On My Needles and In My Studio

Well, 2018 hasn't been a fantastic year for blogging, but that doesn't mean I don't at least think about it.  I will try and get better, but when there is little progress from week to week it's hard to think of topics to discuss.

Luckily I have some things going on right now that I can share!

First up is a FO in the form of socks for my friend Jayde.  Finished the week of March 26th, they have reached their recipient safely and fit well.  I love the pattern - Hermoine's Everyday Socks - as it is just subtle enough to show off the stripes but also add interest, and the yarn is definitely a favorite.  I wish I had more (time to stash hunt on Ravelry!)

Shown with original artwork by Jayde Archebold. 
Check out her site and shop if you like what you see :)

As soon as the socks went off, a new project went on.  This lovely shawl is for a friend who is moving to London at the end of the summer.  I think the weight and size will work well for her over there, and the pattern - Madeleine Shawl from Vintage Modern Knits - is knitting up so quick that I am already on the decreases!

The yarn is worsted, single ply from the UK titled Mapuche.  I don't really have any other info, as it was a gift and the tag was bare bones. 

The other knit project currently consuming my mind is this fantastically interesting knitted sculpture project.  I came up with the idea a few months ago and have been obsessed since.  I am creating ball sculptures that, to me, represent fallen memories and dreams, and are completely hollow (thanks to balloons and glue) and have a light inside! They started out as standing, table top pieces, but I recently acquired some hanging fixtures and have been playing with hanging them.  I can't decide which I like more, but I do know that I am going to keep making these!

Shown with a yellow "bug light" bulb inside.

Finally, I have been developing a few new colors of yarn! Although I haven't been able to dedicate a good chunk of time to dying full skeins, I do have a few minis I created as tests for color.  My plan right now is to roll out a new "series" of colorways based off my EnchantKnit Forest paintings, with the first two being in the purple family.  

Frozen Summer Harvest is on the pale purple and blue side with pops of pink and green, while Sleeping Moon Ice is on the darker side, with indigo and navy showing through.  When I finally get full skeins I bet they would knit together really well!

Sleeping Moon Ice

Frozen Summer Harvest

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Is it summer yet? I know spring just started, but I am really ready for a break from school! April has many many events happening and I am trying to take it one day at a time and also get some knitting in.  I hope I can make that happen!

~Lisa 

I just need a little Breathing Space!

After six months, I finally finished something yesterday. Something big that will quickly become my favorite thing to wear. 

"Breathing Space" by Veera Välimäki. It's pretty likely you may have seen this pattern, as it is from the ever popular "Interpretations" series and has been made 1691 times on Ravelry. Also, Veera is pretty famous for her work, especially her "Color Affection" Shawl. 

Mine happened by accident.  I have had 2 skeins of Malabrigo Sock, in the colorways "Lettuce" and "Solice" for a few years now, having bought on sale.  I had been looking for something to pair these two with and I was flipping through the Interpretations book one day and fell in love with this pattern.  I quickly bought a second skein of Solice and got to work.  This was in July of 2017. 

When I started, I ran into a few kinks, the main one being my gauge, which was off by a few rows (more rows per inch than the pattern asked for).  As my stitch gauge was correct, I went with it, knowing I'd need more rows/stripes to equal their numbers.  It was pretty smooth sailing for awhile until I got to the bottom part of the body this past December. The math got confusing and I just couldn't decide how long I wanted it.  I ended up binding off and then un-binding to make longer. 

The sleeves were the same story, having decided to make them a little bit longer and having to redo a few things on them.  But I'm pretty happy with the length and so glad I did redo things. I bound off for real on Saturday evening, February 17.  Exactly 8 months after Ravelry says I started. 

The whole time I was trying it on as I went - a perk of sweaters in the round - and it fit pretty well, so I was a little worried blocking may make it huge.  But it really needed some breath (yes, pun intended) and so I took the leap and blocked.  Let me just say that I am very glad I did! It's so nice and drapes really well on me now. 

A few more notes:

• I actually provisionally casted on at the neck, as I wanted to go back and do a stretchy bind off on it.  I am glad that I did, but pulling out that provisional cast on was a pain.  I think I did it wrong :/
• I decided to make a "gradual fade" at the bottom of the body and sleeves with the stripes, which I enjoy. Although I wish I had striped it longer before going back to solid.
• The stripe pattern is 2 rows one color, 2 rows the other. If you look at the body close enough you will see a stripe that is a bit thicker.  That's my "Birthday Stripe" which is from when I had too much wine on my birthday and ended up doing 3 rows of the darker color.  I like telling that story, so it stayed.
• The diagonal rows are created by one of my favorites, short rows, and so much fun to work.
• I will likely make another some day, but I need a break for now.  It was suggested I try it with random stripes of sock yarn.  Yay?

