Andromeda Cape - Second Transition

For the drive home I worked on my Andromeda Cape.  I made it through all of the skein 5 section (I started with Skein 6), and part way through the skein 4 section.  This photo does not do justice to the colors in this yarn, I'll have to try to get one outside so you can really see the subtle colors and the richness.  When I knit with it I feel as if I'm going to dive into a tropical lagoon.  I'm hoping that I have enough yarn left over to knit a top.  Now I need to get back to my test knit for Once and Future King.  I'm almost finished.

Pattern:  Andromeda Shawl by Janine le Cras (converted into a cape)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Magic Mirror
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Galadriel's Mirror - Finished!

This past weekend we went to Tennessee for a family reunion (on Bruce's side).  I took this project along to work on as I only had about half of chart 5 to complete.  I knit about half of the remaining rows on the drive there and knit the rest the next day at the reunion itself.  I staked out a rocking chair on the screened in porch and settled in for some serious knitting.  I did not do the looped bind off called for in the pattern, opting instead for a standard lace bind off.  There were a couple of reasons for this - one was that the looped bind off really didn't seem to be part of the overall lace pattern - you just crocheted 6 and then crochet through 3 stitches.  If the bind off had actually been part of the pattern, the way it is for Rosemary Hill's Fiori di Sole I might have done it but I didn't understand why you would go through all that trouble to create the elaborate lattice work only to close it up with the bind off.  The other reason I went with a simple lace bind off is that I was running low on yarn and didn't want to get part way through only to run out.  As it was, I ended up with 4 grams left.

The room that I block in doesn't get direct sunlight, but I wanted to get a blocking picture, just to show how I pinned it out - so I turned on a light and used the flash.  The last half of Chart 5 you're increasing more than just 2 stitches, so you get a ruffle effect.  I probably could have made it more ruffly than I did.

I blocked it after we got back yesterday and I accidentally laid it out right side down, so this is actually the wrong side, but with the way Susan Pandorf's designs are - highly textured - they look good from either side.

Here is a slightly closer shot so you can really appreciate the texture of this amazing design.

I replaced the bobbles with beads.  As you can tell from the first photo, this is a large shawl - about a 7 foot wingspan, and about 40 inches deep.  I used about 340 grams of yarn or about 1240 yards.

Project:  Galadriel's Mirror by Susan Pandorf (from The Fellowship of the Ring Series)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Silverlode
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm

Andromeda Cape - First Transition

I've been busy working on my test knit for Once and Future King, the latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along, but I was feeling a bit brain dead today so I took a break and went back to this project, which at this point is pretty mindless.  I'm just past the first transition, which I did on row 61, at which point I have 31 stitches per section, just past the halfway point to the 60 stitches per section that I need before I start working the first of the two borders.

Pattern:  Andromeda Shawl by Janine le Cras (converted into a cape)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Magic Mirror
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

A Little Something Unique - Finished!

I finished this up at the Bead & Button show last weekend, and blocked it this past week after I got back from the show.  This was my first attempt at dyeing yarn.  I was trying to create a gradient set.  I dyed the mostly green skein first and then the skein with the purple in it and had to go back and try to dye a skein that would join the two.  Obviously I needed more green in that skein and less blue but I am still happy with the result.  The yarn is wonderfully soft and I really love the contrast edging.

Pattern:  A Little Something by Samantha Roshak
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Super Wool, hand dyed by me at The Unique Sheep Retreat 2015
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)