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Somehow I thought there would be plenty of knitting time this week. The last two weeks were full of long, non-stop days . . . dyeing through extreme heat and humidity on a tight production schedule. This week was going to be my payback.
I had visions of uninterrupted time with my needles and bottomless cups of coffee. There would be time to finish and time to start. I should know better. As soon as there was a break in the schedule, the Universe found a way to insert random appointments, household projects and travel plans for a teenager.
The early morning hours are still my own, and this morning I decided to make that time my designated knitting time. Yes, it's OK to putting knitting on the schedule. In fact sometimes the situation demands it.
At 20 and on my way to 58.
Last but not least . . . one more new yarn in the parade. My search for domestically grown and produced yarn led me to Johanna. Johanna is a worsted weight yarn made from Targhee wool. The Targhee breed was developed in the western US in the early 1900s.
Johanna is a soft, bouncy yarn with vibrant colorways. By the looks of these two, I have fall on my mind. This yarn comes in large, 250-gram skeins and has me considering sweater options.
For those who are interested, the name Johanna comes from my grandmother's great-grandmother. Yes, a long time ago. Johanna had an adventurous life and traveled from Germany to Africa (where she lost her first husband in the bush) back to Germany and eventually the States. She was a resilient lady and lived to be 97 - quite a feat in that day and age. Here's to good yarn and long life!
Today the parade of new yarn continues with Mavis Lace. As the name implies this is the lace weight version of Mavis. Over the last several months I've been toying with the idea of adding a lace weight and finally settled on this one. Mavis Lace is definitely lighter than fingering weight but isn't super fine like some lace weights.
This yarn is a blend of Merino and silk with soft, shimmery drape. It comes in large, 1000-yard skeins in a variety of colorways. It's available now online and will be in the booth this fall.
It's that time of year . . . blueberry season. We made our annual trek to the fields to pick berries, and of course they are my color inspiration for the week.
Blues all around.
After a couple minor setbacks I just released another project from the "almost finished" pile. I don't know how it happens that some projects linger in this state of limbo. They are finished except for . . . a bit of seaming, weaving in ends, blocking. So close, yet not quite ready for action.
Ravi Junior, complete with buttons. This little cardigan features garter stitch with a bit of lace. The yoke is worked from side to side. Then stitches are picked up along the bottom of the yoke for the body of the sweater.
Short rows create a rounded shirttail hem. The neck, cuffs and sweater edges are all finished with I-cord.
I had a couple of detours with this project. I knit both sleeves twice to clean up the underarm edge. Then on the final I-cord sprint around the sweater, I grabbed the wrong needle size and didn't realize it until I was halfway to the finish line. Even with those bumps along the way, this was a quick knit with interesting details to keep the project moving along.
The yarn is a sport weight superwash Blue Faced Leicester base that I brought in just for this project.
Ravi Junior Kits will be available this fall in several colors.
Often ideas have to marinate and simmer awhile before everything comes together. Several ideas have been brewing in the dye pots over here, and I'm happy to finally release one of them.
Oma's Organic is a DK weight yarn that is grown and processed here in the US. While many yarn bases come from abroad, we do produce wool here in this country. In my effort to buy locally I've been searching out US produced wool, and Oma's Organic fits the bill. As an added bonus, it's spun here in New England.
Oma is German for grandmother, and this yarn is named for my Oma, my great-grandmother. She was Oma to everyone in the family. Oma preferred to be outside tending the garden and her chickens rather than doing housework. She lived to a ripe old age. Naming an organic yarn with her in mind seemed appropriate.
Oma's Organic is a 2-ply yarn full of spring and bounce. It produces rich colorways and has wonderful stitch definition. Oma's Organic is available now online. If you want to see it in person, it will be at all of the fall shows.
Through the wonders of technology I have an app on my phone that gives me updates on dangers and emergencies based on my location. Since yesterday, I've been receiving excessive heat warnings. Today we're flirting with 100°F - that's 38°C for those of you north of the border.
In spite of the heat wave, I'm having warm, woolly thoughts. I should be thinking of all things cool - frozen mango, iced coffee, sorbet, maybe even a marathon session at the movie theater. Instead, I'm plotting more adventures with wool.
The heat must be getting to me because I can't let go of the possibilities.
Yarn and fiber color combinations. And this is only the beginning.
I go to the farmers' market every week, and I'm always scouting out something new. This time it was the scallions . . . my color inspiration for the week.
Vibrant purple topped with green.
A few days ago I hit a bit of a snag with my Ravi Junior. This adorable little sweater is destined to be a booth sample. When I knit samples, I almost always follow the pattern as written. When a person sees a sample in my booth and then buys the pattern, I want them to be able to knit something that resembles the sample. If I make a bunch of modifications to the pattern, then I have to explain that I did this, that and the other thing. It's much easier if I just stick to the pattern. Sometimes that can be a challenge - I enjoy tinkering with a pattern as much as the next knitter - but in the long run it's easier if I knit it as written.
Back to Ravi Junior. I was motoring through the sleeves. I finished the first one and paused.
The jagged underarm line was slightly irritating, but I had followed the pattern as written with one decrease on each side of the underarm marker.
In an attempt to be faithful to my self-imposed rule, I continued on to the second sleeve, hoping the irritation would fade away. These nagging knitting aggravations are like growing out your bangs. There comes a stage where the bangs are a nuisance and in your eyes. If you can get over that hurdle, you'll grow them out. If not, you cut them off.
About half way through the second sleeve the slight irritation became a major annoyance. I didn't do any cutting, but I did do some ripping. Both sleeves. Gone. I had a hunch that if I worked just one plain stitch on each side of the marker and then worked the decreases, I could eliminate the jagged edge.
Bumping the decreases over one stitch on both sides worked like a charm. I had thought of doing this on my first go-round with the sleeves, but I won't lament the time and frustration I could have saved myself. Since the underarm line is neat and smooth now, I don't mind knitting these sleeves a second time.
