Good things come to those who wait

Despite my self imposed moratorium on new yarn, a sincere effort to finish all UFOs and to get back to sweaters; I am pleased to announce my KnitPicks Andean Silk yarn arrived today. At last! The yarn is 55% Superfine Alpaca, 23% Silk & 22% Merino, the color is lettuce and I can't wait to start working on Backyard Leaves! And don't let this luxurious sounding blend fool you into thinking I spent a fortune either.

While my yarn took a very, very slow boat to Israel (via La Jolla, CA - thanks Di!!!) I began to wonder whether it would ever arrive. You see after I ordered it the end of January, it decided to take a longer vacation in La Jolla than I anticipated. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I heard it was soaking up the Californian sunshine, even if I wasn't. This meant that it was not lost at sea... However a week ago I started worrying again, I mean the mail may be slow getting here but this was taking a wee bit too long. Then Friday morning I received an email from Di letting me know that it should be arriving any day (if it hadn't yet appeared.) So I went downstairs to see if my notice was there. No such luck, nor today when I went out for a meeting. And then, upon my return, after seeing my disappointingly empty mail box, I noticed that box next to mine had a delivery notice. Now I am not usually the nosy type, but I just HAD to look at the name, and yes IT WAS MINE!!!! So I waited 2 more hours for the post office to reopen, stood in line and was told about the million transparent people who were actually standing between me and the person I thought was in front of me (ok, there were only two but this crazy place holding here is beyond ridiculous. "I'm after you," they say as they disappear into the sunset or grocery store and finish their errands while you stand like a good girl - ooh am I sounding bitter or just fed up...) and finally the package was in my hand. And it was all worth it!

Let this be a portent of things to come!

In the meantime I finished my scarf based on the Laura Zukaite's lacy sweater Vogue Knits Winter 06/07. Here it is drying. I used Lanas Stop:Yes in colorway 205.

And here is a closeup of the lace work.
Now I have about 20 cm more of my Elbac scarf from Knitty (I am making version 1) plus the ending which is about 10 cm. Should be done tomorrow or the next day.

Then I am on to frogging my Banff sleeves so I can redo them using 2 balls of the Himalaya self striping yarn at the same time to give a more random look. And of course I will break my vow and finally start on Backyard Leaves.

Oh the thrill of it!

And a fun time was had by all...

One of things I love about this country is our exuberance. We get so excited about things. Like today, for instance. Whilst in line at the bank (it's always at the bank, isn't it) I witnessed a gentleman at the counter as he worked himself into a true tizzy, demanding to see the bank manager because the teller wouldn't let him pay his bill. No, he didn't have the bill with him, why should he. The teller should have that info in the computer! Well, it turns out that our gentleman thought he was at Orange, not Bank Mizrachi. Shame on the bank for changing their color scheme, you see how much damage that can do!

But I digress, the fun time I referred to in the tital was not at the bank, though it was amusing. The fun time was at Rebekka's house Thursday night where she hosted an evening with Laurie Kimmelsstiel and a group of 15+ knitters learned to make ruffles and sample luxurious yarns, many of them hand painted, silk or silk blends from Artyarns. Just getting an opportunity to actually see the yarns and work with them before deciding to invest was a great plus for me. And Laurie was so enthusiastic about sharing info that she stuck around way past 10 to give us more design ideas and patterns. The best part, though, was meeting so many fellow knitters, many of whom I knew only from their emails and the Avodat Yad group. In many ways it was like meeting old friends. We all got along and just chatted away, I don't think anyone walking in would have known many of us had never met. And my 11:30pm ride to Binyanei HaUman with Ayelet and Orli not only enabled my splurge buy (no taxi needed!): a skein of Artyarns Silk Rhapsody in a green colorway I had been eyeing all evening, but also to engage in a pastime favorite, Jewish Geography.

Those of you who come from the East Coast seem to play on a daily basis but for those of us from California it is a rare treat. Turns out Orli's husband is not only from San Francisco but also went to Lowell High School (a few years after me, but still I call that a score.) I'd also like to give a special call out to Yael B, who not only organized the event but has been an amazing source and inspiration. And she is just as cool as I thought she'd be. Glad to finally meet you!

I have some project updates and a couple of new projects on the needles.

Banff sweater, two sleeves done. Now to work on the body. I knew the stripes in the sleeves would be much thicker than those in the body (I am using Teddy's Himalaya self striping yarn) but I was hoping to use two balls of yarn to compensate. Problem is the color changes are less than two rows so that doesn't work. I have before me two choices, I can just accept that the stripes in the sleeves and body will be of different thicknesses and not care, or take apart the sleeves and use two balls starting in different places giving thinner more random stripes. Opinions?

Prima Ballerina: Pink Eyelet Wrap Around Cardigan for T: I think I have done more frogging on this than anything I remember. I seem to get through lace projects but am having a heck of a time with these simple eyelets. I only have half a sleeve to show for my troubles but I am making it in a size 6 and T is only 41/2 so I am just trying to remain patient.


A Foreign Affair - still on hold. I am hoping to find something with the right drape when the spring selection of yarns come out.

Cable Vests small one frogged and re knit to set the end of the cable in a more appropriate place. still need to redo neck and arm bands. Large one frogged. I am hoping with added length they will make it through til next winter as I doubt they'd get much use of them now. Will have to get M to measure the boys before I start dealing with seam and bands.

Funky Chunky Zigzag scarf: on hold. I've used 4 balls of the Himalaya in the pink colorways and need one more. I am STILL waiting for the yarn to come back in stock. Pashosh had been out of for a couple of weeks although Aviva assures me it is coming in any day. In fact it may have arrived but the store was mysteriously closed on Tuesday...

