Etsy: LuLu

Have you seen LuLu's Sock Yarn? Oh. My. Goodness. <-as Isobel said upon seeing a spinning, lit up, Christmas tree one night

Gorgeous. My heart beat a little faster when I saw Lamponi. And I love her Italian names for her colorways. She is Italian, after all.

I'm trying not to order. I'm going to check in on Isobel at daycare (she has a cold) and see if I can resist. Wish me luck!

Fishtail (with pictures!!!)

Ooh! I cast on for the sleeve of my severely modified Hourglass Sweater this weekend, after a bunch of swatching, and I've done something quite lovely, if I do say so myself. I found a ten-stitch lace pattern called Fishtail II in Mon Tricot. Since the sleeves in my size start out with 60 stitches, I did six repeats of the pattern, twice. (Sorry for the blurry photo - I'm using the old camera, since it can travel safely in my knitting bag.)

At that point I decided I'd need to deal with the upcoming decreases, so switched to stockinette for every other repeat. This allowed me to do the decreases in the stockinette portions, so I wouldn't mess up the lace. I did two more repeats of the lace in those panels and then switched to all stockinette. I can't wait to see how this blocks out but at this point am happy with some mindless stockinette in front of the telly. I think I will wash and block this sleeve before I start the body just to make sure this is working.

My friend Tanya in New Zealand is also planning an Hourglass Sweater variation, according to her comment last week. So, the question is: At what point is a variation different enough to be its own thing? I've heard 30% bandied about, but how do you calculate 30%? I've changed the yarn, needle size, cuffs, hem, and probably neckline, though not the gauge, which means I think I'll be able to use all the same numbers as the original pattern, except for knitting longer at the neckline. So, I don't really know. I wouldn't be comfortable (at this point) publishing this variation as my own without an OK from Joelle. But I may find I have to change things more as I get further into the sweater. I would be happy (obviously, or I wouldn't be blogging about it) to share my alteration adventures. What do you think? Interesting comments here from the girl from auntie, which confirms my gut feeling that this will be my variation on the pattern but nothing I could claim as my own.

Stash Enhancement: Mom and Dad bought me a copy of Vogue Stitchionary 1: Knit & Purl this weekend at Yarns in the Farms. The possibilities of what to do with "simple" knit and purl stitches are endless! When you click over to my LYS, be sure to check out the new blog, In the Loop.

P.S. I still owe "you" an IMOnday for Yarns in the Farms. I'll see if I can get my act together (maybe Wednesday, when we're supposed to get whalloped with snow) this week.

Hourglass Ideas

Now I'm thinking lace is my best option. Lace edges, particularly on the cuffs, would really take advantage of the belled sleeves. But what lace? I have a few ideas, so I just have to start swatching, I guess.

Um, I just tried taking pictures of the first five rows of a sleeve so you could see the mini cable idea I was trying out, but the old camera (which can safely travel in my knitting bag, as opposed to the new, very fahncy, digital SLR) was pretty useless that close up. And the flash blew out any detail, while the non-flash version of the shot had far too long an exposure time to be steady. I'll get pictures sorted out for this ol' blog someday.

So, lace, yes. Now I need something that will work in the round over 60 stitches for the sleeves. There could be a few odd stitches left at the underside, I suppose.

I'm starting to think that I might just do a provisional cast-on and figure out the edgings later. But that's not nearly as much fun!

New sweater!

Last night I swatched for a new Hourglass Sweater with some Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk in Blue. I started out with US8s (Bryspuns, natch) and quickly decided that they would make for a slightly too revealing fabric. Next swatch was with US6s, and I think we're good to go, since I got very close to the gauge called for. Which is kind of wacky, considering BSA calls this a sport weight yarn, and Last-Minute Knitted Gifts calls for a worsted with 19st/28r over 4". Whatever.

Now, I'm trying to decide whether to incorporate any decorative stitches into the mix, perhaps a baby cable somewhere (running up the top-of-the-sleeve line and as princess seams on the front and back?).

I don't want to do the turned hems again, since they just don't float my boat. There's a sample Hourglass at Yarns in the Farms with seed stitch borders, so that's a possibility. Or I could just barrel along with straight stockinette and go for the rolled edges look. 'Nother idea is to do some lacey something at the hem and sleeve edges like the silk tank from LMKG.

This yarn is so yummy! The gleam of the silk is divine.

I know her!

Check out the Crochet winner in this year's Excellence in Needle Arts Awards from PieceWork Magazine (an Interweave Press publication). Elena is a high school student in Beverly and a Knit Night regular. Can you believe she designed and crocheted this? Amazing. She's very talented.

I cast on and bound off a pair of Fetchings over the weekend, which was fun, though I ran out of yarn (#201, a flinty blue, for those interested). Glad I didn't do the thumb on the first one before starting the second. I ended up just picking up the thumb on each and then binding off, rather than doing four rounds. I have some more DB Cashmerino Aran in other colors, so if I make more of these, I think I might go down a needle size to see if that makes a difference. They're very nice. And I did the picot bindoff, which not everyone likes, but I like the little points mirroring the cable bumps. Looking at the pattern again on Knitty, I guess I should steam them to straighten out the roll at the top a little. They're very helpful since it's frigid here in Massachusetts.

Yarns In the Farms had a Super Bowl Weekend sale, and I scored some Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk (eight skeins in the dark blue colorway) to make a variation on an Hourglass Sweater. And I grabbed a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the Blues colorway (I think - it's at home). I could have gone much crazier, but it's probably best that I didn't buy out the store :)

On a less exciting note, I've got some personal stuff going on right now, so I may not be blogging regularly.

FOUND!

I got him! A day and a half looping around the woods back to where he'd been spotted finally paid off! He's home, laying next to me on the couch, and we'll take him to the vet later this afternoon. He is subdued, and was very scared, but with no other dogs around to scare him off, he finally recognized "Mommy" and came to me. Thank you for your wishes/prayers/thoughts/positive energy. Love, Kathleen, Peter, Isobel, Riley (who's not sure it's such a good thing the dog is back, but he'll get over it), and Spenser

I'm going to get my dog back

I spent all day calling for him in the woods and saw him, but he ran away (there was another dog in the vicinity). He's clearly very spooked. I'm going back out there with more food and a lot of patience. Keep praying for him. Thank goodness he's made it this far. He's there; I just have to lure him back.