A little something from Maine: enough Quince & Co. Osprey to make Idlewood. The colorway is called Honey. When I start dreaming of autumn, this is what I’ll be knitting.

A little something from Maine: enough Quince & Co. Osprey to make Idlewood. The colorway is called Honey. When I start dreaming of autumn, this is what I’ll be knitting.

I can’t get enough silk these days. This is Storm Cloud Shawlette knit in Malabrigo Silky Merino (Plum Blossom). I finished blocking it just in time for the loveliest day of the year so far.

One of my (admittedly many) goals for this spring/summer is to get better at photography, so I’m proud to report that I took these pictures myself!

Dirty window, soft cat, April snow, Lorna’s Laces.

Dirty window, soft cat, April snow, Lorna’s Laces.

There was a time when I didn’t know how to properly use my ball winder and I wound all my cakes of yarn into extremely tight messes. This is bad in general because the cakes get tangled inside and are then horribly annoying to knit with, but it’s especially bad for wool yarn because wool has a memory. This means that if it’s sitting with a lot of tension on it for a long period of time it will get stretched out, but after whatever you knit with it is washed, it will spring back to its former shape and your garment will suddenly be smaller. No good! (Part of the point of having a ball winder is to avoid this issue, since hand-wound balls can be pretty tense.) These days I have improved a great deal at winding yarn, but I still have some that I wound back in my unenlightened days. Tonight I used my swift to unwind this yarn (Malabrigo Sock in Solis) back into a hank, which is now soaking and will be hung up to dry, then re-wound into a proper cake. I thought it looked beautiful sitting in the sink.

There was a time when I didn’t know how to properly use my ball winder and I wound all my cakes of yarn into extremely tight messes. This is bad in general because the cakes get tangled inside and are then horribly annoying to knit with, but it’s especially bad for wool yarn because wool has a memory. This means that if it’s sitting with a lot of tension on it for a long period of time it will get stretched out, but after whatever you knit with it is washed, it will spring back to its former shape and your garment will suddenly be smaller. No good! (Part of the point of having a ball winder is to avoid this issue, since hand-wound balls can be pretty tense.)

These days I have improved a great deal at winding yarn, but I still have some that I wound back in my unenlightened days. Tonight I used my swift to unwind this yarn (Malabrigo Sock in Solis) back into a hank, which is now soaking and will be hung up to dry, then re-wound into a proper cake. I thought it looked beautiful sitting in the sink.

mutabilities: Sunday afternoons with Cakelin are the best! Points of note: Nora has a Tumblr! She is an awesome lady and a really excellent writer, so check it out if you like that sort of thing. It is actually Sunday afternoons with Nora that are the best. She brings a massage table. This is my swift! I don’t know what I’m doing with my arms/hands but it looks like I’m just magicking my yarn into a ball, which is kind of what using the swift feels like anyway.

mutabilities:

Sunday afternoons with Cakelin are the best!

Points of note:

  • Nora has a Tumblr! She is an awesome lady and a really excellent writer, so check it out if you like that sort of thing.
  • It is actually Sunday afternoons with Nora that are the best. She brings a massage table.
  • This is my swift! I don’t know what I’m doing with my arms/hands but it looks like I’m just magicking my yarn into a ball, which is kind of what using the swift feels like anyway.
As I have probably mentioned before, I’m the only member of my family who willingly puts wool next to my skin. So I wanted to make my mom something wonderfully luxurious, ‘cause that’s what she deserves, and I bought some recycled cashmere from Etsy seller jolieparisienne. Recycled cashmere is rescued from unwanted (generally machine-knit) cashmere items, washed, and plied into new yarn. This was a great way to obtain cashmere yarn for several reasons: It keeps old things from going to waste and supports an independent seller. There are environmental concerns related to how new cashmere is produced. (Obviously the demand for new cashmere from knitters is practically nonexistent compared to commercial clothing manufacturers, but still, it’s a plus.) There isn’t really a huge selection of worsted-weight cashmere out there. I bought two generous skeins of recycled cashmere for less money than one would have cost me new. The color! Oh my gosh, I love the color. There are plies of various pinks, purples, and blues in there, and I love imagining the garments they all originated in. The pattern I used is called Ridged Lace Cowl. The only adjustment I made was to knit only five pattern repeats instead of the recommended seven. I love how it turned out (and I think it goes without saying that it’s insanely soft). Remember how I said I bought two skeins? You’d better believe I’m keeping the next one of these for myself.