New Project! Elbac was a late addition to Knitty: Winter 2006. I am using Gedifra'sCashmerino; a cashmere (10%), merino (55%) and acrylic (35%) blend on 5.5 mm needles. Not as luxurious as that 100% cashmere we drooled over Thursday night but very soft indeed. What's great about this scarf? It's completely ribbed and thus reversible! I just passed the half way point.


New Project! I don't know what to call this new scarf, but I am using the chart from VK's Lace Pullover in the recent Winter 2006 issue and once again the Lanas Stop: Yes Please, this time with color 205 in different shades of blue. After blocking I think the lace work will really show.


Of course I have a few more planned projects and a couple that are so barely started that I am holding off until I share.

Remember, you can click on any image to see it enlarged and all free patterns are linked back to the original site. So until next time...

Sweaters, Vests and Time Management

My first sweater was the Hooded Knitted Sweaters from Lion Brand's collection of free on-line patterns. This pattern is for the whole family but I've stuck to the children's section. Blue for the boys and pink for T. How traditional of me! The yarn is Madame Tricote: Festival which I found at the souk. It was quite soft and pretty easy to work with, but being 3 (loose) ply of three shades of the base color, the needles did sometimes split through and I had to be careful. I made these this summer so they, and a lot of other projects, would be ready to take to California in August. Although this is a pretty simple project I learned a few things. I learned the 3 needle bind off for the shoulders and hood. I also learned about picking up stitches and that straight or even circular needles don't work when you need to go around a small neck! Nope, didn't know about DPNs and didn't acquire any until much later! Don't ask how I got those hoods attached. I still don't know how I did it! Here's T's pink sweater and N's blue one.


Unfortunately I screwed up the hood size on S's and made it way too short. And of course I didn't think to bring any of the yarn with me so I had to bring the sweater back and finish it here. Well it too is done and is sitting in the box of Oh So Late Chanuka presents!

Next was a pair of vests. I sort of locked myself into buying the yarn and didn't know what to do with it. Inspiration flashed and I decided vests were in order. The problem? I couldn't find a pattern that spoke to me. After a lot of advice and encouragement from Menucha and Yael from my Avodat Yad list I decided on a standard V neck vest with dimensions coming from Ann Budd's "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns" and a cable from Vogue Knitting's Complete Knitting Guide. Trying to get the cable to end at the right place for the V neck was not something I had taken into consideration and while I might be able to get away with this neck opening for the S's in 6yr, I don't think N is going to be able to get his head through his! So I will be doing some frogging and figuring out a way to fix them before I send them off. I just hope by the time they arrive they aren't too small!!
Yarn is Teddy Carisma worked on 5mm needles. It's 2 ply, one is self striping the other grey.

While the vests were waiting around for seaming and arm and neck bands I started on childHood from Knitty. I found this great variegated yarn from Granada and a matching blue for the bands. I had many trials with this cardigan but I persevered! Still I'm glad I went for the no hood version! At first I wanted to do a reverse stockinette because I don't like the chevron look of the variegation. So to make the bands stand out I did them in stockinette. Next I had to knit the fronts twice because I stupidly tried blocking acrylic with heat. I know better than that! Also, if you look closely at the neck shaping I screwed up the band placement so one side rides high. Once everything was knit I realized they edges all rolled. This is how I learned that it's the garter stitch that keeps them from rolling around. So I removed the bands from the bottom of the sleeves, fronts and back and picked, flipped everything around so it was now a regular stockinette, picked up the stitches and re knit all the bands in garter. childHood actually closes with snaps, the buttons are decorative. I couldn't find any buttons I liked either. But then one night after all the seaming was done and all was missing was the buttons, as I started climbing into bed at 3 am I remembered that I had these big faceted plastic beads that might work. Then and there I went rummaging and in the bag of beads I found green and lavender which perfectly brought out those colors in the yarn. No, I wasn't in love with it but I put enough work into it and the coloring should be good for T so I decided to finish it. I also knew I had to do it again, the right way!

This time I followed the pattern completely including the strip effect. And I have to say, this one makes me VERY happy. They are both made for 6yr so they would last so it may be sometime before I know how well they fit.


While I learn more creative stitching with the scarves I am learning a lot about knitting from the sweaters too. I still need to improve my seaming technique and I want to understand sizing better so I can start doing some designing. Not being a small person, many of the patterns I see either don't come in my size or I can't imagine them looking good on me. Still I have finally started a sweater for myself. Also from Knitty, Banff is considered an easy pattern. It's raglan sleeve take care of difficult shoulder fitting and the ribbed waist and extra long ribbing at the sleeves suit me. Perhaps horizontal stripes aren't the best choice and of course the striping on the body wont match that of the sleeves, but I loved the colors in this yarn and I'm taking my chances. So far I've finished one sleeve so I could see how it would look.

I just started Kaleigh Young's Angora Wrap Cardigan for T, (picture removed) which comes from Vogue's Knitting on the Go: Kid's Knits. I am using Teddy Lady Mohair Rich in almost the same shade of pink. I've only done the 8 row repeat once so there isn't much to show yet.

Finally I did a swatch of Woven Cables in Relief from 365 Stitches a Year Perpetual Calender. I plan on making a sweater for S who is feeling a bit neglected since his brother and sister seem to be getting a lot of wear from their Hood Knit Sweater while he patiently waits for his. The pic on the left is from the calender. Either their swatch is much bigger than 4" or they used much smaller needles than I did! You do get a much better feel for the effect in their swatch but I am pretty happy with mine. Yarn is Vitalgo's Oxford. 30% wool and very soft. The color is actually lighter and brighter than the pic.


So, the box of presents is finally about to be sealed and sent off to California. I will just send the vests separately later on. Perhaps the wrap sweater will be ready sooner rather than later.

Next time... Entrelac Intricacies