Did I Jinx Myself?

Sometimes it really seems like Mother Nature is plotting against me. Don't get me wrong, I've really been enjoying the mild winter we've had this year (particularly days like today, when it was sunny and in the low 70s!), but it always seems to get warm just as I'm working on a sweater I'm really excited about.

Last week I had Thursday and Friday off from work, so for much of those two days, I parked myself in a comfy chair at my LYS and worked on my handspun sweater. As you can see, I made very good progress -- the back is complete and I'm a good way through the front.

The front is going rather slowly -- as is the nature of all that cabling -- but I love how it's turning out.

This piece will definitely take the most time, but it's at least quite engaging to work on. It's never boring because every row is just a little different, so I do need to pay attention to where I am on the chart. My yarn supply is also holding out well, too; I'm close to finishing my second skein, and I still have the three largest skeins (yardage-wise) left to knit.

I highly doubt I'll be able to wear this when I finish (too warm!), but it'll be really nice to have a new sweater to look forward to come fall.

Pattern Release: Teleidoscope Tam

Three patterns in three weeks! I swear I am not that prolific; by some happy accident several patterns that were in the works for several months all were ready to be published at roughly the same time. After this one, there are more in the works, but you won't see any of them for a bit.

In any case, the last of this bunch of three is another stranded colorwork pattern (I'm addicted, I'll admit it), the Teleidoscope Tam. This one is a great first project for someone who's just getting their feet wet with stranded colorwork, because there are only two colors and no long floats involved.

This is knit from the bottom up, starting with some simple 2x2 ribbing that transitions into the stranded part. There's some simple shaping on top of the crown, and the tam ends with a little nub of I-cord.

The "magic" here is in the yarn; I again used Knit Picks Chroma fingering, but any sock/fingering weight yarn with long color repeats (Noro Kureyon Sock or Silk Garden Sock, Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, Wisdom Yarns Sock Poems, etc.) would work just as well. The long color repeats make it look like you're changing colors when in fact you're only ever using two yarns the whole time, meaning just four ends to weave in.

The tam is finished with a little gentle blocking -- over a small dinner plate, if you like, but I found that I could obtain just as good a result by laying it flat on a drying rack and patting it into shape.

I had such fun knitting up this hat -- I'm only sorry that the weather seems to be improving and I don't need to wear it to stay warm!

Pattern Release: Gothic Leaves Baby Blanket

I've been a busy knitter/designer lately! I had a bunch of things in the works in the fall and early winter, and as luck would have it, they all seem to be ready at the same time. So here's my second pattern release in as many weeks, the Gothic Leaves Baby Blanket.

I originally designed this as a gift for a friend who was expecting her first baby earlier this year. While flipping through one of my Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries, I came across this stitch pattern and thought it would look lovely in a blanket. When Rainbow was born, I knit her a lace blanket that was used constantly during those first few months -- when you have a newborn in the winter, it's a bit impractical to get a winter coat, but you need something to keep them warm on those trips to see the pediatrician and the grandparents!

The lace stitch is framed by garter, which I always like in children's knits. The blanket's also very easy to upsize if desired; as written, it comes out to a pram-sized blanket (approximately 23.5 in./60 cm wide by 30 in./76 cm long), which I found to be just the right size for covering Rainbow up when she was in the carrier as a newborn -- and now is the perfect size when she wants to put her dolls and stuff animals to bed.

The lace pattern is both written out and charted, and what I really like about it is that, unlike a lot of lace, it doesn't need an aggressive blocking to open up. In fact, I worked the sample in machine-washable Cascade 220 Superwash, and although I handwashed my sample and laid it flat to dry (just smoothing out the lace a bit to open it up), you could easily throw this in the washer and dryer. Because this was designed for new mom, I wanted the care to be as easy as possible.

The blanket was a big hit with my friend; I hope you like it as well!

