Fiber Fool

Thank you guys for so many fantastic comments here on the blog and at Ravelry on my February Lady Sweater. I have cast on a second sweater, but am not very far as yarn arrived for a secret design project shortly there after and has taken all of my possible knitting time right now as the shoulder is acting up once again :-(

There hasn’t been a ton of time for reading either, but it has been a long while since I blogged about my reading so I figured it was about time. On the far right is my current before bed reading. Fire and Fog
is the second book in the . The series is a historical cozy mystery. Caroline Freemont Jones grew up in a Boston society family. When her fathered remarried after being widowed the young woman took a train to San Francisco and set up a typewriting business. Somehow (as in all cozies, right?) she finds herself in the midst of an interesting mystery in each installment. I am a sucker for historical mysteries and I am thrilled I stumbled across this series.

The two books on the top of the stack I read a few books ago (which aren’t included in the photo because they were library books). Any Given Doomsday
is the first in a brand new series by Lori Handeland. And yes, there are two copies there. It seems that due to my accounts on multiple book/reading related websites I got on the publisher’s list twice for an ARC copy of this title and their database wasn’t smart enough to send me just one. The series falls in what many call Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance genres. The author cites Laurel K. Hamilton as a source of inspiration and many have found the similarities between Hamilton’s Anita Blake series and this new book to be too blatant. As I had not yet read any Hamilton and have recently discovered that paranormal things like vampires and werewolves and the like are not bad things in fiction (due to a recent obsession of DH & I with Buffy
and Angel) I enjoyed the title quite a lot. The book does have some pretty explicit love scenes and obviously includes paranormal things and a fantasy world. If you do not find such things offensive I would like to give my second copy to a new home.

I have another ARC that I read earlier this summer. The book is Summer Blowout by Clarie Cook. It is definitely a fluffy beach book sort of title, but a fun light read. It will likely appeal to those who enjoy fashion and beauty. As shelving space is always tight around here I’ve chosen to not hang onto this book.

For those unfamiliar with ARCs they are Advanced Reading Copies. Publishers send them out to start buzz about the title, often in advance of the book’s availability in bookstores. They are labeled that they are not for sale. The terms I accepted when I got on the list to get copies was that I would post a review either on one of the book/reading social network sites, on my blog here or on Amazone (or all of the above). I would ask that you observe these same conditions if I send one of these books to you. The title doesn’t have to go to the very top of your reading listing. Certainly finish any library books first. But you should be able to read the title in the next 4-6 weeks and post a review at some public web site when you are done - Amazon, B&N, Powell’s, a personal blog, GoodReads, LibraryThing etc.. Honest reviews are encouraged.

If you are interested in either of these two books, can meet the same terms, and are in the US, leave a comment with the title of the book you are most interested in. If there are multiple requests I’ll either draw a name or use the random number generator to choose the winner. I will then mail the books media mail to the winners. Leave your comments by Tuesday, 21 October.

Pattern: February Lady Sweater
Designer: Pamela Wynne w/ Elizabeth Zimmerman
Size: XL
Yarn: 5.2 skeins of Cascade 220 Heathers in Mahogany (2454)
Needles: US 8 and 9 (for lower body)
Buttons: Square Handmade Paduk buttons from Cyndy of Riverrim
Made For: My selfish self :-)

If you’ve been here much you may realize this is my first sweater. Yes. Really. Sort of. I did the Ribs and Lace Tank in the spring of 2007 and immediately started a Sahara which needs lengthening and for me to loose 20 more pounds so it isn’t actually finished. And seeing as how Ribs and Lace is sleeveless it doesn’t *really* count as a sweater in my mind. Around here the emphasis has always been on socks and other smaller, more affordable projects. That said, did you see the skein count required? Just barely over 5 skeins and it looks fabulous in this economical yarn made even more so with my teaching discount. With affordable yarn that is nice to work with I don’t know what took me so long to cross over to the land of sweaters! And now I’m stuck on sweaters :-)

FLS was a quick and easy knit, requiring only two weeks — and that was with a few days off and in one of the larger sizes! The pattern isn’t overly detailed so looking at people’s modifications and reading the discussions at the KAL on Ravelry may be helpful for someone embarking upon this project. There was a lot of help there for choosing the proper size and such. It is definitely easy enough to be a first sweater even for relatively new knitters. If you are a pretty new knitter it might help to have someone experienced to bounce ideas off of though. The top down construction makes it easier to fit and modify because you can try on as you go. I also love how versatile the sweater it is. It looks great with jeans or cords, but also with skirts or dress pants. Wear it with a tank top, tee shirt, 3/4 length shirt or even a long sleeve tee!

