"Daelyn" by Isabel Kraemer FO

Pattern: Daelyn by Isabel Kraemer

Source: Ravelry Download
Size: M1

Yarn: 9 balls Noro Solo

Colour: 1 Lot: A

Source: Knitomatic

Needle: 5.5 mm

Start: July 28 Finish: August 15, 2016

Modifications: Shortened/Omitted short rows at lower back/Knit one size down

('Going to try to catch up on posting recent makes starting with this one as I've been loving it the most in these early weeks of spring.)

The success of this make was about being patient with pattern and yarn selection and realistic about fit and style.

I first saw it as a test knit on Ravelry, months from its release. I was eager to start on it though so I worked up an improvised pattern of my own and started looking for yarn.

A top down pullover, with a garter stitch back flowing forward along the shoulder increase line over a stocking stitch front, seemed simple enough to work out. 'Trick is though, to successfully manage the differing row gauges of those front and back sections.

Fortunately, as I worked at the math for my version, Isabel's pattern came out and I bought a copy right away. What a great decision. The pattern is simple and fun to work where my own would have needed constant thinking and attention.

Of course I still wanted to cast on ASAP but I kept my eyes open to find just the right yarn.

Then at the DKC Knitter's Frolic, it was standing right in front of me. I was chatting with Emily Foden (phenom indie dyer violaemily of viola yarns) I couldn't take my eyes off the pullover she was wearing. She'd knit it up in Noro Solo in a colourway I'd admired at Romni weeks earlier but never thought of for Daelyn.

Well I bought that Noro at Knit-O-Matic the next week (no one had it for sale that day at the Frolic.) I was warned to expect stretching and a lot of drape with it. Since I also wanted a tidier, less slouchy fit than the pattern I took that advice, then went one step further and cast on a size smaller than what I'd normally make.

It was great advice about the yarn. Great drape and a it does grow as you wear it. It needs a bath to bring it back into shape often but it is totally worth it. This yarn in this colourway is magical.

Shiny silk and fuzzy mohair somehow carry a rainbow of crazy bright and florescent and natural earthy colours. They pop out of the background as they come into view, while knitting and seem pretty perfect for a clown costume of some sort...

 From a distance though the look morphs into more of a  springtime-soft-go-with-anything...

The pattern's short rows accommodate the varying row gauges perfectly. (Did I mention there is little chance mine would have done so?) Most wonderfully, the line of paired increases between front and back sweep forward to perfectly connect with the 2x2 ribbing around the bottom.

Very satisfying!

Before you get to that ribbing there are more short rows - a few for row gauge and a few more to give a longer back to the piece. I omitted these latter ones to give me an even hemline all the way around.

The longer back really suits the styling of the pattern which is a longish, loose, super relaxed and looks amazing in the pattern photos but I know would just look a mess on me.

So not only did I omit the longer back but I also stopped short of the recommended length. Mine is a more square, tidy Daelyn that just reaches my hip bones - better styling for me.

In the Noro Solo yarn it's also a light weight knit perfect for early spring, late summer, early autumn. It is great on its own (as I'm wearing it today) or over a t-shirt and feels comfortable against the skin. During the winter, on less bitterly cold days, I like it over a blouse.

However I wear it (and I wear it a lot) I love how it turned out.

Also love that...

• I bailed on my own efforts to work out the pattern for myself - it wouldn't have ended as well.
• I waited until I found just the right yarn/recognized it when I saw it then bought it right away.
• Listened to advice
• Stayed focused on the styling I need despite loving the way Isabel presented it in the pattern.

Mostly though, I love living in Toronto - with so many great yarn shops, inspired/inspiring knitters and a climate that lets me wear knits for the majority of the year.

A week for "Plan B" 's

A "Plan B" will not be necessary for My Elmont (wet blocking showed the sleeve will work as is). So, with it being much closer to completion than Daelyn it "wins" the  "what will I knit next" lottery.

I'd love to have it done to take along to London at the end of the month when we go to see Number One Son. We'll see how things go this week then I'll know better.

These felted slippers, knit in Briggs and Little Country Roving a couple of weeks ago do need a "Plan B"...

They were HUGE to start with. Machine felting (many trips through the washer and dryer) did shrink them but not enough to fit me and I think they're about as small as they're going to go.

So Plan B will be to find bigger feet for them. My Beloved's might do the trick. 'Hard to say just yet because they've dried into pretty wonky shapes so I'll need to wet them again and get them to dry in the shape of a shoe and then we'll make the call.

