Days of Wine and, er, Wine

As I look over my knitting for 2010, I'm struck by a couple of major color themes that emerged.

First was the blue theme, with Milkshake and Carefree both in shades of blue. Then there was the Bluebell scarf in deep silver-shot blue, Swallowtail shawl in lovely azure. Added the Undulating Rib socks to the mix of azures. Seguéed to the teal of Twist, and the marine blue plus ivory that is the Toggle Knot Cable sweater. Which led to an ivory Wilson hat, tied to the pale beige of a Shetland shawl and the cream of a kitchen towel. Oh sure I got side-tracked along the way, with a pink Shetland Triangle shawl and a bunch of colorful baby accessories, not to mention a blanket for DD#2.

But the days of wine and wine are upon us. Perhaps they started with Evenstar and the Hugs & Kisses scarf, both in the same deep shade of burgundy wine. Now here's Peggy, in a claret color I could drink.

The recipient is happy with Peggy's fit and claims it is her warmest sweater (no doubt the alpaca in the yarn is part of the reason):

I'm still plodding away on wine-dark Maidenhair. Making this is an odyssey in itself: 55 repeats of 55 rows of 235 stitches. No wonder I feel inebriated when I work on it. To finish off the year, how about Norah Gaughan's Silures in port-red yarn?

The yarn is Rowan Magpie Aran, color, Ruby. The vest is DH's belated birthday gift (hey, I can only knit so quickly). If we were to sample wines to match these yarns, we'd have port, claret, Burgundy, Zinfandel, maybe even Beaujolais or Côtes du Provence. I could drink to that!

Speaking of DH, he will have his hernia repair done one week from tomorrow. It will be same-day surgery but not laparoscopic surgery (hernia too big for that procedure). All positive prayers, thoughts, and wishes greatly appreciated.

Hey Mr.Wilson!

Remember that cry? Well, here we have a new twist on Mr. Wilson.

It's Norah Gaughan's Wilson hat, but I think it's dignified enough to warrant being called Mr. Wilson. It's intended recipient, my laboratory assistant, is likewise dignified. The yarn is vintage Red Heart worsted wool in Eggshell. What a wonderfully soft wool it is. I loved working with it.

Of course I had to make another gift for my graduate student. Wouldn't do to leave her out. So she's also getting a beret, this one is Brambles and is found in the Deep Fall 2010 issue of Knitty. The yarn is Brooks Farm Four-Play yarn, the skein I bought at Rhinebeck. It's heavenly soft also.


Included in the gifts will be some fancy teas and tins of Dutch butter cookies, plus bottles of Eucalan for washing and keeping moths away. My assistant told me his apartment has some problem with fiber-eating critters. His Italian cashmere sweater became lunch. Hoping to head off any hungry vermin with the power of eucalyptus, I'll add the Eucalan to the gift baskets. I'd include lavender sachets, but that just doesn't seem like the things to give guys. DH wouldn't go for it, that's certain. You know, wrapped in lace and tied with a little purple ribbon, or else embroidered and surrounded by frills? I can see it now:
No, I don't think so.

Vive les Fillets Provençaux!

So what do you think of when you hear the word Provence? Fields of lavender lazily buzzed by bees? Sun-drenched medieval hill towns baking under a blazing sun? Rubbing elbows with the glitterati along the Riviera and the Côte d'Azur? Madam Will You Talk? If you're a knitting fanatic, chances are you think of a trio of yarns by Classic Elite: Provence, Avignon, and Mistral.

Provence is still in production, a wonderful DK-weight mercerized cotton that comes in 205 yard hanks. The color range is fantastic.

I used Provence to make the tulip-bordered rose top by Norah Gaughan I blogged about the other day. In the 10 years since I made the top, I can report that it's holding its shape well.

Avignon alas is no more; it was a DK-weight silk-cotton blend that knitted like a dream; I used it here in beige:

The black is a Lion Brand microfiber yarn. The yarn is quite matte (the silk is Tussah silk) and was wonderful to knit with and to wear. I wish I had bought a ton more Avignon when I had the chance.

And Mistral: Mistral alas also is no more. A DK-weight plied blend of 85% pima cotton and 15% alpaca, it has a soft sheen.

I have 20 hanks of Mistral in this intriguing taupey-plummy color. Every so often I take out some hanks and fondle them. Yesterday, the Mistral began preying on my mind. It was telling me it would so much better for my new Pattern Times Two LS top than the Jaeger Ascot, even if it's not ivory. To get the Mistral to shut up, I wound a hank and knitted a swatch:

And got gauge right away. So I casted on the required stitches for the back to see the entire pattern:

Mistral is right. It's much better suited for this pattern than the cabled Ascot yarn. It gives the little framed leaf motif nicer, crisper definition than Ascot does. And it knits like a dream- it really glides along on my Addi Natura needles (I was afraid it would be sticky on them, but no). This will be a lovely dressy top in a color no one knows the name of.

One problem remains: Back to the drawing board for an ivory top.

You'd think I had enough

of vests this past winter to keep from making yet another. But I look at it this way: the more vests DH has to rotate, the less often I'll need to do surgery on them. Or so I hope. Here's a nifty pattern I found in a book I just bought:

The pattern is called Silures and the book is Norah Gaughan's Collection for Men. Silures were a tribe living in ancient Wales at the time Rome invaded. What's Welsh about the vest, I have no idea. The book has a nice set of sweaters, hats, scarves, and this vest. More than one design could be worn by women too. I envision this vest made of Ruby Magpie Aran:

DH will look stunning in it, simply stunning.

Buying this book reminded me how much I like Norah Gaughan's designs. I've made quite a few, going back over 20 years.


From Vogue Knitting Spring Special 1991. I wish now I hadn't given the actual sweater away for this one; I made it out of the Rowan wool called for, in a lovely rose color. It was so warm.


This little top from 1989 was designed for Classic Elite (pattern #222). I made it out of CE Willough, a silk/cotton blend. Great spring top over a cami.


From Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2000. I made it out of CE Provence and will wear it this weekend, when the temperature will soar into the upper 70's. Classy with pearl grey.


Vest in my favorite color of all. The pattern is Classic Elite #369 from 1989, the yarn is CE Tapestry. The drape of the neckline is fantastic. I love this vest.


Made this for DD#1 when she went to college. Pattern is Classic Elite #442, yarn feels like CE Tapestry. Believe it or not, she doesn't want it any longer, now that she's a married lady. You must see the lace detail on the hem:



From Knitter's 46, Spring 1997. I made it as you see it in the magazine, using the suggested yarn, Reynolds Rio. Unfortunately, Rio pilled like crazy. Within months of making it (wearing it once a week), it looked like a pile of fuzz balls. Away it went. That was before I knew to check online reviews of yarn. I know better now. However, I miss this sweater.

So the other day I casted on to make it again. Now I'm using an ivory yarn by Jaeger (yes, replacing the two ivory sweaters that wore out over the winter), in a viscose-elastic blend.


Leafing through my old Vogue Knitting issues, I found literally dozens of great Norah Gaughan designs I would knit. Such as this one:

And this one for my hoodie-obsessed daughters:

And this one for me (do you get the feeling I like cables with ribs?):


Meanwhile, I've enough on the needles and in my Ravelry queue to keep me out of trouble. For a bit anyway.