Sorry for the Pause: Gridelin Again

Hi all! I'm back, hopefully for good this time. (But of course I say that every time and then life happens.) I have plans to blog a bit about some of what has been going on lately, I've been busy that's for sure.

So, here's a quick up date on the Curls project. I started Gridelin waaay back in August. I've been picking away at it since then, as well as trying to get some other projects done as well. I got to the point in Gridelin where I started to think, "I don't think it's going to be big enough."

Of course, these patterns were made to be used with that one "special" skein of yarn if need be. And I had this yarn, ready to go. It's one of "my" colors. And I just knew, deep in my knitter's heart, that one skein would not be enough. I'm being pickier with this one since I intend to keep it for myself. I bought the yarn a long time ago, and knew that the yarn shop would not have any more in the right dye lot.

I checked anyway.

Then, Ravelry to the rescue. I searched the yarn color. This led me to three people who had skeins of the colorway in their "for sale or trade" stash. I messaged each one with the dye lot number and crossed my fingers.

Lo and behold, one messaged me back that she had not one but TWO skeins in the right dye lot. She happily sent both to me, and I happily received them. Upon the receipt of the package my husband told me I got more yarn, and I realized that he now automatically thinks that any package I receive is yarn.

I'm nearly done with my first original skein, and have the next one ready to go.  After that I might have to pause for a bit, since I have 5 Christmas Stockings to make by Thanksgiving (a self imposed deadline, btw).

Happy Knitting Y'all!

Gridelin Grows

One hour: I am loving this stitch pattern! (Hopefully it will last, on the other two, once I got about halfway through I got really bored with the stitch pattern and couldn't wait for it to be done so I could start something new.) 

One of the greatest things about this shawl pattern, in comparison to the prior two, is that you can actually 'read' the knitting on it very easily. The other ones were mostly a variation of stockinette stitch, but this one isn't. It's a mock cable (yes, you don't need a cable needle for it), so there is a good variation of knit and purl stitches that are consistent on each row. This makes it easy to see where I'm at on both the right and wrong side of the knitting. 

Eleven Hours:

I am still enjoying this pattern. I love it! It's simple enough to not need the pattern in front of me, but still interesting enough to keep me from getting horrifically bored like the last two shawls from this book did. 

One thing I'm really enjoying about this pattern is that I can easily see how I could incorporate it into a baby sweater, or an adult sweater, even into a hat as a lovely design element. I could totally do that! It would look super fancy but not be super fancy during the knitting part of the garment creation. 

By weight, I'm a little under halfway done with this shawl. It might end up being smaller than I would like when I get to the end of the skein, so I might have to go buy another skein if I can find it in the right colorway and dye lot. 

Cerise

Here it is, Curls Project 2 of 14 (this means I'm 14% done with the whole project):

Cerise

HauteKnitYarn 155g SWMerinoDK 

I don't know the colorway, it wasn't on the band, and I received the yarn as part of a Swap. (I will be reviewing the yarn, along with another skein from HauteKnitYarn in a future post.)
Start Date: July 4
Finish Date: August 1

Modifications: After several attempts to get correct stitch counts, I decided to change the double wraps at the end of each right side row, and the beginning of each wrong side row, to regular old knit stitches. As far as I can tell from pictures, this didn't really affect the finished product. 

Curls Project: Cerise

I took a small hiatus from working on the Curls Project while I finished up some other knitting projects. (Mielie vest, socks, blankets.) But am happy to say that I am back on track.

The next project in the book is Cerise. I've decided to use some yarn that I received in a swap (again. Those swaps are fabulous for trying out new yarns). It's HauteKnitYarn SW Merino DK. The name of the colorway escapes me at the moment, but it's got lots of lovely dark colors in it.

So far I've cast on and done two repeats of the pattern. Honestly, it took me three tries to get it to work out. It's going to take a little more brainpower than the last one took because, I have to actually count on this one. Unless... I try out stitch markers to keep my place... that might actually work. 

