New Batch of Stalwart Sock!

Three new colorways!

I’ve got a new batch of Stalwart Sock listed!

Stalwart Sock Pile 08-08-10

Oldies returning are Billie Jean, Dorothy’s Destiny, and From Dusk til Dawn.

New, repeatable colors are Coral Flame, Silver Pine, and Black Cherry.

One of a kind colors are Motley and Paprikash.

Look for updates more often. I’m gearing up for fall business. My next dye session is next weekend if you need a specific color.

Vine Bolero Cardigan progress

Here are the latest pictures of my Vine Bolero Cardigan. I’ll be knitting it long, not bolero length.

Vine Bolero Back

and the front:

Vine Bolero Front

I’m using my Samite Sock yarn and all of this is from one hank of yarn. The length is just above my waist, and most likely the second hank will make the second half of the sweater body. I have three hanks of yarn set aside and the sleeves will not take an entire hank. The whole thing can be knit with three hanks of sock yarn, I think.

More Than Hot Enough

We have an entire week of over 100 degree temperatures predicted for the week. It’s a blast furnace outside, for sure.

This weekend I dyed a batch of Stalwart Sock, and I’ll be dyeing steadily for a while to fill the bins for the fall business. I came up with a new colorway, Black Cherry, which will be permanent by formula now. I’ll show a picture soon as it’s dry and photographed. It is a deep, dark red. I also found a permanent formula for Persimmon and Silver Pine.

I’m also sending some lace yarn to a designer who is knitting for a book that will be coming out next year. I can’t say more than that but fingers crossed, Slackford Studio yarn may make it’s way inside a book.

In the meantime, there is a new batch of Samite Sock in the shop.

Samite Sock Pile 7/24/10

Top row: Mermaid’s Tale, Silver Pine, Lilac Frost
Bottom Row: Persimmon, Wisteria, Siren’s Song, and Winterberry

I am knitting a lightweight cardigan out of Samite Sock. I need to put it on my dress form to show you the progress. This yarn makes beautiful sweater yarn!

:)

White Sweater Finished

Wow I actually forgot to post about my white sweater. I showed it off all over Ravelry but then forgot to post here.

White Sweater

My top down white lace sweater is finished. I did a basic raglan and added a large lace panel from Knitting Lace by Susanne E. Lewis. Gauge was 4.5 stitches to the inch. It has some waist shaping to it, and I used Berroco Weekend, a 75/25% cotton/acrylic blend. The yarn was wonderful to work with, and I enjoyed knitting this. I think it took me only three weeks. I finished it Saturday before last.

I’ve worn it several times already. It’s the longest sweater I’ve knit, and the sleeves are 3/4 length. It’s a very useful addition to my wardrobe.

Internets are back!

After being without a land-line and internet since Saturday, we’re finally back up and running. Believe it or not, I did NOT get the DTs while being Internet Free. I listend to my audio books and knit on my sweaters.

I’ve begun a new sweater now, it’ll be short sleeves with some lace down the front, sleeves, and back. I’m using some of my Samite sock in a soft turquoise color. I love working with the yarn, it has such a lovely sheen to it.

This afternoon I’ll take pictures of the white sweater and post it, finally. I’ll be wearing it today and I really like the way it turned out. It’s longer than my other sweaters which is really nice.

Felix the Cat

Felix mugs for the camera.

Felix, our huge, big hearted, noisy, talkative, active, old, black cat was put to sleep this morning. He’s been with us since 1996. He wrestled with our Great Dane puppy, Maggie (long since gone, Danes are short lived), and wrestled with Sophie as a puppy. Pretty much ignored Remi, and talked and talked and talked to everyone who would listen.

He was the noisiest cat we’ve ever had. He doesn’t appear to have a speck of Siamese in him, he just had a lot to say, and now he will be silent.

It’s going to be very quiet around here.

And no, I don’t want a kitten.

By the way, our phone line is down so until it’s fixed, my posting will be sporadic.

What the Dickens?

I am reading Charles Dicken’s letters. Quite a lot of his correspondence was saved and put into books in the 1800s. I found the letter collections on Manybooks.net and downloaded them. I also have letters from Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling. They are just fascinating to read.

Charles Dickens writes a lot to his illustrator telling him exactly what he wants the drawings of his books to look like. He writes a lot of the business of writing. One letter was a response to a fan from someone living by the Mississippi in America. It was a very heartfelt thank-you letter from author to fan. It was very touching. Apparently that letter was published in one of the perodicals that Edgar Allen Poe was editing at the time.

My Kindle has made a lot of obscure and fascinating reading much more easily available to me. I love it. I would not have found these letters outside of a university library, and there they are on Manybooks.net, a huge collection of them along with a novel called “Varney the Vampire”. I have not read it yet, but couldn’t resist downloading it. Gotta love a mid-18th Century vampire novel about a guy who hates what he is. Angel, much?

I hit a snag on the sleeves. I’m having trouble with the lace pattern in the round. I’ll figure it out eventually. It’s knitting, not rocket science. :)

White Sweater Progress

Here is the progress picture of my white cotton sweater. I finished the bottom edge last night. Today I’ll do a sleeve or two. I don’t think I can finish it today but I’ll make good progress. I’ll probably finish it this week sometime. Blocking it and waiting for it to dry is going to take a while. Cotton does not dry quickly and it’s as humid as a swamp around here right now.

White Sweater Body

I’m using Berroco Weekend, which is a 75/25% cotton/acrylic blend. It’s a very nice yarn and easy to knit. It also feels really good. Lighter than 100% cotton. I like the yarn a lot and will be using it again. I’m not a huge fan of cotton yarn in general, but this stuff is nice.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that my blog has changed a bit. Well I had to upgrade the theme and it re-set the banner to default. I need to figure out were my banner is and get it set back up again. Soon enough you’ll have the sunset picture back.

:)

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White!?!

I would show you a picture, but, well…

Would you believe I am knitting a white cotton sweater?!? Me, a dyer who loves her color, the more color the better, and I’m knitting a WHITE COTTON sweater!

Because I can’t find one to buy. I need a white cotton sweater for my summer wardrobe, and I couldn’d find a nice one anywhere at any store that looked good. So I stopped by L&B Yarns and bought some hanks of the new Berroco Weekend cotton/acrylic blend yarn. It feels very nice.

It’s going to be top down, 3/4 sleeve, with some lace detail on the sleeve end and bottom of the sweater. The rest will be simple stockinet. I can read and knit when it’s stockinet.

By the way, Michael’s first day on the job went fine. Yay!

:)

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New Yarn in the Shop!

Some recent dye batches!

Some new colors of Nimbus Cloud!

Nimbus Cloud 6-24-10

Colors are After Midnight, Cheery, Clementine, and Lilac Frost.

Also a batch of Hedonist Sock, which was used for Hunter’s pattern in my last message here.

6-7-10 Hedonist Pile

Colors are Mahvelous Dahling, Rizzo, Hot Lips, Cote d’Azur, and Siren’s Song.

Available at Slackford Studio now!

:)

Slackford Studio Store


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