She Sells Seashells - Second Increase

This photo was taken just before I did the second increase row, effectively doubling my stitch count.  After I did my increase row I counted, just to make sure I had the correct number of stitches, and I was off by 3 stitches.  I went back and looked at my two eyelet rows and discovered that on the second eyelet row I had missed a yarn over, which dropped my stitch count by 1, which meant that I had 170 stitches, instead of 171.  The increase row is supposed to 171 - 6 + 1 = 166 stitches, which would give me 337 stitches total, 331 body stitches and 6 edge stitches, but I only had 328 body stitches, and I needed 2 more stitches on the body to be able to work an even number of repeats of the lace pattern in the next section.  Fortunately the pattern calls for another increase at the beginning and end of the row on the next row, which I had not noticed when I was working my modifications. Before I counted I wasn't going to work those increase, but I ended up working them to make up for my missed stitch.  I may do another increase at the end of my first lace row, just to get my stitch count up to what it is supposed to be for my modifications, and because it makes the beginning and end of the row symmetrical.

Pattern:  Snowmelt by Helen Stewart
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

She Sells Seashells - Cast On

Almost exactly a year ago I knit the Snowmelt shawl by Helen Stewart.  I knit mine out of a Spring Trio dyed up by Laura of The Unique Sheep.  The set was called English Garden, so that is what I called my shawl.  I'm not a big fan of semi-circular shawls as I don't find them quite as wearable as I would like.  Before I knit the shawl I did play with the idea of turning it into a full circle cape, and even started a spreadsheet to make the modifications, but figuring out how to shorten the pattern so that you can still work it with three skeins is tricky until you've actually knit one and tracked the yarn usage.  I suppose I could have just found two more skeins in my stash that would have worked with my original three, but oddly enough that thought did not occur to me at the time.  One modification that I did make to my Snowmelt, and a modification I will try to make to any other semicircular shawls I knit, is to create a neck opening instead of having the top edge flat.  I finally wore my English Garden shawl to work this past week and was pleased with how wearable it actually was.  It still left too much of my front uncovered, but it stayed in place well, and I was able to pull the bottom edge around when I needed just a little more warmth.  I also discovered that I really liked the texture and the overall design.  Here is a front shot of my English Garden.

One of the things that I realized when I was wearing the shawl was that I really didn't need to make a full circle cape.  I really just needed to add enough stitches to close the gap at my neck, and let the design do the rest.  When I got home from work I pulled up my spreadsheet and got to work.  One of the things that I do with Helen Stewart's patterns is pull the tables from her pattern into Excel and add in the instructions that she has left out.  I don't understand why she goes to the trouble of creating the table and then leaves out the row instructions, especially as she goes to the trouble of putting in the [RS], [WS] indications.  It just makes no sense to me, so I put the tables into Excel, fill in the missing information and then export them to PDF so I can pull them into knitCompanion.  When I did this pattern last year I also did the modification to the neckline - an I-Cord cast on.  I measured the neck on my shawl and figured out how many more inches I needed.  Then I calculated my stitch gauge from my finished shawl and figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on.  I then went through the table and filled in the stitch counts as appropriate for the increases called for in the pattern.  The last thing I had to do was check the lace patterns.  I looked at the charts to determine the repeat stitch count and noticed that with my new stitch counts I had just 1 extra stitch to account for, as opposed to the 7 extra stitches in the original.  That was an easy thing to fix.  I updated the lace instructions and was ready to go.

For this version I decided to use another Trio, I think this was a Summer Trio, called Shell Collecting.

I caked up my skeins and cast on yesterday afternoon while we watched the 2018 Star is Born (a wonderful movie, although the story is sad).  I wasn't sure how the colors were going to play together.  The skeins are numbered 1-3, from left to right in the picture, but I'm using them in reverse order, so skein 3 is color A, skein 2 is color B and skein 3 is color C.  So far I like how it is coming together.  I will probably still run short on yarn, and may have to shorten a section or two, unless I decide to stash dive and find another color that will go with my trio.  Or maybe I'll use some of the leftovers from my English Garden...

Pattern:  Snowmelt by Helen Stewart
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - Finished!

I finished this up this past Tuesday.  Once I had gotten it to a certain point I really just wanted to get it finished.  The saddle shoulders was fun, as was the short row shaping on the collar.  I used shadow wraps on the short rows.  I did one more decrease on the saddles when I was working across to take care of the gap issue on the last turned row.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - Three Skeins Done

Whenever I need a break from my test knit, I pull this project out.  I've got the sleeves attached and am almost done with the shaping that leads up to the saddle shoulders.  I've finished the neck edge shaping.  I will confess that I found the instructions not quite as clear as I would like, but I was able to figure them out.

I'm very happy with how it is turning out and looking forward to finishing it.  I've caked up my last skein of the yarn.  I still have two leftover cakes from the sleeves.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Dusky Nor'easter - Two Skeins Done

I've had to stop working n my test knit while I wait for beads.  Shocking, I know, but none of the beads that I have in my stash will work.  So, I've been focusing on my Dusky Nor'easter.  I think in real life the bottom of the sweater won't come down quite so far, but I can only put it so far up on my dress maker dummy without pulling the stitches off of my knitting needles.

You can actually see the color difference between the two skeins that I've used so far - such is the risk of using these yarns.  I know "they" suggest using two skeins at a time and alternating them every other row, but I think that would just give me stripes.  So, unless you want to unply the two skeins and reply them so that you're using half the plies from each skein with the other skein, I'm not sure what the right answer is.  I just don't mind the variation.

Pattern:  Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Yarn:  Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Winter Wonderland Vest - Finished!

I finished this up last Sunday, reading and knitting and listening to the rain fall on the roof.  A perfect morning.  It took a while to dry and then it took a while to get a reasonable picture.  I had to find another easy project to put in my work bag, so I pulled out a sock project that I started just over two years ago.  One of these days I may actually finish them, although I don't get much time for knitting at work any more.  I received a promotion two weeks ago, I am now the Chief Engineer for the Engagement Systems Safety Branch, which has been keeping me super busy.  Maybe when I have a document to review I'll be able to pull them out.  In the meantime, I've been digging through my stash, planning more projects, and working on my latest test knit.  The first chart has been taking forever.  I even did videos of the tricky stitch, called a "bunny ear decrease".  It is a way to decrease 3 stitches into 2 stitches symmetrically.  It is not so hard when done from the knit side, but when done from the purl side it is pretty fiddly.  Thankfully I am almost done.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Super Wool Worsted in Winter Wonderland
Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)