Finit!!

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Elka Bolhafner

Stonington Shawl designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Stonington is done! I love knitting this shawl and it is the second time I have done so. In the exact same yarn to boot. I don’t believe I stretched it as far as last time so it came out a bit smaller. Last time it stood off of the blocking medium but this time was a gentle stretch. My daughter said it is big enough to be a cover which a shawl is after all :smiles:

So I asked a woodworking friend if he could build a blocking frame for me and I was thinking of waiting a few months to see if he would build me one before blocking but then I was all nah stop procrastinating–just do a block and stop obsessing about perfection. Too big to fit on my camera frame even tho I was standing on a stool. Pictures:

corner pinned out quickly

I didn’t measure or anything like that just pinned as I saw fit. Thankfully my coverlet does have a checkered pattern so I can generally keep things lined up. For those of us without blocking boards or frames having a checkered sheet or coverlet is most helpful. Even blocking wires can bow under pressure {all of mine are permanently curved by now} so having a line in the background to pin to is a necessity.

For a while I collected Doily pattern books. The Burda magazines with Niebling patterns required a long trip to a particular yarn store that sometimes maybe might have the sought after edition. Or there was ordering online for the special Kunstricken editions-sometimes from overseas. Then I realized I had a strong preference for knitting geometric designs instead of organic florals. Plus doily knitting requires making joins in cotton, linen or silk which is not my forte. I am a spit splice kinda girl.

the center pattern

I love how it looks like getting lost in a maze. Admittedly a simple maze but still. LOVE. I will try to get better shots once it is dried** but for now-finit!

And I am knitting on two projects. Generally speaking I am a monogamous knitter. Despite my KA, or maybe because of it, I find that knitting on one project helps me actually finish stuff. First there is the nothing else to distract me factor and secondly if I finish this then I can cast on or knit with insert long list of stuff on my to do pile. This is not to imply I don’t enjoy the process of knitting whatever I am working on but in this case Kokkeluri is not exactly floating my boat. There are the pattern problems mentioned in last post that are slowing me down and the yarn, despite being dreamy, is also ever so slightly splitty. I blame the loosely plied nature and the tighter gauge that doesn’t give the yarn room to relax. My beloved gray aero and the gray yarn also are blending into each other. That might be due to my poor eyesight. I am still on the first mitten. I have pictures of that as well. The pretty leaves:

Kokkeluri leaves

The flower looks like one of those trippy 60’s psychedelic pictures to me:

kapow!

I am unable to take the picture from the opposite angle but to me it looks like something you would see in the batman tv show: kapow, right in the kisser. It makes me smile even tho I doubt I would punch anybody in the face and they will get that coming at them. And boy does this baby need blocking. Sorry for the uneven knitting. Not sure what is going on with this. Anyways I am almost finished with the first mitten body-minus thumb and icord edging at base- and am not really tied to the chart anymore but the chart requires some attention and I cast on a mindless sock Friday night to go along with TV watching:

projects in the works

I finished the first sock over the weekend. It is your basic 3/1 rib all the way down to star toe. I did get adventurous and try garter for my short rowed heel. I believe Lucy Neatby said something about making the garter portion wider than half the stitches but I took that class oh 10 some years ago and don’t quite remember. I did my usual half of sock stitches and I love how bloopy it is. I mean it just juts out there looking all squishy.

The yarn is Ditto purchased at a long ago closed shop and I decided I don’t like it. I purchased 3 colors of this yarn all at once since the shades are just lovely. However the socks I knit for my husband always feel gritty to me and the yarn, as I was knitting it up, felt the same, despite my not recalling that thought while knitting his up. So I was going ugh after about an inch and all ready to rip and donate the yarn when my kidlet says I like socks. My socks turned into Tyler socks right quick.

Speaking of yarn I also noticed while knitting Stonington that I wasn’t loving the yarn. Not sure what is up with that. I recall loving my last Stonington and purposefully bought the same yarn to recreate it. I hope I am not getting all yarn picky because I have quite a stash and it would be a waste.

Probably all a short lived ennui due to knitting the most beauterrific socks ever.

