Category: Knitting

Bad weather plus the usual post-holiday travel crunch has put my flight this morning on a ground delay. That means we are boarded and ready to go, but waiting (and have been for an hour already) with no end in site. I’m caught up on email and have finished the work I brought along for this and the next flight.

But, I’m not going to be put out of sorts by the delay. I’ve got Vested Interest in my carry on bag to knit and a good supply of podcasts. Cross your fingers for me that my connecting flight is delayed as well!

Today in Yarn Chicken, we learn that dyers have no one but themselves to blame when they run short on yarn. #AngryYarnChicken

Although I technically dyed enough yarn for this sweater, as a loose knitter, I know that I always take slightly more yarn than a pattern calls for. But I persist in willful ignorance of this fact. So, I knit the first sleeve in an effort to figure out how much yarn I would need to reserve for the second sleeve. Now, I’m finishing out the third ball of yarn on the body. I’ll use the fourth ball to knit the neckline, before knitting the second sleeve. Any leftover yarn will go to lengthening the body.

There will be a lot of prayer on that fourth ball of yarn. I did dye up a bit of extra yarn, but true confessions, the four initial skeins were so perfectly matched that I have not alternated. I don’t believe the newly dyed skeins are a perfect match to the earlier batch. Worst case, I will use them on the sleeve ends where I am planning on altering the pattern and doing some ribbing.

I have fallen in love with this new tool/accessory. It is something I found on Etsy and had not seen before. Since I travel frequently with my knitting, I often have problems, particularly when knitting with double pointed needles, with stitches falling off of a project that is hastily put back in a tote bag. This little cover, which snaps over the needles has put an end to that problem. I purchased it from Pokdej, a seller located in Canada, and received my order very quickly. I have no connection with the seller, but liked this little item so much, I wanted to share it with others who may have experienced similar problems with stitches sliding off of needles.

Sent from my iPhone

I am weirdly sticking my arm through the neck hole of my Mithril sweater to try on the sleeve for length. I’m convinced tape measures lie and this careful effort to try the sleeve on without dislodging the needles will give me the precise fit I’m looking for.

I knew from the outset I would be playing yarn chicken on this one. I’ve got to save enough yarn for the picked up neckline, so I’m going to do the sleeves and then get as much length as I can on the body, leaving an ounce or so of yarn to cast off and do the neck.

I adore the cable down the front. It’s so simple and understated, and it also gives you something to look forward to every few rows as you’re knitting.

I am so fortunate to have this wonderful protector for my knitting. It never fails. If I leave it to get up for even just a minute, Harry shows up in yarn cat protector mode.

Big Island Wrapper is a three color, bulky weight, shawl, that I'm knitting in Elliebelly Big Blue.  I've added in the third color, Peacock. 

The patterning in this third part of the shawl is predominately mesh, once past the transitional two color section. (It's important to note if you knit this pattern that although the section is labeled brioche, as written, it's slip stitch color work.  There are directions in several sets of pattern notes for creating a brioche look.)  Although these last few pictures are while the shawl was still on my needles, I enjoyed knitting this so much that I was unable to put it down last night until I finished.

Next up, it's going to need a good strong blocking.  The cast off is a picot edge, and I need to see it blocked out before I decide whether I'm committed to it.  Right now, it's a bit of a mess as you would expect with a bulky picot edge, pre-blocking, but I have high hopes for it.

This project is quick and it’s easy to memorize the four row repeat pattern. It’s a great project for knitting while talking with a friend. All in all, the perfect project for casual summer knitting.

I can’t wait to add the third color, the blue into the mix and see how it combines with the others, but I’m also having a really good time knitting on my Mithril sweater (the gray). It’s hard to choose which one to devote myself to, so I’m giving them both a little love this weekend.