Catkin - Finished!

I finally got some small flat buttons to use in attaching my buttons to the shawl so my Catkin is finally done and I've uploaded a picture to The Loopy Ewe.  I've already bought my yarn and pattern for the third Camp Loopy project.  I am doing a top down sweater, but not one of my super simple, super quick, top down raglans out of Fiesta Boomerang.  I've done that for the last two years, and wanted to do something different.  This time I am doing Bloomsbury in Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in Clematis.

Fred has become ambulatory.  He spent the morning snuggled on the day bed and when we went to take a shower I shut him up in his room.  He immediately started complaining about being shut up.  When I checked on him he was up on the bed.  After our shower we let him back out and he went right down the stairs and started exploring the first floor again.  After watching kitty TV (looking out the sliding glass doors) for a while he went back to the day bed and he is snuggled under the blanket taking another kitty nap.  Poor thing gets cold with no fur.

Pattern:  Catkin by Carina Spencer
Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Blue Skies Ahead and Rosy
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Catkin - Knitting Done and Shawl Blocked

I finished this up last weekend and blocked it Monday.  It took a couple of days to dry.  I still need to sew on the buttons.  I used up almost all of the blue, and 80% of the red.  I was actually getting nervous about having enough blue to finish and weighed my skein after each set of blue rows once I get into the final section.  I managed to get home early today, because I went in early this morning, so I was able to get some slightly better shots.

When I started this shawl I thought that I would do the blue as Color A and the red as Color B, but as I was swatching I realized they would look better the other way.  The reason?  The red is a warm color and tends to come forward, while the blue is a cool color that tends to recede.  When I had the colors switched in the swatch the shawl just felt unbalanced.  This is my first time knitting with Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere, and it is delightful to work with.  Definitely smooshy.

Pattern:  Catkin by Carina Spencer
Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Blue Skies Ahead and Rosy
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Catkin - Section 2 Done

I think I may be becoming a monogamous knitter.  This is the only project that I have worked on this month.  Of course, part of it may be the fact that I have a deadline, but I do find that I am less comfortable having lots of works in progress floating around.  As I was working on this section I wasn't sure if the colors were going to work, I even considered getting different yarn and went so far as to peruse The Loopy Ewe web site for possible alternatives.  In the end, though, I decided to stay the course and see where it took me.  Section 2 was not as hard as I thought it would be, once I got used to the pattern.  I don't usually use stitch markers, but I do have them marking the stitch that separates the four sections.

Pattern:  Catkin by Carina Spencer
Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Blue Skies Ahead and Rosy
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Catkin - Section 1 Done

The second Camp Loopy project is to do something that has been popular but you haven't done.  My friend and fellow camper Erin decided she wanted to do Catkin, so I decided to join her.  The funny thing is that this was going to be my very first Camp Loopy project back in 2011.  At that time I bought Dream in Color Smooshy in Lunar Zazzle and Night Watch.  I ended up knitting Over the Moon instead - a much easier project.  This time around I went for Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere, and I bought Blue Skies Ahead and Rosy.  Not only did I like the colors, I also like the positive attitude engendered by the color names.  They don't have as much contrast as most of the other color choices for this shawl, but I like them.  I usually agonize over color choices, but I'm getting better about not doing that.  Originally I was going to start with the blue, but when I was swatching I decided that the colors would look better the other way around.

Pattern:  Catkin by Carina Spencer
Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Blue Skies Ahead and Rosy
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)