I'm No Mathemetician

It is a good thing that I can knit, because I sure can't do math.   Here's the  problem. 

 If two sleeves equal one-third of the knitting and the  body equals two-thirds of the knitting, how much knitting has been completed when two sleeves are fully complete,

 

but only  one third of the body (that is one-third of the two-thirds) is complete?
 

 

See what I mean?  Who can figure that out?  I am no Einstein, but I think  that I might be about half-way to the finish line.  Before blocking and buttons that is. 

What I do know is that there is more to be done. And five days to go. 

The One Third Mark

Still in a math mode,  I am one third done the Christmas sweater.  I think.  I hope.    In my math world, two sleeves equals one third of the sweater.   With the  first third taking one week, I'm looking at a three-week sweater - which makes a late Christmas gift.  Unless of course I look to January 6th. 

Lyn S tells me that January 6th is the feast of the Three Kings - Tres Reyes - in the Spanish world while   Denise of Needles & Pins says it is the Ukrainian Christmas.  Both occasions for gift giving, I'm sure,  so my options are still open.   Commenter Nan said it is called Epiphany and it surely will be an eye opener for me if I can finish a sweater in two weeks.  Laurie M cautioned me that if not finished on time, Fred will get bit by the Yule Cat.     Marie,   however,    tells me that January 6th is Knitters Christmas and that's the story I have decided to stick to.

As proof positive, here they are. 

 

Unblocked and looking small to me.  But they have been tried on numerous times and  'Mikey likes them'.  If he likes them,  I like them.

On now to the body, knit in the round, with none of those pesky purls to slow me down.   Will I 'get my groove' or slow down?  Only a knitter has wrist and shoulder issues to affect her math.

Math For Knitters

Having set myself the goal of knitting Fred a sweater before December 25th,  I thought it a good idea to consult  an expert to see whether or not my goal was at all possible.

My favourite expert is Elizabeth Zimmermann.  In her Knitter's Almanac she knits an entire adult sweater between December 1 and December 16.

Presuming she counted both the first and the 16th,  she knit for  16 days.  Exactly the number of days available to  knit Fred's sweater.  No extra math calculation needed there.

But Elizabeth's sweater was knit at a gauge of 10 stitches over 4 inches.  Mine is 20.  By my knitters math, that will double my time.  32 days.  Hmmm - not good.

Reading further, Elizabeth states she knit on the sweater for 30 minutes per day.  If I double the time not the days and  knit for  60 minutes per day,  I should be back on track for the 16 day sweater.

However!!  Elizabeth knit a 46 inch sweater.  I am knitting a 48 inch sweater.  Using my calculator here because this is a high level of math for this knitter, I ask my self  "How much extra knitting time does that two inches require.?"

The two inches - again by Brenda's math which is often not perfect - amounts to 4.347% more knitting.  If I calculate that in terms of days I would need to knit for 16 . 695 days.  In real terms I think that means knit all night Christmas Eve.  Not going to happen.

Recalculate.  Multiply that 4.347%  times the minutes per day, to find out if I will be able to eat or sleep.  BUT - do I multiply by Elizabeth's 30 minutes or my 60 minutes.  I think the 30 might be wishful thinking - a pre-Christmas prerogative,  but still.  Better to multiply  4.347%  times 60.    62 . 608 minutes per day.

And to that I say HAH!!!

I started Thursday evening  and by Sunday evening had this finished.

By my calculations - one sixth of the sweater.  Four evenings equals  one sixth.  That is,  by my count, 24 evenings.  What do they call that Christmas that comes on January 6th?

While Visions Of Sugarplums . . .

It is not sugarplums that I am envisioning, but this.

A few days ago, pestering Fred yet again to give me some idea - any idea  - of what he might like for Christmas, he said
"Well, I wouldn't mind a hand-knit sweater.  A really warm one to wear around the house."

He went on to explain more, but I didn't hear, because I was out the door and on my way to the LYS.  Not quite, but close.  What  he said was music to this knitters ears and I knew exactly what yarn to buy.

" I want a wool one.  I do have that blue one, but it isn't very warm.  It must be acrylic."    And you think they don't listen!

Alpaca, reportedly seven times warmer than wool,  was my first choice but someone beat me to the Alpaca bin.  There was not enough of any one (or two) colours to make the sweater of my vision.  So wool it was.  Ella Rae Classic in maroon and white. 

