Athena Dreams

A Swatching Good Time

Many swatches have now been made for the Dale Cardigan, for which there is no name, other than #3 in Dale Book #138. I think I shall refer to it as the Dale Leafy Border Cardigan. There, now that makes me happier, there is something that feels sad to me about un-named objects, they somehow don't feel cared for enough.

So here's a little reminder photo of the cardigan.

Now, before I unveil the swatches, parenthetically I need to say that the light here has been grey, if not down right twilight at 2pm, for more than a week now. I got photos taken this afternoon, by taking them outside - the wind was cooperating today, and the rain was falling straight down, instead of at the 45 degree angle it has been falling at - so out to the porch with the big roof overhang we went.

Elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina in Loganberry below, Deep Purple above with Cafe au Lait in pattern

Elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina in Walnut below, Chestnut above, with Smoky Grape in pattern

Elann Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina in Loganberry below, Chestnut above, with Smoky Grape in pattern

The Alpaca is truly lovely, but I am not getting gauge. It says it is 24 sts to 4" on #2 or #3 needles, but it's more like 28.5 sts on #3s, and to go up to a #4 will make the fabric too loose, and floppy. I tried knitting more tightly and then more loosely on a couple of different needle sizes, but I don't think I can make it happen. The fabric it creates is really best on a #2, and in that case I will be at about 30+ sts per 4" and given that I don't have the best math skills, and that seems quite a jump in gauge from the original pattern, I don't think I will try to do any conversions. I want a fabric that is going to drape and move, but this may be too light.

I want to save the swatches though and write down in my notebook, because I think the Alpaca would be lovely for something, just not this cardigan

So, I moved on to another yarn that was marked 6 sts per 1". Telemark. And some very different colours for me...

Knit Picks Telemark in Garnet Heather below, Flame Heather above and Brass Heather in pattern.

This swatch did not get blocked for it's photo op, so excuse the bumpiness... The gauge is spot on. The fabric is a bit more stiff than I'd like it - it's very tight - but the Tiur that the pattern calls for knits up much the same way. The Tiur I find a bit too scratchy, and I was surprised to find that the Telemark was much softer and still feels like a good solid wool.

So, there's my swatching story so far. I am not sure that I want to start test swatching a ton more yarns, but I will of course take suggestions if any of you have any... And, would love to hear sounds from you more experienced stranded knitters: should the fabric be on the more "stiff" side with not much drape or can I get a bit drapey?

It's back to the Morning Glory.... about 1 more pattern repeat and I am done with the second half!

The Morning Glory

Winter light sure makes it difficult to photograph the knitting. The light is so low and bright, or the clouds are hiding the sun.... But I digress right away here... the first half of the beautiful Morning Glory was finished last week. I have already cast on for the second half, and already am feeling anxious about the kitchener that will need to put the 2 together. Slow down, I say to myself. Don't get anxious about things that have not arrived yet. I'll deal with the kitchener when I get there... but, you know I am still thinking about it, here and there.

Here is the mesh section at the beginning of the pattern. Looked so lovely hanging on the curtain rod in front of the window where too much light was coming in...

and the main body section with all the little "crosses". Altogether a great pattern, not something that I can memorize and work without looking at the charts, but hey, that's what sticky papers are for, to mark my place.

So, though I have declared this, 2008, to be my year of the cardigan, second runner up for spotlight presence are the wraps and shawls I have been collecting patterns for. And, with regards to the year of the cardigan: swatches are coming for the stranded cardigan from Dale Book 138 (pictured above). I think it's going to be a luscious alpaca finale for this one. Swatch photos and requests for colour votes coming tomorrow!

The Year that was 2007

2007 was a year of 2 Firsts for me. Socks (Broadripples) and Crochet (Larger than Life and Babette). I finished my very first pair of socks in January and I completed my very first granny square in June.

2007 was the year of the fingerless mitt, blankets galore and not finishing as much as I put on my plate.

15 pairs of mitts were knit and gifted, and all the mitts (except Fetching) were designs of the lovely Anne Hanson, who I am sure I probably gushed overly much about at some point or another this fall.

Two baby blankets were started, one finished the other frogged due to technical (read: gauge) difficulties.

I learned to crochet and started the Larger than Life Bag AND the ubiquitous Babette, neither of which I finished as of yet, due to holiday knitting interruptus, but they will be back up in the headlines.

