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.

Twined & brioche projects

Today my friend Andrew gave me a charming tatting book from 1944 - there are many beautiful patterns in it, so I feel like getting my shuttles out again. I don't have the nails to match them, but at least I do have a new twined knitting project to match the cover.

The patterns are from A History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt, actually the very same cushion I got last post's pattern from, but I'm using thicker yarn and needles. Or, rather, not as thin: 500 metres/100 gr wool-silk blend and 2 mm needles.

Gauge curious? 54 stitches = 10 cm/4 in

Yesterday I added a finishing touch to a pair of twined mittens I finished last year. They were slightly too wide, so I felted them by hand and now they fit perfectly - and the fact that I love both grey and stripes doesn't hurt.

For the mittens I used wool from Östergötlands ullspinneri. It works beautifully for brioche knitting too, and I've made two brioche scarves recently using their variegated wool. (Knitting with 4 mm needles almost felt like cheating now that I've been into 1.25 - 2 mm for a while.)

With felted twined mittens and two scarves I should be well prepared for Midsummer - it normally gets rather cold then, or perhaps that's just my impression?

Back to brioche

In case you're wondering, my yarn diet is over - quite successfully, I might add. (But I did manage not to buy any yarn for more than four months!) My most recent (not true, come to think of it) addition to my stash was more than 2 kilos of wool a woman I got in touch with wanted to get rid of, since she knew she wasn't likely to use if after some 20 years. Eight hanks of blue and green Vålberg wool from Wålstedts, for example. How could I not come to the rescue? Sometimes it's easy to be a gentleman!

garter attempts

The tricky thing was deciding how to use it. The wool is unevenly spun (on purpose) which made me decide not to use stocking stitch. Garter stitch worked well, but I was only happy with some of my swatches and they didn't feel comfortable enough but a bit too stiff. Time to try dear, old brioche - I think I was inspired by your positive comments on my brioche cowl. Thank you!

This is what I wanted: it's thick but soft in a way garter stitch isn't. Also, I'm fond of stripes, and like the way there are both horizontal colour stripes and vertical structure stripes. However, brioche is such a voracious technique, I wasn't sure there would be enough - and it would be difficult if not impossible to get more. Fortunately, there was enough: I have about 7 meters left...

Varför garnbanta när man kan komma över vackert garn från Wålstedts? Åtta hekto av detta vackra blågröna garn räckte precis till en patentstickad tröja. Gissa om det har varit varmt i knät! Jag har känt mig som en riktig masochist när jag har provat den vartefter för att kolla storleken. Den sitter riktigt bra, men jag kan inte med bästa vilja säga att det är skönt att ha den på. Inte för att jag längtar efter kyla, tvärtom! 

Det är sällan jag faller för flerfärgade garner, men det här kunde jag inte låta bli och jag tycker att det blev lyckat med kombinationen av ränder: färgränder på bredden och strukturränder på höjden. Garnet är ojämnt spunnet, så jag ville inte slätsticka med det även om just det ojämna är en del av charmen med det. Rätstickning funkade bra i och med att det drar ihop ihop sig, och färgskiftningarna gjorde sig bra i den tekniken, men det blev väl kompakt. Patentstickning blir förstås också tjockt, men det är samtidigt luftigt och betydligt mjukare.

A preview

How I wish I could take photos like this! India Hobson was the photographer and the location apparently was Walcot Hall. It's for Knit Generation, a collection of patterns which will be published by Quail. And you may have guessed it: this cowl is my contribution. It has been a truly exciting process from sending them my suggestion for a pattern - simply being asked to do so was exciting enough - to being sent these photos (with permission to use them) some nine months later. I was also pleased to learn that they not only liked my design but also my choice of colours. Not that you can get it terribly wrong with Rowan Felted Tweed...

Seriously, I do think colours are tricky. In my new twined project I stick to blue and grey. This looks like a toothless grin, but is actually Twined Attempts 1 and 2. I love Greek key patterns and wanted it for the neckband, but it felt too thick. Also, I decided to use grey instead of white for a softer look. I'm keeping the neckband, though. Not to wear it, but for reference!

I höstas blev jag tillfrågad om jag ville lämna in ett förslag till ett bidrag till en samling stickmönster. Visst ville jag det! Det fanns vissa restriktioner, som val av garn och mängd och ett tema det skulle passa ihop med, men det gjorde det ju faktiskt betydligt enklare att komma på något. Till min stora förtjusning blev min patentstickade fuskpolo vald, och sedan hade jag fullt upp med mönsterskrivning och korrekturstickning. Ungefär nio månader (symboliken känns övertydlig) efter den första kontakten (låter bibliskt i sammanhanget) har jag nu fått se fotona de har tagit. Troligen kommer boken (häftet?) ut till hösten.

Avslutningsvis lite skamlös reklam för två kurser jag ser fram emot att hålla:

• Kliar det i tvåändsfingrarna? I september börjar en kurs på Handarbetets Vänner på Djurgården! 

