Tag Archive | shawls

Silverleaf Complete

I just finished it this morning and had to share it right away because I’m so excited!

It’s nice and long, and the garter stitch sections are squishy and soft.

The leaf pattern is gorgeous. It amazes me how people can take a relatively simple lace pattern and make something so beautiful. I love knitting designers.

The color is also perfect for me. It looks predominantly gray, so it should be nicely versatile, but in person it’s got a hint of purple.

This might be my very favoritest knit of all time. So much love for my Silverleaf! If you don’t have it already, go buy it and make it. You won’t regret it.

Progress on the WIPs

Oct21

Yes, it is Friday, and here I am blogging! Thanks to a dentist appointment today and a book event this evening (I get to see JODI PICOULT!!! SQUEE!) I decided to just take the day off. I’ve got errands to run too, of course, but thought I’d take advantage of my rare quiet morning at home to slip in a quick new post. So: lots of knitting time this week! My beautiful new Color Block Wrap is coming along nicely. I’d forgotten what a fast knit it is. I decided to just go with the size 10 needles because I liked the resulting gauge. I figure I’ll do the first three sections, see how long it is, and decide then whether I need to add another skein or two. I don’t have more dark pink but I’ve got a light pink and more grays, so I could easily add more yardage.

And I was a winner this week! We went to a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and there was a silent auction, and I won a new knitting tote! Yes, I totally DID need another bag, thank you for asking. Isn’t it cute?

I also won a gift certificate so I’m ordering another bag and I think I’m even going to splurge and get it personalized!

Look at this: I also managed to work on Silverleaf this week:

Yep, that’s the leaf section! I made it through half of the leaf lace pattern, so just the other half and the final boarder left to do. I’m still loving this project. It’s just perfect. But I’ll love wearing it too!

This weekend promises to be quite busy. Another band competition (the last of the season) will give me plenty more knitting time, so look for a FO on the blog soon!

Knitting all the things

Sep20

Ha, I finally finished that dumb ribbed beanie! I mean, the pattern was fine–I just messed up at first and then got tired of it. I tried to modify and guessed wrong and ended up with a hat that was too small and too short for the boy. Okay, fine. I frogged and started over. But 1 x 1 rib on size 3 needles with fingering weight yarn, even held double, takes a while to knit. It got rather tiresome, which is probably why I set it aside for a while. Then I got tired of seeing it so Sunday I decided it had to get done. I was at the decreases anyway, so I was thisclose to the end. Before too long I had a finished hat and the boy put it on and said…”It’s a little big.” Argh. Yes, he’s still alive, but only because I had witnesses. Anyway, it’s done, it’s close enough, and he can wear it or not, I don’t care much at this point.

After that I was free to cast on something new because I only had 4 WIPs. Of those, one is a blanket (hibernating WIP), one is a long seed stitch cowl (hibernating WIP) and one is my Royals baseball crackerjack scarf, which is by design a summer-long project. I needed more! First I started Here Be Water Dragons with Stitchjones Dyepot Superwash Merino. I’d actually started it a couple of days ago, but didn’t like the fabric with the suggested needles, so it got frogged and I’ll start over with size 9 needles. I love the colors in this yarn–they’re perfect for fall/Halloween knitting–but it’s not the softest. I don’t know if I’ll be able to wear it next to my skin.

Then there’s Madelia. I started it last week and accidentally pulled the needle out of several stitches, and there were way too many k2tog and YOs to try to pick them up. No biggie, I wasn’t that far in. Plus I used the opportunity to switch from my Karbonz to bamboo needles. I adore my Karbonz; they’re usually my favorite needles. But they were too slippery for lace with this yarn: Berroco Fiora, which is 40% cotton and 30% rayon. After yesterday’s knitting session, I’m on to the fourth section and having a lovely time. It’s a really fun knit. I think I needed to add a more complicated pattern to the mix.

