Cosette Wrap

So I got a wonderful opportunity to knit a great shawl for a friend of mine who is totally fabulous, Alana at NeverNotKnitting!! Check out her website here for a much better picture of the shawl (I'm still working on photography ... obviously not my strong suit!!) and her beautiful version of Cosette here.

The shawl was amazing to knit ... so easy to follow ... the great part about it is the short rows, you start by casting on tons of stitches on your needles and once you start the short rows you work with progressively less and less stitches to finish the pattern. I was also surprised at how easy the picot edging was, it looks so intricate and feminine!!

Overall it was a wonderful experience and I HIGHLY recommend buying her pattern and knitting up your very own Cosette Wrap today!! Check out her Pattern Store here, totally awesome knits!!!

More Lace Knitting

I've been working on a few projects up to this point that are lace, not very successfully or happily, but recently there have been a few lace patterns that looked irresistible, also I have yarn waiting in my stash to be used ... calling out to me to knit it ...


The fine lace pattern is from the Spring 2009 Interweave Knits magazine, it's called Fountain Pen Shawl, love working the pattern ... really well written and very comprehensive, the designer even includes a lace BO so that you can achieve looseness while blocking your FO. For this pattern I had some Malabrigo Lace in the Purple Mystery colorway just waiting for me to knit it up. The yarn is really soft and cozy, yet light and airy too!! I'm really excited to continue with this pattern!!

This beauty is the Hemlock Ring Blanket and it's a free pattern (follow the Ravelry links to locate the original pattern). This pattern satisfies my desire to knit lace without it taking a year to finish the pattern. Also the Cascade Ecological Wool that I'm using is so beautiful to work with, plus I love the fact that it's not dyed or chemically treated ... always a plus when looking for 'Green' knitting projects!! This blanket should be a smaller blanket, like a lap blanket, so I'd say I'm almost half-way finished. I'm excited to finish this and I know it will be beautiful once finished and will perfectly coordinate our blue/beige couch!! Thanks to Jared Flood for making this version available!!!

Thank you to the ladies at Saybrook Yarn who are so sweet and helpful when ever I shop there!! I went in to buy The Cascade Eco Wool and originally I wanted a chocolaty brown, but they only had one hank left. I stared at two different colors for what must have been an hour. That wasn't working to help me see if I should have the color ordered or use the color they had in stock, so we found a skein of yarn that matched pretty closely to my sofa and compared to the colorways we were staring at. It turns out that the color they had in stock was an even better color, so I excitedly brought it home and cast on!! I was really surprised to find that what looked like charcoal in the store looks dark brown in my living room ... go figure!! It is so important it is to find a great LYS (or multiple LYS's) who are so patient, willing and helpful!!!

I've also been tackling a men's hat, like a Newsboy hat from the 1930's. I should probably say that the hat has been tackling me instead. I am determined to get it done before the spring officially arrives (my poor friend's head has been freezing all winter!!). I will post the pictures when I'm finished, if it's ever finished, not sure if I'm going to post the pattern though ... have to see how much finishing work is involved, it may not be worth passing on.

Alvina Scarf (Free Pattern)

Alvina Scarf
(A Reversible Cable Scarf)

Yarn:
Malabrigo Worsted Weight Merino Yarn (100% Merino Wool; 216 yds/100g) Jacinto #193 colorway, 2 skeins.

Needles:
-US 9 Circular (A very long circular will work best)
-Tapestry Needle for weaving in ends

Gauge:
4 sts/7 rows = 1" in Stockinette Stitch. (If gauge is slightly off, no problem.)

Size:
One size fits all. Scarf measures approx. 4.5"W x 6' H.

Note:
To make a smooth join between the two skeins, see this tutorial on Felted joins (scroll down page until you can view the video tutorial, very helpful!!).

Cable Stitches:
C8F - Slip 4 stitches onto your cable needle, hold to front of work, K1, P1 (2 times), then K1, P1 (2 times) from the cable needle.
C12F - Slip 6 stitches onto your cable needle, hold to front of work, K1, P1 (3 times), then K1, P1 (3 times) from the cable needle.

Directions:
CO 464 sts.

Rows 1-4: Knit (this will be your garter stitch border).

Row 5 (WS and all other WS rows): K4; *K3; [K1, P1] 4 times; K3; [K1, P1] 6 times, repeat from * 16 more times; K3; [K1, P1] 4 times; K7.

Row 6 (RS): K4; *P3; [K1, P1] 4 times; P3; [K1, P1] 6 times, repeat from * 16 more times; P3; [K1, P1] 4 times; P3; K4.

Row 8: Same as row 6.

Row 10: K4; *P3; C8F; P3; [K1, P1] 6 times, repeat from * 16 more times; P3; C8F; P3; K4.

Row 12: K4; *P3, [K1, P1] 4 times; P3; C12F, repeat from * 16 more times; P3; [K1, P1] 4 times; P3; K4.

Row 14: Same as row 6.
Row 16: Same as row 10.
Row 18: Same as row 6.
Row 20: Same as row 12.
Row 22: Same as row 10.
Rows 24 & 26: Same as row 6.

Rows 27-30: Knit (this will finish off the scarf and leave a nice clean garter stitch border).

BO: *K2tog, place stitch on right needle back onto left needle; repeat from * to end. Leave at least a 6" tail, cut yarn. Weave in ends.


Do not block ... the scarf takes on a very feminine flair unblocked, the cables create twists and ruffles naturally. This is what I think gives the scarf something extra!!

I accept full responsibility for any mistakes in this pattern, so please let me know of any mistakes. You can email me here.

Pattern by Claire Getman, © 2009.

http://clairebearknits.blogspot.com/

All content on this site is the sole property of Claire Getman, unless indicated otherwise, and cannot be reproduced without express written consent. Patterns are restricted to a single copy for personal use only. Any other use must be approved in writing by the author.

I Shall Conquer: Lace Knitting

Being someone who doesn't have all the money in the world to buy all the yarn I could ever possibly want, I am trying to stretch the yarn I have. So I have decided that knitting lace is the way to go. You can buy lighter weight yarns (i.e. more yardage) and use larger needles to show off the eyelets in the lace...the end result?....more for you money, yay!!

The purple yarn is Malabrigo Worsted hand dyed yarn. This is some of the softest stuff you will find around. It is very lofty and knits up really quickly, always a plus after knitting a project with fingering weight yarn. Malabrigo is hands down my favorite yarn, they have yet to go wrong. The merino they use is super resilient, even though it's a single-ply. Oh, and did I mention it's REALLY soft?

The fingering weight yarn pictured here is from Pagewood Farm, another excellent yarn company, the name of the yarn is Yukon ... a blend of merino/bamboo/nylon ... so soft. I used Yukon for my first pair of knitted socks and was really pleased with the results. The pattern for both these scarves is pretty simple for lace, and will knit up pretty quickly especially if you use larger needles, so if anyone is interested I'll post the scarf patterns, just leave me a note in the comments section.