IS #34: Trying New Things

Happy Saturday, all! I've returned from a lovely trip to Cape Cod. I had gone with a large group of my friends from college to celebrate 10 years of knowing each other (and yes, that number still freaks me out). It was a great time: fireside smores, lounging by the lake, lots of baby snuggles, group spinning (yes!), and even some whale watching. Pictures of all the good times will follow but first, the souvenir yarn (of course!).

Even though only one or two of us knitted during college (I dabbled but didn't get really into it until grad school), the number of knitters in our group nearly equaled non-knitters on this trip, which was pretty awesome. So of course we visited the nearest yarn store, Adventures in Knitting. The shop happens to be the oldest yarn store on the cape, according to their website, and apparently their previous location had also been reviewed by Clara Parkes.

Mix No. 3, designed by Kristen Ford, image copyright Shibui Knits

When I walked in I saw an interesting shawl on display that I coveted instantly. It was lightweight and ethereal with a simple yet striking design. I'd never before walked into a shop, seen a sample, and purchased the pattern and yarn to replicate it right then and there, but there's a first for everything.

Silk Cloud

The yarns used in the shawl were Shibui Knits Staccatto (2-ply fingering weight, 70% Merino wool / 30% silk) and Shibui Knits Silk Cloud (2-ply laceweight, 60% mohair / 40% silk). You hold both strands together for the thicker/darker stripes then knit with just the laceweight Silk Cloud for the sheer sections. The design couldn't be simpler but I'm really enjoying it.

I've also never knit with mohair before. I've often admired the mohair/silk blends and the fluffy, floaty, wispy projects that result from using them, but felt like I couldn't get over the super fuzzy texture of the mohair halo. However, the halo is a bit more subtle in the Shibui Knits than in some of the other brands I've seen, and I figured why not give it a try. The yarn was an absolute beast to wind and my hands are taking some adjusting to knitting with a barely-there laceweight strand on size US 8 needles, but so far I'm very happy I decided to try something new.

What about you? Try anything new-to-you lately? Been inspired by anything else? Link along below and let us know!

IS #33: Knitting Along

You know what I think I love most about Ravelry? Knit-alongs. Knit-alongs (KALs) are essentially when a bunch of people choose to knit the same pattern/project/theme/yarn and chat about it. Yes, KALs can occur in real life too, which might even be more fun (I wouldn't know), but they are perfectly enjoyable in the online forum. I think this is because 1) more people are involved, 2) you can check out progress pictures/ask questions/chatter about things anytime you want, 3) you usually find out about a whole bunch of new patterns to add to your queue, and 4) there are often fun prizes involved and hey, who doesn't love a prize. There are two KALs going on this month that I think are great ideas:

1)  SKA August
There is a different KAL every month in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group, but in August they do a great finish-it-up KAL where the goal is to finish as many pairs of socks as possible that had been started prior to July. The goal of finishing up those lingering second socks is particularly attractive to someone with a chronic unfinished-sock-problem, like me.

This might or might not even be all of them. * shame *

Dudes, some of those SIP (socks-in-progress) photos were taken three apartments ago. Granted, not all the photos are up to date, many of the socks are further along than they are shown here, but still. I think I need this KAL, don't you?

2) CY Sea Critters KAL
There is a sea-themed KAL occurring on the Cephalopod Yarns Ravelry board. There aren't many rules for this one, the idea is just to knit some yummy CY/SG yarn into some interesting, oceanic patterns. I'm planning to knit my Dissipative cowl pattern in some of their merino/alpaca/silk blend aran-weight yarn, Beastie, when it arrives.

This yarn is not Beastie, it's Malabrigo.

Syrinx Shells could work for this KAL, too, if you used their Traveller yarn held double or triple to get a super bulky weight. It would also work as a thinner, lighter-weight scarf with two skeins of Beastie. Check out the KAL thread for all sorts of neat nautical patterns.

Do you enjoy KALs? Do you find they help you finish projects or do you end up just starting more to take part in them? Have you been inspired by something lately? Link along below and let us know!

Inspiration Saturday is for sharing whatever has been sparking your creativity this week. Come play along!

IS #32: Into The Woods

Happy Saturday, all! This week's inspiration is nature/the outdoors/the woods because as you're reading this, I've happily unplugged from my computer and have gone off camping for a few days. I love camping and once a year just isn't enough, but I cherish what I can manage to squeeze in. Cross your fingers that the weather holds out! Here are a few fun woods-related knits I found on Ravelry.

