Off the needles: Mountain Moss Shawl

Started: October 2014

Finished: November 2014

Fiber: O-Wool Local in colorway River Oat, 2 skeins exactly

Notes: At Rhinebeck this year, I picked out a good bit of O-Wool classic worsted for some hats, and was so excited about it that before we left the festival I swung by their booth again and on an impulse picked up these two skeins of Local. The yarn has this lovely variegated quality to it that goes from thick to thin and back again, but is mostly a worsted weight. When I was looking for the perfect pattern for this yarn, I was looking through my favorite patterns on my Ravelry page, and almost settled on something simpler, woolier. The original Mountain Moss Shawl pattern is knit in a fingering weight with a bit of drape to it, neither of which was true of Local. But for the past few months I've been reading through Jared Floods'old Brooklyn Tweed blog and inspired by his love of lacework knits in chunkier weights, I decided to go for it. While the original pattern calls for US 5 needles, with the worsted weight I moved the needles up to a US 8 and cast on!

This pattern is an awesome mix of simple garter stitch and the challenge of a lace edging, which is a world that I am now so excited to jump into more. The edging is added as you go, binding off and attaching simultaneously, which eliminated a bind off row and any seaming. Genius! 

Things got a little hairy towards the end, as my calculations for the yardage weren't exactly, let's say, precise? The whole last foot or so of the edging I was terribly afraid I was going to run out of yarn. In the end, I finished with just two yards to spare! If I ever take it off, I'll see if I can add the final gauge and measurements in case anyone is interested in doing a similar adjustment.

I love this pattern and love this yarn. O-Wool is making it's way to the top of my Christmas list this year for sure.  

Love: knit jackets

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It seems as though fall has finally graced us with her presence here in NC as of this weekend. Halloween night the temperature dropped to around 40 degrees, and remained chilly the whole weekend, and a little rainy, which was just fine by me. It is unashamedly my favorite weather. Cozy weather, shawl-knitting weather, tea and biscotti weather. I digress. 

Ever since I fell in love with Gina Rockenwagner and her City Cape I've been noticing more and more knit outergarments, not sweaters, exactly, but something more like a jacket or heavy cardigan. The three here are ones that havec caught my eye, the third image an ode to my husband, who is being so very patient with me as I knit a thousand Christmas gifts, and promise that someday, he will have a handknit sweater to call his own. 

In other news, I just spent my entire evening reading Mimi Thorrison's first cookbook, "A Kitchen in France". Good gravy, that is a beautiful cookbook. Full of shallots, wine, and duck fat. I want to make every single thing. 

In the meantime, I'm also working on a new shawl, in O-Wool (from Rhinebeck, of course!). It deserves it's own post, I think, so I will save that discussion for later. 

Off the needles: simple skyp socks

This is a story of some simple socks. The story starts around this time last year, when I was determined to become more accomplished at knitting, and decided that the next big project I needed to tackle were socks. I got some lovely sock yarn for Christmas last year, and some tiny double pointed needles, and in March of this year, I started these "Simple skyp socks". 

Unfortunately for the socks, this past spring and summer I planned a wedding, went on a honeymoon, moved, and had lots of other general life transitions. Life settled down again, and I picked them back up in September. "The first sock done! Success! Alright, what's next?" You guessed it. I got second sock syndrome, hard. The overwhelming desire to knit literally anything but that second sock (poor thing). I knit a kercheif, a hat, a cowl, and then, finally, another sock.

Simple Skyp Socks

Started: March 2014

Finished: October 25, 2014

Fiber: Quince and Co Finch in Apricot (about 275 yards for the small size)

Notes: Other than the narrative above, the yarn was lovely, and the color is just perfect for fall! I liked learning the skyp stitch, and the kitchener stitch went down much more easily the second time thanks to the Purl Bee. You can find this project with more photos of the socks in progress on my Ravelry page here. They were far from perfect, but I love wearing them around my apartment. I feel like a real accomplished knitter with them on. It's a good thing too, because socks are the #1 most requested item in my family for Christmas this year. Toe up socks are being tackled next!

Rhinebeck haul 2014

As you could probably guess as a first-time fiber festival attendee, the excitement REALLY got to me! I was so excited but tried to contain myself to a few gems and some yarn for Christmas gifts this year. 

From the top, some beautiful striping worsted yarn and merino wool destined to be guy gifts this year, a beautiful red fingering wool/alpaca blend, O-Wool local, angora sport weight, and another huge skein of striping merino. 

