Ishbel had been calling my  name since I first saw it – it’d seen it knitted up in a variety of yarns and it seemed to be one of the (very) few lace patterns that look acceptable in varigated yarn.  I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try!

I’m pretty pleased with the result – the key thing I’ve found that makes varigated yarns more versatile is to have little variation in the colours themselves.  In this case, even though you can spot a few pools of the yellow, the colours in general are pale enough not to be distracting.  This yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, in “Clara’s Garden”.  Here’s a close up of the lace:

I think it’s lovely!  It’s quite a bit tinier than I expected but I think it’ll make an elegant scarf, as well as a shoulder warmer.

Next up, I don’t think I ever posted the completed Pie Wedge Shawl.  Let’s see how much this contrasts with the Ishbel!

Woah, huge colour difference!  I LOVE this though.  The garter stitch makes it a very squishy shawl, and it’s huge, especially as compared to the Ishbel.  A knitting buddy of mine said it looked like it was shaded with pencils, and I have to agree!  This is Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace in Bittersweet.

Even though I have a ridiculous amount of projects started already, I cast on for another.  Meet Saryoan (Ravelry Link):

I love the leaves!  The original specs for this scarf is a narrow trapezoid, but mine definitely won’t be.  The designer wrote this pattern to be very flexible; I’m not sure if I’ll make it a triangle (thus, skipping the straight section entirely) or if I’ll do the straight section with some increases/decreases thrown in to make the middle curve gently.  I have 2 equal balls of yarn, so the triangle would be easy since I would start the decreases as soon as I ran out of the first ball.  It’s early days though, so I’m not committing for the moment!  I think I’ll keep increasing until I think I like how wide it is and make a decision from there.

All this time I was sitting on it not knowing what would be suitable. I had always thought it could be a shawl of some kind, but nothing too intricate, and anything boring would be unfortunate for the yarn. Until I was perusing Ravelry and found the Montego Bay Scarf. A mesh stitch would be perfect!

Here is the result! (click for detail)

Closeup to see the sparkle:

It’s so much nicer looking in person. It fits nicely around the shoulders and is so sparkly!

Here we go! This is made from 2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the Bittersweet colourway. I couldn’t be happier with it.

In progress:

In all its 7.5″ long glory, thanks to a bit of a miscalculation about loom waste (in that, the average amount of loom waste does not equal MY amount of loom waste on my loom):

Closeup of the tassels:

Detail of the weaving:

It’s just lovely, in my opinion. I was regretting buying the yarn for socks since nearly every project on Ravelry had such hideous pooling with it, but it’s perfectly suited to weaving I think! If I make any more as gifts, I might go a tad wider, and definitely a bit shorter. I’d use this yarn for weaving again.

I have finished a few other things, which will be forthcoming soon. Right now my big news is that I’m performing surgery on my forlorn Tilted Duster. The pictures are a touch gruesome, but if I’m as clever as I hope I am, I will be back with a much better fitting coat. Or 6.5 balls of frogged yarn, with 1.5 balls unused surplus, all of which could be re-purposed to a garment that will actually bloody fit. I had a hard time finding something on Ravelry that I liked, so if I had to rip this out, it will probably be something of my own design.

In a hideous breach of my self-imposed yarn embargo, I ordered 4 skeins of Cascade Eco+ in Plum. I will be making a Sylvi. Rubber room on standby, thanks. I don’t actually think it’ll be hard, just time consuming. I am overcome with need for that coat. NEED. Pattern has been purchased, and it’s stunningly clear and well laid out. The ladies over at Twist Collective know good editing! I’ve been happy with every pattern I’ve bought from them.

More finished objects coming soon!

…to a lovely elegant piece of lace:

The yarn can not be done justice by the photos – there are so many subtle colours (click through for a better look).

It looks lovely even draped over a chair (though the chair could be nicer, I’ll admit)!

All the work was totally worth it. I don’t normally do projects on a deadline, but this seemed well within the scope of reality, and I’m glad I was right. Truth be told, I’m feeling a little lost now since it’s no longer obvious what I will knit when I get home! I am dying to cast on another shawl now because this was just so fun. I have three I’d love to make, and I have lace yarn to make two shawls. Just need to wind the yarn and do it I think!

