Tag: knit shawl patterns

Posted in Knitting, Stampin' Up

Christmas Card Season Is Here!

Posted on by Kathleen

This year I’m making about 100 Christmas cards. Good thing I’m not hampered by a pesky job . . . Mimi calls this time of year Christmas card season, and she’s not far off.

I love paper crafting, and I can spend hours creating tiny pieces of art in the form of cards. My crafting space is what spawned my blog title, The Craftermath. Check it out:

craft-desk

It’s the aftermath of crafting!

So far I have about 60 cards done, so I’m on my way. You can see one in progress above. Some are simple, some are much more complex; I enjoy doing both types. I sell Stampin’ Up products, so that’s what I use most of the time, but if I see an idea that I love, I go for it regardless of the products used.

For instance, this stamp set from Lawn Fawn was just delivered, and I can’t even!

alpaca-my-scarf

Alpaca my scarf—I love it when crafting interests collide!

What’s on My Needles?

Still that Lori shawl, but it’s almost done. My gauge is much better with the Addis, so there’s a lesson in there, somewhere. I also blocked a project that I finished last year, 198 Yards of Heaven, a little knit shawl pattern:

red-shawl-finished

I LOVE IT! I finished it in four days at a knitting retreat, and then I put it in a drawer and forgot about it for a year. Sigh. But it resurfaced and I blocked it last week. I’ve worn it twice and my mom has worn it three times. 🙂

I used Malabrigo Worsted for the body and some of the border, and then I ran out of yarn, so I finished with Malabrigo Twist in the same color, and you can’t tell the difference. If I’d have stuck to the pattern, the 210 yards of Worsted would have been fine, but I just had to go and add a repeat (I wanted it to be bigger), so I needed more yarn.

2kathdavenport2016I thought I had another ball of Worsted, but no. And there was no more of that color at the yarn shop, so I was resigned to ripping out the extra repeat, but the gal at the shop suggested Twist to finish it off, and the colors were identical. When does that happen?? Love the LYS staff so much.

I highly recommend this pattern. 198 Yards of Heaven is by Christy Verity, and it’s fun, easy, and QUICK. Lace with Aran-weight yarn? Sign me up.

The photo at left is me wearing my shawl on a night out in Spokane. Mimi and I met friends at the historic and gorgeous Davenport Hotel, and attended Christmas Tree Elegance. This is an annual fundraiser for the symphony, and companies and individuals donate several themed trees and raffle them off. There was an over-the-top Seahawks tree, and I had to stop Mimi from putting all of our tickets in that bucket! Here’s a glimpse:

seahawks-tree

The winner gets all of that stuff! Including the giant TV. My favorite tree was called Gnome Sweet Gnome, which included a lot of gnomes, naturally, and patio furniture and decorations. Pretty cute. We love that event; it’s so festive and a great kick-off to the holiday season.

So there’s a wrap up of my bi-craftual activities and holiday happenings. Are you bi-craftual? Tell me about your interests!

Cheers,

1KCsig

 

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Posted in Knitting

Will blocking fix this?

Posted on by Kathleen

finished-from-rav

My current project is a hot mess. At knitting group this morning, I told my friends that the only reason I’m finishing it is because it’s 100 percent cashmere, and I can’t let that go to waste.

I’m working on Carrie Bostick Hoge’s  Lori Shawl from her wonderful book, Madder: Anthology 2/Simple Pleasures. I saw a sample of the shawl at Tolt Yarn and Wool in Carnation, Washington (if you ever get the chance, GO THERE!), and I knew I had to have it. I’m working on the smaller-gauge version, knit with lace-weight Habu N-86 Pure Cashmere, on size 2 needles, too, which I hate.

But it’s pretty cute, right? It’s a right-angle, garter-stitch triangle, with two-thirds knit in gray and one-third knit in cream. I did the same colors as shown at above, which will fit right into my wardrobe.

The problem is, my version looks nothing like it should, and I have my doubts that blocking can fix it. Here it is in progress:

gauge-problems-labeled

Yeah. And last night I found two more dropped stitches. It really looks horrible; I’m hoping a good soaking and blocking will help, and that this yarn has a pretty good bloom to help hide some of the problems.

This little knit shawl pattern has been in the works for quite some time, traveling with me in my purse. After a few rows, I had to change needles because the Addis I was using were too slippery. I switched to my Chiaogoo Spin bamboo interchangeables, which were better with this fine yarn. But I didn’t notice until much later that the new needles had loosened up my gauge. You can see in the photo above where I changed needles. One of the sweet ladies at a knitting retreat said I should think of the first few rows as a border. Done!

I’ve been working on this shawl pretty steadily for the last few weeks, and I think I can see my feelings in it. The loose gauge represents down days, thinking about my old job that I miss and pondering my future, and the tighter portions may have been knit while I was watching election results or the news. It’s interesting to actually be able to see my emotions in my knitting.

Two nights ago, I pulled out the shawl and discovered that one of my needles was broken. Argh!!!!!! I must have stepped on my knitting bag or something.

Broken needle.jpg

Huge bummer, and the only other size 2 needles I have are the Addis, which I ordinarily LOVE, just not for this project. But I had to switch back, and my gauge is a bit tighter. I just added the cream yarn, so maybe the tension issue will be hidden in the color change. Or maybe not.

I’m going to finish this sucker and wear it, regardless of the finished look. It’ll definitely be better than it is now, because it couldn’t get much worse, and it will be a reminder of this hard time in my life, and that I came out fine on the other end. Because I will be fine. In fact, I’m enjoying my leisure time and feeling better every day.

I’ll post a photo when it’s done.

Until next time,

1KCsig