Limestone One Skein Shawl

This is the Limestone One Skein Shawl by Michelle Miller, also known as Fickleknitter.  It is knit from Zen Yarn Garden's Serenity 20 yarn (70% Superwash Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon) in Mauve Swirl.  I added beads to the edging - Beadcats stock no. 2-06-707-71 purple trans silver-lined, w/ blue irid - but you can't see them in this photo.  This is a small shawl, knit from a fingering weight yarn with approximately 400 yards in 100 grams.  For comparison a lace weight yarn typically has 1200 yards in 100 grams.  What this means from a practical perspective is that this is a quick knit.

And here is another view of the Winter Mystery 2010 Shawl.  You can see the beads in this shot.  The color is not quite right.  I had to use the flash.

Winter Mystery Shawl 2010 - Finished

I finished this up this morning.  The last clue was easy and a pretty quick knit.  I read while purling back on the wrong-side rows.  I only have 38 grams of yarn left over though, which may not be enough to make the fingerless mitts.  And here is a better picture of Miss Chatelaine, looking very Audrey Hepburn.

Miss Chatelaine - Year of Lace 2010 - Finished

I finally finished Miss Chatelaine.  I took her with me down to Florida over Christmas when we went to visit family, and basically spent two days knitting.  I don't think that I have ever spent that much time just knitting lace.  I almost finished her too, but ran out of yarn with one repeat of the edging to go.  And the reason that I ran out of yarns is that I modified the pattern.  The pattern called for knitting both of the edges, repeating the edging pattern 3 times, and then picking up stitches on one of the edging pieces, and grafting the other edging to the body to finish.  There were a number of things about this construction that I didn't like.  1) The pickup stitch count did not evenly go into the number of rows on the edging.  2) Grafting with lace is not my favorite past time.  So, I made some modifications.  First, I did 4 repeats of the edging, this allowed me to pick up every other row for the body, provided I increased the garter stitch edges on the body from 2 stitches to 4 stitches.  When I got to the other edge, all I had to do was knit the edging on to the body.  I knew that I would be very close on yarn, and I almost made it.  I made an appeal on the Year of Lace forum on Ravelry, and one of the group members came to my rescue.

Winter Mystery Shawl 2010 - Clue 4 Done

I finished up Clue 4 this morning, just in time for the final clue to come out today.  I'm loving this one, the yarn is so wonderful to knit with, and the pattern is complex enough not to be boring, but still a quick knit even with the beads.  Hopefully I'll have enough yarn left over to make myself a pair of fingerless mittens.  Of course, I'm 3+ shawls behind in the Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl series, and a new one starts soon, and yes, I already have the yarn.  Plus I signed up for her Mystery Sock.  Yeah, I'm way over-committed on my knitting, but I don't care.  It keeps me off the streets and out of the pool halls.

Poinsettia Vest

This is the December Flower of the Month Colorway from Fiesta Yarns - Poinsettia.  The yarn is Gracie Chunky, 70% Extrafine Merino, 15% Silk, 15% Cashmere.  The recommended needle size is 11 and the gauge is 12 stitches and 17 rows to 4 inches.  The yarn is very soft and nice to work with, if you like working with bulky yarns, which I don't.  A size 11 needle feels huge and awkward in my hands, especially after all of the lace knitting that I have done.  I did a single crochet edging and used up both skeins of yarn that I bought.  The pattern is a simple vest from the Sweater Wizard software.

Fiori Di Sole - Chart A

I fell in love with this pattern the moment I saw it and knew that I had to knit this in Zen Yarn Garden's Serenity Lace.  This is Chart A, and I know that it doesn't look like much yet, but it will.  The colorway is On Fire.  The designer is Rosemary (Romi) Hill of Designs by Romi and I have recently become a fan of hers.  She has done a series of seven small shawls inspired by the Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades's, which I shall also be knitting.

Rivendell Smoke Ring - Finished

This was a very quick knit, which is good, because I really do get bored repeating the same chart over and over again.  The yarn is really fun to knit with, however, wonderfully soft and shiny, and it is addictive because of the way that it changes colors as you work.  I found myself looking at the ball and looking at the knitting and wondering at the color changes that were happening and not wanting to stop because I wanted to get to the next color.