Author: tabitha

Spring is Bursting Out All Over

Spring is that time of revival and refreshing. A time of renewed energies and enthusiasm. For me it has meant a restored enthusiasm for knitting and a brain nearly bursting with new design ideas. And everyone knows that new designs ideas means new yarn. So I would like to share some of my latest stash enhancements with you.

My first acquisition for the spring was this:

This beauty is was created by Debbie at Dodge Creations Dye Works Colorway is called Plum Blossom.

This bright and beautiful color just sings spring. It has been incredibly difficult to finish my hubby’s boring brown socks with this lovely yarn beckoning begging to be knit into a lovely lace shawl.

My next discovery for the spring was Sanguine Gryphon yarns. This was my first time to purchase Gryphon’s fabulous yarns and I have to say it was love at first sight. I have collected enough for four more shawls.

Top is Skinny Bugga in Cowkiller colorway(how can you resist a name like that; Bottom is Skinny Bugga in Holly Blue Butterfly colorway. The photos do not show the incredible depth of these colors

Top is Little Traveler in Gallifrey colorway; Bottom is Skinny Bugga in Beyer’s Jewel Scarab. Both colors have much more depth than the photos show. All four yarns are light fingering weight and are destined for shawls.

My last yarn shopping has been at Fiber Optics. Kimber has been helping me search for a very specific color for a design that I have had on the drawing board for a while. She has been unbelievably patient and helpful. Great customer service.
After much discussion and a postal mishap or two, she helped me find the perfect color for the design.

Isn’t it just gorgeous? It is her Merino/Silk laceweight in Aubergine colorway. The yarn is absolutely magnificent in person. Deeply mingled softly variegated colors with just a hint of sheen. Can’t wait to get to this project.
And while I was looking at Fiber Optic yarns, I couldn’t resist this one.

This yarn is her Foot Notes sock yarn in Afternoon in Paris colorway. The photo really doesn’t do this beautiful yarn justice. This one will be a summer shawl with matching socks.

Just so you don’t think all I do is collect yarn, here are my latest designs. The first of my spring collection.

The first is a quick-to-knit shawl that is the answer to the question “What do I do with this gorgeous handpainted yarn that will not cooperate with any stitch pattern.

Medusa Cascade

The Medusa Cascade is a swirling, colorful rift in time and space from science fiction. This lovely yarn reminded me of those swirling colors but it just didn’t cooperate with most stitch patterns. This lovely little shawl was specifically designed to showcase that gorgeous but uncooperative skein of variegated yarn. The uncomplicated stitch pattern lets your beautiful yarn do all the work for you.

Wear this versatile shawl as a wrap for those cool evenings, a topper for a sundress, a chic scarf or even tied around the hips.

It’s knit from the center back down with a single 100-gram skein of luxury sock yarn. The unusual shaping of this modified triangular shawl helps it stay on the shoulders better. Suitable for the Advanced Beginner to Intermediate knitter.

$5.00

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My next design for you is the matching warm weather sock.

Medusa Cascade Socks

I adore variegated yarns but always struggle finding the pattern to highlight those colorful indulgences. This simple design is perfect for those beautiful yarns. It is named for the swirling rift in time and space from the Doctor Who series. This quick-to-knit ankle sock is sure to become a warm weather favorite.

Knit from the toe up using a provisional cast on, with a unique reversed gusset heel, this pattern features a ruffled cuff that is knit inside out and then folded down to reveal the right side. Suitable for the Advanced Beginner to Intermediate knitter (a variety of increases, simple decreases, basic sock knitting and lace-knitting skills will be needed).

$5.00

add to cart

Afterthoughts – A tutorial

In the course of getting Aragorn Gloves pattern test knit, a number of questions arose about the thumb I used for the glove. Elizabeth Zimmermann dubbed this method the “afterthought” method. She used it for sock heels as well as thumbs. The general idea is to knit the stitches needed for the heel or thumb onto waste yarn, then continue knitting your project and come back to the thumb or heel after you have finished the project. This method is super-fast, convenient for travel and doesn’t involve transferring stitches onto stitch holders then back onto needles like gusset methods do. Though perhaps not as elegant as the gusseted thumb, I find the speed and ease of knitting more than makes up any difference in overall look. Without further ado, here is my little photo tutorial of the afterthought thumb as used in Aragorn gloves. For reference, I am knitting the left glove.

Work until you get to the point in the pattern where you will add your thumb. Drop the working yarn. Picking up a piece of scrap yarn, knit the stitches for the thumb with the scrap yarn. I just held one tail of the waste yarn with my left thumb as I knit the first my stitches.

Once you have knit the desired number of stitches (in the case of Aragorn it will be 6 stitches), transfer the stitches back to the left hand needle by slipping them purlwise one at a time.

Picking up the working yarn again, rework the stitches that you knit onto scrap yarn. You will have worked the same six stitches twice.

When you have completed reworking the stitches your glove should look something like this.

Continue working in pattern for the rest of the glove. When you have completed it, you will have something that looks like this.

Arm yourself with a set of double pointed needles and prepare to knit the thumb. You will begin by carefully removing that piece of scrap yarn to reveal the live stitches.

