Mithril Shawl

If I embarrassed myself in my last post due to the long delay between finishing and photographing/blogging about my February Lady Sweater, I'm going to try to make up for it here. Today I'm posting about an actual work in progress!


The pattern is the Crocus Bud Shawl and I am making it with the dreamy alpaca-silk blend, Knit Picks Shimmer in the Cumulus colorway. The yarn is hand-painted in a subtle mix of grays--some lighter, some darker, a tint of brown here, a touch of icy blue there. I just love the resulting combination of the beautifully simple crochet pattern with this gorgeous yarn! I can't help but think of Mithril, of which Tolkien saud:

"[The shirt] was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver."

Light and delicate, beautiful and subtle, all made into a clothe of many loops and chains. Thus the Mithril shawl.

(And don't you just love the corner of my arm the photo, as I attempted to stretch out the lace to show the pattern?)

Fall Photo-Op

Yesterday was such a beautiful, sunny day, that I dragged my DH outside to take pictures of a few finished objects. First up, my February Lady Sweater (which is the adult version of EZ's famous February Baby Sweater):


I'm a little embarrassed to say that this sweater has been finished since July and has been waiting 3 months for me to take photos! My version is made out of Knit Picks Alpaca Silk in Olive, which I thoroughly enjoyed knitting with. Between the pattern, yarn, and color, I'm going to give this sweater two thumbs up!


Next up are the Pembrokeshire Pathways socks. These are knit out of Kraemer Yarns' Jeannie, which is a thinner, undyed sock yarn that I simply love. Knit up on size 1 needles, these socks are so comfortable! However, the experience of knitting these, as well as my Snicket socks, has made me swear off knitting cabled socks for a long time. DPNs and cable needles just do not mix.


Conspicuously absent from the photo shoot is DH's raglan sweater. I have blocked it twice now, and it has still come out too long! I might be forced to rip out some of the body and reknit the hem. This is the project that will simply never end! Arg!

Free Pattern: Walking Stripes

This pattern is also available as a free pdf download on Ravelry


These may appear to be simple striped mitts, but they have a secret. Turn them round and round and you will never find a seam or a jog. Instead, the stripes ‘walk’ continuously from the wrist to the knuckles, all the way up the mitt.

The key to achieving this effect is to layer the colors a little bit at a time. Each color is worked for only 75% of the total stitches, with the next color worked directly overtop it. Retaining a few live stitches in each of the four colors prevents the stripe pattern from being interrupted.

Besides learning a new technique, these mitts offer a great opportunity to play with color. Choose three yarns of a similar hue and add a contrast, as for the mitts shown here, or use the same color twice to produce two stripes on a neutral background. Alternatively, create subtle fraternal mitts by changing the order of the stripes.

So grab a few spare skeins of yarn and make a pair for yourself or a friend. You’ll find that these stripes work up quickly (despite the fact that they don’t jog)!


Finished Measurements
Width: 4 inches
Length: 8 inches

Gauge
24 sts/34 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

Materials
Knit Picks Telemark [100% wool; 103 yd/94 m per 50g ball]; 1 ball each
[MC] Pesto
[CC1] Northern Green
[CC2] Aubergine
[CC3] Lichen

Set of 5 US #3/3.25 mm double-point needles

Stitch markers

Scrap yarn

Tapestry needle

Difficulty
This pattern is suitable for an advanced beginner who is comfortable working with double-points.

Pattern Notes
The needles in this pattern are numbered in a clockwise direction, with the very first stitch being on needle 1. Though rounds may begin on different needles, the numbering will remain fixed relative to the very first stitch.



PATTERN
CO 48 st in MC. Divide evenly over 4 needles. Join, being careful not to twist.

Bottom Cuff
*K1, P1* for a total of 10 rounds.

Set up striped section
With MC, k12 on needle 1.
Join CC3, k12 on needle 2.
Join CC2, k12 on needle 3.
Join CC1, k12 on needle 4.

At this point, there will be 12 stitches in each color on the four needles.

Turn work and pick up CC2. K9 on needle 4, sl3.
Turn work and pick up CC3. K18 on needles 3 and 4, sl6.
Turn work and pick up MC. K27 on needles 2, 3, and 4, sl9.

You should now have 3 stitches in each color on needle 4; the other needles are all MC. Note that you will return to this ‘home’ configuration after ever 4 rows but ending on a different needle, as you will only work 3/4 of the total stitches for every 4 written rows.

Main section
Row 1: with CC1, K36, sl9.
Row 2: with CC2, K36, sl9.
Row 3: with CC3, K36, sl9.
Row 4: with MC, K36, sl9.

Repeat rows 1-4 six more times, ending with 3 stitches in each color on needle 1.

Row 29: with CC1, k35, place marker, m1, k1, sl1, place marker, sl8.
Row 30: with CC2, k37, sl9.
Row 31: with CC3, k37, sl9.
Row 32: with MC, k37, sl9.

Row 33: with CC1, k1, m1, sl marker, k35, sl10.
Row 34: with CC2, k37, sl10.
Row 35: with CC3, k4, sl marker, m1, k4, m1, sl marker, k29, sl10.
Row 36: with MC, k39, sl 9.

Row 37: with CC1, k11, sl marker, m1, k6, m1, sl marker, k23, sl9.
Row 38: with CC2, k42, sl9.
Row 39: with CC3, k17, sl marker, m1, k8, m1, sl marker, k17, sl9.
Row 40: with MC, k44, sl9.

