I’m seeing scarves.

I think I’m down with another case of Startitis. Already I have casted on two of the scarves from Scarf Style. One is the Backyard Leaves Scarf by Annie Modesitt, using Cleckheaton Country 8-ply yarn in a green shade. I’ve seen many many beautiful Backyard Leaves scarf out there on the blogosphere, they make me swoon by their drapey sophisticatedness.

After seeing the pattern and working on a couple of repeats, I realise that Annie Modesitt is a genius. I could never come up with anything like this myself in a million years. Take the slip stitch edge. After seeing it in action I was filled with awe at how amazing the edging looks. It’s smooth, it doesn’t curl, and it gives a nice rounded edge. And she has stitches that I’d never thought of making (like the knit and purl on the same stitch).

Progress has been rather slow on this scarf, as I still need to look at the chart every row. Although I do feel I’m getting faster. Some parts of the chart are quite easy to memorise (such as the edging).

Starting Backyard Leaves

(Pardon the dark pictures, I just happen to be taking these pics on a rainy day…)

Scarf number two is the Midwest Moonlight by Ivy Bigelow, using Filatura Di Crosa “Zara” yarn in light baby blue. I’m not sure if ‘Midwest Moonlight’ is a good description of the scarf (I don’t know, I’ve never been to the Midwest nor see its moonlight), but it sure is a pretty scarf.

Halfway through Midwest Moonlight

The pattern for this scarf is a lot easier to memorise, and so as you can see, progress has been much faster. I’m already halfway through the second ball (out of the planned three balls).

What I like about this scarf is that, the stitches in each row are very simple, yet the mere placement of the stitches on top of each other makes a stunning and unique effect.

Close up

16 March 2006

Books Books Books

Back in January, I ordered some books from Amazon. A couple of weeks ago they’re finally all here. Look at this!

Books

I love, love, loooove these books. Lately I’ve been more into techniques than just patterns. Which is why I got these books. Just in case the picture is not very clear, the books are:

I’ve only flipped through them briefly, but here are my initial thoughts:

  • Knitter’s Handbook — Looks like a handy reference book to have around. I’ve already found myself reaching for it from time to time to look something up. The chapter on Cast Ons and Bind Offs are comprehensive!

  • Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns — I’m glad I got this book before starting my first cardigan. It has lots of helpful instructions and tips about making a sweater/jumper/cardigan, and you can choose your own yarn/gauge, edging, sleeve construction, neck shape, waist shaping, etc. It reminds me of that Perfect Sweater Search that’s happening at Mason-Dixon Knitting!

  • Knitting Vintage Socks — Who knew that there are so many different ways to construct a sock! I sure didn’t. Looking through this book makes me want to knit socks that I probably wouldn’t wear, just to learn and get the feel of how it’s constructed. All of the socks in this book are cuff-down socks. Hmm, is the toe-up sock a new invention?

  • Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques — Lots of helpful explanations of various techniques in this book, probably all you need to know to complete a garment (button holes, zipper, edgings, etc). I love how it tells you the benefits and drawbacks of each techniques, so that you can select a technique that’s most suitable to your project.

  • Scarf Style — Last year I was following the Stitch Ya Neck Out swap/knitalong with great interest, all the while kicking myself for not having the book. Now that I have this book, I can see why this book was so popular. Scarves used to be thought of as just simple things for beginners to learn to knit. But the scarves in this book are anything but boring! Not only do they look great, they show that simple techniques can produce brilliant results. And there are plenty of more challenging techniques too for the more adventurous. There are so many scarves in this book that I’m planning to make already!

  • Yarn Harlot: Secret Life of a Knitter — What can I say… It’s the Yarn Harlot! Reading this book is like reading her delightful blog. And just like her first book, reading this book is like ‘home’ to me, knowing that there are others like her who understand my knitting obsession. I chuckle everytime she writes about “brothers and sisters in yarn” in the book.

14 March 2006

Finishing Party

Thank you so much for the kind comments on the Picovoli Dress! 🙂 I decided that it doesn’t matter whether I get a medal or not, I’m just so happy with the final product. 🙂 Annette wore it to church yesterday, and the dress got so many complements. Of course, they were probably just being polite… 🙂 But I’m happy nevertheless.

Speaking of finished things, I have some more FOs to show you! No, these are not recent FOs, but I don’t believe I’ve shown them here.

First, meet Kate.

Kate the Kitten

This is Kate the Kitten, aka Kitten in breeches. You might remember her from such knitting magazines as Knitty winter 2005.