Copyright throughtheloops on flickr

This is the Wood Hollow Vest designed by Kristen Kapur. I love the heathered, textured, cable-y goodness of this vest and it makes me think instantly of fall. I'd love to make one and wear it myself but I have yet to find a button-down collared shirt that fits me in any way and can't think of what else I'd layer it with. I feel like the design is a but formal-looking to wear just over a tee...

Copyright knittysticks on flickr

These fabulous things are the Maine Woods & Rivers Mittens designed by Pat Higgens and are offered for free. They have such a great colorwork motif and nice details like the double layered cuff and the corrugated ribbing. They look nice and cozy, too.

Copyright Kalurah on Ravelry

This interesting, oversized hood/cowl combo is Through the Woods... designed by Kalurah. It's completely charming and probably super warm, I'm just not sure I could picture myself actually wearing it... at least not for the short walk from house-car-office. Maybe if I were back in college or living somewhere where I had to walk long distances outdoors in the cold more often than not.

Copyright Emily Ross on Ravelry

And of course there is an explosion of leaf-related patterns on Ravelry but one of my favorite bits of slightly subtle leafy goodness is the Haruni shawl designed by Emily Ross. I started and frogged this one long ago during an overambitious Malabrigo March. I should probably revisit it as it's a gorgeous design.

What's your favorite nature-reminiscent pattern? While we're at it, know of any good campsites or hiking trails in New England?

Also inspiring: this is my 300th post! That's a lot of blogging! To celebrate, all of my patterns are 30% off on Ravelry with the coupon code '300wow' until next Saturday. Just a little inspiration special for my lovely blog readers, but feel free to spread the word to other bloggers who may not have found me yet! :)

Inspiration Saturday is for sharing whatever has been sparking your creativity this week. Please link along below!

IS #31: Rather Uninspired

I'm sneaking in under the wire with a rather uninspiring Inspiration Saturday post. I have a couple of friends visiting from out of town this weekend and failed to plan ahead with a post! I've had another plan-ahead-failure, too:

So close yet so far...

After requesting leftovers from fellow Rockin' Sock Club members of one of last year's club colorways (Budding Twig) for my Budding Lintilla shawl so I could make it larger, I still ran out of yarn. The pattern is an asymmetrical sideways-knit shawlette that is pretty customizable. You basically knit until you have a particular percentage of yarn left and then start the edging. While I weighed and measured, I was cutting it a bit close and using larger needles than the pattern called for, so I lost the game of yardage chicken with a mere handful of rows to go. I hate that! Such a letdown! Thankfully, knitters are nice people and Ravelers are particularly awesome so I have a few more leftovers winging my way here to save the day. Yay!

What's been inspiring you lately? Link along below and let us know!

IS #30: Hot Guys in Sweaters

Brooklyn Tweed (a company which has inspired me before) has just put out a series of patterns specifically for men. Rugged texture, twining cables, beards of hotness and glasses and ribbing galore. Need I say more?

Copyright Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed

How about Jared Flood's Timberline cardigan? Yes, please. Yes. I'm a crazy sucker for a guy in a cardigan, which is kind of weird because the Fiasco doesn't even own one (he's a plain pullover man). The cables on this thing are just fabulous.

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As an aside, Jason Segal's character in I Love You Man pulls off the cardigan look especially well. Then there's Hugo by Veronik Avery, which has really wonderful texture:

Copyright Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed

And finally, let's not forget Slade by Michele Wang, which I could just curl right up in (the cozy-looking sweater, of course):

Copyright Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed

You can find the whole BT Men collection of patterns on Ravelry here. You're welcome. ;)

What's been inspiring you lately?

IS #29: Fiber Factor Challenge 2

Hi folks! This is a quickie, drive-by kind of Inspiration Saturday post since my parents are visiting and it's been a busy week. That said, have you checked out the results for the second challenge of The Fiber Factor? The second challenge was to knit a boxy sweater and involve colorwork somehow. I'm amazed by all the different styles that resulted! I also thought it was funny how there were similar color schemes in many of them. Lots of mustard yellows and ketchup reds. I liked many of the designs, but my absolute favorite was Lauren Riker's design.

Copyright The Fiber Factor

She somehow took a boxy, bland shape and made it freakin' adorable. I love the color scheme, the little hearts, the cables... everything. And the back is super fun:

I love the gradient! So much! Anyway, that's all I have time for today. What's been inspiring you lately? Hope you're having a great holiday weekend!

