How The West Was Spun

FO: 1-Row Handspun Scarf

Through the magic of blogland, my handspun from Friday magically knit itself into a scarf this weekend. 

 

PROJECT SPECS

Pattern:  One-row handspun scarf from the Yarn Harlot (free!) Super simple.  You basically cast on, knit your way through a skein of yarn and you've got a nifty, reversible scarf that's squishy and soft.  Easy!  The finished scarf was 5 x 60.
Yarn:  My handspun BFL in a worsted-weight 2-ply.  I had a total of 200 yards and used all but a few inches up of the skein.  Original fiber was from Funky Carolina in the Rock Your Socks Off colorway.
Needles:  US size 8.
Mods: None.  This pattern is so simple, there really isn't a thing to modify.  It's perfect for a beginning knitter and, as you might guess, looks great with handspun.

 

I'm pretty sure this one is going into the Red Scarf box for later this year.  I think the colors are fun and just the kind of thing I would have worn in college.

All for now.... 

March Madness Wrap-Up

I thought y'all might like a brief overview of the project I did for March Madness.  I finished a surprising number of things for one month's worth of knitting.

 

The final list includes: Manitou Passage scarf, Legolas socks, Lisa beret, Brennan cowl, Oyster Bay shawl, Woodland Trails cowl, Joni hat, and my Ancient Oak socks.

Thanks to Christina, for this fun idea!

All for now..... 

FO: Manitou Passage Scarf (Red Scarf Project #3)

I finished my third Red Scarf Project scarf for 2010 just under the wire on March 31st.

 

PROJECT SPECS:

Pattern: Manitou Passage Scarf by Jen Showalter (it's free!).  This pattern features offset 12-stitch cables (6 sts crossed over 6) through the entire length of the scarf, making for a really cushy, deep fabric with a lot of texture.  The rest is knit in a 1x1 ribbing.  See my mods, below.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Worsted in the "Burgundy" colorway.  I used just under 2 full skeins for this. 
Needles:  Size 8 US short circs. 
Modifications:  I only cast on 38 stitches, omitting the side seed stitch borders.  I worked the edge stitches by slipping the first stitch of each edge for a nice, neat edging.  I converted the 16-stitch (8 sts x 8 sts) cables to 12-stitch ones (6 x 6) as I wanted a narrower scarf to meet the OFA criteria for the red scarves that are donated.  The finished size wound up being 5-3/4" x 70".

 

This is definitely a nice, warm scarf.  All the cables and the ribbing make for a very dense fabric.  I would suggest, even if you normally knit cables without a cable needle, to use one for this project, due to the large number of stitches involved for the cables.  This one's going in the OFA box for December!

All for now.....
 

WIP Wednesday: March 31, 2010

Project #1: Manitou Passage Scarf

Super close to being done with this!  I'm hoping I might have a little knitting time tonight to finish it up.  I have about 8 inches left to knit, which is about 2 full pattern repeats. 

Alas, I have no pictures right now of anything for you, gentle readers.  It's been one of those weeks where I've gotten up early and worked and had so much other stuff on my plate, all of a sudden it's dark and 8:00 p.m. and really not good picture-taking lighting.  (The good news is that Tuesday's late night was totally worth it - we have a contractor coming to lay a gravel bed on our (now currently dirt) secondary driveway so we can pull the trailer back behind the house, have hay delivered directly to the new hay storage shed, which he is also clearing a spot for, and cut down on the dust blowing into the house.  He came to go over the specs with us and he and his crew will be here Monday with the machines.)

Goal: Finish this up!

Project #2:  Ulmus Shawl

I've decided to list this because I don't really seem to be working on it, even a little bit, and I do want to finish it.  My WIP task-list seems to be the best place to put those kinds of things so I make myself accountable to finish them up.  I am perhaps 30-35% into this project.

Goal:  Finish knitting the first set of skeins.

All for now......

WIP Wednesday: March 24, 2010

Project #1: Legolas Socks

Finished up sock #1 and cast on for sock #2.  I've knit up the little leafy lace border and the ribbing, and started the leg lace pattern for the second sock.

Goal:  I'm going to focus on these this week and try to get that second sock finished.  Kris and I are both working on semi-boring socks right now, and we've agreed to try to get our respective pairs done by the end of the month so we can cast on for a Cookie A. sock.  These are really pretty simple once you get the leaf cuff finished, almost all stockinette, except for the lace panel.  So... goal is to finish up the second sock.

Project #2: Manitou Passage Scarf

I finished up the first full skein of yarn and went ahead and started on the second.  If I knit up to the 60" that the Red Scarf Project folks are requesting, I have 20" left to knit. I do have some wait-time/car-time this week, so while I am going to focus on my socks, I'd like to try to get 10" of this knit.  That seems do-able for a portable project.

And because Peter asked, this IS a reversible pattern.  It looks exactly the same on both sides.

Goal: Knit 10" more.

All for now......
 

WIP Wednesday: March 17, 2010

Project #1: Manitou Passage Scarf

I am at the halfway mark for the suggested length for the Red Scarf Project scarves (30").  I think I'll reserve the right to tack on a few inches of extra length, as I think this one will lose a bit once it's blocked with the very stretchy 1x1 rib and the cables.  For now, tho, we'll call it half done.

Goal:  I have a bit left of the first skein of Malabrigo, so I'm going to try to finish that up this week and see where I am on the length measurement after that.

