WIP Wednesday: November 25, 2015

Sekret Knitting:

• I'm in the home stretch on the first Heroines Club Shawl pattern for 2016.  I have a couple more hours of knitting time to put in on it, and it'll be done and ready to head off for tech editing/testing.  I'm looking forward to sending this one out into the world - it's a really fun set of gradients!
• The yarn just arrived yesterday for the next deadline project, which will be a fair isle/stranded knitting garment.  Lots of knitting to do on that with a pretty short deadline, so I'll be focused on that for the next couple of weeks. 
• Waiting on yarn for 2 other deadline projects that got accepted for Fall 2016 publications - one is small-ish and the other is a men's garment, so I have plenty on the deadline knitting front to keep me busy for a while. 

Personal Knitting: 

• Because I suffer heartily from the Cobbler's Wife syndrome (as in... I knit constantly, and hardly ever have knitwear to wear myself), and I needed a new hat, I cast on for a Felicity Hat in some of my oldest stashed handspun yarn.  This is a blend of wool and mohair (60/40 maybe?) in the Winter Dawn colorway, which is kind of a dusty mauve/purple colors.  When I purchased it, or even when I spun it, is lost in the mists of time - it's VERY well-aged stash.  It was sometime pre-Ravelry and it's been waiting for a project. 

• I haven't made any further progress on it, but just to show an updated picture of my Mesa Verde shawl, here it is.  I've got another repeat and a half to do to finish it up and may work on this a bit over the holiday weekend if I have some spare knitting minutes. 

I've got a bad case of startitis right now.  I suppose that's what one does when faced with mountains of deadline knitting?  I'm trying valiantly to suppress the urge to cast on new quickie projects - that's what I've been in the mood to knit right now (and maybe a fallout from a lot of larger deadline projects?).  I also have 2 WIPs, which is a rare occurrence for me.  One is the mystery shawl from Kirsten Kapur from this summer.  I think I have clues 4, 5 and 6 left to knit.  The other is a pair of socks which I've gotten as far as the cuff and maybe 1-1/2" down the leg on.  Both of these are holdovers from many months ago - like last spring (socks) and summer (shawl).  I generally don't like to leave things on the needles this long.  I am strongly considering frogging the socks and starting over with something else.  I'd like to finish the shawl, but I may have to wait a bit on that and try to work on it after December 20th when I'll need to have 2 of the 3 deadline projects (other than the Heroines shawl), finished.

WIP Wednesday: December 2, 2015

Sekret Knitting:

• I finished the shawl for the Heroines Club January kit.  That is off to my TE and test knitter. 
• I started the big stranded garment knitting deadline project this weekend.  I've got 1 sleeve about half-knit and I've started on the body, with about 2" of that finished).  I'm going to get sleeve #1 done completely and cast on for sleeve #2.
• I have 2 other deadline projects, 1 large, 1 small, that I'm waiting on yarn to start. 

Personal Knitting:

• The handspun Felicity hat is done!  It's maybe a wee bit dense with this yarn (which is more like an Aran then a worsted), but it's SUPER warm because of that and the mohair content.  This was a really quick and easy project.  I only used half of the yardage of this handspun, so I could either knit another hat, or might knit a pair of gauntlet-length fingerless mitts, or a pair of mittens.

• I also finished my Mesa Verde Shawl #2, which I knit out of Rowan Scottish Tweed from deep stash.  

WIP Wednesday: May 13, 2015

Here's what's going on this week with my WIPs:

Sekret Knitting:

• Finished up the next Heroines shawl sample.  I'm finalizing the draft and then that can go to my TE and my tester.  Woot!
• I've picked up the colorwork cowl again and that'll be my focus project for this week.  I'd like to get it finished before the 29th, so I can take it along with me to TNNA to show The Yarn Guys (who I'm knitting it up for as a kit).
• My next deadline project is a sweater for Jen of Spirit Trail Fibers to take to Rhinebeck, so I'll likely try to get some focused work done on the first sleeve this upcoming week as well. 

Personal Knitting: 

I finished up the Dustland Hat this week, using up my entire skein of handspun Corriedale.  I wound up making some "artistic changes" to the stitch pattern - one set due to the influence of a glass of wine and low sleep one night, and a few in the decrease rounds as I was worried about running out of yarn (and it was close, so I'm glad I did a few less rounds of garter stitch.)

This is a very straightforward, easy pattern and a great stashbuster.  I like the matching mitts too - I might make those at some point.  This hat, however, is slated for the Mittens for Akkol donation bin.

I am going to try to knit along with Kirsten Kapur's Through the Loops mystery shawl in June, so I'm thinking about possible yarn choices for that one as well. I'm leaning towards either a set of neutrals in handspun or possibly Arianrhod Sock in foresty colors from the shop. 

WIP Wednesday: May 6, 2015

This week, I'm getting back into the groove of knitting, so here's what I'm up to:

Sekret Knitting:

• I finished up the sample for the Jewelflower Cowl that I'll be releasing in a couple of weeks.  It will be available on Ravelry as a purchasable download, but if you love it and think you'd also like to order my up and coming Interweave book, if you preorder a copy on Amazon, I'll gift you the pattern for free!  More details on that to come shortly.
• I started the colorwork cowl I'm working up for The Yarn Guys in Finullgarn.  I'm just getting the first border finished up, but my plan is to finish that and move on to the central motifs this week. 
• I am also working away on the next Heroines shawl club pattern.  Just past the halfway point here, I've got one motif that I'm finishing the final 4 rows on, and then will repeat that chart before starting the final motif repeats.  My plan is to finish up the second-to-last motif and be ready to start the final motif next week. 

