Wendy Knits

You May Commence Groaning Now

By Wendy on August 27, 2009

Why? Because I have named my new shawl pattern “Faro-Easy Shawl.”

How easy is it? I finished it in under a week. Gotta love knitting with DK-weight yarn right after knitting with laceweight!

But I’ve not blocked it yet, so the official FO post will have to wait til Sunday. The color in that photo is way off because I was shooting into the sun.

In the meantime . . .

Book Review!

I have in my hot little hands (and have had for a week or so) a copy of this book:

Men’s Knits: 20 New Classics by Erika Knight. The publication date is September 1 — next Tuesday.

As the title suggests, this is a collection of classic designs for men. I love how the table of contents has photos of each design:

And there are some accessories as well as sweaters:

For each design, there is a photo of the sweater being worn by a “real” looking guy, as well as a photo of the sweater lying flat, with arrows superimposed on it to show you exactly where the size measurements were taken.

Of course, most of the models were young and cute:

But there are a couple of older guys in here too. Here’s one of them:

For the most part, the sweaters are indeed classic and non-fussy — perfect guy sweaters. This is the only one that gave me pause:

But I think it is just a matter of a too-big sweater on the model. Your mileage may vary, but most guys I know would not wear an oversized sweater like that.

Well, the back cover photo made me stop and think as well:

The cardigan looks rather ill-fitting but then, the pants do too.

There’s a range of sizes — from small to xxl. But a word of warning: the small is generally a 36″ chest, and the xxl is 44″. When I think of xxl for a man’s size, I think of 50″ or so. If you are knitting for a big guy, these sizes might not work for you.

There’s a wide variety of yarns represented from chunky to fingering, all of which could be swapped out and subbed with little problem, I think.

Okay, who would like my review copy?

If you’d like to be entered in a drawing to receive this book, leave a comment to this post by noon Eastern time on Sunday, August 30, 2009. I’ll draw a name at random then.

Lucy sez:

“I can’t wait!”

Posted in Wendy Knits | Tagged book men, hot little hands, shawl pattern, size measurements, weight yarn

Miscellany

By Wendy on August 26, 2009

Miscellaneous Item Number One

The Sandvik shawl is now available for sale on Ravelry, but you can purchase it from here, too (and from my Patterns for Sale page):

Sandvik Faroese Shawl

This shawl is knit from laceweight yarn (Black Bunny Fibers alpaca/shetland blend) on a US 3 (3.25mm) needle at an unblocked gauge of 6 sts/8 rows to the inch. I used between 900 — 1000 yards.

You can make the shawl longer or shorter by simply knitting more or fewer rows. The bottom is finished with a seed stitch band

Unblocked: 52” across the top edge (wingspan), 22” down the center back
Lightly Blocked: 64” across the top edge (wingspan), 26” down the center back

Miscellaneous Item Number Two

A view of the sky at 6:00 this morning:

Miscellaneous Item Number Three

What I’m knitting:

It’s another Faroese shawl, this one being knit from the bottom up. And a lot faster knit than Sandvik, because it is knit from a much heavier yarn, using a US 7 (4.5mm) needle.

The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Pearl, and I bought it a few weeks ago when The Loopy Ewe had all Lorna’s Laces yarns on sale. It’s dk/light worsted weight and it’s a blend of bamboo and silk. This is my first time using it and I’m loving it. My colorway is “Mineshaft.”

DK weight on a size 7 goes much faster than laceweight on a size 3. Imagine that.

Lucy sez:

“Well, duh.”

Posted in Wendy Knits | Tagged dk weight, faroese shawl, loopy ewe, ravelry, seed stitch

Sandvik

By Wendy on August 25, 2009

Shortly after arriving home last Friday evening I cast off the final few stitches of Sandvik. Within 5 minutes of that happy event, it was on my ironing board, having the living crap steamed out of it.

Then I spread it out on the floor for an bird’s eye shot.

The yarn is an alpaca/shetland blend laceweight handpainted by the always delightful (not to mention talented) Carol of Black Bunny Fibers. I used a US size 3 (3.25mm) needle and under 1000 yards to knit a shawl that when lightly steam-blocked, measures approximately 26″ down the center back, and has a 64″ wingspan.

