FO Friday: Holden Shawlette

Pattern: Holden Shawlette from Mindy Wilkes

Yarn: Neeley's Knits Gradients in Purple Rain

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: May 21st

Finished on: May 28th

Comments/Modifications: I used the leftover yarn I had from the Brush Creek Shawl to knit this. I took out the two extra stitches in the middle repeat of each side of the second section. It didn't make sense to have them there and taking them out makes the repeats the same all the way across the shawl. This just seemed to flow better. I knit an extra repeat of the lace pattern. At the end of the shawl instead of two rows of garter, I knit six rows of garter stitch. This was the first time I did a picot bind off. It was explained well and easy to execute. I may have misjudged the amount of yarn needed for the picot bind off and therefore ran out of the darkest purple yarn. I had to resort to using the very little yarn I had remaining of the second darkest purple for the last third of the picot bind off. Let's call that an artistic choice. Overall, the pattern was easy to follow and a quick straightforward knit.

WIP Wednesday: Shawl Knitting

I'm working on a few new projects.

1) Caliz - This is my "C" for my Lace A-Z project. I started this project this morning. I think it should be a pretty quick knit.  It's a small shawlette knit in sports weight yarn on size 8 needles.


2) Romney Kerchief - This is my first project knit from my oldest stash. This is wonderful mindless knitting great for TV watching. I'm knitting this slowly and saving it for times when my brain needs a break.

3) Leaf Evolution - Yes, another purple shawl on the needles. I'm using leftover yarn from when I knit my Norwegian Woods shawl several years ago.

Stashdown: 2006 yarns (Part 2 of 2)

Here are the other 5 yarns in my stash from 2006.

7) Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Irving Park - I think I will knit a pair of worsted weight plain socks with this yarn.

8) Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Black Purl - I have two skeins of this yarn. The reason that this hasn't been knit up is because this is one of my favorite Lorna's Laces colorways. I keep thinking that the pattern I pick is not going to be good enough or worthy of this yarn. I think this is destined to become a scarf.




9) Rowan Wool Cotton - I used part of this yarn to knit a scarf. I don't have a lot of yardage left in this yarn. I think maybe it will be knitted into some sort of cowl.





10) Rowan Silk Wool DK - I have 6 skeins of this yarn. This yarn is so old, it's actually discontinued. I think maybe I'll make some sort of lacy scarf with it. This is another yarn where I was worried that whatever pattern I picked wouldn't be good enough. Now that the yarn is discontinued, there is even more pressure on picking the perfect pattern.



11) Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Heavenly - I have 6 skeins of this yarn. I also have more of this yarn in different colorways in my stash bought in 2007. Ha! This sticky crazy fuzzy mohair was the first lace yarn I was introduced to. I had no idea that there was way more awesome lace yarns at the time. This stuff is crazy to work with even though it does produce a beautiful halo. It's not fun to frog it and I don't particularly enjoy knitting with it. I think I'm going to have to break it up and knit a few different projects with it maybe a few scarves and a shawl.

Stashdown: 2006 yarns (Part 1 of 2)

I think I've been going about my stashing down incorrectly. When I purchase yarns, it's often without an exact pattern in mind. I am aware of the types of projects I enjoy knitting which is mostly shawls, stoles, scarves and socks. I  also understand that lace shawls and stoles require about 800-1,300 yards and socks and scarves: 400-430 yards. I often find beautiful patterns and then look for yarn to match them to. If I don't find the perfect yarn in my stash, then I end up buying it. I think I really need to start thinking the other way around. This means taking a ball of yarn and then finding a pattern to match with it. I think it's best to ease into this, so that I don't feel too restricted.

I've decided to start with my oldest yarns. My oldest yarns in my stash date back to 2006. I have 11 different yarns. I think the goal is to always have one of my WIPs be yarn from 2006, until I use up all my 2006 yarns.

Here's a look at my 2006 yarns:


1) Cascade 220 9325 Westpoint Blue Heather - I have two skeins of this. I started the Romney Kerchief Shawl with this. This is one of my current WIPs.








2) Cascade 220 7803 Magenta - I have two skeins of this as well. I think this will become a scarf of some sort.

3) Cascade 220 2422 Lavender Heather -  I have nine skeins of this yarn. I have no idea what I'm going to make with this. Potentially, I could break it up and make two or three projects with this yarn. I really do love this color.



4) Habu Textiles Cashmere Nep - I have no idea why I bought this. I have about 214 yards of this, which is really not enough to do anything with. I will have to find another yarn to pair this with and knit it double? I'm really not sure at all.


5) Mystery Pink Yarn - Even early on in my stash collecting, I've always been good about keeping my yarn labels. For some reason I don't have this one. All I know is that it's novelty yarn that was given to me for my birthday by V. I used some of it in a scarf, I have no clue what the yardage or yarn weight is of this. I think this will also have to be paired with another yarn to make a scarf or something.



6) Yarn Pirate - String Theory - This is sock yarn. I will have to search for an appropriate sock pattern to knit these into socks.

The other 5 yarns from 2006 will be in my next post.

FO Friday: Brush Creek Shawl

Pattern: Brush Creek Shawl from Carina Spencer

Yarn: Neeley's Knits Gradients in Purple Rain

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: May 15th

Finished on: May 20th

Comments/Modifications: I used a larger size needles than the pattern called for in hopes of using more yarn. Weirdly, I ended up using less yarn than what the pattern calls for. Either way, I ended up using only half the yarn I had. I really love the colors and am now completely obsessed with gradient yarns. Don't be surprised if you see me knitting up a few more gradient projects.

Overall the pattern was easy to follow and not too difficult. Parts of the pattern are mindless, although there were a couple of sections that required a lot of focus. All in all very enjoyable to knit with a satisfying result. I think the pattern and yarn combo worked well in this.

WIP Wednesday

I don't have too much to show today. I spent most of the week working on a shawl that knit up so quickly, it took less than a week.

I did start something new today. This is the Holden Shawlette. I'm using Neeley's Knits's Purple Rain inspired Gradient yarn. So far it's mindless knitting, which makes it quite enjoyable. The soft light color really suits my mood right now.

I also managed to make some progress on my Morning Glory Stole. I finished the purse stitch section on the stole.

FO Friday: Pendulum Shawl

Pattern: Pendulum Shawl

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in A Hazy Shade of Blue and Stonewash

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: May 1st

Finished on: May 15th

Comments and Modifications: I knit this as part of a KAL. I didn't do any of the fancy increases in the pattern. I used the basic KFB for my increases. Other than that I followed the pattern as best as I could. I did find the pattern to be a bit confusing to follow at first. It's written in paragraph form which makes it easy to mis-read and miss steps. After the first few stripes, it got a lot easier to see what was happening with the pattern and to read my own knitting.

On the Rav pattern page, it says that you need approx 340 yards of the main color. I found this to be incorrect. I had 405 yards of yarn for the main color and I still ran short of yarn during the bind off. I was lucky enough to have another skein of the same yarn in my stash, so I had to open it to finish up the last row of this shawl. It's a bit annoying to have to open up a brand new skein just for this, but (to me) it's better than having to frog back a row and a half when you are so close to being done.

The yarn was lovely to work with. It's a very sturdy yarn that comes in beautiful colors. I think the two colors I picked ended up go well together. I wasn't 100% sure it would look good together. I sometimes have a hard time picturing how colors go together or it doesn't always turn out the way I think it well. Even after blocking this shawl is smaller than I generally like my shawls to be. I'll most likely end up giving this one away. This was my first KAL, it was fun. I think I will try to join in more of them in the future.

WIP Wednesday: New Beginnings

I started a couple of new projects this week.



Bridgewater Shawl - I love this bluish white color. The yarn is BMFA Laci, which is wonderfully soft and easy to work with.

Morning Glory Stole - I also started this one recently. The yarn is Bare Naked Wools Kent DK in White Sands. Out of all the Bare Naked Wools yarn, Kent DK is my absolute favorite. The yarn is so soft and smooshy. I feel so spoiled knitting with it. It's so lovely.

FO Friday: Motte Shawl

Pattern: Motte Shawl from Mimknit's Twist and Knit Collection 1


Yarn: Neeley's Knits DK weight Frozen Inspired "Elsa"

Needles: US Size 8

Started on: April 24th

Finished on: May 2nd

Comments/Modification: Even though I finished this shawl last Friday, I didn't get around to blocking and taking photos of it until this week.

This pattern has an interesting construction. It's knit from side to side. I really like that the pattern also helps to maximize the amount of yarn you have by giving percentages.

I really love how this shawl turned out. After blocking, it actually grew bigger than I expected. I'm very pleased with the size it ended up being. I love the motif and I think this Neeley Knit's yarn really suits the pattern.

This was my first time using BFL yarn and it's the softest and loveliest yarn ever. I'm also starting to really appreciate DK weight. I tend to go for lace or fingering weight most often. I'm starting to see the upside of knitting with DK weight, it knits up so quickly!

WIP Wednesday: Stripes

I started the Pendulum Shawl for the KAL. At first, I wasn't sure I was knitting it correctly. It seemed a bit fiddly and the instructions were not very clear to me as I've never done a striped shawl with short rows before. Now that I've done a few stripes it's coming along quickly and more intuitively. I think the color combo I picked is working out nicely. I'm enjoying working with STR yarn. I have a bunch in my stash, but it's been awhile since I knitted with this yarn. I forgot how sturdy the yarn feels and how much I love the colors.

Seraphim

Pattern: Seraphim from Mimknits

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Lunar Zazzle

Needles: US Size 5

Started on: Mar 18th

Finished on: Apr 27th

Comments/Modifications: I knit this shawl as written. This was not a difficult knit at all. The shawl is just huge, so it took a long time to knit. I love the color and the way it turned out.