WIP Wednesday: things other than knitting

I've been doing some non-knitting things lately, so I wanted to show my other hobby WIPs this week.

First, I've become slightly obsessed with the idea of growing things since we moved into our new flat. A few weeks ago I bought one of those grow-your-own-herb kits, and I'm pleased to report that I haven't killed them yet!



I've got parsley, basil, and chives sprouting cheerfully on the window sill. Hopefully I can keep them alive long enough to reap some delicious fresh herbs this spring.

I've also been sewing - although I got a sewing machine the Christmas before last, I haven't used it much other than for some hemming and repairs, and a few small projects. Now I've got the bug, though.



Above, you can see most of the bits of my tweed handbag. I've actually sewn it all together since I took the photo, but I still need to attach the handle. I bought the tweed when I went to Harris last summer and dithered about choosing a bag pattern for ages until I finally settled on the Simply Stylish Bag by Lisa Lam. It's relatively simple as handbags go, but it's the most complicated thing I've sewn so far, in that it involves many layers, and interfacing, and magnetic snaps, and pockets... so I'm pretty pleased that it mostly worked out. Some wonkiness involved, but that's to be expected. FO photos coming up once I get that handle attached.

I'm linking up with Stitch-Along Wednesday this week. Click the link to check out more WIPs.

Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2015

How lucky I am to have such a festival in the city where I live!

EYF 2015 was this past weekend, and it did not disappoint. I didn't take any classes, but I sure exercised my stash-down exception. Wheee! As is typical, I hardly took any photos, and most of them are badly lit / blurry. Here's a glimpse of the WestKnits / Ysolda stall, though, festooned in beautifully mad colourful shawls. That sums up the yarn festival for me: beautiful and mad.



Almost as soon as I arrived, I visited my friends at the charity yarn-winding table. EYF's charity of choice this year was the Teapot Trust, who provide art therapy to chronically ill children. EYF volunteers wound skeins into cakes for a donation to the trust, but the Teapot Trust also had a table of gift items for sale to raise funds. I bought a pair of earrings shaped like teapots from them because they were so cute.



Then I went and bought yarn. And more yarn. I had a short list of projects to buy for, as per my stash down exception, but I was blinded by the pretties, so I didn't really stick to it.

There was so much beautiful stuff, much of it from companies I'd heard of but never seen in real life, and some of it from dyers I'd never heard of.

First up, Old Maiden Aunt. Obviously, I knew I'd spend time digging through the piles of loveliness since I'm a big fan. I ended up with this skein of 4 ply merino in the Crazy Ivan colourway. (Spot the Firefly reference.) It's impossible to describe or photograph, but think purple, teal, blue, green, and red all in subtle layers. Like an oil slick, only not shiny.



Next, Easy Knits. This is a new-to-me dyer, which so many insane vibrant colours. Again, I ended up with merino 4 ply:



The neon green is a bit outside my normal colour range, but it just called to me.

Finally, I stopped at Eden Cottage Yarns, and picked up some more merino 4 ply (sensing a theme?) in a lovely faceted charcoal gray.



I didn't intend to buy solely merino sock yarn, but that's what happened. Oh well! Sometimes you just have to roll with it. As of now, the only skeins that have been assigned to a project are the neon green Easyknits and the Eden Cottage - I plan on using them together in a Pendulum shawl.

The festival seems like it was a roaring success, and I look forward to next time! Maybe I'll even take some classes. Maybe by then I'll have made some more space in my stash. Haha.

FO: Elf socks

I now have in my possession some fabulous (if I do say so myself) elf-themed socks. These were not the most enjoyable of projects, and if I made them again I would make some more changes... but I think they were worth it in the end.



Pattern: Tauriel by Josiah Bain
Yarn: 75% wool, 25% nylon, my own hand-dyed with tea (see this post for details).

Mods: Shortened the ankle by 1 repeat, change heel to twisted-slip-stitch to keep the flow of the ribbing/cables, kind of ignored the instructions for the toes and partly winged it.



Notes:
Mistake the 1st:
I probably should have made a larger size. I balked at the cast-on stitch counts for the sizes above small; even though I do not have small feet, I rarely if ever need to cast on more than 68 stitches for socks. So, even though in my brain I knew I was a medium, I cast on for the small. As a result, the cables are stretched to maximum. Luckily, they are super-stretchy since it is basically ribbing with some cabley twists thrown in. The socks fit and are pretty comfy nonetheless, but I think they would look better a little less stretched. Oh well. Should have trusted the pattern.

