Observatory - Clue 1

 

The other Mystery Knit Along that I’m doing is by Larissa Brown.  I’ve done hers before and love how creative she is both with the design of her shawls and with her use of color.  She does not include beads (yet) in her knitting, but I went ahead and added some to mine.  This pattern takes 4 skeins of yarn and I grabbed som Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering that I had in stash.  The colors are (from left to right):  Kyanite, Moonstruck, Matrix and Ametrine.

Pattern:  Observatory MKAL by Larissa Brown

Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Box of Chocolates - Clue 1

I signed up for two Mystery Knit Alongs that both started with the New Year.  This is Box of Chocolates by Hilary Latimer.  It takes 5 skeins of yarn, and every clue has 3 options.  Her group on Ravelry is called Criminal Knits...for the Serial Knitter in all of us.  She also writes mystery novels.  I read the first one Malice in Wonderland.  It was a fun and quick read.  I’m now reading her second one The Dyeds of March.  They are definitely brain candy - but these days, that is just what I need.

I grabbed 5 skeins of Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock that had found their way into my stash over the past year or so.  The colors are (from left to right):  Aspenglow, Frozen, Slopeside, Unity and Enchanted Pony.

Pattern:  Box of Chocolates by Hilary Latimer

Yarn:  Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Zusammen Shawl - Short Row Wedges Finished

 

This has been pretty good mindless knitting for my first week back at work.  The short row wedges were fun.  Now I’m into the stripes.  I like the contrast between my yarns both from a color and a feel perspective.  The light colored yarn is camel and silk so it has great drape.  The darker yarn is Merino and has a more solid feel to it.

Pattern:  Zusammen Shawl by Susanna Winter

Yarn:  Alcidina Momentum and Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Fingering

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Opinionated Cardinal Shawl II - Finished!

 I finished this shawl up on January 2.  As this is for my sister Virginia, I only did the lace on the cast off edge.  I went with black as this shawl is a companion to her Woodsman Shawl that I knit for her about a year ago.  I used the same edging on both shawls, and the same yarn for the edging.

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang

Yarn:  SpaceCadet Yarns Oriana & Simply Socks Simply Sock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Zusammen Shawl - Cast On

 

I am always on the lookout for good two- and three-color shawls for using up my large fingering yarn stash and I found this one recently.  The dark skein is from deep stash - Alcidinia Momentum, the color ways is The Swan Nebula.  The lighter one is a more recent acquisition from Expression Fiber Arts - Oasis Fingering in Vintage Rose.  I struggled with finding a good contrast yarn to go with the Momentum.  I had originally grabbed a skein of gray, but there was no pop.  I also considered blue, red, even pink.  Then overnight I dreamed the solution and dug the Oasis Fingering out of my recent stash box.  I hope it works.

Pattern:  Zusammen Shawl by Susanna Winter

Yarn:  Alcidina Momentum and Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Fingering

Needle: US 4 (3.5 mm)

Opinionated Cardinal Shawl II - Border Started

 

After I finished up the body of my second Woodsman Shawl, I grabbed this skein of yarn, which had already been caked up and cast on another garter-stitch boomerang shawl.  Well, actually, I tried a scarf in Fisherman’s Rib first, but that just wasn’t working out, so I frogged and went with old faithful.  I needed a mindless project for knitting while reviewing documents.  I almost frogged this one because I already have one and don’t need another in this colorway.  I even thought about making socks with it.  But in the end I kept going and now I’m on the border.  I’m only working the border on the cast off edge as I’m going to send this one to my sister Virginia, and that is how she wanted her Woodsman Shawl edging done.

Pattern:  Improvised - Boomerang Shawl

Yarn:  SpaceCadet Yarns Oriana 8-Ply

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Stillness Shawl - Finished!

 

With some focused knitting I was able to finish this shawl up last Wednesday.  The pattern has you work the bind off in color C, but I decided to just continue with color D.  Blocking was a bit of a challenge.

This original pattern is a circular shawl, but I would not have wanted to try to block it as one.  As you can see, mine came out as three-quarters of a circle, which is fine.

Pattern:  Stillness Shawl by Helen Stewart

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Kiri

Needle: US 5 (3.75 mm)