FO: Les Misérables

A friend gifted me a spectaularly special ball of yarn last year. Filatura Di Crosa Superior, a cashmere-silk blend, soft and lofty and fine, in the most alluring color of lipstick red.



I got to work right away on an appropriate pattern- something lacy and lovely.  I found this pattern online and got to work.  Although it called for 900+ yards of yarn for a large scarf, but I figured I would just sew up the scarf to make a cowl when I ran out of yarn as I only had 330 yards.

So miserable.

The pattern is easy- a series of yarn overs with dropped stitches lined up, to give it a carelessly destroyed and distressed look to it.  Still..It's cashmere silk blend!  You can't make it look bad.  Once you were done, you give it a good felting to firm up the fabric.  I did this rather ingeniously, as I had finished it while I was living in a hotel with no real way to felt it or let it dry....I used it as a bath puff for a couple days.  Soap, water, agitation, et voila.  It felted it perfectly evenly, it's super soft and surprisingly warm for something so full of air bubbles.

FO: Eiffel Tower Shawl

Hey, did you guys see this yet? It's pretty cool. I mean, if you like cool things.

Paris, more than any other place I've ever been, is defined in so many ways by its main monument. I kid about them striking oil with it one of these days, but you never tire of staring at it. It's an amazing, iconic piece of engineering. Originally, it was not meant to stand for very long, and was just a monument for the World's Fair to be torn down after the crowds have gone home. However, some genius knew an opportunity when they saw it and it remains as the most visited tourist attraction on the planet. It graces a whole lot of tourist tchotchkies and sells a lot of hotel-room views. You can't even fathom a Paris without it.

The first time I saw it up close, I honestly couldn't believe that it was painted brown.

For whatever reason, in my head, I thought it was inky black.

I thought that A Fitting Tribute to knit a shawl inspired by the gorgeous scrollwork in pink.

The pattern is from Natalie Servant. It's well-written and totally unique. It's a pretty big shawl, with lots of stockinette stitch to eat up yardage. I used 750 yards of laceweight.

I do need to block it out a bit more. It could use a more drastic point, and I just couldn't get the shape right with my improvised blocking technique.

The yarn is a skein of merino Sanguine Gryphon Mithril in the "Woman under the Willows" color. It's not my favorite. It's really tightly overplied, so it's hard to get even tension and the yarn tends to twist itself into a tangle every few feet. Annoying. I don't see it pilling anytime soon, so I'm hoping it will wear well. I did frog back quite a bit at one point and the yarn is no worse off for it.

It is a lovely pattern though and I had fun making it. It's fairly mindless for a while and then you get to make all the pretty scroll work. It was a good pattern to travel with, and I'm happy with it.

FO: Memories in Lichen

Hey, remember that time I went to Iceland and I ate lichen? Great story. Good memories anyway.

I finished something kind of big and time consuming. I brought a tote of lace and sock weight yarn with me when I moved and I'm forcing myself to knit it all. Sweaters on teeny tiny needles! No more of those instant-gratification projects of yesteryear, I have space and shipping constraints to think about. This sweater has been done for a bit, I was just waiting and waiting for a somewhat not rainy day out to wear it out. Who wants to be sodden by wet wool anyway? Still, it was on the needles for quite a while.

The pattern is called "Memories in Lichen" by Elizabeth Rislove Etler. Despite it being a little complicated, I loved the details and the fit and just had to make it.

From my stash, I had three skeins of Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in a precious blue "Bomber Worm".

For the underskirt, a skein of Gaia Lace in "Cobblestone Mazes".

I cast this top on way back in June. I wanted a pretty summery top to traipse around in. Ah, but the rain came and didn't stop until August, and by that time I was most definitely sick a big pile of wool on my lap, so it went into the time-out pile. The lace panel skirt was not hard per say, but it did take your full attention. I just don't really spend too much time fully attuned to my knitting, so it seemed to drag on forever.

