Liberty Lotus

Just a couple of days ago I finished my Lotus Blossom Tank. I'm thrilled with how it turned out; it's probably the best-fitting garment I've knitted. The smallest size of the pattern would've been too big, so I cast on fewer stitches and made adjustments to the numbers as I went along. It worked out quite well, and wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.



Pattern:  Lotus Blossom Tank by Sharon Shoji
Yarn: South West Trading Company Bamboo in Electric Blue, 2 skeins
A few more details on Ravelry.



Have a great Fourth of July!

Six

It's my sixth blogiversary!

Exactly two years ago I posted that I had wound this yarn up,



but clearly it took me a while to cast on and turn it into this:



Pattern: Celes by Jared Flood
Yarn: A Verb For Keeping Warm Wishing in Indigo Blue Sky



While I didn't find this pattern difficult to knit, it is the most complex shawl I've made in terms of construction. It has a graft in the center and a knitted on edging, which were actually the parts I enjoyed working on the most. There's something so satisfying about an graft that blends in with the rest of the stitches, and the border went along surprisingly quickly.



I had to dip into my swatch to finish the border, but thankfully I had enough yarn!

Sweater Success

My first truly wearable sweater, finished just in time for the cooler weather! I have rarely if ever worn other sweaters I've made because they were too itchy or too heavy for me. But this one is soft, lightweight, and cozy, and I've already worn it several times!



Pattern: Abigail Cardi by Cecily Glowik MacDonald
Yarn: Quince and Co. Tern in Barnacle, 5 skeins
Needles: 3.0 mm



The sweater grew some when I blocked it. I was able to reshape it to close to the original size, but it's a little bit large for me. Overall though, I'm pleased with how it turned out, and am even thinking about buying more Quince and Co. yarn for another cardigan (probably Lark to make Tinder by Jared Flood). I love all the Quince and Co. yarns I've tried so far.



More pics and notes on my Ravelry project page.

High Five

Red - now that's a color you don't see much of on this blog.



Project Spectrum 5 has given me the much-needed nudge to finish photographing my red Wine and Roses Mitts. And my fifth blogiversary (today!) is giving me the nudge to post.

I actually made these last year, so I don't remember all the details off the top of my head, but I know I made some modifications in the number of repeats so that these would fit my small hands. They turned out just the right size. I used O-Wool Classic 2-Ply. I really liked this yarn - it's wooly, but not itchy.

The robin cross stitch is something I made years ago, but I thought it was a nice prop to use (photographing my own hands is tricky).

The Haul

The weekend before last, my mom and I went to Stitches West. Since I no longer attend a regular knitting or spinning group, and haven't been to a Spindles and Flyers guild meeting recently, it was great to see so many people I hadn't seen for some time.

Here are this year's purchases.


Malabrigo Rios in Purple Mystery.


Madelinetosh Pashmina in Duchess, to make a cardigan (Atelier).


Pigeonroof Studios Super Sock in Raspberry. My mom bought this so I can make her a pair of fingerless gloves and a scarf.


Pigeonroof Studios Siren Two Sock in Tychian Purple. I've never bought Pigeonroof yarn before, only fiber, so I'm really excited to try these. I love how deep the color is!


Non-yarn purchases included some fat quarters from A Verb for Keeping Warm and stitch markers from Miss Purl.


First up to be knitted is the Malabrigo Rios. Malabrigo March is just around the corner, and I'll be making a Crooked Paths hat.



I'm off to swatch!

Four

It's my fourth blogiversary!

It's been months since I last blogged, so here's a quick wrap up of things I've done so far this year (click the images for more details on Flickr).

1) Went shopping at Stitches West.



2) Made a Ripley in Malabrigo Twist during Malabrigo March. I thought I wouldn't get much use out of this until next fall/winter, but we've still been having chilly and rainy days here.



3) Wove a scarf/wrap in Habu A-1 2/17 tsumugi. This was my first time weaving with silk, and while my warp tension wasn't quite even on the loom, I can't tell in the finished scarf. I really like the depth that using different colors for the warp and weft gave the fabric.



4) Wound up my A Verb for Keeping Warm Wishing. Now I need to pick a pattern. Any suggestions? (A lace shawl or scarf, of course!)

Nine Things I Did In 2009

but didn't blog about until now. In roughly chronological order:

1) Spun (from the fold) some Pigeonroof Studios Romney in Twist. The colors and the fiber made this such a pleasure to spin.


2) Finished a pair of toe-up knee socks (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Edgewater, 2 skeins). I really like how these turned out, but need to add elastic to the cuff so they stay up better.


3) Made an apron for my mom, based off the generic craft store-type apron she already had. I followed Amy Karol/angry chicken's No Swearing All by Machine Bias Tape Tutorial. Highly recommended - I barely touched my seam ripper.


4) Did some sample knitting for Melissa Leapman! This is a detail on the Springtime Hoodie, knit in Kollage Temptation in Lagoon.


5) Knit most of a Veste Everest (using Black Water Abbey Yarns 2-ply worsted weight in Moss). I finished the front and the back (sorry, no photo of that) and seamed it up, but haven't gotten around to doing the neck and arm bands.


6) Intended to work through my stashed sock yarn, but didn't make much progress. I started a pair of Jaywalkers (no photo of this either), and have been knitting these on and off for the past 6 months or so. There's always next year...

7) Spun 2 oz of A Verb for Keeping Warm 50/50 Silk/Merino in No. 9. I got approximately 400 yards of laceweight/light fingering weight yarn. I really, really love how this turned out.


8) Went to Stash's moving sale. I got four skeins of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Eden (a purple, and, for the record, I'm really into purple this year). I'm still not sure what I'm going to make with it. Maybe a vest?

9) Learned that unwarping a direct warp is time consuming and a potential recipe for tangles. (I only wanted to use one skein for the warp, and it was narrower than I wanted. I knew I'd prefer my scarf to be a little shorter than to have it too narrow.) Somehow it all worked out in the end, and I managed to get the warp off without needing to cut the yarn at all. Now I have a nearly complete Koigu scarf - just a few more inches to go!


Wishing you a happy new year!