Adventures with sticks and string.
Good news! I have finished and blocked all the body pieces of my Rose Cardi!
Now, the finishing. First up was the center back seam — a three-needle bind-off worked on the right side to give a raised seam:
This afternoon I’ll be seaming the fronts to the back and starting on the miles of ribbing.
With the help of my little supervisor, of course.
Back in the 1980s the fisher gansey came on my knitting radar and I acquired all reference materials I could on the subject. By the early 1990s I had moved on to my fair isle obsession, so when Beth Brown-Reinsel’s book Knitting Ganseys came out, I did not buy it.
This summer, Interweave published a second edition of Knitting Ganseys, Revised and Updated: Techniques and Patterns for Traditional Sweaters and I was sent a review copy of the electronic version.
The new version updates and expands Brown-Reinsel’s original book. While I do not have the original book for comparison, I do know that several of the patterns are new and all the photography is new and everything has been reworked.
The book is formatted as a workshop, and the chapters go through the parts of a gansey, in the order you would knit one. So the first lesson is, of course, casting on. In keeping with the workshop format, there are instructions for knitting a mini-gansey, so each step of the mini-gansey pattern is included with each chapter. There are also step-by-step instructions for all the techniques that are accompanied by clear full-color photos.
By the time you have worked through the 9 workshop chapters, you will have a completed mini gansey. And following the workshop is a chapter on planning and designing your own gansey. Then there is a collection of 9 patterns. Most are pullovers, one cardigan, and one dress. They are knit from a variety of yarns in a variety of weights, with several being worked in traditional 5-ply guernsey wool. There is a nice range of sizes, ranging from 34″ to 56″ chest circumference.
You can see all the designs on Ravelry, here. If I had to pick a favorite, I’d choose Cordova:
It’s one of the designs knit in traditional 5-ply guernsey wool in a tight gauge.
I do not have a copy to give away this time as I was sent a pdf only, but if you are interested in traditional knitting, I encourage you to add this to your collection!
In other news . . .
I am now working on the fourth quadrant of my Rose Cardi. And Loki is taking a power nap.
I’m still knitting along on my Rose Cardi — I’m working on the third quadrant now. Each quadrant is pretty much the same, so I’ll spare you a photo. Instead, sone new stuff I got this week. These were all proactive purchases, not items sent to me for review.
First:
This is Rowan: 40 Years: 40 Iconic Hand-Knit Designs from Sixth&Spring Books and it is (you guessed it) a selection of 40 designs from the past 40 years of Rowan. It’s a beautiful book with gorgeous photography and many of the designs have been re-knit and newly photographed. It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite, but here is one that made me go “Wow!”:
This is Kaffe Fassett’s “Lidiya” and it is knit from Rowan Felted Tweed DK. If I weighed 90 pounds and lived in a sub-Arctic climate, I’d make it in a heartbeat.
Next:
The latest field guide from Mason-Dixon Knitting: Field Guide No. 8: Merry Making! I ordered the print plus e-book option so I already had a chance to look through this guid, but my print copy came yesterday so I sat down and looked through it again. Some great options in there for gift knitting.
And this morning I got an email about this in my inbox:
This is a new book from Kate Davies, Shore. Once again, I went for the print plus e-book option. Since I just ordered it an hour ago, I only have the e-book at this point. I love the cover sweater and will likely be making that in the coming months.
Loki is looking forward to helping me.
After a spell of very hot, horribly humid days, we are now entering a spell of chilly rainy days, with the threat of a hurricane at the end of the week. Quite a change from last week! I’m happy to see cooler days amd as long as I’m indoors, I love the rain. Good knitting weather!
I am nearing the end of the second quadrant of my Rose Cardi — still 50-some rows to go.
But today I have something else I need to work on ao I’ll set it aside for a day. It’s taking me a week and then some to knit a quadrant so I still have quite a way to go on this. I’m not in any particular hurry though, so that’s okay.
My little helper is ready and waiting for me to settle down on the couch so he can snuggle in next to me.
Very rarely, with the exception of “plain vanilla” socks, do I knit the same pattern twice. But this is one of those times when I’ve found something I like so much, I want to knit it again!
I am knitting a second Rose Cardigan.
I knit this pattern the first time a few months ago, shortly after the pattern was released. Here’s the Ravelry project page for my first Rose Cardigan. I knit that one from Malabrigo Mechita, a 100% merino fingering weight wool. I love the style of this cardi and managed to wear it once before the weather got too warm.
My current Rose Cardi is knit from this:
This is Wollmeise Blend, which is 70% Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon/Polyamide. It’s one of my favorite yarns and comes in all the glorious Wollmeise colorways. The colors I’m using are:
That is the order I’m fading them in, and here is my progress on the first quadrant:
This past work-week was a very busy and stressful one for me, so I came home from work each day and collapsed in a pile. Therefore, not a lot of knitting each night. But we are in the middle of a holiday weekend here in the U.S. so I plan to dedicate the next couple of days to a lot of knitting.
And of course I’ll be carving out time for this little cutie too!
