I finished the Flagstaff Shawl last week in Virginia. It was Thursday night and the following day I drove to the hotel in Orange, VA and spent most of the afternoon setting up the booth for the Fall Fiber Festival. We had a very busy show and I didn’t really have time or energy left to start a new project.
I drove home, finally, on Monday. I was pretty glad to be home. The festivals have been great this fall but I need a break and time to catch up around here. It took a few days to get to blocking the shawl and picking out my next knits.
Here’s what I started first. It’s Simple Gifts and I am using Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Emerald. The pattern calls for DK weight but I want to use Sport. I am still using the size 6 needles in the pattern and I like the fabric. I didn’t check my gauge but will modify the size if necessary. I set aside 3 skeins just in case.
I wound the yarn for two more projects. I’ll give details on these when I have cast on for them. I think going almost a week without any knitting has made me want to have several knits lined up. 😉
Kristi used one color for the garter sections and one color for the lace sections. I had lots of remnant skeins I wanted to use up so that is why mine uses five colors. You may recognize that color in the bottom lace border from my Vindage Diamonds Cardigan. You may also notice that I reused the orange at the very bottom edge and the bind off. I like the effect actually and I wish I could claim it was the plan all along but I would be lying. When I was down to the last 4 rows/2 garter ridges I had 2g of the Graphite left. No way that would have made it. Since I had 24g left of the Paprika that seemed like an easy solution and I think it works well. Easier than dyeing more Graphite or going into a full skein.
I’ll have some better pictures later of how it turned out after I took it off the blocking pins. I’ll also link you to the pattern later. Kristi is still waiting on a few other test knitters to report before publishing. Same here on mine. I have cast on for the small size of my design and will show you that next time.
I have made a bit more progress since I took this photo but the weather and dreary today so taking a new one is not gonna happen right now. This new shawl is the same construction as my last one, a triangle knit tip to tip with all the increases on one side only. I really enjoy making these. This shawl is another of Dee O’Keefe’s recent designs called Katania. I have chosen my Classic Merino Bamboo yarn to make it from in the color Marigold. This is going to be one of those lace projects that don’t look quite as spectacular until they are finished and blocked out. The pattern stitches are simple with lots of stockinette which will smooth out, open up and look so much better after a soak and stretch. So just bear with me. It will be worth the wait.
Between my last two shows for this year, SAFF and Fiber in the Boro, I got Tendrilly properly blocked so she would look her best in the booth.
So that’s my knitting update for the week. I am off the road until spring. I am enjoying the slightly slower pace of the business stuff being a bit more on the back burner and just focusing on my home and family life for a time. Even the mill dyeing is on stand by at the moment. I think they took in a lot of fiber at SAFF but it will take some time to process and get to the batches that need dyed.
I am looking forward to three concerts in the next 4 weeks which are here in Nashville so no traveling necessary. We also already have tickets for two in the new year, also here.
Gotta close for now. Take care and thanks for reading!
I have a few things today. First I finally got that pattern written up and published for the little Cables and Lace Baby Blanket. I included a couple additional sizes as suggestions to the one I knit up, with the caveat that they are estimates as to actual finished sizes and yardage requirements. It is a charted only pattern since when I wrote up the stitch pattern itself, I made it as a hand written chart on graph paper and I didn’t want to take the time to write it out. The chart is pretty straight forward and easy to follow and since there isn’t even any shaping, I think that even a knitter new to charts should be able to use it and hopefully realize that charts are your friend. ;-) I have it listed on Ravelry and my website for $5 and the yarns can be found on my website as well. I used the Organic Cotton Sport but the Classic Merino Superwash Sport would be perfect too.
The next thing is that I am very close to finishing Tendrilly. I finished the last body section row last night and since I have some free time today after getting most of my booth set up done yesterday, I hope to get the edging done today. It’s only 13 rows. I love how it is coming out and it’s possible I could get it steam blocked to bring in the booth for the weekend’s event, Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) .
You may remember that I said I may modify the size, and I did decide to do that. The main reason for that was because I needed a 3rd skein of the Classic Merino DK to complete even the smaller version but I would have only used about a fourth of it. I hate to waste yarn so I thought a altered version would probably use up most of the third skein. Now I am just hoping it is plenty for the 13 rows remaining and the bind off. I think I have plenty so I am not too worried. All my modification notes are in the Ravelry link above for my project page if you are interested in that. I won’t bore you with it here for those who aren’t. :-)
The last thing newsworthy is that, as mentioned above I am in Asheville, NC for my 13th year (!) at SAFF. This show is special to me and one of my favorites for many reasons. This was the first show I attended as a vendor back in 2006, and it changed many things about our business model. It’s also such a nice area to visit, although I don’t get much time for sight seeing. I do have some time to myself today but I will probably just use it to knit and maybe take a break about lunch time for a stroll and some food in a mall near my hotel. Cheers!
