Milo

 Pattern: Milo designed by Georgie Hallam

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Color 902 Soft Pink

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: March 25th

Finished on: March 28th

Comments: I knit the 18 month size. I knit the heart motif. This knit up very fast. The pattern was well written, clear and easy to follow. Yay for clever designs and no seaming. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

March Stats

March was my best knitting month all year so far. I knit up 1 pair of socks, 1 shawl, and 1 baby top. In total, I used up 5 balls of yarn/ 1,203 yards.

Some sort of magic

I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and knit something that I don't normally knit. I decided to make a garment. And I figure the best way to learn to knit something new is to start small. And what can be smaller then a baby? So I'm making Milo, a baby vest/top. I figure it won't take that long to knit, it's something where I won't have to worry about gauge and swatching, because if the garment doesn't fit a baby, they will just grow and it will eventually fit them. Yep, I just dove right in, no swatching at all.

Because this is one of my first times ever knitting a garment (I have made one skirt for myself and one baby top before many many years ago), I tried to follow the rules of a good knitter. Okay, I didn't swatch, but I tried to follow one of the other rules that good knitters are supposed to do. I read the pattern all the way through before casting on. I admit, I rarely do this, but I wanted to make sure I got this right the first time around.

I actually read the directions all the way through 3 times. Because for the life of me, I did not understand how it was possible to get shoulder straps from the instructions.  According to Rav, this pattern has been knit at least 9,000 times. If there was an error about this, it would have been spotted by now. So I decided to blindly trust the instructions. Besides, I'm really not a garment knitter, so what do I know about garment construction.

So I started knitting Milo, and I got to the shoulder strap section, and all the sudden I could see how it was going to come together. This was one of those moments, where I really felt knitting is truly magical. I felt clever and smart (really the designer is clever and smart for coming up with the pattern), but it was so cool to see my knitting transform in front of my eyes. It was a blob of knitting before and all the sudden after one clever row, I could see the shoulder straps! Knitting never ceases to amaze me.

WIP Wednesday

It's been awhile since my last WIP Wednesday update. I've been knitting monogamously on my Algiers shawl. I'm using the other half of gradients that I used on my Brush Creek Shawl. This is the last of my Neeley's Knits gradients. That's kind of sad to think about. I really love gradients, but I'm trying to stick to my yarn diet. And limit how much yarn I'm buying this year. This is going to be the year, that I knit more yarn then I buy, I can feel it.

Back to the shawl, this was originally an MKAL. I didn't find out about it until it was over, so I bought it once I knew I liked the design. The shawl is broken down into clues and I'm just starting Clue 3 of 5. I'm really enjoying knitting this shawl and watching the design develop. I think this will be another one that I will keep for myself. As always, it knits up fast because I try to knit as fast as possible so I can add a new gradient color to the shawl.

Brush Creek Shawl

Pattern: Brush Creek Shawl designed by Carina Spencer

Yarn: Neeley's Knits Gradients in Blue Crush

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: Mar. 5th

Finished on: Mar. 17th

Comments: I love this pattern. This is my second time knitting this. The first time was for a gift. This time I'm keeping this shawl. I loved knitting this shawl. This yarn in this pattern reminds me of waves and the ocean. I love how much depth all the colors have.  I'm so happy with this shawl. I'm going to wear it all the time!

WIP Wednesday on a Thursday

Yesterday ended up being very busy, so I didn't get a chance to get this post up.

I started a new shawl, because I really want to knit this shawl and wear it as soon as possible. I think blue is my new favorite color. I love Neeley's Knits gradients sets. This is the last one I have in my stash. I think I'll be able to get two shawls out of it. I'm really enjoying knitting this Brush Creek Shawl. There's a whole zen feeling when I work on it. I think in part it's because of the blue color in combination with the pattern. It makes me feel like I'm knitting waves. Not the waves that make you feel sea sick, but the kind that makes you feel calm and relaxed. Part of me is excited at how fast it's knitting up, but part of me knows I will be sad when the shawl is done because I won't be working on it anymore.

Duckies

Pattern: Duckies designed by Samantha Hayes

Yarn: Neeley's Knits in Sports Weight in Dye-A-Long colorway

Needle Size: US 3 DPNs

Started on: Feb. 24th

Finished on: Mar. 4th

Comments: I knit 10 repeats down the leg and 12 repeats down the foot. This knit up very quickly because the needle size was big for socks and the yarn was sports weight. Also the pattern was easy to memorize. I really like this pattern and I think I'll use it again. Maybe it will even become my default sports weight sock pattern. Like all Neeley's Knits yarns the colors are really beautiful and the yarn is squishy and scrumptious.

WIP Wednesday

I think I decided to try to stick with only two WIPs at a time. Probably just a pair of socks and then one other project. I just have to make sure one of the projects in easy travel knitting. Maybe occasionally I'll have a third WIP, if one of the WIPs is a long term project. Hopefully, that will help move things along and I can actually finish projects once in awhile. Instead of working on a gazillion projects where nothing gets finished.

Duckies - This is coming along quickly. I think because it's sports weight yarn, it's knitting up faster. I'm  already working on the gusset decrease on the second sock. I think I can finish these socks this week.


Haruni - This is my second project. I haven't spent too much time on this one. I've mostly been focused on getting my Duckies socks done. I'm using Wollmeise for this shawl. it's my first time using this yarn. The color is very vibrant and beautiful.

February Stats

This month really got away from me. I did finish 1 pair of socks and 1 shawl.

In total I knit up 2 balls of yarn/ 780 yards.