First Grandbaby on the way!

I love to knit. You all know that by now! My knitting enthusiasm had dipped a lot though this spring and I wasn't sure what to knit any more. Then my daughter, Jessie, announced that there was a baby on the way and when were her blankets coming! Ha! She knows me well!

I started a blanket, of course but it got a bit off course somewhere. I think I was mathematically challenged. I started making a round blanket and calculated how many stitches I needed to have the lace edging come out right. I kept knitting and knitting. I had to go back to the store for yarn twice! You would think that would have given me a clue, don't you? But I kept knitting, all the time thinking that it was getting awfully large.

It suddenly dawned on me that I was using the number of stitches in each section instead of the entire number of stitches to calculate and I could have stopped in at least 2 places already. So the blanket is almost 5 feet across! Jessie and the baby will be able to snuggle up together under this one!

I can't seem to get the colors to come out right in the photos. It is a dark teal and purple.

Mitts and Mittens, oh my!

I have been knitting a lot of mitts and mittens this summer. You would think that I would want to knit tank tops or something cool for summer wear. But this summer mittens really took over my knitting.

In August before I went to Norway I sent off a couple of pair of very simple children's mittens to a Ravlery group project called For the Children of Pine Ridge. They were bright orange and purple. Should go over well with children on the reservation there if they are anything like my own children. I used my own pattern for these. I have knit so many basic mittens this way that I finally wrote up the pattern for it. You can find it here.


Then I started a pair of Latvian Mittens from the book of that name by Lizbeth Upitis. I chose 5 colors of Lamullgarn that I liked together. I really wanted to learn some new techniques from this book. There are beautiful scalloped edges, braids and rows and rows that use up to 3 colors at the same time in the row -- yes, I am a glutten for punishment when it comes to kntting. It was really hard to choose a pattern because there are so many beautiful mittens in this book. I finally decided to make mitten #5 because it was fairly simple designs, had the scalloped edge and only had a few rows knit with 3 colors in the row--I have my limits after all! The braids will have to be in the next pair.


The first mitten is just past the thumb opening. I am using 2mm needles with 72 stitches. Tiny, tiny! It grows very slowly. What was I thinking? They are beautiful though, right? They were starting to get a bit tedious and they are hard to take along. It gets to be a big bag full of knitting when you are using 3 balls of yarn at the same time. So they have been resting for a while.


Last week I happened to see that a designer was looking for some people to test knit a new pattern. Sure, why not? I only have .....ahem....lots of projects on the needles already. So I started another one. These were short fingerless mitts so they wouldn't take long, right?

The first mitt came out a little bigger than I need but should fit someone with just a slightly larger hand well. They are worsted weight in a nice denim blue and creamy white. They will be great for those cool winter days when your hands are getting cold but you still need them to type or knit. Or under mittens for those really cold days when you know you are going to have to take the mitten off at some point to dig the car keys out of your pocket.


I made that one mitt and decided to try a different yarn because it was a bit lighter and might fit me better. So came this one in a dark teal green and blue. Mmmm, nice colors and a good fit too. I finished the first blue and white one and made the green and blue one on our trip to Wisconsin this weekend for a wedding. That's why I took the pictures in the car. Great place to take pictures on a sunny day, by the way. It was perfect lighting. I really didn't need the warmth of the mitts though because it was well into the 70's the whole weekend. Beautiful trip too because the trees were gorgeous, but that is another story.


So, where was I? Oh yea, I made this one mitt and then started the second blue and white one..... but once again, I was distracted. I found some dark and light purple PT5 Sport yarns just calling out to be mitts for Amy. Amy loves purple. It is getting cold soon. So Amy needs mitts. Of course, I had to start those right away don't ya' know?

Soctoberfest

This month is Socktoberfest again. Everyone is knitting socks for the winter. Or at least I and a bunch of sock enthusiasts are. I have joined a group of people who are trying to finish up the second sock of a pair. There are 3 on my list that I would really like to get finished soon. Winter is coming, the days are getting cooler and I have already started wearing my wool socks some. Of course today is not one of those days -- it is 77 degrees!

