Miss Stacy's Shawl and Sylvi

I have been busy knitting a shawl, Miss Stacy's Shawl from the book Green Gables Knits by Joanna Johnson.

When I was visiting my mother in law one day, I showed her the book so she could see what the vest looked like that I was knitting, and she saw the shawl and said it was just what she needed, something to put around her shoulders for a little extra comfort .... and I thought: I'll knit it! I know that she could easily knit it herself, but lately her hands can't grasp knitting needles easily.

I used three skeins of Brown Sheep Naturespun Fingering yarn and size 5 circular needles, and it took me about a month to do. The yarn was ok, but I think if I knit it again I'd use something with a little silk or cashmere, or maybe straight merino, something to make it a bit softer. Naturespun is pretty soft, but not really as soft as I would like her to have. But, it wasn't scratchy either. 

          

The pattern was easy. It's basically an old shale lace pattern; do several repeats of it, then shift it to the right and do several repeats of it, and repeat the whole thing. The top was in stockinette stitch. It was a great pattern, and I would knit it again. Hmmm, maybe with a different lace pattern. And maybe with two colors at the top for some snazzy stripes. And maybe a button loop at the top with a cool button. 

In late September Wendy Ford and I started oohing and ahhing over a long, drop-dead gorgeous knit coat called Sylvi by Mari Muinonen. 

Wendy and I dared each other to knit it, and when my niece said that she would like me to make it for her, I jumped at the chance. It is the sort of coat that should be seen and seen often, and since I don't really go anywhere, it would kinda be a wasted effort to make it for me. Dark gray was the requested color, and I ordered Eskimo from NordicMart.com early in October. The yarn came, and it was sooooo soft and luscious! It is an unspun, thick yarn like Lopi, and it's really soft and nice to work with. It splits a little, but that is to be expected from and unspun yarn. It is a bit thicker than Lopi, but squishy. I love it. I knit my gauge swatch right away, then set it aside to finish the above-mentioned shawl before embarking on the Sylvi journey.

Then I started working on it on Saturday. This is how far I got:

That is the cuff of a sleeve. Sunday I got this far:

I actually didn't work on it much. It goes pretty darn fast. I'll do both sleeves first, and then I will be ready to tackle the back, the two front pieces, sew it together, and knit the hood. Then I have to knit those huge petals and figure out a way to make them lay flat and sew them down (I may need to enlist help for that). Then final blocking, and it will be done! I am doing NaNoWriMo in November, so I won't work on it much then. So, sometime in January it will be done! 

And, my Daily Mindfulness Blanket is right on schedule:

(Pogo's butt for scale)

 

So Exciting!

1. I finished my Inspira Cowl that Lynne and I were making; it is a project that both of us got during the SPA back in February at Mother of Purl in Freeport, Maine. Lynne chose to do hers in a dark navy blue with glowing blue, green, turquoise and brown colors peeking through, and it looks like a cathedral window.  I, on the other hand, went with a riot of color. I chose to use 2 skeins of Lang Yarns Milli Colori Baby color 845 (Tutti Frutti) and a skein of Louisa Harding Amitola in color 845 Violetta. We both finished our cowls this week, and I am very happy with my result! 

     

2. My Daily Mindful Meditation Blanket is coming along nicely. It is 13 days since I started. The project is openly shared on Ravelry so you can see it, but here are a few pictures:

           

The blanket will be 10 diamonds across, and I'm thinking 15 diamonds high. We will see.

3. The yarn for my next big project is waiting at the post office! I'll pick it up today. I hope it is just right for what it is intended for. I'll tell you all about it later!

4. This is October, a fine month, laden with scary movies and chocolate. But the big news is that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is next month! So exciting!  This year I have my whole plot written out, so I know where I am going. I am ready! It should be fun!