mystery shawls

For the past 6 weeks all I've been knitting were these two shawls, so it feels really great to have them done. Having decided to take part in Ysolda's Follow your arrow mystery KAL for the  second time, I also made up my mind to knit two of them, preferably using opposite clues.

Both of them were knit using smaller gauges than what the pattern asked for so in the end they turned out smaller than most, but just the perfect size for me to wear.

Pattern: Follow your arrow 2, by Ysolda Teague

Yarns: Holst Garn Noble in Flint (grey shawl) and Fyberspates Lace in Tracle Toffee (caramel shawl)

The grey shawl is a BBABB and the caramel is an AABAB. 

Ravelry project pages here and here.

(the more accurate colour for this one is shown in the last photo)

simply pretty shawls

These are the two shawls I knit in December for Christmas gifts. It was a last minute decision, so I searched exhaustively for a an appealing pattern that would be quick to knit. This one caught my eye because it's so pretty but the pattern is deceptively simple and easy to memorize.

It took me less than a week to knit each of them (4 or 5 evenings actually, about 8 to 10 hours in total) and I couldn't be happier with the final result.

The grey was knit in Holst Garn Coast and the red in Holst Garn Noble, both with the yarn held double. The Noble is much softer than the Coast though. It's also the same yarn I used here - I've been using that shawl a lot this winter and the yarn has held up remarkably well.

Pattern: Simply pretty shawls, by Rose Beck in variation 2

Yarn: Holst Garn Coast in Silver Grey and Holst Garn Noble in Cinnabar (2 skeins each)

just one of those things ...

That's actually the pattern name for one of the shawls I knit a couple of months ago.

Shawls are wonderful for travel knitting, just one skein to carry around and usually keeps me busy for a few weeks, so I guess that's why I like knitting them during the summer.

Pattern: Simmer Dim, by Gudrun Johnston

Yarn: Malabrigo Sock, in Cordovan (one skein)

Ravelry project page here

Pattern: Just one of those things, by yellowcosmo
Yarn: Malabrigo sock in Ravelry red (one skein)
Ravelry project page here

(another) mystery shawl

Mais um knit-along mistério, que parece ser a melhor forma de eu conseguir acabar um xaile em pouco tempo ... Não estava muito convencida de que iria gostar do resultado final até o ter bloqueado, mas ficou leve e  perfeito para usar nos dias mais frescos deste verão.

Another mystery knit-along, which seems to be the best way for me to finish a shawl in a relatively short time ... I wasn't convinced I would like the final result until I blocked it, but it ended up airy and perfect for using on those chilliest summer days.

Pattern / Padrão: TTL Mystery Shawl 2014, by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn / Fio: Holst Garn Noble (color Whisper), 1.3 skeins
Needles / Agulhas: 3 mm
Ravelry project page

marin #1, marin #2

I can't believe my last post was over 3 months ago. A stressful project at work has kept me from blogging at all, but I do have a few finished things to share. First, two Marin shawls I made back in February/March.

The first one was made for a swap, and I used one skein of madelinetosh pashmina + a bit of malabrigo sock (on centre panel only, and changed yarns every other row). The second one, for myself, was made in malabrigo sock entirely, and it turned out so nice I might do a third one soon.

Pattern: Marin, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Madelinetosh pashmina in norway spruce (1 skein) + Malabrigo sock in Aguas (0.2 skeins)
Needles: 4.0 mm
Ravelry project page

Yarn: Malabrigo sock in Eggplant (0.9 skeins)
Needles: 4.0 mm
Ravelry project page

follow your arrow mystery kal

So during 5 weeks I was totally immersed in this mystery kal organized by one of my favorite designers. To say I had lots of fun knitting this is an understatement. I don't think I had ever looked so much forward to Mondays before (clues were published every week on Monday morning). I had never done a mystery kal before, but I think this one was even more fun than usual. Two clues were provided each week (A or B), and you were able to choose between one or the other on each round.

The possibilities were numerous, and my shawl ended up being a BBBAA version.

Pattern: Follow your arrow mystery kal, by Ysolda Teague

Clues: BBBAA

Yarn: Madelinetosh sock in Manor (0.8 skeins) + Malabrigo sock in Aguas (0.7 skeins)

Needles: 3.75 mm

Changes: The pattern could either be knit in one color only or two different colors. I didn't really want to make it in 2 colors, but didn't have enough yarn to make it all in just one, so decided to alternate both skeins every other row, since they were sort of similar (the madtosh being darker than the malabrigo). The result is this stripey effect that can be seen below, which I really like. On clue #3 I chose the short row version (B) which was entirely knit in the malabrigo.

Smokey shawl

A shawl the color of smoke. Knit with Malabrigo Silky Merino, which is as soft as the name suggests, but didn't become a favorite of mine. The pattern is quick and simple, and the shawl is just the right size for me.
Pattern: Chandra, by Caryl Pierre
Yarn: Malabrigo silky Merino  (1.7 skeins). This yarn bleeds a little when washed and does stretch quite a bit when wet blocked.
Needles: 5.0 mm
Size: S
Ravely project page

Something sunny ...

Hello there ... crafting time has been virtually non existent these last few months, so I apologize to everyone who came looking for new craft projects recently and only finds travel related posts. My sewing machine has been gathering dust lately but hopefully I can get back to it sometime soon. With a full time and demanding job, and a 2 year old toddler to take care of it's definitely not easy to get much free time these days. Whenever I get a little break I tend to turn to my knitting, and can usually manage a row or two here and there. Also, knitting is portable so it goes with me everywhere...

Here's a little project I started back in the end of July and finally finished last weekend. With the start of Fall it's perfect to brighten my rainy days. Last year I suddenly developed a passion for shawls when I discovered they were so much more practical to wear than scarves. I only had one so far, and used it almost everyday last Winter, so I had planned to knit at least three or four more this season (quite ambitious I know, but well ... at least one is finished now).

Pattern: Henslowe, by Beth Kling
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Ochre (1 skein - I used almost all of it, maybe 4 or 5 yards remained at the end)
Needles: 3.5 mm
Ravelry project page

damson

We've been back from our vacation a little over a week ago but sorting out all the photos has been taking longer than I thought (needless to say we took way too many) so I don't have any to show you yet. But what I can show you is my finished traveling project which was perfect for taking on the trip (a lot of garter stitch and stockinette).

Now I'm not much of a shawl person, and had never knit one before. In fact I had already chosen another project to take on the trip when I saw this pattern by Ysolda, and decided to make it instead. It was a last minute decision but I had the perfect yarn on stash so I just grabbed the pattern, yarn and needles (no stitch markers which was a mistake !) and stuffed it on my bag for the flights the next day. We had a 5 hour layover in Helsinki which is where I finally cast on. Didn't get much done in St. Petersburg or Tallinn, but several days later, by the time we were driving into Riga I had a bit of the garter stitch section done.



On the last couple of days while we were in Laheema I nearly finished it but sadly it was clear I was not going to have enough yarn. The pattern calls for 440 yards of sock yarn and the skein I had was 459 yards long, which should've been enough. I think my gauge was probably off on the garter stitch section (I'm one of those that purls looser than I knit) because it seems to be a bit wider than the original pattern. Anyway, I had to wait till I got home and found a similar enough skein on my stash to knit the edging (the last couple of rows, actually)

It turned out lovely, and I'm very pleased with the result. It's perfect for fall and it can be used as sort of a scarf if needed. Next on my knit list from this cute collection is Smith ... I've always been a sucker for hedgehogs :)


Pattern: Damson, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL, color 323, 1 skein (and a bit of 324)
Needles: 4mm