My take-along knitting project lately has been this Magi Sock. I finally finished it the other day and I now am started on the second sock. This basic sock has a ribbed cuff and stockinette foot. There is a free pattern on my web site called Magi Socks named for the yarn that they are made of. I tried to give easy to understand instructions so even a beginner could make these.
I used Magi yarn and size 2 needles and get a gauge of about 8.5 sts/inch. I think I would like to try this yarn with a smaller needle next time to see what it looks like. This is already knit tighter than they suggested gauge on the yarn wrapper but it still seems just a little bit loose. I like my socks to have a nice tight knit so they wear well. Magi yarn is from Rauma in Norway.


This pair is also my own design but the pattern is not completely written yet. This is Tofutsies yarn on size 1 needles. This yarn makes a spiraling stripe design on its own. The individual colors are blended into completely different colors and I feel that you lose the beauty of those colors. You can see that at the top of the sock. I found a stitch pattern that broke up the striping and keeps the colors separated a bit more. I really like how they came out and I will probably write up the pattern when they are finished.

The third pair of socks is one that I think I started last fall, just before Socktoberfest. I am not quite sure why I didn't get them finished then. These are made in Trekking ProNatura Bamboo yarn on size 1 needles. I really like the yarn. I think they will be very comfortable to wear. The pattern is Dublin Bay Socks. It has an easy lace design down the sides of the leg.

So, I have some great small projects and a nice large project to work on right now. Winter is coming I'm sure. It always does here in Iowa! They say it might be a really cold one again like last year and with the cost of fuels all going up it is probably better to wrap ourselves in wool to keep warm instead of turning up the thermostat, right?

Toddler Sweater and socks

Things are coming together for the TNNA trade show. Only 2 weeks to go and much to do yet! Arnhild and I went over the preparations list again yesterday. We are pretty much packed up for the display now except for the models that are not finished. These 2 projects will be going into one of the rolling suitcases.

The River Jeans cotton Cabled Sweater. I made the size 2-4 toddler. This yarn is so soft and nice. The cables really look good in it and it has really good resilience for a cotton yarn. This is a sweater that is going to hold its shape I think!

You can see the cables better behind the Magi Socks here. Magi is another one of the new yarns that we will be displaying. It is a machine washable sock yarn. 75%wool/25% nylon. Really nice stuff too! This pair is just over 5 inches long. I made the sock to fit a little wooden shoe last that we are going to use for display. I really want to make some socks for myself now with one of the other colors!

I don't usually worry about having the stripes of the 2 socks match. I kind of like having them be fraternal twins but since these are going on the display at TNNA and on the pattern that I still need to write up (ahem), I thought they should probably match. I am very pleased at how closely they match. And I only had to cast on the second sock twice! Oh, if you can't tell in the picture, one of the socks is turned down at the cuff. They will work either way.

My web site designer, and second oldest son, took the socks to the park for a photo shoot. Here is the lovely photo that he took.

I made both of the socks from one 50g ball of Magi and still had some left over.

I am now finishing up the Ladies Cabled Cardigan (2090RVF) in Vamsegarn and Finullgarn. I need to sew in the sleeves yet and knit a neckband. Then I have to pick out some buttons that will go well with it. I find that to be the hardest part sometimes. I will often have an idea in my mind of what I want but does it exist? maybe-maybe not We will see what I find!

I thought I was getting almost finished with the projects for the show but after Arnhild and I went over the list again she handed me a baby sweater in another new yarn--Chiri Alpaca--which needs some crochet for finishing. Then she said that we needed to make more of the baby sweaters in this yarn if we could find the time.

So, I will be knitting.........

Some 2007 knitting I can finally show off

Introducing
Tofutsies Weave Socks

I mentioned this project in October. It was an entry for a sock design contest so I couldn't give too much away then. Now that the contest is over I can show them off. Oh, and I got second place!

I love the bright colors of this yarn but I was disappointed with the way my first pair turned out. Two of the colors blend together as you knit to make a spiral of a totally different color! So with this pattern I decided I wanted a way to interrupt that spiral and have each of the colors stand out individually.

