Needlework Tuesday - Scarf, Hat, Scarf

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

This past week, I worked on two knitting projects: the latest one from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month, and a new one. (I didn't get around to fixing/ripping out the fingerless mitts.  Darn!  Forgot about that one.)

I managed to fix the hat I wrote about last week. There was a problem with the pattern and it wasn't turning out quite right. As it turns out, it was a misplaced "*". That wasn't the only problem with the pattern. It called for a 24" circular needle. However, I couldn't get the stitches to join in the round on that size, so I used a 16" circular needle instead. Much better.

I also encountered a problem with the scarf. Even though I followed the pattern, the loop on the back of the scarf (to thread one end through to hold it in place) isn't wide enough to accommodate the width of the scarf, so it doesn't lie flat. It's knit into the scarf itself, so the only way to correct it is to rip the whole thing out. Not happening at this point.  I'll just pretend it doesn't exist.

Despite having a few problems with this project, I'm sort of happy with it.

Short story about the photo: I had showed my husband the scarf after I was done because I liked the patterning. I hadn't mentioned the matching hat. I figured he'd figure it out when he saw it on my head. Silly me. So, the first few photos he took featured only the scarf. He completely chopped off my head because...hat? What hat? It didn't even occur to me to say something until he showed me the shots he took. This is me doing an eye roll and pointing to the hat.

I also started another project. Another scarf from Shibui called Multigrain. It's supposed to be a one-colour scarf using three different yarns. However, when I bought the yarn (on sale), I couldn't find enough yarn in any one colour so I decided to improvise. I'm the three different yarns (as the pattern suggests), but two different greens. Here's the start of the scarf and the other yarns:

I'll explain more about how the different yarns and colours are used when I get to those sections.

I really shouldn't have started another scarf because I already have one on the go, two if you count a lacy shawl that can double as a scarf...one I've been working on for way too long.  This new one will make three.  Dumb idea! Scarves are so, so, so long and I'm easily bored. I've been trying to do a little bit on all three every day, but I might have to start another project or two to break up the monotony. Mitts? A summer top? Another shawl? I have yarn and patterns ready to go for all three, but I'm not sure I can juggle another project without letting one or two slide. I'll have to see how the week goes.

How many projects do you have on the go at one time? Not counting UFOs. I mean actually working on, say, at least once or twice a week.

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.  

Needlework Tuesday - On Tuesday!!!!

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

Look at me posting a Tuesday post on Tuesday!!  Maybe it's this glorious weather we are having.  The nice thing is that it's expected to last a week.  The highways are probably going to be icy at times (YUK!!!),  but it's going to be nice to wear a lighter spring jacket instead of a heavy parka.

This past week, I started two new projects.

The first project is the latest one from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month. I showed the project package last week and figured I might as well start. Because it's made with chunky yarn, it knit up quite quickly. It's essentially stocking stitch, so it's curling up quite a bit and definitely needs to be blocked.  I'll show the whole scarf once that is done, but for now here's a close up of the patterning:

Cool, eh?  I like the effect.  The best part is that there are very few ends to weave in.  Yay!!! I also started the matching hat, but I'm pretty sure there's a mistake in the pattern. Either that or I did something wrong. I noticed that something was amiss basically from the start, but continued to knit anyway. I'll have to rip back about an hour's worth of work before trying to figure out what happened. If it's a pattern mistake, I hope MM will send out a correction (they did this once before). I could try phoning them, but last time I couldn't reach the person I needed to talk to. It's probably best if I just try to figure it out on my own. It shouldn't be too bad, but it's definitely annoying.

The other new project I started is a summer scarf. The pattern is Tier from Shibui Yarns. It's rather plain with just a few sections of dropped stitches, but that's sort of why I like it.  I really like the yarn I'm using (Twig (colour Mineral 2022, also from Shibui), but it's more rough than soft.  It's made from a combination of linen, recycled silk, and wool. Here's what I have so far:

It's a super easy pattern and I've only just started. However, getting the tension correct after dropping a number of yarnovers (yo) was a bit of a challenge. It, too, is in stocking stitch and will need to be blocked. I have a couple of other projects from Shibui lined up. Look for those in futures posts.

This coming week, I'll work on the summer scarf for a bit then I'm going to figure out the problem I'm having with the hat (see above).  Oh, yes. I mustn't forget about the fingerless mitt I mentioned last week. It was another pattern I somehow screwed up. However, at least on that one I know it was me and not the pattern.  I should figure that one out soon before it ends up a UFO.

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.  

Needlework Tuesday - On Thursday

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

Another week and yet another storm. We just can't catch a break here in southern Manitoba. Many of the highways were closed for most of the day, which means we spent the day at home. The blowing is over now, but we are under a Extreme Cold Warning. It'll be -42C with the wind chill overnight. The good news is that after tomorrow we are going to have a huge upward swing in temperature. By next Thursday, the day time high is supposed to be 0C (-5 with the wind chill). Yay!

Anyway, I have a few finished projects to show you, but first another project from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month showed up the other day. I like the weave-like pattern on this scarf/hat combo, but I'm not wild about the style of the scarf. However, I don't have one like it, so I figured I'm make it as is.

The colours didn't show up well at all in the photo. From left to right: taupe, coral, and navy blue. At first I thought it was black and got really excited. I love black yarn. On closer inspection, though, I realized it wasn't. Boo. I guess they ran out of grey that's pictured on the pattern.  Another boo.

These next two projects finally got blocked this past week. One I finished in November; the other, I got done between Christmas and New Years. The yarn for both had come from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month, but I didn't care for either pattern and decided to make something other else out of it.  Too see the original patterns I pass on, check on my post on December 6.

The first one is the Boneyard Shawl, designed by Stephen West.  Unfortunately, this sparkly, variegated yarn doesn't do this pattern justice. It is big, cozy, and super easy to knit, though, so I guess it'll do.

Here's a close up of the "rib texture":

If you like original, funky, colourful knits, check out Westknits or Stephen West on ravelry.com.  I'll definitely be making another one of his creations.

The second one is Offhand Lace by Caitlin ffrench. It's fabulous in the neutral color (shown on ravelry.com), but I like my version, too, which uses two variegated yarns with long repeats.  Here it is:

Because the yarn is chunky and the suggested needles are quite large, it knit up in no time. I think I wore it for a straight week after it was done.

I did start one more project, Hidden Gusset fingerless mitts, in the last few weeks, but I haven't had any luck with it. The first yarn I chose was a lovely plum coloured tweedy wool, but it was breaking at the slightest tug. So I abandoned it and chose a much more sturdy sock yarn. The colours are okay, but the contrast is a bit too high. Anyway, things were going great until I sectioned off the stitches for the thumb and realized that my stitch counts were off by quite a few stitches.  Not sure what happened, but I'm going to have to start again, otherwise, the pair will never match.  

Did I mention that my local yarn store has a sale going on right now? Select yarns are 50% off, while the rest of the yarn in the entire store is 20% off. I swear some of the skeins were jumping right off the table into my basket. What was I supposed to do? Put it back? I had been eyeing some of them at full price before Christmas. There was no way I was going to leave them there unloved for even one more day.  In other news, my husband might be planning an intervention.

This week I'm going to work on the scarf/hat combo as well as figure out the fingerless mitt fiasco.

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.