The Best Rainbow Sweater

Posted on December 29, 2016 by shoelaceswitcher

I have no idea how 29 days have passed since the triumphant return of my WIP Wednesday posts. I blinked and a month disappeared! Not ok, Universe, not ok. I originally wanted to write this post after I had measured the finished object so I could report the juicy knitterly details but let’s be real: if we wait for that, we’ll be waiting forever. Plus, we just took some family portraits for our little Hatchling’s 6 month milestone, and the sweater played a supporting role, so I have to show it off. With no further ado, I give you The Best Rainbow Sweater Ever Made.

That’s his “Oooh, shiny object, can I have it?!” face.

LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL THING, AMIRIGHT? The sweater’s nice, too. 😉 I used the Babycakes pattern designed by Laura Aylor. I modified the length of the arms and body a bit to make the stripes work out how I wanted, but otherwise followed the pattern for the 6 month size. It fit well when my kid turned 4 months old, and is still wearable now, although I find myself wishing that the armholes were just a little deeper as he’s getting bigger. Warning: if you decide to stripe like I did, you will have 42 ends to weave in. FORTY-TWO. It’s worth it, though, because he’s worn this thing all over the place.

Wearing with fancy hats.

Wearing at the market.

First wearing, at 4 months.

The pattern is simple but customizable and I really like the square neckline and asymmetrical fronts. I opted against the scalloped edge and added buttonholes. The buttons are adorable little turtles from Katrinkles. I think I tried 4 different ways of embroidering them before Katy herself suggested doubling up the embroidery floss and doing a simple backstitch at knit night. Doubling up the floss made the pattern stand out much better.

Six months?!?!

Hello, handsome.

Turtles!

The yarn is a DK-weight pastel rainbow gradient from Play at Life Fiber Arts, with a some deep green Cephalopod Yarns Traveller used for the edging. This is a great weight for baby sweaters, especially if you use them for outerwear as we do (puffy jackets + car seat = no no). It is substantial and keeps him plenty warm but it’s not so thick that it looks tight or uncomfortable. In short, I love the sweater to bits, and will be so sad when he grows out of it. Also, how did my baby get to be six months old already?!?! I am flabbergasted.

What is your favorite baby sweater? I’m thinking of knitting another Newborn Vertebrae in DK-weight yarn and larger needles to upsize it, but would love to hear other suggestions.

WIPWed #124: Actual Knitting Content

Posted on November 30, 2016 by shoelaceswitcher

As I mentioned in my come-back post last week, I’ve finally managed to work on some knitting while juggling my 5-month-old. By the by, props to the people who teach themselves to knit while they’re pregnant or after the baby arrives, I don’t know where they get the energy for that. I’m a seasoned knitter and when I was pregnant, all I wanted to do was sleep. And now that the Hatchling is here… sleep is still a hot commodity. However, he’s starting to settle into a routine and I’ve finally weaned off pumping in the evenings which means I get occasional hands-free time to dally with yarn again. Yay!

Green Gathered

Cephalopod Yarns Traveler, colorway Wolcott . Click for project page.

This photo is something of a lie as this hat is done and has been worn already, but I haven’t had a chance to take good finished photos yet so I’m still calling it a WIP. 🙂 The pattern is Gather by tincanknits and I loved it. The stitch pattern is easy-peasy but fun to work. I knit the toddler size for my kiddo because he has a big head and it fits perfectly with some stretch for future growth.

Wine Toast:

Verdant Gryphon Zaftig, colorways Kiss of Cabernet and Russian Something-or-Other. Click for project page.

Speaking of easy-peasy, this project couldn’t be simpler. I’m knitting the Toast armwarmers by Leslie Friend, which are basically just plain stockinette tubes knit in the round. I often wear 3/4 length sleeve sweaters to work and my arms get cold, plus I’m always warmer with my wrists covered, so these will be a big luxurious (worsted weight Merino-cashmere-nylon yarn, yum!) treat for me. I’m making them a bit longer so they go all the way to my elbow, wider to accommodate my larger forearms, and adding a thumbhole (but no actual thumb) so they can also serve as fingerless mitts when needed.

Hatchling’s Sky Blanket:

O-Wool O-Wash Fingering in various colors. Click for project page.

