Playing catch-up

It has been months since I last posted any FOs here. I have been busy, not just knitting, but with life in general, so I am going to claim that as my excuse for being a bad blogger.

I have, of course, knitted more shawls since we last met and will tell you all about them shortly. But I also realized that I need to take a break from this production of wraps and stoles. I have no room for them in my drawers and not enough friends to give them to. Even though my acquaintances urge me to sell them, I can’t decide on what would be a fair price, taking into account materials (which can be quite pricey) and time (which is the truly valuable ingredient).

For instance, I test knit a gorgeous wedding shawl by Kristi Holaas which she first posted in the 12 Shawls Forever thread on Ravelry, looking for test knitters. I used a cobweb-fine yarn I bought at Rhinebeck last year, 55%/45% Silk & Angora by Skaska Designs, in an almost-white. I went down a needle size and cast on 485 stitches. The test, which was finished before I was, concluded about two months after it was posted. I didn’t bind off for almost two more weeks. Part of the problem was the sheer volume of knitting at the beginning: the rows went on forever! The yarn was superfine and if I made a mistake, was extremely hard to correct. Most of my errors actually happened when I had to tink back for something minor and dropped a stitch. Knitting up a dropped section set the tension on its head and I prayed that blocking would work its magic. As the shawl got narrower, the knitting got easier and I finally finished it, blocked it, and took pictures. The designer was delighted.

During this same period when I was test knitting Kristi’s shawl, I was also engaged in two other tests which I completed in the specified time frame. The first was for Heather Anderson, one of a quartet of shawls in her most recent series dedicated to early seasons. Hers is called First Snow Fall, but I called mine Pink Snow because of the colour of my yarn. I started out with the remaining 15th of a box of Kashmir Paint Box Gradient by Fiber Optic Yarns which I’d also picked up at Rhinebeck last fall, left over from yet another shawl for Heather which I’ll talk about soon. This lovely blend of merino (80%), nylon (10%) and cashmere (10%) made a nice soft neck edge, and then segued into the rest of the Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock, also left over from the project I have not yet described. Unfortunately, I ran out just rows before the end, so finished it off with some dark purple Diadem by KnitPicks (50% alpaca - 50% silk) and was extremely pleased with the results. During the knitting I thought I would probably frog it after blocking and photographing, but it turned out to be such a beautiful FO that I changed my mind.

The other test knit that was going on at the same time was for Mary-Anne Mace, who recently got on the bandwagon and designed two asymmetrical shawls, this being the second. She calls hers Lacebark after a tree that grows in her native New Zealand. I call mine The More it Grows, the Lacier it Gets. For this one I chose a yarn I bought at this year’s Toronto Knitters’ Frolic, Sea Pearl by Briar Rose Fabrics, a blend of 50% merino - 50% tencel. The colour is not done justice in any of the photographs I took, unfortunately. It is an iridescent purple like the inside of a mollusc shell, or the surface of a black pearl. Sadly, all my photos came up with a steel gray. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Also, the dye came off rather badly on my hands as I knit and it took many washings and rinsings before I felt it was safe to block it. I’m concerned it will still bleed, but not as badly now. Here’s what my hands looked like while I was knitting it (and yes, I’m in my pjs and bathrobe).

The finished product on its own and being modeled by one of my knitting friends:

Prior to the above-mentioned three test knits, I had tested another interesting pattern by Heather Anderson which lent itself well to the Kashmir Paint Box Gradient by Fiber Optic Yarns. This lovely yarn is separated into 15 individually dyed skeins, traveling the spectrum from palest gray to dark pink. I’ve always wanted to knit with a yarn like this, but the ones I’ve seen on Ravelry seem to be all one thread sequentially dyed from light to dark (or vice versa). Heather’s pattern mimics the overlapping of owl feathers, with a knitted pinion end. I used all but one skein of the Kashmir for the body of the shawl, and then switched to Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in a colourway that perfectly continued the sequence. Here’s what I ended up with:

Finally, after finishing all these tests I said, “Enough!” and laid down a self-imposed moratorium on knitting shawls. I was able to finish a pullover I’d started months before for my son, the Merlin Sweater from Interweave’s Enchanted Knits. He chose the Lost lake heather colourway in KnitPicks worsted Swish, an excellent decision, and the finished sweater looks dashing on him. Everyone involved in the project is inordinately pleased.

One of the projects that had been on hold for months was the Hellebore Clutch from Yarn Crush’s December box. I made that in time to wear to my niece’s wedding in early June. The yarn is Zed Luxe Sock by Yarn Indulgences, with Swarovski crystals sparkling like dew drops on the appliqué rose. I lined it with leftover silk from a sam cheong I made myself years ago.

I made a hat from Manx Loaghtan wool a friend in the Isle of Man had sent me quite some time ago. The free pattern is from Knitty magazine, Déalan Dé by Ciara Ní Reachtnín. I had the perfect ceramic button in my stash.

I even made a pair of socks with the leftover yarn from the pair I made on the drive home from Florida earlier. I call them Reunion Socks because they were made driving to, during, and driving home from my husband’s annual college roommates reunion.

I could not stick to my resolve and, when Mary-Anne Mace posted another shawl to test knit, could not say no. But that is for another post.