Sulenkti - Section 2 Done

This is another pretty mindless knit and I’m enjoying my color choices.  The yarn has very nice drape and sheen.  The pattern does not provide stitch counts, and I haven’t really worried about it too much, but out of curiosity I figured out how many stitches I am supposed to have at the end of Section 2 and I am three stitches short.  I knew that I was off when I got into the last part with the slipped stitches, but I really didn’t worry about it as stitch count is not really that important for this shawl.  As long as you are doing the increases and decreases correctly most of the time missing one or two here or there is not really going to have much of an impact.  And who wants the stress of always worrying about stitch count?

Pattern:  Sulenkti by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Blossom Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Perseverance Knit Along - Clue 5 Done

I have actually had the yarn for this clue for almost a month, but I was focused on my Elora and wasn’t worried about working on this.  With my Elora finished I now feel a little bit at loose ends, so I pulled this out this weekend and worked clue 5.  When I was not quite half way through I decided to rip back as the gauge seemed a bit too loose and I was worried about running out of yarn.  No, I did not do a gauge swatch.  I haven’t done a gauge swatch since clue 1.  I’m just winging it and if I think it is going to be too loose I rip back.  Ripping back never bothers me, and this yarn is very well behaved.  I switched to US 7 needles at the start of this clue to work the transition rows, and then switched to US 6 for the lace section.  I switched back to US 7 for the last two rows.

Pattern:  Perseverance by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Enduring Worsted

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm), US 7 (4.5 mm), US 8 (5.0 mm)

Seascair Blanket - Ten Squares Done

I am still making progress on my mindless work knitting, and have completed ten of the gray squares.  I have four more squares to go.  I have the next skein caked up and cast on and have made progress on square eleven.  And yes, I do pull this out during meetings, even when I am in the office.  I remember years ago pulling my knitting out during a two week class, and one of the instructors wanted to call me out for it, but the other instructor told him it was fine.  Turned out that he was a crocheter and understood how knitting or crocheting something simple helps keep you focused.  I also used to knit during my seminar classes in graduate school.

Pattern:  Seascair Blanket by Carol Feller

Yarn:  Stolen Stitches Blasta

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

 

Sulenkti - Section 1 Done

Expression Fiber Arts is also hosting a Knit Along of their pattern Sulenkti, which is sort of a knit version of Zakret.  For this one I had no real problem picking colors.  The colors are, from left to right, Floral, Inflorescence, Budding, Luminous, Deliquescent

The pattern calls for a US 6 (4.0 mm) needle, but I started out with a US 5 (3.75 mm) needle.  The fabric was still too loose for my liking, so I ripped it out and restarted on a US 4 (3.5 mm) needle.  It is still pretty open fabric but I think it will look nice when blocked.

Pattern:  Sulenkti by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Blossom Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Elora - Finished!

To join the collar to the body I picked up stitches along the body and then picked up the same number of stitches on the collar.  I picked up two stitches for every row, except on the neck where I picked up one stitch in each bound off stitch.  When I picked up stitches on the collar I started in the middle and worked outward, matching the pickups.  Then I held the two pieces with the right sides together and worked a three needle bind off.  I finished it up Sunday night and finally got pictures of me wearing it this afternoon.

And on the dress maker dummy:

 

Knitting a garment has rekindled my love of garment knitting.  Shawls are so easy for me, and let me use up my beautiful special skeins, but there is so much satisfaction in knitting a garment, especially one as elegant as this.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)

Elora - Twelve Colors Done

And the collar is done!  I did not use all of the last color - actually skein 3 of the set - as I wanted to have roughly equal runs of each color.  I ended up working 14.5 repeats on each side and working a three-needle bind off to join.  I finished this on this past Saturday.  Once it is dry I get to join it to the body.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)

Zakret - Section 1 Done

I finished section 1 last night.  I will confess that I did not work a gauge swatch - I typically don’t for shawls - but I was a bit worried that my gauge was too tight so I did a quick swatch this morning on a hook one size up and it came out too loose, so I’m sticking with what I have.  I like the fabric, and if it comes out on the smaller size I can always work more repeats of the pattern sections to make it bigger and use up my yarn.  Now I need to decide what color to use next.  The colors I have used so far are Inflorescence and Fragrant.

I have the the next color caked up but I may swap it out for the green at the end.  I am also still considering using the yellow as the main color throughout, just because it is such a lovely cheerful color.  I  am not going to cut the yellow yet so I can keep my options open.