I’ve been making very slow progress on my Sky Blanket (<– scroll to the bottom of that post to read the history of this particular project). In summary, I’m knitting 360 square that represent the sky each day (minus 5) in the first year of the Hatchling’s life. That strip represents the first couple of weeks in July. HAHAHAHA I’m soooooo behind. The worst part is, I stopped recording the weather during the first couple of weeks in November, at least before that point I’d had everything written down. So now I’m going to have to get creative with the almanac or something to figure out what to knit for the missing dates. I WILL COMPLETE THIS BLANKET.

Is there a particular project you’ve been dragging your feet about? Holiday knitting, perhaps? Speaking of, check out the Knitter’s Gift Guide on the KnittedBliss blog. It’s a great collection of gift ideas, including a little shout out to my Sweet Sheep Body Shoppe sheep-shaped soaps in the stocking stuffer section (sooooo many S’s in that sentence)!

FOFri #33: Need An Extra Foot?

Posted on October 10, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

Somehow, even though I knit and blocked and measured a gauge swatch, and calculated an approximate length I wanted my cowl to be and cast on the appropriate number of stitches, I ended up with a cowl nearly a foot longer than I had intended.

Pre-work, dusty mirror selfie is all you get.

It’s a wee bit large: 63″ circumference, 8″ tall. I don’t hate it, though I’ll never wear it long like that. I’m currently wearing it doubled up around my neck and it has a comfortably loose drape. I can also wear it tripled for increased warmth.

My ‘almost being choked by knitwear’ face.

My blocked swatch had a gauge of 5.5 sts/inch, so I cast on 285 sts to arrive at hopeful finished length of 52″. My swatch was small, which might have had something to do with it, and while I did knit it in the round, I did so on bamboo DPNs, rather than on the KnitPicks harmony wood circulars I ended up using for the cowl. I suppose those changes could have resulted in a project gauge of 4.5 sts/inch (285 sts / 63 inches). Let this be a lesson in the dramatic difference one stitch per inch can make!

Inglenook Fibers batt spinning.

I am still spinning for #Spinzilla, but sadly had no time at the wheel last night. I’ve been piling up the singles on my Russian spindle, though! All of that is the result of just one of the eight little batt poofs (batt balls? batt sections? batt muffins?) from Inglenook. I’ve yet to spin a large project on my supported spindles, so far I’ve only just sampled and then andean plied the yarn off the spindle into a 2-ply. Does anyone have tips for singles management when you only have one supported spindle? How to you spin and organize your singles for plying for an entire project? I need to figure something out, since promptly after shooting that photo, Darwin ran off with my spindle and tragically separated the cop from its rightful place on the shaft (bad kitty!). The single appears to have maintained its shape so I’m hoping it won’t be a total mess to wind up later.

What was your worst ever gauge miscalculation fail?

WIPWed #66: Taking the Plunge

Posted on September 23, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

All that dyeing over the weekend paid off, because I swatched for my Cypress vest and I LOVE IT!

Overdyed Cypress:

BMFA Twisted, colorway Aurora Borealis, overdyed by me.

It’s dark and moody, still colorful but more subdued, and from a distance it appears to be a neutral shade that I think will make a really nice garment. I’ve yet to become a sweater knitter, but I have no fewer than 3 different sweaters on my MUST KNIT NOW mental list, so we’ll see what this season brings! I think Cypress is a good one to begin with since the shaping is simple, the texture is fun to work, and the sleeves are short — which should all lead to relatively quick turnaround (fingers crossed).

Fiasco Deconstructed:

BMFA Sock that Rock Lightwright, colorway Sigur Ros.

Some time spent in the DMV this week means that I am now on the toe of my Fiasco Deconstructed socks! My knitting on these socks has been rather leisurely, a little here, a little there, they’ll get done when they get done… but fall is here, and my toes are cold, so I’m going to need to step it up!

Honey Cowl:

Cephalopod Yarns Traveller, colorway Hobart, IN.

I’m still completely in love with the slipped stitch patterning on this cowl. So simple, yet so effective! I’ve somehow misplaced the other half of the yarn intended for this cowl, which I better find soon since I’m nearly done with the first half.

