smatterings

Japanese Vines Scarf

When I first saw this pattern, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  I knew what color I wanted to dye and the yarn I would use.  It was mid May in New England.  Everywhere I looked, there is was, a fresh new green sprouting up, harbinger of renewed life in the woodlands, fields and gardens.  There was a green canopy forming overhead.  They went together, this pattern of twining leaves, looking as if they also were only just waking, unfurling their leaves on their trip to the sun and the new colorway I imagined.

The yarn is Arbori, 50% merino / 50% tencel, the color is "Sprout".   Michelle and I emailed back and forth discussing the possibility of kitting it up.  I swatched with the Arbori and came up with what I thought would be the finished dimensions.  I made up a few kits to sell at MA S&W and continued working on my own.  I can see myself making a larger version as a shawl.  I love the pattern.  After the first few repeats, I was able to memorize it.  The few times I dropped a yarnover, I found it on the next row.  This was a knit that I wanted to go on, and on.  Perfect travel knitting.  Sunday, I have to travel and this knit is done.  It'll be a hard one to replace.  This morning I soaked it and stretched it out on the table.  No blocking.   This may be enough.

The Japanese Vine Scarf by Michelle Molis
Needles: Knitpicks Options #4
Yarn: Ball and Skein Arbori  "Sprout"
Finished Size: wide version 7 1/2" x 52"

This will be offered as a kit.  Pre-order for July. 

I know that quite a lot of you have purchased the Arbori yarn from me at shows and as part of the Persephone kit.  It will be offered in a limited number of colors soon.

   
 

Persephone

Persephone version2 

Today's post was going to be about spindle spun yarn, but...

Yesterday, Mim wrote to tell me that her Persephone pattern, using Ball and Skein's new yarn, Arbori, was ready to go.  I love this pattern.  It has a perfect blend of geometry and whimsy.  Last month, I wrote to Mim asking if I could purchase a copy of it.  She wrote back that it wasn't available for sale yet but that she was looking for a commercial yarn to use for it.  Serendipity?  I had a new yarn I wanted her to try, she had a pattern.  Sometimes, things just happen that way.  Orders for the kit go on sale today.

Go on over to Ball and Skein to order or click here.

Diamond Fantasy

It is way too wet to want to take the Diamond  Fantasy out for a photo shoot.  Hanging it on a door is about the best it can be today.  The color is a bit off.  It should be more to the periwinkle.  Like this:

Things I'd do differently... only one thing. I 'd make the shawl version.. I want BIGGER. That's it!  I went for the little shawlette.  It is perfect for a scarf or to use as a bit of knitted jewelry.  This was a test piece for me to see if I'd like a "new" yarn.  I do.  It was a pleasure to knit and the shine that I worried about, becomes no more that a highlight in the knitted piece.

Pattern: Diamond Fantasy by Sivia Harding
Needles: Knitpicks Options #8                  
Yarn: Ball & Skein: merino /tencel lace wt. 

Manise left this question in the comments the other day:

"Will you show us how you do your Russian join with photos? "

I did a picture tutorial a while back showing it with silk.  Click here if you want a refresher.  I use it for everything.  Even wool.  Instead of a spit splice, I separate the plied yarn in half (If it is a two ply, I only thread one through the eye of the needle, if it is a 4 ply, I use 2) to eliminate any bulkiness at the join, then sew it together. After you tighten up the join, cut away the unused plies and all loose ends.   Wet the yarn a bit and roll it between your hands to full any little loose ends. It is a nearly invisible join.   

the saturday sky with diamonds

Finally, the storm has passed, leaving behind the wind and the promise of a glorious new day!  The temperatures remain cold enough that the ice on the trees won't be melting anytime soon, filling the woods with glittering diamonds.

Indoors, I have been working on my own diamonds.

the folly

Last week I dyed two colorways of a new (to me) yarn.  I often do that when I want to see if I'm interested in offering it for sale.  I play with it; checking to see how it takes color and how it knits up.  This yarn is a tencel / merino blend.  I love the clothing I have of tencel, and I love merino.  So far, I am liking this yarn, too.  It has a lot of shine.   Not a good or bad thing, just something that needs to be considered when planning a project. 

I like to think that I make decisions, that I choose the projects that I move onto.  I like to dream, too.  Most of the time, my decisions are based on what is at hand; convenience and chance.  I figured that this yarn would be great with beads.  When I went shopping, I came home empty handed.  Nothing that I found matched with what I had in my head.  Sometimes it happens that way.  No beads.  I looked for patterns and finally decided on Rosemary Hill's Muir.  I would use the darker purple. I went online and downloaded the pattern.  I looked in my knitting bag for the skein that I'd been carrying around with me while I was looking for the beads, and it wasn't there.  I'd need to go to the barn to get another.  It was cold, -12 or so, and it was dark, around 9:30 pm and blowing.  I had no interest in getting bundled up to walk through the snow to get yarn.  There was, however, a ball of the periwinkle on my desk.  Not for Muir.  That's when I remembered that I had a copy of Sivia Harding's Diamond Fantasy Shawl in my briefcase.  (I carry around a few very special patterns in my briefcase, in case, for times like this.)   It has been there for more than a year waiting for the right time.  Waiting for a cold night when it would become "perfect".   

Just so you understand... this is what it STILL looks like on a bright and sunny day.  A day in the 20's, a day when I want to be outside. 

My deck.  In the front it is 4 1/2 ft. above the ground. 

flyin'

The past few weeks flew by.  I got up in the morning and started skeining yarn while I waited for the coffee, worked through 'til bedtime.  Everyday.  Looking back, it's only a blur.  There was a lot of preparation for last weekend's NETA Spa.  And, there were the Gust kits.  By now, everyone who ordered should have received their kits.  I really enjoyed knitting mine.  Having it knit in time for a sample meant fitting it in between trips to the shop and knitting up the Oh! Canada. 

