AbbyHill Pullover

Hiya, sorry for the radio silence. I recorded another episode of my podcast (three more, now) and I wanted to do a blogpost for my notes and I also wanted to write a post about my Abbyhill pullover but I was going to wait until the pattern was launched so I could put in the appropriate links... And here we sit (I'm sitting, I presume you are too) over a month later. I also really hurt my wrist for the second time in as many months only this time I really did a number on it and, honestly, it was bad enough that I had to consider I might not have been able to knit again. Fortunately it looks like it will heal all the way, or at least as much as I normally consider "fully healed" but I'm still having to take things slower and not do things that hurt my wrist. Typing hurts my wrist. yay?

I cast on my test knit of the Abbyhill Pullover by Ysolda Teague on 16 July and finished it on 16 August which includes waiting for the pattern to be updated after an error was found across the sizes while Ms Teague was on holiday and we had to wait for her to return to fix it. Three things: 1) errors like this one are absolutely a part of test knitting and 2) I'm glad she didn't take the time to fix it while on her holiday. Even if it "only took a few hours", if you start doing work stuff for this, you'll start doing work stuff for that, and you won't get a proper rest. I very much want to be part of a culture that thinks being on holiday means not doing any work stuff and that everyone should take regular holiday. And finally 3), that means I actually knit an entire sportweight pullover in three weeks. Hot diggity.

I knit mine in the sadly discontinued Cochrane yarn from Ripples Crafts Yarns in the colour "Berry Picking". Cochrane was custom-spun for the 10th anniversary of Ripples Crafts yarn, a 50/50 blend of Scottish BFL and Bowmont and it was a really special yarn. I bought two skeins, one Berry Picking and one Moonlight, a silver with the slightest blush of purple, to knit the Nissolia Shawl by Martina Behm from the Arnall-Culliford Knitwear "Something New to Learn About Lace" collection. Only, because Cochrane is a "heavy fingering", which is to say a sportweight, that wasn't quite enough yarn. So I ordered a second skein of the purple to finish the shawl. And the yarn was lovely. And the shawl is beautiful. But it was also, because it was a plumper yarn, bigger than the original, in a way that makes it somewhat impractical to wear.

Not a problem, I thought, I love this yarn so much that I will just buy more to make it a Sweater Quantity. But it was expensive luxury yarn and I didn't have a sweater in mind for the SQ so I just....periodically bought more. Which meant I had a collection of yarn that was all dyed the same way, but some of which came out noticeably different. Helen offered to let me trade it back for a batch all done at the same time but every time we could have been in the same place something came up and I couldn't make it. And now I finally had a pattern in mind, the yarn had a similar compisition and the same meterage, and I had several dye lots to juggle.

Abbyhill is knit bottom up in the round to the arm holes, then the sleeves are knit cuff up, and the whole thing is knit together in an asymetrical yoke pattern that gives it a more set-in-sleeve fit. I took my darkest two skeins to start the ribbing, one for the body and one split for the sleeves, then added in the next two darkest in helical stripes, which got me up to the yoke striping skeins 3 and 4 and then half of skein 5 and whereas 1-4 were different only in how much of each skein was given to the darkest purple splodges vs the medium purple splodges. The 5th skein, and the three in my shawl, was a lot more pink and, really, I should have been spiraling that one with the darkest purple to mix it all together but, fortunately, because the top of the yoke is somewhat horizontal the light hits it completely different from the verticle body and it's really not noticeable.

I love my Cochrane AbbyHill. Because Scotland had an absolutely terrible summer (gorgeous spring, awful summer), I've been wearing it almost every day since I finished, if only on the morning school run when it was still cool and misty. It's my first slightly cropped, oversized knit and I can see why this style is so popular, it is very wearable. I knit mine entirely as written, in a size that gave me 7" of positive ease from my upper bust, which was only 2" of positive ease from my full bust. It may not be politic to admit it, but I also like the idea of knitting garments where I'm not paying twice as much and taking twice as long to knit the same pullover as "average" size people, because we might be knitting the same size.

AYoT: Intarsia (April)

The April project for A Year of Techniques was the Brambling Shawl, an Intarsia project by Bristol Ivy, knit in five colours of Fyberspates Cumulus yarn, and is the only project from AYoT where I have correctly guessed all of the elements of a month's project. Or any of them. Twelve techniques, twelve designers, infinite (small) projects and even just three choices of yarn in the quarterly kits is apparently just too much for me. 

