Pea Vines

Another shawl has been completed. This is an Anne Hanson design (a very prolific designer) called Pea Vines and I think I will be knitting more of her patterns in the future.

I knitted this shawl as a KAL with a fellow Raveller. We were both going to knit the shawl in lace weight yarn and thus would knit the large size. When I started my shawl I thought my yarn (hand dyed by Emily The Enabler) was more of a light fingering than lace weight and so I decided to knit the medium size instead. In hindsight I should have stuck to the large size. Nevertheless the shawl measures 135 x 64cm which is quite a respectable size. I used size 3.5mm needles.

I thought the yarn, a 100% merino, was very apt for this pattern as it is called Sugar Snap! The first part of the shawl is slow going because the rows are long and many of them have nupps but by the time you get to the second chart the shawl begins to fly off the needles.

Dolce Vita

Another mystery KAL has come to an end. This time it was one of Birgit Freyer's designs, Dolce Vita. 

 For this shawl I tried another method of blocking. In an attempt to make the shawl symmetrical I doubled it over and then blocked it thus ensuring that each point had a matching partner. And the shawl is also quite large, it measures 208 cm by 76 cm.

 I knitted this shawl with Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 2ply which has been hand dyed by EmilyTheEnabler.  And I also added some size 8/0 Myuki beads.

 I like the size of this shawl and I think I might well get a lot of wear out of this one.

A mystery solved

Despite my case of startitis I have managed to complete something. This shawl is SusannaIC's  January Mystery KAL.  I am a great fan of her designs and intend to knit many more.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 2ply which has been hand dyed by a fellow Raveler, Ozifarmer. I knitted the shawl on 4.5mm needles and added silver lined Matsuno beads 8/0. We had the option of adding beads when doing the short rows or nupps. I opted to add the beads.

This was a lovely shawl to knit. The worst part is the cast on. Its never easy to cast on so many stitches but I have found this video very helpful when doing a stretchy cast on. I have now used this cast on for several shawls and although its a bit slow I find that it is truly stretchy and you don't have to work out how much yarn you need as you would for a long tail cast on.

Now back to focussing on those wips and perhaps just one more cast on?

It snuck in

I succumbed. I received a lovely skein of hand dyed Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 2ply from EmilyTheEnabler and just had to cast on for the latest Birget Freyer mystery KAL, Dolce Vita.

But, I have finished something as well. It's the Stockholm Scarf which I knitted in Bendigo Woollen Mills Moorland in Dark Grape. This is for my swap partner in a swap on Ravelry. She doesn't know about it yet but I don't think she reads my blog so I think its safe to show it here.

This scarf can either be knitted in two pieces and then grafted together or it can be knitted in the round. I opted to knit it in the round because I would much rather avoid having to graft large pieces together.

And lastly a photo of the Pea Vines shawl which I am knitting with a Ravelry buddy.

I have only knitted one chart so far. Its an interesting knit which requires a bit more concentration than the average shawl.

I'm stronger than my willpower

Yep, I am because I have managed to cast on two more projects despite not having finished any others. I first cast on the Stockholm Scarf.

I am knitting this in the round with BWM Moorland in Dark Grape. Its been a long time since I have knitted with such thick yarn - 8ply! It feels very heavy and hard on the wrists.

The second project I cast on is the Pea Vines shawl. I am knitting this with a friend on Ravelry. I am using a yarn dyed by EmilyTheEnabler. I think its about a 3ply yarn and thus I have opted to knit the medium size version of the shawl. Photos later when I have more to show because its taken me three tries to get this shawl started and I have only completed two very long rows.

I am continuing on the Susanna IC January KAL and I have now completed clue 4.

Now am I going to manage to complete something before the next post or succumb yet again and cast on for that Dahlia cardigan which is clamouring for my attention?

One more off the needles

I finished the SK Kozinski Mystery KAL and I am quite happy with the way this shawl turned out.

This shawl is started with a provisional cast on. I used an easy loop cast on with a second cable which made picking up the stitches really easy. The lace section is knitted first and the you pick up the stitches for the short rows to finish the shawl.

I used Drops Fabel yarn and 4.5mm needles and I added size 8/0 beads to the last lace repeat. I probably should have used size 6/0 beads because the beads are a bit lost on this shawl. I went down to size 3.75mm needles for the cast off and did a tight cast off. I have learned my lesson with these crescent shaped shawls, a tight cast off prevents rolling at the neck.

I have remained strong and I've not yet cast on anything new...yet....

In progress

I am working on three projects at the moment and I am trying desperately not to cast on any more. But... yes there is always a but, there are several projects clamouring for my attention. I even have the yarn waiting so how am I going to resist. The two projects screaming loudest is the Sugar Plum Fairy KAL and the Dahlia cardigan.  See what I mean? How am I suppose to resist

As for the progress I have made so far. I have finished clue one of the SusannaIC January KAL and I am about to start on clue 2. I'm using some handdyed yarn I swapped on Ravelry.

Not much to show yet but considering that this was yet another shawl that started with a 409 stitch cast on and it has 7 stitch nupps, a fair bit of knitting has already taken place.

I have completed clue 3 for the Shui Kuen Kozinski Mystery KAL and now have only one more clue to go.

This shawl started with a provisional cast on. I used an easy cast on and left the live stitches on a cable. So now I just have to add my needle tips to the cable and I am ready to knit the short rows for the last part of the shawl.

I have not neglected that blanket and I have finished another 2 and a half squares.

Now how long am I going to last before casting on something else?