The underskrit was easy, and well worth it. I contemplated just picking up stitches and doing a ruffle at the bottom edge, but then you would always have to wear a cami underneath anyway, so I slogged through a mile of lace-weight cashmere/silk blend stockinette stitch to make it. I remember sitting in a sweltering movie theater (true fact: going to the movies here in July means you will probably be cooler outside) and trying to figure out just what the hell was up with this batman character and exiting the theater with a great deal of underskirt done. Magic, I tell you.

Once that was done it was all easy-peasy. The neck has an i-cord edging that I really liked- it gives it a very fished look. The sleeves I fudged a bit as I couldn't really figure out the instructions, but oh, short row sleeves never hurt anyone, so I just stuck to my tried-and-true method. I don't think I have enough of the gaia lace yarn leftover to make ruffled sleeves, so they are plain for now.

So here we are, finished and blocked. It would probably be a little warm for a summer top with all that lovely cashmere and silk against your skin but it could easily be layered. It doesn't get terribly hot in Paris anyway, but it seems like this fall doesn't get brusquely cold either. I will eventually go ice skating in this and I won't fall once and it will be glorious.

I love it.

It fits, it drapes, it's warm and pretty. Both layers pilled up a little bit where my cross-body bag hits my hip, but I snipped those off quick and it seems to have mellowed out with the pills. It's soft and cozy and I will wear it a lot.

FO: Terzetto Lace Mitts

These took me forever to make.

I'm usually into making really sensible, functional knitwear. If I can't wear it and get it a little dirty, why bother? I'll never wear it.

Yet I cast on for the most delicate, lacy, frilly, girly things I could find anyway. The Terzetto Lace Mitts by Jackie E-S. Le Sigh.

As I was working my way along the first glove, I realized I probably wouldn't even wear these on the Metro, as the entire metro system smells like excrement and I couldn't expose my delicate beauties to such vile smells. So where would I wear these?

To Monet's Garden, that's where!

It's a lovely place, and pretty much all the women who visit there wear their loudest flower-print dresses.

I'll write more about our garden visit later. But these gloves. The first one took me a month to make, the second one took me 3 days because I actually sat down and worked on it. They are on size 0 needles and really fine laceweight yarn, but the openwork patterns mean they fly along.

My only modification is I made the hand one less lace repeat than called for. I tried them on and declared them long enough.

The yarn is Gaia lace from the Sanguine Gryphon (discontinued, of course). The color is "forget me not", which is so appropriate for the setting, no? It's a 60% silk 40% Cashmere blend and Oh OH OH so lovely. I have no idea if these will actually get a lot of use, but I'm happy to have them in case I feel like being fancy for a day. They aren't terribly warm, but so soft and comforting I had a hard time taking them off.

Laceweight Merino Update

I dyed some laceweight singles and listed them on My Etsy Store.



They are all different shades of blues and purples, very saturated. It's 100% Superwash merino, very soft, and a lengthy 500 yards per skein. Check it out- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnotMyDayJob

Etsy Shop Update- Yarn and Roving and OMG CASHMERE!

I had a bit of time off around Xmas to putter around the house with a nasty cold keeping me in. While the soulmate decided that the time was for making beer, at one point I jostled him away from the stove to put my dyepots on. Finally, I've got everything photographed and labeled and listed and ready to go! Oh, except for some lovely merino lace yarn that I want to re-photograph. That will be listed very soon.

Here's a few things in the listing.

A few skeins of handspun Shetland:


A couple colors of hand dyed Polworth-Silk top that I'm wild about:




A few colors of Superfine Merino/Superfine Kid Mohair pencil roving:




Laceweight Merino:




A few colors of Superwash BFL roving:


The best is for last (drumroll please...) MONGOLIAN CASHMERE ROVING!



SQUEEEEE! I can't say enough good things about this stuff. It's the softest fiber I've ever touched, and it spins up into a drapey smooth yarn, and then blooms into the most perfect little delicate halo ever. I have a limited amount of this, and I am still having a sale- 30% off! A real bargain as far as cashmere is concerned.

Check it out at KnotMyDayJob.etsy.com. The coupon code for the 30% off is "trente". Happy shopping!

Spinning: Now with More Bovinae Ungulates!

I have conquered the buffalo.