Row 41: with CC1, k23, sl marker, m1, k10, m1, sl marker, k11, sl9.
Row 42: with CC2, k46, sl9.
Row 43: with CC3, k29, sl marker, m1, k12, m1, sl marker, k5, sl9.
Row 44: with MC, k48, sl9.

Row 45: with CC1, k35, sl marker, m1, k7, sl15.
Row 46: with CC2, k43, sl15.
Row 47: with CC3, k41, sl marker, m1, k2, sl15.
Row 48: with MC, k44, sl9.

Row 49: with CC1, k7, m1, sl marker, k35, sl17.
Row 50: with CC2, k43, sl17.
Row 51: with CC3, k14, m1, sl marker, k29, sl17.
Row 52: with MC, k44, sl9.

There are now 18 stitches in between the markers. Place the center 16 st on a piece of scrap yarn and remove the markers. These reserved stitches will make the thumb (below). The remaining 48 stitches should be back in the ‘home’ configuration, with 3 stitches in each color on needle 3.

Repeat rows 1-4 three more times, ending with 3 stitches in each color on needle 4.

End striped section
With CC1, k36, sl9.
With CC2, k27, ending on needle 2.
On needle 4 with CC3, sl6, k18 on needles 4 and 1.
On needle 4 with MC, sl3, k9 on needle 4.

There will be 12 stitches in each color on the four needles, as in the beginning.

Cut CC1, CC2, and CC3.

In MC, knit one round.

Top Cuff
*K1, P1* for total of 7 rounds.

Bind off loosely.

Thumb
Pick up 16 stitches on scrap yarn, dividing over 3 needles.
With MC, pick up and knit 2 stitches at the back of the thumb hole.

*K1, P1* for a total of 6 rounds.

Bind off loosely.

Finishing
Pull contrast color ends snug. Weave in all ends.

This pattern is intended for personal use only.
Questions or errata? Contact me at brineydeepdesigns_at_gmail_dot_com!

Shouting from the Rooftops

I feel like the running joke throughout my blog for the past several months has been how I need to finish the darling husband's sweater. You know, the one I promised him as a wedding gift, knit once, hated and frogged, and has since been languishing in the corner pleading to be worked on. Yeah, that one.

Well, I am proud to say that it is finished. And it is awesome!

I still need to weave all of the ends in, as well as block it, so full pictures and description are forthcoming. In the meantime, I just had to share my success!

A New Toy

As if knitting, spinning, and crocheting aren't enough, I have taken up a new hobby; weaving. My mother is the weaver in the family, with enough looms, yarn, and other equipment to fill up an entire room. But I'm getting started on a little smaller of a scale:


This is the little Arbor loom my Mom got me for my birthday this year. Due to its size and simplicity, it only does one thing well: it makes 4x4" squares. So far I've made a small handtowel and bag, but with a little imagination, you can do a lot with 4" squares.


And another reason I like this little loom, is that I can create fabric quickly. It takes just under 30 minutes to make a square, and in the 2 weeks since receiving this loom, I've made about 20 squares.



I don't think that it will replace knitting, but it's fun to have a new toy in the meantime!

Wisconsin Sheep & Wool

I went to my very first sheep & wool festival this weekend, over in Jefferson, WI. My mother put me on to this festival last year, but I did not have anyone to go with. This year, however, I teamed up with my friend Mary Beth, who works in my department. This is her below, deciding what her roommate would say if she brought home a sheep.


It was a fun day for the both of us. We walked around the 2 vendor barns, pet an angora rabbit, helped corral some sheep (seriously), drank root beer floats, and watched a trainer teach a dog/owner to herd sheep. Besides the ice cream, I purchased some gorgeous white alpaca roving to spin and some lovely Olive green sock yarn from Knitting Notions. Mary Beth successfully kept me from purchasing a darning egg and a set of Signature needles. Yet another reason to go with a friend to the sheep & wool festival.


After the festival had ended for the day, we met up with some fellow knitters from Ravelry. It was nice to put some faces with user names and even the knitters I have never met felt like old friends. And I won a skein of hand-dyed yarn as a door prize!


So, it was a very successful day and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. In the meantime, I have plenty of yarn to play with at home (or so my husband keeps reminding me).

Coachella

Is it sad that since my last post over 2 months ago, I have only finished 1 of the 3 projects I blogged about? Let's just say that the white period was very short-lived.


Nothing against those projects, but what I should really be making right now is something light and summery. Cotton meets tank top meets tropical vacation. And Coachella fit the bill exactly.


It didn't hurt that my mother took me to a new yarn shop, A Tangled Tale, and graciously offered to buy me a few skeins of this gorgeous cotton called 2nd Time Cotton. Not only is this stuff beautiful, it's also recycled from industrial waste. I'm a grown woman, but I'm not going to turn down an offer of free yarn from Mom!


And as further proof that the stars aligned for this project, I finished it while on vacation. In Cancun. Just in time to wear it and take the awesome beach photos seen here. I especially like the next photo which shows the neat design for the back of the top, in addition to my super awesome sunburn. Yay for being pale.


This was my first time working with cotton, and I would have to say that it turned out well. I still think that I prefer wool, but it was the right yarn for this project. It just means that I can't wear this top much longer, give the impending Wisconsin weather. Maybe it's time I get back to knitting socks...