A Knitting Weekend at the Foc'sle

I just had a great knitting weekend at Wendy's house, a.k.a. the Foc'sle, filled with tons of knitting, good food, good company, a lovely dog, and a cuddly cat. It happened that everyone who was there either was currently or had been a teacher, so of course education was the focus of conversation. The best part was that we had taught at nearly every level, from preschool through college and adult ed. The conversation was intriguing and enlightening and, I hope, helpful. It is amazing to me what one can learn when we get a bunch of women together who are freely conversing.

We also talked about a ton of knitting. I learned some things and taught a few things, and everyone knit, and some people finished some projects! I worked on Shedeer, which is a DK weight shawl, and I'll have pictures of it when it is done. Right now, it is scrunched up on the needles, curled up tightly, and not being very photogenic. It will be better when it has been washed and blocked. It's an interesting pattern, and I do like how fast a DK weight shawl knits up! I started it before I went to the knitting weekend because it is mostly plain knitting, a good project for talking and putting down a bunch of times without worrying about losing my place in the pattern, and I got it about 85% done over the weekend. So fast!

October is finished, and I am halfway through my pink shawl:

So pretty. Every month draws closer to the end. I hope Mari-Liis does another shawl for next year, because I will miss my two rows a day.

I started a ripple afghan with my odds and ends of worsted weight scrap yarn. It's crocheted, which I should do more of. It makes good TV watching too. You only need to count to 14 and then do something and then do another 14 and do something else:

See the yarn in my yarn bowl? I got tired of weaving in my many ends as I went, so I tied my scraps together and made a huge yarn ball as big as I could hold with one hand. It cuts down on weaving in ends! I joined them together with a magic knot, the perfect join for this project, because it's only an afghan for me and I don't care if the knot pops through, and it's reversible anyway.

Another project that I started is a Jenny Hat by Jo Sharp. It is in Jo Sharp Handknitting Collection Book 5, Gathering, which was in Unique One years ago, and I pulled it out while looking for a hat pattern that would use just 50g of DK weight yarn. I have some yarn that Arline spun that weighs just 49 grams and is sort of DK to worsted weight. I figure I'll knit with it as far as I can, and then change to another color for the top if I don't have enough.

The hat pattern, as most of Jo Sharp's hat patterns are apparently, is knit flat and seamed up the back; the seam will invariably become situated right in the center front of the wearer's forehead, I am certain. Anyway. I started it in the round, because duh. Who wants a seam in their forehead. But I didn't rewrite the pattern because I was too lazy, and after I had screwed it up beyond recognition, I said the hell with it and just started knitting it flat the way it was written, because I am too lazy to rewrite the frigging pattern. So whoever will get this hat just has to be ready to have knitters pointing and laughing if they are not clever enough to keep the seam off their forehead.

Am I bitter? Yes, yes I am, because I AM TOO LAZY TO REWRITE A PATTERN.

I love Arline's yarn though. It's a three-ply and perfectly plied, and it is very soft. The hat has a nice little halo over it from the yarn, quite like Arline's halo ♥

 

Harpswell Inn Cowl

This cowl fits closely around the neck and is a really warm cowl. If you want it looser, you can make more squares or use a larger needle. Have fun! 

HARPSWELL INN COWL

(designed and knit at the Harpswell Inn Knitting Weekend, 2017)

1 skein Lamb’s Pride Worsted (MC)
1 skein Gina by Plymouth (CC)
(Two worsted weights, about 175 yards of MC and about 70 yards of CC)

Size 7 double pointed needles

16” size 7 circular needle  

Tapestry needle

OPTIONAL -- stitch markers, if you use a circular needle or two for Magic Loop method or two circulars method instead of using double pointed needles

Gauge: one square = 3.75 inches square

The cowl is made by knitting 2 tiers of 6 squares, each tier off-set by half a square to provide visual interest.

FIRST SQUARE:

With MC, cast on 60 sts on 4 needles (15 sts on each needle) OR divided into 4 sections with stitch markers and join into a round without twisting.
Round 1: Knit.
Round 2: *Ssk, knit to last 2 sts on the needle/before the st marker, k2tog.* around. (13 sts per needle/marker section, 52 sts in the square)
Round 3: Purl.
Round 4: *Ssk, knit to last 2 sts on the needle/before the st marker, k2tog.* around. (11 sts per needle/marker section, 44 sts in the square)
Round 5: Purl
Round 6: *Ssk, knit to last 2 sts on the needle/before the st marker, k2tog.* around. (9 sts per needle/marker section, 36 sts in the square)
Round 7: Purl
Round 8: Knit

Cut yarn; attach CC.

