New Year Promises and some knitting.

It's the end of 2009. And it's time to think about goals for the new year. I like to call them promises to me. Resolutions sound like something that needs changed.

1. I will work out 3 times a week. I have been thinking about this promise a lot. I want to be able to hike more in the new year. And with all the nagging physical "problems" from 2009, the only way I was going to achieve this promise to myself was to work out with a personal trainer. So, I signed up for 6 sessions with a personal trainer at the Summit. I had my first session where we set up a program and I have started exercising/lifting free weights. My legs have been sore so I think the program is working. So, I have a start on this goal.


2. Knit a new stitch a day. I joined a group on Ravelry called A Stitch a Day. This group is stitching the stitch of the day using the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year perpetual calendar. I have owned this calendar for at least 6 years and have tried one or two of the stitches. I want to knit the swatches and keep them in a notebook for reference. I will be using Encore Worst weight yarn that is left over in my stash.


3. I will draw or do exercises in Drawing and Design for Embroidery by Richard Box weekly. I think this is an ambitious goal. After my retreat in Colorado, I realized that I really miss embroidery. So, I want to get back into embroidery again. I also am planning on going to the National Seminar in San Francisco. You can see the projects on this link.


And because this is a knitting blog, here's some knitting! This is Morgan's flower hat. It is the Color Pop! Beanie from Baby Beanies by Amanda Keeys.

And here's Morgan modeling her little hat.



I bought some cashmere at an unbelieve close out price from Jimmy Beans Wool this summer. It is Rowan RYC Cashmere Tweed in charcoal. I knew I would be knitting a scarf for Lindsay. But I wanted it to be a classic scarf that she would a) love and b) wear for a long time. I asked Lindsay for her favorite scarves out of the book Knitting New Scarves. She choose Aria.

I love this scarf pattern. After a couple mis-steps, I finally wrapped my head around the short row pattern. I have knit 4 skeins of the yarn with 3 left to go.



This is a close up of the scarf. The cashmere is wonderful. I have never knit with cashmere before and now I know what all the fuss is about.

Thinkin' and Knittin'

I haven't posted much lately. I have been busy working and then going to NJ. Got home worked a bunch and went on vacation with my good friends, Pat and Janet. I have been knitting and embroidering. The retreat was a design and embroidery retreat at Rivendell in Hotchkiss, Colorado. I loved being away for 6 days with my two good friends. We had our design classes in the morning where we drew, and colored the designs and then stitched them. In the afternoon, we poked around the town going to some antique shops and just relaxed. It was wonderful.

I haven't been blogging much. I have been spending time on Ravelry, talking the the wonderful women in my Grandma's group. We have become friends over there. And by the time I tell them all my news, it does leave much time to blog about it. I will have to see if I can make some time for blogging. We will see.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Morgan's Little Poncho

Ta-duh! Morgan's little poncho is done. It was fun, fast and easy. This little poncho is knit with bulky weight yarn. I saw the Strawberries and Lime colorway of Crystal Palace Meringue yarn on Ebay and had to buy it. I mean 5 skeins for $10! How could I go wrong? This yarn is super soft merino and acrylic blend. It is super stretchy and not for everyone.

I knit the collar and cuffs with 2 different brands of DK weight yarn. I went stash diving for the perfect magenta and green Anny Blatt Merinos DK weight yarn. I bought several random balls of Anny Blatt for colorwork samples. These 2 colors were perfect. And for the light color accent I used peachy pink yarn from Morgan's Cable blanket, Dreambaby color 106. I love how this project turned out. The embroidery adds the perfect accent down the front. And I am bubbling over about the little daisy buttons. Cute and functional. I can't wait to see Morgan in this poncho.

Some fancy lace

This is my first attempt at knitting a pattern out of Victorian Lace Today. This is the bottom border of Scarf with French Trellis Border from Weldon's 1890 with Bramble Leaf. If you have Ravelry access, please check out all the scarves knit from this pattern. They are very beautiful.

