I keep forgetting to post this, but the pattern is officially up!
Pacific Shawl, details here.
I saw Anna’s last night at book group. The lighting wasn’t ideal, but the shawl is gorgeous!
She used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu, and it is a bit heavier, lovely and drapey. Anna’s shawl is the large size, and the yarn is heavier, too. It’s very cozy, but elegant.
You can kind of see the beads on the left, here. They’re much sparklier in person.
Thanks for knitting, Anna!
September is my favorite month. Not only do I have my birthday, we also have our wedding anniversary. Here’s what we looked like 28 years ago this past Sunday.
I also love the beginning of the school year in September. The Teen is a high school senior, so it’s the last of the first days of school. We celebrated with a trip to Black Butte Ranch in Sisters, Oregon, with three other families. Next year the kids will be scattered to different colleges, so it was the first in what will be a series of last hurrahs.
The weather was perfect. Crystalline blue skies, high 75, low 35 (fahrenheit!). Perfect for biking (Mt. Jefferson to the right, Three-Fingered Jack to the left, Black Butte cut off to the extreme right)…
crafting…
or lazing in the backyard hammock.
This is Black Butte, a volcanic cinder cone.
And the two snow-capped mountains are two of the three Sisters. The third sister (Middle Sister) isn’t visible from here. The closest mountain is Belknap Crater.
But what would a knitting blog post be without knitting? We stopped at the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters. It’s mostly a quilting store, but there’s an exquisite little yarn section.
I’d never seen this tilli thomas yarn before. The beads are on thread plied into the yarn. Gorgeous!
I did look at the fabric, too. I loved how this was put together.
I started a new knitting project, too.
Can you guess what it is? More on that in the next post. Gotta run!
Or class knitting, at least.
I’ll be teaching entrelac in the round at Twisted using my Athena pattern in November. I’m knitting a new shop sample because Twisted won’t be carrying Crystal Palace Taos, the original yarn I used when designing Athena. The new sample is in Crystal Palace Mochi Plus, and it’s really lovely.
The colors are very rich. The yarn is 80% merino wool, 20% nylon, single spun. It has long color runs with gradual color changes, which is great for entrelac. It doesn’t have areas of two color tweediness the way the Taos does. It’s a great substitute. And it’s sooooo soft.
There was one odd section where two colors were joined; you can see it at the top of the ball. The yarn was pretty thick and unspun there (like a bad spinning join). I tried thinning it out, giving it more twist and knitting it in, but it was still distorting my knitting, so I decided to omit this bit of yarn. But I like the yarn well enough to forgive it this little indiscretion. It’s going to be lovely.
The class is on November 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. Your Athena won't be done by the end of the evening, but you'll know everything you need to know to finish!
To register for this class, contact Twisted.
It’s September! The pattern for the Breezy Market Tote is now available.
I really enjoyed designing this for Twisted‘s Single Skein Club. It’s a quick knit that features a provisional cast on and a three needle bind off. Don’t be afraid if these techniques are new to you; they are well within the reach of an enthusiastic beginner. The tote is great for a trip to the farmers’ market…or your favorite yarn store!
More details are on the pattern page.
I hope you enjoy knitting it, too!
I’m looking for a few test knitters to knit my Pacific Shawl. I finished the final (I hope!) edits last night. The two smaller sizes take a skein or less of fingering weight yarn (440 yards or less), and some beads. It looks like this:
The beads are optional, but they’re fun! The small size is sweet worn as a scarf. The medium is…a little larger than the small, but smaller than the large!
If you’re interested in test knitting for me, either this project or another, let me know in the comments and I’ll contact you. I can’t offer you diamonds, gold, or even yarn, but you’d have access to a new design that will be fun to knit, and you get to keep the final project.
Knit on!
I’m making steady progress on the ruffle tank. It’s seamed and just needs the i-cord edgings at the neckline and armholes. Here’s the back. I opted to omit the keyhole closing at the neckline.
