FO: Hallima Fever Dream Shawl

In addition to a pair of socks and some mystic armor panels I also knit my LARP character a shawl. My character is a healer, so the pattern name amused me to no end: Fever Dreams.

 

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Arroyo in Cereza and black

Yarn Supplier: Lucky Cat Yarns 

Pattern: Fever Dreams by Kate Burge and Rachel Price

Needles: US 7 - 4.5 mm

The major modification here was to knit it in just two colors, and I extended the honeycomb section because it was my favorite part visually.

I am super pleased by how the whole look is coming together. 

Any thoughts on things I might want to tackle next?

Trigradient Shawl

Sometimes you have the perfect yarn waiting for you in your stash. I have been absolutely obsessed with the soft gradients of Spincycle Yarn's Dyed in the Wool, so I jumped at the chance to pick up some of their seconds last year. And while Midsommar is not my colors generally, it is my exactly up the alley of my friend Diamondsoled. And the Valley Superwash DK has been hanging out for a few years, waiting for the perfect squishy knit.

And it turns out Diamondsoled just bought her first house and painted her room in golds and pinks, with touches of blue and lilac. I wouldn't have necessarily have put these together spontaneously but they match her new space perfectly and look great draped as a cozy layer in a favorite (goldenrod colored) chair.

The Trigradient Shawl was a great pattern, with slightly different front and back for two different looks.

Pattern: Trigradient Shawl by Stephen West

Yarns: Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK in Squash (MC) & Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool in Midsommar (CC)

Yarn Suppliers: Webs and Spincycle Yarns 

Needles: US 4 - 3.5mm

This project was my first time doing brioche stitch, and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got in the rhythm. I has 3 skeins of each, so I wanted to optimize to make it go as far as I could, which the pattern is flexible about. In the end I did the final bind off in CC instead of MC, since I ran out of the main color first. Ultimately I used all 3 skeins of the Valley Superwash, but just over 2 of the Dyed in the wool, so the remainder will show up in another project.

FO: Promises in the Dark

I had not knit anything for myself in a while, so this was a really exciting knit. In addition to being a beautiful project, it became a bit of an in-joke, since I knit a good portion of it while gaming in a table top game as a person blessed by the deity of secrets, which made the pattern name extra amusing.

Pattern: Promises in the Dark by Cheryl Faust

Yarn: Harrisville Designs Nightshades in Vinyl and Spincycle Yarns Dream State in Salty Dog

Yarn Supplier: Scratch

Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm

Seriously can we talk about this color shift detail in the Dream State? Love it.

And despite my claims of not doing much mosaic knitting, this was yet another mosaic knitting pattern. The geometric pattern was very straightforward once I got in the groove.

Both yarns were new to me, although I have been wanting to try Nightshades for quite a while. They were each fairly wooly, which does not bother me at all, but is something to know if you are purchasing online. I would happily knit with either again.

Clapotis

Remember a few years ago when everybody was knitting a Clapotis or three? Yeah, me too. Holy crab-cakes, we are coming up on it having been out for ten years. I have no idea how that happened.

Anywho, so it is only this past spring that I have managed to bring myself to knitting one. (Yes, I know, bad blogger.) I had several skeins that had been sitting on the shrine of precious yarns too long and it turns out this was the perfect match for the six skins (822 yards) of highly variegated kettle-dyed yarn. These were from among my final purchases at the Knitting Room, which was long ago in East Arlington.

Yarn: Mirasol Yarn Hacho in color 304

Yarn Supplier: The Knitting Room (long closed)

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

The actually knitting was every bit as fantastic as has been claimed by everyone else on the internet, so I have nothing ground breaking to report there. It was perfectly mindless, with highly amusing interludes to do the dropped stitches. Good times. I increased for the end triangles until I used up one skein, knit straight until I had only one skein left, and then decreased back down to the final corner with the last skein. I didn't both alternating skeins. Other than making sure that I alternated the skeins that happened to have a slightly brighter chartreuse accent, I let the yarn do what it wanted. The combination of bias and dropped stitches hides most of the sins there.

In the spring, this was fantastic with my wool coat. In the summer I wore it as a light shawl in over-air conditioned buildings and public transport. And now that it is getting chilly again, I find that I wear it more than ever. This is absolutely my most used hand-knit that I have ever made, which is high testimony!

