Iced in Today

It's Groundhog Day (think of the scenes in the movie where BillMurray repeats the previous day over and over again), it's dejà vu all over again,it's winter, it's disgusting, and it's several inches of new snow followed by inches of ice followed by semi-solid precipitation (rain that's almost in a gel state). It's awful. I used to like winter. No more. Even Rocky would rather do this than play in the snow:

On the knitting front, I finally put the finishing touches on DH's new vest. He models it here (he wanted to look very serious and professional for you):

To help me cope with the cold, I'm making myself a cowl out of some lovely Sundara sport merino I was saving for a special occasion. This winter qualifies as special.

The color is Shell Over Cocoa Butter and the pattern is Rivendell by Susan Pandorf. Don't think it ever snowed in Rivendell: Elrond wouldn't let it, I'll wager. I'm using a bigger needles (4 mm in place of 2.75 mm) and making fewer repeats, so my 250 yards just might be sufficient (pattern calls for 300 yards). I did a cable cast-on very loosely and that seemed to be a good choice: you can see how the edging is shaping up so nicely.
Last week I made a beret out of the Venezia I bought for myself. Not for me after all; DD#2 on the day before she returned to college decided she needed another hat (not as if I hadn't asked her for months). One look at the photo of Brambles plus a touch of the Venezia and she begged me (well, didn't take much begging).

Now I need to find yarn - again - to make Brambles for moi. I really liked that Brooks Farm yarn I used the first time; maybe I'll call them and see what colors they have in stock (they don't update the website very often).

Sunday I'm off to Israel (G-d willing). I'll be there nearly 10 days to observe the 30 day anniversary of my mother's passing and to be present at the unveiling of her monument. My father and one brother, one nephew, and some cousins will be traveling from the US. Other assorted relations already live in Israel, most of whom I've never met. I'm excited and sad at the same time. Camera, batteries, local cell phone, shopping list, color-coordinating outfits: I'm making lists and starting to pack. L'hitraot until I return.

On the Road to Recovery

DH had his surgery last week. It went very well according to the surgeon. I suppose I have to take his word for it-- you see, when the surgeon came out of the OR to talk to me he said, "You husband had a very large hernia." Oy vey.

DH came home later that day and has been a bit motile since. Appetite pretty good, wnet off the heavy duty pain meds and as of yesterday not even taking over the counter pain relief. What a trooper is DH. Today he's at work for a few hours of data analysis (we work at the same medical school so I can nab him at a moment's notice and shuttle him home if need be).

The night before surgery I was about to bind off the back of Silures, only to find that my gauge was once again off, though I went down a needle size. This has not happened to me in maybe 20 years of knitting. Thoughts flew madly: the pattern was written for a yarn that's really a DK weight, and Rowan Magpie Aran is, well, Aran weight. On a size 7 needle (what I went down to), Magpie knits up as a substantial fabric (on a size 8, my preferred needle with it, it's lofty and drapy). On a size 6 it would be like iron to work with, stiff and unyielding. I was already making the extra-small size; I could re-write the pattern for one size smaller but my brain was a bit fried with DH's surgery coming up. So I grabbed a book, a very old book, of vests: Bernat #240 Small Change (if you like classic vest styles, this is a good one to have. The women's vests are pretty dated but the men's vests are true classics, and most could be worn by women too). DH picked a pattern (reluctantly, it must be told; he really liked Silures but I have no DK-weight yarn on hand and when asked, he wants a vest in thicker rather than thinner yarn). the pattern DH picked is an intricate one, featuring cabled lattices, Bavarian traveling stitches, asymmetric cables, and sand stitch at the sides. For all its intricacy (and despite the fact it's not charted), it's easy to memorize once the pattern is set. I knitted up the the armhole while waiting for DH, now I'm just about at the shoulder of the back:

Close-up of the cables:

This pattern loves Magpie, and Magpie loves this pattern.

In other knitting news, I finished a pair of socks:

Pattern is Undulating Rib socks by Ann Budd from the Favorite Sock book. Yarn is Cascade Heritage handpaints. This is my least-favorite sock pattern so far. Ms. Budd must be a very tight knitter, for she specified a 3.25 mm needle; I used a 2.75 mm needle and the socks are too slouchy in the ribbing; I may need to add some elastic. Also, the way she has you do the increases creates little holes (k1, p1, k1); I should have done the increases thusly: k1, p1b, k1; that would have prevent the little holes. Not so bad on the legs but at the gussets! I never had holes there before in any of the socks I've made. Maybe after washing and drying the yarn will tighten a bit. We'll see. I give the yarn high marks for being lovely to knit, lovely to look at, and lovely to buy ($18 buys a 437 yard skein, enough for a pair of large or long socks). No dye came off on my hands either- that's a common complaint I see on reviews of handpainted or hand-dyed yarns.

Being in sock mode, and needing a break from constant cabling, I started Evelyn Clark's Twining Leaves Lace socks. If you're looking for well-written sock pattern, Evelyn Clark's are those. Great charts and line-by-line written instructions. Easy designs (really! the lace pattern is so easy). Good pattern notes. And a pretty result:

The yarn is Sundara sock yarn, 100% merino wool, color is Crème de Menthe. Pricey at $28 plus shipping for 370 yards (I may need to use another yarn for the toes, in fact); however this yarn knits like an absolute dream.

