One of the things I’ve been working on, as you may have noticed, is actually finishing off and publishing the back log of designs that I have worked on over the past, uh hem, couple of years.   This week I’m introducing another such design, Delicate Beginnings, a sweet little baby sweater that I designed a few years back as a shower gift for a preemie.

Delicate Beginnings

The little one was just fine, and in fact just turned 4 this past spring!  The original sweater is the blue one and my knitting group friend, Lisa L., (Thank you Lisa!) knit the pink & green one from some of my hand painted sock yarn a while back.

Delicate Beginnings

Here is the description from the pattern: Originally designed as a special baby shower gift for a family member expecting a preemie, this deceptively simple sweater is as delicate as the new arrival it is intended for. The raglan shaping makes it an easy fit for dressing squirmy little bundles of joy. This sweater can be knit from either a solid colored, fingering weight baby yarn or it can be worked in your choice of hand-painted or self-striping sock yarns. It is worked flat, from the top down and in one piece for minimal finishing.

Currently in the works

I have several other designs that I am working on now and hope to bring you over the next few weeks.  One that I am knitting on at the moment is a scarf/shawl project which has been a bit of a problem child actually.  A few weeks back I stumbled across a stitch pattern that I fell in love with and has haunted me since.  I’ve tried several different projects for it and swatched it in a number of different yarns, none of which seemed to be the right fit.  Somehow though I just couldn’t get this particular pattern out of my head and so I recently gave it another try.

This is just the beginning of a scarf and isn’t blocked yet but I think the pattern shows up fairly well.  The yarn is some of my own hand-painted Wool, Bamboo, Nylon blend sock yarn.  Though I’m no longer dyeing it I know there are many other small dyers using this same yarn base so substitutes are readily available.   I expect it will take me a few weeks to finish knitting the sample and finalize a few details before the pattern will be available but I’ll keep you posted.

Around the Farm

The past few weeks have been fairly dry here and that seems to be good for the tomato plants.  I’ve been watering nearly every day and the garden has been growing like crazy.  I have cherry tomato plants (Sweet 100s) that are actually about 7 feet tall this year!

7ft Tomato plant

For reference, that is a 6 ft fence behind that plant!  The tomatoes are just starting to ripen but the plants are loaded so I think we are going to be eating them for weeks to come!

Garden

And the basil is thriving this year.  We’ve had pesto several times and I keep making extra to freeze for this fall and winter.   Its just about ready for me to cut it back again.

Basil

I’ll be back later in the week with a progress report on the scarf and perhaps sneak peaks at another project or two.  See you soon!

Royal Pair

This week I’ve added another pattern to my Ravelry shop – Royal Pair – Here is the description from the pattern: Originally designed with my very particular husband in mind, these Twisted Stitch patterned socks feel cushy on the feet and have a subtle
stitch pattern without the bulk of actual cables.  These socks are knit from the cuff down to the toe with a traditional heel flap; a short-row heel may easily be substituted if preferred. Pattern includes directions for 3 sizes with two charted interchangeable twisted stitch motifs for both Men’s (Chart B) & Women’s (Chart C) versions.

Here is the Women’s version:

Chart C

The pattern for these and the sample sock will be headed over to visit Kim at Butterfly Yarns in Wakefield soon so if you’d like to see it in real life, head on over there!

There are more patterns in the works so stay tuned!

Things seem to be growing all over the place here! The kids are both having growth spurts, the garden is growing like crazy (6ft Tomato plants!) and I have a new Sock pattern.  I’ve recently started going through my projects and finishing up all the patterns that I’ve worked on over the past couple of years!  These adorable little socks are the “Grow with Me” socks, here is the description from the pattern: These socks are designed to fit the ever growing feet of toddlers. The ribbed leg and instep create a sock that expands as the child grows, allowing you to simply rip back the toe portion of the sock, extend it by half an inch and knit a new toe as their feet grow. Choose the size below closest to the foot circumference of the child and knit the foot length to fit. It is possible to get 2-3 shoe sizes from a pair by simply lengthening the foot as needed. My own son wore the pair pictured for 3 winters, with two toe increases.

The pattern for these socks is now available as a Free Pattern through Ravlery, just click on the photo above to go to the pattern page.   TallGal and I have actually knit up quite a few pairs of these over the past couple of years, photos of some of them are listed in the projects and in the pattern itself.  We’re both planning another pair or two for each kid (I may even make 3 this year!) for the late fall and winter . . . I’m just waiting to see just where the boy-child’s feet land size wise before I start knitting; he’s currently having a growth spurt!

Around the Farm

After 13.5 yrs of loyal friendship our dog Arrow has passed away.  We miss him terribly; I still go to the door to let him in for the night some evenings after the chickens are locked up.

Arrow

We also have a broody hen.  She’s on her second attempt to hatch eggs this summer . . . the first batch didn’t work out. I wasn’t hear on time one day to remove the new eggs from another nest box and she switched boxes for too many hours.  The first batch got tossed but 2 days later she was still insisting on hatching something so I gave her another batch.  She currently has 7 eggs under her and its been 1 week so far. . . . 2 more to go and perhaps we’ll have baby chicks!  If something goes wrong she will not get a 3rd try this year; its getting late in the summer for hatching new chicks with enough time to feather out before the weather gets cold!  (Frightening to have to consider Winter in the Middle of July, isn’t it?)

Eggs

And the Garden is showing signs of being productive this year.  So far we’ve had Romaine Lettuce and various herbs from my little garden patch but the Cherry Tomatoes are starting to change color and some of the plants are about 6 feet tall and still growing!  Its a good thing we like Tomatoes because this year looks to be a bumper crop!

Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

The kids are enjoying their summer.  Lots of play-dates with friends and Mimmo has been going to Karate Camp.  This week he earned his 2nd Orange stripe and was given permission to start attending Sparring again.  That means he’ll be going to Karate for 4 hrs a week again!  We’ve also been to the beach, Revere Beach mostly so far but we hope to venture out further soon.

Mimmo

Well, that’s all for now.  I’ll have more in a few days . . . There’s a baby sweater pattern to add to Ravelry next week and I’ll have more garden updates if nothing else . . . Have a great Weekend everyone!

My fingers are also getting itchy to be working on something in lace, I’ve got a couple of new Lace yarns that are calling (photos soon)

And we just got a new (working!) printer/scanner. I, of course, had to spend an entire evening loading some of the old photos into the computer to put on facebook – all sorts of Highschool madness.

Here is one of me, from Halloween in the 8th grade. Its relevant here because I made the costume myself

Halloween 1987?

As I mentioned in the previous post, I’ve been working on a few design projects . . . and I’ve added one since that post!

The “Mini-Must-Have” is finished except the buttons . . . and the pattern is currently in the test-knitting stage of things thanks to [Tallgal], Kim and Jen.  Once I’m sure we’ve worked out the kinks (writing is rewriting, right?) then I’ll make it available through Ravelry.  And once I have the buttons selected and on it we’ll take some photos with it modeled.  In the mean time:

Mini-Must-Have

I’ve also been working on “Simplicity”

Simplicity

I’ve also started a new design project that I’m very excited about . . . its a twisted stitch sock pattern in two versions, his and hers.  Here is a little bit of his . . .

sock

This one hasn’t been named yet, but if all goes well it will be available as a free pattern in the Butterfly Yarns Newsletter later this month so if you haven’t signed up for it, check it out!  This pattern will available on Ravelry as well . . .

Farmyard

I’ve almost finished planting our garden for this year . . . I wait until Memorial Day weekend every year to be sure we really are past any danger of frost; after all this is New England!

my garden

It isn’t much really but I don’t dare plant too many things since the garden bed is inside the play area.  I’m cautiously optimistic that the boy-child will leave the garden alone this year but have a feeling the girl-child is going to find flowers and tomatoes hard to resist.   That said, I’ve got tomatoes, basil, rosemary, peppers for Dom, Eggplant and a few other herbs and flowers.  We’ll have to wait and see how they do.

And a few chicken pics for you:

and these are the new Eggie chicks, learning to forage:

chickies foraging

I’ve also taken up coffee roasting, using the wood-fired oven which works out wonderfully since all the smoke and smell is outdoors.  We were given several pounds of coffee beans but I have not idea what type they are . . . here is them being roasted:

roasting coffee

coffee roasting 2

roasted

and on that note . . . see you next post!

Around the “Farm”

We’ve had plenty of things happening lately.  Just after Easter we got our spring chick order. I got a small assortment of new layer hen chicks (11 in all) and we ordered some Cornish Roasters for the first time.  I’ve been truly amazed at how much faster the Roasters grow.  Here are the new chicks:

The chicks are now 7 weeks and while the laying hen chicks weigh about 3 lbs and will be going in with the rest of the hens shortly, the Roasters weigh about 6 lbs and in another 4-5 weeks will be ending their stay with us.  So far we have only lost one of them to the raccoon, though not for lack of trying on her part.

Cornish Roasters

Family Stuff

Mimmo has been taking Karate for almost a year now and in March he earned his Yellow Belt.

Mimmo's Yellow Belt

Caterina went in for her first ever haircut just before Easter.   We wound up having bangs cut into her hair since it was constantly in her eyes and she refuses to leave barrettes in . . . we’ll grow them out again when she is a little older.

Caterina's First Haircut

And our niece, Marianna, had her first Communion and turned 8 yrs old.

