Hi everyone!

Whew what a week! I hope all of you were able to make it thorough the last clue ok. I know there were many folks hung up on getting the correct stitch counts at the front and back split, and I hope everyone was able to either figure it out, or at least move forward. Remember, if you haven't yet, make sure to take a look at the photo tutorial I provided to illustrate the split. I think a lot of folks found it helpful.

Another way to wear it.

Finished weaving the ends at the ballpark recently.

This week's instructions will prove to be much simpler. This clue will also be the final clue for this KAL. I think now it's time to tell you all what you've made. Most of you guessed it-- it is indeed a cowl! It's hooded cowl to be exact, because it can be worn up over the head (which explains the short- row shaping.) Not only that, but the buttoned flaps at the bottom allow you to open the cowl up to accommodate the shoulders a bit and give it a more customizable fit.


This design, as I may have hinted at, is inspired by Arya, who is one of my favorite characters in the books and the show. (We also named one of our chickens after her. Can you tell I am obsessed?) I am calling this pattern the "Water Dancer Cowl" in honor of her "dancing" lessons with Syrio. I find it highly appropriate that we all "needled" this cowl into existence using sharp sticks. I think Arya would approve. :)

Arya the chicken. She is our feistiest hen by far.

With that, here are the instructions for finishing your cowl:

Front view.

Back Flap:

-Pick up sts with your needle and join yarn with wrong side facing.
-K 5, P to last 5 sts, K 5
-Work in 4 row lace pattern until flap measures 5.5" from front and back split.

*Note, you will not work buttonholes on this flap.

Birds Eye Lace Pattern:



-Row 3: k5, k1, *yo2, k2tog (twice); repeat from * to 1 st before marker, yo2, k1, k5. (66 sts)
-Row 4: k5, p1, *(k1, p1) into double yo, p2; repeat from * to 3 sts before marker, (k1, p1) into double yo, p1, k5.

Back view.

-Once flap measures 5.5", knit 6 rows in garter stitch (knit every row).
-Bind off all sts.
-Weave in all ends and block.
-Attach buttons on back flap edges to line up with button holes.

And that's it! Your Game of Thrones MKAL knitting is complete! Next week I'd love to post a photo gallery of people's finished cowls so hopefully you'll all share your photos with me. :) If you'd like me to feature your finished cowl on the blog, please e-mail your photo to me directly: kristen(at)jimmybeanswool(dot)com. Please don't be shy!!! I can't wait to see all of your beautiful FOs!

Side

Front

Back

Also, I will be re-formatting the pattern, and having it re-edited, and taking nicer photos taken of the cowl in order to release the pattern as a PDF. I will try to have this all done by the middle of May, so stay tuned for that if you'd like a copy for your collection.

Lastly, I'll keep all of the Clue threads "Sticky" on Ravelry for the next month and a half so that folks who are taking their time with the KAL can still find them easily if needed.

I hope you all have enjoyed this KAL. I know I certainly enjoyed chatting with all of you and designing this fun piece for you all. I love the result and I hope you all do too. I know it's definitely time for summer now and it's warming up all over the place, but just think, next fall you'll have a beautiful new cowl to wear when it gets chilly again. I can't wait! Winter IS coming. Eventually. :)

Happy knitting everyone!
Kristen

Now that the weather is warming up, our thoughts are turning to lighter,
 more portable knitting projects and we've been stocking up on some lusciously awesome new yarns for summer!

This seems like the perfect time to start talking about fibers. This will be the first post spotlighting a specific fiber and how it is best used for knitting, crocheting and weaving.

Have you ever chosen a different yarn than your pattern calls for and then not gotten the results you expected? One possible reason for this is that you chose a yarn with a completely different fiber than the one the project was designed with. For instance, lets say that you made a sweater that was designed for Cascade 220 but you chose Berroco Linsey instead. Now you're wondering why instead of being fluffy, warm and springy your sweater is droopy, not at all warm and has no elasticity. Both yarns are worsted weight, why didn't it work out?

