Terra Terra Terra!

So, as I was feverishly knitting away on my Terra pullover at the store on Saturday, Sherry walked in, took one look at the sweater and said, "Wasn't that just yarn like a week ago." From just yarn to a completed sweater in exactly a week.
Loco, right? I don't know why I couldn't put this thing down. Well, it was super easy, round and round, big gauge (4/inch), only 2 colors per row in the yoke, with only 2 or 3 stitch floats.
And the yarn - like butter. I often say yarn is like butter, and I just mean it's soft. This yarn is not only soft - it's creamy! And it has a sheen to it that glistens like butter. Ok, it's not exactly the consistancy that you would want to spread on a bagel, but close.
And, with this crazy Philly weather, I thought, if I could just get it done this instant I might be able to get a wearing in - and voila - it's only 50 some degrees today, and I'm wearing my lambswool, silk, merino sweater! Yeah!

Next up, Brooks Farm, and the Mrs. Darcy cardigan - already cast on - another perfect project for a Philly May, or not!

Ever wonder what 6:30 a.m. at Rosie's looks like? I never thought I'd know, but fearless Courtney had faith that if we opened the store at the crack of dawn, sold the Koigu millends at a discount, and provided coffee, there would be no brawls, hospitalization or tears.
And, she was right. It wasn't the pushing, shoving, hair yanking smackdown that the Koigu booth at MSW usually is, but a leisurely, loving fingering of the Koigu, the thoughtful mixing of colors, and an all around good time. I definitely need to have more faith in people, or at least in knitters.

And how did I do on my goals? From a knitter's prospective, very well, perfect. From a homeowner, whose boyfriend is moving in, with lot's of house projects underway, and who is supposed to be saving money, um . . . I went a tad over budget. Armed with my Ravelry queue, I pretty much went straight down my list - it was so easy, that I think I traveled too far down the list - I mean, wouldn't I have been satisfied with two sweater quantity purchases, instead of three? Or maybe I wouldn't.

The bus ride down was lovely - I was a little worried, being bus captain and all, but there was no fighting over the blueberry muffins, no squabbling over the raffles, no anxious knitters hassling the bus driver to go faster faster faster, everyone was perfect. And, it was so relaxing pulling into the lot, and not having the pressure of racing to the koigu mosh pit. I had my destination starred, and underlined - and off Kate and I went to Fiber Company in booth 2.

Fiber Company had set up a little forum on Ravelry, announcing what yarns she was bringing to MSW. I had asked her about the Terra, a merino/baby alpaca blend, with the most fabulous color palette. She didn't think she would have sweater quantity of any one color - but since I was planning on Fair Isling, I kept my fingers crossed. And, I wasn't disappointed - 9 Skeins of mint, and 4 other colors to do this 4/inch bohus inspired pullover: , Norah Gaughan's Lite Lopi Pullover from Interweave Knits. As you can see, I've already cast-on, so this will be my first post-MSW project - don't worry, I have every intention of working on the Starmore - it's sooooo close to being steekable. Because the bottom of the pullover is straight stockinette for 15 inches, this is now my carry around knitting, since Starmore has reached a stage of nonportability.
And, just look at these colors! I can't wait to get to the yoke and see what magic happens! Who needs a magic wand when you have addi turbos??
As you can see, the yarn is of the thick/thin variety - and it feels like butter! The texture really makes the subtle color changes pop, and really, there's no store bought sweater that will ever compare to the character of this yarn.






Then, right on schedule, and according to my grand plan, we walked across to building 4, directly across the walkway, to Green Mountain Spinnery, and I bought my yarn for Coraline: Alpaca Elegance in a heathery, charcoal grey.
And, a free tote bag to take the sting out of the bill.

And then I thought, huh, thanks to all of my meticulously planning, within 15 minutes, I had dropped $200, had 2 sweater's worth of yarn, and frankly, at that moment in time, I thought I was done. I could have been done, I was so happy. But, I wasn't . . .