Marianna & Paul

And Caterina had her 2nd Birthday.

Caterina's 2nd Birthday

Renovations

In the on-going home improvement department we have managed to perform a mini-makeover in the kitchen.  We’ve added a dishwasher (other than me) and in the process replaced the sink base, sink, faucet & counter top.  The work in nearly complete with some finish work (perhaps it will get done?) and a little bit of plumbing left to go.

Knitting & Spinning

All of this has left less time for projects than I’d like . . .but such is life with small children, right?  I have not worked on any more of the spinning for St. Brigid since my last post.  I hope to resume spinning, perhaps out in the yard, in the next couple weeks as we start spending more time outside.

I have all but finished the Must Have Cardigan.  I need to sew in the sleeves and sew the seams and add buttons but other than that the actual knitting is complete.  Once I have it sewn I’ll post a few pics.

However, while I was finishing up the Must Have I ran into a little, pint sized, snag.  Caterina decided she wanted it as her own.  The fact that it is far too big for her didn’t seem to matter, she laid claim to it!  Her insistence has inspired me to create a mini version which I’m calling the “Mini-Must-Have” in tribute to the original.   Her’s is nearly finished, I bound off the button band today and now need to sew in the sleeves, sew the sleeve and side seams and add buttons.  (sound familiar?).  I’ve also been working on writing this up to post as a free pattern on Ravelry.  I have it designed for sizes 2 through 12 and have 3 people who have agreed to test knit it once the instructions are finalized.  I’ll post a few pics of Caterina in hers as soon as its actually wearable.

And I’m working on another design project, a sweater I’m calling Simplicity.  Its a basic stockinette Cardi knit from sock yarn; perfect for those skeins of sock yarn that are just a little too colorful to show off the lace patterns of the other fingering weight Cardis out there.  The key with this sweater is the attention to detail . . . details I’ll share with you in a later post when the sweater is a bit more presentable.  Once this sweater and pattern are finished they will be available for sale on Ravelry as well.

I have a few more design ideas I’m working on but they are still in the early stages and not ready to be shared quite yet, but stay tuned for more!

Like most of the things I try to get done, this process is happening rather slowly as my projects tend to come last on the list for the most part . . . so please bear with me as this is going to take a while to get though!

The colors to blend

So I’m using a postage scale to weigh these out to be sure that I have the same amount of each.  I was going to blend 5g of each color, but my scale doesn’t like the number 5 so I’m blending 6 g. of each color for a total of 18 g. in each batt.   The carder ends up pretty full but by blending them with 4 passes through the carder I am able to get a nice even final color.

blending

The carder is an Ashford and while it is on the small side; it is better than handcarders!

I’ve also had a little helper with one batch:

helping Mommy

This was a rare occasion when I actually took the carder out while she was awake; generally I only do things like card fiber when there are no children either home or awake to be involved.

Singles and fiber

The light was a bit bright so the color is a little off from how it looks in real life but its fairly close . . .  so far I’ve only managed to card something like 5 oz of fiber and I’ve spun about 2/3 of that . . . something like a bobbin and a half.   At this rate, it might be next year before I actually knit St. Brigid but I will get there eventually!

Must Have Cardi

Life has been getting in the way of my knitting time lately but I have managed a few rows here and there on the Must Have Cardi – the back of it is about 10 inches in so far . . . slow progress but I’ll take any little bit of progress I can get as I’d like t have this off the needles before the weather warms up!

Immersion dye #1

Now this was something I hadn’t done in a while! Looking back on my notes it would appear that the last time I really dyed was THREE YEARS AGO!  Yup! Three whole years since I put up the dyepots!

So, after I dusted everything off I managed to put together 4 batches of roving to dye.  I did 1.5lbs of each color to give myself enough to play with for swatching, yarn variations and a little extra, just in case.  I had narrowed my color choices to something in the cool colors but hadn’t made a final decision on color even as I started dyeing.  I knew I wanted the color above as the base color but somehow managed to end up with a slightly darker shade than I was hoping for . . .

Next up I tried a batch of purple . . .

Immersion dye #2

which turned out to be very purple.  I really like the color but since I had planned to blend the fibers I’m thinking that would be too variegated for the texture I want to knit with this sweater.  Good thing I planned for extra fiber, huh?

So then I took a good look at the blue I was starting with and decided I needed to lighten it up just a bit from what it was, so I came up with this:

Immersion dye #3

And then because I wanted the final product to be a Mediterranean Blue I added this:

Immersion dye #4

Bright, isn’t it?

Once everything was done cooking and drained etc. It all went outside on a drying rack:

Drying Fiber

The sun was a little bright when I took this so the colors don’t show clearly . . .  here is a better shot of the colors:

Fiber colors

Okay, that’s all you get for this post   Next up we’ll blend them on the drum carder and see what the spun singles look like.  Isn’t this fun?

