Hello friends and knitters. I have been on a very long break. So much has happened in the last few months. I will just give you the highlights. We are in the process of purchasing a home. It has been a relatively all-consuming process, and I hope that we are nearing the end, and that I will be able to show it to all of you very soon. If we do move forward, it is going to need a lot of work, but I will share that process with you, as well.
In late November, I had the opportunity to assist the kind and talented Joseph DeAcetis on a photo shoot. Joseph is the Creative Style Director at Forbes, and also a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where I met him. He is quite an expert on men’s fashion, and I was over the moon when he invited me to assist him with the Forbes 30 Under 30 campaign. The shoot was two very intense days of fittings and photography. We styled 7 young CEO Entrepreneurs. The clothes were beautiful, and it was so interesting to talk to these young, successful and engaging executives. I have included one excerpt from the magazine. Jamel Toppin is the photographer. You can see the entire class of winners here Forbes 30 Under 30
Last but not least, Vogue Knitting. Vogue Knitting is by far one of my favorite weekends out of the year. I always do the Broadway Baby package, which allows me to take 3 classes. This year, I took two classes with Veera Valimaki. She has long been one of my favorite shawl designers. I signed up for both her Shawl Shapes class, and her Stripes Beyond Basics class. I am happy to say that she did not disappoint. Her passion for knitting and for shawls is infectious. We went over techniques and design principles, and we spent quite a bit of time working on various techniques. She also gave each class a download code for one of her patterns. In a Word, and Stripe Study. Several persons in the class were wearing her color affection shawl, which is my all time favorite, and which has been in my ravelry queue for as long as I can remember.
My other class was No Fear Isle with John Brinegar. I loved that class so much, I may devote an entire blog post to what we learned and accomplished in that class. The short version is that I made a Fair Isle hat, and I had never done any sort of color work in knitting before. The pattern is called Orange Crush, and it is available on Ravelry. I was so excited to continue with color knitting, that I immediately requested all of the books on the subject that I could from my local library. My favorite was, by far, Simple Color Knitting by Erika Knight. It is a beautifully designed book that goes through the design process, color theory, various techniques and corresponding projects to go with them. I highly recommend giving it a try. I am looking forward to making the Fair Isle Snood. It was the lovely ink drawings that really grabbed my attention. It was written in 2015, but I did not find any of the patterns on Ravelry.
Works in progress:
Basic Socks. By Ann Budd. I am determined to finish these this week! Knit on 2.25 mm dpns in Blue Moon Fibers Socks That Rock Colorway Byron Lee Tipsy. I am on the foot of the second sock. My knitting group meets tonight, so I should be able to make a lot of progress.
Corrina Sweater by Ann McCauley knit on 4 mm circular needles in Jade Sapphire Silk/Cashmere 2 ply. I have started the shoulder decrease on the back. I should finish the back this week. My goal is to finish it in February. I would like to get it off the needles and give it to mom before the weather warms up again.
Doctor Who the Angels Have the Blue Box dishcloth. Knit on size 6 straight needles in Knit Picks Dishie Solids, colorway blue. Sunday is dishcloth day. This is a fun and quick knit. I seem to be playing yarn chicken. We shall see how it goes.
Stone Croft Shawl by Judy Marples. Knit in Dragonfly Fibers Damsel in Starry Night. I have not been working on this lately, but I would like to finish it before spring. I think the colors make it a perfect accessory for jeans and a tee shirt. Particularly the dark denim I like to wear.
Alethea by Amy Christoffers. Knit in Berroco Mykonos in color 8560 Apollo. I love this scarf. The yarn is really drapey, and it has the most beautiful sheen. This, too, has been on hold for a while, but it is a linen yarn, so it will be okay if I do not get to it before spring.
The Big Easy Blanket by Jennifer Hagan. I am knitting this in yarn that was given to me. I have no information on it, but I am pretty sure it is an acrylic blend. The pattern is a gansey throw, and I thought it might make a nice gift. Knitted blankets take forever, and there are so many other things I want to knit right now, that if I were going to play Finish or Frog it, this would be the item I frogged. For now, it is on the finish pile, but I just do not know when I will be interested in working on it again.
Inky. Named for The Incredibly Deadly Viper from A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is going to be a split square shawl, based on the basic instructions from the class with Veera. It is my own design, and I be figuring it out as I go. I used stash yarn with no ball bands. Both are fingering weight. I am knitting on 2.5 mm circular needles from Knit Picks.
Finished Objects:
Here is the finished Orange Crush. I used stash yarn for the red part of the hat. I believe it was Plymouth Encore Worsted. The VKNYC class was sponsored by Classic Elite yarns, and they gave us balls of Liberty Wool for the Fair Isle Pattern. I really, really enjoyed knitting this hat, and I think Fair Isle may become a new knitting addiction.
I have two finished dishcloths. One is Smile on Grandmother’s Favorite Knit Dishcloth. The other is a broken rib Dishcloth.
New Acquisitions:
I made one purchase at Vogue Knitting. It was this Malabrigo Mechita. It is a kettle dyed superwash merino wool. It is a fingering weight single ply. This particular color is a new color preview, and it has no dye lot. This will be my first time working with Malabrigo, and I am really excited by the colors.
I purchased these two lovely skeins of Elegance Fingering from Toby Roxane Designs. She sometimes attends one of my kitting groups. The pink is called Lulubella, and the multicolored one is called Psychic Rainbow. I think I will make socks with contrasting heels and toes. The yarn is 80/10/10 Merino/Cashmere/Nylon and each skein is about 435 yards. 100g.
That is all for now. Until next time, Happy Knitting!