Fading Into The Homestretch

My obsession has not slowed this week. My Free Your Fade is into the third color!

I’ve finished my One Twisted Tree DK grey, the Leon Alexander DK variegated and now I’m in to the bright pink Anzula sport. This Anzula is for sure a thinner yarn than the previous two. But as I’ve professed before I’m not fussing about gauge in shawls. This last section has cashmere content and no one can hate that!

I did end up playing yarn chicken with the variegated yarn and had to kind of adjust the fading section. I turned one garter bump to solid from the variegated. I worked out in my favor and I only had a teeny ball of the variegated left over.  And I really don’t think you can tell in the finished section.

Now I just need to get busy and finish this! Happy Knitting!!

Fading My Heart Out

You guys…my fade is has become my knitting obsession! I busted my hiney to be able to get into the second color and I LOVE it! I am also just now noticing that it kinda blends into my carpet, whoops!!

I’m working the DK version of Andrea Mowry’s Free Your Fade. This knitter loves how fast DK yarn works up. Though I am slowly a little bit as these rows get longer and longer.

This pink variegated DK yarn from Leon Alexander Yarns is a bit more plump than the One Twisted Tree DK. But this is a shawl and who worries about gauge?? It’s going to wonderfully squishy and warm for next winter!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Mini Solutions Scarf

I have a finished thing!! My mini solutions scarf is in the books! On Monday this week I managed to tuck in all my ends and give this lovely a bath. I have a literally worn this every day since I finished blocking this.

Pattern: Mini Solutions Scarf by Kelene Kinnersly

Yarn: Treasure Goddess Yarn Super Toes Cashmere MCN gradient set in Blackbeard’s Revenge and lolodidit Everyday Sock in Naked Hippo

Needles: US 7

Mods: None

This puppy turned out LONG. I used roughly 515 yards of fingering weight yarn and this project is longer than my wingspan. I couldn’t be bothered to actually measure this because I couldn’t make myself take it off! This skinny shawl (aka scarf) wraps really nicely around my neck for warmth with good tails hanging down. It is very narrow in depth (maybe 10 or 11 inches) but that is fine by be. The cashmere content makes this next to skin heaven. And the color changes made this a complete and utter potato chip knitting. As is evident by all my blog posts, I was kinda obsessed with this project.

This pattern is definitely one I will do again. I can see this being a great gift knitting pattern. Soothing and squishy garter stitch but with just enough change to keep me going. And this kind of scarf is very wearable.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Free Your Fade

I have a FO to show you tomorrow and to celebrate I cast on a project I have been thinking about for MONTHS! I finally put my Free Your Fade on the needles!

I finally settled on my One Twisted Tree Lavish in Chaotic Nuetral (grey) followed by Leon Alexander Yarns Duke DK in Oh La La (variegated) and finished by some Anzula Ava in Raspberry (pink).  It’s neutral(ish) with nice pops of colors and should coordinate with my wardrobe really well.

It took me honestly casting on three times to get a product I was happy with. I didn’t like my initial slipped stitches on the edges. Then I messed up the yarn overs on the my second go. But finally this third attempt is looking pretty spiffy! This might quickly become my new obsession…

Happy Knitting!!

I Found The Sixth Color

It took some serious brain effort and I tossed my whole stash (via Ravelry) to find my options of white and grey yarn. My Mini Solutions Scarf needs a sixth color and I’m determined! I finally stumbled upon my Naked Hippo mini skein from Lolodidit. I had planned this for heels/toes/cuffs on socks but it’s a relatively solid grey and very very close to my last gradient color. Now it’s shawl yarn!

It was the best option I had without buying new yarn so I just went with it. I’ve gotten it attached and working up. It’s very subtlety different from the adjacent color but not to shabby.

I did have to work this addition of the sixth color twice because in my haste I added the last color without adding the eyelet row. Doh! I painstakingly tinked back to the fifth color and re-knit the eyelet row. Darn near perfect now! I just need to work up this color for a bit and then do the bind off and I’ll sitting pretty with a new scarf!!

