The Fight Continues or (I Have to) Have a Hart

What my daughter said still remains quite accurate: "Those are fight'n words!"

The Leigh that I started earlier this year was frogged weeks ago. Simultaneously, I found myself swatching for a Hart.  (Both sweaters were designed by my newest favorite designer, Julie Hoover.)  I have become a bit obsessed with Shibui Knits Pebble [48% Recycled Silk, 36% Fine Merino, 16% Cashmere].  Knitting a Hart in Pebble will be a "mindless" long term knitting project.  Mindless knitting is comfort knitting.  I like a good balance of both mindless knitting and challenging knitting each and every day.  

In spite of my proclaimer at the very start of the new year, "I don't think I will ever use any other designer's patterns again", I just have to have a Hart.  It will be black and it will be featherweight and floaty. The type of cardigan you could wear over and over again.  I really want one.  It will work well in my wardrobe.  What more can I say.  (I have to) Have a Hart.

Let me throw in a quick knit tip:  Try remembering when swatching with black yarn... whose stitches, especially at such a fine gauge, are notoriously difficult to count... that, if the same yarn is available to you in a lighter color... use the light color yarn to swatch for the black project.  I had to learn this after a couple of not totally helpful black swatches!

  
I do not need a Leigh.  I loved the idea of a light and loose top made in the Ash colorway of Pebble.  But Leigh is probably a bit too boxy and shapeless for a short person like me.  I don't want to look like I am wearing a gray paper bag.  I will be thinking of an original summer top to make with the ash colored yarn... it will be a design of my own making.  Which will not be mindless knitting, at all.

♥♥♥

In Pieces

One day last week, I finished knitting all of the pieces for my "Everyday Sweater".  I blocked them in my usual way:  I hand-washed them and laid them out to dry on towels.  You can see that blocking has greatly reduced, but not totally eliminated, the natural tendency of stockinette stitch to curl.  I could flatten the pieces a bit more by steam pressing them, but I do not think it necessary.  Seaming will be next, followed by I-cord bind-off to finish the edges, and finally the insertion of a zipper.  Depending on my time and the winter light, I hope to share some photos.  

The pattern is "Cuirassier's Cardigan" by Emma Welford from the recent Winter 2014 Knitscene magazine.  I am using an old standby kind of a yarn:  Cascade 200 in navy.  This project is an attempt to knit a sweater that I can and really will wear everyday.  Over the years, I have made a great number of sweaters that I have rarely worn.  I would like to have a few that actually fit within my everyday workday wardrobe.  My goal for my next couple of sweaters will be wearability.  Time will tell if I am successful.

Meanwhile, how about a sneak peek of a design that my daughter has requested?

Unfortunately, the first "prototype" for this design has the wrong fit, and requires a complete "do over".  Not all bad, because I am always knitting anyway, and fortunately it is not a very large piece.  The yarns that my daughter selected from my stash include some navy Cascade 220 (I did say it was an old standby) in a different dye lot from my newer navy sweater yarn.

I have one more stack of pieces to show you.

It has been a couple of months since I finished knitting all the pieces for my "Unnamed Henley".  The pattern is "Sapwood" by Amy Herzog available at Twist Collective.  The yarn: Louet Gems Sport Weight.

I had been saving the finishing work on this project for the purpose of teaching finishing classes (at Gosh Yarn It!) but they were canceled (student sign-ups were below the shop's class minimum).  Perhaps they might be rescheduled; but either way, I do plan to create some tutorial posts during the finishing of this one.  The color is lighter and brighter than the navy, and this one involves some buttons and buttonholes.

Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts on these pieces, or on finishing, or on classes that you would like to take.  I would love to hear from you!  Thanks!

k*tog Oklahoma Tornado Relief

"On May 20, 2013, a huge tornado wreaked havoc on Moore, Oklahoma, tearing right through the town. It was rated an EF5, the highest possible, with 340 km/hr (210 mile/hour) winds. Two dozen people lost their lives, hundreds were injured, and thousands of buildings sustained damage—from minor problems to complete razing."*

In the days after the devastation, Holly Barcelo and Lars Rains of the design collective, Suburban Knits, felt the need to help in some way. They thought of creating an ebook of designs for charity, and they invited other designers to contribute as well.

Holly and Lars wanted to get the collection together as quickly as possible, so they requested patterns that were already up on Ravelry.  I contributed my Jemma Cowl pattern to this ebook, which remarkably,was ready for purchase by June 3rd.  K*tog is a collection of 20 patterns by 19 designers and will be available from now through August 31 for only $20.  All proceeds from the sale of this ebook will be donated to Other Options, Inc. a food pantry in Oklahoma City that is shuttling supplies to the affected areas in Oklahoma.

The k*tog ebook can be downloaded here where you will also find a table of contents and thumbnail photos of all of the designs in the collection.  k*tog has a pattern page on Ravelry, where, as of today, nine of the patterns are linked.  There is such a great variety of patterns in the collection which includes socks, hats, shawls, cowls, a vest, a cardigan, a pair of mitts and even a baby cocoon.  Truly, something for everyone!

* Plait, Phil. "The Scar of a deadly Tornado."  June 28, 2013 <http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/06/09/satellite_view_of_a_tornado_the_moore_ok_devastation_seen_from_space.html>

Not Posted

I am back home again.
We have been on vacation once again.
(I will be sharing more about this last vacation very soon.)
Mr K and I have been on vacation for 22 of the last 38 days.

Mr K was quite ill for well over a year and is doing much better now.
He has very many friends and we have been saying "Yes, yes!" to some great invitations. It has been like making up for lost time.
Just before we left on this last vacation, I tried to write a post about
(and including) the above photos.

I was rushed.
It did not seem worthy of publishing.
My very wise daughter said, "If you don't like a post, don't publish it."
I did not post/publish it.
I am back home once again.
I will leave it to your imagination to think about what it was that I wanted to say about the above photos in that abandoned post.
(BTW: Truth be told, I really am glad to be back home.)