Needlework Tuesday - The mystery continues...

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

A few weeks back I wrote about a mystery Knit-A-Long (KAL) for Joji Mystery Wrap. I've been diligently working away at it and have completed Clue 3. Instead of following the designer's suggestions on colour selection I went my own way and picked all variegated sock yarns that more or less had some common elements. Some days I regret that decision and have been waffling on how much I like this piece so far.  The design is great, though.  The jury is still out on my version of it. Anyway, here's a part of what I have done:

If nothing else, it's going to be colorful. You can't see it here, but there's one lace section, a few rows of eyelets, and some interesting twisted ribbing.  I'm hoping those will show more once it's blocked. There's only two more clues to go and I can't wait to see the finished piece.

Another piece I've been working on is the summer top from Shibui called Interval. All I needed to do was set in the sleeves, seam the sides, and weave in all the ends. These are not skills I've mastered and it took a long time to get them to an acceptable state. It's done now. Here it is:

My favorite parts are the front and side seam detail.  They are in stocking stitch, while the majority of the top is in reverse stocking stitch.   I'm definitely going to make another top from Shibui Knits.

Two projects that I'd been working on didn't go so well. The beige throw from Mary Maxim got frogged (ripped out) as did the summer top, Banaue Breeze, from Stephen West. For the first one, I missed a yo in each repeat of the pattern, which threw off the stitch count. It was easier to rip out the whole thing and start again. As for the summer top, it's supposed to be a loose fitting garment and I decided to make the small size. However, because I was using yarn that was slightly lighter than the designer called for, the piece was going to end up too small.  I've yet to restart either of these, but they are next on my list.

This week I'm going to be continuing with the KAL. 

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 - New projects

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

Wow. I've really gotten out of the habit of posting on this blog. I had a post mostly written for last week, but never got around to posting it. Since then I've put most of my projects aside to tackle a new one (more about that in a minute). Once this new project is more underway, I'll get back to some on-hold projects and post about them at that time.

So, the newest project I started is a mystery Knit-A-Long (KAL) for Joji Mystery Wrap. My local yarn store and other sources were promoting it quite a bit and that peaked my interest. Joji (pronounced Hohee, I believe) has given us a few indications about what we are knitting, it's a large wrap, but other details are being kept under wraps. ;) Each week she sends out a clue, which has instructions on how to proceed.

I don't like time constraints that much, but with this one I'm determined to keep up with the weekly clues. So far Clue 1 has been sent out and I'm just about done. The next clue should arrive late Thursday or early Friday.

I had purchased some yarn for the project, but at the last minute I decided to go a different route and use some yarn from my stash.  My choices don't exactly follow Joji's suggestions for yarn colour, but I'm going with it anyway. I can show you the yarn I've chosen, but I'd prefer to keep the knitting part a secret until the end...well, at least for a bit longer. I don't want to give anything away for my fellow KALers. Here are my colours:

If nothing else, the wrap will be colourful.  ;)

Just before I started the KAL, the next project from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month showed up in the mail. While I don't love this one either (I'm starting to sound like a broken record), I decided it was time to tackle one of these. The pattern for this throw (or what I'd call an afghan) is 16 rows and is pretty simple. The repeating fan pattern has only one tricky bit every few rows. I especially like that the WS rows are all just working the stitches as presented. Perfect for TV knitting. Hopefully, before it's done I'll have memorized the pattern. Here's the project and what I've done so far:

This week I'm going to be concentrating on the KAL. If I find time or finish early, I'll take a look at one of my other projects.

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.