Arabian Nights - MKAL Reveal

This past Friday marked the release of the eighth and final clue of the latest Unique Sheep MKAL.  As one of the test knitters (and also the tech editor of the pattern) I no longer can post about these as I knit them, and never think about posting the individual clues later.  For this one I knit half the shawl during the actual test knit, and only finished the shawl this past Sunday.  I started the test knit during my long Fourth of July weekend working two clues each weekend for four weeks in order to make the August 8 start of the MKAL.  During the week I worked on in my Camp Loopy knitting.  After Camp Loopy finished up in August, I started working on this again, working it in between other projects, with the goal of finishing up before the last clue came out.

The yarn is Luxe and the Colorway is Hazy Days.  It is a circle colorway and I just love it.  I got it from Earthfaire back in 2016.  I used two different colors of beads, that I also got from Earthfaire at some point in the past and pulled from my bead stash.  I used Amethyst Lined Crystal AB for the cooler blue-green side and Raspberry Lined Crystal AB for the warmer purple-pink side.  When I blocked it I was really blown away with how beautiful it came out.  I kept wandering in to my blocking room just to admire it.

The Luxe has really great stitch definition, unfortunately it is no longer available from The Unique Sheep.  They were having some quality control issues with the mill and dropped it.  I blocked the edges straight along the grid of my blocking mats, blocking one edge and then the other, starting from the center and working towards the ends.  The ends were a little bit of a challenge.  I tried points, but that didn’t seem right, so I ended up threading a blocking wire, picking up every other stitch, and then flaring out the ends so that the beads would show.  The last four rows are just 1x1 rib and after all of the twisted stitches they naturally open up more so I let them do what they wanted.  I don’t believe in forcing my knitting when I block.  I try to understand what the knitted fabric wants to do naturally and block it that way.  I also don’t block strenuously.  I block firmly, but I don’t over block.  If the knitting is pulling back from the pins when it is drying (making little scallops) I figure I blocked it too hard.  This one did not do that at all.

I worked the first half with the cool colors.

And the second half with the warm colors.  I did not work any transition rows.  I did work a plain knit row when I started the second half, so there are two plain knit rows in the center of the shawl.  If I were working it over again I would still work those two set up rows, but I would work them in a knit/purl pattern that matched the lace pattern.

Pattern:  Arabian Nights by Janine Le Cras

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Hazy Days

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

The Velveteen Rabbit - Unique Sheep MKAL

Going back now to the Autumn of 2016, we come to The Velveteen Rabbit.  This was my first time using a 12-skein circle gradiance, and I picked Enchanted Garden on Luxe.

The hardest part was deciding which skein to start with (I started with skein 8).  I must say that this shawl shape is probably my favorite.  It stays on my shoulders and it just looks great.

Based upon my notes on my project page, this one was a bit challenging.  I think it may have had nupps, but of course I don't do nupps (just never cared for the look of them), I replace them with beads.

Pattern:  The Velveteen Rabbit by Janine Le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe (discontinued) in Enchanted Garden
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

The Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Alongs

It has been a long time since I've posted about The Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Alongs.  I started test knitting for the MKALs back in the fall of 2014, and it just seemed kind of strange to blog about the project so long after it was done.  After The Once and Future King, in the summer of 2015, we did Wrinkle in Time in the Fall of 2015.  The colorway is Silverlode on Luxe, with a little bit of gold for the bind off because I ran short of yarn.

And then Heidi in the Spring of 2016.  This shawl ended up going home with my sister Virginia.  She put it on with this elegant black dress and it just looked so great on her with her white hair.  The colorway is Wild Blue Lupine on Selene.

Next we did The Velveteen Rabbit in the Fall of 2016.  This was the first time I used a 12 skein set.  These are pretty cool because the colors wrap - they are a circle and you can start anywhere in the circle and go in either direction.  The colorway is Enchanted Garden on Luxe.

Here is the yarn in skeins.

Our most recent MKAL was The House at Pooh Corner.  I used another 12 skein set - Realm of the Faeries on Nimbus.

Our next MKAL is Beauty and the Beast.  It begins on August 25.  I have my yarn and will soon begin the test knit.  I'm using Tulip Festival on Eos.  I think the bold colorway will work well with the pattern construction.

On the Spice Market - Sample - Finished!

I also finished up knitting the sample of the On the Spice Market shawl for The Unique Sheep, but I didn't get any beauty shots before I shipped it off to Laura, so you'll have to be content with a blocking shot.  I finished this one up on New Year's Eve.  Kits should be coming out soon.

Pattern:  On the Spice Market by Melanie Berg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe and Verve
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

On the Spice Market - Sample Knit - Section 3 Done

This was a slow section, mostly because of the make 3 from 3 stitch.  That row was a bit tortuous because you have to make sure you get all three stitches without splitting anything.  The sequence is pretty easy to memorize, after working it so many times, and it is easy to keep track of where you are in the sequence.

For each contrast color, I carried the yarn up along the side by knitting the second stitch with both the contrast color and the main color, on the right side only.  I didn't carry the main color through the color blocks in section 1, but I'm going to do that in section 4, just to have less ends to weave in.  Whenever joining a new contrast color I attached it to the main color with a square knot, and then wove the tail back into itself - sewing it through the main strand of the contrast color with a darning needle using a running stitch - to anchor it, that way I only have a single end to weave in for each color.

Pattern:  On the Spice Market by Melanie Berg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe and Verve
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

On the Spice Market - Sample Knit

Next year The Unique Sheep will be offering kits for several of the popular shawls that have come out recently.  If you want a sneak peak at some of the upcoming kits you can check out Laura's blog post here.  I am currently knitting a sample for On the Spice Market by Melanie Berg.  I actually have the kit in Miss Babs, the yarn originally called for, but haven't knit it up yet.  Because of the color changes there are ends to join and weave in.  I've been weaving in as I go.

At this point I have finished up the Section 1 and 2 knitting and am working on Section 3.  In Section 3 I am carrying the contrast color up by knitting the second stitch on the right hand side with both the contrast color and the white.

Pattern:  On the Spice Market by Melanie Berg
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe and Verve
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - Beauty Shots

And here is the shawl off of the blocking wires.  I really like the contrast edging and will definitely use this technique again.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - Done!

I finished this shawl up last night and blocked it this morning.  I had to use flash to get this picture, it is overcast here this morning.  You can see the yellow that I used to bind off.

The yarn I used is the yellow in the bottom left hand corner.  I think it is leftover from the Field Day Crochet Blocks, in which case the color is Honeycomb.  I worked through row 16 with the sixth skein, ending that row with less than 2 grams, which I knew was not enough to complete another row (I had been weighing after each row once I started getting close to the end).  The pattern has you bind off on any wrong side row so I knew that I had to work one more right side row before I bound off.  I joined the yellow and worked row 17 and then bound off on row 18.  I almost made it.  I ran out of the yellow about 2 inches from the end so I used some of the remains of skein 6 to finish.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - Five Repeats of Chart 2

I finished up the fifth repeat of Chart 2 this morning, and this time I did not forget the increase on the center stitch.  Last weekend when I finished up the fourth repeat I did forget that increase and didn't realize it until I was working the first row of the fifth repeat.  At that point I did not feel like frogging back so I did the increase two rows late, but had second thoughts after finishing that row.  In the end I did tink back and fix that last row of the fourth repeat.  I switched to skein 5 on row 10 of the fifth repeat, and finished this repeat with only 3.5 grams left of skein 5, so I will definitely run out of yarn part way through the sixth repeat.

Here is my yarn usage per chart:
Chart 1:  4.9 g
Chart 2, repeat 1:  11.7 g
Chart 2, repeat 2:  18.8 g
Chart 2, repeat 3:  26.8 g
Chart 2, repeat 4:  33.5 g
Chart 2, repeat 5:  41.1 g

The yarn usage is essentially linear, as this chart shows.

