I have swatched my Malabrigo Lace in “Olive,” with Amber TR beads (size 8):
I was at an agility trial all weekend, but my friend Chris and I cast on for the “Anniversary Mystery Shawl 2012” by GoddessKnits in a tent, using Chris’s i-phone to display the pattern. I did about a dozen rows by lantern-light before turning in for the night :).
I believe there are still a few days to sign up for this KAL, if you are interested … hint hint! 🙂
For the 4th year in a row, I will be making an “Anniversary Mystery Shawl” courtesy Renee Leverington of Goddess Knits. As to the reason why … here are the results from the first three years:
2009: Victorian Romance
2010: Mandala II
2011: Summer Rain
(See my posts about joining the 2011 KAL and the FO Friday for Summer Rain for more information.)
I think they speak for themselves, no?
Anyway, the signups are now OPEN for this most excellent and FREE lace shawl KAL. Go to the Anniverasry Mystery Shawl 2012 group page at yahoo, and join. That’s all there is to it. You have until May 5th to sign up, but after that you are out of luck. Renee creates beautiful hand-dyed lace yarn for the KAL, but she doesn’t require knitters to use it. I rummaged through my stash, and plan to use Ivy Brambles Romantica in Pine Tree:
I finished this a while ago, yet all I can say when I think of it is, “oh, cashmere!”
Project: Wicked Abstract
Pattern: Abstract
Designer: Tonia Barry
Available: $6 download from CEY’s website
Yarn: CEY Wicked
Abstract is a shawlette worked tip-to-tip, punctuated by cable rows. After the body is finished, the ruffle is picked up from the long curved edge and worked in the same cable pattern. I thought it was the perfect vehicle for my windfall cashmere. Let me tell you, cashmere is amazing to knit with, an experience bested only by wearing the FO around your neck! I used up every single last bit (well, almost). I try steam-blocking the ruffle, but it didn’t really set — I’m actually happy with the curl, so I may never block it properly. (Don’t tell the knitting police!)
May I present, Diantha Aurora:
Project: Diantha Aurora
Pattern: Diantha
Designer: Susanna IC
Available: $6 on Ravelry
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Dusky Aurora
I made this shawl via the designers mystery KAL — it was super fun! Susanna did a great job balancing the “clues” so that each portion of the design took similar amounts of time to knit. This crescent-shaped shawl is knit from the border up, and is adorned with both nupps and beads. The only mod I made was using a crochet cast-on for the bottom edge. I think it blocked beautifully!
Here I go, casting on new projects like a crazy person. I had a good reason though! I’m sure I did. I think.
First up: Parseval in the Clover
I finished the knitting on a sweater-for-me project, and although it was blocking and lacked three buttons, I gave myself permission to swatch for my long-planned Parseval. Except, I wanted to swatch in the round, because the garment is worked mostly in the round … and when I decided how much to cast on, I realized that it was almost enough for a sleeve … so in a way, I’m not swatching. I cast on for a sleeve willy-nilly with just a guess at the correct needle and garment size. I will wash & block the sleeve when it reaches 6 inches or so, but this is unsteady ground for me. I have learned, however, that flat swatches aren’t necessarily accurate when planning in-the-round garments, so there it is. I love the yarn (Gloss DK), and the pattern isn’t too terrible (4×1 rib, mostly). I really want the finished sweater, and all the knitting becomes interesting towards the end, so I should be good to go.
Next up: Ashton Shawlette
I love this KAL choice — it’s the Feb project in the Beginning Lace Knitters group. There’s nothing super-special about the pattern, but it is well balanced and extremely well written. The designer has written a lovely tutorial that new lace knitters should find exceptionally helpful, and she’s providing it for free. I’ve already used it to help a new-to-lace knitter get started. For my own Ashton, I’m pleased to say it seems like my unloved ball of Sweet Pea (from the 2010 Socks that Rock sock club) has finally found its true calling as a simple lace shawlette.
Third, I also cast on the “not a sock” pattern from the first shipment of the 2012 Socks that Rock sock club. This year, the good folks at Blue Moon Fiber Arts are providing two patterns (as they have for the last two years), but one of the two patterns is not a sock! Due to spoilage issues, I can’t say any more about the pattern or color, except that I am IN LOVE with both. Of course I had to cast on.
If you have been meaning to knit yourself a Kudzu, but haven’t quite gotten around to it …
… I thought you might like to know there is a current (and VERY active) KAL going on right now in the “Dozen Shawls in 20Dozen” group on Ravelry. Kudzu was chosen as their February Advanced Shawl, and some people are already well into the knitting (I think some have even finished!).
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In other news, a clever knitter who made my Steek This Coffee Cozy! has released an alternate pattern for the colorwork section:
The Psyched-Out Pineapple chart is available on Ravelry, and you can read more about WickedSharp Designs at the blog of the same name. Also available from WickedSharp? A Cylon Basestar — that’s just too cool:
I finished my Fylleryd!
Project: Happy Green Fylleryd
Pattern: Fylleryd
Designer: Mia Rinde
Available: FREE! on Ravelry
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Happy Forest
I knit this fingering-weight shawlette as part of the January KAL in the Beginner Lace Knitters group on Ravelry. I keep tabs on each month’s KAL, and when I can — I join in! This is my first “nupps” project (I’m not counting my WIP Aeolian, because I haven’t gotten to the nupps yet), so I was extra excited to try something new. I’m pleased with how the nupps came out — and they weren’t that hard (people make things sound so difficult sometimes!).
I’m also extra excited, because this is some of the yarn I liberated in my January frogging festival. I am SO MUCH more happy with this new project — I will definitely be wearing my Happy Green Fylleryd, lots. Because I only had one skein, I had to be conservative … I did two repeats of the leaf chart, then three repeats of the blueberry chart. Judicious math and careful thought revealed I would not have enough for the edge, so I went back a few rows and made it TWO repeats of the blueberry chart, then the edge, then I added a crochet-lace cast-off (similar to how I finished the bottom edge of Red Seas).
As an aside, three cheers for my willing & adorable model! The shawl looks huge on a six year old :).
I made my nupps the old-fashioned way: k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 into one st on the right side, then purl all seven together on the returning wrong-side row. I made a special effort to make the loops LOOSE because that seems to be key … it definitely worked for me.
Because sometimes I simply cannot help myself, this week I cast on for some shawls. Not one, not two, but THREE new projects. Ack.
First up: CEY’s popular Abstract with some gorgeous cashmere yarn I picked up at such a discount that I am ashamed to admit it in public. I have 136 grams of Wicked, and I am making the softest most beautiful-est shawl/scarf ever. It is completely spoiling me for all other yarns forever, because knitting with cashmere is like … well, like nothing else I’ve ever knit with. Yum. The work is humming right along — should be a quick project to finish.
Later in the week, I got really impatient waiting for the next clue on a mystery lace KAL to come out, so (logically) I cast on for a Echo Flower shawl using some Shadow Tonal in Deep Waters. I’d originally meant the yarn to be something else, but then changed my mind. So this doesn’t really count as a new project, right?
This did not cure my KAL waiting blues however, and after seeing so many gorgeous lace-weight projects go up on the KAL thread, I caved in and bought some Malabrigo Lace at the shop, and cast on last night, and finished the first clue. You can see where this is headed … I finished Clue 3 on the original mystery today, and I’m halfway through clue 2 on the lace-weight one. Help? Also: we will not discuss the four skeins of Tosh Light that are already destined for three different lace projects. Will not!
I finished my Juneberry!
Project: Vermont Juneberry
Pattern: Juneberry Triangle
Designer: Jared Flood
Available: $6.50 on Ravelry
Yarn: The Shearer’s Yarn in Quoddy Blue
I bought this yarn at a farmstand in Vermont, on my way back from an agility trial. What I have, is what I have … so I was excited when I calculated yardage, and found I had enough to make a Juneberry — a pattern I’ve had queued for a while now.
You can, therefore, appreciate the depths of my horror when I realized (as I began working the edging) that I had nowhere NEAR enough yarn to finish the pattern as written. I modified, measured, knit, ripped, and repeated until I had an edging that preserved some flavor of the original, but used the right amount of yarn. Even so, I finished on fumes — the tiny ball below is all I had left! Phew.
I’m satisfied with my modded edging … I had to loose the big lacy holes, but I’m ok with my faggoted substitution. I was able to keep the bobbled swoops, and lost 1 of the 3 lace holes along the outside edge.
I really enjoyed this knit, and will likely make it again, this time with enough yarn on hand to complete the full edging! It’s fun to knit lace with worsted-weight yarn — over and done very quickly.
Remily Knits 