We Have Sleeves!

I've finished the sleeves on my Austin Hoodie and have begun the actual hood!  I have a little over two weeks to finish this sweater and submit it for the Happily Ever Hooded CAL at the end of the month.  I'm hoping the hood moves along pretty quickly, and I'm planning to start weaving in ends sooner, rather than later.

Next quarter's CAL is Circular Yokes (details are at the link above).  I've got a few possibilities, but I haven't settled on any one project yet.  I have started putting serious thought into it though, while trying to stay focused on my hoodie.  I'll be sure to let you know when I do make up my mind.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

Second Quarter Knit Along!

April 1 meant a new quarter, which in the ESK Yarnathon means a new CAL (Craft A Long - knitting and crochet inclusive).  This quarter's theme is Indie Hand Dyed Yarns, so we have to use yarns that are hand dyed by small companies but we can make anything we want!  (Insert Snoopy style happy dance here.)

I've decided to start with a pullover - the Sous Sous pullover.  I'm knitting it in Yarn Love Amy March DK in the Orchid color way and I'm off to a pretty good start on the back so far.  This is knit in pieces (I can't remember the last time I knit something in pieces) and yes, it's really wide.  I'm knitting the smallest size and it's going to be a very oversized pullover.  I love the cables and seed stitch (moss stitch?) combination and it really is knitting up nicely without using too many brain cells, now that I've done enough that I can see the pattern.  Since this is hand dyed yarn, I am alternating skeins, but I'm alternating at the side edge, so the carried yarn will be caught in the side seams.  I'll do the same for the front.

Valentine's Socks

I kind of dropped off the radar last week, but I'm fine.  I didn't blog, but I was still knitting.  ESK started a Craft Your Heart Out Flash Challenge on February 1, so there have been a lot of heart things happening here!  I'll show you the rest later this week, but one of the things I'm working on is a pair of socks.

These are based on the Love Bugs pattern and knit in Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Peony.  I say "based on" because the original pattern is toe up, but I tend to work faster in the cuff down direction, so I adapted the chart for working that direction.  I'll probably stop working hearts when I start the heel turn because I don't think twisted stitches will be comfortable on my foot in a shoe.  I've kind of stalled on these and I really should be farther along on them since the Flash Challenge ends on Valentine's Day, but maybe blogging about them will give me a bit of accountability and get me moving again!  Once I finish the first one, the second should go much faster.  (It better, or I won't have a finished pair of socks by Sunday!)

New Year! New Yarnathon! New Craft-along!

With the start of 2021 a new Yarnathon started along with a brand new Craft-along for the first quarter!  I'm on the Fiber Flock team, which is a flamingo.  I can't tell you how much this amuses me for some reason, nor can I explain why, but for some reason, being a tall pink bird really cracks me up.

ESK is calling the quarterly KAL's "Craft-alongs" this year because they're including crochet and knitting as much as they possibly can.  The first quarter's theme is Mosaic knitting or crochet.  I've started my first project already, a Walk in the Woods shawl in fingering weight.  The pattern is written for worsted weight, but there are a few fingering weight projects already, so I decided to use that weight.  (You don't need too many worsted weight wraps here in Texas.)  I'm using a Shawl Duo from Wonderland Yarns in the colorway Glowingly.  You can see the two skeins above.  This pinky, red-violet color apparently means happiness and hope to me because I'm knitting with it, my 2021 planner is that color, and so is my nail polish (at the moment).  I didn't really plan it that way, I just kind of looked around and realized I'd surrounded myself with it!

I've gotten a good start with my shawl.  I've got to weigh it and do a stitch count before I start knitting again, but I think I'm almost to the mosaic section (it's actually a little farther along than the photo shows because I photographed it yesterday afternoon and then worked on it some more last night.)  I've done some mosaic knitting before.  Most recently, the Sharon Show MKAL from last August and September.  It's a fun technique and as long as you don't work too tightly, an easy way to add colorwork!  I've never tried mosaic crochet before and I have no idea how easy or hard that is.  I may have to take a look at that!

Sunwalker - Finished!

 

I finished my Sunwalker shawl!  This was my project for the first quarter KAL for Eat.Sleep.Knit. The assignment was to knit a Melanie Berg pattern.  I knit it in Malabrigo Mechita in Cereza which is a gorgeous, deep red.  I used almost all of three skeins (1197 yards), and yes, it is a huge, squishy shawl!

