Felt Like Knitting

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things You Want to Knit this Fall/Winter

Hello everyone!  What better way to jump back into blogging than to talk about what I want to knit?

Right now I'm on the sleeves of Vonica so I'll count that as my first item.  It will be so nice to have a new sweater to wear when it turns cool.

Having success with Vonica makes me want to knit more sweaters!  Maybe one or two of the following?

Breezy Cardigan or Effortless Cardigan

Evendim (love that collar!)

Eadon (love!)

Crane Creek (but without the pockets) 

Daedalus (maybe...still thinking about it)

or maybe an accessory...

Aestlight Shawl (have the yarn picked out)

Echo Reversible Drop-Stitch Mobius (I think it looks fun.)

Plover (cute hat)

What do you want to knit?

Ten on Tuesday

WIP Wednesday - Summer Flies

I couldn't keep my hands off that Manos and I just had to start Summer Flies.  These colors are beautiful and I never want to put it down.  Unfortunately, I'm off by a stitch and may need to do some tinking.

I had looked for a third colorway when I bought this yarn but there wasn't one available.  Hopefully it will turn out okay just using two colorways.  I wish I could show you the shop samples at Cast-on Cottage.  The three colors in each shawl go together so well!

Here is my original Summer Flies with Koigu.  I liked the colors together in the skein but not together when knitted.  And I think it would look better in this shawl to not have the solid yarn with the multi.  But the Koigu won't go to waste!  

Abyssal

I finished Abyssal last week.  The Ultra Alpaca Fine is really soft and I like the color a lot.  But I'm not sure how to wear this shawl.  I don't think it's quite long enough to wear like a scarf (with the center of the shawl on my chest and the ends wrapped around and hanging down in front).  And when I try to wear it on my shoulders like this, the feather and fan motif curls up.  It does fit will when I have it on both shoulders with the ends in front so I may wear it that way.

And here's a shot of Pettine after it was blocked.  I really like this shawl, too - especially the edging.

Currently my LYS is having a KAL to knit Summer Flies.  The shop samples are knit with alternating colorways of variegated yarn and they look really great!  I want to knit it in some leftover sock yarn I have from the Chevron Scarf.  But for the KAL I bought some Koigu KPPPM.  (Photos coming later this week...)

Next I would like to knit a narrow shawl/scarf to wrap around my neck with the ends hanging in front.  Any ideas?

FO Friday - Pettine!

Pettine is finally finished!  I started knitting this with Mary last fall.  At first, we were very faithful about knitting only this when we met.  But then one of us had a knitting deadline and so on...  Pretty soon both shawls were tucked away.  But I got this out a few weeks ago and now it's done.  Trump looks like he's not so sure about being a model, doesn't he?

I liked this pattern and it's my first side-to-side shawl.  There is a mistake in my knitting somewhere because I ended up with 10 stitches at the final decrease instead of 11.  And I appear to have one extra border section on one side.  But it will be fine and I am NOT going to go back and figure out my mistake.

And I liked the yarn - Malabrigo Sock in the Archangel colorway.  The only thing I don't like is that this yarn looks yucky in fluorescent light.  Seriously.  It is like a sunrise when it's in natural light.  So. Very. Beautiful.  But in fluorescent light?  Blech.  Dull purple.  Guess I will only be wearing my shawl outside.  :)

Time to give it a soak!  If I can get this pinned out today, I can wear it to my knitting class tomorrow.  But class is inside.  What will I do?!

WIP Wednesday - Abyssal and Sassymetrical

I have two projects currently getting knitting time - a shawl and a sweater.

Abyssal

This is a feather and fan crescent shaped shawl/scarf that I'm knitting from Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine.  I like how light and airy it is.  I'm knitting this with opportunityknits - a friend I made through a fabric swap several years ago (hosted by Iris).  She posted about her shawl yesterday so you can see her beautiful project.

This was getting a lot of attention during the earthquake/tsunami coverage.  Then I needed to finish a lap blanket for someone and I started a sweater.  It's amazing how easy it is to put something aside and forget to work on it!

Sassymetrical

I rarely knit sweaters because:

1.  I don't want to knit them for my current size since I am not happy with my size.  And even though I'm losing weight I still don't want to put time into a sweater I may not get to wear.

2.  It takes more yarn to knit for the size I am now.  There are so many beautiful yarns to turn into sweaters but I don't want to use Emma's college fund to buy them.

3.  I couldn't find the "perfect" sweater.

Well, I found the Sassymetrical sweater pattern and decided to just jump in .  This sweater should be fine because it's rather adjustable depending on how it's worn.  And I already had the yarn (Classic Elite Premiere).  I really have nothing to lose and I'm excited to be knitting it.  I hope to have enough yarn to lengthen the body and the sleeves.

What are you knitting these days?

WIP Wednesday - Lap afghan

I'm trying out mobile posting for the first time. Since I don't see a way to save the post, I guess I'll be posting without editing!

I'm working on several things this week but this lap afghan feels the most urgent right now. It is for a young man at our church who has been medically fragile since his childhood. He is currently going through more difficulties and I'm hoping this lap afghan and the prayers that accompany it will be comforting.

What do you have on your needles today?

FO Friday - Colchicaceae

Going on the road trip last weekend allowed me to finish Colchicaceae.  I'm so glad I finished it!  It is the softest shawl I own because of that wonderful Sublime yarn.  (Although I will tell you that the yarn is a bit splitty.)  The shawl isn't as long as I had hoped so I can't really wear it as a scarf.  But it is very easy to wear with the ends tossed over one shoulder.

Time to get Friday started.  Are you looking forward to a nice weekend?

WIP - Gwen Slouchy Beret

I finished the Gwen Slouchy Beret last night and I'd like to get your opinion on blocking it. (Please excuse the bad photo.  I went to three different rooms, trying to get more light.)

I want to block out the ridge that has somehow formed around the hat.  (Look near the arrow then travel counter clockwise toward 6:00.)  I'm not sure if I've done something wrong or if it's just the nature of the stitch pattern.  Ravelry shows other hats with the same issue.

Last night I tried putting the hat around a salad plate, dinner plate, pasta bowl...nothing looked like it would stretch out that ridge.  And I'm afraid that if I find something large enough to pull out the hat by the ridge, the ribbing will be pulled too much.  Does anyone have experience blocking berets or have a creative solution?  Should I try blocking it around something big like an inflated balloon?

On a happier note, I tried on this hat and it looks okay on me.  That rarely happens!  Since this is my daughter's,  I may just have to make one for me, too.

Fibonacci Moebius

This shawl was made for my friend who was undergoing surgery last week.  I really liked this Fibonacci Moebius project and loved learning the cast on technique.  There's just something about learning something new...

The yarn was lovely!  I used Kathmandu Aran Tweed and the merino/silk/cashmere blend felt very nice.  

Now about this photo...  I blocked the shawl and was getting ready to wrap it up when I realized I wouldn't get a photo after I gave it away.  So I threw it on over my pajamas (t-shirt and pajama pants) and had Emma snap a couple of photos.  Don't I look lovely?  :)

WIP Wednesday - Test knitting Alma Ella shawl

I meant to blog on Monday...and on Tuesday...and now I am finally getting to it on Wednesday.  I have two test knitting projects to show you and something exciting to share.

Test Knit #1:  Zackenbarsch Prayer Shawl - This is the zigzag shawl I showed a while back that had the yarn bleeding problem.  

 

This is a great prayer shawl pattern because it's easy to memorize the pattern, leaving the knitter free to pray or meditate.  This also makes it a good TV watching project.  :)  And the color changes were fun.  It took me longer to knit this than it should have because I forgot it was a test knit.  I started thinking of it as a prayer shawl and not a test knitting prayer shawl.  Fortunately Chris wasn't in a hurry for it!

Following greetingart's advice, I used Oxi Clean to get the stains out.  I have to say it worked pretty well.  I bought an Oxi Clean gel stick and used the entire thing to pretreat the stains.  Then I dissolved powdered Oxi Clean (compliments of Mary - thanks!) in water in a five gallon bucket.  I put the pretreated shawl in the water and put a plate on top to keep the shawl immersed.  After several days I took it out and washed it with a Color Catcher sheet.  While the excess dye is definitely more faded, the whole shawl has a bit of a blue tinge to it now.  I think if I soaked it again it may come out even more but I've decided to keep it for myself and use it the way it is.  

Test Knit #2:  Alma Ella Shawl - This is a shawl designed by Robin at selects wool and flax.  Have you seen this shawl on Ravelry?  It's been favorited more than 650 times and is in a ton of queues already!  The pattern is set to be released in early October.

 

It's such a pretty shawl and I'm enjoying knitting it.  It's a shawl that you cast on all the stitches at once so it's getting smaller and smaller as I knit.  I love that!!!  And the lace border is so pretty.  I'm knitting this in Dream in Color Smooshy in the Shiny Moss colorway.  Robin graciously supplied this yarn to me for the project.  Wasn't that so nice of her?!  Thank you, Robin!  I'm alternating the skeins since the two skeins are dyed slightly differently.  The colors are beautiful (truer in the second photo) and this yarn is so nice to knit with.

Now for my exciting news...I've been asked to teach a beginner knitting class at my LYS!  I am really, really looking forward to this!  Everyone at Cast-on Cottage is very nice and helpful and it will be fun to teach there.  I'll start in October.  Thanks for this opportunity, Theresa! 

Time for some more shawl knitting!  Have a great night, everyone!