Some more action

Hi there!

Nothing seems to have happened here for a long time. I guess you have all been so busy with knitting that you have not had the time to post anything. That is at least partly the case with me. Since the last time I posted I have had my yearly summer vacation, gotten back to work, stuied hard for a major exam in March, and, of course, knitted some.

During my vacation I started on the Slink for my mother's birthday (which is on Monday). I used the yarn Soon from an unknown manufacturer. My LYS did not have all that much to choose from in the appropriate gauge, with mainly natural fibers but not wool. The yarn is a 60%cotton 40%polyester mix in pale pink (the color does not show very well in the picture).

By now I have finished the Slink. I had to reknit one of the sleeves twice, since I did not end up with the correct amount of stitches. Otherwise it went quite smoothly. Hopefully my mother will like it, if not it fits me quite well also.

I'm Done

Though I actually finished the Slink on the 28th, I am happy to say that I am done. Now, after devoting my energy towards the Slink,

I can go back to the Gothlet and another project I've been working on. And so, I can finally put the Slink to rest (it looks much better now) and move on.

Redo!

Earlier in June I completed The Slink, but I was unhappy with the results I had. So, I unravled the sleeves, neck edge and entire front because I made the higher which did not look great and the sleeves/neck edge looked bad. Now, I have about 360+ yards of Rowan Bamboo Tape squishing my yarn basket; hopefully this second try turns out better.

Finished!

My version of the Thin Mint Scarf is now finished, as you can see in the picture.

Knitting the second half was quite uneventful, except from when our pug caught hold of the yarn and ran away with it. She loves yarn and strings, and will never run as fast as when she has gotten hold of a forbidden one. The scarf luckily did not suffer any damages.

Now...what shall I knit? Right now I feel that I would love to start with the Slink, but I think that I will put it off for just a little while. I will try to get some more done first on an embroidered piece I've been working on forever and maybe knit a pair of socks for my husband from some yarn in my stash. (I know, I'm spoiling him rotten.)

See you later!

One end completed and going for the second!

I have now reached the first end of the scarf. Since I assumed that both sides of the scarf was to be mirror images I assumed that there was an error in the DEC RND 1 and made the SSK and k2tog at the same edge of the scarf in order to achieve the pointed end. I e-mailed Jennifer about it, but it turned out that the description is correct, although the end could also be knitted the way I had too.

I then went on to weave in some yarn ends and then (Ta-da!) removed the cast-on row (I've never done that before) and picked up the stitches and went on knitting. Everything went fine, but I must not forget to weave in the yarn ends before I reach the other end and start closing it up.

Gothlet Issues

Hello, it's me Gabriela, and while I was knitting the Gothlet, I ran into some problems.
On the Left Side Back to Front part, the pattern read: "k to and including st wrapped on prev RS row, m1 between wraps". So, I emailed Jennnifer about it and this was her reply:

"to your question… yes it’s tricky, so no worries.

'k to and including st wrapped on prev RS row' means exactly that, knit up to the wrapped stitch and knit the wrapped stitch too (but not the wrap).

Now you’ve knit the wrapped stitch from prev RS row, and the next stitch on the left needle will have been wrapped in the previous (center back) SECTION. The next wrapped stitch looks like a mirror of the one you just knit, wrap coming from the left, so the wrap from prev row is on your right, and the wrap from prev section is on your left. BETWEEN these wraps, m1. So what you said: m1 after knitting the wrapped stitch is correct.

In this section, I never ask you to pick up or m1 in a wrap (looks sloppy, I tried it), or to hide a wrap."

Knitting café with a new idea

The scarf now measures 49 cm which is about three times as much as in the picture on Monday. When I showed it at the knitting café and explained how it was supposed to be knit in halves and then grafted together, someone suggested that I pick up stitches when the first half is completed, and go on knitting the second half from there. Maybe I should do that to avoid the grafting. Any ideas as to why not? Or is the grafting there just for practise?


I brought my Domiknitrix book around to the café. I believe everybody there had a look in it and were amazed at the Devil and the Mohawk etc. Some people noted the name of the book and the address of the web site.

Thin Mint Scarf

Hi everybody!

I am Camilla and I am new here. I read in a magazine about the Dominitrix site, looked it up and have now gotten the book. I am dying to knit a whole bunch of things in there, but I have to keep my daytime job and do some studying as well...so I will have to take them one at a time. I figured I will start with an easy one, the Thin Mint Scarf and then move on to the Slink or the City Coat...