The vision is raglan sleeves, deep 'V' neck,  buttons and a bit of an all-over  rib design.  Perhaps, 9 X 1.  Enough to give it some interest but not enough to slow me down. 

15 days of knitting time.  Perhaps the wiser vision would be a wrapped bag of yarn under the tree.  Never the wise one,  the Christmas Day headlines will probably read  'Crazed Knitter Refuses To Put Down Needles To Cook Turkey.'

Cowichan Corrected

This warm,  'Oh-so-Canadian'  Cowichan sweater arrived at the store a couple of weeks ago.  

 

Much cherished by it's owner, it nonetheless has  had   a couple of flaws she hoped I could correct.


By it's slightly matted, fuzzy appearance, it would appear the sweater was improperly laundered at one time in it's past.  Lucky for the current owner,  as that  probably explains why she was able to purchase it cheaply at a second-hand store  in Nanaimo B.C  - the heart of Cowichan country.   For this  owner, the sleeves were a bit short  and she wanted pockets.    Could I do that?    I thought I could. 

It was decided  to insert storm cuffs rather than lengthen the actual sleeve.   To lengthen the sleeve itself,  would require cutting   above the cuff and knitting the sleeve  down. Not that difficult, but throw   matching three different colours plus matching gauge into the repair  and I thought it a process more likely to look 'corrected'  than  original.  A  storm cuff seemed a better idea.  They were easily accomplished by picking up stitches on the inside of the sleeve and ribbing down for a few inches.

 

Looks great.  The yarn used here was a double strand of Eco Wool.  Not a perfect match but darn close. 

The pocket was a little more complicated.  So as not to disturb the front pattern and because I could match the white yarn perfectly with Briggs & Little Roving,  I  cut the sweater just below a white band, picked up those stitches and ribbed up for an inch to create  pocket trim directly in line with the white band of the sweater. 

On the inside I picked up the upper  stitches and knit down, again using a double strand of the Eco Wool,   to create a pocket lining which I tacked to the  inside of the sweater. 

Barely noticeable which pleases me immensely. 

 One would think they were part of the original design.

My arm has been sorely stretched by my own   'atta boy'   'atta knitter'  pats on the back.  I am happy with the results.  I feel certain the customer will be too. The only decision left is what to charge her for the repairs.

Off To A Better Start

My fingers are glad to be back in familiar territory.  This Linen scarf is being knit, not crocheted.

Still not much to show, but off to a better start than the torquing, crocheted scarf.  And thanks to
Needles & Pins who left a great tip in my comments - and if it works for me, I will explain once the scarf is finished -  it's knitting up faster and easier than expected.

There was no post yesterday as I was off to Toronto to meet up with  son Peter in the morning, then          Sel&Poivre   for the afternoon shift at  the One Of A Kind show.  I practised great restraint coming home with just a single item.   There have been years when I felt I should stop in for some consumer debt counselling on my way home from the OOAK show.  But yesterday all I brought home with me was a  Linen tea towel.

 

A lovely piece, woven by a fellow originally from France but living now in Montreal.

After a day of shopping and hours of driving in relentless rain, the Linen Stitch was the perfect evening companion.   How do non-knitters cope?

Toss The Crochet

Looking at my crocheted, left-torquing scarf, I agree with Denise of Needles and Things.  She commented that she sees Linen Stitch.  And so do I. 

 

In fact, when I first spotted the scarf at the KW Knitters Fair, I saw the crocheted facsimile of Linen Stitch.  Knowing that  crochet works up  much faster than knitting I purchased the pattern.  Hah!  The best laid plans ...

The pattern has now been  relegated to the garbage and this  pattern downloaded from ravelry.     Attempt number  two coming up.

One Winner, One Disappointment

A repeat post of sorts,  I know,  but my first-ever, lace scarf,  knit from  Patti-Ann's hand-spun,  deserves a modelled shot  --  

or two.

Fred and I are off to visit my sister and BIL for the weekend.  To this knitter, any excuse would do, but the visit is a perfect  opportunity to arrange the soft, delicate lusciousness that is the scarf on the blank canvas of my white shirt and show it off.  It looks, feels and makes me feel wonderful- especially since I found a necklace of similar colour in my drawer.  So chic.

As wonderful as this scarf is, my next one, is a disappointment.

