blue belle's arms...

Here, once again is the lovely Myrna showing off my progress so far.
The plunging stock markets, world wide economic crisis, and the bankruptcy of ICELAND have done wonders for my knitting. Now, more than ever, I need to knit.
The sleeves, hem and neck are not done yet. all of that has to happen before I get to the STEEKING!!!!

Here's a good view of the back gussets(with string looped through the stitches

- not very photogenic, I know).


I am very pleased so far- it's just working beautifully.
HOWEVER:
I have just been reading alarming and worrisome reports on other people's blogs about alpaca- it apparently stretches and sags like crazy, making all of my elegant shaping for naught.
here is hoping that MY alpaca will not behave that way????
not too happy about this- after my fiasco with the Debbie Bliss chunky cashmerino for Teva Durham's corrugated vee neck, am still feeling burned.
So much work, and It looks like a stretched heavy floppy pill-ed Muppet after only one washing!
Argh!

blue belle!

Here are the first photos I've taken
(as modelled by my lovely assistant Myrna)
of my current project "blue belle" Myrna is a bit slimmer than I, so the work is a bit drapier on her than me.
On me, it is quite fit-and-flair, and very flattering indeed.

This is knit entirely in the round with increases and decreases for shaping. I was under the impression that I'd posted my sketches for this one, but that does not seem to be true.

So, see below for my artist's rendition of what I'd like this to be like:

Still to come are: Arms- sleeves- I've got 'em, even if Myrna doesn't, and I intend to cover them. They will be long, slightly flared with purled trim.

Also to do:
A high ribbed turtle neck, purled trim at the hem, and, the coup de resistance( or, perhaps, the coup de grace), steeks up the front and a zipper!

In layman's terms it means that after all of this hard work, I will risk it all by cutting up the center seams to open the garment up into a cardigan!
whoopee! I do live for danger....

This project has been so much fun-
and the beauty part? No Pattern!

just knit, try on, knit try on, adjust, add, try on.
how freeing....
(I take NO credit for "designing" this garment-The basics for this came from Stephanie Japel's excellent instructions on her Glampyre knits site for the raglan swaeter from the top down, plus many other inspirations and advice already out there. )

What does not show up well in the photos:
how lovely the llama/alpaca wool is, how rich the color, and how unbelievably frigging cool those gussets are!
I love gussets anyway, and these just shape the whole thing so marvelously....
this is (famous last words) truly painless sweater making.

This is indeed the same yarn I had in my shower all those months ago- for once I did as I said I would, and am USING UP MY STASH!!!

How very virtuous I feel. Not really- this stuff is so lovely and tempting it would be impossible NOT to use it. I have lots of other stuff that require more imagination and foresight...

Okay, so onwards- sleeve it is!

Mulesing

Amend my last posting.

I am going on a stash-purging spree instead, and will be frugally making stuff with what I've already got.
Why? you might ask...
Is the reality of the recession finally hitting me?
Well, yes and no.
I HAVE been buying too much yarn with abandon lately, but that is not the real reason for my sudden abstinence and puritan rigor within my craft.
No indeed.
It is something much more horrific,
something that I had not even considered until I saw a link on the Knitty.com site.

Unsavory and cruel practices regarding sheep, called MULESING.

Read about it here:
http://www.savethesheep.com/animals.asp

Here is what wikipedia says:
"Mulesing is the surgical removal of strips of wool-bearing wrinkle skin around the tail of a sheep.[1] [2] Mulesing is common practice in Australia as a way to reduce the incidence of flystrike on Merino sheep in regions where flystrike is common.[2]
Veterinary opinion considers muelsing a necessary animal husbandry practise in providing for the general welfare of sheep in areas of Australia[3] however some animal welfare advocates strongly oppose mulesing, and say mulesing without anesthesia is cruel and painful, and that more humane alternatives exist.[4] It is expected to be phased out in Australia by 2010,[2][5] and has already been phased out in New Zealand.[6]"

This is a nice way of putting it, as any of the pictures on the animal rights pages will show.

Do a Google search and see for yourself. This is no way to treat ANYTHING, let alone a social, sentient creature with nerve endings and a family.


I am truly disgusted and angry about this.



I started knitting as a peaceful non-violent craft, meditation and pass time.
It is a form of therapy for me, as it is for many others out there.
I always thought that sheep LIKED being sheared, and have a city-person's idealized view of country life.





In other words, I am an ignoramus when it comes to farm-life.



like many of my upper-middle class, citified brethren, I do buy a lot of expensive hand-spun and dyed stuff from small farms, where, I still believe, the flocks are treated respectfully and well.



It is, as ever, the big production animal husbandry folks who on a grand scale are the culprets committing unspeakable atrocities. For example,The US meat industry is truly disgusting, and foreign ones no better.



Buy small-scale for more reasons than one.
Pay more for carefully and respectfully reared organic meats and one should be OK, or at least that's my theory.
Wool I had not given a thought to.





I HAD thought about the negative environmental impact sheep have when grazing- they destroy all plant life in their paths, eating it all down to the quick, and leaving barren land that erodes behind them. Small wonder that sheep herders were traditionally nomads.



Nowadays shepherds are not nomads, and no longer want to watch their flocks- therefore they are up in arms about wolves and coyotes and bears and any other predators that might come by. As the sheep are kept in pens it's like going to the superette for the carnivores. I am less-than-sympathetic with all of this.



We must all live together, and if they were doing their jobs on a reasonable SCALE, that is with flocks of a watchable size, that migrated, and had shepherds with them, this would not be happening.



But now this:
Mulesing.