Meanwhile...

The "Gift for the Girls" Blanket (A whole Plan B project) is feeling like its suddenly gone from looking like a scarf to the beginnings of a nice sized throw.

These knits, the task of nailing down travel knitting and a plan for shopping at Loop if I manage to make it there while in London are my knitting list for the week. What are you up to?

Eeeny Meeny Miney Moe

Post op issues and our persistent "wintery weather mix" have had me knitting, sewing, cooking, baking bread and working with the dog at home for weeks now.

Its been refreshingly quiet (and delicious!).

Thing is, its about to get warmer and busier. The garden will be needing attention (because there won't be snow falling on it every week), the cottage will open (because the ice will break up, go off the lake and allow us to access the cottage, as we must, by boat), we have some travel planned and there are dog trials to do with Hudson.

I need to get organized if I'm going to have knitting going as well.

So as I lower the setting on blanket knitting from "boil" to "simmer" I'm reacquainting myself with with "My Elmont" and "Daelyn" - two great sweater projects I'd like to get back to after setting them aside months ago.

Fingering weight Elmont had me worried the first sleeve was too narrow but is it really? What if I blocked what I've got and everything was fine and I had a piece that was half finished just sitting there waiting? 'Need to get to the bottom of that question.

Then there's Daelyn, in the most magically coloured/thick/thin Noro yarn ever. (Have to admit that yarn is calling to me!)

The top down hit the ground running format was too demanding of attention during an otherwise busy/distracted period so that's how it got shuffled off into hibernation. Right now though, the yarn's little hits of colour would be so fun to see on the needles...

It's time to be wearing rather than knitting these - 'time to take some time, dig into those project bags and decide which one I'll attend to first. There's a project for the weekend.

'Hope you have a good one!

Shearer II FO

Afghan beneath the sweater is Darling Daughter's fifth FO - a chunky-weight basket weave lap blanket - as I was snapping these pics it happened to be blocking while she cast on "Trellis" from Knitty Spring '05.

Pattern: Modified "Shearer" by Kirsten Kapur

Source: Juniper Moon Farm Shepherd and Shearer

Yarn: All of 8 Balls of Naturally Naturelle 10 Ply Aran

Colour: Natural

Source: Romni Toronto, Boxing Day Sale 2015

Needles: 4mm, 5mm

Start: January 2, Finish: February 19, 2016

What. A. Slog!

I was not in the mood for knitting this. Especially not in the mood for knitting it quickly. I didn't get "into" it until the last half of the second sleeve. I'm quite happy with the result though - looking at it in these shots its kind of surprising me how much I like the looks of it since I literally wake up in the morning grateful I won't have to work on it.

...'Glad to see the "back" of this one both hanging up and now en route to London about 5 weeks after casting on. (I was originally hoping to be done in 2. That's all the actual knitting time it took but fiddling with size, shape and stupid errors born of knitting tired/distracted made it seem to drag on and on.)

In this version I wanted the same amount of ease (+4") but for a more narrow frame (36" chest vs 42").  So I omitted the outermost cable either side of front and back.

The overall length is 2 1/2" shorter and the sleeves are less deep at the shoulder by about 2".

I really think set in shoulders suit the sweater better than the drop shoulder of the pattern so again I planned and did attempt top down, short row shoulders. But I just couldn't focus on it and kept getting unsatisfactory results so ultimately I worked the sleeves bottom up and set them in.

Btw this is an excellent tutorial on calculating set in sleeve decreases.  I didn't actually use the approach, rather just copied the shoulder shaping of the sweater but it really is a great "how to".

...'Love the ribbing appearing to flow from the collar, become cabled, then return to ribbing again...

Also love the cables neatly meeting at the shoulder seam and the tidy, classic line of the set in sleeve.

Three needle bind off worked well to ensure front and back cables met nicely.

Finally, for two natural, Aran weight sweaters, knit on the same needles to the same gauge and with the same basic pattern you wouldn't believe how different they are. The Juniper Moon Farm yarn was "Minimally Processed" and by comparison this New Zealand Naturelle feels like super wash wool stripped of its essential wooliness.

"Naturelle" by Naturally in the "Natural" colourway!

On its own that's not the impression the sweater gives but comparing version one with version two the difference is profound.

