FO: Michelle Sweater

Project – Michelle’s Pullover
Pattern Book – Top Down Classics #500860
Yarn – Patons Shetland Chunky
Blogger – YoElizbo

Finally rescued my Michelle sweater from my Mom’s house and sat down and got knitting. When I got the body done, I tried it on, and discovered that I loved it–and had a radical thought–not knit the sleeves long, but do them short so I could wear it through more than just the fall and winter months.

And here is where a top down sweater is so wonderful. You can get the body done and consider it step by step how you want to do the sleeves. So I knit a bit, and tried it on, and knit a bit more, and tried it on. But after all, the long sleeves won out:

What I love about this sweater is that I can wear it over a t-shirt or a tank or a long sleeve shirt and it is perfect weight for all kinds of weather. And the lace lets another color pop out a bit. Fun!

So there it is, my finished Michelle–which has quickly become my go to pullover. I’m still contemplating one for spring in another color–and this time with short sleeves or maybe just caps.

-YoElizbo

FO – Frou Frou Scarf

Project – Frou Frou Scarf
Pattern Book – Breathtaking #500879
Yarn – Patons Lace  #33427 Woodrose
Blogger – terriknitspatons

I had been waiting to write this post until I could get outside and take some pretty pictures.  The weatherman tells me that is not going to happen anytime soon.  So I will improvise.

When last I left you, I was hoping to finish the body of the scarf.  And I did.

Ruffles too.  Whenever I finish a lace project I am surprised by how unkempt it looks.  This is definitely its gangly phase.  A little patience and grooming is what is needed right now.

When working with lace, patience and grooming is obtained through pins and steam.  The scarf is much longer than my ironing board, so I blocked in two sections.  I pulled the scarf different amounts lengthwise and widthwise until I found the look I liked best, then I started pinning.  My ironing board cover has stripes which make pinning lace out very easy.  No ruler needed.  Once everything was pinned, I hit it with steam.

I love steaming lace!  I know that sounds odd, but it is true.  I love getting right down with the iron, hovering just over the fabric and watching the yarn relax.  You can actually see it move.  Thrilling!  The only problem with this method is a personal one.  I have curly hair, and after standing over a steaming iron for half an hour I resemble Albert Einstein.  I try to steam block in private.

Blocking ruffles is a little tricky.  They can not be pulled and pinned in the same way as a panel of lace.

For the ruffles I lined up the stitches and let the fabric mound where it liked.  This way I was able to straighten the curling, but keep the flounce.

What a difference!  So light and it drapes like a dream.

The edging was pinned and then sewn to the body.  I suggest using the same color yarn as the top layer of your ruffle.  Then weave in all those ends.  There a lot of ends.  Tons.  But it is worth the effort.

Lovely!  The scarf is wide enough to cover your shoulders as a wrap, if you feel a little chill, but thick and luxurious when scrunched around your neck.  One of my favorite projects ever.  Two needles way, way up!

-terriknitspatons

more Frou Frou

Project – Frou Frou Scarf
Pattern Book – Breathtaking #500879
Yarn – Patons Lace  #33427 Woodrose
Blogger – terriknitspatons

Last night I spread out in bed with Frou Frou.  I looked down to see that the yarn matches my jammies perfectly.

Pretty funny.

The project is sailing right along.  I would rate the pattern for beginning, but not new, lace knitters.  The lace pattern itself is very simple.  The same 10 stitches, in the same order, over and over again.  The only thing that changes is where in the order your row begins.  There is no patterning on the wrong side rows.  The reason I would not suggest it for a new lace knitter is because the  lace motifs do not line up.  It is difficult to look at the row you are knitting, in relation to the row you just knit, and be certain you have not made a mistake.

If you keep the faith and power through, it makes for a nice wavy fabric.  Look, I reached the pink yarn!

The scarf is so soft and fuzzy.  Can you imagine it wrapped around your neck?  I will not have to imagine for too much longer.

I am at the halfway point of the main body.  My goal for this week is to finish the scarf, get it blocked, and be ready to work the ruffles next week.  As if the soft yarn was not enough, ruffles!

~terriknitspatons

Frou Frou begins

Project – Frou Frou Scarf
Pattern Book – Breathtaking #500879
Yarn – Patons Lace  #33427 Woodrose
Blogger – terriknitspatons

Last night I began Frou Frou.  Patons Lace yarn is such a treat.  The thickness is exactly right for me.  The stitches are lacey and plump at the same time.  Top them off with a bit of mohair and your fingers want to keep knitting.

Here is the first pattern repeat.   The pattern is rated “intermediate”, but in reality it is not that difficult.  If you have knit a lace something before, this will be a good choice for you.

This photo really shows off the mohair.  The first repeat measure about 3 inches, which means I need to repeat it about it about  a hundred  eighteen times.

I can not wait to reach the pink portion of the yarn.  The current brown/grey is lovely, but the pink makes my heart giddy.

Soon.

-terriknitspatons

Endless Cast On

Just a quick tip that I love sharing.

I’ve jumped into knitting my Mom’s Sweater, and the first step is to cast on a bazillion stitches. Well, you know what I mean.

And here is the rub when it comes to casting on all those stitches, especially if you use a long tail cast on: Do I have enough yarn in the tail to cast on all the stitches?

There is nothing worse that having to cast on 150-250 stitches and get to about 30 stitches away from the end and running out of yarn. But I learned a tip a few years ago that is priceless and I love sharing it. Here it goes:

If you have two skeins, use the two ends from them held together. If you have one skein, grab the outside end and the inside end and hold them together:

Make a single slip knot out of the two of them:

And then start casting on. When you are done, just snip one of the yarn ends and keep on knitting with the other.

The beauty of doing it this way? You have an endless supply of yarn from which to cast on with. No running short! And if you want, you can count that doubled slip stitch as one stitch or two. And in no time you have your bazillion stitches cast on and you are knitting away:

What is your favorite tip for casting on?

-YoElizbo

The Frou Frou Scarf

Project – Frou Frou Scarf
Pattern Book – Breathtaking #500879
Yarn – Patons Lace  #33427 Woodrose
Blogger – terriknitspatons

OK, just the name of the pattern is fun.  Add the fact that the scarf has ruffles and can be knit with pink and I am a goner.

Patons Lace is such a nice yarn.  The colors are absolutely fabulous.

So subtle.  And look at the long color repeats.

With a nice soft hand and a bit of mohair that gives the yarn a nice halo.  Gotta go, I have to cast on right now!

-terriknitspatons

How we spent our summer vacation

A lot has been happening at the Patons Design Studio this Spring and Summer! We’re excited to share our favorite updates that you may have missed.

This Spring saw the release of fun new yarns!

Patons Wild Child is a funky yarn that’s perfect for accessories or kid’s projects.

Soft, luxurious, and fabulous, Patons Moxie allows you to create fur-inspired accessories.

With the same softness and halo of Patons Lace, Patons Lace Sequin adds a bit of glitz and comes in gorgeous jewel tones.

We spent the summer busy planning the next batch of new yarns, patterns, and books. We have some exciting things coming, and will keep you posted when they are here.

Here are just a couple of free patterns we’ve released recently:

Patons Classic Wool Roving - Twisted Cowl

Patons Moxie - Tube Snood

We’ll continue to update you with new patterns and check back in with our bloggers and see what they’ve been up to!

But What is It?

So when last we chatted, I had forgotten my Michelle pullover, but had a lovely pile of Patons Canadiana, the New Generation sitting there waiting to be cast on. But what I neglected to tell you is what the heck I was planning on doing with it.

Shame on me.

Well, here it is:

The Mom’s Sweater, which is free pattern. I actually saw someone else with this sweater and thought it so cool, and then to my delight discovered it was not only a Patons pattern, but a free pattern to boot. Hurrah on both counts. The original sweater is shown in Patons Decor or Patons Classic Wool, both of which are great choices. But I have had this thing for the New Patons Canadiana ever since I knit my T-Rex. It is so nummy soft. I know I say that every time I talk about the yarn, but it is soft. And all I could think while I was knitting that darn dino, was what a wonderful sweater it would make. The Candadiana, not the dino.

So I made the best substitutions that I could and came up with this palette for the fair isle portion:

Not that there aren’t endless color possibilities over there on the Canadiana page. Check it out.

What do you think? What colors would you pick?

-YoElizbo

Knitting 911

I will encourage all of you to have a 911 project. This is the project that you have ready for the needles in case of emergency, which I had this week.

Let me tell you what happened. I went to my mother’s for lunch. We sat around for a while chatting (we love to chat) and knitting–me with my Michelle pullover, going gangbusters on the stockinette portion of the body and she with a charity hat for a newborn–she knits tons of these. We had lunch, and chatted more, did our usual exchange of books, dishes, yarns, patterns and food that we always end up doing and I came dashing home to pick the kids up from school, and here it comes, the too terrible to say part: I FORGOT MY KNITTING.

Yes, I forgot my knitting. How the heck does that happen? Forget the kids, yeah, sure. Forget the groceries in the cart–well, that happens to the best of us. But the knitting? I could almost hear the Shetland Chunky weeping from neglect.  And it isn’t like Mom is just up the street–she’s a good 45 minutes away, so I don’t get up there but once a week. A week without my Michelle pullover? Horrors.

But then I remembered as I stood in the driveway gaping with shame and horror at the empty passenger seat of my car and realizing that my constant companion, my knitting, wasn’t there, I had a 911 project close at hand.

My next Patons project had arrived not a few days earlier and just in time. Sort of like the Fates knew I would need it a bit early. I think it should be wearing a cape and have a giant P on the front of it. Like, “Here I am to save the day!” So, please, all of you out there: don’t spend another minute reading my blog, unless you haven’t read the blog below, then read it and then go and do this one single thing:

Put together a Knitting 911 bag right away. Believe me, one day you will thank me.

Have you ever lost or forgotten your knitting somewhere?

-YoElizbo

Needles, needles everywhere…

…but never the needles I need!

How is it that I can have so many sets of knitting needles (straight, DPNs and circulars), yet each project seems to require needles I don’t have? I have the same problem with crochet hooks.
Seriously, I have the entire drawer of one end table crammed with my good needles and hooks, while another drawer holds old needles – some mis-matched, most aluminum (I hate the sound aluminum needles make when they cross). The first time my sister-in-law saw what was in the end table drawer, she said now she knows right where to find the good stuff.

When I chose my latest project – the Cushy Smocked Throw from Patons Love Your Home pattern book – I assumed I would have whatever needles it required.

The box arrived, filled with a dozen skeins of Patons Decor in the gorgeous new shade “Mandarin,” and the pattern book. I couldn’t wait to cast on, then noticed the pattern uses 36″ size 7 circulars. I did the gauge swatch on 8s, thinking gauge wouldn’t matter too much with an afghan, but the swatch was half an inch larger in each direction. That’s and extra inch for every 8 inches of width, which would really add up on such a wide piece. Fearing those extra five or six inches of width would alter the super cool “smocked” effect, I bought more needles. (I realized I didn’t have any size 7 DPNs, so I bought those, too.)

This leads me to wonder: How do you manage your needles? Did you splurge for a complete set? Do you have interchangeable circulars? (If so, do they every come apart during use?)

-K1Paula2