handspun spiral yoke all done!

She's all done! And just in time for this lovely April heat wave.



Specs:
Pattern: Loosely based off of Meg Swansen's spiral yoke sweater from the book Handknitting.
Yarn:
Yoke: five colors of handspun 2-ply romney and romney-mohair blend fiber from Fantom Farms - roughly sport weight.
Body: 5 balls of Rowan Kid Classic in color #846
Needles: 6's
Gauge: 5 stitches per inch



Notes: I knit this one top down so I could play with the yoke design as I went along. I also wasn't sure if I had enough handspun for the yoke, but of course there was a pile leftover. The handspun is pretty dense, and the stranded yoke is pretty bulletproof! I need to work on improving my spinning to make less dense yarn. I added hems to the bottom and sleeves by knitting a few rows in the green handspun, knitting a purl turning row, and knitting a hem with smaller needles in alpaca for softness. The kid classic ended up having a somewhat different gauge than the handspun and I had to decrease the number of body stitches to stay on track. You can guess I learned that the hard way. There was a fair bit of ripping and reknitting, but I'm happy with the final results.

Verdict: Thumbs up!

My friend kindly took these photos for me. I'm certainly not a very good model, I have no idea what to do with my hands and I always blink or have dreadfully worried looks on my face for 95% of the shots. Luckily my friend is great at coming up with poses and making me laugh. Just so you know she must have taken 50 photos to get these few decent ones. The sweater always looked great - but my results varied. Here are some outakes:



I'm calling this the Rowan magazine outake.



And the oh my gosh can we be done with this already outake.



And in other news Elliott and I are taking turns whipping up some nacho dinners. (Elliott insists that I blog about this - even though he has his own food blog). I went the old school "classic" route with cheese from a jar, green olives, jalapeños, sour cream, salsa from a jar, white corn chips, ground beef with taco seasoning - delicious! Elliott will certainly go a more classy upscale route with shredded beef, real cheese, homemade salsa... His turn is sometime this week, I'll let you know how they turn out.

month of mittens

Apparently, January was the month of mittens around here. I love mittens! They are like little sweaters for your hands. Happy wool accessories!



I got to test knit some lovely Fiddlehead mittens for Adrian at Hello Yarn. She designed the mitten pattern and handdyed the amazing palette. They are also lined with alpaca which makes them even softer and warmer. I really can't say enough nice things about these, they were a pleasure to knit. Here are some of the other color combinations on Ravelry.



I also have been secretly knitting some mittens for my mom's birthday:



pattern: various charts from Magnificent Mittens cobbled together
yarn: Hifa 2 - various colors
lining yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace doubled
needles: 2.75mm
details: The mittens are lined with alpaca which makes them super cozy and warm - well worth the extra effort. Happy birthday Mom!



So many lovely people listed Yarnbee as one of the blogs "Makes their Day". Thank you all so much, you're making me blush!

If you haven't yet, you should run and visit just a few of the blogs that make my day:

Macoco at Craft Pirate

Mel at Pipe Dreams and Purling Plans

Tomoko the Goodsmaker

Adrian at Hello Yarn

and

Elliott the resident chef at mountain of spices blogging about food

photo shoot - finally

There were a bunch of knitted goods all stacked up waiting for a sunny day and a photographer. I decided to settle for a photographer, an overcast day and a tripod, since it's supposed to snow yet again tomorrow. Anyway I bring you - finished knits!



Hooray! Finally finished the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It kept getting bumped in line for Christmas knitting and store samples, but I managed to finish it up over New Years.






Pattern: Tangled yoke cardigan in Fall Interweave Knits by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool - 7 skeins of color #114
Needles: 3's and 4's
Mods: I made the body about 1 inch longer.
Notes: I think this pattern is a great combination of interesting knitting and elegant design. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, although it seemed to take FOREVER to knit the cable because you add so many many stitches. I'm curious to see how the silky wool will hold up. I'm hoping it keeps its shape - so far so good.



The noro striped scarf is done! Still needs to be blocked though.
Pattern: BrooklynTweed noro scarf
Yarn: Silk Garden Lite - 4 skeins, 3 colorways
Needles: 5's
I cast on 40 stitches for a longer and skinnier scarf. It's about 5" wide unstretched and about 7 1/2' long.



Elliott also scored a Karma Cap for Christmas. He picked out the yarn himself!
Pattern: Karma Cap from www.smariek.blogspot.com
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in burgundy, one skein
Size: Large
Needles: 7's
Mods: changed top decreases like Brooklyn Tweed
brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/10/cap-karma.html



He's also sporting a scarf I knit him for Christmas a few years ago.
Pattern: here and there cables scarf from Scarf Style
Yarn: Renyolds Odyssey - 8 balls - can't remember what colorway
Mods: Didn't change a thing.

I got some spinning for show for next time and some pretty fiber I got with my Christmas money.
wheeee!

off to michigan

It sure has been a busy week over here. Generally my workload slows down in December but for whatever reason, work has been steady in showing up at my desk. This is really cutting into my fun crafting time! But it's all good. On a up note all of my small amount of Christmas knitting is finished and some of it even delivered and can now be revealed in blogland.



Here is a pair of thrummed mittens for my friend Alicia. These crack me up every time I look at them. They are huge plumpy full of soft and squichy wool thrums - see?



I didn't quite mean for them to look like christmas trees with lights, but I had some green peace fleece wool in the stash that I thought would be perfect, and I added some cascade 220 and cashmerino cuffs so would be soft and voila!



specs:
pattern: thrummed mittens by Yarn Forward
yarn: Peace Fleece worsted weight - color 7470; I think this is Shaba
and some Cascade 220 and Cashmerino Aran for the cuffs
needles: 6's and 8's magic loop
thrums: from Hello Yarn

I also spun up some BFL wool for my friend Tomoko. I'm not sure my spinning is good enough to present as a gift, but she graciously received it.



specs:
yardage: 270 yards of sportish weight
roving: Spunky Eclectic BFL wool in Autumn Girls colorway

More gifts to be revealed soon! Elliott and I are off to Michigan to visit my family for the holidays. Catch you in the new year if not sooner and have a wonderful celebration yourself!

homestretch

We are snowed in today with a lovely mixture of snow, freezing rain and ice. And I'm happy as a clam to be inside the house of yarn with all outdoor plans canceled. I'm almost done with holiday knitting and soon I can show you the results once everything is gifted.

But in the meanwhile I finished a store sample for WEBS in record time. Here she is:










got your specs right here:
pattern - Henley Perfected by Connie Chang Chinchio from Interweave Knits winter 07
yarn - Blue Sky Alpaca Silk color 139 peacock
needles - 2's and 3's
size - 35" bust
notes - No changes to the pattern. It needed one heck of a blocking with the lace work on the top, but then it sewed up quite nicely. It still needs some buttons, but I'll grab some at the store. The alpaca silk is draping quite nicely and is really a perfect fit for this sweater.

More to come soon! I've got a busy week ahead before Elliott and I head to Michigan for Christmas.

fair isle bunnies FO

All done!







Here are the specs:

pattern: my own, with much help from the EZ EPS system. The lovely bunnies charted pattern is from this site. I knit this puppy in the round from the bottom up with a center steek.

yarn: Cascade 220 plus various leftovers of worsted weight yarn

needles: knit picks options circular 6's and 4's for the folded hems

gauge: 20 sts. and 27 rows to 4 inches

notes: I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. The sizing is right on and I'm really pleased with the color combinations and how the bunnies look around the yoke. On the down side, the buttonholes are a tiny bit too large for the buttons, and the buttonbands are pulling a little bit even though the sweater is not that tight. Also, the stripes under the yoke don't quite align, I think, because I started the rounds in the middle of the steak. Always more to learn, right?

I'll be wearing this one at Rhinebeck on Saturday, so if you see the bunnies stop and say hi! Hope to see you there.

look what I finished!

I've got a whole pile of almost finished lying around, if you know what I mean, and I finally whipped out the sewing needle last night to put the final touches on this sweater.











bella ella yoke sweater
pattern: my own
size: 24" diameter, should fit a 2 year old
yarn: Cascade 220 superwash colors: 7628 / 9061 / 9416
needles: 8's and 5's
extras: hand embroidered label, grosgrain ribbon woven through yoke

I'm pretty pleased with this design. I wanted to make a sweater for my friends' daughter who is quite the fashion plate, and who likes colors other than pink. It took a bit of scheming to figure where to put in some short rows to raise up the back of the neck without interrupting the striping pattern or making the yoke design look off balance. I finally decided to add an extra stripe in the main body on the back before the yoke - you can see it here:



I was hoping to make a sweater for a girl who is turning one, but clearly I don't understand kid sizing, as unfortunately I ended up with a sweater much larger than she is now, probably something she can wear next year as a two year old. Back to the drawing board!

sockapalooza socks: check

They're done, they're done!



Now to pack them up and not get attached to them...

specs for the curious minded:
pattern: Monkey socks from Knitty
yarn: Spunky Eclectic Skinny Sock in Hot Rod
needles: 2.25mm dpns

crafty goodness is now for sale!

Hi peeps,
I'm announcing the grand opening of my etsy store. I'll be selling homemade blockprinted cards, quilted paper cards, journals and bath salts. Hopefully more fun treats to come. Please go and and take a look-see:
www.yarnbee.etsy.com

Also, Elliott, my husband has decided to sell his amazing spice blends in his own etsy store. I've been lucky enough to try them all. They really make everything taste better. No really. They do. You can find his store at:
www.emburke.etsy.com

And if that isn't enough excitement for you all, I finished a sweater. I know, I know I haven't blogged about it, but it's a store sample for WEBS and I was racing to get it done in time. My friend Alicia kindly offered to model it as it's a bit too small for me. See what you think.