It is crocheted and part of the problem is my rusty crochet skills.  The pattern, picked up at the KW Knitters Fair leaves a bit to be desired.  It calls for a 'split' single crochet which gives it a look similar to that of a slipped-stitch pattern in knitting.  Having read, re-read and re-read the directions for a split single crochet, I am almost certain that I am doing it correctly, but the entire scarf is torquing to the left.  Perhaps the display scarf had been artfully arranged to disguise the torque because I sure didn't see it.

Add to that disappointing result, my  poor colour choices

 

and a 'rip' is in order.  The colours that looked so good together  in ball form are not looking so great in crocheted form.    A double reason for a rip.  But before I rip, I'll let it sit  to see if it improves over the weekend.  It could happen, right?

In the meantime, I intend to have a great weekend and hope you do as well.

One Thing Leads To Another

My good friend Patti-Ann is a wonderful knitter.  But last year she lost - what she calls - her 'mojo'.

What's a knitter to do when she loses her 'mojo'?   Many,  I think, do as Patti-Ann did.  She took up spinning.  Only dreaming about it at first  until her  husband bought her a wheel.   Now she is both a wonderful knitter and a wonderful spinner. 

And lucky me.  She gave me the special gift of one of her first 'perfect' efforts.   100 grams  of   hand-spun in a wool-silk blend and  the most wonderful shade of  fresh, delicate  green.  Perfect for a scarf. 

To me, the yarn said things like - delicate, lacey,  precious.  None of which normally  ever describes the things I knit.  But the yarn deserved it and so I searched for the perfect pattern that wouldn't suffer too much from my clumsy attempt at anything delicate, lacey or precious.  I chose My First Lace Scarf  from Sally Melvilles book Warm Knits, Cool Gifts.  

 

Not a lace knitter by a long shot, I figured I could probably handle a pattern called 'my first' anything. And Sally's  pattern was wonderful.  Easy to memorize despite it's eight-row repeat, and easy to 'see'.  A must for me. 

Started in the midst of the tedium of the teeny, tiny knitting of Ombre, I now have almost six feet of gorgeous, soft, lacey,  precious, delicate green wonderfulness to wrap around my neck.

It is beautiful - even in it's un-blocked state.  Thanks, Patti-Ann.

The Need For Speed

After two months of knitting teeny, tiny yarn, I certainly felt the 'need for speed'.  Translate that into knitting terms and  read  - chunky yarn, simple pattern, simple garment.

With those thoughts in mind,  look what ended up in my shopping bag.  

James Brett Marble, chunky,  ACRYLIC!!!   I can't believe I did that.  And in blues and purples.  My friend Nicki who frequently challenges me  to wear something other than my normal colours of browns, greens, oranges and beiges, thought I had finally taken her advice.  Sorry, Nicki, this is for the gift exchange at the family Christmas.

At the 20th Anniversary celebrations at London Yarns, I spotted the scarf on display.     Perhaps it was the orange, greens and browns of their yarn choice that caught my eye, but I loved it. 

"Is there a pattern?"  I asked.   Janet's talented staff like to do a bit of designing on the side.  The pattern they handed me was designed by Cathy

 

and contains 14!!!  one-row scarf  patterns.    Holy Doodle!! 14 for the price of one.

 

"Why 14?" I asked Cathy, thinking that five would have been enough to make the pattern sell like hotcakes.

"I burnt out," she said.    No kidding.  14 patterns, with separate instructions and yardage requirements  to  knit each in either  DK, KW or Chunky weight yarn - heck that was 42 samples she had to knit.  Burnt out indeed!

Acrylic or not, it fit my post-Ombre, need for speed. Started Thursday at knit group and finished Sunday evening, I have a 75 x 8 inch scarf in beautiful colours, that no one can complain 'itches'.   

My dilemma now is whether to block or not.  The stitches need the  bit of separation that a good blocking would give.  Since steam blocking is my preferred blocking method,  I will  have to be careful that the    plastic   acrylic stitches don't melt.    I don't want my need for speed to go unsatisfied.

 

Ombre At Last

Need I say more?  Probably. 

Pattern - Ombre by Tanis of Tanis Fiber Arts.
Needles - 4mm
Yarn- Two skeins of Centolavaggi Lace Weight  held double throughout.  Two strands of the light colour at the top, one strand of each colour in the middle and two strands of the dark colour at the bottom.  
 I purchased the yarn on sale at KW Knitters Fair for $10 a skein,  so a very reasonable sweater.

