b r o o k l y n t w e e d
9.27.2006
  Mountains of Wool
No matter how many sweaters I make, I dont think I'll ever get over the surprise at seeing just how much wool hides in one measley garment (this was just a male Medium, although it was baggy). I did a little sweater-harvesting this weekend. Found a blue tweed wool aran sweater at the bottom of my dresser on Saturday - I picked it up from Ross a couple of years ago for $9.99 or something ridiculous like that. It didn't fit all that well, so after a couple of hours, this is what I had laying around my apartment....

Wool Harvest 1

Wool Harvest 2

These photos were taken after soaking the wool in a bath for a few hours and hanging them out to dry. The wool seems to closely resemble Yorkshire Tweed DK - one of my favorite yarns - although is softer and machine washable! Its not necessarily a color I would purchase for a sweater, but it'll add some variety to my sweater arsenal (if I ever get around to knitting it up).

Wool Harvest 3

I know, I know - you were expecting a full Swallowtail report with this post. I'm really ready to give you one, but haven't had a chance to have a proper photo shoot. With the onset of Autumn comes the loss of ideal lighting for evening photography. But soon.

Do you remember Raspy? I'm so close to the end on this one - its been a long time coming. I have a few more inches on the second sleeve, then I'll toss it in the wash and seam it onto the rest of the body, which is patiently waiting for its final piece:

Raspy Half Seamed

You can see from the photo that I alternated the neckline with shortrows (I'll explain more later) from the original straight-across boatneck required in the pattern. There are some other obvious changes (ommissions), but for now, I'll spare you the details.

I'm going to Boston this weekend, I'm not positive that I'll have time to do any fiber crawling, but any suggestions you have would be great! I know that there are a ton of great knitters in Boston. I've never been, so I'm excited. Of course what I'm most excited about is the 4 hour bus ride alone with my sweater.............

 
9.19.2006
  Pinned
So I finally got around to blocking...

Swallowtail Blocking

A much more indulgent post coming soon to a computer screen near you.
 
9.18.2006
  treats

Jaeger Trinity


Longmeadow (Valley Yarns)


Swish Superwash

click each photo for more info

 
9.13.2006
  The Shetland Triangle
the slough of vacation knits continue to reveal themselves. This piece was already gifted and can now be shown publicly. You know the pattern, I've seen them all over. I love it though.

Shetland Triangle 2

Pattern: "Shetland Triangle" by Evelyn A. Clark
Source: Wrap Style (Interweave Press)
Materials: Sundara Yarn Aran Silky Merino hand-dyed 'Burgundy over Brown'(2 hanks)
Needles: US 9 KnitPicks Options (my first time)

Start Date: 19 August 2006
Completion Date: 3 September 2006

Shetland Triangle 3

Modifications: None really, other than the obvious subbing of an aran weight for lace weight (one of my favorite moves). I used the shawl calculator here (sidebar) to figure out just how many repeats were possible with what i had. I scrapped the last patterned row (and obligatory purl row) before the bind off to get a more subtle scalloping along the edge. For this one, I liked that look better.

Shetland Triangle 5


This particular lace pattern is ridiculously simple to follow, but I couldn't help being drawn to its curvilinear quality. When it comes to lace, I am much more of a fan of organic, curvilinear, and sinuous (Madli, Print-o-the-Wave, etc) rather than more geometric pattern motifs (DFS, Faroese, most things in A Gathering of Lace, etc.) Of course I appreciate all sorts of lace patterns, but I find myself drawn to certain styles over others. With the Shetland Triangle, I love how the leaves are formed by undulating rows converging together towards a center point and then bending outward again with yos.

Shetland Triangle 1 Shetland Triangle 4 Shetland Triangle 6 Shetland Triangle 8

You can knit this thing on auto-pilot, and add as many repeats as you want (I love when a pattern works out like that). Use any yarn, any weight, and get something that is preferable to you, regardless of how many you've seen before.

Shetland Triangle 7

And I can't put this post up without saying a short word about the yarn: this is definitely the most luxurious yarn that has ever graced my needles. When it was over, I was desperate for more, sad that it was done, and excited that it happened. Sounds like a torrid affair, doesn't it. The color trumps everything - no matter how hard I tried, the pictures cant explain to you the depth and saturation. Hand-dyed by an artist, its no wonder it was so mesmurizing throughout. Not to mention how it feels... (butter)

There's still one more shawl I have yet to show you, but I think I'll make you wait a little longer for it, since I've got very little knitting going on presently.
 
9.05.2006
  Chimney Socks
so now no one can say i never knit socks. (i never do, though)

Chimney Socks 1

Pattern: Generic Toe-Up; Womens S/M; 60 stitches (See details below)
Materials: Sundara Sock Yarn (2 Skeins in "Chimney", 1 Skein Color 012)
Needles: US 1 Aluminum DPN's (unknown brand)

Started: 20 August 2006
Completed: 29 August 2006

Chimney Socks 6

Anatomy: Casted on like this with Solid color, increased to 60 Sts, switched to Hand-dyed yarn, work to heel, switch back to Solid, short-rowed a heel with YO wraps like so (using Solid), stockinetted my way up to a 1x1 ribbed cuff and finished it off with this.

Technically, this is my first real pair of socks - you know, using real sock yarn, tiny needles, and all those little heel/toe tricks i read about everywhere. It was enjoyable, there was something satisfying about knitting such tiny stockenette stitches. I'm happy to add it to the repertoire, but I'm not going crazy for it. I'm still a sweater and hat junkie at heart. I will say, I am a little more interested in reading about sock construction, which is probably a good thing, since there is way too much of it out there on the internet! Ha!

Chimney Socks 2 Chimney Socks 3 Chimney Socks 4 Chimney Socks 5

To tell the truth, my favorite part was shooting the photos... but that comes as no surprise, does it?

 

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