Ravelry saves the day!

What do you do when you're knitting a sleeve and realize you won't have enough yarn to finish the second sleeve and buttonband? You buy more yarn!





I only needed two more skeins, but I lucked out and found someone on Ravelry selling twelve skeins of Knitpicks Swish DK in the right dyelot (!!!), so I offered to buy it all to get my hands on those two skeins. Now I have enough yarn to make another sweater. I love this color (and will soon have two more children of siblings to knit for) so it wasn't a tough call. It also helped that the asking price was below retail and included shipping.

I'm not sure how I ended up 2 skeins short, but I suspect my row gauge is different. I also made the body and sleeves a little longer to fit target niece better, she has a long torso and arms that outgrow sleeves before the rest of her catches up.

Tip: List the dyelot of stash yarn you have up for sale, I wouldn't have bought this yarn if the dyelot # was missing from the description. Ravelry has a field for dyelot numbers and it is conveniently displayed when people are browsing stash yarn for sale, along with the photo and yarn name.

Sailing Away cardigan, in progress

knit in one piece to the armholes, this shows the back and the bottom halves of the two fronts.


I love the tubular cast-on, it looks OK in photos (even professional photos in books don't show it off properly), but in person it's amazing.


The cables will hopefully pop more after it's blocked but this is a limp soft wool, I'm not sure how it will behave.

Sailing Away Cardigan by E.J. Slayton
source: Knitting Digest, March 1994
size: child's 6
needle: size 4
yarn: Knitpicks Swish DK, 100% superwash wool in storm (I purchased 6 skeins, I'll confirm the number used when it's done).

Note about the color: Storm is a little darker but if I manipulate the photos too much to make the color more accurate then detail is lost. It's a beautiful true blue.

I started this cardigan last year and set it aside when I realized how big it would be, but now I'm in the mood to finish it. Katie Blue Eyes will eventually grow into it.

Sounders colors in yarn

To celebrate the Sounders 3-0 record (!!!) I'll post some yarns that closely match the team colors. First we need an example of the colors, and here we have Osvaldo Alonso, one of my favorite players.



the hardest working man in the MLS


I was surprised by the number of likely candidates I found with just a little poking around. No doubt there are a lot more yarns that would work for Sounders fan handknits, suggestions in the comments or via email are welcome.

I first checked out Dale Baby Ull, my #1 yarn, but I can't see a green in the current line that closely matches the rave green. I have some green and blue Dale Baby Ull that are good matches to the team colors, but I lost the labels and don't know the #s. After some googling I believe they are spring green #8523 and bright blue #5726. The spring green has been discontinued, but it's still available at some online shops. (While looking around online I saw another Dale Baby Ull blue also called bright blue, but it has a different # and is not the same as 5726. Be careful if you order online, go by the # and not the name.)



I tried to photograph bright blue #5726 on different days, in different lighting conditions, inside and outside, with flash and without flash, and it refuses to be photographed properly, so I've given up. I found the above image of #5726 on www.yarnsunlimitedpa.com and this is close to how it looks in real life, though I think it's a better match in person. (Note: I've never ordered from yarnsunlimitedpa.com and I have no affiliation with them, I found their shop while googling for Dale color cards.)

The Sandnes Lanett Superwash in lime #8913 is a touch lighter than the Dale Baby Ull #8523. It would also work in a handknit Sounders hat or scarf, though Baby Ull #8523 is a little more accurate. (I've used Lanett Superwash in the same pattern as Baby Ull, they're both fingering weight superwash wools made in Norway.) I hesitate to recommend a blue from this yarn line because the online color cards are so misleading. I looked at a few just to see how the green 8913 looks in some online shops, and they range from completely wrong to close but still wrong.

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There are two colors in Brown Sheep's Nature Spun line that look promising, but I took these images from their site's online color card, which means buyer beware.



Nature Spun - blue boy #116
Nature Spun - spring break #109

If I ever order yarn from a shop that stocks Nature Spun I'll get 2 skeins in these colors just to see if they look as good in person. This is a reliable wool available in a wide variety of colors as well as different weights, and it's inexpensive. It's not as soft as Dale Baby Ull, but it's not the scratchiest wool either. I was disappointed when the only local shop that carried it closed last year.

