Joyce Makes Art

New Works in Progress

I'm down to knitting sleeves on Ellie's Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan and Ollie's Ragman, but, through whatever quirk of knitting adhd I seem to possess in great supply, I've detoured onto two small projects.  I'll get back on the sweaters next week, and finish them in time for the advent of cooler weather.

These cabled gauntlets are a fun, quick knit.  Not overly challenging (unless you are totally incapable of reading and then remembering a simple, well-written pattern as I seem to have been on the first one).  I love these and the yarn, a lovely blend of Alpaca, Silk, Camel and Cashmere.

This is the start of my Storm Cloud Shawlette.  I love the elongated garter stitch, and although I told myself I couldn't start one more project until I finish the sweaters, I succumbed to the allure of this simple, comforting knit and the pretty colors of the Sea Wool that had been at the top of my list of yarns I wanted to knit with.  When I stretch it out, as though blocked, the colors look like a cloud of rainbows.  It's going to be hard to avoid knitting this one straight through.

My Cashmere Orchids And Fairy Lights Hat

This has to be my favorite thing I've ever knitted.  It's a Tiny Owl Knits pattern named "Orchids and Fairy Lights."  My version is knit in an undyed, aran weight Cashmere yarn and it's a perfection of bobbles and cables.  The pattern is brilliant, and although it was at the outer edge of my knitting competency, it was so well written that I was able to hang with it the whole way through.

The end result is a fabulous confection.  This is definitely the start of a love affair with Tiny Owl Knits patterns!

The Yarn Fairy's Decisions

The Yarn Fairy posted here to give some knitters who wanted to join in the Elliebelly Knit Along, but were lacking yarn, an opportunity to join in.  The Yarn Fairy has had a lot of fun looking through everyones' idea for what they would knit with each of the yarns, and has made her decisions.

Winners:  Please email me with your name, address, and Ravelry name.  Remember to stash your yarn on Ravelry when you receive it and post in the Elliebelly Knit Along threads as you cast on and work on your project.  Let everyone share in the fun!

The First yarn is Elliebelly's Aran Blue Faced Leicester in the "Alphabet Block" colorway.  This yarn goes to Ashley to knit a Hudson Hat for her toddler and Toast Mitts for herself, if the yardage holds out.

Next we have one hotly contested skein of Elliebelly's Angel Sock in "Crayon."  I loved every single pattern choice and wanted to give this to everyone who asked for it!  I finally decided, after lots of obsessing, that this Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere yarn wants to become a Brass and Steam Scarf, so I'm sending it to Hannah.

The thick and thin Blue Faced Leicester yarn, Slubby, is going to Lorraine for Sweet Gum. She's going to be a little bit short on yardage, but I've always wanted to knit this pattern myself and I'm trusting that anyone with her talent can come up with a complimentary yarn or an alternation to the pattern.

The Talia Bulky Merino in the Melted Crayon colorway also wanted to go to any number of people, but it is going to land with Debbie R. for the Rasta Neckwarmer to celebrate her incredibly succesful efforts to loose weight and live healthier.  Congrats Debbie and I can't wait to see this on the newly healthy you!

Anne Marie wanted to knit a mirror image version of the Stephen West Honegart Hat I knit in Elliebelly Alpaca and Merino Worsted.  I want to see it knit up again, so this yarn will go to her.

 

Last but not least, the silk hankies are going to a very enthusiastic Angela/Momofana. I can't wait to see what she does with them.

The Yarn Fairy has enjoyed fulfilling her mission of bringing more knitting and fun to our lives.  Please remember to check in with her so she can send you your yarn.  I know the Elliebelly Knit and Telly has given me enough inspiration to jump start my fall knitting and make progress on some great projects.  I hope everyone will continue to share their knitting and enjoy the posts as much as I have!  You can see all the finished object and works in progress here.

Ollie's Crayon Sweater: Trying Out Trim

When last we left our story, I had run out of yarn for Ollie's Ragman, knit in Elliebelly Talia in the Crayon colorway, and was obsessing over how to deal with the trauma.  I settled upon a solid color trim, and dyed two: one blue and one gray. 

Ollie favored the blue, so I knit it up into cuffs.  The 1x1 rib looks oversized to me, knit on the same size needles as the body of the sweater (size 9) and although the color has much to recommend it, I wondered it the gray wouldn't be a better match.  So I'm trying out the gray on the bottom of the body, going down one needle size to get a neater fabric. 

I think the gray is the winner, so once I finish the body, I'll rip off the sleeve cuffs and reknit them.

The inside of the sweater looks great to me too.  At some point, I'm going to have to come up with a reverse stockinette project for the Crayon colorway!

 

What I Did

This is the story of my trip to get to my business trip, which turned out to be a really exciting mini-vacation for 24 hours.  I started in Connecticut for a really momentous event, the 21st birthday of my oldest child.  (He loved the Honegart Hat I knit for him).  This post has a lot of photos, but let 'em load -- you will want to see this all the way to the bottom!

