Progress on AH103 Mitten

The past couple of days have been busy so I haven't gotten as far on my mitten knitting. There is a knitting group at Borders that I recently started attending on Tuesday afternoons so I took the mitten along yesterday. I should have known better! Talking and following a pattern don't mix well! HA! I think I need to look closely at the last couple of rows again before I go on. I did get to the decreases at the top though and did the first 2 rounds there. Here is where I am now:


And here is the chain that makes its way up the sides of the mittens. In a Norwegian mitten there are always a few edge stitches which separate the palm design from the back of hand. They usually have a solid line of the main color(the dark one) on either side. You might also notice on the thumb gusset the solid line of the main color on either side. This line will continue up the sides of the thumb when I make it.


We have company coming this weekend from Wisconsin so I am going to be cleaning, cooking and planning for where we will put everyone in the next few days. My knitting time will probably be limited so I may not get this mitten finished right away. It is a fun project though so I will be motivated to get back to it soon.

Denise

Knitting Pictures!

I finally found some time to take pictures of the knitting I have been doing. I really have been knitting but just hadn't found time to blog about it. I have spent that past couple of months trying to keep up with Arnhild's business as well as my own business and taking care of my family. I found some time in there to knit apparently too, as you can see!

There are hats and a cowl to go to charity. These will probably go to our church for their fall hat and mitten drive. I have been working on a couple of hats in ISU Cyclone colors, red and gold. These are the kind of knitting that I do while watching Rosie's basketball games or reading email. The striped one was finished at the last game, which they won in overtime!

Another hat and cowl set that I finished recently is this beautiful white cabled set. It is made in Rauma Vamsegarn, a worsted weight wool. The pattern is newly translated pattern -- Rauma 84-10. This one will be displayed at the Arnhild's Knitting Studio Retreat to be held in Ames in late February. The pattern will be released at that time.

I finished the sleeves for the Norwegian Man's Sweater a couple of weeks ago. I have been awaiting further instructions from Arnhild for the finishing. I have started that now. I will need to sew with the sewing machine along the center front and the sleeve openings and then I will cut through the knitting to make openings to attach the sleeves and the button bands. I will be taking lots of pictures as I do that. Arnhild and I are making up a book to give the students who are taking classes in our new Fiber Arts School. We are going to include lots of photos of the techniques involved in making these sweaters and other knitting projects.

And finally I have been learning how to knit socks from the toe up. I have knit dozens of socks from the top down but this takes some different techniques. It has been a challenge sometimes but I feel like I am learning a lot as I go. I have been wanting to learn how to do this because I have some sock yarn which is hand-dyed. I can't get more if I run out and the ball is a little shorter yardage than some that I have used. With this method of making socks I should be able to use up all of the yarn and still have my socks completed. I always worry when knitting from the top down that I will not have enough to finish the toe!

This is a photo from about a week ago. I have both of the socks past the heel now and one is almost finished.

I will try to update more as I work on the Norwegain sweater. It also needs to be finished in time for the retreat in February. There may be some other projects on my list for then too. I'd better keep knitting!

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?

Moving right along....

Anyone know that song from the Muppet Movie? My older kids loved the Muppets. We have been introducing the younger ones to them through the DVD's. Good wholesome fun!

I feel like this Berries Cardigan had been moving right along until last week. Then I got super busy with preparations for school, meetings that are starting up and a dozen other things that had to be attended to.

The body is finished now!!!! I started on the first sleeve but haven't gotten very far with it yet.

Here is another snippet for you.

Sample Knitting for a New Terri Shea Pattern

So,

Terri Shea asked me to knit a sample sweater for a new line of Selbu inspired patterns she is designing. Her design ideas were so beautiful that I was intrigued.

They will use Finullgarn which is the fingering weight of the Norwegian yarns from Rauma. It makes a nice lightweight sweater. I have fallen in love with all of the Rauma yarns so I couldn't say no.

Saturday a box of yarn arrived on my doorstep. Here is the beginning of the sweater. Isn't it gorgeous?

