Jamieson’s Dicey

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Jen

I’ve been busy making some shaping improvements to my Dicey Highlands Bonnet design. Here knit with Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift 2ply wool yarn, with my new favorite diced band style using three colors. I think this particular one is more a man’s cap, and there is a particular Scottish fellow who may just have his name on it come Christmas. About the design elements. I’ve come to the opinion that it should be blocked flat , with the diced band brim eased into flatness as well , instead of blocking it with faced-band standing up . . .

The toorie is as before, one simply threads the ties of the toorie through the middle of the crown and ties it on . . .

Simple & pure ,

strong & good mannered too . . .

Such personality !

I am smitten already with this handsome creature . . .

The confident, all-natural, pragmatic sort . . .

My Dicey pattern is already a year old, and now I am only just now studying it’s many facets while trying out all kinds of yarns and test-knitting, for I honestly feel that the design is so deserving of every attention. This pattern will be having extensive test-knit samples knit up by myself and some friends, and is undergoing an update soon.

I’m already casting on another , testing my new shaping ideas, in a lively ensemble of colors… so watch this space ! 🙂

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Details on Ravelry HERE

Otro Chulo

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Jen

Otro chulo (another chulo). Chulo de Primavera ! (Chulo of Spring). Here he is, just dry from a bath, so bashful in front of the camera. Ah ! Otro Chulo shows his nice color-work, what the heck , how nice, with his little legs sticking out right & left…

Otro Chulo sits up a little more confidently, and sees the world around…

Okay, now with legs outstretched, quite happy with himself, begins to hum a little tune

(shhh listen…)

About now Otro Chulo is feeling a little sassy, really winds it up for the camera…

tied up & twisted !

But feeling already sleepy again , and dreaming of the day next week when he will stand proudly on my brother’s head ! A linen-cotton blend which is a perfect Faded Blues sort of theme for late Spring thru Summer ~~~ a hybrid style of Peruvian Chulo and sherpa hat ~~~ my brother’s favorite whacky thing to wear.

Anyway, my brother is getting quite the collection of chulo hats which I have made him (you can see some of them here ), but honestly I see no reason to stop, and I’m almost certain my brother would agree.

All This Talk About Toque

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Jen

Sofonisba Anguissola -- Portrait of Phillip II of Spain

King Philip II of Spain, wearing the Spanish Tocado, late 1500s. Painting by Sofonisba Anguissola.

I have a thing about odd hats. Looks like Spanish Renaissance sets the trend for my next design, staid in its severity of black, greys, and off-white. A hat, straight up, with no brim ? They were popular from the 13th to the 16th century in Europe, especially in France. The fore-wearers of the modern knitted toque , or tuque, it’s all there ~~ proof such a thing was actually stylish! The Beanie is out folks. The Toque is IN.

Highland Hats !

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Jen

Hats were the occasion this morning.

We opened the cedar trunk with knitted hats, scarves, gloves, and sweaters . . .

jenjoycedesign©Vineyard Rows2

Niece Who Is Fourteen did a stellar job of giving new life to the rows of vines with deep red clusters of California Cabernet Sauvignon grapes . . .

Then, modelled by youngest niece ,

we have a new look for Dicey Highland Bonnet too , something about the charm of an Eleven Year Old . . .

You can find details about Dicey HERE , and Vineyard Rows HERE .

Seven Days

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Jen

Seven days left to make things.

Leafy green is finished !

As is the sea critter . . .

As is the mint-licorice . . .

and also the sherpa hat ! ! !

A dandy one indeed. Wool shell & cotton ‘lined’. I will have to show you sometime how I accomplish this.

Until then I’ll keep you all guessing.

Okay , but that’s not the whole list. There is one more thing I must make, and I will not post until Christmas morning. In the mean time, I will show you the progress of my first lace project . . .

Yes , my first, oh the glorious fun I am having ! And it’s no surprise to me that lace work is so doable while walking the ridge! As this progresses, is blocked out, you will see the lace pattern so much better. Until then, oh the suspense is a little nice. Well, I appear to be ahead of the game and can relax and do some gift wrapping now ! I hope all of you Elves out there are blissfully making.

* All project details on Ravelry HERE .