Before I get too much further, if you are looking to score some Elliebelly Yarn, click here.

I had to get from Connecticut to Vermont, and it turned out that it was cheaper to drive than fly, so I took a day off and drove, stopping along the way at, um, yarn stores.

First I went to Creative Fibers, near Hartford.  It turned out that the incredibly friendly woman behind the counter was none other than Julie Cashin, author of several adorable baby sweater patterns, who I was really delighted to meet in person.  She looks great standing in front of all that yarn!

Next I drove into Masachusetts at stopped at WEBS.

It felt like a pilgrimage.  The store was beautiful and full of amazing yarn, and I was so happy I stopped there.  I saw this amazing sweater sample -- a Madeline Tosh hoodie that I grabbed pattern and yarn for.

I was overjoyed to stumble across an entire display of Juniper Moon Yarn from Shepard Susie.  It was so much fun to see it in person, and it made me even more impatient for the sheep on the farm to grown my CSA share -- grow sheep, grow!

But I really didn't get what WEBS was all about until I wandered to the back of the store and discovered a warehouse, full of racks and racks of yarn in bags.  Good yarn.  Amazing yarn.  I surrendered myself to the experience and engaged in stash nirvana.

This should have been enough, and it almost was -- I found out that a planned detour in Vermont was out of the question because of roads still damaged by Irene.  I drove straight up 91 and by total luck (and need for gas) came across the Green Mountain Spinnery.

It was a teensy little yarn store, because (O.M.G.) most of the building is occupied by a spinning operation, using equipment from the 1910's and 1950's.  It was, in a word, amazing.

The folks in the shop were incredibly nice, and stopped what they were doing to give me a tour of their operations, from the unwashed fleeces, to carding, to pulling the yarn into batts, and then ultimately into long thin ropes of roving that are spun into singles, steamed, and then plied into beautiful yarn.  It was totally fascinating and I only dragged myself away to buy some of their incredible yarn, including these skeins, which are plant dyed.

And this wool/alpaca blend.

And this sock yarn, which begged to come home with me.

Then I went on to business and meetings and accomplished a lot of good things (and some knitting late at night).

Strangely, on the way home, the woman on the plane next to me was knitting some beautiful, intricate lace.  It turned out to be Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl and the knitter turned out to be Grace, a/k/a LilMsDramaPants, whose knitting I have stalked on Ravelry for quite some time now.  What are the odds?

Isn't her knitting stunningly beautiful?  I think you can see this one in person at SAFF and it is well worth it!

A 24-hour yarn hop is definitely a rejuvenating event.  I highly recommend one, wherever you find yourself.

The Yarn Fairy Is Here!

I consider knitting to be a quintessential force for good in the universe.  Knitters make things, fix things, bring smiles to people's faces.  So on a day that hasn't always been characterized by good, I'm going to try and do a little bit, in a very small way, to make the world a better place.  I'm going to encourage people to knit.

That means the Yarn Fairy is here with Elliebelly goodies to give away -- yarn and also some hand-dyed silk hankies (like the ones featured here.  more on that later.)  Here is how this will work:  The Yarn Fairy is going to post some pictures of yarn, and if you are interested in knitting it, post in the comments with your plan for what you would knit with the yarn you fancy.  Since the Yarn Fairy is going to select the project she would most like to see that particular yarn knit up in, the more specific you are with your plans, the better your odds of being selected.  And, it's fine to go after more than one yarn--you don't have to pick when you post.  All the YF asks is that you stash the yarn on Ravelry when you receive it and knit up your planned project as part of the ongoing Elliebelly Knit Along, which has no specific time limits.

You have until 5pm on Sunday, September 18 to post your comments.  That gives you a lot of time to dig around in patterns, plan, and dream.  The Yarn Fairy is looking forward to your ideas and can't wait to help out with your knitting!

First up is two 100 gram skeins of aran weight Blue Faced Leicester in Elliebelly's "Alphabet Block" colorway.  This is a classic yarn used by cloth diapering moms for soaker/longie knitting.  The YF would love to see this knit up for a charming baby but might also be interested in other uses you would put this yarn to.  Decisions, decisions.

Next we have one skein of Elliebelly's Angel Sock in "Crayon."  This is 400 yards of fingering weight yarn, and the Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere blend of this yarn is luxurious and crying out to be made into something beautiful.

This next yarn is a new one I'm experimenting with and would like to hear some opinions on.  It's a thick and thin Blue Faced Leicester yarn called Slubby.  There are approximately 218 yards of yarn in these two skeins.  I came across this hat pattern, which would be marvelous in this yarn.  I can't wait to see the ideas people come up with for it!

Elliebelly's Talia Bulky Merino is one of my personal favorite yarns.  It's soft and it has great stitch definition.  Here ya go -- two skeins of Talia in the Melted Crayon colorway.