OK yarny days and knitterly evenings~ Elka

** edited to add dried shawl picture at top of post.

More Knitting for Others

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Elka Bolhafner

Two more knits for others…

Elegant Gauntlets with Fetching Mitts

I started the Elegant Gauntlets for another coworker a month ago! I have been super busy on the weekends lately with birthdays galore and it took that long to complete them. I used Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Thraven by Blue Moon Fiber Arts which was stashed about 8 yrs ago. I purchased it at The Fold which used to be the only retailer for the yarn–not sure if it can be found elsewhere. Anyway back then there was much hubbub on the net about STR yarn and I was insanely curious. I drove through a virtual blizzard to see the yarn in person and joined the Socks that Rock club in 2008 to stash more. It was the last time I ever joined a club because I like a bit more control over what I get both pattern wise and color wise. Plus I decided I really don’t like the yarn that much. I did go nuts for the Raven series since I figured it would be less stripey and I was right. Love this color way. And the gauntlets are perfect. The yarn is nice and weighty so feel really luxe. I actually might like these better than the pair I made for myself! Anyway I am really pleased to be done with them and hope the recipient likes them as much as she liked the Merino Mia pair she had tried on before requesting a pair.

Immediately after weaving in the last end of the Elegant Gauntlets #3 I cast on for Fetching. A third coworker had asked for a pair of fingerless mitts. She specifically requested short so that they wouldn’t bunch up in her coat sleeves and I thought this pattern would do the trick. She provided the yarn herself and it is very slinky so I had to be careful cabling. It is called Diva Sequin by Yarn Bee. It has little pailettes spun in and they wanted to move to the purl side. I remember seeing an article in Vogue Knitting in the 80’s maybe early 90’s on how to knit with pailette yarn but I never read it since I don’t tend to pick out yarn that has sequins or beads as part of it’s composition. It was fun watching them come up and add a bit of glitz to the finished product. I worked really hard trying to weave in my ends invisibly so that she could wear them inside out if she felt like it and used my needle tip to shove the sequins to outside if I wasn’t able to hold them in place while working the next row. The yarn is also interesting in that it has very long color runs but I didn’t see any portion that repeated in the skein. I am sure it does mind you but it seemed like I was hitting slightly different shades of green and teal between the purple. The color way is Scotish Heath. Part of me is offended they misspelled Scottish.

Fetching Mitts

Fetching ends with a picot bind off and the finger portion flares because of that. I knit this pattern for myself many years ago out of Brown Sheep Worsted and that bothered me a bit but in the end it proved useful to not have my fingers hobbled so I repeated the specified bind off for her pair. I also didn’t gauge for the mittens but went down a couple of needle sizes for a velvety texture. The ribbing is forgiving and should fit her smaller hands well.

I am off to knit something for myself although I offered to knit a bit more for coworkers. A headband out of the remaining Diva Sequins and a pair of Toasts for a small child out of machine washable cherry red yarn. I am not sure I own any machine washable cherry red yarn and am in the midst of stashdown right now. I will have to stash dive and hope I find some or break down and go to store. Or swap. If you own machine washable worsted weight cherry red yarn you are willing to part with leave me a message.

yarny days and knitterly evenings

~Elka

Knitting for Others

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Elka Bolhafner

Disco Socka

I really enjoy knitting for my beloved. He is very appreciative of anything I make for him. I have only knit him socks and mitts but he never complains about color or fiber choices.

I do worry, however, when knitting for others. My children are persnickity, my sister doesn’t wear my hand knits and my mom tends tuck away the goods as too nice to wear. Did I mention I saw her in Chicago when I went to see the big Greek Exhibit over holiday break? She, my mom, was wearing Laminaria over her winter coat. I knit that when the pattern came out–over the winter ’07/spring ’08 and gave it to her for Christmas ’08 so it was nice to see it in action.

So update. Strokkur is idling. It seems that in my hurry to have something super warm and toasty to wear over the winter I tightened up my gauge as I progressed with the knitting. Yes I knit the sleeves first. Yes I measured my washed and unwashed swatches. I ripped and restarted the sweater with larger needles and once again my knitting tightened up. I am a bit frustrated by this turn of events. Only once before have I had this happen to me–when knitting a throw for Berroco yarns in their Chinchilla yarn. I think I tried to knit that a dozen times before I called and said it just wasn’t going to work.

My proposed fix at the moment is to wait until it is sweltering outside and I will not be in any hurry whatsoever to wear it and then cast on again.

Meanwhile I was showing my fabulous elegant gauntlets to a co-worker and her eyes just lit up. She exclaimed about how soft they were and pretty and warm. I offered to knit her a pair of her very own for a flat rate that would kinda cover the cost of yarn. I did this while another co-worker was in the office and she too would like a pair of ‘arm socks’ Very gratifying to this knitter’s heart that others are wanting gauntlets of their very own.

Once I faced the fact that this winter was to pass without my wearing Strokkur I was a bit down in the doldrums and it took a while to find my knitting mojo & suitable yarns in my stash. For the first co-worker I am having a hard time finding a yarn with the similar feel, color etc as my prism mia but the second said she liked pink and most importantly I believe, easy care. I went through my stash and found several balls of the now discontinued Schoeller + Stahl Fortissimo Colori Disco Socka. Wow what a mouthful. I have actually knit several socks and hats and mitts out of this yarn and find it to be a true workhorse of a yarn. It doesn’t pill, barely fades and I have yet to encounter a hole in any item knit out of it. I have a pair of socks that are 8 yrs old at this point that still look brand new. Anyway I decided that this yarn would be perfect for Kristen’s arm socks. The finished babies are in the washing machine right now having the stitches evened out so a picture of the gauntlets in progress will have to suffice. Above you have a close up of the yarn chosen that I sent to Kristen to make sure it wasn’t too pink or glitzy for her and below you see proof that despite being knit smaller than mine they still fit a human arm. The wrist looks impossibly tiny on and off the needles… a heads up for anybody who looks at the gauntlets and thinks these will never fit. They do. 🙂

Trying on impossibly tiny mitts to make sure they fit.

yarny days and knitterly evenings~Elka

Gauntlets Done & Strokkur Choices

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Elka Bolhafner

Elegant Gauntlets

I finished weaving in the ends of my Elegant Gauntlets. The yarn, Merino Mia by Prism, stretched out horridly when wet and I dried them in the machine to counteract this. Even so my gloves are looser now than when I washed them. This is what I get for not washing my swatch in advance. However, the entire hand portion, most notably the thumb, was longer than expected going by pictures and description. I suppose this means I have particularly short digits. They look to be a ‘casual’ length but were knit for the shorter 1″ post thumb opening for dressy version. My thumb is practically eastern up by that lone inch:

poor missing thumb….

As I mentioned last time the colors are glorious and I believe they show up much better in this post than last. I enlisted my beloved husband into helping me take the pictures but the close up was taken under a light by myself in hopes of getting all the brown, blue, and purples in the smoke color way.

pretty colors

I am fairly certain that I will not rip out the thumb and tinker with it at all. I figure a few washings and drying in the machine will work their magic and shorten my mitts a bit.

I am excitedly working on Strokkur. When I ordered the yarn I went with the called for gray for body and ash for 1st contrast color. Ysolda knit this with a yellow for the 2nd contrast color and to be honest I don’t actually wear much yellow. I do own a yellow bee scarf that I tie into my hair occasionally but other than that nothing primarily yellow in my wardrobe. I am being drown to the gray/yellow combos I am seeing so may end up adding a bit of it here or there. However I do own a Pendleton Wool skirt from way back when. It has accents of pink and lilac which I tried matching via online color cards. I did well with the pink and rose shades but the lilac is way off. I would have preferred the lilac since pink is another underrepresented color although I do think it looks great with gray. I have completed one sleeve so have quite a bit to go before making my final decision.

Strokkur Color Choices

yarny days and knitterly evenings to all

Elka

Elka Knits

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Category Archives: Hands

Finit!!

More Knitting for Others

Knitting for Others

Gauntlets Done & Strokkur Choices