may’s mystery project revealed

Posted on Posted in designing, projects


(flower of the day, pepper)

heh, the pepper plants are so full of peppers right now that they’re falling over. but i’ve found that when i don’t have time to deal with them, the best place to store them is right on the stalk. they seem to be able to sit out there, getting fat, for an incredibly long time before bad happens. although, when the plants fall down under the weight, it might be time to pick ’em.

thank you for all your lovely emails about my throw in knitty, which came out yesterday.
but really, my hat goes off to chris at briar rose, who sent this great big bundle of abundance for me to try (oh boy, shoot me now, PLEASE. i just went over there to grab the link and saw the abundance in colorway olives. i should never go over there. i should NOT).

at first it was a head-scratcher as to what i would do with this exuberant chunky yarn. i was pretty sure a sweater for me was out. then one day i was sitting here working (trying to ignore chris’ email that i should submit something to knitty . . . i was busy) and suddenly i remembered a leaf stitch motif in a book that i’d been dying to knit. i hadn’t used it yet because it was so large. in my mind i could see it even bigger, worked up in this bright chunky yarn.
hhmmmm . . . big bold yarn + big bold stitch + fall issue knitty + keeping chris happy = THROW.
dude, the force of it made my chair jerk back, hard.

can you say “don’t fall and hit your head running to the yarn closet”??
(david is getting pretty good at it . . .)

and wow, the throw just FLEW off the needles. i was blocking that puppy before i got used to the big needles. which, BTW, were a special gift from wanda and ed, in a unique size with unmatched woods. precious. (and so useful.)

so thanks again for taking time to tell me you saw it; i hope you enjoy knitting it, too.


(i call this shot blanket at sunset because it’s a blanket. and the sun is setting)

now, vivi emailed me the other day to let me know about tricot du coeur, a site she has put together for a good cause. she is part of a group that is knitting blankets for the Victory Junction Gang. please go over, read all about it, and give her a shout-out; she’s doing a wonderful thing!

and how about that poll the other day on what i should do with the eggplant yarn?
let’s just say that if all the rectangle voters came to my house we have to have some traffic control in place.

the truth is that lis and i had already more or less decided on doing a simple rectangle stole, but i still like to get a beat on what everyone is looking for. it also tells me if this might be a good project to do two ways.
our plan was to offer something fairly simple, in one piece, along the lines of the japanese feather stole (which she adores).

i’m thinking of going to mexico with this one. it will be all about the edging, with something simple in the center panel. i’m going to swatch this weekend, so i should have pictures to show you soon. i made a small mistake in my original post and said the yarn was laceweight, but it’s actually fingering weight—which i love; it makes a nice cozy piece, but is still light enough to wear while moving around. i can’t wait to dig in.

(BTW, for those that have a yen for a different shawl shape altogether, i am pretty sure that the winter months will bring more variety to my shapes, so stay tuned.)

meanwhile, since i finished my little deadline project, and have just the snow on cedar mitts on the needles right now, i went ahead and swatched for my sweater. wheee!

what i need right away is a little cardigan. not too tight, but not a big baggy one either. just a nice classic fit. the yarn is another briar rose fiber—grandma’s blessing. it’s a superwash merino sport yarn that makes great, long-wearing socks that don’t pill—a good choice for an everyday sweater i think. the gorgeous red color i have was custom-dyed by chris for what i thought would be a shawl, but is now going to be this sweater.

i know exactly what i want in terms of the sweater shape. i originally thought about doing narrow cables, but decided that would be too heavy a fabric. i want something fairly flat, that wears comfortably. here’s my swatch on size 3 needles in the stitches i like (that there appendage at the upper right is a sort of test for a tiny shawl collar)

the fabric felt a little loose and i wasn’t sure if i should go down a needle size . . . i’m not trusting my intuition about that after being away from sweater knitting for so long. normally, i try to knit on the largest needle possible while still having a nice fabric (i’m a lazy, lazy knitter). but loads of sock knitting has got me used to tighter fabrics, and now i’m not sure. plus, it’s superwash yarn, which tends to loosen up with washing.

so i soaked it, to see how that might change it.

now, my sweaters of the past that i knit to a looser gauge are all fine . . they are comfortable and seem to wash and wear nicely without becoming shapeless. and i don’t want a stiff sweater—no way. those just seem to irritate me over the course of a day, and they don’t drape nicely either. they have their own shape and do not take on MY shape. if the fabric is too springy it feels like an elastic bandage on me.
i am, after all, a sensitive and delicate thing.

(you can stop snorting now, and wipe the coke off your face while you’re at it.)
i just felt i needed to be sure. so i started a sleeve-as-a-swatch on the smaller needles

(ok, i’ll come clean; i’m mostly including this photo to show the best representation of the rich red color . . isn’t it amazing? unfortunately, it doesn’t photograph this well in all light—arrrgghh!)
the sleeve is too wide and the fabric is a bit stiff. not terrible, but maybe not great. i’m still not sure.

the swatch has been soaked and laid out to dry. i don’t pin out my sweaters after washing, so i’m treating the swatch the same. i am trying to determine what the fabric will be under the ame treatment i plan to use for it ongoing.

the fiber has bloomed a bit and the swatch is a little wider. but it is not stretched-out or too loose. the density is good, but will still be stretchy and mold to my body.
i’m REALLY glad i soaked it because the gauge definitely changed and i will use that new information to work up the pattern.

can you tell i’m really excited now?? i’m going to make something for ME!
trust me, it’s been ages since that happened.

david approves.

57 thoughts on “may’s mystery project revealed

  1. Yay, I can’t wait to see what you come up with a sweater! The throw is so beautiful, and I clicked over and saw that Olives colorway, oh my, that would be incredible! You know you’re going to have to submit David for Yarnival’s hunk of the month don’t you?

  2. Looks like the same color as my Cherry shawl. Gorgeous, isn’t it?

    That Chris, she’s an enabler, isn’t she? I call her fibers, “my magnificent obsession.”

    Eat your heart out, Rock Hudson…

    Blessings!

  3. Know what I love best about this throw? No grafting down the middle. 😉

    (Okay, I’m kidding, but just a little bit!)

    I checked the stash and I think I can manage the smaller size of this throw in my Mountain Colors alpaca blend. It won’t be quite as big and luxurious as the original, but I think the color will be perfect. 🙂

  4. Loving the throw! I hadn’t checked out Knitty yet, so I (of course) didn’t see that you’d contributed. Congratulations!

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