Colonel Talbot Scarf

This post is another post on the “I wonder how the same stuff looks in different yarns” theme. Glass head is looking cozy in her five-and-one-half foot Colonel Talbot Scarf. Joan Janes designed this easy mostly garter stitch scarf. It includes a few very nice touches to keep a knitter from nodding off. More on that in a bit.

The Michigander in me needs to call this one my Colonel Wolvervine version. It will look great hobnobbing around Ann Arbor on a maize and blue football Saturday when everyone else bought an off-the-rack scarf.

The yarn is Fiesta Yarns Boomerang, an Aran weight, in their college set of colorways. If you’re a fan of that other Michigan football school, Boomerang also comes in a Sparty green and white colorway.

At first I was concerned about how the yarn was pooling on the edges and mixing in the middle. But I came to think the effect was cool. Here’s another view.

Among the sensible touches in this pattern is the fact that the scarf is completely reversible. When the wearer flips it over a shoulder or ties a knot in it, she won’t need to be embarrassed that her back side is showing. The edges are applied I-cord, knit on as you work the rows. Such a nice trim. And, as you’ll see more clearly in the last version in this post, there are 10-row long drips of nicely space stockinette.

Soon after completing my Wolverine version, I decided to knit another, this time it’s dubbed Colonel Brisbane. That’s because it’s knit in Queensland Collection’s Brisbane, another Aran weight. Glass head says it’s going to really keep someone warm.

It’s a tad more difficult to see those drips of stockinette in Brisbane. But again I love the effect of the color-changing yarn.

This colorway combines colors I’d not think would work well together. But they do.

Now for something completely different.

Here’s a nice tame Colonel Talbot. This one was the first time I knit the Colonel. I used String Theory’s Aran Caper. Caper is an 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon yarn. It worked up exceptionally nice. And the evenly spaced drips are clearly visible in this version.

It’s often the simplicity of the knitting that keeps me coming back to a pattern.

Knitting along

This is Linda of Knitwise Design’s “Tidal Cove” Scarf. I worked it up in String Theory Merino DK. That very interesting open work is a hoot to knit. And it’s very simply done. The pattern explains it perfectly. Just when a knitter is thinking the garter stitch might need some breaking up, it’s time to knit the “cove.” I even made one of my infrequent trips to a bead shop to find some appropriate dangles.

I’ve knit this once before. (That is going to be a theme in this post). Here it is in Super-Sheep by Holiday Yarns.

Tidal Cove is a quick knit. My first one sold at a charity auction. My new one will likely make it into my holiday gift basket.

Recently Linda ran a leisurely paced Knit-a-long on Ravelry. OK, she ran a KAL. She invited knitters to knit any of her patterns, participate in her group chat, and offered generous prizes of patterns and yarn. It was great fun to return to some of her patterns I’d knit before. Like Winding Trail Headband.

This magenta beauty is knit in one of my favorite long-ago discontinued yarns: Classic Elite’s Tapestry.

This next one, in Pussy Hat color, is knit in the New Zealand Aran-weight, Wool-Pak 10 ply by Merino Sheepskin Company.

I often stutter in my accessory knitting, working two hats or two cowls in the same pattern in two different yarns or two different colors. “Double your pleasure, Double your fun…” that has nothing to do with Doublemint Gum. And if you can picture these two twins while you read and hear that old stupid jingle, instead of the slicker version from the middle 1980’s, well you might be as vintage an age as I am.

Here’s two other Winding Roads I knit in my first round of enjoying this pattern. The yellow gold is Classic Elite Tapestry and the deep rose is Harrisville Design’s discontinued Orchid with Cashmere.

I urge you, urge is a fine old-fashioned word that mouths don’t say much anymore–urge you to try this pattern. You will enjoy it. It’s knit flat and joined with a three-needle bind-off. You could do a provisional cast on and graft the beginning to the end. But why make more work for yourself?

My next Knitwise Design KAL knit was Earbuds. Earbuds are, basically, another headband. Except this one fastens with a button. And it concentrates just on ear-warming.

I had a left-over ball of Valley Yarns Superwash Bulky. This WEBS house brand is good stuff though I’ll grant you this shade of dullish brown isn’t going to win any prizes. It was supposed to go well with a blanket I made and the rest of the blanket shades looked so pretty I couldn’t bear to dull it down with this brown. But ears? Ears just need to be warm and everyone knows that dull colors are much warmer than bright ones.

This knit was a total stutter. I had one 100 gram ball. I was able to knit two sets of earbuds and even have a bit left over.

These aren’t my first earbuds. Here’s a few more. The green multi-color one is handspun (not mine). The two-toned one is a bulky mohair of long-ago discontinued Abedare Yarn. And that lavendery pink is a super-bulky: Cascade Yarns Lana Grande.

