UFO No More

I started these more than a year ago but stalled after I finished the first mitten minus the thumb. I kept them readily available to remind me to finish them. I am glad that I finally finished them, although our coldest mitten-wearing weather is over for this year (I hope).

I am not crazy about color knitting — give me lace knitting any day — but I decided to challenge myself with these.

• Pattern: Annemor #13 from Selbuvotter by Terri Shea
• Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, 2 skeins black, one skein of a color called Fog
• Needles: Knit the ribbing with 2.25mm needles and the remainder with 2.75mm

Key to success with the patterns in this book is to enlarge the charts so you can see what you are doing and to keep marking off where you stop and start.

These mittens were not the oldest UFO (unfinished object, for you non-knitters) in my knitting bag. And that's all I am going to say about UFOs.

Oooh! Sparkles!

My friend Bridget sends the best, most creative Christmas presents. This year it was a skein of Tilli Tomas Salt & Pepper yarn in a shade called Fitler, which is a square in Philadelphia near Bridget's home. How cool is that? It's spun silk and teeny little beads (hope you can see the beads here).

The pattern is a Turkish Stitch scarf from Loop Knits, knit on US9 needles. Knitting took some care to not split the silk strand and the bead strand (beads are on a separate, very fine thread). The finished sized is about 6 inches wide by 54 inches long.

It's very luxurious to wear. And perfect for Valentine's Day!

Wool in the Desert

Why, you might ask, is Nancy standing in 70-degree sunshine, surrounded by cacti, wearing a wool scarf? Because she is modeling her new scarf.

She purchased the brown-ish yarn (136 yards) from Unique Designs by Kathy; I paired it with two skeins of Jo Sharp DK in a color called Orchard. The result is a brioche stitch scarf with random stripes, 8 inches wide by 64 inches long.

Now she needs some cold weather to provide a proper environment for her scarf.

A Winter Hat

My gift in the Puyallup Knitting Guild holiday gift exchange was this pattern and yarn for a winter hat. Twined knitting. Not my favorite type of knitting, with all of the twisting and untwisting, but the hat and yarn were so pretty that I was willing to give it a go. That, and Joyce egged me on: "You can do this, you can do this."

The timing was excellent because we have had a cold winter and this is a snuggly, soft, warm hat with earflaps. I really like this hat, and I even warmed up (a little bit) to twined knitting.

The details:

• Lisa Ellis Designs Basic Twined Ski Hat
• Yarn: Crystal Palace Taos, 100 percent wool, 1 skein (128 yards), color 02 Gila Bend; trim is Cascade 220 in a sage green from stash
  
• Needles: US6
• Finished size: Adult

Jeanne's Shawl

My friend Jeanne thought that her 80-something-year-0ld mother would enjoy having a shawl. Seemed like a good idea to me.

Eventually, Jeanne selected a Faroese shawl because the shaping would stay on her mother's shoulders better than a triangle or a rectangle. Then she choose the Alka pattern from Myrna Stahman's book on Faroese shawls and seaman's scarves.

The yarn presented a challenge: soft, not too heavy, not too light, no wool, machine wash and dry. With the help of Ravelry's yarn index, I found that Knit Picks CotLin, a DK-weight cotton-linen blend, met my requirements. Jeanne chose the color Lantana.

Knitting on US7 needles, I used about nine skeins, 1,100 yards. I used the leftover yarn to make a few face cloths for Jeanne.

Jeanne gave the shawl to her mother for Christmas and it was a hit. Her mom seemed quite taken with the idea that someone would hand-knit a shawl just for her. She joyfully modeled it before all of her friends and relatives (that's not her in the photo, that's me).

Sun Break

Our escape to Tucson to visit friends gave us a much-needed break from winter. Although it rained a few days, we generally enjoyed a week of warm, sunny days and desert life.

One of our excursions took us to Kathy and her critters. My friend Nancy (below) had sent me some of Kathy's wonderful hand-spun, hand-dyed yarns, so it was a pleasure to meet Kathy and some of her animals.

White Pre-Christmas

A winter storm has covered the Puget Sound region with snow. It may not look like much compared to what others typically experience in winter, but we are not very good at dealing with snow. We don't get it often enough or heavy enough to invest in millions of dollars of snow-removal equipment, and the hills that make up our communities make driving — and even walking — treacherous. Road travel, air travel, ferry travel and bus travel are heavily curtailed by common sense as well as blocked roads.

My backyard. Yes, I should have pruned the rose bushes a little more.

The boxes are new raised garden beds.

