In My Queue: Knitting Goals

New patterns are popping up on Ravelry everyday lately.  It's crazy!  There are so many beautiful patterns that I have added to my queue recently.  The choice is a bit overwhelming to be honest.  Apparently cabled sweaters are really in this fall my sources tell me.  A few of the patterns mentioned below include some cables.

Here's my list in no particular order:

1.  Endearment by Hanna Maciejewska, a beautiful cardigan with a cable and lace pattern in the front knit in fingering weight yarn.  I have wanted to try a pattern by this designer for some time.  I think some of my Sweet Fiber Yarn Super Sweet Sock in Sapphire would work well.

Sweet Fiber Super Sweet Sock in Sapphire

2. Capall Dubh by Carol Feller knit in a sportweight yarn.  This lovely cardigan has a lace shoulder and back.  I have been working on improving my lace knitting skills and I want to challenge myself in this area. This looks like the perfect pattern to do just that.  The designer is hosting a KAL (knit-along) starting in November and I find them very helpful and motivating. For this pattern I have some Madelinetosh Pashmina which Carol Feller has said would be a good substitute for the suggested yarn.  I am going to knit up a gauge swatch to see if it will work.

Madelinetosh Pashmina:  Baroque Violet

3.  Japan Sleeves by Joji Locatelli is a fingering weight striped sweater with a lace panel going up the sleeves.  I have some leftover Tosh Merino Light in Teddy Bear and I am thinking of pairing it up with Tosh Merino Light in Robin's Egg.

4.  Vector,  found in Wool People 7, by Tanis Lavalee.  This scarf pattern looks like a great project to do on the side, when I need a break from all that sweater knitting.  It is knit mainly in garter stitch using a finger weight yarn.  I have bought another Pebble Sock  Black Trillium Gradient Kit in shades of grey.  I think it will make a lovely scarf for a friend of mine.

Black Trillium Gradient Kit in Pebble Sock:   Crater

5. One last sweater that I think is stunning is Caroline by Amy Miller.  Guess what?  It's in fingering weight yarn again.  I must be a sucker for punishment.  I love the lines of this sweater and the cabling up the sides.  It is simply beautiful. I also like that it is a seamed sweater because I think seamed sweaters hold up the best.

Of course there are lots of beautiful shawls and cowls that I would love to do as well.  Too bad I work for a living!

As you can see I have hours of knitting ahead in the above mentioned patterns. It will really help me fly through the winter.  If only these patterns were knit in a sensible weight like DK or aran, not in fingering weight yarn!  Slow knitters like me would be crazy to attempt the above.

Call me crazy!

What's on your list?

Through the Loops Mystery KAL

I took part in the Through the Loops Mystery KAL by Kirsten Kapur during the month of June.  Each week I received a part of the pattern, five clues in total.  Here is the finished shawl:

Ta-da

I can't tell you how happy I was with the whole process.  First the yarn...this was my first time using Black Trillium Fibres and it is so beautiful I cannot capture it on camera.   The colours seem to glow and the slight variegation in each skein was so pretty.  The yarn blocked beautifully.  I will definitely buy more of this yarn, there are just so many pretty colours to choose from.

The pattern:  I have been slowly working on improving my lace knitting skills.  This was the most challenging lace project I have done to date.  In fact if I had seen what the finished shawl looked like before starting it I might have shied away from doing it at all.  By getting a part of the pattern each week it made it feel manageable.  I was happy to discover that there were no tricky stitches and I solely used the charts (although written directions were provided).  For me the difficulty lay when I occasionally missed a yarn over, throwing off my stitch count.  I would then have to go back and figure out where I had gone wrong.  However, I quickly learned that using stitch markers throughout each row, to mark the repeated part of the pattern, was extremely helpful as well as putting in the occasional life line. The directions were very well written with enlarged charts to follow and the pattern was fun to knit.  I highly recommend it.  Look here to see the other finished shawls...each one is gorgeous.

Blocking:  Ahhhh the magic of blocking.  Look at this pattern completed before blocking:

Pre-blocking

Now look at it after...It was so much fun to block and see the magical transformation.  That's my favourite part of knitting.

After blocking

So if you are looking for a shawl pattern to knit this summer you can't go wrong with Kristin Kapur's design.

Off the Needles: Jackson Creek Cardigan

I finished this sweater by Glenna C. for MadMay with the exception of the buttons.  I am very excited to know that I can knit a sweater in about three weeks as I have never done that before.  I always say that I am not a fast knitter but I am an enthusiastic knitter!   I was very happy with the fit as well....those gauge swatches really work.  This pattern was knit in pieces and then seamed together.  All the seams look okay except for the shoulder area.  I may have to rip that part out again to see if I can get the sleeves to lay flatter.

Jackson Creek Cardigan

I have put the cardigan aside for now so that I can focus on these two fun patterns.

My projects for June are two KALs....This one is a swatch for Through the Loops Mystery Shawl KAL (knit-a-long) by Kristin Kapur.  Once a week through June a part of the pattern is sent to each participant to knit.  What the final shawl looks like remains a mystery until you receive the last clue.

Swatch for the Mystery Shawl

I am using Black Trillium Fibre Studio Pebble Sock in the colourway Grasshopper.  I have to say that I am very impressed with the vibrancy of the colour, my photos do not do it justice.  It is a gradient hand dyed yarn in one of my favourite colours...it just makes me smile when I look at it.  Each skein is about 127 yards.  The colour choices in the Black Trillium Etsy store are simply beautiful.  I definitely see more of this yarn in my future.

Black Trillium Fibre Studio Pebble Sock in Grasshopper

I have also joined the Tanis Fiber Arts Shawl Knit-a-long.  The goal is to knit a shawl throughout June completing it by the end of the month.  For this KAL I chose a skein of TFA Silver Label (100% fingering silk yarn), one of the yarns from the 2013 Year in Colour Club called Boysenberry.  I decided to do a shawl called Fine Vine by Marisa Herandez. 

Fine Vine

 It is a lacy pattern and one of my goals is to improve my lace knitting skills.  This shawl, as well as the Through the Loops Shawl, should really help me on my way to meeting my goal.

The interesting thing about this KAL is that each participant can choose whatever shawl pattern they want.

If you have never thought of joining a KAL you should really consider it.  When you join a KAL you can receive support and encouragement when needed on Ravelry.  Each KAL has a discussion group.  It's fun to see what other people across the world are knitting.  Also a KAL is very motivating because there are usually deadlines that you are trying to meet.  Before you know it the KAL is over, and you find out that you have finished another knitted item, and met (virtually) some nice people along the way.