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.

Scotch on the Rocks with a Twist

That's Twist, completed and modeled by DD#1 (still in her scrubs, she's so excited to finally get it).

But wait... what's that sneaking in for a petting?

Why, it's Auchentoshan on the Rocks, CGC, aka Rocky. Not one to be left out of the action, the Twist photo shoot turned into this:

and then this:


and finally this:

(he wouldn't sit still for a nice pose).

A Bounty of Books

The New Year holiday was a welcome break from intense work activity. Synagogue services were inspiring, lunch with friends was delicious and fun. USPS worked through it as usual, bringing me some wonderful "presents" in the form of books, one of which I'd been awaiting since May.

First book I cracked open (post-holiday) was Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously by Adrienne Martini. In case you don't know, the 2 books are related by virtue of the fact that Martini wrote about how she spent a year knitting a design by the author of the second book. The design is Mary Tudor, and it was published in the out of print Tudor Roses, which I am lucky enough to own. I followed Martini's adventures along with Tudor Roses open at my side. I could appreciate the art and the craft of the design, the intricacy of the colors, the beauty of the finished product. Martini included no pictures, which several people on Amazon commented about in their reviews. The book entertained me for the most part until the end: the sweater did not fit Martini. How she didn't know this a priori boggles my mind: the schematics are right there, in black and white. Now, I've been known to resize a sweater (not drastically, mind). Often, going up a needle size or 2 can be enough (often, not always). In the case of designs by AS, who might specify a size 5 (3.75 mm) needle for bainin (Aran-weight wool from Ireland) to make a sweater waterproof, going up a needle size will not only make it larger but may give it better drape. If you don't need a waterproof sweater, why not make it to suit you? I was left, well, cold upon reading that Martini balled up Mary Tudor, stuck it in the closet, and declared that she's a process knitter. Well, so am I (that's my excuse for my kntter's ADD and I'm sticking to it), but I still make sweaters that fit folks (most of the time- I'm only human after all). And I look at schematics before picking out yarn and needles to see if size needs adjusting. The ending did not satisfy me as a reader or as a knitter.

A case in point about resizing a sweater is ongoing due to the second book I received, the long-awaited (since May) reprint of AS' Aran Knitting. We'll get to it in a moment. I have the first edition, and now the second. I do not regret owning both. The photography in the second is mostly updated, so you get more beautiful shots of sweaters (in new colorways) set against beautiful scenery. There's an retrospective introduction, with a couple of fantastic (in the sense of fantasy) claims made. And then there's the new design: Eala Bhan, which means fair or white swan.

To say it is gorgeous is to understate its elegance, its perfection (I couldn't get scans of the sides and back of the sweater to show you; trust me on this). BUT its largest size is like Mary Tudor, which is a tad too small for me. Oh it'll fit if I wanted it to be a blouse. But I need a dressy cardi for Sabbath winter eves. when I have the thermostat cranked down. I'm making the lovely White Lies Designs Collette for DD#2 in ivory wool (as soon as I'm caught up with other knitting); I don't think the Mom and Daughter thing will go over too well. Eala Bhan will suit quite nicely if I can get the size to work for me. My plan now as I mull it over is to make the largest size 10% larger by using a DK-weight yarn in place of the light sport-weight specified in the book. That'll give me the ease I need and I should be able to knit the pattern as written. A bit longer won't bother me, and I know I want the sleeves shorter than they are on the model. As befits a fair white swan, I'll look for a lovely ivory or winter white color.

Meanwhile, I finished the body to Twist and am currently blocking it.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. The pieces are wrong-side up, so I could flatten the edges. I love Magpie but its one drawback is that it's so tightly plied it curls like the very devil when knit in stockinette stitch. I now regret not having knitted the body in one piece, but what's done is done. Pattern says to block before adding the hood. DD#1 is now vacillating about whether she wants sleeves or not (please, not! there's so much other knitting I have to get to!).

And I have yet to take a photo of the new project for DD#2, but that's its own story (and therein lies a clue).

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.

Cutting it Close and Some Elective Surgery

No pun here (not that I'm above such things).
Finished DH's Rugged vest III last eve, with just about 10 yards of yarn to spare:

I didn't make the neck or arm bands as wide as called for, for fear of running out of yarn. If I were smarter, I would have striped some of my black Tapestry (I have part of 2 skeins somewhere) into the ribbing everywhere. But I didn't think DH wanted a multi-colored vest. Well, what's done is done (most times). The right arm band curves around I think because the ribbing is so few rows. When DH put on the vest, the arm band lied flat.

And DH is picky about fit, let me tell you. Remember I had found this vest in the back of the cedar closet?

