A Herby Herbivore (2012 FO #6)

A while ago I participated in a Will Work For Yarn project - I knitted a Henslowe Shawl for the lovely CathG and I got this lovely Wollmeise in return.

Wollmeise is a really gorgeous wool. It feels a bit like cotton to work with and makes shawls with a gorgeous drape. The colours are lovely, with an intense depth that is really hard to capture on camera. I love Wollmeise but I absolutely do not have the energy to do all the hard work required to get a skein from Germany to my house, so I was very happy to be a part of the swap.

My friend Katy got married last year and them promptly moved to San Francisco. I wanted to knit her a shawl to commemorate the event bit I was a bit stuck on what specific shawl - Katy isn't the knitted lace triangle type of girl. When I saw the colour of this yarn, I knew what shawl it had to be...

..a herb-coloured Herbivore.

There's not much I can say about this pattern that hasn't been said. It's an interesting shawl to knit, although I would recommend using a lot of stitch makers when starting out - it took me a little while to get the hang of the pattern. I measured the yarn after each four-row repeat and began the edging when I had 20g left. I ended up with a 4g nugget left over and a good-sized shawl.  I love this project and I'm itching to start another Herbivore for me. I hope Katy enjoys wearing the scarf as much as I liked making it :)

Hospital Blues: 2011 FO #7 Blue Jay Boneyard

On the night I broke my leg, I slipped and immediately know something was very wrong.  We immediately called the ambulance and while we were waiting Sam packed a bag for me.  Bless his lovely soul, in addition to my wallet and mobile phone he packed three knitting projects.  One of them was this:



I knitted this entire shawl in the five days after my operation before I was transferred to rehab.  I can remember precisely nothing of the process at all - zilch.  I must have enjoyed it because I did finish it quickly (for me), but I have no memory of it.





The finished shawl then got lost in the move from hospital from hospital and then apartment to apartment, only to be rediscovered a few weeks ago.  I blocked it, and I now have a brand-new scarf in some of my favourite colours that feels likes a present from me to me!

This yarn was originally going to be socks, but when I was knitting them up I got hardcore pooling of the black part of the yarn which obliterated all the other subtle variations of the yarn. The Boneyard pattern really showcases this particular yarn - it’s a perfect marriage between wool and pattern.

Pattern: Boneyard, by Stephen West
Yarn: My favourite - Colinette Jitterbug, colourway Jay
Notes/Modifications: Because I am short, I modified the pattern so there were six increases every two rows instead of four, meaning I ended up with a shorter, wider shawl. I did this by changing the increases at each side of the shawl to YOs and increasing at the start and end of each row, just like Ishbel.

2011 FO #5: Alpaca Abyssal

One of the pleasant side-effects of recuperating from a major illness is massive amounts of time sitting around on my arse.  I'm not fit enough to go back to work yet*, so after I finish the two hours of exercise I have to complete every day my time is my own.  This means lots of time for watching movies, cooking shows and knitting up a storm.

Here's a little something I whipped up last week:

I wanted a scarf that was squooshy and soft and made out of stash yarn (another benefit of not being able to go out when I want is that I can't go to the wool shop whenever I feel like it...this is definitely a good thing!).  I had some gorgeously soft baby alpaca left over from my much-loved and often worn endpaper mitts, and when I saw this shawl last week, I knew what I had to do.




I used the grey as a contrast colour on the feather and fan section to use up as much stash yarn as I could.  I also changed the body of the scarf from stockinette to garter stitch to maximise the squooshiness.

 It was a quick, easy knit that sits perfectly, looks fantastic and makes me feel good about reducing my stash and spending too much time sitting on my arse.

Pattern: Abyssal Shawl
Yarn: Baby alpaca bought in 2007 (!!!)
Notes/modifications: Listed above.

I really love this shawl!

* I would like to go back to work.  I worry that my brain is shrinking a bit from underuse!  But I am taking a glass-half-full approach to my rehab and looking at the sunny side.