Quite a while ago I bought a skein of Tea Party yarn from Miss Babs. This one is sport weight and is one of the Yummy 3-Ply yarns offered at Miss Babs’ site. I bought it because it was pretty, and I don’t have definite plans for it yet.
Miss Babs Tea Party yarn
Before I wound it up, I took some photos of the various colors that can be seen among the strands of yarn in this lovely color way. “Tea Party” must be popular because it is currently sold out / out of stock in many of the yarn weights offered by Miss Babs. I hope it comes back because I love it.
Below is a little swatch where I played around with some stitches and used “Tea Party” with “Deep Sea Jellyfish” which is also a Miss Babs yarn in Big Silk worsted weight.
Swatch with Tea Party and Deep Sea Jellyfish
I don’t know what I will knit with this yarn, but I’m considering a scarf with both the bright pinks and purples of Jellyfish and the more subtle speckled white of Tea Party.
After knitting my first pullover sweater Umpqua by Caitlin Hunter, I decided to try a cardigan. I chose Fine Sand, by Heidi Kirrmaier because I could knit it in a light weight yarn suitable for my Florida climate. At least, that is my hope. Also it is knit top-down, so that is something new for me to try.
Part 1 (of 2)
This post has photos and comments about beginning the sweater and knitting to the short rows. I’ll finish up on the sleeves and bind-off on another post (Part 2).
Miss Babs was having a sale on the Tarte fingering weight yarn, which is made up of washable merino wool, nylon and tercel. Sounds sturdy and washable, which should make a nice sweater. (Yes, I love this yarn, and the color is wonderful!) The pattern called for DK or Sport yarn, so I knit up a swatch using a needle two sizes larger and I got close to the gauge. I’m hoping the sweater will be a bit large in the end. I don’t wear tight clothing.
Center back marker of Fine Sand cast on
This is the Franklin blue, and it’s very close in these photos to the actual color. And I have never been disappointed with any Miss Babs yarn. I knit a Mystery KAL Shawl with Miss Babs “Woodbury” yarn, which was soft and pretty.
Dark yarn is not as fun to knit due to difficulty in seeing stitches (my eyesight is not great), but I love this dark blue. Also the pattern is fairly simple, with no crazy lace stitches, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I can only knit dark colors during the daylight when stitches are easy to see.
What I’ve Learned From This Pattern
First of all this pattern is written very differently than any other I’ve followed (ya, that ONE other… hahaha). Charts are substituted for complete written directions. These are not knitting charts, like in colorwork, but charts with letters which are used to take the place of changing repeats / number of stitches for each row.
I always read through a pattern and highlight the parts I will need to pay attention to, such as repeats in a row, or info for my chosen size. I’ll admit that when I saw the first page of instructions, I had to spend a few minutes figuring it out.
Right off the bat I had to learn how to do the RLI (right lifted increase) and LLI (left lifted increase). Specific instructions for how to do those are included in the pattern and links to video help are included too. The LLI gave me a bit of trouble at first and I lost count on one row, but every row contains stitch counts (thank you!) so I was able to easily add those stitches back in.
Separating The Body and Sleeves, How To
To separate the sleeves a bunch of stitches must be moved to waste yarn. That was easy enough to do using a darning needle and white yarn to be a contrast to the dark blue. The pattern called for a cast on of stitches and that threw me for a bit. Here’s what I did:
Turn the work to the wrong side. Yarn will be coming from the L needle. Use the R needle to begin a knit stitch but when it comes off the needle pick it up with the L needle (from the bottom) and let it stay there. Do this for the number of stitches called for in the pattern. For this sweater in my size I had to cast on 6, place marker, and cast on 6 more.
The video below is the one I followed. Begin it around 2 minutes for this type of knitted cast on. As he points out in his video, this is how to make a buttonhole!
The cast on edge at the armhole
Armhole stitches on hold
As of the beginning of July, 2019 here is where I am on my Fine Sand (photo below). I’ve passed the tricky armhole area and now the knitting will be pretty straightforward for a while. Next I will have to reacquaint myself with short rows. I love the yarn. I would definitely buyTarte from Miss Babs again.
Along with this project I am also working on the Quince Wrap and Moon Sisters Shawl.
My first sweater was a bottom-up project and this is a top-down. With my cool new needle tips – those things that keep the knitting on the needles – I can try on my sweater as I go.
Fine Sand sweater knitting with armholes on hold
Front of Fine Sand sweater in progress
Adding a Contrast Color at The Bottom
When I reached the last few rounds (rows 1-6) toward the bottom, I began adding the moss green color. Although it looks more gold in my photo, it really is green. The blue is also more teal.