I also cast on for the New Bittersweet Cowl. I’m calling in the Bittersweet Birthday Cowl because I’m using my birthday yarn, and because it was my 40th birthday, which is a little bittersweet. I’m modifying it to be a one-loop cowl because that’s all the yarn I have.

And in that picture you can see my only FO for this post: the yarn bowl! It was actually made by the Knitting SIL for my birthday, and I added the black frog closure over the weekend. I LOVE it. It’s so pretty, and fits one wound skein perfectly.

I’m still working on my Sockhead hat and it’s knitting up beautifully, but it’s definitely too simple and mindless to be my at-home knitting.

Finally, I have Silverleaf. I’m loving knitting with the Malabrigo Arroyo but I’m a little stuck in the garter repeats. I’m so eager to get to the leaf pattern! And eager to wear it, too, so I guess I better keep on knitting.

Now I have this fun, varied collection of WIPs to choose from when I have some knitting time! I’m not sure I’ll even do much gift knitting this year: my knitting time is so diminished that I don’t know if I want to spend it making things for other people, unless I’m 100% sure they’ll love it, and use it. So far I don’t have anything like that in mind. Selfish knitting for the win! I’m sitting at 8 WIPs right now, and that’s a great number, don’t you think? Heck, I think I’ll add one more–I just remembered a birthday gift I need to knit. But it’ll be a small, quick knit, so that barely counts, right?

As if all of this wasn’t enough, I did some blocking over the weekend too, and now my Saroyan scarf and Fern Lace Cowl are ready to wear! The scarf is especially scrumptious and makes me long for a colder day.

Yes, with all this crafty stuff going on, I’d say it was pretty darn close to an ideal weekend. I definitely felt like it recharged my creative battery–and that helps keep me sane and happy throughout the week. Now, let’s see how much I can actually get done on all these projects this week!

Silly Selfies and FOs

Sep10

I have some FOs to share, and apparently I like to take silly photos of myself wearing them. Here’s the Cruella Cowl, a beauty in black and white. The pattern is Darn Knit Kinetic Cowl and it’s the fastest cowl I’ve ever made. In case you don’t recognize it, the yarn is my vacation Berroco Brio.

And then we have the Squarshy Hat, finished tonight, which I adore. I could have added another half-inch to the body, but it’s just fine as is.This is also vacation yarn, the Malabrigo Mecha.

Lastly, we have Fractal Danger, completed at last! But no silly selfies with this one, sorry. This was an interesting knit with unusual shaping, and was also my first experience with short rows. They’re not really my favorite. Kind of fiddly, turning so often and making sure your stitches stay on the needles and all that jazz. They slowed down my rhythm, and anything that does that is not my favorite. Still, I like this a lot, and I do think the shape makes it wonderfully wearable. I just need to get it blocked!

Next on my needles: Silverleaf with Malabrigo Arroyo! Can’t wait to get going on that one; I’ve been itching to knit it since it was released.

It’s been a while since I shared some puppy photos, hasn’t it? Grace is as much a love bug as ever, giving as many kisses as we’ll allow.

And Jack, silly cute Jack, he forgave me for boarding him after a day and went back to his charming self, always asking for belly rubs no matter where we’re sitting.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Three WIPs

Aug7

The new job is going well, and I’m catching on quickly to most things. I think the biggest hurdle has been the Spanish accent of one of my bosses. I struggle a bit with accents, so I’m really hoping that with time, I’ll get more used to it and it’ll be easier. As it is, I’ve had a couple of scary moments where I asked “What?” once and didn’t want to ask again, and then had to ask someone else for help later. Thankfully, he’s a very nice man, so he’d probably be patient with me too. It’s just hard to admit you can’t understand someone, isn’t it?

I’m enjoying bolstering the knitting group at work too. I knit every day, and one day at the cafe, one woman sat with our group because of my knitting. She used to knit, keeps projects handy, but struggles to find time. Of course I told her about the knitting group, so I’m hoping to see her there soon. I go to every lunch meeting I can, and I’ve got the other AA who started with me knitting too. She learned the knit stitch as a child, and I donated a pair of needles she could try again and see if she liked it. She made a mug cozy in about a day, and is now working on a chevron baby blanket! There’s one other woman there who’s a dedicated crocheter/knitter, so she’s always got her yarn too, and we can talk about stash and what to do with leftover yarn and weaving in ends and understand each other perfectly.