This is a Faroese style shawl, which means it has extra shaping in the shoulders that helps it stay put when you wear it.

It has a Celtic-braid-looking thingie down the center back, flanked by an all-over diamond pattern.

Over the weekend, I coerced one of the workshop attendees to model Sandvik for a photo shoot. This is Vicki:

Vicki did her best to convince me to write a shawl book, to no avail. But let me tell you, she can be very wheedlesome! Even though I flatly refused to consider a shawl book, she obligingly did a “wingspan” shot, too.

Expect the pattern for Sandvik soon, very soon.

Speaking of patterns, you can now buy a hardcopy of the pattern for The Exonumist’s Shawl over at the Loopy Ewe, here.

Just sayin’.

Lucy Sez:

“Where did she put my pink blankie? Is it here?”

Posted in Wendy Knits | Tagged diamond pattern, happy event, loopy ewe, sandvik, workshop attendees

Solomons Island

By Wendy on August 24, 2009

Early Saturday morning I hopped in my car for the 90-minute drive down to Solomons Island, Maryland.

The private knitting retreat I mentioned last week was held in a beautiful Victorian house, owned by the organizer of the event. This is the front of the house.

Isn’t it gorgeous? Built in the 1880s, if I am remembering properly, it has been fully restored and is a lovely place for a group of happy, feisty knitters to spend a weekend.

This is the view from the front lawn, with the house behind me:

The house is on the very tip of the island, with just the road in-between it and the water.

On Saturday we had two sock classes — toes techniques in the morning, and heel techniques in the afternoon. Our hostess Marie provided a wonderful breakfast and lunch, and after the second class she put out a sundae bar. You know, to help us keep up our strength after all the work we did.

We all went over to the Solomons Pier Restaurant for dinner. It was pounding down rain for parts of the afternoon and evening, but we were able to see the spectacular sunset from our table.

The evening was spent in knitting, spinning and conversation. Some of our group were staying in the house, some at nearby hotels or motels.

Sunday morning was the sock design class. Here is Denise, who started a toe in Saturday’s class and that night looked up my sock templates on my website to adjust the heel to fit her foot, and knit the heel that night:

Beautifully fitting sock, Denise!

All too soon the weekend was over. We had another yummy lunch, courtesy of Marie, and then gathered on the front lawn for a group shot.

Then back in the car for the quick drive home. Thank you, all! I had a wonderful weekend.

Oh, and guess what I finished Friday night? Lucy wanted to give you a hint:

“It’s my new kitty blanket!”

Yeah, we’ll talk.

Posted in Wendy Knits | Tagged sock design, solomons island maryland, spectacular sunset, sundae bar, wonderful weekend

The Horror

By Wendy on August 20, 2009

First, a shot of the morning sky:

But that is not the horror to which I allude in the title of this post. This is the horror:

Seed stitch. 483 stitches per row for 8 rows. The horror . . . the horror . . .

Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe working seed stitch?

Never mind, let’s move on to happier things. Like . . .

The Big Wieners!

The Random Number Generator toiled long and hard, and selected five individuals who left comments containing movie titles that contain state names. Those five big wieners winners are:

Nikkapotamus, Elysbeth, Debi, Bonnie, and Wendy in Indy. I have emailed these five winners, so if you think one of those people is you, check your email.

These five each win a copy of the WendyKnits pattern of their choice. You all win my undying gratitude for playing along with my silly request.

This Weekend

I’m heading out this weekend to teach at a private knitting retreat. I’ll be returning home at some point on Sunday, but won’t be blogging til Monday. See you then! Hopefully with this thing complete!

Lucy Sez:

“Time for another party since Momma’s gonna be away . . . “

Posted in Wendy Knits | Tagged big wieners, morning sky, random number generator, seed stitch, undying gratitude

Adventures with sticks and string.

Search

Book Signings and Classes

My Patterns For Sale

My Books

2009 Completed Work

My Knitting and Spinning Galleries

My current work in progress:

You May Commence Groaning Now

Miscellany

Sandvik

Solomons Island

The Horror

Subscribe to WendyKnits

Archives

Links and Rings

LYS Map