As I have probably mentioned before, I’m the only member of my family who willingly puts wool next to my skin. So I wanted to make my mom something wonderfully luxurious, ‘cause that’s what she deserves, and I bought some recycled cashmere from Etsy seller jolieparisienne. Recycled cashmere is rescued from unwanted (generally machine-knit) cashmere items, washed, and plied into new yarn.

This was a great way to obtain cashmere yarn for several reasons:

  • It keeps old things from going to waste and supports an independent seller.
  • There are environmental concerns related to how new cashmere is produced. (Obviously the demand for new cashmere from knitters is practically nonexistent compared to commercial clothing manufacturers, but still, it’s a plus.)
  • There isn’t really a huge selection of worsted-weight cashmere out there.
  • I bought two generous skeins of recycled cashmere for less money than one would have cost me new.
  • The color! Oh my gosh, I love the color. There are plies of various pinks, purples, and blues in there, and I love imagining the garments they all originated in.

The pattern I used is called Ridged Lace Cowl. The only adjustment I made was to knit only five pattern repeats instead of the recommended seven. I love how it turned out (and I think it goes without saying that it’s insanely soft).

Remember how I said I bought two skeins? You’d better believe I’m keeping the next one of these for myself.

My dad requested fingerless gloves for Christmas. Now everyone in my immediate family has a pair! The yarn is my perennial favorite Malabrigo Merino Worsted; the colorway is Forest. I used this pattern, but I changed the cuff and top part and the sizing. (By the way, if any fellow knitters ever want more details about something I’ve made, I’m “caitocaitlin” on Ravelry and I usually go into more depth in my project notes than I do here.)

My dad requested fingerless gloves for Christmas. Now everyone in my immediate family has a pair!

The yarn is my perennial favorite Malabrigo Merino Worsted; the colorway is Forest. I used this pattern, but I changed the cuff and top part and the sizing.

(By the way, if any fellow knitters ever want more details about something I’ve made, I’m “caitocaitlin” on Ravelry and I usually go into more depth in my project notes than I do here.)

In 2010 I knit three cowls/neckwarmers, four pairs of mitts, seven hats/headscarves, three sweaters (and began a fourth), two baby hats, two pairs of baby socks, two and a half pairs of normal socks, a pug vest, and four stuffed toys. My favorite finished products were the three sweaters (this because it was my first, this because it is the perfect sweater for Bryan, and this because I will wear it the most), Bryan’s cabled hat, and my Spring Forward socks. I learned to do provisional cast-ons, basic intarsia, basic lace, more advanced cables, short row shaping, sock heels, picot cuffs, sweaters with no seams, sweaters with lots of seams, i-cord, bobbles, kitchener stitch, and probably some other things. I realized that given time, patience, and supplies I can eventually knit pretty much anything I want to, and that’s a really good feeling. Here’s to another year of crafting!

In 2010 I knit three cowls/neckwarmers, four pairs of mitts, seven hats/headscarves, three sweaters (and began a fourth), two baby hats, two pairs of baby socks, two and a half pairs of normal socks, a pug vest, and four stuffed toys.

My favorite finished products were the three sweaters (this because it was my first, this because it is the perfect sweater for Bryan, and this because I will wear it the most), Bryan’s cabled hat, and my Spring Forward socks.

I learned to do provisional cast-ons, basic intarsia, basic lace, more advanced cables, short row shaping, sock heels, picot cuffs, sweaters with no seams, sweaters with lots of seams, i-cord, bobbles, kitchener stitch, and probably some other things.

I realized that given time, patience, and supplies I can eventually knit pretty much anything I want to, and that’s a really good feeling. Here’s to another year of crafting!

Bryan gave me a yarn swift and ball winder for Christmas (among other beautiful gifts). I am the luckiest, happiest girl!

Bryan gave me a yarn swift and ball winder for Christmas (among other beautiful gifts). I am the luckiest, happiest girl!