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October 17, 2005

klaralund on the needles

thank you for all the sweet well wishes for our anniversary. we celebrated the evening gastronomically at a local seafood restaurant, ocean. this is a wonderful place to dine if you ever come to birmingham and visit. but of course, i will need to show you all the lovely local yarn shops first.

and, i can not take credit for eunny's sweater, so please send all your admirations of this sweater to her. she is making a felted bag at this moment and that is looking rather stunning!


pattern book and some japanese goodies. they were all good!

at the end of the day, i do knit! though the past few posts did seem like that i am just a happy recipient of other people's craft. having said that, i did received the pattern book for klaralund from mari. she also sent some japanese goodies and origami paper (thank you, mari)! whoo hoo. it has been so long since i played with origami. i can see a paper crane deco forming. you see, paper crane is the only thing i know how to do in the origami department. not very exciting, i know.

so, klaralund is a simple pattern. silk garden by noro is the yarn for this lovely kimono style sweater. in less than one week, i have already churned out both back and front. how's that for speed? but honestly, this was not something so remarkable to boot as the body pieces had no shaping, no nothing except a few garter stitches here and there to keep you awake. i knitted this in such lightning speed as i was never certain about this color way and i wanted to see what it looks like when knitted.


so which one should be front? i have a hard time deciding

along the stockinette stitching process, i had learned to love these colors. they are not the kind of colors i'd normally wear, but, they do possess a pretty striking effect when appreciate from afar. it is quite oriental and it may just be the perfect thing for this kimono style sweater. also, i was struggling with whether or not to modify the pattern so the body has some sort of shaping. you can see here that i ended up not doing it. i think every sweater should has its unique characteristic, klaralund should be a loose, bell sleeved, sleepy eyed sort of sweater; having a fitted look may be inappropriate in this case. therefore, i did not modify the patterns at all. i respect ms. cornelia tuttle, she has a right eye for style.

i do want to share some of my views on this much loved yarn, noro's silk garden. i never quite understood how this whole self striping craze but now that i have worked on one, i can see where the love is. i love how the colors just blend together without a harsh transition. it could be pink, but then some freckles of yellow would start to appear, then, a few more stitches later, it would be all yellow. it really caught you off guard, but in a very subtle, pretty way. i love how the yarn has spun up, it is raw and crude. you can sometimes see the silk fibers still in its unprocessed form. though i was a bit afraid that i may saw some body parts of a silk worm. but no, that did not happen.


raw silk and wooden needles. so organic!

i am having such an enjoyable klaralund making experience and this is truly not going to be possible without these gorgeous lantern moon needles gifted to me by my pesky secret pal this past summer. oh, i love these needles!!

Posted by blossom on October 17, 2005 02:53 PM

Comments

Klaralund looks incredible. I love those colors...and you look so nice in any and everything.BTW, the photography on this blog is amazing.Thanks for the traffic by the way :)

posted by eunny on October 17, 2005 03:54 PM

What a lovely colorway you chose! And I won't be any help voting which should be front or back...they both have their appeal for either/or. I miss knitting with Noro after making Clapotis and Lady Eleanor. I've shied away so far from making a Noro sweater, but I get the feeling after I see yours I'll want one too ;-)

posted by Steph on October 17, 2005 04:14 PM

Klaralund is growing so quickly! I can smell an FO coming our way pretty soon... The colours are gorgeous.

posted by francoise on October 17, 2005 04:21 PM

I have to agree I love the colors, too! Can't decide which should be the front or the back either. Are the front and back of the sweater identical? Maybe you don't have to decide.

posted by Angela on October 17, 2005 04:54 PM

Lovely. I'm making my 2nd one now, but using bernat denim. I know, it isn't noro, but since the sweater is for my mom, she would not wear the noro. Hope it works out well.

posted by Lisa on October 17, 2005 05:39 PM

I concur, lovely colors! I can't wait to see it finished. Noro is also great when working entrelac, with each block working out as one color--you sit and knit away just to see what the next color block will be.

posted by Jen on October 17, 2005 06:34 PM

Really? I've heard spinning silk worm bodies right into the yarn is all the rage in Paris!I have wanted to give Noro Silk Garden a try for a while. Your sweater has not lessened that desire a bit.

posted by Rachel on October 17, 2005 07:51 PM

I agree, those lantern moon needles are nice to use. I use their ebonies and rosewoods. Your sweater is beautiful, can't wait to see it finished. And you take really nice pictures.

posted by Carin on October 17, 2005 07:58 PM

Your Klaralund looks beautiful so far! I love the colors. And Lantern Moon needles are awesome!

posted by caitlyn on October 17, 2005 09:09 PM

Your Klaralund looks gorgeous, you've chosen a wonderful Noro colorway for it!

posted by grumperina on October 17, 2005 09:13 PM

that shade of silk garden is magical! I haven't seen it before - it's going to be an absolutely beautiful Klaralund! Silk garden on wooden needles - I agree it's probably the ultimate organic knitting experience ;)

posted by karen on October 18, 2005 03:29 AM

You're so fast!!! I can't believe you knit that in a week! But I suppose it does make a difference when the yarn is so luscious, and the tools are divine to use.

posted by Di on October 18, 2005 05:25 AM

I like your description of knitting with Silk Garden. The color transitions sound very cool.. I can understand now why people like it so much!

posted by Diana on October 18, 2005 10:33 AM

Wow - that IS fast!! And I'm thinking the one on the left in the picture is the front. I like that it's a little more subtle, and wouldn't draw attention away from the neckline pieces so much. Then again, you might want to wait to decide until you get those pieces done to choose - one may "fit" better given how the colors knit up on those top pieces. (I haven't knit this - are they actually pieces of the sleeve??)

posted by Kathy on October 18, 2005 11:33 AM

The one in front looks like a front to me although either will be gorgeous. Love the eunny sweater too - lucky you!

posted by KnittenKnots on October 18, 2005 01:57 PM

Yummy stuff. You've been very busy and I can't wait to see your finished sweater.

posted by Stephanie on October 18, 2005 03:00 PM

Yum Yum!!Everything looks Yummy!!Candy, Origami paper, Yarn, Needles, and Not to forget Klaralund!!Can't wait to see beautiful U in Beautiful sweater!!

posted by eejayya on October 18, 2005 04:20 PM

The japanese goodies looks so yummy! Aren't you lucky! I like the colours of Klaralund... I just love warm colours...

posted by Lovely Tots on October 18, 2005 08:00 PM

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