As many have done, I made some modifications. On my last row of raglan increases I did so only in the body sections and omitted them in the sleeves because I was then able to truly space the eyelet increases at every 7 sts starting 7 sts after the band and ending 7 sts before the band on the other side. Then because I’m a bottom-heavy hourglass with a very short waist I did 18 repeats of the gull lace, switching to US 9 needles on repeat 9 to give a bit more fullness through the high hip. I also made my bottom garter band closer to 2 inches long rather than the called for 1.5 inches so that it balanced better with the vertical bands. When it came to the sleeves I followed the lead and decreased away the extra 7 stitches at the underarm on every other rnd so the sleeves had a more fitted silhouette. In my size one really doesn’t need extra bulk in the arms. The bottom of the sleeve still has a nice bell look to them. I didn’t note the number of lace repeats in the sleeve, but I think it was 15 repeats (including the one repeat before splitting the sleeves off from the body). I also stayed on the US 8s. I was a little nervous that the sleeves would be too fitted to go over tees so I didn’t weave in the ends until post blocking. But as I suspected there was just enough growth in the lace while blocking to make them about perfect!

The icing on the cake of this sweater is no doubt the buttons. They are handmade paduk wood buttons from Cyndy of Riverrim. The color is great with the yarn and square buttons are a little funky and *very* me (I have an obsession with squares). The look is wonderfully organic. The only drawback to wood buttons (most of them anyway) is that they are not washable. Now it isn’t like I wash my cardigan sweaters frequently, but I knew if I had to sew buttons back on after each washing it would keep me from both wearing and washing the sweater. My solution for easy washing was to adhere the buttons to button cover hardware. I then sewed flat clear buttons that fit in the button cover hardware onto the sweater. Due to the extra weight of the hardware I sewed two buttons on for each buttonhole - one on the front and one on the back. It gives just a little extra support and keeps the buttons form looking droopy. Now when the sweater needs to be washed I just remove the buttons and replace them when the garment is dry. It takes only seconds and no more needles :-) It did take me a while to gather the courage to attach the buttons to the button cover hardware, but now that is done and everything seems secure I’m very glad I did. If I wanted I could even change up the look of the sweater and have a couple different sets of buttoncovers ready to go on if I wished. Though frankly, I can’t imagine finding buttons that look better than these.

If I were to make another one (which is totally possible believe it or not) I would do yos for the raglan increases to tie in with that eyelet round and the lace. I’d also cast on a few more stitches for the fronts to account for the overlap and my anterior assets. Other than that I think it is a great sweater and I suspect it’ll get quite a lot of wear this season and the seasons to come.

And because I just couldn’t resist making my swing cardigan swing…

Well, I had high hopes that today’s post would be the debut of my finished FLS. However, there has been a huge crimp in my transportation this week which impeded my getting an appropriate shirt for underneath as well as going to the location I thought would work well for the photoshoot. It has all been just as well as the second highest mountain range in the US has errupted on my face this week. So I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you all waiting with baited breath.

In exchange for teasing you about FLS I share with you a new design that is in progress. Yes - a design that is sharable! The as yet unnamed design is a top-down sock using Miss Babs Yummy (here in fingering, but the pattern will also include the sport). This is the plum monochrome. I’m in love! The color shifts are so subtle it just adds a nice depth to the knit fabric. I’m hoping to have it ready to test knit by next week and released no later than Thanksgiving.

If I have my way this sock will be done and one sport weight sock done by the end of the weekend. It’s a bit of a lofty goal. Especially since we’ll have a house guest all weekend and it is our anniversary on Sunday. But, we’ll see. At least socks are portable :-)

A couple weeks ago a woman I knit with on Mondays and Wednesdays brought some fantastic orange-apricot scones to a Wednesday gathering. DH makes a good scone, but these were different and I loved them. I immediately asked Sue for her recipe and she recited it to a table full of women frantically taking notes. The Sunday prior she had made many batches to take to her church so she had the recipe down cold.

I had to give the recipe a try while all the tricks Sue had shared were fresh in my mind so that Friday I made a batch of cranberry-lime scones because that was what we had on hand. We had one for fika that day then took all but two of the remainder of the batch to the annual pirate party that evening. They were devoured and I got many comments. And that was eating them at room temperature! The next morning DH and I ate the two we left at home, reheating them in the toaster oven at 300 degrees while we brewed a pot of tea. They tasted just as good as they had fresh from the oven.

What I love about these scones is that they are not the hard and dry hockey pucks labeled as scones that you can find much too easily. These are light and moist (even when they are a few days old) and the have a fantastic crumb. They also aren’t overly sweet and citrus zest really adds a refreshing note to the scones. I have been dreaming scones ever since. More flavor combinations pop into my head daily. Aside from alternate citrus zest and dried fruit combinations I’d like to try some savory versions as well.

So, this weekend I had to make another batch. I had no choice, LOL! This time I went for an autumn flavor, adding some pie spices to orange zest and using half dried apple and half dried raisins for the fruit. I’m sure in one bite you’ll be dreaming of scones as well so I asked Sue if I could share her recipe and she kindly agreed.

(Read on …)