Earthy Bubble Crepe Handspun:

Miss Babs Merino/Bamboo/Silk.

I didn’t have a whole ton of time to sit down and spin this week but I snagged a few moments to work on this handspun. (Also, can we just take a second to admire that photograph? Yay, new camera! *happy sigh*) I can’t believe it took me so long to attempt the little trick shown in the photo: if the take up of your wheel is too strong (which it almost always is on my Babe) you can thread your yarn across two hooks on opposite sides of the flyer to reduce the pull and allow you to draft more easily without fighting the wheel. This fiber is a little slippery and I am spinning fairly fine so it kept flying out of my hands, but with it threaded as shown, the take up is much less forceful, so that trick really works!

Super Duper Extra Mysterious and Subtle:

IT’S A MYSTERY!!!

(I call that photo Fun With Filters, btw). The above project that was on and off my needles in a jiffy! I will reveal what it was on Friday, when I will also review the yarn and pattern I used and host a giveaway. Do come back in a couple of days, I promise you’ll be extra glad you did, especially if you love alpaca!

Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis!

WIPWed #65: New Toy Joy

Posted on September 17, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

While the blog’s been a little quiet lately, I’ve been quite busy with Sweet Sheep shows, work, and grownup things like buying a new car (since ours was totaled) and official name changes (since the Fiasco and I got married and are combining our last names into one). In the midst of all the Important Things To Do, I’ve been riding a wave of creativity that has had my head going in a million directions at once: swatching! designing! new lotion scents! new product lines! dyeing! sweater-cast-on-ing! and last but not least, photography!

WIPWed #64: New Toy Joy | Woolen Diversions

Meet my new toy! Canon Rebel T3i

You might have noticed that the quality of photos on the blog has dropped since August, due to my Canon point-and-shoot dying a slow and agonizing death all summer that ended unfortunately while we were away in Costa Rica. Since good photos are such an integral part of blogging, designing, and selling products online, I figured it was finally time to spend the extra money and invest in a for-serious SLR camera.

WIPWed #65: New Toy Joy | Woolen Diversions

Darwin, looking sulky.

I’ve spent spare moments over the last couple of weeks doing some research and trying to figure out what I wanted in a camera, whether used or new was a better deal, and just what all those abbreviations and numbers really meant (still working on that bit).

The tip of Calypso’s nose.

I found Audry’s knitwear photography blog series to be extremely helpful in providing some context and examples for what all the numbers mean and what a good camera is. I also read lots (and lots) of CNET reviews and spent far too much time on tech sites like bhphotovideo.com and Adorama.com, where I ultimately placed my order. Adorama had a great deal on what is essentially the entry level version of the higher quality camera that Audry uses, that also included a bag, an extra battery, a remote trigger, a basic 18 – 55 mm lens, a lens filter, screen protector, SD card, and a couple other things I can’t remember at the moment.

My crazy-eyed-super-psyched face.

Basically, it was a new-hobby-in-a-box for cheaper than I could put together buying a used camera and the lens and accessories separately. To top it off, it arrived in 2 days, yay instant gratification! I’m really looking forward to getting to know all the ins and outs of this whole thing. I’ve loved photography forever (my first job was working in the photo lab at CVS) and have always wanted to improve my skills. Photography is one of my favorite art forms and I can’t wait to see what I can create with a decent piece of equipment!

Anyway, I’ve also been knitting (cue crappy photos again).

BMFA De-Vine in Pond Scum. Click for project page.

I randomly decided to revive my hibernating Cedar Grove Shawl. It’s dropped down into the 50s and 60s here so it’s about that time where I’m too cold in short sleeves but not yet ready to commit to wearing jackets again. That’s when a big bulky shawl comes in handy as outerwear. I’m about 60% done with this and just broke into the second skein.

CY Traveller in Hobart, IN. Click for project page.

I’ve also finally started my Honey Cowl. I’m a few more inches in than this now and it’s going quite swimmingly. The slipped stitch pattern is a real comfort to work, especially in a fun rainbow-y yarn. I’ve used the same stitch on a design in the works (sneak peak below) and plan to incorporate it into some socks, as well.

