Thi Miller and Knitty Couture are featured in the latest Where Women Create issue! Stop by the shop to get your copy of the mag today!
Join us on Sunday, Jan. 31st, 1pm-6pm, for a celebratory potluck!
Winter Mittens
January 21, 2010 – 6:58 pm
At the shop, the Mittens Winter Knit-Along begins this Sunday, the 24th. Mittens are always a necessity, especially since, in my case, they’re a bit easy to misplace or damage… I once burned a hole in a pair while roasting marshmallows during a camping trip.
Though I won’t be casting on anything new this time, I will, however, be busy knitting mittens. Two (actually, three) pairs of mittens are waiting to be finished and now is as good of a time as any to finally be done with them. Finishing these will mean I’ll have knocked three more UFOs off my list!
The first pair is the Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang. These were started by our friend, Ariel, last winter and sadly left in the basket until, well, now. Aren’t they pretty? Prettier finished, I should say! This pattern is a wonderfully easy fair isle knit, requiring only two colors, and is a small enough project to achieve immediate gratification.
Two summers ago, while attending Meg Swansen’s Knitting Camp, I fiddled around with EZ’s Brioche Hat pattern and made it reversible in two colors. Since, I thought I would try my hands at figuring out how to create reversible brioche mittens/handwarmers. Why not, right?
The first mitt was created last winter. I’m proud to say that I diligently kept notes so that a pattern could be written up. Was it so successful that I decided to knit another pair? Um, not quite. The second mitt, started last summer, was an attempt to make sense of those notes which looked a lot like a bunch of gobbledygook. Even I couldn’t understand my own notes.
After a bit of editing, I think we’ll be ready for the third attempt which is the finish both of these and to make sure the pattern isn’t heiroglyphic. What will you be working on?
Two Down, A Million to Go!
January 19, 2010 – 4:59 pm
The first two pieces of 2010!
I love the coziness of this cowl. The Blue Sky Alpaca sportweight was perfect for this piece given that the alpaca fiber blooms after blocking. Cast on100 sts and work in brioche until desired length or, in my case, the yarn runs out. Brioche stitch is the wonderful stitch that creates an incredibly elastic, vertical, ribbed fabric without using up too much yarn. A skein of each color (approximately 200 yds total) was used.
Brioche Stitch (multiple of 2)
Set up round (MC): K1, yo, slip 1
Round1 (CC): Yf (yarn is placed over needle to back), s1, (move yarn over needle from back to front), p2tog
Round 2 (MC): K2tog, yf, s1
The stitch is a bit tricky to get the hang of, but once you do, the pattern is rather simple and moves along fairly quickly. Work the stitch in a single color, two colors, or even a solid and a variegated together for interest.
In actuality, there is not just one form of the brioche stitch, but rather, many many many. B. Walker, in her A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, informs us that the “Brioche Stitch is the basic member of a large family of patterns of Eastern origin (i.e., Double Brioche, Waffle Brioche, Syncopated Brioche, Tunisian Brioche, etc.,).” There is even a website devoted to this interesting stitch. Should you want to knit a brioche sweater, turn to EZ’s The Opinionated Knitter!
This Feather & Fan cowl was casted on during my stay in the hospital while I was waiting for the cervidil to take effect. Knitting this cowl achieved two purposes: it gave me an opportunity to do a bit of lace knitting and helped to use up stash yarn. This pattern was selected because despite its popularity, I had yet to knit it. It’s actually enjoyable, looks very pretty, and is so simple! Yarn: Kidsilk Haze. I casted on 144 sts.
Feather & Fan Stitch (multiple of 18)
Round 1 (RS): Knit
Round 2: Purl (knit, if working in the round)
Round 3: (K2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times
Round 4: Knit (purl, if working in the round)
Thoughts for the new year
January 10, 2010 – 3:20 pm
During the pregnancy, Eric and I decluttered and reorganized our home a bit in preparation for Gram’s arrival. The dresser I stored my stash in now houses Gram’s clothes and blankets, and my yarn, for the lack of space, was placed in a large (very large) rubbermaid and currently sits in the basement. I’m not particularly fond of its new location, but it’s also not my entire stash either. The other half is scattered about the house in baskets, bags, shelves, and on tables. This other half is, and I cringe, all my UFOs. I even have UFOs sitting in Gram’s room.
New Year Resolution #1. Finish all my UFOs.
Much like the 12 Socks in 12 Months Challenge, I shall try (NO, I SHALL) finish at least one UFO or a project a month. I’m not sure there are 12 UFOs for the year - I’m deathly afraid to count them, but I know there are a lot… and some are large UFOs like blankets and sweaters and bags. One UFO, in particular, was brought to my attention the other day. While browsing the pics on my laptop, Eric noticed a pic of a two-color fair isle bag I had begun and asked whatever happened to it. “Oh, that bag? Yeah, I need to finish it,” I responded. He gave me a funny look, “Did you know the date on this picture is April of 2008?” Hmmm. No, I didn’t know that, but it sounds about right…. That’s one of the UFOs sitting in Gram’s room.
New Year Resolution #2: Finish off those pesky scrap yarns.
You know those skeins of yarn leftover from projects. You know, the remnants of a (or more) sock yarn or the remainder of the million Cascade 220s skeins from the Dr. Who scarf. Well, I don’t know about you, but my baskets and bags are full of leftover yarn, and I keep telling myself not to get rid of them because they’ll eventually be put to use in a future project. Well, eventually is now.
New Year Resolution #3: Knit down my stash.
Truth be told, I’m not finishing off every bit of my stash. That’s just silly talk. Silly talk. And no way would I ever refrain from getting new yarn. That’s even sillier talk. But I will finally knit with that beautiful lace yarn, and I will use up those ten or so skeins I had bought on sale years ago with no idea of what to do with, but I will come up with something. And the numerous skeins of sock yarn… you guessed it. They will finally become socks!
What is going to be extremely helpful are the knit-alongs and challenges we’re starting at the shop this year. The consensus at the shop is that winter’s knit-along should be mittens which is great because I have UFO mittens I’ve been avoiding as well as mittens I’ve been wanting to start. Casting-on begins Sunday, Jan. 24th, at 1pm.
Join us also for the Knitting Winter Olympics. This is a 14 day knitting marathon where we’ll be casting on and finishing a project during the length of the Winter Olympics. Dates are February 12th-28th. I’m not sure just yet what I’ll be working on, but as you can see, there won’t be a lack of ideas to choose from. Remember. Knit nights are Thursday evenings, 5pm-8pm and all day on Sundays, 1pm-6pm so come by and join us!
