Lothlorien Cape - Chart 1 Done

I finished up Chart 1 this morning, with 10 grams left of skein 2 (you can see the remains sitting on the shoulder of the dress maker dummy).  I'll switch to skein 1 soon.  I'm not sure when I'll get my additional yarn to finish this, but I already have my next project picked out.  The yarn came last week.

This is Bare Naked Wools Confection Worsted.  Bruce was surprised when I pulled it out of the bag because it is natural (the color is Nougat) and I usually go for color.  I ran across the quintessential over-size cabled sweater - what I think of as a "car coat" - on Ravelry and simply had to make it.  The pattern is Vendange by Anne Hanson and it is just a classic.  I thought about doing it in a Spirit Trail Fiber Works yarn so I could make it in a color, but I think it needs to be done in a natural wool color.

I haven't forsaken color completely.  I also received my yarn for my next test knit.

Pacific Sunset on Tinsel Toes.  But I think I'm going to use this to make another Open Eye Tunic - using the 2 left-most skeins for the panel inserts and the other 4 for the body.  I have a set of Silverlode on Luxe that I think I will use for the test knit.

Pattern:  Lothlorien Cape by Susan Pandorf
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Wild Thing in Summer's End
Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

Lothlorien Cape - Skeins 4 and 3 Done

I've been working steadily away on this, enjoying each decrease that means 16 fewer stitches to work.  I started this on 47 inch circulars, but now have it on 32 inch circulars, which makes it a little easier to handle.  With the shorter days it is harder to get good photos during the week.  I took this one on the floor of my studio which has natural daylight LED lights.  The only challenge there is making sure I don't get any shadows in the picture.  I really love this colorway.  It is a perfect gradiance set with each skein blending beautifully with the previous skein with no need at all for transition rows.  I have been using up each skein before switching to the next.  With the heavier yarns I actually splice the skeins when I join.  This yarn has four plies, so I unply them in pairs and then re-ply a pair from each skein.  I have not been worried about matching the colors exactly when I join the skeins, I just work until I have about 12 inches of yarn left, unply the same amount on each skein and reply leaving enough tail to weave in.  You end up with four 2 ply tails, two long ones and two short ones and when you weave them in they disappear because they are only 2 plies.  If you do this right you can't even see where you've joined on the wrong side and your piece looks seamless.

I weighed each skein after I caked them and based upon my stitch count and yarn usage I have determined that I won't have enough yarn to complete the cape, but I've already contacted The Unique Sheep and I'll be able to get more.  I'm going to send Kelly a sample of my first skein to help with the color matching.  I bought this set back in 2011, and it has 500 grams.  According to the skein labels each skein is supposed to have 83 grams, which would be 498 grams.  I have another set that I bought before this one, when the pattern first came out and the labels on that set have 85 grams as the weight, which would give you 510 grams.  I haven't caked up those skeins and weighed them, so I don't know exactly how much yarn I actually have in that set.  When I checked the kit page on The Unique Sheep website yesterday it stated that the kit contains 675 grams, so obviously something happened since I purchased my yarn over 4 years ago.  I have noticed issues with yarn amount requirements on patterns before, especially with independent designers, because not everyone weighs each skein and keeps track of their yarn usage.  Even with commercial yarns you can't assume that the weight on the label is the weight of the skein.  I had a set of commercial yarn I was using for a vest and every single skein was short, so I ended up running out of yarn and having to make the vest in another yarn from my stash.  It worked out because I actually like the other yarn I used better than the yarn called for in the pattern, but it just goes to show that you can't make any assumptions about yarn amounts.  When I first started knitting I didn't track my yarn usage, but now I almost always do, and post it on my project page.  I'll even update the stash amount when I know exactly how much yarn I have, and then record the exact amount I used in my project.

Pattern:  Lothlorien Cape by Susan Pandorf
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Wild Thing in Summer's End
Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

Lothlorien Cape - Skeins 6 and 5 Done

I've had this set in my stash for a little while and I pulled it out recently inspired by another Raveler's Lothlorien Cape.  It was sitting in a corner of my living room for when I was looking for a project to take with me to Ohio.  I have almost finished one test knit - just the bind off and the tech editing left - and I haven't jumped into my next test knit (although I have the yarn).  I didn't feel like working yet another shawl and I wasn't feeling up to working on an actual garment that requires me to check gauge and potentially modify the pattern, so I pulled this out.  I figured the cables would keep it interesting so I wound all of the skeins into cakes, dug out some needles, and set up the pattern in knitCompanion.

This is another pattern from Susan Pandorf's Fellowship of the Ring set.  Her first set in her Tolkien inspired designs.

I cast on in the Element on the way to Yellow Springs, Ohio, to visit family, finishing up Skein 6 while we were there and starting Skein 5.  I finished Skein 5 this morning and have just started working with Skein 4.

Pattern:  Lothlorien Cape by Susan Pandorf
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Wild Thing in Summer's End
Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

Peter Pan - Finished!

I finished up Peter Pan over a week ago, and have even worn it to work a time or two, but it has taken a while to get some decent pictures.

I like the way the shawl emerges from the shadows.

Here's a blocking picture.  As you can tell, it is a long shawl.  I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture.

Pattern:  Peter Pan by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 6 (4 mm)

Karamagara Shawl - One Repeat of Chart 2 Done

This week I've mostly been working on a test knit, but I finally got a decent picture of my progress on my Karamagara shawl.  I am a few rows in to the second repeat of Chart 2 and am on my third skein already.  Based upon my stitch count/yarn usage spread sheet the shawl should use up almost all of the yarn.

Pattern: Karamagara Shawl by Chrissy Prange
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Mermaid Bouquet
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Karamagara Shawl - Chart 1 Done

I finished up Peter Pan last Sunday but haven't been able to get good photos, other than blocking shots.  I messed around with a couple of other projects but really didn't find anything that caught my interest so I grabbed this kit from my stash.  I bought it some time ago from Earthfaire.

I am not using the beads that came with the kit, instead I am using green-lined chartreuse.  I have also changed the bead placement.  The pattern has beads going up the spines of the yarn over, knit 1, yarn over lines, but they don't really lay very well when you stack them like that for any length.  Instead I am outlining the lace motif, placing the beads after working the k2tog and ssk stitches.  The original pattern also had the wings on either side of the central lace panel worked in garter stitch, but I'm working them in stockinette.  I just think they will block out better that way.

I did get a wonderful bundle of yarny goodness from The Unique Sheep on Friday, including yarn for a test knit, so I will have to get started on that this weekend.

Pattern: Karamagara Shawl by Chrissy Prange
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Mermaid Bouquet
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)