My Beloved's functions really well as an outdoor-weight piece. When you pick it up if feels like it might well stand up on its own if you let it. This second one is softer, drapier, lighter weight with little to no halo even post blocking. It could work outside in the UK where its headed but wouldn't stand up to Canadian cold the way the less processed one does.

Since I wasn't able to try this on the kid I included generous seams just in case its too snug. To keep them behaving I tacked them all down and pressed them quite flat post assembly. (I couldn't resist adding a little date, message and signature on one of the side seams.

So a pressure-filled project comes to and end but with two questions still remaining...

1. Will it arrive safely in England or get lost in the mail?
2. Will it fit so that he likes and wears it?

I'd cross my fingers in the hopes those things work out but they're busy knitting another time-sensitive project - my second Syrian Refugee donation - this one requested by one of my aunts for a family set to arrive this week.

Onward!

Just Like That

I've been to Florida since we've "chatted" where it was perfectly chilly enough to allow lots of work on Shearer II so that front and back are now joined with a finished collar and I'm in the home stretch.

After a few attempts at starting the sleeves top down though I bailed on that idea on Sunday. My brain is exploding with ideas for 2016 and as I knit I can't seem to sustain focus on simultaneously sorting out the details of the short row shoulders amid the cables to produce something I'm happy with.
 

So down to the cuffs I went and up sleeve one I go very much spurred on this morning by a post by Karen Templer on her desire for the perfect Cabled Pullover.

By the time I'd left an essay of a comment I'd suddenly found the love for my pressure-driven WIP! Thanks Karen!

Weekend Progress

I had two knitting projects on the go over the weekend...mine and the new knitter's...

I can report good progress made on both!

With close oversight, Darling Daughter, sailed through the various maneuvers of the final collar decreases and short row shoulder shaping on Alberta yielding the foxy-looking thing above all ready for steeking.

(Probably using the technique outlined in Kate Davie's Double Crochet tutorial here.)

As the rounds got shorter she also took to cutting up the Noro to ensure each stripe appeared similar to those in the longer rounds below. I think she did a really nice job with that.

As for Slade, I'm now just passing the horizontal button holes on the neckband, dipping into the 6th of 7 skeins to finish the final 2 1/4" of ribbing yet to go..  

Like I said, I'll be sorry to see this yarn off my needles.  Good thing I'm going to have well over 300 yards of yarn left once I'm done!

Worthwhile Extravagance

While Guacamole-fest preparing to do a little home dying was fun, the most exciting yarn adventure of the summer was selecting, ordering, picking up and knitting a batch of hand dyed, untreated Blue Faced Leicester from Georgian Bay Fibre Co. ...

• My order was dyed with my project in mind after I had a chance to talk with the dyer Carla herself at the farmer's market in town near the cottage.
• When I picked it up a week later it was beautifully packaged, with a post card tucked inside outlining and illustrating the inky blue colour way's inspiration - the stormy waters of Georgian Bay, in whose waves I played endlessly as a child.
• Impossibly gorgeous, heavy, rich and glossy yarn put up in beefy 200 yard skeins.
• All this and I'm supporting a new local business and a keen young entrepreneur.

Extravagant yarn purchases are not my usual practice. I recently realized that between shopping carefully at LYS's and the Guild Frolic, re-knitting yarn from hand knits I no longer wear, renovating old pieces and using remnant yarn over the last couple of years, I've spent, an average of $30.00 per sweater.

Now those knits were in the wake of heavily investing in the Shepherd and Shearer program but that was so enjoyable, felt so good, yielded blissful knitting and an heirloom quality FO My Beloved wears constantly in the winter.

So jumping in with both feet to invest in something special again seemed reasonable enough and

boy this yarn is special.

As with The Shepherd and Shearer, every stitch has been laden with pleasure at the features of this wonderfully aromatic yarn and how they're playing out into the garment. Similarly too, despite being keen to see My Beloved wearing it, I'm sorry to see the end of this project's knitting phase.

All the pieces are currently blocking under a fan in the hopes they'll dry quickly. I'd like to take them to the cottage tonight, seam them tomorrow and get going on the button band/collar.

Its about 200 stitches around, 2x2 rib for 6" all while wrestling the entirety of the garment as I go. Not my favourite kind of knitting but I'll have the wonder of the yarn for distraction as well as tracking/helping Darling Daughter with her project.

