CARLA PULLOVER
Pattern: “Carla” from Rowan’s book, It’s a Tape Thing (2004)
Designed by: Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: 7 balls of Rowan Cotton Tape in Glint colorway
Needles: Takumi Clover Bamboos, size 11 and 13
Started: June 3rd, 2006  Finished: June 15th, 2006
Modifications: Changed the sleeves to 3/4 length

Whether it is far away…

or close up…

I am loving this sweater!

The Carla sweater took me a little over a week to knit - she demanded my full attention with her lacy stitches and interesting details (See the weaving / embroidery on the sleeves?  This was done over the dropped stitch pattern, as described in the book.)  She demanded my attention so much that I actually skipped my yoga class yesterday in order to seam her up!  Of course, after all of this, I now have the perfect summer sweater.  (And just in time!  We leave for our beach getaway in one week!) I am so glad I went with the smaller size, like Angela suggested.  I made the Medium (36″), and it fits perfectly.  I may have to tailor it a little as I lose more weight. 

Oh Rowan!  Why did you discontinue a yarn after I fall in love with it?  Sure I got a little taste of the Cotton Tape with my Virtue Beret last fall, but after this sweater, I am in love with the stuff  … and now, this is all that is left … albeit, at a great sale price! (just because I am on a yarn diet does not mean that I can’t enable YOU to buy more!)  

I got this yarn at Ann’s Swap last February.  We threw all of our yarns in a big pile and then everyone went through and found what they liked.  We used the “honor system” for the trades, taking what we thought was fair, depending on how many others took the yarns that we brought.  Because this yarn was essentially free for me -  even though I traded a lot of my stash yarn for it – I would like to pay it forward to another knitter or crocheter.

 I have three full balls of Cotton Tape left!

Who wants the yarn?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

You may ask… what can I do with only three balls of Cotton Tape?  Well, here are a few possibilities…

1. Virtue Knit Beret, 2. Cat Crochet Market Bag,
3. Candy Crochet Hat, 4. Thrill Knit Tank (in size 32 or 34)

Of course, you could experiment on your own as well!  So, let me know if you are interested.  I will choose randomly on MONDAY NIGHT.  I will alert the winner and get the package off to you before I head to the beach on Friday. 

Don’t forget that today is the first day of signups for July’s Project Spectrum Postcard Swap.  You can start thinking about your purples now!  Signup continues through July 10th. 

Have a beautiful weekend – we are spending ours with our dads!

Just as Chris Pronger scored the first Edmonton goal – 14 seconds into the game – I was binding off the front of my Carla pullover. And during the first intermission, I got the block party started!

I will sew her up tonight, complete the sleeve detail, and show her off tomorrow!

Of course, with 2 hours of hockey game left, I needed something else to knit. I could have worked on one of the WIPs, but, instead, I started on a new blue…

This “Fuzzy Wuzzy” mohair is from Dancing Leaf Farm, born and raised here in Maryland. My friend, Donna, gave this beautiful “True Blue” colorway for my birthday last year. It has a TON of yardage, much more than this pattern calls for. If you look close enough, you can see that it is turning my needles blue! I had a feeling this might happen, so I chose my cheapy Ebay needles. It dyed my fingers too, so after knitting up, it will need a good rinsing until the water is clear. It may fade the yarn – it is a little bright, eh?

Last year, I worked a trade with Jacqueline. I admired her beautiful mohair camisole, and she admired a teapot only sold in the US, so the trade was born! She sent me the Jo Sharp Contemporary Knitting Two Collection book, and I found the Adagio Teapot she wanted. So, I am finally making that little mohair cami I admired!

Such a simple pattern – infinitely wearable in every season. I love the muted colors of the Jo Sharp mohair yarn, but I am committed to using up some stash yarns this summer, so I hope that this camisole turns out well with this variegated mohair.

I was ready to see the Stanley Cup awarded to the Hurricanes last night. I just had a feeling that they could pull through. Neither of the teams in the finals are “my” team, but I do enjoy watching good hockey, and this series has been incredible! Great stories and great plays. My sister Sarah goes to college just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, so I hope to catch one of their fall games when I go down to visit her.

On Saturday night, Kris and I will be watching Game Six of the finals – counting down till the Cup is awarded. Whether it goes to the Oilers or the ‘Canes, I will have my knitting in one hand, and my tissue in the other… I always tear up when they skate around with the trophy!

