Powdersnow Shawl by Lisa Hannes in Shibui Staccato

 This gorgeous little bit of knitting delight is the Powdersnow Shawl by Lisa Hannes.  I don't knit as many shawls as I used to a few years ago (because how many little shawls does a girl really need?) but this one has been calling to me for a couple of years.

The yarn I used for this design is Shibui Staccato, the same yarn I used for my Knitty Design Recital.  I love the softness and drape of this merino/silk yarn.  It also blocks beautifully.  My color of choice this time was "suit."

Here you can see the three distinct textured sections - a knit/purl textured stitch, some cables, and a simple ribbed edge.  Gorgeous simplicity.

The photo below is a pretty good representation of the color - a little lighter than a true navy.

   This has been my take-with-me knitting for a few months now.  I am excited to pick out another small project for that purpose.  Maybe some socks!  I have definitely come around to the call of sock knitting since I have discovered my love of wearing them.

I attempted to take some style shots, but my timer always makes for blurry photos, and the dark color was causing the same problem as black - no detail visible.

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.

Spindrift Shawl by Helen Stewart (with modifications)

I have so many projects to share!  I took pictures of 5 other things at the same time as this, and I have a couple more that I still need to photograph.  I've been on a roll! :-)

This is the Spindrift Shawl by Helen Stewart.  I was really drawn to the simplicity of this pattern.  Plus, it was free when you sign up for some shawl workshop emails from her, so bonus!  I can't say I learned a bunch of new things from the emails, but I can see how they would be helpful for newer knitters, and again... they are free!

I knew I wanted to use a beautiful sky-blue skein of Anzula Cricket that I had picked up at a local yarn shop, but there wasn't enough for a whole project.  I went shopping at Roxy's Yarns, a new store in Tampa, for something to coordinate, and I settled on a pale gray semi-solid from The Fiber Seed.  I had heard of The Fiber Seed before, but I didn't know that the dyer lives in Tampa!

 I like how the dk-weight blue pops out a bit from the fingering-weight gray.  This was a very relaxing knit, which is nice sometimes.  My Ravelry project page is here, and I included more info on how I modified the pattern for two colors, if you are interested.

On the Moors with Jane Eyre Shawl by The Sampler Girl + Me Made May 4 and 5

This was such a fun little knitting project.  It is called MKAL On the Moors with Jane Eyre and is designed by Tanya of The Sampler Girl.  The name is a bit of a mouthful, and if you are unfamiliar, MKAL stands for mystery knit along.  The pattern was released in four separate sections over five weeks.  I didn't see the finished shawl until I finished mine.  Very fun, but you definitely have to know you like the designer to commit to that format. :-)

The yarn is a discontinued Noro that is mostly cotton and silk.  I had three balls and it used up almost all of the yardage.

Aaaand as usual with shawls, this is how I actually wear it - wrapped around my neck like a big ol' scarf.

I am happy to report that this is my Me Made May outfit today, day 5.
Here is the skirt and here is the top.

This was yesterday, day 4.  I am wearing my Bonbon Shawlette.

Day 3, I totally failed and forgot to get all me-made up before going for my weekly school library volunteer gig.  I never officially signed up on Zo's blog anyway...

Jujuy by Joji Locatelli

Ok, I have a lot of photos of this little shawl, but bear with me!  Anyway, this is the Jujuy by Joji Locatelli, the same designer of my recent Spectrum (and from the same collection).  I bought the yarn for this with this pale pink jacket, a gift, in mind.

Here, you can get an idea of the eyelet wedges between the stripes.  This is a deceptively simple design.  I also really like the squishy garter stitch border.  It is extra squishy on mine since my pink yarn was more dk weight and the grays are fingering.

The yarns are Amano Yarns Ayni in (sunflower seed" and "qauartz gray" and Mayu in "exotic bloom".

Here is my Ravelry page.

Spectrum by Joji Locatelli

I spent the last month furiously sewing and knitting gifts.  Not so much that I got overwhelmed and regretful of my plans, but enough to keep me busy with less crafting time for myself.  I have photos of some of those creations, but first, I want to show my most recent knit for myself!

This is Spectrum by Joji Locatelli.  I cast this off the needles two days ago, blocked it that night, and wore it yesterday.  I love the bold chevron stripes on this, but I chose low contrast colors, hoping this would be good to wear on warmer days.  Since it was in the 80s yesterday, it passed the test.

 The yarn is Bernat Cotton-ish, which I got at JoAnn's.  I have so many wool shawl/scarfs, and I wanted to try one in a cotton blend.

Not a bad job by my 6-year-old photographer.  I have found that paying $1 per photo shoot greatly improves their conscientiousness in the matter.

I cast on my next project for myself right away - Jujuy from the same collection by Joji.  I really need to get back to the second sleeve for my other son's sweater.  Yep, I wrapped up a sweater with one sleeve for him.  Sorry, Baby, that's life with a mom-knitter.