Tristan - Finished!

 

It has been a while.  I did finish my August Camp Loopy project with a couple of days to spare, but I wasn’t sure that I was going to make it.  After more than a year of working from home, I started going back into the office a couple of days a week on June 22 and the keyboard that I left there is not a good one and using it, even for a few days a week, gave me a repetitive stress injury in my left elbow, which was aggravated by knitting.  So I had to take some time off from knitting and when I did knit I limited the duration of my knitting sessions.  Thankfully with Delta we are not required to go in to the office anymore so my elbow has recovered.  I also have an ergonomic keyboard and a track ball for when I have to go back.  To complicate knitting matters I also had a test knit start up at the end of July competing for my limited knitting time.

The pattern called for a ribbed border by I didn’t want to knit the ribbing.  It pulls in the rest of the shrug and foils the drape so I replaced it with a simple lace pattern (yo, k2tog) and used a contrast color - Safran.

Pattern:  Conic by Cookie A

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure in Tristan and Safran

Needle:  US 2.5 (3 mm)

Tristan - Cast On

 

I finally cast on for the August Camp Loopy project this past week.  The theme this month is “Showstopper”.  I had a terrible time settling on a pattern.  I was going to make “Leaf Lettuce” by Ursa Major Knits, but changed my mind.  I spent several evenings perusing Ravelry without finding anything that really grabbed me, until I decided to look up the yarn I had bought - Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure (colorway Tristan) on Ravelry and look at the pattern ideas.  The pattern I ended up settling on is “Conic” by Cookie A.  I have several of her books and have been in several of her sock clubs, but she vanished from the knitting scene back in 2016 and I don’t think we’ve heard from her since.  The pattern is not without its errors, starting with the mismatch between US needle size and the metric equivalent - I went with the metric equivalent.  Then when I tried the first row of the cable pattern the chart was two stitches short.  I ended up charting the entire back with the decreases, the straight section and the increases (the pattern only had the decreases charted).  The chart is simple, so you could work it without everything, but why make yourself keep track of extra stuff?

When I restarted I cast on 68 stitches and purled one row.  The pattern had you cast on 58 stitches, and do a set up row where you increased to 68 stitches by working several purl-front-back-front stitches.  I didn’t much care for that, and figured picking up stitches for the ribbing at the end would be easier if I just cast on all of the stitches at the start.

Pattern:  Conic by Cookie A

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure in Tristan

Needle:  US 2.5 (3 mm)

Lizard Eyes - Finished!

I finished this up last Saturday and blocked it Sunday.  An eleven hour work day and storms prevented me from getting a beauty shot yesterday.  But I took today off (I have leave to burn before the end of the year), and got one this morning.  It almost does justice to the vibrancy of the colors.  

I am completely smitten by Rohrspatz & Wollmeise yarns and am already eyeing colors for another shawl.  I will do some mods on that one, chiefly I will not slip the first stitch of the rows.  A straight garter stitch edge is a lot easier to pick up stitches in.  I have ordered more 2.75 mm needles - one with a 24 inch cable length - I worked the body of this shawl on 16” cables because the only needle I had in that size was one of my sock knitting sets - and one with a 40 inch cable.  I had to use my Chia Goo interchangeable set to work the edging and my cable length wasn’t really quite long enough for comfortable knitting.  Plus the tips screw on to the cable, and I have problems with getting them tight enough that they don’t unscrew while I’m knitting - so I have to keep checking them and tightening them.  You do need sharp pointy tips for this pattern because there is a stitch where you are picking up the purl bump from a previous ridge.  It creates a cool textural effect, but it a bit of a pain to do.  I also used removable stitch markers a lot.  I used them to mark where to turn on the short rows in the body and the eyes, and also to mark where to work that stitch into the ridge below.  Counting before starting the row is a lot faster and easier than counting while you’re knitting.  I also worked German short rows instead of wrap and turn, so I knit the stitch that the pattern indicated I should wrap, and that is the one that became the “doubled” stitch when I turned and slipped it.

Pattern:  Lizard Eyes by Ursa Major Knits

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure

Needle:  US 2 (2.75 mm)

Lizard Eyes - Body Done!

I finished up the body yesterday.  Part C, the final part, was a bit of a puzzle, until I realized that I needed to work across the entire bottom part of the shawl.  The instructions were not quite clear on that, and given that the rest of the pattern is worked a section at a time, it was not an unreasonable interpretation.  If I were to knit this again, I would not slip the first stitch of the rows because I think a straight garter stitch edge is easier to pick up stitches on, and there are a lot of stitches to pick up on that bottom edge.

Pattern:  Lizard Eyes by Ursa Major Knits
Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure
Needle:  US 2 (2.75 mm)

Lizard Eyes - Nine Sections Done

Other than working on my test knit on the weekends, I’ve been working pretty steadily on my July Camp Loopy Project - Lizard Eyes.  I’ve just caked up the second skein of my main color.  I like the way the color shifts on the eyes.  The construction is clever in that you don’t have to cut the accent color, but I think if I knit it again I would cut the accent color, and then work the I-cord across the top, work the I-cord bind off on the last wedge and then work the I-cord edging on the bottom.  I just think it would give a smoother finish.

