My love of the tam has already been well-documented. I love everything about this garment: the flying saucer shape, the fine gauge yarn that is usually something tweedy and therefore perfect for such a small job, the quick turn around time, the old-fashioned girlish appeal, the kaleidiscope of colors that is really only appropriate for such a small project (Kaffe I love you, but...) and most especially, the name. Tam. Who can resist the joy of this word? Not me, I buy the onion flavored Manischewitz Tam Tam crackers like it's my job and I'm sure the name has something to do with it. But I digress...
Kate's visit earlier this month afforded me the chance to see her most recent tam project in person. Yes, the Neepheid in all its understated glory...Realizing that the farm show deadline was drawing near, I instantly knew that I'd found THE project for the occasion. How appropriate! I went home and found that ye olde personal yarn stash indeed contained four small balls of the perfect raw material for this project, and off I went.
The Specs
Pattern: Needheid by Kate Davies
Yarn: Four little precious balls of Rowan Yorkshire 4-ply in 'Graze', 'Glory' 'Bristle' & 'Cheerful'. I used every last bit of 'Cheerful', the main color. By every last bit I mean that I had less that a yard left. Nail biter! Sadly this yarn has been discontinued and for the life of me I can't figure out what they've replaced it with.
Needles: Size 3 addi turbos
Time: Only a week of distracted knitting, which was sadly not enough for me to make the Farm Show deadline. Nuts!
Mods: None. Great pattern, none required. This was the first time that I'd ever done the incredibly time consuming yet thoroughly satisfying I-Cord cast on. There's a really helpful tutorial here, in case you're as addicted to tutorials as yours truly.
I really enjoyed this pattern quite a bit. I was quite lucky to have the perfect yarn in my stash for this project, which although not quite neep worthy allowed me to rearrange the colors a bit and call this an acorn motif, which makes me really happy and is quite seasonally appropriate. I bought this yarn a-g-e-s ago and am glad to have put it to good use.
My need for finished tam for the farm show deadline combined with the new chill in the air led me to search for my December Lights Tam, and then discover that much to my horror it is nowhere to be found. I have searched high and low, and it is gone. How could I lose this beloved project? Not finding it is so uncool. Not only was it guaranteed to bring home the bacon from the show, it was, if I do say so myself, flippin' stupendous. As my Grandma would've said: criminy!
Rather than stew about it, I've decided to make another and also have my eye on the Dollheid pattern, because I might be in Kate withdrawal if I don't do it. This means that I actually have a reason to go to Rhineback, right? I'll be there on Saturday with my bestie Babs and hope to see some of you there.
The above pictured little badge was given to me by Madame O W L S herself when she visited this part of Pennsylvania last week. She gave a lecture on campus and was kind enough to make some time so we could get together. Let me just say that Kate is just as ___________ (insert superlative adjective connoting kind/hilarious/smart/lovely) as you would imagine. We had a gas together and I can't wait to coax her back here for more Central PA. hi-jinx.
As I mentioned, she gave me the tiny owl pal, some Yorkshire tea (which she knew I loved & sadly tastes somewhat not fresh over here) as well as one of her famous bee bags (no picture because it is being used at the moment, woo hoo!). I in turn offered her the meager shawl that I made last week, and she did me proud by wearing it at her lecture. Did I mention that she's incredibly sweet?
I was able to don my new favorite sweater for her visit, a little doozy you might have heard of? Yes people, I am that person, the person who wears the pattern of the famous sweater when she meets its creator. O W L S...
The Specs:
Pattern: O W L S by Kate Davies
Yarn: Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds, #953, Dark Grey Welsh, 6.25 skeins
Needles: Size 7.00 mm, addi turbo bamboos
Size: Large
Mods: Well, there were a few, starting with the no waist shaping because ohai I don't have one--but I'm getting there. I went up a needle size from the recommended 6.5 and also bound off in pattern with a size 13 needle. I also seem to somehow have made it more of a boat neck than a regular crew neck--I think I got a tad excited and bound off like three rows too early. Whoops.
This was such a clear pattern--Kate is a wizard. The knitting took less than a week and the eyes took me several nights of distracted sewing to complete. The yarn is pricey but there is no surprise there, right? This particular Rowan seems at first like it might be scratchy but because of the lanolin, I found it to be nice and oily, just the way I like it. Heh.
I have already gotten a ton of compliments on this sweater and can't wait to wear it at Rhinebeck. I'll be the one wearing the mom jeans, please say hi if you see me with Babs...
Aren't I just so clever? Right about now you might be thinking that I chose this mitten pattern strictly for the purpose of giving my blog post that clever title. My brother and I used to be obsessed with small businesses that would choose cutified names just because they could--almost as if the name of the store came before the business idea itself. In Minneapolis we had Curl Up and Dye (hair salon), That's a Wrap (pita pockets), Sox Appeal! (socks, which do they really even merit a free standing store, anyway?) It's Greek to Me (spanakopita et. al.) as well as my brother's favorite, some bootleg operation that just sold refrigerator magnets or some such nonsense at the Mall of America [Brucie, help me out here], the name has been erased from my memory--THANKFULLY.
