Multnomah in Malabrigo

Sorry people, it is just too cold to be taking outside shots currently! Although there is a hint of green showing through the back door, it's in the 'minus' category, temp-wise.

Pattern: Multnomah
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Teal
Revisions: I chose not to incorporate the F&F pattern into the 4th and 10th repeats of pattern


Not usually a 'fan' of the feather and fan lace pattern, I surprised even myself by being drawn to this shawlette. The F&F pattern is sooooo reminiscent of something someone's grandma made them in an afghan -- except in this case. It's clean, pretty, fun, classy and a little sassy, too!

This shawlette is so versatile. On Sunday, I wore it to church wrapped around my neck front ways, as a scarf, seen below. After taking off my coat, was feeling chilly, so I just reached over for my little shawl, slung it around my shoulders and was snug as a bug -- not to mention the obvious, that it looked fabulous and the knitter sitting behind me, audibly gasped!

Off to soak!

The yarn bled a LOT during soaking!

I've got some of the yarn left over and am thinking a Meret for me is calling my name! It will have to take a number, though, as I've got a few other things on the go at the moment :)

BTW, I'll be doing some baby knitting in the blue, brown and green colours for the end of April...!

Hat Crazy ...

This is my sister modeling her "Meret" -- a pattern I've had in my queue for awhile, only to discover that since I made it, everyone and their dog is also currently knitting it ... so much for originality! BTW, she loves it! I used almost 3/4's of 1 - 100g ball of Sirdar's Denim Aran from my stash, which is a combo wool/cotton/acrylic blend and is apparently machine washable. I made the large size and after researching further reviews, decided NOT to block it as it tends to grow. I did one extra repeat of the pattern to get the desired "slouchiness"

Honestly, this woman never takes a bad picture! And, to her credit, immediately stuffed it on her head upon opening -- hairdo be darned!

Next up, the "Armando" pattern. Both of our daughters have men who work outside: one as a roofer and the other in his family's granite business. Needless to say, when it's cold and wet, they really appreciate having 100% wool hats that cover their ears and foreheads. The roofer found that while using the torch, his current hats were melting. I did some research online and discovered that 100% wool is less flammable -- in fact, if you're doing any helmut liner knitting for our troops, they specify that it must be 100 % wool, to avoid any fire hazard/melting. Also, as you likely know from EZ's books, wool is practially waterproof and keeps them much drier, longer, in the rainy Pacific Northwest. I used Malabrigo Worsted in a burnt orange colour, for the Harley Davidson lover in the family :)

There was enough to make two hats from one ball, so our 13 year old grandson got one as well, with a slight variation that included a scrap of "Vaa" Malabrigo to make it his own (and also so he and dad could tell theirs apart).

S-I-L modeling his hat in the "Fading Cables" pattern, using Jaeger Matchmaker yarn in a glossy brown, from stash. I find this pattern a little 'short', so I added an extra good 1/2" to the rib at the beginning.

The rear view -- I had to stand on my tippy-toes to get this shot -- he's 6'4"!

Mike modeling his hat ...

And one more that used up my scraps of Vaa and Lettuce Malabrigo and turned out quite well, I think!

It was comical ... I always have my camera at the ready for family get-togethers. The instant the recipients discovered a hand knitted item in their gift, it was on their head in a flash and a pose was struck, without me even asking! I overheard our daughter telling a girlfriend, "she'll make you anything you want ... you just have to let her take a picture for her blog!!!"

A new look on life ...

Yup, new specs. and a 2nd completed Damson. I really love this colour of Dream in Color Smooshy, called "Happy Forest" -- bright green is soooo my fave colour!


The upside down heart design is a little off centre, but you get the idea!

This time I went down a size in needle and ended up not only completing the entire pattern, but had a wad left over!! Likely the leftovers can be attributed to the 10 yds+ extra yarn that is in the DIC as opposed to the Malabrigo. Go figure. So, either I had a 'dud' skein the last time, or going down a size in needle made all the difference. Hmmmm, it might be interesting to weigh both of the shawls and see what (if any) difference there is ... note to self.

On a sad note, I'm on a flight to Winnipeg tomorrow a.m., to be with my bff as she buries her husband on Tuesday. So difficult ... so fast ... literally 2 months after diagnosis, he is gone. They are so grateful for the past 4 weeks that he was able to be at home with them, but still, the loss is great. Please pray for Connie and her kids: Kerri (Ken), Ryan & Adam.

