Out of my last five projects, three have been triangular scarves. I think that qualifies me as an addict, or at least someone on a lace kick.

I’m always wary of using variegated yarns for lacework, as they so often obscure the pattern and rarely look as nice as solids or semi-solids. This, though, being mostly shades of bluegreen with some sandy beige, looks fine to me. And the yarn itself is wonderful, too–mm, cotton/silk. It drapes beautifully, and grew from 34″ x 15″ to 48″ x 23″ after blocking. Since I’m rather short (ha, understatement) that equals just about ideal shawlette size.

For no particular reason, I decided to eliminate the purl columns in the original pattern. Also, because I wanted to use up as much of the yarn as possible, I knit the first chart three times instead of two. I had less than 3 grams from my original 100 grams at the end, so mission accomplished.

Another spring-ish triangular scarf, this one more or less improvised. I cast on at the centre top and started with a garter-stitch tab, then knit standard triangular-scarf increases at the edges and down the centre line. I pulled the lace pattern from one of my stitch dictionaries.

I wish the photo was more true to colour–it looks fine on one of my computers but totally washed-out on the other. The yarn’s a gorgeous rich raspberry, with very slight shadings of darker pinks and an almost coral-pink mixed in. I’m always impressed with the depth of colour in Handmaiden’s (and Fleece Artist’s, for that matter) semi-solids.

I’m usually a soak-and-pin blocker, but this time I tried steam. Honestly? I don’t think I’ll do it again for a lace project. It took less time (what with not having to wait for the project to dry), but even though I pinned the scarf out during the process it didn’t block out as hard as I would have liked, and there was some bounce-back, too. I can see that it may be useful for textured knits and things that require smoothing more than anything else, but for lace it doesn’t provide the results I want. Had I more time I would have re-blocked it, but it’s already left the house around someone’s neck. So.

Before I scoot off to ponder patterns for my remaining 55g of Sea Silk, I have to shower some love on my Harmony circs. The shafts are beautifully smooth without being slick and have just the right amount of drag for silk or other slippy yarns; even though I knit quite tightly I was able to keep up a good rhythm without having to stop and squidge the stitches along.

The name of the scarf is a geeky and obscure reference to the trilogy of films I watched while knitting.

Mittens! There’s no such thing as store-bought mittens that are the proper size for my shrimp hands; kids’ mittens aren’t wide enough and adult mittens are far too long. These, though, are pretty much a perfect fit, and therefore I’m keeping them, rather than letting them sneak out the door in someone else’s hands like my previous pairs of mittens.

Okay, so it’s April and far too warm for mittens. But in November, or even October, when I wake up to frost on the car and puddles turned to ice, I’ll be glad to have a pair finished and waiting.

The pattern’s more or less improvised, although I did use the thumb gusset instructions from Design 3 in Noro Designer Mini Knits. Cuffs were started with 2×2 twisted rib and tops were finished with paired decreases like sock toes; I also put in a few decreases on the arms to keep them snug around my wrists.

And I think my next project is going to be another pair of mitts, but fingering-weight and fingerless this time. I’m thinking about a pair of Della mitts (Rav link), or maybe taking Knitty’s Cachoeira sock pattern and turning it into mitts.

Time for a stash-dive, at any rate, to see what I can come up with as far as semi-solid sock yarn goes.

I’m trying to figure out how a one-row scarf with a four-stitch repeat can possibly have flown off my needles so quickly. I’m not generally great with rectangular scarves–whatever the pattern, I tend to get tired of them after the first foot or so. This one, though, was somehow finished before I had the chance to tire of it. I blame the Silk Garden, I think.

Pretty colours. <3

I got to turn off the heat and fling open the windows today thanks to sunny, 20 C weather. Even took a drive down to the shore; the wind coming off the water was chilly but the sun was warm.

If it’s just as lovely tomorrow, I may have to drag my lawn chair out of storage and knit on the patio. Sounds like a good way to spend my birthday–yarn, sun, apple cider, and possibly a pair of cats on leashes, if they behave themselves.

I, er, may have cast on for this in mid-December. It sorta got lost in the holiday shuffle and I picked it up again a few days ago, just in time for spring.

Still love the pattern (in fact, I think I may knit it a third time, in laceweight, for summer, if I can manage to actually settle on a yarn), and the yarn is beyond gorgeous. Sea Silk is one of my faves, for good reason. Mmm.

Today’s been rainy and grey, so I couldn’t manage a photo that let the yarn look as crazy bold lime as it is. It’s really ridiculously bright.

I mean “long” in the perception sense, because it certainly hasn’t been a long winter season. We’re used to snowstorms well into April and snow on the ground well into May, but the snow’s already more than half-gone and temps have been in the pluses for weeks. We’ve had more sun than anything else. The temps aren’t all that far off from historical averages for this time of years, but our last few winters have been so cold and snowy (seventeen feet of snowfall one year, actually) that this year I feel rather spoiled by the weather.

As far as the strange part, well, that was mostly personal. My (usually awesome) time management skills more or less went to hell and I was finding myself wondering, at the end of too many evenings, what I’d done for the past several hours. That tends to be normal for the month of February for me, but this year it started near the end of December and lasted until just recently. No matter–I shall get back on track as always.

A thorough search of the knitwear drawer revealed that I have precious little that’s appropriate for spring. This isn’t really surprising to me, but it makes me think I need to remedy the situation. Haven’t done any significant knitting in a few months (see: time management issues), but I acquired the most gorgeous skein of Sea Silk at the LYS the other day. It’s semi-solid silver, and I do mean silver, not grey. It shines. I may have also acquired a skein of a very pale semi-solid pinkish-lavender–hard to describe, but very, very pretty.

I’ve been pondering what to make with them. Possibly triangular scarves/shawlettes; I have several already, true, but they’re fairly densely knit for lace and therefore work best as scarves under winter coats. They’re a little bulky for throwing around the neck and wearing as an accent in the spring, but something of similar size but lighter and looser may be just right.

On another note, it’s not all sunshine and butterflies in the career department. The post I currently have is temporary; it comes to an end mid-May. That means casual work again for me, and EI to fill in the gaps. It’s going to be rough, financially, but I’m trying to look at it in a positive light. I have several writing projects in the wings, plus a whole studio of yarn, fabric, and books. I shall, at any rate, have plenty to do with myself. The key is keeping busy; if I let myself slide into lounging around the house all the time my mental state will turn sluggish to match.

Can’t allow that. =)

I think I’ve found my new go-to pattern for baby hats. Previously, it was a simple ribbed-hem watch cap with a pompom and i-cord ties, but this pattern’s a) much cuter; b) a little more interesting than the usual round-and-round-and-round; c) much cuter. It’s actually constructed more or less like a sock toe, with the addition of a few decreases at the back to make it more head-shaped.

The yarn’s ball band states the same gauge as the pattern, but I like my Lorna’s knit a little tighter. Rather than resorting to fancy math, I just followed the numbers for the child’s size instead of the newborn’s. It worked, I think, as the finished hat looks about the right size for a tiny person who should make her appearance in the dead of winter.

I’m tempted to cast on for another. I have a mitten, a sock, and a bolero on the needles, though, so perhaps I should exercise some willpower instead and give one of those some attention.

One was all it took, though, especially since the fibre in question was a lovely, butter-soft handpainted merino from FreckleFaceFibres.

I spun both bobbins of thick singles the same day; that’s likely business as usual for more experienced spinners, but rather an accomplishment for me since a) I’m a beginniner; b) I’m slower than cold molasses. I almost plied it later that evening, but decided to let my hands and the singles rest. Plied it later that week, instead.

