Forest Queen

I found this pattern when I was looking for a pattern for the Western Sky Knits "Sequoia" and even started it, but I didn't really like how it was working out. So I decided to use another superwash yarn, Karabella's Merino Superwash. The "trees" in the pattern seem much nicer in green than brown. :-)

Read all about the specifics here.

Another Camel Cowl

I liked the cowl I made for a friend so much, that I wanted to make one for myself. On a trip to Carmel and Monterey, I picked up some Plymouth Baby Alpaca Aire which is very similar to Rowan Lima.

I struggled to find a pattern that I wanted to work with, so I improvised a simple cowl. It starts with a garter stitch border, then switches to a 3x3 mistake rib. The yarn is lovely to work with! It is so soft, which is my favorite thing about alpaca yarn.

I made it big enough to wear either like a scarf or twice around for a snug warm wrap. I like how it wraps around my neck when worn long.

Details on Ravelry.

Year of the Dragon

I finally found a pattern that I liked for the yarn I bought to make my Year of the Dragon shawl. It's based on a pattern available free on the Drops Studio website (pattern 134-3). I started out with the red yarn, and worked the lace border solid. When I started to run low, I did several rows alternating the red with the orange.

As the lace pattern is worked, the stitch count starts to decrease. The pattern is written to have a sort of raglan decrease, but I didn't like the way that looked. I did some math to work out a way of doing short row decrease to make a curved shape. I ran short of the orange, and substituted some Sincere Sheep Cormo Sport leftover from a cowl project, but that also ran short, so I used doubled Shepherd's Wool Fingering. The color changes are noticeable but not egregious.

Overall, I am pleased with this project. I wish I could have designed a shawl pattern from scratch, but this pattern was so close to what I had in mind, it really doesn't matter. Now to come up with a design for the Year of the Snake!

 

Check out the details on Ravelry!