As each live stitch is revealed, you will pick it up onto one of two needles. This is a bit difficult to see because of the dark yarn but the process will make complete sense as you try it yourself.

When you have completely removed the scrap yarn, you should have one less stitch on the top needle than on the bottom. In the case of Aragorn gloves, you will have 6 stitches on the bottom needle and 5 stitches on the top needle.

Next, pick up your yarn and knit across the stitches on the bottom needle. Please forgive the quality of the photography. Princess Buttercup is still learning.

Using a new needle, pick up and knit two or three stitches from the gap between the top and bottom needle to fill the space.

Knit half the stitches from the top needle onto this needle. Now picking up another needle, knit the remainder of the stitches from the top needle and pick up and knit 2 or 3 stitches from the gap between the top and bottom needle. I generally pick up three stitches on the palm side of the hand and two on the top side.

Once you have picked up all your stitches, you should be back to the first stitch on the bottom needle in a position to reclose the round. Knit or work the next round in pattern. I find that if I work the stitches that I picked up through the back loop, there is less chance of a visible hole at this point. After knitting one round to reclose the round you should have something that looks like this.

There you have it. The Afterthought Thumb. EZ as pie or was that pi.

Happy Knitting.

Finish Line!

The 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Ravelympics have come and gone. Both gave us success and failure. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. So here is a recap of my Ravelympics journey.

I entered 4 projects this year.

1. Lorien Hat

Medal Category – WIPs Dancing (for hibernating works in progress).
Complete – 24 February 2010

2. Bright Copper Kettles aka Kettle and Strings

Medal Categories:

Designer Original Dance (for designing an original pattern
Lace Luge (for any lace project)
Platter Lift (for items for the home)
Stash Compulsory Dance (for items knit from your stash)

Finished: 23 February 2010

This is the second in a series of towels and washcloths that I started for the 2008 Summer Ravelympics. I am pleased with the results though I see a couple of small changes I plan to make for the final pattern.

3. Sargassum Scarf aka Igpay Atinlay KAL

Medal Categories:

Designer Pattern Skeleton (for a writing a publishable pattern)
Beading Biathlon (for beaded projects)
Lace Luge
Scarf Super-G (for scarves, obviously)
Single Skein Speed Skate (for projects using a single skein of yarn)

Finished: 28 February 2010 (just under the wire)

This project was also done as a Knit-along on the Tabitha’s Heart Ravelry group. How’s that for a clever way to get test knitters. The photos could be better but the pattern is complete and listed in the Ravelry database. It will be available for sale tomorrow as soon as I get some better photos.

4. Ravelympics Sock Design

This just didn’t come together. The original idea just didn’t look the way I wanted it to look. Project ended up frogged.

So not too bad all in all. Even though I did have one fail. I managed to complete two designs and one WIP in 17 days. Yes, I am a Ravelympian. If you will excuse me, I am expected on the podium for my medal ceremony.

Whew!

These Winter Ravelympics events must be tougher than the summer games. Haven’t won nearly as many medals this time. However, don’t count me out just yet.

I am on course in the Pattern Skeleton event, so unless I wipe out at the 50/50 curve, I should medal in that event. I am not as far as I would have liked in Designer Original Dance but still not out of the medal running. I am hoping to have one project, Kettle and String, off the needles in a hour or so. WIPs-Dancing is slow going because my chosen project is cables on small needles with small and splitty yarn. But I haven’t given up on that one either. The Sock Hockey is not looking too promising right now. I haven’t totally written it off as I have a totally rocking pattern to work with but getting that sample knit by the deadline may be the deal breaker. The odds are stacked a little against me in that event. Perhaps I should have entered Aerial Unwind instead.

No photos to post today so I will leave you with this Olympic moment brought to you by Small Fry.

Walking into the room, SmallFry noticed that I was watching Slalom. He looked at the TV with excitement and said “Ooooo! Light saber skiing!”
I think that is a pretty apt description of the slalom.

Coming Up for Air

I didn’t realize it had been such a long time since I last visited to all of you in blogland. I have been amazingly busy. Since we last talked I have added two more pieces to the Aragorn set – a hat and fingerless gloves

The hat pattern is already published on Ravelry and the gloves should be ready for publication later this week. The gloves will be a fun pattern because there are two versions included in the pattern.

This weekend started the Ravelympics. My goals for the 2010 Ravelympics are to finish one languishing WIP (Lorien Hat)and to complete three designs – one of which must be published as a pattern on Ravelry by the extinguishing of the Olympic torch. So I’m in a knitting and designing frenzy.

I have made good progress though. The Lorien hat WIP is close to the half-way mark. The pattern challenge is currently with test knitters and the tech editor so it is well on its way to reality. I can’t tell you a lot about it because the testers are doing it as a mystery KAL. It has been fun teasing them about it. And one of my design challenges, Bright Copper Kettles which had been patiently waiting in my design idea notebook since the last Ravelympics, is about one-quarter through. I did have a couple of temporary set-backs with it (lost the needles and had to frog a mistake or two) but I am currently reknitting the frogged section so I am back in the race – a little behind the front runners but not out of the race entirely.

That is all the blogging time I have for now but stay tuned for the next Ravelympics adventures.