Kay's Korner - A Knitters Notes

No, I have not flown the coup! Nor do I have "blog fade." I like to do things in batches. I cook up a storm one day a week. I knit several projects at once and I also work on several several different articles at any given time. But as I have heard a few grumblings, "when are you going to post again?", here is the latest chapter of On Kay's Needles. I have to say, it is nice to be missed (:

Of the many articles published here, the two subjects that draw the most comments recently are knitted gifts for men and techniques for knitting with hand dyed yarns. Coincidentally, two of my current projects will cover both. Ravelry is rockin' with variations of Kate Gilbert's Clapotis, originally introduced on Knitty.com, a wonderful on line collection of free seasonal patterns. Many of my knitting friends have made their own versions of this savvy scarf and initially, I considered a solid color worsted for my project. But after reading Kate's notes about how the dropped stitches play against the background striping when a hand dyed yarn is used, I opted for Andes by Ester Bitran in a yummy, fresh yellow/tangerine orange colorway.

After completing 12 row repeats for the center section, I adored how I was able to unravel the dropped stitches as I go, giving me a sneak preview of the finished project. After many years of working with my own dropped stitch projects, I see why Ms. Gilbert used twisted stitches to keep the ladders neat, especially when working with a smooth yarn. In my Aqua Wrap, a drop stitch wrap knit in slippery nylon and synthetic fibers, after several wears the ladders migrated leaving an allover loose, but attractive fabric. The addition of twisted stitches seems to have tamed this migration in Clapotis.

Where the third 100 gram hank of Andes was spit joined to the project, there is a definite difference in the color saturation, even though all of the hanks had come out of the same bag from Ester Bitran. The new hank also has larger sections of pooling, but neither difference causes me concern. I consider both part of the art of hand dyed yarns. Vive la difference! The overall effect is quite pleasing.

As for the hand of the yarn, the soft, springy, 100% wool was enjoyable to knit. There was a bit of tackiness in the strands that resisted the unraveling process, which lets me know this yarn would felt well, as the yarn rep. had mentioned when he first showed it to me. I will remember this tidbit for future projects. I believe this, in addition to the twisted stitches, will also help the ladders to stay neat during wear and laundering.

Although the size of my Clapotis is generous, certainly large enough for a stole, I am not wowed how it looks worn this way. But when I wrap it as a scarf, there is a most charming, gentle spiraling of the fabric from neck to ends. The dropped stitch ladders keep this accessory from being too bulky or unyielding and combined with the spiraling effect, give a look that is quite pleasing. The finished project feels cuddly and comfortable nestled around my neck and I am looking forward to wearing this Kate Gilbert design come our first cold snap.

As I enjoy the simple, clean lines of new designer Hillary Smith Callis, I have had her Cerus Scarf in my to do queue for a quite awhile. When I wanted to knit a special gift for Rare Purls' landlord, Mr. Doug Spohn, I knew it would be the perfect choice. Mr. Spohn, who asks me to call him Doug, but this man is worthy of a title, is a very tall and lean gentleman with a head full healthy gray hair. He has always been supportive of Rare Purls and helpful in so many ways, so I asked him to come by the shop and choose a yarn for a scarf. Personally, I have always thought that a nice gray, not too dark, looks handsome on a man with all gray or silver hair and he is no exception. He, too, liked Venezia, a luxurious blend of 70% soft merino wool and 30% pure silk in a lustrous worsted weight yarn by our friends at Cascade Yarns. I found the perfect shade of gray that will look equally fabulous with his long, black, cashmere coat or his denims, on a more casual day.

This pattern is pure linen stitch, which means slipped stitches in every row, so the progress on my US9 Inox Express circular is slow going. Knitting with Venezia is dreamy and the yarn is lovely in the woven look seen on the front of the linen stitch pattern. On the back side, the yarn performs equally well, enhancing the seed like effect. I actually have to be watchful that I do not lapse into seed stitch, as the linen stitch is so similar and I work with seed so often. Although I am usually fairly rigid about scarves being knit in a reversible pattern, for this project I make exception. Both sides have interest and where neither side is overly busy, there will be no need for the wearer to fiddle with trying to keep only the front side public.

I am past the halfway point in Cerus, but as the stitch pattern quickly tires my hands, I have been alternating projects often to give them a rest. Even so, I will have no problem finishing this classy, masculine design in time for Mr. Spohn to sport during our local fall festival.

Happy Knitting!

Kay Mather

Copyright September 2010