I have reached the point on the front of the Zig-Zag Sweater where I can commence neck shaping. Here it is:

Whether or not that neck shaping will commence this evening remains to be seen. I think I am too distracted by other things so will likely work on my small stealth project instead.

But I can tell you what I’ll be doing this weekend:

Downton Abbey marathon!

Lucy sez:

“I’d rather watch Animal Planet.”

The book is available now — its publication  date is today. And the subtitle pretty much says it all: inspiration, ideas, and projects.

The projects are for the most part throws, scarves, and pillows, along with some legwarmers, fingerless gloves, and a hat. The emphasis here is on color, not on design techniques. The book is divided into four sections organized by color inspiration: soft tones, singing color (vibrant brights), moody hues, and rich shades. Each project is beautifully photographed (of course!) and is accompanied by a detailed explanation of the inspiration for the design and the color palette used. There are lots suggestions and tips for using color to make the designs your own.

A couple of the patterns show up in more than one section of the book.

The Opal Dot Scarf above also makes an appearance as the Dark Dot Scarf:

This is a good illustration of how different color palettes can make strikingly different pieces.

I recognize some of the motifs from Kaffe Fassett designs of the past, like this pineapple:

Shown knitted up as a blanket here, I’m pretty sure this was used in a coat in one of his early books. Glorious Knits, perhaps? The yarn used for this blanket is Rowan Colourscape Chunky, a self-striping yarn designed by Kaffe Fassett himself. Using several different colorways of a yarn that has color shifts within each colorway adds more dimension to the piece. Very cool!

The patterns range from very simple (one or two colors) to complex (many many colors), so there’s a little something for everyone. There’s a section in the back with some basic information on colorwork techniques: both fair isle and intarsia.

All in all, this is a great book, both for someone who wants to follow the patterns exactly as written, and someone who’d like to use the patterns as a jumping-off point to explore color.

Who’d like my review copy?

To be entered in the random drawing for this book, leave a comment on this blog post by 11:00am Eastern time on Sunday, February 12, 2012. At that time I will use my WordPress plugin app to randomly select a winner.

Leaving a comment on this blog post is the only way to enter.  Do not use the “contact me” link directly below the header — that sends me an email. Do not leave a comment on a different blog post — the plugin app will select only from comments on this entry. The link to enter a comment is right below the title of this post, which is “The Color Guys.”

Lucy sez:

“My colorway is perfect.”

And have started on the front.

That’s about it, really.

Miss Lucy had a successful visit to her vet on Friday. She does hates being put into her carrier and cries the whole way over. (She still has, I think, abandonment issues since she was a rescue cat.) Fortunately, it is a very short drive. But once she is at the vet’s office she is pretty calm and purring. Her defense mechanism is, I think, to act as adorable as possible. She will often roll over on her back on he examining table and display her fluffy tummy for rubs. “Look how cute I am! You couldn’t possibly want to hurt me.”

So all went well — her weight is the same as on her last visit, she got her annual shots, and before she knew it, she was back home again, sleeping it off.

Lucy sez:

“I was minding my own beeswax, taking a nap, when Momma shoved me in my carrier and took me to the vet!”

I always wondered why anyone would want a car that zigs — surely that would make it difficult to stay on the road?

Questions like this keep me up at night.

Anyway, my work in progress is a sweater that zigs — but in a good way.

As you can see, now that I’m further along on the back the zig-zag pattern is much more obvious. What I didn’t see until I downloaded the photo is that it is a photo of the wrong side. Whoops!

My plan for the weekend is to complete the back and get a start on the front. I’m planning (I think) to do a simple round neck on this. And for a change, perhaps three-quarter length sleeves.

POK Giveaway

I think this is the most entries I’ve ever gotten for a giveaway — almost 1,450. The winner of a copy of the new edition of The Principles of Knitting is Samantha, who has been emailed. Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing!

I hope you all have a good weekend. Tomorrow Miss Lucy has to go to the vet for her annual check-up. I haven’t told her yet.

I’ll spend the rest of tomorrow making it up to her. And she will be given a pinch of the catnip that Piddleloop Jen sent her. Thanks, Jen!

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I knit a swatch from some Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. I did so because I was curious how it would work for a gansey-type sweater.

As you can see from the photo above, I decided to give it a go.

I am knitting this at a gauge of 4.25 stitches and 7 rows to the inch. I am using a U.S. size 6 needle to achieve this gauge, loose knitter that I am.

