I met my nieces at the Roastery in Calistoga this morning, then we hit the four corners … It was a stellar success! It has been a couple of months since the Autumnal Equinox … I worried I’d never finish … Continue reading
Sweater Success !
Category Archives: Calidez
Sweater Success!
Spring tees photoshoot in Calistoga…. at the four corners.
In front of Brannon’s…
At the corner of the old bank… 
Over outside of Hydro Grill…
Next to the red geraniums outside of All Seasons Bistro….
Then my nieces Miss Seventeen & Miss Fourteen, were keen on visiting the old mural, although it seems to have faded somewhat in the bleaching hot Calistoga sun…
Just walking up Lincoln Street having fun…
Then we disappeared into thrift shop…
And we didn’t buy a thing!
Then we called it a day, and that about wraps it up for Spring Tees 2017!
* * *
Pattern: Calidez with short sleeves and summer/spring hybrid neckline
Yarn: Knit Picks CotLin in colors “Raindrop” and “Pomegranate”
Spring Tee details on Ravelry here & here.
All Sweater Success posts of past and including this one here.
Rosanna & Cesar
Rosanna and Cesar have come to visit! We gathered up all sorts of knitwear from the cedar chest, and went out into the darkening wintery woods, along the knitting trail. Rosanna is wearing the Calidez Vest I recently knit for her, while Cesar wears several of the Fishermens Neck Ganseys I just wrote a pattern for.
Cesar and Rosanna layer in a couple of Calidez Cardigans …
Cesar wears my own cardigan made of Studio Donegal’s Aran Tweed ~~ posted here ~~ Cesar commented how warm and nice the tweed wool felt against his bare skin, and I thought the look was charismatic and fabulously ethnic, especially drinking yerbe mate from a gourd & bombilla that my Argentine friend gave to me. I was so excited they wanted to do a photo shoot with my ensemble of recent designs, because they are both such naturals in front of a camera. It couldn’t have been a better day, clear and cool, and it was a great time had by all, including Emma…
Come back again soon Rosanna and Cesar!
(( click the 1st photo to go to slide show ))
In Calistoga today….
It was pouring down rain most of the day, but fortunately late this morning it settled a bit and we got in some great shots of Miss Sixteen & Miss Fourteen modeling Calidez Vest. At the wall outside of Brannan’s … Continue reading
Calidez Vest Pattern !
I have worked like an ox to get this vest up and running before the holidays descend, and I think yesterday I never moved from my desk while immersed in a last-minute change, crunching numbers to augment the size range … Continue reading
Buttons
I’m going through my numerous button jars, sifting and splashing about, trying to decide which one to finish the latest vest… I really love the wild cat-eye buttons in square one, but there are tragically only three, and the … Continue reading
Calidez Cardigan & Donegal Aran Tweed
At last, my very own cardigan, and it is so special because it is from a wool I’ve wanted to knit forever, and in a pattern which I designed to be my favorite sweater recipe. . .
Calidez Cardigan knit up in Donegal Aran Tweed!
I made it with Autumn neckline. The pattern has four seasons of necklines in case you weren’t aware: winter=full yoke depth, autumn=3/4, spring=1/2, summer=very low. . .
I had so many choices to color match buttons because of all the flecks of tweed in the yarn, but in the end, I only had more shell buttons, but I will find some more, in russet and change them out later.
When it came down to it, I am purely smitten. Donegal Aran Tweed knits up beautifully and has a real ‘slinky’ feel to it when knit up at 3.25 sts to the inch, although I was so tempted to try a smaller needle size, I chose the larger, appealing to a drapier cardigan, however, because of the fact, it is very stretchy and a wee bit baggy, but like in a good way. Next I will try a slightly firmer cardigan fabric, as well as make a size smaller. I still can’t decide what color to go with for my next, and I do think it will have to be a Soft Donegal, and I am thinking to go wild, and get this color.
Well folks, that’s it for today, posting from very rainy Mt Veeder! I couldn’t be happier than with a just-finished cardigan to wear, and you can see details of this project on Ravelry here.
Everything in it’s place, and life is good. Oh, and I’ve been enjoying listening to some beautiful Irish pipes while knitting Irish Wool . . .
Calidez Cardigan
It is here, the design I’ve been working on for a really long time … Calidez Cardigan ! A simple, easy, cozy & classic raglan cardigan, sampled here in beautiful tweedy bulky weight yarn… From the my pattern Calidez pullover, I have felt … Continue reading
Sweater Success !
Another sweater success! We fell out of tradition this time not photographing in Calistoga, but at our new favorite, the castle! Few words this post, but the cardigan pattern is almost ready, and will post soon!
All Sweater Successes Past & Present / Ravelry project details here, and here.
Ready & waiting for Autumn.
Its a glorious time of year, and although the temperature is oppressively hot and a layer of dust covers nearly everything, there is an anticipatory glee happening all at the same time, for we are days away from the Autumn Equinox! And perfectly on schedule, the two cardigans come off the needles and sit folded, well-mannered and patient, waiting for the eventful day (hopefully soon) they meet their people~~ my nieces!