Mistake the 2nd:
I shouldn't have shortened the ankles - these turned out slightly shorter than I normally like my woolly socks. Oh well. Still fine.

Mistake the 3rd:
I misjudged how long the toes would be. The pattern says to begin the toe shaping on one of several cable pattern rounds, and if the socks aren't long enough by then, to do ribbing until it gets to that point. I think mine look out of proportion because of where I started the ribbing. I probably could have gotten away with continuing the cables for longer and then doing a more rapid set of toe decreases. Never mind.



Despite these frustrating details, I do like the socks and will wear them a lot - none of these things are bad enough to make me want to frog and start over. Definitely in the Good Enough category of FOs. I'm excited to have finally used my tea-dyed yarn, and look forward to seeing how it holds up to washing.

For those keeping track, this skein was part of my Sock Yarn Stash Match category. 3 more skeins to go!

And finally - anyone else heading to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival this weekend? I am so excited and will post a (probably incoherent, babbling) recap of events afterwards. If you see me, say hello! (I'll probably have a ravelry badge labeled Notpanicking. And probably my Colour Affection. And will be ogling the Old Maiden Aunt yarn stall, among others!)

WIP Wednesday: Raiun

It's cardigan-blob day! I'm knitting Raiun by Kirsten Johnstone. I feel like it is going quickly... but then I've been at it nearly a month, according to Ravelry, and I've only just divided for the sleeves. So maybe not quickly, but obviously it is keeping me interested. I'm hopeful I'll finish this in time for warmer weather since I'm using a wool-cotton blend, and will probably leave it at 3/4 sleeves.

Check out more WIPs at Stitch-Along-Wednesday.

Stash Match: Lace Weight

It's Monday Match. That can be a thing now, right? Or not.

Since starting my Stash Match project, I've acquired more laceweight, so I now have two skeins that need projects. This was a challenge since it seems I rarely work with laceweight. (I like it when I do, but it doesn't seem to fall into my shopping cart like 4-ply does!)



Filatura Di Crosa Centolavaggi: 1531 yards / 1400 metres, 100% merino cobweb

I've had this yarn for years. It's sentimental yarn, since it's the first yarn that my husband ever bought for me - an impulse purchase from when we visited Bologna and randomly found a yarn shop. When we got engaged I briefly harboured thoughts of using it for my wedding shawl... but then I bought a light gold / champagne coloured dress and decided that undyed yarn would be a better coordinating colour. Sentimentality has prevented me from settling on a project. Plus, that is a LOT of very fine yarn, and my style isn't particularly delicate.

I've been feeling the need for a truly challenging project, since I haven't been stretching myself much with my knitting lately. That + loads of cobweb weight yarn lead me to Malgven by Lucy Hague. I've admired her celtic-knotwork shawls for a while, so what better time to try one out? Plus, I've never made a circular shawl before. No time like the present! The pattern is written for laceweight rather than cobweb, so mine may turn out a little smaller / I made need to use different needles.



Maharashtra Silk: 800 yards/732 metres, 100% silk laceweight.

I got this yarn in a swap last year (hence the glimpse of the tasty cow-themed treats I also received). I've never used 100% silk, but I love silk blends, so I hope this will be fun to knit with. It looks like a good candidate for planned pooling, given the way it was dyed. The website I've linked has a tool for figuring out how to get your yarn to pool intentionally in different patterns, but there are also lots of patterns written for planned pooling. I've chosen the Pooling Summer Mesh Stole by Gladys We as a starting point. If I'm going to do something ridiculously complicated with my other yarn, I thought I'd do something slightly simpler with this one. I will change to something else if I find it isn't working with my yarn, of course.

That's all for this installment of Stash Match. I have a few more categories to go, and they are proving difficult, but I'll get there eventually!

Do you have stash yarn that stubbornly refuses to commit to a pattern?

FO: Luna Purpurae

I have a new cowl(ette)!

Pattern: Luna Viridis by Hilary Smith Callis

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Cashluxe Fine



Notes: No mods, other than accidentally doing two repeats of one of the lunar bands at the beginning, rather than alternating the direction.