The good news is that being trapped at home for several days offers more knitting time and more time with our new cat, Mooch. Mooch started hanging around about two years ago. The neighbors named him Mooch because he regularly cadged meals from their house. Long story short: A neighbor three blocks away is involved with cat rescue. She rescued Mooch, recognizing that he is well adapted to living with people. We learned his story when she called after we gave him a collar with a name tag and phone number.

So Mooch is now part of the household. And he does not especially care for snow.

Holiday Shawlette

I like bright colors most of the time, but especially during the winter. This small shawl, which is Rene' Wells' Bison Shawlette from Luxury One-Skein Wonders fits the bill for the holidays. Rene' cleverly uses three triangles to good effect so the shawl fits nicely over the shoulders.

The yarn is not bison or buffalo. It's Takhi Twiggy Tweed, a discontinued wool yarn. I think I knit six repeats of the main pattern. I put small beads on the bottom points to add a little weight to the bottom. You can't see the beads because they match exactly the color of the yarn, but they do their intended job.

Bhutan Treasure

My friends know that I enjoy all sorts of textiles and fiber-y things. Friends who have traveled extensively in Bhutan gave me this lovely cotton weaving they bought in 1988. It's huge, 8 feet long by 4.5 feet wide. It makes a great sofa throw. The people who gave it to me have used their Bhutanese textiles as tablecloths!

It's a lovely piece and its bright colors warm up dreary Northwest winter days.

Mixed Results

The yarn is as soft as butter and the color is rich with the glow of silk. However, as you can see, the color is wildly different in each of the two skeins; one is far greener than the other. I expected some difference — the yarn is advertised as such — but this was a lot of difference. Also, when I washed it, it bled like a stuck pig.

I know I could have alternated the skeins, but I (and the recipient) wanted to maximize the length of the scarf. The recipient is happy with the result. If anyone asks, I will attribute the color difference to "design feature."

• Yarn: Alchemy Synchronicity, 50 percent silk, 50 percent wool, 2 skeins, 118 yards per skein, color name Dragon
  
• Needles: US6 (4mm)
• Finished size: 6 inches by 58 inches

The pattern is an easy one that I learned somewhere but cannot remember where. It is a pattern that works for many types of yarn when nothing else seems to. It is a multiple of 4 plus 2:

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit 2, purl 2, end knit 2

Of course, you can vary the number of knits and purls to suit yourself and your yarn. And you can add slipped edge stitches if you prefer that look (I do).

I Love This Book

The book is "Knitted Lace of Estonia" by Nancy Bush. This pattern is the Raha Scarf. I happened to have a skein of qiviut that decided it needed to be this scarf.

• Yarn: Moco 100 percent musk ox qiviut, 1 ounce, 220 yards; this is the softest yarn I've ever used
  
• Needles: US4
• Finished size: 4.5 inches wide by 62 inches long (although I could probably block it slightly wider and shorter)

This book has so many beautiful patterns that I want to cast on for all of them immediately.

Mandenblute

Mandenblute is one of the patterns in "Old World Treasures" by Gloria Penning. Gloria is a treasure herself; her publications have kept many doily patterns in print and available to knitters.

This is part of my journey to size 100 thread. I'm almost there — this is size 80. The details:

• Thread: Kordonet 80, made in Slovakia (I bought it when I was in Prague, either at Tesco or Kotva, probably in 2006). I used about two-thirds of a 20-gram ball. This thread is very crisp, which is think is a good choice for this doily, but it did have two knots.
  
• Needles: 1.5mm
• Finished size: approximately 16 inches in diameter.

The pattern has a few errors, which are easy to figure out. If I were to knit this again, I would change some of the double decreases. All are left-leaning decreases (slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over). I would use both left-leaning and right-leaning as appropriate. But in this size of thread, I don't think the direction of the double decreases is noticeable.

Two Scarves

In between doilies, I have been knitting scarves. Benefits: using up stash yarn, good travel projects, good knitting-while-yakking projects, and gifts.

The one to the right is the Cat's Eye Scarf from "A Fine Fleece" by Lisa Lloyd. It's knit from Haneke Select 75 percent merino, 25 percent alpaca, 460 yards, on US6 (4mm) needles. The finished size is 8.5 inches by 63 inches.

The scarf below is Off-set Diamonds from Caryll Designs. The yarn is Baruffa Maratona, two skeins from a thrift store. Knit on US7 needles. Finished size is 6.25 inches by 57.5 inches.

