Camelia Tee - Finished!

After finishing up Chart 4 on Galadriel's Mirror I really didn't have the brain power to start Chart 5 so I picked this back up and finished it off.  Some mindless knitting was exactly what I needed.  I still have 8 grams left of the first skein, so I could have done a couple of more rows, but I liked the length and I didn't want to be sweating out the bind off.  This took 700 yards, or 161 grams of yarn.  Now I have another way to use up leftovers.  It is a simple pattern and could be easily modified into a tunic, and one could always add more lace or cables, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Project:  Camelia Tee by Anna Nilsson
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Camelia Tee - Yoke Done

After I finished up skein 6 I put the yoke on a longer cable and pinned it out to check my progress.  I wanted to make sure that my gauge and dimensions were okay.  Things look pretty good, so I switched back to my shorter cable and kept going.

I finished up skein 5 and started on skein 4 before I reached the end of the yoke and started working the body.  After I had worked a couple of rows of the body I pulled out the center of my skein 4 yarn ball so I could do the finish work on the sleeves - 2 rows of stockinette and an I-Cord cast off.  I weighed the ball before and after finishing the sleeves so I would have an idea of how much yarn I would need to work the I-Cord cast off for the body.  Now I'm on the boring part, just endless rounds of stockinette.  Depending upon the length I may add in a few increases to provide some shaping on the lower half.

Project:  Camelia Tee by Anna Nilsson
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Camelia Tee

When I test knit Snow Queen I received an exceptionally generous set of yarn.  Typically the six skein sets are 300 grams, mine was 378 grams.  I used 208 grams for Snow Queen, which left me with 170 grams of yarn.  At first I thought I would do another one of my color study shawls, but 170 grams is a lot of leftovers.  It comes out to over 700 yards.  There are a lot of things I could do with that much yarn.  I did a pattern search and came up with the Camelia Tee, a sweet little top down tee with raglan shaping and a lace panel on the shoulders.  Once I finished up the test knit I was working on I cast on.

The pattern calls for a provisional cast on, and then going back, picking up those stitches, knitting two rows and doing an I-Cord cast off.  Piffle, says I.  I will just do an I-Cord cast on.  The I-Cord cast on is lovely, but it is a bit tedious.  You work it by casting on 3 stitches and then working into the back and then the front of the first stitch, then knit the other two stitches.  Slip three stitches back to your left needle and repeat.  For most of it I actually detached the left hand needle from the cable, only re-attaching it when the I-Cord got long enough that it was getting close to the end of the cable.  The I-Cord cast on has a wonderful advantage, you can easily rip back if you make a mistake because those cast on stitches are not going anywhere.  I had to rip back several times.  First I messed up the set up row with the increases so one of my sleeves was coming out wonky.  Then I tweaked the lace chart by removing all of the purl stitches, but realized after working through the chart that I wanted to keep some of the purl stitches because I was losing the texture, and I noticed a mistake - a spurious yarn over.  I finally have it the way I like it.  I'm working it from the darkest color to the lightest color.

Project:  Camelia Tee by Anna Nilsson
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Snow Queen - Finished Shawl

Now that the final clue has gone out for Snow Queen I can finally reveal my finished shawl.  I really love how it came out.  Here is the obligatory blocking photo.

Posting photos has inspired me to get out the leftovers of start another one of my "color study" shawls.  Jazzberries and Lemon Drops was the last color study shawl that I finished.  I wasn't sure if I would do one with the leftovers from this shawl simply because I have so much yarn left over - there are a number of other shawl patterns that I could make - but I really like making something that just lets the colors of the yarn be the star.


Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Snow Queen - Clue 6

This is the penultimate (I love that word) clue of the Snow Queen shawl.  I did not add any extra beads to this clue, or to the final clue.  I've been plugging away at the second sleeve on my Burgundy pullover, and I received the yarn for a test knit yesterday.  I'll probably spend the weekend finishing up the pullover and getting started on the test knit.  I transitioned to my 5th skein towards the end of this clue - where the purple really starts to dominate.

Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Snow Queen - Clue 5

This picture really captures the colors.  I transitioned to the 4th skein towards the end of this clue, so the purple is starting to appear.

Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Snow Queen - Clue 4

Here is my Clue 4.  I transitioned to my third skein in this clue, so the pink is really starting to dominate.

I'm heading off to The Unique Sheep Retreat today at the Hawkesdene House down in Andrews North Carolina.  This is the first time I've done something like this.  I'm very excited to be meeting people that I only know from Ravelry and I know we're going to have a lot of fun.  We're going to do some dyeing and make chocolates and felt a Unique Sheep.  I'm taking my camera so I'll try to get some good pictures, but I probably won't do any blogging until I get back.


Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Snow Queen - Clue 3

This clue finishes up my use of the Crystal AB beads.  I used Pink Pearlized Crystal AB beads on the "arms" of the snow flake and Purple Lined Amethyst AB beads for the beads that are called for in the pattern.  I wore this shawl to work this past Tuesday, the silk is very warm and the cape version hangs nicely.  The bulk of the beads are on the shoulders in the star burst section so you really don't notice the weight.

Our weather is certainly appropriate for a Snow Queen.  We had about 6 inches of snow yesterday, including about a half inch of sleet.  We stayed home from work yesterday, and we'll have to dig out today.  Depending on when our road gets plowed we may or may not make it into work today.

Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Snow Queen - Clue 2

This is a much better picture of the shawl so far.  The picture of Clue 1 was taken very quickly and kind of late in the day, so it wasn't the best.  This one used all three colors of beads that I bought.  I am using the purple beads for the ones called for in the pattern.

I have finished up two of the three test knits, but I can't start the third one because I don't have the yarn yet.  I may take a look at the pattern this weekend, but I feel kind of lost.  I've been working on my Burgundy pullover, but it is not at all challenging, in fact it is pretty boring, but I'm not sure I want to jump into something else.  Maybe I'll work on something non-knitting, like beading or chainmail, or even sewing.  I suppose I could always do house work...

Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Snow Queen - Clue 1

The Snow Queen Mystery Knit Along started this past Friday, so I can finally begin to reveal my shawl.  I test knit this pattern using the yarn above - Dusk on the Fjord in Marici Fingering.  It was my first time using Marici Fingering, which is 100% silk.  I love the richness of the colors, and it is wonderful to knit with.  I received the pink beads with the yarn, but I had also purchased several other colors from Earthfaire and was delighted to discover that I had 3 colors that went with my yarn.  As part of the test knit we were provided a complete chart of the pattern, so I could see how all of the elements came together and that inspired me to go a bit crazy with the beads.  I ended up using most of those 6 packages of beads in the picture.  I started with the silver end and the Crystal AB beads.

As part of the test knit I created a cape modification - something that I have become known for in our Unique Sheep group - and this time the modification instructions are being included in the pattern, with appropriate attribution.

The placement of the extra beads is not included in the pattern, but I have been adding notes to my project page.  This is not the best picture, taken on a cloudy afternoon in late November, but the other pictures are better.

Project:  Snow Queen by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Marici Fingering in Dusk on the Fjord
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Watership Down II - Halfway through the second border

Last week I frogged the Rosebud cape that I was knitting and while I was waiting for my Snow Queen yarn to arrive I picked this one back up and got back to work on the border.  I wasn't really happy with how the Rosebud Cape was turning out, although I did enjoy working with the Marici Lace.  I think I'm going to knit Nightblossoms, from Romi's Pins and Lace Club 2014, with the yarn instead.

I didn't get a great deal of knitting in over the weekend as we had to do some yard work - raking leaves and trimming bushes - but I did manage to get past the half-way point on the second and final border.  And then my Snow Queen yarn arrived on Monday with my Christmas Club shipment and I dove into my test knit.  The yarn is just gorgeous - Dusk on the Fjord on Marici Fingering - and I have lots of beads.  Lots and lots of beads.

And I'm going to use lots and lots of beads with this one.  There are already beads in the pattern, and a lovely pattern it is too, but it just cries out for more.  Lots more.  This is the first time that a pattern has really spoken to me in that way and it is very exciting.  And that's all I can say about it, except that this is my first time knitting with Marici fingering and I love it.  Bye now.

Pattern:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos in Moulin Huet
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)