I’ve been asked for a preview of the Mystic Meadows stole. Since it’s a Mystery project I can’t really show you a picture. So instead I chose the pictures above to represent what the Meadows are to me.
Mystic Meadows is knit with the usual stitches – knits, purls, yarn-overs, a few different types of decreases and double decreases, as well as a couple of special stitches which will of course be described in the pattern. I think it’s just over a dozen different types of stitches used in the pattern. The stole has some patterning on the wrong-side rows, although the bulk of the work is done on the right-side rows. The pattern is available in chart-form only, and all the pattern rows are charted.
The Mystic Meadows KAL is still open for signups. See below for details.
The Spiderman blanket is coming along. I’m working on the last red stripe, and then I have a black stripe left. I think this means I have 14 rows left to go (plus the sewing at the end). I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but at this point each row is 552 stitches and it’s still growing, so I’m not sure how long it will take. I am also starting to get worried that I might run out of yarn. I have finished with the blue, and I had about 25 cm blue yarn to spare….. I don’t have a picture to share, as it is horribly scrunched up on my needles. I really need circulars with a longer cord, but I’m trying to make do with a set that I already have.
For upcoming projects, I must note that I have been seduced by the Kauni yarn. I have seen so many lovely Kauni projects recently that I had an irresistible urge to get my hands on some yarn and try it out. I ordered some from the Yarn and Fiber Company in New Hampshire. My order has shipped, so now I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival. I will be knitting Ruth Sorensen‘s Autumn Cardigan, as well as a shawl (or perhaps two….). I know it’s the wrong season for cardigans, but at least it will be fun, and should be ready to wear when it gets cooler again in the fall. And I’ll have to do steeks (cutting into your knitting with scissors), which should be an exciting adventure.
Announcing the Mystic Meadows Mystery Shawl knitalong!
This rectangular stole draws its inspiration from the flowering midsummer meadows with colourful flowers of every hue.
The finished dimensions are approx. 75 cm by 204 cm (29.5 in x 80 in).
My shawl is knit on 4.5 mm needles, using 8 oz (two skeins) of Prezzie Signature yarn from Brooklyn Handspun (480 yds per 4 oz skein). The shawl uses approx. 960 yds of yarn. As always, yarn substitutions are encouraged.
SIGN UP FOR KAL
The pattern will be made available for a knitalong, starting June 2.
It will be distributed to the members in four consecutive pieces, once a week on Mondays.
The last part of the pattern will be released on June 23.
An alle Deutschsprachigen: Keine Sorge, auch bei diesem gemeinsamen Stricken wird es wieder eine deutsche Übersetzung geben.
Svensk-språkig hjälp finns förstås som vanligt också.
The Mystic Light Shawl draws its inspiration from light in its many forms. The upper parts of the shawl show the starry night sky, and the lower part of the shawl represent the dancing flames of a warming fire.
Mystic Light is a triangular lace shawl with a height of 97 cm (38″), and a width of 206 cm (81″). There are cables in the center and along the top edge of the shawl. The first half of the shawl has one-sided lace patterns only (plain wrong-side rows) but in the second half of the shawl there is some lace-patterning on the wrong-side rows as well.
My shawl is knit on 4.5 mm needles, using 230 g of Merino 2/6 yarn from Fleece Artist. 100% merino wool yarn from Nova Scotia (325 m per 115 g). The shawl uses approx. 650 m of yarn. As always, yarn substitutions are encouraged.
This pattern is available in .pdf format for $8.00 CDN.
Mystic Light comes in two separate files. The MysticLightInstructions contain the beginning and finishing instructions, as well as the legends. All the charts are in MysticLightCharts. Please read the instructions carefully as they contain the entire setup for the pattern, as well as instructions on how the charts are used.
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Mystic Light is the second shawl in a series of four representing the four elements (water, fire, earth, air).
In the past week or so, I have started no less than three project. There was actually a short period of time there where there were NO projects on the needles. Obviously that was rectified quickly.
I’m working on two new lace stoles. One is knit in Blåmussla from Färgkraft. It takes its inspiration from the ocean – the colours in that skein were just perfect for the theme.
