by hand, I cast off the neckline with the I-cord method. But so far, I haven’t located a separating zipper in the length and color required. Until I do, I’ll wear the vest open.

The hood is a fun feature that took up an entire ball of yarn. I hope that it stays on my head in the Oklahoma wind.

I rate the pattern as suitable for an intermediate knitter. Here is a link to it on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cardi-vest-2

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Sock Challenge

Posted on by Laura Kate

The fourth and final pair of socks worked to fulfill my sock challenge posed in July is now complete. You see before you a triumphant stack of socks.

The final pair is second from the top in the photo. Made from Wisco sock yarn by Ewetopia in a colorway called Caterpillar, the pair are earmarked for my grandson. He participated in choosing color, yarn and pattern, so I will assume the gift will be welcomed by him. The question is, will they fit?

I know that his arch is slightly wider, and his foot is slightly longer than mine. At least that was true when I measured his foot last July.

These fit me nicely but have plenty of stretch left and a little more room in the toe.

I knit these socks using two 16-inch cable needles in size 1. They were made toe up, using the turkish cast-on. The bind off was Jeny’ surprisingly stretchy 1×1 rib bind off. I enjoyed using this method so much I will likely forsake my double-point sock needles for good.

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – A Week Later

Posted on by Laura Kate

I am underway with the fourth and final pair of socks in my sock marathon challenge. This post was meant to happen last Monday. But in the days approaching that day, I experienced an unexpected and somewhat distressing set-back.

The pattern I have selected is Yamadori, designed by Ema Marinescu for Knitty.com

https://knitty.com/ISSUEdf18/PATTyamadori/PATTyamadori.php

The troubles began when I (belatedly) read the pattern through for the first time. I had assumed that the texture was created by a few slipped stitches and maybe a purl or two. I was wrong. Here is what the designer said: “The simple travelling stitches worked on the instep and leg create a fun texture that will keep you entertained from start to finish.”

Not this knitter. I was inexperienced in performing the maneuver to make a traveling stitch. I spent a few hours viewing U-tube videos on the myriad ways to make a left-leaning traveling stitch. I then spent more hours fumbling with my yarn and needles.

The tension started in my shoulders and moved both up and down my spine. Eventually I had completed several rows of the texture and acheived a massive headache.

I put down my needles and tried to get on with my life. Stress plagued me all day. The wind howling out of the southwest for the next 24 hours exacerbated my tension, leading to feelings of impending doom. How it is possible for a knitting project to give me an anxiety attack?

The next day, I picked up my knitting, stared at it, and knew that there was only one cure:

FROGGING:

Realizing that the pattern would work just fine in plain knitting and would let the crazy stripes shine on their own, I began again from the toe and kept going. Here is my progress for this week.

Let me give some credit to this wonderful yarn by Ewetopia – Wisco Sock. The colorway is Caterpillar.

https://www.ewetopiafibershop.com/shop-yarn/p/wisco-sock

Now I’m back on schedule, the stress is gone, and I WILL complete the challenge by the deadline.

Posted in knitting

Cast-on Monday – for me

Posted on by Laura Kate

While awaiting the arrival of a set of sock needles, I decided to cast on something for myself. This decision was made to find a use for some green worsted weight wool that I received from my daughter in September.

The yard is by Ewetopia and it’s called Potluck. The maker gave no description of fiber content. I’m assuming it is made of spinning leftovers. The company promises that Potluck yarn is “all good.” I have four skeins of 180 yards, giving me 720 yards.

Considering the type of yarn, the quantity and the color, I chose to knit a hooded vest. Perusing Ravelry, I came across this delightful design by Kate Oates.

Of course, I had to make my own adjustments – you know how I work. In this case I wanted to substitute a favored rib pattern for the twisted rib used in the pattern: eyelet mock cable ribbing. The pattern is found in my stitch bible published by Interweave, Knit and Purl: 250 Stitches to Knit.

My substitution derailed the swatching process, making the gauge I got unreliable. After working about ten rows, I concluded that the piece would be too small. I frogged it and started over with ten more stitches on smaller needles.

The knitting is going okay now. Potluck seems to be embedded with straw, so I need to stop every ten stitches or so to pull out tiny pieces. And I have yet to decide on colors for the stranded section.