Oh, the gorgeous up-close rainbow.

What have you been working on lately? Any new hobbies vying for your attention? Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis!

WIPWed #63: Lessons Learned

Posted on August 27, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

I’ll start with the bad news… If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen this disaster:

Oh, woe is me. Click for project page.

Yup, that’s right folks: the special, gorgeous sock that I knit on before my wedding and during my honeymoon does not fit. It fit as a cuff, it fit as a partial leg, but with the longer-than-usual leg length, the less-elastic-than-usual fiber content (BFL instead of Merino), and the smaller-than-usual needle size (US 0 instead of US 1), it just does not have enough stretch to make it over my gigantic arches and heel. The combination of tightly-knit stockinette and less elastic wool spelled disaster for this sock, even though I added more stitches (68 vs usual 60). I’m considering this a (hard) lesson in the difference in sock yarns. While I was (and still am) excited to try sock yarn made from a longwool breed (I’m hoping the socks will hold up better over time), I now know I need to take the elasticity of the stitch pattern into account. Here are three things I could have done (coulda, woulda, shoulda) to avoid this problem:

Knit a swatch. I might have knit one, but it was probably tiny, and I really don’t remember if I did or not. So knit a big swatch, in the round, and get a good feel for the fabric and its stretchiness (in addition to figuring out how many stitches to cast on).
Knit the cuff and leg on larger needles than the heel/foot/toe. In general, I want the foot/sole of the sock to be super snug but the cuff/leg could use some extra elasticity.
Continue the cuff ribbing all the way down the leg. The difference in stretchiness between the ribbed cuff and the plain stockinette leg is pretty amazing. Basically, if I had knit the leg of this thing with almost any ribbed stitch pattern, I bet it would have fit.

So there you have it, folks. Learn from my mistakes, please! The sock is now in time out until I have the fortitude to face frogging it.

Fiasco De-constructed:

BMFA STR LW, colorway Sigur Ros. Click for project page.

Since sock weather is swiftly approaching, I grabbed an already-in-progress sock to continue working on while I figure out what to do with the BFL pair. (Don’t worry, this one fits.)

Sweet Codex Shawl:

SG Codex, colorway The Lioness of Brittany. Click for project page.

Because I needed a win, and because I have a wedding to attend in October, I cast on a simple shawl in one of my favorite yarns, using a tried-and-true pattern. The yarn is the incomparable Codex (52% silk, 48% BFL) and the pattern is the Sweet November Knit Shawl designed by Caryl Pierre. It’s mindless and soothing and just the thing right now.

Sweet Companion:

CY Traveller, colorway Hobart, IN. Click for project page.

I tried and did not like the hat pattern I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. So instead, I’m designing my own hat to accompany the Honey Cowl I plan to knit with the rest of this yarn. I think it’s going to make a pretty snazzy set, if I do say so myself.

Tarnished Yak:

BMFA Yak/Silk fiber on my Jenkins Aegean.

I’m making slow-but-steady progress on my Jenkins Fall SAL spin. My goal is to spin 2 oz by the end of September. I have quite a ways to go yet…

Seaglass:

Miss Babs Merino/Silk in Seaglass on my Enid Ashcroft Mini.

I’ve decided that bringing an itty bitty Turkish spindle to work is totally acceptable behavior. It sits on my desk and I give it a flick every now and again while I’m waiting for something on the computer to load or while my office mate is chatting. Even if I don’t spin anything, seeing it there makes me happy. As you can see by all the yarn in the temporary cop (wrapped around the shaft), spinning during those little idle moments can add up!

Phew! That WIP roundup has been a long time coming. I hope you’ve been making progress on things, as well! Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis.

WIPWed #62: Anti-Progress

Posted on August 13, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

I think there must be some force in the universe that is actively preventing me from making any knitting project progress. (I suspect that force is Time, or The Lack Thereof… perhaps with a healthy dose of Indecision.) Here’s what I accomplished (ha!) this week.

