As promised, here is my purple shawl. The close-up photo shows all the sections: neck area, mosaic section, lower section and finishing band. I like the colors very much, especially the purple.
Stretched across a chair, the pattern looks just fine.
But once the shawl is wrapped around one’s neck, it become obvious that the neckline area is far stretchier than the mosaic, so it turns into a little collar.
The collar then covers over the patterned section. So, it ended up being a waste of time and energy to design and knit the mosaic pattern.
I’ll probably hang on to this shawl, at least until I get a chance to wear it a few times. It looks kinda pretty draped over my tomato cage.
Off I go to my yarn closet, for the next stash-busting project. In a future post, I’ll share my plan for how I am organizing projects from stash yarn.
At long last the toe-up socks I had been working for the past two months are done. And while I was cross at times over how tedious it was, in the end I fall in love with the finished product, just like every other piece of knitting that I finish.
As a reminder, the yarn is Signature Four-Ply by West Yorkshire Spinners. It is a blend of wools with 25% nylon for strength and regain. I purchased it in Madison, WI at a shop whose name escapes me. I used no1 circular needles, knitting in a 3 by 1 rib.
After washing and then left to dry flat, the socks became very soft and luxurious.
If I have the opportunity, I will buy more this yarn.
I’m pleased to unveil this cardigan which I started back in May. In March of this year, I had visited Ewetopia Yarn store in Veroqua, WI. Noticing this yarn on sale, I picked up enough to make a sweater. In fact, I purchased all skeins available in this colorway.
Roslyn by Cascade Yarns
Roslyn is a blend of 65% wool and 35% silk. It is so soft that I posed for this photo shoot wearing the sweater next to my skin – in other words, no shirt! The finished fabric is very drapey. It almost lacks enough structure to be used in a cardigan.
This pattern came from Vogue Knitting: a retrospective on seventy years of the magazine’s history. Forestry originally appeared in the 2008 Fall edition but it strikes me as having a vintage vibe.
I had some trouble with errors and vague instructions in the pattern. Even though I researched it in Ravelry’s database, I don’t think that all the errata had been discovered and corrected.
…….specifically, the shawl collar did not come out right. It was after I had finished my knitting and scrutinized the photograph closely that I realized I had placed the stitch markers for shaping the collar in the wrong location. By then I had lost all interest in ripping the collar out and starting over again.
Close up
I made adjustments in the best way that I could. I added a loop closure near the collar’s beginning so that the neckline wouldn’t gap open.
Despite its imperfections, this cardigan will be a nice addition to my sweater wardrobe. I have a vintage wool A-line skirt in a darker moss green color that will work nicely. Adding a chunky necklace like the one worn by the model and my brown leather boots and I’ll be good to go.
Not sure why it took so long. I guess that I was having too much fun on my recent vacation to focus on knitting. I also had no internet access for almost two weeks.
The pattern is Hermione’s Everyday Socks (for some reason, I am unable to pronounce that name!) I made no adjustments to pattern – just knit exactly as written.
I enjoyed this pattern and would consider using it in a future project. They feel a little loose – guess I should have used a smaller needle size.
The yarn is Wisco Sock from Ewetopia in colorway Superior.
Here’s the link to the pattern. There are 34,000 projects attached to this pattern in Ravelry. Even for a free pattern, that’s a lot of endorsements. If you feel compelled to give it a try, click here:
Here you see the pair of socks I knitted for my S-I-L. This was to be a Christmas gift, but it appears that I missed the deadline by about four weeks. I have no regrets – I did what I had to do.
On my feet – a pathetic stand-in model for the giftee.
You can almost make out the 3 by 1 rib I used on the leg and instep sections. This is currently my favorite stitch for socks. I find it more soothing to work than a 2 by 2 rib. Another feature of this sock is that I doubled up the yarn at heel and toe. I am hoping the extra thickness will increase the lifespan of the socks.
Pale blue yarn is a blend of alpaca, wool and acrylic. Dark blue is Cascade Heritage, a superwash merino, reinforced with nylon, and one of my favorite sock yarns.