Monday, September 27, 2010

Fall Knitting

A few FO posts to come, but for now, a taste of my fall knitting.

A Romney Kerchief inspired shawl for mom, in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool.


Another Traveling Woman Shawl, this time for my aunt, in a lovely colorway of DIC Smooshy. The color is Chinatown Apple and it makes me feel fall festive even though our trees don't really turn here.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

FO: Wispy

FO: Wispy
Project: Wisp
Yarn: 1 Skein (250 yards) Louet Kidlin Pixie (mohair/nylon/linen)
Needles: US 8 Bamboo Circs


Another yarny gift from my mom! Louet Kidlin Pixie lace weight, a strong, fluffy mohair/nylon/linen blend. Looking at the yardage for Wisp, I thought I would need both skeins my mom gave me, but I decided to cut it off after one, lest I make the world's longest Wisp. This has been happening to me a lot lately, thinking I will need more skeins of a particular yarn than I actually do. I suppose that is better than running out part way through.


Nothing like modeling one's handmade knitwear for the camera in a crowd of eager museum goers!
I have been wanting to make Wisp since it came out in Knitty a few years back, but more exciting projects kept usurping its place in my queue. When this mohair blend yarn strolled into my life, I wanted to choose a project that would make frogging a non-issue. Something simple that eliminated the possibility that I would have to rip back the mohair and end up with a tangle of sadness. So, Wisp re-entered my radar. In the end, I am glad I made it, but it was kind of a boring knit. I was itching to cast on another Traveling Woman shawl in Sea Silk, but I needed my Wisp needles to do so. I spent most of the project knitting as fast as I could to get to the next one, which does not happen to me all to often. Usually if I don't want to knit on something, I fling it aside and knit what I want. But here, I wanted this off the needles.

All in all, I like the finished product, and I think it will be wearable for the days/nights here when a full on wool ensemble is to warm, but the fog and the breeze require some sort of protection






Monday, September 6, 2010

FO: On the Silk Road

Love: long weekends, friends and family, and luxury fiber. I have been knitting with some nice stuff lately, all thanks to my yarn patron numero uno, my mom! This was an amazing fiber gift-- silk, cashmere, camel, and alpaca spun into a really smooth yarn with a nice sheen. I have really been liking projects lately that combine stockinette with random (or seemingly random) garter ridges. I really like the fabric the stitch combination makes.

FO: On the Silk Road
Pattern: Reversatile Cowl by Katie White (free pattern here!)
Yarn: The Road to China, The Fibre Company, 65% Alpaca, 15% Silk, 10% Camel, 10% Cashmere
Needles: US 7 bamboo DPNs

I only used one of my two skeins of this lovely yarn on this project, and am contemplating a cabled cowl for the other skein. I was thinking of doing matching fingerless gloves, but the yarn is so soft that I did not think it would be a practical choice for handwear.

The color is a very lustrous jade green that I think will look great for fall. We have finally been having some warm weather here, so I will have to put off wearing it a bit longer.


The cast off edge is a tad tight...