FO: Mariquita

SO!  Apparently now I'm just casting on and binding off fairly large projects with nary a word in between!

Annis [Rav] by Susanna IC; knit with less than a skein of Cascade Heritage Silk Paints in colorway 9942 Misty Blue

There were quite a few pattern modifications for this shawl:

• eyelet bindoff gleaned from another's brilliant mind
• cobalt 2/0 Czech glass beads on every S2KP on row 5 of lace repeat (29 in all)
  
• went up a size on both sets of needles (US9 and US11)
  

I discovered that nupps (done correctly this time, no cheating as before) are slightly easier to deal with if one uses a crochet hook, but they're still painful.  I'm now exactly halfway to meeting my goal of 12 shawls in 12 months for 2012... which means I totally need to step it up, since the year is more than halfway gone.

And here are a couple more photos, because I said so.

 

LYS Trip: Yarn Soup

So in all the Ravellenic madness, I forgot to share one of the coolest parts of my trip...  a visit to Yarn Soup, the LYS in Dubuque, Iowa!

I wasn't able to get any photos of the inside, but there are a couple of good ones on the website that give one a sense of the coziness of the place -- there's some serious cozy going on there, even with the high ceilings and open floor plan.  The shop itself just opened within the last year (I think), but the decor inside and out fits in so well with the space and the rest of Main Street, it feels as though it's been there forever, in the best possible way.

Ahem.  Cascade Heritage Silk Paints in colorways 9958 (Vino) and 9942 (Misty Blue).  I know what I like and it was a dollar cheaper than my nearest shop at home.  So yeah, I got some yarn...

and Sara the Awesome Shop Owner (I believe that's her official title, but it may have Honcho in there also) dangled info for the Eastern Iowa Yarn Hop [Rav link] in front of me.  I was thisclose to driving to Manchester right away, but I had my mom and daughter with me, so I had to be on good behavior.

AND THEN!  My mama was all, oh look over there, a bookstore, I'm going to kidnap my granddaughter! so there was nothing to be done except settle into the über comfy seating area and work on Trip Project #3 and listen to some quiet aria and talk about those ruffle scarves that everybody wants.

Such a lovely place; if I lived closer, I would be there constantly.

In related news, I cast on a shawl pretty much the second I got home:

...so you'll be seeing progress for that coming up.  Another beaded shawl!  Apparently the only thing keeping me from beading everything in sight is the scarcity of beads within arm's reach.

FO: The Path to Sixty

So this happened last night...

...and I'm so pleased to be finished and so proud of my work!!

It was a long journey from cast on to border bindoff:

slow and steady

fun during Blog Week

reclaiming yarn

trying out different patterns

seaming nightmares

cross country road trip

Better pictures later, possibly.  For now, here are the stats...

free!  Pathways Blanket [Rav] designed by Frankie Brown
cast on Apr 14 2012, knitting done Jul 6, border finished Aug 21 2012
108 4" x 4" garter stitch squares with single crochet border (6 rounds)

knit in 2329 yards of worsted weight superwash merino wool
all yarn from stash! all originally bought from Knit Picks!

main color is Knit Picks Swish Worsted in colorway Squirrel Heather
body = 9.29 skeins = 464 grams / 1021.9 yards
border = 2 skeins = 100 grams / 218.9 yards

contrasting colors are:
Knit Picks Merino Style (disc.), colorways Dusk, Eggplant, and Storm
Knit Picks Swish Worsted, colorways Caribbean, Cobblestone Heather, Dublin, Indigo Heather, Lawn, Marine Heather, and Royal

And now: to ship it to its recipient -- I sure hope she likes it!

FO: Ravellenic Glory!

 

 Panda Silk DK Fan Shawl [Rav] by Gail Tanquary; 

knit with under 3 skeins of South West Trading 

Company Bamboo in colorway 138 Purplexed

 

The pattern doesn't have beading in it, but I decided I wanted to put a cobalt-colored glass bead at the tip of each fan module, and I think it was the right decision.  Spray blocked, soft, sublime!

Lemme, Lemme Update You

When we last saw our heroine:

I have since returned from my trip (for those playing along, I was in the midwestern USA for several family reunions, not in London for my triumphant Olympic debut) and there's been some progress...

1) Pathways Blanket [Rav] by Frankie Brown

I was only able to work on the seaming on the bottom half of the blanket during the first travel day, soooooooooooooooooooooo

I didn't get this finished in time to leave it there as intended. 
-sigh-  Sad panda.
It's going to be really great, you guys, I swear.

2) some sort of baby blanket square without enough yarn in stash
I was able to order yarn from WEBS and have it shipped to the location of my secret vacation lair!  I was able to choose a pattern and complete the required craftiness!  I was able to PULL THIS ONE OUT!

OPHELIA baby footprint dishcloth [Rav link] by Bridget McKenzie; knit with 2/3rds skein of Cascade Pima Tencel in colorway 1693 Sky Blue

...does it look like something?  It's something.

3) Baby V-Neck Vest [Rav] by Katy Moore

This got done -- with three hours to spare -- but I lacked the smarts to get a FO shot of baby vest greatness, so this is what you get:

Baby V-Neck Vest [Rav link] by Katy Moore; knit with 1.5 skeins of Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in colorways 6406 October and 2138 Pomegranate

Hugs to the baby's mama!

4) Panda Silk DK Fan Shawl [Rav] by Gail Tanquary

Ravellenic Games Progress!

There is beading and purple and I love this pattern EXCEPT
it is modular, which I'm a little tired of right now.
But that's the fault of Blanket Slog, not this shawl, so more please.

5) All Twisted Up Yoga Socks [Rav] by Bonnie Pruitt

I knit on this while under the watchful eye of the baby vest's recipient's mother... bait and switch.  :)

super pretty stitch marker made by Stitched Together -- thank you so much!

Oh, yes -- and there was yarn!!  More on that later.

AND before I forget: 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, M&D!! 
and HAPPY BDAY, T!!