I gained a newfound love of alpaca and the angora rabbits that make literally the softest yarn I have ever laid my hands on. All I have to decide now is what patterns to knit! I only have about 50 yards of that angora, so I'm thinking maybe stripes in fingerless mitts? Whatever it is, I want it to be something close-contact so I never forget how soft and wonderful it is. 

Off the needles: Late night seed stitch cowl (and pattern)

I'll be totally honest up front: this project was a procrastination project. Sure, it was also a project that I started because I wanted to practice continental seed stitch, of which I am now a boss, but truthfully, this project came out of a desire to stashbust in a desperate attempt to avoid the heel turn of some lovely socks that I'm just now finishing up and will be posting on soon, hopefully.

Late Night Seed Stitch Cowl

Started: September 2014

Finished: October 15, 2014

Fiber: Wool sock yarn 

Notes: This cowl was as simple as can be, and was very effective in helping me to master the seed stitch pattern knitting continentally. Here's the pattern, in case anyone is interested: 

Cast on 54 stitches

R1: *K1, P1* repeat until end of row

R2: *P1, K1* repeat until end of row

Continue until you've eaten up an entire skein, cast off and sew into a loop. 

I love the seed stitch, which is amazing for how much of it I just finished. It's reversible, it's easy and mindless. I'm calling this the late night seed stitch cowl because with B's schedule lately, he's been hitting the hay super early. I would often stay up, watch Netflix documentaries and just knit, purl, knit, purl until I was ready for sleep. Knitting is great therapy, after all. And now all of this squishy wool goodness is ushering in fall! Happy happy day!

Rhinebeck 2014

If you're at least a semi-serious knitter, weaver or other fiber enthusiast, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard of the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool festival in Dutchess County, NY. I have seen posts from previous years from other bloggers I follow, but never dreamed that this year I would get to go! That is, until my dear friend Virginia, who just moved up to Boston for grad school, invited me to spend the weekend with her and her family and GO! It was a whirlwind weekend but honestly I never wanted it to end. 

Rhinebeck is magical. We all wore matching sheep sweaters and got so many comments on them, fiber enthusiasts are so friendly. I was in heaven amongst so many vendors, so many of whom are committed to American grown, American milled wool. And I got to touch and feel O-Wool in person. So that was amazing. Apple cider donuts that were worth the 30 minute wait, cool weather, the perfect fall colors...it makes me happy just thinking about it. 

An excessive amount of lovely yarn was purchased, which will definitely warrant a whole other post. Next year (because there will be a next year), I really want to make more of an effort to meet up with designers who I know will be there, too. It's such an awesome community and I am so glad to be a part of it! And next year, I'm coming back with my own Rhinebeck sweater. :)

P.S. - I wasn't kidding about people loving our sweaters! You can see posts from other Rhinebeck attendees here

Designer: Gina Rockenwagner

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Just kind of like how I go through seasons of style, I definitely go through seasons of designer crushes in knitwear. My current designer crush is Gina Rockenwagner, fiber artist extraordinaire and the newest Purl Bee designer. Not only are her knitting patterns unique, dramatic, and yet somehow classic, her modern and colorful take on quilting makes me itch to take more lessons on my sewing machine. 

You can find her on The Purl Bee or on Instagram, which I stalk on the daily. There is a really good chance I will be casting on for the City Cape before this year is through! 

Tonight, I'm working on my "to knit" list for the holidays and even two months away, it is starting to dawn on me how much knitting I have to do! I am SO excited about visiting Virginia and Rhinebeck this weekend to pick out yarns for all of these projects and cast on. Life is about to be so good. 

Love: sweet cardigans

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Normally, I'm not really a fan of cardigans. My shoulders are a bit wider than the typical American girl, and so every cardigan I've ever bought has been uncomfortable. But these cardigans may just change my mind about that! The bottom picture isn't a pattern that I've been able to find anywhere as it comes from a vintage store, but it immediately struck me as the perfect cardigan, and I could immediately see myself wearing it. With their lovely colors, sweet details, and the ability to customize them exactly to my size, I wouldn't be surprised if one of these cardis made it on the needles at some point this winter.  

Even a week into October, whenever I put on a coat it is about 20% because I think it might be chilly, and 80% wishful thinking. But what can I say? Fall has my heart.

Happy Thursday!