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For Knitpicks Palette I like the look of Edamame #24257 and Blue #23722. The digital color card on the Knitpicks website makes edamame look too dull/dark and the blue too bright, but they're a good match on the real color card, which uses snips of the yarn.


Knitpicks Palette: Edamame #24257 and Blue #23722

I looked through the Knitpicks catalog and noticed a lot of their yarns have a bright green and medium blue that would work in a Sounders handknit. I only own the Palette color cards though so I'm reluctant to guess on the other yarns; the Knitpicks online cards are notoriously misleading.

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If you've ever knit something to match school or team colors then you probably came to the same conclusion I did: it's a fun challenge to be as accurate as possible, but close is good enough. (I've also matched yarns for Oregon State, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, and Seattle Seahawks.) Think about it this way, if you go to a Sounders match with a green and blue hat, everyone around you will know it's a Sounders hat. If you look at the sea of fans you'll notice people wearing all shades of bright green and blue, it's not necessary to match the official uniform colors exactly. Just please make it a point to avoid Timbers green, that would be horrifying. *needles Timbers fans*

If you have any Sounders yarns to suggest please leave a comment!

3-0!

I love these guys! *weeps* I predict a ton of Kasey Keller and Fredy Montero shirts will be sold this week. Now I'm on the hunt for good yarn in Sounders FC colors, I'll post my findings later.

it most definitely is the beautiful game

Annemor #8 from Selbuvotter

I finished these gloves a month ago and decided to take photos yesterday afternoon after a fresh snow fall. I might try for better photos later.








pattern: Annemor #8 from Selbuvotter - http://www.selbuvotter.com
yarn: 50g Dale Baby Ull (black) and 50g Shepherd Baby Wool 4 Ply (white)
needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm)

I can't say enough good things about Dale Baby Ull, and Shepherd Baby Wool 4 Ply is a great match. I have extremely sensitive hands/wrists and can't stand to wear a lot of wools on my hands, but this wool is so comfortable and soft. If I could afford it I would knit just about everything in Dale Baby Ull. It's perfect for small projects. These gloves require two 50g skeins, one of each color, so around $12 total. Not bad. Cheaper yarn can be found elsewhere, but if I can't actually wear it then cheaper is hardly a good deal.

My older brother and his wife are expecting another daughter in July so I should knit something for my new niece. Right now I'm working on a mindless stockinette sock, which isn't my idea of fun. Time to drag out the books/magazines and look for cute baby sweaters.

Selbuvotter gloves in progress and chart chatter

Selbuvotter! How much do I love this book? It wasn't easy to choose the gloves I wanted to make first, almost every pattern in it appeals to me.







One more finger and then I get to do it all over again.

yarn: Dale Baby Ull (black) and Shepherd Baby Wool (white)
needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm)

This style of gloves would look pretty in a light delicate blue on white for a subtle softer look. I decided to use the traditional black and white first but I'll probably explore more colors on the next pair.

For more information about this book visit its website: http://www.selbuvotter.com
It's a good idea to buy the 2nd edition, but errata can be found on the website for the 1st printing.

And now some words about charts

When I start a new pattern the first thing I do is turn on the scanner, for a few practical reasons. I don't want to mark up the original pattern, and if I misplace the copy the original is still here. Any section of the chart can be enlarged, or broken up into manageable pieces, before it's printed. A print-out and a magnet board can be slipped inside a sheet protector (see below), which I can't do if the original chart is printed in a book.



On the right is a scan of the original page, those three small charts were enlarged so they'd be easier to see without specs on. Scan charts in greyscale (instead of black and white) so they look better printed out.

I also turned the hand chart into two charts: one for the left glove and one for the right. Doing this allowed me to enlarge the hand charts so they filled up the entire page and they're easier to follow as well.

The magnet board can be purchased at most craft stores in the embroidery section, give it a try if post-it notes don't work for you. My board came with the magnets shown, including the handy ruler magnet.