IS #28: Fall Already?

Don't worry, folks, the summer is still just getting into a groove, but that doesn't stop Knitty from putting out its First Fall issue! It might seem a bit early but summer is actually a really good time to start planning ahead for those cooler nights and shorter days. Let's see what we can find to inspire us, yes?

Copyright Jamie Besel

I was immediately drawn to Lewis designed by Jamie Besel. I love the lace detailing and deep V of the font, that draws a lot of attention up to the face. I also really dig the shirttail hemline, haven't seen that too often, and I really really love the wide sleeves. I have a few storebought sweaters with wide elbow-length sleeves that I think are really flattering. Into the queue!

Copyright Kristine Byrnes

Sugar Stick by Kristine Byrnes is a very interesting design... exactly the sort of funky cool stuff that made Knitty famous. I'm not even entirely sure what's going on in the pattern, seems like some colorwork and some lace and some twisting before it's grafted into a cowl but it looks really neat!

Copyright Kirsten Hipsky

Finally, the Ginger + Wasabi gloves by Kirsten Hipsky use a very simple colorwork pattern to make the gloves extra thick and warm. I liked this pattern primarily for the thoughtful details that the designer described: the double thick fabric, the no-purl ribbing, the sizing information. At a quick glance, details like that tell me it's a well-written and worthwhile pattern.

Did you find anything you liked in this issue? Anything else been inspiring you lately? Link along below and let us know!

IS #27: Colorful Feet

This Inspiration Saturday post is brought to you late in the day due to being up all night walking in Relay for Life for my company team. (If you feel inclined to donate, you can still do so here!) It was a total last minute decision but it was a great event for a good cause and I'm very glad I went. Since I'm enjoying working on my colorwork sock using Skinny Bugga yarn so much, I thought I'd compile a few more projects from Ravelry showcasing colorwork and Skinny Bugga... just because I love trolling Ravelry for inspiration and seeing the fabulous combinations of already fabulous colors. Be prepared for some WOW!

Copyright otilde

This stunning pair of socks was knit by otilde with CY Skinny Bugga in Charaxes Tiridate and Opalescent Squid. They are almost too beautiful for words! The pattern is Nightingale by Vintage Purls. If it weren't toe-up, I would be all over trying this one out.

Copyright Mireille7

This pair of socks by Mireille7 is really cool! The construction is interesting and I love the pops of color in the accent bands. She used SB in Maxima Clam for the main color and assorted leftovers for the accent. The pattern is Sock Strap by General Hogbuffer (that name???).

Here's another lovely pair knit by Mirielle7. For these she used Blue Ringed Octopus and Blue Lobster, a fabulous combination. The pattern doesn't appear to be available, fortunately.

Copyright beccas

Can you say holy-knee-highs?! This pair by beccas is amazing and wonderful. She used an older colorway of Skinny Bugga from the Sanguine Gryphon days, The Very Quiet Cricket, paired with an undyed skein. I have no need for knee-high socks in my life and zero desire to knit that much leg but man, do I want these socks anyway. The pattern is Neptune High by Glenna C. Good news: the pattern is written for either knee-highs or regular socks, so into the queue it goes!

Copyright evucis

And finally, I really like when colorwork takes whimsical turns, as in these lizard socks knit by evucis. She used SG colorways (Miss Spider and Beyer's Jewelr Scarab) to great effect, the way the bright green pops off the purplish pink is perfect. The pattern is Lizard Socks by Beate Zach and looks fun to make.

What's been inspiring you lately? Do you have a favorite colorwork pattern? Please share!

IS #26: Summer Scarves

A while back I had started some mitts to thank my physical therapist for all of the magic she's worked on me. Then I put them down for a while, totally forgot about them, and lost the paper I had been using to keep track of what I was doing. Our last session is coming up soon and mitts in the middle of the summer seem kinda strange, but I felt like a light airy scarf would do nicely so I changed the plan.

Malabrigo Yarn Rios, colorway Archangel

Since I only have one skein of the yarn, I am using a drop stitch design knit on the bias (for tapered ends) to make the yardage stretch. I think drop stitch patterns are great for light, summery scarves and all those elongated stitches are particularly fabulous with variegated yarns. A basic, free pattern for the drop stitch that I knit a few years back is the Whimsey Garter Drop Stitch Scarf by Classic Elite Yarns.

