I lied...

... about being done with shawls. In the spirit of finishing things up before the end of the year, I picked up a couple of hibernating projects and decided to publish the pattern as I have had several requests for it.

I knit the original in 2010 and got some positive feedback on Ravelry. A couple of months later, after finding some errors in the GARTER STITCH section (!!!) and a pulling accident involving our kitten, I decided to rip back and reknit since I also wanted to start the ruffle sooner. As I was working on it in the fuzzy alpaca yarn, I decided I should knit it first in a yarn more forgiving of being ripped back and cast on in the Rowan Feleted Tweed you see above. As I worked on it I decided to curve the ends a bit. I can't quite remember why (hot weather maybe?) but I put it aside with only about half of the ruffle left to knit. It took about 2 days to finish when I picked it up again the other day. I have a request out on Ravelry for some testers and hope to have the pattern available by the first of the year.

I haven't abandoned my Yarn of the Month scheme, but I am WAY behind! Last month's yarn was duly drawn and is in my queue. It may take me all of 2012 to get this year's drawings knit up! I have finished 7 of the projects and have the other 5 planned out for the most part. I don't think I will do this next year simply because I am so behind. Maybe in 2013! It's fun and I like starting with the yarn and finding the perfect project, but getting bitten by the designing bug has caused some severe setbacks for the plan!

One More Pattern Up...

... and I think I'm done for awhile. This is my City Block Shawl.

October's yarn was drawn. November's will be drawn in a day or two. I do plan to keep working on my YOTM projects, but I am obviously a bit behind at this point! I have sweaters languishing on the needles too. Oh, and I cast on today for a bit of mindless knitting/instant(ish) gratification.

Westport Wrap is Up!

and it's been cool enough here lately to wear it! Yay Fall!!!

Derailed Again

Another pattern idea has messed with my schedule :) This was born of a desire to knit garter stitch stripes in a shawl that I would actually wear. The shape is an asymmetrical triangle and the stripes are random. I used leftovers from my other shawls I've knit this summer for both of these. The pattern is going out to testers today!

In YOTM news - my May yarn project is finally done!

My August yarn project has been cast on:

July's yarn is still untouched. It will be a cooler weather sweater anyway, so I doubt I'll get to it before the end of the month.

This is my September yarn - Yarn Chef Creme Brulee laceweight. Silk and merino. Yum. I may not cast on for this until early in 2012 because I am so far behind on other things I want to get done sooner. I have another idea for a pattern that I want to use this for too.

Yarn-of-the-Month Update

August yarn is tosh merino light in Rosewood.
July yarn was Tosh Merino DK in Hearth.
Neither has been cast on. First I want to finish my May YOTM sweater. I am nearing the end of the body on that. Then there's sleeve island to look forward to...

I am muchly behind on my 12 sweaters for 2011, so I'm trying to concentrate on that. The Hearth TMDK will most likely be a Harvest Moon Cardigan and I'm thinking of striping the Rosewood tml with another color or 2 for a loose-gauge striped summer pullover. I am getting very interested in a couple of methods of top-down set-in sleeve sweater knitting. Sewing in sleeves is not my idea of a good time :)

Stella Luna is released into the wild!

My second shawl pattern has been published on Ravelry!

This has been such an interesting summer in the shawl-knitting arena for me. First, the MadMay design contest inspired me to refine a shawl idea I'd had for awhile and my Litchfield Shawl was born. Then my yarn-of-the-month for June inspired me to pull out another idea I had awhile back leading to my Stella Luna pattern. I'm really glad I kept my old sketches!

It Worked!

Currently working on #2 in one color.

How come everything I knit lately makes me buy more yarn? I had to buy a 2nd skein of my MC of this latest shawl, plus I started using some Sundara Fingering Meino Cashmere for another project and liked it so much that I ordered 3 more skeins. And I'm still buying tml. May and June have really increased the size of my stash....

The Designing Bug - I haz it...

Here's the 2nd knit of my new pattern which is now up on Ravelry!

And here's the start of the 3rd go -

That yarn I drew for this month? I knew I wanted to pair it with another skein of Sundara Sock I have -

so I went browsing throught the gazillion 2-color shawl patterns I have faved on Ravelry. But you know what? I want to design something myself :) So I pulled out a sketch from I-don't-know-when of a shawl idea I had, thought about how to make it 2-color, drug out a bunch of stitch pattern books and shawl-construction ideas and got to work! No idea if it's going to work out - I've ripped and reknit the beginning about 10 times. And about 6" in I can tell that I should have done some things differently. So it hasn't been the smooth process that my Litchfield pattern was but that's okay. They can't all go that well! If it's a total flop, I'll rip it out. That's the cool thing about knitting, right?

May Madness

The upside to yarn-buying sprees? They can be inspiring:

This is my new pattern! Inspired by (a very small portion of) the yarn I bought this month, MadMay on ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/madelinetosh-lovers/1623993/1-25 and my Merrywood Afghan -

(This is one corner folded over a towel.) I am working on a reknit and have a lovely knitter helping me test the pattern before I release it. And I've already picked out colors for #3!

I finished another MadMay project -

And So Are You by Rose Beck in Northumbria tosh merino light. I'm working on the yarn I drew last month - more tml in Filigree - but this has been on hold while I worked on my new idea.

