The Big Soft Cuddly

Sadly, I could not find the second skein of the black fuzzy yarn anywhere. It disappeared into the gaping maw of my yarn room and could not be found. So sad.

But it is ok. I found leftover yarn from a scarf I had made, using Rowan Kid Silk Haze Stripe in a mostly gray color called Chiarascuro. Sadly it is discontinued now. It added a touch of moonlight to the edge of my shawl:

This picture is pre-blocking. After I blocked it, it looked like this:

I am so pleased with my Line & Shadow Shawl! It is light and airy and big and warm and soft and cuddly, and I am wearing it right now, until it becomes 76° out and I am forced to take it off. I love it! 

Nothing That Hard Blocking Won't Fix!

Well, this is a sticky wicket! I got 97% of my Line and Shadow shawl completed, down to the very last stripe of the black fuzzy contrast color ... and reached the end of my ball of black fuzzy yarn.

I literally have only 8 rows left to knit, 2 rows of which need the black fuzzy yarn. I know it is in my house somewhere ... I just need to find it. The problem is, it is upstairs and I still need help getting there, so it will wait till this weekend. 

This shawl is HUGE by the way. You know that picture where the woman is holding it out with both hands and it looks so pretty? Bet you didn't notice how big it is! Most of the time, while I knit on it, I wore it wrapped around my neck, and it was so warm and soft and luscious. It will be a nice size to wrap up in this fall, as it is almost blanket sized, but it is light and airy feeling and I love it. And it is almost done!

So, while I wait to knit those last 8 rows and bind off, I started knitting another shawl from The Knitter magazine, Issue 123. I love The Knitter; it consistently has wearable garments, interesting articles, and really wonderful photos. It is a British magazine, but while I would love to go to the UK to buy it, I don't; I bought a digital subscription on Amazon. 

The shawl is called Tor Grass, by Anniken Allis, and I fell in love with it when I saw it. So pretty! Ooooh! 

  

The yellow dress is lovely also, sigh. I will never be that tiny, hehe.

The shawl is knit in Rowan Denim Lace. What?! Denim lace??? Damn, I had to see that ... WEBS had it! I liked all the colors, but Erin Green like the one that is pictured stole my heart. I succumbed to the yarn fumes once again.

The yarn comes on cute little cones of happiness. They do not all come with Pogo tails. This was the start of what I feel will be a beautiful friendship! Denim Lace is made of recycled denim and is available in 6 colors. Each 50g cone has 400 meters of yarn.

Knitting with Denim Lace is great! It is like most lace weight yarns, it is thin, but it has more weight than other wool lace weights. Other lace weights sort of hang in the air, they 'float' more, but Denim Lace has oomph. Light, airy oomph. Like silk, but more cottony and more grabby. 

I'm babbling. This is where I am at now:

This is such a beauty!

I notice that the selvedge edge seems a bit tight. I hope that warm water, soap, and hard blocking will take care of it! 

 

 

Hmmmmmm ....

I am trying to talk myself either into or out of a thing ... a thing that is both magnificent (if it works) and brutally awful (if it doesn't work) ...

A 4 Day Sweater Knitalong!!!!!

It seems impossible, but that is what makes it desirable. I kinda want to do it. I've knit a couple sweaters in two weeks before during the Ravellenic Games, but never in only 4 days, or even 8 days.

It is offered by Olive Knits. I like her 4 Day KAL she did last year, the Stillwater sweater. It looks totally like it was not knit in only 4 days. Yet, it was!

The sweater in question for 2018, the Beekeeper cardigan, is a DK weight (it's not even chunky or bulky weight! madness!!) adult sweater that is an open front cardigan (no buttons, but you can have them if you wish -- she gives you the option) with an all over texture (not stockinette! gasp!!) with 3/4 length sleeves, though you can make them full length if you want. 

From Ravelry's pattern page: "The KAL begins July 1st and runs through July 15th with a sliding timeline for different sizes (up to 8 days). Pick and choose your days (they don’t have to be consecutive)."

I believe I will see how Olive's test knitting of this year's sweater goes, and if she survives, I'll buy the pattern. Who is with me?? 

:::Think of it like NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but it is really NaNoWriWe (National Novel Writing Week). Or NaSweKniWe (National Sweater Knitting Week) :::

Kinky

Don't worry, this is not Fifty Shades of Knitting.

I'm doing charity knitting when watching TV shows in the evening, and I had a skein's worth of lovely alpaca from the Maine Alpaca Experience, all in little balls, the biggest of which I unraveled from a piece of knitting from the vest I knit for my husband (turns out he wanted it to be a bit longer). I was too lazy to make it into a skein, wash it, and dry it. I tried to blame my handicap on that, but really, I was just too lazy. So I knit it up into the DK weight hat that I posted the pattern for here. 

The yarn was kinky. It didn't look so bad until I ran out of yarn and joined a ball of nice, smooth yarn and kept going. 

Wow. It looked really different.

 

  

Yikes! So, maybe washing the hat would solve the problem? I washed it and it took three days to dry ... either it is really foggy here on the coast of Maine, or the alpacas soak up lots of water.

This was the result:

    

You can still see the difference, but it is not so bad.

The only problem with knitting for charity is, I want all the hats!! And I never wear hats! At least they will go to people who need them when they are cold! ☺

DK Weight Ribbed Watch Cap

DK Weight Ribbed Watch Cap

Size 5US/3.75mm 16"circular and double pointed needles

300 yards DK weight yarn

Gauge: 9 sts and 6.5 rows per inch measured over ribbing pattern lying at rest after washing

This will appear to be really skinny, but it stretches a lot!

Cast on 112 sts. Work in k2, p2 rib until piece measures 11 inches/28 centimetres. It will seem too long, but that is ok.

Decrease for top:

Row 1: *Work 12 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 2 - 12: Work around with no decreases, keeping pattern as much as possible.

Row 3: *Work 11 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 5: *Work 10 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 7: *Work 9 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 9: *Work 8 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 11: *Work 7 sts, work 2 together* around. 

After completing Row 12, you can eliminate the even rounds in between the decrease rounds.

Row 13: *Work 6 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 14: *Work 5 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 15: *Work 4 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 16: *Work 3 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 17: *Work 2 sts, work 2 together* around. 

Row 18: *Work 1 st, work 2 together* around. 

Row 19: *Work 2 together* around. 

Cut yarn leaving a 6 inch end; pull the end through the remaining stitches secure it. Weave in ends. Fold up a 2" brim and wear proudly.