Category Archives: Shawls

Cast On: Vamping

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I have had this pack of mini skeins in my stash for awhile now and it keeps popping up in my mind. It’s some Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland yarns Cheshire Cat in the Mad Tea Party colorway. There are five mini skeins in a rainbow-ish kind of fade. I picked this pack up at a yarn store closing and I have been hoarding it. Well, last week I got a yarn newsletter that highlighted the Vamping pattern from Jennifer Dassau. And I rushed to my stash to grab my yarn and needles..

I was so lost in the wool fumes that I hand wound the first mini and cast on right then and there. It was like 9:45 pm and my brain was a little foggy so the cast on took three attempts. But I think I’m on track now….I hope….

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: MOA Shawl

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Drum roll please, my MOA shawl is blocked and ready for her close up!

Pattern: MOA (Mother-of-All) Shawl by Nick Davis

Yarn: MJ Yarns Simple Sock in the Mice and Men color

Needles: US 7

Mods: Had to alter the bind off to avoid yarn chicken. I worked rows 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19 and 20. And I made it with less than 3 yards!

This yarn base is made with 75% Corriedale Yarn and 25% nylon. It’s definitely not a merino like soft yarn. It has some tooth to it and I wouldn’t necessarily want a full sweater of this next to my skin…personally. But this yarn is a light fingering and just blocks and drapes BEAUTIFULLY.

Above is a close up of my modified bind off to account for that fact that I didn’t have the full 440 yards of yarn the pattern requests. Based on weight I had about 350 yards of yarn and I put all but 3 yard of that into this shawl. But I think modifications work and it really blends with the overall aesthetic of the shawl.

This really did block out bigger like I had hoped. As I talked about earlier I’m finding the one skein shawls, especially those triangle shaped, to be harder to style, wear and keep on all day long.  I’m finding my taste shifting to toward two and three skein projects these days. But I started this in 2017 before I made that pivot so I’m going to give myself a little grace here.

I’m glad to finish a long languishing WIP and get a new shawl for my drawer. The pattern was easy and intuitive and I may well consider making it again but next time with two skeins worth of yarn instead of one and really go big with it. Now on to my next knitting adventure!

Happy Knitting

Blocking MOA

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My MOA shawl is finished and drying nicely on my alphabet blocking mats. Note: These were a good idea pre-kids. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep their mitts off of the pieces when they are holding knitwear. But I digress!

As predicted I ended up playing yarn chicken and had to drastically alter the bind off section. I need to move my notes from the paper in my project bag and get them up on Ravelry. Theoretically it could help someone else…and make it less likely I will remember months or years down the road. And when I blocked it I used my blocking wires and really stretched this as much as possible to make the shawl as big as possible. I’m finding that one skein shawlettes, while beautiful, are just too small to style and keep on during the day.

I did find a SINGLE dropped stitch in my work AGAIN. That happened on my Kindness KAL 2019 shawl, grr. But I laddered it back to a good place and then use some waste yarn to secure it in place. It’s somewhere in the photo above but even I can’t see it anymore when I look at the right side of the work. I can’t wait for this to be dry and get some FO photos!

Happy Knitting!!

MOA Shawl Progress

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I made the decision to reboot my MOA shawl after unearthing it from my UFO bin. And I seem to be making good progress on it. I think I’m about to start my last regular body pattern repeat before starting the bind off section.

I’m really finding myself drawn to the yellow and brown combination. The subtle variegation really shows up well in garter, stockinette and the eyelets. Admittedly the eyelets really could benefit from blocking. But that will come in time.

I may be playing a tiny bit of yarn chicken as I have 350 yards of my MJ Yarns Simple Sock and the pattern calls for closer to 400. But I think there are some stockinette sections I can shorten to conserve yarn if I start to run out. Do you think this ball will last me?

Happy Knitting!!

MOA Shawl Rebooted

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I had one project that made it through the Finish or Frog It round last week. And that was my MOA shawl. Those long time readers may or may not remember that I cast this one in November of 2017 and then it got cast carelessly aside so that I could pursue Pigskin Party glory. (Note: I won nothing in that particular KAL that year!)

I so hastily set this project aside that I left in the MIDDLE OF A ROW! I quite literally never let myself do that. But apparently it was a thing for me in 2017. But past Rachelle was kind to current Rachelle and I had been making tic marks on a printed pattern that I left in the project bag. I quickly ascertained what row I should be on and knit the rest of the tow. But seriously guys….I had like 25/26 stitches left in 2017…why didn’t I finish that???