The Brambling Shawl is a shallow, asymetrical triangle shawl knit side to side with different colour blocks swooping gently across it. The Cumulus yarn is a thin fuzzy strand of alpaca/silk that looks like light fingering (3ply) but is intended to knit up at a sportweight gauge for a light, soft, flowing (warm) fabric that drapes beautifully. The fuzz makes the stitches blend together, but also makes it really difficult to unpick mistakes. And I made just about every mistake one could: knitting a purl row, knitting the wrong colour, shifting the wrong direction, dropping stitches... It was definitely a case of making bigger mistakes, faster.

The one thing I never screwed up was the intarsia. A few rows after joining my second colour and I had it down. The stickiness of the yarn made tensioning the yarn a dream and the increases and decreases were all within the colours so the colour changes always happen at the same place(s). 

The big learning curve for myself and most of the KAL-ers was how to keep track of a long, written out pattern with different things happening at different rates. The KAL thread is full of pictures of row counters, spreadsheets, and notes in the margins. 

If you're considering joining the A Year of Techniques KAL, there's still time. July's technique and pattern have just been released (heel turn) or you can join any of the on-going threads for previous months. You don't need to buy the book, or the yarn kits; the tutorial videos are on YouTube and any project that uses the technique counts. Just join the group, tag your project, and post a picture of it in progress in the appropriate thread. 

Hotel for the Hopelessly Overcommitted (October WIPs)

Hello and welcome to the hotel for the hopelessly overcommitted. Like Hotel California, you can check in but, well, you know. Except at the HftHO there's wool, lots and lots of wool, and you wouldn't believe all the beautiful patterns scattered about and friendly groups of knitters hoping you'll join them in making wonderful things. I have a nice suite towards the top with a great view of all the shiny things I want to be knitting right now. This is the list of things I am currently working on:

Mithral by Carol Feller
A laceweight fuzzy pullover doesn't sound like the best project for someone who is relatively new to sweaters: fuzzy yarn isn't the easiest to knit with (it certainly isn't easy to frog if you make a mistake as the hat proved!) and laceweight yarn, being thin, takes more stitches and rows to cover a given space than a larger, heavier weight like aran would. But the pattern looks lovely and, as I may have previously mentioned, I really like KALs, so high on yarn fumes I bought the pattern and yarn. It starts today so I'm listing it in my Works in Progress (WIPs) but the instructions haven't actually been released, so there's nothing to show.

Tarsi Socks by Clare Devine
I may have previously mentioned that I have a serious weakness for Knit-A-Longs (KALs), well, signing up for the Great British Socks Away KAL is surely proof. I had already signed up for the Mithral KAL when this KAL was announced, to knit foot coverings using yarn from sheep living in the UK (or local to the knitter). I actually had two yarns suitable, four skeins of Navia's DK sock yarn in natural black from The Island Wool company for a pair of winter knee socks which I started but only got about two inches up the first toe before realizing the pattern wasn't ideal, and the leftovers from my Narcissus Socks finished back in 2012, Old Maiden Aunt's now discontinued 100% British BFL in the also discontinued colour Emerald City, to knit a pair of socks for Little Djinn.

I actually already knit a tiny pair of socks in this yarn from Sock Anatomy, Clare Devine's collection of sock techniques in baby and toddler sizes, but the largest size was too small for her little feet. Which you'd think I'd have figured out before knitting both of them, but I was pregnant at the time and figured that if they didn't fit her they'd fit another pair of feet soon enough. Fortunately, Ms Devine has since updated the pattern collection to include children and adult sizes so I picked another pattern (for variety) and a larger size, frogged the first pair, and cast on this morning.

The KAL goes into November, so hopefully I can finish a small pair of socks in the time allowed, whilst also knitting a laceweight pullover. It could happen. And if there's time I'll restart my big warm socks. Yes, my delusional world of knitting I churn out knitting like I'm Yarn Harlot or something.

Wee Meelia by Ysolda Teague

Look, I've made progress! Back in July, between the Hap-alongs and the Scollay-along, I said I was hoping to finish the hood (which is, frankly, huge) but it turns out I was nearly done, and I actually made it several inches bellow the arms. Little Djinn is lanky, so I'm knitting the size for her chest and I'll add length to the body and arms. Her last two cardigans actually still fit her, though the one from two years ago is starting to have cropped sleeves, so there's no hurry on this one.