It was probably the most patience-trying down fibers I've tried spinning. It was fluffy and soft and once the radiator got turned on for the winter it was a stat-icky mess. The staple length was only about a half inch, so i just grabbed handfuls of it, fluffed it up, and spun it short-draw. I mean, really short-draw.

It took me almost a month to spin up all 5oz into singles (granted, I don't spin ever day, or even a very long time when I do get a chance to spin). Laceweight, naturally. It was a very cranky fiber to work with- too much twist made it go snap, too little twist made it fall apart into infuriating little heaps of under-spun fluff.

I think because of the time I spent on this, I expected to be surprised with an overwhelming amount of yardage. Thousands and thousands of beautiful buffalo yarn! Fantasies of making multiple huge complicated lace shawls danced through my head. I'd make one for everyone I know!

Alas, no multiples for me. In the end, when I plied, I got 428 yards. A lace cowl, perhaps? (Ahem, or in this case, a cow-l.)





But I love the yarn just the same. It's drapey and soft (almost but not quite cashmere soft) and despite all the breaks I had, it's much more even than I expected. Once I washed it to set the twist, it got a nice fuzzy bloom to it.



When I did give it a wash, I was surprised at how dirty it was. Bison really like to roll in the dirt, much like alpacas. I had to change the water three times to get all the fine grit out. Dirty buffalo.

Next up in my spinning queue: baby camel and silk blend, which I'm going to card together with some Polworth. I'll keep you posted on how this little experiment goes.

FO- Handspun Annis Shawl

If left to my own spinning devices, I spin really super-fine laceweight. Spinning big, thick lofty yarn is really hard for me. I either have to make enough plies to get the thickness I want, or sit there and concentrate on my spinning so I won't slip into laceweight mode. I'm working on it.

Anyway, I took most of the summer off from the wheel. Between all the traveling and not having air conditioning during a rather uncomfortable summer, I didn't exactly feel inspired.

My first spinning project when I got back to treadiling was- Surprise!- a fine 2-ply laceweight.

I got a bit over 450 yards from 4 oz of roving. I decided to make the Annis Shawl from last Spring's issue of Knitty.



It's a great pattern. You cast on almost 400 stitches for the bottom edge, work the lace charts, and then the body of the shawl is just short rows.



The nuups were a pain in the ass, but I'm happy with the results.



The lace chart took me about a week to complete, and the short row body just a couple days. It blocked out really nice and large.



It's warm and lofty- a great fall layering piece.

The specs:
The Annis Shawl by Susanna IC. I used about 420 yards handspun laceweight alpaca from Winter's Gone Farm roving. I used US size 10 needles for a nice, loose cast on and the rest of the shawl was knitted on US size 8's.

Handspun Alpaca

Last summer, I stopped by Winter's Gone Farm in Wiscasset, Maine. Being on a motorcycle laden with camping equipment, I couldn't really bring too much home with me.



(like a live animal)

I was able to squeeze in a 4 oz bump of super soft fawn-colored roving on board.



I spun this up recently and loved every minute of it. I tend to not get a lot of spinning done in oppressive heat, but there was a break and we got some cool rainy weather last week. I pulled the wheel out and also chipped away at a warm woolie handspun sweater. The sweater still has a bit to go before it gets sent to the Glamor Shots studio, but I finished the yarn:







I ended up with more than 400 yards of laceweight 2-ply. It came out surprisingly heathery, which I love. It's very soft and once I gave it a bath and a thwack to set the twist, it bloomed up nicely.

This is destined to be a small lace shawl. I'm trying to force myself to spin specifically for projects as I tend to just mindlessly spin and create yarn and let it sit in a bin once I'm done with it.

Etsy Shop Update

Ah, Etsy. You're so high maintenance. You require so much attention and love in order to thrive. Yet in abandoning you, I'm only hurting myself.

I just updated the shop with some hand dyed yarn- I have added some nice, squishy merino sock yarn and enormous 880 yard skeins of laceweight merino.


This is some sock yarn I dyed with Madder Root. It's such a delicate and girly-girl pink. I think it needs to be socks with ruffles or something else outrageous.


This one is "Kelp"- it's super soft laceweight merino.

I have a few other new colors up as well. Check them out!

Have a great weekend!