More Color Affection

I've just started adding in the third color on my Color Affection shawl.  No time to knit today, though.  Off to a taping of the public radio show Says You (working on a Saturday night - what an exciting life I lead).  Hopefully I'll be able to make some progress on this tomorrow.

The colors are a bit off.  More pics later.

What to Do?

I've had this yarn for a couple of years now, having bought 13 skeins on sale for $1 each.  Such a deal, right?  Except when you can't decide what to make with it.

I'm leaning towards the Juliana wrap cardigan, available on the Berroco website, but do I want to be swathed in such a vast expanse of bright pink?

Color Affection in Progress

I started working on the Color Affection shawl on Friday.  Even after knitting up a swatch I'm still not sure whether I'll end up liking it.  I love the pattern; just not sure whether I'm loving it with this yarn combination.  Since it knits up so quickly I won't feel any remorse if I end up frogging it.

Using size 3 needles for this since I didn't like the loose gauge on larger needles.  Since the 3s are giving me stitch gauge but not quite row gauge for the lace version of the shawl I'm winging it a bit with the pattern by combining elements from the fingering and lace instructions.

Another one off the needles

At the public radio station where I work we have a wonderful volunteer who comes in help us once a week.  She complimented me on an infinity scarf I made so I thought I'd make one for her as a way of thanking her for all she does for us.

The yarn is Vickie Howell Sheep(ish) in the Plum(ish) colorway.  I used a bit less than 2 skeins of yarn.  Since Sheep(ish) is a machine washable acrylic-wool blend I figure it's suitable for gift giving.  I try to give easy-to-care-for items to my non-knitting/crocheting friends.  

I found the triple diamond stitch pattern in a collection of stitch pattern cards that belongs to a friend.  It's reversible so it looks nice when doubled around the neck.

The recipient was thrilled, and I have another go-to pattern for quick projects. 

Project Start-itis

I got some lovely sock yarn at the Southern California Handweavers’ Guild Weaving & Fiber Festival back in November and am finally ready to do something with it.

I have two skeins of Sock-aholic from Knitters Brewing Co., one in Jungle Juice and one in Grasshopper.

I've been wanting to make the Catkin shawl, by Carina Spencer but I wasn't happy with the result when I worked up the swatch.  Even on size 4 needles the gauge seemed too loose, which just made it look sloppy to me.

The other skein is a lovely purple hand dyed superwash wool from Bee Mice Elf.

Another pattern I've been drooling over is Veera Välimäki's Color Affection shawl, so I'm going to do some swatching to see whether these will work.  If not, it's back to sifting through patterns for me!

I'm in love

I'm madly in love with Malabrigo lace yarn.  Yes, it's a pain to rip it back if you make a mistake (as I learned when I forgot a row of beads and didn't discover the error 'til a few rows later).  But the yarn is so soft and the subtle color variations are lovely.

I'm also in love with this pattern.  It's the Jeweled Cowl by Sachiko Uemura, available as a free download on Ravelry.  I think I'll be coming back to this pattern again and again.

I purchased the yarn over 18 months ago at Abuelita's Knitting & Needlepoint in South Pasadena and think it's a perfect match for the Jeweled Cowl.  I love the contrast between the soft-as-a-cloud baby merino Malabrigo and the Japanese glass seed beads, which I bought online from Fusion Beads.

This infinity scarf has become my new favorite.