At The Speed of Weaving

Like most Americans I spent last night watching at least part of the Superbowl.  Though I did change the channel to watch Downton Abbey and when I was watching I had tuned out the game almost entirely to focus on my book and my knitting.  Because that is essentially all I did yesterday.  I read my book (Beautiful Creatures -- my sister decided to read it before the movie comes out and became obsessed so I have been tasked with reading at least the first one.  Not bad so far) and knit the Wish I Was Weaving This Cowl.  In just over twelve hours.

I don't know what possessed me to knit this cowl so fast.  The last time I knit anything at this speed was my Neon Neely socks and those still took two days for one sock.  Maybe it is the power of the Liz Abinante KAL?  I did not even spend the entire day focused on my knitting.  I wound the yarn and cast on in the morning, but I also ate a few meals, cooked dinner, cleaned, and took a nap.

Wish I Was Weaving This Cowl is the 2013 installment of The Great Cowl KAL, which some may remember from last year.  This year Liz has made things easier on herself and the challenge only consists of one pattern, rather than five.  There is still plenty of time to participate if you want.  You can find more details on her blog or in the Traveling Woman group on Ravelry.  Anyone who finishes and submits their cowl by Feb 10 will receive a second brand new cowl pattern for free.  How cool is that?

The pattern calls for worsted weight knit at a loose gauge.  I used Dragonfly Fibers Super Dijini which I got in my first club shipment last year.  Unfortunately the base has been discontinued, so I could not think of a better use of my little skein of worsted MCN. It's perfect for a little bit of color in our drab, cold February.

FO: Twisted Vines Hat

Before you laugh at me, yes, I have another tall slouchy hat to show you.  If ever there is evidence that knitting can influence your tastes it is me, who did not even like knit hats beyond what was necessary for our occasional snow.  And I never wore anything slouchy.  Ever.  But clearly, that has all changed.

This is the Twisted Vines Hat by Melissa LaBarre.  In November she ran a pattern sale on all patterns she published that month, and so I snatched this pattern right up.  I cast on almost immediately because it was perfect for my Dragonfly Fibers September club yarn, Traveller, a sportweight yarn, in the colorway Tropicana.  You may remember that I like to call this the happiest yarn in the world because, well, it is.  Have you seen that color?  It is impossible to photograph inside and, well, I'm never outside in daylight this time of year.

Typically I do not wear things in this shade.  I am known to wear some wild colors, but in general even I know better than to mix red and orange.  Let alone with pink!  But this yarn knit up so wonderfully in the stitch pattern and it was a lot of fun to watch where the pops of color would fall.

I realized last night as I prepared to write this post that I as much as I have been wearing this hat, I did not have any photos of it.  And as I set up my chair in a closet for best nighttime lighting I remembered, dear readers, how many of you were dissatisfied the last time I wrote about a hat without modeling it for you.

So here you go.  Post-zumba, settled on the couch for Vampire Diaries and trying to decide how the snow falling outside would effect my work prospects today.  Don't say I never did anything for you.

For more FO fun, check out the gang over at Tami's Amis.

FO: Shipwreck Cove

What better subject for my first post of the new year than my biggest (and I do mean biggest) accomplishment of the last?  For lo, I picked up the scissors and brought the yarn to its knees.  Behold!  The finished Shipwreck Cove!

Slope by Cookie A in Dragonfly Fibers Selkie, Black Pearl

So I am feeling just a wee bit over dramatic, but I am super stoked about this sweater.  I finished it mid December and wore it twice before I finally got around to taking pictures.  If I say that this is the sweater that makes me feel stylish and sexy will you think I'm over doing it?  I did not do much in the way of styling for this picture but I love pairing this with black leggings, tall black boots, a chunky ring, and dangly earrings.  It is also fun to pair with a boldly colored beret and matching eye shadow.

The ingenuity of this sweater is what makes it so great.  Though, it is the way in which the body is knit in a single piece that results in tired wrists and a frustratingly large amount of fabric in one's lap.  But it is so worth it!  The construction also really leveled up my finishing technique.  My seaming may still need a bit of work, but it has improved so much over the last year since I decided that I was just going to have to bite the bullet and improve.

This is the sweater that suffered from the giant sleeve debacle, in which my sleeve was a good 8-10 inches too long and had to be cut and reknit back down.

Can you tell?  (If you can, please don't tell me.  My ego is too fragile and I'm just too darned proud)

If I was not already sold on Cookie A designs, this would do it.  I wrote before about trying to refocus my knitting on things that actually make me feel and look good, rather than things that are just in my budget.  This yarn is clearly not a budget yarn at $50 a skein, but I earned it in trade and waited until this pattern came along.  It used about two and a half skeins for the size 40, but that did include a swatch and the giant sleeve.

End result?  Five stars, two thumbs, a partridge and a pear tree.  Now, I just need to find more reasons to go out because I have not worn it yet this week.

For more exciting FOs, check out the gang over at Tami's Amis.

Under the Sea

I don't like to blog much about my yarn acquisitions.  I don't like to feel like I am bragging or showcasing any wayward financial behavior.  But every once in a while I get something that I just have to show off, and last week was one of those times (onces? whiles?).

Last week I got two lovely packages from Dragonfly Fibers, filled with all sorts of fun goodies.

The first is my May shipment of Club Dragonfly.

