FO times six: Annis

Pattern: Annis by Susanna IC
Yarns: hand-me-down turquoise wool from my grandmother, teal handspun, Malabrigo lace in pink and blue, dyed-by-me coned silk.
Needles: US 8/5.0 mm and occasionally, US 10/6.0 mm.
Started/finished: 11 June - 6 July 2010.
Comments/mods: I picked this pattern because I wanted something that would go pretty quickly but not be too boring. I chose so well! The pattern is very simple, but the resulting shape is just gorgeous. It's also vastly adaptable - I forsee doing a number of these with various edgings from my stitch dictionaries, and there's at least one mega-version in Jaggerspun wool/silk on the list for me somewhere down the line.

Since I did something a bit different for each one, I'm going to go in order.

Annis #1 - by the book.

I did this one as written, with the exception of using US 8/5.0 mm needles and a backwards loop cast-on to start with (same cast-on used for all). Finished this one in three days when Himself took off for his bike ride. For Boo's Mon/Friday nursery teacher/girls' occasional babysitter. Details on Ravelry

Annis #2 - handspun, shrunken

This one is for Boo's main nursery teacher, who earned the only handspun version by being a knitter herself, and complimenting me on Boo's Nemo set early on in our relationship. Sadly, she is not coming back next year, so I wanted to make her something really nice. I cut out two of the 12 stitch repeats and the nupps because I was worried about running out of yarn. I had plenty left (which, of course, I have no idea what to use for now), but so be it. Did some work on this on the beach in Cornwall while the girls climbed on the rocks. Six days - clearly I was too busy eating ice cream and lying in the sun. Ravelry details here.

Annis #3 - pink Malabrigo

For Devil's teaching assistant, a lovely young lady who is also leaving at the end of the year. I went back to the pattern without mods for this as well. And as I slogged along, I threw out the idea of doing any more nupps on these things. Too slow! Four days to finish, 32 g of yarn, Ravelry.

Annis #4 - beads!

For Devil's main teacher, whom she has absolutely adored. Mrs. A is having her first baby in October, and I wanted to make her something nice for the fall. Pale blue Malabrigo, blue seed beads instead of nupps, correct number of repeats, but I made the short rows longer (fewer of them) to try and speed things up. Three days, 30 g, details.

Annis #5 - red dyed coned silk

Several years ago I ended up with a lot of coned machine knitting yarn. I got rid of most of it when we moved, but held on to one cone of natural colored laceweight that was labeled silk. I'm not sure it actually is silk, but it dyed with acid dyes, so it's some kind of protein fiber. In retrospect, I should have used smaller needles for this one, because it ended up pretty holey on the 5.0 mm needles. Oh well. No time to go back and redo! No nupps, longer short rows. For Boo's other nursery teacher, who is also not returning. Five days, and I think I may get rid of the rest of the cone, even though there's a ton left. I didn't like knitting with it. On Ravelry.

Annis #6 - mini-version

I had 22 g of blue Malabrigo left, so I decided to try and squeeze out on more mini-Annis. Took out four repeats, yarn overs instead of nupps, and I still had to bind off a few rows early. But it blocked out to reasonable size. This is for Dev's reading teacher, who broke her foot very badly a couple of weeks ago and has decided to retire. Three days, 20 g, Ravelry.

Blocking: all of these were soaked in cool water and Soak, and spun out in the washing machine before being pinned out. I threaded blocking wires through each of the points on the bottom edge, pinned the top two corners and stretched the whole thing out.

I tried pinning the top edge on the first two, but found that it was unneccessary - just stretching out the lace part smoothed everything out. They do tend to be a bit on the narrow side however, so I probably could have gotten a bit more width if I'd futzed around with the top edge. So be it.

I'm hoping that the vast exodus of teachers has nothing to do with my kids, but it is unfortunate that it's all coming this year. The girls have loved the school and, while they're looking forward to summer break, I suspect they're going to miss everyone a great deal.