• Kliar det i 1700-talsfötterna? I september börjar en danskurs på Mäster Olofsgården i Gamla Stan!

In a finishing mood

Camel cardigan, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

I'm in a finishing mood, to the extent that I've even sewn seven buttons. (I appreciate Gwen Raverat's words "sewing was downright wicked slavery" in her adorable book Period Piece. A Cambridge Childhood.) The brioche cardigan had actually been finished for more than a week before I got around to it, even though I'd already found the perfect buttons... They're made of marble and I think they look fabulous with the wool. Their size was exactly right for the buttonholes too!

Some time ago I wrote a post about the shoulder straps: here's how they turned out:

I've finished the Monk no 2 sweater as well. Not that Marianne Isager's name "Monk" is very suitable anymore as I didn't keep the hood.

Also, I've made up my mind about the collar for my double-knitted jacket/cardigan. I've tried various ideas: I wanted something different from the main pattern and tried both triangles and stripes but wasn't satisfied. Then I suddenly thought I'd keep the small squares but use them into lego-like brick shapes. Of all the things I love about knitting, I think I like solving difficulties best.

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

Brioche and double knitting

Camel cardigan in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Unexpectedly, I haven't bought any yarn so far this year - nothing related to knitting, actually. Instead, I'm making - enjoyable - efforts to decide how to make use of what I've already got.

2013 was a brioche and double knitting year for me. I learnt the basics of brioche knitting as a child and always liked how it feels, but it was only after seeing Nancy Marchant's projects and reading her book Knitting Brioche that I began to understand its enormous potential. Last year I also decided to learn double knitting at long last, which took my knitting mind in new directions.

What I'm making now (among many other things) is a cardigan combining the two techniques: a brioche cardigan with double-knitted edges for buttons and buttonholes. Nancy Marchant's "The Book Exchange Cardigan" (Ravelry link) is my inspiration, but with some modifications.

This wool is 90% camel: wonderfully soft and incredibly warm. I live in an old building, which is incredibly charming but cooold. I love the colour, but I will probably look like my dear old teddy bear Åsanalle.

Last, some great advice which I forgot to bring up when I wrote about finishing my "Alba" cardigan recently.

Right before I started cutting the steeks I mercifully remembered the scissors needed to be cleaned carefully as I had been cutting fins off herrings earlier in the evening! So, don't forget to clean your herring-and-steeks scissors - unless you want your fishermen's sweaters as authentic as possible, of course.

Kitchener stitch and horror cowl

First of all, thanks for all the nice comments on my previous posts!

I've returned to my double-knitted jacket to take care of the shoulder joins. Kitchener stitch is the ideal technique in this case, I think, but I do it so seldom I always have to look it up. There's a great description at Knitty. For this project I will get a lot of practice since there are four seams to take care of (2 for each shoulder) but I still don't expect I'll remember how to get started next time I chose this method.

Almost three weeks of January have passed and I still haven't bought any new yarn! Mind you, I'm lucky enough to work extra hours in my favourite yarn store, so I'm often subject to temptations of the third degree. (I'm planning what to get in the future, though.)







Instead of adding to my stash, I recently made a remarkably ugly brioche cowl with yarn from it. Combining Rowan Felted Tweed 145 ("Treacle") and Kidsilk Haze Stripe seemed like a good idea - and in a way it is, but certainly not this particular combination. The lovely tweediness disappeared completely, smothered in Kidsilk fuzz, and the unfortunate distribution of green and purple which I thought would look wonderful with the brown wool - well, it makes me think of wine spilled on mouldy bear skin.

mouldy bear with wine stains

However, it actually turned out to be at least as comfortable as hideous, so it will be spared and even worn. A bonus is that I can't see it when I'm wearing it! Otherwise I'd wear sunglasses, but that would look rather strange in the middle of winter...

imprint on snow: more pleasing to look at, but less comfortable

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.

Fanø Strikkefestival

Lene Maries hus, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Last weekend I went to Denmark to teach twined knitting at Fanø Strikkefestival. Fortunately, the participants understood my homemade Danish! I stayed at Lene Maries hus in a charming village called Sønderho. I had a great time and met lots of lovely people, and was especially happy to meet Ann - it was thanks to her that I was invited there.

brioche experiment

I'm happily experimenting with brioche knitting, right now working on a hat knitted from the centre. My first attempt to the left was not a success. I got the shape right, but it was not a very good idea starting with yellow: it looks like a gigantic pimple! ("The Plague Hat"?) So, I started with blue instead and changed the background colour just for fun and I think it looks a lot better.

And this is where I held my workshops:

Sønderho skole

 Hold kæft, hvad flot!