It's made of Rowan Magpie Aran. Well I needed to know why DH never wears it. Turns out that he wanted it a tad longer (could he not have told me that while it was on the needles, I ask you?). In addition, DH's infamous destroyer-of-vests belt buckle had done a number on the ribbing of this vest too. Not yet ripped a thread, but close. Ergo, I did elective surgery on the vest. Truly, this is not for the faint of heart. I cut off the ribbing about half-way. The gore! The mess! Being this is a family blog, I could not in good conscience post photos of the ordeal. Several times I needed to do what EZ advised, and lie down on a darkened room with a cold cloth over my head. Once the surgery was done and live stitches back on the needle, I reknit the 3x3 ribbing to DH's desired length. Note to self: always bind off a top-down job on ginormous needles, else wind up redoing last ribbing row. Which is what happened to me.
I would show you a photo of the refurbished vest but I can't get it off DH, he now loves it so much. Maybe when he's in the shower...

On a personal knitting note, I finished the back of the navy Sera top and started ribbing for the front (1 row to go). The back is just a curling mess now. When I block it, I'll take pics. I have a wedding on Valentine's Day. I plan to wear this top with my long navy skirt. DH just cannot have any more vest emergencies between now and then!

Some eye candy for you: I made squares from the Great American Afghan
years ago to teach myself new techniques. Here's my first entrelac:

The flip side is a pretty jacquard pattern by Sidna Farley:

Here's a dainty Victorian lace pattern designed by Jacqueline Jewett:

For some reason, the Bernat Berella pilled more on this pillow than on the others.
The flip side is a cabled lace pattern by Eugen Beugler:


If you don't have this pattern, and like different types of textured knitting, do get it. The directions are really clear. Disclosure: I subscribed to Knitter's at the time the pattern came out.

One last note on the earthquake in Haiti: I'm selling some of my stash (hard to find yarns) to raise funds for Doctors without Borders. If you're interested in checking it out, go here. Thanks for looking.

NOOOOOO!

See the black rectangle? That's where DH r-i-p-p-e-d the vest while removing it yesterday eve. I can't bear to photograph the rip. THAT MAKES THE THIRD VEST THIS PAST FEW MONTHS HE HAS RIPPED! Soon I will be spending more time repairing than knitting. UGH! Admonishments to DH to be careful! get me some sincere repentance, followed by "But I wear them while I work" lame sort of excuses. He's a yeast geneticist! At a medical school! How does that constitute an occupation hazardous to hand-knit vests, I ask you? Some kind souls are sending me a few yards of Clematis Lamb's Pride, so one vest repair will soon be done. And I've located the Classic Elite Tapestry to repair the second vest. But this baby- I can't find or source the grey Tahki Donegal Tweed anywhere. Might serve him right if I repair it with a scarlet VR for "vest ripper." He's down to 2 clean everyday vests these days, one of Rowan Magpie Aran in Truffle and one of navy Tapestry. Guess I'll have to cave and clean his green Shetland vest sooner rather than later. I was hoping to do one big wool cleaning with Eucalan at the end of winter, but maybe that was a stupid thought, with how cold this winter's turning to be.

The third ruined vest has me planning yet another vest, in case the day comes when I absolutely cannot repair one. Over at Ravelry, the Cable Lovers group has been showing off WIPs. One knitter showed off her Plain Vanilla Aran by Janet Szabo at Big Sky Knitting. Think I may tweak it into a vest for DH. Sometime in the future. When I feel he deserves it.

I played a bit of hooky from knitting last night to see "The Young Victoria" with bride-elect D#1. We both give it hearty thumbs-up. I came home in time to manage 1 pattern repeat on Rugged: 90% to the armhole. Hope I have enough Tapestry to squeak by and finish it. For the other Rugged, 10 skeins was more than enough, but for some reason 10 skeins (same size) looks like not quite enough for this one. Pray I'm wrong.

Lost and Found Department, II

So as the frigid weather continues, I find myself rummaging deeper and deeper in the cedar closet. As I rummage, I come across more lost FOs from years past.

First, this wool-blend sweater from a McCall's pattern I made for my father. Turns out it's too warm to wear in LA, where the rest of my family live, so it came back to us in the Northeast to use. I'll wear it, believe me!

If anyone recognizes the MCall's pattern from the late 1980's or early 1990's, please let me know? Thanks.

Next, a waistcoat for DD#1 knit of Harrisville Designs Orchid Line, a silk/mohair/wool blend that is so soft:

She is packing to move to her home, so this will be joining her. Such a fine, soft yarn! Pattern is from Classic Elite booklet #820.

Last, this vest made for myself, modified from a Rowan Magpie Aran brochure (#553) into a vest and made of Magpie:

I'm wearing it today. It looks quite sharp with a grey turtleneck and slacks.

Rugged marches on; the front is more than a third done:


And I started a new "mindless" project after the Tahiti scarf, the kind of project that doesn't need much mind-power for knitting to churn on.

The yarn is Filatura di Crosa Sera; the pattern is from Rowan Classic Colour of Summer #25, by Martin Storey, and the pattern is the cover sweater. The yarn used is a DK-weight, which Sera matches. I like the hour-glass shaping in the pattern, and the subtle shaping of the neckline. I changed from 3x3 ribbing to 1x1 ribbing, and used a cable cast-on, purling in back of sts for the first row to create a picot effect. The simplicity will really show off the yarn, and this will be a dressy warm top. Which is quite needed!