Annis update

So...it's now T = -9 days and I have three out of six Annis done (two blocked even!) and have started #4. Things that I have learned along the way:

Backwards loop cast on is a good stretchy edge, but makes the first row a bit dodgy
Malabrigo lace is gorgeous soft stuff, but can make some really impressive yarn barf
Just say no to nupps (at least when you're going for speed)

And finally...my husband really doesn't understand how important it is that I not be required to drive anywhere for the next week plus. That's key knitting time!

waves and dives back into lace knitting/short row fray, not to be heard from again until Le Tour starts

FO: Cold Comfort Scarf

Last week I spent a couple of days at home suffering from a horrific, child-induced cold. On the first day I had to take Boo to the doctor's office on the way to school, and by the time I'd dropped her off back at nursery, Stash had opened. Since I walked by on my way home and had some time to kill, I went in. I browsed about until the lovely proprietor asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. When I said "Something to make my cold feel better" she immediately said "Alpaca. Bulky alpaca." And there I was, in front of a bunch of shelves of this.

It's been a long time since I've knit which chunky yarn, and boy was I happy to find that, at the end of about three hours, I had a new scarf.

Pattern: Chunky ribs & ruffles scarf, by Nancy Kleiber, a free download on the Misti Alpaca website.
Yarn: one skein of the above Misti ALpaca Chunky, 108 yds/100 gr skein, colorway 2030
Needles: US 13/9.00 mm
Gauge: pshaw!
Comments: This pattern was perfect mindless knitting for a head cold. After blocking, it's about 60 inches long and 4 inches wide (+/- an inch or so at each end). Nice and cuddly, and long enough to wrap around my neck and tie in the front. It nicely fills in the bare space at my neck when I've got my coat on.

FO: Ethereal Rivulet

When I posted the picture of this yarn on the Hello Yarn group Fiber Club thread a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned what I planned to knit, one of the responses used the word ethereal to described the predicted results.

She was right.

Pattern: Rivulet by Heather Asbeck
Yarn: my handspun, detailed here, approximately 400 yds/4 oz.
Needles: US size 2/2.75 mm straights
Gauge: hunh? It's lace, the one time where gauge doesn't matter (much).
Comments/mods: a lovely pattern, well written and easy to follow, that came out so well with this yarn that I think I will wear it for the rest of my days. It's a lovely soft, drapey yarn that feels absolutely yummy knitted up.

The color progression worked out better then I could have hoped, from purple to blues to teal to grey to green. I was expecting the green to be more overwhelming, since it seemed like I had way more green fiber then the other colors, but I don't think it looks too unbalanced.

There were some spots in the yarn where some stray colors got mixed in, making odd stripes every so often.

This bothered me while I was knitting, but isn't noticeable in the finished project. Win-win all around.

WIPs and a 2 hr FO

I seem to be on a bit of a straight needle kick recently. Usually I prefer circulars for everything that aren't socks (DPNs all the way for those), but my two active WIPs are both on straights. What's up with that?

Haiku, in Wiltons dyed Lion Brand Fishermans Wool, for Boo

Rivulet, in some handspun yarn that will show up in the blog on Friday

Last night apparently, I was in need of instant gratification. One skein of superwash BFL handspun, bulky weight, some size 10 circulars and DPNs, and one viewing of Pan's Labyrinth later, I had a new hat.

Technically I suppose, it's not quite a finished object, since it still needs a button, but how can you miss with a hat that takes one movie to finish?

Pattern: Robin's Egg Blue Hat by Rachel Iufer
Yarn: one skein (of two) of Superwash BFL handspun (blogged about here), less then 120 yds. The skein was 122 yds, and I've got a good bit left.
Needles: US size 10/6 mm circulars/DPNs
Comments/mods: a lovely, quick pattern that is perfect for handspun. I had a bit of a neuronal misfiring (aka brain cramp) with part of the directions, but in the end decided to trust the designer and follow the directions (sometimes I over think more then a little bit!). It turned out beautifully, and the yarn is so soft that I suspect I will wear this every day I can over the winter.

Now I need to find a good button. Think there are any button stores in London?