Miss Marple and Me

I've always thought that if I ever become an old woman, I'll be just like Miss Marple. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but I'm preparing for that by knitting things that Miss Marple might knit. In one of her mysteries, she is described as knitting on a shawl (this is what baby blankets were called in her era), pink and fluffy. Well, my shawl isn't pink or fluffy and its not a baby blanket, but it is Miss Marple's Shawl from the great historical knitting edition of Piecework Magazine of last year.



It has only taken me a year to complete this project! I began on July 23, 2011 and finished on June 23 of 2012.It is 65 inches square.



I used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Marine Silk lightweight in the Lodestone colourway, a delicate pale green like spring leaves. In some of my photos it looks olive green, but that is - I think - because I have those old style lightbulbs that give everything a yellowish cast. This yarn is beautiful to work with and I think I'm going to make a delicate vintage blouse with my leftover skein. Miss Marple's Shawl took a little over 3 skeins on size 5 needles.

This picture is more accurate for colour:





I had to write out the pattern line by line in a multi-page table to keep track of the hundreds of rows. It was good though - no mistakes and no back-tracking! I just checked off the repeat sections as I completed them and carried on.

I love that I can use it on the bed as a lightweight blanket, or fold it in half and throw it around my shoulders for a triangle shawl when I'm reading in bed. I may never do another full size blanket in lightweight-almost-laceweight yarn again, but I'll treasure my Miss Marple's Shawl until I become Miss Marple myself.

the final Christmas present

The final gift knitted for Christmas has been sent and received and worn by the recipient! So here are the particulars:

This is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Gaia, in the colourway Tempest. The pattern is the beautiful Anastasia sweater from Quince & Co. The pattern was so fast and easy and knit up without a hitch. This is size XS, and came out with about 2 inches of positive ease. I added a leaf repeat for length but it turned out it wasn't needed. It looks deceptively short-waisted on the model used for the pattern, but it isn't. I also added pockets. I love a cardigan with pockets. The buttons are vintage glass buttons from the 1940's.









I'm so happy to be on to a group of projects that I've been mulling over for a couple of months - the Belfast Hoodie (from Quince & Co.) - but without the hood, in Quince Lark colourway Storm, and a size 3 (!) Baby Sophisticate for the little guy in the wonderful Sublime Organic wool. My 3rd project currently on the needles is the Firebird Feather Scarf from Piecework magazine in Fleece Artist Saldanah Lace in the colourway Red Fox. I think these projects will keep me busy for a while!

Sherlock investigates

"Welcome to my house!" says Sherlock, "Come on in!" Well, he doesn't actually say that. In fact, Sherlock doesn't like visitors. He would rather be left to his own devices to explore the bathtub...



and play in the doll furniture...



Watson continues to be shy and to hide amongst the stuffed animals. When he's sleeping in a pile with the toy lions, he's almost indistinguishable. It's pretty hilarious. But he has been coming out more and more when I get out the dinner. So I have hope that my feral kitties will eventually be tame.

I'm on a domestic streak right now and along with painting the upstairs rooms, I'm making blankets. One you've seen - the Miss Marple's Shawl from Piecework magazine - and it's almost finished, though I had to order a 3rd skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Marine Silk. This might make it the most expensive item I've ever knit.

But the second....you saw the beginning of in my last post: The Socks That Rock Granny Square quilt:



It really is a song of praise to Blue Moon's Socks That Rock. From bottom to top, left to right, the colours are:

Carbon Dating
Vintage
Heathered
Cosy, Fierce, Scummy Girl
Seal Rock

Kalish
Space Dust
County Clare
River Rocked
Bejewelled

Taos
Kelped
Nyame
Dragon Dance
Love in Idleness

Bella Coola
Dilly Dilly
On Blueberry Hill
Chawton Cottage

Since then, I've added more. A couple of favorites...Kelped


and Cosy, Fierce Scummy Girl


I also love River Rocked and would like to do a whole baby quilt just with that. I guess I'm having a love affair with Blue Moon yarns. Some people would say that yarns can't reciprocate the love, but I'm here to tell you you're wrong. So, so wrong.

Travel in Pictures

I love travel. There's nothing like exploring a city that you have fallen in love with and always discovering treasures in every street.

