FO: Thyme

Doing FO posts has been a staple for me since I started this blog, however I haven't written one in 2013, despite finishing 13 projects, and two yarns, so far this year.  I've been finding the prospect of writing all those posts mightily overwhelming and so this will be the last FO post in this complete style I will be posting for a while.  I'm going to do some combined project posts, some mostly-photos posts and some of my usual blogging to get through my project backlog.  The only reason that this and the Tokyo Cream Cowl post, which went up earlier today, were formatted like this was because they were done back in December & January.

Another challenge I was having with my FO posts was the fact that I live in Ontario, the big windows in my apartment face north.  Which means there is very little direct sunlight with which to photograph my knits and that light is almost non-existant when I'm home (eg. evenings).

So this shawl, which I finished in December and I have been wearing happily ever since, only got photographed this past week, now that the days are getting longer and we are having more sunny days.  SO the lace isn't as perfectly stretched as it was after it's blocking, but it looks as pretty to me as when it was first finished.

- Details -

Project Name: Thyme

Pattern: Flukra by Gudrun Johnston from The Shetland Trader

Recipient: Mine, mine, all mine

Yarn: madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Thyme

Modifications:

• None - I actually followed the pattern.

New Skills:

• Shetland Shawl Construction - The center garter triangle is an interesting way to create a shawl and helps break up the monotony of shawl knitting by changing the direction fairly regularly.
• True Garter Lace - The way the lace section works you are essentially doing garter lace (rather than stockinette) and the patterning is on every row.
• Knitted on Border - LOVE IT!  As someone who has issues with tight bind offs the knitted on border is kind of genius and I will be seeking out other shawls that use this technique

Feedback:

• Yarn - This Tosh lace has been hanging over my head for a while, I first wound it into a ball almost 2 years and I made at least 3 attempts to knit it into the first pattern I picked.  However, after getting a chance to actually knit it, I really enjoy the yarn.
• Pattern - The pattern was great.  There are some tricky parts the pattern (mostly the Shetland construction that I wasn't familiar with) and the pattern gives all the information I needed to finish the pattern. I'm very excited to try more of her patterns, including more shawls.

Re-Knit?: No, but I have a very similar pattern by Gudrun in my queue and am on the lookout for a nice yarn to make it out of.

FO: Colors and Stripes

I find that my loom is a perfect palette cleanser.  I haven't spent much time getting fancy with my weaving, so for it is mostly plain weave on my little loom.  It's like meditation to me, the constant rythym of up and down, back and forth gets me to a spot in my brain that I don't seem to find with knitting, which I use to challenge me and to make increasingly complex items.

I like having a project on my loom, however I find that once I sit down at my loom I don't find I get up until the item is finished.

This scarf was a bit of a surprise, the warp looked great, then as I wefted with the yellow (the same yellow used in the warp stripe) it looked terrible, and like it was all yellow.  But when I cut it off the loom and washed it it magically became something really quite special.

- Details -

Project Name: Colors and Stripes

Draft/Warping Plan: I started warping with the darker purple till I ran out, then I did four ends of yellow and then warped the remainder of the loom with the lighter purple.

Recipient: The Box

Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in Iris Heather (dark purple), Pennyroyal (light purple) and Cornmeal (yellow)

Modifications:

• None

New Skills:

• None

Feedback:

• Yarn: Palette has such great colors and softens nicely with a good soak, but I won't be sad to see the last of the Palette from the Woodland Winter Mitts from two years ago.
• Draft: I'm really happy with the warping plan I was able to make up as I was setting up the loom.  I'm really enjoying learning how to use colors by weaving scarves like this.

Re-Weave?: Yeppers, but it won't be like this one, but using what I have on hand and figuring out how to make the colors work in my favor.

FO: Apricot Scrubber

I wanted to learn something new, and thankfully for someone like me who lives in the middle of nowhere who can't take classes at an LYS, Craftsy exists. I enrolled in the Tunisian Crochet class with Jennifer Hanson (Stitch Diva) and while I can't see it as my primary craft, I enjoyed Tunisian Crochet and Jennifer is an excellent teacher.

This is my swatch/washcloth, and I'm already planning my next project, because I want to make sure I keep knowing how to do it.

