a southern gal knits in the north

Update

Technorati Tags: Tottering,Anne Tempest,Heirloom Buttons,Country Living,Country Life,Tomten Jacket,Central Park Hoodie

After a quiet January (the mildest weather in 70 years!), February has proved very Variable!  Snow storm on Friday and then in the 40s today with rainy/sleet mix turning to snowy mix tonight and tomorrow.  And then hi teens for tomorrow night! And this weekend?  40s again!

sigh... thank goodness for wool cardigans!

The 50 Heirloom Buttons book I won on eBay (at a really good low price) came last week - and was devoured in one sitting.  Some very interesting techniques for making the buttons - sewing, crochet and knitting are all represented.  Gorgeous buttons that are very inspiring.   The book says that hundreds of young women and children spent hours daily making these buttons in the factories in the 19th and early 20th century - and that after the introduction of plastic and wood machine made buttons, handmade buttons are only used for haute couture (which kept these techniques alive).  There are quite a few that will look good on some of my to-be-finished sweaters.

The Spring issues of the knitting magazines are beginning to arrive - Interweave Knits and Knit Simple so far.   Rowan came awhile ago.  Haven't read thru them yet - its too cold to look at short sleeves and beach scenes and besides I like to parcel out my knitting mags ... reading them over a few weeks.

One of my "dream" magazines is the UK Country Living ... oh how I love reading it - I had a subscription for a number of years but let it lapse over the last few.  Would buy them in the bookstores (Barnes & Noble mainly) but would often miss a month because there were usually just a few copies and unless you got there early in the month they would be gone.  However it was renewed for me as a gift this past Christmas and once again I am in thrall each month.   I rarely read it when it arrives - but flip thru for a preliminary peek and then save it for a special sit down and a cup of tea and a biscuit or two.

The photos are gorgeous - as is the allure of living a life on a farm or in a cottage by the sea or a lake or in the mountains - but of course the farm must be in the Scottish Highlands, or in Yorkshire or along the south west coast - maybe with a fishing boat too!  And there would be a dark good looking husband and a few children and lots of pets and... ah well!

Of course, the REAL country living magazine is Country Life.  The Granddaddy of all.  I actually subscribed for a few years - its TRES CHER for an American - but so yummy to read.  And has the wonderful Annie Tempest and her great cartoon.Tottering-by-Gently. 

Tottering-by-Gently is a village in the fictional county of North Pimmshire, where Lord and Lady Tottering reside at their ancestral home, Tottering Hall. Annie Tempest's prints are based on Lord and Lady Tottering (Dicky and Daffy), their daughter Serena and their grandchildren, Freddy and Daisy. Through Dicky and Daffy's extended family, Annie Tempest casts her gimlet eye over everything from inter-generational tensions, the differing perspectives of men and women, to dieting, field sports, and much much more.

See more at her website.  Cartoons here

Below is the one for the first week of January.

and from December 07

Back to reality and current knitting - working on three things in various stages of completion:

First, the Red Tomten Jacket for Walter, my nephew

 

As you can see, the body and hood are done and one sleeve started before I ran out of yarn.

Am waiting to hear back from the vendor who thinks she has the same dye lot available to send .

In the meantime, today I got the OK from Walter as to the color of the Pockets and the Hood and Front band ... a pretty sky blue.

At first he said that he wanted green but both my sister (the mom) and I steered him to the blue (its one side of his reversible parka) as we didn't want the obvious Holiday connection that Red and Green may bring (He is being raised Jewish).

SO that means I can start on the blue - hmm, now I wonder if I have enough of that !  Will have to check and maybe order some more!

Its Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted in Ruby Red.

 

 

The second project in my current rotation is my variation on the Central Park Hoodie for Walter's mom, my sister.

As with the Tomten Jacket, the hood and body and front bands are done.  So I find myself in Sleeve Land.  As I worked this in the round and am doing the sleeves from cast on at the steeks and knit down, I am having to make up a sleeve pattern as I go.

Will check some of my reference books - but I need to figure out the ratio of the decreases to get the sleeve size I need.

And then the decision to make button loops with I-cord.  Sister will have to decide if she wants them or a wrap belt maybe ?  (she is very thin and can carry that off).

 

 

 

 

The third project is my version of EZ's Aran Cardigan - I am still working on the body - so not much to report on that... just good solid cable knitting for a few more inches before the sleeve steeks.

 

 

 

 

PS If you didn't watch either Saturday Night live or This Week on Sunday, check my main blog for my take on the Clinton/Obama skits/talk.

PPS Reading Yarn Harlot today is dangerous - I found myself wandering the web looking for the same yarn - I already have the patterns she mentions and of course need to start two new cardigans like a hole in the head!

Recent acquisitions and project updates

 

I have been searching for this on EBAY since last fall when Meg used it as one of the sources for the patterns in the Christmas Stocking for Eli (see Schoolhouse Press for pattern).

Several times I lost out as the prices skyrocketed to the triple digits.  But apparently patience is sometimes rewarded as this weekend I won it for low two digits! 

