Moth Heaven

Queequeg for Real

Happy to tell you finally that Queequeg is now available for purchase on Ravelry. Thank you for all the encouragement to share, and to those of you who helped me make this actually happen: Alison Green Will for her technical prowess and layout skills, Caro Sheridan for her lovely photos, and Kim Kaslow, for the colors of her yarn that inspired me in the first place.

 

Finished Bust Sizes: 32 ½ (36 ½, 38 ½, 42 ½, 46 ½, 50 ½)”

Suggested Yarn: Woolen Rabbit Frolic Superwash Merino; 100% Superwash Merino, 200 yards (183 meters) 115 grams (4.06 ounces) per skein • 6 (6, 6, 7, 7, 8) skeins in Butterscotch (MC) • 1 skein in Moroccan Spice (CC)

Needles: US size 7 circular needle in length to knit body in the round. US size 6 circular needle in length to knit body in the round and double pointed needles, or circular needle in length to knit neck sts in the round. 

Notions : 2 stitch markers, stitch holder for holding body and neck stitches, darning needle for weaving in ends.

Gauge: 20 sts / 28 rows = 4” over St st using larger needles.

A Parliment of Owls, A Murder of Crows, An Expectation of Sleeves

Right now I have a number of sleeves on the needles, waiting for each other and for their associated bodies.

I have never really liked the phrase "Sleeve Island." It makes me think of Jeff Probst and Survivor, like the knitter is marooned somewhere with only rice and yarn to keep them alive. It sounds sad, and sleeves are anything but sad in my opinion. They are either the stretch before the sweater gets interesting (if you are knitting a yoked sweater), or they are the last sprint before you can seam the whole thing up and wear it out the door.

Or, they might even be the "swatch" you are rehearsing at the beginning of a project, and are fun and exciting as you familiarize yourself with your new yarn.  In any case, sleeves to me feel like a whole lot of "about to happen".

Tell me if I am wrong.

The In Between Time

There's a lot of creative pots simmering on the metaphorical stove around here. I have a few patterns off being edited right now, including the Queequeg sweater, thanks to the kind email support of knitters, and a few more in the process of being made. They don't look like much at the moment, just piles of stockinette.

But I do so love the colors I'm getting to work wih right now. Like this one for example: this mouth watering beauty is a gorgeous yarn from Jennifer Heverly of Spirit Trail called Verdande, in her incredible color Chipotle. This yarn is the delightful marriage of 75% superwash merino, 15% cashmere, and 10% bombyx silk. There's a cable I like so much involved in this sweater, and it's perfectly played by Jen's yarn and color combination. The finished sweater will be in the Spirit Trail booth at Maryland Sheep & Wool, and then I'll show it off here on the blog the following Monday. (Can you believe Maryland is only two months away?) But for now, it's just a lot of yarn.

And speaking of gorgeous yarn: I am so enamoured of Kim Kaslow's colors that I got to admire with every stitch of Queequeg, that I up and bought more of her yarn when I was at Spa. Here are three skeins of her sock yarns, from left to right: Essence in Boysenberry, Pearl in Tupelo Honey, and Pearl in Spiced Cider.

I chose them to be knit into a Color Affection by Veera Valimaki (although I want to call it "color affliction", so obsessed with this color combination I seem to be lately). I admire designer Veera's ingenious turn with the shawl patterns. I think she's breathed new life into the old chesnut, and I want to knit all of her shawls, but for the time involved.

Well, that's all I can share for now. Thanks for reading. Now go knit something.

Mmmm, Comfort Food (the story of a Berger & Wyse Cartoon)

I just ordered a print of this perfect cartoon:

Used here with the kind permission of Pascal Wyse (click here for a better view of the original cartoon on The Guardian.uk site)

The story behind this Berger & Wyse cartoon began with the Muckle Mitts by MaryJane Mucklestone that Joe Berger's wife, Charlotte, knit (she has a lovely blog too) which he cribbed for the background.

They seem to be the first stranded work Charlotte ever tried. I think they came out brilliantly. Check them out here on her Ravelry page.

The Berger family -- like me -- lives with an unwelcome moth problem. It's a knitter's nightmare, and clearly the spectre of moth damage haunts their every move. In Pascal Wyse's email response to my asking if I could borrow this for my own blog, he told me this story:

 

"If you look closely at the image on the home page of our website, you'll notice a moth flying from Joe's dinner jacket.

"When we went to LA to (not) win an Emmy we were nominated for, the moth travelled with us all the way from the UK, and flew out in the hotel when Joe unpacked his jacket in the hotel. I assume the moth is doing well in LA, but we never hear from him … "

It's hard not to imagine a whole generation of moths with English accents dining on vintage couture in LA. Suppose their dad tells them stories at night of Shetland wool?

 

Pretty Yarn, Again

Pretty yarn, isn't it?

It's Indulgence from Mad Color Fiber Arts, in four of my favorite colors: (from the top left in clockwise order) Pink Tourmaline, Ginger, Black Cherry, and Just a Flesh Wound. I wish my camera did not skew so far away from the blues that are in theses colors, because they are luminous in person, and only mildly resemble their true beauty when passed through the digital experience.

