two knits of ivory

The cabled shrug project has definitely taken hold. So much so I put the labor in Labor Day this weekend, I wrapped up two outstanding projects, my Rowan Cashsoft Shawl and my burgundy cable afghan. Yipee! Both projects were begun with a great deal more enthusiasm than was present as I finished them up yesterday. I loved how quick the afghan worked up using two strands of the Paton's Classic Merino yarn. The stitch definition looked far more cohesive than I originally thought. It will look good with the Armoire quilt I purchased for the soon-to-be renovated guest bedroom. The Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK yarn I used for my first shawl is a beautiful yarn but it was difficult to work with on the bamboo needles I prefer. As I have discussed in a previous post once I put the project on the lone pair of addi turbo needles I own I quickly found it much easier to work with. It is a gorgeous yarn, and supposedly machine washable, but I'll probably never use it again. So glad this is done...

Finally, finally, finally, I have begun my Blueberry Moon sweater using the Malachite colorway of Rowan 4 Ply soft , which is a fingering weight merino wool. According to Rowan's website it is a washable yarn, so maybe that's why my washed swatched didn't blossom. Hmm.... I was hoping to knit this on size US2 needles. I have a set of two 16" bamboo circulars for the initial knit up but knowing I'm going to need the larger lengths for when I get closer to the bust portion of the garment I hit the web in search of bamboo needles and found zip. Seems like the only market for size 2 and smaller is sock knitting and sock knitters primarily use dpns or metal circulars. I want bamboo. Insert a big WAH! In fact some of the things I did read about bamboo needles in the smaller sizes echo the complaint that I have with the needles I do have. There is a metal join between the nylon cording and the bamboo needle. It snags at the stitches so that one must manually push the stit...

Somehow my Rowan Cashsoft Shawl got lost in the shuffle. I'm almost done with my second ball. I absolutely love this yarn. It's very silky and delicate. It's got a lacey feel to it even though it's a four-stranded yarn. I'd been using size 9 straights to knit this up and with two stitch increases on each end, eventually I would come to a point where I had to move the knitting onto circulars. When that time came, so came the knowledge I didn't have any size 9 circulars. As I was trying to cut back on the knitting spending the project got a little lost in the shuffle. However, just recently I realized I needed some needles for another project, so I found myself at Joann Fabric on Monday. Wouldn't you know it, they only had one size 9 circular needle. I bought it, but it didn't solve my problem because a) knitting requires two needles and b) I was way too lazy to hit another store. Yesterday, though, I came across some more blogging serendipity. ...

Yarn specs: 50 gram ball measuring 142 yards made of 57% extra fine merino, 33% microfibre, 10% cashmere. The proprieter of Now and Zen Yarns went on and on about how well garments knitted with this yarn look and last after repeated washing and use. She even said it was machine washable, using the gentle cycle and cold water. I, never one to believe a thing any sales person tells me, just smiled and expounded on it's overall loveliness. This yarn had me at the first touch. Everything else will be gravy. No sooner did I buy this yarn than I was thinking furiously of a pattern for it. I wanted a shawl, but I needed a fully knitted pattern (i.e., no lace, no holes). I need it to keep me warm at work during the dog days of the office a/c. I spent Sunday figuring out how to start the shawl bottom up, what edging to use, and then formulizing what pattern would be optimal. I eventually settled on a diamond seed stitch pattern I so loved with my Dale Baby Ull hat: It was just a m...