The second stole is knit in Prezzie from Brooklyn Handspun. The yarn is a lovely purple and makes me think of “April showers bring May flowers”. I hope that April snow will bring the same…. Actually, we’ve had a few wonderful days in Ottawa. It’s been 20C, and it’s incredible to sit out on the back deck in shorts and t-shirt looking out at the snow-covered lawn. I don’t imagine this state will last a lot longer, but right now it is surreal.
The third project is a Spiderman blanket for my youngest son. The pattern is available for free at AnneM‘s blog. It was a bit of a rough start (I forgot to check the errata on Ravelry…..) and I found a missing k1 in row 17, but aside from that, it’s moving along nicely. I’m knitting it using Paton’s Classic Wool Merino, which had the best colour-choices for the Spiderman theme.
Here is a visit from an old friend…. the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan.
I’m sure many are already aware that MAGKnits folded last week. This lead to the pattern for the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan being unavailable (out of print already?!?). The pattern is now available again. I’ve republished it via Ravelry. Happy knitting!
The Thistle Scarf is a Lace scarf knit using 2 skeins (44 g) of Luxurious Buffalo Down (100% Buffalo, 155-160 yds per 22 g) from Cottage Craft Angora. The yarn is a natural, chocolate brown and incredibly soft.
The thistle pattern starts small near the end of the scarf and grows larger as it approaches the centre of the scarf, and then transitions to a diamond leaf pattern.
In spite of its lacy appearance, the “halo” from the yarn makes this a nice, warming scarf for those cool spring/fall evenings.
Blocked dimensions:
l: 190 cm (76″), w: 25 cm (10″)
You can download a .pdf version of this pattern using PayPal for $8.00CDN.
Lorraine of Cottage Craft Angora is offering a discount on the Luxury Buffalo Down yarn to the knitters who would like to knit the Thistle Scarf. The yarn can be purchased from her web-site for $20/skein (as opposed to the regular price of $22) with a discount code that can be obtained from me with the purchase of the pattern.
I received some fun mail today. The first package contained a set of stitch markers from Laurie. She designed a set of “Mystic Light” stitch markers. Don’t they look wonderful? It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the coloured beads look like they are on fire.
Head over to the Lima Pop Shoppe to see what else she makes. I’ll be sure to put mine to good use.
The second package contained 2 skeins of Prezzie from Marie at Brooklyn Handspun. The yarn is slated to become a lace shawl. I already have some ideas for motifs but I will have to mull over the colour just a little longer. I’m thinking bluebells and summer meadows, but we’ll see. I like to use the yarn for inspiration, so it takes a little time to see what else it makes me think of.
As it turns out the Mystic Light swatch has more uses than a pulse warmer. So let me introduce the Mystic Light Beer Cozy.
I got this idea from Spiraling on Ravelry.
Spiraling is located in Australia. I’m not quite sure what the weather is like in Australia right now, but I’m thinking that when it’s -20C outside, a beer cozy would be just the thing to keep your ale at a perfect cellar temperature. Much more handy than a pulse warmer, don’t you think?
This is one of the things I really like with running the KALs. I’m getting so many new ideas from all over the world. Thanks for sharing all your pictures (and creative uses of the knitting…..).
Over the weekend, I finished the Spring Shawl Surprise. I will try to block it this week and take some pictures of the completed stole. I really enjoyed LUL’s knitalong and the “Mother Earth” Stole. I also really enjoyed the Angora yarn I used. Amazingly, I ended up with a LOT of yarn leftover. I had purchased 1,500 yards, as per the specification, but I think I have about half of it left. That’s not a problem though, as I really loved the yarn. I’m sure I can think of another project or two in which to use it.
I also cast-on for a new project on Saturday – an as of yet unnamed lace stole with the ocean as the main theme. I’m using the Blåmussla yarn from Färgkraft that I purchased at Bohusslöjd in Gothenburg, Sweden last summer. It’s a 1-ply, 100% wool yarn, and 700 m per 100 g. I really love the colour. The name of the colourway means Blue Mussel, and I think it’s very aptly named.
