On Friday I went shopping for a new dress to wear to a wedding we are going to this Saturday. I tried on a bunch and found one that I actually liked. Here’s the thing, though – it was sleeveless – and I sort of hate the way my arms look. As I stood there in the dressing room, looking at myself in the mirror and contemplating my options I reminded myself that it was $30(!!) and I reasoned that I could wear a shawl to cover my arms. I know wearing a shawl all evening isn’t practical but I also know that once I have a martini or two in me I won’t care so much how my arms look and I can take it off. It was a little big but it was $30(!!!) and I figured Lois could fix it up so that it would fit me just fine so I bought it.

It’s a pretty floral pattern that actually reminds me of Monet’s waterlilies with lots of green and a bit of lavender and purple thrown in. As I was driving home from the store and mentally running down the list of shawls that I have I wasn’t really hitting on anything green. Nevertheless I was sure I would find something that would match once I got home.

You know where this is going, right? There was nothing. No. Thing. That. Matched. Not green, not purple, not lavender. There was, however, some lovely green Douceur et Soie yarn in my stash, that blended perfectly with the darkest green in the dress.

I can totally knit a flower basket shawl in a week.

I promised you a post with more details about the Museum of the Confederacy and today seems like as good a time as any to show you the photos I took just for you. The lighting was low so you will have to excuse the pictures as they aren’t of the highest quality but I still think you will enjoy them.

First up, these hand knit socks.

The card said they were knit for a soldier by a young girl from his hometown. The stitches are teeny tiny and they are not ribbed but were shaped in the calf area. I love the purl ridges at the top and also the fact that the soldiers initials were embroidered into the back of the leg.

While the main floor of the museum is mostly military related, the lower floor includes artifacts from civilian life. I enjoyed looking around there a lot and took a few photographs of things I wanted to share with all of you.

I love these fingerless mitts! The stitches on these are really tiny, too, and the thumb gusset looks pretty unique to me. Other than that they look just like something one of us would knit.

I got really excited when I read the information on this card saying that this was a remnant of a sleeve that was hand carded, spun, woven and sewn. I knew I wouldn’t remember all of the details so I took a close up for you.

Isn’t that awesome? Well, except for the part about her dying at the age of 21.

Finally, I have two more sock photos to show you.

According to the identifying card, these socks were hand knit by a young woman to wear on her wedding day. Aren’t they gorgeous? They are pretty long so I’d guess they were knee socks. And how about the deep stockinette cuff – so different than the way we knit our socks now.

Here’s a close up so you can get a better look at the lace patterning. I think it’s just lovely and I’m very tempted to try and reproduce them only with slightly less stitches. Heh.

See? Even when I go on vacation I’m thinking of you all. Or should I say y’all? This was Virginia, my friends.

Every Wednesday, Amanda asks what we are knitting and reading right now and this week I am going to answer her question.

As always, I devote more time to knitting than to reading but every day of my life includes some of each. I am currently knitting the Beach Glass Shawl and I am enjoying every minute of it. I’m actually almost done and I’m going to miss working on this. Kim’s yarn is so soft and squooshy and the pattern is mostly garter stitch and it’s a very soothing knit.

My bedtime reading for the last few weeks was consumed by The Hunger Games trilogy but I have moved past those and am now reading the latest Hannah Swensen mystery for a bit each night when I climb into bed. I’m also perusing the other books in that pile: a new knitting book, a memoir on loss and recovery through pie baking, and a travel guide for our upcoming vacation. Some of it’s light, some of it’s inspiring, all of it’s entertaining.

Gee, that sounds a lot like knitting.

I can’t believe I completely forgot to tell you who left the 50,000th comment! It was Vicki and she left it last Friday.  I was counting the comments as they came in last week and was thrilled to discover it was a true friend who helped me hit this blogging milestone. I’ve been reading Vicki’s blog for almost as long as she’s been writing it, we met at Rhinebeck a few years ago, we have matching knitter’s rings, and I’ve long admired her photography. I’m thrilled to be putting together a package of special goodies for her since she’s someone I truly care about.

