Vest: Carraig Fhada

At long last, I have found a color work vest that I want to knit!  I joined Kate Davies club: Inspired By Islay for the winter.  Last week this amazing vest pattern arrived in my inbox. I became instantly smitten with one of the variations of the Carraig Fhada vest!

I went right to my leftover skeins from the Seven Skein club. This was a previous Kate Davies club.  In this club, Kate introduced her own line of yarn called Buachaille.  I thought for once I will knit a proper swatch for this vest with the colors I do have to get my gauge sorted out.

I am missing two colors for this swatch (new Moonlicht Nicht & Furze) but I was able to put together a reasonable swatch for gauge and colors.  I am using 3.75mm circular needles.  I like to knit a swatch on the same type of needles I plan on using.  The swatch has 3 pattern repeats for a 16-inch circular needle.  The top colorway is using Ptarmigan which is the white, the bottom is using Haar the gray. I do like both but will go with the white.  However, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about muck/dirt factor of the Ptarmigan.  The Furze is a yellowy gold color that I have not yet met in person.  I used Macallum a raspberry color. 

I am drawn to both colorways, but I do appreciate the brightness of this combination.

More notes can be found on my Ravelry project page as well for my new vest!

Let's just talk about the weather a bit here: We have had a good solid week of freezing your arse off temperatures!  

Things starting to warm up no wind chill!

Knitting Away: WIPS OFF my Needles!

WIPs, WHAT?  In knitting we have a lot of little acronyms for our art form. WIPs are "Work(s) In Progress" and as knittersall at once they must be done! This August and early September was a forced knit in getting things DONE!  It worked!
or I should say many of us knitters have far too many of these works in progress floating or hidden around.  I for one am classic for starting all kinds of projects and

Central Ave. Hats were well received and are now being enjoyed by this very knit worthy group.

The Kokkeluri Mittens are now done and waiting to be worn in our first snow! I really enjoyed knitting these even though I got off to several very rough starts. Kate's yarn is a treat with an amazing hand and rich Scottish colors.

They were not worn during our 1st snow but yesterday we had ice on puddles, frozen ground, northern lights dancing around  . . . they went on the morning Tank Farm walk.

This project has been on my needles far too LONG!  I finally worked my short rows over my butt and have a pair of tights.  The design is from Elizabeth Zimmermann one of my all time very favorite knitters ever.   The yarn I used is a DK superwash from Knit 'N Needle in Whitefish, Montana. These will be used as a layer on our very cold sub-zero days this winter skiing or for hang out in after a bitter ski.

I wanted something colorful to look as my world becomes a bit monochrome during the winter months.

They still need elastic for the waist and a nice warm bath and time on the blocking board.

The Light at The End of The Tunnel, Holiday, Vacation . . . Bliss, Freedom, Yahoooooo!

It is that time of the year all teachers look forward to and all kids look forward to 

SUMMER VACATION!

I actually like prefer the word HOLIDAY over VACATION as it just sounds more appealing and downright BETTER than vacation.  On Wednesday afternoon I will be on HOLIDAY for 3 months . . . let the reverse migration start.  For now, I am still enjoying my northern latitude home and life.

This little collection of photos is from March '16.  Our ski season was shorter this year and I only was able to get in 102 days of skiing.  I always have a goal of 100 days on skis but would love to hit 125 in a perfect winter.

I started a pair of Kate Davies' fingerless mitts called Pawkies.  This is a fast knit.  I have one mitt done but need to get a better photo outside to show the colors better as her Buachaille yarn is wonderful! Kate's Buachaille Yarn is rich in color, has a wonderful hand, and a joy to knit with--I highly recommend the splurge!

As normal, I have a pair of socks on the needles.  This colorway is Whiskey Spring from my favorite local yarn shop in Montana: Polka Dot Sheep 

The Unspun Icelandic Wool Sweater is done! Off the needles, blocked, and worn! To read more about this Lopi design go back to this previous post. I need an outside photo of this sweater.

I do love how the colors came together and the neck.  The neck is a folded over and then a sewn down cast-off.  This method, I feel gives the most stretch/elastic to a neck.

Miss Sadie on the tundra a few weeks ago. 

Recently, we have been having huge dramatic clouds with little rain.  We did just have a few nights of rain which was really needed.  The tundra has been very dry and crisp.

This flower is known as the "Wooly Lousewort" or "bumble bee flower".  It is blooming all over our tundra at present.  It is such a wonderful treat to finally see something that isn't just various shades of brown!

My morning walks have been wonderful and I am so glad I have moved out of the gym.  Sadie and I walk 2 miles every morning just to get the blood flowing.  When we started walking I would wear a headlamp.  It was dark at the start and finish of our walks. We now have over 18 hours of sunlight.  The sun is rising as we head out.  We get to enjoy the sunrise over the tundra. I love it! Below is the slough that we cross to ski in the winter.  The snowfence is where we run most of our elementary ski practices.  In the distance you can see the fog/mist rising up from the river and hills in the background (2nd photo).  On the other side of those hills is the Yukon River.

About 5:45 a.m. sun rise . . . not a bad way to start the morning walk!

This is before 6 a.m.

Looking towards Unalakleet about 6:15 a.m. again looking s-w down the slough. 

There you have my northern world.  The summer HOLIDAY will soon start.  Time to relax and slow down . . . we will be heading south soon!

Kokkeluri Mittens a Kate Davies Design #sevenskeinsclub

Kokkeluri Mittens a Kate Davies Design

Last night, I finally realized I had ENOUGH of Tomten #2!  I wanted to cast-on a wonderful pair of mittens and knit something new, different and not garter stitch.  I dug around in my DPN collection and did in fact find a 2.75 mm size of needles. I went with that size which I think and feel is a tad bit smaller than the US 2.  I may have to frog this one and go down a needle size but I can not tell yet.  No biggie at all to frog in my books it is simply all part of the process we knitters love! I do love this blue which is showing here a bit richer than what it is like in person.

The crochet provisional cast-on is a great skill and actually pretty is to apply.  I have used it before and really don't be afraid of it at all.  I would recommend working it on wooden needles as they are less slippery.

Using a braid is always a treat to me and such a neat design feature.  I am still amazed at how you knit vertically and yet create this nice horizontal look of the braid.  I do like my braided work to mirror each other and I may adjust for that feature on the right mitten.

Kate's yarn Buachaille has a wonderful hand to it!  I am really liking the feel of the yarn. The yarn weight is perfect as I do love a finer weight yarn.  This weight yarn is easy to work on needles, has great stitch definition, and the drape of the finish product is going to be lovely.

Off to knit some more to check out my gauge!  Knit on!