The folding seed stitch border has been blocked into submission.  (You can still see the blocking pin indentations  along the border)  The fit is lovely.     I hate sweaters that are loosey goosey  under the arms - I've got enough loosey goosey things happening under my arms, I don't need sweaters like that too -   but this one fits closely.  I like it.  The only modification I made was to do a few increases as I approached the hip area to ensure  the sweater and I were the same shape.

Weighing only 140g, this is certainly a light-weight sweater.

 

Good in many ways, but I'm wondering how warm it will be.  Winter will tell.   If I were to knit it a second time,  I might use  lace-weight Mohair  for one of the yarns, to increase the warmth factor.

Taking nearly two months to complete,  the knitting of Ombre  seemed slow.   It wasn't so much the   teeny, tiny yarn but more the two strands at once.  The two, light strands weren't bad.  The one strand of each colour wasn't bad either. But the two strands of the dark yarn on the lower third was frustrating. Whether it was the darker colour, or end-of-project  fatigue I'm not sure.  But  many times, I  caught only one strand and so frequently found myself having to drop  down stitches to grab the second strand. 

Frustration behind me now, I love it.  The fit, the graduating colours and the style.  Tanis of course has her Ombre buttoned top to bottom.  But Tanis weighs what I did 40 years ago.  I did knit buttonholes but they are so small as to not be noticeable and my intentions are to wear Ombre a few times before deciding if I want buttons.

This is a very happy start to my weekend.   I hope all your knitting goes well this weekend.

ETA - I forgot about a major modification until I looked up  other Ombres on ravelry.  I eliminated the ribbed bottom, substituting it for a seed stitch border to match the button bands.  Much better for my non-Tanis-type bottom.

Ready To Block

Ready to block is not quite as good as ready to wear, but close.  The end is in sight. 

While it looks great, seems to fit, is lightweight and will,  I think, be  easy to wear, the severely-folding, seed stitch borders are causing me worry. 

 

Here's hoping a firm blocking will cure that.  I did read, just yesterday,  that one secret to preventing folding seed stitch borders is to knit the seed stitch in little pyramids, or triangles.  Perhaps two or three solid rows of seed stitch, then seed stitch interspersed with stockinet with the final result being that the seed stitch forms a triangle.    Apparently this prevents the 'folding' but a tip too late for Ombre, so I holding out for the blocking.

Details will come after blocking, along with modelled shots.

Not Yet

Friday, I was sure my Ombre would be finished by Saturday.  Saturday I thought I would finish it  Sunday.

 

And Sunday??   Well, enought to say  'not  yet'.

 

This little sweater has been on the needles for close to two months!  Way too long for my attention span!  Teeny, tiny yarn held double and it is taking me forever.   I recall bloggers using the term - 'marooned on sleeve island'.  Exactly where I am!  At times like these, I am  thankful my parents were not big people.

The sleeves keep shrinking.  Truly.  This is a top-down sweater and, as advised by all and sundry to do with top-down  construction,  I have been trying it on.  Several 'try-ons' ago the first sleeve was the perfect length.   I cast off.  Then it shrank.

By the time I noticed the shrinkage, sleeve number two was underway.  Forewarned, I knit the second sleeve for an additional two inches - trying it on to make sure that extra length gave me what I wanted.  It did.  Perfect.   I cast off  and ripped back  sleeve number one to lengthen it.

This morning, after taking photos of the 'not yet' state of the sweater, I tried it on once more.  Dang.  The finished  sleeve   shrunk.  It could use another two inches still. 

The 'not yet' description is the mild one I chose. The other was, in some circles, perhaps printable -  but not on a knitting blog.

Its Not A Race

Teachers and Mothers often tell children "Its not a race"  to encourage them.  Letting them know their slow pace in no way diminishes their effort.

I try to remember that sometimes often, in my knitting life.

Take the current cardi on the needles.

 

Started the evening of the KW Knitters Fair - that would be September 10 - it is still on my needles.  My excuse is - well, I guess I have no excuses but should you wish to feel empathy for me and my efforts, then know  I did take a vacation, knit a couple of projects for Knitfest and the yarn is teeny tiny. 

AND!  There was Hallowe'en.  In it's favour, the cardi is simple stockinet knitting.  No fancy stitches, no lace, no cables.
So Brenda said to herself   " I can knit on this simple stockinet cardi between door openings to serve the 200 plus  kids that rush our house every October 31."   Knitting towards the final colour change on the first sleeve and being only  one- half inch short of the required seven inches,

 

I saw those couple of candy-serving hours  as a chance to race towards the finish line. Which might have worked if those kids had been taught patience.

