FO: Crow Prints Shawl

I was so excited to find Schoppel Wolle Zauberball at my LYS. I wanted to make a triangular shawl with it, because I thought the long color changes would look gorgeous knit up like that. This was the second pattern I tried, and it worked out perfectly! The pattern is so incredibly easy to knit, and the charts are really easy to follow. Using a self-striping yarn adds a lot of interest without a lot of work. This is also a perfect pattern for a yarn like this, because it made the stripes form really pretty waves of color.

The pattern called for US 10.5 needles, but didn’t actually give me gauge info. 10.5 seemed way too big. I used US 10 instead, and that seemed to be exactly what I needed.

I really wanted to use as much of the yarn as possible. I ended up knitting an extra repeat of the body chart. The pattern suggested that I might add a knit row between each row of the edge chart, as well, which I also did. I tried to add another extra knit row at the end, too, but I ran out during the cast off and had to unravel a bit.

Pattern: Crow Prints Shawl

Yarn: Schoppel Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Blackberry

Needles: US 10

Knit For: Me

Mods: Extra body chart repeat; Added knit row between each row of the edge chart

The Verdict: I love it!

Cat Fortress...

At least, that’s what it was supposed to be…I got a Knitpicks order in the mail last week, and told the boyfriend I was bringing over a new box for his cat to play with. One thing led to another, and somehow, we ended up building a cat fortress! It has entrances and windows on each level, as well as holes between the levels so Zoey can climb up. However, she doesn’t really seem to get this concept, and prefers to just hang out in the bottom box. So much for all of our construction efforts, although at least we had fun building it! I think I may be turning into a cat person…

We also went ice skating. No pictures from that, because we weren’t supposed to have cameras on the ice, and it was dangerous enough without being distracted! They way over-sold tickets, so there were about a million people on the ice. There were also a couple of birthday parties going on, meaning there were little kids on ice skates careening everywhere. I’m not exactly a skilled ice skater, so these obstacles were quite a challenge. I did, however, learn how to make quite a graceful spin when turning around was the only way to avoid slamming into a small child. I also didn’t fall on the ice, although there was some crashing into walls.

I also discovered a new yarn shop. I got rather frustrated with my old, closer yarn shop on Thursday. They’re only open past 6:00 one day a week, and since I’ve been spending the weekends in another city with the boyfriend, that one day is the only time I can get there. We had a big of snow on Thursday, so I called them before heading out there to make sure they weren’t closing early. They said they weren’t, and I braved traffic and icy roads to get that one extra skein of yarn I needed for my Christmas knitting. It was not a fun trip. I arrived and- lo and behold- there was a closed sign on the door. I was not a happy girl.

Waiting until this coming Thursday (2 days before Christmas!) to get the skein I needed was not an option, so I decided to look for a yarn shop in Northern Virginia, where I was spending the weekend. I found Fibre Space and wow, is it amazing! Not only do they have all sorts of my favorite yarns (Cascade 220 Superwash, Malabrigo Lace, almost the entire Berroco line, etc), they also have some brands that you usually don’t see in stores, such as Miss Babs, Dragonfly Fibers, and the Sanguine Gryphon. I also got to see Dream In Color Starry in person, and fell in love. My only complaint, small though it is, is that they’re a bag-free shop. This wasn’t a huge deal when I was buying one skein of yarn, but it might have been problematic if I were buying more.

FO: Traveling Woman

I've had this pattern queued for awhile, but it looks so complicated- I was kind of afraid to take it on! Finally, however, I bit the bullet and cast on- and it was so much easier than I expected! I messed up the stitch count a couple of times on the stockinette part, but that was completely my fault because I wasn't paying enough attention- it had nothing to do with the pattern. The patterned, lacy part at the bottom was easy, too- the charts were nice and big, and so easy to follow!

This is a great yarn. It seems really sturdy, and has great stitch definition. I'd definitely knit with it again. I also love the color- it's a nice, bright purple.

Pattern: Traveling Woman

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino

Colorway: Purple

Needles: US6

Mods: None

The Verdict: I am very pleased with the result of this! I think I may make more shawls in this pattern, possible in heavier weights for a larger shawl.

FO: Baroness Beret

I wanted a hat to match my Just Enough Ruffles scarf, and I had plenty of leftover fuchsia Ultra Alpaca. The only ruffled hats I've seen have been for babies, and I wasn't sure that was the look I was going for, so I decided to try something a little different. The scarf was fairly simple, so I had a fair amount of choice. I chose the Baroness Beret.

