Trinus Shawl - Mosaic - One Repeat Done

 

I have not been neglecting this project entirely and lately have made progress on the mosaic section.  It is a bit addictive.  Juggling three cakes of yarn is a little bit of a pain, but not too onerous, as long as one is careful.  I’ve also been careful about the tension on the neck edge, trying to keep it loose, without being too loose.  I am really happy with how the colors are working out.

Pattern:  Trinus by Ambah O’Brien

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stellar Fade - Skein 21

 

My half moons are getting bigger.  I’ve finished up Skein 21 and have Skein 20 all caked and ready to go. Skein 21 was inspired by Barnards Star.

And here is the card that goes with it.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade by Larissa Brown 

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar in Hybrid

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stellar Fade - Skein 22

This skein was inspired by Gamma Crucis, or Gacrux, a star in the Southern Cross.  A constellation I’ve never seen.  I lost at yarn chicken on my last row and ran out of my wound off skein 15 stitches shy of the end, so I just slipped those last 15 stitches to my right hand needle so I could take the picture.  Here is the Skein 22.

And look!  Another surprise extra,  a cool stitch marker, but I will probably use it as an ear-ring as it is actually an ear wire.  And here is the info card.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar in Hybrid 

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Stellar Fade - Skein 23

 

Once I established my process, it has been easy to make progress.  I have completed Skein 23 and am halfway through Skein 22.  I forgot to mention the cool labels on the bags that the skeins come in.

One or two of the letters are done as an element from the periodic table.  And the labels are held on with a nice locking stitch marker, and my preferred style!  Skein 23 was inspired by Mira.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar in Hybrid 

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Caladenia Shawl MKAL - Finished!

 

I finished this up on this past Friday and blocked it Saturday morning.  I am very pleased with how it came out.  It is a generously sized shawl.  The yarn is an Autumn Trio from The Unique Sheep that I purchased back in 2017, so it was also a stash buster for me (and I have a lot of stash to bust).  I did modify the lace section by keeping the increases going on the center spine.  I just thought it would look nicer and be easier to block.  The other modification that I made is that I used the same size needle for the entire shawl.  The pattern instructions lists US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4 mm) and has you use the larger needle for the mosaic section and the smaller needle for everything else, including the lace section.  A US 5 (3.75 mm) is pretty much my go to needle for using with fingering weight yarn when making a shawl so that is what I went with.  I just made sure that I was careful of my tension on the mosaic section.

Blocking wasn’t too hard, although I did pin out every picot, and I went back after this photo was taken and evened things out.  I always take blocking pictures because they make it easier to spot any inconsistencies in the blocking.

Pattern:  Caladenia Shawl MKAL by Ambah O’Brien 

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stellar Fade - Skein 24

 

As I am working this shawl from the other end of the spectrum, I cast on with Skein 25.  I have now knit Skein 24.  This time, after I caked up the skein, I wound off just the amount I needed for the first half-moon, and then knit the second one to the same row in the pattern.  I have not yet cut the yarn on the second half-moon, and I have a pretty long tail on the first one.  I’ll match the length of the tail and then cut.  After I cake Skein 23 I will again wind off just the amount I need for the first half-moon, join the skein and continue knitting.  This skein was inspired by Antares.  I love how subtle the fade is.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar in Hybrid

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stellar Fade - Cast On

 

I have been thinking about knitting another Lunar Fade by Larissa Brown.  I really love the shape and have been thinking of other color combinations.  Lately I’ve been thinking about knitting it using one of my Advent sets.  When I saw the complete 2020 Jekyll set I realized it would be perfect.  Just to refresh your memory, here is my original Lunar Fade.

You start with the two semicircles.  I decided that this time I would make them identical, and I also decided that I wanted to start with the red end of the spectrum.  So, back to the box I went and pulled out skein 25, and was surprised when two bags came out instead of just one.  More extras!  I opened the second bag and discovered a bar of soap, inside of another bag.

My plan is to use about one-quarter of each skein on the semi-circles.  I did screw up on the first one because I made a mistake while I was knitting it and didn’t realize it until I had already knit the second 

one and cut my yarn.  When I went to take the photo of my two half moons I realized that they were not the same.  I counted the slipped edge stitches and the first one was bigger.  Looking at it I realized that I must have repeated two rows in the middle, so I pulled the needles and reknit it, raveling the first one as I went.  I ended up with 0.7 grams left of the first one.  Skein 25 is Betelgeuse.

Pattern:  Lunar Fade by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar Hybrid

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

The Science Experiment - Cast On

 

The knitting pattern that comes with the Mad Scientist Yarns 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar is called The Science Experiment.  It has three different charts that you can mix up anyway you would like.  I started with skein 1, Xi Persei and chart A.

The yarn in my set is Hybrid - 70% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere goat, with 437 yards / 100 grams.  You can make this shawl as big or as small as you like, and the pattern gives measurements for four different sizes,  using roughly 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, or the full set.  Looking at the measurements I quickly decided that I did not want to make the shawl using the full set as it would be ginormous.  So I decided to use about half the set for this shawl.  But then I was faced with the dilemma of what to make with the other half.

Pattern:  The Science Experiment by Melinda Measor

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid

Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)

Mad Scientist Yarns - 2020 Jekyll Advent Calendar

 

Last year I bought a Mad Scientist Jekyll Advent Calendar, thanks to the able enabling of Ambah O’Brien.  I had to get one because it was a fade based upon the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for stellar classification.  How could I resist?  At the end of April they announced their 2021 Advent sets and this year the fade set is using bioluminescent marine life as the inspiration.  Of course I had to get one.  They also had a picture of the Jekyll set, which was available for re-order.  Now, I went a bit nuts on advent sets last year, and haven’t even opened all of them, including this one.  But, having ordered one for this year, I decided maybe it was time to open this one.  I did open the box when I received it, and was enchanted by the packaging.

I did order a full-sized skein, and also the bag.

Which came neatly packaged in this lovely mesh bag.

Now, I don’t really need more project bags, but how could I resist this one?  Constellation fabric!  So cool.  And the inside is lined with sparkly purple fabric.  Purple!

The extra goodies were in their own little mesh bag.

I was pleasantly surprised to find knitting needles in there!

Not that I really need more knitting needles, but I always like it when a yarn set (especially if that set comes with a pattern) comes with needles so I don’t have to go get one out of my needle stash.  But wait!  There is more!  Cards!

Every skein has a card that goes with it that has information on the inspiration for that skein, beautifully printed on glossy card stock.

The care and thought that went into this Advent Calendar really just blew me away.  All that was left was to pull the first skein, cake it up and cast on.

Caladenia Shawl MKAL - Clue Four Done

 

I finished clue four late yesterday afternoon and grabbed a quick, not so good, scrunched up photo.  I got a better photo as I was working row three of the last C1 section and switching to a needle with a longer cable.

I even started on clue five last night.  There was a bit of a to-do in the forum as there was a disconnect between the set up rows and the chart so the decreases were not lining up correctly on the second half of the shawl.  I got mine lined up but decided to rip back this morning as the lace section was not continuing the spine and I decided it would look better (and maybe block out better) if I did continue the spine.  So I put in an afterthought life line in the first row of my C3 and ripped back.

Pattern:  Caladenia Shawl MKAL by Ambah O’Brien 

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)