Luckily these mitts--the Merion mitts--are about as far away from a bootleg operation as one could imagine. The pattern is a winner down to every smallest detail. I had been wanting make these in forever and cast on for them last week, thinking that I would give them away next month to a friend. I worked on them and then realized that one of my favorite colleagues/friends ever was having a birthday this week. As she's a smoker--mais oui!--I'd always wanted to make her a pair of fingerless gloves for campus puffing purposes. Hey it's cold out by that dumpster! Right when I was about to wig and lose my knitting cool, I realized that I was at the perfect place to McGuyver this project and voilà, the fingerless iteration of the Merions were born...
Specs:
Pattern: Merion Mitts by Pepperknit!
Yarn: Misti Alpaca, 1.5 skeins, 'fiesta mélange'
Needles: Size 5, l'anneau magique (heh heh), Hiya Hiya
Mods: Obvs. the fingerless part. I worked the pattern chart 1.25 times as then just made a twisted rib cuff. In order to compensate for the seed stitch palm not having the same height as the cabled back, I just purled back after a row of ribbing and that took care of that.
This pattern is pleasurable because you get to do just enough seed stitch that you don't lose your mind à la most Debbie Bliss patterns. The twisted rib pops brilliantly and the bobbles, for me, were something new. I can now check 'bobbles' off my list of never-attempted knitting manoeuvers. Now that just leaves steeking and intarsia...
Next up for me? Well I am sewing the buttons on a true gem of a sweater at the moment and am about to cast on for a hoodie in some Rowan Cocoon that, well, has my name written all over it. What's in a name? Can you guess?
One of the joys of my commute is that I frequently stop in and see my pal Cynthia in Pine Grove Mills at Stitch Your Art Out, i.e. the best yarn store between Yinz and Youse Guys. On this particular day it just so happened that the stars had aligned and we were in the same knitting mental space, which is to say, totally freaking sick of all our projects and ready to cut some bitches.
We talked through our gripes, did some digging and decided that the whole knitting 10+ projects at once thing wasn't really working out so well for us as it was leading to a blind rage typa deal, so we made a mutual pact to change our ways and improve our attitudes in the process. Radical measures to rectify the WIP Excessfest 2009® have been taken and many, many projects have been removed from permanent rotation. By removed I mean either ripped out, stuffed in a ziploc bag and banished to the third floor behind the stack of Consumer Reports that I'm going to read someday or put into the temporary holding zzzzz tank of Ravelry. Out of sight is the operative term here.
We have come up with a power of three concept--at any given time, only three projects can be in the mix. Why three? Three is enough to not get bored but also to make some progress. Three--one portable, one concentration-centric and one t.v.project. Three--enough to keep you content and rolling along and hopefully prevent you from hurting others.
And guess what? All my knitting agita is gone--poof!--just like that, so much so that I even finished a long-term pain in the noodle WIP!
The Specs:
Pattern: Ann Budd Basic Sock Pattern--i.e., my go-to generic sock pattern. So clear and intuitive.
Yarn: Regia 4-ply Kaffe Fassett in 'Landscape Fire' (?)---for an industrial yarn, it ain't half bad, much better than many others. Trekking--I'm looking at you.
Needles: 1 1/2 addi turbo lace needles--needles that have gotten so much use the finish is wearing off them, which is a bit of a concern.
Time: I cast on for these last March and am oh so glad they are done-ski.
Now that I have finished a project, a spot has opened and I can FINALLY cast on for one of the many sweaters I have planned. First up is the Vine Lace Top Down Cardi--I've been itching to try my hand at this one ever since seeing Earthchick, ASHLEY and Babs' impressive versions.
I continue to work fast and furiously on finishing two pairs of socks that I have little enthusiasm for in order to move them out of the WIP column and thus 'free up' space for me to cast on for several projects that I am gaga over. I have been thinking about these projects for about a month yet some sort of (misplaced?) guilty conscience says that for every project I start, I must finish at least two from my Ravelry project page. Why does it have such control over me? It's a place that sends me into a fugue state every time I look at it. Sometimes I just stare and ask myself "Why did I cast on for that?", which quickly becomes "Why do you care? Just cast on for whatever you like and let the chips fall where they may". This gives ways to adolescent musings about free will and "I'll do what I want", which ultimately turns into "Why am I talking to myself?"...
For the past month I have been engaged in a game of musical chairs with the Vine Lace Top-Down Cardigan, the Minimalist cardigan and the Heather Hoodie vest and the possible yarns I might use. My daily commute (which has started again this week: I know other academics in the house might also be feeling the burn) has been spent trying to play a version of Match Game '73 with them "I will do the Minimalist cardigan in ______________". (Tip o' the hat to anyone who remembers that Mark Goodson/Bill Todman production--my grandma loved that show!).