This last photo was taken out hiking this Fall. Have you ever noticed that knitters wear uncoordinated knitwear more than everyone else? (Also in this picture is my blue spiral hat, which Chiquita had long-abandoned and I use a lot now.) Well at least I am warm!

Wedding Shawl In Use

Hi blog, remember me? I am sorry I disappeared like that. Mostly it was the buildup to the wedding reception I suppose that took me away for so long.


But now that is done, and I am more or less recovered. So I am going to make an effort to be back here again regularly. Promise.

Garter Stitch Shawl

Well then. Huh, July? Not so much. Salvbard was in China for 3 weeks out of it, and between that and getting ready for his next trip to China, I am afraid I haven't had much time to sit and craft never mind blog about it. I have been thinking about it a fair bit though and have a few post topics lines up to share.

First off the only thing I knit in July:

Ok yes, it isn't super complicated, but it was the perfect mindless project for stressful days. The result is over 1300 yards (1200 meters) of fingering weight in garter stitch, which makes for a fabulous shawl to help cut the chill of over air conditioned buses and businesses.

Pattern: Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl by Thea Eschliman (free pattern)
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox & Crazy4Dyeing SlenderSock
Yarn Suppliers: Webs and Crazy4Dyeing
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm

This was a great stash buster, and the pattern would work in nearly any weight yarn due to its construction. In the suggested yarn weight and amounts this is a generously sized shawl, though again due to its construction you could easily make it smaller if you preferred.

I hadn't worked with the Alpaca Sox yarn before, but I really hesitated to make it into a pair of socks despite the name. Knowing the lack of memory that alpaca has, it seems like it would make very hot, very slouchy socks. In the shawl it is a bit fuzzier than I might like, but it makes a wonderfully warm, cozy fabric.

Just a brief note about the beautiful location for the pictures here. Salvbard and I took Chiquita out for an adventure in western Massachusetts. Obviously we had to stop into Northampton, but we also took some time to stop and visit the Quabbin. If you are not familiar with its history, it was a really interesting project in terms of the scale of the effort that was required to build it in response to Boston's growing water demands.

FO: My Wedding Shawl

All done blocking! On to the finished photos:

Pattern: Peacock Feathers Shawl by Dorothy Siemens
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18
Yarn Supplier: Lakeside Fibers in Madison, WI
Needles: US 4 / 3.5 mm

Can I just say how much I love this yarn? Well as I mentioned previously, this yarn is amazing to the touch. And the color is pretty fabulous as well. As beautiful as the shawl I knit for my sister's wedding is in white, the green is way more "me".

Normally I tend to need to go up a needle size or three, since I am a fairly tight knitter. Given the fact that I about 5'3" (160 cm), though, I really did not need a shawl with an 84" (214 cm) wingspan! So I actually (gasp!) went down a needle size. Seriously people, this is unheard of for me. Yet, this shawl is still quite generously sized.

I am really impressed by this pattern. It was really well written and easy to follow, especially given the complexity of the pattern. After only a short time I could see if the row I was working on was lining up correctly or not, which prevented the need to rip out long rows to fix mistakes. By the end, there was just under five hundred stitches per row, so that was greatly appreciated!

I guess now, I just need to figure out all of the other wedding details...

Peacock Shawl - Preblocking

The shawl has been done since last week, before I packed up for NYC for the weekend. Here it is unblocked, but you can still see a lot of the patterning thanks to a little bit of flash.

Finding a good time to block it however has been harder than it sounds. It is finishing drying now, and hopefully I will have final pictures soon.

Shawl Body - Done!

When last we heard from out shawl-knitting heroine, she had just passed the 1/3 mark of her shawl. Well as of late last night, the body of the shawl is finished, which means there is just the edging and the bind-off left to do. Huzzah!

Yup, lace knitting still does not look like anything special.

Since this takes me through row 224 of 250, a little basic geometry tells us that I have finished 80.28% of the shawl. Yes that means a fifth of all the knitting in the shawl is just in the edging. I guess there is nothing for it though, except to get back to work.

A Third of a Shawl

It got quiet around here with the end of February kicking my butt, but there is still stuff going on. Yesterday I finished the first third of my shawl. Like all unblocked lace, it doesn't look like much.

Despite all the stitch markers making this look fairly complicated, it is moving along well now that I have another copy of the pattern.