Well, about the Thin Mint Scarf, I started out with swatching the day before yesterday, and of course I got 23 stitches to 10 cm with 4 mm needles and 25 stitches with 3.5 needles. Ihave decided to go with the thinner needles so that the knitted piece will be as thick as possible (it shouldn't make all that much of a difference though). The yarn I am using is Tove from Sandnes Uld. The colors, as you can see in the photo are grey and purple which I figure will go well with my good winter coat.

Casting on felt a bit odd from the way I usually do it, but it seems it will be easier to pick up the sitches for the grafting later on this way! However knitting with two circular needles was about to drive me crazy after about two rounds, so I switched to double pointed needles, which work fine.

I will be going to a knitting café tonight, so I should get some more done then.

Progress on the City Coat

I have started on the body of the City Coat.
So far one sleeve and the pocket welts are done.
But those alone do not a coat make.
I cannot wait until it's done but it's pretty hard work knitting bulky wool on smaller needles. Especially when you're working with 150 stitch rows.
And it's not really doable on hot summer days, but June usually offers rain and coolness here in Copenhagen, and I am now close to or at least moving towards the middle.
And I'm terribly excited, even if photos lend little to be excited about.

I'm using a delicious creamy wool with the simple name "Natur Uld".
Unfortunately the selection here is rather limited in the bulky department.

Elfin Sleeves

Got the sleeves done for now. I'm going to wait and finish the rest before I do anymore on the sleeves. 1) I don't know how long I want them yet and 2) If I don't have enough yarn I can decide to just stop where they are or get more. I always like options. :)

One side is bunched up because it's on the smallest Denise cable.

Sweetheart....Issues?

I was wondering if someone could help me out, I emailed Jen about my problems, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. On the sweetheart sweater, I'm now on the first row of the front, after completing the chart I was ready for my second row of intarsia, however then I noticed that it told me that I was to complete a darted waist decrease. However, it didn't say which row to do the decreases on. I assumed that it meant row two (but row two is a purl row of intarsia).

Elfin Bride clarification

I emailed Jen and she replied with some very good info that might help Hazel out too, so I'm going to copy and paste the email here.

[[That's alright, you've just been distracted by the increase method info. Here's how this is supposed to work:

FIRST Read through the increase instructions and decide which one you want to do. Then go to after the increase methods to resume the pattern, which refers back to those increase methods.

The pattern resumes here:
Left Shoulder shaping (apply chosen method as above)

RS rows: Inc 1 at beg of row only while work in lace patt.

Rep until piece measures 9 (9.5, 9.75, 10, 10.5) inches or 23 (24, 25, 25.5, 26.5) cm long and 8.5 (8.5, 8.5, 8.75, 9) inches or 21.5 (21.5, 21.5, 22.5, 23) cm wide with 7 (7, 7, 7.25, 7.5) lace repeats. All sizes end with a RS row—54 (54, 54, 57, 60) sts

AND THEN:
Left Gusset and Shoulder Shaping

Do not break yarn. While casting on 25 new sts simple loop style at end of RS row, PM after the first cast on st, and PM before the last cast on st. You will pick up sts in this cast on row later. Gusset sts are knit plain while shoulder sts knit in lace patt.

Gusset row 1 (WS): K1, purl to end.

AND THIS IS WHERE YOU BEGIN INCREASING AT BOTH EDGES, WHILST ALSO DECREASING IN THE GUSSET:
For this section, inc 1 at beg of sleeve and inc 1 at end of sleeve; dec 1 at beg of gusset and dec 1 at end of gusset. For feather tip, refer to lace shaping guidelines for left edge (end of row). Stitch count remains the same for all rows, specifically: etc…]]

Hope that helps anyone else that's confused!

elfin help

That doesn't sound too good but I'm getting all confused with the elfin bride top. I've just started and I seem to be getting all confused with the pattern. I did the start of the left yoke fine but now that I'm increasing I'm getting a bit muddled. Any tips?

Swatch, swatch, swatch

I'm finally swatching for the Elfin Bride. The cotton isn't driving me nuts like I had feared, so that's good (I'm not a fan of cotton.)

I think I got gauge with the plain knitting, and I'm swatching the lace part right now to see if that works too. I have a feeling that it will. :)

Oh, I'm using Paton's Grace in Black.