Oh! Canada was finished a couple nights before I left. Since I was short on time I skipped the blocking.  I ran a sink full of warm water and soaked it one evening, leaving it to dry between towels spread on the table.  There, my sweet Sammy found it to be a comfortable addition to a hard wooden surface and took over the job of blocking while napping on top.  He did a good job. 

I like this scarf / shawl even more than I thought I would.  Anne's vision is just wonderful.  It "blocked" out to be a light, airy piece, full of motion. 

And, if all that wasn't quite enough...  we had snow..LOTS and LOTS of snow!

Pretty, isn't it? 

Another thing... to all of you sweet friends, you know who you are, who came and helped me unload the car, or pack and reload it after SPA, thank you.  I was wondering how I'd manage.   The answer was the help of friends.   

blowin' in

Anne sent me this "little something" of a pattern she knit from Ball and Skein's Arequipa yarn in Atlantic.  She named it Gust.  You can see it finished on her site.  (Go ahead, doesn't Anne have the most impossibly beautiful, long, slender neck?)  What a sweet pleasure this is to knit.  I'd love to say that I memorized the pattern in the first repeat or so, but no... not me.  If it weren't for all the Netflix that C had playing and the subtitles on LOST,  memorizing  would have been easy.  Finally, it was.  This is one of those patterns that as you knit you picture knitting again and again, each time in a different color.  A perfect little something.

Tomorrow, I'll post this as a kit, Anne's pattern and the Arequipa yarn.  It will be offered in four colorways, Atlantic, Storm, The Blues, and Gourd. 

     

a note:  Thank you to those who have left your quiet, kind comments and emails.   I don't know some of you beyond my computer screen, but your thoughts sailed through and were deeply appreciated.   

That brings me to another thank you, this time to Pat, Cindy, Carrie, and Lynne.  You also make my day.  I find myself delighted and even after all these years, amazed that other people take the time to read my thoughts.  YOU, all of you, make my day.  I couldn't possibly choose 10 people.  Each day is different.  A blog that makes me smile one day, can inspire the next.  It is a rich world that we have made in this digital realm.  I'm happy to be here.

Ice Queen

This little knit is one of my all time favorite projects.  The hundred or more little beads could have something to do with it.  Maybe it's that Ice Queen is a nearly weightless, slightly frilly (with that lovely scalloped bottom edge) little something that feels absolutely wonderful around my neck and makes me feel just a little bit special.  Love it.  I might even need another one. 

Ice Queen
pattern by Rosemary Hill
yarn: Ball and Skein Arequipa in "The Blues"
needles: Knitpicks harmony #7
#6 glass beads, clear lined with mixed blues

Notes:  I knit this according to the pattern.  It is wonderful as a neck warmer, I don't want to take it off.  Even with my rather small head size, this is too short to cover the back of my neck when worn pulled up.  If I were to make it again, I would increase the length several inches.   

It was snowing when these pictures were taken.  Did you notice all the little white specks that are snow flakes (balls)?  Anyone know the name of that kind of snow?

oh! canada, the beginning

Oh! Canada by Anne Hanson 

I'm averaging one repeat per evening.  There isn't anything like watching a beautiful pattern form under your fingers, row by row.  I don't know how Anne does it.  How can anyone get as much done as she in so little time.  I am amazed with her skill, and her speed.  My mind has begun flashing to the little rabbit and turtle icons on our mower...or maybe it was the snowblower.  Probably the snowblower, both have them, but these days... the snowblower.  For sure.  I am the turtle. 

oh! canada

Am I the only one, or is everyone having a hard time figuring out what day of the week it is?  With so many people having a long weekend last week and now more holiday this week, Wednesday felt like Monday, Sunday like  a work day, and well.... this morning does not feel like a Monday to me.  Nine inches of snow was forecast to fall during the night.  C and I went out for a walk around 7pm. to see the Christmas lights before they are gone for the year.  It was snowing lightly.   Made for a really pretty walk, snow falling in front of all the lights and felt rather well... Christmasy.  A bit late to start to get into the mood, I know.  My season is delayed.  I work up to and through the season, not really getting much of a slow down until the poinsettias are ready to be given the heave ho or disappear from workplace to homes.  Then, along comes New Year's Eve...ooops!  Here we are!  Another year has sped on by and this time tomorrow we will be on the other side. 

I spent some time this weekend plying from full bobbins, checking the status on projects and yep, starting something new.  If it were anything else I might have waited for the New Year.   That plan was dashed when Anne emailed me a copy of the Oh! Canada pattern she'd just finished up.  Go check it out.  She did it again with a soft, warm wrap, a shawl to keep shoulders warm or be scrunched for a cozy scarf.  And, though I haven't seen one finished, the pattern includes a scarf version.  We had talked about doing a kit.  I thought it over and decided that although kits seem to be very popular, NOT with this yarn.  I have such a limited supply spun for me that I couldn't see dyeing the same color over and over with it.  Besides, it felt right for everyone to put their personal taste on this special project by at least choosing the color that they'd prefer.  Instead, what I decided to do is this, Ball and Skein will give a 10% discount for the yarn if you buy the Oh! Canada pattern from Knitspot.  There is a code on the pattern that you can use when you check out for your discount.  This is for a limited time only or until I run out of this run of yarn.  You have to buy from the website, and from the yarn available.  No special orders unless you check with me first.  It is sort of a make your own kit, fair enough?

pictures??? next post.  Have a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve!   See you on the other side.