Wallflowers - Popcorns Started!

My big box of yarn from Fleece and Harmony arrived this past Monday and I have been busy crocheting the first set of popcorns for the garlands.  There are three different color combinations:  F3 & F1, F3 & F4, and F1& F3.  The colors are:  F1 - Ultramarine, F3 - Ciel, and F4 - Heliotrope.  I did one of each color combination just to see how they would all play together and then went into production mode.  I need to make 24 of the F3 & F1 version, 14 of the F3 & F4 version, and 46 of the F1 & F3 version.  I am using a magic ring for the first round as I found the chain 4 joined just a bit too fiddly.  My centers may be a bit more open as a result, but I have the correct dimensions (4.5 cm across).  I ended up using a 3.75 mm hook, although I did also work one with a 4 mm hook.  The result with the 4 mm hook was just a bit too floppy, the 3.75 mm hook gives me nice perky popcorns.  Most of my ends are woven in, but I haven’t woven in the very last end yet.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Joy to the World - Grinch - One Triangle Done!

I had some good knitting time at work this past week and finished up the first triangle, as well as starting the second.  I do love the colors.

I think I have also settled on the main color skein for the other two sets of this Advent Calendar.

I tried several different full sized skeins, but this one has the most energy and really sings to me.  Although the numbering of the skeins goes from left to right, I am going to start with the lightest color and work the skeins in reverse order.

Pattern:  Joy to the World by Louise Robert

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Kiri

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Wallflowers - Colors Chosen!

The other really exciting news is that I have chosen the colors for my Wallflower Blanket and have ordered the yarn.  The Wallflowers Blanket is the creation of Sue Mercer of The Mercerie.  She offers an online course to create this amazing blanket and I signed up for it earlier this year.  The course kicked off on April 1 and runs for six months, although you always have access to the course content (and can even join the live Q&As every month for other course runs).  

I first discovered Sue Maton via the Fruity Knitting video podcast, and then Kim and Betsy on the Fleece and Harmony video podcast signed up a few years ago to the Wallflowers course and I followed their progress and was inspired to sign up when it was offered again.

I ordered a color card from Etsy (it came from a lady in Estonia), and last weekend I sat in natural light and played around with them until I found color combinations that I liked.  I started out with my three darkest colors:  Turquoise, Ultramarine, and Bilberry, and built my color sequences from there.  Once I had my colors I also looked at the color chart and pulled the color combinations for the different pieces to see how the colors would play together.  I went with Sue’s advice and picked colors that give me joy.  The colors are, from left to right:

Leaf colors: Turquoise, Electric Green, and Vaseline Green

Flower colors:  Ultramarine, Iris, Cmiel, Heliotrope, Astor, and Frozen

Background colors:  Bilberry, Peony Iolite, Candy Floss, Cumin, Mineral, and Camel

Hopefully I will get my yarn soon and can start my blanket.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed

 

Lock, Shock and Barrel Shawl - Body Done!

This is the last of the mini-skeins from the Nightmare Before Christmas Advent set.  I have about ten repeats left on the border of the Electric Oogie Boogie Shawl and then I can start working on the border for this one.  I still have to decide on a border color.  I am pretty sure I want to go with a dark purple, I just need to find the right purple in my stash.  I will use light pink beads.

Pattern:  Over the Moon by Vicki Mikulak

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Fleece and Harmony Mystery Blanket 2024 - Second February Block Done!

I finally finished up the second February block.  I have not yet cast on the first March block, but I have caked up the yarn.  I think this one came out a bit better than the Bossy Bluejay, and I am definitely getting better at the two handed purling.

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)
 

Joy to the World - Grinch - Cast On!

Once I was getting close to finishing the body of the last shawl from the Nightmare Before Christmas Advent set I knew that I needed to cake up and cast on another easy knit for my work bag, so I grabbed the next Advent set in my queue.  This one was inspired by The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.   This set was dyed up as two twelve-skein gradients, although they are labeled as four six-skein sets.

The four sets are, from left to right:  Grinch, Mount Crumpet, Cindy Loo Who, and Christmas Glow.  Because these work up as twelve-skein gradients I am going to do two of my variant of the Joy to the World shawl.  For the Grinch shawl I picked the lightest of my neutral trios - Strandline.

I thought about trying to do something clever and make a colorwork garment with the mini-skeins, but I’m not a fan of doing colorwork with superwash yarn, and I really wasn’t into working that hard to figure something out, so I went with easy.

Pattern:  Joy to the World by Louise Robert

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Kiri

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Shawl - Finished!

I finished this shawl up on May 4, so two weeks ago.  I didn’t get any blogging done last weekend.  I am happy with how it came out.  At this point all of the mini-skeins from this Advent set have been knitted up into shawls and I just need to finish the borders on the other two.  Because of the way the mini-skeins were designed/dyed I ended up with four shawls - two of the garter stitch boomerang shawls, and two of the Over the Moon shawls.

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)