Sleeping Dragon Knits

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the crispness in the air and the sound of shuffling leaves. Sweaters, scarves, mittens, and hats all start to make an appearance. This sweater is the perfect way to start the season as leaves are falling.

Pattern: Autumn Leaves by Martin Storey in Rowan 40 (this is the sweater on the cover)
yarn: my very own handspun wool that I also dyed.
modifications: I really didn’t change much. I used only one yarn instead of Rowan Felted Tweed and Kid Classis and size 5 US needles for the entire thing. I also left off the leafy bits that are distracting in the magazine pictures.

The pattern was well written and easy to follow. It would have been nice to have the lace charted out instead of written, but once I finished the first repeat it was pretty intuitive. I wish the pictures had been better in the magazine. It’s such a great sweat to throw on with jeans or dress up with a skirt and I think it was over looked by most knitters. I absolutely love it and couldn’t be more pleased with the way it fits.

Yarn details: A really wonderful friend sent me 2 pounds of white wool when I got my wheel. I dyed it with acid dyes in my crock pot. I really love this soft orchid color. It isn’t quite as pink as the picture looks. The color isn’t completely flat either, it has a tiny bit of variation. Then I spun it into a 2-ply dk weight on my folding Lendrum. As I knit, I alternated skeins every two rows to minimize the varigation.

This week has seen more progress on my handspun sweater. The back is done and I’m ready to cast on the fronts. I really like the way’s working up. It’s a pain that the leafy motif isn’t charted, but I’ve got it pretty well down now. The yarn feels lovely as well.

I turned the heel on the first of my red tweedy socks, and am almost to the toe. I was in a definite sock mood this weekend. That was all I felt like knitting.

Wednesday was the monthly Spinning Guild meeting. We had a lovely speaker talking about spinning yarn for socks. It got me inspired to spin more and I dug through my stash for Blue Moon Fiber Arts “Sheep 2 Shoe” superwash merino top I bought last year at the Michigan Fiber Fest. I think it’s the Rooster Rock color way but am not completely sure. At any rate, it’s gorgeous. I absolutely love it. This is only about 1/6th of what I have to spin. It’s slow going since I’m spinning so fine. I plan to do a three ply yarn that will be close to fingering weight. I’m already dreaming about what pattern I’ll use for the socks. Possibly some “monkey” socks.
.

While spinning I’ve been listening to books on CD, Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters was this weekend’s listening. I love these mysteries. They aren’t particularly brilliant mysteries and they tend to be very melodramatic, but that’s part of the fun. The melodrama is even intensified by listening to them rather than reading them. Something about the cool crisp weather always make me crave mysteries. Next up is The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco. I haven’t read one of his books in several years and it’s about time to pick up another one. I’ve been looking at this one in the bookstore for awhile, but when I saw the library had it I thought I would try it on CD.

I visited Three Wishes on Saturday for the 2 year anniversary party and found a little yarn to go home with me. This is Gems Opal sport weight. The light blue is lighter in person. This will become the next incarnation of the Keefely Mittens from Handknit Holidays. I’m determined to have these mittens in close to the in the book.

This week has been a little frustrating knitting wise. I have a lot of projects and a lot of yarn that I’m really excited to use, except the two haven’t been matching up lately. The last couple of weeks have been spent working my way thru a few smaller projects that go to other people and I’m ready to cast on a sweater for myself. I have plans for about 4 sweaters that I love, but can’t decide which one to work on first. I’ve been wanting more fair-isle type mittens for this winter too. I fell in love with the Keefely Mittens from Handknit Holidays but don’t want to use the yarn called for (basically worsted weight) and it doesn’t really make sense with the gauge ( much smaller gauge than recommended by the yarn), so I found some louet gems the perfect colors. However, this did not work. I thought it might based on the anemoi mittens I knit last year. My gauge was way to tight and I suspected I would also have row gauge issues that I would need to tweak the pattern to account for. Next I have some beautiful handspun that I spun up last fall.

