Saugerties Shrug - One Skein of Bisque Done

I have used up one skein of my Bisque and am halfway through my second skein.  Based upon some yarn usage calculations I will use up most, but not all, of my four skeins of Bisque.  It is actually fortunate that I am knitting at a tighter gauge and making a slightly smaller shrug, as I don’t think I would have had enough yarn otherwise, given how under weight my skeins are.  Four skeins should give me 460 grams of yarn (115 grams each), but I have only about 420 grams, and I will use about 400 grams.  I like the size that mine is working out to be, and it will be snuggly when it is finished.  I did go back down to the US 7 needle when I started working back and forth, it just looked neater than continuing on with the US 8.

I did make a slight modification to the colorwork pattern on the last patterned row.  I worked 3 C2, 1 C1 instead of 7 C2, 1 C1, just so I wouldn’t have to catch my floats.  This project is one of three that is in my current rotation and is my “I want to pay attention to something else (reading or watching TV) knitting” at least until I get back to the colorwork section on the right sleeve.  The other two projects are my Peacock Shawl, which requires some attention, being lace, and my Wallflowers blanket, which I also have to pay attention to while I work on it, but it makes a great lap blanket while I’m doing it - perfect for these winter evenings.

Pattern:  Saugerties Shrug by Jill Zielinski

Yarn:  The Plucky Knitter Scholar Worsted

Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 8 (5.0 mm)

Peacock Shawl - One Repeat of Chart C Done!

After finishing up my Capelet I pulled this project out of my WIPs pile and decided it was time to finish it.  I had set it aside because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to handle the skein transitions.  The pattern calls for “feathering”, also known as striping, and I’m just not a fan of doing that, so in the end I just went with my default method of attaching the new skein to the old and just knitting until the old skein ran out, wherever that happens to occur.

It has been a while since I’ve done an all over lace shawl, and I am really enjoying it.  The yarn is really wonderful to work with, and I love the colors and the beads.  This project has been languishing since December of 2016!  I’m glad to be working on it again.  I want to finish as many of my WIPs as I can before I start more projects, although I have already broken that rule with the Saugerties Shrug, but that is a special exception.

Pattern:  Peacock Shawl by Sivia Harding

Yarn:  Yarn Fairy Fairy Sock Medium in Peacock

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Kalona - Finished!

Finally, I finished up my Kalona cardigan.  I finished it up on December 29, and it came off the blocking mats this morning.  It fits me better than it does my dress maker dummy, although the sleeves are just a little long, coming down just past my wrists, but that is okay.

Blocking was very straightforward.

The only thing I pinned was the bottom lace.

Pattern:  Kalona by Alison Green

Yarn:  Berroco Ultra Wool Fine

Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

 

Saugerties Shrug - Cast On!

Yesterday I received an inquiry from a fellow Raveler, apologizing for stash stalking and asking if I might be willing to part with a skein of my Plucky Knitting Scholar Worsted yarn in Bisque (the lighter color) as she had a sweater knit in that yarn and colorway with a sleeve in need of repair.  I had purchased this yarn back in 2016 as a kit from Plucky Knitter to make the Saugerties Shrug, so obviously I could not just send her off a skein if I ever wanted to knit that pattern.  Instead I offered to knit the pattern up and send her any leftovers.  So yesterday afternoon I pulled the yarn out of my stash, caked it up and cast on.  The darker color is Attaché.

I did not do a gauge swatch, after all, this is a shrug, and unless my gauge is way off it will still be wearable.  The needle sizes recommended for the pattern are US 6 (4 mm) for the edging and US 9 (5.5 mm) for the main body.  It should be noted that there is no recommended needle size on the skein band.  I went with my trusty method of comparing the double width of the yarn with the diameter of potential needles sizes and decided a US 6 would be too tight and a US 9 would be too loose, so I went with a US 7 (4.5 mm) for the edging and a US 8 (5.0 mm) for the main body.  My gauge is a little bit tighter than what the pattern calls for, but I’m good with it.  I like the fabric.  The pattern calls for 15” width of the folded fabric and mine looks to be about 12.5 inches.  Definitely smaller, but I’m petite, so it will fit me just fine.

I had forgotten how much fun colorwork in the round is, and the pattern is very easy.  The longest run of a color is 5 stitches, so I’m not bothering to catch my floats.  I’m almost done with the colorwork on the left sleeve, then there will be a long boring stretch of working single color back and forth on the body until I get the right length, then more fun colorwork on the right sleeve.  It should work up quickly.  I weighed all of my skeins before I cast on.  I try to do this so I can keep an accurate record of my yarn usage, and I’m very glad that I did as all of my skeins are underweight.  According to the yarn information on Ravelry the skeins are supposed to weigh 115 grams, but most of mine are coming in a little over 100 grams.  I have one skein that came in at close to the called for weight.  The pattern calls for approximately 363 yards of C1 (Attaché) and 910 yards of C2 (Bisque).  Based on the weights of my skeins I have approximately 456 yards of C1 and 933 yards of C2.  We’ll see how my yarn usage works out given my tighter gauge.