For the record, I will NEVER paint in this sweater. In fact, I'm even scared to wear it to school on days we will be painting.  BUT it felt appropriate to do some studio shots in it, as it's such an artsy piece.

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Thank you for taking the time to read today.  I have the day off from school for President's Day and had to stop and blog for a bit.  But now I need to get back to life, AKA dying yarn all afternoon. 

~Lisa 

2017: The Year That Was...

2017: The Year That Was...

1) The start of a new tradition: knitting journals.

Gifted from a fellow knitter, I have spent the year chronicling every project I worked on and cannot wait to do it again in 2018.  I just wish I didn't have to retire this really nice journal.

2) An (almost) successful attempt at keeping my feet forever warm.

You can see all my projects here!

I am happy to report that I finished 11.25 pairs of socks.  The December pair is still on sock one, as I just cannot speed up those cables.  But I plan to finish them by the end of January, which was when I declared the goal to begin with, so that counts, right? 

3) A major inspiration in my painting world.

With these beauties being my most successful to date (although I am kinda sick of looking at them), I feel like my art is going in a new direction and cannot wait to see how 2018 goes!

(Also, I recently sold the Originals!)

4) The start of many new and exciting things.

I cannot believe I only started this dye journey in March! It feels like I have been doing it for so much longer.  But I guess when you find something you love, time seems to fly.  I have truly enjoyed this new endeavor and cannot wait to introduce my new colors (last 2 on right) and new ideas in 2018!

I have two shows coming up already! One in March and one in June.  I cannot wait, but that means more work for me...

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What else can I say? I went through and re-read all of my posts from this year and am very impressed with myself on how consistent I was and my ability to share what was happening.  Thank you to everyone who read and commented this year, it always means so much to know someone is listening.

I'm leaving you all with this song, which is from a movie I saw last week.  The lyrics are stuck in my head and are very inspirational for me as an artist.

Bring on 2018!

~Lisa

Socks, Socks, Socks

Happy Halloween friends! What a month it has been. Full of knitting, dying, selling, painting, and making! I have loved every minute of it.  

Tonight it's all about socks, as I finished my October pair last night, just in time for Halloween, and have the next pair pretty much planned out.

"Lacey Pumpkin Socks" are toe up, short-row heel and toe done in a fun orange and black colorway.  The yarn is 'panda' - Merino/nylon/bamboo - that was handdyed by my LYS.  I have been saving it for this month for pretty obvious reasons. 

Because... well... because :)

Next up on my list will be a simple pair made in my own dyed yarn on the new "sock" base.  I haven't had a chance to knit any samples in this 75 merino/ 25 nylon and need something for my upcoming Fiber Fest (in 2.5 weeks....wow). So what better time than to make some socks! Hopefully at least one will be done in time to use as a demo.

I'm sure it's the nylon content, but it does seem interesting that the sock base tends to dye up more pastel than the 100% merino.  Oh the things you learn when you start to really play with dying!

Now I just can't decide what socks to make.  I probably should just do some vanilla socks, as this yarn is highly variegated and I don't know how it will pool, but what fun is that? Maybe I'll try Flowers and Sunshine, a pattern I found via Instabgram.

Image (C) Dana Gervais

Or there's always the standbys - Vanilla Latte, Hermoine's Everyday Socks, and Jeck. 

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Do you have a stand-by for your sock knitting? Any suggestions for patterns with highly variegated? Shout out below!

I hope you have a safe and wonderful Halloween (if you celebrate).  Until next time!

~Lisa

August FO's

A few weeks ago I talked about all of the WIPs I had on my needles and how I seemed to just keep casting on more and more things.  Well I'm happy to say today that many of those WIPs have found their way off my needles, with plenty of time left in the year to make even more things!

The biggest of these is my Fallen Moon Drops Cowl, which I designed myself with my handdyed yarn.  I was really nervous about this as I got to the bottom as I wasn't sure how the holes would work out with the feather and fan, but after blocking they turns out perfect! I even discovered a new bind-off that is perfect for any type of lace knitting.  The Frilled Standard Bind-off is a great way to end any type of wavy lace design and stretches so nicely.

The next thing that I finished is a bit of a miracle. But knowing my knitting skills, maybe not so much.  I mentioned wanting to knit a pair of socks for my little sister using some Neon sock yarn.  Well I was able to cast on those socks over my long weekend last week and finished them in exactly a week! I ended up not using that neon yarn as it was scratchy and she gets irritated easily.  So I went with some self striping that I had scraps of and paired it with black mini-mochi to make up the difference. I had just enough to finish the pair and gifted them to her this past Sunday.  She didn't try them on there so hopefully they fit!