We woke up early on Sunday morning to head to the Takoma Park Farmers’ Market.  I have heard many times that this is one of the biggest and best quality markets in the state, and once we got there, we were not disappointed.  We got beautiful vegetables, fruits, and potted plants, as well as some fresh free-range eggs, and baked breads. Kris and I planned quite the feast on Sunday – all from the farmers’ market purchases, and from our own backyard herb garden!

1. Farmers’ Market vegetables, 2. Preparing summer squash, 3. Kris using Foodmill, 4. Fresh bread and bruschetta, 5. Stuffed Summer Squash, 6. Local Dinner

We ate an entirely “local” dinner – from the breads to the veggies!  Although no blue is represented (isn’t there some quote about how there is “no blue food”?) there was a spectrum of colors on our plates!  We used EIGHT herbs from our own garden – thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, marjoram, chives, basil, oregano –  and all of the fruits and veggies were from the market.  However, we will have our own spread of fresh veggies one day soon – our garden is growing very well!  Although not edible, we have been admiring the lovely blooms of our lilies and lubelia.

Our morning in Takoma was wonderful.  Not only is the farmers’ market a beautiful environment with sweet smells and friendly faces, but the section of town where the market is hosted also has a range of great shops and cafes – two in particular for us crafty-minded peeps!  Now and Then is a gift shop with many unique pieces of jewelry, decorations for the home, and a nearly complete line of yarn from Brown Sheep and South West Trading Company!  I was excited to see these brands, because my LYS does not carry Lamb’s Pride, or the newer SWTC yarns.  (I am participating in the Summer of Stash, however, so I looked and touched, but made no purchases!  I filed the information away for another shopping trip after the Labor Day cutoff!)  Right next door to this shop is S & A Beads, a small boutique with many beads and jewelry-making supplies.  Another day-long trip to Takoma is in order – just so many shops to peruse! – we couldn’t stay too long with all of our fresh veggies and eggs in tow.

I had a lot of crafty plans for the weekend, but when it came down to it, I worked solely on my Carla pullover.  I guess I am just excited about wearing it!  I completed both sleeves (a very short excursion to “sleeve island”), and started the front. 

1. Carla’s sleeve, 2. Knitting on Carla, 3. Carla’s Front in progress

As you can see, I had some fun with the drop stitch detailing on the sleeves.  I love the way it looks.  The pattern calls for a weaving/embroidery technique on the sleeve’s dropped stitches.  I will attempt to follow the instructions in the book (they are vague), but I may just play with it and find something I like.  There are many different interpretations of the sleeves (as seen on the Carla knitalong blog) and I am a go with the flow kind of girl.

Yesterday, I met up with dear Coleen before our scheduled Knit Nite for some crafty supply shopping.  I needed some supplies for my Postcard Swap cards (matches went out – let me know if you did not receive yours!) and for a few other planned craftivities.  However, I had a hard time shopping because I had such fun taking pictures of all of the blue craft supplies!

(Can you tell that I am addicted to this Flickr Mosaic Maker?)

We headed over to the cafe and grabbed some dinner and tea before knit nite started. It was a nice time to catch up, and see everyone’s new projects (like Sarah’s recently finished Illusion Shawl – gorgeous! and blue!)  Sadly, MamaE couldn’t make it, but I did get to talk to her on the phone beforehand. I also got to hear about their daytrip to The Mannings (a huge fiber farm/school in PA) – read more about it (and see the pics) on Coleen’s blog.

Jennifer, Laura, Sarah, Eunny, Amie, Coleen, Jolene

After knit nite, I came home to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals – what a series!  We have been watching a lot of soccer and hockey at our house these past few days.  It makes for very exciting knitting!

Do you want some blue mail? You have a few hours left to signup for the June edition of the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap! Signups last until 11:59pm (EST) on June 10th (today), and names will be paired up and delivered to your email inbox this weekend. Please read the form carefully before joining; if you do not think you will be able to make a postcard and mail it out this month, do NOT sign up.

After the pals are paired up, we begin with a “clean slate” – so you have to sign up again for July’s Postcard Swap. Official signups begin next Friday, the 16th, and will stay open through the 10th of July. If purple is your color, start planning for it!

Blue stamps from some recent Postcrossing deliveries – from Finland, New Zealand, and Netherlands.

