All the Shawls

On May 26, 2019May 26, 2019 By FogKnitsIn Crochet, FO Friday, Shawl1 Comment

I’m taking a little shawl breather before I start the next round of sweaters! Finished one for mom, finished one for me and the next one is on the needles already!

First up, the Corona Shawl, a free crochet pattern from Universal Yarns. I had fun with this one, despite never really getting accustomed to the pattern. Unlike the knitting I do, there were lots of different stitches and the patterning changed nearly every row. This has definitely given me the confidence to crochet more complicated shawls but I will be looking for charted designs in the future.

I took lots of detail pictures with future crocheters in mind. In the absence of charts, having Ravelry’s database of photos was incredibly helpful.

The yarn is Lion Brand Mandala. It’s surprisingly nice for highly affordable acrylic. The softness is great and the colors are super. My one complaint though…I wish I could block it. I’m missing the crispness I could give all these details in a nice, natural wool. That said, I’m glad it’s crochet and not knit. I don’t think knit lace would be as forgiving without a blocking. Ultimately, I think I lucked into this pattern and yarn combo being a winner! And, as my dentist says, it’s better to be lucky than good!

My second shawl finish is another scrappy, striped Dotted Rays. Yes, another Dotted Rays. The first six are not enough. A 7th was necessary. I’ll still be saying the same thing when it’s the 10th, the 15th and even the 20th. I love this pattern.

It works with any & every yarn. It’s easily committed to memory. It’s got about a million options for customization. It’s easy to wear. And now I’ve got one for every day of the week!

I wasted no time casting on my next shawl. Another Stephen West, this time his newly release, Spring Cleaning Shawl. It’s got all my favorite components, garter stitch, short row wedges and lots of options for yarn customization!

I’m going fade with this one…starting off with this light color that will eventually fade from the light green with bits of yellow into the blue you see at the i-cord edge. I’ve got new project excitement at the moment so progress should be quick! This pattern has modular construction…I think that’ll help it along too. Fingers crossed because I’m excited about this one! These colors are swoon-worthy!

A New WIP

On October 29, 2018October 29, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Casting On, Shawl, WIP7 Comments

It’s been a busy week! Without my cell phone camera roll, I’d never be able to remember it all!

Partially because I’ve imposed a ‘no knitting at home’ rule for myself as I prepare for the upcoming Etsy Holiday Emporium. I’ve got lots of cross stitching to do and that doesn’t travel well. It made the divide seem easy…cross stitch at home and then get my knitting fix with a travel project whenever I’m out and about.

Turns out, I really still want to knit and I’ve been able to come up with lots of excuses to leave the house! LOL!

When I left you last, I was contemplating this swatch. It’s not bad but I wanted something better than ‘not bad’. In a rush out the door, I grabbed a few half balls that were calling to me and this swatch was born.

It’s perfect – irresistible fall colors! I could not wait to get my needles clicking on this one! It’s a Stephen West shawl (of course!), Striped Esjan. It’s been in my queue for a long time. I’ve emulated it’s loopy edge is several of my own shawl explorations. I’ve certainly thought about it enough. It’s about time I actually knit one!

It’s been a great carry along project. Once I got started, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve taken it to the movies, to the beach, to the park, several bars. Yes, I’m finding plenty of excuses to take it out of the house. So much for rules, eh?

WIP Wednesday

On April 4, 2018April 4, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP7 Comments

It’s Wednesday and I have progress! There’s not much of a story here, but that’s kind of a story itself. It’s my favorite kind of knitting, miles of nothing but knit. Perfectly relaxing, stress reducing, stash busting, striped, garter stitch.

AAAAAaaaaaaahhhh. yes. I’m loving the dueling Dotted Rays.

They’re keeping pace with each other pretty well. AND, I’m keeping up with the end weaving. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. At this point, each shawl has grown so large that it’s mostly relegated to a large crumpled pile until it comes off the needles, revealing it’s true beauty. At least that’s the way I’m hoping it goes…

I’ve made a couple questionable decisions in the pink/red/orange/purple stripes. It’s completely possible to balance it out down the line though, so I’m putting faith in the process. I’m not expecting to be unhappy at the end. I’m sure it’ll work out. It always does, after all.

FO Friday – Connect the Dots

On March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Shawl3 Comments

New hat for the weekend! Nothing fancy, just a plain stockinette beanie with a little stripe. Easy Peasy.

The real story of the week is a bout of Castonitis. With all this finishing lately, I’ve been contemplating new cast ons. I may have gone a bit overboard once I got started.

First, a little Peanut Warmer for the impending nephew. It’s so tiny, size 0-3 months. It’ll be done in no time!

After that, I sorted my stash picking blues, greens and purples for a new Dotted Rays.

Of course, as I sorted all the cool colors out, a pile of warm colors that was just as appealing formed. And so, Dotted Rays #2 joined the cast on party.

Needless to say, this completely obliterates my strict 6 project limit. I’m currently at 10 and I’m not ruling out #11 this weekend.

Whoops.

I am imposing one rule, though. There needs to be, at least, a tiny bit of order.

If I want two scrappy Dotted Rays at once…I have to weave the ends as I go. So far, so good. It makes photos nicer and it actually helps with the knitting too…no extraneous tails to get tangled with the working yarn. Totally practical!

Now let me see what else I can cast on…

Happy Friday!

WIP Wednesday: Marled Magic

On September 19, 2017September 19, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP7 Comments

My Marled Magic Shawl has reached the halfway point! I’ve finished clues 1 & 2.

And I love it! I dunno if it’s the colors or the textures or the construction or the stash busting…

But I want to make about six more of these! I love everything about it! The construction is so unique. The marled effect from double stranding is so fun! Mixing colors and fading stripes are so satisfying! This is a lot of fun to knit!

Clue 3 picks up the free edge of the mesh section. Contrast is recommended. I think I’m going for purples.

I’ve still got plenty of stash left!

FO Monday

On May 15, 2017May 15, 2017 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Shawl6 Comments

Not only did I finish weaving ends without a bribe, I got my latest shawl blocked in short order as well! I really love the end result!

I’m a fan of aggressive blocking with my shawls. I wanted it to grow, which it did! and the result is a beautiful airy fabric!

I love it but as usual, there are things I would change. The ‘pattern’ is a mashup of WestKnits designs…mostly Dotted Rays with a little Doodler and a little Esjan thrown in! I definitely could exaggerate some elements more. The Esjan edge isn’t nearly loopy enough!

It’s a minor change and it doesn’t detract from this beauty at all! I currently have no plans to take it off!

The real dilemma…what to knit next? or what won’t I knit next? I’m currently down to six WIPS. I feel a cast on craze rapidly approaching! (you know…after all this work stuff…ugh! mondays!)

Shawl Progress

On March 5, 2017March 5, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP6 Comments

All this talk of sweaters, you may have forgotten about the pile of shawls I’ve got in progress. There’s still a long way to go but I’ve made sizable dents!

With so much fabric scrunched up on the needles, it can be hard to tell what’s going on. I think I’ve got some visible progress though.

Of course, this one is new all together.

It’s a Hitchhiker. The yarn is Anzula, Haiku. I had a different plan for this yarn. A plan that didn’t pan out. I was holding the yarn double then. And so, now, I must also hold the yarn double. Frogging a project back into single skeins after it’s been held double is a serious pain in the butt. I picked the easy solution, winding it double as I unraveled my work. While that decision limited my options going forward, it’s also created an amazing squishy lovely huggable fabric. Plus, I haven’t knit a Hitchhiker in 5 months?!? I was way overdue!

My Dotted Rays – Doodler mash up has made some lovely progress. I’ve added a few new stripes to this WIP, which is quite a task given how long the rows have gotten. I still have plenty of scraps to add in, so it’s just going to keep going. Although, it seems I’m heading for the neutral zone. Not surprising that those are the scraps I reach for last.

I also decided to omit all my variegated scraps. That’ll be the next one!

The real progress though, and my current favorite, is the Eyeball Shawl. You can’t really tell it’s an eyeball yet. It’s going to have a very dramatic reveal at the bind off. I haven’t dared to look but I’m guess at the point of bind off, it’ll have 650+ stitches. It’s a lot of fabric. Even if I can’t spread it out, it’s still lots of fun to photograph!

The yarn is MadelineTosh. Those colors! I just can’t resist.

With fingers crossed and just a little bit of discipline, I think this could be the next big thing off my needles! Only time will tell!