Rakke by Brooklyn Tweed - both versions!

Rakke is a Brooklyn Tweed pattern with two size options - a wider shawl shape in fingering weight yarn and a longer, narrower scarf shape in worsted weight yarn.  Surprisingly (or not surprisingly perhaps), I knit both.

The first version I knit is the shawl version.  I used a very specially skein of yarn that my parents brought me from a trip to Scotland.  It is quite "toothy" as they say, not a super soft merino, and perfect for this design.  It really blocked out so nicely to show off the lace.

Y'all know how I love to do a 2-for-1 photo shoot.  Here is glimpse of my furry backpack, too.

The curved back of my giant sectional is the perfect spot to photograph my shawls - I'm surprised they didn't use that as a selling point when we were shopping... :-)

I made the second version of this pattern not long after the first.  I was visiting my family in Delaware and went to a fantastic local yarn shop - Sea Needles.  It is amazing what they can pack into a sweet little shop, and there is an equally great selection of needlepoint/cross stitch type crafty things there.

I bought 2 skeins of Madelinetosh Vintage in the mineral color, which wasn't quite enough yardage, so I made my scarf one lace repeat narrower and modified the lace chart to end a bit shorter than the pattern.  Mineral is not on the website's list of colors, which I assume means it is discontinued, and that is a true crying shame.  This color is GORGEOUS!!  It is a perfect match to my most recent Arenal top.  Side note:  this fabric is amazing.  This top has been in heavy wardrobe rotation, already going through the washer and dryer many times, and it looks like new.  I hate to admit it, but that polyester was popular in the 70s for a reason.  I'm seriously considering buying some of the other blue color.

Now this yarn is 100% washable merino, and you can see the difference.  It just does not hold the aggressive lace blocking as well as the first yarn.  It is still lovely (and softer), but the bottom edge is already starting to roll a bit.

I hope you enjoyed the double feature.  I am off to clean this disaster of a house.  Enjoy your Monday everyone!

Clockwork in Brioche by Stephen West knit in Ewe2Yarns

This is Clockwork in Brioche by Stephen West.  This is my first brioche stitch project ever and can I just say - so easy!  If you can knit, purl, knit 2 together, and yarnover, you can knit brioche.  Detailed instructions are included in this pattern.

I think many knitters who have heard of Stephen West's designs associate him with kind of crazy shawls.  True, he has a unique style, but many of his designs are very wearable.  I am waiting for the perfect yarn combo to jump out at me for a Daybreak.

The yarn for this project is almost all from Ewe2yarn on Etsy.  I am a big fan of her nature-inspired hand-dyed yarns.  They are mostly semi-solids, which I like.  The colors I used are Haystack (the golden yellow), Buckwheat (brown), and a bit of leftover Herb Garden from my Featherweight Cardigan is in the border.  The white is leftover alpaca from this hat.  I gave that hat away to a very knit-worthy 4-year-old niece who couldn't stop admiring it last year.  I kind of want to make myself another one now.  It is a great hat!  

As usual, let's close with a shot of how I actually wear this shawl.  I generally knit long skinny shawls that I wear more like scarves.  I am also a big fan of a safety pin or even a decorative pin to keep things in place.  

I am off to do a little serger sewing.  I'm still getting used to my serger and coverstitch machines that I received for Christmas presents.  Can't wait to share a couple of things I have made using them.  I hope everyone is have a relaxing, crafty weekend!

Lilli Pilli in Primrose Yarn Co Hand Dyed Yarns

I found Primrose Yarn Co a while ago when I was searching for a hand-dyed yarn alternative to Voolenvine, since it's pretty much impossible to get any of that yarn anymore.  I am so glad I discovered Primrose.  This stuff is gorgeous!  My three colors here are Vixen (pink), Angry Ocean (multi), and Titan (navy).  It's like they were made for each other!

The pattern is a wrap called Lilli Pilli, and it is very popular.  There are over 1100 versions of it on Ravelry.  The shape is a long parallelogram, which it turns out is really easy to wear.  The sections of garter stitch stripes and lace are really beautiful together.

This thing is huge, but it is lightweight, so it has been a great layer for those days when I know I'll be in excessive air conditioning.

The lace pattern is very pretty.  I like the bold diamond pattern.

 I tried to get a good pic of the whole thing.  This is the best I could do. :-)

This is definitely my favorite knitted wrap-y thing to date.  It is sooooo pretty and I don't feel like the crazy knitting lady like I do with some shawls.  I am wearing it with my Vogue 1440 blouse and purchased RTW pants.

Oak Grove Mitts by Alana Dakos and Simple Sideways Scarf

I don't remember exactly what the yarn is called but I used 3 skeins of hand-dyed Alpaca that I got at the Pennsylvania Farm Show last winter.  I saw that yarn amid all the cows and crafts and pretty much ran over to get some.

 The mitts are the Oak Grove Mitts by Alana Dakos (Never Not Knitting).

 The scarf is made-up by me.  It started out as a crescent shaped shawl with increases worked evenly throughout, but it turned out very long and skinny, so a scarf it wanted to be!  It is stockinette stitch with a simple applied border (worked sideways) from Nicky Epstein's Knitting On The Edge.