Category Archives: Shawls

FO Friday: Antarktis

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My Antarktis is done, blocked and photographed! A minor miracle considering I am also nursing a bottomless pit who gains 2 oz a day and keeping my house (somewhat) clean.

Pattern: Antarktis by Janina Kallio

Yarn: KnitCircus Trampoline in the Needle in a Haystack impressionist gradient

Needles: US 7

I tried to use my blocking wires from Christmas and I confess that I was rushing due to crying children. So this is not blocked the best. But I got the eyelets to open up just a enough and got the shawl to a nice wearable size.

I really liked this pattern. It was well written and the different sections really broke it up into manageable pieces. And the stitch counts REALLY helped this sleep deprived momma make sure she was not veering off course to far. I found myself reaching for this project every time I had a free moment or two. And the rows really never got so long that they were interminable.

I really have the shawl itch and I need to cast on some sort of garter gorgeousness to fill this project hole that just opened up!

Happy Knitting!!

Antarktis Update

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This shawl was my Mother’s Day cast on for 2018. It’s the Antarktis by Janina Kallio in KnitCircus Trampoline base in the Needle in Haystack impressionist gradient.

I’m in the last section of lace and after that it’s just a lace border and BAM I’m done! I’m on track to have enough yarn to finish this project as written. Which is super exciting to get a full skein out of my stash.

I have an almost four week old baby. So I hear you ask, how could I possibly be getting any knitting done? This project has seen some action mostly because my house is has been full of guests willing to hold PB while I cook or knit. I’m grateful for the knitting time but I’m kinda also getting itchy about getting my house back to myself. I guess this world is all about balance and choices, lol. Maybe when all the guests are gone I will miss my knitting time?

In the  meantime…I’m going to look forward to a beautiful finished shawl! Happy Knitting!!

Mother’s Day Cast On

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In addition to a nice Mother’s Day celebration, Jellybean and the Hubby gave me a little breathing space to knit!

I had pulled my skein of KnitCircus Trampoline in the Needle in a Haystack impressionist gradient from my stash. I had a TON of pattern indecision on this one. I wanted a single skein shawl to show off the hand painted yarn but I also needed it be to be simple and beautiful. I finally settled on Antarktis by Janina Kallio. Several other knitters have used similar Knitcircus yarns for this pattern with great results!

In a single day I managed to get through four pattern sections! This pattern uses garter sections, eyelet stripes and eyelet mesh for a beautiful asymmetric triangle shape. Given the state of my brain, I went ahead and threaded in a lifeline after the eyelet lace section…just in case. And then I had Jellybean take a photo with me and my Mother’s Day project for posterity.

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He really needed the skeleton army guy with the ax to be in the photo too. Please excuse the crazed look on my face I was trying not to bust up laughing. But he loves “mommy’s knitting” and this is definitely one memory I won’t forget!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Mother-Of-All Shawl

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This is one of the last project/yarn combos I put together waaaay back in August to prepare for the Pigskin Party KAL. This is the MOA Shawl by Nick Davis using my MJ Yarns Simple Sock in the Mice and Men color.

I haven’t been getting a lot of knitting time lately and I’ve gotten in a bit of funk. Nothing in my WIPs *sounded* like fun. So I started this baby on annual personal day off of work to celebrate my birthday.

I’m two full repeats into the very easy pattern. I’m finding the variegated yarn is playing nicely with the pattern. This yarn will need a good blocking as this project just likes to kink back on itself like CRAZY! You see my fingers in the  photo because that’s the only way I could showcase the pattern!

Honestly I don’t know what I will wear this shawl with as my closet leans green and blue. But it’s just so pretty I’ll have to find something. Or else it will be my snoodling up shawl at my bedside!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Be Simple Shawl

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I finished my Jay Jay shawl last week and my fingers were still itching for some shawl knitting. In my project bin of prepped projects I had the yarn caked for the Be Simple Variations by Carolyn Glauz-Todrank. So I started my needles clicking and I have this…

This is some 3+ year old stash of Cloudlover Yarn and Fiber sock yarn. It’s superwash Merino and nylon blend in their Copacabana colorway. It’s a highly variegated teal, orange, brown and purple. I have to be honest…..I’m not loving the yarn and pattern combo. I love the intuitiveness of the pattern. I just hate the colors as a shawl to wear around my face. They just aren’t me. I am thinking this yarn would be better served as socks that go inside shoes….

I have put this yarn into hibernation/time out to think about what I want to do. Any thoughts from the viewers?

FO Friday: Jay Jay Shawl

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I have another lighting quick finish. I think garter stitch one/two skein projects are just my jam right now. Here is the Jay Jay shawl in all her glory!