This was a fun knit, and fairly quick. The yarn is so luxurious - Merino/Cashmere/Nylon - maybe the first time I've used such a blend? I can't remember. But anyway, softest ever. I do worry it will become very fuzzy in short order, but in the meantime it looks and feels lovely. The gentle variegation works pretty well with the textured stitch pattern, and I loved watching all the subtle colour variations occur as I knit.

The cowlette thing intrigued me and I'm glad I tried it. It fits well, but unlike a shawlette, I can't pull it more tightly around my neck - so it does feel different to wear. I can still tuck it in when I wear it with a jacket, plus there is a double layer of knitting since the stockinette portion folds under the textured bit, so it is still plenty cozy.



Just in time for spring? Ah well, it'll get plenty of wear throughout the year here, I'm sure.

See more FOs here!

Wardrobe refashioning

I have this corduroy skirt that I've had for years. It is so comfortable that I haven't been able to give it up, despite its horribly faded appearance. It used to be olive green, but years of wear and washing have turned it dingy gray-green. I stopped wearing it in public because it was getting truly shabby-looking. (And not in a shabby-chic way.)

Exhibit A: Comfiest skirt in the world.


Some time in the summer it occurred to me that I could dye it and maybe give it a renewed place in my wardrobe. I went out and bought some Dylon dye, and then packed it away and forgot about it until a few weeks ago. I bought the kind of dye that you're meant to use in the washing machine, and I was a bit nervous to try it in our rental flat, and then I just never got around to it. (Probably for the best that I didn't attempt it; since the landlord charged us for leaving a dirty bathroom mirror when we left that flat, I dread to think what would have happened if there had been any discolouration in the washing machine!) When we moved into our new place with our very own new shiny washing machine, I dug out the dye and skirt and got to work.

Exhibit B: Skirt now deep chocolate brown and once again wearable!


It worked very well. I'm so pleased that I've been able to extend the life of this skirt, since it has been a wardrobe staple for me in years past. This was my first time dyeing in the washing machine, and it was stupidly easy. There was a bit of discolouration on the rubber ring (front-loader), but I think it was mostly pre-existing fuzz stuck to the rubber that got dyed. After a few more washes, and wiping it out with a sponge, it is pretty much gone.

Now my husband wants to try overdyeing some of his faded trousers, so we may give the machine another workout soon.

Have you ever refashioned your old clothes?

Yarn as decor

I bought this bell jar the other day. It was kind of an impulse purchase, only not really - I did go home and think about it first before going back the next day to buy it. I'm often a bit skeptical of the whole faux-vintage-kitsch thing, but I thought it would look perfect on a shelf in our hallway filled with yarn. And it does (not pictured in situ, because no natural light.) Because I definitely don't have a shortage of pretty yarn, and it's nice to have some of it on display instead of packed away in a closet. (As mentioned, the hallway gets no natural light, so hopefully there won't be much fading - but in any case, I plan to rotate out skeins regularly. Hopefully because I'll be using them!)

How do you store your yarn? Is any of it on display?

2015: not bad so far - keep it up.

2014, and the last half of it especially, was a stressful year for me.

The two main causes of stress were our search for and purchase of our first flat, and my application for UK permanent residence.

I didn't really write about them much here, but I'm pleased to say that both things are finally over.

After a lengthy process navigating bureaucracy and circuitous banking procedures, the property purchase was finalised in December and we moved in January.

On Friday, I received my residence permit, thus concluding a stressful process of paperwork wrangling, test-taking, form-filling, fee-paying... and months of waiting.

My 2015 is off to a good start - how about yours?

Stash Match: Sock Yarn

Last year I set out to match my stash yarn to patterns so it wouldn't languish indecisively forever more. I managed to allocate my 4-ply "Too Pretty For Socks" yarn, and I'm well on my way to using it for its intended purpose. (By which I mean, I've completed two projects and started a third. I'll get there.)

Today I'm finally getting around to my next category: Sock Yarn (aka "Pretty enough for socks," I guess.) The yarns in this category are no less pretty than my un-sock yarn, but probably/hopefully more durable.



Top to Bottom:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock: I've been holding on to this for a long time, since people keep telling me it is the ultimate sock yarn. I might have put it on a pedestal, just a little, so I've found it difficult to commit to a pattern. Also, it is heavily variegated - fortunately (or unfortunately) there are loads of interesting patterns out there especially for this kind of yarn. After much internal debate, I've settled on Mad Color Weave by Tina Lorin. I'll re-evaluate if it pools strangely when I start, though.

