Finished mitt and yarn for new project

In her book Wendy Knits, Wendy Johnson mentions that she finished both fingerless mitts from her pattern (pages 198-199) in one day, between commutes both ways and a lunch hour. I drive to work, so knitting then is, sadly, not a possibility. But I had a very long, very tedious meeting today, and 2/3s of this mitt was finished during it. Almost makes me long for another dull meeting tomorrow so I can get the second one done! The yarn is some Knit Picks Shamrock, color Reilly, that I had sitting around. I'd bought it to make my mother a hat, then realized my mother never wears hats. It never really called to me for another project, till I thought of this one. These very easy mitts are a sort of practice run for the fancy stranded Composed Mitts in the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. A friend and I are going to be working on those at the same time, starting tomorrow. They take Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight, a wonderfully soft yarn.

This yarn--Elsebeth Lavold's Classic AL--I picked up last night at the sale at The Spinning Room. It was 30% off. I really, really don't need any more yarn (and yet I am going to Webs on Saturday!), but this yarn is ever so nice to knit with, and I like the color (midnight blue). It is destined to become the Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties (though I may not include the leaves at the end of the ties) from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. It won't have the same fuzzy look as the one in the book, which is made out of an alpaca/angora blend, but I think it will be very nice for casual wear.

Thinking about sweaters and knitted tops, the Isabella Bird collection from The Territory Ahead has some lovely ones. The Sundial Cable V-Neck rather reminds me of Norah Gaughan designs, though I like hers better.

Back view of Ribwarmer Vest

As promised, this is the back view of the ribwarmer vest. I like the way the edges come together. It is possible to knit it so that you don't need to seam the back together, but I don't believe you get so much of an indent at the center.

I haven't been in much of a knitting mood lately, so the next project I am making from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits (the Textured Tunic) isn't progressing very well.

However, I did finish a stranded headband. I developed the pattern for a class I'll be teaching at The Spinning Room in early September on two-color knitting using two hands. I'll also teach how to weave in the colors so there aren't long floats. The headband is a bit wide, so I changed it to have several fewer rounds.

Today a friend and I are heading out to Colorful Stitches in Lenox again--they keep having great trunk shows. This time they have Norah Gaughn's works from her new Berroco book, Collection Volume One. Also pieces from the new Filatura di Crosa and S. Charles fall/winter collections.

This is my second try at the Ribwarmer Vest. The first time, I didn't get row gauge, and it was way too long. This time, I decided to be extra careful and worked my way painstakingly through the ribwarmer worksheet in issue #5 of Knitter's Magazine, using my measurements and my gauge. After I'd done all the math, I found I could just use the medium size in the pattern in that issue! And I think it turned out fine. I used Elizabeth's own adaptation for adding a collar, and love how the collar looks. It looked quite odd as I knitted each of the two identical pieces, so I was relieved it ended up ok! I'd like to make more, adding sleeves on one, and doing another in ribbing. The yarn is Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes in color Stream.

This issue of Knitter's, from Fall/Winter 1986, has lots of great information about the pattern, and adaptations. One addresses knitting the back in one piece, but I really like the way the two pieces look when they are seamed together. I'll have to add a picture of the back of the vest. I know the Spun Out issue (#42) devoted to the ribwarmer vest also has lots of variations.

The new Knit Picks catalog is absolutely delicious looking. I love seeing the full skeins of yarn--it gives me a much better sense of what they are like. I called yesterday to find out what color is shown on page 2 of the catalog, bottom row, third from the left. It is fern. I think I'll be ordering some soon! The computer wall paper choices Knit Picks is offering are also wonderful--I have one up at work and another here at home.

Visiting Yarn Stores in NYC

I was in New York over the last couple of days to present a workshop for librarians at the New York Public Library with a colleague. She was wonderfully patient with my need to visit yarn stores during our free time. We made it to three--Purl in Soho, Seaport Yarn down near the Fulton Street Strand bookstore, and Yarn Connection on Madison Avenue. Purl was a lot smaller than I expected. They have a variety of lovely (but expensive) yarn. I wish I'd waited just a day longer with the order I sent to Flying Fingers for the Blue Sky Alpacas sport weight yarn for the fingerless mitts in the current Interweave Knits issue--I could have picked it up at Purl. Oh well. Flying Fingers's service was fabulous.

Seaport Yarn was quite large and bursting with yarn, but unfortunately it had no air conditioning and it was sweltering inside. I almost bought some Louet Gems Worsted merino yarn (though the label didn't actually say "Gems," everything else seemed to match) in a lovely eggplant color for Stefanie Japel's Cable-Down Raglan in the Spring 2007 IK. But my notes weren't completely clear about the exact amount I needed, and by that time I thought I'd pass out from the heat. So no purchases there, either. Andrea Waller, the owner, is extremely nice.

The Yarn Connection was very close to our hotel, and easy to visit just before we headed for the train station. I hit pay dirt here, getting Donata by Adrienne Vittadini in a lovely purple color for the Textured Tunic in Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. This store had a wide variety of yarns, many of which were marked down.

My friend and I had a chance to take the guided tour of the NYPL yesterday afternoon, and it was fascinating. We had a sneak peek at the closed stacks (books arranged by height), saw the pneumatic tubes that are used to send off the requests for books from the reading room to the various levels of the stacks, and peaked into some of the special collections' rooms, including that of the Berg Collection of English and American Literature. One of the treasures pointed out to us was Charles Dickens' desk. I really didn't have a grasp on the riches of the library, or its availability to the public, before I took the tour.

Despite having some knitting time on the train, I didn't get as far as I'd hoped with my Rib Hugger vest. Maybe I can finish the knitting tomorrow, though the seaming may have to wait till later in the week. We're heading off to the Madison-Bouckville Antiques Show, and that will be a full day. I can knit in the car, but I can't seam there!

Altamont Fair Report

Well, I have to admit the first thing we did today at the Altamont Fair was stop in at the Sheep Barn to see how my entries fared. I was delighted--the blue and white hat won first prize in the open division of the small, wearable items category, and the twined mitts won first prize in the same category, novice division. The felted bag won third prize in the fulled article category, novice division. I saw some lovely vests and sweaters, and a felted bag that reminded me of the colors of watermelon--it looked almost good enough to eat!

I hadn't been to the Fair since I was a kid, and all I could remember was the rides and overeating. My husband had taken his kids there when they were small, but that was decades ago. So most everything seemed new to us. We oohed and aahed in the poultry barn and the rabbit area, petted llamas and sheep and goats in the petting zoo (I think we were the only adults there without children in tow), visited several of the museums on the grounds as well as the old schoolhouse, and generally had a nice time. I passed up my usual favorite, fried dough, for a delicious strawberry shortcake served at the Grange Hall.

Now back to knitting my Elizabeth Zimmermann Rib Hugger vest. The first one I made, some months ago, was way too big for me, because I sadly neglected to notice my row count. I felted it, in the hopes of making it wearable, but it still didn't look right on me. Fortunately, it fit a woman I know from the yarn shop I frequent, The Spinning Room, really well, so it now resides with her. I bought more yarn in a very similar color, this time KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, color Stream, so I hope to have my own vest for September.

Vogue Knitting Trunk Show

Today a friend and I went to Colorful Stitches in Lenox, MA to see the Vogue Knitting trunk show connected with their 25th anniversary issue. It was fabulous to see (and touch) some of the items in person. I had thought the fantastic neck piece on the cover of the issue would be very stiff, but it was actually wonderfully soft. I had a chance to try on the wrap featured on the Lion Brand cover, and while I liked it on the cover, I wasn't thrilled with the way it looked on me. That's ok--I have far too many other projects waiting. While we bought a couple of nice pattern books (including one for Debbie Bliss Rialto), we didn't find any yarn. Probably just as well, because we then stumbled on a craft fair nearby, and even though it was about to close, we managed to spend a fair amount on earrings (friend) and necklaces (me).

However, that means I am still searching for the yarn to make a couple of the projects in Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits.

Harrisville, NH

On the way to the TKGA show in Manchester, NH last month, I made a few yarn-related stops along the way. One was to the Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, VT, where I bought the yarn I need for their Stars & Bars cardigan. I had no idea the shop part of the building would be so small, but it was filled with wonderful yarn. The woman who helped me, and let me try on their store sample, was incredibly nice and helpful. I also stopped in Harrisville, NH, to go to the Harrisville Designs store there--a much larger space. Though incredibly, I didn't end up buying
any yarn--just some back issues of knitting magazines. The town of Harrisville, several miles off the beaten track, is a fabulous old mill town. I didn't get to see all of it, but took some pictures of buildings.

The TKGA show was wonderful--I can't believe how much I learned. I hope to go again next year, depending on where it is held.

First entries at the fair!

I haven't been to the local Altamont Fair since I was a kid, but today I stopped by the fairgrounds to drop off three items at the Sheep Barn for their competition. One of the items is a color-stranded hat, so I thought it was fitting that one of the two women processing the items was Deborah Andersen, knitter extraordinaire and the woman who first taught me to do colorwork. Deborah also is a colleague at work, and her background is as a librarian, so how can she not be wonderful?

I believe the judging will be done by the time the fair opens next week, so I'll have to use my free pass and see how I did. I'll also look forward to seeing everyone else's work.

Above is the hat I entered. This item was entered in the open class, so I wouldn't compete with my twined half mitts in the novice class for these small items.

















The third thing I entered is a felted entrelac bag.


Right now I am working on the Alexandra Ballerina Top from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. This is the second item I've knit from this book, and both have been a pleasure to work on (though there seem to be a few errors that haven't been caught for the errata page). Folks on the Fitted Knits Along are fabulous, though, about helping. And it is a treat to see what everyone is making.

I am about halfway done with the left sleeve, and still have the right sleeve to do. My goal is to finish by tomorrow night (which means I should be knitting, not blogging!). It also needs to be blocked, so the cables will stand out a bit more. But at the moment, this is what it looks like.

I think the Boatneck Bluebell sweater may be next on my horizon, but after finding Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks at the library last night, a pair of sock might intervene. I find this book even more inspiring than the first. Normally I prefer using worsted weight yarn for socks (pretty much instant gratification), but I have lots of more typical sock yarn around, and perhaps I'll pick one of those patterns. Come to think of it, the worsted weight socks I make for myself come from Deborah Andersen's pattern! I guess I'll start this blog with her, and end my first entry the same way. Thank you, Deborah, for teaching me so much!

This is the hat I made in Deborah's colorwork class last year.