Cabbage cowl

Cowl in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

I hardy ever buy self-striping yarn (too much of a control freak) but couldn't resist this wool from Östergötlands ullspinneri, thinking it would be fun to brioche knit. (I've had a crush on the greyish brown wool for quite a while, and am happy with the combination.) I wanted to make a cowl similar to the Camel cowl I made recently but with two colours. It suddenly reminded me of cabbage leaves, so I'll call it Cabbage cowl. Can you tell I'm addicted to brioche knitting?

Edited to add
I do like it when things match, so this was a nice (but slightly uncanny) discovery:

matchmaking

It reminds me of three sweaters I've made that matched different walls at work.

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!

Brioche shawl: casting off

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

One third done - and then all the loose ends to take care of... Still, it's worth the trouble to make it look the way I have in mind. Hopefully, there is enough yarn left, but I think so!

Camel cowl

Camel cowl, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

I've finished the cowl I mentioned in my previous post. The wool is lovely, 90% camel and 10% merino, and turned out to be perfect for brioche knitting. Not that I'm looking forward to winter, but at least I feel well prepared with this fluffy dream in my wardrobe. (And perhaps I could try my luck as a fluffer in the yarn porn industry?)

The two sides don't look quite the same when you (or at least when I) knit brioche in the round. The knit columns on the inside are more pronounced, but both sides look good.

Once I had cast off I couldn't resist casting on to make a similar cowl but with a different yarn from my stash, a single skein of gorgeous greenish blue. Isn't it fascinating how differently yarns respond to techniques? Brioche in the round is obviously not the right technique for this yarn - unless you want a distorted cowl.

cowl failure

Well, it could actually look nice with the spiralling effect - but it simply wouldn't work with the raglan shape, so I have to think of something else...

The camel wool reminds me of a happy Christmas a few years ago:

Barking and burping

Brioche knitting, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Those are Nancy Marchant's words based on the abbreviations brk (brioche knit) and brp (brioche purl). A voracious knitter I'm especially fond of burping.

I had no idea the technique had so many possibilities. In the photo there are three examples:

1. A two-colour shawl where the pattern is created using increases and decreases. (I discovered a mistake a few rows back, which is why I pulled out the needle. Irritating, but it gave me an opportunity to see how it is turning out.)

2. A single-colour cowl knitted in the round with increases and decreases to make a nice edge.

3. A two-colour swatch where the knit and purl columns change places; this affects which colour is brought forward.

I can't remember when I last learnt so many things in such short time - and I haven't even tried brioche cables or diagonal lines or...

Patentstickning är något jag har gillat sedan farmor lärde mig grunderna, men det är först nu jag har förstått vilka möjligheter som finns med tekniken. Eftersom jag egentligen bara kunde sticka fram och tillbaka med en färg (ett rätt misslyckat försök att sticka runt för några år sedan räknas knappast) tyckte jag att det blev för enformigt för att göra hela plagg, men nu har jag drabbats av patentfrossa.

Fotot visar tre varianter: en sjal med två färger där mönstret skapas med ökningar och minskningar; en fuskpolo som stickas runt och kanten formas med ökningar och minskningar; en provlapp med två färger där de räta och aviga kolumnerna byter plats, vilket innebär att det växlar mellan vilken av färgerna som blir dominant. Och det finns mängder kvar att testa!

Learning new tricks

Brioche shawl in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

At a knitting event a couple of weeks ago I was inspired to develop my brioche knitting skills. As I only knew the very basics of the technique, there was (and still is) a lot of room for improvement - and I had no idea what possibilities there are!

A workshop leader myself I couldn't participate in any classes, but when Nancy Marchant talked about brioche knitting and showed examples of what you can make with the technique I knew I had to try it. I’ve ordered her book Knitting Brioche, and while waiting for it to arrive I have taken her class at Craftsy. Highly recommended!

The shawl I’m making with two colours is based on a rectangular scarf pattern that is included in the Craftsy class. (Ravelry link here.) It is a fascinating technique in many ways, like the way you create patterns using increases and decreases.

When I knit lace shawls I like thinking of bricks of various shapes that build a shawl, and realized I could think in a similar way with these ”leaf bricks” constructing the shawl shape by adding leaves.

brioche shawl: wrong side

När jag var kursledare på Stickstämma 2013 i Jämtland för ett par veckor sedan kunde jag ju inte gå några kurser själv, men i programmet fanns fyra föredrag som alla kunde lyssna på. Bland annat pratade Nancy Marchant om patentstickning, och det var mycket inspirerande att se vad det går att göra med den tekniken! Jag lärde mig grunderna av farmor, men nu fick jag se många exempel på hur man kan arbeta med färger och skapa mönster med hjälp av ökningar och minskningar. 

I väntan på hennes bok Knitting Brioche har jag lärt mig massor av Nancys nätbaserade kurs på Craftsy och börjat leka med en sjal. Bladet är från ett mönster som ingår i kursen, men jag ville se om jag kunde använda formen på ett annat sätt än i en halsduk. Det är roligt att passa ihop mönsterform och sjalform!