As always, the lovely folks who put together these shipments outdid themselves.  The pattern this time around was a great pair of socks by RosiG.  I am actually not planning to knit these out of the yarn we received, but the pattern is pretty rad.  The extra was a lovely set of stitch markers, and who doesn't need more stitch markers?  But the kicker, as always, was the yarn.

Dragon Sock in Octopus's Garden

Have I mentioned that this is totally my colors?  Because it totally is.  I know it's intended to be socks, but as soon as I opened it I knew this wanted to be striped with a grey.  Maybe a shawl from the upcoming Knitscene Accessories?

And then, on Saturday, I got the motherload of all yarn packages.

Speaking of grey -- three skeins of Selkie in Black Pearl.  This was my very generous payment for the Lonicera I sample knit.  When I opened it I just started petting the yarn.  And then I shoved it in Andrea's face and made her pet it.  And then I continued to cuddle it for a good ten minutes.  It's just so soft!  On the one hand I'm enjoying the warm weather we are having, on the other I cannot wait for it to get cold so that I can knit this up into something spectacular!  I'm thinking something hooded, cuddly, and with enough of a pattern to show up the great stitch definition.

For someone who is not particularly fond of the ocean, I am super psyched about this oceanic themed yarn!

FO: Lonicera [Finally!]

Yesterday between shifts I came home and dragged Chris outside to take some pictures of the Lonicera.

Lonicera, Kirsten Kapur in Dragonfly Fibers Selkie

I love the finished product.  It is absolutely lovely.  The yarn is so soft and did that blocking thing where all of the little imperfections just seemed to disappear.  That is one thing I will say about this sweater.  Even though I swatched, I still forgot how much it would grow!  The Selkie did not have as much drape as the original yarn, but here you can't even tell the difference.  It took just over two skeins to knit the medium, but I'm willing to bet that you could remove one body repeat to get a slightly shorter version out of two.

I used a US size 9 needle and kitchenered the two pieces together, rather than using a three needle bind-off.  My only problem was the amount of ends to weave in.  It took an entire episode of Stockinette Zombies to get through them all.

This little baby is packed up and ready to head to Kate for display in the Dragonfly Fibers booth.  If you see her at a show, stop and say hi!  Pet the sweater.  It is amazing yarn.

In the meantime I am trying to decide what Star Wars gear to wear today while I have a "knit all the things" kind of day.  I worked the midnight release of The Avengers last night, so I have the day off for crafty and geeky goodness.  May the Fourth be with you!

Check out other finished objects over at Tami's Amis!

Forever Blocking

Today I begin what will probably be an all day possibly all night process.  Remember that giant pile of chocolate wool?  It's actually a Lonicera.  This is a giant sweater vest designed by Kristen Kapur that has taken me forever to knit.  I had a couple of false starts and a yardage scare, but I am happy to say that after a month and a half it is finally blocking.

Even though I found myself cursing it often, the construction of this pattern is genius.  You just can't see it in a pile of wet wool.  And that wet wool?  Yeah, it's Dragonfly Fibers Selkie -- a decadent blend of 60% wool and 40% silk.  Before you get too jealous and paint me a yarn snob you should know that I don't get to keep it.  This baby is going to be a show sample for Kate's booth.  I'm fairly certain that she will send tons of yarn off of this alone.  Not because I'm an amazing knitter but because the fabric is delicious.  The color bled a little when I put it in wool wash, but nothing serious.  I'd go on and on but I have no photos to back up my claims, so you'll just have to trust me until this thing finishes the epic drying that I'm sure five feet of yarn shall take.

Parapluie and Soap

If you a part of Club Dragonfly and have not received your first shipment, look away.  If you are not but desperately wish that you were and the sight of yarnie goodness will make you fall into a jealous rage that will result in a blood bath to rival that of a one hour 50% off cashmere sale, look away.  Otherwise, if you don't mind self-indulgent, bragging prose and pretty pictures, read on.

I have never been a part of a yarn club before.  They are always too hard to break in to and cost way too much up front.  I don't generally like yarn all from one distributor because I don't have a lot of money to spend on yarn in general, and what if the pattern and colors were just awful.  I am sure I'm not the only one who has heard the horror stories.  A promising yarn club that tries out new and horrifying new colors that are supposed to be use in a design that probably sprouted from the brain of a meth-addict with the interior decorating sense of a land-fill.  Hoarders meets one of Aria Montgomery's outfits.  This was not one of those clubs.  For starters, two of my favorite designers are working on this project, one of whom designed for the club last year. A design I bought and knit up as soon as it became available.  Plus, Dragonfly Fibers has some really amazing yarn.  And to top it all off, there is the option for a bi-monthly invoice rather than a large up-front payment.  Win, win, win!

And dude, this is definitely a win.  The yarn is a brand new base that I am really excited to work with -- 80/10/10 merino nylon cashmere.  Yum!  The color, called Parapluie, is totally spring, with bright splashes of neon over more subdued pastel-y shades of grey, pink, and green.  The pattern by Kate of Katydid Knitwear is really pretty too, though I have to admit, I was shaking my head at the irony that it is yet another cowl.  It is lovely, and I'm sure I shall knit it, but I am so over cowls right now (see tomorrow's FO post -- not to mention it is HOT here!)

I could not be more pleased with this first shipment.  The extra goody is a bar of really nice soap that immediately went into the shower.  I have to admit, part of the reason I joined the club was the same as why I joined the Cowl KAL and am participating in swaps -- the fun and excitement gives a real community atmosphere.  The Dragonfly Fibers board is now one of the first ones I check in the morning, and the enthusiasm for this package is catching.