I have knit with nothing but tml this month! For June I drew this - I only have one skein of it left. It will have to wait awhile though. I really want to finish reknitting my design and get it 'published'!

Caught Up At Last!

Knit from the yarn I drew for April -

I'm going to do something a little different for MadMay - the madelinetosh group on ravelry is having Madelinetosh May. There are bunches of knit-alongs that will be going on so I am only going to knit with madelinetosh yarn next month! That means I will be 'drawing' May's yarn from my tosh stash only. And I'm going to draw a few days early so I can swatch and be ready to go on May 1. I hope to finish at least 1 sweater and 1 shawl.

Back on Track

YOTM project for February - I had the daunting task of winding this gorgeous skein up:

and turning it into this -

For March, I knit this in 3 days (in April!) -

and now I am working on April's project -

Also recently completed -

A hacky sack for Will -

and another test knit for Romi - her Sakaki shawl, most of the proceeds of which are going to help Japan/Doctors Without Borders -

I'm so glad the chiropractor was able to help me with the shoulder pain I was having - I'm basically pain free in my shoulder now! :)

(Yarn) Dieting is Hard...

FOs first: Asterope - test knit #6 for Romi, and possibly my favorite of the bunch so far. Looks complicated, but I had less trouble than I had with the garter stitch shawls. I don't know what it is, but I have issues with garter stitch. Just ask the ladies I knit with. This is the reknit of Stacked in the yarn Knit Picks sent me -modeled by Mr. Jefferson. Good color for him I think.

Now the part where I fell off the yarn-diet wagon.

2 skeins of Creme Brulee because I loved knitting with it doubled when I made http://www.ravelry.com/projects/LAylor13/tongues-of-fire This color is 'Cinnamon Dust.'

Lace-weight cashmere - 'Temptress'.

Very aptly named. I had no intention of buying anything from Yarn Chef's latest update since I'd bought the Creme Brulee above in February and had her hold it until she shipped me a special order. Meet Plum Pudding -

A whole dye-lot of Mulligatawny. One of my favorite bases. Which is being discontinued. :(

So Katy (the Yarn Chef) is dyeing up batches for me every month in different colors based on a (long) list of requests. That means I'll have to knit up 2200 yards every month just to stay in the green IF I don't buy any other yarn. But I'll be happy when she runs out and I have a nice bin full of Mulligatawny.

I lucked out in the first quarter and had a couple of unexpected yarn sales push me (barely) into the green just before it ended. I'm starting quarter 2 in a very deep hole. But it's nice in here with all this lovely yarn :)

Yarn Support

The yarn from Knit Picks for the sample of Stacked came today! A beautiful deep green. And they sent an extra ball!

Aargh - so much knitting to be done, so little time to do it!

My Jobs are Interfering with my Knitting...

My to -do list is getting longer and longer and the FOs are few and far between.

Still working on February's YOTM, have yet to start March's YOTM.

In addition to having less time to knit, I've had some test knitting both for myself and for others that is taking up all my knitting time right now. By the end of the month I hope to finish my pattern that I'm testing and my 6th test knit for Romi. Hopefully next month I'll finish the YOTM projects for February, March, and April. I started a cardigan because I need one, but it's warming up now so that may go into hibernation for the summer.

So, to sum up, there is knitting going on but nothing to show for it!

Here's a picture of the pretty yarn I'm using for the Romi test-knit -


It's Merino Drip from Grey Drizzle Fiber Arts in Rusted. I loves it.

Oh, and some good news, my scarf pattern (Stacked) was accepted by Knit Picks for their Independent Designer Program. They're going to send me yarn to knit a sample for them to photograph. Something else for the to-do list.

And I've been buying yarn. Lots of yarn. Mostly madelinetosh but also Yarn Chef and now I want some more Merino Drip. Every yarn I knit with I want more of. I loved the doubled Creme Brulee stole from January's YOTM project so much that I ordered 2 more skeins of CB to make something else with. So much for stash reduction.

Out With a Whimper

February was a blur.

Still working on YOTM#2. It got interrupted by a new pattern idea (the grey scarf above), something I wanted to finish and wear quickly (the grey scarf/shawl above), a test knit (the grey and green shawl), and some testing of a shawl I knit last year that I want to publish a pattern for. (The original was grey, the one I'm working on is grey-blue.) I've also cast on for a cardigan that I really need NOW (It's NOT grey.) I did draw the yarn for March - luckily it's 200 yards of madelinetosh Bulky (also not grey) which will hopefully knit up quickly. By the end of the month, I plan to finish YOTM#2, YOTM#3, the cardigan, the shawl pattern, and the reknitting of the edging of a sweater I made last year.

March yarn -

Out With a Bang

January's YOTM project is DONE! I blocked it last night and got some shots this morning. I love it! Love love love love love it!

Crocheted a cowl too -

Didn't finish the other WIP that I was hoping to, but started something else -

Merino and cashmere. Yum.

Looking forward to finding out what my February project will be!

Mid-January Update

A couple of FOs.

Red cardi for DD Star ornament -

And progress on January's YOTM project.

I really want to finish this and two other projects by the end of the month.

I can't wait to see what I draw for February!

January Mission

Knit this - I swatched yesterday.

And then cast on. So far, so good!