Knitting Pharm

2009 - the year of the sweater

The lovely and gracious Lesley/YesIKnit/Lulubelle has already shared a sweater project (below), but there are many, many more to share.  I'll dispense with the whole apologizing for lack of blogging and explain all that later.  For now, the sweaters!

Fleece Artist Lady of the Lake.  All mine, all bluey green goodness.  I love the ease of the pattern and that it's knitted on such large needles.  That way, by the time the mohair fuzz drives me crazy, I have a beautiful jacket as a prize!

Susie Hoodie.  This one was a hard-fought battle to find a yarn that even approached gauge.  (For a not-new knitter, I knit with a fair bit of tension.)  I finally settled on Berroco Cuzco, at the suggestion of the fabulous Purl Diva in Brunswick, Maine.  It's very heavy and very, very warm.  Now that it's done, I'll have to tuck it away until at least November, but I still take it out periodically to pet it and admire it.  The major modification was to switch out the cable panels for the reversible ones found in A Cardigan for Arwen.  As always, Mandy's work shows impeccable attention to detail.  I love the bias shaping and the nipped-in waist.

The first yarn I rejected for Susie was Knitpicks Swish worsted, which is a great yarn, but too fine for Susie.  However, it was perfect for BFF's son Charlie and Angela Hahn's Sherwood.  Isn't he handsome?

Here is a new pattern, Ramona, that will be available for sale shortly.  Thanks to Lesley for test knitting it and helping me tweak it.  I only wrote it for one size, since it is very boxy and swingy.  It takes a single skein of Socks that Rock Mediumweight or similar.  Watch the blog or leave a comment here if you think you may be interested in it.

This little jacket was knitted for baby Jade and no doubt would barely fit over her little self now.  It's a single skein of Pagewood Farm Chugiak, top-down raglan and lots of garter rib

Much, much more to come, including at least one more sweater!

But the real question is....

My beloved Deb is a wonder to watch knit.

Case in point, the sweater featured today.  She attended my child's birthday party and sat with the other knitting mothers and produced the sleeve while she sat and chatted.  An adult sized sleeve ladies and gentlemen.  And not a stockingette sleeve either.  Marvelously fast, that one.

Check out the detail on this sweater

The hood is divine...

The Sweater: Vivian by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Briggs and Little Soft Spun

Total knit time: 6 days! How does she do it???

But the real question is....

Who is that stunning red head she has modeling it?

Guest blogger lulubelle, filling in for The Divine Ms Barnhill

He said, she said

A few months back, I had the chance to participate in a talent exchange with a dear friend's mom.  She wanted a handknitted sweater for Bill, her hubby.  She, possessing a sewing skill level to which I'd never dare aspire, was offering some homemade Care Bears for my daughters.

The bears are perfect.

And, if I may be so immodest, so is the sweater.

Bill's criteria were simple:  a roomy cardigan, sleeves large enough to accomodate a shirt with rolled-up sleeves underneath, one of those "shawl-thingy" collars if I could figure it out.

Mine were pretty clear as well:  a fabulous, durable affordable natural fibre yarn, a stitch pattern that would keep me jumping, and seamless construction.

I am really proud of this one.  Starting with an old Patons leaflet, I charted the written directions of the stitch pattern and built the sweater from scratch!

[mid-post rant:  Are you effing kidding me, Typepad?  Tell me again why I pay for you?]

 

Yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash, colour is Lichen Heather.  Wearer is thrilled, knitter is too!

Pay no attention to that thumping noise you hear in the background

Deb can't come to the blog right now.  And I swear it's not because I have her tied up in such a way so that her hands are churning out fabulous knitwear.  Honest.*

She did however, request that I** post here to let you know that despite her blog silence of late, she has been knitting. 

It would seem that our darlin has been on a hat binge:

First up, is a green and white Foliage hat:

Next is a white Junior sized one:

 

And finally a tam-style version

 Lovely stuff!