I have fallen out with my Kelso Lace Cardigan yet again. I had to rip out another 10 or so rows, so it’s not AS much as before, but I’m getting entirely too annoyed with it. I want to throw it in the naughty basket, but I’m rapidly noticing that I put projects there and do nothing about them. Last year’s lace disaster is still there, as is the Tilted Duster. New stuff is so much more appealing though…hmm.

I’m really happy with it actually! There ended up being enough yarn left over that I might’ve been able to manage full sleeves. If I’m being honest, I rarely wear long sleeved sweaters anymore. I’m MUCH happier with shorter sleeves. I’m sure the yarn will come in handy for something, as it’s BEAUTIFUL.

Details:

Pattern: Clementine’s Cardi (pdf)
Yarn: Briar Rose Fibers Legend (unique colourway)
Needles: US8/5.0mm

Already jumped onto the next project too:

It’s a Kelso Lace Cardigan in Paton’s Katrina. Damn yarn is lovely but impossible to photograph. I will try to get a better picture of it when the weather is nice – it was gorgeous today, but I completely forgot to take advantage of the daylight!

Pattern: Sweet Pea Coat by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky in the (unfortunately named) Blue Ming colourway
Needles: Knitpicks Options size 13

I’ve gotten tons of compliments on this jacket already! It’s such a bold colour, warm without being too warm, and sooo comfortable to wear. It’s obviously not windproof, and the singles nature of the yarn has caused a *bit* of pilling, but it’s not much of a problem. The best part is the buttons:

They’re metal, making them a touch heavy for the coat, but they’re so pretty! It took me ages to get them on in the right place – placing buttons is not my strong suit, since it also requires patience which I severely lack. I prefer seaming to placing buttons. Seriously.

So, in other news, I am sewing up my Clementine’s Cardi! I should finish it tonight. I also ordered a shawl pin for it, which is exciting. I can’t wait to try it on. I am also about 5 repeats in on the leg of my Maelstrom sock, and finishing up the 4th of 5 repeats on the flower section of the flower shawl. I am loving knitting it – save for one teeny snafu which I have made look ok (we’re just not going to talk about it). The pattern is very “readable”, in that you can see exactly what you’re supposed to be doing without having to lean on the chart so much. At least, I’m finding it that way.

I’m not sure what to pick for my next project though – that gray cardigan is still sitting in the bag, nearly finished, I need to make a decision on how I want the shoulders to look. And I think all I have left to do is knit the fronts. I might have to take that out just for the sake of finishing it. I really want to finish the garments that need surgery, such as the blue lace top disaster or the Tilted Duster (more on that another time). I’m tempted to pull out all my Debbie Bliss Cathay and start the Dayflower Lace Top – I’d need to alter the top since I don’t think a square necked tank would suit me very well, but I’m going to poke around and see if I like any other tops of garments with this sort of construction. If anything, I’ll make it to-pattern up to the bust and fashion a different sort of sleeve.

I’d like to present my first finished project of the new year (mainly because the crappy weather on New Year’s Eve prompted me to leave the house two hours earlier than I’d planned, therefore I didn’t finish sewing up OFFICALLY in 2008): My Manon.

And the back:

No, my knitting is not crooked, I am.

It fits perfectly – I just need to decide on a closure. I ended up reknitting the piece with the missing bust dart. It took one evening of marathon knitting, so with only that one day setting me back, it didn’t feel SO terrible. I can see myself wearing this a lot – I really love it so much.

Amidst my finishing up the Manon, and the few days of misery once I realised I forgot my bust dart, I decided I needed to knit up something bright and cheerful to take my mind off it. When I was recently in NYC, I stopped at Purl Soho and fell in love with a demo project. I am normally not attracted to something so….busy, but I really loved how the colours worked together!

The two yarns look so ill matched in their separate skeins, but together, they play so nicely! The scarf is over 7 feet long now, so I think I might have to stop…but there’s still yarn left and I don’t want to waste any. I haven’t decided how I will deal with this. It’s either going to be an 8.5 foot scarf or a scarf and a headband. I don’t know! It’s sat in its near-complete state awaiting its fate.

And I also have a Maelstrom sock:

I was aching to do a sock, this one in particular. It’s much more progressed in real life than in this photo. I have half the foot left to go, having just completed the chart. It’s 2×2 rib across the top from here on out. Easy. I went up one needle size (2.25mm to 2.5mm) since I was worried about the circumference – thankfully this seems to have been a wise decision. I’m noticing that I should perhaps be making my heel flaps a little longer from now on since anything patterned seems to pull a bit differently (and is not as forgiving as stockinette), causing issues taking the sock on and off. In this instance it will be fine, but it’s surely a lesson for the future.

Finally, as it wouldn’t be a New Year’s post without a goal involved, my goal will be to crochet a garment this year. I have two I will potentially pick from, neither of which are your traditional mumsy crochet. Both are lacy and beautiful, it’s just a question of which one to choose! More details on this later though (as well as a spinning wheel update), as this post has already got too long.

Firstly, I finished sewing the buttons on to the February Baby Sweater:

Next, I made a pair of booties this afternoon. They went so fast!

And a close up of the buttons used on both projects:

The buttons are so pearly, they were hard to get a clear shot – especially with the flash. But hey, I was here, and the camera was here. Can’t argue with that karma, so natural light will lose this particular battle.

And then I have the second Christmas Shawl:

Now, I do love this pattern – clearly, enough to knit it three times in one year. I’m getting a *little* burned out at this point. I’m up to row 86 (of 134), so I’m nearly there. But man, I will be glad when this one is done. I do think it’s beautiful, and the cream section is *just* starting to phase back into pink. You can not see it in the photo, but it’s such a delicate shade – it’s truly stunning. I will have to find more things to knit with Kauni, but given its properties (a bit rough, fingering weight) I’m not quite sure what that will be. Some kind of blanket maybe. I’d like to do some stranded colourwork with it perhaps just for the joy of watching both strands change. I have no idea what to make though, and frankly, it’s rather too late at night to think about it! I will have a lot of yarn left, so I’m sure I can come up with something.

So, I trawled Ravelry for string market bags – there are many very nice ones. The Everlasting Bagstopper caught my eye though, for its flat bottom and ultimate stretchability. Months ago, I had bought a bag of dishcloth cotton millends, which clearly was Lily Sugar’n Cream in some undisclosed colourway with the idea of making some bags “someday”. So here is my version:

I honestly couldn’t be bothered to find coordinating ribbon, so I picked up 5 stitches from the inside of the bag about 3″ in from the edge, did a few rows of garter stitch, and then started the i-cord. After I finished I did a few more rows of garter stitch on the other side and attached it to the inside of the bag. I did a LOT of sewing to secure the handle. Similarly, I reinforced my stitches on the other side where I picked up the stitches to begin with. The handles do stretch a bit, but they’re very strong. I brought it to my friend’s house when I offered to visit and do the cooking (she just had a baby, so I thought that would be nice) – she called it a magic bag from the sheer amount of food I fit in there. This thing holds a LOT. Seriously. I need more of these.

I knitted this bag along with my mother who is a bit of a novice knitter but a master crocheter. She proposed that we crochet a bag next since I am more of a advanced beginner in crochet. I crocheted quite a lot before I learned to knit. I made a few blankets, a few scarves and hats, and random whimsies. I have not abandoned crochet, but it’s true I’ve neglected it since I’ve learned to knit. I wasn’t too daunted by this challenge, but I was surprised how out of practice I was.

This is the 1 Ender Bag (Ravelry link), also chosen for its flat bottom. I admit it’s a hideous photo – I should have laid it out flat. It looks a lot better than this picture would suggest. All in all, it’s not a bad bag. It’s a great deal stiffer than the knit bag, so I think going up a hook size or two would have been better. But it’s strong as a result and would be good for heavier, bigger things like jars and tins. It was crocheted in one piece – I never had to break the yarn to attach the handles or do an edging around the top of the bag. It was quite clever like that.

So now I need more cotton. I ordered some King Tut mercerized cotton on sale from Little Knits for some variety. I’d like more of the dishcloth cotton too – it’s got more of a rustic feel to it since it’s less processed, which I like. It’s a great deal softer and more attractive than it ever looks in the skein.

Blocking:

Modeled:

Big, isn’t it?

Close up:

So, this was about a year’s effort. It actually feels like a lot longer. It hibernated for great lengths of time, and there were times I couldn’t put it down. I think the height of my euphoria was when it was cast off – it seemed like the never ending project, and now that it’s over I guess I’m a little bummed.