Bioluminescent Marine Life - 7 Days Done

It is fun to compare the way the colors play between this project and the comfort blanket.  Here is day 5.

Day 6.

And Day 7.

The colors so far:

Day 1 - Blue Sea Squirt

Day 2 - Brain Coral

Day 3 - Electric Clam

Day 4 - Violet Sea Slug

Day 5 - Peppermint Shrimp

Day 6 - Squat Lobster

Day 7 - Mauve Stinger

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang Garter Stitch Shawl

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid 2021 Jekyll Advent Calendar

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Comfort Blanket - 7 Blocks Done

When I finished up the fifth block I then had to decide how I wanted to work the second row.  I had originally thought to keep working from the left to the right, but when I looked again at the color progression of the yarn set I decided to work the second row from right to left.  This creates a zig-zag pattern with the decrease lines, which I am fine with.

I just thought that the sixth block against the first block would be too different.

The seventh block is a shocking pink, and only a tonal variation, as opposed to the other blocks that are pretty riotous when it comes to the colors.

The colors thus far:

Day 1 - Blue Sea Squirt

Day 2 - Brain Coral

Day 3 - Electric Clam

Day 4 - Violet Sea Slug

Day 5 - Peppermint Shrimp

Day 6 - Squat Lobster

Day 7 - Mauve Stinger

Pattern:  Comfort Blanket by Louise Tilbrook

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid - 2021 Jekyll Advent Calendar

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

 

Campfire Cardi - One Sleeve Done

This sleeve took me a couple of starts to get it looking the way I wanted.  I did the pick up in the slipped stitches, one per stitch, which left me short on the number of stitches called for, so after the pick up I worked a round and did kfb increases to get to the correct stitch count.  Then I did the short row shaping called for in the pattern, working German short rows.  Once I got through all of that the rest of the sleeve was smooth sailing, just round after round.  I will note that the pattern calls for knitting 16 inches from the underarm, and states that should be about 136 rows.  The stated gauge of the pattern is 36 rows for 4 inches, which would mean that you should knit 144 rows, which is what I knit, and once again my gauge swatch did not lie, but obviously the designer’s did.  I did go up to a US 4 needle for the sleeves.  I started out on a US 3, but I do knit tighter on circular needles, especially on the smaller circular needles, so I had to go up a needle size to maintain my gauge.

Pattern:  Sage Cardi by Zanete Knits

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm) for the body, US 4 (3.5 mm) for the sleeves

 

Comfort Blanket - 4 Blocks Done

My Comfort Blanket is also proceeding well - popcorn or potato chip knitting.

I have already started the fifth block, and then I will start the next row.  At this point I am thinking of starting the next row above the first block, and always working left to right.

Day 1 - Blue Sea Squirt

Day 2 - Brain Coral

Day 3 - Electric Clam

Day 4 - Violet Sea Slug

Pattern:  Comfort Blanket by Louise Tilbrook

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid - 2021 Jekyll Advent Calendar

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Bioluminescent Marine Life - 4 Days Done

My shawl is growing with each remnant used up.  Here is Day 3.  And below is Day 4.

I do love this simple pattern, just k2, (k, yo, k) in the same stitch, end with k2tog, k2 on the right side, knit on the wrong side. Then add a knit on border.

The colors so far:

Day 1 - Blue Sea Squirt

Day 2 - Brain Coral

Day 3 - Electric Clam

Day 4 - Violet Sea Slug

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang Garter Stitch Shawl

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid 2021 Jekyll Advent Calendar

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Bioluminescent Marine Life - 2 Days Done

Of course I still needed to use up that 8 grams somehow, so I cast on one of my simple boomerang garter stitch shawls.  I had forgotten how much fun they are to knit because of their simplicity.  I like the contrast between how the colors blend in the shawl vice the blanket.  Basically, after I finish a square on the blanket, I join the yarn to the tail in the shawl and knit away.  More popcorn knitting.  I will work a knit on edging with the large skein that came with the set, and with what is left do some sort of edging on the blanket.

The top photo is day 1, this photo has day 2, so you can see the change.

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang Garter Stitch Shawl

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid 2021 Jekyll Advent Calendar

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Comfort Blanket - 2 Blocks Done

When Mad Scientist yarns did their Hertzsprung Russell inspired Advent Calender in 2020 I was pretty much gob-smacked and super impressed with the creativity and skill, so in 2021 I purchased another Advent Calendar set.  This one was not quite what I was expecting, so I set it aside.  The theme is Bioluminescent Marine Life.

It is nominally a fade, but it is pretty crazy and I was really at a loss as to what to make with it.  Fast forward to today and Louise Tilbrook’s Comfort Blanket.  It is just mitered squares, and you can make them different sizes and, so long as you follow a few basic rules, they will fit together.  You join them as you go so there is very little finishing.  I’m doing the 40 x 40 stitch squares, which should have taken more yarn than they did (I’m using about 12 grams, vice the 23 stated in the pattern), but my size is about right.  My little blanket will be 5 squares by 5 squares.  I may work an edging with the solid skein, but I haven’t decided yet.  Once you get the square picked up it is mindless knitting - or popcorn knitting, if you prefer, because you want to see how the next color will look.

As with the 2020 Advent Calendar, there is some nice swag.  The project bags are very nice, and there are little picture cards with the marine life that inspired each of the colors.  I am sad that they closed up their shop, but they still put out the occasional special, to support charities.  They just did that with an amazing purple to green fade set, that I had to get, although I really, really, really, do not need to buy any more yarn.  Ever.  But we know how that works, don’t we.

