Almost There!

 

I'm ready to start the edging now!  I added an additional repeat of the lace and an additional repeat of the shells, but now it's time to begin the edging.  I haven't looked at the edging directions yet, other than putting them into KnitCompanion when I set up this project, so I have no idea if I'll have to learn a new crochet stitch or not.  So far, I've only used Single Crochet, Double Crochet, and Chain Stitch.  I'm kind of impressed that you can make this much of a lace shawl with only those stitches!

I also plan to get a little sewing done this weekend.  Do you have any big plans for the weekend?  Whatever you've got going, I hope you have a great one!

Knitting and Knitting and Knitting

 

In addition to the sewing and crochet that has been going on around here, I have also been doing a little knitting on my Eyre.  The front is all stockinette and since I'm past the shaped section, it's smooth sailing at this point.  I folded it in the photo so I could see how far I had gotten, but the front and back are only joined at the shoulders - I'll have to sew side seams later.  (The stitch marker is there for measuring purposes, in case you were wondering.)  I am alternating skeins but I'm not completely sure how necessary this is - the skeins look close enough to the same that I might not have needed to alternate.  I'm so used to alternating with Madelinetosh and Malabrigo, I guess it just seemed wrong not to!

I've also been thinking about my next sweater project.  I have sweater quantities (SQ's) stashed of both fingering and worsted (and maybe sport weight now that I think about it) and most do not have a specific pattern planned for them.   Are there any great sweater patterns you've seen lately?

More Crochet! More Lace!

 

I've added a second section of the lace to my crochet shawl!  The rows are getting longer and longer, but I just keep on crocheting.  You can see a bit of the handdyed nature of the yarn in this photo - some of the light and dark sections.  I'm having so much fun making this that I don't want to finish it.  On the other hand, I don't want to put it down either!

Maybe another one is in my future?

A Bed of Roses

 

I did some sewing over the weekend!  This is a pair of Fifi pajamas (modeled by Fifi)!  The top is bias cut and the shorts are cut on straight grain.  This makes picking fabrics a bit challenging, but I think these little rose buds worked out well!

The pattern was easy to make and the directions are very clear, so sewing it up was pretty fast.  The top is obviously more involved than the bottoms, but they worked up quickly.  I'd like to make another set or two because they should be perfect for Texas summers!

Zoom!

 

This thing is just flying off the hook!  Using a big hook and fine yarn probably helps to make it look like it's going quickly, but it really feels like it's practically crocheting itself!  I've worked the first section of shells and the first lace section (you can kind of see the more open section - that's the lace) and now I'm back to shells again.  Each row gets a little bit longer than the previous one, but the crocheting is really simple.  I've been rewatching True Blood and just working away at this in the evenings (definitely a TV project). 

I'd also like to mention how much I'm enjoying this yarn.  It feels amazing.  This is my first time using it (Winning by Nerd Girl Yarns) but I think I'll be using it again.  It's perfect for Texas!

Have a great weekend!

A New Shawl!

 

I've started an new shawl, and for the first time ever, it's crocheted!  This is my project for Eat.Sleep.Knit's second quarter KAL which is based on Summer yarns.  I'm making Isobel's Antique Lace shawl with Nerd Girl Yarns Winning in the Different Sizes of Infinity colorway.  I was hoping for kind of a tea dyed neutral that would work for Summer around here and that's exactly what it is.  The yarn is 65% silk/35% linen, so it fits the Summer yarn criteria and it's super soft! 

Once I got past working the first row into the foundation chain, it really started moving quickly.  Making those crocheted amigurumi has really helped me figure out what I'm looking at and where I need to go with the crocheting.  I have actually learned how to count the chains now!

Meditative Blanket

 

Row 15 is finished.  Ends must be woven in, but the crochet portion of the row is finished.  I'm still fully planning to finish this blanket this year.  Must.  Crochet.  Faster.

A Return to Eyre

 

I can't remember the last time I worked on my Eyre pullover, but I got it out this weekend and knit past the shoulder shaping, neck shaping, front armscye and now I'm knitting down the front!  I had been putting this section off because there was a LOT going on and every time I sat down to knit, I either didn't have a lot of concentration or time.  I'm glad I got back to it because I love knitting with this yarn!  (It's Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Magic Orchid.)

Do you remember how about a week or two ago I wanted to cast on all the things?  Well, I behaved and didn't cast on anything, and now I can't decide what to cast on.  I need a sock/mitts/something small type of project but I'm not finding anything I'm dying to cast on right now.  I will be beginning my crochet shawl this week, so maybe I'll wait until I've got that going before I cast on something else.

Any ideas for a small, portable project out there?

Marled Magic Mystery Shawl - Finished!

 

I finished knitting my shawl from the Westknits 2017 MKAL!  This was so much fun to work.  The whole thing is done holding two strands of fingering weight yarn at once, so depending on how you change yarns and how often you change them, you can get all kinds of different color effects.  I loved watching the colors change and each section is a little different - not just in the stitches used, but also the way the colors are worked.  I used the design to use up some leftover stash yarn, and this time I actually didn't buy any new yarn - it's 100% stash leftovers!  The finished shawl weighs 668 grams, so since my starting pile of yarns weighed over 1500 grams, I used just under half of what I started with.

My favorite part of the whole shawl had to be the brioche part (in the picture above, it's the section at the top left that looks like horizontal rib).  I've never done brioche before but I've seen some really interesting patterns that use it (mostly two color brioche, which this is not, but you have to start somewhere), so I've been curious.  This little bit of brioche was really fun and I'm definitely wanting to do more.  (I might have bought the Craftsy class on brioche knitting last weekend, but Max likes watching Craftsy too for some reason.)  The braid and tassel was also a fun way to deal with some of the ends.  I only went with one tassel on the main point because Max may or may not allow a tassel in the house.  I didn't see any reason to make more when it might be ferociously disemboweled.  We'll have to see what happens.

Caleb saw me blocking the finished shawl and he told me he thinks it's the strangest thing I've ever knit.  He might be right, but I love it!

A Pair of Finished Socks

 

I finished the Decathlon socks I've been knitting!  These are Mickael sized and have been blocked and set aside for gifting at the end of the year.  They are knit in Madelinetosh Twist Light in the Kitten colorway, following the Decathlon Sock stitch pattern over 80 stitches.  I used a Fish Lips Kiss heel.

This was a fun pattern to knit, easy to memorize and very portable.  Also, the stitch pattern has a lot of stretch, both vertically and horizontally; so if you're knitting gift socks, as long as you're in the ball park, size wise, they should stretch to fit.   I don't mind occasionally making Mickael try on Socks In Progress, but it's nice to be able to surprise him sometimes too.

Clue 3 Finished!

 

I've finished all of Clue 3 and I'm ready to begin Clue 4 (the last clue) for this Mystery KAL!  The shawl is flipped around from the way it was last time you saw it, but if you find the blue backwards L shaped section, the latest bit is the section coming out from that into a point off to the right.  (It did occur to me that if I had turned the shawl the same way in all the pictures, it would be easier to see what I was doing.  Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me until this morning, after I'd taken the picture and at this stage in the game, it's too late to even pretend I'm approaching this whole blogging thing with any logic.)

The last part is Clue 4 and I'm all ready to go on it!  I'm really enjoying this project and I've had SO much fun playing with colors, but I'm trying to get it finished this week.  My Eat.Sleep.Knit. Second Quarter KAL project is also a shawl so I can't (shouldn't) start it until I finish this one.   Also, it's crochet, so it might take me a longer than usual time to make it, so I want to get going.

But first, groceries!

More Mystery

 

I finished Clue 3, Section 5 yesterday (the blue L shaped thing on the left) and started Clue 3, Section 6, AKA Seed Stitch Strikes Back.  Also, I think that what I thought was going to be the shape of this shawl is actually upside down to what it really will be, but right now I've got my working needle in live stitches, plus two cables with stoppers acting as stitch holders for other sections of live stitches and both cables are a bit short to allow their sections of live stitches to spread properly so the whole thing is a bit distorted.  Honestly, it probably wouldn't surprise me one bit if this whole thing ends up being a circular shawl in the end.  Definitely keeping the mystery alive in this MKAL!

Clue 2 - Finished

 

I've finished all of Clue 2 and it's starting to look like it might be a shawl when it grows up!  It's upside down from the way I had it in Monday's photo, but you can see that it's starting to fill out.  The first section of Clue 3 (Section 5) will fill in at the top left corner of the shawl.  I'm thinking I want to make it mostly blues and purples, but we'll see what I decide when I sit down to actually knit it!

I'm not reading ahead as I knit this, I'm just reading the section I'm actually knitting.  I obviously didn't keep up with the mystery as it was released, but I'm trying to keep the project as mysterious as I can.  Also, I'd just like to mention that while this is knit with two strands of yarn at once, the bag of yarn ball leftovers that I started with doesn't seem to be any smaller.  That concerns me a bit.

On the Home Stretch!

 

I'm heading for the toe of my second Decathlon Sock.  After zipping through the socks for the Flash KAL, I'm back to working on these.  I finished the leg and did the heel turn over the weekend, so now it's just smooth sailing to the toe and I have a finished pair of socks!

In Not-Necessarily-Sock-Related-News I find myself wanting to cast on all the things.  I know that logically this is a bad idea but logic has never had a large role in my life choices.  We'll have to see what happens.  Maybe once I finish these I can cast on one thing and that will help?

What are you wanting to cast on right now?

Back to the Mystery

 

I've gotten back to work on my Mystery Shawl (it's the Westknits MKAL for 2017).  All the clues have been released but I'm not reading ahead.  I'm currently working on Clue 2, Section 3 which is brioche!  I've never done brioche knitting before so this is exciting for me.  It took me a bit to figure out what I was doing (and to get far enough to see what it was supposed to look like), but it's fun to work.  The brioche section is the one all the way to the left that looks like horizontal ribs.  I decided to not really stripe in this section so I'm using two multicolored yarns together for this part.  Learning how to brioche and striping colors seemed like a little much all at the same time.  It's exciting to work on this project, not knowing what's going to happen.  Also, I'm having a lot of fun with the colors!