It's a great pattern, and worked up fairly quickly. My only criticism is that some points in the pattern said stuff like " k2, k2-" why not just write "k4?" Still understandable, but just a minor knitpick on my part. I raved about the yarn already in the scarf post, so I won't make you listen to me declare my love for it again.

Pattern: Baroness Beret

Needles: Size 4 (Ribbing) and Size 6 (main part of the hat)

Yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca

Colorway: Fuchsia (6325)

Modifications: I added an extra repeat of the Chevron eyelet pattern- although I got gauge, it seemed seriously small. I also repeated the last two rows of the decreases, because I was a little concerned that leaving 12 stitches at the end was a bit much and might result in a hole- 6 worked out perfectly.

The Verdict: The hat is pretty and great, and looks awesome with the scarf!

FO: Just Enough Ruffles Scarf

Well, I promised you FO posts, and then…life interfered. And then I misplaced the pictures. But now I have taken more pictures, and am ready to talk about knitting again! So onto my pretty Just Enough Ruffles scarf:

I bought this pattern awhile ago, but just wasn't inspired to knit it. I later bought three skeins Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in Fuchsia with the intention of making a scarf and hat set out of it. You know how sometimes a yarn just "speaks" to you and tells you what it wants to be? When I opened the package and saw the yarn, I knew it wanted to be the ruffles scarf, and I cast on almost immediately. It was really slow going towards the end (600 stitches on that ruffle!), but totally worth it for the finished project- so pretty and elegant and (surprise!) ruffle-y!

The pattern was very well written and so easy to understand. The short rows to make it a little curved are a brilliant idea- I never would have thought to design the scarf like that, but they really work perfectly. The pattern is also really reasonably priced at $3.50. I generally avoid buying patterns that require you to pay for them, as I prefer to look at the pattern before I decide whether to knit it- not being able to see the pattern means I'd be buying it before I was even sure I'd want to make it! However, there's nothing complicated going on with this pattern to scare me away, and $3.50 is really not all that expensive- plus, when I bought it, half the profits went to helping with the Haiti disaster.

I love love love working with Ultra Alpaca. It's definitely one of my favorite yarns. It's fairly soft, but has enough texture to make knitting with it so much fun!

Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles

Needles: Size 9 Knitpicks Interchangeable (Also, I loved that the cable was almost the same color as my yarn!)

Yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca

Colorway: Fuchsia (6325) (Also, I had to look up how to spell fuchsia- seriously, does that LOOK like it's pronounced few-sha?)

Modifications: None- the pattern was perfect as written!

The Verdict: I love this scarf. It's soft and feminine and ruffle-y, but the color is also a bold choice, and should be a gorgeous pop of color in the winter.* It's a tiny bit itchy, but not enough to prevent me from wearing it.

*I buy plain gray, black, or brown coats, so that I can wear fun accessories without clashing. As much as I covet some of those gorgeous red coats, I do not own one for this reason.

Recently, I've been dating a guy with a cat. This cat (Zoey) and I have provided endless amusement to each other- she loves to sit and watch me knit, her head moving back a forth following my hands, and I get quite a kick out of watching her!

The other day, I learned that cats can make a toy out of anything- I heard some rustling, then she pulled something out of my project bag. It wasn't yarn; it wasn't knitting needles- it was a Clover Knitting Needle Wrapper! Apparently, it makes the perfect toy!

"Hmmm- I really like this new toy I stole from that human..."

"I'd better find somewhere safe to hide with it, though...."

"This kind of works, but I feel a little exposed...."

"Perfect! No one can see me or my new toy now!"

Zoey was tumbling around the apartment with that wrapper for 20 minutes straight. Every time we get it out, she goes nuts! When we went to bed, we had to take it away from her so she wouldn't play with it all night and keep us up!

In conclusion: If you want to keep a cat away from your knitting, give it a knitting needle wrapper!

WIP Round-up

The Bark N Knit blog came up with the idea of posting about all of our WIPs, and I thought it sounded like a great idea! So…what am I working on now? I have a bunch of WIPs:

Actively Being Knit:

1.

