KarenJoSeattle

Cat in the Hat

Literally. I really hope the kid in Afghanistan who gets this hat doesn't have allergies.

I finally got the ends sewn in after I took it away from Talitha.

I guess I better wash it before I send it off.

I also got the latest shoulder shawl blocked. It still needs its ends sewn in. No, I didn't finish the others. One a week seems to be my limit, mostly due to the call of competing projects.

Projects like the Mountain Colors cardigan which lacks about three inches plus a hem on the body. Maybe it will look worth a photo when I finish this part.

Since I plan picot hemmed cuffs, I want to finish the body with bands and all before I complete the sleeves to have a better chance of getting the sleeve length right. I want to get to the point where I can start on button bands in circle on Wednesday. I actually haven't done buttons bands before this sweater. The only other cardigan I've made had none.

In purchased sweaters I wear cardigans the most. I need to knit more cardigans, so I signed up for a three-session class later this month on Karen's multi-gauge simple pattern from the new line she calls Spectrum.

I rarely take project classes, but like her top-down sweaters, this is a design-it-yourself sweater -- my kind.

Things have quieted down a bit here since The Big Harlot Hit. Page hits seem to have settled into the 50 o 80 a day range from the 30 to 50 I'd reached before. Plus I find people recognize me when I comment on their blogs.

I'll celebrate my six-month blogiversary on the 16th. I think these stats are pretty good for starting from not even regularly reading blogs before. Aren't they?

Oh, I have an extra autographed copy of Stephanie Casts Off for a celebratory drawing. I hope by then I can solve the puzzle of why most of my e-mail comment notices go missing so I can actually get an address for the winner.

What the...

   

The latest version of my Pinnate Shoulder Shawl in Silken looks like this tonight.

Last night, with a couple of inches less knitting done, I spread it out to measure the length.

I unrolled one of the cast-on edge scallops, apparently for the first time since I cast it on.

   

   

   

I seem to have managed to drop a K3tog in the very first row and then picked it up, or something, soon after.

I will fix this. I will not start over. The edge loop, already retrieved from the crochet edge chain, waits on a safety pin. The fix will allow for proper blocking.

   

   

   

   

Somehow. Stay tuned. Geek knitting at its finest -- I hope.

Kureyon Pinnate Shoulder Shawl

I finished and blocked the cream and beige Kureyon shawl last night.

Have you gotten tired of seeing these yet?

   

   

I now have proof that Kureyon can be wet blocked despite the dry clean only instructions. It softened up quite a bit, but not to a point I'd call soft.

The gauge on size 8s in my loose style turned out well. Size 9s would definitely have given me too loose a structure. Right now I have both some drape and some substance.

Finished size with two skeins measures about 17" by 34".

Silken Pinnate Shawl

       

This photo, though a bit dark, shows the colors the most accurately.

From a pre-blocking size of very roughly 10 or 11 by 36 or 37 inches and a during-blocking size of 14 1/2 x 44, the shoulder shawl in Handmaiden Silken relaxed to 13 x 43 off the pins.

      

   

   

I liked working with the yarn. The high twist results in lots of give, so it knit up easily in a loose gauge. I used US4s (3.5mm), which gave me five stitches per inch in stockinette. The label calls for six spi on 4s.

      

The fabric has a nice drape in my lace stitch at this gauge.

I had one issue with the yarn. The color on my skein didn't go all of the way through. Any splitting, catching, or untwisting of the yarn left bits of the white interior visible against the dark colors. According to others who've worked with this yarn, including Amy Singer of Knitty.com when she spoke here, this does not usually happen with Silken.

   

   

   

The size works very nicely, especially for a one skein pattern. I'm very happy with what I'm getting as I try this shawl in various yarns. I want to test several yarns in order to include a range of gauges in my final commercial version.

I started another in some variegated Manos, which goes quickly.

    

Pinnate Shoulder Shawl Pattern

Yarn Used: one skein Schaefer Lola, 280 yards, 100% merino wool

Gauge: ~4.7 spi in pattern stitch after blocking on US4 (5 spi US2-3 on ball band per The Loopy Ewe and US8 per Schaefer web site) NB I'm a relatively loose knitter.

Finished size after blocking: 13" x 41" (about 11 x 32 slightly stretched before blocking)<<Note corrected number of stitches to cast on below.>>

Pattern based on Gate and Ladder stitch in The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches from Reader's Digest. Repeat of 9 stitches (plus some edge stitches and half repeats) and 2 rows. The right side rows include YO twice and K3tog stitches. The wrong side is mostly purl stitches with the second of the YOs knitted. The 2-stitch garter edge frames and holds things flat.

I had one medium-sized skein of a one-of-a-kind yarn which I wanted to make into something other than socks. The yardage of the skein determined the finished size.

In this pattern I wanted a simple lacy stitch that would show off the hand-dyed yarn without looking too busy or loosing the pattern in the variegations. I also wanted a shawl just big enough to cover my shoulders in air conditioned spaces, but also small enough to function like a scarf when needed or to fold up  and stash in my bag when not needed.

Pinnate Shoulder Shawl

Cast on 61 60 stitches using a crochet cast-on (crochet edge cast-on). Keep your cast-on fairly loose as you will do some K3togs into it.

Row 1 (Right Side): K3, K2tog, K3, YO twice, K3, [K3tog, K3, YO Twice, K3] x 5, K2tog, K2

Row 2 (wrong Side): K2, P5, K1, [P8, K1] x 5, P5, K2

Cast of loosely. Wet block.