But despite my daily lunchtime knitting, I haven’t finished a project in a while. Instead, I thought I’d share what I’ve been working on. I’ve got three biggish WIPs that are moving slowly. First is my KC Royals Crackerjack scarf. I got bored with it a while back and set it aside, but recently realized it makes great lunch break knitting so I made note of all the wins and losses for the last two months (yeah, I neglected it that long) and within a few days I got all caught up. I really like the random look to it, especially if I don’t think about the fact that the big blocks of white and gold mean they lost a lot.

My Saroyan is progressing nicely too. I’m loving the pattern and the yarn. (How could you not love a hot pink cashmere blend yarn?)

I just started the second skein last night while watching the Olympics, and I can see a definite difference in color. But it’ll be the middle of the scarf and at the back of my neck when I wear it, so I’m trying to let it go.

I also have Fractal Danger on my needles, in my newest Manos del Uruguay Alegria.

This is a Martina Behm pattern, so it’s full of delicious garter stitch. This was my lunch break knitting this week, but I had to keep track of the rows just enough that it was hard to eat and chat at the same time, so I think I’ll cast on for a new hat for this week. I might do Yoda hats, since those are strong sellers on Etsy and I can almost make them without any thought at all.

Yesterday, the husband needed to donate something to the Habitat ReStore, which just *happens* to be next door to a lovely big LYS, so I decided I’d ride along. It’s somehow appropriate, given the location of the Olympics, that I came home with some new Malabrigo Rios.

I keep buying new yarn despite having less knitting time than before. This might be a problem soon.

On the way home, we saw this:

Yep, a little chihuahua in a cart on the back of a scooter. I love it.

Now, I’m going to spend the rest of my Sunday baking, knitting, and watching the Olympics. The real question is whether I make myself work out before doing the fun stuff. (I KNOW. Don’t tell me. I KNOW I should. But I don’t WANT to.)

Enjoy your Sunday, friends!

Beauty Shots

Jul31

After the rain left, I took my new beauties outside and took some photos, and I had to share some of the best ones.

Reyna Shawl

Secret Beach Scarf

Reyna & Saroyan

Jul31

Yesterday was a happy day:

That’s my new dishwasher! When we bought this house, it came with an old dishwasher. It worked, mostly, but it also wasn’t installed correctly so when we opened it, it would rock forward. The silverware container was small, cramped, and partially broken. So we decided that part of my first paycheck would go toward a replacement. And it’s fantastic!

But I also finished my Reyna yesterday. After a morning of chores and errands, I picked it up after lunch and realized I was running pretty low on yarn. That meant I could only get five more rows in before binding off, and that went very quickly. Then Grace said she would try it on for me.

She approved. It then went upstairs for washing and blocking. I blocked it a little aggressively, because it was a wee thing and I wanted it bigger. Can’t wait to unpin it later today and try it on. I really really enjoyed making this shawl. The pattern was fantastic, and it’s not often you come across a pattern that works so well with variegated yarn. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making another Reyna.

While I was blocking, I figured I might as well go ahead and block the Secret Beach Scarf too. I’m a little embarrassed to share this photo because it’s such a crap blocking job. But it’s SO LONG, and I’d used up all my KnitPicks blockers and just couldn’t stand the idea of doing T-pins all down the length of this scarf. It’ll be fine. Right?

So, big shawl done. Bulky cowl done the other day. You know what that means: time to cast on something new! After much (and I mean A LOT) perusing, I finally chose a pattern for my Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere. The winner was Saroyan.

I feel like this is one of those super popular patterns that’s kind of required for knitters, much like the Hitchhiker, and I can see why. Isn’t it lovely? So much fun to knit, though part of that is the super-soft merino/cashmere yarn. I adore the leafy border. I have a playdate with my Knitting SIL this afternoon, and this is what I’m taking with me.