I pulled out my stash of leftover Luxe yarn as I am thinking of binding off in a contrasting color.  I really like contrast bind offs, and it would allow me to use up my last skein without worrying about keeping enough in reserve for the bind off.  Here are the colors I have to choose from.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - Three Skeins and Four Repeats of Chart 2 Done

I powered through the third skein and most of the fourth repeat last night, stopping two rows shy, which I finished up this morning.  Getting a good picture of the colors in this shawl is quite a challenge.  This morning I took my mats out on to the deck to take advantage of the natural light out there.  Here is a close up of the tip.

The greens are really starting to dominate at this point.

I switched to the fourth skein on row 17 of the fourth repeat of chart 2, and the repeat took 33.5 g.
As a recap, here is the yarn usage so far:

Chart 1:  4.9 g
Chart 2, repeat 1:  11.7 g
Chart 2, repeat 2:  18.8 g
Chart 2, repeat 3:  26.8 g
Chart 2, repeat 4:  33.5 g

Based upon my yarn usage, I should run out during the sixth repeat of chart 2.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - Two Skeins and Three Repeats of Chart 2 Done

When my brain has been awake enough I've also been working on my MagicWaves Triangle Shawl.  I used up the second skein this morning and joined the third skein.  I was looking back at my other blog posts on this project and realized I hadn't posted a picture of the yarn set, so here it is.  The order of the skeins goes from left to right, so I am just getting into the greens.  The colorway is Snow Glint and the base is Luxe, one of my favorites.

The skein weights are:
Skein 1 - 28.6 g
Skein 2 - 28.2 g
Skein 3 - 27.6 g
Skein 4 - 27.5 g
Skein 5 - 28.4 g
Skein 6 - 28.6 g

And so far my yarn usage is:
Chart 1:  4.9 g
Chart 2, repeat 1:  11.7 g
Chart 2, repeat 2:  18.8 g
Chart 2, repeat 3:  26.8 g

As you can see from the top picture, this is a really fine example of a gradiance set because the skeins blend beautifully from one to the next.  By contrast, a gradient set is one in which you're working with a family of colors, but each skein is a single color.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - One Skein Done

I switched to the second skein on row 17 of the second repeat of chart 2.  I have now finished the second repeat, but didn't take a picture of it.  I haven't worked on this project since the retreat in April and it has taken me a little bit to get back into the swing of the pattern.  It isn't hard, but does require you to pay attention because the repeat section shifts around.  The second repeat of chart 2 used 18.8 grams, as opposed to 11.7 grams for the first repeat.  I am curious to see how the yarn usage increases with repeat.  I may have to plot it when I'm done.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

MagicWaves Triangle - First Chart & One Repeat of Chart 2

I wanted to have a project that uses The Unique Sheep yarn to work on at the Retreat, so I pulled this kit off of my yarn tree and set it up before I left.

All of those plastic bags contain Earthfaire kits, most of them using Unique Sheep yarns.  I finished up Chart 1 while at the retreat and snapped a quick picture of it pinned out on the bed.  I then finished the first repeat of Chart 2 at the Tennessee house, but didn't get a chance to take a photo until this morning.

This is a cool pattern because the lace motif repeats itself and you can stop at any row, which means that you can use up all of your yarn.

Pattern:  MagicWaves Triangle by Kieran Foley & Nim Teasdale
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Snow Glint
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Glwth Shawl - Finished!

Part 2 went quickly and got me into the next to the last skein.

Part 3 got me into the beaded section.  I used hot pink lined crystal AB beads.  Here is a close up.

And here is the finished shawl blocking.

My yarn amounts came out perfectly.  The dark pink skein from my Tinkerbell set was just the right amount to do the first ruffle.  The 3 yellow ruffles are from the remains of my Lemon Drops set, and the light pink ruffle is remains from Tea Rose.

The main body of the shawl took 384 yards, which includes the dark pink ruffle.  The other ruffles are picked up on garter stitch ridges, so you can use other leftovers and play with colors.  They took another 144 yards.  The pattern is mostly mindless knitting, although the instructions are a bit terse.  The ruffles take some time and are a bit of a pain to work.  I did mine a bit differently than called for in the pattern because I found trying to do it the way the pattern called for too much of a pain.  I did not increase my needle size, I picked up and knit stitches in the garter stitch ridge, then purled back, then did the increase 7 in the k3tog stitches, purled back again, then did the bind off, beading clusters on the bind off in a periodic pattern.  I can see making more shawls using this pattern - it is a quick knit and a great way to use up leftovers and play with color.


