Yarn-scape

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Jen

I’m up to something again. Here, winding off skeins of Shibui & Madelinetosh sock yarns. I’m drowning myself in skinny yarn. I did mention something about knitting socks with it however, a few posts back . . .

Which I am doing.

My nieces are coming in a few days, and I am going to rewrite my original Penny Candy Socks pattern completely different ~~ very soon~~ so , I’m madly knitting the above pair (in Malabrigo Sock) for another fun photo session with them !

Then there’s this madness , heaps of skinny Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn (which by the way, like Shibui and Malabrigo, is from Peru) and very fine Lana Grossa (from Italy) . . . over-dyed and drying still . . .

I nearly spent a mint on some fancy hand-dyed superwash Malabrigo Arroyo (I sooo wanted to) , which is a sport weight, for I am erupting with ideas already for Autumnal Equinox sweaters, but decided instead to over-dye a mess o’ sock yarn I had on hand which was bound for nowhere. Was 4 balls of light blue Stroll — now cayenne red, 4 balls of light grey Stroll –now mustard yellow, 1 ball of hot pink Lana Grossa, — now deep garnet. All now a very lovely array of Autumn tones, achieved with Dharma Trading acid dyes in colors “cayenne” , “mustard” , & “maroon” .

I had spent hours going color crazy at the kitchen last night ~ while cooking dinner (a habit I always seem to get into ). Today all is calm, and quiet, winding off like a busy bee hive, immersed in this lovely yarn-scape.

Sweater Success !

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Jen

The skies were perfect blue & sunny, and we had a terrific time for photographing Spring Tees 2014 ! This year, the design Penny Candy Tee has made it all the way to a published design, and I managed to get it all up and available in time to post the pattern ~~ right over HERE. What a crescendo, happy beautiful faces, and stellar lighting, with charm that just blew my socks off. I couldn’t believe my eyes, how much these girls have learned in the skills of modelling knitwear for their auntie. I am even getting a little teary just thinking about it. But on with the show !

The first always to be photographed is the mint green bank building of Old Town Calistoga . . jenjoycedesign©PennyCandyTees Then we cross Lincoln and shoot against the terra cotta wall outside of Brannon’s Restaurant for our usual series of slightly goofy shots . . . .

Then we go to the corner outside of Hydro Grill.

People were having breakfast inside

watching us through the window seemed intrigued at what was going on just outside…

Last year’s addition , the ‘tree hugging’ shot outside of All Seasons Bistro,

now completes Four Corners, at the intersection of Washington & Lincoln Streets.

Then we make our way to the big mural of Old Town Calistoga ! The same poses are great because one can really see how the girls have grown in the years that I’ve been knitting for them (and blogging about it).

At the end of this post is a big long slideshow, I hope you watch it !

However, as this post is also a pattern debut, I must say, some lovely detail photos were taken.

Just look how lovely the neckline , with the scalloped neckline & mitered corners looks in these details . . .

And just how the bottom icord edge with scalloped lace pattern works . . .

Last not least , the back shoulder, and short rows.

The neck is just low enough in both the front and back. . .

Friends & Knitters, you can find the pattern over on it’s own page Penny Candy Tee Pattern page , here on Yarnings. or on Ravelry HERE Plenty to peruse, but, before you click off this page, the best is waiting next in this little slideshow !!!

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Thank you girls, you’re the one’s who made me into the knitter I am, and if it weren’t for you, there’d be no Yarnings. Here on this bench outside of Calistoga Roastery, we closed for the day, and I want you to see the first photo taken of them, on this same bench wearing the first cardigans I knit for them!

September 2010

All posts of the Penny Candy Tee in progress HERE

Edit In : I have rounded up most of the photos of my nieces here in Yarnings over the last four years. From present retrospect back to the first sweaters I knit for them in March 2010 . Simply click : Sweater Success !

Tee Two

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Jen

Well knitters & friends out there… I am emerging from my knitting woodshed, now with not one, but two Spring Tees in my holster ! I am going to be doing a lot of (photo) shooting in Calistoga this coming weekend with my beautiful & adorable nieces modelling! A second knit of my latest design ~~ Penny Candy Tee ~~ prototype in previous post, but this one is a little different. Not four colors , but three, and it is not shaped (for an eleven-year-old, c’mon…) and, I used up some left over stash Malabrigo Sock yarn for the lace, which is… um… quite a bit finer than the yarn of the rest. Not enough to get worried over. And just like the original in last post, the lacework is the feature of the design, an unlikely pairing with stripes, but hey, they get along wonderfully ! No fights in the playground yet . . .

Waiting patiently

now , for their girls to sweetly adorn,

I’ve got them folded away from distracting last-minute changes.

