There's Something Strange, in the Neighborhood

Pattern: Who Ya Gonna Shawl? mkal by Lyrical Knits (Link to pattern page in Lyrical Knits' Payhip shop🔗)

Start: February 24, 2023

Finish:

Made for: Dana... Kidding, it's for Síle aka Me as my birthday present to myself. Turning 45 has to have some perks!

Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply (40% wool, 35% Bluefaced Leister, 25% nylon; 437yds/400m = 100g)

• __g of "333 Blue raspberry" (C1)(start wght: ???g; end wght: ??g) = ???yds
• __g of "325 Cornflower" (C2)(start wght: ???g; end wght: ??g) = ???yds
• __g of "365 Blueberry bonbon" (C3)(start wght: ???g; end wght: ??g) = ???yds
• __g of "11 Marshmallow" (CC)(start wght: ???g; end wght: ??g) = ???yds

Total yards: 

Needle size: 3.75mm x2 

Notes & Photos:

January 25: Bought the pattern this morning 😊 I honestly wanted to get in on 'The Knights Who Say Knit' & 'As You Wish', previous mkals by Lyrical Knits (aka Mary Annarella), but couldn't justify the spends for the yarn. I'm turning 45 in a few weeks damn it! I'm splurging on a pattern and 4 hanks of pretty yarn to make it with to celebrate Me 🎉 And with a doctor's appointment in Town on Tuesday morning, I can shop in person at Wool Trends for my yarn 🧶 Squeeeee!! Yarn shopping!!!! 

Ok, so I'm just gonna copy over a few details from the Planning Sheet I received after buying the pattern:

4 full skeins of 4 different colors ("C1, C2, C3, and the CC") of fingering weight that play nicely with each other.  Any of them can be slightly speckled, but I wouldn't recommend it be much busier than that.  • Each skein needs to have 400 ysd or more to make sure that you have enough yarn for the project.  The 400 yds includes some wiggle room. • The shawl will include (non-stranded ) colorwork, but not all the colors need to contrast with all the others.  Instead, only ONE of the colors, the CC, needs to contrast with the rest. • “CC” is the Contrasting Colorway (might even give it the name Slimer). • CC needs to contrast with C1, C2, and C3 since it will be used in colorwork with each of these 3 colors individually. • C1, C2, and C3 don’t have to have much contrast with each other—they much only contrast individually with the CC. • C1, C2, and C3 can be in a gradient (or not) but they should harmonize with each other since they will still be right next to each other in the shawl. 

And I need 2 circular needles in the same size (24inch min), plus 3 st markers (one locking).

Oh! The clue schedule!:

There will be **6 clues** for the mkal:
Clue 1 drops on Feb 24th (first thing in the am EDT), with clues 2-6 releasing on March 3rd, March 10th, March 16th, March 24th, and March 31st.

So now I just need to get into Town and go yarn shopping. Such a hardship ;)

January 31: Got my yarn today! I'm madly in love with my color choices. These are very Síle colors: a blue-green, a purpley-blue, and a green-blue with a cream as the Contrast Color (aka Slimer). The cream is called "Marshmallow" so shades of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man anyone? lol I've listed the colors in order: C1, C2, C3, and CC.

Now I "just" need to have patience for Clue 1 drop on the 24th!

February 23: I have my needles ready and I've found the ends in all of my yarn skeins :) All set for Clue 1 dropping in the morning!

February 24 (10:03am NST): Clue 1 has arrived! And it starts with C1, Blue raspberry. Time to cast on!

(10:28am NST): The set-up is done:

(11:38am NST): Finished Venkman's Not QuiteWavy Lines :)

The next section uses colors C3 and CC. Yay! First use of Blueberry Bonbon and Marshmallow! Mmm, marshmallow...wait wrong franchise!

(2:08pm NST): And that does it for There Is Only Dana (ie chart 2):

And we're sticking with C3 and CC for the next bit too. Cool, let's do this!

