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!!!

Another Textured Shawl

I've finally finished this Textured Shawl!! It's seemed like forever since I cast on. I really love the stockinette and textured pattern combo. You can see the modifications I did to this particular shawl here. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk in Plum, it's a light DK weight yarn that it worth trying, very soft and silky ... beautiful drape!!

This is a great shawl to get your feet wet in shawl making, give it a try!! You can't go wrong because the recipe is free ... check it out here. Also, don't forget to try my Shawl Cast-On Tutorial to get you started.

Shawl Cast-On Tutorial

Notice the straight edge of the shawl blocking above and the detail photo of the shawl Cast-on (CO) area below, no bumps or wonky transition from CO to knitting. The following CO is the reason why. It's the only CO I will use for shawls and once you try it you'll love it!!

This Cast-On as written gives you 9 stitches on the needles including a 2 stitch border of Garter Stitch on both sides/edges:

1 - Use a provisional cast on with a smooth waste yarn.

2 - Pick up 2 sts of working yarn through back loops of waste yarn.

3 - Knit 7 rows garter stitch.

4 - Pick up 5 stitches along the edge of the rows.

5 - Undo the provisional CO.

6 - Pick up & knit these 2 stitches.

With these 9 sts CO you're ready to start your shawl. For more or fewer border sts adjust step #2 accordingly. Or if you need more or fewer chart sts adjust step #3 accordingly. See two alternates below. (Note: The sts picked up with the waste yarn represent your border sts, the rows knit in garter stitch represent the sts needed for the chart.)

An example of needing 13 sts total CO:

1 - Use a provisional CO with a smooth waste yarn.

2 - Pick up 3 stitches with working yarn through back loops of waste yarn.

3 - Knit 9 rows garter stitch.

4 - Pick up 7 stitches along the edge of the rows.

5 - Undo the provisional CO.

6 - Pick up & knit these 3 stitches.

An example of needing 5 sts total CO (as when making Gail [aka Nightsong]):

1 - Use a provisional CO with a smooth waste yarn.

2 - Pick up 2 stitches with working yarn through back loops of waste yarn.

3 - Knit 3 rows garter stitch.

4 - Pick up 1 stitch along the edge of the rows.

5 - Undo the provisional CO.

6 - Pick up & knit these 2 stitches.

I hope this is helpful because once I understood this shawl CO it made my shawls look so much better. The finished result is seamless! Whom ever it was that invented this was a genius (a total perfectionist too)!!

If there are any discrepancies or issues with the above, please leave a comment for me so that I can correct or fine tune these notes. - Thank you

First Snow and a Textured Shawl

So we finally had our first snow of the year, it was beautiful. The next day we went up to NY State and it was even heavier there. Forgot my camera, but there was a 5" blanket of pristine white coating everything we drove by, it was glorious!!

On a knitting note ... here's my textured shawl, pictured here with a make-shift blocking board. You can see my Textured Shawl recipe here and it will connect you to the original 'recipe' as the designer calls it. I used 4 hanks of Blue Sky Alpaca's 100% alpaca sport weight yarn. I wasn't sure if it would be itchy to wear, but I wore it for the first time today and it's wonderfully soft and warm. The alpaca does shed a little, but it's still worth anyone out there giving it a try. Especially for those who are wool-sensitive, you'll love it!!

I was also thrilled because the pattern allowed me the freedom to use almost every last bit of yarn I have, all that was left was the tiniest remnant leftover. So exciting ... it's the little things, right?!

See an upcoming post for the shawl cast on that makes the smoothest edge.

Gail! My New FO

Although it's been months since I've blogged, I actually have been knitting! Lots of hats and quick knits for other people, and a baby blanket that I should have finished at least 5 months ago (because the little guy was born in June, oooops!!!!) Recently I've been on a search for a shawlette/scarf for myself for the winter transition. Something luxurious and green. What I found was one absolutely gorgeous skein of Halcyon Gemstone Soft Twist Silk yarn (sport weight/100% silk) ... a perfect match for my miniature version of Gail (aka Nightsong). You can find the original here, there are also some pages that will help you to knit this pattern here.

This was an incredible treat for me, a sumptuous yarn to knit with, which made knitting a dream. I was almost tempted to frog the whole thing and start all over again just so that I could knit with this yarn. If you try you'll never regret it, you'll love it and anything you make with it!!! Guaranteed!!!!

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.

Go Fly A Kite

Ok, so I lied the other day when I said I was going to do the Lacey Stole from Louet...I'm really doing this one instead...for real this time!!



It's called "Go Fly A Kite" (I found it on Ravelry!!)...it's really pretty and although I'm not really the lace wearing type...more of a plain Jane...I'm excited to be knitting lace for real. This is the same lace yarn that I was planning to use for the Lacey Stole, but since the Lacey stole called for sport weight yarn I thought that my yarn might be better used on a project that actually calls for lace weight yarn.



True confession: I hate lace knitting!! Or should I say that we have a Love/Hate relationship, maybe?!



I wish I could say that lace knitting is a treat and that as you go you start to see all your hard work unfolding that it brings joy to your heart and is beautiful, which would make you want to knit more and more and more. But I can't say that! In fact, I would probably tell any beginner not to even start lace. Here's why: As I knit this pattern I have to make sure that I keep my spot on the pattern chart, but inevitably I will move the wrong way, have to get the phone, or change the channel, or whatever (I think you get the idea) and all my spot is lost...so now I have to back track and figure out where I am, for the 500th time. Oh, and of course you have to make sure that you're knitting the correct stitches across the pattern or else you completely mess it up, and this is not the type of pattern where you can have an in depth conversation and remember how many repeats of the pattern you have already finished, or how many stitches are left to knit. Trust me, I've had to undue so many rows already for not getting that row right that I can't even count the times on BOTH hands.



Ok, end of rant!! :)



But ultimately this is a Love/Hate relationship...each time I put it down and see what has been knit so far I am amazed and say to myself, "Could this possibly be the thing causing such terrible torture for me all these hours? It's so lovely and light and airy!! How pretty and elegant this will look over a cute black dress...I should keep going and knit some more, maybe I'm just lace-challenged, it can't be that bad after all!!"

Now I know this is not the case for many, many knitters in this world, so to you lovers of knitted lace out there, please accept my apologies for my bluntness, but I must speak truth!! In lieu of my feelings, I am NOT quitting this project, this lace shawl challenge may drive me crazy, but I must finish it!!! And maybe, I'll grow to love lace knitting by the time I am finished......maybe?



Saga To be continued.....