Lotus Blossom shawl finished

Well here it is! What a fun and easy knit, it was done in 2 weeks plus a day! And it's gorgeous, imho. The pattern is the Lotus Blossom shawl from Fiddlesticks, and the black yarn is Alpaca Cloud from knitpicks held doubled, color Midnight, and I used a bit over I hank. I had some leftovers from the shawl I knit last year, and the Branching Out made just in time for Christmas. The red yarn is some Basic Merino Sock from Fleece artist, I have no idea which colorway, it wasn't written on the label. That stuff is way to pretty to wear on my feet, in my opinion. It turned out quite large, 70" along the top, and a bit over 36" down the center. I'm so happy with it, I can't wait to wear it! Can you tell I just blocked it?

Ivanova

One FO and a few WIPs

Whew! I finally did it - I finished baby blanket #2, the Kiri shawl in KnitPicks sock garden, colorway pansy. I guess that the bright colors detract from the stitch pattern, and maybe I should have stuck to the Flower Basket Shawl, but I just don't care anymore. I hardly ever worked on it at home because I was bored with it. NO MORE KNITTED GIFTS, hear that family and friends! You can expect yarn and needles and patterns but I refuse to knit for anyone else but me (and my non-knitting husband) for about a year. I will knit for him cause he helps me block things. Well, here's the pics:
The classic draped on the couch shot, no natural light at this hour. But the colours are pretty accurate, no flash.
The center point detail shot with flash. Yes, the couch cover is blue, not green as is shown here.
Oh well....
Now for a few of the WIP's... I went to a LYS sale, and some Fleece Artist basic merino sock called out to me. I bought 2 and decided to make the Lotus Blossum shawl from Fiddlesticks, but I didn't have enough for the whole thing. So I decided to use some of my stash to make the shawl, where the stems part is black Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks held doubled, and the bolossomy parts are the sock yarn in a gorgeous red-brown-coffee colourway. See below:
I tried to stretch it out as much as I could considering that the knitting is longer than the circular needles. I'm quite happy with it, and the colors in this picture are accurate. I also really like the pattern, the stems part is a no-brainer, and the blossoms are more challenging, but repetetive enough that I haven't put it on hold. In my opinion, the new Icarus shawl in Interweave knits that Delenn is going to be starting soon is probably a similar level of difficulty. This one is so easy, this is where I'm at after one week. I'm almost done! 28 rows to go! I can see this being completed in 7 days... I love fast and easy lace. This is easier than Kiri was...
And now for non-lace WIPs... I started the sweater I posted about earlier, the medieval inspired cabled number that I sketched. Well here's the back so far:
The colours here are not accurate, but this shot shows off the cabling nicely. The yarn is Kilcarra of Donegal Tweed in a purple colourway - they seem to have two different purples, and all I can say is that I selected randomly between them. There is a color code on the yarn, but the E-Bay store I bought it from do not use the color codes. The store is Irish Yarns and Crafts. I am very happy with this purchase, it seems to be the best-priced tweed aran weight yarn that I could find - $52.99 for 1660 yards. I compared with LYS prices, and this is a VERY good deal in my opinion. And 100 % wool. Not the softest, but considering that I will wear a shirt underneath, it's not a big deal. And it may soften up with a wash or two, using Eucalan or something.

But sadly, I have made a mistake somewhere, and have to rip back to the start of the armholes. And it's too hot now to make bulky sweaters, so I guess it'll wait a couple of months.

Ivanova

Backup knitting

What we have here is my backup project in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK from a LYS sale bin. I started this Memorial Day weekend when Salt Lake got buried under a cold stormy weather front. Trying not to impale myself on these bamboo needles kept me entertained while waiting for the deluge to end. Blue is also the Project Spectrum colour for June.


So far, I'm underwhelmed by the yarn in spite of the soft shininess and pretty colour: it's fragile (loosely plied, fairly splitty, tends to pill) and slippery as hell. For the sake of my sanity as well as my wallet, I would hesitate to use it or the aran weight (assuming it has the same problems) to knit a sweater. We'll see how the hat progresses.

Arisaig progress

As promised, an unblocked back and the right front piece with the bottom half of the lace pattern chart done. The yarn is Rowan Cashsoft 4 ply in Loganberry.

FO and something new

Finishing projects is a good thing. This poor neglected scarf was started well over a year ago.

Pattern

This is the Alien Scarf out of Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook. The shadow knitting pattern is pretty clever and I'll definitely wear this in fall.

Yarn

Shepherd Colour 4 Me 8 ply on US 7 needles. Overall, I wasn't too happy with this yarn (it was available when the local yarn stores were back-ordered on Cascade, Black Sheep and other worsted weight wools that sell an appropriate green colour). I found broken plies and knots in the skeins, and it pills like crazy.

Mods

None. There is a mistake in the chart in earlier editions of the book, so let the knitter beware. I also put a little bit of No-Fray at the ends of the fringe.

I also have a new project on the needles. I cast on for the back while traveling for work at the end of April. The ribbing is nasty-slow but the lace pattern practically knits itself. Blogger is being flaky right now, so I'll post the photos of the completed back and right front in progress later.