Pattern:  Comfort Blanket by Louise Tilbrook

Yarn:  Mad Scientist Yarns Hybrid - 2021 Jekyll Advent Calendar

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Campfire Cardi - Body & Hem Done!

Once I remembered how to work the 1/1 cables without a cable needle (by rearranging the stitches between the two needles) this went reasonably fast.  There were a few mistakes that I had to tink back or fix when I fell asleep while knitting, but nothing major.  I have picked up the stitches around one of the armholes and my concerns about picking up with the slipped stitch edges was confirmed, so were I to knit this again I would not slip any edge stitches.

I’m liking the colors and the contrast hem.  I’m also very happy to be using up stash yarn.  My stash is ginormous and I really need to focus on knitting what I have, despite all the beautiful yarns out there.  These colors are from The Loopy Ewe, first incarnation (they sold their store and it continues, but is not quite the same), and were special Camp Loopy colorways.  They are doing Camp Loopy again this year but I am not going to participate.  The rules were just too much for me.  It is movie themed, and I love the Camp logo, so I thought I might at least get a t-shirt, but they changed the supplier and the shirts are 60/40 cotton/poly, instead of 100% cotton, and I just cannot wear polyester anymore - it makes my skin itch - that bummed me out as I wear my old Camp Loopy t-shirts all the time.  But not participating is okay, because it keeps me from buying more yarn this summer to work the camp projects, and saves me the stress of trying to come up with projects that fit their requirements.

Pattern:  Sage Cardi by Zanete Knits

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Campfire Cardi - Body Done!

I’ve mostly been focusing on my Campfire Cardi and finally finished up the body and have transitioned to the hem.  When I started the second skein I did a yarn usage check - easier to do on the body as opposed to figuring out the stitch count for all that upper body shaping - and based on my yarn usage I confirmed that I would not have enough to work the hem and the cuffs with my main color.  I had figured that I wouldn’t, just based on the yarn requirements and the amount of yarn that I have in that color (only 3 skeins), so I had already planned on working a contrast hem and contrast cuffs.  The main color is Campfire Connections, which was a special Camp Loopy color from The Loopy Ewe back in 2015 (I think), so it is no longer available.  For the hem and the cuffs I picked another special Camp Loopy color  from 2017 - Walking the Gangplank.  The effect is dramatic, but I think it will be gorgeous when it is finished.

I did make one change to the pattern that impacted the hem and my set up row.  There is a 1/1 cable that is worked fives times on each front, separating the 12 stitch and 6 stitch cable patterns.   The pattern calls for a 1/1 left cross, and on the right front (the first front worked) I did the 1/1 left cross, but when I got to the left front I decided to reverse it to a 1/1 right cross so they would mirror each other.  The hem is worked in a 1/1 left cross, p1, pattern that continues the 1/1 left cross from the front panels.  Obviously that would not work for me on the left front, so half of my hem is worked in the 1/1 left cross and half my hem is worked in the 1/1 right cross, switching in the middle of the back.  The pattern calls for working increases on the set up row so that the existing 1/1 cables and purl columns will continue into the hem uninterrupted.  I did increases, but I did not follow the pattern instructions.

So, to work the set up row, first I found the midpoint of the back and placed a split marker, as this is where I need to flip the orientation of the 1/1 cables.  I did not work any increases in the beginning and ending stockinette stitch sections.  On the 12 stitch cables I worked the first two stitches in pattern (1/1 cable), did a m1p, worked in pattern across to the last two stitches, and did another m1p.  On the 6 stitch cables I worked 2 stitches in pattern, m1p, worked 2 stitches in pattern, m1p.  When I got to the center back I purled two stitches together - the one before the marker with the one after the marker, which made my stitch count work out.

And my swatch has not lied, not even a little bit.

Pattern:  Sage Cardi by Zanete Knits

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm0

Ruffled Scarf with Fingerless Gloves - Cast On!

I finished up my Fan Shawl 3 on a Tuesday, and Wednesday morning as I was packing up my rolling backpack to go in to the office I had a brief moment of panic when I realized that I did not have a knitting project to throw in my bag.  Fortunately I had caked up another of the Hand Painted Knitting Yarn kits in my stash.  This one has been sitting on my cutting table for a while now, and I knew that I would need it at some point in the not too distant future, so I caked it up when I was down there one day caking up other project yarn.  So all I had to do was take a quick peek at the pattern and see what needle size I needed, grab those needles and throw everything into my work bag.  This is a fun little knit, good for meetings, but not for reading documents because of the short rows.  I am using German short rows, although the pattern doesn’t specify any kind of short row treatment.  The nice thing about the German short rows is that they provide a clear visual, which helps me keep track of where I am if I get interrupted in the middle of a wedge.  I am enjoying the colors. 

Pattern:  Ruffled Scarf with Fingerless Gloves

Yarn:  Hand Painted Knitting Yarns Precious

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm)

Fan Shawl 3 - Finished!

I finished this up this past Tuesday, but didn’t get a chance to block it until yesterday.  I have three of these shawls now because originally I had planned on giving two away (to my sister and her business partner) at my annual trip to the Bead & Button show.  But, alas, that show is no longer happening.  The Bead & Button magazine stopped publishing in October of 2020, and the last show was in 2019.  Not that I would have gone anyway.  I stopped going after the 2018 show.  I still have the show program for the 2020 show that never was.  I cast this on back in March, so it’s taken me almost two months to finish it.  It took me about a month to get through the first skein and about a month to get through the second.  At least I’ve been consistent in my attention to it.

Pattern:  Fan Shawl

Yarn:  Hand Painted Knitting Yarns Superwash Fine Merino

Needle:  US 7 (4.5 mm)