I am learning how to use lifelines with this project. I am also learning to knit with lace weight yarn. I love how this yarn is knitting up. It is so very soft. I am impatient to see this lace blocked.

Morgan's Color Block Sweater

Another finished sweater. This is Morgan's Color Block sweater. I started this sweater last December while Tina and I were at Hot Topics Neonatology Meeting. It is knit with Encore Colorspun color 7518. This is a worst weight self striping yarn. I used 3 coordinating colors for the sleeves, hood and bands.



This is a close up of the pocket. This was my first time knitting pockets. Jan Moore, the designer and LYS owner, has you pick up stitches after leaving an 18 inch tail on the wrong side of your work. After you knit the pocket flat, you sew up the pocket from the bottom to the top with the tail. And then knit the other side with the tail. This leaves minimal tails to weave in.




I never knit a hood before this little sweater. I am happy with how the shaping came out.



I know this is a little big for little Morgan. She probably won't be able to wear this until the Spring. I am very happy with this sweater.

Not-so-Blue Bobble finished!

Not-So-Blue Bobble is finished! It was 3 years in the making but it's done! I had some self-induced heartburn over twisting the purl stitches on the whole back. So, I had a new design element that I had to remember to do.

Jan Moore, at my local yarn shop, helped me out by knitting the neck bands. I was so tired of this project on day that I asked her to help. Or the sweater would still be in the maturing pile. She did a beautiful job.

I am very happy with how the sweater turned out. I love the cable down the back. This is also on the sleeves. Some one on Ravelry asked how I liked knitting the bobbles. I actually like knitting them. Next time, I will use Lucy Neatby's method of centering the middle stitch in the bobble. She says it keeps the bobble from leaning.

This pattern is Blue Bobble by Mari Lynn Patrick from Interweave Knits, Spring 2006. The yarn is Cestari, a cotton, wool and silk blend in the Seashell color. You can't tell from the picture but the yarn has tiny flecks of peach and blue in the yarn. I used 5 skeins of the yarn. These pictures were prior to blocking the sweater. I blocked it "hard" because it was a little on the small size. I guess I gained a few pounds since I started the sweater. Maybe it will fit better if I keeping on swimming!

Bowknot Revisited 2

Finished! 8/11 at 9:30 pm but who's counting?! I really love how this sweater turned out. I made 4 major modifications. First of all, it's intarsia. The original Bowknot sweater was knit in the Armenian stranded knitting style. I wasn't wild about the "flecks" of color showing through the solid areas. I know that's the effect that Schiaparelli wanted for her sweater but it wasn't my favorite.



The second modification was in the yarn choice. The original yarn is a light weight wool. Schiaparelli wanted a light weight, warm sweater. And I guess in the 1920's shetland wool would have been the logical choice. I knit my version in Wildflower DK by Plymouth, a cotton blend. I thought Lindsay would get a long season with the cotton than wool.



My next modification was the neckline. I have never had much luck with a crochet edge around stockinette stitch. Mine always rolls. So, I decided to try out a rolled reverse stockinette binding. I had a little heartburn over the v-neck. But decided to knit it straight and over lap the center. I think it looks pretty neat.



My last major modification was the sleeve. Lindsay did not want long sleeves. She saw a beautiful sleeve on a very high end sweater. She copied the picture and Jan wrote out a pattern. After the first sleeve was too big, we reduced the stitches and came up with a cute puff sleeve. I knit a reverse stockinette binding on the sleeve edge also.



My final thought in this whole process is that I basically used the Bowknot chart for the intarsia design. And designed the sweater using an old favorite as a guide. My stitch and row gauge are different than the original. Lindsay really got a custom fit sweater.

While writing this post, I found a wonderful site about Schiaparelli and the Shocking exhibit. Click here for a beautiful blog about her work and gorgeous clothing. I'm sure Schiaprelli herself would not be that pleased that her design was altered. But the chart/Bowknot really held up over time.