Norwegian and Cabled sweaters finished

I finished the work on these sweaters well before the TNNA show. I was so busy getting things ready that I forgot to take pictures of them though. These are pictures of them in the display at the show.

Pattern: #138RS Man's Norwegian Sweater Black and White with Stars on the left of the two hanging sweaters.
Yarn: Strikkegarn


Pattern: Children's Cabled Sweater-Red between the white pieces.
Yarn: Vamsegarn

Knitting Needles - Pewter Buttons and Clasps

The Norwegian sweaters that I have been making lately usually take pretty small needles because of the fine yarns. I had found that these sizes were often not available at local craft stores. Rauma carries a full line of PT needles in a wide variety of sizes and types. I have added some of them to my online store. I am hoping to expand the available sizes in the near future but for now I have the ones most commonly used.

Here is what they look like. The circulars are very smooth for fast knitting with soft flexible cables. The double pointed needles come in a set of 5 and have a slightly grippier feel.














I also have a nice selection of Norwegian Pewter Buttons and Clasps. These are the real thing from a factory in Norway. Unfortunately, the factory we have gotten them from has ceased production. We are in contact with a different supplier and hope to have arrangements made with them soon. These are some of my favorites. You can see all of them on the Buttons and Clasps page.

I will need to pick buttons for the Man's Norwegian Cardigan that I have been making for my husband. I think maybe the ships would look good on it. He might like that.

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.

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

Rauma Sweater progress

Last week I was going to show you my progress on the hat and sweater set that I am making for Arnhild to take to the TNNA trade show. I didn't find the time to get it posted though. So here is where I was last week and where I am now. The sweater is going really fast!

The hat is finished. The sweater is now about 27 centimeters or 10.5 inches. The cables are looking really nice. There are 4 cables across the center back and 2 on each front. This will be a heavy sweater which will be really nice for the cold Iowa winters.

I also started a traditional Norwegian sweater during Arnhild's sweater class at the Blue Heron Knittery. Arnhild would like to have this one as a model to use for a while but eventually DH, Jeff, will get it.

You can see that this one is not going quite as fast! It is a much finer yarn (Strikkegarn) and size 3 needles for the ribbing. There are also a lot more stitches on this one. The ribbing on the blue sweater had 122 stitches, this one is 277! I think I have just a couple more rows of ribbing to go. Then I get to change to size 4 needles and start working with 2 colors.

The yarns are natural black and cream colors which are beautiful together. I have always admired these sweaters with the stars on the shoulders. It will be a very handsome sweater. I have a lot of knitting to go though.

Rauma Sweater and Hat

I have the task of making a sample for Arnhild's Knitting Studio for the TNNA show in June. This is my sweater kit for one of the new patterns from Rauma Designs of Norway. Pattern #2090RVF and 19 skeins of Vamsegarn and Finullgarn for the size medium. It is quite the pile of yarn!

This cabled cardigan uses 2 strands of yarn which change colors to make subtle horizontal stripes. The blue is Rauma Vamsegarn, a worsted weight yarn. This color will stay the same throughout. The 3 brown shades are Rauma Finullgarn, a fine weight yarn. The two yarns knit together are making a beautiful heathered knit.

The pattern calls for 5mm and 7mm needles. Unfortunately, US needle sizes don't include a 7mm. US10.5 is a 6.5mm and US11 is 8mm. I tried the 6.5mm to make a simple stockinette swatch but that seemed too tight. I did some with the 8mm but I was still not sure about the gauge so I started on the hat first. It is knitting up very quickly on size US11(8mm) needles. It will be a fun chunky hat.

There are cables all around the hat. Can you see them in this close-up? Click on the picture for a larger view. You might be able to see where I changed the browns too.

I had to show off my new yarn helper too. Arnhild's brother-in-law makes these. The balls spin easily without rolling all over the floor now! I can't tell you how many things I have tried for keeping my yarn handy. This is a wonderful solution! I am sure if you contact Arnhild she can let you know how to get one too!

Details
Pattern: Rauma 2090RF
Yarn: Rauma Vamsegarn and Rauma Finullgarn, 2 strands throughout
Needles: So far I am using size US8(5mm) and US11(8mm)

Our online shopping cart is up!

We did it! The online shopping cart is up and functional now! You can see it at DenisesNeedleWorks.com. You can shop for Rauma yarns here. All of the patterns are here.

My congratulations go to Philip, my second oldest, who did all of the web work for me! He has put together a beautiful site which I hope will be easy to use too. You will find his name on all of the pages.

Thanks also to Wesley, my 17 year old, who spent time staring at the computer screen to cut out all of the yarn pictures and resize them and the pattern pictures to fit into our boxes.

And Amy, my 14 year old, who did a lot of the data entry for the yarns page. She is a great typist though I think she likes writing stories better than doing data entry.

Oh, and my thanks to Rosie who kept Carl entertained so Mom could work on the web site!