Author: knitter

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Flame Chevron

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Here’s a photo of a swatch I made this summer after reading “Designing Knitwear” by Deborah Newton. One chapter in the book talks about getting ideas from various fashions eras. The section on flapper fashion showed a swatch of an interesting lace design but didn’t mention how to make it or what it is called. I search through various books and finally found it in “A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns” by Barbara Walker. It’s called Flame Chevron. My version is made out of Cotton Classic by Tahki. I think it would make an interesting tank top like this one from Bouton d’ Or, if knit in a lighter weight cotton. Tahki comes in some great colors but it’s just a little too heavy for my taste.

Update: Here’s a free pattern that uses this stitch. Thanks to Juliet for finding this link.

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Swatches

Here’s the final swatch for the Phildar cardigan. It seems like I can always make several swatches using the same size needle and come up with a different stitch/row count every time. This one looks good so I’ll go with it. I’ll be using size 3mm needles as suggested in the pattern.

The colors are really eye popping (Pacifique, Anemone/Indien and Groseille). This picture doesn’t really convey how bright they are. The Indien colored yarn is a thin metallic type yarn that gives the sweater a lot of sparkle.

Most of the yarn in this sweater is cotton. I’ve run across quite a few knitters who don’t like knitting with cotton yarn. Since this is my first big project using cotton, I don’t have an opinion on it yet. It seems to have enough twist so it shouldn’t be too difficult to knit.

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Interesting Construction

One of my favorite lunch break past times is to go to the local magazine stand and check out knitting magazines. This week I came across this sweater called Blue Waterfall Pullover by Holly Minor in the summer issue of INKnitters. It is started on a circular needle from the top down. The construction of the shoulder is very interesting. The open twisted rib continues from the neck onto the shoulders and down the sleeves. The armholes are shaped using short rows which helps the sweater maintain a fitted look. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I’ll definitely make this one in the future.

I finished my niece’s socks and will start swatching for the Phildar striped cardigan.

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Got Wool?

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Ever since the Twisted Sisters book came out earlier this year, I’ve been resisting the spinning bug. The book features the most exquisite yarns. All were hand dyed and most were hand spun.  Knitting projects already seem to take longer then anticipated. How could I also start spinning?

It must have been my destiny to spin. This summer a friend offered me a fleece! How could I pass up free wool? The spinning bug bit. So, now I’m learning how to spin.  I already have three spindles, a niddy noddy and a nostepinne.

I find spinning much more challenging then knitting. I’m trying to get a consistent yarn but that seems nearly impossible. I’ve been practicing with a roving that I purchased from the local yarn store. When my skills improve, I’ll start spinning the fleece.

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Project Management

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Ok, I really want to start the stripped cardigan but I have two outstanding projects that really need to get done. I really hate starting a new project when I have others that are yet to be completed. It shouldn’t take too long to finish these socks for my niece. I’ve really got to get cracking so she doesn’t out grow them before they are completed. Don’t these colors look familiar?

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Phildar Odessey

I first saw this sweater on Anna’s blog a couple of months ago and was instantly drawn to the beautiful colors. I just had to make one for myself. The pattern can be downloaded for free from the Phildar website. Immediately I did a Google search for Phildar yarns and quickly found that there really isn’t a good source for Phildar in the North America. So, at that point, the lovely stripped cardigan became a new odyssey.

The original pattern calls for mostly cotton yarn, which seems like a practical choice considering the colors and pattern. I searched local yarn stores and web sites for a good substitute yarn but wasn’t very successful. I found several cotton yarns that would produce the correct gauge but didn’t have all the right colors. Also, it doesn’t seem like most yarn sources in the US carry a good range of cotton yarns in various weights.

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When a good substitue didn’t appear, I became determined to find a source for Phildar yarns. I found two web sites that offer Phildar yarn. One is in Dutch and the other in French. The site in Dutch offered all the yarn needed to make the sweater and the site in French only had two of the three yarns needed. Well, I didn’t want to presume that the folks running either site could read or write English, so I chose to order yarn from the site in French. Although my French is rusty, I knew I could probably correspond in French.

I placed the order and corresponded with a woman who indicated that she was willing to correspond in English or French. To pay for the order, I had to wire Euros to her bank account in Belgium. Doing so wasn’t cheap since the bank charges quite a premium for this service. The yarn arrived three weeks after payment.

Just about the time I received my order from the site in Belgium, I found another blog (pknitty) that mentioned this sweater. She ordered the yarn from the Dutch site. It turns out that the owner of this site can correspond in English and will ship yarn to the US. She also takes PayPal! I ended up ordering the rest of the yarn and the pink hook and eye tape from her. I received that package yesterday and was surprised to find a cute Phildar teddy bear included. If I ever find another Phildar pattern that I just have to make and can’t substitue the yarn, I’ll order the yarn from Breiweb.