Fair Isle jacket and show in Stockholm

WIP: Fair Isle Jacket
Originally uploaded by Asplund

What to do when you're eager to knit the main patterns but haven't decided about the edges? I cast on with white cotton yarn (easy to remove) and knitted a row or two.

A good thing about knitting a couple of rows back and forth before knitting in the round is that it's easier to check it's not twisted. I remember clearly the first time I suddenly realised I was knitting a spiral instead of a tube and how stupid I felt. Unfortunately, it wasn't the last time, and guess who felt even more stupid the second time it happened... Etc.

My plan is to knit a jacket; the main reason is that if there is a steek all the way in front I don't have to weave in any threads (there are already quite a few dangling in the middle of the steek) but will simply cut them off when I cut the steek. The sleeves will have lots of threads to take care of, though.

I will felt the steek slightly apart from securing it by sewing, a method that worked well with this sweater. (Actually, the rusty red wool is leftovers from that project.) Perhaps it doesn't make much difference, but it felt safer and so at least had psychological value! Also, I rather like turning it into an advantage that this wool felts if you don't treat it gently.

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Unfortunately, this project won't be finished by Nov. 28, which is the first day some of my knitted sweaters and mittens will be on display at yarn shop Marias garn in Stockholm. Map here.

I'll be there the first day (between 11 am and 2.30 pm) and hopefully some other days too before the show ends on Dec. 19.

WELCOME!

Fair Isle swatch: part two

Fair Isle swatch: part two
Originally uploaded by Asplund

The pattern is the same, but I skipped the darkest background colour and moved the red to a single row in the middle.

It turned out the way I hoped, and I like it a lot better this way: attention drawn to the centre instead of back and forth between the border edges.

Next I will play with the three shades of green in my stash.

Today's purchase, not yarn (sic!)

Originally uploaded by Cecilia Levy

Love at first sight at gallery Sigtuna Kulturgård.

Swatching

Fair Isle swatch
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Wool in an array of glorious colours (leftovers and new skeins I just couldn't resist) plus Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting = high time to swatch! It's a book I really recommend, primarily for the excellent pattern library section.

Not only is there an abundance of patterns, they are also arranged according to how many rows they consist of (from 1 to 19 rows plus a number of allover patterns). Starmore also encourages playing with the pattern shapes and explains how to do so in a structured way.

With so many choices it's difficult to decide where to start. For this swatch I simply picked one of the many irresistible patterns to see how the colours in my stash work together. I really like this combination of colours, but not so much my colour sequence.

The rusty red is too dominant and demands attention at both the beginning and the end of the repeat. That's too messy in my opinon, so I'm going to move it to the middle where I think it will play nicely with the warm shade of yellow. What's more, that should result in a single focal point in the centre of the repeat with the glowing colours against the undyed and beige background.

I should add that Starmore's book has many qualities apart from the pattern section. Even though parts of it may seem dated at first glance (after all, it was first published in the 80s) I would say it's a timeless book above all.

The yarn is Shetlandsuld from BC Garn; 3 mm needles (US 2½).

Cecilia's twined mittens finished

Cecilia's twined mittens
Originally uploaded by Asplund

At long last I've finished the twined mittens I cast on for Cecilia in April. There was no hurry then, and when I picked them up again after summer I had some difficulties with the pattern, since I decided to abandon my original idea.

I really wanted the thin lines to frame the hand and merge with the broad line in the middle, but then diagonal (and horizontal) lines pop up while vertical lines sink. I don't mind three levels if it's an allover pattern, on the contrary, but I think it would look silly with just two lines suddenly rising where the mitten ends. Cecilia appreciates simplicity, so I simply skipped the frame idea. Let's just hope her hands won't look like dark grey, cloven hooves.

For examples of Cecilia's immense artistic talents, check out her blog A Matter of Form. Another idea is to visit gallery Sigtuna Kulturgård, where she and her husband Mattias will be displaying their work during three weekends starting on Sat. 7 November.

Sunset in Uppsala.

Twined sweater: reknitted rows

WIP: Twined sweater
Originally uploaded by Asplund

It was a good decision to rip out and reknit part of this project. It has taken almost a week to catch up, but I like the way it looks a lot better now.

I'm not sure how to continue, though. There's no lack of ideas, it's rather a matter of choosing the right one; even if I don't mind ripping out and reknitting I'd rather not if it can be avoided...

The best thing is probably to let it rest for a while and work with some other projects. There's no lack of works in progress either.

Or lack of yarn, for that matter: I just went through my stash (well, part of it) and discovered a couple of skeins identical to some yarn I found too beautiful to resist the other day, especially since I was sure I had never seen those shades before. It seems I'm even better at fooling myself than I thought, which is a bit worrying. Or promising!

WIP: Twined sweater

WIP: Twined sweater
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Moving from border to body I kept the number of stitches but changed needles from 2½ to 3 mm (US 1½ & 2½) and let the lines of the border pattern continue and form new patterns. I like it when different pattern sections blend.

What I didn't quite like was the main pattern I had come up with. Some details looked far better on paper and in my imagination than they did in reality, so I ripped out 15 rows – more than 6,000 stitches... It's annoying, but not nearly as annoying as seeing things in a finished sweater that I was too lazy to change.

I'm happy with how it looks in this photo, which I took after picking up the stitches again.

Twined knitting: right and wrong sides

Twined knitting: right and wrong sides
Originally uploaded by Asplund

The right side is fairly similar to ordinary knitting, but knit stitches are tall and narrow instead of short and wide; also, you get deep relief patterns.

The wrong side almost looks crocheted rather than knitted.

Here's a blog with great photos that show the basics of the technique.

Anniversary

Twined sweater to be
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Almost exactly a year has passed since I cast off my first twined sweater. What better way to celebrate than to cast on a new one?

This sweater will be similar but not identical; I want to test some new construction and pattern ideas.

Kampes z-plied wool ordered from Firma Krokmaskan.

A vest for a vest: finished

A vest for a vest
Originally uploaded by Asplund

I envy my fingers – unlike me they remember things so well! Once I got started with the pattern it was almost like typing, and a favourite movie helped making this a quick knit: Woody Allen's Match Point is so compelling (even the the third time) I knitted faster than usual.

Short notes about the construction:

1. Knitted in one piece until I reached the armholes, then divided into three sections.
2. Armholes shaped using short rows.
3. Back and front joined using a three-needle bind-off and knitting a neck gusset (which I learnt from Alice Starmore's Fishermen's Sweaters). Picture here.
4. Stitches picked up around the armholes for a garter-stitch edging.
5. I picked up stitches along front; then knitted gusset stitches, back stitches and gusset stitches; then picked up stitches along other front. All stitches knitted back and forth for garter stitch edging.

My mother seems pleased with how her new vest turned out!