I cast on for the stole and started knitting. All went well for the first hour or so. Then I decided to stretch it out a little so that I could measure the width, and POP! the yarn broke in my cast-on row. Nothing to do but to unravel it all. I then redesigned the beginning so I won’t have this problem again.
The Luscious Forests Lace Shawl incorporates both lace and cables into a large shawl, knit using 200 g (500 m) Lady Godiva (50% wool/50% silk) from Handmaiden.
The shawl is knit from the top down, and contains lace patterning on both right side and wrong side rows. The top edge is finished with a braided cable matching the cable down the spine, and there is a peaked edging around the outer edges of the shawl.
h: 90 cm (36″), w: 185 cm (73″)
You can buy a downloadable PDF file with this pattern (chart and written instructions) using PayPal for $8.00CDN.
Even though we have now passed that magical March date which makes it officially snow, we still have a LOT of snow outside. Here in Ottawa we have received more than 4 m (14+ ft) of snow this winter, and I have a feeling we’re not done just yet. Now the question is….. is there enough winter left to knit a sweater or will it be warm by the time I’m finished?
I shall ponder that for a few more days and make a decision.
In the meantime, the shawl in Lady Godiva is off the needles. It’s blocking (drying) at the moment, and I still need to sew in the ends, and then I’ll share a picture. I managed to knit most of it during our Easter trip to Boston. I got a lot of knitting done in the car.
The Thistle Scarf is coming along nicely. That will probably be off the needles in the next few days as well. I’m very excited to get to wash it and block it and see just how soft it becomes.
Mystic Light has started this week with a total of 2,132 knitters. The first part of the pattern was released yesterday, and I’ve already seen a number of wonderful pictures of the first clue knit up. I really enjoy seeing how different yarns and different colours look with the same pattern.
I received a lovely package of handspun silk from India yesterday. It’s snow white, quite soft, and about 300 yds per 100 g skein. As you can see, I have four skeins. I haven’t quite decided what they will become, but I have a few different ideas. I’m also thinking about dyeing the yarn, although it’s probably a good idea to decide what I’m making first.
And as everything happens at the same time, I got two skeins of slate gray cashmere in the mail today. It’s 800 yds and fingering weight. I’m actually considering making a sweater out of it, although if that’s what I decide, I will need more than 800 yds of yarn….. I’ve been searching for a good pattern using fingering weight, but haven’t really found anything suitable yet. I’ll keep looking.
This is my latest lace-venture. I’m calling it the Thistle Scarf. It’s a lace scarf knit in Buffalo Down from Cottage Craft Angora. The yarn is 150-155 yds per 22g skein, and the scarf is knit on 3.75 mm needles. The colour is a natural chocolate brown, and the yarn is incredibly soft.
The yarn is really lovely to work with. The first thing I learned was to not use a long-tail cast-on with this yarn. Knitting the stitches on works much better. I also tried a few different needle sizes to see what would give the best stitch-definition, and I settled on 3.75 mm.
Soft as the yarn is, I’ve been told it will get even softer once I wash it. I will make sure to wash it properly prior to blocking, and am curious what the result will be. It’s hard to imagine that it can get softer.
The 11th part of the pattern for the Spring Shawl Surprise is released today, and I’m all ready to dive right in. The last part of the puzzle will be out next week, so there is not much left. It’s already quite a large stole, and stretches almost the length of a king size bed when I pin it out. Add another two pieces of the pattern to knit, and I think it will be quite a generous size. That’s great, as I do like having a nice, large shawl to cuddle up in.
The actual theme has not been released yet, but I am convinced that it shows a woman giving birth. If you look at the picture to the left, you can see the head, the body, and the legs. It goes well with the “birds and the bees” stitches.
It also explains why there is a difference in the design between the neck and birthing canal. The two joins in the outline are different and there is an opening between the legs.
The baby is still inside her, and the shape at the bottom is where the baby will land.
I have really enjoyed knitting this stole. The pattern is very intricate and it is fun watching it grow.
The Mystic Light KAL is starting in two weeks, and we have 1800+ members signed up. It’s still growing quite quickly. Remember that sign-ups will close on March 25, so if you would like to join – don’t delay.
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