Dress It Up - Section 3 Done!

Section 3 was quick and easy, just some more garter stitch rows in the variegated skein, but it sets off the dark purple band nicely.  Now on to Section 4, which is the longest, and is the lace section.  I did find some beads in my stash that should work with the dark purple, although I haven’t decided where I am going to place them.  

The shawl is finished off with another band of garter stitch in the variegated skein, and a picot bind off.  I have been carrying the other skein up along the edge so that I don’t have as many ends to weave in.  The pattern tells you to cut the yarn at the end of each section, but I just work both colors together on the second stitch on the right side rows and that secures it nicely.

Pattern:  Dress It Up by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Dress It Up - Section 2 Done!

I finished Section 2 last night.  It is a simple section, a band of eyelets, about an inch of 1x1 rib with the knit stitches twisted and another band of eyelets.  The only real challenge was the darkness of the yarn, which made the stitches a little harder to read on the ribbing.  The colors are beautiful, and able to be seen, and appreciated.

And yes, that is another skein of yarn hanging out in my project box - wet spun Belgian Linen.  Isn’t it a gorgeous color?  I’ve not knit with linen before, tending to avoid the plant fibers, but Jennifer Beale released a pattern in May that uses this yarn.  The pattern is a summer tee and I thought I would try it as I really like the tee.  I’m still swatching.  I know that I don’t want to use the needle size that she did as that was way too lose, but I went down a little too far and though I like the fabric, my gauge is tighter, so I thought I would do one more swatch to see if I can match the gauge and still get a fabric that I like, or if I will have to do the math.

Pattern:  Dress It Up by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Dress It Up - Section 1 Done!

I finished Section 1 today and you can see how it lets the colors of the skein shine.  With the stripes you just get lines, but here you get to see the glory.  Much better, and it doesn’t make my eyes hurt.  Lots of increases to give it the crescent shape - 10 increases for every 4 rows (4 sts, 2 sts, 2 sts, 2 sts) - and that pattern of increases will continue.

Pattern:  Dress It Up by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Way Ahead MKAL - Frogged, Dress It Up - Cast On!

I finished Clue 3 (the picture above), and Clue 4 (sorry no picture, but more of the mosaic with the colors switched) and was working more stripes to use up my yarn when I decided that I just wasn’t happy with the shawl.  The design is cool, but the striping of the colors was not working for me - the stripes seemed to vibrate in a most annoying way and I just couldn’t see myself wearing it.  I also felt that this pattern was not showcasing the yarns very well.  So, last night I frogged it and cast on a different shawl - Dress It Up, by Lisa K. Ross.  Even while I was working on this shawl, I had my doubts, so I had been looking for an alternative and I had a couple of potential patterns I could knit instead.

This shawl is crescent shaped, and features swaths of garter stitch with the variegated yarn, alternating with the dark purple worked in a section of twisted rib, and another section of lace.  I might add beads to the lace.

Pattern:  Dress It Up by Lisa K. Ross

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Vixen Pullover - Cast On!

This is one of the patterns for the Fleece and Harmony third quarter Canadian Collaboration.  The pattern is the Raynard and Vixen Pullover, but that is just too long, so I shortened it to the Vixen Pullover for my project page.  It uses Fleece and Harmony Selkirk Worsted in three colors:

Crow Wing

Fox & Kits (appropriately enough)

And Fairy Ring

I am right at the point in the yoke where I have three colors (the Crow Wing is for the eyes and nose of the foxes), and that is proving a little bit challenging.  I know that I could duplicate stitch those in later, but I really want to try to knit with all three colors.

I did work a couple of repeats with the three colors and then decided to take a break and focus on my Divine Beauty Shawl.  I am also a little concerned with the fabric I am getting.  I am good on the gauge, but I’m not sure I like the fabric.  I did a swatch on US 6 needles (the pattern calls for US 5 for the body), and I like the feel of that fabric, but the gauge I get with the larger needles does not match the gauge of the pattern and adjusting for the difference (by going down a pattern size) doesn’t seem to quite work out for the way I want the sweater to fit.  When I finish the colorwork yoke I am going to put the knitting on Barber Cord and block it and just see how I like it and how it fits.  I can always start over if I am not happy with the result.

The collar is worked on US 3 (3.25 mm) needles, and I remembered to use a needle one size smaller than the body needle on the straight stockinette short row section on the back of the neck.  So I used a US 4 (3.5 mm) for that part, and then switched to the US 5 (3.75 mm) needle when I got to the colorwork.  I’ll use a US 4 (3.5 mm) for the straight stockinette portion of the body as well.  I learned this trick while working the Bunny Wishes Sweater.  When I knit the Bunny Wishes Sweater I did not go down one needle size from the body for the short row section on the back of the neck and I can see the difference - fortunately it is not obvious - but I had made a mental note regarding that customization for the future.

Pattern:  Raynard and Vixen Pullover by Sarah L. Kelly

Yarn:  Fleece & Harmony Selkirk Worsted

Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm), US 4 (3.5 mm), US 5 (3.75 mm)

Divine Beauty (Way Ahead MKAL) - Two Clues Done!

One of the many designers that I follow is doing a mystery knit along, and I decided to join.  I haven’t done one in quite a while, although I have bought more than a few MKAL patterns over the years, and then not done them, just because I like the designer.  This one is by SweaterFreak.  It is a shawl (obviously) and requires two skeins of fingering.  I have a lot of single skeins of fingering in my stash, so having the opportunity to use a couple is always good.  I did some stash diving in my Dream in Color boxes - I do love their colors.  I initially came up with three possible pairings:

Amethyst Ink and She Walks in Beauty

Cranberry Cocktail and Happy Birthday Loopy

Divine and The Color of Hope

In the end I picked Divine and She Walks in Beauty, which led me to name my project Divine Beauty.  The first clue was just stripes.

The second clue added the mosaic section.  I almost abandoned my color choices at that point, thinking I needed more contrast between my two skeins, but in the end I decided not to, and I am very happy with the way things are turning out.  The top picture actually has the set up row for clue 3 included, which has you bind off half of your stitches, so you are only knitting off of one side.  I am just over half-way done with clue 3.  The MKAL started on July 5, and I have been keeping up, so this project is taking priority over others right now.  The last clue comes out this coming Sunday.

Pattern:  Way Ahead MKAL by SweaterFreak

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Lemon Boatneck Top - Making Progress

I have also been making some progress on my Lemon Boatneck Top.  I am finding it a pretty boring knit, although the fabric is really soft and it drapes nicely, so it feels good to work with.  It is also a bit slippery, and of course there is that whole splitty problem, so it isn’t completely mindless.  I can knit stockinette without looking at it, most of the time, unless I’m working with a splitty yarn like this one, so it is a bit annoying to knit because I can’t just sit and read, or watch TV without checking to make sure I’m not accidentally splitting a stitch.  As a rule I avoid plant fibers, but I am trying to stretch my boundaries a bit.  We’ll see how that works out.

Pattern:  Improvised, but sort of based on the Gry Top by Katrine Hannibal

Yarn:  Onling No. 14

Needles:  US 2.5 (3.0 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)