norahsknits

Earlier this month I took a 3-session virtual class with Ann Konzen on knitting stranded mittens. I learned a whole lot - I had never done stranded knitting before, and this was the impetus I needed to try it. The pattern I used is Hedgerow Fingerless Mittens  and this is the second pair of this pattern that I've made. The yarn is something I had on hand but is discontinued - Cloudborn brand alpaca/wool/silk in a fingering weight.   More pics:    

Posting a few pics of recent items. I have used this stitch before - it comes from the Barbara Walker Second Treasury. The longer pair of fingerless mitts/gauntlets is a modified version of a pattern found in the book Rustic Modern Knits .  The yarns used for these items are S. Charles Ritratto (the purple with the sparkle) and Filature Lanarota Fashion Toes, a sock yarn. (The multi-color fingerless mitts on top of the purple shawl are knit from Noro Taiyo sock yarn.) The Porcupine Lace pattern is very stretchy and blocks larger than you would expect. 

  I had a small pile of very small yarn scraps that had piled up. I decided to use the scraps to crochet a needle case for my yarn needles and other large, sharp needles that have been stored by poking them through paperboard. The finished size is 4 1/2 inches by 7 inches, folded. I crocheted a separate piece for the inside (could not find any scraps of felt to use). The inside is shown below with the needles installed. 

  I've been working on some knitting for family. The items above use Noro Tokonatsu, cotton, silk and viscose, for the solid color, and Cascade Tangier, silk, cotton, acrylic and rayon, for the multicolor yarn. Similar fiber content and weight, although the Tangier was difficult to knit with as it seemed to have too much twist. The lace pattern is called fern lace.   Also, in the last week or so I finished another item for my sister, a small garter stitch wrap using Berroco yarns. This one was fun as it was pretty much totally made up. She liked it.  

Just finished this, and here it is partially laid out for blocking. The yarn is Malabrigo Mechita, one skein (420 yards), used almost all of it. It blocked quite a bit larger than it appeared when fresh off the needles. The color is English Rose, 057, a very pretty color. I added five rows of half-double crochet around the edges.

I purchased 10 skeins each of two different colors this yarn, which is a super-bulky weight yarn but is sort of light and fluffy. The colors had too much yellow and orange for my taste, but knit up into blankets, with edges worked in half-double crochet, they look pretty good. The one above appeared sort of misshapen after the knitted center was done, but the crocheted edges straightened it out, I think. The one below is the type I would make again, using mitered squares. 

Several more finished items. First, the Thistle Leaf pattern once again, this time used for a large wrap in Purl Soho's Sweetgrass , organic cotton and alpaca. This used almost all of 2 skeins. The color is Beech Bark. I'm planning to send this to my daughter. This is the finished item knit in Porcupine Stitch from Catskill Merino lace weight , color Tibetan Red. I was hoping to be able to visit their NYC farmers' market stall, but that will have to wait. This used two skeins, and after blocking is significantly larger than the size before blocking.  The final item pictured is crocheted from "three shades of green" for the Weavers Guild of St. Louis 2020 challenge project. Items for the challenge will be part of the guild's virtual meeting on August 17th, 10 am . This is a large wrap, using two kinds of Noro yarn and a third yarn from Berroco.

Started blocking some items. These are finished. From top left: almost transparent leaf lace scarf from lace weight alpaca (I think this was Cascade Alpaca Lace), edged with rose-colored Berroco Folio (alpaca & rayon); ostrich plume pattern lace in rose-colored Berrocco Folio; traveling vine lace pattern in Purl Soho Good Wool, off-white color (item is folded double); and thistle leaf pattern in natural white color ('Moon white") Purl Soho Cattail Silk (100% silk). 

The Thistle Leaf pattern in the prior post was from the Second Treasury of Knitting Stitches by Barbara Walker. This scarf, in Porcupine Stitch, is knit in another pattern from the book, the Porcupine Stitch. The yarn is from the Saxon Merino farm, also the subject of a prior post. This pattern - 9 rows, is easy enough to memorize, though it has patterning on every row. Since it has an odd number of rows, it is reversible (the pattern reverses every 9 rows). I think the top and bottom edges will have similar appearance too, so that the last few rows can remain in pattern. I started with 4 rows of garter stitch, in purl, and will finish with the same before binding off. The six-stitch side borders are also knit in purl stitch. I'm using a row counter, because otherwise, it would be confusing to keep track of the rows. I have used one skein of the yarn so far,  and have knitted about 6 inches from the second one. Here's another view:

This Thistle Leaf pattern is from the Barbara Walker Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It's very botanical and I think it's beautiful. I finished a cream-colored silk scarf using the pattern (Purl Soho Cattail Silk, 1 skein), pictured here, after doing a swatch (dark green) which I turned into a doily-type item with several rows of crochet added around the edge. Now I am working on a bigger rectangular shawl using the same lace pattern, out of Purl Soho's Sweetgrass (undyed organic cotton and alpaca) in a light beige-tinged gray. I love the pattern but at 28 rows (14 right-side pattern rows), I'm finding it to be too complicated to memorize. So I have to work with the pattern right in front of me. 