Louisa Harding Yarns Jasmine

I have two criteria for establishing something as a good summer scarf: 1) it is airy and lightweight and 2) it is simple to keep track of and fun to knit, for all those times when you'll be knitting in the car on the way to a picnic or at the beach or around a campfire. (That's not just me, right?) Complex lace scarves are great, too, but sometimes they aren't so easy to bring around with you and they can look out of place thrown over a casual tee and capris, where the more basic designs fit in just fine.

Copyright Thirteen on Flickr

This is the Seafoam Scarf by Ali Green, another free pattern. It's a basic drop stitch design but by varying the number of times you wrap the yarn around the needle before you drop it, you get those neat waves. It's also a good example of how variegated yarns look awesome in this stitch.

Copyright amyKnitty on Flickr

This is the Montego Bay scarf by Amy Singer. It's a basic k2tog, YO repeat pattern but it's awesome for 3 reasons: 1) bias knit tapered ends 2) fringe! and 3) using amazing silk yarn. Summer scarves are definitely great projects to experiment with those non-wool blends. Add some silk, some cotton, some linen. Stretch your wooly boundaries!

Copyright ArlenesLace on Flickr

This one is a bit more solid than the rest but no less awesome. This is the Hypernova Scarf by Arlene's World of Lace. It's a chevron design that flares out fabulously on both ends of the scarf and, again, is great with variegated, colorful yarns.

Copyright Veronik on Flickr

This one, the Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery, is very popular on Ravlery. It has a similar look to the previous scarf except it has zig-zags instead of chevrons between columns of openwork stitches and would probably look great in any thickness of yarn.

Copyright alliejay on Flickr

Finally, this is the Foreign Correspondent's Scarf by Lexy Lu. It's a tiny bit more textured with more involved (but still dead simple) lace than the others I've posted, but I've seen some gorgeous versions of this and I've had it queued for some time.

Phew, that's a lot of scarves! Do you have a favorite summery knit? Please link along and share your inspiration with us, whatever it may be!

 

IS #25: The Ultimate Book of Yarn Design

I've posted about being inspired by an excellent spinning book before, but MAN this one is fabulous, too.

This textbook-like tome will not teach you the very basics, like fiber characteristics and exactly step-by-step how to add twist to fiber, it assumes you've done that once or twice before. However, it does detail nearly everything else in a very simple and straightforward manner. Great information on washing fleece, using handcards and combs, using a drum carder, the differences between worsted and woolen yarns, different kinds of drafting to achieve those yarns, and (finally!) descriptions of Z/S twist and twist angle that I actually understood are all provided.

The basics are followed up by separate chapters on every conceivable type of yarn you can make. And I do mean every. I can't imagine any other yarns existing, truly. These crepe yarns are ones I'd really like to try out, they look so interesting and are pretty similar to the cabled yarn I'd made before, except they are 3-ply instead of 4-ply which creates a neat effect.

The book also covers the really crazy novelty yarns with very simple, easy-to-understand instructions. Best of all, it shows photos of nearly every yarn either knit or woven up so you can get an idea of what the yarn might look like in a finished fabric, which is super helpful with crazy yarns like the beehive pictured above.

And as an added bonus, the instructions for all of the different yarns are provided on little notecards that you can punch out and keep near your wheel or take with you for reference. As I hope you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to try my hand at all the crazy yarns within. Here's a review from the Knitty blog that I think is pretty accurate and shows additional photos from the book. It also reminded me that the author also did a sock knitting experiment to figure out which yarn construction formed holes the slowest, which was super interesting! As you can see in the first photo, I've marked many many pages that I want to refer back to, so this book was well worth the money for me. You can also see my spindle, I've been doing my best to spin for a few minutes every single day this month. I missed 2 days out of 8 so far... hopefully I'll be less busy in the coming weeks!

What books have been inspiring you lately? And are you spinning along this June?

IS #24: So Many Tours!

Something very simple has been inspiring me lately.

Ahhh, the humble spindle. I feel like I haven't spun in ages-- in reality it's probably been more like 6 weeks, but that's pretty long! There has been much talk of spinning on blogs and Ravelry lately and man oh man is it getting to me. My fingers are itching. My wheel is waiting. My spindles are dropping. Yes, I'm joining the tour.

In a previous post, I had mentioned how I wanted to spin a little every day starting in June. Well, turns out my spinner instincts must've been buzzing because June 30th is the start date of 5th annual Tour de Fleece! The idea is to do something awesome and challenging, perhaps not quite as awesome or challenging as a crazy long-ass bike ride, but cool nonetheless. The main guidelines are as follows:

1. Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday June 29th through Sunday July 21st. Days of rest: Monday July 8th and Monday July 15th. (Just like the actual tour.)
   
2. Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, it’s Stage 18, on Thursday, July 18th, when they climb Alpe d’Huez twice).

There are a few others but those are the big ones. You can join teams or not, spin a little or a lot, whatever your personal goal/challenge might be. I joined a team of fans of Verdant Gryphon yarns, even though they don't sell any fiber, just because people on the VG boards on Ravelry are always so fun, friendly, and knowledgeable. And there are prizes, always prizes. As we all know how I love to plan, I've been having fun thinking up things to do. Unsurprisingly, I have a few ideas.

1. Spin for at least 15 minutes every day (which I will begin practicing starting tomorrow because I already said I would).
2. Finish two skeins (8 oz) of gradient-dyed BFL from June Pryce Fiber Arts on my wheel (which I've barely begun but won't touch again until the tour starts).
3. Finish 3 more breeds (3 oz) for my Ongoing Spinner's Study.
4. Extra-special-gold-star-challenge: Wash, process, and spin 1 oz of wool from my first fleece.

Yeah, you heard me: my first fleece! IF I mange to get to the farmer's market before my yoga class today, I MIGHT be able to get a hold of a Southdown fleece for a pretty reasonable price. I've never used Southdown wool before but I'm itching to give this whole fleece-to-spun thing a try and don't mind practicing on one I'm not totally invested in. For those keeping track, I've planned to spin 12 oz. of fiber in 3 weeks. That's 4 oz, or a typical braid of fiber, every week... while simultaneously knitting a boatload of socks. And trying to fit time in for designing. And, you know, work. And life. This is my way of declaring: I am pretty crazy and all of these plans will probably never happen so please don't be too disappointed when the beautiful socks and fabulous handspun yarn that live in my head don't quite make it to the blog. A girl's gotta dream, right?

What (crazy idea) is inspiring you lately? 

IS #24: Super Sock Mojo

The tiny human socks I recently finished have gotten me in the mood for more socks. This yearning just so happens to coincide with the incredible Tour-de-Sock competition/fundraising event happening on Ravelry.

Logo from the Tour-de-Sock website.

The event raises money for Doctors Without Borders, which provides medical assistance to those affected by war, malnutrition, and natural disasters all over the world. According to the website, they've raised over $4,000 for the charity to date. To register, you pay $7.50, which covers paypal fees and your donation. In return, you receive 6 sock patterns over a period of 2 months. The event runs from June 1st through July 29th. It consists of 6 "stages" of 9 days each and the idea is that you finish a pair of socks (yes, a pair) as quickly as you can within each stage and you earn points for your order of finishing.

Phellogen pattern by Glenna C, photo credit socksalot

You also join teams and your team can earn points. I'm honestly not super clear on how the scoring works but it all boils down to "knit a bunch of challenging socks really, really quickly and you can win cool prizes".

Chain Reaction pattern by Tobi Beck, photo credit needlesnswiffers

Some of the prizes are incredible, top winner gets 20 skeins of sock yarn! And the sponsers are wonderful, including Miss Babs, Dragonfly Fibers, and my beloved Blue Moon Fiber Arts -- with discount codes for participants!

Stardust pattern by Adrienne Fong, photo credit AnitaYarn

What is most amazing about this contest, though, is that there are people in previous years that finished a pair of socks in three days. THREE DAYS!

Cushy Cables Brioche Socks by Kirsten Hall, photo credit Kirsten Hall

That's right: two-color brioche cabled socks... in a matter of days. If that doesn't make you feel like you should get off your lazy butt and knit some socks, I don't know what will! So I signed up. Hah. I do

not expect to finish a pair of socks during each stage, especially since the patterns are so complex and my concentrated knitting time is so slim. But the way I see it, I'm paying a super low price for 6 beautiful patterns and supporting a great organization in the process. And I do kind of want to challenge myself a bit to get my sock mojo back. I started a team with some lovely ladies from the Socks That Rawk! board on Ravelry. We are Team SASSY (Slow and Steady SockY's). We are not in it to win it, but it should still be great fun. You have until May 29th to register if these photos of some of the previous years' patterns have inspired you to give it a shot! What's been inspiring you lately?