Despite the size, it never really got boring.  I enjoyed knitting it and I could see knitting it again at some point in a different color.  I didn't stretch it when I blocked it, just smoothed it out and let it dry.  I also forgot to measure it, but it's pretty big, as you can see how long it is on Fifi!

Tomorrow we should get our Loopy Academy assignments, so I'll be gearing up for those!

Walking On

 

I'm in the middle of the lace section of my Sunwalker.  The lace is simple, but it is a bit slower than the double seed stitch was.  Or, it's possible it just feels that way because the rows are so long.  Maybe a combination of the two?  Anyway, I'm still working away on it.  I'm about finished with the second skein of Mechita and looking forward to starting the third.  I'd love to get this finished by the end of the month.

In random, unrelated news, Max likes to watch Craftsy classes.  He doesn't seem to care what the topic is, he just curls up with me and watches them on my iPad.  He honestly pays better attention to the Craftsy lessons than he does cat videos.  He'll sit through a 30 minute lesson and pay attention (purring softly) the whole time.  I have no explanation for this.

The Word of the Day is Squishy

 

I've finished the main section of my Sunwalker!  I'm ready to begin the lace section now and then it finishes with the double seed stitch texture again at the end.  I've started the second skein of yarn and I'm probably about a third of the way into it at this point.  It was the perfect project to snuggle up with this weekend in the rainy fog.  The shawl itself is also nice and squishy and soft.  It's going to be huge when it's finished!

Sunwalker

 

My Sunwalker shawl is getting bigger!  I've worked more than half the repeats of this stitch pattern before I get to the lace.  Of course, since each repeat adds stitches to the width of the shawl, each repeat is bigger than the last, so I'm in no way halfway to the lace section.  It's a good thing this is a nice, relaxing knit, because I'm not even through my first ball of yarn!  (It's supposed to use three balls of yarn.)  It's going to be a big, cuddly shawl!

New for 2017!

I've started a couple of new projects for the new year!  Last year I participated in the Yarnathon from Eat.Sleep.Knit.  (The Carson Throw was part of that, as well as a bunch of other things I did last year.)  At midnight on New Year's Eve the new Yarnathon began with new teams and new KAL's and a new theme (Candy!)  I'll be competing with the Cocoa Cubs team this year!

The first quarter KAL is Melanie Berg patterns and I not only had ESK yarn in my stash, but I also had one of her patterns picked out to go with some of it.  I had no idea this would be a KAL for 2017, I just lucked out that I didn't cast on for it last year!  I'm doing Sunwalker in Malabrigo Mechita in Cereza (a dark red that reminds me of Madelinetosh's Tart colorway).  It will also be good for some Booster Club Badges!  This project is my new TV knitting because I can knit without paying too much attention to it.  I've knit two Melanie Berg patterns before (Drachenfels and On The Spice Market - both for Loopy Academy) and her patterns are fun but easy and give you very wearable finished objects.

I'm still sorting out this year's Yarnathon and figuring out what I'll do for the various KAL's, but I do know, since I'm a Cocoa Cub, I will be making some bears this year!

Eat.Sleep.Knit's Flash Challenge KAL

 

 Last Friday Eat.Sleep.Knit announced a flash challenge KAL.  Anyone who could knit Capture, starting Monday, March 14 and get it finished by next Monday, would get a star for their team!  We had to use 400 yards in the project.  I knew shipping something here would be tight, so I went stash diving (this is exactly why stash is important!) and found a skein of Madelinetosh Twist Light in Opaline.  The color reminds me of purple heather, although in true Madelinetosh fashion, it has other tones washed into the skein as well.

Monday rolled around and I cast on, and I was off and knitting!  I averaged one section a day, and last night I bound off.  The finished cowl is around 10 inches wide and will loop nicely around the neck twice.  I have two yards left from the skein, so not only will this project win a star for the Rabbiteers (Go Bunnies!), but I'll also get the Yarn Chicken badge from it!  (It could also potentially earn the All the Single Ladies badge and the Speedy Crafter badge, but I already earned those this year from my Honey Badger socks.)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!