Her entire birthday gift! She turns 11 tomorrow!

I also finished those dishcloths I mentioned and gifted them, and the crochet tank I had is currently in time out, likely to be ripped, as it doesn't stretch and is too small.  I guess you can't win them all.

With all of these things done, I've been working on my Breathing Space sweater, which is turning out really nice.  I plan to cast on my September socks soon too, but I can't settle on a pattern or yarn.  Sigh.

My final FO for now is a painting that took me over a month to complete.  With school starting, the dye business going and just the realities of life, it's been hard to really focus on new paintings.

Currently untitled, this painting is an extension of the glowing tidepool-esque paintings I have been working on.  I like this one with the blue, but I feel the first three were more successful.

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I hope everyone is having a good start to the month and if you had the day off yesterday, you were able to enjoy yourself. I got quite a bit done so I can't really complain.

~Lisa

July Projects

And here's August.  I say it every month and mean it every time: Where did the time go?  At this time next week I'll be in teacher in-service for another school year.  Really....

I wanted to just take a moment and discuss the things I've finished this month, which has been plenty despite how fast it went. 

On the knitting front, I have a couple projects off the needles. The first was "Gray Gardens", a cowl/shawl hybrid that I really enjoyed making and enjoy wearing.  The shape is nice because you get the drape of a cowl without having to deal with it falling off or trying to find a place for those ends.  My only complaint is that I wish I had bound it off looser, so the lace edging wouldn't curl in so much.

The other project off my needles for July is my pair of socks - "Striped Panda Socks" - with some left over panda sock yarn I dyed to stripe a bit.  I thought I would enjoy these more, but somewhere around sock two I got anxious.  So much that I ended up making the foot too long and binding off too loose.  Soooo instead of ripping out I tucked the toe in and sewed it.  That's how much I wanted to be done with these.  Can you even tell in the photo? (Hint, it's the sock on the right)

Probably the biggest accomplishment of the month is the completion of my latest oil painting, thus completing the series.  The "Glowing Tide Pool" Series is officially complete! And I love all three together so much.  The are definitely my strongest works to date and I plan to play with this concept more coming soon. 

PS: You can buy prints on my Etsy if you want!

And finally! I dyed more yarn this month and settled on a Launch Date for my yarn selling.  This Friday, August 4th, I will be officially listing my handpainted yarns on Etsy.  Word of warning though: It will only be available to those near me for the first weekend or so, so that I may give those who have been supporting me the most a first pick and so that I may hand deliver it.  Whatever is left after that launch will be made available to the whole internet community.  And after that I'll be dying more!

(2 of the 4 colorways I'll have)

Starting a small business has been an adventure so far, and based on reception among friends and followers, I can tell I'm in for a ride!

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How was your July? Did anything exciting happen? Any great FOs?? Do share!

~Lisa

New Designs

I hope you all are having a fabulous summer.  It's hard to believe that it's already half over - my school job starts back up August 1!

I'm really excited to share my latest FO with you all, as it is something that I've been working really hard to perfect the last few months.

"Morning Garden Stream", which is named after the painting and yarn used, is a fun shawl that I have been working on designing since May.  Using the handdyed yarn that I matched with my painting, the idea was to recreate the painting in knitted form.  

The shawl features an asymmetrical design created by strategic increase placement to create four wedges. The body of the design features triangular bands of seed stitch, openwork and a band of blue at the bottom, all of which were added to emulate the colors and textures found within the original painting.

You've have probably all seen this painting a million times by now, but I wanted to share it once again just as a reference point for the design.

It was a fun little knit.  I took notes the whole time and plan to type it up soon, so that I can release it along with the yarn when the time is right.  

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If you're in the United States, I hope you are enjoying this holiday weekend - I know a lot of people have today off for Independence Day.  If you're out shooting fireworks, stay safe :)

~Lisa

April FO's

I feel like April sped by, like a derailed train.  So many things happened this month that I've discussed here on this blog, I didn't even know what to talk about this week!

And then last weekend a small miracle happened: I finished THREE WIPs in THREE DAYS. It's like there was a knitting fairy looking over me, telling me to Just. Keep. Knitting.

"April Flowers" - my April socks, came off the needles on Friday and onto my feet on Monday :) They fit really well, despite being cuff down with a gusset. And the color is so much fun too! Perfect springy flowery happiness!  The pattern itself is Mercury Socks, which I had memorizes by the end of cuff one. 

I finished my Sev(en) Circle on Saturday, when I had dinner and coffee with a fellow knitting friend. This "necklace" has been on the needles for about two months now, on and off again. The bamboo yarn is pretty splitty and honestly didn't work out the way I wanted.  The strands are really curly, even after a block, and blocking kind of took the natural curl away and makes the "ropes" lay flat.  

However, I plan to make another one soon, with tighter yarn and gauge.

My first full-sized crochet garment came off the hook Sunday night during a binge-marathon of Arrow, Season 4.  After finishing the back side, I realized that my gauge had changed from the first side and as such the front was larger.  Upon sewing it up it ended up working out and I would definitely knit another one.  The Drops Design however, was a bit of a pain.  Luckily it's a pretty basic design.

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I feel so accomplished, having all these finished projects for a single month.  I'm hoping that May can be the same, but there's no guarantee.  Between finishing up my first year of teaching, Relay for Life on Friday, a quick flight home next week for my sister's graduation and trying to breath who knows what will happen!

~Lisa 

Sorry Guys, I just needed to ;)

March Madness

It's been a crazy month of madness here. No, I'm not talking about the basketball tournament that most of the country seems to obsess over.  Instead I'm talking about the amount of things I somehow managed to start and finish within the past 31 days.  Anyone else feel like March went longer than normal? I'm not really complaining, but... I sure am glad it's April!

My Lucky Stripes socks didn't get complete within the month of March like I hoped, but it was a close finish - April 3rd to be exact.  Somewhere along the line these socks just got boring.  Which is sad because they really are gorgeous.  As for the seam up the sides, well I don't mind it if it means not having to weave in a million ends.  Overall they're a good fit and I am praying that they don't shrink in the wash. 

There are several factors at play in the reason why my socks didn't get complete.  One of those was my spinning wheel, which has been pretty busy lately! I managed to finish my 2 ply merino, which comes in at just under 200 yards.  I'm actually surprised this spun up so well, as merino has never been an easy one for me. 

Painting seems to be taking a back seat lately also, yet I still got around to finishing this one that has been on the easel for longer than it should have.  Sticking with my current theme of knitted forms floating in water, this is probably the most elaborate of the series to date - including some ground plains and really pushing the space.  I like this one a lot and the photo doesn't do it justice. 

(PS if you haven't seen my art before, click the link at the top of the page, you will not be disappointed!)

Finally we have a new development in the discussion of dying from last week. I purchased some more bare yarn at my LYS and divided it up. I did one batch on Wednesday and had a fair amount of success, but not quite the way I wanted.  So I went back to the sketchpad and figured out what each one needed.  The end result is the above for skeins.  The first two are pretty much perfect.  The last two still need work. Hopefully I'll be making full skeins soon!

On the subject of dying and yarn and selling and knitting, if you are curious and want to follow all my knitty, bloggy, etsy things I created a new Instagram page specifically for my Etsy and Blog, so maybe you should go follow me? 

I hope that April is fairing everyone well so far, the weather here is so darn gorgeous it's hard to be this busy!

~Lisa 

The Perfect Pair

Well here we are, the end of another month, what is happening with time?

With my February Socks done, it only feels fitting to dedicate today's post to them in all their pink glory  But as I started taking photos I realized that I have something else I can discuss: Shoes.  We all have our favorite pair(s), for running, working, relaxing.  But do we all have a favorite pair for showing off our handknit socks? As knitters, I hope the answer is a resounding "Yes!".

My current go-to pair for pretty much everywhere is this woven pair of CCResort shoes.  The woven design is super fun and the denim color matches my jeans as well as several skirts I own.  Plus the open top is perfect for showing off some socks.  I will definitely be ordering more pairs of these in the future. 

What better way to show off handknit socks then with knitted shoes? Haha ok so they aren't actually "knitted", just drawn with the knit stitches by yours truly.  If you look at my photo close enough you'll see that this pair has gotten tons and tons of wear.  But they're still so much fun to wear when I have the chance.  

(want your own pair? Click here!)

This pair of black, flat shoes is one of my standards for work, seeing as we have to dress business casual. Although I somehow get away with pair them with crazy socks.  Maybe that's because I'm the art teacher??? Either way, this pair works well with bare or socked feet and was a clearance pair at Payless last fall.  Total score!

But some days I just want to sit around with no shoes, showing off my crazy socks in all their glory.  

I finished the watermelon socks this past Sunday, just in time to get cracking on a pair for March (haven't decided what to use yet though).  I really like the fit that I was finally able to get and the pattern plays nice with this yarn.  There is just enough minty green in these to accent the various shades of pink and the photo above is the best representation of color I've been able to get. 

What about you guys? Do you have a favorite pair of shoes for your handknit socks? Or a favorite pair in general? I'd love to hear more!

Happy March!

~Lisa