She also did up a couple of Unoirginal Hats, and according to her ravelry notes, she did this one in the morning

 

And this one in the evening

 

Seriously Deb, you're making the rest of us look lazy.

One more thing before I go...in her last post she mentioned that she is going to be an instructor at Sock Summit.  When I saw Deb this past weekend she called the instructor's list a "Who's Who with a Who's that?" referring to herself.

Um...let's check that shall we? 13 published designed, including 5 in Knitty and hello? One in a BOOK.  A book ladies and gentleman. Not to mention various other honours that have been bestowed on her.  I know I'm her biggest fan, but I'm not the only one.

You totally deserve to be on that list.  You are among your peers.  Don't forget that.

*Deb is actually away with family right now. Send her love.

**Who am I? I'm Lesley. And I blog at www.yesiknit.blogspot.com I'm also a Deb Barnhill Fangirl

Sock Summit 2009

I am simply tickled to share with you that I will be teaching at Sock Summit!  Click the pretty graphic above for the website, which will be updated frequently as the Summit approaches.

As well, check out the Blue Moon blog for updates on the Summit.

Hope to see you there!

 

I HAVE been knitting: heaps of hats

Yesterday I composed a huge post, only to have it crash and auto save three times, then crash and eat the post on the fourth.  I will do my best, but Typepad sure doesn't seem to want me to blog.

Apologies for the lack of blogging, but I wanted to keep the post on my Potpourri pattern on the top of the page, and I didn't know how to pin it.  With my luck, stickying it to the top would have wiped out the entire blog!

So, hat knitting continues to satisfy me, starting with a pile of Unoriginals.  Amy and Laurel each got one in Lamb's Pride.

Next came a pair of Fern Glades from the most recent issue of Knitty.  I used of my last remains of Felted Tweed to make one for me and one for a gift.

Next, FISH!  This one's fairly self-explanatory.  It's also perfect for a little boy turning four.

OK, I just crashed, which means I need to split posts before I lose this one.  Kindly pardon the complete absence of wit or even commentary.

Meet the Pattern: Pot Pourri Socks

While I haven't seen a copy in real life yet, the Internet seems to be buzzing with the recent release of Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns.  I'm a little buzzy too, anticipating the moment when I get to see my own pattern in a real, live book.

Meet Pot Pourri:

  Photo copyright 2008, Interweave Press

The sample socks were worked by Kristi Geraci in Pagewood Farms Chugiak Hand Dyed Sock Yarn.  Quite pretty, yes?

With the release of the blog, Carol and Interweave are embarking on a publicity blitz.  I'm pleased to do my part by giving you a little bit of the behind the scenes of my pattern and what inspired it.

I love bright, vibrant handpainted, crazy multicolours, especially watching the various hues fly through my fingers as I work a sock.  There's a soothing feeling to that old familiar motion, Magic Looping with a 2.25mm circular, with the added excitement of watching the colours mingle as a sock takes shape.

I, along with ridiculous numbers of knitters, consider Socks that Rock to be the Cadillac of such yarns.  The firm twist, the soft hand, and, oh, those colours.  However, sometimes I find it hard to do justice to a yarn that is so very special to me.

Ladies and gentlemen, give me complete order and symmetry, or give me total randomness.  The inbetween will literally keep me up at night.

Handpaints give me predictably frustrating results:  nice, fairly even stripes on the foot, crescent-shaped pooling around the ankle where my gusset increases cause the colour stacking to reverse direction, then nice striping again up the leg.  Depending on the stitch pattern and colourway being used, it can look really nice to my eye, or make me want to poke my eye out.

I sometimes use a short row or afterthought heel to minimize distortion in the colourations, but that robs me of the sock knitting process I have come to so dearly love.

When the call for submissions for Carol's latest book came out, it suggested a few means that we as designers may do well to consider:  directional changes, changing stitch counts, lacy distraction, etcetera.