Yarn Yard Cairn: I have had this yarn almost as long as I've lived in Edinburgh. (4ish years). It is time that I knitted it up! It's quite dark, so choosing a pattern that would show through was difficult. I've settled on Torrent by Tin Can Knits, since I think the lace will show up even in the dark colour.

Hand-dyed red: I believe this is 75/25% wool/nylon. Dyed with Wilton's icing gel colours, it initially turned out the colours of canned salmon. Eeeeh not really what I was going for. Then I dumped most of the rest of the red dye into the pot and there was much rejoicing. I think it will look awesome as Blueberry Bubbles by Thayer Preece Parker. Or perhaps strawberry bubbles, in my case. I'm looking forward to a sock with a lot of stockinette but a goodly portion of detail as well.

Hand-dyed tea/brown:
Probably 75/25 wool/nylon. I dyed it using a shedload of teabags a few years ago, and it has been waiting for a project ever since. I actually started knitting Hedgerow with this yarn, but I just wasn't enjoying it, so I frogged and thought some more. The winner came upon me suddenly - not from my favourites or queue, but from the new Knitty: Tauriel. ALL THE CABLES. This is certainly not television knitting, but I'm enjoying it so far.



What are your favourite sock patterns?

WIP Wednesday: Luna Viridis

For the first time in a long time, I have a new exciting WIP on a Wednesday!

I have the beginnings of a delightful cowlette on the needles right now.



Luna Viridis, by Hilary Smith Callis is fun so far. I've never made a cowlette - a cowl that mimics the shape of a shawlette wrapped around the neck. It seems like it will be very wearable, but we'll have to see when I'm finished.

The yarn is Sweet Georgia Cashluxe Fine, which is Merino/Cashmere/Nylon and possibly the softest thing I've ever knit with. This is my fourth project using my stash match yarn, and so far I think it was the right choice. It's more of a gently-variegated than a semi-solid colourway, if that makes any sense, but I think it'll work. I've only just started on the textured portion, but slipped stitches and tonal variation are usually friends.

Linking up to Stitch Along Wednesday this week.

2014: The Knitting Year in Review

OH HAI blogosphere. Before it mysteriously becomes February, I wanted to do the customary summary of the last year's knitting. I really fell behind on documenting this stuff, and to be honest I probably won't catch up. So this will have to do and I'll try to do better this year!

In 2014, I had 11 FOs.



(All links to my ravelry projects)

Top Row: Tiny Owl by Anna Hrachovec, Rye / Ruista Ranteeseen mitts by Hanne Katajamäki, Catkin Hat by Kate Davies, Grassroots by Melissa Schaschwary.

Middle Row: Wethersfield by Cecily Glowik MacDonald, Dragonflies by Joji Locatelli, Song of the Sea by Louise Zass-Bangham.

Bottom Row: Mini Manu by Kate Davies, Crystalline socks by Cailyn Meyer, Earlybird socks by Cassandra Dominick.

I also made my dad a hat, but I don't have a picture of it yet. I will do a separate post about it when I get a photo, since I'm super happy about this hat!

Thinking back to my knitting goals for 2014, I fulfilled most of them, but not all:

Knit at least two sweaters for myself (check!)
Knit something for my dad (check! For some reason I didn't put this in my original post last year, but it was still a goal).
Knit 14 FOs in 2014 (FAIL.)

What I have learned from this is that goals for sweaters contradict goals for project quantity. I am slow at sweater knitting, and if I want to make sweaters I'll have to sacrifice other output. This is fair. I know it is quality over quantity that counts, but I put in the "14 in 2014" goal because I managed to knit 12 in 2013 and it felt so close!

Bearing this in mind, I have no aim to knit 15 in 2015. I had a hard time coming up with any knitting-specific goals at all, to be honest. However, I have decided that this is the year I need to stash down, so I'm going to focus on that.

2015 goals
1. Stash down, with a few exceptions.

Exception 1: I will buy yarn to make a Pomegranate sweater.

Exception 2: I will buy yarn at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival and/or the yarn crawl, should anything unmissable jump out at me. But I will show restraint!

Exception 3: I will buy yarn to make gifts if I don't have anything appropriate in my stash.

2. Finish allocating yarn to patterns in my Stash Match project, including my sweater-quantities.

So. Here we go!