Happy Knitting!!

Close But Not Quite Right

I went stashdiving in my yarn and sadly did not come up with good white/tonal solutions for the sixth color of my Mini Solutions Scarf. On the right is the solid Cascade sock in white. And on the left is some Hue Loco Opal Sock in Cherry Blossum. They both are lovely but just not quite right.

The Opal Sock is nice tonal creamy white but has some subtle pinks and greens mixed in. Not to mention it is 50/50 silk merino and has a lovely sheen to it. That silk will stick out like a sore thumb against the more matte wool of my gradient set. Sigh…back to the drawing board.

I think I need to cull my stash for grey options again….

Happy knitting!!

The Fifth Color

As promised last week in my whiny mom post. Here is my Mini Solutions Scarf in all it’s stretched out glory. I have added the fifth and final color from the Treasure Goddess  Super Toes Cashmere MCN gradient set in the Blackbeard’s Revenge colors.

As I initially thought I knew my gradient pack wouldn’t get it big enough for my liking. So I’m going to need a 6th coordinating color to add to this. I had initially pulled a solid white cascade sock yarn back when I kitted up this project. But this gradient set is too beautifully variegated/tonal to just slap on a commercially made solid color at the end.

I need to go stash diving to see what else is living in my yarn bins to see what grey tonal/speckle options I have. And I need to do this quick as I’m about to run out of yarn and I really don’t want to stop knitting this project!

Happy Knitting!!

Multitasking Working Mom

No finished object this Friday. Just a mom battling a cold and trying to feed her family. I’m over germs and I’m ready for spring air and open windows. Today is brought to you by Hamburger helper and knitting while I “cook”. After a full day at work, blowing my nose 1,100 times this was the best I could muster. And Jellybean declared it “THE BEST DINNER EVER” because it takes like macaroni and cheese.

P.S. This is my mini solutions scarf. I’ll try to do a better blog post next week if I can manage. I’m on the fifth color and you guys really need to see this. It’s amazeballs!!

Happy Knitting!!

I Just Can’t Be Trusted

I was minding my own business in my office at work and I looked over at my coat and shawl and saw……a hole!! I just fixed a hole in another shawl last month! What am I doing to my knitwear? I obviously cannot be trusted!

After some careful sleuthing, I don’t think this is a broken yarn kind of issue. I could not find any ends. Just a dangling loop, which means a dropped stitch that has been hanging around since I finished and blocked this thing in 2016. I just so happened to have some EXACT MATCHING YARN BASE AND COLOR left from one of the section of my Mini Solutions Scarf so I snipped a bit off to fix my Old Man of Storr. I used a crochet hook and fixed it to match the pattern to the best of my ability and then used the scrap yarn to tack it down on the wrong side.

It’s clearly not perfect and the pattern did get interrupted. But it doesn’t look bad if I do say so myself! No one will notice going by on a galloping horse so I’m calling it a job well done. That stitch shouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I’m paranoid now…should I be checking all my shawls??

Happy Knitting!!

Cashmere Addiction

Hi, my name is Rachelle and I have a cashmere addition. My Mini Solutions Scarf has consumed all of my knitting time because I just can’t quit it! It’s gloriously soft and squishy and requires zero complicated brain waves. It’s my comfort object and I can’t wait to wear it!

I’m already in color four of my five color gradient set. The stripes are getting thinner and thinner as I add more stitches. I did pull some solid white when I was originally planning this project but I can’t decide if this project will need it? This yarn is gloriously variegated and I don’t know if a solid will throw off the vibe. I really want this to wrap nicely around my neck without constant adjustment. What do you guys think?

I guess I could always knit a few row of white and see what I think? A little tinking never hurt anyone right? Maybe I will see how big this scarf/shawl is after color number 5…hmmmm

Happy Knitting!!