Thursday throwback

April 24, 2024 

After returning from the knitting tour in Ireland last October, I finished the headbands from the Inis Mór workshop with Una McDonagh. In the morning before our workshop, we bussed to the visitor center and then hiked to Dún Aonghasa, an ancient stone fort, which is over 3,000 years old. On the way to the fort we stopped at Teampall Mac Duach (the Church of St. Mac Duach), an early 9th century (?) church dedicated to St Colmán Mac Duach.

 It was appropriately foggy and misty on the hike to Dún Aonghasa.

Teampall Mac Duach

After our hike, we took time to do some shopping in the village shops.

Knitting workshop after lunch.

Aran Headband with Chain Link Cable Stitch by Mairéad Sharry and Una McDonagh

Inis Oírr Stone Walled Garden Ear Warmer  (snail's trail cable) by Úna McDonagh

Tempus fugit 🕰

Wow, 2023 speeds ahead.  Using the wayback machine, I need to catch things up since last September. We went to Ireland the last week of October. We visited friends along the way and made it up to County Donegal.  It was a treat to see Studio Donegal, where the tweed continues to be woven by hand.  

The mill shop at Kerry Wollen Mill, Co Kerry, Ireland.

It is where I bought the Kerry Gold color way of KWM

Aran Wool 3ply.

A lovely green tweed warp. The sound of the 
shuttles going back and forth was nice to hear.

Looking down at the at the warping room and all

the cones of yarn. A look just to the left, and on to the...

Cutting and sewing room. Pattern pieces hanging

at the ready.

  A closeup of some lovely wool tweed pieces

for garments.

Piece by beautiful piece. 

I produced quite a bit of knitting the past year, and expanded the sweater choices for the Pick A Sweater class at beWoolen.

Blomst

Forêts Paisibles, Ris, Anthology,
and Dreaming of Provence 

Cassis, Goldwyn Folly (with a dash of Anthology), 
and Inovec

Of course there are WIPs. One is fingering weight, which I love (but what was I thinking?!) and the other two are Aran weight.  

Simple Sweater TCK

Classic Cardigan, TCK

Lara by Di Gilpin is a fun and quick knitting project.
Donegal tweed for the body and some leftover KWM
in Kerry Gold from the Cassis for the neckband.

Knit knit knit...size 6 = size 1

 05.09.22 Now that summer is waning, I am back to teaching classes.  The Ranunculus 2 was finished around the end of July. The process was much faster the second time thanks to my Ravelry notes.  This is a new addition to my Pick A Sweater Class at beWoolen.  The color is unusual, reminding me of the stormy sea color of Léttlopi I used for my April sweater and it has the color bits like the Ranunculus shop sample at BW.  Truthfully, I did not see the attraction of knitting this sweater until I finished the sample.  Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn is lovely and my knitting a size 6 to get the measurements of the size 1 worked beautifully.  It is a good lesson about using knitting gauge, sizing and some craft math to make it all work.  

After the yoke, it's smooth sailing

A go-with-everything sweater ❤️

R2

 11.07.22

R2 stands for Ranunculus 2.  Yes, I got sucked into the Ranunculus vortex!  Of course, this one is progressing quickly because of my previous notes.  The sample ticked all the boxes with the tweedy bits of the Noro Silk Garden Sock Solo yarn and the perfect fit.  I love when a plan comes together.  The second version is one I can wear now.  The yarn is the same except for the base color.  It was a pleasant surprise to see some warm brown in the yarn as the yoke progressed yesterday.  

The tweedy bits are so beautiful against the dark base color of the yarn
 

Deck knitting with Gus before the rain

Ranunculus

 07.07.2022

Recently I was thinking about adding another sweater (something lightweight) to my pick-a-sweater class at beWoolen.  I asked Michelle and we thought about it for a bit and then she mentioned the Ranunculus sweater, by Midori Hirose.  It has been consistently on the "Hot Right Now, designs with the most visits in 24 hours.  At the time the project count was over 12,000 and as of this morning, the count is up to 13,625. Wow!  Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn was the perfect choice, because I pictured the sweater in a neutral color to show off the design.  The size you knit depends upon the yarn (lace to worsted weight) and needles used for the amount of transparency of the knitted fabric.  At Shepherd's Harvest in May, I saw no fewer than four people wearing their Ranunculus sweaters.  It is a popular knitting project.  

When knitting a class/shop sample I take time to study the pattern before casting on any stitches.  Ravelry is a helpful tool for checking out other projects.  Given the huge number of projects, I narrowed down the search to helpful projects and projects with notes.  Casting on for the swatch, I thought about the fabric (lightweight, but not transparent), neckline (not too snug or loose), sleeves (three-quarter), length, (cropped) and fit (positive ease).  

Deck knitting on a nice day.

Using the Doocot as a template for for width and length.  

After blocking, the fit is perfect and the yarn bloomed beautifully.