Mitten Knit Alongs for Charity

I keep starting mittens! I really need to finish some of them up don't I?

This yellow one is for a Mystery Mittalong. Basically, the person leading the knit along gives us a few rows of knitting to do each day but we don't know what it is going to look like until we knit it. I am not quite done with clue #3 here. These will fit a pre-schooler.

This orange pair is from a pattern that my friend Esther (Thanks Esther!) shared with a group I am on. She wrote the pattern herself and calls it McMittens because it is an easy pattern to remember and repeat over and over again. Great pattern for charity knitting!

I am using 2 strands of a worsted weight yarn for this one so it is equivalent to the bulky weight the pattern calls for. These are very warm and will fit an adult hand.

Both of these yarns came from my friend Jennifer when she moved! (Thanks Jennifer!) They are wool and I think there was a name on the yellow one but I have been thinking of them as mystery yarn. Perfect for knitting mystery mittens right?

Both pair will be going to Macuwita-sni to warm the hands of the children on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota.

Do something for someone else today. It is a good feeling!
Denise

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.........

Finally Making Progress

It seems like this sweater has taken forever to knit! I would knit a ways and discover that I had forgotten to change the second strand to the next color.

If it wasn't that I would find a cable that was crossed wrong. I actually had the right front knit all the way to the shoulder when I discovered that one. I had to rip a bunch of it because some of the stitches were already bound off for the neckline curve. Then I dropped the 6 stitches of the cables down about 20 rows to fix the cable. I am getting rather good at that now!

At this point the body is knit and ready for the shoulder finish, so I started the first sleeve last night. I still have to remember to count the 9 rows of each of the different browns while crossing cables every 4 rows and increasing 2 stitches every 12 rows! See why it gets messed up sometimes?

I think the sleeves will move along more quickly though. Hopefully I will have a finished sweater soon!

Pattern -- Rauma 2090RVF Short Cabled Cardigan and Hat

Yarn -- Rauma Vamsegarn & Rauma Finullgarn

Knitting Retreat & Shop

Arnhild's Knitting Studio Retreat 2008

Rauma Retreat Shop hosted by

Denise's Needleworks

Knitting retreat was fabulous!

We had a pampered weekend full of knitting, classes, excellent food and fun. Well, I didn't get to attend any of the classes but I still had a lot of fun.

We set up this beautiful store on Friday and started the weekend with soup, salads and lots of shopping.

Saturday there were classes in entrelac, needle felting, recycling your felted wool sweaters and a clinic with Arnhild, an expert in Norwegian knitting.

Sunday there was more time to work on projects or learn a new technique.

I met so many wonderful people! I am looking forward to next year's retreat!

Would you like to make one of the beautiful items shown here? You can now order any of the Rauma yarns and patterns and the Arnhild's Knitting Studio patterns at my web site: Denise's Needleworks.

New Assignment

Arnhild's knitting retreat is coming up in just 3 weeks! We decided that we needed more samples of the new patterns that have come in from Rauma in Norway. My assignment is to make this stockinette children's sweater. I don't have the pattern picture to show you so you will have to wait to see what the rest of it looks like.

It is made in worsted weight yarn: Rauma Vamsegarn

The pattern uses what is usually considered the wrong side of the fabric. The stripes blend together more this way. I just need to knit a little more on the back and then it is on to the sleeves!

There are other things that need to be knit up for the retreat. I will be busy knitting and planning for the next few weeks!

I can't seem to get away from mittens!

I am working on a pair of Mitered Mittens. This is an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern found in both Knitter's Almanac and Knitting Around. The mitten is knit straight using pairs of decreases and increases to give the shaping. It is a very interesting technique and very simple to knit.

The thumb will be added later by snipping a stitch and unraveling some stitches to pick up and knit with. Take a deep breath......and cut my knitting!!

I am working on another pair of Selbuvotter as well. This one is supposed to fit about 7-9 year olds. It is too big for my 5yo and a little snug for my 10 yo so I think I have the gauge correct so far.

