Zum Dirndls Complete!

Well, it was a long time in the making, but love the final product! I do enjoy knitting socks, but I am not sure I will take on a pair of knee highs again. I started these way back in May 2008, put them to sleep for a while, and decided they must be finished--too pretty not to. My camera could not capture the cabling detail well enough so I did the best I could. Here is a picture of the side/back and a close-up:

These socks are a Christmas present--I can cross another one off the list!

Here are the details:
Pattern: Zum Dirndl by Yarnissima
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino 2/6, colorway: olive; 1.25 skeins (plenty left in the second skein for another pair of shorter socks)
Gauge: 7.5 st/inch, unblocked
Needles: US 2½ / 3.0 mm
Details: toe up, knee high, Bavarian style, short row toe. Modified the top: twisted rib instead of drawstring.

Woolganic DK: New color!

Just in, we have recieved the newest color from Woolganics. Introducing Krishna:

A very pretty, light robin-egg blue. To give some color perspective, here it is lined up with the other Woolganic blues:

Aeolian shawlette update and tips, part 2

Moving right along on my Aeolian. Here it is after completing the Yucca chart:

After the Yucca chart, I moved on to the Transition chart. Nothing tricky there. Now I am just finishing up the final 2 rows of the Final Agave chart. A couple of notes:

1. When knitting the shawlette you do not do the regular Agave chart; you move directly from the Transition chart to the Final Agave chart.

2. The first bead of the Final Agave chart row 1 should be directly above the first bead of Transition row 17. If it is not, something is wrong. Most likely you did not notice the bold double decreases (the SSSK and K3tog). The double decreases should frame the the nupps from Transition row 17. So the SSSK should use the 3 stitches to the right of the the first nupp, and the K3tog should use the 3 stitches after the second nupp.

I decided to work the nupps and not add a different bead there. I like how it is turning out. Once I finish these last couple of rows, I will try to post an updated picture. Also, there will be some notes about moving onto the Narrow Edge charts. Until then...

Aeolian Shawlette start up

So I have started my Aeolian Shawlette, but haven't had a chance to post because I knew this first post would take a while to organize. Most of the information I will share I found by spending a lot of time reading through the Ravelry group: Aeolian KAL. I recommend checking it out if you are knitting along.

Here is the summary of what I think are the important points for knitting the shawlette with 1 skein of SeaSilk:

1. To make sure you do not run out of yarn, only knit 4 repeats of the Yucca chart. It may seem like you have a lot of yarn left at that point, but you will use an estimated 65% of the yarn for the edging.

2. Elizabeth Freeman has also designed an Alternate Narrow Edging for the Aeolian. It is 12 rows shorter than the original Aeolian. I will probably add a lifeline before I start the original edging so I can rip back if I run out of yarn. Or I might decide to just use the narrow edging. I'll let you know when I get there!

3. If you do not want to do the nupps, use a bead instead. If you do want to do the nupps, here is a great YouTube video on an easy way to do them: Easy Peasy Nupp. I am leaning toward using beads only because I love beads in lace shawls--nothing against the nupps.

So now on to where I am with my shawl. First of all, it took 3 attempts for me to get the cast on/set up correct. As usual it was just a matter of doing exactly what the pattern says, even if it looks weird at first. Once I got the set up going, everything was going along just fine until I realized you could not see my beads because they matched the yarn a little too well:

They really are there, here's a close up:

So I stopped knitting and ran to the bead store to get some different seed beads. I didn't bother starting from scratch because you won't be able to notice the green beads anyway (and I didn't want to attempt that start-up again)! This is how it looked after I completed the Set-Up chart:

I was a little confused when I started the Yucca Chart so I will explain it here in hopes of sparing someone else.

1st 8 rows of Yucca chart: 2 border sts (Sl1, K1) + sts before red line + 2x area in red + sts after red line + center st (Ktbl) + sts before red line + 2x area in red + sts after red line + 2 border sts (K2).

For each Yucca chart repeat, there will be an additional repeat of the area in red (so 2nd time through Yucca chart, repeat 3x before center stitch, 3rd Yucca chart, repeat 4x before center stitch, etc). Make sense? It really does once you are there.

I am working on my last (4th) repeat of the Yucca chart right now. I will post some pictures once I finish this part up and move on to the Transition chart.

Maine Fiber Frolic and Rug Hooking

Last weekend was the Maine Fiber Frolic and I braved the rain to attend. While there, my daughters and I took a rug hooking class (because I thought I could use another hobby). We had a very talented teacher (Janet Conner of J Conner Hooked Rugs) and a fun group. I started a chair pad named Pomegranate Branch:

I have always loved antique hooked rugs and have read a number of books on the history and technique. Years ago, I made a small self-designed punch needle mat using yarn:

I enjoyed the punch needle technique, but really LOVE the look of the old fabric hooked rugs. When I saw the class offered by Janet, the temptation was too great, so now I am hooked! The old woolen fabrics with all the colors and textures are fun to work with. The only problem is finding time to work on it and finish my knitting projects and everything else there is to do. Since my girls are each working on a rug hooking project, I will put down all beading projects (knitting with beads not included, of course) and work on my chair pad when I need a little break from my knitting. Do I really need to sleep?

Zum Dirndl update

Still haven't finished, but getting there! Right now, these are my "car" project--they go everywhere with me, so shouldn't be too much longer...

Yarn sale!

2 of our yarns have been discontinued, so I am marking them down to make room for new yarns.

Fleece Artist Nova Sock is now $14/skein:

100% Merino
machine washable
2 US/3mm needle, 26st/4"
355 yds/325m/115g

And Woolganic Worsted is now $5.50 (very sad to see this yarn go!):

7-8 US/4.5-5.0mm needles
18-20st/4"
90 yds/83m/50g

Stock up while the pickings are good (click here for sale page)! Newsletter subscribers had a week's heads-up on the sale, so they got first dibs. Would you like to join the newsletter group? Click Here! (see a preview of May's Newsletter here)