Knit Hills and Hollows Tank, Kent Selbu Mittens, etc.

Right around Mother's Day, right before we were about to head to Lugano for the Helvetia World Stamp Expo, my @kimberlee_fuller IG account was hacked.  

Most of my peeps are already well aware but if anyone hasn't figured it out by now, I had to create a brand new account and my new profile is @therealkimberleefuller.  In a way, "losing" my account was one of the nicest things that ever happened to me.  More people reached out to check if I was OK and/or really me than to congratulate me on getting married or even giving birth to Xena!

Anyway, while we were in Lugano, I finished my Hills and Hollows Tank designed by Jamie Hoffman.  This kit was part of the Ritual Dyes Spring Equinox 2022 offering and it was my Easter present to myself. 

The yarn is Crone (single-ply fingering SWM) in the Sweet Orange colorway.  I am totally in love with this color.  It's very flattering on my dark skin and the yarn is incredibly soft.

I knit Size 3 of the pattern and went down a needle size using 2's throughout except when I used a 3 to bind off in a few places.

 

The undulating rhythm of this pattern is so soothing to knit.

 

This is the perfect summer top for SF "summers". 

 

The tank couldn't possibly fit better.  I haven't even bothered to block it.

 

It also matches perfectly with a classic Euro-holiday cocktail, an Aperol Spritzer.

 

If you look closely at the pattern, it creates a repetition of little heart shaped bunny footprints and if that's not the cutest thing ever, I don't know WTF is.

Below is all of the yarn I bought at Yarn Shop in Lugano.

 

The Lanivendole "A Stormy Blend DK" is non-SW 70% Brogna Wool + 30% Alpaca from Italy.  The yarn on the above right is "A Chic Blend" which is 60% Abruzzese Wool/20% Alpaca/20% Mohair. I'm going to use it to knit another Hills and Hollows tank.

They just so happened to be having a Myak trunk show at the shop the day I found it so I kinda splurged.  The blue yarn is baby yak and the yarn below is Tibetan Cloud.

I loved the aesthetic of this shop.  Granted, it's completely opposite of the shop where I work but I can simultaneously appreciate both minimalism and crazy hoarding!

Lots of lofty summer yarns on the table.

I was very impressed with Gabbi's Ito selection.

Did I mention that this shop was walking distance from our hotel and practically around the block from the stamp show?

This is Gabbi, the owner, holding a Feel the Bern Sweater knit in Myak.   She was very kind and welcoming and I sincerely hope I get to visit her shop again someday.  Even though most of the customers at the trunk show were speaking Italian, we were still able to communicate through our mutual appreaciation of the patterns that we knit. 

Aside from all of the obvious (food, philatelic events, luxury BS, etc.) the best part of my trip was all of the time I had to knit!

 

That's me in Zürich Hauptbanof, waiting for our train.

 

As usual, Matt was working on his stamp exhibit down to the utmost last minute before it was too late to put it in the frames.

 

This is a photo of the sock I was knitting after hiking down Monte Brè.

This is my sock before take off in Frankfurt.

Finally advanced to sock #2 while watching the NBA playoffs at the SF Athletic Club.

 

Returning to the US was rather anti-climatic but in an effort to return to the reality of Bay Area life, I cast on my scrappy sale yarn Stage Coach sweater.

I'm using all discontinued Fibre Co. RTCL so the colors used depend on the quantities available.

 

The contrast is limited but I'm still feeling it.  Anyway, my struggle isn't completely over but I have reached the point where IDGAF and I am just done with these mittens.  It's a long story but I already tried knitting these mittens in 2 different brands of yarn, using 3 different needle sizes and I'm still not totally satisfied with the results but I digress.

I knit these mittens for my penpal, Raquel, who is also one of my best friends IRL and certainly my favorite resident of Stockholm, Sweden.

Kent is one of her favorite bands.

This pattern is loosely translated from English to Swedish and it definitely had me scratching my head during a few parts but now that I've knitted these mittens so many M_F times, I practically have the pattern memorized.  Hey, maybe there is a chance for me to learn Swedish after all.

Knit Spark Cardigan designed by Andrea Mowry

After Amber and I attended the last Rhinebeck together, we agreed to knit our own matching "Rhinebeck Sweaters" for next year.  After seeing everyone flipping out over it at the NY Sheep and Wool Fest, she was intrigued by the Feederbrook Entropy DK yarn that we carry at Atelier.  It's a comparable and slightly more affordable substitute for the Spincycle Dream State yarn called for in the pattern.  Both of us have been dying to steek after taking Julie Farwell Clay's steeking class together at the Webs Retreat years ago, so we agreed that we would both knit Andrea Mowry's Spark Cardigan which is a delightful combination of colorwork and steeking, knit bottom up, in the round.

 

Since I've already posted so many progress shots during my 3.5 month long journey to finish this damn thing, I'm only going to include FO photos and a link to my steek cutting video HERE.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this sweater.  I used the needles called for in the pattern and as I previously mentioned, I subbed Feederbrook Entropy DK in the Radiant Flux Colorway for the CC and I used Ella Rae Superwash Classic Wool Color #104, Dye Lot # 22488 for the MC.

It wouldn't be a photo shoot without a Xena photo bomb...

...or some silly outtakes!  It may not be obvious but it was raining while were trying to take photos and I was wiping raindrops off my face.

My only complaint and I suppose it's more a preference about this pattern is that I think the folded over cuffs are a bit much.  I understand that they're designed this way for extra warmth; it just doesn't get that cold in NorCal to need them.

I wet blocked the cardi was it was still just a tube in the round before I steeked it and I definitely recommend doing this to anyone else knitting this pattern.  It relaxes the stitches and makes it a lot easier to cut and sew.

Although I learned a variety of ways to steek, I decided to go with the sewing machine reinforcement followed by whip stitching with a tapestry needle.  I am extremely satisfied with my results.  I didn't possess a ton of irrational steeking fear prior to trying it and now that I've done it, all I can say is that it's extremely simple and it shouldn't put anyone off trying a new technique.  

I am so excited about how perfectly this sweater fits me that I've already picked out yarn to knit another one.  I actually have a TON of leftover Entropy DK because I bought double the quantity required in an effort to find the color pools/transitions that were most similar between hanks.  When you work at a yarn store, that's the OCD-type of shit you can do!

 

You know I can never resist a great new nails + knitted FO photo op!