Cowls

Cowls seem to be a very popular item with knitters on Ravelry at least. I think they are a great idea. They keep your neck warm without the dangling tails of a scarf. I found a pattern there recently that I wanted to try.

This is the Willow Cowl, a free Ravelry download, if you are a member there. If you aren't a member go to ravelry.com and sign up! It's free. Ravelry is a wonderful resource for knitters and crocheters.I used 2 skeins of Mini Mochi a very soft sock weight yarn. This cowl has a nice flare at the bottom so it lays over the shoulders just a bit to fill in that spot that your shirt leaves open to the chill. Each of the lace sections creates a roll that lays down in nice folds. It is long enough to pull up over your ears if needed. I will be giving this one away so those other 2 skeins are blues and purples that are waiting to be made into another of these cowls for me!

I also had an opportunity to test knit a pattern for another designer. This Tabitha Cowl is the result of that. We were trying to find out what it would look like in a variegated yarn. The yarn is hand dyed sock weight yarn from Knitivity.com. Ray dyes some beautiful yarns! Take a look at what he has and if you order something, tell him Denise's Needleworks sent you!As you can see, the cables disappear in the colors but I think it is very pretty anyway. The designer is also working on fingerless mitts and a hat to match. This is another Ravelry pattern. Sorry, there is no other way to get it.

I look happy here modeling it but you wouldn't believe how hot and humid it was when we went outside to take the pictures!!! I'm sure it will feel good in January when the weather is not so warm here!

Socks in the Summer Sun

I took my teal socks outside for better light. The colors are much truer in this one. Just look at how that left one has a beautiful spiral of little navy blips ! I started the right sock from the opposite end of the skein and it has much smaller blips of navy and less white. You can tell they are related but they look like they could have come from separate skeins. I love to watch the color progression as I knit!

Currently Knitting - August 17, 2009

My knitting has been frustrating me lately. I have been ripping at least as much as I have knit I think. This is Rauma 1272 Margrethe. It is a lovely pullover sweater that I started in June. I worked on the hem and bottom border while we were at TNNA. The yellow recommended in this pattern has been discontinued so I have had to make a substitution for it. There is also a green in the pattern that doesn't look green at all on the cover picture so I have substituted a dark gold for that one. You can see how little of that there is. Click on the picture and you will see that there is also one row of a lavendar. Surprise!

This first picture shows the first yellow that I tried. I actually farther along than this when I finally decided that the yellow and gray were just too close in value. You couldn't make out the fan patterns at all. So, rriiiiiiipppppp it went back to the border!

Now this is a Finullgarn sweater, so that was a LOT of knitting on very small needles!!

For this second try I chose a much lighter yellow. Ahhhhh, that's better! It had been moving right along until this past couple of weeks when I have not had as much time for it. I can't read and knit on this one! TV is okay, when I have the time for that.


I have been working more on this pair of socks than on the sweater. The yarn is my favorite teals and blues hand-dyed by Ray at Knitivity. He calls it Turquoise Fade. You will find it toward the middle of the page here.

I am using instructions from Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe-Up. I tried Judy Becker's Magic Cast on with the double point needles that I usually use for socks and found that it is nearly impossible to do. I was working in the car while we were traveling to and from Wisconsin so I didn't have much choice along for circular needles. I did have a couple of needles though which were only slightly different sizes so I grabbed the closest two circulars and tried it again. So far, so good.

They were working so I continued on using the Magic Loop technique with the Hiya Hiya needle I had. I don't usually enjoy knitting socks with one circular this way but this needle was particularly cooperative and was slightly smaller than my double points. I liked the knit that I was getting with them so I continued on.

I now have 2 socks up to the ribbing. I like my ribbing to be tightly knit so I was working along in my usual tight mode and decided I should try the socks on again before I finished the rib. Guess what? They were too tight! So again.....rriiiiiipppp when the knitting!

They are back on the needles again and almost finished now. Let's hope I remember to take the finished item photo too!

I WON !!

I can't believe it! I won one of these skeins of beautiful hand dyed yarn from Ray at Knitivity!

He asked people who read his blog to answer the question: “Why did I name the single ply line Biagio?” or indicate the significance of the name. The correct response, of course, is that Biagio is named after Santo Biagio (St. Blaise), the patron saint of wool-carders.

Ray makes some of the most beautiful hand-dyed yarns I have seen anywhere. I have yet to try them because I couldn't decide which ones I wanted!

If you haven't seen what Ray can do check it out here. He has an amazing talent with colors!

Thanks Ray!