Coming along

Two balls of yarn transformed into 70 inches of scarf.  Just keep knitting!

Happy Caturday!  Come Along Pond is coming along quite nicely.  It's about four feet now.

12 of 12: My Clapotis

The 12th, and final, shawl for 2012 was another Clapotis.  The pattern is just so quick and easy, and the FO has great drape and bounce.  After making one for Becca, I had to have one for myself.

 
I didn't technically finish the 12 shawls in 2012 challenge because this one took me until January 2 to bind off.  However, I'm going to count it as a win because I had enough of the shawl done by December 31 to meet the yardage requirements...but wanted to keep knitting for a longer scarf.  I've also been too busy wearing the thing to take photos in order to write this post.  A success all around I would say!

While I enjoyed the 12 in 12 challenge, I'm looking forward to a bit less structure to my knitting queue this year.  Perhaps I'll even finish that first sweater I have on the needles....

I've started to work on a new scarf, inspired by one of Amy Pond's wonderful scarves in season 5 of Doctor Who.  There are a few different patterns out there that have tried to reverse engineer the look, but I think I like my combo the best so far.

9 of 12: Adelei

This could very well be my new favorite.  Shawl number 9 was the Adelei Shawl by Wendy Neal.  I was drawn to this one by the irregular shape and the interesting center lines.

The pattern is basically six triangles - two large, two medium and two small.  The yarn is a recycled blue silk.  The pattern called for beading, but I didn't have a bead that worked well with the blue so I opted to keep it simple.

The color is a beautiful - almost an indigo.  Looks great with jeans.  I've gotten a ton of compliments on this one and I've only worn it out a few times.

8 of 12: Royal Reading Wrap

Number 8 of my grand 2012 shawl adventure is the Freya Shawl by Renate Haeckler. 

I actually finished knitting this one back in June.  It took a while for me to block though because of its unusual shape.  Other knitters' shawls came out as a semi-circle.  The best way I can think to describe mine is a Millennium Falcon.

I really like the deep purple of this yarn.  It looks very royal.  Tony likes it too.

7 of 12: Shetland Shell Lace Scarf

While on vacation in Florida earlier this year, I picked up some amazing Araucania lonco multy in a great blue/purple colorway.  As soon as I saw it, I knew what it would become: the Shetland Shell Lace Scarf by Frances Goodman (ravelry).

The pattern shows off the great color changes and the cotton yarn makes for a lightweight summer scarf.

Being a bit OCD about my knitting, I worked both sides at once and grafted them together in the middle so that the shells would fall the same way on both sides.

Lest ye be questioning if this counts for the challenge, the finished scarf (we'll call it a "stole") comes in at a generous 12 inches wide and really does lay more like a shawl than a scarf.

4 of 12: Something Borrowed

Now that the gift has been given, I can reveal my fourth shawl of 2012: Something Borrowed by Kathy Lang. 

For Gram's 80th birthday, I had the idea of a diamond theme: the April birthstone.  There don't seem to be traditional birthday gifts, but diamond is also the 80th aniversary.  A birthday is kind of like an anniversary with yourself, right?

I found a white cotton yarn with a strand of silver sparkle.  Perfect for someone who's always cold, but also lives in Florida.

This was also my first beaded project.  I had been a bit intimidated by beading, but it's really quite easy.  Now that I have the hang of it, I can't wait to start my next beaded project.

 

6 of 12: Gala Shawl

I've had this yarn for several years, but had been waiting for just the right pattern.  It reminds me of a bright autumn day, where the leaves have changed and the sun is just right.  When I saw the Gala Shawl by Cheri McEwen, I knew that the leaf motif would work beautifully.

Halfway through the 12 in 2012 challenge!

 

I love the wavy "stems" between the leaves.

Colonel Mustard in the Living Room with the Knitting Needles

Recently I've been in love with mustard.  The color not the condiment.  Though it is quite nice on pretzels.  But I digress.  I found a lovely cotton/ramie blend at the thrift store and have been knitting away.  Since it's more of a summer blend, some lace work was definitely in order.

First, there was Gridwork by Janelle Martin (ravelry), my Thanksgiving vacation project between bouts of cooking.

