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Normally I blog every other week and have 2 new tiers added. Next blog is due next week, but we're away, and I won't be working on this over the weekend, so I have only one week's worth of knitting = 1 tier to show.
Tier 10.
Much the same as tier 9!
I intend to knit up to tier 19 and see how long this is. I'm very indecisive as to how many tiers to knit. Current feeling is to go the whole hog and knit all 23, but this might change!
Project Spectrum is green, pink and yellow for April and May.
I've chosen pink and green, and am pleased to say that both projects seem to be going well.
We have pink socks. Lorna's laces new Tickled Pink shade. I'm using a pattern from the Six Socks Knitalong, a pattern called Scales skin socks, SSS for short.
The yarn is pooling, but in a gentle, spiralling way which I like.
We have a green cardigan. The Summer Braids, which is knitted in one piece up to the armhole, and sleeves are knitted top down. In Debbie Bliss Rialto, which is another great yarn, reminds me of Jaeger's extra fine merino.
With flash (despite it being early evening and still daylight!)
Without flash, which shows up the fake cables. Neither photograph is a good representation of the colour - it's a deeper green.
I doubt I'll stick to my knitting list for April.
1) finish Persian Poppies Waistcoat
2) socks for Chris (**see below!)
3) PINK socks for me
4) GREEN Debbie Bliss cardigan for me
5) PINK baby cardigan for baby O
6) Finish the Mystery Shawl (conveniently forgotten!)
7) Work to tier 10 of the Forest Path Stole.
The socks for Chris are finished and here's the photo - just dk weight Mexiko socks. He loves this colour (of course!)
I'm putting these away for December!
The winning vote for my ISE4 scarf was the Lead or Follow scarf, in Cherry Tree Hill Silk.
So I cast on last night
The yarn is lovely, and the colour is just what I was looking for for my pal.
But I had sneaking doubts about it as the knitting progressed. In order to achieve the light, lacy look depicted on the pattern, I'd have to go up a needle size, but that would make a wider scarf. As it stood, I was using 3.5mm needles and the unblocked width was about 12". Nothing wrong with wide scarves (in case my ISE partner is knitting one!) but I wanted this scarf to be a fairly narrow scarf.
Tonight's knitting sealed its fate.
This is the result (right hand side) when Dawn finds out she's dropped a stitch several rows down (silk + double decrease = likely dropped stitches). I tried to fix it, but in the end I went with my original thoughts and frogged instead.
What to knit now? I still want to use this yarn (and am a little cross that it looks just blue on this monitor, instead of blues and purples) and would like to make the most of the yardage as well - all 666yds of it, rather than just the 350yds with the Lead or Follow scarf. So now I'm thinking either a small triangular shawl or a stole. Or maybe a lengthwise scarf. Oh dear!
Another two tiers completed! This time I worked on the stole on Saturday, not Sunday, which meant a daylight photo. Well, two actually.
A great idea, until I took the stole back indoors and saw an ant crawling up the cone! And loads of bits of grass stuck in the lace.
9 tiers knitted, at least another 10 to go (we'll see how I feel about adding tiers after tier 19). I can't say that the knitting process is nice. I'm pretty fed up with it all now, and yearning to knit other things. Good job I'm only knitting 2 tiers every 2 weeks, gives me plenty of time to knit on other stuff. Next post will be my new cardigan!
The latest round of the International Scarf Exchange is underway. It seems that most people have started the knitting already, and at least one person has received her scarf!
Dawn, of course, is a little behind. I belong to that group of knitters who greatly underestimate the knitting time of a given project. Scarves have to arrive by 7th June, and my recipient is overseas, in a mild climate.
I have two patterns and two yarns to play with.
Pattern #1 is Heartstrings Lead or Follow scarf. Requires 500yds of lace or fingering weight yarn.
Pattern #2 is Heartstrings Crest of the Wave scarf. Same yarn requirements as above.
(And if you click on these links you will see new patterns from Heartstrings as well. I'm trying to resist).
Yarn #1 is Seasilk in the Ocean shade. 435yds/100g.
Yarn #2 is Cherry Tree Hill's Cascade silk fingering yarn, in Tropical Storm shade. 666yds/150g.
What you may not see in this photo is the vivid purple colour in the bottom right half (it looks blue on my monitor).
I like both yarns - love the colours and the yarns. I've only knitted with the Seasilk before, but CTH looks like it will be delightful to work with.
I can't decide - let's put it to a vote!
**Disclaimer**
If the yarn pools in an unattractive way, then I may reconsider and not knit the blogpoll winnner!
