Athena Fingerless Gloves - Finished

I finally finished up my first fingerless gloves project.  I first cast on for this project back in December of 2010 (December 19, 2010 to be exact, according to my project page on Ravelry).  I had to knit the first one twice because I needed to make modifications to the pattern to get it to fit my hands.  I have thin wrists, long palms and a long thumb.  Then, after I finished the first one it took me a while to get around to knitting the second one.  But lately I have been re-visiting some of my unfinished projects that have been languishing from neglect.

Pattern:  Athena, by Renee Leverington from ZenGoddess Lace Club
Yarn:  Superwash Sock Yarn by Zen Yarn Garden
Fingering, 4-ply, 100% Merino, 430 yards/115g (I had 60g left over, enough for socks...)

This past week I haven't been doing a whole lot of knitting.  Instead I pulled out a project that I started a couple of years ago.  A cross-stitch project.

It is one of four Celtic designs that I have.  I plan on framing them when I am done.  I could make them into pillows, but after all the work that I am putting into this one, I think I want them protected.  It has been a while since I have done any needlework.  I have made two needlepoint Christmas stockings in the past few years, and am working on a third one, but that project has also been sitting for a while.

Morning Glory Pullover - Take 2

Back in November I started my Flower of the Month Pullover series with this colorway - Morning Glory - but the yarn was Ballet, an Alpaca/Tencel blend that started to make my hands itch when I worked with it.  This was both puzzling and dismaying.  I had worked with Alpaca before with no ill effects, but apparently menopause can change your allergic sensitivities and it had apparently changed mine.  So I set that project aside for the duration.  It made me very sad, as I really liked the colorway.  Imagine my delight when I discovered the same colorway in Gracie DK at Noble Knits.

Fiber-wise this is the same yarn base as the one I knit the Orchid Pullover out of (70% Extrafine Merino, 15% Silk,  15% Cashmere), but that yarn is called Gracie's DK.  And Gracie DK is put up in 380 yard skeins while Gracie's DK is put up in 310 yard skeins.  Beats the heck out of me.

Orchid Pullover - Finished

I've been home from work yesterday and today trying to kick a cold that I picked up on my trip to California last week.  Fortunately I had some simple knitting to do as my brain was definitely not up to knitting lace.  I finished up my Orchid Pullover.  This is the January Flower of the Month from Fiesta Yarns.

The pattern is a top-down raglan, from Sweater Wizard.
The yarn is Gracie's DK in Orchid from Fiesta Yarns.  70% Extrafine Merino, 15% Silk, 15% Cashmere.
Gauge - 21 stitches, 29 Rows = 4 inches on US 6 needles

Fiori Di Sole - Chart B

I have been a busy girl this weekend.  I finished my Avira shawl and my Mystery Socks and Chart B of my Fiori di Sole shawl.  I was so happy to be able to get back to this shawl.  I love the yarn, love the color and love the pattern.  When I first looked at the charts I thought that this would be a fairly difficult knit but so far it has been pretty easy.

Mystery Sock 2011.1 - Finished!

Just finished my second sock.  I am finally getting the hang of the Kitchener Stitch at the toe.  I am actually good at Kitchener Stitch in other knitting applications where I can lay the two pieces of knitting flat so I can see what I am doing, but in the toe you don't get that luxury and working in the small space and with the needles in the way makes it more challenging.  I used the tutorial at Knitty.

And here is a beauty shot of the Avira shawl:

Mystery Sock 2011.1 - One sock finished

I finally finished up one of the socks for the Mystery Sock 2011.1.  The pattern is called Snowdrift.  It is by Renee Leverington of GoddessKnits.  The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select in Sugar Maple, 100% Superwash Merino.  I still have trouble with the Kitchener stitch at the toe, but hopefully I'll get better with practice, and I plan on getting lots of practice this year.  Now, back to the second sock...

Avira - Finished!

The last clue came out yesterday and I spent last night and today finishing it.  I love the shape of the shawl, especially the spine of yarn overs going up the center.  The shawl is not large, more of a shawlette.  The only real challenge is the cast on because the shawl is knit from the bottom up.  There were 311 stitches for this size, a larger one would probably have twice that many.  The main advantage of a shawl knit this way is that the rows get shorter rather than longer.

This is the first project for the Light and Dark Lace Club.  The yarn is PennyRose Yarns Benji in Light Orchid, 100% superwash merino.  The design is by Ruth Greeenwald of PennyRose Yarns.

Avira - Clue 2

I spent most of this past week in California for work.  I left Monday afternoon and came back on the red-eye Wednesday night, arriving at Dulles International Airport at 0545.  After stopping in briefly at work to check my email I came home and relaxed, watching musicals on TCM, and knitting.  I have found that when traveling to California it is better if I take a red-eye back.  I hate being away from home, and I can sleep on the plane almost as well as I can sleep in a hotel.  It is far better than getting up at 0300 to take an early flight back.  And the drive home from the airport is easy because the traffic is all going the other way.  The other advantage is that by the time I have gotten home I have effectively put in my eight hours and can go home - to knit and relax.

In Dreams Mystery Shawl - Clue 1

Last year, Susan Pandorf of Sunflower Designs kicked off her Lord of the Rings knitting project with the Evenstar Mystery Shawl.  Sad to say, the only pattern from the first year (The Fellowship of the Ring) is the Rivendell Smoke Cowl, but I plan to remedy that in the near future.  This year, she is launching the next series (The Two Towers) with the In Dreams Mystery Shawl.  This is Clue 1.  It is already shaping up to be another exquisite pattern.

The yarn is Eos from The Unique Sheep, gradient color way - Eleanora
50% Tussah Silk, 50% Merino
1260 yards in 4 ounce, each gradience skein is 315 yards/1 ounce

Initially I was going to start with the purple, but after thinking about it I decided to go with the blue.

The beads are Beadcats stock no. 2-08-636-91:  lavender transparent lined with marine blue, iridescent.

Working with the Eos is making me want to knit another Evenstar shawl in the Eos that I had bought as one of the possible yarns last year.  I think it would be a lovely shawl in the silk/wool blend, very different than the pure silk that I knit it out of.

Orchid Pullover - Body Done

I finally finished the body of my Orchid Pullover.  This is the January Flower of the Month Colorway from Fiesta Yarns.  The colors are more subtle than some of the previous offerings.  They remind me of spring and Easter.  The subtle colors make for some interesting variations in the overall presentation of the colors in the knitting.  Because of the fairly short color runs they reinforce each other and appear more vibrant in the back and forth knitting of the very top and in the ribbing, but for the majority of the body they blend together.  The difference was striking enough that when I started my third skein on the bottom ribbing I thought I must have gotten more than one dye lot.  It will be interesting when I start on the sleeves.  I suspect the colors will appear more vibrant there as well.

The sweater pattern is a simple top-down v-neck raglan, I used Sweater Wizard software.
They yarn is Gracie's DK in Orchid
21 stitches and 29 rows to 4 inches on size 6 needles
70% Extrafine Merino, 15% silk, 15% cashmere
310 yards/100 grams