I thought I had the puzzle solved until the publications you see below arrived in the mail:
My stealth fingers and expert clicking ability--my husband calls it late night clickety, I call it just me being me--were able to procure the brand new Véronik Avery St-Denis magazine as well as JF's Made in Brooklyn. The new Twist Collective is also not helping as there are a few patterns in there that are calling my name (Lorelei, I'm looking at you). But to be able to start any of these, radical provisions are in order.
The WIP that has presented me with the single most genuine irritation has got to be the Katharine Hepburn Cardigan. I love how it looks, but cables and lace is so not where I ever need to be in terms of maintaining sanity while knitting. I began this project over two years ago and have put it down and picked it up on so many occasions that I scarcely have any idea where I am or what I'm doing. It doesn't help that for about a 7 month period I had accidentally (on purpose?) left the pattern in Wisconsin. And since the Green Mountain Shawl (cover of St-Denis--stunning, right?) calls for just about the same amount of sport weight yarn...
Yes I ripped and haven't looked back. Luckily I had a helper who MacGuyvered a great yarn unwinding system with our patio table...
I know this manner of solving the WIP problem is drastic (and possibly lame), not to mentioned self-defeating, but I am so pleased to get that monkey off my back. Stay tuned for more WIP hi jinx...
In store for you today: A few more shots from Minneapolis (above, the Gold Medal Flour mill and Stone Arch bridge), some interesting agricultural products (below), and then an actual, bona fide sweater that has been completed by me. All of this will be coming your way assuming that you don't subscribe to a certain bockety blog reader that has suddenly refused to pick up my feed. Yes, for the last few weeks I have been screaming into the Bloglines void as it has been plugging its ears, making loud 'I-can't-hear-you' noises and pretending I don't exist. Humph. Was it the knitted willy warmer? My abrupt detour into Shawl-land? A lack of actual pertinent content? Whatevs, Bloglines. Google Reader will be smiting your ass any day now...
The above grapes are from my friend Phil's grape arbor in Star Valley. Let me tell you that they were the essence of grape. Fragrant, perfume-y, grape to the power of 10--almost unbelievably so. The glass you see is of actual grape juice. Sad Alzheimer's footnote: my dad couldn't smell the juice at all because many suffering from his condition completely lose their sense of smell.
The big top you see above belongs to the Cirque du Soleil. Let me officially apologize to everyone who has raved about these performances as while you were talking, I was secretly judging and even rejecting you a little. But you were right! I'm a jackass--it was a stupendous show.
While on my trip I was also able to complete a project I began a month earlier--Rusted Root. I saw my mom eying it and knew that she had to have it. Happy Birthday, mom!
The Specs:
Pattern: Rusted Root by the Zephyr Girls
Yarn: Rowan Calmer 476, exactly 6.
Needles: Size 8, which was larger than called for. I wanted some drape in this fabric and it's what I got.
Mods: I made damn sure to do 14 lace repeats. You better believe I was zooming in and counting them on Ravelry FOs! I also opted out of the cap sleeve version as I fear them.
Time: Mid-June to the end of July, off and on.
This pattern is a classic Zephyr girls production: top-down raglan construction, cute details that keep the pattern interesting, and exceedingly clear instructions. Calmer is a true pleasure and I recommend it for all your warm weather needs. It had been hanging around in my stash for quite a while and I am sad to say goodbye to my old friend...but luckily while I able to pick up a new Rowan pal that is making a huge hit. I was even told by the LYS employee that I was the first person to buy it as it had just arrived--now you KNOW that sealed the deal, right? Introducing....
Felted Tweed Aran! Yes, our favorite Rowan yarn in a gauge that would actually want to make a sweater out of. I am so excited, I think this just moved to the top of the Minimalist Cardigan queue...
Once a year we venture across the mighty Mississippi from my parents' home in Minneapolis to Crawford county, Wisconsin, home to my best-friend-since-forever, Phil and his partner Randy, in idyllic Star Valley.
Upon our arrival last night, we had cocktails under the grape arbor (above) and then a magical dinner made entirely from products from the farm (below). I jokingly suggested that I submit the above picture to a fanciful new publication, Arbor Living. Ha! Why not?
On the menu was zucchini tempura and fresh pea soup. NOM!
This morning we visited Viroqua, a town where granola Waldorf school enthusiasts, Wisconsin agrarians and Amish farmers peacefully exist. There I was able to visit the yarn store Ewetopia, a fantastic LYS that carries its own brand of yarn (see below):
We also stopped by the the farmer's market, where I saw the most delightful, gnome-worthy log ever:
Later today we'll go back to the Cities (boo) and then on Tuesday, back to Pennsylvania (double boo). More on that later!
