Abundant Hemlock Ring Blanket

The Hemlock Ring Blanket that Jared Flood modified caught my eye and then there was that huge mass of Abundance acquired at one of Chris' open houses last year. Pairing the two together seemed like the natural thing to do and this is my result.


Blocking this thing was a monster and it turned out to be pretty difficult to photograph. The colors of the Abundance are very difficult to capture

One thing is certain - with the cold winds and freezing temperatures, this is finished just in time!

Every Last Scrap

I can't stand to waste any Briar Rose goodness. This sweater pairs a little leftover Abundance with a solid eggplant color. It has a scoop neck and shorter sleeves because I'm warm blooded. The wide stripe makes objects appear larger than they are? LOL
I've worn this almost non-stop for a month!

Chris, have you ever thought about dying semi-solids to coordinate with your hand painted fibers?

Dream Weaver Shrug

DW Shrug 15
Originally uploaded by kniterella

It's been a few weeks since something was complete for Bugg and this shrug knit up in 2 days.

Made with Dream Weaver yarn from Briar Rose Fibers - this knit up quickly on size 15's. The yarn is a perfect mix of thick and thin which gave me a couple of ideas for other projects using the same fiber.

I've blocked the border for Brown Tilly and all of the math is complete. I should have time to start putting the border on this week. Also, I cast-on the Hemlock Ring Blanket using Abundance. This pattern was modified by Jared and seems to be all the rave of Ravelry. His photos are fabulous!

My family is coming for Thanksgiving and everyone is bringing their dogs. All of the doggies are below the knee, but there will be 8 including our 2 -- what a challenge!

Everyone but me was at Rhinebeck...

...so I finished a sweater!

Celebration Retro 004
Originally uploaded by kniterella

While hunting for the perfect color of Abundance to use for my mom's birthday sweater, Chris and I decided to try a double strand of Celebration.

The Retro Cardigan pattern has just been altered for a variety of sizes and I wanted to test knit a larger size for my mom.

The Celebration was very bulky while wet blocking, but dried to perfection. The bamboo in this yarn should help keep the 'heat' down when worn.

I will get some modeled photos as soon as I can see my mom - her birthday is Nov 23rd!

Central Park Hoodie

It's all finished! Never mind that it's 90 degrees with 90% humidity... well to be honest, I do mind. :) What can I say about this pattern that hasn't already been said? It's fun to knit! It's written for a snug fit, especially the sleeves, so consider making a size larger than you ordinarily would. Abundance relaxed beautifully with blocking.

Now I'm all ready for fall, and for NYS Sheep & Wool festival. Who's with me?

Central Park Vest

I'm moving right along on my CPHoodie. Fronts and back are complete and I'm ready to begin the hood. Then it will need sleeves and there's the matter of a button band.
These photos show the yarn's rich color better than the previous post. It's a very deep eggplant with all of Chris' magic sprinkled in. This pattern has been so much fun.

Walk in Central Park

Here's my progress on the Central Park Hoodie from KnitScenes Fall '06 issue. Just at the point where I'll split it into 3 parts: left front, back, & right front. The colors are richer and darker than this photo suggests, but the cables show up clearly. I'm liking the pattern very much, and there are many helpful suggestions on the CPH knit-along site. While there, be sure to see BrownBerry's finished hoodie. Now those are some good photographs!

I don't need to tell you folks that this Abundance yarn is uum-um-Good! Clean and without knots, it's pure enjoyment. I never get tired of watching how Chris' colors mix and blend as I knit.

Great Lakes Fiber Show

This weekend I saw this:


and came home with Abundance:


enough to make the Central Park Hoodie from KnitScenes fall '06:

It was great seeing Chris and Kristy again! Anne's Morning Glory Wrap is so gorgeous - even better than the photos. There were cards of handmade buttons just begging to be taken home. Their 'shop' is so inviting and cozy that I wanted to stay all afternoon. The Great Lakes show keeps getting larger each year, but Briar Rose is still the main reason that I go.

Diagonal Front Jacket

Last July, Chris hooked me up with a new worsted weight wool that she was painting. I had only the most basic idea of a finished garment in mind. I only knew for sure that I HAD to have more of her stuff. This time in blues with golden yellow. She made time, in the middle of festival season, to dye this to my specifications. "More bright yellow," I whined. Just look at what she sent!

And what a slacker I am, that I've still not finished the shawl collar. Or rather, I've knit it twice but the results were not worthy of the fine yarn used. (It's "Abundance", by the way.) Here's a shot of the front, with my circular needle hanging in it. This is where I join the knit-a-long and get down to work.

I started with Debbie Bliss' Diagonal-Front Jacket (from her Home book) but trimmed it down and shortened the sleeves and it WILL have a real shawl collar, as soon as I get the math right.

Please don't get the wrong idea here, just because I knit without strictly following a pattern. I'm NO expert and I spend almost as much time tinking as knitting. (grins)
My goal is to wear the item for more time than it took to knit it.