The design is another relatively simple one: zig-zags of moss stitch alternating with vertical columns. This is another of my own creations — I charted up the zig-zags and columns for the swatch I knit.

The yarn is quite pleasant to knit. It’s a 50/50 blend of cotton and acrylic and has a bit of stretch and bounce, thanks to that acrylic content. I don’t know how well it will wear, but for now I am very pleased with it and find it a soothing easy knit.

The sweater will be a simple pullover, similar in construction to the Diamond Gansey. It will henceforth be known as the Zig-Zag Gansey.

Milestone

Here’s a photo I snapped of my odometer last night:

I bought this car on February 28, 2004. Clearly, I do not drive a lot of long distances!

Knitting Event

Registration is now open for Carodan Farm’s SoXperience 2012!

And at home, poor Lucy is exhausted from helping me photograph my work over the weekend.

As you can see, my little helper is on the job.

To recap, I knit this from Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton in the “Gravel” colorway, using a U.S. size 5 needle.

Here’s a close-up of the shoulder seam, joined with a three-needle-bind-off:

I may or may not write up the pattern for this at some point.

Now, lookie what I have:

This is a review copy of the newly revised Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt, which is scheduled to be released on February 14, 2012.

The revision/reprint has been in the works for a while now, so I am delighted  to actually have physical proof of this in my hands.

What can I say about this book? The original edition from 1989 has been out of print for ages and copies of it would sell for insane amount of money.

This edition has been revised and updated. Since I have never seen the original, I can’t tell you how different this version is from that. But I can tell you that this version is pretty darn comprehensive. It’s kind of hard to do a review that covers the whole thing.

I picked a topic — picking up stitches.

There is a whole chapter devoted to this — 23 pages worth. And it includes pretty much everything you need to know about picking up stitches, with lots of very clear illustrations.

And also very clear photos.

I note that an e-book version is being released as well as the hardcopy. I tend not to get knitting e-books, but I think this is one I will get. I think it will be very handy to have all this knowledge readily available via my electronic devices I always have with me. The hardcopy book weighs over 4 pounds so it will stay at home.

Because I am pushy, when the publisher contacted me to offer me a review copy, I asked for two., one for me and one to give away.

Who wants it?

To be entered in the random drawing for a copy of Principles of Knitting, leave a comment on this blog post by noon on Thursday, February 2, 2012. At that time I will use my WordPress plugin app to randomly select a winner.

Leaving a comment on this blog post is the only way to enter.  Do not use the “contact me” link directly below the header — that sends me an email. Do not leave a comment on a different blog post — the plugin app will select only from comments on this entry. The link to enter a comment is right below the title of this post, which is “Diamonds and POK.”

Lucy sez:

“What? It’s my job to help!”

Yes, I could have picked up stitches along the edge of the body and knit the sleeve down from the top, reversing all the shaping to make the sleeve narrow as I knit towards the cuff. I have successfully done that many times, but it does have its drawbacks.

First of all I would have the weight and warmth of the entire sweater resting in my lap while I knit the sleeves. This is a deal-breaker for me.

Second, the direction of the knitting is reversed. For my simple diamond pattern this is not a huge deal, but if the sleeve is patterned with something other than straight stockinette or garter stitch, you will need to figure out how to knit the pattern upside-down. Depending on the complexity of the pattern, this may or may not work.

There was another comment asking what ratio I used to pick up my stitches. It all depends.

My completed sleeve was 20″ across the top, so I measured 10″ down the front and 10″ down the back of the body of the sweater and placed markers at those points.

After I finished my sleeve increases, I had a total of 101 stitches. That means I needed to pick up 50 stitches up the front, 1 stitch at the shoulder seam, and 50 stitches down the back. So on the body I placed a marker halfway between the bottom marker and the shoulder seam, and then another marker midway in each of those sections so that I had 4 even sections in which I needed to pick up stitches on both the front and back.

Starting at the bottom marker, I picked up 12 stitches in the first section, then 1 stitch right at the next marker, then 12 stitches in the next 2 sections, then 1 stitch right at the next marker, then 12 stitches in the next section — which takes you up to the shoulder seam. That’s 50 stitches for the first half of the sleeve. Then I picked up my 1 stitch right at the shoulder seam, and picked up the remaining 50 stitches in the same manner as the first 50 stitches.

Here’s my sleeve:

And here’s the sleeve joined to the body:

But this photo is the most accurate representation of the color:

Hard to take photos after work in the winter when it’s dark!