FOs: Catkin Hat and Rye Mitts

I'm sure this is a common knitterly problem. I have very few matching accessories. Scarves/shawls generally use one skein, so if I wanted a matching hat or mitts, I'd need to plan ahead and get two. Pretty single skeins are usually impulse purchases for me - planning ahead? Nah.

Most of the time I embrace my non-matchy-ness - most of what I have is purple/blue/green anyway, so whatever. (Plus, I have a bright turquoise jacket...) This time, in the interests of making something other than a shawl from my single skein, I've made a matching hat and mitts!



Pattern: Catkin Hat by Kate Davies and Rye / Ruista Ranteeseen mitts by Hanne Katajamäki

Yarn: Natural Born Dyers BFL/nylon Hi-Twist Sock

Notes:

Catkin:
With this hat, I think I have conquered my unease about slouchy hats. I've always felt a bit awkward wearing them, and I think I've figured it out. Previous slouchy hats have always been too loose around the brim! This one is pretty snug around the brim / my head, and only becomes slouchy at the back because of the strategically located increases. Win!


Photos taken during a recent trip to Cambridge - with bonus punt.

One interesting technique employed in this pattern is ALL THE TWISTED STITCHES. I happen to enjoy ktbl, so no big deal. I normally use twisted stitches for ribbing or other situations in which knits are alternating with purls. This pattern calls for twisted stitches for the entirety of the cable pattern, meaning there are lots of twisted knits next to each other. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, but I think it looks okay. Not entirely convinced it is necessary, but maybe it helps define the cables a bit more?



Rye:
I chose this pattern mainly to use some awesome wooden buttons I had in my stash. This was a pretty straightforward knit, though the pattern requires some interpretation. It is translated from Finnish, and some of the directions are not the clearest. (Designer admits as much on the pattern notes, so it wasn't a surprise.) In any case, it's a free pattern and it all worked out. I ended up doing 1x1 rib at the cuff / tops / thumbs because I wasn't paying attention to the directions at first - supposed to do some sort of garter rib. Oops. When I realised my mistake I couldn't be bothered to rip back, so I just went with it. Good enough. :P



As it turns out, I ran out of green yarn, so had to shorten the thumbs a bit and use different yarn for the straps. I dyed some yarn with tea a few years ago, and the brown complemented the green nicely, so I went with that. The only issue I have with the straps is that my buttons are too large for the buttonholes. I will probably keep the straps fastened most of the time, so it's not really a problem.



But the mitts are nice and long if I want to unfasten the straps.

Woot for another Stash Match set of projects! I haven't forgotten about this, and plan to allocate more patterns to stash, starting with my sock yarn. Look out for this and hopefully more frequent updates soon!

FO: Dragonflies

IT'S FINALLY FINISHED. ZOMGCAPSLOCKZOMG!



Pattern: Dragonflies by Joji Locatelli

Yarn: Brigantia Luxury Double Knit



Mods: Ribbing instead of garter stitch for neckband, cuffs, and bottom hem. More frequent decreases for sleeves, plus some winging it.

Notes:
Love this and it fits perfectly. I am so excited about it now that it is finished. It was a long-haul knit because I never found the lace intuitive and I had to be glued to the chart. I got bogged down in the middle, but it was all totally worth it. The only thing I would change if I made this again would be to make a larger neck opening. It fits fine, but I think it would be even nicer if it was a bit wider.

The pattern is very well done. Joji has really gone above and beyond to provide different charts for each size, which I really appreciated. No chart-fudging or guessing required. The lace opened up a bit with blocking, but would probably open up more if I blocked it aggressively. I don't think it needs it, though.



I also really enjoyed working with this yarn. I had never heard of it nor worked with it before I saw it at Ginger Twist on my knitting group's Yarn Crawl earlier this year, but I will definitely use it again. Reasonably priced, reasonably soft, reasonably sturdy-feeling, great colours. I will have to keep track of how it wears, but it doesn't feel like it will disintegrate immediately.

For those keeping track, this FO marks my 2nd sweater of the year, thereby fulfilling my goal to knit myself two sweaters this year. Woot. Maybe next year I'll make three? Haha.

FO: Song of the Sea

Confession: I love the idea of infinity scarves / long cowls, and I even designed one once, but I have never felt like I could pull off wearing them as well as the fashion-y types. That said, I keep queueing them, and I intend to make more, so I'd better learn how to wear them. Here is my most recent attempt - I think it went well.

