Brioche book–A Must

Nancy Marchant is the queen of brioche stitch.  It says so right on her website.  I discovered her some years ago and read the website and made a shawl in a simple two color brioche.  What I loved about the stitch even more than the bounciness of it or the way it mixes colors was the rhythm of knitting it.  Nancy and I share a mutual friend–the amazing camp roommate Gay.  Gay told me about this book before it was published and I stalked it.

It is a treasure.  Nancy takes you by the hand, and with clear text and gorgeous, large photos, she teaches you an enormous amount of stitch techniques that blend two or more yarns into fascinating textures.  Yes, you can just use one yarn (see), but I found it was easier for me to learn this stitch using two colors. It made it easier to see what to knit and what to slip.  Anyway, I can truthfully say that the teaching part of this book is the best I’ve read since Sally Melville’s The Knit Stitch and you know teaching is what I am all about.

The patterns in the back are beautiful, but even they have a teaching quality.  Knit a few and you will be comfortable designing your own.  Nancy seems to be all about teaching as well.  More pics of the patterns here.

I have knit one of the patterns.  Steve needed a softer scarf, so it was  perfect timing.  The yarn is Prairie Silk from Brown Sheep. It’s a worsted mix of wool, mohair and silk and I think they have discontinued it.  I bought mine at knitting camp directly from Peggy Wells who runs the company.  Seems like she sold it to us because they were discontinuing it.

I learned the Italian cast on Nancy recommends and it looks lovely.  I had to fiddle a bit to get the edges the way I like them, so I only photographed the good edges.  (Hey, it’s my blog and you know I love to cheat.)  She has clear directions, but I just like to fiddle.

I’ve never been a big fan of double knitting before.  Maybe I didn’t like the idea of knitting twice as many rows just to get thickness or pattern.  However, seeing how these little bits of double knit shape and enhance the scarf has really intrigued me.  Nancy includes a chart which shows multiple ways of placing the double knit squares and how they can effect shape.  Guess several more folks will get a new scarf.

Take time to look this up at your LYS.  It is a remarkable book with so much to teach and share.  If you can’t find it, at least visit the website.  I really believe Nancy’s aim is more to share her love of the stitch and all its possibilities than merely to sell a book.

Sock Yarn Blankets

In 2006 Shelly Kang, The Heathen Housewife, began her sock yarn blanket.  In Feb., 2008, she finished it and posted a tutorial on her blog to help others make it.  Find it here.

As a sock knitter, a teacher of sock classes, and a friend to many obsessed with covering their feet in gorgeous, soft, luxurious fibers, I have a lot of little balls of leftover sock yarn.  NEVER throw away leftover yarn.  So many possibilities.  A sock yarn blanket is a natural and so many people have done them in lots of various geometric patterns.  The geometric pattern means you can begin no matter how much or how little yarn you currently have on hand (Yes, you can just buy some for the whole thing, but I’m not made like that.)  I’ve stolen some pics of ones I discovered and linked them to the sites where you can find out what the designer did.  I saved my favorite, and probably the simplest, for last.

This one from Rose-Kim is beautiful, but I don’t think I have the patience for the long, long rows this grows to.

This is the Ten Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown.  You can get the story and the free pattern through Ravelry or her website.  And this is just one of the great designs she offers using this technique.

Persnickety Knitter used this pattern which lets you really see the yarn’s design as well as mix the colors.

Newly available from Garnstudio are these.

And finally–My Winner.

The simplest and still my favorite is this one from Ulli Stuttgart (wumbs on Ravelry).  Check her blog for her directions and to see  many finished socks.  The woman is a marvel and her work is excellent.  She provides a translator on the site so you can read it and her choices keep me aware of European yarns.

Yes, I’ve put all of my scrap sock yarn in a bag.  Which to do?  If you discover other patterns, please let me know.  If you don’t like to knit sock yarn, make one of these out of whatever weight you do like.  This is a crazy portable and mindless project.

Book Reviews

I love my public library.  We have one of the best in this country and I use it well.  I even pay my fines cheerfully because I like where the money goes.  They purchase quite a few knitting books and I claim some tiny credit for that.  So does my friend Rachel.  I discovered that she, too, checks out lots of knitting books just so the circulation numbers will remain high.  We are cunning.

This week I got Judy Sumner’s Knitted Socks East and West, as well as Lynne Barr’s Reversible Knitting.

Judy Sumner has been designing socks for ages and ages.  Her work has been in the magazines for years and I have always liked it.  So I approached her book ready to praise it and eager to learn some of these new Japanese stitches everyone is so crazy about.  However, my reaction was really negative.  I was so surprised by this that–English teacher that I was–I decided to dig a bit deeper.  And I learned something I think is important:  a publisher can ruin a designer’s product.

The socks were turning me off because they looked so clunky (surely that’s a word).  Even the lace socks looked inelegant.  Judy designs better than that.  Examining the photos I realized that the socks didn’t fit the model well.  They were too big in every case.  Part of the effect in sock design comes from the negative ease and the stretching of the sock on the foot and leg to show the design.  These socks don’t do that.  I ask you–how hard would it have been to find bigger feet?

Then I noticed the settings of the photos.  They didn’t reflect any kind of idea or mood.  In some cases they didn’t really show the sock well.  They weren’t awful; they just weren’t good.  I know I take crummy photos for the blog, but I’m giving them to you free.

I’ve heard no buzz about Judy’s book and that is sad.  We are publishing so many books in the knitting world now–and not all of them are quality books–that a good one can get lost, I guess.  It’s just a shame these lovely designs weren’t better packaged so more people would see them.

Reversible Knitting isn’t lost in the publishing barrage.  I wasn’t really interested in this one until I read about it on Knit and Tonic, Wendy Barnard’s blog.

Half of the book ios swatches and techniques–my favorite stuff.  There are also 20 patterns fro9m top designers, but it’s the stitch patterns that grabbed me.

No. 10 is called Deconstructed Stockinette and I’m in love.  This swatch told me that entrelac fans would love it, and that I would like it better knit tighter.

This is Debblie Bliss Rialto, a fairly new yarn, knit on a size 6.  Next time I’m going DK with a 4)  Can’t you see this as the bottom of a pullover or on both ends of a rectangular shawl?

This multi-wrapped stitch is called Surf.  It is also knit too loose for my taste and I should have gotten a smaller needle after knitting the first swatch, but I’m lazy.  I’m not a big fan of these double wrapped stitches, like the seafoam pattern, because I catch them on things.  Knit tighter I might do a scarf with this just because I find it clever.

Well, after knitting these two swatches, I did the only sensible thing.  I ordered the book!  There is so much to learn from it.  She even has a section where she uses knitting to mimic some popular crochet stitches.  That must have been hard–and fun–to figure out.

As for the patterns, the cover jacket is so clever and the Tie-It-On socks are a must.

I’ll return my copy to the library this week.  If you live in Mecklenburg County, I highly recommend you put this title on reserve.  Also–check out other knitting books.  The more we circulate them, the more they will buy.

My Vet’s Little Dress

Isn’t this sweet?  I am usually knitting for boys, so this gift was special just to knit.  It is a dress creatively named “Sun Dress” and the pattern is in the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Debbie Bliss’s Magazine.  I bought mine at Charlotte Yarn.  I also bought my yarn there and it is a favorite cotton, Katia’s Bombay.  I also have a top for me from this cotton and it washes well and doesn’t stretch out under its own weight as so many cottons do.

Now why am I knitting for a baby girl.  My vet, Dr. Jamie Klein of Long Animal Hospital, is amazing.  She’s young, compassionate, not afraid to ask for help, and unbelievably caring of Henry our 17 year old.  He’s her oldest patient and she treats him with extra special care.  Jamie just had a little girl about 4 months ago and I’ve seen adorable pics of the whole family at Christmas.  I wanted to somehow say an extra thanks to her as she guides us through Henry’s end-life period, so I thought of knitting for her child.

I managed to sneak the info from her that her daughter currently weighs 16 lbs.  I am so cunning.  I chose the sun dress hoping that it would fit two summers–one as a dress and one as a top.  You know how kids grow up more than out.  It also has a large opening for the toddler size head.

The embroidery is a steal from Kristin Nicholas, one of my favorite color work designers.  I saw these kind of flower in her latest book and just used it.  I cut out circles of paper and taped them on the dress for positioning.  Then I basted around the circles and removed the paper.  Finally I freehanded the rest.

I’m very pleased with the result and I hope Jamie is too.  She is as special as the dress.

If you need a vet, you won’t find a better one.  My friend Jean Marie drives over from Mt. Holly to go to Long’s.

Color me jealous

Sitting in my house right now are three books by Kristin Nicholas:This is the newest which I bought before the ink dried.This is the oldest and is all about embellishing fabric with embroidery.  I got it for $6 on amazon.This is an older knitting book I borrowed from the library.

If you like the look of these, just do a google image search for Kristin Nicholas and watch your mouth drop open and your eyes bug out.  Try her blog and see what a wonderful person she is.

Now why do I bring all this up?

I’d like a color story for my house like Kristin Nicholas has.  I know her entire line of Julia yarn is her colorway for most of her work.  Every color enhances the other colors.  They all have an earthiness without sacrificing brightness and serendipity.  It is easy to choose which ones to use together because no choice would be out and out wrong.

Actually I need two color families.  One based on clear jewel tones to design clothes for me (and Meghan) to wear and one based on soft earth tones for my house.

Soft earth tones in Jane-language are usually “dry” colors.  Well, I know what I mean by that.  Like dried herbs.  The greens are sage and thyme–very little yellow in them.  Yellows are buttery, pale, transparent.  Taupe prevails–of course taupe is sometimes grey and sometimes brown.  The grey is like driftwood from the beach.  Even the blues are a bit grey.

It occurs to me that I started talking about the colors in my den and moved to my “beach in the winter” living room.  I still have accents of red here and there, but they are mostly a blue-red.   Hm-m-m-m-m.

I can’t create my own color line, but maybe I can find it.  A trip to Lowes to the paint chips is where I usually start.  Then I should set aside a plastic bin and head for the stash.  Find colors in any yarn and just toss then in.  To find out what colors are missing from the palette, I can arrange what I have as a color wheel.  I already know I have no yellow.

Have you ever put your yarns out in a sort of color wheel?  It’s instructive.  You will probably be missing at least one area.  Maybe you don’t really like blue, so you have almost no blue in your stash.  Consider taking a few favorite colors to the LYS and trying to find a blue that will work with them.  You might plan to use just a little to make your favorites pop in a new way.  Do a little striped swatch and keep the blue stripe small.  Hang it up and view it from at least 6 feet away.  How do your favorite colors look now? Did you discover something interesting?  Did this activity show you that you really have a lot of Color X?  Come count my purples.

Back to my plan.  I haven’t even looked at organizing my stash for this year. I’m avoiding this task which I usually enjoy.  I need a “body double,” a person to talk to while I do the job.  The ADHD books say this will help keep me focused. The person doesn’t even have to help.

I know several retired buddies who for the price of a good chair, a good cup of coffee, and a good DVD just might be willing to oversee this project.  All I need to do is pick a date and ask.

Well, just do it.

If it were only that simple . . . .

