Page 28 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Weekend Knitting News

Posted on February 6, 2016 by elliebelly

I've take a few moments away from my regularly scheduled knitting to become completely obsessed with dyeing. Again. That means there is very little knitting progress to share with you this weekend, but there is some pretty yarn.

There were a couple of purple days. Purple is always a challenge on yarns that are non-superwash or good, old fashioned, wool. Getting saturated color is difficult, but worth the effort. You can also see a skein of the Tree Frog colorway variation I've been working on, the green yarn. I used it to play around with an idea I had for a sleeve (I am not and likely never will be a sweater designer, but I had this idea that wouldn't leave me alone so I had to play with it for a bit). The photo on the left has accurate color, on the right is my idea, which still needs a little bit of refining.

I really love yarn with silk content, and as much as I love Chemise, the Elliebelly linen-silk silk blend that is going to be my next sweater, I took some time to dye Elliebelly Panda, a silk bamboo blend, for an Ishbel scarf. And, of course, purple.

This is some Juniper Moon Farms worsted merino that I purchased as a farm share one of the first years they were up and running. It has been in my "too precious to use" stash, but I decided to dye it for the beautiful new shawl by Lisa Hannes, The Colourist, which is intended for richly variegated yarns. This one certainly fits that parameter, and I'm a little bit nervous that I went to high contrast, but I decided against toning it in hopes we'll see lots of pretty color variation in the finished knit.

There is also a little bit of roving being dyed so it can be spun into yarn. I adore handspun yarn, and this is the softest, fluffiest roving I've gotten my hands on in some time. It's merino, with a very low micron count. I can't wait to see what this looks like when it becomes yarn.

I'm going to have to use the weekend to get caught up on sleep, because this is mostly late night dyeing. Late night dyeing is not something that is conducive to good photography or quality blogging, so I apologize for the limited pictures I have to share. But there are lots of exciting photos of yarn and projects knit from it coming in the next few weeks. I've got some wonderful test knitters doing amazing things with some of my yarn this month, and I can't wait to show you the results, along with my own knitting.

Swatching With Linen

Posted on February 2, 2016 by elliebelly

It may still be the middle of winter, but I've held off for as long as I can on swatching with this linen & silk blend yarn.

I've been dreaming about a sweater. Something with a loose gauge and a simple stockinette pattern. So I'm swatching to see what kind of gauge I get, before I get my heart set on a specific pattern (my heart is secretly set on Mithril, but I'm trying to keep an open mind here). Unblocked, there is very little difference in stitch gauge between size 2 and size 4 needles, 5 stitches an inch, with a slight variation in row gauge. This isn't too surprising — linen creates a loose, drapey fabric and it's important to keep this in mind if you're going to knit with it. It doesn't sprong back into shape like a nice merino wool will.

The color, Castle Stone (the yarn is Elliebelly Chemise) is a bit of a chameleon, here it is out of doors after swatching.

Here it is blocking, indoors. You can see it picks up the light because of the silk content. I adore this yarn. No matter where it is, it makes me very happy. (In case you're wondering, the two holes near the top of the swatch are how I mark which half was knit on the smaller needles — two pair of yarn overs)

I'm hoping the blocked shape holds up because my informal measurement is that it's spot on for the gauge I need to knit Mithril. Fingers Crossed.

An Elliebelly Roadtrip

Posted on January 30, 2016 by elliebelly

This is how we road trip around here. I’ve got a beautiful Lurlene scarf in Elliebelly BFL Cash-Silk Sock.

And I’m playing with some farm yarn I dyed while working out an updated version of the Tree Frog colorway that is glazed instead of variegated. I like both the original and this version.

This is my first go at blogging in the car — obviously I’m not the driver. I hope you enjoy this quick snippet and are having a nice, yarnie weekend of your own!

Knitting Scorecard For This Week

Posted on January 29, 2016 by elliebelly

1-There is nothing like a quick trip to your local yarn shop to provide solace when you misplace your knitting. Four skeins of Madeline Tosh later, the whole world is a more beautiful place.

2-The solace of the trip to your LYS is magnified when you discover that they have two lovely, quick patterns for your new yarn. One involves double knitting and is incredibly smooshy.

3-There is, however, no true cure for how dumb you feel when you realize the sweater sleeves you've been knitting two at a time are nowhere to be found. On the plus side: Your were only a few inches in, they were way too big and we're going to have to be ripped out anyhow, and you've still got three untouched skeins plus several small balls of leftovers, so you should be able to muddle through. On the downside: you have to feel guilty about all the times your Mother in Law told you she was developing CRS disease and you snickered. (I adored my Mil and she could be quite bawdy. CRS stands for "can't remember sh*t".)

4-Glacier is going to be an amazing sweater when it's done. I bound off the front this evening, after conquering the directions, which cheerily advised me that after finishing the left side, I should just reverse all of the directions to knit the right side. Not as easy as it sounds.

But, my stepped shoulder decreases are beautiful and perfectly matched. The moment when I realized this was a profoundly exciting one in my life.

5-I have discovered knitting fiction. I don't read romance or mystery novels, but I'm hooked. What's not to like about a book where our heroine is the only human (and yarn store proprietress) in a town full of trolls, vampires, shape shifters and fairies? My friends on Ravelry recommended the first one, The Great Christmas Knit Off, and now I've got a stack on my bedside table to help with my New Years resolution to knock off working on the computer and read for 20-30 minutes before going to bed. Supposedly this is better for you. I'm not going to encounter great fiction this way but the books have a charm that grows on you, replete with mentions of Noro, Rowan, and the difficulty of knitting bobbles. My snotty teenaged reader is horrified. That was the final selling point.

This weekend I hope to find the d@mn sleeves and do the math to knit ones that will fit better, get in some work on my Drachenfels, which has been languishing, and knit a swatch with a colorway I'm trying to work out and have dyed a couple of ways to see which I like the best. And laundry. Mountains of laundry. It really cuts into my knitting time and I resent it!

Back To Glacier

Posted on January 27, 2016 by elliebelly

I'm back to working on my Glacier sweater. I've missed it!

Knitter’s Obsession: Patterns Written By Melissa Schaschwary

Posted on January 25, 2016December 19, 2016 by elliebelly

Has this ever happened to you? You look around for what to knit next, and suddenly, one designer pops out at you. You may have knit a design or two of theirs before, but suddenly, every single pattern they've ever written is calling your name.

That happened to me this morning with Melissa Schaschwary of Dandelion Girl Designs. I've knit her Nevermind hat. In fact, I liked the pattern so much, I knit it again after finishing the first one. [The Plucky Knitter's Bulky Snug is THE BEST yarn for this hat, in case you're looking for a recommendation.] I think I'm going to be spending the months of February and March with her at this rate. I've managed to get it down to the following patterns and am narrowly resisting the urge to cast on all the things.

1-Timber Bay Hat. I've got a skein of the Plucky Knitter's Scholar that is just crying out to be knit into this hat. It looks cozy. And possibly like it wouldn't even leave you with hat head.

2. Puddle Duck. Oh my heavens, it is so cute! And, I've been looking for just the right sweater to knit for my daughter's goddaughter. The only reason I haven't cast on immediately is that I'm torn between using some girly variegated Elliebelly yarn I have on hand or dyeing a solid. I've got some lovely undyed Shepard's Farm worsted that I could either use in its natural state or dye up in a pretty, soft color. I can't wait to knit this one! I think she's going to need a big, tulle ballerina skirt to wear with it.

3. Sea Stones. I really, really love the comfort of Eileen Fisher's clothes, and this long vest/cardigan will be a perfect addition to the pieces I have. I've got four skeins of the Plucky Knitter's brand new merino/linen blend yarn on the way. It wants to be a Sea Stones. I know it does. I'm going to swatch the minute it gets here. It's too perfect. And look at the pockets! Melissa's clever details are amazing.

4. Clam Digger. It has stripes. It's knit at a dk weight (my favorite). I've been wanting to find a pattern where I could use my Oryx and Crake colorways together, although I'm concerned the gray and gold may be a little bit too strong in this pattern, which is meant for a little girl. I've also got some fantastic handspun from my cousin Ann that could be the right main color for this. Picking out the colors is going to be almost as fun as knitting it. I love stripes!

5. Heathered is going to make the sweetest cardigan for my Mom. She's hard to find gifts for, but loves hand knit items. Mom, if you're reading, stop now please.

It would be positively amazing in this Blue Sky Alpaca silk blend I happen to have in my stash, but it also looks like it would be divine in Plucky sport weight cashmere. Decisions, decisions. In a sport weight, this will be the perfect travel project to carry around with me.

6. The Dandelion Bib. How cute is this? And such a nice change up from gifting baby sweaters and blankets. I love to embroider, but rarely do it. The idea of doing a set of knit and embroidered bibs makes me incredibly happy.

How adorable. The pattern is cute too.

This pattern looks like a very happy way to spend a lazy weekend day. It's going to require a soft, but easily washed yarn, so perhaps a cotton or maybe a superwash. At just 42 yards of yarn, this one is perfect for using up leftovers. And lucky me, a dear friend is pregnant with her first little girl.

Melissa was nice enough to let me use her patterns and not treat me like a crazy stalker. Because it's not enough that her patterns are well written and crazy adorable. She's also incredibly nice. I'm planning on having a fun time hanging out with her patterns for the next couple of months!

Bad Dog!

Posted on January 24, 2016 by elliebelly

I made a mistake. I got up early Saturday morning, finished Adama, put it around my neck and went straight out of the house to drop my daughter off to take the SAT.

Miss Fig, my Boxer puppy, has never shown any interest in my knitting. Not so much as a sniff. But apparently the small ball of unused yarn that I left buried in the couch got her attention. Was it the sheepy smell? I'll never know. Here she is in all her glory.

It went on and on like this. For quite some time. She was quite please with herself and completely unrecalcitrant. At least it was leftovers in an amount too small to really be put to further use. I'm hoping this isn't a harbinger of bad doggie activities to come. I've gotten into the habit of knitting while I watch TV with my family a few nights a week and although I'm usually pretty careful about putting my knitting bag in it's zippered project bag and out of reach at the end of the night, this video is enough to strike terror into the heart of any knitter! You would think she was part cat.

She's a cutie, though. Check out that underbite!