Pattern: Kate from Knitty.
Yarn: Elle Pure Wool DK from Lincraft in Orange, Regal (purple) and Hot Pink, 1 ball each. Plus some scrap black yarn to embroider the eyes and nose.
Needles: 4mm DPNs.
Started 26 Dec 2005, finished 1 Jan 2006.

Then, there’s the Kiri Shawl.

Kiri shawl

Pattern: Kiri Shawl by Polly of All Tangled Up.
Yarn: Jo Sharp DK Wool in ‘Lilac’, 300g.
Needles: 5mm circulars.
Started August 2005, finished 17 January 2006.
Modification: I did only 9 repeats instead of 12, because I was running out of yarn.

I finished knitting Kiri back in January, then blocked it while we were on holidays in Canberra. (Hubby objected to me blocking the shawl on our bed or on the carpet, what with the hundreds of sharp needles required. So I brought it along to the holiday, using the spare bed to block the shawl. I don’t know what I’d do if I make another shawl… Go on another holiday perhaps :))

I love this shawl, it’s just so pretty. And yes, blocking lace is just magic. What looked like a bunch of tangled up dental floss was transformed into this beautiful lace, with pretty scalloped edges. I love it.

6 March 2006

Picovoli Dress

… is done!

Picovoli Dress

Annette wearing Picovoli Dress

Pattern: Based on Picovoli pattern by Grumperina, published in MagKnits. Plus my modifications to make it a dress shape.
Yarn: Exactly 2 balls of Katia Cotton Club, in natural (light brown) and light blue.
Needles: 4mm/US8 aluminium circulars, using different lengths for different portions of the dress.

I don’t know whether I should get a medal for this, because although I finished all the knitting before the Olympic flame goes out, the blocking took longer than I expected, and it didn’t dry in time (it took more than 24 hours to dry!), even after I resorted to using a fan blowing at full force. The fabric is kind of thick. (Yes I could have steam blocked it, which would be faster, but I think the fabric feels a lot softer and drapes better after the blocking by full immersion. So I’m happy.)

The observant among you would’ve noticed the cross-stitching in the front. So that would be a late addition to this dress. And here’s where I present proof that I suck at cross stitch. It’s meant to be the letter A (pattern from the Special Knits book by Debbie Bliss), A for Annette. But the stitches are just so wonky, and I doubt anyone would be able to make out what it’s supposed to be without squinting. Sigh. I don’t know if I like it. It may have to be picked out later.

A for Annette

Oh, and another pic that I forgot to show you last time… Because I wanted to make the neck opening smaller than the original Picovoli pattern, I was afraid that Annette’s head might not be able to fit through it. So I decided to add a simple placket and a button at the back.

Wooden button at the back

I liked the dress when I just finished knitting it. But after the blocking and after being modelled by Annette, it just looked so much better (or is it just my bias as a mother??) and now I loved it!

28 February 2006

Sprinting to the finish line

Just in case you’re starting to wonder whether I have dropped out of the Knitting Olympics altogether, fear not! The mini picovoli dress is almost done! Here she is, blocking:

Picovoli, blocking

What’s that? Oh, I hear you, I hear you. That’s not the colours I showed you last time, did you say? That would be right, aye. I actually started with the yarn that I showed you in the last blog post (Heirloom 8 ply cotton), but the result was too see-through, not exactly what I wanted for a toddler’s dress. I know I can just go down a needle size or so, but I don’t have any smaller needles than the 3.25mm (US 3) that I was using 🙁 So, what to do? I remembered some Katia Cotton Club yarn in my stash, that’s a bit thicker than the Heirloom cotton, and so there it is.

This dress is based on the Picovoli pattern, but obviously I have made adjustments to make it more like a dress. I made the arm part a bit longer, so that it’s now more of a cap sleeve instead of sleeveless. Other than that, all I did was to make increases, after the armholes, on both sides every 3 or 4 rounds, and finished it with 4 rows of seed stitch.

And oh, the stripes pattern was generated by this cool Stripe Maker.

Stripey goodness

I chose to do the picot edging for the neckline. I love the way it turned out! It does make the hem rather thick, which I don’t mind for the neck line. But for the armholes I chose to leave out the picots. Here’s a close-up of the picot and the cap sleeve, from an older progress shot.

Picot edge and cap sleeve

Overall, a good project. Plenty of rounds of stocking stitch made really good TV knitting. The only grief I had was the non-elasticity of cotton. I look forward to knitting with wool again. Now I hope it will dry soon so that I can take a model shot…

26 February 2006