Spindling:

Three little spindles L to R: Capar Large, Jenkins Aegean, Enid Ashcroft Mini

I’m enjoying playing around with my three little Turkish spindles. On the Capar to the left is some Louet Merino/silk, on the Jenkins Aegean in the middle is a BMFA yak/silk blend, and on the mini Enid Ashcroft is Miss Babs Merino/silk. I’m amazed at how differently they each spin! The Capar feels slow and steady. The Jenkins is flighty and needs lots of attention (i.e., multiple flicks per make). The EA is easygoing and a real pleasure to use. I pick them up here and there throughout the day. I have not yet made a habit of spindling for long, productive lengths of time nor have I gotten comfortable spinning out and about (like, say, waiting in a doctor’s office) which is when most of my crafting time occurs. Do you spin in any unusual places?

Simply Royal:

BMFA BFL superwash, colorway Royal. Click for project page.

You’ll have to pretend like that’s a current, decent picture of my sock project… because it’s not. The purple area is meant to represent the length it is at the moment. Some progress, yay!

The Project That Isn’t:

Cephalopod Yarns Traveller | Woolen Diversions

Cephalopod Yarns Traveller, colorway Hobart, IN.

Just before we left for Costa Rica (like the night before), I went crazy (“I won’t have enough knitting, OMG!!!” ha) and wound up two skeins of CY Traveller for an emergency airplane project. I had decided I wanted to knit a Brickless shawl, but then I noticed how different my two skeins were. The top skein has a much bluer/greener cast and the bottom skein is more on the orangey-brown end of this colorway’s spectrum. (In case you’re wondering, the skeins were split in half so I could force them to fit into my bursting carry-on. See: crazy.) I tried alternating skeins while knitting and it just didn’t look tidy with the way this pattern incorporates bound off edges into the design. I knit the tip of this shawl about 4 times, each time second-guessing myself and wondering if it wouldn’t be better in a thicker yarn with some silk in it (my original plan) or at least some better-matched skeins. Then I remembered the other projects I had wanted to knit with the Traveller yarn:

Photo copyright Hunter Hammersen. Click for pattern page.

Like the Chrysanthemum frutescens hat…

Photo copyright madelinetosh. Click for pattern page.

Or the Honey Cowl. I think if I use half of each skein for each project and alternate for a bit in the middle, the color differences shouldn’t be too noticeable, more like a gentle fade in tone. I should have enough yarn for the hat and a small version of the cowl. A fun and easy fall accessory set should be just the thing to get my knitting mojo back. Have you ever had a project that just did not want to be?

Check out Tamis Amis for more WIPs!

WIPWed #61: Time Warp

Posted on August 6, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

It turns out that when you spend your summer getting married and going on a honeymoon, your knitting progress seriously suffers. It appears that my active WIPs are exactly the same as they were in my last WIP Wednesday post a month ago!

(Not So) Secret Swatches:

This project is basically just a couple inches longer than it was in the last post, so nothing to see here.

Simply Royal:

BMFA BFL Fingering Superwash, colorway Royal. Click for project page.

I began this sock just before my wedding, knit on it during our photo session, and took it with me to Costa Rica. This is a very special sock, indeed, although the knitting is very simple. I’m loving the way the colors are knitting up, the combination of striping and pooling is really interesting!

Tarnished Yak/Silk:

BMFA Rockin’ Whorl Club Yak/Silk fiber, colorway Metalocalypse. Click for handspun project page.

My little Jenkins Aegean flew with me to Costa Rica, too, but only spent a little bit of time out and about. It was too humid to spin, really. The fine, soft fibers stuck to my fingers too much and it just wasn’t pleasant. But now I’m back, and ready to tackle this fiber as part of the Jenkins Ravelry group’s Fall Mini Spin-A-Long.

Speaking of spindles, a wonderful new addition joined my (quickly) growing collection:

Enid Ashcroft Mini Turkish spindle.

It is every bit as gorgeous and teeny tiny as it seems! Its whorl diameter is only 3.25″ and it weighs 17 g, my smallest and lightest Turk yet. The arms are Tulipwood and the shaft is African Padauk. I don’t know if it’s the weight, the dimensions, the woods, or the maker (or some combination) but it’s also the most pleasant to use of my Turkish spindles. It has the longest and most stable spin of the three that I own and it feels the most comfortable to wind on. Basically, I adore it and I anticipate much happy spinning in our future.