Round 9: *Ssk, knit to last 2 sts on the needle/before the st marker, k2tog.* around. (7 sts per needle/marker section, 28 sts in the square)
Round 10: Purl
Round 11: *Ssk, knit to last 2 sts on the needle/before the st marker, k2tog.* around. (5 sts per needle/marker section, 20 sts in the square)
Round 12: Purl
Round 13: *Ssk, knit to last 2 sts on the needle/before the st marker, k2tog.* around. (3 sts per needle/marker section, 12 sts in the square)
Round 14: *Slip 2 sts as if to knit, k1, pull the 2 slipped stitches over the knit st -- double centered decrease made* around. (1 st per needle/marker section, 4 sts in the square)

Cut yarn and thread onto a tapestry needle, and run through the 4 sts and pull tight. Weave in all ends. *Weave in the ends as you go or there will be a LOT of ends to weave in at the end!*

SQUARES 2 THROUGH 5:

With MC, pick up 15 sts on the previous square with your needle; using other needles/using st markers to separate sts, cast on with backward loop method 15 sts on each needle/each section marked off by st markers and join into a round without twisting. (60 sts).

Work Rounds 1 - 14 and finish as before, weaving in ends.

SQUARE 6 (COMPLETES THE FIRST TIER AND JOINS THE CIRCLE TOGETHER):

With MC, pick up 15 sts on the previous square with your needle; using other needles/using st markers to separate sts, cast on with backward loop method 15 sts on next needle/next section marked off by st markers; pick up 15 sts on Square 1 with your next needle; cast on with backward loop method 15 sts on next needle/next section marked off by st markers; join into a round without twisting. (60 sts).

Work Rounds 1 - 14 and finish as before, weaving in ends.

You have 6 squares done! Now for the second tier of 6 squares.

SECOND TIER

SQUARE 7:

Pick a point about halfway along the edge of a square -- you can line up the center of the square to do this. With MC, pick up 15 sts on the edge of the squares with your needle (make sure you have ended picking up sts at the halfway point of the next square); using other needles/using st markers to separate sts, cast on with backward loop method 15 sts on each needle/each section marked off by st markers and join into a round without twisting. (60 sts).

Work Rounds 1 - 14 and finish as before, weaving in ends.

SQUARES 8 - 11:

With MC, pick up 15 sts on the edge of the square just made; pick up 15 sts along the bottom edge of squares of the first tier with your needle, making sure that the sts end up about halfway along this square; using other needles/using st markers to separate sts, cast on with backward loop method 15 sts on next two needles/on next two sections marked off by st markers and join into a round without twisting. (60 sts).

Work Rounds 1 - 14 and finish as before, weaving in ends.

SQUARE 12 (JOINS 2ND TIER INTO A CIRCLE):

With MC, pick up 15 sts on the edge of the square just made; pick up 15 sts along the bottom edge of squares of the first tier with your needle, making sure that the sts end up about halfway along this square; using other needles/using st markers to separate sts, pick up 15 sts on the edge of Square 7; cast on with backward loop method 15 sts on next two needles/on next two sections marked off by st markers and join into a round without twisting. (60 sts).

Work Rounds 1 - 14 and finish as before, weaving in ends. Now you have two tiers of squares and your cowl is almost done.

ATTACHED I-CORD FINISHING:

Using CC, cast on 4 sts and then continue to pick up 100 sts around the edge of the cowl. Work attached i-cord as follows: *Knit 3 sts, k2tog; put 4 sts back on your left needle*. Repeat between *’s around the edge of the cowl. Sew i-cord ends together with a couple stitches and weave in ends.

Repeat for other edge.

 

What Fun!

The March Knitting Weekend has come and gone, and it was a big ol' pile of fun!!! It was fabulous and I am very happy about it. I already can't wait til we do it again next year. Fortunately I am doing another knitting weekend in April (see above), so I get to do it again sooner, but just with different people. Four people are already signed up for the March 2011 Knitting Weekend, so that is fabulous. I only have 8 more spaces left! There are still 3 spaces left in April this year! 

We had a blast. Everyone arrived at the knitter's reception at Unique One at 7 p.m., and we had wine and cheese and crackers, and salmon/dill hors d'oeuvres (see recipe below), and shrimp cocktail and chocolate dipped fruit and lots of time to knit and yak about knitting and meet new people. Then we went to the Lord Camden Inn and continued the party until it was time to go to bed!

