The Elder Tree Shawl & Cinecittà

Every now and then I get a skein of yarn that feels more special than the rest. Then, I challenge myself to pick the perfect pattern to showcase that yarn.  The skein I am referring to today is a skein of yarn produced by the one and only Clara Parkes. (Remember the first skein I ever knit of hers?)  It is called CVM/Romeldale 2.0, a two-ply fingering weight yarn in the colourway Aborio.  It hardly weighs anything, but it will be quite warm because it's so wooly.  I only have one skein of this lovely yarn measuring 370m.  

Clara Yarn:  CVM/Romeldale 2.0

After much searching the pattern I ended up finally choosing was The Elder Tree Shawl by Sylvia Bo Bilvia (also known as softsweater), a Canadian from Vancouver.  This designer is quite hot right now on Ravelry.  She is the designer behind such beautiful patterns as Waiting for Rain, The Lonely Tree Shawl and her newest pattern The Rain Outside, just to name a few.  The Elder Tree Shawl is a simple lace pattern, which is easy to follow and I am very happy with the result so far.  Hopefully, with blocking one skein will be enough to make a small sized shawl.  Oh, how I wish I bought two skeins because this pattern is written so that you can keep knitting for as long as you have yarn.  It would have been great to knit this to be a bigger shawl.  This yarn is so different than anything I have ever had the opportunity to knit with.  It is a woolen spun yarn and according to Clara Parkes CVM is the most critically rare sheep breed in the United States.  Here is what I have knit so far:

The Elder Tree Shawl by Sylvia Bo Bilvia

If you are interested in being alerted whenever Clara Parkes comes out with a new yarn you can sign up for  her newsletter.  But you have to be fast...it sells out very quickly.

As for finished objects I participated in the Very Shannon Tops, Tanks and Tees Knit a Long  through April and May and ended up knitting a La Maison Rililie pattern called Cinecittà.  It is knit top down, and right from the start you work the lace pattern that will be on the sleeve.  Although the pattern is well written my mind was not as focused as I should have been when starting this pattern and I ended up ripping out the beginning a few times.  Once I was focused though, I knit it in eleven days which I think is a record for me. 

 I knit the first sleeve as directed in the pattern which in place of the ribbing on the sleeves had a lovely cable sweater.  I knit the first sleeve as directed, but once trying it on decided to rip out the cables and reknit it as plain ribbing.  I was much happier with the result. 

First attempt

Second Attempt with ribbing

 The yarn I used was the luxurious Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Baroque Violet colourway.  It was deep in my stash and it feels very good to finally use it.

Madelinetosh Pashmina:  Baroque Violet

Now I am looking forward to picking a few patterns to knit this summer.  I am on vacation in a week and I have so many patterns in my queue that I want to knit next.  I am so excited...stay tuned to my Instagram account as I will try and post some of my trip photos and knitting progress.  Happy summer everyone!  I hope you are all taking some time for yourself.

F.O. Aibrean

Pattern: Aibrean by Isabell Kraemer

Colour:  Tannenbaum

Yarn: 80/10/10 Madelinetosh Sport, a merino, cashmere, nylon blend
          4.5 skeins alternating 3 skeins throughout body and two skeins on                     sleeves

This was my first time knitting with a sport weight and I have to say that I am really happy with how light it feels on.  It's warm, but not too warm, if you know what I mean.  I sometimes shy away from knitting sweaters in heavier yarn, feeling like I won't get enough use out of it because it can only be worn on the colder days.  But this, to me, is exactly the perfect level of warmth for a sweater and will get a lot of use.

Needles: 4mm Signature Convertible Circular Needles

Added Notes:  
1)The stitch pattern is both on the front and back with the exception of the sleeves.  I was a bit leery of having to work this pattern for so much of the sweater but I was pleasantly surprised with how quick and easy it was.  Another bonus is that the majority of the sweater is worked in the round and alternate rows are just knitted.  Also, it is easy to see where you have made and error and so simple to fix if you do.

2)  Blocking is essential to this pattern.  Before blocking I was nervous as the sweater was quite tight fitting through the body.  But it blocked out beautifully and the width of the body grew by four inches which was perfect for me.

This is my third sweater by Isabell Kraemer (see my Mailin and my Seashore) and I really admire how well written her patterns are.  As I have mentioned before, they are the sweaters that get the most use in my cupboard.

Next up:  I have joined the Very Shannon Tops, Tanks and Tees KAL, I will be knitting CineCittà by La Maison Rililie. 

CineCittà

If anyone else has joined, let me know, and if you have never tried a Knit A Long this is a great one.  It just started so it's not too late to join.  Even if you don't want to join you can follow along on Instagram at #TTTKAL.

Happy knitting everyone : )

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.