New Orleans!

I started a new blog!

I decided to create a separate blog to write about what I have learned about Copyright as it applies to knitting. I will be adding to it over the next few days. It's called CopyKnit.

My Mink!

Ok, so I'll never wear a mink coat, but why not mink mittens? This yarn is spun from 70% sheared mink, without harming the mink and 30% cashmere (without harming the goats!). The weight is dk, and it looked a little thin when it arrived, but after I washed the skein, it fluffed up a bit. The colors are dyed in the wool (well, mink), so they are very saturated. In fact, with this color, almost too saturated. In bright sunlight, the color is quite pretty, but under artificial light (ie when knitting with it) it seems to swallow up all the light and give nothing back.

The pattern was also a bit of a pain, with all the knit stitches knit through the back loop and a constantly shifting of the pattern from row to row.

But I am very pleased with the end result. The single skein of yarn had more than enough yarn for this pair of mittens, and I wish I had made the cuff a half inch longer (I made the hand shorter than recommended. They are extremely lightweight, the yarn fluffed up nicely as I knit, and I think they will be warm for their weight.

The yarn comes from Great Northern Yarns and the pattern is also theirs. Their customer service is exceptional. I ordered the yarn without the pattern and later saw the "kit" offer and I emailed them to ask if I could get the pattern. They sent it out immediately by US mail and I had it in 2 days.

Amethyst Lady

I am so amazed at how quickly I knit this sweater. I started on January 3, frogged it and started over on 12, and finished it on January 30. This is an all-time record for me.


Also, I like the way it fits and the way it looks. made a lot of modifications to the pattern.

So I decided to try my luck on a second sweater, this one with cables instead of lace. I am modifying the pattern from flat to knit in the round, and hoping for the best.

Back, better than before!

The February Fitted Pullover is back on track, further along than when I frogged it. I finished the first skein of yarn today and finished the waist decreases. And I took it off the needles and tried it on, so I am confident that it fits. So, full steam ahead!

1/19/11 ETA: In the one week since I frogged this and started over, I have 8" done, in the round. That seems like a pretty fast pace.

That sweater in the post below?

Gone.

I showed the 5 inches or so I had done to folks at the Woolgatherers lunch yesterday and mentioned my concern that 2.5 inches of horizontal-looking garter stitch around my butt might not be the most flattering. Everyone agreed. Christine noted that the lace is very vertical and that a more vertical edging would flow better. So true.

So I let 'er rip. And I cast back on immediately. It helped to do the ripping and re-starting in public, so that I was somewhat distracted from it all. I am doing 1 x 1 rib, which I hope won't grab as much as 2 x 2 rib would.

I think I will be much happier with the revised sweater.

And so another year of knitting begins

One of my goals for my spare time on sabbatical was to change my Greenleaf Baby Hat from free to paid and to improve upon the pattern a bit. When Cathy of Twist: Yarn of Intrigue came up with a charity knitting project that involves baby hats, I knew it was time!

So I knit 2 new Greenleaf Hats, in finer yarn on smaller needles, and used 2 x 2 ribbing on one. Then I revised the pattern to include these options, made it into a pdf, and re-listed the pattern on Ravelry. Already several people have bought it at $1 a pop. If I had gotten $1 each for the 600+ people who have already knit it, I would be rich! Of course, they might not all have knit it if it hadn't been free, but still.

Also on my list of things to do is to start a new sweater for myself. Sweaters are so much more challenging and intimidating than other knits, because they not only have to end up a specific size, they have to look good on a body that offers some challenges. Mittens are never going to make my butt look big! But a sweater? It's months of work, and in the end it might look horrible, ya know?

So I've started one, in Cascade 220 heather yarn in a purple sort of color, but I still have some severe mental reservations. The designer claimed it would be flattering to all sorts of figures, but I am still wondering whether a band of garter stitch 2" wide, with its horizontal look, will look like a flashing red light around my tummy and butt. I tried it on and it seems to fit ok, but will I regret this? I think the vertical look of 2 x 2 rib would have been better. I am dabating whether to press on or start over. Sigh. What to do, what to do?