Saturday started with a beautiful breakfast at the Inn, followed by lots and lots of knitting and talking. Some people went in and out to take naps, go for a scenic drive and look at  the ocean, shop in Camden, or take a walk. It was all very relaxed and unhurried. People went out in two's and three's to grab lunch at the Camden Deli or Camden House of Pizza (Sarah and I brought pizzas back to the Inn so we wouldn't have to stop knitting!) and then in the afternoon we knit some more. There was lots of laughter and lots of learning. I helped Vivian and Jennifer figure out Judy's Magic Cast On for making toe-up socks, after I figured out how to do it myself, heh heh. Jennifer got off to a good start on a pair of toe-up socks; I will have to do that soon. She was doing two socks at a time from the toe up. Seems like such a great idea!

I re-wrote the Compass and Anchors hat pattern for my sister, Rachel, to suit her particular gauge. I think it will come out nicely. I also helped her figure out how to change the baby cables fingerless mitts pattern to suit her gauge. Lots of people started the baby cable fingerless mittens, especially since I had the pattern and the yarn in their goodie bags. I finished the second mitten on Saturday morning, and they are pretty nice, if I must say so myself. 

The rest of the weekend I worked on the modular scarf that was originally being designed and knit for the modular knitting class that got cancelled, so now it is a knitting pattern for the knitting cruise. It turns out that I needed 7 squares, and it only takes 45 minutes to an hour per square, so the whole scarf takes me only about 8 hours all together to knit. I finished the scarf on Sunday night (last night) and I would have brought it in to take pictures of it this morning, but Nora decided that it was hers. She was sleeping on it this morning and just refused to move. I guess she likes it a lot. It is quite nice.

Speaking of pictures, I didn't really get any. Apparently I was too busy knitting! However I think Conny got a few that she might share with me  :)

So now I am down to 4 projects, the easy socks from Frolicking Feet in color Cherry Pits; the off white baby blanket; spinning my BFL, and the Hard Alee Aran pullover I am making for the knitting cruise. I also got spinning again on my Quebec wheel, which I am madly in love with now that I know how to adjust the tension and put the drive band on correctly, and I am finishing up spinning some blue fluff I got at SPA in around 2008. I only have a little more to spin, and 2 bobbins to Navajo ply, and then I will have about 4 skeins of lovely 3-ply worsted-ish weight yarn to do something with. I'm making progress. 

Salmon & Dill Hors D'Oeuvres:

Cut smoked salmon into pieces that will fit on crackers. Spread rice crackers (or your favorite kind of crackers) with Kraft garlic & herb mayo, OR tartar sauce. Place salmon on cracker, and top with a sprig of fresh dill. Yummy! And so easy to prepare!

One Down, One to Go!

Yayyyy I was able to complete one fingerless mitten and get the picture of it and write the pattern just in time for my Knitting Weekend! 

 I am so excited, it is knitting weekend morning and people will start to arrive in Camden this afternoon.

I still have to pack! I guess it says a lot about me, that my knitting and my computer are all ready to go, but my personal stuff like clothing is yet to be put in a duffel bag. It shows what's important in my life! 

I can't wait to get together with everyone. There will be knitting and spinning and teaching. I know somebody wanted to learn to knit socks two at a time from the toe up, which I haven't done myself yet, but I have the book! And we can learn it all together. 

I'm also going to demonstrate Portuguese knitting and we will have knitting videos from Lucy Neatby if anyone wants to watch them. I am bringing a spindle or 3 and maybe even a spinning wheel.  It's gonna be a fun weekend. I wish it was a Knitting WEEK! It will be over way too fast. 

I still have two places open if anyone sorta local or willing to drive fast or get here a little late wants to join us! Come on up! Or down, as the case may be. 

An End, and a Beginning: Baby Cables for Spring

As a writer, I always like to start with the end. That way, I know where I am heading :) 

This morning my Corduroy Pullover came to a happy end. I am in love with it. I knit the last 3 rows on the cuff, finished it off, wove in the ends and washed it. The yarn I made it out of (Peace Fleece sport weight, 6 skeins) had sat in my stash for at least ten years and it was decidedly dusty. Also, as I was weaving in ends, I noticed rather a lot of cat hair mixed into it.... Nora cat hair. Now, she will just tell you that HER cat hair is more beautiful and therefore more visible, but there is lots of other cats' hair in there too, and I guess we will let her go with that. There was also a good amount of little twigs and burdock burrs mashed into one side, so I guess I know where Mr. Nicky has been sleeping lately. Anyway, it is done now, it is clean, it fits me perfectly, it smells wonderful and like pink grapefruit, since I washed it in Eucalan, and here it is, drying:

I hope Nick and Nora and Grace don't see this picture, because of the Pet Meds box in the background.... yes, it is the dreaded flea medication! Yikes!