Fearing I could never tame the beast of pooling, I used them all.

Pot Pourri changes stitch counts on most of its 7 repeated rows.  As well, every seventh row is a terrific yarn hog, as each pair of stitches is wrapped in a double figure 8.  This serves to not only deposit colour on the stitches, but to "reset" the yarn so that any tendency to establish colour patterning in the previous rows will be interrupted.  The gentle curve of wrapped stitches is too subtle to be a real chevron, but is just enough to keep the eye moving.

It's written cuff-down with a picot edge (the picots are even purled to give a peep of colour from the previous round), eye of partridge heel flap and a toe that is decreased in three wedges.  I'd call it an intermediate knit, but a quick one.  You may find yourself knitting on just to see if you will find pooling.  I believe you won't.

Below is a shot of a finished pair in STR lightweight, Cobblestone County colourway.  I can't see the pooling; can you see the pooling?

Buy the book, enjoy what I've heard is a comprehensive set of chapters to help you understand the nature of the handpainted beast, and knit as many socks as you can stand.

But skip to page 88 first, OK?

Meet the author: Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns

First off, if you haven't yet, you need to meet the book:

  Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns (Interweave Press, 2008)

Carol J. Sulcoski, the wizard behind the book Knit So Fine(Interweave Press, 2008), has done it again!  This time, she shares the vast knowledge of handpainted yarns she has gathered as dyemistress of Black Bunny Fibers.  This multicontributor book features designs from eighteen designers, with the goal of helping you to make the most of that gorgeous handpainted yarn in your stash.

Carol will be guest blogging at Knitting Daily this week to talk about her latest project, and I'm thrilled she took a moment out from her insane life to talk to me about it.

Deb B:    First of all, congratulations on what looks like another beautiful book.  Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed about Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns.

Carol Sulcoski:  Thanks Deb, it's great to be here.

DB:    This is your second book with Interweave Press (the first being Knit So Fine, which you co-authored with Lisa Myers and Laura Grutzeck).  With Knit So Fine, the designs were all the work of the three authors.  Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns features patterns from such a broad array of designers; how did this change the writing process for you?

 

CS:  In most respects, it didn't really change my approach.  With both books, there was a theme or goal that I wanted to communicate in the text, and to illustrate with the patterns. In Knit So Fine, we focused on introducing people to the joys of working with skinny yarns; in KSWHY, I wanted to help knitters to better understand and use handpainted yarns to knit socks. In both cases, the patterns were inspired by the things the yarns can do: e.g., skinny yarns drape and you can use elaborate stitchwork or double-strand yarns without creating a garment as heavy as chain mail; with handpainted sock yarns, you want to showcase the beautiful colors of the yarn. Of course, KSWHP also pays a lot of attention to want you want the yarn NOT to do – pool or splotch or make unattractive color patterns.

 

With both books, it was important to me to include technical information about how the yarns work so that knitters can learn more about why the particular yarns do the things they do, and then take that knowledge with them no matter what they are knitting.

 

I will say that from a time and stress standpoint, it was much easier to divide up roughly the same amount of patterns (20+ per book) among 18 designers, instead of three!

 

DB:    How active was your role in weeding through and selecting the designs for this book?  (And, if you can share a trade secret, just how many people submitted designs for this book?)  What process was used to ensure the designs chosen reflected the best of what these yarns can do?

 

CS:    I can honestly say that I don’t recall the exact number of designers who submitted ideas, although I think it was upwards of 40.  Some designers were so inspired that they submitted multiple ideas and swatches, too.  It sounds like a cliché, but we truly did have more great designs than we could fit in the book. (So email Interweave and ask them to let me do a sequel, okay?)

 

All of the sketches and swatches were sent directly to me.  I did a first cut and then I worked closely with my wonderful editor at Interweave, Anne Merrow (Anne worked with Ann Budd on several Interweave sock books so let me tell you, she knows her socks!) and we pored over the swatches and sketches to come up with a final slate of designs.

