Some News (Including a New Pattern!)

Although the blog has been silent for so long, the Lair is buzzing with activity. In late July, Mr HairyFeet and I bought a house, so packing and moving has eaten up my time quite well. There are news regarding the Lair, some yarn news as well, patterns to write etc. All will be revealed eventually!

I haven't had time for much else, but I squeezed in some spinning time with Jeremy. I love to spin fingering weight yarns (that's what I'll end up with if I spin on auto-pilot, as a friend once called it when she is spinning in her comfort zone). But they take a lot of time to spin, and knit, and it would be fun to spin heavier weight yarns every now and then, if for nothing else then to just know and get comfortable with how it's done.

So I dug up my fiber stash and the slowest whorl I could find and spun some singles.


My first attempt was a Bfl-silk-firestar blend that went oops in the dye pot. It ended up being worsted-weight yarn, when navajo-plied. I love the colors and I just had to knit the yarn into a scarf, but must wait until there's proper light for it to be photographed.

The second attempt was a dark teal BFL-silk-firestar blend, which ended up being navajo-plied to bulky weight yarn. (I think there is some 150 yds of yarn in this 6 oz skein.)


My biggest problem has been balanced, full-bodied two-ply yarn. So I dug out some merino and went nuts with it. I am not a fan of merino, the staple length is too short for my taste and it somehow feels a little, well, "dead" to my hand. So it didn't matter, if the yarn turned out to be horrible.

I still don't like merino, but I guess the yarn turned out ok. Another bulky weight yarn, as was the next attempt (Friends in Fiber pink and purple BFL-silk, pictured far left below):


I already knitted one scarf (another Baktus) with the red and purple and grey skein, but I want to knit them all! I don't knit with large needles too often, they make my wrists and knuckles hurt, but every now and then it's quite refreshing to finish something in a few hours. Baktus is a great pattern for handspun, it shows the colors so well and it's super-easy too. I'm also thinking one of these heavy-weight yarns might become the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb Cowl. The clever Quincy is also on my list of to-knit for the winter.

Speaking of which, the cold weather is here.



Perfect for staying indoors and knitting!

And finally, some pattern news. Remember the socks I posted in July? Well, the Northern Pike (Hauenleukasukat) pattern is available in English (on ravelry) and Finnish (on ravelry and Titityy). My apologies for using the same old pictures!

The socks were named after the stitch pattern, which reminded me of the story of Väinämöinen, one of the main characters of Finnish national epic, Kalevala. Väinämöinen made his kantele, a stringed instrument, using the jawbone of the Northern Pike. The socks are worked toe-up with easy patterning in the instep, heel and cuff, finished with a simple 1x1 rib.


Yarn
Knitlob's Lair Väinämöinen (100g = 400m, 75% wool, 25% nylon), 1 skein.
Needles and Notions
2 mm (US #0), cable needle, stitch markers (2).
Gauge
34 sts & 48 rows = 4" / 10 cm in stockinette stitch.
Sizes
Length of foot:
8½ (9½; 10; 10½; 11) inches or 22,5 (24; 25; 26,5; 28) cm.
Finished circumference of foot: approx. 8" / 20 cm.

Click the buy now button to purchase through ravelry (both English and Finnish pattern available in the same link) or click here to purchase the pattern through Titityy online shop!



A lot of effort went to the pattern editing, and I do hope it is now error-free. If you do find errors in the pattern, please let me know! Enjoy and happy knitting :)

Back in the Saddle

So yeah, summer. Don't know where it went. Anyhow, it's Fall now, and it's not eleventy million degrees anymore and one can finally knit. And spin. Neither or which one has done this summer, one has entertained guests. With champagne. Good times.

Said guests got a chance to take out all the boxes in the Infamous Barn of Yarn.

I believe treasures were found. (Bags were screened before guests exited premises.)

Ahem. Knitting. A while back, a friend gifted me BrooklynTweed's lovely Brigdewater Shawl pattern via ravelry, and I had some KniPicks Shadow in Basalt just waiting to become a warm, comfy, big shawl.


It is warm, very warm. The shawl is knitted into a huge square, each side measured some 60" after blocking. Folded in half, the diagonal measures some 84". And it is warm, I used 4 skeins (so nearly 7 oz or 200g) of yarn for it.


I love the simplicity of the shawl. It is elegant, somehow old-fashioned, and at the same time practical, and very, very beautiful.


