Tag: scarf

What I’m Working On: May 2021

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Bodhi Leaf Washcloths

FINISHED – See my post here. These linen washcloths are addictive. I have made 15 so far and will definitely be making more.

Isler Hat and Mitts

FINISHED – See my post here. This lightweight hat and mitts set is the perfect warmth for spring! It has been raining lately, so it was cool enough to wear these yesterday.

Mood Cardigan

IN PROGRESS – I’m about halfway done with this beautiful garment (pattern on Ravelry), which is from MDK Field Guide No. 15. It goes pretty fast because it mostly consists of two rectangles made with an easy to memorize lace pattern. It will really get interesting when I’m ready to assemble the pieces and finish it off! I’m using La Bien Aimee Helix yarn in the stunning dark pink Lise colorway.

Mini Clerestory Shrug

FINISHED – I am really taken with all five of Jeanette Sloan’s designs in MDK Field Guide No. 15, and I plan to knit them all eventually. I have too many other projects ongoing to start on the Clerestory Shawl yet, but I realized it might be a good pattern to adapt as a quick little shrug for my three year old daughter. It’s a nice way to practice the two lace patterns that make up the shawl. I just finished this, so I didn’t have time yet to write a post or take good pictures, so the above photo shows how it looked after blocking.

Far Hills Scarf

IN PROGRESS – I got a lot farther with this scarf this month. I’m now over halfway done! I have 3 pattern repeats left to do, then the ribbing and finishing. Here is the pattern on Ravelry.

Garter Stripe Shawl

IN PROGRESS – This shawl is really more like a blanket…it will end up being about 3.5 feet wide by 6 feet long! From MDK Field Guide No. 13, it is a glorious meditation on color, designed by Kaffe Fassett and worked in Rowan Felted Tweed. It is going to take a long time to make, and so far I’m about 7% done.

Log Cabin Cloths

IN PROGRESS – Do you ever feel like you have to knit a certain thing right now and your other projects will justhave to wait? I got that feeling the other day, and dug into my backlog of yarn kits to start on these washcloths. The patterns are from MDK Field Guide No. 4, and the yarn is Rowan Handknit Cotton. These are fun and easy, and get the imagination going. What other combinations of squares and rectangles could I make?

What I’m Working On: April 2021

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Most of my knitting time this month was spent on projects in Lettlopi yarn from the Modern Daily Knitting Field Guide No. 17. I really went on a tear, completing 5 projects and starting one more. I find it easy to do a lot of knitting when I love the projects I’m working on! It helps to have a few things going at once so I can switch around what I’m working on, depending on my mood. I also learned that it’s good to have an easy project going – something in simple stockinette or garter stitch – to work on while waiting for things like daycare pickup. I get a lot more knitting done when I can squeeze it into small chunks of time. Let’s see what I got done this month.

Daytripper Cardigan

FINISHED – See my post here. This was a fun, fast, accessible project and I am thrilled with the result. The colors are great, and when I wear it I feel brighter.

Destination Scarf

FINISHED – See my post here. This is a gift for my husband. It turns out he didn’t have a scarf before! Blue is his favorite color, so this will be a good fit for him…next winter. It’s too warm for it right now!

Trinket Mittens

FINISHED – See my post here. I am going to love seeing these pink and black mittens on my hands.

Dalleray Cowl

FINISHED – See my post here. This cabled cowl uses the limited edition Ranch 03 yarn from Brooklyn Tweed.

Swirl Hat

FINISHED – I adapted the Swirl Hat pattern in Field Guide No. 5 for DK weight yarn (Brooklyn Tweed Dapple, a merino/cotton blend) and a smaller finished size so it would fit a preschooler. This meant I cast on only 90 stitches and did fewer pattern repeats. It looks pretty cute!

Far Hills Scarf

IN PROGRESS – This is the only project I started this month that I didn’t finish. I’m making this out of the limited edition Ranch 01 yarn from Brooklyn Tweed, which I managed to get last year before it sold out. It is dyed with natural indigo, so it stains skin, at least while knitting with it. I have to pick times to work on with this yarn when I know I’ll have time to wash my hands really well! I’m about 15% done with this scarf so far. It’s a gorgeous cable pattern that looks great in this yarn.

And that’s a wrap for April! I have a lot of great projects in the pipeline for May. We’ll see if I’m able to keep up this pace!

Destination Scarf & Trinket Mittens

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This post covers two projects I recently made from the Modern Daily Knitting Field Guide No. 17, which exclusively uses Lettlopi yarn. In addition to my beautiful Daytripper Cardigan, I completed both the Destination Scarf (Ravelry) and the Trinket Mittens (Ravelry) this month.

Destination Scarf

For this project, I used Lettlopi in the following colors: Air Blue, Fjord Blue, Stone Blue Heather, Ocean Blue, and Blue. This scarf is primarily a stockinette tube, which means it knits up very fast. It incorporates a colorwork stitch motif in the transitions between colors; the Field Guide includes five stitch motifs to choose from. I picked the Sparkle motif, which kind of softens the lines between the colors but isn’t as graphically pronounced as some of the other motifs.

