Two shawls and Frankenstein

It’s the first day of spring, according to Google, so here’s my finished Spring in Old York:

It’s gorgeous Noro Silk Garden Sock and was very easy to knit. Thank you Andrea! The design is very angular and geometric and works really well with this yarn.

As a complete contrast I finished my Vlad:

I’m not so keen on it: perhaps it was the the twice-baked overdyed yarn! Still, the colour is good and it’s a useful accessory.

And staying on the darker side (not just colours), I’ve been knitting a sweater using two shades of the same yarn. I had about 200g of Fuchsia left over from last year’s Corinne and I bought 300g more in Bilberry. The plan was to make a thrifty striped sweater. The Fuchsia is rather bright, as you can see:

But I miscalculated quantities too, as a result of making the pink stripes narrow, so the second sleeve is a bit different from the first (pictures at a later date … maybe).

I was flicking through Julie Turjoman’s Brave New Knits and had to smile:

Frankenstein – verb: to knit a project from an assortment of orphan skeins or remnants of yarn, rather than from yarn purchased specifically for that design.

Because it’s not a sweater, it’s a monster.

In praise of Bluefaced Leicester yarn

It may be from the strangest looking of sheep, with its Roman nose, but I can’t praise this wonderful yarn too highly.

As part of my austerity stash-busting exercise I’ve just finished a sweater in Airedale Aran which I bought from Texere Yarns some time ago.  Since the yarn is charcoal in colour it shows up the lustre of the yarn beautifully.  And it’s so soft.  The sweater may look like something suitable for school but it’s absolutely gorgeous to wear.

I used Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.  Since I’m obsessed with tubular cast on and cast off at the moment I knitted each piece separately to the armholes and then joined all four together on a circular.  Why?  Because the recommended approach of  joining in the round after a straight row where the stitches are swapped into 2×2 rib leaves too bigger a gap for my liking.  I don’t mind straight seams, I just hate sewing in sleeves.

And the good news is that I still have another 700g of Airedale Aran, this time in indigo.  A round-neck sweater on the same principles, I think.  I’m even tempted to put in a bit of “Sarah Lund” motif, but maybe not.  She wore about four different sweaters in the last two episodes so the red one isn’t so iconic.

I can’t stop wearing the shawlette I knitted as part of Anniken Allis’ recent Mystery KAL.  It’s my own hand-dyed bluefaced leicester laceweight, and I must confess I prefer this yarn to the wonderful Fyberspates Scrumptious, even though that has so much silk content.  Perhaps it just suits the time of year better.

I dyed some more of this wonderful yarn (I call it Bemuse) for my Etsy shop, but had to keep some back since I couldn’t bear to part with it!

If I’m mad enough to consider a dozen shawls in 20dozen I’m sure this will get used early next year.

Fledglings

I’m very happy to say that some knitty folk have bought my yarn!  I spent last week busily creating more stock and braved the rain on Friday to replenish my basket at Sunday Nest:

I’m working on some very pretty laceweight and all sorts of sock yarn. A skein or two of these would make a nice gift at this time of year.

My first Cascade 220 sweater has left my circular needles and it’s keeping me snug and warm.

I love the yarn and I certainly wouldn’t mind walking into a shop that stocked the full range.  In fact I wouldn’t mind owning that shop, so listen up, fairy godmother, and grant my wish!

Round and round up

Since the weather has turned rather chilly, like many other people, my knitty thoughts turn to warm sweaters and generally transforming my stash into useful clothing.

I’ve finished my Pimpelliese, which is beautifully soft and cosy. Bluefaced Leicester is wonderful wool!

I mentioned Anniken Allis’ Mystery Shawl KAL in my last post.  The swatching instructions arrived on the same day and I quickly polished off a little bit of lace knitting:

Then the first clue arrived Saturday lunchtime and when X-Factor started so did the knitting in earnest.  It didn’t take long to finish, although there’s not much to see in this rather poor image (I’m still working on those improvements):

I’m using Addi lace circulars which are wonderful, although I appreciate they’re not the latest and greatest ChiaoGoo’s (maybe for Christmas?).

And talking of circulars, on the warm sweater theme, I’ve started my first garment in Cascade 220, knitted in the round.  It’s Jess’ Birthday Sweater by Emily Wright.

That’s the start of 4 inches of 2×2 rib and rather boring I thought at first. I was wondering why the yarn is the most popular on Ravelry and then I noticed the stitch definition.  Question answered.

So my weekend knitting will be a competition between the shawl KAL and the sweater.  I can’t wait for the next clue to arrive:  I have no patience! Unfortunately, I should also take advantage of the good daylight to finish making up my Tanzanite sweater. I’ll just have to remind myself that once it’s finished it will keep me warm and it’s another BFL masterpiece.

Seven day Sweater

Well, not quite. I started a sweater in gorgeous baby alpaca last Saturday afternoon.

I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible so I knitted flat out all week. Seven days later four pieces are finished and blocking.

So it’s ready for the fiddly bits.

In the meantime I rushed into using my Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, picking another one skein wonder.

Most of the designs on Ravelry call for US size 1 needles, ie 2.25 mm. I’ve two sets of 2.5 mm and, although I’m sure the difference would be minimal, I’d rather use the suggested needle. Looks like I need to go shopping …

I’ve dyed some more sock yarn this week using blues and pink, so here’s my stash so far.

I’m cooking up a nice violet/fuchsia mix right now and I’ll post pictures soon.

And did I go for a run this morning? Er, felt a bit tired really, thought I’d do some dyeing instead … I am so BAD!

Yellowday

Yesterday was yellowday. I dyed some sunshine sock yarn:

I’m fascinated by Maggie Magali’s Gingko Shoulderette Shawl and I’ve been thinking about bright yellow yarn for a week or so. Now it’s done.

In the evening, I made some custard and saved some to eat cold today. I took it out of the fridge to photograph but it didn’t last long enough to get a decent picture.

Not everything was yellow. I swatched my cranberry baby alpaca. It’s (UK) double knitting weight and I’ve gone down to 3.75mm just so I can use my Pony Pearls. A plain, V-neck, three-quarter sleeve sweater, I think.