Long Lake Yarns

Many knitters have patterns they knit, and enjoy knitting, repeatedly.  My newest welcome repeat is Kathryn Schoendorf’s Calorimetry, a free pattern published in Knitty, Winter 2006.

I’ve posted three Calorimetries in the past several months and have recently completed my fourth. It’s a wide headband. It’s an ear warmer. It’s a hat specially adapted for folks with pony tails. It’s a fun quick pattern that knits up in about two hours, even allowing ample time for distractions.

Click on one of the photos below for a slide show sampling showing Calorimetry off in different yarns and colorways: The multi-color two are in Plymouth Yarns Boku. The pink and yellow one is Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted. And the denim one is in Paton’s SWS Soy Wool Stripes.

This is Jared Flood’s Umaro, knitted here in Cascade Yarns Lana Grande. Lana Grande is a super bulky wool. The pattern forms over 28 rows and is repeated six times. So, for a throw, it’s quite a quick knit. Flood’s pattern is completely error-free–so cool in an age when, either for insufficiency of test-knitting or publisher issues, too many patterns have mistakes in them.

The pattern had me flummoxed at first. I separated the 12-stitch repeats by stitch markers, thinking that would help me keep my place. But it turns out this pattern “jumps” the markers as you move along, so I had to remove them. That meant keeping a bit more alert to the charts than I am comfortable with, but after the second repeat I was already able to see when I screwed up and fix it quickly.

Flood recommends Lana Grande for Umaro and I came across it at 30% off, so that was a nice find. The yarn usually had at least 2 knots in each 80 meter skein, which was fairly easily dealt with because it spit-splices well.

I knit the pattern on size 15 needles. My gauge was off a bit, but the fabric felt right so I just plowed ahead. Instead of blocked dimensions of 47 inches by 58 inches, I ended up at 45 by 52. Not sure how I lost that much length, but I suspect I didn’t steam the blanket aggressively enough as I blocked it. Mine does not have quite the verticality to the pattern as Flood’s sample.

The other possibility?  I am not an experienced lace knitter. Until fairly recently I gave up on patterns that needed a yarn over between a knit stitch and a purl! I just couldn’t figure out how to do it. Kind of like “True Confessions”  time here. More than 50 years knitting and still much more to learn. Then I found these directions on Carole Wulster’s blog. I’m been using them on a (small) series of lace knits and they’ve been working like a charm. No more odd yarn overs that don’t match their partner yarn overs. I’ve just learned some call this approach a “cheater yarn over.”  Yipes. That sounds rather  judgmental. But do you think there’s a chance this particular yarn over technique might tighten the yarn overs a bit so that the shape of  the pattern changes some?

If an ant crawled along the length of a mobius strip, it would return to its start after crawling the entire length of both sides, never crossing an edge.  If you draw a line down the center of a moebius strip, the end of the line will meet the start of the line and you will never have to pick up your pencil to make that happen. And if you cut the strip along that center line, you end up with a continuous strip with two twists in it.

Elizabeth Zimmermann understood the design potential of the moebius. This is her “Moebius Ring” pattern from Schoolhouse Press Wool Gathering #28. It’s knitted in garter stitch with an I-Cord border. You start with a provisional cast on. Knit forever. Then give it one twist. Mathematicians know a moebius can have a clockwise twist or a counterclockwise twist, but that matters not a bit when it comes to a scarf. Then graft your end row to your beginning row and the result is a very sensible long cowl, scarf, or combination hood and scarf.

This is the Wonderful Wallaby. Carol A. Anderson, of Cottage Creations, designed it and knitters galore have knitted it. The pattern booklet is Cottage Creations W03, not available as a download. It is well worth the effort to locate it at your local yarn shop or favorite internet shop.

Nearly 3000 Ravelers have posted finished projects on their project page. When Ravelers take to patterns in droves, you can trust it’s a keeper.

Mine is knitted in left-overs from another Cottage Creations project: a full sized Rambling Rows afghan. I ran out of oddments and ended up leaving the hood off and knitted a garter stitch collar instead. It’s a cozy sweater, with a built-in handwarmer. When you buy the booklet you will have the pattern for a Wallaby in almost all the sizes people come in, from size 2 Toddler to 48″ chest. Try the Wonderful Wallaby when you have time.  Bet you can’t make just one!

The light was perfect on a breezy November Day. This is the view from where the road ends at Lake Huron, in Harrisville. Harrisville is the County seat of Alcona County.

As of the 2010 census, 493 people lived in Harrisville. So, a very small town, in a remote section of Northeastern Michigan. A fine example of what the “sunrise side” offers: big water, tall trees, and a neighborly feel.