So Excited!

 

 

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In January I took my mother into the City (that's NYC) for a seminar (she's a playwright) and decided to try parking near Knitty City [I had some gift money to spend]- and surprise!  A spot right in front of the store! 

NYC know has some of those automatic Parking Meters where you put in your money and get a paper ticket  with the time stamps on it and place in on your dashboard.  Just after I parked, a meterman was walking up to my car, I told him I had just parked and was getting my ticket right away!  So one hour of parking (only 2 bucks!) and I was set.  (although it was very windy so it took a few tries of putting the ticket on the dashboard and closing the door so that the ticket wasn't buffeted by the winds all over the car)

It was a very full store - two knitting classes were going on - and I spent a lot of time fondling the cashmeres after doing a sweep thru the yarns to see what was up.  After that I settled in near the books and found many that I lusted after but settled on two.

Yes, after reading about it for a few months, I succumbed - and then one day last week while prone on the sofa with the flu bug that is making the rounds, I read thru it.  By the time I got to the sections with the patterns, I felt as if I had had a graduate course on Yarns - A GOOD THING!   Everyone else has written praises and I add mine too - a very well designed book and one to which I will be referring very frequently.

 

My second purchase that day was a new one to me.

  

Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone
Secrets of Knitting Traditional Fishermen's Sweaters

By Sabine Domnick,

From the publisher..... "British fishermen's sweaters are some of the most satisfying creations a knitter can make. Their beauty comes from texture and pattern alone, yet they can be as spectacular or as understated as you wish. Traditionally worked in the round, with knitted-in sleeves, they require no sewn seams -- a boon for many knitters!

When Sabine Domnick first saw these timeless designs, she knew she had to find out all she could about how to make them. Now, as knitters always do, she shares what she's learned, demystifying the process and passing on the tradition to other hands. Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone is the exclusive English translation of her second book about traditional Guernsey (gansey) and Jersey sweaters. North American knitters are more familiar with the Irish Aran sweaters, but the Scottish and English patterns in these pages are made with finer wool on smaller needles, yielding less bulky sweaters that can either be "dressed up" or worn with a favorite pair of jeans.

With the information in this book, you can create sweaters you and your family will appreciate for years to come."

This is the English-language edition of Sweaters for Cold Days, originally published in Germany (2004).

It is a treat to read - and makes me want to start about six sweaters using all of the wonderful patterns. 

At check out time, the shop owner on seeing my books said "you ARE a knitter" at which I blushed. And if some lovely shawl pins jumped out of their basket and into my pile, well, you can never have too many non?

 

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My variation on the Central Park Hoodie 9see sidebar) has reached the sleeve island phase - I love knitting in the round - the entire body is done (hood and front bands etc). 

But now I have to suck it up and knit those two sleeves - sigh.  It means figuring out decreases instead of increases so that means sitting down and doing some math...

so well, instead I started another Tomten Jacket  - this one for nephew Walter.  We discussed it last week and looked at pictures in the book (The Opinionated Knitter) since he out grew his grey sweatshirt style hoodie from last year - and being a very warm blooded child who eschews jackets normally - it will be a good "mid winter" weight to wear after its too warm to wear his down jacket. 

Of course the color is RED (Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Ruby Red)

Saturday I measured a current largish sweater (Hanna Andersson) and am plotting the sizes from that.

So last night started it during a catchup marathon of General Hospital (yeah, Sarah Brown is back! and a worthy opponent to Sonny!) and the latest two hour installment of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

After a swatch (yes I really did), I was getting 4 St/inch on size 7...so cast on for 28" (the front bands will add another two inches) and have about 10 inches already.

This part always goes fast - once you divide for the sleeves you have to knit on three separate sections... but endless garter stitch makes for good brainless TV companion.

  Last week I also started working on MY aran v-neck cardigan (see sidebar) ...it had been so long I had to rip a bit back to get the correct cable row as I am knitting this in the round as well!

Well in looking at the main cable in the back section, HORRORS!  I discovered that I had miscrossed (but consistently) two of the cables ALL THE WAY from the beginning!

YIKES!

After a few well chosen curse words at which Katie the cat raised a sleepy eyelid, I ripped all the way down to the top of the first repeat.

And then on double pointed needles reknit the cable back to the rest of the knitting.

Yes it was a pain but really you can't tell - I reknit from the two twisted knit stitches so I could tighten up the purl background stitches and not have any looseness in the fabric.

Need to measure how long I want to make this before the armhole steeks...and would like to finish this BEFORE the winter ends so I can wear it.

However, today it was 60 DEGREES (yes really) although the rest of the week looks more normal..highs in the 30s, etc.  Oh and Saturday night it was 19!  (no wonder we are all sick!)

Some FOs

Finally some finished objects!    Tantalizing (?!) photos below - more and information at Ravelry

Tomten Jacket
Design:  Elizabeth Zimmermann (The Opinionated knitter)
Yarn:  Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Bulky - Illustrious Emerald, Thunderstorm Blue

 

Aran Blanket 

Design: mine
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted Prairie Fire