Broken Contract

At the beginning of the month, I made a list of items I wished to complete this month. I think it has helped to have that focus. I have finished two WIPs. In my last post, I mentioned that I would have the body of Lady of the Lake finished this past weekend. Well, I didn't count on mohair boucle being so obstinate in visiting the frog pond or on my absent mindedness. We went to an all day horse show on Sunday. It was a four hour drive. I thought that would give me adequate time and would have, if I had brought the directions!!!! Needless to say, I was a little annoyed with myself. I did have the Anniversary sock from the Loopy Ewe in the bottom of my bag so I was able to knit about 3 inches of the leg.

In the comments of the last post, Lisa asked about the pattern for the Lady of the Lake. I purchased the kit from Colorsong. I emailed them and asked if they were allowed to sell just the pattern. I have received a response indicating Fleece Artist will not allow them to sell just the pattern. I have also emailed Fleece Artist but as of yet I have not received a response.

Knitting in the Hood

I have finished Owen. The hood took a great deal of yarn and the directions for sewing it in were nonexistent. There is a ribbing around the neck and the hood is sewn inside along the neckline. From the picture it looked like it overlapped a little. That design element may help to keep it on his head and his neck warm, I just hope he can get his head through the neck! The sleeves look really short compared to the length of the sweater. I guess they will just have to send it back for alterations, if needed!

I tried a new method of seaming (new to me). I was listening to the Ready Set Knit podcast. Pixie was talking about a seaming technique for the shoulders and I decided to use it on the hood. It almost looks like duplicate stitch. The inside is totally smooth. A little blocking and it was georgeous. You can see samples on the Web's Yarnstore blog.

Another thing that I did differently was where I placed the increases in the sleeves. What a Duh moment that was. I think I have always increased in the last stitch. That has made seaming a little tricky, although it did give you an anchor to let you know if you were moving along the sleeves at the same pace. I don't remember where I learned this tip, but this time I increased in the second stitch from either end. It has a very nice look and the seaming was a breeze.

New project is already started:
Lady of the Lake
A Fleece Artist kit that I purchased from Colorsong. The sweater is knit sideways in two different yarns on US 10.5 needles:

Kid Aran: 50% Kid Mohair, 50% Wool; 450m/492.1yds; 300g/13.4oz.

Curly Locks: 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon; 450m/492yds; 250g/8.82oz.

It is an interesting and quick knit. You start with the smooth yarn and knit the length of the row. You then go back to the beginning of the row without turning the needle and knit with the boucle yarn in a k1, p1 pattern. When you reach the end of the yarn, you turn the needle and continue. It really is quite fun. I started this on Monday and hope to have the body complete by Monday - I should have some knitting time this weekend.


I wish these directions were available separately. I like the construction method and have some recycled silk that would do well in this pattern. My mom bought me some navy mohair at Rhinebeck last fall that I wanted to use with the silk. There are some other designs with kits on the Colorsong website that use this same technique and I think it would work well with the silk. I rarely knit the same pattern twice and would like to try some of the other designs.

If you are going, have a great time at Rhinebeck!

Honey Complete

This has been a very satisfying knit. I began it on September 30th and finished sewing in the ends on October 14th. It was knit on circular needles until the armholes and then I knit the back and front - back and forth on the circular needles. The shoulders were done with a 3 needle bind off and the neck and armholes were done with a garter stitch on a circular needle.

My kind of knit - not one seam.

I did use Elizabeth Zimmerman's trick of creating a false seam down the side by dropping a stitch and then working it back up the garment. It does give it a little structure.

I love the feel of the fabric. The cotton makes it light but there is a bit of stretch to it. Can't wait to wear it - just half to hem the pants - yuck!

Progress Report

I know I blogged about wanting to finish the sweater for my nephew - but then life happened. Last weekend we went to a horse show. I need to have knitting with me, there is a lot of sitting in the stands. However, while sitting in the stands, I am paying attention to the show so it must be easy - thoughtless knitting.

I finished one Anniversary sock from the Loopy Ewe during the four hour drive there. It is a chevron lace pattern. The pattern on the instep changes slightly in a very interesting way. I included an eye of partridge heel. I like the extra padding and texture it provides but I don't think it was the best choice for this yarn and pattern, it is a little busy.

I thought I might continue on with the second sock but found even though the repeat was easy to memorize, it took my attention to follow. Instead, I began Honey by Elsebeth Lavold in Cotton Frappe. This yarn is 95% Cotton and 5% Polyamide. It was an impulse buy when I went to Joy Filled Gifts this summer to buy some Addi Lace Turbos. She was having a sale on books and yarn and I picked up both while there.

The lace insert on the front is more modest! There are only 3 repeats, but it is rather holey and the fabric is light, it will still require a camisole.

I took my KnitPicks options with me so I could swatch. It called for the garter stitch ribbing on size 4 and then the sweater on 6. I met guage with the 6s - but for some reason did not have the 4s with me. I just cut back the number of stitches for the ribbing and knit on the 6s. The sweater is meant to be fitted, you decrease and then increase back to 102 stitches for the bust. I just knit it straight. I have found that I achieve guage with the Elsebeth Lavold patterns and yarn but it is a rather light fabric. I might have knit a little tighter guage but I really didn't want to think about it and have to do much planning so I went with the size 6 for the body.

I am knitting in the round. When I reached the armholes, I dropped a stitch on each side ala Elizabeth Zimmerman. She recommends you then use a crochet hook and work back up the ladder by picking up one stitch and then two stitches and then one, etc. I don't usually bother with this but felt the sweater would benefit from some structure. The yarn is navy and the light places you see in the photo are Polyamide in a metallic silver. I plan to wear this under a suit jacket.

I have noticed in a couple of the blogs that I read that the knitters set monthly goals for projects. This seems to provide them with a structure and they seem successful in achieving the goals. I thought maybe I would try to do that this month and see what happens. This is very difficult for me. Even as I type this, I am arguing with myself. OK, I am going to try with the understanding that I can change my mind if I want!
1. Finish Honey - Constant Companion. There are no seams to sew. I will do a 3 needle bind off for the shoulders. Nothing should slow me down!
2 Finish Owen for nephew.
3. Second Anniversary sock. This will be my Constant Companion once Honey is complete.
4. Finish Mystery Shawl. We have been invited to a cocktail party for my University's Homecoming. It would be perfect to have finished. Hmmmmm, maybe I should move it higher in the list.