What arrived on Christmas Eve?

My wonderful yarn from Schoolhouse Press! It's for EZ's Green Sweater, and is the same yarn that was used in the original. It's a bit rustic looking, but reputed to wash into a softer yarn. I love all the shades of green in it!

It's Briggs & Little 1 ply sport weight, 100% wool, 430 yards, 4 oz./skein. The color is called Fir Green.

More Gloves

Since Thanksgiving, I've finished two pairs of gloves -- both birthday gifts to people I love.


The first pair was for my husband. They were a new edition of the pattern made to measure for him. Joan Goldstein drafts her pattern to your measurements, and will send new sizes for a small fee.

Custom-Fit, Sideways-Knit
Garter-Stitch Gloves

• designed by Joan Goldstein
• Knit using Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn, 1 skein of the Moose Creek colorway (60% Superwash Wool, 25% Mohair, 15% Nylon, 350 yards, with some left over).
  
• Knit on US 2 needles, 6 stitches/inch.
  
• Yarn purchased at Camas Creek Yarn, Kalispell, MT.
  
• Pattern available from Joan Goldstein, P O Box 2556,
  Bigfork MT 59911, h-jgold(at)bigsky(dot)net, for $8.

Joan (who gave me permission to post her contact information) asked me to say that this pattern is for experienced knitters.


The other pair I've finished is for my mom, for her birthday. I gave them to her last week at her belated but wonderful birthday party. They're of the same yarn as the gloves above, but the color is called Chinook. I used the pattern sized for my hands, with a couple of tweaks. This is the first time I've fiddled with this pattern's fit on my own, and I was pleased with the result.

Happy Birthday mom!

Happy New Year!

Following the example of Julie at Knitted Bliss (a blog I enjoy and recommend), here are all the items I finished in 2009. As you can see, we're low on quantity and very high on gloves.

In fact, there are two new pairs of gloves I haven't shown on my blog since they were just new skeins of yarn. I'll post some individual pictures & details in the next couple of days.

In 2009, I didn't knit as much as I like to. But I'm very happy with the knitting I did, much of it (at least the completed parts) for other people. I did knit the Botanica Medallion cardigan and a pair of gloves for myself. I'm happy to say that I'm enjoying *my* gloves as much as I hope other people enjoy the ones I've made for them. And I've seen all my gift items except the red mittens worn out in "real life" by the people I made them for. This is very gratifying to the giving knitter.

In 2010, I hope to finish the red sweater, aka the Japanese sweater or Am Kamin, which I've worked on for years. I have plans to modify my Beryl sweater so it fits better. And I have yarn for two sweaters for myself. I'm hoping for yarn for ANOTHER sweater for my birthday (Chuck?). I probably will make one MORE pair of gloves, since my son lost his well worn and loved pair this fall.

I hope you hang around this year to see if I can do what I hope. Thanks to every one of you who checks in from time to time. I hope 2010 is a great year for all of us!

Channeling Elizabeth: Recreating a Family Heirloom

Channeling Elizabeth: Recreating a Family Heirloom
The title is a link to the wonderful story in Twist Collective magazine of the re-creation of a beautiful sweater, of unpublished design, by Elizabeth Zimmermann. There's a bit more here, at Brooklyn Tweed. But Schoolhouse Press *is* publishing the design, and found a supply of the original yarn. Today I acted impulsively and ordered the kit! I don't usually buy yarn impulsively. I plan. I wait -- I do a lot of waiting. I ponder. But today, I just jumped. There's a limited supply of the original yarn. It wasn't expensive. And, it's headed my way. Hurray!

Nutcracker Macarons

Last night I finished my daughter's Macaron slippers. I've noticed on Ravelry that several folks aren't adding the embroidery. This is what mine looked like unembellished.

I think the embroidery adds a lot -- in fact, I think it's the folkloric detail that appealed to me.


The circles add interest the stripes don't. And the embroidered macarons have a wonderful dimensionality.

Here they are on her feet:

The bottom line:
Macarons:

• designed by Kristin Nicholas, published in Knitty, Fall 2009.
• Cascade Pastaza: 50% llama, 50% wool, 100 grams, 132 yards (note: this yarn is heavier than the yarn called for in the pattern. I made what would roughly have been a women's M/L by following directions for size S.)
• 1 skein each of color 270, 059, 269, and 042. 2 skeins of color 084.
• US size 7 and 6 needles
• Fiber Trends suede slipper sole
• Yarn & suede soles from Sheep's Clothing
• Great color choice by my daughter
• I used the crochet option for the drawstring, and made tassels instead of pom-poms, at my daughter's request.
  

This was a fun pattern. The embroidery was not difficult, and went quicker than I expected. I will admit that I decided that if the embroidery was folkloric, perfection and uniformity were not necessary or desirable. I think that without the suede soles, this would make a terrific Christmas stocking. Sewing the suede soles on was not so easy. My soles were just a tad big for the socks I made. I found I had to put a shoe inside the sock (or my foot, at times) to place the suede soles correctly.

And here they are flying out the door.

Open Water

I have a wonderful nephew who is having adventures in Italy this fall. He's on a terrific semester abroad in Florence. He made me feel very special last week, when he sent me a facebook message asking if there was any knitting-related purchase I wanted from Italy. So, you can read a bit about his adventures here. I think there's a new knitting magazine in my future!

PS If you haven't clicked through, there's a great photo of the yarn shop window you should see.

What's next?

If I've finished the gloves, what next?
When the Knitty Fall surprises came out, I was taken with Kristin Nicholas' Macaron slipper socks. My daughter is a ballerina, and she is supposed to wear slippers or socks backstage over her ballet slippers. My daughter also isn't the biggest fan of my knitwear. But, when I showed her these, she was excited. So now, my job is to finish them to be worn backstage during this year's Nutcracker, which is the second weekend in December.

Saturday, my local yarn store, Sheep's Clothing was having a little Halloween sale, and the two of us went yarn shopping. She chose this yarn by color, really.

It's Cascade Pastaza which is actually a little heavy for this pattern. It's 50% wool, 50% llama, which surprised me. My daughter is a bit of a princess & the pea type, and I would have thought this yarn is too "woolly" for her. But she loved the colors. So, I'm adjusting the pattern for a bigger gauge to accommodate this yarn. With a few little tweaks, I'm making the smallest size, and aiming for a result more like the medium size.