triple play::xposted

It has been months since I showed off my Habu explorations, as it seems to be the only projects/yarn/concept I am being drawn to in between my deadline projects..
I am... I have accumulated 3 finished Habu garments.. shame on me, heee.. well. I just didn't have time.. I wrote a huge post... clumsy me, hit something on the keyboard and it was gone.. sometimes this happens, but at that moment I was almost done, so pulling my hair out or just yelling some words to my non-russian speaking cat.. didn't fix it.

So here that goes..

The first is a long time "yo-yo" cocktail commute project, it all has started from Vanessa sending me some leftover caramel colored Rowan KSH.. I added some test skeins of Habu Silk Mohair A-32b and there you have it.. a Nymphadora Scarf.. it is super long.. just like I wanted.. at one point I was about to toss it into a washing machine to perform some hazelnut stuffed shibori, overlooked at Nicky Epstein's Knitting never felt better, but then.. I haven't decided on it yet.. it is simple, yet cute, starting with frequent striping transitioning into wider ones. So I need a public opinion for once: Should I or should I not proceed?



And then there is a kit I got.. and long time wanted, ever since Isel pointed out the fabulousness of it while paging through my copy of Setsuko Torii's Hand-Knit works. Though I have knit a skirt before, it was a little worrying me how the silk would look and behave while worn around one's behind!
I didn't have any help on taking a decent photo, so self-timer on the edge of my balcony was the best friend for time being..
Here is a triptych, click on either to zoom







Habu Textiles
Gradation Tsumugi Skirt : kit-102: A-1, 5 or 6 colors triple stranded and wound in 10 variations in mini skeins (come ready to knit in a kit): charcoal: US 7 (4.5mm) needle: 30" of 1/2" black elastic.

This skirt became a success because I had a great buddy in face of Julianne (Ravelry link), who was making this skirt at the same time (she is actually making also a habu mohaired skirt as well!), so we got connected and figured it out together, we had to email Takako once. As usual she was very helpful and it was all cleared out. Printed english pattern had some typos, but it felt good about putting some idle brain cells to work. Japanese patterns are all about math afterall.

I have eliminated seaming, by doing provisional cast on and grafting it to the end of the fabric after and did a casing with elastic instead of drawstring, just by knitting extra fabric and turning it into a hem.
And eliminated doing 2 parts of the yoke, by just picking up and knitting garter stitch in a round, but still doing the decreases along the sides indicated by strategically placed markers. The least favorite part- it took about 2 hours and tons of patience just to weave in those zillion of ends, but in the end I saw how it improved the sturdiness of the bottom edge.
The skirt before blocking looked like an elongate mini.. and original is shown in your mid-calf, I am not a model height, so just below the knee was the right length and I wasn't blocking it to the original measurements. But, seriously, if you are taller and need longer skirt, it will block out , plus it is silk and in a skirt gravitation power would still pull it down.

The next was a secret gift.. which I can already reveal, Happy Birthday, Vanessa! It is my Birthday gift for her!

It is linen paper A-60 from Habu again, in two colors used for A Chinese Style Pullover aka kit-89. I have used the pattern from my book and US 9 needle, though next time I make it I may try it on recommended US 10 (6mm).
I love how airy and noisy this project was and is as a garment. Kirsten of assemblage fame pointed it out, this is a musical garment at some point.. so who needs a fireplace with crackling firelogs? Just get one of those and you kill two birds at the same time!
I hope V enjoys wearing it! It is perfect for steamy summers, as you get style and breeze constantly!



I know for a fact there are couple Rustling kits 89 in progress, so ladies please don't be shy, show off the goods, it is just a perfect, quick summer knit, that you can layer as well if needed.

:: Notes on Kit#100

As I have promised some doodles on making of my Habu kit #100, seaming less and making it reversible.
So originally you are to make 10 pieces and seam them all up.

A little bit of brainstorm and instead of 10 we only make 4.
2 of which are pocket linings.
So you will have to cast on twice, both times from each cuff edge and placing marker in the middle (why? because there are increases to be made). You will technically make two parts of the top of the coat, but we join them in the back by weaving/grafting so it is one!



And when the whole top part is knit and assembled and seamed we can pick up the stitches all around the bottom of it. The longer the needle you are picking up/making the bottom of the coat - the better, so you could try it on multiple times in case you need to mess with the length (if not just put it on a couple of circular needles to try it on and see).




You make one nice long bind off which will be the bottom of your coat.

Each Pocket consists of 2 parts (so 4 parts for all pockets) in the original pattern: just do a provisional cast on and then put the stitches back on the needle and make the second part, fold it in half when seaming and attaching it to the coat. And don't forget to work the mirror decreases in them.

Not some much to brain afterall, the thing with japanese patterns is that the pattern is mostly numeric and when to some reason or circumstances the numbers and your gauge don't make sense follow the scheme by measurements this should always lead to success!
Have a question-ask away!

:: blueberry fields ::

photographers: Isel and Paloma.

Habu Kit 100# - $105 (comes at colors of your choice)
Pattern: Setsuko Torii Hand-knit works Book. page 25, page 88.
ISBN: 4895113825
Materials:
Habu A-1 Tsumugi silk in color 70/lavender - 150 grams
Habu A-60 Shosenshi Linen Paper in color 116/eggplant - 200 grams
Needles: US 7 (4.5mm) 36" Addi Turbo.
Modifications: I altered the pattern to make it reversible and eliminate the unnecessary seaming.

It wasn't hard, another reason to love the math in the Japanese patterns. I got the book thanks to Siow Chin in our swap, I have seen the book before at Knitbuddies and I really wanted to see in person what it is like. Vanessa seemed to get one of the last copies of it in Kinokuniya. That book is vastly popular and just the other day I even spotted it on ebay. I do not know any Japanese Language, people, and just a little more thought and you could put the pattern puzzle together. Plus on Ravelry now they have a volunteer group in Japanese knitting who would gladly decipher anything you would need. But that's only if you need help. Numbers are numbers!

The Whole Set of Pictures is HERE.

Habulishious Tunic

I have had a love/hate relationship with Habu. As I spoke about in this HabuTextile post, I hate spending money. Habu is not, what you would call, a yarn that you can get on sale at Michaels. However, Olga (my friend, enabler, and huge reason why my credit card bill gets bigger) got me HOOKED. Like, addicted, I would almost say I am nearing crack addict status, but I strive for a PG rated blog, so I will not go that far.

The Habu Tsumugi A-1 for this tunic was actually a left over Olga had. I had always wanted to make this Tunic in the Rebecca #31.

However, this yarn did not yield the same gauge, so I had to recalculate the entire pattern. I am fascinated with this yarn. It is completely organic, and the result is a nice and flowy and (dare this wannabefashionista say it) utterly comfortable! There is this boho look and feel that comes with this tunic, but I am going to see if I wear a white tailored shirt underneath, and some dress pants how this looks.

Project Details

Project name: Bramble Tunic from Rebecca #31

Yarn: 6 skeins (double stranded) of Habu Tsumugi A-1 2/1 Coloway 83- Cork

Needles: Addi Turbo's US 5

Modifications: Umm... I recalculated the entire pattern to fit my gauge. Time consuming, well worth it.

The only problem is...what Habu project will I do next... trust me... more of that to come.

My First Habu

I had a good news/bad news moment today when the postman put a little grey card through my letterbox this morning. The good news: my Habu had arrived at long last. I have been lusting after some of their yarn ever since I read a review of their cashmere in Knitter's Review. The bad news: Customs & Excise and the post office between them were "taxing" me another 50% of the purchase value... Grrr. I didn't want to buy it from the US, as I knew I was likely to be clobbered by C&E. I had searched all over the Internet for UK retailers - there are perhaps two, and neither sold what I particularly wanted to buy for my first exposure to this unique company's yarn.

