Rough Start . . . Carraig-Fhada Vest

Oh my let me count the ways I can totally screw up a project and have so many restarts!  Really . . . how can I love knitting so much and yet just be tortured by the knitting trolls!  Last night, I may have won and sent the little buggers back into hiding for a bit!

A wonderful swatch with great tension and all things I love about knitting! This pattern is from Kate Davies Inspired by Islay, called Carraig-Fhada vest, knitted with Buachaille yarn.

I started off great with knitting the full recommended swatch but here lies the first ERROR!  I have a wonderful swatch and I could duplicate sts colors on it to see what I actually really did like and what caught my eye. DID I WRITE THE NEEDLE SIZE DOWN---NOPE-NO-NOT AT ALL!!!!!!! When will I get over this major personal flaw in knitting?  Why is it so hard to write DOWN NEEDLE SIZE 3.5MM?  Oh, I say, to myself all the time, "I will remember what needle size, of course, I will remember your size needle!" Do I remember the needle size . . . not often enough.

Then there was the issue with the twisted sts ribbing . . . too loose, I didn't go down a needle size or two. Which when I got to the colorwork was very loose and floppy. I don't care for that kind of knitting at all my knitting has to have "ganas" which is Spanish for balls meaning it needs to be a bit firm with some substance to the knitted fabric. I frogged and started the twist sts ribbing again on smaller needles and NOPE still didn't like it. I went back to the tried and tested true to the core ol'K2, P2 ribbing on smaller needles and reduced sts.  I am an EZ percentage system fan, I know I can redesign anything and make my knitting work for me. Although I am trying to follow a pattern, I am all about tweaking it to make it mine and to make it work for me! I know I can do these things when I am not screwing up the needle size!

The colorwork and the increase I picked just looked too messy, my knitting was once again just to loose and did not resemble my great swatch at all.  STOP!  What the heck is going on here?  Those dang knitting trolls! I know for a fact these trolls live and run around causing mayhem for us knitters. I imagine trolls rubbing their hands, chatting and grunting with each other and planning their attract when I am not looking. . . they are giggling at all my errors and loving the mayhem they are creating . . . but at last, I won!  I frogged a bit, fixed needle size, fixed increases, and did 2 rounds of colorwork correctly and set my knitting down for the night. Once you get the bothersome knitting trolls under control you need to leave them as they retreat to their den all pissy that they didn't win and can not longer torment the H-E-double-toothpicks out of you!

Where's the WOOL?

It is time for a knitting update.  I left off with a Lopi sweater which has been great for skiing this winter.  My only slight complaint about any sweater I knit is the body length. This is a fitting issue, I will be focusing on in the future.  I have a few sweaters that I really love but the body length I feel is just too long.

I don't believe I posted this finished sweater.  This was the Shetland Chunky yarn with unspun Icelandic.

Done, off the needles, and used often this winter! This sweater has made for a wonderful warm layer when skiing in the bitter cold. Like all 100% wool, it keeps you 100% warm!

I did finish last spring's socks I casted on.  I never worry about socks as they are the "go to" project to just have around and to knit when time or my mind needs productive mindless knitting. Hats are another great project just to have around or to use up your leftover yarn to knit up a fun hat.

Nice pair of R & R socks as I am calling these.  Knit with Kate Davies Buachaille Yarn.

I also knitted and felted two pairs of baby booties.  I finished the icord on a baby blanket that was to be a throw years ago. This throw turned into a baby blanket as it has been sitting as a UFO (for those non-knitting folks this is an UnFinished Object) for YEARS!  It is now DONE!  Baby booties just need a bit of finishing work and all items will be delivered next week.

Knitted and felted baby booties.  Knitted with Malabrigo worsted yarn from the Knit'N Needle.  Malagrigo yarn is wonderful for felting!  This is my go to knit for little ones.

Leftover yarns, a long-term project, off the needles and soon to be on its way to a little one.

Brief intro: The big project is my Fair Isle Vest!  This has been a dream project/goal for years and now it is on my needles! It has been a bit of a struggle to get it on my needles  . . . read below

Carraig-Fhada Vest 

Carraig-Fhada Vest is on my needles for the third time.  Last fall, I signed up for the Inspired my Islay Club.  I would be getting weekly patterns through the winter and in the end the patterns in a book as well all by Kate and Tom. It was a weekly treat to see what would arrive in my "inbox."  When the vest showed up I knew I would have to knit it!  I did knit up a swatch and messed with the colors a bit.  The white background had me worried a bit, yet I loved the colors used and the nice spring/summer look of the vest. After a bit of messing around and thinking, I ended up going back to the original blue colorway in the pattern.

Twisted STS ribbing looks nice.

Far too large and to much stretch and I am just not happy with you!

Sometimes it is best to knit with a background that doesn't match your yarn--a knitting tip!  This just made it harder to see the sts.

I am lately having a ribbing issue with my knitting.  I frogged out the ribbing and debated a k2, p2 rib which is what most Fair Isle use or reducing the sts count.  I finally just went down 2 needle sizes and re-knit the twisted sts ribbing.  The ribbing is now done.  I tried it on and it seems better  . . . I don't love it though.  On a positive note, I started the color work which I do love!  Colorwork just talks to me! I love the reward of seeing progress as you work your way through the color motifs.

I knit this ribbing twice, the 1st time I forgot to go down a needle size or 2--ugh!  The second time I went down 2 needle sizes and knitted colorwork.  I decided, I really didn't like the colorwork or the ribbing.

After much debate, I had that "gut feeling." I am not in love with you
. . .  I frogged for the vest for the third time.

Colorwork which is looking pretty nice I will say, but I just am not happy with all that white!

I frogged the ribbing three times. I casted on with a different blue, a k2, p2 ribbing on needles 2 sizes smaller and minus 24 sts.  I have returned to my gut feeling of ribbing and colors and now, in theory, I should be all set to knit with no more major frogging!

A great thing about knitting a good size swatch is you have something to mess around with.  Ther blue I am using now is "Between Weathers"  with the "Haar" for the background color. I also used a duplicate sts to look at colors.

The colors I am now using are muted but I like them better.  My only last little color issue is I may change the Furz (golden yellow) to a Hedder (heather pink) . . . 

A side note: Fair Isle, Lopi, and Norwegian knitting design/techniques are what I love the most!  Aran knitting technique is running just a smidge behind color work for me. I love the traditional knits and color work of these techniques from the northern latitudes.




PS  I hope this doesn't read to disjointed.  It just took some time to get all the knitting updated. The photo below sums up how I felt about this post---JUST GET IT DONE WILL YOU!

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!