Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Needlework Tuesday - On Wednesday

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

These last few weeks I've been working on two projects. I'm happy to report that Meadowside from ravelry.com is complete. While I still don't love it, it's growing on me more and more. It appears to be a medium sized shawl (compared with others I've done) that'll be nice to throw over my shoulders once this heat dissipates. Here's what it looks like:



The pattern indicated that blocking is needed to open up the lace.  Even though it's hard to see, I might omit this step.   It's not that it's a gorgeous intricate lace to begin with.  It's rather ordinary and I'm not sure it's worth the effort.  We'll see.

I really like the yarn I used: Lang Yarns Jawoll Color. However, I ran into one problem. According to the yardage on the label, I should have had some yarn leftover, but I didn't. In fact, I ended the piece 8 rows early and still used all of the yarn with about 1.5" left at the end of binding off. That's cutting it close...too close! This sock yarn comes with some reinforcement yarn wound around a spool.  I'm wondering if that amount was included in the total yardage. If it was, it would make sense. I didn't use this extra yarn in my shawl because it's so tightly wound that it's "weight" was much different than that of the ball and would have been noticeable.  I have quite a few balls of this yarn in different colours,  so I'll have to make a note not to expect to get the full yardage indicated.

A few weeks ago, I was worried that the next project from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month might be delayed in the mail because of a strike or lockout at Canada Post. However, for the time being it looks like the two side are still at the table and the mail is going through. My next project showed up right on time. Here's the project:


Since I had been knitting shawls now for what seems forever, I took the opportunity to do something different and started the clutch the day it arrived. Here's a close-up of the stitches:


It was a bit of a shock to work in worsted weight cotton after all of that fingering weight 100% wool. It feels a bit clunky, but it's nice to do something different.

In my opinion, the clutch is a little big at roughly 11x8. I would have preferred something a little smaller, maybe 8.5x6 or 9x7. Oh, well. I think it'll do.

The pattern could have been written a little more concisely. It didn't specify whether to slip 1 knitwise or purlwise, so I opted for slip 1 knitwise. I didn't notice until I was about a 1/3 done that my slip stitches were twisted. I could started again and done it differently, but decided it looks okay regardless. I thought all of my slip stitches were the same until I look the above photo and realized that at least two of them are different...upper and lower left. Oh, well. Here's what I have so far:



I'm been procrastinating on adding the edging because it's supposed to be done in white. That's adding another colour to an already colourful bag. I'm thinking I might want to trim it in the dark blue or one of the other colours already used. Also, the pattern instructs me to pick up stitches through the two layers of knitting and then knit around the bag essentially seaming and trimming the bag at the same time. Sounds fine and dandy until I realized what a pain that was going to be since it's knit quite tightly. I might opt for a crocheted edge and regular seams. Any advice?

For the first time in months, I don't have another project lined up. I'll have to come up with something soon. My fingers are itching to get knitting.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.  

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Needlework Tuesday - Shawls

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

These last two weeks I worked on two projects.

Waiting for Rain on ravelry.com is complete...mostly   It turned out better than I thought it was going to. I just love the yarn and the colour.  I haven't blocked it yet, but I think that'll even out the lacy sections quite a bit, so it's on my to-do list. In the meantime, it's quite lovely the way it is (even if I have to say so myself). Here's what it looks like:





The pattern was quite easy to follow once I got the hang of it. It's a lot more conversational than some of those old stuffy patterns of years past. I'm definitely going to look for more patterns by this designer. I already have one in mind...The Rain Outside is a sister piece to this one, but she has lots of pretty ones to choose from.

The other project I worked on is....another shawl!!! Meadowside is another one from ravelry.com. I really loved it when I saw it in my local yarn store. Bright and colourful. I liked the idea that it was made from sock yarn. However, I picked two fairly drab colours because the yarn was 50% off and at the time that's all they had in the sale basket. I loved the idea of spending less than $20 on a shawl instead of +$200. Well, I'm not loving it now. The colours are dull-ish and the pattern is super simple.  Not very challenging. It's fairly similar to another one I made awhile ago, which I should have recognized just by looking at the photos, but didn't. Anyway, I'm finding it pretty boring to knit and look at. Here's what it looks like so far:


If I hadn't already purchased the pattern, I probably would just rip it out and make something else. The one interesting thing about the pattern is that you knit two rows with one colour followed by two rows of the other, which makes for a stripy effect.   Oh, well. I'm sure it's going to turn out okay-ish.  Maybe it'll grow on me.  

Another project should arrive soon from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month. I got a notice today that the package was sent out. However, it may or may not show up. It'll depend on whether or not there's a strike/lockout with Canada Post.  I can only hope that there's a resolution or that they'll get it here before the deadline on Friday.  Last time, it took 6 days.  I wonder what Mary Maxim is going to do if there's no mail service. Do you think I could convince someone that my knitting project is an essential item? ;) 

This week I'm going to continue to work on my so-not-exciting shawl, while I wait to see if I get another package.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.