Yes, finished! I can't believe it. I can't believe that I spent TWO WHOLE DAYS knitting the arm bands! Knit, rip, repeat. Every time the corrugated ribbing (which we all know isn't elastic and doesn't pull in like usual ribbing) shortened the armhole length. I eventually picked up one stitch per row with smaller needles. The armhole length is now intact, and I can accept the very-slightly-flared-ribbing. In an ideal world (if the waistcoat was for me) I'd rip these out again and have another go, but I'm pig sick of knitting these corrugated ribbing bands, and as Chris is perfectly happy with the end result, I'm leaving it. Naturally, the front bands did not shorten the length, even though I went back to skipping the fifth row when I picked up stitches. This was finished late last night (early hours!) hence the night-time photos, plus a blurred one as the auto-focus didn't like the dim lighting!
And these are the only ends, thanks to spit 'n' splice.
Here's a few close ups.
And more photos...
And finally a photo taken early this morning in daylight. You didn't think I'd not take a million photos after all that Easter knitting and ripping?
We'd planned for this to be worn open, so imagine my astonishment when he mentioned buttonholes, after I'd knitted the bands! Fortunately he still wants to wear it open, but he thought I'd be adding buttons and buttonholes for embellishment, as if!
Pattern Stitch: Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library
Yarn: Miscellaneous J&S Jumperweight shades from stash, plus some red and orange shades from an old Vivian Hoxbro kit.
Pattern : my own, based on a tension square and Chris's measurements, plus loads of trying on as we neared the final stages.
Phew! Now onto Spring knitting for me! Something plain, I think. I leave you with a photo snapped this weekend of more of Chris' colourful knitwear. This was knitted years ago, in Rowan dk cotton, and comes out every Spring. Weighs a ton!
Two posts in two days? Must be some sort of record for me!
Here's the Forest Path Stole progress photo. I'm up to tier 7, which means another 3 to do in April, if I want to stick to my April Plans. I managed to work three lace patterns last night, which is a first for me as this really is a daylight only project with such light yarn and light needles. Next time, shoot me if I don't work in contrasting colour needles! I'm reluctant to change needles now in case the tension changes (and I don't have dark needles in 3.25mm).
It's now large enough to photograph easily. I keep changing my mind about how long I'd like it to be. Previously, I was going to knit only 19 tiers, but now I'm thinking 21, it's such a nice knitting process with this laceweight cashmere from Colourmart. A real bargain too!
I've not worked on the Persian Poppy waistcoat this weekend. I'm waiting for some J&S yarn which was ordered on Friday, but this is a welcome break; I'm not a monogamous knitter!
Saturday knitting was dedicated to finishing off my second pair of March socks, my 6th pair this year.
Cherry Tree Hill merino sock yarn, Dusk.
Plain, top down socks, 60 sts on 2.25mm dpns.
And a replacement baby cardigan for baby O, as her last one felted! 
Pattern: Classic Beginnings Seamless Raglan Cardigan for Babies and Toddlers.
Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker Aran, kindly donated by Jill, about 2.8 x 50g balls.
A very quick knit, one day!
Sunday was Forest Path Stole knitting, but I only managed one tier all day. I tried to do the first rectangle on the next tier after sunset, and I should have known better - the rectangle was knitted the wrong way, so that the right side was on the wrong side of the stole! I will unpick it tonight and maybe have another session (under a bright light) tonight.
Which means that for March I haven't managed to finish a single larger item of knitting, just a few smaller items, even though I've been knitting quite a bit.
We have the first pair of March socks, for AC 
A baby cardigan for baby O
And a pair of felted moccasins (halfway felted, we need a few more wash cycles)
Project Spectrum colours for February and March were blue, white or grey. I chose blue, and knitted these clogs, some socks in February and (ongoing) my Forest Path Stole. Ha! I thought that I'd finish it in two months!
April and May colours are green, yellow and pink. I've just started my first pair of April socks, but these are self patterning (for Chris) and not green, yellow or pink. I'll have to make sure my second pair of April socks (for me) are in one of those colours, probably pink or green. Another quick baby project in pink. I have some gorgeous Debbie Bliss Rialto in bottle green.
So, my April plans:
1) finish Persian Poppies Waistcoat
2) socks for Chris
3) PINK socks for me
4) GREEN Debbie Bliss cardigan for me
5) PINK baby cardigan for baby O
6) Finish the Mystery Shawl (conveniently forgotten!)
7) Work to tier 10 of the Forest Path Stole.
This will be a productive month, if I manage to finish all of these things, no time to work!