Half Hansel (hap) by Gudrun Johnston
This one is going to be a gift so no pictures, and I talked about it in the last post, but it belongs in the list of things I'm working on. I've got five or six of the triangles for the border done, which means I've only got another 40 or 50 to go. I've been spit-splicing the ends together as I go so there will only be two ends to weave in at the end.

Those are the projects I am currently working on.

September and August Finished Objects

Finished Objects!

Scollay Cardigan by Karie Westermann

Love love love love this cardigan! I knit it in the suggested wool, New Lanark Mill DK which is wool tweed with silk slubs, in the colour Milano (I keep forgetting if it's Milano or Verona - both are lovely, I got the pinker one). I knit the XL size, my gauge was a tiny bit larger than the pattern recommends which I accounted for in the length but not the width as I wanted a smidge more room than the XL but not as much as the XXL. I also knit the sleeves flat, rather than have to figure out if my gauge was different in the round (hint, it almost always is). I bought several sets of buttons trying to find the right ones for the cardigan. One set was the right colour but the wrong size and the others were all the right size but the shade of pink. I picked coconut flowers that had been glazed pink on the front and attached them wrong side up so the pink is against the wool. It works surprisingly well.

Full Hap by Gudrun Johnston

I finished this back in July before the end of the Hapalong (hap knit-a-long) but it was a gift so I couldn't share a picture. I bought the pattern along with the craftsy class and I loved everything about it. I loved participating in the Hapalong, I loved watching the craftsy class and listening to Ms Johnston - it was very soothing and interesting if that makes sense, and I loved knitting the pattern and seeing all the different colour combinations people came up with. Three of my colours are from Judith Glue a little tourist tat shop in town except instead of tat they largely stock things made in Orkney. The yellow, green, and light blue were each £10 and described only as "100g 100% lambswool". The blue is mystery wool from my stash, described only as "£4.00" on what looks like a charity shop tag. The bright blue was heavier than the others, but worked well enough and, I think, largely made the shawl. I'm sad to say that I don't have a great feeling that the woman I gifted the shawl to will love it in the way we hope any knitted gift will be loved, but such is the nature of life, right?

I'm using the three Orkney colours to knit a half hap in between other projects (it started as my travel project to Amsterdam but despite the four hour delay leaving, I only got about 20 sts knit the whole trip). The half-hap is so much faster to knit than the full size one that I'm ready to accuse everyone who knit one in the KAL of cheating or witch craft or something. I'm on the edging now and I've decided to knit back and forth, rather than turn it around every 8-15 stitches. It's not really fast yet, but it may get there as my left to right knitting improves. I may have enough wool left over to knit another half hap with the third colour as the centre.

Brainless by Yarnissima

These are "brainless" socks, one of my two default toe-up sock patterns, in a cotton-blend Opal sock yarn. I started them before Easter and finished them in time for Autumn. That's how long it takes me to knit a pair of socks, for a value of knitting that mostly involves knitting while following Little Djinn around the floral hall. I'm proud of myself for getting the stripes to match up, though I seem to have done the heels differently and the second way doesn't fit as well. Also, the stripes somehow got off on the second cuff. I don't care enough to redo them. I wore them yesterday when it was really hot (20C/70F) and my feet were too hot even with the cotton, so I doubt I'll bother with cotton blend wool socks again, especially as I didn't really like any of the colours, these are just the ones I disliked the least.

The good news is that, while I was knitting these, I found out that my favourite yarn dyer uses Opal's regular sock yarn as the base of one of her sock yarns so I can get the wool I like in colours I love instead of just being okay with!

Fudge by Barbara Prime

Fudge the Dog was a kit from Knit Now magazine and as soon as it arrived in late May Little Djinn insisted I knit it. I mentioned her a few months ago, but I don't think I ever posted a picture, so here she is in all her glory. The kit included the yarn and eyes and Little Djinn loves her. The current issue of Knit Now magazine has a kit for Puss in Boots by the same designer so if you think she's cute you can knit something very similar and get a very nice magazine not very much. I knit everything but Fudge's body in the round instead of flat to save seaming up, and as Puss doesn't have the spots I'll probably knit her entirely in the round.

Mithral Hat by Carol Feller

In preparation for her next pullover KAL, Carol Feller released a hat pattern using the same stitch pattern which was a bonus pattern for buying the pullover pattern in advance and can be used as a swatch for the sweater. High from the yarn fumes after finishing my Scollay, I bought the pattern and ordered the yarn (also discounted in September from Purlescence) and quickly knit it up. Then I blocked it and realized it's a disaster, so I frogged it (the knitters out there all gasped in shared pain at frogging a brushed yarn) and re-knit it on larger needles. I just cast off the second attempt today, blocked it over a balloon in front of the space heater, and took a picture. I still need to measure to get my gauge so I'll be ready when the first part of instructions (it's not really a "clue" when we know what the finished garment will look like) are released tomorrow. And, yes, Mithral is a LotR reference.

Beanies and their longer cousin slouchies don't do anything for me, but the hat has already been claimed by my little knitwear model (protip: don't hire a model who wants to do a photo-shoot whilst bouncing on the bed unless you have a much better camera than the one in my phone).

KAL Fever

I am a sucker for a Knit-Along, when someone organizes a group of people to all knit the same thing, which is probably why I'm doing two right now with another prepped to start when they're completed.

Back in April Louise Scollay (of the Knit British podcast - confession, I don't actually listen as podcasts don't work for me, but I read her blog and follow her on Twitter) organized a Hapalong in appreciation of traditional Shetland shawls/blankets. I actually knit one before, for Little Djinn, before I knew the history or design. I wasn't sure I even wanted to knit another hap or which one I would knit - a traditional work-a-day one like Gundrun Johnson (Shetland Trader)'s Hansel or a modern interpretation like Kate Davies Hap for Harriet (though I knew I don't have the bandwidth for a stunning lacy christening shawl in single ply and dripping with lace). But by the time the KAL kicked off I'd seen so many beautiful patterns and colour combinations that I simply couldn't resist. Gundrun's craftsy class and pattern for Hansel were on sale at the time, so I pulled some two-ply odds and ends from my stash left over from a fair-isle hat kit and cast on a mini hap. Except I didn't have enough for the main colour so I bought a 100g skein from Judith Glue, which is a lot of wool for a little project. I'm not a huge fan of video tutorials in the same way that podcasts don't work for me, but I found Gundrun's to be very soothing and I'd watch it again just to have her gently nattering on in the background whilst I knit. (I'm really really bad at paying attention to the content of what people are saying; invariably I try to open a book to read at the same time which works with music but not so much spoken word).  My little shawl was a delight to knit so I bought some more coordinating colours and started a full-size version, which is still in progress because I put it down to cast on Gundrun's Mystery KAL, a knit-along where you know what kind and how much wool to buy and, in this case, that it would be a shawl, but not what the finished object would look like. 

A new clue was released each week in June with four clues in total and while I was about a week behind for the whole thing, I now have a stunning shawl to show for it. I used Old Maiden Aunt's sparkle sock yarn in Twu Wuv, Berry Good, and Bramble for an ombré effect. I was betting that the MKAL would count as a hap for the Hapalong and fortunately I was right so it counts for both. I've picked up my Hansel again and was only a few rows from the edge so I'm on the (slow) home stretch. Amusingly, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot, a woman who is about as famous as a knitter can be) is currently knitting a hap - though I don't believe she's used the word - for a niece or nephew who is minutes from meeting the world and she's blogging the frustration of committing to a knit on edging (mine is 9-18 stitches per row, two rows bind off one stitch around the border. Hers looks wider, and we won't know until she blocks it but I'm guessing hers hap will be at least two feet wider, corner to corner, than mine) on a deadline.

For our anniversary, Chris gave me the wool for my next KAL, the Scollay cardigan designed by Karie Westermann (Karie Bookish) for Louise Scollay, co-hosted by her at Knit British and Isla of the British Yarn Shop. This one starts when the Hapalong ends, and I started swatching last weekend.

FO: Beaded Swallowtail Shawl

Swallowtail Shawl - Evelyn A Clark
2-ply lambswool "Sea spray" from Judith Glue
E Beads - 4mm purple from the Craft Factory
4.5mm needles for the CO; 3.5mm for the body; 0.75mm crochet hook to strand the beads
Blocked: 62"x32"

I followed the pattern as written with a few modifications: beads instead of nupps, attached with a crochet hook while knitting; 19 repeats of the blossom lace chart; I was running out of yarn and left off the border lace chart.

