Look what I got in the mail!

This is the Resource Guide from Harrisville Designs. It may be the best bet for yarn for the Latvian Mittens. (Jamieson's seems to be having problems- Rosie's has a very small supply, and the Satakieli comes in rather large expensive skeins.) I will bring it to the next S&B and we can put in a group order for yarn. The picture doesn't do justice to the colors. They are really nice. The interesting thing is that they dye the wool in only a few colors and then they blend those colors to create new colors. Then they spin it. So the colors are interesting and complex. Kind of heathery.

Latvian Mitten Splinter Group

There is a splinter group forming and will begin knitting Latvian mittens in January. So far we have Jennifer, Wendy, Angela, John, Val (in Providence), and Kristin (in Baton Rouge). Anyone else interested? Let me know.

Below is a link to a book:
http://www.amazon.com/Latvian-Mittens-Traditional-Designs-Techniques/dp/0942018141
I have an earlier edition of this book and I will gladly copy some of it for you.

Here is a fantastic link to gallery of mittens knitted for the NATO Summit:
http://www.rigasummit.lv/en/id/cats/nid/698/
scroll down the page to the links then click on the men's or women's mittens and then click on the individual mittens. They are really great! There are so many of them! You can really get some ideas.
As far as yarn goes, we have been looking at a few things. Keep in mind that if you are thinking of following this project with the Fair Isle Vest, you may want to use the same yarn. The mitten could be your gauge swatch :-) The yarn suggested for the vest is Harrisville Designs New England Shetland
http://www.harrisville.com/index.html
I have also seen the following yarns used for Fair Isle knitting:
http://www.schoolhousepress.com/Satakieli.htm
but the skeins are kind of big. I have samples of them.
Also, Jamieson's is used. Rosie's has a limited stock. I have the sample card and there are many colors.
http://jamiesonsshetland.co.uk/jamiesons/

So start your planning! Finish all your holiday knitting and we will have something fun to look forward to in the cold dreary month of January....

Really, Really, Done

Yippee! I am completely done!!! Now I can work on something else. I made myself finish these before I started anything new. And I am ready for something new, that's for sure. JWR

FINI!!! (just one)

Can't help but brag. I have finally finished my argyle. The sewing was not fun. Don't know if I will ever make another pair, but I WILL finish this pair. All I have to do on the other one is weave in the 300 loose ends and sew it up. Sounds easy, but it isn't!

Not EXACTLY Argyle

We had a very fun S&B this past weekend at Jennifer's. We had a good turnout: Alice, Michelle, Val (and Siome), Sharon (her first S&B - yea!), Wendy, Rachel, Andrea, Angela, Charlene and Jennifer. We were "showering" Rachel with a few baby gifts. And we were visiting with Val before her departure to Providence. We wish them all lots of luck!!
Here's Wendy with her Yeti (bet I spelled that wrong) that she made for Rachel's son and soon-to-be-big-brother Sam. I don't know who's cuter- -Wendy or the Yeti?



Here's Angela showing Alice her silk "hankies" that she is spinning on the drop spindle.

Pre-Sewing

One could think that the sock is almost finished- but noooooo! There are many, many, ends to weave in and some dreaded sewing to do. We are planning a sewing party. We wonder if some fine, expensive, scotch should be served. Well, maybe to those who finish- kind of like a reward!

Getting Plaid

They're not the best photographs and don't come close to capturing the rich colors of the chromolithography. But if you click on the pictures to blow them up, you can better see the colors and patterns.




These two, above, show the 'ur' plaid, of the Campbells of Argyle. There are pages and pages of Campbell biography in the book, but I'll spare you. Except, maybe, to give you this snippet: "The [Campbell] appellation is personal, and is composed of the words cam, bent, or arched and beul mouth, and the individual so distinguished, was of the race of Diarmid o Duibhne, who is much celebrated in the traditional story, and was cotemporary with the heros of Ossian, an antiquity which few clans can claim with equal confidence, but the Campbells do not come forward very prominently in national history until the time of Robert the Bruce."

Yes folks, that's all one sentence. . .

There's nothing about the plaid specifically, but this, about the illustration: "The artist, in accordance with the character of the family of Argyle, who were distinguished as staunch adherents of the 'solemn league,' has exhibited the figure in the character of one of those doughty opponents of prelacy, poreing over the sacred volume to strengthen his resolution to stand for the convenanted work of Scotland's reformation." Got that? There'll be a quiz tomorrow.


Don't think this shows up very well, but the colors, above, are deep red, olive green, and salmon. Yum.





Above, one of my favorites. I like the colors a lot. And this one, unlike most of the other patterns, really looks like argyle if you tip the angle of the squares so they're diamonds instead. You can even see the lines running through the pattern.



Yes, a lot of the details are crotch shots. Hmmm. Where do you suppose those stockings end? (My sources tell me that Scots wear nothing under their kilts. Personally, I don't know, but wouldn't mind finding out. A guy in a skirt is kind of sexy, unless he's one of those Cher impersonators. And then, not so much. . .)




Here are many, many images from a terrific book in LCP's collection. It's James Logan's Clan's of the Scottish Highlands (London, 1845) 2 volumes. (WW)