Personal Knitting:

I'm working slowly but steadily on the Dustland Hat out of my handspun.  It's a really straightforward pattern, so I pick this up when I need something to fill 5 or 10 minutes of waiting time of some sort. No specific goals on this for this week - it'll just be on the needles when I need something to occupy my hands for a bit.

Weekending: May 3, 2015

Lots going on this weekend - it's been definitely trending towards warmer temps and while this is normally not our rainy season (in theory, when we aren't in a drought, that's the summer), but we've had gray clouds and spits of rain the last several afternoons and more forecast for the next several days while the temperatures hover in the upper 60s/low 70s.

I took advantage of the nice weather and weeded our front yard which we xeriscaped a couple of years ago.  It's got landscape cloth under the rock, but the weeds here are tenacious, so I went through and pulled all of those, and tidied up the bed I have all my daylilies in by the front steps.

I worked on several wholesale dye orders and cleaned up my studio space a bit - it definitely needed it after that huge wholesale order I had been working on for months, plus all the show and club dyeing.  I can actually find things on the shelves!

I also did some spinning, and finished up the Shetland I had on the wheel from Friday's spinning-focused post.  I pulled a braid of really deep rich colors of BFL out for my next spin, which I may start today.  I also cast on for a new Sekret Knitting project, since I finished up the cowl sample I had been working on.  That'll be ready for photography this week and to head off to my tech editor.  My test knitter has already started on hers.

And finally, since I'm still on my stashdown quest for this year, and I wanted a yellow or green project to go along with my Stashdown KAL in my group for quarter 2 of 2015, I cast on a Dustland Hat using a worsted-weight handspun from my stash bin.  (This was a Wooly Wonka club fiber from a couple of years ago - "Harvest Vines" colorway on Corriedale.)  The pattern definitely benefits from a mostly solid yarn, and while I'm actually not a huge fan of yellow for me personally, I love how this is knitting up and it'll be a great gift for the donation box to the orphanage!

Hope you weekend is equally wonderful!

WIP Wednesday: February 25, 2015.

Sekret Knitting:

• I finished up the pair of mitts that was on the needles.  The draft is written and off to my tech editor.
• I am working on sock #2, and thru the heel turn and about halfway down the foot.  The plan is to get these finished up this week, finalize the pattern and get that sent on to my tech editor as well. 
• I need to work on some charting for a shawl that I'll need to prioritize as the next project to be knit, so that's also on the to-do list this week. 

Personal Knitting:

I lied to y'all.  I decided, after looking at how scruffy my current hat collection is, I needed a new hat. I cast on Hoarfrost, which is a nice little basic slouch style hat.  I'm using my "Little House" handspun, which is a Finn wool, and is lovely, bouncy, and soft.

I highly recommend this pattern for handspun - it's pretty forgiving in terms of yarn weight.  The original was knit with a MadTosh DK-weight yarn, and this is a little bit heavier (closer to worsted weight), but the stretchy 1x1 ribbing at the band makes it fit nicely - not too snugly, not too loosely.

I think I've got another pair of mittens to cast on next.....

Pattern Release: Currituck Collection

This week I rolled out a small group of patterns in the Currituck Collection.  Currituck County is part of the Outer Banks and when D and I lived back east, the tradition for our anniversary (which is in late March) was that we would go and enjoy ourselves with long walks on the deserted beaches, bundled up against the cold, before picking some great little restaurant (we usually had to ourselves or close to it) and having some great seafood dinners.

The collection features a women's raglan cardigan with stripe and seed stitch details (and optional small front pockets for beachcombing treasures), a matching slouchy hat and fingerless mitts set, and a cabled wrap, to wear either as an oversized scarf or a narrow stole around your shoulders.  Each piece in the set is knit from Wooly Wonka Fibers Freya DK.  (Samples are worked in the Seafoam and Driftwood colorways).

These are great, easily-wearable pieces you can dress up or down, and worked in a lightweight yarn, they are perfect for a season-spanning wardrobe addition during the changeable weather of the spring months.   They are available at a discounted price as a set, or as individual downloads via Ravelry.

All photos courtesy of JS Webb Photography and many thanks to the beautiful Elle Webb for modeling these so gracefully for me!

FO: Norie Hat

I finished up my (modified version) Norie hat this weekend!

I knit my version using an orphan skein of Madeline Tosh DK (merino wool) I had in stash in the colorway "Celadon".  I knew casting on I'd likely have to do some creative design tweaking since I was using a yarn with less yardage than the original (and had pirated some of it for a swatch as well).
I wound up only working 2 bands of the cat's paw lace, and I drastically shortened the number of rounds at the top of the crown while working the decrease rounds.  I had just a wee bit of yarn left when I finished it up.

It's definitely not as slouchy as the original, but I actually would wear it myself and consider it a slouch - although this one is slated for my charity box for the Mittens for Akkol kids.

The pattern is a fun one - I highly recommend it - and I got a skein knit up out of stash for charity, so I'm counting this a win/win situation!