Nevertheless, I shall persist. This is quite possibly going to be my lunchtime/conference call knitting this month. I’d really like to see if I can turn this into a FO and be ready for fall. These nice golden brown neutral colors should be a nice addition to my wardrobe. Presumably this is why I bought this yarn, lol

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Kindness KAL 2019 Shawl

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It’s Friday and I have an FO that has me bursting with happiness. My Kindness KAL 2019 shawl is off the blocking mats ready for a close up!

Pattern: Kindness KAL 2019 shawl by Jaala Spiro

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Ink and Salty Tales

Needle: US 7

Mods: Added 12 garter eyelet grows in the final section before the bind off to use up my skein of blue yarn.

It really just looks so good no matter how you twist it! I think it looks gorgeous all laid out. But it also looks amazing wrapped around your neck with all the color and texture changes.

I ended up using basically a full skein of the Ink (blue) and 90% of the Salty Tales (grey speckle). This means this shawl consumed 409 yarns of DK weight yarn and weighs about 215 grams. It will be soooooo warm and smooshy this next winter!

I really gave this shawl a good stretching and my finished dimensions ended up being 41 inches by 56 inches and 23 inches deep at the point. I have a full skein of the Ink leftover and I think I’m going to see what matching accessories I can eek out of that to go with this shawl!

Happy Knitting!!

Kindness Unblocked

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I WON AT YARN CHICKEN! And here she is….my finished Kindness KAL 2019 shawl in all her unblocked glory!

I squeaked by with just the tiniest bit of blue yarn left without having to break into the second skein. I did have a more substantial ball of the Salty Tales grey color left. I’m using Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK by the way. The blue color is Ink. I even managed to weave in but not trim my ends from all the color changes.

As you read this my shawl has already been soaked and is drying on the blocking mats. Jellybean helped me and we broke out my blocking wires and really gave this shawl a good stretching. In doing this we found ONE dropped stitch. I calmly grabbed my double ended crochet hook and laddered it back up and then secured it with a piece of waste yarn on the wrong side of the work. No one but me will be the wiser!

Humidity has come to Kansas for summer and so I’m not sure how long this puppy will take to dry. Jellybean keeps checking at least every hour to see if it’s done. I think maybe I’ll set a fan on it to speed up the process for both our sakes!

A Game Of Yarn Chicken

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I haven’t wanted to knit on anything else but my Kindness 2019 Shawl from my Mother’s Day cast on. I blew through all the remaining sections and I’m on the last garter eyelets before the garter bind off.

The pattern indicated that you could continue to add eyelets if you had the yarn to do it. So I added 12 extra garter eyelet rows. You can see my remaining yarn above. Did I do the smart thing and weigh my yarn to determine how much each row was consuming so that I could have enough yarn to do the four ridge garter bind off? Nope, I sure did not! I’m just straight playing yarn chicken!

Happy Knitting!!

Kindness Continued

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My zen knitting default is definitely garter stitch…..back and forth….over and over  and over again. My Kindness KAL 2019 shawl has been my go to project lately with my congested head and brain fog. I’m in section 8 of the pattern already!

I have three full skeins of the Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK, two in the blue and one in the speckled grey. Based on how fast the yarn is disappearing I don’t think I’m going to hit my goal of using up all the yarn. The pattern does have some minimal instruction on how to add to the shawl if you have yarn left. So I’ll see how the shawl looks and how much yarn I have left when I get there. I may have to improvise.

I really want a big squishy shawl for next winter and I’m the boss of my knitting! Now I’m off to down some coffee and take my runny nose to daycare drop and work. Maybe my Rudolph nose will keep people at bay??

Happy Knitting!!

Potato Chip Knitting At Its Finest

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I literally can’t put my mothers day cast on down! Between the luxurious Hedgehog Fibers yarn and the comforting garter stitch, I’ve already made it to section three!!

The speckles in the grey contrast color have me stopping quite frequently to pet and admire the stitches. The pattern is the Kindness KAL 2019 shawl from Jaala Spiro. It’s a free pattern and absolutely wonderful.

I used the needles recommended in the pattern (US 7) and I am finding that gauge is not tight but not very drapey. I probably could have stood to have gone up a needle size. But it’s a shawl and who cares. It will just mean its extra warm for winter!

Happy Knitting!!