The reason is that Cascade 220 is made from 100% wool and Berroco Linsey is made from 64% Cotton and 36% linen. Wool is a protein fiber from sheep. A couple of wool's wonderful qualities are its elasticity because it is wavy (has crimps) and its ability to maintain warmth even when 90% saturated with water. I'll go into wool in more detail in another post but today, I want to talk about linen.

Linen is plant fiber. We get linen from the stem of the flax plant. We also get the flax seeds we eat and linseed oil from flax plants. It is also a lovely, delicate blue garden flower, one of my favorites! If you've never seen a flax plant before, North Dakota State University has a flax page with some very good photos and all kinds of educational links.

I've long been interested in genealogy and my grandmother passed on a pillow cover that was made of flax grown, processed and woven in Canada by some of my ancestors in the late 1700s. My grandmother crocheted the edging on it. While it's never been used as a cover, that I know of, you can see it is still in great condition for having been woven nearly 240 years ago.



Linen as a fiber is two to three times stronger than cotton, has a higher sheen and feels cool to the touch, although it does have a tendency to wrinkle unless blended with other more resilient fibers. The process of getting the fibers out of the plant is quite interesting. Wikipedia has a good article giving a general overview of the process. The fiber is not degraded by light, heat, alkaline process, or bleaching. It is damaged by exposure to acids and is susceptible to molds & mildews in humid climates.

For our purposes, linen fibers are quite long, 18 to 30 inches long which makes it pill resistant and gives it excellent drape. Hanks of linen yarn often feel a bit harsh to touch in the store but the more it is worked with, washed and worn the softer it gets. Garments made from linen can last for many, many decades. Linen is great to knit, crochet and weave with. The cool feel of linen and the looser stitch you get when knitting with it makes it an excellent warm weather yarn both for working with and for wearing. One great advantage of knitting or crocheting with linen yarn is that the fabric produced is not as likely to wrinkle as woven linen, when care is taken.

Linen is also a good durable yarn, great for making children's clothing!

When substituting yarns in patterns, depending on the construction on the yarn, linen could be a very suitable replacement for cotton and might also work to replace a rayon/viscose, raw silk or some acrylic/acrylic blends. Linen is not a good substitute in patterns that call for any animal fibers except maybe adult mohair which is also a long, sturdy fiber with good drape but tends to be itchy.

We carry a number of great yarns that contain linen and I often recommend them to customers looking to make summer weight garments.

Both Shibui Linen and Fibre Natura Flax are 100% linen yarns. They feel very crisp to the touch in the hank but soften up beautifully when worked up and washed. The colors are vibrant and very fun! I recommend either yarn for vests, skirts, hand bags, and sheer pullovers. They would also make great spa cloths for exfoliating the skin.

Rowan Creative Linen and Berroco Linsey are both blends of linen and cotton. This combination gives a softer to the touch yarn than pure linen, a slightly duller sheen, and very pleasant colors. I recommend these yarns for cardigans, skirts, dresses, shells and tank tops, summer throws, towels and washcloths.

Classic Elite Firefly, Plymouth Linen Concerto, Berroco Lago, and Trendsetter Twiggy are great blends of linen with rayon/viscose and small amounts of other fibers. Rayon and viscose are also plant based fibers that are man made but not really considered synthetics. They offer many of the same attributes as silk so when blended with linen they add sheen, more drape and softness. I recommend these yarns for shells, tank tops, skirts, dresses, cardigans, and pullovers. They are defiantly the most elegant of all the linen yarns, plus have more wrinkle resistance.

Looking for some great patterns to knit up in a linen yarn? Check out our kits, I've done a search for Linen for you. I really love the patterns in Kim Hargreaves' Indigo book too!


And Kristen designed a delightful vest last year in Shibui Linen. Shibui Linen Vest

I hope this helped answer some questions about this great fiber without putting most of you to sleep! If you want to learn more, there is a ton of information out there on the internet for the browsing.

As ever if you have questions, comments, suggestions or anything I can help with please don't hesitate to email me at askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool (dot) com.

Terry
p.s. I apologize for the typos, I've corrected them now.

Hi everyone!

As promised, I've put together a little tutorial for separating the back from the front on your Mystery KAL project. I will encourage you all once again, as I did on the Ravelry thread, to follow the directions step by step and very literally. I would even go as far as to say you may not want to read through them all the way for this section..just do it! If you over-think it too much, it will become more confusing than it's worth.

That said, many people are visual learners. Sometimes, with more complicated directions like this, there is just no "right way" to explain it, regardless of how carefully you edit your directions. However, I do apologize for some of the silly mistakes that I made in my sleep deprived state. I should have been more careful with the directions for this post and I am sorry for all of the confusion. The directions in Clue #4 should be fully updated now, and much clearer than what I posted early on Sunday. (Some people said they are having issues getting the edited version. If this is the case, remember to refresh your browser or clear your cache as your computer may be storing old versions of the post.)

Ok, so on to the tutorial for dividing the back from the front. This starts AFTER you have placed the side stitch markers. Please forgive my ugly orange yarn. At least you can see the sts really well! :)

Also, you may have noticed that for this tutorial I didn't use the full 120 sts. If you follow these directions as written, you should still have the 64 sts on front and 66 sts on back.

5 increases: 2 on right, 3 on left of marker

2 increases left, 3 increases right

I left the stitch marker on for reference.

I left the stitch marker in pic for reference.

 -You should now have 66 sts (this is the back) on extra circular or waste yarn with 5 sts on either end that overlap with 5 sts on the front section. The back section's sts will be on the inside while the front is on the outside.

Front is also where the beginning of the round used to be.

I hope these pictures help to show you what these steps should look like. If I didn't include a photo for a step, it was because the step above or below basically illustrated it, or I couldn't get a decent shot of it. In any case, I think these should help those of you who are struggling with the separating part. Of course, please let me know if you have anymore issues.

If after doing this, you still are having problems with the stitch count and are getting 66 on front and 64 on back, here is my advice:

1) Skip Rows 1-6 of the birds eye lace- these are just set up rows anyway to get your stitch count up to 66 sts. Just follow rows 7-10 of the birds eye lace and you will be fine.

-or-

2) You can decrease two sts on this row by purling 2 together twice in the middle section somewhere:

"Leaving the back sts on holder, work front panel as follows:

This is Emma with the full bouquet, her mom Mindy works at JBW. :)

From back to front: Kristen wearing TSCArtyarns, Heather wearing Madelinetosh, Rachel wearing Lorna's Laces, Amanda wearing Artyarns, and Emma wearing Fleece Artist.

"Here mom, have a flower bouquet!"

The Old Silk Road

My honey, Geoff, left on Monday for Uzbekistan and we just got the Kaffe Fassett collection which has fabric called Uzbekistan...go figure! Geoff thought that was really neat when I showed him!

We do a lot of traveling together, but this was a trip that wasn't within my interest scope, however, I will be excited to hear about his adventures when he gets back in May.




He will be gone for almost a month and I will miss him, but I know he will have fun. Of course I will have fun here at home and may have to grab some of the Uzbekistan fabric and do something with it before he gets back.

What beautiful textiles he will see!

He will be traveling The Silk Road on a tour and has gotten it in his head to do some wheeling and dealing to buy yarn and maybe Laura will make him her international yarn rep...ha ha!! I am afraid that when he gets an idea in his head it's impossible to shake and of course he is actually kidding about this, but is truly going to look for yarn and textiles!!


Oooh, ooh, I just thought of an idea for the Kaffe fabric...a couple of comfy pillows!! What do you think?


How about the Honey Bun Pouf by Amy Butler? We could sit around on the floor and eat in an exotic manner and that would be almost like being on a trip!

For now we can all dream of travel together and consider the projects that we can make around those wonderful mental journeys! Are you travelling anywhere fun this year? Feel free to share!

As always, happy knitting, crocheting and sewing!

Jeanne

Hi everyone!