It took me 10 weeks to knit Corduroy from cast on to bind off, but really I only knit on it for 8 weeks, because I took 2 weeks off for the Knitting Olympics. It was a lot of fun to knit, and I would like to make it again someday, using my own handspun yarn. I'll get right on that....

Yesterday I also had a beginning. I started a small cable project. Cables are so cute when they're babies, but then they grow up to be Aran patterns with multiple pattern charts, all with horrifically different numbers of rows that are not multiples of each other.... and well. You know how they are. 

I decided (pretty insanely) on Monday that I wanted to offer a pretty little cabled fingerless mitten pattern to my Knitting Weekenders on Friday, so I am madly writing the pattern and knitting at least one mitten for a model. It's fun and it's also dead simple, so I should be done in time. It's a great theoretically quick spring project, and just in time for Easter. Here is the birth:

I'm using 2 skeins of USDK from Knit One, Crochet Too, because it comes in such pretty colors. I hope to have the pattern available to hand out for free to my Knitting Weekend participants, and to offer for sale in the shop, and maybe also as a pdf download on Ravelry. I am working my way up to getting more of my patterns available for sale on both Ravelry and on Etsy. 

Happy Spring, everyone! and happy knitting too :)

Bitten and knittin'

What a beautiful weekend! Saturday, especially, was a great day. It was around 70 degrees and sunny and positively hot. I saw my first flower in the yard:

I killed my first bunch of mosquitoes and find today that my whole body is covered in mosquito bites: 

      
I lightened the bite on my hand, since I have so many other spots on my hands, heh heh. I know pictures of my mosquito bites are not that interesting usually, but considering it is MARCH and I am getting mosquito bitten, I am documenting it!  

The cats loved being outside, too... Grace spent some time playing and rolling around on her rock:

...and then sleeping after all that exertion:

Nicky played under my feet and then did manage to get tricked into actually looking up at the camera (he is really good at avoiding looking at the camera):

His sister, Nora, is much better at it; she is so good that she stayed completely out of sight, so I didn't get any pictures of her. She was out having fun elsewhere. I heard a few squirrels swearing loudly in the trees out back, so I guess they knew where she was :) 

On Friday I finished a pretty wool crewneck for a customer:

and a couple of basic cotton hats for another customer:

I also knit the front and the back and the buttonbands on a windjammer sweater, but have no picture of it yet. Right now it is still just little crumpled pieces of knitting, but you can see what the finished product will resemble HERE  and read the description of it on this page if you want to get one made for you as well :) I am making it in a dark blue/green color called "Scotia"; it's very oceany.      
 

This weekend I worked on my Corduroy pullover, but I still have 10 more decreases and the cuff on the second sleeve. I could have finished the sweater over the weekend but a) I napped in my chair more than I should have and b) I spent a good amount of time cleaning winter accumulative crap out of my house and then spinning on my Quebec production wheel in all the resulting breathing room and c) I hung around outside playing with the cats a good bit on Saturday because of the freakishly summerlike weather. Oh well :) I will have the sweater done in a couple more nights of knitting. I will wear it to the upcoming Knitting Weekend! This coming weekend! So much fun! I am looking forward to it a lot. I still have 2 more spaces available, climb in a car and get here if you can!

If you're coming to the knitting weekend, I look forward to seeing you in a few days! And if you're not coming to the knitting weekend, happy knitting :)

Lack of progress

I don't know what's wrong with me, I haven't been knitting much. I have been picking up my knitting and holding it a lot, but not really knitting much. I only worked about 2 more inches on the first sleeve of my Corduroy over the weekend, and I was secretly thinking on Friday that since I had the whole weekend off, I would probably be able to finish both sleeves and be wearing the sweater by Tuesday. I should have been able to, too, but I didn't. I also did not knit on my aran design because to start it, I would have had to roll a hank of yarn into a ball, and that seemed like waaaaay too much work. Also I haven't worked on my modular scarf. I have been touching yarn and looking at half done projects and thinking about knitting, but apparently I can't quite bring myself to touch the stuff at the moment. Boy do I need a KNITTING WEEKEND!!!!! I can't wait, it is only 10 days a way and I realllllly need it.