Pattern: Song of the Sea by Louise Zass-Bangham

Yarn: Malabrigo Sock



Mods: More repeats of the large and medium waves, and skipped the small waves.



Notes:

This was super fun to knit. The lace pattern is reasonably intuitive and addictive, and the yarn is awesome. I am pleasantly surprised that it has held up so far - I felt sure that the mythic Malabrigo Sock would disintegrate the moment I put it on. Much sturdier than expected, though I will keep track of how it wears over time.



My one gripe is the rolly-ness of the thing. I had read that the edges tended to roll, so some people use different edgings and the designer re-issued the pattern with an alternate edging that I used. (Garter-rib type thing). The thing is, on mine it isn't the edges that roll so much as the lace. Maybe I didn't block it aggressively enough. I've taken to wearing it as in the above photo. You may not be able to tell, but it is basically folded along the circumference so that top and bottom edges are together. The fold sticking out in front is along the middle of the lace. If that makes any sense. Anyway, it impedes the rolling a bit.



Folding it over also makes it a bit more substantial. It is quite wide and so bound to become floppy when around the neck - floppiness is great, but can obscure the pretty lace. Having it slightly narrower and thicker due to folding means less floppiness. Win? I'm not sure. I still like it, though.



It also works well worn doubled. I'm sure I will wear this a lot as the weather cools down.

Stash Match tally: 1 FO!

FO: One for me, one for you

Sometimes knitters gravitate towards particular types of projects. There are people who knit sweaters exclusively, and others who only make accessories. Some knitters like to knit socks. Some knitters really don't like sock knitting, but they like wearing handknit socks. How is a knitter who doesn't like sock knitting going to get some handknit socks?

A few (Okay MANY months and I'm only getting around to sharing this now) months ago I participated in a Socks/Shawls swap to solve this problem. The sock knitters get to knit socks, the shawl knitters get to knit shawls, and then they swap.

I happen to like knitting socks. I also like making shawls. So when this swap came up, I volunteered to do whichever was required to make the numbers match up. In the end I was assigned to make socks, and partnered with someone who prefers shawls.

My partner was Jen (Phantominblue), and these are the socks I made.

Pattern: Earlybird Socks by Cassandra Dominick

Mods: I wrapped the yarn three times for the elongated stitches, rather than two.

These socks are toe-up with a heel-flap and gusset. I'd never done socks this way before, and I enjoyed it! Generally I avoid toe-up socks when knitting for myself, since standard short-row heels don't fit me well. This kind of heel is similar to the standard heel for cuff-down socks which fit me fine, so I'll definitely have to try it on socks for me some time.



Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt Merino Superwash 4-ply in the Tardis colourway.
Love this yarn. I will never get tired of OMA yarns. This is the first time I've made socks with this base. I generally go for wool-nylon blends for extra hardwearingness. I couldn't pass up with opportunity to make Jen some Tardis-coloured socks, though, knowing her penchant for Doctor Who and blue in general. In any case, the merino 4-ply is sturdy for a merino, so I'm hopeful it will wear well.



Here they are on her feet! Knitting socks for people at a distance is always interesting and a bit nerve-wracking, but this time it worked out quite well.

Jen made me a gorgeous Haruni lace shawl.



I love it! I've admired everyone else's Harunis ever since first finding it on Ravelry, but it never made it into my projects. It's so exciting to have one that I didn't even have to make.

This was a swapping win. It was a fun novelty to receive a handknit, since I sometimes give handknits as gifts but almost never receive them. And knowing the work that went into it I can appreciate it even more.

FO: Wee Manu

My husband's cousin had a baby girl this summer. Of course I had to knit something for her!



Pleas excuse lumpiness. I only have grown-up sized hangers and it is making it hang funny.

Pattern: Mini Manu by Kate Davies

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (red) and Rowan Pure Wool DK (purple)

Mods: i-cord edging in a contrasting colour. I had done my provisional cast-on with the purple yarn, and liked the colour combination a lot, so decided to finish it off with the same purple.



Notes:
This turned out super cute, if I do say so myself. For a baby sweater it was a bit of a slog, though. The pattern is ALL ABOUT the fiddly details. Mostly worth it: I-cord bind-offs are so tidy and i-cord button holes are amazing, but damn. Never-ending finishing.