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch/ Oh No Must be the Season Of the Witch

I have finished the left sleeve of the Gothlet rather quickly and now I have to pick up stitches. I can't pick stitches to save my life. They end up very crappy.

It's not perfect at all, but hopefully this will be the only problem I have with this. And, maybe this time the pick stitches won't be bad at all.

Bob

I swear I've been knitting. Bob is coming along fine, the intarsia is fun and I really enjoy the colors.



That said, if I see another spot in the chart where I have to start a new strand of yarn for the same color block just because the side I'm working on starts six stitches over and the side I'm not working is one or zero stitches over, I'm going to sell it to drug traffickers to gut, stuff and carry on the plane.

Bob Dobbs

Hey guys!
I'm very excited to join the Domiknitrix KAL. I'll be knitting the Bob Dobbs vest. I'm knitting it flat so I can work the image in intarsia rather than duplicate stitch. This is it so far.



The yarn is Plymouth Galway on size 8 addis. I changed the colors to chocolate brown for the main, baby blue for the face and navy blue for the accents. I washed the brown before starting in hopes that it will bleed less. The ribbing and about 4 inches were worked in the round before I split the front and back, adding a selvedge stitch on each side. The back is completed so you guys won't have to watch endless posts of dark brown stockinette.
I'm super pumped about getting this project done and if you guys want to see more, just check here

Confession

Just to avoid someone else repeating my mistake.
The Silky Tweed was a very bad choice for the Elfin Bride.
And now I've learned that it is not enough that something feels right, or looks right (and beautiful) or knits to gauge perfectly, if it starts acting up once finished and worn happily for a few hours.
Something I didn't know before.
For some reason the Silky Tweed wanted to be a shorter and wider Elfin when worn.
That is apparently its nature.
But I still loved knitting it. And the cats love snuggling it, and I will just frog and figure out what the yarn wants to be instead.
No disaster as such.
And I will start on a new one June 15, once the last exam paper has been handed in.
I have my eyes and fingers on some lovely dusty greyish lavender mercerised cotton for that same purpose.

L'il Black Riding Hoodie.

Yay! It's done.



This is a great pattern, I love the finished sweater, and I have no reservations in telling everyone to give it a try. I'm going to wear this hoodie until it falls apart.

I'm very glad I used a 2-way zipper for the hoodie. I can unzip from the bottom when I'm sitting so I don't get that weird bulgy effect (yet keep it mostly zipped so I stay warm).

I'm seriously considering making another one someday, that's how much I love it.

More details and pics on my blog.

Hello all!

I'll be starting the Elfin Bride soon. I was going to hold off until I got this vest I've been working on done, but no longer! The Bride is calling to me. ;)

Hopefully I'll get some swatching done this weekend (but I'm moving in a week and a half, so I have a lot to pack and clean up). Might be a little while though.

Looking forward to sharing my progress with ya! :D

Almost there...

My hoodie is almost done! All it needs is a bath (blocking) and a zipper. I've never installed a zipper before, so I'll admit I'm a little worried, but the desire to wear this (even though the weather is getting much, much warmer here in Boston) is overriding my fears.

I'm very, very happy with how it's turning out. As long as it doesn't grow 5 sizes in the wash, I expect to wear this constantly.

More comments and pics on my blog.

She's done

I finished "her" this morning.
(Now the photos could be better, but it was a bit of a fight keeping the cats away)

There is nothing quite like canceled classes and unexpected time off.

I am not quite sure if the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed was the perfect choice.
To me it is very close to perfect, even if the wool/silk/cotton/viscose blend probably lacks some of the firmness of the 100% cotton.
And the colours reminded me of the photos of the first Elfin in the forest setting.

And I love it.
And I love the softness of it (and so do the cats).


Towards the end I realized that I have done the sl2-k1-psso's wrong. I have carefully slipped one stitch, then a second stitch, knit one, then passed one stitch and a second stitch - and this doesn't give that clean line of the right way. Instead it gives a slightly leafy look, which I am quite fond of, in particular in this yarn.
But with my next, white cotton Elfin, I will do it the right way.
I will.

And I may have been a bit too eager and careful with my wrapped stitches and so I do not have that clear line marking the front and back panels.
But I really do like it like this.
Maybe I should not have knitted the wraps as well?

And ..... once I got to the neckline it was a bit unclear to me where to end the short rows to start with. At this point I had the Center front and the Neck foundation row.
The pattern says k to and including wrapped stitch from prev row. And I had no wrapped stitches from previous row. And I could not quite see that I should have a wrapped stitch from the previous row, and looking at the progress photos didn't make me any wiser, so I just decided that the first wrapped stitch would be the last stitch of the Center front.
And it works, and it fits like a dream.
But I'm not sure if it's right.

I had not quite understood the point of putting the last five stitches of the Lower fronts on hold for grafting rather than just binding them off - until they were actually grafted.

And while spending a good half hour weaving in ends and checking everything I realized that I had never done grafting before, or mattress stitch, or a picot edge, or increased in lace (which is done so brilliantly, and works so wonderfully, I just wonder why it's not done more).
I had met short rows before, but not to this extent.
So most of it is my "first meeting".

And now she's actually done.
And she's the first sweaterly thing I've started AND finished.
And now I can properly concentrate on those exam papers without "her" distracting me.
And I like to think of "her" as my good exam luck charm in all her green, soft, comfortable and rather complicated knittedness.
Unfortunately I've banned myself from starting my white Elfin until post-exams.
(So I may work a bit on the City Coat)

Elfin Bridesmaid?

Hmmm, I'm not too sure about this. I'm now working on the second sleeve (having left the first one dangling halfway down the arm) and I'm not too sure about how it's going. I'm using 100% cotton mercerised yarn and maybe it wasn't the best choice. Or maybe it's ok. I don't know. But it seems very looonnng and baggy so far. So my question for those of you who are ahead of me is, does it pull in a bit when you pick up the stitches for the back or am I just making it too big? Or is it the yarn? I usually love the way mercerised cotton knits up but in this case I'm a bit uneasy about the way the pattern has a larger gauge than usual for the yarn.

What I'm trying to do is knit the sleeves in XL as I don't want them too tight but I like the very fitted body so that will be a size (or two) smaller. So maybe I should choose a yarn with a bit more give. Any thoughts?

I did notice some very helpful updates on the Domiknitrix site, where she recommends Louisa Harding Grace Wool Silk as a good yarn choice. And it is available in my lovely local LYS. I saw it a while back and thought about using it for Ivy, but used stash yarn instead.

So could be time to cut my losses and start again. I do like the cotton yarn so I'd be happy to use it for something else.

And, also regarding the site updates, I notice that Ms. Domiknitrix has explained why she changed the pattern from a jacket to a sweater. Very good explanation and, although I did think it would be nicer as a jacket, I may have been convinced to go with the sweater. If I ever get to the point where I have to make that decision ;-)

Tailfeathers for the third time

I don't know exactly what's wrong with me, but I seem to be pattern-reading challenged.
I have now knit the center back and the lovely tailfeathers for the third time.
And I have started the Left side Back to front for the second time.
Somehow I have managed to get myself into some kind of autopilot state of not paying attention at all (with or without red wine) - and I have not figured out how to rewrap unwrapped wrapped stitches. Prettily.
But it seems that the third time is a charm, or maybe I've just learned my lesson.
I still love the pattern, and still think it's incredibly well written, and once this green one is done I want one in crisp white cotton.
Post exams, though.
It is a strangely addictive piece of knitting.
Tailfeathers and wrapped stitches and short rows and all.

Documenting progress

I could not wrap my mind around rewrapping the unwrapped stitches after my knitting under the influence.
And so I frogged.
And reknit.
And now we have once again the finished tailfeathers.
And while the cats think they are always and forever the center of the universe - and also the sole focus of attention and camera lenses - the to-be-Elfin is nonetheless visible.

I plan to knit the sides tonight.
With some green tea.
(As you can see, I too am letting the sleeves wait for their completion)

Greetings

Hello all,

I just joined the knitalong and will be making the L'il Red Riding Hoodie. I'm about 7 inches into the body at this point -- it's moving pretty quickly. No pics, as the only camera available to me right now is the iSight on my work computer, and I can't get a good shot...

The stockinette panels for the fronts are curling pretty fiercely at the cast-on edge, but I have faith that the addition of the pockets and zipper bands (and maybe some blocking in addition to that) will put a stop to it when the sweater is put together.

