block 'n tackle knitting

Took a break from knitting to plant some potatoes in a bag and re-pot some seedlings. The wrap can wait, but not too long, because I have summer sweaters to knit.

One more triangular shawl in blues and greys, with a bit of lace trim. It looks good on both sides too.

I thought it was time for an update on the shawl and socks I started knitting on my holiday to Salt Spring Island. Mohair and acrylic blended perfectly here. This airy wrap reminded me of a confection or maybe a seashell.  I might very well be addicted to knitting triangular shawls right now. Sock #1 complete, using bits from two different self-striping wool sock yarns. I found the darning egg this week at the thrift store.

This triangular, top-down shawl was such a pleasure to knit, mainly because of the anticipation I felt watching the colour pallette unfold from my homemade self-striping yarn ball made from small nubbins of leftover wool worsted. I tied the nubbins together for this shawl, using a weavers knot ( great video tutorial here ) so there are teeny knot bits throughout, but I think that just makes it look rustic. Anyway, I like it.

Here it is all blocked! This was such a satisfying knit, with just enough colour and pattern change to keep me curious.

Nothing to see here. Just a super bulky squooshy garter wip.

So we're getting the tail-end of Typhoon Songda sometime today. My solution is this shawl. The yarn is DK, lovely and soft. I feel warmer already. **Update: you can see the finished shawl here!

It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, and this is what I do when I'm waiting for turkey to cook: And here's the recipe: I tied together about 25 tiny balls of leftover stash yarn I'd been saving up, starting from the largest to the smallest and wound them into a ball as I went (so the smallest was on top). I didn't worry about leaving the tiny knotted ends sticking up, because I'm proud I used up my scraps in this shawl. I got a large-sized circular needle (about US size 12, and 32" cord) because this was mostly worsted yarn, and I wanted the knit to be loose and soft. I cast on 8 stitches and placed a marker smack dab in the middle (between stitch number 4 and 5). Then I knit back and forth in knit stitch, 3 rows. *On the fourth row, I slipped the first stitch purlwise with yarn in back, knit one, made one (with a yarnover, so I had a nice big lacy gap) knit to one before the marker, made one (again, with a yarnover), knit one, slipped the marke...

Finally, I'm posting some pics of the knitting I've done this summer (some still in progress). First are two shawls I made for Pride festival, using a simple pattern, the Dovetail Scarf from Purl Soho (which is here for free). I really like how they both look together, with the rainbows reversed. I used cotton worsted I bought from the dollar store, because I couldn't resist the selection of rainbow yarn.

So easy, I didn't need a pattern. So easy, you could knit it in the dark. For all your post-apocalyptic needs.

This was super fun to knit in the Malabrigo worsted yarn I bought at Fibrations earlier this month. Better yet, the pattern was free on Ravelry! It's called Curlew , and it knit up very quickly, in a couple of days. I used the entire skein and a bit of a contrasting colour for the bottom lace section.

I finished the crocheted capelet, which is the same pattern from Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker that I made out of mohair a few years ago. This pattern seems to lend itself to any kind of yarn, and it was fun to see what mercerized cotton looked like in this drapey little cape. I added some old buttons to make it look even more steampunk. I'm going to wear it over t-shirts or tank tops to keep my cleavage from burning ('cause it does that -- yeah, white-girl problems).

Crocheting a lacy capelet is making me happy today, especially the metallic yarn..

Every spring I remember how lovely it is to work with and to wear laceweight mohair yarn.  I tend to find my yarn in thrift stores, so I end up with lollipop/rainbow colours, yay! Here are two shawls for spring.  The orange is a stole I mostly knit in loose garter stitch (BIG needles) and am now lengthening with a few rows of double-crochet in strawberry pink.  Yum.  Also, longer and cosier... The cucumber green shawl on the needles is going to be a triangular wrap, with eyelet lace, and probably trimmed in gold mohair crochet lace (I didn't show that yarn in the pic because the colours clashed).  I will be warm and light for the windy Victoria days and nights this summer (but must remember NOT to eat lollipops while wearing mohair haha).

I love the feather & fan lace pattern. I've decided I like the alternate name, "old shale", even better (because it makes me think of the Burgess Shale, and beautiful, fractal-like, ancient creatures?). At any rate, vintage colours and patterns are turning me on bigtime right now, so this stole is not only a way to use up scraps of stash, but a colour-homage to 1920s experimental, dramatic colourways... Sort of like something Glenda Jackson might have worn in Women In Love ..

It's been awhile since I added anything to this blog...  so here's a froufy shawl I crocheted up the other day.  It's a simple shell pattern in triple crochet in a cream mohair blend with an eyelash novelty yarn collar (and a pretty thrift store pin).

I was gleeful to find that the remainder of that salvaged orange 'n pink mohair knit up into such a large piece:  I used simple garter stitch and BIG needles (12 mm) to make this wrap, which, when finished reminded of of the exact colour of a sunset I remember watching over Slave Lake in northern Alberta. It's feather-light and warm as mohair should be.  Yum.    

Made for Juli-Ann, Christy & her daughter, D. Yeah, I love fall gardens...