In the Fiber Company building, I ran into authoress, Laura, and she had purchased 2 skeins of Shetland from Davidsons, in the Main Barn. Kate and I were off - and I bought 2 skeins, for the Bird in Hand mittens and a matching hat a la my Anemoi inspired combo: The Bird in Hand mittens were originally worked with Cascade 220, but the gauge is sport to fingering, depending on the size, so I think this yarn will work out fine, and I won't have to struggle with worsted weight on 1's.


The purchasing over, so I thought, it was time for lunch. There's something really sick and disturbing about eating lamb at a Sheep and Wool festival, a celebration of living and breathing livestock, but whatever, it's yummy, and, for my Rhinebeck partner, Kate and I, it's becoming somewhat of a tradition. Thanks for the Gyro's, our fine, woolly friends

And then it was off to Camp Bach, for some socializing, chips with cheese and fresh squeezed lemonade!


It's never too early to start 'em knitting!

I'm not sure to which pooch Knitty D is referring!


Welcome back Robin and Ronnen! Thank goodness there's no sheep whatsoever in the entire state of California, and we can look forward to seeing you every year at MSW!

And for those of you who have never camped at Camp Bach, Camp Bach is just a hop and a little skip from Brooks Farm. This year, Brooks Farm was not not not part of my plan. I already have 3 sweaters of Four Play, and I just thought, I'll branch out. I had intended to buy yarn for Mrs. Darcy at Shadyside Farm, in the Main Building. Shadyside, however, only brought spinning goods, no yarn, so Mrs. Darcy remained unyarned. So, how could I resist when I saw this new-to-me Brooks Farm Tierra - a 70% Lambswool, 30% alpaca blend?????


In the face of this yummy, rasberry colored yarn, I succumbed, and made my last yarn purchase of the day.

I say last yarn, because I wasn't quite done buying. To round out the day, I bought Sweaters from Camp, at the Mannings. You can still get this book on the Schoolhouse Press website, and on Amazon, but Schoolhouse Press warns that it's going out of print, so better get it now!


And, perhaps my favorite purchase of the day:
This is the closest "livestock" will get to 1639 - and isn't little sheepy welcoming!
So that's it - until next year!

Count Down!

How many hours until we get our sheep on????

I started out blase, eh, whatever, it's Sheep and Wool again, just another yarnie thing. Then, I started nosing around Ravelry . . . hmmmmm . . . and then Rosie's got pounds and pounds of Koigu millends (which staff was not allowed to break into, by the way - whoever shows up tomorrow at the crack of dawn will have first dibs - wouldn't it be really funny if there were a line outside the shop at 6 a.m.???? It'd be better than Madonna!), and then, like a thunderclap, bam, it hit - IT'S TIME FOR MARYLAND SHEEP AND WOOL!!!!!!!

So, all week, I've been carefully planning my shopping list. Inspired by Kate's Cold Hands, Warm Heart Sweater, I focused on sweaters that I felt would look good in old fashioned yarnie yarn. Kate's sweater is knit in Green Mountain Spinnery, which I always stared at longingly, but honestly thought it was on the expensive side. This year, no Koigu for me - I am spending my money on the Mountain, and completely copying Kate with their Alpaca Eleganceto make this , Coraline from Ysolda Teague. I wanted a simple sweater, with detailing that would show off the yarn, but not overwhelm it. And, while I love my Tangled Yoke, I wanted something a bit less commercial, something that's not yet in everyone's closet.

And, can I tell you how easy it was to narrow down my shopping goals with Ravelry's help. The ability to call up everyone's stab at a pattern, with accompanying commentary, criticism, and errata, as well as modifications and personal touches, was invaluable. So many patterns that looked attractive in magazines, were total failures in actuality - and, while kind of sad, were someone else's disappointment, not to be mine because they were generous enough to share their oopsies, mistakes, and bad ideas.

And did you know you can print your Ravelry queue? And, not only will you get the picture, you'll get the recommended yarn, the gauge and your own notes. Fantastic!

Of course, all of this careful planning, budgeting and strategizing could easily go out the window if I fall madly in love with something completely not on my radar . . . like last year's Hunt Valley Cashmere, which turned into this year's uncompletely scarf, and languishing in the stash.

But for now, I've printed out my fairground map, annotated it with what vendor is in what building, and what yarn they have, according to their website. I can guarantee (cough cough - obviously, there's no guarantee, knowing me . . . but I can try) I am not buying sock yarn, nor laceweight. Here are my good intentions - 1. Green Mountain for my Coraline 2. Shadyside Farm (see my Wicked) for either a. the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. b. Forecast from Knitty, or c. the Elizbeth Bennet Cabled Cardigan from Fitted Knits (basically, Forecast without the baubles), possibly fingering weight/shetland for something from bohus Poems in Color, and finally, to satisfy that urge that used to be tamed with buying a skein of sock yarn, small quantities of yarn for mittens from Selbuvotter and Latvian mittens. I'll check back in over the weekend to see how close I came to my goals.


And of course, this morning, I got out the old Rosie's bag, and my saved change. What bag, what bag - a decision that needs to be made today, not at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. The Rosie's bag - old school, nostaglic, has gone on the road to many a yarn festival. Tried and true, but wearing out. The new knitting bag - a more comfortable shoulder strap, larger - but harder to maneuver in crowds. The decision still hangs in the balance.

And the change, Mr. Tall and I visited Little Penny bright and early this morning. He scoffed at my little jar, and guessed only $29.37, and voila - $83.47 - the perfect amount - enough to purchase the yarn I need for Coraline!

In the meantime, knitting did go along with planning this week - here's my progress on the Starmore. The armhole steeks are in, and only three inches to go to start the neck shaping. Whoo -- approximately two more repeats of the chart to go!

And just in case you were wondering about the Manos Blanket of Madness - here it is, still growing - only 12 more blocks to go!
I have no idea why there's a white blip on one of the blue squares - all is well in real life.

Normally, getting a packet of oh-so-pretty yarn would make me happy - but when that yarn arrives in an office that is over 90 degrees, even looking at the unopened package made me a little lightheaded. And, opening it up at home, I was still antsy about touching the wooly wool - you see, the airconditioning system is not working at my office - but the heat is working just fine. We're all sitting in the dark, and individual air conditioning units are in the hallways, blowing hot air around, since we can't open the windows. Yesterday someone passed out; the day before someone went home with heart palpatations. And, it's going to be this way until Tuesday.

So, while I know that deep down I'm really really excited about my next Starmore project - the above Roscalie Vest that I ordered from Virtual Yarns, and arrived at my swelting doorstep within a week and a half, I can barely touch the yarn - or any yarn for that matter. Knitting, due to unbearable weather conditions, is at a halt.
After a day at the office, all I want is Rita's Waterice, not Shetland, or Manos, or a mukluks, or any other project I have in the queue.

Weekend Progress Report

So . . . it's, um, an interesting interpretation of the original,yes? I mean, really, if you were going to repaint the Mona Lisa, wouldn't you spruce her up a bit? Maybe give her a red dress?
Mine is definitely more . . . pink. The purples are pinker, the lights are lighter, the overall tone is more jeweltoned, as opposed to classic Thoroughbred horsey colors.

The preparation for the knitting was definitely more difficult than the knitting itself. There's a five stitch motif that's repeated twenty-two times on each side of the star thing in the center. I spent alot of pre-knitting time with the chart -- changing the legend over and over as I changed which Spindrift's would substitute for which J&S's. So the chart, which at first seemed to be as incomprehensible with it's 17 different color symbols as a Greek menu, became as easy to read as a newspaper. You can see above I have a lot of markers in - this is completely unnecessary if you are capable of counting to five, but I like them - it makes the knitting even more machinelike, completely nonchart dependent. I think of the star in the middle as like a gymnastic tumbling pass - one long stretch of 47 stitches. Sometimes, as I'm going across that part of the chart, I even have a commentary running in my mind accompanying it - yes! she stuck that landing! Lot's of little things going on in my head that make this an entertaining knit.

And, anyone who thinks you can't do fair isle if you can't knit with yarn in both your hands, think again. Above is one repeat of the 32 row pattern, plus a little bit of the second repeat. I started it last Wednesday - I'd say I'm motoring along with my one-handed, pick and throw, work. I can actually carry the yarn in both hands, but, surprisingly, I just find this way works better for me - especially in the Kaffe, when you're managing three colors per row.

