by Kat | Aug 5, 2016 | General
A couple of years ago, I knit this sample. It turned out beautifully and I really wanted to knit one to keep. But, as with many things – time passes and I forgot about it.
Until this, since Gale posted her fantastic version of this I have been unable to get Cladonia out of my head!
I looked at yarns online. Lots of yarn online. Nothing really struck me…don’t get me wrong, there were volumes of gorgeous yarns, but nothing that really said to me – I need to be your Cladonia.
Then I remembered this Debbie Bliss Fine Donegal I had in my stash. I have three skeins of it, but I really did not want to make it one color. I played with other yarns in stash, but nothing was really the right color.
It did not take much effort to convince a friend to head out to Sewickley to visit their yarn shop and I am happy to report that I had great success finding the perfect yarn to match. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and for me it is true. Gale, I simply adore your Cladonia – my version will be a tribute to you!
I am holding off on casting on until I have the big brown blob finished – which, with some Olympic Assistance, I hope will be today!
I did get the first half of the Sheepspot Perendale plied up – I ended up with about 160 yds of 3-ply fingering weight yarn and I hope to get similar yardage out of the second half of the fiber. That will give me about 320 yds for a pair of socks, so here’s what I want to know from you, Gentle Reader, what is your go to toe up sock pattern? This is not my usual method of knitting socks, but I want to maximize the yardage!
Now for the Friday Links (and they are amazing this week!):
Svetlana has been busy again
And so has Thea
I laughed at this, but really – perhaps every little girl needs one!
It has been years since Interweave Knits has had anything that I even remotely wanted to knit, however their Fall edition has some really yummy things. Like this. And this. And this.
There was an update to Sight is Life
Grellow gets me every single time.
This does not Vex me at all.
Diabolique
That is all I have for today, have a fantastic weekend and see you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Jul 29, 2016 | General
I learned quite a bit during the 20+ days of Tour de Fleece – and one of the things I really honed in on was how to produce a 3-ply fingering weight sock yarn.
Actual fingering weight – not heavy fingering weight. But, fingering weight that will knit to gauge on a 1.5mm needle!
So, I had this Perendale from Sheepspot hanging around. Only one bump, so I divided the fiber in half and split each half into 3 sections – one for each ply. I almost have ½ of it spun up – so it is going fairly quickly. I am not spinning more than an hour or so in the evenings.
My goal with spin a more “striped” sock yarn – keeping the colorways intact and hopefully very little barber pole effect. I am not sure how much yardage I will get – I might have to figure out toe up socks!
I am also cruising along on Tales from the Isle of Purbeck. I am into the third chart and should be done with this very soon.
Friday Links:
(FYI: there are only 77 days until Rhinebeck, sweater weather is coming…)
Now for a bit of political bragging…feel free to skip if you are so inclined. However, no matter your political leanings, the fact that we have a woman nominated for the highest office in the land is something that we should all be proud of. Bravo America!!
That is all I have for this week – have a fantastic weekend!
by Kat | Jul 28, 2016 | General
We have some much-needed rain in the forecast today – the skies are cloudy and it smells like rain.
It’s the perfect day to make a batch of Salsa Verde and a jar of Sweet Pickles.
And…by week’s end I think I will have enough little tomatoes to make a batch of Roasted Cherry Tomatoes.
The only other thing on my agenda today is a wee bit of letter writing!
What’s on your agenda today?
by Kat | Jul 27, 2016 | General, Making
Over the weekend I finished Through the Loops Mystery Shawl, from cast on to epic bind off it took me 52 days. Over the course of 5 weeks, a portion of the pattern was released in a clue a week.
This is my fourth summer for participating in Kirsten’s summer mystery shawl and each year I am absolutely amazed at the pattern that unfolds. This year’s shawl was no different – I truly loved the pattern this year. Thistle Brambles is indeed a fitting name – the Thistle patterning is striking. It was my first time knitting with Jill Draper’s yarns and I really loved Esopus. Her color sense is excellent and the dyeing is done expertly. There was not even a hint of color in the water after I soaked the shawl in preparation for blocking.
I am listening to The Book Thief and I am about half way though. I am really enjoying it. When it is completed, I will have my first Bingo of the summer! After that, I am hoping they will be falling into place fairly quickly. We shall see…
And, new knitting? Well, I got out my basket and I pulled out Tales from the Isle of Purbeck to try to figure out where I was, and what I found was a bunch of mistakes! So, I ripped back…all.the.way. Thankfully, the second time was the charm, because it has been smooth sailing. For right now, I am avoiding the Jen Lucas shawl because I wanted to knit something with a slightly larger gauge, in hopes that would help me finish sooner! Or at it might feel like it is going faster! I am just starting on the second of four charts, so hopefully I will be half way done soon. I am pondering doing an extra repeat of a chart, but see how much yarn I have left when I have completed chart 4. I am using Elsawool and I am so happy with it! Soft, lofty, and the color is so rich!
Joining Ginny in her Yarn Along today.
What’s on your needles today?
by Kat | Jul 22, 2016 | General
I am in the home stretch of TdF2016 and I have had a fantastic time. The spinning has been varied and educational. While I have not spun that many yards (3570 yds to date, i.e. 2.02 miles) I have spun a variety of yarns. From worsted to woolen, including about 2100 yards of fingering weigh sock yarn!
I am finishing up a nice lofty Coopworth currently, which will be done sometime tomorrow. I have decided that this will complete my tour and I will move back to my regularly scheduled knitting, which I have been largely ignoring over the past couple of weeks!
I need to get myself back on track for my Summer Knit Along because we are about to enter the home stretch for that as well!
I still have the following items that I need to complete:
- 2 Jen Lucas Mystery Shawls
- Triticum
- Nahant
- Pincha
- Tales from the Isle of Purbeck
- Puskinia sock mates for 2 bachelorette socks.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of knitting left to do! Panic might be setting in, but apparently I am easily distracted. I saw this stunning beauty and all I wanted to do was to drop everything and cast on. FYI, I have looked at yarn and I am strongly considering ordering something. I keep telling myself this will be the perfect prize knitting to start when I have completed the above list…
Friday Links:
That’s it, Gentle Reader, another week in the books – have a fantastic weekend and see you back here on Monday!
