Starmore mania, part 1

Well, I knew stranded colourwork was something I longed for during my book project, but little did I know I would finish no less than three Starmore projects: Mary Tudor, Thoroughbred and Rona. They're all available as kits from Virtual Yarns - I should add that I am not sponsored by them, but simply a happy Starmore addict.

I learnt long ago that I find it extremely difficult to get the gauge called for even though I've tried different needle sizes. My solution to that problem is to use my gauge to calculate roughly how many stitches I will need for the garment to be my size. Then I choose which size to follow in the instructions depending on which of them comes closest.

There's no way I'd take liberties with the charts or the colour combinations - the main reason I send for kits is that I get colours a genius has chosen and that I myself never would have dreamed of. (I find combining two colours is difficult enough!) Look at these fifteen colours of Rona, for example.

Hebridean Delight

I do take some liberties with shapes and constructions, though, and that's what this (and my next) post will be about.

Shoulder joins are very important to me, so I make efforts planning them, and undoing them if necessary. It is not so much about how they're done (I practically always use the three-needle bind-off technique) but getting them to look pleasing. So, here are three examples of different results with the same technique.

With Mary Tudor I managed (with some luck) to get a good length by finishing a whole rose before the shoulder join. I think it looks very nice with two roses meeting at the join:

I used two colours to bind off - with only the background colour it would have visible where the yellow stitches are joined. (There are already examples of that among my sweaters...)

shoulder join wrong side

When it was time for Thoroughbred, I first tried letting the allover pattern meet in a similar way, but was not very happy with how it turned out - sorry about the blurred photo - mainly because of the shape of the negative space:

Thoroughbred, take 1

Instead I added a row with only the background colour, and think it looks a lot better:

Thoroughbred, take 2

Last but not least, Rona. I was delighted to see how a new pattern was created when the two horizontal, mirrored bands were married by the shoulder join. A great thing about the three-needle bind-off technique - apart from being very easy - is that stitches are matched in pairs. If I had grafted front and back instead ("Kitchener stitch") they would have been half a stitch off.

Rona shoulder

That's it for today! Sooner or later I will be back with other modifications. Let me just add that I'm such a selfish knitter I'm going to keep all three of them! 😎

Mine!

Efter bokprojektet har jag glatt givit efter för mitt uppdämda behov att sticka flerfärgsmönster. Inte mindre än tre Alice Starmore-plagg har det blivit - en av dem påbörjad före boken, så den fick jag gömma. Själv är jag inte särskilt bra på att kombinera färger (två är svårt nog) så jag har lyxat till det genom att skicka efter kit från Virtual Yarns. Vissa av de här färgerna skulle jag aldrig ha valt, ännu mindre kommit på att kombinera, så det är bara att vara tacksam över att det finns ett geni som gör det. Kanske ska jag påpeka att jag inte har blivit sponsrad utan bara är glatt beroende. 

Färgerna mixtrar jag alltså inte med (tanken svindlar), däremot lägger jag mig i en del när det gäller konstruktion och passform. För det första har jag väldigt svårt att få till den starmoreska stickfastheten, till och med när jag byter stickor. Därför utgår jag från min stickfasthet och väljer storlek utifrån det. Oftast blir det Small med betydligt tunnare stickor än som anges, och så liten till växten är jag faktiskt inte.

Vidare är jag ganska petig när det gäller montering av fram- och bakstycke. Som regel vränger jag arbetet ut och in och maskar av de två styckena tillsammans, detta för att få mönsterpassning. I de tre projekten ovan är det alltså samma teknik men med lite olika effekt. 

I koftan Mary Tudor hade jag tur nog att längden blev lagom om jag avslutade med en hel ros. Det blev riktigt fint när två rosor möts vid axelfogen, tycker jag. (Föreställ er två stympade som bildar någon sorts monster-ros!) Här maskade jag av med två färger: med bara bottenfärgen skulle den ha lyst igenom de gula partierna, och det ville jag undvika. Detta eftersom jag har exempel på den effekten i tröjsamlingen...

När jag monterade slipovern Thoroughbred prövade jag först att göra likadant, men blev inte nöjd med hur det tog sig ut där gallren möttes över axeln (vilket jag hade trott). Därför lade jag till ett enfärgat varv med bottenfärgen och maskade av styckena med den. Klar förbättring, tycker jag: rent i stället för plottrigt.

Slutligen Rona, som är ett bra exempel på hur ett nytt mönster kan bildas där två spegelvända möts. Gissa om jag blev livad! Ett annat elegant sätt att montera är att sy maskstygn (Kitchener stitch) men det ville jag inte använda här. Visserligen blir det en smidig söm, men den innebär att det blir en förskjutning en halv maska i sidled där styckena möts, och då skulle något av effekten gå förlorad. Så är den tekniken betydligt mer tidskrävande också.

Så småningom kommer det ett till inlägg om friheter jag har tagit mig med de här projekten.
 

Donegal sweater finished at long last

Almost to my surprise I finally finished my "Donegal" sweater, an Alice Starmore design. My Ravelry project page tells me I cast on in July 2013 - and it seems I haven't touched it since perhaps February 2015. For whatever reason I suddenly got it out the day before yesterday for a diagnosis. Good news: only 1/4 of a sleeve left to knit. Great news: no moth holes! It only took two evenings to finish it, so I wonder what made me put it aside for almost two years - I usually accelerate towards the end of a project. Maybe there was something I've chosen to forget, like getting the colour changes all wrong for a few rows? We'll see.

One thing I do remember is having difficulties deciding where and how to end the front and back for a shoulder join without major pattern cracks and collisions. I even think I modified the chart slightly, which feels practically sacrilegous. (Meddling with a Starmore chart!) Perhaps I get a needle and some leftovers to embroider stitches so that the lines near the neckband meet. To me it looks as if someone took a bite, which in a way is rather charming.

shoulder join

The negative thing is that I ended up with sleeves that are too wide: to get where I wanted in the chart I had to knit more rows than I otherwise would have done. On the other hand, it turned out an oversized sweater (or perhaps I'm undersized?) so it doesn't matter much.

Since summer I've been toying with brioche scarves, using increases, decreases and short rows to achieve zigzag effects. These three scarves are all made with Visjö yarn from Östergötlands ullspinneri, extremely addictive wool.

Z scarves

The past few months I've been teaching unusually much (two weekends a month at HV in Stockholm, for example) which is fantastic. Only a few years ago I never would have guessed there'd be so many opportunites to teach knitting, so I count myself extremly lucky being able to combine my profession and my lifelong hobby. This blog gets to starve, though - imagine dreary posts about my writing instructions. I'd rather write about my private projects here, even though they are few and far between these days, "they" referring to projects as well as blog posts ;-)

Happy knitting!


En av många fördelar med att ha ett frikostigt antal projekt på gång samtidigt är att det plötsligt kan gå väldigt snabbt att avsluta ett av dem. För mig är det något av en gåta varför jag har låtit tröjan Donegal ligga i nästan två år fast det bara var ungefär en fjärdedels ärm kvar. Ärmarna har jag stickat direkt på kroppen, så det var inte ens någon montering kvar. Nå, härom kvällen fick den komma ut och nosa i alla fall, och med så pass lite arbete kvar tog det faktiskt inte mer än ett par kvällar att få den klar. Tack och lov kunde jag inte hitta några gnaghål eller så!

Däremot minns jag att jag fick fundera en del på hur jag skulle få ihop det över axlarna med så få mönsterkrockar som möjligt. Visserligen hittade jag ett bra varv i diagrammet, men jag fick rita om det lite för att inte påbörja nya mönsterformer som bara skulle bli stympade direkt. Det innebar också att jag stickade några fler varv än jag annars skulle ha gjort, så tröjan är i största laget - speciellt ärmarna. Det går nog inte att lura någon att tro att det döljer sig kraftiga bicepsmuskler under dem.

Annars har jag lekt med patentstickning en hel del, kombinerat ökningar och minskningar på olika sätt för att få lite roliga former på halsdukar. Tre av dem syns på fotot ovan, samtliga i Visjögarn från Östergötlands ullspinneri. 

Det blir inte så många plagg som förr, och därför inte heller så många uppdateringar här. Det beror framför allt på att jag har fått fler uppdrag som kursledare i stickning än jag hade vågat drömma om, så mycket av min sticktid går åt till att tänka ut uppgifter, skriva instruktioner till dem och teststicka. Det är otroligt givande att arbeta med kurser, men den processen ser jag inte som överdrivet blogg-kompatibel.

Busy September

Where did September go? In my case mainly workshops! Not only the workshops themselves, but also planning them. For example, even though stranded colourwork has been a favourite pattern technique of mine for some 30 years I actually haven’t taught it before. High time!

I do enjoy all aspects of workshops: the best thing is meeting the participants, of course, but I also really like planning content, writing and rewriting instructions, and swatching. To the extent that I often swatch swatches... (“Hmm, in this case 96 stiches would be even better than 100” and so on.) Also, I’m grateful I get opportunities to be a teacher, which was my profession for some ten years but which I quit a couple of years ago. In short, I miss the teenagers and my colleagues, but not the school system. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with details. I'll write about some sweaters instead!

 

Hanne Falkenberg's Bellis

I finished the "Bellis" sweater, a design by Hanne Falkenberg, just in time for a friend's birthday. Funny - and how typical - that I suddenly had only some ten days to finish it considering I cast on at least half a year ago. Well, at least I managed - and it was even dry when I wrapped it up.

With a sweater off the needles I felt ready for  My friend Lena and I decided we'd both knit Alice Starmore's sweater Na Craga, which is on the cover of her book Aran Knitting. Confession time: I'm being unfaithful to Alice Starmore, using Cascade 220 instead of her Hebridean 3 ply.

Alice Starmore's Na Craga

Another highlight in September was a book release: "Sagornas stickbok" by Celia B Dackenberg. She used illustrations in children's book as her starting point, turning them into real garments in a kind of reverse process. She did a similar thing in "Ylle & bläck" - wool & ink - a few years ago, a book about writers and their real and fictional knitwear, and I have been hoping for a sequel since I first came across it. My sweater Thorsten fiskares tröja was based on a pattern in "Ylle & bläck". 

To brag, I found the book release extra thrilling since I actually made one of the garments in the book, a brownish grey brioche sweater. It was quite a challenge using a picture instead of a pattern to make a sweater that not only should be true to the illustration but also possible for others to knit. And hopefully comfortable to wear. I learnt so much from it – thank you, Celia, for inviting me to take part in this project!

an old in-progress picture of my sweater interpretation

Leading ladies

Still in the mood for following someone else's instructions I've added Hanne Falkenberg's "Studio Long" sweater to my collection of works in progress. It's not like working with Alice Starmore's "Donegal" pattern, though.

Starmore's "Donegal" and Falkenberg's "Studio Long"

When it comes to Donegal, I'm more than happy working with Starmore's pattern and choice of colours - how could I not? - but there are some things I need to figure out to get the size right. Sleeve length, above all (knitting for myself is like knitting for a baboon) but I also enjoy thinking about details like how to make the shoulder join look as nice as possible.

Falkenberg's design is different: her constructions are so ingenious and intriguing it's difficult to modify the shape. Her "Studio Long" is knitted both sideways and diagonally, for example! Not that I think any modifications will be necessary, it's just that I usually can't help myself...

I've knitted one of her designs before, a vest called Blues, and found it quite fascinating. I remember not always being sure where I was, but I'd heard from various sources what a careful pattern writer she is I decided simply to follow the instructions and try not to even think about interpreting anything as something that she hadn't actually written. There's simply no need to as I don't think I've ever read better, clearer instructions than Hanne Falkenberg's. It's really relaxing: garter stitch, one colour at a time and not having to think - or, rather, being able to think about whatever comes to mind. If I had a television set, this would make for excellent telly knitting. Instead, it's conversation knitting.

Det är välgörande och avkopplande att följa andras instruktioner, även om jag oftast tycker att det är roligt att hitta på själv eller åtminstone göra om detaljer. Alice Starmore är oslagbar när det gäller färger, tycker jag, så då är det lyxigt att ha hennes kombinationer som jag aldrig skulle ha kommit på själv. Hanne Falkenberg är oslagbar när det gäller mönsterkonstruktion och skriver så tydligt att det inte kan bli fel. Det gäller helt enkelt att inte tolka in något som inte står där - något av en utmaning för mig som är ganska klåfingrig i fråga om beskrivningar, men samtidigt skönt. Gör man bara som hon skriver är det förvånansvärt enkelt att sticka en tröja så här på tvären och snedden samtidigt!





 

Alba cardigan finished again

Some three months ago I finished my "Alba" cardigan - and after finding the right hooks and eyes for it the other day I finished it again yesterday by sewing them in place. I love the drop shape!

Then I remembered Margaret Atwood's poem that we read when I studied English years ago. The way it shifts and all the things it implies still makes me shudder and smile at the same time!


You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye

 Here's my finished twined hat - and I'm happy to say it's too warm to wear it:

Hamlet, the twined version

 
Man kan ju aldrig vara säker så här års, men jag hoppas slippa slita på koftan och mössan. Koftan går förstås att ha i stället för jacka, men yllemössa betackar jag mig för. Nej, så här års tycker jag att det är mer lockande att sticka tunna spetssjalar. Inte för att jag bär dem själv, men det roliga är att sticka. Om en dryg månad (helgen 17-18 maj) kommer jag förresten att hålla kurs i just spetsmönster och sjalformer på Ekerö. Här finns mer information om du är intresserad.

A rose is a rose...

Alice Starmore's "Mary Tudor " in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Fortunately, possibly not by pure accident, I had already bought the yarn to knit Alice Starmore's "Mary Tudor" when I decided to at least try not to add to my stash for a while. Still haven't bought any yarn this year!

Thanks for your comments on "Henry VIII"! His sister Mary is just as delightful to knit: the astonighingly beautiful pattern is slightly trickier, but still easier as there is only one chart to follow instead of three and fewer colours. But what colours! I've said it before and I'll say it again: Alice Starmore for president!

My other main project right now is completely different, a single-colour brioche cardigan with hardly any patterns, but then I'm a polygamous knitter - there's nothing like a pile of different kinds of project to be able to choose what I feel like, or start something new with treasures from my stash. (My relationship to books is similar: facts, fiction, classics, modern etc in tempting piles.)

brioche cardigan: raglan sleeve

The only thing you could call a pattern is a double-knitted column in the middle of the sleeves. The increases are on each side of the column instead of near the edges, which I think looks nice. I've been struggling with the shoulder straps, testing different versions.

testing shoulder straps

My first attempt was the strap to the right. I didn't like it, but didn't rip it out at once. Instead I knitted the one to the left first to be able to compare them. An improvement I thought would do - but then I saw the wrong side. That's what I wanted! So, I'll rip them both and reknit them inside out, so to speak. All's well that ends well.

wrong side soon to be right side

Starmore-mates

Starmore-mates, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Dear friend and soul knitter "Born to knit" and I at a get-together for knitters yesterday afternoon. We'd known each other for quite some time through our Flickr photos before we finally met a few years ago - and today we even live in the same area of Stockholm. Thanks Maria for being a photographer as well as knitter!

Alice Starmore's "Henry VIII" was so much fun to knit and I'm in love with the colours: they're stunning indoors and almost explode in daylight. Well, daylightish. I normally choose projects that I want to make and am less interested in the finished garments - but in this case I wanted the sweater just as much as I wanted the joy of making it.

The sweater is very comfortable too (Starmore's 2ply Hebridean wool), and so warm I actually hope it gets a bit colder. Never thought I'd write something like that - until the sweater was finished I actually enjoyed our mild winter.

shoulder join

A promising start

"Alba" jacket (Starmore), a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

The "Alba" jacket is finished, which I think was a great way to start a new year! There wasn't much point in trying to take photos of it until today, though, since the sun seems to have been on vacation for a few weeks.

Speaking of promising, I never bothered much about resolutions, but on 1 Jan I decided to try not to buy more yarn but use what I already have in my stash. Not for a whole year - but maybe for a month at a time?

What happened was that I was looking for a circular needle to pick up stitches along the fronts. Nowhere to be found - but I kept finding more and more yarn that I apparently have bought. And I didn't even look in the two suitcases that I know are bursting with wool!

Not buying more yarn for the time being is worth a try at least - and I'm actually eager to work with what I already have since I only buy yarn I really want.

The needle I was looking for? It was already in the project!

shoulder join

More knitting than blogging in December

Cowl and hat, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

The double-knitted cowl has been finished for a couple of weeks, but it hasn't befen cold enough to wear it. Not that I really mind. Spring, please! There was enough yarn left to make a new "Sigge" hat, a pattern (in English) I published as a free pattern on Ravelry.

I'm making progress with different projects instead of simply casting on new ones. However, I haven't decided where to go next with my double-knitted jacket.

The back and fronts are done, and I've tested a couple of pattern ideas tor the collar but I'm not satisfied. I might simply make it blue on one side and green on the other. I also have to make sleeve decisions: how to knit them (probably top-down, first back and forth and then in the round) and what patterns to use.

Alice Starmore's Henry VIII sweater

It's nice to have a pattern to follow while thinking about other projects - and Alice Starmore's Henry VIII is pure joy to knit! I've modified it slightly, though, letting the centre of the side pattern run along the sleeve. I think it looks nice, and a pattern between the decreases also helps me keep track of what rows are decrease rows.

Tudor armpit

Happy new knitting year!

Brioche shawl finished

Brioche shawl, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Here's the brioche shawl I made based on Nancy Marchant's "Alex" scarf (Ravelry link here). I decreased and cast off each leaf separately, so there were quite a few loose ends to take care of. However, I made it easy for myself by using a crochet hook and simply pulling them through a number of brioche yarnovers.

Inishmore in progress

A Starmore addict I've cast on to make yet another of her designs, namely "Inishmore" from Fishermen's Sweaters. The yarn is Cascade 220, and I think this light colour works well with this kind of cable pattern.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...

Brioche shawl: casting off, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Actually, I like the bubbly effect, so I'll try not to block it too hard once it's finished. (Unless I change my mind, that is.) Two thirds done!

It is rather monotonous work, though, so I add a few rows to Alice Starmore's Henry VIII for variation now and then. I love everything about this design!

Poly-Starmore-mania

Alice Starmore's "Henry VIII" in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

First of all, thanks for birthday wishes! I had a very nice day and am fortunately far from suffering from any kind of midlife crisis. On the contrary, finding oneself knitting three different Alice Starmore designs must surely be a sign of extremely good health!

My most recently started Starmore design is "Henry VIII". There are more rows without colour changes than in Donegal and Alba, which makes it quicker to knit - and it is such a treat seeing the pattern take shape. I have just finished the first repeat. They consist of 64 rows, so there will be three in all and the shoulder join will be in the middle of the part with red background.

Here is a birthday present I'd like to share with you, a beautiful rose that Cecilia Levy sent me. Look at the petals! The medium-sized ones are all cut from pages no 40 - and the smaller ones inside them from no 39, like years unfolding. Too elegant for words.

"Alba" sleeves

"Alba" cardigan: shoulder join, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Here is the shoulder join: it is identical to the one I made for the sweater I finished some time ago. The sleeve is different, though, as there is no sleeve cap shaped with short rows.

Ann asked how I made those: starting with seven stitches in the middle I knitted back and forth adding three stitches each row until I had knitted all the stitches picked up around the armhole and could start knitting in the round. I was happy with how it turned out, but didn't feel like knitting lots of purl rows with two strands this time.

Alba sweater: sleeve cap

Instead I concentrated on figuring out where to start in the pattern. My aim was to make sleeve match the body, so I knew exactly where in the pattern I wanted the sleeve to end - but I also wanted to start where it would look good (I don't like it when patterns look amputated, and these repeats consist of 40 rows) and get the length right, of course.

Alba cardigan: body and sleeve

Jules asked about the Donegal border, whether it was my own or a new version by Alice Starmore. It is Starmore's, the one that you get with the kit. I modified it slightly, though: instead of casting on with the light colour I chose the darker one and added a couple of purl rows to make the edge curl inwards. There are photos of the original design here.

The more Starmore the merrier

Alice Starmore's "Alba" in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

My second Alba will be a cardigan - mainly because it allows me to change colours in the middle of the front steek and simply cut out the centre of the steek with all the threads. (I did a similar thing a couple of years ago.)

I happened to order a Donegal kit fromVirtual Yarns some time ago. Not because I'm worth it, but simply because I want it. This pattern is slightly trickier to knit: unlike Alba, there are often long floats to catch with both strands. Well worth it, though, as it is like knitting jewellery.

Donegal

Don't you think the wool matches my William Morris tray?

The more "Alba" the merrier

"Alba", a design by Alice Starmore, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Alice Starmore's "Alba" sweater had been waiting patiently for me for almost two years when I finally returned to it. I had picked up stitches around the armholes and knitted sleeve caps using short rows (my modification) but not the sleeves. Fortunately, I had finished both sleeve caps, so I didn't have to analyse the process as much as I feared.

Alba: sleeve decreases

Once I was back on track knitting the sleeves was pure joy! It is such a beautiful pattern and the colours are stunning. The sweater is not for me but for my friend Anders, but as soon as I had darned in all the loose ends I cast on to make another for but for my not quite sweaterless self.

sleeve caps and armhole

Much as I love Alice Starmore's designs (and this one in particular) I also love experimenting. What I've changed knitting Alba no 2 is the colour sequence for the check border pattern: less contrast and a gradual change from darker to lighter shades.

Alba no 2 (slightly modified) in progress

Also, I've started the main pattern at a different row to keep using the shades of blue from the check pattern for the background. This in turn means I skipped the light horizontal lines in the original version. I like Starmore's better, but mine well enough to keep it.

Alba sweater