Vineyard Rows Tam

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Jen

Walking along the old mountain vineyards close by, I found inspiration for a design which I have named “Vineyard Rows”. A California Highlands Bonnet if there is to be one ! I chose four natural shades of Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift yarn, because I happen to love this black & white photo of the historic vineyard landscape I took a year ago. Near the highest vineyard knoll on the mountain perhaps, rows against an Autumn sky, leaves blowing off of the vines as a storm was brewing… it was a walk to remember ! So I came up with this . . .

jenjoycedesign©Vineyard Rows Tam still 4

Vineyard Rows Tam : http://jenjoycedesign.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/vineyard-rows-tam/

jenjoycedesign©Vineyard Rows Tam still 6

Vines of grape leaves wind about the wheel, in borders and peeries, along with interruptions of bold checked dicing. To me this tam brings together California Wine Country with Scottish Highlands. Embroidered grape clusters adorn the rambling vines with French knots in wine tones, creating a spectacular and colorful needlework finish I think!

I really went wild with the notion of the toorie and decided that a tam must have accessory options ! Why not an accessory for the accessory ~~ why not tie one on for the mood you’re in ? Basic black, wine red, & marled toories !!!

But before I embroidered the grape clusters into the vines,

I took the hat out into the woods…

jenjoycedesign©tam in woods

Against the moss . . .

And lastly, against a blush of colorful Autumn leaves, showing how the tam’s outer most rim is traditionally useful in shading from the sun.

Well there you have it, my latest design of a tam named “Vineyard Rows”. I have created this tam for all the lovely walks I’ve enjoyed in the beautiful aesthetic of these old vines ~~ this tam is in tribute to them.

If you haven’t yet read a post I made about Knitting & Wine , it is the prelude to this design, as well as other posts and photographs of nearby vineyards, you may peruse in all vineyard posts .

♣ ♣ ♣

Vineyard Rows pattern may be found here .

((as well as details on Ravelry here ))

Azure

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Jen

I’ve been knitting in a heat wave for a couple of weeks, thirsting for that which best expresses my summer blues, and so I’ve produced the latest which I call it simply ” Azure “. It is a perky beret shape I’ve experimented from my latest pattern Dicey , that is I am considering augmenting the pattern with more beret shapes, graduating from the traditional Scottish Beret into less voluminous ones. This one is definitely narrower and vaguely muffin-shaped as are some of the Old World Scottish bonnets I’ve seen.

But what I love most about this beret is the color-work in the band while the crown is a single complimenting color, it is all about the subtle Fair Isle motif that one can barely see, from the two shades of blue, one angle the motifs pop out, another they disappear into each other. I am going to have to design a new pattern from this, because I love it so much. With Dicey and this experiment, I have learned how to make a lined band, concentric decreases, experimented with several shapes of varying lengths, and practicing my new invention, the turning i-cord which is the edge of the band, super tidy and substantial, and also focusing the design into the band alone, in a Guarda Pampa sort of affect. Oh, and I’ve also been toying with the little puff thing on top which the Scottish call a toorie!

Dicey

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Jen

” Dicey ” is a simple and fairly traditional Scottish style bonnet. It has a checked, or ‘diced’ band as it is called. It has come to me in a sort of time capsule of childhood memories of Peter Rabbit . . … Continue reading →

Lupinus Albifrons

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Jen

Lupinus Albifrons. Known as just ‘ lupine ‘, it is one of the more populated native wildflowers of Northern California, and in April fills the mountain meadows, between grape vines in the rows, and trail-sides with deep blue & purple variegation. A small woody shrub when mature, however, where grass is mowed annually (as in the vineyard rows here on the mountain) and where seed is planted from the wind, you’ll see it popping up everywhere as young single stemmed flowers . . .

I luckily had just the perfect yarn handy when I became inspired from my walk of last week. I had a bunch of green which I over-dyed from grey wool which perfectly illustrates the ‘silvery’ grey-green leaves of the plant. The rich deep blue and purple played illusive games however with the camera, which wasn’t able to distinguish the two, and both came out as blue tones in most of the photos. But here it is , un chullo, for my brother’s birthday tomorrow!

I absolutely go wild photographing still-life knitteds ~~ its just one of the things I love doing, in every light possible , which enables me to make an assemblage of photos that catches different tones and characteristics of the yarns and knitted shapes . . .

The detail with which I experimented for the first time on this chullo hat, was to add a running crocheted chain just inside the typically chullo-esque double-crocheted edge, to neaten up the edge.

