Observatory MKAL - Clue 4 Done

I finished up clue 4 yesterday in the early evening, but couldn’t get a photo until this morning.  This was a pretty easy clue and I really enjoyed the interplay of colors between my B and C skeins.  The next clue brings in my D color, and has more nupps, which I will replace with beads.  Here is an almost full shot of the shawl so far.

The designer’s use of shape, line and color is really quite wonderful, and she is always helpful and supportive when folks are picking their colors for a project.  When she approves my choices I am always confident that I will love the resulting shawl.

Pattern:  Observatory MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering 

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Coral Coast Wrap - Finished!

Rounding out my week of finishing projects is my Coral Coast Wrap.  This was just a fun knit, and I enjoyed the different colors.  I’m not a huge fan of singles yarn, but I do make the exception for these kits.  The different lace patterns kept things interesting, without being too difficult, and with enough straight knit or purl rows that I could do some reading while working on it.  It also made for good meeting knitting, and I had a lot of meetings last week.  Last weekend my sister Virginia called me about looking for linen thread and during the course of the conversation asked me how many projects I had going at the same time.  I tossed of “around two dozen”, which was pretty close, as when I spoke to her I did have twenty-three.  Now I’m down to twenty (plus eight that are hibernating).  

When I have that many projects on the needles I tend to focus on a couple at a time, working them in spurts until I get one pretty close to done, then I’ll focus on that one till I finish it.  Now that these are off the needles I’ve gone back to my two MKALs.  I have fallen behind on my Observatory MKAL - clue 5 is out and I haven’t finished clue 4, although I made a lot of progress on clue 4 yesterday.  Plus I need to work Clue 4 of my Box of Chocolates MKAL.

Pattern:  Coral Coast Wrap by Ambah O’Brien 

Yarn:  Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles 

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Zusammen - Finished!

 

The next project that I finished up was my Zusammen Shawl.  I had gotten past the short row shaping and was in the last set of stripes before working the lace part.  I was doing great on my stitch counts until I did the second to last set of rows for my contrast color.  When I finished the sixteen rows I counted my stitches and I was two stitches short.  I will claim distraction during a football game as the culprit.  I was not going to rip back at this stage of the game, so I continued on with the pattern and added four rows to the last contrast color stripe section, taking it from twelve rows to sixteen rows, which I like because it mirrors the symmetry of the other large strip sections.  The lace section was a lot of fun to work.  I’ve never knitted this particular lace pattern before and I really like it.  This was a fun pattern, and I may make more, I certainly have plenty of fingering weight yarn in my stash.

I didn’t even mind working lace with a dark yarn.  I can’t capture the subtle colors in my contrast color, but there are lots of them - burgundy, blue, teal, just to name a few.

Pattern:  Zusammen by Susanna Winter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Camel Silk (MC) and Alcidina Momentum (CC)

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Crocus Vest - Finished!

 

I finished this up last weekend.  It made for some good knitting while watching play off games.  Now I need to get it boxed up and sent on its way to its new home.  I do hope it fits Carol.  I texted her for her “over arm measurement” and she asked if I was knitting her a straight jacket.  She got excited when I told her it was for a vest and when I sent her a picture of the yarn, her reaction was “yum”.  When I was working this I caked up all four of my skeins and ordered them from darkest to lightest.  I ended up using 379 grams of yarn, so I have 85 grams of my fourth skein that I can use for something for myself, which makes me happy as this is a lovely colorway.  I will hold onto that fourth skein until I know that it fits her, just in case I have to make adjustments.

Pattern:  Practically Vest by Kelly Herdrich

Yarn:  Dream in Color City

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Observatory MKAL - Clue 3 Done

 

I did not immediately start clue 3 because clue 3 has nupps, and I don’t do nupps, so I waited until a couple of other fast knitters had knit the clue to see how they were being used in the design before I decided how I wanted to handle them.  In the end I replaced the nupps with beads, which is my standard response to nupps.  I treated the stitch as established in the design, slipping it on the right side and purling it on the wrong side.  I chose a light amber/copper bead to provide a bit of contrast and color.

