Archives for April 2015

It’s been a busy week, so I don’t have time nor energy for a “real” blog post. So just a couple of updates.

My Boxy is growing. I got 150 rows done on the front of Boxy with one skein of Handmaiden Mini Maiden. Love high yardage skeins!

My photo does not accurately show the color — it is much deeper in real life.

Dottie and Inga are trying on their new dresses for May and wanted you to see them.

And Loki has a public service announcement:

“Be sure to get at least 18 hours of sleep daily!”

First of all, the winner of the Defarge Does Shakespeare eBook  is Leslie in MA, who has been notified. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

I’ve made some good progress on Boxy this week. And I finally have a photo that shows the color pretty accurately.

The Handmaiden Mini Maiden makes the most gorgeous knitted fabric. This is knit at a slightly looser gauge than recommended for a fingering weight yarn (23 stitches to 4 inches) and the result is a lovely soft drapey fabric. Makes it very fun to knit!

And Loki likes to keep an eye on me while I knit!

“Whassup??!!”

I’ve got another fun book to review: Defarge Does Shakespeare, edited by Heather Ordover.

That link takes you to the paperback version on Amazon.com, but it is also available as an ebook that you can purchase via Ravelry, here.

This is the latest in the “Defarge” series of knitting compilations, the third compilation on the them, preceded by What Would Madame Defarge Knit and What (Else) Would Madame Defarge Knit. The two previous books had some great patterns, and this third book is happily following in that tradition.

There are 29 patterns for a wide variety of items, and I found quite a few patterns that I loved. You can view them all on Ravelry here.

Some of my favorites:

This is Lady M, designed by Mari Chiba. It is knit from Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport and is available in a nice wide range of sizes.

Ophelia’s Garden Mittens are designed by Rosemary Cox and featured dainty colorwork flowers, worked from Knit Picks Palette fingering weight wool.

Midsummer’s Evening Wrap by Meg Warren is knit from Briar Rose Fibers Sea Pearl, a merino/tencel fingering weight yarn. It’s a great pattern for a lace newbie — relatively easy to knit with spectacular results.

Viola’s Stockings by Sarah Jordan are top-down socks with beaded cuffs, knit from Cascade Heritage Silk fingering weight yarn.

Diamonds in the Ruff by Wendy McDonnell is a sweet lace collar, knit from Yarn Fairy Fairy Lace, a lace weight merino.

There are multiple good clear photos of each of the projects, nice big clear charts, and essays from the designers about their inspiration for their designs.

I’ve been authorised to offer a copy of the ebook in a giveaway — who’d like it?

To enter the giveaway for the Defarge Does Shakespeare ebook, leave a comment on this blog post by 11:00am Eastern time on Sunday April 26. A winner will be selected at random at the time.

Boxy!

Both Jennifer and I have cast on our Boxy projects and are knitting along. I started mine a few days before she did, and here is my progress:

One of these days I’ll get a photo that accurately depicts the richness of the color. Here is Jennifer’s:

Jennifer is using Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Dustbowl colorway. I love how her yarn is knitting up!

I am using Handmaiden Mini Maiden in the Polar Sea colorway, and I love how my colorway is knitting up too!

While my stitch gauge is spot on, my row gauge is compressed. That is, I need to knit more rows to achieve gauge. That’s not a problem as I have plenty of this yarn.

Both Jennifer and I are doing the seamed version. I prefer to have side seams in my knits for the structure they add to a garment, and because this is Jennifer’s first sweater, I advised her to do the seamed version for two reasons. First, knitting it in the round would mean a lot of stitches on the needle and psychologically that can be overwhelming! I always think that knitting in pieces goes faster because you can see more progress. Second, it’s a good opportunity for her to learn how to seam a sweater, as this is her first sweater project.

Meanwhile at home, Loki pauses during play.

I finished my Ropewalk sweater the other day. And today I threw it in the washer and dryer, on a delicate cycle. Ta-da!

I knit this from Berroco Indigo yarn, color #6410, a stonewashed blue. After its trip through the washer and dryer it softened up considerably, and did not shrink at all.

The color is much more accurate in the first photo.

I spent most of the weekend working on the Outlander MKAL shawl. No spoiler photos here on the blog, but if you’d like to see mine, you can visit my Ravelry project page. There are photos there.

Now I am working on Boxy, being knit from this:

And Loki is relaxing by the window!

First things first, the winner of my review copy of  60 Quick Knit Baby Essentials is Linda Emery, who has been emailed. Thanks to everyone who left a comment to be entered in the giveaway.

In Ropewalk news, I have one sleeve completed, and I set it into the armhole and sewed up the side seam on one side.

And I have a good chunk of the second sleeve completed.

So this will be a finished item by the weekend.

So . . . what’s next?

You may recall that I taught one of my colleagues to knit last summer. Jennifer has been making great progress and has knit all sorts of things, including a pair of toe-up socks. She is just finishing up a project so I have encouraging her to take on a sweater. We decided we’ll both make the same sweater: Boxy, by Joji Locatelli.

We are both doing the seamed version — me because, well, you know how I feel about seams in sweaters. Jennifer, so she can learn how to seam a sweater.

Jennifer is making her Boxy from Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the “Dust Bowl” colorway.

I am making mine in Handmaiden Mini Maiden in the “Polar Sea” colorway.

We have both done our gauge swatches, so we’ll be ready to cast on at a moment’s notice!

In other news . . .

A certain sweet little boy has his fourth birthday tomorrow.