Category: Knitting

Knitting projects

Turkey Tracks: Leftover Sock Yarn–Kelly’s Birthday Socks

Turkey Tracks:  February 26, 2012

Leftover Sock Yarn–Kelly’s Birthday Socks

Here’s a pic of the first pair of socks out of the leftover sock yarn:

I bought three small sock-yarn skeins to coordinate with the mixture of leftover yarns:  navy, cream, and a fern green.

Here I used the navy for the cuffs, toes, and heels.

I had JUST enough of this one kind of yarn with the little color flecks to do the rest of both socks.

Mercy!  They’re cute, huh?

Kelly says they fit.  I talked to him this morning.  I sent the socks home with Mike, who was here last weekend for the Camden Conference.  He also got a bottle of Cheryl Wixson’s homemade ketchup into his suitcase.  Kelly LOVES ketchup.

The socks are on a bedspread that John’s mother crocheted for his sister, Maryann, for her 16th birthday.  It’s still going strong, and we love it.  It is on the bed in our guest bedroom.

Turkey Tracks: Knitting Class, Carrying Yarn Color

Turkey Tracks:   February 24, 2012

Knitting Class, Carrying Yarn Color

Once we got our yarn from Kelly Corbett’s Romney Ridge Farm, the next step in Giovanna’s and my “carrying color” project was to take Aloisia Pollack’s class and to buy her pattern.  So, she invited us to come to her home in Jefferson, Maine, which is located at the western top of Damariscotta Lake.  Off we went one fine morning a few weeks ago now.

Here’s the view from Aloisia’s front windows–her rental cabins (Sunset Cabins) lie in a string alongside the lake:

Here’s Aloisia with a sweater project that uses the “carrying color” technique.

To remind, here’s the sweater we’re trying to make, but using our own color choices:

As of Saturday, the 18th, here’s what Giovanna’s sweater looks like:

And, here’s mine.  I made the bottom bands one color and wider.  Since this band gets repeated at the top of the sleeves, I’m not sure I like the wider stripes…  Giovanna tells me that this kind of band is traditional in FairIsle sweaters.

And, Giovanna’s tension is looking better than mine.   Giovanna found a widget that fits over your forefinger that helps control the two yarns–in that it keeps them from tangling and twisting so much.  We got one for me in Belfast at Heavenly Socks, and it does help a lot.  You can see it dangling from my threads; it’s orange.

We both did wider ribbing than Aloisia’s pattern…  Perhaps my band will work with the longer ribbing…  And, I’m making a cardigan, not a pullover.

Giovanna and I are both still feeling like we have clumsy, slow fingers.  But, my knit row is now faster than my purl rows…   And, as we’re doing the sweater “in the round,” that slows down the process as well.

On the way home from Belfast, on Route 52 by Megunticook Lake, we saw an eagle in the middle of the road eating some road kill.  Giovanna stopped the car, and I got this picture after the eagle flew up into the trees.  Follow the two white birch’s up, and you’ll see him/her.

Turkey Tracks: Giovanna Winding Yarn Into Balls

Turkey Tracks:  February 18, 2012

Giovanna Winding Yarn Into Balls

Giovanna McCarthy is a master knitter.

She has knitting equipment I don’t have.

Giovanna, very sweetly, offered to wind my Romney Ridge yarn for me at her house.

Here’s Giovanna setting up a skein of yarn to be wound.

Here she is winding away–which was not as easy as she’s making it look as often, the yarn got tangled up and has to be sorted out.  It happens sometimes, she says.  See that red shawl back of her on the chair.  Boy is it spectacular!  She just finished making it.  I’ll do a separate entry for it.

Note the table back of Giovanna–what you can’t see clearly is the blocking pad she has where she can block a whole sweater.  There is a gorgeous Irish knit sweater drying over there.

Here’s my yarn, all wound into balls and ready to go.  The greyish (it’s really more brown) yarn on the bottom left is the natural color of one of Kelly’s sheep.

Here’s Giovanna’s yarn all wound into balls–she chose more variegated versions than I did, but we both got a skein of the natural sheep yarn.

Next step:  Going to Aloisia Pollack’s house down in Jefferson, on Damariscotta Lake, for our lesson how to carry two colors.

Turkey Tracks: Tuesday is Clean Sheet Day

Turkey Tracks:  February 12, 2012

Tuesday is Clean Sheet Day

Or, wash day.

And the day we change sheets.

Last Tuesday I took this picture of the counter over the dryer.  I throw my wool socks on to the counter when they come out of the washer.  (Make sure your wool socks are washable!)  I can dry them in the dryer, but I never do as I have the notion that they will last longer if I don’t subject them to the dryer’s heat.

Anyway, all the colors seemed pretty to me lying all next to each other.

Turkey Tracks: Leftover Sock Yarn

Turkey Tracks:  February 7, 2012

Leftover Sock Yarn

Here’s what my leftover sock yarn pile looks like now:

I was shocked when I rummanged through the yarn bin and saw how much there was.

It’s the same problem as the leftover quilt fabrics.

Last week I bought two sock skeins:  navy and cream.   I’m going to use them to unify these yarns (cuff, heel, toe?) so I can make all the grandchildren socks for next winter.   You can see a pair for Kelly shaping up.  The blues will be easy I think.

I don’t know.  Maybe I need a soft green too?

Yikes!

Turkey Tracks: More Socks

Turkey Tracks:  February 7, 2012

More Socks

Yes, I’m still knitting socks.

Here’s a pair given to daughter-in-law Corinne at Thanksgiving.  Though she lives in Charleston, she travels to Philadelphia and to Maine in the winter.