My modular knitting class has been cancelled. I usually hold my classes at Cappy's restaurant ( I love Cappy's!!) next door to Unique One, but the owner called me and said she had another large group coming on one of the weekends of my modular class, and could I postpone or reschedule the class? But as I really didn't have a throng of people signed up to take the class, I just cancelled it; if I had had a few more people signed up for the class I would have held it somewhere else. But not to worry! I am still designing a few modular pieces that will become knitting cruise fodder, and I am quite happy about them. One  is the basic modular scarf I have already started with Good Karma Farm Secret Sheep Blend, and I have a couple other ideas. One is a scarf in 2 colors of Rowan Kid Silk Haze, made in smaller diamond pieces, modularly knit, and another project uses a skein of Cloth Candy Hand Dyes 100% washable sport weight wool. Cloth Candy Hand Dyes is hand dyed yarn made right here in Camden, and it is so beautiful! Diane Neil has been creating hand-dyed and painted fabrics for the quilting community for over ten years, and her dye work is absolutely stunning. Now she is venturing a little into yarn dyeing as well, and I must say, we got a good response to her strong, vibrant colors when I displayed her work at the SPA. Right now we have a selection of both sport and fingering weight skeins from Diane, and each skein will make a pair of socks OR a beautiful scarf. I am quite looking forward to making my modular scarf from her yarn; I just haven't selected what shape of module I want to use for it yet!

Ok gotta go knit :) 

Fitting Out

I have started fitting out for my knitting cruises already! I've been working for about a week now on putting together the elements for an aran sweater design that I will give to my Knitting Cruise passengers. I am calling this design "Hard Alee", because it has so many turns and bends in the cables, and "Hard Alee!" is what Brenda shouts when she wants the crew to scamper and tack the boat. 

I enjoyed knitting the initial swatch quite a bit:

This morning I worked at writing the pattern, which involved some measuring and some math, which is fun because it is like a puzzle. Now I have to write the stitch patterns out, wind some yarn into a ball, and start actually knitting the model. I am designing the sweater to have finished measurements of 40", 44", 48", and 52". I will knit the model in the 48" measurement, but I would love to find someone willing to knit the smallest size as well, because that way people could try on the sweaters and see if they need the next size up or down. Any takers? I can pay you in yarn or a gift certificate to Unique One :) 

I also have a modular scarf started (Modular Knitting class, April 10 & 17! Sign up now!) that I will also be using on the boat. I haven't gotten very far on it yet because I got sidetracked with the Therapi Wrap:

I am using the Secret Sheep Blend yarn from Good Karma Farm. What wonderful yarn to knit with! 

I have a couple of other scarf projects that I really hope I can get done before the knitting cruises, but I will talk about them if I start working on them. 

And in my personal "just for fun" knitting, I have finished the body of Corduroy and am about 2 inches done on the first sleeve. I hope to be wearing it at the March Knitting Weekend! 

Portland Flower Show!

Today my friend Lynne and I went to the Portland Flower Show. It was great to get a shot of spring by looking at all the pretty blooms and shrubs. I am not a gardener. However, especially this time of year, I love to see actual living flowers. Here are some pictures of what we saw at the show:

      
      
      
      
                        

The best display in the show, in my opinion, was called "There and Back Again", a homage to Tolkein's hobbit world. This display had so much to see, but I only took a picture of the little hobbit house itself:

             

After the flower show, Lynne and I went to Whole Foods (what a great store!) and then we went to Jameson Tavern in Freeport for lunch. They had a drink special called an Elderflower Martini, and since I had never had one, I had to try it:

It was, of course, fabulous. It has kind of a grapefruity taste to it and it is a pretty shade of pink, and it quite appropriately came with a decorative edible orchid perched on the edge. I loved this drink and bribed asked to get the recipe for it. It is made with Absolut Mandarain vodka, St. Germaine liquor and cranberry juice. If you're going to be at the knitting weekend coming up SOON, I will be making them there so you will be able to taste one for yourself! 

We sat in the corner and above us was a lighted sign that was quite reassuring:

 

We were not street girls (however, after 2 elderflower martinis, I wasn't so sure) and although Lynne and her husband own and operate a fantastic windjammer in Camden, I was pretty sure we didn't qualify as sailors either, so we were safe. It was a very fun day :)