Blueberry Fields Shrug - Three Stripes Done

I've been working on a pseudo-test knit - for yarn quantities for a kit - plus staying up with my Rapunzel Redux, which means I haven't had as much time for some of my other projects.  I did manage to work some on this one, mostly because this is my stupidly simple knitting project for when I'm tired or watching something that actually requires me to pay attention (like Endeavor).  I have finished up the third stripe and started the fourth.  I like the color arrangement much better now - the color balance feels right.

My husband and I have been watching the Leonard Bernstein programs that aired on TCM in honor of his 100th birthday.  They are marvelous shows, he was an amazing man, and I'm finally learning some music theory.  It makes me want to learn more.  I have been very lax in my piano practicing.  For a while I was doing well, but then I let other things get in the way, and once you start to break a discipline, it decays very quickly.  I have found that is true with a lot of activities - like exercise.  I try not to beat myself up too much when I skip an activity, after all, every day presents you with a new opportunity to practice the discipline or activity that you want to cultivate.  As long as you don't fall into the trap of Scarlet - because there won't always be tomorrow, that is why we should always try to make the most of today.  I just don't believe in guilt and self-recrimination, they just create a lot of negative energy, and if you put negative energy out into the universe, that is what you get back.  If you don't like something in your life, figure out a way to change it, or change your attitude towards it.  You know, the old Serenity Prayer.  I just wish there were more hours in the day or days in the week - there are just so many things that I want to learn and do.

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

Rapunzel - Clue 4

Here is clue 4 of Rapunzel.  I'm skipping clue 4 on my Rapunzel Redux, picking things up again when I get to clue 5.

If you compare the last rows of the wing charts of clue 3 and clue 4 you will notice that they are almost identical. They both have the same lace motif of k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k9. Where they differ is how many knit stitches they have at the beginning and end of the rows, and how many times the motif is repeated.

For the right side, clue 3 starts out with k11 and ends with k3 while clue 4 starts out with k9 and ends with a k1.

For the left side, clue 3 starts out with the k3 and ends with the k11 while clue 4 starts out with the k1 and ends with the k9.

Two things are going on here - the start of the motif shifts over 2 stitches to the right, that is it starts earlier, and there are more repeats of the motif.  At the end of clue 3 on my Redux version there are 103 stitches in each of the wings, while in the original version there are 121 stitches in each of the wings.  And at the end of clue 4 in the original version there are 149 stitches in each of the wings.

So this is where we get to have some fun and get a little creative. All we have to do when we start up again with clue 5 is make sure that our motifs line up by adjusting the number of stitches we knit at the beginning, and then making sure that we mirror those adjustments when we work the left side. We will also have to make some adjustments at the end of the row for the right side wing and the beginning of the row for the left side wing, but I’ll leave that discussion till next time.

Pattern:  Rapunzel Shawl by Janine Le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Blueberry Fields Shrug - Two Stripes Done

I had actually finished up three stripes and was starting on the fourth when I decided that I really didn't like the color order of the stripes.  Initially I was going with the last two blues  in the photo below swapped, but then I decided that the most intense green and the most intense blue needed to be next to each other, so that got me through three stripes. 

But when I started the final blue stripe I really didn't like those two blues next to each other.  So, I swapped things around again.  Which meant ripping back to my very first stripe, and picking all those stitches back up again.  Fortunately the yarn tends to stay put, and I always pull that last row out one stitch at time, picking up that stitch in the process.  It is slow going, but generally keeps me from losing stitches.

And what I find so very cool is how the neighboring colors are impacting each other.  The blue that was looking so dull as the fourth stripe is really popping as the second.  I know, basics of color theory, right?  But I still love seeing it in action.

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

Rapunzel and Rapunzel Redux - Clue 3

Here is the third clue of Rapunzel.

And here is my Rapunzel Redux.

I only have 6 plaits of the braid, instead of 7, and only 5 repeats of the flower, instead of 6.  I only worked about half of clue 2 and all of clue 3.  Not a whole lot smaller, yet.  I'll be skipping clue 4 on my Redux version.

Pattern:  Rapunzel Shawl by Janine Le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

ECOLO Shrug - Finished!

I finished this up back on July 5, but it took me a while to get a decent photo.  I had taken the day off because we were getting a new heat pump/furnace installed.  I had to join most of the leftovers of the individual skeins to get enough to finish the opening.


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

Rapunzel and Rapunzel Redux - Clue 2

First, a picture of Rapunzel clue 2.  As I was working clue 1 of my Rapunzel Redux I went back and forth on how many rows of clue 2 I wanted to knit.  In deciding how to modify the shawl and make it smaller it really helps to read charts.  Looking at the clue 2 wings you can see that the motif in the final row (row 85) is the same as the motifs in rows 53, 61, 69 and 77, so I should be able to stop after working any of those rows (plus the wrong side return row).  Originally I was going to stop after row 53, then I thought about just working the entire clue, and then I decided to split the difference and stop after row 69 (plus the wrong side return row).

Pattern:  Rapunzel Shawl by Janine Le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Rapunzel and Rapunzel Redux - Clue 1

The latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along started yesterday - Rapunzel.  Above is the first clue from my test knit.  I am also knitting along doing a live hack to make a smaller version of the shawl.  The original is big.  Instead of a 4-skein shawl set (1260 yards), it uses a 5-skein shawl set (1575 yards).

I picked Black Day Lily on Eos for my test knit.  Eos is a silk/wool blend, but the wool dominates and it is one of my favorite lace weight yarns.  I've been wanting to knit something with this colorway for a while.  I used gold iridescent beads from my stash.

For my Rapunzel Redux I pulled a 4-skein set of Eos from voluminous stash - Sunset Road.

I decided to add extra beads on my second version.

I added beads to all of the double decreases in the wings.  I am again using beads from my stash - silver lined gold.  They are a little hard to pick out because they blend with the color of this skein - but wait until I get to the dark skein...

Pattern:  Rapunzel Shawl by Janine Le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Blueberry Fields Shrug - One Stripe Done

I finished up my ECOLO Shrug this past Thursday while I was home getting the downstairs AC installed.  It had gone out on June 19, fortunately it didn't get too hot, but we definitely noticed the humidity creeping up.  It is so nice to have a fully functional system again.  After laying it out to block I picked up the next shrug in my queue and started on the first stripe.  This is a perfect project for knitting while reading, and I had a couple of fun books to read on my Kindle - Design for Dying and Dangerous to Know by Renee Patrick, the pen name of a married couple.  The books are mysteries set in the golden age of Hollywood and incorporate facts into the fiction.  I learned about them from Eddie Muller, the host of Noir Alley on TCM.  The writing is good, and so are the mysteries.

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

May Flowers - Finished!

I finished casting this off Sunday morning.  I really like how it came out and may make another one.  I didn't pin it when I was blocking, I just laid it out on the mats and patted it into shape.

I do have a fair bit of yarn left over - the project only used about 238 grams, leaving me about 100 grams leftover.  I'm collecting all of my Kiri leftovers in a bag and will make something with them - maybe a hack on one of Ambah O'Brien's patterns.

Pattern:  Impressionists MKAL by Helen Stewart
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri Spring Trio
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)