At long last, a WIP Wednesday post

I have some WIPs to show off today. First, the one I started last night. I am so excited about it! It's an Elder Tree Shawl. I'm using Malabrigo Rios in the Jupiter colorway, generously given to me by my mom last year. I have 4 skeins, and I doubt I'll use them all for this project, but I want to make this pretty big so I can wrap myself up in it and be all warm and snuggly. (Yes, I know it's lace and has holes in it. I'm sure it'll still be nice and warm.)

 
I'm using size 9 circs and alternating skeins - I've got 2 different dye lots going on here. My mom isn't a yarnie and doesn't know from dye lots, so she got me 2 skeins from one lot and 2 from another. I could've just used one of the sets of 2 for this shawl, but like I said, I want this to be really big, so I'm alternating and I think it looks great. I don't know if I'll want to use more than 2 skeins for this shawl, but I like having that option.

Speaking of my mom and Malabrigo Rios, I'm crocheting a pair of Basic Fingerless Mittens for her out of Rios in Azules. I've made one and a half so far.

She tried the finished one on and it fits, well, like a glove! ;-) These are turning out great. I love this pattern. It's my 2nd time using it. I plan to make myself a pair eventually. I have a skein of Rios in Bobby Blue waiting for me. Anyway, my mom's apartment can get very cold, so I'm glad to be able to make these for her. May she wear them in good health.

I'm also still working on the Clapotis and on my kimono sweater (which had been in hibernation for a while), but they don't look different enough from the last pics I posted of them to bother putting more pics here!

I finally got some hollow glass beads from Alisha White's Etsy shop. I have sapphire blue and emerald green and I know exactly what I'm going to make with them. I just have to get myself to actually do it!

My New Year's resolution was to learn how to knit hats and socks. I've got some Craftsy classes and a bunch of books. I've ordered some DPNs so I can make the socks the way the class instructor makes them, and I think I have enough interchangeable circular needles to try using 2 or doing magic loop. I do not have the smaller sizes for socks yet, but I already know I get hand and wrist pain from using smaller needles, so I may have to stick to making heavier socks.

That's it from me for now, but I have a bunch of FOs to show off, so watch for a Friday post...

WIP Wednesday: Croeso progress, Dew Drop Cowl, and a non-knitting FO

Hi all! Happy WIP Wednesday! Here is my latest Croeso progress update picture:

Oh I love this shawlette so much. You might notice, though, that in the top left corner is a little ball of yarn...that's all I have left of this colorway. I'm trying desperately on Ravelry to get a small amount of coordinating yarn to finish with since I am pretty sure that little ball doesn't contain enough yardage.

I know it's a stretch, but does anyone reading this have a small amount of any sport weight wool that might go well with this, that I could buy from you? I can't get another full skein of JDMS Mohonk anytime soon - it's very pricey. It's well worth it, but I just can't do it right now.

Edited to add: Yarn problem solved! Hooray!!!

Also, while I'm asking questions, here's one for anyone who has knit a clapotis: any idea why those who have made it on Ravelry have used such drastically different yardage? I've checked out several projects using just 1 specific yarn, and people have used anywhere between 4 and 10 skeins. I'm having trouble figuring out how much yarn I actually need for the pattern, since the pattern itself says I'll need more than I have but the projects would have me believe otherwise.

On another note, I've realized that the smaller size needles I use, the more my hands hurt when I knit. Right now I am also working on a Dew Drop Cowl - here I am posing with it at the latest Stitch & Bitch:

I'm using size 10 needles for the cowl. My Croeso shawlette is knit on size 4 needles. The difference is crazy - I don't need my wrist braces while working on the cowl and I have almost no hand and wrist pain. When working on the shawlette, I need the braces and I need to pace myself much more and stretch a lot.

Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to finish the cowl because it's a great project to bring to Stitch & Bitch! It's just stockinette except for a few eyelet rows. Great mindless knitting. I still managed to mess up the first eyelet row while working on it at S&B, so I have to make sure to do the eyelets at home! LOL! Most knitting is not truly mindless enough for me to work on it while talking, but straight stockinette or garter I can do.

And here, as promised, is an FO:

I made the little mookaite heart earrings on the left to go with the "Angel Pig" on the right. These were gifts for my second-oldest niece's birthday, which just passed (ohmygosh she's 10 - where does the time go?!). I hope she likes them. We weren't able to give the gifts in person because my sister and her family are camping, so we had to mail them. My hubby picked out the piggy and helped me choose the heart beads. The earrings are sterling silver (posts, headpins and little round beads - all sterling). I like to use the good stuff. ;-)

Not sure if my niece ever wears dangly earrings. These are very short dangles, so maybe she will wear them. She is very athletic, so I didn't think big dangles would be such a great idea! I made sure to use post earring findings so they'd be less likely to fall out of her ears.

