Saturday, July 30, 2016

Summer scarf knitting.

Can you think of a better activity for hot summer day than knitting a warm, snuggly, woolly scarf? I certainly cannot!


I started my Pincha Shawl back in June. At first I planned to use one of my Ciao Mondial skeins, but it turned out to have too long color repeats. So I dug into my Emergency Yarn Fund (also known as my bank account) and got myself a skein of Malabigo Sock in Playa colorway.
After almost a month of knitting, I'm down to 30 grams of yarn:


It's very hard to capture the true color on pictures! It seems my green garden table is the best background. Still, on every pictures shades are a bit different,

Here's the closest to natural look:


And current state of my work. 17 complete feathers. It would already make a nice scarf, but I couldn't bare to waste 30 grams of such wonderful merino.


Pattern  Pincha shawl by Pinpilan Wangsai  is available for free on Ravelry. At first all the turning and wrapping may seems overwhelming, but after several feathers I knew it by heart.
Short color repeats result in feather-like appearance.



Last week I started two other projects.
I want to keep the first one a secret, but I'll show you just a little bit:


Second one is a tunisian crochet doggie blanket for my buddy - Korek. He's already 8yrs old and recently he started to turn a bit grey lately. Also he's extremely fond of my knitting, and tried to steal my shawl few days ago.


I guess despite of not having holidays, July is still one of my craftiest months! :)



Have a nice aftrenoon!

Gosia.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Hasiok's new friend.

Hey, look who I found hanging around in my backyard!


Ok, to be honest I found him on Ravelry (where else?). I was lucky enough to join a free KAL for Owen's Opossum. This cutie was designed by my all-time favorite toy designer: Sara Elizabeth Kellner from Rabitt Hole Knits.


I finished knitting my possum in less than 3 days. I used acrylic yarn leftovers from my Purple Cats, and some pretty random scraps. Since I used smaller needles (3mm for magic loop, and 2,5mm dpns) he came out smaller than original.


 I haven't decided how to call him yet, I was thinking Frank - in honor of Fairway Frank from one of  Parks and Recreation episodes.


While outside, Frank tried to make my dog like him. They didn't get along so well.
Sometimes Korek seems just tired of it all:

"Keep your stupid knitting away!!!"

I went back to my attic and look who showed up! Just in time to meet his new pal!

They seem to be enjoying their company, peeking out of my window. I wonder what are those to up to? I just hope it's not related with my yarn stash in any way.


Well I'm definitely up to making a nice milkshake, with red currants! :3
And making some progress on my scarf. The one I'll share with next time.


Have a nice afternoon!
Gosia.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Cleaning up my project bags.

It's my first summer without summer brake... It is kinda hard, because usually July was my busiest knitting month. I'm not giving up this year, though!
In last few weeks I completed one big project and two smaller ones. And today I received long a awaited parcel - a skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn. I also got a free project bag, since the postage was seriously delayed. Oooh my!

But let's get back to my former -WIPs. I present to you.. my brand new Syna Shawl. Pattern Syna by Mary Renji.


For this shawl I used Cotton Soft by YarnArt and I was really pleased. This yarn is almost unspliatble! Perfect for crocheting!


The only modification I made was finishing work after a solid section. Last row was crocheted using a crab stitch. I still have some yarn left, but I decided it's big enough:


Now I have to buy a matching dress, because we've been invited to a wedding.

My other no-longer-WIPs are not that big, in fact they are tiny! It's a set of newborn-size cardi and a matching hat for my friend. She's expecting her first baby, and I still need to make a pair of small booties.


Free patterns: Marianna's Lazy Daisy Top-Down with sleeves  and eyelet baby hat, both by marianna mel.
For those I used what I had left from Never Again Blanket, which was made for the same baby-to-be.

Now forgive me, but I can hear my lovely, soft, delicate skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn whisper... "wind me, wiiiiind meee!". I just have to trick my hubby into being a skein holder for a while!

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.