- Details -

Project Name: Apricot Scrubber

Pattern: Tunisian Crochet Spa Cloth by Jennifer Hanson for Craftsy

Recipient: The Box/not sure yet

Yarn: Paton Grace in Apricot

Modifications:

• None, I figured I should follow the rules when learning a new technique

New Skills:

• Tunisian Simple Stitch
• Tunisian Knit Stitch
• Tunisian Purl Stitch
• Tunisian Crochet

Feedback:

• Yarn - Thank goodness I'm finally done with this yarn, it has been hanging over me since I started knitting in 2007.
• Pattern - Jennifer is an excellent teacher and the Craftsy platform is an interesting way to distance learn techniques

Re-Crochet?: Nope, but I will keep going with these techniques to learn more about it

FO: Fling Scarf

Sometimes a project is more than a project, when many hands are on a project it can make things more fun, in this case, this scarf got woven on by quite a few people at indigodragonfly's Haliburton Highlands Fling back in August.  I brought along my Cricket loom to expose more people to the fun of Rigid Heddle weaving.

As someone who has trouble with knitting stranded colorwork, I find that weaving is my way to play with colors and combinations, and in this case highlighting (and using up) some multi and tonal colorways from a local fiber vendor.

I think this one is going to the gift box, it is really nice, but a girl only needs so many scarves.

- Details -

Project Name: Fling Scarf

Draft: Plain Weave

Recipient: The Box

Yarn: Pondering Rock Farms Bulky in "Eggplant and Grass" and "Ochre" (The colorways are unnamed but these seemed fitting

Modifications: None, just a plain weave scarf (which I love making)

New Skills: I got to teach some people about weaving on a rigid heddle loom, which is new to me!

Feedback:

• Yarn: Its rough and rustic, but I love the way the two colors play together.
• Draft: Oh plain weave, how I love you.

Re-Weave?: Yeppers, pairing a multi with a solid makes for a great looking scarf.

FO: It's Sunny Being a Kid

Ahh, plain vanilla socks, they are great knitting a comforting friend in times of stress and boredom and with with stripe-y Felici they become something greater than just vanilla socks.

I have been enjoying working with Felici, I have made 2 other pairs of Felici socks (Groovy and Recess) and I wore them all winter.  While I have enjoyed the pattern I was working, I wanted to try different heels, and when I ran across the garter short-row heel of the Up + Down Socks in Simply Sockupied eMag (which as a side note is a great publication for learning basic sock stuff and a great format) I was sold.  However it has a short-row toe and wasn't designed to be two-at-a-time so I decided to hijack the heel and act like old Frankenstein and make myself a hybrid/mutant sock.

I think this, with a modified slightly more roomy heel that I just figured out yesterday, might be my new go to vanilla sock.

In addition to being awesome, these are my May entry to my Year of Socks. I have a pair of patterned socks on the go, but with my lacy test knit cowl (that I hope will be released soon-ish), a crocheted cowl, some handspun yarn and two woven scarves, I'm only on the leg repeats of the patterned socks right now.  So these will be my May socks and hopefully I will get my patterned pair done for June.

- Details -

Project Name: It's Sunny Being a Kid

Pattern: Proto-Casserole Socks (a plain sock pattern I have been designing), but are a hybrid of the Up+Down Socks and the Kid Stuff

Recipient: Me

Yarn: KnitPicks Felici Sport in Sunny Day, a 2011 Color

Modifications:

• Well, these are hybrid socks, so I took the toe and leg from the Kid Stuff and the heel from Up+Down Socks.

New Skills:

• Short Row Heel: LOVE IT!  I find that the arch/instep fit more tightly than a heel flap sock.
• Garter Short Rows: LOVE IT TOO!  I'm finding myself more and more in love with Garter Stitch, I may feel differently about Garter Short Rows after I make my own Color Infection Affection Shawl

Feedback:

• Yarn: Felici Sport is one of my favorite yarns, it makes for interesting plain socks and is so soft and wonderful. No knots or big jumps in this one, so that is a good thing.
• Pattern:  I want to make the heel cup bigger, and I have my proof of concept so my next pair will have deeper short-row garter heels.

Re-Knit?: Yep, next pair is already on the needles and I have an impressively large stash of Felici.