I am almost finished with a secret crochet gift project. More on that in 2 or 3 weeks when it's been finished and received...

WIP Wednesday

I'm currently working on my very own Liwen Jacket (aka Design Three) by Jenny Watson. From the moment I first saw the pattern picture, I knew I had to have one.

I am a big fan of moss stitch - I love the texture it makes. This sweater involves a whole bunch of things I've never done before - ribbing, cables, picking up stitches. It's very exciting. I really, really hope it turns out OK! But I'm getting way ahead of myself. So far, I'm on Row 20 of the Left Front Panel. (The pic below was taken a few rows ago.)

I got gauge with my Knitters Pride Trendz acrylic interchangeable circs in size 11. Acrylic would not have been my first choice, but my other size 11s - Knit Picks interchangeables - are in use for a blanket I've been making for a while. Besides, the acrylics work fine with this yarn, and they're PURPLE! Love me some purple.

I'm using Araucania Tepa yarn in colorway 1781, which is mainly turquoise but also contains a rainbow of other colors. I'm completely in love with it. It's exquisite. A birthday present (WEBS gift card) from my best friend paid for about half the cost of the yarn, and I splurged on the rest. I could never, ever wear it against my skin, but it's a jacket - meant to be worn over a shirt anyway.

Here's the Tepa when I first got it, brand new in its bag. Now, before you go and say, "That's a lot of yarn!" you might want to think for a second. When you tell a knitter the amount of yarn for a sweater she's making for herself is a lot, you are, in effect, telling her she's fat (or maybe just that she's making a really oversize sweater - which I'm not). Am I thin? No. Am I plus size? Yes. Do I want to be reminded about that by people saying "Wow, that's a lot of yarn!"? NO. And that's the end of that rant.

(Yes, this is something that happened fairly recently. Facebook drama, woohoo.)

This sweater/jacket was started Monday night, then frogged and re-started twice! I'm sure there will be more frogging ahead, but I will be brave! I can do this!

I really hope it'll fit well. The finished bust size is the same size as most of my sweaters, but it decreases in places where my body doesn't really decrease (ahem, waist), so we'll see. If it doesn't fit well, maybe I can alter it somehow.

About that blanket I'm making:

It's also still a WIP, so there it is. Sorry about the messy not-woven-in ends there in the middle. They'll be fixed eventually. It's straight garter stitch in a bulky cotton chenille. I know I posted about it in this blog before (probably last year). I'll be working on it for a while yet.

Wingspan progress, secret and not-so-secret crochet

Well, here I am again. Hello! :) Since my last entry, I've started making that Wingspan scarf/shawlette. I've finished 2 "triangles" so far and am starting on the 3rd (they are all knitted as one piece, but look like separate triangles, and for each one you have to cast on some new stitches). It's a really fun project. Here's a pic I took when I was still working on the first triangle (note the handmade stitch markers! I love my coffee bean and butterfly):



Sorry it gets cut off at the edge there. Please click on the picture if you'd like to get the full effect. I tried to do the cable cast-on after the first triangle, when the pattern says to cast on 16 st. I did it wrong, but it still worked! Anyway, yesterday at S&B, another member very kindly taught me the correct way to do it. I am really glad, and I really hope I remember how to do it when it gets to be time to cast on new stitches for the next triangle!

I caved and bought my own set of interchangeable circular needles. I wound up getting the Trends Acrylic Deluxe Set by Knitter's Pride. I actually got it from an ebay seller so I could get free shipping. I got a really good deal. I am not in love with the needles--I find the acrylic to be a bit "sticky"--but they are fine for my first set. I'll get wooden ones when I can, but for now, these will do.

I lined my Spring Bag with the scarf, as planned. Here it is:



I've been using it as a project bag, and I absolutely love it! The lining is not strong at all, so I have to take care that my needles don't punch through it (I'm using it to hold Wingspan for now).

I have a few secret crochet projects to work on at the moment. I'm itching to blog about them, but won't be able to till...probably June. Shhhh.

The one not-secret crochet project I need to start is a Seraphina's Shawl for my mother, whose birthday is May 30 (!!!). Gotta get going on that. She requested it, hence the not-secretness. ;) I've had the yarn for it for a while (Lion Brand Homespun in Windsor, a pretty blue colorway). I should probably be working on it now, but instead I am blogging. Oy vey.

I bought a lovely sleeveless lavender dress for a friend's rehearsal dinner later this month. I am so excited about it. I really, really want to make a shrug to go with it, but I have neither the time nor the right yarn. I've actually bought 2 black boleros, but one is too big and the other seems a little too informal. I don't know. I'd rather return those and make my own. I wish I had much more time!

I leave you with this photo of gorgeous lilacs blooming in the courtyard of our apartment complex: