And the next day...

Funny how days go.  You sort of plan and then your plans go out the window.

By mentioning the Geddy Tee, I set the way the day would go.  Plans out the window.  Geddy  Tee it was.

And no sewing.  I was having a dry eye day.  Sewing was not possible so I knit.  

 

Looking Like a Day

I sewed yesterday.  I sewed till lunchtime and that was enough.  One pair of pants is ready for elastic.  Today I will do the other pair.  Tomorrow is for elastic and cutting out a couple more things to sew.  Very probably skirts.  

I have a beautiful set of fabrics, a plain sand linen for a skirt and a coordinating linen striped fabric for a shirt.  I have had them out to sew for the last two years and not got them done.  This year, I am going to do it and make them up. No maybe about it.

After lunch, I picked up my knitting.  

I was surprised that I chose this Mashup top.  It was nice knitting.  I made a big step forward yesterday.  I have only three full length rows left to go before it's time to knit the front and back sides.  Since they are only from underarm to hem, they don't take long.  

I am hoping to work on that again today but you never know.  The Geddy Tee is calling my name too.  

So sewing, knitting and sipping tea.  That is looking like the day ahead.

Incredible to wear

The purple top is complete.  I am really glad it is done.

I finished it on Saturday wove ends on on Sunday and wore it a bit too.  I am wearing it today as well.  If I was not emotionally connected to the yarn, I may be to the top.  It is so comfortable.  Incredibly pleased with it.  

Finishing on Saturday left me with a whole day to figure out what to knit next.  With all the projects in my WIPs bin, this really ought not to need to ask this.  However, the summer yarns bucket I pulled out, has one more yarn in it and it would be nice to knit it up.  

The yarn

Is a 50/50 woll cotton blend and I already know how it performs.  I made a top years ago with a griege green and it is one of the yarns in my first Tolsta tee.   It's comfortable and the perfect yarn for between weather.  Perfect for spring.  It also wears like iron.  

I had this in mind for Rebecca Clow's Lunan top or sweater.  It will be a Lunan in the body, but the pattern has a double knit collar.  I don't want to knit a double knit collar though I know it is a lovely finish.  I am lazy.  Or not.  The body will be Rebecca's great fit with a different collar.  I have now bought 3 different patterns for this sweater.  I bought Lunan.  I  bought the Stripe Overload Cardi pattern by Mie Ferring and this morning, I bought Sari Nordlund's North Wind Polo.  Somewhere that will help me get to the collar I want.  I hope.  Or I might just go with Sari Nordlunds pattern and call it good. I have no idea where I will end up or what I am making.  I only know it will be fun and incredible to wear.

Today is a sewing day.  Starting right now.  I must.  I am hoping to get the 2 already cut our pairs finished or mostly finished today.  My what big eyes I have.  

A Day of Joy and Sorrow

I did it and I am so pleased with myself.  I sorted and ordered my sewing room.  I am ready to sew.  I have two pairs of lightweight pants/leggings sitting cut out and ready to go.  I cut them out last fall but let's not think about that.  Let's just accept and go sewing.  

I pulled out other fabric for fall and winter back then and those things may get used, but I need to do a fabric dive to pull out summer fabrics.  It's been very hot here.  Humid too, so the need for really lightweight cottons is uppermost in my mind.  Linens too.  I have some skirt/dress quantities that I would love to be able to use as clothes.  They have been in their pre-clothes state long enough.  

I did a good bit of knitting on my Pleione top.  I have a few rows of stockinette to finish off before I do the same border as on the sleeves to finish off.  After that, it's two rows of trim (or maybe a bit more)at the neckline and the top is done.  Suddenly it feels like I can get there when till now it this top has felt like a slog.  I think it's because this was a yarn I just wanted out of my stash rather than a project I am emotionally connected to.  

I wanted to mention too,  about the sad news from the Knitmores.  Gigi Knitmore has passed away.  When I read the news yesterday, I felt utterly devastated.  This may seem odd to many.  I have never met either of them, knowing them only through their podcast, but Jasmine and Gigi Knitmore gave me strength and a way to begin to rebuild a life when my world was so broken.  Having their cheery chatter be a routine and regular event in the early days after Brian passed away helped me focus on what was next, not what had been.  That helps me even now.  

I was just a person out in the world, who they could not know, who they helped immeasurably and I will forever be grateful.  Gigi Knitmore, you will be remembered and  your memory treasured.  Jasmine, no words, dear.  Just breathe.  When it all gets too much, just breathe.  

Blankets

This is the most fun knitting I have done since my first Flea sweater!  

Keith said put it on a stick and go flag down planes at the airport.  I am not sure he likes the colours as much as I do. This seems to be filling every corner of me with silly, goofy giddiness.

It hit me this morning that I have three blankets on the go.  Willow World and the fun one are always in my mind and clustering around my feet, but for some reason, I don't put this project into the blanket category when I am thinking blankets.

I am not exactly speeding along on this one.  I only pick it up once a month or so.  No.  That isn't quite right.  I pick it up and move it almost every day because it really is in the pile at my feet.  But work on it?  Once in a while.  The lone blue square is the one I made the other day.  I didn't pop it off the loom and remembered it this morning.  Which is where this conversation began. 

It's odd how I have compartmentalized these blankets.  One is knit in one piece with two colours.  One is knit modularly and one is woven in separate parts which will need to be put together when I have enough squares.  

I recall saying once that I was done with blankets.  Ha!  Look at me go.

I am going to do some work in my sewing room today.  It needs a good sort and order.  Somehow there are blankets piled on my sewing table and boxes of miniature making things under them.  My sewing table has two pairs of light pants cut and ready to sew and on top of that there are fabrics that should go into the remnants box.  Which is full.  Which is why they were stacked on the sewing machine.  You see how it is.  There wasn't room for them so it all swelled into a mess that overwhelms.

Well.  I need the cut out pants.  I need some skirts and light cotton or linen shirts.  I need those very soon.  I also know how I want to use some fine wale corduroy and what I want to do with my wonderful black and red plaid.  I can see me wearing those two fabrics and would like them for winter.  My soul needs a fabric dive.  My wardrobe needs a sewing session and my miniatures needs to be freed so I can make the garden for my house.  

And I really need to finish the rosy purple Plieone.  

So much to do.  Not nearly enough coffee.  Ah well.  I am making friends with my teas and I will get it all done eventually.

Odd Perfection

I woke up today feeling sluggish and moody.  Not grumpy but not my usual self.  Sort of sad but not sad.  A bit down but not down.  Just not really ready to connect with anything or anybody.  In a mood that could easily go sideways if I let it.  Time to get out of my head.  Time for a mood boost.

Time for a bit of fun knitting.  Today's colour is brilliant yellow.  

I have to say that one wee thing I am a bit obsessed with is this.

Everytime my eye catches this bit of paper in the box with the yarn, I fall in love all over again. It's almost like a tiny perfection.  Almost art.  Not really but it it is enourmously pleasing.  

OK, I am on to knit on the blanket and oddly enough, I feel a bit better already.  

Thinking, thinking, thinking.

The cherry tree is in full bloom.  From tiny budlets to full bloom in one day.  The maples behind the house are still a bit scraggly but they are filling in.  

And the rosy purple top is still under way.  This is where knitting starts to feel sluggish.  The job now is to keep moving along and to keep my eyes on the prize, the top.  Dreams are how I get through this period.

I saw a vest pattern on Ravelry.  The Moema Top is by Mochiknits.  I have no idea why it came to me but I suddenly saw it in a yarn that is in my stash that I don't know what to do with.

The yarn that popped in my head was three skeins of Socks That Rock, one of the really trend yarns in 2010 ish.  I did not record the colour name in my stash but it's a rusty navy concoction that swept me off my feet.  Years ago.  I meant to make a crochet vest with it from the book I talked about a week or so ago.  And then I meant to make an Elton like sweater with it and some lovely rich rust Ultra Alpaca I have.  And then I did not know what to do with it.  But maybe a vest top like creation in brioche or half fisherman rib?  Maybe.  

I would need to use another yarn with it.  It would be a bit short meterage for even a vest.  At the very least I would need to use a second yarn for all the ribbing.  The Moema Top gave me the idea of two colours layered as in two colour brioche.  

I need to dream on this idea.  I need to mull it.  I need to swatch it and see what will happen when the yarns combined are on my needles.  That means a bit of a dig in the stash but that's okay.  I need to get out a yarn from there for another idea.

Today there will be top knitting and then I am going to go into the sewing room to see what is what.  There is some very interesting sewing stuff at hand.  There are pants to make and some summery circle skirts and cool shirts.  Then there is a whole other category of interesting.  More on that another day.  

Time for tea and knitting and some nice thinking of interesting ways to use some really nice yarns.

The Rosy Purple Top and The Cherry Tree

The cherry tree finally unfurled its tight leaf buds.  They still are tiny nubbins but Saturday morning you could see the tiny flower buds sitting, waiting.  By Sunday afternoon, a few tiny buds were beginning to bloom.  This morning, lots of blooms and I expect it to be fully blossomed by the end of the day.  It all goes so fast.  Plus the dandelions are out and glowing brilliant yellow in the lawn.

That was just part of a good weekend. It was the Canadian Grand Prix and it was wonderful.  But with the addition of F2 to a calendar with F1A, there was a lot of racing.  It was great but long.

However...

I hoped, I dreamed that I would get the top done.

I have completed the fourth lace repeat which wouldn't be too bad because last week, I thought five repeats would be it.  However, a lace repeat is only 3 inches long.  This top needs to be sixteen inches long and I am only at ten.  I will need to do at least two more repeats.  Oh well.  The slow weekend  knitting meant I was going to be working on it today and another repeat of the lace means it will be on the needles at least till Wednesday. It's a good thing I am enjoying the knitting.

After this top is done, I will allow myself a bit of blanket fun.  I may even let myself pull back the row with the error in it on my Willow World.  Two blankets to consider.  Wow.

Till then, top, top, top.  I will knit and get it done.  

A good place

This top is well under way.  

I am midway through the third lace repeat of what will be five repeats. I think.   But it's exactly what I hoped for.  It's got the ease it needs so that when I wash it, it will hold its  good ease after drying, because I do intend this to be machine friendly.

My hands are in a good place lately, aided by the easy gauge and comfortable needle size, but I can knit a really good part of the day before it's time to quit.  It's wonderful.  

The sun is out and the forecast is forecast is good.  The cherry trees little leaves are not out yet but the tiny almost round budlets are slowly getting looser, ready to unfurl.  The poplars across the way are green but the maples are still looking hairy with their fronds. There is knitting to be done and I am ready.  

Oh my.

This could be addicting.

It's garter stitch squares so how can that be?  I swear to you, it is a lot of fun.

Still, today I will set aside the box of colour and fun and go back to my top.  If I work on that an stick to it, I will have another top in my small summer wardrobe and that will be nice.  

And Now for Something Completely Different

Yesterday morning was spent working on my top.  I did a try on mid morning and I already know I am going to get a lot of wear out of this.  It's turning out lovely.

I had no plans to work on anything else but I had a downturn in energy for the project. I was feeling a bit down.  As Jana from Finnish Knitting Stories would say, life is pretty lifey right now. I needed something different to distract myself.  

I looked at the pile of knitting around me and decided that blanket knitting would be a good idea.  I picked up my Willow World blanket.  Willow World is a blanket pattern that takes designs from tableware to blanket.  Since I love blue and white china, It seemed like the right thing to knit.  

 

I'm only just starting the colourwork border and was having a good time getting the setup row going...till I reached the end of that first row.  There ought to be 15 stitches between markers and, as you can see, this repeat clearly is not 15 stitches.  All the rest are but since this is the first or second repeat of the pattern...harrumph.  

This was not going to soothe my heart, so I went looking for another blanket.  

The other blanket stuff in reaching distance is the very strong contrasts of colour yarn I bought myself after Christmas.  

I purchased the pattern, the Sweet Shop blanket and got down to it.

My first quandary after starting was this:  colours?   The way the pattern is designed to be knit, it felt right to settle my colour sequence first.  As usual, I got out my trusty markers and some paper and colored for a while.

 There.  Now I am ready to sit down and get to work.  

It's just a garter square.  I could have done it without a pattern but this is not just knit squares and sew together.  It is all worked at once and I wanted to see what her secret sauce was.  It's kind of neat.  Interesting too.  You could approach this a thousand ways, but this is not quite what I would have thought of.  

I am giving myself a day off, so to speak and staying with the blanket today.  Let's see where it takes me to. 

Updated.  A treat for your eyes.  Keukenhof 2026 on YouTube.

Sleeves first?

On the weekend, I settled in and did something different and yet, the same. I stayed knitting on my Pleione top but took it in an entirely different way.

Several of the online knitters I watch do their sleeves before they finish the body.  I have not done that before but Pleione has very short sleeves so I thought it would be a good top to try sleeves first on.  

Sleeves first worked okay but it felt very very weird.  Still they are done and that does feel kind of nice.  I did deviate from pattern.  The pattern has you repeat the lace from the front around the sleeve hem instead of ribbing.  In this yarn, at the gauge I am knitting, that would look sort of off.  Too much.  Too busy.  I opted for a much simpler lace, just a row of yarn over eyelets. I think it balances well with the front lace panel.  

Again, I have adapted the lace a bit but it is the scale of it that really changes the way the lace looks.  I quite like it.

I am ready for a try on.  I decided that I will do that when this little bit of yarn is knit.

A try on is so much easier without having to drag along skeins of yarn.  

Today the tasks are to keep working on this top.  It will be a really good summer top.  Plus, my gauge is large enough (I hope) that I will be able to wash and dry this in the machine.  For now, it's time for coffee and a bite of breakfast.  

Task accomplished.

Knitting in the round.  

Two tops

My white and cream Lusk is finished.  All the ends woven in and it's ready to wear.  I am wearing it.

I am quite pleased with it.  The shoulders are just right.  They don't shift back or forwards or pull.  They just stay in place.  To get a fit there that works for this body is amazing.  Yeah the whole hip thing is in another country but that the upper body fits is amazing.  Rebecca Clow, I am in your debt.  Lusk is my favourite sweater ever.

The new sweater, Audrey Borrego's Pleione is coming along nicely.

The yarn is Remix from Berocco.  I decided to knit this on a 6 mm needle, two needle sizes larger than the recommended size.  I wanted a draper fabric not so much for drape but more that as I wash and wear it, it doesn't get too firm to like wearing it.  I knit a previous garment in this yarn and I used it a lot and eventually, it did get firm.  It was like due to me machine washing and drying it.  I didn't want that for this top.  I wanted something that would go the distance. It should be noted that this is giving me z very different gauge than pattern gauge but a little math never hurt me.

The result of the needle size with this yarn is a wonderfully soft and luscious.  It's gorgeous.  It's also knitting up fast.  I am getting very close to where the v neck will join and only a wee bit more to where I split for underarms.  My goal today to to get to knitting in the round.  

That's it for me today.  A new top being worn and another nice one we'll under way.  There is a fierce wind out there, but nothing beyond the usual.  It's worse south of us.  All in all a good day to stay in and knit.

Look for the Little Things

I caught myself sitting by the window in my bedroom this morning, watching the world instead of just opening the blinds and getting on with things. It wasn't planned, it wasn't on purpose, it was just that my world is greening and there is so much to see. 

The maple across the alleyway is setting its seed.  The long fronds of its inflorescence draped down looking a bit like there is a fairy floating in a fabulous dress at the end of each branch.  The buds on the poplars are looking ready to burst. They hint at green.  The cherry buds are looking rounder everyday, getting ready to burst into flowers and joy.  I have no doubt the bugs and bees are waiting as eagerly as I.  It is all such a wonder.  

We spend our lives busy, going here and there so that one day we can just relax.  We drive ourselves nuts preparing for the good life we will have later.  But what about now?  What about seeing all the wonder that is happening at this moment.  All those small things are the things we really need for work like balance or whatever the buzzword is now.  

Look to the little things in the world. Look at the small.    

I think that is part of what makes knitting so fascinating.  It's a small thing.  Each stitch is just a couple movement with some very simple tools and some cordage.  Do it for a while and you clothe yourself.  It's a very small thing that creates big impact in life.   

So much good

I feel a bit hung over this morning. Yarn hungover that is.  My first thought as I woke was gee my bed is comfy and my second  was about touching the really stunning new yarn in the house.  Contrary to the after effects of drinking too many alcoholic beverages, this sort of  hangover is really nice.  

Yesterday was an overall great day.  Not only did new yarn arrive, I cast on something new.  

The colours look atrocious in the picture but it's a soft cross between purple and rose.  The tweedy nature of Remix gives it depth and character.  I said I was not likely to cast this on because of a bit of thumb pain but that was completely gone yesterday so I went ahead and cast it on.  

The pattern I am using is Pleione by Audrey Barrego, though I am blowing up the gauge to work with this yarn.  She came to my attention via My North Knit Corner on YouTube.  Audrey has some lovely little details on her all of her designs.  This one has a nice little lace design down the front and a crisp finish on the neckline.

Today will be a good day.  I finished the Lusk and will weave in ends this afternoon.  I am pleased.  Really pleased. But that is for tomorrow.  Today I have things to knit and stuff to do.  It is sunny and bright and the day looks good.  On I go.

Oops

I have been antsy for the last week or so.  Just antsy fancy pants.  I found it difficult to sit still.  

Because...I ordered yarn.  I didn't need yarn but I needed it.  I bought yarn several times this year and I thought I was done but it seems I was not.  Oline from Norwegianknitter was talking about yarns and I decided to go searching for a Canadian source for some Per Gynt.  

I found it at Wet Coast Wools which has an amazing selection of stuff not available locally to me.  I fell in love.  With SO many yarns.  I couldn't afford it February.  Same in March.  Same in April.  And then I did my taxes and got some funds back.  I scratched that itch and it is oh so good.

 

I have other closer pictures of it but this is the only one where the colour of the yarn is just as it is in front of me.  It's that gorgeous perfect pea shoot green.  Just stunning.  The yarn itself is a little like Jaimesons of Shetland or Jamieson and Smith in the way it looks but is a very unique feel and fibre.  It is a 100 % Norwegian wool and this green is one of the new line of heathered colours dyed on grey wool.  I am completely under it's spell.

I didn't want to pay shipping so I had to, I swear I had to, buy more yarn.  Choosing more yarn was a heavy burden.   ;)

I decided to go with something new to all of us, Fallalopi a new DK version of the inimitable Icelandic yarn from Istex.  A thousand and one things that Iceland does well and volcanoes and yarn are my top two.  I picked this intense blue and added some heathered grey in case I wanted to do some colourwork.  Its an utter delight.

And nary a skein of Per Gynt.  I have to go now.  My battery is at 8%.  3 more and it just stops doing anything.  See you.

So close

It was a really nice weekend.  I was feted and fussed over and it was lovely.  

A little treat from my kids. 

I had a moderately good knitting weekend too.  

Two sleeves!  Only the neckline to go.  

I actually got a good start on the neckband too. I really wanted to finish but I am listening to my hands.  My left thumb is a teeny tiny bit achy but listening to its early calls to stop will help in the long run.  I think it is just the cotton.  Cotton is always a bit harder to work.  The lack of stretch in the fibre means your hands work harder.  

This thumb thing may change what I work on next.  I had planned to whip up something in the gentle purple Remix to get it out of stash but I think I will have to skip it for something in a wool.  I might settle back into my gorgeously bright yellow Hiraeth sweater.  

It's all in the round so it will be a lot easier on my hands.  

I am also thinking about working on my Mashup Top.  It's all knitting too so again, easier on my hands.  My Kauni sweater is under consideration too.  It's all easy knitting too.  

The dreaming continues in a big way.  So many great yarns on hand, so many good things to knit. So much tea.  Sigh.  The tea part does allow a lot of experimentation so even that is pretty good even if it isn't my beloved coffee.  It's not all sunshine and roses but the snow is gone and it's lovely to be able to open the doors and windows again.  And knitting.  I am so glad that I have knitting.

Of Berries and Summer Things.

Yesterday was an utterly lovely day.  It was the perfect temperature outside though sometimes the wind was a bit strong.  It was a good knitting day too.

Ta da!  It's a hem.  Time will tell if I knit it long enough.

Not only that but I made it to sleeves.

I could have striped through this tees secret sauce for short sleeves but I felt comfortable knitting them plain till that section was complete.  I can't wait to wear this!  Honestly, each time I slip on my blue and white Lusk I realize what a great fit this is for me and this top is just the same.  The fit is just right.  Part of it is this more softly fitted style but it also is how Rebecca Clow grades her patterns.  

Yesterday when Keith was putting groceries away, we were chatting about the fruits of summer. There was rhubarb at the store and he brought some home for me.  I love a fresh rhubarb crisp.  I started talking about fruit treats when I was a kid.  We were allowed to pick a stalk of rhubarb after mom had all she wanted.  Mom would give us a small bowl of sugar and we would dip the skinier end in and bite it off.  Yum.  

At Grandma Stuck's we got an even better treat though mom did make it at home too. My first memory of it was at Grandma's.  In peak berry season, we would all help pick June berries (Saskatoons or service berries for those of you who did not come from my part of the Saskatchewan) and when we were done, she would make pancakes for lunch.  She would mash some berries with a bit of sugar and pour some rich, cold, straight from the cow cream.  She would beat it with a spoon for a few minutes and we would piles berries and cream on top of our pancakes.  It was wonderful.  We did this with raspberries too.  Delightful delicious.

Later in life mom had a strawberry patch of every gardeners dreams.  Oh how much I loved helping pick strawberries, popping a few in my mouth before mom noticed.  Her patch was large enough that she put strawberries away for the whole season for on ice-cream as a Sunday desert.  I don't think she made jam though.  Not quite certain why.  

And then even later, there were tiny plums and sand cherries. I remember how good they were at full ripeness, warm from the sun.

It's a shame kids don't get these treats anymore.  They rarely get to pick fresh raspberries from the bush.  A garden now is something to look at or sit in, though we rarely do.  It's about display rather than food.  Sad in so many ways really.  

Ah well.  On to knit.

On Geddy and Lusk

On the weekend, I did spend time knitting a little something else.  

I pulled out my Geddy Tee and set to getting the body started.

I was pretty pleased with how it was looking...however

When I picked it up this week, the fabric felt wrong.  Not bad but not right.  And then I took a look at how the stitches were sitting.

See the ripple?  I had been telling myself that the ripple would block out, one of the biggest lies of all time.  It wouldn't.  It never really does.  

Yesterday afternoon, I bit the bullet and sorted it out.  I pulled back what I had knit and I started again.

Much much better.  

I changed needle sizes, going up a bit from what the pattern asked for.  The fabric feels softer and will have a really lovely drape.  I narrowed the back neck a wee bit.  Tanis does a good job sizing it but I hate a too large neck.  All my favourite, most worn tops have a narrower back neck.  They just sit better on me.  Yes all these things mean that once again, I am winging the body of this tee.  I must love math.  Noooooooo.

Oh well.  

I made good progress on the Lusk cream and white top.  

I should finish with the bottom today, then just two short sleeves and done.  This is such a good time in the making of a sweater.  It's the state of almost.  Almost ready.  Almost yours.

So here I am, ready to start my knitting for the day.  Tea is on and my goodness I still miss my second cup of coffee.  Oh well.  Tea it is.  Some nice Irish Breakfast Tea this morning, steeped for only a short time, plain and black and good.  

The weather is perfectly spring and the doors and windows will be open and I will be knitting some pretty spring tops.  It can't get much better than that.

And next up

As much as I could have written for hours on Monday, today, I have nothing.  It's been that sort of week, full of ups and downs.  

It has been that way in my knitting too.  I can't seem to get started in the morning and when I do get going, it's been pretty lackluster.  Still, there has been progress.

I am on to the body ribbing.  I am going with the white rather than the cream.  It just felt more right.  And if I use the white, it will be all used up when the garment is done.  That matters these days.  

Sometimes when I choose a project, the real purpose is to get the yarn out of my stash.  That was the case with this tee

And it is happening again with this yarn. 

It's a good yarn.  It is very easy care and I do like it.  However, I just really want it out of my stash.  It will make a great short sleeve tee.  I have only 7 skeins so it's a bit less than I usually like.  It will probably be a good idea to knit the sleeves and then go on to complete the body.  It won't be a complicated garment.  Just a nice basic top.  

Besides the white top, and all the dreaming I've been doing, I have done some more interesting stuff on ongoing projects.  More on that tomorrow.  For now it's time to get down to work and finish the white and cream to.

Updated:  I forgot one small find to add to repairs done.  It had slid down into a yarn box and I had completely forgot about it.  

My sweet little Kauni cowl had a problem at the cast off.  There was a pull out that had caused the end of the yarn to come loose. I needed to add a bit of yarn and reset it more firmly in place.  I spied the correct yarn for the repair in the yarn leftover bag and that reminded me to go searching for the cowl and get the job done.  Guess what?  Job done!  Now all the repairs are truly complete.

Books and Good Things

I keep finding interesting stuff on my bookshelves.  That has always been the case with me and books.  Any books.  Books of letters between 18 th century people, collections of short stories, novels, histories, biographies and so on.  Plus anything to do with fibre arts. Books are maps to travel to different places and times.  

As I was wandering among my books, I came across this sweater.

It's a lovely textured crochet sweater.  I made it in the 90s long before I learned to knit.  I wore it as we traveled by ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert.  I had several ladies compliment me on it.  It was one of the best things I ever made.  

I have often thought of recreating it in knitting.  A similar look could be made very easily even if you are not normally a winging it sort of knitter.  The Penta Pillar pullover by James N Watts could be used as the base and then you just need to add interesting stitches to your work.   

Personally, I would use the Lusk as a pattern base and when  I get to patterns, I am thinking of the crisp twisted stitches of the Styrian valley.

Or some of the gorgeous stitch patterns from this tour deforce stitch dictionary.

I mean really.  How lovely.

Now this pattern would be lovely in a summer tee shirt or a winter lacy pullover.  

So many beautiful things to think about and to knit.  There is nothing like knitting to excite all the little grey cells in my head.  Endless possibilities from simple string.

Interesting yarn and pattern combinations.

I feel like I have ten thousand things to talk about and if I am not careful, they will all spill out at once.  I will attempt to keep on track.

I'm not quite where I hoped to be on my cream and white sweater but I am in a good place.  I am almost at the point where I need to decide if the ribbing is going to be cream or white.  There is lots of both yarns.  This is where the top will become cream with white stripes or white with cream stripes.  It's a conundrum, but a fun one.

Friday I talked about looking at yarn in a different way.  A few years ago I did a stash dive and some yarns spoke to me. They actually screamed at MD but nicely.  I saw magic.  I started knitting them into a Starting Point shawl by Joji Locatelli.  I frogged it because I will never use a shawl like that no matter how beautiful it was.  And it was beautiful.  Magic happened when I saw the yarns together and that feeling has never left me.  

So rich and striking.  I have been searching for the right pattern to keep them together for a while now.  I have 5 colours to use and many patterns use more or less.  Five is awkward, but it is not negotiable.  And I am not interested in colourwork for these yarns.  I don't have any single one of them in quantity to play main yarn.   

I have also been looking at my bookshelves lately too. It's nice to do that when my hands are done for the day.  There are so many good things in my knitting library.  Stitch dictionaries of all sorts, pattern books, all kinds of things fibre and craft related,  that fire up my brain, sending my thoughts pinging hither and thither.  I came across a couple of old crochet garment books.  These are not the granny stitch crochet garments that are sweeping the Fibre arts world at the moment.  They go a step farther to make really lovely sweaters in crochet, a far step beyond a double crochet.  

One of them is this one.

Do you see it?  

I have always loved this vest.  I think it will work for my gorgeous pile of yarn. 

It's a shape that is simple and could easily be converted to knitting.  I could just crochet it too but the things I need to do to make it fit me nicely might be easier for me to do in knitting.  YMMV of course but I think my brain is more flexible in knitting. 

The pattern asks for 6 colours but I think 5 will work because of the changes I need.  I am going to colour up a colour placement chart like the book shows for the original design with the changes I need in place.  I will also think about sleeves because I would really like to use up the yarn.  

Anyway that is what I was dreaming of this weekend.  It was fun.  Exhilarating even.  Today I am going to work to getting the Lusk cream and white tee done.

Which reminds me.  Rebecca Clow just put out the perfect new little summer sweater/ vest/ tee for summer.  Check out her Sollas pattern.  

Seeing Something Different in the Yarn

Oh my, this is looking so good.

I am so utterly pleased with this.  It is exactly right.  

Yes it is cheap cotton not often used for clothing but why not? I would use kitchen string if I did not have anything else at hand. I crocheted a top years ago out of Handicrafter cotton and the only problem with it was the stitch pattern I used was too open for wear in the office without a camisole.  But it worked.  A Ravelry search before I started this top shows I am not the only one who makes garments with this yarn.  

The cream is a some ancient 1824 Cotton that I have had forever.  I tried making tops 3 or 4 times with the yarn before but the tops just never happened.  

This entire top is a whim.  I was putting yarn away after my last dive and as I was putting this last box away, I just saw the yarns in it, in a different way.  That sometimes happens to me.  I have a bunch of yarns and one day, magic happens and I see something different going on between the yarns.  I see something new and occasionally brilliant.  

Next week, I will show you one of those.  I can, now that I know what I am going to make  happen.   

Back to the cream and white Lusk top.  I am just going to keep working on it.  I would like to get it done fast because I can really use the top on my spring and summer wardrobe.  

Repairs!

The snow is retreating and it was warm enough that the back door was open for a few hours yesterday afternoon.  Such is spring and it is good.  

I did knit on my cream and white Lusk Tee formost of the day.  It's moving along nicely.  I am at the point where I will do the last bit of increases and then will just knit for length.  I want it longer than normal because cotton.  It will shrink up some and I want it to be long enough to take that into account for wear.  My black tee from last year was not knit with extra length and is too short unless I wear it as a topper over a dress.  I do not want that to happen again. 

I have also been dreaming about my next summer top, which will be made with a yellow wool and cotton yarn.  I am debating between a sweatshirt style or something with lace details and I can't seem to decide.  I am waffling.  

I did do repairs yesterday.  I pulled out my yellow Cascadas Tee to repair the neck where the thread had broken.

It seems I was really efficient at some past point and it was already fixed.  Yeay me.

Then I pulled the yarn from the box of yarn and sorted out the cuff of my Green Elton .

And voila.  Repaired and wearable for the season.  I think that is it for garments needing repairs at the moment.  I am glad that job is done. I don't mind repairs.  It needs to happen but it is like sewing patching.  It's good when the pile is gone.

I dug out some socks to work on later today.

Nothing fancy but a good sock and a third.  There may yet be more than one pair of socks this year.  

That is it for today.  Time to get to work.  

Always knitting

Time to show my cream and white Lusk Tee.  I am really pleased with it. 

It's looking like a  summer tee.  I am ready to wear it too.  

I've been pulling out the summer tops lately.  It started with sweaters that needed repair, one of which was my Green Elton sweater (a Joji Locatelli design).  I pulled it out for repair and then all of a sudden I am reaching for it every day.  And I haven't even repaired it yet.  It is my perfect spring garment.  Light but warm.  I wear it over my summer knits and it just works.  It's getting to repair today.  

I repaired my Lusk sweater yesterday.

One sleeve was bound off too tightly and I could not push the sleeve up to get it out of the way while I did house stuff.

I love the way these sleeves gather at the wrist.  I wasn't sure I would but I do.  As long as I could get them pushed up to my elbows for work. It wasn't quick work like I thought it would be.  I had trouble finding a needle that would make the cuff do what I needed.  It is possible that I had fewer stitches on that sleeve.  Not sure really.  I did get it sorted out though and both sleeves now push up to my elbows.

So, on to knitting.  On to repairs.  On to socks, maybe.  But knitting.  Insert a big smiley face here.  Always knitting.  It carries me.