Pattern:  Zakret by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Blossom Fingering

Hook:  3.75 mm (F) 

Elora - Eleven Colors Done

Only one more color to go!  I am so excited about being so close to finishing this beautiful design.  I have already caked up my last skein.  It shouldn’t take me long to finish the collar and then block it and attach it.  I am already thinking about what I should wear with it to model it.  For now the body of the cardigan is hanging out on my dress maker dummy upstairs.  So far I have knit 11 repeats of the lace pattern.  The pattern calls for 14 repeats, so I could conceivably end it there, but that would leave a fair bit of this last skein leftover, so I will have to think about that.  I can probably get 17 or 18 repeats total if I use up this last skein, which would make the collar a little bit longer.  We shall see.

As these get longer I did consider putting them on a single straight needle just to make them a bit easier to wrangle.  I did manage to find a set of straight needles in the right size in my needle collection and even knitted them on to one.  I think it would definitely make things a little easier to wrangle, but I found them awkward and even uncomfortable to work on and did not want to risk a strain or injury so I knit back on to my circular and continued as I had been.  It isn’t that hard to keep things straight.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm).

Elora - Ten Colors Done

Having finished up the body I am now working on the collar.  As the collar is worked from the bottom up I am actually starting with the first skein of the set.  I am knitting them both at the same time on the same needle, working from both ends of the cake.  I was able to work 5.5 repeats of the lace pattern.  The pattern calls for 14 repeats, but I will probably end up with a few more than that.  I haven’t decided if I will graft the two pieces together or do a three needle bind off.  Based on the shoulder bind offs, a three needle bind off will not add much in the way of bulk, so it depends on how lazy I’m feeling when I get there.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)

Elora - Nine Colors Done

I finished up the sleeves, using most, but not all, of color nine and blocked the body Monday.  The cardigan fits me well, although the sleeves are a bit on the long side.  The yarn feels wonderful to wear, very soft and silky and very light, with wonderful drape.  It is 80% Merino and 20% Tussah silk.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)

Elora - Eight Colors Done

I finished up color eight this past Sunday.  Once again I worked from both ends of the cake, alternating between the sleeves until I got close to the end, and then pulling out the remainder and cutting it in two and then winding the two ends up into little balls.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)

Zakret - Chain On!

So I guess when it is crochet, you chain on, as opposed to cast on.  But anyway, Expression Fiber Arts has started a summer Crochet Along of the pattern Zakret by Janica York Carter.  It started on June 3 and runs through August 27, so hopefully I should be able to keep up.  The pattern calls for 5 different colors and I went with some bolder jewel tones, although I’m not sure if I will stick with these colors.

I really like the yellow and may keep that as a main color and pick a couple of the other colors to use for contrast.  The way the pattern is designed there are three stitch patterns (I’ve done the first one here), and that set of three stitch patterns is repeated 4 times, changing colors each repeat.

Rep 1:  MC - Color A, CC - Color B

Rep 2:  MC - Color B, CC - Color C

Rep 3:  MC - Color C, CC - Color D

Rep 4:  MC - Color D, CC - Color E

I have my colors laid out from left to right in the order that I am planning on using them, but we will see what happens when I get to repeat 2.  The yarn is Blossom Fingering 50% Rayon from Bamboo, 30% Merino, 20% Tencel.  I really like the sheen, and it feels wonderful to work with.

Pattern:  Zakret by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Blossom Fingering

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Elora - Seven Colors Done

I finished up color seven yesterday.  I worked from both ends of the cake this time, only separating and cutting when I got towards the end.  There is a pretty dramatic difference between colors six and seven as you can see from this picture of the entire set laid out.  In the set the skeins are numbered 1-12 from lightest to darkest.  I started with skein 12 - the darkest.  At this point the sleeves come down to my elbow.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)

 

Mulberry Ombré Dress - Four Colors Done

I did add another project into the rotation - my Mulberry Ombré Dress.  I cast this project on in 2018 - April 7 of 2018.  It hasn’t seen too much activity since then.  I picked it back up because I wanted to read and knit and needed something a bit more mindless than the Elora to work on.  I did manage to start working color 4 before I set it aside, but I’ve now finished color 4 and worked a fair bit of color 5.

Pattern:  Akita Dress by Adrienne Larsen

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Mulberry Ombré 

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

 

Elora - Six Colors Done

I finished up my sixth color yesterday.  I had divided it into two approximately equal balls when I caked it and did an amazing job in dividing it - the place where I switched to the next skein was within a few inches on both sleeves.  I did end up working both sleeves simultaneously, working a row on each sleeve before advancing in knitCompanion.  Once I started working in the round I reset the chart and added all of the decreases in so it will prompt me when I get to the correct row.  I have already started working my seventh color.  I did not bother dividing the ball into two, I am working from both ends.  With just a little care it is easy to avoid twisting and tangling.

Pattern:  Elora by Linda Marveng 

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri in Brick & Clay Ombré 

Needle:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm)