NOROvember: Part 5

With November coming to a close, I am happy to say that I have finished the lace tam and scarf set. And with that, I am even more happy to say that I have completely cleared my stash entirely of Noro Yarns. Which made more room for more yarn, and sadly, I have already filled that gap.

In other words, I met my goal for this month.

Overall, I was happy with how both the silk Garden and Auroura knit up. But while knitting, I came across a small problem with both yarns. I would find a knotted graft halfway through a ball of yarn.

Normally something like that would not bother me, but when you are trying to (A) keep the stripes in a sweater uniform, and (B) get halfway through a row and find a knot in the yarn, it can get a wee bit iritating after a while.

However, I managed to get past all the knots and create four very nice garments. However, I don't think I will be knitting with noro anymore.

NOROvember: Part 4

With the completion of my sweater, I moved onto the lace tam and scarf set by Susan Rainey. I thought this would be the perfect project for the Noro Auroura because the simple lace pattern would not get lost in the varegation of the yarn, and it would use nearly all six hundred yards of the yarn. Both of these factors made this pattern a good choice for my yarn.

I started with the tam to ensure that I had enough yarn for both the tam and scarf. Mainly becuase scarves tend to get away from me, and I didn't want to use up too much yarn on the scarf accidentally.

One thing about the tam I liked, was how fast if knit up. It seemed that as soon as I cast on the required stitches, I was done and blocking the tam over a standard dinner plate. I even added the I-cord topper to the center of the tam for good measure.

I cast on and began the scarf then, and by the fifth repeat of the lace pattern, I noticed how nice the edges of the scarf looked. I think the psuedo I-cord edge really created this neat looking edge in pattern to the rest of the scarf. Also it gave the entire porject a polished look overall.

One thing I did not count on was how long it was taking to knit the scarf. I am confident however, that I will finish the scarf by the end of November.

Across the Sound: Churchmouse Yarns and Tea

Bainbridge Island has always been known for it's small town atmosphere, beautiful scenery, and upscale shops. Chruchmouse Yarns and Teas is not the exception.

The shop is tucked around the corned from the Blackbird Bakery on Madrone Lane, the first thing I noticed was a collection of beautifully knit shawls adorning the front windows, each beaufiully and skillfully knitted by patrons of the shop. I had to stop and admire them for a moment before entering the little white door, and stepping into a knitters paradise.

Once inside, I was greeted warmly by the staff and offered full assistance by one of the ladies working the store. I declined any immediate assistance, but accepted it again later when I needed additional skeins of Punta Yarns Merisoft to knit myself a nice fall colores sweater. I was especially happy to find that the Merisoft was the featured yarn of the month, which saved me ten percent off the purchause (check their websits for future yarns of the month).

I took some time to look aroun the shop for a while and found a literal treasure chest of wonderful yarns and notions. Their selection of luxurious cashmere and silk yarns draw you in with their beautiful colors and sfot textures, while their wonderful collection of sock yarns by Noro and Blue Moon Fiber Arts wow you with their beautiful colorways. I was very pleased, as well, by their extensive of Rowan Yarns and books. I kicked myself for not making notes as to the future Rowan projects I wanted to work on.

Their selection of books and patterns were well organized, as well as all their knitting needles. This proved to the customer that the staff took a great deal of pride in the store, and made even the most novice of knitters feel comfortable.

I even further indulged my fiber addiction with some Kiogu to make a scarf from a Chruchmouse Yarns origional pattern that I found neat.

I would have spent more time just browsing the store, ad taking in all they hadd to offer in teas, and needlepoint projects, but the stormy weather outside was getting worse, and I had to catch the ferry back to the Seattle side of town. I can say however, that I plan to make a future trip across the sound to that little yarn store with the great selection on Bainbridge Island soon.

NOROvember: Part 3

After completing the body of my sweater, I began to work on the sleeves. However, I found that the stripes on the sleeves were coming out wider than expected. I went with it though, mainly because I thought it was interesting, and I liked how it showed the color transitions smoothly, giving the Noro the attention it deserved.

Finishing the sweater went quickly, I worked from the center of the ball out I (I usually work from the outside of the ball in) to add the collar, and followed with a neat pressing of the whole thing using a damp washcloth and an Iron on the wool setting. I finished it by sewing the buttons that I found at Jo Ann Fabrics on it.

I had two balls of the Noro Silk Garden Light left over, which I used to knit a pair of Berry Hill Fingerless mittens by Liz Thompson. While knitting I added three complete pattern repeats to the arm and one pattern repeat to the hand so that the mitts would cover my knickles and keep more of my wrist and arm warm while wearing them.

Overall, the texture of the Noro Silk Garden Light was not very soft in the ball, but while knitting, I found that the knitted texture knitted up quite softly. I will still wear a shirt under the sweater theough.

I am happy to say that I found a project for my six balls of Auroura. With this yarn, I will be knitting a lace tam and scarf set by Susan Rainey. I just how that I can finish it by the end of the month.

Anyhow, the wind is blowing really hard outside, and I don't want to risk a power surge to my computer. (Ah fall and winter in the Pacific Northwest) So that is all for now.

I Want to Live in a Rowan Magazine!

Yes I know, it's so British it comes with tea, but once you open up a copy of Rowan Magazine, you are instantly wowed by the visions of beautiful knitted projects juxtaposed ovar regal country estates, wondrous gardens, or the beautiful fields of Great Britain.

The magazines are so beautiful that I have to read them multiple times to decide which project I wan to work on first, and even then, I still struggle with the decision. Right now I have so many Rowan related projects ready to be knitted that I could devote an entire year of blogs to them.

If only I could live in a Rowan Magazine. *sigh*

NOROvember: Part 2

At this point I have knitted almost all of the body and have added six extra increases to the sweater to accommodate my hips and belly, which I hope will soon get smaller with my diet. I love this sweater so far and love how it is turning out. I especially love the idea of knitting from the top down, as I can try the sweater on as I knit, making sure it fits me before I get too far into it and find I need to knit a larger size which will lead to me swearing and ripping it out.

I especially like that the sweater is knitted in one piece, meaning that there are no sleeves to set. Which is especially good if you hate it when your armholes always end up that 1/4 of an inch too big. Also all the stripes match up on this sweater because it is knitted from the neck down, that way my pink stripes don't become blue stripes across my back. Which can make for some very interesting looks later.

NOROvember

Well, in the theme of this month's challenge, I have gotten off to a strong start, and have decided that I am going to knit the Flair Cardigan by Wendy Benard. I like the simplicity of the pattern and think that it will be wonderful for my Silk Garden Light. There are no cables or intricate patterns to get lost in the stripes and color variations in the yarn and will be a nice, quick project that may just be a fun knit.

However, while reading the instructions for the project, I found that it called for a heavy worsted weight yarn, and the Silk Garden Light was a DK weight, so I knitted up a gauge swatch and found that on the size 7 needles it called for, I would loose 1/4 of an inch every four inches. So I went up in my size needles to a size nine and found that the needles were just perfect for the gauge required.

After that I just had to cast on and begin knitting.

I can't believe how fast it knit up, I completed the raglan shaping of the shoulders and began working on the front. within two days. However, when I saw the colors of the yarn, I decided that the buttons I had picked out were not going to look right on the sweater and I needed diffrent buttons for it. Bummer, because I really liked those buttons.