Posted in Knitting, Shawls, tagged Knitting, shaelyn, shawls on March 16, 2012| 1 Comment »
The Shaelyn shawl is coming along quite nicely…only two more repeats of the main lace chart are left before the edging.
Look how beautifully the cotton yarn catches the light…
It would be fantastic if I could have this finished by Easter, so that my mother-in-law could wear it to church.
I promised myself I wouldn’t work on it until I am finished knitting my sissy’s Hermione socks. Maybe this weekend I will wind the second ball of yarn…that doesn’t count as cheating, does it?
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, Yarn, tagged holiday knitting, knitted shawls, Knitting, shaelyn on November 1, 2011| 6 Comments »
I have decided to put my Hedgerow socks down so that I can start to focus on my sorely neglected holiday knitting! This is the Shaleyn shawl, and it will be a Christmas gift for my sweet mother-in-law. It took three attempts, but she is officially on the needles! The yarn is Cascade’s Pima Cotton, and is a light, lovely DK weight with a beautiful sheen. No wooliness here.
The pattern called for size US9 needles, but the fabric was way too loose/open for my taste. I tried it again using 7’s, but still wasn’t satisfied. I broke out my trusty 5’s and it looks like we have a winner!
I love how the increases are made by M1L and M1R, all on the right side of the shawl…no yo increases along the top edge or the spine! When I think about all that I still have to knit, my brain starts to hurt. How about you? How is your holiday knitting coming along?
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, Yarn, tagged earth & sky shawl, lluxury llama yarn, stephen west, Stephen West Mystery Shawl KAL 2011 on October 30, 2011| 2 Comments »
A few months ago, Stephen West was kind enough to ask me to test knit the Earth & Sky pattern for his mystery knit-along! I was extremely honored and excited to be a part of this project. After much deliberation, I decided to knit the pattern in Llama Lluxury – a supersoft wool that has a texture very close to cashmere.
This is quite a masculine, geometric pattern – and I think the neutrals do a great job of highlighting the architecture of the shawl.
As I have said before, don’t let the intarsia scare you off! It is very clearly explained in the pattern. Yes, there are a few ends to weave in, but as long as you weave them as you go along, it is not so cumbersome. Here is what the intarsia wraps look like from the back:
And from the front:
The shawl is started at the top-center, then worked down to the simple garter-stitch border:
It is a warm and cozy little shawl…
Here are the details:
You can see more of Stephen’s amazing work here. Happy knitting!
Posted in Shawls, Socks, Yarn, tagged hedgerow, knitting socks, seed stitch fine yarn, shaelyn, Spud & Chloë yarn, Yarn on October 21, 2011| 1 Comment »
Would you like to see what yarn I bought at Seed Stitch this past weekend? I definitely wanted to get some new sock yarn, so upon entering the store, I went directly to the Spud & Chloe display where I immediately plucked these two skeins right off the rack:
The colors? Red Hot and their new colorway – Hippo! I thought this wintery, long-john inspired color combination would be perfect for a cozy pair of socks. The pattern?
Hedgerow! I have been wanting to knit this sock for quite a while, and thought that the texture would pair beautifully with the red and the gray. While browsing the shop, my husband called me over to look at a little shawl knit in Cascade Ultra Pima. He liked how crisp the stitch definition was due to the lack of fuzzy wool or alpaca. He called it “hi-def knitting.” How cute is that? I was glad he pointed this project out, because the yarn was the perfect choice for the shawl I have been wanting to knit for his mother!
Sadly, she is allergic to wool, but this soft, shiny cotton is perfect for highlighting the stockinette and lace stitches in the Shaelyn pattern, don’t you think? It was so hard to leave the store with only four items…there were so many lovely skeins I wanted to adopt! It would be so easy to walk out there with tons of yarn to have on hand, you know, ‘just in case’…but I was very good and only bought what was needed. Off to cast on my Shaelyn!
Posted in Knitting, Patterns, Shawls, tagged Berroco Vintage Chunky, cable knit, caplet, knit. wear premier 2011, Knitting on October 12, 2011| 2 Comments »
I am in love with the cover of the new knitting magazine, knit. wear. It is so beautiful and simplistic…I am mesmerized by those gorgeously chunky, wine-colored cables.
