F.O. Lake Effect

Have you ever looked at a pattern for the first time and knew you had to knit it? That's what happened to me as soon as I saw Lake Effect by Amy Miller.  

Sweet Fiber Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse

I knew exactly what colour I wanted: Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse. I fell in love with this colour after I knit my Cladonia.  It is a hard colour to capture on camera but, trust me when I say, it is gorgeous.   

Cladonia

I joined the the Very Shannon Summer Sweater Knit Along and got knitting. This KAL began at the end of July and ran until Labour Day Weekend.  I love this annual KAL as there are many enthusiastic participants and it is very motivating for me.

The pattern was easy to follow. Knit from the bottom up, using a 3.5mm needle, I used markers in between lace repeats which helped me spot my errors easily. 

When knitting the sleeves I went up a sleeve size as I always knit so much tighter when using dpns.  Unfortunately my first sleeve still came out tighter than I would have liked.  My friend Judy suggested I try knitting the second sleeve in the round.  That triggered an idea.  Instead of trying Magic Loop I decided to put the second sleeve on two circular needles....half the stitches on one circular needle and the other half on another.  Then taking a third circular needle I started knitting the sleeve.  Not only was I able to knit faster using this technique, but when I measured the width compared to the first sleeve, the second sleeve was turning out wider.  I switched back to dpns at this point as I didn't want to have two different sized sleeves.  However, this was a lightbulb moment for me as I realized that I would definitely use three circular needles for sleeves in the future as it would prevent me from having tightly knit sleeves and would speed up my knitting. So thank you Judy! 

One sleeve to go!

I love the comparison of the photo above pre-blocking and then the photo below after blocking.  Do you see how the lace just opened up?  Blocking is the best part of the knitting process for me.

All blocked

Now the weather just needs to cool off so I can wear it!  I hope you all are having a wonderful long weekend and are getting excited about the fall knitting ahead.

Cladonia

Cladonia, by Kirstin Kapur, is a pattern that I have had in my queue for some time.  It is a lovely shawl knit in fingering weight yarn, with a pretty lace border. I was waiting to have the perfect colour combination before knitting this shawl, and after my trip to 88 Stitches, I knew I had finally found it.  Look at this colour of Sweet Fiber Yarn:

Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock

Just before adding the lace section

I combined Sweet Fiber Yarns Super Sweet Sock in Chartreuse with some yarn I had in my stash, String Theory Caper Sock in Java (a merino, cashmere and nylon blend) and knit the most beautiful Cladonia.

Ta-dah:

In person, Chartreuse is such a vibrant colour, it just seems to glow.  Even my husband, who rarely says anything about my yarn, commented on the beauty of that colour. Sweet Fiber Yarns' Melissa Thomson has a real gift when it comes to dyeing gorgeous yarn colours.  (If you want to try out her yarn she is beginning a new Sock Club starting in May...check it out).

String Theory's Caper Sock is another old favourite of mine.  The colourways are also very unique.  This yarn added a softness to this project creating a shawl I never want to take off. (I bought my String Theory as Shall We Knit in Waterloo. The owner is bringing some to the Toronto Knitter's Frolic in Toronto at the end of the month if anyone wants to check it out).

Cladonia is one of those patterns that is so relaxing to knit.  Everything went perfectly.  The last row of the lace border took the longest to do but was not difficult at all.  I can understand why almost 2000 people have made this pattern.  I don't usually make the same pattern twice but I could see myself making this shawl again.  This shawl was a little break from the cardigan I am knitting.  More on that later!  Have a good week : )