I thought it would make perfect Mitered Mittens inspired by these. I saw them in person a couple of weeks ago and really wanted a pair for myself. This pattern, at least in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac call for a gauge of 4.5 sts to the inch. After swatching, my handspun would be approximately fingering weight. Not really a match. I can still use it for mittens but I have to “design” them instead of following a pattern. Plus I still want those mittens handspun from hand painted roving. Mmm… Pretty barber pole roving. I guess I’ll have to go stash diving.

I also discovered that some of my socks are getting pretty worn. I need more socks. FAST. Socks! Sweaters! Mittens! I need two more pairs of arms and a lot more time!

Plus spinning, I’ve been working on spinning and plying this roving most of the summer, although more has been done in the last few weeks than the entire summer. I’m just not wild about the colors at least not right now. I dyed this in my crock pot a long time ago with acid dyes. I used the”fractal stripe” method where you split the roving in two halves and spin the first half as is one one bobbin and then split the second half into many thin strips and spin them on a second bobbin. Then plied them together.

By the end of the week, knitting started going better. I cast on for the sweater from the cover of Rowan 40. I think that once the odd leafy bits are left off it will be a cute sweater to throw on with jeans. I have the perfect shawl pin to wear with it as a closure too. I spun this yarn last fall from two pounds of wool a friend gifted me when I got my wheel. It’s pretty consistently dk weight. I dyed it in my crock pot, I have know idea what colors I used anymore. Anyway, I love the results. This is my progress so far on the back. Captain wanted to be helpful, so he’s included for scale.

Finally, I cast on a pair of socks for me. They are based on the Diamante Socks from Knitty. They’re toe up socks and I really don’t feel like knitting another pair of toe up socks right now and the stitch pattern looks pretty much the same from either direction so I kept that and am knitting them top down. The red yarn is really hard to photograph but it’s Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch in a red tweedy shade.

We’ve had this little guy staying with us the last couple of weeks. Meet Captain, he’s 6 or 8 months old and belongs to some friends. He’s staying with us until they move out of their not pet so friendly apartment in a couple of weeks. You’ll notice the glowing eyes in this picture. They’re not a photography glitch so much as an indication of his personality. He has two modes attacking and sleeping. He’s shaken up the hierarchy of our other cats which has been good. They needed it and for a while they were playing more, now I think they are getting tired of having their tails attacked and being stalked. I can’t blame them. At the moment he’s chasing Kit Kat around the house. He also hasn’t been knitting trained yet. He loves ball bands. You wouldn’t believe how much fun he can have with those, or really any little bit (or big bit) of paper. He also shows a preference for circular needle cables over yarn. Interesting choice… But he’s cute and fun and we are suckers for cats around here.

Last post, I promised pictures of the sweaters I’ve been knitting. Here’s the latest one to be finished.

The pattern is “Lace Cardigan” from Vintage Knits: 30 Exquisite Vintage-Inspired Patterns for Cardigans, Twin Sets, Crewnecks and More by Sarah Dallas. I love this book but most of the patterns are only written in one size, small. I subbed Rowan Linen Drape for the Cotton Glace because I already had it in the stash and modified the sleeves to three-quarter length. This is great for the days when it’s not cold but you want something over your arms. The linen drape got a little hard on my arms to knit with. I had to put this down and work on something else every couple of days. Other wise it was a pretty easy knit and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result. I’ve already worn it a handful of times and it’s only been finished for about two weeks.

This one’s been done since June, but hasn’t been worn, as a matter of fact I only put the buttons on it this week. It’s the Sunrise Circle Jacket from IK’s Spring 2006 magazine. I love the pattern, I actually made two of these. The other lives with my sister. Mine is the size 35 and I wish I’d made the 37 instead. Mainly because I have a long torso and typically add length to every sweater I make. The construction on this one makes that pretty much impossible. It’s a little on the short side. I need to find the right top to wear under it because it is a little itchy. Otherwise it fits great and will be very warm this winter. The yarn is Peace Fleece in Baikal/ Superior Green. I love that this yarn is named in part for Lake Superior and the deep inky green totally reminds me of it. I lived near Lake Superior for 5 years and it is by far my favorite lake ever. It’s so wild and beautiful and remote. I wanted this to be more of a fall jacket than a sweater, it’s knit really dense so it’ll be really warm.