Swatch Report #2–elann cottons

This is Lustrado (100% gassed cotton; 28 sts on a US3; 50 g = 185 yds)  Gassed cotton is another way of saying it is mercerized which gives it a slight sheen and makes the fiber stronger.  This is a 3 ply yarn spun fairly tightly.  I just threw it on a size 5 and knit some lace.  That was the first thought I had when I saw it.  Summer lace.  The swatch has a nice hand and would feel great as a summer shawl, but the color dulled just a bit with the washing.  This is the Peacock Green (yea, the color is wrong in the photo) and is very saturated; a lighter color might not dull.  I won’t investigate that because I don’t need this weight yarn.  It would make a nice, soft baby sweater.

This is Sonata (100% cotton; 50 g = 115 yds; 22 sts on a US6).  I bought this as a possible for a gansey sweater for my grandson.  The butterscotch color is too bright for him.  This cotton has four two-plies plied together.  The effect makes it reflect light like a cabled yarn, yet it is much softer than cables.  It has great stitch definition as you can see in the swatch,.  I knit it at 19.5 sts over 4 inches on a US5. I like the hand and might make a tank top out of it.  I think it is too heavy for a gansey and would just stretch out of shape.  I think it would last well and not pill due to the way it is spun.

Now to my two favorites . . . .

This is Calista—and it has been REMOVED from the elann listing.  I show it to you because they often remove a yarn and then get another shipment.  So, just in case— (50% viscose, 25% cotton, 25% linen; 22-23 sts on a US 3-5; 50 g = 130 yards)  I love the way this yarn feels after it has been washed—soft with a hint of crisp.  It is a 6 ply and was lovely to knit.  I would buy lots of it—-IF I could.  Watch for it.

Finally, the best–This is Coto Canapone (52% cotton, 48 % hemp; 20 sts on US 5; 50 g = 109 yards)  I love hemp and it is so hard to get here.  It feels stiff like linen does until you wash it.  Then it softens, but stays very strong and long wearing.  This is not as weighty as 100% cotton and I don’t think it will stretch as much.  This too has a crisp feel with its softness, like a soft texture would be.  The fiber takes and holds the dye very well.  The swatch shows stockinette, brioche and rib sts.  I definitely want a knocking around sweater out of this or even a skirt.  Now to pick a color.

Swatch Report–elann cottons

I knit swatches with the single balls of yarn I ordered from elann.  I wanted to determine MY gauge, how they looked and felt after washing, and if I wanted to buy more of any of them.  Here’s what I learned.

This is Pegasus (52.4% mercerized cotton and 47.5% viscose; 50 g = 93 yds; 19 sts on US7) I knitted it on a 5 because I was too lazy to go get a 7 and because I knit large, that worked okay.  After washing it was soft and very wearable for a garment.  The yarn is 4 plies of the cotton and 4 thinner plies of the rayon.  I would certainly use it for a worsted weight sweater.

This is Luna (55 viscose, 45 non mercerized cotton; 50g = 106 yds; 21 sts on US5).  It, like the Pegasus, is 4 plies of each fiber.  This yarn is  a DK wt yarn.  I was surprised at how much lighter it feels in my hands after I knit the swatch.  I prefer this to the Pegasus.  It not only is lighter, it is softer.  I’m very interested in a sweater or vest from this yarn.

Both yarns have a little sheen that catches the light nicely, but because the fibers are plied together rather than carding them into one yarn, they have a shimmery effect that is only really suitable for women’s pieces.  The right man could rock this, but girls and boys will look silly.

This is Nilo (60% cotton, 30% viscose, 10%linen; 21 sts on a US6; 50 g = 109 yds).  This has 6 plies of the same fiber mix.  It takes the dye well.  The color is, of course, not at all what is pictured.  It is softly plied and might split if you knit very tightly, but I had no trouble with it.  You can tell the rayon is there, but it doesn’t have a distinct gleam as the first two do.  It has a good hand and is quite soft; I would buy it.

This is Camila (50% cotton and 50% linen; 50 g = 123 yards; 23 sts on a US3)  I knitted this on a 4 and got 23.5 sts over 4 inches and found the swatch a little stiff for my taste. It is a 6 ply yarn and the cotton is not mercerized so it has a matte finish.  It is also starting to fuzz up a bit with just the handling I have done with the swatch.  I wanted to like this yarn but I don’t think I would buy it.  The fuzz bothers me.  Also, frankly, I can’t wear a matte finish yarn in a slightly greyed tone, so this is a no go for me.

