Breakfast Club

Betsy knit up two more Rock the Pompom Hats in madelinetosh Tosh Chunky (Bulky: 100% Merino, 165 yards).

She knit up Debbie Bliss Classic Cardigan in Baby Cashmerino Tonals (Sport: 55% Merino, 33% Acrylic, 12% Cashmere, 137 yards). The buttons are coffee beans!

Diane is knitting The Easy Bulky One in Brooklyn Tweed Quarry (Bulky: 100% Wool - Targhee-Columbia, 200 yards). Neither of us can believe how quickly she's knit this. She only bought the yarn at the last class ~ last month. I guess the sweater is living up to its name, EASY.

Maddie is living the Super Bulky Knitting Dream.  

She's knitting this sweater from a magazine in the '60's! Yarn: Mirasol Ushya (Super Bulky: 98% Merino, 2% Nylon, 114 yards).

Next on the needles is the Purl Soho Classic Knit Jacket knit with Purl Soho Lanecardate Feltro (Super Bulky: 75% Wool, 25% Angora, 98 yards). As it's a top down sweater, she kept trying it on to make sure she knit it long enough. The village (knitters around the table) were happy to weigh in.

Lastly, #15 Chunky Vest. She is loving knitting with big needles. She'll have ample time to wear these bulky knits given the recent March weather.

Meg is beginning to make peace with the colors of the Building in Color Afghan she is knitting for her mother. We all loved how this strip was coming out.

Last month she brought her recently St. Brendan Sweater in The Fibre Company Arranmore (Aran: 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere goat, 10% Silk, 175 yards). It's a great looking sweater!

Jayne finished her first hat, Simple & Easy Hat for the Whole Family (gathered version ~ knit in the round). Yarn: Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash (Worsted: 100% Merino, 218 yards).

Jennifer shared her finished Ohra shawl. 

Harry kept me company until this blog post was done. Thankfully he had the table to rest is head on while he waited.

Friezing in Florida

Mosaic knitting is one of my favorite color-work techniques. This eye-catching shawl/scarf looks more complicated than it is.  
 

© maliha

The Frieze Shawl by Lisa Hannes is pure knitting fun. Per the designer, “It is an elongated, asymmetrical triangle shawl with a curved top edge. You’ll start knitting with just a few stitches at one tip, then work your way across to the opposite edge creating the triangular shape by increasing/decreasing at the edges. It is finished with an i-cord bind-off.” 

It's knit up on larger needles, US #8-10 (depending on your yarn). The pattern requires 200 yards of worsted/aran weight yarn in two colors with good contrast. It can be a solid and a variegated or two solids. Either way, it is really striking.

I've knit the pattern three times, once for a sample for Westport Yarns (and a class). Yarn: Blue Sky Fibers Extra and Artyarns Big Merino Cloud. 

Next I knit one for myself in Noro Silk Garden and Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Worsted.

 

I just finished my third Frieze Shawl for an upcoming class at Knit or Knot Yarns in Jupiter, Florida. For this shawl I used Noro Taiyo Aran and Berroco Comfort Solids & Heathers. Given the climate, I chose non-wool yarns. 
 
As you can see, I am partial to variegated yarns as contrast to the solid color. Yarns with long color repeats (like Noro) knit up with in stripes of color. The first shawl I knit had a randomly variegated yarn which results in random color shifts. The shawl could easily be knit with two solids for dramatic effect. Click here to view a knitter on Ravelry who chose two solids.

If you're in the Jupiter area and not freezing elsewhere, join me for the Frieze Shawl class at Knit or Knot. For more information, call the shop at 561-746-1005 or email them at knitorknotyarns@gmail.com.

Adventures with Two-Color aka Stranded Knitting

Saturday, Beth, Robbie and I drove up to the Kent Knitting Retreat.  We had signed up for one day of classes.  While we were getting settled, we ran into Amy Herzog, designer and mastermind behind Customfit sweaters. We offer the Customfit program at Westport Yarns and wanted to say hello.

 

I took two awesome classes with Mary Jane Mucklestone.  She has written three books on color knitting.

The first class was Two-Color Knitting. I just learned two-color knitting a year ago when I knit the Koigu Mobius Cowl. I fell in love with the technique. As with any technique there is always room to learn more.

I attending the class with Beth, Robbie and met up with several Westport Yarns staff and customers.  The class was FULL!

We made this headband (could've been a hat if I wanted to continue).  If you knit Continental, she taught you how to knit carrying both colors in your left hand.  If you knit English style, she taught you how to knit with one color in each hand.

I had learned both methods. I was more comfortable holding a color in each hand because I tended to get really twisted up when I attempted two colors in my left hand.  She taught us how to avoid getting tangled and how to manage your yarn so your floats come out right.

I have to give you a visual here. Working the color in my left hand, knit Continental style, is a smooth process (if loose).  Since I don't actively knit English, my movements are totally exaggerated, like a caricature of someone throwing the yarn. I could've lassoed a wild animal with the reach of my throwing of the yarn.  Beth was knitting to my left and Sari (a customer) was behind me.  They helped me economize my movements.  It still felt completely clumsy because I was unaccustomed to it.

Here is the (potentially) life changing observation.  My gauge with the color knit English style was remarkably tighter than my Continental color. Considering that I have to go down a minimum of two needle sizes just to get gauge, this could revolutionize my knitting.  I left this class in an elated fog of how much we learned and what all this means for my gauge going forward.

 

At lunch we ate at an outdoor cafe. Next to us was a couple with two Bull Mastiff dogs.

 

 

They were ginormous! To give you perspective, I wear a size 9 shoe.  Yikes. They were sweeties.

The afternoon class was about Scandinavian knitting.  First off she explained that one of the major differences between Fair Isle and Scandinavian knitting is that Scandinavian knitting has motifs of people and animals.  Fair Isle does not.

There were several pattern options for trying out Scandinavian knitting.  Julie and I chose the "insane" one.  I mean really, go insane or go home.

First off she taught us how to knit two color garter, in the round, with no purling.  Think about that for a few minutes.  You'll get it. Garter knit flat is knit every row.  Garter knit in the round is (ordinarily) knit a round, then purl a round and alternate between the two rounds.

I decided to continue to pursue my gauge discovery as a bonus to learning the Scandinavian knitting. (I'm getting really good at typing Scandinavian) Now this will be hard to see, you can pretend you see it, that's fine.The white yarn was knit Continental.  The blue yarn, English style.  After four rounds, my gauge for the blue was so tight, it felt like the blue stitches were disappearing.  I went up a needle (unheard of for me) and it was markedly better.

This could've been a hat or headband as well.  However, with my gauge all over the place, it will stay a swatch.  I keep all the swatches I knit in classes for future reference.

Stay tuned for gauge play comparing and contrasting my results with Continental and English.