Relatively speaking, it doesn't feel all that long since I last posted here...and guess what? I finished another shawl in that time! Yes, it's on the small side. Yes, it was simple. Yes, it used fingering yarn instead of laceweight. But it is an entire shawl, complete and lovely: the Leaf Evolution Shawl. I'm afraid I don't yet have any good pictures of it post-blocking, but you can see it unblocked here, on my Ravelry page. I decided I needed to use up some of my Knitpicks Palette, and after much dithering, came to the conclusion that I could just knit a lacy shawl in wide stripes. I actually based this on one that someone had done in the KPP, using four different colors, so I wouldn't even have to think about where to put the color changes and how much I'd need. Alas, it didn't really use up as much of each ball as I'd hoped. I guess those four balls are destined for use in the Beekeeper's Quilt! I've already done one striped hexipuff in those colors to "commemorate" this shawl.
The past few days have been pretty hexipuff-centric, knitting-wise. I love having an in-between-projects project that's simple and portable. I brought materials for making them to the knitting group I went to last night, the first meeting of the new on in Assembly Square.
I AM starting to get the urge to knit something more complicated and fine again, now. Already. That's a bit of a surprise. I think I am going to...repeat a shawl. Yes, that's right. Ms. Never-the-same-thing-twice is probably going to make another Aeolian. This time, I'll do the large laceweight version, and I'll use my pretty purple Winter Lace yarn from Mountain Colors that I got when Windsor Button was going out of business. It's a subtle enough variegation that I think it will look lovely. Now, do I use the same beads I used before, or do I get new ones? If so, what color? The peacock beads would go well, but I've also thought about some pearly-looking ones. The problem is, I don't want to have to wait a long time to get started, so I can't take forever deciding on a bead color, sourcing them, and waiting for them to ship. I should decide quickly, I think. I'm interested in seeing how this yarn knits up!
Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Proud as a peacock
Every time I write in this blog, I feel like I should be apologizing. I am SO BAD about it. Well, to be fair, it's a knitting blog, and for most of the last year plus, I've been bad about knitting. I never got to the point of thinking about giving up knitting, mind you. Never. I was always just in a state of "I know I need to fix that problem and get back to it, but I just don't have the wherewithal right now."
I started my Peacock Feathers Stole in February 2013. I finished it the other day. It took me OVER a YEAR to finish that project, and it's not like I'd been working on any others. Well, the hexipuffs for the Beekeeper's Quilt that I made while at the festival I go to in the summer don't count. To be fair, a big part of the reason why I spent so much time "on a break" from knitting was that I was in the process of planning and having a wedding and honeymoon. Even after that, though, I procrastinated picking up my knitting again. Even after I picked it up, when I encountered other problems (i.e., messed up and couldn't fix it easily), I procrastinated MORE on getting back to it. But finally, I set myself to the task and finished. Here, my friends, are some pictures.
As you may be able to tell, I blocked it incorrectly. Not terribly, but I do want to fix it. The edge is finished with a crochet bind off that creates lovely little scallops when you pin out each chain. I pinned out the points of the feathers, but failed to pin out the scallops. Oops. Even so, I'm bloody well wearing it. I've had two people ask me what it would cost to have me make THEM one. I answered them, "To be honest, it would cost an arm, a leg, and your firstborn."
Now, I am working on something new! I decided I wanted to make a shawl that used only the Knitpicks Palette yarn I got from my friend Nadira, because I have (yes sir, yes sir) three bags full of it sitting in my closet. It was a little tricky because of the fact that I only have about 230 yards of each color. After a lot of looking around, I happened on a project someone made of the Leaf Evolution Shawl that used four different colors, each in its own wide stripe. They even used the same KPP that I was planning on using, and it only took them one ball of each color. I decided that this looked lovely, and that I would follow their notes for where they changed colors to do the same thing. I chose a dark reddish brown, a light beige, a light blue, and a medium brown-tan. Those colors will go in that order from top to bottom of the triangular shawl. I like this color combination. It sort of reminds me of desert and sky. It's also unlike any other shawls I have, which was a requirement for me! I'm really enjoying it so far. The chart I'm working on now is extraordinarily simple, especially after the Peacock Feathers Stole. It's a very short chart, repeated numerous (I'm doing 16) times, with very short pattern repeats. It feels almost mindless after the PFS, and the fingering weight yarn feels heavy after the lace yarn I used for that!
I started my Peacock Feathers Stole in February 2013. I finished it the other day. It took me OVER a YEAR to finish that project, and it's not like I'd been working on any others. Well, the hexipuffs for the Beekeeper's Quilt that I made while at the festival I go to in the summer don't count. To be fair, a big part of the reason why I spent so much time "on a break" from knitting was that I was in the process of planning and having a wedding and honeymoon. Even after that, though, I procrastinated picking up my knitting again. Even after I picked it up, when I encountered other problems (i.e., messed up and couldn't fix it easily), I procrastinated MORE on getting back to it. But finally, I set myself to the task and finished. Here, my friends, are some pictures.
As you may be able to tell, I blocked it incorrectly. Not terribly, but I do want to fix it. The edge is finished with a crochet bind off that creates lovely little scallops when you pin out each chain. I pinned out the points of the feathers, but failed to pin out the scallops. Oops. Even so, I'm bloody well wearing it. I've had two people ask me what it would cost to have me make THEM one. I answered them, "To be honest, it would cost an arm, a leg, and your firstborn."
Now, I am working on something new! I decided I wanted to make a shawl that used only the Knitpicks Palette yarn I got from my friend Nadira, because I have (yes sir, yes sir) three bags full of it sitting in my closet. It was a little tricky because of the fact that I only have about 230 yards of each color. After a lot of looking around, I happened on a project someone made of the Leaf Evolution Shawl that used four different colors, each in its own wide stripe. They even used the same KPP that I was planning on using, and it only took them one ball of each color. I decided that this looked lovely, and that I would follow their notes for where they changed colors to do the same thing. I chose a dark reddish brown, a light beige, a light blue, and a medium brown-tan. Those colors will go in that order from top to bottom of the triangular shawl. I like this color combination. It sort of reminds me of desert and sky. It's also unlike any other shawls I have, which was a requirement for me! I'm really enjoying it so far. The chart I'm working on now is extraordinarily simple, especially after the Peacock Feathers Stole. It's a very short chart, repeated numerous (I'm doing 16) times, with very short pattern repeats. It feels almost mindless after the PFS, and the fingering weight yarn feels heavy after the lace yarn I used for that!
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