My second Luminos Tee is done, and I love everything about it. It’s knit exactly the same as the first one. Pattern is by Yamagara, and it’s well written and easy to follow. (Ravelry link)
Luminos Tee
It’s been fun expanding my wardrobe this summer.
RanunculusFlyss: 65/35 silk and linen
I thought about knitting one more Ranunculus with some Handmaiden Flyss (silk and linen), but it’s really time to get back to work around here. I’ve started playing with more yarn from A Chick That Knitz; this is Vintage Rose (pooling) and Respect on her Singles fingering base.
I don’t have enough yarn to do what I was thinking of, so I frogged this and started playing with a different idea.
This isn’t quite right, either, but I’m working on it!
Where am/was I? I’ll tell you about it in the next post.
Remember I gave away my first Ranunculus? It was too long for me.
Unblocked and blocked Ranunculus #1
I finished the second one in 5 days, easy peasy.
This is more the length I was looking for. I love it! It’s perfect over my many long sundresses (I think I have five?). Just enough when it’s too cool for bare shoulders, or if I’m looking for a little modesty.
I finished it before I went to visit friends in Sisters.
We visited the Whychus Creek Overlook, and saw the Three Sisters (behind us).
We could also see Mt. Jefferson, Black Butte, and the Akawa Butte Fire. This wildfire was about 6200 acres at the time, grew to over 27,000 acres to date, and is now 43% contained. There are many wildfires burning in Oregon; it’s a very dry summer. I hate that there is now a yearly fire season.
Missing Claudia!
We had a great visit and made music and food and fun.
Warm scones and yellow plum jam!
Here’s my ancient scone recipe that hangs on my fridge. It’s probably been hanging there for 25 years! I’ll interpret for you.
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar for chocolate chip scones, or 2 T sugar for plain scones
Stir dry ingredients together, then cut in 1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp) with pastry blender or rubbing in with your fingertips. Stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, if you’re using them.
Measure 1/2 cup milk, then scramble 1 large egg into the milk.
Pour egg and milk into dry ingredients, mix until combined. Knead 4 or 5 times on floured surface.
Form into two circles, slightly domed in the middle. Cut each circle into 4 (or 6 if you want tiny scones) triangles. Place scones on ungreased cookie sheet, and let them rest for 10 minutes.
Bake at 425° F for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.
As for the jam, it’s the plum jam recipe for MCP pectin (Sure Jell is fine, too) with a generous 1/4 cup bourbon and 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger stirred in at the end, then processed in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
I’m knitting away on my second Luminos Tee, and enjoying it as much as the first one! My second skein of pink isn’t quite a perfect match for the first skein; it’s slightly darker and less streaky. But I started the new skein above the contrast color chevron on both the front and back, and used the old skein for the lower parts, so it all flows nicely.
And sometime soon I’ll get back to designing! It’s been a fun break, but I’ve been plotting and planning the next design while I’m in my Aquafit class. It’s a workout for body and mind…
I finished Ranunculus. It was such a quick knit, I decided to just forge on and see what would happen once it was off the needles. I knit the underarm to 8” including the twisted rib, using less than 3 50g/164 yard skeins of Quince & Co. Sparrow, less than 400 yards total. (This means you really could knit this with one skein of sock yarn!)
Here it is unblocked, fresh off the needles. It’s linen, so it’s pretty crunchy. 50” wide (matched the gauge, but it hasn’t been blocked).
And here it is blocked. The sleeves are no longer curly, and the fabric is somewhat smoother. But now the sweater is 46” wide, and the underarms are 10” long. Gravity always wins! It wanted to grow longer, and that length is stolen from the width.
You can see that it’s quite a bit longer, and longer than I want. I left a long tail so I’d be able to frog back and adjust. And look! Bisquee’s tail is in the picture, too.
I showed it to my friends, asking for advice on how long it should be. And then I decided to have Bev try it on; she’s much taller than I am.
It looks like it was meant for her, so I gave it to her! I have more of the same yarn, and it doesn’t take long to knit. I have a better idea of how long to knit it under the arms.
This is the project that I’ve lost interest in; I started it in 2022? maybe? I’m frogging it for the yarn. I don’t have enough to go further, since I used the last 3 skeins for the sweater above!
This has been a really fun knit, so I don’t mind doing it again. Part of what made it so much fun was an accidental mini-KAL with Annie, my test knitter extraordinaire. We were texting back and forth with progress updates. She knit hers with DK weight yarn.
She didn’t swatch either. It looks great on her! And she’s knitting another one in blue.
I was working on my second one in the car wash the other day. Totally fun!
Do you knit repeats? I’m also starting a second Luminos Tee, after I finish my second Ranunculus.
The pink is MadelineTosh Twist Light, Coquette Deux. I bought this color a while ago to go with something else but it didn’t work out. I went to my LYS to get a second skein, as well as this contrast color, but they’re out of the pink so I’m ordering online. I’m not worried about dye lots; I’ll start the second skein above the striping so it won’t matter if it’s not an exact match. The variegated is from Dream in Color.
Do you knit repeats? Why or why not? I like working off the knowledge I got from the first one, and tweaking things to perfection!
I finished my Luminos Tee. It looked great right off the needles, and even better after wet blocking. The size stayed the same, but the stitches and edges are smoother. I knew the size would be consistent, because I knit, washed, and blocked a swatch. That’s always good for a sweater that you want to fit!
A quick mirror selfie. Yarn is a kit from Knits All Done/Yarn Snob, merino/silk/cashmere. Luxurious!
Do I always knit, wash, and block swatches? Usually yes, for sweaters. But I’ve been eyeing the Ranunculus sweater, and I’m not sure it matters. The instructions are the same for all sizes through the yoke; the actual size is determined after knitting the yoke, when beginning the raglan shaping. You can use any weight yarn, and a size 10 needle is recommended. That’s all pretty loosey-goosey!
I wanted to play with some fingering weight linen that’s in my stash. Most of it is in an abandoned design project. There are 3 untouched skeins (50g/168 yards each), so I can play with what’s there without ripping the old project yet. This sweater takes 370 to 400 yards for the short sleeve version, so I’m covered!
It would make a very open and airy Ranunculus, to go over a tank top or sundress. I decided to jump in and start knitting; it’s just as easy as making a circular gauge swatch. I’ll have enough done when the yoke is finished to really figure out my gauge, and adjust accordingly. Because blocking is transformative for linen, I could put it on waste yarn and wash and block. Or not. The smallest size in this pattern gives me 10 inches of ease, so I’m not worried that it would be too small.
I took it to the Waterfront Blues Festival yesterday; it’s going pretty quickly. (Jenny Don’t and the Spurs on the screen.)
The weather was perfect for 3 days of music outdoors. Happy Fourth of July weekend! 250 years for this republic.
Find my patterns on Ravelry: Michele Bernstein Designs
Here are some of my favorites, and the newest. Many of my designs are also available through my Payhip store.
PDXKnitterati 