This is my first experience with applied i-cord. The instructions in the pattern are for a 2 stitch i-cord, applied from the wrong side. I remembered seeing other general instructions in which i-cord was applied from the right side. I had the opportunity to ask Leigh Radford, the designer, why she chose to work from the wrong side, and her answer was simple: She liked the way it looked.
I decided to try it both ways.
The little bit on the left is applied from the right side. The top 3 stitches were picked up under the far edge. I didn’t like the way it left a ridge on the right side, so I switched to the closer part of the edge on the following stitches. I like the way it looks really tubular. But it looks a little heavy for the edge.
The bit on the right is applied from the wrong side. It doesn’t look as tubular or as finished, but I like it. It’s delicate and a little rustic looking. So I’ll carry on from the wrong side, knowing that Leigh likes it that way. Especially since I feel a little guilty for omitting her keyhole neckline!
In other news, my new iPhone4 is here, and I love it. It’s very intuitive. I took the ruffle tank pictures with its camera this morning because I was too lazy to go downstairs to get my other camera. Not bad, and the macro worked great. Here’s a screen shot of where the phone’s google maps app located me this evening.
It was correct, but I wonder what it would have done if I asked it for driving directions…
By the way, I’m having a little giveaway on the Lantern Moon blog. Go check it out!
Posted in Blogging, Knit, pattern design
Tagged contest, iPhone, Knit, leigh radford, Ruffle Tank
It feels like it’s all blue here, all the time.
I started my Breezy Market Tote. Although Twisted’s Single Skein Club offering with my design was AllHemp6 yarn in pumpkin, I was able to swap my yarn for deep sea (blue), since I’d already made the original design in sand (nearly pumpkin). I wound the yarn by hand, twice. The first time, I wound it in my usual way, over my fingers to keep the ball loose to avoid stretching the yarn. It works with wool. With hemp? Not so much. The ball was sloppy and prone to tangling and falling apart. So I rewound it more tightly, and away we went. And yes, that’s a provisional cast on at the bottom. Never fear, the bag will be only…blue.
I also resurrected my ruffle tank from the time-out basket. I lost my annotated instructions last year at Sock Summit time, and was just too peeved to go on. But looking at it now, I’m pretty sure I can get the rest of it done. The back was already done, and the front was up past the armhole shaping. It won’t take long (famous last words) to finish. And I get to learn applied i-cord to finish the edges.
I’ve been working on the instructions for my Pacific Shawl (yes, mine is blue); it’s almost ready to go to test knit. I need to make a video tutorial for placing the beads, and check the math one more time, but the charts are done.
Last night I made blueberry lime jam. (More blue, even though the jam is deep purple.) I don’t like plain blueberry jam, where the berries have been through the food processor. The texture is…grainy. So I gently squashed the berries with a potato masher, and I think I’ll like the result a lot better. Along with lime juice, there are bits of lime zest in there to give it some zing and keep it from being cloyingly sweet. Because these berries are really, really sweet already. There are still more out there on the bushes, too…
Oh, I did finish something that wasn’t blue…a helmet liner for the Knit for the Troops project. Lichen green, and I forgot to take a picture before dropping it off at Twisted! Sorry. I used the pattern here. If I were to do it again, I would change the decreases at the crown; there are only 5 decreases around the crown of the hat, and it meant that the top of the hat was tall and a bit pointy. I’d make more decrease points (maybe 8?) so the crown would be shorter and rounder. (If 8 decreases, then I’d start with 88 stitches instead of 90) But that’s just me; I can’t seem to ever knit something as written!
Back to the blues…
Posted in Knit, pattern design, recipe
Tagged blueberry jam, breezy market tote, Knit, knit tote, Ruffle Tank
It was Stitch ‘n’ Pitch night at the Portland Beavers game last night. My god-daughter E was in town; she’s a knitter and a baseball fan.
We had a great time! Remember these?
I decided there was no better time to knit with candy, than in the company of an eight year old. I used size 8 aluminum needles (washed)…this sticky project was not happening on my Lantern Moon ebony needles!
E thought the concept of knitting with candy was a little strange.
But then she wanted to try it, too.