Below, I pondered whether my Kaffe was really still a Kaffe, and Lisa dubbed it "Kaffier than Kaffe." I'm not sure what I'm supposed to call this thing - now that I've switched up the colors, indeed, it's not really close to the original at all at this point. A Starmore, if you go by the designer's intent - is a marriage of pattern, color and yarn - and I've only got one of the three. Maybe it's now a Starmore*, with fine print reminding the blog reader that's it not quite an authentic Starmore - kind of a Starmore knockoff.

If anyone is interested in knitting a true, honest to goodness Starmore, Virtual Yarns is supposedly updating their website sometime this week, and many of the kits that were sold out should be restocked. If you aren't so much into authenticity, and are willing to pick your own colors, check out your local libraries. Philadelphia County unfortunately doesn't have any of the fair isle books - but there are four copies of The Art of Fair Isle in Bucks County - my dad checked one out for me over the weekend, so I should be able to peruse it over Passover. And, of course, there's ebay - this pattern is in Vogue, Fall 1989, and I think you can still get all of the original J&S colors, I just chose to work with what we had a Rosie's.

And those colors that I bought at Rosie's that didn't find a home here - I think they'll end up in that Eunny Jang vest, I forget what it's called. Although, I'm not sure if I'll ever find a home for that neon purple Aubrelita.

Starmore, Take 2!

Armed with my color photos from Ravelry of finished Thoroughbreds, I reassessed my assault on the Shetland yarn at Rosie's. Out went Pistachio, Aubrelita, Shetland Black, Old Gold, Pine Forest, Scotch Broom and Sandalwood, in -
Dusk, Bramble, a Rowan Scottish 4 Ply in Magenta, Peat, Thistledown, Turf, Mint, Mooskit, Willow, Dog Rose, Sand, Lemon, Amber, a Drops Alpaca in a burnt orange, Sunrise and Scarlet.

And here is the newest incarnation of Thorougbreds. I'm much happier with the Magenta.

So, from the bottom to the top - On the bottom is Dusk - which in the original was Blueberry - but I only have 1 skein of Blueberry and the pattern calls for 2 of that color - so I'll have to live with Dusk. Next - Pistashio, a sage green, has turned into Willow, a pale, minty green. The blueberry/purple Aubrelita is now the Rowan 4 Ply Magenta, paired with DogRose, which in the 1st take was Thistledown. Next is a pairing of Peat and Lemon, which was Shetland Black and Scotch Broom. Now here's where I may have messed up again, but I think I'm going to live with it - I have a Rowan 4 Ply walnutty color and Amber - I forget what it was before - Amber and something. I think this Amber may be too dark - the next progression is Sunrise, is a rusty color - and at knitting circle we lined up all the colors, along with the colors that will be on the side, and everything seems to read well. So, here's where it's going to look significantly different than the original, but I'm going to go with it. Unlike that blueberry/purple color that was so wrong yesterday - I don't hate the amber, and I like the Sunrise - not pictured above. So I'm sure Alice would have a cow, but this is a Wendy production.

And for Marissa - thanks so much for the use of your pastry gadgets - here's the racetrack cake we made for Mr. Tall's Grandpop's birthday -



It's a chocolate cake, covered in traditional white icing. The "track" is crushed oreos, the grass, green sugar. The street markings are white Good n Plentys, and the white rim - that's the pastry tubing - yum!

And the cars - chocolate cars from Naked Chocolate, the most decadent place in all of Philadelphia - you really could get naked, and dive right into the personal chocolate fondues. Mr. Tall and I went to the Film Festival on Monday night, and beforehand, we went to Naked Chocolate for dessert. Four different sipping chocolates (classic, milk chocolate, Aztec and Spicy), a counterfull of chocolate pastries, and of course, the fondue, served with fruit, cookies, marshmellows, and rice crispie treats - YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! Don't plan to go following a meal - it's way too rich - plan on making it THE meal, and don't skimp - if you're going to go there, forget about the calories, because that would just be silly - there's nothing appropriate for Weight Watchers in this sea of chocolate, peanut butter, carmel, nuts and honey.

