Surprise Mittens

Every once and a while, I think of a craft project so nerdy that I just have to make it. The impetus for my most recent of these projects was HiKoo's Abracadabra color-changing yarn. And my brain naturally made things more complex by insisting that I use this yarn in a fair isle project.

However, the result is just amazing, as shown in the following video when I expose a "fresh" side of a mitten to sunlight. I just love the way that the zigzags appear from nothing.

What's not being said is that in doing color-changing fair isle, I ended up doing "two"-color, white-on-white knitting. Thankfully, the color change yarn was very shiny against the wool, but it was still much easier to knit these mittens outside on a sunny day. For reference, here is the indoor view:

Oh, and did I mention the pattern was in Swedish and modified? The book I have has since been published in English, but I managed to make my version work by inferring Swedish knitting words and using the provided chart.

So, yes, sometimes I like a good challenge. White-on-white, color changing fair isle modified from a Swedish pattern was a crazy idea, but I think that the awesomeness of the results made it all worth it.

Double Gradient Shawl

It's no secret among my knitting friends that I'm a fan of Fiber Optic's gradients. I've amassed a small pile of them over the years from stocking up at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool. Two in particular that I was sitting on and trying to figure out what to do with were Smoke on the Water and Ebony to Holly. I finally decided to jump in and use them together in a striped shawl.

The shawl pattern is Grain, another one from tincanknits' Simple Collection. It was perfect because I wanted to let the stripes shine and didn't want to use a complex pattern. Plus, a simple pattern was great for travel knitting during a big trip I took earlier in the fall.

The stripes were central to my plans for this yarn, as I love the way these two color progressions play against each other. You often only notice the change in one gradient at first glance and I love the added complexity from the second gradient.

Overall, I love how this shawl turned out. It's simple in execution but complex in color. And I think it makes these two gradients really shine.

Simple Knits for Toddlers

At some point this fall, the kiddo transitioned from baby to toddler. It's a pretty noticeable difference, filled with new abilities and many more opinions. It's been keeping Mama on her toes, but I've still managed to sneak in a little bit of knitting.

Most important was to get a new hat and mittens for the munchkin. We've already had lost mitten issues and he keeps outgrowing hats. (My kid has a seriously large noggin'. Case in point: his adult uncle is wearing his hat in the photo below. The result is that I knit an adult small hat for him this winter so he has a chance of being able to wear it next year too; it's a little too deep but fits just right around his head.)

Enter in the Simple Collection from tincanknits. I've recently become a big fan of tincanknits, having knit four of her patterns in the last year. Her Simple Collection is beautiful and the patterns come in a wide range of sizes. Barley and Maize where just perfect for the kiddo's winter needs.

The munchkin seems to really like his new hat. We're still working on loving the mittens, but at least I used a long i-cord to connect them together so we won't have to worry about losing one when kiddo decides to actually wear them. If you aren't aware of the Simple Collection, I highly encourage you to check these patterns out!

EZ as Pi

I've been pretty quiet on the knitting front because I've spent the last 3 months knitting this grey beauty, a 1200+ yard Pi Shawl. While this is much more lace than I can usually handle, I can now see why this Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern has been so beloved.

I did my version in MadelineTosh Twist Light in Great Grey Owl. I chose to do a simple center with yarn over's every 6 rows in between the increases, followed by an Alpine Lace edging (which looks a bit familiar to this blog). This kept the lace manageable for me, as I only had to pay attention during the very last section.

Not having knit a circular shawl before, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to wear it. Easiest is folding it in half and wrapping it around my neck, though I've also tried folding the top third down to wear it around my shoulders. This is something I'll be playing with.

Overall, I'm very happy I persevered through my largest lace project to date. I almost didn't make it when I discovered a math error meant knitting twice as much edging as I originally thought, so I'm very glad it's finally done. Not only done, but beautiful!

Baby Steps Toward a Finished Object

I've got some time off work to stay home with the little one and, as awesome as that is, I've needed to find something to keep my brain occupied during the quieter moments. Enter in the sweater that's been hibernating for over 3 years...

This is a Knitpicks Telemark ski sweater (both the pattern and yarn are no longer available). When last I knitted on it, I had worked the body to the neck steek division. Now I've finished the body and have started the first sleeve. Here's to hoping that I can get the whole thing finished before I go back to work in just over a month.

Handspun Kerchief

I realize I forgot to show off a finish object from January, an Age of Brass and Steam kerchief!

I started this way back in the springtime of last year and thought I should finish it before baby arrived. I love the pattern for its simplicity and how it sets off the handspun, which is '24 karat' from Hobbledehoy Fibers.

It's a bit artsy for everyday wear but it's still a lovely finished handknit.