Pattern:  Observatory MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering 

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Coral Coast Wrap - Section One Done

 

I have actually knit this section twice.  Somehow the first time through I got off a stitch on the first repeat of the pattern, so my k2togs did not line up nicely.  I thought about just ignoring it and even got two-thirds of the way through section two before I decided that I really did need to fix it.  So I ripped back and then started knitting from the original section one.  You can see the remnants of the original cast on.  Seems I knit a bit tighter this go around.  I am keeping the first and last two stitches in garter stitch as I think it just gives a nicer edge.

Colors:

January - Cedar

Pattern:  Coral Coast Wrap by Ambah O’Brien

Yarn:  Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Coral Coast Wrap - Cast On

 

I finally cast on my Coral Coast Wrap this morning.  This is the 2020 Jimmy Beans Shawl Club, and the pattern is by Ambah O’Brien.  I went with the Jimmy Beans colors, rather than the original colors, which matched the inspiration photo.  I haven’t seen too many wraps in these colors, it looks like most folks went with the original colorway.

I did not work a long tail cast on for this one, as you have to cast on 301 stitches. Instead I did a knitted cast on and I just kept casting on until I had a bunch of stitches.  Then I paused and start counting from the beginning of the cast on and placed a split ring marker after 50 stitches.  After placing the first marker I would count from the marker for placing the next one until I had the right number of stitches.  The last section has 51 stitches.

When I unpacked the last two tins yesterday, I had one in each hand and couldn’t remember which one was November and which one was December.  I guessed, and guessed correctly.  Fortunately they do have the month on the little slip of paper that is in the center of each ball.  Here are all the colors on the board that came in the December package in order from left to right and then top to bottom.

The January color is Cedar

Pattern:  Coral Coast Wrap by Ambah O’Brien

Yarn:  Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Box of Chocolates - Clue 3 Done

 

Clue 3 went very quickly, and it was pretty easy as well.  No tinking back on this one.  I really like the speckles in this skein.  Now I’m impatiently waiting for Clue 3 of the Observatory MKAL.  I did finish Dancing in the Dark.  It was okay, not as much fun as the other two.

Pattern:  Box of Chocolates by Hilary Latimer

Yarn:  Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Box of Chocolates - Clue 2 Done

 

I also finished up clue 2 of the Box of Chocolates MKAL.  More fun textured stitches.  I did have to tink back a couple of times, mostly because I wasn’t paying attention, or got distracted, or was falling asleep while knitting, or didn’t read the instructions carefully, or didn’t interpret the instructions carefully.  Totally operator error.  But I’m super happy with the colors of my main color skein.  I also finished the second mystery by Hilary Latimer.  More fun brain candy.  So I started reading a third book by her, which is a spin off series, I guess - Dancing in the Dark:  An FBI Knitting Game Spin-off.  I almost stopped reading it because every chapter starts out with a passage inside the head of a serial killer, which is not somewhere I want to be.  That and the steamy scenes between two of the main characters were turning me off (I skipped about four pages of that at one point).  Hilary could write bodice rippers if she wanted to, but I haven’t read or enjoyed one of those since the summer I was thirteen.  I spent exactly one summer reading romance novels and bodice rippers before I got bored and discovered science fiction.  I even started a different mystery, but in the end I decided to go back and finish this one, or at least persevere for a while longer.

Pattern:  Box of Chocolates by Hilary Latimer

Yarn:  Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Observatory MKAL - Clue 2 Done

 

I think clue 2 went faster than clue 1, mostly because there weren’t those special stitches that I added the beads to.  This clue brought in the second color, but on the wrong side instead of the right side, which created a pretty cool blending effect.

Pattern:  Observatory MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Crocus Vest - Sleeves Done

 

I quickly made it to the point where you bind off the sleeve caps and cast on for the underarm.  This photo was taken right after casting on for the underarms.  I ended up having to rip back and redo this part because I had somehow captured one of my stitch markers and didn’t notice it until I had knit a couple of rows.  But it was an easy fix and I’m way past this point now.  In fact I’ve started the third skein.

Pattern:  Practically Vest by Kelly Herdrich

Yarn:  Dream in Color City

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Crocus Vest - Cast On

 

I can’t very well send something knitted to my sister Virginia without also sending something to her business partner (and our adopted sister) Carol, so I grabbed this yarn out of my stash and cast on a Practically Vest.  I’ve been wanting to make one for her for a while.  I love the colors of this yarn.  It is one of The Loopy Ewe exclusive Dream In Color colorways - Crocus Hocus Pocus.  I’m sorry that I don’t have more as it really is luscious.  I do have a skein of the colorway in the fingering weight, but I would love a vest of my own in this colorway.

