Capricorn - Finished!

I finished the shawl this past weekend.  I thought about extending the second chart, but my brain wasn't up to it.  I ended up using just under 100 grams for this shawl (4 of the 6 skeins) so this pattern is perfect for a single skein of sock yarn, and if you're running short you can always do fewer rows of the border chart.

And it is the perfect size for me, and the shape keeps it in place.

Pattern:  Capricorn by Janine le Cras (The Unique Sheep Zodiac Shawl Club)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Capricorn
Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

Capricorn - Chart 2 Done

I've finished up Chart 2 and haven't even used up half of my yarn yet.  All I have left is the border.  I'm going to have a lot of yarn left over.  I thought about adding an extra repeat or two from the second chart, but now I think I will just finish the shawl and make something else with the leftovers.

Pattern:  Capricorn by Janine le Cras (The Unique Sheep Zodiac Shawl Club)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Capricorn
Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

Capricorn - Chart 1 Done

When I finished up Koi Rama I immediately started Capricorn, the previous offering from the Unique Sheep Zodiac Shawl Club.  When I complete this shawl I will have done all of the club shipments except for Taurus.  I need to decide on a pattern for that yarn because I don't want to do the club pattern.

The yarn colors are not something that I would necessarily have picked for myself, but I do like the way they are knitting up.  The pattern is by Janine le Cras, one of my favorite designers.  This pattern I am knitting old school, though.  I put it in to Knit Companion, but ended up using one of my magnetic boards and a page protector because there are separate charts for each side of the shawl, and the charts are kind of big, so it really is just easier to work from the magnetic board than to be constantly switching charts in Knit Companion.

For this shawl I decided to try out a new method of switching skeins - join the strands by sewing the end of each one through the other.  The method was posted by Steph from Canada.  According to her once everything is knitted in I won't need to do any other weaving in of the ends.  I can just snip them off after I'm done blocking.  Sounds good to me.

When I got done sewing one end in I pulled on the two pieces until the colors matched, then I trimmed the excess and sewed the other end.  After I was done I did an experimental tug and was amazed out how sturdy the join felt.  The yarn didn't budge.

And the big news of the week?  I am now a moderator in The Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along Group.  I was blown away when Laura asked me.  I respect and admire Laure, Kelly and Janine immensely so I feel very honored to be a moderator on the group.

Pattern:  Capricorn by Janine le Cras (The Unique Sheep Zodiac Shawl Club)
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Verve in Capricorn
Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

Scorpius - Finished!

I finished this up yesterday.  I always have a hard time figuring out how to photograph lace shawls.  I see some folks take them outside and hang them in trees or on shrubs and all I can think about is the possibility of getting it dirty, or snagging it on vegetation.  I also like to use natural light, so my dress maker dummy stands near the window of the room that I use to store a lot of my knitting and also for blocking.  Of course, that means there are also random piles of knitting that can be seen around the edges of the bottom of the photos.

Figuring out how to style the shawls on the dummy can be a challenge sometimes.  I hit on the drape in the first picture a while ago, inspired by Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief", and I hit on the styling in the second picture this morning when I was trying to figure out how to take a picture that showed off the rest of the lace design.

And here is the blocking picture, just to give a sense of the overall look and how the colors pooled.  I must say, it reminds me a bit of argyle socks.

Project:  Scorpius by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Scorpio
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Scorpius - One side finished

I finished up the first side last night and have started working chart 2 on the second side.  This is where things start to get boring for me.  I've done all of these stitch patterns already and I just want to be done with the shawl.  The nice thing about this pattern is that it is a rectangular shawl, so the rows go pretty quickly, and they don't keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger.  I am already thinking about my next project - another Kitman Figueroa shawl, Koi Rama - with the yarn for the Pisces shipment of the Zodiac Club.  The club pattern is pretty, but not quite my style, and the yarn really wants to be made into Koi Rama - which is a fish themed shawl, so it is still appropriate - and one should always listen to the yarn.


