After an unintentional blogging hiatus, I am back with a whole lot of finished projects to share with you! I was so busy this fall, and most days I just didn’t feel like I had anything coherent to write. Apparently, all my creative energy was being directed into knitting, crocheting, and sewing instead. I know many knitters share that their craft helps keep them grounded in time of stress, and I think that held true for me in this season. So, without further ado, here are the things I finished over the past month! (Also, forgive the weird light and poor photo quality. I was short on time today and was losing light fast. Winter is coming!)
Finished Objects:
Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl in thrifted Lazy B Acres Alpaca blend 2-ply: I love how squishy and stretchy this turned out and am very happy with the random striping. However, I apparently am one of the few, strange people who is sensitive to alpaca because this thing prickles on my neck like crazy. I have the same problem with a cowl I made a several years ago with Lana D’Oro. So I guess I need to stick with wool and other animal/plant fibre blends that don’t include alpaca. Now I am not sure what to do with this FO because not many people in my life wear shawls.
Doodle Cowl in O-Wool Classic 2-Ply scraps: I am so happy with how this little cowl turned out! It was really fun to design and see how the patterns came out as I worked the charts. I didn’t expect it, but I still have enough of almost all these yarns to knit another small something. I am learning toward making a matching hat.
Scrappy Cardi in O-Wool Classic Worsted, Lana D’Oro, and Drops Alaska scraps: The sleeve length on this cropped and oversized cardigan looks a little weird, but it is due to running completely out of the off-white yarn. I was afraid it would feel odd when wearing, but actually, it turned to land just at elbow-length on me and is perfectly comfortable. It is just right as a layering piece with a green turtleneck.
Ribbed Legwarmers in Wool-Ease Origins Roving and Maize Fingerless Mitts in Viking Raggen scraps: If you notice that these both look a little grubby, that’s because they are. I didn’t have time nor inclination to photograph them before my daughter needed to wear them for horseback riding and grooming classes in the cold. She loves both the mitts and the legwarmers so much that I am sure I need to make multiple pairs of both. Good thing they are such quick and easy items to knit up!
Lavender Smiles Vest in Rowan Magpie Aran: I was originally thinking about making a cardigan for myself out of this gray aran weight yarn. However, my son really was in need of a Sunday sweater or vest for this winter, and as I was winding the first skein out of the five I thrifted, I discovered several breaks in the yarn. This made me panic slightly, worried that perhaps all the skeins were damaged, perhaps by insects. On further inspection, it was only that one skein, thankfully. But it did make the useable yardage even less than what I had in the first place, and I was worried that it would be a bit too squeaky for making a cardigan for me. Also, the yarn is pretty rustic and a bit stiff in the hand, making it seem like it would be a bit uncomfortable on the arms. So I decided a simple vest for my son would be a much better choice. It turned out just as I had hoped, and I look forward to seeing him get some use out of it this winter. I did opt for a twisted rib instead of plain ribbing as given in the pattern, as well as adding a little scarlet stripe using O-Wool 2-ply held double.
Patchwork Tiered Skirt from scraps: I have been wanting to make this scrappy skirt since last year sometime, but I also had been dreading all the time and mess that piecing the patchwork would be. And I wasn’t wrong. I didn’t have a big chunk of time to work on this all at once, but now that I have a place where I can set up my sewing machine and ironing board and kind of leave them out for an extended period, I just did that. I am sure it drove my husband a bit batty when he had to work in the same room as my sewing mess, but he was very tolerant of it all! The hardest part of this was getting the waistband right, for some reason. But I got it in there eventually, even though I did have to do it over completely once! I still think the elastic might be a bit too long and may have to unpick a seam and take out a little length, but I am not in a big hurry to do that. The skirt is fully lined, so it really feels (and looks) like I am wearing a blanket…perfect for really chilly days!
That’s a Wrap!
So, I now currently have just one active project on the needles, and that is my Honeycomb Vest. I do have a goal of finishing it before Thanksgiving, but just this afternoon I discovered I had made a mistake on the front that will slow me down a bit since I need to rip back about 2 inches on knitting. Oh well. I will be on the armhole decreases once I frog the messed up section, so I really don’t have that much farther to go on the front. The back is finished already, so all I will have left after this will be stitching the two together and doing the ribbing around the arms and neckline. Should be doable.
After that is finished, I hope to cast on some small simple projects with whatever yarns I have in the house. I can’t afford to go yarn shopping right now, even though I am itching to cast on a pair of socks but have no sock yarn! So I will probably just make some mittens and more leg warmers and maybe work on stitching on the needlepoint canvas that has been languishing in the corner lately.
And that about sums it all up! I plan to be back on the blog more now that some of our fall activities have wrapped up. I already have a reading report post started, so hopefully I will be ready to send that one out next time! Until then, happy crafting, friends.
Kiel
