Carrie

 

I’ve finished my Carrie wrap/scarf/narrow shawl thing!  I did a light blocking, consisting of laying it out on towels and spraying it down with water and patting it into shape.  No blocking wires, no pins.  It was big enough without them.

This was an easy project that didn’t require a lot of concentration to knit.  I loved the little picot bind off and I think that’s a nice way to finish that final edge.  I think this pattern would work well in a multi-colored variegated yarn as well as a solid also.  I might be making more of these!

There was a question about the Wiksten Tank yesterday and since I’ll be finishing another one today, I’ll get some photos so I can explain how I finish the arm and neck edges tomorrow.  I don’t know if I’ve ever read the directions for those, I just do what I was taught years ago.  My way has a few more steps, but it makes them lie flat when they’re finished.

More Blue Green

 

I’ve added another color to my Carrie.  I’ve got a few ends to weave in, but I’ll do that when I’m all finished with the knitting.  I’ve just started the next color (it’s on the needle, so you can’t really tell), but in addition to that color, I have two more to go.  There will be a total of seven colors in this gradation.

Wonkydonkey commented yesterday that there was a lot of blue green around here right now and that’s absolutely right!  I’ve noticed as I scroll down through my Ravelry projects (they’re in order of WIP’s first, then most recently finished, going backwards in time) that there are definite color trends.  Right now it’s all about bright blues and greens, but go back a little and there are a few gray and cream projects, then red projects, then pale blue green, then dark green, then pinky, berry tones, and so on.  There are always a few projects that don’t seem to fit with the others, but I do seem to do several projects within a color range before moving on.

Have you noticed you work like this too, or are your color choices always random?

Some Knitting and a Birthday!

 

I’m working on my third color in Carrie.  I’m really happy with how this is looking so far.  It’s a nice, easy knit that doesn’t require a lot of concentration.

In other news, today is Max’s 4th birthday!  He doesn’t spend anywhere near as much time here on the blog as Ramius did and I’ve realized that it’s because he’s almost impossible to photograph.  When Max is awake, he’s doing things.  Busy things.  Cat things.  In the last 15 seconds, he’s raced out from under the sofa to slap at Logan, looked at the level in his food bowl, tried to get into the dishwasher, inspected several things, thought about climbing behind the refrigerator (he won’t actually fit - for a reason), and is now attempting to get into Mickael’s coffee.  This is pretty much how he always is if he’s awake - zoom, zoom, zoom!  He never walks anywhere if he can gallop.  Photographing a moving object isn’t very easy.  He does stop moving when he goes to sleep, but Max doesn’t sleep the same way Ramius did either.  Ramius would sleep in sunshine, or on beds, places I could drape knits on top of him and snap a photo.  Max sleeps under the covers on our bed or under a sofa upstairs.  He will only sleep in his bed (or Logan’s bed - it’s barely big enough for his personality) if someone else is in the room.  I think this is partly due to his eyesight.  We don’t know for sure what’s going on, his eyes themselves are healthy, but if Max was a person, he’d wear glasses, and he might also have depth perception issues as well.  It’s not really a big deal in the day to day, but we’ve learned not to move the furniture around, particularly things he likes to jump off of.  He’s a very fun little cat, but completely different from his predecessor who practically owned the blog.  Maybe Max will slow down a bit as he gets older, but I don’t know.  My phone has taken hundreds of pictures of a pale gray blur.  Happy Birthday little blur!

The Next Color

I’ve started the second color in my Carrie shawl.  When I used mini-skeins to knit my first Hitchhiker, I changed colors at the ends of rows.  On this project, I’m changing in the middle of the row, whenever each skein runs out.  I’m not quite sure why I’m doing it differently, but it just seems like the right thing to do.  The rows are starting to get longer, but I’m moving right along now that I’ve got a feel for the pattern.  It’s easy and a great portable project!

Something New

 

I’ve started a new pair of socks and a new sweater recently, but I didn’t have any shawl-like things on the needles after finishing my scarlet hood.  Yesterday, I took care of that problem.  I went through my collection of mini-skeins and grabbed a set to make Carrie.  When I realized that I was a little low on yardage, I found two more mini-skeins from another set that would work perfectly, so I added those to this project too!

