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.

Wayworn Hat from Interweave Knits Holiday 2017 in Prairie Spun DK

I have made a second pattern from the Interweave Knits Holiday 2017 magazine, and there are more patterns in there that interest me.  It's a great accessories magazine.

This is the Wayworn Cap by Meghan Huber.  My yarn is Brown Sheep Company's Prairie Spun Dk in the color rain cloud.  It's a blue-leaning pale heather gray.  This is a great hat pattern for one skein of dk yarn.

You can't see the texture very well in my photos, but there are cables that lay very flat, so this is not a yarn hog and lays flat against the head.

I love the soft gray color and the deep ribbed brim!

Cable and Seed Knee Socks from Interweave Knits Holiday 2017 magazine in HiKoo Simplicity

My big plan here was to use my fireplace for a backdrop, to elevate the awkward sock selfie.  I'm not sure it worked, but oh well.  Here are my cozy new socks:

This pattern is from the Interweave Knits Holiday 2017 magazine.  I am a long-time subscriber to Interweave Knits, but these holiday magazines are not included, so I picked this up at my local JoAnns.  

Here is the photo from the magazine.  They are called the Cable and Seed Knee Socks, but they only go a bit past mid-calf on the model.  I don't have much use for knee socks, except for maybe under knee-high boots, but these aren't long enough to peek out at the top and be all cozy, so I modified them to be a more standard shape, using the construction and pretty cable and seed pattern.

I gave them a nice, deep ribbed cuff, which I like to turn down and wear them around the house like slippers.  The yarn is HiKoo Simplicity, a superwash merino, acrylic, and nylon blend.  Great for cozy socks!  I didn't mention that these socks call for worsted weight yarn.  Mine is more dk weight, so I went down a needle size.  I like the snugger fit.  I don't care for floppy socks!

I hope you are having a great weekend!  I did some knitting while watching tv last night, and I am thinking some sewing is in order later on today.

Cascade Falls Cardigan knit in Rowan Merino dk

Ever since I finished my Georgetown Cardigan in light gray, I have wanted a similar open cardigan in dark gray, because one gray open cardigan is never nearly enough!

I considered designing my perfect cardigan - set-in sleeves, open front, longish length, and a pretty cable right at the opening.  Then, after an exhaustive Ravelry search of the pattern options already out there, I found exactly what I was looking for:  Cascade Falls by Amanda Scheuzger.

My cardigan is very close to the original pattern.  I just changed the construction a bit.  It is designed nearly seamlessly, with the body worked bottom-up in one piece, and the sleeves picked up and knit down.  With this heavy merino dk yarn, though, I wanted the strength of seams to help it keep its shape, so I knit this in pieces and sewed them together.  My sleeves are, as always, several inches longer than the design.  After blocking, they grew even more in length, so now I have the unusual (for me) luxury of fold-up cuffs!

The gorgeous, soft yarn is Rowan Super Fine Merino dk, which appears to be discontinued.  That is a crying shame as this is a lovely mid-weight merino.  Yes, I am sure it will pill.  Most soft yarns do.  However, I will be ready with my de-pill-er, and it is an inconvenience I can live with for next-to-skin softness.

You can still find Rowan Merino dk at various online shops, but I can't find this color, Suit, anywhere.

Estonia in Ewe2Yarn Iceberg

Hello!  We have less than one week left until we officially leave Florida.  Things are, of course, a bit nutso here, but very exciting, too.  I finished this sweater a few weeks ago and am loving how soft and cozy it is.  

The pattern is Estonia by Vera Sanon.  It is a basic top-down raglan (no more of those for me in cardigan form, but a pullover is ok) in stockinette stitch.  The interesting detail is the Estonian Braid at the neckline.  The pattern also uses this stitch for the cuffs and hem, but I used simple 1x1 rib for those areas.

The fit of this is great - form-fitting but not tight.  The sample is shown in a semi-solid tonal yarn, so that is what I used, although it does look more variegated than I expected.  My yarn is Ewe2Yarn  100% merino in a colorway called "Iceberg."

Here is a better look at the Estonian Braid neckline.  It was less fiddly to knit than I expected.

New Knitting Pattern in Knitty - Recital

Sorry I have been away for a while.  It turns out we are moving up the east coast as soon as school is over, and I quickly became overwhelmed with all the preparations to sell the house and move our stuff.  This is for the most part, a very good move.  Hubs has a great new job, and we are moving very close to all of my family, but we have definitely settled into Florida after almost 7 years, and we will miss our friends, our perfect little neighborhood, our church, and being so close to my in-laws and the BEACH 

There has been precious little crafting going on - a little knitting on one project and no sewing except for some things for my church.  My sewing machines have been unceremoniously placed in a closet for house showings.  Much of my yarn stash has been placed in a box and moved to storage, to declutter for above-mentioned house showings.  Most destructive of all to the creative juices has just been the all-consuming nature of preparing for the move.  Even now, with our current house under contract (YEA!!) and more free time as I just wait around for the move date, I am hesitant to get things out and start making messes again.

In the midst of this excitement, my second knitting pattern for Knitty was published, Recital.  Here it is on Ravelry.  My plan had been to have two other knitting patterns up on Ravelry before the release date, but, well, that just didn't happen.  Now would be a good time to finish up those patterns, though.  It makes no mess to type up instructions!

I love this little cowl-neck tee.  The yarn is Shibui Knits Staccato, a luxurious merino/silk blend.  It is perfect for these spring days when you are ready for short sleeves but want a little sweater warmth.  The construction is really fun, too.  The back is knit normally, bottom-up, but the front is worked from side to side, and the sleeves are picked up and knit down - no sewing in sleeves!  Possibly best of all, being a Knitty pattern, the instructions are free!  :-)  I hope you enjoy.

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!

Snoqualmie Cardigan by Brooklyn Tweed

Ok you get exactly ONE modeled photo of this because the day I took it, it was about 100 degrees out.  We will not discuss why I made a big wool, cabled sweater in summer in Florida.  Some things are better left un-analyzed.  

I actually started this when I stumbled across a knit-along started by Closet Case Files designer Heather.  My plan was to finally make some CCF Ginger Jeans (the low-rise version, of course, because high-rise pants are not welcome here) to wear with it, and I still plan to, but it hasn't happened yet.

The pattern is Snoqualmie by Michele Wang for Brooklyn Tweed.  I would have loved to use the Brooklyn Tweed yarn (like I did for my Cusp) but it so wasn't in the yarn budget, so I went with EcoWool, which turned out to be an excellent substitute.  The wood buttons are from my local JoAnn Fabrics.

I can't wait for fall (which should arrive here in about four more months) so I can use this as my throw-it-on coat.

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.