Project #2: Legolas Socks

This is the second kit from the LOTR club The Unique Sheep is hosting.  One of my goals for the next 1001 days is to knit up all the kits I've gotten from them, so I'm tackling the Legolas-themed sock next.

The original pattern calls for the lace cuff, the lace panel that runs down the side of the leg, and a lace motif of a bow and arrow.  While I like the concept of the bow and arrow, for reality wear, probably not so much me.  So I left it off.  I've worked the leg of the first sock and started turning the heel.

 Goal: Finish turning the heel and knit the foot on sock #1.

All for now......

WIP Wednesday: March 10, 2010

All new projects this week!  I finished my Oyster Bay shawl and pics of that to come tomorrow, as it's blocking currently.

Project #1: Manitou Passage scarf

This is slated for another Red Scarf Project donation.  The original pattern is pretty wide, so I lopped off the edging, and I am doing a 12-stitch cable twist, rather than the original 16-stitch cable. It's looking like it'll block out to just under 6" wide, which will be perfect.  The original pattern can be found here (it's free!).  I'm knitting this out of Malabrigo worsted-weight in the "Burgundy" colorway.

 

Goal:  Knit another 5 pattern repeats.  I think that'll put me close to the halfway mark for length.

Project #2:  Brennan Cowl

Another freebie pattern - it comes as a cowl or a scarf, and I may get around to the scarf for the Red Scarf Project at some point.  I am going to be sweating it a little bit in terms of yardage, as I'm trying to use up some handspun, and I'm not even entirely sure how much yardage was left in the handspun skein I'm using.  Living on the edge, I tell ya.

Goal:  This is only 20 inches of knitting and the above is about a quarter of the length.  I'm going to try to finish this up this week.

All for now.....
 

FO: Noro Striped Scarf

Kind of appropriately, since the OFA sends off care packages with scarves in them for Valentine's Day, I finished up my second 2010 Red Scarf Project scarf yesterday.

PROJECT SPECS
Pattern:  This is just a simple 1x1 ribbed scarf, which Jared Flood over at the Brooklyn Tweed blog made very popular with his riff on it with Noro:  Slip the first stitch of each row.  Knit 2 rows in each color simply stranding the unused colorway up the side.  Easy peasy.
Yarn:  Noro Kureyon - 2 skeins of colorway 233 and 2 skeins of colorway 226.  I had a bit of each left over when I got to 66" in length, as I didn't want to knit this too long and be outside the guidelines the OFA prefers. I plan to use the leftovers for a square of my Lizard Ridge afghan, which is a very long ongoing WIP.
Needles:  Size 9 US.

This one needs a quick bath and then it's going in the storage container until the end of the year when OFA can handle the shipments.

All for now..... 

WIP Wednesday: January 27, 2010

Project #1: Birdsfoot Stole

Still moving along on this.  I finished up skein #1 of the 3 remaining, and then started on the second remaining skein to finish up a pattern repeat, and sort of get myself over that convenient stopping place.  Still looks a whole lot like last week's picture, but this time, the quality control inspector was supervising, so you can tell it's a different photo.

Goal:  Finish up another skein of yarn - that'll leave me one to go!

I'm not really listing another project, as my only goal is to finish that daggone stole; however, since I kept my nose to the grindstone and finished the goal I had set for myself this past week, I treated myself to a little mindless knitting one evening after dinner.

This is the Striped Noro Scarf, of which there are a gazillion and one versions on Ravelry, but popularized by Jared Flood on his Brooklyn Tweed blog.  I'm knitting mine for the Red Scarf Project, and I'm using Noro Kuryeon, rather than Silk Garden.  The colorways are 226 and 233.  I tried to find one colorway that had a decent amount of red in it (that's the 226) and one that had more neutral, earthy tones in it (that's the 233).

I'm halfway done and quite enamored of the color changes without doing anything other than 1x1 ribbing.

 

The quality inspector, as you can see, takes her job VERY seriously. 

No specific goals for this - I just wanted to show you some progress on something other than the stole for a change.  This is my mindless car knitting right now, so it'll get done when it's done.

All for now.... 
 

FO: Rainy Day Scarf

Nothing like starting the new year off with a finished project, eh?  I needed a really mindless knit for a travel project on our tour back east, so I took along a scarf project destined for the Red Scarf Project for 2010.

 

PROJECT SPECS:
Pattern:  Rainy Day Scarf, a free pattern by Beth Collins.  Super easy pattern. Looks like there is cabling involved, but it's all just knits and purls.  Knits up very fast in worsted weight. 
Yarn:  Unknown hand-dyed wool singles that have been in the stash for eons.  I thought the blues and greens would work as a unisex color.  I think there were probably about 250 yards and I used maybe 235 of them, which finished up a repeat in a nice way, and didn't leave me with enough yardage to keep, so a nice stash-busting project.
Needles:  US size 9s.
Notes/Mods:  No real modifications to speak of.  I did give this scarf a bit of a wet-block to unscrunch the ribbing.  The final measurements, post-blocking, were 6-1/2 x 70 inches.

This one is going into the storage tupperware for the Red Scarf Projects until they are ready to be mailed in September or so of 2010.  I've got a gift card to go in with this one already, and I'll probably try to find some nice neutral cards on Etsy to include with any scarves I send out this year.

All for now....