Hope you have all had a great week! I know the short rows were confusing for some of you, so I hope everyone made it through mostly unscathed. :)

Ok, so you are probably tired of Game of Thrones memes by now but I saw this one this week and I loved it so I had to share:

From www.quickmeme.com

Heehee. Makes things seem a bit more innocent, eh? Also, in case you were wondering what the GoT characters would look like if they were cats, I have the answer for you:

From www.cheezburger.com

Is the cat they found for Jorah not the perfect match?!?! I love it!

Ok, back to business. In case you are just joining us for the MKAL. Here are some quick links to the previous posts:

-Gauge and Swatching
-Clue #1
-Clue #2

Alright, now on to clue #3! By this time you should have finished three sections of short rows and your last round was a purl round. Next we will knit three more sections just like the first three sections we knit before the short rows. Knit as follows:

Rows 1-8: Knit
Row 9: Purl

*Repeat twice more for a total of three times.

And that is it for clue #3. I know it's super simple, but we'll kick it up a notch next week with a little lace. :)

Hope you all have a great rest of your weekend and enjoy GoT tonight!

Happy knitting!
Kristen

PS. Don't forget to check in on the JBW Ravelry Group and join in the conversation!

Over the next few weeks I'll be writing about some of the most common questions and advice we give out in the store.

Today, I'm reviewing swatching as it seems like we can't emphasize it enough! I don't know how many people have come into the store lately who've gone to the trouble to knit up a sweater only to find out it's too big and have to either give it away or frog it and start again! I'll be the first to admit that swatching can be a drag when you're excited to get started but I've learned through experience that if I want to make a garment fit correctly the first time with no tears or frustrations then I must knit a proper swatch before I begin.  It's worth the effort and is never a waste of time.

As Diane Soucy (of Knitting Pure and Simple) says: "A tiny difference in your stitch gauge will make a HUGE difference in the size of your finished garment."

There are two vitally important measurements you need to know to making a garment fit correctly.

• The first is to know the finished measurements of a similar garment that fits you well. Please watch our video How to Decide What Size Sweater to Make to help you with this measurement.

• The second is to get the exact pattern gauge.

 To watch a video explaining what follows, please watch the the video I did with Diane Soucy: How to Measure Gauge Correctly.

The first step to getting pattern gauge is to compare it to the suggested gauge on the yarn label. If the pattern gauge and yarn gauge are close then the yarn will work for your pattern. You will still have to swatch and possibly adjust your needle size to get exact pattern gauge.

This is where swatching is so important. There are a number of ways to knit up a swatch but the most accurate measurement for your gauge will be to knit up a large swatch in stockinette, 30 to 40 stitches wide and 4” tall, use the exact needles you will be using for your project. Don't expect to cast-on the number of stitches needed in 4” and expect it to measure 4”, it won't! Edge stitches, cast on & bind off all effect gauge so you want to have sufficient swatch to measure well away from all. If you will be knitting in the round you will need to swatch in the round.

To measure gauge on your swatch:

• First, launder the swatch as you would the finished garment (steam it if it will be dry cleaned). This is important because yarn can bloom or shrink! Bloom means to expand or plump up and I think we all know about shrinking.
• Once the swatch is dry, lay it flat.
• Use a gauge check tool or a good ruler, measure no closer to any edge than 1”.
• Then count how many stitches there are in a full 4". Be sure to count quarter and half stitches or even an eighth of a stitch-- it will make a difference in the size of your finished sweater.
• If you have too few stitches per inch then your gauge is loose, work another swatch with a smaller needle.
• If you have to many stitches per inch then your gauge is tight, work another swatch with a larger needle.
• Repeat this process until you get the gauge called for in the pattern. Some people will just purl a few rows and try the next needle size, this can work but to get the most accurate gauge, bind off and begin a new swatch.
  

I can't say enough that checking gauge is so important, the time spent checking gauge is never time wasted. What is a waste is knitting a garment that doesn't fit and then never wearing it.

Always take the time to swatch and measure gauge! You won't regret it!

Any questions or suggestions for topics you want to read about, please email them to me at askTerry at jimmybeanswool dot com.

Happy Knitting
Terry