Don’t you love when knit wear is both cozy and elegant?
The pattern is called Shaped Capelet with Braided Cables, by Erica Patberg., As always, click on any of the pictures to Ravel it, or buy the premiere issue here.
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, Yarn, tagged Knitting, shawl, Stephen West Mystery Shawl KAL 2011 on July 19, 2011| 2 Comments »
I was completely honored to be asked by Stephen West to test knit his new pattern for the Mystery Shawl Knit Along! Needless to say, I’m smitten with what he’s designed, and I know you will be too. All I can tell you is that there are three colors involved – I’ve chosen cool-toned, neutral shades of soft baby llama. I’ve never knit with llama before – it feels like a combination of cashmere and wool and knits up beautifully!
The knit-a-long is scheduled to start on August 1st, so visit Ravelry to sign up and have fun picking out your colors!
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, tagged jared flood, Knitting, shawls, shetland triangle on June 13, 2011| 3 Comments »
It’s hard to believe that a whole month has almost passed since I’ve last posted…I promise to post more often now that I’m settling into the new job. This is the Shetland shawl – I finished one whole repeat of the lace chart this weekend! Only three more repeats until I move on to the border lace. I am thinking of using Jared’s technique of skipping the final patterned row (and purl row) for a more subtle scallop on the edge. Tell me – what are you all working on? I am anxious to catch up!
{p.s. Dona – I totally owe you an e-mail – it’s coming, je promets!}
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, tagged Knitting, shawls, shetland triangle on April 26, 2011| 1 Comment »
Seeing as there are only four more days left in April, I should be working on finishing my lace socks…but time and time again, I am drawn back to the gentle repetition of this beautiful shetland lace…
Today, I will be strong and only knit my socks.* What are you itching to knit today, my dear readers?
{*maybe.}
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, tagged dream stripes shawl, Knitting, shawl on April 22, 2011| 8 Comments »
…here is the finished lace shawl! Readers, I know I say this about all of my knits, but I am in love with this shawl. It has been my new best-friend!
It gets worn almost every single day – while I’m knitting on the couch, reading in bed, running errands…it is just warm enough to keep the chilly April weather out of my bones.
The Cascade 220 sport yarn blocked up beautifully – the shawl has a lovely drape and the sturdiness of the wool gives the lace edging nice, crisp stitch definition.
This shawl was quite a challenge to knit – I found 7 errors in the pattern, one of which forced me to rip out over 3,000 stitches to correct. I am glad I stuck with it, though, because the end result is pretty special.
I love how the graphic stripes taper off into sinuous curves, right before it turns to soft, geometric lace:
What I also liked about this shawl is how economical it was – it used less than 2 skeins of tan and less than 1 of white, and the total for all three was a measly $12.75 at my local yarn store.
Once the shawl was finished, there were only 3 ends to weave in – the initial white and tan from the cast on, and the tail end once it was bound off. The pattern has you slip the first stitch of every row, which perfectly hides the yarn carries across the top edge of the shawl. And when I joined the second ball of tan, I did a felted join. {I know – it’s gross, but it works.}
Here are the details:
I hope you all have a very Happy Easter! My hubby and I always take a drive down to the beach on Easter Sunday….guess what I’ll be taking with me? xo
Posted in Knitting, Shawls, tagged evelyn clark, knit-along, Knitting, shawls, shetland triangle on April 18, 2011| 1 Comment »
Dona and I just started another knit-along – this time, instead of socks, we are knitting the Shetland Lace Triangle Shawl by Evelyn Clark. I am knitting mine with this pretty St-Denis Boreale yarn, on size US 7/4.5mm. needles.
I am in love with this deep, regal purple! Dona is knitting her shawl on size US 10/6mm, with this bright red Cascade 220. Her shawl should be huge…
{image via dona knits}
Both of us would absolutely LOVE it if any of our lovely readers wanted to join in on our little knit-along! The pattern gives yardage for three different yarn weights:
We are both using slightly more yardage than what the pattern calls for, because we want nice, big, cozy shawls!
To join us, simply visit the Ravelry Project page to download the pattern, raid your stash and cast on! Who’s with us?
...and I'm a Ravelholic.
shaelyn shawl
hedgerow socks
christmas
{a year of socks}
Sorella & Company 