Artsygal 2 - Cast On

Once I got the first Artsygal shawl to the point where it was no longer mindless knitting, and had freed up a needle by finishing the border on one edge of the shawl, I cast on a second Artsygal shawl.  I've made  fair bit of progress this weekend, and finished reading one book and made it over half way through another (Felse mysteries by Ellis Peters).  I actually cast on this shawl a week ago, exactly (August 18), but finally got around to taking a photo today.

Pattern:  improvised
Yarn:  Artsygal
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Artsygal 1 - Finished!

I was going to do another knit on border across the top edge, but after 3 repeats I realized I wouldn't have enough yarn to complete it with the border that I picked, so I ripped it out and decided to block it and then decide if it needed more embellishment.  I quite like how it came out.  I still have 27.5 grams of the second skein left - all the yellow part.  I'm not sure what I will do with it.

Pattern:  improvised
Yarn:  Artsygal
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Artsygal - Main Border Finished!

I finished up the border on the decrease edge and the cast on edge last night.  I still have 27 grams of yarn, enough to do another knit on border across the increase edge, which is the neck edge of the shawl.  I am going to use a portion of the same border that I used on the other two edges, it just won't be as deep.  I've picked up stitches along the neck edge, but I had to cut my yarn and start picking up the stitches at the opposite end so that when I start working the knit on border the color sequence of the border will not be interrupted.  I joined my yarn to the tail of my cast on, which anchored it nicely and takes care of having to weave in either of those ends.

I debated working some short rows at the corner between the decrease edge and the live stitches edge, but in the end I decided that the turn angle was shallow enough that blocking will take care of things.  You can see the remains of my second skein sitting on top of the dress maker dummy.

Pattern:  improvised
Yarn:  Artsygal
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Artsygal 1 - One Skein Finished!

I finished up the first skein and attached the second skein and started working a border on the bottom edges.  I picked a wide border to use up as much of the second skein as possible.  This border is from a pattern called Damask Rose that was part of a Unique Sheep club a while back.  I modified the chart to make it garter stitch lace, in keeping with the garter stitch of the body.  I ran out of the first skein while knitting a right side row on the body, attached the second skein, and when I got to the end of the row I grabbed another needle and started picking up stitches every other row (between the purl bumps) on the decrease edge of the shawl.  Then I cast on for the edging and started working my way back.  The decrease edge had exactly the right number of stitches to get 10 repeats of the border pattern.  The live stitch edge has enough stitches for 10.5 repeats.  When I get done with that I think I will work another edging across the top, but work it so that the right side shows when it is folded back.  I'm having fun playing with this shawl.  I was telling my husband that when you have a skein of yarn that is very precious you are reluctant to just play with it.  With these skeins I don't have any reluctance at all and I'm quite enjoying the results.

Pattern:  improvised
Yarn:  Artsygal 3-Ply Merino
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Desert City Wattage - Finished!

After blocking my Perfect Blend I focused on my third Camp Loopy 2019 project and finished it up on Friday.  This is the fifth time I've made this pattern and I just love the bright colors in this one.

I have another set of the same base in colors that I think might suit my sister Virginia.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  Dream in Color City in Desert City Wattage
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Perfect Blend - Finished!

I finished up the shawl Thursday evening, and blocked it Friday morning.  I took Friday off having worked 17 extra hours in the preceding two weeks.  It is hard to capture all the colors in this one.

Blocking was a bit of a challenge and I had to get a little creative with the arrangement of the blocking pads.  I loved all the special sets that were dyed up for this project, but I'm very happy with my ombre and I still have 660 yards of yarn left.

Pattern:  Perfect Blend by Casapinka
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Perfect Blend - Clue 5 Done

I finished up Clue 5 of the Perfect Blend MKAL this morning.  The last clue comes out on this coming Monday, although we've been promised a "Clue 7", a smaller project to use up our leftovers.

Pattern:  Perfect Blend by Casapinka
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Desert City Wattage - Cast On

Of course, with the coming of August, comes the third Camp Loopy project.  This one was easy, just pick your favorite yarn.  One of my favorite yarns is Dream in Color.  I love color.  For this project I picked a color with a lot of life.  The colorway is Desert City Wattage and the picture does not do it justice.  It doesn't help that it is pretty jumbled up on the needles.  For the pattern I picked one of my favorites for showing off beautiful yarns, Practically by Kelly Herdrich.  This is my fourth time knitting the pattern, and won't be the last.  Oddly enough I couldn't find my marked up printed pattern so I pulled it into knitCompanion.  I had figured out the increases for the yoke, but figured them out again and even tweaked them a little to try to make them a little more symmetric.

Here is another photo after I've bound off the cropped sleeves and started working the body.  I'm almost through the second skein.  This is nice relaxing knitting that I can read while working on.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn:  Dream in Color City in Desert City Wattage
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Perfect Blend - Clue 4 Done

I also completed Clue 4 of the Perfect Blend MKAL a week from yesterday, back on August 2.  This has been fun and I'm enjoying how the Goblin Ombre is working up.  The zig-zag lightening bolts in the last section were cool.  Another stitch pattern I've never seen before.  I hooked a split marker through them when I pulled them off the needle, just so they wouldn't run away from me, or slip through the other loop.  There was one knitter that worked the cable pattern on the plain stockinette sections, which I quite liked the look of, although I did wonder how it would block out.  Cables do pull the fabric in.

Pattern:  Perfect Blend by Casapinka
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Starry Dreams - Finished!

I finished this on July 28, but the last two weeks have been pretty crazy work-wise, and I just haven't gotten around to posting it.  I did the bind off with some leftover Dream in Color Classy in Lunar Zazzle from my first year participating in Camp Loopy.  I might have had enough of the Dream in Color Starry to work the bind off, but I really didn't feel like playing yarn chicken.  I can't really seem to capture the beauty of this shawl in pictures.

It wears very well, sitting nicely on the shoulders.  The blocking picture at least reveals the lace pattern.  The design with the lace and cables in the first part is very clever and provides a nice shaping.

Pattern:  Hopes and Dreams by Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes
Yarn:  Dream in Color Starry
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)