knitting for love – Page 4

Cast-on Monday: Socks Project 2 of 4

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Laura Kate

Moving on – no time like the present! You see here the beginning of the next sock in my holiday gift-giving series. This time I will be making knee-highs for my daughter. The two yarns I have selected are Bare Hawthorne dk by KnitPicks and Soft Twist in bronze by Hayfield.

This project has two experimental facets to it. First is the yarn selection. I am marrying together a mostly Highland wool superwash (Hawthorne) with a mostly acrylic (Hayfield.) I have no idea what that will do to the quality of the socks in the long run. I made and washed a good-sized swatch, which appears to have survived with little impact to its look and feel. That’s a good omen.

The second experiment is the pattern. (And the fact that I haven’t knit a pair of knee-highs before.) This vertically striped pattern is European, therefore written using metric measurements. But that’s not the real problem for me. It’s the shaping. In order to fit comfortably around the calf, the circumference must be greater than typical. Using the bigger circumference suggests to me that stitches must be decreased while working down to the ankle. Otherwise, the foot will be too wide. And yet the pattern is written without the necessary decreases.

I will need a plan to make that happen.

knitting

Finished Object Friday – Fair Warning

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Laura Kate

” When I am an Old Woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat – which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me “ – Jenny Joseph

I don’t know if this is the sort of hat that the poet had in mind. But perhaps if she had lived in the 21st century, in a cold climate, and was 3 and 1/2 years old, she might have chosen it.

The Surprising Story Behind the Poem “When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple”

Despite my playful suggestion about an old woman, this hat is indeed meant for Laura Lu. In my determination to use stash yarn, I came to the conclusion that red would work perfectly fine with purple yarn and a purple sweater.

The pattern, which includes a picot edging and very deep ear flaps, is Cameron’s Cap by Sarah Peasley.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/camerons-cap

The designer offers this pattern in four different sizes. I chose the child size, but it is ample enough to fit the child well into teen-hood.

The yarn is Wool of the Andes superwash, by Knitpicks.

Tell me, would you be bold enough to wear this color combination?

knitting

Finished Object: Child Cardigan

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Laura Kate

My week-end has been crazy busy, so this post of a finish is coming out today. I bound off the second pocket on the Lavanda little girl sweater on Friday.

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

One of the things I like most about this pattern is that when you finish knitting, there’s no sewing up to do – only weaving in ends and sewing on buttons.

Here’s how it looks before washing and blocking.

Despite the fact that I had found my gauge before starting to knit, the finished sweater looks very narrow. Will it in fact block out several inches wider?

Well yes, Yes it did.

A fun feature of the after-thought pockets is the one-inch seed stitch border. It is made by knitting up from held stitches before knitting the interior of the pocket.

This gives a finished look and little extra depth to the pocket. Those rainbow-swirl wood buttons came from an Etsy vendor in the British Isle. They were surprisingly affordable. She must have been reducing her inventory.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Craftingforjoy?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1036971016

Sadly, I did not have enough yarn to knit the attached hood. The sweet seed-stitch collar is a minor consolation. To complete the outfit, I’ll work my purple yarn left-overs into a warm, wooly hat – one with ear flaps.

I can hardly wait for the moment I will give this to Lu. (sigh) I’m afraid that it’s going to be a long summer for me.

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.

She is fond of warm brown shades. In tribute to her bohemian nature, I added some beaded ties at the ankles. She loved them!

Thus all is well that ends well.

Warm feet in Wisconsin and a happy heart in Oklahoma.

knitting

Summer’s Yarn Bounty

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Laura Kate

I finally got around to taking photos of the yarn purchased during this year’s KnitPicks summer yarn sale. It includes yarns I have used in the past and a few new ones. With an eye toward knitting socks as holiday gifts, I have focused on fingering weight yarns.

This is a new offering from KnitPicks. Static is a fingering weight blend of superwash wool and nylon – the same fiber content as their Stroll line. I guess what makes this yarn different is the self-striping color sequence. This colorway is called Paradise. I thought the bright colors would be nice for children’s socks.

Gloss is a luxury blend of 70% merino wool and 30% silk. I have used it in the worsted weight to make vests and shawls. The fingering weight has all the attributes of its larger sister – softness and a light sheen. I bought it to find out if silk helps the socks wear longer in the heel and ball of foot areas. I also plan to use it as the solid color contrast in 2-color shawls. Colorways shown are clarity, blackberry and navy.

Hawthorne has become a new favorite for me in the fingering weight group. I like its plumpness and high twist. It is made from superwash highland wool, which pills less than merino wool does. The kettle-dyed line (Poseiden is shown here) give nice color variation to items knitted in basic stitches. I also purchased two painted yarns: Burlingame is the top one, Vancouver shown in the bottom of the photo.

This month I will be teaching a short course on knitting shawls. I plan to use these yarns to demonstrate how they can bring pizzazz to a simple garter ridge pattern.

Beyond that, I have no clue of what these yarns want to become. But I will enjoy discovering it.