.

Now I’m working on a few small projects. I need a new hat and mittens before the weather gets cold.

Wow, September is almost over and I haven’t blogged since April. So much has gone on and needless to say, some things slipped. Sleeping Dragon Yarn has been crazy busy this summer, which has been wonderful. It’s great to see it in new shops and lots of people knitting with it. Of course this also means I haven’t had as much time to knit. I had just enough of a lull to visit Washington State and have family come to visit. Washington was wonderful! We stayed with friends near Seattle and had a fabulous time relaxing with friends, visiting old haunts, discovering a few new ones, and knitting. Then family came to visit. This was the first time anyone visited us since we moved to Utah almost 2 years ago. It gave us a great excuse to do lots of touristy things we hadn’t done yet. We had a fabulous time and now I’m busy again but have managed to crawl out from under the dye pots.

I’ve also been working on balancing my life a bit more. Before I took up knitting I read like a fiend. I don’t read as much any more and I really miss it. So this summer I made a decision to put down my knitting a bit more to read. I haven’t read nearly the volume that I use to but I’ve read some wonderful and eye opening books.

As for the knitting, here are a few of the projects I did manage this summer, there are more but I figure since I knit them over the course of a couple months they can be spread out over a couple of posts.

These are the Traveler’s Socks designed by Nancy Bush and are in the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting. I don’t think this picture quite does them justice. I love them, but they took forever since I had to stay glued to the chart so I wouldn’t mess up the pattern. I used Opal Uni on size 0 needles. I think the only modification I made was to change the toe to my usual wedge toe .

Next, are the Merino Lace Socks from Interweave’s Favorite Socks book. I knit these out of yarn I dyed and over dyed in a manner that would be impossible to repeat. These were lots of fun and I love the way they turned out. The pictures in the book just don’t do them justice.

Then, there are the Waving Lace Socks also from Interweave’s Favorite Socks book. I knit these in my own fingering weight Sleeping Dragon Yarn it’s one of the new fall colorways called Zen and I just had to snag a skein for my self. I’ve admired this pattern since I saw it in a long ago issue of Interweave Knits and just had to wait for the right yarn and color to come along.

Okay, I know that’s a bad title but it’s what I came up with. I got a fun new hair cut over the weekend and I got to debut Flair.

This picture reminds me of Audry Hepburn a bit. Flair was a fun little knit and I’m pleased with the way it turned out. The pattern is by Knit and Tonic and I used Blue Sky Cotton in a beautiful chocolate brown. This yarn is amazing. I usually stay away from 100% cotton yarn since knitting with it hurts my hands, but with this yarn was lovely. I knit the smallest size and added length to the sleeves and body. I didn’t buy any extra yarn and had plenty left over. I definitely plan to use this yarn again. It makes a great little spring cardi. Here’s a few more pictures…

Here it is, my first post on my own blog.  I’m still figuring things out and hopefully it reflect more personality in time.

I’ll start off with a picture of a recently finished sweater. This was finished a couple of weeks ago and I could not be happier with it. Brocade designed by Kaffe Fassett in Rowan 38. I used Rowan’s Yorkshire Tweed DK in charcoal gray and skip. I had to go down a couple of needle sizes to get gauge and even then had a few problems but it turned out pretty much the perfect size. I absolutely love it! I just wish I had gotten to wear it once this year.

This is my current spinning project originally it was white alpaca top gifted from a lovely friend:

which became this:

My plan is to get it plyed today. The color is a bit deeper life, it’s more of a deep ocean, sapphire blue. It will go with this yarn I dyed and spun last week.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!