I particularly like this yarn because it has little glitter bits woven into the yarn.  It seems so festive:

Here’s a pair started in Charleston over Thanksgiving and given to daughter-in-law Tamara when she came to Maine for Christmas this year.  This yarn was so yummy to work with–I recall it had something added–aloe?  lanolin?:

 And, here’s a pair I made for myself, using Cookie A’s pattern, “Lindsay.”  This one was a bit easier as it repeats consistently over 8 rows.  And, it had a short-row heel and toe, which was so fun to make.  My first time with a short-row.  The column that runs down the sock is only on the outside of each sock.  That’s the kind of detail about which Cookie A thinks.

Here’s what the pattern looks like when stretched out a bit:

These feel great on my feet.

Turkey Tracks: Yarn Road Trip

Turkey Tracks:  February 2, 2012

Yarn Road Trip

Giovanna McCarthy and I hit the road one day last week.  Our destination:  Romney Ridge Farm Yarn Company in Woolwich, Maine, which is about an hour south of Camden.

There is a history to this story.

Last summer I met Kelly L. Corbett, the owner of Romney Ridge Farm Yarn Company, at MOFGA’s Common Ground Fair in September.  (MOFGA is the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association, and they have a spectacular fair each year.)  Kelly had asked Aloisia Pollock, a master knitter, to make a sweater showcasing Kelly’s yarns.  Here’s the sweater–which uses a method of carrying two colors to make the little diamonds.

When I got home from MOFGA I went into our new knitting store here in Camden:  The Cashmere Goat.  They LOVED the idea of carrying Kelly’s yarns and hosting a class taught by Aloisia Pollock to make her sweater–and they have a wonderful space to take such a class.  The three groups came together, and that class will be taught in early April 2012.  The sweater is now hanging in the store, alongside some of Kelly’s yarns.

But, Giovanna and I wanted a larger yarn selection than The Cashmere Goat presently has, so we called Kelly and went down on a cold, wintry to pick out the 7 skeins we needed for this project.  We were blown away by all the colors, the possibilities.  Both of us were paralyzed for long moments.  Giovanna summed up what we were both thinking.  “How can I pick seven colors when I want every single one here!”

Here’s what I came home with–the yarn on the far right is the “natural” undyed color of the sheep’s wool.  And, the dark purple yarn above the mauve color isn’t showing up well in this picture:

I also came home with a turquoise yarn I thought would make a great scarf for my black winter coat–AND that will go with my Noro sweater and hat:

Kelly’s farm shop is easy to get to from Route 1.  She’s just below Wiscasset.  Her web site is www.romneyridgefarm.com.  She has a blog as well on that site.

Aloisia Pollock lives in Jefferson and runs the Sunset Cabins on Damariscotta Lake–www.sunsetcabinsmaine.com.

The Cashmere Goat is at 20 Bayview Street in Camden–www.thecashmeregoatknit.com.

Giovanna and I are going down to see Aloisia next Wednesday, and we can hardly wait!

Turkey Tracks: Finished Debbie Bliss Sweater

Turkey Tracks:  October 29, 2011

Finished Debbie Bliss Sweater

One day last spring, I think, several of us took a road trip down to Halcyon Yarn in Bath.  I saw a sweater made up  there that I really liked.  I found the pattern in a Debbie Bliss book and bought it.  The sweater called for wool, but I wanted a nice heavy cotton sweater for spring/summer.

Here’s the book:

And here’s what the sweater looks like in the book–sorry about the flash on the page:

Helen at Heavenly Socks in Belfast helped me find a cotton/wool blended yarn she thought would be a good substitute for the wool in the pattern.  I had a hard time with tension, however.  But, the finished sweater is also kind of funky, and I do like it.  And, it fits, though the sleeves are perhaps a tad too long–I’m getting more confidence with measuring and deviating from the pattern as I go along making things.  Helen told me later that sometimes with cotton, knitters say to unknit your last row when you pick up your knitting after stopping.  That doesn’t sound like fun.  And, the tension issues happened all through the knitting anyway.  I think it’s more about this particular yarn…since I don’t usually have tension problems.

Giovanna McCarthy showed me how to sew the pieces together properly and oh! what a difference!

And, there is a mistake in the pattern, but when you get to it, you’ve done enough of the pattern to figure it out.

Anyway, here’s the finished sweater–with me with wet hair!

Turkey Tracks: Kaffe Fasset Designer Sock Yarns

Turkey Tracks:  October 13, 2011

Kaffe Fasset Designer Sock Yarns

I’ve been knitting like a mad woman all fall.

All summer I’m so busy outside that I have little time for indoor fiber arts.  So, my fingers start to itch to get back into sewing and knitting.

I’ve finished these two sock pairs–I posted one of them earlier.  But here are two of Kaffe Fasset Designer Socks in different colorways.  The pic is overexposed a bit–these colors are much darker, richer.  But you can see how the yarn makes little patterns of its own within the sock :

I love the way the heels work out on these socks:

Oh lord!  See the white dog hairs!

I will keep one pair and am gifting with the other.

I have a new pair started–navy and white that I need for myself.

Turkey Tracks: More Socks

Turkey Tracks:  September 18, 2011

More Socks

When I first started making socks, I bought a fair amount of sock yarn at various sales around and about Maine.

So, I’m systematically working away at…making socks.  Which isn’t a hardship because I’m clearly obsessed with making them…

OK, I took a break this summer and made a sweater that I’m sewing together now, so I’m sure you’ll see it here soon.

Anyway, here’s the current pair of socks “in progress.”

But, aren’t they pretty?  They are a Kaffe Fasset yarn that makes the funky colorful designs.

I’m looking forward to making more of Cookie A’s intricate patterns, but…not until I use up the yarn I already have.  Cookie A’s designs wouldn’t show up well with a yarn like this one.

As I write, on the second sock I’m past the heel turn and well into working down the stitches on the gusset.  On to the toe!