Now that I am finishing up the repeats the short rows come next to create a longer back section. I think I am going to change that and do a longer squared off back leaving slits between the front sections and back of the sweater bottom. I can picture it in my head but not sure I should try it. I may chicken out and follow the pattern. (Yup, I chickened out!)
Once the sweater bottom edge is done, I will go back and finish the sleeves. The other day I began to knit one of the sleeves with the blue color I was using for the bottom. This pattern calls for 3/4 sleeves which I like. In the photo below one sleeve is still on the white place-holder yarn and the other is in the knitting stage.
By the way, I love those stitch stoppers! Mine are by Cocoknits and I bought them at Webs (that is where the link goes). I can easily try on this sweater as I go without worry about losing my stitches.
Finishing the Sweater With Edging
The Fine Sand pattern gives directions for finishing the sweater with a knit edging. The edge is curling so it does need something. As I looked through the finished Fine Sand sweaters at Ravelry, I have found a couple that had really pretty edging. I’ll be there soon, so I need to decide.
Today I finally decided on the seven colors I would use to knit the Bay’s Edge Shawl pattern. I had been searching for a rectangular shaped shawl to knit.
It took me days to decide which blue-green shades of yarn to use. Then there were the two contrast colors. The main color was an easy choice as I wanted something with a bit of a gradient and not the plain white shown in the pattern. I wanted colors to represent ocean and beaches I see near my home.
The Bay’s Edge pattern suggests a gradient yarn collection (find it at Miss Babs) to make buying easier, but I wanted to choose my own colors! The ripple effect evokes waves of water so I chose blue-greens and blues with one tan (sand color) and a peachy-pink to add a bit of color to offset the blues.
At Miss Babs I added many colors to the “compare” section, then deleted them, and added more. I think I went through every single 2-ply toes yarn shown! The only color which is the same as one in the collection of yarn used in the sample pattern is Sea Oat. I chose to exchange their blues, green and purple with shades of blue-green.
My main color yarn will be “Life Begins” which is a Yummy 2-Ply wild iris (non-repeatable color way) in light blue-green with some speckles – See the big skein below. I needed one skein in 400 yds. My yarn arrived November 1st – how exciting! I love those little gifts they always include, and the yarn is super wonderful! Look at those colors…!
Yarn colors for my shawl project
Miss Babs offers smaller skeins of Yummy 2-Ply Toes with 133 yards each, and I needed 6 of those to complete the “waves” in the pattern.
Here is what colors I ended up choosing: (a “wild iris” color is non-repeatable, one of a kind dye lot).
I would have liked the two darkest greens to be more of a contrast, but buying yarn online makes it difficult to see everything together. The “Blackwatch” color way is really beautiful and I’d love to knit something using that color again. It looks a lot more green than blue in reality. The photos at Miss Babs look very blue, which mine was not.
Beginning the Shawl Pattern
It took me three tries to get this shawl’s “cast on”. If you have ever knit a triangle shawl, you probably know how that weird beginning goes. You must know how to “pick up and knit” stitches. I suspected it would give me trouble and I expected to have to re-do. I finally had it looking okay and got on a roll. I can see the pretty little triangle shape emerging!
Miss Babs yarn is so pretty with slight variations in color throughout.
Beginning the shawl
Now it is January and I am finishing up this shawl. Once I did the bind-off on the first edge, I fell in love! The I-cord bind off looks so nice. Once I completed the second half and needed to do the bind-off again, I had to look it up to refresh my memory.
Today I wove in the ends and washed the finished shawl. It is blocked on Knit IQ mats, and in the process of drying in the spare bedroom. The pattern was easy to follow and fun to knit. I really love the way it turned out. The yarn colors I chose were meant to represent the colors of the sea. Shades of blue-green from light to dark are mixed with a row of beige for “sand” and “pink” for seashells.
Blocked and drying – the Bay’s Edge shawl
My Notes on Knitting the Bay’s Edge Shawl
Notes: Beginning this shawl is a bit tricky. Watch a video about how to pick up stitches and knit them, if you have never done this. You must know how to SSK and M1R and M1L. I placed markers for each 19 stitch set on the making waves rows just in case I ended up off with my count at the end of the row. I could easily go back and count 19 stitches in each section to see where I was off. Many of the rows were simple knit across, which could easily be done while watching TV. The I-cord bind off takes time, but is worth it.
More Rectangular Shawl Patterns
Buy the Bay’s Edge Shawl pattern (link at the top of this page) or view some of the other patterns I found in my search for rectangular shaped wraps.
