Nash Island by MJM

                                       Nash Island 

                         pattern by Mary Jane Mucklestone 

                                  Nash Island LIGHT yarn 

Last June my friend Mary Jane Mucklestone arrived on Nash Island to help with shearing, knitting in hand, as usual.  Nash Island Yarn, of course.  Wisely knowing a compact portable project makes for light dunnage (an essential for boat travel) Mary Jane was designing (on the needles, in the moment, on the island) a sweater knit flat in pieces. 

         Mary Jane designing with her muses, photo by Gale Zucker.

Nash Island is an old school Maine sweater, the kind we wear year round in all seasons. For hauling wood in winter to summer evenings on the lobster boat.  Nash Island is knit old school too, entirely flat, with the color work 'lice' happening only on the right side to make it easy.  With  modified drop shoulders and a lace up placket it's a comfortable everyday sweater.  With spring just around the corner, a Nash Island sweater will be the perfect portable project for my island lambing season knitting.  And maybe I'll get it done in time to wear to shearing!

Nash Island by Mary Jane Mucklestone is available on Ravelry.  Nash Island LIGHT yarn is available at Starcroft and at Clementine in Rockland. (We are currently spinning up more LIGHT yarn from the 2015 clip, more colors will be available soon!)

Bits and Bits

Sometimes when I'm dyeing a new color it takes many, many tiny test skeins to get just the right recipe for the color I want. Sadly, these tiny not-quite-the-right-color skeins end up forgotten in a box on a shelf.  Recently rediscovered during a studio tidying, they begged for attention and a little sorting.    

Which led to a little color play and contemplation. 

Which led to a new WiP. 

(Confession: I am not a pink person.  But row by row I'm finding myself falling in love.)

Valenzi

A new installment to the Cardi Project just completed!  

This is Valenzi by Mary Jane Mucklestone from her fabulous book Fair Isle Style.

Knit with Nash Island Light yarn in driftwood, wild iris, mussel shell, whelk, and raven.

A great pattern and wonderful knitting start to finish. 

 And thanks to the current Maine weather I won't have to wait until fall to wear it!

Cardi Quest ~ The Mason Trio

My sweater collection.

What's wrong with this picture?  For all the yarn in my life and all the knitting I do you would think I'd have a closet full of lovelies to wear.  But like a carpenter's wife without cupboards, or a cobbler's children without shoes, I am a yarn maker without sweaters.

Motivated by this devastating reality, and greatly inspired by my friends Ellen and Gale, I am determined to remedy this fashion void in my life.  And so, I am off on a year long Cardi Quest.  (I must confess I started this quest in September with my Rhinebeck sweater.)  The goal - to fill my closet with a bevy of colorful cardigans, savor the designs of some of my favorite knitwear designers, and play with all the (new) Nash Island yarn colors (more about that later!).  

4 Nor'easters, 3 ice storms, and numerous power outages (so far) have made for lots of knitting time this winter.  Here are 3 new additions to my cardi collection.  Affectionately known as the Mason trio, these designs are from one of my most favorite knitwear designers, Ellen Mason.

Lorna Suzanne

Lorna Suzanne by Ellen Mason Designs (odacier) on Ravelry

 Nash Island Light Yarn in Cove

 (Okay, I confess, I knit this awhile ago, but hardly anyone has seen me wear it, and it needs to be acknowledged here along with it's sister sweaters.)

Lillian Fay in the Forest

Lillian Fay by Ellen Mason Designs (odacier) on Ravelry 

 Nash Island Light yarn in Spruce & Seaweed

 I decided to change it up a bit by using two colors.  I like how using the lighter green for the front panels really highlights the leaf pattern.  You may get tired of seeing me in this sweater.

Mary Rebecca goes to the Ocean


Mary Rebecca by Ellen Mason Designs (odacier) on Ravelry
Nash Island Light Yarn in Jay, Buoy, Calm Seas, Sea Glass, Clear Skies

I have been working on some new colors for 2014 (stay tuned!) and after dyeing up some blues I really needed to try them out to see if they all played nicely together, so I really, really needed to knit up a sweater with them all, and of course it really, really, really needed to be one of Ellen's designs.... 

I love Ellen's designs.  Simple - with an interesting design element.  A joy to knit - with instructions so clear and concise it's like Ellen is sitting right there beside you while you knit. And the fit - perfect every time!