This scarf is a great comfort knit: most of the time is spent doing knit stitches, and you only have to pay close attention at the color transitions. It is a nice way to explore different shades of a color, like I did in blue using a kit from MDK, or you could use contrasting colors for a bolder effect. The ends of the scarf are finished with kitchener stitch for a polished look.

Trinket Mittens

I have always loved the combination of black and pink, so I used Lettlopi in Black Heather, Royal Fuchsia, and Pink Heather for this project, leftover from my Daytripper Cardigan. These mittens are made in a Nordic style, with pointy tips and no thumb gusset.

The cuffs are cleverly constructed: after working the stranded colorwork portion, the mitten is turned inside out and knitting proceeds in the opposite direction for the rest of the mitten. Then the cuff is folded over to reveal its right side. It is cool that this hides the floats from the colorwork so they won’t get caught when pulling the mittens on and off.

The colorwork cuff is inside out on the left

Of course, I had to add extra colorwork to the hand (Sparkle motif) because I needed more pink, so I lost some of the benefit of hiding the floats in the cuff. I didn’t quite have enough black yarn to finish. No problem – I just made the thumb tips pink!

More pink = more fun!

I will definitely be making more of these mittens with my remaining Lettlopi, including some Tiny Trinkets for the kids! But for now, it is spring and I am moving on to some projects with yarns that are more suited to warmer weather – linen, anyone?

What I’m Working On: February 2021

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Wow, another month has passed already! This month I managed to finish three knitting projects, despite the short month and starting back to work last week.

Cityscape Scarf

FINISHED – This scarf (Ravelry, pattern) was so much fun! As a first intarsia project, it was very straightforward since all the shapes are squares and rectangles, nothing complicated. I got into a good rhythm of cutting new lengths of yarn every 12 rows to coincide with the color changes. I used the felted join method when a color spanned two 12-row sections. The felted join is surprisingly easy! All it takes is a little water and some friction, and the two pieces are magically connected. I definitely need to use this technique in future projects. My favorite part about the scarf was the fabulous colors of Rowan Felted Tweed, and fortunately I have plenty left for at least one more project! The only thing I changed from the pattern was the border: I used the Ultramarine colorway to knit a garter stitch border on all four sides.

Galloway Hat #2

FINISHED – I finished this just in time to squeeze into February – I just blocked it today (Ravelry)! I used the same colors of Brooklyn Tweed Peerie as the first Galloway Hat, in a different order. As I mentioned last month, the yellow ended up being more prominent than I wanted. I also used smaller needles than last time (US0, 1, 2) so it ended up a little smaller.

Novae Hat

FINISHED – This hat is from Quince Quarterly Winter 2021, which also includes matching mittens (Ravelry, pattern). Knit in bulky Puffin yarn, it came together quickly. The hat features brioche stitch in place of the usual brim ribbing. I think I will add a pom pom, but I need to finish the mittens first to make sure I don’t run out of yarn!

Watercolor Cowl

IN PROGRESS – Just this afternoon, while holding a sleeping baby, I started my Watercolor Cowl (pattern). I’m using the same colors of Rowan Felted Tweed from my Cityscape Scarf. Instead of using the colors for the center squares and neutrals for the large areas, I’m using a neutral colorway (Boulder) for the central squares and the 12 other colors in the large areas. I’ll also do the edging in Boulder to tie it all together.

What I’m Working On: January 2021

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It’s a new year! So far my craft productivity is way down compared to some of the fall months. Could it have anything to do with caring for a two month old baby? Seems likely. I also decided this year that I am not setting explicit goals. This is a big departure for me, as I typically like to have a lot of goals written down. But I want to explore another way this year, where I just do whatever I want. Of course there are a lot of things in life that must be done, and I’m good at doing the necessities. But aside from those, I want to get back in touch with my own inner voice and, as much as possible, only do things I want to do. There is no need to feel obligated to work on a project. I want to use my limited free time on things that make me happier. So here are the things I’ve been working on this month, which most of the time I did not feel obligated to do.

Quilty Love Cross Stitch

FINISHED – There were moments where I really avoided this one. But I got a burst of desire to finish it right at the end of the month, so I put on the finishing touches of ric rac and buttons just today. And now I can use it with my Valentine’s decorations!

Cityscape Scarf

IN PROGRESS – This scarf has been a lot of fun to make, and I adore the yarn colors. I’m about 3/4 done with the main knitting, then will finish with edging. It is my first experience with intarsia, and it is really not that hard! The squares in the design make for an easy introduction to the technique. The colors change every 12 rows, so I can get in the groove for a little while and then get the next set of colors ready before I get bored. I learned the felted join technique for connecting on new pieces of yarn, and it is a game changer. I am going to have plenty of yarn left over for another project, which I’m already plotting.

Galloway Hat #2

IN PROGRESS – This one is about 75% done. I think there is too much yellow… Maybe I should have chosen the order of colors differently. Oh well!