You’ll have to wait to see what the other colors will be, but you can see my first color is kind of a turquoise and blue combination.  I’ve already gotten a feel for the pattern, so this should be pretty easy to knit up!

Finished!

 

I finally sat down and got all the ends woven in on this!  I kept putting it off and putting it off, but I had promised myself I wouldn’t start another sweater until this was completely finished.  Then it got really cold and my natural, knitter’s response was to cast on a new sweater.  So this weekend, I sat down and started weaving in all those ends.  It took Braveheart and The Mummy to do it (weaving in ends is not for new movies because you have to pay attention to the weaving in), but I got it finished. I did a quick blocking of the ribbed edges and the crochet around the neck and now it’s ready to go!  Here is the project page, in case you’re interested.

Oh, and the new sweater?  My original plan was to knit a fingering weight cardigan, but I’ve changed that plan to an Aran weight cardigan.  It snowed here last night, I want something heavier!

Caring Means Sharing

 

Clearly Max hasn’t gotten that memo because this was yesterday afternoon at our house.  Yes, the bed is technically Logan’s but Max isn’t one to worry about details.  Thankfully, Logan is much better at sharing and doesn’t mind that his bed smells like kitty too much.

In knitting news, I finished the knitting portion of my Ombre Ravello!  Now I have a few ends to weave in.  (The photo shows it wrong side out, so you can really get a feel for the number of ends I’ll be dealing with over the next few days.)  I usually weave in the ends on each section as I go, but this time I was so concerned about having enough yarn, I just kept on knitting.  Now it’s time clean things up.

The Home Stretch

I have gotten a few more inches worked on my Ombre Ravello and I’ve just started my last ball of white yarn.  I have less than four inches left and I will be able to do it with this last ball!  I’m going to make it with the yarn I have.  This makes me super happy considering that when I planned this sweater, I intended to have a gray lower body and that was the yarn I had purchased.  When I decided to make it just white and the ombre purples, I knew I’d be happier with the finished sweater, but I didn’t know for sure if I had enough yarn.  I can now relax as I finish the knitting, knowing I’ve got the yarn.  There’s one other thing I have plenty of with this sweater - yarn ends.  Eventually, I’ll have to get those woven in.

Forward Momentum!

 

I did get the second sleeve finished over the weekend (and didn’t run out of the ombre yarns)!  As I was setting up the body to finish the knitting there, I decided to pop the sweater on Fifi and see how it was looking.  This also gave me a chance to double check that the neckline would lie flat after the crochet edge.

As you can see, once it’s on a body (or a mannequin) it lies flat!  Score one for the Pink Lemon!

The only thing I have to do to finish this project is to finish knitting the body.  I have more than 1-1/2 skeins left of the white and I’m 99% sure that’s enough, so I’m not freaking out about yarn any more.  Oh, and I also have to weave in eleventy billion yarn ends.  That should keep me busy until Christmas!

Ravello

I’ve finished the first sleeve and started the second!  I went with a narrow ribbing for the cuff.

I also finished the neckline.  On my first two Ravellos I did a ribbed neckline, but I wanted something different for this one, something narrower.  For this Ravello, I worked a round of single crochet around the neckline and it cut the rolling WAY down.  I know it still looks a little roll-y right now, but I think once it’s blocked and being worn the roll will stop.  Unfortunately, with the cable holding the body stitches, I can’t pop it onto Fifi and double check yet, so I’ve left the ends from the crochet and I won’t weave them in until I know for sure it’s going to work.

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I’m going to try to get this second sleeve finished.

More Stripes!

 

I added another four stripes to my first sleeve last night and it’s at the 3/4 length sleeve point.  I decided that with this many stripes, it would look best to go ahead and add the cuff now instead of having a small white section to make it a full length sleeve.  I stopped knitting last night because I wanted to figure out what kind of edging to use on the cuff, but after sleeping on it I think I have a plan.  I’m also figuring out what I want to do at the neckline.  There are a lot of choices to make on this sweater!

Time to Start Thinking

 

I’ve completed my second skein of the white on my two color Ombre Ravello.  I have a total of four skeins of white that match perfectly.  I also have a partial skein of white that’s a tiny bit off from the others.  If I have to use that partial skein (and I think I will), I’ll use it for ribbings where the slight color change won’t be noticeable because of the texture change in the stitches.

I decided that when I got to the end of the second skein of white on the body, I would put stitch holders on my cables and start the sleeves.  Once the sleeves are finished, I can finish the body.  Unless I’m not sure I have enough yarn to do long sleeves and then I’ll put the sleeves on holders too, go back and finish the body and then finish the sleeves.  I think.  I haven’t figured out everything yet.  Also, I’ve got to weigh some yarn to see where I am on the ombre mini skeins.  I’m planning on adding a few more stripes to the sleeves, which will cut down on the amount of white I’m using, but I’ll need to make sure I don’t run out of anything on the second sleeve.  Theoretically, I should be fine because I only use about 175 yards of the accent color and I have 400 or so.  However, since these are mini skeins, I only have about 80+ yards of each step of the ombre.

I’m going to get some caffeine now and see what I can figure out!

Changing Gears

 

I was working on my newest Ravello yesterday and as I added the darkest stripe and began my last white stripe (before the gray), I had a thought.  What if I didn’t use the gray?  What if I made this Ravello with an all white background?  I didn’t feel like I needed the gray, particularly since the ombre is so interesting color-wise.  The closer I got to where I should have been starting the gray, the more I wanted to just keep going with the white.  Since this is usually a sign that I should do whatever it is I’m thinking about, I did a quick count of my skeins of white and decided to keep going.  The farther I got in white, the more I feel like this is the best choice for this Ravello.  This will be my first two color Ravello (if you count the ombre as one color).

There’s going to be a fun part though, for you, as you watch me knit this.  I’m not 100% sure I have enough white to do this.  It’s going to be a squeaker.  I’ve already added another stripe to the body and I’ll use more stripes on the sleeves than I have on previous Ravellos.  Each additional stripe of the ombre color means I’ll use less white.  I could also make 3/4 length sleeves, but the fact remains that I don’t know for sure if I have enough white.  I’m going to be doing a lot of weighing of skeins as I knit to figure out exactly how I can do this (and I will be able to do it), but it might take some creativity on my part.

Challenge Accepted!

Startitis

I have had a severe case of Startitis lately, but I’ve mostly kept it under control.  I really want to cast on all the things, but I keep reminding myself that if I do that, I’ll feel overwhelmed and I won’t get anything done.  I know from experience that too many projects at once doesn’t work for me.  After finishing Mom’s bunny (she loved it!), I decided to go ahead and cast on one new project.

This is another Ravello.  I’m using the same colors for the upper background and lower body that I did on my last Ravello (The Loopy Ewe Solids Series in White and Dove), but I’m using something different for the stripes.  I’ve mentioned before that I’m in SpaceCadet’s Mini Skien Club (the Ombre and Gradient Mix), and I’m using an Ombre set (Tranquility Ombre) for the stripes.  I had actually just gotten this set when I found the Ravello pattern last fall and thought the two would work together well.  It took me some time to figure out what other colors to use with it though.  I’m doing five stripes on the body of this Ravello, so I can use all five colors.  I’ll probably be adding more stripes to the sleeves too, because I don’t want to end in the middle of the ombre, but I’ll figure out the details on those later.  I’ve made it past the place where the sleeve stitches go onto holders and I’ve started the fifth body stripe (the darkest).

The colors of Tranquility Ombre are mostly purples, but there are also blues and greens in there.  It reminds me of abalone shell in the lighter shades.  I’m enjoying the play of colors from these hand dyed yarns, but I think pairing them with the solid white and gray will anchor them nicely.  Here’s a link to my Ravelry page for more details if you’re interested!

