jeudi 19 mars 2015

Noro Top-Down Sweater

Because I'm crochetting this blanket, I always have a few balls of Noro Kureyon laying around.  I also have a stash of Cascade 220 yarn in the Vinci colour, that is a beigy kind of brown, which, while being a neutral, is not so easy to pair for stripes. Last week, on a whim, I decided to try them together in a simple top-down raglan sweater based on this recipe.

After a week and a half, including some procrastination, I have a brand new sweater! Boy, this is quick. Praise to thicker yarn and mindless knitting!
It still needs a good blocking (hence the lack of modelled shots), but I love it! Such a simple, yet effective design that really showcases Noro's typical long gradients.

Here's a closer look at the colours...

mercredi 11 mars 2015

Change of plan

My Follow Your Arrow 2 shawl is done! 

Pattern by Ysolda Teague

For the past weeks, I was so close to the finish line, but had put the project on the side, frustrated that my yarn was ending in the lace section. I thought about doing the knitted on border at first, but it soon became obvious that it would be silly to change yarn on this kind of applied border.

In a sulk I even considered frogging the whole thing when my boss told me to just pick a yarn and finish it! So last night I did. I used Milis by Julie Asselin in the Poivre colourway. I was a little annoyed with the change for the first few rows, but it was slowly growing on me. At one o'clock, when I managed to block the tiny lump into a decent shawl, I was super happy with my combination of Tomato and Poivre!

Yes, I forgot to mention that the main yarn is Jill Draper Esopus in Heritage Tomato.

You can see the change of colour upclose

Another change of plan, or change of heart, was with the Shalom Cardigan I knited in the past two weeks. It was a fun, quick and beautiful project and I was very happy with the result. That is until I put it on my little sister. The fit was even better on her. And since it was her birthday, I decided to gift it to her alongside some money for her big upcoming trip in Southeast Asia.

I had no time to take proper pictures of her, so here are some super quick iPhone ones of her in the doorway, heading to work.

Pattern by Meghan McFarlane
I guess it's important to keep an open mind about knitted projects and be somewhat detached with the outcome too. Dear yoga, you are all around! OM

mercredi 4 mars 2015

Stash diving

I love buying yarn. Heading to a local yarn store - I try to purchase mainly from retailers here in Quebec - and wandering accross the displays of colours, brands, weight... 

Sometimes, you find a colourway or a material (or both!), that you just have to buy. Even if you don't have a specific project or pattern in mind. 

Other times you're searching for the perfect match for that design you've been eyeing. Unless you're a very pragmatic and efficient person who buys a specific amount of yarn for one particular project that she sees through, from cast on to cast off, you'll end up with stash yarn. 

Personnally, I buy yarn for which I either have a project in mind, or don't. Plus, I allow myself to change my mind and cast on something entirely different than what I first intended, like I mentionned here

Julie Asselin Milis purchase from Fall
Bearing all this in mind, I was very proud to find myself knitting with stash yarn all week! 
Two projects were done in Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Aran Weight from my Etsy purchase of  December 26th. One Framed Slouch hat in Mosaic and a Dune cowl in Slate. This yarn is a pleasure to knit with : great texture and stitch definition.

Patterns by Tanis Lavallée and Sandrine C.
Last night I also picked up some Fleece Artist Sea Wool, that had been knitted and frogged so many times, and decided to do a lightweight version of the Zuzu's Petals I had initially knitted for my LYS in Cascade Casablanca.
Pattern by Carina Spencer
 Charlotte keeps following me around the house when I take pictures. So I allowed her to pose for this one. She steals the show in this photo, but the yarn is delicious. It's a nice toffee colour.

Last, but not least, this morning I impulsively cast on for the SKA Myster Mock KAL. Fun! I did one last year and thought it would be nice to kind of make it a tradition. So I picked some Sweet Paprika Designs Pizzicato in Pink Clover that I purchased at Tricoté serré last summer. This yarn is pretty. I rarely knit in pink and now I really wonder why. The BFL content makes it woolly, which pleases me a lot. It's a nice change from those Merino SW yarns. This is my teeny project so far.
Pattern by Adrienne Fong
I like KALs. They keep you motivated to go through a project when, like me, you have a tendancy to put wips on the side for a while.