You know what happened next…
While the candy smelled great, it was a bit too chewy and didn’t taste as good as it smelled. It was worth a try, though! I think the laces were too thick for the size 8 needles (was this a gauge swatch?). It would be better in a less dense knit. I tried knitting 3 stitch i-cord, but the laces kept breaking. In the end, a simple crocheted chain bracelet was our best result.
The Stitch ‘n’ Pitch organizers collected caps for cancer patients; you can see some of them on the table. They also had a drawing for prizes during the 7th inning stretch.
I won a sewing pattern, and E won this zippered bag with these beautiful stitch markers!
I didn’t actually see much of the game; we were too busy chatting and knitting! I worked on my Cap for the Troops, but between the candy knit and crochet, I didn’t get very far. It was a fun evening, anyway.
I’m so pleased to announce that I’m going to be blogging for Lantern Moon! I’ve been in a knitting group (the knit nite group) with Sharon Woodcock, one of the owners of Lantern Moon, for about three years. Our group grew out of an intarsia class that we had with Leigh Radford. I was thrilled when Sharon & Joel (her husband, and co-owner of Lantern Moon) asked me to blog for them. Please come check out the new blog here.
We went to the Tigard Knitting Guild meeting last Thursday; Sharon was the guest speaker. It’s a great group of knitters, and I even participated in the show and tell time, with my Pacific Shawl.
I still have to finish writing up the pattern; it’s been on the back burner for a bit. But I hope to have it out to test knit in the next few weeks.
So, not much knitting around here, but I’ve been cooking. This is our new favorite pasta salad. It’s just right for summer. You can put any of your favorite things in it, but here’s what I did:
Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
Dressing: in a jar, combine and shake well:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or run through garlic press
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
(2025 update note: I also add the zest from the lemon, and maybe a sprinkle of lemon pepper. I like citrus zing!)
For the salad:
1 pound orzo pasta, cooked, rinsed, and cooled (this makes a LOT. Note: I’ve made this more recently, and I’ve used 12 oz of orzo with reasonable results, or 1/2 lb (8 oz) for a high goodies to pasta ratio. Anything goes.)
2/3 lb asparagus, cut in 1.5 inch pieces (add these to the pasta for the last 1.5 minutes of cooking)
1 14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced in half
1 pint grape tomatoes (whole)
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
(2025 update: I’m now using 8 oz of pasta for a high goodies to pasta ratio. I no longer have teenaged boys in the house, so the salad doesn’t have to stretch as far. And I like the higher goodies to pasta ratio. I also halve the artichoke heart pieces, so there’s more chance of artichoke heart in every bite.)
Combine salad ingredients and toss with 1/2 the dressing. Store the salad, refrigerated, to let the flavors meld. Before serving, add more of the dressing to refresh. (You can use all, or part, of the remaining dressing, as you desire) We served it with grilled chicken, and really enjoyed it!
What’s cooking/knitting with you?
Posted in Blogging, Knit, pattern design, recipe
Tagged Knit, lantern moon, lemon orzo pasta salad, pacific shawl, tigard knitting guild
Stitch & Pitch night is coming! The local Portland Beavers are having their last Stitch & Pitch event; the team is moving after this year.
We go way back with the Beavers. DH worked for them in the 1980’s. I used to sit behind home plate, knitting, knowing that the cage would save me from foul balls even though I wasn’t always paying attention. The Beavs were the Phillies AAA farm team back then; now they’re part of the San Diego Padres organization. DH went on to work for the NY Mets in 1986, a glorious year in which he earned a World Series ring. (I wish it were here for a picture, but it’s in the bank box. Sorry.) Talk about good timing.
My god-daughter is coming to visit from Seattle. She’s a big baseball fan at age 8, and she’s also a knitter! We’ll have a great time. What should I knit? Passiflora isn’t at a stage that would be good mindless knitting. I’m working on neck and shoulder shapings now. Here’s the back:
And the front is a little more demure. The shapings are the same, however, so it’s completely reversible.
Maybe I’ll start my Breezy Market Tote. I can sell the pattern beginning September 1, so it would be nice to have another sample around.
See you at the ball game?
PDXKnitterati 