Splat!

The wait is over - I cast on the Starmore.

All of the excitement - winding the yarn, casting on 320 stitches, getting it joined in the round, and then . . . splat! My bubble burst, my balloon popped, my heart sank. And the culprit behind my malaise - THIS SKEIN.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I've been substituting Jamieson and Smith colors for Jamieson Spindrift colors. Did I mention I was doing it without a color card? When I photographed my final picks, and compared them to Thoroughbred stashes on Ravelry, I kind of patted myself, and Courtney, on the back for what a good job we did. Can I tell you - that was a premature pat, that's for sure. Because here's what we did:

BLECH!!!!

That purpley blue thing is just hideous!!! The color called for in the pattern is "Aubergine." I substituted with a color called "Aubrelita." It really is much more purple in person - but the fact that the camera is picking up so much blue tells you what hue of purple it is - and it's awful. I guess one person's Eggplant is another person's Blueberry.

So, it's back to the old color palette - that particular color, when looking at finished Thoroughbred's on Ravelry, seems to be a purply magenta. There's other tweaking to be done as well. The orange needs to be more orange, rather than the pinky orange that's in there (Sandalwood). Coming up is something called "Wood Heather" that I substituted with Pine Forest. But, looking at finished T's - it's too dark; it needs to be a more of a blue green. Ah well - I'd rather tweek now on the ribbing than in the actual pattern. What about swatching, you ask - good, reasonable question, or course. I did swatch, shocking, but I only swatched in two colors, because I didn't want to break my yarn - I got the last skein of many of these colors, and I swatched in two colors that I know Rosie's has back stock.

Icky icky poo - drat drat drat!

Ok, enough of that rant - here are a few pics of those fantastic bottlecap buttons --

It is only knitting after all - good to end a rant on a high note - the buttons are great, and looking at them almost makes me forget the Starmore pain.

Martha Bottlecap

Can I cast on something new yet???? All of this finishing is killing me!

So, here's Martha, from Rowan Studio, in the new Manos Silk Blend. I call her Martha Bottlecap because the buttons remind me of bottlecaps - love them! If I hadn't used them on this little cardigan, I may have built a project around them.
This was an easy knit, and a not so easy finish - blocking was a bitch. Thanks for that schematic Rowan - not!

The schematic had all of two measurements - width and height. Last time I looked, that made a rectangle. Hmm - there's an armhole there people. So, I did the best I could. Sewing in the cap sleeve was no fun. Kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole. I messed up the buttonholes - thanks again Rowan for writing instructions like "begin front neck shaping 39 rows from the beginning of neck shaping of back." I guess my row gauge was off, because when I followed the instructions for the buttonholes - p54, make button hole - I ended up with a buttonhole on the lower half of the garment. Oopsy. So, I sewed that hole up, and went with 2 buttons on the top half, and since they're pretty big, showy buttons, it worked out ok.

And, I'm so glad I took this picture outside - what's up with my crazy two-toned hair!?! I immediately made an appointment for a color - friends - how did you let me walk around like this??? Can I just whine for a moment - something has happened to my hair. It's not growing. Well, it must be, since you can clearly see the color line in the above pictures. But, where is it going? I don't have a lot of breakage at the bottom. I thought that perhaps it was just curling up, and curling up, but when I blow it dry, it's not significantly longer (see pics with Tangled Yoke). I have the amazing disappearing hair. I guess what goes around comes around - I've spent a lifetime with thick, curly hair - and all I've ever wanted was straight hair. When I would clean out the drain in my shower after washing my hair, I would secretly, and evilly, chuckle at my bald male friends - if they only new how much hair I had to spare! And now . . . ok, I'm not going bald, but I've definitely reached one of those age milestones where you're body changes in a not so good way.

I'm ok with turning 40 (not this summer, next summer - we'll see how ok I am then). I'm ok with the lines appearing on my face. I'm ok with feeling tired and a little sore after playing tennis on Wii. I'm ok with my metabolism slowing down, and not being able to drop five pounds by simply upping my water intake, and chopping out alcohol and sweets. But my hair! Sigh. It's all downhill, I know it - I might as well go to the wigmaker now.

