Just joined the Walker Treasury Project. This is an effort to knit up color swatches of all the Barbara Walker patterns. It's a huge effort and very cool. Click on the logo to check this out.

Knitting

 

Next to horses, knitting is probably my best loved thing to do! Here are some of the latest projects.

I have been knitting up a storm and even have been doing some design work!

I made a hat/neckwarmer combo that I think are really cute and also did some socks. I need to write up the sock and neckwarmer patterns and get them out there.

I have been very poor at updating recently. Let's just say that life has been BUSY! But here's the latest stuff! My standing work in progress got bumped by my mom's scarf and the scarf for ride to life. For the next couple of weeks, I am going to focus on wrapping up some of these back-burnered projects.

 

Buggalicious

Another sample shawl for Spirit Trail! It's such a pleasure to work with Jen's yarns that I don't mind putting my own knitting aside for a bit!

This is obviously not finished yet. I anticipate wrapping it up by the end of next week. It's going really fast - a very fun knit.

Started: July 29, 2010
Finished:
Pattern: Something buggy. More later!
Yarn:Spirit Trail Penelope - Acadia
Needles: #3 Addi Turbos

 

Hayrick Socks

These are from a very nice little sock pattern from Anne Hanson. The yarn is String Theory Blue Stocking. I haven't decided how much I love it yet - pretty much. The colors are amazing, but I want to see how the yarn holds up to wear and tear. It's soft enough that I am getting little pills as I knit, so I am a tad worried about durability for socks.

I rewickered the pattern to be toe up and wound up with it being a little tight over the instep, so I frogged back and did the instep in #2 needles, then switched back to the 0's so that I can finish the leg. This seems to be working pretty well, but I need to figure out how to do the whole thing on one size needle for my next project! Needless to say, I am a little bit further along than shown in the picture!

Started: February 2010
Finished:
Pattern: Hayrick Socks - Anne Hanson
Yarn: String Theory Blue Stocking - Beach Plum
Needles: 2.0mm & 2.75mm

 

Irtfa'a aka Red Tail Hawk

This is a big Faroese shawl from Anne Hanson. It was a little slow going at first, then I picked up momentum, then lost it again because I have been doing some sample knitting. I will be working this back in to the rotation because I really want to have it to wear for fall. I am calling it Red Tail Hawk because the yarn makes me think of that and it's a bird shawl. It's going to be pretty yummy when it's done. The pic is a little washed out - the yarn is softly colored, but is richer than the photo.

Started: May 3, 2010
Finished:
Pattern: Irtfa'a - Anne Hanson
Yarn: Black Sheep laceweight merino - Autumn Browns
Needles: #5 Signature circs

Box Leaf Wrap

This is another sample piece for Spirit Trail. The yarn is Ananke - 100% silk. It's lovely to work with with a luscious heavy drape. The color is fabulous - so subtle - I am afraid my photo doesn't really capture it.

Started: June 26, 2010
Finished: July 24, 2010
Pattern: Box Leaf Wrap - Anne Hanson
Yarn: Spirit Trail Ananke - Vinyard
Needles: #4 Addis

Bitterroot #2

I liked the Bitterroot sample I made for Spirit Trail so much that I made another one for me!

Started: May 8, 2010
Finished: May 27, 2010
Pattern: Bitterroot - Rosemary Hill
Yarn:Fiberphiles BFL/Nylon - Dark of the night
Needles: #5 Signature Circs

NEW SPINNING WHEEL!

So I picked up a couple of drop spindles at MDSW and played around with spinning. I remembered how much I enjoyed it, so found myself a used Majacraft Suzie and now she is at our house!


Was this baby packed or what?!? Lotsa peanuts in the box too, plus bubblewrap galore!
Flyer and slow whorl

Bobbins. Don't you like how she packed them in roving?

Head assembly

Completely unpacked, but not set up yet

And Voila! All set up with a bit of yarn spun on. Way cool!

 

White Gansey

This is obviously not white <g> and is actually finished. I need to get a finished picture. This is a gansey pattern by Beth Brown-Reinsel. I started it in 2006 and decided to finish it for the Ravelympics this year. Didn't quite get it done for that event, but it was enough of a kick start that I was able to complete it!Yarn is Lisa Souza's sportweight in garnet. It is scrumptiously soft. It's not traditional gansey yarn, but it works for me! I entered it in the MDSW skein and garment competition, but didn't win anything. I love it anyway.

Started: Sometime in 2006 (!)
Finished: April 29, 2010
Pattern: White Gansey - Beth Brown-Reinsel
Yarn: Lisa Souza Sport, Garnet
Needles: #3 &4

Palimpsest

Another fabulous Anne Hanson Pattern. This is done in Perchance to Knit laceweight - color way Harlot Peacock or something like that. It's gorgeous yarn, hard to photograph to best advantage.

Slow but steady progress. I was working from the pattern text, but switched to the chart - WAAAAAAY faster. I have some mistakes in the first section, but I don't want to frog again, so I think they will stay put as a monument to imperfection.

July - Hibernating. Look for a fall-ish pickup.

 

Started: December 2008
Finished:
Pattern: Anne Hanson Palimpsest
Yarn: Perchance to Knit laceweight
Needles: #5 Aluminums

My Own Vest

This is a sideways vest I am working on. The yarn is Great Adirondack Homespun 50/50 Silk/wool. It is scrumptious to the touch and the eye. I have had it for a while, but could never quite decide what it wanted to be. After I knit the sideways vest for Peg last year, I decided that a variation on that vest would be perfect for this yarn.

This is the first half of a front to back piece. I will knit the second half with a slightly smaller armhole and an inch or so more length in the body and then will have to reknit this half! Sheesh! But that's okay because I am writing this one up and it will give me more chances to capture the whole thing. (See below for comparison)

9/5 Funnily enough, the picture I took this am of this vest looks almost exactly the same as the pic below, only the vest is about 2" longer and the picture isn't very good. So I left this one up. I got a lot done even though it doesn't look like it!

9/20 ummm stalled. I need to get back to work on this. Weather is cooling off!

9/27 Got quite a bit done! Finishing the second front, then will probably pin out and block lightly before sewing up and putting the edge details on. I love the how the texture is popping.

4/26 - snoozing.


So this is version 2, slightly longer - you can compare to the old version below, which would have been too cropped IMO. I hope I allowed enough space for the armscye. I am a little worried about it!

The blue marker is the underarm "seam". This is the wickerwork pattern from BW#1 and it gives just a little drawing in at the underarm and provides a bit of shape to the garment.

Started: June 2008
Finished:
Pattern: My own
Yarn: Great Adirondack Homespun
Finished size: This will be a medium
Needles: #6 Addi circs