By sheer luck, I had some free time on Wednesday night, and even crazier still? So did Donna and Heather! We quickly organized some dinner and knitting time. (Poor Eilene was sunning herself on some Hawaiian beach and couldn’t make it…) We ate al fresco (and serendipitously ran into Liz!)and went back to Heather’s place for some knitting. You can read more about the little guy who decided to join us over at Heather’s blog. Pretty darn funny! It was a great night!

(More pics from our night)

I finished the back of the Carla pullover, and promptly started on sleeve one. The pattern calls for a stockinette panel in the middle of the lace, and when I reach the top, I drop two stitches all the way down. I am planning to make 3/4 length sleeves, just because I prefer them in summer sweaters, so this sleeve will be finished in no time. I think the whole sweater will be finished by the time we head to the beach – this will be a great addition to the summer time wardrobe!

I probably would have been finished with the sleeves by now, had I not been tempted away by the call of the sock! I didn’t have a blue pair on the needles yet, although I have some great blue yarns in the ol’ stash, so I quickly remedied the situation. This is Schachenmayr Nomotta Blue Jeans line, in two separate indigo dyes. Mom picked these up for me at a bargain basement store (only $2 a skein) and I immediately thought of striped knee socks. I think I have enough yarn to make that a reality…

I am using the free Blueberry Waffle Socks pattern: Simple stitches for a nice texture. I am also planning to cast on for my Summer of Socks / Trekking KAL pair on June 21st (Solstice!) Both will probably go to the shore with me for some beach and pool side knitting. All of the yarns are from the stash, because as you know, it is the Summer of Stash over here at Lollygirl.

We have a bike ride planned today, and lots of errand-running. I hope to have some knitting time this weekend, as well as some other Project Spectrum crafting – we’ll see what I have to show for it! Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

I have loved every single month of Project Spectrum; when the clock chimes 12:00am on the first day of the month, I become the #1 fan and proponent of “said” color.  I see the color everywhere - I try to work it into my wardrobe (that was a little difficult in April, but I managed it a few times)… and I do my best to work the color into my crafting.  However, this month – this month of BLUE - is just singing to my soul!  I am living blue this month!  I am wearing the colors, I can’t stop staring at the gorgeous blue skies, and I am working (and planning) all sorts of beautiful blue projects! 

My Carla pullover – before my knitting spree last night.  Now, the back is nearly complete!

Proud to say that I am actually working a lace pattern without major screw-ups!  Of course, it is not huge and charted and k7tog, but, it is lace!  I love working with the Cotton Tape.  I chatted with Angela a little last week about this pattern, and she noted that it has amazing stretch qualities (like most cotton garments), so I decided to take it down to a size smaller, planning to work in that negative ease. I also added a little length to compensate for my long torso.  I hope to make some good progress on this over the weekend, and have a finished knit to share within the color month.

I have also been enjoying my old blue knits - specifically my Koigu Indigo anklets.  I finished these back in February, and they have just gotten better with time. Many other knitters have lauded the qualities of Koigu, and I can see why this is a favored yarn.  It wears well, and keeps the color after washing. The colors are so saturated and strong, and they just may be my favorite pair of socks to date…

I also went on a Project Spectrum-induced hunt in my house for blue items… I found so many in my kitchen that I didn’t make it to any other room! Perhaps another day…

1. Blue glasses, 2. Cobalt Blue Silverware, 3. Blue Trivets, 4. Blue Teacups, 5. Blue Candlestick Holders, 6. Cobalt Blue Glasses

 One of my absolute favorite shades is the deep cobalt blue you see in the drinking glasses and silverware above.  I have some other cobalt blues around the house too. 

And I got some lovely blues in the mail as well!  What wonderful surprises from Anjo and Georgia.  Thank you!!

Anjo sent another wonderful package – with the BLUE Project Spectrum soundtrack (my set is nearly complete!), and some beautiful crafty supplies - ribbons, beads, and the best personal touch: handmade gift tags!  They are just delightful!  Many thanks Anjo, you are so incredibly kind!

And from Georgia I received this great package, with a skein of her hand-dyed yarn!  Here is a closeup of this beauty.  The colorway is “Cannon Beach”, and it is 560 yards of goodness!  She also sent some very cool stickers and some beads  (and some candies… not pictured…) Thank you so much!

A big thanks also for the comments on my two recent handknits! It is so great to hear from you