Wednesday, January 30, 2019

WIP Wednesday - Week 5

I've been fairly monogamous these past few weeks, so actually only have two things to show off.... (well... three, but the last is a present, so I'll keep that secret for now ;-) )

Mostly, I've been knitting quite a bit on the Fading Point shawl. I love the yarns I picked out for it, and while they don't fade into each other quite as smoothly as I'd hoped, I still really like the way they look together. I've finished section one and am just about to start the first colour change on section two. It's a lot faster a knit than I had expected, but it DOES use 5 full skeins of yarn, so it'll take awhile no matter what.

Especially as I've put it on the back burner recently. This past weekend I was asked to test-knit a shawl that's up for republishing. I've been waiting for this to come back for sale for quite awhile, so obviously I was thrilled to do so, even if it meant setting Fading Point aside for awhile. It's a two-colour shawl, interchanging rows of garter with sections of lace, and while I haven't gotten all that far yet, I'm really enjoying it. Not too sure about my colour choices, but oh well - we'll see how it goes. As I know from experience, you never know until it's pretty much done! For now I'm just enjoying the softness of the yarn and the challenges of the pattern :-D

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

WIP Wednesday - week 2

Lots to show off today, as I forgot to post anything while off on Christmas vacation. However, I can finally show off two sweaters that I am THRILLED to have off my needles, and which I am incredibly proud of :-D :-D :-D

Off the Needles
I have been knitting two sweaters for my youngest niece and finally managed to finish both around Christmas, so I could give them to her when we saw each other at New Year's Eve. Fortunately she loved both, so even though she didn't want to try on either while I was actually there, I only had to wait until the next day to see them on. She asked her Mum to help her put them on, and my sister could send me these absolutely adorable photos.


(Michala also sent me a wonderful video of Nora playing dinosaur and chasing Frederik around the living room. Frederik's instant response was "woof woof woof!!!" ... but who are we to say that's not the right noise for them! ;-) )

I've also finished a Minecraft Pig for my brother-in-law. He'd mentioned wanting one, when I crocheted him a pig last Christmas, so when I saw it on his wishlist, I automatically assumed he meant a home-made one. However, his very first response when he opened it was to literally SHOUT with laughter and then exclaim, "I didn't think you'd MAKE me one!!!" Ch! Amateur ;-) He did ask if I would be upset if he bought a Lego one as well (which is what he'd actually meant), but he'd so obviously loved mine that there's no way I could take offence at that!
(Kinda ugly, and the head should have been on the side rather than the top, but I couldn't get it to balance that way - oh well).

And earlier this week I FINALLY finished the Chromatic sweater that I cast on in October 2016!!! I'd finished the body by that same Christmas, and then just hadn't touched it at all, despite only missing the sleeves. Now I know why - knitting sleeves in garter stitch takes FOREVER!!! But now it's DONE and is happily blocking. Hopefully it'll be dry soon :-)

On the Needles
As you can see, I've been on a bit of a finishing kick, so actually don't have all that many active WIPs. As eager as I was to cast on a ton of MKALs last year, I haven't worked on any of them at all recently (and in fact have frogged one of them!). Instead I've cast on something new!!! Because of course I have :-D Liz spent most of last week with me, and helped me find the perfect colours for a Fading Point shawl. I absolutely LOVE the way the skeins look next to each other, so hopefully they'll look equally lovely knit up. Granted, I haven't made it to the second colour yet, but hopefully tonight.