Enjoy the last bit of your weekend, friends! Monday will be here all too quickly.

Three Times a Cowl

Jul24

Last weekend I cast on a couple of new projects. One of them was with my treasured Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Bulky.

I wanted something simple to show off the yarn, something quick and easy that would be a good travel project for my lunchtime knitting at work. I chose The Simplest Cowl, all stockinette, cast on, and took it to work with me last week.

It was definitely fast; I finished in just a couple of lunch breaks. But I didn’t like it. It was too wide and too short. I frogged and started over with 75 stitches, but then the yarn pooled (not sure if that’s the right word) in a weird way. The colors stacked instead of being more random. Frogged again and started with 85? 87? I’m not sure. Again, it went quickly and yesterday I finished it and bound off during lunch, and happily put it on.

It was still too short. It curled so much that the curls were all you saw when I was wearing it. My one skein just didn’t go far enough to make the look I wanted from that pattern. Now, if it were any other yarn, I probably would have tossed it aside, listed it on Etsy and forgotten about it. But I love this yarn, plus it was a gift from my mom. It had to be something I loved, something I would wear. I frogged one more time and rewound it. I went through the cowls on Ravelry that others had made with this yarn, and found one that looked quite delightful called Squishy Soft Cowl. I found the right needles, double-checked the pattern, and headed out with the girl to see The Secret Life of Pets. This would be my first foray into movie theater knitting.

And it went quite well, I must say! I got a good chunk done before the movie even started and was able to keep track of the simple pattern while still paying attention to the movie. It probably helped that the movie was a little silly and I didn’t have to work at all to keep up. I’m not sure I could knit that well during a movie aimed at actual grownups. Anyway, I got through 3/4 of the yarn and finished it last night and THIS TIME I’m happy with the end result.

I chose the smallest version so it would be snug and tall, and it came out exactly right.

Do you want to see my other current project too? It’s the Reyna shawl with my new blue/green Araucania Huasco. I think I love this as much as I love my rainbow. It seems to be such a good match of yarn and pattern, and the pattern is so fun. It’s just sections of garter and mesh alternated so that you never get tired of either one.

I’m using my new Addi Turbo Lace needles and really like them. They’re lightweight, super smooth, and I love the pointy tips. I’ll be adding more of these to my wish list. I have about 40 rows left and then it’ll be done. But this isn’t a good lunch break project, so I’ll be casting on something new today to take to work this week. Maybe a hat this time!

Something else fun: I keep finding more knitters at work. The lab manager knits, and brought in a shawl she’s working on so I could help her with it. And we decided her 8yo daughter needed to learn to knit, so I brought in some 10″ size 11 needles and a skein of bulky acrylic in a pretty teal for her to try. Anything to create new knitters, right? The needles were metal ones I’d found secondhand for cheap, so I didn’t mind passing them on. As we sat in the break room knitting, we discovered another knitter as well as a crocheter. Just wait, I’ll bring all these yarn people together and create a big yarny community over there! *rubs hands together evilly* Bwahahaha!

Yarn Pics

Jul17

Remember how my LYS is closing this summer? Well, it’s happening at the end of this month, and yesterday I realized I needed to get up there before all the really good stuff was gone. I’m glad I did because I got a few awesome treasures for an awesome price.

Alegria by Manos del Uruguay. This is the yarn I used for my Peek-a-Boo Bay shawl (different colorway obviously) and I loved knitting with it. I’m tempted to make another one in just this yarn, skipping the stripes. This wasn’t a huge steal, just 25% off, so it was my biggest splurge.

Araucania Huasco (fingering weight Merino) in Wine. This was 50% OFF!! I grabbed the last two skeins in Wine…

and the last skein in green…

and the last skein in this fun summery blue-green colorway. I’ve already decided this one will be my next cast-on. It’s going to be the Reyna shawl.

