Bolster Pillow - Finished!

This fiber was from Paradise Fibers, and is called Girl with Pearl Earring.  It is 54% Merino, 40% Kid Mohair, 6% Stellina.  I ended up with two skeins, one of 51 yards and 60.3 grams (~.85 yards/gram), and one of 72 yards and 79.1 grams (~0.91 yards/gram).  It was spun on my Kromski at an 8:1 ratio and played on my Kiwi at a 9.5:1 ratio.  I didn’t really know what else to do with it, but had a vague notion of turning it into a pillow, and ended up settling on a bolster pillow, so I grabbed a US 8 (5.0 mm) needle and cast on some stitches.

If you look at the blocking picture you can see that it did not come out as a perfect cylinder.  Yes, my gauge changed because my two skeins of yarn were not quite the same weight.  They weren’t that much off, but it was enough.  I didn’t really let it worry me, because I figured it wouldn’t make too much of a difference when I worked it up into the pillow.  I finished the knitting quickly, casting on March 13, and casting off March 14.  Then I had to wait for the bolster pillow form to arrive.  It came yesterday.  I immediately stuffed it into my waiting tube.

Yes, the bolster sticks out some at either end.  My tube was between sizes so I went with the larger size figuring yarn stretches and pillows compress and bolsters should be on the firmer side.  For the end caps I had already decided that I was just going to crochet circles until they were big enough to join with my knitted tube.  I had some sparkly DK yarn from Expression Fiber Arts left over from another project so I decided to use that.  I did the cast off (smaller end) first.

I joined the last round with the cast off edge using single crochet, pinning the end cap to the knitted tube using locking stitch markers and placing stitch markers about every 1.5 inches around the circumference so I could do the finagling to make them fit together neatly.  I then crocheted another end cap the same size and attached it to my cast on edge.  That was easier to do, just because of the nature of cast on and cast off edges, and the fact that it was a bit looser then my cast off edge.

I am delighted with the result.

Pattern:  None, just a simple knitted tube and some crocheted rounds

Yarn:  Hand spun by me

Needle:  US 8 (5.0 mm)

Hook:  4.5 mm

 

The Journey - Finished!

After finishing up my July Camp Loopy project, I quickly finished this one up as well.  I did block it - soaked and then gently laid out, but not pinned.  It took several days to dry.  Overall this was a fun knit.

Pattern:  The Journey by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Sparkle DK from Expression Fiber Arts

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

The Journey - Four out of Five Sections Done

Last week I worked almost exclusively on this project, flying through four of the five sections.  First the Forest of Fear, although there was no fear here.  My colors are just too cheerful.

Then on to the River of Doubt.  This skein was a bit different from the first two, despite being in the same set.  This set is Honey Hibiscus.

And finally the Mountains of Perseverance.  This marked the start of the second set that I’m using - Keep the Joy.  This skein shared some of the same colors as the third skein of the Honey Hibiscus, but with a cooler background.  Very fitting for the mountains.  I’m finishing up with a skein that is mostly purples for the Meadows of Tranquility.  All in all, this has been a fun pattern to knit.

Pattern:  The Journey by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Sparkle DK from Expression Fiber Arts

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

The Journey - Starting Over

I made it about half way through the River of Doubt before my own doubts caught up with me and I decided that I really needed to knit this shawl out of a different set of yarn.  I looked at the Alpaca Silk sets on the Expression Fiber Arts web site several times trying to convince myself to buy one, but I just couldn’t.  Then I looked at other online yarn shops looking for likely candidates.  I knew that I needed at least 230 yards per skein, and I wanted a variegated, and they had to go together.  I was not having much luck when I happened to spy some Expression Fiber Arts Sparkle DK in my recent acquisitions pile.  I checked it out on the web site.  The yardage was good, at 275 yards per skein it was even better than the Alpaca Silk.  And the colors all worked together.

I decided that I would start with this set - Honey Hibiscus- and work from right to left.

And then finish up with two of the skeins from this set - Keep the Joy - skipping the blue and finishing up with the purple.  So, yesterday I caked up the first skein, and today thanks to an all day meeting I finished re-knitting the first section - the Cabin of Complacency.

I just love the colors.  Nothing angsty here.  I’ve started on the second section, the Forest of Fear, but it feels more like Candy Land.  I really like knitting with the Sparkle DK.  I wasn’t sure if I would because of the sparkle thread, but it really has a very nice feel to it.

Pattern:  The Journey by Jane Vanselous

Yarn:  Sparkle DK from Expression Fiber Arts

Needle:  US 4