I’ll share the other four swatches tomorrow.  In the meantime, you might want to visit elann.com and check out the colorways of the above.

FO–Chocolate Wrapper

This is the latest photographed finish object.  As usual, I put the camera on the mantle and used the timer.  This vest was designed by Rick Mondragon and published in Knitter’s Summer 2007 magazine.  I posted the mag picture earlier this month, as well as some observations on the yarn I chose.  Bamboo Fusion from elann.com

I used Rick’s schematic to knit by but changed the stitch patterns.  His version has more open work that mine.  I used lots of garter stitch and then sets of  knit 3 rows, purl 1 row which eliminates curling, is a bit faster and softer than just garter.  The vest is knit in 2 pieces which are joined down the center back with a 3 needle bind off.  Then the two shoulder seams are sewn.  I added a crab stitch trim to the armscyes and the outside edges to stabilize the piece.  Cotton stretches so badly and has no memory.

I love the weight of this garment.  You know how an old cotton dishrag feels so soft in your hands.  It has history and isn’t at all flimsy.  That’s how this feels.  It has some substance which makes it drape well.  The drape does indeed cover the saddlebags and doesn’t add inches as I once thought it would.  I also like how it moves as I walk–sort of bouncy and perky–sort of YOUNG!

I made the size small because only the length really matters.  It was a fast and mindless knitting.  Zen.

Garnstudio

If you aren’t familiar with the logo above, you are missing thousands of free patterns designed so well.  Garnstudio yarns are sold all over Europe.  I’m not sure why they are so hard to find here.  They are marvelous, affordable yarns.  And the pattern support is unbelievable.

Each season they put out at least 50 new patterns, probably more, for women, the rest of the family and the house.  They nicely translate these knit and crochet patterns into English–British and American.  Every pattern has a schematic  (you have to translate from centimeters to inches–a small price) so that you can adapt and alter them easily.  I’ve never had a problem with these patterns.

If you click on the logo above, it will take you to the newest page they sent out.  It has new patterns for summer.  Not all of the patterns are up yet.  If the flag below the pattern is grayed, the pattern isn’t online yet.  It takes a few weeks.  I bookmark the page to my bookmark bar and check every few days.  Get on the mailing list and you will be invited to vote for next season’s patterns.

Here are some pics of the patterns I’m really interested in:

All of these patterns are available.  You can print them out or just cut and paste to your word processing program.  The pics can be saved by right-clicking and saving them just for inspiration.  If you happen to be my daughter, you can check it out and request something.

Grecian Edge

Joni gave me alpaca, Georgia alpaca at that.  It has one ply of natural black and one of white and it is as soft as freshly churned butter.

I started a design-it-on-the-needles raglan shaped capelette.  Alpaca is too hot for me to wear as a sweater and a capelette seemed about right.  Besides, I wanted to explore how the shaping would work.  I knitted whatever stitch pattern I felt like until I got bored and then I knit a different pattern.  Once it was long enough, I decided it had to have a special finishing at the bottom.  But I didn’t know what that would be.  I blocked it and hung it on my dress form, hoping for inspiration.

On my fall cruise I had seen Nicky Epstein showing someone else how to do an edging from one of her books and it reminded me of a picture I once took in Greece of a sculpture wearing a shawl.  Yeah, we’re talking a marble shawl here.That shawl edging had a sinewy, snakelike feel to it and the first thing I said when I saw it was, “I can knit that!”

Well, I have knitted it.  I think it really looks clever.  If I were seeing it for the first time, my words would be “How did you do that?”  In anticipation of you feeling the same way, I’ve put together a mini-tutorial.

I hope you try this and share pictures with me.