Rainy-Day Rainbow color burst worsted weight from Wonderland Yarns (love it!!!) worked into Jaala Spiro's Pickford cowl. The construction of this cowl borrows from triangle shawls, making for a simple knit and an interesting end shape.
When a dear and crafty friend offered to send us each a skein of yarn from Songbird Yarn and Fibres, our youngest child's choice was Northern Parula, to be knitted up into a buddy. After some deliberation, they chose the two buddies in Rebecca Danger's Daphne and Delilah pattern. (Which I actually bought and followed pretty closely: a novel experience for me, as I'm used to making up my own little creatures.)
They are delightful. And from a process perspective, it was such fun to see how the yarn's colors striped and pooled differently when worked at a variety of circumferences. A squishy cozy reversible hat for my partner (and practice cabling with brioche for me).
pattern: Eliza Bachelder's Hestia Beanie yarn: Malabrigo Rios in Plomo and Archangel I never follow hat patterns without major adjustments, because I have an enormous head. This is the first pattern that's ever produced a hat that fits me. Much rejoicing. So, big-headed friends, check out Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes's free pattern Christian's Hat.
This pattern's approach to texture played really beautifully with a yarn a friend sent me as a pandemic relief gift, mostly purples with little bursts of blues and greens. It's March Hare (Wonderland Yarns's worsted weight) in June. A real joy to work with and touch. I had this shawl on needles for just over two years, something I mostly worked on a couple stripes at a time when I happened to be between projects. And I designed it as I went along, figuring out the border color and pattern once I got there, and then the bind off method once I'd completed the final row. So it's a treat to see it all finished and blocked and lovely!
(That pretty little edge is from the Icelandic bind off, by the way, very easy and quick to work and a nice new option for me. The lace work is double eyelet rib.) Okay, so admittedly they have cuffs, but silly short ones: I made them to go with hoodies and cardigans that have snug-fitting cuffs and get into weird battles with the rest of my hand-warming knits.
I made these in Madeline Tosh Vintage (Popoki? we're not 100% sure of the colorway -- my teenager let me steal some of this from a big gift shipment a friend sent from her stash). Working with the short color changes and observing surprising color combinations as rounds came together on the needles was just delightful. Now I have to remember I have these once it's chilly again. I have a tendency to forget about the cozy things I make and tuck away in the spring and early summer. Maybe these are so bright I won't be able to lose them! Pretty much straight-up Victoria Anne Baker's Treads pattern, except I needed to use one size smaller DPNs and leave out a few rows in the second panel of linen ridge. I love the lateral braid technique, a new one for me.
This footlong snake is knitted in worsted weight yarn in the colors of the pansexual pride flag -- with a pipe cleaner inside to make it posable. It's a cutie.
Yarns: Cascade 220 in unknown/stash vibrant blue and golden yellow; Berroco Ultra Wool in Peony; black Cascade 220 eyes and super random light pink something or other tongue. Our basement is a chilly place to sit and type; it's also my partner's new full-time office during the social isolation we're lucky to be able to practice while COVID-19 threatens our communities. (Happy our income still exists; profoundly grateful to the people risking their own health to do vital jobs while we lay low here trying not to be disease vectors.) His hands are especially cold -- so I designed these to fit him and provide some warmth without getting in the way of typing or of long sleeves.
Also to show off some neat slip-stitch colorwork. Yarns: a nice soft something or other from a friend's stash, plus some of the Berroco Ultra Wool left over from my mittens. I designed these mittens with a honeycomb slip-stitch pattern for general prettiness and with a hidden opening for my right index finger so that I can to check text messages or take a picture with the rest of my hand still warm. The opening has a flap inside to avoid gapping. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out!
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Wool in Black Pepper and Cascade 220 in ... well ... blue of some kind. |
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