I'm not using the Karabella Bulky called for in the pattern, but Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky, which is discontinued (I think) and on clearance at Webs. I'm using US size 10 needles (instead of 10.5), and have stitch gauge, but my row gauge is slightly off. I'm using black, but for those who may be interested in that yarn and want a red, the "Red Ink" shade is gorgeous (I ordered a couple balls in case I wanted to put a design on the back of the hoodie -- I don't think I will, though). More of a true red or blue-red than the tomato red on Webs' website. At any rate, the yarn is fabulous -- squishy, soft, and has incredible stitch definition.

Elfin progress

In between the five exam papers and projects I try to keep ahead of, I have managed to squeeze in a bit of Elfin knitting.
Not as much as I would like but enough to have finished the tail feathers.
And I love the tail feathers.
My home-modem is a bit burned out these days, and have been for a few weeks, but I will post photos of progress once I get a new one.
I have now moved on to the left side, which is very interesting, especially as I managed to thoroughly mess up the first attempt, quite possibly due to red wine, and thus I spent the morning very carefully frogging it.
Frogging shortrow knitting and wrapped stitches is something I hope to never have to do again. Ever.
Especially not with the assistance of the very helpful cats.
When I left for work, all stitches were there, but those that were once wrapped are now quite unwrapped and I'll try to figure out how to solve that.

And while I'm a bit slow, Arlene most certainly is not.
She has finished her beautiful Elfin.
Very impressive. And so very beautiful.

Starting Elfin Bride

Hello everyone,

I'm Mairead and I live in Ireland. I've just started Elfin Bride and here's where I've got to so far. My next step will probably be to start the other side of the yoke, as I don't think I want to make any decisions about the length of the sleeve until I have a better idea of how the whole garment will hang together. I think I want to make it more like the original Elfin Goth, i.e. as a jacket with a higher neck. But I won't need to make that decision until I have the back done.

I didn't realise there were 'tail feathers' until I had a closer look at the Domiknitrix gallery pictures, but I love them. Looking forward to getting to that part.

Color decision

I decided to knit the Hoodie in red and this is my fiber to spin the yarn:

That is merino fiber in color "red of roses" from Wollknoll.

Newbie

Hello everybody,

I'm Anne from Germany and it's the first kal I joined.
I like the book very much and at first I want to knit the L'il Red Riding Hoodie but I can't decide between red and black yarn.
You can find my blog at http://annarose.an.funpic.de.

Greetings,
Anne

The City Coat

I actually started the City Coat a few weeks ago.

Even though I didn't intend to start it already.
(Mostly because of the 20+ skeins of merino needed.)
However, I bought some lovely wool for something else.
A beautiful creamy white 100% wool.
Not cheap, not expensive. Wonderful wool.
And soon it wanted to become the City Coat.
But the merino used in the book is a merino/microfiber blend.
And my wool is not.
So I decided, of course, to just start - and not start swatching, there is too much of a difference from just knitting a square and knitting a full, rather big, somewhat complex garment.
So I started knitting a sleeve. This would give me a good idea of springiness and gauge and drape.
And it works wonderfully.
Still, the arrival of spring and the Elfin Bride Gothlet pattern has put it on hold a bit.
But for now there is a sleeve!

And I never thought garter stitch could look so beautiful.

The beginning of the Elfin Bride

I have found my camera, and can now prove that not only has the Elfin Bride/Gothlet pattern been released but I have actually had the courage to start.

The pattern is exceptionally well written and very detailed and precise, and in addition to this Jennifer Stafford offers a brilliant visual aid gallery showing the complete process.
I fell in love with this piece of knitted genius during my first forays into the online world of knitting.


And it still seems a bit unreal that I am actually attempting it.

Of course I have already shown disobedience by not using the recommended cotton, mostly because I was eager and impatient to start, and March will be a bit low on the money front, but also because my lovely green Silky Tweed seems so very perfect for it.

And the first sign that it's meant to be, is that first swatch hit gauge right on.

Starting out

I have admired Jennifer Stafford's incredible knitting skills for some time and was thrilled when I could finally put my little hands on her book.

And now that the Elfin Bride/Gothlet pattern has finally been released, my fingers are itching to get started.
Still it would be very nice to have company on my way through not only the challenges of the Elfin wonder but also through the other patterns in the book.
If you are interested in joining please send an email to domiknitrixkal (at) gmail (dot ) com - preferably with your name and a url if you have one.