There were some editing glitches with the pattern - nothing insurmountable, though. For example, the instructions state to make 5 buttonholes, even though the pattern photos show 3. I was blindly following the instructions and completely overlooked the pattern photos, so I did 5 buttonholes. Not that much of a problem - I actually had 4 buttons to use, and then decided that looked bad, so I used 3 buttons and sewed up with extra holes. Worked out in the end. Also at one point the pattern cut out and I had to wing it until the next step. (During the pocket instructions, if memory serves.) Again, worked out fine, but I was surprised to see that.

The best thing about knitting this was learning about Sunday Short Rows. If, like me, you have never felt totally comfortable with how your short rows look, give these a try. They are wrapless, practically invisible, and reasonably simple to execute. Brilliant. Will knit again.

I will think very hard before knitting teeny tiny wee pockets on something again, though. As cute as they are, I'm not sure it was worth the fiddliness.

Stash Match: Too Pretty for Socks

Earlier this year I copped out on on blog week by introducing my Stash Match project. And then entirely failed to follow through. Ooops. It has been very difficult coming to a decision about these skeins! Anyway, here is the first post dedicated to assigning patterns / projects to my Too Pretty For Socks category of stash.

For me the obvious choice for pretty sock-weight yarn is neckwear; however, I always feel like I have too much and should try something else. Out of curiosity, I gathered all the scarves/shawls/shawlettes/cowls I could find and put them together.



The resulting pile is smaller than I imagined! I'd say that is far from an excessive amount of neckwear and I could totally get away with knitting some more. Nonetheless, I would like to branch out to include other accessories, like hats and mitts.

The Searching

I began with my existing queue and favourites. I reasoned that my favourites list already included many awesome patterns I had picked out from the mass that is Ravelry. (I also added loads of things to both of these ists over the course of my searching. But anyway.)

Ravelry's advanced search  / pattern browser function is awesome, and I have used it extensively to prepare this post. Also saved searches on Ravelry have been very useful. Here are a few of my saved searches:

Searching my favourites on Ravelry for shawls, scarves, and cowls, in 4-ply and sportweight yields 102 results, although this includes some that I have already made, as well as some I never want to make but just think are pretty/impressive/awesome when someone else makes them. The same search in my queue yields 7 results.

A similar search for handwear in my favourites has 51 results, and in my queue, 7 results.

And for headwear: 21 results in favourites, and before starting this exercise there were NONE in my queue, but now there are 2 results.

Obviously I'm a serial-favouriter, but I don't think about making hats as much as everything else. As it turns out, I rarely wear hats in the winter here since I'm always expecting it to get colder and it hardly ever does. That doesn't mean I shouldn't wear hats, though - 4-ply hats might be the perfect solution.

The Stash/Yarn Mismatch

A problem I came up against is that my stash doesn't really match a lot of my favourited patterns. For example, my favourites show that I'm obsessed with striped shawls, especially since making Color Affection last year. I also love colourwork mittens. Both of these types of projects require two or more contrasting colours of yarn used together. Unfortunately, much of the yarn I have is too similar in colour-value - if used together, the stripes or colour motifs would get lost. Or if not, the yarns have different textures and I don't think they would work well together. I may yet raid some of my yarn in the Sock Yarn category to pair with this yarn in order to have stripes... or I may end up buying contrasting yarn to maximize stripe / colourwork potential. In the mean time, I am going to make my matches in solid colours for now, and if the stash augments / changes, I will re-evaluate. This decision cuts down my matching options considerably, but there are still lots of patterns to wade through.

Despite this mismatch, I've come up with some stash-pattern matches that I can get behind.

The Matching

As a reminder, here is the stash I am trying to match in this segment:



The following yarns are ordered from top to bottom in the photo.

Malabrigo Sock (402 m) (Stash link)
Song of the Sea, by Louise Zass-Bangham. Gorgeous lacy cowl that perfectly fits the yarn, even down to the colourway "aguas." I previously posted about starting this project, and it is going well so far.


Peek of Malabrigo waves

SweetGeorgia Cashluxe Fine (366 m) (Stash link)
Luna Viridis, by Hilary Smith Callis, 366 m. I'm intrigued by the shape/construction of this cowl. It is supposed to fit like a shawlette wrapped around the neck, except it's a closed loop so it won't come undone or slide off. The Cashluxe Fine is so incredibly soft that it has to be worn around my neck - not negotiable.