Boise Lace Knitting Retreat

One of the great pleasures of the Boise Lace Knitting Retreat is seeing lovely work from so many talented knitters. This year was no different. Learning from the work of others is as important as the learning that takes place in the official classes. Below are only a few of the many stunning pieces.

Plenty of hand-dyed yarn was for sale, providing no end of temptation.

A group of Idaho artists also was meeting at the facility during our retreat. One was a talented beader, whose work earned many ooohs and aaaahs. She might even have persuaded a few knitters to add beading to their repertoires.

Doily with Spiral

I gave myself a break from the teeny-tiny thread for a doily in size 30. This is Doily with Spiral, a free pattern from Nurhanne's site.

Details:

• Thread: Cebelia size 30, approximately 210 yards
• Needles: 2.0mm for the first five rounds, 2.25mm for the remainder; I find that starting in a smaller needle size helps make for a tighter center
• Finished size: approximately 16 inches in diameter

This is a fairly easy pattern to knit, even though it isn't charted, with a stunning result.

I'm off to Boise, Idaho, next week for Myrna Stahman's lace knitting retreat. This is my fifth (I think) year to attend. I always come home with a head full of good ideas and new techniques. A whole week of lace knitting — what a luxury!

Brioche

As I may have mentioned before, my friend Nancy is not (yet) a knitter, but she is becoming fiber-conscious. On her last visit to Tucson, she brought back several beautiful skeins from Unique Designs by Kathy.

The challenge is to use the short yardage (88 yards, wool-llama blend, in this case) to show off the yarn. I ended up combining it with two skeins (107 yards per skein) of Jo Sharp 8-ply DK wool in a color called Owl.

I cast on 24 stitches and knit the Jo Sharp in brioche stitch for 29 rows. Then I used half of the Kathy wool-llama for 66 rows, followed by a whole lot more brioche in Jo Sharp; then 66 rows of Kathy and 29 rows of Jo Sharp. By weighing the yarn carefully, frequently and in grams, I was able to use up almost every inch.

The final size is about 6.25 inches by 67 inches.

The Journey Continues

I am moving closer to size 100 thread. Much closer.

The details:

• Pattern: Lavori Artistici #11, Design #38, 100 rounds
  
• Thread: Valdani Hand Dyed Variegated, Silver Foam, 35 wt. (somewhere in the size 70 to 80 neighborhood)
• Needles: 1.5mm
• Finished Size: Approximately 14 inches in diameter

Do the Puyallup

The Western Washington Fair has not used the "Do the Puyallup" theme for many years but I still think of going to the fair as doing the Puyallup. And I still like the "Do the Puyallup" song. Listen here (I prefer the country version). Today's sunny but not-too-hot weather made for a perfect fair day.

All of the knitting on display was stunning. I am glad that I am not a judge. I only wish there had been more entries. A lot of knitters live in Western Washington; it would be terrific to see their work on display. Hey, you knitters! Think about entering in 2009!

I won two blue ribbons in the lace section, one for a large doily and one for a small doily. The large doily is from the Kazuko Ichida (blue) book, knit in size 30 thread.

The small doily is from Lavori Artistici #11, in size 50 thread. (I did not mount it on the hoop; the fair display people did, but I kind of like it.)

I also won a third place for a man's vest and honorable mentions for a shawl and a scarf. Sorry, those photos did not turn out very well through the glass cases.

You can do it at a trot, you can do it at a gallop...do the Puyallup!

Party Lace

I seem to be alternating between doilies and scarves. Maybe the quick-to-knit scarves offset the attention needed for doilies.

In any case, this is the Party Lace Scarf from the departed MagKnits. MagKnits may be gone but, fortunately, the pattern is available on Ravelry. The yarn is one skein of Crystal Palace Kid Merino (240 yards), knit on US6 needles. The finished size is 7 inches by 58 inches. Each end has a row of 4mm turquoise crystal beads. I am fortunate that my local bead store, the Bead Factory, lets me "try on" beads, allowing me to string them on my yarn so I can see how things will look.

Nifty Fifty

My journey to size 100 thread continued with two doilies made with Flora size 50 on 2.00mm needles. This was my first venture to size 50.

The one below, which I knit first, is "Helen" from "Old World Treasures" by Gloria Penning. It has 73 rounds and finished at approximately 11 inches in diameter.

The second one is design #7 from Lavori Artistici #11. This one, at 63 rounds, is about 10 inches in diameter.

Getting started on size 50 was a bit of a challenge, but once I got going, it was just like knitting with larger thread.

Next: size 70-ish.