Watermelon Shrug - Second Side, One Stripe Done

Lately I've been waking up early and working on this in the mornings before heading off to work while I watch Knitstars videos.  I love the colors, the simplicity, and the fact that I know the pattern so well at this point.  I've signed up for Knitstars 3.0 and have been watching the videos from the previous years.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Watermelon Shrug - One Side Done

This is such an easy project to pick up and put down, and I find the knitting very soothing.  The yarn is soft, I love the colors, and I know the pattern very well.  I finished up the first side this week.  I have a little bit of green left on this side, as well as some small quantities of leftovers of the other four colors.  I may do some short rows with the remnants, as I did on my very first shrugs, but first I'm going to work the other side.  When I was dividing up the darker green skein I misread the numbers and made one cake a little bit heavier than the other.  I want to make sure I don't need to use any of that remainder to finish up the second side.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Watermelon Shrug - Two Stripes Done

I have several projects on the needles right now, but I've mostly been working on this one.  I like the colors, and the simplicity.  I didn't realize, until I was looking at the project pages for my other shrugs that for my first Watermelon Shrug I started with the greens, not the reds/pinks.  I tend to start with the darkest color and work to the lightest, although with the first Watermelon Shrug I worked dark - light - dark - light, putting the darkest color next to the central panel.  For this one I will be working dark - light - dark, ending with the darker green.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Watermelon Shrug - Central Panel Done

On the drive back from the Retreat I finished up the central panel of my Watermelon Shrug.  We left the Retreat early, before breakfast, before folks were even up.  I totally forgot about the group photo.  I think we both just wanted to get home.  Bruce's back was bothering him (he had strained a muscle working in the yard a few days before we left) and I could feel a migraine starting and neither one of us wanted to deal with Richmond at rush hour.  The drive home was very uneventful and the traffic wasn't bad at all, although it was starting to build up when we hit Richmond, which we did around 2pm.  We made it home before 4pm, which was very nice as I had to work the next day.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Watermelon Shrug - Cast On

Once I finished up the central panel of my Gazania Shrug I had to cast on the central panel for the next one.  I had this skein already caked up and ready to go so I tossed it in my work bag yesterday - not even bothering to take out the Gazania.  I had some training and some class homework to do (reading material) so I needed some knitting to keep my hands busy and my mind focused.  I made pretty good progress on my knitting and finished the training and the review of the class material.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra Shrug by Carolyn Blakelock
Yarn:  Biscotte & Cie Bis-sock
Needles:  US 2.5 (3 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Watermelon Shrug - One Side Done

I finished up one side of my Watermelon Shrug last night.  When I got to the last color stripe I continued working garter rows until I ran out of the light pink and then worked short rows with the remaining colors, working from the center out, until I ran them out as well.  I had to finish the row with a stretch of green from the self-striping skein.

I've already picked up the stitches for the other side, and also ordered another set of the Watermelon, and two sets of the Charivari to make more shrugs.  This one will be a gift, and so will one of the Charivari shrugs.

Pattern:  Traveling Zebra by Louise Robert modified to be a shrug
Yarn:  Bis-sock by Biscotte & Cie
Needle:  US 2.5 (3 mm) & US 4 (3.5 mm)