smoky mountain blues

We're still getting back into the swing of things after a quick spring break trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Smoky Mountain National Park. Our trip was fantastic--seriously, fun! We saw Rock City, traversed a cave to see Ruby Falls, enjoyed an epic aquarium (umm, so far the best aquarium I've been to ever, even better than the Atlanta aquarium!), pretended to be pioneers in Cade's Cove in the Smoky Mountain National Park and after walking about 10 feet on the Appalachian Trail capped off our trip with a visit to the also epic Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC. So while the sights were amazing, my knitting ...not so much.

This was my second try at the Betula Ring cowl pattern. This time, I actually used a bulky yarn as called for. The actual knitting was fun, the fit turned out great ... but again, the pesky rolling at the neck portion of the stockinette section. Boo. I just realized I will never wear this as is, so it is already frogged. This yarn is a leftover skein from my Montague Bulky Lace vest, and I love this colorway too much to not use it. Not sure if this pattern will get a third try from me, but if it does, I'll be using super bulky yarn next time! So sad, as I really love the ingenious design.

Pattern: Betula Ring (link to my Ravelry project page)
Yarn: Malabrigo Mecha in the Whale's Road Colorway
Needles: Size 10
Mods: None! Knit pattern exactly as written this time.

baby knits!

 

I love knitting for babies. So fast. So cute! I whipped up these two projects over the last week or so, and are headed off to one of my expecting knitting friends. Long-time readers might recognize the hat pattern, it's Luuk, a free pattern I made as a charity knit about this time last year. This is the first wool soaker I've ever made--this one is knit flat and seamed. A fun, easy, and relaxing knit!

Pattern: Luuk, newborn size (link to Ravelry project page)

Needles: Size 8's

Yarn: Lion Brand Amazing (colorway: Mauna Loa, but I manipulated it by skipping the ugly bits for the more girlish purple sections)

Mods: None! Used the small bobble instructions. 

Pattern: Adaptation (a freebie! link to Ravelry project page)

Needles: Size 5s for ribbing, Size 7s for garter

Yarn: Cascade 220 (used approx. 1/3 of a skein)

Mods: None! Will be adding this to my regular baby gift-knitting repertoire!

cowgirl cowl

The only reason I've been so quiet lately is that I've been working on secret projects behind the scenes ... that, and a bit of letdown after all the Olympics-knitting productivity! My swap partner has received this project, so now I can reveal it! Knitting with this yarn stumped me at first ... it's hard to tell from this picture, but the yarn has a purple base that is spun with a black accent. I tried two different cowl patterns before settling on this one ... and I love how it turned out! Really fun construction, and the lace is not bad (but one part of the pattern stumped me at first, where you start the decrease section ... tired brain to blame mostly! Somehow the way it was written did not compute until I read the whole pattern in line-by-line instruction). I also had serious doubts as I neared the end of the pattern--you basically are knitting what feels like a HUGE rectangle with a triangle tip. It just seemed way too big to look as fabulous as the pattern depicted. I was happily surprised to see otherwise once I cast off! The cowl is also surprisingly warm, despite being lace. I will definitely make this one again, for myself!

Pattern: Cowgirl Cowl by Pam Powers
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted (colorway: Tanzanite, used approx. 2/3 skein)
Needles: size 8 Knit Picks Harmony
Mods: Skipped the tassel at the bottom!