In our quest to Finish Objects in 2025, both of us found ourselves "vacation knitting" without even realizing it! Barb's story involves planning for her upcoming trip and having something classic and easy to pack in her suitcase. Cynthia's story is about a long-ago trip with "souvenir" yarn that sat neglected until now.
Barb: "What? Another Easy Folded Poncho?"
This summer, I'm thinking about the vacation I'm planning in September. Because I want to pack light, I'm choosing outfits really carefully. I've gone through my collection of Easy Folded Ponchos looking for a neutral coloured wrap that I can wear with everything and that will double as a warm coverup if it's chilly inside or if the weather turns cold. I've got lots of tweedy colours and striped pieces, but nothing in a soft, light neutral. That said, I do have some lovely cream coloured yarns in my stash, including this one I purchased several years ago at the Camrose Fibre Festival. This first one was a lace weight cashmere from Harmony Farms, in Quesnel, BC. Their cashmere is 100% Canadian, from healthy, happy cashmere goats on their farm, and I have 200 grams of it, which could be perfect as a base yarn.
After making a few swatches on my LK-150, I decided to pair the cashmere with Shibui Cima (70% Alpaca, 30% Wool, 300m/328yds) and Rowan Fine Lace (80% Alpaca, 20% Wool, 400m/437yds). I'm drawn to the neutrality of this fabric, as well as the softness and the drape. It's sort of like a light weight sweater.
For the design, I decided to keep it simple. A stocking stitch main fabric, with 2 x 2 ribbing on each end and a simple slip stitch pattern for the edges that run along the neck and shoulder, and along the bottom of the poncho.
I started off with all three yarns in the same side of the mast, but the cashmere was coming up through the mast faster than the other two, so I moved it to its own tension spring on the right side of the mast. I'm also tensioning all three yarns with my left hand as I knit the carriage across with my right hand, and watching for tangles and fixing any tension issues I find along the way. It's a slow go, and I'm taking my time because any tension differences are showing up on the fabric.
After the knitting was completed, I washed and laid it out to dry, then pinned it together and tried it on, only to find it was too short by about 6 inches! The row gauge has changed - it's now 34 rows to 4 inches vs the original swatch gauge of 27 rows. What happened? The only change made to my swatch was the addition of those slip stitch edges, which really impacted the overall length. Back to the machine for an extra 50 rows.
With the length modifications now complete, and another wash and block, this new cream coloured wrap is done! For more photos and details on my latest EFP, visit my Ravelry page here.
Cynthia: From a visit to Jane Slicer-Smith's studio in New South Wales, Australia
Way back in early 2015, I took a trip with my dear friend, Catherine, to visit Australia. When we arrived, we toured a bit around Australia, then boarded a cruise ship and sailed south, to Tasmania. Our ship then sailed over to New Zealand. While in Australia, we took an excursion to meet and knitwear designer, Jane Slicer-Smith. She shared all of her beautiful designs with us; we tried them on and before we left, I ordered a kit for the Mitre Vee Capelet (pattern found in her book, "Swing, Swagger, Drape: knit the colors of Australia".
At the time, I didn't buy the book. (I had weight restrictions for my luggage!) And now, 10 years later, the book is no longer in print. I managed to buy a copy through a used book seller and I put this pattern (and the kit I purchased) on my "Finished Objects" list.
The kit is a bundle of yarn: enough balls of yarn in the right amounts (many are less than one full ball) to complete the Mitre Vee Capelet. I'm grateful to Jane for splitting up the yarns because there are no less than 11 colours in this project. One third of the capelet is worked in mitred squares (garter stitch) and the the other two "wings" are made in knit and purl patterns that amplify the squares: Large Basket Stitch and Small Basket Stitch. It's a wonderful project for using up small amounts of stash yarn! The yarn in the kit is Jane's own line: Signatur. It's 100% pure Australian wool in a DK weight (22 sts to 10cm) with 392m / 200g ball.
I'm enjoying this project. It's at the stage now where I can't easily take it out (it's a lapful) in our sultry fall weather. So I keep it by my side, next to my "knitting" chair (the one with the armrests) and I work on it in the cooler evenings. I won't have it finished for the end of August, but that's okay. Some projects will take a little longer than others. And as I work on it, I remember what fun I had with Catherine, visiting yarn shops and farms, spinning mills in New Zealand and Hobbiton (part of the set for "the Hobbit" movie). We also took classes with Ann Budd onboard the ship and that started another lovely friendship! My dear friend, Catherine, passed away in the fall of 2020 and I miss her greatly. I'm so very grateful for her invitation to travel with her and to have these special memories and this beautiful yarn to remember her by.
To see more of my Mitred Vee project, visit my Ravelry page here.
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