Live Models!

Last night I finished the collar on Rich’s sweater. He modeled it for me today:

I think he likes it! I used 7 skeins of Plymouth’s Galway worsted.

Right after I took Rich’s photo, I headed south to meet up with Pam. We landed in the middle of a suburban shopping paradise. We ate lunch and caught up on all of the news. She modeled her new scarf for me:

The leaves are at peak color so driving was unusually delightful.

In the weird department, I saw a dead bear on the side of the highway heading south on I-95. I have seen live bears in the woods back home, but this was a first.

 

Hole-y Bias Scarf

Hole-y Bias Scarf

I wrote out some detailed instructions for the bias scarf in the previous post. It’s just a setup with increases on each end of the right side rows, a straight section, and a decrease section.

Using some sock yarn, I swatched another version:

It is knit on US 7s. When finished, I plan to wet block it to make it lace-like.

I finished the neon version and sent it off to my sister. I also finished a feather and fan scarf knit in Silk Garden Lite. I plan to give it to my friend Pam on Sunday when we have our quarterly artist’s date.

 

Just call me the Scarf Lady

Somehow I have become the Scarf Lady. My sister requested scarves for her crew, and my daughter requested one - a first for her. My friend Mel’s son is on the list, and a couple of seekrit scarves are in the queue as well.

I double-stranded some Opal solid sock yarn with hand-dyed that my sister unearthed from her basket to make an off-center Feather and Fan scarf. Status - FO. Enough yarn is left to make some fingerless mitts - just right for someone who has a cell phone duct taped to her head.

This scarf is knit on the bias with a row of yarn overs and k2tog’s every 8th row. It is wide for a scarf - ten inches - and can be used as an emergency hat since I know this person leaves the house without one all too often. The colors are a little neon for my taste but the recipient picked the yarn. The repeats are flowing nicely without pooling. I’m more than halfway finished.

Meanwhile, my own projects are languishing, but all of this scarfing will be finished up soon enough. The other recent scarves are over at flickr.

In other news, we are headed to the Birchmere this evening. We will be seeing the Carolina Chocolate Drops and the Austin Lounge Lizards, eating the B-mere’s mediocre food, and most likely meeting up with lots of local music friends.

 

diversion via color

While we were visiting last weekend, my sister gifted me with some yarn from her stash. Some of it came with knitting requests. One skein of Lorna’s Laces is to be used in a scarf for my niece. Two more skeins will become something scarf-ish or wrap-ish for my sister. I get to use the remaining skein of Autumn House Farms sportweight however I chose.

I decided that the skein of Bittersweet Shepherd Sport would be interesting to combine with some Kureyon. I had two skeins of 102 in my stash. I am using the simple mistake rib pattern. So far, I like it - but more important - Katie will like it.

I will be riding my bike and beach knitting for the next several days.

 

Take Two

After knitting about 4 inches all around on the Kureyon 95 pullover, I reconsidered my plan. It’s now a top-down design. The last few nights have been filled up - preparing petition packets at Hillary Clinton’s national campaign headquarters, working in the clothing room at ECHO - but this weekend should allow a little time to sit.

All four of us are driving over the mountain tomorrow morning to visit my mom for her 80th birthday celebration. We are taking her out for lunch, then dinner and cake will be at my sister’s place. I am really looking forward to finally giving her the feather and fan shawl. We are going to have good weather and the leaves should be turning colors up north.

The other big excitement this week was actually meeting Hillary Clinton in person. I attended an event at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, where she gave a science policy speech. She spoke about putting facts before ideology, creating a research institution for renewable energy, restoring NASA’s mission of protecting the planet - it was very inspiring to hear her talk.

 

weekend knitting

We enjoyed a very relaxing weekend. On Saturday we drove up to Shepherdstown WV for a fall festival. The weather was perfect. I grabbed some sock yarn and started a new pair of socks while I sat in the sunshine and listened to bluegrass music.

Yesterday, though, I needed to start something a little more long-term. My mom’s shawl is finished, and I seamed the pieces together on Rich’s sweater and just need one evening for a collar. I have had some Kureyon marinating in my stash for a few months.  I often use Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns along with my stitch dictionaries.  I am starting with some basic ribbing. The last time I did a sweater in the round with Kureyon, I ended up frogging the entire thing after the body was completed because the stripes were too narrow. I re-knit, using multiple skeins that I re-wound in order to get similar colors together. I will be doing the same thing on this sweater.