And, yes, I know that the middle guy looks a bit puppy-like.Trust me. It works on a head better than on a striped felted ball.

I couldn’t leave the KAL knitting only stuff I’d knit before, so I knit a pair of worsted weight socks in Brown Sheep’s Superwash Lamb’s Pride Worsted. These are “Cam’s Camping Socks.”

They didn’t photograph well. But they are totally cozy and fit Steve well. I’d have gotten a better photograph if it weren’t for the fact that he got cold feet and wore them before I could get a well-lit shot. Linda has used this diamond pattern in her sock pattern, her “Hunting Season Cap,” and in her most recent sweater pattern “Camp Cardigan.” Just looking at the project photos I felt a bit intimidated by the pattern. But it’s a piece ‘o cake.

Thanks, Linda! Great patterns. Great KAL.

Long Lake: bird’s eye view

Is there any wonder what the loons see in Long Lake? Here’s the view from 200 feet up near our house. August 7, 2017. This is the north section of the lake. That’s Belly Button Island looking like it’s just a tad away from “our” bay. And if your eyes look beyond the island, and turn left, you’d be in Ghost Bay.

Loons are very bad at landings. And they are even worse taker-offers. They beat their wings like crazy, hitting the water, and almost seem to be walking on those long feet of theirs on lift off. And landings aren’t graceful either. They end up skidding to a halt. So a long lake is perfect for the loons. Our lake also has two islands, which is ideal because loons prefer to nest on islands.

Here’s this year’s twins at three weeks.

And here they are just one week later. They still look a bit unpromising. But looks deceive. These guys are already diving for their own food and staying under water for longer and longer lengths of time.

The parents have obviously been feeding them well. Hopefully the twins will be strong and flying well by late October so they can make their flight south.

Some old stuff

This is “Knitted Silk Reticula” by Liza Prior Lucy. Actually, these are both “Knitted Silk Reticula.” Or possibly Reticulae. The pattern was published in Piecework back in 1993 and I knit it not too many years after publication.

It’s quite rare that I knit something in exactly the yarn called for. I knit this in the Halcyon Gemstone silk the pattern recommended. It’s a laceweight and I used exactly the colors called for: amber, deep amethyst, garnet and jacinth.

You are probably wondering about the glass pieces. My son was young at the time and played “Magic”–the card game. He kept his game pieces in a silk reticule. Wow. I knit the first one for me. When he asked if he could have it for his gaming, of course I said “yes.” And then I knit another for myself. Recently, I found my son’s Magic bag in my mom stash and returned it to him.

I never found a use for mine. But I still cherish it. Here’s a closer look minus the distracting glass globs.

Sometimes we knitters just need to knit something because we want to. We’ll find a use for it later. Or not. But the knitting is still very satisfying.

This next purse was another special project. Not perfectly executed, though again I increased my odds of making it work by using the exact yarns called for. This is “Rose Reticula” by Nicki Epstein. The pattern was in Knitter Magazine, 37, the 1994 winter edition.

The body of this is knit in an elasticized ribbon: Lacet Lastic, by Tiber. Most of the rest of the yarn was Tiber’s Doreale.  Buying the yarn was a definite stretch. My intarsia work was rather clumsy, but I didn’t (and still don’t) know how to embroider. Clumsy or not, my mom loved it. At least she said she did, even though I never saw her use it. I knit it. She lined it. I gave it to her. When she died, I got it back. It was still in the fancy stationary box that I wrapped it in when I gave it to her: the white padded box, with pink roses all over the top.

We’re done with the reticula now. Odd old word. These are both little fancy pouchy purses.

Now, for a few pillows. Pillow covers, actually. And they didn’t turn out to be usable in that form. In this view, it does look a tad pillow-like:

I remember that this was a Sirdar DK yarn. But the rest of its lineage is lost to the antiquities. My gauge was off and I never could find a pillow form to fit. So it sat. Then I decided to gather it up, pick up stitches for a sort of drawstring and top cuff. In fact, that’s leftover Lacet Lastic from the Rose Reticula (oops, I was supposed to be done with that word) at the top, along with some leftover Lastic navy blue.

Voila! A purse.  An overly colorful purse. I am a dolt in terms of what colors go with what.

This pattern was supposedly an original design from someone who participated at my (now deceased) mother-in-law’s senior center. Vivian gave me a copy of a well-worn, typed out pattern, with no attribution. But I’ve since learned that it is really Harlequin Cushion, by Paton’s UK. So, if you want to have a go at this one, the Paton’s pattern may be available on Ebay. And if you too fail at your cushion, try a purse.

I actually knit two pillow cushions, both out of the Sirdar yarn that I didn’t manage to knit to gauge.

This one, I’ve not turned into a purse. Instead, I use it as a small rug under a doll rocking chair that my Ravatar sits in. It’s a good resting place for her.