Designed for summer...

...or better yet designed for Florida.  Here is my call to all knitwear designers.  Design more knitwear for summer (and Florida livin').  Now, having requested this I'm also going to attempt to design some knitwear.  While knitting the Vesper pullover I came to realize some summer knitting basics.  What does a summer knit need in it's design?  In my opinion it's a few things.  First a breathable fabric.  Second the resulting garment needs to be lightweight.   and Third the garment needs to be easy to wear.  I've also come to realize that this will mean, again in my opinion, no yarn larger than sport or DK weight.  I know, this means no quick knits. 

So my first assignment (to myself) will be to study Elizabeth Zimmermann's knit designs and principles.  I'm doing this because I believe that EZ is the shiz-knit of knitting.  Only one problem most things she knit were suited for winter and northern climates.  I'm hoping that in studying her designs I'll be able to create lightweight translations.  I also hope that this will help in the future designs that I've thought up over the years but didn't really know how to create a pattern.  Such us a peasant shirt that I've been mulling around in my head. 

I'll keep you updated on how things are coming along. 

Change of mind

Yet again I'm changing my mind.  I couldn't get swatch for the Petrie sweater using Hempathy yarn.  So, while looking around on Ravelry I found this sweater which was close enough to gauge to work.  Vesper by Heidi Kirrmaier.  There seems to be a pattern here...I really like Heidi's patterns.   

Like many who have made this, I'm also going to use Roko's mods. 

Okay, here I go, I'm actually going to cast-on a new project which I haven't done in several months. 

Oh, only issues, I didn't get exact gauge which I'm hoping will not be too much of an issues.  We'll see what happens. 

Not gonna work

The yarn is not going to work and I don't have enough money to buy the yarn to knit it right now.  But, I do however have enough yarn in my stash to knit 2 sweaters.  All is not lost. 

The first is this wonderful Summer Solstice sweater designed by Heidi Kirrmaier.  I'm currently swatching for this one using Elesbeth Lavold Silky Wool in my fav color. 

The second is Petrie a Knitty pattern by Beautia Dew.  I'll be swatching that next using Elesbeth Lavold Hempathy in a navy color. 

Oooh, I also have part of the yarn to knit this tank.  Coral by Helga Isager.  I have the Noro for the accent parts and I'm wondering if I could use the fingering yarn I just bought for the body.  Only one problem.  The pattern is in Danish.  I also like the Olive Sweater by the same designer that is very similar. 

Did someone give me crack?

I can't believe that I'm going to attempt to knit a sweater on size 3 needles.  I must be insane or on crack.  The sweater that has captured my knitterly love?

pic taken from BMFA site

This is her.  The Traveling Sweater by A. Karen Alfke available from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  The pattern uses Woobu yarn which is a 60/40 wool/bamboo blend yarn.  I'm however going to be using (I hope, if I get gauge) Ella Rae's Lace Merino which I was told is a sport weight.  I really hope I'm able to get gauge with it, I love the color.  Anyway, I think this will be a fabulous sweater even for Florida weather.  Although, if you know anything about our winter this year you know how damn cold it was.  So I'm thinking that this will be a fabulous Florida sweater thin from using the sport weight yarn yet warm from the wool content of the yarn.  

I've been busy...

No, I haven't been knitting or dying or even crafting.  I did however create something.

(crappy iphone pic)

I'm proud to introduce James David or "Nugget".  He is now 3 weeks and 4 days old and keeping his mom and dad very busy.  He is amazing.  I have not words to describe the most wonderful thing that has every happened to me.  I'm blogging about him and our adventures at Oh my god...3 hrs of sleep.  I'll also be sharing advice and helpful hints there. 

Well, Nugget is about to wake up and I'm off to fix a bottle.

Let's be honest shall we...

Only 2 WIPs, and lots of empty project pic spots. So, what did this knitter need to do? I had to be honest with myself and frogged things that were never going to be worn or finished (such as the girly cobblestone). There are actually only two projects going right now that are being worked on, but I might be casting on another project within the week, just sayin'. That cobblestone I mentioned, the yarn has been balled and more yarn purchased. I picked up 3 blues, 3 reds, 2 purples, and a green...the cobblestone is going to be re-incarnated as a fair isle sweater. Sweet! Being inspired by the Caitlin Pullover.

Short and sweet tonight, I've got some photography and cleaning/packing to do.

Get Your Spin On!

Recently I reconnected with my love for the long draw spinning technique. I’ve been using long draw from rolags to spin for my Magical Sweater and love how quickly I can fill a bobbin. This is important when you are spinning for a whole sweater. In trying to learn this technique myself I found a couple videos about preparing rolags and long draw spinning that I wanted to share with you.





Side note: If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you might remember the rolags that I’ve been carding for the Magical Sweater. They are quite a bit larger than the ones on the video. This is because I overloaded the cards with fiber and then instead of just one carding worth of fiber, I used 2. So, here’s what I did. I loaded the cards with fiber and carded as usual, then instead of laying them on top of each other and rolling up, I stack them on top of each other and set them on a table (no roll-up). I then repeat the carding process. Then, I use both carding sessions and combine these to roll-up which makes a huge rolag that I split in half. I did this because it gave me the results I wanted, no other reason. Make sense? I’ll do a tutorial.

I’m going to start spinning for another sweater (Mondo Cable Cardi by Chic Knits) real soon and wanted to spin from roving/top instead of rolags. My plan is to use 1 ½ lbs of “Black” BFL top spun to a worsted weight, spinning from the fold. I then plan to over dye the yarn a deep red/burgundy color. I found this great video on how to spin from the fold which encompasses a long draw technique.



I hope to start this spinning project this week, since I’m almost done plying the last 2 skeins for the Magical Sweater. At least I hope it’s the last I have to spin for the Magical Sweater.