I did pull out an old project yesterday. It is a cabled sweater that I started just over a year ago. It is getting really cold here in Iowa and I need sweaters!! I am hoping that I can get more knitting done in the next few weeks though that is unlikely I suppose with Christmas coming.

Barnevott - inside and out

I finally finished the first pair of Selbu mittens. Barnevott #10 in the Selbustrikk book. It is a child size pair of mittens. They just fit my 5 yo.

I have already started on the next pair which is a slightly larger size child's mitten. Again it is in the black and white. That is the traditional colors for the Selbu mittens.




Details of the mittens:

Pattern: Barnevott #10 in Selbustrikk LVS-5 from Rauma

Yarn: Rauma 2tr. Gammelserie Strikkegarn, 50g/160meters, one ball each of #400 and #436

Needles: size US2


I thought you might find it interesting to see the inside of these stranded projects. The floats of yarn show the design in the reverse colors.

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.

Arnhild's Knitting Studio, Rauma yarns, Selbu mittens & Barnevott

I am so excited! I am going to be working with Arnhild of Arnhild's Knitting Studio!!!!

She is the US distributor for Rauma yarns from Norway. She also has written or translated scores of Traditional Norwegian patterns. The latest, which she gave me, is a book of patterns called Selbustrikk. It includes: patterns for votter, vanter, sokker, stromper, luer, and skjerf or in English: mittens, gloves, socks, stockings, hats and scarves. Such beautiful patterns!

Today I helped Arnhild fill some orders and learned how to make the invoices on the computer. It is going to be so fun to learn about her business. We are hoping that I can take over for her when she is gone to give workshops and classes. I think I have a bit to learn yet though.

Arnhild also gave me the new book by Terri Shea, Selbuvotter It is about the traditional Norwegian mittens from Selbu. This is a very well done book that Arnhild will be selling to shops. Ask your local yarn shop about it!

Now my first assignment from Arnhild came with yarn. Two skeins of Rauma Gammelserie Strikkegarn, one black and one white. The pattern I am going to make is #10 in Selbustrikk. It is a Barnevott or Child's Mitten. Click on the picture for a closer look.

So I have yarn, needles and pattern. I'd better get started!

Mittens New and Old

I started this pink and navy wool mitten Monday night while at the Prayer Shawl meeting at our church. We are making hats and mittens for the International students too. One of the women asked how long it takes me to knit a mitten like this. I couldn't give her an answer at the beginning of the evening because I knit while doing other things, between other things and just about any time that my hands are free.

But by then end of the evening I had a better idea of how long it takes. I would say for this one with just a little bit of patterning it will take about 3 hours to make each mitten.


So, with that in mind I am wondering why this pink mitten for Amy has not gotten finished. I started this one some time last winter.

Sock Success!

This time the socks came out the same size! I think they look great with my new clogs too.

So now on to the next projects!

Trekking Pro Natura Dublin Bay Socks

My Tofutsies sock was finished so I started another sock on the size 1 needles. They had barely cooled off!

I am using the Dublin Bay Socks pattern from here. It has a pretty lace inset on the sides of the socks but otherwise is a simple sock to knit.

The yarn is Trekking Pro Natura wool and bamboo blend. It knits up really nice and doesn't split at all! Lovely yarn!

Mitten Progress

I finished up another pair of mittens to go into the church donation box. These fit my hands with a little room to spare. They will be nice warm wool mittens for one of the International students here.

I have been working on the Elizabeth Zimmermann Norwegian mitten this week too. It is almost to the shaping at the top. I did have to rip a bunch out because the hand part was not going to fit. I started again at the wrist with larger needles. I will tell you later how I messed up the thumb.

I was having trouble following the tiny graph in the book so I enlarged it. Then I printed it on cardstock and covered the whole thing with clear contact paper. Someone suggested having it laminated and using wipe off markers but I was afraid that they might get rubbed off in my bag and I didn't know if they would work with the contact paper. I ran across this great Omnigrid Glow-Line Tape at the fabric store. It sticks well to the contact paper but peels off so I can move it easily. I have been using the same piece for the entire graph!