Goldwing in Green - Over Half-way

I started the second skein this week and am working the decrease part of the pattern now.  I did one repeat with no increases or decreases before beginning the decreases.  I am working this skein from the inside, which is the dark green.  I do like the subtle change of the color from light to dark and back again.  This is the first time I've used this yarn and I'm very curious how it will block.  The yarn is dyed, I believe, by knitting a blank and painting it in order to get the gradual color change.  Then it gets caked up.  The yarn is still a little kinky and the fiber feels a little compressed, I'm hoping it will bloom a little when I block it.

Pattern:  Goldwing by Ambah O'Brien
Yarn:  Canon Hand Dyes William Merino Gradient in Emeralds
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug - Finished!

I finished this up last Sunday, but it took several days to dry, and then I had to wait until this weekend to get some decent pictures.  I have already started a Charivari Shrug, but haven't gotten very far on the central panel yet.  I really need to finish up some WIPs, and also finish my current test knit.

I thought about using up the remains of the skeins working the short rows, like I did on my first two shrugs, but in the end just didn't feel like dealing with it.  I may use the remains to make some kind of modular knit thing, maybe a scarf, or something.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug - Side Two, Two Stripes Done

I ended up spending a fair bit of time working on my shrug this week - home for two days with something, not sure what - head cold or totally freaked out allergic reaction - reading and knitting.  I also finished a book in two days, something I haven't done in a long time.  In high school I routinely read a book every day or so.  I also spent a lot of time prepping and cleaning up the pattern for my latest test/sample knit - The Unique Sheep's Annual Christmas Club.

The other great news is that Biscotte has finally released the shrug pattern!  They have named it The Cupcake Shrug.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Goldwing in Green - Making Progress

The shrugs are such easy mindless knitting that it is easy for me to just lose myself in them, but I decided that I really needed to work on some of my other WIPs, so this past week I picked this one back up, using it for my TV watching knitting, and reserving the shrug for knitting while reading.  This was going to be my third Camp Loopy project, but my test knit took precedence, so that didn't happen.  It is definitely looking more wing-like, and the green is gradually getting darker as I get closer to the end of the cake.  The pattern is actually pretty boring, and I have found myself a couple of times forgetting the increase stitch that increases the depth of the center section.  Fortunately I've caught it pretty quickly when I do it, and I'm trying to be a bit more mindful of it.

Pattern:  Goldwing by Ambah O'Brien
Yarn:  Canon Hand Dyes William Merino Gradient in Emeralds
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug - One Side Done

It didn't take me long to finish the rest of the first side, although I did take a break from this project to work on one of my other WIPs.  I have also done the pickup on the other side, and started another center panel for another shrug - this time another Charivari shrug.  On my first two shrugs - my Gazania Shrug that I gave to my sister Liz and the Watermelon Shrug that I made for Carol I used up all of my yarn by working short rows in garter stitch before joining.  I've been looking at those projects and thinking about resurrecting that practice.  When I made the Charivari Shrug for my sister Virginia I was using it to finalize the pattern and didn't want to do any of those kinds of improvisations, but I do like the look and it uses up all of the yarn.  It may even make them sit a little better when they are worn.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug - Two Stripes Done

And part of the third.  I spent a fair bit of the Labor Day Weekend reading and knitting, so this project saw a lot of progress.  I got so into the book that I was reading that I almost forgot that I had clues to prepare for The Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along.  This is very meditative knitting.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug - One Stripe Done

First stripe done on my Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug.  I love the way that our perception of colors is changed by the colors we put next to them.  That is one of the attractions of these color block shrugs.  They are little lessons in color theory.

A funny thing happened this morning on Facebook.  Biscotte posted a picture of my Peacock Shrug, but it was the picture I took of the shrug before I had gone back and fixed the order of the blues on the first side.  Naturally it caused some confusion.  There was a comment of "What the..." in French.  I resurrected my old French language skills and I think I managed to respond in passable French - stating that it wasn't finished, and then I posted a picture of the blocking shrug in my response.  I haven't seen any reaction yet.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug - Center Panel Done

After finishing up the center panel of my Peacock Shrug I immediately cast on the center panel of my Twinkle, Twinkle Shrug and put the project bag in my work bag for my mindless at work project for document review, telecons and training.  I used the darkest skein of the set for the center panel.  It looks like a really dark blue in this picture, but it is actually a blue over yellow overdye job.

You can see the colors in this progress shot.

Thanks to document review and training I had made a lot of progress on the center panel and I finished it up last night while we watched a movie (A Most Wanted Man).  Now I have to think about the order of the colors.  I will be starting with the lightest yellow, but the order of the blues is still undecided.

I do like the energy of the bottom photo - ordering the blues the same way I did on the Peacock Shrug - but I'm still not 100% sure.  The nice thing about knitting - I can always change my mind.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Peacock Shrug - Finished!

I thought it would be fun and informative to give some before and after shots of my Peacock Shrug.  This is before blocking. You can see how scrunchy it is.  The measurements before blocking were 9 inches for the folded width and 42 inches for the length.  Here is a blocking shot.

The dimensions now are about 10 inches for the folded width and 57 inches for the length.  To block I simply laid it out without stretching excessively and gently patting out any distortions.  It relaxes substantially, but that is what gives it the drape when you wear it.  I finished up the knitting last knit - reversing the two blue stripes on the first side, and then did the finishing this morning.  It took me about 2 hours to do the kitchener stitch grafting, the three rounds of knitting around the opening and the bind off.  One thing I can say about these projects, I'm getting pretty good at kitchener stitch.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)