Nihon Vogue - Year 2, Class 1

Well, it's that time again! Nihon Vogue... it's baaaaaaaaack! "Summer Break" went by far too quickly. During break I only managed to finish two small baby sweaters and 3/4 of my Forest Canopy Shawl. Alas, I knit on several miscellaneous projects whose ultimate end was being frogged. I am excited about "most" of what I will learn in the Year 2 program. Especially gansey with gussets, aran design, saddle shoulders, matching body to sleeve stitch patterns on raglan, neckline options such as collar and placket, decreasing and shaping stitch patterns for "A" shape such as skirts and capes. We are starting out with projects for "gathered sleeves" and "Dolman sleeves". Neither of which appeal to me, despite current fashion popularity. Once Jean started explaining the Dolman sleeve architecture I was hooked. Not on wanting to wear the eventual sweater, but rather the process to accomplish making one. The front body and sleeves are knit as one entire piece as is the back. There is quite a bit of short rowing on the sleeves and then they are seamed at the top by an enhanced 3 needle bind off.

The puffy sleeve is created by taking a standard fitted sleeve pattern and then pivoting the sleeve cap area at either the elbow or underarm to create an additional section on the pattern that provides an additional section to knit and subsequently gather when seaming to the body. This creates the puffy sleeve effect. I am designing a pink sweater-dress for a size 2 child incorporating puffy sleeves since a puffy sleeve sweater for myself will not be welcome in my closet.

14 of the original 15 students from Year 1 Nihon Vogue are back for Year 2. We'll miss Meredith, of course, but I was so excited to see Jean and the rest of the gang I could hardly stand it! Suzanne is immersed in getting ready for Madrona Fiber Arts, but she still whipped up yummy, healthy feasts for lunch each day. Melinda and Candace have been running and the results show. Oooh la la! Candace is about to embark on a marathon the end of this month in San Francisco. Scottie and Arlene are planning to do another triathalon in Hawaii. I wonder if any of them has figured out how to knit while running? Caryn and Phylis received their certificates from Year 1 after Jean signed off on their last sweater projects. Phylis' design was a gorgeous cardigan out of lucious handpainted yarn from Fancy Image Yarn in Shelton. She utilized twisted rib, knit in two pockets and added beautiful horseshoe cables adjacent to the button band. Beautiful.Naomi came to class draped in the most exquisite lace shawl I have ever laid eyes on. It was a gift from Ruth Sorensen of Denmark, who was a house guest of Naomi's earlier in the year. What an incredible gift. Naomi is an accomplished lace knitter so I know she appreciates the fastidious work and time commitment that goes into the making of such delicate, stupendous treasure. I love knitters!

After class, my mind was full of design ideas and the massive amount of knitting that will consume a large part of my limited free time for the next 15 months. Because of the extensive short rowing, I gave up thoughts of using a lace stitch pattern for the Dolman sweater (who is Dolman anyway?) and am going to use a silk-cotten blend in a simple stockinette stitch. Some twisted ribbing and placket button band added in for interest and new learning experiences. I'm not sure whether I will add a collar or not. I want to do some heavily textured and cabled aran and gansey sweaters for future Nihon projects, so I must remind myself to keep things simple for the first two projects. Rob returned from his weekend in Leavenworth. He went to help Tina and Rod work on their cabin (A.K.A. "house") and then did an 18 mile hike in the Enchantments on Sunday. No wonder he is tired today.