Archives for June 2016

Here is my Fiesta Bag that I showed in my last blog entry, now with handles!

Rather than knit the handles according to the pattern, I’ve made i-cord handles. I started out knitting the handles from the pattern but decided I preferred i-cords, so ripped out what I started.

On Friday I will start my July Camp Loopy project, a shawl called Sur le chemin de l’école. I will be knitting it in this yarn:

That’s Madelinetosh Pashmina in the “Rain Water” colorway. I’ve got three skeins. Such a pretty colorway!

ChiaoGoo Twist Mini

Have you seen the new ChiaoGoo Twist Mini interchangeable needle set? I pre-ordered a set when it was announced and got it a couple of weeks ago.

(Diet Coke included for scale.)

It’s a set of very small-sized needles: five tip sizes US000 (1.5mm) to US1.5 (2.5mm), three cables, a wee box with the little parts and pieces, and a ruler. This set is packed in a tidy little black mesh pouch.

The whole thing packed up will fit very neatly into your knitting bag. A nice little set!

Loki Sez

“Hello, Lady Kitties!”

That is his “come hither” look.

The mystery project I showed in my last blog post is this:

Lucy Neatby’s Fiesta Bag!

I following Lucy Neatby on Instagram and a little while back she was offering the pattern for sale pre-publication as a fundraiser for Alberta Fire Relief — so that’s when I bought the pattern. (The fund-raiser is now over: knitters raised $2,800 for the Canadian Red Cross.)

You can now buy the pattern via Lucy’s website, here.

I wanted to make a good-sized bag so elected to make mine from worsted weight yarn. For the solid color I chose Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in the “Farmhouse White” colorway. It took my quite a while to find a variegated worsted weight yarn for the contrast. I finally ended up buying a merino/tencel blend from an etsy seller: Felt Buddies and Co.

I added an applied i-cord at the top edge for added stability:

Anyway, the pattern was very entertaining and well-written and I am enjoying every minute of the knitting.

What’s next?

Well, I can start my next Camp Loopy project on July 1. Until then I will be playing with these:

I’m going to be doing a colorwork project with these colors. Well, mostly these colors. I haven’t quite finalized the palette yet!

Loki has been a big help to me this weekend:

I have finally, two months after starting it, completed Kinsale.

To recap, this design is from Alice Starmore’s Fishermen’s Sweaters and I made mine out of Appalachian Baby Design Organic Cotton. I love, love, love the finished sweater as much as I hate, hate, hate knitting with that yarn.

That yarn is WICKED splitty. I had to slow down my knitting to ensure that I caught all four plies of the yarn. Even though I was very careful, many times I stopped and dropped down a couple of rows to pick up a loose ply. Very time consuming.

So it seemed like a good time to knit something really fun:

Do you know what that is?

Loki does, but he is not telling!

The winner of my review copy of Rugged Knits: 24 Practical Projects for Everyday Living by Andrea Rangel is Jen R., who has been emailed. Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

I am making good progress on Kinsale. I finished the first sleeve and have attached it to the body. I picked up stitches along the body edge and then attached the sleeve via a three-needle bind-off. Because I did raised exposed shoulder seams, I did the same for the sleeve seam:

Then I sewed up the side seam and sleeve seam using a mattress stitch:

I am working along on the second sleeve and should have it done in a few days.

Loki was a big help in the seaming — he sat on the end table and watched!

I have another new book to review:

This is Rugged Knits: 24 Practical Projects for Everyday Living by Andrea Rangel. You can view the projects on Ravelry, here. (I note that the title says there are 24 projects, but there are actually 22 patterns in the book. Two of the patterns are for hats that state they are for men or women, so perhaps those each count as two patterns, but . . . whatever.)

I like the idea of “rugged knits” — knitwear that stands the test of time and lasts for years and years. The patterns in this book include 11 sweaters/vests, 3 hats, 6 cowls/wraps, 1 pair of fingerless mitts, and 1 sock pattern. Some of my faves:

I love love love the Silhouette Baselayer Men’s. There is also a women’s version that is more fitted, but I prefer the men’s version. And I love that it is knit from light fingering weight at a gauge of close to 7 stitches/inch in a pretty textured pattern. When one reaches a certain age (ahem) anything heavier than fingering weight is too warm and not comfortable for inside wear.

Next up:

The cover design: Hazy Cloud. I love the all-over tiny check pattern! And I love the exposed raglan seam detail that is carried along the edge of the collar:

The description of this is the “ultimate sweatshirt” and I think that’s a great description!

Next, a shawl:

Cedar Bough is a triangular shawl worked from side to side with an i-cord edge picked up after the fact. The body of the shawl is worked in twisted stitches for a gorgeous texture. It is knit from fingering weight yarn but I wonder how it would be worked in sport weight.

And a hat:

The Boreal Toque is a great colorwork hat for men or women. It’s a nicely fitted hat that would, as the book suggests, fit nicely under a helmet for extra warmth. It’s a nice intro to colorwork, too.

All in all, it’s a nice collection of pretty, classic designs.

Who’d like my review copy? To be entered in the drawing to win my copy, leave a comment on this post by 11:00am Eastern Time on sunday, June 19, 2016 and I’ll choose a winner at random at that time.

Kinsale

I finished the neckband on Kinsale last Sunday:

I find it difficult to pick up stitches for a neckband neatly when working in cotton due to the lack of elasticity, so I’m pretty pleased with how this looks. Meanwhile, I’m working along on the first sleeve.

I think I’m on target to finish this by the end of June. I want to have to done before July 1 so I can start my second Camp Loopy project without a bit of Kinsale left over!

Loki is too busy enjoying his cat ball to care!

It’s where he hangs out when he gets tired of reclining on his couch!