Kaffe?

So, here's the Kaffe, or is it? I mean, what makes this a Kaffe Fassett design at this point?
Have I followed any color theory whatsoever? I certainly didn't pick a motif in nature in order to emulate the colors. I didn't pick a work of a great master, and paint his/her canvas with my yarn. The Kaffe Little Circles has 11 colors, I have at least 17, I'm not sure. The original pattern had a chart with a progression of colors, but frankly, it was nearly impossible to follow the progression because when I started I hadn't picked all of my colors yet, and I didn't predetermine what color was going to be which designated letter to correspond to the progression chart. So, from the beginning, I tossed the pattern aside, and began the dizzying experience of trying to come up with three color combinations that worked together, and when that was too exhausting, I just started grabbing balls from the bag. I wouldn't say I employed any kind of theory, unless randomness qualifies as a theory of madness. This piece is definitely more Jackson Pollock than Kaffe Fassett.

The original Little Circles is knit flat, in two pieces. Obviously, I'm knitting in the round, and I've just put the steek in for the v-neck.

Little Circles does have a v-neck, but I'm starting my V much lower, so it'll be much deeper. Oh, the original was nice enough, it's not that I'm dying for a plunging neckline or anything, but I had the tube off the needles, and shimmied my way into it - and it is SMALL!!!! The snug, undulated little circles over my love handles are hardly attractive. I started out on gauge, when the project just had DK weight yarns. But, having fallen in love with the Rowan 4-ply Tweed, I kept throwing it in, along with a few other fingering weights, and I went from 6 stitches to the inch, at the bottom, where you can see Whiskey, Felted Tweed, and a doubled Misti Alpaca, to 8 to the inch, about a quarter of the way up, when I stopped doubling the alpaca, and was really using a Whiskey or a Felted Tweed, and 2 fingering weights per row. Oopsy. So, I'm hoping with the low v-neck, I'll have a bigger playground for my boobs to run around in, and perhaps with blocking, I'll get another inch or so, and it won't be horrendous. And, if it's horrendous on me, it'll be a great gift for my skinny sister-in-law. It's just way too late to rip and start over now. So, with Courtney's math help, I started the v-neck lower, and have abandoned the original shaping of Kaffe's Little Circles.

So what's left of Kaffe? The color palette - gone. Method of knitting - changed. Shaping - altered. All that's really left is the simple Little Circle stranded pattern. I guess that's enough - I mean it's not really mine, I didn't design anything. It's not really Courtney's - she just did the math for the v-neck. It's kind of a mishmash. Whatever it is, though, its Krazy.

And, here's that Krazy thingy hanging out of my new knitting bag. I love my new bag, it's big, it's roomie, and I've been coveting it for a long time. Everyday I walk little Dexter down Pine Street, and we pass this cute little store, Omoi, that sells kitschy Japanese stuff. The tote bags are on a rack in the window.
This past weekend, I had to teach at a CLE, that lasted from 3:00 p.m. Friday, through 3:00 p.m. Sunday, uch! Each day started at 8:00 a.m., and went on and on and on. I definitely needed a treat. Normally, a treat would be casting on - but, a ha! I circumvented that urge (even though I did get the Autumn Rose pattern finally, to go with the yarn I already have, and I do have that Starmore calling my name), but promising myself that knitting bag in the window.

Look how much room it has!


And this, another little bag! All of the girls at Knitting Circle are ga ga over Piddleloop's project bag. This isn't one of them - they're always sold out. So, I orderd one from ZigZag Stitches, who also makes bags from Japanese fabrics. I haven't done a comparative analysis of the two bags, but mine came with a little needle case as well, seems sturdy enough, and is an excellent addition to my new knitting bag.


And Madness Manos Blanket? 13 blocks to go. There's no way I'm not going to cast on the Starmore any second, but I will finish Martha first. I have the back, a front, a sleeve, and 3/4's of the second front done, and probably if I hadn't strayed to the Kaffe for the past couple of days, it would be done. Probably over the weekend. And, with Tangled Yoke in the can, Martha out of the way, and Kaffe making signficant progress, I think I've done enough penance to finally cast on - the Starmore!