Universal brand yarn - all cotton  Berroco Fuji brand yarn - crocheted - silk, cotton, rayon, nylon Berroco Folio yarn - Ostrich plume pattern - alpaca and rayon Some recent items I've been working on. The denimy-blue item is a scarf for my sister. The crocheted item in the windowpane pattern is a fairly large wrap. The rose-colored item is also a wrap. All of these were completed recently, but my intentions for posting kept falling through. By the way, in reading the Portuguese Knitting book, I realized why I have a preference for doing garter stitch in purl instead of knit - several of the patterns in this book are done in purl garter. My mother and grandmother both knitted in this style (Portuguese style). My usual method of working garter stitch side borders in purl garter (instead of knit stitch) means that the back (non-stockinette) side can be purled all the way across, instead of knitting the border stitches and purling the center on the back. When my gr

I'm working on my last skein of yarn from Purl Soho, a yarn called Cattail Silk . I used this for the scarf/wrap I posted about previously , and am using the same lace pattern stitch, called Ostrich Plume. The color is a dark blue-green, with lighter-colored silk flecks. The skeins have a lot of yardage (600+ yards). Here is a pic from this morning: The lace pattern is worked over a multiple of 16 stitches plus 1 stitch, and I added 4 stitches on each side as a selvedge. This has three pattern repeats, with 57 stitches total. I'm using size 7 needles. I worked two rows of purl garter after casting on, to give a more stable bottom edge, but will probably work some rows of crochet around the whole garment after the knitting is finished too. The advantage of this pattern over the Old Shale pattern , which I use a lot, is that the top edge can be finished after the second set of repeats so that the bottom and top edges match. Another pic:

I've been working with three colors of Noro Nishiki yarn to make three different variations on a design with a border in one color and body in another. I was going to reverse the colors on the second shawl, but ended up not doing that and using the darker color for the bottom border again. (I'll post pics of all three when I block them.) Here are some progress pics of the third shawl, worked from the bottom up in "purl garter," which is my default stitch for garter. Rough instructions follow at the bottom of the post. I'm using two skeins of Noro Nishiki, two different colors, 240 meters per skein, worsted to heavy worsted weight. See prior post for yarn label. Starting at the bottom of the shawl, cast on 206 stitches using the long-tail method. Purl two rows plain. Begin bottom border pattern - work "Old Shale" pattern in purl garter. This pattern is worked over 18 stitches, as follows: purl 4 (for side border), (purl 2 together) 3 times, (y

First - a knitted crescent shawl - Noro Nishiki. I have more of both colors, and am thinking of making a second shawl with the colors reversed. Once the shawl is blocked, I'll post another picture.  Next - adding linings, decorative buttons and flowers, and magnetic snaps to some crocheted bags. Last - I was searching for clay-working tools, and found a box of my mother's - darning eggs, tatting and hand-made lace (which was purchased) - she tatted, but didn't make lace. 

After reading Clara Parkes' book ( Vanishing Fleece , which was recommended at a recent Weavers Guild of St. Louis meeting), I ordered some lace-weight, single-ply merino yarn from the farm that was the source of Parkes' bale of wool. The farm is Catskill Merino  and they sell various weights of the yarn from their sheep. (It is processed into yarn at a small New England processor and dyed back at the farm). Here are photos of the scarf I am working on, with the first ball of yarn: I'll use at least half of the second ball of this color to add to the length, and will then finish the scarf with a crocheted edge. The lace pattern is from the Butternut Scarf   pattern by Anne Hanson, which I modified somewhat, using fewer repeats and adding 4 rows of garter at the starting edge (will repeat at the top edge too). The yarn has a very nubby appearance, appearing sort of over-spun, but it is knitting up perfectly nicely and has an interesting texture. The yarn is also ve

I bought a bag of this yarn (Noro Ginga - a super bulky weight yarn), and then had to put my thinking cap on to figure out how to use it. It has a lot of orange, which is not my favorite color. Here's what I made from one skein of it - this will look nice with a black teapot set): And here is a picture of a scarf I finished this week - knitted from handspun silk yarn purchased at the Weavers Guild of St. Louis' annual sale in October (I set a few faded ginkgo leaves on it for color contrast):