Anna`s Flying Needles

Cordoba

Anna — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:06:00 GMT

Cordoba:

Elegant and yet warm and cozy sweater coatfor autumn walks. Cordoba has a flattering silhouette with a fitted stockinettestitch bodice knitted from top down in a worsted weight yarn and a flowy skirtknitted in a lace pattern and a sport weight yarn.

Sizes:

XS (S,M, L, 1X). To fit bust: 30 (34,38,42,46) inches

Finished Measurements: 32 (36,40, 44, 48)inches. Modeled in size S with about 2 inches of positive ease. Cordoba ismeant to be worn as a sweater coat with a layer underneath; at least 1 inchpositive ease is recommended.

Materials:

Berroco Ultra Alpaca [50% Wool, 50% Alpaca; 215yd/ 197 m per 100 g]; CordobaGrape 2623; 4[4, 5, 6, 6] skeins

Berroco UltraAlpaca Light [50% Wool, 50% Alpaca; 144 yd/133 m per 50 g]; Cordoba Grape 4212;8[8,9,10,10] skeins.

US6/ 4mm circularneedle (or size needed to obtain correct gauge) 24” or longer.

One or two US 6/4 mmcircular needle or one set of five double-pointed needles for sleeves

US 5/3.5mm circularor straight needle

Stitch markers

Cable Needle

Tapestry Needle

Waste yarn

2 buttons.

Gauge:

20 sts/28 rows inSt.st with Ultra Alpaca after blocking and worked back and forth in rows.Sleeves on the bodice are knitted in the round. If your gauge in the round ismuch tighter than in rows, you might want to use a size larger needles for thesleeves only.

One lace pattern repeat withUltra Alpaca Light measures about 2.75” widthwise and 3.75” lengthwise afterblocking.

The pattern is availabe for download as a Pdf file.

$7.75

Or buy through Ravelry:

Gust

Anna — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:05:00 GMT

I have finally blocked and immediately wore my Gust scarf. But before talking about it, I`d like to thank everybody for the lovely and encouraging comments and messages I got after my Ruby Red pattern was published in Knitty. It means a lot and I appreciated every one of them.

Gust by Anne Hanson was the perfect traveling project, mindless enough to be able to pick it up here and there for just a few rows but never boring and incredibly lightweight for even the smallest bag. The yarn, Plucky Knitter laceweight cashmere 2 ply is simply luscious and very easy to work with. There was no splitting and no knots. I would be only happy to get my hands on more.

One skein of this soft and yummy yarn has four hundred yards, about hundred more than required in the pattern so I was able to make the scarf considerably longer. The pattern asks for 24 repeats, I managed to squeeze 36 and I am very happy with the final length.

As all Anne Hanson`s patterns I have already tried, Gust is very clearly written. The lace pattern looks the same from both side, which is always nice when wearing a scarf. The chart is easy to memorize, after a while I did not even bother to carry it with me. This pattern was such a fun to knit I might even end my unplanned lace knitting hiatus and after more than a year cast on a shawl.

Pattern: Gust by Anne Hanson
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Cashmere 2-ply Handpainted Lace Weight in Vixen
Needles: US #4
Modifications: 36 pattern repeats instead of 24.

Pattern update

Anna — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:43:00 GMT

Birch Leaf Beret is now available for sale also through Ravelry.

Blogging again

Anna — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:13:00 GMT

Now when summer is almost over, I am planning on blogging more regularly. Apart from the general summer busyness at work, the main reasons for my unplanned blogging break were vacation traveling to Ireland and focusing on designing.
.

While in Cork city, I visited a few yarn stores but haven`t bought any yarn. I discovered only one place that resembles LYS as we know it here but it was selling mostly commercially available yarns like Rowan and Debbie Bliss. Other places I went to were more craft stores or fabric stores with a small yarn section. I have brought a small knitting souvenir though, buttons from the Cork button factory.

While on vacation, I had plenty time to knit and even finish couple projects. For my flight knitting, I casted on Gust by Anne Hanson in Plucky Knitter lace weight cashmere from my stash. It was the perfect traveling project as it provided me with hours of knitting and took hardly any room in my handbag. The pattern is very intuitive and I memorized it pretty fast and did not need to look into the chart. The scarf is all finished and if I could find my blocking wires, it would even be blocked (they are nowhere to be seen but my closet is now organized).

Working on Gust at this lovely thatched cottage tea house in Killarney national park.

The other project I finished while I was in Ireland is my new cardigan design called Blarney after Blarney village near which we stayed. I am still working on the pattern but hopefully it should be up soon.