Second, we have Summer Flies by Holly and Ella Knits (ravelry), my Christmas vacation project.  This is the second time I've knit this pattern and really enjoy its results.  Can you see the butterfly stitch across the middle?

These two projects used up about half of the unraveled sweater, so look for more mustardy fun to come.

Penalty Gift

Sitting in the office at 5 PM on Christmas Eve Eve, about to leave for my flight back to Ohio, I realized that I had forgotten my sister's gift at home.  With no time to run back, I immediately started feeling guilty as she had so graciously served as Postmaster General for all of my owls dropping internet purchases throughout the month of December.  She had already gotten her knit gift back in November, so I was feeling doubly bad showing up empty handed.

Enter my constant desire to knit ALL the things - a knitspace gift certificate!  Upon making the offer of any knit gift she might desire, she immediately looked at the half-knit scarf in my hand and demanded that I knit faster.  A few weeks and 6 ft of knitting later, voila!

Meet the Carla Pearl 2 by Yarn Market (ravelry).  Knit in a single ply merino wool, this scarf is amazingly soft and fluffy.  While I'm going to take a break after 6 ft, the pattern was fun enough that I'll probably make this one again.  Easy to memorize, enough detail not to get bored, looks great - a winning combination!

A little summer sunshine

This lovely piece came off the needles last summer but has been languishing in my blocking pile. I wasn't totally thrilled with how it looked while I was knitting, so I wasn't in a rush to finish it. However, after blocking it turned out wonderfully - that'll teach me to write off a project before it is done!

The Echo Flowers Shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen (ravelry) is a really beautiful pattern. I loved working on the flower body...

 ... and the edging is awesome.

The brilliant yellow makes me think of liquid sunshine, a wonderful piece of summer to comfort from the winter's cold.

Christmas I

Christmas 2011 has come and gone, and how enjoyable it was!  While not as epic of a knit-fest as in years past (see my summer projects and my November delay), there were still a few knit gifts to go around.  We'll start with the scarves/shawls.

Kernel by Bonnie Sennott (ravelry) started as a travel project on one of my many work trips to Jamaica this year.  Here she is poolside soaking up some rays:

The finished project was lovely.  I adore the edging and think I might borrow that section of the pattern in the future.

In my undying shawl obsession, I also knit up Indian Feathers by Alina Appasov.  I really enjoy the quarter moon shape of her shawls.  While traditional triangle shawls lend themselves to great lacework, I find the moons to be a bit more wearable.

Kudzu

I adore my newest creation - the Kudzu shawl by Rachel Henry (ravelry)  The pattern was easy but fun, not to mention the super soft cashmere yarn!  This one came off the needles a few weeks ago, but has been stalled in the blocking pile due to its size.

Leaf lace is becoming one of my favorites to knit, and this one has interesting detail with the progressively larger leaves.

Birthday Shawl

Another one of my favorite shawls from this year was Summer Flies by Holly and Ella Knits.  This one was for Mom's big b-day back in May. A quick knit with a very lovely result.

Wedding Shawls

2011 - the year of the shawl. Fascinated by lace and inspired by two big events, I spent most of my knit time this year on shawls.

The first wedding shawl came to be almost by accident. Having fallen in love with the Frozen Leaves pattern from anusla (using like2makething's adaptation of the pattern), I cast on with a cobweb wool in a cornflower blue with no particular recipient in mind. About halfway into the pattern it struck me that it was the exact same color as a certain someone's wedding theme. Thus, Wedding Shawl #1 was born:  

The detail of the leaves on this pattern was great in the cobweb yarn:

As soon as the idea struck that Frozen Leaves was for cousin-in-law-1, I knew which yarn belonged to cousin-in-law-2. It was a beautiful yellow baby alpaca that I has picked up from the thrift store about a year ago. It had been hanging out in the stash waiting for the perfect project. After several false starts, I discovered the Feather Duster from Susan Lawrence. With the yarn's slight halo, it was the perfect match.

I love the flow of this shawl. Circles (as opposed to hard lines) are harder to create than you might think!

Congrats to both beautiful brides!