Spring Shoots Cowl

Okay, I've had enough of winter already - time for spring please!  Yes, the snow is lovely and yes, it's cozy inside by the fire, but it's coooold!

So cold that I actually made the cat a sweater:

You know you're a crazy cat lady when...

Really, though, our poor baby had mats and we had to get him shaved.  I felt like the worst kind of cat mommy (what is wrong with me - cat mommy?), leaving my precious charge in an unfamiliar place so they could knock him out and cut off all his hair???  Someone call PETA on me.

But then he was just so sad and shivery and I couldn't let the poor, little thing catch kitty pneumonia, right?   So I did what any crazy knitting cat lady would do and I made him a sweater!!  Adorable, right?

ANYWAY, what I was trying to say is that all this cold has me dreaming of those little green shoots that mean rebirth and renewal and the return of warmer weather.  Hence the name of my newest original creation, the Spring Shoots Cowl:

It's a simple cowl in Shibui Knits Baby Alpaca that's knit flat to the desired length and finally grafted together to make one continuous piece.  This would be an excellent piece for a first stab at lace!

I know chevrons are (or were) everywhere right now, but I was playing around with lace patterns and this one just screamed "spring!" to me.  The lines are simple and clean, and inexorably shoot upwards with spring's eternal optimism.  Plus, the yarn is SO soft.  You will absolutely want to squish it against your face all year.  I think I might even wear it tonight!

I'm really in love with these photos, too!  Bristol Ivy and I went out to Mackworth Island for a little photo shoot and she did such a marvelous job.  Just beautiful and so flattering!  I'm sure you guys know what a genius she is at knitting design, but she has such a wonderful talent for photography.

Give it a try!  Let me know what you think!  I'm anxious to see how you guys like the pattern!

That's all for now - be well and stay warm.

-Allie

A Very Merry Christmas to You

How are your Christmas preparations coming?  Are you madly dashing from store to store or are you the type to have all of their gifts wrapped before Thanksgiving?  While I can't claim to fall into the latter category, I can say that I am ALL DONE!!  Everything is bought, and wrapped, and labeled, and (in some cases) in the mail to Georgia.  What a relief!

It probably helped that I didn't do much knitting for gifts this year.  Or rather, I built a small stockpile of gifts over the year, making cute accessories out of leftovers from other projects, like this hat for Mary, my sister-in-law, for example:

You might recognize the pattern - it's from a test knit a did for Brooklyn Tweed a couple of years ago, the Seasons Hat.  I just used some of the pretty purple yarns I had lying around from My Favorite Sweater Ever.  If I'm going to be a mad, mad knitting machine, I might as well put the product to good use so that I don't scramble later in the year.  Seriously guys, this Christmas season has been such a breeze compared to earlier years.

Okay okay, I know what you're thinking: get off your soapbox crazy lady and show us the things you did actually knit for this year!  Just some of the prettiest little ornaments you ever did see!!

How cute is he???  I don't know why owls are such a thing this year, but you certainly won't hear me complaining.  (Boy have I got something to show you in my next post!)  This patter is Mini Cordell Xmas Decorations by Knit-a-Zoo.  Mine didn't come out quite as cute - I think it's because I embroidered the pupils on instead of using buttons.  Oh well, something to keep in mind for next time!

And some oldies, but goodies again this year:

 Winter Wonderful 

Jelly Bums Moose  

Grumpy, the Lump of Coal

Winter Wonderful 

The yarn used for all of the above projects is Knit Picks Palette, my favorite workhorse yarn!

And finally, my very favorite project this year: a series of Andy Warhol inspired prints of my sister's dog, Brody.

All I did was take a photo of him, print it, and cut out his silhouette.  I then scanned it in black and white, upped the contrast and printed it out on brightly colored paper.  I easily finished this project in a couple of hours and look how pretty!  I showed the photo to my mother and now she wants one of her dogs - oh boy!

I hope you all have a very Merry and Snowy Christmas!

-Allie

Diamonds & Lace

Spring has finally sprung in Maine!  The flowers are in bloom, the leaves are starting to grow, and there is a startling amount of green in my backyard!  We're still waiting for the temperature to rise a bit, but there are certainly some sunny days ahead!

So now is the time to put away the heavy worsted wool yarns and pull out the sock and lace-weight silks and cottons!  I can feel the shawls in my queue calling my name to turn the fine threads into frothy lace concoctions!  This impulse must have been growing for the last couple of months, too, because I've got quite a few lightweight finished projects to show you - ones that I've been quite naughty about sharing for a while now...

Firstly, the Arachne Cardigan:

This one is a sock-weight delight by Lien Ngo with diamond lace panels around the body and repeated on the cuffs.  It's mostly knit in once piece - the only seams are sewing the sleeve caps into the shoulders.  I do love a sweater with minimal finishing and the lace is simple enough to memorize easily, but just complicated enough to keep the sweater interesting.  An excellent knit!

For the yarn, I used KnitPicks's Capretta, their new(er) cashmere blend sock yarn.  While I wouldn't use it for socks, since it seems a bit on the delicate side, it is lovely for a light cardigan like this one and much warmer than I expected.  I would definitely use it again.

Next, the Mandy Cardigan:

Another sock-weight cardigan with a diamond lace panel, this time by Michellee Zaharis.

Here's the diamond panel:

This one I don't love as much, but I think that is simply due to the open front construction of the piece.  It simply flops open too much for my liking - great for weekend wear, but not so professional for the office.  I do love the little ruffle detail at the waist, though.  (You can kind of see it in my picture above).  Just enough emphasis drawn to the waist without overdoing it.

While I thoroughly enjoy a good top-down raglan sweater, this one was a bit of a slog with the wide front panels and the sock-weight gauge.  I probably wouldn't knit it again.  I will wear the heck out of it around the house though!

And lastly, the 100 Diamonds Shawl by Sachiko Uemura:

I loved knitting this.  It was so quick and so engaging!  I really need to knit lace more often!

Now the only bad thing about the weather getting warmer - fewer changes to show off my handiwork until fall! :(  Except here, of course, I just need to get better about taking photos in a timely fashion!

Enjoy the beautiful weather everyone and have a wonderful Memorial Day 

-Allie