Monthly Archives: March 2009

Catching Up

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Whisper Cardigan

Since I last posted I’ve come very close to finishing my Whisper Cardigan and I’ve also been doing some spinning and swatching for my next project.  Whisper is just a few inches from being done, I finished the sleeves and back and knit the ribbing and now I’ve knit most of the body of the sweater.  I tried it on the other night and so far it looks good, I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, but I think it will be fine.

Singles

Here’s my spinning.  This is about 3oz of wool spun at around 35-40 wpi that will be a lace weight 2 ply by the time I’m done with it.  This is the finest yarn I’ve spun so far and I’m really happy with how it’s coming out so far.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s done.

My day has been spent sitting on my bed with my leg in the air and an ice pack on my ankle.  I’ve had trouble with my ankles since I was thirteen, when I broke my right ankle (I stepped down a couple inches onto grass from my concrete driveway and snapped the joint in half.  Wore a cast for three months and couldn’t walk without crutches for six), I can sprain one just by taking a normal step.  I’m pretty sure I sprained this one walking down the stairs at my house on Saturday.  It’s been sore since then but I just noticed how very, very, swollen it is today (they stay a little swollen all the time but I’ve got a good sized goose egg on the left ankle today).  It’s not too bad but I don’t think the spinning I did all weekend and this morning helped any.

Another New Bag

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New Bag

I have another FO to share!  This is the little felted bag that I mentioned I was weaving last week.  I fulled it in the washing machine Monday and did all the finishing this afternoon.  There’s a pattern for the bag at the Knitting Daily TV site but it was really easy to make.  I just wove a piece of fabric that was about 12 inches wide by about 25 inches long, folded it in half and sewed up the bottom and one side, the popped it in the machine through two cycles on hot.  I used yarn that I have, KnitPicks Merino Style is the green and the brown is Lion Wool.  The finished by is about 7”x8”.  I’m using it now to hold my hooks and clamps and warping peg for my loom.

I really have nothing else.  I’m not feeling too great this week and I’m dog sitting but I’ll try to have an update on my Whisper Cardigan for tomorrow.

Something New

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Whisper Cardigan

I finished up my work project over the weekend and immediately started searching my Ravelry queue for something new to cast on.  I wanted something different, no scarves, no lace, and something that I didn’t have to buy more yarn to knit, I wanted to be able to immediately cast on.  Thinking about the yarn I have, a few skeins of lace yarn, a few skeins of Peace Fleece worsted that I keep forgetting about, two skeins of worsted weight organic cotton, some odds and ends of handspun, I don’t really have a stash, I came up with the whisper cardigan from the Spring 2009 Interweave Knits.  It fit the bill:  yarn that I already have- check, a pattern I don’t have to pay for- check, no lace or a scarf- check.  I found some Helen’s Lace in a pretty variegated purple and swatched (had to go down a needle size to get gauge) and cast on the first sleeve.  I’m making pretty good progress, this is most of the first sleeve and I really like it so far.  My only qualm is I’m not sure about the color.  I like purple but I never really wear purple and I’m not even sure I have anything to match it.  I thought about over dyeing it with a touch of black, just to darken it a little, may try that on the swatch.

I also wove some fabric that I used to make a small felted bag but it’s still wet and I have some finishing left to do so I’ll get pictures of it tomorrow.

A Food Post

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Starbucks Via coffee

I don’t really have anything crafty to blog about, but I have been doing a lot of cooking.  First up, this is a cup of Starbucks VIA instant coffee that I got as a free sample.  I think you can tell just how dark and thick the coffee is, despite the reflection in the picture.  As far as instant coffee goes, it wasn’t bad.  I have the Columbian and it was very dark and strong but I didn’t read their instructions so I think I didn’t put enough water in mine, I have another sample and I’ll try it again tomorrow.  I’m not a huge fan of Starbucks coffee, I do love me a Pumpkin Spice Latte or a Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino, but this wasn’t too bad.  I probably won’t buy any since I can’t really justify the cost and I don’t really need instant coffee, but if I did need instant coffee, I would buy this.

I’ve been cooking a lot more than usual lately, I’m trying to eat more fresh food, and I’ve had this weird craving for cauliflower.  I tried roasting some cauliflower yesterday and today and it was easy and fast and really good.  I just put about a tablespoon of olive oil, some garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl and tossed the cauliflower to coat it and cooked it in the oven at 425F for about fifteen minutes.  I can’t get enough of this.  I think it would be really good with some cumin instead of the garlic, too, or maybe some cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick.  I’ve been eating this instead of chips with an avocado and tomato sandwich with spicy German horseradish mustard on  nine grain bread for lunch.  Tomorrow I think I’ll make some curried chickpeas and rice since it’s supposed to cool back down (it was 75 today!).  All this talk of food is making me hungry, think I’ll go find something to eat.  Too bad I’m out of cauliflower.

Scarf Lady

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Scarf from Victorian Lace Today

I feel like all I’ve been knitting lately are scarves.  Lacey scarves, woven scarves, aran scarves, just lots of scarves.  Here’s another to add to my scarf pile.

Details:

  • Pattern:  Scarf with French trellis border from Weldon’s 1890 and bramble leaf center by Jane Sowerby from Victorian Lace Today
  • Yarn:  KnitPicks Shadow in Midnight Heather, leftover from Irtfa’a (which I still haven’t blocked, BTW)
  • Needles:  US4/3.5mm
  • Modifications:  I used lace weight yarn and smaller needles.  The original suggests both fingering and DK weight yarns.
  • See it on Ravelry.

Woven Scarves

And I know that I kept putting off taking pictures of the first two scarves I wove, but here they are.  The first I made was the black and burgundy in the back of this picture.  The warp yarn (black) is Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted and the weft is Wool-Ease Chunky that I had leftover from Juliet.  This came out really wide, about eight inches, but it’s only about five feet long with fringe.  I made it following the directions that came with my loom and it was great practice.  The scarf in front is what I made next, the warp yarn is KnitPicks Comfy (cotton/acrylic blend, very soft and not acrylic-y at all) in a light pink and green stripe and the weft is KnitPicks Suri Dream, a fuzzy alpaca, in white.  The yarn is leftover from knitting these little cupcakes for the KnitPicks catalog.  This is much narrower, maybe four inches wide but still only around five feet long.  My weaving on this one was more even, my selvedges look a lot better.  It’s very soft and drapey.

Today I finished the shawl that I had been weaving, I just have the finishing to do, knot my fringe and cut it off the loom, I can probably finish that tonight.  And I’m not knitting anything except my work project, which is fairly close to being done.  I think next I would like to try weaving with my handspun.  And I might be going on vacation in a few months, plus summer is on the way, and I think I want some lightweight knitted stuff to take with me.