just another raveller

Knitting Up North asked what will I do with the Orenburg Triangle - wear it or give it as a present? That's a good question. I enjoyed knitting it and like the design, but to tell the truth, the colours are exactly what I would wear. It would go perfectly with denim but I don't often wear that. So, I will probably hang onto it and give it as a present. Why not start a pile for future Xmases? Meanwhile, here's another. I'm calling it Bubble Bath because of the pink colour, but a yarn shortage necessitated that I purchase supplementary mohair in order to be able to finish it. Now it looks like a dirty bubble bath! This is an easy and fairly mindless knit for the intermediate knitter. The mohair is exceptionally warm and I found myself gravitating to it for that reason. It's cold here! I learned while knitting it that Classic Elite La Gran Mohair is more or less exactly the same as Berroco Mohair Classic. I just read the reviews at Knitter's Review and see that...

I began knitting Galina Khmeleva's Warm Orenburg Triangle in September, several months after attending a workshop with Galina. I think it is the nicest thing I have ever knit. It is knit in pieces but the joins are almost invisible and don't involve any sewing. I used Impressions "A Touch of Twist" in two colours: Blue Morning and Frozen earth. Sounds kind of ironic, doesn't it? Well I picked the yarn first and then learned the names of the colours. Here's how it went: Here's the first piece: Before blocking and before the final edge was grafted: Details related to grafting on that last edge: and here: finally, blocking:

Looking at my recent projects I'm most excited about a man's vest that has been problematic for all kinds of silly reasons. It was based on an abandoned sweater body I found in the back of a cupboard a week before Xmas. I suspected I had too little yarn to finish it but went ahead anyway. Hey, it seemed like a bonus at the time! I got her done, using an alternate yarn for the armbands  and wrapped her up. Lo and behold, at the trying on of the vest an unappetizing gap between the bottom of the garment and the wearer's belt became evident. Sorry, no photo. Back to the drawing board.   Last night I found a super tutorial on how to lengthen a sweater by picking up stitches above the ribbing and then cutting it off and knitting downwards. I'd read about this procedure in the past, but was intimidated by the instructions I came across at the time.  I only found this particular post because I misspelled the word "lengthen" in my Google search.  I like it because th...

Everything on this plate was spectacular and delicious, given to me by a friend. Still have chocolate and shortbread up the wazoo. And, there was enough yarn for the vest except for the armbands which I did in a complementary colour of Heilo. Now I will get on to finishing the Warm Orenberg shawl I've been working on for some months.

Sweater body found in back of cupboard was probably thrust there in disgust during past Xmas frenzy. There isn't enough yarn even to finish a sleeveless pullover. If I could find some yarn that will blend with this, I could do a fair isle pattern across the chest and use the last of the King Cole Merino Blend DK on the shoulders. It's superwash. What would do? Heilo, er, help?

I'm so excited! I've just had a windfall. I was feeling around in the back of a cupboard this evening and came up with a half finished adult sized sweater body knit in the round up to the armholes. King Cole Merino DK. Knit, knit, knit...yay! I pretend not to do Xmas knitting, but I think it's just a ruse to prevent myself from getting into a state of frustration and last minute frenzy.

I haven't written here since the beginning of November. So hard to get near the computer at home, but I'm off for the day and I have the time to write and knit. Hooray! The (Maximalist) Minimalist Cardigan lies in a heap on the ironing board. It is finished. Blocked, sewn and ironed. I am still in the denial phase. I'm telling myself that maybe it doesn't fit because I accidentally knit one size too big. This is true. But maybe it's because I didn't set the sleeves in right...or, it just occurred to me now - maybe I knit the back in one size and the fronts in a smaller size! No. I can't bear it. This will have to be a story for another day. After the sweater disaster, I got down to knitting hats for our guild's community knitting effort. I had promised to knit some small hats in dark colours so gosh darn it, that's what I did. I knit two plain tuques in black Cascade 220, all the while thinking about Jared Flood''s (cool-ass) Koolhaas Hat ...