Lock, Shock and Barrel Shawl - Cast On!

This is the last of the mini-skeins of the Nightmare Before Christmas Advent set, and it was setting up this project in Ravelry that clued me in to the stashing mistake I had made with this set and the Dragons set from 2018.  It took me a little bit to get it sorted, but it is sorted, at least on my project pages, even if it is still screwed up in my stash, which I’m just not going to worry about seeing as how when I complete these shawls all of the yarn will be used up.

Yesterday I started the second skein of the set while I was finishing up my latest read:  Dust Mites:  The Siege of Airlock Three by James A. Bacon Jr.  It was a wonderful read and I really want to see him finish the story.  So, if you like hard science fiction, with a realistic world (our own not too distant future) and characters and conflicts that make sense, I highly recommend it.

This is the set that is being used for this shawl.  I may change out the border color, but I will decide when I get there.

Pattern:  Over the Moon by Vicki Mikulak

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Shawl - Border Started!

I finally received the yarn for this border last week.  It took a bit of time to get here.  It was mailed from Loveland Colorado back on April 6, went from Loveland to Denver on April 7, left Denver on April 9, arrived in Richmond Virginia on April 16, and was delivered to me on April 17.  Usually my packages from The Loopy Ewe get here quicker than that.  But in any event, it did make it here safely.  I really like the color, it is Black Pearl, and it does have a sort of pearly quality to it.  It is quite interesting.

Pattern:  Improvised Garter Stitch Boomerang Shawl

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Electric Oogie Boogie Shawl - Making Progress on the Border

It is always nice to get a project like this to the point where you feel confident that you made the right color choices.  I really like the way that this is working up.  I’m about one-third of the way done with the border.  This shawl and the Speckles Shawl represent half of the mini-skeins in the Nightmare Before Christmas Advent Set, except that I realized when I was casting on the last project using this Advent set that I had totally screwed up cataloging it in my stash.  This mini-skein set ended up getting stashed with the Advent 2018 set that was really the Dragons set (which I just knit up).

Pattern:  Over the Moon by Vicki Mikulak

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Trillium Lake - Finished!

This one knit up quickly, cast on March 29 and finished April 14, I do so like top down in the round patterns.  I added some extra length because I like my tops just a bit longer than the pattern called for.  I did add the short row shaping for the back.

The fit is perfect, and the yarn is deliciously soft.  I had a tendency to stop and pet it while I was knitting.  This is also one of the few patterns that I have knit where the Knitting Barber Cords really worked well.  I had put the sleeve stitches on them when I was working the body, and when I wanted to try on the top to check the length it was easy to slip the body stitches on and off a cord.  I sometimes find that for some yarns the stitches just don’t slip easily on the cord, and I’ve actually pulled the cord off the needle tip, which is a nuisance, to say the least.

Pattern:  Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins

Yarn:  The Fibre Co Road to China Light

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

 

Fleece and Harmony Mystery Blanket 2024 - One February Block Done, Second one started!

I finished this block up back on April 8, and then it took two days to dry when I blocked it.  I block these right side down, as I find it easier to pin out, given the curly edges due to the stockinette stitch, so I get a nice reveal when I unpin it.  This one blocked easily to 12 inches (unlike the first January block that I knit that I had to block aggressively to get it to 12 inches).  I’m getting better at the purling two handed colorwork thing, and I think my tension control is improving.  I have cast on the second February block as well.  I do enjoy knitting these, but they take a fair bit of concentration, so definitely not TV knitting, unless it is something that I can just listen to.

The colors for February are:  Mulberry Jam and Lilac

Pattern:  Fleece and Harmony Mystery Blanket 2024

Yarn:  Fleece and Harmony Selkirk Worsted

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Nightmare Before Christmas Speckles Shawl - Finished!

I finished this up back on April 3.  I really like the red border.

It provides a nice dramatic finish.  I do think that adding a border to shawls like this helps bring the pieces together to make a more coherent whole.  The yarn for the edging is another of the Sundara Yarn skeins that I purchased as part of a temperature blanket kit that I never knit.  This color was for temperatures 91-100.

Pattern:   Improvised Garter Stitch Boomerang Shawl

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering & Sundara Yarn Extra Fine Fingering Merino

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Trillium Lake - Cast On!

Having finished up the body of my Sally Shawl I needed another easy project for my work bag.  Having also finished up my Ramea I decided I wanted to do another top and I grabbed the yarn that I had ordered for the Trillium Lake pattern from The Fibre Co.  The yarn is Road to China Light in the color Tanzanite.  The yarn is 65% alpaca, 15% silk, 10% camel, 10 % cashmere and 100% awesome.  Sometimes I just find myself petting it instead of knitting.  I worked up a swatch and got gauge, so I caked up all the skeins and cast on.  I got it to the easy knitting point before I needed to take it into work.

Once I got to the part where I needed to put the sleeve stitches on holders I worked that part at home, so that I could just enjoy the endless rounds of this super soft yarn that feels so good to work with.

I really do enjoy knitting in the round.  Now that it is the weekend, I will spend some time reading and knitting, and maybe have to figure out another easy project to put in my work bag.

Pattern:  Trillium Lake by Kay Hopkins

Yarn:  The Fibre Co Road to China Light

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm)

 

Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Shawl - Body Done!

I finished up the body last weekend.  Now I have to decide on the border color.  I have a color that matches the last mini-skein fairly well, but I’m worried that it won’t be close enough  and will look wrong, so I looked for other options.

I have also been thinking about just working a black border, so I went to the Simply Socks Yarn Company web site to get some, and they don’t carry that color in their simply sock yarn any more.  So I went to The Loopy Ewe web site and found a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere.  It isn’t solid black, but I think it will work.  The colorway is called Black Pearl.

Pattern:  Improvised Garter Stitch Boomerang Shawl

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Ramea - Finished!

I finished this up back in March - March 25th.  The back went fairly quickly, and then it was just grafting that final long seam - 184 stitches.  I decided to do the I-cord edging on the sleeves, neck, and hem in my color B, the fuchsia, to have a color pop.  I’ve tried it on and it fits perfectly.

Pattern:  Ramea by Jennifer Beale

Yarn:  Karabella Yarns Aurora 4

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm), US 1.5 (2.5 mm), US 2.5 (3.0 mm)