Oh wait, did I mention that? Seems not. Well after Arisia, my copy of the pattern went missing. I waited over a month before deciding I had to replace it, which meant ordering another hardcopy from Canada (the only source). It eventually arrived, despite the pokey-ness of the Canadian post. Of course then over this weekend a friend announced that she had had it at her house since then and just hadn't thought to mention it. Gah!

Wedding Shawl Take 2

About 2.5-3 years ago I shared with you all the journey of my sister's wedding shawl from cast-on to FO. Well now I am starting a new one, not for my sister (who is still happily married with two beautiful children), but for me.


This one will be in Zephyr like the other, but otherwise quite different. The Peacock Feather Shawl is triangular and has several different charts as you work through. And as I am not one for white, I am going with a deep emerald.

SPS & FO: Now with Wedding Shawl

To review: I knit this wedding shawl for my sister who is getting married in July.

Ok so as of Saturday morning this is where we were. I finished the final bit of edging, went to visit Lucy at Mind's Eye Yarns, (BTW if you are planning on stocking up on Noro during her fabulous anniversary sale you should get in there soon), and then went home to block.Blocking took place on my favorite yoga mat, which actually worked surprisingly well. I go the idea from all the people I have heard of using those interlocking exercise mats for the same purpose. This certainly wouldn't have worked for all shapes or sizes, but was perfect in this case.
Now for a gratuitous glamor shot. I used a long length of nylon thread along the edge to keep the points looking smooth. This looked fabulous while blocking, but I think I lost a little definition when I started removing the thread.
And now for the moment I, at least, was waiting for. It's done! (My sister is my height so the length should be fine.)
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in white
Fiber: 50% merino 50% silk
Supplier: Lakeside Fiber
Needles: 12" and 40" US Size 4 circulars
Pattern: Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave Stole
I absolutely love the how this shawl looks from the back! My sister's birthday is this week, so I will probably surprise her then.

edit: A quick back of the envelope calculation reveals that there is just over a mile of laceweight in this shawl.

I'm Getting There...

Okay, so some of you may be thinking "gee those crochet squares you keep posting are nice and all but what about that shawl?" Ahem. Let us leave it at the fact that I am working on it. Less than 12" of edging left to go! Of course due to the hour I can't get a decent picture, so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see it.

Oh, and if you don't listen to the CraftBorg go hear the latest episode. I got to do a "Crafter's Log" entry (about this shawl no less), and it was a total blast to do. No need to restrain yourself to knitting, though knitting is often discussed. The CraftBorg's tagline, after all, is that "when it comes to crafting, resistant is futile". If you have any interest in contributing just drop them an Odeo message.

Wedding Shower SPS

So today was the wedding shower. See this is me all dressed up for hostessing duties (though mostly sans makeup since this was taken at the end of the day after I got home).
For those of you following along with the wedding shawl drama, I did not ultimately finish the shawl in time for the shower. Remember when I told you all that I was 85% done with the center panel of my sister's wedding shawl? Well it turns out my memory is failing me. For some reason I kept thinking this shawl had 28 repeats, but really it has 34. Oops!

Despite that I did get the center panel done and picked up all 640 stitches around the edge. Then I knit the several long rows all the way around, increasing for the corners. And now I am knitting on the edging. Woohoo! Actually this part is going on a lot faster and I am finding myself waiting for each next stitch that connects the edge to the body. Furthermore I am currently on the last long side for the edging. At the rate I have been working, there is probably about 8 more hours of knitting ahead of me, so I might possibly be done with the knitting portion by next weekend.
I might possibly have been able to finish for the shower if I dropped everything yesterday, but there was no way I would be able to block it too. And for this sort of project, the presentation is really important to me.

Friday Show and Tell

This week the Hogwarts Sock Swap is having a Friday Show and Tell. The idea being that you post progress on your pal's socks, and in the process earn your house some points. Remember that if you are interested in this swap but didn't get involved early enough there will be a second round of sign-ups starting on July 14th.
Unfortunately my socks are not a great deal larger than when I last posted about them. If only this little figure was performing wandless magic for me! I could really use Hermione's knitting charm at the moment. I did get a few rounds done in a thesis defense this week (congratulations MP!), but other than that they have been sadly neglected in favor of my sister's wedding shawl. (But guess what project will come with me to the wedding shower.)

