Salty dishcloths

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I know. I know. Pretty soon I’ll have to change the name of this blog to longlakedishcloths.com. I couldn’t resist Aimee Alexander’s Ravelry invitation to test knit her collection of cloths: “Salt.” “Salt” is an ebook of 4 cloths, 3 worsted weight and one DK weight. But I wanted to see a few in different yarns so I ended up knitting some of the patterns more than once.

First, is Himalayan Salt, knit here in Knitpicks Dishie.salt2

Such a nice easy lace. And it knits up quicker than two shakes of a lamb’s tail which is the equivalent of about two shakes of a salt shaker. Well, not that fast. But if a knitter can’t complete this in two hours, she’s taken a little nap between casting on and casting off.

This next one is Sea Salt. The green one is Lily’s Sugar ‘n Cream and the pink one is Knit Picks Dishie.

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I’ve never done this tucked stitch before. Alexander’s instructions are spot on. The only thing that seems to confound people is they aren’t sure whether they should photograph their cloths so that the stitch looks like “v’s” or like arrows pointing upward. Not that it matters, but it develops like arrows on your needles, so I figure that’s the way to go.

Here’s another look at Sea Salt, so you can get a closer look at the tucked stitch.

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Alexander has worked up a series of other patterns in this same stitch. It’s fun to do.

Finally, here’s two versions of Infused Salt.

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This is the easiest of the bunch, as I see it. It’s a slipped stitch (mosaic) pattern, worked up in a DK weight. What was fun to see, and quite unexpected–at least to me–was how different the two cloths are when you simply swap Color A and Color B. These cloths are both knit in the same two shades of DROPS Muskat. These two skeedattled out of my house almost as quickly as they popped off my needles. When it comes to dishcloths, it’s ask and ye shall receive.

It’s fall now

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Pulling in the docks. Pulling out the boats. Getting the house ready for winter. Laying in a supply of wood for the fireplace. Steve caught this water fowl in a pose that all the Long Lakers can relate to. Where did this summer go anyway? Wasn’t it just the 4th of July?

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But there’s no mistaking it. It’s late fall and pretty soon we’ll be seeing Long Lake iced over. For now, we enjoy the morning mist over the lake and the spicy colors of our hardwoods.

We found this tiny snapper in our lawn a few weeks ago.

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Steve picked him up from the lawn and set him near the water’s edge. He watched him slip into the lake. A baby ancient.

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We hope he makes it.

And the fishing continues. At least for the diehards, like Jeff.

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Hedgehogs

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This is Cassandra Bibler’s “Hedgehog Hotpad.” I had a great time knitting these guys and sort of just couldn’t stop.

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This blue and red set is knit in Knit Picks Dishie. I fairly quickly decided I wanted to try another set, this time in Lily’s Sugar ‘n Cream.

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They’d likely work as hotpads, as Bibler intends. But I gift them just as dishcloths. Two may already be seeing duty as baby body washers.

Sometimes these clever mosaic cloths are just what the doctor ordered for a knitter. It’s fun to watch the critter emerge. They knit up quickly. And you end up with a useful item. Plus, in the case of these hedgehogs, they are way cute!

Scarf weather approaches

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Isn’t this just the cat’s meow? It’s a free pattern, Mosaic Tile Scarf, by Gail Tanquary. I bought the kit a few weeks ago at one of Michigan’s very cool northern yarn shops, The Dutch Oven Bakery and Yarn Shop. Being a kit, I ended up using exactly the yarn called for in the pattern. I don’t do that all that often. So, the off-white is Crystal Palace Allegro DK. And the star of the scarf is Crystal Palace Mochi Plus, an Aran weight that’s 80% merino, 20% nylon. Using two weights of yarn really makes the self-striping Mochi Plus patterning pop.

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This is a slipped stitch pattern, so every pair of rows is worked with just one of the colors. The color changes are hidden in that nice I-cord edging. And even when it flips over and knitwits wear it upside down, it won’t look too horrid.

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Here’s yet another Noro Striped Scarf. Jared Flood doesn’t take the credit for this, but since I believe he’s who wrote a pattern alternating between stripes from different skeins of Noro Silk Garden, I’m completely willing to give him full credit.

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Nearly 15,000 Ravelers have knitted this scarf and posted it on their project page. This time my two colorways were 382 and 337. A mostly pink red and a mostly blue green skein. Two skeins of each colorway. I made mine a bit wider than the pattern called for by casting on 45 stitches. I slipped the first and last stitch of the second set of each rows, purlwise, to give it a nice finished edge.

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Any way you fold it, this scarf looks great.

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Four skeins, at this width, ended up at 69 inches. So, plenty for multiple wraps around a neck. Here’s others that I’ve made. And another. The measure of a good pattern? I don’t have any of these anymore. I knit them. Friends and family choose them for their holiday presents.

Close to you

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This is Close to You, by Justyna Lorkowska, a free small shawl pattern available on Ravelry. Knitters have started calling these small shawls a word that doesn’t fit well in my mouth. It’s a shawlette to some. Neither my dictionary nor my spellchecker knows that word. And when I hear it my head thinks towelette or worse, toilette.

Lorkowska has such a sweet story to tell about this design and how she named it. Compactly, her husband Martin decided he wanted to start hand dyeing yarn in their flat. He’s not, or wasn’t, a yarnie. Martin just did it to be “Close to you,” he explained. Now he’s off and running with his own yarn and fiber shop, Martin’s Lab.

Close to You is an almost mindless knit, with just enough interest in that easy lacy edge to keep a knitter’s hands interested when a knitter’s mind sort of needs to be someplace else. And the delicate picot bind-off is the perfect ending to this quick knit.

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I decided I liked the bouncy garter stitch feel of this, knit up in caterpillargreen yarns self-striping fingering weight. So I decided not to block it. 400 yards. Knit on size 6 in a true fingering weight. My (ahem) small shawl turned out to be 13 inches at its widest and 32 inches from point to point.

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I know the self-striping went a bit wonky, but I’ve declared it interesting. Even without the self-striping, its 70% merino, 20% cashmere goat, 10% nylon blend would be interesting.

I enjoyed this knit so much that I soon decided I wanted to knit another Close to You, this time in a more tame colorway.

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A second Close to You was my first time knitting with Whimzy‘s Sokkusa O yarn. (The O is for “original.”) Other than the yarn being afflicted with bad spelling, it’s wonderful. Seriously wonderful.100% merino. Rich color. No knots. A little bit of clingy fuzz here and there to be easily picked off without affecting the integrity of the yarn. It was wonderful to work with.

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Glass head declares it cozy and classy.

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This time I decided to block. I wanted those yarn overs to open up a tad more than in my first effort. The steam-block worked well. It retained the nice squishy garter stitch feel, acquired a bit more length and width, and is now showing off its yarn overs to nice effect.