After finishing, I had 140 yards of chunky-weight 2-ply; it’s currently on the needles, being knit into a pair of subtly-striping, ridiculously soft mitts. It’s not my most consistent skein of handspun, but definitely the squishiest. I really worked at keeping a light grip on the fibre and spinning the singles with less twist than usual. It seems to have made a big difference in how the yarn feels and how it behaves (namely: better, on both fronts), but my drafting suffered a bit for it.

As far as the knitting goes, I seem to be in sweater mode after three triangular scarves (one of which still needs to be bound off and blocked). I’m about half-done an improvised superchunky bolero, and I’ve also been gearing up to cast on for Chic Knits’ Twist. I’m planning on some pattern mods that should result in a cardi that’ll fit now and yet still be wearable when I’ve lost more weight.

… I never thought I’d be able to class a sweater as a stashbuster, but, well, the yarn I’m planning to use has been in my possession without a planned project for quite a while.

On a final (non-yarny) note, I’m not sure what’s up with my hosting services, but pages are taking an absolute eternity to load on this site. I won’t even mention how long it took to get to the update page, let alone to get through all the previewing and re-writing I tend to do with any entry I post.

Behold the power of stripes. I’m not sure what it is, but doing something as simple as changing colours every two rows somehow seems to make a project fly off the needles. A little aran-weight stockinette cardigan isn’t usually much of a time investment to begin with, really, but this one almost seemed to knit itself.

Pattern specified buttons all the way down the front, but I thought it’d be cute with just three closely-placed ones instead. Buttons are vintage, too, but I’m not sure of their original source.

Am pleased with how clean the button bands turned out. I rarely knit anything that requires button bands, but I haven’t dreaded picking up stitches along a vertical edge since I stumbled across a rows-to-stitches ratio that works well every time, and allows for a band that both lies flat and looks neat along the join.

I’m honestly not a fan of the yarn. Much more of a natural-fibres girl, I guess. There are some synthetic and synthetic blends that I like–Sirdar Snuggly is good for tiny-person knits–but Decor makes my teeth hurt (please tell me that makes sense to someone). It’s popular around here, though, and this little sweater is for the LYS.

The first one worked up so fast that I think I’m going to have to knit a second, in different colours and with a few more pattern mods. Next time around, I think I’ll change the YOs to M1 increases on the last right-side row before splitting the sleeves from the body. The underarm seam, although small, was rather fiddly and imprecise with the YO holes around it.

I’d had Ishbel in my Rav queue for ages without being able to settle on a yarn, and I’d had the Somoko in my stash for ages without being able to settle on a pattern. Putting them together resulted in loveliness. Quickly-knitted loveliness, too–on and off the needles in just four evenings. Not bad for a slow-to-average knitter.

Somehow, despite using the recommended needle size & yarn weight, and despite the shawlette blocking out to a little larger than the pattern’s stated dimensions, I only used about 275-ish yards of yarn rather than the stated 330. Had I known (I had an inkling, but didn’t want to push my luck) that was going to be the case, I’d have knit the small stockinette and large lace rather than small for both. I’d've had more than enough.

I love the shape of it, how the ends curl up and drape around my shoulders better than a straight-edged triangular shawl. And it does drape beautifully; the silk in the yarn adds sheen and a touch of crispness, and the merino and kid mohair make for softness and strength. I’m perfectly willing to forgive it for knitting up more variegated than it looked in the skein, because it’s pretty, regardless.

… So what’s next? I’m not sure. Am pondering a cardigan, but I’ve lost quite a bit of weight over the past few months. I intend to keep losing, so garment sizing is still a bit of an issue. (The Carolyn cardigan I knit myself last November is hilariousy huge on me now; I may try to felt it down to my current size and wear it as a jacket. Also, the Taiyo shrug I started several months ago has been frogged because of fit problems.)

Hmm. Rather than fiddling with sizes, I may indulge in a smaller project–the temperature’s been steadily dropping over the past couple of weeks and I have a serious lack of knitted handwarmers.