I love to make my chullo hats a bit of a hybrid with gnome hats by decreasing into a point, then finishing with a braid extending off of the top . . .

They blossom into a hat with a lot of character and playful whimsy . . .

The crocheted edges tame the curling tendency of the stockinette stitch. . .

Braid finishes being made on both ear flaps . . .

(the purple really pops in this photo below !)

Un chullo, inspired from the lupine flowers in the fields of Northern California. To be given to my brother tomorrow, and there could be nobody more appreciative than he, who wears them everyday , and who is also a botanical wizard !

NOTE : I have taken notes as I knit this one, so if anybody is interested, I could assemble a pattern of sorts from it.

Details on Ravelry HERE

Well, I’m off to walk the mountain with Emma, but I will leave you with a little slide show of the early morning walk of last weekend, from which this chullo’s lupine photos were taken . . .

Lupine of Northern California

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Jen

The other day I took this photograph while knit-walking , the fields bursting with wildflowers, always the first being the blue-ish purple and green lupine.
So it inspired the colorway of this chullo hat (which I’m knitting for my brother’s birthday, as he is a chullo fiend) I am delighted how rich the tones are with my over-dyed green yarn from last autumn, and the blue & purple work together. . .

Happy Easter holiday everyone !

Stormy’s Little Sister

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Jen

When my little niece saw what her big sister got from me for her birthday, which was a lovely cabled beanie all in grey, called Stormy . . . she asked for one too.

So I knit up Little Sister mostly while walking, (as I did Stormy), counting the stitches as I walked… just a simple K6,P2,K2,P2 rib , finished it last night and delivered today.

She’ll love its poofy superwash merino squishy-ness, and kid-like funkiness too.

Little Sister of Stormy,

in the same yarns I over-dyed for her Autumn Sweater . . .

(I was so done with that yarn, but I managed to Knit On with it ! )

Just a little gesture of love for my adorable 10-yr old niece who asked

” Will you pleeeease knit me a beanie too? “

How can I resist !

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(( project details on Ravelry here ))

Really Red Tam

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Jen

I am very proud to finally show you the tam I made !!! It goes in a set with my Really Red Cardigan. I had knit the tam before the holiday gift-knitting crunch set in, then put it aside to be photographed after the new year. New year … check. Photographed…. check. I am over the moon about having this particular cardigan & tam ensemble finished because only a couple of months ago, after having hibernated well over a year, the cardigan was doomed to die a tragic death of getting unraveled out of existence! After much persuasion from a friend, I committed & cut the steek, finished the cardigan, then surprisingly soon after, decided to knit up this tam to go with it. Maybe it was meant to have waited until now, as the rains of the season has made the moss so verdant ~~~ and just look at how well the moss sings praise to the red wool !

There is a bit of a coincidence, that the red in the colorway is called “garnet heather”

. . .well, because garnet is my birth-stone .

. . . and today is my birthday !

* * * * * *

Details found on Ravelry here.

Weather Report : Stormy With Chance of Smiles

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Jen

A week ago, I finished this cabled beanie I knit for my niece’s xmas-day birthday, named it “Stormy” and posted about it over on this post here .

During her birthday party (we celebrated the day after Christmas, her 13th ) my adorable and lovely niece for whom it was knitted, modelled it for the photo (which I took with her brand new i-phone). She just now emailed it to me and I wanted to post it immediately !

Stormy

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Jen

Cables ! ! !

Twisted while walking over hill and dale . .

and counted so I could watch my surroundings.

K (1,2,3,4,5,6), P (7,8), K (9,10), P (11,12) . . . repeat,

& twist cables every 13th row.

Knitted while walking in the last of the Autumnal color.

Environs greying more each day as the leaves fall to the ground and colors melt away.

Not the last, but another knitted gift for one soon to be Thirteen !!!

I have named it simply . . .

” Stormy “.

* * *

Details of this project found on Ravelry here

Nora’s Christmas Chulo

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Jen

One hat, knit for one twenty-month old Nora, for Christmas.

Knit totally improvised, over a couple of days, mostly during one Christmas party, and one long hike walking the hills.

Now finished, and will send off in the mail. I love it, and I think she will too. Made from one-hundred percent Peruvian alpaca yarn, who couldn’t?

Well anyway, this is the first of as many gifts as I can possibly knit up until Christmas, which will be all posted in succession. Starting another immediately… something stripey & pepperminty.

Details on Ravelry here .