And speaking of new acquisitions, this is what happens when there is a mystery grab bag mill end sale, a closing down of a favorite yarn company, and a discontinuing of a favorite yarn base all at the same time during a fairly stressful month:

YARN-SPLOSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I swear, I’m usually much more restrained than this, but it was a trifecta of circumstance (plus so many sales!) and these acquisitions just could not be resisted. They should keep me going for quite a while, I’d say. Want more details?

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight

These were my Mystery Mill End grab bags from BMFA. I told them I liked blues and purples and they totally delivered! I’m not completely in love with the skein all the way to the left (royal blues mixed with oranges that got a little muddy) but STR is superwash and always good for baby knits or toys, and I see this skein as a great baby boy color (which is rare in my stash). The rest of the skeins, I love: a pale icy blue, a moody mix of purples, teals, and maroons, and finally a skein that looks a lot like Lavender Fields in the Mist, which I’ve admired for a while. Very happy with my mysteries!

Final Cephalopod Yarns purchase.

These three skeins of CY Traveller were the only things I could snag off the website during the feeding-frenzy days of the final CY updates (2x Red Palace and Wolcott). I’m not usually drawn to reds, but I’m surprised by how much I like the Red Palace colorway and the Fiasco basically exclaimed “OMG THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!” with completely non-ironic enthusiasm when he saw it, so it stays. I actually have 2 more skeins of Skinny Bugga headed my way that my dear friend Jeremie picked up from his local yarn store. Before this point I wasn’t really buying yarn very actively so I am grateful he was able to get me a couple of colorways I’ve loved for a long time but hadn’t yet stashed. Yay for yarn-conscious friends!

CY Bugga in Flamboyant Cuttlefish

This skein also falls under the ‘loved for a long time but hadn’t yet stashed’ category. CY is pretty famous for its amazing rainbows and I just had to grab this from a destash while I still could.

Verdant Gryphon Mondegreen in Paradise Valley, Black Hole Evaporation, and Athena

One of my other favorite yarnies, Verdant Gryphon, is discontinuing one of my favorite yarn bases, Mondegreen, and selling it for 40% off with the coupon code ‘mondegreen40’ at checkout (I believe the sale is still going). So (I ask you again), how could I resist? Although I haven’t stashed very much Mondegreen (see: not actively buying lots of yarn recently) I still really love it and am sad to see it go. The blend of BFL wool, silk, and camel down is unique and a delight to work with.

VG Codex, colorway Carousel Horse

I believe at this stage of the game I reached a point of “what the hell, why not” and just grabbed this skein because it was pretty and different from anything else in my stash. Don’t judge me, ok? These things happen.

I hope that was enough yarn candy to perk up your Wednesdays! Check out more WIPs with Tamis Amis.

So Long, And Thanks for All the Yarn

Posted on July 15, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

One of my favorite indie dyers, Sarah Eyre of Cephalopod Yarns, announced today that she needs to close down her business for the sake of her health. (See here for the shop announcement, and here for an eloquently-written post about it on her personal blog.)

Bugga in Blue Ringed Octopus and Box Jellyfish. Click for project page.

I’ve decided that the best way I can mourn the loss of her gorgeous yarn, is to celebrate the beautiful skeins that have graced my knitting needles. My Beautiful Briny Sea shawl is one of my absolute favorite knits — the colors embody everything I love and I wear it all of the time.

Bugga in Fig Eater and Dog Days Cicada. Click for project page.

Sarah’s colorways always manage to look subtle and cohesive from a distance, but up close they are gorgeously variegated and complex.

Bugga in Blue Lobster. Click for project page.

The above photo does zero justice for the yarn, but Blue Lobster has got to be one of the best blues of all time (and I am a great admirer of blues). It is rich, electric, and tinged with just enough green to appeal to my teal-loving tendencies. I have worn these mitts every fall and winter since 2011 and I love them just as fiercely as I did when I first finished them.

Bugga in Starry Night Cracker. Click for project page.

These socks were one of the earliest pairs I’ve ever knit, from one of my first skeins of Bugga back in the Sanguine Gryphon days. The Starry Night Cracker colorway is a perfect, gentle dusky blue tinged with tannish undertones. It will be missed.