If you'd like to follow progress you can check out my Ravelry Project page for Cerise. You'll get more info on it here on the blog, but there you can check how far I've gotten on it as I work on it. 

Caesious Update: A Road Trip and Some Netflix

I feel like I've been really seriously slacking in the knitting department lately. There are several projects on the needles that should have been done long ago. But they are still there.

Caesious is one of them. Thankfully, we had a road trip recently. 10 hours one way, with lots of driving while there. I was able to make a lot of progress on some projects. One that really needs to be done (the Mielie vest) and of course Caesious.

When we got home I weighed how much yarn was left. 50 grams which means I am officially halfway done with it! Yay!

Here's a picture:

I also reached the point where I have the pattern in my head, and can move fairly quickly through a repeat. I can even stop in the middle of a repeat and walk away for awhile, then pick it right back up no problems.

The yarn is Three Irish Girls Cashmerino Sock. This pattern helps the yarn feel really light and squishy (John came up with that word after touching it). It's just lovely.... The only complaint I have is that it's variegated. I think I would like this project more if it weren't so variegated...

Since I will be finishing up my thesis soon, I should have a little more time and brainpower to devote to the knitting, and this project in particular. Caesious is the 'experiment' one to give me a gauge on how long they take, and once I have that under my belt, I will set a goal for when I want to have the entire Curls Project completed!

Caesious: Curls Project Update

For those of you who don't know, I have embarked on a journey. I am knitting every single pattern in the book "Curls", in order. I have no idea how long this will take and if it will even actually be seen through to the end, but it was a great idea so I'm going for it.

As I started out on Caesious, I quickly came to the realization that I had to make a rule about the approach to this project. I'm not allowed to flip through the book or look at any project in it other than the one I am working on. I think this will help me not get antsy, help mitigate the temptation to skip to another shawl later in the book because I really want to do it. At this point, all I remember is that Shawl #3 is one for me, I have the yarn and everything. Knowing this is a motivating factor, sort of.

This is an old picture... more has been done on it!

Caesious was interesting for about 2 repeats of the pattern, now it's a bit annoying. I feel like I haven't memorized the pattern enough yet to let it be mindless, but it is mindless enough that my mind wanders and next thing I know I've messed up something.

I just have so many other dang projects I'm trying to get done right now that this one is slow going. I've got blankets, and socks, and a sweater vest that just isn't progressing (at least it feels that way right now). I've been stashbusting like a madwoman, and yet the stash isn't getting used up as quickly as I would like it to be used up. My thesis is taking a lot of my time and all my play gets pushed aside. Sigh.

Fiber Friday! The Beginning of... well...

 I made a shawl. I'd been wondering for a long time what the big deal about shawls was anyway. Like, do people really wear them? And look good in them? Why not just toss on a sweater or use a scarf?

I didn't get it. But then, I moved here and at the LYS, there is an abundance of shawl knitters. I started to wonder what exactly it was that I was missing out on. And so, for the Winter Challenge, I found myself some beautiful, blue yarn. (Juniper Moon Farm's Moonshine) and a pattern that wasn't too "old lady" (The Lonely Tree Shawl by Silvia Bo Bilvia [side note, not sure if that's her real name or if she's just playing the name game there...])

I cast on during the opening ceremonies. A feat in itself, since I was visiting the fiance and he wasn't too thrilled to have knitting take precedence over him. (It's going to happen, honey. It will continue to happen.)

After wearing it to church,  I turned it in on the deadline day. I now understand what the big deal is about shawls. I really liked it. It can keep you warm like a sweater, but if you want to, you can leave your arms uncovered without fussing with rolling or scrunching up the sleeves. Plus, it's pretty. ;0

 One week later, I returned to the shop to find it on display with a medal. Not just any medal, the GOLD.

What the heck?!

I'm already plotting the next two shawls. Knitting store, watch out! I might clean you out of yarn in the next few weeks!