(7:25pm NST): After a few round the house tasks, I was able to sit down and get "I'll take that as a big yes" done:

One more section to go! Well, for this week. I need C2 and CC for this part; Cornflower is introduced 😊

February 25 (8:40pm NST): Finished Full Torso Apparition 😊 And that's it for Clue 1! Final photo:

I really like the lacy bit in the final chart for this week. Can't wait for Friday and Clue 2!

March 7 (12:34am NST): I have casted on and knit the set-up for Clue 2 with C1! 

Onto the first section, Winston's Tell Him About the Twinkie 👻

(2:12am NST): Finished Winston's Tell Him About the Twinkie 😊

I'm pretty certain section 1 of both clues are identical. Which is cool. I know the next section, He Slimed Me!, is unique to Clue 2. It uses C3 and CC. I think I'll leave that until daylight though 🥱

March 8 (2:49am NST): Didn't have a spare moment until after the hockey game so I've only just finished He Slimed Me 👻

I've Quit Better Shawls Than This! is the title of section 3, and uses C3 & CC again. But I need to quit for the night 😉

March 16 (3:50pm NDT): Getting caught up today. Almost finished with I've Quit Better Shawls Than This! 😊

(5:51pm NDT): And done! 

Onto We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its ** with C2.

March 17 (4:42am NDT): Finished We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its ** 😊 And that finishes off Clue 2!

I can't wait to start Clue 3 after I get some sleep 😊

(9:36pm NDT): Time to get Clue 3 on the go! We're starting with C1, and continuing from where Clue 2 stopped. No triangle this time. Hmmm...

(10:09pm NDT): Set-up done and onto Marshmallow Goo! 😊 Staying with C1; here we go...

March 25 (1:14am NDT): Finished Marshmallow Goo 😊

Onto Okay, Who Brought the Dog? with C3 & CC...

March 27 (3:16am NDT): Finished Okay, Who Brought the Dog? 😊

I'll tackle Take The Stairs when daylight returns...

April 14 (11:24am NDT): So much for catching up! Am at day 15 of a tendinitis (multiple injuries to the same rotator cuff) flare *sigh* Soooooo bored!

May 31 (12:49pm NDT): Finally finished Take The Stairs 😊 Still having issues with numb fingers (pinkie and ring on left hand) but I can knit again. Ugh. 2 months lost. Any way here's Take The Stairs:

On to The Gatekeeper using CC and C1! Last chart for Clue 3!

(11:23pm NDT): And that's The Gatekeeper done:

And that means Clue 3 is done!

Onto Clue 4 soon, which starts with C3 and a short row, and then goes into Ecto 1 (chart). Fun!

June 5 (8:34pm NDT): Been distracted the last couple days but tonight I'm starting Clue 4. I have my C3 ready, and am starting with a short row and then onto Ecto 1; let's do this!

Field of Stripes

Pattern: Flax by TinCan Knits (Link to Pattern Page on TinCanKnits.com🔗)

Started: February 7, 2022

Finished: April 5, 2022 (9:36 am NDT)

Made for: Squish's 3rd birthday

Size made: 4-6 years

Yarns: Bernat Premium (100% acrylic; 360yds/329 m = 198g)

• 53g of "58507 Red" (started with 53g; ended with 0g) = 96.4yds
• 45g of "58510 Orange" (started with 63g; ended with 18g) =  81.8yds
• 50g of "58514 Green" (started with 82g; ended with 32g) =  90.9yds 
• 53g of "58521 Royal Blue" (started with 59g; ended with 6g) = 96.4yds
• 33g of "58003 Dark Gray Heather" (started with 171g; ended with 138g) = 60yds

Total Yardage: 425.5 yds

Needle sizes: 4.5mm/US 7

Notes & Photos: 

February 7: Wee Squish's birthday completely slipped my mind last year *facepalm* so must make up for it! Flax in stripes of crayon bright colors should fit the bill :) Modification: I'm thinking 6 rnd stripes in order r, o, g, b. Might use black or gray for neck and cuff ribbings; not decided yet!

