Peacock Shawl - Finished!

I finished up my Peacock Shawl this past Wednesday and I am delighted with how it came out.  I extended the pattern to use up all of my yarn, and ended up needing more, running out with six rows and the bind off to go.  Fortunately I had a skein of Zen Yarn Garden Sturdy Sock in my stash that went well with skeins 7 and 8 from the set, containing some of the same greens and taking things into the lighter colors as you can see.  Oh the advantages of a ginormous stash, and also these are my favorite colors, so it wasn’t a stretch to find a similar enough skein.

I did have one set back, when I decided that the original way that I had extended the pattern just wasn’t working out.  I had gone a bit nuts on the beads, I didn’t like the way that I had closed up the peacock eye, and I had also started using the final chart for the center panel and I didn’t like how that was working out - too much stockinette stitch and I just didn’t think it would block out well.  So, I spent an eventing putting in an afterthought life line in the row right before I started my changes (10 rows back), ripped back, got all my stitches back on to my needles, and went back and reworked the chart for the sides - this time simply extending the peacock eye motif, cutting back on the beads (just one per eye) and decided to just keep using the center chart C for the rest of the shawl.

The shawl is huge, taking all of my newer gridded blocking mats, plus some of my older Knit Picks ones.  You can see how I extended the peacock eye motif as well as the center panel.  I really like how it came out.

Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding

Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Fairy Sock Medium and Zen Yarn Garden Sturdy Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Peacock Shawl - Chart C Done!

With the Saugerties Shrug finished I’ve been focusing most of my knitting time on my Peacock Shawl, finishing up the second repeat of the Chart C yesterday.  I’ve totally disregarded the yarn usage instructions in the pattern and am just using up each skein and then joining the next.  I have decided to modify Chart D, closing up the main motif into a diamond and repeating rows 151-155 of the chart until I use up my yarn.  I may do some modifications to that pattern as well - closing up the pattern in those final rows - it depends on how much yarn I have left at that point.

Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding

Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Fairy Sock Medium

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)
 

Peacock Shawl - One Repeat of Chart C Done!

After finishing up my Capelet I pulled this project out of my WIPs pile and decided it was time to finish it.  I had set it aside because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to handle the skein transitions.  The pattern calls for “feathering”, also known as striping, and I’m just not a fan of doing that, so in the end I just went with my default method of attaching the new skein to the old and just knitting until the old skein ran out, wherever that happens to occur.

It has been a while since I’ve done an all over lace shawl, and I am really enjoying it.  The yarn is really wonderful to work with, and I love the colors and the beads.  This project has been languishing since December of 2016!  I’m glad to be working on it again.  I want to finish as many of my WIPs as I can before I start more projects, although I have already broken that rule with the Saugerties Shrug, but that is a special exception.

Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding

Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Fairy Sock Medium in Peacock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Irish Spring - Finished!

After finishing up my test knit and my Watermelon Shrug (the two largest WIPs in my pile) I focused on this project, finishing it up this past Friday.  The pattern as I've modified it is really sized for 100 g/400 yd skeins, so I have some leftovers as the yarn I used comes in 113 g / 434 yd skeins.  I could have added another repeat of the green and yellow but I just didn't feel like dealing with the math.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a cape
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Irish Spring - Progress Check

At home I've mostly been working on my test knit, but I do take breaks to work on other projects, including this one.  I'm enjoying the cheerful colors.  I've paused for the moment as I'm not sure if I want to make any additional modifications based upon my yarn usage/amounts.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a cape
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Irish Spring - Making Progress

I set this one to the side for a little bit while I waited for some beads I had ordered to arrive.  I worked 5 repeats of the Lace Chart A Pattern, and probably have enough yarn to do a 6th repeat, but I didn't have enough beads.  I tried to find a match on line, but wasn't really successful so I decided to continue without that 6th repeat.  I really don't have to use up every last yard of my yarn.  This is the last of the color A until we get to the very end.  I've just started working with the green.  I have a test knit I'm working on, so I will not be able to devote as much time to my other projects, but when my brain gets tired of test knitting it is always nice to have another project standing by that I can pick up.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a cape
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Irish Spring - Cast On

Laura of The Unique Sheep dyed up this trio for St. Patrick's Day and I immediately knew that I wanted to knit another Liken shawl with it.  The yellow is what really grabbed me.  When I was growing up yellow was my favorite color.  My bedroom was painted yellow, I had a clock in the shape of a sunflower on my wall, and a 3-legged stool with a sunflower on it.  Even today, my living room is painted bright yellow (which is far better than the medicinal mint green the room was painted when we moved in).

I wore one of my Liken shawls to work this past week and it inspired me to cast on.  But first I had to make sure I understood my pattern modifications.  That actually took a little more work than I thought it would as I originally knit this as part of a mystery knit along, so some of my notes referred to clues instead of just line numbers.  I printed out my project notes and a copy of the pattern and studied my shawls, which were not exactly the same, and figured it out.  This time I am formalizing my modifications and hope to publish them for free on Ravelry (if Sivia is cool with it).  I can do it without infringing on the copyright by referring to pattern line numbers.

I did make a modification to my modification.  On my other two versions I started out with 4 rows of garter stitch, instead of a garter tab cast on.  The garter tab cast ons can stretch, as opposed to giving you a firmer neck edge.  Last week I had also cast on the Snowmelt shawl by Helen Stewart and that pattern started out with an I-cord.  But instead of doing an I-cord cast on, that pattern called for picking up stitches, as you would with a garter tab cast on. That seemed to me to be making your point the hard way.  Why not just do an I-cord cast on?  The shawl then continued with an I-cord edge.  For this shawl I cast on my 3 stitches for my I-cord, worked two rows as straight I-cord and then continued working an I-cord cast on to get my 42 cast on stitches, plus the 3 stitches of the I-cord itself.  I turned the work, slipped the first 3 stitches purl-wise, and purled across to the end of the cast on stitches.  I then used the tail of my original cast on to pick up 3 stitches in the other end of my I-cord, secured the tail, and slipped those 3 stitches.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a cape
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken II - Ladders Fixed.

I really love the colors of this shawl and I love wearing it, but I don't love the ladders that I have between my double decreases.  You can pick up an entire column of stitches in those ladders, and that is exactly what I did.  But how do I anchor them?  I had thought about adding beaded kinky fringe through the last loop, but that would require a lot work and I just wasn't up for it.  Instead I decided to use jump rings.  I got the idea from folks making stitch markers out of jump rings with beads placed on them.  So, I ordered some jump rings and on Saturday morning I sat down and fixed those ladders.

The nice thing is that if I lose one I can easily replace it, and if I change my mind and want to use different beads, or jump rings, I can change things out easily and quickly.  My kind of fix.

Pattern:  Liken Shawl by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape rather than a semi-circle
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Divinity, Cherry Garcia and Chestnut
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Peacock Shawl - Two Repeats of Chart B

I finished up the two repeats of Chart B last weekend but didn't have an opportunity to get any photos till this weekend.  Yesterday I finally caked up the second skein and I'll probably start Chart C today.

Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding
Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Pixie Sock Medium AKA Fairy Medium Sock in Peacock
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Peacock Shawl - One Repeat of Chart B

I finished up one repeat of Chart B last night.  This pattern has a cool center panel as well.

On to the second repeat of Chart B.


Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding
Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Pixie Sock Medium AKA Fairy Medium Sock in Peacock
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Peacock Shawl - Chart A Done

I finished up my test knit this past Sunday so I decided to finally cast on the Peacock Shawl.  I bought the kit back in June, but didn't really have time to get started on it because I had so much else going on both at work (five safety review board meetings in five weeks, including a two day meeting in California), Camp Loopy, and test knitting.  But things are winding down a little and I'm getting back to some projects that have been patiently waiting in the wings.

This is the yarn set that came in the kit.  The skeins are worked from left to right.  I finished up Chart A earlier this week - the detail is hard to see in the picture, the yarn is pretty dark.  I'm almost finished with the first time through Chart B.  The pattern calls for alternating skeins when you switch, similar to the transitions recommended for working The Unique Sheep gradiance sets, but I'm not sure I'm going to do that.

Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding
Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Pixie Sock Medium AKA Fairy Medium Sock in Peacock
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Liken III - Finished

I finished this up last week, on Armistice Day, which everyone knows now as Veteran's Day.  It is one of the few holidays that doesn't move around.  It is always on the 11th of November, commemorating the end of World War I at the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, dubbed the war to end all wars by H. G. Wells.  He had written a book in the summer of 1914 called "The World Set Free" in which he imagined a world war, as well as the atomic bomb.  When the way broke out he was horrified and wrote a pamphlet titled "The War to End All Wars".  It became a national slogan.  And why are red poppies  associated with that war?  Because they were one of the first plants that grew back on those war torn fields - covering the devastation with fields of red flowers.

This week it seems that winter has finally settled in.  All October we had mild weather, but this week the temperatures have dipped.  Jasmine and I snuggle under the blanket on the daybed to stay warm.  She has reclaimed the space where Fred used to sleep.  The wooden box with the plaque in the background contains Fred's ashes.  I picked them up two weeks ago.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape
Yarn:  Abstract Fibers O'Keefe in Pearl, Smitten and Burnside Bridge
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken III - Charts B and C

I finished up 3 repeats of Chart B and Chart C this past week.  I was thinking about working 4 repeats of Chart B, as I had worked 4 repeats of Chart A but after doing the math it looked like that would leave me with very little margin and I really want to work a constrast bind off, probably with Color B, the variegated yarn.  I also don't want to be worrying about running out of yarn.  Knitting is supposed to be relaxing, not stressful.

I've worn my other Liken shawl several times, including with my Autumn Dress.  The shawl is warm and cuddly and so easy to wear.  I love it.  I may make more.  It is such a lovely design and it is so fun playing with colors, and I do have an awful lot of single skein sock yarns in my stash.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape
Yarn:  Abstract Fibers O'Keefe in Pearl, Smitten and Burnside Bridge
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken III - Charts A and B

This past Thursday I stayed home from work.  I felt like I was coming down with something and I have found that if I stay home and rest as soon as I feel something trying to get me I can usually kick it before it gets a hold of me.  My brain was pretty fuzzy so I spent the morning finishing up the frogging of my first Liken shawl.  Then I wound all of the balls of frogged yarn into skeins on my Niddy Noddy, soaked them and hung them up to dry.  Then I started knitting my third Liken shawl.  This time I am being more conscientious in my weighing of yarn and have my spreadsheet all set up so I can figure out how many repeats of the charts I can do.  The skeins for this shawl have 110 grams each, so I was able to work 4 repeats of Chart A.

For my first Liken I used Berry-Lined Light Topaz beads throughout, but I wasn't sure I would have enough for this one, so I am using two different colors of beads, Nebula on the cream sections and the Berry-Lined Light Topaz on the purple sections.

Pattern:  Liken by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape
Yarn:  Abstract Fibers O'Keefe in Pearl, Smitten and Burnside Bridge
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken II - Finished

I finished up the knitting Sunday night and finished up the cast off and blocked it on Monday.  I ran out of the Divinity (the lightest color) about two-thirds of the way through the bind off, used up the rest of the Cherry Garcia (the variegated color) and then finished off the last two scallops with the Chestnut (the darkest color).  I really like the contrast bind off so I will use it when I reknit my first Liken shawl.  I've already frogged most of the first shawl, but will need to unkink the yarn before I can knit with it.  I'll do a spreadsheet for the repeats of the charts and the extra rows of the variegated.  It will be different than this shawl because it turns out that my skein of Chestnut was a little light.  It is a really great design for using up all of your yarn because you can adjust the clue repeats or add extra rows of the variegated yarn and it all just works out.

You can really see the contrast bind off in this picture.  I can't decide if I like the variegated or the brown better.

