Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Girls Who Knit...


Thought you girls (and boy) would enjoy this! (Published in Bernat Fashions for Girls to Knit, Book No. 83, 1960.)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Bustin' That Stash

So we've been doing our knit-along of the Colonnade Shawl and I decided to use some really nice wool/angora blend I bought last spring at the Maryland Sheep and Wool. Here it is:


I got this far and realized that while I love the yarn, I don't think it's the best for this pattern, which calls for something with more heft to bring out the lace pattern. So I decided to unravel it and start again, also thinking this yarn would be better suited for something else. So above is before. Here, during:


And here, after:


In addition to doing a knit-along, Jennifer and I have decided to do some serious stash-busting, and are trying to devise projects requiring no new yarn purchases until the 2010 Maryland S&W. It's liberating and challenging and feels very good to use up old yarn stock. So here, I begin the Colonnade Shawl once again, using some beautiful Classic Elite Miracle (an alpaca and tencel blend) stranded with some leftover Habu mohair and green stainless steel:

And voila:


The mohair is all gone. Only a few yards of the stainless steel remain, and only a few feet of the alpaca, since I was also able to bang out some fingerless gloves based on the Fetching pattern from Knitty. The two tiny balls above the gloves is all that's left:


Best of all, since the set is finished I can take both the shawl and gloves to Madrid and stay warm. We're leaving tonight and I'm all ready except I don't have a travel knitting project yet. Maybe I'll start a pair of herringbone gloves.