Oregon Winter

by Jeanne McGahey

The rain begins. This is no summer rain,
Dropping the blotches of wet on the dusty road:
This rain is slow, without thunder or hurry:
There is plenty of time – there will be months of rain.


(this is a bubbling fountain in the summer)

I love TeaZone on 11th near Glisan, the little Ace Hardware store on Glisan, and Tea Chai Te on 23rd, and Pearl Bakery on 9th and the Whole Foods downtown and the Infants Story Time at the Library (and the awesome children's Librarian who helped us out so much!) and the poems on the MAX and the Pony Club gallery that displayed Amy's art, the little "Resting Garden" where I stopped each day...



On one walk, I stopped into a new Yarn Store on 11th, Urban Fiber:



Although the space is small, it was full of unusual, local yarns and accessories. There were so many beautiful fibers to choose from, and the prices were good. I fell for the cashmere blend in The Road to China and got enough for two winter scarves:



In the front, to the left of the door, is a cosy space with comfortable chairs for a small group of people to sit and knit - very friendly! Even the accessories were unique - I didn't think I would see anything new, but ended up with a nice little bag of unusual items. A friend of the owner makes the stitch markers, and they even have little lace markers. Since I knit on mostly small needles, this is the kind I like. I liked Urban Fibers and would like go to one of their knit nights or other group activities!

Another favorite of mine is Twisted, up on Broadway. This is quite a long way from the Pearl district where I am (I take the Gresham train) but is so worth the trip. When I visited this time, they had moved the enormous stock of fingering weight (sock) yarns across the entire right hand wall. The Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarns of all types - not just STR but also Silk Thread, Seduction, Peru, De-Vine, WooBu, Laci, and Geisha - covered two sides of the corner. This may not seem unusual to those of you who get to go to the Sheep and Wool Fairs and Sock Summits and Knitting/Spinning/Dying retreats where Blue Moon yarn fondling is rampant. But for someone who usually only views it online, this face-to-face encounter was pretty mind-blowing.

It was educational too. They had almost all of the new colourways and they were all different. It was amazing to see several skeins of the same colourway with none of them looking exactly alike. Often, there were two in the same colourway that were like fraternal twins, with the same depth of colour, but never more than two. I really had a jolt of realization of what “hand-dyed, two at a time” meant! It was amazing, and amazingly beautiful! And I realized that when I see a photo of a skein example online and expect the skein I order to look just like it, I am truly on the train to Looney Town, headed for City Central! Because - they are all different! Of course the colourways have a definite family resemblance, but none are identical twins. None. But each one is so beautiful! (did I say that already?)

Getting to choose the exact looks and depth of colour that I wanted was so much fun. I got a Spike that had a deep blackish red (the other two skeins had a lighter black) and a Drusilla with a lot of nice grey-mixed-with-red, and a Paula Mae that had an incredible little touch of light blue in one spot (one of the other skeins had that and third seemed to have no blue at all).



I also went crazy over the other yarns, especial A Verb for Keeping Warm. This yarn uses natural substances to dye their yarns so the colours are subtle and soft. There was so much to choose from that I stood back, on the other side of the store, to view the wall as a whole and then picked out the two skeins that my eyes kept going to again and again. It was quite funny, because, although they looked different from a distance, they turned out to be the same colourway!



Here is The Peacock's Wild Plume in Metamorphosis, the sport weight yarn with 70% Superwash Merino and 30% Silk... and The Peacock's Wild Plume in Annapurna, another sport weight in 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, and 10% Nylon. So Soft!

Okay, so I got a little carried away with all the yarn love, but you know that I'll use it and lots of lovely cosy clothing will result. So it's a necessity, right?

I also visited Knit/Purl on Alder and 11th which is a lovely store but very inconvenient with a stroller and a sleeping baby and I have to say that, although my several experiences before the baby were great here, this time they followed me around like I was going to tuck yarn into my carriage. It was embarrassing. And although they opened and held the door for a couple of people ahead of me who were carrying their packages out, they actually stood right near me and smilingly watched me struggle with the heavy wood-and-glass door, the stroller, and my bag (with the Rowan book I had just purchased) as I tried to carefully back down the one big step out of the store without tipping over, and they never even stepped forward to hold the door! I didn't buy any yarn there, although there was a lot I wanted. I'll go back sometime when I'm over the sting of that experience and can visit on my own. Because I really do like the store and I know that sometimes people don't think to help until after the opportunity is over.