Pattern:  Liken Shawl by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape rather than a semi-circle
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Divinity, Cherry Garcia and Chestnut
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken II - Charts C and D Done

I finished up Chart C last night and snapped a quick picture on the daybed under artificial light.  Once again I doubled the number of rows of Color B (the Cherry Garcia).  My yarn usage of Color C (the Chestnut) increased on this Chart, which meant that I had to adjust my plans because after Chart C I no longer had quite enough yarn to finish both Charts D and E as written.  Chart D has 8 rows of Color C and Chart E has 4 rows of Color C.  I had enough to do 6 of the 8 rows of Chart D and all 4 rows of Chart E.  On Chart D I switched to Color B two rows early.  The colors in the second photo are truer to life.

Pattern:  Liken Shawl by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape rather than a semi-circle
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Divinity, Cherry Garcia and Chestnut
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken II - Charts A and B Done

I have been working steadily on my second Liken shawl.  I wasn't as diligent as I should have been when it came to weighing my skeins as I went, but I've gotten myself back on track.  I put together a spreadsheet after finishing 3 repeats of Lace Chart A and did some figuring to see how much yarn I needed to complete the shawl and how I wanted to work the rest of the charts. When I finished up Clue 2 I had enough of Color A (Divinity) to work the last clue (Chart F) and do the bind off.  Serendipity.

I then tackled Clue 3 - Chart B.  I decided to work 4 rows of Color B (Cherry Garcia) instead of the 2 called for in the pattern.  This lets me use up a lot more of Color B, plus I really like the color and wanted more of it in the shawl.  At this point I have enough yarn to work one repeat of each of the remaining charts, with extra rows of Color B for Charts C and D.

Pattern:  Liken Shawl by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape rather than a semi-circle
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Divinity, Cherry Garcia and Chestnut
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

LIken II - Clue 1 Done

This past weekend was interminable.  Bruce was out of town and I had to cope with everything on my own.  I did a lot of projects around the house, but not much knitting.  But last week, before Fred became ill I did start my second Liken Shawl.  I pretty much winged the first clue, casting on 46 stitches and doubling stitches where it felt right.  I didn't do three sections like the original, only two.  This should cause the lace patterning to start at my shoulders.

As a reminder, these are the colors that I pulled from my stash.  From left to right - Divinity, Cherry Garcia and Chestnut.  All from Zen Yarn Garden, all Serenity 20, one of my favorite fingering weight yarns - a 70 % superwash merino, 20 % cashmere, 10 % nylon combo.

Pattern:  Liken Shawl by Sivia Harding, modified to be a circular cape rather than a semi-circle
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Divinity, Cherry Garcia and Chestnut
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken MKAL - Finished!

I finished up Clue 4 on Sunday and the final clue on Tuesday and just took it off the blocking pads tonight when I got home from work.  Unfortunately we're entering the time of the year when it is hard for me to get good photos during the week so I didn't get a shot of the shawl blocking.  It is supposed to be a semi-circular shawl, but I couldn't get the top edge to be straight.  Both sides of the shawls sloped away from the straight line after the stockinette section, where the lace section started.  The shape actually looked more like a shelf lichen.  I'm going to make a second shawl and I'm going to add repeats of the lace section to try to take care of that.  It means I will use more yarn so I will  play with the color changes to use more of color A - the pearl in this picture.

Project:  Liken MKAL by Sivia Harding
Yarn:  Abstract Fibers O'Keefe in Pearl, Smitten and Burnside Bridge
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Liken MKAL - Clue 3 Done

I've mainly been focused on this shawl and managed to finish up clue 3 this week.  The lace pattern in this shawl has a really nice rhythm to it, a row with lace, a rest row, a row with beads, a rest row, another row with lace, a rest row, and then two rows of the variegated yarn.  Nothing too hard or complicated, and the yarn feels wonderful.  The purple has wonderful tonal variations that the picture just doesn't do justice to.  The final clue (clue 5) has come out with a picture of the blocking shawl.  It will be beautiful when finished, and cuddly.  I picked out some possible beads this week for my second Liken shawl.  Here is a picture of the shawl draped on my dress form, just to give an idea of how it might look when worn.

Project:  Liken MKAL by Sivia Harding
Yarn:  Abstract Fibers O'Keefe in Pearl, Smitten and Burnside Bridge
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)