Specs:
Pattern: #103 Portland sweater from WEBS
Size: smallest 35" bust
Yarn: Valley Yarns Rainbow / color #26 Brick / 8 balls
Gauge: 6 stitches = 1 inch
Needles: 3's
Started: June 22
Finished: July 12
Notes: This is a pretty easy and somewhat mindless knit, which is great for much movie watching. I would recommend blocking the sleeves in shape (stretching out the bottom half ) before you pick up the stitches for the main body.

In other late breaking news, Elliott sent me a photo today of my Gymnocalycium catcus with its first flower! I couldn't be prouder!

weekly update of fun and fo's

That's right - I've got your fo's right here - more than one even. Okay so they're smallish, but they're done.

1) Sweet baby cap
I saw this cute little hat that Adrian at Hello Yarn made and I had to make one too. Plus it uses up extra sock yarn and who doesn't have extra sock yarn? Well maybe a lot of you, who knows?



Specs:
Pattern: Sweet Baby Cap
Yarn: leftover regia sock yarn - I have no idea what colorway
Needles: 3's
Size: 6 months


2) stripey goodness happy socks
These socks make me so happy. I love the colors and the chunky stripes. It's almost cold enough to even wear them today - where did summer go?





Specs:
Pattern: basic toe up socks with short row heels
Yarn: Lang Jawoll - leftover green and one skein of blue
Needles: 2.25mm dpns
Gauge: 8.5 stitches to an inch
Size: size 8 1/2 foot


Last Wednesday I saw the Yarn Harlot speak at the Calvin Theater admist hundreds of knitters. That's right hundreds of knitters - approximately and exactly, at least 500 knitters came to welcome the Harlot. Her talk/stand up humor was brillant and punctuated by the clicking of hundreds of knitting needles. My people!
I had the pleasure to meet Jessica aka Frecklegirl and to score a Ravelry button. Ravelry is Jessica's brillant new site for knitters. Essentially it is a great place to store your fo's, inventory your stash, keep a list of future knits, research patterns and chat in forums with hundreds of other knitters. I've been trying it out for a few weeks and I have to say it's been extremely helpful in getting organized and deciding what to knit next. It's still in beta form and you can get on a waiting list to join here.

And last but not least, I started knitting some Monkey socks for my sockapalooza 4 pal. More to come!

I don't have the blues, but a good handle on the turquoises

Hey I've got a finished object to show you all!









I knit most of this on a work tip to St. Louis last week. Because it was the smallest size (three months) it was pretty quick to make. Here are the specs:

Pattern: baby aran sweater from Knitting for Baby
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted - 2 skeins of 4045 blue (used 1 1/2 skeins)
Needles: 5's and 8"s
Size: 3 months

Notes: I was trying to knit something bright and fun without being too gender specific. A good friend of mine is expecting this summer and she doesn't want to know the gender beforehand. She's also pretty funky and I'm sure any child of hers can pull off a bright turquoise traditional cabled sweater with fashion ease. I added the usual hand-embroidered label and fun buttons because I'm convinced that this sweater will look 100 times better with these little finishing details. Plus they're fun to make. I'm not a huge fan of the Encore yarn since it splits a bit and has some acrylic content, but it's inexpensive and machine washable. And I'm thinking moms of young babies might like machine washable goods.

I think this baby may also require a norwegian baby hat - check out this excellent hat that Hello Yarn just finished.



And I'm working on a stripy sock made with two colors of Lang Jawoll. For some reason this sock makes me incredibly happy and it has become the favored project. Must be the stripes!

I'm thinking I'll be at the Massachsetts sheep and woolcraft fair next Saturday - anyone else going to be there?

pomatomus socks finished

The socks so nice I had to knit three of them. It's true people, the perfectionist knitter strikes again. You may recall that I knit one pomatomus sock over christmas time. It was possibly the most fun sock I've knit - the pattern is brillant and the end result is stretchy and cozy. My only problem is that I didn't do a test gauge, and ended up with a pretty loose sock - a little too stretchy. So I knit the second sock on smaller needles - 2.25mm. Of course that sock turned out much better leaving me with a perfect sock and a stretchy loose slightly saggy sock. And you can see where this is headed. Yes I reknit the first sock with the smaller needles. And while I thought it would never end I'm glad I did it. Or I will be glad next fall cause it is too wonderfully warm around here to be wearing socks today. Here are some photos - please ignore the horribly ghost pale winter legs!





specs:

pattern: pomatomus socks by Cookie A. - free pattern from Knitty winter 05

needles: 2.25mm dpn's

yarn: unknown handpainted yarn bought two years ago on Prince Edward Island - I lost the label...

notes: This is a wonderful pattern and is my favorite pair of handknit socks to date