There is the Poetry Cardigan, ah yes, the Poetry Cardigan, which I have spent endless hours choosing colours for, and charting colours for, and test swatching for... and have not started the actual cardigan. It's on the list for 2008...

I also spent some time queuing projects in my Ravelery, in hopes of getting a grip on my plans and my over-enthusiasm for new projects and new skills. The queue is rather long. Very long, really. And there are some things that may not happen, but it was most helpful to put that list together, or at least start it, and see how delusional I may truly be.

So, 2008. I know not yet what, if any, firsts there will be, or what challenges I will set for myself, other than finishing more of the things that I have started. I am hoping to start and finish a few sweaters this year, and add to my sock experience, and perhaps learn a new corchet square or two. That's the limit of my ambition as of the second day of the year.

Hope all your holidays were wonderful. Hope the resolutions (if you do that) are written! And hope everyone's new year has had a great start to it. Here's to an abundance of fibre fun in 2008!

Focus on the Fetch-ing

My first attempt at adding a second colour to the purled stitches on Fetching.

These Fetchings are being made out of Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk in Plum and Kiwi.

What I learned: The floats on the back side make for a non-stretch, so to use the second colour on the cuff, was a no go. I am trying it on the center portion of the mitt, and am finding that the same issue occurs. I think I am going to finish one mitt though, and see if I can get it on my hand with ease before I scrap the whole idea. I am so in love with the idea of that second colour peaking out, but may have to scrap it, we shall see.

Everyone who wrote to tell me of the quickness and ease of the Fetching pattern, you were all so so right! I made the pair of these last night. They are a little bulkier than what the pattern calls for, but I had some left over Rowan Cashsoft Aran in the Savannah colour, and there was just enough for a pair of Fetchings.

So, one pair down, many more to go, but I am feeling uplifted by the ease of this first attempt... if all else fails, Fetching will rule!

Oh, and, Keri from Knitty Gritty Thoughts left a comment on my last Mitts post re: a blogger group she is hosting that is all about making fingerless gloves: Fingerless Mitts for Fall . Lots of cool mitts being made and a large list of patterns, hurray for the fingerless glove.

And Here We Are at Autumn

I had wanted to mark the turn of the page to Autumn with starting a sweater for the fall and winter. The choice has been made (long ago) and for those of you who followed me through my swatching and my colour foraging, you know it will be the Poetry Cardigan of long ago discussions. Aah, but which cardigan: there were 2 discussed ad nauseum...

It will be the Peony Cardigan number one, or the one on page 136 in the Poetry in Stitches book.

But the weekend ended up filled with a wedding to attend, walks to go on in the cool(ish) Bay area-starting to change weather, and colours to read about and projects to tie the loose ends up on . . .

. . . changing leaves to walk through, home made vegetable soup left to simmer on the stove and make the house smell all warm and cozy and delicious.

Have I mentioned that I love the beginning of Fall, probably many many times, but I always love to say it again...

and there's my newly growing friendship with orange, another thing to celebrate about the beginnings of fall.

Happy Equinox! May the changing fall air invigorate and inspire you all!

Making Friends with Orange

Many of the people who I admire often say things like "do something that scares you" or "take a chance and do something you told yourself you can't do". One of my do something that scares me for 2007 is going to be: making friends with orange...

I want to cozy up to orange, learn all orange's loveliness. So I am thinking socks! Orange socks!

I could go the way of Lorna's Laces, and use a solid Pumpkin or a carrot, and another or, a multi in Bittersweet. I am well acquainted with this sock yarn, not the colours though... and then there's:

Shibui, in the exotic "roppongi" colour. I was so taken with this name that I looked it up: Roppongi is a district of Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan, famous as home to the rich Roppongi Hills area, an active night club scene, and a relatively large presence of Western tourists and expatriates, though the vast majority of visitors and residents are Japanese. It is in the southern portion of the circle described by the Yamanote Line, south of Akasaka and north of Azabu. Hmmm okay.

And on to Crystal Palace's Panda Wool in Candied Cinnnamon (yum), and the lovely Franklin from Valley Yarns in Chutney. The Franklin looks amazing, but I think more brick-y than really orange, which is the whole point after all. . .

OK, and now the finale, some new sock yarns I found at Little Knits. Monarch sock yarn in Brick and Grandma's Garden from Fly Designs. How gorgeous are these plump little yarns? The brick is making me really like orange a whole lot more. Has anyone acquainted themselves with this sock yarn?

OK, so that's my selection of orange for the feet. Does anyone have any opinions/experience with any of these sock yarns? I know the Lorna's well, but the others, have never used... I know there are opinions out there... and I am asking after all, and making orange my new friend.

Cheating on Babette

They say a picture says a thousand words, or it's something like that. Oh! Another one: they also say a picture tells a story (don't it). Quoting from various sources this morning, it all comes down to this: I started Morning Glory the night before last.

The monogamous project was just not working out well for me. I believe strongly in speaking up earlier, rather than later, when something is not working out, and the monogamous art/knitting/reading/any, it seems, project apparently does not work for me.

I found in the last week that I was not working on Babette, but was wandering around touching other yarn, and reading knitting books, and looking at colour books, and, you know, not interacting with Babette.

In the spirit of honesty, I did introduce them. They mumbled to each other on the floor, in the one patch of light there was... I didn't want to shock them with the flash.

I have come to the realisation - after much thought (seriously, I really have given this much thought) that I am not a monogamous project person. That as a result of that there will be some things that I don't finish, there will be other things that I do finish.

I was remembering my grandmother's "work" basket the other day. It was a big basket she had on the floor next to her comfy chair, right beside the dog beds. It was always full of half finished knitting or crochet projects, socks to darn, my grandfather's shirts that needed buttons replaced, and corgi fur from the dogs.

Some things never left that basket. Other things were finished and given, or worn, or placed in a drawer, hung in a closet. I was remembering that everytime I went to my grandparent's house, my grandmother's work basket was the first place I'd visit. There always remained some familiar things in the basket. Socks and sleeves of sweaters that I picked up and touched over and over again, for years.

I wish that I could ask her now if she ever thought about the good or the bad about having so many half finished projects in her work basket, and what that said about her as an artist, as a creative person. I am guessing though that she would think it was fine that I am not a monogamous knitter, crocheter, painter, or designer. I am imagining she would give me her little half smile, tip her head to the left, and say: "that's just fine".

Looking for Some Colour Talk?

Come visit over here: Athena Dreams Design

Living Colours Flickr Group (click)

or, here:

Can I Distract You with Some Flowers?

I am sewing endless little cotton squares together. There really is no point in taking more photos of these endless little squares of colour, no point in showing my "progress", or even discussing which square colour combos I like the best... Babette is the only thing I am working on, and until she is done, there's just really not much to be said about her, or any of the other lovely projects I should be starting for Holiday presents. This is all in the name of finishing a project. Finishing a project completely. No dangly thread. No more items thrown into the basket of other items that need blocking. A finished project is a lengthy process, for me, it seems.

The Rudbeckia in my garden this year, has been, in one word, stunning. I have tried it before in different spots, with marginal results, and this year I put it in the garden just off the front porch, my thinking being that maybe it just wanted to be seen more than once or twice a day, and wanted to be seen by more than just myself and Mr Athena. The mailman even commented on my "pretty golden flowers" and I am thinking he is not the gardening type, and thus it is rather impressive that he noticed them at all. I think I finally found the right spot for them.

And they are lovely and golden. The photo looks like there was a flash or some back lighting, but there wasn't, and I think the yellow caste on the leaves, is all due to the "lovely golden flowers".

And just beside the Rudbeckia is my gorgeous Japanese Anemone in Pink. I have many white ones in the back, I love both the white and the pink. And in years past I bought starters that SAID they were pink, but then in September, they bloomed white. It's on one level terribly disappointing, and on another, a lovely thing. On the disapponting side, I tend and water them all year, they put out the most beautifully rich green foliage for, oh I'd say about 7 months, and then at the very very end of the blooming season they start to bloom, and I am expecting pink, and I got another white. And it is a lovely thing, in that the large gathering of white anemone's in the back (right outside our bedroom window) are amassing in army like proportions, and when it is a full moon during the months of September and October, I go to sleep to the glow of the white flowers.

So, onward to more sewing of squares... Babette is waiting... she is a task mistress.

Please Ignore the Extension Cord and . . .

and all the other stuff . . . but Babette is all over the living room floor, in her little "groups". I was surveying this morning, and thought, wow, that would make a beautiful rug.

No, I don't think I would go that far, but it's a lovely dreamy thought.