The shawl is perfect for the Fall mornings, when the morning dew sprinkles the cobwebs and the air fills with chilly mist.


And the idea of picking up your knitting (and casting on for a dozen projects - in one night) seems like the sensible thing to do. One look in the sock drawer and its dreary, worn and saggy inhabitants is enough to convince a knitter to cast on for many, many pairs of socks. And a merry accident in the dye pot yields the skein that will eventually become one of the many (many, many) pairs of socks.

Yes, eventually.

Speaking of dyeing, the dye pot and I spent the month of July together and churned out some 100 lbs of yarn. Will type up a proper post about the colorways and yarns and retailers soon (and by soon I do not mean by Christmas, as I intend to blog a bit more frequently now that there is something to show). One of my retailers organized a sock yarn club in July/August, and I wanted to design a sock pattern for the club.

I have a confession to make: I hoard stitch pattern books. Most of the pattern collections go unnoticed here, but a stitch pattern book is always a must have. My favorite stitch pattern books are Japanese, simply for the elegance and ingenuity of the stitch patterns seen only in Japanese books. I spend considerable amounts of time browsing stitch pattern books (hence this house has been vacuumed only a handful of times since the turn of the century). And sometimes there is a stitch pattern that demands to be knitted into something pretty.

The stitch pattern that embellishes the Hauenleukasukat (lit. Jaw of Northern Pike - there's a story behind the name, of which later) is one of these stitch patterns that grew into an obsession.


The stitch pattern is found on the foot, the leg and even the heel.


The English version of the pattern will be available in October. Will obviously notify everyone of this in the blog when the pattern is out.


In other news, there is a new member in the family, and he requires knits, too.

(I should clarify: that's the hand of my nephew. I realized the text was more than misleading, sorry about that!)

So I must keep my needles busy, which hopefully means more blog posts very soon. Til then, happy knitting everyone!

Exciting News!

You may have noticed the lack of new knits here lately. There are several reasons for it (other projects, translated books, etc), but the biggest reason of all is that there are tons of new patterns coming out soon. There will also be translated patterns (Liuhu and One Skein Bolero will be next).

The one that has taken up a big chunk of my time lately is an exciting new project called Playground Knits!


The idea came from Tiina in Titityy, the yarns were provided by BC Garn and the patterns were designed by my talented colleagues: Veera, Tiina, Mari and Suvi! I have two designs in the eBook which will be published soon in both English and Finnish.

I was thrilled to be part of this project: it was the first time I designed knitwear for kids and I certainly learned a lot. I also discovered how hard photography is (nearly made me hate the sun), especially with kids, and also how much fun it is working with other designers. We all have our own style and way of doing things, and I felt I learned a lot by cooperating and writing with others. I wish to thank Tiina for asking me to be part of this project, and all of the other designers for being part of an eBook which, I believe, will be an answer to the most dire need of kids' knits. Details will soon follow!

One Skein Bolero Pattern

Remember the one skein bolero? I know, it has been a long time, I finished the first version over a year ago. I promised the pattern would be out "soon" after the first pictures, but it took a very long time (and a relatively sharp learning curve) to be able to write up this pattern. I knitted the second version in December with a mohair blend, and there was even a third version with beads and handspun angora blend yarn.



The bolero features Haapsalu style lace and a Shetland lace border, and it's all mixed with the Tailored Sweater method. Making lace work with the method was a little tricky, which is why there are charts for all sizes. The lace is charted with 7-stitch nupps, but the nupps can be replaced with one knit stitch or a bead. All of these versions, with the two optional bind off methods and different sleeve lengths are pictured in the pattern.



Sizes
XS/S (M, L/XL, XXL).
Back width:
13(13.5, 14, 15) inches or33 (34, 36, 38) cm.
Chest circumference:
34(40, 45, 49) inches or 86(101, 114, 124) cm.



Yarn
Fingering weight 2-ply wool yarn, approx. 320(350, 400, 450) yds or 290(315, 350, 405) m for short sleeved bolero. For long sleeves, you will need an additional 200 yds or 180 m.
As the bolero is knitted from the top down, you can make the sleeves and the body longer than instructed. The amount of yarn given is an approximation only - you may need more (or less) yarn for your bolero. Always make sure you have enough yarn of the same
dye lot to finish your project.

Needles
US #5 (4 mm) circular needle 24” or longer.