Okay, onward to actual knitting content.

My friend Jo-Ann had a birthday a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to knit something really special for her. I also have this goal of using my handspun this year so I decided to knit her a shawl from my handspun. I think that says a lot about how much Jo-Ann means to me, don’t you?

I used singles that I spun from a Hello Yarn monthly fiber club installment from May 2010 called Floating Down. It’s 75% BFL and 25% tussah silk, and the colors are lovely. It actually reminds me quite a bit of Noro.

The pattern is just a simple triangular shawl, sort of like the Stupidly Easy Triangular Scarf except that I did the center increases as make one right/make one left rather than yarn overs. I like the solid line down the center minus those yarn overs – it’s different and sometimes different is good.

It’s mostly stockinette stitch with the occasional garter rows and yarn over rows to make it interesting. Mostly the yarn does the work and that’s the beauty of the whole thing.

I gave it to Jo-Ann last weekend when we went to see The Hunger Games together. She was wearing a plain black top at the time and she promptly tossed the shawl around her shoulders and sashayed to the car. I can’t help but wonder if she dressed that way purposefully; it was really just too convenient that she was wearing the perfect top for a handspun shawl.

What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think she was surprised. It’s okay, though, because she was thrilled and that’s really all that matters.

Spring arrives this week and with it’s arrival my thoughts turn to shawls. They are the perfect spring accessory, just right for cool evenings when you need a little something-something on your shoulders but you don’t need a jacket.

In the photo above are 4 skeins of yarn that I have set out to go with the shawls I have queued up for this spring. On the left is Woolen Rabbit Lucent in the color Pussywillow for Beach Glass. Next to that is Ball and Skein Sophia in the color Nyx for And So Are You. The silvery skein that’s second from the right is Blue Moon Fiber Arts 100% Silk Laceweight in the color Winter Solstice for the Aeolian Shawl. And finally, on the far right is Ball and Skein Glissade in the color Gourd for Sugared Violets.

Since taking that photo I have started Beach Glass. Casting on 388 stitches takes a looooong time but I’m moving through the charts now and loving the feel of this yarn and the way it looks in this pattern. It feels so good to be knitting a shawl again!

What are you knitting this spring?

Only 3 days after posting handspun project #1 for 2012, here I am with handspun project #2 for 2012.

Impressive, non? The pattern is Wurm but with fewer repeats of the main section. This was a design decision, as Hannah wouldn’t have liked such a floppy hat, and also a necessary modification as I wouldn’t have had enough yarn to knit all those purl ridges.

Of course I do not remember any details about this particular yarn. It’s probably either Spunky Eclectic or Hello Yarn but honestly, it escapes me. It is fairly bulky, though, and the colors are favorites of Hannah’s.

Speaking of Hannah, she’s having a wonderful week in Florida, wearing a bathing suit instead of a hat. She’s going to be staying a little longer than planned, too, since her flight home for Sunday was with Direct Air and they suddenly suspended all flights as of yesterday. Luckily I was able to book her on a somewhat reasonably priced flight home next Tuesday with JetBlue.

So now I’m out a couple hundred bucks and she gets 3 more days in Florida.

Hunh.

P.S. Please send positive vibes for a safe and uneventful trip home for her, would you? Thanks.

One of my knitting goals for 2012 is to actually knit with my handspun. To be more precise, I set a goal of knitting at least 3 projects with my handspun. Allow me to present handspun project #1 for this year:

Legwarmers for Hannah. Don’t ask me any details about this yarn because I don’t remember any. I can tell you that it’s a heavy worsted weight. And I can tell you exactly how I made these:

Cast on 44 stitches and knit in 2×2 rib for 2 inches
Switch to stockinette and continue until 4.5 inches total
Decrease 8 stitches evenly across for a total of 36 stitches
Knit until 16 inches total
Knit 5 rows of ribbing
Bind of in ribbing pattern

And that’s it.

I love the way they look peeking out of the top of Hannah’s boots. They are slouchy and colorful and will go with lots of things.

They were very fast to knit and that makes me quite happy. And they put a smile on my beautiful daughter’s face and that makes me happiest of all.

Last week I was approached by the publicist for the newly revised book The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt. She asked if I would like to receive an advance copy of the book so that I could review it here and I readily agreed. A free copy of a book that I had been planning to buy? Winning!

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the original version of this book but it has been long out of print. My library’s copy has been missing for years (no, I didn’t take it!) and copies have sold for outrageous amounts on ebay so it’s wonderful to have it available again for a new generation of knitters. It is, quite literally, an encyclopedia of knitting.

There are over 700 pages filled with diagrams, charts, facts, advice, and lessons. If you don’t know how to knit you can start here. If you already know how to knit you can expand your knowledge base and learn how to do things differently. There are examples of all kinds of techniques, cast ons,  increases, decreases, flat knitting, circular knitting, steeks and hems and so much more.  There are no patterns here but there is information on designing patterns and writing charts that is so valuable and helpful you’ll be designing your own patterns in no time.

There are chapters on all the knitting basics and there is even information on fiber choices and spinning.

The book is so comprehensive that I would dare say it could be the only knitting technique book you will ever need – it’s just that informative. It’s easy to understand, simple to follow, and will be useful to any knitter at any level of experience. It’s available starting February 14th and would make a perfect Valentine’s gift – I’m just saying.

As a librarian and a knitter I highly recommend this book.

Now that I’ve finally shown you my last finished project for 2011 I can proceed with my annual yearly knitting recap. Let’s start with my favorite part – a mosaic of everything I knit last year.

There are 22 items pictured there. That’s down 9 from last year. Yikes. It’s all good, though, because I knit:

• 12 pairs of socks
• 4 shawls
• 3 hats
• 1 baby blanket
• 1 pair of mitts
• 1 sweater

At last I have photos of Hannah’s finished Vivian Sweater. The knitting was finished back in November but I didn’t get the zipper put in until 2 weeks ago and then it took another week or so to coordinate me+Hannah+daylight+favorable weather. What a long fezzle! I think it was worth the wait, though, and I hope you all will think so, too.

I told Hannah when I finished it that this was the hardest thing I’ve ever knit and it’s true.

I’ve knit sweaters before and I’ve knit cables before but the combination of multiple charts, directions, decreases, increases, left cables, right cables, large cables, left large cables, right large cables, seed stitch and shaping all in ONE pattern made this a challenge. Let’s just say there was a lot of flipping paper around while following those directions and charts.

Just because it was hard doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it, though. It’s an extremely detailed and well written pattern and Hannah and I are both thrilled with the finished sweater. It fits her perfectly and the style is really flattering on her slim figure.

The sleeves are ridiculously long but they are also tight so they stay put and the effect seems to work well.

I bought the yarn, Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky, on my first trip to WEBS and it was a pleasure to use. It was reasonably priced, I got gauge, and the color was just what Hannah envisioned for this project – a classic, natural colored cabled sweater. It’s got a bit of a halo to it and it’s very warm, perfect for walking to and from class.

The zipper could have been a tricky business but I chickened out and had Lois do it for me. She made it look so easy! She simply pinned it in place and stitched it on the machine. The bulky yarn worked perfectly to hide the machine stitches and I think it took her about 15 minutes to get it done. I would have fussed and fumed over it and really didn’t want to risk ruining the sweater at that stage in the process. The bonus is that Lois got to participate in the project for Hannah and that made her happy.

Hannah and I had hoped to coordinate our photo shoot for the beach but her work schedule and our busy weekends just didn’t allow for that to happen. Instead we wandered into the backyard last Thursday afternoon and captured these photos. The light was a little flat and it was very cold but Hannah was toasty in her new sweater.

Our trees and my father-in-law’s shed aren’t as picturesque as the beach would have been but you know, done is better than perfect and I’m so happy that this whole thing is now officially done!

Wear it well, my dear Hannah, wear it well.