Thanks to some inspiration from the good knitters at the PurlBee, I've knit a nest.
Isn't it fun? Instead of stuffing, I've used dried lavender blossoms in my eggs. This nest will ultimately perch in one of the walk in closets, perhaps the one where much of my yarn is stored, as a deterrent to moths. These first two eggs are knit from Manos del Uruguay's Serena, a lovely yarn that would make a fantastic little baby sweater. I'm going to knit a few more from Blue Sky's silk/alpaca blend.
I'm eternally optimistic.
I'm pretty sure that given my current rate of progress, I am fully capable of having the Barn Raising Quilt I'm knitting for Miss Princess completed by the time she leaves for college in, oh, about, six years. Such confidence. But then again, was it really me that thought knitting a blanket on size 2 needles was a good idea?
Nonetheless, I adore this pattern and enjoy knitting the little squares, although I'm far too ADD to stick to just one square at a time. I like to keep them in different stages of development.
This square in KPPM is turning out to be a favorite. I'm trying to insure a good mix of light and dark squares and different colors without being too intentional about it, so I'm randomly pulling yarn out of my stash of sock leftovers but trying to insure that if it's blue one square I'm on to green the next time.
This is some Elliebelly yarn, leftover from one of my favorite pairs of socks. And then I moved on to more KPPM, but in a much lighter value of colors.
This one is so new it's hard to see, but I think it's going to be a favorite. In fact, I'm thinking more of this yarn may be needed to knit a sweater for a friend's new baby that is on the way.
There is definitely something very pleasurable about knitting these wee squares that are simple enough to knit over coffee while talking with friends but have just enough going on to keep boredom from setting in.
And, while looking ahead to finishing it some day, I discovered a picture of my friend Susan's absolutely stunning finished quilt. Isn't she amazing? She used a crocheted edging on each square to create the outline.
Early this morning, in a strikingly bad example of IPhone photography, your intrepid blogger announced that she had finished Emmaline. (Actually, Emma was finished on Saturday, ends woven in Sunday, but this has been the first opportunity to photo and perhaps I should have waited for a better one, give the outcome of the picture)
The photo displays neither the best nor the worst features of the finished garment to advantage. The worst was likely the size choice. I knit a size medium, but probably should have done a small. The armholes, and possibly the neckline as well, will require a bit of crochet device for a good fit. On the plus side, the yarn is cotton, and the pattern calls for a machine wash and partial dry in lieu of blocking. I am hopeful this process will result in a more desirable fit.
The best feature of this sweater is undoubtedly the simple, but very elegant, yarn over patterning along the yoke. Although the yarn is bulky, the sweater itself is soft and comfortable and perfect for summer. I could see reaching for this to go out to dinner after work, to wear to the farmers market, and on and on. I would, and am actually thinking about, knitting it again. The soft sea foam green cotton yarn that I'm using for the lace baby blanket I'm in the middle of would be perfect.
My Barn Raising Quilt (oh the folly of knitting a blanket on size 2 needles) has been languishing for some time now. This is due to a series of sad circumstances involving a mean stewardess, some missing stitch markers, and a charming, but wool loving, mutt.
I'm back to it, though, knitting two squares at once.
This quilt is probably the best use ever for leftover sock yarn. And it's a fun knit — pretty good Olympic knitting, which is what got me started again.
The quilt is made up of 42 knitted squares, which means I will probably finish that at some point in the year 2018 at the rate I've been going. It's meant for Ellie, so as long as I pick it up and finish before she goes off to college, I should be ok. Fortunately, I have lots of sock leftovers and plenty of plane flights ahead of me — this is the perfect airplane project — so stay tuned for more progress.
After a lot of "I hate finishing sweaters" procrastination, I finally sat down to finish my Manos Silk Shrug before Christmas. And, I ran into a problem. No matter how carefully I thought I had blocked it, it really didn't look at all neat when I began seaming. The yarn was a pretty silk/merino base yarn I've knit with before, and I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I finally decided to take it to my favorite local yarn store to have them give it a good blocking and do the seaming for me, before I did the ribbed trim. It seemed like a decadent escape from work. In the pre-Christmas frenzy, I decided it was worth it to get it done just right, because I loved how the pieces had turned out.
I picked it up this week.
Not only had it been seamed, but they had done the ribbing — you can see it around the edges, you pick up the stitches and rib for several inches. It was all done. I put it on and haven't taken it off since.
The Manos yarn is really pretty and nice to work with, and the Debbie Bliss pattern is simple, with some interesting shaping, but other than the finishing quagmire I let myself get into on this one, it's an easy and rewarding knit.
It's been done for a week now, and I've had the best intentions of getting good pictures for you. Instead I got this, at 3:45 in the morning with no one around to help.
It's a new art form–bad flash mirror pictures or something.
The Clapotis is wonderful, though. The yarn is a silk/linen blend and it ripples like water in this colorway. Here.
Some people in our house think this pattern is actually a catpotis, but I feel quite sure it is going to be worn, a lot, by me.
Knucks is a pattern written by a wonderful knitter, Pamela Grossman, for fingerless mittens. I remember when the pattern was first published, because my dear friend Elizabeth Thompson knitted and embellished a pair for the write up.
[Elizabeth once knit this absolutely incredible pair of baby pants for me, and I have to digress to show them to you…
Aren't they amazing?]
So, Knucks. I've been in search of just the right pattern for the fingerless mitts my six year old wants. He wanted partial fingers, rather than the style that just wraps around the hand. In the middle of searching Ravelry for a pattern, Knucks popped up. Why hadn't I thought of them earlier? And, predictably, Pamela had included a child's size in her pattern.
I was all set — ready to swatch them in some Alpaca I had dyed in Ollie's favorite colorway, Eco, a shading of greens.
I swatched on the way to a Labor Day picnic. It was a long drive so I swatched further than I normally would have.
When I was done, I realized it was a total disaster. This yarn was much bulkier than the yarn the pattern was written for, and taking it down to a needle size that would have made it close would result in a fabric so dense there would be no give in it.
Fortunately, we had a long drive home. I promised Ollie a pair of Knucks as soon as I could make it to the store toss my stash (really!) to get a more appropriate yarn. And, in the meantime, I knit a second swatch and apologized to him for making something that wasn't exactly what he wanted.
Not much too it — just two squares. I took a bit of extra care when doing mattress stitch to match up the edges to let the stockinette roll, and left about 3/4" unstitched for a nice little thumb hole. He seems quite taken with them — and fell asleep wearing them.
But, next on my list is a pair of knucks.