The Orchid Thief Shawl

What happens when you let a girl who is bad at taking pictures use a nice camera?  She still takes bad pictures.

But she feels fancy.

 

This is Orchid Thief by Ysolda Teague in a mystery hand-dyed yarn from Austin, Texas (I lost the ball band immediately after I got it).  Super well-written pattern like everything by Ysolda.

It was supposed to be a Christmas present for one of the mother-in-laws (yes, I am about to have two mother-in-laws), but I clearly didn't finish it in time.  Then she was out of town so I procrastinated until last night, when we were picking her up at the airport to finish it up and weave in the ends.

It is not nearly as long as I thought it would be.  But I still love the leaf motif (heh, that rhymes).  The edges ruffle.

They would probably ruffle more, but I ran out of yarn half way through my bind off (yikes!).  Because it was mystery yarn, had no idea what yardage I was working with.  I had to unpick my bound off stitches and do a yarnless bindoff instead.  It isn't a very stretchy edge, but I still think it makes for a pretty little scarf all the same....

...if you ignore the bad photography....

Shawls

I haven't shown a lot of finished items on here lately, but I swear they have been happening.  I've been thinking a lot about shawls the last couple weeks because I like to knit them for other people's special events.

For my Bestie's wedding a couple years ago, I made her a Euphrosyne shawl by Kirsten Kapur for her rehearsal dinner. She had told me she was going to carry lilies for her wedding. I thought if she was going to wear a white dress that a green shawl, the color of the stems, would be pretty.

I started with a skein of lace weight from A Verb For Keeping Warm. It's silk and merino, so light and squishy but a little bit shiny and very warm.  They hand-dye their yarn with natural ingredients, so the color really was "stem colored."

After about eighty million hours of knitting (and watching Bones on Netflix), I ended up with this.




I allowed it to block.  And I ended up with this:

These pictures were taken ages ago.  Sorry they are so dark!  Also, my blocking is lop-sided, isn't it?

 Yum!  Fun, easy to follow pattern, but lots of repeats of the same pattern over and over again.  Not sure if I will ever make another one of these.  But Bestie looked so happy trying it on!

So, now I am thinking about what kind of shawl I should make myself.  And should I make it in white or in a pretty color?  What weight of yarn?  What type of fiber?  Oh, the choices!

Spring Leaves

I started this project last summer, but finished it just in time for this one.

The Leaf Paneled Sweater by Karapetyan.  Not entirely what I pictured (it is in the book Runway knits, so maybe I thought it would make me look like a runway model?), but pretty darn close.  I like the peek-a-boo lace down the front, even if it makes it completely inappropriate as work apparel.

The only problem is that is is a smidge, just a scosche, bigger than I would like it to be.  I have flirted with the idea of getting it wet and throwing it in the dryer to shrink it.  I even went so far as to make a swatch and dry it.  But something about this mercerized cotton seems to be impervious to my dryer no matter how hot I make it (that said, I am sure if I ACCIDENTALLY threw it in the dryer, it would come out barbie-sized just to spite me).

I've decided the only solution is to eat more cookies and/or grow a larger bust.  I think these are wise, practical plans.

Silk and Wool

I made another Travelling Woman Shawl.  I kind of love this pattern.  It is a pretty easy lace pattern and takes very little yarn, even with an extra repeat thrown in to make it a little larger.

I blocked it out it the little space in my room.  Figured it wasn't yet appropriate to start blocking projects in the middle of the living room.  Will introduce the roommie to my woolie craziness a little at a time. 

An close-up of the stitch pattern.  I made it from the silk/merino yarn I got in Dublin.

It is very light and airy.  Not sure how to wear it or what to wear it with.  Suggestions?