If you've been keeping up you know I just finished knitting Stephen West's Honegart Hat in Elliebelly Alpaca and Merino Worsted.  I've got some leftovers.  As you can see from the picture below, knitting the hat used more of the blue yarn than the green.  I have a feeling there is enough here to knit this same hat in reverse (and I have to say I adored knitting this and think everyone should have that same pleasure) -- there seems to be about a half skein of the green left and perhaps a quarter to a third of the blue.  So, Honegart or mitts or another hat?  What would you knit with it?

   

Finally, as promised, silk hankies. These are fun and lovely and you can follow this link to see how one knits with them.  There is a good bit here, probably enough for a full scarf and with lots of color variation.  No need to come up with a specific pattern on this one, just indicate in the comments if you are interested in knitting with silk hankies and what you think you might make.  I've included a photo of a cowl I knit to give you some idea of how these make up.

So go have fun.  Find patterns, seek inspiration, post, check in on the Elliebelly Knit Along here, and remember to take some time this week to slow down and enjoy yourself.

This Week's Knitting Round Up

I spent this week out of town, which was both good (flight delays and hotel insomnia = extra knitting time) and bad (Iphone camera photos of my knitting are very unsatisfactory).  Here's the round up:

(1) Before I left I put in a little time dyeing which yielded both this fabulous dye pot

And this choice of trim for finishing off Ollie's Crayon Ragman.

Any thoughts on which color you think will look more like a design choice and less like a screaming "I ran out of yarn" advert?

(2) On the road I got through the better part of two (of four) repeats on the Orchids and Fairy Lights Hat.

This pattern is SO much fun to knit and have I told you I'm knitting it in a thick, soft, buttery cashmere?  This hat feels incredible.  And the bobbles are fun, the cables are a challenge to keep straight, and all in all, this hat makes me feel good about myself -- a pretty big pay off for a little bit of careful pattern reading.  Stephanie Dosen is the designer behind Tiny Owl Knits.  She is a fabulous designer and articulates a great, clear pattern.  I can't wait to knit her Amy March Slippers and her Catching Butterflies Mitts as well.  You should really look at every single pattern she has, but if you look at only one thing, check out the incredible Bee Keeper's Quilt.  I definitely have a crush on Stephanie and her beautiful patterns!

(3) I've finished (except for a line of crochet trim on the bottom edge I need to teach myself to do this weekend) the Honegart Hat.

I love the pattern.  The details are clever and it is a very satisfying knit.  Several members of my household are vying to keep this, but it's a birthday present for the oldest child (who doesn't read my blog), so I suspect I may knit a few more.  I like the way the skeins of yarn play together -- as I mentioned, two skeins were originally dyed together and then I overdyed one of them, so that some of the original color shows through.  It's hard to display in a picture, but if you look closely below, you'll see some of the green from the band showing through in the blue "honeycomb" top.

(4) I also got in some time working on the body of Ellie's Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan.  I'm well into the "miles and miles of stockinette" part of the body which, while not the most exciting knitting is possible to do while carrying on a conversation or catching up on the news.

I'm hoping to finish up the body this weekend so I can get to work on the sleeves and button bands.  I'm knitting this sweater in Madeline Tosh, Tosh Vintage Merino, which is a wonderful yarn.  I'm wondering if it would be possible to consider this yarn a collectible item so I could justify buying some in every one of her amazing colorways.  It's great to work with and the softly dyed colors are very pretty.

That's the wrap on this week's knitting, and a satisfying collection it is!  Usually I'm in varying degrees of frustration, but all of these projects seem to just want to go well.  The knitting gods seem to be smiling on me at the moment, which I'm going to try to enjoy, because I'm sure it will be fleeting.

 

Hotel Hat Knitting

1. Honegart - I adored knitting this hat, which is a present for my oldest child's 21st birthday. It still needs a crochet edging along the bottom.

2. Orchids and Fairy Lights - Bobbles and cashmere. Cashmere and bobbles. I like everything about this hat, except, possibly, the fact that it is clearly going to be so cute that only my beautiful daughter will be worthy of wearing it and I will have to relinquish it to her.

Two superlatively fun patterns to knit. This is probably as good as it gets for travel knitting and although I'm itching to get back home and to finish knitting the kids sweaters that are waiting for me there, I'm definitely enjoying the hat interlude.

Progress Knitting The Honegart Hat

I'm knitting Steven West's Honegart Hat for my oldest child, who goes to school up north.  He asked for a new hat a while back, and I had been rather obsessively stalking Ravelry for a basic hat he would like when I stumbled across this pattern.

I'm into the second repeat of the honey comb cable pattern.  After one more set of cable patterns, I'll be ready to start on the decreases.  It's a simple knit with enough variation to keep you interested throughout.

The yarn is Elliebelly Alpaca & Merino.  I opted for a blue and a green, rather than the gray and yellow high contrast hat in the sample.  I loved the sample hat, but thought the boy might be more prone to actually wearing the hat knit in these softer colors.

Knitting From The Road

My work for today is a long, boring drive from the bottom to the top of the state. I've stopped for a quick lunch break and am knitting a few rows on the Honegart Hat to wake myself up for the rest of the trip.