You can see in the close-up view the spiral that started in the cuff and also how the weave pattern changed that.

I really like the results! The pattern will hopefully be available on my web site soon.

Finished knitting

Some finished item pictures:

My Candy Wrapper Hat pattern done in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted yarn. This will be a nice warm hat!
More mittens for the International students. They are 100% wool. Should feel good to someone who is not used to Iowa winters I hope.


And lastly, a child size hat. I knit this during Amy's basketball game. Remember how I said that I could knit simple things without looking at them? I was surprised at how quickly I finished it. I had it cast on before the game so I didn't have to worry about counting. I almost finished it during the game. I think I knit faster when the game gets exciting! Amy made the first basket of the game for her team! It was also the only basket made in the first half I think. It is a very inexperienced, young team. They lost 59-12 but they had a great time playing and felt good about how it went.

Four boxes of yarn have been donated recently for the knitters at church. Of course it came to my house because I am in charge of the group. We don't have a very large group at this point so I guess I better keep busy. I certainly won't run out of yarn any time soon!

Fun with Vamsegarn from Rauma

I have been playing with Rauma's Vamsegarn. It is a 100% wool worsted weight yarn. Slightly heavier than Nature Spun worsted or Patons Classic Merino. It has a really nice hand though and I love how crisp the pattern looks and how even the stitches are.

I had a lot of fun designing this hat. It is done on size 7 needles. The snowflake pattern is the same one that is on the Selbu mittens that I am making.

The kids had a great time trying it on to see who it would look the best on. I liked it best on Wesley my 17 yo but he wouldn't let me take pictures. So here are Rosie and Carl hamming it up for your enjoyment.

I am hoping to make some mittens to match next. Then I will try to get the patterns written up.

Blue Candy Wrapper Hat

My Candy Wrapper Hat class went pretty well. The circular cast on was challenging for most but they all did well and got a good start in the first class session. The second session we worked on the cables.

I started this hat in Lamb's Pride worsted so I could demonstrate the techniques the class was going to use. It helps keep me from grabbing someone else's knitting to show them how! I need to finish the hat so I can see how this yarn works up in the pattern. So far it looks like it will be a little thicker but I don't think it will affect the size much because of the cables.

You can find the pattern at my web site Denise's Needleworks.com

Karaoke Candy Wrapper Hat

This color makes me think of Wether's Originals. I like it but the cables don't show up quite as nicely as they do in the plain colored hats.

Pattern: Candy Wrapper Hat--top down, size-women's large
Needles: size 7 dpn and 16 inch circular
Yarn: Karaoke, 50%soy silk/50% wool, 100m

Candy Wrapper Hat in Karaoke

I found this beautiful new colorway in Karaoke 50% Soysilk fibers/50% wool at my LYS. It is really soft! The newer colors of Karaoke are much softer than the older ones.

I wanted to see how the striping would work with the lace and cables of the Candy Wrapper Hat pattern.

So far, so good. I will keep you posted.

Candy Wrapper Hat

My newest pattern!

Candy Wrapper Hat

You will find the pattern available on my web site.


It started with a challenge from my friend Jennifer to "make a sample" from this heavenly soft new yarn that Rosemary got in at the Rose Tree Fiber Shop. It is Silk and Merino from Russi Sales 30% Silk, 70% extra fine Merino from Italy.


I tried a series of cables for a swatch and found that the yarn shows them off beautifully. I wanted to be able to use every inch of this wonderful yarn but I was also worried about running out before I finished the hat if I started at the bottom as most hats are. I only had 120 yards.


Then I thought of the Pinwheel Baby Blanket pattern that has this beautiful spiral start. I combined that with a double cable twist that looks like candy wrappers.



Oh, and I did use almost every little bit of the yarn. I have only a tiny ball left over. I even frogged my swatch and used it!

So come on into the Rose Tree if you can and check out all of the beautiful new colors of Silk and Merino. It is so soft that you may want to take some home too!






My model is my beautiful daughter, Amy. She is rather shy.