Falling Leaves Shrug - Pattern Released!

The pattern is now live on Ravelry.  You can find it here:  Falling Leaves Shrug.

Falling Leaves Shrug - Finished!

 

I finished up my Falling Leaves Shrug this week and finally got some beauty shots this afternoon.

Now I just have to finish writing up the pattern and release it!

Pattern:  Falling Leaves Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Verdandi
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Funky Skunks

I took some time off from knitting last week to do a little bead work.  It seemed appropriate as I had just returned from Bead & Button.  I have been accumulating kits of designs by my sister Virginia and decided it was about time that I started making them.  This is a design from 2012 and is called Funky Skunk.  The bottom one came in the kit, the top one is made from beads that I picked out at the same time as I acquired the kit.  They were in a little bag in the kit zip lock.  The design is pretty simple - a base of single needle right angle weave using size 11 and size 8 seed beads, topped with loops of small daggers.

Falling Leaves Shrug - Knitting Done (mostly)

I finished up the knitting and the shrug is blocking before I join the edges and then bind off the rest.  I used up all of my yarn and the remains of skein 6 from my Verdandi test knit.  I'll scale things back a little when I finish writing up the pattern, but also put in some instructions for adjusting the size.  Now I have to get back to my sample knit and pattern write up for Biscotte.

Pattern:  Falling Leaves Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Verdandi
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stegosaurus Cowl - Finished!

I finished up the cowl on Friday, and it finished drying this morning so I was able to get a beauty shot, such as it is.  The variegation of the yarn makes it a rather busy cowl, but it is done and uploaded to the Loopy Ewe and the photo has been approved.  Phew!

The cowl is long enough that I can pull it up over my head like a hood if I want to.  I received my yarn for the second project - the challenge is to knit something that was published in 2014 or earlier.  I went through my queue to find mine and came up with Desert Arrows Vest by Jean Clement.  It was published in November 2014, so it should just squeak in under the wire.  The yarn I picked is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cloud Nine in Taste the Rainbow.

I will confess that I was drawn to the colorway first, and then made the final decision on the pattern.

Pattern:  Fine Art Cowl by Kelene Kinnersly
Yarn:  Into the Whirled Pakokku Sock in Stanley Stegosaurus
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm), US 3 (3.25 mm)

Stegosaurus Cowl - Camp Loopy 2017 Project One

I'm late getting started on my first Camp Loopy project.  Last year I took my project to Bead and Button with me, but not this year.  I also had to change my project plans.  The challenge was to make something that was reminiscent of scales or feathers, the texture of the dinosaur.  I was originally going to make Azure Dragon, and I purchased the called for yarn during Camp Week - Malabrigo Rios in Aniversario, but during Bead and Button I took a bad fall that could have been much worse (nothing broken, but bruises and strains) and my hands and wrists are just not up to knitting Worsted weight yarn at a tighter gauge, so I scaled back my ambitions and pulled out the Camp Club yarn, pictured above, and found a simple cowl to knit up - the Fine Art Cowl.

Pattern:  Fine Art Cowl by Kelene Kinnersly
Yarn:  Into the Whirled Pakokku Sock in Stanley Stegosaurus
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm), US 3 (3.25 mm)

The Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Alongs

It has been a long time since I've posted about The Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Alongs.  I started test knitting for the MKALs back in the fall of 2014, and it just seemed kind of strange to blog about the project so long after it was done.  After The Once and Future King, in the summer of 2015, we did Wrinkle in Time in the Fall of 2015.  The colorway is Silverlode on Luxe, with a little bit of gold for the bind off because I ran short of yarn.

And then Heidi in the Spring of 2016.  This shawl ended up going home with my sister Virginia.  She put it on with this elegant black dress and it just looked so great on her with her white hair.  The colorway is Wild Blue Lupine on Selene.

Next we did The Velveteen Rabbit in the Fall of 2016.  This was the first time I used a 12 skein set.  These are pretty cool because the colors wrap - they are a circle and you can start anywhere in the circle and go in either direction.  The colorway is Enchanted Garden on Luxe.

Here is the yarn in skeins.

Our most recent MKAL was The House at Pooh Corner.  I used another 12 skein set - Realm of the Faeries on Nimbus.

Our next MKAL is Beauty and the Beast.  It begins on August 25.  I have my yarn and will soon begin the test knit.  I'm using Tulip Festival on Eos.  I think the bold colorway will work well with the pattern construction.

Bambara Wrap - Beauty Shots

I finally was able to get some beauty shots of my Bambara Wrap - it came out pretty large, but then there are almost 1600 yards of yarn in it.

Pattern:  Bambara Wrap by Ambah O'Brien
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm)