Chapter 15: August Update 8.15.18

Dream in Color Jilly with Cashmere

Hi everyone! Welcome to my latest knitting update. I have one finished object and several works in progress, plus a yarn haul from a little shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

KNITTING: FINISHED OBJECT

Let's just jump right in with my finished Embrace of the Sun sweater!

DROPS Design Embrace of the Sun

I finally finished up this sweater. I had completed it weeks ago, and had even worn it, but it was just too big and I decided to frog it.

FIX A NECKLINE WITH CROCHET

There were two size issues. The first was that the lovely ballerina neckline was so wide that it caused the sweater to become off-the-shoulder the moment I put it on. I made an adequate fix by doing a single crochet around the neckline, skipping every third stitch. This solved the problem, not only by reducing the size of the neckline, but also by firming up some of the stretchiness.

NO NEED FOR INCREASES

The sweater was quite A-line, which I had expected I'd need to fit my body type. On hindsight I realize now that the increases in the original pattern, which is for a dress, were designed to give the garment a flattering drape over the hips and bum. I ripped back my work until it was just below the bustline and started knitting straight without adding stitches. When I reached the length I was after I added a seed stitch border to match the sleeve and neck detail.

Now I just have to wait for cooler weather so I can show it off!

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KNITTING: WORKS IN PROGRESS

New ChiaoGoo circular needles.

CHIAOGOO'S NEW MINIS

I'm finishing up my second sock with my new ChiaoGoo Minis circular needles. There are six pairs of tips in both the 2-inch and 3-inch length, in the 2.0 mm - 3.25 mm (US 0 - 3) widths. Three thin little cables come with it, as well as a tiny connector and straight pin.

It's just so darn cute! Up til now I've been using Clover 9" bamboo circular needles but I don't like them a bit. I think I may be a pretty tight knitter because I find the Clovers to be too blunt to do an easy k2tog. The sleek steel ChiaoGoos and Red Lace cables speed up my knitting a lot!

The self-striping yarn is label-less, so I can't tell you what I'm knitting with. To see all of my project details see my project page on Ravelry.

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Bark Lines shawl by Joji Locatelli.

BARK LINES SHAWL 

I made a bit of progress on the Bark Lines shawl, but not as much as I should have. I made the mistake of knitting on it one morning at Starbucks, where I gabbed away and messed up a twisted rib section.  I had to go back several rows to make the necessary repair.

MANOS DEL URUGUAY FINO

The Fino yarn is lovely to work with. It's so soft to the touch, and the color (Inkwell) is turning out to be amazingly rich and tonal. The photos you see here and online don't do it justice, adding too much of a black hue to this deep navy blue.

SHAWLS ARE SO QUICK

What I love about shawl patterns is that they feel like they go so fast, particularly if you're going to be changing colors in different sections. You just can't stop knitting! You feel like it's a race to get to the next section.

My Bark Lines project page is here. Hey, if you're a No Foot reader, please feel free to friend me on Ravelry! I'd love to meet my readers.

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Thistle Tam by Elisabeth Sliney Marino.

THISTLE TAM BY ELISABETH SLINEY MARINO

I bought this yarn at JoAnn's. The label is called Buttercream Brushed Mohair. It was only after I started knitting with it that I realized that it's only 10% brushed mohair. The rest is synthetic fibers. 

Naturally I'm disappointed, but I should have been wary of anything I buy from JoAnn's. With a couple of exceptions, most of their yarn is acrylic.

SCOTTISH FLAIR MAKE-A-LONG 

One of my favorite podcasters is Caz of The Wee Sew N Sew, who now has a group on Ravelry. It's my favorite group. We're doing a make-a-long right now: Scottish Flair. You can sew, knit, crochet, or craft anything that has a Scottish connection.

KNITTING ON THE PLANE

I'm knitting a tam that has a thistle motif created by cables and decorative stitches. It's going pretty fast. I started the pattern section while I was on the plane coming home from Albuquerque and wasn't quite sure what cable 2 with yarn in front and in back meant, but I was not going to be bored for three hours, so I made up what I thought I was supposed to be doing.

It turned out I had the right idea. Now I can finish the hat with confidence and start a new Scottish project!  Project page is here.

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Virus Shawl in James C. Brett Northern Lights. 

EVERYONE'S DOING THE VIRUS SHAWL

Not to be left out, I caught the Virus too! This one's a quick and (once you learn the pattern) easy crochet project. I ordered the yarn from Deramore's in England and it's absolutely wonderful for this shawl. 

I had to get some help from a fellow knitter because the free pattern is a chart, and I've never read a crochet chart before. I couldn't sense the pattern repeat and kept losing my place on the chart. After it was explained to me that there's a four row repeat, and the four rows were highlighted, I was set.

The yarn is James C. Brett Northern Lights.

NO MORE CHART

I can't wait to power-crochet this to completion. It's a Christmas gift for my mother! Ssh, don't tell!

Project page here.

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YARN ACQUISITIONS

Dream in Color Jilly with Cashmere in unknown colorway.

THE YARN SHOP AT NOB HILL -- ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

On a recent visit with relatives of course I had to find the local yarn shop. My husband and mother-in-law tagged along but they found a comfy sofa and had a nice chat while I took my time perusing the bins.

SKEIN #1

The first skein I picked up was the Dream In Color Jilly yarn. I had a vague notion that it might go with the Fiber Seed yarn I bought in Sarasota last month, mainly because it's so bright. It ended up not really matching, but that's not a problem, because I love it so much. See my previous post for a picture of the Fiber Seed yarn.

Dream in Color Jilly with Cashmere bright colored fingering yarn.

I'll let this yarn simmer in the stash for a while. A project idea will come to me one of these days.

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ONLine Linie Starwood Lace.

SKEIN #2

I was looking for a yarn to knit with the purple mohair my friend Bunny gave me (you can see a glimpse of it in the picture above). The mohair's a lace weight so I wanted a lace or fingering yarn to knit with it, holding two strands together.

This ONLine Linie Starwool is gorgeous. I felt like I'd found the perfect colorway. It has all of the blue and purple shades, including the red violet like the mohair. 

Tweedy and colorful yarn with a nice halo will hold its own against the mohair.

AND THE PATTERN SEARCH BEGINS

I've got 416 yards in this Starwool skein, and 320 in the mohair skeins, so I'll be doing an advanced search on Ravelry for a pattern that calls for 300+ yards DK or worsted. 

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ZiaWoolz is a New Mexico indie dyer. This is ZiaZen fingering in the Glacier colorway.

SKEIN #3

LOCAL DYERS ZIAWOOLZ

I always buy a skein or two from local dyers, if possible. I had my hands on several skeins of this yarn, but didn't really see something that popped out at me, and kept putting one back and picking up another.

I sort of wanted to find a tonal to go with the speckled mint-green Spun Right Round yarn I bought in Sarasota. (See previous post.) This ended up being nearly identical in hue and intensity. Maybe a tad lighter. I ended up buying it.

ZiaZen fingering wool in Glacier, by New Mexico dyer ZiaWoolz.

A BEAUTIFUL ROMANCE

I put the ZiaWoolz in the bag with the Spun Right Round skein and will be on the lookout for one or two more complimentary skeins, for that next big fade or blend shawl project!

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And there you have it! Thanks for stopping by. If you'd like to keep up with all the details about my projects and stash, please check out my Ravelry page. And please feel free to friend me if you'd like!

BONNIE ON RAVELRY

TTFN!