Color Affection

I've been looking for a shawl pattern for 3 colors of sock yarn. Well, now I have two sets of three colors, and can't decide which one to use.

Selection One:


Tactile Fiber Arts, Wool Candy, Three Irish Girls



Selection Two:


Malabrigo Sock

Go Sharks! Hat

Well, the Sharks aren't looking so great, but my hat is done and ready for next year. I ended up doubling the yarn to make sure to use it all up and blend the colors more evenly throughout the hat. I tried several hat patterns but ended up with Chunkeanie by Wooly Wormhead. All the sordid details are in my Ravelry notes.

Leaflet Complete!

I "finished" this sweater following the instructions, but I just wasn't happy with the length. It was awkwardly almost-too-short, and I had plenty of yarn left to make it longer. One skein of Eco Wool was enough to complete everything except the ribbing around the front neck. So I took off the ribbing and ripped back the bottom ribbing. I did one more repeat of the leaf pattern and then re-did the ribbing. I am much happier with it now!

Back - 4 leaves long

Front - deep 2x2 ribbed edging

Customized Labels

This is a great tutorial for making your own fabric labels to identify your crafts.

via All Wrapped Up

Ventana

I love this pattern! It isn't that difficult but looks amazing. I made the first version from an alpaca yarn, this time I used Rowan Calmer, which is being discontinued. I wanted to make something out of Calmer for awhile, and had started a cropped lace cardigan. But I got stuck on the fronts, so I ripped out the back and sleeves and turned it into this shawlette/scarf.

Calmer has great stitch definition and a subtle stretch that makes it easy to knit. I haven't blocked it yet or woven in the ends, but you can see the lace pattern already.

Textured Cowl

I picked up two balls of Lang Space last November especially to make a cowl. I chose this textured pattern. The yarn is a fluffy wool blend over a metallic core, so I hoped that the cables would stand out through the fuzziness.

I'm pleased with the way it turned out, although it is fairly large in diameter and height. It could be a poncho for a small framed person.

Cowl as Swatch

I've gone back to buying a skein here, ball there of yarn that looks interesting. It's a try before I commit to a large quantity of yarn after a couple of missteps. The problem is that I don't want to just knit a swatch, I'd rather make something useful. Which leads back to...what can you make with one ball of yarn?
Anyway, I picked up a ball of Rowan's Lenpur Linen because I liked the color and I love linen. It's not the easiest fiber to knit with, but it makes a beautiful fabric. Lenpur Linen is mostly rayon with 25% linen. It's soft and has a little sheen. I decided to make the Spiral Cowl because it was possible it might only take one ball of yarn. Well, it needed more. So I used Aslan Trends Glaciar Del Cielo because it is similar in weight and texture. Glaciar Del Cielo is 100% cotton, so it doesn't have the same sheen as the linen, and didn't soften up quite as much, but it blends nicely.

The cowl looked odd while I was working on it because of the contrast between the dark and light green, but on the model it takes on a different look. It's like two different cowls depending on whether you wear it with the lighter color on top or the darker color on top. It's more of a fashion accessory rather than something that would keep your neck warm.