Friday FO: Colour-block cowl (2015 FO #4)

Today I am sharing one of those projects that is really of interest to noone but the knitter and the recipient. You know, like the plain stockinette socks that will be really appreciated and worn till they have holes all over them but look really really boring in a blog post? (I should know - that's the majority of my output!) Today's finished object is the cowl equivalent of striped stockinette sock - it's a striped sockinette cowl.

I provisionally cast on 80 stitches and then knit in colour blocks of 20cm. Once the scarf was long enough, I flipped it inside-out, wove in the ends, flipped it back the right way and then grafted the two ends together, resulting in a simple tube. (For citation purposes, this project was inspired by the look of Turnstile but all design elements are my own). It used 50g each of the blue and white yarns and about 75 of the beige, thus using up almost all of my Patonyle single ball stash (yippee!).

The only problem I really ran into was grafting the last five stitches. They required a bit of fancy needlework and although blocking fixed most of the problem, it still looks a little bit bit wonky. Fortunately, because of the colour blocking, the wonkiness is almost impossible to notice unless you're looking for it specifically, so I'm not too fussed.

Since I finished it I've worn it almost every day. Although the tube means the scarf is double with, it's knitted with 4ply yarn, so I can leave it open when it's not too cold but also loop it whenever it gets a bit chilly. The colours are neutral enough that they go with most of my wardrobe but still very nice in their own right. I am really really happy with the way this scarf worked out and I know I am going to get a lot of use from it.

Please forgive the lack of modelled shots - it was a windy day and I just couldn't not get my hair to sit right! For your amusement, a collage of my failed attempts:

WIP Wednesday: Slow and steady edition

As I started to check what photos I had for today's WIP Wednesday post, I realised I had taken photos of my Patonyle Tempest-inspired scarf, always on Wednesdays, but just never posted them.

Really, it was that kind of project - row after row of the knit stitch, changing colour(s) every 7.5 inches, then continuing to knit.

It was actually a bit of a surprise yesterday when I realised it was actually done! I flipped it inside out...

..and wove in all of the ends...

Grafted the two ends of the scarf together, and popped it in a wool wash bath.

 It was like time-lapse knitting photography. I liked it! I think I need to do it more often on these long projects because sometimes, when you're working on them, it does feel like you're slogging away and not getting much done, even though you actually are. 

Next time: two hats and some booties. Booties!

FO Friday: Endless Rainbow (2015 FO #3)

Guys, I have had a mental week. I've easily worked 65 hours in my quest to meet five deadlines (Five! That's freaking ridiculous). I am completely exhausted and really basically dribbling words from my melty, melting brain. But I couldn't not share with you my latest favouritest FO: my Endless Rainbow Scarf.

It took my a few goes to get my head around the triangles but once I did, they were easy and the scarf travelled with me all over the place.

Boobs! (and belly...I've got to get of my arse and do some more exercise...) 

The yarn is a super special skein of Needlefood merino sock that I've been saving that I finally used as part of the Summer of the Single Skein KAL on Ravelry. I paired it with some beige/neutral Patonyle and they blend really well both with each other and most of my wardrobe.

I'm happy that I've used up a lovely bit of stash on a lovely pattern that resulted in a lovely scarf. Now, even though its 9.50pm on a Friday night, I'm going to go to bed! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

PS: How nice is my beach?

It was much colder than it looked though.

WIP Wednesday: Lazy and cheap edition

Hello my dear neglected blog! How's things been? I am afraid I've been not paying you any attention because: 

1. I've been having fun.

I went up to Queensland to attend a graduation ceremony, which was a different but good experience.

The graduation was at Bond University, which is a tiny university of only about 4,000 students. Each of the universities I've attended has been huge (50,000+), so it was a completely different experience.

The campus was gorgeous - it seemed like a really nice place to study.

2. I've been super busy at work

And of course, being busy at work means lots and lots of stockinette stitch.

It may look sunny in all of these photos but we all know that a) winter follows summer and b) it sometimes takes a while to get a winter scarf knitted, so I have started this year's scarf early. It is inspired by Turnstile but is not Turnstile because as much as I want to support designers I just could not bring myself to pay $6.50 for a pattern that is just a knitted tube grafted together (although the comments on the pattern are all very positive, so maybe I'm just being precious). With this scarf, I have cast on 80 stitches provisionally and am just knitting any colour I feel like for 7.5 inches (it was supposed to be 8 but apparently I am either impatient or can't measure properly). I am using up all of my odds and ends of Patonyle (terrible sock yarn but lovely for scarves) so it's another stashbuster. All in all, a very pleasing way for me to destress after another 10-hour day.

Back soon, I promise!

WIP Wednesday: I just can't help myself

Frequently, I say to myself, "This year, I'll cut down on my WIPs." Just like a person for whom this bag of chips is their last bag of chips or someone who really really intends to go to their next exercise class tomorrow, I promise myself that I'll institute a one-off-the-needles, one-on-the-needles policy, or even finish projects and just not cast on anything at all, resulting in an reduction of total number of WIPs. I make a proclamation on my blog or to Sam that this time, it'll be different - I really will frog, fix or finish my way down to five WIPs or fewer. Really!

But then I get what I can only describe as a compulsion and start rifling through my stash, pairing up patterns with needles and yarn and starting the whole thing all over again.

This is a simple scarf in linen stitch in some Mirabol Hachu from the deep deep stash. It looks fantastic but it, like brioche stitch, is really slow going - the distance between the markers is what I knit yesterday with this as the only project I worked in all day (in fact, linen stitch basically is brioche stitch, instead that rather than wrap the yarn around the needle you move it to the front or back). I cast on provisionally because I like both ends of the scarf to match perfectly. At this rate, it'll be over a month before I finish it but it looks really gorgeous so far, so I think it'll make a gorgeous scarf.

And once I'm done, I really will wrestle those WIPs down!!

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.