Tag Archives: Toast

Retro Prep and Some Toasty toasts

Posted on by Elka Bolhafner

One of the many projects I mentioned rounding up last month was Retro Prep  that I had started in ’12.  Really it was shameful I hadn’t finished it since I love the yarn, it was plain st st easy peasy knitting, and I was at the raglan decreases for yoke by time I set it aside.  Unfortunately I have gained so much weight in past year and half that I cannot wear it without looking terrible.  I have been watching my calories this year and now have a toasty sweater to fit into next winter.  My first hand knit sweater for myself in so long I cannot remember and my only one in my possession.

Let the year of selfish knitting begin.  Unfortunately the Rowan Harris DK made my camera go crazy.  But here is a nice blurry photo:

retro prep

Also I joined a shotgun swap on the bpal forum for lupercalia and I decided to knit my recipient a pair of toasts.  I modified the pattern just a smidge by adding 2 stitches to the circumference.  This was so I could add in a wave pattern found in A Shetland Knitter’s Pattern Book.  The main yarn is some long discontinued Classic Elite Maya with a few yards of Brown Sheep worsted for the wave pattern.  I really like how the mohair picks up the light and glistens like droplets of water in the sun.  Score one for me!:

DSCN0755

FWIW I do have a better picture of the yarn in sweater but alas it is the backdrop to some secret squirrel knitting.  So if you are on Ravelry and feel like peeking at my projects you can see tweedy goodness there

yarny days and knitterly evenings, elka

Uncertain

Posted on by Elka Bolhafner

Second pair of to be gifted Toast done. This time I inserted a finger hole by casting off 6 stitches on a row then casting on 6 stitches over… nothing fancy. Right now I am waffling over what to pick up next. I am expecting a package from Cascade Yarns tomorrow so I don’t really have time to devote to anything but I also am all fired up to be playing with yarn. Recently a list I belong to did a project roll call and it seems that everybody else is also fired up. I wonder if all the unrest in weather and economy and politics have people minding their stitches? Either way

yarny days and knitterly evenings to all

Starry

Posted on by Elka Bolhafner

Mmmmm I love Dream in Color Starry yarn. It is so super smooshy. I actually love all of their yarn I have tried. The reddish color is In Vino Veritas held doubled. The fabric is super duper squishy and nice. Because of the silver it doesn’t feel that great knitting~ being honest here~ but the knitted up version at this gauge is great. I have knit myself a pair of socks out of this yarn and it is, again because of the silver, a bit scratchity on my feet but in a nice sturdy way not a get em off get em off way. I certainly feel like the socks are sturdier than my merino or merino/cashmere socks and they have a lot more body and stitch definition than most of my other socks. Definitely a winning yarn from a winning dyer

In the background there is the remainders of the Jaeger Shetland Aran, long discontinued, used for the pair of Toasts I mentioned earlier in the week. They are finished. Just in time since the intended recipients birthday party is today. The red is also for a pair of Toasts also a gift for one of my daughter’s friends. I am looking forward to knitting for myself and my own family soon. Anyway here is a picture of the finished Toast:

yarny days and knitterly evenings 😉

Royal

Posted on by Elka Bolhafner

  Brandywine is done~ such a lovely and fun pattern. I used a yarn from stash purchased on Ebay oh my goodness at least 5 years ago. Mainly because I haven’t Ebayed yarn since the ex and I split up. No particulars on weight or yardage but I had a disappointingly large amount of yarn leftover. Disappointing because I am a large woman and like big shawls but followed the instructions to a T and now suspect I could have done more repeats. Anyway it is what I like to call purple. A marled yarn, 100% geelong marketed as fingering weight, composed of one strand of navy and one strand of purple. Aubergine of the blue black variety~~ YAY. More lovely shots:

 

Rosemary Hill is so very very clever.  BTW this style of working the edging on with body ~ starting with a few stitches and working up towards a triangle~ was first seen, by me, in a Spin Off article written by Robert Powell.  The issue is from the Winter of 1996 so probably impossible to get however if you can do library loan the pages are 30-37 inclusive for a tutorial and sample shawl.  If you have any interest in shawl design there are a couple of pages covering motif placement within the body of shawl.  I have been interested in the concept since I first read the article but never quite got around to applying it since the proliferation of lovely shawl designs can be a bit overwhelming.  It is really nice to see it in use.   FWIW Powell’s designs are not widely available.  I believe he had a few in A Gathering of Lace but otherwise, with the exception of this article, I believe they are only available via Catherine Knits in kit form.  Although…. I think his earliest kits are now available as patterns also from Catherine Knits.  I have purchased kits, which I usually avoid like the plague, from Catherine and been very pleased with the service from her shop.

More pictures~ one of the point and another of the frame:

 

 

Earlier I said what I like to call purple and that is for a reason.  A lot of times when people say purple I see red violet.  Or just plain blue red which I consider red.  Or lavender.  Being a lover of the cooler end of the spectrum and all a lot of blue in a red is not purple but the shade of red I would wear.  If that makes any sense.  Now other people hear purple and think a totally different color.  For example my middle daughter is quite fond of purple and I recently knit a lacy baktus for her.  Mainly because she was trying to swap mine!  I had taken her down to The Loopy Ewe one day while she was off of school and she picked out some Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Pixie Pour for herself.  Okay in reality it was for me although I sincerely doubt I would have picked that shade for myself.  Despite her claiming it was purple.  Either way I was in the mood to shop and she *does* knit.  Kinda.

And another daughter requested that I knit some Toast so that she can give them to one of her oldest friends on the Sweet 16 soiree coming up this Friday.  Favorite color of BFF since Kindergarden?  Purple of course.  Thankfully Toast doesn’t take long to make since I only have a few days left:

As soon as I finish this purple pair of Toasts I need to knit another in some Dreams in Color Starry so that another daughter may gift them out.  We are all fully outfitted in our Toasts and apparently they are still a big hit with the youngsters since my daughters’ friends make sure I hear how lucky my kids are to have me knit them.  Hurray for knitting!

yarny days and knitterly evenings