Because there are no good yarn stores near where I live here in Florida, I shop online for my yarn. I’ve had to discover good yarn by reading reviews and discovering what expert knitters are using. And by simply taking a chance and buying unique yarn. (Yarn shown is Miss Babs, Yummy 2-Ply fingering,” Sorcerer”)
As time has passed and I am knitting more, I have found some additions to my list of favorite online shops.
Click on the titles below, which are links the shops.
Four purls is a local yarn store here in Florida, but they sell online. They are located in Winter Haven which is in Central Florida. It’s quite a drive for me, so I have never been to the store. However, I do visit their Yarn Truck when it comes to the East coast. How fabulous is that?
The Four Purls yarn truck visits New Smyrna Beach in April 2019
They don’t travel around in summer because of the heat (they set up outdoors), so I must order online, and that experience has been quite good. Shipping is Free for U.S. orders over $49 (as of this writing). Emma’s Yarn is some of my favorite yarn ever and I have made the Dewdrops shawl and Sun-Kissed shawl with Emma’s Yarn. She offers bright tropical colors, which are perfect for us Florida knitters. Shipping is super fast – I’m just a couple hours away!
I like the fact that I am supporting a local store. One day I would love to visit the Four Purls shop.
I can’t remember how I came across Wool & Company Fine Yarn but they are a favorite place to shop for two BIG reasons: They offer FREE U.S. shipping on any size order, and they will wind the yarn for FREE!
Their shipping is fast and the yarn is packaged in pretty dotted paper, like a gift to open! It’s the little things… and you can see below I got a free little stitch marker as well! (Miss Babs gives gifts like this too.)
Wool & Co. offers a wide selection of great yarn. It’s my favorite place to order Mohair because they will wind it for me! I once asked them to wind 2 of the 7 skeins of Shelter I purchased and discovered they wound all 7 for me! So customer service is above and beyond, IMO.
The link takes you to “Webs” which is a site full of various types of yarn. This site also lists reviews by purchasers which I’ve found to be very helpful, and they have free patterns to try. They offer yarn discounts for certain types of yarn, according to how much you buy. When you see the blue icon and “webs discount” on the yarn page, the discount applies. Depending on how much yarn you buy, get either 20% or 25% off. That is a nice discount!
Shipping can take a while and often color selections are limited.
Thumbs Up: Good discounts, big selections, and sell yarn of all prices, so you can find cheap yarn here.
This site has some very pretty yarn for sale, some of which is their own brand. I’ve bought and used the Worsted Twist to make a scarf and hat. It is beautiful yarn. They offer many wonderful free patterns (this is great for any beginner knitter) and wonderful knitting tutorials. However, often the types of yarn which can also be found on other sites is a dollar or so more expensive at this site. They don’t give regular discounts, that I’ve seen, but do offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount of money – $110 at the time of this writing. They will wind the yarn for you, but I don’t know if there is a cost.
Thumbs Up: Unique Yarn and Color Choices, Free Patterns & Excellent video and picture tutorials. Allow comments from readers / buyers.
This site offers gorgeous hand-dyed (in Tennessee) yarn. They will wind a skein for you at a cost of $3.00 per skein. I used this service for a 1750 yard skein! This site has named yarns such as “Wild Iris” and “Babette” and I only recently figured out what that means. The “Wild Iris” label means the color is not repeatable and when it’s sold out, it’s gone. “Babette” means more will / can be made.
I love the yarn I’ve purchased, and they have sent little gifts with a couple of my orders – a few stitch markers, and a tiny sample of some yarn. Also they sent a nice thank you card with info on how to reach them if I have questions or need help. I love to feel appreciated, and tiny touches like that do the trick.
This is a fun place to shop for yarn. Their product views are nice on this site, showing 2 or 3 images, with close-up views. In fact, that is how I found this yarn site. The Webs site, mentioned above, often has only one (not very good) image of yarn colors. When I first signed up, I got a discount coupon for a following order – I always appreciate discounts!
Thumbs Up: Great Images of Yarn & Good Sales & Fast Shipping!
Hedgehog Fibres “Beach Bunny” sock yarn from Wool & Company
I’m adding The Woolly Thistle as a favorite shop for online ordering of specialty wool yarn imported from the UK, Scotland, Scandinavia, and other far off places. The shop is located in New Hampshire (which definitely caught my attention) and I recently purchased some wool and a book from them (because it’s about NH crafters). Check out this store (and her podcast) if you like to do stranded colorwork with nice wool. Shipping is free if you spend over $99 and it is F A S T!
New England's Narrow Road 