Pattern:  Glwth Shawl by Abigail Phelps
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell, Lemon Drops and Tea Rose
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Glwth Shawl - Part 1 Done

Earth Faire is running a little knit along  on Ravelry for the pattern Glwth Shawl by Abigail Phelps and I decided to join in because I like the pattern and it gives me the opportunity to use up some leftovers.  I am starting with the leftovers from my Peter Pan shawl, but will end with some leftovers from some other projects.  This is a photo of Part 1 taken with the last of the daylight.  I like the asymmetrical construction - starting with a single stitch and decreasing on one edge while increasing on the other.  Spirals are just cool.

Pattern:  Glwth Shawl by Abigail Phelps
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Peter Pan - Finished!

I finished up Peter Pan over a week ago, and have even worn it to work a time or two, but it has taken a while to get some decent pictures.

I like the way the shawl emerges from the shadows.

Here's a blocking picture.  As you can tell, it is a long shawl.  I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture.

Pattern:  Peter Pan by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 6 (4 mm)

Peter Pan - One Edge Finished

I have been very remiss about posting my progress on this shawl.  After I finished up my Evenstar Cape I picked this back up.  I haven't taken any progress pictures as I finished up charts, nor did I keep track of my yarn usage per chart.  I did keep track of my total yarn usage for each skein, but that is pretty trivial.  I finished up one side on Monday, and the second side by Thursday.  Friday night I figured out the knit on border and started working on that, and finished up the first edge this morning.  I am amazed at how quick this one is knitting up.  I have already picked up the stitches for the second edge, which is why I draped it around the neck of my dress make dummy.  I just haven't been up to pinning it out for photos.


Pattern:  Peter Pan by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 6 (4 mm)

Peter Pan - Chart 3 / Skein 2 Done - Side 1

As I mentioned, I'm breaking up my work on the Evenstar Cape with a couple of other projects, including this one.  This is actually Chart 3 and the first 13 rows of Chart 4, which is where I am switching to the next skein.   Now I'm trying to decide if I want to work the other side and finish off skein 2 or continue working side one.

Pattern:  Peter Pan by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 6 (4 mm)

Peter Pan - Chart 2 Done

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.  I finished up the center motif (charts 1 and 2) late this afternoon and started working on Chart 3.  The sides are on waste yarn and I have a needle in the stitches on each end that I'll be knitting from.  I switched from a US 6 to a US 5 when I started working in the flat.  I'm using knitCompanion and have all of my charts set up.  The charts for the wings have those fun instructions, work so many rows, so many times.  I actually created sub-charts of the rows being knit and am using smart counters so I don't have to remember how many times I have to knit each section of a given chart.

I knit the entire center motif using Skein 1, and ended up with 8 grams left.  Not bad.  I started with 52 grams.  I am planning on using skeins 2-4 on the wings and skeins 5 and 6 for the edging.


Pattern:  Peter Pan by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needles:  US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 6 (4 mm)

Peter Pan - Decisions, Decisions

The way this shawl is designed is interesting.  The graphic below shows how the skeins are used as you knit the shawl.

After you knit the body of the shawl, an edging is knit along the long edges, changing skeins to match the skein usage in the body.  I've been busy this morning running numbers in my spreadsheet and thinking about possible options.  I also looked at all of the finished projects to see how it all comes together and I have figured out several different schemes.  Given the yarn requirements I have a lot of options.  The one I'm leaning toward would use skeins 1-4 in the body and skeins 5 and 6 for the edging.  I've laid out my yarn to see how that would look.

I really like the contrast of the greens against the yellow and especially the pink.  I'm also thinking that I will use skein 1 for the entire center motif instead of switching to skein 2 towards the end of the second chart.

Pattern:  Peter Pan by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tinkerbell
Needle:  US 6 (4 mm)