Author: denisemor

First off, here’s the Teo scarf I finished last week but didn’t have a chance to photograph before posting-

Very simple, I think it really shows off the color and texture of the wool, which I think is what The Shepherd was going for-

And with my needles freed up, I turned to starting again with Layton, a Julie Hoover design that was the pick of a friend of a friend. You might remember that a couple months ago I thought I’d knit this with Dottie yarn in a range of grays.

After a fair bit of swatching, I came to terms with the fact that the Dottie yarn wasn’t a good fit. So I’ve been spinning a new Chone yarn for the project.

I’ve got a fair bit of yarn spun up so far, and had re-swatched with better results, but still had some gauge issues.

Specifically, row gauge. The pattern gauge is 23 stitches/4 inches and 36 rows/4 inches. I’m ok on the stitches per inch, but the rows are kind of driving me crazy. My row count is 32.

At first I thought maybe it was a typo. But I checked the math between the pattern specs and the schematics and it seems to be consistent. Then I checked for other peoples projects on Ravelry to see if anyone else had an issue with the gauge- but it’s a new pattern, and it doesn’t appear that anyone else has posted about working on it yet.

I wouldn’t usually let this get to me, but in this case I think the impact could be significant to the shaping of the sweater, because it is a saddle shoulder design, knit in pieces and sewn up.

This had been bouncing around in my subconscious for quite a while. Then a couple days ago, I realized that I could work it according to Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Seamless Saddle Shoulder instructions!

All the sleeve and body shaping will be done according to the Layton pattern, but I’ll work the shoulder shaping in the round, so I can adjust on the fly and know that it all fits together correctly. And the stitch detail on the outside of the sleeve will still carry all the way up the saddles to the collar.

Whew! Such a relief to have a plan.

It seems fitting here to sign off with Elizabeth Zimmerman’s motto:

“Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises”

Thanks EZ, I needed that 🙂

The garden has actually been calling for a couple of weeks now, but I’d been letting it go to voicemail while I concentrated on woolish things 🙂

The weather has been unusually sunny and warm for April, and so everything is coming on really fast- including the weeds. And I kind of missed my opportunity to get the raised beds under control by solarizing with black plastic, so this weekend I had to put my back into it.

That cartful of weeds used to occupy the bed and a half behind it now nicely turned and awaiting compost.

Mmmmm. compost. This nice aged-to-perfection pile had been my holding spot for a trio of volunteer cedar trees over the winter. Getting them planted in the pasture is another item on the garden to-do list.

Compost liberated from it’s dense covering of weedy squatters and moved to garden beds. Also spread it around raspberries and roses. Was like handing out goodies to all my garden friends.

And speaking of snacks for friends- I noticed that my Therese Bugnet rose was starting to leaf out pretty good- looked very tender and tasty.

She is such a robust rose- I think related to rugosa, but not as prickly, and spreads like crazy, so I have tons of it. Provides good sheep snacks all summer long!

On the wool front, I am excited to say that I just carded up a sample of Daphne wool, and it is lovely

There’s not a ton of it, because a fair bit of her fleece was felted, but what I have is going to be a lot of fun to play with- gray, brown, black- with mahogany highlights.

And, The Shepherd’s Teo scarf just came of the needles! Will have a finished photo for next week once the ends a re tucked in and it’s blocked.

Stay safe, and Knit On!

Stay safe, and knit on!

Here in WA, we’re under a Stay Home order, which has just been extended to May 4. Non-essential businesses are closed, and many people are out of work. I am really fortunate to be able to work from home, and so have been doing that for the last week and a half.

It’s pretty amazing that the university is still operating- with almost everyone working remotely. We have so many technological tool available to us now to keep us connected, both to co-workers and data systems.

So I’ve not had much direct contact with the outside world recently.

That actually isn’t too hard on me because I’m kind of an introvert, and I’ve got things to keep me busy here. But I feel compelled to keep up with the news, and that does take an emotional toll.

Saturday, based on the recommendations of the CDC, I dove into the fabric stash to create some masks for The Man and I to wear when we need to venture forth for essentials.

So were covered there. I actually wore mine out in public for the first time today when I went into town for groceries. Was kind of odd, but many other folks doing the same. Good to see that people are taking precautions.

I also took some time this weekend to give myself a little fiber pick-me-up, in the form of a little dyeing. I pulled some Frank & Felix 2019 out of my vacuum-packed wool stash

and dug out the Abundant Earth Wool Tinctures I’d been saving for just such an occasion!

I also did a batch of Black Cherry Kool Aid, just to round out the color pallette 🙂

So fun and satisfying- and now I have a fresh batch of colors to blend and spin! That’s about 7 oz of each color. No plan for these yet. Just dyeing for dyeing’s sake.

And I wanted to share another little thing that made me happy this week-

This is the lone seedling to emerge from my rose seed starting experiment that I started last October. Just started to get real leaves, and got upgraded from the seed tray to a real pot on Friday. 🙂

Alrighty. that’s about all I’ve got for this week.

Stay Home, Stay Healthy, and Knit On!