(Early) Spring: Knitting Color & Knitting Progress

My newest knitting yarn is this.

Three skeins of Silken Straw by Alchemy Yarns of Transformation.  It is a 100% silk ribbon yarn in a colorway called Spider Orchid.  (I cannot really explain why -- but, to me, the variegated color is all about early spring -- like the pine trees through the window in the photo, or the shadows under the trees where there will soon be flowers -- )

I want to make a spring/summer top with it.  I am going to work hard to make it a design of my own.  Maybe you cannot tell from the photo, but it is a special yarn... (not at all inexpensive), unique in color, and well, it is a "yarn of transformation".

From the Alchemy website:
"The first touch. The initial glimpse of Alchemy Yarns of Transformation tells you we are passionate about everything we do. Pleasing the senses. Soothing the soul -- we strive for nothing less than the transformative moment in art and life." 

I hope that I can do justice to all of that.

In the meantime, I have been knitting away on my Hart (designed by Julie Hoover) and I am almost finished with the first I have a good start on the second sleeve.  (Does it really take me longer to finish editing a blog post than it does to knit a sleeve?)

The back of my Hart blocked out to an appropriate width but is a bit longer than I expected (I knit it an inch and a half shorter than the pattern). The Shibui Knits Pebble (silk, merino and cashmere) is lovely and light, so I am hoping I will like it in what will be a rather long cardigan for me.

The fronts are ready to come off the blocking board.  I used a technique I call "piggyback blocking", described in a previous blog post:  Helene Update: Piggyback Blocking.

The right front of Hart was laid over the left front.  This saves time in measuring the second front.  You only have to check measurements on the first piece.  After it dries, spread the second (symmetrical) piece on top to match the shape of the piece below and re-pin all of the edges.  I expect to block the two sleeves in a similar fashion.

This paragraph is for critical knitters only!  Please feel free to skip it if you are not a (critical) knitter.
I'll be the first to admit that my side seam edges are not very straight, but I know that they will be fine once I seam them.  The front edges have a narrow icord in which I wove a blocking wire for each piece.  I chose not use wires on the side seam edges.  (With the waist shaping, it would take three of my not very flexible wires per piece.)  I also chose not to work the selvedge stitch as in the pattern.  I did try it for the first couple inches of the back.  The slip stitch selvedge was straighter, but it also caused a looseness in the nearby stitches that would not be at all helpful when working the actual seams.   This, my friends, is truly a matter of the personal preference of the knitter.

I hope that you are enjoying your own early spring (with or without knitting)!  

On the Blocking Board

(Most of) The knitting is now done on my linen Die Cut Vest.

This photo shows the right and left half laid out on my blocking board before I 'seamed' the center back with a three needle bind-off.

The vest now lies pinned-out and still damp on the very same blocking board.

This was an odd piece to block. There is no doubt that the lace needed to be 'pinned-out' to open it up and flatten it, but I did not want to use pins or wires on the straight edges.  Pins or wires would leave the edges looking a little jagged.

For the final-final blocking, I will iron the edges flat and smooth, and maybe even steam the lace a bit more.  As I laid it out quite wet, I had to question myself for not hiding the yarn ends on the front edges and at the center back, but I guess that it will not matter too much in the end.  It also occurred to me (right around the same time) that it really would not have been too difficult to have added a little neckline shaping at the back neck... hum, if I make another... (Did you know that, in spite of how I pinned the shoulders in a way to create some curvature at the neck, there is zero neckline shaping on the front or the back of this vest?  I like to think that I will love it anyway, but... hum...)

After the piece dries, I can seam the shoulders.  Then comes the last bit of knitting... I will pick-up stitches around the armholes and work a couple of rows before binding-off.  After that I will hide the yarn ends wherever they may be.

  I will steam it as needed,

and I will try it on,    

and I will find out if I like it.   

So, this is me now, "On the Blocking Board".