Wednesday, September 24, 2008

That Little Scarf

Back in April I purchased 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Alpaca Silk in a lovely charcoaly-blue colour. I don't know the name exactly (or number if that is the way it's done) because somehow, from me taking from the shelf to the counter and home, the tag was lost. This has caused me some grief because I have an oddly difficult time ridding myself of ball bands. Usually I can part with all but one when a project is finished, but we'll get into that pathology another time.

The intent for this yarn was the first Little Nothing from the oh so talented Anne Hanson of Knitspot called That Little Scarf

A few days before I finished Icarus, I cast on for My Little Scarf. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it knit up, with it having patterning on both RS and WS rows. I never memorized the 12 row pattern, every row is different, and I never tired of knitting it.

It was even pretty before being blocked.





I did block it though, why work that hard on a pretty lace scarf just to leave it all scrunched up? It blocked out to about 39 in, by 8.5 in.



The pattern calls for 10 repeats of the 24 row chart, I had enough yarn to do 11.



This was my first Anne Hanson project, but it won't be my last! It was very well written, with a wonderful chart.



Pattern: That Little Scarf, by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca, Alpaca Silk
Needles: 4mm Addi Turbo

Friday, September 19, 2008

Is it stash?

"They" say sock yarn doesn't count as stash, so maybe I haven't enhance my stash. I'm not much of a stasher, I can't look at a pattern and think 'Ooooo I have the perfect yarn for that!' because I don't. I have in the last year and a half developed a good little pile of sock yarn. Sock yarn is fun and can be used for more than socks. Speaking of socks, I'm still working on the Vintage sock with the goal of October 25, that's the next family gathering with the IL's and a good time to present MIL with the socks. Hopefully I can figure out the leaf attachment instructions well before then.

I had my BMFA coupon burning a hole in my pocket, and I placed an order just before the new seasonal colours went up (otherwise I would have probably bought A LOT more) and purchased three colours from my I Want! list.

Faulty Dyer


Pebblebeach


and Mochaberry (Love.)


Those are going in the box, someday, I will knit them. I promise.

This past Saturday was the KW Knitters fair, bigger and better with over 70 vendors. It was really nice, they had 2 rooms so the aisles were nice and big with lots of room to move around. Much squishing, squeezing and petting of yarn was done and a little bit of purchasing. My main objective was finding the perfect red in the right fibre for a scarf for my (non-knitting) SIL for her 40th birthday in January. I was hoping for something really luxurious, like a cashmere/silk or something, but the right red was very important too. We found the perfect colour in a baby alpaca laceweight, so I bought it.

Alpaca laceweight

I'm pretty sure I'm going to knit Fiddlehead by Anne Hanson with it.

There was also a purchase of some Jamieson Shetland Spindrift to make Brooklyn Tweed's Druid Mittens from the Fall issue of Vogue Knitting.

Jamieson Shetland Spindrift

At the Purple Purl booth they had some Malabrigo Sock. The colours were amazing, Jen and I kept pulling out different skeins of the same colourway to show each other at the same time. It was very funny. We ended up buying the same colour too.

Mmmmmmalabrigo

And, a few weeks ago (yikes, I need to stop) I bought some Cascade 220 to make Norwegian Star Earflap hats for my boys. Thanks Tiennie!

What am I actually knitting instead of just planning to knit? I'm working on a February Lady sweater in Dream and Colour Classy, Happy Forest and I have a That little scarf blocking downstairs that I finished last night. My RSC shipment should potentially come next week, so I'm not starting any socks right now.

Have a good weekend!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The sun came out today

With the sun shining again today, Icarus came out for a little photo shoot. I'm so happy with it.



I think I did pretty well for my first lace with skinny, slippery silk. The feathers are so pretty. And, it's so beautifully light and sheer.



And look at the colour (Gooseberries), and the sheen of the silk. Sundara, I thank you.



I think it just might look good on too.



Pattern: Icaraus by Miriam Felton, knit as written and had 16g of silk left
Yarn: Sundara Silk Lace, Gooseberries. Received in a Seasons I mix up, but I loved it and kept it instead of trading it for my Autumn.
Needles: 3.25 Knit Picks circular


I really enjoyed knitting this and it wasn't a difficult as I had made it out in my mind. I never used a life line, and fortunatley, didn't need one as there was no frogging, just the occasional tink here and there. I used one split ring as the shawl got bigger so I new when I was getting to the centre line and just kept moving it up periodically.

Next: Between my Blue Moon coupon burning a hole in my pocket and the KW Knitters Fair, there has been a little bit of yarn added to the house. Just a little.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

A finishing flurry

I've been finishing things. Aren't you proud?



Last week it was the Aleita Shell from Interweave Knits Spring 2008. This was a spur of the momment knit, Jer says "Let's go to the yarn store for your birthday!" so I quickly find a project that isn't going to require too much yarn, nor too little yarn. Plus, we were going on vacation and it was going to be good vacation knitting. And it was, then we got home and I stopped working on it.



I decided Aleita needed to be finished, so I did. It's very quick and simple, with minimal finishing. Fits well, and should look good over a collared blouse.



KW Knitters Fair this weekend! YAY! And I'll have company/enablers this year, Mom and SIL are coming too! I might just deserve something special, since I've also finished this.