And I HAVE bought Merino from a big company in Australia recently. To make matters worse,
it was expensive and has not worked well for the sweater I knit from it. I need to check and find out if this brand is culpable or not. The idea makes me sick to my stomach.



Therefore:
I am using what I have.
If any damage has been done, it was done a while ago.



I have some lovely blueberry colored llama wool a friend gave me, that I am planning a top-down steeked(!) cardigan with. it should be gorgeous.
and a laptop cover with LOTS of colors,
and my huge seashell, in a lovely ropey white wool purchased long before any awful painful, bloody sheep cruelty entered my consciousness.



I am not sorry knowing- it is better to know about such things and act accordingly.
But-
I am sad.
How come human ingenuity so often results in barbarity?
Why are we so drawn to it?
Water boarding is, it seems, only one lovely example of our creativity.

It’s been a mighty long time since I posted here, and many knit-related events later….

First:
Finished the hat, just in the nick of time for noel, found a candy-cane striped tube for it as well.
Blocking it- with steam iron, improved the shape almost instantly, and all of the little holes and flaws magically disappeared.
I think I came up with something festive-but-wearable, it actually looks good on, not just funny or silly.

Having accomplished this I THEN started to worry that it was too young for adorable niece Frances, who has sprouted up several feet since last I saw her
(6 months ago) and is most definitely, a young Lady now.

However-she yelped as she undid the ribbons, promptly put it on, and wore it the whole time I was in town- and not for my benefit, either, though she is pretty polite.

She even wore it when visiting with her friends, so I take it to be a hit, not a miss. And it really did look charming on her, though she could wear burlap and still look charming, could Niece Frances…

I am trying to get a photo of her in it sent over to post here.

And on my end, I hit total pay-dirt in terms of knitting x-mas gifts this year.

here’s a photo !

From D & TH.: Beautiful hand dyed, hand spun alpaca from a local Maine farm, in soft muted hues. Adobe, grey-blue, grey...

And from Anne: lovely, exquisitely soft and fine cranberry colored silk/alpaca blend, from the pacific north west- am thinking of trying out some lace with this, I have a not-too-frou-frou “pinecone” pattern I like…

From my mom:
Some sparkly, tortoise-shell mottled angora Lurex fancy fluffy stuff and a copy of Teva Durham’s Loop-de-loop!

I have been coveting that book since day one, and while in Seattle, on my way back to NYC went into the rather deluxe knit boutique “So Much Yarn” (see: http://somuchyarn.com/)
and purchased enough Debbie Bliss cashmerino chunky yarn is a delicious chocolate/violet color to make the “corrugated asymmetric vee-neck” sweater, which I am now wearing as I write this. That’s how behind I am….

I had trouble following the rather eccentric directions, but eventually got it right. I made the biggest size (and I am NOT the biggest person) because the others seemed just too tiny, but the thing stretches like a slinky, so is, in fact rather too big.
Nonetheless, I feel this pattern is an excellent combination of cozy, big and comfortable, while still being sexy and slinky. No mean feat that.

Note to self:
This is the second sweater I have made with Debbie bliss cashmerino. I am NOT allowed to buy it anymore, despite the lovely feel and texture and array of mouth-watering colors. Why? It pills almost instantly. I HATE pilling, and it attracts lint and bits of flotsam like CRAZY, so it very easily looks dirty- yech!
I need crisper, more hard-wearing yarns.

Now, with picture:

Peruvian vampire cats!!!!
I based this design on a very ancient Peruvian textile I fell in love with. It’s for a friend (to remain un-named, on the bizarre off-chance that she reads this blog), who is expecting.

I am making the wonderful “baby Yoda” wrap sweater from “dogs steal yarn” (see http://dogsstealyarn.com/, ) it’s a great pattern, very simple and adaptable. The blue ground is a very soft mystery yarn, something synthetic and very soft that knits up into a cozy, fleecy terry-like substance.
After that?
Dunno.
It doesn’t make much sense to pre-decide, since I almost never actually make what I declare I am going to.
I do have leftover cashmerino, and have been thinking about making a matching corrugated scarf for my sweater, a good idea since I wear scarves daily in the winter.
I am TRYING to make garments that I actually will wear.

Gilded Lilly.
She is almost done. I am heading to M&J this afternoon (see www.MJTrim.com )
For hardware to finish her up. She took ages because I was unhappy with what I’d come up with for straps etc. but once I wrapped this gorgeous turquoise silk velvet bow around her, and held it in place with this Murano glass bauble, I was hooked. The bag looks like a super deluxe gift and is SO much nicer than anything else I’ve seen on the market it hurts.

the photo above is truer color-wise, and below shows the Chanel-style velvet entwined chain strap...

A bit gaudy & flash perhaps, but oh baby, so shiny!

pepermint twist

Note: If your name is Niece Francie, you should not read or look at this posting as it will totally spoil your christmas surprise....

This little goodie is the stocking cap I am currently attempting to make. It is taking A LOT of wool and is very thick, and possibly too heavy to really be feasible(or pleasant) as a stocking cap.

Right now it looks more like a very snarled, potentially poisonous jelly fish, and I am gamely trying to get it done on time, but am less and less optimistic. Live and learn.Perhaps I will send it out to somewhere very cold as a charity hand-knit gift- say Afghanistan- where it's qualities and aesthetic might be better appreciated.

next time I make a stocking cap I will:

• Cast on the suggested number of stitches
• use lighterweight yarn
• use equal weight yarns
• use few colors

My devil-may-care, invent and add as you go approach has NOT worked well with this project, which was intended to be portable. Instead, I have been lugging around big bulky bags of assorted tangled candy-colored wool all week. I will post a picture of the finished item, when it finally happens....