 

Again, it sounds like a cliché, but it was very difficult to narrow down the number of designs to around twenty or so.  It was fascinating to see how the call for submissions elicited all kinds of ideas from the various designers, and how they approached the challenges of avoiding pooling and showing off the colors in diverse ways.  Some people opted to use stitch patterns with changing stitch counts so that the yarn would be used up at different rates and not create stripes or splotches; others used innovative construction techniques to break up large areas that might pool; others used solid yarns in conjunction with the multicolors to shake up the colors.  It was exciting to see how the designers really thought about the challenges that handpaints can create and came up with creative solutions.  One of my New Year’s resolutions is to knit some of the designs from the book with yarn from my own stash.

 

DB:    Your writing career has taken off at a time when interest in handpainted yarns, including your own, is absolutely exploding.  What does this mean for Black Bunny Fibers?  What are your plans for future writing and yarn endeavors?

 

CS:    The biggest challenge for me is time.  I have three children in elementary school, and they are the top priority for me, so sometimes I find myself frustrated by not always being able to spend as much time knitting and dyeing and writing as I’d like!

 

Right now, I’m working on some more book proposals, and I’m always sending design submissions to anyone who will take them!  I’m excited that I will have two designs in the upcoming winter issue of KnitScene; I’ve got some sock patterns that will be in the next edition of the on-line magazine Knotions; and some sock patterns that will be included in JCA/Reynolds’ next booklet of Soft Sea Wool sock designs.  I’m also trying really hard to get some designs ready for sale in PDF form through my website and/or Ravelry.

 

With regard to Black Bunny Fibers yarns, I’m very excited to announce that The Loopy Ewe will be selling selected BBF sock yarns, beginning with a gorgeous superwash 100% blue-faced Leicester sock yarn that will go up this week. I’ve got some yarn and fiber clubs going, which allows me to dye yarn or fiber for members based on their individual color preferences. And I’ve been working hard on trying to keep plenty of BBF yarns in stock on Blackbunnyfibers.com

 

DB:  Congrats again, Carol, and thank for being here.  We all look forward to seeing your work in the future.

Head to Toe: November 2008

November was prolific but not, productive but not.  Definitely lots of stash used up, which means I'll go on a terrible yarn bender in the New Year.  Here is the tally for the month:

• Amy's Cotton Fleece pullover
• Laurel's Cotton Fleece pullover
• Wee spiral yoked sweater for coworker
• Gull Lace socks in Seacoast Handpainted
• Muscari socks in Trekking XXL
• Unoriginal in 2 strands Cascade Pima Tencel

With all of the odds and ends I've been knitting up, I now have almost no odd balls of leftovers.  Cotton Fleece?  Gone.  Lamb's Pride?  Gone.  Pima Tencel?  Gone.  I do, however, have several "sweater amounts" of yarns in the stash roo, for me and for others.

Looking at my tallies from recent months, I'm really glad I opted out of the 52 Pair Plunge II.  I'm having far too much fun with other things.

Welcome December, and happy holiday knitting, all!

I HAVE been knitting: sweaters

Spiral-yoked pulli in Socks that Rock lightweight, Jasper.

   

Stashbuster in multiple scraps.  I carried the spiral pattern down the body, and it just needs sleeves.  Love it or hate it, the supplies cost me nothing!

 

Multiple shades of Cotton Fleece for daughter #1.  Top down raglan, seamless and highly addictive.

 

2 shades of Cotton Fleece for daughter #2.  Since finished, but not photographed.

   

Cardo for my friend's Dad.  Sleeves are now done, body about 1/3 of the way to armholes.  Yarn is Cascade 220, which recently became available at a local store!  Squee!

 

Little Rowan Cotton tee, blogged about in my last head-to-toe.  Cute little stashbust, and about a size 2T.

Happy knitting!