Progress on the back of this sweater has been slow for a couple of reasons . . . I’ve been a bit distracted by wanting to work on spinning samples for the new project which has taken away from time spent on this and the kids have been sick this weekend so we haven’t been out anywhere for a few days. Lately, Must Have has been my “waiting in the car” knitting project and since we haven’t been in the car, I haven’t worked on it much.

Here is the back so far:

Must Have Cardi- back

Fern

After careful consideration I have decided to go ahead and frog Fern. I had a good chunk of the front and back knit but since the colorway of the yarn is interfering with the stitch definition and the pattern is a rather subtle one, I’ve decided to frog it. I do like the yarn and will likely use it for another project at some point. I think a cabled sweater with bulkier, better defined cables would work well . . . just nothing as subtle as Fern.

Bye, Bye Fern:

Fern to be frogged

St. Brigid

Over the weekend I spun a sample of Romney wool roving that was 2 fleece I purchased when I first started spinning from Skyline Farm and had processed by Zeilinger’s Wool Company.  The fleece were large and I had 2 of them so I have a sizeable amount of this wool left.  It was not the finest Romney but it does spin very easily . . .

Romney on the wheel

and here is a finished skein:

3 ply Romney

And then Sunday I knit a swatch: the same 27 stitches and 1 repeat of the cable pattern to make an easy comparison.

Romney swatch

What I found is that the Romney is courser (this particular fleece, not necessarily all Romney) and hairier than the corriedale cross, something more like a mohair blend actually.  While the swatch does have good stitch definition (I think that is due in large to the 3 plies) I feel this yarn is more of a true outer wear variety . . . and may actually knit an Einstein coat from it later this year.

Here are the two swatches side by side:

swatch comparison

I also considered trying a Border Leicester Fleece that I have on hand and some Merino.  The Border Leicester, as it turns out, feels very similar to the Romney and I ruled out the Merino as being too soft and not hard-wearing enough for what I’d like to knit this sweater in based on what I am likely to wear it for.   With all that said, it looks like the Corrie Cross Wool is the clear winner.

Next up, dyeing the fibers!

I spent an evening plying off all the random bits, even combining some of the smaller bobbins until I had cleared all but the last 2 of their contents.  Now there are several little skeins of yarns that might be used for small mittens or other little things . . . and several empty bobbins that I can use to start the project I’d like to be working on.

The “Must Have Cardigan” is almost finished; I’m about 1/4 of the way through the back of it now, and I’ve been inspired to work on another, more complicated, Cable sweater pattern.  The next one will be the St. Brigid pattern from Alice Starmore’s Aran Knitting.  The book is due to be republished in the Fall and in the mean time is available at the BPL for in-library use only.

Anyone who has seen my yarn/fiber stash could tell you, it is rather large.  That said, I do not have the right yarn for this sweater.  Not even close actually.  What I do have in the stash is a rather large amount of wool rovings and so I’ve decided to spin the yarn for this sweater.

Most of the spinning I have done has been inspired by the fiber, I have pulled out a bit and spun what ever it “felt” like becoming and for however long it actually held my attention.  There have only been a few instances where I have actually spun an entire fleece or enough of one yarn for something as large as a sweater and this will be the first time that I have started with the idea of the sweater in mind and worked “backward” from the sweater pattern to the proper gauge, ply and color for a particular pattern.

Actually, I will be dyeing, carding & spinning the yarn for this sweater.   There are several wools available to choose from and given the size of the project I thought it best to start a the beginning and actually sample at least 2-3 fibers before deciding which I liked best for the pattern.

Here is the first candidate: Corriedale Cross from Ashland Bay.  This is a true 3-ply, 9 wpi before setting the twist.

Corrie Cross

The whole sample skein is .8 oz:

Corrie Cross Sample

Once the twist had been set the yarn still seems to measure 9 wpi, which is great news since that is the size needed for the pattern.  I then decided to knit a swatch of one of the cable patterns from the sweater (1 repeat worth) in order to see how the cables would appear in the yarn.

Corrie Cross Cable Swatch

So far I really like the way the cables stand out in this yarn and it has a light and soft handle when working with it.  There is a strong possibility that this will be the fiber I choose to work this sweater in . . . but I plan to sample at least 1 more (maybe 2) fibers before actually making a decision.  Once the other fiber(s) have been spun and swatched I’ll compare the swatches and decide from that which is best suited to the pattern.

Next up, Romney that I purchased a few years back from Melissa at Skylines Farm.  I hope to spin up the sample this evening and be able to knit the swatch over the weekend . . . perhaps a post about that on Monday