Baby Bits and Bobs

We're continuing the theme of baby knitting here at casa BrineyDeep. This time by revisiting a pattern I've knit a couple times before: Magic Slippers.

These booties are seamless and straightforward to construct, which makes them fun to knit. Plus, I learned that I can knock a pair out in the time it takes to watch a football game, which is perfect for getting me through all of the post-season NFL games that are on right now.

And of course, you can't have a pair of baby booties without matching mittens. These are the Teensie Weensie Mittens (Ravelry link). Not only are tiny mittens adorable, but I love that they don't have a thumb.

I'm hoping that these will both fit baby at the same time and that baby will be able to get some wear out of them before it gets warm again. Then again, I do live in Wisconsin, so baby might just be wearing these from the time zie's born in March until May or June when the snow finally melts! All the more reason to stock up on knitwear.

Prep Work

As we get close to baby's due date, the good knitter in me is feeling the need to get some baby knitting done. It's been hard enough to knit while pregnant that I can only imagine it will be impossible once the baby arrives. So if I want to stock up on baby knitwear, I'd better do it now.

The first item I finished was a Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. I've knit this pattern before and loved the results so I was very happy to have one I could keep for "myself".

The second item off of the needles was an EZ Surplice Baby Jacket (Ravelry link). This one is really adorable and kind of ingenious as it adjusts fit with a growing baby. A row of yarn overs along the hem allows you to button the jacket up as tight or loose as necessary. My only complaint is that the pattern was written in a very Elizabeth Zimmerman style, meaning instructions were not laid out in an orderly fashion and there were lots of sidebars for variations. Still, it's quite a cute sweater!

I have a few more knitting plans for baby (and a few items I've already put away), so we'll see how much I can get done before March!

Just For Fun

It's a truth universally acknowledged that sometimes crafters lose their mojo. Many years this happens to me in the spring, but this year it seemed to be a summer problem. Thankfully, I'm starting to feel the desire to craft again after a 2-month hiatus. I've got several projects in the works at the moment, but want to show off the first thing I finished after getting my mojo back:

This is a tiny sushi from the Mochimochi Land sushi bar set. Mochimochi Land has the most adorable tiny patterns and kits and, after knitting my first one, I can definitely see the appeal of tiny knitting. It was a nice quick reentry into knitting life and good springboard for several other projects which I can wait to show off on the blog!

Hello!

It's been quiet on this blog for the last couple months as I've been working to finish up a giant project: a book! It has absolutely nothing to do with knitting, sewing, or crafting except that it has taken up a lot of crafting time in the last 18 months. Hopefully now that the proofs are in, I'll have a bit more time for fun.

That's not to say I haven't been crafting recently (more that I've been too busy to write about it). In the past few months, I've finished a few awesome projects. At the top of the awesome list is my Emily Capelet made from MadTosh.

Continuing in the theme of Ysolda patterns, I finished a Wee Envelope in Briar Rose yarn.

And then there was the adorable Poklon, who would be more adorable if I hadn't run out of yarn right at the end.

So this is a quick check-in to say that I'm here, I've been doing some knitting, and I'm looking forward to being back here more now that my giant book project is done!

Gradient!

It's been a wee bit crazy around here the last few months but I'm very happy to say that one thing did come off my needles: my Fiber Optic gradient sweater. I showed you the start of the sweater in this post from September and I'm happy to say that the final sweater is just as lovely as I envisioned.

Two gradient packs was the perfect amount of yarn for this sweater (honestly, I'm just lucky I'm not a larger size). I ended up with about 10 yards of yarn leftover and a bunch of 1" scraps. I'm rather proud of this efficiency.

The one thing I don't love about this sweater is that the ribbing at the sleeves and hem flares and flips up. It does not look nice and drives me a bit crazy. I need to figure out if I can stabilize it with a ribbon backing or if I have to rip the hems out to redo them. The sweater is currently in my "need to think about" pile (yes, I have one of those and it's not small) until I figure this out.

Other than the flippiness, I'm very happy with the final sweater. I admit that the yarn is doing most of the heavy lifting here. This is in no way curing my obsession with Fiber Optic yarns.

The good news is that I have two more Fiber Optic gradient packs on hand, one in ebony to holly and the other in smoke on the water. I don't know what I'll do with them but I'm leaning toward using them together as stripes. Won't that look lovely?

Color Progression Progress

I bought a bunch of Fiber Optic gradient yarn at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool and just cast on a project that will use two of the gradient packs: a Sugar Maple sweater. I admit to falling in love with this pattern after seeing the Fiber Optic dyer wearing her version using a different gradient colorway. I think the sweater is going to look sharp in the onyx-to-crimson progression.

