Finished!

The shawl is done!  It's not quite as big as I wanted, but frankly I was so tired of knitting all those SSKs in the fourth section of the pattern that I wrapped it up early.  Thus, I did not do the 2 extra repeats I was planning on for that section and knit the ribbing about 3 rows shorter than listed.  My only mod was doing an extra repeat of the 1st section when I was bold and bright with excitement (and the rows being much shorter I'm sure had nothing to do with it.)  The photos above are of it fresh off the needles; now it's having it's bath while I write this post, and as soon as I'm done here I'm off to block it.  I am curious to see how this 50/50 cotton/wool yarn will bloom.  My hope is it will fluff up a bit, but we'll see.  The wing span measures out at 80 inches by 30 inches deep.  The castoff method I employed was one I got from this book called Sarah's Favorite Bind Off for 2 x 2 Rib.  It adds a backward loop every 4 stitches, but is otherwise a standard bind off.  I thought it would give a clean look, but still be stretchy.  In actuality it has the clean look, and while it is stretchier than a traditional bind off it's still a bit on the firm side for my taste.   Of course there is no way I'm undoing the original 381 stitches, not to mention all those added backward loop stitches, so it will have to do.  All in all I really like the look and I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out it when the weather cools off again.  Because, in true Minnesota fashion the weather has changed abruptly again and is headed for the high 80's.  Oddly enough this unpredictable constantly changing weather is one of the things I love most about living here.  Don't like the weather today?  Wait until tomorrow it'll change.

I do have Fall weather on my mind these days so I cast on for this poncho.  Now, you may be asking what happened to this poncho?  Well, the yarn was bugging me so much it was really taking the fun out of knitting it and as you all know life is too short to knit with yarn you don't like.  So, the poncho was frogged, the yarn rewound and put up on my Stash "will trade or sell" page on Ravelry.  Hopefully, it will find a new home with someone who loves it.  Anyway, the new poncho I'm going to knit using this yarn from my stash, paired with this yarn I just purchased.  It's a bit of a bold mix, but I wear navy blue like most people wear black and my thought was the blue would help tie it into my wardrobe better.  My current plan is to simply colorblock the poncho with yellow on top and blue on the bottom.  This would make it very easy to use up all my yarn, but I am toying with the idea of a few stripes to blend the transition a bit.  Any thoughts?

Thus, we end the week with Year of Projects list - 0, and Random Patterns and Projects - 2.  Ah well, there is lots of the year left to get those on the list done.  Right? To view other Year of Projects contributors check them all out here.  Thanks for stopping by!

Distractions, the Good Kind

Hmm...you might have noticed the above photo is of a completely different project than my mother's sweater.  Well, you'd be right.  I got tired of the stockinette, even though I am only 1 sleeve away from the color work, and cast on for a unplanned for shiny new project.  It's the Campside Shawl by Alicia Plummer.  I've looked at it many times before, but thought I didn't have the right yarn for it in my stash.  You see my stash is pretty much made up of yarn already earmarked for certain projects with only a few odd ball skeins, which often makes it hard for me to imagine using the yarn for something else.  The weather here has turned unseasonably cool and I find myself wanting a warm, yet still summery shawl, which got me to thinking that a cotton/wool blended yarn would be the perfect choice and I actually have such a yarn tucked away.  It's Chesapeake by Classic Elite Yarns in the caramel colorway.  Even though it's sold as a worsted weight I would classify it more as a DK, making it a perfect choice for this shawl pattern.  A match was made and a new project cast on!

Campside only requires just under 800 yards to make, and I have about 1400 yards of this yarn so I am attempting to make the shawl bigger to use up more yarn, and because I want a shawl I can really wrap myself up in.  The pattern consists of yarnover holes that get progressively closer together as the shawl gets bigger until it pretty much makes a lacy lattice pattern.  Then it is finished off by a ribbed border.  The shawl is constructed in 5 sections and I am modifying it by increasing in the first section by 1 extra repeat, the fourth by 2 extra repeats and lastly the 5th by making the ribbing longer than specified.  Making modifications is pretty new to me and it is a little tricky to figure out where in the chart to start the next section, but this has been made easier by a fellow Raveler who drew up line by line written instructions that include stitch counts for every line.  So, I have been able to find my stitch count when starting a new section and begin there, repeating as necessary.  I'm really enjoying the pattern and am already through the first and second sections and just started on the third last night.

There is one other reason I want to knit this shawl - I want it to wear to a knitting retreat I'm going to at the end of September.  It's my first knitting retreat and I'm really, really excited about it.  It's only a hour and a half drive away in Downsville, WI and was actually affordable.  Have you ever noticed that many knitting retreats are quite costly due to location, teachers and whatnot?  This one is run by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who I simply love, and focuses on knitting smart, speed and efficiency and sock construction.   Of course wearing knit wear to a knitting retreat makes perfect sense right?  Well, most of my knits are for cold winter wear and I have very few items for the coolish yet still warm weather of an early Midwestern Fall.  So, I'm bringing a couple of socks, my color affection shawl, my marin shawl and hopefully this Campside shawl for walks in the surrounding woods.

Well, I'll be adding one more item to the list this week instead of crossing one off.  Ah, maybe nect week it'll go the other way.  If you want to visit the other Year of Project contributors check here.  Wishing you all a great week!