Sophie X2

I've been watching Podcasts each morning while Teddy, our dog, naps for two hours. It's nice to have that quiet crafting time to look forward to on a daily basis. While watching/listening I've completed two Sophie Scarves, not so much because I need them, but just to keep my hands busy with an easy, mindless project. 

I do love this size, shape, and style of scarf. I made a similar one last winter and, in the cooler months, I found it to be just right for keeping the chill from my neck on our morning dog walks. The small size means there are no ends dangling annoyingly. It can be wrapped twice and tied, and if it is not wrapped and tied, the modest length allows it to be tucked neatly into a coat. 

I knit these two in "Colorina" from Hobbii.com, which is a soft 80% acrylic/20% wool blend. Each scarf took a little less than one entire ball, though due to the finer gauge I knitted until the increases brought the width to 41 stitches rather than the number called for in the pattern.

The red/orange one is knit with colourway 12 Sweet Secret and the black was knit with colourway 15 Silhouette

It's a popular pattern and has been knitted 9758 times on Ravelry alone!

From ACK to Mmm

In an attempt to pare down the stash, which is nothing but partial balls of this and that, I did some sorting and discovered that over the years I have acquired a bunch of acrylic yarn. Some of it was given to me, some was leftovers from making toys or afghans. Anyway, I decided it was time to either use it or give it away.

I decided to knit myself a cozy cardigan for wearing around the house using some of the partial balls of acrylic -- not so fondly nicknamed by some, "ACKrylic". This is the "Penguono" pattern by Stephen West. 

It actually fits quite well and, with it's raised neckline, is super comfy. I chose the pattern size based on the measurements of a favorite sweatshirt.

Unfortunately I still have a significant amount of ACKrylic left to either use up or give away. Although I'm not a complete yarn snob, acrylic certainly isn't my favorite yarn to knit with. I may knit a few toys or charity items with it, but lately I'd rather spend my time with nicer, natural yarns. Which brings me to my next cast on ---- the Mmmmm of this post.

I have begun knitting "Plan B", a cardigan pattern by Hinterm Stein. The name of this pattern is very fitting since I'll be ripping out this almost completed handknit, handspun pullover I had begun way back in April of last year ---

---and I will be reusing the yarn for Plan B instead. The first version was looking good, but was more form fitting than I was comfortable with, and I finally had to admit I'd much prefer a cardigan that I can put on and take off easily as the temperature changes.

The cannibalized yarn is my own handspun, fingering weight, 3ply from a Merino/Silk/Kid Mohair blend and it really deserved to be used in something I will love. This time I'll be holding a strand of Sandnes Garn Silk Mohair along with it to plump the gauge up to the DK required for the Plan B pattern and to add a lovely soft halo to the cardigan. 

Swatching with the two has gone very well. I tried 3 different needles sizes and then wet blocked the swatch. It's a good thing I did that final step! It bloomed quite a bit and the gauge changed rather significantly. Pre-wash I got perfect gauge on a 4mm needle. Post-wash I got perfect gauge from the section knit with a 3.75mm needle.

Persian Tiles Blanket

The epic "Persian Tiles Blanket" afghan project is finally complete, and as much as I enjoyed making it I am glad to be moving on to other projects. 

This was months of work! I started it on September 7th and worked on it for a couple of hours nearly every day (minus the entire month of October when I was busy with Stephen West's "Twists and Turns Shawl") and I was finally able to get it finished today, January 10th.

Not being able to get my hands on the "Eastern Jewels" yarn kit, and wanting a larger afghan anyway, I made up my own colourway using what colours I could coordinate in "Hobbii Amigo" yarn.

I chose to finish the afghan with the "Persian Tiles Extension" border by Tracy Fear.

The border pattern is quite vague about stitch counts, and I made a rectangular afghan rather than a square, so I found my corners didn't line up quite the way they were supposed to and I worked them out as best I could.

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