Knucks!

As a law student, I try to live frugally.   We keep our house really cold.   I’m also up late typing or studying a lot, and last winter I kept wishing for fingerless gloves to wear while typing.

Pattern:  Knucks, Knitty, Summer 2006
Yarn:  Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed, about half a skein of blue and less than a quarter of a skein of green.

I should have made these earlier!  They are exactly what I wanted and I can still type quite easily with them on.

For the embroidery, I did very simple tendril designs, so they match the Flora I’m almost done with.  I think the simple rustic design works well with the rustic yarn.

I’m sure I’ll get a TON of use out of these this winter!

Bat Shawl Errata

It’s that time of year again!  Halloween is coming up, and when better to make a Bat Shawl?

Sadly, there are errors in the published pattern.  The triangular “body” of the shawl is correct, but there is a problem with the border.  Here are the corrections, in bold:

Row 7 should have 341 sts not 355.

Row 9: K1, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k1, work row 9 of Chart C 10 times, k2, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, pass marker, k1, pass marker, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k1, work row 9 of Chart D 10 times, k2, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, k1.

Rows 11 and 13 stay the same

Row 15: K1, yo, k1, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, work row 15 of Chart C 10 times, k1, yo, ssk, k5, yo, k1, yo, pass marker, k1, pass marker, yo, k1, yo, k4, k2tog, yo, work row 15 of Chart D 10 times, k1, yo, ssk, k4, yo, k1, yo, k1.

Row 17: See revised chart.

Rows 19-25 stay the same

Row 27: K1, yo, k8, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, k4, work row 27 of Chart C 10 times, k2, k2tog, k10, yo, pass marker, yo, k10, ssk, k1, work row 27 of Chart D 10 times, k5, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k8, yo, k1.

Row 29: K1, yo, k9, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, k5, work row 29 of Chart C 10 times, k1, k2tog, k11, yo, pass marker, yo, k11, ssk, k2, work row 29 of Chart D 10 times, k4, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k9, yo, k1.

Here are the revised charts:

Chart C:

Chart D:

I’m sorry for the problems, and I hope it works out now!

Seraphim

Happy dance!

Seraphim is done!

Pattern:  Seraphim by Miriam Felton
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock, Tiziano Red, approx 1.5 skeins

I love how it turned out!

Not that I’m any good at wearing shawls.

It’s the largest shawl I’ve ever made at just a touch over 80 inches across the top.

My love of Malabrigo Sock as a lace yarn continues unabated. I love how crisp the stitches look, and how the shawls turn out warm yet light.

I chose this color because the YOs before the feathers start remind me of sparks drifting up from a campfire, so I had intended this to be my Fire entry for project spectrum. I missed the deadline, but oh well.

I don’t usually wear this color, I’m more drawn to cool colors. Also, this is my mom’s favorite color, so stuff this color feels like it should be hers rather than mine. It looks good on me too though, I think. And as a bonus, I have a skein and a half of this color left over so I can make something for her!

Thank you to Miriam Felton for a beautiful and well-written pattern!

Eeek, steek!

I have a bunch of finished objects to show you in the next week or so, but first I’ll show you yet another new thing I’ve started.

I’ve been meaning to make Eunny Jang’s Deep V Argyle Vest for awhile, and it seemed like a good opportunity to use my newfound comfort with stranded knitting.

So I did a swatch in the round…

crocheted the steek…

and cut it.

Despite my fears, it did not turn to dust as soon as I cut it. I think I proved to myself that it can work. I can do this!

Look Ma, both hands!

Huzzah!  I can knit with two colors!

Let me explain.

I finished the knitting on my Knucks, and the plan was to embroider them. But embroider them with what? So I decided to knit a matching hat, because I had plenty of extra yarn, and so the hat could inspire the theme for the embroidery.  I’m a sucker for botanical patterns, so I chose Flora. I was nervous about doing stranded knitting, because my last attempt was a year and a half ago with Blue Light Special. I’d done it before, very slowly, with some Icelandic sweaters in college. But I’ve really been meaning to get better at doing it with one color in each hand so it goes faster. Might as well give it another try!

It’s working! Huzzah! I’m finding it a LOT easier to hold the yarn in my left hand now that I know how to crochet. What stranded project should I try next?

Poor Planning

I’m only about 18 rows from the end of Seraphim, but each row now has approximately eleventy-thousand stitches.  I’ve hit the wall.

Last night, on a whim, I decided to start knucks.  “What a fun, fast project!” I thought. And yeah, the knitting is fun.

I think the weaving in of 20+ ends will be less fun. D’oh!