Fiber Fool

First Snow (and Flu)!

Filed under: Knitting, Photography, Knitting Patterns — Kristi at 5:21 pm on Monday, October 19, 2009

Last weekend (as in nearly ten days ago now) SIL3, Jess, came up from the Denver metro and visited with us. With a little arm twisting I got her to model my Woodland Trails for me so I could get higher quality (and better composed) shots of the final products. It is infinitely easier to get good shots when you aren’t locked to a tripod and trying to frame the shot without the subject (myself) in the frame. It made me sadder that Jess no longer lives in Fort Collins as she is another easy to photograph model whom I do not have to boss around to get good shots. All I have to do is keep my finger on the shutter button :-)

Lucky for me we were getting our first snowfall of the season (on the early side, but nowhere near the earliest I’ve seen snow in my ten years living here) so that set the mood quite nicely too. The overcast sky allowed for longer exposures to capture a bit more detail - especially in the darker, variegated version. This was knit in the *wonderful* wool/silk blend singles yarn from Done Roving called Elegant Ewe in what I believe is the Peacock Pride colorway.

Jess seemed to really like these and the many ways to wear it. I think I shall have to whip up a third (totally possible too since it only takes a longer movie to complete one) to gift her for Christmas. Now, which yarn and color to choose???

I didn’t get to share these new photos with you until now though because I was sick last week. Like much too sick to even pick up the knitting needles and even to process photos. Sick, sick, sick! The sickest I’ve been in years. I don’t know if it was H1N1 or not, but I had a very high fever for a couple days and horrible coughing (which I’m still not completely over with yet) and dizziness and no appetite for days. I suppose I was overdue as I haven’t really gotten sick the last few years. At least not sick enough to be stuck in bed or feel the need to stay home at all. Thank goodness for streaming video on the Internet! I got all caught up on the latest Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, House, Fringe, Glee etc. without having to leave the comfort of my bed :-)

Those of you who have already purchased Woodland Trails (and wow, has there been a ton of you! Thank you for your business!), the PDF has been updated with the newer photos, but that is the only change from ver 1.0 to ver 1.1. Just cosmetic. But if you want it with new photos you should be able to redownload the latest version. Also, if you are knitting it please stop on by the Designedly, Kristi Ravelry group and join in on a KAL! I know the test knitters had a great time discussing yarn options and modifications while they were working on theirs. It was especially helpful if knitting it to serve only one of the three purposes.

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Boy Sundog Sweater Goes to The Farm

Filed under: Finished Objects — Kristi at 10:56 am on Monday, October 5, 2009

As Amanda posted last week, she finished the boy Sundog. This Saturday she and the boys and myself and Drew headed down to Osborn Farm Market Days in Loveland. There was animal petting and lots of pumpkin picking as well as a hayride and a barrel train! There was of course lots of picture taking as well :-)

I think I can safely say that the combo of Lorana’s Laces Shepherd’s Worsted in Jeans and Chocolate was a great combo for this sweater. Everyone seems to like the sweater - including Isaac (see pic below)! I’m very excited for next weekend when we’ll have another adventure and Jacob will be wearing the coordinating vest Amanda is working on.

Upon washing Amanda did experience some significant growth in the neck of the sweater. A round neckline like this can be a difficult balance on the younger sizes as they have rather large heads in proportion to their shoulder width and body circumference. It is very easy to make the neck too tight. If you are loose, one could try the knitted-on cast-on to firm up the neck to protect against the growth. There are also two easy fixes that can be applied post-washing. One is to run some matching yarn around inside of the neck and cinch it up a bit to control it. The other, which is probably the best fix, is to run a crochet chain around the inside of the neck very close to the cast-on. This would add stability, but would maintain more stretch for pulling over the head than just running yarn through the neck line.

For more info on Amanda’s experience knitting Sundog see her Ravelry project page. From there she also has links to each of her guest blog posts.

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New Pattern: Woodland Trails

Filed under: Knitting, Knitting Patterns — Kristi at 12:27 pm on Thursday, October 1, 2009

Woodland Trails was made available to the general public on Ravelry on Wednesday. I originally designed it specifically for Cascade’s Lana Bambu yarn for My Sister Knits, but I knit a second one from Elegant Ewe from Done Roving as it knits up sooo quickly (approx 3-6 hours for the average knitter).

I knew the pattern was going to be pretty flexible and friendly to many yarns. Thanks to a bundle of terrific test knitters it was possible to truly see how versatile it is. It looks great in ombre striping yarns similar to the original Lana Bambu such as Trendsetter’s Tonalita (some other options would be Noro, Boku, Patons Soy Wool Stripes and Karaoke yarns). I love the classic look of those knit in luscious solids such as Bijou Spun and Malabrigo Worsted. Though I have to confess that being a spinner myself the two handspun ones in the gallery hold a special place in my heart!

You really should go peruse the gallery of projects on Ravelry as there are tons of yarn ideas, but also some great modifications for those who want to make the project for one use instead of all three as I did with mine.

The pattern is presented in both line-by-line written instructions as well as charted. The pattern is quite intuitive and easy to knit, even if the result doesn’t appear to be so. Many of the test knitters agreed. It is one that is easy to read from the rounds already knit once you’ve gotten through a repeat. It is also *very* easy to modify it to accommodate yardage restrictions or adjust it to fit more firmly (if wanting to wear it only as a hat) or more loosely (for the cowl or wimple) or to make it longer to be certain of generous wimple coverage. Connie found with her yarn she had an 8″ length at 100 yds, 16″ length at 200 and 19″ length at 250 yds. Your mileage may vary, but that will give you an idea of what is possible if you are wishing to length the pattern. All had a circumference of approximately 21″.

The fact that it is pretty easily a one skein project and can be knit so quickly I’m thinking there will be several more in my future. Mom already ordered one for herself for Christmas.

Comments (5)

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First Snow (and Flu)!

Boy Sundog Sweater Goes to The Farm

New Pattern: Woodland Trails

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