Step Into Christmas Cowl - Finished!

After finishing up my Sky Song shawl I decided to go ahead and finish up my Step Into Christmas Cowl, as I only had one more chart and the ribbing to do.  I am definitely pleased with how it came out.  After blocking I checked the gauge - 32 stitches and 36 rows.  My gauge on the matching hat was 33 stitches and 37 rows.  I do tend to knit tighter on smaller circumference needles, but it is always interesting to get some real data on projects that are so similar.  The stated gauge for both patterns is 32 stitches and 32 rows.  I haven’t tackled the matching socks, yet, and I will probably wait a little while on those, mostly because I have never done colorwork on socks before and I thought I might start out with a pattern that wasn’t completely colorwork.  I am also not a huge fan of working colorwork with superwash yarns.  Superwash yarns tend to be gauge liars because they tend to be slippery, unless you knit them at a fairly tight gauge (using twice the diameter of the yarn to select your needle size).  Non-superwash yarns tend to have a lot more stability because the stitches will hang on to each other, plus your floats will tend to felt over time giving your knitting even more strength and stability, and I’m must not sure about all-over colorwork socks in a superwash yarn.

Pattern:  Step Into Christmas Cowl by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Lolodidit Loriginal and Lil Lolo Loriginal

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm) and US 2 (2.75 mm)

Step Into Christmas Cowl - Chart B Done!

After finishing up my Sky Song, I went back to my Step Into Christmas Cowl while I pondered what I might want to knit next, or which other WIP I might want to complete next.  I was happily knitting along on the light green/dark green Peerie pattern, when I got to the end of the round and I was one stitch off - the round was the second round and alternated the light and dark green every other stitch.  I looked at my stitches and couldn’t find two of the same color.  It was getting late so I just put it aside and figured I would look at it again in the morning.  The next morning I looked again and couldn’t find two stitches of the same color next to each other, which could only mean one thing - a stitch had dropped somewhere.  I did find it, and it had raveled down six rows, and it was a column with colorwork.  It took me three tries to  get it picked up correctly what with all those strands across the back, but I was successful in the end.

Pattern:  Step Into Christmas Cowl by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Lolodidit Loriginal & Lil Lolo Loriginal

Needle:  US 1 (2.25 mm) & US 2 (2.75 mm)
 

Sky Song - Finished!

Finishing was just a matter of joining the two halves with a three needle bind-off.  It did state in the pattern notes that you could graft if you wanted to, but the bind-off was recommended to provide more stability to the shawl.  I went with the bind-off, quick and easy.  Blocking was straightforward.

Pattern:  Sky Song by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Sky Song - Clue 6 Done!

I finished up Clue 6 on Tuesday.  It wasn’t an especially difficult clue, but I did make a couple of mistakes that caused me to tink back a couple of times, and to actually put in an afterthought lifeline and rip back a section, twice, if I remember correctly.  The Clue 6 song is My Girl by The Temptations.  I forgot to mention the Clue 5 song - One Love by Bob Marley.  The joining song is Rainbow Connection from The Muppet Movie, sung by Kermit the Frog.  I am a huge muppet fan.  The design really is spectacular, and the colors of this set by Miss Babs are also spectacular.

Pattern:  Sky Song by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Sky Song - Clue 5 Done!

I finished up Clue 5 this morning.  I almost finished it last night, but I was getting tired, and it is easy to make mistakes working with dark yarn in the evening when you’re tired.  I learned that the hard way and had to tink back once, and rip back once as a result.  I have Clue 6 all set up in my knitCompanion app and am all ready to go.  This is the final clue, so I will be joining the two halves of my shawl at the end of it.  Overall, a fun knit, and I really love the colors, and the design.

Pattern:  Sky Song by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Step Into Christmas Cowl - Chart A Done!

This is my small project knitting, when I don’t want a full lap.  I pick this up and put it down as the mood takes me, but this past weekend I finished up Chart A.  I have also done the first round of Chart B, just to get the color changes taken care of.  I replaced the red stitch in the last motif with red beads, just cause.  I’ll be using more red beads in a later motif - one that was also in the hat.  I started out on 16 inch circulars for the ribbing, switched to 20 inch circulars when I went up a needle size and started the color work, and then switched to 24 inch circulars, as I really hate having color work bunched up on my needles.

Pattern:  Step Into Christmas Cowl by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Lolodidit Loriginal and Lil Lolo Loriginal 

Needles:  US 1 (2.25 mm) and US 2 (2.75 mm)

Sky Song - Clue 4 Done!

Clue 4 was a quick and easy one.  Basically it is clue 1, but with the main colors and contrast colors flipped.  It was nice to have something so quick, and it shows off the contrast colors so beautifully.  The small triangle is Golden Hour, from the Kacey Musgraves song of the same name, and the larger triangle is Sunset.

Miss Babs kits - they really are quite wonderful, and I always have a hard time resisting them, which is why I have a fair number of them in my stash.  I spent some time looking at them in my online Ravelry stash last night, and looking at the patterns they go with.  I’m thinking of just binging Miss Babs kits for a while.

Pattern:  Sky Song by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)