Skinny Bugga in Horseshoe Crab. Click for project page.

I have not yet finished this shawl (started in * mumble mumble 2010 cough *) due to early-lace-knitting-incompetence but it was meant to commemorate my time in grad school studying horseshoe crabs. Perhaps I will dust off this old WIP now, fix my mistakes and finish it once and for all, for the sake of nostalgia.

Bugga fiber, handspun, in the colorway Yubaba. Click for project page.

One of my first decent skeins of handspun yarn was made with CY Bugga fiber. I love this skein so much, and was thrilled to knit it up for a pattern that will be published in the Afghans for Afghans charity e-book that should be out in the near-ish future.

Traveller in San Francisco Bay. Click for project page.

CY’s Traveller yarn has clothed countless babies and children, I imagine. The sweet little hat above was destined for a good friend’s baby, who wore it well beyond the age when I thought it would still fit.

Traveller in Aokigahara. Click for project page.

Traveller makes great adult hats, too, and I appear to especially love to use it in my Beribboned designs. So many beribboned things.

Skinny Bugga in Nude, San Francisco Bay, and Ghost Moth. Click for project page.

Sarah, your talent, artistry, and eye for color will be sorely missed in the yarn world. I refuse to say that you as a person will be missed, because I am determine to believed that you will remain involved as much as you can in the beautiful, creative community that’s grown up around the beautiful, creative work that you’ve done. Slow down, rest up, and care for yourself. Be proud of everything you’ve made. Remember that much love is heading your way during this difficult transition. And thanks (ever, ever so much) for all the yarn.

IS #67: DK Cardigan Roundup

Posted on April 5, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

Following up on my DK weight pullover/tee/top roundup from last week, here are some of the DK weight cardigan patterns that have caught my eye lately. Which would you knit with 4 – 6 skeins of Cephalopod Yarns Traveller?

First up is Lanata designed by Amy Christoffers. I like the wavey lines of lace, the simple raglan shaping. This one is pretty classic in style and feel, with just a little bit of fun detail from the lace. I think I’d probably need closer to the full 6 skeins for this pattern, which is a slight problem since they are mismatched, so it might not be ideal right now but it is still lovely.

The Bayview Street Cardigan designed by Elinor Brown is similar to the Lanata in that it is a classic shape in a lace stitch pattern but this one has set-in sleeves. Since I have yet to knit a sweater I’m not sure which sleeve method I would like more, but I do tend to like the look of store-bought raglans on me, even though I’d read that raglan shaping isn’t the most flattering for larger sizes or larger-busted ladies. So I could go either way, I suppose. Do you have a favorite sleeve method? Flippant by Nora Hinch is pretty much the same idea as the Bayview cardi, just with a different lace pattern.

The Estelle Cardigan designed by Melissa LaBarre was recommended to me when I asked for advice on the CY Ravelry board. I like the wavy lace details and the subtle ribbed waist shaping. I’m not sure I would love a cardi without closures on me but it does look really great here.

Exploring the no-closure idea further, I came across Vonica designed by Bonne Marie Burns. I love the mixing of solid panels of stockinette (which I had actually thought was garter stitch before until I just looked more closely at it… weird) with zig-zag lace. It creates a really nice visual interest and breaks up the body in a flattering way.

Then I had a ‘DUH!’ moment and remembered Amy Herzog. I love almost everything that Amy designs and she has that cool CustomFit software that I could use with a pattern recipe to get a perfect fit without worrying about modifications. This lovely thing is Aislinn. I love the lace panels and the interesting waist tie detail. It’s very feminine and flirty.

Another Amy Herzog pattern I’m digging right now is Petrea. It still has the lace detail but is not all-over so it serves as more of an accent. I love the lace on the sleeves, as well, and that this is a short-sleeved cardi. I have a few store-bought short-sleeved pullovers that are great to wear at work so even though it wouldn’t be the warmest thing year-round, it is probably perfect for spring through fall. The scoop neck is pretty, too, and I think I could make this in my size with just 4 skeins.

I think Petrea, Aislinn, Vonica, and Snowflake (from last week) are the front-runners right now, but I’m still so torn! What would you knit? Anything inspiring you, lately? Please share in the comments!