This sign I have had propped up on my spinning wheel by my knitting loft door, well, I’m so pleased that what seemed a daunting task a month ago when I hadn’t even started them, is now….

done & dusted !

As I am presently working like a pair of oxen writing the pattern for Penny Candy Tee, that will be coming up next, for Spring knitting ! Details found on Ravelry HERE

Penny Candy Tee !

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Jen

Well friends, I’ve finished up Tee One, which is also the prototype for Penny Candy Tee, and here she is slung over a chair back , just to show off how well the fabric drapes. This flavor ” Licorice Vanilla ” is for Niece Who Is Fourteen . . . sultry greys and creams, and a classic ensemble of colors suits her perfectly. Perfectly!

The pattern is already well on it’s way but I am being childishly impatient not to wait until it is ready before I show it off.

The fact that this design has moderate waist shaping is indeed a milestone for me!

Also, I figured out a clever way to work short-rows at the back of the neck, and miter the centered lacework too, though admittedly, a bit of improvisation is necessary.

I think the winning feature of this design, is that the scalloped bottom edge of the lace motif is so sturdy & stubborn and the fabric of the stockinette (sock yarn on big needles) is so lightweight & sheer … that the stripes completely yield to the lace’s personality!

Shown with the bottom folded up to meet the back neck.

Best of all , the steep raglan shaping is well-complimented by the stripes . . .

This lightweight springtime knit folds up into practically nothing. . .

I am going to go be busier than a beehive and finish Tee Two. Stash yarns in a mix of different yarn brands will do nicely… orange, peach, and rusty red are fav colors of Niece Who Is Eleven ! I’ve got the Calistoga photo session with my nieces already marked on the calendar for two weeks from today, so there’s no letting up until then. I will probably do some lovely still photos and show off Tee Two coming up soon as I race the clock, so watch this space!

Off The Needles

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Jen

. . . Two weeks later.

I realize this post is nearly identical to the previous one, but March is half through, and warming up, and had this little tee gone as expected, I’d have been finished last week. No complaints, though designing rarely is smooth and without challenge. Ripped back in a drastic way a couple times changing course. Tee One for Niece Who Is Fourteen is just now off the needles, ready to weave in all the ends, kitchener graft the underarms, and wash & block. I will only have time to breathe a big sigh of relief, and not skip a beat… on to Tee Two for Niece Who Is Eleven. Sweaters in my life always come in two’s. 🙂 LOVE IT ! Too much fun for just one person ! Will I… must I … can I possibly … have both of them ready for the equinox??? Stay tuned…

“Pretty Little Things” Gloves

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Jen

At last ! After a mountain of reworking and writing and editing, I finally have the pattern ready for PLT gloves. I have been working like an ox (like a pair of oxen!) on these for longer than I care to remember (clear back into October perhaps???) and I collapse in front of you all, with one last utterance before I lose consciousness and that is . . .

” Please stop on over on the pattern page and see all the prettiness there is to be seen” ! Also you can visit the sisters of PLT gloves ~~~ Pretty Little Things Socks and make a sock & glove matching set !

Molly in Montreal !

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Jen

Remember Molly’s Montreal back in this post ?

Well, I just got word from Molly , and photos of her wearing her “Montreal” !

Just look how lovely !!!

Beautiful Molly shows off my modified version of the sporty original Pin-Striped Sweater Tee marvelously . . .

Modifications were to crop the waist, and lengthen the sleeves by simply continuing the pin-stripe pattern from the provisional cast-on before ribbing for the cuff, with no decreasing except for at the underarm gusset (that gusset part still needs a bit of tweaking). Shall I modify the pattern I am wondering, to include this variation?

Above all . . .

Always ask for exactly what you prefer in life Molly, because most times really good things happen as a result. I thank you so much for asking if I could make your tee with longer sleeves and shorter waist, because I believe I love it most of all this way and will make one just like it for myself ~~~ xoxo from your Auntish !!

Pin-Striped Sweater Tee ~ The Pattern

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Jen

Pin-Striped Tee https://jenjoycedesign.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/a-well-mannered-sweater-tee/

click to go to post about this project

I just wanted to get over this hump and submit this pattern today, though I only decided to get down to it, and polish the draft at noon. Its now 4 o’ clock and Emma is quite gloomy because we haven’t walked since Wednesday, and that was two days ago.

Okay, so where is this pattern you might ask???

Why on my pattern page right up there in the patterns menu, or just click right here

But also you can see it on Ravelry in my pattern store here.

