Life LackaDaisiCal

a little touch of fair isle as a "palate cleanser" in preparation for my next "big" project! an adorable design by Carol Meldrum in Felted Tweed and Rowan Tweed Sheil Wrist Warmers , a free pattern on the Rowan web site! (I shopped my stash and chose these shades, with no inspiration in mind) The first one knit up really fast and it seemed like no time at all and they were done! (The pattern calls for them to be knit flat, then seamed. I knit them in the round, on 4 double pointed needles!) I realized that for some bizarre reason, they reminded me of Liquorice Allsorts :) How could I resist? Seems purple is a popular shade! Nails by Jamberry! These are the "Reminisce" design and I sort of love them! Have you tried Jamberry Wraps? If you love having your nails done, but don't like the muss, fuss and fumes of regular nail polish, you really need to try Jamberry! You do them yourself, at home! If you want to give Jambe...

My Hubby - he studies the history of UK railroads, and he can usually be found in his hobby room..... Please note how the fine art pooling almost.... joins perfectly together at the shoulder seam - I can't take any credit for this - it just happened! He likes to play around with models of his favourite trains.... It's not playing he says....it's highly technical digital command control (DCC). Look how this design works beautifully with the pooling of the Fine Art Aran. T he bottom pieces are knit conventionally from cast on up. leaving the stitches live... while the top of each body piece is knit "sideways" from the armhole across.  T hey are then joined by picking up stitches from the bottom edge of the top piece  and doing a three-needle bind off...gives a neat right side seam! I know - sounds complicated!  But really it isn't! One of the Hubby's favourite engines - "Golden Fleece"   I asked him for a little bit o...

This applies to knitting perfectly!  It all comes down to the details...like getting  GAUGE! Without exact gauge....you have NO CHANCE in adapting a design from one yarn to another.    First - Can I get gauge with the Fine Art Aran Yarn? The original Zen was knit with Rowan Handknit DK Cotton - and I want to substitute Aran?  Hmmmm....let's see.... Gauge called for is 20 sts and 28 rows to 10 cm! Recommended Gauge for Fine Art Aran is 19 sts and 25 rows to 10 cm!  (Because of my experience knitting my Fine Art Aran Swatch cowls, I knew that on 4.5 mm needles I was getting the recommended gauge for this yarn.  But, my "swatch cowl" was nice and drapey....I wanted to make this sweater at a firmer gauge so that it would hold it's shape! So for my "Zen" swatch, I went down to a 4 mm needle and got 20 sts and 26 rows to 10 cm! This was as close as I could get - I loved the fabric this created....and I didn't want it to be any firmer... ...

look at the clean lines of that couch... and don't you just love those floating shelves! that Noguchi table was designed in 1947! the Eames Chair in 1956 great designs stand the test of time! (As much as I'd love to say this was MY living room.... it is not.....) When I first introduced you to Rowan's new Fine Art Aran, it was so new that there were no designs "available" for the yarn yet. What Rowan did was select a collection of designs from the Rowan Archive to be reworked in this new yarn - and released them in the "Mini Collection knitted using Fine Art Aran" booklet. These "Mini Collection" books are a great way  for Rowan to repurpose truly great designs... "classics" reworked in new yarns. Designs shown here are:  Kandinsky Sweater (cover),  and Lowry, Dali, Van Gogh (right top to bottom) Hand painted yarns - you either love 'em, or you don't!  :)  Pooling can be an issue. The Kandinsky Sweat...