Now it's time to actually create something with the yarn I bought. Right now on the needles are a pair of Veylas in Indigo Moon black (from Twisted) and I'll also make a hat from this... I found two scarves in the newest Holiday Vogue (they have a section with several lace scarves) that will be perfect for the cashmere Road to China yarn, and as for the STR... The Paula Mae will be stockings for Jule, the Spike will be knitted ribbed pants for the baby, and the Drusilla will be for me. The Annapurna cashmere blend from A Verb for Keeping warm was going to a Peak's Island Hood, but there is not quite enough yardage, so I need to re-think that... There is the Holly Berry Cowl in the latest Piecework magazine, and although it's gauged for lace weight, I might be able to adapt it... So many possibilities!

Spring colours

Here where I live, spring has an uneasy relationship with colour. While the small shoots make a halfhearted appearance, like a cat sleeping with one eye open, winter still lingers in tattered petticoats that edge the yard and roads. An odd greyish snow mingles with newly uncovered mud and the browned remnants of lawns. Winter is harsh here, and what was left when Autumn ended is seriously battered when winter's clothing recedes. Life always asserts itself in the end, and in the riotous mid-summer of greens and reds, and purples, and yellows and blues, we forget how hard-won that colour was with its long labour of dark and rainy spring.

My favourite yarn source, although all the way on the opposite coast of this country, seems to echo my thirst for Spring colours right about now. I had to pull some of that colour into my house - like a bouquet.



This is Mossley Manly, from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and it looks exactly like the world outside my window right now. I love how the rusts and greens seep into the dark browny-greys. Its hopeful.



I moved a little less cautiously forward into spring with a few more colours:



This is Valenscummy, the Mossley Manly again, Saffron Jungle, Nodding Violet, and Foofaraw. I love them all. Would you believe that they have made me determined to prep my gardens of old flowers this year so they can blossom with abandon? They make me want to go out and dance on the frozen lawn, defying Winter and inviting the excesses of Summer back to New England. That's the power of a few Spring colours.

A Month of Boyfriend Knitting

After watching me knit every minute of every day for the Holidays, my boyfriend asked me to make some things for him. Backstory - I haven't made him anything for a long time, because the first things I made him, he promptly lost, giving the impression that he didn't like them all that much. He also often makes comments about only liking the most complicated types of knits: lots of cables, fair isle, traditional British type knits and the like. I relented, though, and I promised him that January would be the "Month of Boyfriend Knitting" and I'm trying to get 3 things finished for him during that time:

Dog walking mitts

Socks

Vest

I did finish the dog-walking mitts (my own pattern). They are made with a yarn he chose himself from a not-so-local alpaca farm:



They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, being a bit big, but I think they're useful anyway.




They're not working as dog-walking gloves because the alpaca is so soft that the dog treats stick to it and he ends up either dropping them or having the dogs bite the glove to get them off. Dog walking mitts should be made with a sturdy strong fiber, like sock yarn. I'm also bemused with the way yarn patterned. I could have frogged and started over to try to get a better match, but they are kind of cute as is, so I left them.



I plan to make him a hat from the leftover yarn but probably not until after I finish the 3 things I've promised.

I'm currently on the second item - socks. I do love knitting socks and am doing this, like the mitts, without a pattern - my own design. I'm up to the heel now, but this is what the beginning (toe) looked like:



The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in mediumweight; colour - Obsidian. I started the toe on size 1 needles to make it extra durable, and am knitting the rest of the sock on size 2 needles.

I'm trying a couple of things to personalize these socks: my boyfriend has sensitive feet but is very hard on socks. I'm doing the bottom of the heel (the sole side) in reverse stockinette in an attempt to make it more durable and to be very smooth and comfortable on the inside, and I'm doing the back of the heel in a sturdier textured knit where it will rub against his shoes.