This colorway does not have as many wild shifts in color as some of the other Kureyon yarns, but the close colors still have lots of subtle variation.

 

a Red Letter day

Wow.  Today I was privileged to attend the OFA’s Care Package Media Event on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. This event was conducted to help to thank the generous supporters of OFA’s work, and to raise awareness about the needs of students who are aging out of foster care. Students (current and already graduated) got together with members of Congress to pack up those great “hugs in a box” that OFA sends out. The corporate sponsors were there too - all are very enthusiastic and excited to be helping the fantastic young people who are supported by OFA.

I personally spoke with at least a dozen students. Knitters, they would make you all so proud. Our young people are such a precious resource - they are our future. They were all well-spoken, self assured, friendly, and determined. I don’t mind revealing that I was a little teary more than once while I listened to their stories.

And the scarves! I got to see a bunch and they are all beautiful. More than one student raved about the scarf received last year.  Imagine a nice young person wearing your scarf and feeling cosy - goosebumps, right?

I left the event feeling that the students had given me much more than I had given them. It’s easy for us to knit a scarf. What they are doing - not easy.

Please consider donating to the Paypal fund (the link is on this page) or supporting one of the other OFA programs if you can.

 

2007 Red Scarf finished

My Red Scarf is completed. The pattern is a mistake rib, 8 inches wide and 60 inches long. This particular red was hard to photograph. Here is a detail shot:

The red is a brick shade, and a thin variegated strand is twisted around. It is Tahki Yarns “Shannon” in a light worsted weight. I used three and a half skeins. I think it looks quite unisex! I will be attending the packaging session on the Hill on Thursday and I am looking forward to it.

I also finished my mom’s shawl, except for blocking. I want to keep it! I am also knitting the collar of Rich’s sweater. I want to be able to cast on something new by this weekend. I have a couple of things in mind - a vertically striped sweater out of some bulky weight Noro Yoroi or a pullover knit with some Kureyon 95 are the most likely candidates. I will also be starting another baby sweater since my neighbor is expecting a boy next month.

 

one stitch at a time

Last night I met a Ravelry person 3D! Rich and I went to Wolf Trap to hear Nancy Griffith and Judy Collins. Two rows in front of me I saw a woman knitting socks - and using yarn that I have already knit into a pair of socks that I love. Imagine! We chatted briefly during an intermission. On the way out to the parking lots we met up again and struck up a bit more conversation. It was nice to meet another knitter. We discussed the finer details of what counts as stash - yarn for charity projects does not count, sock yarn does not count. As I stated that “ebay yarn does not count” I realized that Rich was indeed listening - teehee. I am sure that I will have a chance to remind him that model train cars purchased on ebay take up as much room as train cars from other sources.

After at least four false starts, some with considerable amounts of knitting accumulated, the shawl for my mom is growing and I love it. It is warm and so soft, lightweight but snuggly. I devised a method for keeping track of my repeats (modified spreadsheet scribbled on an index card) and that has eliminated the need to unknit, finally. It was only a week ago that I started the version that is the keeper. The stitch detail:

The flickr version of the photo has notes showing the yarn details.

Rich’s sweater pieces are completed. A Red Scarf is underway and I have swatched two other stitch patterns. With any luck, all three of these projects will be completed before Oct 6, when we visit my mom.

 

sweater progress

Last night I finished the first sleeve for Rich’s sweater. Second one will be cast on tonight.

My Interweave Press hurt books arrived today via FedEx. The one that looks most exciting to me is Knitting Ganseys, by Beth Brown-Reinsel. When I began to knit again a few years ago, I used patterns. That only held my interest for a little while. Now I would rather pour through stitch compendiums, make swatches and sketches, and do calculations. I would rather know the frameworks and then modify to suit my ideas. I know that I learned this from my mother decades ago. I would sit next to her at the pattern counter at the Penn Traffic department store while she looked at the Vogue, Butterick, and Simplicity books. Mostly she liked Vogue. Then she would explain to me what she would change - the sleeve, the collar details - and why. My mom found a way to express her individuality in that way and it rubbed off on me. I’m glad.

We are off to the beach on Friday morning for a long weekend. I will work on my mom’s shawl while we are there. The weather will be cooler and we might have some rain - good knitting opportunities.