Breaking out the Electronic Patterning

I finally got fuses and a new electric plug. I fired up the patterning equipment and shazam I am back in business! It is frustrating to be missing parts when you move. I am sure I will come across the original parts one day but I now have replacements that work just fine. Now what do I want to expirement with first????

Spring Lace Shawl - catepillar to butterfly

This shawl was published in a Knit N Style magazine many years ago. It calls for cashmere yarn. I decided to knit mine in 13/2 100% camel instead. Otherwise I followed the pattern exactly. I started it a couple of years ago and kept putting it down and forgetting it. Since I now am back to a creative place I decided to dig out all my UFO's and make them FO's.

Here is a picture of the shawl fresh off the needles and unblocked. It looks like a bit of a wrinkled mess :-). It is now in the caterpillar stage.

Now the transformation to the butterfly. I rinsed in a lanolin rinse, squeezed in a towel and then pinned out on top of the guest bed.

A successful handknit FO

Ok I have finished the cardigan for my son and need to get him to model it. I took it on the railroad with me for my comute, put on headphones and just got busy.

The pattern is based on the top down knitting style from the Top Down for Toddlers book. However it is handspun yarn and a completely different guage so I cannot say I followed that pattern. Mostly I measured my son and did the calculations in my head so I have no notes to refer to in the future :-). I guess he now has a one of a kind sweater! I will get him to model and post pictures.

As to that swatch I have been playing with I now think I want to make my son and myself pool robes. I am going to have to devise schematics and see what I come up with. Stay tuned!

Back to knitting after a long hiatus

I haven't done anything crafty in years except for a few sweaters for my son. After sorting through my yarn stash I pulled out one of my knitting machines and set it up. I spent most of the first 2 weeks cleaning the machine, sampling yarns and reacquainting myself with the machine. I am also pulling out all my reference books and and reacquainting myself with techniques. I need to slow myself down because I know much more than I am allowing myself to actually execute.











I have decided to start with real basic yarns (not fancy or expensive) and did a formal swatch. This yarn is 2 yarns run together. One is a smooth white "nice" acrylic. The 2nd yarn is another acrylic that is a boucle type. I have run them together and used the highest setting on my standard knitting machine (T10.2).

I have promised myself not to start another project until I finish the projects in my current WIP (work in progress) pile. So first I am finishing a cardigan for my son using knitting from the top down technique and handspun yarn. I have a limited amount so the correct calculation was critical as far as how much yarn I need to complete the project. I have a little more than needed so will probably make a matching hat with the leftover.