Finally, remember my Color Block Chalet Wrap? Well, it’s one of my favorite pieces, and the yarn was 35% off. They didn’t have enough that I could replicate it, but I think I’m going to do a half-size version, just cast on half as many stitches, and have a yummy color block scarf. That’ll take one skein of each color. Not sure what I’ll do with the rest, but I love this yarn so much I couldn’t leave it there.

With my arms full of yarn, I passed by the needle section and realized they were on sale too. I’ve needed a size 4 16″ circ and it was 50% off so, plus I’ve heard so many good things about the Addi Turbos that I wanted to try them. They were only 35% off, so I only picked one size. It’ll be enough to get me hooked, I’m sure!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go finish my Secret Beach scarf so I can cast on all the new projects!

I’m back, with a Shawl!

Jul10

Guys! I have missed this whole blogging world! I’ve missed writing and posting photos and reading all your blogs and commenting on them, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get caught up. But I’ll do my best.

For those who don’t know or have forgotten, I got a full-time job, and I started this past Tuesday. Each day I’d work, then come home and play with pups, catch up on my Wimbledon, do a bit of knitting and fall into bed by 10 each night. Adjusting to this new schedule is hard, but thankfully, I think the job is going to be great. I’m a senior administrative assistant at a medical research institute, and I’m supporting two labs. (I know, it probably sounds a little strange, because I have very little science experience. But I rock at office management. Plus I think science is pretty interesting, so it’ll be cool to see the super smart scientists at work.) Last week was all training, and now I have a 3″ binder full of materials I think I was supposed to learn. I mean, I learned a lot, but I guarantee that for 95% of those things, I’ll need help the first time I do them. And that’s okay, because the people there are awesome. Everyone expects us to ask for help, everyone is more than happy to answer questions or give tips. It’s fantastic. It’s a friendly, laid-back environment, and I *might* even be able to go back to my purple hair at some point, which would be awesome. Anyway, it was a good week and I think I made the right decision and I hope I figure out what I’m supposed to do when I show up on Monday.

I did manage to sneak in a bit of knitting here and there on breaks, and finished this pair of fingerless gloves. They’d been a lingering WIP for weeks, so I’m delighted to free up that project bag.

At night, I worked on my Peek-a-Boo Bay Shawl, and bound off yesterday morning. Once again, I ran out of yarn way before the pattern said I should, but I didn’t swatch so I’m sure it’s my fault. It worked out fine anyway; I just did fewer repeats of the lace chart and ended up with a shawlette. I’d still like to do the full version at some point, just not right away. Because: it has a picot bind-off. Have you done that before? Yes? Then you know how tedious it can be. By the bind-off of any project, I’m ready to be DONE, and I want it to go FAST. Picot bind-offs on shawls do not go fast. At all. But they’re lovely and it really is a wonderful way to end this beautiful shawl.

Here’s the blasted picot edging:

More/better pics forthcoming, when I have the time and energy to do an outdoor photoshoot.

Already, my knitting philosophy is changing. The focus has swung away from making things for my Etsy shop and toward things for myself, and maybe a few gifts. Right now I’m in a “Finish all the WIPs” mode, and then I want to cast on a new hat and maybe a cowl. But I’m not really interested in making things for craft show inventory. Maybe it’ll adjust as I adjust to my new schedule, but for now I’m happy to be a purely selfish knitter.

Oh, speaking of knitters: my new company supposedly has a knitting club! Someone mentioned it to me but I haven’t found the people yet. That will be on my To-Do list for next week. AND they have a book club that’s reading Eleanor & Park this month, so I know they’re good people. It’s funny: within a span of two weeks, I applied for over 15 jobs. This was the only one I heard from, and it just happened to be the one I thought was the biggest stretch. I didn’t meet all the preferred qualifications but I thought it was plausible, it sounded interesting, the company is well-known and highly respected, and I’d be doing something worthwhile. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes things work out exactly the way they’re supposed to.

This week, my goal is to finish my Secret Beach Scarf.