Actually, I think I may just start doing it that way because I accidentally cut my accent yarn instead of cutting my main color yarn when I got done with this wedge.  Accidentally cutting the wrong thing appears to be a theme with this project.  As I was nearing the end of winding the first skein of the main color, the end decided to grab hold of the yarn and when I resorted to cutting I cut the wrong thing and ended up with a little skein (11.2 g) of the main color.  If I hadn’t made that goof, I would have been able to work 10 wedges with my main color skein.

Pattern:  Lizard Eyes by Ursa Major Knits

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure

Needle:  US 2 (2.75 mm)

Lizard Eyes - Two Sections Done

I’ve actually finished up three sections, but apparently I have not taken a picture of it.  This is a fun knit.  I like the cool shapes you can get with short rows, I just wish I knew more about how to design using them. I’m working German short rows, my preference when working garter stitch, and I count and place markers before starting the row so I don’t have to stop and count in the middle.  Makes for more mindless knitting so I can read while I work on it.

I also started a test knit this past weekend, but I can’t post any pictures because it is for the next Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along.  That project is reserved for weekends when I am rested, and I have to knit two clues each of the next three weekends to make sure I get it done, well half of it done anyway, before the knit along starts.  So this project will be reserved for my weekdays, along with The Journey.

Pattern:  Lizard Eyes by Ursa Major Knits

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure

Needle:  US 2 (2.75 mm)

Lizard Eyes - Cast On!

It is July, so time to start the next Camp Loopy project.  This month the lab choices are Zoology, Botony or Entomology.  The pattern and/or the yarn must reflect your chosen lab in the name.  I went with Lizard Eyes by Ursa Major Knits and picked Wollmeise Pure yarn.  I really like this yarn.  It feels wonderful to work with, although it is not tightly wound, so it can be a little splitty.  The plies are very fine, which probably explains why it feels so wonderful.  I selected Iris Sibirica (on the right) and Libelle (the two skeins on the left).  The Iris Sibirica is a plant, so I could double dip in the Botony lab if I wanted to, and according to Google Translate Libelle is German for Dragon-Fly.

Last month the lab choices were the Color Lab (two or more colors), the Material Lab (two or more materials, yarn and beads, for example), the Pattern Lab (two more patterns combined).  I went with the Color Lab.

Pattern:  Lizard Eyes by Ursa Major Knits

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure

Needle:  US 2 (2.75 mm)

Walk on the Moon - Beauty Shot

It can be a real challenge to capture the beautiful colors of these projects, but yesterday I managed to get a good photo of my Walk on the Moon shawl.  I have to take the photo in the early morning before the full sun hits the deck.  This one finally shows how rich the colors are and you can really see the purple pop, as well as the variegation in the blue.

Pattern:  Walk on the Moon by Arlene’s World of Lace

Yarn:  Rohrspatz &Wollmeise Pure 100% Merino Superwash

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Walk on the Moon - Finished!

I focused on my Ramp up to Camp project last week and finished it up this past Wednesday and took it off the blocking mats this morning.  The last few rows were very long because before I started the ribbed edging I essentially doubled the stitch count to over 1000 stitches.  I pulled out a circular needle with a 60-inch cable to handle all of those stitches.  Working those rows in that dark purple was a bit of a pain, and I got off a stitch for a little stretch.  Fortunately I spotted it as I was working a later row and was able to fix it as I went.  I was very happy to bind it off, in pattern.  I love the Wollmeise yarn.  It feels really wonderful, and the colors are great, especially that green.  I needed to use 400 yards and I used 1073.  I guess I’m a bit of an over achiever.

One of my points is longer than the other.  You can see that it in the top picture.  The longer edge is the right hand edge, the starting point when working on the right side.  I tried not to make the left hand edge too tight, but was only partially successful, and I tried to keep the right hand edge neat, especially when changing colors.  It was not easy.

Pattern:  Walk on the Moon by Arlene’s World of Lace

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure 100% Merino Superwash

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Walk on the Moon - Color A Finished

Last week I focused mostly on this project and finished up the working with Color A, which is the dark blue.  I’ve since added Color C, which is the purple.  This is my first time working with Wollmeise, although I’ve been hearing wonderful things about it for a while now.  It is lovely to work with.  I am also enjoying this pattern.  The colors are perfect for it, the green practically glows (the color name is Absinthe).  I only used 60 grams of the blue.

Pattern:  Walk on the Moon by Arlene’s World of Lace

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure 100% Merino Superwash

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Walk on the Moon - Cast On

A couple of weeks ago I wandered over to the Loopy Groupies Forum on Ravelry to see if there was any discussion of Camp Loopy.  Much to my delight I discovered that during May they are hosting a “Ramp up to Camp” knit along.  They have three different threads with three different themes based upon past camps - Pirates, Cowboys and Space.  I had to go check out the Space thread and in the discussion discovered a lovely pattern that had been shared “Walk on the Moon” by Arlene’s World of Lace.  It takes three colors and I happened to have three skeins of Wollmeise yarn that I had ordered from The Loopy Ewe last Thanksgiving.  These are imperfect skeins and all I could do was specify a color family - I went with blues, purples and greens.  The pattern calls for lace weight Wollmeise, but this is a light fingering so I went up on the needle size called for to a US 4 (3.5 mm).

I started with the blue and will end with the purple.

Pattern:  Walk on the Moon by Arlene’s World of Lace

Yarn:  Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Pure 100% Merino Superwash

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)