I have been meaning to try my hand at designing for a while and after many encouragements from my family and friends, I finally gave it a go this spring. Besides working on patterns for this blog, I have sent my first submission to Knitty. I can`t say much about the design yet, only that I am incredibly excited to be a part of Knitty`s Fall issue.

Birch Leaf Beret

Anna — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:54:00 GMT

Slouchy beret with embossed leaf pattern framed by waves of cables is knit in soft and drapy sport weight yarn. Leaf lace pattern is integrated into shaping of the hat. Lace and cable pattern is given in the form of chart.

Materials:

270 yards of sport weight yarn

Red beret is knitted with 2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in shade 340700.

Blue beret is knitted with 2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in shade 4287.

US4 set of 4 or 5 double pointed needles or needles required for your preferred method of working small circumferences in the round

US4 (or size needed to obtain correct gauge) 24” circular needle

US2 16" circular needle or US2 set of 4 or 5 double pointed needles.

Stitch marker

Cable Needle

Tapestry Needle

Gauge:

6 sts and 8 rows per 1 inch in stockinette stitch on larger needles.

The pattern is availabe for download as a Pdf file.

$4.50

Or purchase Birch Leaf Beret on Ravelry:

Coraline

Anna — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:31:34 GMT

It is been a while since I posted a finished project here. I should rename this blog to crawling needles rather than flying. But to be fair, I completed Coraline a few weeks ago but the weather has been everything but cooperating.

I have had this pattern in my queue and the yarn for it since last year. I am very happy that I finally made it as Coraline is perfect for this summer`s weather. The sweater is fairly warm but the color is summery enough so I don`t feel too weird wearing alpaca sweater in July. I have used Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk before for my Riding to Avalon Hoodie and I would happily use it again. The weight is perfect for a warm but still pretty lightweight cardigan and I love the drape of this yarn. I also find it to knit very evenly and it blocks beautifully.

The pattern itself is incredibly well written and offered in a lot of sizes. Although the design is pretty simple, there are clever details like I-cord edgings and sewn button holes that make the pattern special. I barely needed to do any modifications.
I decided to shorten the sleeves a little bit to go with the summer silhouette (and because I really liked the 3/4 sleeves versions on Ravelry). Other than that, I only omitted the short rows at the neck to get a slightly deeper neckline (again inspired by Ravelry). I am really happy with my modifications and with the whole cardigan. I keep trying to come up with different outfits that would match Coraline so I can wear it.

Pattern: Coraline by Ysolda
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk in Ruby, 7 skeins
Needles: size US3 and US4
Modifications: 3/4 sleeves and no short rows at the neckline
Pictures: Dusty, my very talented Hubby. Thank you!

Fiber Frolic

Anna — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:31:00 GMT

So long between posts and I have hardly anything to prove that I have been knitting. To tell the truth, I have also been ripping almost as much. For some reason, I am not able to cast on a project these days without at least a few false starts. I am still participating in the Solid Socks knitalong even though I am finishing my socks with some delay. For April purple socks, I casted on Kai-Mei from Cookie A`s long awaited book Sock Innovation.

The pattern is of course brilliant and compared to other Cookie A`s patterns pretty simple. I was able to knit two socks at the same time without any trouble. Thanks to all the ribbing, this pair also seems to fit really well. I think my new Kai-Mei socks might become one of my favorite pairs to wear.

Pattern: Kai-Mei from Sock Innovation by Cookie A.
Yarn: Tosh Sock in Logwood
Needles: Magic Loop on #1 (2.25mm) Knitpicks Harmony

Last Sunday, hubby and me went Fiber Frolicking to Windsor, Maine. It was a beautiful sunny day for a short trip and an afternoon outdoors. I was not looking for a major stash enhancement and only came back with one skein of yarn from String Theory Hand Dyed Yarns which were new to me. Their booth really caught my attention at the fair, they had lovely colors in lots of different weights and fibers.

The rest of the time at the Frolic was mostly spent admiring and petting all the patient animals that were there to be pet and admired. The highlight of the trip for me was when I got to hold a two week old baby goat. I wish I had a picture of it falling asleep in my arms.

Dulce de Leche

Anna — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:18:00 GMT

Maine in April is just not photogenic at all. The snow that was covering all the mud is gone (thank god) but spring with its full force hasn`t quite arrived yet. I had to get pretty low to the ground to get at least some flowers and greenery in the pictures.

As I said in my previous post, this project required a lot of modifications to work for my body type, which I believe is much less hourglass and also more long-waisted than the pattern is designed for. Another reason I had to adjust the pattern was my row gauge. While the stitch gauge was spot on with the same needle size (How did that happen to a loose continental style knitter like me?), my row gauge was smaller, 36 rows for 4 inches instead of 28, to be exact. I added more rows to all the shaping throughout the sweater, including the sleeves and for the darts I only decreased and later increased on the on the inside of the dart rather than on both sides of the dart marker. Altogether, I had half as many decreased/increased stitches than in the pattern.