Pattern:  Saugerties Shrug by Jill Zielinski

Yarn:  Plucky Knitter Scholar Worsted in Bisque and Attaché 

Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 8 (5.0 mm)
 

Sweet Violets at Sunset Capelet

So I did a thing.  I designed a capelet.  Shirley Paden had a contest called the Knitted Kingdom Design Quest and I decided to throw my hat in the ring.  Apparently my aim was bad as I didn’t even place.  But that is okay, as I had mixed feelings about the possibility of winning and having to send my finished capelet off to be modeled at Vogue Knitting Live.   You had to incorporate a design element from one of her patterns, so I picked the cable and lace pattern from the Tige Cardigan.  I think the dark purple yarn may not have been the best choice to show off the cable and lace pattern, and that probably counted against me.

I also did not do a sketch of the pattern - I mean seriously what is there to sketch?  I do have a piece of graph paper where I did a bunch of maths and figured out the shaping for the body panels, but that is all.  I also didn’t do a swatch for the cable and lace pattern - well really the panel above (which goes down the center back) was my swatch.  I did do a stockinette swatch for the body panels, but who wants a picture of that?  Anyway, I wanted a sort of military vibe with cable panels going up the shoulders like epaulets, and I also wanted panels down the front and down the back, so that pretty much determined the design.  For the yarn I was thinking of a something hefty - a nice Aran weight.  I also knew I wanted a dark purple and that I wanted a contrast color for the body panels.  I went with some of my Sundara Yarn stash because she dyes up such luscious colors.  Although the yarn is labeled as an Aran weight, by yardage and the way it knits up I think it is more of a DK.

 

Once I had knit all of the panels I joined them together and knit the collar, continuing the cable and lace pattern as established.  At first I tried to work the body panels in situ, picking up stitches and joining as I went, but I really didn’t like the way that looked.

Granted blocking might have helped, I just didn’t think it would help enough, so I ripped it back and did them separately and then sewed them in.  I used back stitch for sewing the panels in place.

Even though the contest was announced back in September, I didn’t cast on until December 1, and the entry was due on December 20, so I didn’t have much time.  I almost dropped out because I thought I had to mail in the finished item, but the week before the deadline a submittal reminder came out, and when I clicked on the link it turned out that you only needed to submit photos.  The submittal page itself  was a bit of a pain.  There were three possible categories of garment:  Capelet, Opera Gloves, or Stockings, and the submittal page had fill ins for all three, and all three were required to be filled in.  You could put N/A in the others, but they still wanted at least one picture, so I put pictures of my yarn in.  I didn’t know what else to do.  There were also discrepancies between what the announcement page said was required for the submittal and what the submittal form said was required.  The finalists were announced a day late (on December 28, instead of December 27 as the announcement page indicated), and I still haven’t seen any pictures of the finalists.

Overall, as a design exercise, it was fun, and I’m happy with the result.  As a contest experience it was a bit “meh”.

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Aran Merino in Sweet Violets and Last Sunset

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm, for the cable and lace panels) and US 5 (3.75 mm for the body panels)

Wallflowers - 44 Popcorns and 8 Pebbles Incorporated!

I have been focusing almost exclusively on this project, wanting to finish it up before the Tesselation course starts in January.  I finished up the popcorns this past week, and managed to get them all incorporated into the blanket in just a few days of focused work.

As you can see, I had already started incorporating the popcorns when I took this photo. I had also already incorporated 4 of the pebbles - those were added once their spaces were created.  The last four I added after add the popcorns.  I had to lay it out on the kitchen floor in order to have enough space, and enough light to take a picture.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Notions Organized - Update!

Of course as you use things, sometimes you need to update the organization scheme.  This morning I did a little update on my notions tables.  I had my needle sets stowed in a typing table that my father and I made back when I was in high school.  I taught myself to type one summer on my Mom’s old IBM Selectric type writer (she had upgraded to one that had memory cards!).  This piece of furniture is sturdy (made of 3/4 inch plywood) and it sits behind my daybed to help keep it from shifting on the hardwood floor).

This is basically where the needle sets used to live.

The stitch marker tin basket moved to the top of the two drawer stack, and a few more stitch marker holders were stowed in it.  And where the stitch markers used to be, a box that holds most of my needle sets.  The top drawer holds my ChiaGoo sets, and the bottom drawer holds random loose needles.  Mostly from Jimmy Beans Wool Advent calendars.

Not all of them fit, hence the ones in the drawer, and if you go back to the first picture, there is a set stowed behind the lotions and wool wash basket on the left.  And to far right in the top photo you can just see the back of one of my looms, which also helps prevent my day bed from shifting.  More about that later.  And where, might you ask, are the darning needles?  Those live in a Jimmy Beans Wool mug commemorating 20 years of business on my coffee table.

More about the coffee table later.  Of course I have more knitting needles than are organized here, and those all live downstairs in my studio.

Tins of straight and double point knitting needles hang out with the bulk of my knitting books.  The circular needles that I have bought as individuals live in shoe boxes sorted by size and cable length.

Regular tip - mostly Addi.

Lace tip, plus my sock knitting needles from KnitPicks - my favorite method of knitting socks is on two 16” circular needles.

And the overflow box, of the larger sizes I almost never use, plus wooden needles (all the other ones are metal).