Category Archives: projects

Shawl Dreaming

I decided to make the dayflower daydream shawl for a friend when she got pregnant. My idea was that it might be a christening shawl, if she didn't already have one. My mother was of the opinion that white was the right colour for babies, and she had given me some yarn that I think she had originally intended to use to knit something for mine. There wasn't enough for the complete shawl, but I found a different yarn that was close enough that you can only tell the difference in a really good light. It was important to me to use that yarn from my mother for something that would be loved and appreciated.

My friend did love the shawl when I gave it to her, and used it to bring the baby home from the hospital in. It's warm, light, and machine-washable.

I took the photos while the shawl was blocking. I haven't figured out how to photograph large objects yet, so you get a bunch of photos of parts of it. It looks quite a lot like the photos in the published pattern, so you can get an idea there how the whole thing looks.

Learning experience notes: I should have thought about how to make the final grafting easier before beginning the edge. There are techniques for this (such as knitting a couple of rows in scrap yarn before beginning) that would have helped. It took a lot of work to make the graft anywhere close to invisible.

Yarn: Patons Australia Dreamtime 4ply, 6 skeins @ 25g/75m per skein and Rowan Pure Wool 4ply, a bit under 3 skeins @ 50g/160m per skein

Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm

Pattern: Dayflower Daydream by Eugen Beugler, published in "Best of Knitter's Shawls and Scarves"

Modifications: none

Comments: The first parts of this shawl are interesting, figuring out the construction. Towards the end it starts to get a little boring.

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/laurendw/dayflower-daydream

Endpaper mitt

In the spirit of cleaning up some of my blogging todos, here are the photos and final finishing details of the fingerless mitts that I knitted in sock yarn. In my previous endpaper mitts post I was worried that the yarn would set off my dermographism. Fortunately soaking in warm water with a good shampoo softened them up a lot, although I'm still careful about not wearing them too much at any one time, just in case.

I found a good post on how to block mittens. The template plastic was easy to find in a local quilting store. You can see the template plastic poking out of the mitts in the photos.

Finished Endpaper Mitts Finished Endpaper Mitts

Yarn: Sandnes Garn Sisu, 0.4 skeins (60m) orange and 0.7 skeins (108m) dark green

Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm

Pattern: endpaper mitts by Eunny Jang

Modifications: none

Comments: I didn't like the suggested Italian tubular cast-on as I couldn't get the tension right. It looks almost ruffled, which just goes to show the problem. Fortunately there are lots of other cast-ons that aren't as hard for me to do properly.

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/laurendw/endpaper-mitts

Purple Hannah

One of my knitting buddies (beentsy, to be precise came up with the idea of the knitting group (we know each other through the Terminal City Yarn Wranglers group on Ravelry) holding a swap, so we could all receive knitted gifts as well as making them. I was lucky enough to have beentsy (yes, the instigator and one of the organizers) to knit for. She's made nice comments on some of my knitted doilies before, so this was her chance to get her very own! I picked a pattern that had just been re-published by the Lacy Knitter's Guild, written by Marianne Kinzel and first published in 1951, and knitted it in a thread described as "shaded purples". it was a fun knit, small enough to not get boring, and well charted. I liked how it came out, and apparently so did the recipient. Now I just have to figure out which one to knit next, once I have some of the rest of the queue finished.

Centre Detail

Centre Detail

Hannah

Hannah

Yarn: South Maid Crochet Thread Size 10, in colour 26 (shaded purples)

Needles: 3 or 3.5 mm (can't remember)

Pattern: Coffee Cloth Hannah

Modifications: none

Comments: a good knit, not too boring

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/laurendw/coffee-cloth-hannah

Finished Catkins

I posted about the beginnings of this long ago, here are the final photos. It was a fun knit, architecturally interesting, small enough to not get boring. My daughter uses it as a hat, doll blanket, scarf, and toy carrier, depending on her mood. It's tough enough to handle all of that without problems.

Finished Birch CatkinsFinished Birch Catkins

Yarn: J&P Coats Royale Classic Crochet Thread (Size 10), 1.5 skeins in mint green

Needles: 3 mm to start, then 3.25 mm starting at round 63

Pattern: Birkenkätzchen - Birch Catkins by Herbert Niebling

Modifications: none

Comments: see the previous post

Dates: Started July 23 2008, completed September 13 2008

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/laurendw/birkenkatzchen---birch-catkins

Hooded Scarf

To go with the acrylic hoodie, I also knitted my Mum an alpaca hooded scarf last Christmas; slightly less easy to care for but more luxurious. The pattern is from the Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark book Knit 2 Together. I've knitted a couple of things from this book now, and haven't come across any mistakes or instructions that are difficult to understand. This pattern is another easy one, and the finished product works well.

Bonnet Scarf

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, two skeins, one for the scarf and one for the bonnet part.

Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm for the main part, and US 7 / 4.5 mm for the ribbing

Pattern: Grownup Bonnet by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark in their book, Knit 2 Together

Modifications: I made the large size of bonnet for wind protection, and also made it all on smaller needles for wind protection.

Dates: Started December 12, 2008; completed December 20, 2008

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/laurendw/grownup-bonnet