So, whats all this exhausting business of knitting pattern prototypes, and writing patterns? I have had little rest, you’d think I’m obsessed ! ( I guess I can’t hide the fact very well. ) I am actually looking forward to posting about something mundane again, like a picture post of a lovely walk in the woods, or something from my garden (which is doing quite well, with more tomato plants than I’ve ever had before), or just some knitting related Object d’ Arte about the house. But for now, if you’ll excuse me, Emma and I have a walk to do !

Molly’s Montreal

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Jen

She knit up so springy, and wadded up into such a condensed fluffy pet-like thing I couldn’t imagine to fit a woman. But to my fascination and surprise, when under the water she went, when into the warm bath she melted and mellowed and soaked, hidden under the crackling shampoo bubbles, and collapsed into her true self… she transformed. Ah, but then I rinsed her thrice in clear water, and pressed her against the porcelain sink wall as the water trickled out…. and out… and out.

And then, you know that moment when you first lift the wet heavy lump of smooshedness from the porcelain… that moment… when you feel how the wet yarn becomes weak against gravity, and you then know just how strong and sturdy, or just how delicate she is going to be? Well, let me tell you ! She rose up from the porcelain no longer a springy wad of sassy puffy loops, but now fully sprung loops, alluring, glistening with wet color, and completely relaxed into her full length and width. No question she will be the right size enough now. How could I have doubted?

What measured barely 28″ in the bust, just off the needles, slightly crumply, tighter gauge, is now loosely blocked out (just shaped, no pins) to the exact measure I wanted of 33″ . Magically when swinging about off of the flat blocking towel, I’m sure she will bounce back to about 31″ and have just the right amount of negative ease in the bust that a fitted tee ought to have for a modern young woman. Her true nature blossomed before my eyes into that wonderfully delicate, almost lacy creature I knew she’d be, yet a rugged one to marvel. She is indeed a most lightweight summery knitted top to behold.

Her sleeves are not fitted, but something like the pant legs of sailors trousers ~~~ wide and airy. A breeze can blow through this three-quarter sleeved tee and be dried like freshly scrubbed ship deck in the sun out at sea, in all of about ten minutes. Refined , yet rugged, and wouldn’t completely die if she accidentally went through the wash. Yet she prefers the handwash treatment, and loves to dry fast out in the sun. I’ve had a lot of education with these pin-striped tees, I’ve learned what a versatile thing which is skinny sock yarn, knit on tiny needles or big ones ! Once upon a time I thought I wouldn’t like knitting tops with it, but I love it now !!!

Molly is actually the young lady to whom this lucky tee will belong. I am soon to parcel up this wee tee and post it to her, off to Montreal. (( ” Off to Montreal ” sounds like a fast-paced French Canadian reel or something. )) It is cropped a lot in the waist length from the original tee, and then longer sleeves (which skirt-wearing Molly requested)… a bit loose in fit and knit in the opposite direction from the live loops of provisional cast-on, to just past the elbow. Though it looks bigger & boxier than the original, I assure you, it is smaller all around.

The perfect top for a visit to the beach on bicycles, for a picnic. Molly’s Montreal is a modified version of Jenjoyce’s Pin-Striped Sweater Tee , the previous post and the pattern prototype, (which got sent off to her younger sister Maya a week ago). The pattern is at the moment, undergoing editing, and will be available very soon !!!

* * *

Details on Ravelry HERE

Edit in : I am convinced the decreases in the rib at the neckline need an overhaul… so am presently working on that to write into the pattern.

A Well-Mannered Sweater Tee

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Jen

Presenting Jenjoyce’s Pin-Striped Sweater Tee !

If you cast your mind back to these posts , you’ll understand that I’ve been brewing & stewing, writing, test-knitting and refining this design for several months now, having knit one after another. I’ve been having some major knitting epiphanies and feeling very excited about it all.

Notice how it drapes so well on the chair ? That is because it is a fairly delicate creature, with polite, well-mannered and refined character ~~ yet rugged , made of durable sock yarn, and ready for adventure !

This tee is knit with fingering weight sock yarn on size #6 needles, and it has created an exquisite sheer quality one doesn’t see unless it is held up against back-lighting.

And it is a very fine fabric indeed, so when it is folded, it lays in a discreet , low-profile sort of way. It just screams springtime! And summer too!

Pour yourself a cold drink, and pour yourself into this delightful knitted top, it has just the right amount of negative ease, as it possesses impressive resilience. Not to mention cheerfulness unique about itself, what with all those tiny stripes melting into one another. It just invites compliments from every angle !

It has raglan decreases at the shoulders (even through the neck ribbing), is totally seamless as it is knit in-the-round, has single row color changes (pin-stripes as I call them) , provisional cast-on bottom and sleeves, and . . .