Tag: shawls

WIP for June

June 18, 2014 kimberlee 4 Comments

WIP stands for work in progress and I have quite a few of those for this month. I typically have at least one crochet and one or two knitting projects going at all times but I got involved in a few extra this month and wanted to show what I have been working on lately.

I continue to work on my Noro garter and lace shawl that I started last summer and put aside. I really like this yarn and the project but it is like knitting with toothpicks on these tiny size 4 needles. I have a goal to get it done this summer though. I am a little more than halfway through with it now.

Below is a close up of the lace and garter rows. I now have over 250 stitches on my circular needles so it takes me at least 10 minutes to complete one row. I believe I will end up with over 375 stitches by the time it is finished.

My friend Karen and I decided to knit this advanced lace shawl called My Cat Stole My Heart. It is a pattern from Knit Picks. We usually meet and knit together at Starbucks twice a month and decided to do a KAL – Knit Along – together. She was planning to knit this for a friend and give it to her by September but the pattern is so long and very complex that she has changed her mind and will be knitting something a little easier for her friend.

The yarn I choose to knit this Cat Stole My Heart shawl is from Knit Picks – called Chroma fingering weight yarn. The color is called prism and I love it! The pattern called for lace weight yarn but I just couldn’t find one I really liked and decided to try it with this fingering weight. So far I am pleased with how it looks – this is my progress after about 10 days. I do not work on this every day because it is the type of knitting project that you have to really focus on and pay attention so you can not be talking to anyone or watching TV. I usually sit outside in the morning on my patio with my coffee after my workout and knit a few rows.

The below photo is a close up of the shawl – it is altering rows of a cat paw print and a lace heart design – the hearts go one way the paw print the other.

Around the same time I started the cat shawl I began a baby blanket for a gift for my neighbor who I just found out was pregnant and due any day. They are new neighbors and I had not seen them much the past few months and didn’t know she was having a baby. This is their first child and a little girl so of course I had to go through my stash and find a pretty pink yarn to knit a baby blanket. I never get to make pink things – other than for myself – since I have three sons. I am about halfway done with this little blanket. I am just using a simple diagonal knitting pattern (like for the dishcloths) that has a little openwork edge.

The dishcloths are a new obsession of mine lately since I participated in the May KAL with my facebook knitting group. I started another star pattern dishcloth in this red, white and blue stripe cotton yarn that I found at Joann last week. I like working on this for something simple that I can do while watching TV or talking to someone. Also, these dishcloths are very portable projects and easy to work on anywhere.

One of the other things I have started in the past few weeks is a crochet project using the Patons Glam stripe yarn I got on sale at Michaels back in May. I really like this yarn and I am designing a wrap and a shrug pattern with it. I have already knit a scarf with the yarn and I like how it looks and it is a nice yarn to work with.

I have also continued to watch some of my craftsy knitting class Lace Knitting Basics and Beyond with Eunny Jang. I am already familiar with knitting lace but I wanted to take this class to learn more about knitting lace patterns and reading charts. So far I am really pleased with the class and I like the instructor. She is easy to listen to and understand. You can click on the highlighted link to learn more about the class or click on the craftsy link in the right sidebar to learn more about their other knitting classes.

I would love to hear about your WIP – (work in progress) or any finished projects as well. Click on Leave a Reply to tell me about them.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Crochet Knitting

Tags: baby blanket, blanket, Crochet, crocheting, knitting, lace knitting, lace shawl, noro shawl, shawls, work in progress

Garter and Lace Knit Wrap

June 4, 2014 kimberlee 4 Comments

Recently I finished another knitting project. I started this knit wrap earlier in the spring. The wrap combines rows of knit stitches and then rows of lace using a solid color and a variegated color yarn. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

I was also able to get some photos of it when my roses in the back yard were in full bloom – I thought the colors of the wrap looked pretty against the roses.

This wrap is a rectangle shape – it measures approximately 70 inches long and 16 inches wide. I like the versatility of this accessory as it can be worn a variety of ways as a wrap and you can also wear it doubled around and ends tucked in for a scarf.

The yarn I used for this knitting project was Caron Simply Soft for the solid color turquoise and the multi colored yarn was from Hobby Lobby – I Love This Yarn in a color called Kaleidoscope. I love the vibrant colors in the Kaleidoscope yarn. Both yarns are easy to work with and very soft worsted weight yarns. I love working Caron Simply Soft and have made many projects with that yarn – it is also washable.

I have plans to design other projects using the same idea of combining the garter and lace rows. I currently have plans to knit a sweater next. I also think it is fun to combine a solid color yarn with a variegated coordinating yarn. The pattern for the wrap above is now available in my etsy shop or on craftsy if you are interested in knitting this fun wrap.

Currently I am working on a lace wrap that had become a UFO – Unfinished Object. I started this wrap last July or August as I wrote down summer of 2013 on the pattern. It is a pattern from Noro Knitting Magazine from spring-summer 2013. I really like the wrap but it is knit on size 4 needles and the yarn is like working with dmc floss – it is very fine. The yarn is Noro Sekku and is a blend of cotton, wool, nylon and silk. I think I bought it a couple of years ago on sale at my local yarn shop. Below is a photo of my progress – I have knit about two or three inches since this past Sunday night. I am determined to complete this by the end of this summer.

What are you currently working on? I am also going to be starting another shawl with a pattern I recently bought from Knit Picks. It is called My Cat Stole My Heart – it is a beautiful lacy shawl. My friend Karen and I are going to do our own KAL – Knit Along – using this pattern.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Knitting

Tags: caron simply soft yarn, knit scarf, knit shawl, knitting pattern, lace knitting, lace shawl, lace wrap, lacy wrap, noro wrap, shawls

Finished Knit Shawl from KAL

April 22, 2014 kimberlee 14 Comments

I mentioned in my post last week that I was participating in a KAL – Knit Along – with a facebook knitting group. Well , I got my shawl finished and blocked over the weekend and was able to wear it on Easter to church – I was so excited!

This shawl was a lot of fun to knit and I believe it only took me about 2 1/2 weeks to finish it. I worked on it a little bit each day but I think there were a couple of days that I didn’t get any knitting done on it.

The pattern is a free pattern on Ravelry – click on the highlighted text to take you to the pattern. When I first looked at the pattern I was thinking it was going to be really hard and involved but once I started knitting and made myself a chart to follow along it was really pretty simple. If you can knit, purl, yo – yarn over, k2tog – knit 2 stitches together – then you should be able to knit this shawl. If you click on the highlighted text chart to follow it will give you the pdf chart I made that will help you keep track of your rows once the pattern is established and you are just repeating the welt and wedge D.

Below is a back view of the shawl – it has rows of welts and wedges of short row shaping that make this pretty design on the back.

I was also so happy to discover that it coordinated well with this new skirt I had just made a week ago. Even my husband noticed how well they went together and commented on that when we were walking in to church Easter morning.

The yarn I used to make this shawl was just some yarn I had in my stash. I used one skein of Yarn Bee Snowflake Wool Blend – 247 yards and one skein of Loops & Threads Payette – 216 yards. I will say that I could have used a few more yards of both yarns as I had to finish with one less round of welts and wedges but it was long enough for me. Below is a photo of how much yarn I had left:

I am looking forward to making another one of these shawls soon. Right now I am working on a couple of other new shawl-wrap designs and I also just finished a crochet project that I will be sharing a tutorial for on my blog very soon. What projects are you currently working on? Click on Leave a Reply and tell me about them.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Knitting

Tags: KAL for April, knit shawl, knit wrap, knitting, knitting project, Nymphalidea shawl, shawls, wrap