Modern Colorwork Collection, review and giveaway
[note]This giveaway is now closed, the winner has been notified.[/note] Knitters are a clever bunch. We take very long pieces of string and a pair of sticks and tie giant knots. Beautiful, useful knots that you can wear. It's a neat trick. I really appreciate it when designers realize just how clever knitters are and write their patterns accordingly. Miriam Felton has done just that with her recent Modern Colorwork Collection. The six pieces of this collection (three sweaters, a cowl, a shawl, and a pair of mitts) draw their inspiration from quilting and modern art. The result is projects [...]
Bloom
I mentioned last time that I loved how the Bare Naked Wools yarns bloomed when they hit the water. Then I showed you a picture of them still on the needles where they were totally 100% not blooming. So let's fix that, shall we? I just finished up the second slipper (well, finished the knitting, I still have to attach the strap). The first one has had a soaking, a nice vigorous thrashing, and a good blocking. The second is fresh off the needles. Look at the difference. See how the top one is nice and fuzzy and happy? You [...]
Fitting
I am, for reasons that seemed extremely good at the time, knitting with gray and cream yarn in the middle of a very long winter. Normally, this would be enough to drive a knitter around the bend. But somehow this yarn is so snuggly and cozy and textured and just downright knitterly that it feels right. This is take two of the strappy slippers ( you guys wanted them enough that I've gone ahead and started working on them as a stand alone pattern instead of waiting until the end of next year and putting them in a book you've [...]
Golden
People, it's cold outside. Cold and very very snowy. So I am not going to go outside to try and find a spot with little enough snow that I can take a picture of these. I know I should, but I'm just not. You'll have to settle for a uncharacteristically well-scrubbed kitchen counter and a rare streak of January sunlight. I think it will serve to show off the pretty quite well enough. That's the fat socks (String Theory Caper Aran in Melon) on the right, and the skinny socks (String Theory Caper Sock in Beach Plum) on the left. [...]
Snow Day
The blog is closed on account of weather. Or rather, I'm shamelessly using the weather as a blatant excuse to curl up inside, wear woolly socks, drink hot chocolate, snuggle kittens, and generally laze finish the penultimate round of KCC3 edits. All the schools have had a pile of snow days, I'm taking one too. I'll be back when the frost on my office window melts.
Repeat
The set I've been working on offers a good opportunity for a little instructional aside. You know how variegated yarn sometimes acts very differently from one project to the next? I've got a lovely little demonstration of why. You may recall I'm worried about running short of yarn on this project. So because I'm going to be using every inch of the yarn I have, I'm trying to be reasonably clever. Once the cowl got to be just long enough, I put it aside on an extra needle and moved on to the hat. The plan was to make the [...]
Put a pin in it
Please do not suggest that I have been lazy with my blocking. I may laugh manically and chase after you with a t-pin. Oh, and pro tip, the snow will re-wet your knitting, so be a smart kid and be sure it's cleaned off and dry again before you pull out your pins. Not that I'd know or anything...
Almost There
The yellow socks are almost done. Very very close to done. I just need to remember all the clever stuff I did on the toe of the first one and manage to write it down and do it again, and they'll be all set. Which is good, because the fingering weight ones that Katie has been graciously working on for me are not only finished and in the mail, but have arrived here in sunny (cough) Cleveland. As soon as they're all done and blocked, I'll get a picture of both styles on some fake feet and show you what [...]
Still Entranced
So the cowl now has a friend! Or rather, the partial cowl has a friend. You see, I want the cowl to be as long as possible, but I also want a hat and mitts, so I'm holding off on finishing the cowl until I've finished the others, just so I can use all the yarn. I'm really rather taken with it. I used the same stitch as in the cowl and made a band to go around my head then tapered it down to a point. Then I picked up stitches on one side (evenly adding in as many [...]
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