I checked Habu, and saw that they would be putting in an appearance in London in October. I told myself to wait, at least then I would be able to touch the stuff before I bought it. I began to exercise a level of restraint previously unheard of in my lifetime, and then one day I innocently wandered over to Coloursknits and read her post from 31-Jul-07. Oooh boy, oh boy, oh boy... Let's just say that from Vanessa's blog, somehow or other with no conscious thought on my part, and entirely on their own, my fingers typed out Naturesong Yarn. Click, click, click and 15 days later, I received this... Kakishibu Tsumugi Silk A-1B 2/17 (100% silk) in #52 Bengara.

And this... Silk Mohair Kusa A-32B 1/12 (60% mohair and 40% silk) in #26 Madder. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful these yarns are... The colours are so subtle, so natural, so restrained. I can't imagine that I will get anything other than the most elegant article made from this.

I am hoping for many new experiences with these yarns, not least of which is trying the Shibori felting technique.

Originally published at TussahSilk

:: Blueberry Dreams ::

What can be ever better on a day off than a cup of a fresh made coffee from a French Press, blueberry yogurt, some Knitting with Habu and an Setsuko Torii book to get inspired and look at endlessly!

For the yarn for the kit I acquired while out trip in NYC I have to thank Vanessa, as I have made this Jacket already before but in A-60 Habu Linen Paper in red and some recycled Cashmere from a sweater I got at goodwill for 4$.

And loved every minute of it: the progress, the drape, the wear, it behaves like nothing else I ever had knit before... and making a second one - I didn't even hesitate for a moment, the same, but with A-1 Tsumugi Silk this time as the pattern calls for it.

But My Dear Friend Siow Chin who made a great effort to get me this book and which I am so thankful for.. inside it I came across this coat.. Same principal, same designer, longer length.. bestill my heart, I decided I want this duster now and I will use this blueberry combo and hope there is enough for this coat. SO whatever you see on the top is going to a frogging pond as soon as I have a window apart from my deadlines to make this beauty live.

This coat is calling for Washi Bisu and Tsumugi silk yarns and with help of Nora who translated as Washi Bisu means "Thin Paper" in my understanding it is A-60 "shosenshi" linen paper and that amazing combo makes you see these fibers anew, takes me on adventurous trips every day that's why I can't stop loving it and probably will never get enough...

On info matters:
I must thank again all enthusiasts for posting and sharing your most intimate thoughts and impressions. Please keep them flowing! AND we are 30 members now! Yey!

Olga

My Habu Story

I am cheap. Seriously. I do not like spending money. When I first started knitting and started reading blogs and found out how much people spent on yarn I considered quitting and learning how to do oragami or something that did not require such a dire hit to my already slim pocketbook.

However I slowly graduated from my mom's old stash, to acrylics from michael's (with the 40% off coupon - of course), to knitpicks, to elann's, to random ebay bids, to looking for discount yarn that I craved. Then one day I went with Olga and Ava to a HUGE YARN SALE. And we bought nothing. During lunch Ava showed me her Habu catalog and I started to drool, and swoon, and want to have some Habu. What a completely etheral, unique and absolutely wonderful array of completely unexpected knitting materials. But I held back from buying, because, I am cheap.

Then I kept seeing all these wonderful Habu FO's all over blogland and I gave in. Olga sorta kinda convinced me to get some gorgeous tsumugi silk. I was so busy with work and it sat in my secret hiding spot for yarn for a few weeks. I felt that I would not be able to give it the time it deserved. Is that weird? Maybe. But I had resisted the Habu for so long I was not going to knit it up just like that!

I started my Habu tunic a week ago today. I am loving the drapeyness of the fabric so far, it is going to be so soft and flowy and completely not like anything I have made before. I cannot knit it fast enough.

So, even if it is a little bit more expensive, and I cannot use my 40% coupon from michaels on Habu, I am a convert.