I picked these up this past weekend at the New England Textile Arts SPA Weekend in Freeport, Maine. Heather of Mad Color had her booth set up in her gleeful color array, complete with Disco Ball and Heather herself wearing go-go boots and a fantastic dress crocheted out of all of her colors. It would be hard to leave without a smile on your face, if not a bag full of your next project, which is what this is. Don't ask, just wait and see.

 

 

Also, on the pretty yarn subject, I have finished spinning the Enchanted Knoll Farm "Bliss" in Cheshire Cat that I was working on last summer, just in time to start some more. Spinning this fiber is another kind of joy, which clearly is why it has the name it does.

 

What do Ralph Lauren and Mary Jane Mucklestone Have in Common?

Ready to Wear Fashion Week brings for me the reliable delight of Ralph Lauren's show, which reminds me that I can always marshall the wools in my life to look a little more put together, if not as costumey as his beautiful whippet girls.  The year, Ralph is clearly inspired by all of our Downton Abbey watching, and the first third of the show has a lot of knitting happiness peeking out from under the houndstooth. The entire slide show is here. The evening dresses aren't half bad either.

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But really, my heart belongs to the fair isle vests. Doesn't this just make you want to run to your copy of Mary Jane Mucklestone's 200 Fair Isle Motifs?

And oh, and those argyles! Orange and baby blue diamonds with navy, and red diagonals? It's been awhile since I knit argyles, but perhaps it's time.

Knitting Changes The Way You See Things: Fashion Week Edition

I was browsing the street style shots over at Fashionista last night, vicariously people watching during Fashion Week, when I came across this great looking girl:

As a preoccupied knitter, I usually look at personal style in terms of how knitting could be involved, and that Pendleton coat immediately passed through my translation machine and came out the other end as my Takoma Jacket. How great would it be to have another copy of that sweater, but in those colors?

Here's where I wish I were adept at photoshop so I could show you what I mean, but you're a clever knitter: you can see what I mean. You probably have a knitting translation machine of your own.

Besotted

Friday's knitting:

 

The stitches fly when each row is this much fun.

For Want of a Bobbin, a Week was Lost

It's amazing how bobbins affect forward momentum in a project.

Not too long ago, when I packed up all the wheels and drove them to The Spinning Loft in Michigan for the Dream Wheel Trunk Show, I did something really clever with the extra four Watson bobbins I own, putting them someplace safe.

Now if only I could remember where that was.

More than a week has passed since I finished the singles for my "super-fast handspun project" which has by now slid into the "not-so-fast handspun project" category. And all for the want of an empty bobbin to ply onto. Suddenly the spinning thing becomes a game of Rush Hour. "Which bus bobbin do I have to move clear to get my car free singles plied?"

I finally gave up and cranked some other singles on one bobbin off onto my trusty singles holding tool, also known as a toilet paper tube (They fit perfectly onto the core of my ball winder, and they are in reliable supply).

Voila! Empty bobbin. Which allowed me to finally break the log jam and get the singles plied. The result:

630 Yards of worsted weight 2 ply, from Spunky Eclectic's BFL in Leaf Peep, destined to be the contrast yarn for a Kirigami.

Now I have four empty bobbins.

I love that they look just spent from the effort.

So, should I finish the project that is on the fifth one? Or start something new?

This is a Bliss batt from Enchanted Knoll; it's been on the wheel since the Tour de Fleece (which was in July?). It makes me feel guilty looking at it. I'm about a third of the way through this spin. I think it needs me. And it needs empty bobbins to get finished.

but I'm also feeling the pull of a few sweater lots. Five sweater lots to be exact. Oh the allure of the new!

Or maybe, just maybe I should find the errant four bobbins and not loose any sleep over my next spin move.

You Can Call This One Queequeg

I finally finished the Tattoo sweater that had me sleepless in October. I had The Mister take some photos of it today since it was the first day we've had for a few weeks when I could stand outside with a mere layer of stockinette between me and the elements. It was still kinda windy: my hair came unbraided a few times while we tried to figure out how to show the sweater.

It was inspired by the kind of tribal tattoos I admire but would never get. So it's a fantasy kind of thing for me, to sport a sleeve tattoo like this one:

or this one:

The faced hems are knit in the contrast color for a little surprise, and there's just enough waist shaping to make it easy and pretty to wear. And I like the little curlicue on the back. I could have placed it just a smidge higher I suppose.

The thing these particular photos don't do justice to is the way the yarn absolutely glows from within, being the signature dye style of Kim of The Woolen Rabbit from whom I bought the yarn at SOAR last fall. The superwash yarn is "Frolic" in the colors Butterscotch and Morrocan Spice. There's a closeup of the fabric in my flickr account here which shows the colors well.

I am considering writing it up even though intarsia is kind of a neglected skill these days. I don't expect a lot of people to try it, but I'd be happy to have the few brave souls as crazy as me go for it. Shoot me an email (bottom of the sidebar) if you want a note should I make it available.

 

For you Am Lit geeks: yes. That's a Moby Dick reference. Here's the wikipedia entry for Queequeg.