skein

Cardigan pattern hunting

With my WIPs all done (!) and,   It's been hopefully, a bit of warmer weather coming this way, my thoughts have turned to cardigans.  It's been far too long (July 2013!)  since I knitted myself a cardigan. Those heady days of knitting one per month are a dim and distant memory.

Mind you, the prcess of choosing a pattern and yarn is mega time consuming.  I have no idea how to narrow the choices down!

I search ravelry two ways.

My main method is using a saved ravelry pattern search. I like ravelry downloa and seamless. I'll add other seach criteria to this saved search, often yarn weight or some specific design element.

If I have the yarn I'll also check pattern ideas / cardigans for this yarn.

Both methods suck up time!  I'll click on the pattern, then check out the projects and yarn ideas. And if the designer is new to me, I'll have to go and look at their other patterns. 

I can't even make up my mind about which yarn to use!  The older stashed summer yarn ranges from 4ply to aran, but I have somehow acquired new summer yarn!  No idea how, as I'm on a yarn diet and trying to only buy odd skeins! Of course this is the yarn I'm more interested in, always the case!

 

Stay tuned. It will be seamless, with sleevees. So far I have about 50 I'm interested in. Will be a long week deliberating!

YOLO shawl

Let's try to type properly this time ;)

Here's YOLO.

Another Stitchnerd KAL, celebrating Spring.  I've gone for very bright colours, Yarn Yard Sevens, red to yellow. 

A very simple, relaxing shawl to knit.  Crescent shaped, stocking stitch top and a very easy patterned border.  I found myself racing through each little ball of yarn, eager to get going on the next shade.

 

Not doing too well on the knitting progress!

I'm having a little hiccup in my knitting this week. I was doing sooo well too!

* I managed to block YOLO. Just the ends to darn in and the photos to take. Fingers crissed fir a cakn weejebdm wutg bi wubd!

(grotty indoors shot last night)

* baby blanket is still where it was last week. 

* I cast on a top down baby cardigan and have just divided for the body (not a big deal as this is tiny, newborn size) but no photos as it's all scrunched up on a 60cn circular.  It' a bit so-so. Lemon, a cotton acrylic dk weight which feels more like a 4 ply.  I'm happy to knit baby items which aren't pink, but am not that keen on baby lemon or green.  Unfortunately both blanket and cardigan are in those colours! 

* still working on Naiada.  I'm about 75$ done though. It's thick wool, and you cast on when you're about to run out. Such mindless knitting, an excellent crry-around.

(grotty indoor morning shot)

This weekend I'll planning to finish this and the baby cardigan, and then working on the blanket, see if I can finish it all off by the end of the month, ready for a new mnth's worth of challenges.  I'm already planning a few shawls AND POSSIBLY AN ADULT CARDIGN!  I have my eye of Vitamin D, think it might be ok for a summer cardigan. But I also have antohe of ther designs which is very similar, just a different construction, wthi a bit of lace. Oh Decisions.  I must not spend too much time on ravelry instead of knitting! 

Knitting progress

I thought that I'd had a good weekend of knitting, though not much during the weekday evenings, but looking at what I've done it doesn't seem much.

I've done a little more knitting on Naiada, though this is an early photo, showing off the pattern,  VERY EASY LACE!

Knit, purl, k2tog and yarnovers. I'm about halfway through now. As I'm using less yardage it'll be a bit smaller, but I can block it out a bit. I'm planning on wearing this as a scarf rather than a shoulder shawl

The squishy baby blanket is about half way done. No rush here. I'm quite a slow knitter when using larger needles and doubled yarn.

And finally YOLO. I'm on the border, with 2.5 mini balls to knit,. At last there is colour change! 

This weekend I'm planning to

*finish YOLO. 

* get a good chunk of Naiama knitted. It's aran weight, 200g, so there's not that much yardage!

* possibly start a baby cardigan, new born size, to go with the blanket.  This time it's pale yellow. No rush, not due for months!

* after our summery day this week, I've decdied it's time to start washing some winter woollies rady for vacuum packing. These need to be done in batches and thoroughly dry.  I've ordered a bottle of Eucalan (since my bottles seem to have vanished). We're trying Eucalyptus this time, thought Mr C. might like to wash his winter jumpers in something other than lavender!

Lacy Ribs to go

My finished lacy Ribs to go.

This is part of the Spring KAL in the Stitchnerds ravelry group.  When I think of Spring I think of flowers, grass and (more importantly!) more lacy texture, lighter colours, possibly silk, cotton and merino. The darker colours and woollier yarns are put aside until Autumn. (One advantage of this is that twice a year I re-discover a small part of the stash, feels like yarn shopping!)

The yarn's Easyknits DW Plump, in a lovely summery honey colour. 

After blocking I found half a dozen dropped stitches!  Always on the k2tog stitch (unusual, as I tend to drop ssk sts more frequently) and seemingly in one section only. All I can think of is that I might have been knitting this whilst nodding off!!  So this shawl, thogh lovely is MINE, mistakes and all.

Neither MrC nor I noticed the errant stitch marker left in the shawl until last ngiht, oops!  I will have to check if it's a stitch marker acting like a stitch marker or if it's marking another dropped stitch...

On the needles

I'm a bit worried that it's now April, and I STILL like knitting cowls and small scarves.  Where are the socks, the garments, the baby stuff?  Well, I've started a baby blanket, so that's a start.

 

It's for someone wgi has a bit of a cleaning obsession, and probably wouldn't hand wash or even gently machine was wool, so I'm knitting in acrylic. She also doesn't want to know the sex of the baby, and has asked for cream, lemon and green stuff. (Myself, I'd put a baby in other colours, but it's not my baby!)

So we have a green acrytic baby blanket, Garter Squish by Stephen West, a super fast and super easy free ravelry pattern. just garter stitch wtih attached as you knit I-cord.  The recipient will be getting plenty of twee baby garments, and a shawl or two, so this will be the casual easy-care blanket.  I'm making a small baby blanket,. cast on 63 instead of 126sts. It's looking about the size I want it to!  Baby isn't due till August, so this will be emergency knitting, when I want a stress free knit, or have nothing on the go.  in fact it was cast on on Easter Monday VERY EARLY, because we were rudely awakened by our alarm - power cut!  No lights or heating and I was worried about no lights in the evening, wanted something I could knit in the dark!  I do have a head light for emergencies too...

 Another Ribs to go, this time a lace version. I finished this on Wednesday and have even blocked it! Well, laid it flat and let it dry. I don't want to take away all of the ribby texture.  This is Easy Knits DW Plump, in Honey.  Such an easy relaxing pattern.  I've had a few instances where I've dropped a stitch on the lace bit, so there will be knitting surgery in a few places. I've had to put stitch markers in where the stitch is not secured!  I really must try to not fall asleep over my knitting!

This means ... a new project!

Lat night I cast on soemthing for the Countess Ablaze Odyssey KAL. I'm going to try to listen to the Odyssey as I knit. So far it's early stages and  I need to see how it goes before adding it to ravelry. It's another shawl, Naiada by Martina Behm, hof Hitchhiker fame.  This is SUCH AN EASY PATTERN!  It's meant for DK but I'm using aran weight, and less yardage. You knit until you cast off, so I shall see how it's progressing, size wise.  

I bet I cast on something else over the weekend!

Simply Rippled cowl and Ribs to Go scarf

Oh how I love a long weekend!  I found my Ribs to go scarf and blocked it, stretching it a bit more tha nn I would usually do, as it's only one skein of Lorna's Laces worsted (the other was a different dye lot).

Stretching it out so much meant that the ribs weren't as ribby but the scarf is bigger!

And how I usually wear these small shawls/scarves

 

I've also finished Simple Rippled, a cowl knitted in very subtle Noro Silk Garden, which has been un mnt stash for YEARS>  I still have 7 balls to go...

I've opted for a double loop cowl, so I can wrap it around my neck.

This one's knitted on the bias, with a closed Rippple stitch. I think it might work for a non lacy baby blanket too.

A good start to the month, getting a few thinks finished and blocked. Let's hope I keep it up!

 

 

March knitting and April knitting goals

march was a blur, full of knitting, frogging, reknitting and not much progress!

1) Finish the socks - FAIL!  Frogged. I wasn't feeling the love

Start and finsih Stitchnerds Green KAL for March

2) a Cowl - DONE!

 3) A scarf. DONE!

Continue

4) Felted CLogs DONE!

Finish or Frog

5) Ribs to go scarf. NEITHER.  It's not finished as I haven't blocked it to see if I like the isze. But I shall do this over Easter. Off the needles it's like a smallish scarf, and perfectly wearable, Hopefully it will grow a bit! 

6) Was undecided, but I've started antoher Stitchnerds pattern called Simply Rippled (which I keep calling Ripples)

I'm knitting a double cowl, and am about 2/3 of the way through. Very easy and I'm liking the ripples in this subtle Noro Silk Garden.

7) Undecided and FAIL as I didn't start anyting else!

 

Now for April!

1) Blocfk and blog Ribs to go,

2) Finish Simply Rippled cowl

Start and finish

Stitchnerds April KAL is anything to do with Spring.

3) Restart Lacy Ribs to go in Easyknits DW Plump, colour is honey, a very warm yellow  bordering on orange! 

4) Undecided, probably a shawl or scarf,

Countess Abalze is also having an Odyssey KAl, using any of her yarns. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO KNIT !  There's a pattern bundle of suggestions, anything Greek.  I have never read the Odyssey and my knowledge comes from Virgil and Roman gods and goddesses, from the dim and distant past of my schooldays and Latin! 

5) Let's do it!  An Odyssey KAL! 

6 and 7) Stash Knit Down's KAL for April is gift knitting and I'll be knitting baby things for a work colleague.  The baby will be a summer baby, so doesn't need too much stuff, but I'll knit at least a cardigan and a cushy blanket.  They both have families living close by and everyone is so excited about the baby that she'll have mountains of stuff. I must not go overboatd (oor at least in newborn sizes!). 

 

The month kicks off with four days holiday, so I'll be stash busting and blocking and knitting, CAN'T WAIT!