Queen Conch Shawl - Finished!

Even though I always have lots of projects going at once, when one of them gets close to being done I will often focus on it until it is finished, and that is mostly what happened with this shawl.  Once I had found a good border color and a good bead color and got the border started I ended up coming back to it and working on it to the exclusion of the other projects that are high on my “to do” list.  I am very happy with how this one turned out, and I’m also happy to be using up my old Advent sets.  The rest of this particular set is really two 9-skein gradiances, although I could have used them as a single 24-skein gradiance, if I had wanted to.

This is the Queen Conch set.

The Sea Urchins set.

The Beyond the Breakers set.

The Beyond the Breakers set flows in to the Sea Urchins set (right most skein to left most skein) and the Sea Urchins set flows in to the Queen Conch set (right most skein to right most skein).  But figuring out something that takes all 24 skeins is non-trivial.  I’ve done it twice.  For the two 9-skein sets I’m thinking about some short sleeve top-down pullovers.  I’ve been collecting patterns.

Pattern:  Over the Moon by Vicki Mikulak

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve and Sundara Yarn High Twist Sock

Needle:   US 4 (3.5 mm)

Queen Conch Shawl - Body Done and Border Started!

Once I had finished the border on the Cindy Shawl, I transferred this project to my Della Q Hatbox and started working the border.

Finding a good color for the border was quite a challenge.  The yarn of the shawl is The Unique Sheep Verve, which is a fairly hard sock yarn, so I knew I needed a similar yarn for the border.  I searched in my stash for all of my sturdier sock yarns and made a list of likely candidates, and where they were stashed and then just went diving.  In the end I picked Sundara Yarn - HIgh Twist Sock in “Oh, The Places You Will Go”.  The next challenge was the beads.  It took me a while, but in the end I settled on Matte/Raku Teal/Plum.  The colors were not something that I originally thought of, but I’m very happy with how it is all coming out.

Pattern:  Over the Moon by Vicki Mikulak

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve and Sundara Yarn High Twist Sock

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Joy to the World - Cindy - Finished!

I finished this shawl up on this past Sunday (October 27) and got it on the blocking mats that morning.  The border went very quickly and I just love how it came out.  The colors are so beautiful, and bright, and they make me happy.

With the completion of this shawl, I have used up all of the Grinch Advent Set.  Yay!  Another Advent set knitted up (I have so many!).

Pattern:  Joy to the World by Louise Robert

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Kiri

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Wallflowers - Dark Corners Done!

I finally finished connecting the corners for my blanket.  Of course I worked in production mode style on the flowers themselves.

I finished them up back on September 29.  Jezebel helped by curling up on the blanket when I was attaching them.  Now I’m on to Chapter 8 and making 68 puff hexis, once again working in production mode so I’m making all of the center rings (round 1), and then I’ll do all of round 2, etc.  So far I’ve made 17 of round 1 rings in my B4 color.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

 

Joy to the World - Grinch - Finished!

I actually finished this shawl back on October 12, but when I was laying it out to block I received a nasty shock.  An insect had gotten at it between the time I had finished the body (June 18) and when I started working the edging (September 28).

I was dismayed and horrified.  What was I to do?  I used up all of the yarn, so there were no scraps for darning.  After it was dry I carefully folded it up and put it in a zip lock plastic bag while I thought about possible ways to fix it.  Given that this is superwash, how would I secure my fix?  Even if I found a yarn to use.  In the end I decided to get some silk mohair in a similar color.  Of course picking a color from the web is always a challenge, so I erred on the dark side.  Here is the fix.

You can still see the ends that I haven’t secured.  Fortunately the whole was not too big and I was able to duplicate stitch and fill in what was missing.  The mohair makes the yarn sticky so I’m not too worried about it working out, and the silk makes it strong, plus it is lace weight so it doesn’t add bulk to the repair.  This will now be my go to method if something like this happens again.

Pattern:  Joy to the World by Louise Robert

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Kiri

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Joy to the World - Cindy - Body Done and Border Started!

I finished up the body back on October 13 and started the edging not too long after.  I really love the colors of this one, it just make me smile.  I did actually run out of the miniskeins on the last row of the center triangle, so I just finished up with the blue, which made the three needle bind off convenient as the yarn was already attached.

Pattern:  Joy to the World by Louise Robert

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep 4 Ply SW Merino Fingering and Kiri

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Kalona - Body and One Sleeve

I finished up the body (up to the arm holes) almost a week ago - lots of knitting time in the office - and immediately cast on the first sleeve.

I knew that I was probably going to be starting the sleeve, so I had grabbed the appropriate needles and made sure I had the pattern in my phone knitCompanion app, but forgot to grab a stitch marker, so I had to improvise with a piece of yarn.  Of course once I got past the lace the sleeve went quickly.

I’m almost done with what the pattern calls for, but I’m debating making the sleeves full length, and adding more increases to give me a bit more room.  I need to check the schematics on the sleeve diameter and the width for the shoulders and see if more room would be a good thing.  I did buy an extra skein of yarn, so I have plenty.

Pattern:  Kalona by Alison Green

Yarn:  Berroco Ultra Wool Fine

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)