Gauge
20 sts and 20 rows per 4 inches / 10 cm
(5 stitches and 5 rows per inch) in stitch pattern.

This bolero is knitted from the top down using The Tailored Sweater Method. No previous knowledge of the method is necessary to knit the bolero, but basic knowledge of how to knit from the top down is very useful with this project. This bolero is recommended for advanced knitters.



Get your copy through the pattern page on ravelry or follow the link below:



A lot of effort went to the pattern editing, and I do hope it is now error-free. If you do find errors in the pattern, please let me know! Enjoy and happy knitting :)

Colors!

A skein drying is a solemn sight in the morning sun.


And it all gets better when the skein joins its 84 pals in a box of inspiration!


I've done some serious dyeing (and I'm not even finished yet). These 17 shades are just the tip of the iceberg, but I wanted to show them since the box was such a happy sight, when I took it outside just to look at all the colors. The yarn is a lovely Aran weight wool yarn. My Hedda cap is knitted of this yarn and it's very soft, yet durable. It takes colors well, and knits up fast with #8 needles. It may land in my shop, eventually, but for now, let's just enjoy the colors!

Engulfed in Lace

This week I have done some light reading.


Done some lace knitting.


Knitted some lace too.


Photographed lace.


And dreamt of lace.


Dyed for lace.


Might even spin for lace.


You could say, then, that I have had lace on my mind lately. It's perfect for summer, lightweight and airy, especially if you use silk yarn. And I have fallen in love with silk! The color, the drape, everything about it makes me want to just use lace and destash my wool immediately. (Then I dyed some wool-silk-bling blend and came to my senses. Phew!)

The project that started it all was a marriage between a shawl and a bolero, hence the name shawlero. I love the construction and was surprised to see how well it worked - I did have my doubts. There will be many more shawlero designs, I'm sure. The back looks a lot like a shawl, but there are no "how do I wear this to show the lace" issues or "my sleeves are drowning in the punch bowl again" issues. I have had those issues with traditional shawls, especially rectangular shawls. This time I won't have sleeves smelling of punch (and hence indicating slight intoxication of the wearer as that never happens, never!), or weird lumps of lace gathered in a wild fashion around my shoulders in the hopes that it won't look completely horrible. I love lace shawls, I really do, but they're not the most practical accessories to wear, especially to parties with large punch bowls.

I must return to my reading, so I will leave you with a selection of fresh new flowers )or soon to be flowers) around the Lair.

New Fiber Club!

There is a new fiber club at the Lair, just in time for your summer spinning!

You will receive one (1) package of The Lair's own custom blend of 60% BFL, 20% silk and 20% Firestar weighing approximately 100g or 3.5oz. This blend is supersoft, easy to spin and full of bright colors! The BFL will provide durability and softness, the silk and glittery Firestar add a nice touch of elegance, drape and shine. The club packages will ship out on Monday, May 16th. There will be a limited amount of these custom-dyed tops, so order yours now! The club package is 25€ (including shipping).

Klubissa saat yhden paketin Luolan omaa 60% BFL, 20% silkki, 20% Firestar -sekoitusta! Paketissa on yksi noin 100g topsi tätä ihanan pehmeää ja ilmavaa kuitua. Klubin paketit lähetetään maanantaina 16. toukokuuta. Klubitopseja on rajallinen määrä joten tilaa omasi nyt! Klubipaketin hinta on 25€ (sis. postit).

How to Order
To order, click the Paypal button below. You will be directed to Paypal for processing of your order, and you can pay with your credit card - no Paypal account is required. Please note: if this purchase is a gift, please fill out the "special instructions to merchant" selection at check-out with details of the recipient adress and your message to the recipient.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me at tuulia . salmela (at) gmail . com! Thank you for your support and happy spinning!

Tilataksesi klubipaketin, klikkaa ylläolevaa painiketta, joka ohjaa sinut Paypaliin. Voit maksaa tilauksesi Paypalissa luottokortilla, Paypal-tiliä ei tarvita. Huomaa: Jos tilauksesi on lahja, täytä kohta "special instructions to merchant" maksaessasi, laita mukaan saajan nimi, osoite ja viestisi saajalle.

Klubeissa on rajallinen määrä paikkoja, joten toimi nopeasti!
Kysyttävää tai kommentoitavaa? Laita viestiä osoitteella tuulia . salmela (at) gmail . com!
Kiitos ja ihania kehruuhetkiä!