Tag: knitting lace

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – Knit Along

Posted on by Laura Kate

It’s time for another cast on. This time I am working a group knit along project organized for the Blogville Knitters group on Ravelry. Alissa has chosen this shawl by Sylvia McFadden.

Ravelry: Water pattern by Sylvia McFadden

While the designer was going for a watery look, with insets of lovely lace, I have chosen two yarns that give more of a chocolate cake with pink icing sort of feel.

For my main color, I have Wisco sock yarn in colorway Dark Plum by Ewetopia. The contrast color is an alpaca rayon blend by Berroco called Folio in colorway Cardinal.

Here you see the first swirling lace inset. Doesn’t it remind you of waves? There will be six sections like this in between the garter ridges. So far I find that the stitches required to make these waves are a little tricky, and need to be worked at a much slower pace.

The plan is to finish by the end of June March? It’s doable.

Posted in knitting

Swatch-on Monday

Posted on by Laura Kate

Members of the Blogville Knitters will recognize the pattern for Water. This pattern, offered by softsweaterknits.com, was selected by Alissa for our group knit-a-long happening in March. I agree with her – it is a beautiful shawl. It features some unique design aspects and challenging sections based on short rows.

So I am game to try.

The lace sections look just like waves of the ocean. But I didn’t choose a water color. I wanted to try something warmer. My Water shawl will look more like a lava flow.

I chose Wisco Sock, from Ewetopia, in colorway Dark Plum for the garter row sections. It didn’t photograph too well in the first picture. So here are my swatches, with a little digital adjustment.

The pink yarn I found at Harps and Thistle yarn store in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. While looking for a silk blend I picked up this Folio yarn by Berroco. It is not silk, but a blend of 60% superfine alpaca and 35% rayon. Never having knit with rayon yarn, I was a little skeptical about the resulting fabric. But store owner Cindy had used this yarn and experienced no issues such as pilling. The colorway is Cardinal, but it certainly doesn’t resemble any cardinal I have ever seen. Maybe it is more the shade of the Roman Catholic cardinals’ robes. Anyway, it is a color I currently do not have in a shawl.

So I am set with pattern, yarn and swatches. If I can trust the two that I worked up on no. 5 needles, both yarns give me the same gauge, in this case, 22 sts. per 4 inch row as called for by the pattern.

If you would like to knit along with us, you can find Water at:

Ravelry: Water pattern by Sylvia McFadden

Posted in knitting

Finished Object Friday – Knitting

Posted on by Laura Kate

Gentle Curves shawl is off the needles. Here is my autobiographical photograph of it.

This was a quick and easy knit. To make it more decorative, I added stripes of lacy eyelet stitches spaced up gradually over the body of the shawl.

I still haven’t formed an opinion about whether I like the slanting line that forms a twisted spine on the shawl. It looks better when the shawl is wrapped well around, with the ends hanging down in front.

Yarn fibers include alpaca, wool and silk. The pattern Gentle Curves can be found on Ravelry here:

Ravelry: Gentle Slopes pattern by Quinn Reverendo

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – Last week of the month

Posted on by Laura Kate

Having finished a pair of socks, I am beginning another knitted accessory – a cowl. I have been wanting to make one for myself in this teal color.

The yarn is a mysterious orphan ball given to me by my friend Kathy, who is in the middle of a stash-clearing phase. There’s no label, so I am guessing about the fiber. It is very soft, with a prominent halo, suggestive of alpaca. If you look closely, you will detect a bit of gold glimmer. The total weight is 80 grams, and based on its thickness I am guessing there are about 250 yards of yarn here.

I started off making this lovely cable and lace pattern, from my book “60 Quick Luxury Knits.” But the yarn revealed a structure that did not sit well with complex stitchery – it has a thick and thin composition and a loose twist which suggests to me that it might be hand spun. I started over. After six rows of garter I worked a combination of yarn overs and knit togethers to create the undulation you see.

What I do next is still unclear. The only thing I know is that it must narrow as it rises.

This knitter is open for suggestions.

Posted in knitting

Friday FO – 1st of 2021

Posted on by Laura Kate

Today I finished this capelet, designed by Barbara Benson.

It was a breeze to knit up. I enjoyed working a combination of mosaic and lace stitches. My colors are deep green and bold rust. I’m glad that I was finally able to use the Knit Picks Gloss yarn that I purchased nearly ten years ago. It had been in a shrug, which didn’t look good on me and felt scratchy on my neck. Since this capelet stands away from the neck, scratchiness isn’t a problem.

On the blocking mats

Sorry about the shadow on the photograph above.

Now that I have it on, I have to admit it is not the most useful article of clothing that I ever knit. But it’s fine for sedentary activities when reaching your arms up is not required. And it’s not as warm as a shawl. (Yeah, the back of my neck is exposed.)

I can’t help but like it, because it’s pretty and graceful.

This pattern is available on Ravelry. I rate it a five for quality of design and clarity of instructions.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/isochronal-arc

P.S. I couldn’t leave this post without including a picture of me in my new Isochronal Capelet!

The color combination turned out just fine.