FO: Stripe Study

I finished my Stripe Study a bit ago, but I haven't gotten a picture until this weekend. Something about this heat wave made it difficult to remember to grab my wool wrap. I would have finished it earlier, but I made the ridiculous decision to spend as much time binding off as I did knitting. I don't know when or why, but I decided that the sewn bind off is my favorite. I am here to assure you that a garter stitch shawl that binds off on the two long sides does not require a sewn bind off. It is a good technique, but I spent a full day sitting in the park pulling that long bind off end through each stitch...TWICE! It was a lovely day, but I am officially saving that bind off for lace (and maybe toe up socks.)

I decided to go as long as I could with each color to use up all of my yarn, and when I finished I was worried that it was a little small. The longest point reached just past my mid-back. It seemed to work just fine, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting based on the photos from the pattern. I was especially disappointed because I knit 2 extra stripes before I ran out of the darker yarn. Since I took it across the country and the park I gave it a bath right away. When I laid it out to dry it grew a lot more than I expected for just garter stitch. I am very happy with the final size.

I'm not certain how I feel about the asymmetry yet though. It looks fantastic, but I haven't had occasion to use my new wrap. The tallest point falls over my left shoulder instead of down the center of my back. I'm interested to find out how well it stays in place and protects my back from the giant window at work.

WIP: Seattle

I managed to do a fair amount of knitting over my wonderful game weekend. Not only did I have a long bus ride, but I also find that the right project means a lot of knitting can get done between turns.


I like to pick up some sock yarn as a souvenir when I travel but this trip I knew I wouldn't venture far enough away from the convention center.  I decided to combine my last souvenir yarn into a trip project so I could have one project full of two trips.  I picked up this yarn at Tricoter in Seattle. It is my very first ball of Noro. I confess I was a little concerned about making socks out of it. It feels really rough, and I just don't want rough socks. I went with the shawl, but I'm still worried that it might be too scratchy.  Hubby is confident it will soften up once I wash it. I am going to trust him (and the overwhelming love for Noro that I always hear about) and hope for the best.

On The Needles

So now that I'm all up to date on what I've accomplished, I want to show you what I'm working on. I pretty much have two projects really active at a time: the one in my purse and the one on the couch.

In my purse:

These are my me project. This pattern (Rav link) was a gift from knitting friend that I met in Philly. (She's an awesome knitter and she has the best Save the Dates.) I started these in December on the train to Chicago. I understand that December is a long time to be working on a pair of socks, but they went inactive for a long time. I have finally gotten use to the K tbl stitches, and I am now good with the cables. I have turned the heels and I'm close to done with the gusset shaping so it should be much quicker from here on out. I am starting to worry a bit about them being too tight. I don't have a reason to really worry about this, beyond my lingering lack of confidence in sock knitting. Well, that and the fact that every time the idea that they might not fit occurs to me, I'm on the subway and not willing to whip off my shoes. So rather than try them on and settle my mind, I just let myself believe a little more that they won't fit when I'm done.

On my couch:

At home I am working on a Jeanie wrap. The more I work on this project, the more I love it. First of all, the Knit Picks Stroll in the Tonal colors are incredibly beautiful. I love working with it. Beyond the yarn, the pattern is fantastic. When I started the project, I only knew that it involved some dropped stitches. Dropped stitches are always fun but this pattern is also reversible! I was obsessed with the charts for the first few rows, but havi0021 made a comment on Ravelry that helped me figure out that most of each row is a four stitch repeat of Ktbl, P, K, Ptbl. That gave me the freedom to stop staring at my color-coded chart and go back to admiring the beautiful yarn. I am also looking forward to the bid-off for this project because the reversible cable border on each side goes around the entire wrap. I will keep you posted on how that goes.

Hibiscus Shawl

Pattern: Hibiscus Shawl by Laura Chau (Rav Link)
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Sock Yarn in Bordeaux

Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Notes: I had a lot of trouble with this pattern. I generally like to trust the pattern. Honestly, I don't have the confidence in my knitting prowess or my ability to visualize the instructions as I read them to do much more than have faith that it will all work out in the end. Most of the time (as long as I scour the internet for errata before I begin) this faith has served me well. This project changed all of that.