I really enjoyed knitting this, as I did her Flower Basket Shawl before. I find the way she charts her lace to be a little odd: I get that it's the simplest way to write out the chart but, for me, it's not charted in a way that visually imparts the lace. Looking at the chart, I don't see how the finished lace will look. Her lace repeats are so elegantly simple that I can knit each row based on how the previous row looked, pausing periodically to count the blossoms up the center, but I have to get a couple repeats in to see how the chart relates to the lace.

Is this a criticism? No. Rather it is a statement of preference based on how charts work for me, and the way I see charts. As another preference, with lace that is "RS: work pattern, WR: k2, p across, k2", I am frustrated if the purl rows are shown in the chart. It breaks the pattern up in a way that makes it more difficult for me to read. For other people, I'm sure it's very helpful. Other people may find that my ideal, having the chart written out with a few repeats show and a red box around the basic repeat, would be needlessly confusing. So no, it's not a criticism, just an observation on my experience reading this particular chart to knit this particular chart.

I also tend to dislike instructions for increasing the size by using a yarn and needles that give a different gauge. Yes, obviously I can do that, but what I really want to know is the multiples needed to get from one chart to the next smoothly. An advantage of knitting a popular shawl like this one (over 9000 projects on Ravelry!) is that for most simple modifications like the ones I've done, someone has already worked out the details. I got the "19 repeats" figure from the hive-mind, without having to work it out myself - a particular bonus as, as I mentioned, the chart isn't visually ideal for me.

A bonus picture of Oliver who, when I spread the unblocked shawl on the duvet, ran over, jumped up on the bed, and lay down right where you see him.

Blue Period (shawls and socks)

I've been going through a Blue Period - buying a lot of things that are blue. It started with the wedding: Chris and I settled on a bluey tartan for his kilt so I had my dress detailed in blue and my bridesmaids picked navy for their dresses and lo, we were well and truly settled on blue for our "colours". Somehow this idea of matching colours spilled out into the rest of my life. I realized I'd lost weight* and needed to buy an almost entirely new (to me) wardrobe and anything that was a wedding-coordinated shade of blue got bonus points as something I could wear in the days leader up to and following the wedding. I also spent a fairly substantial amount of time looking for the perfect blue yarn with which to knit myself a wedding shawl. Chris even bought a blue coffee machine. It also helps that blue is one of the few colours for which I love almost every shade. I'd be hard-pressed to name a shade of blue I'd be just as happy to never see again, which is not something that can be said of green or red - though purple fairs better. It is perhaps, then, unsurprising that a lot of things in my life, right now, are blue.

A while back, in Judith Glue (a "tourist" shop that sells things made locally rather than China) I picked up an 100g cake of two-ply lambswool in a dark teal described as "ocean spray". That's everything I know about it. It's more of a sock weight than fingering but I have no idea how much yardage I'll get out of 100g! I kept picking it up to make something and then set it back down again, worried I wouldn't have enough yarn. It's not really something I want to snuggle against my skin, so no scarves, hats, or mittens. The best "knit until you run out of yarn" idea that I could think of was a top-down shawl and I finally settled on Evelyn C. Clark's popular Swallowtail Shawl. I made her "Flower Basket Shawl" for Miss Krissy and really enjoyed knitting it, so it seemed perfect. Also if almost 9000** other knitters have cast it on, it must be a great shawl, right?

The only real downside is that part of me would rather be knitting socks. I love shawls - I've knit 7 of them so far this year and this shawl will make 8. Three of those I gave away and one I plan to frog, but I'm still going to be four shawls richer this year. My first "real" project was the Tri-Aran-Angle Shawl from Knitty back in 2003 (but only blocked this May) and I have a couple pashminas that I wear regularly. Eventually a girl has to ask - do I need more shawls? Is there a shawl-niche I haven't filled? For a while this spring there was, when I had a small dark rose shawl and a small red shawl and the wedding shawl I couldn't wear yet and, unless I was wearing something that went well with red or rose, I couldn't drape on a shawl. So yes, I probably have room for a black shawl and maybe a few stoles/scarves, but I can't just sit around knitting shawls that I'll never or rarely wear. If nothing else, where will I store all these shawls?

But I can use an unlimited variation of socks. Socks in different colours, weights, patterns, lengths... I wear socks most ever day (more than one pair in the winter) and need a selection to rotate through. I can also knit socks for my husband who has, as of yet, expressed no desire for a lacy shawl. Socks are about the same investment as a small shawl - most sock and shawl patterns seem to call for one skein of sock-weight yarn. Socks should be the perfect answer to enjoyable, productive knitting. I am starting to buy sock yarn and patterns, to read about knitting socks and construction techniques and am completely hooked on socks.

The only problem, of course, is that I've yet to knit my first pair of socks. They'll be blue though.


* I'd known I was losing weight but it wasn't until I stopped wearing 3 or 4 layers under my jeans that it became, um, obvious that all my clothes were falling off.

** I occasionally hear people say they won't knit something if the pattern is really popular. I can understand not wanting to show up at a party and have everyone else sporting the same knitwear, but I tend to figure if that many people have previously knit it then all mistakes in the pattern have been sussed out and corrected. Also, I like having a wide selection of "yarn suggestions", looking at the pictures of other people's finished projects, and reading their notes. And, quite frankly, the odds of me running into another knitter who has knit the same thing as me and we're both wearing it, living here in urban-rural Scotland are remote.

The Other Bridesmaid Shawls

Flower Basket Shawl - Evelyn A. Clark
King Cole "Riot" - Magic 404 - 100g/296m - 70% Acrylic, 30% wool
I wasn't sure when Miss Krissy was going to find my blog, what with it being linked to hers*, so I didn't want to post pictures before I gave it to her, but now I can! The pattern knit up fairly quickly. I wasn't able to memorize the pattern until chart B, but once I got there I could "see" the lace and how each row followed the proceeding row and it went very quickly from there. I added a few extra repeats (11 in total) to make it an actual shawl, not just a shoulder-warmer and used most of two rows in doing so. The second skein of yarn had some knots in it, always frustrating, and split when I was trying to untwist it which was even more frustrating. The colours were similar to the ones Krissy wanted to dye her hair for the wedding, and worked out better than planned as she didn't put any green in her hair but some of the colours in her hair took a greenish tinge as they faded and bleed. Her youngest doesn't like to wear warm clothes but gets cold, and Miss Krissy found the shawl useful to tie around herself and the baby when she's wearing her.

I understand why people advise against knitting lace in variegated yarn as, as the rows got longer and the colour-pools shallower, the pattern got a bit lost. I enjoyed the pattern and may knit another one, in solid or semi-solid for myself. For Miss Krissy, I think the colours are more important than the lace.



Annis - Susanna IC
Patton's Grace, Artessano 100% Alpaca 4-ply
And this is Miss Laura's shawl. I actually knit it twice as the first one didn't look right after I blocked it - the needles were too large for the yarn, which created a nice drape but made it impossible to weave in the ends in the middle of the fabric. Since it's mostly knit in short rows, I couldn't change skeins of yarn at the edge. I bought two skeins of Alpaca in a colour-way that I felt would be even more appropriate for Miss Laura and knit it on smaller needles and the pile of the yarn and smaller stitches worked better for hiding the ends I had to weave in. I wanted to make it bigger than the pattern but was worried about running out of yarn again so I didn't, and it turned out a bit on the small side - definitely a scarf and not a shawl, and the top rolls, but it is very suited to Miss Laura's personality. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Miss Laura's shawl before I gave it to her and I have no specific pictures of any of the shawls after gifting them.

* she didn't find it until I specifically gave her the link today. Hi, Miss Krissy!

Ginko Leaf Shawl for Miss Rachel

Ginko Shoulderette Shawl - Maggie Magali
Artesano 4 ply 100% superfine alpaca - 50g/187m - 100% alpaca

I am making shawls for each of my bridesmaids (though not as their thank you presents) and this is the one for Miss Rachel. The knitting itself was easy, though I ocassionally had to tink back half a row when I forgot the pattern mirrors from the centre, unlike the geometric shawls I've been knitting where you just repeat the same pattern again. Not a difficult concept, just one I seemed to have trouble keeping in my head.

I added one extra repeat of the pattern to make it a smidge larger and, of course, ran out of yarn one row before the bind off. Fortunately the shop where I bought it still had the same dye-lot in stock, but I had to set it aside for a few days while waiting for that, and then when I went to block it I realized that I would need at least 3 times as many t-pins as I own (I mentioned I'm new to this whole "blocking" thing, right?) as I can't use my wires to shape the leaves, so I had to wait another almost week for those to arrive.