That being said, I will use option 2, casting on and knitting the yoke immediately and going back at the end to knit the neck band. 

Gauge is given as 18sts & 22rnds = 4inches/10cm, so definitely a 4.5mm needle with this yarn :) And size 4-6y starts with 74sts. Starting with the red. And there's quickly an increase of 8sts to make 82. To do this evenly I'm using Ann Budd's handy formula which I'll photograph from my sheet of paper. Yes, I'm using pen and paper; what can I say, I'm an old school Gen Xer lol

To summarize, my inc rnd will be: K5, (yo, K9) 3x, yo, K10, (yo, K9) 3x, yo, K5. On the next rnd I work the yo's tbl to get rid of the holes; gets rid of any pulling up that lifted bar incs like to make.

This is also my project for Yr 2 Potions at Ilvermorny. Declaration is here: 🧪⚗️ I can relate the project to a pewter cauldron which requires meticulous notes and observation, and also it's an alloy of garter st & stockinette, much like many cauldrons are made from alloys :)

later: Cast-on done! Here we go!

later (9:25pm): I have 2 stripes done already :) It's pretty bunched up on my needle but I took a photo anyway:

Green is the next stripe followed by blue, then back to red. I like how it's coming along. And once again the little fella won't get lost in a snowstorm :D

February 15: I'm at the point to separate the sleeves and body :) Knits for toddlers go so quickly! Here's how it's looking:

February 22: The body and sleeves are separated :) I have the sleeves on two smaller sized circular needles instead of waste yarn; I find it easier to get the sts back onto the working needle from a smaller circ. I'm maintaining the stripe pattern through the body. Oh, my other minor change: I used cable cast-on for the underarm sts rather than backward loops. I intensely dislike the backward loop cast-on for more than 1 st. The way it distorts and you end up with weird gaps is really off putting to me. So I used my old standby. Here's how it's looking tonight:

February 28: It's growing :) The body measures 4" from the underarm. According to the pattern I need to knit straight down until the body is 9" from the underarm. Plenty of stripes left to go. I think it looks very cheerful.

March 15: A bit more done. I keep measuring. Up to 7.5" now so the green stripe will definitely get done, blue might be a partial before the ribbing.

March 17: Just finished the ribbing on the bottom of the body :) I got the full blue stripe in before the ribbing, which is 9 rnds of gray; the first was a knit rnd to avoid blips. Yay, progress! Oh and I bought a second set of 4.5mm dpns today so I can work the sleeves at roughly the same time (one will be a stripe behind) so that I know when to start subbing gray in for the red or blue since I'm really getting short on those. 

Note that I had an attempted photobombing with this first pic so I snapped a second one to reveal my attention seeker:

Big shock, the culprit is Jakey! (Yeah, no shock at all lol) So later in the day, cuz it's 1:32am, I will start the sleeves :)

March 23: Started the sleeves while watching Carrie Craftgeek's latest "live" stream; I watched like 2 days after she was streaming hence live is in quotes :)

So I'm working the sleeves in the recommended method of two-at-a-time. I wouldn't normally do this but I'm seriously low on two colors and I need to know exactly when to start substituting the gray for whichever color runs out first. 

I have each sleeve on its own trio of dpns and am working with a 7th one. I'm doing this by working a 6 rnd stripe in whatever color is next, cutting the yarn while leaving a tail, and immediately knitting the same color stripe on the other sleeve. One of my sleeves has a white marker for the BOR marker, the other has a black marker; white is my starting sleeve, black is the catch up sleeve. I have the orange stripe done; this was partially done, the sleeves sts were put on hold on what should have been rnd 5 of 6. And the first green stripe is also done on both sleeves. I just finished the first blue stripe on my white sleeve. Here's a photo:

April 5 (6:57am NDT): Been doing a marathon session to get the sleeves done! I've been taking care of Sistwerp who's had reflux, a stomach bug, and a muscle/tendon pulling in her neck. Yeah. All kinds of funsies. So I'm passed my deadline and I really need to get this sent today. I have the first sleeve done and only the cuff on the other one and the neckband left! Photo:

And I have a photo of the finished sleeve showing the juxtaposition of stockinette stitch, garter stitch, and 1x1 ribbing. I think of the interplay of these 3 stitch patterns as an alloy building this sweater much like a cauldron is often built from an alloy of materials. The sleeve photo:

You might notice the gray stripe where it should be a red one. I did in fact run out of red yarn, which I thought might happen. Thank goodness I have more than enough gray!

Ok, let's try and get this baby done before the post office opens!

later (9:36am EDT): Done and all the ends woven in :) I think it turned out perfectly. I hope Cousin sends me a photo of Squish in his new sweater 

Sparkle Sparkle Wings

 

Pattern: Dragon Wing by Patti Waters (Published in Knitty.com; Link direct to pattern page)

Started: July 18, 2011

Finished: November 14, 2011

Made for: Heather

Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Glamour (96%acrylic, 4% metallic; 202 yds/ m = 50g)

• 3 skeins of "153 Onyx" = 606 yds (554.1m)

Needle size: 4.5mm/ US 7

Notes & Photo:

I love this pattern; am putting mine aside to start this one for H's birthday. Again using a sparkly yarn that just suits the pattern so well. Am hoping we get some cooler weather so I can work on it more consistently than I have worked on mine.

7/21: Going really well :) Am done row 127 already :) Should  have half done by the weekend I think :)

7/23: Completed row 144 on the bus ride to work this morning :) This afternoon is devoted to completing the right wing & getting some pictures :)

8/09: right wing finished at knit-night last night :) started left wing: already at row 40 :)

11/08: As of knit-night last night, I have 2 rows and the 3-needle bind off left to finish this little beauty :) So excited to have it done!!!!

11/14: All done!!! Finished at knit-night :) Will deliver to H next Tuesday :)

Shimmering Leaves

 

Pattern: Dianna by Jane Araújo (can't find a non Rav source)

Started: August 10, 2011

Finished: October 28, 2011

Made for: Sionan

Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Glamour (96% acrylic, 4% metallic; 202 yds/ m = 50g)

• 2.1 skeins of "134 Copper" = 424.2 yds (387.9m) 

Needle size: 4.0mm/ US 6

Notes & Photos:

As I love lace, shawls & entrelac I think this looks like a perfect project for me. And this lovely sparkly yarn will make it extra special for my dear friend's birthday gift.

Later: 2 tiers done. I have no idea what some people were having a problem with. Very easy to read pattern. The designer did specify that one needs to already understand entrelac to knit this piece. Going great & I think this yarn gives it a different look than most of the others that have been done.

9/16: 6 tiers completed; starting tier 7

10/19: 9 tiers completed :) Am thinking I may end this after 10 tiers as am getting sick of it and there are other things that need finishing too!

10/29: Finished it on the bus coming home from work :) Love it. Need to get pics

11/09: Sionan loved it!!!!!!

Springtime Shawl

 

In progress showing the many bright shades of green in the yarn

Pattern: Petal Shawlette by Bonnie Evans (Published in the book "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders")

Started: May 16, 2011

Finished: July 17, 2011

Made for: Krista

Yarn: Zivec Designs sockweight (450yds/411.5m = 100g) = 450 yds

Needle size: 3.75mm/ US 5

Notes & Photos:

Thought this pattern would look neat in this yarn :) I have more yds in this skein than the original yarn used so I plan to do more reps of chart D to use up more of it. Also don't care for original edging so will do something different for that as well.

6/26: Have finished the shawl according to the pattern & am working on a second repeat of chart D. Still not sure how I want to edge this.