I’ll not say a self-promoting word about what pattern these are knit from or anything like that, I’ll just say that I’ve spent the better part of 6 weeks merrily knitting these plain & simple sweaters. One last detail to do, the hand-made label…
And now they are indeed fully finished. I always feel a huge sense of accomplishment at this point in the year, all ready for the rains to fall, whenever it will be, who knows, but I look forward to that first sprinkle like candy falling from the sky. Next time you see these babies, they’ll be on my nieces in Calistoga, for the traditional annual Autumn Sweater photo session. Autumn is on its way, and life is good!
Sweater Success !
Spring sweater success! We decided to photograph not in the town of Calistoga this time, but again at the castle. Late morning brought very bright sun and was very warm after weeks of cool rainy days. Oh, and great news is … Continue reading
Vernal Knitting
Folks, it is the Vernal Equinox today, and the very first day of Spring! As my nieces for whom I’ve made these darling little spring tees ( and finished over a week ago, well ahead of deadline) can’t make this morning’s scheduled equinox photoshoot … er… ‘capturing of photographical images’ …. we had to postpone, hopefully only until next weekend. But as I had my heart set on marking the day with a post of these tees (with or without their recipients) I thought I’d show ’em off hanging from my walking stick.
What you are seeing is Calidez redesigned ! That is, redesigned with ‘four seasons’ of necklines ~ and shown above is Spring in dark blue with half depth neckline, and Summer in mint green with full depth neckline. Besides having lower necklines, these Calidez pullovers are worked in Malabrigo “Rios” which is worsted weight 100% superwash merino wool, with short sleeve option, and having a very open seasonal fabric and possessing excellent elasticity. Here is the Spring neckline detail . . .
Next time you will see these tees on Miss Thirteen & Miss Sixteen, so watch this space~~ and Happy Spring to all!
Rosanna
Rosanna visited this week. And it wasn’t until the last day of her visit, when the sun was beginning to set, that she and I got a brilliant idea to rummage through my knitting chest and toss together a quick photo shoot before she leaves tomorrow morning back home to Queretaro Mexico. So here she is, about the house, and outside in the woods, wearing Calidez with two Altitude Lace Cowls, and some Snowmelt Mitts & Tam.
A January Day
The weather has been fabulously wet and the cloud & fog shows as entertaining as can be, and nothing is better than cups of coffee and a little knitting, or in this case, sweater surgery, as was needed this morning. Can you see the section I have added on? About 4 inches worth!
Remember this post from mid November? Well apparently Miss Thirteen has totally outgrown her Autumn Sweater, and it needed lengthening, which I was very keen to do, for it was rather outgrown before she even recieved it. Backstory is that both my nieces were measured for their Autumn sweaters last July, then I had them all knit by mid August , just awaiting the equinox so we could have our Autumn Photo Spree. Well, a couple of weeks before the equinox, the devastating fire which consumed half of the county happened, and everybody was so displaced for weeks (my nieces’ home narrowly escaping destruction) … and so this year they didn’t actually receive their Autumn Sweaters until Mid November. Three months after they were measured, and not difficult to guess that as Miss Thirteen is growing like a weed, some lengthening would be in order.
So, I’ve enjoyed doing a little sweater surgery today and made a tutorial to add to Tips From The Table. I hope you enjoy it and that it can be of use to you or any bottom-up sweaters you know which are in need of a little sweater surgery.
Lengthening Bottom-Up Tutorial HERE
Sweater Success !
A very bright but chilly November morning, in the usual places we photographed, the ‘four corners’ of Lincoln & Washington Streets in Calistoga. This year, things are quite different all around.
First of all, what normally would have been the actual time of equinox, the infamous and devastating wildfire of Lake County held things off for two months. But here we are, back to our familiar places. . .
Other things about this year, as predicted, Miss Twelve is now Miss Thirteen, and has grown so tall that she is now beginning to tower over everybody, including her ‘big sister’, Miss Fifteen (but very soon-to-be-sixteen!).
Miss Thirteen is now in Middle School, and on the volleyball team (they smashed all the other teams and came in first for the season!) and Miss Fifteen is excelling in cross-country running 3rd year in a row, and about to go to the post-season competitions ~~ and about to get her drivers license too!
Since all is going well with them, I’ll get back to the business of the sweaters . . .
These two being modeled are samples of Calidez.
I knit these Autumn Sweaters as I did the prototype, in Cascade 120 superwash ~~ extremely lofty and poofy yarn~~ and these pullovers knit up at lightening speed being bulky-weight yarn, and the instant impression from my nieces was ‘oh they’re soooo soft ‘. So I recommend this yarn if one wants a ridiculously soft but still pure wool experience.
And then . . .
after the photo shoot we went on a book-buying spree for Miss Thirteen’s birthday !
I think this Autumn Sweater design for my nieces is up to par and is deserving of the usual title of ‘Sweater Success!’ Now, those of you who are new to this blog, you must see Sweater Successes past, go HERE and be sure to scroll all the way down~~ to 2010!