Pattern: Jay Jay by Francesca Caricato

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Sunseeker in Silver

Needle: US 6

Mods: To maximize yarn in the last section I omitted two garter ridges and added one extra eyelet row. This made it so that I had just a few yards of  yarn left.

This pattern was intuitive and addictive. It made great car knitting too! The yarn I wasn’t so in love with. It’s a DK weight yarn made of cotton, acrylic and metallic thread. It’s very pretty but not very soft or warm. I bought this back in 2013 in a yarn shop because it was pretty and I didn’t know any better at that level of my knitting. This yarn was knit and frogged out of two other shawls before it became Jay Jay. In the end I’m happy with it and very happy it’s out of my stash.

I think this will be a gift for my mother in law. She will appreciate the beauty and in her “season of life” like the fact that it’s not overly warm. Well and with cotton and acrylic I know she won’t felt or shrink it, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Jay Jay Shawl

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After finishing Reyna I knew I needed another shawl on the needles. I pawed through my bag of prepped projects and pulled out the Jay Jay Shawl by Francesca Caricato. This is a DK weight shawl with garter and eyelets. My yarn was wound, pattern printed and needles ready to go so I cast on.


Jellybean had a doctors appointment and his flu shot which resulted in a very tired and grumpy three year old. He puppy dog eyed me and convinced me to stay home and snuggle him instead of going to daycare/work. And I managed to get a good chunk of the shawl started!

It’s crescent shaped and gorgeous. The yarn is some REALLY old stash that is Cascade Yarns Sunseeker. It’s grey with a fine thread of sparkle running though. It’s not the softest yarn but oh is it pretty!! I’ve got to two skeins and and I plan to use as much as possible. This might be my next obsession!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Reyna 

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My Reyna is done and here she is in all her glory!

Pattern: Reyna by Noora Laivola

Needles: US 4

Yarn: Knit Picks Hawthorn Speckle in the Cosmic Speckle Colorway (I used almost an entire skein: 93 grams/332 yards)

Mods: I omitted the very last rows of eyelets to conserve yarn

I knit this project in basically a week or 7 days of active knitting. It FLEW off my needles and I just don’t understand/comprehend how obsessed with this project I was.

I was feeling so proud that I hadn’t made any mistakes during the knitting….and then hubris got me. I was on the second-to-last eyelet row and my eyelets got out of alignment. I had missed one teensy tiny stitch. So I carefully tinked back half a row and fixed it (took me 30 minutes). I then proceeded to re-knit that row and then almost the whole last row of eyelets and that knitter niggling started in my brain. I was definitely not going to have enough yarn. So I tinked back two and a half LONG rows to where I would omit the last RS and WS eyelet rows and the started the garter. I was basically back to where I had tinked back to the first time and this took me an hour. But I managed to finish the garter and bind off with just a small nugget of yarn to tuck into my memory blanket!

I washed and blocked this in just under two hours thanks to the late September Kansas heatwave and my husband’s fan. I don’t have blocking wires and you can see where I placed my pins. But I don’t care…it’s all mine now! I cannot wait for fall to when I can wear this beauty out and about! This project really has kicked my knitting mojo into high gear. On to the next thing!!!

Happy Knitting!

WIP Wednesday: Reyna

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It’s confession time….I’m ADDICTED to this project. My Reyna is now over halfway done!

I literally wake up in the middle of the night and seriously consider knitting on this project. I’ve been knitting during meetings, over my lunch, every spare minute I’m not in charge of Jellybean. The pattern is just so intuitive and the fact that the pattern has neat little boxes to tick off your row progress is heaven. I just can’t wait to cross off more squares! I haven’t knit a stitch on anything else since I cast this on.

And *knock on wood* I haven’t made any serious mistakes that I couldn’t fix. All my eyelets are lining up and my center spine is straight! I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe I can finish this by Friday…..we’ll see!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Reyna

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During my tomato madness last weekend I decided to pull a project from my Pigskin Party KAL prep. I cast on for the Reyna Shawl by Noora Laivola.

I had some beautiful speckled Hawthorn Speckle Handpaint in the Cosmic Speckle in my stash. This yarn told me it needed to be something squishy in garter stitch.  I’m loving how the pops of color are popping up!

This pattern is just so amazing. It’s a free pattern and has been knit over 5,000 times. I’m probably the last person on Ravelry to stumble on this one, lol. The pattern fits on one page, it’s well written, and you guys it has a row tracker check box thingy! With as much as I have to pick up and put down my knitting this is a life saver! I completed the cast on, one garter section and one lace section in one sitting.

I can quickly feel this project becoming addicting!! This yarn is just so yummy I can’t wait to see the finished product. I was thinking this was going to go into the gift box…but I may not be able to part with it!!

Happy Knitting!!