To change the subject . . .

See this little angel?

Hard to believe that someone who looks so sweet and innocent would wake her Momma up 7 or 8 times during the night for no good reason, huh?

Sunday afternoon I made some good progress on my Diamond Gansey. I joined the front and the back at the shoulders using a three-needle bind-off, and I picked up stitches around the neck and knit a narrow neckband.

I also picked up stitches along one side so I will be able to attach the sleeve using a three-needle bind-off.

I’ve gotten a fair amount done on the first sleeve — I ought to be able to finish this sleeve tonight.

Winner!

The winner of the Jordana Paige Craft Tool Butler, chosen at random from the comments on the post that announced the contest, is, for a change, a guy: Small Town Knit Guy Rusty! Rusty has been contacted. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and a big thank you to Jordana Paige for supplying such a lovely prize for the giveaway.

While my Diamond Gansey will not be done by the next blog post, I hope to be working on the second sleeve. We’ll see.

Lucy is hard at work too.

I told you that it was a 50/50 cotton/acrylic blend but not what it was. A number of you guessed that it was Rowan All Seasons Cotton or Rowan Calmer. A couple of you guessed correctly: good ol’ Lion Brand Cotton Ease.

I started the swatch with a U.S. size 7 needle but thought it was working up a little loose so halfway through I switched to a U.S. size 6. You may be able to see the point where I switched in the swatch — the stitches on the bottom half are a bit wonky. With the size 6 needle I’m getting 4.25 stitches and 6 rows to the inch.

Working up, the yarn this feels most like to me is All Seasons Cotton. But Cotton Ease is a lot cheaper. I’m planning on knitting a textured pullover with it to see what I think.

But I’m still in the middle of my diamond gansey knit from Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton.

I finished the front last night.

And I started a sleeve.

I think at some point this afternoon I’ll join the shoulders and knit a narrow neckband. Come back Tuesday to see how it looks!

And don’t forget the Tool Butler giveaway closes on Tuesday. Remember, you have to leave a comment on that post to be entered in the giveaway. If you’ve emailed me using the “contact me” link you are not entered. I have a plugin that pulls a winner at random from comments on a particular post. The link to comment is right below the title of the blog post and is blue and says “xxx Comments.”

Okay, I’ve got a lot to do today, so it is time to get started on it.

Lucy has been resting up so she can spend the rest of the day helping me.

Better late than never, here is my work in progress: the front of my gansey-type sweater.

I’m about two-thirds done with the front (yay three-day weekend) so I have high hopes for finishing the front this weekend and getting a start on a sleeve.

I did take some time out from knitting on this to start a swatch in a different yarn. Can anyone guess what the yarn is?

I’ll give you two hints: it is a cotton/acrylic blend and it is worsted weight.

Book Giveaway

The winner of my review copy of Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett (illustrated by Jon Klassen) is “Stacy and the rugrats,” who has (have?) been emailed. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.

Speaking of Giveaways . . .

I got something exciting in the mail the other day. This:

This is the new “Crafter’s Tool Butler” by Jordana Paige, who was nice enough to send me one for review. (Note that I shamelessly pulled the photos of this case from her website since they are far nicer than any I can take here on a dark afternoon.)

The specs:

The cases is made from an attractive vegan-friendly PVC and is available in 4 colors: black onyx, bronze, deep red, and eggplant purple.

Mine is bronze.

It has six flat pockets for all sizes of double-pointed needles and crochet hooks, as well as a mesh pocket for small items such as safety pins, stitch markers and darning needles.

There is also a knitting needle and crochet hook inventory chart included.

And there are four zippered accordion pockets for circular needles with label inserts for custom numbering.

It is 10.5″ long by 6.5″ tall by 2″ thick — compact enough to tuck into a medium-sized purse or knitting bag. I foresee that I will find it extremely useful for knitting on the go, something I do a lot of.

You can purchase the Crafter’s Tool Butler from the Jordana Paige website here. There’s also a link on that page to a store locator so you can purchase it locally.

Did I mention how nice Jordana Paige was to send me one? She actually sent me two: one is for me and one is for one of my blog readers.

I’m keeping the bronze one, so I’m giving away the black onyx one. Who wants it?

Leave a comment on this blog post by 12:00 noon Eastern Time on Tuesday January 24, 2012. I’ll choose the winner at random then.

Lucy is very excited about the whole contest thing.