He tried the foot on last night and said they felt very good. I'm really hoping these will be more successful than the gloves. I did get a bit worried when I was telling him how to wash them (machine wash, no dryer) and he said "they're just socks". A discussion ensued about how hand-knitted socks are never 'just socks' and he appeared to take this conversation seriously. ;)

The last item, the vest, is going to be knit from a Rowan pattern out of a tweedy yarn from a different alapaca farm:



Keeping my fingers crossed that I reach my goals because the month of february will be devoted to the Ravelympics on Team Blue Moon!

The Teal of Sean

What do I know about Sean? He has an Elven magic and works in a hospital. He is an artist and cartoonist and very kind to his friends. He rocks the turquoise/teal - the colour of his jacket... I think (hope) he'll like this scarf.



Stats:

I used 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden, 50 grms each

The main colour was two skeins of colour #47 - Browns, Tans, and Black
The first contrasting colour was #244 - Rust, Yellow, Teal and the second contrasting colour was #245 - Yellow, Teal, Turquoise, and Purple

The pattern (from Brooklyn Tweed's website) called for needles size 7, but I used size 5 needles and was glad I did! The scarf is about 6 inches wide on the smaller needles and the stitches are pretty loose. I wouldn't want it any bigger or looser. It was just a mistake, at first. I had an Addi lace needle that I started with and thought was a 7. When I decided to switch to straight needles, and noticed how much bigger the straight sevens were than the Addi I was using, I realized it was really a 5 and decided to stay with that.

The scarf is 6 feet long, but I don't think it matters if yours turns out a little longer or shorter...