It took an hour to pin it out and I still could have used another 25 pins to good effect but it's good enough to government work. Hopefully this will dry quickly as the first of my wedding guests are showing up tonight - 3 days before originally planned because they decided Paris is not the place for them - and I told Noah (who can't afford to take all the time off so he's telecommuting) that he could use my office. My itty-bitty, little office, one third of which is taken up by Wedding Stuff and now another third is this shawl.

It is a beautiful pattern and the yarn is soft a lovely but I think, for me, I'll stick to easier-to-block geometric patterns for the time being.

FO: Summer Mystery Shawl

Summer Mystery Shawl 2011 - Wendy D.
Supreme Possum Merino 4ply - 50g/210m - 40% possum, 50% merino wool, 10% silk
60"x32" - 380m

I finished this shawl last night, washed it this morning, and it's blocking as I type. Forgive the particularly bad picture - my office is the only room I can keep the kittens out of where I can block the shawl and also the room where we're keeping all the wedding stuff - mostly in boxes stacked in corners. Then there's my desk and chair and did I mention it's the smallest room in the house?

I love this shawl. I was worried it would be too small, even though I added an extra repeat. I'd originally cast on two extra repeats (on each side of the center) but unblocked that had almost as large as this is blocked and I'd thought that too big, and then I worried it was too small, but I think this will be nice. I do think, in the future, that I will try to block shawls to be a little longer across the wingspan and a little less deep.

It's nice to have knit something I can actually use and show off. Between my wedding shawl and things I'm knitting for other people, I keep wanting to throw on something recently-knit and coming up short.

On the Needles

I have two projects I'm working on atm, a red shawl for me and a yellow baby sweater for Baby O'Connor:


Summer Mystery Shawl 2011 - Wendy D.
Supreme Possum Merino 4ply - 50g/210m - 40% possum, 50% merino wool, 10% silk
This is my first Mystery Shawl - a pattern where you don't know what the finished object will be (other than, in this case, a "shawlette") and you get the instructions ("clues") over a span of weeks, rather than all at once. The idea is to finish each set of instructions before the next one is issued. I joined this one later, before the third clue had been released and then accidentally knit the second clue first so I had to frog everything and start over. When the third clue came out, I only had time to knit the 24-row repeat once before setting the project aside to work on shawls for my bridesmaids so the fourth and final clue came out and I was nowhere near ready. I've since done two more repeats of the third clue and, because I added an extra repeat to the shawl, probably only have two more. It's bottom up so with each row there are less stitches to knit and it's going, ahem, increasingly quickly.


Basket-Weave Baby Sweater - Frances Hughes - Creative Knitting Sept. 2004
Baby Classic DK - 50g/151m - 50% acrylic, 50% nylon
Back when I started working for Barnes and Nobles, when magazines didn't sell, the covers were "stripped" and returned to the publishers and the rest of the magazine was recycled or thrown away (depending on the facilities available to that particular store) or, and this is the relevant part, employees could take them home. During this time, I acquired a lot of issues of a variety of knitting magazines (which I eventually tore apart and sorted the patterns I liked into plastic sleeves and binders - yeah, I'm that person). When I moved to Inverness I pared this collection down to bare bones and, even though I wasn't at the time knitting any fitted garments, I kept this pattern for a baby sweater, hat, and booties. I don't think it'll be a favourite pattern, but it's a nice project for when I'm lying (sitting up) in bed and have caught up on my RSS feeds and Twitter.

I learned to knit at a Renaissance Faire and loaned yarn and needles from one friend and taught to knit by another. This second friend is allergic to the wool I was using and taught me without touching anything and as a consequence my technique wound up a little...unique. For a while I was twisting my stitches and when I realized that, I changed my technique to prevent twisting and somehow wound up getting everything backwards. This was fine for most things, but both my k2tog and ssk leaned the same way and I only just recently realized why (I was wrapping my yarn around the needle the wrong way) and decided to fix it. A few projects ago I corrected my purl stitches so my stockinette lace would be correct and on this project I'm practising wrapping the yarn under the needle on the knit stitches.

This sweater set will be for Baby O'Connor, who is due later this summer. His mother is having a really rough time of it and they're hoping to induce as soon as the foetus is viable, so if I have time, I hope to knit some premie-sized stuff as well.