The yarn is Louet Gems fingering weight in Sandalwood and French Blue, though as I have said before if I had it to do again I would have ordered the Ginger rather than the Sandalwood. The pattern is my own standard toe-up one with the Sandalwood for the toes, heels and tops of the cuff, so no complaints there! I am thinking about stripes at least at the cuff, but no decisions have been made there yet. These are being knit at a fine gauge (9 sts/inch) on US Size 0s.

Due to another more complicated project I need to get finished, I had to select something simple pattern wise for the socks. (For those interested in shawl progress, I have finished the edging on one short side and am more than halfway through a long side. Will I make it? It will depend how much I can get done on Saturday. I would be more than amazed if I got to the halfway point before tomorrow.) A stockinette sock with some ribbing seemed perfect for my partner's socks. And with the nice tight gauge they should wear really well.

Tempted By the Fruit of Another

Do you often have the experience that there is something you really want to work on, but there is something else you feel like you really should work on? In general, I am pretty free of this feeling, but my mom totally brought it out today.

Me: So I have to figure out what to get [my sister] for the bridal shower next weekend.
Mom: I thought you were making her a wedding shawl.
Me: Well yeah, but I am not sure how long the edging will take. So I think I should get her a nice gift certificate to Crate & Barrel or something. You know how much she likes entertaining.
Mom: So you aren't going to try to finish on time?
Me: ...

See my sister has been throwing some not-so-subtle hints that I should start early so that I would finish on time. Lets just say she started in December when I suggested a wedding shawl for a wedding in July.

But people, the wedding is in July! I didn't think anything about the fact that the wedding shower was quite a bit earlier, and it would be expected then. Currently I have 24.5/28 repeats, but I am nervous that I might need 32 as it seems a little small. (The border dictates that I have to add repeats in denominations of 4 at a time.)



And yet... there is the siren call of the baby surprise sweater (Elizabeth Zimmerman was a genius). When Webs announced on their podcast that this was to be the next knit-along I suddenly remembered that I had purchased the pattern a little while ago to knit for my knew niece. Then, auspiciously, Lucy mentioned the yarn I had just taken out to cast on with in the Mind's Eye Yarns newsletter (Cherubs DK).



It's so squishy! And each row is mesmerizing. I absolutely love the way Zimmerman gives her instructions, as I tend to just read my knitting to figure out where I am and where I need to go. With the help of the illustration it was easy to see how the crazy topography was going to work, and each step is absolutely addictive. After 2 evenings I am almost done with the sweater. So close... and yet I put it away and knit several more repeats on the shawl today. I definitely think I can finish the center panel tonight, so there is a small chance that I could finish the edging in a week (gulp). As for blocking, well, I can always do that after gifting but before the wedding if I have to. Right?

WIP: Print 'O the Wave Shawl

Since this color round for Project Spectrum will beending soon, I thought I would give an update on my sister's wedding shawl. Unfortunately there hasn't been a ton of progress since this project really requires time I can sit at home and concentrate on it, and such time has been scarce recently. So far I have 15/34 repeats done.

edit: I am not sure if I had mentioned it before, but the needles I have been using in this project were a generous gift from Moosey/dr-zhivago during LJSP3.

White for Feb/March

What better way to kick of Project Spectrum than by pulling out my sisters shawl?
This photo is after 11 repeats, but I am on working on 12 now. At 14 I will be halfway through the center panel. Then comes picking up a million stitches... but we won't discuss that.

WIP: Print 'O the Wave Stole

This fall I hesitantly offered to make my sister a wedding shawl. I didn't want to impose my style on her wedding at all, but I would love to make her a keepsake from this special time. Fortunately she was not opposed, although we had some problems finding a pattern that really appealed to her. Then I sent her to Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave Stole, and she suddenly got really enthusiastic.

During the holidays she kept asking me if I had started it yet. "No, not yet," I replied. "I will after New Years." Well it is after New Years so I figure it is time to keep my promise. So I cast on tonight, and it seems to be going well. Per her preference, I will not be grafting this in the middle. Instead I just cast on the 80 center stitches and was on my way.



Here is the first repeat so far. I am knitting it in Zephyr (50% merino/50% silk), and it is absolutely delicious to knit. I just need to keep plugging at it so that I can get it done for the wedding in early July.