I'm really happy with this and the way the neutral main colours really mellow out the contrasting colours. Even though it's July, I'm going to send this off to Sean as a thank you for all the help he gave on the day of the wedding. When he opens it, he'll probably think, "heh?" but when winter comes, he'll wrap up in it and be happy...

~~~

The July shipment of the Blue Moon Rockin Sock Club came early this month (SPOILER below!), because all the Blue Moonies are busy getting ready for the Portland Sock Summit and Marketplace in the Convention Center. When I was in Portland last month, I stayed at the Red Lion hotel that is right next door. It's in a really convenient spot and the train is right across the street and you can get anywhere from there.

If you're going to the Sock Summit - don't miss going to Twisted. They carry Blue Moon yarn I hear and I know they are super nice! (I'm in their Single Skein Club this year). And don't forget VooDoo Doughnut:



We ate all the funny ones out of this box already - the blunts with red sprinkles on the tips and they also have a voodoo man which is shaped like the gingerbread man and has red jelly inside the squishes out with you poke him...Someone even brought Voodoo Doughnuts to the wedding reception! Very wise idea. a good omen.


Another place I can recommend whole-heartedly is Urban Fondu. We spent a really fun evening there and the dinner was incredible - We had Tillamook Cheddar fondu and then had the dark chocolate dessert fondu.

Now for the Sock Club Spoiler.... Definitely Don't Look if you are in the club and want to be surprised.....

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Garden Daze, a riff on Heirloom tomatoes and all things gardeny in this hazy July...picture taken in my raspberry bushes...

The first new project of 2009

Somehow I injured my back sliding on the ice this past week, or maybe having too much fun over the holidays, and have had to spend a lot of time laying flat. This has actually been good for my knitting!



I started my socks for the Socks that Rock Leyburn Socks Knit Along on Ravlery! I'm using BMFA STR in Petroglyphs.



After these few rounds on DPNs, I decided I wanted to switch to a small circular needle. At the LYS, I discovered this lovely Pagewood Farms sock yarn sitting innocently and unsuspectingly at the counter. It hadn't even been entered yet in inventory when I scooped it up to come home with me....The light green is Yukon - Merino, Bamboo, and a touch of nylon in 450 yards. The dark green one is Denali - a very soft and cushy Merino and nylon; again in 450 yards. More socks! Socks for Everyone! Hurray!!

The knitting was hung by the chimney with care....

My final secret holiday knitting project was opened last night by my friend, so I can now reveal it here.

Raven's Wing



This shawl was knit from Blue Moon Fiber Arts lightweight Socks That Rock, 1 skein, in the Raven series Rauen. It is a deep black with flashes of deep red. This yarn is such a pleasure to work with!

I started with a US size 6 circular needle (32 inch) and used a regular neck-down triangle shawl construction from Cosmicpluto's Simple Yet Effective Shawl without the stripes.



After a few inches, I switched to a slightly larger needle - size 7 - because the shawl was becoming very dense and heavy. While I liked this cosiness around the neck, it wasn't the effect I was going for in the body of the shawl. This shawl uses garter stitch so I just knitted on and on and on. It was great take-along knitting and I got a lot done while at Thanksgiving Dinner at my boyfriend's parents' house!

As I got toward the end, I started contemplating a lace edging that would really have the wing-like effect of my imagination. I switched to a size 9 circular needle, and started the edging chart for the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style (a book I recommend). I started running out of yarn on row 12 of this 14-row edging, and was able to complete a loose bind-off just in time!



Wet blocking had an incredible effect on this shawl. Remember, it was mostly garter stitch, so it was crimped-up and small when just off the needles. I worried about plunging it into a sink full of tepid water - afraid it would bleed or pill - but it came through famously and only looked better and smoother! The shawl blocked out so large that it overflowed the edges of my long dining room table! I used blocking wires for the first time with this shawl.

One of the things that made me most happy, besides the deep, soft yarn and how it looked knit up, was that it really did look like a Raven's Wing - just the effect I wanted.

and my friend liked it.

Now, I am really in a knitting funk and can't figure figure out my next project. Any ideas?

Goodnight Moon....

The Golden Moon Shawl



a version of the Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark, from Wrap Style...

Yarn: Luscious Silk (sport weight; 360 yards) from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in colourway: Oregon Red Clover Honey; 1 skein

Needles: Size US 9 Addi Lace circular (32")



This pattern is so incredibly easy and fast. Just like last time, this shawl took less than 2 weeks from start to finish - and I didn't have all that much knitting time! I used a size 9 needle, when the pattern calls for a 6, because this is a sport weight yarn and the pattern is written for laceweight. The size was just right!

I did end up omitting one entire repeat of the body lace chart (I think it's 14 rows, actually) as well as the last two rows of the edging chart (I went strait to the final two rows which are in the book, not in the chart). Even so, it is just the way I would have hoped.

The yarn is very delicate. I treated it very gently, but still got a slight 'halo' or 'blooms' and a couple of pills. I'm hoping they won't show too much after blocking smooths everything out...

and here is a final shot - it's dark on the colour, but you can really see the stitch pattern.



This was actually a blast to knit. I can't wait to make the next one!

comfort

I had one of those weeks – those weeks where you get a call from the doctor’s office and they say “we saw something on the xray…” and you have call back a million times and then go into the hospital and have a million tests and several doctors come in and stand by your bed and talk about your tests in front of you but to each other….and you’re really grouchy to everyone who comes in to take care of you. (oh, you’re not really grouchy? Well…hmmmm...I am.)

But finally, one doctor comes in, and she’s nice and intelligent, and a good communicator. And she says, “it’s nothing – well, a mysterious something, but not cancer.” And you finally get to get dressed, and go home, and you’re sore all over, and embarrassed that you cried in front of them.

This is me, curled under the ugly scrap blanket. Don’t you find that crochet is so comforting when you are stressed? When times are hard, I get out this blanket and add a few rows, going around and around the outer edges, sort of like a square spiral…



It’s made out of all the bits of all the other projects I’ve made in the past several years. When I look at it and run my hands over all the different textures and colours, all the beauty of the various finished projects that are now living other lives with their recipients comes back to me. It’s very comforting and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I have a new project in process. It’s another Shetland Triangle, from 100% Silk in Oregon Clover Honey (made by Blue Moon Fiber Arts). This is such a fast and easy pattern (if you don’t count the number of times I had to search the entire house for the pattern which – of course – I hadn’t put back in its place when I finished with it last time) and I think the luminous silk makes the little leaves look like phases of the moon!

Bluejay Wings

C'est fini!



Stats:
Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A Clark, in Wrap Style
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks That Rock lightweight in Smoky Topaz, 1 skein 360 yards
Needles: Addi lace needles, size US 6, 4 mm, circular 32"
Started August 8, 2008 at 8:08 am
Finished August 15, 2008 at 11:20 pm

The obligatory "bathroom mirror photo":



My Ravelympics medal!



sigh....that was so much fun! Being part of Ravelympics, especially Team Blue Moon, it was "the experience of a lifetime"!!