February Lady Sweater, finished!

Size: Medium
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy; Colour: "Midnight Derby"; 4 skeins.

I was exhausted when these photos were taken, but was desperate to get them done outside, between rainfalls.

I am deeply smitten with this cardigan -- I absolutely love everything about it -- the colour, the pattern, the yarn, the way it looks on me -- everything!

I did 23 repeats of the lace pattern on the body, and the same on the sleeves. I have a 'petite' sized upper body, so the length was right for me, but if you're longer waisted, then you'd likely want to add a few more repeats.

I had originally purchased sufficient yarn to make long sleeves, but when I commented to my husband that I though I would do shorter ones, he said: "good idea, then it won't looks so much like a 'granny' sweater!!" What does he know, anyway?

I washed it in my front load machine, on 'hand wash', as the label says it's washable. I was a little surprised to see so many fuzz balls on the sweater after washing, but they easily picked off. I put it in the dryer for several minutes and took it out while slightly damp and blocked it out.

Yay! Another FO -- onto the next one!

Damson

All in all, this was a great knit. The pattern was well written and very clear. Rather than the Malabrigo sock called for, I used the Dream in Color Smooshy (sock), which has an extra 10 yds. on it. I was thinking that would be a good thing to have (just in case) although, I'd pretty much determined that I wouldn't be doing the frilly edging. So, here I was, knitting along, feeling quite confident -- until I got to the 103 row, still had at least 6+ rows to go and realized I was running out of yarn. I just had enough to cast off, with 14" to spare! As you can see in the middle photo, The centre heart-shaped pattern didn't quite get completed and there was no hope for the frilly edge. This has NEVER happened to me before, so came as quite a surprise. I was not spending another $25 dollars to do 6 rows, so cast off and decided it would be fine as it is!

While not really a 'shawl kinda gal', I do like this one. The "U" shape keeps it on the shoulders, without constant adjusting; it also doesn't draw attention to the backside like the typical "arrow pointing down" shawls. I would likely make it again, but would either go down a size in needle, or ensure I have a lot more yarn to work with.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A new yarn shop opened up last year, about a 1/2 hours drive away from us. For various reasons, I'd never been there, until last week. They have a lovely selection of Dream in Color (it really goes against my Canadian grain to not put a "u" in the word 'color'!) yarn.

First in line is Dream in Color Smooshy (sock yarn) in the 'Happy Forest' colourway, which is slated for the Multnomah scarf/shawl.

Second, is Dream in Color Smooshy (sock yarn) in the 'Gothic Rose' colourway, which is currently on the needles and about 3/4's done, using this pattern called 'Damson'. I'm really enjoying how this yarn knits up, although I did find the large swath of garter stitch at the beginning a bit brain-numbing. I have a feeling that I may omit the edging as it's just not grabbing me at the moment. We'll see ...

Third, is Dream in Color Baby Lace in the 'Petal Shower' colourway (white/pink/taupe) and I'm planning to use it to make the Ishbel pattern.



This is Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Nova Scotia colourway and it is slated to become the Gail Shawl ... as you can tell by my current knitting, I'm on a bit of a 'lace' kick at the moment -- something I never thought would interest me. Never say, 'never'!

I have also discovered that while I like to have something warm and soft around my neck, I don't like the look of long scarves on me ... the scarf/mini shawl size seems to be the perfect solution and I love that it does double duty.

I seem to be slower to get excited about patterns or yarn that others jumped on many months ago already -- I think it takes me a little longer to warm up, for some reason. I certainly am not on the cutting edge, and while a lot of people have already 'been there, done that', I'm just starting to get interested. Maybe, too, I want everyone else to work out all the bugs first, before I tackle a pattern -- who knows?

In answer to my question in the last post, the answer is: "The February Lady Sweater", which should be finished very shortly. I'm half way through the last sleeve and definitely coming down the home stretch.

I find that about 1/2 - 3/4's the way through a big project (like a cardigan), I completely lose interest and start planning my next project and in this case, actually already started it (Damson). Then, I switch back and forth, simply because I can't stand to have a wip that's not finished, but really, the enjoyment of knitting it has passed and I just want it DONE!
Does anyone else feel this way? Or, do you, too, get distracted with the thought of what the next project will be?

Can you guess ...?

Just a little something that I'm working on for myself ... more to follow!