The pattern itself is pretty straightforward - it's a tweaked top-down raglan - but the hard part is dealing with the 30 mini-skeins that form the two gradient packs. I need to keep the skeins in the proper order, do joins, and take care of ends, but it will all be worth it to see a smooth and subtle color progression in the finished object.



I'm using a couple strategies to make the yarn wrangling easier. The first is joining by magic knot, as shown in the video above. I'm not usually one for joins using knots (they distort the fabric a bit), but this was the easiest way to waste as little yarn as possible and avoid the added density of woven-in ends.

The other thing I'm doing is joining as I go, as it seemed easier to deal with yarn from one mini-skein at a time. To keep everything in order, I strung all of the mini-skeins onto a spare bit of yarn (shown in the first photo) at the beginning of the project and secured the yarn with a slip knot. Now, it's really easy to grab a new skein whenever I need one.

I'm pretty happy with my systems for dealing with the mini-skeins and I can't wait to show you more of this sweater as it progresses!

Actual Knitting

I was looking through the last few months of posts the other day and realized this blog has pretty much been all sewing all the time since I got my new sewing machine. You can't fault a girl for being excited about a new toy but, seeing as this blog is nominally a knitting blog, we're definitely due for some yarns goodness.

Happily, I finished and blocked two knitting projects this past month: an Orchid Thief shawl and a second pair of Twiglets mitts (first pair blogged here). The Orchid Thief shawl has been on my to-make list for about a year now. I specifically remember buying the MadTosh Merino Light for it at the 2013 Sheep and Wool festival. There's a nice symmetry in finishing this shawl just in time for this year's Sheep and Wool (but it may be more of an excuse to buy more yarn because I used up last year's haul).

The other project I just finished is a pair of Twiglets mitts. I really like these mitts because they are quick to make and the lace pattern is easy to memorize. This is my second pair and I can definitely see myself making more.

So there are the latest knitting adventures: beautiful gray lace. My next yarny adventure? Wisconsin Sheep and Wool!

Yarn Regret

Have you ever admired a skein of yarn, not bought it, and then kicked yourself later for making that decision? I don't have yarn regret hardly ever, but I've been sighing wistfully since Wisconsin Sheep & Wool when I saw Fiber Optic's gradient yarns and fibers. Her gradients are beautiful and subtle and have the most amazing color transitions from one color to another, often through a third.

Needless to say, I was thinking about the gradients for several weeks after the festival and finally decided to track Fiber Optic down on the web. After a bit of website stalking, I managed to snare a gradient pack--no mean feat seeing as she posts one colorway at a time every couple weeks in limited quantities (FYI, the release schedule is posted in the Ravelry group).

After all of the effort to get my hands on this yarn, I knew it had to be made into something special. And that something special is this Stripe Study Shawl.

Goodness me do I love this shawl. The "blackbird" gradient is subtly paired with a black Cascade sock yarn and result is simple yet beautiful. I can't get over the smooth transition from one color to the next; these photos cannot do the colors justice. It's pretty amazing and amazingly pretty.

Knitting this shawl seems to have stemmed the yarn regret, but I'm still looking forward to next year's Sheep & Wool festival when I can peruse all of the colorways at once. In the meantime, I'm dreaming up new uses for gradient yarn.

I should end by fessing up to my new obsession with Fiber Optic, seeing as I'm devoting a whole blog post to this yarn and, nominally, this shawl. Consider me firmly in the Fiber Optic fan club.

Free Pattern: Lake Effect Muff

Living in Wisconsin, you get pretty used to not seeing the grass from November through May. It was that way when I lived in Madison and it's even worse now that I'm in Milwaukee because of lake-effect snow. The past 2 months have taught me to add 3 inches of snow to the forecast just because I live close to Lake Michigan. Still, I don't mind the snow so long as I have ways to stay warm.

(I should add that, as I wrote this, an ad for ice fishing supplies came on TV. Welcome to life in the north!)

Living around so much snow means that I'm always on the lookout for things that are both warm and stylish, and nothing says winter glamour quite like a muff. I made this one out of bulky and super bulky yarns, so it knit up quickly and provides a lot of warmth. It's going to keep my fingers super toasty this winter when worn over my gloves (because, seriously, it's too cold to go outside with only one layer on the hands).

The muff itself is dead simple to make--it's simply two stockinette tubes, one inside the other, with optional fiberfill stuffing. The trickiest part is actually grafting the last row of stitches to the cast on edge, though you could always seam everything if you don't like grafting. Either way, I hope you enjoy the pattern and are finding lots of pretty and cozy ways to stay warm this winter.

Yarn:
Requires ~70 yards each of super bulky (MC) and bulky (CC) yarns.