Natural Born Dyers BFL-Nylon High Twist Sock (370 m) (Stash link)
Catkin hat, by Kate Davies, (160 m). I adore the Catkin sweater, but I may never get around to making it, so I want to make the matching hat just in case. I think the colour and texture of this yarn suits this pattern well: a bit rustic, earthy semi-solid, not tightly spun. Hopefully the cables will show up, but the character of the yarn will also show through.



Rye / Ruista ranteen, by Hanne Katajamäki. I'll have yarn leftover, so I also plan to make matching mitts. This is a simple fingerless mitt pattern that will let me use some of my button stash, as well! The ones shown above I bought at Woolfest a few years ago and they complement the green yarn quite well. It may be a tight squeeze for yarn, but I can always shorten the mitts slightly. I am also considering making mitts that have the same cable from Catkin on them - shouldn't be too hard to modify some plain mitts.

Old Maiden Aunt Merino/Bamboo 4-ply (366 m) (Stash link)
I really struggled to come up with a pattern for this yarn for some reason. The yarn is soft and a bit fuzzy and I expect it will only become more fuzzy as it wears. I finally decided on the Ice Storm Mitts, by Louise Zass-Bangham, (125-151 m), and matching Ice Storm Snug Cowl, (209 m). I'm hopeful that the textured stitches will still look good when they get fuzzy. Yardage may be a bit tight; in addition, the patterns call for sport weight yarn, so I may have to do some adjustments for gauge.

Old Maiden Aunt Superwash Merino 4ply (366 m) (Stash link)
This is the greenest yarn ever and I absolutely love it. My love for this colour and this yarn has seriously impeded my decision-making. I have been caught in the trap of searching for the one perfect pattern, and nothing seems good enough. Finally, I've made a decision (subject to change, of course).


ZOMGGREEN!

The Cinnamon Stone Shawl, by verybusymonkey, (338-366 m), immediately intrigued me with its interesting textural lace. I keep coming back to it, and it think it would look great in this yarn - plenty of texture, but also plenty of stockinette to let the yarn shine by itself.

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock (411 m) (Stash link)
Arya Mitts, by Patti Waters, (343-457 m). I love the neat cables on these. The yarn seems quite sturdy, so I hope it will hold up well as mitts. This is on the variegated end of semi-solid, but I think the colours will show up in short bursts / flecks when knitted up, and so not interfere with the cables. At least, I hope so, but we'll see!

Fyberspates Sheila's Sock (365 m) (Stash link)
Flavia Hat, by Beth Kling (221-250 m). It's been a while since I did any truly complex cabling, and I feel now is the time. The yarn's semi-solid colours should play nicely with the intricate cabling on this hat. I should have some yarn leftover, so may make matching mitts. Perhaps something like Totally Cabled Long Fingerless Mitts by Linda Lehman, only not so long since I won't have enough yarn. Or maybe something based on the cables in the hat.

Shibui Sock (175 m) (Stash link)



Quilted Lattice Mitts, by Jennifer Elaine, (137-183 m). I know, I recently made a pair of socks in this exact stitch pattern. I am not bored of it, though, and it works really well with variegated yarns, so why not go for the mitts? I may change up the pattern a bit to make it more herringbone... or I may not.

So there you have it. Phase one of Stash Match is complete, and now my queue shows it. Allocating yarn to patterns has been difficult but somewhat liberating. It's nice to feel organised. Now, I need to get knitting if I'm ever going to start/finish any of these before I get distracted again.

Stay tuned for the next Stash Match post, in which I will look at my suitable-for-socks sockweight yarn.

WIP: Song of the Sea

O HAI INTERNET.

I have a WIP! Well, I have several WIPs now, but one of them will be an FO by Friday (jinx) and one of them looks the same as it did last time I posted.

Behold the humble beginnings of Song of the Sea by Louise Zass-Bangham, in Malabrigo Sock.



The colourway is Aguas. It is absolutely perfect and I adore it. (A bit greener than it appears here.) Very water-y, appropriately enough.



I haven't got far, but so far I really like the pattern. Maybe that's predictable of me with my love of wave motifs. This one is quite intuitive and a welcome change from lace that requires all my attention.

The keen-eyed / good-memoried among you may recall that this skein of Malabrigo Sock is part of my Stash Match challenge wherein I attempt to assign a pattern to most yarns in my stash. 1 skein matched: lots to go!