Pattern: 26-5 Cotton Neat Vest

Yarn: Elann Adara

Colorway: Surf

Needles: US 7

Knit for: My Grandfather, for Christmas

Progress: This one will be for my Grandfather for Christmas. I had to modify the pattern a little bit- I could not get gauge (size 7 was too small, size 8 was too big), so it took some effort to figure out how many stitches I had to cast on to get the right size with the size 7 needles that I thought the swatch looked best in (95 looks like it might be the magic number!). I'm working on the endless stockinette of the body right now; when I get to the armpits and the neck shaping, I'll have to figure out how the increased stitch count will affect those decreases.

2.

Pattern: Strangling Vines Lace Scarf

Yarn: Classic Elite Alpaca Sox

Needles: US 10

Knit For: My Aunt, for Christmas

Progress: I'm only a few inches into this, but I already have the pattern memorized- each repeat is 4 rows, only two of which have a pattern (and a simple one at that!) It's working up very pretty and soft.

3.

Pattern: Back to School U-Neck Vest

Yarn: Cascade 220 Quatro

Knit For: Me

Progress: I got the yarn in a Destash, and realized that it was a perfect match for this sweater, which I've been wanting to knit for awhile I'm a few inches into this- it seems to be a nice, simple knit and I'm really enjoying it. I love the way it's working up, but I'm a little concerned it will be too green for me!

4.

Pattern: Fall Breeze Shawl

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft

Colorway:

Needles: US 8

Knit For: My Mother, for Christmas

Progress: I'm about half-way done with this. Quite honestly, it's boring- the pretty lace edging is separated by a few feet of plain, boring stockinette. Now, I like having some stockinette projects on the needle- they make good travelling knitting when I'm going somewhere that I can't give my knitting full attention. However, it's getting to big and bulky to be easily transportable. It's a Christmas gift for my mother, though, so there's my deadline.

5.

Pattern: Birthday Cowl

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted

Colorway: SFO Sky

Needles: US 6

Knit for: Me

Progress: I'm about five inches into the cowl, and the pattern suggests knitting about 9. I love working with Malabrigo- it's so soft! This pattern is so perfect for the yarn, too- the swirl really stands out against the rest of the cowl because the stitches seem to go in a slightly different direction, which really stands out with the yarn coloring!

6.

Pattern: Annas Shawl

Yarn: Knitpicks Comfy Sport

Color: Cashew

Needles: US 6, US 4

Knit For: My Grandmother, for Christmas

Progress: I'm knitting this for my Grandmother for Christmas, so it had better be done by then! I've finished the body, but every time I try the sawtooth edging, I mess up, have to rip it out, and get frustrated. I plan on blocking out some time to sit down and work on it, and see if maybe I can get the hang of it. If not, I'll just choose a different edging- not a huge deal.

Just Need Finishing:

7.

Pattern: Tongues of Fire

Yarn: Santa Fe Aslan Trends

Colorway: Purple Heart

Needles: US 7

Knit For: Me

Progress: I bought five skeins of yarn for this shawl, and knit until I ran out of yarn. I lost my knitting mojo on it for awhile, but I got it back and finished it off! Now I'm done knitting, but I've been procrastinating about weaving in the ends.

8.

Pattern: Calais Shawl

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids

Colorway: Turquoise

Needles: US 5

Knit for: Me

Progress: I'm done knitting this, but for some reason, I've really been procrastinating on weaving in the ends and blocking it. I'll do it eventually!

9.

Pattern: Crow Prints Shawl

Yarn: Schoppel Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Blackberry

Needles: US 10

Knit For: Me

Progress: All I need to do is bind off, weave in the ends, and block. I was going to do an extra knit row on this, but then I ran out of yarn during the bind-off, so I had to unravel the last row!

On a Time-Out:

10.

Pattern: Alison Shawl

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

Colorway: Oceanic Mix

Needles: US 7 and US 10

Knit For: Me

Progress: This shawl is working up fairly pretty, but it's taking a time-out as I play with other projects that caught my eye.

11.

Pattern: Milkweed Shawl

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy

Colorway: Deep Seaflower

Knit For: Me

Needles:

Progress: This shawl was taking me forever, and I was having so much trouble- I was amazed that people considered this an easy, intro-to-knitting pattern. I think the problem is that I was using the written instructions instead of the chart. I will pick it up eventually and finish it, but I needed a time out from it.

I'm almost embarrassed by how many projects I have in progress- almost. After all, I feel like knitting should be fun! If I force myself to work on something that I'm not enjoying, where's the fun in that?