Palpitations

 

No, I'm not having any kind of heart issues, I've been making hearts!  These cute little guys are from the Palpitation pattern from Hunter Hammersen.  I've made all three sizes in fingering weight yarn.  The smallest one (Malabrigo Mechita in Cereza) is knit on US 0's (2.0mm).  The medium and large size (Madelinetosh Twist Light in Opaline and Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita, respectively) were both knit on US 1's (2.25mm).

I've got some other yarns and heavier weights pulled from my stash that I want to play around with using this pattern, but since most of my knitting is with fingering weight yarns, most of my leftover bits are too.  This pattern makes a fun little project and I will definitely be making more of these!

What I Did This Weekend

Well, I didn't weave in a single end on my Ravello.  That's what I didn't do.  What I did do was start a new project and mess around.

The new project is a Ramble knit in Malabrigo Mechita using Aniversario as the Main Color and Natural as the Contrast Color.

The pattern is written for DK weight but there are some projects using fingering, so with a little math, that's what I plan to do.

Also, can I just officially add Aniversario to my list of favorite, amazing, awesome colors that Malabrigo dyes?  I love this color!

The Knitting is Finished!

 

My first Ravello of  2018 is completely knitted!  I have to finish the neckline, but I'm going to use crochet (I did a crochet edge on my third Ravello and thankfully kept good notes on the project page), and then I have to weave in some ends (all the ends, really).  After it gets a good blocking, it will be finished!

When I started this sweater, there was a comment from Matildaknits asking about any leftover Ivory yarn I might have.  If you'll contact me on Ravelry (I'm PinkLemon), we can figure something out.  I will have some left and should know how much later this weekend!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I'll be weaving in ends, but maybe I'll cast on something new too!

A Second Sleeve

 

Drive by blogging today, no time to chat!  I've started my second sleeve and I've only got two more red stripes to go!

I'll be back later this week, maybe with a finished Ravello!

Up Next...

I still haven't started the second sleeve of my Ravello (yesterday ended up being crazier than most Mondays around here), but I've been mentally planning my next sweater.

When the new year started, a new Yarnathon at ESK started as well (I'm on Team Narwool!) along with a new batch of KAL's.  The first quarter KAL is to knit something from Tin Can Knits.  They have a pretty big range of types of projects and are one of the few designers who pretty consistently design sweaters from infant sizes all the way to the larger adult sizes.  (Family sweaters anyone?)  I've been looking at their designs since the first of the year, but for the most part, they're just not my style, or I don't need whatever it is.  They're nice designs, but many of them are heavier than I need and there's not a lot of shaping to them, in general.  I had just about decided to skip this KAL (you don't have to do all or even any of them to participate in the Yarnathon), but then I took another look at the Raindrops pullover.  It's fingering weight and has an open neckline.  Then I realized I had some Madelinetosh Sock in four colors I could use together in a fade.  So, once I prewash and dry my skeins (because, Madelinetosh), then I'll be ready to cast on.

From left to right, my colors are Cove (discontinued), Jasper (I think it's discontinued), Worn Denim (discontinued), and Ink (please, don't ever discontinue it, ever).  So it will be an homage to discontinued Madelinetosh colors, plus Ink.  I haven't figured out all the logistics of the fade and I'm going to double check sizing numbers against the Ravello pattern (because I know it fits the way I like my pullovers to fit), but I'm pretty sure it will work.

First I have to finish my second sleeve for this first Ravello of the year though!

Progress!

 

I made more progress this weekend than I had thought I would!  I finished the body of my Ravello and I finished the first sleeve!  I haven't woven in any of the ends yet (I'll wait until I'm completely done with the knitting for that), but I only have the second sleeve and the neck edging left to work.  I hope to at least get started on the second sleeve today.  I doubt I'll finish it today, I have too many other things to do.  Responsible, adult things.

I think I've figured out my next sweater, but I'm going to have to wash my yarns first.  I'm going to do a color blend, but my yarns are all Madelinetosh, so I want to make sure they aren't going to bleed all over each other.  I'll probably be washing them in the next couple of days so they can get dry before I'm ready to cast on.

Something I Noticed...

 

I've gotten a lot of work done on the body of my Ravello.  My goal for the weekend is to finish the body and get started on the sleeves.  I should probably also decide if this is going to be a long sleeved or 3/4 sleeved sweater.

Is it just me or does this color scheme remind anyone of else of a sock monkey?  That wasn't my plan when I chose the colors, and at least it's not a ragg style yarn (the white and gray/brown plied yarn), so it doesn't scream SOCK MONKEY, but it definitely reminds me of a sock monkey.  I don't think it will keep me from wearing the sweater, or I would stop knitting it because honestly, I've always found sock monkeys kind of creepy.

Have a great weekend! 

Gray

 

I've made some progress on the lower body of my latest Ravello.  I've also double checked length measurements on previous Ravellos so I don't have to try it on later.  (You'd think after knitting it three times I would have already made notes on the pattern, but no, apparently not.) 

Also, Max felt very strongly that he should be part of today's blog post.  I have no idea why, but he insisted on "helping" with the photos.

Round and Round

 

I've added quite a few more rounds to my big Granny Square blanket since I showed it to you last week.  I've found I can work on it while Caleb and I do History, so the blanket comes to homeschool!  Max has also discovered that it is in fact a blanket and he has begun testing its warming capabilities.  He doesn't even get upset when I turn it to work on the next side or flip it to work the next round.

I've got a few ends that I need to weave in again, so the next time I sit down with it, that's what I'll be doing.  Apparently granny squares (especially big ones) can start to twist and rotate and become not square.  (This is my first time making a granny square, so I have no first hand experience of this.)  Here's a tutorial with tips to prevent that.  I'm doing both the "Shifting Corners" and the "Turn and Turn About" techniques and my blanket lays flat and square (when I lay it down on something flat).  When I weave in ends, I've been leaving the ends from the last three rounds so I can easily figure out which corner to start in.  Going back and forth on the working side means I do have yarn ends on both sides of the blanket, but they're not hard to weave in and when the blanket is finished, it will essentially be reversible.

Working under the blanket-in-progress with all the bright, fun colors makes me happy and warm.  Since the wind chill was 2 degrees (F) here this this morning, that's a good thing!

Moving Along

 

I've gotten the sleeve stitches separated from the body, finished the red and white stripe section, and started the gray for the lower section!  At this point, all I have to do is knit.  I don't have to worry about shaping or counting rounds, I just knit around and around in gray.

Remember how I mentioned I ordered yarn for two more Ravellos?  Well it was supposed to be here on Wednesday, but it left Fort Worth (south of me) late, so I checked it Thursday morning and it was in Wichita Falls (that's northwest of me, and not at all the direction mail is supposed to go when it's coming here).  I'm wondering where it will be today.  Go home Postal Service, you're drunk!

It's a good thing I'm not desperately waiting for that yarn!  Have a great weekend!
 

Little Stars

 

After Christmas I had a few days where I just didn't want to work on my Norderney pullover.  I really didn't want to do much of anything, but sitting still makes me fidgety.  I ran across a crocheted granny star on Pinterest and after looking over the directions, I decided I could probably handle it, so I made a few.

Then I made a few more and while I've only woven in ends on the first six, I now have a total of 24 of them.  I'm working them in #10 crochet cotton with a 1.50mm hook and they're less than 2 inches across when they're finished.  I don't have any definite plans with them, they're just cute and fun to make.  I might make a bunting out of them, but for now I'm just playing with them.

Stripes

 

I'm working along on my Ravello and I'm almost to the point where the sleeves divide from the body.  Also, I need to put this on longer needles (even though I'm about to put the sleeve stitches on holders) because I feel like I'm spending all my time pushing stitches around the needles and that's slowing me down.  I realize that right now it looks like the Cat in Hat's hat got run over by a dump truck.

This was the last set of yarn I had specifically stashed for a Ravello, but once I cast on and started knitting I remembered why I love this pattern and I may have ordered yarn for two more Ravellos.  This might be another year of Ravello!

Off and Running!

 

I've had a pile of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in my stash for several years now.  I have 14 different colors and multiple skeins of several of the colors.  It was meant to be a crocheted hexagon blanket.  I was working on my Babette when I got it and didn't want to work on two crochet things at once (silly PinkLemon), then I started my Meditative Blanket and it got pushed off again.   Over the weekend I decided it didn't want to be a hexagon blanket after all (I think I want darker, richer colors for that and also all wool yarn), but I thought it would be a cute granny blanket.

This is the Granny Goes Large pattern, which is basically a single giant granny square with a pretty border.  I'm going to keep working through my colors until I start running out of them, and then I'll probably just continue the last few rounds with what I have left.  The cotton and wool blend yarn is very nice to work with and will make a nice blanket for warmer weather around here.  I think the holes in the granny square pattern will also be nice for Max to poke his paws through and attack unsuspecting humans.

If I did my math right, I started out with about 4000 yards of yarn.  Using all or most of that will definitely take a bite out of the stash.  Plus I'll get a cute blanket out of it.  Win, win!

A New Beginning

 

Yesterday afternoon I went upstairs to stash dive to find a new knitting project or two.  After my first project choice came up short on yarn and then dealing with a major case of indecisiveness about EVERYTHING else in the stash, I decided to go for the one project that already had both yarn and pattern paired, and the pattern is one I've knit before - Ravello.

This is my fourth Ravello and I've had the yarn stashed for this for a couple of years now.  The yarn is Loopy Ewe Solids Series (which I believe is basically discontinued) and I'm starting with Ivory, which is the color of vanilla ice cream.  The stripes will be Cherry and the lower body will be Smoke.  I cast on last night after dinner and have just made it past the short rows and started working the rounds of raglan shaping.  I plan to do the crocheted neckline edging I used on my third Ravello because I like the way that worked (thankfully, I made notes on the Ravelry project page so I know not only what I did, but what size hook I used).

Hopefully, by the time I finish this, I'll feel more inspired by my stash and finding the next project won't be as complicated.

2017 Wrap Up!

I've started tagging Ravelry projects with the year so I can go back and see what I've knit.  It's fun to see what I spent my time working on.  Sometimes (like this year) I spent a lot more time working on a project category than I realized (shawls)!

Here are my projects for 2017:

• 9 shawls
• 5 hats (this surprised me too)
• 4 pullovers
• 3 socks
• 2 footie socks
• 2 cardigans
• 1 cowl
• designed the Tinker's Puzzle socks and the Camelot Wrap

I also sewed 3 of the McCall's 6886 dresses and 2 Moneta dresses.

So far for the new year I've just been working on my Meditative Blanket and haven't started anything new since finishing my Norderney pullover.  For the last two years I've "planned" to finish my Meditative Blanket that year and it hasn't happened.  I freely admit right now that I have no plans to finish it this year either, it will be finished when it's finished.  There!  No pressure!

I do have sewing plans for 2018.  I scored a great deal on some fabulous knit fabric (jackalopes!) that will be another Moneta.  I love that dress pattern for a cooler weather dress, but I think I'd also like to make a short sleeved one in gray heather knit.  I also have the Emery dress pattern (which isn't for knits, but for wovens) and a couple of blouse patterns I'd like to sew up.

Today's plan is to make some decisions about knitting projects and do some stash diving so I can start!

End of Year Finish!

 

I finished knitting my Norderney pullover on December 30.  On the 31st I wove in the last few ends and blocked it, so it was completely finished before 2018 began!  This was a fun pullover to knit, with just enough going on in the center section to keep it interesting, but simple shaping and the majority being stockinette stitch meant it was fast to knit.  It's knit in Valley Yarns Northfield in Tranquil Blue and this was my first time using it.  It was nice to knit with and I think I got great stitch definition in the center panel.  I didn't make any changes to the pattern.

We're getting back into the regular routine around here.  I made the executive decision that we wouldn't start school again until next Monday (I'm sure you can imagine Caleb's heartbreak), so I've still got a few days to ease into the new year.  I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up last year's project count!