But little witches, goblins, princesses  and Harry Potters have no patience.  Apparently if the door is not opened within a nano second of the bell being rung, they think the idea is to ring the bell again.  And again.  I know that you know,  but those kids had no idea the havoc they wreaked on my little cardi. 

Hallowe'en landed me further behind, not ahead.  Several rows  had to be ripped out, picked up and re-knit.  Not normally an excruciating experience, but with two strands of teen, tiny, lace-weight yarn, I'm looking for a corneal transplant.

Four days later and I'm almost back on track with almost  all the dropped, single strands of the double- stranded stitches having been repaired.  And sure, I know it's not a race but there's great humiliation  - and no ribbon - in coming in last.

Crazy Ball Of Yarn

My own personal knitting took a backseat these last couple of weeks, as I prepared some samples for Knitfest 2011.

One of the fun things we  planned for the day was to give everyone a bag of 'bits and bobs' of colour coordinated yarn so they could create one giant ball of 'Crazy Yarn'.

Crazy Yarn came to my attention a couple of years ago while browsing in a not-so-local yarn store.  There, I saw a lovely scarf on display with  several  different yarns in it.  When I mumbled something about the cost of buying all those different yarns to knit the scarf, the store owner pointed me towards the one  - and only - ball of yarn used in the  scarf.

It was a ball of yarn created by tying several different yarns together.  Knots were left with ends hanging as part of the design feature.  My first thought was "What a great way for the mill to get rid of short pieces of yarn and still make a profit."   My second thought was  "I can do that."

My first Crazy Ball Of Yarn project was this Shape It Scarf from Sally Melville's 'Book 1 The Knit Stitch'.

Second was the same pattern in different yarns.

In preparing for Knitfest I knew that a ball of yarn would only do half the trick.  Knitters would want a pattern.  But, since I'm known in local  far-and-wide knitting circles as - The Copyright Queen Bitch - I couldn't bring myself to hand out Sally's pattern.  I would have to get to it and create my own. This is the result.  A little scarf with some shaping. 

At this point, it seemed to me that  the best use - and maybe the only use -  for Crazy Yarn was scarves.  But Knitfest 2011 was not about scarves. It was about sweaters - Top Down sweaters to be exact.  With the personal, designer touch of adding a cable,  some lace or the knitter's  favourite stitch pattern to the basic sweater.

Would  Crazy Yarn look good in a  sweater?  I decided to find out.  Using the Basic Cardigan pattern from the book  used at Knitfest - Need A Baby Cardigan?   I knit a one year size placing the Crazy Yarn in the yoke but using plain yarn for the rest of the sweater.

 

I couldn't decide if I liked the 'knotted' look in a garment and wondered whether I should take all knots to the inside.  In the end,  for demonstration purpose - and to delay my final decision -  I left the knots out on the back but took them to the inside on the front.

It's dang cute and received many  approving murmurs when displayed at Knitfest.  

There are two secrets to  creating a ball of Crazy yarn.  One - make the yarn first.  It seems obvious but some might think that you tie yarns together as you knit.  But no.  Create the entire ball first - it will give the garment a much more random appearance.

Secondly  - tie the colours together randomly and in varying lengths.  With the orange   scarf ,  I had much more of one yarn than any of the others.   To accommodate that, each time I was ready to put in the main yarn, I simply measured off  (using the Old King Cole method of  nose to finger tip)   much more of it than  any of the others yarns.   If I went nose-to-finger-tip ten times with the main yarn I might only do that once or twice with the others. 


And perhaps third - yarns do not have to be the same gauge.  Varying lengths, a variety of colours and gauges and knots that show and you have one Crazy Ball Of Yarn.





Since Knitfest 2011 was all about releasing your inner designer, the Crazy Yarn project fit right in.   And you can thank me for giving you one more reason to 'knot' throw out your little bits of leftover yarn. 

HUH !

Occasionally, on TV there is an info bite that ends with the speaker saying   HUH !   in an 'I- can't-believe-that's-true' voice.

HUH !   was my thought exactly, when yet again today, I reached  for this sweater when leaving the house.

 

That's right.  The sweater I thought  I'd never wear.  Neckline too low.  Yarn too chunky.  A sweater of such opposites that I couldn't imagine a day when it would be the perfect sweater to wear.  If it was cool enough for the heavy yarn, the low neckline would be too cool.  If it was warm enough for the low neckline, the chunky yarn would be too warm.  Then along came Autumn.  

