Drachenfels Shawl

And just in time for the really cold weather, I finished off this shawl.  It is thick, cozy and super functional.  It took a long time to knit up, but I am glad that I stuck it out.  Thanks to Craftsy for a fun kit and lovely yarn!

Shawl

It's slow going on this shawl, but the result will be worth it!

FO: Daybreak

It has been too long since I was here in this space last.  

I have been knitting however.  I finished Daybreak a while back with two skeins that I picked up at the WI Sheep and Wool Festival. 

It is a wonderful knit - lightweight but substantial, hip but understated, eye-catching but not too busy. 

Based on the way this shawl is knit you can either block it with points, or go for a more rounded edge.  I tried the latter.  I had some points saved up at my LYS and put them towards the purchase of a set of blocking wires.  What a wonder they were to work with - and they gave me the promised rounded edge I was hoping for.

I have gotten many compliments on this shawl and am now tempted to try one of the other asymmetrical pattens - maybe Chadwick? 

FO: Hildina

It has been a cool summer - which prompted me to put aside my sock knitting and take up a bigger project.  I pulled out a very special skein of unknown fiber and unknown origin that was given to me by my husband for the holidays.  The sport weight wool is heavy, but it made the most loveliest of lacework shawls.

This was my first attempt at lacework and I did ok with it.  I had to frog it a few times, ripping back up to six rows of knitting in an attempt to re-work mistakes with yarn overs and - most especially - the 3-into-7 stitch.















Once I got it sorted the shawl came together quickly and blocking it made a nice difference.  The yarn really opened up and and the lace panels blossomed.  I do wish I knew more about blocking lace and I have a feeling the some weights at the points would have helped give it a bit more shape.

Overall it is a great pattern and lovely finished piece.  I am excited to wrap up in it as the temps fall this autumn (or even tomorrow night).

WIP's and Local Yarns

 

Three of my current WIP's: a vest, mittens and shawl. 

 

The vest is the 18 mos. sized Milo - one of my truly favorite baby/toddler knits.  There are so many ways to customize it - I went back and forth on whether to include a stranded color pattern (elephants! flowers! polka dots!) but in the end decided on a simple cable.  I hope to have this one off the needles, on on daughter #4, by tonight.

 

The mittens are a work of art - Wintergreen by Kate Gilbert.  I am making a few modifications to the pattern, however.  Adding a thumb gusset on the side and I'm not twisting the leaf stitches.  I don't think it matters much with such contrasting colors (and makes the knitting go just a hair faster).  They are a labor of love and probably won't be complete for some time.  They are a concentration project - one that I need space and quiet to work on.  It is the second mitten pattern of Kate's that I've knit and I am pleased, yet again, with the intricate design details (first project here).

 

Last is another Simple Yet Effective Shawl, knit up with my own hand dyed yarn.  I have to confess that I had this shawl in mind when I dyed the yarn so I am excited to see it knit up.  I am happy with the colors/striping and hope that it will find just the right recipient this holiday season.

 

Note: the colors in the photo are not very true - it has been gray and rainy these past few days.  Perfect for knitting, but sucky for indoor photography.  That vest, while pink, is more a peachy-pink.  And the base color for those mittens is actually a deep purple.  The shawl colors you can see better in this post about yarn dying.

 

And speaking of WIP's, I just cast-on for a hat last night and owing to the bulky weight of the yarn, am already half-way done.  I am in love with it and will find it hard to part with.  But I know a lucky girl that will get this for a holiday gift (pictured next to it is the yarn to make a matching one for her sister!).  This is a superwash wool, hand-dyed by Liz Avery at The Sow's Ear. 

 

 

Lastly, I am REALLY, REALLY excited because this morning I placed an order for truly local yarn: Finewool Yarn by Five Green Acres.  Mary Jo stewarded this wool from pasture to skein, and has lived the entire process from shearing to cleaning to dying to spinning.  Her First Harvest: Backyard skeins have amazing colorways such as Sugar Maple, Blue Jay and the like.   Check out the yarn for yourself - it has an amazing story.  And Mary Jo?  She's an amazing woman. 

FO: Simple Yet Effective Shawl (SYES)

This shawl really lets that Noro yarn sing. I burned, very quickly I might add, through one skein to make this shawl - and apparently just in time as the temps here in Wisconsin are starting to dip into the 40's during the wee morning hours. The pattern called for regular color changes, to induce a predictable striping pattern I presume, but I went with my own interpretation and made the color changes a bit more random. I love the dramatic look of the shawl and the way the colors flow with each other; yet the colors are so different from one to the next. The last photo is the most true to color.

I was initially worried that the shawl, which I've mostly been wearing as a scarf, would be scratchy as it is 100% wool. While knitting it I did come across the random bit of straw too. But after a good soak and blocking it's really softened up. I love that about wool.

You might wonder about my blocking mat here in the photo...it's actually one of those kids foam floor mats that you can piece together in any number of sizes and shapes. We initially picked it up at Target, to cover part of the chilly tile floor in our sun room, but quickly realized that the kids preferred to chew on it, rather than play on top of it. So I put it away in a closet. About a month ago I noticed this new product in one of my favorite knitting catalogs and remembered that I had something similar stashed away. I'm so glad that I'm getting some use out of it, and there's no need to worry about ingesting it this time around.

The shawl was a breeze to knit - perfect for what I like to call "dk" or distracted knitting - which I'm often doing with the kids around and under my feet. This shawl is a lovely way to kick off the fall season here.