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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Storm Cloud Shawlette

As stated in an earlier post, I needed a project that I could work on while I was sick. I had no attention span whatsoever, and I was always tired. Most days I was only up for a couple of hours. So I needed a project to fill the gaps when I was awake but couldn't do much at all. Enter a garter stitch shawl with just two rows to remember. Something I could easily put down and pick up in the middle of the row, something I didn't really need to keep track of and could cart around the house with me without having to find my notes or row count.

Pattern: Storm Cloud Shawlette
Yarn: Estelle's Cadenza
Needle Size: 5mm
I ended up running out of yarn because I added an extra increase row thinking that because I had much more yarn than what was called for, I could easily add an extra increase row and use up all my yarn. Well, I used it all up but I was a few rows short on the ruffle..and ended up binding half of it off with some old kidsilk. But it works.
I rarely ever wear blue, and I've had this yarn for over a year now not knowing what to make with it. Hopefully it goes with my complexion.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Gail (aka nightsongs)

I finished this almost two weeks ago, but I'm not a big fan of blocking, so I didn't get around to it until yesterday. I love what blocking does, it's magical really, but I hate actually doing it. I really want a blocking table, if I had one, I'd probably block immediately after I cast off.

Pattern: Gail (aka Nightsongs)
Yarn: Cylon yarn I won in a bonus mission for BSGFPB, it's by Christina Marie Potter.
Needle Size: 4mm
Total time: 5 hours
About the pattern: I found it to be incredibly confusing, and would have given up on it if it weren't for the unchart which I find really funny because I hate written instructions and would much rather follow a chart. It worked nicely though so I'm not complaining. It's a really nice pattern, and I loved walking into the blocking process because I never really appreciated the pattern as I was working on it because it's so hard to see.

As you can see, I had to bind off in red. I also had to bind off several rows before it actually ended, even though I had more yarn than what was called for. It's either a yardage issue, or gauge really is important. It's a a bit short, but it's still wearable, and I actually really like the red bind off now.
The yarn is fabulous, all of Christina's yarns are, I don't think she has any cylon yarns still available, but she does custom orders. It's this one, if you're interested in a custom order of it. I love how it worked up, it almost looks like a centurion with blood spattered on it.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Storm Cloud Shawlette WIP

I've been sick this week, and because it's the first illness of the season (and even this whole year) I'm rusty on being ill. I can barely think, so I needed something pretty mindless to work on because I can only sleep for so long, and I can only watch so much TV without doing anything else.
So, I've decided that my project this week will be the Storm Cloud Shawlette. I started it last week actually, but put it aside after a few rows because it was way too mindless. And then I realized I wasn't increasing at all. Sigh. So I had to restart it anyway. Clearly, it wasn't mindless enough.

I'm loving how it's working up, I'm hoping to use up all my yarn, so I've added in an extra increase row. After awhile the rows take sooo long, but I barely even notice it because my mind is in such a fog, and then I wonder "am I still on the same row?" fortunately, there's really only two rows, and if there isn't a yarn over in the row below, I know it's a yarn over row.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Laminaria WIP


I've wanted to make this pattern for a really long time, I wound some Malabrigo Lace in the Verdes colourway for something else originally, but it pooled a little weird, and I didn't like it. So I tried many times to find something that was a good fit, all the while this wound ball of lace is staring at me. I can almost hear it stretching out. After a month or so..I knew I had to start something because I was terrified it was going to get all stretched out. I saw someone else's Laminaria in the same colourway, I figured this was my only shot. It kind of takes away from the lace, but it still looks nice. If I didn't start right away, I'd totally never use this yarn.

The star stitch is fun, but those k3tog parts are really annoying at first. I'm about 5 rows into the transition chart right now and I'm excited for the lace part!
Because I only have one skein of about 470 yards of lace, I'm going with the shoulderette version and hoping it will block out significantly.

Monday, October 12, 2009

More swap items

And to match the stitch markers, because you have to match when you're knitting:

Butterfly
Red Stars
Green Stars
And a necklace that doesn't match...I know, anti-climactic.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Stitch Markers!

I originally made these for a swap, so I didn't post them when finished because I didn't want to ruin the surprise.
This was the first time I had actually bothered making stitch markers, I usually just make do with what I have, but I love making them now, so much fun and so quick!
Butterfly
Red Stars
Green Stars
Glittery Roses
It's definitely a new addiction of mine, and will be making a ton for myself, I'm sure.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Lavalette


Pattern: Lavalette
Yarn: Cascade 220 (2 skeins)
Needle Size: 5mm
Total time: 5 hours
I had a few skeins left over from my Corona, and they were already wound so I figured I'd use them up before they get stretched out and ruined. This shawl was the end of that yarn, I didn't even have enough to finish! I had about ten rows left on the last section and I had to stop and do the final rows and had about 10" of yarn left over when it was all bound off.
It's a nice, fairly mindless knit, but it isn't so boring because it has the eyelets to break everything up. I love making shawls, but after awhile it becomes a total uphill battle when you work from the centre of the neck out. The only real advantage is if you run out of yarn, it isn't so bad because you can just stop, if you have to decrease to a point, it's a little trickier.
I made it in worsted weight rather than the lace called for because it's getting really chilly, and it's nice to throw on at this time, plus it matches my Evangeline mitts! Because it's made with worsted weight, even though it's ten rows shorter than the actual pattern, it's not really noticable, and is still a really good size.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Quickie FOs

I love quickie projects, especially ones that can be done in one sitting. I used to do a lot of smaller crafts that were much faster than knitting, and it felt so good to crank out a few things in a day.
First, a skirt for my niece:

Pattern: Caiden's Skirt
Yarn: Bernat Satin (1 Skein blue, tiny tiny bit pink)
Needle size: 5mm
Total time: 3 hours
The pattern is for 12mos, but my niece is almost 4. She's tiny, but not 12 mos tiny. So I modded it a bit, it's a little big because I overshot the sizing, but there's a drawstring and she won't be getting it until later as a gift.
Mods: I cast on 198 stitches, and worked it in the round because I absolutely hate seaming.
On row 5 of the ribbing for the waistband, I did *K2, TO, P2TOG* across. I worked the chain, weaving it in and out of the eyelets, until I thought it looked good. Didn't bother measuring it.
Next up on the quickie list was Evangeline:

Pattern: Evangeline
Yarn: Cascade 220 (1 skein)
Needle Size: 5mm
Total time: 1 hour
I was originally going to make these elbow length, but then I remembered those look horrible on me, so I went with just the wrist length. These were so fast, each mitt only took half an hour and that included weaving in all the ends!
I'll probably end up making these again in different colours because they were so fast, and they're really nice, and a fun pattern as well.