In 10 days of knitting she's made it to the point where shaping for the neck begins, having established steeks for the armholes 4" earlier. By tomorrow she'll be undertaking her first attempt at a few short rows and doing a bit more shaping and then it'll be on to securing and cutting the steeks!

All kinds of knitting fun to look forward to this weekend. Hope you have a great one too!

Mustn't/Must Mantra

I have a lot of diverse projects on the go.

I started drafting this post with a list of those things and honestly my heart started to race with anxiety at the enormity of it so obviously I mustn't focus on barriers, or on the dim prospects of finishing anything...

I mustn't. I mustn't. I mustn't.

No I need to just take one little piece at a time and move some part of any of it forward every day and then give myself credit for doing so.

I must. I must. I must.

'Must start by recognizing successful completions ('Mustn't think how each of these was on its way to being a blog post in real time - mustn't, mustn't, mustn't)...

I organized/hosted/cleaned up after a spring-time get together for my group of friends known as "The Coffee Ladies"...

(I was originally aiming to make this an "Autumn" then "Christmas" then "Winter" get together - obviously missed those targets but I got it done before the end of the school year. Go Me!)

A couple of family dinners were also "produced" including a celebration for My Beloved's Birthday with a cake that demanded the full brunt of my baking experience and resulted in quite possibly the most amazing fire-bearing cake ever "sung" into our dining room.

This thing was a magical combination of eggs, sugar, chocolate, butter and air served beneath a wash of kir-laced, warm, fresh cherry sauce and topped with softly whipped cream. There've been fancier looking, iced cakes around here but nothing more magically delicious and delectable. Beating and baking to just the right moment were uber tricky with this one (As ever its a Martha recipe if you want to try it for yourself !)

I've also been making the effort/taking the time to dig out/integrate things I love from storage and put them to use rather than just racing to cross finish lines with what's handy. Like these awesome ceramic berry baskets my sister gave me a few years ago...

The gorgeous table cloth that reminds me of a wonderful trip My Beloved and I took to Paris...

Assembling colour blocked stacks of well worn vintage and current cook books...

"Styling" these (and other) open kitchen shelves with colour rather than the all-white look I've used the past couple of summers...

I also put myself and attending outfits together for two successful business dinners in two nights last weekend.  The first "black tie" whereof I had less than 24 hours notice and the second that demanded creative purchasing and wrapping of a gift of wine for a young engaged couple (aka the boss's son and his fiance).

We adopted a "Candle Light and Wine" theme using an oversized vase as a "champagne bucket - style holder for the wine and tucked in a big round cande with jars of decorative gravel to put beneath it.

Added wood burned tags we made

And  a card using one of my photographs

All presented in a seasonally-appropriate beachy basket at the pool-side party near the lake.

This was super fun to do, especially since My Beloved worked on it with me and possibly also because we had some Sauvignon Blanc in frosty wine glasses as we "worked". No doubt it helped to fully release our creative energy resulting in something I was happy to see on the gift table.

We got a replacement for the outdoor porch carpet after a hot lawn mower burned a series of holes into the previous one. Lack of a new rug had been delaying the porch up set up for the summer, moving the indoor plants outside to their summer homes bla, bla, bla...its done now though!

I also need to acknowledge that last week's Peony parade  did not remain an idea in my head but actually happened and has been filling the house with the most heavenly scent for nigh on two weeks. Despite peony-knocking rains every couple of days I also continue to successfully manage the "show" both inside and out for the first time ever.

Intellectual "progress" on my attempt to build a Gallery Wall as part of my Living Room upgrades. In other words through much trial and error I am starting to get an idea of what it will take to do this successfully. This is soooooo much more difficult than I had imagined.

(Just realizing how far I've come on this as I compare this photo of the assembly from a couple of weeks ago to what's spread out on the floor this morning!)

So there are successes and progress. I must use it to spur me on to find, somewhere in this knitter's brain, affection for this knit...

I must. I must. I must. There is no reason I shouldn't. It is on gauge, on plan and has already seen many, many hours of effort.

I've also wet blocked the first sleeve as well as the body which is finished to the underarms. So I'm certain of the ultimate size and shape. The thing is, I have a feeling the sleeve could use more ease. It does fit and it is knit to gauge and my original plan so I'm hesitant to rip it out for the sake of a minimal possible improvement.

Resenting that its not done already is only further delaying its completion, turning it into a barrier to planning and getting excited about the summer knitting ahead rather than the gratifying and enjoyable project it should be right now.