Millefiori

This yarn has been done for most of this past week, but it took until this weekend to get a decent shot of it (though I still couldn't seem to get my camera to do it justice). It started out as this twist of fiber, 50% merino/50% silk from All Spun Up:

I set out to spin this a medium weight (sport to DK), but with such a high silk content, it really wanted to be spun ultra fine. So I went with it and ended up with two-ply laceweight.

The final skein is approximately 796.5 yards, so plenty to do a large shawl.

Trust me when I say that it's a lot prettier in person -- for some reason, my camera either wants to capture the color accurately or the shine accurately, but not both. The colors are rich and the shine factor is high. I'm extremely satisfied with this spin, and once I finish the current projects, this just might be the next thing on my needles.

All Handspun, All the Time

Although in truth I haven't been doing a whole lot of knitting lately (I've been too seduced by spinning while rewatching Downton Abbey season 2), the two current projects on my needles are, somewhat amazingly, being knit in handspun.

The first is my I Heart Aran sweater, which is being done in the Romney I just spun up in the last couple of months. I started with the back, which is plain except for the requisite ribbing at the bottom, so not very exciting thus far.

I'm just past the waist shaping, so now it's just knit and purl until I reach the length to begin the underarm shaping. Before I cast on for this, I was a good knitter and remeasured, and as it turns out, my bust size is a good two inches less than I thought it was -- which means I can knit a smaller size sweater and be sure that I have plenty of yarn. I might even add some length. Of course, the finished sweater will have zero ease (I was worried two inches of ease would be too much), so I might have to be a bit heavy handed when it come time to block.

My other project is a lot more fun to look at. I had two skeins of handspun in my stash that were just begging to be knit up together, and for months now I'd been intending to turn them into a Stripe Study Shawl. This past weekend, I decided the time had come to cast on, and I'm really glad I did -- this pattern is addictive! I partially blame it for the fact that I stayed up to watch all of the Oscars on Sunday night (and then was really, really tired Monday morning!).

The colors are not quite true here because of the flash, but you can see the nice contrast I'm getting as well as how there are stripes within each stripe from the gradient in the yarn. My yarn is closer to a laceweight than a fingering, so I'm using considerably smaller needles (US 3 rather than US 6). I have way more yardage than the pattern calls for, though, so I can easily do more stripes to get the shawl to be the right size. This is going to be so cozy and bright when it's done; I have a feeling that it's going to be a regular accessory to my work wardrobe.

Pattern Release: Gaskell

Several months ago, you may remember that I started knitting what eventually became a very large piece of garter stitch that I kept referring to as my Cranford Shawl. I am very pleased to tell you that today it's been released as my newest original pattern -- Gaskell.

This triangular shawl is knit from one side to the other and uses short rows (with no wraps!) to create a subtly ruffled edge along the bottom. The design was inspired by the costuming in the BBC dramatization of Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford, which featured a number of intriguing shawls. One feature that I particularly liked was a "collar" in the center of some of them, and you will see that on this shawl.

I won't lie -- this shawl is big and uses a fair bit of yarn! But it easily doubles as a sweater, and I've been using it for the past several months when there's a chill in the air and I need an extra layer (but am too lazy to pull out a sweatshirt). It's worked at a fairly dense gauge for the weight of yarn, which means that it is extra warm, and because it's in garter stitch, it's also very stretchy. I blocked mine only very gently, but it could easily be blocked more aggressively to be positively enormous!

I used Cascade Eco Wool for my shawl, but because it's so stretchy and fit isn't hugely important, yarn substitution is easy. My pattern testers have used all sorts of yarn, mostly in the worsted/heavy worsted category, and it seems to look great in solids, semisolids, and even self-striping yarns.

I'm very happy with how this shawl turned out, and I'm hoping you will enjoy the pattern!

Mid-ply

Today's spinning session will be day four of plying my All Spun Up merino/silk Millifiori. As with all laceweight I've spun, this last step is taking a very long time, but I know that with this fiber it's totally going to be worth it.

Assuming I can finish up this afternoon, I can skein it up this evening during the Oscars!