I followed the pattern for the placket and short row bust shaping with one exception, I only did half as many short rows. I also added couple inches to the sleeves by making one more increase for the sleeve than in the pattern. Another modification was positioning the neckline little higher than in the pattern by starting the placket about an inch later.

There was a lot of counting and keeping track of at the same time, with the short rows, armhole shaping, placket with button holes and later neckline shaping but I believe it was worth it. The result is a very well fitting, if really simple looking sweater. And I was rewarded at the end with very little finishing. Throughout the whole sweater, I did felted joins so I had hardly any ends to weave in. I did not use separate balls for the different sections of the top part of the sweater. I am too lazy to go and wind another skein into a ball if I don`t have to, so I finished each part separately. I also did not crochet around the neckline in the front. I tried it but decided I like the neckline as it is. I did one single crochet row in the back where the neckline decreases were more visible. The crochet edge is not as smooth as I would like but I think that is due to the rustic and irregular feel of the yarn.

After two false starts, I am finally very happy with this sweater. The color of the yarn is absolutely beautiful and one of my favorites, also one of the hardest to capture by a camera. It is in fact teal with more green that it appears on the pictures. I enjoyed working with Silky Wool. It was my first project using this yarn and I would definitely use it again. For tweed is reasonably soft but also appears quite durable.I couldn`t tell any difference after rekniting with the same skein for the third time. It also blocks very nicely into a very drapy and lightweight fabric.

I am very happy about the finished sweater as well, It has the right degree of relaxed simplicity and feminine details like gathered sleeves, deep neckline, dart shaping and button placket that is decorative more than anything. And at last I am satisfied with the fit, which is close but still comfy and relaxed. Now I only need the weather to finally warm up so I can wear my Dulce without a coat on.

Project: Dulce de Leche by Marnie MacLean from Spring 09 Twist Collective
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, color Petrol, 5 skeins
Needles: US5

March Socks

Anna — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:56:00 GMT

Another pair done! The Solid Sock KAL is definitely an excellent motivation for me to knit sock and use some of my stash yarn. Maelstrom was one of my favorite pattern to knit so far. It is incredibly fast. I was able to finish the leg in one afternoon. The fit is great too, snug but comfy so I don`t want to take them off. I added and extra pattern repeat on the leg but otherwise followed the instructions. Because why tinker with perfection?

Pattern: Maelstrom from Twist Collective
Yarn: Sundara Sock in Jungle Boogie
Needles: #0 Knitpicks Harmony, Magic Loop.

Frogging

Anna — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:29:00 GMT

I have been really unproductive this month and so far have done more frogging than knitting. First I ripped almost the whole Miralda Shawl. I was getting ready to cast off when I noticed I shifted one of the decreases on the side of the triangle and it was bugging me enough to frog it to the edging.

Then I casted on a new sweater, Dulce de Leche, from spring Twist Collective. At the first sight, this project looked very simple, lots of stockinette, some buttons, should not take me much time, right? Well, it took two up to the armholes and back down to the hem attempts to figure out that I need to completely rework the shaping of the sweater. The waist shaping is way too dramatic for me, the total decreases for waist from top of the hip are almost 9 inches for my size. The shaping is done with darts, which I usually like but this time the decreases (and later increases) are worked on both sides of the dart for a total decrease of 8 stitches in one row. I am not sure if it is the tweedy texture of Silky Wool but after the shaping is done for the waist the body looked very gathered, almost like a flounce. This time around, I am making the darts with shaping only on the inside, which should give me half of the total decreased stitches for the waist. I am loosely following the shaping of Riding to Avalon pattern as it has very similar gauge and works better for my body.

After I ripped it for the second time because it was still to short both below and above the waist, I almost abandoned the whole project ready to pretend it never happened but I have been searching for a while for the perfect pattern to use with the Silky Wool from my stash. The color is called Petrol and it is beautiful teal even though my camera likes to think it is blue or gray. And I have already bought buttons. Right now, the sweater looks more like the picture below than the one above, but I really hope that three times is the charm.

So the only progress I can show this month after finishing Delicato mittens, is one completed Maelstrom sock. The color of the month for the Solid Sock KAL is green, which worked really well for Sundara sock yarn in Jungle Boogie color I had in my stash from the Seasons Subscription. The pattern is great, easier than any other Cookie A. sock pattern I have tried and it knits up incredibly fast. I have already turned the heel on the second sock so I am hoping I will still finish this pair before March is over.