The sweater  is perfect for a chilly fall day.  The kind of day  - like today - when the weather doesn't call for a coat but requires a little something.  Not only has it seen wear, but compliments have come my way each time I have worn it.  Not that I depend on the opinion of others to tell me what to think, but dang it feels good to find out I'm  wrong about a knit. 

The almost-discarded is now in my favourites pile.  HUH !

Last Minute Knitting

Entire books have been written on the topic of last minute knitting.  But I am the Queen of such stressful -and I might add, self-imposed - activities. 

My latest endeavour in the Last Minute  Hall Of Fame knitting  is another of Chic Knits Felted Bucket Hats.   

This one, knit with Briggs & Little Sport - left over from my Elizabeth Zimmermann Green Sweater.

Recently, some of that left-over green found it's way into a  Shape-It Scarf  (rav link) to match my new-ish coat. 

 

Now, Fred and I are off to Quebec City for an early 45th anniversary celebration and it occurred to me that travelling that far north on the cusp of winter, it might be a good idea to have a hat.  And wouldn't it be nice to have a hat that matches my coat?  And couldn't I do that at the last minute? 

And one can.  It's not the knitting that takes time with this pattern.  Knit at a chunky gauge - which was my sport weight doubled - it knits up quickly.  But it felts and dries  s-l-o-w-l-y.  That is why you see it here still on the register, and not yet de-fuzzed.

Since this is Felted Bucket hat number six  for me, you think I might have learned that as stylish and easy to knit as this hat IS, one thing it ISN'T is last minute.  Mine will finish drying in the hotel room.

We'll be back on the weekend.  Have a great week everyone.

 

Big And Small

The slippers are felted and on the drying rack. 

 

A lesson in opposites.  Think of a child's book describing opposites.  Big and small.  Long and short.  Fat and thin.  Now add my contrasting fibres.  100% wool and wool/acrylic.  What a difference!  The smaller slippers, made of 100% wool felted in 3 minutes and felted well.

The big blue slippers, knit with Sirdar Softie,  a 50/50, wool/acrylic blend, required 24 minutes in the machine and are not a great felt at all.  For slippers they will do.  But for a bag, a hat or mittens, they would be a reject. 

Lesson learned.  I thought I could make that yarn do what I wanted it to - but not so.  The off-white, Rowan Big Wool in the slippers felted quickly and well.  That means the slipper opening is very tight.   My nice, little, designer touch I thought so cute requires stretching every few hours,otherwise, I am not sure a foot will get into   the slipper. 

That 50% acrylic has made these slippers a process knit.  On to the next pair.

That's Better

 

Last weekend, I knit my first pair of 19 Row Slippers.  They were great, but small.  I missed the direction in the pattern where it referred to either Chunky yarn, or DK weight, held double.

This weekend, I tried another pair.  Knit with Sirdar Big Softie  and a bit of Rowan Big Wool  to make up for the minimal yardage on Softie, they are definitely bigger.  Much bigger - and much better.  They should felt down to the correct size and make a great slipper.  

Or at least I hope Big Softie felts.  It is 50% wool and 50% acrylic.  But remembering my fiasco with  my Shalom I am counting on them to felt.  Shalom, I knit with Vienna, another 50/50,  wool/acrylic split and tossed it into the washing machine thinking with 50% acrylic it would never felt.  Wrong.  It felted big time.

What was wrong in Shalom, will be right in my slippers.  I hope. 

Light-Weight, Lace-Weight

Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about knitting!  How foolish.  It started with Featherweight.  That lovely, lighter-than-air cardi that I knit with Cotton Flamme, this summer.    Travellers  would claim Featherweight to be the perfect companion.  Tiny and light-weight, it can be rolled into a ball and stuffed into the suitcase.

Having now worn a sweater as light as Featherweight,  I suddenly, after years of knitting, realize how heavy some hand knits can be.  It was no wonder then, that I was drawn to Ombre Cardigan by Tanis Fiber Arts.    Using even lighter, lace weight yarn than called for (Tanis lace weight has 900 metres per skein, versus my   Centolavaggi with  1400m) this little sweater is light, light, light.

Just now past the first buttonhole and part way into colour combo number two, I can't wait to get it finished and toss  it's non-weight on my shoulders.