Stormy Weather

 

It’s all finished!  This is my Song of the Sea, knit in one of Space Cadet’s ombre mini skein sets.  I cast on for 12 repeats, hoping for a cowl somewhere between snug and loose.  I knit until I ran out of yarn and then blocked it hard lengthwise.  It came out about 11 inches wide by 40 inches long.  This was a fun project and I loved using the mini skeins in it.  I have another set of mini skeins that is the emerald green of the ocean on the gulf coast (micro algae gives the water its green color), and I might just make another one!  (Here’s a Rav link to this one.)

Here’s a closer shot of the waves and the colors.  I’m really having fun with this mini skein club.  Usually with a club, I like about half of the colors, but I try to use the ones I don’t like as much, to move me out of my comfort zone.  With this club, I’m really liking all the colors so far and finding the right project for each set is what’s pushing me to try new things.

I have no idea if that makes any sense.  In my head it makes sense, but I’m not caffeinated yet, so for all I know today’s post not even be in English.  The point is, I’m really, really liking this particular club.

It’s Been A Crazy Week!

It’s crazier than usual around here right now!  Next week promises to be the same as Caleb and I are tying up some loose ends with school, but then we’re going to take a break!  We decided to try a different schedule for homeschooling than what the school district does around here and so far it’s working pretty well and we like it.

I’ve only gotten a little bit of knitting done this week that I can show you, but I will tell you, I’m working on a new pattern!  It’s going to be a little longer before I’m finished, but in the meantime, here is my Song of the Sea!

I’m almost through the fourth blue and then I begin the fifth and lightest.  You can see that I’ve already begun the tiny waves.  These seem to go pretty quickly, but that’s probably because the repeat is so short.  I’m hoping to get this finished and blocked over the weekend, and hopefully I’ll get some work done on my other projects this weekend!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Trying Something New

I thought I’d begin with answering some of yesterday’s comments.  I do intend to crochet a little something for Max, but it won’t have eyes and I’ll have to make it bigger than the mini octopi he likes so much.  (It has to be bigger because if Logan eats it - and he has a history of stealing Max’s toys from him, not eating them, but stealing them - it could cause intestinal blockage and after Finn we don’t take those chances.)  I won’t be crocheting for Logan since his approach to soft toys is to rip and destroy.  Amy of the comments wanted to know what I was using the octopi for.  I’m not really using them for anything.  I have one on my key ring, but the rest of them are sitting in Max inaccessible places, including the two I made for Caleb.  I had no idea I was supposed to have a use or a plan for my octopi!  I will have to think about this further…

In the meantime,  I decided to go ahead and try knitting something a little bit bigger and little bit more complex than a bracelet, a washcloth or an octopus.  I’ve mentioned before that I’m in SpaceCadet Creations’ Mini Skein Club in the Ombre and Gradient Mix and I really like it.  A couple of months ago, I got a pack of mini skeins that went from pale, icy blue to a deep, dark gray blue.  I decided these would be perfect for a Song of the Sea cowl, using the darkest color on the largest waves, blending to the lightest color on the tiny waves.  The yardage on these isn’t enough to make a long cowl, and I really don’t need too many snug cowls here, so I split the difference and I’m working 12 repeats for a medium length cowl.  Hopefully.  I cast on last night after double checking my math (the fact that I was even willing to work out the math is a good sign that I’m ready for bigger projects), and I’ve just barely started the first big breakers.  Here’s the Rav project page link if you’re interested.

Hitchhiker - Finished!

I finished up my first Hitchhiker this weekend.  I say “first” because I’ll definitely do it again.  This was a fun project, perfect for tired evenings in front of the TV.  I got a total of 39 “teeth” on the edge of my Hitchhiker.  (The original pattern has 42, naturally.)  The finished shape is a narrow triangle, and I think it looks best worn as a scarf.  I love the way the gradient colors worked out and it still reminds me of Fruit Loops!  Here’s a link to my Ravelry page for the project, if you’re interested.

I think this pattern will work well in some stash yarns I have that I know are going to pool (Lorna’s Laces, I’m looking at you) and it should give a completely different look.

I’m going to knit a couple of other things before I jump into another Hitchhiker, but I know I’ll be knitting another one of these soon!