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....