Tag: yarn chicken

Posted in knitting, painting, quilting

A Couple of WIPs

Posted on by Laura Kate

Yesterday I officially lost at yarn chicken.

AHWWWWWWW!

I have about 16 rounds plus the toe left to knit. Grr. So I wandered through my stash to see if I could find a good substitute and come up with a gameplan.

This morning, entering my studio, I suddenly spied The Swatch. Then I remembered that I had knit two swatches for this project! Both of them included the cream yarn.

SAVED!!!!!!

In other news, I have been painting fabric for the Badlands quilt. Here is a group of color samples in my chosen palette.

I also spent a lot of time simplifying my sketch and making a pattern on freezer paper. This pattern will become the cutting guide for the quilt’s segments. I don’t call them blocks, because they are all different shapes, following the major lines of the subject.

I actually got underway with cutting and sewing some of these segments, starting from the background.

Progress photo.

I’m pretty happy with the work so far. But now I am waiting on fabric to be delivered. In acknowledgement of my rather crude fabric painting skills, I broke down and bought some batik fabrics with colors for the middle ground of the design.

In the meantime, I plan to paint the backing fabric and make the quilt sandwich this week. Then I will be ready to move forward as soon as the package arrives.

Posted in knitting

WIP Wednesday: Sock Challenge Progress

Posted on by Laura Kate

I’m slogging away at my sock challenge.

Cast-on Monday: Search and Swatch

It’s going quite well. I have finished the first Novita sock and worked my way well down the leg of the second one.

This is the first time I have worked socks on two cable needles, and I have to say that I am enjoying the process. I find that I drop stitches less frequently than when working with sock needles, which are by design quite short. Also, the knitting seems to go faster because I pause to shift the work twice per round instead of three or four times per round. The biggest disadvantage is the need to own two cable needles of the same size.

Not really much of a financial hurdle in my mind. A good cable needle can last one’s entire knitting career.

Right now I am sweating the yarn situation.

This is all that’s left of the cream ball. I’ll be truly annoyed if I end up buying another skein just to get an additional 30 or so yards.

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