7/16: Still working on it :) Still not sure how to edge it  :) But its destiny has changed: no longer for me, it will be sent to Newfoundland as a very special birthday gift for a very special cousin who's had a bit of a bad year & can use a hug in her favorite color.

7/18: Finished last night :) Wound up doing 21 rows of chart D & finished witha basic crocheted edge of ch3, K3tog tbl. It looks really good; need to block it now.

8/17: Mailed!!! It's on its way to Newfoundland :)

Starting to see the leaf shapes

More leaf shapes!

MVP

 

Pattern: MVP by Síle Thiels

Started: March 4, 2011

Finished: March 9, 2011

Made for: Pat

Yarns: Diamond Luxury Collection Fine Merino Superwash DK (100% superwash merino; 137yds = 50g)

• 0.75 skeins/ 37g of "500 Black" = 102.8 yds
• 0.2 skeins/ 10g of "1505 Red" = 27.4 yds
• 0.02 skeins/ 1g of "1090 White" = 2.7 yds

Sandnes Garn Tove (100% wool; 175g = 50g)

• 0.1 skeins/ 5g of "2206 Yellow" = 17.5 yds

Total yardage: 150.4 yds 

Needle size: 4.0mm/ US 6

Notes & photos: Decided that since I knit Petey a hat, Pat needs one too. Why do all the guys I went to school with work over-night at jobs they're outside for extended periods of time?

Couldn't find a suitable pattern, so I found the colors for his NHL team (Calgary Flames) & am sort of one-offing this for him.

Might put it on my blog as a free pattern if I like it.

3/04/11: Cast on & working in rib.

3/06/11: Ribbing done and just starting the colors. Not sure how I'll do this; I don't want plain stripes.

3/08/11: Finished color section at knit-night last night; just need to decrease the top :) Really like how it's turning out :)

3/09/11: Done! Will post pic tomorrow & hopefully will have the pattern on my blog sometime this weekend at the latest :)

3/11/11: Final photos up :) Pattern is on my blog; just have to link it to Rav

Further notes: This became the sample for one of my first published patterns! This became the second pattern I put up for free on my old blog and is now available as a free pdf from my regular blog, Knit Dance Repeat

I Don't Ski But...

 

Pattern: St. Moritz by Snowden Becker (published in the book "Knitting It Old School")

Started: December 18, 2010

Finished: February 3, 2011

Made for: Síle aka Me

Size: 48 inch bust

Yarn: DGB Confort (50% wool, 50% acrylic; 138yds = 50g)

• 6.05 skeins/ 302 g of "113 Ice Blue" = 834.9 yds

Needle size: 4.0mm/ US 6

Notes & photos: 

Am using the yarn I reclaimed from my Cromarty which I frogged today.

Rav-mailed the designer: there is at least one error in the pattern. Row 3 as printed is missing 11 sts for the 2X size :p I mirrored the center sts & it looks fine. The WS Inc row for sizes L, 1X, & 2X is skewing the work funny :( Will tink back to Row 3 & wait to hear...

12/25/10: So I frogged what I had & started over using 4.0mm needle & all is going well. Not sure what I was doing before but everything looks fine. There is definitely an error in Row 3 but other than that all is fine :)

1/09/11: All going well :) Nearly to point to split work into back, fronts & sleeves :)

1/15/11: Have passed the separation & all going well :) I slipped it onto some waste yarn last night & tried it on: perfect :) I'm really gonna love wearing this one.

1/22/11: Body nearly finished! Started working the hem yesterday :) Found buttons yesterday too :) 

1/24/11: Am knitting the hem shorter & will only have 2 buttons on it. This shortens it about 1". Considering I knit the body about 2" shorter than the pattern, this should keep the proportions right.

1/27/11: Finished the body on Monday :) Left sleeve is well under way :) Will definitely have it done for the 13th. :)

2/02/11: Only 10 rows left on the collar & then sew on the buttons!!!!!! I should have my pretty done tonight :D Here is the most recent photo:

2/03/11: All done!!!!