Monday, February 23, 2009

Feather



After asking my kids for advice on what to name this scarf (and discarding suggestions like Tree Top, although that is pictorially fairly accurate), we came up with "Feather". The lace pattern looks like bunches of feathers and the yarn is definitely feather soft. Enjoy!



FEATHER

(Adapted from J. Leinhauser's 101 Ripple Stitches #72)

Materials Needed:

Size 6 needles
1 skein Karabella Yarns Boise (163 yds/50 g.) Color 69. (Mini Mochi would also be nice for this)
Tapestry needle

Abbreviations:
Sl1: Slip 1 as if to knit
K2tog: Knit 2 together
K3tog: Knit 3 together
PSSO: Pass slip stich over
YO: Yarn over

Gauge:
36 sts in pattern = 4"
Row gauge not important.

Finished dimensions: 4" x 39"

Using long-tail method (or other loose cast-on) CO 36 sts.

Seed Stitch Foundation
Work 4 rows of seed stitch as follows:
Row 1: *K1, P1*. Repeat ** across.
Row 2: *P1, K1*. Repeat across.
Row 3-4: Repeat Row 1 and 2.

Scarf Body
Row 1: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K9, YO, K1, YO, P2, YO, K1, YO, K9, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1 (Note: Be careful to fully wrap the YO before the P2 sts.)

Row 2: P1, K1, P15, K2, P14, K1, P1, K1

Row 3: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K8, YO, K1, YO, K1, P2, K1, YO, K1, YO, K8, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Rows 4, 6, 8, & 10: Repeat Row 2.

Row 5: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K7, YO, K1, YO, K2, P2, K2, YO, K1, YO, K7, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 7: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K6, YO, K1, YO, K3, P2, K3, YO, K1, YO, K6, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 9: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K5, YO, K1, YO, K4, P2, K4, YO, K1, YO, K5, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Repeat these 10 rows for pattern until desired length is reached. In the pictured scarf, I had 21 pattern repeats.

End with 4 rows of seed stitch, following Foundation pattern above.
BO loosely.

Block lightly to display lace pattern to best effect.

Alternate symmetric pattern: If you prefer a symmetric scarf, work scarf from beginning through 11 pattern repeats ending with Row 9. Place sts on holder. Work second scarf section from beginning through 11 pattern repeats ending with Row 9. Graft together in pattern following Row 10.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Victoria

For Christmas, Tim gave me and my parents a surprise trip to Victoria, BC over Valentine's weekend. Now you would expect that we would spend the weekend sightseeing. And we did - here's proof:





But, we also went shopping... We got the kids lots of souvenirs and Tim some organic Guatemalan coffee. But, for me? Yep, you guessed it:



Lots and lots of yarn! There were two fantastic shops in Victoria, but my favorite is the Beehive Wool Shop. It was full of the most wonderful hand-dyed and hand-painted yarns... I could have hung out there all weekend (as it was, I went twice!).

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip - so nice to hang out with my parents. And, Tim even remembered Valentine's Day. When I left to drive up to Seattle to catch the ferry, he slipped me a Butterfinger bar for the road (which I assumed was the only Valentine's gift I would get). But, when we checked into the hotel in BC, there was a huge bouquet of my favorite flowers waiting for us in the room.



And, somehow we even managed to get them through customs, so we continue to enjoy them at home.

I have to say, I must have one of the best husbands in the world.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Frivol-ous

My first major attempt at an intricate cabled hat. After slowly working on it many a late night, it is finally finished - cable grafting and all. Despite my pleas, the little munchkins kept interrupting me during that important grafting section (which had to be done in daylight hours, trust me). I have to admit I got a teensy bit short with them after the 3rd or 4th time. So, after much whispering amongst them, the totally cute kids put up a sign on the doorway to my knitting room that said “No Entry - Please be quiet. Angry mommy knitting. No disturbance.” Well, after that I didn’t get much done, because we were all laughing too hard…but I did finish it eventually. So, without further ado, here is Frivol (for you non-knitter types, that's actually the name of the pattern...)



I'm now working on writing a pattern for mittens to match the hat. I've test-knit the left one, but am not thrilled with it. The top just isn't right yet.



So, I'll continue to modify it as I knit the right one. (Of course, that does mean I will end up with mis-matched mittens, but who really looks all that closely, right?)