I used:
MC: 1 skein Istex (nee Reynolds) Bulky Lopi in Gray [100% Wool, 67 yds per 100 g skein]
CC: 0.2 skein Cascade Eco Wool in Natural [100% Wool, 478 yds per 250 g skein]

Another good option is Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick (MC) paired with Wool Ease Chunky (CC).

Materials:
Size 10 dpns (or 16" size 10 circulars)
Size 8 dpns

Fiberfill (optional)

Darning needle for grafting

Gauge:
MC and size 10 needles: 14 st/20 row = 4 inches in stockinette
CC and size 8 needles: 18 st/25 row = 4 inches in stockinette

(The gauge is a little tighter than normal so as to keep fiberfill in and wind out)

Pattern:
Provisionally cast on 48 stitches in MC on size 10 needle.
Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist your stitches.

Knit 9 inches in stockinette.

Switch to CC and size 8 needles.

Continue to work in the round in CC for another 8.5 inches.

Cut yarn, leaving long tail. Weave in all ends but this one.

Fold CC lining down into center of MC cylinder, with wrong sides of the fabric together. Stuff lightly with fiberfill between the layers, if desired.

Remove provisional cast on and graft CC stitches to MC stitches using long CC tail. Weave in end.

Wear and stay warm!

OWL Mittens

I love finishing handknits right in time for a cold snap. This winter's just-in-time knits are my OWL mittens, which I started at the end of August. The project was slow going because the pattern was so detailed but things did speed up a bit once I learned an easier way to manage long color repeats in fair isle.

So now I have some decidedly nerdy mittens. At least the low color contrast means that they don't scream their nerdiness for everyone to see. It makes me quite happy to know that I'm wearing Harry Potter mittens that others won't recognize.

For all that I like these mittens, it's sometimes hard to see the words clearly on the palms if the light isn't right. Part of me likes this subtlety but another part of me is annoyed that I did all of that work and the pattern isn't coming through clearly. If I had to do it all over again, I would up the contrast a bit to make the words sharper. At least the back of the hands look great in all lighting.

All in all, this was a fun project and I'm looking forward to seeing how these mittens wear now that it's cold.

Epic

I feel like every time I finish a big project I declare, “This is my favorite handknit ever!” So of course my latest project is my favorite thing ever too. Still, I think a better declaration is in order in this case: “This is the most epically awesome thing I have ever knit!” And it really is.

This project is special in a lot of ways. First, it’s my very first handspun sweater (yarn blogged here). Second, it ended up being something of a mother-daughter project (more on that in a moment). Third, the final sweater fits me perfectly. Fourth, it’s just a really lovely garment from a really lovely pattern, Strokkur. Finally, the pattern's designer Ysolda featured my sweater on her blog! Head over there to see the full story of this sweater and get a coupon code (until Sept 4) for knitting your own Strokkur.

Wow, I'm still getting over the whole "Ysolda featured my sweater on her blog" thing. Where was I with this blog post again? Oh yes, mother-daughter crafting.

I didn't realize until recently how big of a hand that Mom had in this sweater. Not only did she give me the wool but she helped me set and de-grease the yarn. She also played a key role in determining the colors for the yoke, as she both consulted on color choice and dyed the skeins for me. I may have done all of the spinning and knitting, but this sweater would have been very different without Mom's input.

Mom and I often chat about our current projects but I really relish the opportunities to work on something with her in person, whether it is blocking lace or degreasing handspun. She has taught me a lot about working with fiber and always adds to the projects she helps me with. So thanks, Mom, for being a big part of my epic sweater project! And thanks to Ysolda for featuring it on her blog!

A Sweater-Sized Lot of Yarn

Like many knitters, I have a significant amount of stash. Some of it is oddballs, left over from a project, and some of it is yarn set aside for a particular project that may eventually be made. And then there are the sweater-sized lots of yarn; I have just a few of these. One lot belongs to a sweater that I started but haven't touched in 6 months, the second is hanging around because I didn't end up liking the pattern it was originally intended for, and the third has been waiting for just the right pattern.

The third sweater lot is something really special: 1500+ yards of handspun that I spun up almost 3 years ago. My original idea was to make it into a Cria sweater, but I decided that a fair isle yoked sweater would be even better. So I had my mother dye 2 of the 8 skeins, one olive green (it came out more golden green) and one brown. Then it became a matter of finding the right pattern.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I ended up picking out a Ysolda pattern for this yarn, her newest pattern Strokkur. I'm still not sure if it's my ideal colorwork pattern, but I don't want to have to come up with my own pattern and I know that any Ysolda design will be a good knit.

So this week I've set to swatching. I'm really happy with how the handspun is knitting up, though I do wish there was a little more contrast between the green and brown in the colorwork section. I guess that's the downside of using hand-dyed yarn, for all of its beauty. But judging by how the rest of the swatching has gone, I can't wait to get started on this sweater!