Unable to make up my mind as to what to do and distracted by a billionty other things (see above) I've been dealing with the question by not dealing with the question.

I must move on this! I must I must I must!

 'Have to say writing this mantra down is adding clarity and energy and releasing the blocking anxiety already.Thanks so much for dropping by - 'feels like this little "chat" has been a big help!

A Bit Negative For a Friday

Pseudo Sib has been here from NYC this week for another event on his art/work calendar. Although visiting him there a couple of weeks ago yielded a decent amount of knitting time, the same cannot be said of time spent playing "host city".  The events held here were such that I was able to tag along with him and of course I also hosted a family dinner at our place so everyone could visit. From that perspective its been a great week.

From a knitting perspective its been less stellar. Here I am, Friday afternoon, about to head to the cottage and the last time I touched my knitting was Monday afternoon waiting in the terminal while picking up Darling Daughter at the airport!

Hence the sleeves of my Elmont are not jumping off the needles and I am only just getting ready to work the eyelet detail above the elbow of the first sleeve.

I will have time to work on it in the car as we head to the cottage in the next hour or so but the knitting really is getting tedious. The sleeves are narrow so that working on a circular is a wee bit tight (hate that!) and while the cottage is great when we're on our own for working on complicated pieces it's not my favourite place to knit in June. The bugs outside keep you cottage bound, I keep thinking I'd rather be out in the garden at home and there's nothing to distract as we don't have TV or computers up there.

My Beloved, however, has a plumbing project he's keen to see to up north so I'll go along and try to get as much done on this knit as my hands will allow. (The tight circular knitting irritates everything from my hands right up to my neck and shoulders - another reason I'm not enjoying it I think.)

Fridays should be the ultimate day for looking forward in the week but this one hasn't felt like it holds anything worth anticipating. 'Guess I'd better find a better outlook while I pack up and get ready to go!

I'm going to fire up the latest Knit British Podcast as I do it. (I don't generally listen to such things but honestly that girl's Scottish brogue would make a grocery list sound amazing) and I'm going to try to get positive about this Elmont project - even if takes just focusing on the fact I'm past the half way point to getting it done and over with!

'Hope you've got a better knitting weekend planned than I do!

May's Perfect Combination

Three weeks jam-crammed with activity and mindless rounds of go anywhere stockinette - an ideal pairing of knitting and life!

My 40" "Elmont"-styled EZ seamless raglan has many miles on it since casting on three weeks ago.

First there was to and from the cottage for the opening at the first of the month...

 and then a second lovely weekend just past...

Between cottage jaunts, a trip to New York City for a fun few days with my aunt to catch a series of wildly successful events featuring my (pseudo-sibling) cousin's art. The need to kind of "save our strength" for the art events meant we stayed in town and minimized our tourist activites so we enjoyed knitting time before, between and after the scheduled activities with Pseudo-Sib and his family. Then there were the hours spent in airports. Honestly I do not know how non knitters remain sane while travelling!

Things have also been hoppin' in the house...

..."Excavating" a large poodle from his winter "wear", (A two day affair)

Delivery of some furniture ordered back in the midst of the desperately cold winter. I'd almost forgotten we bought the stuff. Of course new pieces arriving means others have to depart! Followed closely thereafter with a feeling of "wow that looks so much nicer we should really also upgrade the 10 other things surrounding it" syndrome.

Then there's been the usual seasonal work on the garden, the house and the wardrobe and our family cluster of birthdays to celebrate. Lots of to-ing and fro-ing to sort it all out, after each day of which its been wonderful to indulge in a bit of easy knitting.

While easy knitting isn't always what I want the roughly 30,000 stitches contained in the body between hem and underarms may well have driven me crazy were I not simultaneously enjoying the distractions of a busy month.

Especially so after working the re purposed Aran yarn so quickly into the (still- to-be photographed) seamless yoke in April. Beside that project this knit is sub-snail's pace. Without the benefit of markers tracking increases and decreases I'd be hard pressed to detect any day to day progress.

With another week to go in the month and a fair amount still planned to jam into it, I've finished the body knitting up to the underarms, have worked out the details for the sleeves and cast on a relatively scant 52 stitches for sleeve one. I'm hoping, in comparison to the body, the sleeves will seem to fly into completion!

Today I've got window washing to do - I'd better "fly" off and get that started. Thanks for dropping by!