This is also great mindless knitting for reading or watching TV and will knit up fast so I can get it on its way to its new home.

Pattern:  Practically by Kelly Herdrich

Yarn:  Dream in Color City

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Observatory - Clue 1

 

The other Mystery Knit Along that I’m doing is by Larissa Brown.  I’ve done hers before and love how creative she is both with the design of her shawls and with her use of color.  She does not include beads (yet) in her knitting, but I went ahead and added some to mine.  This pattern takes 4 skeins of yarn and I grabbed som Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering that I had in stash.  The colors are (from left to right):  Kyanite, Moonstruck, Matrix and Ametrine.

Pattern:  Observatory MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Box of Chocolates - Clue 1

I signed up for two Mystery Knit Alongs that both started with the New Year.  This is Box of Chocolates by Hilary Latimer.  It takes 5 skeins of yarn, and every clue has 3 options.  Her group on Ravelry is called Criminal Knits...for the Serial Knitter in all of us.  She also writes mystery novels.  I read the first one Malice in Wonderland.  It was a fun and quick read.  I’m now reading her second one The Dyeds of March.  They are definitely brain candy - but these days, that is just what I need.

I grabbed 5 skeins of Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock that had found their way into my stash over the past year or so.  The colors are (from left to right):  Aspenglow, Frozen, Slopeside, Unity and Enchanted Pony.

Pattern:  Box of Chocolates by Hilary Latimer

Yarn:  Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Zusammen Shawl - Short Row Wedges Finished

 

This has been pretty good mindless knitting for my first week back at work.  The short row wedges were fun.  Now I’m into the stripes.  I like the contrast between my yarns both from a color and a feel perspective.  The light colored yarn is camel and silk so it has great drape.  The darker yarn is Merino and has a more solid feel to it.

Pattern:  Zusammen Shawl by Susanna Winter

Yarn:  Alcidina Momentum and Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Opinionated Cardinal Shawl II - Finished!

 I finished this shawl up on January 2.  As this is for my sister Virginia, I only did the lace on the cast off edge.  I went with black as this shawl is a companion to her Woodsman Shawl that I knit for her about a year ago.  I used the same edging on both shawls, and the same yarn for the edging.

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang

Yarn:  SpaceCadet Yarns Oriana & Simply Socks Simply Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Zusammen Shawl - Cast On

 

I am always on the lookout for good two- and three-color shawls for using up my large fingering yarn stash and I found this one recently.  The dark skein is from deep stash - Alcidinia Momentum, the color ways is The Swan Nebula.  The lighter one is a more recent acquisition from Expression Fiber Arts - Oasis Fingering in Vintage Rose.  I struggled with finding a good contrast yarn to go with the Momentum.  I had originally grabbed a skein of gray, but there was no pop.  I also considered blue, red, even pink.  Then overnight I dreamed the solution and dug the Oasis Fingering out of my recent stash box.  I hope it works.

Pattern:  Zusammen Shawl by Susanna Winter

Yarn:  Alcidina Momentum and Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Fingering

Needle: US 4 (3.5 mm)

Opinionated Cardinal Shawl II - Border Started

 

After I finished up the body of my second Woodsman Shawl, I grabbed this skein of yarn, which had already been caked up and cast on another garter-stitch boomerang shawl.  Well, actually, I tried a scarf in Fisherman’s Rib first, but that just wasn’t working out, so I frogged and went with old faithful.  I needed a mindless project for knitting while reviewing documents.  I almost frogged this one because I already have one and don’t need another in this colorway.  I even thought about making socks with it.  But in the end I kept going and now I’m on the border.  I’m only working the border on the cast off edge as I’m going to send this one to my sister Virginia, and that is how she wanted her Woodsman Shawl edging done.

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang Shawl

Yarn:  SpaceCadet Yarns Oriana 8-Ply

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stillness Shawl - Finished!

 

With some focused knitting I was able to finish this shawl up last Wednesday.  The pattern has you work the bind off in color C, but I decided to just continue with color D.  Blocking was a bit of a challenge.

This original pattern is a circular shawl, but I would not have wanted to try to block it as one.  As you can see, mine came out as three-quarters of a circle, which is fine.

Pattern:  Stillness Shawl by Helen Stewart

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri

Needle: US 5 (3.75 mm)