I really wanted this shawl.

I thought it was cute and it was going to be the perfect use of some yarn that was already in my stash. Most importantly, I work with my back to a large drafty window on the shadow side of my building. I've been wanting a shawl that will stay on my shoulders and warm my back for a long time. So, I was just as eager to cast off this project as I was to cast it on. I was zipping through this project until about half-way though the flower when things just stopped working. The lace on the far side of the flower just wouldn't line up like it was supposed to. I ripped back a few rows and tried it again. Still not right. I ripped out the entire flower and started it over. More frustration. I ended up ripping out the entire project and starting it again. I got a little bit of guidance from Ravelry, but mostly I just made changes as I went along. Here are the edits I made:

Row 74: Decrease extra stitch with RT right after flower

Row 78: Knit 8 instead of 9

Row 88: Knit 24

If you've got a good eye, you can see that there is still a row (maybe 2) that are off in the lace pattern after the flower. By the point I noticed it, I wasn't certain if it was my mistake or the pattern's and I was not patient enough to go back. Despite that minor problem (nobody notices but me) I love my first triangular wrap. No one has come out and told me that I look like an old lady when I wear it, but it wouldn't matter if they did. I never have to fuss with it to keep it on (unlike my Clapotis which has been permanently declared a scarf.) If I turn it around and wrap it around my neck, it is the perfect shape to fill in V opening of my coat and any cold from sneaking in. I'm sold! Have you discovered the joys of a triangular shawl?

My Clapotis

I've been working on a super secret project, so I can't tell you much about it. I only have a little be of I-cord and some grafting before it is done. Since it is a gift for a non-knitting friend you can check it out if you are a member of Ravelry.

But I'm not going to leave you completely hanging. I have some FO pictures of my Clapotis. It has been raining all day, so we didn't get to go out and actually have any fun taking pictures, but don't let my sour face fool you, I absolutely love my Clapotis.

When I first saw pictures of this pattern on the internet, it seemed like it would be too bulky for my tastes as a scarf. When I started making this one, it wasn't because I was looking to make a scarf. Rather, I wanted a light weight, workhorse type wrap that I could leave in my office for the days when the heater isn't working. I figured instead of filling up my purse on the way to work Monday, I would just wear it as a scarf. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it doesn't feel bulky at all. Instead of bulk, it is cuddly, and the extra width allows me to adjust it to cover what ever may be cold. I can pull it up over my head, or I can stretch it out to fill in the V-neck of my coat. Of course, I can also throw it over my shoulders. ( I don't need it to keep my shoulder warm when I have my coat on, but I was taking pictures to show off its versatility.) I wore it Monday morning to work so that I would have it in the office this week, and I wore it around the city Friday evening and brought it home so I could take pictures this weekend. In this little bit of time, I've become smitten. I feel a little bit of longing when I leave it at work because I'd rather be cuddling up with it at home. I guess, I will just have to make another one.

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Knit Picks Shadow in Campfire and Sunset Heather
Needles: US 7 (4.5mm)
Notes: Instead of a heavier weight yarn, I used two strands of lace weight held together.

My Turn

I work in an old building, and some days the heaters just don't seem to be enough. One particularly cold day I decided that needed a workhorse kind of wrap that I could keep in my office for these emergency situations. I decided it was my turn to make a Clapotis. I went through my stash looking for something with enough yardage and no assigned project. I found some orange lace weight that was given to me in a swap, but it was going to have to be held double.

Since the orange was discontinued I had to pair it up with something else. Originally I loved the orange because I thought it would highlight that color in my hair, so when looking for another color I decided to go for another shade in my hair that I wanted to accent. The red and the orange work together in a beautiful way. When I am working on them right up close, they kind of look like what you get when you start swirling mustard and ketchup around together. The further away you get, the more unified and coppery the color becomes.

I've been working on this steadily on the subway, during my lunch breaks, and at SnB and it has been going pretty quickly. I was well over half way done when I had to join my second hank of yarn, so I decided to add 3 repeats to the center section. I had no particular reason to add more other than I knew I had the yarn for it, and the decision to add three repeats was just because I like the number 15 better than the number 12. Even with that addition, I have already started my decreases and I hope to be done with this before next week.