Project:  Scorpius by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Scorpio
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Scorpius - Baghdad Screen Chart (Chart 1) Done

I finished up this section of the shawl last night, but it was too dark to get a decent picture.  I started out in the center with Judy Becker's magic cast and have been working my way out from there.  On each side I worked rows 1-20 of the Baghdad Chart, then rows 9-20 three times, then rows 21-28.  I actually cropped the chart three times in my KnitCompanion App to correspond with the three steps, which made it so easy to remember what part I was working on.  I also finished each piece on both sides before continuing on to the next.  Given that I started in the middle of the skein and am working the same pattern in both directions, I find the difference in the color pooling between the two sides interesting.  The stitch count changes between this chart and the next, so it will be interesting to see how that affects the color pooling.

Project:  Scorpius by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Scorpio
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Scorpius

When I finished up the Mayan Garden Cape I thought about starting Peter Pan, but I really want to wait until the complete pattern comes out so I don't have to import all of the clues into KnitCompanion.  Then the latest shipment from the Zodiac Shawl Club came and I decided I really needed to work on those so I pulled out Scorpius.  This one presents a little bit of a challenge because of the construction (so does Peter Pan, but I have a plan for that one).  This is one of those shawls that is knit from the center out.  Well, not quite the center.  The first chart forms the center panel, and then you work charts 2, 3 and 4 before going back to the cast on edge (provisionally cast on) and work charts 2, 3 and 4 again.

My first issue with the construction is the fact that the yarn is variegated and if I just work the pattern as written the yarn colors may not look right - there might be an obvious break where I start the second part of the shawl.  The second issue with the construction is the provisional cast on.  I'm just not a fan of those, especially the ones where you use a crochet chain to pick up the stitches and then unravel the crochet chain to get the other side.  I learned on the Wavelettes shawl what a pain that can be.  Originally I thought I would just do a long tail cast on and pick up stitches from that for the other side.  I figured that with fingering weight yarn the ridge formed by the cast on wouldn't be too noticeable.  I even started the shawl out that way and worked a few rows of the pattern, and as I worked them a plan started to form.

I frogged that first start and took my scale and my cake of yarn downstairs to my studio and put the yarn cake on the scale and started winding another cake from it using my left hand to tension the yarn and my right hand to wind.  When I had wound off half of the cake I grabbed another US 4 needle out of my needle stash and headed back upstairs.  Then, starting in the middle of the skein and holding the two needles together I cast on 77 stitches using Judy Becker's magic cast on that was invented for toe up socks.  And then I started knitting.  I have knitted rows 1-20 of the first chart in both directions and now I'll knit rows 9-20 of the first chart 3 times on each side, instead of 6 times, finishing off with rows 21-28.  It will make the central motif a little bit bigger, but I have a very generous skein so I'm not worried about running out of yarn.  The picture is not the best - it has been a gray and rainy day.

Project:  Scorpius by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Scorpio
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Brachyura - Finished!

The garter stitch body was a quick and easy knit.  I did not bother wrapping stitches when I did my turns, I never do when working short rows in garter stitch.  I did not do a stretchy lace bind off but instead opted for a regular bind off using a US size 6 (4 mm) needle to give the shawl more of a crescent shape, which I prefer.

So, after finishing up this shawl I pulled out the first Zodiac Club offering - Taurus.

The colors are good - a lovely blend from spring into fall, but the pattern...well, the pattern just didn't appeal to me.  The construction is certainly intriguing, but the lace pattern didn't look complex enough to hold my interest long enough to finish the shawl.

So I went looking for another pattern to knit.  The yarn is a generous 1500 yards, so I had a lot to choose from, and a base that I have never used before - Green Sheep Fingering, 100% superfine merino wool.  In the end I picked a lacy cardigan by Bergere of France.  I love their patterns.  The good news is that I could get the pattern, and for free.  The catch?  The pattern is in French.  I did take a year or two in high school, but that was a long time ago.  The pattern is 343 - Cardigan Ajoure.  So along with the fun of translation, I also have to figure out how I want to use the gradiance yarn.  But first, I need to knit a project for a friend of mine.  Fortunately it also uses Unique Sheep yarn, so I will be able to get my fix.


Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body, US 6 (4 mm) bind off

Brachyura - Lace Edge Finished!

Actually, the entire shawl is finished, and is upstairs blocking, but it is too dark to get a picture.  All week long I have been chipping away at the lace edge and this morning I finished up the last two repeats.  I will confess that it was getting a bit boring.  That is my only complaint about patterns like these where you're repeating the same lace motif over and over.  They are lace, so I have to pay attention, but they are boring, so my attention wanders.  It works best if I have something to watch or listen to while working on them.

Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body

Brachyura - Seven Repeats Done

The pattern calls for 15 repeats so, I am almost half way done with the lace edging.  I felt a bit like Penelope last week because I kept ripping back my first repeat.  Part of the problem was the yarn overs on the top edge.  I always have issues with yarn overs when you are going from a purl stitch to a knit stitch or vice versa.  When going from a knit stitch to a purl stitch the yarn overs always come out larger than when going from a purl stitch to a knit stitch.  You can see the Zodiac symbol marching along, and the wave motif on the bottom edge.  When I'm done with the lace edge I'll pick up stitches along the top edge and knit the body.

Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body

Brachyura - One repeat done

This is the second offering in The Unique Sheep's Zodiac Shawl Club - Cancer.  The shawl name is Brachyura, which is the order that crabs belong to.  I really like the colors that the designer worked her shawl in - gold for the lace edge and a blue/gold mix for the body of the shawl.

The construction of this shawl is a bit different.  The part that I am knitting now is actually the lace edging.  Once I am done with 15 repeats I will bind off and then with a second color pick up stitches along the left edge and knit the body.  It took me several tries before I got the start looking the way I liked, as well as the left edge.  The instructions call for slipping the first stitch with the yarn in back on every row.  On right side rows I slip the stitch with the yarn in back, but on wrong side rows I slip the stitch with the yarn in front.  I think the "yarn in back" should be interpreted as "yarn on the wrong side of the work".  Once again I am using my Knit Companion App on my iPad.  It is great when you are working lace charts.

I know this violates my recent knitting monogamy, but I need a more complex project in addition to my simpler one.  I had actually wound the yarn up for this project while I was working the sleeves of Goldenrod, planning on working it next, but then I needed something simple to knit while reading documents at work so I cast on Crimson Lake.  But I still really wanted to work on this shawl because I love working with Unique Sheep yarns and find myself missing them when I don't have a project using them on my needles.  I am beginning to suspect that Laura and Kelly are yarn faeries and that they enchant their yarns.  It is a spell I am happy to be under.

Pattern:  Brachyura by Trish vanKuyk
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Moonshine (lace edge) and Stardust (body)
Needles:  US 3 (3.25 mm) lace edge, US 4 (3.5 mm) body

Virgo Shawlette - Done

I finished this last night and blocked it before going to bed.  It is more of a scarf than a shawlette, but you could modify the pattern with fewer repeats of the Leaf Chart and deepen the short rows.  If I were going to do that, though, I would cast on and work the Leaf Chart, then pick up the stitches for the Oak Leaf Border, and then go back and pick up stitches along the cast on edge to work the short rows.  I would also play with the colors.

Here is the blocking shot (taken at night with the flash) so you can see the whole thing.  I had to curve it in order to pin out the Oak Leafs of the border.

Pattern:  Virgo Shawlette by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Pashmi in Virgo
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Virgo Shawlette - Body Done

I haven't been very productive this week thanks to late nights at work, but I have managed to finish the body of the Virgo Shawlette by Janine le Cras.  The Unique Sheep is doing a shawl series for the signs of the Zodiac.  This is actually the third offering.  They started with Taurus, and then did Cancer.  Now that Watership Down is finished and the next Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along (Peter Pan) doesn't start until the new year I'm going to concentrate on the back log of projects that I have sitting around.

I'll have to wait until the sun is shining and the shawl is blocked to get a good picture (it is raining here again), but a close up helps a little.

Pattern:  Virgo Shawlette by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Pashmi in Virgo
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)